Let there be Light

[DM-Delfon]

The Lightbringer smiles his fatherly smile, and says, "Overwhelmed is good, it stops you from getting overconfident. As for learning about Exalted Ones, and Ellsman specifically. With that I can help. He finishes leading you back through the corridors from the training room to his office. Once inside he gestures to a chair, and moves to a bookshelf.

Speaking over his shoulder he runs a finger along the spines of the books, clearly looking for a specific book or books, "You see the history of this temple and its residents throughout time I a hobby of mine." He pulls a book out and clutches it to his chest, "Although not much is written on Exalted Ones, I have collected everything I could find." He pulls a second, and then a third book from the shelf and places them on the desk in front of you gingerly.

The spines of the three books read: 'Ellsman Nishant - Man or Myth', 'The Exalted', and 'Celestials of Light.' While you read the spines the Lightbringer pulled another book from the shelves, this one seems to have been read through many, many times. He holds it still so you can't get a look at the spine, but you do notice that the books binding material seems odd, kind of fleshy for leather.

"You may borrow those three as long as they remain in the temple, as they return to me in the same condition as you received them in. You should be able to skim the contents of all three in about a day if you do nothing else. If you want to study them in depth it will take considerably longer. Those books reference other books and you could spend months tracking down every reference."

[DM Quietus]

Mortimer takes the offered chair, more than happy to sit after his ordeal with the zombies earlier. The experience had exhausted him, if not physically, then emotionally. There was a lot to process, but even here outside of that room, he found that the strands of the weave around him were clearer, easier to find now that he knew what to look for. While the Lightbringer speaks, Mortimer's fingers are gently brushing those strands, not in a way that would provoke any magic, but simply reinforcing what he'd learned.

The three books set on the desk remain untouched as the Lightbringer gathers the fourth, the thought of spending that much time researching boggling Mortimer's mind. The sum of knowledge available here, not just in these books, but in the Shrine as a whole, suddenly strikes him with its vastness. With a nod, Mortimer says reverently, "Thank you. I'll be sure to take the utmost care with these, I promise. I'll have them back to you as soon as I'm done with them."

Before he gets up to leave, Mortimer thinks about the magic he's just learned how to better control, and the spell he'd used to get up that first cliff without losing his life. Finally, he asks, "Before I go start reading.. can I use this magic to rid myself of the need to sleep? That would have been very handy, being chased by those Imperial soldiers.."

[DM-Delfon]

The Lightbringer smiles again, "Inventive, I hadn't thought to try that before. I suppose you could with the following spell.." He pauses for a moment to focus his thoughts, then begins to chant in the arcane tongue. With your new found knowledge fresh in your mind, you actually follow the majority of what he intends to do with the magic. In essence he is ridding the body of it's current fatigue or lessening the current state of exhaustion. You also draw the conclusion that that fatigue will come back at some point, and that the body will still need the rest it should have had when the spell was cast. The weave around the Lightbringer forms into a blue white halo surrounding one hand. "Would you like to have your fatigue banished for a time?" He extends his hand toward you so you can reach it if needed. If not, he channels the magic into himself instead, adding with a shrug, "No need to waste the energy.".

[DM Quietus]

The ease with which he follows the Lightbringer's spell surprises him, each step making sense to him, the new motions being filed away in preparation for the quest he's been set on. The weight of that word settles onto him as he leaves the office, opting to leave the flesh-bound book behind. Just the sight of it had been enough to make Mortimer shudder; if the Lightbringer wasn't going to mention it, then he was happy to leave that off his plate, for now. Enough things lie ahead, and his studying was only to be the start of that.

This time, with a little more experience navigating the temple, Mortimer finds his way to his room with only a couple of minor mix-ups, the halls becoming more familiar to him. His intentions are simple; find his room, and stay there until he's finished at least one of these massive books. Despite how quickly he picked up magic, however, he spends much longer reading, oftentimes reading a passage over two or three times before it sticks in his mind. Still, the subject matter envelops him, having started with "The Exalted", and unless someone comes by to collect him for dinner, he wouldn't be seen until prayers the following morning.

