From Out of a Dream [Quest]

[Zelbinnean]

Joy is either an Infernal or an Abyssal, and automatically an enemy.

An enemy of the Light.
An enemy of the Law.
A Night caste is a Lawgiver, chosen by the Unconquered Sun.

Might have to kill both of them, one for sure goes on the to-do list.

An enemy of the Light.
An enemy of the Law.
A Night caste is a Lawgiver, chosen by the Unconquered Sun.

Says someone inputting control of a guy who just casually murdered a couple dozen people to be able to afford his bar tab.

no just stop

[Zelbinnean]

>Ask about the assessor and why she looks so unhappy about the stone. Then ask about the stone. Then, hey, you brought the stone, has has mor wark?

[semicasual]

>Ask about the assessor and why she looks so unhappy about the stone. Then ask about the stone. Then, hey, you brought the stone, has has mor wark?

(Which of these is most important to you? You only get one topic, this time.)

[Zelbinnean]

(Which of these is most important to you? You only get one topic, this time.)

>Why does the lady look like she's sucking on a lemon when she saw the stone, and who is she anyway?

[The MG]

Ask about the Stone. You can check the weirdo out later, on your own time.

[semicasual]

2 votes for Joy
2 votes for Stone of Making
1 vote for Payment.

Anyone else have input?

[Ferryman]

2 votes for Joy
2 votes for Stone of Making
1 vote for Payment.

Anyone else have input?

One for Payment.

[Kazorh]

I guess I'll vote for the Stone.

I did want to keep it...

[semicasual]

“One more thing, if it’s not too much to ask – what’s so important about this rock?” You take the stone off the desk and hold it upraised in your hand. “What does it do?”

Himitsu is silent for a time, as if unsure how to answer. Then he pulls a scroll from somewhere beneath the desk, unrolls a part of it, and sets it down on the desk oriented with the text towards you. There is an inked sketch of the castle you recognize, but the writing is all in gods’ tongue. You are saved the embarrassment of admitting you can’t read it when the magus starts talking again.

“It is written that castle was once ruled by a sorcerer-king who called himself One Thousand Horses,” he says, as if giving a lesson, “and this stone was his most prized possession. This records do not explain the minutiae of his magic, naturally, but the gist is that he would use its power to conjure all manner of things – tools, weapons, wealth. A later part of the scroll suggests that the castle itself was spontaneously created with it – no rock was quarried for it, no builders were hired. One Thousand Horses simply willed an entire fortress into being with mystical rituals and the Stone of Making.”

“It contains the potential for all things,” says Joy, speaking up for the first time. Her voice is soft and strangely flat. “All things that could be, stories yet untold, limitless generation. Trapped inside a crystal cage.” Her eyes never leave the stone.

“Just so,” replies Himitsu. He starts rolling up the scroll and his tone becomes more conversational. “As you might expect, there are a wide range of potential applications for such a device… at least, for someone who possesses the knowledge. For most people,” he continues, looking you straight in the eye, “it is merely a pretty jewel.”

Taking Himitsu’s hint for what it is, you silently set the stone down on the desk again and take your hand off it. The magus seems pleased. “Now then, your payment. It may amuse you to know that this sum includes what Jinbei and his crew were expecting to receive. Joy?”

Joy stands up from her chair – she really is much shorter than you – and draws a bag from one of her voluminous sleeves. She drifts around the desk, holding out the bag in both hands. When you reach out to take it, her hand touches yours briefly and you feel a tingling in your fingers.

The bag jingles with a familiar and friendly sound. You open it slightly to find it full of silver coins. You’re tempted to dump the bag out over the desk and carefully count them all, but that would be rude. Besides, you just gave the magus something he might well use to magick silver from nowhere – he has no reason to cheat you now.

“Pleasure doing business with you,” you recite, completing the formalities. Then, with pay in hand, you let the guards escort you out.

Almost as soon as you reach the second floor, you hear Himitsu’s voice echoing from above - “He was strangely inquisitive for a hired killer.” Then there’s a pause, presumably in which Joy answers. You concentrate and close your eyes, trying to block out all other sound except their voices.

“It is of no real importance,” says Himitsu. “I merely state my observations. I noticed you touched him – did you learn anything of use?”

“His spirit is strong, but his heart is sick,” answers Joy of Metamorphosis. “He bears pain such that I have only seen in the dying and the damned.”

“…I see. So, in your opinion, he would not make a reliable agent?”

You strain to listen, blocking out the muffled shuffling of your own feet, the constant background noise of the town, the stomping that’s getting louder and louder as you try to-

“HEY. NO LOITERING!” shouts someone else, stinging your ears¹. You flinch and open your eyes to see one of the guards in your face. With your welcome clearly worn out, you leave the manor.

¹

Your eavesdropping trick has some weaknesses – mostly it takes a lot of attention, and any noise that gets through your filter sounds deafening.

---

You trudge over cart tracks with your baggage, considering how much money you want to put away² versus what to spend it on right now. Lost in thought, you find yourself wandering past the ivy-covered walls of a temple to Tögsgölgüi Nogoon Navch, god of fields and forests. Seeing the place gives you pause – you suddenly remember that this is the time of year when you would join your family to pray for rich harvests and ample game in the seasons to come. The memory comes with painful sense of longing, like most of your remembrances, and you turn away. You prefer to keep your mind on the present - you are on the street with a fresh supply of silver. All sorts of possibilities are open to you – you just have to decide what to do first.

• Go get drunk. No sense wasting time. Peace waits for you at the bottom of a jar.
• Go shopping. You could use some food, not just for now but for however long you’re staying. Sometimes there are useful trinkets in the markets, too. Oh, and your armor needs a patch…
• Go wash your hair. It’s been on your mind lately. You can get some oils in the markets and do a deep clean.
• Go to the temple and pray. You’re feeling… contemplative. Maybe it’s what Joy said, or you’re homesick, or you just have an urge because it has been a while. Whatever it is, maybe a little time meditating in the temple will put you at ease.
• Something else?

²

You are thankful that banks exist. At first, you had difficulty understanding why you would want to give all of your money to a stranger who promised to protect it for nothing or why they would allow you to take your money back from a different stranger in another town. Once you got used to the idea, though, you came to understand that the bankers would guard your money much better than a locked box under your floor would. Break-ins are a lot less annoying to you now.

[wonderandawe]

We save money!? Damn! We aren't such a drunken bastard after all!

Go wash your hair. Actually, just get a full bath. Who knows what was in that water? Also, we are less likely to get kicked out of a bar if we are clean-looking.

And if we get a second choice, go get drunk!

[WarDragon]

Wash hair, then get sloshed.

[Kazorh]

Wash hair.

[L'het'esh]

Bank half, wash, shop, get sloshed. No, that's too organized.

Bank, then slosh.

[semicasual]

We save money!? Damn! We aren't such a drunken bastard after all!

Go wash your hair. Actually, just get a full bath. Who knows what was in that water? Also, we are less likely to get kicked out of a bar if we are clean-looking.

And if we get a second choice, go get drunk!

It's not so much about saving as it is about not carrying all your money everywhere you go. That's fine for farmers and people who never see a whole silver coin in their lives, but you need something more secure.

You don't go to public baths - when you need to, you boil water and scrub off at home.

(Can I just say that I'm surprised by the number of people interested in hair care?)

[The MG]

Go shopping.