“Unsupervised”
Welcome to episode fifteen of The Dragon’s Vale.
In episode 15, the recently initiated students from Arcfell’s Institute of Academia and Functional Arcana explore the new city of Khern, unsupervised.
After picking up and activating the cube, Caithe and William have grown curious about its nature and design. Finding a business card within the pages of a trashy novel; Forbidden Lust, the pair decide that the Professor of Paelogizmology may be able to help them determine how this cube came to be.
In order to visit the research centre without drawing too much attention, Caithe decides to talk Zagreus and Ever into attending the spa and tempts them by giving them a sizable chunk of gold to take with them. Zagreus and Ever, although confused at the sudden gesture and slightly suspicious, took Caithe up on the offer and chose to visit The Silver Raven Spa.
As it turned out the spa Zagreus and Ever had chosen, was the most highly regarded spa in Khern. At The Silver Raven Spa, they meet Carphenee Silver, daughter of the owners of the prestigious Silver Raven Hotel located next door. There the duo are pampered into heavenly relaxation with various treatments. Whilst enjoying mud baths, the friends overhear conversations between guests pertaining to missing shipments and business deals. They are also surprised to learn that the novel Forbidden Lust is part of a trilogy and its series is a favourite guilty pleasure of one, Farolina Silver, the mother of their new acquaintance Carphenee SIlver.
Meanwhile, Caithe and William make their way down to the sixth ring of Khern and through the industrial quarter. They follow the signs, heading to a circular building with a bronze domed roof that sports a long, curved glass window. Upon knocking they are greeted by a very tall orange dragonborn male, who introduced himself as Haegin Orka.
Haegin takes the pair around the museum, showing them the artefacts and remarking that Caithe’s accent sounds Nythaenian. He then introduces William and Caithe to a dwarvish male. Professor Heironamous Brightrock was a very old man with wispy grey hair and bushy grey eyebrows. The Professor explains that he studies Paelogizmology; the study of ancient gizmos and contraptions.
Professor Brightrock takes Caithe and William through his finds, explaining that he acquired them through numerous digs in Cailum’s furthest continent, Ialeth. He and Haegin explain that their research is centred around the belief that there was a grand and ancient city believed to be far more advanced than cities in modern Cailum. They discover that many of these digs have been funded by the Vri’Quithyn Empire in a bid to try and recover historical artefacts.
Whilst learning about the work that Professor Brightrock and Haegin Orka do, William reveals he has the cube. The Professor talks William into allowing him to study its workings, in exchange for loaning some of the items that the Professor had recovered. Caithe explains that they are students looking to study history and the Professor agrees on the provision that he employs Caithe and William to join them on a dig in the future. Upon agreement to this contract, Caithe is given an ancient sword, which she promises to carefully study, however when she touches the sword she sees a quick flash of Zagreus in her mind.
The pair leave the Research Lab of Paelogizmology making their way back to The Mirth Mill, armed with both knowledge and a mysterious new sword.
The Dragon’s Vale | 15 | ”Unsupervised” – The Dragon‘s Vale Podcast
In the episode…
The Research Centre of Paleogizmology stands on the sixth ring, the closest building to the mines on the far side of Khern. The building is circular, made from a smooth pale granite and sports a domed roof in a dark aged bronze, and a single tall smoked glass window set inside.
The interior is exceptionally clean, almost contemporary with touches of deco-esque features. There is a large open space in the centre of the singular chamber that holds different plinths. Upon these plinths sit all kinds of ancient contraptions in various states of presentation. Some are tarnished beyond recognition, some broken and bent, but all presented neatly on plinths and pedestals.
The Dragon’s Vale | 15 | “Unsupervised”
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