So, Amara leads Dwight up the road and back to the party. A couple of them give looks of disapproval with the horses that Dwight brought along as they continue to have their lunch.

In reply to Big Boss (msg # 1):

Byron just shrugs his shoulders.  He knows that he unintentionally brought more trouble to Dwight than the guy deserves.  He also knows that even if he killed the one idiot attacking him right in front of Centauri it would make no difference in whatever is going to happen next.

Roen looked over Dwight,

"Looks like your wounds healed up nicely. I'm glad you decided to leave that place after Twiggy here filled you in on what was happening. But, I'm hoping trouble doesn't follow us over the horses we left behind that you decided to take. We did that so those ruffians wouldn't come after us after we left this morning."

Dwight seemed to be a bit embarrassed that somebody was paying such close attention to him and ignored the comments about his well being. But, when it came to the horses, he spoke quickly,

"Like I was saying to her before," Dwight pointed to Amara "Those DipS***s won't go to Soubar and nobody is going to care about some murdering piece of S**t or his horse. So, I see it as payment to me for losing my property."

Byron turns to look at Roen.

Let it go Roen,  If I hadn't been there when you guys broke up the fight between the first group of idiots and Dwight he might not be in this position now.  My presence there is just as much responsible for him losing the farm as his own past deeds are.

Byron turns to Dwight and continues in his calm voice.

There are just fights and then there are garbage fights.  The first one you were in falls in to the I don't know which category.  The second one you got caught up in falls into the second category.  The only chance they would have against us is for all of us to have been asleep when they decided to try and burn down the barn.   I'm not going to hold your past against you because you can see for yourself how others who are considered to be bad or evil aren't.  So keep that in mind as you try to start a new life.

Dwight doesn't say anything after that. He just sits there and waits for your lunch to be over. But, something strange happens. Shannon, the normally Haughty Lynx who thinks you're either food, or a servant to her, walks over to Dwight and sniffs him. Dwight, in return, gives Shannon some scratchies on the head and neck and near the tail and the Lynx likes it. She actually leans into it and Myarra swears Shannon purred for a moment....

Myarra frowns at her familiar. Shannon could definitely do better than this addlepatted dunderwhelp. But she also knows better than to expect a cat to do anything other than what it wants to do.

"Listen, you никчёмный мешок человеческой кожи, just because you think you know something, doesn't mean you do.  Especially given the boneheaded moves you've made since we were unlucky enough to cross paths with you.

For some unfathomable reason, Shannon has taken a liking to you. Which means I'm obligated to protect you. But don't think for a second I'm the simpering doe-eyed девственница you're used to preying on.

Centauri hates us, and he has good reason to. He wants us dead. So he will gladly send assassins to Soubar to kill us and anyone with us. And while I doubt he cares about his men, carrying off his horses is just the kind of thing to put you on his to-be-dealt-with list.

This is the big world now and the rules are different.  Work with us and we'll help you survive.

And, just for you to keep in mind, if you do anything stupid that gets Shannon hurt, I'll personally flay you alive and nurse her back to health with boiled Dwight intestine stew.

And before you think of smarting off to me, look me in the eye and ask yourself if I'm kidding."

Taking 10 on intimidation gives her a 20. She's not kidding and Dwight really ought to have reason to believe her.  She has no interest in making friends with him, but she does expect him to take things seriously if he would like her to be an ally.

At first, Dwight was sitting there with an actual smile on his face petting the Lynx, for he'd never petted one before and it made him happy. When Myarra started talking, Dwight honestly thought she was talking to the Lynx at first and then he realized who she was really talking to. With a bit of effort, Dwight got up to his feet with some effort, for he was a bit over weight and leaning on one leg over another. His look went from happy to angry in about 2 seconds and several of you thought there was going to be a fight, but Dwight never put his hands up. His fists were balled up, but they were at his sides. He was holding his own towards Myarra, but it quickly dwindled down to nothing with her Dominating Attitude. He soon looked away and picked up his pack as he spit on the ground,

"F**k You. You don't know S**t." as he limped over and got on his horse with some difficulty

Do what you want.  However, you might want to stop and think for a moment that maybe we know more than you with what Centauri is capable of.  One of those things is his reach goes a lot further than you think it does.

Twiggy just sits and listens as he lays back on Fitz feeding him straps of dried meat. He really doesn't care if Dwight stays or goes.

Roen put his hands up and approached Dwight in a non threatening manner. He considered himself a Diplomat of sorts and this needed the right words.

"We got one side of the story with those men who beat you up and left you in a ditch. Would you be willing to tell us your side of the story? I actually care."

18:31, Today: Roenthelm rolled 24 using 1d20+17.  Diplomacy.

"I don't give a rat's ass about Centauri! That man rules Triel with an iron grip!" Dwight said, obviously upset "But, I will not be labeled as someone who takes advantage of young girls, as she suggests." Dwight points to Myarra "Bella reminded me of my younger sister who died long ago, so before you all make assumptions, you should wonder if it's going to make an ass out of you first before opening your F*****g mouth."

And with that, Dwight rides off with his horses....

OoC: Sorry for being slow the last few days - had to get a new computer...

"I care about you only so much as I care for any intelligent humanoid. I don't know you well enough to care about you other than that. But I do believe that every intelligent humanoid deserves both a chance and, when necessary, a second chance. Anything more, well, I'd have to know you better to make any judgement." Amara explained as she brought Dwight back to the party.

***

Amara sighed as Dwight rode off, shaking her head. "Myarra, you know you catch more locusts with honey than vinegar - why do you always prefer vinegar?"

She tried to determine if it was better to go after Dwight or to let him go.

Byron calls out to Dwight in a calm but stern and friendly warning.

Maybe so, but if the guys kicking your butt talk Centauri into sending anyone after you, just know his reach if further than you think it is.  Good luck to you.

Wow, he's a bit rough around the edges. Reminds me of my sailor days.

Twiggy takes out his flask and takes a swig as he still lays back on Fitz. Dwight just sounds bitter because he isn't in Centari's circle. If he was, Dwight would be just like those thugs.

"Look at things from his point of view. He just found a home - and we made it too dangerous for him to stay. We repeated the accusations of him molesting someone and indicated he is a horse thief. Not exactly the way to make friends." Amara said to the party.

"I would have to agree. I asked him if he would like to tell us what happened, but he, well, you saw. He was highly upset."

Dwight rides off up the road with the rest of the horses and leaves you to the rest of your lunch. By the time you all head out again, he has at least 45 minutes head start with faster, unencumbered horses. The weather is beautiful and the rest of the day is uneventful. You camp off the side of the road and set your guard shifts, but the night is also uneventful.

Miles traveled: 32. Miles to go to get to Soubar: 40

Today, you don't see much until late afternoon, when you start coming into the farming communities about 10 miles from Soubar. Farmers in carts travel from here to there and when asked if they'd seen a man guiding several horses to town, nobody has seen him or paid any attention to it because they see people taking horses from farm to farm all the time. When you make camp, you pay a farmer a couple silver pieces to set up your stuff under a tree on his property near the road. Except for a couple riders returning home from town late at night, your shifts are uneventful.

Miles traveled: 32. Miles to go to get to Soubar: 8

8 more miles to Soubar. What is the party's plans? Go into town? Go to Byron's family farm? Continue up the trail to Daak?

Twiggy sets up for the night by brushing Fitz and feeding him before settling in "I need to stop by Aki's Mercantile to sell my mithril shield and buy that hammer sphere. Once I do that I am good. I wonder if Nolan is finished with his work?"

"I sure hope so. We really need to go to the mines to help out all those poor souls."

You should probably tell Aki that his workers are dead and we killed the Trolls. We should also be on the look out for those bounty hunters and Byron should stay away from his parent's farm for awhile.

I'll make sure Amos lets my parents know what's going on with Centauri.  There's nothing else I can think of that I need Soubar.  So the sooner we get back to the tower in Daak, the better I will feel.

I just don't like being followed or spied on and the last thing we need is the Centauri's or any of these bounty hunters knowing who Byron's parents are. So, when we get to town, I think we should make our visit brief, get what we need, say what we need to say, and then go back to the tower.

Amara nodded, repeating what Vernon said when necessary, and adding, "I agree. Let's try to keep this brief. Twiggy, I'll go with you to Aki's."

The party doesn't have any trouble getting to Soubar. They encounter other farmers going here and there, and Merchants heading out of town. You reach the gates to the town and they are closed with 8 guards outside keeping guard while letting people in and out. You don't have any problems getting inside, but you find out that there was a Green Dragon attack that wiped out a group of Bounty Hunters heading towards the small village of Daak. Only one made it back here to tell the tale and he is recovering in town somewhere. That's why the town is on high alert.

This is actually Vernon's first trip to Soubar in many years. The last time he was here was when he was actually alive.

"Oi. I haven't been 'ere in a long time. You all been here one person or another, but not me. Nothing changed here. Still a quiet little place." Vernon noted as the party walked through town

Twiggy nods "Boring is good sometimes. We will know quickly if Centari's men come through. Do we want to split up to go to Aki's and Amos's or stick together. Either way people will notice."

"I think we'll be fine inside town with the gates locked. People are worried because of the Dragon attack, so we should be able to do things quickly and then get out again. I suggest meeting at the fountain."

Kalliyan stays out of town and under a tree with Raieylan, as the rest of the party went inside and split up to hurry to get things done. Twiggy, Amara and Roenthelm went to Aki's shop, taking note the local Stable has 6 more horses in there, while Byron, Myarra and Aliana went to Amos' shop so Byron could have Amos deliver a message to his family so nobody could follow Byron home. While Byron was there, he delivered the Book that Farooj gave Byron in Elturel.

Amos was tidying up his shop when Byron, Myarra and Aliana walked inside and was overjoyed that Byron delivered the book.

"So good to see you again Lad, and thanks for getting the book for me." Amos said as he gave Byron a mighty handshake and waved to the girls "You guys were gone quite awhile. You run into trouble? You probably heard we had Green Dragon problems again. Some of those Bounty Hunter got hit hard in their camp."

Twiggy, Amara and Roenthelm had to wait a few minutes for the customers to finish their business before Aki could close and lock the door so he could talk with you.

"I was wondering where you went. My informants tell me my camp has been wiped out. Are you all OK? What happened?"

You are welcome for the book.  We don't have a lot of time and I need a favor from you please?

Byron pauses a moment before continuing.

Seems a certain annoying ruler is trying to extend his reach and isn't so happy with my reply to that.  So if you could make sure my family knows that I'm safe and they should be careful.  I'd stop to tell them myself, but that might draw more attention to them than they need.

Byron looks around the shop.

I see you have been doing pretty well.  If we acquire anything I know you will be interested in that we do not need I'll be sure to stop by and talk to you about it.

Vernon noticed the extra horses in the stable.

Looks like Dwight made it here OK.

Twiggy takes his large mithral shield off of Fitz and carries it in. He casually looks around until Aki locks the door and begins telling the tale. "It has been an interesting time since we saw you last. We went hunting the undead and to check on your digging crew but only found their camp. Getting closer to Troll's Hill we found out why it was named that and fought multiple trolls before encountering a armored troll and their master a vampire. We was very lucky and killed the vampire quickly with a disruption weapon but the aromred troll took more to take down.

We did finally bring all of them down and found the vampire was feeding on people the trolls brought in, most probably your crew too. We found a restless soul that was a merchant in life that couldn't rest until his bones was buried with his family so we took a detour to do that. If anyone from Soubar comes looking for us tell them we was just passing through.

So now you are caught up, do you want to buy this large mithril shield and I need to buy the hammersphere.

This message was last edited by the player at 14:39, Wed 11 Oct 2023.

Aki seems to be truly upset that his friends and workers were killed and thanks the 3 of you for the party's assistance.

"I'll trade you even for the Hammer Sphere. You all have done me a great service and I hope you can keep this incident between the two of us."

Aki takes the Shield and places it on the wall and then gives Twiggy the Hammer Sphere

"The activation word is Malleus."

Twiggy nods "We will keep it between us. Thank you for the trade, it will come in useful. We are sorry for the loss of your crew. The Troll Hills are clear for now, but never takes long for them to come back. The network of caves in the hills is to enticing."

"Aye....we been feuding with Triel for decades and it only got worse since the Centauri's took the place over, so don't worry about attracting attention to your family. I got that covered."

With Byron mentioning his merchandise, Amos smiles,

"Bounty hunters buy this and that, which pays the bills. The rest is all profit for when I retire. You try out that Hammer yet?"

"But, with the Vampire gone, the Trolls won't be as organized as they were before. I'm assuming you all found treasures?"

Twiggy nods"That is true, we hope. We don't know how long the vampire has been there but by the amount of human bones it must have been years if not decades.

We did find treasure, alot was fine merchants goods. The limited magical stuff we took off the dead was sold to Farooj in Elturel. We would have sold the items to you but Farooj had items we need to destroy powerful undead. I had just enough money left to sell my shield and buy the hammersphere."

 
This message was last edited by the player at 23:03, Wed 11 Oct 2023.

Byron replies to Amos' question with a big smile.

Oh yes, it worked better than I expected and I have to thank you for teaching me to use a variety of weapons instead of just one specific sword.

