Characters exploring by land should assemble here!

Over a couple of days, the Exploration team gets ready, acquiring provisions- mostly prepared by the Fairies, using more yams, and some supplies that arrive by boat.  A couple of them want to join, at least for a little way.  Petunia finds a walking stick.

"You don't need a walking stick," Firefern reminds her.  "You're a Fairy.  If you walk you'll never keep up with the others."

"Explorers carry sticks," Petunia says.  "I saw it in a picture once.  Besides, I know that Walking Sticks don't really walk.  It's traditional costume, though."

And then, there is something that makes the exploration of the canyon, Deluzion Break, a little more pressing:  a wisp of smoke in the distance, rising above it.

It's maybe five miles away.  At this distance, it's impossible to say whether it is from the canyon itself or maybe close by it.  Arcto raises the possibility that someone from Stonebell trekked to the canyon's edge.

"But generally, they wouldn't light a fire," he says.  "No one wants unintended attention out there.  Lots of strange things, they know better."

Deluzion Break is no Grand Canyon.  It is only ten miles long, but the walls are steep and the floor is narrow.  It begins in the rough and rocky uplands west of here, near Mount Oram*.  It gets steadily deeper towards the sea- at the end of its journey, at the Guest House, it is 400 feet deep.

There are several known ways into Deluzion Break- other than using magic, engineering, or extreme mountaineering techniques.**

First, the easiest, obvious way is down the stairs to the dock, where the canyon meets the sea.

Second, there is going the long way, inland and upstream, to where the canyon eventually fades into a network of mountain gullies and draws.

Third, though the land surrounding Deluzion Break is known for its unstable behavior, there are often points along its length- in fact, one could go to Stonebell first, and then cut south, and arrive at the canyon a few miles in.  And then hope to find a way down.

Whichever way you go... Arcto has mentioned the Windrazors.  These are bizarre creatures brought here once upon a time through a portal.  They are humanoid, slender but quite strong, with very flexible bodies and razor sharp claws.  Sometimes they use thrown weapons.  They have no wings, but they fly... oddly erratically, like leaves swept up in wind.  This erratic flight is their tactical weakness according to Arcto- even when they come in groups they have a hard time coordinating an attack.  They don't seem to have to do anything to fly.. they just do.  They are savage, hateful creatures- Arcto suspects that their actual origin is a Lower Plane.  Fortunately, most of them don't seem very sturdy.



*Named for the Dwarf explorer who scaled it.

** Or, of course, flight.  Fairies can fly, but they have small wings and they are not endurance fliers.  Hawks and vultures soar, Fairies must constantly flutter to stay aloft.  Because of that, they do not cover great distances.  They have been only a few miles into the Break.

Daladain gathered his gear and got himself ready to head out. At the discussion about routes he shrugged. “Makes no difference to me. It’s all new so happy to explore.”

He couldn’t help but grin at the sight of Petunia with her walking stick. “I think it makes you look very distinguished, a proper adventurer!”

Lysander outfits himself for the journey.

"Tis fair, the day before us, the path we do not know,
but we seek for adventure, so forward we must go."

Complication

Of course, a complication occurs as they prepare for a journey.  The canyon, and then, likely beyond to Sanzi.. the two are in roughly the same direction, the Deluzion Break is just an extended detour.

Since the passage of the Chaos Storm, shipping has returned, the strait which the Guesthouse overlooks has frequent ships, as it is the channel between Momokawahe and the mainland.  But as previously noted, the large ones generally don’t stop here.  Today there is an exception.

The Wishing Star is a big four masted ship that crosses the sea and brings commerce and colonists, but not to here.  To the more populous ports to the south.  But they’ve stopped here, to offload a passenger.

Or… not exactly a passenger.

Arcto discusses the situation with one of the ship’s officers, in a niche off the Guesthouse’s common room that can be closed off for the occasional “private dining”… or meeting such as this.

“Does this look like the kind of place you can simply drop off a stowaway?” he asks.  “We’re a guest house, and not a well populated one at the moment, and there aren’t many work opportunities here in the Breaks.  You could drop her off in a town, couldn’t you?”

“But this one’s… well… they say you were…are… are?... someone interested in the unusual and unworldly.  That’s’ what we’ve got here.  Dropping her off somewhere else may… may not be right.”

Arcto translated “may not be right” as “Could possibly cause trouble, and that would be bad if it was connected to our ship.”  Reputations!

“So she is a mage, and potentially wild…”

“I didn’t say a mage,” the officer said.  “Wouldn’t doubt it.”

“Then what is it?”

“She’s red.”

“Red?”

“Red.  Odd looking.”

Arcto gave a sour look.  His world was full of Fairies, Dwarves, Llamas, and now there was even a Dragonborn hanging around.  Odd Looking meant nothing.  But yes, there were many places in which the unusual was treated with suspicion.  What if this red stowaway ended up in Ushalka?

The wizard interviews the red newcomer.  It was mostly for show, he had already made up his mind, but he wanted to give the impression that it was strictly a provisional thing.

Suspecting a stowaway would be short of funds, he told his new guest the price of board here could be covered if… well maybe she could assist the courageous group of explorers about to investigate the nearby canyon?   Arcto seems to suspect already that she has some useful talents.  He doesn't have to.. all the years he has been here, he's learned a few things.  At the very least, stowing away on a trans oceanic ship and surviving for so long at sea was something taking skill.

He suggests to his new guest that she introduce herself to the party of explorers, and explain that Arcto thinks she could be helpful.

Leysa chuckled as the fairies discussed proper exploring attire. "The device will be quite good for climbing or maybe whacking pesky flies? Best stick close to me, little one." Leysa wasn't overly fond of chaos, but the Fey were things she knew and adored at certain levels. Her patron, after all, was a lord of the Fey.

Adjusting her pack and thumping the ground with her own "walking stick" she grinned at the wild ones. Granted, her stick was tipped with sharp metal and some might call it a spear, but those were details.

The complication chose then to arise and Leysa groaned. She, afterall, didn't like chaos and the unpredictable. Still, being an odd color wasn't something she was prepared to criticize, nor being odd-looking. She'd gotten that pretty constantly since she left her home territories.

Despair wasn't having a very good day. After dealing with the officers of The Wishing Star and being kicked off the ship, she wasn't in the best of moods. She gave Actro no problems however, she answered all of his questions truthfully... Eh... Semi-truthfully. Then she was told to help out some explorers if she was going to earn her keshep. Only just got here and s was already being forced to do something.

Despair walks over to the group. They would see a skrawny looking girl heading towards them, wearing a rather old ill-fitting clothes. She is, in fact, a deep red color, but that was not the only odd thing about her. Among her dark long unkempt hair, on the side of her head, is a pair of curly goat horns, and behind her a long tail. No wonder the crew of the Wishing Star didn't want to be seen at port with her.

Slouched, and relaxed, Despair nonchalantly strolls over to the group of explorers. "Heard you needed help... I can lend my skills as a great adventurer." That doesn't seem true at all. The young red girl barerly even looks armed. She maybe hiding a small weapon, like a dagger or something, under the shaggy old coat, that is defiantly too big for her. Or maybe something in the pack she carries. The only thing that can be seen sticking out of her pack is a pretty nice looking viol. But she is not wielding any sword or significant weapon.

Feel free, my young companion, to free yourself of dread,
Should we encounter bad guys here, just bonk them on the head.

Daladain greeted their new companion with a grin. "Welcome. You look like you don't fit in, so it'll be good to have you along. We could do with some great adventurers!"

He looked at their motley crew. A muscular dragonborn, a poet, a... well a red girl with horns, and himself. Goodness, am I the normal one? He chuckled quietly. This could be interesting!

The Motley Crew also includes a pair of adventurous fairies.  Sure, they are only about a foot tall, and the most ferocious wild beast they'd be a match for in melee is a squirrel, but Firefern and Petunia have...

Well...

Hmm....

Moxie?  Spunk?  Petunia, at least, has lots of enthusiasm.  Firefern is motivated by a sense of responsibility:  keep Petunia away from too much trouble.

Now that everyone is together the choice of route is the important next step.

You can:

1)  Descend to the base of the canyon here, where it meets the sea at the base of the cliff, then travel inland through the smoke.

2)  Travel along the canyon's edge- extremely hard terrain this way- and search for another way down.

3)  Travel along the road to Stonebell, then turn towards the canyon, and look for a way down.

Leysa smiled at the new arrival and nodded in agreement to her companions' assessments, "Well met and welcome." She then smirked at the fairies and turned to the others, "I don't mind either the idea to meander along the canyon edge or to descend here. I am not overly eager to travel to yet another city. Though dwarves do seem intriguing. I have not met one before. They can't be any worse than fairies or carnivorous corn."

She smirked again and sat down for the discussion. The chair creaked audibly under her weight, so she sifted to alleviate some of it. Her tail traced a slow circle on the floor behind the chair as she let her gaze travel between their company. An odd six indeed.

I feel it best if we descend here,
Although the air isn't so clear,
And though we might up and choke,
We might solve the mystery of the smoke.

