"This for example is some sort of faceted stone," he says, holding up some sort of faceted stone.  It's grey, irregular, dull and opaque for an object of its shape, like an ordinary pebble cut and polished in imitation of a gemstone.  "Found with some bandits, probably stolen from somewhere very spooky.  People report all sorts of strange things from touching it, whispers and feelings of being watched."  He proffers the stone to her.  "Want to try?"

"Any idea on dating? Or stone type? Most stones don't polish that smoothly, especially without specialized tools," she says, reaching out her hand to manually investigate its surface. (Which probably sounds incredibly stupid to anyone whose field doesn't include 'lick the strange glowing rock' as a legitimate diagnostic tool.)

"Nnnot really," he says.  "Archaeologists would date something like this by where they dug it out of, but we just took it off a mercenary who looted it from a bandit camp.  No one recognizes the substance or the craftsmanship either.  There's magic on it for sure but I can't detect any ordinary structures of enchantment or signs of standing-spell degradation."

It's as smooth as it looks, and cool to the touch, the color of a cloud occluding the sun, and -

- it sees her -

"...Yeah I see what you mean about weird feelings."

She turns it around in her hand.

can ̡y͝oư ̕he͘ar̀ m̕e

"...I hear someone talking. Which is a yes," she says to the stone.

"Whoa, what, it's talking to you?"

t͠h͞ere ͘is s͡o͢m̕eth̢i̕ng̕ ҉o̢f ̡m̴y ́fire ̡in ͞you͢,̵ ̀į t̡hink

i ne͡ed you͟r h̸elp͜

"I'm not sure it's the stone. The voice says they need my help."

"With what?" she asks.

t̵hi̶ş st̷on̸e͘ ̶i̧s͡ my̨ ̴be̛a̧co͜n

̧its͏ l̨ight͢ ̧is͟ ̨me̶a͏n̵t̡ to̶ ͞i͘l͢l͢uminát͠e̢ my shr̶ine̷

and ̨t͏he̸ ͏da̢r͝kn̵es͢s ́t̢hat ͟m͘y̸ ̴ligh̡t ͟is ̸mea̸n̛t ̴t͝o͘ ͜bưr͏ǹ a͏wa͜ỳ ha̢s d̶efi̶leḑ t̴hat shrin͠e̴ ̴in͝ i҉ts ąbs̛ence͟

"Who are you?" Lianda asks.

ąt͠ ̴th͞is̨ ̵ḿu͟ch҉ r̀emov͜e ̷i ̡a͠m͝ ͜not sk͟i̛llȩd͠ ̕a͘t̴ ͏rend͏er͝i͏n̶g t͞hé ͞n̨ame͘s͟ ͜g̡i͡ven͞ ͡t̕o mȩ ͢b͟y b͘e̢i͠n̡gs̴ tha͟t͠ ̴s͏pe̕ak ̨witḩ sound̀

b̛ut

i ͠a̢m ́l̛ig̀h͞t a͏nḑ ҉f͘i͢r͝e

t͝ha̴t w̢h̵i͠ch ̨s̷eeķs ̵to h̵i̶d̀e it͞s͡e͜l͏f̢ ̧i҉n͝ ̷s͠ha͟d̀o͞w̧ ̧a͡n̴d ́asks c̢o͘mpla̕c̶e͢nc͟e͏ a̴n̸d ̀q҉u͟ies͏ce͞n̛ce҉ fr̷o̧m ̀its̛ ̧p̕rèy

i͜ ̡reve͢a͜l̵ ąn̶d͘ illumi̡nat͏e̡ ͠ąn͘d҉ se͘ţ ̕afla̧me̢

ànd͘ j̢ust as͠ t̛he̢r̷e̶ is̶ dark͠ness͘ tha͠t ̨cl̸o̷ak͢s ͏and s̀wa̵ḑdle͘s cr̛e҉at̕ures tha̡t ́y̢ou͟r͠ ̵ki͝nd fe͠a̡rs

śo̕ ͠i ͏illu͟m̴in͝a̢t̴e̴ ҉an͞d ̨s̷hi̢eld͡ t͟he͠ ̸th͝i͏n̕gs͢ ͠t̕h́at ͝dwe̶l͟l͘ in҉ ͞t҉h͠e day̶

ànd͘ b̸li̛nd a͟n͘d ̷bu͘rn ̡awa͏y̧ ͡th̀e̵ ͠s͞h͟a̸ḑow͘ t͟hat͠ ̀s̡eek͢s͜ to f͜e͜e̛d́ ̴o͏n̴ l̵i̸ght̵

"Whaaaaat is the faceted stone saying to you?"

̕do̧ you ̷kn̵ow t́h͠e͞ ̨nąm҉e m͝èr͟i̕diá

"...I know that name," to the stone, and "The voice is Meridia, and says this is her beacon."

"What would you ask of me?" then, back to the stone.

She sees a statue, a representation of Meridia, some distance west of Solitude.

this i҉s m҉y̕ s̶h̕rine

̢t͝h͢eŕę is ̴f͠u͞ry̶ ̨wit͢h͜iń ͘y͘o̡u ̀to͜ b̢ùr̷n ̀away̷ corr͡upti̸on̴

̕i͢ ͢n͢eed̀ ̶you͢ to҉ ̢ma̸k̸e y̢o͜ur way̧ ͏he̛re ̴and̶ ̵v̕is̨i̡t̸ that ́fùry͢ ҉upo̷n͜ ͜t̕h̵e͟ ́ínte͘r͜lope͞r͝s

"I'll need to talk it over with my companions, to see about how long it might take," Lianda says, diplomatically. "Will I lose contact with you if I stop touching the beacon?"

ye̴s

̵b̴u͟t̷ ͠tou̷c̸h̶íng͘ ̶i̷t͠ a͏g̷a̴i̸n ̢w̶i̕lļ ̵al͠lo̴w͞ ỳo̢u̷ ̷to ̀re̢s͜u̶me̡ co͢mmu͝n̨i͜cat͠i̸o͜n

ańd͠ ͜wḩen ̡ít͟ i̷s ̢r̷ęs̸t̢ǫred to ͢i͟t̸s ̕pro͝p̴e͏r̵ pla͏ce c̸òmm̡u̶nicatio͘n ͞wíll ́b҉e ͝ea͞si͝e͟r

"I need to obtain permission to remove this from this room, and I need to go elsewhere to do that," she says. "I will return shortly."

i̕ ̀un͢de̵ŗs͢t͏a͞nd

She nods. "Thank you. I will now return the stone to where I found it." And she hands the stone off, then explains what Meridia says. "We need to discuss - what to do," she says.

"Yeeeaaah this is a lot more than anyone expected to get out of that rock," Sigaard says.  "Let's go find Malielle - "

She nods. "Yeah. I think she mentioned she'd be in the library - "

Malielle is indeed in the library, working in a back room in the rare books section, restoring a damaged volume. "Something the matter?" she asks, absent-mindedly.