((Intentions from here - read the books, starting with "The Exalted", then "Ellsman Nishant - Man or Myth", and finally "Celestials of Light". They won't all be 24-hour marathons, and he might not make it through all three prior to heading out, but I'm unsure if you have anything planned narratively from this point, so things are in your hands. That's roughly the order of importance, though, in Mortimer's mind.))

[DM-Delfon]

You manage to read through the first book on your list by dawn of the following morning. As you close the cover, you hear an overly gentle knock on your door. The knock is quiet enough that you would have slept through it, had you been sleeping of course. You open your door, and your bloodshot eyes find your old guide standing out side he looks freshly groomed, while your rumpled robes look like you slept in them. He starts to raise an eyebrow in question before he manages to control his features. "Do you wish a guide to Temple this morning?" Is all he says instead.

(For ease, Mortimer now knows what you know about how to 'be' exalted. He also knows about the other vows you can take. Based on the supposed boons the Light grants those who speak those vows, Mortimer could see the path Ellsman must have walked to be the man who walked through a battlefield. Anything you want to know related to this book can be asked. Int checks may be required to see if you can remember.)

[DM Quietus]

The last hour had been spent re-reading the final few pages, Mortimer's mind so focused on what was in front of him that he hardly thought about anything else. The knock at his door finally rouses him from this trance, feeling both better informed and more overwhelmed than ever before. It's only when he sees Tad's response that he finally groans and realizes what time it is. "Yes, please, give me a sec.", Mortimer grunts, his hands twisting through the spell the Lightbringer had shown him the day previous. As the blue white halo of energy settles around him, Mortimer's mind clears, and he gives a heavy sigh. "Sorry Tad, I'll be quick."

Closing the door for a moment, he splashes a little water where needed - probably not too bad, given his lack of exertion after the training yesterday - and changes into clean clothes. Not perfect, but he'd been dirtier going to Temple in Urutah, and the entire process takes no more than two minutes. Thankfully, his hair hadn't yet grown out after its last cut, and so that didn't need any attention. Opening the door once again, he says, "Really sorry, I was up all night with something. I'd love the company."

((Not sure what the DC is to dispel fatigue, but I'm assuming that a personal, full-round action cast (+16) would let me auto-pass. If not, I likely fail, as I only rolled a 2; Second attempt would do the job, with a 12 rolled.))

[DM-Delfon]

(DC is 20, so it would take you two tries.)

Tad nods, when you ask for a bit of time, and then watches carefully as you cast the spell, and raises his hands in that helpless gesture when it fails. "If I may offer a bit of constructive criticism?" He waits for you to nod before continuing, "You stressed on the third syllable instead of the second." He quickly repeats what you said, than again with his correction. You can clearly hear the difference, and know that he is correct. "That's some pretty advanced stuff. I don't think I would even try it myself. You've learned a lot since yesterday. Did you seek out the Lightbringer for a lesson?"

When you return Tad smiles, "No need to apologize Mortimer, we have plenty of time before we have to be in Temple. Your questions yesterday prompted me to visit the library, and I found something I thought you might be interested in." Reaching into his robes, he pulls out a scroll wrapped with a blue ribbon, and hands it to you, "This is a map, which I believe will lead you to the final resting place of Ellsman."

[DM Quietus]

"Yeah, I did. He really knows what he's doing, and showed me how healing magic works. It's not a permanent solution, but when I pull an all-nighter like that, it'll be useful. He didn't touch on that cantrip you mentioned yesterday, though. Could you show me how that works sometime?", he asks, both out of curiosity and to make polite conversation. Mortimer finds himself taken aback, however, when Tad produces the tied off scroll, and describes what it is.

