Mangroves of the Desert (Inactive)

Game Master Herkymr the Silly

Ugmug startles slightly at the sight of the newcomer, he watches her for a bit as she converses with Quinten and deciding that she is neither of interest or a threat he continues wandering the room with a Hmmmmph.

After listening for a few minutes to quinten's conversation and then seeing quinten begin to search the room, richard and jerram begin to do the same. Slow methodically the pick up things but each time the items vanish and reappear in their original locations within seconds of being picked up.

Quinten frowns. All of these items are valuable. If they're real, the thieves' guild is more prosperous than I thought. Even so, this room must represent a significant portion of is wealth.

Zoey, that lends credibility to the idea that the guild might try to recruit you. It makes sense to show the spoils of their labor to someone they want to enlist. Of course, such wealth would likely only be available to senior members.

Quinten walks over to one of the bookshelves and scans the titles. The books are ordered logically. This shelf appears to focus on the history of Fifth Port, and it has Opportunities in Crisis: Tapping the Refugee Labor Pool, which was published three months ago. Given how recent and esoteric the titles are, I suspect someone reads the books here. If we knew the right command words, we might be able to take them.

The teacher runs his fingers along the spines. Softly, he says, If I dive in, could I get the command words? I'm sure they're buried deep, but it's tempting.

Alright Zoey what do you think, If you were trying to test someone
to see if they could ignore the obvious treasure to find what is truely valuable, what would you hide and where.

Graghhh decides to listen, hidden for a while longer. He thinks it better to gain some insight into what each of his companions will do, than to blindly search the relics and piles of gear and books. At this point, nothing seems to be opening itself up for their use anyway.
Now, what might they be hiding? Could this actually be a trap of a different sort?
He ponders what the thieves might be trying to do, or what test this might be.
If it turns out that this is a test, perhaps there is something they want us to miss and waste our time here. On the other hand, it could be a trap. Let us think there is something here so that we overlook a doorway, a path to something more important. Should we leave the apparently valuable and find what appears to be less costly? Maybe it isn't taking anything physical, but the knowledge or a password to unlock something. Maybe they want us to stay here so we become numbed to something else going on such as poison gas filling the room?
As he ponders these things, he listens to the continued conversation of the others and waits.

Quinten showed a bit of concern at the schools of magic that Zoey was versed in. Which was fair, necromancy and transmutation have a bad reputation, but unlike others, Zoey didn't learn magic. It was an innate ability, she had no control over what spells she was capable of casting. Even if she wanted to learn other schools, that's just not the way it worked.

Zoey considers it for a moment. "I think the semi-physical objects in the room, the obvious treasure, is just a distraction. There must be something else in the room, a nugget of knowledge, a passcode, or some other sort of key to get out.

She moved towards a bookcase, carefully inspecting the bindings of the books, and inspecting the shelves themselves for any scrawlings of letters or hidden mechanisms. "Physical riches are fleeting, but knowledge is forever a powerful tool"

After Zoey speaks, Quinten puts his grandfather's ring back on, withdraws his hand from the spines and steps away from the bookshelf. Knowledge may be a powerful tool, but pursuing it too zealously can cost you. Besides, knowledge can be limiting as well as empowering. I've been trying to solve too many problems with magic when this place was designed to be beaten through mundane means.

There may be a key or passcode hidden somewhere, but I don't think we're meant to find it by searching every shelf. By the time most thieves get to this labyrinth, they're good enough at picking pockets for the time they spend here to cost the guild money. There has to be a way to solve this room's puzzle quickly.

The teacher walks to the center of the room and turns slowly, looking for patterns in the books' colors, the relics' placement, and the windows' landscapes. He finds nothing but notices that a few of the tiles are discolored.

Graghhh, Shadara or Jerram, would you mind climbing one of the shelves and looking down at the floor? Some of the tiles look off. It's possible they create a pattern that will give us a clue of where to search.

Great Idea Quinten. Wait were is that little graaaappphh guy. Didn't he come in here, I dont see him.

