ERIC and DIANA stretch their aching muscles after such a bumpy cart ride. PRESTO holds open his Sorcerer's Hat, and the wooly toad happily jumps inside.
The streets of Neverwinter bustle with activity, even as the sun has begun to set. The wider city looms in the nearby distance, as here, the alleys and makeshift tents and slums mark the edges of the metropolis.
Finally! Civilization!
If you can call it that.
An anguished scream erupts from a nearby alley. "Someone! Help! Anyone? Oh, no, no, no, no!"
Yikes! And I thought the *countryside* was dangerous.
Come on! Someone might need our help!
Already?! We just got here!
Diana arrives in the shadowed alley with Presto close behind and Eric sneaking in as nonchalant as he can.
Huddled on the ground, a slender human woman in light leather armor clutches a body of a man in a tattered gray robe. The man and woman bear a striking resemblance to each other.
With a dull thump, a desicated eyeball rolls out of the dead man's palm.
Are you alright? What happened here?
Okay, it's just an empty alley, though, right?
Roll Wisdom with Backgrounds if you want to perceive the scene, normal check.
⬙(1) + WIS (1) + Level (5) + Chosen champion of the Dungeonmaster (3) = 10
⬙(10) + WIS (1) + Level (5) + Former bookworm and all-around STEM kid (5) = 21
A hushed breeze wafts through alleyway, but otherwise all is still. Nothing seems out of the ordinary.
Yup, just your normal, everyday, mysterious dark alley.
People always tell me to quit rolling my eyes, but this is ridiculous.
Roll Intelligence with Backgrounds, hard check.
⬙(13) + INT (0) + Level (5) + Chosen champion of the Dungeonmaster (3) = 21
The eyeball rolls slightly forward, as if to stare accusingly at Eric.
Ahhh! Nope! What the heck _is_ that thing? It shot me a look. It actually shot me look.
Thank you. I'm sorry. He's my brother, Delvin. We were supposed to meet here. But I was too late! Oh, gods!
(she continues crying into Diana's embrace)
It's okay, it's okay. Maybe we can help. What's your name?
And why are you meeting your brother in a creepy back alley? Are Neverwinter's coffee shops really that bad?
I-- I am Kevori Fearnehart. My brother and I, we were, are, working for Lord Neverember, to patrol the city. There's been rumors of suspicious cult activity throughout the area. Delvin claimed to have found word of a likely hideout around here. They must have... gotten here before I, and ...
Cult activity? (Gulp!) But it's one of the good kinds, right? Like Duran Duran groupies?
(then, noticing Presto...)
Ew! Presto! Don't pick that up!
Roll Intelligence with Backgrounds, hard check.
⬙(7) + INT (3) + Level (5) + Chosen champion of the Dungeonmaster (5) = 20
Your brother Delvin's a magic-user, right? So this thing is probably a clue to what he saw. But, gosh, I can't figure it out.
Kevori, can you try to use it? Activate it somehow?
No, I'm sorry. It's much to arcane for me. I do know that he often relied on his books and scrolls.
Well, let's see 'em!
Kevori moves aside to open her brother's satchel. She brings forth a scroll, a collection of parchments attached to a ring, and a small figurine made of corn husks.
Perhaps the answer lies among these?
(to Presto)
Can you make sense of it?
Roll Intelligence with Backgrounds, hard check.
⬙(1) + INT (3) + Level (5) + Chosen champion of the Dungeonmaster (5) = 14
Sorry, guys. I can't make heads or tails of any of this. I'm not even sure it's in English, or whatever passes for that around here.
There's gotta be something we can do!
Alright, alright.
(under his breath)
Man, I hate this part.
Presto takes off his hat, which emits a dull glow from deep inside. With his other hand, he cradles the eyeball and moves it in slow circles above the glow.
Abracadabra,
Violets are blue,
This eyeball's seen something,
Let us all see it, too!
Casting magic as a ritual, based on your Unearthly Glamour spell.
Roll Charisma with Backgrounds, hard check.
⬙(6) + CHA (4) + Level (5) + Chosen champion of the Dungeonmaster (5) = 20
You have a Blessing from the Icon relationships if you want to try to apply it here. This would be an automatic mixed blessing when you use it.
I'll use my blessing as a narrative benefit to say that the spell works and some glamour mimicks the eyeball's effects.
The eyeball glows brighter and brighter and starts vibrating erratically. Suddenly, three dots of light erupt forth and snake through the alley, each hitting a hero directly in the forehead.
Ow, ow, ow! Presto. What did you do? How did the world get so *bright* all of a sudden? I don't even know what colors I'm seeing!
Eric brings up his shield for shade and sees his reflection -- he now has a third eye in the middle of his forehead.
_PRESTO_!!
(blinking)
What?
(He has a third eye as well.)
Uh, guys?
(She lifts her diadem to reveal a third eye, too.)
A new eye?! A new eye, Presto? You're going to need a new _butt_ after all the kicking I'm going give yours.
Aw, Eric. I'm sure it'll wear off when the spell wanes. At least, I'm *pretty* sure.
Hey, wait! Are you guys seeing what I'm seeing?!
The world looks hypersaturated, with ultraviolet glows and strange constrasts of shadow. Amid it all, vague figures appear as outlines of glittering dust. They slowly pulse in and out of view, each one a pose of some action-- the last of which delineates a man violently posed over Delvin's prone body.
Delvin *did* find the cultists! We can use the eyesight to trace their steps back to their hideout!
Great. Just what I wanted to do with a newly-opened chakra.
Oh, please, can you help? Thank you! You must find out who or what killed my brother, and return with information for Lord Neverember! I must take care of my brother and report back to the Hall of Justice. Let's meet there once you've uncovered the truth!
"Hall of Justice," huh? Where does she think we are, a Saturday morning cartoon or something?
continued in 1.3 The Catacombs . . .