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A Precious Haven

Scene details

Setting: Our heroes are victorious in Aurita Meloda, subduing the mighty MegaCapo and repelling, one way or another, the members of the Covenant to Control Chaos. Meloda's Blessing is safe for now, and Reize and his friends have earned the undying loyalty of Cutini Nak and her lizardfolk faithful.

But this victory did not come without cost: Ruidosa was injured during the battle and the party must rest while Reize nurses her back to health. In the interim, during a quiet and private moment, the eidola Kernunnos, having observed the previous battle from within Reize's pendant, speaks up. He is concerned that his only way of assisting the party is by manifesting fully, which both reveals his presence and afflicts mortals with mind-bending addlements if he remains overlong. Kernunnos thinks that, with training, Reize might be able to summon him in subtler ways. But training, insofar as it involves the eidola manifesting, is dangerous too.

Cutini Nak, wishing to repay the party and impressed with their "great spirit" from when he defeated the Elemental Chaos previously, proposes a solution: the lizardfolk will construct a new shrine for Kernunnos. This sanctified area, utilizing beastkin arts but functionally similar to the Painted Remains where Kernunnos was found, will allow the eidola to manifest in that location without harming mortals.

Fortunately, the construction of a shrine for a benevolent demigod is a cause for celebration for Cutini Nak's people, and a celebration is well warranted after their victory. The party may observe or participate in the construction of the shrine in the River Delta, near the home village of the lizardfolk, amidst swaying flowers and burbling waters.

Log


 "And, hoist!"
 With a satisfying splash, the Romancing SaGa is lowered into the mouth of the river, where it feeds into Aurita Meloda's still-brackish canals. Ivo, sleeves rolled up and absent his signature cloak, exhales heavily as he releases a thick rope, nodding with a weary smile to the brawny lizardfolk at his side. The repairs had fortunately only taken a few days, the damage to the ship from its dramatic launch into the city being mostly relegated to its hull. Cutini Nak had attributed it to the beneficience of Meloda, and Ivo was not wont to disagree.
 "How's construction progressing?"
 With the magitech speedboat's issues resolved for now, the Cosmopolitan makes it way along the cracked cobbles, vaulting over an old fallen tree still obstructing a footpath, toward what was once a plaza, where the lizardfolk priestess stands. She nods to Ivo as he approaches, but does not long shift her keen gaze from the foundation of wood and vines being lain by her other brethren.
 "The rituals are being properly observed," she murmurs. "As you surmised, the vulgarians are indeed well-motivated by coin."
 After the party originally quested through the Drowned Undercity, they shared some of Draaken's treasures with Cutini Nak's people in gratitude for their sharing of the Ophidian Totem (and in apology for breaking it when activated the elevator). But the peaceful and sedentary lizardfolk had done little with the riches, merely keeping them as sacred reminders of the past. With relations still uneasy between the faithful of the River Delta and the outcasts who live in the city, Ivo had convinced the priestess to hire the cityfolk to help with shrine construction. The sharing of the wealth seems to have begun smoothing out relations.
 "Well," Ivo remarks, "I'm sure they'll begin to see the light of your faith once the shrine has been constructed."
 "Until Meloda returns," the priestess replies, "we shall keep the old faith and pay proper respect to the great spirits of the Sundering. Perhaps these people will see the wisdom of our ways." She smiles, then, a little wryly. "But I will not, as you humans say, hold my breath."
 Ivo grins back at her before, still catching his breath from his labors, curiously examining the shrine in progress. Supposedly, this will contain Kernunnos's power and eventually allow Reize to train with him. And it is being built at the entrance to the Drowned Undercity, as though to ward the path to Meloda's Blessing with an eidola guardian.
 Already, Aurita Meloda is changing.


  The atmosphere within Aurita Meloda has changed for the better, especially after the Star Chasers' involvement with the case. It was not without its wounded, but that has long since gone the recovery process.

  Appearing enthusiastic, the young explorer brightens as he emerges out through the city. "Oh wow, they're doing a great job!" He is watching a few of the cityfolk gathering the materials while some are already getting to work on constructing the shrine. He gives a bemused smile. He runs a hand along his other arm, squeezing the muscles to just inspect for any sort of tension since their bout.

  "Oooooiiii!" He calls out towards Ivo and Cutini Nak as he soon joins them. "I see everything is looking great so far!" He glances back to the construction, "... We'll be able to give Kernunnos a nice 'place of rest' in no time!" He grimaces, realizing that summoning Kernunnos does take a toll on him. Reize now finds himself wondering if any long-term adverse effects may come out of his relationship with an eidola. Well, he's surviving a relationship with a vampire, so it shouldn't be too bad, right?
 

Hack, Cough. okay, Ruidosa isn't helping move the Romancing Saga, normally she might ''try''--- she has vampiric strength, usually after all- but she took an icicle to the torso and it hurt a lot and she's still healing and things still hurt and it hurts to move.

Luckily, she's able to make it out, but she's using her blue parasol. Her weakened state means her night gem really isn't really doing it's full job and the sun is uncomfortable, even if the sun is waning in the early evening.

