A'kos snorts and spits, his temper showing vile upon his face.

"'Tis where my folks gathered and earned their stripes," replies the Magyar.  "Some years ago we arrived in those heights from the Urals and created the borders of Levedia, sitting between the Khazars to the east and Byzantium to the south and west."

Quiet a moment he continued.

"That was many years ago...it wasn't until much later that the dark shaman brought us low in those mountains, and some years after that that his ankle was pierced by the hatchet of the light..."

Turning he says, "That is a different story...but if we go up there, it will be treacherous."

Jaleh continues to follow on in silence, mainly because she was still getting her mind around that they were following a ball. But, it was magical, so she figured why question it. Actually, she could think of a few reasons to question it, but she wasn't, not yet, and certainly not out loud.

A'kos' story, as short as it was, still took her mind off the ball for a while.

OOC: What is this wooden ball we're following, btw?

"Oh yes, quite" Balthazar says, then wrests his attention away from Dyanna's cleavage and up to the mountains in question.

Loukas catches Balthazar and swallows a guffaw, but does not say anything. He follows the group and the miraculous ball and tries not to focus on the horrors that it could be leading them into.

Dyanna casts phantasmal force on Balthazar: Two horns and a barbed tail coming out of his back side.

Her expression is glib as she rides forward to ride closer to the fore.

Morning finds the ball rolling and the party following once again. It is clear that the ball is heading to the mountains. The party continues to follow and by midday you are deep into the foothills, the terrain gets rougher and hills are becoming mountains.

As you crest the next rise, the southern portion of the mountain chain looms before you. One mountain stands out, spiraling up through the heavens into a vortex of swirling clouds. The shrieking of winds makes it difficult to concentrate. At the base of the mountain you can see a cave mouth. Just then the wooden ball disappears with a loud popping sound.

This mountain is impressive and odd looking. It seems that you should have been able to see it from a further distance but must have not noticed it until the ball brought you fairly close.

It looks like it would be very very hard to climb and the winds whipping around the mountain would be treacherous for anyone attempting to fly.

Dyanna halts and says to the others, "Halt a moment."

Leaping nimbly off her horse she unties a long bundle wrapped in cloth.  Laying the item upon the ground she unties its bindings, then lifts the cloth.  The flash of reflection shows to the others before she leans it up toward her.  Its long side, just shy of two of her strides, is still upon the ground, and she kneels as she stares keenly at her reflection.

"Knew this might come in handy," she murmured to herself, casting her thoughts toward the cave entrance trying to see within.

OOC: She'll scry the entrance and follow along as far as it will allow.

What everyone can see...the cave is set deeply into the mountain. You can barely make out a large iron door that has been bolted into the rock.

What the mirror shows...there seems to be something partially blocking the scrying attempt but a few things do come through. A large boulder above the inside of the door and a flash of a short hairy muzzle, impossible to tell what it is for sure other than it is brown and large...possibly a bear.

Dyanna relays what she sees to the others, "There's a great iron door inset into the cave mouth that appears to be trapped - a large boulder is set above the inside of the door.  We'll have a reception of sorts as well upon entering...something with a short, hairy muzzle awaits."

She then stands, and says, "Stand away from the mirror, if you please."

Holding the mirror on its short side, it comes nearly to her chin, and she holds the face of the mirror away, angling it so that it can reflect as much of the mountain as possible.

"Mirror, tell me of this mount that sits amidst its brethren in the Karpathian Range."

Dyanna's eyes are closed as if she is listening.  Of sudden her eyes open, and she lifts the mirror and carefully wraps it again in cloth, making sure to fasten it securely to her horse before once again addressing the party.

"It seems we're destined to cross paths with princes from each of the elemental planes during our travels," she says with a frown.  "This height that rises before us is being shaped into a fortress by one from the elemental plane of air, a djinni.  He is working very hard to prevent scrying, thus I fear I learned but little as I looked within, but what I did learn gives me some pause."

Taking a moment to collect her thoughts she continues, "He is a wind lord of sorts and controls the air around the mountain.  It would be foolhardy indeed to fly up to the peak, or anywhere about - surely such attempts would end in disaster."

