Willa felt a little guilty and shy at having her friends rush to her defence, but this was quickly overcome when she discovered Amare's fabulous power!  For most of the way into Strine she continually bothered him to make her new and wonderful, but basically useless items, that she cheerfully squirreled away into her pack.  It wasn't until Drex's words reminded her of the giant that she suddenly realised how little attention she had been paying to that particular wonder!  So many exciting things happening at one time!

She didn't really mind whether they stayed at an inn or in the wilderness.  Either way brought different challenges.  Here it was the people and not getting everything covered in slime.  Outside was everything else. So she simply chimed in with, "Willa not care!"

    Finding an inn which would accommodate Jubei had you all looking well into the hours of the early evening.  It became clear quickly that Strine’s populous were very biased against kaetyma and most everyone who saw Phelan wanted to make themselves scarce, while Willa had to be saved from being shooed away at almost every establishment.

  The Witch and Flail, the inn’s sign was of a rather fairytale looking witch (black dress, pointed hat, disgusting features and broom) being chased by an enormous two headed, steel flail with the inn’s name engraved just beneath this strange bit of art.
  At first it seemed like you would be turned away, not that you would have exactly minded the inn was in a seedier part of the city roughly to the north of the citadel and the woodwork of the inn was clearly warped by age while the masonry seemed to have been laid somewhere within the previous millennium, however the innkeeper, a doola tywuar who was either the biggest of his species a mutant or just so gods damn fat, had...waddled over towards you as you had turned back onto the street proclaiming that he would be more then happy to provide you with lodgings for the night and gave you a smile so genuinely disgusting you felt your guts roil around in confusion.
  His prices was just shy of cheap and short of being average, and the common room was almost filled to the brim with other kaetyma or musadi all of whom seemed to leer at each other with murderous intent from across the room which was clearly split between the two species.  Only one table held members of neither kaetyma or musadi and that table seated two narayah and one human who seemed to be engaged in a game of dice, a board of coloured tiles upon which several pieces stood and a deck of cards to one side.  The narayah were dressed much like Phelan, in a hodgepog of leather, cloth and mechanisms while the human woman was there in little more than a revealing dress.
  As your party entered the inn there were some hisses from the musadi and shrill, husky noises as they said something in Serpentine.
  Morrey, sitting on Drex’s left shoulder, cawed nervously.
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:27, Mon 09 Nov 2015.

"I feel the same way." he said to Molly as he looked around. Picking an uncouple table in the corner for them to sit.

Willa instantly loved the place.  So full of atmosphere!  Even if she had the choice of all of the other inns in the city she was sure this would be the one she picked.  Although it was possible that she would be thinking exactly the same thing of whatever inn had it been the first to let her stay.

She grinned cheerfully at the hissing Musadi and waved at the accumulated Kaetyma, who were no doubt as friendly and honourable as Iron Jubei.  Her bee line, however, led straight down the middle.  The dice game was the most unique thing in the room and therefore also the most interesting!  As she peered over the edge of the table, she tried to watch the game unfurl and see if she could grasp any of the rules.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:00, Mon 09 Nov 2015.

The search was making her uncomfortable, all this things just kept getting in the way and there was almost no helping it as this was such a city. The giant watching them hadn't helped one bit. Add to that the doola tywuar that had just offered to give them a place to stay. 'Not our day...'

The the establishment didn't look any better and the company inside seemed to just ignore it. "Was this how things played in this places?" She asked drex after taking a fool look around the place. "To tell the truth I would ratter stay outside or mount guard.." She whispered close to his ear to make the message private.

    Amare watched Willa bounce off, a faint smile on his face, while Willa herself watched the game maticulously.  The players seemed to be familiar with the rules, but barely said anything beyond either their moves or a piece of small conversation.  Whatever game they were playing it wasn't readily obvious to Willa what the goal was.
  Morrey groomed Drex's mane in lieu of something to do.

    Despite some concerns over their safety that night at the inn, the adventurers did not wake to find thieves or thugs at their bedsides.  Keela however asked that the adventurers maintain a watch, Amare volunteered given that he did not need to sleep.

  The next day you all awoke bright and early not long after sunrise as you gathered your things and made your way out of the city of Strine.

Drex was not very talkative that night, even when Keela spoke to him directly, he regarded the place before looking back at Keela and made a frowning shrug, which Keela only could identify as yes I think so sure.

The next morning Drex told the last person on watch that he is going to the Temple quarter, as he is looking for something called Sanguine Vestments, and then he is going to find someone how will sell him some other magical items. His reason being that if he does this early he might miss all the congestion in the streets.

