Rodrigo is up on the quarterdeck, but whatever he was expecting, he wasn't expecting as little as he found. All that's there is a typical ship's wheel, one that's meant to control the ship's rudder.

However, when he puts his hands on the wheel, he realizes that the pedestal is mounted on some sort of gimbal mechanism that allows the whole wheel structure to move both left and right as well as forward and backward.


He can feel the magic flowing through the ship and up through the wheel when Fando re-inserts the piece of the Septagram into the forward device below decks. In fact, that's how he knows that's what Fando did.

There was no anchoring mechanism keeping the ship on the ground, so it lurches and begins to rise, leveling off as it does. It stops about 10 feet off the ground.

When the ship lurched into the air, Elwood checked the bandages over the stab wound in his side. No new bleeding, that was good. As the ship stabilizes, he makes his way to the aft deck. "Well, Rodrigo, that went well. Where to now?"

Rodrigo experiments carefully - very carefully - with the steering system and the new controls. He slowly works out how to control the ship in all three dimensions.

The fair haired elf looks up. "Where to? North to the town of Lhamsa. It isn't too far from here since we are flying. Then we will kick some sense into the Saffron Order and get them to hand over the next piece of the Septagram."

Once the ship is in the air and moving forward, Fando climbs up to the bridge.

"Yes, we go to Lhamsa! I'd rather spring this ship on them as a surprise," Fando replies. "If we stop in the village to get the other piece, word is bound to get out."

"Well, now, that's not something I anticipated!" he comments, as he glances up at the masts. "I see the wheel controls the direction of the ship, on three axes, but what it doesn't do it control the speed. That's a function of wind and how much sail we have."

"Do any of you know how to rig the sails?"

If any of  you think you might have a bit of sailing experience in your background, then you can say you can rig the sails.

Otherwise, you can make an Intelligence check--roll under your Intelligence on a d20 for some knowledge of sails.

As she excitedly scribbles down things that only she will be able to make heads or tails of, Anneth walks up to the sails and looks at them.  Gods, she knew there was something about them that was familar...something just on the tip of her memory... She looks at her notes.  A character on her note turned into a sail.  At that, she sets her hands down, and commits herself to thinking on the sail in front of her.

21:01, Today: Anneth Mage-Singer rolled 6 using 1d20 ((6)).

Elwood comes up behind Anneth and says quietly, "Here, let me show you how it's done." He then demonstrates a few basic knots and lashings for rigging, and how to raise and lower the sails.

OOC: As a native Thyatian, I figure it's not a stretch to say that Elwood has spent some time on ships in the past.

"I've sung on a few ships in my day," Kareth offers. "I'm not saying I'm any good at it, mind you, but I can help. Just don't rely on me in an emergency!"

The bard pitches in and raises the sails.

He lets Elwood direct his actions.

"Maybe we shouldn't raise all the sails right now," he calls out from up on the mast. "Without any water to cut our speed, we may have a hard time stopping where we want to be."

"Just a thought."

Rodrigo has no experience of sailing - in fact he's never even seen the sea - and doesn't want to risk exposing his ignorance by trying to figure out the sails. So he stays at the helm and barks out a lot of orders in nautical sounding gibberish.

"Hoist the mainsail Anneth."

"Elwood, get that forecastle shealthed!"

"Put your back into it Kareth. We need all the sails we can get. Hoist that... one, yes the triangle one."

In reply to Rodrigo (msg # 9):

Tom just watches the others as he has no knowledge of sailing at all.

06:55, Today: Tom Wolf rolled 12 using 1d20.  sailing knowledge.

It takes Rodrigo a good hour before he fully has the hang of maneuvering the ship. He is able to learn how to spin the ship on its axis, with a bit of help from the sails.

He learns that whatever magic is being employed, it doesn't alter gravity. Even though the ship is flying... floating is actually the more correct term as it has no motive power. But, you drop something on the deck, it falls to the deck. If you drop something over the side, it falls to the ground.

If he keeps the yoke perpendicular and then moves it just left or right, the ship starts to roll over. He's convinced he could turn it upside down, but people and objects would fall off if he did. He also thinks he could do it front to back, but that's even scarier!

The ship doesn't move all that fast, barely faster than a man can jog, but, of course, it isn't bothered by the roughness of the terrain below.

The estimate is that it will take about 20 hours to reach Lhamsa. That's a straight line.

He hasn't figure out how to make the ship increase in altitude, though, other than pointing the ship upward and letting the wind push it up, so for the moment, he can't actually see his destination.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:20, Mon 26 Oct 2015.

Talis laughed in delight as the ship took flight.  Having no experience with sailing he helped out those that had real or imagined knowledge as best he could by rigging sails or pulling on ropes as directed.


"Marvelous!  With such a machine we could investigate many things that have frustrated Sages for generations!"

Talis began to tick off a list on his hand "We could fly to the Sun and discover if it really is a doorway to a fiery plane!  We could circumvent the world to see what is on the other side.  We could fly up to the Moon and discover if it really is made of Green Cheese!"

The big Elf watched the seemingly chaotic mess of ropes and sails.  He noticed that there was a rhythm and organization to the process, but he couldn't figure it out.

15:54, Today: Talis Aramorn rolled 18 using 1d20.  Trying to understand the workings of the ship.

A bad week posting-wise, but I've also been waiting for others to post...


As Talis is having the time of his life, learning to control the ship in the variant winds that blow through the mountains, a particular powerful gust from the south catches the ship at just the right moment to push it northward into the adjacent valley. He's not sure if there's a way out of the valley, and considers whether he can turn the ship around or raise it up over the mountains at the end.

Then, while scanning the valley to see if he's got the room and time to turn the ship, he spots a rather strange sight: there's a minotaur up a tree!

A moment later it registers why: the tree, and therefore the minotaur, too, are surrounded by two dozen hobgoblins. They are screaming and shouting at him, waving weapons in the air, and a few are shooting arrows at him.

In reply to Mysterion (msg # 13):

Ok.  Now we have some targets.

If they are in range of my short bow I will fire a couple of arrows at the hobgoblins.

Looks like I'm still better with a sword than a bow and arrow.

18:21, Today: Tom Wolf rolled 10 using 1d20+1.  Attack with Bow and Arrows.
18:21, Today: Tom Wolf rolled 4 using 1d20+1.  Attack with Bow and Arrows.

OOC: Can Rodrigo fire his bow? Or does he need to focus on sailing the airship?

Elwood frowns at the immediate initiation of hostilities by Tom. Maybe the hobgoblins have a good reason to have cornered the minotaur in a tree. Since both parties are monsters, Elwood isn't going to assume one side or the other are the "good guys" in the conflict.

"Hold your fire, let's find out what's what before we start attacking."

OOC: Once we know which side (or both) is in the wrong down there, open fire.

Mort moves around near the top of the tree making sure that the goblins don't get a clean shot on him.  One of his hooves slipped causing him to have to regrip the tree or risk falling while he regained his footing.  A shadow from above caught his attention, he glanced upward to see what it could possibly be.  The minotaur large mouth dropped open, when he looked upon the source of the shadow.

     A flying ship.

It took several long moments before the minotaur was able to regain his composure and started waving for the ship to come closer.

Rodrigo steers the ship towards the tree. "If he's being chased by hobgoblins then I want to find out what he has to say," exclaims the short elf. "Lower down a rope and bring him on board - but keep a sword pointed at him of course..."

In reply to Rodrigo (msg # 18):

Tom ties off a rope and throws it over the side then pulls out his sword to follow Rodrigo's instructions.

I hope you are right about this elf.  Tom says in a voice that suggests this might not be the best idea you have had.

"If he's not, we've got weapons...and could just let go of the rope." Anneth assists in lifting the Minotaur.

Elwood nods. "I'll keep an eye on the hobgoblins while we pull him up. This should be an interesting story, either way."

The Minotaur gives a sigh of thanks as the ship alters course and comes closer, when he sees the rope being dropped down to him, he called down to the goblins down below, "You'll not be feasting on me today, you'll need to find your dinner elsewhere"

Mort reached out and grabbed hold of the rope, and pulled it taunt making sure that it could support his weight.  Making sure that he had a firm grip on the rope he proceeded to climb hand over hand up the rope.  He only fear now was that the rope might be cut.  Mort climbed with haste to make it to the ship before they decided to change their mind.

Reaching the ship, Mort pulled himself up over the rail and onto the deck.  He sat down leaning against the rail his chest rising and falling heavily from the exertion of the climb.  He managed to get out "Thanks" as he  tried to regain breathing to a more normal level.

He looked into the eyes of those on the ship unclear as the the reception that he would receive.  The though of a flying ship, not registering with him at the moment.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:21, Thu 29 Oct 2015.

A hand is lowered to help the Minotaur up when he was ready to rise.  His reception from Anneth could be considered "friendly enough", with a hint of "I'm not going to do anything stupid unless you do anything stupid".  "Hello, and you are?  My name is Anneth."

When it became clear that there was a flying ship in the air, the hobgoblins that had bows began firing at the ship. Most of the arrows are probably stuck in the hull now, and only a few cleared the railing to stick in the deck.

Hauling the minotaur up would have been difficult, but fortunately he was able to climb himself.

Rodrigo turns the wheel and points the giant flying ship back towards the north and Lhamsa. "Welcome onboard, minotaur!"

He turns his head to one side and whispers to Tom. "Maybe you are right. Keep a sword on that beast!"

Aaron joins his old friend Tom guarding the beast with his sword drawn.

"My grandpa used to tell us kids stories of these creatures," muttered Aaron quietly to Tom, "How they feast on the flesh of man."

Then, to the Minotaur, he loudly demands, "Well, out with your story!"

Finally catching his wind, "Firstly, I would like to say thank you from rescuing me from the goblins,  seems they were quite hungry and undeterred by my size.  They obviously though that I would make a good meal.  They ended up surrounding me and the only available option was to climb the tree that you found me in.  Quite timely of you come to my rescue."  Surprisingly the Minotaur is quite well spoken for his kind.

"As for my story, not a whole lot to tell.  I prefer nature and the open sea in general not into bashing heads for status among my kind.  So I travel the woods and tend to stay clear of small town as they seem to see me as a monster.  As far as feasting on man flesh, I'll not lie to you and tell you that I don't know what it taste like.  It taste like chicken and I'm not a big fan of chicken."

There as a pause for a few moments as he glanced around, "I'm called Mort, by those that take the time to get to know me.  I'll be of no trouble to ya, lessen you try and run me through, cause I'm not real fine with the whole dying thing." 

"Never been on a flying boat before, if you be looking for an extra hand on this vessel, I could be of use, know my way around a ship, served on a few ships before.  Otherwise, if you be kind enough to drop me off at you next port of call, I'll be on my way and bother you no more"

"Nice to meet you Anneth"  Mort made it a point to make no sudden movements or reach for weapons.  These folk might not be goblins but they did have blades drawn no need to escalate matters any more than needed.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:33, Fri 30 Oct 2015.

Treed by Goblins   "Yikes"

In reply to Mort (msg # 28):

I put away my sword but keep my hands on it.

A Minotaur!  A polite one, that doesn't eat people.  He could prove to be a powerful ally.  "Nice to take the time to get to know you, Mort," Anneth says to the Minotaur, her tone friendly, but her manner towards her companions like that of a mother trying to encourage her children to play nice with other children.

"This vessel is called the Strange Magic.  There's a bit of a story behind our acquisition of it, which I'm sure the others would be more than happy to fill you in on." At this point, the Dabbler-in-Arts is just being catty.  Such is her way... Before leaving the others to enlighten the enlightened, Anneth grumbles, "Knew I liked fish for a reason..."

"I knew there was a reason I like dry toast," Elwood echoes Anneth's sentiments. "Although some fellow prisoners told me the taste was more like pork..."

"We can set sail, the hobgoblins are just wasting their ammo on our hull," he calls back to Rodrigo and Talis at the helm of the ship.

While he's still not sure the minotaur can be trusted, he'll get the rigging in order so the Strange Magic can sail on.

"Hmmf."

Aaron sheaths his sword and turns to help Elwood with the rigging but keeps a wary eye on the Minotaur.

"FANDO!" Talis suddenly shouts out the sage's name.

"Does that magic septagram piece allow us to control the height the ship can fly at?"

He was looking aft. The mountains at the end of the valley were slowly getting closer. Even though the ship was pointed forward, it was being blown backwards!