Daladain shrugged. “Descending here sounds fine, we can get started straight away. Shall we get going, or does anyone need to do anything first?”

The cliffs facing the straight, upon which the Guesthouse is perched, stretch for many miles of coast.  Canyons cut through them.  These are the Breaks.  Deluzion Break is among the longest, and deepest, but is surprisingly narrow at the seaward entrance in relation to its height.

At its base, it is significantly warmer than it is at the top.  Fortunately it is still Spring- Summer can be hot in Montebon, especially at sea level.  Water flows through the base of the canyon- it's one of those things that would be called a stream or brook in the eastern USA, and a river in Texas or California- only a few feet deep at the deepest.  The whole base of the canyon here is paved in smooth round stones of varying hues.  Barnacles cling to some.  The water is clear... except... every now and then, there is a swirl of iridescent colors.

According to Firefern, this is Chaos in the water.  Not much left, because the storm is now a week in the past.

"Sometimes, Arcto gathers.. well not any more, he sends the others... but they collect it," Firefern says.  "He can make things with it."

Here, the canyon is only about fifty feet across.  It gets wider further in, they can see that from here.  Due to bends, though, they cannot see the source of the smoke.

Onward we press, to get to the smoke,
Hoping the hole thing just isn't a joke.

A few hours was long enough, so Leysa crouched by a pond with a swirl of color in it and studied the phenomenon for a few moments. She took the time, muttering arcane words, to cast a ritualized detect magic to further inspect the pool.

11:04, Today: Leysa the Emerald rolled 13 using 1d20+2.  perception.
11:03, Today: Leysa the Emerald rolled 21 using 1d20+2.  nature.
11:03, Today: Leysa the Emerald rolled 16 using 1d20.  arcana.

After her inspection, she turned to the others and spoke,  "We'd best clear this area before the high tide come in, unless you fancy swimming through the Break." Using her spear like a walking stick, she started picking her way through the path into the canyon. She tried to avoid the slippery footing in the stream.

You can tuna fish and you can tune a lute,
but a drowning bard would be quite mute.

Leysa smirked at Lysander, "is that an argument for going faster or an argument against it?" She chuckled as she continued her ascent, determined not to witness any drowning bards this day.

Walking is a little slower here than over even ground.  Round rocks slide underfoot; Leysa's big Dragonborn feet offer a little advantage, and Despair has a lighter frame than most and doesn't feel it so much... the two fairies don't feel it at all.

As they walk in, the signs of water depth on the canyon walls- barnacles, stray clumps of kelp- become lower and lower, disappearing entirely after they've walked in for about 20 minutes.  From here on in, the tidal bore doesn't fill the whole of the canyon, just the water course running down the middle of it.

The canyon twists, and widens, although the walls are still extremely steep.

They are about an hour and a half in, and the Fairies are getting tired.  Petunia hitches a ride on Lysander's pack.  She appreciates the verse.

That's when they see it.  It's flying in the canyon, still about a quarter mile ahead of them- from here, they can see that it is humanoid, wingless, and bending and twisting in ways that would suggest very alien joints, or maybe no joints at all.  With no wings at all it is flying, but in a very erratic way.  Like they described it:  a leaf blown by random gusts of wind.  It is too far to make out much detail.

It seems the mystery is flying just before our face,
But not a bird or dragon, for it lacks the grace.
I seems to get a better look we onward march the shore
And hope it won't attack us as so many things before.

Leysa happily hums as she works her way over the rocky terrain. The added weight of a fairy hardly makes a difference but she is more careful to not unseet the woman from her pack. As she walks along, she studies the rocks, plants, and anything else she spies curiously. The area seems far less affected by the presence of the chaos storms but that could be misleading. She checks the water periodically for signs of it, but assumes the free-flowing water would have washed it all to the tidal pools by now.

At Lysander's words, she raises her eyes to strangely contorting shape and cocks her head to the side just like an overly grown but curious lizard might. Her tongue rakes over her dry lips and then she looks to her shoulder at Petunia, "And how aggressive are they? It might be best for you and Firefern to go invisible and hide near the cliff walls if the answer is 'very.'"

"Windrazors are stupid and pointless and very nasty," Petunia replies.  "Arcto says they come from another place which is all wind and caves.  If you're a fairy, the best thing is to hide in a tiny place they can't get to.  So we will."

"That won't be so easy for Leysa, or any of the others," Firefern points out.

"But it's only one of Windrazer," Petunia says.

It seems to keep it's distance, a far distance, as the group makes steady progress.

Away from the sea the canyon floor offers much steadier footing. It's not longer loose tumbled stones- here it's bare rock, with stretches of flat sandy soil between.  There are some short, scrubby looking trees with fat greyish branches.

The Fairies recognize them.

"Coldwood!"

And then, the Windrazer ducks out of sight.

Lysander will look around to see what apparently spooked the windrazor.

The way that thing lit out of hear,
You'd think it ran away in fear.
I feel we must step lively now,
Or we might end up in a row.

Leysa only nodded to Lysander's whimsy and rhyme as she scanned the sky. Things which moved so randomly-looking a that could hardly move the way it had to her mind, "Do they have any predators?" She grit her teeth and nodded at the fairies riding Lysander's pack or floating about, "Aye, hide at the first sign of trouble. We'll handle it if we can."

Leysa moved forward very carefully now, keeping her eyes on the sky and the ground as much as possible. She also watched for any caves nearby.

As the move along, Firefern explains that Coldwood is rare and valuable, probably brought in by the Chaos Storms.  They know that many magic plants exist in this wilderness (which Firefern pronounces oddly, stressing the Wild... WILDer-ness.)

"It doesn't ever come to the Chaos Farm, maybe that's because it knows it's not a farm plant.  It's a rare magical plant.  So if we want to take some wood we have to be careful and only take a little.  It's the only wood that gives off cold instead of heat when it burns.  Arcto is fascinated with it."

"I think they want to handle the Windrazer first," Petunia says.

"It's gone," Firefern replies.  "Maybe we scared it."

Moving along, the going gets easier... and they are getting closer to the source of the smoke.  It's not burning now, whatever it was.

And as the move along... there is the Windrazer again.  And how nice, it brought a friend.  Now there are two of them.  This time, they aren't just maintaining their distance.  They are headed for the party.  Still not in a straight line, still erratic, but erratic with a purpose, like a butterfly crossing a field.

Daladain kept up a good pace. Though he wasn’t used to adventuring in the wild this strange place seemed to inspire him, the chaos of it made him feel at home, more so than the city streets where he was raised. The colours in the water fascinated him, the forms swirled and changed constantly, sometimes he could detect a pattern, sometimes it just seemed random.

The strange creatures worried him. Windrazors, the fairies called them. They didn’t sound friendly, or gentle, so he did his best to keep his distance. But then there were two...

He turned to the fairies. “Are those things scared of anything? Maybe we can spook them so they leave us alone.”

Lysander asks the fairies,
"While they fly with grace and charm,
do you think the intend us harm?"

"Blast." She glanced at the fairies then at the others and shook her head. "Whatever the case, we lack the resources to be so cavalier about them. They are known to be aggressive. Perhaps, we can scare them off at distance?"

She glanced back and considered the case of the strange bush. The information the fairies had shared was interesting and she wanted to investigate the plant herself, but not with aggressive carnivores nearby. And there was no mistaking the creatures' interest in them now.

"Let's see what they think of this?" Leysa spoke a few eldritch words of power which summoned a ball of green energy to her hand. She did not yet release it, but waited for the creatures to come in range. As she waited she uttered a prayer that invoked the forces of nature to give her a glimpse into the ebb and flow of nature in the area. "You fairies may want to hide now."

Just going to get to it. If they come into 120' range still seeming to head right for them, she will blast at one. She has cast guidance upon herself anticipating combat.

18:05, Today: Leysa the Emerald rolled 6 using 1d10.  damage.
18:05, Today: Leysa the Emerald rolled 18 using 1d20+5.  attack.

Well that's done it.

They're definitely angry now.  Fortunately they weren't prepared for a "ranged fight".  The two creatures aim themselves, and with the long claws flashing at the ends of their gangly arms, begin their attack run.

The fairies seem to be up to something as well... though they are hiding behind a large bush at the edge of the canyon floor, Firefern and Petunia are excitedly chattering to each other.


 
This message was last updated by the GM at 03:55, Thu 31 Dec 2020.

Lysander speaks some unintelligible words and tries to light them up.  He draws his short sword.

Action: Faerie Fire
This message was last edited by the player at 00:54, Wed 30 Dec 2020.

Leysa nodded. At least, now, there was less certainty. She glanced around and decided that the fairies had the right of it. She backed away from the two angry things and whispered another prayer under he breath beseeching the world around her to aid the aim of her companions.

---

Move: V19
Bonus: none
Action: Cast Bless for me, Daladain, and Lysander.

Note: those three gain +d4 on all attacks and saves as long as Leysa is concentrating.

Seeing the creatures advance, Daladain cast a spell on himself. “Ne estas kiraso kontraŭ la sorto.” The air around him shimmered gently. As the magic settled he began to prepare something less pleasant for the creatures.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
“There is no armour against fate.”