Drex wants to to acquire Bracers of Mighty Striking (Level 2+) 1/2 wealth token, Sanguine Vestments +1 (Level 3+) 1 wealth token 1 fame Gauntlets of Blood  (Level 4+) 2 fortune (special offer) ;).

08:56, Today: Drex rolled 8 using 1d20.  1/2 wealth token. keep 1/2 wealth token
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:14, Fri 13 Nov 2015.

Jubei had socialized with his kin for a little while, even though most of the talks went always into the same direction... that Strine simply wasn't a very welcoming place for their kin. However during those talks he did learn that there were still traders that were willing to deal with a kaetyma, as long as they brought shiny coin to the table. And so Jubei briefly excused himself from the party, to do some morning shopping... as he called it.

Looking to buy the following items:
Vigilant Blade (Level 4+, D381) 1 wealth 1 fortune
Helm of Opportunity (Level 4+, AV) 1 Fame 1 Fortune

Such shopping, many expensive.

Willa had spent much of the night with the gamblers who continued their game despite her presence.  Eventually she felt she had enough of a grasp of the game to try herself.  The trio were reluctant to let her join at first.  She was an umbrean afterall and that made people generally reluctant to do anything with her.  Except throw and shout and say 'no' a lot to whatever she asked.  However, her childish demeanor won them over.  That or they saw an easy mark and an easier way to bully the unwelcome ooze by by taking everything she owned.

The little warlock had little interest in gambling for things.  She was far more interested in the fun of the game, but the gamblers refused to play with her unless she offered up an ante.  With no coin to her name, she reluctantly waged one of her prized possessions.  The torch that never went out may not have carried with it a particularly strong enchantment, but it was still quite valuable and readily accepted.

Despite everyone's expectations (her own included) she did quite well and left the table with not only her torch in hand, but a very interesting suit of leather armour.  It was just her size.  Perhaps originally made for a child, but with sinister brass studs inlaid into it.  She was a little sad at parting with her homemade armour, but she could not deny that this one seemed to offer much better protection.  It was likely the gamblers didn't realise its true worth, thinking it just a curio that they would offload for some coin somewhere.

Willa spends 2 fortune tokens to win a suit of Armour of Dark Majesty +1

    Leaving Strine through the western gate was much easier than entering the city through the southern gate had been.  The guardsman camp at the gate simply looked ever you as you passed and gave a nod, though some did cast disdainful glances at your party a few even shook their heads.

  The Westward road as you heard it called was also named called the long and winding road, it soon became clear why.  The road had a very gradual incline as it made its way between the rugged terrain and hills to the west of bowl-like plain upon which Strine was built.  Over the course of the next three days, as you passed through villages of various sizes, you found most to be occupied by soldiers, small garrisons of about a thousand men whom the villagers tried their best not to bother.  What you found was a pleasant surprise though, and Phelan pointed them out as not having been here before when he had come from the Fissure, were the small camps of the Servitors of the Far Gods.  Around a dozen priests, acolytes and clerics guarded by one or two towering knights of Atorius.  From the rumours in the villages the Servitors were a welcome sight as they helped keep the soldiers in line, the number of fights and other incidents in the villages had taken a sharp decline once they had arrived.  Though not everyone was very happy to see worshipers of the Far Gods again, there was a strong, vocal sentiment that gods who abandon their followers shouldn’t be worshiped.


  Trouble found you on your fourth day out as you had set out that morning from a little village called Byliros only to find the entire area shrouded in dense fog, making your way westward with this fog would prove challenging, even if you stuck to the road.

Skill Challenge -- Into the Fog…

Objective:  Stay on the main Westward road, do not wander off and do not get lost in the fog.
Good luck...

The moment the fog thickened to the point that it became hard to see further than a stone's throw away, Jubei let out a low growl. "You have a funny weather here in the isles... Muatal doesn't have mist like this... well, the part I hail from anyway.", Jubei rumbled as he drew his new and incredibly fancy looking sword from it's sheath. It had replaced the rather plain old battleaxe he had used previously, but the way he gave it a tentative twist from the wrist made it clear that he was just as capable of using a sword as he was at using the axe. Compared to the axe, the sword was also downright decadent in it's decoration. The hilt ending in a clenched, armored fist that held a wide open eye.
A few moments afterwards the blade began to glow rather bright. Admittedly it did not do much to see further into the fog, but it made Jubei also rather impossible to miss. "Stay close to me, at least that way we stay together in case we lose the path.", he said, looking to his companions to make sure they were still with him.

