Doroth follows the others in. There is something about the situation that has him on edge. But then, of course, any situation where he has to deal with new people, especially strange new people, gets him on edge. "We have come for the job offer, but I see no reason to reveal things that you may see that some of us may wish to remain hidden. That is simply impolite. If you wish to show us your power and your perspicacity, I am sure that there are other ways that would make us, who are here to help you, be a little less defensive. It does little good for the trust taht we must have with you, and you with us, for you to challenge a member of our group thusly." After saying this, he is amazed that he would come to the defense of another in this fashion. He calmly steps back into the group, though he is interested that Cel is only half elven.

April 5 - 8.57

Kaebard glares at Doroth for a while.

"Master dwarf!" he says almost mockingly. "Take a good look at me and tell me - do you honestly think that I am trying to show power? If I wanted to do that, I'd live in some mansion like those fools at the guild!" He calms down a bit. "Now, if you've come about the job, we must talk it over."

He motions you further into the house where you are able to find seats on various objects in the room. Kaebard remains standing.

"Now, you look like you're up to business. Nevertheless, you must understand that there have been others here who just wanted money up front and would later disappear with it. I was fooled once, and it won't happen again. You must prove me that you really are serious about it. Will you hear what you must do?"

Not paying much attention to Demetrious, exept absently nodding her head in agreement when Sinela invites him to join the group, Nikita addresses Kaebard, "I usually get paid after a job completed, so that should not be a problem. Though extra equipment might be requested if the situation seems to require it. First, we must know what exactly you want us to do."

April 5 - 8.57

"Rumors float around the town that I want adventurers to investigate the wastelands to the west." Kaebard says to Nikita. "I started these rumors, and that is precicely what I want you to do. If you think you can get there on your own, then go ahead. If however, you need money or other supplies, I am prepared to give them to you. But in that case you will have to prove that you won't walk away with them. So what say you? Will you do a job for me here in town?"

(OOC - Folks, sorry to not post in a while. We're moving and my internet time is limited until we get the pc's hooked up at the new place. It should be straightened out by week's end. Please bear with me and I apologize for any delays my lack of posting might cause.)


Cel nods to Kaebard. "Yes, sir, I am half elven. Few would realize it though and I would prefer it that my dual heritage might not be announced so.... loudly. I am not ashamed of what I am, but think that others humans might be more comfortable thinking I am but an elf." He says the words quietly but smiles to take the sting from these words.

"And as to your offer for a job within town to prove our worth to you, as long as none of the townspeople are harmed from the endeavor, I see no problem with doing such a task." He grins broadly," After all.... this is why we are adventurers!"

April 5 - 9.00

Kaebard replies to Celiorion. "Forgive me if my comment was out of place. As you can understand I was as surprised as everyone you have met probably were. Now, as for the job, it doesn't involve harming anyone... at least I hope it doesn't."

He pauses for a while, then continues while pacing around the room. "As I am sure you all know, it is now the year 476 since the writing of the Account. So the great mages are saying. But the great mages of our time are fools! And I tend to believe, that back when Odine was taken, they were no different. I have not been able to study the Account for it is kept in the Royal Archives and none are permitted there. I have only attempted to gain access once. When they turned me down, I didn't try again. I have reasons to believe, that the Account is more than just the oldest writing. I must get it."

"I tried to use my divining powers to read the Account without being by it. However, I failed, for the Account is no longer in the Archives. This is most unusual. I can sense no violence around the Account or the Archives. This means that it must have been given willingly. I want you to find whoever took it, and get it for me."

Letting his words sink in, he asks if anyone has any questions.

Doroth looks at the mage with a keen eye.

"Do you know of any others who might want the book? Are there any who might have been more, how shall I say, politically correct in their thinking that they might have given the book to?"

April 5 - 9.00

Kaebard sighs. "Unfortunately I have no idea. That's why I need you to find out. There are not many people who I think would be permitted to enter the Archives. I believe your best bet would be to ask the guards there. Maybe you will get something out of them. Do you know how to get to the building?"

"So, that's it? No information, just go and get the book? I'm sorry, but I need a couple of other questions answered first, my friend." Doroth looks at the others hoping to see support from them. "You obviously have been to the building, so I would ask you this, who in the archives or around it might be corruptible - and also, with whom did you speak about gaining access, as I assume that you had some information that might have led you to believe that person might let you in the first place?" He stands for a second, going over his last sentence, trying to make sure that he asked it correctly.

