Momijii felt a wash of relief as the last of the creatures died. She looked at Skywing as the woman enthused about the fight and said, "They were energetic at least." She went over to where Lizzie was petting her dog and tentatively held her hand out for him to sniff.
As Filbert spoke of throwing the barrels at the ship she nodded at Skywing and said, "I've never seen him throw something that far but I wouldn't put it past him." She looked at Filbert, "He's very talented like that."
Zarine nods at Filbert's tentative agreement, but waits for Heinrich to weigh in on the Dreamlands idea before making any additional preparations or inquiries, since he would likely need to take the lead.
Meanwhile, as long as the dreamlands idea is up in the air, she volunteers to be part of the scavenging party.
To Skywin, Zan says, "I don't mind assisting on the scavenging mission. I do hope this Pembwick wasn't once home to cultists... was it? I've had quite enough of them for at least a few days."
When he has a chance, Zandomir will say to his companions, preferably in private, "I can try to assist with the ritual, though I certainly shouldn't be the lead. From what I've read it seems the ritual will also inflict a 'backlash' on one of us. If this is so, I don't mind holding the line, so to speak. I'm probably the one best equipped to quickly recover from any such damage.
"Should we decide to do this, I think it's preferable that we do so sooner than later. I speak for myself, at least, when I say I don't know what we'll find. Should we find anything significant, we may want to try to take multiple excursions before we arrive at Cassomir. If there's anything we can learn to assist us against Lowls or to find out what he's up to, I'd like us to know it."
When several people talk about accompanying the foraging party, Skywin seems well pleased. "I'll introduce you to my Delrah, we go way back. She's wood-crafty and knows how to handle herself in the wilds and has been leading foraging parties for years. I'm sure she'll appreciate the extra muscle."
Skywin disappears for a few minutes and reappears along with a short but energetic looking young woman with braided hair and a hunting bow. She miles at you before saying, "Hello! I'm Delrah. I hear you're hoping to stretch your legs and help with the foraging. Great! More hands are always welcome, this time of year we should get a good few bushels of fruit and there may be some tubers we can dig up. I must warn you however, the ground is marshy in places and sometimes there are giant caymans. Normally I warn passengers that we can't guarantee their safety, but we all saw you in action and are glad to have you with us." Three other sailors appear a moment later, red-haired brothers Joffen and
Jerren, followed by Sarum, a bald old sailor favoring one leg.
Joffen nods to you, seeming a little overawed by your presence.
Jerren nods to you too, but he seems surer of himself and pats Joffen on the arm saying, "Right then we're almost there, we'll fetch the baskets and a few spades." . The brothers head off to fetch the things.
This section of the river is mostly wide and marshy, it still has a lingering stench of rotten things but not so bad as at Illmarsh. Its late afternoon and golden sun drenches the river, making everything seem idyllic. Yet over the past half hour you noticed several caymans in the water, clearly this isn't a place to be taken for granted.
Despite the smooth river surface, there where strange currents and eddies and it's with some skill that the mate Keith Flint deftly maneuvered the Stellen Starling towards several large moss covered stones that used to form the foundation of a pontoon. Sailors dash out to tie lines round the stones and a gangplank is secured and the foraging party set out.
The bank is heavily overgrown with brambles (sadly the berries are still red and green rather than tasty black) and fast growing shrubs. There is a thick loamy smell mixed in with the river smells, and the bank teems with biting insects. Above you hear the sounds of exotic birdcall. The two red-head brothers set about the vegetation with gusto expertly using machetes and soon the beginnings of a path emerges. You notice all the foraging party are armed although none of them wear armor.
Ahead you notice a low rise and as you head towards it and away from the river, the ground becomes firmer. Insects buzz about and you catch a glimpse of movement in the trees.
Behind you is old Sarum, a lifelong sailor who once got his leg crippled by an accident in a canal lock. Still what he lacks in speed he makes up in strength, and you notice him carrying an assortment of baskets and tools. He notes, "Hard to believe we where here six months ago, these brambles grow back so fast! Anyway the ruins are not far, another thirty yards or so and the orchards are all about."
Agrippa chimes in regarding ritual.
I believe with the proper reading I might be able to make some sense of the ritual. Of course, if the Lady wishes to dabble in the occult, who am I to forestall her? Of course, the Lady knows what horrid things might happen should she make a mistake, but I am sure the Lady knows of such things and will not make those particular mistakes.