Mort gave a smile and nod of his head to Anneth for taking the time to be friendly. "Strange Magic does seem like a good name for a flying ship, Never seen the like."

As for the others he knew it would be best to ask first before moving, he could sense the tension.  His kind had never been openly accepted by others.  Perhaps it was a fault of his people for that.

Mort offered, "I've spent time on a few ships, I can help with the sails".
This message was last edited by the player at 03:02, Mon 02 Nov 2015.

The sage had been busy below deck studying the operation of the Seventh Magic apparatus when he heard Talis's shout.

He hurried up onto the deck just in time to hear his question. He was hardly an expert on this ship, nor even the Seventh Magic, so Talis's question kind of annoyed him. Ask him about history, ask him about geography, even ask him about regular magic, and he'd have been able to talk for hours.

He looked at Talis and Rodrigo. He looked up at the sails. He looked down the valley at the looming mountains. And finally put 2 and 2 together.

"I'm not an expert on sailing, mind you, but I think the wind has to do with the time of day. The mountains are generating a wind that is blowing us down this box canyon. I shouldn't worry about colliding with the mountains--the wind when it gets there sweeps upward, so we'll be carried aloft ere we crash."

"Interesting problem with a flying ship. Without the drag of the water on the hull, it's nearly impossible to tack against the wind."

"If the apparatus below can defy the wind force or change the buoyancy of the ship, I've yet to figure out how to do that.

"I must admit, it would be quite ironic if we wind up crashing the ship after just repairing it!"

In reply to Mort (msg # 34):

"Welcome on-board Mort!" laughs Rodrigo. "Just in time to help us avoid crashing. Put some more sails up and we will catch that updraft and shoot out of the end of this canyon like a cork riding the rapids of a river!"

Looking toward Rodrigo, "Beats having to fend off a hoard of hungry goblins, besides never been on a flying ship before."

Mort slowly rose to his feet, feeling the familiar sway of the deck below his hooves.  He took a few moments to get accustomed to movement.  "If you need more sail, opening up the forward jib should help".   Mort made his way to the front of the ship, looking at the available sails and watching to see what the others were in the process of doing before acting.  He grab hold of different ropes giving them a slight tug to help determine what sails it had effect on.  He located to ropes associated to the forward jib.  He bellowed out, "Captain, forward jib sail ready to be raised, awaiting orders."

"Oh, right! I've been barking at them to get that jib out for ages," says Rodrigo without any sign of shame. "Good to have someone else on board who actually know their way around a ship!" Then he focuses on not crashing them into the far wall of the box canyon.

Elwood cracks a smile, both at how adroitly Mort handles the rigging, and at Rodrigo's captaining. "You handle the sails better than me, that's for sure. Sorry for the frosty reception. I'm Elwood." He holds out his hand to shake with Mort, once they've got the rigging tied off.

OOC: The irony of my cowboy paladin shaking hands with a 'cow' is not lost on me.

As the mountains at the end of the box canyon draw closer, an unusual object can be seen perched about halfway up the mountain side: a dock! It protrudes from the surrounding rocks about 10 feet, and there is a stone block square arch set into the mountain.

"Tis an honor to meet you Elwood"  Mort accepted the offered hand and shook it. "A flying ship, now this is a story for the ages."  Mort took a big sniff of the open air.  "You mind me asking how does the rudder works up here?"
This message was last edited by the player at 00:22, Sat 07 Nov 2015.

OOC: do we have enough control of the ship to allow safe docking at the air dock?

You probably do now with Mort in the rigging. The yoke gives you control, but dropping the sails at the right time is the more important aspect of docking. You've got enough people to throw ropes around the pylons to keep the ship from drifting away.

"It's all in the sails with this craft, unless we refit a much larger rudder. I've only had experience with small fishing boats before we launched this ship. Quite the experience, isn't it? "

In reply to Elwood (msg # 44):

While not a sailor and having no knowledge about sailing I'm probably ok with a rope to help tie the ship down if we want to dock it and explore.

Looks around for ropes that don't look like they go anywhere.

"Listen up! We're going to try and dock up at that... sky dock up there. Trim the yardarm and take down some sails! Throw some ropes over when we get close!"

We try and dock. Preferably without crashing. Any rolls needed?

Mort got to work dropping sails as the vessel grew closer to the dock.  "Sails coming down"


This message was last edited by the player at 18:32, Wed 11 Nov 2015.

Mort scanned the horizon for any other flying ships, a dock would mean that they were most likely not the only flying ship.

Anneth, too, scans the sky.

Elwood works the sails, trying to time the slowing of the ship just right as it approaches the dock.

Although none of the current crew have any experience in docking a flying ship, the controls are very responsive, far more so than they would be on a sailing ship.

There are enough hands on deck such that tossing ropes over, jumping over, and tying them around the stone bollards isn't a problem. Even before the ship touches the dock, Durek and Gierdon jump the remaining distance to land on the stone dock. They feel much better now than they did on the ship!

Although neither of them have any experience on ships, they are familiar with tying off on bollards as it is something Dwarven miners and engineers often do. Using the friction of the stone bollards and the ropes themselves, the two Dwarves manage to keep the ship from floating away... and pulling them with it! Gradually, they haul in the ropes until the ship docks with just a slight bump.

The stone dock might have started as a ledge, but it has been worked to be fairly smooth on the top. It's about 50 feet wide and 20 feet deep. In the center of the back wall is a large stone arched opening about 20 feet high.

The Dwarves decided it was a natural opening that had been worked to make it larger and then the stone archway was constructed to finish it off.

The arch has a wrought iron gate barring entrance.

In reply to Mysterion (msg # 51):

I help the dwarves tie down the ship to the dock.

I hope no one is around to steal the ship.

When Aaron has finished helping securing the ship he looks over stone dock and entrance.

"Whoever built this ship has sure been busy. If we are going to be flying around in this contraption, I would like to know more about the person who is responsible for it. We should go in and see what we can find out."

Rodrigo jumps onto the dock, the little elf preening in front of the rest of the party. "Did you see how I nailed that 'landing'!" he says, taking credit for what was mostly Mort's good work at judging the sails right. "I am a natural at this."

"Sure. Let's investigate by all means."

"Has it occurred to any of you that this might be where the ship came from?" the Bard of Darokin commented as he leaped nimbly to the dock.

"For your first time, Rodrigo, that was a great job docking the ship. Water docks are built sturdy for just that reason."

"If this is the ship's home port, it might actually belong to someone who lives here. What if they want it back?"

"Also, should we leave someone behind on the ship to guard it?"

Mort worked on making sure that the ship ties were snug and secure.  He gave a cofident nod and a snort once he was sure it was complete.

With the talk of whos ship it was, it left Mort to scratch his head

Elwood comes down to the sky dock with the others. "Do we still have the papers of ownership from the innkeeper? I don't reckon we'll encounter any claimants for the ship here, but it could happen I suppose. Y'all ready to explore this here complex?"

Hey, Mort! Great picture! I didn't visualize the ship as having that many masts nor that many courses of sail. But it still looks neat!


Once standing on the ledge and heading toward the door, a couple of things finally register with everyone, mostly because they seem to contradict each other.

The first is that the ledge is clean. There is no dust, dirt or debris on it, no weeds growing out of cracks and crevasses. In fact, there are no cracks.

Secondly, when you get to the gate, you can see that the entrance has numerous cobwebs on it and the ceiling. The iron gate is meant to swing outward. The iron-bound wooden door is set in a few feet.


Those remaining on the ship are: Anya, Gierdon, Rukao and Talis.

Those going exploring are: Aaron, Anneth, Durek, Elwood, Fando, Kareth, Mort, Rodrigo and Tom.

Mort asked as they approached the gate, "Should we be expecting a fight?"

He looked the gate over (did it appear to be locked or closed to visitors?  Was there any sort of bell or chain to pull on to announce the group's arrival)

In reply to Mort (msg # 59):

It is better to be prepared for a fight than not.

Tom makes sure his sword is in easy reach.

Apologies once again for the delay. The holidays got the best of me again... well, it was mostly other people's plans impacting my time and energy.


There is no bell for signaling someone's arrival and the wrought iron gate, while closed, appears to only be held in place by a simple latch. Neither the gate or latch look to be rusted, though cobwebs are strung all over the gate and the short tunnel beyond that leads to the door.

"Lots of webbing, in there, we should burn them away if we go in"  Mort looked to the others to see if that was the general consensis about going in.  He placed his hand on the latch making ready to open the gate and go inside

"I don't have much experience with spider webs," Kareth offered, "but these don't look like they were made by some huge monstrous spider. Not that I would know. And it looks like the work of years."

"Still, the spiders could be poisonous, so, yeah, burning the webs as we go would probably be a good idea."

Kareth then pulls a torch from his backpack and proceeds to light it.

"So, who wants to go first?"

He wasn't asking about who had the courage, but who might have the talents necessary.

In reply to Kareth Melphis (msg # 63):

Well someone has to go first.  It might as well be me.  I operate the latch and open the gate. Then proceed down the tunnel to the door.

"I'll be right behind you," Anneth offers, drawing her bow and nocking an arrow.

Aaron readies his sword and enters.

"There may be no one at home, but what they left behind could tell us something."

Elwood proceeds in twith the group.

Mort will ready his weapon and take up a forward position with Aaron, "So do we say hi first or just start swinging?"  He sniffed the air, seeing it he could pick up any tell tale signs.

(OOC: how well is the lighting?  Will torches be required?)
This message was last edited by the player at 05:36, Tue 15 Dec 2015.

Anneth blurts out, "No, we do not start swinging first!"

Tom chuckles at Anneth's reply.  Well now swinging first can be fun.  However, for the moment I agree a little patience is a good thing.

I open the door.

Elwood smiles. "My policy is let them swing first, but make sure I swing last. It's worked so far."

The door swings open with only a slight creak, but the sound echoes down the long 10--foot wide hallway beyond. Twenty feet in, there is an opening on both the left and the right.

The hallway is lit by a torch set in a wall sconce about every 100 feet, alternating on the left and right walls. It stretches into the distance. There are a few small cobwebs in the upper corners of the hall, but not nearly as many as were outside.

Gierdon can tell that the hallway was carved out of the mountain rock, but it's not Dwarven work, though the general design seems to be Dwarven inspired, possibly engineered by a Dwarf. There are faux half-columns embossed on the walls about every 50 feet, 'supporting' faux beams across the ceiling. The carvings are fairly plain but still decorative.

Once eyes adjust to the different level of light, you can see that there additional openings about every 100 feet--coinciding with the torches.

"Big place"  Mort will take the time to take a look both left and right at the first openings that the group encountered.

"Should we call out to see if anyone answers?"

In reply to Mort (msg # 73):

No, lets not announce our presence.  Someone or something has lit these torches.   Lets continue down the first passage to the right.  I hope someone is making a map so we can find our way out.

OOC: I don't have any thing to make a map with.

When they get close enough to one of the lit torches, Mort will wave his hand over the flame seeing if it has heat.

OOC: of the lit torches in the hallway, is it possible to easily remove them.  (free torches, lol)

The first two openings don't have torches near them, but there is enough light from the open door to see that the first two rooms were either guard rooms or armories. There are weapons racks on the walls, benches and a table. There are still a few weapons hanging in the racks--maces and axes.


Checking out the nearest torch, Mort finds that it lifts out of the sconce easily enough, and the flame does not give off any heat.

While still keeping her arrow and short bow in her hand, Anneth examines one of the maces.  She picks it up and hefts it.  "Finders, keepers!" she mumbles, putting it in the harness that once held her old mace.

Aaron wipes his over the bench, seeing how much dust has accumulated.

The maces were all flange-style ones, with four flanges at the top of the long rod-handle. Each flange has edges on them, though they aren't blade edges. The handle is a style that allows for one-handed or two-handed wielding.

When Anneth picks up one, it appears to be newer than the others; the others have a few significant nicks and scratches. It is quite well balanced.


Aaron finds a thin layer of dust on the bench, but that's not much of an indicator of time. The air in the hallway and armories isn't particularly stagnant, though, considering that there doesn't seem to be any air circulation through the place... a bit now that the door is open.

In reply to Mysterion (msg # 79):

Shall we continue?

Tom starts down the hall slowly.  Looking for anything unusual that could be a trap.

"Well, this place is cheery," Elwood deadpans. He takes an axe from the armory. When they get to the first torch, he inspects it for any military insignia, a smith's mark, or the like.

