"Nope," he said. "I was just given this ting, I thought it was a paperweight till it made noise once." He had once kept up a bluff of ignorance for DECADES because it was funny. He could keep this up till it was explained to him, especially since the ignorance was only half feigned this time. He had figured out enough to guess it was like a crystal ball, but... that was about it. He still wasn't sure how to activate it, or if he was even correct.
"The battle for Barthis, huh?" he asked, grinning as he leaned back. "It was a number of years ago when a cabal of wizards had come to the sleepy town of Barthis to enact a dark ritual of sacrificial magic. An oracle named Dominic, his talking cat Spark, his assistant Luna, a white mage named Gregory, a Spellwolf and a priestess and a knight of the realm came together to stop them. And after a great battle where the cabal was betrayed by a necromancer pretending to be one of their own. In the end nearly all of them died and the town seemed to be saved. But at cost. The heroes took heavy losses, and while the white mage Gregory could heal some of what was lost, not everything could be so easily repaired." He gave a solemn nod over his drink and took a sip before continuing, to give that proper dramatic beat.
"After that, Barthis became something of a magnet for ne'er do wells, dark mages, bigots, and worse, lawyers." He winked.
"The priestess and the Spellwolf went with the knight from the town to deal with the changes within them, the loss of identity and power and self. The seer stayed for a while, then left, and would return again several times before eventually making his home there, after the Battle for Barthis was settled. His assistant and cat stayed by his side, but the White mage, Gregory, he stayed in Barthis. He helped to defend it against the hardships that came for the town. But a great evil came to Barthis after a time. Gregory's phenomenal powers and good heart led him to being able to protect the people of Barthis, though to do so the homes were destroyed."
"The townsfolk struggled, trying to figure out how to rebuild. That was when the lawyer arrived..." he sipped his drink again to give another beat and to get a read on his audience.
Spoiler warning.
"The battle for Barthis, huh?" he asked, grinning as he leaned back. "It was a number of years ago when a cabal of wizards had come to the sleepy town of Barthis to enact a dark ritual of sacrificial magic. An oracle named Dominic, his talking cat Spark, his assistant Luna, a white mage named Gregory, a Spellwolf and a priestess and a knight of the realm came together to stop them. And after a great battle where the cabal was betrayed by a necromancer pretending to be one of their own. In the end nearly all of them died and the town seemed to be saved. But at cost. The heroes took heavy losses, and while the white mage Gregory could heal some of what was lost, not everything could be so easily repaired." He gave a solemn nod over his drink and took a sip before continuing, to give that proper dramatic beat.
"After that, Barthis became something of a magnet for ne'er do wells, dark mages, bigots, and worse, lawyers." He winked.
"The priestess and the Spellwolf went with the knight from the town to deal with the changes within them, the loss of identity and power and self. The seer stayed for a while, then left, and would return again several times before eventually making his home there, after the Battle for Barthis was settled. His assistant and cat stayed by his side, but the White mage, Gregory, he stayed in Barthis. He helped to defend it against the hardships that came for the town. But a great evil came to Barthis after a time. Gregory's phenomenal powers and good heart led him to being able to protect the people of Barthis, though to do so the homes were destroyed."
"The townsfolk struggled, trying to figure out how to rebuild. That was when the lawyer arrived..." he sipped his drink again to give another beat and to get a read on his audience.