The Lost City - Blasphemy in the Academy

"When dealing with the undead, best to do it quickly. You never want to leave an enemy behind you. " - Cora

.oOo..oOo..oOo..oOo.

Previously in our story...

After we had rested for a few moments, we continued out into the main room to check the remaining door near the entrance. This opened up into yet another guest bedroom which was in complete disarray. The furniture was in shambles, and there were piles of bat guano covering the floors. Seeing this, I immediately looked up and pointed out the two giant bats that hung sleeping form the ceiling. 

I motioned for the rest of the party to remain there at the door, and I quietly picked my way through the room without disturbing the bats. I moved slowly and silently across the room where I see that there are a number of skeletons and bodies strewn around. I looked at the mess for a few moments and then used a quick spell to turn the bodies to dust, preventing any chance of them getting back up again. Still keeping a wary eye on the giant bats, I continued to search, and after another few moments, I realized that there was no way to avoid getting into the mess. I put on a pair of the heavy tapestry gloves that Shalev had crafted during our past adventures, and proceeded to dig through the piles and rubble. 

My silent rummaging was not in vain, as I discovered a trio of delicate bracelets made of woven silver which looked like they were of elven craft. I delicately removed myself from the room after another search, and with a good deal of regret threw the ruined gloves away. I thoroughly cleaned the bracelets before putting them in my belt pouch, and vowed to take a bath as soon as I was able to do so. I regretted the loss of the tapestry gloves, as they served as both a protection and a reminder of all of the ingenuity that Shalev had shown with developing ways to avoid traps and dangers. I made a mental note to see if I could craft a new pair of safety gloves when we made it back to town, and then I rejoined the party at the door. 

We continued our explorations down the hall to another three bedrooms which were all undisturbed and heavy with dust. A quick check of these rooms revealed nothing except windows that had been heavily coated in soot. More investigation lead us down the hallway and to the left over into the kitchen and larder areas. All of the food here had long since mouldered to dust and rot with age, and there was nothing salvageable among the detritus. We noticed a set of stairs over in the northeastern corner of the room, and I recommended that we complete our exploration of this floor first before descending below. There was a brief discussion on the matter, but it was agreed that they did not want to potentially leave an enemy to come up behind us, so we made our way back out to the hallway. 

Within a small closet we discovered a blue robe with silver lightning bolts embroidered on it hidden in a pile of rotting clothes. KelLyn said that the robe had some sort of protection from magic spell on it, and Osman claimed it, folded it carefully and put it in his pack. The doors to the right of were we stood opened up to reveal that a great wall of rock blocked any way of moving forward. Scott tried to pull the rocks loose, but all he managed to do was cause the rock slide to tumble further into the room. We all took a hasty step back out into the hallway, and watched in dismay as the rocks shifted and slid across to block the entrance of that room entirely.

Osman was insistent on exploring behind the rock slide, however, so we made our way back around to the kitchen and over to the grand dining room to try to find another way to the room behind the rocks. We noticed, upon entering the dining room that the ogres - Ghasts, as Tobias called them - were gnawing on something that appeared rather fresh. We cautiously decided to leave them to whatever their meal was, and carefully picked our way over to the opposite doors. As we approached, however, the ghasts stopped their meal to tell us that we were not allowed to go that way. 

We eyed them warily, but they only stood in our way and did not attack. I found myself holding back a shudder of revulsion at the unnatural undead things, and found myself distinctly uncomfortable with the idea of leaving them alone. I kept what Jaeger had told the party in mind, however, and was more wary, perhaps, of the disastrous effect of breaking magical agreements. Shaking my head, I was one of the first ones out of the room, and we all made our way across to the kitchen again where we had seen the stairs leading down below to a small cellar. The room was small, boasting only a simple table and chairs in the center. On the table sat a cut crystal decanter, half full of a red liquid, and two crystal glasses. I picked the decanter up, and noticed that the liquid sloshed viscously inside, thicker than wine, and I began to get an uneasy feeling about what might be lurking down here in the dark. 

I put the decanter quickly back down on the table, only to see Jaeger pick it up to examine it. He looked at it a moment and then handed it over to Scott, who pulled the stopper to sniff curiously at the thick liquid inside. He blinked and said that it was blood, and I felt the sense of unease solidify like a stone in my stomach. I spoke up to the party then, and told them to remember when we had faced vampires before. I looked around the room carefully, noting to the party that there was no dust here, and that it looked like it had recently been cleaned. I pointed out two doorways that lead to additional rooms which were filled with shelves of wine. 

I took a few moments to examine the wine rooms, and pointed out that a few of the bottles were worth keeping. In the northern room, I noticed small footprints on the floor which meandered through the cheaper wines before disappearing into the far wall. I followed the footprints curiously, and when I came to the wall, I found a lever hidden in the wine bottles which opened up into a small walkway. It was dark enough here that even Tobias could not see beyond. Lan spoke up then and reminded me that she could see in true darkness, as there was no light in the depths of the ocean, and she took a look inside, telling us that she saw a shadowed figure hanging in the air. I lit a torch and tossed it into the room, but it hit a wall of something that extinguished it. 

Not knowing of anything else that could cause such a thing, I immediately warned the party that I suspected a gelatin cube and started to back up quickly. Osman fired an arrow towards the unseen wall, but it clattered to the floor harmlessly. I asked KelLyn to create some light, and she was able to illuminate the room. We saw no gelatinous cube lying in wait, thankfully, but we did see the body which was hanging from the ceiling by wires, suspended and dripping slowly into a pentagon shaped pool full of blood. 

We cautiously made our way into the room, and Osman began to empty some of the cheap wine bottles for some reason. There was nothing else of note in the room, and Jaeger said that he could see no magic. I spoke up saying that we could not just leave whoever that was hanging there like that, and the rest of the party agreed that we should take him down. Jaeger tried to use magic to unhook the body of the man, but the spell was not strong enough, and the naked corpse fell into the pool splashing blood all over Scott. Scott cursed at the party, but pointed out the door in the southern wall as he tried to clean himself off. 

Scott asked for the torch then, and shone it into the hallway where he saw a number of enormous rats seething towards us in a wave. One lunged at Scott, but he fell backward with a shout of surprise, and was able to avoid being bitten. We counted six rats, and two of them broke off and headed towards me. Lan immediately began trying to cast a spell that would tame one of the vermin attacking me, and Scott reached out to grab at two more in an attempt to smash them into the floor. KelLyn grabbed one of the rodents and attempted to cast a spell to drain it. 

Not having the time to draw a weapon, I dodged the attacks of the rats around me and worked at gaining better ground so that I could defend myself properly. KelLyn drained one of the rats, snapping off one of it's teeth in the process, and the rat fell to the ground, stunned but still breathing. Osman took quick aim, shooting two of the rats, and I reminded myself to continue to work with him on archery skills once we eventually got out of this place.

