The guide marks continue to lead deeper into the forest.  The route is crossed, again, by another gap in the vegetation.  Here, the trees and brush seem even younger than before and no work is required to move on.  The same tread marks are visible here, too.

After about two more hours, the caravan finally reaches a mark much different than the rest.  The directional marking has a mirror twin, pointing right back at itself.  A quick scan of the area reveals the gorge that the the strangers are reported to have emerged from.

OOC: move to The Gorge thread, please.

Many months later ...

The large, azure flier lifts above the canopy far to the north of Yenth.  The three humans (?) on it's back seem comfortable with the means of travel, serpentine as the motion of the creature is at times.  The day is overcast, with low clouds that occasionally permit a few stray sunbeams.

The forest below makes a mottled quilt of greens, reds, purples, and yellows.  The criss-crossing of the strange curving tracks of newer growth is a bit clearer here, although no easier to understand.  They stretch out beyond visibility, often swallowed by the trees in their arcing lines.

Mhari rode in the center of the saddle two young women with him.. one before and one behind.. he was thankful for the rush of air from the swiftness of Z'Dakk's flight it kept the fragrance of the two women from driving his senses mad with distraction and nagging desire.  Mhari had always had a weakness to manipulation by a feminine pair of pretty eyes.. it had caused him ALL SORTS of grief in his past and youth.  He was trying to be a better man... but the desire and attraction were always there... and it had been some time since he'd been with anyone...

This was NOT a well-though tout situation he'd put himself in!

So... he FORCED his mind to focus on duty!  It was HIS duty to protect his two passengers so he drove his attention searching the skies and land far below for threats.. guarding his charges as the Glaive he was!

He directed Z'Dakk to maintain an altitude of near 1,000'ft.. varying the altitude with the terrain below hopefully with a goal to remaining well out of the normal range of any ground ranged weapons fire as he scanned the ground, skies and horizon for threats... or hazards.  He knew what to look for when the Iron Wind blew... the shimmering rainbow haze in the skies, even though he knew Z'Dakk had even more keen senses than him and was also keep watch.

He felt the buzzing approval of Z'Dakk's thoughts as the arousal Mhari felt for the two female presences' in his senses faded from his perception as he focused on being watchful for threats and hazards ~ taking in the grandeur of the aerial journey in detached constant vigilance...

07:53, Today: Mhari 'Stormbolt' rolled 11 using 1d20.  Mhari perception - Extra Effort/2lv {Cost 3 Int} [-2Lv Diff]. – 11
- Extra Effort '+2Lv' [Success - Challenging {15}]

Z'Dakk perception - As Lv5 {Innate} [Success - Challenging {15}]

-----

To his two female companions the flight is nothing short of spectacular.. the cold rush of wind as the mighty Z-Drake beat its wings followed by long stretches of soaring on the breeze... the feel of the beasts beating heart in its chest, the swiftness of the travel as the mosaic of colored landscape rushed past below with a swiftness that belied belief!  Z'Dakk soared on the thermals like a dream his speed was breath-taking the ride of a lifetime ~ surely Few have ever seen the world in such a panorama of clouds marching past and the multi-faceted world flowing by far below!

Mhari seemed to be unaffected by the wondrous view of the world below ~ he sat stiffly in his seat his gaze scanning the ground, skies and the approaching horizon ~ the cold air seemed not to affect/touch him at all but he was warm to the touch and a rock of solid muscled vigil as the leagues fell away passing swiftly far below...
This message was last edited by the player at 12:26, Sun 10 Dec 2023.

Rob smiled solidly throughout the marvelous, wondrous flight. Her daze wandered around, drinking it all in, all the while with an eye for anything worthy of investigation; anything promising the peotential of artifacts from the mysterious past..

Low hanging clouds wash out much of the contrast in the view, but occasional sunbeams break through, illuminating the forest below in vivid color.

Rob's curiosity and sharp eyes spot, far to the east, light that is unexpected: a bright flash.  Based on the sunbeams and duration of the intense point of light, she judges it to be a reflection of the sun.  Something very large and very shiny is visible through the canopy, at least at this height, it is.  The flash seems to be about 30 miles to the east, while Yenth is almost due south.

