Eight pays a visit to Eda Trela, a Professor of Divination at the university.
At the suggestion of Arcterus, Eight visits Professor Trela. It takes them a little while to locate her classroom in the upper levels, but once they do they find they’re greeted by a Moldir Elf with black hair and emerald piercings.
She agrees to help Eight learn divination on two conditions. First, they must never use this magic to harm anyone. Second, they must deliver something for her as part of the exchange. Trela requests that Eight bury a locket at the grave of a dear friend of hers, resting somewhere near the Crystal Shoreline to the south. When Eight agrees to these terms, she demonstrates the possibilities of divination.
The rest of their visit is spent learning the basics of this new type of casting, and Trela gives them a book that they can use to continue their studies. However, before they leave, the Professor has a word of warning for their journey.
Follow Dax @GM_Dax, Kappa @TheKappaChris, and Wren @ThornyDryad
Transcript by CJ Kallevig
Upbeat piano intro ends [00:28]
Music shifts to a whimsical guitar [00:29]
Dax: Eight, it is the beginning of one of your last days in Kidohlva. What are you up to today?
Wren: That’s one hell of a loaded question. We know darn tootin’, we know darn well what I’m up to today. One of the things that I needed to address before I left was to go speak with this Professor Trela, of whom Arcterus had recommended I speak with. So, I suppose my efforts for today will be to secure a meeting with this individual, that I might learn some specialized magic from them with a little tutelage. So, I will likely be up at the crack of dawn and probably stepping out shortly after breakfast with my traveling companions. Then I will make my way towards the university.
Dax: You’ve been in Kidohlva long enough. You know where the university is. You know where most of the main halls are. How do you go about locating this professor when you arrive there? You are by your lonesome, you don’t have Rou with you or Arthas.
Wren: Is there like a front desk at the university? Like for visitors? Because there’s, there’s two ways I can see this being handled. I can either find a general informational desk, or I can go bother the Headmaster. And I doubt the Headmaster wants to entertain me for as long as I might need to simply ask one question.
Dax: There isn’t a centralized information desk, mostly because of the way the university is structured. It is several disjointed rooms. There are a few buildings that house specific divisions of knowledge, much akin to the location where you and Rou went to find Arcterus’s old office. But for the most part, it’s pretty decentralized. However, as you are wandering the main campus-like area, you happen to notice that there are a few pillars with what looks to be wood poster boards on them. You can see that there are several groups of students surrounding these poster boards, kind of scanning the information that’s on them.
Wren (as Eight): Central boards for the dissemination of information. Absolutely fantastic!
Wren: I will clomp my way over behind some of these students, and I will tap the nearest one on the shoulder and wait for them to turn around and regard me.
Dax: You tap this individual on the shoulder and when they turn around, you notice it’s a young-looking individual with short cropped brown hair and some freckles on their face. They’re at first a little taken aback, they were not expecting a construct to be standing before them. In fact, once the other students realize that you’re there, they kind of back away a little bit. Unsure what to make of you. The individual that you tapped looks up at you with their mouth a little bit agape and then, they shake their head as they come to their senses and say,
Dax (as the student): Uh, yes?
Wren (as Eight): Good morning. My name is Eight, and I am currently looking for a way to find Professor Trela’s office. You are a student here? Or are you a visitor? Do you know where I might go, or…? Oh, what’s on these boards? What’s your name?
Wren: And as I’m talking, I’m just kind of pointing at everything and behaving kind of like a puppy would, where they see something new and exciting and instantly like, fixated on that. And then, it turns to something else that gets their attention, like ‘oooh wait, no, but what’s this also?’
Dax: So, I will say as this student and they are indeed a student, they are wearing the black uniforms with the silver emblem on their chestpiece -
Wren: Kidohlva University?
