Tainya relaxes a few hairs, withdrawing her crossbow and sheathing her rapier. "Madam, I honestly do not think ze cabot iz ze one we are looking for. She did fight alongside ze other courier's guards against zose despicable creatures, and made no attempt to thin ze ranks." She smiles and nods to Sora in a seemingly understanding manner. "My apologies, madam cabot."

Sophie moves closer to the girl, crouches down and pats her shoulder for comfort. "Now, now, calm down. We might be able to help you, but I'm afraid your situation isn't very clear. Can you tell us a bit more?"

Arcana & History checks: http://orokos.com/roll/100666

Arcana : Some persons, when tasked with creating a guardian to protect themselves or others, turn to the art of golem making. This requires a masterfully crafted body, a sacrifice of blood or spirit, and opening a rift to the Elemental Chaos. Through a rent in the fabric of reality, the golem's creator draws forth the same spirit stuff tapped by the gods and the primordials when they created the creatures of this world. This tiny spark of life has no memory, personality, or history.

As can be expected, some people find the idea abhorrent and dangerous, and the rituals are often quite vile. Therefore, some spellcrafters use a different ritual that consists of an offering to lure a native spirit of the Feywild into an automaton and a simple set of orders to follow; depending on the craftsmanship of the vessel, the size and type of the offering and the sort of orders made, the summoner may call forth anything from a winter spirit to a prominent member of the ruling Courts. The capricious nature of the Fey can result in some mischief made at the summoner's expense. Most persons who make such pacts do so with respect for the entity called forth, and a contract is made. The fey creature agrees to the orders set forth by the summoner and remains in the constructed body, and will not go against them, bound to their word on pain of death. These "nautaavoranda" (lit. bound faithful) can employ various kinds of magics, depending on which part of the Feywild the spirit was called from, and can make for strong protectors who still have their own free will.

Once they have fulfilled the orders set out for them, the contract expires, and the bonded fey can return to the Feywild. On extremely rare occassions, however, a spirit may elect to stay behind even when their contract is over. If a nautaavoranda cannot fulfill what they agreed to do, they must be kept in the dark about this. Realizing that they cannot keep their promise will cause them to go mad. From then on they will lash out in anger and confusion, even tearing apart those they swore to protect. As their long lifespans keep them from dying, they are doomed to wander the world without purpose until they are destroyed, at which point they will cease to exist.

History : Varis Wilder was an elf monk of Cyre that was famous during the few years preceding the war. Notably, he and his companions had taken a vow of poverty and often refused gifts or donated them to others. This meant that they had to face down enemies with the most mundane equipment and often slept outside instead of at an inn. Even with this handicap, Varis earned his monicker of "Dragon Puncher" by beating down the white dragon Bitterstrike and her vassals, who were terrorizing local towns. His companions were equally strong if not stronger, but the name stuck after stories spread of him delivering a vicious uppercut that felled the beast.

Shortly before the start of the great war, Varis and his companions were tasked with exterminating a basilisk colony that was terrorizing a small town near Kalazart. Reports claim that the nameless village remained infested as recently as six years ago. The most agreed upon explanation is that Varis and his group were petrified along with the villagers. Their ultimate fate is still unclear.

This seems good enough for Parthia, who gives a half-smile to Sora, "Then I shall overlook this breach of privacy for now. In return, what you saw must remain secret." She looks to the maid as well, who gives every sign of not wanting to be there any longer. "That goes for you as well. As far as you both are concerned, this meeting never happened."

"I have to deliver magical equipment to Varis Wilder and his allies," sobs Cotton, "Those are the exact orders I was given. I had a lot of powerful items given to me and I swore to protect them until they reached him." She looks sadly at Sophie, "I can feel it in my head. Like an itch I cannot scratch. A persistent need to do something that is impossible to do. It... It hurts."

"And so it shall be," mumbles Sora, who just gets the hell out of there. She mumbles an apology to Miri in passing, then makes off to find somewhere and agonise over how she dodged a bullet.

