Theophilus and the White Rabbit impatiently tap their foot waiting for Killa Croc.
Theo sees Killa Croc's suffering end as they destroy him before he can move to the door.
Kat studies the dragon once more before shutting the door.
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Kat somehow manages to shut the doors despite their protest after being bathed in acid.
Theophilus looks to his friends.
Apologies, my friends. It looks like we may need to hide out somewhere to restock our shelves.
Dervak wakes himself up.
Mara was about to go over to Dervak to heal him, when he disappeared. "Dervak's woken up!", she advised Kat and Theo. "Time for us to do the same!"
She cast a spell on Kat, to protect her friend while she tried leave the land of dreams. Then Mara ducked around the corner.
The dragon roars, "Open the door!" The door blocking the way opens up by one of the obedient iron maidens. The dragon charges at Kat but she's ready for the attack and ducks out of the way.
Mara tried to leave the dream turned nightmare.
Theo frowns.
Kat steps to the side as she draws a tanglefoot bag and tosses it at the dragon.
Theophilus dusts off his pants.
I shall hold it off. Go ahead and wake up peeps!
He winks at the camera.
Kat tosses the bag at the dragon and the thick sticky substance spreads over it's head and torso but largely misses its feet and tail. Her gambit doesn't prevent it from spraying clouds of acidic breath all over the room. Theo just melts into a pile of bloody goo, Kat survives and Mara is just missed. The delicate mechanism that controls the shifting door is destroyed. The dragon moves into the room with Mara and Kat.
Mara didn't want to risk standing where she was and trying to wake up. She concentrated, dramatically increasing the uncertainty of her location, as she started blinking between the Dreamlands and the ethereal plane. She dodged through the machinery and tried to walk through the wall of the room to the other side of the prison.
While blinking, you can step through (but not see through) solid objects. For each 5 feet of solid material you walk through, there is a 50% chance that you become material. If this occurs, you are shunted off to the nearest open space and take 1d6 points of damage per 5 feet so traveled.
Acid stinks! If this keeps up; I may begin to have a phobia!
Kat roars with frustration as Theo discorporates. "BLOODY HELLS." She swipes as the dragon advances on her.
With Mara out of danger, she finally begins to start trying to wake up. She takes a step back and tries to concentrate, but her frustration with herself over letting Theo go down makes it difficult to focus.
Mara briefly materializes in the wall as she tries to walk outside. Outside she finds herself standing on the roof of the 1st level. The area is featureless but does provide a good view of the stars and the Dreamlands. The dragon struggles against the resin coating its scales but it can't seem to escape.
Mara took a moment to look around and familiarize herself with exactly where she came out, so the group could teleport in from this spot on the next attempt, if they wanted.
Kat finally gets a handle on herself and poofs back awake, but not before flipping the dragon the finger.
The party wakes up from their shared nightmare to the gentle rocking of the Sellen Starling.
Day 55
Dervak wakes.
He stands up, grabs his head, and kicks over a stool in frustration. That does not help the pounding in his head.
"At least we know what we're up against."
He rights the stool and sits down.
Upon waking up, the paranoid, phobic fool rushes about the boat, discarding any and all oil/acidic type products!
The first thing Mara did when she woke up was to heal everyone, since the ritual had taken it's toll.
Orisons: Detect Magic, Light, Guidance, Read Magic
1st lvl (5): Cure Light Wounds x4, Liberating Command
2nd lvl (4): Barkskin, Cure Moderate Wounds x2, Calm Emotions
3rd lvl (4): Heroism x2, Cure Serious Wounds x2
4th lvl (3): Restoration, Threefold Aspect, Fear
Once she had memorized her spells, she healed everyone some more.
She talked to Theo about his experience and cast a restorative spell to ease his mental trauma.
After she finished she suggested to everyone, "Why don't we take a few days off? Theophilus needs some time to rest up after that horrible experience."
Theophilus is seen tossing various bottles and vials overboard...
The warrior is concerned at Theophilus's actions. While he normally takes the witch's eccentricities as signs of genius, he is vaguely aware of the dangers of dying in the Dreamlands.
If that happened to me... would the Dark Whisper come back?
"Here, Theophilus, I can help a bit."
He casts Resist Energy (Acid) on Theophilus. "Now you are protected from acid."
