Adventures #7 & #8 - Jotun Valley and the Dragon Orbs -&- Bleak be the Future

Elodie eagerly runs toward the talon. "Last one on's a rotten egg!" Once she is ready to go, Elodie will ask Miphelgara,  "So how has life been since we disappeared? What happened to all of the dragons in the valley?"

Jeremiah will climb into Miphs' talon and prepare for the journey into the city.

Once everyone is in his claws, Miphelgara begins to flap his powerful wing. The winds generated are powerful enough to create a cloud of debris and send ripples through the water. Within seconds, you are in the air and soaring toward the edge of the mountain top.

He dives over the edge of the mountain, plummeting toward the ground below and past the winding road you traveled to reach the summit. As the mountain side rushes besides you, you get a clear view of the ruined city of Umbrafall. Before crashing into the hills below, Miphelgara twists his body and extends his wings, so that the momentum carries you parallel to the ground and toward the distant city.

Minutes later, he sails directly over the burnt remains of Grover's Orchard and then crumbled ruins of the East gate. You see that most of the buildings have either collapsed or burnt to the ground. The streets are flooded and you see all manner of strange creatures prowling the streets: massive three eyed fish swimming through the murky waters as massive bipel lobsters splash alongside them, huge tentacled beasts crawling over the rubble and featureless little men climb what remains of the walls, and giant ray-like creatures flying above them all. All of this flashes by in an instant, and Miphelgara soars by, clearing the inner wall in a second.

Once inside the courtyard, you see that the palace has been reduced the rubble. Much more disturbing is the fact that three large monoliths have been constructed in the yard, each adorned with black chains that sport a string of skulls and etched with bizarre glowing symbols. Three bloodied and bedraggled figures have been shackled to the monoliths. Miphelgara lands between them.

"HURRY!" He says, "WE MUST MOVE, QUICKLY. THE FARSPAWN WILL BE UPON US!"

"Give me a minute, Jeremiah, I'll try to find out."

She slides out of Miphelgara's grasp and quietly moves toward the monoliths. She takes a moment to gather her powers, and then reaches out with her mind, attempting to discern what magical auras are present around the party.

Cast True Seeing.

Cast Detect Magic.

Elodie sees invisible lines of force surrounding the shackles and monoliths, probably shielding them from destruction. She also sees bright lines of magical energy pouring forth from the Wizards Three and coursing through the force lines like water through an aqueduct; whoever imprisoned them here is also draining their power. Lastly, she notices a wide invisible sigil on the ground between them (which the party happens to be standing on). The magic involved seems to rely primarily on abjuration magicks.

Sensing the multiple powerful auras around the party, Elodie attempts to halt some of the magic in the area. Before she casts the spell, she whispers, "Get behind Miphelgara, Jeremiah -- just for a minute!"

Cast Dispel Magic (Greater) as an area dispel; affects everything with a 20-ft radius burst.
Dispel check = 34 (19 + CL 15)

OOC: I'll assume Elodie gets herself out of the area of effect, as well, before casting it ... but Detect Magic is a concentration spell, so its effects will end when she casts Greater Dispel. True Seeing should remain active.


Immediately after dispelling the area of magic, Elodie sees the lines of force become disrupted, flickering for a second before ceasing altogether. The glow of the giant rune, too, flickers for a moment, before fading to the flat gray of the surrounding rock. Elodie recognizes that flicker as a sign that the magical energies have been suppressed, but NOT permanently severed (a result that usually only happens when a weaker dispel is used to suppress a magical creature or ancient artifact). You have only second to free the Wizards before the magic returns in full force.

Mittens wearily lifts his head. "What is happening?" His eyes widen with realization. "Quickly! You must free us!"


OOC: You have 1-4 rounds to get them out.

"Jeremiah! Miph! Gumphrey! QUICKLY, get them free!" Elodie runs toward the three wizards, keeping a close watch on the area around them. She braces herself, preparing to cast a less-powerful spell if any signs of magic reappear.

Cast Dispel Magic on any object that appears to regain power before the wizards are free.

The Shadow Man bolts forward, hurrying to get his locks picks out and begins to tinker with the lock as soon as he gets there. With lightning speed, he has the shackles removed from Malabus.
- Disable Device check = 55 (Success)

Miphelgara, too, rushes forward, grabbing the chains connected to Odion's shackles. He pulls with all of his mighty dragon strength, snapping the chains free of the rock. Miphelgara scoops up his Wizard and prepares to take flight.
- Strength check = 28 (Success)

Jeremiah will pull both of his axes out and attempt to break the chains with a mighty swing.