Myarra takes her time looking around the shop. She doesn't have plans to buy anything, but she still enjoys browsing.

"We heard about the dragon on our way in," she says with a shrug. "One big monster wiping out a bunch of little monsters.  Sounds like karma to me."
This message was last edited by the player at 01:59, Fri 13 Oct 2023.

"I am sorry, Aki. They were dead before we got there. We did everything that we could. And yes, until something else makes the area it's haunt, I doubt the evil will be organized - but it will still be dangerous." Amara added. She was truly sorry.

"I thank you for the kind words. You don't know how much it means to me." Aki said to the 3 of you "Please forgive me, but I need to contact a lot of families to tell them the news and I have a bottle waiting for me in the back. I hope you understand. You guys have been more than customers to me. Please come back to see me in a few days. I should be ok by then. Right now, I'm getting drunk."

"And here you just wanted the biggest sword you could swing. Where is your Great Sword anyways? I see it's not on you? You leave it on Charger?"



"I just hope the dragon doesn't come here." Amos said before noticing Shannon "Nice Lynx. What's her name?"

Amos crouched down and stuck out his hand for Shannon to sniff, but Amos could tell right away that Shannon had no interest. "Cats. They either like you, or they don't. Most of the time it's "Don't"." Amos chuckled

Amos looked at Roenthelm next, "The image on your Wanted Poster is very close. You don't look like much. What could you have possibly done to make somebody pissed off enough to put you on one?"

Amara hesitated. "Do you want company?" Some people felt better with company, some don't...

Nolan has it for safe keeping at the moment. Roen is guilty by associating with me.

"I helped a young man pay off his debt to Pervis Centauri and I guess I'm a disrupter of the peace because people need to keep owing the Centauri's money." Roen explained "Then I went around town and spoke to people who owe money to the Centauri's and gave them the money they needed to clear their debts. The Centauri's were upset about it and now I'm a wanted criminal."

Sister Aliana chuckled wryly
"Just goes to show that everything is relative"

"I doubt the dragon would attack a city.  Far too many guards compared to a hive of scum and villainy like a mercenary camp. Although, now that I say it out loud, it's possible I'm a bit biased against kidnappers, slavers, and traffickers."

She pauses for a second before shaking her head.  "Nope, they all deserve to choke to death. Or burn, or freeze ... whatever the dragon brings to the party."

But her grim expression quickly turns to a smile when he compliments Shannon.  "This is Shannon, my third heart.  Don't take it personally, she's my familiar and I still she's still deciding if she likes me.

As for Roen, I think we're all going to end up on posters. We've given Centauri a wedgie, a swirly, and boxed his ears. He's a might upset with us.  And, while I swear we have no intention of harming him directly, when we're done with him his criminal cohorts might just do it for us. In the meantime, the bounty hunters had better hope they face a dragon compared to what I'll do to them."

She leans over and gently scritches Shannon's head.  "Isn't that right, princess?  Mommy isn't someone you want to cross if you enjoy having your personal appendages attached in the same places they were in when you were born.  Have you ever seen a dickcorn? It's hilarious. All you need is a sharp knife, a needle, and some thread.  And the magic words Sliceo Changeo!"

Kali, walking outside on her own looked around at the town, letting the others speak to the shop keppers. In truth she was getting bored by the notion, and with a sigh, walked in and came up to Myarra and Byron. She nodded to Aric with a smile, then looked at Byron.

"Your not over stretching again, are you Byron?" Shew looked at Aric with a smile. "Seems everytime he see's you he wants a new toy, though i cannot deny you do have the best" She pat the scimitar at her side that she purchased from the man.

---

<OOC: Sorry for my absence uyts - i've been moving house and unpacking - very time consuming work.>

It took Aki several seconds to reply and then his reply was soft and full of sorrow,

"I really appreciate the offer, but..." as Aki shook his head No

"Nolan is a strange one. He's been at that Wizard Tower for as long as I can remember. He's a good man to have as an ally and I'm sure your friend Roen here is as well."



"Oh, I'll bet that pissed him off to no end. Taking away a man's wealth tends to upset him a bit. I can't wait to hear more stories about that."



"Cat's are always like that. One moment they be all lovey-dovey, the next they be clawing your hand off!" Amos laughed



"I'll admit that I'm the best in town, but I know there are other places that put me to shame."

"Anyways, I've got work to do and I'll make sure somebody goes out to the farm, Byron. You guys get on out of here and finish that mission so I can choose the treasure before I grow old. Use that hammer on that thing and free those people."

"I don't help the citizens of Triel to make the Centauri's upset and to give you a good story, Sir. I help the citizens because it's the right thing to do. The reason why the Centauri's are getting away with it is because Good people are doing nothing. That's where we all come in. We're going to change that."

After Amos bids them farewell, Roen bows and goes outside, "I'll meet you all at the fountain, in case you have some last minute purchasing you wish to do."

Amara nodded to Aki, "As you wish." She turned to go.

Byron smiles at Kali's comments.

No, I haven't this time.

Byron turns to Amos.

Thanks,  We will keep in touch with you.

Byron follows the others out and heads toward the fountain with Roen.

Don't worry about him, Amara. He's a Rogue with secrets. Sure, he probably cared for some of those that died, but he's making arrangements to get people back to that camp while it's empty, not making any money. But, I did see him hesitate, so I know he likes you. Hell, I think every male like you, even the funny ones, along with some other girls I once knew.

Twiggy nods "I understand, reach out if you need anything. We will be at the tower for a bit." With that Twiggy headed outside understanding wanting to get drunk alone and think.

Byron, Kalliyan, Myarra and Roenthelm leave Amos' shop and head over to the Town Fountain. Upon arriving there, you see women washing clothes and kids playing in the water. Myarra looks for Amanda, but doesn't see her. Myarra figures she's probably doing chores or maybe starting school. Despite the town being on a Dragon alert, things seem to be normal around Soubar. Even the weird trash cleaning guy is sweeping up his little bits of nothing.

Amara, Aliana, Twiggy and Vernon leave Aki to his bottle, so he could grieve over his friends that died. They walk down the street to the fountain and see that Byron, Kalliyan, Myarra and Roenthelm are already there waiting. Upon arrival, Vernon freaks out !!

Vernon saw the sweeping trash man and yelled out in surprise!

"Alek! Alek! He can't see me!" Vernon said as he waved his hands in front of the trash man "Twiggy! Amara! This man is Alek! He's my brother!"

Twiggy gives a confused look to Vernon and asks him "Would you like to talk to him then? We probably talk him into wearing the ring for a bit. Copper can be very persuasive."

Aliana looked at Twiggy with a curious expression, clueless about what was happening

"You know, I don't think I've seen this man before. He probably was here when I was there. I wonder what's wrong with him? He doesn't look to be hurt. Just dirty like he hasn't taken a bath in awhile."

"You give him that ring and you probably won't get it back. That man is obviously Feebleminded."

How is he sick? Can any of you cast your spells to make him better? He's my brother!

Twiggy looks at Aliana "Vernon says that is his brother. Would you go with me to talk to him and see if there is anything we can do for him. Maybe we can tell if he is magically crazy or if his mind is just gone."

Now that you know his name is Alek, you try talking to him and you can tell right away that something's not right. He's basically speaking like a baby in an adult's body and doesn't really understand anything you're saying. Alek has been here every time the party has been here and he's one step above an animal mind-wise. The grown-ups have treated him properly, but you all have seen kids throw things at him in the past. Myarra gave him some money way back when which he seemed to recognize, but other than that, you don't know anything.

Aliana walked up to the strange man
"Hello there, my friend.   I'm Aliana.   How are you feeling today? "

She tried to figure out what was going on with the young man

OOC:

22:05, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 13 using 1d20+9.  Healing

Myarra goes along with Aliana, but stays a little behind her.  Alek had seemed interested in her in the past, which was not exactly normal, but not at all unwelcome.

Well, not unwelcome precisely because it wasn't normal. She was used to scowls, protective amulets, and warding gestures. She wasn't interested in Alek in return, but he seemed like a nice enough, and harmless enough guy. And she didn't like people like him being picked on.

She smiled at him, but kept her lips together so her fangs didn't show, and let Aliana lead the way.

Byron looks at Twiggy.

What's going on?

Twiggy stays back a bit and studies Alek as Aliana talks to him. The halfling never paid attention much to his grandmother when she was going over ailments and symptoms, so he really can't tell anything more than the obvious.

Being startled a bit in thought when Byron speaks, Twiggy answers "It looks like fate is toying with us again. The feebleminded street sweeper is Vernon's brother and Aliana is talking to him to try and figure out why he seems feebleminded. She is much better at those things and can hopefully figure out why he is limited to baby's intellect. Alek has never been violent to us but just be ready in case he feels threatened. In his state violence may be a natural instnct if he is scared but he can not help him."

Twiggy watches Vernon and asks "Was Alek in the same profession as you? I have heard of wizards trapping chests and their towers with spells. I have not know of one to permanent effect someone."

"Aye. Me and Alek worked for Nelson Centauri until the backstabber killed me." Vernon said as he pointed to the arrows in his back "I died before I knew what happened to me brother, but now I know."

A nosey old lady washing her clothes butts into your conversation while you were trying to figure out what's wrong with Alek, "He's been here for at least 5 years. He sleeps in the barn and sweeps the ground. Priests from around town say there's nothing they can do for him."

Twiggy relays the Vernon's words to the others as he frown

In reply to Big Boss (msg # 73):

OOC:  I'm presuming that Aliana has no better luck?

Twiggy walks up to Aliana and says quietly where the noisy lady can't hear "Most local priests in small towns are lucky to have any spell casting ability, much less able to cure this. Since he was a thief like Vernon he could have possibly taken a cursed item, opened a trap with a spell on it, or went into a area that was warded. I do not have the ability, but can you cast remove curse and restoration? If it is magic then one of those should cure it. At least that's what the priest in the big cities cast on old adventuring members for a hefty donation."

Amara sighed at Vernon's words about Aki. "I think you might be a little harsh on him. People like him and I, not many people will give us a chance to really be friends. Yes, he has secrets. Same as you or me or anyone else. But it's clear he's hurt by this. He's a survivor - of course he'll get back to work afterward."

***

She was surprised by the revelation of the roadsweeper, but Aliana was the one who could help - not her.

Sister Aliana prayed to Oghma, casting a spell to detect any lingering magic on the man

Moves to stand beside Amara.  Careful to respect her personal space and still speak to her quietly.  Byron also stays away from the guy as he doesn't want to make him feel trapped or spooked.

Can you ask Aliana to mention Vernon in conversation to him?  I doubt it will help, but one never knows what the mention of family will do.

Roen looked at Alek, then spoke to the old lady, "Do you remember what the priests said his condition was?"

Aliana detects a strong Enchantment on Alek, but other than that, her Healing skills can't determine what's wrong with Alek. She's relying on her friends with their assumptions.

Amara knows what's wrong with Alek, but there's nothing she can do about it. Feeblemind is a nasty, cruel spell.

Roenthelm continues talking with the old gossip lady:

"I don't know the fancy talk they were talking, but I remember them shaking their heads when they came out of the Temple of Lathander, saying there was nothing they could do. People around here let him sleep in the barn and he sweeps the street."

Sister Aliana sighed sadly.
"Yes, i suppose we'd need a Heal scroll.  It's beyond my normal capabilities "

"Vernon, if you can hear me, please understand that there is nothing we can do for your brother. Perhaps in our travels we might find something to cure him, but in the meantime, he's better off staying here. Other than not taking a bath in a while, he seems to be healthy and he's safe here. Let him go about his routine and we'll come back to cure him one day."

Vernon isn't highly intelligent, but he's smart enough to know that if the party had the means to help his brother, they would have. They're certainly doing a good enough job trying to help him, and for that, he will always be grateful.

"I donna like it, but promise me we be helpin him when we can." Vernon said to Twiggy and Amara "At least he be alive."

The old gossip lady continued with her story while wringing out some wet clothes,

"Marty the wood cutter found him wandering around near the forest and brought him back here to Soubar. Tis a miracle he wasn't chewed up by any dragons."

Aliana nodded, lips pursed with concern
"Where is this wood cutter currently?  I'd love to ask him for more details "

"Go out the town gates and pass Kari the flower lady. When you see a big rock on the side of the road, go past that house. That's Zeb, the local undertaker. He doesn't live in the cemetery. There will be a small road that people walk on to come to town, but don't take a wagon there. Keep on going to the main road, hang a left and you'll see a bunch of wood piled up. That's Frin. We get firewood from him and he gets the wood from Timber. He's the one who found this man wandering around near the forest."

Byron knows who Timber is. His real name is Gaul, but got the name "Timber" because of his line of work.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:20, Sun 22 Oct 2023.

Twiggy feels sad for Alek but a heal spell is a very powerful spell that only the strongest priests can cast. Looking at VernonWe will help him one day but it is beyond our ability. A heal Scroll is a small fortune."

Nodding as she tried to memorize the directions, Aliana looked at the others.
"Perhaps we can spare a short time for investigation.  Finding out more circumstances for this curse might show a shortcut or alternate cure."

"Unlikely," Amara responded to Aliana. "If it is feeblemind which I, and I would guess you, suspect, then heal is the best option.

