Book 1 - Chapter 5: Have Sword - Will Travel, or How the West was Fun(dead)

[Asta]

"But of course, anything to aid the heroes of Telan." A familiar voice rings out over the mumbling of the courtiers, turning you see the smiling face of Bhenneit MacMhata who helped you months ago when you first arrived at the city. "My considerable library is at your disposal."

"Aye, all right." A second voice replies, spurred on by Bhenneit's offer. The voice belongs to a courtier you've not had any direct dealing with, despite your stay in the capital during the Dark Time. "I'll send a courier to your apartments with an invitation."

"As will I." A third called out, this time a woman, past the years of youth but still quite comely. You recall her as Mave Ni Scurra from one of the parties you attended at the start of the year. You also recall she was particularly flirtatious and unmarried, a dangerous combination...

With no others offering the use of their libraries the court proceedings move on and eventually you make your exit back to the streets of the capital.

"Three leads, to start with. Where do you want to go first?" Scathach asks.

[pringerbeam]

     "Three leads, but none of the major clans except the MacMhata. I'm not quite sure where our established benefactor stands in all of this." As they walked back towards the apartment. "I guess we will need to start with the smaller clans. MacMhata I think can wait until we have talked to the others. Supposedly they were neutral in the war but sometimes not stepping into the fight throws in as much with one side as if they had committed troops to an assault."  He mused as they reached the apartment. Once again safely inside he continued. "I suppose we actually have to research this lich if we're going to keep up the pretext to meet with the different clans. I didn't expect the Righ to be so interested in the beast but it does provide us an excellent cover... I believe Mave Ni Scurra would be the best place to start. While not the most powerful house, she likes to hold parties and might know more about where everyone stands in court."

[Asta]

No more than an hour later, two couriers arrive at the apartment. Each bears an invitation from their respective master, Mave Ni Scurra and Eoin Mac Canann. Presumably, Bhenneit knows you'll be arriving at some point and will instruct his housekeepers to let you in.

Having settled on visiting the Scurra household first, you set off for the address listed on the invitation. A short walk later you find yourselves outside a sizable manse with a manicured garden in front. Presenting the small card you received to the guard gains you passage and once past the garden and through the front door you arrive in the manse's foyer.

"There you are... I was hoping you'd come by soon. You made the right choice, Eoin is a bore." Mave says descending a sweeping staircase and eyeing your group lasciviously.

[pringerbeam]

     "But of course. I was hoping for another chance to visit after that party you held during the dark time." Answered Thedrin with a bow. "If only we could have met under a festive occasion as then, but duty i suppose is just as good an excuse."

[Asta]

"Indeed" Mave replied, with a slight smile. "And as duty binds so tightly, I imagine you will want to get started in the library as soon as possible. There will be time for the pleasure of company after, if you would all do me the honor of staying for dinner."

[pringerbeam]

     "Yes, I'm sure that we will have plenty of time for entertainment after we have had a chance to look through your library. Speaking of, which way was it again?" Asked Thedrin.

[Asta]

"Just down this hall, follow me please." Mave said, gesturing to the hall in question before beginning down it. After passing a few doors she stopped at one on your right, and opened it into the library.

The room in question contained two small tables with accompanying chairs, a pair of high backed reading chairs that looked particularly comfortable, and several low book shelves with a few rows of books on each. Covering three of the four walls were floor to ceiling shelves rising only about a story in height, a small ladder on a rail ran along these shelves to provide ease of access to the higher rows of books. The fourth wall had a fireplace and above its mantle was a large, well rendered, oil painting of a buxom woman riding a horse completely nude. There was a passing similarity between the woman in the painting, and your host.

"You'll have to forgive me, the books are not organized in any particular manner. It's never been a concern for me you see. I'll send a maid to collect you when supper is ready. I hope you find something of use." Mave commented, somewhat apologetically before leaving you to your research.

To search the library for information, you must do two things:
1. Declare a general subject or specific topic
2. Make an appropriate skill roll

Applicable skills from easiest to hardest are: Applicable knowledge, Perception, and Intelligence

Each round of searches takes about two hours, divided between finding a suitable book and scanning its contents for useful (or not so useful) information. Each member of the party may conduct their own search within each two hour time frame, or assist another to help find a more useful book. Dinner is in roughly four hours.

[pringerbeam]

     Mave gone, Thedrin put his hand on his hips and looked at the bookshelves, his gaze lingering on the painting. "Well I suppose we should get started. I think we should first see if we can learn anything about the ritual the cultists are using to produce the crystals. It might help us figure out who is in league with the MacArtain clan." He said as he walked over to one of the shelves and began to look at the spines.

