Gallak casts message on Kragg as he reaches the top of the cliff, so we have a connection, and adds anyone else he can see. He has to remain as a waystation, though, as the spell won't go that far.
I can locate him with detect magic, if I get down there, Kragg. He's gonna be hard to find otherwise.
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** spoiler omitted **
Kragg plunges into the icy cold water after a magically aided descent. The water here is quite deep as the 'moat' seems to have been dug to make the monastery more defensible. Gallak has made it about one third of the way down. The water is crystal clear and the depth is at least fifty feet.
The Duergar and Society folks are alarmed at the return of the dwarves from the painting. They know the people they sent left earlier and have not returned.
Two gnolls approach Kiptera and look upset. "Why we not working together? What you mean one less gnoll for the stewpot?"
Startled out of her schematic doodling, "Work together? Stewpot? Wha what?" Finally paying attention to her surroundings, Kiptera scrunches up her brow trying to recall the gnolls' opening statements."Ah yes. Stewpot. Several of us were held prisoner by a pair of giants. Husband and wife giants acting as tollkeepers for the mountain tunnel passage, apparently gold was not the only coin they required preferring fresh meat. Gralk, the gnoll who fell, was confined alongside me and it was a toss up of who was next for the stewpot. Now it is just me." A brief scowl erupts on her face as she regrets the loss of her train of thought and the loss of Gralk starts to sink in. "But I am willing to work together. Priorities what they are, I believe if we dwarves are unable to cross, we can at least deny the win to the duergar. Why are the ships important to you?"
Kragg has hit the water and attempts to stay afloat and keep control in the swirling waters.
The gnolls voice their frustrations: "So, we work on this project for a year. And Gralk leads you here and works to take it away from us. How would you feel? We miss Boog-Boog at times like these!"
Swim check
"Once we fish our leader out, we can discuss a treaty, agreement, or whatever it's called. Right now, I'm more worried about fishing out our comrade."
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Following the growling common, Kiptera ponders the difficulty of trying to speak gnoll with her dwarven background. "Ah. I was under the impression Boog-Boog already succeeded against these challenges. As for Gralk, since Kragg lead the rescue party, he is the dwarf swimming for your comrade, well Gralk felt he owed a life debt to Kragg, as do I as a matter of fact. Boog-Boog was there helping all of us in the end but did not survive." Kiptera looks down at one of her bootsmeared schematics, and resumes to scratch her schematics into the dirt and snow..
Scanning her efforts in the dirty snow, finishing the last few equations into the erased space, she methodically breaks the sharpened stick into tiny pieces. "All for naught. Mechanically bypassing the puzzle in this wind, is a sure-fire way to end up like Gralk." Leaving the useless schematics to erase in the wind, she stands once again on the cliff facing the platform. She stares across the gap unmoved, sparing only the occasional glance at the efforts of Kragg swimming and the SOS trolling for the body.
Kragg hits the water and easily stays afloat. The water is quite clear. He notices some large fish swimming around in these clear waters. They seem about man-sized and quite dangerous.
They look similar to a pike, but quite bigger.
One of the gnolls rushes to the monks, and after a quick discussion with the monk holding it, rushes into the painting before it can be put away.
Four duergar stroll over where Gallak has tied his rope, and seem up to no good. Two of them have small hand axes out. The other two seem to have no armor of any sort, but tattoos of poisonous snakes on their arms and bald heads. They look unsavory too.
Three gnolls pull out glaives and move over to investigate them.
Joan whistles for Luilfr when she spots the Duergar heading for the rope. Once the white wolf arrives she walks over to the rope, her hand pointedly resting on the hilt of her sword.
"If yer about to try and do what I think yer about to do then Luilfr is about to find out how bad ye lot taste."
Seeing the large fish Kragg realizes that whatever happened to Gralk his body will have been eaten or carried away by now. Moving over to Gallak Kragg indicates for him to climb back up as there is nothing that he believes he can do now. Those fish would have eaten him or taken him to the depths for later. If I was here as he fell perhaps I could have saved him or his body. Alas I do not think so any longer. Shall we climb back up and pray that his soul is resting safely.
