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.