Though Finn hunts again that night, and again the next morning, he finds himself foiled twice because of clouds and wind that keeps his flying low and turbulent.  It seems to have the added affect of keeping most animals to their burrows and the larger game bedded down.  When the rain and thunder start, Finn decides that the attempt is more trouble than it is worth.

The weather has cleared though on the second morning and as Finn takes to the skies and he has an overwhelming feeling of confidence despite their recent poor showings.  Sure enough, almost before he has even managed his normal cruising altitude, Finn spots an entire herd of antelope, gorging themselves on the freshly dewed morning grass.  Finn screams in his falcon voice, heading straight for the herd as he watches Omar start into a jog on the hills below.

Finn is so sure of their triumph that he barely watches as Omar crawls at a painstakingly slow pace towards the herd, as he loads his arrow, as he flings the bolt a dozen paces at one of the largest of the animals.  As the arrow misses.

Wait, he missed!?  Finn's falcon eyes stare daggers at the ground below, burning holes in the expert hunter, and watching the herd as they spring away towards the lower ground.  Finn's beak is set tight like a grinding jaw as he glides along, trying to stay over the herd as they flee, daring Omar to give up the chase.

The man does not however.  Jogging along well in trail of the antelope he follows for nearly a half an hour until the herd settle again.  He stalks in closer.  He pulls back the string.  Finn watches as the arrow buries itself to the fletching in one of the larger male's chest.

The beast launches itself forward with its back feet, though when it lands on its front, it collapses to the ground, twitching.

Finn whirls in the air, shifting his glide down towards the south.

Omar would not have any trouble cleaning and carrying the meat, and besides, it was his own fault that he had to haul it back so far.  Finn had more concerning things, like finding the keep of Malak Almawt.

They had turned south two days previous, following the mountains as they curved southwards and then slightly back to the east.   Finn had been searching as part of his hunting ritual, trying to find anything that looked remotely like the riddle had suggested.  To this point he had not found much of anything to report.  A mountain lake or two, but nothing that had seemed to really fit the bill.

Though when Finn notes an oddly shaped mountain, not a single peak like normal, but an odd ring shape of peaks thrusting out of a low fog, he feels the chances are good enough that it is worth further investigating.  Finding a bit of a hole in the layer, Finn edges down into the cloud, dipping low enough that he just barely begins to see the clear grey reflection on the surface of a lake below...

OOC it is 0830 on the 31st of May.  You have been flying for about an hour and a half, having already upkept your shapeshift spell once, and are down 9 fatigue (your spell failed once).  Your spell will renew in another 30 minutes.  You would say that you are about a 15 minute flight from camp.  You have been in a bird form long enough that you know that flying in bad visibility can be exceedingly dangerous, especially in mountains.  If you want to keep looking around at a low altitude, roll vs. Perception-5.  General picture below, just remove all the snow.

Finn spends hours in bird form, which he doesn't do often and as such the sensations of his animal vision, smelling and hearing are a bit shocking in contrast to his mundane human body.  The transformation is both exhilarating and somewhat scary.  From high above the ground it takes him days to become accustomed to his new high powered senses.  Yet despite this advantage are the alarming disadvantages.  He is so small with weapons only fit for something equal to his size or smaller.  Truly stupendous animals these falcons.

During the hours spent riding the winds unable to speak Finn amuses himself wondering what humans would do with animal parts and vice versa.  Particularly he wonders how the game of crook and constable would play out with bird eyes, dog noses, cat paws and mouse ears.  And then he recalls a story he heard in his younger days.  He cannot remember the origin but some far off peoples have a creation myth that involves an early meeting.  The chief of the gods tells his underlings that they will convene at first light the next morning to construct all of the animals.  Early do the gods show up.  The first goes and he selects powerful legs, sharp teeth and eyes that can see well in the dark.  He builds a predatory great cat.  The next god takes her turn.  From a large pile of parts she grabs enormously thick legs, a long nose that can grab things like a long finger and a good strong mind.  She makes an elephant.  And so it goes one after the other long into the afternoon.  And then before the supper hour a god of leisure shows up, having over slept from too much fine wine.  All that remains of the pile of parts for this final creation, the last animal to be introduced, are sub par pieces.  Weak muscles.  Poor eyes.  Noses that detect only smells at close range.  No claws.  No webbing, poison, armor or fangs.  Nothing out of the ordinary to ensure some advantage for offense or defense.  And this jonny-come-lately, what was their assigned animal?  Man.

And then Razzel is pulled from his day dreaming with the sight of what looks like the library.  For several long moments he giggles to himself which comes out as a series of short high pitched squawks.  He dives lower hoping to see more concrete signs.


OOC:
The story is a real creation myth I heard years ago.  It comes from one of the Native American tribes but I cant remember which one.

Fly lower.  I want to get confirmation that this looks like a place worth investigating more.  By flying lower I want to know if I should come back with the team to investigate further or can I cross this place off the list and never come back.  After a brief closer look return to camp and tell of what I discovered.

It was not my intent to make Omar carry the food back to camp while I flew on, but it works.

Wanting to get a better look around, Finn arcs around, hoping to see some clear signal that this, indeed, is the site of Malak Almawt's keep.  The damn cloud though, continues to be a nuisance.  Hoping to keep clear, Finn reverses his direction back around, and away from the edge of the basin shaped mountain rim.

But even with this precaution, Finn quickly plunges into the thick and milky white of the low hanging cloud.