She 'ughs' and watches from afar as she hides under her parasol and following Reize slightly behind and slowly as she makes sound.

"Ugh, Holy places." she says, with some eye rolling. Look. Vampire. holy place. bad for vampires.


 "Hey, chief," Ivo says, turning his grin to Reize as the boy arrives. The stresses of their adventure in Verdios and their mad dash back to Granse by sea have passed in the days that they've been resting. By the sparkle in the Cosmopolitan's eyes, Reize can see that Ivo seems back to his old self, staring with fascination at the construction of the shrine and peppering the patient Cutini Nak with questions.
 Said priestess turns to Reize as he arrives and bows with a perhaps startling level of respect, straigthening to address him with careful and sonorous intonation.
 "Chosen champion of the great spirit," she says, "we are pleased to see you well. Your sacrifices for our people will never be forgotten."
 "Don't give him a big head, o priestess," Ivo remarks. "He'll do something crazy, like try to read a map."
 "The boy is reckless enough as is," comes a familiar voice from Reize's pendant. Ivo's grin widens just as the priestess goes ramrod straight, at once startled and reverent. "I sense a shifting in the flow of aether of this place. Though I am unfamiliar with this design, it seems it will indeed suppress the effects of my power."
 "If Kernunnos says so, it must be true. Ruidosa, glad to see you out and about," Ivo says, turning toward the parasol-shaded vampire girl, his grin softening into a smile. He was especially shaken by her injuries in the battle. Perhaps he's grown attached to her on their adventures, or perhaps, given his dealings with the Capo and his ilk, Ivo felt somehow responsible. "I don't suppose there's anything in your tome about various methods of shrine construction? I wonder if there's any common lineage between the arts of Vaeltrandia's druids and the beastkin of Aurita Meloda."
 As though seeking to gaze into the past and find its secrets, Ivo looks toward the horizon. The sun has not quite set, but streaks of orange and purple are beginning to crest over the clouds. The sworling waters are beautiful, seeming to evince the promise of a future in which they are no longer dead and drained of life, in which Meloda's Blessing has at last been tamed again. The ancient stone houses cast shadows over the cliffs, joined by the shadow of the ten-foot-tall metal capybara automaton that--
 Oh, right.
 "Uh," Ivo finally says, staring at MegaCapo, which has been still and silent for days now, "so, what should we do about *that*?"

Ruidosa La Crima rolls 1d20>=15.
Comment: Lore Book Check: Shrinnnnnes?
Roll(s): 19. Total result is 19. This is a success (by 4).


  When Ruidosa emerges and following beside him, he glances over her way to make sure that she is alright. Nodding with a smile, he turns back to Ivo and Cutini Nak. The praise earns a smile, though he furrows his eyebrows at Ivo and then towards his pendant. "Oi!" He twitches in annoyance.

  With his attention back to Cutini Nak, his smile softens, "I am just glad that we could prevent the worst from happening. You've all have already gone through enough." He closes his eyes, "We can at least try to help with restoring this city in a more legitimate manner." He turns his head, pointedly, towards Ivo. There is a frown as he runs his hand over the back of his head, "...I'll have questions, but I'll ask them later."

  As Kernunnos does note the flow of aether, Reize grins, "I think they're doing something that'll help the both of us!"
  Reize looks up at the massive MegaCapo. "...Oh, I guess that is hard to miss." He frowns, "...I don't know, isn't this the type of constructs that you're experienced with?" He considers, "...Maybe convince it to be a guardian for this place?"
 

Ruidosa grimaces. "Everything hurts." she says to Ivo. She smiles back to Reize, she's fine despite everything hurting. She eyes the Reize praise (or otherwise) as she gives a little polite snort at the idea of Reize checking a map.

She imagines Reize looking at a map upside down. She giggles a little at this, before Ivo asks a question and she hefts her book up and starts to peek through it, flip...flip.."I think I...remember something..."

Pause. "Ah, Mom witnessed some shrine being built at some point...she detailed it as far as she could." she says. She gently mphs...

"Unsure, if it'll be useful but.." she shrugs a little as she offers the tome to the page. "No flipping pages." she says with stern look as she moves over to Reize...

"This shrine will help?" she asks curiously.

She eyes the MegaCapo(tm) and frowns. "It's a giant mechanical abomination. I say scrap it. Or reprogram it to do something useful." she says. "Like scoop frogs.'


