Lyriel senses Keef's discomfort, and lets her hand fall to her side. She folds her hands together in her lap.

What ideas do you have? Tomorrow, like Maeve said, I can Send to him. At least then we'd know if they were alright...

In reply to Lyriel Vesper (msg # 43):

Well I was thinking... since we're doing all this spy stuff... I could try to sneak into Ptolemy's tent and find some stuff out... I was thinking maybe there's some way to MAKE her... him.... make Ptolemy tell us what's going on...

Maeve muses over Keef's idea.

"That's not a bad idea if we want to get more information about OSA, but I don't think it will help us find Zuriel and Sazed. I think Ptolemy's told us all that he. . .she. . .knows about that."

Maeve thinks, calling upon all of her knowledge of the planes--which is minimal.

"If only Sazed were here!  He's actually traveled the planes before.  I'll bet he'd know what to do.  All I can think of for now is just to wait until morning."

Maeve looks over at Boreas.

"You're being very quiet over there.  Any better ideas?"
This message was last edited by the player at 18:13, Fri 11 Apr 2014.

Boreas, scratching his beard in thought, looks up.

Well, glad to have you back, Keef.  We don't need to lose track of any more of our friends today.  I like the idea, sneaking into Ptolemy's tent, but our first priority has to be getting Zuriel and Sazed back.

He turns to the priestess.  Lyriel can get in touch with them, and we'll know better what we have to do.  Let's make camp for tonight and regain our strength.  I have a feeling we'll need it.

Maeve nods in approval of the plan. . .which really isn't so much a plan as just deciding to put things off until tomorrow.

"The waiting is the hardest part, I know," she says to Keef, "but I swear on my father's spear that we will find Zuriel and Sazed and bring them back."

That decided, Maeve lets Boreas select a suitable campsite for the night.  The three of them rise to their feet and watch Keef speculatively to see if the young mage will accompany them. She gives Chubbs a meaningful look and indicates with a nod of her head for the toad to step aside with her briefly.

"Look, I don't know what's going on between you," Maeve says, feeling amazingly stupid for talking to a toad, "but Lyriel could use a friend right now.  Keep an eye on her, if you would."

In reply to Maeve Hassan (msg # 47):

The P.A.R.T.Y. camps in a cozy, out-of-the-way area not too far from the construction site, and the night passes without further incident.

The night passes fitfully for Lyriel without Zuriel's comforting presence next to her. She spends the night curled up in a corner of the camp, resting with Zuriel's pillow clutched to her chest.

At dawn, she is blearily awake and conducting her morning prayers. Her eyes widen as the empowering rush of divine energy yields additional insight. I think...Tassada has revealed a means by which we can reunite with Zuriel and Sazed! I can cast a spell that will get us to...wherever they are. The only catch is we need a focus. Something linked with a specific plane. So first things first, I suppose. We need to figure out where they ended up.

And if they're okay.

[Preparing 3x Sending and 1x Scry]

Lyriel closes her eyes, picturing Zuriel's face as she incants the ritual that will hopefully clear her dread. [Private to DM; Zuriel Silendril: Zuriel! Where are you? Are you unharmed? Is Sazed with you? Come home to me, my love. I miss you already, more than I can say."]

In reply to Lyriel Vesper (msg # 49):

Keef collects his things slowly and mutely, then follows the rest of P.A.R.T.Y. and goes about the business of setting camp and bedding down.

From the mud and slime tracks all around Lyriel's bed and pillow the next morning, it's clear that something small, slimy (and most likely warty) kept watch over her through the night.

[Private to GM: Keef plans to sneak out later in the night, turn himself into a hawk, and go spying.  First checking out the construction sight quickly, then trying to see what he can see in Ptolemy's tent.]

Boreas prepares to bed down, alongside the others.

Maeve falls asleep quickly, given the events of the busy day.  She strategically places herself with the campfire on one side, using Boreas and Keef as windbreaks against the night chill on the other.

In the morning, she prepares some tea for the diminished P.A.R.T.Y to accompany their breakfast while listening to what Lyriel has to say.

"That sounds. . .potentially difficult. I don't suppose Tassada also told you what a planar focus looks like or how to find one?" Maeve asks, thinking that it was a bit rude for the goddess to omit this essential information.

Regardless, she waits while Lyriel Sends to Zuriel, eager to find out where their missing friends are and if they are ok.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:20, Sun 13 Apr 2014.

A subtle halo of emerald floats around Lyriel's head. Her eyes close and the stressed tension in her face drains away as she receives a response. She sinks to her knees, seemingly exhausted. He is well, she says finally. Sazed too. They somehow diverted to the Celestial Heavens...if I had to guess, I would say Zuriel's pendent interfered with Ptolemy's runes. She cracks a wry smile. I think I might strangle him when I see him next. He should have taken his pendent off! I guess though, he wouldn't have known any better...I wonder why Sazed was redirected, though?

Lyriel lets out a long sigh, though she seems much more at ease. They are looking for a stable way home, though who knows how long that will take. I think we should work on our end to try to find the focus I need to get us to them...

She turns to Maeve, addressing her question from before. And no, Tassada didn't...that's not how it works. Sometimes, in my morning prayers, new magica is revealed to me. New works that I am capable of performing. This particular spell requires a focus. I don't know exactly what it looks like, but it's a very, very specific thing. I don't know what the chances of us finding a focus keyed to the heavens in Drynn are...or if we'd get executed for even asking. At this, she lets out a slightly strained laugh.

Boreas considers for a moment.  It sure would be convenient if we had the Book of Answers...

