Mysterious Box Recovered
It's Gilday, Vhast 18 13:28:23 1019. The full moon is up. The tide is low and slack. Fair weather clouds drift through the blue sky from the west, along with the wind. The sunlight on the snow is dazzling, and it gleams on the ice.
A14: Sage Orum's Plaza, University District
Soaring in from the northeast, a griffon in mithral barding comes in for a landing on the icy pavement of Sage Orum's Plaza. Riding him is the ranger Ga'Elian, who is holding a plain wooden box under his arm.
From the opposite direction, namely the southwest, Aya walks into the plaza from the lower districts. Neither the ice on the stones nor the chill air don't seem to hinder her much, if at all.
Ga'Elian dismounts with a light hop, and pats the griffon. He takes hold of the box with two hands, and looks around the plaza for a moment, finally settling on the entrance to the Engineers Enclave/Artificers Hall. He strides purposefully across the square toward the wide, main doors.
Aya takes note of the griffon (which is rather conspicous) and his pet across the square. As the latter walks for the enclave, she vanishes from her location to reappear near and opposite the former. She comments to the griffon, "Seem you've trained him well. He's running errands for you?"
The griffon emits a soft, but deep chirp and swishes his tail. Across the way, Ga'Elian disappears inside the Enclave.
"I thought so," Aya dips her chin to the beast before watching Ga'Elian vanish inside the Enclave. For the moment, she has nothing pressing to occupy herself elsewhere, so she awaits his triumphant return.
A goodly while passes before the ranger returns out of the building, during which, the only noteworthy occurrence is when a nerdy-looking youth carrying entirely too many books and scroll cases is knocked flat on his butt by being hit with a barrage of snowballs from the vicinity of the Artificers Hall. It takes the lad about 3 minutes to get up and retrieve his many burdens, before he runs, ducking more snowballs, into the Progressive Arcanists Hall. Anyway, upon exiting, Ga'Elian is accompanied by an older gnome, clad in the robes of accademia. The ranger is gesturing toward the northeast, with the gnome looking off in that direction, rubbing his chin.
Aya was not directly involved in the barrage of hurled snow, but does find some amusement in it. The corner of her mouth lifts at the toppling, cleanup, and subsequent rapid evacuation. Perhaps one day the acolyte will be strong enough to retaliate, maybe by lifting only a finger. Perhaps they will continue to be weak and used by the strong. Who knows?
Her attention shifts to the syl when he and the gnome exit. What they discuss, she isn't sure, but there are easy enough ways to find out. Once more, she vanishes, now from near the griffon, to reappear behind Ga'Elian and company.
Ga'Elian continues, "...must have gone off the cliff due to the ice. I don't know, but possibly the teamster fell asleep or was distracted and hit an icy curve too sharply; I could tell the crash occurred before dawn." He starts at the sudden appearance of another behind him. Turning to look at her, he finishes to the gnome, "Anyway, when I flew down the ravine and examined the wreckage, the wagon was broken and strewn over a great swath of the mountainside. I believe the teamster had broken his neck. In any case, when I saw the box and what it has inside, I figured that I should probably bring it here straight away. (beat) Professor, this is Aya, a fellow adventurer. Aya, this is Professor Bumblebottom, dean of the Kulthian Studies department."
Professor Bumblebottom smiles as he makes a curt bow to Aya, and says, "Pleasure, ma'am." Then to Ga'Elian, "Have you any idea where he was coming from or heading to? It's good that you made haste to bring it here, but we really should try to find out where it came from and who knew about it."
One brow arches upwards. "A delivery gone awry? I hope that nothing important was damaged..." after a breath, she remembers to add, "aside from the teamster and wagon."
Ga'Elian nods. "Well, the packaged was boxed with extreme care. That's what made it stand out to me so readily. The rest of the wreckage looked... ordinary. But it may have important clues to answer the Professor's questions. The teamster was a khazad, and I didn't pursue the tracks of his beast.
"Near as I can tell, the beast didn't plummet off the cliff with the wagon. I rather suspect that there is a horse wandering the mountain road now trying to find grass with the harness and wagon strapping still dragging behind it.
"Anyway, I'll get back to you with more information once I've had a better look around the area, Professor. If I don't get back to it soon, though, a lot of the answers may disappear. Fortunately, the place is deep in the crags of the mountainside where few are likely to disturb it this soon, and especially in these icy conditions."
He bows as the gnome replies, "Yes, yes. Well, and I shall analyse the contents of the box with all due expediency. It could be anything from treasure to disaster, but one thing is clear. It is significant." He too bows, and turns to return inside.