Playing in the Sandbox

Asmotir replies, "Surprisingly, it's just a slight modification of the usual kind of ritual to bind an object to one's self. For your parts you don't really have to do anything aside from focus on the door. I suppose that they figured that anyone who could break the other enchantments on it would have little trouble figuring out the binding ritual as well. Or maybe it was so that non-arcane practitioners could simply recite the ritual from a scroll with little chance of error."

Skaimos glanced over at Ebni Su as he put his hand on the door. "Out of curiosity, is she going to try reconstructing the letter, or is the ritual meant to find out more about that cursed Mefas?"

"The former. Your encounter with 'Mefas' doesn't give us enough to adequately scry for since he wasn't particularly distinct, we don't know his real name, current location, or have an item that had been in his possession for some time. Though, I hope you don't take offense to this, even if we did know who or where he was, we wouldn't tell you. You may harbor a grudge against him but, he did our Daimyo a great service. I say this so that it will not come as a shock to you later if we choose not to reveal the contents of the letter to you." Asmotir replied.

Cyrta's head was already spinning after hearing all of those MANY options to what next they could do... It was way over her limit of ideas to value between. Other then going to any Churches... She knew that option was more likely to lead to problems then any other option set before her. But by the time after Thog had left she realized she was lost in thought and confusion for a tad too long. "um... So... What next are we doing?"

"That makes sense. Even the most amazing artifact's worth nothing if there's no one who can use it...Still...Of our options, I like the idea of exploring the ruins...There is much that has been forgotten...Even my golem is made off of modified designs I found..." The kobold nodded, thinking for a moment. "However, I will leave the choice in your hands. We are a team, after all." Not to mention he was one of the more recent members...They knew their limits better than he did. While he might be excited, to them it might be a death sentence, and he'd rather not send them to the other side because of negligence.

"I like this idea of the ruins too..." The Pixie comments with a smile.

Tethe lets out a little puff of cold air as she takes on an annoyed look. "I'd rather not go crawling around in some monster and trap infested ruins in the desert thanks. The only real rewards go to whatever egghead is leading the pack while we get treated like some dumb ox meant to soak up all the danger. That's assuming the genius is smart enough to not go rubbing every cursed artifact we find all over his face. I hate working for people who stake their entire character on being smarter than others. I'd rather go hunting bounties or smacking around some monks. It's more straightforward, and sounds fun besides."

"I'm sure there's much to be learned from either ruins or the monastery so I'm fine with either one. Looking through the libraries of a monastery would surely be the easier of the two though." She responds calmly.

Toku was somewhat disappointed, but he could understand the reasoning. "I suppose if the ruins are out of the question, helping at the monastery would be interesting...Hrm..." Either way, he would get a chance to see if there was knowledge he hadn't collected yet...It would be nice...

Cyrta really liked the idea of going to those ruins, she felt her abilities would be useful there... But sadly it seemed the rest of the group didn't like that idea so the Pixie just shrugs. "If going to that monastery is what you all wanta do, I'll just go along without any complaints."

A few minutes before the binding ritual concludes, Ebni Su's ritual does so and the letter re-forms in her hands. She reads over it a few times and gives a sort, "Hmmm." and cocks her head. Then she looks it over a few more times and says something to herself you can't quite make out (without a perception check anyways).

After the binding ritual concludes, you're all sure that you could perform the ritual again yourselves without any trouble (well except for maybe Tethe if she's smashed right now or while performing the ritual which would be a bad idea in general). You all feel the Roving Door connect to you and the connection between it and Asmotir dissolve.

Skaimos understood the reasons behind the decision not to tell him the contents of the letter. Still...he tried to listen to what Ebni Su was muttering. He considered using his psionic powers to read her mind, but...he wasn't quite willing to go that far. Besides a magic-user may have defenses or warnings for something like that.

Rolling Perception...18 (1d20) + 7 = 25.

Asmotir gets up when he's done and Ebni Su motions for him to follow her out of the room at which he says, "Excuse me." and they leave the room. A few minutes later Ebni Su opens the door and says, "As it's rather late for you to go find the nearest Empty House, we have made arrangements for you at a nearby inn, the Silver Crown. I will escort you there, please follow me. If you have any more questions, please feel free to ask." and she then begins to leads the way down the stairs. Once the group exits the room there are a pair of guards now escorting the group, one in front of Ebni Su and one waiting for you all to go ahead.

Cyrta nods to Ebni Su and looks to the rest of the party. "So then, this sounds like a nice way to end the day?"

Toku nodded, falling into formation and looking at the others..."Yes, it's been a long trip...Some rest would be nice before we go running off to our next project, hmm...?" He was satisfied with that, there was really nothing to say for the moment...

Tethe looks a little disappointed about not getting to try out their new toy right away but nods.

"Which inn would we be staying at then?" Maihime asks as she follows along.

"The Silver Crown," Skaimos said to Maihime before turning back to Ebni. "Thank you for arranging this for us." 

Ebni Su simply nods in response. You note that there seems to be only a minor decrease in activity after nightfall in the palace as you walk down the flights of stairs. As you head outside and your raptors are being handed back over you all get a sudden feeling Mykaila wishes you farewell and your eyes are drawn up to a higher floor of the palace where Mykaila is standing out on a balcony waving down to you.

Tethe immediately rushes forth to hug Aran Dom, who responds by managing to twist its head around enough to bite at one of her horns though Tethe doesn't seem to notice.

Maihime looks up spotting Mykaila and waves with a smile.

Tethe blinks watching Maihime as she mounts her raptor. Looking up as well she spots Mykaila and waves vigorously.

A moment passes like this before Maihime looks towards Ebni Su

"Is there anything you can tell us about the monasteries we might be visiting Lady Ebni Su?"

Ebni Su replies in surprise, "Lady? I'm not really-" before cutting off with a polite cough. "Hmm. Yes. Well, the most prominent monastery in the city would be the one belonging to the White Lotus. Their grounds aren't all the far away and you should be able to easily find it on the map I gave you, as the monastery occupies an area equivalent to almost a dozen blocks. Next I would try either the Jade Raptor school or the Garnet Rose. Or if you're looking for a smaller school you could try the dojo of the Black Ivy, Paper Tiger, or Pink Iron. I could tell you a bit more about any of those but, as I'm not trained in their arts, the finer details and differences of their practices and styles escape me."

"Pink Iron?" The Pixie said confused, that name sounding the oddest to her.

Ebni Su nodded and said, "They are a school that practices using seemingly or actually every day objects as weaponry. I believe they started mostly as a style for wives of samurai or other proper ladies to defend themselves without appearing improper. The weapons they most commonly use are fans, parasols, hairpins, and sewing needles."

Skaimos looked up at Mykaila, smiled, and waved up at her. "It appears this is where we part ways, at least for now." Skaimos telepathically told Mykaila. "I hope that you will stay safe, that you will continue to learn and grow, and that you won't forget our little trip together. Fare thee well, Mykaila-sama."

"Well, the Pink Iron school definitely sounds unique, but I don't think that it would necessarily be for us. Out of curiosity, do any of these school incorporate the use of psionics in their training?" Skaimos asked Ebni Su.