At the mention of Ilgirian Red, Gru perked up slightly, stroking his whiskers as he cracked an intrigued smile that showed just the faintest hint of his crooked teeth. “An infusion, hmm? Well, you’ve come to the right place Mr. Dreamwalker. For a cheesemaker of my caliber, it’s certainly possible…” His eyes narrowed slightly as he pursed his lips, a hint of his general annoyance allowed to seep through in a way that invited sympathy.
Good old Gru certainly had his way about things, but despite many things about his person that scared some potential buyers from the man the occultist knew Gru's business sense and product quality were of a solid quality. But it was this part about the wine that he had figured would entice the cheesemaker most, at least based on his own gut instincts and observations of the rat-loving man thus far. A rare fine wine of appropriate value and cost that might tantalize the senses of a savvy businessman like a rat to cheese, and help make him more pliable for such a request in turn of course, no?
But that side, it seemed the interest was piqued well enough to get Gru thinking. Pondering. Schemeing? Whatever the case, the older occultist smiled back a little more for a moment.
“Unfortunately, I’m afraid there’s a little…snag. For the chemical processes to proceed as they must, the wine infusion must occur in the curd stage, before the cheese is brined, introduced to mold, and aged. I’m sure I need not spell it out for someone as keen as yourself, but with no fresh milk for over a week now, my entire cheesemaking enterprise has tragically stopped dead.”
“Rest assured, however, that once I obtain fresh ingredients, I will be able to do all you’ve asked and more. And since you’re supplying the wine, why, I’ll even infuse it at no additional cost. A custom ‘Ubriaco Ilgirio’, how does that sound?” Gru tempted his fingers, peering at Knossos. “If you like, I can take the bottle off your hands so that it’s on hand the moment I’m able to begin. Rest assured it will be safe and secure in my rack–and that I’d never dream of appropriating any for myself, of course.”
Hmmm. That was certainly a bit of a sore spot for getting such a cheese made. It certainly wouldn't do for getting his request fulfilled sooner rather than later, but alas it was the way of the world that (in more areas than one) a lack of resources brought on complications and other problems as a result. Poor Gru was simply devastated he couldn't being work as soon as he could on this....haha. Ah, he held no ill-will to the miserly man, truly, but the man knew how to do business well. Albeit something about the man in a minor sense reminded him of some of thoser he'd met in the old cults still, perhaps in the sense of business-oriented charisma and shrewdness in business dealings some of them had engaged in prior to get what they wanted.
"I can certainly get the bottle to you this evening, after I help deal with the current problems Athulwin has summoned me for. Perhaps I could even find a couple small glasses in my things before then, that we could perhaps get but a small taste before I hand you the rest, hmm?. Ah, but ultimately I naturally do trust your judgement and rack to keep the bottle safe of course. You are a superb businessman, one whose product quality and integrity speaks volumes."It was also this sort of thing Knossos had felt was one of the factors that kept the caravan's constant traveling fresh and exciting, running into those with differing skills and enigma about them. Getting to comission and try new things. See new places. Etc. Well, all of these among a number of other factors or such things of course. But as long as they were all peaceable and no harm was done, all was well. Good business was also its own reward, and even he could understand that logic in his own field.
"A fine large wheel of 'Ubriaco Ilgirio' should frankly be quite an exquisite product, no? Though once the final product is finished and handed over proper...well, I've no use for 'leftovers' of the wine at that stage of things, yes? But there'd be no sense letting such go to waste either.
But until then, I shall see you later! I do not wish to arrive too late to the business at hand. Espeically with regards to our more 'exciteable' members as it were..."One could call it a 'small bonus' if anything, perhaps, a small token gift to the cheesemaker for him to enjoy. Or, well, if the rats bothered to drink at all either for that matter. Perhaps they'd even wear fancy tiny hats when doing so? Haha! But yes, it would do nicely.
In that vein the occultist would give a polite farewell wave to the cheesemaker before he would begin walking along once more, hoping to move along and get to the front of the caravan before it was too late. He wasn't lying as his tone has slightly shifted when mentioning the 'exciteable' members of their company. Good people for the most part at least, but if he had to stop a certain someone from animating ANOTHER wooden wagon or bail someone out of a occult situation after being late to the party....yeah. It wasn't always the most pretty sort of thing to have to deal with. Likely wouldn't be the last time for something like that really. That and they had the forest to worry about as well!
Hmm, perhaps he'd give Athulwin a message to pass around via messengers, so hopefully the others could be careful enough to not anger the living being surrounding them in the literal sense. That seemed like a goo-
Sometime Later
-...nope.
All Knossos had managed was a passing mention to Athulwin about 'tell them to not hack down a bunch of living limbs or trees' and he'd had to hit the road in a hurry to catch up. In particular, he had to catch up with a party of people seeking to just run in and fight the undead. Yes, because attacking first and asking questions later worked for just
everything! Well, in some cases it was the best really. Just was not the best in every situation, and in this case if the information he'd gotten from Athulwin was right then the undead were seemingly just trying to scare off or talk to others for the moment being. Hopefully. Key word being
hopefully.