Hearing Anneth words of finders keepers, Mort decided that there is no one to object to him helping himself to one of the heat-less fire torches.

When Tom call out shall we continue, he nodded and joined the front rank moving down the hallway.  His ear twitched listening for any extra noise or sound.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:03, Wed 23 Dec 2015.

"Hello, pretty..." Anneth puts her new mace away, and falls back in line, following her companions and listening.  Her bow is taken out again, and an arrow is prepared.

The hall seems to go on forever. As you pass other openings and glance in, you can see that each of these rooms is set up as some sort of living quarters--table, chair, single bed, wardrobe. None show any signs of having been lived in. However, every room has two entrances/exits into the hall.


You've got around 200 yards before you start to hear sound. At first, it's just a faint noise of indeterminate nature. A little farther, it starts to sound like the sounds of battle. A little farther still, it finally resolves itself into the sound of water.

It isn't until you've gone another 100 feet before you can tell it's the sound of a waterfall.

That's when the hallway ends at a spectacular chamber. It's about 500 feet across, mostly circular, goes upward another 60 feet, but goes downward about 150 feet.

Durek can tell this great cavern is partly natural but has had significant extra excavation done. It also isn't Dwarven, yet it doesn't seem like it was Human-made, either.

The noise is coming from a waterfall across the cavern that starts about 20 feet higher than where you are, and drops to the cavern floor below.

There is a fairly wide ledge that runs around the cavern at this level, but also has ramps down to other levels. You can see six additional ledges before the ramps reach the bottom.

There are other openings around the ledges, too. Where the ramp would block the ledge, an archway has been cut into it to give access to the other parts of the ledge.

Only after this has all registered do you realize that the place is lit, which you now realize is coming from above. There appear to be the equivalent of 7 deck prisms set at an angle around the ceiling. It can't be determined if these are emitting light or if there is a shaft to the outside behind each one.

"Help me...

It has to repeat a second time before you realize it isn't just a trick of the waterfall's sound.

A third time lets you locate the approximate source... the floor of the cavern, though no particular source can be spotted from up here.
This message was last updated by the GM at 17:42, Tue 05 Jan 2016.

Hearing a call for help, the paladin hefts his flail and heads for the ramp. "Looks like a long way down. Let's get a move on!" he calls back to the others.

In reply to Elwood (msg # 85):

OOC: How's the footing around where the waterfall is splashing water as we try to make our way down after Elwood?"

I continue to look around mostly to make sure I have good footing as I follow Elwood.

Elwood be careful.  We don't want to have to rescue you too.

"Let's see who needs help," says Aaron as he follows Elwood and Tom down.

"I'm going to remain up here until you either give me the 'all clear', or need me..."

The circular path downward does wind around the cave a good three times. When it passes under the waterfall, there is an arch or short tunnel to keep the water off the path. So it doesn't get very slippery.

You all pass several dozen openings on your way to the bottom. All the openings are dark and silent. Peeking into one of them reveals a living quarters area... single room, with table, chairs, what is probably a kitchen area, and three sleeping niches in the wall. Sporadically checking other openings reveals the same.


At the bottom, the floor of the cavern is smooth but not completely flat. There appear to be paths worn into the stone... more about where to avoid the slight rises than any particular direction.

There is only one opening on the walls of this lowest level, and that is at the far end of the cavern. That appears to be where the voice is coming from.

Heading down that way, you can see as you approach the opening that it is more elaborate than any of the others you've seen. It has been carved as an arch, and the design matches that which you saw in the upper hallway. There is no door, but a number of arcane symbols have been written on the sides and top of the arch.

In addition, you can see that more such symbols have been written on the floor inside the room beyond. You can tell there's a room by the echoes of both your footsteps and the voice. The room, however, is dark.

"I shall remain up here with you, Anneth," Kareth offers. "There does not appear to be any danger, but no one should be left alone. It's safer that way."

He scans the surrounding walls of the cavern, including the ceiling, looking for any possible threats. He could feel the air of abandonment that seemed to permeate the place. That didn't mean there couldn't be something still lurking in the dark.

He made it a point to keep track of the rest of the group as they wend their way to the bottom.

Anneth keeps a watchful eye out behind the remaining group.

"Hello in there. We have come to help you..." calls out Aaron. "How can we help you? Who are you?"

Mort followed the others down to find out where this voice was coming from.

Once at the opening and still hearing the voice, Mort held out the heat-less torch that he had helped himself to on the upper level, to have a better look into this dark room.  "This place has an evil feel to it"
This message was last edited by the player at 17:45, Tue 05 Jan 2016.

Although he's anxious to get to whoever needs help, Elwood stops and takes a good look at the glyphs and symbols surrounding the door frame and floor to see if he can recognize any of them. He'd rather not walk into an obvious trap, even if someone needs help. "Murlynd, help us. This does not look good."

"Help me..."

The voice sounds stronger, or maybe just louder because you are closer. It is clearly coming from the room beyond the doorway.


Elwood isn't an expert on runes and symbols by any means, but he does recognize a few as being wards... or protections... perhaps to keep people out, or maybe to keep something in. Possibly even both.

From the torchlight and the cavern glow, you can see that the room goes in a bit and then expands out to the right. Whoever or whatever is in there is off in this side area and can't be seen from the door.

But is it this place or just where the voice is coming from?  Tom draws his sword as Mort's words trigger a sense of danger.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:21, Wed 06 Jan 2016.

"What's your problem, there is no one here.  You chained to a wall or something?"

"Who's... there? Will... you... help me?" the voice calls out again.

OOC:  Is the voice familiar to any of us or a different familiar voice to all of us?

The voice doesn't sound familiar, but even though it is speaking in Common, it sounds like it might not be human. It's certainly not the gruff, gravely sound of a Dwarf or the melodic voice of an Elf.

It.  also isn't the raspy voice of an Orc or similar type creature. The pronunciation is too precise for them.

Unfortunately that still leaves it open for lots of creatures. It's not like any of you are familiar with the more exotic creatures out there. It could even be an evil human, but it just doesn't sound like that.

Although closer, the voice still sounds weak, just not so weak that it can't enunciate the words clearly. That may be the part that makes it sound like it isn't human. A human in a weakened state wouldn't be able to speak that clearly.

Mort snorts, "Could be a criminal, we could just leave em to rot."

Elwood shakes his head. "I can't do that until I know it is a criminal of some sort. I wish Fando had come down here with us. I can't make out enough of these symbols to know if it's dangerous for us to pass or not. So I'll assume it is. I'm willing to risk it to find out if whoever's in there really is in trouble or not."

The wizard-sage had been quiet during the trek through the hall and down the spiral ramp to the bottom. He wasn't really the adventuring type, and the whole way down, he thought something would jump out at them.

"Harrumph," Fando said, clearly disdainful of Mort's suggestion.

"Is that how minotaurs do it? We're a bit more civilized. If someone is suffering, we help them, not just stand by and watch them die."

"I did come with you!" he responded to Elwood's comment. "What? Have I suddenly turned invisble?!"

"I don't recognize these symbols any more than the rest of you, but trapping someone and then making them suffer does not sit well with me."

"I'm going in!"

With that, Fando strides through the doorway.

"Oh. Oh, my. Oh, you poor thing!" Fando says after looking to his right. He then steps over that way.

OOC: Don't remember Fando coming down the ramp wih us. Anyway...

As soon as Fando starts theugh the door, Elwood is right behind him.

In reply to Elwood (msg # 104):

Tom mutters a curse under his breath.  Old man somethings are better left alone at times.  And I have a feeling this may be one of those things and times.

I follow a few feet behind Elwood and Fando with my sword drawn.

Mort stood there chewing on Fando words had offered him as the others decided to enter.  "Hummm... Civilized"  He just grinned to himself at the wizard's notion of what was civilized.

"Damn!" Aaron mutters to himself and pauses before the runes. "This is not good."

As he stares at the runes for seconds that seem like hours.

"Not good at all."

Steeling himself he crosses the runes and follows the others.

Mort followed along as well.

Inside the room, there is a large alcove on the right, carved out of the very rock. In this alcove is a circular iron cage hanging from the ceiling. Inside the cage is...

...a small dragon!

Even from the entrance you can tell that it is seriously undernourished. It looks gaunt, its eyes are sunken into its skull, and its ribs are showing.

Can we tell what color it is?

Mort will hold up his torch close to the mini-dragon to help have a better look.  "You sure are small for a dragon, look hungry too.  What kind of food do you eat?"  Mort got out some of his food rations and offered it to the little dragon to see if it was of interest.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:20, Thu 14 Jan 2016.

Fando can inform you that it is definitely a true dragon, not a pseudo-dragon or one of the mundane dragons. That makes it a wyrmling... a very young dragon. It's not old enough to have yet developed the telltale features of its species (crest, tail, etc.), nor is the color that fixed.

It has tinges of green but those could vanish as it gets older.

"Dragons are omnivores--they eat anything and everything if they have to," Fando replies to Mort. "They are fond of gems and coins, but usually eat meat."

"This little fella has been starved for weeks, maybe months. Sure, feed him your rations. Just give him a little bit at a time, though. Otherwise, he'll scarf it all down and make himself sick."

Fando began offering the dragon some of his rations, too. He just gave him a little bit at a time.

"Aww, you poor little fella. Whoever left you here to starve should be horsewhipped! Do you have a name?"

As he fed the dragon, he gave it a closer inspection, trying to determine if it had any other problems. No one really knew much about dragon health or life style, other than they were usually ravagers of country-sides.

Fando, how much will he eat at this size?

OOC:  How big is it? Can we tell if just the edges of its' wings are tinged in green or what?

Tom studies the dragon while listening for other sounds of trouble.

Elwood watches with obvious curiosity in his eyes as Fando feeds the baby dragon. "Yes, who put you in a cage like this and left you here? That's not right."

The baby dragon is about 8 feet long, nose-to-tail. About 1/3 of that is tail, which will probably grow longer as it gets older.

The tinges of green are in its joints, areas that will darken as it grows older. It's probably a green dragon, but it could also be a blue, red, black or copper.


When it is offered food, it tentatively sniffs at it first, but then gingerly eats it.

"Water?" it says after it eats a bit.

"Don't have a name. Caught me with nets. Woke up here in cage. His name was Krondar."


Fando's examination sees that the dragon's wings have been clipped. If it doesn't get healed, it may never fly again.

I give it a little water from my water skin.

I hope it is a copper dragon. Whispered to Fando.

"Well... it's an animal," Fando answers, "and it's growing, so I'd guess it'll eat it's weight in food per day. It can probably get by with half that, but it'll also depend on how active it is. It'll also depend on the quality of the food."

"I probably don't need to point out that a dragon isn't a vegetarian. It'll need meat for growth, but sweets for energy."

"Not sure at what point it'll start eating metal."

"Can we get him out of this cage? Do we set him free or take him with us?"

"I guess that last part is up to it," Elwood answers. To the dragon, he says, "Well, how 'bout it, pard? Willing to come along with us if we help you out of here? Maybe we can find this Krondar and pay him back for putting you here in the first place."

Although it's not his specialty, Elwood will examine the lock on the cage.

To the Dragon:  How long have you been in this place?

OOC:  I know dragons don't have a sense of time that humans or even humanoid races have, but it should have some idea right?

To Fando:  If it is a chromatic dragon could we teach it to be neutral or good given it's relatively young age?

"Don't know much about dragons, but as for the cage, them bars don't look that strong."  Mort walks over to the cage and gives it a looking over before grabbing hold and pulling with his might to open the gate.  "Now don't go trying to bite at me."

"Yeah, that's the age-old question: nature versus nurture," Fando replies. "Can something be born bad?"

"In the case of dragons, they have free will, so, in theory, they can choose to be good or bad. I've never heard of a chromatic being raised in a good environment, so I have no idea. I suspect, however, that if you teach it properly that it will be able to make the correct decision if that situation ever comes up."

"I have been here ever since I can remember," the dragon replies. "There was light, and I was in a cage, though I did not know that at the time."

"I learned quickly. They fed me once a day... by their reckoning. So I have been here 209 days while I was fed. Once they stopped feeding me, though, I did not have any sense of time."



Mort has no problem forcing the gate open by breaking the lock.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:28, Sat 23 Jan 2016.

Mort commented, "There you go, you strong enough get out?  And no biting at the people that help you save you."

"did them people talk any to you?"

