Start here after you have read the last message in Deluzion Break

As the airship pulls away you can see it, the ship is still there, but bucking clumsily in the wind.  Ripples move across the giant air bag.  It seems to be backing away.

Then it is caught in an eddy of wind, and hits the cliff again, this time a few hundred yards north of Deluzion Break.  At the last moment before it strikes again it is turning, trying to pull away from the cliff face, so it does not strike head on.  Sideways, below the level of the big ledge, it hits the cliff again, in the area of jumbled stone spikes.  Now… it is not pulling away, it is wrecked.

It appears to be stuck on rocks.  Not even falling down towards the beach.  Impaled on one of those geologically improbably stone spurs below the ledge, maybe.

There's a Fairy shout from inside, almost lost in the wind.  "What's going on?"


Looking over from the balcony, it is possible to see the ship in the distance, below and north of the Guesthouse.  The ship is immobile, and from this angle all you can see of it is part of the great balloon, with the wind pushing ripples across it.

Zynobia, huffing and straining, makes it to the balcony.  The wind would have to be a lot stronger to knock her down.

“Look at that.  It’s caught on the Gleaming Spurs.  You saw those rocks coming up.  Like the spikes on a Dragon’s back, black, shiny rock.  They can be sharp, and I guess they are strong enough and sharp enough to get a ship stuck like a fish on a hook.  Of course if it breaks… that would be bad.”

Having shouldered her coil of rope, the lithe monk asks, "What can we do?  We have to get down there, get the people out!"

Surveying the layout, Qui-Lin Xiang can see that the stairs would get them much closer, and from there, they would have to find a way to move laterally across the cliff.  But they recall, further down, the cliff is not sheer.  It is rocky and climbable, in fact, one of the characters did it coming up, rather than take the trail!

Without further ado, Qui-Lin dashed for the stairs.  Running faster than one so small would seem able, she rushed below.

Lehai is already waiting below at Qui-Lin and whoever might follow. They are at a loss as to how the passengers might be ... extracted from their vessel.

If the passengers were to exit the ship, would they fall? How deep is the drop?

"I EXPECTED THEM TO CRASH HARDER THAN THIS!" screams the ranger against the howling wind of the storm.

"BE GRATEFUL FOR SMALL MIRACLES!" Atraxus shouts out in reply. He runs after Qui-Lin, moving as quickly as possible down the stairs. When he reaches the end of the stairs, he frowns as he surveys the scene.

"I CAN EITHER CLIMB DOWN AND CARRY PEOPLE UP, OR TRY TO HAUL PASSENGERS UP WITH A ROPE!" he calls out.

Zynobia starts to say, "Wait, there are..." as Qui-Lin Xiang hurries down the stairs, but pauses as its clear the Monk is not waiting.

She continues for the benefit of any who didn't rush ahead.  "You know... things.. that must be magic, and magic is always like a beacon to creatures.  Draws them in, all the time.  Good ones, bad ones, hungry ones. And the holes... stay out of the holes.  Dwarf tunnels are okay, caves are not okay."

"The Howley Holes!" Petunia says.  "Where the wind Howls, and the creature things live!  I could go, and guide them around the Howley Holes!  Where's the string?"

Petunia still wants to go.  Fairies can be very stubborn in the face of refusal.

 “You can’t, Petunia,” Zwiddle explains.  “The winds.  It’s too much for any of us to fly against, and a strong wind can pick you up and smash you against the cliff.  Even if you are walking or climbing.  No, this is a place we cannot go, it is for those who are big enough and strong enough to stay put when the wind begins to blow.”

Petunia pouts, but other Fairies agree:  they are small and light, and the winds, even now as the storm is dying, would toss them around as if they were autumn leaves.

They descend the stairs, some faster than others, but even the fastest must pause...

  Deluzion Break is a long, vertical fissure in the cliff face, as if some imaginable force split the stone.  The walls are close to vertical.  The fissure extends for miles deep inland, and it provides a convenient notch in which the stairs were built.

The stairway connects the main terrace of the Guesthouse with the broad ledge far below.  It is built into a wooden scaffold, which is solidly bolted into the rock walls of Deluzion Break.  Still, it looks a lot less trustworthy today, in the storm, than it did when you climbed them!  The stairs are very weathered wood, and some look like they are attached very questionably to the framework built into the fissure.

In addition to the stairs, there is the hoist, of course.  Perhaps not taking the hoist was a good idea, because of the risk of it being blown around in the wind.  Even now the heavy ropes are snapping back and forth.

  Halfway to the ledge, the stairs come to an abrupt stop.

Or rather, an interruption. Approximately 20 feet worth of stairway, including the framework it is built in, is gone.  A few bolts and framework pieces remain secured to the chute walls, and the gap is uneven, but what remains certainly isn’t a stair.  Just a few scattered pieces.  It looks like it was broken when the ship hit it.

The lower, remaining section picks up again though.  It looks to be in good condition and continues down to a very wide, very long terrace that continues north and south out of sight.  Getting there, that might be a trick.

There are splotches of odd reddish brown in the sky, blowing in the wind of the chaos storm.

Clinging to the stair, huddled against the wind, and clutching her rope, Qui-Lin tries to size up her options.

OOC: Is it possible to use Acrobatics to cross the gap?  Failing that, is there any place to secure rope so she could make a guide line?

It is possible to use acrobatics, but dangerous.  It's a nasty fall on a failure.  There is lots of places to tie a rope- the stairs themselves, until the break, and still sound.  They are built inside a wooden scaffold, which is basically an open framework of wood.  Plenty of tying opportunities!

For a moment, she hesitated, wanting to use her skills her teacher had taught her to skip across the gap and keep going.  But the fall was ominous.  And besides, the others would need a way to cross.  So, she quickly began roping a guide line to cross the missing section of stairs.

Dal watched on as the rescue effort began. He was curious to see what the plan was, but wasn’t able to make much of a contribution at the point. As he observed he couldn’t help his eyes straying to the winds and the sky, watching the storm in full effect. It was indeed a thing of wonder. He smiled...

<< From Deluzion Break <<

All things considered, Kealoha was tempted to offer Petunia a refuge inside her collar so the little fairy could come along with her out into the bluster.  But the last thing she needed was for the sprite to end up whipped away by a stray wind and cast out into the storm - she couldn't handle being responsible for the doom of someone so adorable!  Thus it was the rare occurrence that the Half-Elf paid heed to wiser words and took out into the lingering storm alongside the other sturdier folk.

While Qui-Lin and Atraxus took the stairs, Kealoha lingered up at the top of the cliff side with Daladin.  She peered down over the precipice and had to brace her balance as the winds rushed up to billow from below.  "Y'know, climbing down a cliff is always harder than climbing up, even on the best of times."  she grumbled to the magician.  From her satchel she produced a handful of sturdy steel pitons, a hammer, and a lengthy bundle of rope.  "We need to figure out a back-up plan to get people off the ship!  Those two are gonna exhaust themselves in no time if they think they can carry people back and forth."