Yet the eventually palpable presence of dark energies in the distane did catch his more megically-inclined senses, however, and was at least one way to find a 'tomb filled with undead' yes. the closer the Dreamwalker came to the destination, though, the more nuances he felt somewhat coming from it as well as he felt its energies from afar somewhat. A sort of 'oldness', more like 'ancient-ness' really, and the bustling of negative emotions that were such a swirling and winding cluster overall it made them harder to pick out individually. It differed rather starkly from how the presence of the forest itself, and the thrum of life and magic that seemed to course through it like lifeblood in one way or another.
Likewise, though, the atmosphere of things as he began to get within a certain distance of the tombs began to palpably change to him. Denser. Grosser. Fouler. 'Ickier', even, were among the terms he could apply to it from his own perspective. So too could he describe it as feeling 'warped' and 'twisted' in the magical sense. All of this more so the deeper he got in! Like a sort of anger or ill-intent was in the air, perhaps on the part of the still pulsing-with-life forest, which was focused on the tombs the closer one got to them? Maybe it was something stemming from the tombs. Or perhaps it was something else, like a malignant curse, pechance? The sort born from areas where mass deaths had occured, or where a great deal of intense emotions infused into an area or place amalgamated into something of or like unto a curse naturally. Yet this too was simply a guess to the occultist, as all he knew for sure was that he didn't like what he was feeling.
However, familiar figures would eventually come into view as the older man ran over, waving at the group in a sligtly exasperated manner as he jogged over to them with a final burst of energy.
The tomb loomed ahead, a shadowy edifice standing in stark contrast to the surrounding forest. It was a place of foreboding darkness and chilling silence. The once-green canopy of trees gave way to gnarled, skeletal branches that clawed at the sky, casting elongated, eerie shadows that seemed to reach out towards any intruders.
The entrance to the tomb was an imposing archway, its stone facade weathered and cracked with age. The carvings that adorned the entrance had long lost their intricate details, leaving only ominous, indistinct shapes. The air around the tomb was unnaturally cold, as though it sapped the warmth from anyone who dared approach.
The tomb's entrance yawned open, like a hungry maw, inviting others into its dark depths and a spooky mist hung around the entrance, enhancing the dreadful feeling. The very walls seemed to whisper with a mournful, spectral wind that sent shivers down their spines.
Still didn't make the location any more pleasant, especially as the swirling of dark energies and magic hit its climax as he approached the primary entrance to the tombs proper. It was disgusting, it was horrible, and yet it was something he almost felt oddly comfortable in at the same time. It was both reminiscent of the final place he'd joined a cult, really, after the...disaster had occured. Ahem. Yes. Now that memory wasn't a pleasant one, sending a small shiver down his spine. Luckily, though, it was not as overwhemlingly potent in this aura by far as that 'other' place had been to him back then.
And if they were lucky, they'd never travel by that place ever. Ever. Never ever, even.
"Thank goodness you three haven't gone in yet," Knossos said, his breaths still trying to catch up from his sprint to catch up with them from a little ways behind admittedly, as he tried to address the group,
"There's no telling what kind of undead lurk here, but the information Athulwin got noted that something talked to the other people who came by here. If there's any chance the same thing approached us, we could at least try to see if-"Clack Clack Clatter"Hmm?"The occultist's eyes were drawn toward the entrance to the tombs, mostly as a sound began to faintly emanate from it.
Clatter Clatter ClackA rustling sound, like many pieces of wod clacking and clattering together in the wind after being suspended by rope or string. It didn't sound very hasty, for what it was worth, more like it was casually-moving in some sense. Ah, akin to a gentle breeze if he went back to the wood example he'd made in his mind there. Yet all the same, the noise was getting louder and closer as it seemingly came closer to them. So too, as it got closer, would the light rapping of metal against metal be audible in turn. Even the sound of something dragging a bit, really...
...perhaps he was getting his wish to see what those who had talked to Athulwin had seen. Maybe. Right? If it was, perhaps they'd get a change to at least hear it speak or something. In that vein, the occultist would reach quickly into his the bag attached to his hip to try to fish out the right tome. He didn't much have normal magic to work with, and so he hoped to grab something to help him 'translate' potentially.
Albeit he had no idea how the others would react to all of this. Galaxor was a fight-happy height-challenged giant in what little time he'd tried to talk with or been around the man. Ivraan seemed to be the adventerous and optimistic sort, and he'd been able to get more of a read on the younger half-elf in at least the past three years. And Nemeia had been at least peaceful and such on the average seemingly, he'd come to respect that, but he'd also seen a fair share if not more so of foreign clerics and paladins who went 'SMITE SMITE SMITE' first and asked questions later and always worried about that. Far from 'all' of the ones he'd seen having been like that most definitely, but that had been a sort of thing he'd seen among such professions before in some places at least and did worry about yes.
"Here's to hoping whatever is coming wants to also just talk to us first..."Or it would all fall apart in less than ten seconds of whatever it was becoming visible to the group. Either way, right? But at least whatever was coming wasn't moving fast by any means for the time being.
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