One by one, the Aerostratos adventurers reappeared back at JAGSS Headquarters, or at least the local HQ.

You appear back in the warehouse... not on the teleport circle itself but a few feet away, closer to the door.

The door leads to the adjoining warehouse... the one that has the table and chairs for the briefings.

Some of the workers in the warehouse notice you, and wave.

Krass pulls out a sheaf of documents. Good news he announces. Vrinda, a queen on the floating island of Aerostratos, has agreed to establishing a local chapter of JAGSS, if Jade is agreeable. There is a whole different ecology up there, as well as ruins from a previous age. He awaits Jade, so he can hand her the documents personally.

In reply to Krass (msg # 2):

Piotra appears.

Looking up from the table of refreshments, a scone in each hand, Chas waves with and elbow as each of the others arrive...while stuffing a fresh mouthful of pastry into his face. A third scone floats nearby, held aloft with a magical hand.

He is smiling broadly, piggish eyes squinting.

"Good to be back." he comments, dribbling crumbs down his robe.

Gimble was already there, but in quick succession Ace and Thrash show up. Sister Siouxsie had said she'd go last, so just waiting for Deirdre.

Gimble leads the way to the next warehouse where Ariana Jade meets you at the planning tables.

"Back a bit sooner than I was expecting, but it seemed to be going well, so I'm not surprised," she greets everyone.

She takes the documents that Krass hands her and looks them over.

"Very nicely done. I'm not quite sure that was the best way to go. Assuredly I'll send some others up there to interact with the natives, delve into the culture and history. There are secrets to be unlocked."

"However, I'm not sure any of them will want to go exploring... Down Below. Although... if they know the ring will bring them home again, that may encourage them."

"You were the ones that were dealing with them, so I trust your judgment."

"So, what have you found?"

Chas sees that there is a plate of fresh scones on the table, with honey and jam. Plus there's wine and ale.


Just had a strange thought... an adventuring party made up of the races on Aerostratos...

Krass makes his report, showing the Luckstone they were each granted, the broken pieces of the cursed staff, and the items discovered in the ruins. He also tells of the magic and skills they each inherited from each other, and the staff, while in the process of destroying it.
He asks her Have you lock-breaking tools that a guy with a new interest could buy here?
This message was last edited by the player at 05:10, Sun 22 Feb 2015.

In reply to Krass (msg # 6):

good thought, Starmaster, maybe like raptoran and avariels?

And the Wulfen and the Zebrals... you never met them...


Upon hearing of the team's adventures, Ariana lets out a great laugh.

"That's a story for the ages! I'll transcribe it into one our journals for posterity to read, but otherwise it won't go past these walls."

She looks over at Ace.

"Well, Little One, it would see as if you aren't so little any more. That's a mighty big burden you are saddled with. I won't insult you by offering to take it off your hands, but if you need any help, you have friends here that will assist you."

"I don't know if it would ever have occurred to me to use your gem to unlock the magic of the staff, but, as you discovered, the magic had to go somewhere. With more experience, I'm sure Ace could have just dispelled it into the air or ground. As it was, he had it trapped within the link you all formed."

"The team that went to Carnelian Deep discovered a stone that did the same thing... sort of. It had possessed a necromancer who raised the dead and controlled ghosts. I shall have to look into these stones."

"Now, I may be able to analyze these magic items for you."

She reaches into a pocket on her vest and withdraws a jeweler's loup. Then one by one she examines the magical items.

"Let's see now..."

"The cloak is called Wings of Flying. This one appears to be made from quetzal feathers."

"The cap is a Hat of Disguise."

"The robe is a Robe of Useful Items, improved. That means that you can replace the patches that you use. It allows you to 'itemize' anything of a reasonable size into a new patch that you just stick to the robe."

"This is a Belt of Dwarven-kind."

"Then you have a Vest of Escape. Krass, sir, I believe that might answer your request for lockpicks, as the vest has a set built in. However, if you are not the one that claims the vest, I'm sure I have a set laying around here somewhere."

"The headband is a Circlet of Blasting. Quite unusual. These are normally in the form of a tiara or crown. Elvin craftmanship I would wager."

