Saxon smiled, "Scarred by the dark one but not of the dark one." he bowed his head to her. "I am sorry to bother you but it seems my companions wanted to find out what was going on. All in all if there is a guardian to an area its best not to stomp oner her toes."

"Is everything alright? The animals are being very on edge, has something happened?" He gestured for the others to ask questions as well.

"The Dark One surrounds us, ever pressing inward. We still resist but it takes its toll on us. The Blue Ones have protected us so far, but I fear they are weakening."

"Have you come to help us?"

Saxon smiled and bowed to the water elemental. "Saxon the dead smith, alchemist master at your service. If my mentor here is up for it I am more than willing to help you. What alchemist would I be if I dont help the world around me to the best of my power?"

Stepping into view was a female Elf of unearthly beauty, surely a fey of her standard would call upon a Nymph to judge her.  But now wasn't the time or she might not of knew any Nymphs in the area.

"I will gladly assist in the matter as well.  I am Lady Isile

"We oppose the Dark One whenever we can, as best as we can," Radagast interjects into the conversation.

"We were not aware of this land and we do not know where it is or what it is called, but we came here looking for the Blue Ones. Can you tell us where they are?"

Saxon clapped, "Sounds like we have a nice little push to make the world a better place, even if just a little." Saxon pulled out a book to start writing down what was going on and what was going to happen.

"The Blue Ones are all around us. They protect us," the 'water elemental' replies.

"That is all I know. That is all anyone within the Vast knows, though the Elders may know more. They spoke with the Blue Ones. The last of the Elders still hold out against the Dark One in the Tower of Zanid in Aricenthrel."

Saxon nodded as he wrote it all down. The last of the elders holds out in the tower of Zanid in Aricenthrel

"Rada. does that sound familiar? Not exactly sure where that is myself." He smiled back at the elemental. "If the elders spoke to the blue ones we absolutely want to talk to them as well. That will be a large boon to finding them."

"Is there anything you feel needs attention on our way there? Areas that seem blighted or darkened in some way? Kinda wish I could give you a few of my reagents but they don't last longer than a day. There is the summoners pact that would empower you but I'm not so sure you'd be in for that." Not many who could summon often meet their summons in the world.

"Many towns have been abandoned as the Dark One's minions roam the countryside. Unless you can keep them away forever, there is nothing you can do." the 'water elemental' replies.

Saxon smiled, "One step at a time. Let's start with the elders and reinforcing whatever keeps it all at bay. Then we can see about giving the dark one a swift kick in places otherwise unmentioned."

"Yes, it sounds like boats against the current," Grimfast agrees. "Trying to defeat whatever dark creatures prowl the land doesn't stop them from returning. It's the source we need to defeat."

"So, can we just teleport to this Aricenthel now? Maybe not directly there, but somewhere nearby?"

Lady Isile looked at Grimfast "We are in uncharted lands and to teleport without knowing the land might cause one to be placed too high or too low.  I don't wish to find myself surround by dirt so soon.

Taking a moment as she thinks that that is the place where they were heading anyways.  How would she of known to head there.  Has her powers grown or was her Goddess giving her some guidance.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:37, Mon 04 May 2020.

Lady Isile knows that she has never been to this place, Aricenthrel, and the name does not conjure up any images.

Looking at the map, however, it is clear that the Darkness that surrounds the land has not engulfed the island and village of Aricenthrel. Whether or not that is where the Blue Adepts are, it must be a place of power... and possibly answers.

Perhaps, indeed, her Goddess had opened her eyes to what was right before her.

Lady Isile looked at the others and smiled "Shall we continue our journey to Aricenthrel then she begins to start walking again toward the city they was heading after all.

Grimfast starts walking with Lady Isile...until they get to the river. Just as they get to the edge, a bridge of solid water forms over it.

By now, he's come to trust his traveling companions, so even if the bridge doesn't hold his weight and he falls into the river, he knows he'll get rescued if needed. But he can swim, and his alternate form isn't bothered by the water.

He steps out onto the bridge of water and finds that it doesn't even seem to be wet. He walks all the way across the river without any problems.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:44, Sun 17 May 2020.

Everybody is able to cross the bridge of water without any problem. Their feet don't even get wet.

Once on the other side of the river, the group heads off to the east, eventually coming upon a trail that's almost a dirt road.

After about ten miles, you start to spot farmhouses... either abandoned or burnt down.

While they were walking she allowed herself to get a bit familiar with the land and the birds that lived here.  If any was near.

Casting Commune with Birds

Lady Isile casts her spell and learns that there are birds in the area, though perhaps not as many as she was expecting. Although she doesn't ask a question that she can get a specific answer to, she does sense that there's a general fear among the birds that goes beyond just the presence of people. She also senses that there are a few migratory birds that are 'out of sort'... apparently because there is nowhere for them to migrate to.

With this new insight she looks to the others "We must hurry, the Darkness is causing the birds to not migrate and if they don't then they may not survive much longer.