How far down from the top of the cliff is the airship?  Kealoha only has about 45' worth of rope, assuming 5' or so of it will be bound up with anchoring knots.  But her climbing supplies should make a retrieval effort safer, at least.

Qui Lin has reached the bottom of the gap in the stairs, using the rope to lower herself past the broken section.  Going up will no doubt be harder.  The others are strung out above, following in her path and reaching the same broken gap.

  The stairs here look normal again, stable and sound, in fact, like the stairs above, they feel sounder than they look.  The stairs continue down, but not very far.  Ahead they reach that very broad, long terrace, the one you remember from coming up.  It seems to offer an easy walk towards the airship.

The airship is visible, but only as great air filled bag.  It is still not possible to see the lower section.

Out of the swirling storm, a vortex of grayish, brownish blur is spinning and whirling its way through the atmosphere.  It lurches this way and that, but overall it is getting closer.  It swerves left and right, coming closer, and it begins to rain... mud.

Spatters of wet mud start hitting the cliff wall.


From where she is, on the stairs close to where they end at that big ledge, Qui Lin Xiang can see that there are really two options ahead.  Once at the ledge, she could walk along the ledge until she is over the airship, then climb down.

The other way would be to find that switchback trail, the one that zig zags from the dock up to the ledge by way of a few carved tunnels.  She'd have to take that down until at the right level, and then work her way laterally across the face of the rock- which is not impractical given how uneven the cliff is below the big ledge.

Well, there could be a third way, descend all the way down to the dock again, then walk along the base of the cliff and then climb up, but that seems roundabout.

Dal nodded at Kealoha’s observation. “I have some more rope, back in my room.” If requested he would happily retrieve it for her.

He ducked as a large blob of mud flew over his head. He grinned again. This was getting very interesting...!

A little artwork to clear up the Geography here.  Here is a sketch showing the positions of the Guesthouse at the top of the cliff right at the Break, along with:

The guesthouse balcony, with doors and windows cut into the cliff
The stairs
The break in the stairs- Qui is just below this.
The broad ledge
The switchback path
the Dock
The black spikey rocks where the airship is stuck.

 

http://europa512adgame.pbworks...Deluzion%20Break.png
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:58, Thu 27 Aug 2020.

Frowning, but not daring to hesitate, Qui-Lin worked her way towards the airship along the great broad ledge.

What she would do when she got there... well, she'd figure it out.

Nice! That visualization is what I needed!

Climbing mountains isn't one of their big strengths. Lehai decides it would be best to haul the survivors up to the ledge instead of making them climb across the wall. But who knows? For now, the ranger sticks to the monk woman.

Lehai Quandar is arriving on the ledge, Qui-Lin Xiang is already on it, moving along it.  The others are following behind, with the aid of the rope Qui put it place.

Scattered along the cliff below, in the general area of the airship, are the great spikes of glossy black stone protruding in clusters from the cliff.  Some of them are twenty or thirty feet long, and they look almost like giant black crystals, growing out horizontally from the wall.  The ship has apparently collided with one of these clusters, and is wedged onto on, although you cannot see the exact situation with the big balloon in the way.   From here, it looks like it is about 200 feet long and 40 feet wide, and has come to rest against the side of the cliff wall, probably trapped by one of those giant rock spikes.

Ahead, the ledge continues on along the cliff, a great and very fortunately placed stone sill.  It turns around a bend to the north, past the location of the ship.  There, weather blasted dwarf trees grow, tough and twisted.  Not the healthiest looking specimens in the world, but life must be tough on a cliff that sees occasional mud storms.  And who knows what else.

Speaking of what else...

About a hundred feet ahead of Qui-Lin Xiang, about where she'd have to climb down to reach that ship, one very twisted and gnarled looking bush, about five feet high and looking like it has fought the weather here for a century, opens an eye.  It blinks.  And... growls.

Without even bothering to slow down, Lehai approaches the growling bush until there is 60 feet between them and stretches out a hand. Their white hair bellows in the wind and their blue eyes flash an icy color. The ranger's lips move but instead of a sound, there is only the cold emanating from their entire being.

The target has to beat a DC 13 Constitution Saving Throw or take
08:40, Today: Lehai Quandar rolled 2 using 1d6. Frostbite potential damage.
damage and have disadvantage on the next weapon attack it takes before the end of its next turn.

"Blast it all," Atraxus grumbles as he sees the bush start to move. He moves toward it, pulling his crossbow from its position affixed to his side. At about eighty feet from the bush, he takes aim and fires a bolt at it. The Half-Orc cannot help but grin as the bolt buries deep into the bark of the plant-beast...

OOC:

Action: Crossbow attack vs. bush
20:25, Today: Atraxus Wildheart rolled 24 using 1d20+4.  Crossbow Attack vs. Bush.
20:29, Today: Atraxus Wildheart rolled 15 using 2d8+2.  Critical Dmg.

Dal manoeuvred along the cliff edge, keeping as a safe a distance as he could. It wasn’t obvious if he was trying help or just enjoying the show. He glanced down, seeing some folks preparing weapons and spells, and tried to see what they were up to.

How far up am I from the climbers and/or growly bush thing? Can I see them from my position?

Continuing to advance, Qui-Lin blinked as the bush came to life.  Was this a creation of the chaos storm, or had it always been... like this?

She didn't have time to figure it out.

She continued to advance, hoping she might be able to talk her way past it, when a crossbow bolt whizzed past her and thunked into the bush.

Probably not going to want to talk now, she thought.  If it ever had.


She ran towards it, weaving as she went.

OOC: Move, then Dodge action.

The Shrub-thing doesn't seem too badly injured.  The frost did a little damage, and so did the crossbow... but Dunadain quickly sees that "plant beasts" in general are highly resistant to skinny pointy piercing things.

Which makes sense.  No one cuts down a tree with a spear.

It does seem panicked, though, as if it was not expecting an immediate, fearless response, backed up with magic, no less!  It awkwardly shuffles back and then retreats, pausing at intervals to see if it is being chased.

As soon as it is confident that it is not being chased, like a small dog, it turns around and growls.

It actually speaks!  Simple, but clear:  "Go Away!  MY place.  MY place.  Not YOUR place."


The party is now strung out along the ledge, but as the ledge offers the easiest movement of this journey so far, catching up and regrouping will be easy, if those in front slow down!

Qui-Lin is above the airship now.  She could climb down onto that giant pillow like balloon... or climb further to reach the strange ship that was slung under it.  It is tied on with giant ropes, you can see them criss crossing over the balloon.

Lehai, Alexus, and Daladain are all on the ledge behind her, but the path ahead is easy for them.   They can all easily see the growly bush, past Qui-Lin.  But it is not an easy target now- it has backed away and Qui Lin is in front of it on the ledge.

 Kealoha is just getting off the base of the stairs, bringing up the rear.

Qui-Lin began scrabbling down towards the airship.  She was hoping to get down to the gondola, but she'd do the best she could.