He should still recognize his brother's name - why don't you try using it?" Amara wasn't sure why Byron came to her to ask Aliana something, but the reasons were his own.

Amara looked squarely at Vernon, "I will promise to help, so long as that help does not prevent us from helping larger numbers. The needs of the many must come before the needs of a few - we can't sell our items that could help in the battle with the dracolich." She looked at the others, "But let's see if any of the shops have a scroll of heal before we leave. Perhaps they will and perhaps we have what is necessary to buy it without depleting what we need for our fight."

Aliana nodded to Amara
"Yes, that sounds good.   We might have to go to a larger town, but it's worth a try. "

OK, we will leave him here then. He'll be much safer than traveling with us or staying at the tower alone. Hopefully, we'll be able to heal him again someday.

So, the party decided to ask around town to see if anyone had a Scroll of HEAL. Byron, Kalliyan, Myarra and Roenthelm went back to Amos' shop, but he just chuckled at the request and suggested that he visit the local temples.

Twiggy, Vernon, Amara and Aliana went back to Aki's shop, but the door was locked with a Closed sign on the door. Even after continuous knocking, he doesn't answer.

Then you let Aliana do the talking with the Temples, since she's a Priestess. You visit the Temple of Lathander, the Temple of Chauntea and even the Temple of Gond. Unfortunately for the party, Aliana is more experienced than all the Priests in this town and they wished they could help you. They suggest Elturel or even Baldur's Gate.

It's now around 1 pm-ish and while you're eating lunch, you decide that you better get rooms for the night, going to your normal Tavern/Inn: The Heart of the Dragon. But, there was no vacancies. You search around town and see an older Tavern/Inn called the Four Seasons, but that too is booked. Both Inns say the Dragon attack brought a bunch of business for them.

So, you're out of options for sleeping, unless you want to go to Byron's farm or ask Amos for a place to stay for the night.

The farm will probably be the safest place for us tonight.  But it will be the barn or outside.  We don't need to be bringing them any more trouble than we are now.

What about the trouble we'll bring if a bounty hunter recognizes one of you and now they know where your parents live?

Twiggy looks at Byron and says what Vernon said "He is right. For now we need to avoid the farm so they can say they didn't see us. If anything I would hire a few mercenaries to act like hands in case any bounty hunters do not belive they are telling the truth and try to hurt them. People do bad stuff for gold and after this last bout with Centari's men I am sure the bounties went up."

Aliana shrugged
"While I'd prefer sleeping in a soft bed, I'm sure i can find us a safe and secure camping site in the forest. "

"Then we might as well travel to Daak and hope we don't encounter anything."

"Since we've already exhausted the sources of information here, we might as well," Myarra agrees. "It's a two-day trip no matter what. The only difference is how much time we spend traveling today and how much of the trip will be left over for tomorrow."

She looks up at the sun, smiling at a memory of how terrifying it had been, not to mention the limitless sky, when she'd first come from the underdark.

"I'm guessing we can get a few more hours of travel in and then take all of tomorrow to get there."

"If the temples don't have it, and Amos laughs at us, it's unlikely Aki will have it either. I'm fine with going, then."

Byron smiles at his friends and replies softly so only they can hear.

Amos wasn't laughing at us, so much as laughing in amusement.  However, Vernon and Twiggy are right.  Let us get out of here and on the road before trouble finds us here and risks the good will we have with most of the town folk.

The city guard was about to ask why you wanted to head out of town, but after taking a good look at all of you, they just open the gates and let you out. Heading back to the main road, you see "Timber's" place, who looks to be very busy at the moment, so you don't want to bother the place trying to make their living. As you are traveling the wagon road heading towards Daak, you pass by a couple farmers who are trying to make it to town for the night. Once you get past the outskirts of town, the path is empty and you have a peaceful ride. About 5 miles from Soubar, you see the Deadman's Tree off in the distance where the Mercenaries made their camp the last time you saw them.

As you get closer, you can see the remains of their camp and you can see somebody wandering around picking up stuff. When you get to the Tree, you see that it's an older man, possibly a farmer, picking up useful items and placing them into his cart. Probably to try and sell in town. What human remains that are left isn't worth the time to bury. This whole scene is total carnage, which is typical for Dragon attacks. You ask the farmer really quick why he dared to come out here and he tells the party that the attack was 3 days ago and that he doubted the Dragon would stay that long, so he was nosey and came out here to look around. He did find it odd that there was no money to be found at all, so he decided to pick up anything valuable, like you already guessed. He was about to leave because the smell was getting bad.

So, with nothing else left to do, you continue your journey and Aliana finds a nice place to stay for the night. You set up camp and have dinner with the rest of you fresh supplies. When it was time, you set up your guard shifts. The night is uneventful, but you do hear the normal sounds that come out of the Forest of Wyrms, which would scare most people.

---------

You wake up the next day and prepare before heading out again around 6am-ish. The rest of your trip is uneventful and you make it to the Village of Daak a bit past 11am. You see Nolan flying around in the sky.

Roen seriously thought about staying behind and trying to help at the bloody scene, but he really didn't know what he could do and offered a silent prayer and hoped the poor souls went to their respective gods. He was silent on the journey back to the village until he saw Nolan flying around.

"I wonder what he's doing up there? Wasn't he supposed to be making stuff for you guys to help in the mines?"

Nolan enjoyed flying around. It was an old spell that he used once in awhile, but he never really took the time to enjoy it until now. He watched the birds fly away from him and learned to appreciate that he also had arms. There was something vaguely familiar about flying around that Nolan couldn't quite grasp.

It looks like he's just enjoying himself. I think that's good because he seems so serious all the time.

Twiggy chuckles at Vernon's comment "It is true, he is usually quite dour. Come to think of it, I don't think I ever seen him smile."

Amara frowned at the farmer. The remains, well, they were really no worse than what she had seen many times growing up.

In the morning, she smiled when she saw Nolan coming. It was good to have the group back together again.

Sister Aliana grinned at the sight of Nolan.
" I  don't blame him.  The gift of flight is one of my favorite of the magical gifts i get from Oghma.  Flying through the air is a joyous thing"

Eventually Nolan lands on the ground when he notices your arrival in the village. Several of the villagers that are familiar to you wave and you notice that more of the burnt out buildings are being rebuilt. You tie the horses off near the tower and go inside to get something to eat and drink in the dining area. The chests full of money are in there on the tables. It looks like Nolan was sorting through it to get money he needed to buy components for the various items he was making.

Ashara is busy sleeping in the corner of the dining area and opens her eyes and yawns when the party enters the room.

Once inside the dining area, you can see that Nolan did have a smile, but once it was time to go back to work, he became serious again.

While you were gone, I got the Bag of Holding and the Great Sword completed. I also completed a few scrolls of the Teleport spell, just in case we needed to escape with some freed prisoners. I figure we could bring them here where there is food and shelter.

Aliana grinned at the wizard
"Impressive as always, my friend"

She remembered the ambitious and studious young wizard from her youth, and wasn't surprised by his dedication

Byron watched Nolan having some fun flying. Once they were in the dining area he spoke to the wizard.

Thank you for improving my sword as we are going to need it again.

He also fills Nolan in on the Centauri's, the Vampire, and the dragon attack outside of Soubar.

We also have another weapon as well.

Showing him the one that Lord Dhelt has kindly loaned us for this task.

Thanks, Aliana. I've been perfecting my skills for years and I'm happy I'm making something we can use other than just selling random stuff in town for a profit.

At seeing the new Mace from Lord Dhelt,

Nice. We're going to need every weapon we can get because we're only getting one shot at this. I suggest you and Myarra each have one of those Disruptive weapons. Both of you are more likely to use it better than any of us.

Turning to the group in general,

How are we going to approach this whole situation with our mine mission? That's a lot of prisoners, slaves or whatever you want to call them. Teleport spells will only take a certain amount of them. And where are we going to take them? Also, are we taking Cultist prisoners? Or are we just killing them or telling them to flee? The Trielta Hills are within the Borders of Triel, but nobody has the authority to use slave labor or to keep an Undead Dragon within to possibly threaten other communities.

"I'll be happy to take one," Myarra assures the others.

"I would have liked to get the Mariasha flying so we could have just loaded everyone up and sailed away.  But, realistically, she's not going to be flying for a long time yet.  So I think we're going to have to make use of the way-stone, even if that's going to be a lot harder to coordinate.

As for what to do with the slavers? My first choice is to simply kill any that don't choose to run away. They know what they're doing is illegal, and they know their masters aren't the forgiving sort. Most of them will probably fight to the death, but I don't personally think that's required.

If they want to run, I'm happy to let them do so. With all the prisoners we're going to need to deal with, I see no point in taking prisoners. But I'm not against it if someone has a good plan for dealing with them.

And the Centauris are going to have far more problems than us.  While I'd like to personally take them down, the Cult will be very angry with them for letting us kill their dragon and disrupting their mine.  It's probably best to stay out of the middle of that dispute."

"I don't like the idea of killing anybody and I hope we can avoid it, if possible. BUT, the undead dragon has to go. I don't have any feelings about destroying that abomination at all. Using the waystone might be tricky, too. If I remember correctly, it's located near the entrance to the mine. Cultists might see us coming and going."

Vernon had a sour look that Twiggy and Amara could see.

"Durin' me time when I be alive, I lied, cheated and stole. But, what them Cultists be doin' is just plain wrong. And children be involved. If I was alive, I'd kill them Cultists if they didn't flee."

Twiggy watches Nolan and adds "We are going to have to get some type of strategy against the dragon and cultist too. We need some type of crowd control like wands of Web and rocks with silence cast on them to negate all their casters."

"If you have gangrene, you can not simply hope it gets better. You need to cut it off - and better if you take some of the healthy flesh with it to ensure you got it all so it doesn't spread and kill yet more. We need to kill as many of the cultists as possible. If they run, they will simply do something similar again if they are given the chance." Amara opined.

Byron listened to the opinions of his friends before replying in a matter of fact tone the group knows well.

If they want to fight well that's the chance they take.  If they flee I'm not going to worry too much about them.  I happen to agree with Myarra's line of thinking at this time.  I also agree with Roen, the Dracolich has to go.  I'm fairly certain Aliana can use the Hammer or the Mace as well as I or Myarra.

Sister Aliana nodded in agreement
"There's no need to keep more people than we need to, but I'm happy to let Tymora's Luck determine the slavers fate in battle.  If they live through it and can flee, once their power is broken, I'm not feeling the need to finish them. "

"I certainly wouldn't mind if all the slavers died. They've done what they've done with full knowledge of their Evil.  Nobody enslaves, tortures, and murders by accident.

But, that said, there's going to be a lot of slavers, and only a few of us.  If we spend time hunting them down, there's no knowing how many innocents might suffer retaliation. Killing the dragon and saving the prisoners has to be our priority.

But, if possible, we need to collapse or otherwise destroy the mine.  That much silver is going to attract bad folks.  And I don't want to have to do this all over again in a few months."

"Agreed - we need to prioritize, but we should not hesitate to kill."

Myarra had a good point about the mine, "Perhaps the people now slaves will want to keep mining - but now for the actual gains from the labor. Perhaps we should help them organize to defend themselves - perhaps even some of us stay with them for a while - until they can defend themselves"

"Then we need to get the Dragon to come to us and then use the Disruptive weapons on it. I'm sure a good majority of the slavers would flee after seeing that Abomination crumble to dust like that Vampire."

The only way I've seen the Dragon move around was when Amara was scrying and it detected her and followed to the front entrance of the mine cave. If that was done again, we'd have every enemy fighting along with it. That might not be a good choice.

We got a magical Lyre from Elturel and Amara has been practicing with it. It can dig holes. Maybe I can float through the dirt and see the easiest path that leads right to the dragon?

"We still need to find out more about killing an undead dragon. If we bring it to us whoever is fighting it needs protection and the ability to fly. Moreover, they will be by themselves as the others will have to go after the cult and slavers. The Dragon Cult will kill all of the slaves just so they can not give a description of them. Twiggy hesitates a bit but then says seriously "None of the cult members I feel are redeemable. They will do bad deeds until they are caught or being watched."

Kali, silent for a while as she thought on her own powers and how it would help against the dragon, she looked up. "Some of my magic can help with the elemental side of protection, and i can assist in healing...even summon some animals that can help."

Amara smiles at Vernon, "Yes, that or make an escape pathway for slaves - I was planning to figure out what ends up being the best. But you scouting is, I think, possibly our best single resource."

Is a pathway for the slaves actually a good choice? I know it sounds good, but where would they run to? Into the forest full of Dragons and Orcs and wandering Cult members? I'd say you'd need somebody to be able to take care of them. Rufus would come to mind.

When we have to fight that thing, we want to make sure it is unable to maneuver as freely as possible.  We certainly don't want it to be able to fly as will make our task a lot harder.

"That's why it depends on the situation," Amara agreed with Nolan.

I also don't want to use the waystone to bring people here because then it will get out that they work and I don't want people to know that. That would only bring trouble like those stupid Bounty Hunters or even the Cult.

The waystones are too unstable for that many people to even think of using.  I also agree with Nolan that we don't want more people to know about them than already do.  Unfortunately, Culver does know how to use them.

