By the end of the third hour, Ozrus had finished copying the spell into his book, realizing as he finishes that something about the monastery has enabled him to do it a bit faster than normal.

"Sure!" Cassandra agrees to go with Ozrus to fetch another of the Wonders.

"It's not like I'm doing anything useful hanging around here. There are enough of us still here to guard what we've already retrieved."

"Got a preference for which Wonder you want go after?"

Ozrus was surprised that his spell-copying had gone so quickly, but was glad for it. As he stood up and began putting away his equipment, he thought about Cassandra's question and voiced his thoughts out loud. "Hmm. The ones remaining should be the boots named Stiefel at the Tomb of Zama Kindu, the gloves named Shockaree at the Ice Cave of Parnouth, the shield named Bastion at the Misty Waterfall, the staff name Mysterion at the Lost Remson Mine, and the wand named Winterchill at the Field of Dreams."

He looked at Cassandra with a sideways glance, appraising her physical form. "Am I correct in assuming that you are as immune to sleep-magic as myself? If so, we may be especially well-suited to to investigate a place called "Field of Dreams," don't you think? If not, we can go to whichever destination you prefer."

"I suppose I'm as resistant to sleep-magic as you are," Cassandra replied, "though I haven't really encountered it much."

"I think the Lost Remson Mine has the bracers. Stein, Lucien and Aniyu went after the staff at the Spire of the Moon."

"Sure, we can go get the Wand from the Field of Dreams. I think it's kind of great that we don't actually have to know where the Field is, since the portal will take us there."

"Indeed," Ozrus agreed as he placed the last of his supplies into his sack. He was ready to go. "I am unsure of how to reach the Field of Dreams the normal way, but am certainly curious to see where the magical portal brings us."

And with that, Ozrus walked over to the appropriate doorway and spoke the magical word to open it. He did his best to pronounce it correctly. "KLAATU BARADA NIKTO!" If it worked, the druid-wizard would step boldly to the land beyond, to seek the treasure hidden within.

Once the portal opens and Ozrus steps through, Cassandra follows after him with a "Right behind you!" comment.

Even as she walks down the tunnel, she wonders what the nature of it is. It was circular in shape, probably made of force, and you couldn't see through it, probably due so some sort of compression effect since it covered a great distance that was disproportionate to the real distance that was covered. As she understood it, that's how the spell Passwall worked, though this one had the distance of a Dimension Door spell.

It was clearly designed to make it easier and quicker to retrieve the Wonders. Rather than spent hours or even days retrieving them, it could be done in mere minutes! The end of the world waits for no man or woman.

Vogh stepped back into the Monastery and looks about to see who is left.

Several of the group were still there: Hsang, Bash, Kurat, and Trickster, and now Tyrol and Vogh joined them.

Kurat and Hsang seemed to be arguing over who get which item.

Trickster was working on identifying the magic items.

Bash just shook her head at Vogh's look.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:24, Sat 06 Nov 2021.

"So, Tyrol seems we came back at the right time.  The others are arguing over who gets items.  We still of course haven't figured out who best uses what."  Vogh said as she looked around the room.

She then noticed Trickster looking over an item and decided to head over.  "Trickster, are you trying to figure out what that does?  I know we haven't had a lot of luck trying to figure out what the one we had is capable of."
This message was last edited by the player at 08:11, Tue 09 Nov 2021.

"I wouldn't say that exactly," Trickster replies. "There does seem to be abilities deeper inside each one that need to be unlocked at some point... or in some way. Maybe once we confront the enemy?"

"The surface stuff is easy enough to read. Here's what I've determined so far."


"Haven't examined the Medallion or the Sword yet. They're next. The Staff and the Wand are being retrieved."

"So, we still need to fetch the Boots, Bracers, Gloves, and Shield."

Chess ala'riina exits the Portal and looks at everyone that is present without saying a word.  In her hand is a Ring.

Kurat was standing. He wasn't sure what Hsang was arguing about. He wasn't fully sure that anyone had a real choice in which item they would wear. He had been wandering if perhaps each was keyed to a specific person so that only that person could actually wield it properly, though he was not sure how to tell who might be the proper person That would probably take magic beyond his means.

"That is what we found before as well.  There is something deeper inside.  Glad my insights were correct."

Kurat if you could voice your thoughts we could comment cause I find that interesting.  Perhaps the item I am supposed to have will allow me to reach the deeper magics?

"I would be willing to go help get another of the items if someone has a choice!"

"We need to get them all, until then we cannot be sure who will benefit from which item the best. Also items of such power will have a say in who wields them, and thus it may not be our choice what we get in the end," Kurat stated.

"You could be right.  So would you like to try and get one of the items with me, Kurat?"  Vogh asked the hobgoblin.

"Sure why not, which one you think we should get?" he asked.

It didn't really matter to Vogh which one they would go after so she just said, "Let's go get the boots."  Vogh then moved over to the portal and said the command word to open it and stepped inside and waited for Kurat to move over and get in before advancing.

"Sounds good to me, might as well," Kurat said following Vogh's lead and going to the portal.

"We may all be amazed at Esmeralda's foresight," Bash commented, "but that doesn't mean she foresaw who was going to answer the call."

"The impression I got is that she didn't know when this disaster would occur... not an exact date anyway, so she couldn't know who would answer the call."

"So, I don't think the Wonders were meant for a specific person. While we seem to think that the armor has to be worn by somebody who knows how to wear armor, it's always possible that it gives the wearer that ability."

"We'll just have to wait and see."

Cassandra steps back through the portal into the monastery, followed by an earth elemental and a Guardian Naga.

"Yo! Don't panic!" Cassandra calls out as she steps out of the fresco. "This is just Ozrus in disguise! We're going to go check out the Mine, so he thought it'd be helpful to stay in elemental form. You know... in case the mine collapses."

"And that's Sh'kira. She was the Guardian Naga protecting the wand. Now that we've got the wand, she needed something else to guard, so Ozrus suggested she come back here and guard the Wonders."

"So, what have the rest of you been up to?"

"Yes, we have retrieved Winterchill," Ozrus said, elaborating on what Cassandra had already said using his deep elemental voice. "It has a potent aura of cold evocation. Several, actually. There are multiple layers of overlapping auras. I do not yet know what exactly it casts, but it seems like it may be a good fit for Aniyu."

Ozrus clasped his big rocky hands together, then continued, "Let's make sure Sh'kira is being well taken care of, then I am ready to head to the mines! Anyone who wishes to join is welcome to come, but solo is fine as well. I don't mind." Cassandra had already alluded that she would be joining him, but he didn't want to make her feel obligated all the same.

---

Leaving the wand at home base and ready to head to the mine thread for the bracers. Gotta catch 'em all!

"Trickster and I have been deciphering the magic in the other Wonders," Tyrol speaks up.

"There are secrets buried deep within each item, of course, but we were only able to determine the surface abilities. We think the item has to be selected by one of us and then activated before the additional powers will be... unlocked."

"This is what we've found so far..."

"Since no one else seems interested in going with you, Ozrus, I shall accompany you," Hsang offers. "There is bound to be more there to present a challenge to me than anything I can find here."

He walks over to the appropriate mural and waits for Ozrus to open the portal with the appropriate phrase.

"I'll go, too!" Bash chimes in.

"I just didn't want to hog all the action! Besides, mines aren't really my thing, but there might be more safety in numbers."

She joins Hsang in front of the portal and waits for Ozrus, too.