February 17th: Marblebush

Araiguna wrote:*wispers out of hearing range of z: "Hmm.. you guys seem to have picked up some rather unsociable friends along the way. Any advice on how to not make him angry?"

Rory harumphs at this. "If you care, I'd avoid talking about your beliefs. That would only make her more 'unsociable'."

looking concerned about the company of his former (and soon to be present) companions Araiguna simply said "good to know." and left the matter at that.

Zeiss goes ask around for information about the ruins.

Spoiler:

Snarg sighs and looks sideways at Z's departing form. "Don't ... exist I suppose. Let's ... let's talk about what we're going to do about this. Who's in charge of this mining town? Have they sent any requests at all to Aluvia?"

"Alright, fair enough. I haven't really asked too many questions. They were people who seemed down on their luck so I decided to help. They've treated me quite well, well minus the uncannyness."

"Hmmm, well, who've you been giving all the stuff to at least?"

"Well, I've been selling it to some scholars from the mage university. they say they're from "The Order". a fancy name for men in dresses i suppose"

Z:
The town is very small, consisting almost entirely of Dwarves. There are unusual marks and breaks in the cobblestone streets and marks on buildings, like they have been damaged in some way. The ruins were found underneath, through, and in the limestone quarry before it was fully mined out.

Zeiss:
You learn that the ruins were very recently discovered, only about a month ago. The town relied on heavy limestone deposits to exist and once they ran out there was no more income flowing in or through the town. There were several attempts to turn the town into a trade town but it just did not have a good position. Attempts to sell the town failed as well. The Kingdom offered to pay for relocation costs but the locals were stubborn, and insisted on staying at their home. They were, as such, overjoyed when Araiguna was able to procure items of such value from the ruins.

*Z examines the cracks more closely.*

Spoiler:

"The ... Order? Oooohhhhh..." Snarg takes a step back. "Well, uh, if they've got an interest in this area, they might ... not want us around." He looks around the group nervously.

Zeiss comes back to the group and tells them what he learned.

"It doesn't look like we will be able to convince them to leave this town... unless we find something for them to mine. Which I doubt. But since these ruins seem to have artifacts of value, I suggest we all go there..."

Spoiler:

"Ah! I feel dumb... well, I guess that shows you my general disinterest in religion, temples, ANCIENT history, and the like. It's all so... useless, But it brings in a pretty penny"
Araiguna smiles at his accomplishment of saving the small mining village.

Snarg of Wildpaw wrote:"The ... Order? Oooohhhhh..." Snarg takes a step back. "Well, uh, if they've got an interest in this area, they might ... not want us around." He looks around the group nervously.

"If they want to make us leave, they can try. We're in a nation that refuted their accusations, they can't do anything."

"Well, If you plan on making enemies (or already have made enemies) of the order I don't mind tagging along, but if you bring it up here I doubt they will take kindly to you considering the Order is who has been paying for most of the treasure I find in the ruins"

Z:
If you had to guess, these look like marks from beast attacks.

"They aren't willing to leave? I ... can understand why they wouldn't want to leave, believe me. There's probably a lot of people who don't want to just pack up and leave a place they've called home for a while. Not taking a relocation package, unless it was terrible, seems kind of ... odd.

Like I said, I can't see some old ruins being their source of income for the town unless there's something REALLY valuable around there. Don't want to give them some false hope that it will save them for long. I'm curious as to what the think." He thinks for a moment and then bounds off.

Spoiler:

*Z wanders back toward the group looking very confused. She encoungers Snarg on the way there and motions for him to follow her.*

"Come.. look at this..."

"Oh, er, 'kay. What's up?" Snarg's ears turn forward curiously.

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

*Z points out the strange markings.*

"These were made by an animal... No one is talking about that though..."

"Well, now is as good of a time as any to figure out what exactly is going on here."

Spoiler:

Snarg:
First, the marks. They are clearly made by a Tusker, but one much smaller then any you've ever seen before, which is very, very odd. It also looks like it was a magical beast, which is even more odd since, to your knowledge, Tuskers are not magical beasts.

The townsfolk strike you as stubborn, typically Dwarvish really. You also hear (far, far too much) about how much history and background went into this town and how their fathers lived here and THEIR fathers lived here and so on and so on. They do not seem to care about a reasonable source of income, and feel they can poach the forest if it really comes down to it.

Snarg leans over as he examines the markings. "Well, I can tell you this. It's definitely a Tusker, but it's very small for one. It also appears to be somewhat magical, which is even more weird since Tusker are not magical by nature." He adjusts himself back to a standing position. "Pretty strange stuff here. Araiguna, do you know anything about this? Has anyone spotted anything like a Tusker?"

"Not that I'm aware of... this is quite odd. Although I wouldn't be surprised if the tusker ends up being the same one we met in that cave. He could talk and seemed rather intelligent. It is possible that he would know a spell or two"

What I know about the town:

You are in the town of Marblebush and have been for a little over 5 days now. You were traveling nearby and heard they were having troubles making ends meet, and so visited to see if you could help. You discovered that their quarry had run out of usable stone and they didn't have much else to trade, but there were several dangerous ruined areas nearby and in the depths of the quarry. You decided to brave several of these, returning with magical and mundane artifacts that the town could sell at significant profit to universities and benefactors interested in the past, including several Order individuals who now regularly buy. You've been making somewhat regular trips but as of the past 3 days haven't been able to, you're just too damned tired during the daytime and never feel like you get enough sleep. The townsfolk have been a bit odd around you too; they herald you as their hero, but still look at you funny when they think you're not looking. You heard that your old friends from back in the day recently were found in Holtburg and so asked a messenger to send them a letter, thinking they could come help with your dilemma.

"Eh, probably not unless he's doing something real weird. This one's smaller and is actually magical in nature from what I can tell. Just being able to cast spells doesn't make you leave markings like that."