April 5 - 9.00

"I will of course answer any questions you have. Yes, I have been there, and I attempted to enter it. The guards at the door wouldn't let me in. They said that only autorized people could be allowed inside. Unless you are one of the high-ranking officials you need the king's letter to get inside. Certainly, someone could have bribed the guards, and it is likely that it was so. And I don't exclude the possibility that someone actually allowed to enter took the book away. I don't want to show my face there so as to not seem suspicious. If I would, they would most probably connect you to me, and it wouldn't get us very far. As I already said, the guards might tell you something."

As an afterthought he adds "You obviously aren't from around here. To get to the archives, go along the street from my house until you see a tower over the buildings. This is the Guild of Mages. Make your way between the buildings to it and you will arrive at the center of the city. Right next to the guild you will find the Archives. And to make things clear, only the head of the Mages Guild is allowed there. So, do you have any other questions?"

Cel looks to the mage "A moment sir, while we confer about the task at hand."

He motions the others to come nearer. " I don't know if I like the fact that he is suggesting that we steal a book for him. No one but authorized persons or by direct order of the king may enter the archives. If the book is not there, then it is hopefully somewhere in the Mage Guild. Either way, I am not comfortable with this task. What do you others think?"

Sinela considers what has been said.

"It sounds that if the book has been stolen, as he is suggesting, then it could be a serious matter. In which case it would need to be found. We could try talking to the guards, and see what we can find out. If it turns out the head mage has it we can leave it at that. If however, it has been taken, maybe we could try and find it and return to the rightful owner."

She looks over her shoulder at the wizard and lowers her voice further. "I think it would be worth finding more information on our potential employer, before considering giving him the book, but at least if we accept his offer, we have someone to point to if we get in trouble."

Nikita's face shows slight irritation when Cel mentions that he is "uncomfortable with this task."
With her voice calm, Nikita says, "What exactly bothers you about it? We are going to figure out where the Account is, and get it to more suitable hands. It has been 164 years since the Account was found, that is plenty of time for the mages to find something useful in them. Whatever it is they figured out, they are keeping to themselves, and thus no use to us, or the general populace. Even if this Kaebard will keep it himself as well, the power of the Mages, the power that comes with exclusive knowledge, will be diminished. This is because someone who is not in the Mages Guild, and knows how to use this knowledge, will be in possession of it."


OOC - Your characters will not know this, but I think you should:
If Nikita shows her feelings, it is because she wants people to be aware of them. She can, and will be exprenssionless most of the time, and especially when the situation calls for it (i.e. there are guards looking for suspicious people).
That is, unless there is a skill for controlling expressions and emotions, I didn't see any.

OOC: I have put some information about important people on my website. I don't want to clog up your e-mails with frequent letters, so I'll be putting all info there. I'll tell you here when an update is coming. I see you haven't completed your discussion yet, so I'll let you continue.

"I think that if it is missing, it might be worth it to find. Whoever has it probably believes he has taken it for a good reason. It may be up to us to determine whether or not that reason is any more just than giving it to the mage here, or retruning it to the mage's guild." Doroth looks at the others, Sinela in particular.

"I think this was the next step after your thought, milady. Please excuse me if I tread too heavily on your toes." He looks confused for a second. "And you'll have to excuse my use of the language. Normally, I'm pretty good with it, but I'm not real good with new people. I'll get better as I become more comfortable with you, I promise."

April 5 - 9.05

Kaebard has been standing silently in a corner observing you while you were discussing. Now he speaks. "Well, will you take the job?"

As the wizard speaks Sinela looks round to him, then with a checking glance to the others, she replies.

"I believe we will sir. We will find out what has happened to the account, and let you know who has taken it." She then looks to the others. "Does anyone have any terms or conditions we should add?"

Demetrius stands thier thinking of what he would add to the terms but not wanting to force himself on the rest of the group he initially decided to keep his thoughts to himself. Yet he then changed his mind and spoke, " I know I am new to this group of adventurers but I think that we should leave at once and start looking for whatever or whoever would have taken this book. Myself I dont see what's so important about a book, nothing good ever comes from the pages of a book. Noone lives or dies because of a book. Yet, it seems this wizard wants it and we should leave to find it. Now who will be coming with me or shall I take on this task alone with my trusty axe?" Demetrius walks twoards the door.

"I could probably think of a couple, but they are not important right now." Doroth replies. "Perhaps if we do this successfully, we can negotiate on the main task at tht time."

He turns to Sinela. "I agree, let us go."

"I will follow with the rest of the party. My skills and aid are your's to command." Cel looks at Doroth as he says this.

"Exellent, I think you will do a great job of questioning the guards without getting half the city's garrison hunting for our heads." Nikita says sincerely to Cel. Then to everyone, "It seems we are all agreed, let's go."

Sinela turns to the Wizard again. "You have given us your questions, sir. We will return when we have answers to them."