"Well, that's certainly unexpected," Atraxus mutters when the shrub turns around and talks. He lowers his crossbow to his side.

"We have no desire to take your place!" he calls out over the cacophony of the storm. "We only wish to pass and rescue those in the ship below! Apologies for the shot, friend! I did not know you could speak, or that you were only protecting your spot!"

Daladain raised an eyebrow. “So the shrub speaks! Not sure I should be surprised, considering all we have been told!” he muttered to those around him.

He had an idea. He shouted down to the strange plant. “Good shrub! Please accept our apologies, you took us by surprise! We are trying to rescue those poor folks on the flying ship! If you could aid us we would be most grateful, and would happily reward you with whatever you desire... some fresh water perhaps, or some warm llama dung if that takes your fancy!”

Okay, I’m taking to a bush in the middle of a storm. I like this place!

Lehai was not interested in diplomatics. They follow Qui-Lin down to the ship.

Apparently, having been shot and magic blasted has put the bush-thing-whatever into a bit of a bad mood.  It has no wish to discuss things now, and retreats from the party.

Muttering and growling.

Qui-Lin, followed closely by Lehai, begins the climb down.  As far as mountaineering goes this is a fairly easy stretch- the sheer cliff higher up towards the Guesthouse would be much more difficult.  There's also some comfort in the fact that falling would probably mean landing on that huge balloon.  It doesn't look like it would hurt.  It might even be fun.

Climbing down they finally get a view of the ship under the balloon.  They can see where the ship struck against the spikes of stone.  A few of the stone protuberances have broken off, and there is some damage to the hull.  At one point, a very large spike has speared through the ship, and it is why the ship is stuck.  It is big enough to crawl across- or walk if you are small enough- and it would take you to the hull, where you could either squeeze in through the gash it has made, or crawl up to that large open bay in the middle of the ship.  The stone spike embedded in the ship is big enough to move carefully along the top of it.

There’s another way.  There is an open top deck, directly under the balloon.  It is close enough to some of the rock spurs to make it across.

The balloon has clearly gone a little soft, but only a little- it sags down over the top deck but it would still be possible to move around under it.     Towards the front the balloon is propped up onto a large weapon, like a giant crossbow, mounted on a turntable on the deck of the ship.  A ballista.  It looks like there might be one under the balloon in the back as well.

There's a sound from within the ship but it's not a cry for help.  It's...

Shrieking maniacal laughter?

"That doesn't sound good," Qui-Lin commented to the others as they came up behind her.

"I'm going to try for the open deck.  Anyone want to join me?" she asked.

Whether anyone did or not, she set off towards the open deck of the magnificent airship.

The ship is wooden, but the wood looks very straight and very smooth.  Each piece cut and fitting precisely.  There is an open deck on top, mostly covered by the balloon, which is sagging slightly, so in places it's lower than it probably ought to be, and the ropes holding it are slack.  The material of the balloon is a very finely woven, tightly stitched cloth with a strange, smooth, waxy substance applied to it.  It is dull gray in color.

Qui-Lin is the first one on the upper deck of the ship. There are two deckhouses here, one in the front and one in the back, both about 12 foot square. Hoses snake from the deck houses up into the balloon above.

On the deck house behind the ballista there is a large brass plate, highly polished, with what might be the name of the vessel:  “Doctrinaire 2”

The ballista looks very much like a large heavy crossbow, made of dark polished wood with brass fittings, and tightly corded rope.  It's mounted to a round, disk-like platform on the deck.

And there is that sound again.  Crazed laughter, like a hyena being tickled.

Daladain shrugged as the shrub retreated. He wasn’t expecting much, so wasn’t disappointed. At least they weren’t going to have to fight the foliage.

His ears pricked up as he heard a strange sound. Laughter?

He listened. There it was again. But not happy, joyous laughter, more like the cackling of a witch. He looked down at the ship, straining his eyes to see what was there. He looked for signs of movement, or anything out of the ordinary... well more out of the ordinary!

With the talking bush withdrawing, Atraxus continues to make his way down toward the ship. The Half-Orc, while not as swift as the nimble monk, is sure of foot and makes his way down to the deck. The cackling laughter evokes a quizzical expression on the Half-Orc's face, and he decides to call out to whoever is responsible for the riotous ruckus.

"Ahoy!" he cries out over the sound of the storm, "help has arrived! Come out so we can bring you back to a safe haven from this chaos storm!"

"Careful," Qui-Lin cautioned.  "That laughter is not that of a well being."  Insane, more like.

Advancing to the first deckhouse, she checked for a door, or a window.

They find windows into the deck house, as we well as a door.  The door is on the back, the windows are on all the other sides.

Inside, steep wooden stairs with old handrails worn smooth go down into the ship below, through an opening in the floor of the deck house.  There is a hatch in the roof above, and a wooden ladder extends up to it.

Copper pipe runs from the floor below, up through the roof into the balloon above.

There are wooden racks against the walls.  On one rack are rolls of cloth, identical in color and fabric to the cloth of the balloon.

Another rack has two rolls of similar cloth, but bright yellow.

Outside, there is a crane just behind the deck house, and a large double-door hatch in the deck right behind the crane.  To either side of the hatch is a large wooden framework, about 24 feet long.  It looks like it might have been meant to hold something but they are empty.

There is the laughter from below again.  More of it, multiple voices.  At the same time, there is a sound of heavy running footsteps, a small gang of them.  You can feel the vibration through the deck.  The laughter rose and fell as the runners ran past, beneath your feet.

"I'd rather have whoever that voice belongs to come to us than have to hunt for them in the dark," Atraxus says with a shrug.

Dal continued to observe the show. He shouted down, “Why risk your life!? If they want your help they will come to the deck for rescue! Be wary that the crew might not be... well, friendly! I wouldn’t recommend dying today, it’s not the weather for a funeral!”

While he couldn’t do much to help, he could at least assist if trouble should come their way. He began to mentally prepare some of the tricks in his repertoire.

OOC from his position how far away is Dal from his companions on/close to the ship?

Qui-Lin nodded, stopping from going deeper into the airship.

"I wonder if they were affected by the chaos storm?" she mused.

The whole group is able to reunite on the top deck, catching up while Qui-Lin Xiang checked out the deck house, then paused.  They are all on the deck, in the vicinity of the deck house.

At the other end of the ship, they can see a second ballista, and a much smaller deck house- it looks like maybe it doesn't do much other than serve as a tie point for the big balloon.

The ship is made of wood.  It is very fine, very well cut and fitted wood, but wood nonetheless.  That means that sound (and even the vibration of their running) carries through it much more than it would through stone or earthen walls. It's clear the "laughing shriekers" are moving around, and quickly, and without purpose- it sounds like a lunatic asylum down there, with them running back and forth.  But also, you can tell when they are far and when they are near, relative to where you are.  As noisy as they are, they are not going to be doing any sneaking up on you, at least.