Knowledge Religion check to research the ritual used to make the crystals.

Rolled 1d20+4 : 8 + 4, total 12

[Oath]

Cecilia worked her way through the library looking for titles that may catch her eye. Focused on the arcane, looking for clues about what the cultists may be doing.

Knowledge Arcana.

Rolled 1d20+8 : 19 + 8, total 27

[Asta]

A few hours of browsing the shelves and reading what you find reveals the following:

Thedrin:
With Rhenri's help you found a thin scholarly book regarding esoteric rituals and crystal spellcraft, emphasis on thin. The text was apparently a copy of a doctoral thesis from the mages academy in Albion, purchased by Mave presumably on a whim. What information it contained relevant to your search was limited by your own understanding of ritualistic spellcraft. None the less it confirmed that luminiferous aether, the potent energies from which spells are drawn, can be crystalized via a catalyst. These catalysts can range widely in form, and can include the life forces of creatures if the caster lacks a moral compass. In the end the thesis seems to have only lent credence to the claims of the lich that his energies were siphoned to create the crystals in the cave.

Cecilia:
Considering your recent encounter with the cultists at the long forgotten shrine of the Crowfather, you decide to examine a thick leather bound tome entitled Aetherum: Mysteries of the Quintessence and the Elementalis Bestiae.
An examination of the text reveals it to be a treatise on the connection between aether and primal beasts. Despite being fairly technical and written over a century ago you are able to glean some useful information from its pages. Primal beasts, according to the tome, are for all intent and purpose sentient and sapient concentrations of pure aether. Their physical forms are coalesced by the collective unconscious of the people that believe in their existence. Simply put, they are pure magic given form by mass belief or worship. The theory is corroborated by your own experience and the words of the Crowfather, your act of "worship" by delivering his symbol to the altar gave him enough "power" to manifest properly before you. If a primal falls out of regular worship, they slowly lose their power and being until they return to the aether of which they are formed.
The treatise also posits that with sufficient aether channeled from an outside source, it should be theoretically possible to influence a primal beast in various ways. This idea though is purely academic, as primals are elusive and mercurial beings that rarely interact with mortals, thus it has never been tested. Not to mention that attempting to do so may incur the wrath of a being which exists outside the bounds of mortal power.

Scathach:
Not being much of an academic, Scathach spent her time perusing the library for anything that seemed to "jump out at her" as she put it. In the end, she only managed to find a small book of genealogy regarding the nobles of Aite Aerd. The passage regarding the Canann clan was woefully scant, but there was a bit mentioning their allying with the Marr clan during the War of the Wolves.

[pringerbeam]

     Thedrin set the book down on his chest as he reclined in one of the chairs with his feet up and looked up at the painting yet again. The research was extremely tedious and he found his mind constantly wandering every time he tried to get more than a paragraph into the dull books. He kept staring at the panting, wondering if it was Mave or one of her ancestors and just how accurate it must be. He let out a loud yawn before returning to the book he had picked out in an attempt to figure out of there was something special about the lich that had made the cultists choose to try and use it for the ritual.

Knowledge Religion to see what would make the best catalyst targets for the ritual for crystallized aether.

Rolled 1d20+4 : 4 + 4, total 8

[Oath]

Intrigued by the primal beasts, Cecilia sought to seek mentions of similar things across the magical planes, as it might lead to a better idea of what she's dealing with.

Knowledge Planes:

Rolled 1d20+8 : 3 + 8, total 11

[Throndir]

Much like Scathach, Rhenri was never well-versed with any book learnings. The few academics she was taught, if it could be called academics, were related with the various martial disciplines instead. So, just like her fellow marksman, she looked around the library looking for anything that could be of interest to share with either Cecilia or Thedrin.

Perception 1d20+7 : 1 + 7, total 8

[Asta]

Your continued research proves less fruitful as time goes on, revealing nothing of note. Before long a gentle knock on the library door heralds the arrival of a maid coming to collect you for dinner.

Awaiting you in the lavish dining room is an impressive spread of sumptuous dishes as well as your host, who seems to be enjoying the fact she has company.

"Please, take a seat and enjoy. I hope my library proved useful?"

[pringerbeam]

     "It was most helpful." Replied Thedrin as he began to tuck into the appetizers. "I belive we have made good progress on our research into this mysterious threat. I must say though, I'm surprised that more clans were not as forthcoming with aid as yourself. An unknown cult manages to set about on some nefarious task and yet only a few houses seemed willing to assist us."