"Well, this is new, and something to keep track of" he looks around to see if he can spot the tower from where he ended up
The trees are too thick both overhead and within the density of the forest itself to get a bearing on where you are.
As you speak out loud, you hear a rustle in the area behind you, you're not certain how far, perhaps 100'?
He turns, slowly, calmly, fear is not something he embodied. He sword and shield now in his hands, as he waited for what ever it could be. Though, in defence of the tower, he made sure he was ready to teleport back
He decides to head back, scouting this area requires people with the right skills
Mephistopheles considers how to improve the rituals...
Probably an oversight not having Make Whole in the old Book. I'll get on that.
Lacking scholary skills and feeling an urge, Clyde heads to town one evening to indulge..
A splash of blood and a candle is all that marks where his devotion took place and another is cast down into the darkness of the well.
After all, the voice was so very hungry..
The Horn
As the initial improvements to the Horn are completed, a tour is given by Elliaria.
Clyde appears fairly relaxed, just a few days ago he appeared on edge. It's not clear what happened that took the edge off for him, but whatever it was, it worked.
Meph has studied the possibility of modifying the Rituals, while it's possible, it's time consuming and potentially cost prohibitive, plus, it's not proven that such a change will work.
As the tour comes to an end, Mal makes quite the interesting announcement, he has discovered where the 4 Throne Resides!
AREA 2-12 Master of Acolytes’ Private Chambers
With the oozes relocated, the Ninth is able to explore the hole in this room that leads to the outside. It is rather large, large enough for a flying foe to enter and potentially penetrate the defense of the Horn through.
Unfortunately, there is nothing of value within. Do you wish to close this hole by use of the Lyre or do something else with this security risk?
A trap that doesn't kill them is a bad idea because they still got in. If they have a healer then they are at full strength inside. If the trap doesn't reset automatically it's even worse.
Perhaps an alarm of some kind to let us know there has been an attempt.
"Just seal it up," Jack grumbled. "Less work for us."
Mephistopheles' blue eyes crinkle in amusement.
Perhaps we decorated it with Mitran motifs, leaving the Hallow spell. We could Trap the area repeatedly with whatever amuses us with the proper Symbol spells placed about too. Plus I kinda enjoy the prospect of some adventurers wandering about in there...
The Tiefling hums.
The lyre can close it off from any other egress.
A supposed sanctuary from the horrors of The Horn. They then discover that it is very much not one when the traps all go off.
We could get a Medusa. She can have her own penthouse suite.
"A medusa sounds good, free decorations won't go amiss. Need to make the place look presentable. We aren't some rag tag group or Mercs after all." he muses out loud
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Where shall we find said medusa? I doubt we can put up letters on village posts inquiring if one seeks employment.
Mephistopheles' blue eyes laugh.
It's called a quest, my meaty chef. Perhaps once this business is under control and that irritating 7th is place firmly under our boot.... perhaps an isle vacation to procure a Medusa is in order.
"We got a lot of stuff to get done before we can take a vacation to find you a girlfriend, Meph," Grumble said with an amused snort.
Brian chimes in, "I like the idea of leaving the hole open and creating a lair of traps within though I profess that creating and setting traps are no specialty of mine. Perhaps there is a Rogue in Farholde we can hire out to do that and then recruit to our cause on a more permanent basis?"
Indeed. We are certainly facing a long list of things that need to be done though. We should focus on one or two at a time to ensure they get done.
"I still say we seal it up for now. If we wanna turn it into a trap later, we can. Other s**&'s more important first.
"Like that new porty throne Mal found. Should we go check it out?"
Perhaps lay some sort of trap upon it if we can not move it?
"If we can't move it, we need to get rid of it" he states
"Why? Seems like a great escape route."
"Why? Seems like a great escape route."
"Also a way to get into the Horn. If the portal is not under our control, anyone could potentially use it. So either in the horn, or not at all"
Grumble shrugged. Something about the password briefly had his attention, but he decided he didn't care. Less stuff to think about was better.
As she's strumming the Horn with her fingers, building it's walls with her words, Ellie agrees. "Having a throne outside is as much a liability as a benefit. The only way would be if it was in a secure place we trusted. The 7th knot is suspect, and we'd have to have someone gone at a critical time to get it to Cardinal Thorn."
"I guess we can't decide nothin' until we know where it is, or if it can be moved, ya? Might be, we just have to break it or bury it where it is," Grumble said. He stood up and stretched, spreading his enormous new wings from wall to wall, then stomped off towards the throne room. "Who's comin?"
Clyde follows
Mephistopheles simply shrugs following along munching on a sandwich...
Best to fly up high to get the lay of the land. We don't know how far the destination is from the Horn.
Meanwhile, in Farholde
"Lord Havelyn, my master has informed me that the Ninth requires a substantial quantity of Onyx. I think it would be best if you took the lead on this endeavor. You have the most amiable relationship with the Baron, and I think he is likely the best source of information on this subject. At this stage, I do not think we need more than for him to point us in the right direction."
"I've also been told that once the onyx is procured, Miss Morana and myself will be recalled to the Horn. They seem to be closing in on starting the ritual."
Best to fly up high to get the lay of the land. We don't know how far the destination is from the Horn.
