[Amelia] Chapter 16: Shrine Plans

[Throndir]

Mendernich Castle - Conrad's Room
Day 16 - Morning

"It's the same." Conrad immediately said. "It's my family staff, passed down through generations... Just by looking at it, I can tell it's the exact same thing." He confirmed again.

Attempting to focus on the telescope did not come up with the same prompt.

Mendernich Castle - N/A
Day 16 - Morning

"Big sister Amelia!" Matilda echoed back happily. You caught her making rounds around the castle with a duster and a broom. Like usual, she was in her french-maid outfit. "I can go shopping... yes..." Matilda said as she took the slip from you, however, when she attempted to read it she only scrunched up her face.

"Oh.. umm... What language is this?" Matilda asked.

The moment you wanted to share translation with Matilda. Something clicked in Matilda's reading. She rubbed her eyes and blinked at the paper again.

"Umm... nevermind... I see it. I swear it was these weird symbols at first." She took a few moments to glance at the long list. "Hmm... Oh this is a lot of things. I can probably get it all to you, but it'll likely take me the whole day."

[Mysticsage]

Mendernich Castle - Conrad's Room
Day 16 - Morning

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to step on your lineage," she said concerned as she turned around concerned that she may have gone too far or made some kind of mistake.

"I promise, if I ever have to use it I will make sure to keep your family's honor and values in mind. I'll handle this staff just like I would any of the pieces from my own family's store. I understand that it does not only have power but also represents the wisdom of your family. I will not take such responsibility lightly." She goes to stand in front of Conrad, concern in her eyes, as she put a hand on his shoulder.

"If that still makes you uncomfortable say so and I swear I won't use it. I care more about you then I do any power that a mere copy could give me."

Mendernich Castle - N/A
Day 16 - Morning

Amelia was too deep in her own thoughts when Mati spoke about the translation changing for it to click in her mind right away, "By tonight will be perfect, and feel free to delegate this as well. This kind of shopping isn't uniquely private or anything so if you are busy then please give out the labors where you think makes the most sen-"

Amelia paused mid-sentence as the first part of what Mati said finally clicked in her mind. "Did you just say you could read what I wrotegroundbreakingThe implications of this development if true was ground breaking.

[Throndir]

Mendernich Castle - Conrad's Room
Day 16 - Morning

"No offense taken." Conrad replied. "It would have been much a different story if my staff were to disappear... As it is right now, what you have is a replica. I'm not sure if that means you truly have what is mine, or if it simply copied all properties of such. You have a magical staff. That is plain to see. Thus far, with an unheard of ability to mimic mine."

Conrad then leaned back into his chair. "Have you done any experimenting yet?" Conrad asked curiously. "For example... Does this work only with staves? Or only magical ones? There used to be other great magic families in our kingdom before the shifting, so I'm unsure if any more great staves like the Esser family staff exist in the country. But perhaps in Gladenstadt, or even one of the treasures in the treasury."

"Feel free to use your staff. As far as I know, it's yours, whereas the one I have is the true Esser staff."

Mendernich Castle - N/A
Day 16 - Morning

"Y-yes..!" She looked down at the paper again, and using her other free hand began to point at it. "You want branches, a glass blower's rod, a fishing pole..."

The look on Matilda's face looked as if she wasn't quite understanding what you were getting at.

[Mysticsage]

Mendernich Castle - Conrad's Room
Day 16 - Morning

At Conrad's statement Amelia gave a sigh of relief, she didn't want to sour things over something like this. "I haven't had a chance to experiment yet no," she says thoughtfully.

"Though now that you say it I'm more than a fair bit curious what kinds of things fit the requirements. Your telescope clearly doesn't. I guess I should make a list of generally similar things to a staff and see if any of them work. To be honest, the vault had not even crossed my mind that is certainly a place to check. There is also the ruins under the docks now that I think of it as well," she paused to think for a moment.

"I doubt many other families would just parade around their family treasures. Especially to an outsider, and I don't want to be stealing anything anyway-" she stopped as she thought for a moment a devilish grin on her face.