Everything grays out, and Finn can feel the moist air hitting his feathers and slicking backwards.  While Finn knows that his wings are well strong enough to keep him aloft, even if it begins to rain, the thought of continuing on without being able to see anything is near horrifying, for flying into a mountain even at moderate speeds could likely break his neck.  One way or other, he'll have to do something, whether it be dropping to the lake below or climbing back above the low layer of cloud.

OOC:  Since you didn't attempt the Per roll, I tried it for you and it failed.  The intent was that you were looking for a hole in the clouds to keep looking for lower flight.  You have a couple of options here, you can try and climb, knowing that eventually you will break out above the clouds (so long as you don't hit a mountain first) or you can descend, hoping that you will break out below the clouds (so long as you don't hit a mountain or a keep and assuming that the clouds do actually break before the surface of the lake).  While hitting the lake is a little disconcerting it is unlikely to significantly hurt you and you are unlikely to find anything else if you climb up.  Hitting something hard though, would definitely be a problem. If you wish to go down, give me a risk/reward modifier that gives me a feel for how far you are willing to press things.  1 for a timid minute of gliding lower before climbing back up to 10 of going down all the way until you hit the lake if need be.  The modifier will be applied positively to your perception roll of finding anything and negatively to your chances of hitting something on your way down.

Finn the falcon glides while occassionally flapping his small avian wings.  While he has been a falcon several times since learning the spell the sensation is still as new as the first time seeing that he casts the incantation so infrequently.

While observers wouldn't notice the subtle curling of his beak bird Finn is smiling as he descends.  All is going well.  His servants are acting like...well, paid servants.  There is a definite lack of contradictory opinions flying about day and night.

Tipping his wings and lowering his tiny head he dips lower to discover just how low the clouds go.


OOC:
R/R is 3 out of 10.  Cautious side.  Take it slow enough that if the clouds do go all the way to the lake I'm going slow enough to have a decent chance of pulling back up.  Hopefully the lower peek will be the confirmation I need that this is the library and I can bring the team here.

His mind in a mild panic for several moments, Finn forces himself to calm down, knowing that there couldn't be anything reaching quite up this high.  Slowing himself down to a glide, and slowly descending, Finn presses his luck just a touch (though it hasn't every really been that good he reminds himself) in hoping for a quick way out of the cloud and and into a spot where he can view the ground below.

Slowly he glides, feeling the wet, cold air slap against his wings, desperately trying to pierce the thick, dense fog with his vision as his head cranes this way and that in anticipation.  Just a moment longer.

Just a moment longer.

It is not something he sees, but something that Finn hears that catches his attention.  A woman's voice, high and cold.

"He needs more, another sacrifice..."

Finn turns his head slightly towards the sound, feeling his body and wings arc ever so slightly with the movement.

That way.  Finn thinks though the thought does not last long.

From the thick of the cloud, less than a dozen yards away, a massive spire erupts from the nothing, filling up most of the space of Finn's vision.  Black, stone and massive the thing looms, hurtling towards him far too fast for comfort...

OOC:  Actually, you made all of your rolls.  I decided to get your unluckiness out of the way early so I didn't forget in this adventure.  You have a couple of options here.  You can roll vs. aerobatics (defaults to DX-4) to miss the tower entirely, or you can roll vs. DX to try and defray the situation so that you don't hit the stone beak first.  While you aren't going super fast, you also don't have a ton of HPs in this form, so breaking your neck is a very real possibility.

Confirmation.  That's all he wanted.  True the sensations of being a bird, this tiny body light as a feather flying high on the winds.  Everything seen through powerful predatory avian eyes.  That was all thrilling.  But turning from a man into a small bird had its downside.  The metamorphosis wasn't exactly a tickle fest, and being the size of a house cat meant that Razzel had to constantly watch for larger and meaner predators that didn't mind spitting out beaks and talons.  So Finn's plan is to find enough evidence that this place is worth looking into further, with his team in tow, and then he can  head back to camp to retrieve them.  And return in his natural safer form.

But suddenly a woman's voice rips at his attention.  Yes, that is confirmation alright.  But not satisfied with a mere sound the plucky mage-thief banks towards the speech.  But all is not well when out of the mist a tall black tower emerges, right in front of him!

The little scout does his best to turn, trying to roll his body and flap his little wings furiously.


OOC:
I rolled against DX to defray since my odds were better.  Lol.  The dice roller hates me.  The dice rolling I do should count as bad luck.  Didn't I recently burn 2 Hero Points and couldn't make the roll I wanted in 8 rolls? 

His heart suddenly thudding like a timpani drum, Finn flares his body and wings like a giant air brake, feeling his body climb slightly as it slows.  Still, the tower crashes towards him at an impossible speed!  Finn pushes out his feet, trying to get something between himself and the stone... after all, a broken leg was much better than smashing into it chest or beak first... though it would make flying back something of a problem.

In only an instant, the tower is upon him and Finn pushes off with his legs.  Miracle!  He is at enough of an angle it seems, that the impact softens into his knees, and for the moment, he is unhurt.

For the moment.

It only takes a second to realize that Finn has more troubles coming.

For Finn's momentum was entirely stopped.  And though he managed to keep from smashing headfirst into the tower, he still finds himself maybe fifty or a hundred off the ground (it is impossible to tell, for the fog still obscures the ground) trying to cling onto a vertical surface.