---

Casting Mage Armour. AC now 16 for 8 hours.

Leysa’s break for the tree (one of the Coldwood trees) is a clever tactical move- the Windrazors can’t fly at her quickly from where it is without crashing into the wall of the canyon.  They aim for a high speed pass by Lysander instead.

In that moment, the Fairies do something.  It looks like a bomb of sparkling glitter explodes among the two creatures.  It doesn’t seem to do anything, but then, one of the two creatures, rather than flying towards a target, merely continues on, as if unsure of what to do.

Despair attempts to pelt the Faerie Fire glowing one with her sling- with the aid of the glow, she is able to score a hit.

Twisting as it flies past, a Windrazor misses Lysander with its dreadful claws, but manages to give him a bite for three points of damage.

They both continue on, with one wheeling around for another pass, and the other, the Faerie Fired one, aimlessly flying straight, not bothering to turn around.




 
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:55, Thu 31 Dec 2020.

Forgot to check for wild magic when I cast Mage Armour...

09:06, Today: Daladain rolled 7 using 1d20 with rolls of 7.  Wild magic check.

Daladain ducked as the Windrazors rushed past. He turned to see one of then begin to turn for a second pass, and decided that being out in the open was a bad idea. He dashed towards the canyon wall where the fairies, trying to keep close to the canyon wall. He then gestured and spoke some arcane words. “Mi estas la fajrostartilo, tordita fajrostartigilo.”

As he completed the spell he pointed a finger at the windrazor that was coming back at them as released a small jet of fire that struck the creature as it flew.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
“I’m the fire starter, twisted fire starter.”

---

Daladain
AC 16
HP 10/10
Moving to canyon wall near fairies then casting Fire Bolt for 4hp damage
09:03, Today: Daladain rolled 4 using 1d10 with rolls of 4.  Damage.
09:03, Today: Daladain rolled 24 using 2d20+9, dropping the lowest dice only with rolls of 1,15.  Fire bolt with Faerie Fire advantage.

Lysander will speak loudly to the one coming back for another run, calling the existence of the creature into question.

Thou creature full of foulest form,
be ye gone to where 'tis warm,
In fact, to where 'tis very hot,
you over pompous flying sot!

Then he will move towards the wall.

Action: Cast Vicious Mockery
Lysander rolled 4 using 1d4.  Vicious Mockery. (DC-13, or Psychic damage/disadvantage on attack)
Movement: To R-21

She watched the behavior of the strange pair of things closely as they passed by and noted their avoidance of the trees. Their pinpoint dexterity in flight seemed lacking. Perhaps, like many flying creatures, their form was more fragile than it looked as well? Still, that was a thought for another situation. Leysa concentrated on holding the enchantment she had cast while speaking eldritch words to send another bolt of greenish energy at the injured, lighted-up beast, "Stay near the trees if you can everyone!" she yelled as the bolt sailed through the aether. She cursed as, even with the arcane aid, seemed off aim.

---

Please remember that Leysa cast Bless on Daladain and Lysander. If it matters...

Move: none
Bonus: none
Action: Eldritch Blast. With Bless, Leysa hit AC 15.

Leysa the Emerald rolled 11 using 2d20+5, dropping the lowest dice only.  attack.
18:32, Today: Leysa the Emerald rolled 6 using 1d10.  damage.
18:31, Today: Leysa the Emerald rolled 4 using 1d4.  bless.

Petunia looks worriedly at Firefern.  "Will it work much longer?"

"No way to tell," Firefern replies.

One of the two creatures is still fluttering around looking lost, as if it can't figure out what it ought to be doing, even as its companion lines up for another attack run.

This one is more difficult.  Leysa is huddled next to a tree, the others are at the canyon walls, so a high speed pass is out of the question... unless the angle was just right.

It aims for Lysander, even as a hail of incoming spells and a sling bullet reach out towards it.    It must slow as it flies at him, becoming more vulnerable, but such is it's savagery that it does not seem to care.

It again manages to give him a nasty nip, this time for 5 pts damage.  But it pays a price.  Struck by all sorts of things, including, at the last moment, an arrow, it flops to the ground near Despair, twitching like a dying fish.

An arrow?

Yes.

With Leysa and Despair and the Fairies around, the visual description of "person" is rather broad.  This one is about five feet tall with a long, sinewy by build, short legs, long tail... and fur.   It's running towards you and shouting.

Shouting excitedly, though some of the vocabulary seems puzzling.

"Zootles!  Good Fortune With Extra Gravy, Wizards!  You're Wizards!"

 

Whether he didn’t hear it or didn’t care, Daladain ignored the newcomer, focused entirely on the remaining flying beastie. He tried his incantation again. “Mi estas la fajrostartilo, tordita fajrostartigilo.”

This time his aim was more precise and a bolt of flame leapt straight from his fingertip to the chest of his opponent, striking it hard and burning its leathery skin.

Daladain
AC 16
HP 10/10
Casting Fire Bolt for 10hp damage

09:10, Today: Daladain rolled 10 using 1d10 with rolls of 10.  Damage.
09:10, Today: Daladain rolled 23 using 2d20+9, dropping the lowest dice only with rolls of 10,14.  Fire Bolt (faerie fire & bless adv.).

Lysander sees that the remaining creature is out of his range, for now, so he spends a moment to heal his damage.

Action: Cast Cure Wounds
Lysander rolled 8 using 1d8+3.  Cure Wounds.

Perhaps its the attack snapping the creature back to its senses, or maybe the Fairy magic just couldn't hold forever.  Either way, the remaining Windrazor finally figures out what its supposed to be doing, and dives down towards the latest source of trouble.

Petunia the Fairy shouts defiantly:  "Begone foul thing or Daladain will hurl another Fiery Tortilla!"

Next to her, Firefern looks puzzled.  "I don't think that's what he said."

"I thought that's what he said," Petunia replies.  "What's a Tortilla, though?"

"It's a kind of turtle.  A small one."

Daladain hits it... fairly hard!  And so does an arrow, and Despair's sling bullet.

Blocked by the canyon wall, it cannot do a flyby attack, and so it flaps in the air in front of Daladain, scratching away and causing 4 points damage.

The stranger with the bow is hurrying to get closer, shouting encouragement.
Well... probably words of encouragement.  Sounds like it, at least.

"Snick that fitcher!  Give him the full sock!"

 

Lysander moves to attack with his short sword, hoping to end this as quickly as he can.


Move: to U-19
Action: Swing the blade
06:04, Today: Lysander rolled 12 using 1d20+3.  Attack.
06:08, Today: Lysander rolled 19 using 1d20+3.  Attack (advantage).

06:05, Today: Lysander rolled 6 using 1d6+1.  Damage?

Leysa winced as the second beast regained its senses to turn on Daladain. She then glanced sideways at the one spouting nonsense. Why did she attract the strange ones? Grunting in annoyance, she stepped forward to hurl yet another bolt of eldritch power at the creature.

---

Move: K19
Bonus: nadda
Action: Eldritch Bolt

11:05, Today: Leysa the Emerald rolled 8 using 1d10.  damage.
11:05, Today: Leysa the Emerald rolled 21 using 2d20+5, dropping the lowest dice only.  attack.
This message was lightly edited by the player at 13:30, Wed 06 Jan 2021.

As the creature scratched him down his arm, Daladain yelped in pain. He stepped back, pinning his back to the wall before swinging his crossbow into action. At this range he couldn’t really miss, could he? He aimed and pulled the trigger, launching a bolt at the creature. He fired low, grazing the creature in the leg.

Cursing under his breath he resolved to do better next time.

Daladain
AC 16
HP 10/6
Firing light crossbow, hit for 4hp damage

08:59, Today: Daladain rolled 4 using 1d8+3 with rolls of 1.  Damage.
08:58, Today: Daladain rolled 25 using 2d20+9, dropping the lowest dice only with rolls of 16,16.  Light crossbow attack (faerie fire & bless).

Unable to fly freely, the creature is a much easier target.  The group has it surrounded against the canyon wall, and together, they dispatch it.

It flops to the ground.  Its skin is gray and hairless and looks like it is stretched a bit too tight, but even in death it is bent in inhuman, boneless ways.

"Yuk," Petunia observes.

The beastial looking stranger gets closer- whiskers, thick tail, short dense fur.. he looks very much like someone crossed a Human with an Otter.

"Roarious Day!" the stranger declares.  "Those things have had me pinned down for days, trapped in this canyon.  Nasty beasts!  I am so grateful to you!"

He looks curiously at Lysander and Daladain, as if puzzled by them.

"You must be... Elves?" he asks.

Before he is able to get further with that thought, Petunia flies up, and giggles.  "No, they're not Elves!"

And the newcomer stops and stares, and then says, "Petunia!"

Who replies, sounding baffled:  "What?  How do you know my name?"

"Don't be silly, we met before the storm.  You left just before it began."

"That's ridiculous," Petunia says, sounding a bit worried.  "I was nowhere near here, and before the storm I was in the Guest House.  Firefern and Daladain know I was there!"