His face lights up with inspiration.  Lyriel, why not have Zuriel ask the Book of Answers where we can find a keyed focus?  It's not exactly efficient, but it's worth a try.  In the meantime, we can start looking for holy symbols.

He takes out his compass and looks at each of the three settings.

In reply to Boreas Highwind (msg # 54):

Boreas's compass shows Evil to the north, Magic toward the Mt. Salt, and just spins aimlessly for a while before settling on north when set to show Good.

In reply to DM (msg # 55):

Keef, upon waking, gets back to his books.

Chubbs hops off somewhere, likely realizing that something needed disapproving of.

[Private to GM: Chubbs is sneaking around to see what Ptolemy and A'tril are up to.  "Sneaking" might be a strong word for Chubbs, but he's keeping watch anyhow.]

Lyriel nods. I can ask him. That would be a good place to start. Either way, it will be some time before he can get us an answer. Perhaps we should pick a direction to head? What about Keef's plan from earlier? Might it not be a good idea to try to learn a bit more about the OSA before we leave? We might not be back. I had hoped to have gotten more information out of this misadventure than we have thus far...we still don't really know who these people are.

In reply to Lyriel Vesper (msg # 57):

Maeve shakes her head.  "I think we've learned what we're going to from OSA.  And if we came back now when we've definitively stated that we're taking our leave just yesterday, it would look rather suspicious."

"Sneaking into Ptolemy's tent *could* work. . .but there could be enchantments surrounding headquarters of which we're unaware and which could very easily get us caught."
This message was last edited by the player at 15:47, Mon 14 Apr 2014.

It would... Lyriel says slowly, if we were *seen*...

Boreas smiles.  I think I catch your meaning.  Keef, do you have any magic that can... keep me from being seen?  I'll be able to spot any enchantments before they become a problem.

In reply to Boreas Highwind (msg # 60):

Not seen?  No... I mean, not NOTICED probably.  Keef glances at Lyriel.

"Well," Maeve says dryly.  "You mean to say that along with your powers of teleporting across rooftops you haven't also discovered the ability to become invisible at will?  I'm disappointed."

"All jesting aside though, I'd be very keen to know where these abilities are coming from," Maeve says with a sidelong look at Boreas.

Shrugging, she pulls out a map [assuming we have one (?)] of Drynn and studies it.

"Assuming we still want to pay a visit to Choso, the best plan seems to be to travel west--we can look for those holy symbols as we do so--with the ultimate goal of ending up in Lo'driel. And when Zuriel tells us where we can find a planar focus, we can add that in to our travel itinerary."

Lyriel studies the map along with Maeve. The population centers are likely to be the only places we can reliably find clerics of all three faiths. Furthermore, we'll likely have to return to Imbraer anyway if we want to find passage to Lo'driel. Which means going back north.

She looks around at the PARTY. Keef, that polymorphing trick might certainly help Boreas get into Ptolemy's tent, but he'd have no way of getting back without good old-fashioned skullduggery... The priestess looks over at Boreas speculatively. If Keef could get you there, do you think you'd be able to conduct a search and get out unassisted?

I could probably manage.  Keef, what kind of spell did you have in mind.

He considers for a moment.

And Maeve, I'm just as eager to figure out where these powers come from as you are.  I know it's connected to the gem somehow... it's like there's some kind of entity on the other end, I think.  But I'm not sure...

Boreas appears lost in thought for a moment.

But we have more pressing matters right now.  We need to find out what we can from Ptolemy's tent.

"Could be, Boreas.  Have you ever considered just having Zuriel asking the Book of Answers on your behalf?  Better yet, asking it yourself?"

Maeve circles the major population centers of Drynn on their map after some further contemplation.

"Your plan seems doable, Lyriel. It looks like most of the cities are roughly to the north or west so if we make our way toward them, we'll eventually find ourselves back in Imbraer. And from there we can procure passage to anywhere we might wish.  Probably Lo'driel.  But possibly somewhere else."

"Not to mention stopping in the cities will give us the chance to spend this gold."

Maeve's eyes flick thoughtfully from her guisarme, to Flametongue, and back.

I wonder how hard it would be to put an enchantment on it akin to that on Keef's sword. . .maybe not fire. . . . but maybe something else. . .
This message was last edited by the player at 20:49, Mon 14 Apr 2014.

Lyriel takes the opportunity to compose another Send to Zuriel requesting his aid in tracking down a keyed focus.

Maeve looks doubtfully at the other three as they discuss their plan to break into Ptolemy's tent.

"Are you entirely sure that this is something we should be doing?"

Keef, Boreas, and Lyriel look at her expectantly, and Maeve tries to gather her thoughts on the matter, wishing for Zuriel's eloquence.

"The fact is that we already *know* what OSA's up to.  They've told us now several times: building towers on all of the planes.  We've no reason to not believe them. Oh, there's undoubtedly something Ptolemy's hiding, but no matter how long we grill it or how long we search its quarters, I do not think we're going to find it.  Ptolemy's far too smart to leave incriminating parchment or correspondence laying around in the open.  And if Boreas pries further we risk alerting Ptolemy to our presence,in which case we'll not only have lost our one chance at gaining this organization's trust, but will have also made a powerful enemy indeed.  Do any of *you* want to risk fighting our way out of that camp on the off chance we might find something? Facing Ptolemy and A'tril in addition to many, many giants? Because I don't."

Maeve takes a sip of tea to clear her throat.

"Furthermore, if we're caught we're of no help at all to Zuriel and Sazed.  We should just leave.  Now, while we still have a chance."