"Fetch! We are playing fetch!" The cozomant repeats to its companions. Suddenly three of the wyrds, jostling each other as they begin to race each other, and take off after the final crate, nearly catching up to Jamila!
Jamila, unhappy with her slow progress tries to influence gravity like the others.
Aided by gravity she nearly catches up with the last box.
Nearly have this one!
Rhyol guards the two crates she managed to retrieve, watching the wyrds warily, and attacking any that come near.
Octaris nods as the wyrds rush of to chase down crate. He calls after them in auran. "That is right, you fetch these items for the Great Octaris!"
He grins at Krakos nearby. "Even here, in the voids the plane of air, my fame proceeds me!"
Zephir having finally caught one of the supply box tries to help Octaris with the Comozan Let's play this game yes!
He then tries to move closer to his companions.
Rhyol continues to guard the crates she has recovered!
Ember manages to catch another crate!
Jamila continues moving toward the final crate.
The wyrds seem to brighten at Octaris' and Zephir's words. "YAY! A game! A game! What is the prize!"
The oread sees the wyrd come closer and quickly casts a spell to prepare for battle.
With Divine favor burning through the Oreads mind und body he is ready for any fight.
Helikom readies himself in case things turn hostile!
The wyrds manage to get to the remaining case and grab. "Played fetch! Caught the box!" Shizz exclaims. "What prize did we win!?"
Rhyol stays put, glad to have the comforting feel of the earth beneath her body. If any of those creatures come close, she plans to knock them into the next plane of existence...
"Of course there are prizes!" Octaris calls, with an imperious wave of his hand. "Courtesy of the mighty Octaris!"
"But to claim you prize, you must take the things you have fetched, over there." He points over towards the nearest version of solid ground.
"Then your prize! Therein lay a game as well!" He says, joyously! "For even now, it tries to flee, hidden amongst the strange pieces of ship fleeing that way!"
"You'd best hurry, before it escapes!"
He glances over at the others, and switches to common. "Our fidgety friends should be distracted for a while. Let them be on their way, and then hopefully we can be on ours."
He scowls at the surrounding area. "Not that we've got anywhere to go just yet."
Zephir realize that Octaris' words could help get rid quietly from the Wyrds.
He adds to Octaris' words a few of his Yes, I will give you these four shiny metal pieces if you are able to put the things you're already fetch over there pointing at the place Octaris named Then, once you have done it, I will give you two pieces. The next game will be to hid them inside the pieces of ship fleeing away and two of you will must find them.
Once they've done it I will give you the two others.
Switching to another language he says I think that we can get back to our makeshift ship and fly toward the cloud where some of us have seen a white castle inside.
Octaris and Zephir come to the conclusion that the wyrds are not malicious, but rather just naively playful. Organizing another game and passing out trinkets for prizes is enough to cajole the creatures into aiding the party in returning all the wayward craste to the boat and recovering the boat itself.
Saying farewell, the wyrd disappear into the distance as the party resumes it's journey. Less than hour later, a structure, a tower, is seen in the distamce.
Rocking and swaying ahead is a white marble tower adorned with golden reliefs of lightning. The thin ornamental bridge that once led to its double doors has snapped, and there is no sign of whatever once connected to the other side. The tower’s roof is entirely missing, replaced with a menacing mass of black sky shot through with shifting streaks of color. The scintillating mass struggles erratically against some invisible barrier above.
Vaguely disappointed that the elementals were only playing and not a true threat, the thoqqua boards the battered airship and watches silently as the marble tower hoves into view. "The tower looks threatening enough to be the cause for all the problems in this area." Rhyol speaks in her usual odd manner, as steam hisses and coughs between the large plates of her molten hide. "I dislike the inky darkness that has replaced the roof, though." She looks for any signs of habitation either within the tower itself (if anything can be seen) or outside.
Rhyol examines the tower and estimates it to be around 100 ft tall, and sees no windows evident. The double doors appears the be hanging from their hinges while the dark cloud hovers above the tower to a distance of thirty or forty feet, while the bottom of cloud appears to encroach into the tower through the missing roof..
"Those doors seem to be the best way in. Can we get the ship right up to them? I dislike trying to fly. This body is meant to move through the earth, not through air." Rhyol grunts to the others.
Octaris sits on the ship, as they continue their journey, preening slightly at how well he handled the wyrds.
His good mood seems not the least bit dissuaded by the sight of the ominous tower.
"Well, that looks like something requiring my level of expertise, for sure!" He says, imperiously.
He hesitates slightly, before adding in a slightly more normal tone. "Though one has to wonder if the dark storm tries to get in... or out..."
He leaves that thought in the air.
Ah Octaris, that was well done. Why don’t you tell us what you know of this storm. Jamila smiles a little at the handling of the wyrds, but has turned her attention to the present situation.
Zephir also tries to remember something about the place.
Octaris grins, at Jamila's praise, clearly amused about something.
"The storm you say?" He asks, at her question, "Of course I know of such things! Just um... let me collect my thoughts."
"Clearly, this is some remnant of a structure not from this realm." He finally says, doing his best to sound like he knows what he's talking about. "Most likely the material planes... those mortals are always leaving their stuff laying about, I hear."
He nods, having convinced himself. "The storm... that is obviously the aftereffect of them attempting to kidnap some poor unsuspecting citizen of the elements... like us."
"Which mortals are also prone to do, I might add." He adds.
"Clearly, they tried to grab someone far too powerful for their meager skills, and it dragged all of them back here!"
"Though perhaps its still trapped somewhat..." He concedes, with a thoughtful look up at the storm. "The tower thing is like a giant shackle on its foot! Just need to unhook it!"
