The Lost City - A Castle full of ghosts

Previously in our story...

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Locasta's tower proved to be a treasure trove of magical components and herbal ingredients. The party spent several days going through each room of the place to see what else could be found. Jaeger, Lan, and KelLyn took their pick of the best and most expensive components; and I took several bags worth of the herbal ingredients to add to my own stores.

Shalev managed to somehow take some serious damage at one point in the explorations, and he approached Lan with a request to heal him. They stepped into the circle that was located at the top of the tower, and Lan cast her spell. The air in the tower room crackled with energy, and she looked at him critically for a moment before laying her hands on him and healing him completely. She told him sternly that he had been affected by an intensely powerful negative reaction from touching something that he shouldn't have.

Once she had completed her casting, and they had stepped out and away from the circle, Jaeger looked around for a moment and then he stepped into the circle. He began waving his hands in the now-familiar casting motions, and there was a huge amount of energy that burst out in waves. There were no other tangible or visible effects from whatever he cast though, and after another moment, he also stepped away from the circle.

On principle, Shalev cast his Detect Evil spell and confirmed that an alabaster jar that they had seen in the kitchen was radiating evil. He discussed options with the party, and we all decided that it was best just to leave it alone. He placed a stick across the doorway to the kitchen, as he had seen the curse-causing sticks placed in the dwarven city. I do not know if it will do any good, but it made him feel better to do it.

Fife was still drinking heavily, but did not appear to be cursed any more. We put him in the cart, and the party continued on toward the castle where the ethereal army had come from. It looked like it was about two weeks or so of travel to make it around the lake, and I made note that everything we had encountered thus far was not as it seemed at first, so distances would also likely be suspect. As we traveled, Shalev continued to work with KelLyn on improving his swimming skills, although I wonder if he realizes that he already surpasses most of the other humans I have seen in this regard.

After two weeks, we had not, in fact, reached the castle itself. Instead we came upon a forest made entirely of glass. The trees were magnificent, and definitely alive, as they were warm to my touch. The leaves were translucent and beautiful, and we saw shards and pieces on the ground near the base of the trees where older leaves and branches had fallen and shattered. Shalev attempted to gather some of the pieces, but only managed to cut himself in the process, so left them alone. I cast a general blessing of health on the forest, and then also recast my Whispers of the Way spell. It is my hope that by continuing to listen to the spoken language of the fae here that I might be able to pick up enough of an understanding to allow me to comprehend what is being said. I have started to pick out several words with regards to the party, and hopefully with Lan's help, I can continue to improve.

We continued to travel without incident, and after a time we realized that we were traveling extremely close to the center of the bowl shaped valley. We could see the dragon flying clearly overhead, and were able to get a good look at the enormous creature for the first time. Lan recognized the dragon as the Cardinal Protector of the plant realm in the Fae world, although she said that he was much larger than he was supposed to be. Her description of the dragon, and the knowledge that everything here is trapped inside the circle of mushrooms gave me a pause.

Up to this point we had been going on the information that the dragon was the foe here. I wonder though, more and more, if the dragon is NOT the enemy we should be concerned about. The more I hear about the wizard in the ruins of the emerald city, the more I am convinced that the dragon was sent here to protect the sylvan tree at the heart of the city. Dragons as a whole are not of this world, and I have also come to consider that this dragon might perhaps be willing to speak to us instead of attacking us outright. It is my hope anyway. He has certainly had the opportunity to do so, and judging from the sheer size of  the creature I have seen flying overhead, he could take us out without a second thought and yet we have gone unmolested. This bears more thought, and I find myself wishing that I could speak directly to my god and goddess about the matter. My contact with them is dampened by the confining effects of the mushroom circle, however, and my prayers to them go largely unanswered - though I can still get a general sense of acknowledgement.

Another two weeks of travel passed by without incident, and we found ourselves passing by large open fields that were planted with a variety of plants that I was not familiar with. We saw large buildings in the distance, and we saw men out among the plants harvesting the crops periodically. As we approached, we saw that the largest building was an alchemist's warehouse designed for mass production of potions. There were large ceramic vats, and I noticed again that the herbs and plants grown in the fields were unfamiliar to me. I also noticed, with keen interest, that the workmen that we passed in the fields were singing to the plants. I listened intently to the tune, though I still did not understand enough of the fae language to discern what he was saying.

Shalev asked about the large building, and was told that it was the store. Not wanting to damage the crops or fields, we left the cart, guarded by KelLyn, Fife, and Osmun, at the main road, and we made our way through the fields to the largest central building. The sign above it was written in Fae, and Lan translated it to us saying it read "Apothecary." We walked in and saw a large storefront area where there were bins filled with high quality ceramic and alabaster jars containing a variety of potions and salves. A portly man introduced himself as the store manager, and greeted us warmly. Shalev asked him if he had a list of potions available, and inquired as to what he had for sale as well as information about the area.

The man told us that the store here was in Wenke proper, but that he catered to the entire area, and the road we had left the cart on  went west to Emer. When asked about the price for potions, he informed us that the cost might be work, errands, raw materials, or other things and that it would vary depending on what we had to offer and what we wanted. I cautioned him quietly that we were still dealing with fae, and that he should be wary of any job he agreed to do. Shalev handed the man one of the healing potions that we had purchased from Basil, and asked if it were possible to reverse engineer it. The man's eyes lit up and he quickly took the potion from Shalev's hands to look at it. The man said he could, and without considering the repercussions of the action, Shalev then handed over 5 of the potions. the man offered 20 regular healing potions with a shelf life of three years in return. It was only after the deal had been made, and I warned him that Basil would be extremely angry at having his recipe shared, that Shalev realized the error, but the agreement had been struck and there was nothing to be done about it.

I asked the man if it would be possible to gather some samples of the plants, as they were unfamiliar to me and I was curious about their properties. He expressed doubt that I would be able to keep them alive, and I showed him my personal collection of herbs, seedlings, and plants that I had gathered along our journeys so far. His eyes widened when he saw the ent seeds, and he asked if I would be willing to part with them. I respectfully declined, letting him know that I had been informed that I would know whom to give them to when the time was right. He spoke to one of his workers briefly and said that he had a suspicion about the potions that Shalev had given him. The worker ran off to the back to check on whatever the man had asked.

While we waited for the worker to return, Shalev asked if the store manager would be interested in the green boar skin. The manager said he would be, and Shalev informed him that it was on the cart by the road, as we had not wished to risk harming the plants in the fields. The man said it would not be an issue, and he sent out several workers to accompany Shalev back to the cart. Once there, they began singing again to the plants in the ground in order to move them out of the way to clear a path for the cart to travel. I once more paid close attention to the melodies that they sang, and asked Lan if she would translate what they were saying to me.

The store manager took a look at the verdant hide, and offered a variety of potions in exchange for it. Shalev chose a set of 20 potions that would increase performance in battle. Osman offered one of the short ribs that we had taken from the corpse of the black dragon in his own trade, and he received three healing potions and two alcoholic potions which the manager warned were strong enough to cause delusions. Shalev distributed the healing potions among myself, Lan, KelLyn, Fife, and Tobias, as we did not have any yet; and kept the performance potions with his own gear.

Jaeger also bartered with the store manager, using the head of the green boar and a handful of the spel components that he had taken from Locasta's tower to trade for some very rare and very expensive dwarven alcohol. He and the store manager spoke at length in dwarven, and after the conversation concluded, the store manager turned to his workers and said something. A large band of men gathered together and immediately moved out toward the direction of the now-vacant tower, and I wondered if there would be anything left of the structure once they were finished with whatever they had set out to do.

The worker who had run into the back area returned then and whispered something to the store manager. The manager shot a quick glance at me and said that his suspicion had been confirmed. He turned to me directly then and told me that one of the components in the healing potions that Basil crafted was the blood of an ent. I raised an eyebrow at this bit of information, and recalled the young ents that I had seen in Basil's gardens. Young yet, and not sentient, I did not recall seeing wounds on them when I checked their health, but vowed to myself that I would have a conversation with Basil about them as soon as I returned.

I took the opportunity then to speak to the store manager to inquire about possibly learning how to sing to the plants as they did. He informed me that they way they sang was conditioned to the profession specifically and would not suit me. He did let me know that I should focus on the *meaning* or the desire, and that the songs would come in time. I asked him, if I were ever to find myself in this area again, whom to ask for, and he gave me instruction to ask for the Master of the Land.

I thanked him for the information, and for his time, and the party gathered their supplies and made our way back out to the road. Once we were there, I began making a book containing detailed sketches and descriptions of the plants that grew here. I could not get any samples to take with me, and out of respect to the alchemists here, I did not take any, but it is my hope that the sketches and descriptions will aid me if I ever encounter the plants in a place where I can gather samples. We traveled on and the season changed over to Fall. When we made camp that evening, I spent a long time in ritual. Even though there is still no direct connection to my god and goddess here, I did get a sense of affirmation that let me know that they were still there, and I was still doing the right things.

After a few more days of travel, we reached a ramp leading up to the castle, and I noted that as aggressive as the people here had been toward us so far, it was a wonder and a concern that they had not attacked us yet. We saw no sentries of any kind, and drawbridge was down even though the portcullis was closed. We made our way cautiously up the ramp to the gates, and noted the spikes that lined the pits below the drawbridges. The party was in full view, but still there was no sign of life at all.

There were actually two gates, both closed, and we asked Lan if she would be willing to use her orb to change to a mist to go through the gates and open them from the other side. She agreed, and the portcullises rose easily. The party made its way through and into the courtyard. I checked the area for traps, and noted again how silent this place was. No sound, no life, no one. It was disconcerting, and it immediately put me on a high guard. We began exploring the area inside, discovering armories, barracks, a kitchen, and a stable. Inside the armory, the walls were lined with pole-arms and spears made of an extremely light material that Jaeger called aluminum. Jaeger, Fife, and Shalev gathered up about 30 of the weapons ad put them on the cart.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, aside from the lack of life, or any signs of life, so we made our way through the back door and out into an alleyway. We ventured up the stairs to the walled battlements. The walls here were massively thick, and we saw a gap corresponding to a tower section where there were 3 large catapults and a huge wooden door in the floor which opened up to reveal an array of giant pumpkin artillery and an extremely well maintained wench system to bring them up.