Now it is the Otter-man's turn to sound puzzled.  "The what?"

Petunia has an expression rarely seen on the Fey, because they are only very rarely weirded out by things.  Usually, they are the ones confounding others.  Apparently, not this time.

Leysa watched the scene unfold with growing incredulity. Eventually, she let it slide past like a ghost ship. She shook her head and sighed again. it was quickly becoming her standard reaction: exasperation. The Southlands were a strange place. Stepping forward with a bit more force than she actually felt, she glared down at the hairy man, "Though the only evidence for it is circumstantial, I would hazard a guess that you are a stranger to these lands. Perhaps... as with those creatures, a strange to this world. So, if I might suggest a radical course, why don't we start with introductions? perhaps, you can explain what you believed to have happened and why you might know Petunia?" Huffing again at having to suggest the obviously rational course, she bobbed her head in a slight bow, "I am Leysa. Some call me The Emerald, for obvious reasons. I am a warlock and follower of the path of nature." She motioned at her own scales to explain her name then looked at the others in her group for similar introductions.

"Most people call me Lysander
Some call me idiot
Just maybe they are jealous of
my poetry and wit
But that is of no consequence
just call me what you will
And if you need a brand new friend
Of that I have some skill."

Daladain gingerly ventured away from the protection of the canyon wall, heading towards the bodies. As he did so he reloaded his crossbow. When he got to the corpses he retrieved his bolt and began to search the bodies to see if they were carrying anything of interest.

When the stranger approached he spoke up in a friendly tone. “Greetings, I am Daladain. I’m a human from across the sea, a newcomer here myself.”

The Otter-man looks around curiously.  Especially at the "humans".

"A Human... never heard of them!  And here am I considering myself an explorer!  Well, that's what I'm supposed to do, discover things."

He does another appraising once-over.

"No.  Never seen your like.  I am Taroon, and I am Lutran.  One of the River Peoples.  I have never met anyone from across the sea, except for some Elves.  But I have met Petunia, though the chirkly little lass might deny it."

"Who are you calling chirkly?" Petunia asks.  "And yes I deny it.  I have no idea who you are."

"Of course you do, I just told everyone," Taroon says.

"I mean before that!"

"Allow me to remind you, and tell the tale," Tarhoon says.  "My homeland is on the banks of the Great River, far to the West.  I am an explorer, and there were tales of strange magic in this land by the sea, and I wanted to see for myself.  This is very difficult land to cross, and I was struggling, and I wanted to get to the coast.  That's when I stumbled across you, near the mountain at the other end of the canyon.  You said the canyon offered an easier way to travel."

"That's silly," Petunia says, "Why not the road?"

"What road?"

"You came this far and never saw a road?"

"On my right paw, not one," Tarhoon says.  "Well, we traveled together a bit, and even shared lunch and dinner, and you liked plums.."

"I do!" Petunia says, astonished.

"Lucky guess, she's a fairy, fairies like sweet things," Firefern grumbles.

"But I would have told you about the Guest House!" Petunia says.  "I live there, and you were headed straight there!"

"On my right paw again, you did not," Tarhoon says.  "But then the sky changed.  You said there would be a storm, and you had to get home to be safe, and I wouldn't be able to keep up, not being able to fly."

"So when I went... home... which way did I go?" Petunia asks.

"West, towards the mountain."

"I live to the East, at the GuestHouse."

"Then we have a picklement indeed," Tarhoon says.

Firefern, looking suspicious, interrupts with a question.

"Now just a moment.  You were surprised by Humans, but not her?" he indicates Leysa.

"Well she's Dragonfolk, of course, who hasn't seen Dragonfolk before?  Gliding along the river on their boats... quite a common sight."

He makes a short bow to Leysa.

"Your pardon, of course I mean common as in frequent, not at all as a social comment.  Certainly you can confirm to your friends that there are plenty of Dragonfolk on the Great River!"

Leysa inclined her head to the newcomer's introduction then listened to the debate. "Mr. Tarhoon, you need to stop making assumptions. Dragon.. folk? Never heard of them. It makes sense for a culture similar to mine to use that term though. My people calls us the Dragonborn. I am afraid I am not familiar with your Great River. It sounds magnificent though. My tribe is from across the ocean, like the humans and elves." She nodded and considered the situation carefully then shrugged, "It seems that you were heading that way." She points back the way her group had come from. "If you continue on another hour or so, you'll reach the ocean at the base of a grand cliff. Atop that cliff is the Guesthouse. A home to a mighty wizard... er, perhaps mighty isn't the correct word? Well, it is his home as well as these fairies and a few more."

Leysa regarded Petunia thoughtfully for some time then shrugged, "And, yes, there is a strange magic afoot in these lands. A magic of pure possibility and chaos. Given those facts, that you have met A Petunia seems reasonable. Just as likely, a particularly tricksome fairy pretending to be Petunia. Or, perhaps, this is the tricksome one? Anyway, it seems highly likely there are two Petunias or something far more mysterious occurring."

Two Petunias are better than one,
The telling of tales would be so much fun.

Never heard of humans? Curious indeed! Daladain regarded Taroon properly. “Human indeed, yes. We are a common sight across the ocean, and come in all shapes, sizes and colours from the darkest ebony to the whitest snow. You say you are a Lutran? I must confess I have never heard of your people either. Please, tell us something of your folk? We are here to explore after all, and gaining knowledge of the people we meet and things we find is all important.”

When Leysa mentioned about there being two Petunias he nodded. “The chaos here is strong, strong enough to make the walls between universes paper thin. It is not unrealistic to assume that this other Petunia is a mirror of our own sweet fairy, but from another existence. Indeed, maybe you, Taroon, are also from another world and you have slipped unknowingly into ours, or we have slipped into yours, who can say?

Did I find anything of interest on the corpses?

Daladain gives the dead creatures a good search.  They were clearly not flying around naked and unadorned like animals.  On the other hand, they were not dressed like people.  Somewhere in the middle is the best way to describe it.  They had no clothing other than leather wrappings and loin cloths, no pouches of coins and personal effects.  But they do wear leather bands and collars which are adorned in semi-precious stones and odd but large and intimidating teeth.

Well, the teeth aren't nearly so intimidating as they would be if they were still in the mouth of whatever thing had them, but still...

All of this can be removed, and traded for some coin somewhere.

******

"I was headed that way" Taroon says.  "Now I have no idea where I should head. Though a wizard would know better what to make of my situation.  That said, by my honor as a Lutran I should volunteer my help to you.  Where is it that you are going?  I might know a way... on the other hand if I am in the wrong world maybe I am no help at all.  But I am an explorer too.  It's in my fur."

He describes his home- on a distant place called the Great River, where villages of Lutrans exist, one of the "river people".

Firefern notes that he has heard of the Great River.  It's a river... and it's great.  That's all he knows.  Never heard of Lutrans.

The Lutrans are apparently one of several "river peoples"- the Dragonfolk are another.  A third sounds like some kind of prickly hedgehog or porcupine people.  Then Tarhoon gets up to Tortles...

"Tortles are real!" Petunia exclaims.

"They are all real," Tarhoon says, slightly soured.

"I'm sorry, I mean, I've heard of them.  From Elves.  Should we go back to the Guest House?  It's like, from here, one way is as good as another, and I wonder what Arcto would say about all this."

Daladain stashed the bands and collars in his pack to sort through later.

At the fairies suggestion of returning to the guesthouse, Daladain shook his head. “Our adventure has but barely begun, and now we have a new friend to accompany us. Let us explore this place further.”

OOC - did I miss us finding the source of the smoke? I thought we hadn’t got there yet, but may has missed something.

There is a task we have to do,
that would have us pushing through.

Leysa noted the strange apparel the beasts sported, but left her thoughts unfinished for now. She focused, instead, on the Lutran and nodded. "We are on a mission of.. er, exploration? Well, anyway, we are performing an errand for the wizard we mentioned. IT might earn his favor should you help us. It would certainly intrigue him should your stories be proved true of this world." She held up her hands to forestall any objections, "I believe you say what you know to be true. I just don't know what situation around us and you has shifted. Hmmm..."

Looking away from the coast deeper into the canyon, she pointed with her chin toward it and motioned the group to continue as seemed the consensus. "Come, sir, tell e about your home. Knew knowledge is like fine wine to me. Especially if it helps me understand the chaos waves. Do you know aught of them?"

"Well, since I have become... a little arflooped, one way's as good as another for me,"  Taroon says.  "Honesty what with these... flying.. umm..."

"Windrazors," Firefern says.

"Yes, with them about its better to go in a group.  They're what's been keeping me pinned down in a little cave.  Not far from here, you want to come with me, I can pack up my stuff, or maybe we can rest a bit after this excitement?  Then it's onward and upward.  Or whicheverward we're going.  Yes?"

He raises a bushy eyebrow.

"Exploring would be mighty tough,
if he went on without his stuff."

“I don’t think we need to rest just now, I say we press on. Tarhoon, why don’t you collect your things as we can be on our way.”