Scott used his strength to bodily pick up the two rats that were attacking him, wrestling them to keep their teeth and filthy claws away from him. Jaeger muttered something and waved his hands in a gesture that caused one of the rats to be smashed into the ceiling with a gust of air. He then began trying to copy KelLyn's spell to drain one of the remaining rodents entangled with Scott. The one that KelLyn had drained earlier had crawled over to bite at my leg ineffectually, and while it was occupied, Lan hit it over the head with a stick that she had picked up. 

Scott continued to brawl with the two giant rats he held, even as KelLyn and Jaeger were attempting to drain them, and he smashed the vermin into the wall to stun them long enough for KelLyn's spell to kill one of them outright. Osman continued to shoot arrows at one of the rats, and it took an additional three hits before it died. I finally was able to draw my sword, and quickly killed two of the remaining rats, even as Scott held the last one up, preparing to smash it into the wall again. 

Osman shot an arrow at the rat's head, and Jaeger redoubled his efforts to drain the creature further. Lan noticed then that two vampires had emerged from hidden doors on either side of the room, and she managed to shout "Vampires!" to the rest of the party before they cast a spell to charm us all. Osman and Scott were both instantly captivated. Not noticing that the majority of the party was unaffected by their spell, the vampires calmly told the party that we shouldn't be down here, and that we should kill each other. 

Osman turned to draw on KelLyn, and Jaeger reached out to touch the hilt of his sword. The two vampires were dressed like royalty, and they strode into the room calmly to observe the effects of their commands. The female vampire walked over to where I stood, and thinking me charmed, leaned in to bite me just as the male vampire approached Lan to do the same. I flicked my eyes at Lan to see her moving her hands subtly in preparation for a spell. 

Scott threw the dead rat that he was holding toward Osman in a fury, thinking that Osman's shot to the rat was meant for him, and he charged at Osman with a yell. I saw KelLyn cast a spell which caused the air to crackle with electricity, and I ducked out of the way of the female vampire's bite to strike at the male vampire with my sword. The sword began to glow blue as I ran through the arcing effect of KelLyn's spell, and my strike to the male vampire hit with all of the electrified force of a lightning bolt just as the spell completed in a glorious cracke of blue lightning, striking the female vampire in the face. 

Both of the vampires looked stunned, but recovered quickly, backing out of range as we felt the Protection from Evil spell that Jaeger wove complete. The dead rat that Scott had thrown at Osman missed hitting him, but the two were still fighting with one another under the influence of the charm spell. I looked over to see Jaeger drag his sword out of the sheath, and point it at the female vampire, in the middle of casting another spell. The male vampire turned toward me and glared at me, his eyes glowing red as he attempted to pull me under his influence. He told me that my sword belonged in the heart of the mage, but did not specify which mage to attack. 

The female vampire changed then into a large wolf and snarled "Come at me!" to the Jaeger. KelLyn looked calmly at her and cast another spell towards her to try to turn her to stone. The wolf turned, avoiding the spell, and opened a third concealed door to flee into the room as Jaeger ran after her. Lan turned into her seal form and wiggled her way over to the male vampire in an attempt to bite him. He looked over at her, and I replied to his comment by looking at him and stating "no, I think it belongs in yours." before stabbing him. The strike hit home, but did not bring the vampire down, and he tried once again to capture my will. This time, he was successful, restating in obvious annoyance and through gritted teeth that I was to kill the mage; and I was forced to move toward KelLyn to attack her. 

Scott and Osman were still fighting, and I saw Osman squirm free of Scott's grasp to fire an arrow point-blank at his head. The shot missed, and the two kept trying to wrestle each other to the ground. I stalked toward KelLyn as slowly as I could, fighting the effects of the dominate spell with every step, and KelLyn stood stone still with a look of growing fury on her face. She raised her arms then, and I heard the sound of stone cracking as the rock carved coffin from the other room smashed through the door to hit the male vampire in the head. It shattered against the opposite wall, but the distraction was enough to break the vampire's hold over me, and I dodged out of the way as KelLyn continued to cast. The male vampire looked absolutely furious at the destruction of the coffin, and even moreso when Jaeger completed his spell to fling the female vampire up through the ceiling into the room above. 

We heard screaming then, from up above us, and the sounds of fighting break out, but could not break away from the fight with the male to investigate further. Osman, having finally broke free of Scott's grappling attacks, began to cast a spell just as I saw Lan began to weave her hands in a similar pattern. I realized that the two of them were working separately to summon a fairy, but had no time to ponder the ramifications of such an act as the male vampire tried once again to reassert his will over me, snarling at me to kill them all. 

A much older vampire came through the door at that point, with an irritated look on his face, as he asked the younger vampire if this had still not been finished yet. The arrival of his sire caused the younger vampire to blink, and I was able to throw off his hold on me and turn towards them both. I threw a wooden stake at each one, though my shots flew just shy of the mark. 

It was enough to distract them both from seeing that KelLyn had begun to power a circle, and then another, and then a third. Scott closed again with Osman, and tackled him bodily into the pentagram shaped pool of blood on the floor, just as Osman was trying to complete his spell. Apparently being tossed bodily into a pool of blood while casting a spell is bad for one's fortitude, as Osman emerged, covered in gore, only to begin vomiting violently. This was enough to make Scott recoil in revulsion, and he backed away quickly to turn and face me instead. 

Lan's spell did complete, and a diminutive fae creature appeared before her beginning to rant with palpable passion about how they had had enough. Lan managed to calm the shining creature down enough to tell her that their fairy circle had a vampire problem, and the two of them began discussing quickly what to do. A moment later, the room filled with cats, just as KelLyn completed her third circle. The air sparked and cracked as KelLyn shouted out "Undo!" with a crashing ring of power, and the older vampire dissolved into an explosion of dust. The younger vampire, looking horrified at the violent destruction of his sire, fled into one of the secondary rooms with a second stone coffin and a staircase that led upwards toward the severely damaged ceiling. We could still hear screams and fighting from up above us, and Lan tried to pacify the fleeing vampire but failed. Not wanting to risk his escape, I ran over, sword drawn, to take his head off. My strike was solid, but I was not able to decapitate the vampire completely, though Jaeger used a gout of air to throw the undead thing up through the hole where the female vampire had smashed through the ceiling. There was a renewed sound of screaming and fighting but then after a moment, all was silent. Jaeger looked at the party and cast a spell that broke the vampire's charm spell over those affected. 

Osman still lay on the ground violently retching up what appeared to be half formed goat fetuses, and Scott still glared at him angrily. We helped Osman to his feet, and then set about going through the secondary rooms to destroy coffins and resting places. The destruction that had been caused by Jaeger's air spells, and KelLyn's spells had destroyed anything useful that might have been in the room, so we made our way slowly back up the stairs. 

When we reached the main area, we saw the two ghasts standing there among two piles of ash and the remains of the group of mercenaries that Taryn had traveled with. The ghasts looked at us in confusion before saying that they didn't need to be here anymore, and Jaeger promptly banished them. The party made our way slowly back over to the cart outside where KelLyn immediately cracked open one of her kegs of beer to get drunk. Tobias and Taryn came over to the party, Tobias with concern on his face. I gently waved his attentions away as I took a seat near the fire pit, and told him of all that had happened underneath the academy. He would not let me rest until I had assured him shortly that I was unharmed, so I turned his attention towards Scott and Osman, both of whom were still glaring at one another, telling him that he should worry more about them. 