Upon hearing this, Graghhh realizes it is time to show himself. I'm here. I thought I would wait a while to see if it was safe to show myself. He gives the necromancer girl a pointed stare as he comes out from behind the pile that has been hiding him and moves up a series of shelves behind her.
The shelves are almost as a stairway to him. He climbs with ease to a great height. When he has gone several levels up, there is a small balcony. He stops and turns around to look at the floor below. It is immediately apparent there is a pattern in the tiles.
You're right! There is something on the tiles. The problem is that it covers nearly the entire floor. I can't make it out while everything is covering it. We'll have to move things out of the way to be able to see what it is. And if the furniture just moves back, we'll have to move it in pieces so I can get a good look at the whole thing.

Quinten picks up a chair below one of the shelves and sets it down a few feet away. At first, nothing happens. But after two minutes, it pops back to its original location. We could try destroying the furniture to see if it reassembles itself, but that would be almost as exhausting as moving it, and I don't think our hosts would appreciate it.

Quinten sighs and looks at the heavy display cases. We're at your service, Graghhh. Tell us where we should play Master Mover first. Hopefully, I can come up with a spell or two to help.

The teacher glances at Ugmug, wondering if he'll join in on the game. I doubt it. I'm probably being too subtle, and not even a peddler could make moving furniture sound fun. Unless we were building a fort, and I wouldn't do that when the walls supporting the ceiling might vanish.

The teacher's eyes move to Zoey. She looks strong. I'm not sure if it's a good idea for her to exert herself, but if she's recovered enough to offer, I won't object.

Zoey moved towards the furniture Quinten was moving, ready to help in any way she could. She worked on a farm most of her early life, so she was fairly strong. "I'm just ready to get out of this maze or whatever it is, so I can figure out what they want with me."

As Zoey moves away from whee she awoke, she discovers that after a few minutes she as well is relocated to her original location in the room as well as everything she had on her at the time.

Quinten frowns as the shelf refuses to budge, then realizes Zoey is gone. Turning to see her laying in the place where he first saw her, he frowns. If the magic reverses time rather than merely moving her, she might not remember us.

Well, let's find out.

Zoey, you might not remember me, but we're friends. Do you recall my name and what we're doing right now?

Quinten is there some kind of spell or device that can reset things to whatever state they were in when it was activated. Maybe this is as easy as just turning it off?

Quinten frowns. I didn't see one when I looked earlier, but I was looking for something utilitarian. I'll look again.

Quinten walks around the cases in the middle of the room. Here we have antiquated mage guard robes. Perhaps our hosts like to flaunt their power over authority. I don't see any damage on it, so it was likely worn by one of their agents.

Next, we have a set of bronze blades, one of which is broken. Assuming the blades only break when used, I'd say this display is a reminder to use weapons as a last resort. If you kill or injure the wrong person, the law will come down on you. Steeling is easier to forgive.

The teacher continues in that vein until he reaches a statue of a balding man in robes. When he sees the rune-studded silver circle hanging around the man's neck, Quinten smiles. When I was a boy, some of the older merchants would wear amulets like this one. They're supposed to channel the energy that leaves the body back in to slow aging.

Quinten steps toward the next display, then pauses and looks at the statue again. This isn't in a case, so we can interact with it. Maybe...

Noticing a seam in the circle, the teacher reaches out and pulls, breaking the connection between the two halves at the top. They stay apart.

Shadara, that might have done the trick. Graghhh, we'll get back to moving furniture out of the way. Let us know as soon as you see the pattern in the tiles.

Ugmug continues around the room paying no mind to the group until he spots Zoey gently float back to where she was first found in the room. He finds himself amazed seeing a person behave just the same as the many objects in the room. He walks over to a couch in front of Zoey, peeking out at her from behind it, Whoaaah, floaaatyyyyy he whispers while pointing at her indicating to the group the source of his astonishment.

As oey finds herself back in the place she "awoke", h er stuff still scattered,graggh can now see an arrow on the collored tiles pointing back the way from which you have just come.

Graghhh watches as the others move furniture, and it then moves back to where it was before.
Some of the images are changing...I think. But there's an arrow pointing back to the door we just came in. The question is, do we go back out or is that just what they want us to do?

The Orc of the strangers' party seemed strangely docile and childlike, which perplexed Zoey. She stared back at him, suspiciously. "No, I remember you Quinten. I think if it was a time loop I'd be knocked back unconscious."