"Would you be willing to do me a favor Conrad? If you let slip to the right people that you are thinking about dressing very formally and bringing your family staff to the coronation some of the other families might take the bait? If they come to the party with their own heirlooms and I managed to dance with them or touch the staff by other means I might just be able to make copies of theirs as well. With no harm done."

Mendernich Castle - N/A
Day 16 - Morning

Amelia in that moment had the largest shit eating grin on her face as Mati confirmed her suspicions. scooping up the princess and her broom in one single motion she twirled her around while planting kisses on her forehead. "I have regained the power of the written word!"

"Nyx! that handsome devil must have leveled up enough so that I can write in your language as well!" she cackled while spinning wildly "Mark the day World! For today I grow stronger than you've ever imagined and no wall of bureaucracy can stand in my way! Tremble before the power of Literacy and Communication!" she cackled with glee. before letting Mati down with a few more kisses for good measure.

if when she touches the broom the pop of fro the staff appears she will be to busy to notice and accidentally hit the absorb button

[Throndir]

Mendernich Castle - Conrad's Room
Day 16 - Morning

"That is quite the idea... Much of the visitors are already here, as your coronation should have been on the day you were summoned. However... it's not likely that they would have brought along their own family heirlooms unless prompted... Very well then, I'll begin some rumours, and get in touch with the contacts here. With only two weeks remaining, I can't guarantee that every noble line would bring some kind of staff of value, especially those from Gladenstadt or Schleitz, but they'll at least know that the proud Esser family will surely bring their most valuable staff to the coronation if only to show the might and lineage of my family." The mage smiled. The corners of his mouth turned upwards in an equally evil grin.

Mendernich Castle - N/A
Day 16 - Morning

"A-aah...!" Matilda said as she was picked up. The younger girl couldn't help but blush when you started to kiss her on the forehead. "B-big sis..." Matilda mumbled as she continued to blush, but a moment later the broomstick she had suddenly disappeared. This caused Matilda to get off-balance a bit, so she had quickly reached over to hold on to you instead as she blinked in surprise.

At that same time, a notification appeared.

Staff unlocked: Gram

Aura strong transmutation; CL 15th; Price 70,000 gp; Weight 4 lbs.

This +5 transformative greater weapon was once one of the weapons of one of the companions of the hero who founded the Bürsteig country. Count Alarn Thalerius was a powerful warrior, but also skilled in a variety of weapons who was known to be adaptive in any fight he was in. Apart from the ability to transform shapes into a shape the wielder prefers, as long as the weapon is on their person, it grants him or her a +4 enhancement bonus to Strength.

"U-ummm... w-where's my broomstick?" Her eyes widened in alarm.

[Mysticsage]

Amelia stops suddenly as she does not answer Mati's question as she scans the notification that just popped up. She turned as pale as a ghost as she let Mati down. Seeing the price tag of the item alone caused her brain to snap.

"Oh shit-" she said and repeated saying as she saw no additional pop up to undo whatever she did.

Tapping through her menus rapidly, "please don't let me have stolen something so valuable right after I talked to Conrad!"

She said her mind only managing to think the word undo but having nothing appear.

[Throndir]

Mendernich Castle - N/A
Day 16 - Morning

With your mind thinking of and focusing on the broomstick that you had just absorbed, at that moment, the staff you had been carrying (which had looked like Conrad's), changed into the broomstick. Apparently, a legendary weapons called 'Gram'.

Matilda blinked a couple of times, and sighed in relief. "Oohh... that was weird... But thank goodness. Father would have killed me if he found out this went missing. Even though it's technically mine now..." Matilda said, not really registering in her mind that it was your staff that transformed, rather than hers simply disappearing into nothingness.

"Oh umm, you can let go..."

[Mysticsage]

"I'm so sorry, Mati." she said as she let her go. "I think I did something by accident when I wasn't paying attention, and now I don't know how to get your treasure back to you," Amelia said suddenly feeling the weight of the world on her shoulders as she made sure to propely apologize to the girl.

"But I'll promise you I'll figure out a way to give it back to you as soon as I can. I did not mean for this to happen." as her fun evaporates.