Then I think we should look for Culver using the Scrying stone and Teleport to him, defeat him and that will be the end of it. With him having that Orb, he can get unlimited amounts of Dragons to turn into undead.

Roen listened and then added a few suggestions of his own.

"I think we should wear masks to protect our identities. The people will be grateful we saved them, but give the wrong person information by mistake that could hurt us in return. And we should take the refugees to Scornubel because they'll have a choice on which way they wish to go. I don't trust Triel for obvious reasons and Hill's Edge has a reputation of being on the shady side, which I don't think would be suitable for somebody who was just freed from captivity."

I don't have a problem with that, Roenthelm. But, are we going to Teleport before or after the Dragon is dead? I honestly think we should just take over the mine and Teleport them at our leisure.

Twiggy nods "Masks are good, especially if any dragon cult sees us. I like the idea of taking over the mine but leisure will not be our friend. I do not see them just handing over their money maker without another fight. We have to assume they have wizards who can teleport to. We can take the place by suprise but it will be hard to hold it if the cult transports into the caves to take it back.

Do we know any dwarves that would want to take over the mine? They are tough and love precious metals. Maybe they would like to send a small battalion to help. It is wishfull thinking but not out of the realm of possibility."

Aliana pondered
"Getting a significant amount of dwarves to the mines, even with Teleports, would take a long time.  I'll admit that I'm growing fond of the idea of destroying the mines, to better cripple the slave trade"

"What about the Dwarves we dealt with in the Temple underground? I'm sure they would love the opportunity to take over a free mine. Well, soon to be free, anyways. I'm sure if we gave them word of our plan that they could notify their people to come up with something. That Cult mine probably belonged to the dwarves anyways back in the past."

"Masks alone would not be sufficient - too many of us are too unusual, around here at least. We'd need better disguises."

She turned to Nolan, "Do you think we need to take Culver out first, then? Before the mines? Can you track the Orb?"

"Well, something is better than nothing, right? The masks may not work for those who are somewhat familiar with us, but the innocents that might give away innocent knowledge are not familiar with us. A man in metal armor or an elven-like priestess are quite common, if you ask me. I too look like a commoner. I just think we should take some precautions because we have innocents living around the tower that probably couldn't hold their own against those bounty hunters."

I'd agree that something is better than nothing, but unless you have magic, such as the hat I made, people will recognize somebody like Myarra if they are asked. I also have ben thinking about the village's defense as well and I'm going to learn how to build a Stone Golem, but in the meantime, I'd agree that we need to think about their defense by not bringing attention to them in the first place because of our actions.

As for Culver, I honestly think we should take him out. He could spoil our plans by using the waystone and bringing a dragon with him. I don't think we'll be able to track the Orb, but you Amara can use the Crystal to track him instead. And then we can set a trap for him. But, we'll need Satin's help with that because she'll need to take the Orb away once we defeat Culver.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:02, Mon 13 Nov 2023.

"I'm happy to do the scrying, and I'm happy to defer to you on the order to take out the evil actors. So Culver first - that's fine.

Why do we need to give the Orb to Satin though? Couldn't we destroy it - or perhaps keep it for ourselves?"

I agree with Amara.  We do not want Satin or anyone else to have the orb.  We should destroy it so that it cannot fall into anyone else's hands either.

Byron was mostly quiet as the others discussed ways and ideas to deal with the dragons.  However he was very sure he didn't want anything to do with Satin as she could not be trusted  at all.

While you were all gone, I consulted Hanns about the Orb and got some information about what it can possibly do and one of the curses from it is that all other Dragons will hate you for the end of time, even if you get rid of the Orb or lose it. If there is anyone who can destroy such a thing, it would be her. I don't want to touch it and it's not coming to Daak.

Well then if it has that effect on dragons, by all means let her get it and have fun with it.

Twiggy loads up on Fitz "Sounds like we need to get to the tower."

Twiggy sits back and listens to the planning.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:40, Thu 16 Nov 2023.

Kali had a frown on her face as the others spoke of control. "Taking away someone's free will is somethinig i'm not all that happy with. the fundamentals of nature and life is we have our own minds and choices."

She crossed her arms. "...but i will follow the wisdom of teh group, no matter what."

Oh, believe me that she's not getting it for free. We're going to trade her for a weapon that we can use in exchange for the Orb. We'll talk to her, tell her that we can track Culver and when we find him, she'll come with us and help us defeat him. Once that happens, she'll get the Orb and then she'll give us something in return. Even if she lies and doesn't give us anything, Culver will be finished and the Orb will be in her hands and not ours.

"That sounds like a good idea, Nolan, but I'm hoping we can just defeat him and have Satin take the Orb away while he flees to the unknown."

"Look, I don't think that Hans would lie or anything, but are you sure he knows what is true in this case? I've heard how twisted some of the stories of the drow are - if you haven't seen something, you might not know the truth." Amara asked Nolan a bit skeptically. She didn't like giving someone as dangerous as Satin something as dangerous as the Orb.

I'm just going off what he said. Is it the truth? I don't know. We all can go back to the library and ask again, while doing a bit more research? The Orb was stolen from there, so there has to be some truth to what he says?

Kali had a look of thought as they spoke. "From what you have said, this Culiver is a strong person, and this Satin can not be trusted. My fear is the two team up against us."

Highly unlikely that will happen.  Culver wants to control dragons.  I don't think Satin wants to be controlled by anyone in any way.

Kali looked at him and smiled. "Now what makes you think that culiver is the mastermind behind that duo? If Satin is that devious, she could promise him power, the two betray us, then she would turn on him. She would then hold all the power."

"I'm sure there are endless things that could possibly happen, but I agree with Nolan that acquiring more knowledge on the Orb wouldn't hurt. Because what would be the point of destroying the dragon in the mine if Culver could just immediately fill the position again?"

Twiggy makes a pot of tea and some sweets as he listens. "It does sound like Culver is the biggest issue, especially if he can replace a dragon that quickly."

"Then what we be waitin' fer? Let's go talk with this Hanns fella, git the info about this er Orb so we don't kill er selves, find this Satin girl, tell her the plan, find Culver and kill him. The world be a better place without em. And we might be rewarded! Let's go!" Vernon laughed, ready to go

"If this is the general consensus of the group, then I agree we should visit Hanns the Librarian to get more information about the Orb. I'm actually curious to know if a Dragon can use the Orb on another Dragon."

That is a very good question, Roenthelm. If they can, the Orb would be dangerous in HER hands. But, if it can't, then it would be perfect in HER hands. She would bury that thing in her swampy home and nobody would see it ever again because she won't want it used on her.

Turning to the party,

You know the drill when visiting Hanns. It'll be boring to some of you, Byron, but exciting for the rest Aliana. We'll find out any information about the Orb, then come back here and Amara can attempt to find Culver with the scrying crystal.

In reply to Nolan (msg # 160):

Aliana gave a little smile and nodded to the wizard.
"I can accompany you if you wish, my friend"

Twiggy perks up "I like libraries, can I come. Find us an old treasure map.

It may be a boring trip and I hope it is.  However, Hanns will provide us with some useful information.

"I trust you all to talk to Hans. I'll start the scrying, as that will take a while." Amara decided.

Then you better have one of us stay here to pull you off of it, just in case it wants to kill you. I know you've done quite well with the Crystal in the past, but I'd feel better knowing you had somebody there. I think Myarra would be a good person there for you, since Hanns is a ghost and she doesn't want to be around them.

"Nolan, my good and dear friend.  You know me so well," Myarra replies with a smirk.  She's been following along with the conversation but, not being a tactician, has felt more comfortable letting the smart folks make the plans.

"I'll stay here with Amara and a prybar, not that she's ever needed it before. I think the scrying stone just likes her."

"I am ready to go, Nolan. I'm very interested on what we could find."

OK, the group splits into 2 groups. One group is going to visit Hanns the Librarian and the 2nd is staying in the tower to try and Scry Culver. So, you grab some food from the kitchen and pack it away for the trip because you don't know how long you're going to be in the Library for.

You leave the dining area and all the chests full of money and head outside. It's a bit past noon now and the weather is nice. You walk past the tower and you notice a giant piece of Granite stone being held up by pieces of wood and rope tied here and there. There is a muddy smiley face around the area at the top. You ask Nolan what this is for and he just mentions something about a future project.

Arriving at the Waystone, the 3 Iron Golems spring to attention as their eyes glow RED, but once they see Nolan, they stand down and you all use the Waystone and arrive at the HUB. You scare away some wild animals picking at the burnt bones of the humanoids you fought in the past. Then you touch the selection on the HUB stone that takes you to the Library and then you're there....

As Nolan, Byron, Kalliyan, Aliana, Twiggy, Vernon and Roenthelm arrive in the library (Game Map 0), you can see that somebody is already here looking through books and appears to be upset that he can't find what he's looking for. Hanns is walking around looking at the shelves as well, talking to said person, pointing to a book. The robed figure walks up to it, pulls it off the shelf and looks through the pages, but puts it back, highly annoyed.

"I'm sorry Lyran. I'm doing my best. There's hundreds of journals here with the description you gave me. Without a proper name on the spine, it will take some time to search through all these to find Brayla's journal."

Exodus in Byron's pack is slightly humming...

Sister Aliana went to help
"I'm a bit out of practice, but let me see if i can help look around "

OOC:
11:57, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 11 using 1d20+4.  Profession scribe

Roen didn't say anything as this was a library and you were meant to keep your voice down in such places when it was being used. He did wonder what that humming noise was though.

Byron studies the unknown person to see if he recognizes him.  However, he doesn't say anything as he follows Aliana around to watch her work.

It took Nolan a few seconds to process what Hanns was talking about, but when it did, Nolan tried to stop his friends from going into the Library.

Everybody stop!

Byron stops at Nolan's words.  He reaches to grab Aliana's arm to stop her.

When Nolan yells out for the party to stop, Hanns and Lyran look up at the party coming out of the Waystone area. The cloaked figure removes the hood to reveal a skeletal type being dressed in fine, but old clothing with necklaces, charms, bracers and rings...your typical looking Wizard, but this is definitely not right. His staff floats to his hand as the Lich's eyes glow RED as he looks over the party...

"Interesting. After all this time, the Waystones are still functional. How quaint."

Aliana stopped instantly when Byron's strong hand grabbed her arm.  She looked over at the skeletal wizard with wide eyes.

Twiggy shrugged at the skeletal wizard "So are you one of those undead wizards that hates the world because you are undead or a true learner and enjoy the chance to learn more foe an eternity? We have dealt with enough crap lately that we know not all that is supposed to be evil is bad and what is good turns out to be bad. So please can we not have a fight as soon as we show up and just speak to Hanns."

Nolan looked at Twiggy like he was crazy for speaking to somebody like he did,

Twiggy, that is Lyran. You know, like Lyran's Hold? You can't speak to him like that.

Lyran's Hold. Yes, I've heard of it. Rumors say that a powerful magician lived there and a party of adventurers went there and killed him and the place has been haunted ever since.

Twiggy shrugged nor knowing what or who they were talking about "I am confused Nolan, and really don't know if you are joking or have a mancrush. If he was killed maybe we can help him become living again. It is what we do."

Lyran the Lich looked at each of the party members, even Vernon with his glowing eyes before turning to Hanns,

"I will return. I expect a full report on your findings."

And with a blip, Lyran is gone.

With Lyran gone, Hanns gives a ghostly sigh of relief and looks at the party and shakes his head as he floats over to you.

"I haven't seen him in close to 40 years. Something important must have come up for him to come out of his tower. But anyways, what can I do for you all?"

Twiggy, Lyran is a Lich. If you don't know what that is, I'm sure Hanns can find you a book that will go into great lengths about them. Also, remember the mirror that you were trapped in, in that dungeon? That's Lyran's Hold. He doesn't want to be helped. He doesn't want to come back to life. He made himself that way so he can do his studies, inventions, creations, whatever without having to worry about time taking his life. He is very old and very powerful. I'm a novice compared to what he can do.

Aliana looked at Nolan with worry in her eyes.
"What does this mean?   Is this a new evil rearing its head, or just a powerful hermit poking its head out of its hole to sniff the air?"

Probably what Hanns said. Something important enough for him to come out of his hole. Lyran is not part of the Cult, I'm sure of it. He pre-dates them by centuries. He's been in those ruins for as long as I can remember.

Turning to Hanns, What was Lyran looking for? We also need all the information on the Dragon Orbs. We plan on getting the one Culver stole from here away from him.

Twiggy has heard of liches but he thought they were just stories. The memory of being trapped in the mirror for decades still haunts his dreams. You see the realization of what could of happened show on his face. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out his flask to take a swig "I'll be quiet now Nolan. Why would you ever want to make yourself undead. "

Aliana nodded in agreement with Twiggy.
"I agree.  Long life is a tempting thing, but giving up all that life itself offers sounds like too big a price to pay.   Being able to read all my books is nice, but not as good as never smelling a rose, eating a cinnamon roll, or enjoying the sun on my face."

I'm thinking that Lyran was once human and humans have short life spans compared to elves and he wanted a long life span to do what he wanted to do. What that is, I don't know.