Dax: Yeah. [chuckles] As they’re trying to really still come to their senses and try to figure out, like, which question to answer first, which questions are actually directed at them. You’re looking around and you do happen to notice that these boards actually contain a list of names and then it denotes a section of the university where the names are located. So you have actually are able to answer your own question before the student pipes up and says,
Dax (as the student): Well, I don’t take any classes with Professor Trela but supposedly she’s in the Upper Sections? Uh, I don’t know. Kylie, do you, do you take any Divination classes?
Dax: You see a young girl with curly red hair, just staring at you, but shaking her head no.
Dax (as the student): Well, I…well Eight, I would check the message boards and see if it, you know, it says specifically. But it’d definitely be in the Upper Sections. I think. Uh, good luck.
Dax: And the group of students that had been standing around the board kind of slowly walk away. At first they watch you as they’re doing so, but once they get a far enough distance away, they turn around and go off on their merry way.
Wren (as Eight): Hmmm. They did not even introduce themselves.
Wren: At any rate, I will check the board. Just kind of lean in and start scanning the different columns for the different names, and seeing where specifically it says Trela can be found.
Dax: It doesn’t take you too long, especially once you realize the boards are in alphabetical order. When you spy the name Professor Eda Trela, you can scroll your finger across the paper and you see that it says Upper Section A, Room 202.
Wren: I will head my way towards Upper Section A, room whatever. Assuming I know how to get there. Otherwise it might just be me blundering my way around in the hallways for like, a majority of the morning trying to get there.
Dax: [laughs] You know Eight, give me a Perception Check please at Easy difficulty.
[dice rolls]
Wren: Two Success and a Threat.
Dax: Go ahead and take a strain for the Threat. It’s a little nerve-wracking being in amongst all these people in an area you don’t really know that well. Especially since being able to find what you’re looking for is so important. It doesn’t take you too long, although it does take you a little longer than you’d like to figure out what the Upper Section is. What it is, is a portion of the university that you have to follow some stone stairs up several flights to get to. The Upper Section has been carved into the mountain itself and kind of like hidden in its own separate alcove. Room 202 is on the second level of that Upper Section. When you get onto the second level, there are only a handful of rooms and at the far end of the hallway is Room 202.
Wren: Is there like a door? Are they open doorways? What’s, what’s the -
Dax: It is a wooden door.
Wren: Okay.:
Music shifts to a mysterious piano [08:45]
Dax: But there is no glass window like there was with the lower levels when you and Rou were exploring the basement sections.
Wren: Okay. I will raise my fist and knock on the door. [three thuds]
Dax: You don’t hear an answer but the door pops open just a little bit.
Wren: Does it pop open as if I knocked too hard and it was loose? Or like it was opened?
Dax: It’s hard to tell.
Wren: Alright. Well, I will place my palm flat against the wood and push it a little bit. [door creaking] Kind of stick my face in-between the space that opens up and as I’m pushing - not pushing - but as I’m poised in that open space, I’ll just call into the room.
Wren (as Eight): Hello? Professor Trela? My name is Eight. I am here to speak with you, that I might learn to perform Divination magic. A talking skull referred me to you. Said you were one of the best. Are you here? May I come in?
Dax: At first there is no answer. You peer around the room, and you can see that the room is kind of set up like a mini-amphitheater. There is a single, small table in the center of the amphitheater stage area. On the different tiers, there are a couple of tables set up with chairs, one of each side. So there’s, like, enough room for maybe a dozen students at a time. Hanging from the ceiling and the walls are various tapestries and you can see bookshelves lined with texts and scrolls. Looks very haphazard and disorganized. There is a desk along the far wall where you can see a single incense burner that is lit. The candles look a little smoky and hazy. So you imagine that incense has been burning for a while and the room is filled with it. After a couple seconds of you taking in the room, you hear a voice.
Dax (as Eda): [femme, slightly lower register] Um, you can come in if you’d like. Just close the door behind you please.
Wren (as Eight): Of course.
Wren: I will shoulder my way through, taking care not to scrape the wood or anything and I will gently shut the door, so as to make as little noise as possible. Almost, like a big spectacle of it as I’m applying the most dainty amount of pressure to push it back in place.
