The massive Wolf perks up its ears and stares at one of the doors with the tilt-headed curious looks common to all canines. It paces over to the stage and the strange 'entertainer' falls silent. There is a brief exchange of words before the Wolf returns to its spot near the bar. After a moment of quivering, the 'jello' forms a different mouth entirely and speaks loudly in a voice that is curiously neither male nor female.
:: Ladies and Gentlemen, there has been a limited and unresolveable bi-location anomaly - a severity three event. Visitors from Miir, your portal has irretrievably trans-located to another locus. Again, this was severity three. The Management apologizes for the inconvenience but they will not be able to re-establish a Miir-Orfallen link until the next pass. If you choose to remain with us until then, all your meals will be gratis. Transition will occur in approximately 4 hours. Our next scheduled arrival at Miir-Orfallen will be 5 days and 16 hours. Before then, we will arrive at Miir-Crux in 3 days and 6 hours. Again, the Management and staff of Crossroads extends its apologies for the inconvenience. ::
There are a few groans from the upper level as well as the main floor - clearly you aren't the only Miir visitors here.
Its announcements finished, the entertainer picks up the song where it left off.
You glance over at your door... and it seems entirely as it was previously. Adjacent to it is a small posted placard you hadn't noticed before but it may have been there all the time. And, in fact, you see placards by all four doors.
Also, you know you can buy a single draw from the deck - and live with the results - for 10,000GP.
Ushari enjoys the euphoria produced by the potent drink, and is quite ready to have a toast with the others...especially Orin who she can barely keep from openly ogling him for some reason.
As she listens to the announcement from the strange singing gelatinous cube, some of what it said did not make sense to her. One part did however.
Crux!! My home city of Crux, City of a Thousand Spires! I can see Mother again... if I dare to make the journey!
Orin lets Filch out again with the possible Devil attack averted. he addresses everyone, while looking at Ushari.
If you don't mind, I think I'll amend your toast slightly. To the men that cause trouble, and the women who help them out of it.
Straehan amends Orin's amendment, "... except for Gnomes, who are no trouble at all." He drinks quickly before anyone can object.
Jayse seems about to respond to Kat's explanation of the card game when the announcement occurs. Jayse becomes a statue during the eldricht jello's announcement, only his wide eyes making any movement at all as they follow the giant wolf.
Once it's finished, Jayse's eyes (still the only things moving) dart at a near-manic pace from Jofram to Orin to Straehan to Ushari. "I think I'm hallucinating. The blob just said we were stuck here. Did you here that, too?"
Orin's toast and Strae's response bring only a half-smile to his paranoid face, and he answers by lifting an imaginary glass in a toast-motion.
"Yeah," replies Jofram. "I think it did. What has your friend Bit gotten us into, now?"
"I think I'm hallucinating. The blob just said we were stuck here. Did you here that, too?"
Kat finishes her drink and gets another kick in the gut for her trouble. "Not exactly. That door still leads to Miir, just not Orfallen. It's still the road home - but it may be a hike."
Jayse shares a look with Jofram and Straehan, "Not sure i wanna go to Crux just now." He shrugs (only slight in fast-forward), "So we wanna hang here? Or maybe go hit up some random door for a while? CAn we even get back in time if we do that?"
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Jayse listens to the quick explanation about what the announcement means, only once getting distracted by how the individual words seem to roll off the speaker's tongue in a cascade of riotous colors. "Here's my thoughts. As fun as it might be to spend some time enjoying Crossroads's…" his eyes swing between the arm-wrestler, the jello-singer, and the card-game, ".. particular brand of entertainment, I'm just as likely to enjoy actually knowing where the door now is in the Isles. I say we take 3 hours or so, step through the door and see if we can figure out where we come out. If not, we hop back in and enjoy some of Kat's excellent mixes. I mean, hey, maybe this mix-up will play out to our benefit." He claps Orin on the back, "And our boy Orin can see a sight or two he hasn't seen yet… well.. maybe."
I'm up for some exploration, but let's make sure we ask which planes are accessible. I'd prefer to explore places where we can, well, breathe and survive the climate. We also need to all remain together for the duration of the trip, so no one gets stranded. Everyone in?
"Oh, i was talking about heading back through our original door.. get the lay of the land." He looks at Ushari, Jofram, and Straehan, nonverbally asking their opinions.
Of course, that makes more sense. I couldn't quite hear you over the music
"I'm in. We've only seen Amador; might be interesting to see what else the Isles hold."
