Holding on for a bit in case somebody wants to use the Angel rule to give Lojainne a success. Lojainne, start thinking about your sole question just in case.
Okay, I kind of like this dynamic. Severik's acid-tinged remark is just the thing you need to snap your mind into focus, Lojainne. What's your question?
Lojainne, you've been feeling a bit ill at ease the entire time you've been down here. You look down at the bones again, trying to figure out why, and half-spot half-sense something engraved on the stone beneath them. You may not have paid very close attention when the monks were lecturing about warding circles, but the temples had enough of them that the shapes have been burned into your memory.
This whole cave is one giant warding circle! Out of curiosity you head out to look at the perimeter to see against what, though you've guessed right by the time you get there: undead and evil. Maybe this is why you were being harassed from a distance rather than directly confronted?
At one point in the past - you can't tell when - the circle was breached, but it's knitted itself back together. Whoever made this was skilled. There is, however, a spirit inside the circle. It's in the ring.
Blennid shakes off the last of the bearishness and looks around. "A spirit? The undead and their monstrosities are not my specialty, except to fight to destroy them." He settles into quiet contemplation.
Blennid, you spot some things mixed in with the litter of ancient bone fragments. They're the color of bones, and the same rough shape as some of the splinters, but they're not textured like bones - they're cast-off carapaces from sort of insect.
...shit. Bone beetles. Generally they're just scavengers but when they run out of food they have a tendency to go into torpor and be very, very ravenous when they get back up.
They're about the size of your hand and make a noise like a broken festival horn when they're flying, so if there are any still alive around here you'd know if they got up. Maybe there aren't any, but you should probably be a little more careful when you're poking around, just in case.
(I will assume two hours means nobody wanted to stop you.)
Quarol, you pick the ring up and spin it idly, trying to see if you can make the chain mechanism work. There was an illustration of it in that book, sure, but illustrations and muscle memory are two very different things.
The chains seem to catch on something when they're about three links out, however, and the whole ring kind of pivots in your hand until one chain is facing straight upward. The weight on the end bobs back and forth a bit, and then the ring talks to you.
"You're... alive? All of you are alive. How strange. How long has it been?
"Tell me, strangers. What year is this, and is the vampire Pallas yet free?"
Anyhow, after hearing Quarol's heavily abridged summary of current world affairs, the spirit in the ring goes silent for a bit, then introduces itself as Piotor Schonenberg, the leader of a group of heroes who had sealed Pallas in this cave, a long time ago. Piotor gave up much of his collection of artifacts and relics to create a broad seal over the lands of which modern-day Ardenne is a larger part, and bound his soul into the ring to act as a final seal atop the vampire's motionless body.
But, some time ago, though he hasn't got much sense exactly how long, a group of creatures from the lower planes forced their way through the final seal on the chambers, and though he burned them at a touch they managed to pry him free, cast him aside, and drag Pallas's body away through the caves. You are the first living, thinking things he's sensed in a long time.
Lojainne, none of that rings false, for the record.
Vladire, that gets you thinking, actually. Weathering and other traffic are the two primary enemies of a trail, and it doesn't look like this cave system sees very much of either. You might well be able to pick it up.
should I just assume I've been with the group acting like a red shirt in the background ? Since posting a whole "How did Vladire get here" thing might be kinda awkward
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GrogMy sword is only steelin a useful shape.Registered Userregular
Lojainne kneels among the bones "Brother Piotor, I vow before you this day in the Year of Fallen Towers that Pallas will be brought to justice." She then rises and says with a little less solemnity "Is there, erm, anything we can do for you? I can't imagine the floor is very comfortable."
should I just assume I've been with the group acting like a red shirt in the background ? Since posting a whole "How did Vladire get here" thing might be kinda awkward
Sure man, y'all down there with the rest of 'em, go hog wild.
Lojainne, Piotor says that he pretty much resigned himself to being the seal on Pallas for eternity. If you're going after Pallas, though, he wants to come with.
Astrafel, Piotor says the seal - his seal - was already broken when he was physically pried off the dais. The warding circle was somebody else's work, and it should remain even when he's not here.
He's bound to the ring, so taking him means taking it.
Addressing the ring, Blennid says, "This is year 873 of the Great Northern Oak, the sixth year of the Soaring Hawk Ascendant, with twenty years remaining until the rebirth of the giant phoenix." If others don't use the druidic reckoning, then Vladire may be better suited to translate.