Osman was still violently ill, and while we were all exhausted, we didn't feel safe to camp here for the evening. We couldn't go anywhere with Osman so incapacitated, however, so we stayed where we were and rested. Osman's sickness lasted until sunset, and he and Scott continued to argue heatedly until I had Tobias forcefully separate them both to opposite sides of the camp until they could cool off enough to be civil to one another. 

A few moments after that we noticed Jaeger, who had followed more slowly behind the rest of us, finally strolling back into camp. Jaeger and Scott said something, and Scott said shortly that there was still a ghoul out there somewhere. Not having the energy to do anything else at the moment, I used a basic spell to clear out the campsite, where we set up watches and I made a simple meal of fish and vegetables. 

.oOo..oOo..oOo..oOo.

Vampires. Again. 
Admittedly, that could have gone much worse than it did, and I am thankful that we have all emerged relatively unscathed. The academy has been cleared and the undead within it removed and destroyed. This makes me feel some better on a fundamental level, although this whole area still seems dangerously out of balance. 

There has been no sign whatsoever of the dragon, and I am curious about this. As with so many things in this place, nothing is quite what it seems here. There are pieces of the story that I have not yet figured out, and I am afraid that I will not be able to do so until it's too late. 

We still have the two chapels and the rest of this alley way to explore before we move on, but I don't know if we will find anything of use. 

The Lost City - The Return of Taryn the Bard

"My journey never stops - I only pause at places you could hardly dare to quest." - Cora

.oOo..oOo..oOo..oOo.

Previously in our story...

Tobias returned shortly, dragging the unfortunate archer by the scruff of the neck. As he stalked back into our camp, he informed us of a second, smaller camp of ragtag mercenaries hidden over in the ruins. The archer appeared scuffed up, and bore some slight injuries from falling of of the roof where he had tried to ambush us earlier. Scott made some attempts to talk to them man as Lan worked to heal his hurts, and the man told us that he attacked us because they didn't want us to find the stuff first. 

I looked at his mismatched armor, and the odd long bow that he carried, and asked him what "stuff" he was referring to. He grew tight-lipped at the question and told us that the leader of his little band was named Gavin. Glaring at the captive man, Tobias again picked him up by the scruff of the neck, and our party gathered our things and promptly escorted him back to his group. 

As we approached their untidy campsite, the archer's companions notice us and draw weapons. The archer shouts at them not to attack, and they warily allow us to bring their man into the circle of tents. They all bore mismatched armor, and inferior quality weapons, and I wondered at how far they thought they could get in such a place so ill prepared. I chuckled to myself at the thought, as it reminded me of something Shalev might have said, and I kept a watchful eye on the mercenaries as they talked to their returned man. 

They told us that we were looking in the wrong place over by the intact buildings, and that we wouldn't find the dragon there, but rather in the center of town. We all simply stared at them, and they began to realize then, I think, that maybe we were more than we seemed to be. A murmured discussion broke out among the mercenaries, and one of them stepped forward after a moment to state that he was looking for a way out of this place entirely. His companions all glare at him at the apparent betrayal, and we warily say that we can help him with that. 

The man said his name was Taryn, that he was a bard, and that he wished to join our group; and I saw Tobias and KelLyn startle in recognition. They stared at him curiously, and I remembered that there had been a bard with that name that had been a part of the party when Shalev and I had first joined the group. I remembered too that the man had disappeared only a day later, and hadn't been seen since then. I wondered if this was the same man, and I could see from KelLyn and Tobias' scrutiny that they were considering the same thing. KelLyn in particular glared at the man as if his appearance was a personal betrayal, and I recalled that she and the bard had once had romantic entanglements. 

Taryn's companions all begin arguing with him, asking him why he would want to switch sides so easily, and why he would want to go over to such a group, especially when they didn't even have good armor.  I saw Tobias smirk at that statement, and with a prideful flourish, he removed his outer cloak to reveal the imperial layan armor that he wore.The leader of the little ragtag group gaped at the armor and then took a closer look at the rest of the party members, seeing that we all wore quality armor and carried weapons that appeared to be far better than the ones they had. 

His eyebrows shot up in surprise for a moment, and then he shrugged and said again that the dragon was rumored to be in the center of town with a sniff, before subsiding into a grumpy silence when he realized that we were already well aware of that fact. Taryn gathered up his single pack of belongings, and joined our group without even a goodbye to his previous companions, and our party,now plus one more, set out to return to the street where the mage academy was located. 

As we trekked back over, Scott approached me looking like he wanted to ask me something. I looked at him curiously, and he asked me to gently break in the introduction of Jaeger to the new party member. I continued to stare at him, wondering why he thought I would be the best person to ask about such a thing, and he went on to say that it would either be me or Lan, and did I really want Lan trying to explain anything? I sighed and nodded slightly, and then relay the request to Tobias, as he speaks the common language better than I do. He shrugged and said he didn't see what the issue was. Scott then asked him what the long bow was, and they began discussing the use of the weapon. As they talked, Scott asked Tobias what an "army" was and I saw Tobias just stare blankly at him for a moment before remembering that Scott was also new to the party, and only a farm hand. He began to patiently explain to Scott what exactly he had gotten himself into, and I turned my attention to Taryn. 

I did not know much about him from when he was with the party before, and I asked him what the group of mercenaries had been looking for. He said that the dragon had been rumored to have been trying to piece together a "great weapon" which had been a gift from a great mage to a competitor in the courts where the dragon had attended in human form. The competitor had been challenged to a fight, and the weapon had been destroyed. The dragon was trying to reassemble the pieces, and anyone who leaves is sent out with the message that the Head of the Jade Court is looking for the items, with a promise of riches beyond measure if they were found. 

I pondered this new information at length, ruminating again on what the winged man had said about everything being tied together. I lost myself in these thoughts until we eventually returned to camp where KelLyn and Jaeger were still working on trying to dismantle the traps on the doors. We appeared to have good timing, for as soon as we walked up, Jaeger reached out and opened the front door to the academy. KelLyn agreed to wait with the cart for a while, as the efforts of disarming the spells had exhausted her and she needed to rest, and the rest of the party stepped inside the door. 

Inside, we saw a great empty room with double doors ahead of us. The walls are tastefully decorated with art that depicted stylizations of all four elements. Jaeger walked forward ahead of the rest of the party, and I saw him recast the ward to surround himself and the door. Lan cast a spell to see if there were magical traps on this door as well, and she found that there were. She said that the spells were of a control nature which involved perceptions, and involved both air and plants. Lan commented that the door appeared to be made of "one of her trees" with a nod in my direction, and I walked up to the door cautiously. I could sense, once I got close enough, that the wood was indeed sylvan, and that it seemed quite content that it was a door. I had a thought, and tried to ask it to open in high elven and then druidic. I got no response, but I wasn't really expecting one anyway. As I studied the intricate carvings on the door, I noticed that there were words hidden within the plants, written in elven. 