Agrippa, naturally haughty and prideful, took umbrage at someone else even thinking about taking the lead on the ritual. Agrippa is very possessive of knowledge, especially the forbidden kind.
When the others go ashore, Agrippa remains behind, studying the tomes he has collected up until this point. He keeps them all safe in his extradimensional bag. So far his collection includes Pnakotic Manuscripts, Chain of Nights and a small collection of books from the library of Count Lowls.
Agrippa spends his time in easrnest study of the Chain of Nights. It deals primarily with mundane physiological concerns, but has a lengthy section on the Dreamlands.
Once the party is ready to complete the ritual, Agrippa will consult with the Captain, and give him enough detail so he knows not to interrupt the ritual. He will consult with Winter, and give her care over their prone and sleeping forms with the instructions to wake Agrippa last should something occur. Agrippa will also speak with the two academics, and see if they know anything about the Dreamlands, or wish to assist with a scientific study of Dream Travel.
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When everyone is assembled for the Ritual of Excursion, Agrippa will speak
The Dreamlands are dangerous. Everything there is as real as everything on this plane. Harm to you there, becomes harm to you here. I will lead the Ritual. You will do *exactly* as I do. You will follow my exact movements, and speak the same words. Exactly. Failure will be...painful.
Agrippa lays down the Ivory Staircase and then faces North
To the North. Great Leng. We shield ourselves from your gaze.
y-hafh'drn lw'nafh 'bthnk lloig
He turns East
To the East. Kuranes, we ask your permission to enter the Realm, O greatest of Dreamers. y-hafh'drn lw'nafh 'bthnk lloig
He turns to the South
To the South. Oriab, place of Lava. Porphyry. y-hafh'drn lw'nafh 'bthnk lloig
He turns to the West
To the West. Dyath Leen. We seek entrance. y-hafh'drn lw'nafh 'bthnk lloig
Agrippa then faces the Ivory Staircase and begins chanting.
y-hafh'drn lw'nafh 'bthnk lloig hai hai hai y-hafh'drn lw'nafh 'bthnk lloig hai hai hai
finishing with a scream of
Zandomir notes the remains of the pathway leading to the village and does his best to stick to the solid parts. No point in stirring up a sleeping badger or worse.
At the glimpse of movement in the trees, Zan says, "Nothing to worry about. Just a pair of jackdaws squabbling over part of a rotten apple."
-----
Zandomir's mostly clueless as to the exact words Heinrich uses to lead the ritual. Having read form Lowls' library, the warpriest is fairly certain he can at least offer a few suggestions here and there. Stance adjustments, ways to wave hands, things along those lines. He does his best to help rather than hurt. He also takes the time to read from Chain of Nights. Anything he can do to increase his chances of helping is worth it.
The vegetation eventually gives way to the brother's machetes, revealing little over a dozen ruined houses. All that's left are low stone walls, perhaps a foot high, with interiors choked with weeds. Apart from animal sounds there are no signs of life and no footprints other than your own. It's as if time forgot whatever happened here.
You linger for a few moments, soaking up the forlorn atmosphere before Delrah says, "All right then enough gawping. The apple orchard is over yonder and it looks like they're nice and ripe!" Indeed past a particularly thick bramble patch you spot several hundred apple trees in what where once neat rows. Several have fallen but those that remain are heavy with unpicked apples. Clearly you have your work cut out clearing the way and picking!
"Err you want to do what?!" Skywin looked confused, Heinrich's words scared her. Hands on her hips the halfling looked up at him, "Look I guess it's your business what you do at night, and I'll make sure nobody noses about, but I don't want whatever it is your doing to endanger the boat or upset my crew ok?"
Winter looks concerned but not surprised when Heinrich explains what he needed. She replied, "I hope you know what you're doing Agrippa. I tracked down and interviewed a number of ex Iris Hill staff, toward the end Lowls was getting pretty unhinged. Essentially you're following in the footsteps of a madman who had no concern over the consequences, alas this is our best lead... May the blessing of Pharasma be with you, I'll keep watch while you sleep."
"The dreamland you say?" professor Malliver raised both eyebrows and glanced meaningfully at professor Kelkin.
Professor Kelkin stroked his chin as he considered, "Well I was writing a monograph."