Zoey watches as Quinten finds what might be the missing piece of the puzzle, and moves away from what seems to be her own 'set point' in this room, and waits to see if she is transported back.

As the others are trying to work together Shadara decides to try picking up something small and then walking in a circle around the room without stopping to see if the item stays with her until she stops moving.

She decides to pick up an ornate sheathed dagger from a case and start walking while holding it in front of her to see when and where it might disappear with the intention of walking the room three times before stopping. She takes the dagger in sheath and starts walking around the room. partway thru her second circuit of the room she accidentally stops for a second to allow one of the others by and the dagger fades from her grip. She goes back to the dagger and starts again.

Zoey moves away and seems to be fine away from the area she arrived in but about 5 minutes later she finds her self back in the same position, her gear back in its original position, and facing the same direction as when the party arrived.

Quinten! Maybe it's time to play bowling for books with Ug?
Graghhh is a little perplexed and a little impatient to get out of this room. It is not the most pleasant of the puzzles to solve.
Where would there be more clues? If they can move some things out of the way, maybe I can see what is written on the floor and make some sense of it.

Quinten frowns as Zoey moves back to her original location. The amulet wasn't it. Damn.

Graghhh, I don't like the idea of damaging books, but if it'll get us out of here, I'll do it. I don't think the arrow is the key, at least by itself. If leaving was the only thing we needed to do, we could solve the puzzle without solving it. Perhaps we need to go back through the portal at a specific time.

The teacher looks for a shelf that only has books, not anything made of glass. Jerram and Shadara, can you help me push this shelf over? If we move enough at once, we might be able to overwhelm the transportation magic long enough to give Graghhh a better view.

Jerram's fingers move and he follows Quinten over to the designated shelves. Looking around he finds a place to brace himself so he can push using his legs and lean his back into the shelving. Looking at shadara, he signs quickly.

Richard begins to search the room with his mind telling you all to leave him to his task. He probes out and seems to find nothing and after a few minutes moves over to lend his back to the dismantling.

All right Quinten, Lets move some books.

Shadara joins the group and starts to push with everyone else. After just a moment she sprints off away from the bookshelf about 15 feet turns and sprints back toward the shelf. She leaps up throwing her full weight shoulder first into into the shelf about 8 feet in the air. The shelf had started to slide just before she crashed into it and with the directed impact, it tipped. As the shelf was tipping she rolled forward and launched herself off the top of the shelf flying thru the air and crashing into a second shelf near the top of it. As that shelf fall it smashes the table, case, and stand that the knife she was testing earlier. Shadara rolls again and flips off the side of the shelf as it falls. She lands lightly on her feet facing Quinten and the others.

Good enough? she asks with a smile.

Quinten smiles. Maybe. We could always wait to find out, but that would waste time. For now, let's assume the magic will focus on putting this area back together and move the furniture out of Graghh's way in the other areas.

Quinten sets to work, presumably with help from Jerram, Richard, and Zoey. As they move shelves away from the areas with colored tiles, the teacher looks up at Graghhh. Are the pictures still changing? If not, do they say anything about when or how we should go through the portal?

Zoey waited patiently, only to be transported back to the center of the room. It was quite disorienting, and while her memories remained intact, things almost felt like deja vu. Her mind was muddled by the transportation, and it was hard to stay focused.

But the crashing BOOM of the bookcases being knocked over by Shadara's acrobatics snapped her back to reality. She got up and started helping Quinten move the objects out of the way. Zoey still wasn't sure if she could trust them in the long run, but she needed them to get out of this room at the very least. She obviously was a part of this puzzle somehow, though she couldn't possibly know how.

Well, that arrow is back now. And there are some other symbols in view. They don't all make sense to me. They might be pictures, or another language, I don't know.
He pauses as they move more objects out of the way.
Hey, Zoey! Move around just a little. Move a little to the side. There's another arrow pointing at you...and I think there's some writing associated with it.
If it follows her, it might just be the key to getting her back into the material plane. I think she's only half here and that's what's keeping her from moving from that spot.
Keep it up! Clear that spot over to the left a little more. Move that table...yeah, that one. Maybe get Ugmug to do it.
Things are looking clearer now. It appears that something directly linked to Zoey should be the answer to getting her out of this place, now just to find the answer in the limited time they have before all goes back to its original places.

