"Well, I do agree that a few more days or weeks or even years shouldn't make any difference to these people, unless, of course, something destroys one or more of them, in which case those people couldn't be saved," Radagast says.

"Haven't you asked yourself why we don't just teleport to the Entwives? True, they may be beyond our range, and we don't know the area at all, but it could also be a trap, even an unintentional one."

"The inhabitants of this city are still trapped within, so they are no threat to us as long as we stay outside the walls. At this point, however, the same cannot be said of the next city."

"There may be knowledge to be had in Forstan that will lead us to the Entwives... perhaps a shortcut or an easy route. You say you are worried about the time, but what of the time we might waste traveling a route that takes us years to reach the Entwives? How would we even know if that time was wasted?"

"We have been given a clue that should grant us access to this city. That, in turn, should give us a clue how to approach Forstan and find out what they know."

"It is not my way to rush off willy-nilly, to just dash off at a moment's notice unnecessarily. When we are done with our rest, we shall investigate this way into the city. We can always change our minds then."

Tilaleria didn't understand Radagasts argument at all. Perhaps it was the path of wisdom that was eluding her, but she couldn't imagine how a city of dead people that hadn't interacted with the outside world for over a thousand years could possibly help. She shrugged. She couldn't help the entwives on her own so she'd stay with the others. Perhaps through some fluke, or Radgast's wisdom  some good would come out of this. She hoped so

Borun nodded his assent to Radagast. "At first light then, we enter the city."

Anira could see both sides of the coin but had trusted Radagast for as long as she could remember.  It might not help the trapped souls here immediately but they were working on something to help in time and, while it was likely dangerous, they should be able to get a better clue on getting to the Entwives.  Giving Til an understanding and encouraging smile, she turned her focus on forming the more barn-like structure for them to rest safely and give Saxon access to his wagon and supplies.

Saxon shook his head, "First dark, if I remember right the night is their replacement for food. If we go during the day it will be a one sided war. Go in at night and they are normal people mentally."

In reply to Saxon the Dead Smith (msg # 341):

"Ah, good point, Master Saxon. At nightfall then," Borun agreed.

Ultimately, there is no correct course of action, not unless someone can foresee the future.

Saxon has cleared and leveled a section of the land large enough to accommodate Anira's cottage, as well as provide a bit of dirt that lets Radagast bring forth a few plants. Weeds can grow among the rocks, but not very well, and they certainly won't feed the people.

The area cleared was in front of the wall where the secret entrance is supposed to be, but not too close... perhaps 100 feet out from the wall.

Now it's just waiting for the sun to set.

Tilaleria waited for the others to go in.

Borun meditated silently inside Anira's cottage, mentally reviewing his checklist of spells and special combat techniques as if in preparation for a forthcoming battle. Despite Saxon's optimism, Borun was fully expecting some sort of resistance.

The rest of the morning and the afternoon pass uneventfully. Those who wish to get some rest can do so, as the interior or the cottage is conducive to doing just that.

It seems to take a long time for the sun to go down, though, as there is no forest and no mountains to hide the sun, only the vast expanse of the Broken Lands.

It's about an hour after sunset that the stars begin to shine.

Anira's cottage is good for many hours, so it does not have to be dismissed. Saxon's wagon can remain safely within, unless he feels he needs it with him.

Radagast leads the way to the section of wall that you'd scouted earlier.

Grimfast brings out the paper where he'd copied the riddle, and recites it once again:

"'Where the cold wind blows and the bright stars shine,
Where darkness abides and the fat rats dine
Let Naethrul’s path revealed with summer wine
Count the wings for flying nine'."

Tilaleria followed the others. She had no desire at all to do this, and it was clear that she totally disapproved of this. Still she'd been outvoted so she kept quiet and to herself

Saxon rubbed his chin, "Right, the riddle. There is no Summers wine, at that point you just have grapes, no liquor. Grape Vines climb and the last line speaks to flying. So fourteen feet up there should be an entrance to the crypt?" He started walking up the wall. Well, he was really in the mimic of the action an inch from the wall. The fact he could fly was beside the point.

He even sparked up one of his undeadly shards, a formula designed to mimic the elf stars held in the hand.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:43, Sat 27 May 2017.

The riddle confused Borun. Why couldn't they just use plain language? Nevertheless, Borun suspected that Saxon had made a mistake.