"If this room was looted, then why were you left behind?"
--
As I understand the rules, Vladire with the bonus from his wolf is at least as good at Discern Realities as Blennid is. Among the other ways that he can contribute.
Blennid, Piotor says that nothing that came in to free Pallas could stand to touch him for very long. Prying him loose from the dais hurt them badly enough that they just left him behind, consigning him to obscurity.
Severik, there is another passage out of this cave. If the Count has traps set up through the pass, this could be a safer way to get into Ardenne, depending on where it lets out.
Vladire's left brow perks up as he hear Piotr's specifically mention that we are the first "living" and "thinking" things he's come across. The ranger begins to scope the dirt around him looking for any signs of movement -pieces of gravel swept aside, twigs broken, anything.
He idly tells Severik "Yell if they start to move or some lovely shit'e"
As he continues down a path, he mutters
"Though I would hope the rest of us would notice as well..." Brand follows him
Hunt and Track (if applicable):12
this would be whatever undead things have been through here as implied
applied +1 for Brand's cunning, though not sure if scout would count. so it would just be 11 if not.
if I have to ask the question now without know more about the trail I'll go with Determine what caused the trail to end
if I can wait, I'll wait to hear before about the trail.
-Vladire has retrieved a lit torch to get a better look-
Vladire, you come across a few traces leaving the dais. Claws - or something in roughly the same pattern, it's a little hard to tell - actually melted the cave floor briefly with an unearthly heat. You follow them to the one passageway out of the cave, deeper into the mountain, where you're able to pick up some additional traces of something scraping the walls and ceiling. The passageway is plenty big enough for you and Brand side by side, so whatever left these tracks was one damn huge guy or a bunch of modestly sized guys all trying to push past each other.
As long as you've got some light you should be able to follow this trail wherever it leads. When we get to the end I'll tell you why it ended.
(Also, I'm gonna be out of touch Christmas Eve and Day. Y'all feel free to post, but I probably won't respond.)
Alright then. Holiday's up. Just as a quick refresher:
You're in the place where Pallas was sealed countless centuries ago, and unsealed fewer, but still probably countless, centuries ago.
Vladire, you've found the trail the things that unsealed him left as they got out of here, leading off into a darkened passage. You've also heard Blennid nattering on about bone beetles and, well, at least there aren't any bones outside the warding circle.
Lojainne, you're in the middle of a warding circle drawn up by your order before it became only your order. Does Lumnos teach anything about the celestial pantheon that came before? Quarol has picked up an icon from that order - a weapon inhabited by the hero, Piotor, who gave his soul to lock Pallas away. Is it coming with you, and, if so, who should carry it?
Severik, have you gotten used to Astrafel singing your wounds back together, or is that always going to be a little bit weird? Astrafel, there was something down that tunnel that heard your song, but what it's done since then you don't yet know. And aren't you excited to find out?
Weird? Astrafel is the closest thing Severik has ever experienced to a gift from the gods. If he believed in them, Severik would say that the bard was proof that his quest was blessed, that seeking out the worthy and sinking Bloodletter deep within them was a divine mandate.
There are times when the ground is slick with the blood of their enemies that Bloodletter speaks to him, whispers a vision of the three of them as one mighty force. Likens Severik to the horse, Astrafel to the fodder, and Bloodletter to the rider. Without the food, the horse dies. Without the rider, the horse has no direction. But together? Together, there is no limit to what they might achieve.
But there is a tiny, quiet voice within Severik that says his left knee will never be as sturdy as it once was. That his ear will never grow back. That scarred skin is just a little easier to break open the second time. The voice points out that no matter how well a rider treats his horse, the horse is never the rider's equal. And that, should the rider deem it necessary, he will drive the horse to its death.
If Severik still hears that voice, he shows no sign of acknowledging it.
GrogMy sword is only steelin a useful shape.Registered Userregular
There were many illuminated manuscripts on the subject of the Pantheon, including the sun god Virrus and his children the Constelle. These books were all written by Lumnites, so the prior gods were portrayed as frivolous and naive (at best). Lojainne has always believed similarly, but the revelation that a Virrite had sacrificed themselves to bind Pallas has shaken this.
