(8:06:54 AM) thuryl: After a short and uneventful (if uncomfortable) journey, your sea voyage to Elpis, island of the City of Hope, is at an end. You were accompanied on board the ship by three other groups, although each group mostly kept to themselves. From what you could overhear, the largest group (numbering about a dozen) were from the city of Wireld, to the south of Dilegad, and were on some kind of a pilgrimage. The second largest group was led by a dragonborn, apparently some kind of scholar or mage, accompanied by about seven or eight goblins. The third largest group seemed to be an adventuring party much like your own, consisting of a male human, two elves (one male, one female), and a female lacewing.
(8:07:02 AM) thuryl: Finding a suitable place to make landfall took a while: Elpis is a mountainous island, mostly surrounded by cliffs and jagged rocks, and the seas around it are rough. Eventually your ship dropped anchor in a small inlet near the southwestern tip of the island, and you disembarked onto a wide, stony beach. Sheer cliffs tower over you to the north, and the beach curves around the inlet to the east and west. The only signs of life are some washed-up seaweed and shells, and a handful of lonely seabirds picking over them.
(8:07:08 AM) thuryl: Right now, all of you are standing on the beach trying to work out where to go next. The dragonborn scholar and one of the goblins are talking with the pilgrims while the other goblins lounge around looking bored, and the adventurers are standing at the foot of the cliff having a spirited discussion about something or other.
(8:07:12 AM) thuryl: Over to you, players.
(8:07:57 AM) Phulax: (Do we, our six characters, already know each other?)
(8:08:08 AM) Lephista: (Presumably. We got on a boat together.)
(8:08:14 AM) thuryl: (Yeah, let's assume you got to know each other on board the ship. Nobody wants to play through an introduction scene.)
(8:08:19 AM) Phulax: (Cool)
(8:08:42 AM) Lephista: I watch the historians in the group expectantly.
(8:08:45 AM) Phulax: (What time of day is it?)
(8:09:10 AM) thuryl: Early-ish morning. Well past dawn, but well before noon.
(8:09:30 AM) thuryl: It's a clear, sunny day.
(8:09:39 AM) Phulax: I wander over to the adventurer group. Smiling broadly, I announce "Good morning! I'm Phulax."
(8:09:57 AM) Jarrox: "I say we race! We can be Team Explorers and then beat all these other types to the city. Last one there is a moose's end."
(8:10:34 AM) Lephista: "That's a lovely idea, Jarrox. Which way is the city?"
(8:11:08 AM) Jarrox: I point northeast, "That way, just follow me."
(8:11:21 AM) Meredith: "Just imagine what we'll miss by racing there, though."
(8:11:27 AM) thuryl: "I tell you, there's no way we can get up this cliff! It's all very well for Baxa, but--" The elven male stops talking and turns to face Phulax with a glare. "Oh, hello. What do you want?"
(8:11:56 AM) Dyen: "Patience, this is not a place for direction."
(8:12:03 AM) Jarrox: "We wont miss all the gold thats in the city, thats for sure. But we will if we show up late."
(8:12:26 AM) Phulax: "Hi. I just thought I'd see if you needed any help. I am healer, and I help people who have problems with portals. Need any assistance?" I smile at the adventurers.
(8:13:06 AM) Meredith: "You think gold is the greatest treasure this isle has? Bah."
(8:13:08 AM) thuryl: The elven female raises an eyebrow. "Portals? Can you make a portal to the top of this cliff, then? I should warn you, we can't pay you much."
(8:13:34 AM) Phulax: I look up at cliff; how tall is it?
(8:13:40 AM) Jarrox: "Gold may not be the greatest treasure but it can by it, and much more."
(8:14:02 AM) Dyen: "Gold will not buy you real treasures."
(8:14:08 AM) thuryl: Oh, about 50 feet. High enough that you wouldn't want to fall from the top of it.
(8:14:32 AM) Phulax: "I think so. Who wants to be first?"
(8:14:52 AM) Dyen: (brb)
(8:14:59 AM) thuryl: The lacewing perks up. "I'll try it! I've never been through a real portal before!"
(8:15:03 AM) Jarrox: "But it will get you the pretty women." I say as I laugh.
(8:15:32 AM) Meredith: I scowl at Jarrox and move over to watch Phulax.
(8:15:39 AM) Phulax: I cast teleport on the lacewing, transport her up to the top of cliff (actually on the ground up there, not just floating in the air by edge :-) )
(8:15:40 AM) Phulax: Phulax rolled 1 20-sided die: 2
(8:15:43 AM) Phulax: ...
(8:15:45 AM) Meredith: (you all suck for choosing stupid names. :-P)
(8:15:57 AM) Phulax: (Not the way to start things off...)
(8:16:03 AM) Jack: I continue watching carefully.
(8:16:17 AM) Lephista: (Using the bad rolls on NPCs is a good idea. :P)
(8:16:49 AM) Phulax: (But I don't want them to kill me for my first in-game action!)
(8:17:05 AM) Jarrox: (Kill the NPC's and make it look like an accident, I like your thinking Triumph.)
(8:17:18 AM) thuryl: The lacewing is teleported into midair about halfway up the cliff. With surprising agility even for her species, she kicks off of the cliff face in mid-fall, unfolds her wings and glides safely to the ground, near the water's edge.
(8:17:31 AM) mageantonius: (They have nothing to live for, they're just NPC's)
(8:17:34 AM) Phulax: I frown. "Oh no!"
(8:17:34 AM) thuryl: "That was fun! Can I do it again?"
(8:18:01 AM) Jarrox: "Ha, with money I bet could by me some wings like that."
(8:18:18 AM) thuryl: The elven male is less pleased. "Are you trying to kill us all? Do you know who I am?"
(8:18:24 AM) Jack: "I miss Bob." I say sullenly as I watch the others.
(8:18:28 AM) Phulax: "I'm sorry! I'm still kind of new to this. My master...well, he's gone, so I have to practice..."
(8:18:29 AM) Meredith: "No. Why don't you tell us."
(8:18:34 AM) Phulax: "No, I'm afraid not."
(8:18:47 AM) Lephista: I glare at the elf, and stand behind Phulax's shoulder.
(8:18:48 AM) Jarrox: I look for a rock and sit down to watch the chaos on the beach.
(8:19:16 AM) Phulax: "I can try again, if you wish, or leave you be." I bow apologetically.
(8:19:38 AM) Dyen: (back)
(8:19:48 AM) thuryl: The elf glares back. "I am Ilestro, master swordsman! Surely you have heard my name!"
(8:20:29 AM) Jack: I do a history check on that name to see if it rings a bell.
(8:20:33 AM) Jack: Jack rolled 1 20-sided die: 13
(8:21:47 AM) Jack: "...Sorry, can't say that I have. Nice bravado, though."
(8:21:56 AM) Phulax: "May your name rise to even greater renown here on Elpis, sir." I bow and turn away from the adventurers.
(8:22:37 AM) Lephista: I turn away as well. "Phulax, can you make a portal to the top of the cliff? That seems easier and less dangerous."
(8:22:38 AM) thuryl: "What? Why, I should--"
The female elf interrupts. "Ilestro, it wouldn't hurt to stay on friendly terms with a band of fellow adventurers. Perhaps they can help us get up this cliff."
Ilestro snorts. "Fine. Since Siana seems to trust you, I'll let her do the talking."
(8:23:01 AM) Phulax: I perk up.
(8:23:06 AM) Meredith: "I think that prudent, yes, *master swordsman*"
(8:23:11 AM) Meredith: I smirk and walk off.
(8:23:29 AM) thuryl: Siana and the human male have to work together to physically restrain Ilestro from drawing his sword.
(8:24:16 AM) Phulax: "Well, you see, I know HOW to make portals...I just don't have the skill to actually do it. I just need some more practice! But I can teleport people short distances. Up to the top of the cliff should be easy!"
(8:24:27 AM) Phulax: "Umm...emphasis on should."
(8:24:31 AM) Jarrox: I laugh out loud from the great show taking place before me and pull out my ale-skin and take a drink.
(8:24:31 AM) Meredith: "I've a better idea. Who has rope?"
(8:24:52 AM) Dyen: How scalable is the cliff?
(8:24:59 AM) Phulax: I try to cast teleport on myself, up to the top.
(8:25:00 AM) Phulax: Phulax rolled 1 20-sided die: 13
(8:25:18 AM) thuryl: It's pretty close to vertical, but there are enough footholds that you could climb it if you were careful.
(8:25:26 AM) Dyen: Right, I do that.
(8:25:26 AM) Lephista: "How will we get Balbus up with a rope, Meredith?" I pat my horse on the head, in case she forgot who Balbus is.
(8:25:27 AM) thuryl: Phulax is now on top of the cliff.
(8:25:40 AM) Dyen: Dyen rolled 1 20-sided die: 8
(8:25:45 AM) Jack: "Why don't we just walk around a bit and look for an easier route up?"
(8:25:51 AM) Dyen: (Hmm.)
(8:26:29 AM) Lephista: "Or we can send a rope up to Phulax, since he's already up there."
(8:26:37 AM) Jarrox: "I'll be, Jack said the first smart thing I've heard all day."
(8:26:54 AM) thuryl: Dyen makes it a little less than halfway up the cliff before reaching a dead end with no obvious footholds. Trying to keep climbing would be another check. Of course, he could also climb down.
(8:27:07 AM) Dyen: Keep going!
(8:27:08 AM) Dyen: Dyen rolled 1 20-sided die: 17
(8:27:15 AM) Dyen: (^_^)
(8:27:25 AM) Phulax: I approach the cliff edge and call down "See! It works!"
(8:27:28 AM) thuryl: Lucky. Dyen vaults up the cliffside and is soon at the top.
(8:27:34 AM) Lephista: "Jarrox, you have a rope, right? May I borrow it?"
(8:27:43 AM) Dyen: "So do I, apparently."
(8:27:44 AM) Jarrox: "What for?"
(8:28:05 AM) Phulax: "Anyone else want me to help you up?"
(8:28:24 AM) Phulax: "Or just help hold a rope? I can do that too!"
(8:29:09 AM) Lephista: "For climbing. I'll magic it up to Dyen, then you can climb it."
(8:30:53 AM) thuryl: While you're all attempting to scale the cliff, you see the pilgrims and the scholar's band start to work their way around it along the beach to the east.
(8:31:11 AM) Jarrox: I look up the cliff down at the suit of armor I'm wearing and then back at Lephista. "I think I weigh more then that there pony." I point at Balbus. "I don't think no rope is going to hold me for long and I aint got wings like to save me like fly boy over there."
(8:31:20 AM) Jarrox: "Pardon my common."
(8:31:36 AM) Jack: "Then take off the armor and we'll haul it up separate."
(8:31:57 AM) Dyen: I look around for an easier way up for my companions.
(8:32:04 AM) Jarrox: "It took me over an hour just to get it on this morning and now you want me to take it off?"
(8:32:13 AM) Jack: "...Yeah, sounds about right."
(8:32:15 AM) Dyen: Dyen rolled 1 20-sided die: 11
(8:33:18 AM) Lephista: I force a smile. "Okay. Let's go the long way. That seems safest."