Dax: Are you focusing on the door as you’re closing it so that your back is to the room? Or are you kind of like doing it while you’re keeping an eye on the room?
Wren: I’m not keeping an eye on the room.
Dax: Once the door is shut, you hear from directly behind you.
Dax (as Eda): So you said your name was Eight?
Wren (as Eight): Yes, it is.
Wren: And I’m saying this as I’m still closing the door, [door creaking] and I will turn around and regard, I’m assuming this might be the professor. But…
Dax: When you turn around, you see an Elf in front of you. She appears to be about average height, very very pale skin, dark raven black hair. Her eyes are large and round and the brown is so dark it almost looks black. One of the things that strikes you about her is that she has a black tattoo. It’s very jagged in design, on her right cheek. It starts at her temple, goes along her cheekbone, jags down and ends almost at the jawline. So takes up a good portion of her, the right side of her face. You also notice that she has the bridge of her nose pierced. So the section right between each of her eyes, you see a single emerald dotting her fair skin. And by single, I mean one on each side kind of thing. She’s looking up at you, and just waits to see what else you have to say. Oh, I should indicate. Her ears extend outside of her hair, and they’re very long and wispy. They come to a point, you’ve actually seen ears like this before on the twins that you ran into before you were at the city of Isha.
Wren: Right, okay.
Wren (as Eight): Ah, well. I appreciate you allowing me into your… room? Office? Teaching space? But I am here at the direction of my precious traveling companion, Arcterus, who recommended your skill and expertise in Divination to me. And I was hoping you might share some of that with, well, with me as I myself am a bit of a practitioner of the magical art.
Dax: She slowly nods and then slowly turns and walks toward the base of the amphitheater. As she does so, she says over her shoulder,
Dax (as Eda): And why do you feel the need to learn such magics?
Wren (as Eight): Well, I may not look it, but I am actually an adventurer!
Wren: And as I’m talking, I kind of step towards where she’s moved. Probably just kind of waddling through the open space on the floor.
Wren (as Eight): My traveling companions and I frequently find ourselves in situations wherein I feel Divination magic might be of use. Whether they be situations wherein something has gone missing or a person has up and vanished and we are tasked with attempting to locate them again. I feel that it would be useful to have Divination powers in my stable of available magics.
Dax: Give me a Charm Check, Medium Difficulty. Upgrade it once please.
Wren: Ah yes, Charm. The one thing I’m well known for. [dice rolls] I have an Advantage left over. I rolled three Threats and four Advantages.
Dax: She gets to the bottom of the amphitheater and she clears off that little table that’s down at the center. From underneath it, she pulls out a wide shallow bowl of silver and places it directly in the center. She looks up at you.
Dax (as Eda): So why not use a map? Why not enlist in the aid of others that you run into? Why does magic become your answer?
Wren (as Eight): I use magic for most things, and it was always most useful when Mother had a problem she needed to overcome. I suppose I would like this knowledge, not only to know that I can do it, but also to emulate what I have experienced in the past.
Dax: She goes over to a corner of the room and pulls out a wooden pitcher. She fills it with water from a pump that you can see is connected to the stone wall. You can hear it sloshing. She walks over to the silver bowl and gently fills until it’s nearly to the brim. She looks at you again.
Dax (as Eda): I will teach you if you can make me two promises. The first, that you will never use this magic to harm another.
Wren (as Eight): That’s an easy promise to make. For I do not use my abilities to harm others, I use them to defend those that I care about or to accomplish good. I am a caretaker after all.
Dax (as Eda): The second promise is that you will accomplish a small task for me. Something that I cannot do while I am here at this university.
Wren: I smile and nod my head.
Wren (as Eight): Of course! Kidohlva is the city of favors.
Dax: She arches an eyebrow at that, like she’s very confused as to why you would say such a thing. She then nods, as if your answer is sufficient. She draws from a pouch at her side, a handful of what appears to be herbs. She crushes them in her palm and sprinkles it over the water. Once everything lies still, she begins to chant in some language that you don't recognize. When she opens her eyes at the end of this chant, you notice that her pupils have pretty much disappeared. Her eyes are completely white. Her voice, when she speaks, almost sounds as if it’s been doubled. Like there are two people talking at the same time.