"Quarol, you're experienced with handling valuables, would you do the honor of bearing Brother Piotor?" And maybe he'll rub off on you while he's there.
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Der Waffle MousBlame this on the misfortune of your birth.New Yark, New Yark.Registered Userregular
"If you say so. Carrying around a talking ring could be useful."
Quarol stares off into the darkness. Whatever is out there puts him ill at ease.
"Yes, I think we should. Something down there heard my song, and I can't help but want to know what it is." Astrafel stands up and brushes off his pants and shirt, frowning at the hole left by one of the wolves. "Besides, sitting around in a cave doesn't exactly make for epic poetry."
GrogMy sword is only steelin a useful shape.Registered Userregular
"I don't know 'trafel, you'd be surprised how many scriptures are concerned with people talking to inanimate objects in caves." The paladin smiles, lighting a fresh torch and heading for the passage. "Er, no offence Piotor."
Alright, Quarol, since you're carrying the ring, here's how it is. You'd need a decent and lengthy course of training to use it as a proper weapon, but Piotor's willing to expend some of his energy to give you a boost.
----
The ring is a hand-range weapon, and balanced for throwing. It always deals full damage to undead, regardless of armor or special qualities that might make them immune, and it starts with 3-concordance.
When you draw on Piotor's combat skill, the ring gains the Close and Reach ranges and the precise tag, and you roll d6+d8 to Hack and Slash with it. However, Piotor was a reckless fighter. If the d8 is higher than the d6, you will have landed yourself in a precarious situation - the GM will tell you what.
When you ask Piotor to bind an undead enemy, spend 1-concordance. The ring will latch on to the enemy, generally until it's destroyed. I'll tell you what it does, but as a general rule it'll completely neutralize smaller targets and make larger ones more vulnerable.
When you observe the rites of Virrus at sunrise, roll +wis to see how well you follow Piotor's instructions to do so and gain concordance depending on the roll.
When you ask Piotor about undead lore, he will generally propose a well-grounded but risky course of action. If you follow his advice, mark XP and gain 1-concordance.
The ring may have more powers to unlock during the course of this adventure, generally by finding relics of the ancient celestial order.
----
The cave passage winds its way through the underground, branching several times along its length, but Vladire's tracking ability points you in the right direction. After an hour of walking through darkness, or at least when one torch has burnt itself down to charcoal, you come to a fairly unusual fork - one showing signs of much more recent travel. The trail of whatever took Pallas continues down a disused fork in the tunnel. The more traveled tunnel gets damper farther away from the fork, and a faintly luminescent moss grows on the walls. It's been scraped off in patches by something, probably metallic and purposeful judging by the even strokes.
Piotor suddenly comes alive - he'll probably be doing that a lot, Quarol, so how are you carrying him? - and says that he feels one of the old relics of his order down the mossy tunnel.
Vladire, you're confident you can find your way back here and pick up the trail (without rolling) as long as this detour doesn't last too long. What are you all doing?
"An old relic you say?" Astrafel asks. "I think we should go get it. No sense letting a good relic just sit down here. What kind of relic do you think it is, Sir Piotor?"
Blennid, you take a look at the scrape patterns and think for a bit. Lichen farming isn't unknown to you, and this looks similar? You really can't speak for the aggressive nature of an entire civilization or anything, but it does look like whatever scraped off the moss was harvesting it instead of trying to clear the tunnels - they've left patches around the edge and it's starting to grow back.
Astrafel, Piotor -- well, shrugs, or at least his head-link and arm-links try to approximate the motion. He makes a couple of goes at explaining exactly how he's sensing this and you work out that he's basically got a very specific form of vision - he can see a relic's "light" through any kind of barrier, probably because he's in a relic himself. But he can't make out details until he gets closer, generally close enough for an average observer to make out details. Though again, through walls and regardless of light conditions.
Piotor had several weapons for fighting the undead, and several more tools which could creatively be turned to that purpose.
"If it will help us in our fight against the abominations, then it is worth looking into further. As long as we don't have to slaughter innocents to do it."
Vladire's brow raises when the term abominations is used. More the plural. He had jumped to that conclusion yet. "We could be look at bone bettles like the ring was talking about. Would explain the moss missing. Though with the foot traffic" He points to the floor. He looks a bit concerned.
The ranger moves his torch around the cavern a bit to get a look at anything he might have missed. Obviously more concerned with what might eat them as opposed to any treasure.
