Book II: Flamekeep- Chapter 3: The City Walls

[redcoat]

Pheuse, as you open the box you see a few small items. A daguerreotype featuring a human family, banged and dented around the edges, a set of military identification tags, and a small pewter pendant- a small circular talisman with a leaf stamped into it.

[redcoat]

Pheuse- these are the sigils of a teleportation circle

[Ancelas]

(Perception: 12) A flash of metal caught Tobias' eyes as Pheuse closed up the cigar box and set it aside to inspect the rune. He moved forward and squatted down to open the box and pluck out the dog tags inside - Brelish, from the look of them. What would a Brelish soldier be doing in-

...You've got to be kidding me.

Tobias scanned the names on the dog tags. "...We need to find this survivor."

[§~Samwise~§]

Pheuse looked up from the charred remnants. "Whomever was attacked escaped by teleportation. The charred runic that remains is in the correct form." He looked up and over to Porter and Neuks.

"Short of trying to copy it into a book and asking random wizards I don't recall a way to determine the end location." He sighed and stood, then floated up a few inches.

"Recognize something in the cigar box? I should have looked at the identification longer, but was more focused on seeing if I could find the owner." He looked back to the remnants of the circle, curious how someone living on the street managed that knowing what he knew of the spells and components used.

[vandalaria]

Porter reached back, placing their hand on the book they carried, their expression a questioning one despite the lack of an eyebrow to raise. "If you wish, Master Pheuse, I could make a copy. Perhaps something to research later?" It was a small offer, but all they could do at the moment. It was beyond Porter's expertise to know if it would provide any help.

They walked towards where Pheuse hovered, looking down at the circle. It still wasn't clear to them what Tobias was looking at -- something small, held in his hand. "Not for random wizards, of course, but if it's simply that you don't recall, does that mean you think a way to determine it exists?"

[resonance]

Neuks likewise was curious about what Tobias noticed and stepped closer to look. “What did you find? Do you think it’s someone you know?”


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[redcoat]

The Daguerreotype: Featuring a happy human family, banged and dented around the edges. A mother, father, and two children, between five and seven years old. The girl is holding a ragged stuffed bear, the boy has a bandage around his arm and a wooden sword.

A set of Military identification tags: Belonging to Captain Cassandra Mills, with a serial number and 'CAMP FORSTWATCH' emblazoned on it.

Small pewter pendant- a small circular talisman with a leaf stamped into it.

[Ancelas]

Tobias knelt again, the pendant catching his eyes. A faint tremor ran down his arm as he reached forward, nudged it aside, and turned over the Daguerreotype. Scion stared, his expression growing blank before he carefully laid the tags inside the cigar box and shut it.

"...It was her," he said quietly, voice softer than Ellie's and far less self-confident than Tobias. "My sister. This was her camp."

Tobias drew in a sharp breath and stood, shrugging his pack off so he could tuck the cigar box into his bag. "Her ring - we could track that. I don't think she's an accomplished enough magic user to be able to to cast a far-reaching teleport spell, so she can't have gone far. Besides, she wouldn't leave these things behind. She would go to a safe space nearby where she could recover and observe the situation before moving out to retrieve what was left behind."

[§~Samwise~§]

Pheuse looked up at Porter. "You can certainly try copying what's there. Maybe it will help." He stepped closer to Tobias. "Your sister ..."

He looked up and around. "Well, now we have even more reason to find her."

[vandalaria]

Porter nodded to Pheuse and retrieved the book yet again. Snapping it open quickly to the page it was on previously, they then drug a finger along the edge and flipped to the next, unused page. They paused a moment at the revelation about who's camp this is. Their face couldn't express compassion in it's frozen statue expression, but their voice tried to make up for it in soothing tone. "I'm certain we will. You're right, she's unlikely to be far -- perhaps she'll even find us if she's realized what happened. And the ring is a good idea?" They looked at Pheuse for confirmation, hopeful that he might still be able to cast the spell.

[resonance]

Neuks walked forward and rested a gentle hand on Tobias’s shoulder, “we will find her.” Then she rummaged in her pack to find a piece of bone she’d been carving. It was large enough to be obvious if Si came back to the camp to try to find her box, but small enough to be missed by a passerby glancing down the alley. She held it to up to her face and spoke softly - and very quickly - to it, as a little green wisp of magic took the shape of a spinning gear around it. “Stay here, we’ll come back later if we don’t find you soon. Oh this is Neuks, hi!” The last part was particularly rushed. She then set the bone down where they’d found the box. “There, just in case we miss each other again.” ((Magical tinkering))


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Ancelas]

Tobias nodded his gratefulness to Neuks before turning and heading back to the opening of the alleyway. "Pheuse," he said over his shoulder, "are you able to cast that tracking spell?" Back in the street, he looked around, trying to determine what might be the best location for a bolthole within range and view of the alleyway - some place he might choose himself, were he in his sister's situation.

((Rolling Insight with advantage based on background and character features: 8 / 24))

[§~Samwise~§]

Pheuse looked back and forth, trying to piece some things together as the others spoke around him. Things about the situation didn't seem right. "I do have the ability to do it once more ... but I don't know if it will do much." He pointed to the runic circle. "Either someone helped her escape, or someone took her. And if that is what I think it is, it goes to a specific location which in either case would likely be far from here."

He frowned at Tobias. "I can only focus for 10 minutes, and I would need to get within 1000 ft, and ..." His frown and face shifted to an expression of hope. "She wears it as a necklace ... I can try finding her necklace and I wont pick up on any others with the ring."

"If you want to try we can. But we will be hoofing it."

[vandalaria]

As they spoke, Porter knelt in front of the remnants of the circle. "Do you think perhaps," Porter begins, setting the nib of the quill against the paper and considering how long it might take to copy the symbols, "that whoever is responsible for the creature knows what's happened to it? If so, we should consider possible reactions."

Question asked, suggestion made, Porter began trying to quickly transcribe the sigils. There was a brief scratching of pen on paper. They paused in their task and turned a bit more towards Pheuse, holding the book so he can see. A spider-like stick figure of the first sigil glistens in wet ink on the page. "Will the rough lines be sufficient or do you require more detail?"

[resonance]

Neuks frowned and chewed her lip. She held up the vial of goo and gave it a swish, watching it.
"And what about this thing? Could someone have set it after Si? Or is it just a random monster that ended up in the slums? The coincidence seems suspicious. If we can't find Si with your tracking spell," she nodded to Pheuse, "and need to think further afield, we might do well tracking the origins of that thing."