"It was wrong. And what would you have them do instead, stand idly by while you stood beside their enemy? Think so little of you as a warrior that those you choose to protect are beneath their notice? Or would you rather they respect someone that has betrayed them?"

Ilsa was getting confused. She didn't know what Shirok was trying to explain. What else did he want from her? "If they attacked you, I would defend you. I thought the child was a shaman who needed protection. You cannot say I did wrong."

Although Roth may be interested in seeing Blanka again, a stop at Blackstone Church was the last thing on his mind at the moment, and so he made his way directly to Silvervine Tower, taking any shortcuts he knew.

"Forget about what you did, Ilsa. Think about why you did it. Think about the way every one of your allies told you were wrong, and you still assumed that you were right. Think about the way you did not think.

"Nothing happens without a reason, Ilsa. The trees do not grow away from the sun, the wolf does not kill unless it must eat. There is no fault in what you did. There is no fault in being tricked. The fault lies in refusing to look for the truth."

Beginning to grow fond of Stan and Roth (and having no where else to go) Porto follows them wherever they go.

"I tried to stop the fight. I tried to listen to you. But Neya was attacking. And Roth too. He said nothing. The others were not there. I told him to stop. The boy cried out for help." Ilsa's voice was cracking. It was clear that in the chaos of the melee she was trying to process too much. "I did what I was taught to do.... but I did not attack you." No longer able to face Shirok, she turned and retreated to the other side of the room. She was either going to break down and cry or break something. Perhaps both.

Shirok's shoulders slumped slightly as she turned away, the anger in his face fading. He'd gone too far. He opened his mouth to speak, but stopped when Neya nudged his leg. The she-wolf looked up at him and seemed to nod slightly before stepping forward, as if to say "You're done. My turn."

Neya waited until she was behind Ilsa before barking twice, all the warning she gave before suddenly leaping at the barbarian.

Neya "attacks" Ilsa to start a grapple. (atk 22, grapple 29) Provokes AoO from Ilsa if she notices in time.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:12, Sat 19 Dec 2009.

Ilsa turned around just in time to brace against Neya's leap. She feel back onto the floor with the she-wolf on her chest. Within moments, Ilsa had her forearm in Neya's grip and the two were play-wrestling the ground. Both were growling and being fairly rough, but not enough to do permanent damage. Knowing she had some payback coming, Ilsa let Neya "win" and even get a few good nips and scrapes in to make her point.

Neya barked happily as she sat upon Ilsa's chest, hopping off with her tail wagging to let the barbarian stand back up. Shirok stood as well from the rubble he had been sitting on, a faint smile on his face as well. "We should return to the church," he said, in a voice that suggested the whole argument was forgotten. "Bornegar had taken the druidess' body there, so we are most likely to find him there."

Ilsa pulled herself up. "Do we have to? I mean right away. We can stay here and be safe. Alone. For a little while." She walked up to Shirok, looking him up and down, and grinning hungrily.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:56, Sun 20 Dec 2009.

Shirok blinked slightly in surprise before his own smile grew. "I suppose not," he said as he approached her, Neya taking the opportunity to quietly slink out of the room, making herself scarce.

Fade to Black

OOC:Saw that coming

Porto, Roth, & Stan—
The three companions race through the ruined district of Godsgate, thinking only of making it to Silvervine.  Having never been there before, Porto asks the others about it; his most pressing question being what exactly a Silvervine is.  Upon hearing the explanation, the portly halfling skips on with renewed vigor, hoping their hostess was really as pleasant as Roth and Stan had made her out to be.
Roth leads the trio along a series of short-cuts, but before too long they find themselves a little lost.  One of the platforms had been missing, and the route they took earlier yesterday morning was now impassable.  Fearing another had fallen, Roth quickly scans the skies.  Certainly they’d have heard an entire platform if it came crashing down; and those in the streets seemed, although a bit groggy in the early hours of the morning, casual and unaware a platform was missing.
It only takes the elf’s keen eyes a moment to spy the wayward platform, and he is a bit relieved to find it still aloft—although it’s new position in the skies above Skyway troubled the him greatly.  In fact, the more he looked at the floating districts, he began to realize that many were out of place.  Perhaps some kind of resolution to avoid another mishap?  Certainly moving platforms would take a great deal of time in planning and manpower.  He cast the thoughts from his mind for the time being and set about finding another route to Silvervine.
“Halt!  State your name and business here,” the strange-looking construct demanded as the party found itself outside House Silvervine.  The mass of wood and granite appeared more an automaton than solid statue made to serve the powerful wizardess.  Its movements seem more fluid than that of a clumsy construct-guardian.  And this one wielded a halberd, and carried the weapon as if it knew very well how to use it.

---

Ilsa & Shirok—
Fading to black

"Bloody temporal distortions." muttered the wizard under his breath. He had his own theories about the platforms; theories which meant even seeing Kaele might not be an easy task.

When the trio arrived at House Silvervine, Stan gave a late-me-handle this wink to his two companions. If not competent, he was at least feeling confident.

"I am Stan Fetchin, a prefect of Arcanus-Tirith. These two are with me - a scribe and a traveling minstrel, as you will well note. We have business with your master."
This message was last edited by the player at 18:02, Mon 21 Dec 2009.