Osman nervously recommended that we close the gates, but the lever to the gates was located between the two, effectively trapping one person inside. We also pointed out that it was the only way out, and we did not want to have to spend time worrying about reopening the gates if we had to make a hasty exit. We continued our explorations, and discovered a second armory that held suits of armor made of that same light material. Jaeger and Tobias took four of the sets of armor, as it is worth a king's ransom even though it is effectively useless as protection.

The next door lead us to a Lawful Holy temple, though there were no symbols or anything visible at all to indicate to whom the temple was dedicated. I warned Shalev not to try praying here, as it was likely not aligned with his goddess, and might be seen as disrespect. I checked the area again for traps, and finding nothing, we continued our explorations of the eerily empty city. When we came to the barracks, we noticed that the beds were actually a type of folding cot. We took several of the cots to use, as they would make a considerable improvement over sleeping on the ground.

Back through the doors, and up the stairs to the central wall there were a number of ballista, again with the wooden doors and wench systems. Tobias took a keen interest in the ballista mechanisms and asked to borrow the broken crossbow that Shalev carried. He spent several moments comparing the weapons, and made some notes on how the pieces fit together. I think he may be trying to find a way to repair the crossbow, and seeing essentially the same weapon in a larger scale gave him ample chance to study.

The next room we discovered was a kitchen and dining area. Everything here is pristine to the point of having obviously never been used. Shalev gathered up the dinnerware and utensils in a serving set for 24 people. Everything here is also made of this aluminum material, and so worth a considerable amount. In the butchers area I found three gorgeous knives and one cleaver, all with damascus blades and layan handles. I claimed these as my own, and KelLyn and Jaeger look at the massive chopping block in contemplation. It was 750 lbs of ebony and mahogany wood, and it took them several moments to figure out how to move it and store it on the cart without causing damage to anything.  On the far wall, I noticed an inset handle which opened up a concealed room that was extremely cold. Inside there were stacks of meats wrapped in paper and labelled in fae. Lan read the labels at Shalev's request and became exceedingly grumpy. Shalev asked her if any of the meat was edible, and she angrily kicked him in the shins before telling him sniffily that the meats were seal, baby seal, walrus, and whale, and then stomping off.

Jaeger studied the glimmering blue stone that was embedded in the far wall, and said that it was what was keeping the room at such a frigid temperature. Both he and KelLyn spent a moment trying to figure out how to remove and store the stone, but decided to leave it as it was for now and come back to it later on.

We made our way out to the gatehouse, and the doors there opened up into a hallway with no lights. He used his night vision to see down the dark hall, and he noticed a black marble square on the floor. KelLyn informed us that the square was  not magical, and Tobias indicated that there was a matching square in the same spot down the opposite hallway. Jaeger went over to the marble square and cast a spell to try to lift it up out of the floor, but was unable to budge it at all. We made our way through the double doors into a large room with a coat of arms in mosaic on the floor. Shalev studied the arms for a moment, but could not tell us anything specific about who they belonged to. The next room revealed itself to be a stable, with space for 40 horses. I pointed out that this was an odd place to have a stable, as normally the stables in the cities I had seen were outside of the main house. Once again, everything here was in pristine never-been-used condition, and there was not even dust on the floors, but there was still no sign of life, or of anything organic at all.

Through the next set of doors, we found a deep metal forge that had also never been used. On the anvil was a damaged sheet of the aluminum material and a deep metal hammer. We took the hammer, thinking that if we ever made our way back to Ishmael he might appreciate such a gift. Tobias placed the hammer inside his box of holding, as it was heavy enough that it would cause damage to the cart if it were not secured in some way.

Noticing the practice dummies against one side of the room, Shalev asked Tobias to throw something at them, but nothing happened. He then said something to Jaeger in dwarfish, and Jaeger turned into a raven and flew out to scout around the castle. After a moment, he returned, and told us where the stairs were that lead to the main area. The mansion was ostentatiously made pf rose colored marble, and the handles of the doors were made of layan. We decided to rest for a moment before venturing inside, as we had no idea what awaited and we wanted to be as prepared as possible.

This whole place has the feeling of being created by someone who had too much wealth and no real knowledge. It is laid out in a strange fashion, and the things that we have seen have been expensive and ornate, but ultimately useless in function other than decoration. There is no sign of life, or that this place ever held life. It's like it was built, and then abandoned. The only thing that indicates anyone is here at all is the lack of dust or clutter of any kind. I have a concern that once the sun goes down in this strange place that we may find ourselves in an entirely different circumstance. We are still within the massive fairy circle, and as always, I fear that nothing here is entirely as it seems.

The Lost City - Fife takes a swim

 Sometimes patience can be a virtue. Longevity lends itself to patience.

Previously in our story...

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After reaching the gates of the ruins of the gnomish city, the party rested for a while, but then decided to travel on, ultimately heeding the warning that the two dwarves had given us. Fife expressed a curiosity about the city, and Shalev walked up to the great doors and knocked to see if they would open.

Jaeger, seeing Shalev's action, muttered something in dwarfish, then walked away a short distance. He made motions as if he were casting something, and then pulled something out of a bag at his belt and rubbed it across his face. As he did so, he physically began to change appearance, shrinking down and shifting until he looked like a dwarf. I made note of this ability, and reminded myself with a silent warning that we still did not know much about this strange new party member.

There was no response to Shalev's booming knocking, and so we continued to move north. Jaeger cast the spell that would speed up our travel, but this time something went awry and instead of moving more quickly, it simply removed our tracks from the road. I cast my Whispers of the Way spell once again, and realized as I listened to the odd language that the roads were speaking in the Fae language that I had heard Lan speak occasionally. I asked her if she would be willing to teach me how to speak her language, so that I could better understand, and she agreed. I tried to repeat to her the words that I heard the road mumbling, and was able to get a basic translation about people and pumpkins, though it did not make any sense to me. When I mentioned the word "pumpkin" Fife perked up and tried to enthusiastically explain that a pumpkin was some kind of edible gourd that was often a bright orange color. He said that they were quite delicious, and that if we ran across any we should gather them to add to our stores.

Shalev looked ahead and said that he saw some orange patches on the horizon. A short time later, we came to a patch of ground that was covered in prickly, curling vines with broad, heart shaped leaves, large yellow flowers, and rounded orange fruits. Fife pointed them out and said that these fruits were pumpkins, and that the ones that would be the most delicious would be the medium sized ones. The vibrant fruits were plentiful, some of them reaching as high as 18 feet tall, and the patch of vines stretched out for a good distance ahead of us so that we could not see the end of the garden. I picked one of the smaller ones, noting that it was a good bit heavier than I had expected it to be. I looked over to ask Fife a question about how to eat these, and I saw he and Shalev arguing about whether or not to pick more of the pumpkins to add to our supplies. I tossed the small pumpkin to Fife, forgetting for a moment that he was still affected by the curse. Thankfully, he caught the gourd without incident, and Shalev began muttering to himself darkly. He stalked away in a foul mood, grumbling about traps and hostile vegetables and being attacked in our sleep, and I wondered at his uncharacteristic reluctance to supplement our provisions.

Fife took a look at the pumpkin I had tossed to him and explained that the slightly larger ones would be better. He pointed out the correct sized ones, and he and I gathered several of them as he explained how to prepare the pumpkins to eat. After we had gathered a number of the pumpkins, I performed a general blessing on the pumpkin patch, as a way of thanking the plants for the rich harvest provided. I heard Shalev, still muttering grumpily, say something about checking to see if the gourds had mouths, and I saw Fife smirk suddenly and begin to carve a face into the pumpkin I had tossed to him earlier. I chided he and Osman about antagonizing Shalev any further, though I doubt they listened to my admonition, as they continued to chuckle and Fife put the carved pumpkin over his head like a helmet.

Shalev looked up then, and saw a similarly carved pumpkin resting on top of the largest gourd in the patch. He immediately pointed it out and began venting at us about knowing so and being more careful. Jaeger said something quietly in dwarven, and then the carved pumpkin head rose up, revealing the lanky body attached to it. It appeared to be some kind of golem, and it spoke then, saying that it.. his.. name was Jacque and that he was the Pumpkin King. Shalev instantly began to speak, but the pumpkin king shushed him, turning to Fife, who still wore the carved pumpkin on his head and asked if we had any decorated paper. Fife and I worked together to craft a design on some paper that we had, and then Jacque nodded approvingly and asked if we had a small box. Shalev handed him the empty cinnamon box, and again the pumpkin king voiced his approval, and asked if we could wrap it.

Jacque jumped down from the top of the tallest pumpkin without any effort whatsoever, and placed a lantern gently inside the box. He repeated his request to wrap the box in the decorated paper, and Fife did so. The pumpkin king then asked us to carry the gift through the pumpkin patch, past the castle with the shiny men, through the forest of the brownies, to the tower to give to the lady of the Tower who was named Locasta. Shalev asked about how to avoid the dragon, and Jacque responded with a negligent shrug and the statement that the dragon did not come over this direction because of the flying monkeys that lived in the cliffs nearby.

