Porthca Landing III: Burned Bridges & Broken Chains

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Tyrius gently put Bookwyrm back in his bag, giving the red scaled egg a gentle pat. "I figured - Rin already knew, and she's trustworthy and I was worried for Bookwyrm," babbled Tyrius, the redhead suddenly realising that he was babbling a little. As he tried to think of something to say to Niradnam that wasn't incoherent blubbering, Tyrius turned to Eliza, "I'm sure yours will turn out just right Eliza, you already take such care of Faust and you've got Tony," said the sorcerer. "You know how to care for them."

Returning his attention back to Niradnam, Tyrius glanced down at Bookwyrm and found himself wishing he'd thought to buy a red scarf to put over the top of Bookwyrm's egg. If only so it wouldn't be so obvious what it was if someone just opened the bag up. "We should check in with the others," said Tyrius in agreement, giving Rin a slightly bigger smile, "Thanks to your friends we've got quite a bit to tell them."
 
"Anything like a wyvern? Well my daughter was a handful that's for sure. Alli always had a mind of her own, not that I discouraged that but she certainly ran rings around me at times." Rin chuckles to herself as she looks back over to Niradnam with a slight tut. "Always so serious and dour. Let them enjoy the process of learning about things Niradnam, if you shut down young ones when they show excitement for things then they will never find their passions. If that becomes raising nipping little beasties so be it." She gestures down to where Egnaro is. "After all, you care about your own little beastie. I'm sure your wyvern will be no different." She shrugs. "Apart from the wings."

The elderly gnome looks to both Tyrius and Eliza with caring, motherly eyes and smiles warmly. "Don't listen to him about having to keep everything inside. Be passionate about things, love and live and enjoy yourself. You will both be wonderful at caring for them I am sure." The gnome holds her arm out for Tyrius to take like before. "Little Tyrry is right, we should check in. Come on lad, you can help an old woman get there. Lead away Niradnam, you grouch."
 
With Rin holding her arm out for Tyrius to help her up, the sorcerer shook his thoughts out of his mind for the moment and gently helped the old druid up onto her feet. Looking around at the courtyard now that he wasn't mildly panicked about Bookwyrm, Tyrius found his thoughts drifting to the last time he'd walked through the corridors. Usually either running almost late to lectures, wandering to the library or returning from a night of tavern hopping. It almost seemed a lifetime ago since he'd left the university and headed back to Wyford.

Paying his respects to Cyne had been the longest he'd been out of Wyford since he graduated, which Tyrius felt a little selfish at the fact that he'd pretty much taken off from Wyford but at the same time he had found he liked travelling. He knew it wasn't all sunshine and roses, old caves filled with mysterious hoards of treasure. Patting the bag he had his diary in, Tyrius wondered how many adventures Rin had had in her long life. But for the moment, he kept quiet aside from one small sentence that passed his lips. "Wonder what the others have been up to."
 
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At the Maestro's suggestion, Valerie nodded eagerly, feeling slightly cheered up from her generosity. "Yes, either of those would be wonderful. If they would be best suited in a tavern, perhaps that would be best." She did not want to voice her concerns over not being allowed back into the school for lessons. The young noble waved to the Maestro as she took her leave. "Have a wonderful day Maestro, and thank you again!"

Valerie looked down to Rin as she reassured her, her smile growing a little more genuine at the elderly gnome's compliments. She nodded to the druid, feeling warmed by her presence. "Thank you Mrs. Rinmerrion for your wise counsel. I promise I'll try not to dwell too much on the past." She smiled a little brighter. "I really do appreciate your sage advice." As the conversation turned to wyvern eggs, Valerie tuned out slightly as she looked down to the ring on her finger. Mateo had been of similar stature to her when she had last seen him, but the boy had barely entered his teenage years then. It was unlikely that he'd have anything to do with their current predicament, but unlikely things did seem to have a habit of occurring lately.

Hearing the conversation turn towards meeting back up with the rest of their friends, Valerie snapped out of her thoughts and nodded. "That would not be a bad idea... I am concerned that I would not be able to reenter the school, however, if I did leave the grounds. I was admitted to discuss the issues with my tuition, and I am sure that the matter has been closed at this point. That would mean that only Eliza, Tyrius, Mr. Niradnam and Mrs. Rinmerrion would be able to return, and it sounds like the situation could be dangerous." Valerie thought to herself for a moment before looking to Niradnam and Rinmerrion. "I know that it is unlikely, but by any chance do either of you know where a student by the name of Mateo Rhitegast would live?"
 
Noon of the Twenty-Eighth Day | Azarad | Balcony:

Niradnam tried to focus on the name Valerie had offered, "Hm ... truthfully I don't often interact with the students unless I've been asked to tutor for some reason, or help one in the library. I could maybe give an idea of what area of dorms they'd be in, but that's still dozens of potential rooms." He shrugged, "If you want to try and find him, we could make the attempt. Otherwise ..." he glanced at Rin, "We could head to my dorm area. I warn it's a bit cramped, especially with so many people, but it should work for a temporary place to discuss a little more freely, depending on what the others report back with."