"Fools", snarls Lehai. "This is not the time to wait and twiddle thumbs. We must act now. But be wary. Laughter can mean fey. And they are best to be dealt with quickly before they can catch on."

The ranger will sneak up on the laughing shriekers while they're occupied with their own insanity. Lehai will not attack unless attacked first.

20:43, Today: Lehai Quandar rolled 17 using 1d20+3. Stealth.

In reply to Lehai Quandar (msg # 39):
OOC
To do that, Lehai must sneak down into the ship. They are actually one level beneath you, you are hearing them through the deck of the ship! Is that what you intended?

Lehai uses the ladder in the deck house to go down inside the ship, carefully trying to evade the laughing shriekers.

Lehai ignores the things inside the deck house, and explores downwards.  They are probably just ordinary "boat stuff" anyway.  Or maybe airship stuff?

Once inside Lehai waits on the others to catch up.  No sense wandering down halls full of screaming weirdos alone.

Of course, there aren't that many halls to wander.  The ship isn't that big.  The laughing gang may be erratic, but they are moving quickly, and there are probably minutes at best before they are back this way.

In the meantime, Lehai takes note of the surroundings.  The stairwell goes down another flight, to the lower deck.

Since the screamers went to the back, Lehai checks the front.  Forward of the stairs, Lehai finds a very nicely furnished lounge.

Worn but high quality upholstered furniture, polished leather with brass trim everywhere.   Couches around the walls, and a few chairs around a large wooden table in the middle.  Next to the table is an elegant looking wooden chest with brass fittings and lock. It is about two foot square, and three feet high, mounted on carved wooden legs, and opens by of the front panel, not the top.

There are four pictures on the walls.  All are in the same style.  All four are portraits- men in dignified looking uniforms, polished armor with dark black and gray cape, bristling with golden cords, badges, medals and other decorations, all looking very serious,  but some look faded.  Older.

But something odd about them.  The faces... the whiskers... those are mice.  Or if not mice, certainly quite rodential in appearance.

Qui-Lin frowned at being called a fool, and let Lehai lead the way, since he was so brash.  But she followed, ready to defend her comrade nonetheless.

Upon spying the portraits, she said, "An airship where mice evolved from men?"

Qui-Lin, and then presumably the others, follow Lehai's exploration into the forward part of the air ship.

They are in that "forward lounge" space just in front of the stairwell- they can hear hoots and shrieks from far in the back.

Turning around, they can see that there are actually two ways towards the back of the ship from here- there is a small door set in the wall all the way on the left side of the ship.

There is also a hatch in the floor, closed.

Qui-Lin looks at the pictures.  Yes, they look like mouse-men... by itself, not too bizarre, stranger things have been seen in the world.  But here are four of them, each wearing a uniform with gold embroidery, trim, and insignia that clearly indicates some status and rank.  Each has a name, and a number- if it is a reckoning in years, it is no calendar you have ever seen, but the numbers each differ by four to six and the pictures seem newer as the numbers get lower.

The upholstered furniture, polished leather with brass trim, surrounds the room, with couches and tables.  Then there is the  wooden chest with brass fittings and lock.

And the distant shrieking laughter.

Daladain is still above the ship.

From his vantage point, he can't see what the others can inside the ship.  In fact, he can't even see inside the ship, since the big balloon blocks the view.

What he can see:  Angry Shrub is in the distance, venting and fuming, looking mad.

The storm has receded but is still there, hovering miles from the shore.  It's looking pretty localized for a storm, but then Daladain has already learned that the storms here are a little bit weird.

Feeling a bit useless from this distance, Dal began to make his way to the stair. He ventured down as far as he could, but didn’t want to risk a jump from the broken section.

"We live in a big world filled with strange things," Atraxus replies to Qui-Lin with a grin. "With what we've seen here today, I should think that mice people would be one of the easier things to wrap our minds around.

"Regardless," he adds while donning his shield, "this is a rescue mission. Might as well see if there are any people for us to help." Atraxus moves cautiously toward the hatch leading down. He grabs the handle, and gives the door a soft tug to see if it is open.

Still a bit sour about being called a fool by Lehai, Qui-Lin's tone was a bit sardonic when she asked, "Door or hatch?"

"Whichever is open," Atraxus says as he gives the hatch door a tug.

At the bottom of the stairwell, Dal found the rope left by Qui-Lin. He wasn’t feeling heroic, but was curious to see what was aboard this strange ship, so he decided to catch up with the others.

Daladain hurries to catch up with the others, descending to the ship, and then following down the deckhouse stairs, passing Kealoha, who has paused to deal with an "equipment problem"- broken strap.

But perhaps it is fortunate that a couple of characters strayed behind.

In the Lounge room, Atraxus undoes the simple but heavy iron pin securing the hatch.  The hatch comes up easily, at the same time releasing a rope ladder that drops to the floor below.  The hatch, the hinges, everything looks very well fitted, well made, well cared for.

The room below is smaller than the lounge room but has a similar plan. It's not a lounge, though.  The party has journeyed across the sea.  Though they traveled on a Honoan catamaran, they have an idea of what the bridge of a larger ship looks like, and this looks like it- its got that big shiny metal wheel in the middle.  It's also got big windows all around, and also on the floor, especially towards the front where the belly of the ship slopes up to meet the nose.

There is some more furniture, and some charts, and oddly, the place looks like its been vandalized.  Some of the chairs are smashed, some of the charts ripped to shreds!

But meanwhile...

The door on the other side of the stairway on the upper deck, near Daladain and Kealoha, is open, and they can see down a ways through the ship, though they have a narrow view.  They can see another wall, and another open door, and through that door, a cluster of humanoid but certainly not human forms.  Hunched backs, big ears, long arms... and they are howling and laughing hysterically.  They have reached the end, and are turning back.

 

Atraxus scowls when he sees the scene below deck.

"It looks like someone attacked the ship and its crew," he says while drawing his sword. "I suspect those laughing can tell us what happened. Hopefully, the crew of the ship is still alive, but if not... at least we can prevent their attackers from escaping into Deluzion Bay."

Kealoha takes a moment to get a better look through the door, looking back into the ship.

She sees the ship's kitchen and dining area, together in one large room, with doors, mostly left open, to other rooms off of it.  There's a large iron box in the cooking area, and a rack with utensils- not so many, all clustered together.   Other racks hold mugs, pots, basins, cups, all sorts of items, but these two are mostly empty.

She doesn't have time to observe much.  Neither does Daladain.  Here they come.   Hunchbacked humanoids, with pointed ears, black manes and grinning faces, the seem to embody a certain murderous insanity.

Kealoha has time only for the briefest of strategy discussions, because they are definitely headed this way.   Hold them here?  Run?  Or what?

 
This message had punctuation tweaked by the GM at 15:31, Sat 26 Sept 2020.

Daladain thought about running away. It had served him well enough in the past. But this place was strange. Maybe the normal thing to do wasn’t the best thing to do anymore? Maybe things had been flipped around? So, he tried a new approach.

He waved his hand at the creatures. “Hello! Are you well? My friends and I thought you might need a hand.”