Tom says to the dragon as he gives it some more water: Do you have any idea why they locked you up in this place?

Elwood steps back a few paces and watches how the dragon reacts to being freed. Hopefully it will be grateful to its rescuers, but it never hurts to be cautious.

The baby dragon peers around the outside of the cage for a few moments before it sort of slithers out. It's not a big drop to the floor, but it apparently has never attempted to change elevation before, so rather than hop down like most creatures would, it kind of uses its rear legs and body to lower its front half to the floor.

"Why should I bite you?" the dragon asks. "Are you tasty?"

It moves about on the floor rather gingerly, flexing its wings, stretching out to its full length, and just generally shifting into different positions.

"Oh, this is marvelous! So this is what it is to be free!"

"I would not say that they talked to me... certainly not like you are doing. I don't know if they thought I was intelligent or not. They talked around me. They did not seem to care if I heard what they said or not."

"I believe they were intending to sell me somewhere... at a bazaar."

He moves over to the door, and peers out, but then looks back at you... as if asking if it okay for him to go through the door.

I look at the others.

Sure you could go through that door if you wish.  If that is what you truly want.  I hope that you will be careful in your dealings with humans and other 2 legged beings in the future.  However, not all humans and humanoid creatures will take kindly to you just because of your race and color.  They may attack you first and ask questions later.  If my friends here are agreeable, you would probably be welcome to accompany us.  I caution you that some of our companions will be surprised at your appearance as they are up on the upper level and don't know about you yet.   

After holding his tongue, Aaron finally spoke "Before you step through that door, I have a question for you."

"I have no idea whether you mean well or ill and only time will say which, but these is some strange writing at this doorway which makes me ill at ease. Are you able to read it?"

"They seem familiar," the dragon answers. "I think they are Draconic. I don't know how I know that, but I cannot read them. I cannot read anything. I know that these symbols represent words, but I do not know what words."

He approaches the door more closely, and extends his nose to sniff at them. There is suddenly a spark that flashes from one of the symbols to the dragon's nose. He lets out an odd sound of surprise.

"Why did it do that?"

"My guess would be that someone or something ut them there to keep you, or others like you, inside."

Elwood will more closely examine the stonework the glyphs are carved into. Would it be possible to ruin the magic by defacing the stones?
This message was last edited by the player at 00:09, Tue 02 Feb 2016.

If you can actually affect the stone, then, yes, carving into the symbols would disrupt them.

Elwood turns to his companions, "Anyone have a hammer and some iron spikes?"

OOC: I'm uncharacteristically unprepared for traditional dungeon delving. I'm usually pretty good about that...

Unfortunately I don't have anything that would work.  Your welcome to try with one of my daggers.  Pulling one out and offering it to Elwood.

"Harrumph!" Durek responds. "That's like asking an Elf if he hugs trees! Har-har!"

"You'd be better off with a stone chisel."

He hands over the mentioned chisel and a hammer.

Elwood takes the offered tools. "Thanks, Durek. Please don't laugh at my technique. My only experience chipping away at rock in the past was trying to escape from prison."

The paladin sets to work on the stone, praying to Murlynd as he does that the arcane energies don't suddenly come forth in an explosion of some sort.

Chuckling, Tom replies: "I don't work with stone in that way, so what do you expect?"

Mort still eyed the dragon with considerable cation.  "did the people say why they were leaving this place?"
This message was last edited by the player at 15:30, Thu 04 Feb 2016.

Elwood begins chipping at the stone carvings. He has to completely obliterate one of them before something happens.

There's a surge of arcane energy that erupts and crawls over all of the runes before just disappearing.


Elwood realizes now that the runes were a magical 'device', though he still has no idea what their intent was. He does know that they weren't active, and now they can't be activated any more.

While Elwood works away on the runes.  I take another close look at the Dragon.

Apologies for the delay. Been sick all week.


The young dragon looks like any normal dragon. Possibly an expert on dragons, if such exists, could tell what species this one would grow up to become. Each dragon species has unique tail shapes, spinal plates, whiskers, horns, and even skull shapes, or so it is claimed. No one is quite sure if these are hereditary features, or something to do with environment and experience. It's probably a factor of all three. In any case, none of those features are particularly pronounced when they are young. Why this should be so, though, is unclear.

Except for the clipped wings and emaciated condition, this dragon does not look like it was mistreated in any way. If it was placed in the cage since it hatched, it may not have ever flown.

After some examination, it would appear as if this is not a metallic wyrmling, but a chromatic one.

Mort decided that it would be best for him to be outside the room before dragon exited made his was out of the room and waited in the hallway, watching with his weapon held in his hand

After Mort passes through the arch, Elwood hands Durek back his tools with a nod of thanks.

"Well, young dragon, I think I've deactivated this protective spell. I can't guarantee it, so try to pass it slowly and carefully."

Elwood has heard that some dragons tend to be less aligned than others, and hopes that with proper rearing by the group, this dragon could be one of those. He's willing to take a risk on bringing the dragon along. As long as it behaves well, it would make a powerful ally in the battle against strange magics that Elwood's visions have fortold.

It does not appear that the young dragon has developed his breath weapon yet, but his breath seems to have a hint of garlic to it.


The dragon tentatively pokes his snout at the doorway. When nothing happens, he pokes it out a little farther... then a little farther... When his entire head is outside the doorway without any ill effects, he walks out.

Once outside, he looks back at the group still in the cave.

Outside on the ship, Talis is taking a short nap in a hammock strung up on the deck when he suddenly sits up.

"Did you feel that?" he asks the others as he glances up at the sky. "A breeze. A cold one. I think the weather's going to turn."

Indeed, the sky to the north is dark.

"Gierdon, better go tell the others to hurry up. A storm's coming. The ship won't survive here in the box canyon. The winds'll smash it against the canyon walls."

"I figure we've got an hour... maybe two, but that'll be pushing it."


Gierdon hustles down the long tunnel, relying more on sound than sight to find the others. After several  hundred feet, his echoing footsteps signal the presence of a large cavern up ahead. As gets closer, he spots Anneth and Kareth just up ahead. They appear to be waiting.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:34, Wed 24 Feb 2016.

"I hear something..." Anneth gets ready to nock an arrow, turns around...and sees Gierdon.  She lowers her bow.  "Oh, it's you."

"Hmmm....Garlic. It reminds me of home. At least vampires won't be a problem."

He follows the dragon, keeping an eye out behind.

"Weather be picking up," Gierdon says, shaking his head and sniffling in a way that sounds more like a snarl. “We better make preparations, for dwarves waters from the sky can only mean ill.”

Elwood also follows the dragon out.

Whether it was the breaking of the seals around the doorway or the dragon actually stepping out of the chamber is hard to say, but suddenly there is the sound of wings flapping, and half a dozen gargoyles seemingly step out of the rocky sides of the cavern and drop downward, although two veer to the opening where Anneth, Gierdon and Kareth are waiting.

The dwarf snarles as he sees the gargoyle, readying his weapon.

I draw my sword as well.

Not quite having gotten to recover, and mouthing a very strong curse, Anneth fires her bow, and then lets fly another shaft in the hopes that she can hit the winged fiends bearing down on her and her companions.

Attacking the two gargoyles headed Anneth's and the other's ways, short bow!
02:31, Today: Anneth Mage-Singer rolled 15,6 using 1d20+3,1d6 ((12,6)).
02:31, Today: Anneth Mage-Singer rolled 15,1 using 1d20+3,1d6 ((12,1)).
Waiting until they're at short range...

15:26, Today: Tom Wolf rolled 5 using 1d8+3.  Damage to Gargoyle if S/M size.
15:25, Today: Tom Wolf rolled 18 using 1d20+3.  Attack Gargoyle.

This should slow one of them down some.

UP ON THE LEDGE

Gierdon and Kareth have drawn weapons upon sighting the approaching gargoyle, while Anneth is able to ready her bow and fire off two arrows. She has no problem hitting the gargoyles, but the arrows just seem to bounce off.

That sparks a memory that gargoyles can only be damaged by magic.


DOWN ON THE CAVERN FLOOR

Tom swings at the first gargoyle approaches, and has no trouble hitting it... but his sword does not penetrate the creature's stone hide.


What are Aaron, Durek, Elwood, Mort, Rodrigo and Rukao doing?

Seeing Tom's blade literally bounce off of the gargoyle, Rodrigo realizes that these creatures of stone can only be damaged by magic... or possibly some other non-mundane method.

The magic would apply to hitting it with a weapon, but how could they kill the creatures if he just put them to sleep? If nothing else, they could flee while the creatures slumbered. He wondered if they could negotiate the tunnel up top.

The wings wouldn't let them fly through it, but would they scramble through it if they couldn't fly?

"Bah! Enough ruminating! Let's see if a spell will affect them!"

He cast one of his Sleep spells at the first gargoyle.

The Dwarf was itching for a fight, but now looks a bit forlornly at his battle axe and then at the gargoyle.

"I do not see a point in attacking the gargoyle with my axe if all it will do is dull the blade," he laments. "Perhaps, though, I can at least distract them while the rest of you deal with them!"

He waits until one is close enough and swings at it.

21:55, Today: Durek rolled 11,3 using 1d20+3,1d10+2 ((8,1)).

Ah, well... probably missed anyway.

Mort had readied his weapon but upon hearing that something magical was needed to effect these creatures.  "If these creature are magical, maybe they can hurt each other."  Mort will move in and attempt to grapple one of the gargoyles and then getting a good grip on a leg or arm swing it into the other one.

22:24, Yesterday: Mort rolled 8 using 1d20+3.  grapple attempt.    (think he missed)
This message was last edited by the player at 15:00, Tue 01 Mar 2016.

As the gargoyles descend, Elwood calmly readies his flail. "Murlynd, Immortal Patron of Magical Devices, aid my arm in the destruction of these creations of magic. May my arms strike true to defend my companions and deliver this dragon from captivity," he calls out in a strong, clear voice.

As soon as one gargoyle gets close enough, he takes a swing at it.

OOC: Not this round, apparently...
15:29, Today: Elwood rolled 7,5 using 1d20+4,1d8+2.  attack roll vs gargoyles.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:30, Wed 02 Mar 2016.

Aaron hurries over to the young dragon and urgently yells "Now is the time to find out if you can fly. If you get a chance, fly up to that opening and follow the corridor outside until you get to a flying ship. Go as fast as you can, because these monsters may be following right behind you."

Aaron looks for an opportunity to get around these things since hit a rock with a sword seems particularly pointless.

Time for a fighting retreat.  Hopefully we can keep them at bay long enough to get up to the top and leave.


05:59, Today: Tom Wolf rolled 9 using 1d20+3.  Attack Gargoyle.
I probably missed but I'm not really worried as I just want to keep them busy as we try to get away.

"Ye gods," Gierdon exhales, searching every bit of his being. "I haven't got a lick of magic for these things.

The dwarf curses those powers that have placed him where he hoped for a magic-user to be beside him.

"Magic be damned!"

Those up on the ledge at the end of the tunnel can retreat backwards to avoid the gargoyle trying to attack them because it seems at least reluctant to enter. Anneth remembers she picked up a sword in one of the rooms that was probably magical.


The dragon can't fly because its wings were clipped.


The gargoyle that Rodrigo cast Sleep upon crashes to the cavern floor.

Although Mort missed grabbing one of the gargoyles while it was in flight, he has no problem grabbing the one that practically fell at his feet... at least with his reach.


Damn, the dice roller sucks!


Everyone takes a swing at the gargoyles but after seeing one of their own go down, they are hesitant about getting too close.

Mort reached down and got a good firm grip on ankle of the one that had fallen at his feet.  "All right, gargoyle bashing" He lifted up the gargoyle and started swinging it around trying to bash it into the other.

08:27, Today: Mort rolled 13 using 1d20+4.  gargoyle bashing.

Taking advantage of the confusion caused by Rodrigo's spell to very quickly return her bow and then draw her sword, Anneth takes a swing at the gargoyle Mort has taken to attacking with its own companion.

Now, what did she remember of her lessons in swordplay... Sweeping, pommel-bashes...

10:48, Today: Anneth Mage-Singer rolled 7,6 using 1d20,1d8 ((7,6)).

Gierdon smirks as he sees the gargoyles hesitate. It may be that these things are protected by magic, but there is no sorcery better than good ol’ dwarven intimidation. Lifting his axe in the most offensive way possible he jerks forward, trying to scare off the remaining gargoyles. Given this technique worked far better with humanoids, especially in a tavern, but he felt justified nonetheless.

