The Chaos Storm is a few days in the past, now.  It scattered shipping as captains took off in every direction to evade it, but things are getting back on track, and ships are coming back.

Most do not bother stopping at Deluzion Break.  But one does, a large galleon from the colony of Leidum, and it has a passenger or two to drop off, new immigrants who have arrived under similar terms as those already here.  Identical terms, really, but a little late.

Qui-Lin sat sipping her tea, deep in thought.  She seemed distant and troubled, but mostly contemplated her tea until anyone drew near enough to speak to.

Alison liked this place already. They seemed to have knowledge of both trade and defense, building their keep high atop a sheer cliff face and the dock far below. She stood at the rails, eager to depart the ship and egress to this new world. She fancied herself on the cusp of her fortune. The smile on her lips was friendly and her face innocent looking. If not for the uniform and rank one might think her a fresh faced girl...they might think that anyway. The rapier dangling at her hip might have other things to say about that.

From within one of the water barrels along the port rail, the water poked its head up, the "head" turning side to side before pulling itself out, and thumping silently over to the tall railing.  The small shape knelt, hands upraised overhead to carry Atlas' burden, and turned a blue-white as it froze into place.

A second, larger figure, again pulled itself from the water, repeating the wary scout watching, and double-timed over to the first, again kneeling to support a great weight, again turning the blue-white of pure ice.

A large nose and bald head emerged from between a load of specialty rock being shipped to the mountain region - likely heading farther onwards in destination.  The gnome's eyes looked about suspiciously, but when nothing appeared to run over and devour him whole, softened, and matched a smile upon his face.  He stepped upon the ice sculpture, rising upon their supporting hands on an improvised staircase to have a better vantage point from the railing, and quite pleased at the crafting.

Dull, overlapping grey scales protected his form, and his clothes for travel were likewise muted.  A backpack and belt pouch appeared to contain his worldly items, and a pair of symbols hung from his neck, and upon the wood and metal shield at his side.  A hammer was well-secured upon his backpack, perhaps to not lose over the edge of the ship during travel, but it did not appear much used.

Despite the time of travel aboard the vessel, the four-foot traveller seemed astounded still at the ship's movement and its passage through the sky - the view of rising ground almost academic.

"Thank you for the assistance.

"Oh, how marvelous.  A shame we never had opportunity to see more.  Perhaps on another trip," he commented to himself absent-mindedly in the common tongue.

Alison took a sidelong glance at the Gnome but held her tongue. No need to interfer with the little man if it was unnecessary. He seemed well armed for the continent ahead of them all.

Qui-Lin glanced up from her tea to regard the two newcomers.  They must have arrived on a fresh ship, just as she had... it seemed longer than a week ago. Her dark eyes brightened for a moment, a hint of a smile on her full lips.  She brushed a lock of her hair out of her eyes without dragging the sleeve of her fanciful robe through her tea... just.

She was a slim, lithe young woman of small stature. She carried a quarterstaff and wore a sheathed shortsword on her back.



Looking to Alison - who seemed the friendlier of the two - she asked, "Just arrived?"

Atraxus stares out of the window at the newly arrived vessel. The large Half-Orc has a pensive look on his face. As the new arrivals appear, he gives them a curt nod.

"Well met," he says. "My name is Atraxus. I take it you just landed?"

The gnome slunk back at being greeted, caution clear upon his feature -was this a shakedown of new folk?  'Amazing deals' to rook new folk?

But no, this seemed as it was - a pleasant greeting to new people.  Truly this land was so amazingly lit with kindness in addition to amazing efforts with magic. They were almost gnomish in the combination!

He brightened noticeably, smiled widely, and nodded to the two folk at the window.

"Greeting Atraxus, and well met to you as well.  Greetings <sniff,sniff> lady of ... tea?  Indeed.  A most interesting journey to these Southlands, and most surprisingly mannerly.  So much more orderly than I had heard."

Daladain settled into life at the guesthouse. It was a strange place, but seemed to work. He enjoyed watching the fairies going about their business and chatting amiably to the other guests.

As the days passed he practised his magic tricks. He didn't know if this strange place was helping but he found them a bit easier than before, and new tricks he had tried now seemed to work. He looked forward to an opportunity to try them out. He also perused the strange maps and documents he had found upon the airship, trying to make sense of the nonsensical. If any of his companions wished to study them he would happily let them take a look.

And then there were newcomers. He sipped gently at his tea as he watched them arrive, wondering if his face had been the same just a few short days ago. As they approached he greeted them warmly. "Good day to you, I am Daladain."
This message was last edited by the player at 11:33, Tue 24 Nov 2020.