Qui-Lin moved up behind Kealoha and took up a fighting stance.

"What do we do," she asked everyone and no one.

The distances aren't that great. Everyone should assume not only that they heard Daladain, but that they can hear the approach of the creatures, who are not being stealthy.  They are loudly hooting and laughing in a constant stream of shrieking gibberish.

"We confront them," Atraxus says as he returns to the top deck, sword drawn and shield ready to bear. "We find out if they know what happened to the crew, and if they are responsible for their deaths, then we stop them from escaping."

As the creatures approach, a couple of things become quickly apparent.

One.  The are not human, or of any common humanoid race.  They are hunched and feral looking, with short black fur over pinkish skin.  Big ears, big teeth, big jaws.   And they don't have much knowledge of personal hygiene, it seems.  They wear bits of filthy leather and cloth, barely enough to let you know they are probably not just animals, although you might prefer they were.  They aren't carrying weapons other than claws and teeth, but those look serious.

Two.  They are not stopping to talk.  They charge straight towards Daladain and Kealoha.  Being more of a "Sneak Attack" fan than a front line type, Kealoha goes back up the stairs, position herself to either keep running if they follow, or drop behind them them if they pass by.  They are headed right towards Daladain and Qui and they look mad.

Three.  That noise they make... the constant hooting, laughing, shrieking, gibbering...  it's very unnerving.  In fact, at the supernatural level.

As they rush in, everyone must make a Will save (DC 10) or be "Shaken".

Perhaps the one positive thing is the geography:  the narrow doors of the ship and the confines of the stairwell slow them down and force them into a line as they approach.


 

Atraxus moves to engage the strange creatures, but something about their unearthly gibbering causes his legs to grow numb and refuse to move...

OOC:

17:13, Today: Atraxus Wildheart rolled 3 using 1d20+1.  Wisdom Save DC 10. *sigh*

Her slender jaw drawn tight in grim determination, the pint-sized pugilist stood her ground and faced the onrushing horrors without fear.

17:59, Today: Qui-Lin Xiang rolled 20 using 1d20+2.  Will save DC 10.

There was a high-pitched SHING of metal on metal as her shortsword came free from its scabbard in a graceful move.  As the first one came near, she lashed out with a swift stab.


18:02, Today: Qui-Lin Xiang rolled 6 using 1d20+5.  Short sword strike.

Since that was ineffective, she spun and drove a kick into its abdomen.

18:02, Today: Qui-Lin Xiang rolled 11 using 1d20+5.  Unarmed strike.

I've just realized that 5e doesn't have the shaken condition!  Assume it's the same as frightened.

FRIGHTENED
• A frightened creature has disadvantage on ability
checks and attack rolls while the source of its fear is
within line of sight.
• The creature can't willingly move closer to the source
of its fear.

Kealoha has a plan.  Actually several plans.  But one in particular involves waiting to see if the gibbering things run past, and then dropping behind them.  Plans can go astray, though, especially if the other side doesn't really have one and is making it up while they go along.  The third creature senses her waiting above.

Maybe something in the shrieking meant "hey guys, look up!" but the other two do not change their course.  The rearmost creature breaks off, and chases Kealoha, up and out.

And now there are two... rushing the party.

Qui-Lin Xiang knocks one down with a kick, and then there is one.  This one looks a little dismayed that it's fighting alone.  It claws angrily at Atraxus, but to no effect.

The one knocked down isn't dead, though.  Looks like it's going to pick itself up, and shake it off.

Atraxus reflexively brings his shield up to bear to block the creature's vicious claw attack. As the screech of claws on metal sears through the air, the sound snaps Atraxus out of his fearful spell. The fires of Orcish rage, the boon and bane of his heritage, causes his blood to start to boil. He bears his tusks, and slashes as the creature with a roar.

OOC:

19:17, Today: Atraxus Wildheart rolled 14 using 1d20+1.  Wisdom Save DC 10.
19:21, Today: Atraxus Wildheart rolled 15 using 1d20+5.  Attack vs. Gibberling.
19:22, Today: Atraxus Wildheart rolled 8 using 1d8+3.  Dmg.

I'm not sure if I'm still suffering disadvantage from the failed frightened save last round, so please feel free to reroll my attack if it does.

So much for the new approach...!

As the strange creatures surged forward, Daladain retreated in good order, getting behind the heavier set warriors who were advancing up the stairs. As he moved he quickly intoned a spell, “Ne estas kiraso kontraŭ la sorto.” As the words finished a subtle glow surrounded his body. Confident he now had shields in front of him he turned and began to decide what to do next.

---

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

---

Retreating behind Atraxus, then casting Mage Armour on self. AC now 16 for next 8 hours.
08:19, Today: Daladain rolled 11 using 1d20.  Wild Magic Surge?
07:56, Today: Daladain rolled 19 using 1d20.  Wisdom check v Shaken DC10.

Still wooting and shrieking in an endless, baffling babble, the creatures, (yes, Gibberlings) press their attack.  The one knocked down gets up, rushing forward to rejoin the battle, and just as it does so, Atraxus defeats its companion.  It falls the deck in a squeal.

Any rational being, already wounded, alone and outnumbered, might consider other options at this point.

It lunges at Atraxus.  It almost succeeds, but Atraxus's shield gets in the way.  The thing claws angrily at the shield.

If anything, the frustration in not being able to kill only seems to make it madder.

The hint of a grin tugs at the edge of Atraxus' lips as his sword strike fells the creature. That grin widens into a smile as his shield foils the second attacker's vicious flailing. He follows up with a second sword strike...

OOC:

18:27, Today: Atraxus Wildheart rolled 10 using 1d20+5.  Attack vs. Gibberling. I'm guessing that misses.

Qui-Lin tried to defend Atraxus, not that he probably needed it... her sword flashed out, and she followed it up with a front thrust kick.

18:31, Today: Qui-Lin Xiang rolled 23 using 1d20+5.  Short sword strike.
18:32, Today: Qui-Lin Xiang rolled 9 using 1d6+3.  Short sword damage.
18:33, Today: Qui-Lin Xiang rolled 9 using 1d20+5.  Unarmed strike. I'm sure that's a miss

Daladain stepped forward. Well, forward but still behind the big warrior types who would protect him from harm. He raised his hand and pointed towards the Gibberling. As he intoned arcane words his eyes flashed white. “Frosto mortigas la florojn, kiuj floras ekster sezono.” A beam of pale slight shot forth from his fingers, but missed its target and flew off into the sky, dissipating into nothing. He cursed and readied himself again.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
“Frost kills the flowers that bloom out of season.”

---

Cast Ray of Frost - missed.
07:18, Today: Daladain rolled 7 using 1d20+5.  Ray of Frost.

The Ray of Frost might have missed but the Monk did not.  The creature, previously wounded, is finished off.  It looks like a filthy mop of hair and claws lying on the deck.

And all is quiet.