Music shifts to a tense, eerie tune [19:56]
Dax (as Eda): [deep and high-pitched in unison] Tell me what you wish to see.
Wren: I will stand in silence for a moment, measuring my response.
Wren (as Eight): I would like to see..
Wren: There’s like this internal dialogue that I’m actually having with myself right now because there’s three things that I think I would like to see in this instance. First, I would ask is to see a member of the Jruna family. Second thing I would like to see would be the missing children. And the third thing I would wish to see would be my missing Spellweaver friend. For the life of me I can’t remember her name off the top of my head all of a sudden. It’s been five years since I’ve seen her. [chuckles] And then my thoughts return to the study and the home where I lived with Mother all those years. I think I’m as surprised as Eight would be in this instance when I say,
Music shifts to a melancholy tune [21:16]
Wren (as Eight): I would like to see my home.
Dax: She reaches out her left hand, still not really looking at you. It’s almost like she’s looking through you.
Dax (as Eda): [deep and high-pitched in unison] Give me something that comes from where you wish to go.
Wren: I hold out my hand.
Wren (as Eight): I am from where I would like to go.
Dax: She takes your hand and no sooner does she do so than you see within the bowl, glimpses of your tower. You see the garden out front, a young woman tending the flowers. It flashes into the kitchen where you can see everything is clean and sparkling. It flashes to your study where everything looks to be just as you left it all those months ago.
Wren (as Eight): Astounding. It’s.. it’s just like I would have imagined. But… but better.
Wren: And I’ll look to Trela.
Wren (as Eight): Is that what’s actually happening there? Right now?
Dax: The water goes dark, she closes her eyes. When she opens them again, they are back to normal. She lets go of your hand.
Dax (as Eda): [normal voice] Yes.
Wren (as Eight): And you can do this for any place? Any person? Any thing?
Dax (as Eda): Not quite. If you want to look at a place, you will have to have seen it first. Since I have not been where you wish to go, I needed to have something that was tied to it. For example, if you wished to go to Loduhr, you would need an object from there in order to hone in on it. Otherwise, you would have had to have been there yourself. People, you need something from their person. A hair, a tooth. Something. A piece of clothing that belongs to them. Divination magic can be very powerful, and therefore it becomes very dangerous.
Wren (as Eight): I see. I suppose the ability to essentially spy on any person at any time would be ripe for misuse. But it has potential for a lot of good as well. Don’t you believe?
Dax (as Eda): It can.
Wren (as Eight): Then how would I go about harnessing this ability?
Dax (as Eda): How long do you have?
Wren (as Eight): Two days.
Dax: She quirks her mouth a little bit.
Dax (as Eda): Well, that doesn’t give us much time. I could teach you the basics, but you’ll have to practice on your own.
Wren: I smile.
Wren (as Eight): I love to practice, and I have nothing but time to think about the teachings you will give me, for I do not sleep. I will be your best pupil.
Dax: She gives a half-hearted smile at that.
Dax (as Eda): Now, about that favor.
Dax: She walks away from the table and goes towards the desk, opens up a drawer and pulls out a small velvet box. As she’s walking back to you, she’s looking down at this box almost lovingly.
Dax (as Eda): I require a grave located. A dear friend of mine was killed in the war, and it was a long time before I knew of it. I don’t know where she’s buried. But my responsibilities here have kept me from being able to look for it. If you could take this…
Dax: And with that, she opens the box and turns it towards you so you can see it’s half of a locket. Inside the locket is a miniature painted portrait of a lily.
Dax (as Eda): If you could bury this wherever she rests, I will consider it payment enough for teaching you my craft.
Wren (as Eight): Of course. Paying respect to the departed is very important and such a sensitive matter I take very seriously. You can count on me to deliver this.