Shalev then began to question the gift we were asked to deliver, asking what it was, what it would do, and why we had to deliver it. I stepped up to him then and cautioned him quietly that it was not for us to question when we had already been tasked to make the delivery. He subsided then, but I could tel that he was still unhappy with the entire situation. Later on that evening after we had traveled through the pumpkin patch a good distance, we stopped and made a basic camp. Jaeger showed us a way to make a soup out of the pumpkins, using the gourds themselves as cooking vessels, and a way to roast the seeds over the fire to make a quick and delicious treat. I found the taste of the pumpkin to be unique and pleasurable, with an almost nut-like quality in taste, and I took a handful of the seeds that had been scooped out to add to my personal stash of plants that I had gathered from our travels. Fife and Osman huddled together in discussion over how to make a pumpkin beer, and I spent some time in meditation, once again casting a simple blessing over the patch. Shalev staunchly refused to try the strange meal, and I wondered again at his sudden reluctance regarding the orange gourds.

The following morning we traveled on, and after another week of uneventful travel, we finally came to an open area with a mesa off in the distance to the right, and a forest looming ahead of us. Following the instructions that Jacque had given us, we moved ahead to go through the forest. Fife began to tell us what lore he knew of brownies, and Lan and Osman both indicated that they could speak the Fae language. We ventured in a short distance, and came across a row of spikes along each side of the road with carved pumpkins impaled on them. As we ventured closer to the edge of the forest, the tree behind us suddenly exploded as a giant pumpkin struck it. We looked behind us and saw that it was lobbed from the castle on the mesa, and that another was headed our way. We scrambled to take cover in the trees, and Fife shouted to KelLyn to roast it. She cast her fire spell, and Fife threw a spear through the molten ball, hitting the pumpkin squarely and causing it to explode in a shower of flaming pumpkin bits. No one took any damage, thankfully, and we warily made our way further into the forest. There were no further attacks, and we saw several brownies in the trees ahead. When we started to slow down, one of the brownies spoke up to say that we would get hit if we did that. We looked behind us again to see 20 men on horseback galloping our direction. Shalev sped the cart back up again, and Osman began praying and casting his spell to create pitch.

He was able to successfully create about 5 barrels worth of the viscous liquid in a pool behind us, and we continue to move ahead. A brownie appeared on the cart between Lan and Shalev, and before Lan could greet the brownie, Shalev spoke up to ask it directly if it were hostile. The brownie looked very confused at the question, and Lan asked Shalev to refrain from asking the fae any other questions, lest he cause more trouble.

The first wave of knights reached the pool of pitch and slowed to a stop. KelLyn stood up in the cart then and motioned to Fife before casting a spell. Jaeger also stood up and did something that seemed to amp up the power of the spell KelLyn was casting. Fife threw a spear through the ball of white hot flame, and it hit the pitch which ignited with an explosion into a solid wall of flame. Fife then quipped sarcastically at the knights "see how YOU like having something big and orange thrown at you!"

Lan and the brownie chatter back and forth in the fae language, and Lan translates the conversation for the rest of the party, saying that the brownie was telling her about Lake Momboi to the east and the large spike of dirt to the north where the lady lives. The lady, Locasta, fishes there, but she does not eat the fish she catches. Lan speculated whether or not the "fish" were merpeople, and the brownie confirmed her suspicion. It went on to say that there were centaurs that lived in the colored forest, which was across the lake and past the glass forest, and if we kept going north we would run into the tall people that lived in the wall.The brownie confirmed also that everything here spoke the fairy language, except at the mountain and the university. The green city that we were looking for was where Omer lived.

Lan thanked the brownie for the information by giving it some of the espresso infused moonshine from the farmers. The brownie tasted the moonshine, and then makes a face, saying something to her in fae. She turned to Fife then and asked him to drink some as well to show the brownie that it was ok to drink. Fife happily agreed, downing a shot of the potent liquor without flinching. The brownie followed his lead and then sits down as the moonshine makes his face go pleasantly numb. Shalev handed over some of the cinnamon infused moonshine to give to the brownie, and the brownie gave him an emerald encrusted platinum goblet in return. Then the brownie took the bottle of moonshine, and jumped out of the cart to go show the new drink to the others.

We continued traveling through the forest without any additional incident. Shalev asked a constant stream of questions to his compass, and among those questions were contemplations on whether or not the woman Locasta would attack Lan outright or try to capture her if it were discovered that she were fae. The compass replied in an affirmative to those questions, and Shalev continued to try to find out more about what we faced. Jaeger spent some time using one of his spells to sharpen Fife's spears, and he agreed to sharpen the rest of the party weapons as well. After about a week of travel we have no further sign of brownies or knights. The trees here in the part of the forest were maple, and we saw Jaeger chewing on some of the bark. He offered us a piece of a green limb, and we discovered that the bark had a slightly sweet flavor. I took one of the green limbs to examine further.

A few days later, as we are traveling along, Fife suddenly grabbed a spear and jumped down ahead of the cart just as a boar came charging out of the woods in front of him. He had heard the animal crashing through the brush, and leapt at the chance to do what he does best. He threw two spears in quick succession, and then set a third one in the ground where he braced it with his foot for impact. The bright green boar charged but then it stopped right before it would have impaled itself on the spear, which caused Fife to look in confusion. The boar opened its mouth and breathed sparkles at Fife, who managed to leap out of the way.

Tobias ran at the boar wielding both of his maces. I used the dragonbone bow to aim straight for the boar's gaping mouth. Fife also aimed a spear for it's mouth, and we both hit successfully causing some serious damage. Fife's spear caught fire, and the flames wounded Fife slightly. Shalev then hit the boar with the bronze spear, and he also caused noticeable damage. Tobias struck the animal with both of his maces, and the beast finally went down, though with a strange effect of deadening all sound within a 15 foot radius. KelLyn walked up and broke off a piece of the tusk of the boar which she had concentrated it's essence down into. Shalev and Fife carved up the boar, and we discover that it was not just the skin of the animal that was oddly colored, but the whole carcass. Amit refused to eat the oddly hued meat, and I agreed. Shalev asked Fife for the hide of the animal, and Jaeger asked for the skin of the head. A search of the guts of the animal revealed the corpse of an unfortunate brownie, a silver ring and a silver brooch, both with a sapphire bar across each, 4 gold pieces, and a silver filigree necklace. Lan said that the ring and the brooch were likely a clan notification and recommended that they be left with the corpse of brownie and the boar.

Three brownies with capes and brooches that matched those we had discovered ran up then and started viciously stabbing the boar, claiming the kill and taking revenge on the beast that had apparently eaten their companion. We wisely left them to their vengeance and continued on with our journey. Shortly after that, we saw a huge tower made of stacked granite, with a lake off to the right. Around the tower, there were smaller brightly colored buildings and wheat fields. As we approached the tower, we saw a woman open a door at the bast of the structure. She stepped out to the lake, and threw a huge silver net into the water. When she drew the net back in, she had captured a merman which fought being taken out of the water fiercely.. She drug the captured being inside the tower, closing the door behind her. Lan jumped into the water then to speak to the merfolk that were cowering further down in the lake. After a few moments, she emerged from the water saying that we needed to destroy that net. Fife told the party to wait where we were, and taking the package that the pumpkin king had given him to deliver, walked up to the door and knocked.

The woman answered the door and spoke to Fife briefly. He handed her the box, and she handed him something that looked like a cookie or pastry in return. He turns back to the party and takes a bite of the cookie, but instead of returning to where we waited, he walked to the edge of the stairs and jumped into the lake. Lan immediately jumped in after him, but could not find him. She searched for several moments, and after making several dives, finally finds Fife under the water. He had been transformed into one of the merfolk.

As we were waiting for Lan's return, and worrying about Fife, we heard an explosion from the top of the tower, and looked up to see the windows all fly open and papers float everywhere. Wave after wave of magical energy comes out of the tower, and we all scrabble for cover. Jaeger attempted to create a wall of protection out of earth, but it turned back into mud almost immediately and sank back into the ground.

Lan came back up then, and informed us what had happened to Fife. She handed us his belongings and asked us to put it on the cart to keep safe until we could figure out how to reverse the transformation. We told her about the explosion, and some of the papers float down close enough to grab. We hand them to KelLyn as we pick them out of the air and off of the ground, and she notes with some great interest that these are scrolls and potion recipes. She asks Tobias to help her gather as many of the notes and pages as we can, and put them into a box. One of the papers had an odd symbol and something about a cup and a table written on it, as well as a potion recipe for a potion of immortality. Tobias and KelLyn grew very excited about this information and told the rest of the party about the orcs and how this tied the regenerating orcs into the quest to heal Grand Tier and eliminate the regenerating orcs that KelLyn had been geased to complete.

The door at the base of the tower opened then, and the woman emerged looking rather worse for wear, with smoke pouring out of the tower behind her and wisping off her her robes and hair as if she had been at the center of the blast. She threw the silver net into the water once again, and when she drew it out, she had Fife entangled. She exclained "Oh, you're the new one!" to which Fife angrily replied that he was indeed, before he stabbed her twice with the poisoned assassin's daggers that he carried with him. She grabbed at the net and started to chant, but the poison was taking quick effect, making her breathing labored, and her speech slow and slurred.

Tobias took off running, carrying Shalev with him to go attack the woman and attempt to rescue Fife from the net. Lan and Osman began working together to summon a Fairy, forgetting possibly, or perhaps counting on the fact that they stood in the center of one of the largest fairy rings anyone had ever seen. The moment they finished their summons, every mushroom in the grove began glowing brightly. The enormous ring glowed and pulsed with the rhythm of footsteps, and a wave of silver appears. A woman with otherworldly beauty steps out of the gleaming wave and looks at Lan. She asks in quiet tones if we had found her net, and Lan, with a moment of inspiration, exclaims "Yes!" and points directly at the woman from the tower who held the silver net in her hands. The fairy woman's eyes narrowed dangerously, and she prowled forward will the indisputable inevitability of all of the force of nature moving behind her. Each footprint she left in the ground smoldered, and she made her way over to where the woman and Fife still struggled. The rest of the party followed mutely in her wake, thinking it best not to interfere in any way unless direly necessary.