 Ivo's smile wavers at Reize's oblique reference to future questions. It's easy to forget how sharp and sensitive the boy can be about what's troubling his friends. The trust between them is hard-earned and valuable. For a moment, the young man's expression turns distant. Perhaps it's time he changed his habit of trying to shield his younger friend from the knowledge of the questionable compromise he makes.
 Perhaps, really, Ivo was trying to shield himself from possible scorn.
 "Hm?"
 Briefly drawn into morose reflections, he seems startled when Reize pipes up again with an unusual suggestion. Ivo blinks a few times before looking back at the automaton.
 "Uh, well... I don't know..."
 As he's hesitating, a child emerges from the shadows of a stone dwelling to wander over and look up at the powered-down MegaCapo, eventually poking at its metal hull as though attempting to rouse it.
 "...You know, I think you're onto something there, Reize." Ivo's eyes are starting to brighten all over again as he turns the idea over in his mind. "The inner workings are technical, and Aguri really did a number on them, but there's nothing I can't handle. The brain, I can't fathom, but it should still be intact." He pauses, before his smile goes lopsided. "I'd worry about stealing The Great Fabroxo's invention but, knowing him, he's already making the Diplomatic Mk3."
 He folds his arms, cupping his chin in one hand.
 And given the behavior protocols of the Diplomatic Mk2, it should be possible to change its priorities... maybe not by modifying the brain itself materially, but... just by persuasion once it's powered on? If I just tell it to help the people here, which it already wants to do, then..." He grins at Ruidosa. "Then maybe it'll scoop frogs. It is good at grabbing things."
 He learned that all too well.
 "Oh? Ohhh?" Ivo, already excited again, moves away from Cutini Nak, who continues to oversee the shrine's construction, as he approaches Reize and Ruidosa to peer over their shoulders at the tome. Just like old times. "Wait, this is incredible! Ruidosa, your mother is as brilliant as she is bounti-- beautiful. Look, see here. The materials are different, but the rope binding at the corners is similar to the patterns of the vines here." He points at the shrine in progress before them for emphasis. "If that's just aesthetic detail rather than functional necessity, that suggests some cultural cross-pollination between eidola-worshipping humans and beastkin. We haven't seen anything to suggest any connections between Aurita Meloda and Vaeltrandia, and Cutini Nak had little to say about the Star-Crowned themselves... yet it would be strange if beastkin who fled the city came into contact with the druids, or their forebears... what do you think, Kernunnos?"
 "The desire of mortals for knowledge," the eidola responds, pendant pulsing in time with his words, "is matched only by their forgetfulness."
 "Praise be to the written word, then," Ivo quips back, inclining his head toward Rui's tome. "Say, Reize, when we have time, let's ask Cutini Nak to tell us more of her people's stories. Maybe in the oral traditions of the lizardfolk, there remain some hidden ties binding together the history of Granse."


  Good, it's settled. They'll make the MegaCapo a guardian for the Aurita Meloda residents.

  Reize's smile grows a bit more when Ruidosa approaches Ivo to let him see the tome. The glance focuses on the older man, a smile that says, 'please don't break her trust'. There is a curious look on his face as Ivo examines the page that Ruidosa provided insight of.

  The reference about Mistress La Crima's figure, as usual, flies over his head. The young explorer approaches closer to Ivo to look at the page. "...Oh! You're right!" He gives a thoughtful look as he looks over the structure.

  He offers a faint smile, "That is the case, huh? Most of the history about both cultures have been oral." He brightens at Ivo's suggestion, "I would be interested in uncovering the history and write about it." He muses, looking over at Ruidosa. "...We'll have to cross our notes soon. I am hopeful that we'll be able to have something that reminds the Gransians of their forgotten history." He brightens, "Maybe Nais will be able to share some details as well."
 


 "That's right!" Ivo exclaims, grinning at Reize, the two of them seeming almost to bubble over at the thought of uncovering the secrets of Granse. "The logging town near the Misty Forest might be the human community closest to Aurita Meloda, and we already know that there's considerable druidic influence there. We thought that occurred after the fall of Vaeltrandia, but what if the druids were returning to lands whence they came? Even if they weren't druids then, and Vaeltrandia didn't exist, it's not impossible that the druids first learned some of their arts from the wisdom of beastkin who had left the fallen Aurita Meloda... if anyone alive today would know such stories, it'd be Nais!"
 It's pure speculation, but it's a plausible hypothesis and a stirring story. Ivo's wide grin fades just a little as his eyebrows raise, sighing.
 "Poor Nais. The royal family of Zerhem owes us one, but I get the sense they don't want to let prisoners go, maybe because their grip on their country's security is already so precarious. They're very concerned with appearances." The travails of Princess Darcea come to mind. "And they're slow to make decisions. I'll press them again on the subject of Nais when we return to the city."
 He smiles again, more firmly this time.
 "By the time we're finished in Granse, Reize, not only will we have found what we need to save Lily, but you'll be a storyteller of national renown. The historian not only of Vaeltrandia, but of Granse itself!"
 "Mayhap it is undecorous to say," Kernunnos murmurs, sounding faintly amused, "but I am ever charmed by the concerns of mortals with memory, with the marks you leave and that are left by others. I am pleased that my champion is concerned with such matters, and glad to assist."
 "Well, we're glad to assist you," Ivo responds. "The history of Vaeltrandia hasn't yet been written, right? You helped make Granse what it is today, Kernunnos. Its history is in your honor."
 "Oh? Oh." The eidola sounds surprised, pausing as though thinking for a moment. "Yes... yes, I see. Well, then."

> Kernunnos's Affinity Rank has increased to 6.
> Reize may now unlock Summoned Surge: Conatus Modicus.
> A Summoned Surge depletes a small portion of the Summon Gauge but has no casting time. Such Arts are able to function as a reaction or interrupt.
> Information on unlocking new Summoned Arts may be found in the Glossary.

 "Thank you... my friends."