"I also venture that he is one shunned by his own.  I would guess this means that his heart is black, though I cannot say for certain.  His existence here does bring to mind some questions, however, including how he might be shaping this fortress within...seems the wind might carve the face of the mountain to his liking, but he'd need help to form the corridors within."

Looking about she grinned then and said, "Should be fun."

More somberly she finishes her thoughts.

"Carrying my mirror through carven caverns is impractical, yet perhaps our previous adventures have given us a means to battle this being - Balthazar, did the cube foolish Pyotr play with get lost when he was executed?"

Miroslav flashes a worried look when the cube is mentioned but then calms himself. Both Balthazar and Dyanna have proven more capable than the diminutive half man, Pyotr had been.

He loses himself for a moment in thought..."So we have two choices, face the bear behind the door or climb up to meet the Djinni yes?"

he looks up and marvels at the sheer cliffs of the mountain, surely no easy task with the winds and all..."We have no way of knowing where this door leads but clearly the ball has brought us before it...or at least brought us before the mountain. My vote is that we should try and get into the mountain through yonder door. You said the door was trapped and seems to be guarded as well...there must be a reason for this."

Loukas considers the dilemma before them, "I suspect that even if we get through past the traps and bear, which given the skills we have between us should not be too difficult, we may still find ourselves confronting the Djinn. Not that I would seek out that opportunity, but it still seems likely that whomever set all of this us means for it to be as difficult as possible to get wherever it is we are going...

"That said, I agree with our Captain and am prepared to take on whatever traps our opponent has left for us and I daresay that bear meat might make a fine stew."

"We would take a beating on the cliffs," said A'kos, shaking his head dubiously.  "A natural wind could pry us off...I suspect an unnatural one would do quite a bit worse."

Listening to the wind roaring overhead for a moment he finishes, "I'm for going through the door."

"Agreed - but what of our horses?  Should some stay back to form a base camp?"

In reply to Balthazar the Hedonite (msg #63):

"Without mounts we will move more slowly, but shall not immobile... From what we know about what lies before us, I think it would be unwise to separate. Let us leave the horses with food and water and hope they are here when we return. If they are not, we will make do."

A'kos frowns at the suggestion, then offers one of his own.

"Let's assume the cavern within is an antechamber where we can keep our mounts secure from wind, rain and other dangers.  Let us see this bear, and begin our conquest within!"

Miroslav nods in agreement at the words of A'kos. He urges his mount forward and stops just in front of the iron door. After a quick dismount he warily approaches the door but does not touch it."I see no boulder here, it looks like a regular door to me, only iron and larger."

Indeed it does look like a normal door. About 6' wide by 8 ' high. No sign  of a trap but Dyanna scried the trap ont he other side of the door not this one.

Sir Jean dismounted and whispered briefly into Donnerhuf's ear.

He then joined the group before the door.

Loukas took a careful look at the door. Is goal is to not only determine the presence of a trap, but if there's a lock it's complexity.

Balthazar puts his back to the mountainside so that if the door opens and a boulder rolls out, he is safe.

Dyanna also observes from the side, her mouth quirked in a small, mischievous smile at the mage's...caution.

Miroslav looks to Loukas and asks..."Can you see a trap...is there a lock on the door?"

In reply to Miroslav (msg #71):

Loukas shrugs, "I seen no trap, beyond the one that Dyanna has already found. There is a lock, but it is rather simple. Perhaps that is the thinking here: give the thief an easy entry and surprise him with a trap on the other side. Give me a moment and I shall take care of the lock."

Taking out his tools he begins to pick the lock.

Just a few moments go by and a muffled "snick" from inside the door can be heard as the tumblers line up and the door is unlocked. The door opens outward as if it had been wound like a spring, catching Loukas and knocking him to the ground.

A stone as tall and wide as the doorway itself swings down and out of the entrance, Loukas has his wits about him enough to roll out of the way and avoid any damage. The boulder rolls to a stop some ten feet from the door.

From the darkness on the other side of the door a very cranky roar erupts...like a bear but louder.

Rolling out of the way of the trap, Loukas springs to his feet and draws his sword speaking in a low voice, "Our host seems to know of our presence."

Blending into the caverns shadows he begins to move quietly, and carefully, through the doorway keeping his eyes peeled for any further traps.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:41, Thu 12 Aug 2010.