Tobias and Shalev had also engaged in the fight with the woman, and their strikes hit the same time that Fife stabbed her through the lower jaw, effectively pinning her mouth shut. Shalev's unerring strike took the woman's head clean off her shoulders and Tobias' strike knocked it flying to land at the angry fairy woman's feet. The silver woman picked up the head by the hilt of the iron knife impaling it, completely ignoring the searing effect that the iron had on her hand. She looked calmly at the woman, who we realized with some trepidation was still living, saying "No one steals from me and gets away with it. Besides, men should be frogs, not fish, and you are NOT dead. Yet." She then looked directly at KelLyn and asked "Who among you knows how to open doorways?" KelLyn, wide-eyed, quietly asks for her book, and Jaeger agrees to help her with her spell. They work together to craft a circle of power, and KelLyn asks the silver woman where she needs the door to open. The silver woman bends down and whispers something that only KelLyn can hear. A black hole opens up in the ground. The brownies who had been trapped inside the tower appeared then, and picked up the body on the ground, bringing it to the silver woman. Both the head and the body were dropped into the hole, and the brownies bowed and vanished.

The silver woman then dumped Fife out of the net, untangling him from the strands, and looks at him for a moment before saying that he would make a terrible frog. KelLyn pulls out one of her wands and casts a polymorph spell to bring Fife back to his human form, and the silver woman looks at each of the party in silent contemplation before stepping into the black hole which snapped closed behind her. The brownies reappeared then, and spent several moments thanking us for freeing them. They inform us that "once we let them know, the Gilken people will receive you with happiness. Go to Youp castle and let them know that we have removed their queen." Then they vanish again, and we all look at each other with bemused expressions, deciding that it would probably be best not to mention the pumpkin king directly.

Lan stepped into the lake again and told the merpeople that they no longer had anything to fear from the woman in the tower, and told them what had happened. KelLyn went back to studying the sheafs of paper that we had gathered from the earlier blowout of the tower, and suddenly sat down with an exclamation. She muttered something about "undoing" and starts to rustle through the papers quickly to try to find more about whatever had made her so excited. Shalev approached her then and asked if she wanted to look into the tower, and she looked up with a happy expression and a ready agreement.

We checked Fife over thoroughly, and he seemed none the worse for wear for his time as a merman. His minor wounds had been healed, and other than being cold and wet and grumpy, was otherwise unharmed. Shalev asked if Lan would be willing to check the lake to see if there were any other belongings that had been left behind by the poor souls that had been transformed into merfolk. She agreed to the search, and we made camp there outside the tower.

Shalev after a moment of writing by the fire, handed me a piece of paper with  a recommendation for distribution rights to the treasure, in an attempt to head off any potential arguments about what we discover inside the tower. I agree with his reasoning, but have some doubt as to whether or not it will prevent arguments or cause them. I must admit to being slightly disappointed thus far with our discoveries. This whole place has been more magical in nature, and I am beginning to wonder if there is anything druidic at all in this forgotten place.

As I meditated on these things, KelLyn studied, Jaeger studied, Osman prayed, Fife enjoyed being human again, Tobias sat in watchful guard, Shalev and Amit sat together and we all made our preparations to explore inside, for who knows what traps... or treasures.. we may find within.

The Search for the Lost City - Ishmael's Farewell

Aa' lasser en lle coia orn n' omenta gurtha. 
(May the leaves of your life tree never turn brown.)

Previously in our story...

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 We stayed with the dwarfs helping them around their city as we could for a few more weeks, and then made our preparations to depart towards the enchanted forest and the home of the Crescent Witch. I found out that the Crescent Witch was rumored to live about 5 miles around towards the enchanted forest, so that is the direction that I recommended we travel once we decided to head out. As the Summer Solstice was near, I also spent some time in meditation and ritual for the sacred space. During those meditations, I asked my god and goddess what I should know about the dragon that we faced. A young dwarf child wandered over to me and sat down beside me. She played with her little doll and began speaking to me about the boogeyman. She showed me her doll and told me that the boogeyman had yellow eyes and walked around wearing a green robe. She said she was afraid of the boogeyman, and asked if I were going to get rid of him.

I reassured her that we were going to do our best to get rid of the boogeyman, and she nodded once and then continued to chatter and play beside me for a time. It was only after she had wandered away again that I realized that I should not have been able to talk with her at all, since I do not speak any form of the dwarven language. I ruminated on what I had been told, and later on that evening shared the knowledge that I had been given with the rest of the party.

Osman spent some time praying to his god as well, in a supplication for more living animals to leave with the dwarfs here. His god answered him and another goat appeared. The one he had previously called forth wandered over to him to greet it's companion, and then suddenly went into labor, delivering 12 healthy kids, much to the amazement of any who witnessed the births.

Shalev also prayed, and was also gifted with a new spell. His goddess granted him the ability to see the measure of a soul. He told me later on over our afternoon tea that it was his hope to be able to use this ability to help Fife with his curse. He asked if he could try the spell out on me, and I agreed, though I warned him that because of my long life, and because I was an elf, he might not be able to get a read on me as he would a human.

On a whim, Shalev donned his white dragon armor, and discovered that it would allow him some additional perceptions. He was able to clearly see the dragon flying overhead in the distance, and discovered that the dragon always flew in a counter-clockwise pattern. As we were planning to head to the forest, that would mean that we traveled opposite the dragon's flight path, and would also mean that we would perhaps have some extra time before having to deal with the dragon face to face.

Hearing that bit of information, Lan looked closer at the giant mushrooms that grew along the edge of the bowl shaped valley. After a few moments of examination, she told the party that the entire valley was one gigantic fairy ring, with the mushrooms acting as a border. She also said that the dragon was of fairy origins, and was likely trapped inside.

As we were packing our things, Ishmael approached the party solemnly. He told us that he wished to retire here and make a life and a home as the Forgemaster, as the dwarfs currently did not have someone to act in such a capacity, and he felt like this place had been waiting for him to arrive. The dwarfs accepted his request to stay with much enthusiasm, and agreed to help him set up a house near the great forges.

The party accepted his decision with some sadness, and that evening we held a feast in his honor, toasting his accomplishments, and giving what blessings we could for him. He gave us three of the water skins filled with the restorative waters from Martek's tomb. He also requested to keep the layan chain mail rings that Lan had, in order to try to find a way to craft them into something, and she agreed to let him have them. Ishmael offered to watch over the bulk of our supplies and belongings so that we could travel minimally encumbered, and we agreed, consolidating the necessities down to a single cart and our individual packs.

The following morning we set out, and it felt strange to leave Ishmael behind. I am sure that he will be happy there, surrounded by accoutrements of his faith. I hope that he lives long and his fires never die out. I cast my Whispers of the Way spell to see what the road ahead might tell me, in hopes that I can continue to refine my understanding of the spell, and also in hope that it might give us a fraction of a warning of potential fores. Travel was somewhat subdued, but after about a day we managed to make our way over to the Crescent Witch's house without incident. The house was actually a massive tree, stretching nearly 50 feet across and 250 feet high. Awestruck by the giant, I touched the bark to feel it humming with life. I could also feel some kind of enchantment, but could not discern what it might be. The door to the dwelling was 12 feet tall, and located in the center of the trunk. I looked back at the part members to see that they were nearby, and then knocked on the door. I glanced at the window near the door to see an orc peeking through the window at me. He opened the door and asked something in an odd gutteral language.

Seeing that none of us understood what he asked, he repeated the question in a language that sounded much like the one that I  had heard the dwarfs speak in the city. When Shalev stepped forward and answered the orc in the same language, it confirmed to me that it was indeed dwarven, as I knew that he had been studying it fervently while we were staying with the dwarfs.With Shalev acting as translator, we found out that the orc was asking if we wanted to come inside and eat. He seemed desperate for an answer, which made us all extremely wary of the circumstances. Fife, not understanding the language, and seeing the orc in front of Shalev, reacted as a trained bodyguard would, and leapt in front of Shalev to try to tackle him out of harm's way.

Or that's what he would have done, had he not still been affected by the bad luck curse. Instead of tackling Shalev out of the way, he lunged off to the far left of the tree and fell to the ground, landing on his face. Thankfully the fall did not do any damage to him, and as he lay there for a moment to catch his breath, Lan peered around Shalev and noticed that there were brownies working frantically inside the tree. She warned us all in the party common language not to accept any offer from anyone, and to let her do all of the talking for the time being.  She then turned to the diminutive fae inside the tree and began speaking to them in their own musical language.

As they conversed, I notice that the orc tried again to convince us to come inside and have something to eat, and when we again ignored his request, he attempted to intimidate Shalev into doing what he wanted. Shalev looked at him once, and then shrugged off the glare as if it were nothing, turning to the side to look more directly at Lan. The orc seemed taken aback by the casual dismissal and visibly slumped a little, finally resigned to the fact that we would not cross the threshold of the house, nor eat anything he offered.

While Lan continued to converse with the brownies, I helped Tobias move the cart off to the relative cover of the giant mushrooms growing nearby. We disguised the cart as we had been practicing, and once that was done, we set up a basic camp. After another few moments of rapid dialogue between them, Lan turned to us and said that the brownies had been cursed to work for 10 years making baked goods that were addicting to consume. If anyone ate one, they would immediately crave more and more, and if they could not pay for what they consumed, they became indentured to work along side the brownies in servitude. She then turned to KelLyn and asked her to confirm the nature of the geas on the fae, and she verified that it was a spell that had been cast by a secular druid, but that the power level was impossible to overcome in it's current state.