At-Will Minor Action: Turn on the flashlight! (Vigilant Blade)

19:55, Today: Iron Jubei rolled 19 using 1d20+8.  Perception roll: Is anything amiss already.
I.e. if everyone is with him and if the path already disappeared... or something :|

"Willa not see fog like this before," The little oozling responded to Iron Jubei.  "Maybe should go back to village, Byliros?  Wait for skies to clear?  Maybe ask peoples about?"

It seemed like a sensible suggestion to her.  They did not know this place.  Maybe the fog was just the beginning?  Could it be the start of something worse, like a massive storm, or something?  Surely the locals would know.  Also, what if she lost her friends here?  It had taken her such a very long time (in umbrean terms at least) to find them!  It was be horrible to lose them now...she stepped closer to Iron Jubei, determined to stay as near to the giant reptilian lighthouse as possible.  "Umm," She quested nervously and shifted shyly from foot to foot, "Should maybe, uh, perhaps can to tie friends together?  So as not to get lost?"

As they gradually moved forward, whilst considering their options, Willa began thinking that the the air itself had become tangible.  She reached out and swiped at it, as if trying to push it away.  "Perhaps needs big wind?  Iron Jubei big.  Maybe if blows very hard?  Or waves blanket?  Or maybe Mr Phelan Sir's pushy magic?"  Magic?  That thought stirred something inside the little umbrean.  Remembering something she had encountered not so long ago, she instinctively drew her rod and shut the visor on her helmet.  "Also, also, reminds Willa of cloud from Kyssea?"  She shivered and quested out with her limited magical sense seeing if she could find anything more sinister behind the phenomenon.

11:52, Today: Willa rolled 25 using 1d20+7.  Arcana - checking the weather.

"I don't like it either." The Doola Tywuar accentuated her point by trying to push the mist away with a wave of her hand. A useless action as cutting it would prove next to impossible. "This is going to last a while... do we stop?. No, didn't think so... Okay, if you want to push it I can be of help.... But keep in mind I advised against this." With that she took point looking mostly down and the closest trees as she guided them slowly .

00:17, Today: Keela rolled 21 using 1d20+9.  Nature check.

    The fog slowly creeped in as the morning wore on though it had not seemed particularly dense before you had left the village.  Now on the Westward road the fog appeared much thicker than you had expected.  So much so that Byliros had faded from view.  The fog obscured the surroundings considerably and the low hills and ridges of the area where now vague silhouettes which could have been nearby or far away.  Distance was completely skewed by the fog’s presence.

  Fortunately Jubei seemed to keep his wits about him as he lead the way, keeping you all upon the road as his blade shone brightly within the gloom.
  Keela kept just ahead of Jubei using the faint traces of the weather peaking through the fog to help keep herself and her companions on track.  Though the fog’s presence and behaviour struck her as odd, the air was heavy and cold but not as wet as she would have expected from so heavy a fog and it stank a little of a metallic tang like that which you would smell around a smithy.
  Focusing her mystical senses upon the grey haze about them Willa found to not be the product of any spell however that did not rule out a magical origin as all of the Crystal Isles weather was affected by the great tempest which swirled about the center of the Isles and this fog was unusually saturated with a power which resonated with the rod Willa carried at her side.

"This is weird... I can lead keep up with the way, but somehow this feels different from normal fog... more metallic? Any ideas" She asked between looking ahead and turning for the ones behind her. If this was something else she wanted to know... for her was better to be the hunter than the prey.

OOC:
Okay, that wasn't too bad.
17:42, Today: Keela rolled 17 using 1d20+9.  Nature check.

Willa kept close to Iron Jubei and shrugged in response to Keela's question.  She's already expended her one area of 'expertise' and didn't have a lot to offer on others.  Growing up in a city, or rather underneath and in the walls of one, had not been an educational experience for her in all things natural, weather or otherwise.

"Maybe is a, um, a lot of smiths?  Could be party?"

She noted the strange interplay between the fog and her new rod.  Drawing it, she waved the implement around in the air experimentally, wondering what, if anything, would happen.

"Willa, I think you actually made an excellent suggestion earlier. We should totally use a rope to make sure that we all stay together.", the paladin said and pulled the bundle of rope he had stored in his backpack forth from it. His partymembers permitting, he would then go around and make sure that everyone was bound around the waist, making sure to make full use of all fifty of the feet he had brought to allow a modicum of free range movement in the case... something happened. "As for suggestions and ideas... I have none. I never encountered something like this...", he said and then furrowed his brows as he watched how Willa were waving the rod around, but passed on giving any kind of comment in that regard, given that it wouldn't help them further.


Action: use rope to connect everyone, now let us dance the conga \o/

    Tying on ropes to either the waist, or an arm took a few minutes as did making sure there was enough slack between each of you that none of you would just be pulled down by those infront of you.