Perhaps the words you mentioned have a clue. The teacher looks up at Graghhh, then shakes his head. There's no way I can climb to where he is. He made it look easy, but I'd fall.

Richard, can you show us what Graghhh sees? The psychic pauses, then begins to create an illusion of the room from Graghhh's viewpoint. Quinten smiles. I can't read the words naturally, but my glasses say the message next to Zoey's arrow is 'The anchor is at home.'"

The teacher scans the windows that line the room, each showing a different scene. I doubt the mountain is it. Zoey, do any of the scenes beyond the windows look familiar to you?

As he waits for Zoey to reply or one of the others to comment, Quinten glances at Ugmug. I'm surprised he hasn't knocked over a few bookcases. Shadara loooked like she was having fun, and I doubt Ugmug has my scruples about damaging books or artifacts.

Quinten! I think I saw something more on the floor over by that chair. There might be another clue.
Graghhh points and indicates another area on the floor a few feet from where Zoey sits.
If you move the chair, that pile of books, the little round table and...whatever that pile is, then maybe I can figure out what other information is there.
Shadara, Maybe you can help get Ugmug to move some of those things, or get him to topple some more bookcases over there, on the far side of the room.

Jerram upon hearing gragh kicks the chair out of the way where poon some blue lines of lettering appear on the floor nderneath its last position.

'The Anchor is at home' What could that mean? Zoey's eyes flitted around the room, examining the windows. They seemed to be literal windows into other parts of the world. A foggy mountain range, the roaring ocean, decaying buildings buried by the unrelenting sands, and a mysterious jungle water and condensate dripped across the window.

"No, none of these look like my home." Not that She had even been home in the recent years. She had left home in search of her father two years ago and hadn't been able to contact home since then. For all she knew, it had been overtaken by the desert. And that's when it hit her. "Actually, yes! At least, I believe I do."

She walked over to the window, unaware of Jerram's discovery. "I believe this to be my old home, succumbed to the desert." She had suspected that one day her old village would be overtaken by the maelstrom of sand, but it seemed to have happened so fast.

As Zoey walks toward the window, the portal through which the group entered the room turns translucent, momentarily revealing a narrow hallway with a stairway at the end. But it regains its blue hue before anyone can go through.

Well, that's a good sign. But what's next? The teacher looks down at the text Jerram revealed. 'It takes a team to drop anchor.'

But that doesn't matter until we find the anchor. The teacher walks to the window that shows Zoey's village, looking for a way to open it or a compartment hidden near it. Finding nothing, he sighs and begins to circle the room. As he passes by the stormy sea, the portal flickers a second time.

Quinten looks at the portal, then at the window. Inside the frame, he barely makes out a familiar light tower, for it is almost entirely covered by waves.

This window shows Fifth Port during a huge storm! I think I get it. We each need to stand next to a window that represents our home. But instead of showing our real home, it's showing what it would look like after a disaster, so we'll have to look closely at each window.

The teacher waits for the others to find the appropriate windows.

Jerram paces over and squats infront of one that seems to appear as a burnt out monastery covered in mosss.

Shadara goes over to the window of the mountains and nothing happens. She then goes to the jungle window and sees a slight flash. She then turns and gets Ugmug's attention. She coaxes him over to the window with the mountain range but nothing happens. She brings him over to where she is and the opening flashes again. She has him stand with her and looks to see the rest getting into position.

As Graghhh watches from above, he notices that his suspicion was correct: there was a second arrow pointing at Zoey. As she moves, one arrow stays near the spot where she was and points in her direction, like a compass. The other follows her across the tiles as she moves.
He watches as the others move to the windows and as they find the "correct home window" each one is assigned an arrow of a different color, which slowly fades into view.
What a curious thing. Do you all see that you have arrows now?
Is that a good thing, or is it bad, though? She is trapped in some kind of hex or portal or something. Will we all become trapped if we have those arrows, too?
Graghhh scans the windows to find a scene that might be considered his home.
That might be difficult to judge, seeing how I don't really have a home in the same sense that the others do. I'll wait until everyone is in place and then see where I might need to go.