Know nature
Aye, and trouble up top, Gallak informs Kragg. He spares a glance at the SOS gang trolling the water, wishing he had been over the side early enough to kill them all.
He sighs heavily and begins the ascent.
Kragg will also take ten on his way up assuming that with the rope it is not too treacherous. Once up top Kragg will start talking to the others, Well, no luck. His body is gone as there are large fish that would have eaten him as soon as he started floating and they smelled blood. What we need though is someone to make the crossing still. Any takers? If not I shall go now to finish this.
Kragg will wait for any to chime in but is not expecting much. If not Kragg will take it upon himself.
Take ten on first three then if my math is correct...
Acrobatics
return trip
Take ten on three on the way back.
Kragg climbs to the top with Gallak avoiding the fish. As he climbs to the top, a group of gnolls is consulting with the monks. Tensions are high as the dark dwarves seemed to be conspiring to do harm to the secured lines on the side of the cliff.
Before Kragg can begin the journey, one of the gnoll warriors steps forward and announces: "We have completed both parts of the challenge. Together with the dwarves, we have completed what is necessary. No more dying today."
The duergar and humans are disappointed. They are informed they must leave the area, as they are no longer welcome. The trials are over.
The head monk adds dramatically: "There is ample precedent to share this. We will provide two ships, one to the dwarves and one to the gnolls."
After about an hour later, a large series of bubbles are seen in the water below. Two rather strange looking iron objects are seen bobbing in the water. They have the shape of a kite shield and float rather low in the water.
The monks assign the dwarves the vessel that seems the more square of the two with a strange chimney to vent what looks to be a faint white smoke. The craft has Firespout stenciled on the side in white letters and what looks to be symbol with two entertwined gears of black on a field of white. The monks pull the vessels over to what appears to be large hooks on the side of their steep hill to moor them.
A gnome that is small for gnomish standards appears on the monk's side of the bridge with a large set of pulleys and cables, and seems to be directing the monks to lower large boxes onto the deck of both moored vessels.
The elder monk waves a large staff, and a bridge of ice forms from the mainland to the island. The winners are invited to cross to the large hill with the monastery as the losers dejectedly leave the desolate camps and begin to pack up.
Despite finding out that the group had lost another member, and the tension with dealing with the Deurgar, yet again, she can't help but look at the bridge being made with nothing but wonder.
"Amazing."
Luilfr settles down, seeing the ranger relaxed. His tail wagging as Joan absently scratches his ears.
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Kiptera silently takes in the actions of all. No one has ever accused her of being smart or clever but the ramifications of what could've been a very dangerous situation have been averted. Shivering in what was Hon's, now hers, the wintergear covering her tattered clothes reminding that she needs gear and shelter. Packing up the campsite, she hefts both hand-me-down backpacks. The aforementioned Hon and now Gralk's as well will need to be inventoried and parceled out. She would like to gear up and be more useful than just a one-off meat shield.
Kip follows steadily, walking in the middle of the ice bridge to shelter beyond.
"Oh that IS a good trick!" Durgen begins to scribble madly into his notebook as he watches intently. He barely notices everyone leaving at first but then quickly scoots to keep up.
The small gnome waves and shouts in his high-pitched voice in a strange version of the common tongue, probably from many years ago.
"Get over here so we can load up. I have been waiting a long time for this, I don't want any dilly-dallying."
He points to the stronger of the gnolls and dwarves.
"Get over here and man the block and tackle."
He seems to mean the large crane with pulleys and ropes.
Uh anybody know how to run this thing or what we just got ourselves into? I was thinking of ships being the wooden kind that sit on top of the water, not like this.
Not quite sure what to do Kragg will try to help where he can and follow the gnomes requests.
Noticing the ships for the first time, Joan's smile fades.
"That floats?"
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Without word, Kiptera steps forward to the crane. Her eyes follow the lines to divulge how the forces are arranged and which line creates lift, range and movement. "It is not hard to learn, just difficult to finesse. Work slow and steady, mistakes are recoverable. No pressure except what the gnome provides."