(8:33:22 AM) Jarrox: "I could go with that group over there," I point at the pilgrims, "and meet you all top side. They look less like the climbing type."
(8:33:31 AM) Phulax: "Are you sure?" I call down.
(8:33:41 AM) Dyen: I yell down "There's an easier way up to the east!"
(8:33:42 AM) Lephista: I lead Balbus after the pilgrims. "Wait for us there!"
(8:34:19 AM) Jarrox: I get up and waddle after the pilgrims.
(8:34:24 AM) Jack: I look between the two groups.
(8:34:26 AM) Phulax: I walk east along the cliffs, keeping an eye on those moving down below.
(8:34:31 AM) Jack: Then I shrug and head after the pilgrims.
(8:34:38 AM) Dyen: I walk east along the cliff face as well.
(8:35:03 AM) Meredith: I follow.
(8:36:09 AM) Dyen left the room.
(8:36:34 AM) Jack: (It's like Dueck all over again)
(8:36:46 AM) Dyen entered the room.
(8:36:47 AM) thuryl: wb
(8:36:58 AM) thuryl: You head east, leaving the other adventuring party arguing over whether the cliff can be scaled. After about half an hour's walk along the beach, you come to a part of the cliff where there's been a rockfall, creating a relatively gentle slope up. It's still not exactly a comfortable walk, but if you're careful you can scramble up without any real danger. At least, you think so.
(8:37:23 AM) Jack: "Now was I right, or was I right?"
(8:37:51 AM) Meredith: I head up the slope.
(8:37:52 AM) Jack: I head for the slope and ascend.
(8:37:52 AM) Meredith: Roll?
(8:37:57 AM) thuryl: Yeah, roll.
(8:38:03 AM) Jack: Jack rolled 1 20-sided die: 10
(8:38:05 AM) Meredith: Meredith rolled 1 20-sided die: 14
(8:38:11 AM) Jack: (Can I take 10 on that? :P )
(8:38:12 AM) Jarrox: How big are the rock in the rock fall compared to me?
(8:38:21 AM) Lephista: I follow the others.
(8:38:24 AM) Lephista: Lephista rolled 1 20-sided die: 3
(8:38:47 AM) Phulax: (Rocks fall, everyone dies?)
(8:39:13 AM) thuryl: Jack and Meredith make it up easily. Lephista manages to send a lot of rocks showering down and nearly falls, losing 1 stamina to regain her balance, but also makes it up safely eventually.
(8:40:03 AM) Dyen: "Welcome back."
(8:40:12 AM) Lephista: "Come on, Jarrox! It's easier than it looks!"
(8:41:00 AM) Jarrox: "I'm not so sure about this." I mutter and then clime very slowly and carefully up the rockside.
(8:41:11 AM) thuryl: Okay, roll it.
(8:41:50 AM) Jarrox: (Take ten?)
(8:42:02 AM) thuryl: Fine. It'll take a little longer than it otherwise would, though.
(8:42:14 AM) thuryl: Jarrox eventually reaches the top of the cliff where the others are waiting for him.
(8:42:16 AM) Jarrox: I'll do that, I'm in no rush to die.
(8:42:31 AM) thuryl: You all reach the top of the cliff and look out toward the centre of the island. Large areas of the land in front of you are covered in a green, fuzzy carpet of moss, concealing the powdery grey soil below. To the north you can see a loose jumble of long, lichen-covered cylindrical objects of various sizes. To the east, the mossy plains continue for a while before becoming increasingly hilly.
(8:42:53 AM) Phulax: "I guess those are probably the ruins to the north?"
(8:43:05 AM) Jack: "Indeed. That looks promising."
(8:43:29 AM) Meredith: "Well, lets get going."
(8:43:42 AM) Meredith: I stride off towards what appear to be the ruins.
(8:43:48 AM) Jack: I strike out north towards the ruins.
(8:43:50 AM) Lephista: I follow, leading Balbus on foot.
(8:43:51 AM) Phulax: I look for a path (nature).
(8:44:00 AM) Phulax: Phulax rolled 1 20-sided die: 1
(8:44:03 AM) Phulax: ...
(8:45:05 AM) thuryl: Phulax is so intent on searching the ground for a path that he nearly manages to fall off the edge of the cliff. He barely grabs onto the edge by his fingertips and scrambles back up, losing 2 stamina.
(8:45:21 AM) Phulax: (Hahaha!)
(8:45:32 AM) Lephista: (This is why you never roll unless the GM tells you to. :P)
(8:45:38 AM) Phulax: I laugh sheepishly, and hurry to catch up with the others.
(8:45:41 AM) thuryl: (No, he would have had to roll anyway.)
(8:46:03 AM) Jarrox: I waddle after everyone trying to keep up with little short stubby legs.
(8:46:41 AM) Dyen: (Don't you have a horse?)
(8:46:55 AM) Lephista: (No, I do.)
(8:46:56 AM) thuryl: As you get closer to the lichen-covered jumble to the north, you realise that it's not the ruins of a city but in fact the remains of a forest, which has definitely seen better days. Bits of dead tree root still stick out of the ground here and there, and lacy grey lichen covers everything.
(8:47:25 AM) Phulax: "Weird."
(8:47:30 AM) Jarrox: "Look an under water forest!"
(8:47:43 AM) Lephista: "Shouldn't it have rotted away ages ago?"
(8:47:50 AM) Phulax: I look among the moss and lichen for anything that could be used for first aid (FA roll?).
(8:47:59 AM) thuryl: (Sure, go ahead.)
(8:48:00 AM) Jarrox: "I shall call it the lich-woods."
(8:48:03 AM) Phulax: Phulax rolled 1 20-sided die: 7
(8:48:15 AM) Jack: "Hmm..."
(8:48:16 AM) Phulax: "But we're not underwater?"
(8:48:29 AM) Meredith: I look around for any chunks of masonry, or metal - basically, anything that would point to any past civilisations.
(8:48:37 AM) Meredith: "No, but the forest was, until recently."
(8:48:39 AM) thuryl: Well, some of the tougher bits of lichen could probably be used to bandage a wound if you were desperate.
(8:48:41 AM) Meredith: (perception:)
(8:48:42 AM) Meredith: Meredith rolled 1 20-sided die: 8
(8:49:04 AM) Lephista: Are any of the other groups in sight?
(8:49:09 AM) Jack: I cast Detect Magic to determine if there's anything magical about the area.
(8:49:13 AM) Jack: Jack rolled 1 20-sided die: 7
(8:49:31 AM) Phulax: I decide I don't really need the extra bandages right now, but keep in mind that possible use of the lichen.
(8:50:07 AM) Jarrox: "Well unless there is gold somewhere around here I think we had best get going. Don't want to get to far behind." I take another swig from my ale-skin.
(8:50:43 AM) thuryl: Roll for it, Rowen. :P
(8:50:47 AM) Lephista: "Jarrox, honey, some of us are here for other things."
(8:51:02 AM) Meredith: "If you're all about the destination, Jarrox, I suggest taking a portal in future."
(8:51:07 AM) Lephista: (Roll for what? Drinking? :P)
(8:51:14 AM) thuryl: (Yes.)
(8:51:19 AM) Jarrox: Roll for the drink?
(8:51:39 AM) thuryl: Yup.
(8:51:50 AM) Jarrox: Jarrox rolled 1 20-sided die: 13
(8:51:53 AM) thuryl: Jarrox successfully drinks the ale without spilling a drop.
(8:51:55 AM) Lephista: (My rule is that if you have to roll to drink successfully, that means you've had enough. :P)
(8:51:56 AM) Phulax: (Hahaha!)
(8:52:06 AM) Jarrox: I savor it in my mouth.
(8:52:22 AM) Jack: "Well, we sorta need a destination if we're going to head anywhere..."
(8:52:26 AM) Lephista: I watch the horizon for the other groups. Perception?
(8:52:30 AM) thuryl: Sure.
(8:52:33 AM) Lephista: Lephista rolled 1 20-sided die: 7
(8:52:34 AM) Meredith: "How about the City of Hope?"
(8:52:56 AM) Phulax: I look around for anywhere interesting to go.
(8:52:57 AM) Jack: History check. Do I happen to have any knowledge of where the City of Hope was located on the island? Or any other notable outposts or locations?
(8:52:57 AM) Phulax: Phulax rolled 1 20-sided die: 18
(8:53:01 AM) Jack: Jack rolled 1 20-sided die: 6
(8:54:06 AM) Lephista: "Hey, Ilestro and crew got up the cliff. Unhurt any everything."
(8:54:10 AM) Lephista: *and
(8:54:15 AM) Jack: "Yes, Meredith, and do you know where that is, exactly?"
(8:54:19 AM) Phulax: "Hey guys!:
(8:54:22 AM) Phulax: *"
(8:54:25 AM) Phulax: "Come see this!"
(8:54:37 AM) Jarrox: I waddle over.
(8:54:37 AM) Lephista: I run over to Phulax. "What is it?"
(8:54:47 AM) Meredith: "Nobody asked that. You said we need a destination. I merely gave you one."
(8:54:50 AM) Jack: I head over to Phulax.
(8:54:59 AM) Phulax: "I thought it was a tree trunk."
(8:55:07 AM) thuryl: You all see that Phulax has uncovered a stone obelisk, a little taller than an average human. It's covered in strange engravings.
(8:55:11 AM) Phulax: "But look! That's stone. It's a pillar, with writing."
(8:55:33 AM) Jarrox: "But then where is the tree trunk?"
(8:55:35 AM) Meredith: History check: can I recognise the language?
(8:55:36 AM) Meredith: Meredith rolled 1 20-sided die: 8
(8:55:38 AM) Jack: "Interesting..."
(8:56:09 AM) Lephista: I watch the other adventuring group's progress while the others inspect the obelisk.
(8:56:57 AM) Jarrox: I look around for a tree trunk or something to sit on and then sit on it.
(8:57:15 AM) Dyen: Roll for it, Rowen.
(8:57:23 AM) Jack: "Must have been before Common was around..."
(8:57:44 AM) Meredith: "No, actually, it's Common."
(8:58:19 AM) Lephista: "You can read it?" I keep looking east.
(8:58:23 AM) Meredith: "It says that the island is the territory of the City of Hope, and if we go in peace we shall be welcome."
(8:58:47 AM) Jack: "An older dialect of common, then... Well, still interesting."
(8:58:53 AM) thuryl: Meredith pulls away the rest of the lichen and uncovers some more of the obelisk. There's some artwork on it. It's quite faded, but it seems to show a humanoid figure kneeling before some kind of altar and placing a hand on it.
(8:58:54 AM) Meredith: "Also, there's a picture of a man kneeling before an altar, with his hand on it."
(8:59:04 AM) Meredith: (sniped)
(8:59:17 AM) Phulax: "Neat!"
(8:59:39 AM) Lephista: "Does it say which way to go?"
(8:59:40 AM) Phulax: "Well, I don't know about you, but I come in peace!"
(8:59:43 AM) Meredith: "No."
(8:59:54 AM) Phulax: "Oh well. Let's keep looking!"
(9:00:12 AM) Meredith: I look around for anymore obelisks.
(9:00:13 AM) Lephista: "I have an idea." I cast Mystic Avian, and summon a sparrow.