I read the words out to Lan, but she did not understand them, though surprisingly, Jaeger's eyes brightened and he said something to Lan. She told me that he had asked that I keep repeating the words, and I do so, listening as Jaeger tries to copy my pronunciation until he is able to replicate the cadence and accent correctly. The words were a spell, and when said by someone who used magic, they caused the wood of the door to turn transparent. 

We looked through the clear door to see two long oak tables, several chairs, and a hutch filled with crystal glasses and decanters. It looked like it was a dining hall, though long disused, and we took note of the double doors on the opposite side of the room. I reached out and knocked politely on the door, and we were promptly greeted by a ghoul. I cautiously asked if we could enter the room, and it - he - replied that we could not because we were not mages. I motioned for Jaeger to move forward, saying that he was, and that we were in his company. The ghoul looked critically at Jaeger and asked him to prove that he was a mage. Jaeger refused, saying that as a mage, he would not deign to prove himself as his presence here is proof enough. The ghoul accepted this statement, and then returned a short moment later to apologize, saying that there was no one here that could open the door. The ghoul thought for a moment, and then came back a  few seconds later carrying a heavy bowl, which he dropped on the handle to make the door swing open. 

Inside the dining hall, we noticed that there were also doors to the right and left of us, and that the silverware was all engraved with the magic seal of the academy of Emer. We opened the door to the left into a large room with glossy polished floors and an enormous layan chandelier that suspended from the ceiling. The floors of this room were covered with trash and detritus, and as soon as we stepped into the room, the two ogres in the corner stood up and turned ponderously towards the party. They glanced at us in confusion and said "You're not supposed to be in here?" to which we hastily replied that the ghoul had let us in. The ogres looked even more confused, if possible, and said that we didn't look like mages. Scott, thinking quickly, said that we were wearing traveling clothes which the ogres seemed to accept as a rational explanation. Osman spoke up then and asked if they would like some fresh meat? The ogres looked at him, looking for the offered meat, and Osman conjured some goat haunches that we lobbed their way. 

As they ate, we saw that they were clearly undead things, and I have to repress a visible shudder at how wrong they feel. As they consumed the goat, we saw their open wounds heal, and Jaeger warned us that the ogres were pledged in service to this place, and that they should not be disturbed. I argue that they are wrong and that their presence here hints to something much larger controlling their allegiance. The rest of the party agreed that they should not bother the ogres though, seeming not to heed my warning about the potential of a larger threat, and I turn to leave the room entirely. A few moments later, the rest of the party followed me back into the main room, closing the doors to the ogres' chamber behind them. 

The next door opened into a long and dusty room which looked as if it had served as a gallery of some sort at one time. I saw that there were clear footprints in the dust on the floor, and lighter colored squares on the walls where the paintings had been removed by thieves. I noted the broken window and figured that was the method of entry and exit. Upon further examination, I notice that the nails that had hung the paintings were made of layan, and I pulled a handful of them out of the wall, putting them in my belt pouch.  Seeing no more evidence of the nature of the thieves, and no other doors in this room, we turned back to the main room to go through the next set of double doors. 

These doors opened to reveal a lavishly furnished bedroom which also boasted two full harps, a cello, and a number of other instruments. There were two full sets of armor, each holding a halberd, which stood on either side of the door. We explored the room, which looked like it might have been set up as a guest room, and Taryn eyed the cello with undisguised awe. He picked it up reverently and muttered to it as if it were a long lost lover. We also saw a strange shaped instrument off to one side of the room with white and black buttons on it. It looked almost like a harp that had been laid on it's side, except much larger. Scott and Taryn spent several moments  trying to figure out how it worked, and Taryn named the odd thing a "side hammer harp." 

Taryn was insistent on trying to figure out how to take the odd instrument with us, but it proved to be too heavy to more easily, and so with a sad sigh, he agreed to leave it where it was. He brightened noticeably though, when Tobias reminded him of the cello and the two of them went back out to the cart to deposit the instrument in a safe space and catch KelLyn up on the happenings inside. 

Once they rejoined the party, we made our way over to the main room and opened the doors to the right this time. This was a small sitting room with overturned furniture that was in shambles. The floor was smeared with old dried blood, and there was a single closed door on the opposite wall. The blood smears extended up to one wall which was empty of all other features, and after a moment of examination, I discovered and opened the hidden door to a small closet sized secret room. Inside the room were two skeletons, which were apparently the source of the blood smeared through the room. The two unfortunate adventurers were obviously on the wrong end of whatever had killed them. Their armor had been heavily damaged, but as I searched through the corpses, I discovered two intact vials of holy water, a 50 foot length of hemp rope from the Southern kingdom, and a small locked box with dwarven symbols inscribed on it. I took all three things, adding the vials to my belt pouch and tying the length of rope to my pack. The small box I worked diligently to unlock, and was successful after several long moments and a muttered curse as my masterwork lockpick broke from the effort.  I opened the box to reveal two small dwarven crossbows and a quiver containing 30 bolts. I showed them to Tobias and Osman, who were both thrilled with the discovery. I already carried one of these strange weapons, so I declined the offer, but Tobias and Osman each took one of the crossbows for their own use, and the bolts were split between the three of us. 

The single door at the back of the room opened up into a hallway and more doors, which we explored through thoroughly. We discovered another guest bedroom which boasted a large polished silver mirror. Jaeger made a noise of appreciation at the sight, and walked toward the shining pane, only to jump back as an undead specter lunged out of the reflection towards him. Osman immediately tried to banish it, but failed, and Lan worked her magic to pacify the specter. Taryn, unfamiliar with the threat, drew his needle like sword, and Tobias yanked Scott bodily out of the way of the lunging creature. Remembering the times we had encountered undead things in the pyramids, I snapped open one of the vials of holy water and flung it at the specter which caused it to smoke and to howl in fury. 

Lan's magic completed, and the specter quickly calmed down, only to have Osman's spell go off which enraged it again at the attempt to banish it. Knowing that I had nothing else that would hurt the creature, and wanting to save the remaining vial of holy water in case I needed it later, I moved over to one of the windows to break it in order to let the sunlight into the room. Jaeger picked up the empty vial and began casting a spell then, and we watched as a black shadow rolled down his arm like tar into the glass container. The specter howled again in anger, and Lan tried again to calm it down. She was successful at pacifying the spirit again, and Jaeger continued to concentrate on draining it's energy down into the vial. 

Osman drew his bow and aimed a shot at the shimmering specter, but Scott grabbed the bow and pointed his shot down away from the mirror. The specter and Jaeger continued to be locked in a tug of war, and the spirit gained enough ground to finally touch Jaeger just as Jaeger completed his spell. I heard the tone of his voice falter slightly, but the spell was not affected by the slip up, and the specter dissolved in a fading scream, turning into a thick slurry that oozed into the vial Jaeger held. 