Like a child's cartoon, Finn attempts to grasp on to the stone for a moment with his feet, before his body starts plummeting again, this time at full speed towards the ground!  His heart thumping in his face and ears, Finn reorients himself, flares hard to slow his speed, and breaks out of the cloud just a few dozen feet above the ground.  He grips out at the first thing he sees, a bit of ruined wall, and he touches down, none the worse for wear.

Almost disbelieving, Finn settles onto the perch, his vision tunneled and his heart bursting out of his feathers.

"Malakai has said that only when the altar lays thick with blood can the ritual truly be performed.  Skoulos has slept long, he needs to be enticed from his sleep."

Finn looks around from his high perch.  He seems to be on the ruined outer walls of an old keep.  The ground on the outside of the walls slopes slowly downward, intersecting with the lake after only a few dozen yards.  On the inside of the walls, a wide courtyard expands several dozen yards wide.  To his left, the high tower (the one that nearly killed him) climbs up into the cloud, with easily three stories visible above the ground.  At the base of the tower is a large stone altar, spattered with maroon stains where a tall, black haired woman in dark robes stands next to a much smaller and stouter man.

Finn looks to the right, where the wall collapses away into an upwards slope.  Near the center of the slope, a wide cave yawns like an open maw, where a thin milky smoke billows into the courtyard ahead.



OOC:  Rather than asking a bunch more rolls for you, I went ahead and made them.  You completely lucked out on the damage roll, which had about a 50% chance of breaking your leg and ended up with no damage at all.  You managed to make your follow on rolls as well, and have landed atop a dilapidated stone wall.

A quiet content Finn Razzel sits atop a crumbling ancient wall and looks around him.  Yes, indeed this is the place.  He couldn't mistake it for anything else if it smacked him hard in the face, and it almost did!  The lake, the cave, the island, the mountain and if that weren't enough, the mention of the name Malakai.  Jogging his memory Finn recalls that is the very name of the man who took the manuscripts of this place directly from Munt.  Coincidence? Perhaps.  Malakai could be a common Wazif name.  But an unlikely coincidence given the geography.

And then the plucky mage-thief revels for a moment in the supreme satisfaction of what led him here.  His ability to lay as spy, disguised as a bird, is nothing short of the result of hard years of work and toil.  Razzel could not afford the luxury of  proper school teachings such as Judoc had.  No.  If Finn wanted to develop his natural gift for bending nature he had to fight for every farthing, struggle for every silver penny, and he needed bags full to pay for the handful of spells his teachers were willing to share.  The best incantations are too expensive and so Finn is forced to find them in places like this.  In a moment of sadness he reflects how close he came to a sudden and violent increase in knowledge.  He and Judoc were about to learn new and wonderful secrets.  Spells they had dreamed of for so long.  He read the titles.  He skimmed the pages upon pages of complicated rituals.  Yet he had not had the time to truly study them and make them his own.  And like a lover that dances into your life for a day or two and then is gone, so too were the infinitely valuable spells when the Wazifi's set them on fire.

Finn smiles a little cocky smile which in this form is imperceptible.  But he is giddy that in this form his mind is intact which means he is the perfect scout.  He is able to eavesdrop upon the enemy while they are none the wiser and his ability to fly combined with his small size makes him ideal as a long range spy.  Who else does he know, save for maybe Judoc and a few others from home who could accomplish this feat.  None!

While Finn half listens he devotes his attention to his new surroundings.  He observes the walls.  The lake.  The cave mouth.  And then his keen falcon eyes scan for signs of sentries.  A scheduled watch perhaps.  A table or rack to store weapons should guards here want to defend the island from invaders.  But he spots no such things.  Then it dawns upon him.  So few people know about this place.  Or would venture down into a lake filled crater if for some weird reason they discovered it by walking for a day up the rocky mountain slope.  And then another oddity occurs to Razzel.  They need sacrifice.  But from where?  Surely not their own.  So then where?  Who was it that mentioned something about a caravan route?  And how far is that from here?  One day?  Two?  That is most likely where they would get a supply of the occasional victims for bloody sacrifice.


OOC:
Change out of falcon form and cast Identify Blood upon the alter.  Ok, all kidding aside many years ago I played with someone who did that.  It was D&D and there was no such spell. But they could tell the GM was day dreaming.  It was a murder investigation.  So they said they were casting it.  The GM replied that it was elf blood and about 6 days old before he realized he had been duped.

The real plan is sit there for another hour observing.  I want to watch until there is nothing to watch or they invade my space too much, or 1 more passes whichever comes first.  Ie, if they all go inside and there is nothing to watch casually fly back to camp.  If they spot me and decide to come at me then act like a natural falcon protecting itself.  Fly off in the wrong direction and then circle back to camp.  Either way when I get back, change into human form and relate what I saw.  Then ask about caravan routes and where it is likely they would snatch victims.

Finn continues to listen.  Certainly there was more to be heard here.  He hadn't really expected to hear of Malakai again, though apparently the man had found the lair first... an irksome problem.

And he wanted sacrifices.

Any information at this point could only help.

Unfortunately, he wasn't about to get anymore.

"I'll take care of it."  The stocky man says, as he starts to walk back towards the large spire.

Finn sits and watches the tall woman, who stands for a moment on the spot, before glancing up at the wall where Finn sits.

Finn smirks.  Or at least he would have, if he had human expressions.  The fine tuning of expressions of the avian face and beak were things that Finn had yet to master.  He continues to watch the woman, wondering what exactly she was doing...