Peeking further towards the aft end of the ship, they see the ship's galley.  It doesn't look very used.  Not nearly enough pots and pans hanging up to support a big crew.

And down below, through the hatch, is the bridge.

Atraxus wipes his blade on one of the fallen Gibberlings before returning it to its sheath.

"Let's keep searching the ship for survivors," he says. "And best we move quickly. The sooner we finish, the sooner we can return." He heads toward the hatch, and enters the bridge.

Atraxus goes down the hatch into the bridge.

The walls and furnishings are similar to that in the lounge above.

The ship’s wheel is a peculiar looking thing, even though it is recognizable as a ship’s wheel.  It is three rings, actually, one nestled snugly inside the next, the whole mounted on a pedestal towards the front of the ship.  Each ring is made of bright, smooth, highly polished metal.  The innermost ring is so finely polished that seems mirrorlike.  The middle ring is of a redder, coppery tone, and the outer ring a more conventional but still very shiny iron.  The innermost ring has a slot in it, like a keyhole.  By the height of it, whoever handled this wheel was of approximately human height.


There are charts on the walls, but they don't seem to show any place Atraxus has every heard of...

They don't even make sense.  No oceans, coastlines, cities... just a network of symbols and places.

Then there is a voice.  From this deck, past the stairwell...

"Hello?  If it's quiet, then something's happened to the idiots.  I warned them.  Nincompoops.  No sense talking to any of them."

The voice distracts Atraxus from trying to make sense of the ship's strange machinery and incomprehensible charts.

"Well met," Atraxus says in the direction of the voice. "Well, at least as well as one can meet in the midst of chaos storm and a shipwreck. My name is Atraxus Wildheart. My companions and I dispatched the creatures above the deck after they forced our hands. We're here to get you to safety. Your ship has struck a cliff in the Southlands. There is a safe haven not far from here, but we must move quickly."

Daladain looked around the interior, trying to make sense of everything. He was no seafarer, but even he could tell these charts were far from ordinary.

When he heard the voice he glanced about, trying to put a face to the voice in the gloom.

"This ship isn't going to hang here forever," Qui-Lin warned. "We should leave, before it pulls free and plunges into the sea below."  She was speaking not so much to her comrades, as the person that lay within the darkened bridge.

"No, it will not be here forever.  Maybe not as long as it takes to peel an egg."

It's the gravely, soggy sounding voice of the very odd creature approaching in the lower deck of the ship.

It is about 6 feet tall, but would be taller if it wasn't so hunched.  It has a very froglike head, and a very froglike though humanoid body- the hands have claws and have a more reptilian style.  It looks strongly muscled, especially in its legs.  It's eyes swivel independently, and generally only one is looking at whoever it is talking to at the moment  The other goes off in other directions as if it has different business to attend to.

Its skin is a patternless jumble of purple and pale green, and its eyes are shiny and gray.  There is no discernable “lighter on bottom, darker on the top” arrangement like the norm for typical mundane reptiles and amphibians, just swirls, blotches and stripes of color.   Sometimes, they seem to move of their own accord.

It is wearing a peculiar shirt- dark blue, with a colorful pattern of flowers and flamingoes.
 It also has a ring of flowers around its neck, which may or may not be part of the shirt.  It has a belt with a scabbard and sheathed sword that seems quite ordinary in comparison.

"Call me Babageetz, if you want to," it says as it approaches.  Its feet make damp slapping noises against the floor.  "If you call me other things I might not answer.  Can we trade help for help?  There might not be much time, as you have wisely observed."

Qui-Lin was taken aback by the creature's appearance. But only for a moment.

"We came to help," the young monk replied earnestly.

"I made the mistake of setting the morons free first," the creature explains.  "They started running around screaming, I think they like to do that.  They were looking for a way out, but they are afraid of the light from outside.  They are of no help, may they run forever in the dark and windy halls they come from.  I do not care about them.

"But there are innocent creatures of chaos, who must come with me through the chaos portal, to go home, before this ship goes home.  And it will, because the morons let loose the gearlings, and the gearlings will make order again and this ship will go back where it came from.  Dear, sweet, innocent creatures of chaos, they must all be free.  Chains are obscenities."

Babageetz lets out something that may be a sigh.  Or a muffled moo.  Hard to tell.

"Chains are even worse when I cannot touch them.  Iron with the terrible taint of Order.  It burns me.  Simple latches and I cannot open them!  Maybe you can, and let them go home with me?"

Daladain didn't like the look of this fellow. Creatures held in chains tended to be there for a reason. But who was he to judge?

Leaving the others to converse he looked around the chamber, looing for anything that might be of interest or explain where this ship was from, or going to.

Looking for any kind of map, charts, logbook, etc. Also, anything shiny!!!

Daladain finds the charts on the wall, and others rolled up neatly (and tied with strips of leather, also quite neatly) in a rack under a desk.

None of them show any place Daladain has every heard of...

They don't even make sense.  No oceans, coastlines, cities... just a network of symbols and places.

And then he realizes.. they do make sense. 

Babageetz notices Daladain noticing.  "Do you read these?  It took me time to learn, a lot.  It makes much too much sense to me, I despise it.  Everything the mouslings did made sense, to them.  Awful creatures.  But I need to know, or you must leave, to help or not to help."

Qui-Lin dashed a glance to Daladin.  This was all beyond her.  "Do we get them off the ship?" she asked.

"I suppose we help them get back to this 'chaos portal'---whatever that is," Atraxus says. He considers the odd Babbageetz for a moment, and then shrugs. The Half-Orc then goes to undo the latches blocking the strange creature's way...

OOC:

21:47, Today: Atraxus Wildheart rolled 5 using 1d20+2.  Insight-Is Babbageetz trustworthy.

Do I believe him? YUP!

Atraxus intends to open the way for Babbageetz, but I want to give people a chance to stop me just in case they disagree.

"You will help me?" Babageetz asks, sounding almost surprised.  "A being strange as I makes a request of you, you do not even ask for reward, you just say yes?"

The bizarre creature pauses just a moment, and adds, "I like you."

Babageetz turns, its broad flat feet flapping against the deck, and leads the way.  Not far, but it offers some quick explanation.

This ship belongs to a race of creatures with fuzzy faces, big ears, whiskers, and tails.  Babageetz does not know who they are, other than that they are very, very organized and structured, which is an awful thing.  They sent this ship to his home to capture what they call "specimens", and Babageetz was among them.  Then the ship returned to home of the creatures, where everything is iron and reasonable and so boring its frightening, but Babageetz, who had been pretending all along to be very stupid, managed to steal the ship when most of the creatures were off.  The others fled.  Then, a little too late, that controlling this bizarre ship was very, very difficult. Turning things at random did not seem to work.

"And the rest is history," Babageetz says.  "Or it will be.  The screaming morons were afraid of the light outside. Where they come from, there is nothing like that, only endless dark caves.  They ran around, and somehow set free these round metal things that started to fix things.  I called a Gate back to Chaos, it will come soon.  The other creatures of chaos are in rooms protected by strong warding magic- chaotic beings such as I dare not even touch the latches, the metal freezes!"