Quinten looks down at his arrow and sighs. It's brown, like a book cover. This place knows me far too well. We need to move. I doubt our trek through the maze has been interesting enough for anyone to watch, but whatever magic is in here is drawing information from us. I'd rather not stick around to see how much it can dig up.

Richard nods and walks toward the window with the mountains. He reaches up and wipes his eye as he looks at the largest mountain's bare face, remembering how lush it once was.

The portal flickers a few times, then steadies, showing the hallway and the door beyond. Quinten looks up at Graghhh. Six must be enough to 'drop the anchor.' Let's hope the arrows are harmless and try going through the portal.

The teacher steps through. Assuming the others follow, he walks down the hall but pauses at the steps leading up to the door. Does anyone else hear creatures moving beyond the walls?

The arrows all converge on the location of zoey and pulse as she moves. In fact they pulse with her moves.

Still hearing the sound of movement beyond the door and the walls, Quinten keeps his eyes on the door and his hand on the wooden figure that hangs around his neck. Zoey, you said you were a mage. Do you have any idea what's causing the arrows to pulse? If not, can you study the currents around them and form a theory?

Quinten wonders if anyone else is hearing creatures beyond the walls. If not, I must be hallucinating. That's worrying, but not surprising. If the room we just left can identify our homes, I'm sure it can mess with our minds.

Having been lead to stand in front of a window by Shadara, Ugmug looks out the window at what seemingly lies beyond. This only holds his attention for so long before he decides to sit down in the location Shadara lead him to. Once seated he rocks back and forth gently, and begins humming random notes to himself while he picks at the folds of his robe in his lap.

Shadara watches the arrows pulse and move with Zoey. She looks again thru the portal in front of her and can see Quinten as he makes his way down the hall. She sees the others heading thru their portals and starts to feel an urgency not to be left behind. She turns and gets Ugmug's attention breaking him out of the rocking and humming.
Hey Ugmung, Quinten wants to play, she says pointing thru the portal. He said that he could get to the door at the end of the hall before anyone else.
Ugmug looks up and his eyes focus as he sees Quintin and the bottom of the steps to the door. He smiles, Kintin, race..., Kintin no win.
He gets up and with blinding speed takes off thru the portal repeatedly yelling, Kintin no win, I win.

As soon as Ug is thru and the portal does not close, she turns to Zoey. Hurry thru here before you are left behind. She stands waving her arms trying to draw Zoey toward her to go thru the portal.

At this point I am assuming that Zoey decides to take me up on the offer of going thru the portal. The following is what Shadara would do as she passes by.

As Zoey passes by takes up step right behind her and as Zoey is about to go thru the Portal, she reaches out and puts a hand on her shoulder to make sure that she has a connection to her as they cross into and thru the portal.

As they come out the other side she looks up the hall in horror as Ugmug passes Quinten at full speed and trips on the stairs, flying head first into and thru the door in an explosion of sound and wood splinters. She lets go of Zoey and begins running to the new entrance.

Graghhh scrambles down the levels of balconies and shelves of books to the floor. He studies the portals for a moment. He hadn't noticed any arrow appear for him. Of course, he was several levels above that where he now stands.
Perhaps that is why it didn't appear?
Although he grew up in the Shadow Plane, he doesn't exactly consider it home. He might call it home, but it isn't really that. He is new to Fifth Port, so that couldn't really be his home. He turns and follows quickly behind the others as they pass through the portal and down the hall. He watches Ugmug burst through the door and rushes forward to see what has happened. Passing Shadara on the stairs, he takes the steps two or more at a time. He doesn't realize how close to the entrance Ugmug fell. The door must have been more solid than it appeared and slowed the big guy more than expected.
Upon entering the new space, he trips over Ugmug and flies forward onto his stomach in this new room.

Ritos claps his hands in amusement
" I thought you were never going to solve that last room. It was quite entertaining to observe. Then again you defeated a few of my others easily. This one however had a cost I don't think you have yet realized. " He looks around grinning maliciously and then turns to Shadara. "Your stuff is there..." He points to the table on the far end of the room..." and it is all there as agreed. Now take it and go."

As Ritos mentions an unseen price, Quinten frowns, trying to recall the few tales he heard from students foolish enough to brag about passing the guild's entrance exams.

