To Hrolf, she states, "I don't intent to stay here long enough to camp. But if you can find a spot, go for it. Who knows how fast they rotate around the island. However, like I said, I kind of want to take them down."
Regarding the gear found on the man, she states, "I can fend for myself in finding food, so perhaps someone else should take this ring. I'll take the potion of healing and stabilization, in case Kahli can't get to me, the other healing potion should probably go to someone else. The brooch of shielding, and the wand of shield, I'm not sure..."
There isn't much there for them to disperse among themselves, so she wouldn't be surprised if Hamley and Tenney take some of the items too.
When it comes time to figure out what to do, once again, she's clueless. She has no idea how to solve such puzzles. A studied man like this was pacing for days trying to figure it out.
"So basically we choose between a Transmutation spell of Fly or Necromantic one?"
Without more information to go on, to her, it's a 50/50 guess.
"How do we even choose? And if we do, do we cast something or touch something? It says to light them. How do we 'light a pillar?'" she grumbles, not being particularly well-versed in magical arts.
Kahli attempts to fan a breeze into the inner circle, but Hamley shakes his head. "Nope, nothing." The dust and dirt on the pillars stays undisturbed.
Tenney joins Hrolf in tying the man up. "Whatever to stop more of those dogs from appearing."
After rooting around the man's pockets and tying him up, he starts to stir. He opens his eyes to Tenney squatted down by his face, knife in hand. "Don't you try no funny business, magic man."
The man struggles for a second before realizing his situation. "You're here to steal the magic, aren't you!?"
Khamul calls to the rest of the party "Hey, firebolt throwing guy has woken up. Who wants to talk to him?" and then tells Tenney "Keep a close eye on this guy, if he tries anything dumb, smack him."
No, we're not... - Shantanna finally speaks, driving her attention to the tied man - I have no idea of where we are. We are prisoners here, of this plane, of this reality. At least I am.
She blinks and lifts her arms middle way, letting go of her attention.
Maybe we could start again? I am the Ley Line Guardian Shantanna. How should we address you?
The man seems crazed to her. Perhaps he's been out in the sun too long, or been studying the stones far too long, but whatever it is, she gets an odd feeling about him and just silently observes the others. She constantly reads his face to discern lies.
Kahli considers the pillars. Pairs with matches auras, one necromantic and one transmutation. She isn't a wizard, but they've been in this mess for a while....
"For the others we had to bring the appropriate element to the pillar. Fire, water, whatever. With the strange effect this ring has on air I would assume air. But maybe it's different this time. Maybe we need to use the pillar to summon air for something? And the aura on the pillar could be the clue? Maybe we need to use a necromantic spell on the one tower and a transmutation on the other?"
Seeing the wounded man awake and accusing them of trying to 'steal the magic' she practically snarls at him. "Fool! You're just lucky that we were able to not kill you. If you had just asked you could have avoided the fight. We don't want the magic, whatever that means. We're just seeking the path out of here to the next challenge, and eventually the way back to our homes!"
The man coughs up blood and spits it at Tenney's feet. "You can call me Egarthis, but it doesn't much matter." He continues to struggle against his binds, but in a futile manner. His voice calms slightly. "I dared not touch the pillars before solving the riddle. I deduced the mountain in minutes, but even my great intellect was unable to unlock these stones."
He turns to Kahli. [b]"But the magic! The knowledge! She took it, first, weeks ago!" His breathing becomes more labored and you can see his face become sunken. "She...took the knowledge north...I did not...join her." His breathing turns to a heavy wheeze. "She knew...always...took notes...Why didn't I...trust her."
Egarthis' once stoutly built body quickly withers to an almost mummy-like state, starting at the farthest points from his right hand and finishing with his ring finger, his heavily-tanned skin tightly now clinging tightly to his bones. The rope binding him limply falls off his decrepit corpse.
Lash, you don't detect any lies, just the heavy weight of inevitability and failure in his voice.
Seeing the man apparently dying right in front of them, for no obvious reason, Kahli examines him.
She quickly casts Stabilize and Detect Poison. "Somebody cast Detect Magic! What's going on!?!"
"I don't understand. His wounds had stopped bleeding. He was stable. Was he cursed? Who was the "She" that he mentioned, and where did she go? North, but where? and how?"
...
She quickly casts Stabilize and Detect Poison. "Somebody cast Detect Magic! What's going on!?!"
...
Hrolf mutters a quick prayer to Cayden at Khali's request...
Lash considers that the person that this mage is talking about is the woman who died with the key that they've been using to figure out the order to activate these in. She doesn't say so though, or that they've been the ones activating them. As he starts to die, she raises an eyebrow. When his body becomes withered, she steps away.
"What...just...happened to him?"
"Do you think he touched one of the stones and this is what it did to him?" she looks at the stones for signs of finger marks on one to see if he touched it when they showed up.