She had something in her hands.  Something black and about the size of a lemon.  No, maybe a bit bigger like a grapefruit.  He couldn't quite make out the fine edges of the shape, her hands blocked some of the view.  It was only when the item came hurtling towards Finn that he fully realized what it was.

A spell.  And not a friendly one.

---

Just under a half an hour later, Finn is laying on the grass.  Omar had returned some five minutes ago, and while the huntsman was busy skinning and flaying the kill and setting the strips to dry over the fire, Finn had gone through the basics of the what his investigations had uncovered.

"So what's the plan then?"  Labid asks, laying down on his own, though he is propped up on his elbows, glancing back and forth between Omar and Finn.  "Just head straight there?  Sounds like they're raving heretics...  I doubt they are going to want any company."

OOC:  You sort of talked about your plan already I think, but I just want to give you a chance to solidify it before we move on.  Your further investigations led to nothing, unfortunately, I rolled perception for the woman and she crit succeeded it (just your luck).  So per your instructions you flew off in the opposite direction and then headed back to camp.  Let me know if you just want to fast forward and to where.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:03, Mon 10 Aug 2020.

Finn is tired but far from the worst he's ever felt.  The process of bending the forces of nature requires intense and constant mental stimulation.  It might seem odd that such demands of the mind could drain the body but there it is.  One cannot argue with results.  The young leader lies in the grass, half embracing day dreams of the magical tomes and volumes found within the cave network soon to be his.  And the gold and silver too!  If these scourge of the civilized world were stealing victims from nearby caravans for their sacrifices then surely some of that wealth made the trip in packs and pouches to the spire by the lake.

Finn nods to Omar a sign of respect.  The plucky mage-thief didn't expect anything else but he was gladdened to see his hired warrior fulfilling his duty by hefting the boon of their kill all the way back to camp alone.  ”Thanks”, is all Razzel offers before slumping down for a long rest.

Finn relays everything he has seen in painful but short detail.  He wants his hirelings to know what they are up against.  He has been a hireling in his younger days and it doesn't do well when the hired help are surprised by things they shouldn't have been surprised by, such as guard posts or the pretty merchants daughter is in reality a boy who likes to put on dresses and wigs.  But its more than that.  Finn knows that when subordinates are surprised by things they should have known it tends to lower morale.  And as a stranger in a strange land Finn's success here partially depends on the kindness of his indigenous escorts.

He turns his head and the smile fades from his face.  ”Jus' the opposite I'm 'fraid.  They want us ta come.  So's they can catch us, string us up, an' gut us all.  They need ta kill people.  Sacrifices.  For Skoulos.  Whoever that is.  Name ring a bell for any of ya?  Anyways, you all need ta know what yer gittin' inta.  This is gonna take a lot 'a sneakin.  The longer they dont know we're there the better fer us.  If any 'a you want out now's the time ta say so.”


OOC:
Outlay the overall plan.  After I am done resting we begin a controlled march towards the rim with the plan to camp before we reach the top.  Sometime after dark I will turn into a falcon and scout the spire, lake, keep and cave.  The big picture plan is to get the group inside and take what we want.  And if this is some evil cult most likely kill them.  I dont like the idea of them kidnapping and murdering innocent caravan goers and I doubt they do either.  The details will be determined as I get more intel.

If anyone wants to back down now I wont hold a grudge.  They are free to go with pay for time served.  But I want them to understand the risk they are taking by going forward.  If we are captured they will want to sacrifice us.  That said, I will of course sell our success partially on my talents as a mage-thief and my already vast successes; ie, the two missions with Behar and the two missions with the necromancers.
 

"Skoulos?"  Munt repeats the name softly.  "There was nothing that I copied over from the histories with that name."

The rest of the men just shrug, as well throwing off the suggestion that they leave now if they wish.

"Nah."  Omar offers, stripping off a thin ream of flesh off of the antelope carcass, and putting it on a makeshift rack made of a few sticks to dry.  "I figure we're paid for another two days.  Might as well at least give what we're hired for."

Omar pauses for a moment, looking up towards Finn.

"Besides, these seem like the worst sorts of infidels, talking of offering blood sacrificing to whatever 'Skoulos' is.  Wouldn't hurt to stick a sword in a few of them just to cull their enthusiasm."

Labid chuckles, his body lain out on the ground with his arms shading his face.  "Yeah, but mostly just the money."

It takes Omar an hour or so to prepare the kill, time which Finn begrudgingly accepts cannot be used in any other way.  The others clean up camp and prepare to move on, and Omar fixes a few sticks on to each of the mens' packs, allowing for the meat to dry while they walk.

"It'll save us some time."  Omar explains when Labid asks why they don't just smoke it.  "It takes most of a day to dry the meat out, but we can do it while we're walking.  Making a fire and cooking it or smoking it we have to stay here."

Finn has to get his bearings as the five pick up camp, though it does not take him long to point them in the right direction.  They make it to the base of the mountain by early afternoon, and by the sun is beginning to set off to their West they have made the trek nearly all the way to the summit of the hill.

"Set up camp here?  Or do you want to keep on?"  Behar asks, stooping for a moment in the shade of a scrawny fir tree.  The the inflection in his voice makes it obvious he would prefer the former.

OOC:  It is 1830 on the 31st of May.  You have made it to maybe a couple of miles and a few hundred feet below the rim of the mountain.  You have maybe just under an hour of sunlight left in the day.  Let me know if you want to push everyone up to the top, or if you just want to start your scouting from here.  Roll vs. HT-4, however much you fail the roll by is how much fatigue you are down from the arduous day of climbing.