Leysa sat nearby silently contemplating all she had learned recently. Her long, green-scaled neck turned gracefully to point her ear-holes toward the conversations, but he eyes remained sealed. She had found she missed Mary and Tamara of late more and more. These newcomers and strangers were... disquieting to her and she chose to ignore them. Mostly. She'd wait for Robyn of Lysander to show up rather than make new acquaintances. Besides, the halfling and bard were better at those sort of things anyhow.

Why so glum, my reptilian chum, there are worse thing you could lose,
than a couple of freinds, who in the end, were free their path to choose.
Just remember that we, the remaining three, have choices yet to make,
And in the end, we'll make new friends, and venture to see what's at stake.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:02, Tue 24 Nov 2020.

There was a beautifully dressed woman, obviously foreign to Alison, spoke to her. Alison is polite but non-verbose in her response. "Yes, I travel here."

Atraxus winces at Abadon's use of the word "ordered."

"You might not be so quick to say that had you arrived a bit earlier," the Half-Orc says. "We had a rather unusual rescue mission due to something called a 'chaos storm.' An airship crashed into the cliffs, carrying captives from the Plane of Chaos. We righted the ship, and one of the captives helped most of them return. Some stayed. The one I'm most concerned about, though...I'm not sure what happened to it. The only captive that spoke to us seemed worried about it, though."

"Oh, how intriguing.  A 'chaos storm'; I take it such are uncommon?  Agents of chaotic behaviour are not uncommon, but captives from the Plane of Chaos... - I have seen demons -thankfully from afar- and some aberrations twisted by evil use of magics, so I appreciate at least some of what you speak.  A strange capture...  Seemed worried about what, sorry?  A captive was worried about one that stayed, but was unaccounted?" the gnome nodded understandingly, though without being involved and knowledgeable as to the local circumstances, was a curious stranger still.

In reply to Abadon Crystalfist (msg # 14):

Dal couldn’t help but chuckle at the conversation going on next to him. “In most places it would indeed be a rare sight, but here I think the rules are different. For one, there are no ‘rules’. This place just seems to get on with living it’s own way.”

He paused for a moment. “These creatures weren’t evil, just different. A creature born of chaos is no more evil than you or I. They just wanted to be free, as do we all.”

"From what the Fairies here told us," Atraxus replies to Abadon, "they are a common occurrence. They're also responsible for the inn's unusual menu."

Atraxus frowns at Daladain's analogy.

"That may be," he answers, "but I've seen enough in my travels to know that sometimes one's idea of freedom can mean another's state of bondage. Besides, I'm concerned that a starving, sentient black pit forged of chaos might not be the best addition to our own plane of existence." The Half-Orc trails off, glancing out the window toward the sky as if searching for something.

"Anyways, Daladain," Atraxus adds, "you might want to introduce our new friend to the platypus-like creatures we brought here."

A few days have passed since the bizarre "airship incident" and life is getting back to normal, or as close as it gets in Deluzion Break.  With new arrivals to settle in, the staff is extremely busy.

As the original gang knows, the staff is mostly Fairies.  They've gotten to know them- Zwiddle, Daisy, Petunia, Firefern and the others.  The Fairies do everything with energy and enthusiasm, apparently enjoying every moment of their jobs.  Their small size makes them unable to do many things the human way, and for this they have help from the human staff, but they try.

They are thrilled to have a Halfling guest- Robyn makes them a little taller.  He's still enormous compared to them, but only three times as tall, not five or six or more (they do seem skittish around Leysa, as if not entirely sure she won't eat them), and it makes them happy.  They also very much enjoy bards, and especially, Bards that speak in rhyme.  Lysander will almost always have a fairy or two hanging around, just to hear what he'll say next.

The Fairies did not fly down from the guesthouse to help guide the first batch of visitors up, but that's because the winds of the Chaos Storm were starting up, and that terrifies them- there is no way a fairy's tiny wings can compete with that.  But this time is different.  At the stone dock, a trio of Fairies shows up- they can't carry luggage, but they are here to advise and guide.

If you have any questions, Zwiddle, Firefern, and Daisy are here to answer them, with bright Fairy Enthusiasm.

And as Daisy proudly announces:  "We have a pool!"

You may have noticed that there is also a general information thread.  This is more information that is considered available to characters, you may read that too.

Qui-Lin smiled wanly to Abadon.  "Just my morning ritual," she explained, indicating her tea. She nodded to Alison, terse as she was.  "Welcome, then," she said.

As Daladain recounted their previous adventure, she took a draught of her tea and avoided eye contact as she said, "I'm still not sure we did the right thing."

Leysa smiled at Lysander's rhyme. They still annoyed her, but she had grown fond of them over the time as well. "Alas, I keep good companions near my heard, Lysander. I shall regret their departure but I will also move on. This seems a... curious place. I am unsure how comfortable I am being feared based on my appearance, but I can understand it."

Leysa was also curious about Deluzion Break and wanted to spend some time exploring the city built into a cliff such as it was. She also wondered what was directly up.