Jaeger looked visibly shaken at the encounter, and stood swaying for a moment before straightening up and walking over to the mirror to examine it once again. The mirror was enormous, and much too large to move in its entirety. Jaeger contemplated the polished silver for a moment and then reached out with his hands, muttering something in magic under his breath, to try to cut a smaller piece off of the larger whole. I set about searching the room and uncovered a pen and ink set, several sheets of vellum, and a scroll written in an old clerical form with notes in magical writing. 

The scroll described itself as being "in regards to the divine restoration of loss of energy. A single use spell," which had been dedicated to the goddess of the waters. I remembered what had happened when Shalev had been touched by a specter, and the draining effect that such contact could have. I turned toward Jaeger and asked someone to tell him that I was going to use the scroll on him, and not to attack me. I read the scroll at Jaeger, and I felt the energy of the spell release gently. Jaeger straightened up immediately, and his eyes shone brighter as the effects of the spell restored what had been taken from him when the specter touched him. 

As this room was fairly secure, even in its trashed state, we decided to stop here and rest for a few moments before we continued to explore. Jaeger was able to remove a small square of the silvered mirror, and I noticed that he touched it to his sword, and half of it disappeared. I noticed that he did this often, offering his sword half of everything he touched, and I wondered at the symbiosis between the two.

.oOo..oOo..oOo..oOo.

The presence of the undead things here bothers me greatly. Especially since Jaeger stated that they were clearly bound in service to... something. It's that something that has me worried. There are a number of things that can command undead, none of which are easy to deal with. It could be that they were simply bound to the service of the place, as I know mages are prone to doing such things, but my instinct tells me that there is more here to it. 

Further explorations here are needed, and likely will give us clues as to what we will face.

I would have expected to feel the presence of the dragon by now, and the fact that we haven't has me wondering.

Taryn has returned to the party. I did not know the man before this, as he disappeared only a few hours after we had joined the party, but the fact that Tobias and KelLyn seem so quickly accepting of him seems to indicate that they bear him no ill will for his desertion. KelLyn especially seems to be affected by the return of her once lover, and seems almost uncertain around him. It is obvious that he remembers nothing of his prior encounters with her, however, and I wonder at how this might play out. She is volatile at the best of times, and having her be so emotionally off center might prove to be disastrous. 

The Lost City - Into Emer

"If there is any wisdom running through my life now, in my walking on this earth, it came from listening in the Great Silence to the stones, trees, space, the wild animals, to the pulse of all life as my heartbeat."  Vijali Hamilton
.oOo..oOo..oOo..oOo.

Previously in our story...

The next morning, we woke to find that the golden winter wine that Tobias and I had drunk the night before still had some effect, as the colors of the world all seemed much more vivid. The effect soon faded, however, and we made our preparations to finally enter into Emer to face the dragon. 

We all knew, to some degree, what we might face going into the city, and each one of us spent extra time examining armor for flaws, sharpening weapons, and reprovisioning. Gearing up for the long journey to the city, and for a battle we were not sure we could win, but knew we needed to fight, we took extra precautions with our supplies. Ishmael watched us all, and bade us luck and fortune as we turned the cart north and set out along the road out of town. 

Thankfully, we faced nothing during the first month of travel, and at the end of four long weeks on the road, we finally reached the end of the fourth large field. As we approached the edge of the field, I noticed a man in grey robes standing at the corner of the corn rows, scowling darkly at us. As we grew closer, I saw that his gaze was most focused on KelLyn, and I drew her attention to the stranger on the road. She said that he was obviously not a farmer, but did not recognize him, and did not care to stop and talk to him. As she seemed unconcerned, we passed the man without stopping, but I kept a watchful eye on him until he was out of sight, and in that entire time, his gaze never left KelLyn. 

A short distance down the road, we saw movement off in the grasses to the right, and we saw three odd looking animals that looked a lot like a cross breeding between a camel and some odd thing with a long prehensile nose. Tobias, having recently graduated from the Monsters class at the university, spoke up and said that the beasts were "Disenchanters" and that they ate magic. He warned that he had learned that they ignore non  magical attacks completely, and that with as many magical items as the party carried, we probably looked like a feast to the creatures. 

Indeed, before he had even finished speaking, they turned towards the party and began to shimmer visibly with a blue electrical light. One of the creatures raised it's long snout in the air and sniffed loudly, appearing to try to decide which of us seemed to be the most magical. It focused on KelLyn and Jaeger, and began to walk toward us, while the other two ignored us completely and continued to paw at the ground where their attention was focused. 

Jaeger drew his sword with a ring, and that was enough to draw the complete attention of the one that had been coming towards the party. It began to jog, and then trot towards us, and when the creature was about 40 yards away, Osman began to chant a summoning spell. As he chanted, a chunk of earth rose up beside him, and he instructed the elemental to move towards the disenchanter just as Jaeger also finished casting a spell. Jaeger's spell seemed to have no effect, however, and Tobias drew his weapons and made his way through the sharp grasses to see if he could discern what had so captivated the other two magic-eaters. 

The grasses were high enough that I could not see what he saw, but I saw him swing one of his maces in a deadly arc toward one of the digging creatures. A small wind rose up around Jaeger, and I knew that my bow would be of no use in this fight, so I drew my sword instead. Osman cast another spell, to no effect, and Tobias swung, again striking the creature that was digging do diligently towards it's buried prize. 

Osman, throwing reason to the winds, pulled out the magical censer and began to swing it in an arc as he summoned again, and this time, something answered. A prince of the fire realm stood before him, and I could see the visible battle of wills between the two. 

Lan leaned toward the beast that continued to trot towards us, and she cast a spell to tame the creature. It seemed to work momentarily, as it stopped its forward movement and stood watching us passively. Jaeger tried again to use magic, but again, it failed against the magic eater. KelLyn also attempted magic, and her spell completed with a chunk of rock hitting the placid disenchanter in the face. I knew that I could not reach it with my sword, and did not wish to get within range to do so, so I tried to convince the grasses to entangle the beast. 

My spell failed, however I did not lose faith in my abilities at the failure. I knew that my magic would be hampered here, and though I failed this time, I felt that I had been very close to succeeding, and made a quick mental note to try calling up actual vines next time instead of trying to use the roots. 

The fire elemental, having only barely lost the battle of wills with Osman, set off through the grasses towards the disenchanters, setting fire to the fields as it walked. It reached the first creature, killing it with a single scorching touch, before proceeding toward the other two and Tobias. Tobias seemed unaware of the approach of the fiery elemental, continued to strike at the obstinately oblivious animal in front of him. 

Not knowing what else to do, and not wanting the fires to rage out of control, I began to shovel dirt onto the flames that I could reach, and I heard KelLyn begin chanting in the magical language she used for her most powerful spells. With a rush, a wall of water rose up out of the ground and swept over the fields, dousing the fires effectively. With the largest of the flames no longer a worry, I shifted my focus more toward making sure that anything left smouldering was extinguished as well. 

The elemental approached Tobias, and reached out to immolate the magic-eaters with a single touch before it turned back toward the party and stalked toward Osman. Osman was still swinging the censer, wide eyed, and attempted to dismiss the elemental prince. The dismissal was ignored, and so Lan tried to disenchant it which only managed to gain it's full attention. Lan quickly asked KelLyn and Jaeger to help her, and the three of them worked quickly, circling one another to gather power for the banishing spell. 

