[ We find Our Heros standing in front of a priest of Bahamut, the light of the sun rolling in from behind him! Eh? No, there was no adventure in the Abyss. What are you talking about? ] [ He stands there, serene, smiling, having just proclaimed that he's been waiting for you guys for some time. He looks pretty old, come to that. Session Start! ] * Vall cocks an eyebrow at the old man's claims. You've been waiting for us, specifically? * Seylin blinks. "Really? Us?" * Ariake blinks. * Bryon smiles beatifically. "Of course. You, specifically." * Patrick smiles. "Really now?" Long wait. It was, I assure you. * HKenji shrugs. "Why, precisely?" [ Tia spots a butterfly, and runs out of the cave to chase it! ] [ You all make your reflex saves, tho, and are therefore not bowled over. ] * Seylin whirls around. "Tia, get..." She sighs. "Oh, well. She'll come back when she's finished doing that, I guess." Well, you see, I must tell you something. Something terribly important, and vital to you and your quest! * Patrick looks back, then holds his head. "Wow, do you have an instruction manual? * Seylin tilts her head slightly. "Really, now?" ... we have a quest? No, it is not an instruction manual. 'Course we have a quest, Istvan! We're... um... well, aside from exploring and all that, I'm sure we have a quest. Would you be so kind as to relate to us this information? * Bryon loses the smile. "I, uh, I don't actually know it." ... * Patrick whispers to Seylin. * Seylin blinkblinks again. * Vall shakes his head. * Seylin whispers back. But I will, when the time is right. I'm sure you understand. ... What, you mean you're not an oracle? * Seylin looks disappointed. No, merely a humble priest. I see. So when will the time be right? ... so there's a quest. We're supposed to do it. But we don't know it yet. You're supposed to give us info on it... but you don't know it yet. But you will. * Istvan rubs his head. "Shoulda stayed at the forge..." * Bryon regains his smile. "Exactly! I knew you would understand." * Patrick keeps smiling. "You new at this?" * HKenji shrugs. "No matter." * HKenji moves to walk around the old man. * Bryon steps into his path, arms up. You think I am a dottering old fool, yes? * Vall bites his tongue... * Seylin stretches idly. "I just wanna know when the time will be right." Why, whenever it is, of course. * Patrick smiles. Oh. That... makes a kind of sense. The time is right when the time is right. Destiny has no secrets. When a thing must be, it is obvious to everybody. So what do we do until the time is right? I don't know whether you are a doddering old fool or someone important, and I do not believe it matters, for the moment. What we must, I think. * Bryon nods, then turns to Kenji, eyes sparkling. "Aha! Yes! Exactly! You, too, must be a student of the philosophical arts, my friend!" I've opened the Tao of Shinsei a time or two. Little more. You understand much for one of little teaching. A true natural! Now, if you will remove yourself from my path, I shall continue. * Bryon rubs his chin. "It could be said that it is you, and not I, who are in your path, you know." ... definately shoulda stayed at the forge. I'm lost in this conversation... ... * Seylin sighs. * HKenji looks the old man over for tattoos. Funny. You don't _look_ like a tattooed man. * Seylin blinks. "What does that have to do with things?" Join the club, Will. * Patrick shrugs. "It sounds like 'Zen' stuff to me." It is not Zen, it is merely the process of thought. * Vall 's hawk squawks, to which Vall replies, "No, you may not challenge the old man to a game of Go." Yes, yes, now let us past. No, I meant the tattoos. * HKenji steps to the side again. I have spent a long time here waiting for you. It was quite boring. * Bryon doesn't block Kenji's path this time. How long have you been here waiting Bryon? I've quite forgotten. Then come along. You can talk all you want, so long as you walk at the same time. * HKenji proceeds towards the light. * Ariake shrugs, and follows Kenji. She mutters, "Don't ask me, I just work here..." * Bryon toddles along, squinting as he comes outside. "Ah, outside! An eternity of waiting, and now a breath of fresh air at last! Let me tell you, the temptation to run has been often large for this old man, but I have always stayed true to my post!" * Vall mutters something similar in Undercommon. Your devotion to duty speaks well of you. * Seylin sighs and proceeds! ... how'd you eat'n stuff? Well, I do have my house. * Seylin unfolds her wings slightly as she steps into the light, tilting her face upwards. "Ahhh, feels good." ^_^ You must know much about these caverns then Bryon. Anything interesting of note recently? Ah, okay. * Patrick walks on, keeping pace right next to Seylin. You have a house? Where? * HKenji steps out into the light, looks up at the sun, and offers up a brief prayer to Amaterasu. I actually know little about the caverns. As I said, I have not gone far. And my house is... where is it? I've quite forgotten! * Vall hides the glare of the sun from his eyes as they exit the