Summer 2002. A mob interacts with my villager. No idea what he was talking about. Maybe shed some light if anyone remembers?

Tournament and Practice Yard
Enclosed by the walls of surrounding buildings, this wide track of beaten
dirt serves as a private practice yard for the guild, the guildmaster's
private chambers overlooking the courtyard from above. Weary warriors lean
against the stone walls that surround the yard, in the bits of grass that
have struggled to survive here. From the open windows above come the droning
notes of a pair of wooden flutes, played with little enthusiasm. To the
north a few stone steps lead up into the guild-owned bar.


The Mercenary Guildmaster stands here.

Koaeb looks about him.

The guildmaster holds a ring with two keys in his hands.

The guildmaster stops using a ring with two keys.

The guildmaster drops a ring with two keys.

You say 'Th'Village. Tha's the life. Like th' army in there.'

You nod.

The guildmaster says 'Having served in the Palace, I can say to you, magic is of g
reat power in this world.'

The guildmaster says 'Never depended on it, but the sultan consults some powerful m
ages.'

You say 'Yeah, they's get good at it if'nn ya let em get older.'

You say 'Which is why ah'm one ta cull em from the world now.'

The guildmaster says 'Kept the conjurers from this city, but the others already ha
ve a foot in the door.'

'You say 'Ayup.'

You say 'heard o tha' story ah think.'

You say 'Somethin' bout the Sultan er some such.'

Koaeb smiles pleasantly.

The guildmaster says 'I think there may be some other... events...'

The guildmaster reconsiders his statement.

You say 'Welp, ah reckon yer right, but ah heard it long ago an' ah don' remember m
uch.'

The guildmaster says 'Let's just say, there may be other such devilry about now.'

You say 'A yeah?'

You say 'Them's whisperin' wrong words ta th'Sultan's ear?'

You say 'er somethin'?'

The guildmaster says 'Something else loose in the dark corners of the city.'

Koaeb lets his eyes widen a bit.

The guildmaster says 'Sorcery of a kind I have not seen before.'

The guildmaster says 'But, what do I know.'

Koaeb listens intently.

The guildmaster waves a hand in dismissal.

The guildmaster says 'I know not of what I speak.'

Koaeb frowns a little.

You say 'Bah, tell me what ya heard.'

The guildmaster says 'It is what I saw, but I don't know what it menas.'

The guildmaster says 'means.'

The guildmaster says 'And as I told the other fellow, I was full of drink, so...'

You say 'Welp, ah admit ma weakness is gossip like an' ol' woman. Les hear it!'

The guildmaster wrinkles his nose in remembering.

The guildmaster says 'I can still smell the thing.'

You say 'Smell?'

Koaeb wrinkles his nose as well.

The guildmaster says 'The man-that-is-not-man'

You raise an eyebrow at the notion.

The guildmaster shakes his head.

The guildmaster says 'forget it'

The guildmaster says 'I think Man has taken things too far... he wants to be like
the Gods.'

You say 'Bah, take meh where ya smelled it, if'nn ya please.'

You say 'Ah'm only fer knowin one who canna die tha's not in the Asgaard an' tha's
th'Lich.'

You say 'Ya mean th'Lich?'

The guildmaster says 'Yet another abomination.'

The guildmaster says 'No, this thing knew no flesh.'

You say 'Like a sp'rit?'

<100%hp 100%m 100%mv 1982tnl>
The guildmaster says 'Fashioned in the likeness of Man, but without the Breath of
Life.'

The guildmaster says 'But not a thing of necromancy.'

You say 'Mmm... like one a tem golems, ah'm thinkin' then.'

The guildmaster says 'Made of river mud and... wet...'

You say 'Like a stone one ah once heared about.'

You say 'Smelt like th'swamp it did.'

The guildmaster says 'With a word I saw this thing felled. Collapsing into a heap
.'

The guildmaster says 'But I fear my company was in league with the creator.'

The guildmaster says 'They spoke the same strange tongue.'

You say 'Yer company meanin' th' sultanate? er them folks ya were with?'

The guildmaster says 'an acquaintence of one of my drinking companions.'

You say 'Ah. So...'

You say 'There be some strange thing gettin' about in th' dark corners of th'city.
Ya smelt it an' it was bad...'