[Throndir]

Mendernich Castle - N/A
Day 16 - Morning

When it became plainly obvious that the staff you were holding wasn't being forcefully removed, even when Matilda was pulling on it, the slow realization that the staff in your hand wasn't actually Matilda's began to creep on her features. Though, she still put up a smile, and vainly pulling on the staff, as if trying to deny that thought in her head that her staff might be gone.

Once you explained the situation. Matilda's eyes glazed over.

"Oohh... no..." She said quietly, staring at the staff. She looked pretty dismal, though a moment later she shook her head, and forced up a smile to attempt to push away the gloom.

"That's okay...! It was just a dumb old broom anyways! There's plenty in the castle that are just like it." Matilda sighed, but she went ahead and hugged you tight anyways. "You're more important than a silly broom."

You can roll sense motive if you want.

Eventually she let go, as she fumbled to pull out the piece of paper that had all the various items you wanted her to get. She seemed a bit more clumsy than usual, but she eventually began to glance at the paper.

"Okay! I'll be back then big sis, I'll get everything here... Maybe we can have dinner with big bro and Nyx later?"

[Mysticsage]

Sense Motive

Rolled 1d20+7 : 8 + 7, total 15

"It's okay to cry you know, I can tell that this wasn't just some broomstick for you or even a magic item. It was also your companion-" Amelia said her words catching in her throat as Mati continued to speak.

"You are a very strong girl, and I promise you that I'll get this back to you before you know it," she said as she could feel the anxiety building. She hated feeling this kind of guilt and promised herself that she would never do this again if she could help it.

[Throndir]

Mendernich Castle - N/A
Day 16 - Morning

Sense Motive: 15
You couldn't really tell if Matilda was actually bothered or not.

"N-no... It's okay..!" Matilda said. "A-anyways... I'll go get the things! But umm... if you're able to get back the broom one day... that would be nice... Oh and forget about the thing I said about father getting mad! I'll get a new broom from Corina!" Matilad explained as she began to rush away.

[Mysticsage]

Amelia watched as Matilda left and despite her pain had to smile, "You really are a strong and courageous girl aren't you? I promise to get your precious broom back to you before you know it."

With her business done and heart, a little bit broken, she was now prepared to go about her day. Her planner for the day was now filled with various meetings and planning meetings. Now that she had finished matters with this staff, for now, she had to get ready for what came next.

Mendrich Noble District - Royal Villa
Day 16 -  Mid-Morning

The first thing on Amelia's list was to meet with Clifton. With this new ability she had one final card up her sleeve to help her build a winning hand. She didn't know if her gut was right, and that the answer to their problems was in books, but they always gave perspective. Plus, there was the added benefit of keeping their entire family off of a crumbling frontline.So for the time being she would put her faith in her beliefs and instincts.

Once she was able to get a meeting with him she put the worst of her worries out of her mind. After taking the time to explain the new ability she handed him the book and asked him to read it.

So there she was waiting, silently to let him scan the book and test if the power wasn't just some fluke as she held her breath.

"So what do you think?"

Mendrich Castle - Ebner's Office
Day 16 -  Late afternoon

After that was lunch and then a meeting about sports equipment. Not to mention several reports were going to be delivered that day. All told it was going to be another long day in Ebner's office.

She knocked on his door at the appointed time with an extra two plates of food in her hand and a pitcher of water in the other.

"You know with all the time I spend in your office I should have a hammock set up in the corner. How has your day been so far Ebner? Have you eaten yet?"

List of things to do with Ebner:
Update on sports and card stuff
Establish a date for the first game

Several reports come in possibly
Finding the Darkness
Mage needed
Courtesan Response
Report on rarest slaves to buy

[Throndir]

Mendernich Noble District - Royal Villa
Day 16 -  Mid-Morning

You met with Clifton soon after, heading towards the royal villas where guests stayed in. You were quickly ushered in, and soon enough you were in the presence of both Clifton and his wife. After a quick introduction, you had given him the book. "Interesting... I am assuming this is your power, but I can read the words now written in this book." Clifton said as he began to leaf through it.

You noticed he was eating what looked to be a dark piece of candy. It looked just like chocolate. Though, this was the first time you were seeing such things here in the New World. The cocoa bean, used to create chocolate in the first place, wasn't something that was native to this area. Not only that, the piece of chocolate Clifton was eating was wrapped in brown plastic wrap, with the words:

SNICKERS

Color change for Clifton Atwood to better match his portrait.

