Goriel and beyond, part 3

[Jack Rothwell]

Tamina looked at the cliffs and immediately caught onto the idea. She clasped her hands to her chest and jumped up and down excitedly.

"Ooh! Ooh! Let me! Let me! I can get 'em! Quiet like a silka in an underbush!"

[Alberich]

Struck by the terrifying thought that he had to be the voice of restraint and moderation in this band, Udo said - "Better to get around them if we can. If we just slaughter them all...they might suspect we're here. Before we get to the mine and find the man we're after."

[OOC: I should be clear, if I wasn't, that the gate leads to the well-patrolled and guarded land where the mine is located, not directly to the mine entrance itself. But of course this land is mountainous and uneven, so that if they can reach it, they can sneak around there.]

[Graybeard]

If there was one thing that Sister Rose had not been expecting in Goriel, it was that the peculiar social conventions of the place would lead to Lillith, of all people, saying something that made her, Rose, blush.

It took a little while for her to get a response out. "Um ... er ... well ... The whole idea of a getera, if I understand it correctly, is someone who does what is pleasing to the people she serves. There are limits on that, as in, don't hurt the getera, but other than that ... well, it's no one else's business what that means." The blush deepened slightly. "When the getera Kirassia joined my hu-- your fa-- Argus and me last night, she gave us wonderful massages, and gentle, pleasant, helpful conversation, and that was plenty. I'd be surprised if Brad would go in for anything more, but by now you'd know better than I."

The blush faded, and she got serious for a moment. "You've been very good for him, I hope you know."

-----------

The selfsame Brad was leading the way into the astrologer's lair, to find it rather different than what he'd been expecting.

Truthfully, he hadn't been sure what to expect. However, it would have the general shape of what one might term a "multi-sensory" experience, with incense in the air, dancing lights playing on a darkened ceiling in patterns suggesting the dance of the planets, odd background sound that one might term the "music of the spheres," and so on. It would all be presided over by a decidedly unconventional-looking fellow, probably with a graying beard and thick glasses, wearing robes adorned with stars and planets and other heavenly bodies.

What this shop actually contained, by contrast, was one small, vulpine-looking man with his dark hair slicked back, in the usual clothes of Goriel. He sat behind a desk with what looked like display cases on either side, although Brad couldn't (yet) see what the cases held. The whole thing gave the impression of a small-scale art dealership rather than an establishment dedicated to the occult.

"Welcome to 'Written in the Stars,'" the man said, in a voice that sounded more like a salesman trying to drum up business (possibly, Brad reflected, with a minor overtone of pimp) than a "certified astrologer," whatever that was. "What can I do for you young gentlemen? Anything to make your evening more enjoyable through astrology?" He might or might not have winked.

[Alberich]

Tim bit his cheeks - of course these filthy heathens would not only be superstitious, but turn their superstitions to lecherous uses before any other. They probably gobbled mandrake root to make themselves virile.

It was for Brad to get the relevant conversation going, to try to help their mission out, and he did so, feeling the slightest impatience with his companions who weren't taking that initiative. While he was still an eager man to please, he found himself bridling a little at Eli's abrasive ways - and wondering, just a little, why Tim wasn't.

"Good evening, good sir," he said. "Well, we do have an interest in, in the days we live in. Not just ourselves but in general. We've heard there may be momentous things written in the stars for the days and months to come - and so we're here to learn about that, if there are special days to watch for, or events in the heavens that would be marvels to see."

[Graybeard]

The astrologer gave Brad a puzzled look, then shrugged his shoulders. "You're serious, aren't you? Well, hang on a second." He reached into one of the display cases and extracted an armillary sphere.

"Hmmmm ... Not much special going on at the moment," he said. "The moon is in the Purple Dragon's house, and Jupiter is aligning with Mars in the House of the Titmoth. Nothing very exciting about either of those. We just passed summer solstice about two weeks ago --" [OOC: This would actually be true in game time as well as, more coincidentally, real time; the game started at the beginning of planting season, and we've progressed roughly two months since then -- /OOC] "so the sun won't be going anywhere exciting for a while yet. Ah, here's a minor thing: Saturn and Venus are in conjunction in the House of the Mage, with Saturn ascending, which says an old man may be finding love." He smirked. "If he hasn't already, it can be arranged. Otherwise it's a very quiet sky. Is there something in particular that you're looking for?"

