---
title: 00023
created: Sat, 22 Oct 2022 09:36:52 -0600
updated: Sat, 22 Oct 2022 09:36:52 -0600
public: yes
syndicated: yes
---
### 00023 {#00023}

> Why no, we don't mind much about competition, certainly nothing wrong. Can't imagine someone to put all of their eggs in one basket, especially when whatever it is they desire is so valuable.
> 
> That said, our benefactor must be pretty eager to get these crystals if he's willing to send out team after team. I mean, we're team 43, that's a lot of people to pay and a lot of eagerness to find these crystals. Why is that? What benefit are these shiny rocks to them? What even is their purpose in retrieving them?

"Oh, no no no, child," Blavin titters as he takes a sip of his ever-present martini. "You must understand, the Benefactor is a singularly dedicated collector, and has been for ages! There are---and have been!---many other retrieval teams, yes. But not all of them have been for the crystals. And some of them were formed, active, and disbanded long before you or I arrived on the scene." He winks at you conspiratorially.

> I would postulate, based upon the magical wards we had to bypass, the cadre of gaurds that needed to be dispatched, and the gigantic moth monster that rested beneath it, that these crystals aren't meant to go anywhere.
> 
> Now I'm not trying to point fingers here, morality is many shades of gray, and it isn't really my job to suss out what you're doing. But I'm a curious sysorceor, and when I see a chance to learn I seize upon the moment. There's something here you're not telling us, and I for one and keen to know it.

"I wouldn't worry your wizened old brow about it," Blavin chuckles, sloshing his drink. "The Benefactor's concern is precisely the same as yours! These items are of enormous cultural and historical significance, to say nothing of their well of concentrated arcane energies. They're dangerous just sitting out there in the world. Who knows who might come across one and use it for nefarious purposes."

Yam'L's eye widens and it seems to shudder at the mere suggestion of evil.

"Did you say this one was in the hands of a giant moth?" Blavin shudders with revulsion. "My word, man! Do you really think such an overgrown insect is an appropriate guardian for a beloved and dangerous cultural icon such as the Ginnarak Crystal? Surely not!"

"No," he sits back with a satisfied smile, "I think we must all agree that they are safer in the public collection of a competent and benevolent curator. Then everybody can enjoy them safely!"

> META: I'm gonna preface the sword speech with this to make it quicker to write
> 
> **Y'aml**  
> I like what you're putting down here, this guy is DEFINITELY evil. Nobody asks loads of people to steal things for them without being evil. I say we stab him, nice and good, right in the gut. Maybe 6 or 7 times. I'm positive nobody will mind. Evil people steal things, we saw that inky creature stealing things from that vault, definitely evil. (singsong) Evil evil evil, stab stab stab, make the evil go away with every little stab~
> 
> **Corraidhin to Y'aml**  
> Dear sysadmins, once again, inky is not evil. They were borrowing something that had been cast on the ground, abandoned. Giving a tea set a good home is far from evil. But you might be onto something about this Blavin fellow, but we can't just stab someone in a busy pub! Besides you're a sword, and stabbing someone in a pub is the job of a dagger. So unless you can transform into the Dagger of Y'aml I think we're out of luck here. 

Yam'L gets a curious look in its eye at the suggestion. "CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!" it cries directly into your mind. It squeezes its eye shut and trembles with intense concentration. With great effort, the sword shrinks itself down to the size of a dagger, shunting its extra mass off into yamlspace.

"There!" it says breathlessly, opening its eye wearily. "Now, Hardy Bear. You promised.." it continues, its eye glinting with growing ferocity. "Let's. STAB. THE HOBBIT!"


> While the wizard pressed Blavin about the crystal's secrets, Inky let their attention wander slightly around the table.
> 
> They had agreed that Master Corraidhín and Jarrod, being most wise and well-spoken, would question Blavin about the crystal before they set off on their next mission. The party had also befriended the duck unofficially dubbed their marketing manager after the fluffy little creature had trailed Inky all the way back to the Milk Market. Said creature now occupied a small office to one side of the building complete with a fountain, feathered up pillow and all the rummy worms it can eat. Inky had tried getting the duck to communicate with words by making them little croutons etched with letters, but the only ones they would gobble up were Q-U-A-C-K.

Your marketing manager moves into its office at the Milk Market and seems to really be enjoying itself. It joins you at Blavin's table at Lucy's Basement, cleaning its feathers and chortling merrily to itself.

You and your tablemates take turns feeding it croutons and bits of soft pretzel, and it seems very happy and content with that.

> A familiar prickle, but passed quickly — Inky had gotten used to the glares directed at them by the sysorceor's gleaming sword and resisted returning the stare with an eyeroll. Watching Stabby eyeing up their case manager over Master Corraidhín's shoulder reminded Inky of a conversation they had overheard a few evenings ago between two pale coffin sleepers about a new product from the hemogoblins that was said to quench the thirst for longer than the leading brand. They might be able to find some at the town of Plasma, which sits by the Hartlands on the way to the shipwreck. It seems the milky blood pudding could do with some improvement.

You note on Blavin's map that the Hemogoblin region is indeed on the way to the shipwreck. At least, it's not that far out of the way. You reckon their synthetic blood product would indeed be a much better substitute for the real thing than the milk you've been feeding the thirsty sword thus far.

Or, at the very least, you'll get a new variant of the blood pudding recipe you've been working on!
 
> Maybe someone else's mood will be improved in the meantime? Before setting out for their meeting with Blavin, Inky slipped into the kitchens downstairs and left the empanada chef a trick-and-treat. A plate of honeyed breadfruit and ghost pepper tapas sat on an icebox atop a new pair of Blueberry oven mittens with a pattern of tiny smiling green turtles. Tucked inside one mitten was a slip of paper (regrettably inedible) that simply read "BACK SOON :)". A tapa recipe, which included a note on adapting the toppings for pan frying, was printed on the reverse in neat blocky letters and sandalwood ink.

Enrique wakes in the middle of the night to start baking the next day's breads and empanadas. He frowns thoughtfully when he sees yet another mysterious gift from across the room. Again? What little elf must have taken up residence in his shop? But his face cracks into a smile when he sees the presentation and the oven mitts. And the smile becomes a bonafide grin when he tastes the fare and finds the recipe.

He taps his chin thoughtfully with one green claw as he skims the note and looks through his pantry. He chops some veggies and starts pan frying them.

Later, when the oven dings, he smiles to himself as he pulls on the new turtle pattern oven mitts and opens it.

\> A) MORE QUESTIONING, OR B) TIME FOR SHIPWRECK?

[www](https://framalistes.org/sympa/arc/tildepals/2022-10/msg00008.html)
