"Ehhhh....not really. Any extra supplies that you may need besides the ones that I am giving out will have to come out of your own pocket...or your final paycheck that was promised within the letter. And do please bear in mind that this is an expedition, and not a luxury vacation." "Pooling resources is certainly one way you can handle it. In the end, as long as the job gets done, it doesn't matter." The scholar shrugs at your question. "Well, for starters, the Catalyst is supposed to be sealed within an enchanted stone box... Under no circumstances are you to open that box. Do I make myself clear?"
"How will we know if it is the right box?" Aukur pauses, before elaborating. "We would need to open it to find out."
Kamilia grows visibly excited. "Pool, borrow, take..I'm satisfied. Though, are there any specific dangers we should be watching out for, on the way there or otherwise?"
Kamilia leans forward on the table, snapping out of her occupation with... less than savory means of acquiring funds. Her eyes widen, and a grin spreads across her face, "Tell us more, miss? How soon could that happen?"
'As soon as you wish. I have some funds that I am carrying myself, and as soon as I can reach a banking institution, I am certain I will be able to pull any more necessary. I'm sure my husband won't mind,' She gives a fleetingly coy smile.
He takes the gesture as an insult and recedes... "Oh... They must all be school-men... I guess they only talk amongst each other then..."
"That's fair enough, I think I speak for most when I say that I just wanted to make sure this is worth the trouble. I may be a merchant by trade but I value every single coin I possess."
Immediately regretting piping up, he ends up saying, "I have a good bit of money with me as well if it's nessecary.."
Kamilia nods her head briefly and shrugs, pulling her hands together until her fingers lace."It's not my wish, ma'am, but I'm sure these lovely folk here would like the means sooner rather than later. Well, at least soon after we get the rest of the information we need from-" She turns her head to the professor, "You." She leans her head on her hands and waits.
"If I recall from my research on the the artifact, the box used to contain this mythical artifact is merely used to dampen it's power to permit safe transport and handling. Another astounding detail that is perhaps a dead giveaway that the artifact is inside of the case will be that the dampening effects only occur when then stylist is present. Given the rather peculiar nature of how enchantments, and enchantment dampening objects go...I had deducted that perhaps a spellcaster of some sort, would perhaps be able to notice the magical dampening effects of the box. Basically...what I am trying to say is, toss a spell at it if you think you have found the box."
Altim shifted uncomfortably in his seat, he was eager to get hunting for this treasure. An idea dawns upon him and he raises his voice slightly, "So should we split up in small groups, search individually or everyone all together?"
Aukur meets Hunter's gaze. "The artifact is powerful. There are those here that may seek to exploit this."
"Well that is no shocker..but I was expecting more of a rivalling team searching for it..not an inside man.."
Kamilia interjects, "Just a moment, but, how do we decide whom will group with whom if we go with that? Surely we can choose for ourselves, but that could be unfair, or uneven. I suggest groupings by skill sets, if possible."
Looking down and using his hat brim to hide how red he is, he says, "S-she's right, we are all equipped for different things..but we oughta be able to work something out.."
'That seems like a pretty naive thought..." "Well, is a group of our current size too difficult to handle? I think we ought to handle it as per situation. Remain as a group unless a situation would be more effective in multiple teams organized based on what tasks are to be completed... Right?"
