| Three more today.
[The Crossing, Via Mandroga]
This narrow alley leads between the northern angle of the town wall and the Arena. The backdoor to the Healing Hospital and to the Empaths' Guild is here, and burlap bags filled with soiled gauze, empty vials and the remains of herbs and potions litter the gutter. A few bold mice nibble at the heaps of debris. You also see a red moonbeam and an intricate symbol painted on the wall in delicate strokes.
Obvious paths: north, south.
>l sym
Two diagonal lines converging at the bottom of a circle has been drawn in blood on the building's outer wall. Now dried, the symbol sticks to the wall in black streaks.
You may be able to piece together more about the symbol with careful study.
>study symbol
You carefully study the bloody symbol.
You recognize that it is a symbol used by Empaths and herbalists to denote magic and herbs that have blood staunching properties.
Alchemists also use this symbol, meaning "coagulation" in a much broader sense.
Roundtime: 20 sec.
[The Crossing, Asemath Walk]
Normally filled with bustling Clerics, academics and carousers of all types and ages, this area is peaceful as most people have retired for the night, excepting the occasional joyous song that escapes an open window from the back of the two-storied Half Pint Inn to the south. The side of the Cleric's shop is to the east, bordering the smooth paving stones that have been laid to coordinate with the approaches of the High Temple. You also see an intricate symbol painted on the wall in delicate strokes.
>l sym
A complex palimpsest has been drawn in blood on the building's outer wall. Now dried, the symbol sticks to the wall in black streaks.
You may be able to piece together more about the symbol with careful study.
>study sym
You carefully study the bloody symbol.
After some contemplation, you realize that this symbol is built as a palimpsest image, layering multiple symbols on top of each other to produce a gestalt. With expert ease you pick out the component symbols: the body and the soul, divinity and necromancy, free will and immortality.
The arrangement of the symbols suggests an alchemical operation, wherein the body is transmuted into something represented by a sub-palimpsest of free will and immortality. Necromancy is used as the operation's catalyst, while divinity is expelled as a waste product. The symbol of the soul sits at the "bottom" of the image, framing the entire operation.
Roundtime: 20 sec.
[The Crossing, Inkhorne Street]
A three-story brick building, with slits for windows, covered by iron bars, abruptly blocks your way. The path is strewn with garbage, and an open ditch brimming with filth runs around the structure and out under the town wall which stands directly behind it. Before the grim building, some workmen are mending a raised wooden platform on which stands a gallows. You also see an intricate symbol painted on the wall in delicate strokes and a wrought-iron sign mounted on a welded iron chain in front of the building.
>l sym
A line repeatedly crossing over itself at sharp angles has been drawn in blood on the building's outer wall. Now dried, the symbol sticks to the wall in black streaks.
You may be able to piece together more about the symbol with careful study.
>study sym
You carefully study the bloody symbol.
After considerable thought, you come to the conclusion that the symbol has no commonly accepted meaning. If it means anything, it is something very specific, such as a signature or code word.
Roundtime: 20 sec.
I'll let the bards post the bard stuff.
Rev. Reene
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