Leysa took stock of her status and nodded to Daladain's suggestion. "Aye, I am fine to keep moving until dusk unless we keep running into those beasties. Tarhoon, can you scout for us?" Grinning a bit, Leysa looked up the canyon and wondered what other new things she would find.

Thinking of new things reminded her of the coldfire bushes. She rushed to collect some.

"Well, back to my hidey-hole, to pick up my things, then," Tarhoon says, shouldering his bow.

The Otter-man leads the way up the canyon, further.  Not a long distance, though.  He wasn't far from the party when the Windrazors attacked, that's how he he was able to intervene quickly.

Tarhoon had moved into a narrow, very defensible cave- little more than a crack in the canyon wall.  It is immediately obvious that the smoke you saw was his campfire- he had a large campfire right in front of the entrance.

"Good for keeping them things out," he explains.  "They don't like fire."

Tarhoon collects his things. He has a large pack, with a bedroll, climbing tools, and other gear mounted to the outside.  A small shield, and of course his walking stick.

"An explorer always has a walking stick," he says.

"SEE!  I TOLD YOU!" Petunia exclaims.

"Well, that's... umm..."  Firefern says.  The fairy pauses, and then, just finishes quietly:  "It's just umm, that's all. Umm."

They continue on.

By dinner time they've gone most of length of the canyon.  The walls are lower, and the canyon here begins to break up into smaller "feeder" canyons, with the largest turning off to the left.  It's hard to get a view of the surrounding landscape from down on the canyon floor, but Firefern remembers that the mountains are that way, and so is a place he calls Glassrock, where the ground is dry, sandy and glittery.

The smaller canyons going to the right will take you back towards "civilized" territory- the road, and the little villages along it.

There are signs of a recent encampment here, and Tarhoon says its not his.  There are scuff marks and scattered small humanoid foot prints, and scraps and garbage.  But no fire...  whoever was here ate some meat raw.  In fact... there are remains stains on the ground.  From the look of it, whatever camped here, possibly a few days ago, ate a few bats.  Not much is left- out here, scavengers clean up quickly.

There are also some berry bushes.  The Fairies identify the berries as edible.  There's also a pool where the canyon creek widens, and several trees growing alongside it, a few sporting large purplish fruit.

Nearby, a large lizard scurries along- it's about four feet long, but half of that is tail.

Upon hearing that the berries are palatable, Lysander takes some and munches on them.

Daladain gathered a few berries and put them in his pack to eat with his supper, then went to inspect the campsite to see if anything of interest had been left behind. He then turned to his companions. “We need to think about finding a campsite. It will be dark before long, and I don’t fancy blundering about in the dark.”

AS they broke from their last bit of hiking, Leysa approached the fruiting trees and takes one of the large purple fruits. Looking it over suspiciously, she looked to the fairies and held it up with a question in her eyes. After the okay or nay, Leysa will eat either the fruit or some berries then signal they should make good time, "Being out of the canyon before dark might be a good idea. Seems that left is our destination, which suits me fine. Civilization doesn't suit me." She looks along each path and then looks to Tarhoon, "Which way did you come through?"

Tarhoon scans around while the party takes a break in this rather comfortable.. except for the trash... spot.

"It's very strange.  It all looks familiar... but not.  Like the canyon is in the right place, the mountain is in the right place, but the trees.. the little details... those are wrong. It's gone all sniggly on me. I came this way... sort of."

"Well they say it was another world," Petunia offers.

"But it feels so very much like this one.  We were somewhere around here when the Chaos Storm struck."  Tarhoon tells the fairy.

"You mean you and other me," Petunia says.

"That would..aha!  Look here!  This mark was left by the same feet that left the prints by the ashes.  They had a camp... and then they left this way.  The creatures that camped here went.. that way!"

The Otter Man points to a twisty spur off the main canyon, leading to a wooded ridge. Not the main peak which is to the left, but to the right.

"If we want to be out of the canyon, we can follow them this way, or go the other way." Tarhoon says.

Both fairies nod approvingly.  This way or the Other Way does narrow the choices down.

"It really depends on whether we want to find anybody... thing.. body... thingabody... here."


It's at this point that someone else catches up to the party... from behind.  An Elf, coming up the canyon from the direction of the Guesthouse.  Obviously expecting to find the party... and he does.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:57, Tue 26 Jan 2021.

The elf came walking out in to sigh, almost stumbling a bit, breathing a bit heavily. He stopped a short distance away, and held his arms out a bit to clearly show that while he was armed there was nothing in his hands.

"Hail and well met, hopefully. You lot are a bit hard to catch up to." He smiled slightly, though it didn't make him any prettier. "My name is Fenranir. I was sent after you by Arcto at Deluzion Break. I bear a letter they thought should go to you. Or...someone among you, I'm not quite certain."

He slowly reached and pulled a letter out of an inner pocket. He held it out and stepped forward slowly, just in case they were jumpy.

To run so far to catch us,
To bear up under heat,
Maybe you should wait a bit,
Here, pull up a seat.

Daladain regarded the newcomer cautiously. He listened carefully to his explanation, seemingly deciding that it sounded plausible enough and not some strange ruse. After a moment he spoke. “Well met, Fenranir, I am Daladain. If I could take the note I’d be much obliged.”

Leysa raised a scaly brow at the winded elf then clicked her tongue. It wasn't like they didn't need the help and the last one that had shown up from nowhere had been little of that. Their group could certainly do a great many things, but taking a hit wasn't one of them. Eyeing the letter as it was handed off to Daladain, she hunched down expecting a bit more of a respite than had been planned, "Pardon my bluntness, but what use are you then? You look the city-type. Can you handle the weapons you wear? Follow a trail? Hmm?" Leysa's eyes softened then and she smiled, "Aye, but well met either way."

The elf quirked an eyebrow at the first thing he was 'greeted' with - lyrics. That made him blink. He wasn't expecting that. He turned to the next speaker, gave a nod and readily handed the letter off to them. "That's why I am here."

He turned to look at the dragonborn, eyebrows lifting upwards. He looked them over for a long moment before answering. His head tilted to one side, "I'm not here to track for you nor hunt for you nor follow trails for you. Though I was able to follow your trail." He gave a slow nod. "I know how to use the weapons I carry, yes." He smiled. "That's why I carry them."
This message was last edited by the player at 19:19, Wed 27 Jan 2021.

Daladain nodded his thanks and unfurled the letter.

Leysa arches an eyebrow at the terse reply then shrugs. She moves closer to Daladain to get a look at the letter hoping for a bit more information.

They read...

Dear Arcto...

Though in my previous request I mentioned a need for assistance in establishing the Dunard Pass Route as a useful inland thoroughfare for the kingdom, I must now report some further developments.

As you know Chaos Storms rarely have much strength left when they reach so far west.  We are struck, and the region of the pass is struck, but of course with much less extent.  Nevertheless the one four months ago (fortunately the recent one was again light) was more forceful here than usual, and I have reports that it affected the pass region.  Some ice has withdrawn, and I believe we can determine now what truly happened to Stroikeney, unseen and believed dead since the war that claimed my father and did so much damage to Montebon.

You have, in the past, been very helpful in the recruitment of brave adventurers.  If you have such available to you know, let them know that the Barony will pay their expenses and reward them well.. and of course a gift for you and your helpful little coworkers as well, and a keg of good Fruit and Wheat Stout from the Sanzi Brewery.

Baron Arbov of Sanzi

Tarhoon is very interested in this.

"A paying patron for Explorers!  Well, count me in, then!  I've never heard of Sanzi or Dunard Pass, though I did pass through a region of mountains so tall they were crusted over with ice at the top.  Isn't it surprising how it can get so cold so high up?"

Fenranir perked up. "What's that? What does it say?" Either he hadn't read the letter ahead of time, or he was really good at lying. Probably more the former than the latter. He listened to what was read.

He rubbed a hand on his beardless chin. "Hmm. Sounds interesting and profitable." He spread his hands. "Room for one more?"

We have the space, from shore to shore,
There's always room to add one more.

Leysa frowned at the letter which just appeared to be the very thing which had set them on the trail to begin with. Snorting derisively, she looked to the mountains and sighed, "Well, let's be about it then. Well met and welcome Fenranir. I expect we're to be in the wilderness for a bit." There was a definite sense of relish in LEysa's voice at the prospect of being out in the wild lands.

The party moves on, slightly larger, heading roughly northwest as the canyon breaks up into smaller feeder canyons, themselves narrowing to become ravines.

Petunia wonders if there is a distinct, mapable point where a canyon becomes a ravine, or is it all just a matter of opinion.

"That puts an awful lot of responsibility on explorers," the fairy notes.  "Is it a hill, or a hillock?  When you report these things there are all kinds of decisions to make.  It's not enough to just wander around, if you're a real explorer that means telling others about what you find."

"And what does that make me, if I am in the world with the wrong Petunia in it?" Tarhoon asks.

"If we explore long enough perhaps we can find a way for you to get home," Petunia says optimistically.

