"I guess you could use fly to go up very high and try to find areas of rock to move to.  You would have ensure you have a safe destination to go to before leaving an area you think is safe.  Sort of a leap from from lily pond to lily pond, but in this case rock.  But I would think those that have tried to leave here would have done much the same thing and it didn't help them.  But even if you are successful in this way, it does nothing to protect you from the roaming monsters they speak of." Tahldar say in reply to Borimer.

Fingas says, "To travel, we would have to find a very safe place, or clear one out, before we make camp to weather out the dangerous change.  Someplace with rocks, obviously.  If you can fly, that helps you, but you have to come down eventually, right?  And the question is what could you even see since it will be a thick forest covered with an even thicker mist."

"Sounds dangerous, but it must be done.  We'll have to be careful and not go too far from a safe spot as we move.  The last thing I would want is to get caught without a section of bare rock to flee to."

"When do we leave?  The sooner we get this done the better.  I would like return here to rest for a while and study.  And once I feel ready, maybe deal with this dragon once and for all."

"Yes, we'll have to deal with this wyrm sooner or later anyway, whether we want to or not," Borimer said, finishing his meal.

"Is there anything else we can learn from the gnomes before we go?  We need to track down all information we can."  She tries to ask about any other details, landmarks, or tricks of staying alive in this land.

A younger gnome seems to be arguing with the elder for a few moments as you start your planning.  Finally, the elder gnome comes forward and says, "My nephew, Geebo, he say he take you to Tenvillah.  Say he know the way.  Foolish boy.  Too dangerous, I say.  But he say he know and can get you there.  I say okay, but you take good care of him, yes?  He may be foolish young boy not yet in hundredth year, but he my brother's son."

The leader spreads his hand out, indicating the rock.  "Geebo learn magic from Tenvillah many years ago before Tenvillah leave village.  Geebo go out in mist often, knows dangers.  Geebo also have good spells for survive mist.  He make earthsoil rock for to stand on.  Avoid the magic consuming you, it does."

He looks at you expectantly, as if waiting for you to accept Geebo on this trip.  "Geebo not speak too good Ashian Language, but he good boy."
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:17, Thu 15 Feb 2018.

"How many times can he use the magic that makes the soil good to stand on? Or can we all stand safely with one spell? And how long does this magic last?" Borimer didn't like being responsible for a child but was grateful for the help despite his reluctance. "I'm not sure we have a choice but to take the kid if even just for his knowledge of the way to Tenvillah."

is he the nephew or the son?

"We could use the help." Tahldar says in reply to the elder Gnome.  "I don't mind if he comes, but be aware it sounds like the trip will be very dangerous.  I'll do my best to protect him, but I can make no guarantee for his safety."

He tells you that the spell can be used once per day and covers an area about 10 feet by 10 feet.  He urges you to sleep and he will wake you when the mist comes so you can promptly start your journey.

* * *

You are woken early the next morning and start on your way.  You descend from the tiny village on the rocks and into the mist.  The mist itself is a bluish tint, and the leaves ad fronds have a bluish glow as well.

Geebo does not speak much.  His Common (Ashian) is very halted, but he points and leads you with enthusiasm.

Before long, the village is well behind you and lost behind the mist.  The boy leads you along rough trails for awhile--trails that don't last well with the cursed magic.

Then after awhile, you stop to take a break and eat.  The boy points slightly to the left and says, "Cliffs there."  He then points slightly to the right and says, "Mud and stream there.  Easier but take longer."  He looks to you to decide which way to go.

Fingas says, "We must go fast.  I say we take the cliffs.  Battruss won't last too long if we take the safe cowardly way through."

You resupplied at the hut and have about 5 days' food packed away, as well as whatever supplies you wanted to bring.

Borimer misses his wings, "We could fly up the cliffs, or if the spell lasts long enough, I could fly us up the cliff a few at a time. I'm up for trying to go faster, but will do whichever we decide."

"I am loathe to take the cliffs, but the sooner we are on safe land the better.  This place is extremely dangerous and I want nothing more than to be on solid rock."

"We do have access to a large amount of climbing gear. Pitons, rope, grappling hooks, and carabiners as well. I am not skilled in traversing such terrain, so I'll leave that to you big strong manly types," Kahan chuckled, giving them whatever equipment they wanted out of the portable hole or his own equipment stash.

Shae is fairly light footed and trained in scaling cliffs.  She opts for that.  "I can turn into an eagle or bird if needed, so it's not a problem for me."

Your party decides to go toward the cliffs.  It takes awhile to get there, but when you do, you see what was concerning.

First, the cliffs are vertical.  There are vines and plants all the way down, but you don't know exactly what that means in the way of finding purchase for your feet, much less how stable the plants are if you had to hold onto them.  The plants also have that steady glow that you know means danger once the mists clear.

But the other problem is that you can see down the cliff without mist obscuring vision for only about 50 feet.  Beyond that, the mist hides both how far down the cliffs go as well as any potential lurking danger down there.