She mans the block and tackle like a boss man, clearly a side of her not yet seen.
Uh, I wasn't talking about the block and tackle, smarta$$. I was talking about the metal monstrosities below us. That being said they appear to be a beauty of construction and engineering, just don't understand it is all. Don't know if I ever will.
"I thought metal sinks in water. Why is it floating? Magic?"
The gnome barks a condescending command to Kiptera:
"You idjit, where did you learn to use one of these, Goblintown? Take the safety off before you start winding that."
The gnome responds to Joan, "They float, but until they are underway, they will swirl in these waters. I hoped you had a light breakfast. And they float because of gnome magic of the best kind."
It appears there are stores of dried fruits, meats and barrels of salted fish. The gnome switches to perfect dwarven, though again of an older dialect:
"You dwarves were itching to hurry, so we gave you the faster vessel. The gnolls wanted some'than with some pop. We gave them the bigger, slower one. It appears gnomes aren't well integrated where you come from. Plenty of humans you brought along, but no gnomes."
A very old man with pure white hair the color of snow and a matching white set of robes strolls out from the monastery. Four monks wearing similar white robes and the signature sign of the 'Coalition of Light' as brooches around their neck follow in his wake. Two monks in black robes with red faces follow behind. They are not happy about the turn of events.
The gnome bows hastily to old wizard as recognition slowly dawns on his face. Magnum informs those of you were not at the human capital, that this is THE White Wizard. He is the 300+ year old wizard that lead the Coalition of Light. He smiles at the gnome and says: "Gizmo, you're not gonna break those as they can't be replaced. I hope your decision to Sleep with Ships was a good one. You will find that times have changed."
The gnome smiles back: "As long as fermenting still exists, I will get by. Even if there are no gnomes to share this event with."
The gnome sweeps his hands out to include the gathered group of about thirty at the top of the island sanctuary.
The White Wizard hands the gnome an old book of what appears to be nautical charts. "These should still be up to date. The dark dwarves and their humans friends have some sailing vessels nearby. They shouldn't give you any trouble. Good hunting."
Magnum smiles and quips to the gnome, "If it makes you feel any better, the dark dwarves didn't have any of the dark gnomes with them either."
You notice the gnome is not sure whether to be pleased or sad at Magnum's information.
A shadow pass over her face at the mention of gnomes. Her fingers trace the wing of the butterfly clasp holding her hair back.
"W-we had one with us, but..."
Luilfr bumps her hand, feeling that something's wrong.
but he is on his own journey now and we will remember him along with the rest who have joined us. Kragg finishes more gently than you would normally expect from the grizzled Dwarven ranger. Not caring to elaborate further, Kragg continues to load the ship for its departure and hoping that the gnome knows what the heck he is doing or they will all be dead. Calling down, How soon till its ready and we can leave this place?
As the ships are loaded, a large mechanical fold down stairwell is produced. This light iron construction provides and easy way to climb down to the secured ships.
The White Wizard smiles and says: "Fair winds and following seas to you all."
He gestures and quickly chants in a mechanical manner, and he blinks out of existence in a puff of grey smoke.
The gnome eagerly explains the workings of the ship to the gnolls. Finding one of them with a symbol of the Coalition of Light, he quickly explains to the gnolls."We need to rush to find the island magic people. As the preeminent magicians of the day, I cannot fathom what they may have come up with after all these years."
The White Queen and two of her crone cronies get into the larger ship with the gnolls and the witches. The gnome nimbly hops to the new dwarven ship and begins to instruct anyone that will listen how to 'fire up the boiler' and get the ship under power. The steering and power controls are quite easy to operate.
The gnome explains after he is done. "I can give you some rough directions, or you can follow us. We are headed to see the island of mages and alchemists. They need to be consulted; I am told the Society of Secrets is already negotiating with them. I don't want them to get a monopoly on any of that good island magic."
The gnome adds: "Here is my sea chart. You can look but not touch."
The chart shows an enclave of giants on a peninsula to the north. The chart also shows an island of human miners and tradesmen.
