"Okay.. almost got 'em all. Going to.. get us some time."
He holds up a card, this one a picture of swirling dust. The air around the skimmer seems to slow down, then it stops and reverses direction, moving fast.
"I think we lost them. Everybody okay?"
"I've got a bad headache and Ruji's a little scratched up, but we're fine, given the circumstances."
Ryo reaches into his pack and pulls out his red cloak, using it as a blanket for the Ryleh-fox on the floor of the skimmer.
Once he is sure that Aananda's lost their pursuers, Tam finally sinks back down into the seat.
"Nothing like a relaxing drive in the countryside. The feel of the wind on your face, the sounds of nature all around you, the rampaging horde of suicidal fiends chasing you down...good times," he says through gritted teeth and a forced smile as the pain subsides. :D
"How bad is the skimmer?"
"It'll get us where we're going, but they seriously damaged the exhaust. The engine is burning up as we speak. I figure we've got about an hour before it becomes nothing more than a big chunk of scrap metal."
"I'm heading for mom's lair. Seemed like a safe place to go for now."
"It'll get us where we're going, but they seriously damaged the exhaust. The engine is burning up as we speak. I figure we've got about an hour before it becomes nothing more than a big chunk of scrap metal."
"I'm heading for mom's lair. Seemed like a safe place to go for now."
Ryleh drifted in and out of consciousness, barely aware of the conversation happening around her.
"It'll get us where we're going, but they seriously damaged the exhaust. The engine is burning up as we speak. I figure we've got about an hour before it becomes nothing more than a big chunk of scrap metal."
"I'm heading for mom's lair. Seemed like a safe place to go for now."
"It'll get us where we're going, but they seriously damaged the exhaust. The engine is burning up as we speak. I figure we've got about an hour before it becomes nothing more than a big chunk of scrap metal."
"I'm heading for mom's lair. Seemed like a safe place to go for now."
"We can't afford for this baby to die on us - we need reliable transportation that doesn't use magic. I think I have something...gimme a sec."
Tam digs into his Haversack yet again and pulls out his scrollpad. He quickly powers it up and searches the device.
"Yes! Thank the Builder."
He presses a button and prints something out, then proceeds to read off of the scroll, casting a spell. He places his hands on the skimmer, and for a moment it looks like it becomes transluscent, with all of the interior workings visible as a faint glow. Then, the engine stops coughing, the smell of leaking fluids disappears, and all of the exterior damage disappears. It almost looks better than when Aananda put it back together the first time.
He looks over at her and smiles, a tired look coming over his face suddenly.
"Should be good to go now. That spell repaired all the damage it took back there. Now I think I'll try to lay off the big magic for a wee bit..." ;)
"We need to get your mother to a proper healer. Hopefully she has some potions or something stashed in her lair. Otherwise, we're going to run out of potions in a hurry."
Ryo looks down at Ryleh, worried, when his face pales slightly.
"Chan can track magic right? Isn't magic keeping Ryleh small right now?"
Ryo looks down at Ryleh, worried, when his face pales slightly.
"Chan can track magic right? Isn't magic keeping Ryleh all small right now?"
"Well, I'm hoping there's a limit to the range on that. But yeah, we're taking some pretty big chances right now. It's not like we have much choice."
He looks over at her and smiles, a tired look coming over his face suddenly."Should be good to go now. That spell repaired all the damage it took back there. Now I think I'll try to lay off the big magic for a wee bit..." ;)
"We need to get your mother to a proper healer. Hopefully she has some potions or something stashed in her lair. Otherwise, we're going to run out of potions in a hurry."
"Thank you. You look pretty wiped, love. Maybe you should take a nap for a bit," she said, concerned. "You too, Ryo. You've been looking pretty haggard since the doppelganger and I think you could use some rest."
She sighed. "I hope that mother has some potions and stuff stashed too. I don't think we're gonna have all that long to rest before one or the other of our enemies tracks us down."
"Speaking of...how long does this transformation spell last? It will take several hours journey to reach the spot we saw on the map."
"I'll rest when we stop, right now I can check to see if we're being followed or going into a trap."
His eyes start to cloud, the usual sign he's working Seer magic, but Ruji flicks him with his tail and Ryo falls asleep.
Ruji then begins to clean his wounds.
"Thank you. You look pretty wiped, love. Maybe you should take a nap for a bit," she said, concerned. "You too, Ryo. You've been looking pretty haggard since the doppelganger and I think you could use some rest."
She sighed. "I hope that mother has some potions and stuff stashed too. I don't think we're gonna have all that long to rest before one or the other of our enemies tracks us down."
"From the way everybody's been describing it, Chan seems to be able to detect the casting of spells, not necessarily their lingering effects. If he could do that too, he would have detected us the moment we entered the jungle or got under the compound, considering all the magic gear we're carrying on us. But since we're going to the first place Chan would look if he knew about it...."
Tam turns around to look at Ryleh.
"Were you captured in your lair, Ryleh, or somewhere else"? Does Chan know where this place is?"
She drifted back into wakefulness briefly. :Not...captured....watching.....not found......silver dragon.....there was a silver dragon.....fought.....I escaped. Chan'trikalliax captured the silver dragon....
She drifted back into unconsciousness.
"Speaking of...how long does this transformation spell last? It will take several hours journey to reach the spot we saw on the map."
"It won't last several hours, more like several minutes," he replies. "I was hoping she could change forms like Aananda does. I may have something that will last longer, but it might be easier to just feed her every bit of healing magic or item we've got and let her travel under her own power."
She drifted back into wakefulness briefly. :Not...captured....watching.....not found......silver dragon.....there was a silver dragon.....fought.....I escaped. Chan'trikalliax captured the silver dragon....