"I.. wow.", he finally stutters, taking the scroll and handling it gently. "Thank you, Tad. I really appreciate this, and I'm sure I'll make the trip once I've taken care of a few things here. I'd like to pay my respects to such a great man." Despite himself, Mortimer finds himself resisting the urge to mention his relation to Ellsman, more out of humility than anything, but finds his thoughts drifting toward the second of the three books the Lightbringer had left with him. He'd need to catch up on his rest at some point, and his reading speed had always left a lot to be desired. Pushing aside the mental tug-of-war going on between filling in the gaps in his knowledge and the desire to get moving on Melody's instructions, he asks, "So, I guess there's a way to get down from the mountain other than just jumping off?"

[DM-Delfon]

Tad nods, "Sure thing Mortimer, here." He pauses flourishing out his hands in a dramatic way. Then he begins to cast a very simple spell. You can tell based on the last time he cast it in front of you (as a move action) that he's slowing it down (to a full round) so that you can catch the details of the spell. "Prestidigitation. I think that's what they call that anyway, I never really bothered with the name. It sure can be useful though." You feel a tingle in your mouth, and your breath becomes minty fresh.

"It can do mostly minor tricks, like slowly lifting something weighing a pound or so. Changing something's colour. My personal favourite is cleaning things. Totally makes chores a breeze. It can also make things dirtier, which can be fun for pranks. It can chill, warm, or flavor stuff. I like to reheat my tea when it gets too cold. It does have it's limits though, like that it can't hurt anything, it's not even powerful enough to distract a fellow spellcaster." Tad smirks, and you suspect that he has attempted to distract someone before with the spell. "Prestidigitation can create stuff too, small crude looking objects. The stuff you make is really fragile though, nothing strong enough to be used as a tool, weapon or component. Lastly, the spell lacks the power to duplicate any other spell effects, and any actual change to an object beyond just moving, cleaning, or soiling it only lasts as long as your spell duration."

Tad shrugs at your thanks, "Don't mention it. Seriously, don't. I don't want people to know that I'm really good at research." He winks before answering your other question, "Sure, just go to the gate room." He gives directions to the room in question. "The room is just a big old stone circle, you hold your holy symbol and think about the temple closest to where you want to go, and then walk through and you're there." He cocks his head to one side, "You bored of this place already? Thinking about leaving?" He asks finally as the two of you roam the halls toward the main temple.

[DM Quietus]

Given his new found familiarity with magic, Mortimer proves a quick study, and picks up on the details of the spell without too much trouble. Tad's request to keep his research skills a secret, however, seems strange to him, but he shrugs anyway. "I guess. Seems like a good skill to have, I know it'd take me forever to look up something like this. But if you'd rather people not know, I can keep that to myself."

"Just seemed like it'd be a good thing to know, if I'm going to go pay my respects to Ellsman.", Mortimer says, covering his true motives with a half-truth. Patting the pocket he'd slipped the map into, he continues, "I'm assuming that this map doesn't just lead me around the shrine, after all. Does it?"

((Bluff check of 10, hopefully with bonuses for being believable, to cover his ass - seemed like a good chance to get to know that information, but Mortimer is in no way a trained liar.))

[DM-Delfon]

Tad laughs, "Sometimes I wonder about you Mortimer. You take some things really literally. I was joking about not telling anybody. I even winked and everything. My job here is to do research in the library, so everybody pretty much knows or assumes that I'm pretty good at it." He laughs again and shakes his head.

Raising an eyebrow during your half truth, Tad shrugs, "Nope, it totally leads you into some cave in the Traal Mountains. If you do go there be careful, the Traal's are a very interesting..." He pauses to make air quotes with his fingers, "Civilization."

[DM Quietus]

Blushing a little in embarassment, Mortimer mumbles something about being new to the Shrine, and not knowing what Tad did. Even if he'd been told during the talk with Cory yesterday, Mortimer had been awake a full 24 hours since then - and had spent that entire time either training with the Lightbringer, or reading. In truth, if all he'd managed to lose in that time was Tad's job description, he considered himself lucky.

The mention of the Traal has Mortimer answering the raised eyebrow with one of his own. "Traal? I've heard of them, but don't know much about them. What do you mean, interesting civilization?"