Still very tired from his exhaustive spell casting and reconnaissance mission but feeling better Finn raises his upper body to an inclined position while his legs remained prone on the ground.  He wanted to see all the men's faces while they discussed whether they would back out or continue onward into certain danger.  Only Munt was a sure thing Razzell felt based on his interaction back in Al Hassan.  Finn was confident in his ability to plan to the situation but the thought of taking on a crazy murderous cult with only two men was disturbing.  And so as everyone still seems to be committed the plucky happy-go-lucky mage-thief breathes a sigh of relief.

Finns face turns serious for a moment.  ”Believe me.  Don't believe me, I don't care.  This aint my home.  But, I rec'anize good 'an evil.  I don't care what color your skin is er what God ya pray to.  But I dont much like crazies thinkin' they can snatch up innocent travlers 'an gut for fun.  So much as I might talk 'bout getting' rich here I cant leave without seein' how many 'a them I can gut like they wanna do to travelers.”


OOC:
The plan is to make camp here.  I will instruct the men that the tall lady is a spell caster.  Just like Haj Omr had an apprentice its possible she might have one, or more likely she is the apprentice to Malakai.  What this means is that they could find the camp and attempt to attack it at any time.  Just because we are out of sight doesn't mean we are safe.  I regard this as high probability since they said they are looking for more victims.  To this I will want to try to camouflage our camp as best as possible.  Off whatever looks like a trail down the mountain.  In a cave.  Behind some large rocks.  Anything is better than being out in the open.

I will cast falcon again.  While there is ample light fly around where we are to try to find a suitable camp in line with the above ideas.  Regardless of the outcome when my scouting is over I will rest to get back to full fatigue.  Renew the spell as necessary.  After dark I will fly back to the keep to spy on the keep, spire and cave mouth.  Decisions from that point will be based on what I see or don't see.   Explain my overall plan to the men before I go so there are as few surprises as possible.  My intent is to come back early enough to get a good night sleep.

Omar can figure out watches.
 

Behar nods at Finn's explanation, though he seems more relieved that the group has mostly finished their travel for the evening.  Finn turns into the bird of prey again and lifts up to the skies, finding quickly enough a copse of trees that should do enough to protect their position.  He does not note any paths larger than a game trail, and in his eagle mind, he wonders if the humans use this slope of the rock for travel at all.

Finn returns, guides his group to the patch of trees, does enough to set up for the night's camp, rests for just over an hour, until the sun dips down below the western hills, then takes to the skies again in his falcon form.

Slowly, Finn rides the currents of air, climbing up above the ridge of the mountain and swooping down within the bowl at the peak.

The thick, billowing cloud remains from his morning flight.  It fills the mountain bowl like a brimming soup, reflecting the dark reds and purples of the dusky sky, and obscuring any hint of what lurks below.

OOC:  Roll vs. vision-7 (the extra -2 is for low light conditions).  If you succeed, you find a sucker hole in the billowing cloud.  If you fail, you may take the same tactic as before, picking a risk modifier between 1 and 10, and plunging yourself into the cloud and hoping you break out on your way down.  I'm not sure we noticed this earlier, but your falcon vision is a roll against 15 with the per of 12 and the +3 for acute vision.  So it would be a roll against 8.  You do not get any bonuses for your human night vision.

Finn is quite pleased with himself.  After his initial aerial reconnaissance he picks out a nice hiding spot behind some trees.  Its about the best as one can hope for considering the terrain and time available to search, but of course Razzel rationalizes the find to his amazing skill.

Shortly after dark the plucky leader is flying high above the crater looking through the dense clouds.  Again the disparity between human physiology and animal physiology hits him like a ton of bricks.  These bird eyes, they are so different from his own.

Unable to spy a hole in the billowy soft layer of airborne fluff Finn angles himself downward, careful not to have a repeat of his earlier near miss of the tower.  It doesn't bode well to tempt fate too many times.


OOC:
Given what I know now about the layout of the island, spire and cave below, and the cover of the clouds above I want to be ultra cautious.    With 1 being the lowest risk and 10 being the highest risk I should choose a risk modifier of 1.  But because Finn is so cocky I will play to his Disads and choose a risk of 5.

Seeing no particularly straight forward way through the bank of cloud, Finn simply makes his way towards what seems to be the thinnest bit of grey haze and plunges his way through it.  For just a moment, Finn feels the shock of cold and wet, the complete blindness of being in a milk bowl - though mercifully, it only lasts a moment.  Right below him, Finn sees the glimmer of the lake and he swoops down in an arc, plunging out of the worst of the haze a hundred or so feet above the surface of the water.

Finn glides towards the island, which is easy to break out on the Western side of the large lake.  Being closer, and with a different angle towards the keep, Finn notes that the island actually nearly connects with the western shore of the rim.  There is perhaps only a gap of a hundred feet or so, and even that in between seems to be spotted with sodden masses that may not quite be as solid as the island, but may just be solid enough to travel across.

Finn plunges forward, looking ahead to the keep.  The whole thing seems to be dilapidated.  The stone of the front gate has seemed to have sunk into its foundations such that only six or seven feet of the entranceway are now above ground, though another several feet of the thick, stone bulwarks still manage to hold together above the opening.