(9:00:16 AM) Lephista: Lephista rolled 1 20-sided die: 11
(9:00:18 AM) Jack: "Well... according to Ylesk's records, the City was somewhere near the center..."
(9:00:22 AM) thuryl: A sparrow blinks into existence.
(9:00:24 AM) Meredith: Meredith rolled 1 20-sided die: 12
(9:00:25 AM) Jarrox: Jarrox rolled 1 20-sided die: 18
(9:00:35 AM) Jack: "So in theory, if we bear northeast, we should just stumble right into it."
(9:00:57 AM) Lephista: I whisper in its ear. "Fly straight up, look for ruins, return, and show us the way."
(9:01:44 AM) thuryl: The sparrow flies up into the air.
(9:02:50 AM) Jarrox: "What do you all say we just take the road to the city and win this race?"
(9:03:09 AM) Lephista: "There's a road?"
(9:03:09 AM) Jack: "Road?"
(9:03:17 AM) Jack: "And for that matter, what race?"
(9:03:27 AM) Phulax: "Roads are nice!"
(9:03:31 AM) Jarrox: "Yeah," I point down at my feet. "Right there."
(9:03:39 AM) thuryl: Sure enough, the rock where Jarrox is pointing is slightly worn down, as if by countless footsteps.
(9:03:55 AM) Meredith: (do I see anything else?)
(9:04:17 AM) Jarrox: "And the race to get all the gold you silly. I thought we were Team Explorers but its more like Team Snails."
(9:04:24 AM) Phulax: "Cool! Good job, Jarrox!"
(9:04:34 AM) Lephista: Which way does this path go?
(9:05:00 AM) Jarrox: "Well, it helps when you keep your head clear like I do." I take another swig from my ale-skin.
(9:05:17 AM) thuryl: You kick aside the dirt to uncover a little more of the road and find that it curves around from the south to the northeast.
(9:05:48 AM) Lephista: "Jarrox, there is unlikely to be any booze on this lost island. If you drink all of yours now you won't have any for later."
(9:06:21 AM) Jack: "...So, like I said. Northeast."
(9:06:34 AM) Meredith: "Yes. Why are we still talking. Lets go."
(9:06:39 AM) Dyen: "It will be a good experience for him."
(9:06:43 AM) Jarrox: I look at Lephista and laugh, "There is always beer where ever I go."
(9:06:43 AM) Meredith: I lead the way northeast again.
(9:06:47 AM) Jack: I strike out northeast.
(9:06:49 AM) Phulax: I skip off down the road.
(9:06:53 AM) Dyen: I follow the road.
(9:06:57 AM) Lephista: I follow the others.
(9:07:03 AM) Jarrox: I waddle after them all in the back.
(9:07:57 AM) Meredith: Perception as I go, watching for more obelisks.
(9:07:58 AM) Meredith: Meredith rolled 1 20-sided die: 9
(9:08:08 AM) thuryl: You continue northeast along the road, through the remains of the forest. There aren't too many trees still standing, so you have a fairly clear view of what's ahead of you most of the time.
(9:08:23 AM) Lephista: I watch the sky for any sign of my sparrow.
(9:08:36 AM) Lephista: Or any birds at all, for that matter.
(9:09:37 AM) thuryl: Along the way, the sparrow returns to Lephista's side. It flies off in little arcs to the northeast and northwest a few times, and then flies away.
(9:10:10 AM) Meredith: "There's another of the obelisks ahead, for your information."
(9:10:21 AM) Jarrox: I sing a drinking song as I walk, "One, two three, four, I could have a dozen more. With pretty girls and good ol' wit...crap, I forgot the next line." I take another swig.
(9:10:23 AM) Lephista: "Hmm. Could be something else to the northwest."
(9:10:27 AM) Jack: "Ah. Where?"
(9:10:41 AM) Meredith: "Straight ahead."
(9:11:00 AM) Phulax: I approach and examine the obelisk.
(9:11:08 AM) Meredith: As do I.
(9:11:23 AM) Jack: I approach the obelisk as well. I also break out the Translation Booklet and cast Decipher.
(9:11:27 AM) Jack: Jack rolled 1 20-sided die: 14
(9:11:35 AM) thuryl: Okay, you all reach the obelisk. It's about the same size as the previous one, and has a similar picture on it of a humanoid kneeling before an altar.
(9:11:40 AM) Meredith: "Why are you doing that? I already told you it was in Common."
(9:12:00 AM) Phulax: "Doing what?"
(9:12:04 AM) Jarrox: "What with the drawings?"
(9:12:17 AM) Phulax: "I wonder whose altar that is."
(9:12:20 AM) Meredith: "I was talking to Jack."
(9:12:33 AM) Phulax: "Or where the altar is."
(9:12:48 AM) Dyen: I cast Feeling the Way on the obelisk.
(9:12:49 AM) Jack: "...Reading, you mind?"
(9:12:53 AM) Lephista: "Anybody know enough about religion to recognize an altar?"
(9:12:56 AM) Meredith: Religion check - is there anything about the altar, or the way the person is praying that would point to a particular religion?
(9:12:58 AM) Meredith: Meredith rolled 1 20-sided die: 8
(9:13:02 AM) Dyen: Dyen rolled 1 20-sided die: 2
(9:13:06 AM) Dyen: (Aw.)
(9:13:07 AM) Meredith: (way ahead, Sara :-P)
(9:13:12 AM) Lephista: (GMTA. :P)
(9:13:19 AM) Jack: "There's a port and quarry a couple miles northwest. Also, the city of hope's 15 miles NE."
(9:13:28 AM) Jack: "Well, assuming this is correct, anyway."
(9:13:45 AM) Jack: "Wait, hang on, the port's SW, where we came in."
(9:13:51 AM) Jack: (Reading fail on my part)
(9:14:19 AM) Phulax: "Are you sure? So the city is still northeast?"
(9:14:24 AM) Jarrox: "What did I tell you all when we were down on the beach? Finish line is to the northeast. Lets get going and win this thing."
(9:14:47 AM) Jack: "Well, we've now got an obelisk, a road, and my own expertise saying northeast. So... yeah, pretty sure."
(9:14:56 AM) Dyen: I go northeast.
(9:14:59 AM) Lephista: Me too.
(9:15:03 AM) Jack: I head after Dyen.
(9:15:16 AM) Jarrox: I waddle along after them again.
(9:15:20 AM) Phulax: I follow.
(9:15:30 AM) Meredith: "If you have to rely on books and cantrips, I would hardly call it "expertise"." (muttered)
(9:15:40 AM) thuryl: Okay, you all head northeast. Perception rolls, everyone.
(9:15:43 AM) Phulax: Phulax rolled 1 20-sided die: 10
(9:15:45 AM) Jack: Jack rolled 1 20-sided die: 19
(9:15:50 AM) Meredith: Meredith rolled 1 20-sided die: 18
(9:15:50 AM) Lephista: Lephista rolled 1 20-sided die: 11
(9:15:55 AM) Jarrox: Jarrox rolled 1 20-sided die: 10
(9:16:37 AM) Dyen: Dyen rolled 1 20-sided die: 10
(9:17:37 AM) Jarrox: "Whoa hey everyone! My ale-skin is not as empty as I thought it was!" I take another swig. "I love this 'discovering' stuff."
(9:18:00 AM) Meredith: "There are people ahead."
(9:18:14 AM) Meredith: "Well, humanoids. I suggest staying quiet."
(9:18:14 AM) Lephista: "How many?"
(9:18:17 AM) Jack: "At least, let's hope they're people."
(9:18:43 AM) Meredith: "There are 4. They were not on the ship here."
(9:18:56 AM) Jarrox: "Pfff, We need to move faster guys, we are behind in the race. I'll be damned if I don't get any gold." I start waddleing faster.
(9:19:00 AM) Dyen: "Were there any before us?"
(9:19:00 AM) Jack: "...I don't think they're in any bestiaries, either."
(9:19:21 AM) Jack: "They don't look like anything I recognize."
(9:19:40 AM) Lephista: "You mean they're people, but not a normal species?"
(9:19:50 AM) Meredith: "How confident do you feel to trust peace and approach them?"
(9:20:06 AM) Jack: "I mean they're humanoid, and not one of the six races I know."
(9:20:07 AM) Dyen: "They are something." I continue northeast.
(9:20:23 AM) Jack: I follow cautiously at the back.
(9:20:26 AM) Lephista: "Peace is worth striving for." I follow Dyen.
(9:20:37 AM) Phulax: "Well, we won't find out by standing here worrying about them." I follow Dyen onward.
(9:21:24 AM) Jarrox: "Come on everyone, we don't want to be the last ones to the city. Walk like you mean it." I try to get the others to move faster.
(9:21:51 AM) Lephista: I grip Jarrox firmly by the shoulder. "Take it easy, friend."
(9:21:52 AM) thuryl: The party blithely continues to the northeast. Pretty soon, you all hear a strange screeching cry from the northwest. You look over there and see the bipedal creatures running towards you. They look a little like much bigger, burlier lacewings. It's hard to tell at this distance through the light sea fog, but you think they have... big crab-like pincers for hands?
(9:22:20 AM) Phulax: "Hello!" I call. "How are you?"
(9:22:25 AM) Meredith: History check: Do I recognise them as anything/any legends about them on the island?
(9:22:26 AM) Meredith: Meredith rolled 1 20-sided die: 5
(9:22:30 AM) Meredith: (bah)
(9:22:32 AM) Jarrox: "Sweet, lobster!"
(9:22:36 AM) Jack: I stay away from the creatures, putting the party between myself and them.
(9:23:08 AM) Lephista: I mount Balbus and get ready to take off.
(9:23:12 AM) thuryl: The creatures snap their claws together menacingly and point down toward the ground.
(9:23:23 AM) Meredith: I kneel immediately.
(9:23:30 AM) Lephista: I dismount and kneel as well.
(9:23:34 AM) Jack: I kneel as well.
(9:23:35 AM) Meredith: And then raise a hand.
(9:23:36 AM) Phulax: I kneel, and smile.
(9:23:37 AM) Jarrox: I giggle as I watch the lobsters.
(9:23:39 AM) ephesossh: (ooh, new stuff, yay)
(9:23:58 AM) thuryl: They're still approaching, but you've got a couple of minutes before they catch up with you. They stop running and resume a brisk marching pace when they see you kneel.
(9:24:28 AM) Meredith: I stealthily load a shot into my gun, and keep it close to my hand.
(9:24:42 AM) Lephista: "Jarrox, down." I grab him and pull him down to his knees.
(9:24:50 AM) thuryl: The creatures chatter amongst themselves as they approach, although from here you can't make out what they're saying or even if it's in a recognisable language.
(9:24:54 AM) Phulax: I look around. What's on the ground around us?
(9:24:55 AM) Jarrox: "Hey, why you all lying down? We need to be going to the city not playing in the dirt."
(9:24:56 AM) Phulax: Phulax rolled 1 20-sided die: 2
(9:25:01 AM) Phulax: ...
(9:25:30 AM) Meredith: "Jarrox you idiot. Kneel now or I'll bring you to the ground with a bullet to the head."