Mendrich Castle - Ebner's Office
Day 16 -  Late afternoon

"Come in."  Liudger's voice called out. The moment you walked in, you realized that the financial adviser wasn't alone. King Richmond was sitting across the table from him as well, and between them looked to be a chess set. Unlike the earlier iteration you had seen a few days prior, this one looked finely crafted. The pieces themselves were made out of stone, either marble or obsidian perhaps, with the board itself looking quite like the antique ones you had seen in your shop.

"Checkmate." Liudger said. The king frowned as he looked at the board and sighed again.

"Remarkable Liudger... That makes 7 wins for you, and 2 wins for me..." The king glanced back at the door and noticed you. "Oh but it seems you have company... But I'd like some craftsmen to make a few sets of these. I'm going to practice a bit more against Fulbert." The king grinned as he stood up. Liudger stood up as well then nodded.

"Of course Your Majesty." Liudger as the king started to make his way out.

"Amelia! I heard you were the one who brought this over from your world! Ohoh! Amazing game it is." With a pat on your shoulder, he proceeded out the door.

A moment later Liudger waved towards you to sit down.

"Just having a quick game while I work on approving some merchant and craftsmen requests. I don't think I've had yet to eat yet... I was going to before king Richmond arrived. That plate of food looks quite tempting..."

Liudger Ebner began to give an update on various things. First, he had been working with the Schröder family to provide some capable craftsmen. Adhelm himself plans to have a new store to open in Mendernich a week before your coronation. It'll be filled with all the sorts of clothes from your own world. It was being billed as a way to get the populace to warm up to the new queen, and to experience "clothes from another world". Apparently, Adhelm had created a few prototype sets already, which have become all the rage with a few of the nobles in the city.

Next, Ebner pulled out a stack of cards. These looked to be much better than the ones you recall seeing around 5 days ago. One by one he started to display them to you. Apparently this was a combination of work between both the printing press, along with artists who would do final touch ups. They had been experimenting adding color to printing presses, and this was the next iteration of the prototypes. In terms of quality, they still didn't looked as good as compared to the ones from home, but these were getting much closer. Apparently only one printing press was modified as such, so mass production was still some time away. However, Liudger did mention that other craftsmen are starting to take note, and the stack of papers on his desk had been requests from various craftsmen to help in the projects, or even form up contracts of selling the final products both in Mendernich and elsewhere.

For the sports gear, production had already started to ramp up, though, Liudger was still finalizing deals with various storefronts to see on who would be willing to sell it. Unfortunately, pastime activities aren't very common in the New World. Food production, along with training, along with monsters keep ensured that these sort of play activities never had really became big before. Liudger had the idea of going to the Guild to act as a sort of storefront for the sports equipment. There was talk about creating an official Mendernich sports team as well, as already some of the knights have expressed interest in trying out baseball and soccer.

The idea of a Sports Festival was talked about as well. Liudger plans to first finalize the production of sports gear to the masses to drum up the hype. Next, he was planning to meet with Kurt, to potentially head up a sports team for Mendernich in both baseball and soccer. Lastly, he was going to make an appointment with the guild of Mendernich for the adventurers to do the same. He mentioned having the idea of spreading it to the rest of the cities, though seeing how it will catch first in Mendernich would prove invaluable.

"When do we want to try to have the Sports Festival?" Liudger asked.

[Mysticsage]

Mendernich Noble District - Royal Villa
Day 16 -  Mid-Morning

It took Amelia a moment to realize what he was eating as she did her best to sit quietly and not be cannibalized by her own internal monologue and doubts. She scanned the room for a moment looking at the various things that they had brought with them from home trying to imagine the kind of culture the dragon knights had.

It was only when her attention was brought back to the book that she noticed what he was eating. For a moment, she wasn't sure exactly what she was seeing. She thought that she might be having some kind of sugar withdrawal based fever dream. Then she saw the name on the wrapper and words started to spill out of her mouth before she realized she was speaking.

"Um, Clifton. Where did you get that candy bar?" she said a little shocked, "That's from my homeworld."