Professor Malliver rolled his eyes. Conceding some point you're not privy to, Kelkin sighed, "Well the dreamlands does sound interesting. You have the relevant tomes with you? Mmm ok very good, I'm sure we can come to some arrangement."
Heinrich turns out to be a natural when it comes to forbidden occult rituals. He passes the miniature staircase around and directs you to feel each of it's seventy steps. With each passing the staircase feels heavier and heavier till you can barely hold it. At the very last moment he drops it on the floor with a heavy thud and it seems to fall through the floor. At this moment Zandomir suddenly cries out in pain.
A hot dry breeze washes over you as you notice an ivory staircase appear which spirals down through the floor through which the glimmer of golden sunlight filters through! In a trance you descend through to an opening in the sky above a vast trackless desert under a blistering sun. You fall several feet and with foreboding you see the staircase vanish. The heat simmers in the distance, causing the horizon to waver.
The only thing of note in the area is a partially ruined limestone caravanserai which stands one hundred yards away. From here you can see a single wide entrance, large enough to admit laden mounts which pierces the north wall of the structure. You need to get closer to be sure, but it seems it opens out onto a central courtyard. Time clearly has not been kind to this building for the north east corner has collapsed. Drifts of sand have built up against the walls inside and out with occasional tufts of short a stubborn bleached grass analogue.
Actions? Note it's very hot.
A character who takes any nonlethal damage from heat exposure now suffers from heatstroke and is fatigued. These penalties end when the character recovers from the nonlethal damage she took from the heat.
Zandomir scans the ruins of the village. He notes that the ground inside the remains of each house appears to have a thick layer of burned material smelling faintly of sulfur.
As Zan glances from house to house, by dumb luck, he spots a pitted iron ring sticking out of the vegetation inside one house. The warpriest walks over to the place he spotted the ring and clears out the weeds and other debris to reveal an intact cellar door.
With the door closed, Zan says to the other members of the scavenging party, "We just came for apples and other food, right? I'm not sure we should get side tracked by a random door, but I did feel like I should at least point it out. It seems to be one of the only whole things left in this village."
Against his better judgment, Zan also casts a simple spell at the cellar door.
-----
In the dreamlands, as soon as Zandomir has full control of his faculties again, he takes a few seconds to beseech Desna for her healing light. He doesn't know what dangers they'll face, but he'd rather be at full strength come what may.
To his companions, Zan says, "We should probably try to get into some shade before we start overheating. Maybe we'll find something inside along the way."
If there are no objections, Zandomir will head toward the caravanserai. He keeps close watch for movement or anything else out of place.
Landing party:
(path to village)
(jackdaws)
(something I missed but looks like Zandomir found)
(cellar door)
Zarine tries to open the cellar door.
Ritual:
Since Heinrich wants to do it and is being snippy about it, Zarine volunteers to stay behind and watch the group's bodies rather than participate. She'll join in if prodded, but has no interest in risking her life if someone else is crazy enough to want that honor instead.
Lizzie isn't the castery type, aside from being able to get a few blessings from Sarenrae, so she keeps to the side, in case anything tries to board the ship again.
When everyone goes to the dreamy dreamlands, she hopes for the best.
"Well...this is some strange place. Surreal.
What will the odds be, that the stuff of our nightmares are running amock here, eh?", she jokingly adds.
Spell Selection and Preparation: A divine spellcaster selects and prepares spells ahead of time through prayer and meditation at a particular time of day. The time required to prepare spells is the same as it is for a wizard (1 hour), as is the requirement for a relatively peaceful environment. When preparing spells for the day, a cleric can leave some of her spell slots open. Later during that day, she can repeat the preparation process as often as she likes. During these extra sessions of preparation, she can fill these unused spell slots. She cannot, however, abandon a previously prepared spell to replace it with another one or fill a slot that is empty because she has cast a spell in the meantime. Like the first session of the day, this preparation takes at least 15 minutes, and it takes longer if she prepares more than one-quarter of his spells.
The door itself doesn't detect as magic. It is however rusted stuck.
The ceremony is long peculiar and tedious punctuated by moments of terror when you feel something stirring. They all pass the ivory staircase around, becoming more and more lethargic as they do so. Finally after nearly an hour Heinrich shrieks something and drops the staircase which simply vanishes. A moment later all of them collapse in a heap, seemingly asleep. You notice blood leaking from Zamdomir's nose.