In reply to Nolan (msg # 188):

Aliana nodded.
"I was raised by humans, so I remember well the difference in how we age.  But there are also elves who apparently choose undeath to extend even our lifespans.  It's a strange thing indeed."

I think I'm still around because I want to see my wife again. Same as the crying Ghost woman in the forest. Maybe it's the same with this Lyran?

"That is a possibility, Vernon. Hann's mentioned a name: Brayla. That sounds female to me. But, he's gone now and I don't think he'll return for a bit, so I suggest we hurry and find the information we need before he returns."

Hanns chuckled a bit over Lyran's lost book,

"He was looking for a Journal written by Brayla long ago. He can't find it, so he thought it was here. Detection spells don't work here, so he couldn't use a Locate Object spell. But, his description of the book is so common and as you can see here, there are thousands of books that look just like the description he gave. We were busy going book by book until you came in. I'm ever so relieved you didn't attack him, even with the Disruption weapons I can feel. He probably would have killed you all. But, let's not talk about that anymore. He won't be back for a few days, so let's look up any information about the Orbs."

Hanns goes and locates an Index book and tells you to pick that book up and look for Orbs of Dragonkind in the Index. There are only 2 books that have any information about them. Hanns floats around and locates both of them for you to pick up and read,

The first book titled "Accounts of the Wise" hold this passage,

"Behold, the power of the Orb! Never would I have believed that these Eons old crystal balls would hold such power over the Green Dragons that have invaded the Forests of Myth Jannath. The mighty Wyrm thrashed and fought with all it's strength and in the end, destroyed most of the Wizard tower of Horvanth before collapsing into the ground where it's body dissolved into a swirling pool of swampy muck."

And the second book titled, "The Dark Arts" holds this passage,

"And the rumors are true about being a magnet to all the Green Dragons within this cursed forest. The treasures are great, but we spent most of our time locating the other greens in order to stay away from them. They were ganging up on us in groups of 5, sometimes even 8. We were using the ports so much that we got lost a couple of times. It didn't matter that we had the powers of a mighty green ourselves by holding the Orb. The sheer numbers coming against us was our downfall."

After the last passage was read, Hanns spoke up.

"That's all the information I have on the Orbs. It was already here when I started working here long ago."

"I didn't realize these Orbs were that old. Do you know of any way they can be destroyed? Our plan was to take it away from Culver and from reading these entries, it seems if you touch the Orb, you will be hunted down by other Dragons. We don't want that. So, my question is this: Can a Dragon that is powerful enough to take humanoid form use the Dragon Orb?"

"I'm sure the Orb is highly resistant to most types of harm. There is a spirit in them, of course. So, as to what can break the Orb, I don't know. I don't recommend hitting it with weapons. It might explode or something and take you with it. You could throw it into a Volcano, but that would require you touching it. You could try a powerful spell such as Disintegrate or maybe a Limited Wish?"

Hanns contemplates about Roenthelm's last question,

"Hmmm...that is an interesting question. I'm assuming you know a Green that is old enough to do this? They know what the Orb is and what's inside it. They absolutely hate the Orbs, but I honestly don't know if a Green can use the Orbs or not. I would assume they could, but if they were smart, they won't."

Twiggy listens, doing his best to stay quiet so he doesn't get in trouble. As he waits his eyes wander around looking for old maps.

I have a feeling the Demon in the Tower also helped with the Tower's destruction and I'll bet the writer of this passage didn't know that. A Disintegrate spell, huh? Can't cast that yet. I'd rather Satin have the Orb, than Culver. At the sign of any trouble, he intends to flee, which is good for him if he wants to remain alive. Satin, on the other hand, is very picky about keeping her home, if you all remember. She can keep the Orb and fight off other Dragons that go to her, keeping her busy and out of our hair. How does that sound?

Byron listens carefully to the others as they discuss the orb.  Speaking only after Nolan mentions Satin.

Nolan, I'm going to wait until we are back at the tower as I have a question about your ideal that is best discussed in a more private setting.

In reply to Nolan (msg # 196):

Aliana winced a bit and shrugged
"I'm not sure that counting on Satin being so easily occupied with her new toy is entirely wise."

"Oi...me thinks givin' the Orb to this Satin you be talkin' about might be a bad move. She be usin' it to kill everybody." Vernon said to the group

"Why don't you Scry for a Good Dragon to help you instead of this Satin? I'm sure the Dragon will think your mission is a worthy cause."

Nodding to Byron, Nolan turns to the rest of the party,

I'm just throwing options out there, but scrying for a Good Dragon is also a good idea. If we don't have any other questions for Hanns, I think we should leave before Lyran returns.

Twiggy listens to Copper and nods before scolding himself for not thinking of such a simple idea.

"I'm sorry that I couldn't be of more help to you. We just don't have that much information on the Dragon Orbs, but if one of you would like to write anything you know about this Green one that was stolen from here, that would be a great help for future readers, unless it is destroyed. Even then, it would be great knowledge to know the Whos, Whats, Wheres, Whys, When and Hows about it."

We'll keep you informed, Hanns. Have a good day. Say hello to Lyran for me.

Nolan took the party back to Daak.

The party returning from the Library don't have any problems getting back to the village. The Hub are is the same as the last time you were there a couple hours ago and when you return to the village, the Golems are alerted by your presence, but stand down when Nolan is seen. A couple farmers wave to you as you walk through the village and into the tower. You all meet up in the dining area again to discuss your findings.

"Well, our trip to the library was interesting. We met Lyran, who, according to Nolan and Hanns, is a Lich. He was looking for an old journal before teleporting away to his place, I'm assuming. Lyran thought it was amusing that we were using the teleporter because he didn't think it worked anymore." Roen said to Amara and Myarra when everyone gathered in the dining hall for the meeting

"We did some more scrying," Amara responded. "Continuing to map out the entire lair." She left out the more gruesome part. They needed to think clearly to plan - emotions alone would likely get them killed.

"What was Lyran doing? What he want something from us? Or from the library?"


See Map U

Myarra looked confused. "Lyran? From Lyran's Hold? I thought adventures killed him years ago.  That's why his place is a ruin.

As for the mines, I think it's actually getting more dangerous.  That place has so many offshoots that no matter where we go, we're going to get flanked.  Don't get me wrong, we're still going, but it's looking nastier with every bit of new information we get."

"Lyran and Hanns were looking for a book on the shelves and Lyran was getting impatient at not finding it. Hanns mentioned that no Detection Spells work in the library. And Yes, Lyran of Lyran's Hold. If the adventurers said they killed Lyran, then they were mistaken. Even Hanns called him Lyran. That's how we found out it was him in the first place. Nolan held us back, just in case we needed to use the Waystone to get out of there as Lyran's staff floated to his hand."

Twiggy got himself something to eat and mentioned "Copper and Nolan mentioned crying for some good dragons to give the orb to. Maybe get some help from them too.

As for Lyran, I wonder if he is one of those special undead that you can kill but not destroy. I mean you really cant kill them since they are already dead. I bet there is some kind of ritual you need to do with holy water and diamond dust once you drop thelich to truly destroy it."

Aliana pondered, trying to remember what she had learned about such undead

OOC:

15:32, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 18 using 1d20+10.  Religion



She shrugged
"I remember only the basics.   A lich will put their mortal soul into a container called a phylactery, and perhaps whomever thought they'd killed Lyran had destroyed a false phylactery?"
This message was last edited by the player at 00:42, Tue 19 Dec 2023.

Hanns' tale of the orb suggests that we don't want to touch let alone give it to Lothorewyn or Culver or she who must not be named.  However, if one of them were to come into possession of it I wouldn't care that much as we could move around more freely without interference from one or probably more of them.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:03, Tue 19 Dec 2023.

"Hmmm, Twiggy, that's an interesting idea. I wonder where the closest good dragon is - I could probably scry for it. If we promise it the cave as a lair, I wonder if it would be interested?" Amara said thoughtfully. "Maybe I should try to scry that next..."

It was the coin, mainly. I was thinking of using Satin, but opinions against won over to trying to find a "Good" Dragon by trying to scry for it. But, we did find a short story about how the user of the Orb was disliked very much by other Green Dragons and had to flee all the time, so we know not to even touch the thing. So, I think our best bet would be to find a Good dragon and as Amara suggested, give the mine to it for a lair, if it wanted it, of course.

"Alright, well, then, I guess for me it's back to scrying. And a break from mapping to instead look for a nearby good dragon." Amara said, but waited a moment in case anyone wanted to say anything else before going. "And if someone would please come with me to map out the directions, that helps me scry faster - and not break concentration."

The party follows Amara down into the basement and into the room with the Pink Scrying Crystal.

Please refer to Basement Map
link to a message in this game

Amara walks up to the Crystal and puts her hand on it and thinks about a Good Dragon, like a Gold or a Silver or another metallic colored one, but the Crystal is still blank. It's not even responding at all.

Amara hopes that it is just that there are no good dragons nearby, and returns to trying to continue scrying, starting at the uncompletely scryed passage across from 9 that likely heads to chamber 13.

The Crystal is still blank. It's not even responding at all.

Amara frowned a bit, "I guess it needs a break, just like we do." Amara said.

Stand back a bit and let me try. Get the prybar ready.

If nobody stops Nolan, he will scry for a Gold Dragon.

"Nolan, I don't think that's wise," Amara protested. She wouldn't stop him, but she would at least make him pause to reconsider. "We've learned it is attuned to females.

Actually... Myarra might be able to use it, now that she's been blessed with some level of magic... At least let her try first."

Twiggy cheers Nolan on "You can get it to work Nolan. I want to try it next, I have been practicing using magic items."

Byron who has just been observing speaks up.

Nolan, Amara is right.  That thing is attuned to females.  Atleast let Myarra try if Myarra wants to first.

Nolan puts his hands up and backs away, letting Myarra try out the crystal. He does have a little smirk on his face that says he has doubts that Myarra will accomplish nothing.

Nolan steps back and Myarra steps forward...
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:05, Sat 30 Dec 2023.

Myarra doesn't feel well at all as she throws up all over the floor. She looks very pale, but she's awake.

Anyone with the Heal skill, give me a Roll DC 20

Anyone with Knowledge Religion or Arcana DC 25

Aliana comes up mostly short


OOC:
14:27, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 25 using 1d20+10.  Knowledge religion . –

14:27, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 14 using 1d20+10.  Knowledge Arcana . –

14:26, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 12 using 1d20+9.  Healing . –

Roen was quick to help out Myarra as well, looking over her wounds and how she feels. To him, she doesn't look very good and his focus was mainly on her and not what remained on the crystal.

17:27, Today: Roenthelm rolled 38 using 1d20+18.  Heal check.
17:28, Today: Roenthelm rolled 14 using 1d20+6.  Knowledge Religion
This message was last edited by the player at 01:29, Mon 01 Jan.

Nolan quickly grabbed Myarra and moved her over to the wall so she could hold herself up or sit down. Part of him was wondering if she could use the stone and not be affected like Amara, but his mind was wandering as to how her vision was completely wrong.

That wasn't a Good Dragon, Myarra. She looked like you. Any relations?


10:22, Today: Nolan rolled 32 using 1d20+16.  Knowledge Arcana.

OOC:   Yay!!! Teamwork!!!

Nolan and Aliana, along with the knowledgeable Amara, recognized the form as a fallen Angel, or an Erinyes. You didn't get a detailed look, but there appeared to be old dead bodies in the confinement with her. Probably wizards or priests who helped trap her in there.

"Please sit down, Myarra. That Crystal is dangerous. From the looks of it, it drained your life away, but I can restore it."

Roen casts Restoration on Myarra. 4 Attribute points restored.

Aliana stood nearby, in case she could help.   She was more a jill of all trades rather than a specialist though
This message was last edited by the player at 06:56, Tue 02 Jan.

She is called an Erinyes. Once an Angel from the heavens, she fell from grace by some sort of lie or temptation or was betrayed by her lover and the dark side helped her. She's been entrapped in that tower for a long time. Obviously after the Men using the Orb on the Dragon that damaged the tower because there is no mention of her in the books in the library that we know of. We might have to go back there later and find out.

Myarra nods thanks to Nolan and the others as they lead her away from the crystal until she can slump against the wall. Shannon cuddles close and glares at everyone else in the room.

"It's okay, girl," Myarra says, soothing the lynx until she's merely scowling at everyone else in the room.

"Thanks, Roen. I appreciate the aid. But I don't feel all that different, so I'm not sure what effect it had on me, other than making me waste a perfectly good lunch.  But, as experiences go, that was pretty much on the bottom of my I'd like to do that again list.

As for relationships, you know not all smokingly hot bat-winged babes are related.  On the other hand, I don't know where I came from, so she could be my Evil twin-sister, Skiptress.

Why did the crystal take me to her, when I was trying to find a Good dragon?

Because there aren't any?

Because she can help us? I'm not stupid enough to think we can trust her, but while Good can fall, I'm proof that Evil can repent. It doesn't happen often, and the atonement never ends, but it is possible.

Frankly, does anyone think we learned anything useful, other than I suck at using the damn thing, but can if it's an emergency?"

"Look at it this way. At least you can use it. I wouldn't even try and I wouldn't suggest anyone using it unless they have any type of training."