On the Southeast corner of the wall is the tower, the largest feature of the keep still standing which climbs up nearly all the way to the base of the cloud.  Finn sees the cave too, which seems to open up within the hillside of the island, though there does not seem to be anyone about.

OOC:  If you want to scout anything in particular (Western approach, Keep Gate, Tower, North or South Walls, Cave, etc.), let me know where you want to look, and for how long (i.e. 'I want to scout the stone tower for 10 minutes') then make a roll vs. Perception for each item you are looking at.  If you have any particular instructions feel free to include them in your description or OOC, as they may result in an auto success of finding something that would normally require a perception success.  Below is a view of the island from the Western rim of the mountain, sans the keep.

Finn drifts slowly down and down, this time more careful about running into solid objects aided by the experience of what could be in his path.  In no time he finds himself flying around the small island in the dark.  At this point in the beginning of his adventure anything is helpful and the young mage-thief is almost literally trembling with excitement and curiosity in waiting to see what mysteries he will find.

But first things first.  He needs to scout out the terrain to know what he's getting into.


OOC:
Spend 10 minutes each on the western approach, keep gate and cave.  Be vigilant about sentries who might be about possibly taking shots at birds who are acting a bit too curious.  Investigate in the most common sense way.  For the western approach fly over.  If it seems safe go down and down until I can land and test a few spots on the ground while being on the ground.  I realize as a bird I dont have the same weight as a man, but being on the ground gives me a better assessment of if the ground is marshy and uncrossable.  Repeat the same tactic with the gate and cave.

Finn swoops down, looking to test the islands and the approach to the keep.  The first thing he notes as he swoops in closer is that there will be likely no need to swim across the lake at all.  For while there are several gaps between the small islands, someone has built bridges of sorts to fill in the gaps.  They are of simple make, simply five or six foot sections of thick tree trunks that are lashed together to span the distance, floating almost entirely submerged in the water below...  still, it will likely be enough to walk across with little more danger of drowning than just getting their feet wet.

Finn lands near the center of one of the small islands, looking to test if the land is truly crossable.  And while the earth does give beneath his claws, bringing a wet and murky dampness that spreads over the tops of his feet, he deems it sturdy enough to be passable on foot.  Glancing around at the waters around him, Finn notes a menagerie of life, from bugs and insects which buzz on the wet, marshy land to a handful of birds in a distant brush, to a small striped-backed squirrel which fetters on the nearby rim.  The surface of the water too ripples with the promise of life beneath.

Finn moves on towards the gate, which proves to have little real information to offer.  Canted to one side and overgrown with brambles, the keep’s gatehouse has sunken precariously into the earth over the years. The great portcullis lies on the soggy ground, overgrown with grasses, while the iron-banded gates sit rotting to one side.  Though there is only five or so feet of open gateway left above ground, it seems easy enough to go under while stooping slightly for a normal sized man.

Finn takes his time swooping over the rest of the walls, and notes several places where the walls have deteriorated and fallen away.  Two places in particular, one on each of the North and South sides have crumbled enough to leave gaping holes in the wall, though it seems rebuilding efforts have started in both places, and scaffolding and loose stone are scattered around both areas.

Finn moves again, this time scouting towards the cave, which he realizes now is slightly off the base of the courtyard and up the steep slope of the island hill.  But here too, there is a scaffolding which seems to give a rigid enough support to climb up towards the cave without having to brave the steep and rocky slope.  A faint, blue mist gurgles from the mouth of the cave, spilling over the scaffolding as it gently falls to the courtyard below, splashing on the earth and dispersing into vaporizing eddies.  Finn flies easily up towards the entrance of the cave, glancing towards the cavern inside.

Here, the mist seems to be much thicker, and decidedly blue, casting an ankle or shin-deep fog over the stone floor.  Several dozen feet on, the cave seems to open up into a larger cavern, though the only thing that Finn can see from this distance is a large, porous metal bowl which is set up on a pedestal in the middle of the cave.  The thing glows with an eerie blue light, and spills out thick blue smoke from all sides like a font of water sprouting from the earth.

OOC:  I didn't have you go in the cave or investigate the fog further, though you are welcome to do either if you wish.  You don't see any of the cultists at the moment.

Finn the falcon flits from one scene to the next, happy as a blue jay as he goes.  Without a care in the world as if he wears an invisible mail coat made of magical energy.  As if he is invulnerable.  This is Razzel's domain.  The magical thief.  The unseen scout.  The spy in sheep's clothing hidden among the herd.

With his tiny bird feet, tiny avian eyes aided by the power of flight Finn drops onto the islands connected by wood planks testing their stability.  Then he moves on to the walls and gate of the ruined keep.  It seems easily passable enough.  Next the real test of his abilities.  The cave itself.  The den of thieves so its called.  Murderers of innocent travelers more like it.

Finn sits on a rock peering intently in the dark at the foggy blue mist bubbling and rolling out of the cave.  As he moves closer he sees the source, the holey cauldron.  What is this he wonders.  A death cloud to ward off intruders?  If the smoke is broken will it sound some kind of alarm?  If he breathes it in will it make him forget who he is?

The bird man twitches in bird fashion flicking his wings and cocking his head this way and that as birds do while he ponders this dilemma.  He could investigate as a bird.  This would allow him to continue to fly, and as a small fast moving creature he is hard to hit.  But he is also fragile in this form.  Though as a tiger he would be powerful and have a greater ability to fight and sense foes.  But being twice the size of a man he could easily be spotted.

What to do, what to do?