The caravanserai entrance once had a stout wooden door topped with a wide shelf but now only fragments remain. Beyond this a cool, comfortable
passageway leads into the caravanserai. To your left a tattered curtain dangles from the lintel. The room beyond contains only a few bare tables and a narrow, barred door. The barred door at the back of the room leads to a small cell, the door is ajar.
caravanserai, where burly agents checked manifests, assessed taxes, and relieved travelers of obvious weapons before allowing admittance. The cell was where the guards could place prisoners, but the room was more often used to securely store travelers’ weapons.
Note you can't swap prepared spells with this, only prepare spell slots you left empty to begin with.
Filbert walks along the path whistling a jaunty tune he'd heard one of the sailors singing from the deck while they worked. The small narrow spaces they passed occasionally bothered him little, and he kept watch for some of the promised fruit.
The Jackdaws fighting over the rotten fruit gives him some hope as the fruit must have come from somewhere, reaching the village he is happy to hear where the orchard was and to see ripe fruit hanging from the limbs.
"Not sure much left below there would be edible..."he comments as Zarine and Zandomir eye the cellar door and he heads off towards the orchard and it's bountiful treasures
Reaching out telekinetically he shakes the upper most tree limbs of three trees
"Gah!, Heinrich you couldn't have sent us to a cooler place??"
Filbert gripes as the heat and the brightness of the sun glinting off the desert sands, cause him to squint and tug somewhat uncomfortably at the edges of his lightweight armor.
With some adjustment he finds the heat bearable for the moment, however he moves quickly with the others to the Canaveral's shade.
Reaching out with his abilities, Filbert tries to pick up the brightly shining sword. "Should it be a trap, let me pick it up."
-----
Zandomir looks worried as Zarine tries to open the cellar door. He would prefer to leave the door and whatever lies below alone, but he doesn't expect Zarine to agree to that. Better to be close by in case something goes wrong.
Stepping over to the door ring, Zandomir grabs it with both hands and pulls hard till it opens. As it turns out, all it takes for him is one solid pull and the door comes open.
Zandomir casts Light on his bow and peers beyond where the door was to see what he sees.
-----
Before the group departs for the Dreamlands, Zandomir notices that Zarine seems to be planning to stay behind. He says to her, "I'd be a lot more comfortable going to this mystical land of dreams if I had you with me. I realize we have others now, but... it's still a bit different to me. Winter will be here to watch our bodies, so we shouldn't have to worry about anything on this end. So... mind coming along?"
In the dreamlands, inside the caravanserai, Zandomir spots the magical sword immediately, though he's not sure what it does exactly. He watches as Filbert uses his... magic? ki? some other mystical force? to lift the blade. Zan keeps his bow at the ready. He half-expects the sword's owner to appear in a rage as soon as Filbert retrieves it.
Filbert's talents shake down several trees worth of apples in record time, much to the amazement of the scavenging party.
Zandomir in a feat of remarkable strength manages to heave up the rusted cellar door, breaking a rusted latch as he does so! He peers down into a dank and musty cellar. His glowing bow illuminates the gloom and he can see numerous ancient looking barrels, boxes, a large stone table with several skulls and a corridor leading to the east. In addition there is a regular but ancient looking wooden table. The air below seems very stale.
Map for the cellar.
Momijii was ready when they went to disembark and do some scavenging. She didn't mind traveling by ship bit it could still be a bit bothersome. Oddly she didn't have a problem with sea sickness this time, smething she somehow knew plagued her in the past. It was rather nice really but she was still glad to reach dry land for a bit.
As they proceeded across the shore and began collecting supplies Momijii did what she could to both watch for danger and to help. When heinrich found the cellar and forced it open the lovely Momijii went to back him up if he went down there in case something nasty was lurking.
This whole situation had momijii very nervous. She didn't like such things but decided that it would be best to consider it a form of meditation. When Zarine expressed her desire to remain behind Momijii said, "No, I think we all need to go and trust those with us to keep our bodies safe." Regardless of what Zarine finally chose Momijii took her place in the ritual and did as instructed.
When the ritual completed Momijii found herself falling, straight into a desert. She hadn't expected a dessert and found the heat to be stifling.
When she saw the abandoned building Momijii knew it was a place to get out of the sun and into some shade where it might be cooler. She looked at the others and said, "Come on, let's see if it is any cooler in there." With that she began to head towards the structure.