"Yes Mara, a few days off sound good. If we pass any place where we can get a scroll, we really should have been preparing that way for our Dreamlands trips."
Theophilus gives Dervak a hug.
I have been thinking that I really need to find more spells to feed the White Rabbit.
The White Rabbit is seen with knife, fork and satin napkin tucked over his chest.
Kat shakes her head. "That was pretty bad, eh? Resting up sounds pretty good. Any of you not have one a' these tanglefoot bags I made, I'd recommend taking one. Good at slowing big blighters like that down."
Day 62
The days drag on as poor wind slows the trip down. At twilight one evening you spot several globes of light high in the surrounding forest. Senator Daldamane exclaims excitedly, "That's the sign! Please put me and my aides ashore."
Six people wearing the vestments of Desna sit around a camp. A Taldan woman with smooth features and short dark hair greets you, "Of course you would arrive together. I am Hadranna Ibren. Senator, if you would accompany us we can put you in contact with some people in Taldor that require your political skills. We can help ransoming Glower if your companions will allow it." She addresses the party, "Kat, Mara, Theophilus, Dervak; Lady Luck has imparted visions of your journeys across the Dreamlands to us. If you would, would you tell us of your quests?"
The clerics offer to scribe a few scrolls for Theo.
A bit shaky; a slight ticking of his right cheek, allowing for a slightly less than sane smile on his face, our ever-friendly Hatter greets the Desnans with formal aplomb.
Moi a-knees! How far we have wearily traveled to but be graced by your community!
The grateful Witch gladly pens 5 request.
Dervak has some regard for Desna, and generally trusts her priests. A bit flighty, usually, but decent enough.
"I would be grateful if you could take this assassin off our hands.
Do you wish to hear about our ordeals before, or are you most interested in the quests in the Dreamlands?"
"We are most interested in your Dream-quests but if you have other ordeals that you wish to relate. We are also interested in learning the ritual that you use to enter the Dreamlands."
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"I know dreams are sacred to Desna, as is travel and exploration. So I understand that you want to know about the Dreamlands. I will tell you what we did.
We must go back to the Dreamlands to complete our quests. Would you come with us? It is not for the faint of heart, but we could use your help. There is a journey within the Dreamlands that we must repeat, and I do not know if it will be easy. Your prayers to Desna might help."
"To do the ritual you need to know about magic and about the planes. Theophilus and Mara know that stuff. You also need a focus, an expensive ivory staircase. Until you can make or craft one, your best bet is to come with us."
"The Dreamlands have wonders and horrors. There was the great city of Sarnath, destroyed by the wrath of a Great Old One. We were there, and not all of us made it out 'alive.' Dying in the Dreamlands wakes you but with a madness.
There were battles, against Gugs and Wamps and a Night Hag. There were ghouls with a society that we could reason with.
There was a horrific slaver ship, and the ship was alive, and it was
captained by a man of Leng. Beating him was satisfying. I think one of those Denizens of Leng had traded me as a slave.
Then there was the ball of the Viscount Brellin, outside the city of Celaphais."
"We needed the Viscount's signet ring. He was willing to part with it if we solved several problems at his party. That is, we had to get three of his guests to accept his changing plans and not dancing with them. Sounds easy, right? One had been captured by ettercaps and spiders, and we had to rescue her before properly cancelling the dance. Then there was Lady Splinterbone, a vampire. Theophilus charmed her into accepting a dance with him instead. He also got orders for a lot of dresses from her. Maybe we should go back and deliver them. Oh yeah, there was another guy who wanted money and we bribed him.
So, we got all of the dances cancelled, and then the Viscount got to dance with who he really wanted, which was a giant Leng Spider. We got out of there at that point."
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Mara wrestled with how much to reveal to the clerics. She ultimately decided that, given her group's limited information, it was worth taking the risk of telling the worshipers of Desna about their quest. She hoped she could learn some useful information in return.
"We are trying to follow the trail of our former employer, Haserton Lowls IV, Count of Ustalav's Versex County. From what we've been able to piece together, he sacrificed our memories to a mysterious person in the Dreamlands known as 'The Mad Prophet'. It seems that Lowls gathered a collection of 'gifts' to gain the Mad Prophet's favor. We've been trying to obtain the same things so we can approach the Mad Prophet, and hopefully learn more about what Lowls is up to. He seems to have been dabbling in dangerous, dark knowledge, and is seeking out far more. For what ultimate purpose, I don't know.
