Hawke would roll over as the goat bleated and took off, however when it started baa'ing over and over again, he would shout, "Shut that f#@%ing thing up before I come up there and make it stop!"
"Good Morning, Mountain Friend. My name is Sinathel. Might I know your name?" Sinathel greets and asks the goat.
She continues to converse with the goat until Hawke speaks up. At that point she turns and gives him a look.
"That's no way to talk when we are guests of his mountain." Sinathel chides Hawke.
Without even turning over to face Sinathel Hawke would replay, "We are currently the uninvited guests of the dead monks whose Monastery we purged of the evil that killed them. That goat's mountain home resides outside of these walls so to be a good neighbor and too shut it's trap."
Scram charges up to the goat with a low rumbling growl. As soon as the goat bolts in terror, he lies down in front of Sinathel and rolls over to be petted. "Did you see that silly goat run?!?" he says in Cougarish to her.
Meanwhile, Dambreth explains to the group what he found and sketches a path to avoid the cave.
"Name's Ramshod. What brings a nature-kin such as yourself to our mountain?" the goat asks curiously. He moves away from Hawke's shouting from below, shaking his horns.
"It is a pleasure to meet you Ramshod. My group and I climb to the peak, to stop and repair the damages plaguing the rest of the world. May lands have been ravaged by disasters of both the natural and magical kind. Wars have happened as a result, leading to more death and destruction. This mountain holds great power, and is our best chance to stop this endless cycle of death and destruction."
The goat blinks and stares at you as only a goat can, examining you with its strange flattened-pupil eyes common to all goats. "Sounds important," he manages finally, looking about him. "Just be wary... the mountain's not immune entirely from the troubles I see when I look out on the lower jungles. Strange things have been climbing Haujobb's slopes of late. Things I've been studiously avoiding! If you're wise you will too. Good day!" With that, the goat, who had been nervously eyeing Scram below this entire time, hops away toward a small goat path up the mountain's side at a gentle angle.
"Be safe, Ramshod." She smiles as he heads up before giving the pet-demanding Scram some attention. "You overgrown kitten." She teases as she pets on him. "Spoiled Rotten I'd say."
Looking to the others, "I don't think the harpies are the only thing we have to worry about. Ramshod said there have been strange things climbing Haujobb's slopes as of late. Dangerous things from the way he talked."
Ramshod? Oh, the goat. I forget these things have names. Mostly I just call them Dinner.
"Of course he has a name. Everyone has a name."
Hawke would start with rise while sputtering curses. He had hoped to get some sleep, but how could anyone sleep with so much noise he would think to himself. So instead he focused on taking inventory of his supplies.
"We'll have to be careful with our food supplies from here on out. We don't know what we'll find up there and I would prefer to die by the teeth of a beast than to starve to death."
Traveling with a ranger, a druid, and a hardened fighter has its benefits. Between your group's natural nature expertise and Hawke's strict regulation of rations, your group begins making good time up the mountain's slopes. The climbing gear in your adventuring packs proves to be quite useful, as are Dambreth and Scram's scouting.
Your journey takes you higher and higher up the tallest mountain in the world. The air begins to grow thin and cold - the cloaks taken from the northern elves prove invaluable here, as the temperature continues to fall during your climb. By the end of the second day, all of your muscles are worn, and the view is spectacular. Looking out from Haujobb's slopes, you can see for dozens of miles. You're high enough up now that you can actually see the curvature of the planet if you look out far enough.
Dembrath, your scouting reveals dangerous and cantankerous animals that you skillfully navigate your tired companions around. With the rigorous climbing you must undergo, you know that it's wiser to avoid picking unnecessary fights.
The third day of climbing is the most brutal. There are no paths. There are no places to walk level. Almost the entirety of the third day is spent climbing nearly straight up, moving from precarious handhold to handhold to the summit.
It's the end of the third day now. Night has fallen across the ground far, far below. Here at the top, you can barely breathe, the air is so thin. Before you at the peak, there are several tall standing stones that are perfectly smooth to the touch, made of stone that is different from the surrounding rock of the mountain.
Hawke would walk throughout the stones while trying to remember anything of importance he might have learned about such a place.