In this area, they are no longer trapped by the walls of the canyon.  It's much narrower now, but the walls are not as vertical, or as unbroken.  In many areas they are very climbable, although here and there hands as well as feet are needed.

They spot one oddity on a water-carved stone wall, with varied layers of rock exposed by erosion, as if a large layer cake had been sliced.  There is a pinkish reddish crystalline substance on the wall, as if strawberry jam had trickled down over part of the rock wall, and suddenly frozen into pink crystal.  It's about four feet long and only six inches wide, dribbled down over several layers of brownish grayish stone.

Fen's face was schooled as the human man who's name he hadn't been told yet uttered more rhyming phrases...and nothing else. One eyebrow rose up and he wondered if the man always spoke or sung in rhymes or not.

His features turned to a light frown as two of the group started speaking. It wasn't gibberish. He could clearly understand the words they were uttering...it just didn't make sense to him. It was inane chatter and he repressed a sigh.

He moved closer to Daladain and quietly asked, "So. Does whatshisname back there always speak in rhyme?" His eyes then shifted to the dragonborn. "Actually...since you were so kind to give me your name in return for my own, would you mind filling me in on everyone else's names? Calling them by descriptions or race seems...crude."

Daladain regarded the newcomer, Fenranir. The fellow seemed honest enough, and might be useful in a scrap... well, at least another target to distract whatever might be trying to kill us.

When he made the remark about Laysander, Daladain couldn't help but chuckle. "That there is Lysander, our resident poet. He thinks he's clever and likes to show it. He often tends to speak in rhyme, in fact he does it all the time!"

He laughed at his little jest, and continued his playful mockery. "Gods, he's got me doing it now! It must be contagious! Friends, I have Poet's Disease! Is there no cure for such a curséd malady!"

He gestured to the rest of the group. "Over there are our friendly fairies, Petunia and Firefern, and our new friend Tarhoon who is... not from around here. And here we have Leysa. Her bark may be worse than her bite, but I would't be inclined to put that to these test."

He turned back to Fenranir. "And that is us. You are welcome to join us, wherever our path may take us. It seems we are going to Sanzi to meet a baron, though I must confess to not knowing who he is or where I may find him."

OOC - I have ignored Despair as I think the player has vanished. As she didn't make any meaningful contribution I would suggest we retcon her never having existed with the party and simply remove her from the storyline. GMs call though...

Lysander turns to greet the newcomer at the mention of his name.

"Greeting one who brings us news,
I'm Lysander, the local Muse.
I like to make my words all rhyme,
To not do so might be a crime."

Retconning Despair out is a good idea, let's go with that.
I've been at this long enough to recognize several warning signs in character submissions for games- the players likely to quit or simply not work out.

There are a few different types but one of them is the "It's Just Awful To Be Me" character.  This one has a Tragic Backstory and comes equipped with some obvious reasons why the character has a hard time fitting in.  It's unusual compared to other Warning Sign submittals in that the character is actually very well created.  Often, artwork, and everything.

But the player drops quickly.  What I think happens is this:  No matter how misunderstood and mistreated and outcast a character is, as soon as you are among other players, all of this doesn't matter.  Players will accept anything.  Rich noble, poor orphan, half angel, were-shrimp, whatever.  No one cares and it's instantly "welcome to the team, what can you do?"  (Kind of like the real world should be).  But it instantly deflates the "Awful To Be Me" concept.  The rare exception is the player anticipating this and planning to play it that way with "They LIKE me, I finally found a true home!".  But if the plan was just "Awful to Be Me" the player loses interest quickly.

Anyway, that's my rant for the day, now back to our story...

It's getting late, and the land is getting easier as they travel northwest.  The canyon floors here are narrow, the walls make rough V shapes instead of being straight rises, and it would be a fairly easy matter to climb up and out of the canyon... except then, traveling on would be a matter of climbing down into the next one, and then up, and down... it's very rough and rocky landscape and the canyons at least offer unobstructed paths.

The canyon trail also offers the advantage of a readily available water source.

The vegetation is adapted to the rocky terrain and erratic rainfall.. except there are frequent examples of species that are wildly out of place.  Most won't last long.  (A Druid, Ranger, or character with a nature skill can identify these).  A lucky few will prosper- maybe those large prickly pear cacti will make it.

Here and there, more dribbles of that odd pinkish crystal stuff.

Even though the canyon walls are shallower here, shadows come before sunset, while the ridge lines above are still well lit.

Yes, I have noticed those types of characters exiting for exactly that type of reason. I've also seen them get their way, be the outcast, then whine and quit because no one wants to play with them.

Leysa grinned at Daladain and snapped her teeth. The display was counter-acted by the happy swaying of her tail though and she waggled an eye at fenranir playfully, "I don't recommend testing it."

Laughing happily, she moved along the ravine/canyon/thing exploring. "Not sure of the exact nature and duties of an explorer, but it is quite nice. What do you make of this strange, strawberry colored crystal, girls?" Leysa approaches a large cluster of the substances and uses a knife to tap and even try to cut it after a bit. Taking out something to wrap it in, she tries to get a sample of the stuff.

She also inspects any new types of plants she ahs never seen before out of pure curiosity.

23:16, Today: Leysa the Emerald rolled 12 using 1d20+2.  Nature.

Fen rolled his eyes at Daladain's rhyming as well and then shook his head when Lysander joined in, though there was a hint of a smile on his face it looked like.

He took note of the names given, nodding to each in turn.

He looked at Leysa for just a moment and then gave her a small bow. "My lady, I would not dream of it." He shook his head at her question. "Not I, though it looks interesting."

He looked around. "Should we look for a place to make camp, maybe here? Or keep pushing on?"

We wait for for others every day,
Sometimes they wait for us,
We often try to push them on,
Sometimes we raise a fuss.
But if we would be patient now,
And let the other go
We find that they might find a way
To make the story flow.
So we will find something to do,
It seems to be our fate,
So while they write their story down,
The rest of us just wait.

Leysa discovers something very odd about the crystalline substance on the stone.

It's alive.

It reacts even before she is able to touch it.  As Leysa walks towards it, it twitches a bit, and begins to flow down along the rock, in her direction.

And not only that... a few of the others in the area have begun to move as well, on converging courses.

"That's probably a bad thing," Tarhoon says, looking at it, and quickly looking through his pack.

It really chills me to the bone,
to think of being held in stone.

Leysa eyes it curiously and continues to take a sample if she can find a container for it. She won't risk contacting it even to study it later. She watches the substance move for a time and then looks to the fairies, "Any ideas?" She suspected it was either undiscovered or another manifestation of the chaos waves. It was frustratingly hard to know which. She keeps her eyes on the substance and her distance as she walks along again.

Fen was watching Leysa but only with half his attention span as he had been talking to Daladain and been sort of rhymed at by both him and Lysander. So he saw something of the corner of his eyes and turned to look - and his eyes went wide.

"What the -!"

He brought his shield and rapier to ready position and moved to put his back some of his allies and faced some of the....stuff.

"Do we try to fight? Run? Talk?" The last was said with a bit of light humor behind it.

"Oozy things," Firefern says, fluttering up and staying well out of any potential reach of the thing, or over spatter.  "We hate them.  Unnatural things, and there's no reason to them. You can't talk to them or anything.  You can't even trick them because they're too stupid to trick!  Just a curse on the world, if you ask me!"

"Though these are pretty ones," Petunia says.  "Where have I seen them?"

"Pretty indeed!" Firefern says.  "Pretty nasty, and now that they're provoked..."

"If it's a kind of slime, then it is stupid, yes," Tarhoon says.  "And I have seen these before, when I came this way with... when we... other Petunia... gods, that's bothersome...   But I say we leave these be and and put some distance between then, because I tried burning one once and it didn't work.  Unless you have magic to spare and can blast them.  If we camp here they'll just slither over and get us in the night.  Good thing you woke it first."

Leysa looked over her shoulder at Tarhoon and hummed a bit, "Just call her Petunia2, your world's Petunia. This one can remain simply Petunia. It's a bit of a biased system, but it should avoid confusion." She then stood and pointed with her chin the direction they were heading before. She then moved that way at a steady pace.

Fen frowned as the two faeries started sort of...nattering on a bit. It was a little distracting and he hoped it wasn't the sort of distracted non-help he could expect in a combat situation. Though, so long as they didn't get in the way, he guessed it didn't matter.

Well. Some of it was helpful, he supposed. Still, he shook his head and began to move away from the...whatever they were. He didn't want to deal with them if he didn't have it. "Do they hunt by sound or vibration or something? I mean, how far away do we need to go to be able to camp safely?"

"They didn't follow me last time," Tarhoon says.  "I don't think they're the smartest things around.  No eyes, no ears.. how they track is a very good questions.  They didn't react to Leysa until she got quite close."

The Otter-Man studies them.  From a distance.  Whiskers flick.

"Still I wouldn't bed down without some distance between them and us.  This place is full of strange things, and... well despite being one of those strange things.. I seem to be very much out of place... I am very much looking forward to being in a place a little less strange."

He's all too happy when Leysa leads the way.  From this point, anything is up and out of the canyon.