GM Edit: Damage Rolls = 13 and and 12. The chain has a hardness of 10 and 5 HPs.

Jeremiah's axes easily break the chain.

The flying rays begin to circled the courtyard and hear a rumbling sound approaching from the direction of the gate.

"I WILL TRY TO GET US OUT OF HERE," Miphelgara says, looking toward the aberrations overhead, "BUT SIX PEOPLE WILL BE HEAVY ENOUGH TO SLOW ME DOWN."

"My power has been weakened," Mitten says, "but I could try to teleport us."

Gumphrey blurts out, "well, whatever we're going to do, we need to do it quickly."

Mittens reaches out to grab the hands of Jeremiah and Gumphrey. The others join hands, as well.

And with a word, you find yourself back in the stone toward at the peak of Mount Toweridge, the very place where all this started.

- Teleportation Roll = 26 (On Target)

"Now," Mittens says, as he bends down to take a seat on the stone floor, "let's talk about how to fix this."

"Do any of you have wounds or injuries that need attending to? Are you hungry?" Elodie asks, concerned for the feeble wizards.

Mittens replies, "Yes, please. We are weak, tired, hungry, and injured."

Odion and Malabus say more.
"Our suffering is moot ..."
"But only if the plan works!"
" ... if only the ... why are you interrupting me?"
"What?"
"Why are you interrupting me?"
"Who interrupted you?"
"You did?"
"When?"
"Just now."

Mittens halts their squabbling. "I don't know about you two, but I would prefer to address our suffering, in case the plan fails."

"Oh, yes, of course."
"Yes, yes. What he said."

Elodie pushes her hair over her shoulder. "Well, it is good to hear you all bicker again, now we know that you can only be so injured." She turns to Jeremiah and Gumphrey. "Maybe we can scavenge and hunt enough to put a good meal together?"

Before Elodie goes to help, she holds her hands out in front of her and attempts to heal the three wizards.

Cast Cure Moderate Wounds, Mass. Cures 24 HP to each wizard.
Cast Mending on their robes, to fix any rips or tears.

"Is anyone still injured?" She pulls her healing wand out, prepared to use it to finish off any injuries that still remain. Once the wizards are healed and cleaned, Elodie will help look for food.

Survival +32

Jeremiah will start making camp for the group, then start discussing a plan. He will try and detail the parties inventory and resources that could potentially be used or called upon for this battle, including the remaining dragon orbs.

"Mittens who were your captors?"

Elodie wrote:Before Elodie goes to help, she holds her hands out in front of her and attempts to heal the three wizards.
- Cast Cure Moderate Wounds, Mass. Cures 24 HP to each wizard.
- Cast Mending on their robes, to fix any rips or tears.
"Is anyone still injured?" She pulls her healing wand out, prepared to use it to finish off any injuries that still remain. Once the wizards are healed and cleaned, Elodie will help look for food.

"Thank you, Elodie. I think we are hale, enough, now."

Elodie wrote:She turns to Jeremiah and Gumphrey. "Maybe we can scavenge and hunt enough to put a good meal together?"
-Survival +32

There is very little to be found at the top of Mount Toweridge, but the party does find a few small bushes near the base of the mountain, each with a handful of edible berries. You also find quite a few birds' nests, nestled into the crooks and crannies of the stone wall; there are plenty of eggs to be had.

Jeremiah wrote:Jeremiah will start making camp for the group, then start discussing a plan. He will try and detail the parties inventory and resources that could potentially be used or called upon for this battle, including the remaining dragon orbs. "Mittens who were your captors?"

"Our captors were legion, but ultimately irrelevant." Mittens says, "we need to undo this catastrophe, not avenge it. I am hoping we can repair the sigil platform and use it to send you back in time to just before the fabric of reality was torn open. We should probably wait seven days, for the nearest celestial alignments to occur. Finally, if you agree to do this, you must (I repeat: MUST) avoid contact with your former selves. Then, and only then, you should be able to seal the crack before the hordes come through it. Hopefully, we can find a way for you to do that, before the time comes to send you back."