(9:25:42 AM) Lephista: Roll to pull Jarrox down:
(9:25:43 AM) Lephista: Lephista rolled 1 20-sided die: 2
(9:25:48 AM) Lephista: (Gah)
(9:25:53 AM) thuryl: Jarrox easily pulls away from Lephista's grasp.
(9:26:12 AM) Lephista: "Dyen, you'd better get down, too."
(9:26:21 AM) Meredith: "I swear to you, get down now."
(9:26:25 AM) Meredith: intimidate
(9:26:26 AM) Meredith: Meredith rolled 1 20-sided die: 3
(9:26:29 AM) Meredith: (gah!)
(9:26:34 AM) Jack: (But realistic.)
(9:26:39 AM) Jarrox: I take a swing and look at everyone. "Whats going on? I don't want to get more dirty then I have too."
(9:26:43 AM) Lephista: (It's not like intimidate was gonna work on a PC anyway.)
(9:26:53 AM) Meredith: (a 20 might have done it :-P)
(9:27:00 AM) Lephista: "There's gold under this moss. I'm looking for it now."
(9:27:06 AM) Lephista: I dig through the moss at my knees.
(9:27:15 AM) Phulax: ...
(9:27:20 AM) Dyen: I kick Jarrox in the back of the knees and kneel next to him, holding him down.
(9:27:22 AM) Dyen: Dyen rolled 1 20-sided die: 3
(9:27:24 AM) thuryl: The lobster-people are standing still in front of you now, just outside of easy charging distance. One of them gestures back over its shoulder to the northwest.
(9:27:24 AM) Jarrox: "What! Where?" I move over there and get down and start digging."
(9:27:26 AM) Dyen: (Sigh)
(9:27:38 AM) thuryl: Dyen almost trips and falls while trying to kick Jarrox.
(9:27:42 AM) thuryl: Er, Dyen.
(9:28:03 AM) Lephista: "I think they want us to go northwest."
(9:28:06 AM) Jarrox: Jarrox rolled 1 20-sided die: 8
(9:28:09 AM) Jack: "Seems likely..."
(9:28:16 AM) Meredith: I point to the northwest, then at us.
(9:28:19 AM) Phulax: "What's northwest?"
(9:28:27 AM) Jack: "An old limestone quarry."
(9:28:44 AM) Lephista: "Maybe they live in it."
(9:28:47 AM) Phulax: "Why would the lobsterbacks want us to go there?"
(9:28:50 AM) Jarrox: "I don't see no gold. Wheres the gold!" I keep digging.
(9:28:57 AM) Lephista: "It's pretty deep."
(9:28:59 AM) thuryl: The lobster-man points to the obelisk back to the southwest, and mimes striking something with its claws.
(9:29:01 AM) Jarrox: Jarrox rolled 1 20-sided die: 15
(9:29:10 AM) Phulax: I frown.
(9:29:24 AM) Phulax: "Do you think he means he broke the pillar?"
(9:29:36 AM) Lephista: "Hmm. Maybe there's an altar to the northwest, and we have to touch it. Like in the picture."
(9:29:47 AM) Dyen: "Perhaps the pillar is the altar we must kneel at."
(9:29:58 AM) Meredith: I attempt to say "friends" in the same dialect of common as the pillars." (history, I guess)
(9:29:59 AM) Meredith: Meredith rolled 1 20-sided die: 8
(9:30:05 AM) Phulax: "Works for me. Do you think it's okay for us to stand up now?"
(9:30:14 AM) Lephista: "Let's not chance it yet."
(9:30:24 AM) thuryl: With obvious effort, one of the lobster-men manages to gasp out a recognisable word. "Leader. Go." It continues pointing northwest.
(9:30:36 AM) Jarrox: I jump up holding an old corroded copper coin in my hand. "I'm going to be rich with this! People back home will pay tons of money for something like this!" I start to dance around.
(9:31:05 AM) Phulax: "Huh. Okay." I rise and start walking northwest.
(9:31:08 AM) Meredith: I slowly get up, and begin walking northwest.
(9:31:15 AM) Lephista: I rise, nod to the lobster-man, and follow.
(9:31:19 AM) Jack: I get up and follow the group cautiously.
(9:31:30 AM) Dyen: (brb)
(9:31:44 AM) Meredith: "This is incredible. Life must have survived when the island sank. These might be the ancestors of the islands original inhabitants."
(9:31:50 AM) Jarrox: "Hey, where you all going? I bet if we dig a little more you could find something too!"
(9:31:54 AM) Meredith: "Just imagine what we might learn if that's the case!"
(9:32:13 AM) Phulax: "Nifty."
(9:32:20 AM) thuryl: The lobster-men move to surround the area behind you as you start walking northwest. Seeing that Jarrox is being uncooperative, one of them gives him a sharp prod in the back with its claw.
(9:32:50 AM) Lephista: I sigh, and turn back. "I'll bring him, guys."
(9:32:54 AM) Jarrox: "Whoa there dinner, Don't be getting frisky on me. We just met."
(9:33:11 AM) Phulax: "Thanks, Dyen!"
(9:33:21 AM) Lephista: "Jarrox, these guys live here. If there's gold, they've probably got it in their homes."
(9:33:38 AM) Jarrox: "Let lets go with them."
(9:33:58 AM) Jarrox: "I bet they don't need all the gold."
(9:34:03 AM) Lephista: "Yes, let's do that." I resume travelling northwest. "Come on."
(9:34:25 AM) Jarrox: I waddle after and take another swig.
(9:35:00 AM) thuryl: You all keep heading northwest, escorted by the lobster-men, and after about an hour's walk you come to a wide rocky pit dug in the ground. In the pit, several tall, frog-like bipeds supervise teams of smaller fish-like bipeds as the latter chip away at the rock with crudely-fashioned picks and hammers. On the other side of the pit is a group of huts, seemingly made of the same rock the creatures are quarrying.
(9:35:17 AM) Phulax: "Wow!"
(9:35:21 AM) Phulax: "Who are they?"
(9:35:30 AM) Lephista: "Huh."
(9:35:50 AM) Jack: "Seems we have a whole sentient ecosystem here."
(9:35:57 AM) thuryl: The lobster-men seem intent on leading you around the edge of the pit to the huts.
(9:36:02 AM) Meredith: "This is fascinating."
(9:36:07 AM) Jack: I comply with the lobsters.
(9:36:17 AM) Lephista: "Guys, I do not like to judge anyone before the facts are in, but I get the feeling we've just been enslaved."
(9:36:18 AM) Jarrox: "They be digging for gold!" I pull out my little shovel and waddle ahead.
(9:36:26 AM) Lephista: I go with the lobsters.
(9:36:43 AM) Phulax: "Should we run, then?"
(9:36:46 AM) Meredith: "No.
(9:36:48 AM) Meredith: "*
(9:36:49 AM) Jack: "No."
(9:36:54 AM) Jack: "Let's get all the facts first."
(9:36:59 AM) Lephista: "Not until we're sure. Be ready, though."
(9:37:07 AM) Phulax: "Righto."
(9:37:11 AM) Jarrox: "And the gold!" I pipe in.
(9:37:20 AM) thuryl: One of the lobster-men runs ahead of you and knocks on the wall of the largest hut (there's no door as such, just an opening.) Out of it lumbers what can only be described as an enormous bipedal turtle. Easily eight feet tall, with a massive, stocky body, leathery brown skin, a yellowish-tan shell, and flippers for arms, it stares down at you with what you think might be annoyance.
(9:37:22 AM) Meredith: "If they try, we can easily dispatch these creatures."
(9:37:37 AM) Dyen left the room.
(9:37:43 AM) Dyen entered the room.
(9:38:03 AM) thuryl: Then the turtle speaks. Its accent is archaic, but recognisable. "Good day."
(9:38:17 AM) Lephista: I nod. "Good day to you, too."
(9:38:20 AM) Meredith: "Good day to you. We come in peace."
(9:38:20 AM) Jack: "Hello."
(9:38:22 AM) Jarrox: "Where do I dig?"
(9:38:25 AM) Phulax: "Wow! A talking turtle! Good day!"
(9:38:54 AM) thuryl: "Why do you disturb this island? Are you the ones responsible for its return to the surface?"
(9:39:06 AM) Dyen: (Back)
(9:39:21 AM) Meredith: "We are not. We came because it has risen. We're explorers - we too want to know why it has risen."
(9:39:23 AM) Jack: "Actually, we came here because of its resurfacing. We don't know why it might have risen..."
(9:39:31 AM) Phulax: "We? No, we just heard that island was here and came to visit."
(9:39:46 AM) Lephista: "If you want to find out, we can help."
(9:39:47 AM) Phulax: "Has the resurfacing caused you problems?"
(9:39:51 AM) Jarrox: "And for the gol...to see the sights."
(9:40:48 AM) thuryl: The turtle lets out a deep, booming laugh. "Problems? Certainly, although I'm better off than some. But if an army of 'explorers' is on our doorstep, than we'll all have problems."
(9:41:02 AM) Meredith: "All? Who else is here?"
(9:41:28 AM) Meredith: "Are you saying other parts of the island are inhabited?"
(9:41:38 AM) Jarrox: "Good thing we are not Team Explorer then."
(9:41:50 AM) thuryl: "Oh, yes. I suppose you're here for the City of Hope, aren't you?"
(9:41:58 AM) Phulax: "Well, there are some pilgrims, here too."
(9:42:06 AM) Jack: "That is correct."
(9:42:42 AM) Jarrox: "And some dumb guy who said he's good with a long stick."
(9:42:51 AM) thuryl: "Well, if we're lucky, both of our problems will solve each other. Tell me, how good are your historians up there these days? How much do you know about the City of Hope?"
(9:43:10 AM) Jack: Erm... Should I roll a history check for this?
(9:43:11 AM) Meredith: "Not as much as we'd like, I'm afraid, but we know some."
(9:43:16 AM) Lephista: I look from one historian to the other.
(9:43:22 AM) thuryl: You can roll if you want to.
(9:43:32 AM) Meredith: Meredith rolled 1 20-sided die: 2
(9:43:32 AM) Jack: Jack rolled 1 20-sided die: 20
(9:43:32 AM) Phulax: I look to Meredith and Jack.
(9:43:34 AM) Meredith: ffff
(9:43:37 AM) Jack: (...Woo!)
(9:43:38 AM) Phulax: !
(9:44:21 AM) Jarrox: "Great Mother of Eiloth. Everyone thats a talking turtle!" I suddenly look a lot more sober and a lot more scared.
(9:47:20 AM) Jack: "Well, we know that the island was centered around the city and it's grand temple. It was economically dependent on pilgrims coming to the city, believing that their hearts' desire would be granted, according to legend. At least, until the island sank 600 years ago."
(9:47:54 AM) thuryl: "Hmm. You know a great deal. Almost too much. But you don't know what has happened since this island sank, do you?"
(9:48:07 AM) Jack: "No, unfortunately not."
(9:48:40 AM) thuryl: "And I'm not sure if I should tell you."
(9:49:02 AM) Meredith: "We shall find out one or another. Perhaps if you tell us, we can be of assistance to you."
(9:49:06 AM) Phulax: "We can't help if you don't."
(9:49:12 AM) Phulax: sniped
(9:49:21 AM) thuryl: "I would just put you to work in the quarry, but if there are other pilgrims coming, that doesn't really solve any of our problems, apart from the shortage of building materials."