And how she is definitely not getting involved with these foppish nobles! Agh, them and their intricate web of intricacies! She's a simple courier and that's JUST what she'll do: Get that package delivered, no fuss no wuss, and then get the Nine Hells out of there.

Miri excuses herself from the room, white as a sheet. With Sora gone, she resumes working alone and moves on to the next room. Sora can find refuge outside, or in her room. Except she was never given a key...

"Well, an old friend of mine was a powerful wizard, and I remember he was capable of summoning portals to travel to other places." the warlord says.
"Miss Sophie, I know the conditions are quite limited, but, by any chance are you experienced with that kind of ritual?"

Once the annoying cleaning lady leaves, Tainya nods to Parthia and urges her to be cautious. She then goes about the train, meeting the personnel on board and casually pressing them for information regarding suspicious activity by those on board.

Streetwise: http://orokos.com/roll/101118 (30)

Tainya spends the better part of an hour searching for answers from the various people on the train (save those she fought alongside earlier), subtly asking if they'd seen anything suspicious after starting up conversation. Her searches introduce her to Peren Cooke, an elf working the kitchen who had to open the door for her from the inside, and Thorn, a pixie who was sleeping in the caboose. Their responses, at least the gist of them (Gardain tried to talk her ear off with terrible jokes, for one), are as follows:

Lance : "I ain't seen anything but what's in front of me right now. Been here since we left the station. Somebody's gotta steer this thing during the day, y'know? But I'll let ya know if I spy any trouble on the horizon."
Peren : "I'm uh... Well I'm afraid I haven't seen anything. Been in here since I brought in my luggage. Terribly, terribly sorry, terribly busy preparing food. Sorry for the inconvenience."
Thorn : "Ah see a besom givin' me trauchle an' bein' a footer when Ah'm supposed tae be restin' right noo, but noothin' else.
Flint : "Haven't really seen anything out of the ordinary here, I'm afraid. Current events and gossip are more my forte, and all that's making rounds is a rash of violent deaths around Khorvaire in the past week, all involving warforged. I'd say they were probably caught by an angry mob. Try again in the evening after everyone's come in for a drink, and I might have something for you then."
Miri : "Is this some kind of a test? Well, Cidri's been hunched over the desk all day and asked to have lunch and dinner brought to his room. He seems busy with something. Look, I'm sorry about what happened earlier, but I don't know anything important, honest! Please just let me go."
Mari : "...Saw blue-hair lady in town. Looked mean..."
Garret : "My guardian does seem rather aloof. I do hope he's not causing you any trouble."
Raki : "-yawn- I see suspicious things all the time. For instance, there was a strange little blue man outside earlier, dressed in squirrel skins. He's likely part of the crew; have you spoken with him?"
Cidri : "I told you people to stop bothering me! How can I eat when I'm this close to a breakthrough?""
Gardain : "There was that lanky yellow fella. He was carrying some scary looking crates with all sorts o' strange markings on 'em. Looked like they were etched in blood. Declined any help, too, even though they looked real heavy."
Mark : "I did hear Miss Raki and her guard having a discussion for some time in their room in hushed voices, but I could not pick out any details. I suspect these walls were soundproofed to provide privacy for... Certain activities."
Parthia : "Come to think of it, that child was holding a brown leather book like her life depended on it. Though she may be just that - a child."
Cotton : "I've been in a box for... I dunno how long. Haven't seen anything."

Everybody either pleading ignorance or pointing fingers at each other, basically. Except for Mari, but she may just be making things up, and Flint, whose info could simply point to Jack Kinsington and his ilk stirring trouble.

Seeing no way to follow up on her leads at the moment, and the fact that it's almost breakfast time, Tainya returns to her charge to await breakfast.

Sophie beams upon hearing what Kuro said. "Cotton, I can create a portal to Kalazart for you. Would you like me to do that?"