I made a note here of the power levels that I had seen before, with the ever-growing grass, and wondered at just how much the crescent witch had done to the balance of this place in her efforts to make things as she saw fit. I also began to see why the secular druids were seen as a menace, and contemplated further discussion with my god and goddess about the differences between secular and sacred. Those prayers would be for another day, however, as my mental reverie was broken when I heard Shalev began speaking once again in the rumbling dwarven language. He asked the orc at the nature of his debt to the fae, and then handed him 9 gold pieces, declaring in dwarf and then again in common, that his debt was paid. The orc cheered and promptly handed the gold to the brownies before stepping out of the house with an audible sigh of relief. He told Shalev that we could call him Jaeger, and Shalev offered him a space in our camp, should he wish to travel with us for a time. He accepted, and the rest of the party warily welcomed him to the group.

I cautioned Shalev to be wary, and to remember that none of the rest of the party could understand their conversations. Just because Jaeger seemed friendly at the moment, did not mean that he could be trusted immediately. Shalev noted my concerns, but I know that he is instinctively trusting, and expects others to be the same way. Time will tell with Jaeger.

During the third watch that evening, Osman encountered two ragged looking dwarfs coming from the direction of the gnomish city of Ehru in Damazen. They were wearily making their way towards the dwarven city in Quadling, and seemed surprised when Osman called out to them. They drew weapons, not understanding, and Osman called out to Shalev who then woke Amit and I. The three of us went out to greet the weary travelers, and seeing that they were sore in need of some rest and some healing, we escorted them back to camp where we offered them bread and salt, a meal, and what healing we could provide. They gratefully accepted the offer and as we tended to them, the apparent leader of the two spoke to us. He told us that they had come from the war, and that they were all that remained of the forces that had been sent out.

He went on to say that they had been fighting against the Ros Babans, and that the city had fallen. The forges were cold and closed, and the outer walls had been destroyed. I hear Tobias curse under his breath, and remembered hearing about the Ros Babans in descriptions of some of his previous adventures. While the dwarf spoke, Lan worked at healing him and his companion, and she asked him about the fairy ring and the history of the valley we were in. He told us that the fairy ring had been here for 400 years or more, and that the dragon had been here long before that. The dragon arrived shortly after the death of Savoyez - the duke of the central city who had tried to keep everything running after the second wizard of Emer, Liamond, had blown everything up. Liamond was Deuxson's grandson, and had been known to meddle with magic that was beyond his capability to control. His greatest desire was in striving to revive ancient orders, and at that statement, I heard KelLyn snort softly under her breath. He had been attempting to craft an artifact when the power went out of control and exploded, causing all of the walls of the city to shatter. In order to contain the energy, he summoned a great one over the well in the center of the city, and the great one surrounded the city making it a sacred space. 

After they had been healed, fed, and moderately rested, the two dwarfs said that they would take their leave and continue toward the city in Quadling.  We told them about Ishmael and they seemed surprised that the city once again boasted a Forge singer, saying that they were keen indeed to meet the newcomer. We wished them well, and they departed to complete their journey. We continued on as well, at first light. 

Seeing that we were making slow and uneven progress on the remains of the path, Jaeger stood on the cart and made hand motions as if he were casting a spell. Shalev quickly reassured us that he was not attacking but was attempting to help move things at a more efficient pace. KelLyn looked on in amused disbelief, saying something about watching an orc try magic being good for a laugh. She swallowed her words quickly, however, when after a moment, the ground beneath the cart rose up in a gentle swell, and our rate of travel noticeably improved. 

With Jaeger's aid to our travel, it only took us another day to reach the edge of the enchanted forest. I recommended that we make camp here, and I offered to scout ahead into the forest.  The trees here were unusual in their enormity, and I had never seen anything like them in all of my years. The outer ring of trees had bark that peeled away like paper. I got an overwhelming sense of enchantment here, and the moment I stepped foot into the shadowed depths of the trees, my skin began to prickle as if a thousand ants were crawling over me. It was not painful, but it gave me an urgent sense of warning about this place that I heeded warily. There were wide avenues between the strange trees, but aside from those I could see no path. I noted that the second layer of trees was different than the first, with shredded brown bark. The ground here chattered away at me, but I noticed with some interest that it was in a language that I did not understand.  I decided then to make my way back to the camp, lest Shalev and Tobias grow concerned by a longer absence. Distance was not what it appeared to be here in this place, and when I finally emerged from the odd forest, I found myself 300 feet away from where I had originally entered the grove. I made my way back over to the party and told them about what I had observed. 

Once I was safely back with the party, I decided to cast my druidic power out in an attempt to call the keepers, but it seemed to have no effect. KelLyn offered to cast her Nature of Things spell to tell me what she could find out about the forest. After a moment or two of concentration, she informed me that the forest here had a massive Create/Modify Spirits and Demons enchantment over it. I tried again to sense where the keepers might be, but once again only got the general sense that the lived here.  

Shalev insisted that if we were going to go into the forest, that we should all be tied together, and immediately began working to secure everything and everyone with rope. Tobias and I took point and gave ourselves an extra measure of rope so that we could continue to scout ahead.  The ground here was still chattering away in that odd language, so  I paid it no additional heed. We scouted ahead about 100 feet or so, and I noticed that each layer of trees was different than the one before. None of the trees were familar to me at all, and when I used my druidic powers to try to tell me what they were, I got very strong sense that I should actually taste the tree in front of me. Confused and extremely wary about this, I tried perceive again, and again got the sense of "taste and see." So I stepped up and tasted the tree.. only to discover that it was not a tree at all, but rather an enormous stalk of celery. The entire forest was actually a vegetable garden of gigantic proportions. 

Alarmed at the realization and what it might mean, I quickly found Tobias and told him that we needed to find the rest of the party. We followed the rope only to find that it had been chewed through by a white deer. It bounded off gracefully, and Tobias tried to go after it, but the rope that tied him to me prevented it. We knew then that the rest of the party had been separated, and we began making our way back the way we came. We heard a crashing sound, and saw a 9 ft tall white rabbit with a rope tied around its neck come stumbling into the area where we were. Fife was holding on to the other end of the rope, wide eyed, and Tobias shouted at him to let go of the rope. Seeing us there, he tried, but ended up falling into the trunk of the celery stalk and getting stuck. Tobias climbed up and managed to cut him out successfully, and Fife was not injured, though he said that he could not feel his arm at all. I took a look at him, and could see no injuries at all, but his entire arm was completely relaxed and numb. We gave him some water to try to wash the sap off, and I took a closer look at the excretions from the celery stalk. I could not discern anything specific about it, however, but bottled a small amount of it for later study, making a note of it's apparent numbing properties and being careful not to touch any of it myself.  I said a quick prayer to my god and goddess to ask them if there was a specific way to call to the keepers, and they answere me telling me that the keepers can be called by doing something exceptionally good, or exceptionally bad. 

I tired to use my ability to destroy plants to create a safe path for us out of the garden, but the grass immediately grew back in. I noticed that the trunk of the celery stalk where Fife had landed had not repaired itself, and so I decided to try to heal it as a way to draw the keepers attention. I created a spell that allowed me to heal the plant successfully, at least partially, and with that done, we decided to  make a basic camp here and try again to make our way back to the party after some rest.   As we settled in, I performed a ritualized blessing of the garden area in general. As soon as I had completed the prayer, I felt a minor earthquake, but could not discern the source or reason. 

During first watch that evening, Fife fell asleep briefly and woke up to see a large white boar staring at him. It headbutted him unconscious and he woke up later screaming about a large pig. During second watch, Tobias encountered a group of very large birds. They were completely silent, and had no heat signature at all, and after watching for a moment flew away on soundless wings. On my watch, the birds returned and perched on one of the giant vegetables. I greeted the bird, but got no response at all. As we broke our camp the following morning, I felt another earhquake, and then suddenly we were all picked up off of the ground by a tangle of green vines. It felt like we were flying in the air, and then at the apex of whatever had lifted us, I looked down to see the enormous hedge maze of vegetables stretching off in the distance. Then it felt like we were falling, but being gently held by whatever this tangle of vines was. We were set gently on the ground next to the rest of our party, and I realized that a giant green man had picked us up out of his garden like weeds.

I looked up at him in wonder, for I had never seen such a being before, and I heard him tell Shalev that he had a strange association. I realized then that Shalev must have encountered the giant and asked him to retrieve Tobias, Fife, and myself from the gardens. Shalev responded to the giant that he was on a last adventure before going home to get married. The giant then asked him to wait a moment, then walked away, returning a few moments later with a pouch which he handed to Shalev. The pouch contained a green gemstone earring which was described by the giant as being able to strengthen his personal resolve. He gifted the earring to Shalev as a wedding present, and then blessed him directly with fertility. Shalev thanked the giant for the gift and the blessing, then asked him if he would like any additional plats for his garden. The giant accepted one of the strawberry plants that I had been cultivating, and I asked if there was anything that he needed. The giant replied that he had lost his fork some time ago, and went on to describe a trident like object. Tobias offered him the trident that he had taken from Sacatha's tomb, and the giant accepted it gratefully, giving Tobias a large box in return. I asked him if he could tell me anything about the druids that had been here once, and he said that while there used to be druids here, he had not seen any in a long time.  He then bade us farewell, and walked away with the minor earthquake following his every step. 

I was disappointed that he was not able to tell me more, but resolved to continue my hunt for more information about this place. We gathered our things, and started traveling once again. The orc made that same motion with his hands, and the spell that he used before started up again, making our travel much easier and faster. After a while, we stopped to camp, and covered the things per Shalev's request. He asked KelLyn to take a look at the earring, and she said that it had a powerful protection spell for vitality on it. He asked about how it was worn, and she offered to pierce his ear. He agreed to let her, and she did so quickly, placing the earring in the lower lobe of his right ear. I did a minor healing spell on the wound to prevent infection once the earring was in place, and taught him how to care for it until it completely healed. 

