Mara sighs. "I... don't remember much from what I saw out the windows besides it being daytime and that something about what I saw made me "feel" like we are in a city."

T'shock just looks aside.

"Hmm.  That could be good news.  If we're in the same city I'm from it means my friends won't have far to go to find us.  Where were you all living when you were taken and how long ago was it?  I might be able to get a general idea of where we are based on that."

Jake draws up a map of his own using what the girls tell him to look for a pattern, central location, or other clue.

Although each of the girls originally come from completely different places, all of them were taken captive in one city; Hurricane City. A place located about 20 miles from Jake's home and known to have a relatively neutral standing with Jake's Kingdom.

"Chances are we're in Hurricane City.  Which means my friends are about 20 miles away.  But if I can get a message to them, Eli will be able to teleport them here.  Considering Antoinette's special ability, she may already know where we are.  But it's best to not make assumptions.  If we can find some magic components in this place, I can cast a spell that will send a message to my friends with all the clues we've gathered.  If not...  It'll take time to improvise."

Wrashk barges in with a winged white kitty in tow. "Oh look. I brought you all another boy to play with. This doesn't mean Jake is obsolete. Quite the contrary. It just means now he has a boy to play with! UH HUH HUH HUH!"

Raichel says, "What in the..."

Wrashk says, "Yeah... I'm sure his appearance has that effect on people. He's half-angel. Anyway! Have fun, children!" he exits the room and his laughter can be heard all the way down the hall as he leaves.

Raichel rushes to the half-angel. Keeping an eye on the door, she hugs him. "Daddy?" she says quietly. "Is that you?"

The winged kitty looks back at her and says, "...yes. That man is unlocking the secrets to eternal life... and I am, like I'm guessing you all are, just one of his experiments."

Jake stares wide-eyed, gawking at this latest development.  An age regressed half angel?  Is the dad of a maybe demigod?  And he's a helpless guinea pig for an immortality experiment?  Jake is feeling increasingly out of place.  What use is a young human artificer?  And why hasn't he been experimented on yet?...  Wrashk knows all about Jake's friends...

"I'm bait!" Jake blurts out, looking panicked, "That's why I was taken even though I'm the least important among my friends!  Wrashk knows exactly what he's up against and has prepared a trap for them!"

He stares in wild-eyed horror as it dawns on him that if even a half-angel father of a girl saturated in deific power was unable to keep from being captured, his loved ones have little chance.  Tears of rage and despair pour down his face when he imagines the horrible experiments Antoinette will be subjected to.  He falls to his knees and weeps bitterly.

Timothius grabs hold of Jake to pull him into the hug. "Shh... take heart. Wrashk is clever and pretty powerful, but he isn't as powerful as he lets on." When his finger runs along Jake's cheek to dry his tears, Jake can feel the goodness and pleasant feelings flow through him. "He told the truth, I am half-angel. But by leaving it to your imagination, he is trying to get you to imagine the worst."

T'shock slams her fist into her hand. "That's right! Remember: Wrashk's favorite pastime is the suffering of others."

Serenity says, "So let's stay focused. If you are bait, Jake, we need to get you out of here sooner than later."

At first Jake blushes at being treated like a crybaby by the young looking angel-kitten, then cuppycakes at his magical touch.  He squirms uncomfortably, looking aside, then hardens his face to stop crying.

"You're right.  He wouldn't need a hideout if he were invincible."

He takes a deep breath to calm himself then looks over to Timothius.

"Do you have telepathy or some other means of warning people against this trap?  Any other powers or skills that could help us escape or get word out?"

Timothius says, "I do not. But I tend to be a very cautious person. So I had the foresight to tell some friends where I was going and we have a pretty strict rule to check in with each other every hour. I also had a magic item that activates if I get knocked out. It leaves an invisible magical trail that my friends know how to follow. That said, there is no guarantee they will be here today."

Raichel says, "Oh yeah... I forgot about that. Gosh, dad... I always thought that stuff was overcautious."

T'shock says, "Still weird seeing you call him dad when he looks our age."

Timothius says, "I'm sure this youthful appearance will wear off, or else Wrashk would be a lot more happy and going on about his success."

Serenity says, "Still need to get out of here sooner if we can."

Jake looks impressed.

"Wow.  That's great!  I'd sure like to get that magic item formula.  Sure am glad you took those precautions."

He nods to Serenity.  "Yeah."

He fills Timothius in on what he's gathered so far. "What I had in mind was to raid Wrashk's ritual component stores to perform a ritual to warn my friends.  Two of whom are half-gods.  Maybe my friends can help yours rescue us."

Timothius says, "Maybe..." he heads to the door and listens.

He then looks back and nods. Mara turns into a puddle and slips under the door before unlocking it from the outside and letting the others out into a hallway. T'shock then takes point.

The route Mara mentioned goes the way she described. While the group has no luck finding much residium, Jake does find a "Send Message" scroll.