Just a reminder... Anneth, Gierdon and Kareth are up in the tunnel mouth where the first ledge leads to the ramp that spirals down to the floor of the huge cavern 200 feet below! Only two of them veered off to the tunnel opening.


The other four are down on the cavern floor. Rodrigo took one out, and now Mort is using that one to bash at another. Whether Mort's rationale was accurate or not, it seems to work. If it takes magic to hit a gargoyle, doesn't that make them 'magical'? Thus, using one to bash another now means that Mort is wielding a 'magical weapon'. Without the gargoyle-in-hand, he probably would have missed, but the stone of one gargoyle doesn't bounce off the other one.

18:51, Today: Mysterion, on behalf of Mort, rolled 9 using 1d10+5 ((4)). It could have gone better, but it could have gone worse, too! Treat the gargoyle as a 1d10 club +2 (magic).

In reply to Mysterion (msg # 167):

Can we, or Gierdon hear the commotion down below?

I start to lead the group at the bottom up towards the top even urging the dragon to come with us.

Seeing the gargoyles pause, Elwood also thinks now would be a good time to get the party headed back up. It's a long way, though, and gargoyles can fly, making this a challenge. "Fando, stay near to me, I'll protect you as best I'm able."

If any gargoyles come close enough to take a swing at, I will. (OOC: And entrust the die rolling to the DM.)

"Since there doesn't seem to be a way past them, then we must go through them."

Aaron attempts to push past any gargoyles standing in his way with his sword, trying to get up and out.

Mort brings the gargoyle around for another bashing.  "I'll see if I can make a path."

10:30, Today: Mort rolled 18,7 using 1d20+4,1d10+5.
OOC: Tad bit of confusion here on my part, Are the gargoyles blocking our path or have we gotten past them at this point?

OOC: Can we see and or hear the ruckus going on below?

The clash of metal weapons on stone gargoyle hide echoed throughout the cavern, so the sound of combat could be heard by Gierdon and Anneth and Kareth. You can also look down to the floor of the cavern and see the battle.

You can quickly see that gargoyles aren't capable of hovering; they have to keep in motion and so swoop down on you. Up on the ledge, that gargoyle finally comes to rest on the ledge to try and get at Gierdon.


The gargoyles aren't blocking your way, at least not any more since Mort started swinging a gargoyle around. The other gargoyles weren't really trying to block your way--they were just swooping down from that direction some of the time.

Mort lands another blow against a second gargoyle. The amusing thing is that he does as much damage to his 'weapon' as he does to his target.


Going back up the somewhat-narrow, twisting ledge walkways will tricky and dangerous, since a gargoyle can swoop down and knock you off the ledge. You can make it up to about 20 feet high before it becomes an issue.

None of the gargoyles attack you to this point.

The dragon follows you up the ledge path. The gargoyles seem to be avoiding him.

Lets just hope we don't get knocked off the path as we get further up to the top.  We do need to get a move on with the incoming weather.

I continue to swing my sword to try and keep them at bay as best I can even though I can't hurt them.

Gierdon tries hard to defend against a gargoyle attack, magic or not he will hack, push, even bite against his opponent.

"The way is clear, let's keep moving"  Mort slammed the gargoyle into the floor, knowing it won't hurt it but, at least it made him feel better.  "Think I starting to get the hang of dis"  He continued on.

Action: If any come near Mort will try to bash it.  10:25, Today: Mort rolled 16,12 using 1d20+4,1d10+5.  If needed.

It seems like a much longer path back up to where the others are waiting. That's partly because you are going uphill, and even though you are hurrying, the constantly harassing gargoyles keep your attention, so that puts a strain on you.

16:17, Today: Mysterion rolled 19,21,16,8,4,8 using 1d20+7,1d20+7,1d20+7,1d6+2,1d6+2,1d6+2 ((12,14,9,6,2,6)).

There were six gargoyles at the start. Two flew up to attack those in the tunnel. They probably knew you were there from some sort of tremor sense while they were merged into the stone of the cavern walls.

Four flew down to attack the others.


Up at the ledge, only one gargoyle can attack at a time. They have a tactical advantage while they are in flight, which they lose if they land.

Anneth and Gierdon easily discover that they make a formidable combat duo if they work together. Gierdon is better armored, and tougher, but Anneth has the only weapon that can damage a gargoyle.

The gargoyle swoops in and attacks. Because you are partly in the tunnel, the gargoyle only gets one claw attack. It can't gore you and it can't bite you.

Alas, one nasty claw is enough. It just barely manages to hit Gierdon for 8 points of damage.




Down below, Rodrigo put one of the four gargoyles to sleep, and Mort then picked him up and started bashing the others with him. Of course, the bashing part was enough to wake up the sleeping gargoyle, but Mort's size gives him sufficient leverage to keep the beast off-balance after each swing even if he doesn't hit anything, and his grip keeps the gargoyle from escaping.

With the dragon bringing up the rear, the gargoyles won't attack from behind. They may not be bright, but they aren't completely stupid.

One of them swoops in from the side to attack, and hits Aaron for 4 points of damage.

Mort, still swinging a struggling gargoyle, manages to hit the attacking one. It was hard to tell, but apparently this is one that he'd already bashed. Both gargoyles shatter!


This makes the remaining two a bit more wary. Even though Mort no longer has a 'weapon' that can damage them, neither one of them wants to become the new weapon.

The group, however, is strung out on the ledge, so they can still attack while avoiding the dragon and the minotaur. One swoops in at Elwood, but misses.

He always hated using his lute to bash someone on the head because it more often than not meant that he had to get a new lute! He'd happily risk losing his lute to bash a gargoyle, though, if he thought it'd do anything.

He wasn't much of a fighter, either. A little bit rogue, a little bit spell-caster, but not very good at either. Both skills were just dabbles. It was music that he wielded. It was unlikely that he could affect these creatures of stone; he even wondered if they could hear.

He could, however, affect his companions... at least a little bit. As long as Anneth was wielding a magic sword, she could, indeed, affect the gargoyles. Perhaps he could give her an assist.

He unslung his lute from his back, gave the strings a quick strum to make sure they were still in tune, and then began to sing while he played.

"Blade will flash and point will sting,
And stony beast can't do anything
but show his rocky arse and flee
'cause the magic's in the music and the music's in me!"

After taking a practice swing with her new sword, Anneth makes a real swing at the nearest gargoyle...

04:10, Today: Anneth Mage-Singer rolled 8,5 using 1d20,1d8 ((8,5)).

Oh, dear.

Gierdon roars in pain, but deep inside feels and knows he is alive. He takes a defensive stance and tries to protect himself as much as he can.

I work my way up towards the top as quickly as I can.  Hoping more gargoyles don't join their friends.

Come on guys.  The faster we get up there the better it will be. 

I stay with the group even as I urge them on.  There is safety in numbers.

Mort growls, "Let's keep it moving, they have backed off for now.  Doubt that it will last for long"  Mort continues to move toward the exit still holding onto the remains of the severed leg ready to throw it at the wing of any attacking gargoyle.  He takes two steps at a time to get up to the next level
This message was last edited by the player at 03:03, Wed 23 Mar 2016.

"We're right behind you," Elwood says to Tom and Mort as he helps Fando up the incline. He keeps his flail in one hand in case the gargoyles make another pass at them, and tries to hurry the elderly wizard along as much as possible with the other.

Aaron grimaces as he feels his side. Looking at his hand he sees it is covered in his own blood. He renews his efforts and scampers further up the path.

Gargoyles aren't known for their smarts, but even they recognize the threat posed by Mort, Elwood and the dragon. Although they continue to fly around and swoop in and out looking for an opening, they aren't foolishly aggressive any more. You all make it back up to the tunnel where Anneth, Kareth and Gierdon are waiting, also defending against a lone gargoyle that can't quite fly into the tunnel and apparently isn't desperate enough to land and walk in.

From there, you can go back through the tunnel to the entrance. Fortunately, the ship is still there, but the sky had darkened considerably and the wind has picked up. In the shelter of the cliff, though, the wind isn't bad yet.

"The dragon's with us," Durek explains to the others when he reaches the tunnel. "He's just a baby. He was in a cage and starving. The gods know how long he's been down there unfed. Dragons can go a long time without eating."

"Also, his wings have been clipped. We don't think he can fly. He certainly hasn't shown us that he can."

"I know it's a dragon, but I feel bad for the little fella. I'd like to see if we can't get his wings repaired somehow."


When they reach the ship, the dark sky and the howling wind start him moaning and complaining.

"Are you crazy? A Dwarf getting on a flying ship is insane as it is, but I ain't nearly drunk enough to get on one in this weather!"

Elwood tips his hat to the party members who remained up above as the group heads back to the Strange Magic.

"Well, if we try to run before the storm, we may be fine...or smashed to bits when we crash. But if we wait out the storm, I'm guessing we'll have a lot of repairs to do to the ship before she flies again," he replies to Durek.

Aaron hurries up the gangplank and shouts back, "Well, Durek, do you want to stay here with these friendly gargoyles? Or shall we get this ship away from these mountains where the storm can smash it to smithereens into a sheer wall?"

I follow Aaron.  Avoiding the storm is probably the best idea of the day.

"Let's get this tub out of here." Mort started working on freeing up the mooring lines

The wind is gusting frequently now, but the gusts aren't all that strong. Mooring lines are cast off quickly, and Talis carefully steers the ship away from the stony walls of the canyon.

He keeps most of the sails furled, but pushes the ship upward.

He suggests everyone tie themselves to the ship, for once the ship clears the lip of the canyon, the winds should get more violent.

The dragon makes its way to the bow of the ship, and sticks its head forward into the wind.

In reply to Mysterion (msg # 192):

Unless I'm really needed on deck to do anything, (no sailing or flying skills), then I will go into one of the cabins. Otherwise I will tie myself securely to ship.

Elwood makes sure everything on deck is secured, hatches battened down, and all that as the ship rises. Then he ties a rope around his waist and secures the other end amid ship and prepares for the full force of the storm.

Anneth wastes no time in hurrying onto the ship, making sure to take her new gain with her!

Mort tied himself off first and then went about helping secure the ship.

The ship slowly climbs upward, even more slowly veering away from the cliff as Talis fight's the winds, and finally the ship edges over the top. No sooner has it cleared the lip of the canyon wall than a violent gust of wind catches the Strange Magic amidships and flings it over nearly unto its side.

For a moment, the ship is flying on its side, but then Talis somehow manages to right the ship again. Mostly. The strong wind is still driving the ship from behind, and it's hard to keep it completely level.

The dark cloud behind them is gaining on them; it flashes with lightning, and the thunderclaps shake the ship.

As Talis glances back at the steadily gaining thundercloud, he realizes that the ship is too broad and bulky for the howling wind to push it fast enough.

"WE NEED MORE SAIL!" Talis yells above the wind.

Maybe they could outrun it... or maybe they could rise above it! He really had no idea how high the cloud extended, and he certainly didn't know how high the ship could climb. They hadn't been flying the ship long enough to have figure that out yet.

He guessed there had to be some sort of upper limit.

Aaron checks his line is secure before yelling back too Talis, "Are you sure we need MORE sail? I would have thought we would need less!"

He then scampers over to release more of the sail.

Kareth hurried over to assist Aaron.

"We need to outrun the storm, or try to rise above it," Kareth explained as they worked. "We need more sail for the winds to push against."

"We DO NOT want to get caught in that storm!" he added at the last, glancing back at the menacing dark clouds.

"You've got enough sail any more and the shear wind will tear this ship apart.  Down is no good.  Up there is less chance of slamming into something."

Mort double checked all the ropes of those still topside.  "Dis is going to be bumpy"

"Dragon do you want to be tied down?"

As Mort approaches the dragon, he sees that the dragon has its head extended forward into the wind, its tongue hanging out the side of its mouth. It seems to be enjoying itself.

"So this is what it feels like to fly!" it responds to Mort.

"No, I do not wish to be tied down... or caged... ever again. I have four legs and claws, and a tail for balance. I will not be thrown from this ship!"

As the front edge of the storm gets closer, lightning bolts begin to flash around the ship. The magic of the ship does not force the ship to tilt at an upward angle in order to gain altitude, so it's hard to tell if the ship is actually rising or not.

One lightning bolt strikes the bowsprit. A bluish glow flashes along the deck and hull of the ship, not unlike St. Elmo's fire. The ship seems to speed up.