As far as you can tell, the crystal things do not follow.

The sun is getting lower, and now you are in very rough, irregular terrain, full of rock formations and deep gullies, and every mile is tiring.  Up, down, climb, skid... climb again.

The land is all crags, nooks, notches and niches here.  The chaotic terrain lets water collect in little streams that flow in seemingly random directions, frequently appearing in springs, and disappearing in crevices and small sinkholes.

Where it can, vegetation grows around the rock outcroppings.  The trees tend to be smaller and more scraggly here, but from one rise you can see a thicker forest.. sort of ahead, depending on the exact course of travel, which is a little wobbly at best due to the nature of the land.

There are still a few of the odd plants the region is known for, signs that you have not yet exited the zone of Chaos Storms.  The bizarre Coldwood, the wood of which absorbs rather than emits heat when burnt, is here.  There is another tree the Faeries call Curstwood.

They aren't sure why.  They just know that it is.  Someone told them, once.

Daladain regarded the weird crystal stuff and wrinkled his nose. He didn’t like the look of it and kept well clear.

When they paused at the trees, he carefully inspected both the cold wood and the curstwood. They sounded... interesting.

Fen listened to the faeries, who were at least somewhat more focused on the specifics of what they were dealing with. One of his eyebrows twitched slightly. Then he gave a slow nod. "Sure. Right. Moving on." He followed Leysa, but looked back over his shoulder several times.

The journey quickly became...annoying and tiresome. And a lot of work. It showed on his face that he was getting more and more ready to just set up a camp somewhere. Not that he was a stranger to physical exertion, he just hadn't been outside of a city and having simply walking somewhere be so much work in a while.

"Ummm...not...sure we should enter the woods to sleep...just my opinion."

"The woods are safe and sound, you'll find
They ease the soul and calm the mind.
'tis so much better than the plain,
where all we seem to find is pain.
The mountains are too hard to climb,
The ocean stormy often time,
But in the forest there is joy,
For every fairy, girl and boy."

Leysa eyed the broken lands slowly then the darker line of the woods and shook her head, "I grew up in a deep forest on a mountain. I know rocky terrain as well as forests. Both have their dangers. The safest place to camp would be in the border. The line between two places is often the safest as few animals specialize in such terrain." She smiled at her companions and lead them toward the woods.

She walked along the border between the rocky area and the forest looking for a likely place to set down for the night.

16:49, Today: Leysa the Emerald rolled 22 using 1d20+2.  Nature.

Daladain shrugged, guessing that the Dragonborn was correct. He was a city boy, and completely out of his comfort zone. He then followed Leysa to see if he could help find a campsite.

Leysa finds them a good spot, a natural hollow shielded by rock, with nothing odd or abnormal around- party members excepted, of course.

Gathered around for the evening, they talk about where they are going and what's ahead.

The Fairies have only a rough idea of geography, as they claim that never travel very far...

"Faerie folk of all kinds are linked to their homes," Firefern explains.  "Some more than others.  Dryads are tied to a single tree!"

"Sylphs blow over the whole world, the sky is their home, it must be wonderful to be a Sylph," Petunia says.

"And we fall somewhere in the middle.  Fairies and their... Groves, Woods, Meadows, whatever we are supposed to inhabit.  No one is ever very clear on that.  Faerie folk have... things.  We aren't... well I don't remember ever knowing what ours is.  So we have a home with the Guest House.  As far as I know the entire Fairy population of The Breaks lives there.  All Twelve of us."

They have been to Sanzi before, though, having traveled there in the past, with Arcto.  With their very rough idea of geography they speculate on where it is from here, and how far they have to go.

And the Otter-man, Tarhoon, has his brow furrowed, trying to make sense of something.

"If what you say is true, it is about the same place as something I knew... but that was a Gnome settlement on the coast.  They called it Sand And Sea.  Very, very peculiar.  It's more than you, Petunia, that overlaps between home and here."

**********************

The evening passes uneventfully, with the weather still in the pleasant post-storm calm.  The crystalline oozes, if track they can, do not track very far, and are nowhere to be seen come morning.

In the morning light, they have a better look at the wooded high ground ahead: it looks delightfully normal.  No peculiar magic trees like Coldwood or Curstwood, no strange and whimsical berries growing there.

Firefern deduces that beyond that wooded ridgeline must be the road to Sanzi.  It's too ordinary to be anything otherwise.  Mundane and ordinary things tend to cling to the roads here.  As if, by cutting their well built paths through the land, the Dwarves forced some order into this region of chaos.

The Party members, having seen Strange and Unusual things in their trip up the canyon, collects 1 Inspiration each.

Fen nodded at Leysa with a look of approval on his face. "Nice job. This is...good." He held up his hands briefly mock-defensively. "Not that I expected any less from you." He smiled for just a moment.

Then he turned his attention to setting up his bedroll and said he'd take the first watch. The discourse on faeries was interesting and Fen took note of it. Never knew when it might come in handy, after all.


In the morning he woke, feeling not quite as refreshed as if he'd slept in a bed, but not bad either. "Everyone sleep okay?" he asked idly as he got himself more awake, breakfast, and ready for the day.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:27, Tue 23 Feb 2021.

With the morning, they head for the ridge... the entirely normal looking ridge, exiting the area of odd trees on the way.

Petunia takes a last look at the Coldwood and Curstwood and other oddities as they pass.

"Do they have these where you are from?" she asks Tarhoon.

The Otter man shakes his head.  "It's a fascinating thing, really.  I should take a piece, just to have it around.  You never know.  There aren't any.. like, nature spirits or fey folk or..."

"I am Fey folk" Petunia says.

"I mean who would get mad if I cut a branch."

"No," Petunia says. "Just us.  It won't hurt to take a little.  It grows. People won't come here in droves and strip the magic woods, but we must be careful not to say where it came from.  Just in case."

They trade tales as they move along.  There are sounds echoing around the rocky countryside... and you hear it just before leaving the "chaos region."   Something with heavy, clicking, clacking feet clambering over rocks...  following.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:08, Tue 23 Feb 2021.

Leysa was far more used to sleeping rough and awoke refreshed and ready to continue. Their progress was slow, but she was learning vast amounts of information on this journey about the lands affected by the chaos waves. That said, a slightly more mundane day would be just fine by her senses. Perhaps they could make better time along their route. Part of her wanted to avoid the road though. The chance of a random encounter was always interesting.

As they walked though, the sound behind her made her scales uncomfortable. She whispered eldritch words under her breath and cast a spell waiting for whatever it was.

Cast Bladeward.

Fen eyed Petunia and Tarhoon for just a moment as they spoke about the magic woods and taking a piece. He wasn't so sure he would want a piece of either of those named forests. Might be bad luck.

Speaking of bad luck...he turned towards a sound. Something was coming after them. Something possibly big. He drifted towards the back of the group to get between them and whatever was coming.

He drew his longbow and nocked an arrow, walking sideways to keep an eye on the way ahead and behind. "Shall we keep moving and try to avoid whatever is coming?"

Lysander turns to face whatever is coming.

Daladain looked all around, trying to work out who, or what, was making the noise.

They await...

Well, it's a bug.  A beetle.  Not moving particularly quickly, but moving with the steady sense of self importance that bugs have, determined to "go that way" regardless of obstacles.

There are two things that set this beetle apart from beetles the party is familiar with.

The first is the carapace.  Some beetles do have shinier, glossier carapaces than others.  Some have an iridescent sheen.  This one is like a polished mirror.  It actually makes the beetle difficult to track with eyesight, because most of what you're seeing above the legs and head is a very distorted reflection of everything around it.

The second peculiar thing is the size.  The sounds were a hint.  In general, insects do not make loud sounds when they walk, because they are too small.  This one is about the height of  medium sized dog, but being considerably wider than one, it probably weighs four or five times as much.

Had you been down in the canyon, there is a good chance that evading this creature would be impossible due to the narrow, steep walled canyon bottom. But that assumes its of hostile intent.  It might have been happy to crunch and clack its way right past you.  Perhaps its a vegetarian.  Hard to tell.

At the moment, it is headed towards the party... hunger or mere coincidental travel, at this moment there is no way of knowing.  It is neither speeding up nor slowing down.

"I think if it intends to feed,
then we are forced to fight, indeed,
But it if wants to pass us by,
The it is best if we would fly."


He points to the side, away from its path.

Leysa nods to Lysander and makes rom for the beetle to pass if it chooses. She still watches it warily, just in case.

Fenranir looked at the beetle...big...giant...beetle...his eyes going a bit wide. "There's something I don't see every day." After a moment, he blinked a few times and shook his head.

He glanced at the others and gave a small nod. "Sure. You guys have that sort of good luck often? Where things just pass you by?"

He grinned and began to step so as to be well out of the bug-thing's intended path, but kept his longbow ready.

Daladain raised a curious eyebrow. That was a big insect! He didn’t fancy tangling with it, that protective carapace looked pretty tough, and there might be more of them near by.

He followed the lead of the others and stepped to the side, keeping far away from the creature and allowing it to go about its business.