cave. "This always reminds me of the first time I saw the sun. I was almost blinded by it, and I didn't know if I'd survive without being able to see." [ As you step into the light, you see a large but unpretentious manor-house nearby, in the shade of a ledge. Out in the sunlight are fields of crops being tended by large, dark-furred humanoids. They seem to enjoy working in the sun. ] * Seylin blinks. "Oh. Well, that's a shame..." Oh. There it is! You live too much in the past, Vall. Wake up. ^_^ * Seylin looks around. "Hey, that's a really *nice* house. And, um, what are those?" [ There is a cluster of pretty little homes clustered around the manor. ] * Seylin points at the field workers. * Ariake blinks. It's the past that keeps me going. The past is but a viel behind you, clouding decisions in a mist of might and should! The present is a cruel master but the only one that allows for the sun to shine as it does. * HKenji blinks. "So much for unclaimed land." * HKenji walks towards the small village. * Istvan shrugs. "Ah well." He doesn't look too upset. And those creatures are desmodu. They are my faithful servants. * Bryon toddles along. Desmodu?? [ You've never heard of 'em. ] * Vall waits for his eyes to adjust to the light, and follows the group. * Patrick shrugs. "Got me." He smiles. "Nice enough guy, though." ^_^ * Ariake just follows along. * Seylin taps her chin. "Desmodu, desmodu... doesn't sound familiar." * Bryon nods, smiling. "They are goodly people of a batlike persuasion, that adore the sun! And as I am a priest of the sun-god, so I recieve a portion of their adulation." I see. About how large is this area, sir? What makes good people is a sun in their heart as well, and they have large suns within them. [ As you grow closer, you can see that the humanoids have flaps of skin stretching from their arms to their legs, rather like a flying squirrel. ] * Seylin looks contented. Then she blinks at the desmodu. "Hey, can they fly?" Well, glide, really. I like to believe they can. Sometimes I think I see them doing it. Often, though, I forget that I have seen them do it, and so cast shadows of doubt upon the matter, like clouds of unknown hiding the light of truth! .... Um. Right. Yeeeeah. * Vall mutters "He's nutty as a fruitcake" in Orc As for the size, the open area is about fifteen square miles. Of glorious sun-lit grass. Not a bad place. Who lives here? * Will stretches. "The sun does feel good though. So much better than the dark caverns we've been in during the past days" * Ariake nods. "Quite a nice change." * Seylin stretches her wings a bit more. "The air feels really nice, too." Nobody lives here! Well, excepting me and my bat-friends. Can't say it's a bad place, 'cuz then I'd be lying. ^_^ * Seylin whispers to Patrick. It is glorious, in truth, and it is a good place for thinking. And more importantly... are there other entrances? Also for getting lost! I have been lost many times, and sometimes not even my friends can find me until I am seen in a meadow weeping for lost days. * Patrick whispers back. * Patrick winks at Seylin. If there are any, he may have forgotten them. We might want to look around the area ourselves to find them. ... doesn't seem big enough to get really lost. I could check it out from the air! * Seylin sounds very, very eager. I cannot remember any other entrances, though I may remember an exit or two. How long will it take? * Seylin looks at the old priest. "Is that okay? It wouldn't startle the desmodu or anything, would it?" ...exits through which you cannot return? Oh, you can fly all you like. They won't care. I don't think. All right! ^_^ No, there is one exit. And it becomes an entrance if you go through it. * Patrick smiles at Seylin. "There ya go." ^_^ * Seylin turns to the rest of the group. "I won't go far, I promise!" * Ariake waves. "Have fun!" ... Enjoy yourself, Seylin. * Seylin walks far enough from the others so she won't accidentally hit someone with her wings when she takes off. What they said. * Seylin takes to the air and does a few loops above the group's heads before heading off to the north a bit. She looks positively delighted. ^_^ ... likes to fly, don't she? Naturally. * Ariake nods. If you could, wouldn't you? * Bryon looks up, startled. "Oh, she can fly?” You didn't think her wings were just for decoration, did you? ^_^ * Istvan shrugs. "If I had a reason, sure. But that's just me." I wish I can fly too. Looks fun. * Bryon stares, eyes wide. "She had wings?" ... s'fun 'till ya crash. Then it sucks. I've had flight cast on me before. Really is interesting. Can't say I'm good at it, though. ^_^ * Istvan shrugs. "Higher ya try'n go, harder the eventual crash'll be." I might remember having flown, once. More than likely it was merely a pork luncheon, though. I don't imagine one would crash that often if one had wings tho. Never seen Seylin crash once at all. * Patrick looks strangely at Bryon. "How old *are* you?" * Istvan shrugs. "Wouldn't know. Never really watched her fly." I cannot remember, and even if I could I probably wouldn't believe myself, and then I'd just collapse into dust right then and there! So it's better to just ignore it. * Ariake sweatbeads. * Vall headshakes... How old are all of you? If you can remember. I am six years old. A ripe young age indeed. * Patrick hmmms. "Okay, then how old are you in terms of humans with relation to the planet we are on?" 