I moved clear of their efforts, not wanting to be nearby if it failed, and made my way carefully through the knife like grass to where Tobias was still digging through the dirt. Together we dug up the piece of KelLyn's staff that had been thrown clear when the potion maker's tower had exploded, and we pulled it out of the ground, blackened and covered in grime. 

We made our way back to the rest of the party to see that the banishing spell had thankfully been successful, and we presented KelLyn with the piece of her staff. She was quite pleased that we had found it, and quickly cleaned it off and fastened it to the other piece that she carried. Once the pieces were together, she fashioned a strap to carry it across her back, and after making sure that no one was injured and that all the fires had been put out, we made our way back to the main road to continue towards the city of Emer.

The area past the fields was wild and unkempt forest. We could see the gleam of the university library's shining dome just over the trees off to the right. As we progressed, the roads got worse, and the evidence of large scale destruction became more evident. Soon enough the rubble remains of the walls of Emer loomed before us, and we decided to make camp where we had stopped for the evening. At dusk, as we had noticed every day, we saw the dragon launch itself into the sky and fly counterclockwise around the area 7 times. There was a sense of tired ritual about the motion, and my thoughts again were drawn to the task of breaking the circle and whether or not the dragon would even be amenable to such a suggestion. The motions it makes and the sense I have gotten of it being trapped here lead me to hope that, perhaps it might be. 

Once camp was made, I recalled the letter that Tobias had given to me while we were at the university, and I used a spell to help me translate the oddly familiar language, which read as follows: 

"My dearest Eamon, 

       I know you are returning to your family in the Iverne mountains to continue in your family trade. I will miss you and the research we did at the library. Mistress Bliss had hoped that you would continue deciphering the elven work on conversing with plants, since you had that natural gift. I understand you will be working on it on your own until things are stable at home. No one born of the road can truly stop traveling. Ruald and I will visit you in two years to see if you are ready to wander, or if a "kidnapping" is in order. We have heard enough of the songs of Brazzemal and Tidoran to last through all the ale of two taverns. The bards here are not as good as those we traveled with. 

      Thank you for the shiny things. i will keep them on my travels as we head to the other continent.

                                                                         Yours in Aroon - 

                                                                                        Pyl"

There was a very faint holy symbol inscribed underneath the signature, but I did not recognize it, nor did I recognize the names that were mentioned within the letter. I found it interesting though, and I recalled that the mountains were those interior spires on the eastern edge of the other continent. Both the high elves and dwarfs lived there. there was only one desert on the other continent, also in the eastern kingdom, that exists solely because of those mountain ranges. There was - is still - speculation that the desert had been artificially created. In the heart of that desert was a dwarfish oasis, and the elven settlements and lands were surrounded by gate towers that were built of stone.

The next day we broke camp and began to cautiously make our way towards the city. Appearance of distance is odd in this place, and though the crumbling walls loomed ahead of us, it still took us another week to reach them. We passed abandoned farm houses and hamlets,all overgrown and unkempt. Nature was taking back her own with vine and rot, and the buildings were crumbling to dust. The gates of the city were missing entirely, being ripped apart by the dragon upon it's arrival so long ago.

There was no noise here, and it struck me suddenly. The silence was absolute, and our footsteps echoed off of the stone pathway desolately. We became extremely cautious then, with the rubble looming large around us in this dead and dying place. The main highway into the city seemed clear, and we were able to make our way into the city proper unmolested. The buildings we passed were all knocked down, and I observed that there was a pattern to the destruction, as if a mighty shockwave had exploded from the center of town.

About 6 blocks further in, the main road became impassable, but we saw that the smaller road off to the right remained clear. We continued onto that road, picking our way through the rocks, and over on the left hand side, I caught a glimpse of what had once been a park. All of the trees were dead and fallen except for 7. Those 7 all appeared to be in full leaf, but oddly colored in gold, red, silver, blue, a clear amber, grey, and a deep solid black that actually hurt my eyes to look at for too long. I wanted to go over to the odd trees, but I could not find a way over the rubble, and as there was no clear path, I made note of them so that I could come back to examine them afterward.

The road turned slightly and wound its way around a large palace structure which was built straight into the outer wall. The walls of the structure were drawn in rather than keeping to the circular shape, and the structure was massively damaged. We followed the road around in front of the palace property, and we came to a crossroad where all four pathways had been cleared. We decided to take the left path, and we saw a set of completely intact buildings ahead. We discussed our options quietly for a moment, and then moved over to the sheltered street to examine the intact buildings further. We discovered that this street appeared to be a gathering of the mage academy and several chapels to various deities. 

Tobias examined the chapels and then muttered an oath saying that one of the chapels bore the symbol of the temple to the celestian order of the paladin that had tried once before to kill the party before I joined them. He told us about the paladin of Celestia, and that while he had no issue with the order itself, he had a personal vendetta against the paladin. KelLyn and Jaeger had wandered over across the road to examine the doors of the mage academy. As they moved closer to look at the doors, they activated the trap spells placed over the doors as protection, which exploded with a gout of flames. KelLyn and Jaeger both seemed to simply absorb the power of the blast, and thankfully none of the rest of the party were harmed. KelLyn said something to Jaeger in his language, and they worked together to cast a ward to surround them and protect the party from any additional fireworks. Apparently, speaking in Jaeger's guttural language was a trigger for yet another trap, for when they spoke, lightning suddenly burst out at them both. Again, the two mages simply seemed to shrug off the power of the spell with only mild annoyance. 

They cautiously began to work together again, and this time they were able to complete their warding which encased them and the whole of the front door with a glowing blue energy. As soon as the ward snapped closed, we saw the sphere fill suddenly fill with water and then immediately drain. While they worked on disarming the heavily trapped door, I saw an arrow suddenly appear in the outside of the ward. I turned, my own bow nocked, and immediately began to scan the buildings and ruins surrounding us. 

Inside the sphere a large rock fell, but bounced harmlessly off of both Jaeger and KelLyn; and then a beam of light shot out of the doorway. Jaeger pushed KelLyn out of the way, and they were both unharmed by the final trap on the entrance. I continued to scan for the archer who had shot the arrow, and soon located him up on one low pile of rubble, aiming another arrow at us. I took careful aim, and fired a warning shot which sheared the buttons off of his shirt. The shot served it's purpose well, as the man startled and his second shot flew wide of it's mark. His eyes wide, he turned and fled into the ruins with Tobias sprinting off after him. 

.oOo..oOo..oOo..oOo.

The Lost City - Some long conversations and a small peace of mind

"Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better." - Albert Einstein

.oOo..oOo..oOo..oOo.

Previously in our story...

We spent about a month at the University researching various topics. I continued my search for information regarding sylvan trees and sacred druidry. The librarian there, a curiously round little man who smelled like old books and ink, informed me somewhat sniffily that all of the tomes and records involving or even mentioning sacred druidry had been checked out by the elves of Emer some 170 years prior, and had yet to be returned. He wailed, albeit quietly, that he feared the books had been lost, destroyed, or being held as a part of the dragon's unapproachable treasure hoard. 