Another bolt strikes the top of the mainmast. It has the same effect.

That last strike seems to have imparted enough speed to the ship that it's now running ahead of the storm. Lightning still flashes behind you, but none of it strikes the ship any more.

The flight continues for about 15 minutes, though it seems a lot longer, and then suddenly the ship is above the storm. The dark clouds are below you now, and they still flash with lightning.

It's a novel view now, out in the light of the sun, looking down at the storm cloud below you.

"That was fun!" the dragon says. "Can we do that again?"

Dazed from her fight with the gargoyles, and in otherwise bad shape, Anneth does not know what to make of the Dragon.  But, the little creature has not proven problematic yet, and her companions did say that he was trustworthy.

After offering what help she can, the Dabbler-in-Arts begins to approach the curious creature...then lightning strikes the ship, and she jumps, letting out an inhuman cry.  She is even more shocked when she sees that the ship has not been reduced to kindling!  The second strike, while still shocking and still eliciting a surprised cry, is better-accepted.

After coming to the conclusion that the ship is quite possibly one of the most magical things she'd seen in her quarter of a century of life, she approaches the little Dragon, observing its behaviour.

Anneth only has a minor knowledge about dragon behavior, assuming she discounts most of the wild tales she's heard, but she has seen how young animals behave. The dragon seems to be displaying some of those.

Based also on what the others told her of how they found the dragon, Anneth has the distinct impression that the dragon never 'imprinted' on a parent. Its wings were clipped so that it couldn't fly, so it's had a limited existence. Considering that it wasn't getting fed as often as it probably should have been, she has no idea how old it might be. It's probably stunted growth.

"Fun??"  "You mean the storm or the whole flying thing?  "I'm that that fond of lighting."

Mort covers his eyes from the bright sunlight allowing time for his eyes to adjust.

"Open up your wings and see what kind of wind they catch"

Mort bothered to walk over to the edge of the ship and look down over the rail.  He marveled at the thought of a magical flying ship.

Elwood marvels at the sight of looking down on storm clouds from a calm, cold, sunny sky. He rearranges his belt, removing it and then fastening it on again over his cloak to hold the cloak snug, then joins Mort and the dragon at the front of the ship.

"I think I mentioned it down below when we found you, but my name's Elwood. Do you have a name? What should we call you?" he asks the young dragon.

"If I have a name, I do not know it," the dragon replies to Elwood. "My keepers never talked to me."

"Where do we go?"

"Is there a name that you like? We could always give you a nickname till you figure it out" Mort offered as he stared out in the direction that the ship was heading.  He looked for landmarks that he might recognize.

"I signed on to help find Master Fando and this ship. He, Master Fando, that is, is lookin' for some Seventh Magic. I just pray it's not the magical disaster my patron warned me of. Where do we go to look for this Seventh Magic? Beats me, pal."

Elwood nods at Mort's suggestion of a temporary nickname, at least until the young dragon finds a name it prefers.

"Yes! Give me a name! That would be wonderful!" the dragon replies. "I wouldn't know what a name is, certainly not a good name. I always liked the sound of 'Pumpkin'... until I found out it was an orange gourd. I do not believe I look like a gourd, and I am certainly not orange."


Looking down on the terrain below doesn't quite look the same as it does when looking at a map. Oddly, the map representations try to emulate the terrain in three dimensions, but at this height, it all looks flat.

Oddly, it only the two Dwarves that recognize the mountains now far to the south, even though they've never seen them from this elevation. They are so large compared to everything else that they stand out.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:11, Tue 10 May 2016.

Fando staggers up onto the deck now that the motion of the ship has calmed down. He's looking a bit green around the gills, as the saying goes. Apparently, he gets airsick.

"Ohhhh... ugh... aaa... Are you sure the ship is level? My stomach is still doing flipflops... Ohhhh," he manages to say.

"We were heading to Lhamsa to get the next piece from the Saffron Order. I think we still should. There is a magical compass in the mechanisms that uses the first piece of the Septagram to point to where the next piece is. I was fiddling with it when the storm hit. I couldn't get it to point to any other of the pieces, though... just to Lhamsa."

"I don't see any reason for retrieving it from the monks should be a problem... unless they are completely unreasonable."

"Gierdon and Durek seem to know where we're at, so we shouldn't have any problem finding Lhamsa. I think the question we should ask ourselves is: how do we approach them? Do we swoop down in our flying ship and impress the hell out of them, maybe intimidate them to give us the piece."

"Or should we land somewhere out of sight and approach on foot. Play the 'humble' card."

"By myself, I would go humble. But with a ship, a minotaur and a dragon, not to mention our motley crew, perhaps intimidate is the way to go."

In reply to Fando (msg # 212):

While we could try intimidation, I think that being humble will show better results.  If it doesn't work then we can resort to intimidation or more as required.

"I can do my best to look fierce but I'm not inclined like my brethren to just go bashing folk around.  Not really my thing. Though bashing them gargoyle was actually kind of fun.  Which reminds me that I need to find me some sort of magical weapon or gauntlet cause I'm all out of gargoyles"  Mort grinned at the last part.


Back to dragon naming.  "Heard of a dragon called toothless, but you got teeth so that won't work.  What kind of breath do you got, most tales of dragons speak to a breath weapon."

"What do we know of this monastery? I think I need more information before deciding whether intimidating them might be necessary. If no one here knows much about them, I'd suggest landing somewhere not far, and trying to find out more of them first before we go."

In reply to Elwood (msg # 215):

I agree with finding a landing place nearby, but out of sight of people.  It would be a shame to lose such a prize as this ship.  As to intimidation, there are many forms of intimidation that could be used should the need arise.

In reply to Elwood (msg # 215):

I agree with finding a landing place nearby, but out of sight of people.  It would be a shame to lose such a prize as this ship.  As to intimidation, there are many forms of intimidation that could be used should the need arise.

"I'm not about to go around strong arming people, so lets play it softly like decent people," said Aaron.

After considering Mort for a moment he wandered over to him and murmured, "Looks like you have decency in you. You may be a good companion after all!"

"Not much is known about the monastery at all," Fando answers Elwood. "They are very reclusive. A little over a hundred monks live there--the Saffron Order."

"There are said to be deadly fighters... without armor, without weapons."

"Twice a year, Lhamsa is the staging area for all the clans in the surrounding mountains to bring their goats to market."

"I did some research on them before I left, in case I might need to stop there."

"If they have a piece of the Septagram, I doubt if we could take it by force anyway. We'd need an army just to breech their defenses."

"I'm glad none of you are that...  um, violent."

"We could be firm but gentle," Anneth suggests.

I tend to use violence as a means to an end.  That said, when it can be avoided it should provided the end result is beneficial to both sides.

He still wasn't an expert at steering a flying ship, but he was getting the hang of it.

"Okay, then," he calls to the others, "we continue heading to Lhamsa and we land somewhere out of sight."

"As Fando pointed out, though, there are a dozen or more clans in the hills. It'll be hard to keep them from spotting the ship. We're not exactly invisible, you know!"

"Can't really help you with that," Anneth mumbles, for once seeming embarassed.  "I mean, I know how invisibility magics work, but..."

"Good. It's settled." said Aaron. "I'll keep a lookout for any settlements on the way, so we can skirt around them." Then he settled himself in the bow to keep watch.

Mort gave a snort of, "good to know that some people think so."

"Do the monks place any value on Magic, was just thinking that I was surely impressed and thankful that a flying vessel arrived in time to rescue me.  If a flying ship arrived at their outside the monastery it would be hard to deny that someone with a flying ship is not of some importance.  I should think that they would be agreeable to speak with us."

"Lhamsa is still in Glantri--the Land of Magic," the Elf replies. "So they aren't going to be impressed by magic alone, not even a flying ship."

"Although I haven't heard of them wielding any great magic, I also haven't heard them having anything against magic... but I wouldn't put it past them if they have a way to neutralize magic... or ways to work around it."

"Anyway, keep in mind that pirates also have ships. I doubt if there are many ships here in the mountains, so as far as they are concerned, any ship is as likely to be a pirate ship as not."

The ship soared majestically over the mountains. It was a whole different perspective up here than from the ground, but it didn't take long to get used to it. After that, finding your way was easy if you were at all familiar with the mountains. Rodrigo and the Dwarves were.

It does get tricky approaching Lhamsa without being seen, but somehow Rodrigo manages. He finds a spot to set the ship down behind a rocky prominence that will make it hard to be spotted.

Tying it up to some large boulders is the best you can do as there are no trees in the immediate area.

So half of you can make the short trek to Lhamsa while the others stay behind to guard the ship.

Those going are Aaron, Anneth, Elwood, Fando, Gierdon, Mort and Tom.

Those staying to watch the ship are Anya, Durek, Kareth, Rodrigo, Rukao and Talis.

In reply to Mysterion (msg # 226):

Making sure to have all the gear I think I will need even for what I hope to be a short journey.

Elwood also gears up and gets ready to set out.

OOC: Did we see any towns or villages near our landing zone? If so, I'd like to visit there first to get some intel on the monastery and its monks.

Mort quickly got his gear ready as he was use to traveling light.

"I'll hang to the rear of the party, most city folk tend to get a bit apprehensive with me marching through their town.  If you be needing me in the front you need only say the word" Mort tried to give a knowing wink to the others having seen a few others do it before.  He wasn't sure that he was able to pull it off or not.

Come on Aaron lets lead the way.  Elwood, just make sure you keep us moving in the right direction.

In reply to Tom Wolf (msg # 230):

"Sounds good to me," says Aaron as he slaps Tom on the back and grins. He quickly checks his kit. "Has everyone got everything thing they need?"

Elwood had spotted several villages around the area, so the ship could have landed reasonably close to one... about an hours walk away. Lhamsa is about 2 hours, mostly because the route isn't straight or level. It winds around the mountains and goes up and down. It'll involve a little bit of climbing, but not really steep stuff; more like just clambering over boulders and rockslides.

Rodrigo can explain to you that the 'villages' up here are more like hamlets at best, and otherwise just ranches... usually an extended family of 20-30 people. They don't tend to be hostile to strangers or outsiders as its more about survival.

However, he doesn't know the name of that particular village or family. They change frequently, even move every few years.

"All set," Anneth confirms, at least for herself.  She also makes sure to have at least one arrow readied.  Gods-forsaken hobgoblins!
This message was last edited by the player at 11:33, Mon 13 June 2016.

"I'd say saddle up, but we're short on horses. Let's head out then, I suppose."

Elwood guides the party to the nearest hamlet or homestead, intent on learning more about the monastery before approaching. He keeps an eye out for dangers from wild animals or monsters as they travel.

An hour's walk brings you to the nearest village. It consists of around a dozen buildings and some fenced-in corrals. You spot a few people outside, tending to chores apparently--feeding animals and mending one of the fence.

They have no problem spotting you as you approach. They don't seem concerned by your appearance, though one of the women says something to one of the children who then runs into what is probably a barn.

A moment later, two men step out of the barn, and head in your direction.

Elwood raises his hand in greeting to the two approaching men. "Good day, sirs. We are traveling to the Lhamsa Monastery, which we've heard is near here. Begging your pardon, but could you point us in the right direction? If it's also no trouble, could we refill our waterskins in your village?"

Mort hung to the back of the group, took a deep breath and slowly crossed his arms.  His eyes casually scanned the area.

"Greetings!" the man calls out as you approach.

"You are welcome to fill your waterskins. And, yes, Lhamsa is just up the valley... and up the mountain," he adds with a smile as he points off in one direction.

He eyes Mort speculatively, but doesn't seem to be overly concerned that there's a minotaur on his property. It's probably because Mort is in the company of 'real' people... and he seems well-behaved.

Mort doesn't spot anything suspicious in the area. A few of the people are looking at him with a bit of trepidation, though the children seem curious rather than afraid.

"Much obliged. Say, what can you tell me of these monks? I'd never heard of the place until the boss said that we should go there. And even he seems not to know much about them. Is there anything we should be wary of? Strange customs, you know?"

With his arms still folded, Mort offered the children a friendly little hand wave.  He remained where he was not wanting to have anything escalate because of him.

"I am Kron, patriarch of this clan, Clan Vardallo," the man says. "You were wise to stop and ask about the Saffron Order, for it may save you a wasted trip."

