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  1. Journals

Arriving to Tarkett

Session 66
2021-10-21

Sirona improvises a prayer for Morena and manages to devote the place of Power to the Goddess of Winter. The node turns into a statue of Morena. Everyone is pretty much in awe of the experience. Jak immediately starts to silently and dutifully pray. He gets slightly annoyed as Irdien and Sirona starts discussing the shrine to Svarog that Irdien found earlier. Subsequently, the drow takes him aside, confessing that she does love him but still can't marry him. This brings joy to Jak's previously broken heart.
Jak performs another musical prayer dedicated to bringing forth the spirit of Goltrash. After contacting him successfully, Jak politely but nervously asks if he would like to remain to guard the node in spirit form. The dragon accepts and Jak, having never done anything like it before, manages to bind the dragon's soul to a serpentlike archway above the entryway to the shrine.
The group travel back to Bunakind and meet up with Fordgehead about the reward. He seems pleased about the Dimeritium find, even if he's slightly annoyed that he now need to pay 5% of the upcoming two-year profit to the group along with the promised thousand gold. Adrian collects the reward, and after pointing out that miners should respect the shrines to Svarog and Morena, the group head back to The Ibex tavern to rest before continuing their journey towards Tarkett and The Monster hunter guild school.
In the last evening, before bedtime, Sirona decides to refrain from taking her medicine after her grandmother's lecture. She is, however, not keen on falling asleep and dreaming nightmares about the kobold family from the mines and tries to stay away during the night. She fails, but surprisingly no night-terrors find her this time. Sirona wakes up feeling sick. She's shivering, sweaty and sluggish. She feels exhausted despite the night's rest but can determine that she is not ill. Instead, she is showing symptoms of withdrawal. She tries to ignore it and carry on as usual, but it's very plain to see what's going on just looking at her face.
Jak sings an encouraging song during the travels, but Sirona has little to no energy to engage him. Especially after experiencing two horrid nightmares during the four-day journey that also takes them through an icy rainstorm on top of everything. During the travel to Tarkett, Sirona is exhausted. Irdien asks her if she wants to rest, but Sirona won't rest unless it's for Irdiens sake. Adrian gets concerned as Sirona almost falls asleep in the dirt, but Sirona becomes aggressively defensive when asked about it, and the topic is dropped.
On the twenty-seventh of October, the group finally reaches the city of Tarkett after almost seven weeks to the day of travel since fleeing Dumbarton. Adrian steers them towards the school, but on the way, they spot a crowd being addressed by a man in fine clothes. He speaks of wanting to win the election as the mare of Tarkett and promises that when he does, he shall close down the school to keep hunters and their sort away from them. He spots the group and points to Irdien and Labrat as he says derogatory things about the drow and dragonspawn. Jak gets angry and jumps off his horse to steal the show. He starts to play a fantastic tune on his lute and sings his praise to the monster hunters honorable work. The crows forget about the angry man as they listen to Jak play.
Arriving at the courtyard of what looks like a palace, Adrian dismounts. There are students training archery with a teacher on the grounds, and Adrian greats him as Jaz. The giant of a man reminds him that it's Master Jaz and notes that Adrian has successfully brought the two from Dumbarton. When Sirona quietly asks Adrian what Jaz means by that, Adrian says that he will explain later. Jaz sends a student named Lucas to fetch Nicodemus and to tell the Grandmaster of the arrived guests.
Nicodemus turns out to be another teacher with quite the air of superiority around him. When he arrives, he does so reluctantly from having been disturbed. As Adrian immediately takes the opportunity to ask him about the shard of Dimetrium in his heart, Nicodemus tells him to wait for now. He requests the guests to line up before him for a closer inspection. He looks at L with some curiosity asking Adrian where he found her. Adrian points out that L can speak for herself, but L, rightfully assessing the professor as an asshole, remains silent. Nicodemus moves on to Sirona, looking at her shivering form asking if she is carrying any diseases. Sirona compliantly and submissively replies; no, Sir. Jak, again fuming over the manners of this man, decides to teach him a lesson. As Nicodemus looks him over, noting that he recognizes the famous bard Jak pulls out a piece of paper and ink and spills the paint over the tutor's coat, managing to make it look like an accident. When Nicodemus moves on to Irdien, he condescendingly remarks that he is impressed that she can speak the common language of the surface inhabitants. Irdien responds by quickly reciting a tongue-twister in five different languages.
After finishing his inspection, Nicodemus takes the group to the Grandmaster's office, who informs them that most of the school has enlisted to help the war on Ghiz and is, therefore, quite empty. Next, Adrian is asked to tell how the group met and their adventures along their travels to get here. The way the Grandmaster speaks about their past ordeals and keeps referring to demonic influence makes Sirona again curious about how they seem to know so much. she will ask Adrian later.
Finally, The Grandmaster ends by asking for the group's thoughts on enlisting at the school as the best protection is self-defense. L says that she is only here for Sirona and won't be joining any organization. Sirona says she is a medical doctor, not much of a fighter. Irdien, who is briefly mistaken for her brother, Ertherin, says that she will if she needs to join to see her brother sooner. Jak, who has sat down by the cosy fireplace in the room, and declined the interview, is overlooked. The Grandmaster tells Nicodemus to show the guest a shared space to reside and reminds Adrian that his journeyman trial is coming up but that he is welcome to stay in one of the journeyman rooms.
As soon as the group leaves the room, Nicodemus, who does not appreciate being told to do such lowly tasks, gives a verbal description of the location of the dorms. Then he leaves to let the group find their way, which is no problem since Adrian also knows the school's interior.