As is his nature it doesn't take the resilient mage-thief long to make up his mind.  Bird it is.


OOC:
The plan is to go into the cave tentatively.  Fly in and find some place to land.  Hopefully not on the porous cauldron.  I want something above ground so that I am not in the mist.  I want to be able to observe.  If at least only a minute or two to see guards.  Signs of a post.  What the mists purpose might be.  Etc.  I don't imagine I'll find out much without getting in the mist but one step at a time.

Curious about the blue mist, Finn feels the ache of adventure pulling him on into the cave, deeper into the cult's domain.  Still, he knows that exploring in such a dangerous area is foolhardy at best when he has exhausted himself so thoroughly with his hiking and spell casting.  Giving himself some space from the cave, Finn sets down on a sturdy looking section of the northern wall, an opportune spot that has a view both of the cave itself as well as the tower and altar in the Southwest corner of the courtyard.

And Finn waits.

Quickly, the sun seems to skirt down below the rim of the mountain, casting the clouded sky in a bright orange, which fades to red, which fades to purple, which fades to darkness.

Only the dim, transient specks of stars here and there are visible through the overcast gloom, cloaking the whole of the lake valley in a spectral darkness which is interrupted only by the blue glow emanating from the cave mouth.

Having little else to look at, Finn watches the blue mist which is vomited out of the cave, spilling down the scaffolding and onto the courtyard floor.  Its flow is mesmerizing.  It cast's eddies and curls at each obstacle it hits, sinking effortlessly down until it pools at the base of the cave, drifting outward as it seems to ebb and dissipate into nothingness.

As for the tower and the altar, Finn sees no movement of consequence.

Finally, when Finn has rested to his full strength, and the light has ebbed out of the sky completely, Finn wings back towards the cave, ready to explore.

He is careful, probably more careful than he needed to be.  He has rested himself until he is at full strength, he has stayed in the form of the bird... ready to escape at a moment's notice and able to avoid the blue mist all together.  Finn feels confident that nothing could go wrong.

Until he plunges head and wing first into the depths of the cave.

All at once the air around his wings dies like a cut vine.  Each stroke of his wings seems to cause ripples in the air that send his tiny body up and down like a yo-yo hurtling through the air.  The mist below him spins and twists maddeningly with the disturbed flow of air, churning like an angry sea, but Finn is too preoccupied with the quickly approaching back wall of the cave, for he does not have enough room to turn!

Spasming his wings in a flurry of activity, Finn slows himself down while keeping his altitude.  At the last moment, he notices a pile of stone that climbs out of the mist near a tunnel going deeper into the mountain.  Unable to keep airborne and stay slow at the same time, Finn makes a play to land on the rocks, beating his wings ferociously to avoid any chance of touching the swirling blue fog.

With tremendous effort, Finn manages to place a claw down on the rock, then right himself with a few more furious flaps.  His heart thundering in his chest like a snare drum, Finn turns to get a better sight of the cave surroundings.

The pedestal with the porous bowl, a censer perhaps, sits in the center of the cave which is only as wide as thirty or so feet across.  It pours the angry blue mist from its center, which spreads across the floor, flowing like a swamp on its slow slog towards the mouth of the cave.  Closer to Finn, a narrow tunnel seems to have been unearthed from the cave, with loose stone and rubble piled around its mouth.

The air of the cave feels wet on Finn's eyes and lungs and the quick measures of his heartbeat suggest that this trip should be made as quickly as possible.

OOC:  It is 2110 and you have recovered to full FP.  Your shapeshift spell will renew in 20 minutes, costing you 2 fatigue.  You have been shapeshifted for nearly 3 hours and have spent the last 2 hours or so recovering your fatigue on the wall of the keep while watching the cave and the tower.

The cave is too narrow for you to really fly in any way but directly in and directly out.  The air also feels 'dead' and 'wet' which is interfering with your flying, though you aren't sure if this is some magical effect or if it's just the way caves normally are.  You did manage to find a place to land without touching the mist, though it's clear that bird form is not the way to explore if you want to go any farther.  Roll vs. Perception.

His near miss with the tower earlier and now his near miss finding a suitable landing place in the cave might give some pause, say if a neutral observer were watching him they might comment at his failures.  Surely, flying into a cave in the form of a high speed predatory bird may not seem the brightest idea but Razzel cannot argue long term results.  Neither incident resulted in lasting harm, and got him closer to his overall objective which is to learn more about his adversary.

Finn glances around the small cave eyeing the porous cauldron suspiciously and the newly formed tunnel.  He decides in short order that the blue mist must be some kind of guard or alarm.  Probably the former.  A death gas?  Or some knockout drug?  Whatever it is he isn't keen to find out just now.


OOC:
Not exactly sure what to do at this time.  If my perception roll reveals something stay in the cave at least long enough to complete further examination.  But heeding your warning that Finn doesn't want to stay too long here, I done want to stay too long.  If my perception reveals nothing turn, hop off the rock pile and take flight as best I can.  Use FP if necessary for flight rolls.  Fly back to the stop I was resting at.   In my next post I will either return to camp or turn into a tiger and investigate the gas more thoroughly.

Finn sits on the rock for a moment, turning his bird head to look all about the cavern.  Still the blue mist flows about the room, and as Finn checks behind him, he notices that the mist still churns there... just behind him... in an area he didn't think he had disturbed, or at least not very recently.