"The mystics of the Great Order of Saffron are very reclusive. They seldom see outsiders. Twice a year, though, they come down out of their mountain stronghold to oversee the collection of goats and yaks for shipment down river to market. When the collecting is done, they throw a great celebration. The rest of us dance and drink, but the mystics only observe. They seem to enjoy watching others celebrate. If they do it themselves, it is in a way that we don't understand... perhaps not even perceive."

"This collection is a great service to the clans as it keeps us from fighting over the animals. The mystics are always fair and take little for themselves."

"I've never seen it myself, but it is said that if you wait outside, you will wait in vain. Even when the winter snows come, they will not let outsiders in; they will let you freeze to death in the cold if you are foolish enough to continue waiting."

"Alas, the spring collection was two months ago. The autumn collection is, thus, 4 months from now."

"If you continue on your journey, know then that there is a jar hung from a rope. You place a message in the jar and ring the adjacent bell only once. They will haul up the jar at their leisure. More often than not, they will not reply, nor will they accede to your request, whatever the message."

"If by some miracle they do grant you an audience, an elevator will be lowered in the morning. It will wait at the bottom for only ten minutes, whereupon it will be hauled up and not lowered again."

"Now that you know the way the mystics work, I would advise you to return whence you came and save yourself the walk."

In reply to Mysterion (msg # 241):

I look at the others.  I think we will continue on in any case.  We belief that they will grant us an audience.

"Thanks for the water, and the information. Sounds like we may be in for a wasted walk, but turning back without trying isn't an option. Good day to you, sir, and may your herds multiply."

Unless anyone else has anything they want to add, Elwood will lead the party on the path towards the monastery.

Dealing with people wasn't one of his strengths; in fact, it would probably be considered a weakness. He had little patience for fools.

So far, none of crew had given him a reason to think any of them were.

Still, he let the others do the talking.

He'd been considering Mort's presence. He'd be the first to admit that he'd never met a minotaur before. For that matter, he'd never heard of anyone who had. He hadn't heard of anyone actually fighting one, either... only ancient tales.

So far, the people here didn't seem too concerned about him. Naturally they were a bit leery of him just because of his size. He was actually starting to like the minotaur. He was People.

As Elwood led the group down the trail to Lhamsa, Fando waited until they were out of earshot of the village before speaking up.

"So. If the mystics actually grant us an audience, do we all take this ride up to the top? Do you think they'll actually accept Mort? What if they only agree to see some of us?"

"For that matter, what are we going to say to them that would make them want to talk to us?"

Mort didn't seem to take any offense by the thought of not getting to go.  "Good questions, I'm good either way, I will wait or go as desired.  I find that I'm more readily accepted by the knowledgeable and the curious."

The rest of the journey to Lhamsa was uneventful. There was a narrow path that wended its way across, over and around the rocks and the hills, slowly making its way upward.

The steepness of the hills, and angular landscape, kept Lhamsa out of sight until passing around a tall rock. The path then led downward to a small dell. Roughly in the center of the dell, a pinnacle of rock shot skyward nearly a hundred feet.

From the vantage point of the rise at the rock on the trail, you have a good view of the pinnacle. Atop it sits a... small fortress. There appears to be a stone wall around a two-story stone structure. The wall blocks most of the view of the center building, but there are balconies visible with white railings. The peaked roof is covered in blue tile.

There is a smaller stone structure near the edge of the pinnacle's top.

Elwood whistles between his teeth. "Ain't that a sight?"

After admiring the view for a minute, he continues on his way down to the monastery.

"The flying ship, could easily get us up there.  Down here they could easily drop something on us."  Mort was none to pleased with the current situation.

In reply to Mort (msg # 248):

It could take us up there easily enough.  But, why ask for trouble when knocking on the front door will likely give us better results.  If they don't want to talk to us then we could consider other measures.

"These mystics might have one of the septagram pieces," Fando suggests. "I mean, that's why we came here, right?"

"I can't see any use for the piece on its own, and than an esoteric relic, so I think we should just ask them nicely. 'Do you have a piece that looks like this?' and 'Can we trade for it?' I don't think that's unreasonable."

"Assuming they agree to see us, do we all go up? Or, in other words, if they invite us, do we all accept?"

"I think we should."

"I agree, it doesn't hurt to ask first. And if they refuse to let us in, then we can consider forcing our way in with the Strange Magic. I think we've left enough of the party guarding the ship. We should probably all go in, if they let us."

Regardless of what everyone else decides, I will be going in if they let us go in.

"No sense delaying, let's go ask and get this over with."

So the group all walks down to the base of the cliff... a rocky tower peculiarly carved out of the surrounding stone by wind and water in ages past.


Fando goes up and pulls the cord that sounds the bell up above.

Now it's just a question of waiting. Without knowing what kind of schedule they run on, it's hard to say how soon they may respond. It would be absurd and pointless for someone to sit by the bell all the time.

You only have to wait about 30 minutes before a noise from above shows a small hatch opening in the wooden floor of the small building above. A moment later, a basket is lowered down on a rope

Fando puts a piece of paper in the basket on which he's written: "7th Magic. Repair the Radiance."

He rings the bell again, and the basket is pulled up.

"Now we wait," Fando says and sits down with his back to the cliff and proceeds to take a nap.


Surprisingly, you only have to wait about 10 minutes before a large hatch opens and a larger basket is lowered. Clearly, however, the basket is not large enough to hold all of you, probably not even Mort by himself. However, the mystics seem to have anticipated this as one of them is riding down in the basket.

"Greetings, pilgrims," he says as the basket touches down. "I am Ka'ra'maz. Your message is interesting, but it is the presence of the Minotaur that intrigues us."

"The Green Lama Nuru has invited you to break bread with us."

"You will have to go up in three trips. The Minotaur can join me in the last trip. I assure that the basket will hold your considerable size."

Well, someone has to be the first to go up.  Anyone want to go with me?

I get into the basket.

Elwood also climbs in. "Right with you, partner. Master Fando, I think it might be wise if you come up in the second basket. Anyone else here in the first?"

Mort raised an eyebrow of interest, the monks thought him an intrigue.

"Ka'ra'maz, I'm Mort."  He gave a chuckle, "Considerable size you say, would it surprise you if I told you that I'm small for my kind"

He started to reached out a hand to shake but then pulled it back not sure if that would be proper and ended up nodding his head instead.

"Breaking Bread with Green Lama Nuru intrigues me as well"
This message was last edited by the player at 16:33, Sun 17 July 2016.

"I'll keep Fando company in the second basket," said Aaron. "And keep him out of trouble!"

The basket is hauled up three times, bringing everyone up to the top. When you get to the top, you see that there is a winch that three of the mystics are operating to raise the basket. The winch and rope is beneath the floor, and they walk in a circle on the floor.

Up close, the monastery doesn't look so much like a fortress, but it does look even more formidable. You walk from the 'gate house' to the wall of the monastery, and the great bronze doors are opened only as you approach.

The doors aren't opened wide--just enough to let you through. Inside the wall, there is a series of switchback stairs and ramps that take you up to the first floor of the monastery proper, which is about 50 feet above the ground level. The stairs and ramps are lined with assorted statues of magical beasts, such as griffins, manticores, sphinxes, hippogriffs, pegasi, and other creatures that you don't recognize.

Although there are doors at the top, they are open. The exterior of the building was grayish-green, some of it carved in base relief. It looks like a 'work in progress'.

Inside, there are walls made of exotic wood with a lot of jade decorations.

You are led to a large room where you are told you can rest and refresh until the gong sounds for supper. The room has a dozen four-post beds with canopies and silk curtains, brocade wall curtains, tapestries, plush chairs, fur throw rugs, and furs on the beds. At first glance, it all looks rather opulent, but then he realize that it isn't the fanciest that it could be but has a practical side to it.

In reply to Mysterion (msg # 259):

They are certainly better accommodations than being camped out at the base of the wall.

Trying out one of the plush chairs

Setting herself down, Anneth agrees, testing the fabrics.  "Good thing we brought you along," she says to Mort.

Replying to Anneth, "Yeah, I guess.  They sure seem to have a lot of statues of creatures."

Mort noted the exotic creatures that were on display, did they have one of a minotaur? He looked around for an open window so that he could look out.  With the rest of his time Mort walked around and checked out the beds and rugs.

The room seems plenty opulent to Elwood, who never moved in elite circles. He settles into one of the cushioned seats, but tries to keep his guard up. He hopes this audience with the abbott goes well for Fando, but he feels the need to prepare for the worst. The secrecy of the monks and their monastery has raised his suspicions.

We might as well be comfortable until they come for us.  I sit back in the comfortable chair and try to relax as much as I can.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:38, Sat 30 July 2016.

There aren't any viewing windows, but there are high narrow windows for letting in light. Mort can just barely see out the bottom of them. They also have some stained glass at the top, so there is colorful play of light about the room.

One of the mystics brings a tray in with bottles of wine and glasses.

As he leaves, you notice the sound of running water. At the back of the room there is a copper-clad section of wall that has water trickling down it.


It's about a half hour later when you hear a gong sound. The mystic that brought the wine enters the room a moment later.

"It is time for supper," he announces simply. "If you follow me, I will take you to the dining area."

He leads you out of the room and through the passages to a large room where a long table has been set up. At the center of one side of the table is a mystic dressed in green. Other mystics are seated to either side of him dressed in the simpler pale brown robes.

Directly across from the Green Lama is a much larger chair clearly intended for Mort.

There are enough chairs to either side of Mort's chair for the rest of you.

When everyone is seated, the Green Lama picks up a small loaf of bread, breaks it in half, and passes half of over to Mort.

"Welcome to Lhamsa," he says with a smile.

Seeing the reception intended for Mort rather than Fando causes Elwood to grin. He manages to suppress a chuckle. He wouldn't want to offend the monks.

Taking his seat without comment but with a polite nod of his head, the paladin waits for service and to see what sort of conversation passes between Mort and the Green Lama.

Mort defiantly not use to all of this attention was able to figure out that he was one of the guest of honor.  he made his way over and took the intended seat.   He waited of all the others to take their seats.

When welcomed Mort replied, "Thank you for allowing us to break bread with the monks of Lhamsa.  We consider it an honor and privilege." Mort broke the bread given him in half and passed one of the halves to the next one seated to the other side.

"I noticed that you have statues of mystical creature, is there a history behind them?"
This message was last edited by the player at 22:55, Sun 31 July 2016.

Mort did not see any statues of minotaurs as he climbed the stairs to the monastery. In fact, as he thinks about it now, he realizes that none of the creatures so depicted are normally thought of as 'intelligent'.

"I would not call it a history behind the statues," the Green Lama replies to Mort. "Carving is a way to improve our dexterity and our perceptions. You may have heard of the woodcarver's adage, that when he carves something out of wood, he simply visualizes what he wants to make, and then carves away everything else."

"It is so with us as well, but stone is less forgiving than wood, so if we were carving a hippogriff and made a mistake, more than likely we would have a pile of rubble."

"So, Mort, do you come here to Lhamsa in the same pursuit as your companions? Are you, too, seeking the secret of the Seventh Magic?"

I look at Mort in curiosity and hopes what ever answer he gives will help us in our quest.  Breaking off a piece of bread and passing to the person beside me.

"The seventh magic is of some interest, though I'm uncertain of its exact usefulness.  If your willing to shed addition information that would be appreciated"
This message was last edited by the player at 15:00, Tue 16 Aug 2016.

"We have heard of this Seventh Magic, as much as we have heard of these mythical creatures represented in our statues," the Green Lama replies to Mort. "Would it surprise you to know that the statues represent creatures that are no more mythological than are minotaurs?"

"We are not wielders of magic, but, of course, we were quite aware when the magic went away. We learned from others that there was a difference in Radiance when magic did return."

"I do not believe that any of us ever heard that this Seventh Magic could possibly fix the Radiance... assuming, of course, that there was anything that needed fixed. So we were surprised... intrigued... and curious about Master Fando's premise."

"We shall talk with him at some length about the matter, but, for now, I am more interested in you, Mort. Tell me, if you don't feel I am prying, why are traveling with these companions of yours?"

"How does one see this radiance?"

Mort found himself liking this green Lama and didn't seem the harm in the telling of some of his tale.  "Something of happen stance if the truth be told.  I was hunting in the woods, when I came upon a nest of hungry crazed goblins.  Not the type to be reasoned with.  Individually they are not much to be concerned about, but when a hoard of them are all set upon the same thought they can be fierce indeed.  Long story short, I was hustling to get out of the way, but ended up getting corned by them.  Only had one option left, I ended up climbing a tree. At least from there I could fend them off and hope that they would go look for food else where."

