A Ride in the Clouds

We've settled into a kind of day to day routine on the cloud. I'm learning a new spell. I have seen it used against us a few times in our various battles. It turns out Zephyros has it in his spell book. He has graciously allowed me to copy it, but it's written in the Giant's language, Jotun. So . . . I'm also learning how to speak giant. In fact, that is one of our daily routines: Zephyros sits down with us and teaches us Jotun.

Only four days into our journey and we received visitors today. Six flying sharks with riders landed on the cloud outside of the castle. They wore masks and clothing made out of metallic fish scales.

Zephyros was up in his room meditating (as he was apt to do most days) so the rest of us met the guests outside while Tyaa went to wake Zephyros. Two of the newcomers looked like the leaders; their masks were red instead of black, and they had starfish adornments on their cloaks. One introduced himself as Nvon and the other his sire, Kendrin.

They said they have come to seek an alliance between their master and Zephyros. Once Zephyros floated down from his room, they elaborated: Their master was none other than Slar Krethal, the Hidden. The one Avi warned us about at the recommitment ceremony.

That was all we needed to hear!

After a quick discussion with Zephyros, we decide to give them a sealed note for their master that politely declined the offer. We felt that if he just said no, they might attack. Better to leave the fight for another day, in this particular case.

One quick note: Nvos said his master is aligned with many other allies, one of which was Manchun. Does he not yet know that Manchun is dead? Or is he allied with Calaban in the guise of Manchun? Questions, questions, questions . . .

A few days later

Today was exciting!! Zephyros was up in his room meditating, the rest of us were attending to our various daily tasks. We suddenly hear a large crash and the sound of metal on stone. We heard Dwarven war chants from outside the second floor window.

We look outside.

Aurinax is trying to get into the tower. In his claws he is holding two cages filled with battle frenzied dwarves, ready for war.

He recognizes Tyaa. He lands. And we talk. The dwarves, to their credit, followed Aurinax's lead and didn't attack. Though, I think they were disappointed.

We trade details. The dwarves were here to take revenge. The Cloud Giants attacked their village and took an artifact, the same as in Nightstone. The giants stole a stone statue called "Morden's Anvil". We convince them of Zephyros' innocence. Together, we try to determine where the cloud giants will attack next, and send Aurinax and his marauding dwarves on their way.

When Zephyros wakes up, first we had to explain why his castle was damaged. Then he explains to us that what the dwarves were describing was actually an Ostorian artifact. An artifact of his people, the "Flat Rock". It was a stone table that could draw in magical energy.

And then . . . a few days after that . . .

Let me explain something. Sometimes when Zephyros is meditating, he seems to fall into a bit of a confused state. He is like this for at least eight hours. Earlier in our trip both myself and Trella tried to enter his mind to see what was wrong. Dangerous, I know. But curiosity . . . .All we could get was a jumbled mess of memories.

Today he was having another bad day, I tried again and succeeded! He was asking different questions, though I couldn't hear the answers. It was as if he was trying to ask someone's advice on different decisions he had to make. I realized he was using a spell to make contact with another plane.

When he woke this time, I asked him about the spell. He said when it goes wrong, it destroys his mind and he has to piece back together his memories. Scary. But I asked him to teach me the spell anyway.

After a few weeks . . .

We arrive at Brinshander!! We say goodbye to Zephyros, he drops us and our horses a proper distance from town and we ride into Brinshander.

We introduce ourselves at the gate. A halfling comes up to the gate and introduces herself as Augrek Brighthelm. She takes us into town and to the Comfort Inn. She arranges for us to meet the Speaker - the one in charge of the town, I am assuming. We have two hours before the meeting.

Have you ever eaten real food after having been surviving on rations for weeks? The food at the Inn was delicious. A knight (paladin perhaps?), introduces himself to us, Sir Baric Nylef. He's looking for a dwarf: Warvil - the Weevil - Forkbeard. We tell him we'll be on the lookout for this "Weevil".

We are now exploring the town. I'm sitting here under an animated tree called Lifferlas as Benu makes conversation. It seems this tree was created by an elf named Aerglas, and Lifferlas misses her. He wants Benu to find her and tell her to come visit. He sounds a bit sad. A talking tree . . . .

We've just heard a distant horn sound. Lifferlas doesn't recognize it. The residents of the town we can see seem confused. Methinks its time for us to go to work - and we haven't even spent a single night here yet . . .