Ushari nods, "Seems like a good idea to me. It would allow us to see if we can help Isolde with that task she requested of us." She pats her pack where she has stored the box Isolde provided the group to communicate with her.
As you step up to the double doors leading to Miir, you have a chance to read the weathered placard beside the door. It says:
Anomalies are like the Gods. You can't predict or prevent them... so you might as well try to appreciate them.
~The Management
The doors open soundlessly and you are greeted by a blank slate... a grey curtained nothingness that gives you no warning as to what sight on Miir will greet your eyes until you cross that threshold.
Before stepping through the portal Orin closes his eyes and concentrates. His appearance shimmers for a second and then his beard grows to an unkempt, chest-length tangle. Arcane symbols appear on his robes, and his quiver changes slightly, now looking like a darkwood scrollcase carved with runes. His buckler also shimmers, now appearing to meld into the hem of his robe. It seems as though he's trying to look like a stereotypical wizard. Filch crouchs down, hidden in a pocket.
Can't be too careful, right? I'll go first, unless someone objects?
Ushari realizes with a look of chagrin she did not have her pack with her, so the precious box still sits back at the Fish back at Orfallen. Also she had not worn her armor or boots, and left her shortbow behind.
She grimaces, At least I look nice in my heels...lovely, I think. When Orin offers to go first, she nods. "Ok, I will watch your back."
I'm up for some exploration, but let's make sure we ask which planes are accessible. I'd prefer to explore places where we can, well, breathe and survive the climate.
Bit attends your conversation but makes it clear he won't be going with you. "Adventure is for you youngsters.... I can tell you, you don't have many other choices until after the next transition." He points at the other doors. "That leads to the Plane of Earth - difficult to breath and a crushing weight. That one heads to the Plane of Positive Energy - you'll can live there until the abundance of energy blows you apart..." He turns on the third door, "Limbo - at least the environment isn't dangerous.... well, not that dangerous on the borders."
Having determined your plan, you step into the curtain of nothingness...
...And emerge in a chill and bitter wind under a dark sky. You stand upon a sloped rocky outcropping about halfway up a steep mountain. Looking behind you, you see the doors and the swinging sign for Crossroads standing out amid a crumbling wall of shale. Behind the door, you can see many more tortured and even steeper mountains - a vast and impenetrable mountain range. Turning around again, you look down on an endless flatland. In front of you, along the valley floor, you catch the glitter of moonlight off a river that snakes along at the foot of the mountain range. On the other side of the river, paralleling its path, is a road. In the distance, in one direction along the road and river, there is a very slight glow - possibly the lights from a village. In the opposite direction, further away, is a more even but dim glow - possibly from a larger town. Along the mountainside on which you stand, and just a couple hundred feet below your position, is something of a level area with scrubby bushes and an irregular cave entrance.
Jofram orients himself by the position of the constellations, and determines true North...
After the soulful, cozy warmth of Crossroads, the cold wind of the mountain is like an arctic waterfall. For a few heartbeats, Jayse can't seem to catch his breath, and the bitter assault on his senses battles furiously with the remaining effects of the Sunset Angst. Some combination of instinct and training demand that he exert mental control, so Jayse seeks the Calm.
It takes three frustrating attempts before Jayse can embrace the Calm, but he eventually finds himself looking out on the cold world through the calm clarity of emotionlessness. Damn… been a long time since I couldn't attain the Oneness. Gonna have to be careful with that drink. The soft tingle of power runs across his skin, and it's only after the fact that Jayse realizes he'd extended his mental defenses out over his physical body.
Again discipline exerts itself, and Jayse finds himself examining his surroundings for the telltale signs of possible danger.
As his subconscious mind seeks threats, his conscious mind processes other information. The mountains. The river. The village and outpost.
When he speaks the mounting edge from his Crossroads drink-of-choice seems to all but vanished, "So what do you guys think are the chances that we've landed above the spot on the map where we hoped to find H.C.?" He slides a hand into one of his coat's pockets, pulling out some black glasses and putting them on before looking over at the group, "I mean, it seems a little crazy, but at this point, I'm not willing to discount anything."
Ushari shivers against the chill breeze up here in the mountains, realizing she had no way to protect herself from the elements. Looking about her she tries to get her bearings with mixed results. The effects of the strong drink and the cold doing a fine job of distracting her.