He scratch his head trying to figure out how to explain the next part.  "As luck would have it, this group happen to come along and rescue me from the hungry hoard of goblins.  There was a bit of feeling out of each other, but we were able to work through our initial concerns and have been traveling companions since."

"That is quite an interesting story," the Green Lama says. "It says much about your companions that they accepted you as a comrade. It might even say more about you."

"You've come a long way to see us. Is there anything else that we may do for you?" he says to everyone.

"That encounter with most of my kind would have gone in a different direction, most of my kind are striving to prove themselves in one manner or another, which would normally result in combat of some kind.  I  personally find that there is value in learning from others and that combat is not the only option."
This message was last edited by the player at 23:13, Sat 27 Aug 2016.

Elwood shakes his head as he says, "I can't speak for the others, but I feel I've imposed on your hospitality enough already. Thank you for the excellent meal, sir."

Realizing that meals of this quality might be few and far between aboard the flying ship, and that the mystics were going to talk with him anyhow, Fando had nothing to say at the moment, and just enjoyed the food.

But he listened to what everyone said.

The fact that they were helping him find this Seventh Magic was a small miracle itself.

"How about you, Anneth? What is it that you are seeking?"

Mort looked on with interest to hear what Anneth had to say.

Never liking to be on the spot, but feeling some sort of obligation to be truthful since she was given food by strangers that could make or break the quest, and who were likely just as curious as Mort. Anneth thinks as she eats.  What was she after?  She'd been wandering for gods-only-knew how long, telling fortunes that were only half-true at the best of times...

"Fortune and glory, mostly," she says at long last.  "And my own studies.  If I help somebody along the way to my helping myself, then I guess the better." She gestures around herself, to her companions.  "Point in case."

After the meal, the Green Lama bids Fando to remain behind while everyone else is escorted to quarters where they can rest. It beats camping at the bottom of the pinnacle.


The day passes uneventfully, another meal is brought to your quarters at some point, but it is 8 hours before a mystic stops by and tells you that the Green Lama wishes to see everyone again.

When you go back to the same room as before, there is no food presented but there is water and goblets.

Fando is there. He looks very haggard.


"After much discussion with Mr. Fando here," the Green Lama speaks, "I feel I cannot grant your request at this time. While I am fairly perceptive, I really do not know any of you that well. What I see is fine, and the fact that you have befriended a minotaur says much about your character."

"The problem for me is that I do not know if what you are planning on doing is a good thing or not. I do not know why the magic went away before, but I do not wish to see it happen again."

"While I research this subject in our archives, I would task you with a mission. If you agree to it and succeed, then I shall give you what you seek."

In reply to Mysterion (msg # 279):

Are you going to tell us what the mission is before we agree to it blindly?

"As long as the mission is to do good in the world, yes, I'm in. I'll reserve the right to not go on the mission if I feel it will do harm." Elwood winks at Tom, then leans over and whispers in his ear.

"It was never my intent to send you on a mission blindly, and I will tell you more about it," the Green Lama replies.

"I was merely inquiring if this was something you would consider doing. If it wasn't, then there would be no need to tell you any further details."

He places something on the table. When he removes his hand, you can see that it is a shiny, sparkly ruby-red shoe.

"There is an ancient crypt not far from here. If it ever had a name, it has been lost in the mists of time. Apparently, the locals know of it, but they avoid it. They claim it is haunted."

"About a year ago, a wanderer... perhaps just a traveler or an explorer even... came upon the crypt and chose to investigate it. Two days later, he had made his way here to our monastery. He was quite ill... dying as it turned out. We were unable to save him. We believe he was poisoned."

"In the short time he had left, he managed to tell us a little about the crypt. He found this shoe there. And he said 'beware the spiders'. It is possible that it was spider venom that killed  him."

"Presumably, there is a second shoe there. I would appreciate it if you could locate the shoe and return it here. As you can see, though, the mission is neither good nor evil."

Feeling that perhaps her answer to things changed the Mystic's decision to help, Anneth decides to at least try to salvage things.  "While retrieving footwear is indeed neither good nor evil, I do not see the harm in it.  Maybe the dead will have answers for any questions we might have?" If Anneth could put a foot in her mouth, she would be doing that right about now.

"I'm in"

"I don't think you words had anything to do with their decision," Gierdon speaks up. "I think it is the ultimate goal that Fando wishes to accomplish."

"As it is, none of us are really sure about it, either. Only our mages seem to believe that the Radiance has changed and even they aren't sure that's a bad thing."

"Whether this mission is really important or not isn't why we were asked to do. It is... busy work. It gives us something to do while the Green Lama researches the issue."

"Plus, I think he's using it as some sort of test, even if it is only a snipe hunt."

Is there any maps or other written information available on the crypt available for us to study?  I see no harm in undertaking this mission.  However, I have no wish to undertake a possibly dangerous task blindly if it can be avoided.

"There is no map of the area that shows this crypt, but I can point to where it is on that map, and I can always draw a crude map to take with you," the Green Lama replies.

One of the other mystics quickly fetches a large rolled up scroll, along with a piece of parchment and ink and quill.

The Green Lama rolls out the scroll, which shows a pretty detailed map of the area. It looks a lot like the one you have on the ship, only this is one is fancier and has more detail.

He points to a spot.

"This is where we are right now. And this is where the crypt is supposed to be. It'll be in the area somewhere there, if not in that exact spot."

He then draws a rough map of the route to the crypt, with a few nearby landmarks. It looks to be a bit circuitous.

"This path is more rugged than the one I've indicated for you, so it will take you longer to reach the crypt even though it is a shorter distance. And you should avoid this area over here. That's the domain of Mardris... the nastiest clan leader in the region. He doesn't appreciate visitors... unless he invites them, which he seldom does."

After he finishes with the smaller map, he hands the parchment to Tom, since he asked for it.

"Now I must begin my research, and you must begin your mission," he says as he starts to leave, and the other mystic gathers up the big map.

"Doesn't a crypt mean there are likely dead things in it?"

"Hopefully, the dead things are still dead," Elwood replies to Mort.

As the Green Lama gets up to go, Elwood asks him one more question. "If you don't mind me asking, what is the significance of these ruby shoes? You say finding the lost one and returning it to you is neither good nor evil, but I find few things in this world are so cut and dry."

"I have no idea what the significance of the shoes are," the Green Lama replies to Elwood. "There is a faint trace of magic to the one I have, but as with most magical shoes and boots and gloves and bracers, it requires both of them to work."

"I'm guessing that it requires both of them together to be able to determine their magic. Magic itself is not evil, but it can be used for evil purposes."

"It would be a waste for a useful magic item to just fade away."

Elwood is satisfied with the Lama's answer and thanks him.

With the details settled, the group heads for the elevator. As you move along the way, the other mystics bring each of you a small basket of fruit and nuts and waybread, and give you a full waterskin.

"This basket is for the person who waits below," one of the mystics says to Elwood. "We do not know if he is with your group or not, or if he seeks you or us, but if you give him this basket, perhaps he will accompany you and thus achieve his desire goal one way or the other."


Reaching the elevator, the process is done in reverse, of course, except that no mystic needs to accompany you down.

It takes three trips, and, yes, there is someone waiting at the bottom.

Being one of the ones to go down in the first basket.

Who are you and what are you doing wait out here?

Leaning against what looks like a sort of dark statue - who would spend their life carving statues Nether thinks to himself - Nether adjusts the collar on his well fitting shirt, and brushes off a sleeve (that didn't need to be brushed off, Nether's clothing is immaculate). He walks up to the stranger addressing him, and puts on his most charming smile, and offers a slight bow.

"My good man, you can call me Nether. And you are?"
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 02:05, Sun 18 Sept 2016.

I'm Tom.

I don't get to close to Nether and give him a distrustful glance because of his obvious attempt to be charming.

This message was deleted by the player at 00:09, Sat 08 Oct 2016.

Mort thanked the green lama, "Thanks for the food and enjoyed the talk, with a bit of luck we will return with the other shoe".

Mort waited his turn to go down the lift. (Since he came up last, guessing he will be the last to be let down.

Elwood notices Tom's scowl when he gets to the bottom of the lift, but approaches the stranger anyway, holding out the basket of foodstuffs. "Howdy. The monks asked me to give this to you. I assume that means they don't intend to let you up."

"Tom, a man few words it seems. Very good to make your...acquaintance. And it seems as though you are not alone - how fortunate. These crypts look downright dreadful."
Nether accepts the basket with another slight nod.
"Why thank you. Yes the monks and I have made our introductions some time ago, I am surprise that they knew that I had returned. As far as letting me up there...heh. Well, that's a story for another time. I'm not sure if you heard the rousing conversation between the eloquently spoken Tom and myself, but I am Nether. Very good to meet you and your friends."
Nether offers another very charming smile to the rest of the group coming down the elevator, again making minor adjustments to clothing that does not need adjusting.
"Say, I don't suppose you would care for the company of one such as myself? I don't have much in the way of valuables but, I'm sure I could make myself useful to you all somehow."
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 12:43, Mon 19 Sept 2016.

Anneth agrees with the Green Lama, that magical items need to be in pairs to work, and agrees to find the other shoe.  She is just as curious as her companions, and ponders what she knows of magical properties of rubies.  She is one of the last people loaded into the basket, and one of many to give Nether a skeptical look.

Mort came down in the basket, "Who's the new guy?.  He eyed him up and down trying to size him up, "You defiantly not a fighter. Must have something to hide since you hidden under a hood.  I'm Mort."  He extended his large hand to shake, "If your here to help then you'll have no quarrel from me"

Ahh the hood. Always the damn hood.
Nether pulls his hood down, and runs a gloved hand through his long, silver-white hair.
"But where are my manners, you'd think I was some sort of common thug, what with this hood covering my face. My mother would be ashamed of me." Nether flashes another smile, and bows a slight bow to Mort.
"Very good to meet you, Mort. You are right, I am not much of a fighter - at least, I would not like to be on your bad side in a tavern brawl, my very large friend. I am Nether, and I would offer my assistance, if you all would have it."

"Fighters are invaluable when it comes to fighting," Fando quips as he reaches the bottom with Anneth. "Not being a fighter myself, I tend to enjoy the company of sages a bit more."

"Since we don't really know what we are getting into with this crypt... or ruins, or cave... or whatever it is, another pair of hands and eyes will probably be helpful. So, for my part, you are welcome to accompany us."

Elwood feels like it's not his place to bar anyone from joining, being a relatively new member of the group himself. He adjusts his wide brimmed hat, secures his backpack, and looks to the others. "It's a long hike back down the mountain. Are we all ready to head out?"

"I'm ready, no sense wasting time"

"Well. If all of the pleasantries have been exchanged, I am also ready to be off."

You don't have to actually go back down the mountains... you are actually in a range of mountains. For the most part, you've been moving through the valleys between the mountains. The same sort of path will take you to where the old crypt is.

For unknown reasons, the crypt was not built where it would be inaccessible, other than it is off the beaten path, so to speak. Not many folks travel that route, so it was a quite a surprise when someone did stumble on it.


Following the route on the map will get you to the crypt in about 3 hours. Once in the general location, it takes you about another hour to actually find the crypt. It is partially hidden by a rock fall. It clearly couldn't have been built with all the stones in the way, so the rock fall must have occurred some time after that.

It appears to have been built in a cave, or possibly it was carved into the mountain side. The opening has stone uprights and stone lintel across the top.

When you get close enough, you can see that there is an iron-bound stout oak door recessed about 10 feet into the opening. There are carvings on the stone columns and lintel... look to be runes.

There isn't really a path leading up to it, but the strewn rocks have created a run-off for the melting winter snows. It won't require any real climbing to reach the opening, but you'll have to clamber over some of the rocks.

Not wasting any time, Anneth makes her way over the rocks, keeping her eyes out for anything too fishy in the area.  Tombs aside, that is!

Mort will move some of the big rocks out of the way to make room for him to be able to get to the oak door, He sniffs the air that any tell tale signs.  He will take the time to look over the ruins, did they have any sort of pattern?

Nether pulls back his hood, and runs his hand through his long white hair, pushing it out of his face. Stepping over some of the smaller rubble, he goes to investigate the runes as well, inspecting them carefully.