Jake was frustrated at the lack of residium but looks relieved at finding the scroll.

"Thank goodness!  Now let's figure out excactly what to put on the message.  I've already figured what I'd like my friends to know, one of whom is a wizard and can magically communicate with your friends once he knows about them, so we can inform both sets of people with one message."

Once Timothius works out what else he wants included in the message, Jake performs the ritual.

After the message is sent, the group is able to continue on all the way to the room Mara described that has windows and various men sitting around. It looks a lot like a tavern. T'shock looks about ready to charge in recklessly, but Timothius holds her close and pets her.

Jake has his fist to his mount in thought and scrutinizes everything he sees, hears, smells, and so on, in search of clues on how to escape and commits it to memory.  He then looks to the others and nudges his head before sneaking back to where it's safe to talk.  When everyone's present, he'll go over what everyone observed in cased he missed anything then tries to think up an escape plan.

Everyone saw pretty much the same thing. Clair smelled something was off and eventually figures it out; Those were not real people. They had no scent.

Mara says, "It was an illusion! It wasn't real!" She isn't yelling so much as emphatic.

T'shock says, "So do we just charge through? If they are illusions, maybe they are merely 'scarecrows' meant to keep us from attempting escape."

Jake thinks on it.  "I'm guessing it's a trap.  If the idea were to disguise his hideout, an illusion wouldn't work for very long.  People from the outside would notice that the business has nothing real to sell, that none of the fake people ever go home, and so on.  Or...  Maybe all those fake people are constructs.  That would work for serving real drinks to the occasional real flesh-and-blood customer.  And it fits that they have no scent.

"Either way, sneaking out is probably the best bet."

He looks to Timothius, "Thoughts?"

Timothius says, "Let's sneak as far as possible and then make a break for it."

Sneaking gets the group to the door and then... the people in the room still don't notice! When Jake and friends exit the door, they see a quiet town. Like some nuclear test sight or something. Not that such things exist, of course, but still.

Raichel blurts out the obvious. "...creepy."

Jake was nervous about the plan but couldn't think of anything better and time was running out.  Worth the risk of triggering a trap.  Good chance at someone getting out to warn the local guard even if a trap triggers.

And then...  Empty town.

"Creepy is right.  What is this place?  What happened to all the people."

He half expects Wrashk to show up slow clapping and bragging about what terrible fate befell the town.

Wrashk shows up slow-clapping. "Congratulations for making it this far, uh-huh-huhhuuuuh.... but as you can see, it was all for nothing. See, this town is a fake town. A place of my own making. Your friends can't make it here... this is a pocket dimention."

T'shock yells, "You're bluffing!" and flaps her wings to charge at Wrashk!

Jake face-palmed at the appearance of Wrashk.  Sometimes he hates being right.

A pocket dimension?!  Sure that would make sense for preventing escape.  But it doesn't look like what he's read about pocket dimensions.   It all seems so... terrestrial?  And why bother with the illusory patrons to a fake bar?  Why bother with the inconvenient layout of a multi-tier basement?  Why only a slight magical aura he detected earlier?

This Wrashk could be an illusion!  It automatically appears to discourage escapees!  If they believe the illusion to be real...  Then T'Shock as quick as thought, said, "No it's bloody not!"

Jake half wonders if she's smarter than she lets on.  He casts an artificer infusion on her to shield her and make her tougher then readies an attack for the moment she gets close enough to Wrashk.  Just in case.

Wrashk just keeps that smile of his. When T'shock charges right through him, proving him an illusion, he vanishes. "....OK, didn't expect that." T'shock admits.

Timothius looks around. "Was he telling the truth? I guess the only way to know is to try leaving town."

Jake sweatdrops.  "Then that was very brave of you, T'Shock."

He takes another look around.  "I doubt it.  None of the clues add up to 'pocket dimension.'  Which way should we go, though?  I'll need some landmarks to get my bearings.  Can you fly?  If so, maybe you can get a better view of the lay of the land."

Timothius nods. "I can..."

T'shock says, "So can I."

The two winged kids fly up into the sky and begin surveying...

Serenity looks over at Jake and says with a smile, "She's pretty cool, isn't she?"

"Thanks."

Jake nods to Serenity.  "Yes.  Yes she is indeed.  You all are.  I wish I could have met you under better circumstances.  Hopefully when this is all over we can have a nice picnic.  I'll be happy to introduce you to my sister and my friends.  They're all great people I'd love for you to meet.  And I'm sure they'd love to be your friends."

Timothius and T'shock return, landing. Timothius says, "This place is rather barren. Wrashk has set this place up in the middle of some kind of rocky wasteland."

T'shock says, "And that's all there is. Rocks, rocks, and more rocks. I didn't see anything I could point out as something to look for."

Raichel says, "What if it's an illusion? Let's try to get to a goal and if we can, we'll know this place is actually in some secluded area..."