Insects, even giant magical mutant ones, are pretty much devoted to their purposes.  Not too bright, they don't stop to think about things.  They reach pretty basic conclusions like "is it food?" and "does it hurt me?" fairly quickly.  (the problems really set in when the answer to both of those is YES.)

So as the party takes cover in their defensive little niche, the beetle pauses.  Antennae wave in the air.

"I wonder what it eats?" Petunia asks quietly.

"Us if it gets us," Firefern whispers.

But after a few hesitant moments, the creature decides that it does not eat fairies.  It continues along its way.  As it passes, the carapace can be seen to full effect:  it's a perfect mirror.  You can even see yourselves in it as it passes.  Well, since it's a curved mirror, very distorted reflections.

"Very shiny bug," Petunia observes after its clearly past.  "Does anyone polish it or do they come that way?  It's the strangest thing, like the whole world bends around it!"

It's headed in the general direction you want to go:  Up towards that forested ridge.

It travels wide upon the trail,
So maybe we should be it's tail.was

Fen shot a hard glance at Petunia nd Firefern when they whispered to each other while the beetle was still too close for comfort. He didn't hold his breath, but he breathed shallowly as the beetle passed them. He frowned at his distorted reflection in the beetle's carapace. The frowning made it worse and he looked away from himself.

After it passed, he let out a relieved sigh. He glanced at the rhymer and gave a shrug. "I mean...we're going that way anyway, but...best we not get too close to it. Who knows if it'll sense us."

Leysa watched the creature carefully and curiously as it passed her. There was a small lump of fear in her heart and throat, but her curiosity shone through on her face. A small part of her was a bit sad it had not come to blows so that she could examine its remains.

At the suggestion they allow it to be their vanguard, she stuck out her tongue and squinted after it a bit then shrugged, "Seems harmless enough." So saying, she checked her belongings and hiked her skirt a bit to hurry after, at a safe distance of course.

Daladain turned to his companions and raised an eyebrow. “I guess we follow the shiny beetle then?” he quipped. It was indeed a strange looking animal, but an animal nonetheless. Such creatures were usually only interested in you if you were food, a threat, or a mate. As the group didn’t appear to be any of these it was fair to assume that there was no real threat, provided they left it well alone.

He followed the creature, maintaining a safe distance and scanning the distance for anything of interest.

Following the creature...

It's convenient, as it seems to be going in the same general direction.
What's even better is that it's moving at a nice, steady, easy pace.  You don't have to hurry to keep up.  Although sometimes it shows that it crosses rough terrain easily, and those parts are something of a struggle.

The creature heads up the wooded ridge, and down over the other side.

Following, you see that there is a narrow by very neatly and properly made road in the distance.  And some farmland!  You've rediscovered civilization, and as you recall from the maps back at the Guesthouse, this would be the road to Sanzi, and no doubt one of the small "Chaos Farms" scattered along it.

The bug apparently picks up something... it halts and its antennae twitch in the breeze.

It seems to have decided that it likes something from the farm ahead, because it adjusts its course.

The shiny reflective giant beetle is now headed on a straight line towards a small farming settlement.  You see a knot of houses in the distance.  Not many, but arranged in a neat, perfect square.

"I know that it is but a farm,
But it displays a lot of charm."

Fenranir was, for a while, content to simply follow the giant bug creature since they were headed in the same direction and it hadn't tried to eat them. Or poop on them. He didn't get too close to it for either of the above reasons.

But then he saw the farm coming up. He hesitated but then asked with a light frown on his face. "Sooo...what if it...intends to attack the settlement? Do we try and stop it?" He didn't relish the prospect. The creature looked...hard to hurt. Hells, it was hard to SEE.

A farm? Now that was interesting. Daladain couldn't help but wonder who, or what, might be living there and what they were farming. Out here it could be anything from miniature turnips to... to beans the size of houses! Farming wasn't really his area of expertise, and his imagination didn't run too far in the fresh produce department.

When Fenranir spoke he thought for a moment. "I guess if it attacks we help the farmer shoo it away. If it sees us as a threat it will most likely flee, most creatures are only looking for an easy meal and aren't willing to die for it. A lot of noise and fire and lights should scare it off." He sounded confident in his words, but out here who could know for sure.

Leysa chewed her tongue a bit as she watched the beetle approach the farm. Nodding, she moved forward at a brisker pace, "of course. We are not brute to allow people to be harmed. Whatever the cause. Let's overtake it, if possible." Leysa jogged at a brisk pace toward the farm to see what was the case and, perhaps, warn the people. Mayhap, they even knew of the mirror beetle and might have some information to add to the situation.

As they get closer to the farm, they can see that it is one of the region's famous Chaos Farms. The people here have learned how to channel the forces of the peculiar Chaos storms (which have the unfortunate effect of filling the canyons and badlands with all sorts of peculiar creatures and occasional spatial portals) into farms that will grow... well, one never knows.  If one knew, it wouldn't be chaotic, would it?  Chaos farms are never very large, you don't see endless waves of grain (or whatever) and they are prepared in ways that seem to direct and tame the chaos storms.  Every few months, they turn over a new crop of... something.

This time, it looks like the farm is turning out a nice crop of watermelons.

Another common feature of the chaos farms is the beast of burden of the farms of Montabon.  The people here have llamas.  There is something about them... other creatures can be unnerved by the supernatural, but llamas look it straight in the eye and say "bring it".

Of course they have their limits, and llamas will not stand and fight when giving something room is an obvious recourse.  So as the reflective spider approaches the farm, the several llamas in a paddock back away, giving the bizarre honking squeal that llamas have for an alarm call.

The beetle looks like its headed for the watermelons.

I see that he has so many feet,
but looks like he just wants to eat.

Fen gave a sidelong glance at they Rhyme Master and a small snort escaped him. "Well...I suppose so long as lives aren't in danger. I mean, losing crops would be awful I'm sure, but if the creature leaves the farmers and the llama alone, I suppose it is just another hazard of where you place your farm?"

He glanced at Leysa and then at Daladain.

Leysa nods, "Spoken like someone who never had to live off the land. It is unknown whether and how much losing such a crop would affect the farmers. They might be able to weather it, they might starve without the income."

Thus spoken, Leysa started to jog toward the farm, "Hello the farm! We're a party from Deluzion Break. You've a giant reflective beetle heading straight for your melons." Whatever might come of it, this was the course she had chosen.

They alert the farm rather than physically oppose the beetle.

The beetle uses the lack of opposition to get into the watermelons and chows down on a melon.

The farmers here were aware that something was up, as they heard the llamas give the alarm calls.  But like the party, they weren't quite sure what they were looking at.

The Fairies having decided that the party is doing the right thing.  With the creature being a vegetarian, it is at best a nuisance, not an enemy.

Petunia flies out in front of the group.  "It's just an innocent creature... a shiny one, that's true... but just a watermelon.  I'm sure they can spare a watermelon!"

She flies off to the farm.  Firefern sighs and explains:  "It's a fairy thing, you know, we're supposed to look out for nature and living creatures... I think generally it's foxes and rabbits.  This... this is new, but I think.. you know, you haven't hurt it this far, and that's... at least Petunia thinks... that's the right thing."

A farm family watches from their doorway as a large and very shiny beetle devours a whole watermelon.  Rind and all.

"Well it's not the weirdest thing that's happened," a rumpled looking woman says.  "If there's only one of them then there won't be more, at least.  And now we know what's inside these big green things."

She looks at the man who is apparently her husband.  "And you thought they were squash!"

"Nope.  Not a squash.  Red on the inside," the man says.

Petunia convinces them not to try to kill it, and the beetle its eats fill and goes along its way.  As it wanders off, the farmers invite the intrepid party in, welcoming to the little village of Tinzo, on the Sanzi Road.

By the way:  creatures observed and bypassed still count for experience, especially if they were never seen before!
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:33, Sun 21 Mar 2021.

Having come through the canyon and now on a fairly mundane path, the party can skip ahead directly to Sanzi, if desired.

(I am not the type to game out every single day)

Relieved that the beetle turned out to be nothing more that a farmer's nuisance, Daladain left the creature to it's meal and continued down the path.

Sorry for absence, happy to skip ahead.

Fen frowned at Leysa and replied, "No. No, I have not." No matter what he said thus far, he seemed to annoy her, or make himself more negative in her point of view. He shook his head.

But then he smiled widely and gestured towards the farmers, "SEE?? They said the same thing!" Right after the words left his mouth, he realized he probably should have just kept his mouth shut. "Well. Ahem. Anyway. At least no one is hurt and it only killed one melon."

OOC: I am good either way. Random encounters can be fun, but if you don't have something specific planned, we can fast forward.

Leysa watches it eat a single melon then wander off. She sighs dramatically then moves toward the farmers, "Happy that it was not worse. I'm Leysa by the Bye. I'd be happy for some hospitality."

Happy to skip ahead.

"Good day, my good farm folk, I pray you are well,
We could use a quick respite, so that would be swell."

Yes, I am with the rest.

From here they go to a new thread:  Sanzi.