"I thought "summer wine" was wine drunk in summer?" Borun mused. "Maybe we need to sprinkle wine or even grape juice on the ground? Maybe there is a vineyard inside?" Borun shook his head. ""The flying nine" have eighteen wings. To count them means we have to walk eighteen paces."

"I think Borun has the right of it," Grimfast said. "There is a 'winter wine', which is brandy. The amount of water in it is reduced to make it easier to transport."

"It therefore follows that 'summer wine' would be anything that wasn't 'winter wine', or, as Borun said, the wine you drink in the summer."

"So there's something about the ground or the wall that reacts with wine, but not just water. That's the way I read it."

"Careful, Saxon!" he called out as the Alchemist began going up the wall.

"This secret entrance is going to be either in the ground here to let us go under the wall, or else at the base of the wall. In either case, it's to let us avoid the runes and symbols on the wall. Remember, not all of them are dead or inactive."

He steps over to the wall, and begins searching the ground for any section of stone that might hold a symbol. As long as magic was involved, the stone didn't necessarily have to appear to be big enough to allow passage.

Anira joined Grimfast in the search, quiet and brow furrowed as she concentrated on finding the right spot as well as not springing any traps.

---

09:00, Yesterday: Anira rolled 29 using 1d20+27 with rolls of 2.  Perception.  Will be a 31 to find traps.

The stone of the wall doesn't appear to have been worked, certainly not by any stonemason or Dwarf. Yet, it has a semi-finished appearance, not unlike what you could get with a stone-shape spell. Or possibly what Saxon can do with his elemental influences.

That's why Borun is the one to spot the correct area. There's a workmanship to a particular section that isn't there anywhere else. He thinks it was cleverly worked to appear to be just another part of the wall.

He thinks there is a secret door or compartment.

Saxon has wine in his wagon, and brought it with him. He pours a bit of it onto the wall section...

And an image is revealed. Normal stone would just darken when it gets wet, but somehow, an image has been imprinted into the stone here. The image is that of a flock of birds... nine birds, to be precise.

"So is there anything that I can say that will dissuade you from this act" Tilaleria asked clearly frustrated. She had heard Radagast's words, but they didn't work for her. Quite the opposite. She was wondering if he was turning from the path of wisdom to something else: this was a occasional problem with the Wise "We need to find the Entwifes, and they are being experimented on and tortured. Their souls being ripped out of their bodies and being turned into spells. This place has not been in touch with the outside world for thousands of years, so I find it hard to believe that going here has any relevance at all to our quest. Every day we spend here means that the Entwives are tortured for another day and reduces the chance of us finding a single one left"
This message was last edited by the player at 07:53, Sat 10 June 2017.

Borun sighed in response to Tilaleria's objection. While she was correct that time wasted here could delay the rescue of the entwives, Master Radagast also suspected that clues might be found in the city that could help with the task. The only way to find out would be to investigate the city.

Borun briefly considered making this point, but decided instead to allow one of his more articulate companions to voice the argument.

"Well, that wasn't hard, though I admit that I doubt if I'd even have thought of pouring wine on the wall," Grimfast said, "but then, I'm not sure I would have looked for a secret entrance into a city of the dead."

"So, what do we do now? Search the ninth bird for a secret compartment or switch or something?"

"We have to "count the wings", right?" Borun replied. He cleared his throat and self-consciously cried out the numbers from one through to eighteen in the common tongue.

"That sounds like an astute observation," Radagast replied.

"Nine wings... are all the wings visible? And from which direction? Search that area."

She was still in her bird from and couldn't speak much at the moment.  But she did listen to see what everyone was thinking on doing next.

Laurel gazed intently at the imprint of the birds upon the wall, hoping for a flash of brilliance.

---

07:59, Today: Anira rolled 38 using 1d20+27 with rolls of 11.  Perception on bird imprint.

Saxon rubbed the back of his head, riddles are always so hard. "The only other thing I can think of is the Passerine bird family. If I recall they are the only kind of birds that can have nine primary feathers on their wings. There are only so many such birds of this kind in the area. Blue Jay, House Sparrow, great tit, hodded crow, and a masked weaver."

"I could be overthinking it..."

Radagast peers at the images on the stone again, too, even looks more closely at them.

"I don't see enough detail to make out individual feathers. Nor does there appear to be sufficient detail to identify the type of birds," Radagast comments.

"Besides, they all look the same to me, and I'm pretty good at identifying birds."

"It's either birds or wings; I'm guessing wings, because they put up nine birds to distract us."