Chapter 12:

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Session Number: 168
Date: Sunday 24 March 2013
Venue: Densial's
PCs & Players:

Ariel Sor12 (Fergus) (kills: none)
Calico Drd12 (Yeran) (kills: none)
Lionel Rgr6/Wiz1/ArcA5 (Ash) (kills: none)
Rowaine Pal12 (Craig) (kills: none)
Troll Wiz12 (Densial/Yeran) (kills: none)
Violet Drd12 (Tammi) (kills: none)

XP Awarded: TBA

ro does anyone have two Teleports left? ari does. ro I've got to get back to the monastery and warn Berathoin and Khordarum.

saj Something's happening. ro What? saj I can sense something approaching. ro here? I thought you weren't allowed to sense anything outside this place. saj In the place where I exist. oh dear. Am I secure? You didn't leave this place open, did you?

ro was going to leave saj here and warn the teachers but having saj threatened has changed the equation. decide to free saj and take him out. ari tries Teleporting herself, tr plus saj to the temple with the stone blocks. Spell fails. saj they are at the water's edge now. how are they going to get out? cal as pegasus with ro riding and vio as owl on her shoulder, tr on carpet alone with trailing Disc carrying lio and ari. cal is fast, he will take ro and vio to the bottom of the chute so ro can light a sunrod, providing a target for tr to Teleport to. which direction to go? ro looks for dark patch and finds a steep mound responsible for the absence of light she spotted while looking out from the base of the chute. lio knows how to get back. ro tells tr to lift saj's restriction on what he can perceive. saj goes over to the edge. there are two out there. humanoids, metallic, 12 feet tall. arachtria born. saj can lead tr out.

little explosions at one edge of pillar, about a quarter of the circumference. see discs ricocheting off in all directions. move back and mount up. tr casts Stoneskin on himself. go.

cal, ro and vio get to the chute. ro lights a sunrod. seconds later the others are there. ari and lio fall 4' to the ground. tr creates another Disc. cal, ro and vio take the lead and fly up, sunrod lighting the way; tr, saj, ari and lio follow behind more slowly. cal gets to the top, ro dismounts and puts sunrod at edge of chute. looks at doorway: intact and open. rope still slung over the door. no red lights down passageway.

others arrive. how to negotiate the tunnel? Not enough Teleports. time running out? ro just steps in. nothing happens. she beckons for the others to follow and starts jogging down the passageway, axe out. get to room with shard-covered walls. ro looks briefly for any more holes, sees none. door open. go to top of stairs. lio close the doors! ro very good idea, I'll be right back. she goes back and closes the door to the passageway that had the red beams, and the double doors to the shardy chamber with the intricate locking mechanism. the double doors lock as she pulls them to. returns.

cal turns into a blink dog, ro gives him the sunrod. he blinks through the small tunnel cal created, then across the pressure plates to the first chamber. he waves the sunrod. vio crawls through the tunnel and flies to cal. ari Teleports the rest. ro shuts the double doors and all exit.

at top, winds swirl then start to die down. ro what's happening? saj I'm stopping the winds. get out. saj looks around. Oh no this isn't right. There's a lot more here than I thought there would be. ro more what? saj I don't think this was a good idea. I don't think this is going to work. I'm terribly sorry. he starts to fade away. tr holds out hands to saj and ro. saj I don't think this is going to work. It's already too late. ro what do you mean? saj oh dear, that's quite painful. I'm sorry lady. fades. ro take him and go. tr Teleports himself, ro and saj to the temple. only ro and tr go.

saj say goodbye to tr will you? fades away. cracking noise, snow moves. ari Teleports the rest to the temple.

what now? ro I have to warn the teachers. others would like to see what is happening at the pyramid. expensive to all go… tr and ro wait in temple while ari Teleports everyone else to their tent at the base of the pyramid, they will be half an hour to an hour.

ari and lio wait below, vio and cal fly up in bird form. pyramid looks deserted. both circle the top. vio sees cracks in the snow, eggshaped mound pushed up through the middle of the surface, about 2'-3' long. ice and snow is melting. no wind. vio circles while cal lands. casts protection from cold and hops down the first five stairs. not as cold now feels warm by comparison, water running down the stairs. goes back up sees the egg shape. cracked snow on top as if it has been pushed up. human form, brushes away snow. cloth underneath the snow.

cal tugs at the cloth, it moves when touched. cold and stiff. like a large sack. pulls on it to try and move it: falls on arse. calls vio over.

vio lands, drops Wild Shape and has a go. tries to lift from underneath, succeeds and sees a bare foot about the same size as hers poking out of a piece of ragged cloth underneath. both together try to lift cloth off, vio slips and her feet end up sliding under. hear a grunt. vio hello? nudges foot with hers. vio climbs back out. see steam rising from the lump. see ice melting on top and around the edges of the fabric. cal lifts the fabric, sees foot, cloth, steam, melting ice. asks vio to help hold material up. snow has completely melted away from top now, scorch marks on fabric. material feels warm in vio's hands. still getting warmer. fabric bursts into flame. both back away. whole bundle now on fire, hot enough to singe eyebrows. vio and cal turn back into birds and fly back down to the tent.

cal and vio resume humanoid form. cal we need to meet with the other two. there is someone up there. vio there was a body in ragged clothes covered by a cloth that got hotter and burst into flames and the snow is melting at the top. ari what do you mean body - is it dead? vio no it groaned. ari and it was in burning rags? vio it wasn't burning to start with. hear a thump, see snow being thrown off the top of the pyramid. ari you saw a living person in rags that were on fire and you left him there? cal the rags weren't burning when we first got there! ari go back and get him out of the fire! ari uses her last Teleport to get to the top of the pyramid. area clear of snow. There is a small boy standing to the side. ari hello, are you ok? lio cal start running up. boy You need to leave here. ari oh dear, why? boy otherwise you'll be late. ari My name is ari what's your name? boy I believe I requested your departure. ari you did and I just wanted to make sure we were properly introduced before i go. boy you need to leave here. this is not a place for you. you do not have permission to be here. ari ah. who would I get permission from? boy none of your business. do you need some sort of propulsion method to help you? ari no but I would like to know what's going on, I'm very confused. I am happy to leave… How far away do you need me to go? I'd like to talk to you. boy Get. Off. My. Pyramid. Now. ari backs off I don't mean any offence I am going. are you sure you don't want to introduce yourself? boy's hands burst into flame.

ari backs away and steps off the top. sees cal and vio coming up as she makes her way down. what to do - wait until morning for spells, or head to temple? their six horses are there… decide to take four horses and go via the oasis.

an hour passes and ro and tr do not see the others. they wait another fifteen minutes. nothing. ro we've got to go. summons har. hang on a minute. she gets a pile of sand, tips it on the ground beside the cube and writes in dwarven: be right back, wait here for our return.

go through to tri. tr brings eth up to speed. go to Kharag Monastery. ask to speak to Sir Veketh and Berathoin. strongly advises to put a halt on all contact and communication with the arcanites, revealing that they possibly have some sort of link to an unknown enemy called the ancient ones. sir veketh has hear of the name, speaks of wars between the ancient ones and the gods millennia ago. the stories say that the ancient ones were vanquished and trapped somewhere. ro that sounds very similar to the arcanites' story. ro asks that when the others teachers gather back here that they are told the same, and asks for them to conduct research in their own societies regarding anything to do with either the ancient ones or the arcanites.

go back to tri and through to the branch in the temple. ro's writing is undisturbed. wait for the others…

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