'm 20. Over a hundred, myself. * HKenji blinks. "Patrick, what are you talking about?" In standard terms, I'm about 19 - I think. * Seylin comes swooping back in, making an absolutely perfect landing in front of Istvan. "Hi! What'd I miss?" ^_^ Another year, apparently. Kenji's only six. I think we're gonna hafta start callin' him "L'il Kenji". Welcome back Seylin. You didn't miss much at all. Did you see anything interesting? * HKenji bristles. I would not reccommend such a course. * Patrick grins. * Seylin gives Istvan an odd look, then turns to Will. "Some more fields, some streams, some trees..." * Istvan nods. "If you say so... L'il Kenji." * Bryon wanders off a few paces, looking upwards. * Seylin walks over to Patrick and whispers to him. * Patrick smiles and listens. * Ariake sighs. "Oh, dear..." No other caves, Seylin? * Istvan nods stoicly for a moment... then breaks out in a grin. * Seylin looks over at Vall. "Actually..." She glances quickly at the priest, sees that he's looking away, then nods and holds up one finger. * Patrick nods at Sey. * Bryon wanders back. "Pardon. For a moment I'd forgotten how to look down." * HKenji carefully relaxes his clenched fists. * Vall nods, and mouths "which way?" * Patrick smiles. "So it's a really nice place, hmm?" * Seylin briefly tilts her head in the direction of the exit. Yes! Or were you asking the wings with girl? * Vall nods. * Seylin giggles. "That's an interesting way to put it." * Patrick laughs. "I was asking Sey." I see no reason to stay in this valley any longer than strictly necessary. * Ariake nods. * Bryon gestures to something not his house. "Would you like to come in? I just remembered I'm supposed to be polite to visitors!" He's now graciously inviting you to enter a rock. We might as well proceed on... We don't even need to buy supplies. * Istvan pats Kenji on the shoulder. "Just kiddin'. I won't call you that, I promise... mostly." *still grinning* Something bothering you Kenji? * HKenji stiffens. * Seylin looks at Patrick. "Oh, it seems nice enough." * HKenji looks over, face frozen, at Istvan's hand on his shoulder. * Istvan tilts his head at Kenji. "I hit a sore spot on your shoulder or somethin'?" * HKenji looks away. "Does anybody need supplies?" Nope, I'm fine! I'm good. I'm good for now. I need to make some new arrows, but I can do that most anywhere. ^_^ Nope. I'm good. * HKenji looks over at Seylin. "Are there any other exits from this canyon?" * Seylin nods. * Istvan blinks at Kenji, then scratches his head and focuses on the conversation. * Patrick whispers to Seylin. * Seylin whispers back. * Bryon is wandering around the rock, trying to find the door. Lead us there. What about him? * Seylin points at the old priest. * Patrick whispers back. He'll be okay... once his furry friends realize he's missing again. * Seylin nods to Patrick. *in Undercommon* <> * Patrick kicks at the grass, trying to make a divot. * Seylin shakes her head slightly in response to Vall's question. Something tells me we'll be heading back this way sooner or later, we can check up on him then. * Bryon is frowning at the rock. "Why aren't you brown like you used to be? Or large? Did I grow or did you shrink?" Okay. Kenji, you wanna say goodbye or anything? To who? Him. *points at Bryon again* ... Let's go. Let's go. * Ariake nods. All right. * Seylin starts walking off in the direction of the exit. * Bryon continues to stare at his rock. * Will shrugs and follows Seylin. * Ariake follows stealthily. * HKenji walks beside Seylin, in spite of his shorter legs. * Seylin casts one last glance over her shoulder at Bryon and stifles a giggle. * Vall pulls up the rear. * Patrick keeps the other side of Seylin, smiling. He whispers. * Istvan takes a long look at the rock, then catches up with the others. * Seylin whispers back. * Patrick nods. He whispers again. Do we have this place on the map? Even the other cavern? We can mark this place as a known area on the map. * Seylin looks up for a second. "I've got the places before this on the map. I can add this, too. Oh, and... does anyone else feel like this place is kinda creepy? Like it's almost *too* nice and happy? You do have a point... I've gotten that. Too perfect. * Will nods at Seylin's comment. "Definately gives me goosebumps" It reminds me of the Crane lands. The where? * Istvan shrugs. "When the only ones there are a priest of Bahamut and some bat thingees... why wouldn't it be nice?" Yeah, but... I don't know. Something feels off. In a region surrounded by duergar, trolls, and the like? The lands of the Crane clan. They are... annoyingly peaceful, until you scratch the surface and find the dark side. * Seylin nods and looks thoughtful. * Patrick scratches his head. "What