She drifted back into unconsciousness.
"A silver!? Oh crap...that's who Ryo saw in that building with the troll. Now the flaming bit makes sense..."
"A silver!? Oh crap...that's who Ryo saw in that building with the troll. Now the flaming bit makes sense..."She drifted back into wakefulness briefly. :Not...captured....watching.....not found......silver dragon.....there was a silver dragon.....fought.....I escaped. Chan'trikalliax captured the silver dragon....
She drifted back into unconsciousness.
"This is not good. This is very, very not good."
"Speaking of...how long does this transformation spell last? It will take several hours journey to reach the spot we saw on the map.""It won't last several hours, more like several minutes," he replies. "I was hoping she could change forms like Aananda does. I may have something that will last longer, but it might be easier to just feed her every bit of healing magic or item we've got and let her travel under her own power."
"It looks like it's gonna take quite a bit of healing before Mom can fly on her own."
"It looks like it's gonna take quite a bit of healing before Mom can fly on her own.""Speaking of...how long does this transformation spell last? It will take several hours journey to reach the spot we saw on the map.""It won't last several hours, more like several minutes," he replies. "I was hoping she could change forms like Aananda does. I may have something that will last longer, but it might be easier to just feed her every bit of healing magic or item we've got and let her travel under her own power."
"I thought she travelled underground mostly, since she can't easily disguise herself. I guess that takes just about as much energy though. Blast it...."
She sighed. "I don't suppose Ephebe gave you any of those healing shells for your Caster?"
She sighed. "I don't suppose Ephebe gave you any of those healing shells for your Caster?"
"I'm afraid I couldn't use them anyway - it would be like me trying to read a scroll with a clerical spell on it."
He rubs his temples.
"We really need to get a healer in our little club....but there's no use wishing for it now."
"Well, since we're out of immediate danger, and it has become a matter of some urgency, I'll transfer some of her wounds to me. Hopefully that will heal her enough to allow her to travel under her own steam as it were."
He concentrated on Ryleh and wounds began to appear on his body as they closed on hers. Eventually he stopped grimacing with pain.
"That's the best I can do."
Ryleh lifted her head, still feeling a lot of pain, but not nearly so bad as before. She looked at the elderly human man who was now badly hurt.
:Thank you.:
Ruji looks up at the three humans still awake, knowing what they are saying from 3 centuries of being talked to, and looks down at the strange creature under Ryo's cloak. A spell was keeping it that way, keeping it from becoming too large to care for? That would most likely interrupt Ryo's sleep, something he sorely needed if he was going to keep helping these three nice people.
He looks around for the thin cord of light that connected him to the crystals back home, draws power from them, curls up next to Ryleh, and channels the magic into her to keep the shapeshift going longer than it should.
"Well, since we're out of immediate danger, and it has become a matter of some urgency, I'll transfer some of her wounds to me. Hopefully that will heal her enough to allow her to travel under her own steam as it were."
He concentrated on Ryleh and wounds began to appear on his body as they closed on hers. Eventually he stopped grimacing with pain.
"That's the best I can do."
Ryleh lifted her head, still feeling a lot of pain, but not nearly so bad as before. She looked at the elderly human man who was now badly hurt.
:Thank you.:
Tam fishes two more healing potions out of his haversack. He hands one to Quo to drink, and helps Ryleh drink the other one.
Ryleh and Quo both look a bit better after the potions.
:Has anyone taken any measures to prevent scrying?:
Ryleh and Quo both look a bit better after the potions.
:Has anyone taken any measures to prevent scrying?:
"Not specifically yet. I wanted to try and give Chan something to try and follow, so he'd think we weren't on the ball with this whole operation. I suppose now's as good a time as any to lose him. Hang on..."
Tam starts casting.
In a slightly detached, methodical voice, Tam asks, "What do you want him to see?"
A small image shimmers above Ruji, showing a crashed skimmer and Aananda walking, injured, into the jungle.
"Mwoar."
She glances back. "Well, that's a clever idea. Good work, Ruji."
She glances back. "Well, that's a clever idea. Good work, Ruji."
A loud purr resonates from the skimmer floor. Ruji is content with his work.
"Alright. Here we go."
Tam focuses on Ruji's image, then uses it to set up the illusion.
"Done. That should buy us enough time to go to ground and rest."
"Ryleh, would it be safe for me to assume that your lair is already warded against scrying and magical detection, or will we need to set something up when we arrive?"
:It is quite thoroughly warded. So there is no need to worry about that.:
She put her paws on her face for a moment.
After a long pause she raised her head again. :Okay, I think I can get us there a little quicker, but I may faint again. Inside, in the third wall niche on the left there's a blue chest. There are healing potions inside it.:
Her eyes glowed a bright blue and the rest of them felt a strange distended feeling as if they were being folded flat from the inside out as reality bent and folded around them.
The skimmer came back into real space in a large stone corridor.
"Holy crap! Mom! This is why we don't teleport moving objects!" she yelled as she frantically tried to decelerate the skimmer quickly enough to avoid a nasty crash.
The skimmer came back into real space in a large stone corridor.
"Holy crap! Mom! This is why we don't teleport moving objects!" she yelled as she frantically tried to decelerate the skimmer quickly enough to avoid a nasty crash.
The skimmer came to a halt just as they came to the end of the hallway. Aananda's hands were shaking as she saw that they had literally come within an inch of crashing into the wall.
Tam's knuckles are white from gripping the dashboard so tightly, and his eyes are about as wide as saucers.
"Good.....job, hun. That.....would've.....hurt.....oh crap."
Quickly casts cleanse on self ;P
"Well. That was exciting. I am wishing that I had brought a change of robes however," he said dryly.