Rob leans toewards Mhari and shouts, "Look! What's that?" and points. "Can we go closer?"

In reply to Roberta Shadowprancer (msg # 88):

Mhari cocks his head to the side to hear Roberta over the rush of wind feeling her press closer to get his attention.  Turning his gaze to the flash of light in the terrain... he too could not make out what is was, impressed with Rob's keen sight to have spotted it.

He nods acknowledging he heard her, and focuses his mind to mentally address Z'Dakk.

Lightly touching with his bare fingers the azure-scaled muscular neck of his friend for a clearer rapport Mhari thought spoke {On the horizon to the east. Flash of li~ _{'remembering Z'Dakk has no eyes'} something ~ possibly metallic.  Do you sense any danger in getting closer for a more detailed... perception?}

He also lightly touched Urr-Dani's shoulder to direct her attention toward the flash of light as well.

Mhari did not direct Z'Dakk toward the flash... but left it to his keener senses to decide if moving closer was safe and of reasonable low risk.  Z'Dakk had a curious intellect, but Mhari trusted his judgement of aerial travel and threat over his own.

To his relief the Z-Drake subtly altered his angle of attack at the wind and glided a graceful aerial side-slip to take them toward the flashing terrain anomaly...

In response, Mhari unslung his Gravity Mass-Blaster wrapping the sling around his forearm to bring the stock to shoulder ~ ready to fire, should hostile contact ensue...
This message was last edited by the player at 18:36, Sun 24 Dec 2023.

It takes time to reach the location of the reflective surface, in part because the shifting clouds will sometimes blot out the light and it takes a bit of time to sight it again.  And also because it's fairly far away.

As the trio approaches, they are able to make out a large metallic structure, a building perhaps?  It has some odd, oblique planes in places and is quite old, judging by the small clusters of growth that has managed to gain a foothold in some of the sheltered areas on the upper surface.  The construct(ion?) is about 10 meters tall, 13 meters wide, and nearly 75 meters long.  A cleared path as wide as the building(?) leads in a widely curving line to the east and north from the far end of the thing.

Mhari asks Z'Dakk to circle the object soaring on the breezes as he visually studies the ... object from all angles as they soar.  Then something occurs to him in a flash...

Shouting above the rush of wind, "That looks like a crash scar... not a roadway.  Could that be a crashed airship... or even a fallen Nightcraft?  Ships that sail between the planets around the stars in the night skies..."
This message was last edited by the player at 19:58, Tue 26 Dec 2023.

Rob nods, shouting back, "Closer?"

Mhari Nods in reply to Roberta, and will direct Z'Dakk, if HE feels its safe, to land in the long scar in the earth behind the crashed object... no closer than 50'ft from it.

ROb nods again, but indicates with a spiraling motion of her finger that perhaps they can fly around to see it from all sides.

Mhari will direct Z'Dakk to circle closer to the crashed object three more times before landing to get a closer look at it before setting down...

A few progressively closer approaches reveal more about the construction.

"Why would anyone build a fortress in the middle of nowhere?" asks Urr-dani.  Her question is valid, though not quite correct in its assumptions.

The thing is not a crashed flying vessel.  There is no impact point or scar of plowed earth.  In fact, the razed path at one end of the thing seems incredibly flat and even.  It's difficult to be certain, but it seems paved with ... soil?  Mulch?  Something that seems un-tiled, at least, and in the colors of the forest.

The metal is tarnished in places and in a few locations seems to have weathered some assault or other impact(s), but these do not appear to have penetrated (although it is hard to get a good look at the sides through the trees).

The thing is also not inert.  It is active, if not quickly so.  There are occasional sounds coming from within, whirring, whining, processing.  Even as you observe, a tree on the uncleared end shudders and begins to fall westward.

All of this is observable from no less than 200 feet (65 m) away.

Mhari will nod in reply at Ur-Dani's astute observation...