Roen will look Myarra over again and have her stand up when she's ready.

13:16, Today: Roenthelm rolled 24 using 1d20+18.  Heal check.

If Roen thinks Myarra is still "sick", he'll cast another Restoration spell on her.

"Well, we learned something. How useful it is... well, it's not clear to me." Amara said, wondering why the crystal, which they thought was attuned to females, seemed to have rejected Myarra. She looked at it carefully while the others fussed over Myarra, but didn't touch it for now.

Twiggy just stood there, dumbfounded, knowing there was little he could do. Once Myarra regained a little composure he stepped forward and offered her his flask of whiskey "This may take the edge off. I know this will sound weird but did it feel like your search was being pulled to the fallen angel's location or was you being guided along. If you was being guided maybe the scrying ball took you to where we need to go, but don't know why. If you was being pulled to her then she may have altered the scrying ball somehow or has another one where she is trapped."

It is perfectly clear to me that I can never even think of trying to use it now.

Byron does what little he can to help the Myarra.  His jokes about being the muscle are just reinforced as being more true than he thought before.

Don't worry about it, Byron. It's been that way for as long as I can remember. I'm highly trained to use such items and this thing don't give a flying flip about me. Your Sword is finished, by the way. So is the Bag of Holding.

Turning to Myarra, I want to apologize for my attitude about you being able to use the crystal. This being your first time, I thought you did very well. As for any Good Dragons in the forest? I'm sure there out there somewhere. They just know how to protect themselves, but I believe they know somebody was looking for them. So, we should keep trying and maybe they'll come to us? Who knows?

Roenthelm casts another Restoration spell and Myarra feels much better, but she's incredibly hungry now. So, unless somebody else wants to try the Crystal, you all head back to the Dining Hall.

It's around 5pm-ish now

"I'll try again tomorrow," Amara said. "I actually want to try the magical lyre and see if I can control building something. Does any one have any ideas of something that needs to be built in town? A wall? A granary? A stone house?"

Myarra climbs back to her feet and accompanies the others out of the scrying room.  Given a moment to reflect, she does feel significantly better.

"Thanks, Roen, that really did help.

No worries, Nolan. I wasn't expecting much. Frankly, I did much better than I thought I would.  I wouldn't have been surprised if I'd actually burst into flames."

To Amara's thoughts, she adds, "If it works on wood, I know of a ship that needs a good deal of repair. I haven't had a lot of luck hiring the critters who live under the hill.  And I don't know how I'd get a full crew of engineers to agree to go out there in any case.  Maybe this is Mystra, lending a hand again."

Amara has been a good teacher for you to learn from. Keep up the good work. Your idea for using the Lyre to rebuild the boat is a good one, but I'm afraid it doesn't work like that. It helps in the construction of buildings, tunnels, trenches and so forth. The supplies for such construction are already there. So, if there was any chance that the Lyre would repair the ship, the ship would have to come off the rocks it landed on and the supplies would have to be waiting already preformed. It's far more complex than building a straight stone wall or digging a hole.

"I haven't really tested it - I'm not sure trying it for the first time on the ship is the best idea. Even if it does work, I was hoping to start with something less critical - like a wall or a granary... Something that if I do screw it up, well, it's not a big deal.

I'm pretty sure that if I screwed up on that ship..." She trailed off, looking at Myarra.

Myarra smiled.  "You're right that we should test it on something smaller and simpler first.  But I've been thinking about how to get the Mariasha repaired and it's pretty daunting.

If we do it without magic, we'll need hundreds of craftsmen and laborers.  Normally they'd be found at a shipyard.  The nearest of which is a week or more away.

How we're supposed to hire them away, get them to travel the distance, and then convince them to head into a deadly forest full of dragons.  Frankly, I'm tapped as far as money goes, so it's going to be a while before I can hire anyone.

With the Lyre, we might be able to get the ship at least flying in a week or two, depending on how things go.

But, yes, dig some ditches and put up a few small buildings until you get the hang of it."

"You guys still have all the money you Teleported here, but I thought you were making things to help destroy the Dracolich and help the slaves gain their freedom? I'd have to agree that they're either no Good Dragons in this forest, or they're really good at hiding themselves. I think they're hiding themselves and will help good people like us when they can."

Kalliyan spoke up, mainly to get things moving so she could get out of this building and back outside.

"I haven't heard of any Good Dragons living in this forest. Only the Green ones. But, I would agree that there might be a couple we don't know about. But, do we have time for this right now? It seems to me that Culver is wandering around the forest. He hasn't caused much trouble yet, so I think we should take the advantage and free the slaves. If Amara needs to practice with the Lyre, she can use it to make a tunnel near the mine. Part of me wants to hang out in the forest and keep an eye on that place. Perhaps we can build a secret hideout?"

"It's going to take a while to catalog and cash all that in, and even then I have no idea if my share is going to be anywhere near enough to hire a small army. And, even then, it will take weeks.

Because, yes, getting the people out of the mine is the first priority, and we're getting there.  But killing the lich is only one of the problems.  Amara has been scrying the complex and I've been updating the map. It's a warren down there. Once we go in, we're going to be surrounded within minutes.

So, we're going to end up with scores, if not hundreds, of sick, frightened, and understandably untrusting people, all milling around without any idea where to go or what to do. And with bad guys in pretty much all directions.

So, how do we get all those people away safely? We've talked about it before, but nobody has come up with any really good answers. Nolan doesn't think using the transport stones is a good idea, and I can see his point, but trying to escort that many people, on foot, through hostile territory is just asking for a lot more dead people.

But they lyre just might solve that. If we can get the Mariasha flying, we can use her to swoop in and get everyone away at once.

The dragons are yet another completely different headache, which by the way I'm getting from all this planning. I'm not one of the deep thinkers here. I just hit stuff. If I have to do much more thinking, my brains are going to start leaking out of my ears."

Roen chuckled,

"Does anyone know how the ship even works and how to fly it? I think it's funny that me, of all people, asked that question."

Aliana pursed her lips thoughtfully
"I don't know implicitly, but I'm hoping we can research the matter"

"Nolan thinks he knows. Which means he probably does. I'll certainly have to learn at some point, but during the battle, I'm going to be going after the dragon, somebody else will be flying the ship. Assuming, that is, it is possible to fix it with the lyre.  If not, it's a moot point."

Yes, I do believe that the ship will require a stone with the right spells cast to it. Similar to a Tenser's Floating Disk with Levitate and Haste and Fly all added in and possibly other spells. Since the ship is steered at the helm, I believe the stone would go there, since that's the area where the humming is coming from.

Twiggy listens to everyone and is excited about fixing the ship, but it is not first priority. The dracolich is. "You can go practice the lyre and build a stone maze for the kids. It might be better if we go to a mountain and see how much stone it can move."

Byron listens to the others.  He doesn't comment on the issue at hand as the others are way smarter and wiser than he is.

Yes, I do believe that it would be wise to learn the capabilities of the Lyre, but I'm pretty sure it can only be used for a certain amount of time before you can use it again. Do we want to wait?

Not much is known about these ships, but if you think about it, a ship is hard to destroy, especially the size of that one. Just because there's a hole in the hull, don't mean it won't fly. It'll just be very dangerous for the crew who could fall out the hole in flight, so all you would have to do is stay out of the cargo area. It's obvious that the main focus will be on the Helm area of the ship because that's where the Captain steers the ship in the direction he or she wants to go. We just have to figure out how it works to determine how to fix the magical properties of the ship.

"I wonder if a stone shadow spell can make a plug or wall for the home?  Unless that would throw off the balance?"

"Okay, okay, you've convinced me," Amara said after listening to everyone. "The ship would be a good way to rescue people. I can start by using the lyre there - since it can only be used once a week. Maybe I can make a slide to get it to a better place for access, or at least scaffolding. Either of those would be useful in the end goal but also shouldn't be so technically complicated that I could easily ruin the ship if I make a mistake..."

Maybe she shouldn't worry, but it was a new magic item - and she was a bit worried.

That idea is plausible, but wasn't there a group of Goblins or something wandering around the river in boats that could gain access to the ship?

Turning to Aliana, I honestly don't know. Technically it should work, but I'm sure the ship has settled and dirt has filled the space where the hole is, so I'm not sure what the spell would do with that.

"Hm," Amara said thoughtfully. "Well, at least we can check it out and start building the slide from the ground up. Just not finish it if we think the goblins will get it."

"I don't approve at all of this Lyre tearing apart innocent trees just to patch up holes in an old ship that were not even sure works. If we're going to do this, I'd insist on a tree that is already dead or we use party funds to buy lumber in town. And don't get started with how they might have gotten their lumber from."

I agree to those terms. I don't want to upset anyone just to fix a ship, so I will rely on your expertise, Kalliyan. If it takes us a few days to locate a few dead trees, or we go to Soubar to buy wood, that's what we'll do.

I think we would be better off trying to determine the type of wood the ship was made from before we just buy any lumber in Soubar or anywhere else for that matter.  However, I think it would be better to use the wood from dead trees of the appropriate type if they can be found near by the ship for a shorter time of moving stuff.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:18, Fri 12 Jan.

Recent deadfall is the way to go.  It's what I'd intended in the first place. Buying wood isn't really an option. Logistically it's expensive and hard to get to the site.  In this case, philosophically, it's the same as hiring an assassin and then pretending your hands are clean.

But let's not borrow trouble. Forests are, after all, literally growing on top of the trees that came before them. I'm sure we can handle this in a way everyone can agree on."

"Let's go and take a closer look. Perhaps we can use rock instead." Amara said.

"I'm willing to go take another look."

Agreed. The majority of the trees in this forest are Redwood and Pine, so hopefully the ship will be one of those.

"OK, let's go take a look at the ship. We still have a couple hours of daylight left. I don't know how the majority of us will get over to the boat from the edge of that cliff, but I guess we could look around for dead trees while those on the boat could access the damages?"

In reply to Roenthelm (msg # 269):

"I can join you"

With at least a couple hours left of sunlight, you head out again and use the Waystone. Again the Golems animate, but settle down once they register Nolan with the party. You arrive at the Hub and everything appears quiet. You select Section 3 which takes you to the pond with the Giant Stone Statue in the pond and where you found the Apparatus of Kwalish and the Northern Stone of Balance. You head North and arrive at the cliff edge and see the Mariasha on the Rocks. Nothing has changed. It's a good 150 feet to the water below, so you all are very careful around the edge while looking for the Goblin River Raiders. You don't see them. It's still daylight outside, so you figure they'll come out when it's dark.

Who is going to the ship and who is staying to look for dead trees?

Sister Aliana, with her skills with nature, might be better looking for trees

"I love the fact that this ship could possible save the lives of those poor souls in the mines, but I'd just be getting in the way while Nolan or who ever figures out if it works or not. So, I'll stay here and look for dead trees for the repairs."

I'll help Roen look for recently dead trees that we can use to repair the ship with.

OK, I'll inform everyone what the ship is made out of. Probably several different types of wood.

With that said, Nolan flies up into the air and towards the wrecked ship.

Myarra carries Amara as she flew over to the ship, following Nolan who is easily moving double her speed. He circles around the ship to make sure it was safe to land and to make sure nobody was in there, like some Goblins. But, who knows? They might be below deck? You land on the main deck and it's very solid. You spend the next 10 minutes making sure you're the only ones on board, which you are. What birds there were flew off when Nolan was circling around. Nolan uses a Prestidigitation spell to clean various areas on the ship to be able to identify the wood. After really taking a serious look at the damages, the hole in the Hull is about it. The rest of the ship is very well preserved. It's just covered in dirt, various wild plants and grasses and bird poop. When Myarra was last here and did some cleaning, she maybe cleaned 10% of the ship. The wood of the hull is Oak, so that's what the party will need to fix the ship with the Lyre of Building. Also, now that you're really looking at the hole, it's a tad bigger than a certain mechanical crab that was found in a pond and a giant stone statue head could have done some serious damage if it was hit by a flying ship....

------------------------

Kalliyan, Byron, Roenthelm, Aliana, Twiggy and Vernon look around for any dead trees, but unfortunately for them, everything surrounding this pond for a good 1/4 mile is very healthy and they didn't want to get too far away from the boat group, in case any trouble brewed.

Spot and Listen Checks, please.

Aliana, despite having naturally sharp hearing (to go with her naturally sharp ears), wasn't listening to her surroundings as much as she probably should have been, as she was enjoying a fun outing into the woods.  Despite her odd unelflike love of cities and towns, she felt the pull of the forest like any elf.
Luckily, because she was actively searching the area, her elven eyes were as vigilant as ever.


OOC: 17:53, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 20 using 1d20+4.  spot. – 20

17:53, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 11 using 1d20+4.  listen. – 11 

OK. Looks like this ship can be fixed, but I can see why nobody tried. Let's go to the helm and look things over and try to figure out how this thing works.

Once there, Nolan looks at the wheel, cleaning it with another Prestidigitation spell.

OOC: Not sure what skill to use? Knowledge (Arch. & Eng.)? Use Magical Device? Wizard Class level? Obviously with the ship being magical, the sails and rigging and other gear wouldn't be used?

