Book 1, Part 3: Investigating the Fires

[ripleycat]

During the now-infamous Night of Ashes, numerous buildings all across Kintargo burned to the ground. The Silver City is a heavily built-up place, it is true, and certainly no stranger to fires, but these were obviously and immediately different, and sinister. Despite the government's thin and hollow remarks about tragedy and rebuilding, consensus among any citizens with half a brain is that the buildings (and many of their occupants) were specifically targeted by Barzillai Thrune as dens of sedition. If they were, then a closer investigation of the remnants might yield useful intelligence and resources for those fighting back against Thrune's tightening grasp. Who, where, how, and why the blazes began, for one.

Many of the Silver Ravens and their past and present allies were personally affected by the terrible fires. Some even numbered among Thrune's targets that night. Looking into the fires might also lay some demons to rest, and provide a degree of closure.

This is certainly the case for Rexus and Vendalfek, who have joined the more "active" Ravens and their associates on a crisp autumn morning to venture out and see what remains of Thrune's arson, the little dragon wrapped around the nobleman's shoulders like an invisible and chatty scarf. They wait near the gates of the Greens, the exclusive walled enclave of Kintargo's absolute elite, the wealthy clans who make up the self-titled "Court of Coin". The guards here aren't dottari, but retainers of the nobility - today, it's House Vashnarstill's gaudy pikemen in their faintly ridiculous "Arcadian" dress that has precious little to do with anything anyone actually wears on the distant continent.

The targets of the Night of Ashes included every corner of Kintargo and every level of society, from the dockyards and slums to the highest of the high, from loud, obvious rabble-rousers to humble family businesses and homes. With this investigation being at least partly a personal plea for help from Rexus, the ruins of the Victocora estate seem the obvious place to begin.

"I've tried to do this myself several times, but in the early days, Thrune's patrols buzzed around the grounds like flies. I could never get close enough to do any good. By the time I could venture close, it felt rather fruitless... no doubt the looters have been well-sated by now. I shouldn't expect we'll be fortunate enough to find much. Even if there aren't treasures and memories left, I'm hopeful we can at least learn something."

"Th-... They can't have died in vain. I won't allow it." Rexus is still holding it together, but the threads are thin and stretched.

"And of course, we were hardly alone in suffering from that night of horror. I've sorted through the rumors as... as best I could. The flames seem to have struck indiscriminately, almost wildly, but I know that's a wretched disguise, a cover story. They were all threats, thorns in Thrune's side, potential foes and rallying points, keepers of secrets like my parents. Professor Mercin's little school, for instance. Hardly a threat to anyone, but he taught all manner of people to think there, and oh, Thrune can't have that."

"A few of them stand out, or at least puzzle me, and I'd like to take a further look if time allows."

"The Thrashing Badger was apparently more than just a tavern, but a favored gathering place for a number of the Academy teachers who were also members of the Sacred Order of Archivists, as my parents were. It's a faint hope, but I'd like to tug on the lead all the same, and besides-"

"It was home! It was a good place run by good souls!" Rexus's shoulder interjects, and he reaches up to nuzzle Vendalfek in sympathy. "Nobody there deserved any of this, but yes yes, Mr. Rexus is right. They were clever, too. They kept me secret. Maybe there are more secrets? Something to sting the devil-worshippers with."

"The Silver Star burned that night as well, Diva Shensen's famous music shop. It's perilously close to the Opera House, but if we're wise about it, we might be able to take a look without arousing Thrune's guards. Shensen might have been the loudest voice of protest and defiance against House Thrune's injustices. She wielded her fame and her voice like she wielded a blade. There's no mystery why she was targeted, but there are rumors, among others, that she was secretly an acolyte of Sarenrae, and even kept a hidden shrine below her home. I dismissed them before, but we skulk about in a secret shrine to Calistria ourselves..."

