Continued from Session 26: A Disturbing Dream.
At the library of Pallida University, Aulus Viziri returned to Meriel and Zarin with some books and research. He relates the story of the ancient elven king Fahnri the Fair, and describes the events at the Battle of Byroad. Aulus then mentions that this is the sort of research that Hakur would have liked. Unfortunately, Hakur was waylaid by bandits on his latest return to Sentra, and his dwarven assistant Nissra had also gone missing. Meriel asked about Hakur's research, and Aulus said it was all moved to his home in the Graywall neighborhood, and guarded by the Imperial Watch. Meriel and Zarin made their way to see if there was anything there they could fine.
In the cozy residential neighborhood, Meriel noticed that there seemed to be some extra Watch patrols around Hakur's house, as well as a very noticeable guard outside his front door. Wearing her Vigilant sash to show she was an Agent of the Vigilants, Meriel went to talk to one of the patrolling Watch. She convinced him to let her and Zarin to have fifteen minutes to look inside as a cooperative gesture between the Watch and the Vigilants.
Inside Hakur's house, Zarin checked out the downstairs while Meriel went upstairs to search. Zarin's keen nose picked up the faint scent of dwarven perfume, which led him to a set of well-worn travelling boots stashing the corner. There was mud on them, but it was old. There was a small study downstairs, where Zarin also found some notes on the First Men and the rebellion they led against the elves thousands of years ago. Hakur also had some notes about challenges with the ancient elven legends, as elven history has largely been told orally and not written down, and what translations do exist were made by the Imperials.
Upstairs, Meriel found an upstairs library. There were various books on history, a few on geology, and some notes on a paper about "The Song of the Singer." From Hakur's notes, he thought it may had been a cautionary tale of some kind, but he only had bits of oral tradition to rely on and was hoping to find some written text. There was also a knapsack upstairs in the bedroom that was packed for a trip. Based on the size, it looked like it was made for a dwarf.
Zarin cast the Eyes of Argamash, and with his arcane sight he spotted a pair of spectacles that are magical. Putting them on, he discovered text on Hakur's notes that was invisible previously. The hidden notes were sometimes written in orcish or elvish, which Zarin could read. Hakur had also been re-translating elvish poetry and other works, ignoring previous Imperial translations. Had some notes on the First Men that were contradictory to Imperial history.
Rather than take the glasses with them (in case the Watch had done an inventory of the contents of the house) Meriel wanted to replace them with a prop from the Gilded Stage. Zarin wanted to do the same with the notes, so they planned to return later. Before leaving, Zarin made a charcoal etching of the amulet Meriel received from Mordenkai.
Continued in Session 28: Words Unspoken.