Shalev asked Jaeger if he knew of any enhancements to the senses, and Jaeger did something which improved Shalev's eyesight for a time. Watches all happened thankfully without incident, and we continued to make our way aorund the forest. Shalev, acting as a translator between KelLyn and Jaeger, asked KelLyn if Jaeger could look at the staff pieces that she carried with her. KelLyn, suddenly realizing that her goddess was the goddess of orcs, said a prayer to Leilanna in hopes that she would be able to learn how to speak orc, and be able to communicate directly with Jaeger.

Leilanna actually manifested in front of KelLyn, and said quite sternly that she was very cross with KelLyn about things. They got into an argument with one another, and as a result, KelLyn's request to learn orcish was granted, but her magic was partially blocked for a time, and she was geased into killing the orcs that are doing bad things in Leilanna's name. As they argued with one another, I saw Tobias make a rude gesture at Leilanna, and wondered at why he would dare such a thing. I then looked over and saw Shalev step in front of Jaeger, and say something in dwarvish. I heard Leilanna's name, and Jaeger suddenly lunged forward to attack Shalev. Amit immediately picked Lan's body up, as she had fallen over dead when Leilanna manifested, and moved her over to the cover of the first row of trees.. onions.. in the garden to protect her. Shalev tried to stop Jaeger, but ended up being knocked over.  Jaeger tried again to attack, this time by beginning to cast something, and Fife threw a spear to stop him. It bounced harmlessly off of the base of Jaeger's neck, and Osman also tried to shoot the orc in the foot. His arrow also bounced off, and Shalev managed to move out of the way and over toward Amit and Lan. 

Jaeger's spell completed, and suddenly 22 oak trees sprang up in a circle 100 feet across. They grew up 84 feet tall, some of them emerging in the middle of the giant's vegetable garden. Leilanna and KelLyn continued to argue with one another and Jaeger moved to attack again, but suddenly stopped when he realized that they were speaking in a language that he could now understand. Leilanna tuned then to the orc, and cast something over the entire party, saying that we all needed to just chill out and relax. Then she disappeared, and Lan woke back up, seemingly unaware of what had just occurred. 

Shalev, Amit, and Lan appeared to be unaffected by the spell, but the rest of the party was in an almost drugged state of euphoria. KelLyn and Jaeger seemed to be best friends now, and were chatting back and forth in orcish. She cast her spell that allowed her to talk through fires, and the trees all fell towards one another, crashing together and igniting into one giant bonfire. An orcs face appeared in the flames, spoke to KelLyn briefly, and then disappeared. Jaeger looked awestruck by what he had seen, and he and KelLyn then started reading books to each other. KelLyn read her book of Fyrewerian to Jaeger, and as she read, the stumps of the trees turned into deep metal and sank into the ground. Realizing the dangers of having two apparently drunk mages reading from a magic book, Shalev handed them both a drink that he had spiked with the powerful sleeping potion he had picked up several months ago. They both slumped over in a deep sleep, and Tobias and I decided to separate ourselves from the party and spent some rare time alone together.

The next morning we woke up still feeling the effects of the spell that Leilanna had cast, though not as strongly as before. We broke camp, and moved out toward the ruins of the gnomish city. Another two weeks of travel passed uneventfully before we were finally able to make our way around the edge of the vegetables and back to the ring of mushrooms on the outer edge. As we made camp that evening, we examined the box that the giant had given to Tobias. It was unassuming on the outside, being only about 2 ft across. When we opened it up, however, we saw two metal rings with a rope ladder strung between them leading down into a 10 x 10 x 10 room. Only Fife and Tobias were able to fit through, and they climbed down inside to see that it was a large, empty space. They asked us to try moving the box, and we could do so easily. There was no change in weight or mobility, and we all instantly realized the benefits to having such a container with us. After a brief discussion, we moved the box up onto the cart, and then transferred all of our most valued things down into the room for safe keeping. 

Shalev took the time to ask KelLyn to look again at the piece of paper that I had snagged from the lizard king's temple for some reason. She agreed to do so, and confirmed that it was most likely the name of the demon that she had imprisoned in the gem. She pocketed the piece of paper again, and went back to studying her magic.  A moment later, she looked up with a huge smile on her face and said "that's it! I know them all now!" and suddenly a raven appeared in front of her to squawk "We are watching you arch-mage. The council of Fyrewerians does not appreciate your presence on this contin..." but it did not finish the declaration, as Amit pounced on it at ate it whole almost as soon as it had appeared. He swallowed the mouthful of bird, then spat out feathers in distaste and looked plaintively over at Osman who laughed and created some goat meat for him instead. 

We continued to travel, and we observed the large birds we had seen in the gardens flying in groups of 10. They would fly into the mountains, and then fly back, carrying animals of various kinds which they would haul over towards the broken city of Emer. When they left the city, they did not carry the animals with them, and we speculated that they were bringing food for the dragon. I made a mental note then, of the white animals that had watched us in the gardens, and thought that this was probably how the dragon always seemed to know where people were on the roads. 

After a few more days of travel, we finally reached a huge stone gate much like the pass through the mountains at the dwarf city. There was no city here, however, only large carved figures and battlements. The entrance was completely sealed off, and the statues were wearing battered gold crowns that looked like they had been chewed on and clawed at in an attempt to remove them. 
We paused here, and found some cover to make camp while we discussed whether or not to attempt to go into the gnomish city. We recalled what the two dwarfs had told us about the Ros Babans, and the constant battle that was waged behind those doors. After much discussion we decided that it was not worth trying to break through the doors, and that we would continue on around the circle of the valley in the morning. 

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So KelLyn is an arch-mage now. She seems quite pleased with herself, and as powerful as she is, I have no doubt that this will only fuel her desires for knowledge. I still do not trust Jaeger yet, though he seems to have mellowed out considerably. Having another competent magic user in the party has definitely been useful, though I can not overlook the apparently causeless attack on Shalev, depsite Shalev's reassurance that no harm was done. I am still wary. 

The dragon knows we are here, and knows that we are coming. It would be foolish to assume otherwise. It is possible that the dragon simply longs to return to the fairy realms, though I do not begin to think that it would be that simple. 

I am no closer to discovering anything about the druids who were here before, but the more I learn about them, the less I am liking what I hear. Either they were not druids at all, though the spells I have sensed here have a secular druidic cast to them, or they were druids who were so power hungry that they did not care about the repercussions of their actions. 

I still need to talk to my god and goddess. There is much that I do not understand about sacred vs. secular, and much more I do not understand about what can be done about our present situation. I am still awestruck at having met the Keeper that the dwarfs told me about, but can not deny that I am disappointed at myself for not knowing what questions to ask him. I have been feeling rather useless to the party as of late. I do not know enough about sacred druidry to provide more than minimal help there, and even my archery skills pale in comparison to others. The adventures ahead still call to me, the desire to see what lies ahead is still strong.

Much to do. Much to learn. 
I just hope that it will be enough.
 

The Search for the Lost City - Ishmael Sings

"The [music] produced is not in the mouth, not in the body, but, in fact, in the bones. It is all the bones in the body which are singing, and through that song, you hear the creation of worlds.

Previously in our story...

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Once we were inside the passage through the mountains, KelLyn attempted to cast her spell that would show us the best path. The worn road in front of us lit up suddenly, illuminating a massive waterfall flowing out of the ceiling in the center of the area. The water flowed over a large crystal in the center of a fountain, and that crystal was the source of the light that now permeated everything. The fountain flowed down into a deep pool, and then into several channels that curled their way into the abandoned cityscape before us. The ceiling of the cavern was 65 feet up, and rough hewn, and aside from the cascade of water, was otherwise featureless. The waterfall looked to be the central water source for the city, and the water itself was clear, clean, and arctic cold.

The city itself looked to be completely abandoned, and everything here was covered in a heavy layer of dust. The buildings were crafted for someone about five foot tall, and everything was made of stone. We notice that there are no doors or window coverings, but simply a single stick placed across the entryway of each domicile. The dwellings closest to the fountain seemed to be old workshops and store fronts, and a quick glance inside showed only more dust.

I recalled that it had been about three years since the dwarfs and gnomes had retreated deep underground, and pointed out to the party that this place appeared to be abandoned around that same time. From what we could see, everything had been packed up and taken with them when they left. Since we had a good source of water at hand, we decided to make camp here for the night, and Tobias and Osman quickly scouted out rooftop vantage points for the evening watches. Shalev walked over to the well, and noticing that there were coins in the bottom, took out a single platinum piece and tossed it into the water as well. Whether he thought it was a wishing well, or simply did it for luck, I do not know, but there was no visible or tangible effect from his action.

We took the opportunity to refill the water barrels and skins from the fountain, and the pack animals and horses were also able to drink their fill. Lan took some time to swim in the frigid waters, frolicking with delight in the crystalline pool.

Fife and Ishmael had wandered over to explore the abandoned buildings to see what they could find. As soon as Fife moved the stick placed in front of the door way, there was a shift in magic in the area. I saw KelLyn look up suddenly in alarm and begin trying to discern what changes she obviously felt in the air. She mumbled to herself as she worked, and I heard her say something about a luck line running through the area, a brief sharp laugh out loud before saying "so that's where it went!" and something else about curses. She continued to mutter and concentrate, and I wandered over to see what trouble Ishmael and Fife were getting into.

Fife had discovered that the building that they were scouting through was at one time a jeweler's shop. He found an unfinished gold statue in one of the drawers there and showed it to Ishmael. The statue was a humanoid figure with six arms, and fittings where gems would have been fit in for the eyes. Ishmael hefted it once and examined it closely. He said that it was made by Hassan Abdel-Qa'id and was likely an idol of some kind for home or personal use. It was not made of solid gold, as he and Fife had originally thought, but was merely plated somehow. Fife pocketed the idol, and Ishmael found some apprentice quality tools that had been left behind that he also took.

