7024/LI0: Sage Advice (Side)

LI0: Sage Advice (Side)
Date of Scene:	19 January 2020
Location:	Last Illusion
Synopsis:	Alruna, Amelris, and Shigure follow up on some leads and get a headstart on figuring out what is coming up.
Cast of Characters:	Shyra, Shigure, Alruna Greengate, 7180

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Shyra has posed:
The Western City of Pradia lies on the opposite side of the world from Bartal. Thankfully, they don't need to take a ship. Shyra has that strange flying craft. She brings those interested in investigating to the outskirts of the city.

Pradia is a heavily craggy region. It's full of mountains and valleys, and even a swift overhead view of the area points out that the walls are full of ornate building frontage cut and shaped into the rock. Paths move along the mountainous face, wending its way through the area to provide small, ornate plazas, daises, and decorative fountains. At the top of the mountains is some kind of merger between a palace and temple. The place does at least seem to have the requisite adventure services of shops and an inn, at least.

    Most of the Sages here won't be willing to help. Shyra points out as they land. They do not believe that there is any imminent danger to the land. There is one who helped us in the past. You can look around and explore, or go directly to him. I can help you with either if you like.

Shigure has posed:
    It's always been odd, travelling in another vessel or craft... especially one that flies.

    Shigure sits quietly, adjusting her outfit and fiddling with the hilt of her short sword. She does look out at the terrain as it passes. "Were there any others who might provide information... do you remember?" she asks Shyra, glancing at the others in the vessel before they commit to any plan of action.

Alruna Greengate has posed:
Shyra's world is an uncomfortable place to be. Alruna knows she should be feeling the wind on her face as the airship docks in mountainous terrain. She hasn't felt so much as a whisper of a breeze the whole journey. When they disembark, she listens for the distant murmur of a mountain breeze and is rewarded with silence.

She sighs. "Thank you for humouring us, Shyra." Alruna says, shading her eyes as she looks uphill. At least it looks the part. "Lets not loiter, if we are performing tasks out of order, so to speak, then we will like be lucky to gain any information at all." she suggests.

Amelris Belthrone (7180) has posed:
     "Hoffffff!" Amelris Belthrone, Red Mage Miqo'te Extraordinaire, looking upward at the upper outskirts of the citty. This looks like a very nice, very old little fortified city to be certain. "This certainly saves on the stone if you can just /mold/ the mountain around you into the shape of a city." The lack of wind IS noticed by him. The world... still do feel odd. The vision of the Hero he got told him that there is certainly far more to this place than first sight might say. Andgolly weee, this IS a lot on first sight.

     "Mmmhmm, I think we best just go immediatedly to the point of the matter and save the exploration afterwards." Amelris tap a sealed tube beneath him, stocked in a satchel. "I'd rather not mess this up, it's a precorious copy to begin with."

Shyra has posed:
    What kind of information are you looking for, Shigure? Shyra replies. The Sages here mostly won't answer anything you might be intertested in, but you can read their books! The Hero spent a lot of time doing that before we met the other one...

    The healer nods to Alruna. I'm happy to help! She says brightly, apparently not quite noticing the unease they have at the lack of wind. The others seem to concur that they may as well get to the point instead of poking into every house and trying to find hidden loot (that comes later).

    So Shyra disembarks with the others and begins directing them through the town. Kind of. She takes a somewhat winding path, mainly because it seems to be the only one that heads out to a prominent ledge sticking out away from the others. It's got a large amount of rickety wooden structure attached to it, supporting a wooden shack on top.

    Inside, the group finds books and tablets piled high all over the place, a bald man in a red robe intently paging through a book on a table. He never seems to actually make real progress through it.

Alruna Greengate has posed:
Books are not Alruna's first resort, as a rule. She shrugs at Shigure. "If this Sage can't give us an answer, then I suppose we'll have to start reading." she concedes. She takes the long, winding journey with an easy stride, absent a wind to make her longcoat flap and flutter annoyingly. Regardless of the oddity of this world, she's perfectly happy not to be wearing heavy armour as she steps onto the wooden structure.

Inside the shack, she watches the Sage for a few page turns before nudging Amelris, should he not step forward straight away to be the face of their party. She's quickly learned that he likes being that.

Shigure has posed:
    "It matters not." replies the ship-girl. "I am still aclimating to the fact that noone apart from three or four individuals have any sort of autonomy in this world. I am used to worlds at least having..." she trails off, shaking her head and disembarking.

    She follows along quietly, looking into shopfronts as they pass, but never leaving the group. As the two Adventurers go about interacting with the Sage or try to, Shigure immediately goes to the books, picking up the first one that comes to hand and leafing through it.

Amelris Belthrone (7180) has posed:
     "Indeed, thanks you for the lift!" Amelris nods at Shyra, stepping off to take a look around. He spends a moment to just take in the sights, taking note of Shigure going off straight for the books, before making a slight annoyed-bothered feline grunt at Alruna. He silently makes the mouth motions of 'hey I was just looking' before stepping up to the old sage.

     "Greetings, venerable Sage!" The Red Mage declares, popping open the papers. "I am in need of your wisdom, regarding an ancient language long lost!" He carefully pick out the scroll out of the tube to unfold it, to show it. "May you be able to help us?"