[DM-Delfon]

Tad shrugs, "Very little is written about the Traal. What I have gathered is that they must be territorial in the extreme, because anyone that entered their territories has not returned." Tad smiles, "A researcher wanted to know more, as researchers do. So he concealed himself with magic, and snuck in to their territory as close as he dared. He observed that The Traal are nocturnal, and that during the day they simple stand around perfectly still. Their villages are not villages as we think of them. They have no buildings, but they do have defense structures. I don't know, the standing around thing is just weird to me. Reminds me of the undead for some reason."

The two of you arrive at the still open doors to the temple. Cory is there, speaking to another woman with a confused look on her face.

[DM Quietus]

Mortimer nods as he listens, filing that information away as best he can. If there'd been any deeper details, he probably wouldn't have been able to pick up on them, but what Tad had said would probably stick. "Weird.", he says, as Tad's comment draws a connection between the Traal and the undead, his mind wandering back to the zombies he'd fought yesterday and having to suppress a shudder. "Guess I'll have to be careful if I go to visit, then."

When they come across Cory and the confused-looking woman, Mortimer finds himself torn between amusement and sympathy at the situation. He'd learned for himself the previous morning just how confusing Cory could be. Taking a moment, he gauges whether the woman seems to be uncomfortable in her confusion or not. If she seems to need "rescuing", so to speak, Mortimer picks up his pace a little bit, raising his voice in a hearty, "Cory! Good morning! How goes the gloves?", hoping to distract him momentarily. If she seems comfortable with the situation, then Mortimer retains his previous pace, offering a more low-key greeting when they make it to the temple doors.


((Sense motive to tell if the woman is uncomfortable or not : 14. If he can't tell, Mortimer probably errs on the side of "She's comfortable", since they aren't that far off anyway, and presumably service will be starting soon.))

[DM-Delfon]

Cory perks up as you arrive, and says, "Ah by, da cuffs be coming around. Where were you to last night?" The woman uses your arrival to beg forgiveness for other duties. She excuses herself quietly, and slip away in to the temple. She only seemed confused by whatever they were talking about before. Either the content of the conversation, Cory's accent or perhaps a combination of both. Whatever answer you were going to give is cut short by the early arrival of the Lightbringer, which signals the start of the service.

The service goes by very quickly compared to the prior memorial service. The Lightbringer speaks of work ethic, and strength of character. He jokes about arriving early and leaving late, knowing that he himself arrived early. Then its over, and the final prayers to the Light are sung. Before long people filter out to eat or attend to other tasks.

Cory breaks off from you and Tad to resume his conversation with the same woman as before. You watch as they banter back ad forth clearly both passionate about whatever they are talking about. Tad elbows you in the ribs, and says, "I think he's sweet on her, but all they do is argue about enchanting items. She works with weapons and armour, while he works with other items. Apparently, the weaves layed and techniques used are totally different."

[DM Quietus]

Mortimer's nod will have to suffice, as the service begins - for once, he'd actually understood Cory's words fairly easily, though he chalks that up to there being so little said. The service itself is closer to what he's accustomed to, and though being back in this room reminds him of the somber service yesterday, he still finds that the Lightbringer's levity and calming words bring him the same sort of peace that he got at home. He finds himself singing along with the songs he knows, and trying to pick up anything that he hasn't heard before, managing not to make an ass of himself in the process.

Once Cory has broken off to talk to the other woman once more, and Tad explains his thoughts on the matter, a smile of understanding breaks across Mortimer's features. "Oh, okay. That stuff is all beyond me, but it seems important to them. I know this one old couple back home, they used to fight all the time, but everyone could tell how much they loved each other anyway." Catching himself before he gets too caught up in memories, he continues, "Is there a lot of use for weapons and armour up here? Doesn't seem like there'd be a lot of attacks, isn't that what the path things are for?"