I smiled at him and told him that I and my party were making plans to enter Emer soon, and if I should find the books he mentioned, I would gladly bring them back to the university as long as he would provide me with a copy of them as an exchange. He wiped his teary eyes with a small ink stained cloth and agreed quickly to my proposal. 

He then went back into the shelves and brought out another armload of writings regarding the sylvan trees. He told me that the sylvan tree had been here since before even the elves had arrived. The elves had indeed built the city of Emer around the tree, and that during the height of the city's acclaim, seedlings from the sylvan tree had been sent out to other places. (No, he replied to my immediate question, he did not have a list of the places that the seedlings were sent.) 

He went on, somewhat sadly, to say that the tree was believed to be completely dead now, as it was destroyed by the dragon to imprison the body of the knight. I had a thought then, and asked to expand my research to include any information on how to renew a tree, which provided me with some additional information that I found quite useful. 

I learned that there was a way to renew a sylvan tree from a donor plant. The plant in question would have to be brought in with an elf who lived with the seedling, and a protector who stayed with it until it was planted. This, combined with the knowledge that my ancestors gave to me regarding the ability to regrow a sylvan tree from an existing piece, gives me a lot of hope that I will be able to accomplish my task here. 

I thanked the librarians profusely for their help with the research, and I allowed them to make a copy of my personal herb index as a part of my payment to them. I inquired about their fence, and they told me that the dwarfs and gnomes of Quadling had crafted it. 

As I rejoined the rest of the party members, Tobias handed me a letter written in an oddly familiar desert language. I shared with them the information that I had learned regarding both the tree and the dragon, and they agreed with my statement that we should return to Quadling to talk to Ishmael in order to get some iron weaponry. 

Scott offered to help us with the horses, and we made our way out to the road and on back toward Quadling. Our travel there was thankfully uneventful, and I noticed that the plants that we passed looked strange to me. I made mention of this, and Scott said that he had some skill in potion craft, and identified the odd plants as likely components for potion making. We decided to leave the plants alone, and after a two week journey, arrived again at the verdant grasslands of Quadling. 

We made our way to the center of the little town, and immediately set out to find Ishmael. Ishmael greeted us quickly, but warmly, and asked what had brought us back to his step. Tobias handed over the deep metal hammer that Shalev had shown him before departing, and he accepted the gift with small thanks. We caught him up on our adventures, and told him of Shalev's leaving. we commissioned Ishmael to make some iron arrow heads and spear points for us. 

We saw Fife there, working at the forges with Ishmael, and though I am pleased to see that he has found his way here safely, he was quite angry at seeing the party. He immediately launched into an angry outburst and threatened violence if any of us came near him. I stayed well away, and approached Ishmael quietly to ask if our stay would cause any issues. Ishmael shook his head and told me not to worry, that he would keep Fife busy and well away from the party. I thanked Ishmael for his insight, and asked him if he would mind sharpening my sword (again.) He looked at me oddly and asked what exactly I keep doing to the sword to dull it so. I told him about the encounter with the blue dragon, and he snorted once before saying that that would, indeed, be a good reason to have dulled the edge. 

He agreed to sharpen it for me, but warns that it would take some time, and asked if we could run a shipment of supplies down to the castle of the sorceress of the south. I brought the request to the rest of the party, and they agreed to the trek south. Ishmael brought out an ornate deep metal gate, and with the help of a number of people, we were able to load it onto a wagon to transport. We resupplied, and rested for the remainder of the day, and then set out the following morning. 

Two weeks into the journey, as we camped one evening, KelLyn alerted the party to the fact that she felt something odd. Her magic sense is acute, so we all were instantly wary of what might be about. Scott looked at everyone on edge, and grabbed a wood cutter's axe to arm himself as well. KelLyn pointed at a small metal sphere sitting inconspicuously near the fire pit and said that was where the magic was radiating from. Considering how many magical items the party carries with it, the fact that she picked this item out from all the others was impressive. 

She examined the sphere carefully, without touching it, and learned that it had a powerful create fire spell inside it. She immediately picked it up and threw it as far as her formidable strength would allow toward the ridge line of mountains we traveled near. At about 40 feet into the air, the sphere exploded with a deafening detonation, and it was clear that had KelLyn not seen the sphere in time, it would have killed us all. I immediately began to scout the area, and quickly saw a man wearing dark robes attempting to hide in the grasses a short way behind the party. He had remained to see the handiwork of his death sphere, and I approached him silently but rapidly to try to capture him. He saw me before I could get close enough to him, and shouted "Death to the Imperialist Merchants! You will not live to regret crossing the border of death." before disappearing in a cloud of foul smelling smoke. 

I searched the area where he had been hiding thoroughly, and found a small metal ring with a stem on it that looked like it might have been the key that activated the death sphere. I also found a scrap or paper fluttering in the air which, upon examination, appeared to be a sketched out map showing how to get into the bowl from the mountain pass, should one be willing to travel straight up to the top of the mountain and then down again. It was a treacherous and deadly path, but I made a note of it as a potential way out of this place. 

There was some additional scribbling on the paper that I could not read, but it looked like some kind of notes regarding the starting point of the would be assassin. I made my way silently back to camp, and showed the scrap of paper to KelLyn. Her face went white when she inspected the paper, and she said that it was written in Penician thieves guild cant. I question why someone from her home town would care about "imperialist merchants" but she was just as confused as I was. We set up additional watches that night, but thankfully there were no further incidents. 

The remainder of the journey to the hall of the southern sorceress took three weeks, and as we made our way up to the gate house, the guard there stopped us and demanded our names. We told him that we had come from Quadling with a delivery from Ishmael, and he immediately sent word up to the main house. A few moments later, we saw a carriage descend the winding road down to the gate house where we waited. The sorceress stepped out of the carriage to greet us, and expressed her appreciation at the masterwork of the gate that had been made for her. She looked at it critically for a moment, and then asked us all to back up slightly as she began to cast a spell. As she worked, we saw that the drawbridge was stretching out to match the width of the gate. I took a curious note that the spell that she cast was a secular plant spell, and I watched her actions with interest. 

Tobias and Scott offered to help lift the gate into place, and the two of them were able to help maneuver it into the space. Scott had removed his shirt before he began to work, as he only had the one set of clothes and didn't want to ruin it. I watched KelLyn and the sorceress admire his labor with obvious appreciation, and I raised my eyebrow in silent amusement. I suppose he is well enough formed, for a human. I left them to their oggling, but returned a few moments later when I heard the gate clang into place. The sorceress nodded approvingly, and then began to cast another spell. I paid very close attention to what she was doing, and saying, as 20 rowan trees grew up out of the empty ground. They matured, and then moved themselves over to the cart and laid themselves down across it. The sorceress spoke quietly to the trees, and they burst into full leaf, and then began to drop seeds. As the seeds fell, the people gathered them into bushels and placed them on the cart as well. 