(9:49:49 AM) Jarrox: I look at the others and whisper "Theres is a talking turtle guys. A. Talking. Turtle."
(9:50:02 AM) Lephista: I whisper back, "Be quiet, you idiot."
(9:50:09 AM) Phulax: (LOL!)
(9:50:24 AM) Dyen: "And this island rose from the ocean. What's your point?"
(9:50:38 AM) thuryl: "The question is, if I send you to see King Zellak, can you be trusted not to disrupt our society? At least, no more than your mere presence already has?"
(9:50:58 AM) Jarrox: I take a long drag on my ale-skin. A very long drag and look at the talking turtle.
(9:50:59 AM) Jack: "Well, we certainly don't intend to disrupt anything."
(9:51:14 AM) Jack: "Our purpose here is to learn from the lost island."
(9:51:15 AM) thuryl: "Hmm. Tell me, how well can you fight?"
(9:51:25 AM) Dyen: "How well can you?"
(9:51:29 AM) Jack: "Fight?"
(9:51:32 AM) Lephista: "Well, if necessary. Otherwise, not at all."
(9:51:57 AM) Jack: "I'm a scholar. Do I look like I have it in me to fight?"
(9:51:57 AM) thuryl: "Then I'll make sure to keep you under heavy guard." He calls in another four lobster-men from a nearby hut.
(9:52:08 AM) Meredith: "You're making a mistake."
(9:52:22 AM) Meredith: "Soon this island will be flooded with soldiers and pilgrims. Then you'll be slaughtered."
(9:52:28 AM) Jack: "..."
(9:52:35 AM) Meredith: "Help us, and perhaps we can keep your society intact,"
(9:52:38 AM) Phulax: "If you really want people to leave, you ask peacefully. Negotiate."
(9:52:49 AM) Jarrox: I chug my ale-skin dry.
(9:52:51 AM) Phulax: "not just lock us up."
(9:52:56 AM) thuryl: "You want to know what's happening here, don't you? King Zellak knows. And I don't feel comfortable usurping his authority to tell you. So I'm going to have my guards escort you to see him."
(9:53:08 AM) Lephista: My nostrils flare as the news guards come out. "You're repaying trust with mistrust. I do not like it."
(9:53:20 AM) Jack: I sigh and facepalm.
(9:53:30 AM) Meredith: "Yet we have what we wanted, Lephista. Enough."
(9:54:00 AM) Lephista: "All right. I will bear this insult in peace." I relax.
(9:54:09 AM) Jarrox: Jarrox rolled 1 20-sided die: 5
(9:54:20 AM) thuryl: Jarrox stumbles and falls over.
(9:54:49 AM) Dyen: I stare at him.
(9:54:58 AM) Phulax: I check him; he's just drunk?
(9:55:03 AM) thuryl: Looks like it.
(9:55:12 AM) thuryl: He's still conscious, just a little unbalanced.
(9:55:13 AM) Lephista: I help him up. "Jarrox, can you walk?"
(9:55:16 AM) Jarrox: "The lobsters are going to eat me." I mutter.
(9:55:41 AM) Lephista: I don't suppose I can try First Aid to sober him up? :P
(9:55:47 AM) Jack: I turn to the turtle man. "...Help me. I'm surrounded by idiots."
(9:55:53 AM) thuryl: What do you want to do, induce vomiting? :P
(9:56:07 AM) thuryl: The turtle waves for the guards to escort you all away, but then stops them. "Wait. Before you leave, I should tell you one thing."
(9:56:15 AM) Lephista: Maybe slap him around a little? Lepthista knows First Aid, not me. :P
(9:56:28 AM) Jack: "Yes?"
(9:56:33 AM) Phulax: I listen.
(9:56:34 AM) Jarrox: "I don't think I have enough ale to last me on this island. Think the talking turtle has some I can drink?"
(9:57:25 AM) thuryl: "As sea-dwelling creatures on land, surrounded by islands full of land-dwelling races with ships and armies, we have no future. I don't know how our problem is to be solved, but please, if King Zellak asks for your help... consider wisely what you can do to best assist us."
(9:58:05 AM) Jack: "...Armies?"
(9:58:19 AM) Phulax: "Righto! I'll be glad to help!"
(9:58:21 AM) thuryl: "What? Have your cities given up war while we were beneath the waves?" He laughs.
(9:58:25 AM) Lephista: I poke Jack in the ribs.
(9:58:33 AM) Phulax: "But I do think you overestimate the strength of us surface-dwellers."
(9:58:44 AM) thuryl: "We were saved once. I hope we can be saved again." He waves to the guards, and they begin to escort you to the southeast.
(9:58:47 AM) Phulax: "Mote is a pretty run-down, messy place up here."
(9:59:12 AM) Jarrox: "Do you have any ale turtle man?" I call out as I'm escorted away.
(9:59:25 AM) Jarrox: I also grab my shovel from the ground.
(9:59:33 AM) Jack: I comply with the escorts.
(9:59:37 AM) thuryl: He calls out to Jarrox. "It's hard to do any brewing underwater. Those arts are lost to us, I fear."
(9:59:38 AM) Phulax: I follow.
(9:59:43 AM) thuryl: "Perhaps it is for the best!"
(9:59:51 AM) Phulax: I chuckle.
(9:59:51 AM) Lephista: I help keep Jarrox steady as we walk.
(9:59:52 AM) Jarrox: "I'm in hell."
(10:01:25 AM) thuryl: After reaching the crossroads between the port and the quarry, the eight lobster-men escorting you soon turn and lead you to the northeast, toward the City of Hope. The terrain becomes increasingly mountainous as you continue on.
(10:01:56 AM) Jarrox: I waddle-stumble along.
(10:02:27 AM) Phulax: I look around at the mountains for more signs of ruins or artifacts, as I walk.
(10:02:28 AM) Phulax: Phulax rolled 1 20-sided die: 17
(10:02:38 AM) thuryl: Eventually, in a deep valley, you spot some kind of ramshackle structure that might be a city.
(10:30:39 AM) thuryl: The lobster-men lead you down a steep path into the valley, toward the city. As you get closer, you can see that it's in very poor shape. It seems to consist of a group of tall coral spires, some of which have partially collapsed.
(10:31:07 AM) Jarrox: "I wonder where they keep the gold?"
(10:31:28 AM) Meredith: I look around for any more humonoids.
(10:31:38 AM) Meredith: Meredith rolled 1 20-sided die: 18
(10:32:23 AM) Meredith: "They're rebuilding it."
(10:32:38 AM) Lephista: "Maybe it was damaged when the island rose."
(10:32:44 AM) Phulax: "Yeah."
(10:32:54 AM) Meredith: "Yes, but they're tearing parts down, the idiots."
(10:33:09 AM) Meredith: "And they're using slave labour here too."
(10:33:24 AM) Phulax: "Humbug."
(10:33:41 AM) Lephista: "We don't know for sure that they're slaves. It just looks that way."
(10:33:44 AM) Dyen: "Wait until we know more to cast judgement."
(10:34:19 AM) thuryl: You continue down toward a large central spire. A crude entryway has been cut into the front of it. The whole structure doesn't look particularly stable.
(10:34:32 AM) Jarrox: "I'll jusdge them these stinking water lubbers of lobster. They don't have anything to dwink."
(10:34:37 AM) Dikiyoba entered the room.
(10:34:42 AM) Meredith: "I don't see any lobstermen digging or working, just ordering others about. But what do I know."
(10:35:17 AM) Lephista: "Maybe it's a cultural thing."
(10:35:34 AM) Phulax: "Doesn't sound all that different from the way humans sometimes get treated. Alas."
(10:36:00 AM) thuryl: Now that you're closer to the city, you can all see teams of fish-men directed by frog-men, working to reconstruct the damaged spires. Small groups of lobster-men also patrol between the spires.
(10:36:22 AM) Phulax: (Trying not to laugh here)
(10:36:42 AM) thuryl: You notice one creature with the upper torso of an elf but a fish-like tail in place of legs, slithering across the ground in a way that looks quite uncomfortable.
(10:37:23 AM) Jarrox: "But as lest hunams know how to drink. This one time I met this guy in an ally. He tryed to rob me and...we ended up spending the next five hours drinking in a tavern!" I start laughing like I told a joke.
(10:37:41 AM) thuryl: Meanwhile, the lobster-men continue to lead you into the spire.
(10:37:43 AM) Jack: (Hiya, Dinti)
(10:37:51 AM) Phulax: "Do you need any help?" I ask the elf-fish-man.
(10:38:01 AM) Meredith: "Didn't you question why he was in your ally? And are sure you've had enough to drink, Jarrox?"
(10:38:18 AM) thuryl: The fish-man waves you away nervously.
(10:38:31 AM) Phulax: I bow and continue onward.
(10:39:11 AM) Jarrox: I take a swig from my next ale-skin. "He was there to rob me, but I ended up robbing him. I left him with the tab." I laugh even harder now.
(10:39:31 AM) Lephista: "Sweet Mariona, how many of those did you bring?"
(10:40:01 AM) Jack: "This is amazing..."
(10:40:02 AM) thuryl: The inside of the spire is decorated with carvings made from brightly-coloured pieces of coral. When you enter, a problem immediately presents itself: the structure was clearly designed to be swum up, not climbed up. A crude ladder made from scavenged bits of rotten wood and rusty metal beaten until they more or less hold together seems to be the only way up to the higher floors.
(10:40:03 AM) Jarrox: "Only enough for me. Stay awaay." I move away from the others.
(10:40:33 AM) Phulax: I try to teleport myself to the next floor.
(10:40:35 AM) Phulax: Phulax rolled 1 20-sided die: 12
(10:40:57 AM) Lephista: "Perhaps his majesty will honor us by coming down here."
(10:41:03 AM) thuryl: Phulax appears on the second floor.
(10:41:10 AM) thuryl: One of the lobster-men begins climbing up the ladder, and soon makes it to the top floor with surprising dexterity. It gestures for you all to follow.
(10:41:15 AM) Phulax: "I can try to get the rest of you up here."
(10:41:22 AM) Jack: I grimace, then climb the ladder.
(10:41:24 AM) Jack: (roll?)
(10:41:27 AM) Meredith: I climb too.
(10:41:28 AM) Dyen: *Shrug* "If it can hold these lobster-men, it should hold us.
(10:41:29 AM) Jarrox: I look at the ladder and laugh.
(10:41:31 AM) Dyen: I climb.
(10:41:44 AM) Lephista: I look around for a safe place to leave Balbus.
(10:41:58 AM) thuryl: Everyone who's climbing roll, yes.
(10:42:00 AM) Jack: Jack rolled 1 20-sided die: 6
(10:42:17 AM) Jarrox: "There is no why I'm leaving the ground, not even if ol' dinner he tells me too." I point over at the lobster.
(10:42:26 AM) Meredith: Meredith rolled 1 20-sided die: 19
(10:42:28 AM) Dyen: Dyen rolled 1 20-sided die: 20
(10:42:39 AM) Dyen: (Best climber ever.)
(10:42:41 AM) Phulax: I cast teleport on Jarrox, to get him up here.