"He said that he didn't touch the stones, that he couldn't deduce them. He also mentioned a "she" that always took notes but that left for the North. Asked, why he hadn't trusted her, then this...."
"The note that we found, that we've been following.... Could that have come from his 'she' that he didn't trust? If so, did that just leave us here? Maybe this is where they arrived in this, prison? Maybe activating these will just direct us back to the beginning?"
"The note: Find the pillars. North. South. East. Match the element. Follow the lights. Not sure wha-.... Maybe she didn't know what to do here and didn't want to risk doing it wrong?"
Shantanna approaches the man. Her expression is sad, solemn; as much as the witch saw her fair amount of death through her very long Elven life, she would still feel them, even for someone who had just attacked them.
We need to be careful... Even more careful now. - she says, moving her arms as if signing her companions to avoid the arcane spells at effect there - Whatever affected Egarthis, not only drove him mad, but also cost his life. And apparently other lives too.
She starts detecting magic again - against the corpse, and any items which were in his belonging.
Matching the elements seem to suggest to me that "lighting" a pillar might mean exposing it to a particular related element, like fire, water, earth, wind. Which is something I'm sure we can produce - however, if we do it at the wrong order, or associate the pillar with the wrong element, I fear his same fate may befall upon us.
Shantanna draws deep on her magical knowledge and ponders about what could have caused the sudden decay of Egarthis. She concludes it has to be related to the ring. The ring provides magical sustenance, but a normal person would still seek to enjoy sweet berries or an intoxicating ale. However, Egarthis must have forewent eating or drinking anything for an extended period of time in his attempt to solve the pillars, and, when removed, those consequences caught up all at once.
Lash shakes her head at the reasonings of Shantanna. The woman can explain whatever she wants and Lash will have no idea if she's right. To Lash, there is no logical way to figure this out. Even a brilliant mage such as Egarthis spent probably days trying to reason it out. The only thing that makes sense to her is to activate the pillar that might be related to the beacon they are trying to light.
She looks in her mind's eye to where they've been. Then she looks to the stones. Do they match up to what would be seen on a map? If so, is there a stone pair standing specifically where the beacon for this area would be?
Focusing on the pillars again Kahli points out her test with Hamley. "These pillars are Air. I tried this with Hamley. Try to fan or blow air into the center from outside. It doesn't come through. With good winds blowing outside, its calm in the middle.... I don't know what it means except I'm sure the pillars have something to do with air."
Hamley nods in agreement with Kahli's explanation. "Yeah, it's so weird. I feel like I can actually hear myself think when I'm in here without the howling in my ears." He lets out a long, purse-lipped sigh as he rubs his ear with his index finger.
Lash will attempt what Kahli suggests, but it still doesn't make sense to her what the answer is. She will step outside of the ring and look at the stones in intimate detail.
Hrolf casts a questing eye upwards, as an idea germinates...
Shantanna looks with curiosity at Kahli and Lash, as if trying to figure if their approach would work. She could cast arcane dancing lights in this place, but doesn't feel things would be so literal - instead, notices Hrolf may be having yet another idea on how to approach the puzzle.
With no one voicing an opinion, she begins to get frustrated again, recalling the time spent trying to figure out the previous puzzles.
"We know that the other pillars were activated by bringing an element to the stone. If this one requires us to bring wind into this area, and it isn't allowing us to bring air in, I don't know how to solve this. More than that, which three do we activate. What are these runes?" she asks the spellcasters. "What do they mean or do? I'm sure they are there and are different for a reason."
The blue beam pulsates and hums a good 50 feet above the top of the pillars, terminating above the center of the circle.
Shantanna's Dancing Lights move through the circle, weaving around the pillars, unobstructed by the invisible force that keeps the wind out.
Lighting a torch and protecting from the wind, or using a magical fire of some sort, it passes through the barrier without problem. Inside the circle, the flame, once battered by the wind, burns unimpeded and the smoke rises straight up, until it is level with the top of the horizontal pillar, where the wind grabs it again and whisks the smoke away.
As Lash goes to reinvestigate the outside of the pillars, Hrolf's question about the note the party found grabs everyone's attention.
Lash has already reviewed the note found by the party. It didn't make sense to her. She is at a loss as to what to do. With her search finding little in the way for clues as to what the riddle means, she gets strong feelings that they are going to linger here long enough for those drakes to return...
It seems we exhausted our ideas here, my friends. Maybe we should keep this place in mind for the future, and try to explore around for other routes... We can hopefully come back here later on if we end up figuring out this mystery. - says the ley line guardian, at a loss of what to do, after reviewing anything she could find with the group.
"No. This is where we need to be. This is the route. We have to figure this out...so we are stuck until we do..."
