Wujen and Little Dragon Tie the Knot

The stuff is easy enough to pull off the shelf with his spell, but Wujen lacks a way to carry all of it (particularly the staff) without touching. He does not remember seeing any containers about the house that would be appropriate to carry all this. He could probably wrap up some of the smaller things without touching them in a shirt or jacket, or just kind of gather it all in his arms and bring it back that way, but he didn't come prepared to carry this much.

WuJen goes in search of something that will serve as a sack or box. Bedsheets and drawers seem likely, as does any number of things found in a kitchen.

The house notably lacks a kitchen. Given that Wujen has yet to feel any hunger despite not eating anything since he got here, it's reasonable to assume that the locals do not have need for food, though they presumably could eat it if necessary. The place also lacks a toilet or similar facility, and in fact Wujen has not needed to use one since arriving, likely a side effect of not eating or drinking anything. There is however a bath room to clean oneself up in. It even has running water, though there does not appear to be plumbing so much as a knob that makes water appear and disappear.

Upstairs it is a lot easier to find something useful. Drawers are available as are bed sheets. Whether or not they will provide protection against these items is questionable, but better than nothing.

WuJen does his best to wrap up the items in cloth and make a sack of a bedsheet for the bulk of the items , wrapping and making a sling for the staff.

Then he makes his way back to the sanctuary of the jeweler.

Wujen feels a chorus of whispers in his head as he scoops up all the various items and does his best to keep from touching them. The whispers are impossible to understand as they flow over each other, each competing for Wujen's attention and sanity in a mosh of assorted languages. Though he can't understand them, he can feel them slowly asserting themselves over his will. As he walks back to the jeweler's, his ability to concentrate quickly wanes.

When a crazed ork attempts to attack him, he finds that one of the wands has somehow appeared in his hand. He's not sure if it appeared of its own volition or if he reached for it, but the fact of the matter is that the wand is in his hand and he was using it without knowledge of what it does or how to make it do what it can do. The ork screams in agony as all of the blood in its body begins to pour out of his eye sockets and float towards the wand. The wand glows happily, drinking of the dark crimson fluid. Wujen reflexively drops the wand to the ground with a clatter and finds the staff now in his other hand. A dark green gem atop it glows and the skeleton from within the ork sheds its flesh and climbs out, covered in gore and what blood hasn't already been siphoned out of the body. It roars in tortuous pain and lashes out at the first target it finds, which happens to be a female human who was sneaking up to grab the discarded wand. Bones carve through flesh, as the skeletal hand reaches up under the rib cage, and pulls out a shredded heart. The woman does not last much beyond that.

Others were creeping close, but after seeing the deadly display, they scatter, the orkish skeleton clacking after them like a nightmare from Hell. Wujen is unsure what exactly these artifacts are, but they make him feel powerful. He thinks nothing about scooping up the wand with his bare hand despite his previous precautions as the whispers continue to bounce around his skull. Moments later he arrives at the jeweler's house and knocks on the door. The horn once again appears and says, "Don't tell me. You touched the stuff I told you not to touch. It's stuff like that that got the wizard killed, you know. I'm not letting you in with any of those accursed items."

A basket is lowered over the wall and the voice says, "Put the gem in the basket and come back in a few hours. Should be done by then, if you haven't killed yourself in the mean time."

WuJen puts the gem in the basket, sighs and walks back to the wizards vault and tosses the stuff back in.

As Wujen is putting the artifacts back in the vault, he finds that the ring is now on his finger. It is gold with a faceted green gem set in it that seems to be able to turn with a noticeable click. He can't help but fiddle with the gem in the ring for a minute or two. As he's fiddling, he presses the gem into the ring with a click. The statue in the vault room explodes into pieces with a startling boom that snaps Wujen out of his reverie. He immediately removes the ring and puts it into the vault with the other stuff. Once he moves away from the vault it slides shut and locks the various artifacts inside.

Though they are no longer able to speak to Wujen, he feels as though it really wouldn't hurt just to keep one of those objects. You know... just in case of emergencies or something... Or academic study. That's right! He can get rid of them any time. Sure the other wizard died, but he's much smarter and more careful than that guy...

