As Fate's Wheel Turns
Third Day of the Fourth Month 293 AC
You imagine Vee's expression of bemusement when starring at the serpentine belt that had coiled around her shoulder to whisper in her ear matches the one you are currently wearing.
"What d'you mean it won't work?" she asks to herself, not the ivory snake's head, its eyes alight with Yss' watching presence even as his vessel still slumbers beneath the oracular pool
Thankfully you have enough questions now to untangle the riddle. It is not that you cannot reach Tor, nor that you would be defeated in battle, but that though some stroke of good fortune Tor would be able to withstand a spell which had laid low a lady of the djinn. "By scales warded your foe would be," comes the dry hiss, among the most words you had ever heard spoken through the belt.
As you realize what manner of protections Yss' presence speaks of, you quietly raise your estimation of his children's power and their use should they be brought out into the light dramatically upwards. You know few creatures indeed born of this world which can simply shed magic as a gull's feathers do water. Frustrating to say the least for the moment, you must admit but no protection is perfect.
Before heading to Volantis you take care to mark Tor's location in relation to the Deep using the Wayfinder, even though no map you currently possess extends that far into the depths of Sothoryos. Come what may you will not lose this trail.
***
Fourth Day of the Fourth Month 293 AC
Volantis the Great is not much changed since last you saw it, at least at first sight. The slaves still toil while the masters show their power by striding as high above it as they can. Some on palanquins, others ahorse, and the most exalted upon hathays, those most quintessentially Volantine of carriages drawn by laboring elephants though the blistering heat.
"I wonder if it's the elephant or the cart that's the point?" Maelor asks, following your gaze.
"Both are important to making a good impression," Teana replies instantly. She had not objected when you asked her to return here, but neither had she seemed particularly enthused by the prospect.
"That's not what I meant," the boy replies. "Look at the wheels on the things. Bigger than they aught to be just to keep off the muck, ain't they?"
Wide and iron-rimmed besides, you realize, looking closely at them for the first time. The hathay did not grow out of a cart or carriage as one might assume, but a chariot that once broke bones upon many an ancient battlefield.
Malarys glances at the young sorcerer approvingly: "Well reasoned." His smile is sharp enough it almost seems like it might draw blood as he glances up the Long Bridge. "Perhaps they grew enamored with elephants in some sad bid to replace lost dragons with another beast."
"Don't underestimate the city, or those who call it home," Teana speaks up unexpectedly. "They may not be the Valyrians you remember, Wisdom, but just as we do in Sorcerer's Deep they are learning."
You are proud and secretly more than a little relieved to hear her say 'we' with such conviction. She would need it for when she will come face to face with her old master. "None of us would be so foolish as to underestimate the Volantines," you interject. "We would hardly even be
here otherwise."
"Indeed," Malarys agrees easily. "One should not discount a man who raised a order of sorcerers from naught but moldering scrolls and dry bones."
"Oi, the bones were pretty lively the last time we were around," Glyra calls cheerfully. "Wonder if they cleared out the sewers or if there's still something worth fighting own there."
The mage lord's expression is in equal parts disdain and horror at the notion of willingly entering a sewer in any save the most desperate circumstances.
On the other hand if he did have to do it, woe betide whatever is down there, a somewhat whimsical thought floats to the surface of your mind.
What do you do?
[] Try to pick up recent rumors
[] Visit Zherys
-[] Write in
[] Approach the other Mysterium members first
-[] Write in
[] Try to find some trace of these demons Zherys spoke of in the vision you stole from Ymeri
[] Visit a known public gathering place of the Elephants to get some sense of Zherys' opposition
[] Speak to Benero
-[] Write in
[] Write in
OOC: Yss once more saves you, this time from wasting charges on a curse which would have failed to penetrate Spell Resistance. You can try again in a few days. Not right away, that would get silly fast. It takes a while for probabilities to realign.
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