[DM-Delfon]

Tad shrugs, but nods also, "Yes, the paths deter most threats from attacking directly, but the Temple has champions all over the empire that bring the glory of the Light into dark places. Magic items don't all have to do with combat either. Farming towns will gather the coin to buy an item that creates clean drinkable water. We get the coin we need to continue to spread the Light, and they get an infinite supply of water for crops, animals and people."

[DM Quietus]

Tad's words make sense, but Mortimer takes a few moments to consider them regardless. This was all so new to him; Why had he not heard anything about it? "The Lightbringer in Urutah was connected to this temple, and I don't remember him mentioning anything about magic, even once.", he says, his face screwed up as he thinks things through. Abruptly, his mind sails off on a tangent, and he asks, "Wait, if we can go from here to any temple, can't they come back here? That would have been so much easier than doing all the running away from the Empire's men, and would have saved a lot of difficulties."

[DM-Delfon]

Tad smiles, "That spell of yours must have cleared the cobwebs, many have been discussing the tragedy below. It took them all a long time to reach the conclusion that you just came to in seconds. The Urutah valley is a special place. Special in that, until the last twenty years or so nobody born within the valley could channel the weave at all. Even those that could channel elsewhere couldn't channel within Urutah."

Tad lets that sit a moment before he continues, "We did some research of course, and found that the Urutah valley was on the edge of a massive field emanating from the capital. When studied we found that it blocked contact with the weave. We of the Light Shrine were so far above it, we always had magic. The rest of the Empire however was suppressed. The oddity is that mages that were immune to the field, or those that came from far afield could still cast spells within the rest of the Empire, just not within the Urutah valley itself."

Shrugging, Tad continues, "We have theories as to why that would be the case, but nothing that can be proven. Some say that the mountain ranges amplify the effect of the field from suppression to anti-magic. Other's say that all the elemental shrines surrounding the valley alter the field in some way. Without being able to use magic to figure it out, we have been at a loss for years."

[DM Quietus]

Everything he's just been told is a little tough to comprehend; Urutah Valley was a zone where no magic worked? But he'd been able to cast in that outpost, or at least Melody had. And he himself had cast a spell before climbing the mountain. Still, the knowledge that bringing the villagers here had never been an option allows Mortimer to relax somewhat, as he realizes he'd been getting angry at the oversight. Nothing that could have been done. Sad, but.. there wasn't a lot he could do about that now.

"But I was able to cast at the foot of this mountain, and in the guard tower..", he says, then shakes his head clear. They must have meant just the area around Urutah, not the entire space between the passes. "So what happened twenty years ago that's changed? Why am I able to cast, but no one older than me?"

[DM-Delfon]

Tad smiles, "Yep. About twenty years ago the field shifted. Whatever is creating the field was moved from wherever they were keeping it, to the top of the Tower of the Emperor. This move caused the ovular edge of the field to lift above Urutah, since it is at the far reach of the spell's effect. So, since the field no longer effected the people of Urutah at all, anybody born within the last twenty years or so can cast, or can learn to cast spells."

[DM Quietus]

Tower of the emperor? Mortimer searches his mind, but he can't remember anything about that, other than the obvious. Having never been outside Urutah Valley, his experience with such things was minimal at best. "Well, I wish it hadn't moved. Then the empire wouldn't have come to Urutah. I'd gladly give up my gifts to have everyone back.", Mortimer says, taking a deep breath to force himself away from those thoughts.

"So, this Traal place.", he continues, without giving Tad a chance to cut in, "Is there a temple near there that I could use? Guessing they don't have one in their territory." As he speaks, Mortimer is trying to come up with something appropriate to leave on the grave of a hero; unable to come up with something appropriate, he resolves to read the book on Ellsman before he goes. Maybe that would give him some ideas.

[DM-Delfon]

Once you've finished, Tad smirks, "Urutah has always been a part of the Empire, so technically they never left." but continues without comment on the rest of that line of thought. He resumes quickly, "We are the closest Temple to the Traal homeland, but walking there would involve weeks of climbing. I don't think you're up to such a trek. If you want, I could get one of our Transport casters to drop you off in the Goblin passes? It's the nearest place to the Traal homeland."