"Nope, you had your chance." WuJen tells the artifacts. Perhaps next time they will be more careful about hijacking bodies.

Wujen finds that he is only talking to himself and has a couple hours to kill before the ring is done.

WuJen goes back to the sanctuary to wait on the ring.

After his rather bloody display a few minutes ago, the local crazies give Wujen a wide berth. A knock on the door once again causes the horn to come down, but this time the voice on the other end is female. "My husband is still at work on the ring, I'm afraid. He said that I shouldn't let you in if you have any of those magic baubles on you. Do you have any of those?"

"No, I put them all back. It should be safe."

The door opens up and Denaria is standing on the other side. "Come in then. Quickly before anyone else gets in. You must be tired. Allow me to draw you a bath while you wait. We have bath salts to relax the muscles. You'll feel much better."

WuJen steps quickly inside. " I'll take the bath, thank you."

Denaria says, "Excellent. Follow me."

Wujen is led up to a room with a large bath about the size of an average hot tub. Denaria turns some knobs and the tub begins filling with steaming hot water. While that fills, she goes over to a nearby cabinet and pulls out a scoop of some powder which she dumps into the water.

Outside of the tub is a small stool near an extendable shower head along with a bucket, brush and soaps. Denaria gestures to the stool and says, "Please remove your clothes and have a seat. I will help wash you before you get into the tub."

"I appreciate the offer, but your husband was quite clear as to his regard for you. I can manage to bathe on my own, I don't would feel much more comfortable doing so."

Denaria says, "As you wish. Enjoy your bath."

She gives a bow and leaves the room.

As per custom, Wujen showers off before relaxing in the warm mineral bath. The water is comfortable and the minerals are soothing to his skin and aching muscles. The tub itself is apparently enchanted to maintain the water temperature so it stays nice and toasty no matter how long he stays in it. Eventually the warmth is overwhelming and he begins to get light headed. Around that time he decides to dry off and get out. He's unsure how long he has been in the bath at this point, but he hears a knock on the door and it slides away, revealing Denaria. "My husband is asking for you," she says, "If you are done with the bath, no need to drain it. I'll be using it next."

"Thank you very much."

WuJen gets dressed and heads off to see the jeweler.

Denaria swaps places with Wujen and he heads off to see Udor. The little jeweler is just finishing off the last touches of his ring when Wujen enters his workroom. "Oh, there you are. Got your ring right here. You didn't bring any of that bad magic in here, did ya?"

"no I don't believe so. It was pretty tenacious though, and odd that everything in that vault was linked except that stone."

"What makes you think they were linked?" he asks, "The only link they have is that they were all in the same place and are of unusual power, albeit I am not sure what all is in there, just that the wizard guarded them fiercely. The gem is also of unusual power, so I suppose if you consider that a link, it is linked to the other items equally."

"Because they all interacted together, as if one conciousness. "

"Interesting. You sure they were interacting together or just simultaneously? Who knows what weird stuff happens once you get all that mojo in one place at one time. I certainly don't care to find out.

"Anyway, here's your ring. The gem on it is very special and very rare. I don't know exactly how it works, but there's supposedly a ritual out there somewhere that lets you attune yourself to it for a bit. Once you're attuned to it, you can later activate it instantly teleport yourself to the location of the ring. From what I understand, it can be activated by either the person who did the ritual or whoever possesses the stone. I'm sure there's some rules to it, but I'm no wizard so I couldn't tell you what they are. The wizard used to use it to quickly get back to his home if someone ever were to break into the vault, but he ain't gonna be using it now.

"I figure it's a good symbolic gesture for a wedding ring since it means you'll always be by your bride's side when she needs you. Literally so, if you can find and perform the ritual that attunes it. If that doesn't melt her heart with romance, she doesn't have a heart to melt."

"Seemed to be coordinated, and I hate to think that either I am so weak willed that every single piece of that collection could override my conciousness without a fight or any effort, or that every piece of it except this one stone was so very strong."

Regardless, I put them back in the vault and there they will stay until someone else figures out how to open it..

The ring is indeed a masterpiece, and very fitting. Thank you very much. I don't suppose you know where I might find the ritual to attune the ring?"