As for the conversation on the barroom floor, she ignored it even if she felt a urge to contribute.

There once was an inn called Delusion,
where people might feel some confusion,
It was high in the airies,
and was tended by Fairies,
Just maybe they are an illision?

The gnome looked at the bard, curious, measuring the words and reception to them.

"A good ritual for cleansing the mind for study.

"Ah... that is a different speech style, sir," Abadon turned his head from the tea-drinking woman to the human with strange parlance.  "Oh dear.  Perhaps a structural cultural matter?

'I met many folk in Delusion.
-One who spoke in allusions
My mother once said,
'Words mess up your heard;
Isn’t that really quite true, son?'”  He looked over expectantly.

This world is filled with many kinds of poetry, good sir,
and it's a pleasure sharing them with you, I must concur,
But in sharing them there is danger we should learn to dread,
That dragonborn will end up smacking us upside the head.

The gnome chuckled at Lysander's response.   Delicate fingers twisted just so, and the gnome disappeared from sight.  In his place, however, a large, hook-thorned green-grey plant -complete with wooden barrel planter- sat plunked within the inn.

With a wink the gnome re-appeared a few feet away, suspiciously near a high table.  For short folk, there were many paths to success.

I see that what we might have here,
is someone who can disappear.
I think it might be very funny,
If you could reappear with money.

Leysa's frown deepened at the antics of the two. Her tolerance for Lysander was bred from their mutual experience. The man had been her companion and ally in a strange time. This gnome, she found him not amusing in the slightest. She glanced at the ceiling and cocked her head to the side as she considered that she was a rather serious-minded person. She shrugged and sipped a drink while ignoring the chaotic small person. "Lysander, have you seen Robyn? I begin to worry."
This message was last edited by the player at 06:12, Sat 28 Nov 2020.

Propping her head on her hand, Qui-Lin regarded the interaction from her table and then commented.

There once was a man named Lysander
Whose thoughts tended to meander
He lost his mind and turned in kind
For a swift kick in the behind

I'm sure our Robyn will be here, he never is that jerky,
But, maybe he just needs a nap from eating too much turkey?
Perhaps the sound that's being made, the sort of bad timed clang,
will wake him up, and bring him here to meet our new friend Xiang.

Dal smiled at the distraction of this little game of poetry. He listened intently at the clever rhymes, marvelling as each mixed in clever wordplay. Then a poem popped into his head, a bit cheeky but he thought he would throw it into the mix.

He cleared his throat...
“There once was a girl from Kabas
Who had a magnificent ass
Not pretty and pink
As well you might think
But grey haired with long ears and ate grass.”

There once was a man, Daladain,
Who some people thought quite insane,
But when he did magic,
It turned out quite tragic,
As they tried to clean up all the stain.

In reply to Lysander (msg # 29):

Dal roared with laughter at the sharp wit of the bard. Life here was going to be fun!

Leysa might be Not Amused by antics, but most of the staff here are Fairies, and if there is one thing Fairies love tremendously...

Actually there are many things Fairies love tremendously.  However, high on that list is Antics, especially amusing ones (Fairies are known for senses of humor that have been called "quirky", "childlike", and "deranged" by various people).  They love rhyme, they love magic...

They are extremely happy with the assortment of guests.

The party has also blundered into the best way to get attentive, constant service at the guesthouse.  Keep the Fairies amused, and they will do anything for you.

They are at your service, and let you know that if you are hungry you can have anything you want as long as its yams.

"But that won't be for long," Zwiddle explains.  "Good weather, so there's bound to be a Coastal Trader along soon, especially if the Dwarves or Stonebell has an Export."

As for Arcto, the proprietor, he thinks its a good thing.  The Fairies will be attentive, so he'll get no complaints.  He seems to have some important Other Things to work on.

The Fairies want to know what they can do. Does anyone want to see the Chaos Farm?

"Or the Orthalisk?" Firefern asks.

I'll go ahead and take the risk,
to go and see the Orthalisk,
But only if you take a turn,
And travel with me, Firefern.

"I'd be interested in seeing both the farm and this Orthalisk," Atraxus says. "Might be easier to take in the sights when there is not a chaos storm raging about."

The gnomish magician nodded in agreement. "If they help provide explanation of the area, how could we turn them down?  Are they combinable to explore on the same sojourn?"

Daladain looked up and smiled a broad grin. “Yes, and yes!” he responded to the two invitations. Both sounded interesting and worthy of further investigation.

Those going on the Tour can hop on over to Chaos Farm Tour

Alison kept to herself. She did smirk and chuckle but clearly she was on the periphery rather than part of the group. At the offer of a tour she shrugged and followed along.

The tour sounded interesting. Daladain gathered his gear and joined the group on their little excursion.