Cotton's head snaps up immediately and the figure regards Sophie with wide, hopeful eyes. "You can do that?" She stands back up and clenches her hands on the eladrin's robes, pleading, "Please do it! Please please please please please please please!" Such a ritual is fairly inexpensive, but still requires roughly 135 gold worth of arcane reagents or residuum.

"Very well" says Kuro. "I'll leave it in your capable hands. By the way, keep an eye on Melech, his body really needs some rest so his injuries can heal."
Saying this, the coffeeboy returns to D'Jorasco's room, with the hot tea he asked for.

Sophie pats Cotton's head again, saying, "Just wait for a few minutes!"
She readies the components she needs for the ritual and draws a magic circle with them.

Arcana check for Linked Portal - http://orokos.com/roll/101483

Once the portal is active, she turns to Cotton again, signaling that it's ready.

Sophie spends the better part of ten minutes drawing out a ten-foot-diameter circle using several different chalks and inks. While this is happening, Cotton sits on her box and kicks her legs idly. She seems to be staring at something off in the distance, or deep in thought. Just before the ritual's completion, she arrives at a decision and slides off the chest. And floats in the air. She beams to the assembled adventurers, murmuring with a hint of embarrassment in her voice, "I um... I don't know how to thank you for this. And for letting me keep what I was going to deliver." She holds out a palm and splays her fingers. On each fingertip is a tiny mote of light that glows a faint yellow. "But I hope this can suffice for now!"

So saying, Cotton closes her hand just as the portal fades into being. It's surprisingly subtle, not very loud or showy, just a hazy vision of another place inside the glowing sigils. The place looks desolate, and there's no sign of movement. The city's architecture is crumbling without anybody to maintain it, a large archway already having collapsed in the middle of the street. The tiny light motes fly around the car briefly, then shoot towards each adventurer. One of them even follows Kuro back to his room. There's a feeling of warmth as they impact against your chests, then wink out of existence. Leaving behind a gift of the fairy doll that had already stepped through the portal. The view is hazy, but she waves goodbye with a grateful smile before the vision fades.

>>4011
For Sophie, she gains further insight into the world around her, and the power to tap the Feywild's mystic currents. Sophie gains the Legendary Boon Sanctuary's Poise (heroic tier)

For Tainya, she learns how to train her mind to hide as well as her body. Tainya gains the Legendary Boon Reflexive Psychic Shroud

For Melech, a surge of vigor washes over him as he feels himself grow more resilient, able to call upon the benevolence of his deity when his life is in peril. Melech gains the Divine Boon Flickers of Faith (level 4)

For Narerka, strength from one of the long-dead Sorcerer-Kings is suddenly at his fingertips. Narerka gains the Sorcerer-King's Boon Kalak's Echo (heroic tier)

And for Kuro, he gains knowledge of tactics handed down by great generals of ages past. Kuro gains the Legendary Boon Legionary Discipline (heroic tier)

The mote of light winks out for Kuro just after he arrives back with the tea, prompting his charge to ask him, "I say, did you see that light just now?"

Sora hears a voice of childish laughter in her mind that tells her, "Thank you, this one is for you." The knowledge of a simple but reliable enchantment, one she didn't know a moment ago, suddenly springs to mind. Sora gains the Fey Magic Gift [b]Charm Token[/b]

A little dazed, Kuro nods.
"I... I think so?"

"How considerate of you..." Says Narerka, gleefully. Moris hisses, visibly unhappy to not have been given anything.
Narerka gives him a small but firm bump on the head to tell him to shut up.

"Now, now, don't be greedy...
Anyway, good job there, Sophie, we wouldn't have been able to do anything without you. Still, I wonder what was in that chest after all..."

The half-elf leaves the current wagon and wanders about on the train, making small talk with the various passengers and asking them if they've seen or heard anything particular.

Streetwise : http://orokos.com/roll/101546

Garret regards the spot that the spark disappeared at for a moment, then dismisses it. And opts instead to calmly sip his tea. He seems to be placated for now. Meanwhile, Narerka's awkward attempts to scout for information don't turn up anything useful. Furthermore, since Tainya did something similar (albeit more discretely), uncomfortable questions start being asked about what's going on.