Dax: She nods, slowly closes the box and hands it over to you.
Wren: I will cradle it gently and I will hold onto it for now. I think at this point, instead of like tucking it away anywhere, I’m just going to hold it for the duration of time that I’m with the teacher.
Dax: Okay.
Dax (as Eda): I, as I said, I don’t know where she’s buried. If she has a headstone, it will say Marla Wimple. If she doesn’t, you will know it is her grave because whoever buried her will know that she was buried with the other half of this locket. And within that locket is a painting of a rose.
Wren (as Eight): Do you have no idea of where this burial plot might be? A region, a location, a battle perhaps?
Dax (as Eda): It would have been one of the smaller battles. I think the region that it’s closest to is called the Crystal Shoreline. Hmm. It’s funny when you think about it, it was one of the bloodier battles during the war, and now it’s a, it’s a tourist resort. Oh how the short memories of mortals like to replace tragedy.
Dax: She kind of quirks her mouth a little bit, almost as if she’s trying to hide some disgust.
Wren (as Eight): I do believe that location is south of here, yes?
Dax (as Eda): Indeed.
Wren (as Eight): As luck would have it, my companions and I will be traveling in that direction in the coming months. So I will make it one of my priorities to see to it that this is returned to its rightful resting place.
Dax: She nods and gives a weak smile.
Dax (as Eda): Alright. Eight, let’s begin instruction. If you’ll take a seat at one of the tables please.
Wren: I will do that. I will take a seat at one of the teaching desks near the front of the amphitheater.
Dax: I was going to say, how close to the front do you sit? [chuckles]
Wren: All the way in the front [laughs]. If I could, I would just hover over the teaching desk.
Dax: It takes about three hours for Professor Trela to give you the basic instruction on how to divine on both people and locations. She goes over which herbs and components are best to use. She goes over certain requirements. She also hands you a textbook. You can tell this is a textbook that obviously the students of her class would get. It’s kind of small, it’s almost journal sized. It says “Divination 101” on the cover.
Wren (as Eight): Thank you.
Wren: I will flip it open and kind of check the headings and see what the different lessons listed be or what the headings for the sections are in the book.
Dax (as Eda): As you read through this book, follow the instructions step by step. No alteration, no guessing.
Wren (as Eight): Of course. I will follow these lessons to the letter. No improvisation, no alteration, no permutation, without fail.
Dax (as Eda): Do you have any questions, Eight?
Wren (as Eight): Oh, do I. But it would take a lifetime for me to ask them all. I suppose I will just have to learn through practice. I do appreciate you taking the time to teach me. And with any luck, I would be able to return and perhaps take some more advanced lessons from you in the future.
Dax: She nods and goes to put a hand on your, what is essentially your bicep.
Dax (as Eda): May the Goddess Zorei bless your.. bless your adventures then. And may she guide you in learning this new form of magic.
Wren (as Eight): Thank you. You can rely on me with the task you have provided.
Dax: Seeing you standing there, she very gently gestures towards the door.
Wren: I will nod and I will exit as quietly as I came in.
Dax: As you are closing the door, you suddenly hear in that same voice of duplicity,
Dax (as Eda): [deep and high-pitched in unison] Beware the man with a heart of stone.
Wren: I will probably hesitate for a moment closing the door, upon hearing that. But shrug and finish leaving.
Dax: And that’s where we’re going to end this session.
Music fades out [32:07]
Dax: Thanks for listening! We hope you’ll join us next time but in the interim, follow us on Twitter @RoadsUncharted.
The “Roads Uncharted” podcast is GMed and produced by Dax, who you can find on Twitter @GM_Dax. We use the Genesys RPG system published by Fantasy Flight Games, and music licensed by Epidemic Sound.
Arthas, Champion of Offam, is played by Neil.
Eight is played by Wren, who also composed the music for our opening theme. Follow them on Twitter @ThornyDryad.
Rou is played by Kappa, and you can follow him on Twitter @TheKappaChris.