Inside Momijii saw the place seemed abandoned but it was at least cooler than outside. As they progressed further in and found the door that was left ajar she felt a thrill of fear. She didn't like this place already and was on her guard for something nasty to come leaping out to kill them at any moment.
As Zandomir looks around the cellar, he thinks to himself, Of all the cellars in all the houses of this dilapidated village, why did this one have to be the one that survived?
The warpriest casts Detect Magic in the room and surveys the area to see if anything looks particularly useful.
If not, he'll maintain the Light on his bow and proceed down the corridor to the east.
Dreamlands:
When Zandomir and Momijii express that they want her to come along, Zarine reluctantly agrees.
Okay, okay. You guys are right. I'm coming.
(guard station)
(sword)
Scavenging Party:
Zarine grins gratefully at Zandomir for opening the door and starts moving to the east, casting detect magic and keeping her eyes open for anything interesting.
Zandomir's eyes aided by the light shining off his bow pierce the gloom in the adjacent chamber where there has been a partial cave in but most of it is intact. The air in here is particularly bad, making breathing difficult ().
He notices five heavy stone coffins, the nearest two of which are open and empty, the others are closed. Next to the stone coffins are rotted remains of what once might have been bedrolls.
Filbert returns from the orchard feeling happy in spirit, eating one of the apples that was shaken loose.
These are great, wonder if anyone can preserve them for the trip? Hmmm, where is everyone?!?!"
Not seeing anyone Filbert searches the area where the cellar door was located and finds the others below, dropping down into the root cellar, he takes a look around.
"Didn't you guys have enough fun messing around in the crypt below the Lowl's mansion, now you're actively seeking them out?" Shaking his head he joins them in searching the room regardless of any chiding he may give.
"Got some stakes and a mallet here, someone chasing nightwalkers?"
Zan hastily retrieves the stakes and mallet that Filbert notices at about the same time as him. This place creeps out the half-elf and the coffins aren't helping.
"Maybe we should try opening the three coffins one at a time? If there is someone... or something... inside, they'll be easier to manage - and to stake - one at a time."
Agrippa visably wilts under the intense heat. He is sweating and turning beat red. As the group approaches the caravanserai Agrippa says
It seems the ritual took us to..
Something like "place" is fluid here in the Dreamlands. Similar to the First World I would imagine.
Agrippa understands the sword for what it is
A marvelous weapon. Someone should use this.
Agrippa presses the tiny stud and hears a click followed by a strange buzzing noise. The blade has become transparent and sheds baleful red light like a torch! Curiously the buzzing grows an octave higher when he moves the blade and it makes a sizzling spark when it hits something and glides right through as if it wasn't there.
A marvelous weapon. Someone should use this.
"Hah, pretty it is, but it's half again as tall as I am. Think I'll leave that to someone a bit taller."
watching Heinrich swing around Red Destiny he couldn't help but make a few "vvvrrrzzzz, vvvrrrzzzz" sounds as he tries out the new variation. "Nifty you brought your own fireworks to the Dreamlands."
Filberts looks around at the others within the cellar to see if any were willing to join Zandomir as a vampire killer.
Scavenging:
Zarine nods at Zandomir's plan, and gets ready to assist with vampire stabbing if needed.
Dreamlands:
Zarine watches as Filbert puts the weapon back down. She doesn't move to pick it up, waiting for someone who uses a sword more often to claim it, but if they start to leave without it, she will bring it along with them. She isn't sure if treasure can return with them from the dreamlands, but she figures they might as well find out.
Zandomir scratches his chin and at the fancy weapon that Filbert retrieved. It'd be a shame to find such a weapon and have no one use it.
"Do you think you'd use it Heinrich? Momijii seems to prefer her fists, Zarine her bow, and Filbert his... something. These are the dreamlands... I wonder if it would adjust to Lizzie's size if she picked it up?"
Zandomir glances from the blade to Lizzie and back again. He's not at all certain the blade will work for the paladin, but he figures it's worth a shot.
Indeed, unfortunately no Master archer, my training is lacking in the...martial arts. I'm afraid I'd slice my own leg off. Red Destiny is a fine enough blade for me.
Lizzie glances at Zandomir with an optimistic smile.
"You're thinking if i should put it to use, right?
Only one way to see.", as she straps her morningstar to her belt.
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Zandomir smiles back at Lizzie. "Glad at least one of us will get some use out of it. Would be terrible to waste such a nice weapon."