The chart he has shows plenty of navigable waters to the south. To the north there are many dangerous icy flows and hazardous waters marked. You can probably head back to the dwarf hold safely (if the over 100 year old charts are still accurate).
Durgen looks below and comes up to explain:
"This ship is powered by just sea water and a captive fire elemental. Somehow that combination can turn a shaft like on a mill really fast."
"So," she asks the gnome before he leaves, "The Coalition of Light, do they accept Rangers that may have an issue with authority?"
The gnome smiles: "I don't know. That putting the good of the world, education of the masses, betterment of all people first. That is kind of a hard thing to sign up for. I just work for them. They do pay well."
He whispers conspiratorially, "They got a bossy hobbit that is down-right rude. Members have to listen to him. I got docked 20% on a job for insubordination because I call him a half pint egomaniac with delusions of grandeur."
Joan can't help it. She giggles at the thought of the pompous halfling from the bug caves being called a half pint.
"Was he by chance a follower of Sarenrae?" she asks once the giggle fit dies down some.
If these wizards are as formidable as you say and have such nice gear, it would be a shame not to be included in the sharing. If the others are agreeable, we will accompany you to this mysterious island. All speed ahead and whatnot.
Durgen absently nods in agreement, thinking more about the captive fire elemental and how this all functions.
Turning to the other ships crew, Then let's proceed onward and find this island. We are ready to go.
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Kiptera Stiresong will take this opportunity to consolidate two backpacks and gear up. She will also show an interest in shipboard defenses, favoring siege equipment if any. Otherwise she makes herself useful to work off her "debt."
[/ooc]I'll gear up Kip and whatever is leftover I'll list in discussion thread.[/ooc]
As the ships depart, Kiptera does not notice any armament.
Durgen finds, as the sole magic user on board, that the elemental is bound to the ship. But the elemental can be commanded to attack those that are on the ship itself.
The other ship, though, has an interesting long cylindrical device that extends from a flexible mechanical linkage on a hemispherical structure on top. The gnomes is excitedly directing the gnolls to load round balls into the cylinder. As you steer around the island you see two large galleys with two banks of rowers with the Society Flag and a Duergar clan flag on the highest mast.
A large explosion occurs on the ship in front of you and large, acrid black cloud engulfs the forward ship and drifts over you.
After a minute, you notice the gnome is cursing as it appears the cylindrical contraption had some sort of accident. It appears it will not be working for a while.
As you come alongside, the gnome curses and informs you that it is probably best to leave the humans and duergar alone for now and heads out to sea. As he turns to the south the current seems to be aiding you and the air appears to be warmer, although still quite cold.
After two days at an extreme speed (three times the speed of any ship you have heard of), the gnome is angling for a small island. A series of mines seem to be dug into this island made of a dark volcanic glass. The material seems similar to the material that makes up Joan's arrows and was discovered in the dwarven stronghold.
Magnum, the half human, half dwarf ranger, breaks out a small keg of Giant's Tears. A strong ale that he seems to favor. He passes around the keg so that everyone can have a mug. Checking the stores passed on board, it appears five barrels of a strong, buttered rum have been loaded on board. Although it is not dwarven ale, it is amazingly good and quite strong. The instructions say to dilute it with four times the amount of water, but it was quite good straight.
As the ships pull into a mostly empty harbor, a small group of humans with a pale and lean look to them are ready to greet you as the ships pull into harbor.
The gnome vessel makes the easy docking maneuver to leave the dock undamaged as the small, but quite dense metal ships dock. Will the trailing ship do the same?
The second ship hits the dock hard, but deals no permanent damage.
The gnome begins cursing: "Where did you &^* learn to *(& pilot a vessel. I should *(&(& you hides and stuff your *(&( in my pocket."
The delegation waiting for your arrival look somewhat stunned at the language being delivered by the gnome.
A group of frail-looking humans in many robes of simple gray and white design await on dockside. They have differing insignia based on braiding on their robes of a subtle nature. The leader seems to confidently await your disembarkation and is dressed in somewhat finer robes with what at least appears the largest quantity of braid on his robe.