Shyra has posed:
I see. I'm sorry. Shyra bows her head to Shigure. I know it's hard. But maybe soon we will have more people. The shopfronts seem to be standard equipment shops selling what seems to be gear of moderate power and quality, As Shigure picks up a book, she finds that the book only seems to contain one passage of intelligible writing that immediately jumps out at her:

THE KINDEVA

The great ancients were known as the Kindeva. They mastered the five elements of the world - Tree, Fire, Metal, Water, and Earth. They broached the domain of the Spirits in their pursuit of wisdom. This angered the Yellow Emperor, who set a curse upon them, blighting their land and their bloodlines. In retaliation the Kindeva built a great machine god, Ayudha Raksha, to challenge it. The Yellow Emperor was wounded in the clash, and the Kindeva escaped into the sky on their flying city. No one knows what happened to them afterwards.

    Amelris brings the scroll to the Sage, and introduces himself. The Sage turns and looks to Amelris, the book next to him pausing mid-flip as he begins to speak.

    Ah, you have brought the SCROLL. Let me see it, and I will tell you what it says...

    There is a pause, and the SCROLL disappears from Amelris' hand. Afterwards, he says,

    Behold these four Relics, the keys to the Yellow Emperor. When the land is again beset by darkness, have the greatest of Heroes offer them up to the Spirits so the seal may be undone and the Emperor overthrown. Our work must not have been in vain.

    It's true. It's all true, then. You have the Relics, don't you? Then our world really is in danger. I hope the White Tigers Spirit under the palace is all right...

Alruna Greengate has posed:
Alruna peers over Amelris's shoulder to watch the Sage's text box, soaking up the revelation. "Yellow Emperor... that must be the king I saw..." she muses, leaning back against one of the walls with her arms folded.

Amelris Belthrone (7180) has posed:
     Good thing he made a copy, Amelris thinks.

     "You did mention something among theses lines." Amelris comments, looking aside at Alruna, nodding at her. The Miqo'te cross his arm, returning his gaze at the old sage. Now, he's not sure just how much thing this man might be able to say in his current... state. "We DO have the relics." He says, thinking this over. Maybe... some key words? He DID react to him having the scrolls, afterall. "Tell me about the White Tigers Spirit."

Shigure has posed:
    Shigure has a fairy take a picture of the passage for later study and replaces the book... she then takes a thoughtful posture, until Amelris relates the White Tiger Spirit.

    The shipgirl then produces the White Tiger relic from a hip pouch she's wearing specifically for the purpose, and approaches, though she doesn't say anything just yet.

Alruna Greengate has posed:
"So, White Tigers, Blue Dragons..." Alruna lists them off on her fingers, briefly taking out the blue statuette she took from the temple to regard it before putting it away again. "Red Birds... and Black Warriors." The last being in Amelris's possession. She frowns. "I wonder... does the Yellow Emperor fit into this arrangement somehow?"

Shyra has posed:
    The Sage, when questioned, doesn't seem to have more to say about the Relics or anything else.

    It's true. It's all true, then. You have the Relics, don't you? Then our world really is in danger. I hope the White Tigers Spirit under the palace is all right...

    The Sage simply repeats himself for now.

It looks like he has said all he can for now. I hoped he would be different, but for now... She shakes her head. He likely will have nothing else to say until the blessing of the White Tigers Spirit is obtained.

Shigure has posed:
    Shigure inspects the relic, then tucks it away again. "An endeavour we should prepare for before setting out." suggests the ship-girl. "Items especially, I saw a few places in town which could serve the purpose." she also jingles her coinpouch, brimming with Ji. "We did acquire a fair amount of local currency at the temple."

Amelris Belthrone (7180) has posed:
     "It was worth a shot." Amelris says, shrugging, the Miqo'te turning back around to smile at the ragtag party. "We'll just have to go get that blessing when we can, then. Let's take a look around town, now, shall we?"

Alruna Greengate has posed:
Alruna rolls her shoulder and pushes away from the wall. "Then lets go get it!" she says, smacking her fist into her open palm.

Only to be undercut by the shipgirl suggesting they prepare carefully for the journey first. "-fiiiine." she grumbles, nodding. "I suppose we had best look at the rest of their library as well."

Shyra has posed:
    The group is agreed to leave the shack for now. Shyra, at this point, fades behind the group, simply accompanying them and letting them all wander wherever they like.

    The libraries of the Sages seems to contain various passages of lore on the world. Some examples:

    It is the duty of the royal family to care for the White Tigers Shrine. As the Queen is gone, the Princess is currently taking up the role.

    Beware the Yaksha of the north. Their people are known to be dangerous to travellers.

    This book contains a recipe for cookies. Strange...

    And so on. The other Astomi present have little to provide the group, apparently providing mostly insistence that there are no issues and that they the valley they reside in is inviolable.

    Shigure can purchase one of the weapons or pieces of armor present if she wants, she has enough to do so, but the amounts are high enough that she can only get one of them. It looks like prices spike a lot after Finaria, and Bartal hasn't been looted at all.