Myarra had already looked over the hole in the bottom of the ship, so she had a good idea of how much wood they were going to need. If the lyre could just patch the hole with some raw wood, it really shouldn't take much time, assuming they could use a golem or the crab.  A tree or two's worth of wood would be enough. Finding it on the floor rather than just chopping one down would cause delays, but not as much of a delay as pissing off druids.

Surely they could be reasoned with.  Clear-cutting trees was obviously bad, but civilization needed wood for all kinds of things. Same with animals. Wholesale slaughter was bad, but people did need to eat.  Surely taking a tree or a deer, here and there, would be allowable.  If the deadfall plan fell through, she'd talk to Kalli about it.

It would just be better if the deadfall plan was a success.

In any case, it was the helm that she was most interested in. If they could fly the ship, even with the hole in the bottom, they should be able to limp back to Daak, where repairs would be much easier.

It all depended on what Nolan could figure out.

Amara looked over the helm with Nolan, figuring that this would be the area to concentrate. She highly doubted a hole in the hull would prevent the ship from flying. Floating, most definitely. Flying, No.

"I'm figuring this ship will fly similar to a bird. Take Flicka, for example." as the hummingbird flew and landed on her finger "You want to go right, Flicka would lean to the right." Flicka spreads her wings and leans to the right. "The same with the left. If you want to go up, this wheel thing would have to be pulled back to make the front of the ship go higher." Flicka demonstrates by raising her head "And to go down, you push it forward." Flicka leans down "And to make it level would be somewhere in between. How to make it stop? I don't know. Maybe one of these handles on the wheel has something to do with that."

That's a pretty clever description, Amara. So, that would mean that we should pull back on the wheel to get unstuck. Let's see if any of these handles move. Myarra, it's your ship. Why don't you do the honors? You're the captain and we're your trusted advisors.

"Alright, let's see what happens," Myarra agrees.

She really isn't expecting anything.  After all, if the ship could just fly away, why would the previous owners have left it here? But then there's something making the humming sound, so who knows?

After making taking a quick look to make sure nobody from the forest team was unexpectedly on or under the ship, she takes hold of the wheel and gently but firmly pulls back as Amara had suggested.

If the ship moves at all, she'll immediately stop.

Twiggy walks around the forest looking for downed trees with no luck. He then starts looking for trees that are clumped together that wouldn't hurt if they were thinned out. As he walks he keeps stopping to listen and look around for dangers.

11:34, Today: Twiggy Flinch rolled 14,15,19,18 using 1d20+10,1d20+10,1d20+13,1d20+13 ((4,5,6,5)).

Sorry for the slow posting. I started a new job and it is taking up a good bit of time.

Aliana helped search the nearby area.

OOC:11:58, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 17 using 1d20+4.  Spot. – 17

11:58, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 19 using 1d20+6.  Knowledge nature . – 19

11:57, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 32 using 1d20+15.  Survival . – [roll=1705600672.0957.39278

Well, the helm does look like it's designed to move like Amara described and Nolan cleaned the instrument, but when Myarra pulls on it, nothing happens except the humming growing a bit louder. It's like it's locked in place. Nolan tells Amara and Myarra that the Helm is radiating strong Universal Magic. After mentioning that maybe one of the handles of the wheel might do something, all three of you notice that 2 of the handles (9 and 3 O:clock positions) are different than the other 6. Myarra tries moving them, but they don't move. You all notice that when Myarra gripped them and tried to move them (Like revving a motorcycle, but both handles) they want to move, but it doesn't do anything and the humming grows a bit louder again.

As for the skill, we'll go with Use Magical Device and you can add in your Arcane Level as a bonus in the Misc. area.
___________________________________

While searching around for dead trees to help rebuild the wrecked ship, Twiggy, Vernon and Aliana heard some brush ahead of them rustle and looking that way, they thought they saw it move as well. Byron, Kalliyan and Roenthelm are searching for dead trees in the other direction and didn't hear or see anything.
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:59, Sat 20 Jan.

Aliana got her bow ready, as she peered ahead

Myarra knew better, but she was still a little disappointed anyway.

"Looks like it takes someone with more magic than I've got.

But, really, a captain doesn't need to be able to fly the ship, we just need to be able to shout orders in a loud voice.

Amara, would you like to give it a try?"

Nolan wasn't surprised that the ship didn't move. He was a bit relieved that the handle didn't break off with how long the ship looked to have sat.

This is your ship and with some time, you'll be flying it around like it was made for you. Amara and I just have to figure how to work it first. I'm figuring there is something that goes along with its use that prevents the ship from being stolen, or else this ship would have been gone years ago from just messing around with the wheel. I'm going to clean more of the wheel to see if there is any magical writings.

Nolan casts more Prestidigitation spells to clean the steering wheel and the floor around it.

I could also summon the Water Elemental to clean the ship. The water will just go out the hole in the bottom. Nolan chuckled, which was a rarity

Twiggy looks at Aliana and get the reins on Fitz ready to bolt "Get ready to run to Byron. Fitz and I can keep whatever it is busy and we will bring the party to you.

Amara shrugged and stepped forward after Nolan was done cleaning the area. With her only being 4'5" tall, the wheel was a bit Intimidating, but she looked over the wheel and used her knowledge to try and figure out how to work the ship.

16:11, Today: Big Boss, on behalf of Amara, rolled 24 using 1d20+18.  Use Magical Device.

After getting the same results as Myarra, she was about to give up when she noticed that there was a small hole in the middle of the spoked wheel about 1/4" in diameter.

"What's this?"

Aliana, Twiggy and Vernon saw the brush move like there was a wild animal there? (H-37 Area on Main map). Twiggy tells Aliana that if there's trouble, to run back to Byron, with the hopes that Twiggy could lead whatever it is back to them. You wait and watch and then you hear a guttural language being whispered. Twiggy and Vernon recognize it as Goblin.

"There's too many and the human in metal has a big sword."
"We can take the Halfling and eat the dog."
"Shhh....can they hear us?"
"The Boss will want the elf to play with."
Giggles

Sister Aliana said a quick prayer, asking for the power of flight to escape her enemies.
OOC:  cast Fly spell

After a moment and no immediate answer, Amara asked, "That sure looks like something is supposed to be in there... Hm..." She pulled out a small pack of tools - one might recognize it as a lockpicking set - and carefully started working with two of the tools and the hole, figuring it likely worked something like a key in a lock.

 She listened for changes in the sound being made and was ready to move the different levels and wheel, if needed.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:17, Sat 20 Jan.

Vernon just floated there and listened and translated back, not knowing if Twiggy and Aliana understood...not that Aliana could hear him anyways.

"The sounds be Goblins! Little pests. Maybe 2 or 3 or 20. They sound the same to me!"

Amara pulls out "Tools" and starts to skillfully try to unlock or release anything within the hole, but nothing happens. With one of her tools, she figures out that the 1/4" hole is about 10" deep when she hits the backside of the helm steering wheel. Even though she didn't do anything with her tools, she's pretty positive that something is inserted like a key to a door or lock.

Amara frowns as she puts her tools away, "I don't think my tools are going to cut it. Look around for something like a key."

And she begins to do just that.

"If they took the key with them, that would explain why the ship is still here. I doubt we're going to find it on the floor, but it's worth looking around ... not that I'm a paragon of searching.  We might want to get Twiggy over here for that.

Assuming we can't find it, how do we replace it?"

Twiggy chuckles listening to the goblins and nods a thanks to Vernon. "I can understand them fine. Doesn't sound like alot of them but no need to pick a fight if we don't have to. We are in their home. Aliana, let's see how good I am at diplomacy."

Looking at the bush Twiggy leads Fitz closer and calls out in goblin "Let us talk, no need to try and eat the dog. This is your home and we do not want to fight or kill you. We are here to get the big ship and need trees to fix it. If you help us you can get gold, or good food.

Who is your boss? Twiggy reaches into his backpack and pulls out a handful of gold.

18:55, Today: Twiggy Flinch rolled 23,8 using 1d20+5,1d20+5 ((18,3)).

In reply to Twiggy Flinch (msg # 298):

Aliana, though better with books than people, tried to help her friend
She muttered another prayer to Oghma for understanding, giving herself the ability to speak Goblin.
"My friend speaks true.  We would make better friends than enemies, but we would be very good friends "

She then cast another spell, aimed on a nearby rock, that summoned a pile of fresh but somewhat bland beef jerkey, as well a large jug of water.


OOC:
Cast Tongues
19:20, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 9 using 1d20+7 ((2)).
 Assist other Diplomacy
Cast Create Food and Water

 
This message was last edited by the player at 01:40, Mon 22 Jan.

Twiggy and Aliana choose Diplomacy with the Goblins hiding in the thick brush. At first, they're convinced you didn't hear them, even when you were speaking to them in Goblin. The food suddenly appearing got their interest, as a couple Goblins ran out there and grabbed what they could before running into the brush again. Then you hear fighting and assume they are fighting over the food that they thought they stole from you. This noise attracts Byron, Kalliyan and Roenthelm to you. Another Goblin comes out to see if there was anymore food and stops, figuring if he's not moving, then you won't see him.

Main Game Map has been updated
_______________________

Trying to figure out if there was a key hidden someplace on the ship, Myarra, Amara and Nolan start searching, but come up empty. But who knows what could be hidden under the layers of dirt on the ship? Twiggy has the Decanter that could easily wash off the deck.

"Well, we can try to make a new key, I suppose. But the more we know about the old one, the more likely we'd succeed. We might need to see Hans and do some studying.

I'm no slouch on searching, but this is a big place, and we're looking for something small. More eyes are likely better. If we can't find it, we should bring the others too." Amara replied, as she continued to search around.

After searching and finding nothing, Nolan had an idea.

I do have the magical Adamantite rod that opens the vault in Daak. Maybe that will work?

Nolan pulls out the rod from his robes. It measures 1 foot long with 1/4" diameter.

"Seems like a rather unlikely coincidence," Myarra remarks.  "But stranger things have happened. And it would save us from doing a lot of cleaning.  Well, it still needs to be done, but we could put it off a while."

"Well, let's try," Amara said, taking the offered rod and carefully seeing if it might fit in the hole.

Aliana held her bow in one hand, but held up her other hand in a hopefully friendly way.  She spoke in Goblin.
"Don't worry, my friend.  We're not here to cause trouble with your people.  We can even help each other, if you'd like.  This is a dangerous region.  Perhaps we can work together. "


OOC:   19:48, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 24 using 1d20+7 ((17)).  Diplomacy

Nolan handed over the Rod to Amara and looked around again.

We also have the Decanter to clean this place up, if you think the Elemental is too much.

"What ever we use, we need to be careful we don't just wash the key overboard along with all the debris."

Twiggy just looks at the goblin frozen and smiles at Aliana as he gets the bag of hard candy from his pack. Twiggy gets off Fitz and walks up close to the goblin and offers him a handful of candy and says in goblin "There is plenty of food if you can show us where some large trees that have fallen down are.

Amara took the Rod and placed it into the hole in the middle of the Steering wheel of the Helm. It fit perfectly. The ship shuddered violently.

What birds there were in the area next to the Goblin trying to be invisible, suddenly scattered, startling everyone. The Goblin bolts. Twiggy drops his candy.

Amara grabs the steering wheel to hold on to something as Myarra and Shannon try to retain their balance. Nolan held on to the railing for support.

Kalliyan was a bit worried about what could have made all the birds scatter like that as Twiggy annoyingly picked up the candy he dropped. The sounds of snapping branches could be heard then as you all thought a Dragon might have found you.

Myarra got whipped by a tree branch and almost fell over. The branch then hit the mast of the ship and broke off and landed on the deck. Shannon disappeared.

Something made its way to the party, but it wasn't a dragon. As you are looking up, years of dirt build-up, along with bird poop are falling all over you as a wooden structure, about 50 feet above your heads, with a hole in the bottom crashes through the trees and heads South.

All three of you have quickly found out that the ship works. You are crashing through the forest with branches hitting the whole backside of the ship. Amara lets go of the Helm wheel and grabs Myarra instead and the ship slowly comes to a stop....about 3 miles away.

Twiggy thinks the negotiations with the Goblin is over.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:31, Wed 24 Jan.

Aliana dodges with her flying spell as best she could,  and tried to follow the ship

Myarra whoops and tries to help steady the wheel, but mostly just braces Amara to keep her from stumbling. She's not ignoring Nolan, he just seems to have a secure place to hold on to and doesn't need her help.

"That was incredible! she shouts with joy.

"We have to try that again.  Perhaps a little more gently.  Shannon! Where are you, girl?"

Myarra's first priority is to make sure her familiar is okay.  But then she's definitely going to have a go at the wheel.  Perhaps gaining a little more altitude first would be a good idea.

"Which way is Daak? Does anyone know? Rats, we'll have to go get the others first. So much to do!"

Roen just watched in wonder as a flying ship just went by them, knocking off tree branches and sending poopy dirt to the ground all over them. It kept going, but Roen stayed back with Byron, knowing full well he wouldn't be able to keep up.

"Looks like they got it working, but their ship skills need improvement."

Well there's something you don't see everyday.

Byron tried not look up as he tried to continue his work of finding the proper dead trees.  However, it was impossible not to look up when the the shadow of the ship passed over.