Babageetz does not bother to check on whether this all makes sense to anyone.  Where Babageetz comes from, sense is optional.

"I hate those fuzzy faced order-things," Babageetz says.  "Trapping, caging... horrible.  They called me 'Slaad' and asked if I was defective... why?  I am what I am, and everyone is very different, I told them there were no kinds and types and categories of us, all are our own, and organization is a perversion, but they said I was lying.  Stupid creatures.  Ah, here we are."

Past the stairwell on the bottom deck is a hallway, with small doors, set staggered on either side, rather than opposing each other.  Each has a small window with an iron grate, and a large but simple looking iron bar latch device.  There don't seem to be any locks!  But each of the latches has a symbol etched into it, crafted so that when the latch is down, the symbol is complete.

Atraxus grins at Babageetz.

"I know all about being considered 'strange,'" the Half-Orc says with a hint of amusement in his voice. "But if you can help return these creatures to Chaos, I suppose that would go quite far in helping keep the people safe here---especially if some of them are as unpredictable as the 'morons' we dispatched earlier."

Atraxus follows the slaad toward the other cages. He hesitates before attempting to open the mechanism.

"Are any of these creatures dangerous?" he asks Babageetz, shooting a glance toward his companions as well. "Should we take precautions before releasing them?"

"Everything is dangerous," Babageetz.  "Dangerous to what, that is the question.  Some creatures are made of such pure Order that the very existence of some of us threatens the philosophy of their existence.  But if you mean Big Teeth and Sharp Claws, sadly, the most dangerous is me.  And then the Morons.  But I do not hear them anymore, something very final probably happened to them.  Only a matter of time, I knew.  You cannot expect to last forever running around screaming."


With the little grated windows, Atraxus would be able to peek inside and see what's in there.


Babageetz adds:  "This realm, it is your home, yes?  It is a crossroads.  Many things pass here, as if the Planes are strings, knotted together here.  That is the reality of this place. Here we are close to Chaos, so I can go home easily, that is why I tried to be here.  That is where these beasts are home.  But never, ever try to control a creature of chaos.  That is hateful to it.  So... once they are free, it is certainly your freedom to defend yourself if you must, but please allow the creature its freedom too.  If they do not wish to return with me to the never ending storm of Limbo, they do not have to.  As long as they are free."

Daladain had been quiet while studying the charts. Some was pure madness, other parts made sense to his strange brain. After some moments he spoke up to his new companions. “This is strange indeed. Some of you will know of Chaos Magic, but do you know it’s opposite, Order Magic? Some think of them in binary terms, as black or white, good or evil. They are wrong. Order is not good, it is worse than chaos, it seeks to control everything, with no room for freedom. Our world is a balance, good and evil, order and chaos, black and white. When the world is out of balance, bad things happen. Read your history books; the worst despots in history valued order, their version of order. Order is very, very bad.”

He turned to Babageetz. “These creatures on the ship. If we free them will they cause harm to the innocent souls that reside here? Will they engage in wanton violence, or will they simply go about their business? I value freedom above all, but will not release daemons to destroy this world.”

"Order magic is a hideous thing," Babageetz says.  "It built this ship, though, and this ship feels the pull of its masters and will not stay here forever."

The strangely froggy creature manages a peek through a grated window... it seems to have some fear and/or discomfort approaching the door.

He starts talking, and it appears to be to whatever it is that is inside.

"Do you see how we are misunderstood?  They hear chaos, and all they ever think is, 'will we suddenly attack?'.  As if campaigns of terrible violence were not done by Order!  Chaos can be art, Chaos is expression, but do they ever ask, if we free you, will you suddenly start painting the walls with surreal abstract images?"

Babageetz turns to face the party again.

"Iron.  Iron is awful stuff.  This dear creature in here looks like it would cause very little harm even if it did, so you probably have nothing to worry about.  I cannot be certain, no creature of chaos ever can be, but it is clearly lacking in claws or big teeth or such things.  Of course it may be able to shoot death beams from its eye, but if it was so dangerous those long tailed vermin would never have caught it, right?  Please, I fear time grows shorter."

Qui-Lin glanced from Daladin to Babageetz in a comical series that looked like she might get whiplash.

"I'm so totally confused," she admitted.

"If we free you guys, and you go home, that's all good.  Right?  But if you stay, you're going to clash with the people here, who aren't fans of random chaos. So, I get you guys believe in free will and all that, but if you've got any sway on your people, please don't make us regret freeing them."

Atraxus sighs as he resigns himself to what he must do.

"I suppose bargains are difficult to make with creatures of chaos," he says. "We can free your friends, and I will pray that they follow you back home. Should they choose to stay here, I hope they are friendlier than the 'morons' we dispatched earlier."

Atraxus opens the door to release the captive, but makes sure to position himself so that any attack would get directed at him first before his friends...

A guarantee had been unlikely, and probably false, so the honest response from the strange fellow reassured Daladain as best it could.

“Okay,” he said, “how can we release them without harming ourselves?” He looked at the cages and began to formulate some ideas.

Boldly, Atraxus opens... door number one!  Their are three more!

There are three extremely peculiar creatures here.

Two of them look like bizarre hybrids, mockeries of ordinary animals- they look sort of like beavers, but have duck bills!  They look up with great uncertainty, not being very big.

Babageetz calls to them:  "Yes, my beauties, creatures of chaos, breakers of rules, you are free!"

He is rewarded with a sound that is somewhere between a gurgle and a coo.

"I do not know where these came from," Babageetz says, "but they are adorable.  And poisonous!"

The other creature in here is a cloud.  Not a very big cloud, although it certainly has all the features of your standard fluffy white atmospheric water vapor mass.  It looks like if it tried, it could probably rain on someone, but probably not more than one person at a time as the cloud is only a few feet wide.

Then it opens its eyes.  It's still very much a cloud, but now it has two eyes.

"A Spuf," Babageetz says with a sigh.  "I think it is a kind of elemental.  You are free as well, Spuf!  Fly, be free, go home!"

Daladain shrugged as the strange looking beasts emerged. He stepped forward and released the catch on door number two...

Door number two...

At this point, Babageetz is impressed with the party.  Very impressed.  They don't bother looking through the little grated openings before opening the doors!  Now that is a commitment to the forces of Chaos!

"You are my dear friends," the slaad mutters, and apparently it is directed at the party, not the creatures in the rooms.


The next room contains flying creatures, two of them, with a wingspan of about four feet, bright colorful feathers, and... well that's it, they're all wing, four wings seamed together in the middle with no creature between them.  This doesn't seem to bother them in the least.  They flap out and hover in the hallway near Babageetz.

Someone overly attuned to logic, like a Dwarven engineer, might point out that given the size and the relatively slow wing beat of these wing-things, they really shouldn't be able to hover like that.  But aeronautics is not their concern.  They hover.