Geebo leads you to one area where there are long vines.  He tugs on them to show you they can hold substantial weight, and then he throws them over the edge.  "More vines down below.  There is rock ledge we go to.  I never go past ledge before. First time.  Other clansmen try.  None ever return."  To show you he is not afraid, he grabs onto one of the vines and begins shimmying down.

"You follow Geebo, yes?" he says as he descends.  He waits about 5 feet down to make sure you will follow him.  [Note: if you have another idea to go down, he will follow your lead.  He is just showing his bravado, probably to qualm his own fears as well.]

Now that you are out of the mist at the edge of the cliff, you see that there are about two hours left until nightfall, which means not long until the mist dissipates and the danger arrives.

Borimer looks dubiously at the vines and the significantly smaller individual holding one ready to descend. But having no better ideas was normal for the large warrior. He takes hold of a vine and pulls it to test its strength.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:36, Wed 28 Mar 2018.

"Anyone need a spider climb spell?"

OOC:  I will cast spider climb and begin to climb down.  With the spell he won't need the vines to aid him.  If any other party members speak up, Talhdar will cast the spell on them prior to casting on himself.

Shae says, "I will climb down the vines, but if any emergency comes up, I will transform to bird form and try to help.  But as a bird, I won't be able to talk or use my hands or anything like that so I will do my best to avoid that."  Shae then takes hold of a vine to start making her way down.  The half-elf druid is significantly smaller and less weighted down than Borimer.

She jokes to him, "If you fall and I need to help, I'll transform into the largest bird I can, though I can't say if a bird can carry your weight if I have to carry you."

"Well, you could probably carry my weight.  But I could use a spider climb.  I don't quite have the reach as some others might." Leo looks down and doesn't look forward to this prospect.  "I guess climbing down this is better than the alternative." He looks over and makes sure Borimer's tests demonstrate that the vines are strong enough.

"How far down is your Feather Fall effective, Tahldar? If I remember correctly, I still have a usage of that spell stored in my Rod," the priest asks, testing the stability of the vine while he waits for an answer.

"When I cast it my feather fall should last about seven minutes.  At a rate of 120 feet a minute.  The problem is we don't know how far down that goes.  Will the feather fall last long enough is anyone's guess."

"My spider climb lasts twelve minutes and your rate of movement will be faster than feather fall.  If you want that instead."

Borimer shakes his head, "I hope it's a really large bird." He hears the wizard's offer of assistance and finds himself hoping for feathers instead of spiders, "I wouldn't mind one of those spells, thanks."
This message was last edited by the player at 06:58, Sat 31 Mar 2018.

"I can cast the Feather Fall in a matter of seconds, so I can wait until I'm closer to the ground. Feel free to cast it on Borimer. He will be more useful with his feet stuck to the cliff anyway, in case these vines come to life and try to strangle us," the priest responded with a nod. Once they were ready, he headed down after the gnome.

Borimer groans inwardly when he hears his friend's advice, "He's right about keeping my feet planted, go ahead. Give me the spiders..."

The group stands around deciding how to descend and finally decides on spells to help everyone down the cliff face.  Only Shae braves the vines to save a spell.

Geebo marvels at your spell abilities and gratefully takes an offered spell to help him descend.

The spells are cast and just as they are finished and you look over the cliff one final time, a shadow passes over your head.  At first, you think it may be just a cloud, but looking up, you see to your horror that it is the dragon Ozymandius.  He has escaped the tunnel cave in.

Just when you think it may have passed by without noticing you, you see that the dragon starts circling, just as a vulture or hawk might do before swooping down on its prey.  You realize that you stand in one of the few openings in the mist.  From the dragon's perspective, it sees an expanse of mist with few openings, and one of those openings is where you stand.

Ozymandius lets out a shriek from above that pierces the preternatural silence that seems to cover the misty land.



You need no further incentive to descend.  Using the magic cast upon you, everyone starts down and before long disappears from the dragon's view and into the mist.  And you still descend...and descend some more...

Only trees now poke out from the mist as you go down deeper and deeper into the mist.


It is several hudred feet to the bottom of the valley.  You make it there without incident (and quite quickly), thanks to the spells protecting you.

At the bottom, you are greeted with a morbid sight.  Skeletons of gnomish people lay about, probably fifty in all.  Many seem to have fallen from a great height.  They are all grouped around the base of the cliff.  Except for tattered remains of clothes, they do not have any equipment or anything of worth.

You are now deep in the mist again and cannot see far, but one skeleton catches your attention.  It is separate from the rest, about 30 feet away from the base of the cliff.  Upon close examination, you see that the skull and bones to the body are there except for the limbs.  All bones below the hip and all bones extending from the shoulders are gone.

Geebo starts to panic, and begins taking deep breaths.  "What horror is this?" he says.  "What evil?"

The clothes of the dismembered skeleton appear to be of better quality--or at least newer--than those on the other skeletons.  His shirt is buttoned and still intact, and about five feet away from him is a bronze shield that has been broken in half by some great force.
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:06, Sat 14 Apr 2018.

"We must continue, find shelter...or a better place to fight," Borimer said, gripping the ivory pommel of the Godkiller. He felt bad for the gnome's dead kin, but the wyrm was alive and hunting those who still lived. "We must continue."