This thing really moves, that's for sure. Is everyone OK? No broken bones? Where is Shannon?

Now that the ship is not trying to kill everyone on board, Nolan helps Myarra find Shannon.

"Whoa!" Amara said as the ship started moving quickly when the key was inserted. She hadn't expected such a quick reaction from the ship. She struggled to try to control it, but didn't know what she was doing.

"Thanks," Amara said to Myarra as she steadied her. "Yeah, fine. Just... startled - didn't expect it to start going like that. Feel like I should have been able to control it better.

Okay, so, it seems we've found the key, and that touching the wheel appears to cause the ship to go - wherever."

Twiggy picks up his candy and leaves a bag for the goblins "I guess we don't need the wood after all to make it fly. Let's go catch up to them and search for wood from the sky."

Myarra calls for Shannon again, looking at small areas where a cat might hide while also reaching out, feeling for her through their shared link. She's pretty sure the cat is going to hold this against her until placated with sufficient fish.

"Well, we certainly broke enough limbs to supply wood for the repairs. It was an accident, but we should still think about how to apologize to Kalli.

If we can get her under control, we can just fly back along our path, perhaps a little higher up, and haul the broken limbs up onto the deck.  Then we can do the repairs and cleaning at our leisure."

Myarra finds Shannon on the main deck and the Lynx tells her all about how this was Myarra's fault and gives her an ear-full. The whole area is full of activity as birds are making all kinds of noises at the intrusion. Looking over the edge, you are about 50 feet off the ground.

If you plan on going back, who is taking the Helm and what are you doing to make the ship move?
__________________________

Twiggy leaves some candy for the Goblins as the rest of the party follow an easy trail in the direction the ship went. Kalliyan is pissed that so many trees are damaged. So far, you don't even see the ship at all. It must have moved pretty far, you figure. Aliana flies above the trees to see if she can see anything and she thinks she spots something miles away.

Vernon seemed very excited when the ship flew over their heads at such a high speed, "Aye, that ship be movin' at least 40 knots, maybe more. Never me seen such a sight!"

"Well, Twiggy. I think I'm going to enjoy traveling with you guys. I've never seen a flying ship before and look forward to flying on it with you guys. Of course, that is if nobody on board wrecks the thing before you restore it."

Once Myarra makes sure Shannon is okay, and gives her excessive scritches to apologize, she returns to the helm and gives it a close look, tucking her hands behind her back to make sure she doesn't touch anything prematurely.  Once she's sure of what she's looking at, she'll get ready to try a couple of very minor experiments.

"Okay, hold on, I'm going to touch the wheel. I'm going to be very gentle. If we start to move so much as an inch, I'll let go."

Provided no one cries out in panic or otherwise tries to prevent her, she'll do just that, very loosely placing her hands on the spokes at 3 and 9 o'clock.  She'll be very conscious of not moving the wheel or the spokes at all.

-- Now comes a lot of steps to save on time. I'm assuming things will go according to plan.
-- If they do, continue to the next test.
-- If something weird happens, take hands off the wheel entirely and stop until we can reassess.
-- If absolutely nothing happens, take hands off the wheel entirely and assume Amara is going to have to work it.

1) Twist spokes motorcycle-like, but just a little. Assumption: Power increases
2) If the spokes do not move, try squeezing them, again just a little.
3) Return spokes to neutral (or release depending on what worked above). Pull back on the wheel just a little and twist/squeeze the spokes just a little. Assumption: Ship rises.
4) Return all to neutral. Turn the wheel to the right just a little and twist/squeeze the spokes just a little. Assumption: Ship turns to the right.
5) Return all to neutral.

Let's see how that goes.

Aliana flew above the ship and shout down
"Is everyone okay?"

Yes, everything is fine. We're trying to figure out what we did. You cheated and flew while the rest are walking?

Aliana chuckled at the wizard.
"We heard movement in the woods, so I used my flying spell, as I often do, in case there was something dangerous we had to deal with.  It turned out to be some of the nearby goblins, whom Twiggy and I tried to befriend with food.  Then the ship started moving and scared them away, and I came here to see what happened.  Just in case it wasn't on purpose."

1) The ship moves forward about 100 feet before it finally stops.
3) Ship's bow rises and then you all move forward (Like going up hill) another 50 feet. The ship is around 100 feet off the ground now. You side swipe another tree and a couple branches fall to the ground. Shannon hates you.
4) Turning the wheel to the right makes the ship turn right immediately. (We'll say 10 degrees) Twisting the 9 and 3 spokes really quick moves the ship again and you run into more branches.

It's around 7pm-ish and the sun is starting to go down.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:18, Thu 25 Jan.

Twiggy keeps riding on hearing the loud cracking sounds in the distance "Copper this will be fun to fly on a ship, if it isn't destroyed. I can't wait to try and fly it, I am really good with using magical devices."

"This is great! Yes it is, sweetie! Just hold on. You're going to love being a sky pirate! I'll make you a hat and everything. With a big feather.

I think I'm getting the hang of it, but it's getting late. There's no way to get to Daak, or even bring on all the necessary wood before it's too dark for the surface-dwellers.

I'm thinking of just edging back over to the hill and hovering over it."

Taking a look around, she finds the river that leads to the hill and turns the wheel to point at the river.

"Help me out! Someone give me directions. I figure the best thing to do is to go over to the river and then follow it to the island. That way we'll minimize the number of trees we have to scrape by.  Aliana, let me know where we are relative to the trees. Let's not piss off the druids if we can avoid it."

The plan is to lift the ship up over the trees as we head to the river, then turn to follow the river back to the island, then lower the ship until we're hovering right above it.

I'm going to sleep on the ship. Anyone who wants to join me is welcome.

Let me know if reality follows the plan or not.

All of this was an accident. We were trying to figure out how the ship works and I had the key all along. Well, I found the Rod in the Tower, but it doesn't matter. We weren't really expecting it to work and when it violently moved off that rock, we grabbed whatever was close to brace ourselves and by the time we recovered, we were here and now Myarra is hitting trees.

Turning to Myarra,

I know you're excited, but lets skip moving the ship forward. We know that works. Let's see if it moves backwards and then if it can go straight up and down like the Levitate spell.

"I prefer to think of it as the trees are hitting me.  And there's 'on purpose' and then there's 'on purpose'. We were trying to make Mariasha fly. We just weren't intending to send her crashing several miles through the forest in the process. Oops!

And we have already gone backward.  Hey, Amara, do you remember exactly what you were touching when we started our voyage?

Yeah, straight up would be nice, Shannon's already looking at me like she's going pee in my boots if I make her slide anymore. Maybe eat my boots. While I'm wearing them.

But I have no idea how to go straight up. So far I can only go up by lifting the bow and moving forward. Up and down would make landing a lot easier as well.

Okay, two more minor tests before we try getting back to the others."

1) Put hands under the 3/9 spokes and push straight up.  Does the ship levitate upward?
2) If it does and we clear the treeline (I really don't want to back into any more trees), grasp the 3/9 spokes and twist them backwards. Does the ship move backward?

OOC: Current knowledge base:
Turn the knobs forward (motorcycle style): The ship moves forward.
Spin the wheel left or right: Turns the ship accordingly.
Pull back on the wheel: Nose goes up.
Push forward on the wheel: Nose goes down.

"I'm pretty sure I was holding it here," Amara replies, pointing but not touching.

"Yes, before it's dark, let's find a good place to land this for the night. Then we can figure the rest out tomorrow."

1) No
2) Grasping the 3/9 spokes (motorcycle style) and twisting them backwards (Like revving the bike) makes the ship move back. The ship is now in the same spot as before, but 10 degrees off. That is corrected by turning the wheel a tad to the left.

It's now around 7:30pm and Byron, Twiggy, Roenthelm, Kalliyan and Vernon have arrived. The gang is all here!

Twiggy gets onto the ship and is like a kid in a candy store looking at everything. He the says "Arrrrr, matey. This be a fine vessel to plunder some treasure. Can we go scare some goblins please..."

Once he gets to Myarra working the controls he studies what she is doing and all the levers to figure out which does what.

09:34, Today: Twiggy Flinch rolled 28,34 using 1d20+19,1d20+19 ((9,15)).

Nolan flew down and picked Twiggy up and brought him on board the ship 100 feet up. Myarra and Amara explained to Twiggy what they've done so far and given the Helm, Twiggy mimicked it perfectly. He also figures out how to make the ship levitate up and down.

9/3 = Forward/Backward = UP
9/3 = Backward/Forward = Down

The party also notices that while the ship went down, it won't hit the ground. It hovers about 1 foot off the ground. You would still need some kind of ladder/rope/plank etc to get onto the deck unless you can fly/levitate etc..

Roen had Twiggy bring the ship up about 3 feet from the ground and then climbed onto the ship up through the hole in the bottom. If Byron and Kalli needed help getting aboard, he will help them.

Byron will help Kali up first then try to get on the ship without help unless that proves impossible then he will accept Roen's help.

Myarra waits for the rest of the group to climb aboard, assisting any that require it, then returns to the helm.

"Let's get back to island for the night.  We can make more detailed plans for picking up wood once it's light. Nolan, should we leave the key in place for the night? I'm a bit worried about the damage we might do if we let the ship drop back onto the rocks."

Once everyone was on board, Nolan had Myarra lift the ship at least 100 feet above the tree line, but had her point the ship to South/South-East instead.

Let's see how fast this thing can go. All you have to do is push the handles forward and go South. We'll make adjustments once we're past the forest border. Hopefully, we'll see the tower.

"The sun is already setting. Are you sure we can get all the way to Daak before the surface folks can't see?"

Twiggy enjoys playing with the ship and asks Myarra "Can I steer the ship Captain? It is best if we get out of the forest area before dark in case any flying creature sees us. We can go to the tower, or wherever, under the cover of darkness."

"That's the point. Have you ever flown at night? The ground is a black carpet below, the sky a dark curtain above. You can't see anything.  How will we know when we reach the edge of the forest? How will we find Daak? I don't know how far away we are or how long it's going to take to get there.

And while my darkvision will help, it's only usable within 60'.  There's a lot of stuff to hit moving at speed with only 60' of visibility."

-- Just looking for a little reassurance here.

Aliana, still able to fly, helped anyone who needed it onto the ship, and then settled down near the steering wheel, watching the others with contentment.

Given various reassurances that this isn't going to be suicidal, Myarra sighs and agrees.  Selune was rather bright, or would be once she rose, which should be pretty soon.  She could only hope that Nolan was correct about how far away Daak was and how soon they could get there.

In consultation with those who know that sort of thing, she verifies that the Mariasha is pointed in the right direction and high enough to clear the trees. She also verifies that everyone is on board.  She gives Shannon some extra scritches and promises her two large salmon once they get back to the tower.

"Okay, Bosun Twiggy, you have the helm. Let's try half speed at first and make sure she isn't going to shake herself apart, then we'll push forward and see what she can do.

Everyone spread out around the ship and keep an eye on the horizon. Sing out if you see anything we need to know about ... like really tall trees, or angry dragons, or hopefully, Daak.

With luck, we'll be able to search for oak deadfall tomorrow. The forest around Daak will hopefully be a mite safer than here.  And with even more luck, we might have the old girl shipshape in a day or two so we can seriously plan our assault on the mine."

Byron moves towards the side of the ship with the hole they came through.  Hoping the ship doesn't fall apart and that he can see anything useful once the sun completely sets.

I will do my best, but you know I can't see that well at night even with a full moon.

I think we'll be fine. This ship is pretty strong. It didn't disintegrate when it landed on that small island and it held together when you were hitting trees. We'll just keep track of time. When the sun is gone, we'll slow down enough to see if there are trees below us. If I have to, I can Teleport back to Daak and fly up into the air and act like a beacon with an Everburning Torch.

In reply to Nolan (msg # 344):

Aliana nodded with a shrug
"I could join you if need be"

Amara nodded. She didn't really know much about ships, but figured that she'd be safer than most (since she could levitate) going up to the little stand on the mast - what did they call it? A hippogriff's nest? That didn't sound right... But anyway, that's where she headed to watch.

OK, everyone takes their positions to hold on to something, in case the ship breaks apart. Twiggy's orders were to take it half speed, but since you don't know what half speed is, you try it at a speed and gradually go faster. At first, it seems pretty slow, then it goes about as fast as you were going backwards, then it goes faster than a hastened horse running full tilt. Dirt/poop/grasses start to fly off like you were in a dustdevil storm and Amara chuckles a bit, since she's way on top in the Crow's Nest. But, after that, she's not chuckling. The ship is moving at at least 50 knots now and Amara is not liking it up there anymore as everyone on deck is getting hit with all sort of poopy dirt debris while the wind is whipping her hair and clothes and Flicka in her cloak pocket. Twiggy says he can go faster....

"Slow down! We aren't going to be able to give a warning if we're about to hit something at this speed!"

"Twiggy! Ease off! Amara's right! We're already going faster than I thought we could.  We'll either choke to death on debris or slam into something.  Let's save the speed trials for when we get her cleaned up. Or we get chased by something that makes the risk worth it.

Nolan, once we start getting close to Daak, I think your beacon idea is a good one."