Discern Realities
2d6+1=7 "What should I be on the lookout for?"
Vladire, it doesn't look like whatever lives down the mossy tunnel comes up as far as this intersection. If you keep following the trail they won't bug you.
Taking a bit of a closer look at the traces left behind, you make out impressions of flippered feet, find a few shed scales, and pick up traces of other things scraping the stone - metal tools or, more likely, weapons.
You conclude that you're dealing with some kind of tool-using intelligent amphibioid, maybe what the peasants would call a "fish-man". Now, what do you all know about them?
"Bloody Hell" Vladire murmurs under his breath, he picks up the scale and stands back up.
He holds it near the torch so the rest of the party can see it "Looks like we're dealing with water hoppers."
Vladire placed the scale in a small compartment on the front of his belt. His familiarity with the "fish-men" wasn't as extensive as he would like it to be. Obviously they liked damp areas and couldn't survive prolonged period of times on the surface. From what he had seen groups often acted in a pack mentality with little concern for the individual. They were more less ideal shock troopers. Very little concern for the individual - that is to say survival, more concern placed on pure killing. The good part was they generally weren't that agile on land, the bad part was they had teeth. So extra pair of weapons on hand basically...or on face..you get the idea.
Based on his experience and talks with other scouts he often assumed some individuals in the "pack" were considered irreplaceable . He had assumed leaders and the like, but they lacked the suicidal moxy the others seemed to have. And often were never seen in scavenger parties and the like.
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Der Waffle MousBlame this on the misfortune of your birth.New Yark, New Yark.Registered Userregular
Quarol will be carrying Piotor close at hand, probably on his belt until something more practical can be rigged up.
"Water hoppers?" asked Severik, a note of disappointment in his voice. "Sound like vermin. They actually pose any threat to a group of armed adventurers?"
"They're generally this tall" Vladire raises his hand to around nose level "...can be taller"
Tilts his head to side "Can use weapons and have very sharp teeth. "
He remains silent for moment "Which they use... so I'd say yes"
He rolls his eyes back
"Most people call em fishmen. I call em water hoppers, if you've watched them enough you would know why. You may know them by another epithet."
Looking over at the Druid momentarily, "Not quite sure if anyone knows what they prefer to be called. Assuming anyone has the gall to ask or they the courtesy to present titles."
Vladire is free to share his personal experiences, but anybody's free to try spout some lore about those guys. Just sayin'.
Anyway. Wrest a holy relic from what will perhaps turn out to be the remorseless fangs of the aquazerg, or keep following whatever dragged Pallas out of here, lo those many years ago? Your call.
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This whole cave is one giant warding circle! Out of curiosity you head out to look at the perimeter to see against what, though you've guessed right by the time you get there: undead and evil. Maybe this is why you were being harassed from a distance rather than directly confronted?
At one point in the past - you can't tell when - the circle was breached, but it's knitted itself back together. Whoever made this was skilled. There is, however, a spirit inside the circle. It's in the ring.
--
Discern Realities - 2d6+2: 9
Question: What should I be on the lookout for?
...shit. Bone beetles. Generally they're just scavengers but when they run out of food they have a tendency to go into torpor and be very, very ravenous when they get back up.
They're about the size of your hand and make a noise like a broken festival horn when they're flying, so if there are any still alive around here you'd know if they got up. Maybe there aren't any, but you should probably be a little more careful when you're poking around, just in case.
Quarol, you pick the ring up and spin it idly, trying to see if you can make the chain mechanism work. There was an illustration of it in that book, sure, but illustrations and muscle memory are two very different things.
The chains seem to catch on something when they're about three links out, however, and the whole ring kind of pivots in your hand until one chain is facing straight upward. The weight on the end bobs back and forth a bit, and then the ring talks to you.
"You're... alive? All of you are alive. How strange. How long has it been?
"Tell me, strangers. What year is this, and is the vampire Pallas yet free?"
Quarol will explain the situation to it.
Bonus open question: what year is it, anyway?
Anyhow, after hearing Quarol's heavily abridged summary of current world affairs, the spirit in the ring goes silent for a bit, then introduces itself as Piotor Schonenberg, the leader of a group of heroes who had sealed Pallas in this cave, a long time ago. Piotor gave up much of his collection of artifacts and relics to create a broad seal over the lands of which modern-day Ardenne is a larger part, and bound his soul into the ring to act as a final seal atop the vampire's motionless body.