Knowledge (local) to remember young thieves' stories: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (14) + 17 = 31

Most of those stories had far too many easily-disarmed traps and clumsy golems for me to give them any credibility. But I remember one of my older, quieter students whispering to another never to anger the guild once you'd joined. He said he'd seen far too many would-be betrayers found within hours of their crime's discovery. Perhaps Ritos has put some sort of tracker on us. That would make it easy for him to steal items from us in the future or kill us if we anger the guild.

If I'm right, he could also sell our location to bounty hunters. We'd better hope we've amused him enough that he'll have no desire to do so. Or more realistically, consider our enemies rivals for power.

But that can't be the only price. It's possible the magic that allowed the room to mimic our homes also lifted secrets that he can use to blackmail us.

The teacher looks at Zoey. And why did the arrows converge on her? Does she have anything to do with the price we paid?

The teacher stays quiet as he studies Zoey. Revealing my suspicions here would only give Ritos knowledge of my fears, a tool he could use to manipulate us even if they're unfounded.

Shadara enters the room watching Ritos suspiciously. At the mention of her gear she quickly moves over and starts checking it at the same time trying to keep an eye on him. Once she is sufficiently sure that all the gear is here she puts on the pack and tosses the pointer to Quinten.

Thanks for the loan of this.

She then takes the bow and draws empty a couple of times testing the the flex and twang of the bow and sinew.

Walking over to Ugmug she sees that he is unconscious, almost like he is just taking a nap. She gently pats his shoulder as not to wake him.

Thank you friend, stay innocent and kind, she whispers to him.

All is in order Quinten, we have wasted too much time due to my folly. I am ready, we should go.

Crashing through the door into the room with Ritos, Ugmug shakes himself clean of the dust and splinters from the door. He looks at Ritos, who looks at the massive Orc with a bemused grin before he addresses the group as they enter the room. "Thank you friend, stay innocent and kind" Shadara whispers to the Orc, to which he grins a big toothy grin in response. Having said that, Shadara turns to the group "All is in order Quinten." She says, "We have wasted too much time due to my folly. I am ready, we should go."

When Shadara finishes speaking the entire group suddenly finds themselves frozen in place, unable to move a single muscle. Indeed, the entire room has frozen in place, and not a single sound can be heard. You watch as the entire room and everything within turns shades of sepia, except for yourselves, and the very space around you distorts in ways that you can perceive, but are unable to process within your understanding of reality. You somehow can see everything within the room from every angle, even yourselves. You all see Ugmug standing within the chaos, somehow completely unaffected, and unconcerned by the events that are occurring. He is not even frozen in place like everyone around you. You see him take his hammer and hold it out before him, it evaporates into a dust of light which swirls around him morphing his shabby robes he wears into something so regal as to make even a king look as a pauper. When the transformation is finished the swirling light is then guided to his head, disappearing into his forehead. When the light vanishes, the one you all know as Ugmug stands before you with poise, grace, and a look of wisdom many thousands of years in the making.

Without a word, he reaches out into one of the swirling folds of the space twisting around and pulls out a staff. Then, without so much as moving his lips, you then hear a voice that you recognize as belonging to Ugmug, but it comes from everywhere in the room, but also somehow nowhere at the same time.

Friends, I bid thee greetings. Fear not, what you see around you is only your inability to comprehend the greater dimensions of space and time. No harm will befall you in this state, for you are within my realm and under my guardianship for now, time as you know it has frozen to a standstill. You all still experience what you know to be a normal progression of time because I allow for it, however, the one you know as Ritos is frozen, you need not concern yourself with him. After I release you back to your realm he will have no memory that the one called "Ugmug" ever existed. My true name is incomprehensible to you, though you may know me as the Oracle of Time. Having said this, the Oracle waves his staff and from every individual you see glowing motes of light float gently above everyone's heads. He walks over to Ritos, and waves his staff at a few of them, causing them to turn to dust. He then performs a similar action to the motes above each of your heads, however, unlike what happened to Ritos, these motes change color and shape. Your memories of this are now protected for all eternity, no magic will discover their existence, this also will keep you from ever being able to speak of this event. Once he finishes his protection ward he addresses the group once more. As Oracle of Time, I live among the higher dimensions of space, outside the reach of mortals. What you understand to be time, I see as a great tree. The trunk of this tree are the events that you know to be the past, and the branches of this tree are all the possible events that may come to pass, extending to all eternity past, present, and future. Each decision causes these branches to strengthen, or weaken, as their likelihood changes. When they reach what you know to be the present, those events occur, and then become past history. I am here telling you this because a branch of the possible future grows ever stronger, a future that holds dire consequences if it does come to pass. This group is critical in seeing that this branch of terrible future fades to nothing, and never comes to pass. I can not tell you this future, but know that you must not allow yourselves to falter in any task if you are to succeed. Especially you, Shadara. You were the reason for my visit... I bid thee fare well.