Kahli listens and watches, wondering about the puzzle. "Lash is right. This is where we need to be to advance to the next obstacle. And wandering away to avoid it will just bring punishment. We have to solve it."
"At the others we had to 'Match the element'. Maybe it's the same here. But.... 'Light three pillars, take to the sky. Light them wrong, meet your demise.' This should be about air, but maybe we light the pillars by introducing the other elements. There are 8 pillars, or 4 matched pairs. Maybe if we match a pair to the element that was required at the pillar in the direction of the pair? So, fire was in which direction? And water?"
"Other guess.... Maybe we need to somehow get up to the light up there and deflect it onto a pillar? But how and which pillars? Sounds very dangerous and just guessing shouldn't be the way!"
Lash listens to the ideas of Kahli and the others as they've suggested them. All of this has crossed her mind, but nothing is certain, as the clues are so obscure you are honestly just guessing. There is no definitive answer and devastating consequences if you don't. In frustration, she just reaches out and touches a random stone wondering if it will 'light up' or do something; potentially giving them a clue.
The group convenes inside the circle to discuss the note and the pillars. As they do, Lash wanders over to the eastern-most pillar and lifts her hand to touch it. The ripples of air coming off her hand as it rises up the pillar disturb the dust, and the runes beneath gently glow blue following the path of her hand. She then lays her hand on the pillar, but to no more effect.
Detecting magic, the aura of Transmutation on that pillar is now glowing stronger with the runes that Lash has lit.
Lash will touch it again to see if it deactivates. Perhaps the mage never got this far, as much like her, he tried to figure this out without touching anything.
Kahli moves over by Lash as she touches a pillar. She starts to reach for the matching, necromantic pillar, but stops. "Necromancy is much maligned as evil because it is frequently used to call undead or other evil monsters. Like any other the magic is just power. However, in this case maybe we should stick to the pillars with the transmutation auras? Flying is transmutation isn't it? Which pillars are those? I'll touch a second one. Lash, maybe you need to keep a hand on that one? I know it's just a guess...."
She waits for direction from Shantanna and lays a hand on another of the transmutation pillars.
Lash removes her hand from the pillar and the runes stay lit blue. Removing it causes a suction of air, which pulls at the dust and lights up the rune where here hand was.
Kahli moves to the next Transmutation pillar and gently lays her hand on it without disturbing the dust. She holds her hand there, but no runes light up.
Shantanna uses her detect magic to narrate the auras and strengths to her companions, but she is as shocked as they are when one of the pillars seem to light a rune in blue. She tries to read magic on the rune, noticing how touching the pillar disturbed the dust.
Lash will touch another random stone. It is strange to her that Kahli’s stone did nothing.
Watching his companions, Hrolf realizes that they've quickly reached the frustrated experimentation stage... He swings atop She-ra and comes to join them inside the stone circle, his waveblade ready in his hand. Whatever comes, it will be faced together.
Kahli stands for several seconds just staring at the pillar where she is touching. Nothing happened? What were they missing? She pulls her hand away again waiting for.... anything.
If nothing happens she looks around and notices Lash moving to touch a different one. "Well, Transmutation did nothing for me. I'll try a necromancy pillar next. Shantanna, which one?"
As Kahli pulls her hand away, she lets it fall, the air current from her hand pulling the dust with it. As the dust ripples away, the runes that are revealed begin to glow blue.
Everyone but Hrolf, who has taken a defensive stance, realizes that it's not about the touch; it's something about the air disturbing the dust away from the runes that causes them to glow.
As Kahli's stone begins to glow, her third stone is touched. She prepares for what may come from the 3 being "lit".
Kahli is surprised when the pillar starts to glow when she moved away from it. She stops, "Not the touch, but the dust moving off." She moves over by the column beside the one Lash touched. "I'm going to just try and blow the dust away. Shantanna, can you read the runes?"
The dust rolls away with Kahli's breath, a wave of blue light emitting from the uncovered runes. In an instant, the calmness inside the circle is destroyed as the magical barrier dissipates and the heavy winds rush in. The party braces themselves against the sudden change in atmosphere as dirt and dust are kicked up and grate against their skin.
Blue light races up the three Transmutation trilithons that were partially lit. The light continues to wrap around the stone pillars, enveloping them and leaking out onto the ground in the circle. As the light covers the ground in the circle, the party members begin to feel lighter.
Once the blue light encircles the party, the other Transmutation pillars are quickly lit from the ground to their tops and a white beam of light shoots up from the circle to join the blue beam. The white beam shoots north with a deafening sound like that of a tornado.
Before they can take it in, the party begins lifting off the ground, up into the light. There's a sense of calm, as if they're in control of their movements and that it's effortless. There's a fluidity to the light, almost like it's water. With a light kick, they're able to move in the light.