Weapons held by these humans consist of crossbows and javelins. A few wear studded leather armor. They are not a warrior people.
Stuff it, everything is still intact just a bit knocked around. Kragg belittles the gnome before him. Taking the cue from the other ship, Kragg disembarks and approaches the gathered crowd. As he does so he makes sure the other group of gnolls approaches first so Kragg will know the proper way to greet these people and what is expected of them. He makes sure that Durgen and Gallak are nearby as well. The first to translate if needed Dan the second to do the formal talking and greeting.
The gnome gets even more irate, then seems to calm down and give Kragg a glare.
All eyes turn to watch a beautiful lady disembark from the ship. Not recognizing any beauties embark, some magic must be at work.
With a natural grace and beauty she disembarks and smiles at those around her and address the elder. "Thank you for the reception. It does us a great honor that you greet us so."
Well, this is new.
Joan ignores the gnome's fuming in favor of observing the proceedings. Though she does make a note to ask the gnome for a little training on how to sail the boat.
The elder bows and speaks in a voice of one used to lecturing to others:
"We have no frequent visitors, but have decided to house you all in an empty dormitory. The agenda is a show in a music hall with a wonderful dinner while you enjoy our artists."
You are shown to large three story structure approximately a city block in size with an open middle auditorium. Three levels of seating surround a large open pavilion where musicians perform with simple hand bells. These hand bells, though, when struck, produce different colors which rise from the bells and coalesce in a central glass orb over the crowd.
Seated in a premium set of chairs and tables around a table on the second floor, you are treated to dinner while you can observe a four hour show that features a single instrument that produces a variety of tones and effects. Durgen informs you that the bells also seem to produce different emotions, mostly pleasurable ones, as they are struck that seem to be affecting anyone in the large building.
During the show the lady, who has changed into a formal gown, seems to smile at the higher ranking males that have met you. These people refer to themselves as Elotheans.
After dinner you are shown to your chambers and informed business discussions will begin the next day. Suites of five rooms around a common meeting room hold four bedrooms with four beds each and a privy.
You are shown to a suite and the gnolls, gnome, and three ladies to another one.
"Well, things are going better than normal." Joan says to Kiptera after the performance. "At least we haven't had anyone attack us this time."
Luilfr curls up next to the ranger. The small woman scratches the wolf's ears and runs her hand through his white fur.
Kragg struggles mightily to stay awake and maintain a modicum of propriety during the entertainment. When it is finally over, Kragg is thankful for the food and the opportunity to get clean and a good rest. In the morning he wakes ready to listen as business ensues but says little letting the more diplomatic take over.
At the meeting the next morning, the elder begins:
"I know you have visited us, but I will let you know. We haven't had visitors for years except those Society of Secrets people. They bought our improved alchemist fire, then stopped buying it when we suspect they figured out how to make it on their own."
He adds: "Other of my kind have met elves, and think very highly of them. The elves are ridding our mines of the magic-eaters which kill our best miners and mages. Would you consider doing the same for us? We would pay handsomely for the dispatch of them by paying you for their corpses."
He smiles: "How rude of me. You are visiting us. What can I do for you? We have the finest selection of alchemical potions and magically enchanted items. Weapons and armor are not profitable to enchant here, but many other things are."
Durgen has taken to learning his new languages using the memory of his new necklace. He hears voices of ancient gold dragons and other people from the past occasionally speaking in his head. When speaking common he occasionally has to catch himself to prevent speaking a word in a more descriptive language instead.
Durgen enjoys every minute of the music, letting it wash over him
When the Elotheans are near, Durgen introduces himself in Ancient Elothean to see if any of them know it, letting the voices in his head instruct him on how to say it (and letting them distract him some)
In the morning when talking to the elder, Durgen perks up at the mention of the Improved Alchemist Fire, but frowns when they talk about magic-eaters and their killing of mages
"Do the magic-eaters have a more common nominativo? I don't recognize what they may be." Durgen does not realize the slip.