(10:42:43 AM) Phulax: Phulax rolled 1 20-sided die: 17
(10:43:05 AM) Lephista: I shrug, loop Balbus' bridle around one of the carvings, and climb up.
(10:43:14 AM) Lephista: Lephista rolled 1 20-sided die: 18
(10:43:22 AM) Lephista: (Oh, sure, for this I roll an 18.)
(10:43:26 AM) thuryl: Jack cuts his arm deeply on a jagged piece of metal while trying to steady himself, losing 1 HP. Meredith, Dyen and Lephista make it to the top without difficulty, and Phulax teleports Jarrox to the top floor.
(10:43:58 AM) Jarrox: "Great Mother of Phol-pharom!" I swear when I suddenly appear on the second floor.
(10:44:16 AM) Jarrox: I take a swig to clam myself down.
(10:44:19 AM) Phulax: I tend to Jack's wound (FA roll?).
(10:44:22 AM) Jack: "Ouchdammit." I examine my cut.
(10:44:32 AM) thuryl: (Yes, roll.)
(10:44:41 AM) Phulax: Phulax rolled 1 20-sided die: 13
(10:44:46 AM) Phulax: (and 1 use of FA kit.
(10:44:48 AM) Phulax: )
(10:45:00 AM) Phulax: Phulax rolled 1 20-sided die: 20
(10:45:03 AM) Phulax: ...
(10:45:11 AM) Jack: (How many uses of the FA kits do we have, anyway?)
(10:45:16 AM) thuryl: Phulax manages to clean and bandage up Jack's wound; 1 HP recovered.
(10:45:30 AM) Lephista: (I didn't bother to specify for mine, but Phulax has, uh, 40, right?)
(10:45:31 AM) Jack: "Thanks."
(10:45:34 AM) thuryl: (Honestly I'm almost certainly not going to keep track of first aid kits because nobody else did, so just go hog wild.)
(10:45:41 AM) Phulax: (Mine started with 20 uses)
(10:45:51 AM) Phulax: (Oh, that works too)
(10:45:53 AM) Jack: (Oh, okay)
(10:46:51 AM) Lephista: So, what's up here?
(10:48:11 AM) thuryl: On the top floor, you see more of the strange elf-merpeople. They seem to be busy carving inscriptions into coral tablets.
(10:48:36 AM) thuryl: The lobster-man at the top gestures for you to go through an archway just ahead of you.
(10:48:44 AM) Jack: I head through the archway.
(10:48:46 AM) Lephista: Me too.
(10:49:00 AM) Phulax: I follow.
(10:49:52 AM) Jarrox: I waddle after everyone else.
(10:50:01 AM) thuryl: Inside, flanked by several lobster-men and frog-men, is an even bigger bipedal turtle than the one you saw at the quarry. He must be ten feet tall, or close to it. He sits in an odd throne-like structure carved from bright red coral.
(10:50:40 AM) Meredith: I enter, and kneel.
(10:50:52 AM) Jack: I enter as well.
(10:50:53 AM) thuryl: The lobster-man escorting you hisses something to the turtle that you can't quite understand, and he looks alarmed.
(10:50:57 AM) Lephista: I mimic Meredith's kneel.
(10:51:06 AM) Phulax: I kneel as well.
(10:51:25 AM) Dyen: I'll jump on the bandwagon, I suppose.
(10:51:41 AM) Jarrox: I look at the turtle and take a swig. "I really should have never left that tavern."
(10:51:43 AM) thuryl: The turtle king waves a flipper dismissively. "No need for such formalities. I am King Zellak, ruler of the City of Hope. Who are you?"
(10:52:08 AM) Jarrox: "I need a stiffer drink is who I am."
(10:52:11 AM) Phulax: "I am Phulax, portal-closer and healer. Might I be of assistance?"
(10:52:15 AM) Jack: "Jack Heraln, Scholar of the Ylask Academy of Arts."
(10:52:25 AM) Dyen: "I am Dyen Dawes, follower of Imaunte."
(10:52:42 AM) Meredith: "I am Meredith Prosset, sage and scholar. But more generally, we are adventurers, here to learn the secrets of the City of Hope."
(10:52:45 AM) thuryl: "Imaunte, you say? Most excellent. Ah, but I'm sure you have questions of your own."
(10:52:56 AM) Lephista: "I an Lephista, a healer."
(10:53:24 AM) thuryl: "Did you come on the same ship as the others who have come here?"
(10:53:32 AM) Dyen: "Yes."
(10:53:34 AM) Jack: "Yes, I believe so."
(10:53:36 AM) Meredith: "There were 4 groups of us."
(10:53:42 AM) Lephista: "Possibly. Who are these others?"
(10:53:52 AM) Meredith: "If you have encountered more, or people ahead of us, they did not travel with us."
(10:54:25 AM) thuryl: "A group of pilgrims and a historian, or so they say. We have them under guard for the moment, and have confiscated their weapons. Rest assured, they are in no immediate danger."
(10:54:53 AM) Meredith: "There was a group such as that with us, yes."
(10:55:03 AM) Jack: "You may wish to watch out for another of these groups. One of them was a bit... sword happy, to say the least."
(10:55:22 AM) Jarrox: "Well look out for a some hot shot with a long stick. He had trouble written all over him."
(10:55:22 AM) thuryl: "Another group? What can you tell me about this other group?"
(10:55:42 AM) Phulax: "Two elves, a human, a lacewing. Male is rather aggressive."
(10:55:49 AM) Phulax: *male ELF
(10:55:49 AM) Jarrox: "I can tell you that they lost the race."
(10:56:03 AM) Jack: "Claims he's a master swordsman, though I've never heard of him before."
(10:56:20 AM) Phulax: "He's a master of grumpiness, if nothing else."
(10:56:25 AM) Meredith: "And of course Jack here is the source of all knowledge on Mote."
(10:56:34 AM) Jarrox: "And if those pilgrims got here then so did we." I look sad at this thought.
(10:57:03 AM) thuryl: "Hmm. We have already doubled our patrols in response to the island rising, and doubled them again in response to the first group showing up. The guards will be warned to keep an eye out for such a group."
(10:57:30 AM) thuryl: "In any case, you say you are here to learn about the City of Hope. What do you know already?"
(10:57:33 AM) Jarrox: Jarrox rolled 1 20-sided die: 13
(10:58:16 AM) Jack: "That it's the site of an ancient temple, and before it sank, was the destination of many pilgrims. Plus, of course, there's the legend that it can grant the heart's desires."
(10:58:35 AM) thuryl: He laughs. "That is true, in a sense."
(10:58:46 AM) Dyen: "I know nothing beyond what I have heard from my fellows. The whispers of Imaunte have led me here, and I wish to discover what I have been led to."
(10:59:34 AM) Jarrox: "Its grants the hearts desires?"
(10:59:44 AM) thuryl: "For a price."
(11:00:04 AM) Lephista: "A terrible price?"
(11:00:15 AM) Jarrox: I pull out the old copper I found. "What can I get for this?"
(11:00:21 AM) Phulax: "I came here mainly to see if I could help anyone."
(11:00:24 AM) Dyen: "Is that what sunk and raised the island?"
(11:00:27 AM) thuryl: "I thought so, at first. But in a way, I now think the temple's curse may have been a blessing."
(11:01:19 AM) thuryl: "I don't believe the island's sinking, or its raising, had anything to do with the temple. At least, I have no specific reason to believe that they are connected."
(11:01:33 AM) thuryl: "But the situation we now find ourselves in is a direct result of the temple's power."
(11:01:42 AM) Meredith: "What situation is that?"
(11:01:49 AM) Phulax: "Please explain."
(11:02:16 AM) thuryl: "Very well, although you may find my story hard to believe."
(11:02:32 AM) thuryl: "I was the king of this city even before it sank into the sea."
(11:03:05 AM) thuryl: "At that time, I was a dragonborn, although it has been centuries since I thought of myself as one."
(11:03:10 AM) Jarrox: I take a seat somewhere and have a few drinks while I listen.
(11:03:25 AM) Phulax: My eyes widen at this statement.
(11:04:05 AM) thuryl: "We were happy and prosperous. Pilgrims heading for the temple from all around Mote made our city into a rich centre of trade."
(11:04:26 AM) Jack: I nod.
(11:04:28 AM) Meredith: I take a piece of paper out and write down the King's story.
(11:05:28 AM) thuryl: "Then, one day, for reasons I still do not know, massive earthquakes began to shake the island. Buildings collapsed. Huge sections of the city were ruined. Within days, the island itself had begun to sink into the sea."
(11:06:06 AM) thuryl: "A lucky few escaped the destruction, but there was no time for most of the city's population to be evacuated."
(11:06:43 AM) thuryl: "So I did the only thing I could do: I went on a pilgrimage of my own to the temple, and prayed for my city's people to somehow survive."
(11:06:55 AM) thuryl: He gestures toward the strange aquatic humanoids around him. "You can see the results."
(11:07:40 AM) Lephista: "I see."
(11:07:56 AM) Jack: "Interesting. And life sort of just carried on?"
(11:08:01 AM) Phulax: "Wow," I intone softly. "Incredible."
(11:08:19 AM) thuryl: "At first, I cursed myself for ever making such a wish. But soon I realised that we could found a new society, more stable and peaceful than ever. You see, each of our species has talents perfectly suited to specific roles in our society."
(11:09:01 AM) Dyen: "Or did, underwater."
(11:09:10 AM) thuryl: "Yes."
(11:09:25 AM) thuryl: "You have seen the fish-men, have you not? They were once human. They are clumsy and nearly blind, but strong enough to work. With proper supervision, they can easily manage simple manual labour."
(11:09:58 AM) Jarrox: "So ol' Dinner over there is not a lobster?" I point at the lobster looking thing.
(11:10:14 AM) Meredith: "They were lacewing?"
(11:10:27 AM) thuryl: "The lobster-men were lacewings, yes. Of course, now that they can't write and can barely talk, they're not much use as scholars. But their natural weapons make them a very effective police force."
(11:10:54 AM) Phulax: "And we've seen the elves. And the dragonborn like you became turtles."
(11:11:07 AM) thuryl: "The elves are artists, fine craftsmen, and scribes. They have also suffered most from the raising of this city."
(11:11:19 AM) Jarrox: "Right, wheres the dwarfs at?"
(11:11:26 AM) Jarrox: I look around.
(11:11:43 AM) Meredith: "And how are you able to breathe above the water, if you were changed to live under it?"
(11:11:49 AM) thuryl: "Yes. We turtles, once dragonborn, now have seemingly limitless lifespans, making us ideal scholars, sages and leaders for a stable society. And the goblins became frogs. Not much changed for them, really."
(11:12:11 AM) thuryl: He shudders a little at the mention of dwarves. "The dwarves are... still useful, in their own way."
(11:12:31 AM) Lephista: "Pardon me, but there's something I don't understand."
(11:12:39 AM) thuryl: "Yes?"
(11:12:41 AM) Jarrox: "I bet they are." I smile happily.
(11:13:17 AM) Jack: "Yeah, probably as useful as you..." I mutter darkly.
(11:13:52 AM) Jarrox: I laugh at what Jack said like its a good joke.