As they left the building, Fife replaced the stick across the entrance, and they moved over to the next building. As he moved the stick out of the second doorway, KelLyn looked up sharply, then stood up and walked over toward him. Ishmael, after looking inside the building, called me over and said that this appeared to be some kind of tea shop. I stepped inside to look around a bit, and though most of what I found inside was mouldered and unusable, I did also find a half brick of tea from the mythrian farms of Kestria. Labeled Big Blue, this tea was one that I knew to be exceptionally valuable and delightfully enjoyable. I checked one small corner of the brick to see if it was still good, and discovered below the top layer, the leaves were as fresh and aromatic as the day it was pressed into a brick. I wondered why such valuable tea had been left behind, but placed the brick in my bag with a smile at the thought of being able to enjoy such a delicacy. I also noticed several chipped and broken tea sets, and I gathered these together in a small box to bring to Shalev. He enjoys tea as much as I do, and it was my thought that he might be able to repair the tea services and use them as trade goods. The porcelain they were made of was very fine quality, and I could see them being of some value when restored.

I stepped out of the building, and stretched up to my full height again with relief. These buildings were not made for someone as tall as I was. I looked over then to see KelLyn fussing over Fife and telling him quite crossly that he was to sit down and not touch anything until she could take a look at him to figure out what had gone wrong. He did as she asked, though I could tell that he was somewhat annoyed about it, and after a moment of concentration she told him that he had been affected by a very powerful curse that would make him extraordinarily unlucky. She said that even though she was the one that created the luck line that ran through this area, she had no idea about how to manipulate it, or how to remove such a curse, and that he needed to be extremely careful with everything he did until she could figure it out. She pointed at the sticks that lay across the entry ways and said that they were a protection spell that triggered when moved or crossed, and warned Fife and Ishmael very sternly not to touch anything else.

As they discussed options on how to remove the curse, Fife moved over to the fountain and tossed a coin into the water in an attempt (or hope) to gain back some of his luck. The coin skipped across the surface of the water instead, and only fell into the water after bouncing off of the edge of the fountain. He tried again, and again, it skipped all the way across and back, this time only falling into the water when it bounced off of his chest. Frustrated, he tried for a third time, this time holding the coin in his hand and placing it directly into the water. He ended up falling face first into the pool instead, and began to drown. Lan, seeing his predicament, swam over and dragged him out of the water, but he had already stopped breathing. She turned into her seal form and bounced on his chest a couple times to clear his lungs of the water he had inhaled, but he still did not revive. She shifted back to her normal form and looked at him for a moment, using her skills as a healer to see why he was still not responding. KelLyn walked over and gave him one of her healing potions, and once they could get him to swallow the liquid, it was successful in reviving him. He appeared not only revived, but rejuvenated as well, and KelLyn began reiterating her earlier statement that he should not touch anything until she could figure out how to remove the curse. She moved away to her bed roll then and began rummaging through her books to research how to accomplish this.

After we set up camp for the evening, I spent some time in meditation to my god and goddess. They were, as they often are, silent, and I wonder sometimes whether their silence is meant to be a comfort. I brewed some of the Blue tea, and found it to be just as aromatic and delicious as I hoped it would be. With the first sip I took, I was saddened somewhat by the fact that I had so little of it. I savored it slowly, and even offered some to Shalev, as such a tea should be shared. I made a note to try to find more when I could, and to use what I had only sparingly. As we shared the tea, I spoke with Shalev about the history that I knew about the tea, the groves, and the makers. He said that he had heard of the name Kestria before, and relayed to me what Tobias and KelLyn had told him about the group that they had encountered on a previous adventure. Led by a paladin and some clerics of a god of knowledge , and disguised as gnomes, they were from Kestria, and were apparently on a grave robbing tour of the region when Tobias and KelLyn had encountered them. The mage with them was responsible for the death of one of the party members that Tobias and KelLyn traveled with. These were knights from the same order, that KelLyn had wanted to attack out right as we journeyed to Eeyore. Her vehemence against them makes more sense now that I know about their previous encounters.

I can't say much about tomb-raiding, as we have done our fair share of that lately, but the tale of their violence and aggression was something that I took note of, should we encounter them again.

The evening watches passed uneventfully, and the next day, we broke camp to continue on through the mountains. As we broke camp, Ishmael asked me if I would be willing to lay some false trails to some of the other entry ways with their cursed sticks still in place. I was able to do so easily, though I was not foolish enough to cross over the sticks to put footprints in the dust inside the dwellings. As we made our way past the fountain, KelLyn and Lan both said that they felt a massive wave of energy from behind us. We looked back to see that the doorway behind us had closed, leaving us only one direction to travel. Forward.

Osman fretted a bit over whether or not the red mage that had been hunting KelLyn was responsible for blocking the way back, but we reminded him that it really made no difference, as we had no plans to travel back that way in the first place. If the red mage thought that blocking us in would cause a panic then he truly does not know our party at all, and if he waits for us at the other end, then it will be his downfall to encounter us so cornered. Shalev did confirm, using his compass, that the mage was not in the mountain following us, but I do not know if I fully trust the answers his compass gives him, as it can be quite literal.

As we traveled along the passage, we saw several unmanned check points, but no other side galleries or pathways aside from the one that we walked. Tobias scouted ahead for a few hours, as he did not have to rely on torches to see what lay in front of us. When he returned he said that the pathway continued to switchback, but that there was nothing else of note. After two days of travel, the switchbacks got noticeably longer, and we began traveling for longer periods of time, with breaks for rest only when the animals showed signs of fatigue. Three days later I noticed that the temperature in the passage was growing discernably more heated, and I recalled that this was not the heat of the desert, but rather the heat that was given off by the mountains that men called volcanoes, and the liquid earth within them.

I cautioned the party members that it would likely get very hot very soon, and gave everyone a reminder on how to survive the heat using my knowledge of deep desert survival. I changed out of my heavy leather armor, and into my light weight layered desert attire, and it felt strange to have the robes and gauzes billowing about me once more. KelLyn and Osman worked double to keep the animals cool and hydrated, and we all took extra precautions to remain the same way. Shortly after that, we turned the corner of the last switchback to see a river of molten earth hissing red-hot through an enormous cavern. There were stairs leading down to the glowing vein of magma, and a great stone bridge that arced high above the flow.

We retreated back around the corner and away from the sweltering heat, and began to break down the carts to carry them across the bridge more easily. Tobias used his desert bred abilities and speed to ferry pieces across as quickly as he could. Shalev worked to herd the horses and oxen across safely. They balked at the heat at first, but he was able to coerce them over to the other side. Tobias carried Lan quickly over and she hid herself inside one of the water barrels to stay away from what - to her - could be a killing heat. Osman and KelLyn make their way across safely as well, and they help Shalev and Tobias begin reassembling the carts.

Ishmael, eyes bright with excitement, reached out and requested that I give him my sword. Knowing that he thought he had at last found a heat source great enough to repair it, I complied, handing the blade over to him and watching him disappear down the stairs towards the river bank. I stayed where I was, there in the protected area of the switchback, and Fife remained there with me, saying that Ishmael was his friend and he would not go until he did. Within moments of Ishmael's disappearance down the stairs, I heard the unmistakeable sound of the ring of his hammer on an anvil. The clear bell of the hammer striking the anvil was deep and resonant, and it echoed through the chamber like a song. A song indeed it was, with the deep tone of the anvil, the higher voice of the hammer, and then over all of it was Ishmael, raising his voice in perfect harmony with the call of the metal. He sang, and as he sang, he worked. I heard a keening wail begin, and the hairs on the back of my neck raised in warning, because it was the call of a northern banshee. I looked warily, but could see no source for the sounds, and then remembered that the others had said that my sword made that sound when I wielded it. I wondered then, at what Toshi had done in the making of such a blade, but the thought flitted away as I continued to listen to Ishmael work his magic.

Tobias came across then, and said that the gates on the other side of the bridge were beginning to open. The last of the supplies and equipment were ferried safely across the bridge, and the doors opened to reveal several dwarfs, eyes bright and intent on discovering the source of the songs they were hearing. Shalev and the rest of the party moved everything into the much cooler mushroom groves beyond the doors at the dwarfs insistence. I continued to stay out of sight and listen to the ringing songs of Ishmael's forging. As he continued to sing and hammer, the hallway, cavern, and bridge illuminated brilliantly with a blue light that pulsed in time with the harmonies being created. I heard a hum vibrate through the chamber, down to my very bones, and then the noise stopped completely. I continued to wait, not knowing what to expect, and then I saw Ishmael coming up the stairs with several dwarfs following him closely and chattering with him in their language. He handed me my sword, and it gleamed as if newly made. I tested the blade, twisting and flipping it to find that the balance was good, and the blade was perfectly edged once again. I thanked Ishmael with a bow of my head and then followed Fife, Ishmael, and the troop of dwarfs across the bridge.

As we were moving across the massive bridge, Fife - still under the effects of being cursed - tripped over nothing and fell, sliding over the edge of the bridge and towards the torrent of white hot lava below. I was fast enough to grab him to keep him from falling, but needed Ishmael's help to pull him completely to safety. We made it the rest of the way across without incident to see a resplendently garbed dwarf holding a blue staff waiting for us on the other side.

He guided us through the doors and I saw Shalev and the rest of the party there with all of our equipment waiting in the center of a grove of gigantic mushrooms. The elegantly dressed dwarf talked with Ishmael, and Ishmael acted as a translator for the rest of us. The dwarf welcomed us to Quadling and asked with great curiosity why we were here, because they had shut the doors years ago. We told him of our quest to find the city of Emer, and of my desire to see the blooming sylvan tree that lived there. He confirmed that Emer was just north of here, but warned us about the dragon that lived there. He told us of the war where the dwarfs went to aid the gnomes, and how that war had depleted not only their weapons and armor supplies, but had also been disastrous to their population.