As they begin to get their bearings, the light shakes and they have to brace themselves. Another beam erupts from above them towards the center of the island. In the distance, they can see beams from the other pillar sites heading to meet above the island. When the beams meet, from the conjoined beams, a vertical pillar of green light extends up into the sky, splitting the clouds, revealing a large, floating building.
The party, suspended in the white beam, looks out over the island, intersecting beams of light appearing almost as roads.
She-ra is clearly unhappy with her introduction to flying... Hrolf acts quickly to calm her, petting her neck and stroking her ears "It's OK She-ra, I'm here, it not so bad...." Slowly, the great kitty calms down.
Lash will real and twist, unsure about how to feel about these sensations. The lighter they seem and the higher they fly, she feels like the wildly clawing tiger. Strangely enough, Lash is more afraid of falling than the tiger freaking out. When they stop moving, there will be a time of adjustment where she will explore her environment.
Once she's feeling stable, she will look to Hrolf.
"Maybe we should try moving toward that green light. Think your tiger will be able to handle it?"
Eventually, if so, she focuses on the green beam, and in time, heads that way as capable as she can.
"I would have preferred to rest before we triggered the pillars, but now that we have, I think we have to try - we have no idea if this magick will work more'n once. I'll try to keep She-ra calm; let's go for it."
He mutters quick prayers to Cayden as he calms She-ra and tries to induce her to accept her new ability to fly...
vs DC 25
5 ranks + 3 trained +4 Animal Companion +1 guidance
It takes a few tries, but She-Ra calms down enough to head towards the green beam...
vs DC 25
5 ranks + 3 trained +4 Animal Companion +1 guidance
vs DC 25
vs DC 25
Kahli looks.... everywhere. She is excited, terrified, and so many more feelings. Is this the next step? Or are they all about to die? Regardless, they were committed. "There! A building in the sky! That's gotta be the next spot. That way." She focuses on flying that way. She can fly? No. This magic was flying them. Hopefully it would get them all the way!
Floating well above the island, with a thought and a kick, the party flies up to the intersecting beams and makes their way towards the green beam. Hamley and Tenney float up with the group, helping Shantanna steady herself.
Pushing themselves up to speed, they realize they keep picking up speed, getting well above what the Fly spell should allow, almost as if they're getting pulled along the beam of light. They're able to control themselves, moving side-to-side and up-and-down, but feel as if they're until the will of the beam.
Looking down into the clear tropical water, the party can see various ship wrecks scattered across the bay's floor. While contemplating the find, over the buffeting wind, they clearly hear the Old Man's voice coming from the sphere in Kahli's satchel. "I hope you're enjoying our expedited travel system. However, there is a capacity limit, and I'm sorry to say you're one over the limit" The party hears Shantanna let out a concerned noise. Looking back, they see her drift down towards the base of the beam. She kicks a few times but to no avail. Before the party can reorient themselves, she falls out of the beam and begins to plummet towards the water, but vanishes after a few hundred feet. "You must know by now, I don't do messy removals." He pauses "Hmmm. Speaking of messy, I must get my people to straighten up for your arrival. Be seeing you."
The party continues flying towards the green beam.
"Instead, why don't you come yourself? I'll help straighten that ugly smirk," she responds.
Kahli has no experience flying, hence no skill at it. She feels like she is falling, upward! When she hears the voice she knows that it will be trouble again, but is shocked when Shantanna is pulled out and falls out of the channel of light. "Coward! We'll teach you what messy means when we finally meet you. We'll scatter parts of you around until you really know what a mess is! Then you die!" Focusing on the green beam she tries to stay in the center of the beam....
"I am afraid my flying days are well behind me. These old bones aren't what they used to be." He chuckles at Kahli. "That would be rude, but I can forgive the outburst. Please, enjoy the rest of your travels. And be on the lookout. You may have company."
Now, over halfway to the green beam, Lash looks east towards the mountain and faintly sees the pair of Forest Drakes cresting the peak...and heading towards the party.
Hrolf looks at the drakes and how fast they are closing (and remembers what he can of how fast he's seen them fly), then back at the pillars where we came from and tries to judge if we can reach the green light and/or the building in the sky before the drakes can close...
He looks at the others and says "I think our best chance is to hustle for the green beam and try to get into the building. We're closer to that than the stone circle, and I'm not even sure we can get back down if we go there..."
"I don't know if we can go faster...Let's try."
Lash is already moving at her fastest speed (as far as she knows). The thought of their companion falling fills her with dread. Hrolf, or heaven forbid, Kahli could be next. She feels like she is on the edge of madness as she pushes forward. Her eyes are not used to the wind rushing in them like this, and so she isn't sure the tears in her eyes are from her emotions or from the wind itself. All she can do is push forward and be mindful of the drakes closing in.
Kahli definitely doesn't want to try and fight while flying! Hearing Lash's comment practically echoing what her fear is telling her she tries to fly faster....