Porto, Roth, & Stan-
“Fletchin… I believe Mistress Kaele has been waiting for your party for some time now.  Please follow me,” the sentry replies in a strangely mechanical voice.  The trio follows it inside and he leaves them in the foyer to announce their arrival.  A short while later Kaele herself returns, a look of utter confusion adorning her usually pleasant features.
“…Stan, was it?” she asks, her voice soft and bewildered.  Her gaze is hard and unforgiving, but after a brief moment she nods and offers the wizard a warm smile.  “It is you!  And Roth?” she beams as she nods to the younger elf standing just behind him.  “I was worried I had sent you to your deaths!  Please, come in and talk with me!  Oh, I’m so relieved!” she cries, her voice emotionally charged.
“There were more of you,” she says after you’ve followed her into a private sitting room, “Have they fallen?  And why has it taken so long—you don’t look a day older than you had those years ago.  And who is your friend, I don’t recall him from before?”
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:27, Mon 21 Dec 2009.

Roth, concerned over all the changes he's been seeing and Kaele's reaction, asks before he answers, "...How long has it been?"  He quickly explains, "We didn't realize it immediately, but time seemed to be distorted inside the fallen tower ... I really don't know exactly how, either.  Abigail fell, and Bornegar took her body to Blackstone Church.  When we found the one responsible for stealing your urn, the orc turned on us."  Roth shook his head and added, "Everything we discovered only led to more questions."

Ilsa bit Shirok on the chest one more time before standing up. She slowly put on her pants and sweat-stained shirt. As she pulled on her boots, she asked, "What now? We should claim our reward, but the others..." Shirok had come to understand, or at least accept and move on, but she was doubtful the city-dwellers would.

Porto, Roth, & Stan-
As Kaele listened to Roth, her features become more and more grave.  “It has been well over eighty years,” she says once he has finished.  “I myself have investigated the tower—many times—looking for clues as to what happened to your party; but each time I’ve only see the ruins become more and more forgotten.  It is true some time ago a group of Ravers moved into the ruins, descendants of the original Stone Keepers, and have been working on something strange—but exactly what still eludes me.”
When she hears about Abigail, her gaze falls to the floor.  “I’m sorry,” she says without looking up.  “I didn’t mean for any harm to befall any of you.”  Suddenly, she whips her head up and her eyes bore into Roth’s.  “If your friend brought her from the Glass Tower, Blanka never mentioned to me of their arrival in Blackstone, or their call for need.  If what you say is true regarding the time distortions, they could be there now, or have arrived sometime in the past or maybe future?  In theory, they could still be lost somewhere between dimensions!” she rattles with growing intensity, obviously fearful of the unknown.  She pauses for a brief moment and then bursts into tears.
“I-I’m so sorry.”

"Like I said," Roth agrees, "More and more questions."  He looks almost confused at the lady's crying and assures her, "Abigail never really feared death ... she called it returning to nature.  And I always wanted to know what the future looked like."  He jokes, trying to lighten the mood, but then returns to business and asks, "Who's the First Citizen?"

Kaele nods at Roth’s statement regarding Abigail’s belief in the afterlife, and appears comforted.  When he asks her about the First Citizen, she appears confused as to why he would ask such an off topic question.  “Lord d’Krüpe… Um, Gathorne I believe is his name.  Why do you ask?”

"It's alright Kaele. You couldn't possibly have known anything like this was going to happen. You're not a diviner, are you?"

After a moment to let her collect herself, he continued.

"The man who attacked us in the tower mentioned d'Krüpe being first citizen. That man was strange. Although he appeared as a small boy, it was apparent three or more personalities were sharing the body. He wanted your urn to use in recreating some kind of statue. It's all a bit over my head.

"By the way, has anyone rebuilt my university in the last 80 years?"

"As Stan said ... one of his personalities must be from this time.  I still can't fathom how the Stone Keepers he sent to steal your urn were able to steal it before the plate even fell ... or at what point exactly we went forward in time..."  Roth shakes his head, realizing he's trying to understand too much at once before he adds, "I don't know which personality was which, but one claimed to be researching the fall of the tower for some time, while another claimed to be a leader of a church recognized by d'Krupe, and another ... spoke halfling?"  He turns to look quizzically at Porto.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:54, Tue 22 Dec 2009.

Shirok stood shortly after Ilsa, redressing himself in his increasingly dirty clothes. He was rebuckling the straps of his armor when she spoke. "we will explain why you seemed to turn when we rejoin them," he said after a few moments. "If they are unwilling to forgive, then we shall simply rejoin Bornegar and move on, after we pay our respects to the fallen."

OOC: I guess head to Silvervine.

Ilsa grunted her approval of the plan before hefting her chain shirt up and over her head. Shirok was the only person she trusted without question. She differed to his judgment for their course of action.

Porto, Roth, & Stan—
“A diviner, no,” Kaele replies to Stan.  “I’ve found specializing in one particular school too confining for my tastes, though I do see the obvious benefits of such.”  Her answer and apparent clinginess to Stan’s question betrays her current state of mind.  It is obvious she isn’t comfortable having heard of Abigail’s death, nor of Bornegar and Aigol’s dimensional disappearances.  “A new council was formed a few years after the destruction, and they began accepting students again in 1054.  But the college is only still a sliver of what it once was,” the wizardess seems to be creating an escape for herself; but as she looks back at the three others, and with a heavy sigh, she lets it go.
“More questions,” she says looking to Roth and offering the elf a whimsical smile.  “I’ll do what I can to uncover whatever I can.  In the meantime, you and your party may stay here with me.  Where are the others?  You said the orcs turned on you?” she asks looking once again confused.

---

Ilsa & Shirok—
Ilsa and Shirok attempt to make their way to Silvervine; but quickly find themselves lost on a floating platform high above Godsgate.