With that, she turned towards the door and headed out.

Doroth nods and bows to the wizard. "That stuff before, nothing personal, you realize. Just business."

He heads off after Sinela.

April 5 - 9.15

Kaebard looks after you as you leave. "Very good. I hope you will succeed where others have refused."

You exit his house and look around. Sure enough, this place is quite far from the center of the city, as the tall tower of the Mages Guild is not seen from here. The street you are standing on turns right after about fifty yards. Some people are already seen going along the street on their morning business. From somewhere to the left of the street you can hear the noises of the marketplace, and most people seem to be going there or coming from there.

"Let's head towards the marketplace. Maybe we can see the mage tower from there." Cel says as they begin walking.

April 5 - 9.15

Seeing as others have nothing against it, Celiorion leads the group to the marketsquare. It's not hard to find your way. All you have to do is follow the voices. Once there, you see a picture much like you expected. The marketsquare is about 50 yards long and wide, with long rows of stalls heading off from every side except the east side, where you walked in from. At first glance it seems you can get anything you can think of here. At the moment, the square is not very crowded, but the merchants are busy praising their goods. When you look around, you see that the left side of the square is largely devoted to food products and kitchenware. On the right side are clothes. More serious adventuring equipment can probably be found along one of the arms.

Sure enough, the relatively open space of the square lets you see the to the northwest in the distance. It would seem that the closest way to it would be along the northern arm of the market.

Nikita adresses the others in an impatient tone, "Do you wish to buy something, or should we get going?"

Sinela looked round the market following the others. As we don't know where we will end up, we may be better buying supplies later. I do not think there is anything I need at the moment. But I don't mind waiting if you need to get anything.

Cel looks a bit sheepish. "I have no coin to spend. I was hoping to earn some from this job."

Demetrius looks around and says, "there is nothing I need to buy"

Seeing as no one else appeared to have anything to add, Sinela said In that case let us prooceed, we can always come back. She led the group towards the towered building of the mages.

April 5 - 9.35

Your walk through the streets and alleys of Relington happens to be rather uneventful. You need to take some detours and some non-obvoius paths to reach the guild, but finally you do.

You are now at the central town square. The building of the Mages Guild stands towering before you, with the tiny in comparison Archive building richt beside it. Two guards are sitting in front of the Archives, playing some game. The rest of the square is home to various other buildings, among them the Town Hall, and farther off, the king's palace. People are already well on their way to flooding the streets, but this place is not very full.

Nikita assumes a blank, anonymous expression and walks by the guards at an angle that allows her to see what they are playing without arousing suspision. After passing by she continues walking and uses back alleys to go back to the group without being seen.

Wandering through the streets like this is not Doroth's idea of fun. He stays to the center of the group as much as possible. At least, he thinks to himself, if I can surround myself with these people, I won't have to deal with the others. He watches his step carefully, always keeping an eye out for trouble.

April 5 - 9.45

Nikita sees that the guards are playing a game of dice common in these parts. They look quite embraced in it and seem to care little of anyone else, or the building they are guarding. Quite clearly, boredom has set it. It would probably be easy to get some information out of them with the right tricks.

"I am not good with people" Doroth says in a hushed tone. "It seems as though there are others here that this task would be more suited to. Let me see what I can find about the layout of this place. Shall we meet back here in say five or ten minutes? That'll give you the chance to do what you can to figure out what's up, and me the chance to see if there is anything out of place physically. Anyone have any ojections?" He seems to have answered his own question as he heads off to examine what he can of the archives building first, then the mages guild from the inside.

Seeing that they are too busy gambling to pay any attention, Nikita heads back to the group without bothering about the back alleys.

"I'm going to play the semi-conpulsive gambler and play with them. Once we I have lost some money and we are 'friends', I shall converse with them and see what I can't get out of them without they knowing the're being questioned."

"Anybody willing to contribute some dough?" Nikita asks the group, "I can't gamble without it, and I'm broke, exept for a few coins."

April 5 - 9.47

As Doroth circles the building, he finds that it stretches for much longer than could have originally been expected from the angle they entered the area. However, even so, it seems somehow small for a place where all documents are kept. It probably extends into the underground.

As he steps in front of the doors to the guild of mages, Doroth feels a strange sensation in his body. When it's over, he could swear he didn't feel anything at all, but he still knows somehow, that he was probed for something. In a moment, the doors swing open before him, and he can enter the guild. Inside, several mages are talking to each other, and no-one seems to notice him. Right in the middle of the floor, there is a large staircase leading upwards to the tower, and also down, underground. There are several torches on the walls, apparently quite normal. As far as Doroth can see, there is nothing magical inside the building.