The city of Quadling was nestled just outside the mushroom groves, in a verdant field of lush grasses and open sky with the mountain pass directly behind them.  The dwarf told us about the city of Emer, which rested at the crossroads between this city and the other three cities in the valley. Each city corresponded to a different element, and had at one time had trade goods and abilities unique to each quadrant. Quadling corresponded to fire, with the great forge at the center of the mountain pass that they worked. Gilken, to the north, was linked to air. Wankae to the east was the city of waters. Damazen to the west was known for earth and deep metal. This is where the gnomes went to.

In the center of it all was Emer, the elven city with the famed sylvan tree which was known to bloom twice a year in the spring and fall with glorious pink blossoms. It was once great trade hub for the entire area. It's walls were made of a deep green stone, and the roads that stretch out from it were made of gold. When the dragon came, he took the city and the elves that resided within disappeared. The old dwarf said that one druid was still rumored to live within the tower at the center, but could not tell us more about whether or not that was still true. He told us that the dragon was ancient and incredibly powerful. His scales matched the color of the city walls, and he was crafty and intelligent. The dwarf told us how the dragon had ripped the roads up to prevent easy travel to the city, and that he was known to take human form to patrol the roads that remained to find foolish adventurers and kill them before they knew what they faced.

Ishmael introduced Shalev as the noble he was, and as the Master of Trade Routes. The dwarf showed keen interest in this, and agreed to set up a meeting with the remaining merchants of the city to see what would be available for trading. The dwarf also mentioned their desire for food supplies, if we had any to spare, and Osman offered to create fresh meat for them using his clerical ability.

Shalev offered some of the oxen as breeding stock for goodwill, and when head dwarf mentioned again that they needed weapons, Shalev offered one of the three swords he wore of mystical quality make. The dwarf took it, tested it, and called it acceptable. Shalev, seeing the dwarf exhibit astounding skill with the weapon, asked him if he would be willing to teach. The dwarf said that his name was Sulayman and that he was part of a group of rangers at one time, and if Shalev didn't recognize him but still wished to learn, he would be willing to teach him.

As we talked, we made our way over to the northern edge of the city, where the dwarf informed us that we were welcome to make camp, as he knew that their homes would be uncomfortable for those of us of taller stature. Shalev, in his element here, began to set up camp in the fashion of a merchant caravan, instructing us that if we had goods we wished to trade, that we should display them just so. I brought out the Penician bows to trade, and the broken crossbows that we had acquired were also laid out. The oxen and horses were allowed to graze freely, as the dwarf said that there was an enchantment on the grass that would cause it to grow back the next day. There were no trees here, and when I asked about it, the dwarf told me that the great fires beneath the surface prevented tree growth, and that an enchantment prevented anything else from growing here as the grass would choke it out. What crops and gardens that they did have were in terraced containers throughout the city. I asked about the enchantment and he told me that the witch who had lived here was responsible for casting it because she wanted everything to look pretty. He also mentioned to me that if I wanted to see trees, that I should visit the forest on the western edge between here and Damazen, where the keepers of the forest were known to reside. He said that the keepers of the forest were reclusive, and looked like the trees that they cared for. I kept my excitement hidden as I thanked him for the information, making a silent note to visit the ents as soon as we could safely do so.

Osman, who had been creating meat for the city, stopped briefly and spent a moment in prayer to his god. After the prayer was finished, he cast his spell once more, but this time the meat didn't run out until everyone in the city had been fed. Knowing their need for living livestock, he prayed again, and after another moment, a goat appeared in thin air, which he caught and set gently down on the grass. The obviously gravid animal bleated happily and sauntered off to begin grazing, and the dwarfs simply stared and murmured a strange word to each other.

I spent some time as well walking among the plants and small gardens of the city, blessing what I could, and checking the health of the gardens. I noticed that the dwarfs of the city followed me at a short distance, watching my every movement. I heard them saying that odd word over and over again, but when I turned to ask what it meant, they all bolted back into their homes, only emerging again after I had turned back to my walks. I wondered again about the enchantment here, and recalled seeing both KelLyn and Lan cast a spell that would tell them the nature of things. I thought deeply about this, and then prayed to my god and goddess to see if I might be able to learn a similar spell. They responded to my request by granting me the knowledge of how to cast the spell Nature of Things, which will allow me to sense the type and strength of another spell. I thanked them quietly, and tried out my new ability to find that the spell on the grass was an exceptionally powerful Create Plant spell. I could not tell specifically what spell was cast, but the sheer power of the enchantment was awe inspiring.

Ishmael spent long hours in conversation with Sulayman, as the dwarf was a priest of the order that Ishmael followed. The discussions were quietly animated, and I could see the excitement in Ishmael's face as he learned more about the faith that had called him, and the abilities that he had been granted. Fife also showed some interest in this, as the dwarf showed Ishmael how to concentrate beer with a spell. Fife listened intently to what Ishmael was telling him, and I was amused to see that he had decided to convert because of the beer. He was still affected by the curse, and when he contritely talked to the dwarf about it, he was told that while the dwarf could not remove the curse, the druid that was rumored to live in the center of Emer might be able to do so. Fife then showed the unfinished idol to Sulayman, and asked if the jeweler who crafted it was here in the city. The dwarf looked at the piece and said that sadly the jeweler and his son had gone off to aid the gnomes during the war, and had been killed there. He told Fife to keep the idol if he wished, and Fife put it back in his pocket.

Shalev and I spent some time walking around the city together as he talked with the dwarfs about potential trade goods. He came across a pair of older dwarf women who worked in silk. Shalev asked if they would be willing to trade for it, and they were a little confused, as they only used the soft material for their infants. We explained a little bit of desert culture to them, and they agreed to trade their silk for one of the oxen. Shalev asked if they would be willing to work with the rope makers to craft lengths of silken rope, and again the dwarfs looked confused, but interested in the process as they had never considered making rope out of the silken threads before now.

During my walks among the plants and gardens, I also took the time to check on the animals. I found that three of the oxen were pregnant, and that three more were just out of season. I told Shalev this, and recommended that these were the ones we should leave here with the dwarfs as breeding stock.
We gave one of the pregnant cows to the dwarven women in trade for silk, and I spent some time with them showing them how to deal with the gravid animal, and how to handle her once she went into labor. They were thankful for the information, and for the cow, and immediately guided it back into their yard.

I heard that odd word murmured in my direction again, and I asked Ishmael what it meant. He told me that it meant "druid" and I asked the dwarfs to tell me about the druid who had lived here before me. I learned that her name was Khaibar, and that she had two brownie servants named Kheblar and Kheblor who helped her run a bakery. The called her the Crescent Witch, and the Witch of the South. I asked if I might be able to see her house and her work place, but the dwarfs were overcome with another bout of shyness, and would not tell me more about it.

Shalev and I continued our walks through town and come across another merchant who worked in a beautiful translucent porcelain. Shalev traded some of his personal funds to have a lovely tea service made for his bride to be, and I traded some of my gems for a personal set for two. Shalev also mentioned that the porcelain might be a highly valued trade good, and the dwarfs agreed to begin crafting the delicate material into cups and services for trade. He also commissioned a tea service for ten people, and when I asked him about it, he responded that cups would break, and that I would live longer than he would so this way I would have replacements for the cups. I was amused and touched by the gesture, though saddened to a brief melancholy by the vivid reminder that I would indeed, calamity aside, outlive everyone.

We also came across the tea tree groves, and both Shalev and I showed great interest in their local tea. Shalev asked how much a case of the tea would cost, but the dwarfs named a price that was beyond what he had currently. Shalev told them that the tea would be highly prized in the desert cultures, and they were also interested in becoming a part of the long term trade agreements. I asked if they would be willing to trade for a different tea instead, and they agreed with interest when I showed them the saplings of the Philosopher's Tea that I had been cultivating from the cuttings that Shalev and I took from Ma'tron in the elven city. I traded them one living sapling for a case of their pressed tea, and asked if I could also have a few cuttings of their own tea trees for my personal gardens. Shalev took note of the comparative trade of like goods, as I don't think he really realized until that point that not everything needed to be traded for coin or gems. They agreed, and gave me several cuttings which I immediately planted in small containers and added to my own collection. As they were taking the new sapling away to transfer into their own gardens, I heard them begin to sing to the plant. I immediately paid closer attention, as the spark of what the Maker told me about forgetting to sing still resonated deep within my thoughts. I listened to their songs, and while I noticed that they did not know the words, that this was quite clearly something that they had heard the Crescent Witch do. I memorized the tone and cadence of the song, in hopes that when I did eventually run across the spell that corresponded to it, I would be able to recognize and remember it clearly.

I also paid attention to the fact that they used tea tree oil almost exclusively here. I asked if they would be interested in olive oil in trade for their tea tree oil, and they were very excited about the influx of a different oil to use. I created several jars for personal trade between them and myself, and then asked them to go through Shalev to set up the major trade with the oasis.
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With trade goods of  silk, oil, tea, porcelain, and iron the city here has vast potential for the trade routes Shalev works so tirelessly to create. He has already crafted letters of agreement to be taken back to the oasis, and works with the dwarfs here to establish the beginnings of trade not only with the oasis, but with Waycam and Eeyore as well. It will be interesting to see what changes such an influx of new goods will create.

I have much to consider here as well. With the rumors of the druid that lives in Emer, and the stories of the druid that lived here, there is much to think on indeed. It is my hope that I can visit the home and workspaces of the Crescent Witch to see if I can learn anything more about her, and perhaps learn more about Emer, the tree, and the dragon as well. I need to spend much time in meditation and conversation with my god and goddess. I am trepidatious, not about what I might learn, but about how to deal with what lies ahead. The keepers of the forest to the west also call to me. I want to see what they might be able to tell me as well, though I fear the rest of the party might balk at the delay that staying here might mean. We may have some time, as the way behind us is closed, and there is much to do here in this city before we move on. In the mean time, I will watch, I will pray, and I will continue.