[Please decide on a marching order before the end of the next round.]

  Swinging her Rod of Corruption around in the air, Willa did not immediately notice anything peculiar about it [Everyone may roll Perception reflexively to perhaps notice something, this roll does not count towards success or failure for this skill challenge.] though she could sense some connection between the rod and the fog.

  While Jubei tied around ropes and Willa was experimenting with her rod Keela tried to keep an eye on the road only to catch herself wandering off, she could have sworn she had been on the road.  Fortunately she could still see the not-yet-silhouettes of her friends.  If the party had not been moving at a snail's pace at the moment and had indeed followed her they might have just lost the road.
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:59, Thu 26 Nov 2015.

"I have outdoors experience. If you allow me I will take the lead." Keela commented as she watched Willa wave her rod on the air, the movement almost hypnotic.
"And I don't like the idea of being surrounded by smiths..." After tying a firm knot she drew a pair of daggers from her scabbard her side. "Better safe then sorry"

OOC:
16:54, Today: Keela rolled 25 using 1d20+9.  perception.

Willa was suddenly even happier with her new armour as Iron Jubei's rope found itself tied around her waist.  Had it been her old gear, the rope would surely have gotten a least a thin layer of goo on it.

Whilst the group paused to make sure they were all tied down, she remained distracted by her rod and the fog, focusing on it.

17:11, Today: Willa rolled 17 using 1d20+2.  Perception - Fog it.

With her declaration to be in front, Keela was of course the first that got rope slung around her waist, which was then followed by Phelan, arguing that his crossbow and magic would be best used there as it can cover a wider area. Then Jubei wrapped some of the rope around himself, even though for a moment he entertained the idea to somehow put it around his larger lower body, but quickly forsook that idea due to a certain lack of... manual dexterity in his front paws, reach with his upper arms and the amount of rope that would take.
On he went to then bind it around Willa, and indeed the armor helped a good bit, as without it, the rope could have well glid through her gooey body without actually finding hold at all. And finally it was turn for Drex, whose mobility probably made it irrelevant if he was in the front or back of the chain.

"Well, with that done...", the kaetyma rumbled and then furrowed his brows as he looked around. The feathers that adorned his head suddenly rising as if startled by something.


11:16, Today: Iron Jubei rolled 24 using 1d20+8.  Perception roll.
11:21, Today: Iron Jubei rolled 9 using 1d20+5.  Religion Roll. Discerning the transmudane fog! Or not...

  Shifting silhouettes out in the fog, and distant voices at just the edge of hearing for a moment a wave a nausea passed through you as you each spun about as if drunk.   
[Make a Saving Throw with your Constitution modifier as either a bonus (or a penalty if its negative).  Upon a success you stand and keep your breakfast, a failure results in your falling down to your knees and vomiting from the disorietation.]

  Fortunately the rope kept the adventurers from stumbling off into the fog.  Even though a few tight yanks went through the line as each of you stumbled about for the moment.  Before being able to reassert yourselves.

  Breathing heavily Amare said "I think we should move, get clear of this as fast as possible."

[Jubei, Keela and Willa, having succeeded on your reflexive Perception checks you have Advantage on your next check.]
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:09, Mon 30 Nov 2015.

10:21, Today: Iron Jubei rolled 15 using 1d20+3.  Constitution saving throw.

Maybe it was thanks to their little teleportation gigs that the Kaetyma remained mostly unfazed by the sudden nausea, maybe it was a simple unwillingness to repeat the indignity he suffered when they opened the necromantic lab. Either way, Jubei managed to keep his wits, and stomachcontents, together and let out a low growl.
"Yes, we should. There is something foul and evil here, I can... hear its voice... and I heard something similar back in the demonic temple of Hecatomb.", the paladin snarled and shook his head, pointing his glowing sword at the fog ahead. "Begone, monsters! You will find no prey here!", he called out, before intoning a prayer to ward those creatures away... or piss them off enough to show themselves.


11:15, Today: Iron Jubei rolled 11 using 1d20+5.  Religion roll: warding prayer stuff!

The sudden swaying of the world caught Willa totally off guard.  With a pained squeak, she doubled over and seemed to deflate uncomfortably.  Although there was no visible regurgitation, psychic essence spewed forth from her innards as she struggled to overcome her moment of weakness.

16:44, Today: Willa rolled 9 using 1d20+3.  Saving Throw - travel sickness.
ADVANTAGE:
06:55, Today: Willa rolled 7 using 1d20+3.  Saving Throw 2 - Travel Sickness Returns!
This message was last edited by the player at 06:55, Wed 02 Dec 2015.