"Halfway there," Babageetz says.  "See, nothing ferocious.  I don't think those rat finks had it in them to capture anything too fierce."

Qui-Lin took a step back and watched in growing trepidation as Daladain threw open doors and released these creatures.  She swallowed and hoped they were doing the right thing.

Daladain grinned. He was clearly enjoying seeing the strange and wondrous creatures. “Time for the next door.”

And still Daladain opens doors, without pausing to look through the grates.  His willingness to embrace "Whatever!" is utter joy for a slaad.  It is the same joy a Demon gets watching a mortal commit acts of evil, or one of the noble inhabitants of the Upper Planes feels when observing kindness.  For some reason, all of these beings think it is simply wonderful when a mortal embraces their ethics.

Daladain releases another creature that is covered in feathers, as was the wing thing. But this has no wings.  Instead, it's body is long and... well mostly just long.  If a very large boa constrictor had fluffy and colorful feathers instead of reptilian scales, this would be it.  It has no visible eyes, but slithers (very snake like slither) out into the corridor.  The head raises as if inspecting the surroundings.

"I should reward you well for this!" Babageetz says happily.  Flappy feet slap the floor as if it was doing a quick little dance, but with no sense of rhythm.  "Freedom for all!  Freedom in the endless Everything!  Come with me, our way home should be here!"

Babageetz takes a moment to explain.  "This place, this world, this is a place of many portals, and portals are easy, so it is easy to get home.  I made this ship come here... I think I did... so I could make the portal for home but it fought me.  I will go home, I think it will go home too."

It's that last cage where things make even less sense.  There doesn't seem to be a creature inside, just a wide, gaping black pit.  The kind one expects to find on the floor of a cave or deep dungeon corridor.  But on the lower deck of a ship it seems an obvious insult to geometry.  And then it moves.  It slides across the floor headed for the open door... always a deep dark pit into void, but moving.

"Oh that," Babageetz says, with a slight hint of worry.  "That's a... um... a... I saw one once, yes, I saw one, and this... this is another one."

A big grin crossed Daladain’s face, laughing at the sheer insanity of the situation. As the snake like creature slithered away he quickly reached for the final door and flung it open, curious to see the living black void.

Babageetz looks at the black void moving out of the little room.

"That's... it's... well it is chaotic, this is true, but I don't believe it has been fed recently and I think we should hurry back with whatever is willing to come with me."

The Slaad turns, and its big feet start stamping towards the ship's bridge.  Most of the "Creatures of Chaos" stay close, but the two duck-billed furry things seem unclear on the concept.  Babageetz scoops up one and carries it, and scoops up the other, and decides it is too awkward to carry both.

"Here, you carry this," Babageetz says as he holds out the creature towards Daladain.  "I do not wish these to be food, either."

Daladain took the strange looking duck-billed furry thing and held it gently. Today was going to be one of those odd days!

He looked over at Babageetz and the others. "Time to leave?"

If the consensus is to evacuate then he will try to grab as many maps and other materials as possible before departing, but not risk his life doing so.

"Let's get out of here," Qui-Lin said uneasily.

"Agreed," Atraxus says while giving a wary glance at the strange, shadowy creature.

"I can lead the way," he adds. Atraxus draws his sword, and keeps his shield in front as he moves forward through the ship...

There is a shudder and lurch from the ship as they return to the bridge.

Babageetz helps in Daladain's quick search, but it's not a very neat effort, as it involves wrangling a variety of creatures while tossing things in every direction, looking for whatever might be of particular importance.

They are in a rush, with little time to examine things.

As they grab their way through the bridge, and then the lounge above it, they are met by...

Kealoha.  Returning from a chase on the main deck.

"Well that was weird," she says.  "You'd think those things had never seen the sun before."

"They haven't," Babageetz says.

Kealoha stares.

"Take this," the Slaad says, handing her the second platypus.

"Ummm..."  Kealoha responds.

"I sense it is not truly a creature of my home," Babageetz says.  "Despite how it may seem."

"Umm... sure... also there were these things like flat round metal crabs..."

"Gearlings," Babageetz says.  "The Morons let them out.  They have been repairing this ship, that is why we all must go.  They fix, they make things correct and proper and right and orderly... very disturbing."

Hastily, they gather up what they can- documents and scrolls, several cases of cheese, rope, and, from the stairwell, four peculiar metal flasks that seem to weigh less than nothing.  Instead of down, they want to go Up, from the moment they are taken out of the rack that was restraining them.

When they finally make it back outside, the ship is shuddering, and beginning to pull against the rock spur upon which it was impaled.  There is no sign of the last Gibberling.  But there is a strange round vortex hovering just above the deck.  The interior looks a lot like the eye of the Chaos Storm did- swirling mass of nothing and everything.

"Home!" Babageetz says excitedly.  "This is where we part."  The slaad looks at Daladain, and adds, "Your service to me, I will remember for as long as I can."

The Creatures of Chaos... except for that slithering pit thing that is still somewhere in the ship... seem drawn towards that vortex, except for the furry duck billed beaver things. They seem uninterested.  If anything, they are afraid of it.

Daladain looked at Babageetz and smiled. “Meeting you was fun, I was glad to be able to help. If you are ever passing this way again then look me up and we will share a good bottle of wine.”

He glanced down at the duck-billed creature, sensing its nervousness. He wasn’t normally at one with animals but he did his best. In a gentle voice he said to it, ““You are free. You can go with them if you wish,” he gestured towards the vortex, “or you can come with me back to the guesthouse and then go wherever you wish.” He pointed at the guesthouse high on the cliff side. “You are free now, you can choose.”

He wasn’t sure if the creature understood any of what he said, but he would let it decide if it could. If no choice was apparent he would keep a gentle hold on it and carry it back up to the guesthouse.

They make their way back to the guesthouse, confused, perhaps, about what it all means.

Behind them, the Gate opened by Babageetz brings the others back to the realm of Limbo, home of absolute chaos.

As they ascend up to the cliff back to the guesthouse, another odd event:  the ship, apparently repaired and working off some deeply embedded magical order to return home, does so, pulling away from the cliff and rising majestically through the air.

Going up is strangely easy.  This is because the "loot" from the ship included those strange metal flasks that want to fall up instead of down.  With them stowed in packs, they make the characters feel oddly light.  All four could probably easily lift Daladain, three would do it for the much lighter Qui-Lin.

The party has both of the platypuses.  They didn't want to go with Babageetz, and it seemed to much to separate them. The little fairies that live in the Guesthouse are actually delighted to see them, because they were hoping you would rescue someone from the ship, and even if there were no people per se to be rescued, fairy folk will certainly accept the rescue of innocent animals as a good deed.

Although, there is some discussion over whether these count as innocent.  They are strange.

Speaking of strange... it is not merely through battle that experience is gained.  Encountering and learning about the strange and unfamiliar counts just as much if not more.  Each of the returning characters is advanced to second level.

We also advance to a new thread:  Union at the Guesthouse.   

Did we find anything on the ship that we took, other than the charts and stuff?