do you think Tia would do if she was here?" He grins. ... point. Could be some defenses we didn't see. A priest that old's gotta have some power. Still. I wonder what he might tell us when the quote, the time is right.' * Ariake mutters, "If we remain sane for that long..." Maybe the time will be right when we come back this way next. Or maybe never. Who knows? And here I got all excited about that, too. Still... it wasn't a coincidence he was there to greet us at the mouth of the cave. There are no coincidences. You think he might have been told we were coming? Still, unless given a reason to act otherwise, I see no need to discontinue our further explorations. I agree. We'll probably be back this way later. * Patrick smiles. "Yeah. Let's kick some butt." Well, we're liked by trolls right now. We also have duergar and drow in the caverns here. We still haven't seen any signs of the drow yet have we? No. Alas, no. Granted, being liked by trolls doesn't really excite me, but I see no reason to cultivate their enimity right now. And didn't Tordek mention there were drow beyond the duergar? Yeah, he did. ... question. How far beyond? Do you remember? No. He didn't specify. What are we planning to do when we stumble upon this, presumably, large number of drow? * HKenji looks at Istvan as if he's grown a second head. ( We have a plan? News to me. ) I thought Vall had a couple of unfinished bussiness with them. ... I get that much. I'm just wondering what our plan was supposed to be for dealing with a whole... encampment? City? Village? ... worth of drow. We don't have the forces to undertake such an attack. * Patrick smiles. "They're underground, right? Nothing some explosives can't handle." ~_^ * Ariake grins. "I like the way you think." I do. But mostly with finding my parents and any siblings I may have left. I don't see where a direct approach is needed. Even more reason to have a plan, then. * Ariake nods. "Hmm." We need to find them, first. ... okay. Second part of the question: how are we planning to sneak into and around a big group of drow? Not like we'll blend in. I don't need an answer right now, mind ya. Just... have one before we try anything? We can always take a peek from afar first then decide what to do right? Not always. We should always try that, Will. * Seylin nods. "I could manage a few things, I think. But I'd have trouble faking acting like a drow." * Will smiles "Although bashing our way in has a certain charm." [ Soon, Our Heros are within sight of the entrance to the next length of tunnels! ...which is suddenly caving in, right before their very eyes. ] There is always the rest of you posing as my 'slaves', as I could pass for Drow in the right light. * Seylin points at the caverns. "Uh..." Umm... * Ariake blinks. "Gah!" ... ... * Will blinks. "...bash our way in?" * HKenji doubles his pace, running towards the cave-in. Kenji, wait! Tia could make it a very large hole, but she's not here right now. ^_^ * Istvan rolls his eyes, then follows after Kenji. * Seylin takes off (not literally, mind you) after them. [ Kenji rapidly grows closer to the colossal pile of snow- covered stone that is blocking the way out. It's still there. ] Oh, this is not good. * Patrick runs after Kenji, easily at double speed. He stops as he reeches the tunnel. * Vall takes off after the rest of the group. * Ariake shrugs, and runs after them. * HKenji frowns mightily at the pile of rocks. * Seylin eyes the pile of stone. "What was it you were saying? There are no coincidences?" The man was suddenly worried that you could fly. Really? Someone doesn't want us to leave... * Patrick nods and smiles. "I don't think he wanted to believe it." * Seylin just shakes her head. * HKenji turns back towards the village. Shall we try the original cavern we came from? No. Definetly not. * Istvan eyes the cave in, frowning. * HKenji sets off towards the village. "We'll spend the night, at least. I expect something will turn up." * Seylin nods. "Yeah, I'll bet something will." ... well, I could tunnel through this. If given a few months. We might just have that... Or we can just have Tia go through it in a couple hours. * Istvan eyes Patrick. "I'm almost ready to take that as an insult." [ The pile of stones is mighty. We're talking a solid wall as high as the cliffs around it; hundereds of feet. Even Tia won't bust through this. ] * Patrick smiles. You can't tell if he's serious or not. This is likely an illusion. A very good one. But the reasoning behind it escapes me. It bears investigation. I'd hate to see what happens if Seylin tries the aerial route * Ariake mutters and rubs her temples. * Seylin shakes her head quickly. "Not going there." Let's go back. I don't think we're supposed to leave this place yet. * Istvan just grunts at Patrick, and eyes the rock s'more. "Well, it's cold, like rocks from above should be. If it's an illusion, it's a damn good one." [ And so Our Heros resign themselves to spending the night in Happyland. This bodes... rather cheerfully, actually, but that's creepy in itself. Session End! ]