But, some time ago, though he hasn't got much sense exactly how long, a group of creatures from the lower planes forced their way through the final seal on the chambers, and though he burned them at a touch they managed to pry him free, cast him aside, and drag Pallas's body away through the caves. You are the first living, thinking things he's sensed in a long time.
Lojainne, none of that rings false, for the record.
Vladire, that gets you thinking, actually. Weathering and other traffic are the two primary enemies of a trail, and it doesn't look like this cave system sees very much of either. You might well be able to pick it up.
should I just assume I've been with the group acting like a red shirt in the background
Sure man, y'all down there with the rest of 'em, go hog wild.
Lojainne, Piotor says that he pretty much resigned himself to being the seal on Pallas for eternity. If you're going after Pallas, though, he wants to come with.
He's bound to the ring, so taking him means taking it.
"If this room was looted, then why were you left behind?"
--
As I understand the rules, Vladire with the bonus from his wolf is at least as good at Discern Realities as Blennid is. Among the other ways that he can contribute.
Penny Arcade Rockstar Social Club / This is why I despise cyclists
Severik, there is another passage out of this cave. If the Count has traps set up through the pass, this could be a safer way to get into Ardenne, depending on where it lets out.
He idly tells Severik "Yell if they start to move or some lovely shit'e"
As he continues down a path, he mutters
"Though I would hope the rest of us would notice as well..." Brand follows him
this would be whatever undead things have been through here as implied
applied +1 for Brand's cunning, though not sure if scout would count. so it would just be 11 if not.
if I have to ask the question now without know more about the trail I'll go with
Determine what caused the trail to end
if I can wait, I'll wait to hear before about the trail.
-Vladire has retrieved a lit torch to get a better look-
As long as you've got some light you should be able to follow this trail wherever it leads. When we get to the end I'll tell you why it ended.
(Also, I'm gonna be out of touch Christmas Eve and Day. Y'all feel free to post, but I probably won't respond.)
You're in the place where Pallas was sealed countless centuries ago, and unsealed fewer, but still probably countless, centuries ago.
Vladire, you've found the trail the things that unsealed him left as they got out of here, leading off into a darkened passage. You've also heard Blennid nattering on about bone beetles and, well, at least there aren't any bones outside the warding circle.
Lojainne, you're in the middle of a warding circle drawn up by your order before it became only your order. Does Lumnos teach anything about the celestial pantheon that came before? Quarol has picked up an icon from that order - a weapon inhabited by the hero, Piotor, who gave his soul to lock Pallas away. Is it coming with you, and, if so, who should carry it?
Severik, have you gotten used to Astrafel singing your wounds back together, or is that always going to be a little bit weird? Astrafel, there was something down that tunnel that heard your song, but what it's done since then you don't yet know. And aren't you excited to find out?
There are times when the ground is slick with the blood of their enemies that Bloodletter speaks to him, whispers a vision of the three of them as one mighty force. Likens Severik to the horse, Astrafel to the fodder, and Bloodletter to the rider. Without the food, the horse dies. Without the rider, the horse has no direction. But together? Together, there is no limit to what they might achieve.
But there is a tiny, quiet voice within Severik that says his left knee will never be as sturdy as it once was. That his ear will never grow back. That scarred skin is just a little easier to break open the second time. The voice points out that no matter how well a rider treats his horse, the horse is never the rider's equal. And that, should the rider deem it necessary, he will drive the horse to its death.
If Severik still hears that voice, he shows no sign of acknowledging it.
Penny Arcade Rockstar Social Club / This is why I despise cyclists
"Quarol, you're experienced with handling valuables, would you do the honor of bearing Brother Piotor?" And maybe he'll rub off on you while he's there.
Quarol stares off into the darkness. Whatever is out there puts him ill at ease.
"Shall we move on?"
----
The ring is a hand-range weapon, and balanced for throwing. It always deals full damage to undead, regardless of armor or special qualities that might make them immune, and it starts with 3-concordance.
When you draw on Piotor's combat skill, the ring gains the Close and Reach ranges and the precise tag, and you roll d6+d8 to Hack and Slash with it. However, Piotor was a reckless fighter. If the d8 is higher than the d6, you will have landed yourself in a precarious situation - the GM will tell you what.