Finished with his business, the Oracle of Time taps his staff against the floor and instantly vanishes. Everything around you immediately returns to normal, you stand exactly as you were before, Ritos is still before you grinning his malicious grin, completely unaware of what transpired or even that “Ugmug” is no longer in the room with you. You try to bring to mind what happened and speak a question but an incomprehensibly powerful magic prevents you from doing so.

Quinten barely catches the pointer, then watches as Shadara draws the bow. She seems satisfied, but I should still read the resonances to make sure it's not a duplicate.

The teacher glances at Ritos. But do I dare? If he hasn't made one, I'd only draw attention to the bow and imply it's more than the sentimental heirloom we claimed. Besides, it's best not to test his patience.

Quinten opens his mouth to speak, then falls silent, confused. Where are we again? The pointer in his hand brings him back to himself. That's right. We came here for the bow. We went through the maze, and we met two people unfortunate enough to be there against their will: a 'miner' from the Shadow Planes named Graghhh and a nervous mage named Zoey. I'm not sure how much we should trust either of them, but they helped us there, so we shouldn't abandon them.

But now isn't the time to offer aid. I must protect Shadara, and it isn't safe here. We should go.

The teacher stows his pointer and walks out through the Thieves' Guild with a confidence he doesn't feel, ignoring the snickers as a few of its members notice the toy hanging around his neck or recoil from the sewer smell that soaks his shoes. When the party is out of the building itself, he keeps moving. Graghhh and Zoey, keep your eyes open; we'll be in dangerous neighborhoods for a while.

As the party moves out of the docks and into a small park, Quinten turns to the party's newest members. You both helped us in the maze. If you're new to Fifth Port and would like some help, I can offer advice on selecting a guild, finding work and staying safe. I'd offer to take a more active role in helping you get established, but it is dangerous to be with us.

As he waits for a reply, Quinten can't shake the feeling that he's doing something wrong.

"I'm a sorceress actually, my magic is in my blood, it isn't learned" Zoey replied to Quinten, who had entered through the changed portal. And to be quite honest, she was very relieved to leave the room. Not only was she anxious to get away from the thieves who had kidnapped her, but the pulsating arrows were making her nervous.

She heeds Shadara's instructions, and leaves the puzzle room behind, entering the hallway that had appeared before her. Zoey tensed up at Shadara's hand on her shoulder but was ultimately comforted by the gesture. If things were not as they seemed, at least they'd have some line of connection to each other.

The group entered the room with the gang boss in it, and Zoey gladly stepped towards the shadows. Ritos obviously wasn't addressing her, and she hoped to simply leave with the rest of the group without complications.

Then Ugmug revealed his true nature as the Oracle of Time. Zoey wasn't sure how she could process the warping reality, the pause on time, and the forces playing on her perceptions, and was glad when the moment passed. She opened her mouth to proclaim her surprise, along with expletives aplenty but found herself incapable of doing so.

She was happy to leave quickly and followed Quinten and the others out promptly. Quinten suggested helping her settle down in Fifth Port, but she quickly shook her head in denial. "I'm looking for my father, not really in the business of settling down. You folks seem pretty capable, if you're traveling I hope you wouldn't mind if I tagged along."

Zoey still wasn't sure if she could completely trust these guys,
but if they were traveling the countryside, she wanted in. It was a million times safer to travel in a group than to travel alone, and it seemed as if these adventurers were particularly capable. "You wouldn't even notice me! I'd just be another tent at camp, I can even handle my own food and drink."