"And there's also a group of rowhouses in Villegre, where the flames spread quite badly. Awful shame. It was a lovely neighborhood of lovely people. I might have even accepted the tale of it being an accident, were I still a simple student and not at the center of all this, save that one of them was the home of a woman named Elena Lavigne, a name that cropped up a few times in the handful of my mother's correspondence that isn't ashes now. Ms. Lavigne was apparently an organizer of some reputation, who was agitating for a labor union for spellcasters and magical crafters, and had cast quite a wide net in her efforts. Ms Crissali was familiar with her as well, when I asked around. Very much someone Thrune would see as trouble. I'd like to see if we can't confirm that."

"Well, um, onward, I guess. So long as we're not fools about it, the Greens shouldn't give us too much trouble. I'm a known quantity, and the neighbors are mostly the sorts to glare and whisper, so long as you don't touch their things."

 

[Toraka_Stormheart]

Title

Temperance - Character Sheet

---

AC: 19 Fort: +6 Ref: +10 Will: +4

HP: 24/24 Rebel Points: 2/3 | Perception: +6

Ammunition: 20/20 (40 Reserve) | Alchemy PreparedAlchemical Cartridges: 20 | ConditionsNone

---

One more task. Still don't know how you changed one more night to one more task, but here we are. Sighing softly to herself, Temperance followed towards the rear of Rexus's entourage. Her familiar rifle slung over her shoulder, the tiefling was sporting the results of her recent trip to the Devil's Threads. Trading in her ensemble of reds and crimsons, the pitborn now opted for a more natural, dark brown leather longcoat, her tail peeking out underneath it as she moved. Underneath, blues and whites adorned her short form, giving her a still well dressed but less ostentatious look.

Stretching her neck and back as they paused, the tiefling listened to Rexus and Vendelfek relate the information, drinking it in with slightly pouting lips. Unable to help herself, her thoughts veered off as she took a glance at those she was with. The cloaked Deadman caught her eye first, seeing how he was standing there trying to figure out his purpose...and how that purpose could be smashed. Then to Star, the younger tiefling who she herself could see a few parallels, if not at first glance. Then to Kyla, rounding out the trio of tieflings as she stood, utterly nonplussed at her size, dressed without concern for fashion or perception. Rounding about, she caught Maria flitting about, trying to be helpful in her own way. Finally, the tiefling glanced to Kjersti, the tall one who convinced her to stick around just a bit longer...a few times now.

"Let's not waste more time than needed, then. Lead the way?"  Her boots clicked lightly on the stonework as she walked with the procession, eyes blinking as she drank in the state of the burned-down estate. Sighing, Temperance hopped into the rubble with a huff, her yellow eyes scanning the surroundings for anything noteworthy...

 

 

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[MicZeSeraphin]

Bequanite HP: 30/30 AC: 18 Fort: +7 Ref: +6 Will: +7 Spell DC: 18 Speed: 25ft. Per: +5

Trained: Deception +8, Diplomacy +8, Intimidation +8, Lore: Hell +4, Nature +5, Performance +8, Religion +5 Languages: Common, Gnomish, Sylvan Spellslots: Lvl 1: 3/3 Focus Points: 3/3 Rebel Points: 1

Bequanite had been pretty quiet for a long time. The burning of homes was what had prompted them to flee their hometown in the first place. Getting confronted with it here once more was quite a lot. But if they fled this place too where would they go? Asmodeus seemed to have pawns on the whole planet and Barzillai seemed to be a big one too. No, running away was not an option, at least not a realistic one.

It was far more practical to excise the cancerous cells of a body rather than travel to the next organ. Unfortunately for Thrune Bequanite wasn't really proficient in medicine so the excision might get a bit... bloody.

"Yes, you are more knowledgeable about this city than me Mr. Rexus. Is there any of these destinations you feel we should visit sooner rather than later?"