"And then you have Boots of Springing and Striding. Quite appropriate for Ace... or Gimble."

"Did I get everything?"

"Oh, and here's your payment."

She hands each of you a pouch of coins.

"Now, is there anything else I can do for you?"

Krass keeps the Vest, and accepts the coins. If someone could provide me with some training to go along with these tools, I'd appreciate it. We need time to rest, and replenish our supplies. Possibly improve some of our equipment. After that, I think we need another job.

OOC: How much gold to add to our sheets? Seven items, for seven team members. I'll take the Vest, of course.

I think I'll need regular thieves' tools to do things like Disabling traps. So if I can get a set, I'd appreciate it.
Never mind. Just realized that open locks isn't a skill any more. It's just 'Disable Device' for both actions.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:54, Sun 22 Feb 2015.

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 8):

I think I would like the wings of flying.

The gelatinous necromancer eats enough to free on hand so that he can touch the finely crafted headband.  He picks it up, and in a muffled voice, asks, "Any of you fine gentlemen and ladies mind if I employ this? I find it quite...fitting."

The bright headband would likely appear incongruous on his sweaty forehead...especially with his black robes and cloak, but he seems fixated on the item.

Not so fixated that he misses Jade's reference to a necromancer that had been possessed by another stone, "Did we acquire copies of his spellbook?"

The greedy light gleams in his eyes.

---

OOC: Could be fun trying out new stuff. How about a Skraith???
This message was last edited by the player at 16:43, Sun 22 Feb 2015.

 Deirdre handed all of her notebooks and papers to Jade, explaining in a nutshell how it was organized and which would be most useful to understand Aerostratos.

  "I'll take the robe. My current garments have nothing special to them, it was just time for an upgrade. Plus I have a few ideas for items to add to the robe."

 After a few more explanations on what happened and why they had decided to come back, Deirdre asked bluntly:
  "Do you have any maritime exploration for us? I would like to go sailing. Also I'm looking forward to seeing Piotra out of her steels and into a bathing suit."

 She winked at the Dragon Scion, obviously teasing her on her ever present suit of armour.

In reply to Deirdre (msg # 12):

my mentor's hide does not impede my movement like plate maybe we can share a room at some inn some time if you are that interested.

Gimble offers to accept the Hat of Disguise.

"Ace already has a Hat of Disguise, so now we can look alike!"


Ace chooses the Boots of Striding and Springing, leaving Thrash to take the Belt of Dwarvenkind.


"A sea voyage? Well, I'll be damned!" Ariana replies to Deirdre. "The auguries I cast this morning indicated that it was favorable for searching for the Treasure of Tamar-Kaj, as well as for the Lonely Rose. I thought I'd have a bunch of sailors walk in the front door!"

"The treasure sank with the ship it was on, the Sovereign Light."

"Does that sound like something you might be interested in pursuing?"

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 14):

That does sound interesting

I've spent time at sea myself. And I have a few navigational tools at my disposal as well Krass admits. I'd certainly enjoy the change of pace.

Chas seems fairly uncomfortable with the notion of adventuring at sea.  His normally pale and pasty countenance blanches further, his hands wring...as soon as they are free of scones...and his sweating grows more pronounced, but he replies gamely, "I suppose a treasure hunt would be exhilarating."

The necromancer looks thoughtful, scratching at his head over the line of the brightly colored headband, "I think I may have several useful tools to employ on and under the waters...now that I think about it."

---

OOC: Chas will want to spend the hard-won gold to better prepare for the venture at sea!

 Deirdre glanced at Piotra from the corner of her eyes and played coy.
 "You know... I make a point of not fooling around on the job..."
 She turned to the others and asked:
 "What say you we take a few days off? I need to replenish my supplies, research some spells, get acquainted with this new robe... amongst other things."

 All business-like again, she turned to Jade and answered on behalf of the group:
 "We would love to go treasure hunting on the high seas. The treasures of  the Sovereign Light and the Lonely Rose shall be ours soon."
 "Chas, we'll need to talk spell preparation and repartition. There are a couple nice ones I have, and a few others I'm thinking about. Let's tune our repertoire, shall we?"