(11:14:06 AM) Meredith: (we have a new alexander, i fear :-P)
(11:14:08 AM) Lephista: "Well, your man back at the quarry said you're all concerned about how you'll survive on land. And you're clearly struggling to adapt, and your city is half-ruined, and so forth. So why are you still here?"
(11:14:35 AM) thuryl: "You mean, why didn't we abandon our city and dive into the ocean when it rose from the seas?"
(11:14:43 AM) Dyen: "Yes."
(11:14:44 AM) Meredith: "No - why not ask the temple to sink the island again? It has protected you these past centuries"
(11:14:55 AM) Lephista: "No, I meant what the king said."
(11:15:00 AM) thuryl: He laughs at Meredith's comment. "We have a sharp one here."
(11:15:24 AM) Dyen: "Though that's also a question I'd like answered."
(11:15:44 AM) thuryl: "Tell me. If you controlled a temple that grants wishes, and was powerful enough to warp the bodies of an entire city's population, would you simply leave it unguarded for anyone to enter?"
(11:16:01 AM) Meredith: "...the dwarves?"
(11:16:15 AM) Meredith: "And I take it from the way you shuddered, they are out of your control?"
(11:16:24 AM) Phulax: "But do you not have control over the temple?"
(11:16:31 AM) Phulax: (Yeah, that)
(11:16:35 AM) thuryl: "Not exactly. You'll see the dwarves soon enough, I fear. But they are not the main problem."
(11:17:04 AM) Phulax: (Maybe it's a dire wombat infestation?)
(11:17:12 AM) Lephista: "Well, you could tear the temple down. Or wish it to stop giving wishes, I suppose."
(11:17:48 AM) Dyen: "Or just leave. Beneath the waves, no land-dweller that used the temple would bother you."
(11:17:51 AM) Meredith: "That seems awfully like cutting off your nose to spite your face, Lephista."
(11:17:52 AM) thuryl: "Before this island sank, before I even became king, powerful wards were placed over the temple by the city's greatest mages. Only those who prove themselves worthy can enter and have their wish granted. Back when the city sank, I was a mighty warrior. Now... I am not sure I would survive."
(11:18:18 AM) Dyen: "How fascistic."
(11:18:56 AM) thuryl: "What alternative would you suggest? Even if we could safely have destroyed it, would you simply throw away such power?"
(11:19:34 AM) Lephista: "It's cursed. You just said that it's cursed."
(11:19:45 AM) Meredith: "When you say worth, do you mean physical prowess? If not, then surely you are still worthy - you have steered this society for centuries. I shan't insult you with flattery, but who else is worthier?"
(11:19:46 AM) thuryl: "I thought it was, at the time."
(11:19:54 AM) thuryl: "But as I say, I have grown accustomed to our new way of life."
(11:20:32 AM) Lephista: "So, as I see it, you need someone worthy to enter the temple and wish your problems away, but you have nobody up to the job."
(11:21:10 AM) thuryl: "Exactly. If you would help me to complete the trials so I can return this city to the sea, I would allow you to each make a wish of your own before you left."
(11:21:46 AM) Meredith: "You would trust us not to just sieze control of the temple?"
(11:21:55 AM) Phulax: "I would be glad to help. So you want us to accompany you into the temple?"
(11:22:03 AM) Lephista: "Of course we wouldn't do that, Meredith."
(11:22:07 AM) thuryl: "I have little choice. But you need me as much as I need you. I know the temple's secrets."
(11:22:09 AM) Phulax: "Probably the wards could destroy us for betraying him."
(11:22:11 AM) Jarrox: I hop up, "I'm in. I'll go. Pick me."
(11:22:29 AM) Jack: "Well... not really interested in the wishes, but I'll do it for the academia involved."
(11:22:54 AM) Jarrox: "Can I have his wish then?" I point at Jack.
(11:22:55 AM) Phulax: "What exactly is it that we can do that will help you get in, though? You have centuries of experiences, after all."
(11:22:56 AM) Meredith: "I never said we would, just that His Majesty has no reason to trust us."
(11:22:59 AM) Dyen: "You could wish for academia."
(11:23:08 AM) Lephista: "I am willing to help you for the sake of preserving peace, but I have several concerns."
(11:23:24 AM) thuryl: "Speak your mind. Better to resolve any issues now than later."
(11:23:28 AM) Meredith: I stare at Dyen. "Such things are earned, not handed out like trinkets at a fair."
(11:23:44 AM) Dyen: "Earned by being deemed worthy of making a wish, perhaps?"
(11:23:46 AM) Lephista: "I can't speak for the others, but first, I would need to know exactly what you intend to wish for."
(11:24:21 AM) thuryl: "I would wish for this island to sink back into the sea forever. Of course, one of you could wish yourselves to safety before it finished sinking, so there is no danger to you."
(11:24:34 AM) Phulax: "Ah, I was wondering about that."
(11:24:44 AM) Jarrox: "Now that I have Jacks wish I'm getting lots of ale with one wish and lots of gold with the other."
(11:24:47 AM) Meredith: I laugh.
(11:24:53 AM) Jack: "Dream on, shorty."
(11:24:54 AM) Meredith: "I fear none of us are that selfless."
(11:25:12 AM) Jarrox: "You said you didn't want it." I pout.
(11:25:15 AM) Meredith: (aimed at the King, not the jester)
(11:25:15 AM) Lephista: ". . . I am, if I have to be."
(11:25:48 AM) Dyen: "Could I ask a favor of you, King?"
(11:25:55 AM) thuryl: "You may ask."
(11:26:22 AM) Lephista: "But second, this temple has a history of granting wishes in surprising and unwanted ways. So I need to know what the danger is that using it will backfire."
(11:26:55 AM) Dyen: "May I cast a spell upon you, that allows me to consult with Fate?"
(11:27:07 AM) thuryl: He turns to Dyen. "Is there any danger?"
(11:27:22 AM) Dyen: "None that I have ever encountered."
(11:27:26 AM) Meredith: "Only that our companion makes a fool of himself."
(11:27:28 AM) thuryl: "Very well, then."
(11:27:37 AM) Phulax: "Another question, sir, if I may. Why did this island rise? How do you know it can be sunk again permanently if you don't know why it rose?"
(11:27:43 AM) thuryl: He then turns back to face Lephista. "All I can tell you is that the wish is always granted, but at a price. The price varies. Some people never even know what they've paid."
(11:28:03 AM) Dyen: I walk forward and cast Feeling the Way on King Zellon.
(11:28:05 AM) Dyen: Dyen rolled 1 20-sided die: 15
(11:28:12 AM) thuryl: "As for why the island rose, I can only assume it was a natural event much like its sinking. I cannot imagine anyone would have been foolish enough to raise it intentionally."
(11:28:20 AM) thuryl: (Zellak)
(11:28:38 AM) Jack: "Heh. I fear you underestimate fools, dear king."
(11:28:40 AM) Dyen: Right, him.
(11:28:58 AM) Meredith: "There are no other factions, groups, mad wizards? Nobody who would raise the island?"
(11:29:34 AM) thuryl: "Why would anyone do such a thing? Who could it possibly benefit, besides outsiders seeking to loot our city?"
(11:29:35 AM) Meredith: "Actually no. The raising was probably done from somebody without, rather than within. Somebody who knew of the temple's gifts."
(11:29:59 AM) Phulax: "Sounds like portal abuse..." I frown darkly.
(11:30:40 AM) Phulax: "I'll shut them down, if we find anything like that."
(11:30:41 AM) Lephista: "This temple seems as dangerous as it is useful. I would not wish for anything from it, except in serious need. Why should we help you, if that's the only reward?"
(11:30:48 AM) Dyen: I step back, a frown on my face.
(11:30:57 AM) Jarrox: "Who said anything about looting your city?"
(11:30:58 AM) Phulax: "Dyen?"
(11:31:30 AM) Dyen: "Fate is never an easy thing to gaze into."
(11:31:37 AM) thuryl: "If the temple is so dangerous, don't you think it's better for it to return to the seas?"
(11:32:49 AM) Dyen: "Evil may lurk beneath the waves as surely as it does above them."
(11:33:57 AM) Lephista: I stare at my feet, lost in thought.
(11:34:00 AM) thuryl: "The trials were made for humanoids. That is why I need you in the first place. None of this city's citizens would have a chance to reach the temple on their own, except perhaps the goblins."
(11:34:31 AM) thuryl: "After all, I can't get very far if I can't even open doors." He waves a flipper around wistfully.
(11:34:44 AM) Jarrox: I giggle.
(11:34:56 AM) Meredith: "You understand our concerns though? And our desire to learn this island's secrets?"
(11:35:00 AM) Phulax: "Aha."
(11:35:16 AM) Jack: "True. So... we simply go in, make the wishes, and everything goes back to normal?"
(11:35:41 AM) Lephista: "All right. Say I decide that I trust this band of mercenaries and alcoholics enough that I'll actually help them use this thing. What do the trials consist of?"
(11:35:50 AM) thuryl: "Of course. And if you wish to retrieve any surviving historical documents from the temple's ruins, you are welcome to them. I would be happy to put the temple behind me forever."
(11:35:57 AM) Jarrox: "I got a question too, do I get to ask my question? Everyone else asked a million already."
(11:35:59 AM) Dyen: "A mercenary I am not."
(11:36:21 AM) thuryl: "The trials test physical strength, mental acuity and moral clarity. To succeed, one must learn to be a paragon of the ideals of each of the deities worshipped on this island."
(11:36:21 AM) Lephista: "Okay, mercenaries and alcoholics and creepy men who cannot construct a Common sentence."
(11:36:26 AM) Phulax: "I'm not here for money," I chuckle.
(11:36:44 AM) Jack: "Nor am I."
(11:36:46 AM) Phulax: "Which deities?"
(11:36:48 AM) Dyen: "Documents, after 600 years beneath the sea? Was the temple sealed from the ocean?"
(11:37:01 AM) Meredith: "Again, you overestimate us, your Majesty."
(11:37:11 AM) Meredith: "What assistance can you give us?"
(11:37:55 AM) thuryl: "Oh, the usual ones. Have they changed so much after only six centuries? Korossos, Liea, Kyrophius, Sliros, Mariona, Tanann, Phol-Phoram, Hurak, and last but certainly not least, Imaunte."
(11:37:58 AM) Phulax: Phulax rolled 1 20-sided die: 6
(11:38:26 AM) Jack: "No, that sounds about right."
(11:39:17 AM) Jack: "Although... Korossos? I've heard the name a couple times, but I've never actually learned much about him."
(11:39:32 AM) thuryl: "The temple was not sealed, but there may be stone tablets or something to be retrieved. I can provide what information I have in order to assist you."
(11:39:44 AM) Meredith: Religion roll on Korossos (to show off :-P)
(11:39:49 AM) Meredith: Meredith rolled 1 20-sided die: 4
(11:39:52 AM) Meredith: (or not :-P)
(11:40:24 AM) Meredith: "Just information? You ask us to save your societies way of life, and offer nuggets of information?"
(11:40:58 AM) Meredith: "What of weapons, provisions, men to guide us to the temple?"
(11:41:06 AM) Jarrox: I mutter to myself a little and wander around the room looking and poking at things. (Perception)
(11:41:07 AM) Jarrox: Jarrox rolled 1 20-sided die: 18
(11:41:50 AM) Phulax: "O King, do you have anyone here who know how to work magic with portals?"