"Smart. I'll meet ya in the throne room. Be right back," Grumblejack said. He took a detour outside and let out a shrill whistle, like a farmer calling a hound.
Then he went back inside.
Munching on his sandwich, the Wizard points up.
Do we need a ride? I can Dimension door 3 of us. Anyone got a portable hole and a bottle of air?
Neither I am afraid. Best take a deep breath before hand.
the Horn
Brian shrugs, "I don't get the sense that the Teleporter will work for your Dragon.
Best if a few of us teleport to the location, secure it, and Meph can Scry our location. From there he can fly with Aurex to our location".
As no one objects to the plan, the Ninth executes it as night draws near.
Mal , Clyde , Elliaria , and Brian use the teleporter to secure the location.
You all arrive in a small ruined Keep. The walls are almost entirely gone and around you is debris of the fallen higher floors. Creeper vines and jungle/forest canopy surrounds you. You sit and wait...
-------
Meph is easily able to locate the group, and he and Grumble fly on Aurex's back over the thick Caer Bryr. As they arrive, the forest is so thick it is no wonder why it wasn't discovered sooner, it is impossible to see from overhead. From overhead, you can see that the location is not far from the ocean.
Aurex is forced to land on top of a tree and carefully climb down with the two on his back. Soon enough the entire group is reunited!
-------
Into the Caer Bryr!
Clyde
Elliaria +15 vs. Humans.
Malleck
Mephistopheles
Aurex
Sir Balin/Grumble
You all begin to scout the area trying to determine what, if any threats may be about considering how valuable this prize is.
Elliaria discovers on the forest floor odd disturbances to some areas near the throne, as if something was burrowing just beneath he surface. The longer she looks though the more it is clear to her that there are two separate such creatures, not just one...
Farholde - Raaven
Havelyn nods at Raaven, "It shall be done. The Baron has been courteous but it is clear that he is hedging his bets on supporting us.
If he knows where the Seventh is, he's not saying. They have left us a few notes stating that they have neutralized some small problems, but I can verify the veracity of their claims.
The residents are spooked at a murder that took place recently, a burnt down candle and a splotch of blood were all that remained at the site of the incident. This may be the Seventh playing mind games with the locals, but again, I cannot be certain of that either.
The attacks on Morana and Sore have stopped since Tih and I arrived, but that may just mean that our strength in numbers has caused those that vexed them to change the tactics.
One small cabal of toughs did confront us, they have been taught the error of their ways, but they were hired by a layer of proxies making it impossible to identify the true source of their desire to seek engagement".
Havelyn seems frustrated by his lack of progress here.
Mephistopheles happily scrys the location of the group for Transportation Specialist Aurex to take them to reconvene.
I noticed that there are no refreshments offered on this flight?
Allowing the dragon to engage in the decent, the Wizard happily hangs on as branches, brambles brush and bash boisterously bleeding and blistering both.
Next time, I'll just Dimensional door us down, if it's all the same.
The Fastidiousness of the Wizard's attire still perfect, Meph walks over to the throne to join Elliaria in her inspections.
Bullet. Quite unusual.
Meph studies the throne for a moment.
The magic will hold if relocated, although that may be a bit of a hassle.
Grumble scratched his horns in confusion. "Hassle? It's a chair. Can't I just pick it up? Would that break the magic or somethin'?"
Mephistopheles' blue eyes crinkle in amusement.
Make certain you lift with your knees. Also, try not to scratch it as you traverse the foliage.
Grumble's eyes narrowed at the wizard. He felt like he was being tricked, but wasn't sure how.
He took a closer look at the throne, walked around it, gave Meph another glance, then hooked his claws under it and gave it a steady heave.
Grumble attempts to lift the chair but he finds it is built into the foundation of the floor. It looks like it can be moved, but the group would have to find someone to chisel it out. Of course, there's a good chance that the lyre could be used to break up the concrete beneath it and free it up.
Based on the materials, Grumble realizes that while it's a chair, its made out of some admixture of marble and stone and is probably heavy as f#+$...
"Huh. Gonna have to bust up the floor," Grumble muttered crankily.
Perhaps we could place a nice magical trap. One that preferably explodes while alerting us that someone tried to use it. Clyde looks around. Sealing up the area around the throne could also work.
"No matter how we secure this side, we have to assume that some determined group will be able to use it to breach our defenses. If it's outside of our walls we need to secure every other throne inside."
She thinks for a moment, standing so still as to almost believe that her consciousness was blocked from her body by some technical glitch between them. She turns to Meph, "To explore all options, is it possible to destroy one throne without affecting the others?"
"That was my own reasoning. Any way to traverse the Horne that we can not keep an eye on is a liability" the armored man notes as he watches the spectacle
Grumble's eyes narrowed in confusion. "I dunno. If someone knows where this throne is, and knows the tellyport password, we wouldn't have any idea until they pop up inside the horn!" he said, thinking out loud. "Even if we break this throne, someone showin' up here to use it already knows way too much. They're just going to try to find a different way in. It's not like our front doors are all that secure yet."
"Seems like if someone knows that much already, we kinda want 'em to come to us so we can f~&!in' kill 'em."
"Lettin' someone in, but making sure they can't get out again, seems like a better way to use this one."