Silver Insanity

"I don't know, but," she looks sour, "I'm sure I'll find out in half an hour."

"And no, I don't need it... I take it you found some relation to the... Tapestry of Stairs, was it, that you're looking for?"

Stewart growls some. "Stars. It's probably a relic or map related to a prophesy. I'm not really sure, otherwise I wouldn't be bothering with this," he explains, gesturing at the library.

"And if my source is to believed, yes, the key is related. Probably also related to some of the Vile Gods too." He frowns.

"Oh. Joy. Well, you may have it - we can work out later what's a fair price for the thing. For now, I guess I need to go find out what I can about these envoys."

Lauren pauses at the doorway, carefully employing her magic to remove all traces of the library's dust from her dress.

Stewart tries to get one last comment in before Lauren leaves: "Well, to start, I'll finish getting the lore out of some of these items. But after that I'll head back to the inn. Can't let the others sit around staring at rats all by themselves."

But after that, he'll pull the cubes out from her bag and begin casting Legend Lore once again.

Lauren nods. "Take my backpack with you when you go, please? I don't want to leave it unattended. And thank you; I'll meet you back at the inn, then."

Stewart sits in the library and systematically works through the pile of objects from Lauren's bag. He stares at the pair of cubes for a small bit before returning them to the bag. A disk gets frowned at and returned. But other than those, he simply works through the pile as quickly as he can.

At the end, he juggles two bags onto his back and walks out of the castle back to the inn, to find both lunch and his party.

Continued from Chapter VI.

Aurora: You find the inn without trouble; it's a somewhat high-class establishment that caters to merchants and adventurers - much like the place you chose, only with better food.

Stewart: Your trip back to your inn is uneventful - until you get within sight of the inn itself. Aurora is heading purposefully towards the door, a gnoll warrior in tow behind her. You recognize her from your dream the previous night - she was the figure of living flame.*

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* It is worth noting that she was one of the smallest pieces on the board - you are, at the very least, not dealing with someone even near the level of, say, Coyote, or Artemis, or anyone like that.

Stewart pauses for a moment, peers through his glasses at Aurora, and then walks through the door just after the gnoll. He'll clear his throat to get their attention. "Excuse me, but you look familiar. Have we met before? I can't imagine it was from Targrove, but perhaps somewhere else?"

Aurora turns and glances at the simply-dressed Hrassa behind her. "I've not been to Targrove, least that I recall - my travels have been more to the east and north. You're Stewart, yes?"

Stewart looks at Aurora curiously. "Really? Huh, I wouldn't have thought..." He catches himself. "Yes, yes, I am. Can I help you?"