17. Into Avelis (Part 8)

==Intro==
Kaitlin gives a dramatic reading of one of the earliest hate comments they have ever received. If you don’t love Sonic, you are a bullshit.
==Bad Dreams==
In order to avoid encounters with people, the party chooses to travel through the woods as they trek towards the Tower of Wivvil. During a night in the woods, Laika dreams of a monstrous wolf with yellow eyes, an oily black body and a crown of bone adorning its head. Maeri tells her that she has dreams of the creature as well, only in her dreams it fights with a man with a flaming sword.
Fran makes an offhand comment about everyone being possessed by Torva, at which Maeri becomes legitimately, although quietly, upset.
==I like your wheat==
After a couple days of travel, the party arrives at a very small town that, according to the map, is incredibly close to Wivvil’s tower. However, when Corbin scouts in bird form, he cannot see any trace of a tower among the trees. When they arrive at the village, the townsfolk actively avoid them and the wolves choose to remain in the woods to refrain from further scaring them.
In search of rations and information, the party goes into the little general store. While the man who owns the store glares at them, Fran and Corbin touch his wheat. This apparently drives him to the edge, because using a rudimentary version of Maeri’s sign language he asks them to stop.
When they inquire about the tower the man signs: ‘Don’t’, ‘Bad’ and ‘Lost.’ Despite recognising his status as the guy at the gas station who warns people away in horror movies, the party follows his directions towards a break in the trees at the edge of the town.
==In Pursuit of Knowledge==
The dark path away from town brightens as soon as the Guardian’s step foot on it. The flora changes around them into that found in early spring and only a little way down the path they find a clearing. In the middle of the clearing is a pedestal with the inscription:
Those who wish to find what they seek;
Look to the light of Wivvil. 
But ye who seek, be warned:
For there is always a price for knowledge.
Fran casts Light on her disco-shirt but as soon as she does the light flies into the woods. The party immediately follows it, but struggles to keep up and eventually they see it fade in the distance. Before they can react, the party is suddenly back in the clearing with the pedestal. Only this time, the flora around them has developed into that found in early summer. The Guardian’s hypothesize that time is moving quicker around them. On their third time trying to follow the light, the Guardian’s manage to make it through and find themselves in yet another clearing.
==The Tower==
===There is always a price for knowledge===
In the center of the clearing is a small, round hut. When the Guardian’s open the door all they can see inside is inky black darkness. In an exercise of trust, the party goes through the door. They find themselves on a balcony, overlooking an enormous library. They are at the top of the tower, with many floors extending beneath them.
At the bottom of this tower there is a man bent over a desk, surrounded by disembodied golden hands that are scribbling away on parchment. Corbin yells at him and immediately the party is transported to the same floor that the man is standing on..
To their surprise, the man mistakes Maeri for her mother, Kai, but Maeri is unable to hold the ruse. The man is surprised and introduces himself as Wivvil the Scribe. Wivvil is perplexed at the novelty of not knowing something—Maeri’s identity—and when he asks for an offering in exchange for teaching them New Common, he does not require her to give him anything.
The offering he asks for is this: The Guardians must tell him something that he does not already know.
Fran tells him about the cool parties she went to on Estra. Before she can register it, Wivvil takes the memory of the party that the Guardian’s threw in the Temple dorms. Laika gives up the memory of the Wolf Clan’s favourite pond on Estra and the cool sparkly rock that she found at the bottom of it.
Corbin gives Wivvil the knowledge that on Estra, parents would abandon their babies in the woods to the animal clans. Although he doesn’t want to admit it to himself, Corbin also loses the knowledge that he was one of these children. Maeri promises to remember for them all.
===The god of knowledge is unsurprisingly good at exposition===
Wivvil asks them to stay a while longer as he rarely gets visitors, but the party remembers the weird time skips while on the path. Wivvil assures them that in his tower time passes normally and that only three or four months have passed. 
At the Guardian's questioning, Wivvil confirms that gods can die and that Torva has killed four of them so far. He also remarks that gods are unable to have children with each other, which makes Maeri something entirely new. The party then begins asking him about the strange dreams that Laika and Maeri had. Although they do not get answers, they are told that Muninn has a brother, Huginn, who is the father of hawks. Which explains why the hawks in Danmar hated Corbin.
It’s at this point that the Guardian’s hear something clatter in the library and Laika is able to sense a dark divine presence somewhere nearby.
==A Message to Chantel==
Noel: And now a message to Chantel. Chantel, I’ve been trapped in the middle of this episode for many moons and have not laid eyes on your beautiful, beautiful, beautiful face. I miss you and I curse you. The code word today is: Idrils. You are now trapped along with me Chantel. Let’s get back to that episode.
==Featured Characters==
===PCs===
*Fran
*Corbin
*Laika
===NPCs===
*Maeri
*Gingie
*Zarun	
*Unnamed General Store Owner
*Wivvil
==Featured Locations==
*The Pogswoods
**Briar Glen
*The Tower of Wivvil
Category:Arc 2: Into Avelis
Category:Episodes