[Alberich]

For some reason, Tim found himself longing to be back home in Umbertiel, celebrating the evening with honest companions and a keg of good Veracian beer. But he wasn't, he was here, and he was low on clever and subtle inspirations --

"Is there, ah, anything up in the sky about to, you know, converge? Get together, sort of thing?"

[Drannin]

"...So do you think you can keep an eye out?" Argus finished.

Harker nodded. "I'll hang around the compound several times each day. If I find a message, I'll give it to you immediately."

"Thanks, Harker. So, have you learned anything?"

"Lots, but I'm not so sure how much would actually be useful to you. I know which clans hate each other and why, but not much about Blaise. He musta just ghosted through town."

"Or had friends," Argus pointed out.

"Yeah. But you've given me some more to go on. I'd go investigate this mine myself, but sounds like you want me here."

Argus hesitated, then nodded slowly. "Yes. I'd like you to keep your own ear to the ground and be there in case Desiree needs some help. If you can, find out more about those assassins. That museum robbery bothers me too. Something about it felt off... maybe the lingering traces of magic in the air, I don't know..."

Harker nodded slowly. "I might have an angle on the museum thing. I'll get back to you." Another hesitation. "Boss... about Eli..."

"I know," Argus sighed. "Everyone's noticed it. He's behaving erraticly. I hope to the weave it's not anything sinister, but just the effect on a young man thrust into the wide world. Coupled with his break-up with Desiree..."

"It started before that," Harker said grimly. "Boss. Face it. You're dodging the word. We all are. But the way things are going, Eli might damn well be turning into an errant. I don't know how the mechanics work on that, but it could just be true."

Argus looked away, thankful that their room had some privacy, and for his jamming cube. "I know, Harker. I hope Eli's just going through, I don't know, some sort of phase of his life, and he'll pull through it. But I don't like the look in his eyes, these days. And I don't trust him. Not anymore."

[Jack Rothwell]

Eli stood staring at the cabinets that lined the room with more interest than Brad's clumsy attempt to get information. He made a mental note to take a harsher tone with the astrologer if he didn't answer Tim's question directly.

The trinkets seemed harmless enough, stones, interwoven metal, powders and poultices, that sort of thing, certainly nothing to interest Fucilious or waste time coming back for at a later date. Eli crossed his arms and waited.

................

"oooooOOOOoooooh! I get it!" Tamina exclaimed, shouldering the rope and stiffling a giggle at her responsibility.

"Can spider m' way up, can spy the men too! N' don't worry, be quiet, tie the rope up." With that the kobold pulled off her gloves and boots and began to scrabble up the cliff.

The surface was craggy, and still slippery thanks to the rainfall the night before, but the kobold made steady progress, and with a stealth which had been learned through spending nearly her entire life hunting and travelling through the jungle undergrowth.

OOC If anyone wants to through some some adversity Tamina's way go right ahead. I'll get her up on my next post./OOC

[Graybeard]

"Is there, ah, anything up in the sky about to, you know, converge? Get together, sort of thing?"

The astrologer looked puzzled again, but then enlightenment dawned. "Ah. You're not from around here, are you gents? The technical term --" if there was irony about an astrologer discussing "technical terms," he didn't show it -- "is 'conjunction,' not 'convergence.' Let me check something out." He fiddled with the armillary for a few seconds. "Aha, just as I thought. Jupiter and Mars are just now coming into conjunction in the House of the Titmoth. That's a little unusual, the Titmoth is a minor house on the zodiac between the Hero and the Northern Troll, planets don't spend much time passing through there. It won't last very long, what with Mars direct and Jupiter in retrograde. The standard interpretation would be that powerful men are getting together to practice a strange religion." He snickered. "Don't read much into that, though. If you hang around this city for a while, you'll figure out soon enough that all of the religions here are strange." The astrologer apparently wasn't a local either.

[Alberich]

"Aha, just as I thought. Jupiter and Mars are just now coming into conjunction in the House of the Titmoth. That's a little unusual, the Titmoth is a minor house on the zodiac between the Hero and the Northern Troll, planets don't spend much time passing through there. It won't last very long, what with Mars direct and Jupiter in retrograde. The standard interpretation would be that powerful men are getting together to practice a strange religion."

"Still interesting though," replied Tim, his face and tone showing he wasn't offended by the "strange religions" remark (though he suspected this astrologer was just as much a heathen himself, with perhaps not so much room to talk). "When you say 'just now,' do you mean, like, now now?"

Brad added, "And how long is 'not very long?'" - he thought Rose would want to know that.