The guildmaster says 'some fray-minded mystic'

You say 'Them's that told ya was with th'ones that felled it with a word... an' th
' thing was made a wet sand.'

The guildmaster nods.

You say 'Am ah gettin' ya?'

You nod.

The guildmaster says 'Mages I understand'

The guildmaster says 'these fellows...'

The guildmaster says 'this one kept speaking of words and numbers and how to separ
ate his upper self from his lower self'

The guildmaster says 'sounded like he wanted to be a god'

The guildmaster says 'I know how to separate the lower and upper self...'

The guildmaster fingers his blade.

You say 'Th'mystic yer meanin'?'

The guildmaster says 'Aye.'

You say 'Words, ah know a bit about, but ah'm clueless as ta numbers.'

You say 'Ah know my fingers're ten but tha's it. Th' separation part gets me too.'

You chuckle politely.

The guildmaster says 'while we were drinking he drew this thing on the table...'

The guildmaster thinks a moment.

The guildmaster says 'I don't remember what it looked like.'

You ponder the question.

The guildmaster says 'Something about letters in a certain shape.'

You say 'Welp maybe ya kin tell me how ta separate yer selves?'

The guildmaster says 'One skillful chop would do it, I should think!'

The guildmaster's mouth curls into a wide, toothy grin.

You stop using a large, iron-tipped halberd.
You wield an etched mithril axe.
You feel quite confident with an etched mithril axe.

You say 'Ah'm thinkin' that too.'

The guildmaster says 'I don't think wthat's what he had in mind, but it works for me.'

You smile happily.

You say 'Suren it does, an it'll take ya ta asgaard quick enough, ah reckon.'

Koaeb chuckles grimly.

The guildmaster says 'see what the gods think of your ascendence!'

Koaeb slaps his knee and guffaws loudly.

The guildmaster shakes his head in dismay.

The guildmaster says 'sometimes I think the world has gone mad'

You say 'Indeed, but as my pa always said, we're but travellers in it, er some suc
h.'

You say 'Ah don't quite remember.'

Koaeb looks down at the ground, then back up.

You say 'Welp, wouldja remember that symbol if'n ya saw it agin?'

The guildmaster says 'it was a triangle... but the letters I don't recall'

The guildmaster says 'spelled things in different ways'

You say 'Hm... a triangle. Like th'one that thre God's got?'

You say 'Trabryn er somethin'?'

TRABRYN INDIGO TRIANGLE
The Mark of the Indigo Triangle

Always has there been a mysterious order referred to as the Perpetuim. No one
knows from where they draw their power, who they are, or what their motives
might be. After losing an Asgaardian Immortal, they have chosen another to
give their powers to. Born a mortal to humble farmers, Lord Trabryn now holds
power over the spheres Order, Dedication, and Honesty.

His followers understand that even before notions of good and evil came into
being there was the eternal struggle of chaos versus order. Those of the
Indigo Triangle are sworn to protect order and value the roles of dedication
and honesty in their pursuit to leave behind more order than they found. This
order can take many forms, but this is the common bond shared among those that
worship Lord Trabryn. It is said his followers gather near where Perpetuim
power has been felt before, somewhere in the desert.

The guildmaster says 'hell, I don't know'

You say 'All ah know is that it's purple er some such.'

The guildmaster shrugs indifferently.

The guildmaster says 'I will say one thing'

The guildmaster says 'I didn't really think about it until talking with that last
fellow'

The guildmaster says 'he asked if we cut that mystic down'

The guildmaster says 'and we didn't'

The guildmaster says 'and thinking back, I don't know why'

The guildmaster says 'it's like it didn't even occur to me'

The guildmaster says 'when it would have at any other time'

The guildmaster says 'does that make sense?'

You say 'Welp, sounds strange enough. Ah'm understandin' maybe he put a spell on
ya. Did he see ya?'

You say 'Er, hate ta ask, but are ya gonna eat that pie?'

Koaeb looks at his stomach as it rumbles.

The guildmaster says 'mmm... pie'

You chuckle politely.

You say 'Welp maybe he bewitched yas though.'

The guildmaster eats a berry pie.

You say 'Ah'm hearin' there's them that kin do such.'