Sora is bewildered! Suddenly, voices start talking to her! Has she finally lost it? Idly, the Druid attempts the enchantment on her bag, leaves it on the ground, walks away...

Well, that's sort of useful. Wonder what'd happen if she'd enchant food and ate it.

If I enchant food and eat it, will I know where the food is still? :D

Satisfied with her findings, Sora goes out to actually acquire food; She realises she never quite got to ordering breakfast, and if possible she'd like to mooch some.

Now where's that kitchen, and maybe she could... That Parthia was clearly suspicious!

Find kitchen. If no one has eaten yet, offer to bring the food for Parthia. Will enchanting the food make it visibly so? :D

Sora has to travel past the rest of the party to find the kitchen car. When she does find it, there's obviously something strange about it. Such as the air around the door feeling much colder than the air outside. She can see her breath in front of her, and a fine layer of frost has formed on the door. Knocking on it leads to some movement being heard inside, a few things being dropped in the process. Finally, somebody opens the door, letting a freezing mist blow out into the wind.

From within, a slightly obscured figure with a male voice speaks, "Mari, you're about five minutes early." When he steps out of the mist, it's revealed to belong to a man dressed in a tanned lion skin hide, wearing a hood made of its severed head. His breath can be seen to pass through a red muffler obscuring his mouth. Just from a glance, Sora can tell that he's a wood elf.

He does not look happy to see her, and sighs in exasperation, "Let me guess, you want to know if I have seen anything off? I told you people already that I've been busy the whole time."

Sora's ears droop.

"No... I was just never asked what I'd like for breakfast..."

Treading on more familiar ground (food) seems to clear up the chef's outrage. "Oh! Oh, is that all? Miri should have been on that by now..." He scratches the back of his head awkwardly, a plain ring on his unprotected hand. "Sorry about that, been a trying day. What do you want, then? Bagel, a croissant, or a muffin? Pancakes or waffles? Sausage, bacon, eggs, or, uh... Steak?"

Sora's mouth begins to water.

"St, steak?" she stammers, eyes glimmering! "Y, ya sure I can have steak?"

The man seems surprised by how effective that was, but is determined to round out the meal with things besides meat, "Yes, no trouble... No trouble at all. Sure. You can have that. Anything else? Bagel, croissant, or muffin? Pancakes or waffles?"

"B, but, they'd ruin the taste of the steak!" Sora says, wagging her tail uncontrollably... She doesn't even mind she isn't holding onto her human form too strongly right now! It's steak! S-T-E-A-K! That's how you spell FOOD OF THE GODS!

At Sora's insistence, the chef has to back down from creating any notion of a balanced meal. "Very well. Anything... Anything else you need?"

"Well..." Sora's ability to think was assaulted by the prospect of steak! It's super effective! "No, no, steak'll do, steak'll do. 'Less you'd like me to do something for you, Lord?"

Finally having an excuse to leave, the person stammers, ,"No. No, that's fine. Steak for you, I'll remember that. Steak. Thank you. I'll have that ready in a few minutes. So please wait somewhere until then. Okay? Bye!" The figure shuts the door behind him, and Sora can hear something sizzling. The door's not grown any warmer though, and that person seemed intent on not letting anybody see inside.

Meanwhile, Mari finally stumbles on the people who hadn't ordered yet and tries to get what they wanted.

Trying to start a conversation with his boss, Kuro mentions him the little fairy from before.
"Excuse me sir, it might sound a little strange, but, have you heard of a person called Varis Wilder? A little girl who called herself a 'nautavoranda' was looking for him. She was asleep inside the chest I mentioned before."

When asked for his breakfast, Kuro will order a bagel, some hard boiled eggs and a cup of coffee.

Sora waits by the door! And is suspicious he doesn't want her to see inside!

The moment that door opens, Sora SENSING EYES inside.

"I'll have warm porridge," Melech grumbled.