As you approach the stones, a massive, ghostly dwarf figure appears. A warhammer is gripped loosely in one hand, and his eyes are a bluish fire. The spirit is dressed in ancient-looking, ostentatious and dignified clothing. In your oxygen-deprived, exhausted state, you aren't sure if you're hallucinating him at first. Then, he speaks.
If Olivius had the breath to speak, he would have. Not even a life of military training, running the streets, and generally making sure you were physically fit enough to outrun other people came close to what he just accomplished. Well, more like suffered through.
Unfortunately, all he can do for several minutes after arriving at the stones is try in vain to catch his breath.
As you approach the stones, a massive, ghostly dwarf figure appears. A warhammer is gripped loosely in one hand, and his eyes are a bluish fire. The spirit is dressed in ancient-looking, ostentatious and dignified clothing. In your oxygen-deprived, exhausted state, you aren't sure if you're hallucinating him at first. Then, he speaks.
Dambreth looks at the ghostly dwarf with wonder then bows. "We are here to try to put things right on Gaia once again. However, to do so requires us to make a journey into the past."
Hawke would simply stare at the dwarven figure. He was more than happy to let Dambreth do the talking as he examines the area for anything that might help them.
Hawke, there is a small collection of stone pads, worn with centuries of use into a recognizable shape for a kneeling humanoid to rest upon. Beyond that, the dwarf spirit and the stones, nothing is atop the peak but the stars overhead. Looking up, you can't see anything but space. The vast abyss makes you dizzy briefly, causing you to lower your eyes back to the summit, involuntarily, for a moment.
The huge dwarf-spirit turns his head to regard the thief, who is struggling to breathe. The spirit narrows his eyes, and a cold breeze blows across the summit's peak as the stars blaze with unaccustomed light overhead.
The wind stings whatever exposed skin isn't covered by the elven cloaks, but as you breathe it in, Olivius, you feel it fill your lungs with nourishing energy. A breath later, and you can stand. Another breath, and your hands cease their shaking.
The spirit of the mountain regards Dembrath from seemingly high above him. Looking up at the dwarf, one can see blazing constellations through his transparent brow. His blazing fiery orbs seem to pierce Dembrath's armor and gaze upon his very soul.
Then, the merest ghost of a smile tugs one corner of the dwarf's lips. Dembrath, your recent awakening to the higher powers, in communion with the spirits of the land, has not gone unnoticed. You feel the blessings of Gaia fill you who speaks for your fellows.
Gain Hold 3. Spend 1 Hold for: Intervention of Gaia Gaia is watching over you. When you spend this hold as part of a personal plea to the Great Earth Spirit, She will intervene for you in the story in some meaningful way.
The climb, while exhausting, had been exhilarating. To finally be at the peak! Then, the spirit appeared. The awe that filled her, it was almost overwhelming. She stands, in reverence.
The dwarf-spirit's gaze sweeps over each of you, in turn. Finally, he speaks.
With a gesture from the mountain lord, the Immovable Rod floats out of Hawke's backpack and hangs in the air before you. A click, and the button on its side is depressed. The Rod is nearly 3 feet long when fully extended, and the dwarf bids you closer to the artifact.
the spirit points upward.
The dwarf-spirit turns his gaze heavenward, toward a particularly bright star. All of you know this star - its name is Undala, the Red Star, for its ruddy color. After a few moments, he looks back at all of you.
It's the only way to undo the past and fix the havoc of the past years, right? Doing this undeniably nobke work will justify years a lifetime of loot! I'm in!
He steps up and grasps the rod firmly without a backward glance at the life he leaves behind.
"Well, I guess that dying in a time-travelling accident isn't much worse than dying in whatever is threathening the world," Si-Yi says dryly and grasps the rod.
Hawke eyes the apparition with suspicion when he feels the magical artifact free itself from the confines of his backpack, however he watches and listens instead of lashing out at a creature he was unsure of how to deal with.
"And what event in the past needs to be changed to save our world? We've been told that we must go back to right the path of this world, however we have been told little beyond that."
"Will these small metal tubes allow us to breath whilst in space, might spirit? Also, does this mean I must leave my faithful friend behind. If he clings to me under the cloak will he be able to survive?"
the dwarf spirit intones as he gestures at the artifact. He turns to Dambreth, and a smile tugs at his lips once more.