Unwilling to stay and search for exactly what the blue mist portends, Finn lifts off.  It is more awkward than normal, his wings taking longer to build up the speed he needs for flight than normal.  a single claw drops precariously close to the mist and Finn notes the churn of the vapor down below...

But within a few moments, Finn is free of the cave, bursting out into the dark night air which is fresh and alive in comparison to the bleakness of the cave.  Finn flutters back to the wall, trying to put together the pieces of what little he has discovered.

OOC:  Let me know how long you want to sit on the wall.  Your perception roll didn't reveal much of anything besides the churn of the mist behind you.  You would be willing to bet it didn't have anything to do with your wings disturbing the air in the cave.

Finn leaps vigorously off of the rock, though due to his tiny bird body the effort would hardly be noticed by any watchers.  He beats his wings furiously knowing that the stale dead air of the cave is going to make travel difficult.

The plucky leader had imagined flying back to his original post and if seeing nothing worth investigating he would return to camp for a good nights sleep.  But just as he is landing well outside of the cave a stream of ideas hits him.  The blue mist must be something malicious.  What if he could neutralize it.  But how?


OOC:
It seems from what has been written that the blue mist is reacting to me.  I will test that thoery.

Rather than head home or simply land on the rock wall to think, Finn decides then and there that his best bet is to test the mist... to find out what it is doing and why.  He wings his way down to a nook in the courtyard which is so hidden in the shadows he is sure he will not be bothered.  He ends his spell and readies another, this one to change from his human form into that of a tiger.

It takes Finn two tries to get the spell right... though before long Finn is standing in the form of a massive jungle cat.  And then Finn sets himself down to rest, his ears and eyes perked up and awake.

Of course, Finn does not get the rest he is looking for.

Without warning, without the faintest whisper of a wing, Finn feels a ragged set of claws tearing through his back, tearing through flesh from the base of his tail to his shoulder!  The wound burns with an ache that seeps through his body, radiating from his spine, up his back and into his head.

But Finn has no time to think on it.  He watches the animal soars past him, flying back up into the sky at blurring speed.  The thing is all black, almost indistinguishable from the dark skies that surround him.  The thing soars around, large for a bird, but not enormous... a small hawk or a large falcon...

The thing circles round for another pass with a screech that pierces the night.

OOC:  You got less than 5 minutes into resting when the bird attacked you and you failed your perception roll to let you take a first defense, giving the bird a free first attack.  I did take into account your combat reflexes (both in human and tiger form).  It looks to be circling around again to make another dive directly at you.  Finn is nearly exhausted from his spellcasting and you can check your fatigue levels on your character sheet.  It's an odd combat, so feel free to give me your general intentions rather than turn by turn action.  Map is below more for reference than for any combat purposes.  North is left, with the front gate at the bottom of the map and the deteriorated section along the North wall being fairly close to you.

Pain and shock.  A tearing sensation follows all along his backside and takes the tiger mage completely by surprise.  What the...???, Razzel thinks in disbelief as he first wonders if he had nodded off and is dreaming.

But quickly as the black bird zooms up, pivots and begins a dive for a continued assault Finns mind quickly catches up.  Sadda?  We killed you??, is the first thought running through his mind.  But the plucky thief-mage doesn't have the luxury of time to ponder such things.  This beast is intent on downing the tiger mage.  And in his weakened condition it could happen.  What then?  Would they kill him straight off?   Likely no.  They would hold him for the right time of sacrifice.  And likely torture him to see if he's alone.  In an instant Finn steels himself to avoid that fate.


OOC:
Move to the west and place my body in the crack in the wall.  I want to use natural cover to limit its advance and be able to give me room to defend.

Finn, exhausted from his casting, leaps towards the area where the wall has begun to collapse, spilling stones and debris about the courtyard.  Though the footing here was tricky for Finn, at least the walls would provide some cover from the bird as it bombed down from above.

Finn looks skyward as the thing begins to dive again.  Finn watches the bird, thinking of Sadda, the crow demon which they had killed in the ruins of Perdition.  Though the similarities seem many, especially in the obscuring darkness, Finn quickly rules out the possibility of the demon coming back from the nethers to haunt him.  The bird is not even half the size Sadda had been.

With only a moment to make his move, Finn swats at the thing as it comes close enough to attack, though the heavy shadows and the quick movement of the bird make the timing impossible.  Finn misses, swiping just a heartbeat too early, and he feels the razor claws of the bird rake across his shoulder as the thing arcs back upwards into the sky.

Cursing his foul luck, Finn turns again, keeping an eye on the scourge as he shifts his body for a better attack.  He could not afford many more hits from this foul thing, he was simply too exhausted to put up a good fight for long, even as a fearsome jungle cat.

Again the thing dives, and this time Finn is ready.  Rearing up on hind legs, Finn manages to swat the thing out of the air as it leans forwards with its claws, making the thing crash down into the crumbled stone below.  Not wanting to miss even a moment when he was on the offensive, Finn strikes his paw down again, pinning the struggling bird to the stone.

The thing writhes, though it ceases struggling after a moment, and Finn feels the bird deflate under his paw like an over-proved loaf of bread.  As Finn watches in amazement, the bird disappears into eddies and wisps of darkness.

OOC:  That one wasn't really worth playing out the combat.  So I made a few rolls using your intentions, and you managed to take the thing out of the sky on your second attempt.  You are at 1/2 move, dodge, and ST.  Make a roll labeled ?.  You can continue with your general intentions if you wish, leaving or resting as you see fit.