[DM Quietus]

Thinking back to the trouble he'd had with the cliff getting here, Mortimer shakes his head - he'd been lucky to be able to survive that short climb, it was likely that falling off of one of these much greater heights would be too much. "I'm not very good at climbing, I only got here because of my magic. I'll let you know when I'm ready to go, but I think I have to take care of some other things first. And get sleep.", he says, that last added as an afterthought as he stifles a yawn.

"It's kind of strange, being here.", Mortimer admits, thinking back over the previous day. "In Urutah, I never would have been able to spend an entire day reading. There was always work that needed to be done, every day. Kind of makes me feel like I've been lazy."

[DM-Delfon]

Tad smirks, "There is always work to be done here too. The only ones that don't have in temple "jobs" are you and the field agents." Tad air quoted the word jobs, "Those are the guys that run supplies all over the empire, or battle the agents of the shadow directly, or those doing relief work. There are plenty who only stop by to resupply, rest or recover before they head out again." Tad throws a friendly arm over your shoulders, "I've got this feeling that you my friend are going to battle the shadow, despite your book reading." He laughs, but something in his eye tells you that this time he is not joking.

[DM Quietus]

Thrown off guard, Mortimer sputters in surprise. Unable to hide the shock, he simply hopes that it's mistaken as fear - very possible, given even the brief image that flashes through his mind of the zombie from yesterday's training. "W - what makes you say that?", he asks, holding back dry heaves as the memory of zombie-flesh in his mouth returns to him. "I'm not a warrior, I've never even touched armor. And the closest thing I've used to a weapon is a shovel, in someone's defense. And I feel terrible about that. What makes you think I'd be any use against the shadow?"

[DM-Delfon]

Tad's smirk grows as you continue to splutter, "I wasn't sure until just now actually. I'm pretty good at rooting out information, comes with the job. When the locks were deactivated on the combat training room, I looked into who was using the place. I wasn't surprised to find out that the Lightbringer was the one to unlock the door. I was surprised to find out that you were the one with the Lightbringer. Healing training is normally done in the medical center. Seriously, are you being trained to fight undead or what?" Tad seems excited, but he's forcing his voice to be quiet, so only the two of you can hear.

[DM Quietus]

"I'm being taught how to use Healing magic - all of the uses. Yeah, I'm being taught how to fight undead. And honestly, if I never had to use that knowledge, I'd be much happier. If it weren't for what happened to Urutah, then the training in that room would have been the most horrific thing I'd seen in my life. I need you to keep this quiet though, Tad. I don't want everyone in the Shrine to start thinking I'm some kind of hero when all I've done was beat up a few fake zombies with the Lightbringer backing me up."

As he begs Tad to keep this information to himself, Mortimer can feel convictions rising inside of him, borne of his promise to Melanie that he would keep his mission a secret. The more people he had asking him questions, the harder it would be to remain subtle about things - and as he considers this, Mortimer realizes that he'll need to be moving, soon, to avoid letting that risk grow.

((Diplomacy check of 24 to coax Tad into keeping his knowledge to himself - trying to simply hide that information wasn't working, hopefully pleading does a better job!))

[DM-Delfon]

Something in what you said makes Tad very excited, but he keeps it all very low key. He is discreet enough that anyone who isn't you should not be able to tell anything. "Look, I don't need to know anything right now. When you get back to the shrine and need information, just promise me I'm your guy and I'll keep everything tight lipped. I'll be like your sidekick or something." Tad nods as if it has already been desided. "So are you leaving soon? Do you need anything for your trip?"

[DM Quietus]

"I'm not a hero, I don't need a sidekick.", Mortimer mutters, mostly to himself - he can see that Tad's already run off with his imagination, and talking him down from that would only bring more attention to them. Truth be told, Tad's response is only making him feel like the task before him is looming ever larger, as expectations fall back on him. "I don't know when I'll be leaving, but I'll need to figure out what I'd need for a trip into Traal territory. I haven't even looked at the map you gave me, remember? I've barely even started on this."