 

[Mister Doctor]

  

Dead Guy - Character Sheet

---

KAC: 18/17 Fort: +8 Ref: +4 Will: +5
HP: 23/23 THP: 0/4 Hero: 1/3 | Perception: +5

---

There was a slight choked sound from the corpse as Rexus laid out their investigation targets, as though it were drawing in breath to say something, but the moment passed and the corpse did not speak. It was still dressed in the awful rags it had sported for the length of its association with this small gang of would-be rebels. If it had other clothing it never changed into them. Then again, dressing up a rotting cut of beef with a fancy sauce would not really do much to fix the underlying problem.

 

[Fletcher]

Kjersti Volden

AC: 19 | Fort: +8 | Ref: +4 | Will: +7
HP: 24/24 | Focus: 0/1 | Hero: 0/3 | Perception: +5
ConditionsNone

---

After some persuasion, Kjersti gave in to the idea of heading right back out into the city. Since it seemed unlikely that anyone was going to come down upon the community for the loss of some greedy mercenaries in the salt pit, and it was promised that they wouldn't try to get into any trouble today - especially the violent, attention-grabbing type - she relented. The reason for the reluctance was the note. Hidden within the bouquet of roses was a little note from none other than the Rose of Kintargo (showy, but perhaps a bit overdramatic). Kjersti shared with the others his encouragement to save their energies, continue working from the shadows, building their contacts and allies, etc... because he feared that if any one of them should extend too far, Thrune could find and crush the whole lot of them, ruining whatever progress they had achieved.

Of course, it was hard to say what progress any of the other organizations had achieved, compared to their own. But in this case, they were following up on a now-cold event. Maybe the leads were cold as well, but at least the patrols had died down and the "investigations" were concluded. If there was anything to be found, it was free and safe (safer, at least). Nonetheless, she carried her bit hammer in the way one might bring a walking stick - albeit one that makes an ominous and dangerous clunk every time it strikes the pavestones.

She had also taken the advice of Temperance and Rexus (while feigning a little bit of insult at the insinuation) and some of that silver with her to their recommended clothier, returning in something not terribly different than her prior garb, just cleaner. And bluer. Her hands and forearms were still wrapped beneath those duster-gauntlets and her heavy boots weren't going to change, of course, but she appeared mildly more appropriate to the task at hand. Her hair didn't survive the trip, though. Rexus' people had her practically strapped to a chair to make the wild mess of it into something befitting (their opinion) someone who was allowed into the upper quarters of Kintargo. She should never had told them where they were going.

"I know I been askin' a lot," she quietly says to Temperance along the way. "An' I ain't got the time 'vested in you to be doin' so... but for what it's worth, thank you all the same." The farmgirl had silvers left over from the trip and presses them into the tiefling's hand, by way of recompense for the valuable ammunition she's spent so far on their endeavors. "I think the little'un takes a shinin' to you," she adds, off topic.

Once at the Victocora estate, Kjersti picks an area of the burnt-out husk that affords her a good view of incoming traffic, potential patrols, etc. Good to know if someone was coming as soon as possible... and the ones with sharper eyes could do the sharper looking.

[ccanary]

Maria Callus

Maria Callus — Human Monk (medic)

Heading to Rexus' home

"Yes Ma'am," she replied to Temperance with a friendly smile.

"Kjersti's right, we do owe you our thanks. And, well, I hope we can pay it back properly some time soon." But for now it was Rexus they needed to support most urgently, so they walked with the scholar and the rest to his ruined family estate.

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[ripleycat]

"We shouldn't come across any bodies. Gods above, I hope not..." Rexus stammers. "I-I don't just mean here, but in general. Thrune's lackeys have made a great noise about how all the poor souls caught in the Night of Ashes have been gathered and laid to rest. Under good Asmodean rites, of course. That means cremation. For public health and goodwill, nothing more." The nobleman's stare fixes rather pointedly on their unliving companion during the black half-joke.

