Finally extricating themselves from the austere delights of Mother Bartha's monastery, the newly bonded group ride east towards Oreme.
As you ride, you see no sign of the earthmote you seek, but there is an increasing feeling of tension in the air. The further you ride, the greater the sense of wrongness, of some huge misplacement. No animals or birds inhabit this region - yet there are many tracks leading away. On the first night, despite the distance from any kind of town, you notice traces of a blue glow in the sky, marked by flickers of lightning.
Towards the end of the second day, you breast a slight rise and see it. Unmistakably this is a thing out of place. Sybil's flying mountain. It floats, silent and impassive, a gigantic piece of land torn from who knows where, shrouded in mist through which jagged bolts of blue flame strike at the air and ground around it.
As you watch, you realise that the thing seems to be feeding. Wherever the lightning bolts touch the ground, the land is cleared. Not charred or seemingly harmed in any way, merely stripped. It moves slowly, striking as it goes, mist oozing from its base sending tenuous wisps into the surrounding landscape to be followed by a bolt of silent, devouring lightning. Now that you look, you realise that the earthmote's passage is marked by an absence of anything at all. No trees, buildings, water or life of any kind. Merely bare earth.
The mists ooze towards you now and the earthmote seems to pause slightly in its progress before changing direction and floating inexorably towards you.
"Seems the mountain is hungry and wants’ us for a snack."
"Huh, first time the earth tried to eat me" Brujo readies himself dagger ready for a quick attack
"Well, we've arrived. Now how are we going to get up there?"
As if in answer to Kelgan's question, the misty tendrils slide towards the party, enveloping you all in seconds and temporarily wrapping you in a cocoon of chill. It feels as if a giant slug is crawling over your bodies and into your minds.
"I am not being eaten today!" Brujo struggles against his bonds
"Somebody blast the damned thing"
Initiative =
As soon as I can move I'll do something.
Save =
As the party struggle against the mist, a lightning bolts slams silently down, pulling the you upwards. Still enshrouded, Kel at least breaks free of the clammy hold and finds himself able to move.
You are in front of a set of open gates on a well trodden path. Vegetation is thick around you, but oddly the trees seem to be from all seasons of the year. Spring blossom and cold winter combine with autumnal tints in a disconcerting array. Just as disconcerting and of more immediate concern are the snarls and the pad of feet audible all around you.
Put me at M7.
"Come on, guys, shake it off." Hobbes tells his companions.
Erik panics for a moment when he is unable to move. He calls upon a connecting principle, linked to the invisible, and it grants speed to his allies' actions.
"Nice. Thank you, Erik. I feel so empowered...." Hobbes moves his arms and legs.
"Nice. Thank you, Erik. I feel so empowered...." Hobbes moves his arms and legs.
Perception test 9M =
If I see something I'll shoot it if not I'll advance to 9I.
"We're on a earthmote, isn't it great."
Group awarness - All allies within 5 squares of Kel get a +1 on perception checks.
Keep the move but change the perception check to 11D.
"Maybe a little light will help," Perigia says.
"Perigia, perhaps some fire would get rid of some of this mist?"
Hold action.
Kelgan looks out into the mists as he tries to clear his head.
"Did somebody say FIRE?" Hobbes asks with a big smile. "I can do that." He moves up next to Kel and chants in Draconic. At the end of the spell, he thrusts his dagger forward. A burst of flame shoots out from the blade and covers the fog-shrouded area. "It's a simple enough spell. I can keep casting it all day, if I have to. If this fog is not magical in nature, I'll have it cleared out in no time."
Kelgan sees nothing. Hobbes on the other hand, clears away a useful area of mist. In the middle of it is a startled and angry dire wolf.
Mark it as my quarry and launch two arrows at the wolf.
1st arrow, attack vs ac , damage =
2nd arrow, attack vs ac , damage =
"Bad wolf, sit!"
"How did I miss something that BIG?" Hobbes exclaims.
Startled by the appearance of a small, but vicious predator, neither Kel nor Hobbes manage to hit the wolf.
The first of Kel's arrow only just misses the creature, but the second skitters wide.
Protective flame springs up around Hobbe's body as his spell chars the blameless ground.
Erik, unable to move, attempts to use his limited healing ability to help Kelgan get his head back in the game.
From the mists, a large snarling shape emerges, hurling itself at Brujo. Basically lupine is has a slightly more intelligent look to it than the dire wolf and is definitively big.
The slavering jaws try to close over the moonelf's arm, but it slightly misjudges its attack.