The guildmaster says 'Sorry, I was eating. They can do what?'

You say 'There's them that kin bewitch a person, so i've heard.'

You say 'Maybe h'mystic did that to ya.'

The guildmaster says 'I guess he could have when we weren't looking.'

You say 'Welp, interestin'.'

The guildmaster shakes his head.

The guildmaster says 'Anyway. Like I said. I wouldn't think about it too much.'

You say 'Though ah'm not quite sure where ah'd go from here if'n ah wanted ta inve
stigate this. Sounds excitin','

You tip your hat gallantly.

The guildmaster says 'Avoid that nonsense!'

The guildmaster says 'I think the both of them were mad.'

You say 'Bah, ah'm intr... intri... interested.'

The guildmaster says '(there were two of them, by the way)'

You say 'Ah.'

You say 'Where'd ya see em?'

You say 'Hey, ah know.'

The guildmaster says 'One apparently owned the man-that-was-not-man'

The guildmaster says 'and the two of them argued'

You say 'Where kin ah fin' th' bar with th' table with th' carvin'?'

The guildmaster winces.

The guildmaster says 'Ummmm'

The guildmaster says 'That was a couple nights ago, and after a good many drinks...'

The guildmaster sits down and thinks deeply.

You chuckle politely.

The guildmaster says 'he used chalk anyway, which has probably long since been cle
aned up'

You say 'Yeah yer prob'ly right.'

The guildmaster says 'had a little bag full of all sorts of weird things'

You say 'What were they arguin' about then?'

You say 'An which one had th' bag?'

The guildmaster says 'they argued in some strange tongue'

The guildmaster says 'ours had the bag... I never saw the other one really well'

The guildmaster says 'he stood behind the man-that-was-not-man'

The guildmaster says 'it blocked us from continuing'

You say 'Strange.'

The guildmaster says 'apparently the two knew each other'

You say 'Yer friend an' th' mystic?'

The guildmaster says 'the mystic and the fellow behind the creature'

The guildmaster says 'they spoke the same tongue'

The guildmaster says 'and the mystic knew how to drop the creature to rubble'

You say 'Ah. An twas yer frien' that had th' bag?'

The guildmaster says 'the mystic had the bag'

You say 'Gotcha.'

The guildmaster says 'it was full of like...'

The guildmaster says 'roots and charms and jars and such'

You say 'Wierd. Maybe he was some sorta wierd conj'rer.'

The guildmaster says 'There was something not right about him.'

You say 'Welp he gots ingred'ents like one of them alchemists er like them thieves
carry around, but he also gots big conjured thingies.'

You say 'Ah'm stumped.'

You chuckle politely.

The guildmaster says 'just pray you don't run into them'

The guildmaster says 'what a mess'

You say 'Think they might still be about these parts?'

The guildmaster says 'made my skin crawl'

The guildmaster says 'I hope not!'

You say 'Hm.'

You say 'Welp, ah gots ta think all this through.'

You say 'Lotsa infermation, ya know.'

The guildmaster says 'Work on your forms. Of much more use.'

Koaeb stands up a little straighter.

You say 'Ayup.'

The guildmaster says 'Anyway, I have some work to do.'

You tip your hat gallantly.

The guildmaster says 'Good fortune to you.'

You say 'Thanks fer th'tale.'

Tournament and Practice Yard
Enclosed by the walls of surrounding buildings, this wide track of beaten
dirt serves as a private practice yard for the guild, the guildmaster's
private chambers overlooking the courtyard from above. Weary warriors lean
against the stone walls that surround the yard, in the bits of grass that
have struggled to survive here. From the open windows above come the droning
notes of a pair of wooden flutes, played with little enthusiasm. To the
north a few stone steps lead up into the guild-owned bar.


Two keys attached to a small ring sit here.
The Mercenary Guildmaster stands here.

exa keys
They look important.

The guildmaster nods.

The guildmaster goes back to sharpening his blade.

You say 'Er, what're them keys fer?'

get keys
You get a ring with two keys.

The guildmaster says 'Dunno. They're yours if you want them.'

exa keys
They look important.
A ring with two keys is a key, made of steel, and weighs 1 pounds 0 ounces.

You say 'Ah'll look at em in a bit.'

The guildmaster nods.

End