He considers Beqanite's question and ultimately answers with a shake of his head. "I don't know that time is still a factor. The looters have long since come and gone, I'm sure. I doubt we'll find many valuables. For closure and clues, one is as good as another. The Silver Star, then the Badger, then the Lavigne residence last would at least keep us from blistered feet and wandering back and forth across half the city."

 

For those who’ve never been inside, the Greens is a marvel, a wonderland, a confection. The soaring manors even look a little like layer cakes. The broad, brick-lined main boulevard winds languidly up a rolling hill, providing vistas of the silver-dappled waters of the river and sea. The noble quarter even has its own miniature bureaucracy, a collection of record keepers and treasuries and even their own meeting hall, the wryly named “Counting House”. You pass by the affluent and exclusive Whitegate Market, trading in the trappings of the elite. Art and jewels, gold and silver, beautiful clothing, the finest food and drink, all seemingly unbothered by the troubles of the rest of the city. Few merchants bother with price tags or labels. If one must ask, one can’t afford it.

Lantana Park isn't a "park" at all, not in the way outsiders would envision. A sprawling spread of beautiful, intricate greenery that flows through the whole district. Almost everything that isn’t owned by one of the estates is parkland, kept up for the enjoyment of the nobility; flowing creeks and placid ponds, burbling fountains surrounded by well-tended thickets of trees making intricate miniature woodlands, topiaries, sculpture, and all the entertainments and novelties one would expect from a place where money was no object at all.

The grand estates and their grounds sit like tiny castles in tiny fiefs, competing with their neighbors for pomp and elegance and grandeur from behind walled gardens. The lone exception sits in the northwest corner, a ragged scar on a beautiful face.

The Victocora estate is a charred, sprawling warren of blackened rubble and timbers. A lily pond in the front part of the grounds is strangely untouched, still surrounded by green grass and aquatic flowers. A few hardy fish and frogs still greet new guests. Rexus takes a deep breath and tries to steel himself as they pass through the outer gate. "Intact, our home looked rather like... the Jarvis Manor, there, across the avenue and two doors down. That's a fair match, save our roof tiles were teal-blue and the kitchen was fully detached and well off on the grounds. Risk of fire, of course." The nobleman is throwing some deeply bitter wit around this morning.

According to Rexus, the estate was once a fine-looking three-story manor house, with a small stables and a supply shed in the space behind the main house. None have survived the attention of Thrune's arsonists. The top two stories have collapsed in on themselves, creating an eerie, unstable labyrinth out of the toppled ruins and the bits of the bottom floor that remain stubbornly upright. Nobody has bothered to clean up the grounds. Scraps and debris are still littered everywhere. Glints of metal and glass fixtures that survived the fire, charred paper from the Victocora's extensive library blowing around like drifts of snow. In places, the ash is knee high, and the slightest touch or brush against a wall coats everything with a layer of char and filth. Searching through will not be simple.

The condition of the place makes some questions difficult or impossible to answer, but Temperance can pick out a few things regarding the fire itself. One, it was likely a conventional fire. She spies nothing that would indicate explosives or blackpowder were involved, nor magic. The Thrunes, being on the shortlist for the most powerful mortal family on Golarion, have access to incredible resources. The estate could have been reduced to a smoking crater, or melted to slag, or dropped into the Astral Sea, for that matter. The house is certainly a ruin, but it looks much like any building after a bad fire. That’s intentional, no doubt. Thrune’s government has steadfastly maintained the fiction that the Night of Ashes was a series of terrible accidents, no matter how few people actually believe it.

Where exactly the fire started is unclear, given the two stories worth of rubble that have collapsed on everything. There are a couple of spots where the charring is especially heavy. The outbuildings like the kitchen and stables were fired separately - the grounds between them and the manor are unmarred.