"We encountered a splinter of Lowls' mind, someone in the Dreamlands who calls himself 'The Yellow King'. He was going to guide us to meet the Mad Prophet, but he's been kidnapped and is now being held in a prison on the moon.
"Have you heard of the Mad Prophet? He sounds like a dangerous person, so I'd like to know more before we meet him. And anything about Count Lowls would be very helpful. We think he's headed towards Katheer, in Qadira"
The clergy of The Tender of Dreams listen to your stories with rapt interest. Hadranna answers "Desna has sent us visions of Count Lowls, his dreams are infected, tainted by some horrible force. And it drives him to madness. Our goddess must think you have a chance to stop him and so put us on this path so we could assist you. We'd be happy to help you however you can. Unfortunately we don't know anything about the Mad Poet that you seek and we must move on to Taldor after this night."
"Do you wish to come to the Dreamlands with us this night? Since we cannot give up the focus, this would be the way for you to go.
You would not have to travel to the Dreamlands moon with us or give us any aid within the Dreamlands. But you might want to see what we have seen."
Theophilus and the White Rabbit drink the Desnans wine. Theophilus and the White Rabbit consume the Desnans grapes, cheese, and nuts. Theophilus and the White Rabbit enjoy the sweet aromas drifting up from incense and candle. Theophilus and the White Rabbit listen raptly to the siren song of various voices conversing amongst those gathered.
The pair seem to be at a peace not thus far seen, since his time initial in the Fog.
Kat folds her arms and frowns. ”Help’s appreciated, but the Dreamlands is dangerous. I wouldn’t want to put you in danger unless you’re absolutely sure.”
"We will accompany you to the Caravanserai tonight then."
The dim light of the moon shines on the Forgotten Caravanserai. You hear the flapping of gigantic wings overhead and a loud thump and the building groan in protest as you see Shantak just now alighting back to its perch. It bobs its head at you from atop the building, maybe its waving at you in greeting, "How'd you get back so fast?! Wow!"
Theophilus amd the White Rabbit bow to the cool shantak.
Alas, we went home the hard way. But, there doesn't seem to be much ill affects.
He grins.
The White Rabbit pantomimes crazy!
The Mad Hatter then begins feeding scrolls to the White Rabbit.
Orisons: Detect Magic, Light, Guidance, Read Magic
1st lvl (5): Ant Haul, Cure Light Wounds, Liberating Command, Protection from Evil, Remove Fear
2nd lvl (4): Barkskin x2, Calm Emotions, open slot
3rd lvl (4): Heroism x3, open slot
4th lvl (3): Restoration, Threefold Aspect, Slowing Mud
Mara greeted the shantak, "We had to beat a hasty retreat to the waking world, after meeting a very nasty dragon! Time seems to work differently there. To us it's been several days since we last saw you. How long did it seem to you?"
She explained to the Desnans, "This shantak was kind enough to fly us from here to the moon. It was a most magnificent journey!"
Dervak nods a greeting to the great creature. "It is good to see you again. We will need to go back to the moon shortly."
He makes sure he has the Furious Falchion ready (and attuned, if that matters in the Dreamlands). He is not going to count on the luck of the Vorpal blade to slay the dragon. He will defeat the beast through his own strength and better tactics than last time.
The shantak preens its wings and then bellows, "Uh... I just flew back! How long is that?"
The Desnans gawk at the Caravanserai in wonderment and begin to explore it.
Dervak will address the Desnans.
"This is a wondrous place, but as Kat said, it can be dangerous. It requires great mental focus to wake up."
"If you want to look around the Caravanserai, I will go with you for a bit to make sure it is safe. Maybe we will let the Shantak rest for a while before asking it to make the return trip. Shantak, do you get tired? Do you sleep? Not all beings do."
The warrior seems to enjoy the company of the Desnans, and is happy to accompany them while they look around.
The shantak waves its wing at Dervak and says in the same voice that sounds like glass scraping against stone, "I'm good *yawn* don't need sleep!"
The Desnans explore the Caravanserai which is completely devoid of creatures, Mr. Wanderlust has left apparently. Once they've had their fill they thank the party and wake up one by one.
After a fine breakfast, Theophilus walks up to the shantak.
So...ever been to the moon?
He winks at the others.