Leading the group back inside Azarad's maze-like halls, the scholar nodded a few times to professors who passed, many of them looking questioningly at the strange group following behind him. Coming to a simple door, Niradnam unclipped his pin and held it against the lock as a Click! sounded out, the door gently opening. Motioning for the group to enter, they found themselves in a decently sized room. Along one wall was a bed, the sheets straightened and waiting for rest, with a small side table near the head of the bed that had a stack of books piled upon it. One wall was entirely covered in bookshelves, the wooden shelving sagging under the heavy weight of the tomes upon it, a comfortable chair was nearby. Towards the center of the room was a large table covered in maps, books, notes, inks and scattered papers. A few candles were scattered around the room, but most looked hardly used. A simple dresser to the side held Niradnam's spare clothes and equipment, and upon closing the door he began trying to clean up the space.

"Sorry, I wasn't really expecting guests and ... I don't tend to have guests at all," he explained as he tried to clear the table. "Uhm, feel free to sit on the bed, or the chair, even the table if you need to, let me just ... put this away for now." Egnaro jumped onto the bed and sprawled across the pillows licking a paw casually.

Eliza slowly sat down on the bed, resting her staff on her knees as she looked around, "This is ... nice. Thought there'd be more books actually. Uhm, anyway, I should probably work on doing the Sending right? I'll ... Send to Virra, that should work, right?" While Faust made himself comfortable on her lap, the half-orc pulled out her focus and began to work: "Okay so the limit is twenty-five words ... 'We're still on campus, Rin spoke to plants, suspect troublemaker is younger, student of Azarad. Likely makes the monsters, since appears before them. Please respond.'"
 
"A price tag? I dunno, I was thinking we wouldn't really need to--" Virra got no further in her mental message before Mags was at her side and snatching the bag out of her hands. The mystic-come-investigator rolled her eyes. At least Mags was getting into the job at hand. Now, for Virra, it was just a matter of keeping her focused. Along with herself.

The arrival of the goliath was a great help for that. Virra beamed up at him, unintimidated by his size. She had Ander behind her, after all; she might as well have been invincible. "Oh, it's great to meet you too, Larian!" Virra said, sketching a bow to mirror his own. "I'm Virra 'Hopalong' Nickeltooth, and this is Mags, and this is Ander, and this is Terminus." She pointed out each of her companions in order before turning back to the goliath, tucking her hands behind her back as she looked up at him. "That's right, we are looking for a special item," she went on. "In fact, it looked a little bit like --"

She broke off as a certain half-orc's voice invaded her head, relaying a concise message with a lot to unpack in it. Virra made a face. Now, of all times? "A little... bit... like..." she said slowly, all while formulating her mental response at a furious pace. "Hey Eliza. Great. Good to know. Interrogating a guy. Magic seller. Might have supplied the means. Gonna be busy for a few minutes. Love, Virra."

With that done, she perked right up again. "Like this," she announced, grabbing the bag of tricks from Mags's hands and presenting it to the goliath. "I just love little gimmicks like that -- bags that make animals. Such a great party trick, y'know? And so useful." Then she met the shopkeeper's eye. "But animals get a little... boring, don't they?" she said, an impish smile on her face.
 
Noon of the Twenty-Eighth Day | Azarad | The Antique Song:

Larian dipped his head at each person as they were introduced, however for the most part kept his attention on Virra. His eyebrow raised as she seemed to lose her train of thought and wrenching the bag from Magnolia's hands.

The goliath studied Virra's expression for a moment before wearing his own sly smile, "Judging by your gear, you must be 'Adventurers', hm? Yes, I can understand animals getting boring, clearly you've seen and experienced greater, no?" His teeth were on display as he grinned, "Perhaps I have something that will interest you, however I warn ... as with many things, the more unique they are, the more expensive they are." He rubbed his large fingers together, "I have many customers to deal with, and while it may be impolite ... it does not do me well to waste my time on those who merely want to tour the vault, in a sense."

Noon of the Twenty-Eighth Day | Azarad | Niradnam's Dorm Room:


Eliza's focus seemed to come back as she clapped her hands together: "Virra said they may be talking to whoever 'supplied the means'! Hopefully things don't get too out of hand for them ... Does that mean we should focus on trying to find the ... student?" She tapped her chin while Faust squeaked his theories in her ear. "Niradnam ... is there any way you can get access to student lists?"

The scholar paused as he was wedging books back onto his shelf, "Uhm. If I had a good reason, perhaps. Azarad likes to brag about the students they have, but they don't really want to outright give up information on the students, you understand? At least not unless it's like ... they're in trouble with the Foxes or something."

The half-orc nodded, "Yeah ... I can understand that."