 

[Mister Doctor]

Dead Guy - Character Sheet

---

KAC: 18/17 Fort: +8 Ref: +4 Will: +5
HP: 23/23 THP: 0/4 Hero: 1/3 | Perception: +5

---

If the corpse took exception to Rexus's joke, or even registered it at all, nothing showed on its ruin of a face. The hat of disguise found earlier in this modest rebellion served it well enough in this higher end district, though the corpse had to be instructed to not simply disguise itself as the first person its eyes fell upon. Having an oversized Beqanite placidly following the normal-sized Beqanite would only defeat the purpose of disguising the corpse.

A bit of work from the others got it to look like a burly but otherwise bland laborer of some stripe. Although the false eye hiding the gaping orbit of the burned side of its face had a tendency to noticeably lag behind the movements of the other. However, as soon as they were on the grounds of what remained of the Victocora estate. The corpse dropped its disguise. Horribly, its true face looked like it belonged among the burnt out wreckage.

It stepped up next to Rexus, the heavy weight of its mostly intact hand falling on the small man's shoulder in what passed for a comforting gesture from the corpse. When the sole glassy eye of the corpse turned on Rexus there was that vaguely worrying spark of lucidity that seemed to come an go from the corpse. Something about the situation was managing to get through to it. "Hhhrrrrrkh-can ssstaaay. Kgh-I gooo."

[Toraka_Stormheart]

Title

Temperance - Character Sheet

---

AC: 19 Fort: +6 Ref: +10 Will: +4

HP: 24/24 Rebel Points: 2/3 | Perception: +6

Ammunition: 20/20 (40 Reserve) | Alchemy PreparedAlchemical Cartridges: 20 | ConditionsNone

---

Feeling the firmness of the silver pressed into her hand, the blonde tiefling paused, glancing down at where their hands met. Taking her other hand, she pushed the silvers back. "After all this. One thing at a time right?" Nodding to Kjersti and Maria, Temperance offered the faintest of smirks before descending into the ruined Victocora estate.

---

Over the next several moments the others would find Temperance moving through the ashen grounds, rubbing some of the soot between her fingers as she moved. Her sinuous tail flicked out from beneath her longcoat as she moved, boots sifting through ash as she perused. After a while she seemed to follow a path into the back grounds...to each of the outbuildings, and then circling back, several times.

Adjusting her glasses, the tiefling would go back to the others, clearing her throat. "Well, no direct evidence found, but there's enough circumstantials. This was a regular fire that transpired here..no accelerants. A happy little accident consistent with the Thrune narrative.

"So what we have here is Loup's Law of Creative Anomalies...if it looks perfect, it probably isn't. If it were an accident, this whole property would be torched...note the grounds untouched. Each building was independently set ablaze...no happy little accident."

Crossing her arms under her chest, the tiefling shrugged, letting them mull over her findings.

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Edited July 30, 2023 by Toraka_Stormheart (see edit history)

[ccanary]

Maria Callus

Maria Callus — Human Monk (medic)

At Rexus' home

She really didn't have much to contribute. Not to this phase of their investigation. Apart from moral support for Rexus, who clearly needed it, Maria was silent. Just a comforting hand on the scholar's shoulder to let him know he was with friends. She bristled when Deadman did the same thing, though less comforting (though a sliver of self doubt that always lingered in the back of her mind asked, 'was it really any worse than her own efforts to comfort Rexus?').

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[Fletcher]

Kjersti Volden

AC: 19 | Fort: +8 | Ref: +4 | Will: +7
HP: 24/24 | Focus: 0/1 | Hero: 0/3 | Perception: +5
ConditionsNone

---

"Well... I s'pose," Kjersti answers, allowing Temperance to press the purse back into her hand. She can't help but watch the tiefling for a few moments as she turns and moves into the wreck. Then shrugging, she tucks the silver back into her belt and sets out through the mansion's corpse.

While they start picking through the burnt out ruin of Rexus' childhood home, the farmgirl is briefly distracted by the whole row of estates and how unfathomably different they are from the good old homestead that she came from. Some people just had so much excess they didn't have any other use for it but unnecessary decor. She sighs and turns back to the burned out-buildings and heads toward what remained of the stables.