Back in the room, Sophie hopes that Cotton is doing alright. When inquired for her choice of breakfast, she says, "A croissant, pancake with syrup, and scrambled eggs, please."

"Melech, are your wounds better now?"

Garret Strokes his chin thoughtfully, brow creased in concentration. "Wilder, Wilder..." he mumbles quietly. Then it comes back to him and he queries, "You mean Varis 'Dragonpuncher' Wilder? He's been missing for almost a century. That sounds like a retainer of his who stayed behind." Perhaps he finally found something about Kuro that he could respect, wordlessly patting him on the back.

Shortly after Sora takes up watch, the door behind her opens and Miri walks outside to meet her, notepad in hand. Her broom seems to have been left behind. "Good grief, Sora. I've been lookin' all over for ya'. Didn't get your meal order yet." Taking note of their location, she figures, "Coulda warned me you were coming straight here and I'd save ya the trouble of dealing with Cooke." She says the name with venomous inflection. But she has a job to do, and knocks on the door. "Hey Kook, got your orders here," Miri berates the person in the kitchen, and tears off a page from her notebook. She slides it under the door and bangs on it loudly, yelling, "Hey! Promise me you're not gonna do something stupid for dessert again! Mari still won't touch chocolate because of you!"

"It's not stupid, it's presentation!" Cooke yells back, picking up the scrap from inside. It's a few more minutes before the door opens again, while Miri waits with a small scowl on her face. Sora's able to throw a psychic eye into the room, and sees a lot of... Kitchen things. There's a stove, cutting board, sink, and tables to prepare food on. Lots of utensils too. There's a spice rack waaaay in the back with bottles of who knows what. Condiments and seasonings, probably. And some balls of dough prepared for something else. A large cart sits behind Cooke, with a bunch of slots in it. Even from here, she can smell food from those slots.

What's not normal are all the sacks of sugar and flour piled up by a pair of open boxes. The chilly fog seems to be billowing out from these chests, effectively cooling the entire room. Half a dozen metal crates sit in the back of the room, next to a table covered in potion bottles of unknown contents. What's easily most disturbing, however, is the large magic circle near the rear of the cart. Besides being a strange looking magic circle in what should be a dining car, there's a very tiny figure in the middle of it. It seems to be some kind of homunculus made of cookie dough, with chocolate chips for eyes. It's just sitting there for now, but her keen eyes can see it seems to be growing ever so very slowly over time, siphoning mass from the balls of dough on the nearby table. It's not doing anything, though. It's just sitting there, growing at a very slow pace.

Inquiries must end there, however, as Cooke hands Sora a plate with a big hunk of marinated steak on it, which is surprisingly warm and juicy in spite of the room it came out of. Mari's already heading out with the cart, and Cooke's shut the door behind him, cutting off her psychic vision. A further coincidence contrives to occupy Sora's attention from her meal, as Flint Locke comes running up to her. "Sorry to disturb you, miss," he apologizes, "But I was supposed to give you this earlier." The shifter reaches into his front shirt pocket and pulls out a simple bronze key that he puts on her plate, or to the side at least. Engraved on the head is 'IV', indicating a room number. "Room key," he explains, "I must prepare to serve drinks later. Stop by if you need something." Not wanting to interrupt, Flint leaves Sora to her own devices.

It's about eight in the morning now.

Sora wants to dig in! But if she wants to track Parthia... on the other hand, this Cooke guy... Aaaagh, no use thinking on an empty stomach! There's always time to track Parthia -later-! For now, she must eat!

Omnomnomnomnomnomnomnom

sounds of dog eating steak

sounds of delighted dog eating steak

Lili olev steak.

Growing hungry enough to start eating the train itself, Narerka scouts the train for the kitchen-car.

Sora finds the steak very steak-y. Her discerning tastes can tell it was marinated in beef broth before it was served. Cooked well enough that it's not raw, but not so much that it's a flavorless husk.

Narerka bumps into Miri just outside his room. She seems to find it convenient enough. "You're the other one that wanted one of everything, right?" she queries.