"So its ..perhaps some kind of mechanical ground vehicle... clearing wild-fauna and ... leveling a road in its wake? Fascinating!"

Mhari will land Z'Dakk about 100'ft if possible to the metal .. machines sides to observe it closer and see if it is indeed moving of some form of wheels or mechanical legs...

Still his Gravity Mass-Blaster is at his shoulder ready to return fire if they are attacked unprovoked...
This message was last edited by the player at 03:20, Sun 07 Jan.

The massive construct does not seem to respond to Z'dakk's flights or approach.  The cleared strip behind(?) the thing is soft, but otherwise unremarkable.  Certainly safe to land on.

It takes some time to make a way through the forests beside the behemoth to see what is/may be moving it.  Eventually, the party is able to make out massive treads along at least one side of the thing, though at the moment those seem inert.  The noises from inside the it are much louder down here and make verbal communication difficult.

In reply to Immortal Eye (msg # 98):

Mhari will look at the structure to find some obvious entrance.

Do the loud noises comming from the machine indicate it might be collecting and milling wood from the trees its clearing?

There does not seem to be any obvious entrance.  The exterior shell almost seems all of a piece at a distance.  There is no evidence of drivers or operators inside.  It doesn't seem to have windows, either.  The moving parts easily visible are massive treads for locomotion, cutting and grinding "tools" in front that seem to "feed" the trees and other material inside, and a semi-rigid area in the back that flattens out the material that is slowly ejected at the rear.

The sounds could be interpreted as some sort of processing of the trees that the machine(?) is cutting down, but into what is unclear.

OOC: how close are you getting to the machine?

Mhari had Z'Dakk land 100'ft distant to the side of the machine.

He will direct Z'Dakk to keep his distance but make his way on ground toward the rear of the metal machine to get a better detail on the 'pavement' the machine seems to be leaving in its wake.  But they will Not step on the 'road' Mhari only wants a more detailed examination of what the nature of the "road" actually is...

The trail behind the machine seems to be made of finely ground organic matter, like sawdust, only damp and slightly adherent when it is emitted from the thing.  The depth of the "coating" is about 12 inches or so.  It is extremely level at the point it is first set down and for as far as Mhari can easily see eastward.  There do seem to be some places where rain has washed some gullies in at the limits of your perception (and based on previous overflights).

Mhari regards this ... Old World Wonder with some trepidation.  It doesn't seem a danger in whatever task from its old world instructions it is continuing to follow. It was rather imposing in its construction... showing evidence of previous assault upon it... to only cosmetic results blemishes.

Mhari asks his companions, "What do you think?  It seems powerful and potentially dangerous but its mostly innocuous...clearly some ancient construction mechanism from the Old World still fulfilling some inscrutable task unaware its masters are likely long gone as is the need of its task.  Though any settlement in its path would Certainly be in dire peril no doubt!  But I'm at a lost as to how to forestall or repurpose its monolithic singular task to something of practical use.  If only Alberic were with us... he might be able to access and interface with its mechanical mind ~ if such is even present, to learn more."

He pondered its progress, "...but it IS only progressing Very slowly... chances are it will still be here ... on our eventual return.  I could bring Alberic here then for a more practical examination of its purpose and task. Currently.. I see nothing We can do to stop or alter its purpose... nor do I know that we should?"
This message was last edited by the player at 16:21, Wed 31 Jan.

Rob yells back, "Maybe there's a library or sage or somesuch in Yenth that may know more of it. Or where we might find such."

Mhari nods, and replies back, "Do we want to move in for a closer examination and search for potential entrances?"

"Yes," Rob shouts back. "But only if it's without harm our flying mount."

In reply to Roberta Shadowprancer (msg # 106):

Mhari nods emphatically, "Oh.. Most certainly!"

And he dismounts hefting his Mass Blaster in hand as he touches Z'Dakk's bare scaly hide thinking ~ {You stay here my friend protect Ur'Dani}

Then speaks to Ur-Dani, "We're going to get a closer look on foot ~ You stay here... Z'Dakk will keep you safe..."