"Luckily, the Great Octaris is now here, to help set things right!" He grins, satisfied that that all made sense.
As the party tries to come up with a reasonable explanation of the tower's presence (which everyone is having a hard time doing...), you note the tower itself is slowly revolving.
Despite the revolving, it looks easy enough to enter......
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The oread looks toward the tower, points toward it and says."Let us explore it!"
I agree, anyway, it seems that the eye of the storm is here.
Zephir get out of their boat and flies toward the entrance.
"Eye?" Octaris interjects indignantly. "Were you not listening? This is more like the leg... perhaps the foot... or some other flipper- or tentacle-like appendage... of the storm!"
"Let us investigate, for sure... We'll have it all sorted soon enough!"
"A few arcane wards seem in order, though!" He adds, as he goes about waving his arms and muttering strange arcane phrases for a bit, as a shroud of water starts to flow around him, almost like a second skin.
As the party discusses entering the tower slowly completes a revolution and you are easily able to enter through the broken double doors and arrive at an atrium of the tower.
A cyclone rages at the center of this circular atrium. The winds trap the same shifting, colorful mass that emerges from the top of the tower, making passage to the upper floors difficult. The cyclone broadens as it grows higher, from 10 feet wide at the base to around 100 feet wide.
Stone doors lead from the atrium to five different rooms, and two small archways lead to small chambers.
"Interesting, most intering. The cyclone seems to be warding the plane of air and the plane of chaos!"
Rhyol chuffs. "Sounds dangerous. Seems like something to avoid." The thoqqua eases forward into the chamber, then leans to the left, looking into the archway there.
Jamila looks and listens, trying to find any waiting entities before they find her. her senses well tuned.
Octaris nods knowingly. "Just as I was saying!" He quickly adds, at Krakos' comment, though you're not sure what he's referring to.
"Clearly some mortal somewhere, messed up a conjuring, and left us to clean up their mess." He nods sagely.
Certainly it's what cause all this mayhem in this area!
After looking around, Zephir says Lets investigate. We need to find a way to close this anomaly
Rhyol peers around the corner to find a small chamber. It would appear the inhabitants of the palace once used these rooms for private contemplation, meditation, and worship. The walls are decorated with complicated reliefs and depict a city made of ice and djinn bustling around a massive spherical building surrounded by dozens of similar but smaller round buildings.
In another relief, a group of mephits emerges from a cloud dragon’s breath. The most striking scene depicts an immense being with the body of a serpent spun from storm clouds, the head of a lion with a mane of lightning, and hundreds of clawed feet. His expression is approving and content as he gazes upon the other creatures.
Once someone peers around to the left, yoo find an almost identical room. This time the figure depicted in the other room is wreathed in an aura of lightning with an expression of fury. Djinn, mephits, wysps, and other creatures of air fly by his side, all surrounded by a raging cyclone. Hordes of creatures made of stone rush forward, only to be sent flying as they approach the cyclone.
Zephir is very interested by the relief and the scenes depicted!
Seems like this place is from this Plane! But I've never heard of the creature depicted here. he shows the immense being with the body of a serpent and the head of a lion. It looks like someone powerful.
As he peers in the other room Clearly, this creature looks like a Lord!
Could it be ... the one I'm looking for?
The oread looks around once, twice. "Fascinating. Really fascinating!"
Octaris studies the mural with a slight frown.
"A travesty, more like!" he says finally. "The mephits should be far more prominent."
"Though I suppose, they can't all be as renowned as some." He concedes, not so subtly implying who the some are.
"Definitely designed for conjurating." He adds, wisely. "Before they messed it all up, of course."
"Perhaps try one of those doors," He suggests, not wanting to do so himself. "I'm sure there will be something to explain who's mess we're dealing with."
Rhyol scans the decorations that adorn the walls of the room...
vs DC 25 = Failure (oh darn, just realized it wasn't a '20' I was shooting for, I had no chance of making that roll!)
... and the thoqqua hesitates for just a moment, then she moves on, eager to find something to smash. Already disappointed that the small elementals outside didn't meet her challenge, the earth elemental is hoping that something in this tower is dangerous enough to test her combat skills against!
"Good idea!" Rhyol responds to Octaris' suggestion, scant seconds after he makes it. The thoqqua smashes her body into the door next to the room she was just looking into.
Rhyol moves further into the tower and opens the next door to the left. Rows of silver pipes emerge from the ground in this otherwise unadorned room. A few of the pipes are capped with silver lids. Similar lids rest on the floor near the open pipes. within the room a brilliant blue crystal hovers in the air five feet above the ground small sparks of electricty dancing around it.
Octaris flies over, and peers into the room over Rhyol's version of a shoulder.
"Ah, of course!" He says, nodding sagely, as if he knows what they're looking at... though he doesn't immediately elucidate.
When the mephit is not more forthcoming, Rhyol glances toward him. "Well? What is it?" In truth, the thoqqua already doesn't particularly care. Maybe there will be something to bash in the next room? Unless stopped by Octaris, Rhyol heads to the next door and opens it up, looking for something to pound.
Sensing the Thoqqua’s growing impatience, Jamila attempts to persuade his furry soul to patience. Placing her hand on him she communicates with him mentally. Have patience, my friend. There may be much use of your inferno yet.
Rhyol moves to the next door and opens it to find an armory. Within seems to be every imaginable mundane weapon, as well as a very ornate pair of vambraces. The room also contains an identical shiny, blue crystal suspended in the air.
The oread quickly casts a dweomer to reveal magical auras.
Zephir casts detect magic on the room.
He focuses on the vambrace and on the crystal.