The dwarf watches you pull your elven cloaks tightly about yourselves and put your breathing devices between your teeth before grasping the artifact. Cool, clean air is filtered through the devices, allowing you to breathe comfortably even on this high mountain summit.
When all of you are grasping the Immovable Rod and Scram is close by, the dwarf begins to sing. The voice is low, deep in his throat, and has a legato melody that casts a spell over all of you. You feel your feet lifting off the mountain. The world falls away from you, but you are all still, protected by the magic of the artifact.
You rise higher and higher off the tallest peak in the world, and you can feel the dangerous coldness of space pressing in against your cloaks. Stars are all around you, and behind you, Luna in all her silvery radiance shines brightly with the reflected light of the Sun. All of you can see the world below you, stretched out like a map in glorious, brilliant detail. From this height, the regions of the planet that are scarred by uncontrolled magic are as plain to see as wounds on the face of a friend.
you can still hear the sounds of the dwarf's low singing magic, but his mournful voice echoes all around you.
The world begins spinning faster and faster, the Moon whipping past behind you as you follow the planet's orbit. You see the sun traveling across the planet's surface over and over again as you travel faster and faster forward in time. From various points on the planet, small points of light can be seen. They whirl around each other like atoms, and eventually come together to form a single light in that area. You count at least one on every major landmass.
They don't all light at once - they come into existence gradually, one at a time. Eventually, the combined light from the multiple points on the planet's surface come together in space, to form a single point.
That's when you hear it. Somehow, the emptiness of space carries the sound of a primal roar, from...behind you? Turning around, your heart stops when you see, moving your way from the blackness of space, an enormous dark shape against the stars. You can only see its silhouette in the blackness, but its sheer size fills you with dread.
The beast is nearly the size of the Moon itself. Like a gigantic squid, its tentacles spread wide in all directions against the stars, moving all at once and independently, in constant curling undulations.
It follows the light of the combined beacons, and lands on the planet's surface. Entire chunks of landmass from the main continent - your continent - are broken off, cast into the sea or worse, into space. Hungrily and messily, the void beast begins to devour the planet.
The vision ends. The horror from the stars and the beacon of light fade, leaving behind the planet as it is now - troubled and scarred, but within salvation.
The spirit of Mount Haujobb stands before you, his feet resting on nothing but empty space. His expression is grim as he looks over each of you before turning back to the planet.
he asks, his voice heavy. His crown of stars twinkles faintly as he gazes down on your doomed world.
"So you showed us what is to come? And now it is our job to fix it? I thought we were to travel through time in order to prevent the wickedness that has already befallen our realm," Hawke would state bluntly as he tries to make sense of what had just transpired.
The spirit nods. Turning back toward the planet, he sweeps with one arm over a few of the glowing points. Visions sweep before you: a broken-down temple in a swamp of fire. A stately mansion in a major metropolis. A group of humans, elves, and others, all facing a center point, kneeling on the ground and shouting their prayers to the point of light. All of these visions have light that is pure and strong, and pointing upward into space, calling the Beast from beyond the stars.
the giant dwarf intones. The images whirl apart and fade, leaving the starry sky behind. You see new images appear, of a woman of ageless beauty and dignity beseeching a young man in swirling robes made of stars. With her head bent and kneeling, the woman - Gaia - pleads the man for mercy, until he relents and turns his timepiece over.
The dwarf finishes speaking and stares down at you with a hard expression.
"I'll be more than happy to bust some heads to prevent that beast from finding his way hear. We don't need any candles in the dark leading him to our home."
Olivius is dumbstruck by the spectacle. All that destruction!
This will be a noble venture indeed. he whispers. His eyes are locked on the planet below. Try as he might, he cannot look away.
Tears run down Sinathel's cheeks, her breathing sounds ragged with sobs. The pain, those cries. She could still hear their cries, feel their pain as their world was destroyed. All those spirits, animals, people, and even Gaia herself, at the mercy of this destruction. It broke her heart. "No... No it... it must not..." Sinathel manages to get out between sobs.
Scram presses his body firmly against Dambreth as he whines in pain and fear. Even his animal brain can feel the doom approaching their world.
