Slove wait until all the others are though.
He look back at the world.  He would love say but this is tomb not the land of the  living.""Goodbye twilight world.  Good buy."

He then enters the portal and follows the others.

OOC: Who says you're at the portal yet? ;)


As soon as the portal seemed stable, all of them turned and ran down the stairs and out of the control centre. Coming to the air elemental elevator, they had a long and impatient wait to be ferried down. One had to wonder if the silent entities had any inkling of the fate that awaited them, to be bound forever more to this task and have no ever come along again to need.

Finally they burst out on to the bridge. The sea below was raging wild and the winds were howling like angry spirits, trying to force them off the bridge. And the eternal twilight sky was finally beginning to darken...

They went through the Nexus, then the next bridge, and back to the entry tower. The combined army of orcs, hobgoblins and fellow adventurers were assembled in the halls, packed and ready to go. "What is happening?" Thraka demanded, with bluster over fear. "Will the ring of stones bring us home?"

The circle of stone is set to bring us back to Toril, and the Yuirwood. The star elves are trying to shut it down it will not stay open long. Gurgun replies, calmly.

Balrok grumbles as he sees the horde of packing goblinoids.  "They bedder of taken' gud care of me mule.  Muley!" he yells, heading off to look for the creature.  "Get yer ass over here, ya ass, we're gettin' out of dis Moradin-forsaken place."
This message was last edited by the player at 17:06, Sat 09 Apr 2011.

OOC: Yes, one tends to forget about NPCs in moments of crisis :P

Jorn stays at the portal room in case the force tries to shut the portal down again while the rest of the party rushes to gather the orcs.

Slove is not going to leave Jorn alone.  It may take two keep thing open.

OOC: The portal is staying open. But you all need to leave at once. :)


Muley clip-clopped rather unsteadily over the glass floor to Balrok, unharmed and uneaten.

"Curse those elves!" Thraka spat. "^{Bloody elves!}" Mister Wickers the demented fey added from somewhere in the crowd. "Our army thanks you for all you've done." he said to the adventurers. He raised his sword to the ceiling. "To the ring of stones! We're going home!" he cried to the army, and they roared back in general applause.

Moving through the last tower, they approached the final bridge. The bones of the dragon-like creature wrapped around it shaken loose and fallen away. At the far end, the rocky peaked above the crashing waves, and the stone circle glowed with life and power.

"You go first!" Thraka patted his heroes on the back, ever pragmatic enough to let someone sort out a problem for him first.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:58, Wed 13 Apr 2011.

Somehow Gurgun is not surprised... Slove, Jorn, Balrok! We need to go first and secure landing area in Yuirwood. Who knows what beasts have slipped through? Also, Gurgun does not trust orcs and goblins not to destroy stone ring once arrived. Balrok you keep muley close now.

Gurgun adds in a low voice, confident the wind and crashing of the waves beneath them would mask his words from the horde. Taking in the sight of the active portal Gurgun sighs, takes a harder grip on his staff, and strides forward.

Balrok yanks on Muley's reins and ties them to his backpack to keep the mule close.  Drawing his axe and shield he gives the stones a final, suspicious look.  "Damable elf magic had better work right," he grumbles.  Then he thumps forward with Gurgun, Muley trailing behind.

::bump::

OOC: Was waiting on the others.


Approaching the stone circle, they became aware of a familiar ululation, an alternation of high and low pitched howls, not unlike the song of a grief-stricken elven woman. It was much louder than before, and swirling around the stones. The song of the stones was haunting and beautiful.

There was a cloud of starlight above the ring, spiralling out to revealed a dark gulf, like a night sky but somehow much darker and infinitely further away. There were unblinking stars in that void.

One-by-one, the adventurers ventured back into the portal, hoping that it would bring them home. Gurgun and Balrok and even Muley went first, followed by Slove and Jorn. Orcs and hobgoblins piled up behind, fearful but eager to follow. They'd thoughtfully moved in front of Iodaem, Authiel, Nikolai, Allessandra and Garel, keeping subtle hostages against being trapped here.

Gurgun and Balrok felt themselves tugged upwards, until their feet left behind. Drifting up, they disappeared into the dark hole in the world.

*

Nowhere

They couldn't say how long the journey took; at once it was both over in an instant, yet seemed to span the aeons. They drifted a void of unfathomable darkness, punctuated only by the scattering of stars, remote and unblinking. It was a journey of crushing loneliness, lost in a cosmos with not another object or creature but each other for vast distances all around. And yet they were uncomfortably aware of formless shapes moving in the void around them.

*

Deep In The Yuirwood
28th Marpenoth 1375

Gurgun appeared standing in the stone ring, just as he'd remembered. Balrok appeared beside him, but for the dwarf this was all new. Muley was deposited without harm, but a great deal of fright.

The sky was almost blinding in the sudden daylight, but they were in a small forest clearing, and rising from the tangled greenery was the stone circle. Huge menhirs supported stone slab arches, forming a circle of dolmens. There were seven in all, fifteen feet high and towering over the travellers. Inside the ring, in a clearing thirty feet wide, the grasses grew barely an inch high, though they rose to a foot outside.



The stones were matted in places with mosses and lichen and vines, but mostly they were bare, and much more than they rightly should be. Well-worn carvings appeared on each one, strange symbols and peculiar, half-recognisable shapes.

What eldritch rituals and feral dances might have once occurred at this ancient place they could not say, but they could still feel a timeless power that a gave a subtle majesty to these pitted, lichen-encrusted stones and brought a hush over the forest in their vicinity. It all seemed so peaceful.

Their horses were still there, left on a long lead to graze the grass. After a tenday, the poor lonely animals had stripped the surroundings bare. Except the travellers had only been gone for five days...