"Yup, that was me !" Says Narerka with a confident smile
"This better be enough, I'm kind of a big eater.... Wait, the other one ? You mean someone else stole my lunch preparation plan ?"

>>4059
Miri pulls out one of the trays, revealing the contents are spread across several plates. And what was presumably Raki's order. "Oh yeah," she confirms, handing it to him carefully. There's at least three plates piled with stuff for the hungry, hungry half-elf. "The man in the room next to yours ordered the same thing. Anyway, I'll be back to pick up that," she indicates to the dishes, cups, silverware and tray, "in an hour. 'til then, you have a nice morning." And thus did the stewardess knock on everyone's doors and bring them their meals, ending with Tainya and Parthia.

When Tainya answers the door, she'll thank Miri and try to convince her to allow the "eladrin" to bring the meals inside herself.

Miri is more than happy to leave the tray in Tainya's capable hands. Possibly ecstatic, even, as that means she doesn't need to confront Parthia again, excusing herself with, "I'll just be back when you're finished to clean this stuff up." With a couple trays still in her cart, Miri leaves the passengers to their own devices, likely enoying their foods.

While the nobles claim that they've eaten better (Raki seems to like it well enough, and Garret doesn't really criticize it), the food is significantly better than your average tavern meal. Or even a ritzy tavern meal, depending on the location. The meat's still juicy, the fruit tastes fresh, and the pancakes, waffles, and other breadstuffs are nice and fluffy. The eggs aren't too bad either, and the milk's cool and refreshing. And the portions are fairly large as well. All in all, a decent breakfast, especially on an empty stomach. It's a bit discouraging that there aren't going to be any stops, though, as it's unlikely the food will stay this fresh for the remainder of the trip.

If there are no other significant developments, Miri will return to take back the silverware, plates and trays in an hour.

Kuro will diligently eat his breakfast in silence, accompanying D'Jorasco.
"Sir, is there anything else I can help with? If not, I would rather catch a wink and rest, in case a complication happens later again."

>>4063
The House Jorasco representative shakes his head and smiles at Kuro. "Not particularly," he starts, "Although myself and a few others were going to meet up at the bar and play a few rounds of cards to pass the time after breakfast. Are you sure you don't want to come with?"

Around this time, Parthia brings up the invitation as well. She checks her stack of papers to verify some things after she finishes her meal. Then she speaks to Tainya, "Sir d'Kundarak invited me to join him for a few rounds of gambling at the bar once we finished our meals. I had to decline, but I believe you might find it a good opportunity to gather information."

A similar conversation is given by Raki, except her excuse is a little different. "Gardain said to meet up at the bar around this time, but I'm too tired to play cards with the others. Could you scout out the car in my stead for now? You might find some valuable information."

"A meeting? This early?"
Not wanting to fail to his client once again, the warlord decides to stick with him.
"On a second thought, it sounds fun. I'll go as well."

Narerka sighs and looks at his employer with a tired face.

"Ah, you won't change, will you ? Well that's fine by me, I've been looking to distract myself anyway. Make sure to charge up your short energy battery while I'm away, and take care."

"Ah, well, ah was planning on getting some much needed rest, but zat does zound like too good an opportunity to pass," Tainya replies. "You take care, oui?"

Tainya will trance until the appointed time comes, then head onto where ever the card game is taking place. She will avoid joining the gambling directly and just have some drinks while listening in and watching.

A half an hour later, Gardain and his guardian start knocking on doors and confirming who would join them at the bar. Cidri is conspicuously absent from the group. He reaches Melech and Sophie's room and knocks politely, calling out for them with, "'ey, you all fancy joining us for a drink and a round of gambling?"

Sophie looks to Melech for a decision. "I'm not too keen on the gambling, but I guess I wouldn't mind a drink."

Opening the door to properly address Gardain, she says, "We will definitely be joining you at the bar shortly."

"I'd advise against it, but, if you say so." He looked at Gardain and nodded.

New thread:
>>4071