Toeing into the ashes and rubble, Kjersti reminisces about their cell meeting in a secret, hollowed-out chamber beneath the floorboards of the family stable. Seeking anywhere that the dirt turns to wood paneling is her first goal, and otherwise any places that feel cooler at the group then the rest - the chill of an underground chamber ventilating.

Edited August 1, 2023 by Fletcher (see edit history)

[ripleycat]

Rexus is somewhat shocked by the corpse's attempt at comforting him, but manages a "N-no, no. It's best we stay together. I'm not alright, but I can cope." He doesn't jump nearly as much when Maria adds her support on his other shoulder. "I'm not alone, in this or in anything else. I need reminding from time to time, I guess."

Despite their good intentions, Kjersti and the deadman's sooty treks through the halls uncover no secret passages. The farmgirl finds a few spots where the wood floor has survived, and nearly goes pitching through as the charred planks give way under her feet, but she ends up waist deep in nothing more incriminating than a root cellar near the back of the house.

Temperance's examination of the darker, heavily burned areas eventually leads to a grim but logical deduction - the ignition spots are too widely and evenly spaced for chance alone. The blaze likely started as multiple fires, set by multiple hands. It explains why the Victocoras were unable to escape the flames, despite their manor's sturdiness and size. They were likely surrounded, trapped inside by a mob of Thrune's killers.

Amidst the melted fixtures and blackened paintings that line the halls, Maria stumbles upon a potential lead, almost literally. Kicking through an ash pile while searching around, her foot hits something solid. After a bit of digging that stains her hands black, it turns out to be an iron safe, mid-sized, about three feet square, half-crashed through what's left of the floor. It remains locked, and perhaps sealed, if there's any luck to be had.

"It's not mine... I don't recognize it. To have tumbled down like this, it must have been upstairs in a private room, though. An office or study?" Rexus frowns as he regards the safe.

[ccanary]

Maria Callus

Maria Callus — Human Monk (medic)

At Rexus' home

"Where it comes from is an interesting question of course. But even more interesting is, do you have a key? Or a combination or ... a way to open it?"

She pauses and looks at Kjersti, holding up a finger.

"Not a hammer! Not unless we can't figure another way in. Is anyone adept at opening locks? I'm not sure carrying this out of here is a realistic option," she tried to rock the safe in the rubble to get an idea just how heavy it was.

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[pi4t]

Star

AC: 19 (+2 nimble dodge) | Fort: +6 | Ref: +10 | Will: +6
HP: 28/28 | Rebel Points: 1/3 | Perception: +6 | Stealth +7
ConditionsNone

---

"Yeah, I know how ta pick locks," Star answers, looking up from searching the ruins. Her tone is casual, neither embarassed at the admission, nor showing off. She clearly doesn't view her skill as anything special. Then again, among her rungs of society, perhaps it isn't particularly special.

She walks over to the safe, producing a set of lockpicks from one of her many pockets. She kneels down in front of the safe, and - after checking it over for any obvious traps - selects two picks, passes the rest to her tail to hold, and gets to work.

OOC

19 perception to search (if I can still do that?)

24 perception to find traps
26(!) to pick the lock. I was going to say that if I'm at risk of breaking the lock and the platinum key looks like it'll fit I'll back off, but it doesn't look like that's relevant.

 

[ripleycat]

Vendalfek tries to follow the Ravens into the ruins, but his wings billow up huge clouds of ash, and it's a very visible, grey, and disgruntled little dragon who has to go swimming about in the fishpond to clean himself off. He catches and devours a rather impertinent frog to improve his mood.

Star's searchings uncover a few tantalizing bits and hints, but nothing earth-shaking. In what was probably a study, a huge desk sits intact, almost untouched, but the same can't be said for its contents. Letters and documents have burned to ash in the drawers, though a few coins remain unmelted as a consolation prize. "Ironwood, from Sargava! Or, Viridian now, isn't it? A present from a cousin. We laughed when he said it was practically indestructible. Shows what I know."