"That may explain it!" Radagast finally speaks up after contemplating his own impressions and those just told him by Lady Isile.

"Few ground animals are migratory the way that birds are, but there are some that migrate to where the food grows by season. Others roam a territory. If that roaming is being interfered with, the Land itself gets... well, discombobulated."

"And there are dark things roaming the land, too."

He hurries behind Lady Isile even as she picks up the pace.

The group has gone several miles without seeing anyone. Although there are birds in the trees, they keep their distance. Radagast can sense some small mammals... squirrels, chipmunks, rabbits, birds... nothing larger, but they stay well away from you.

It isn't until you've gone a dozen more miles or so that you begin to catch glimpses of dark creatures that lurk and follow you just at the edge of your awareness. While most of the shapes seem to conform to the shape of a wolf, some seem to be larger or longer or winged.

Another few miles and you begin to find closer examples of the Dark. There are the dead carcasses of animals... cows, goats, foxes, even bears... but while the animals have been ravaged and half-eaten, they haven't begun to rot... and they are also blackened somehow.

A few miles farther you encounter the stones... if that's what they are. They are black roughly circular flat stones that litter the ground. They are between 12" and 36" in diameter. There appears to be no pattern to them, so it's not like they form a path or anything. The farther you go, though, the closer they are together... until you come to a farmhouse. The stones are all touching now and completely surround the house.

And then there are the statues: six of them--an adult male, an adult female, an adolescent female, an adolescent male, and two dogs. They appear to be made of the same black material.

So far, no one has stepped on a black stone, but you can't continue any farther without doing so. You'd have to circle around the farmhouse.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:48, Sun 28 June 2020.

"I suppose it's too much to ask that these statues weren't once living people and animals," Grimfast comments.

Without touching any of the black stones, he examines the base of the statues to see if they turned to stone after stepping on one of the black stones, or if they might have been place and posed there.

"Any chance that these people are still alive? For that matter, have they been turned to stone or are they just covered by this black stuff that holds them rigid, hopefully suspended? If it is a shell, it's rather thin, as it's preserved their features in fine detail."

"On the other hand, if it is just a shell, what condition are the bodies inside? Have they crumbled to dust? Or something else?"

"This is out of my depth, Radagast. Can you shed any light on this? Is this the work of Sauron? Or is this some other evil that perhaps allied with the Dark Lord?"

He keeps a watch on his surroundings. He's pretty sure those black creatures they glimpsed probably wouldn't be affected by the black stones. They might even spring up out of the stones for all he knew!

He paid particular attention to the nearby stones to make sure they didn't creep up on them.

"I've not heard of anything quite like this," Radagast replies to Grimfast. "But, you notice the stones closer to the house? They don't appear to be separate anymore. It looks like they've fused together."

"I have heard of something called essence, though, to be honest, it was always prefaced with the term 'black'. It was supposed to be the "distilled essence of magic" in a physical form. I don't believe it is natural to this world."

"However, I don't know exactly what that means. Are we in another world? Or are we on some other unknown land on this world? Has Sauron somehow formed an alliance with the source of this black essence?"

"If these statues are... were people, you are probably right, Grimfast. If they are still alive inside, then are best option for freeing them is to stop this darkness. Once again, we are back to finding the Blue Wizards to learn what is going on."

Saxon looked about and tilted his head side to side, if they wanted to try and save people he was more than willing to try and help. He crouched down and started inspecting the material. He was an alchemist through and through and removing a trait or essence was something that could be done with the right chemical bath.

He moved his box from is back to his front and pulled out one of his more expendable tools. With a simple mage hand he let go of it so he could start alchemical and summoners inspection of the material.

Not knowing if the statues were transformed people that touched the black material, Saxon uses tools to examine the material.

There's the Optical Test--examining it through various lenses does not reveal any grain, striations, occlusions or texture. It's perfectly smooth and featureless... other than the hexagonal shape, which would suggest it is a crystal.

There's the Flame Test--it doesn't burn, catch fire, melt, change color or even deform from the heat, though it's possible the flame/heat merely isn't hot enough.

There's the Reactant Test--none of the chemicals he has at his disposal affect it in any way; it appears to be completely inert.

Then there's the Poke It With a Stick Test--it doesn't do anything when poked, doesn't do anything to the 'stick' (twig, bamboo stick, metal probe) or shatter with the hammer 'stick'.

Finally, there's the Magic Test--it was a given that it was magical in nature, but this just confirms that... with a most peculiar result: it registers as 99.9% magical! However, it does not have an alignment, though he detects a taint of evil to it... about what you'd expect if a neutral sword had been recently used by an evil creature.

It does give off a faint energy.

In his considered opinion, the material probably has a resonance with magic. He can't confirm that the statues were once living people, but he doubts it. He suspects that when the people came in contact with the substance, it reacted to their life force and tried to 'duplicate' it. All it got was the statues... without life or animation.