Dambreth's eyes glaze over and he begins to whisper, "Time, but not time," over and over in a voice full of despair and hopelessness. Gradually though a feeling that feels like a parent reaching out to soothe a child fills his soul and the despair lifts and is replaced with resolve. "This shall not come to pass!" he shouts to the heavens.
The dwarf spirit gestures, and the world around you begins to shift backward. The void beast from beyond the stars disappears in a blink as your planet revolves in backward orbit around the sun, with the Immovable Rod continuing to be, well, immovable.
The world and universe around you stop spinning, and the world falls up at you, growing immensely larger as you grow nearer to the atmosphere. No longer are you located atop Haujobb. Instead, you look down upon a tropical island in a sapphire sea, with a volcano with an active caldera in the middle. Jungle plants and coconut trees abound.
The dwarf-spirit gestures at the beach of the island below.
He turns back to you, the Ruddy Star blazing in one eye as he glares at each of you in turn. You feel the age of the mountain in his countenance as he regards you.
A phrase I never thought I'd hear... In this context. Mutters Olivius, but he nods his readiness nonetheless.
May I assume, he adds, That we will be seeing you again, Spirit? That these beacons are spread throughout History?
The spirit gazes off at the horizon, presumably where Haujobb rests, miles and miles away.
"Where is the closest shrine? In case we need to seek you out?" Hawke would question.
the spirit laughs.
Ummmm... Olivius looks around, registering for the first time where he is, Where is here? I've never seen some of these plants before.
"I'm ready," Hawke would state as he pulls his axe from his back.
We're ready also, Dambreth echoes, gesturing to himself and Scram and then fitting an arrow to his bow string.
"I recognize the plants. Many of these are found in my home Jungle." Sinathel comments, comforted by the similar surroundings to her home. "I am ready."
A jungle? Well, maybe I'll find out what makes the local elves so weird.
"I'm ready as well."
The dwarf-spirit nods, crossing his massive arms over his chest, and slowly fades from sight.
You plummet from space - or rather, the Earth races up at you, since the Immovable Rod keeps you still. All around you are the flames of atmospheric re-entry, but the magic of Mount Haujobb keeps you safe. The tropical island grows larger and larger until it fills your vision, and you land on a beach. Scorch marks mar the sand all around your landing spot. Waves are gently lapping against the shore. It's hot - close to 90 degrees in open sunlight. There's a row of palms and other jungle trees about 20 or 30 feet from the shoreline - above, and beyond the trees, the volcano looms.
On the shoreline is a lifeboat from a ship. It's safely beached, but no one is there. A line of footprints in the sand lead away from you. What do you do?
Si-Yi proceeds to meticulously examine the lifeboat and the surrounding area for possible clues about what had happened before they landed.
What happened here recently?
Your eyes narrow as you examine the boat, which appears to have weathered some foul storm recently. You look skyward, and recognize telltale signs of recent inclement weather, confirming your suspicions. If your guess about how long ago the storm took place is right, this boat landed on the island less than a few days ago. Judging by the torn rope inside the boat and the unrepaired damage to the hull, the storm was a doozy - it probably knocked out whatever ship this belonged to. Your gaze sweeps the ocean's horizon, but there's no sign of a ship, wrecked or otherwise, that you can see.
What here is useful or valuable to me?
Searching the boat's interior, you come across a waterlogged map. It's soaked with salt water and barely readable, but you are able to recognize the general geographic area. Your eyes widen. It's difficult to be 100% certain, but you think you recognize the coastline on part of the map. It looks like a coastline very close to your homeland's territory.
What here is not as it appears to be?
You closely examine the footprints in the sand. At first glance, they look like simple prints of someone walking slowly across the beach, but you compare the depths of the heel and toe sections of each print, and nod in decision. Whomever made this prints was carrying some great weight...possibly a person, or other object of some kind.
Whilst the Barbarian is examining the boat, Dambreth and Scram begin to follow the footsteps
"A storm forced the boat to land here. Seems like it carried more than just a passenger, judging from the footprints," Si-Yi declares unceremoniously. He puts the map in a pocket without mentioning it to the others; it is almost unreadable after all.