"Thank the dwarven gods!"  Balrok, thrilled to have solid earth once again under his feet and blessed rock within sight, moves quickly to the standing stones, arms out as if to give them a hug.  Then, remembering his dignity, he pulls up short and gives the rock a familiar pat instead.  "Nothin' like gud solid stone," he declares with a contented sigh.

Gurgun looks to the animals first, then scans the area for dangers: having still in his mind the fearce battle with gnolls not that long ago.

The stone crackled with magical power beneath Balrok's touch.

"Even tha elves know ta build a' stone when they want somethin' sturdy ta last!" Jorn cheered after he and Slove popped out of the portal. He hurried out of the circle, checking the shortened grass inside the circle, the length of time that the mounts had been waiting. "Thank Dugmaren fer tha time diff'rential! We gotta little while before tha elves get 'ere!"

Thraka was next, and a squad of orcs. "Ha! We are back!" They stared up, full of wonder for a sky they'd thought they'd never see again. Then a squad of hobgoblins fell on them. After a few punches and kicks, the groups disentangled and fanned out to secure the area.

A steady stream of the mercenaries marched out of the portal, orcs, hobgoblins, a few taer, Wickers and his bear, that foul runehound they kept as a pet, all spreading out into the forest, reforming their army. Interspersed amongst them came Iodaem and Authiel, Nikolai and Duladora, Allessandra and Garel.

"Home, at last!" "It's good to see Lathander again." All of them were filled with joy and relief to have finally escaped from that twilit realm of glass and dread.

The area seemed safe, but not for much longer, if Jorn's prediction of an elven visitation was correct.

Thraka! Where will you go next? Jorn expect elves to come soon; we should not be here then. Gurgun for one is set on returning to Oghma's library in the Dales. Slove and Balrok, will you make me company?

Thraka snorted in irritation at having to flee elves, but they were in no shape to fight. "We will go south and find a ship to take us across the Wizard's Reach to Chessenta. We can rest there."

"Don' know 'bout you, but Slove and I oughta head back ta Furthinghome first." Jorn interjected, waving the dragon-horn drinking cup around. "We need ta return tha Grail o' Shargrailar to tha merchant Tulin Fairweather - there's a reward in it ye might as well share in fer helpin' us ta recover it." He turned to Duladora and added "And yer father was lookin' fer you too. There's a reward fer rescuin' you too."

Dula sighed in relief. "Oh, it will be well-earned and happily paid, I'm sure. Thank you all again for rescuing me."

Furthinghome next then; Gurgun needs to resupply anyway.

OOC: Forgot about the rewards...

Slove nods to his dwarven friend.
"It's true we have people to visit and rewards to collect."

He looked back at portal.  Only slove was sad to leave the Star elves world.  True the evil necromancy world not best.  Slove however loved the world of Star elves.

"Let move along.  I maybe only one that income elves will not shoot on sit and really don't wish to dig your graves after we been though so much to get back here.  Lets move."

Balrok is watching the goblinoids suspiciously.  "Er," he says under his breath to the rest of the group as the goblinoids talk of fanning out across the globe, "Does it make anybudy else a might bit nervous dat we're loosin' a whole army uh goblinoids on... erm... where are we again?  And what's dis about elves comin'?  They ain't much bedder!"  (He seems blithely unaware that he may have just offended half the party.)

OOC: Jorn NPCed for plot purposes.


"Aglarond. An' I think they jus' want ta get outta here as much as we do." Jorn explained. "I know there was some elven magi on the other end of tha portal system, workin' against me. They're sure to be 'ere in person afore long."

Star elves might think Mourel broke free of the Night Realm, and want to stop him. Gurgun is sure they want to close portal for good.

I think looking at to group it will be best if we get moving.  Let The Star Elves deal with what ever they find when get here.

With that Slove start heading back to town.

Gurgun straddles his heavy horse and follows the swift-footed elf.

With little time to linger, the two groups quickly formed up to go their separate ways. At the last, the orcs and hobgoblin mercenaries abandoned their stoicism to give their former allies some hearty handshakes and bear-hugs, vowing that they owed them one.

Then the mercenaries melted into the forest, fast fleeing through the woods as they made their way south. It would be a long and desperate journey for them, especially while trying to avoid the Masters of the Yuirwood, the druids and rangers that guarded that great forest.

The adventurers quickly mounted up and rode north, heading back to the trail that would return them to Furthinghome, laden with the treasure that made this journey worthwhile.

Furthinghome, Aglarond
1st Uktar 1375

Three days later, they'd returned to that Aglarondan city. Checking the calenders, they confirmed that they'd lost five days in the extradimensional realm.

Duladora Trameldor was returned safe and sound to her worried father and bodyguard, but she was rather pleased to have learned so much of ancient star elf practices. She happily bought up any star elf relics that they'd looted along the way.

And the merchant Tulin Fairweather was enormously grateful to have the Grail of Shargrailar back, and paid the handsome reward. Now he could attempt again to deliver it to his client - until Aglarondan authorities swooped and seized it. They'd found and arrested the Cult of the Dragon cell that had attacked the adventurers the last time they'd been in the city, and uncovered their plot to get the horn of the dread black dragon Shargrailar smuggled across the country.

Any who cared to return to the Yuirwood, now in the depths of autumn, found the grass burned and the rocks shattered and scorched, thoroughly demolished by the star elf High Mages. Mourel the Duskwalker would never return to threaten the world of the living and the sane, and whatever essence of him remained stayed out there in the endless void between the planes.

Gurgun spent the time working on his notes, eager to preserve his observations and reflections before they were lost from memory. Feeling especially chagrined over having to leave the star elf library unexplored, he still was grateful that he had seen it and could describe how it worked. This trip had proven to be a most valuable one; and not only when counting coins.