It takes time to wrestle the safe free, and even more to crack the somewhat battered lock, but in the end, a somewhat strained and sooty Star manages to get the door to creak open.

The contents are simultaneously valuable, mysterious and disappointing.

First off, there’s a platinum key, identical to the one from Rexus’s “inheritance”, the one now sitting in Star's pack, thanks to her light fingers during the protest. The nobleman's brows furrow in deep confusion.

"I... I lost this. Weeks ago, during that ghastly riot after the protests. Tumbled out of a pocket somewhere, probably when those brutes had me cornered... How is it here? Is this some sort of magic at work?"

His expression softens as he turns the key over in his fingers. "I remember playing with this as a child. Supposedly an heirloom, belonged to a grandparent. I was told it unlocked something in the house, and to search for it, a great mystery that I suspect was meant to occupy a precocious child and give my parents some badly needed private time.” He chuckles nostalgically at the memory. “But there must be more to it. I wonder what it does open? Not something in the manor after all, I think.”

More practical, there are some magical scrolls that could be useful to the Silver Ravens, which Rexus gladly hands over to his friends. "By all means, let's put them to good use."

Lastly, there’s a small stack of letters, not all of which have survived the heat as well as the magic documents. Rexus groans when he examines those that have. “They’re encoded, and what’s worse, this is a book cipher.” He shows off one of the pages, which has incomprehensible lines of letters and numbers in place of any sort of words. Despite the grumbles, you can tell the discovery has him excited, and eager to share with his companions.

“The idea is rather simple, and very in-character for the Sacred Order of Archivists. It’s different from the sort of code the Silver Ravens used, the one I'm unraveling in the Wasp Nest. For the Ravens, their security is, er, knowledge. To make heads or tails of their writing, you have to be literate in three somewhat difficult languages and their alphabets. But if you are, then all it takes is the time to translate it into Common. A great deal of time.” He sighs at the vital but tedious work he’s set for himself. “That ‘word’ there is a ‘C’ in Strix, an ‘A’ in Elven, and a ‘T’ in Celestial, and you’ve deciphered “cat”, or what have you.”

“This is quite different.” He pokes his finger at one of the newly found letters. “It’s not a code so much as a key."

"See, look here? ‘56 5 A.’ You could speak every tongue in the planes and it’d do you no good. What you do, is you take a piece of text. It’s almost always a book, something long enough to have enough words to make your messages from. You take that book, and you go to page 56, line 5, and write out the first word that starts with ‘A’. And onto the next one, here… ‘97 13 C’. Anyone can translate the message, but only if they’ve got the same book. The same edition of the same book, even.”

“You can only communicate with someone who’s got that exact copy of your key-book, so normally you'd only see this sort of code used with a single partner, or a very tiny group. Practicality takes over… unless, say, you’re an organization dedicated to collecting banned books, and everyone involved has a library…” Rexus allows himself a smile before waving an exasperated hand towards the pile of ashes that was once the Victocora library. “It’s clever, it’s damned clever. But it doesn’t do us a lick of good. It could be anything, and even if we did know which version of which book it was, we’d have to find a copy. Given the whole purpose of the Sacred Order, that’s probably far from easy.”

“Something to ponder and poke at later, but… we should move on soon. This becomes less bearable with every moment, and I think we’ve recovered what we can. The Silver Star is closest. That's quite literally your neighborhood, as I understand, Ms. Argentbloom?”

OOC

Since time's not an issue here, we can assume Rexus IDs the scrolls if a PC doesn't. They are scrolls of Comprehend Language, Synchronize, Sanctuary and Shillelagh. Star also finds 3 sp in the desk.

 

Edited August 6, 2023 by ripleycat (see edit history)