1222.2c: Exploring Eilean Chon

[Peregrine_Bjornaer]

Wallace thanks her, then takes the pawn in his mouth and shuffles off. (There were four pawns in all.)

@Arya

"First off, I need to know where to deposit some vis I found. Secondly, I'm curious as to the form the vis originally took. These look like eggshells to me--" she holds up the shards that the vis was originally in-- "but Wallace and I found them in a cave underneath Eilean Chon. The entrance was narrow enough that I find it unlikely the Niseag could have laid these eggs; it was easy enough for me to make it through wearing the skin of an otter, but Wallace found it a tight squeeze. I wonder if, perhaps, the Niseag may have grandchildren. These shards are not an active arcane connection to any living creature, or I would have been able to visualize the beast... which leads me to wonder whether the offspring from these eggs may have been consumed by a parent."

"We have a vault in the Common Lab where we store the covenant's supply of vis. If you'd like, I can show you."

He examines the shells closely. "It's possible. The Niseag, to the best of my knowledge, has never laid its eggs at either island, but there have been a few years that we weren't able to harvest them for whatever reason. Aside from tracking its movements, we've not made much of an effort to study it, though."

[Arya]

"I would expect the Niseag herself to be far too large to fit into the cave. But perhaps these have been there for ages, since a time when she was much younger, and smaller?" Halie shrugs. "How many times was there no harvest? It may be worthwhile to spend some time combing about the loch in case the missing vis is still hiding."

[Peregrine_Bjornaer]

Drystan purses his lips and thinks. "I would say three or four times. But none since we made the map, that's been going on fifty years now."

[Arya]

"No matter then. Thank you for your aid."

I think Halie's finished with the investigation. As long as we know how high we can set our lab-shacks.

[Peregrine_Bjornaer]

What is she going to do with the vis she found?

[Arya]

It's going in the vault.

[Peregrine_Bjornaer]

Drystan takes Halie around to the landward bridge post and shows her how to activate and dispel the bridge to Eilean Chon (and says that it's the same activation on the other end as well).

It takes a couple of minutes to cross the bridge (unless Halie's in a hurry) and reach the dock on the island.

The laboratory building is made of wood, and appears to take up most of the usable area of the island. There's about three or four feet of flat ground around the building before it slopes down to the water's edge, and there are several Burnet Rose bushes planted around the building.

There doesn't seem to be any particular secret to entering the laboratory – just open the door and waltz right in. When she and Drystan enters the lab, she notices that there is a warm ambient light (bright as a sunny day) and the lab is toasty warm. The room seemed to become light as soon as they crossed the threshold.

From the opposite corner of the lab, a large murky watery figure looms. "Who dares trespass," he says in a loud, gurgly voice before Drystan cuts him off.

"Cedric, be nice. We have company. Cedric, this is the maga Halie Bjornaeris, she is living here now. Halie, this is Cedric. He's the guardian of the laboratory."

Drystan goes to a padlocked chest in a corner and touches the lock while casting a spontaneous Rego Terram spell that pops the lock. He opens the chest and places the vis inside, then closes and locks the chest again.

He shows her around the laboratory, pointing out all the features and the bells and whistles that it has.

[Peregrine_Bjornaer]

((Halie gets 4 experience points, and 2 Confidence Points.))