Mendrich Castle - Ebner's Office[/b]
Day 16 -  Late Afternoon

After making her customary greeting to the king she turned to sit down with the food and water and hands it over. "Why is that all my advisors work so hard that they forget to eat? I'm going to have to have Corina start making rounds to make sure that you all actually get the proper nutrition to keep at your strongest," she said with a smirk. She made him sit for a few minutes while she looked over the board and the various products.



"Do you mind if we play a game while we talk over the details?" She asked once he had finished.

Once the game was underway, she continued, "If possible, I would like to have the sports festival before whatever happens with my coronation. These products are at least up to my starting standards and being tied into the coronation would be a great promotional tool. If we could also make a card tournament at the same time we should be able to offset some of the costs to the treasury," She said as she moves one of the chess pieces.

"I'm glad to hear that you and Adelhelm are working together well. I imagine the two of you together make a very powerful match. As for the uniform," she paused to look over the notes.

"Could you ask him to cut the uniform as close to the form as he is comfortable? We don't want to waste too much material or have any of the player have issues playing," or at least that was her excuse. If she was honest when Ebner had said that he thought about approaching Kurt she wanted to make sure that the uniform showed his physique. Plus the more eye candy they had on their side the easier it would be to sell her ideas.

"As for bringing in the guild, I have someone in mind who I've met who doesn't seem fazed by strange requests." She then describes who Ilyavaree is. "Please give her permission to come to the castle and we can explain things properly if she needs convincing."

"Speaking of the guild, have they sent word yet? I've posted two requests and don't even know if anyone has accepted them yet. Can you check for me?"

While they play she takes the time to read through all of his notes providing input where she thought was appropriate trying her best to balance the budget.

After a moment she cleared her throat and decided to go out on a limb. "I'd also like you to do me a little bit of an embarrassing personal favor for me," she said sliding a paper face down on the table from her bag. "I don't want a fancy banquet or anything for my coronation. But I figure the nobles will demand I do something. So I figured, why don't we have a ball that night?"

Her face began to match the color of her hair, "It would be a great opportunity to make a statement and get them excited for our wears."

She looked down at the table, "So I sketched something a little overly dramatic to make sure that it would leave a mark, but now I'm a little nervous to show it to him."

"Plus, I want it to be a surprise to the guests for maximum impact. If the material for the dress is added to your requests people will not be able to identify it as special," she slid the piece of paper over to him to have a look at what she came up with.

[Throndir]

Mendernich Noble District - Royal Villa
Day 16 -  Mid-Morning

"Oh, the candy! It's this candy called... 'giggles'. The wrapping it comes is quite unique." Clifton said matter-of-factly as he pulled it out to look at it. "It has some weird letters that I can't-" He paused.

"Oh... Snickers." His eyes were in shock for a moment, but then he nodded. "I see, this might be of your ability as well, especially if this comes from your own world? But... I find that strange." Clifton frowned.

"There's a merchant in town just recently who's selling these."

Mendrich Castle - Ebner's Office
Day 16 -  Late Afternoon

"A game? Chess again?" He grinned.

Roll 3 straight INT checks for playing Chess or whatever game.

"How about a week before the coronation is when we start the festival? This way, we can tie it with Adhelm's opening of his new clothing line. We might even be able to get his store to sell various sports gear and clothing as well..."

"Do you want the card game tournament to occur during the Sports festival? If we are doing that... we might as well see if we can include a tournament for these other games, like chess. For your coronation itself, we can always have a second tournament to occur after... The first festival we can hold would simply to drum up interest in all the new games and sports."

"A tightly fit uniform... Of course, we can do that."

"Alright... Ilyaveere. I'll be sure to contact her directly then."

When you showed the dress, Liudger nodded. "Quite exquisite... The best craftsman I know is indeed Adhelm when it comes to new types of clothing. I planned to have another meeting with him later today, I can bring this up to him as well." He said as he pointed to the sketch.

Jot down your plans/dates of everything in your next post in a bullet list. Then go ahead and update you Calendar sheet with those. A festival could probably last a week long. Or just a day. Decide the time schedule of all your tournaments/events. If everything is a week before the coronation, everything should be prepped already.