When you ask Piotor to bind an undead enemy, spend 1-concordance. The ring will latch on to the enemy, generally until it's destroyed. I'll tell you what it does, but as a general rule it'll completely neutralize smaller targets and make larger ones more vulnerable.
When you observe the rites of Virrus at sunrise, roll +wis to see how well you follow Piotor's instructions to do so and gain concordance depending on the roll.
When you ask Piotor about undead lore, he will generally propose a well-grounded but risky course of action. If you follow his advice, mark XP and gain 1-concordance.
The ring may have more powers to unlock during the course of this adventure, generally by finding relics of the ancient celestial order.
----
The cave passage winds its way through the underground, branching several times along its length, but Vladire's tracking ability points you in the right direction. After an hour of walking through darkness, or at least when one torch has burnt itself down to charcoal, you come to a fairly unusual fork - one showing signs of much more recent travel. The trail of whatever took Pallas continues down a disused fork in the tunnel. The more traveled tunnel gets damper farther away from the fork, and a faintly luminescent moss grows on the walls. It's been scraped off in patches by something, probably metallic and purposeful judging by the even strokes.
Piotor suddenly comes alive - he'll probably be doing that a lot, Quarol, so how are you carrying him? - and says that he feels one of the old relics of his order down the mossy tunnel.
Vladire, you're confident you can find your way back here and pick up the trail (without rolling) as long as this detour doesn't last too long. What are you all doing?
Blennid is staying close to Brand, in whatever marching order we have. He's feeling protective in the wake of the wolves cut down in the ambush.
--
Discern Realities: 2d6+2: 8 Partial Success
Question: What happened here recently?
(aiming for something fairly general, like what kinds of creatures come through here, are they making war, moss farming, hanging out?)
Astrafel, Piotor -- well, shrugs, or at least his head-link and arm-links try to approximate the motion. He makes a couple of goes at explaining exactly how he's sensing this and you work out that he's basically got a very specific form of vision - he can see a relic's "light" through any kind of barrier, probably because he's in a relic himself. But he can't make out details until he gets closer, generally close enough for an average observer to make out details. Though again, through walls and regardless of light conditions.
Piotor had several weapons for fighting the undead, and several more tools which could creatively be turned to that purpose.
The ranger moves his torch around the cavern a bit to get a look at anything he might have missed. Obviously more concerned with what might eat them as opposed to any treasure.
2d6+1=7
"What should I be on the lookout for?"
Taking a bit of a closer look at the traces left behind, you make out impressions of flippered feet, find a few shed scales, and pick up traces of other things scraping the stone - metal tools or, more likely, weapons.
You conclude that you're dealing with some kind of tool-using intelligent amphibioid, maybe what the peasants would call a "fish-man". Now, what do you all know about them?
He holds it near the torch so the rest of the party can see it "Looks like we're dealing with water hoppers."
Vladire placed the scale in a small compartment on the front of his belt. His familiarity with the "fish-men" wasn't as extensive as he would like it to be. Obviously they liked damp areas and couldn't survive prolonged period of times on the surface. From what he had seen groups often acted in a pack mentality with little concern for the individual. They were more less ideal shock troopers. Very little concern for the individual - that is to say survival, more concern placed on pure killing. The good part was they generally weren't that agile on land, the bad part was they had teeth. So extra pair of weapons on hand basically...or on face..you get the idea.
Based on his experience and talks with other scouts he often assumed some individuals in the "pack" were considered irreplaceable . He had assumed leaders and the like, but they lacked the suicidal moxy the others seemed to have. And often were never seen in scavenger parties and the like.
Penny Arcade Rockstar Social Club / This is why I despise cyclists
Tilts his head to side "Can use weapons and have very sharp teeth. "
He remains silent for moment "Which they use... so I'd say yes"
He rolls his eyes back
"Most people call em fishmen. I call em water hoppers, if you've watched them enough you would know why. You may know them by another epithet."
Looking over at the Druid momentarily, "Not quite sure if anyone knows what they prefer to be called. Assuming anyone has the gall to ask or they the courtesy to present titles."
Anyway. Wrest a holy relic from what will perhaps turn out to be the remorseless fangs of the aquazerg, or keep following whatever dragged Pallas out of here, lo those many years ago? Your call.