I watched in wonder, and made a mental note to have a long conversation with the sorceress regarding the potential to learn from her. Her spell casting complete, and the cart fully loaded, she offered the party a meal, and we accepted. Once inside the main house, we were escorted over to the dining room, and I noted the large library room off to one side. Scott, still shirtless, somewhat shyly asked if he could put his clothes back on, only to have Lan, KelLyn, and the sorceress all chorus "no." 

Once we were all seated around her table, she inquired as to our preferences for cuisine. Lan chirped that she prefers to chase her fish. A very confused servant offered her a fish, and then ran away from her so that she could indeed chase the fish. She gleefully chased after him, but after missing him a second time, she  cast a spell at the poor man to shrink him so that he would drop the fish. The man did shrink, and Lan picked the fish up and then handed the man back to the sorceress, who took him with a bemused look. 

After our meal, she excused herself for a while, and offered us the use of her baths and beds. I took the opportunity to enjoy a bath, and spent quite a long time simply luxuriating in the waters. As old as I am, and as long as I have lived in the desert, I don't think I will ever tire of a good bath. As I soaked in the waters, a pair of human women waited on me. They spent their time washing and brushing my hair, which i rarely wear free flowing since we are always traveling or fighting. As they washed and brushed, they cooed over the feel and color of my hair, and offered to braid it for me in a court style. I agreed, and they wove my hair into an intricate pattern of braids that was only worn by the highest in the courts. Once they were done, and since we were able to relax for a few days here, I decided that I would wear my blue silk dress. 

Once my bath was done, and my hair was finished, I decided to visit her library and spend some time in study. As I descended the stairs, I was reminded that the rest of the party had rarely seen me like this, and I was slightly amused at the stunned look on Tobias' face. I have a few tricks up my sleeve, still, and it amuses me to keep him guessing. I spent the rest of the evening studying my books and sipping my favorite tea by the fire, for once unworried about my surroundings. While i don't sleep, I do enjoy having the down time to really relax once in a while. 

The next morning, the servants offered us a sumptuous breakfast of eggs, and some form of meat fried in butter. I tried it curiously, but found that it was not to my liking, though the rest of the party devoured it with obvious enjoyment. There was also fresh bread, and the sorceress said that she would have several of the loaves as well as the fresh butter set aside for us to take with us when we departed. 

I remembered the coffee beans that Shalev had taught me how to brew, and I offered to make her some. She accepted, and tasted the slightly bitter brew with curiosity. She asked if I had any more of the beans, as she liked the taste. I said I only had a handful of the beans that were ready to brew, but that I had several seedlings of the bush, and that she was welcome to have one. She eagerly agreed, and offered to show me through her gardens after breakfast was done. 

I brought the seedling to her later, and as we toured around the aromatic plants of her expansive gardens, we chatted about a number of things. About half way across the area, I turned suddenly towards a very strong energy pull. I felt the energy of the place thrum through me, and I asked her if she would mind if I tried to speak to my ancestors while here. She said that I was welcome to try, but that I was unlikely to be able to reach through the effects of the circle surrounding the bowl. She was correct, and though I tried, I received no response. I thanked her for the chance, and our conversations shifted over to magic and the sacred. I asked her how she was able to call the trees up the way she did, and she offered to teach me about magic. I discovered, to my surprise, that she was actually older than I was, and we agreed together that there were many more conversations between us in the future. 

As we departed the gardens, she handed me a cut quartz decanter full of an extremely good wine. She told me to wait until the time was right, and enjoy the wine with the thoughts of all we had shared. I gave her one of the bottles of the exceptional elven wine that I had in return, and we made our way back into the house. The next day the party made preparations to return to Quadling, and we departed with my farewell to the sorceress to visit again when I am able. 

As we rode out toward Quadling, I studied the decanter that she had given me, and I noticed that there was something written on one side of it. I don't recognize the language, but Lan says that it's in a language from the other continent. After about two weeks of travel, I heard the scroll case in my bag click to signal the change of seasons, and when we made camp that evening, I spent some time doing the rituals for the summer season. Again, I received no direct response from my ancestors, though I was able to feel that they were pleased with the continued attempts to reach them. I spent the rest of the evening studying the book of spells that Tobias had gifted to me, and I was able to learn spells that would allow me to set up a perfect area for camping, and interestingly enough, a spell that would allow me to add magical impulse to interactions with fae and elves. 
I took careful note of these spells in my own book, and said a small thanks to my ancestors for the ability to understand them. 

We made it back to Quadling a week later, and the people cheered as we drove the trees into town. They immediately unloaded the trees and carried them over to turn them into charcoal. The charcoal was carried over to the forges, and I watched as the people all sang in unison as Ishmael worked to stoke the fires white hot. He said that if this worked, that they would have a crucible capable of pouring deep metal, and then watched the fires critically for a few moments before turning back to us. 

He handed me my sword, better than new and razor sharp, with a quip that I should fight less dragons with it. I thanked him for taking care of it for me, and made no promises regarding what we might be facing in the future. He smiled at that, and then handed us several baskets full of iron arrow and spear points. 

He noticed the quartz decanter I carried, and asked to see it for a moment. I handed it to him carefully, and he looked at the etchings on the side of it. He raised his eyebrows in appreciation and told me that the etching was a label that said "Black Ice Winery," before he handed it back to me. KelLyn gave Ishmael a red star stone for his use, and Scott asked Ishmael about the war that he had heard about. 

Ishmael looked at Scott for a moment, and then told us that the dark elf army and their march across the desert.
I pointed out with some concern that the messenger who had brought Shalev's summons home had said something about an army, and that we had seen walls surrounding the oasis. Ishmael gives us an update on the goings on, and he is well informed about what is happening outside of this protected crater. 

Later that evening, I decided that I would enjoy the wine that the sorceress had given me, and I sat down by the fireside and opened the bottle. As soon as the seal was broken, the bottle sang with a harmonious hum. The wine inside was gold in color, and smelled of winter fruit and flowers. I knew that it was on the verge of turning sour, so I poured it into glasses for Tobias and I to share. It tasted of sunlight through snow, of thick honey, sweet winter berries, and long chilly nights beside a fire. It carried with it the sweetness of laughter, and the warming heat of stolen kisses. 

As we savored the wine, we talked, and watched the embers of the fire glow with incandescent colors. It was a rare moment between us, where the world faded to just he and I. The troubles and worries of tomorrow ceased to be, for one silent span of moments, and that peace will live within my memory for many years to come. 

.oOo..oOo..oOo..oOo.

I was surprised to find such a kinship with the sorceress. I was serious when I said that I would try to visit with her again. I think she has much she could teach me regarding my own powers, and I thoroughly enjoyed the conversations that we shared. 

I worry about my friend. He may be gone from the party's thoughts,  but not from mine. I know he is well protected by more than one deity, but I am afraid that I might not see him again in his lifetime. 

Once we make our way out of this place, there are still so many things to do. I recalled what the winged man had told us about the artifacts we would need if we had any hope of defeating the dark elves. About everything being tied together. I still don't know how what we do here ties in to the bigger picture, but I feel, more strongly than ever, that it's necessary to face what comes ahead.