Jayse's words bring her back to a sobering reality. L.C.? Located nearby? This could be a lucky opportunity for us...or very UNlucky...
"Jayse, IF you are right, then we are still on Amador Island which means we could return to Orfallen on foot. Mind you it would take several weeks...but it could be done."
I definitely will need a pair of boots though...
She looks down towards the river and the road beyond. "Jofram, how long would it take to reach the village, and also the town to the south?" As her gaze falls on the cave entrance below them, she adds "Also do you see any tracks around here"
"So what do you guys think are the chances that we've landed above the spot on the map where we hoped to find H.C.?" He slides a hand into one of his coat's pockets, pulling out some black glasses and putting them on before looking over at the group, "I mean, it seems a little crazy, but at this point, I'm not willing to discount anything."
The pocket-sized Sorcerer looks around and mentally consults the maps he pored over at the library in Orfallen. "L.C. not H.C., Jayse... you may be right. If we're still on Amador Isle - and the odds are pretty good that we are - then we could be between Flyn and Far Corvosa. That puts us about, I dunno, 500 miles East-Southeast of Orfallen."
Seeing Jayse's caution, Straehan casts Mage Armor on himself and on the unarmored Ushari.
Orin tilts his head back, closing his eyes and deeply breathing the mountain air. He watches his new companions casting spells:
and, recognizing the defensive nature, realizes that they are not as fully equipped as they could be.
I have some extra spears and javelins, if you'd like some weapons at hand, Orin offers to the others. He then casts light on his Headband of Intellect and whispers into his pocket as the night illuminates around them.
Filch peers over the edge of the robe pocket and master and familiar both scan their surroundings in unison.
Waiting for Jofram's answer to Ushari's question, Jayse makes his way over to the shivering girl, swinging his coat from his shoulders. He tosses it over hers, "Here… might not fit, but it's gotta feel better than that wind." He gives her a grin and a wink before stepping back away, once again searching for threats… especially giving a hard look at the cave.
Jofram lifts Vaelos up and the bird takes wing. He glances at the stars, then at various landmarks, gauging the distance to the far off lights, and checks the sod for signs of travel.
"Not far I think; though we might be better received in the town, at this late hour, than in the village.
It is hard to judge distances in the falling dark but the half-elf guesses the village to the North is no more than 2 or 3 days walk away. The town (South) appears to be a bit further - perhaps a 5 or 6 days walk... but accurate distances are hard to judge at night.
Jofram examines the hard-scrabble rocks for any signs of passage in the all but failed light as the moon rises fully. There are a great many traces of wear across the loose rocks as well as tell-tale scuffs left by animals. He roams carefully back and forth looking for something conclusive, slowly angling towards the cave. On a rare flat spot, where dirt and and moss have found purchase, the ranger finds an answer - the cloven semi-circular prints of goat hooves. Unfortunately, given the depth and size of the prints - this 'goat' must stand 9' tall and weigh 1000 lbs.
No sooner has Jofram announced this disturbing finding than a small rain of rocks and shale slithers down from the mountain-side above you. Casting your eyes uphill, something crests a rise and comes into sight. Based on the limits of your vision, you each see something slightly different but equally ominous....
While Ushari and Orin can only vaguely make out the creature, the gnome hisses a warning that leaves no doubt as to its intent, "He looks hungry."
From the darkness, you hear the creature's rumbling voice, This is followed by a loud twang as a crossbow bolt the size of a spear lances from the night and slices across Jofram's ribs. On the steep, loose, slope the blow nearly causes Jofram to slide backwards.
ORDER:
Map: 30 Degrees of Battle
70|70
71|79
72|72
52|52
60|60
Heavy Crossbow (19+/x2) 120'
Jo DEX v DC:8
Some part of Jayse's mind wonders if the Angst amped his reflexes up… his teammates seem to flow like molasses. The thought is washed away in the urgency of the moment, however, as Jayse steps defensively in front of Ushari and Straehan. As he settles into a low, powerful, defensive stance, his hand stretches out into the night. The hiss of a water drop hitting a cooking iron erupts as a flash of light runs out along the tattoos on his arm to his hand, where they seem to jump out into the night, continuing their path on a suddenly-manifested blue, single-edged blade of light.
"We think we can reason with him? Or straight to the blinding and beating the sh!t out of him?"
What is it? Straehan, can you light it up somehow? At this range I can't tell what species it is, and if it's likely to respond to a parley.