Lestone was wandering the small room, pacing back and forth. "I'm not nearly as smart as some of you lot in this room, but what would be considered a good reason? I'm assuming these 'Foxes' or whatever are ... like guards? Enforcers?" He sighed, "I still don't like that the university is willing to risk people getting hurt just to save face. But if they're desperate enough to save face ... what if we start something? Like ... a mutiny I guess." He grinned briefly, "I doubt the students like being cooped up so much, and I imagine some of the teachers want to get it over with. At the very least, do you know where to find the student lists?"

Niradnam narrowed his eyes at Lestone, "Yes ... are you suggesting a distraction or something? Some go in to grab the lists while others cause a small riot? That could end very badly in many ways."

The elemental crossed his arms, "It's sure better than gently stepping around all the time. Look, you've only got one day before your killer headache becomes a risk again, right? Might as well do the most with what time we have."
 
With Niradnam leading the way, Tyrius followed along at Rin’s pace, though he was prone to looking around everywhere he went, keeping only one eye on where Niradnam was. Tyrius was still charmed by the fact he was back in Azarad and the novelty of the fact that he was both there and not having to bust a gut to finish recopying an essay because the parchment had had a Benito related accident involving a bottle of red wine.

As Niradnam showed them inside his room and seemed to get faintly embarrassed if the sudden outbreak of speed tidying was any indication, Tyrius looked at Niradnam’s bookshelves. “It is very nice,” said Tyrius after Eliza had sat down and started working on her spell. Guiding Rin to where she wished to be, Tyrius chose to stand near the bookcase. Not quite leaning on it, but there wasn’t much of a gap between the back of his blue jacket and the shelves.

Once Lestone had volunteered his suggestion, Tyrius gave the man a slight look. He could sympathise that Lestone was just trying to contribute what he could, and being geased to The Sea had probably not been a time to develop plans for stealth and subterfuge, but in the sorcerer’s mind a direct approach such as inciting a riot was doomed to failure.

“Eh, the Foxe Hunters are more akin to an elite guard.” explained Tyrius, “Besides, getting the information is only a first step. Say we did incite a campus riot to serve as a distraction. Who’d do it? Both myself and Eliza have ties to Azarad - our magic is known to them as is our presence back on campus.” Tyrius decided to lay it out bluntly rather than dancing around the problem. “If we start a riot, there’s a high chance it’ll invalidate anything we find. Sure, we might get the student lists. At the same time, we’d also be providing the culprit with a great opportunity to do some damage while the Foxe Hunters try and quell the riot and track down those responsible for inciting it.”

Feeling a little sorry for Lestone after just blasting his idea to bits, Tyrius thought for a moment. “Hmm, could always use money as a sort of incentive. Say a rich investor is developing a new grant and wants to see what the student body is like for the purposes of tailoring support?” Tyrius gave a slight shrug, “Some form of pretext that would allow Niradnam and anyone with him at the time a ‘good reason’ to be looking at student records.”
 
Rin looks over to Valerie as she asks the question, rubbing a hand over her chin for a moment thoughtfully. "The name isn't really familiar my dear and I don't stay with the students when I am here. I do think I might know the boy from sight, given that he would look a lot like you I imagine but that's the most I can offer there I am afraid. If you need to seek him out I am sure that I could find out for you with some of my more regular students?" The elderly gnome shrugs a little but still smiles warmly at the other woman. "Unfortunately I don't teach her full time, so the talks tend to get quite busy."

Wandering back to Niradnam's rooms the gnome casts a beady eye over everything that she can see inside, trying to glean as much information about her protector as possible. However she doesn't choose to rib Niradnam about any of the mess, instead giving him a motherly smile and shooing at his attempts to speed tidy. "Oh nonsense, nonsense lad. I had two children in my house for decades, this is positively spotless. Don't worry yourself in the slightest."

She lets herself be walked by Tyrius over to the bed where she hops up spryly next to Eliza as she conducts the spell. When the half-orc comes back to focus and repeats the message Rin claps happily and pats Eliza encouragingly on the arm, her voice beaming with pride. "Well done Elly, that was a marvelous little spell there. You are such a treasure my dear, such a help." The druid nods in agreement about trying to find the student and looks to the rest of the room for ideas.

When Lestone suggests inciting a student rebellion there is a wild, mischievous glint in her eye that would be immediately recognisable to Niradnam and a devilish grin comes over her face. She quickly glances over to Tyrius as the sorcerer suggests using money and waves his suggest away excitedly. "No my dear lad I don't think that would get their attention. Everyone pays far too much here anyway and the university is positively rolling in money from it all. Besides, where is your sense of fun?" She winks at him and looks to Lestone, rubbing her hands together. "I think you've got the right idea though. Kick up a bit of a fuss, get some attention and have the sneakier few of you all go and get what you need. I mean what is student life without a little bit of rebellion right?" The old gnome chuckles a little. "I am pretty sure I have the ear of a few rabble rousers in here and there is enough life in me yet to cause some sort of a bang."
 
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