The university was a splendid sight, great towers rose everywhere as they did all over Sharn but seemed to bow with the weight of knowledge that was kept inside their walls, the university gates, huge, cast iron and beautifully decorated swung open at our approach and we found ourselves in the main courtyard.
I let out a sound of wonder at the precise perfect gardens and stone fountains, I saw many bird species on the grounds, some incredibly rare varieties, and the trees that towered over with full bloom of blossom, seemingly as tall as the towers themselves. Grissen who sat opposite raised a brow, clearly amused I had not been within the university grounds before, Ashley had a thoughtful look as he took in a particularly beautiful statue of an angelic figure. Ah yes, angels, they are said to be the form of humans with great feathered wings that carry them upon the wind, they are the epitome of beauty and good, the wistful look on Ashley's face suggested he may wish a meeting with an angel, indeed the statue he studied was of the most beautiful womanly figure I had seen.
Lucien strangely did not seem to take in the beauty nor the tranquillity of the grounds, strange I thought, for a druid he wasn't particularly attuned to his natural side, though I had seen fire fly from him so knew he could work magic, perhaps his magic was not druidic but something else, wizard perhaps, he had been rather pleased at the gold we had found, a mage trait, as I knew spells were pricy and much sought after, he who had the most gold had the better spells, but it did not explain his animal companion nor his knowledge of the binding ritual, he must dabble in both, still I found his lack of wonder slightly chilling, as though he were empty of beauty, in that moment I felt pity for him, little did I know I was soon to learn more of Lucien and his magical habits.
The group were led into the great hall and there the wonder continued with great tall pillars of marble and glass, semiprecious stones raw in the elemental stones laid into the brickwork, the whole place screamed powerful magic, the ceiling was covered in art of the local flora and fauna and I was so engrossed in that ceiling that I did not notice the group had turned down a passage on the right, it was Ari who came to find me later, still awed by that ceiling, in the following days I would visit the university often and lay outstretched staring up. Rejoined with the group I sat in the chair appointed to me and waited for Iriana to begin.
"Adventurers" she began "For adventurers you now are, may I offer my thanks for your recovery of the artefact and for this I give you your payment" at her words a man came into the room with a trolley, upon which sat a mound covered in cloth, the cloth was removed to reveal a glittering pile of gold, both Lucien and the old sea captain leaned closer, all but drooling. " I trust this is sufficient for your services" she continued, " However, I have also heard of your exploits regarding a band of privateers who have, for number of years now, been pillaging ships of their cargo and leaving few, if any, survivors. For this service I have arranged a more fitting payment, though I also understand that the local reporters are eager to interview you on the subject, may I ask that you do not reveal who sent you on your quest, that is of course if you wish to make you exploits public."
The general aura of the room suggested that perhaps it would be better to keep our identities a secret, Tordek made a half hearted grumble that popularity was good for women though I certainly didn't want my location known, it was Grissen that pointed out the flaw in our agreement
"I'm afraid the decision to advertise our exploits will already have been taken" This raised several raised eyebrows, Grissen continued, "our good friend Mr Songseeker, will no doubt be out there as we speak, the chance to create a story in song of this would be far too great for him to resist" DAMN
Simultaneously myself and Ashley rose from the table, though he was far more graceful in his departure, we both rushed at speed from the room, our thoughts no longer on rewards and payment but on getting to the pansy pretty boy before he ruined everything.
I arrived on the docks, exhausted and panting heavily, there was indeed a crowd gathered around the changeling on the boarding plank of the wave-sprint, a gnome in particular scribbled enthusiastically in a note book whilst trying to jump up around the other journalists, for journalists they were, to hear the story, everyone else had their whole attention on Roe, and how he held it. In the late evening light stood with a strong breeze blowing through his golden hair, he was talking animatedly every fibre of his being sprung to the story he wove around his audience and they were captivated
"He hasn't mentioned you" said Ashley at my side, I jumped, how does he do that? Part of me knew he would be here having run ahead of me earlier but still…
"He has only told the story of the adventurers, he has said that they are heroes which will return when they are most needed and that the needy will know where to find them" he laughed then, the sound rich and flowing, damn, everything about this guy was beautiful, I blushed and kept my gaze firmly on the scene in front of me, heroes, sure, whatever he said.