(11:41:51 AM) thuryl: Jarrox opens a box filled with coral jewellery, but is stopped rather roughly by a pair of lobster-men before he can take anything.
(11:42:13 AM) thuryl: "Portals? There may be one or two mages who know their secrets... why?"
(11:42:50 AM) Phulax: "Well...if anyone was abusing the temple, a portal is the obvious way to circumvent the usual obstacles."
(11:42:51 AM) Jarrox: "Oiw, I'm just having a look around."
(11:43:01 AM) thuryl: "I wish I could do more to help, but our resources are limited. Any weapons we make are inferior to what could be made with metal and a proper forge. We have food, if you need it. As for a guide, I can certainly lead you to the temple."
(11:43:50 AM) Jack: "Well, as for weapons, anything you can provide would help. I doubt I'd be much of a fighter, but at least having a weapon, any weapon, could set my mind at ease."
(11:44:20 AM) thuryl: "We have lots of rocks. Would you like a rock?"
(11:44:27 AM) Lephista: (Ha ha)
(11:44:40 AM) Jack: "...Sure, why not."
(11:44:58 AM) thuryl: "Well, pick one up on your way out, then. Choose any one you like, as long as it's not part of a building."
(11:45:14 AM) Meredith: "At least you'll get to wield a weapon as sharp as your wit, Jack."
(11:45:26 AM) Phulax: I giggle.
(11:45:29 AM) Meredith: "So, your Majesty, when do we leave?"
(11:45:31 AM) Lephista: "All right, I've decided. I'm in."
(11:46:02 AM) thuryl: "After your journey here, I'm sure you're tired. I can put you up for the night, and we'll leave in the morning. I can even get you a room with a door, if you'd like."
(11:46:36 AM) Jarrox: Jarrox rolled 1 20-sided die: 6
(11:46:41 AM) Dyen: "I have lived amongst ruins for a long time. Anything you have is fine."
(11:47:38 AM) thuryl: Jarrox wanders out of the archway. One of the lobster-men guarding the entrance clamps him tightly by the arms to stop him, doing 1 damage.
(11:48:25 AM) Jarrox: "Oww, I told you I'm just having a look." I rub my arm.
(11:48:48 AM) thuryl: "Is your... friend... going to be alright? Perhaps we should make sure you are accommodated on the ground floor, yes?"
(11:48:59 AM) Phulax: "That might be prudent."
(11:49:16 AM) Jack: "Indeed."
(11:49:24 AM) Meredith: "Although placing him in a room adjacent to a large fall may save us headaches in the future..."
(11:50:07 AM) Lephista: "Save him some, too."
(11:50:21 AM) thuryl: "Very well, then. Guards, find an unoccupied room for them." A pair of lobster-men escort you out and start climbing back down the rickety ladder. One of them falls halfway down, lands roughly, and picks himself up as if this were a common occurrence.
(11:50:30 AM) Phulax: "But it wouldn't be right. I'm not sure what he needs, but maybe this will help Jarrox."
(11:51:05 AM) Jack: I climb down the ladder.
(11:51:24 AM) thuryl: Okay. Everyone who's using the ladder, roll again.
(11:51:28 AM) Jarrox: "I'm not climbing down that. Dinner just fell off of it."
(11:51:34 AM) Meredith: Meredith rolled 1 20-sided die: 15
(11:51:34 AM) Jack: Jack rolled 1 20-sided die: 16
(11:51:40 AM) Phulax: I cast teleport on Jarrox again.
(11:51:42 AM) Phulax: Phulax rolled 1 20-sided die: 18
(11:51:55 AM) Phulax: And then on myself.
(11:51:56 AM) Phulax: Phulax rolled 1 20-sided die: 1
(11:51:58 AM) thuryl: Meredith, Jack and Jarrox all get to the bottom safely.
(11:52:00 AM) Phulax: ...
(11:52:05 AM) Dyen: Crap.
(11:52:06 AM) Lephista: I climb down.
(11:52:11 AM) Dyen: Dyen rolled 1 20-sided die: 19
(11:52:19 AM) Lephista: Lephista rolled 1 20-sided die: 1
(11:52:23 AM) Phulax: Well, I might die, but at least it won't kill the party.
(11:52:24 AM) Jack: ...
(11:52:26 AM) Jack: Holy crap.
(11:52:26 AM) thuryl: Phulax, unfortunately, manages to teleport himself directly to the top of the ladder. He falls two floors, taking 6 damage.
(11:52:39 AM) Phulax: * groan *
(11:52:51 AM) Jarrox: "Ahhh!" I scream looking at my left hand. "Oh, my fingers are still here."
(11:52:58 AM) Dyen: "Perhaps another discipline would suit you better, portal mage."
(11:52:58 AM) thuryl: Lephista manages to do the same except without the teleportation, taking 7 damage for her trouble.
(11:53:13 AM) Phulax: I painfully prop myself up.
(11:53:18 AM) Jack: "...That's one way to do it."
(11:53:21 AM) Phulax: "Someday I'm going to master that..."
(11:53:29 AM) Jack: I head over to Phulax and perform first aid on his injuries.
(11:53:33 AM) Lephista: "Godsdamn it!"
(11:53:35 AM) Jack: Jack rolled 1 20-sided die: 3
(11:53:36 AM) Jarrox: I look at the others that fell. "That's why I don't leave the ground. Ever."
(11:53:48 AM) Lephista: I assist Jack with Phulax.
(11:53:50 AM) Lephista: Lephista rolled 1 20-sided die: 6
(11:54:12 AM) Lephista: And then cast Mystic Succor on myself.
(11:54:13 AM) Lephista: Lephista rolled 1 20-sided die: 4
(11:54:29 AM) Jack: (...wow)
(11:54:32 AM) thuryl: Jack and Lephista manage to avoid making Phulax's injuries worse, but that's about it.
(11:54:59 AM) Jack: "Looks like there's not a lot I can do here... Lephista, let me take a look at you."
(11:54:59 AM) thuryl: Lephista is healed for 4, at the cost of 1 stamina.
(11:55:11 AM) Phulax: I hobble along, limping. "I'll recover..."
(11:55:18 AM) Phulax: I try treat my own injuries.
(11:55:20 AM) Phulax: Phulax rolled 1 20-sided die: 3
(11:55:23 AM) Phulax: ...
(11:55:29 AM) Lephista: "I'll be fine in the morning."
(11:55:55 AM) Jarrox: "I have just the cure for that." I offer Phulax my ale-skin.
(11:56:01 AM) thuryl: Phulax binds his wounds as best he can, but recovers no health.
(11:56:22 AM) Phulax: "Eh, I'll be all right. Thanks, Jarrox."
(11:56:35 AM) Dyen: I follow the lobster men to our room while the clowns try not to die.
(11:56:37 AM) Jarrox: "Its your loss."
(11:56:52 AM) Jack: "I think rest is the order of healing for the day, mostly."
(11:56:56 AM) Jack: I follow the lobsters.
(11:57:16 AM) Jarrox: I waddle along.
(11:57:18 AM) Lephista: I take Balbus' reins, and follow the lobsters.
(11:57:40 AM) Lephista: "Would you do better on horseback, Phulax?"
(11:57:44 AM) thuryl: You enter a wide, roundish coral structure with a broad, low entryway. Several planks of rotted wood serve as a makeshift door, and your "beds" are stacks of seaweed.
(11:58:02 AM) Jarrox: "So, where the room?"
(11:58:12 AM) Meredith: "...really?"
(11:58:15 AM) Phulax: I gently, slowly, lay myself down on a mound of seaweed.
(11:58:19 AM) Jack: I flop down on a stack of seaweed.
(11:58:33 AM) Jack: "What'd you expect them to have, Meredith? Fine down pillows?"
(11:58:55 AM) thuryl: The seaweed is mostly dried out by now. You can't decide if this makes it more or less uncomfortable to rest on.
(11:59:03 AM) Dyen: I sit on the floor and begin meditating and praying to Imaunte.
(11:59:20 AM) Jarrox: "Yeah, this island is going to kill me."
(11:59:29 AM) thuryl: Okay. Is anyone doing anything of significance besides sleeping tonight?
(11:59:36 AM) Meredith: No.
(11:59:37 AM) Phulax: I recall that I have a sleeping bag, get it out of my pack, and sleep in it, on top of the seaweed padding.
(11:59:42 AM) Jack: Not really.
(11:59:43 AM) Jarrox: I drink before going to bed.
(11:59:45 AM) Dyen: Not I, said the fly.
(12:00:00 PM) Jarrox: I use my bedroll.
(12:00:13 PM) thuryl: Sarachim?
(12:00:14 PM) Lephista: "I'm going to take my chances outside." I go out, set up my tent, and turn Balbus loose to graze on moss.
(12:00:25 PM) Meredith: you're a genuis triumph
(12:00:26 PM) thuryl: Okay then.
(12:00:38 PM) Dyen: Your horse dies of the poisonous moss.
(12:00:39 PM) Phulax: (What?)
(12:00:41 PM) thuryl: Everyone roll.
(12:00:44 PM) Phulax: Phulax rolled 1 20-sided die: 19
(12:00:45 PM) Lephista: Lephista rolled 1 20-sided die: 5
(12:00:46 PM) Meredith: Meredith rolled 1 20-sided die: 18
(12:00:49 PM) Jarrox: Jarrox rolled 1 20-sided die: 15
(12:00:52 PM) Dyen: Dyen rolled 1 20-sided die: 8
(12:00:54 PM) Jack: Jack rolled 1 20-sided die: 5
(12:01:27 PM) Jarrox: (The lobsters slaughter us in our sleep.)
(12:01:29 PM) Meredith: (i have a bedroll too)
(12:02:30 PM) Dyen: (I don't even have clothes, technically.)
(12:02:44 PM) Meredith: "Up! Everybody, now!"
(12:02:53 PM) Phulax: I jump up.
(12:02:56 PM) Jack: I wake blearily.
(12:03:04 PM) Lephista: I leap up and grab my axe.
(12:03:05 PM) Jarrox: "I payed my bill!"
(12:03:10 PM) Dyen: I open my eyes and sit up.
(12:03:15 PM) Meredith: I point at the door. "Somebody or something is keen to get through the er, "door",,,"
(12:03:24 PM) Phulax: I grab my sleeping bag and stuff it in my pack.
(12:03:26 PM) Lephista: (Can I hear that?)
(12:03:30 PM) Meredith: I draw my rapier.
(12:03:42 PM) Dyen: "Well, I'm sure they haven't run off by now."
(12:03:49 PM) thuryl: (Lephista can hear it but it'll take her an extra turn to get back with everyone else.)
(12:03:56 PM) thuryl: As Meredith yells for everyone to wake up, four lobster-men burst into the room. You see a large silhouette behind them, but it's hard to make out what it is in the dark.
(12:04:06 PM) Phulax: ...
(12:04:16 PM) Phulax: "What is the meaning of this?" I shout.
(12:04:19 PM) Dyen: "Huh, guess they didn't.
(12:04:28 PM) Lephista: Stealth to move back to the house unseen:
(12:04:30 PM) Lephista: Lephista rolled 1 20-sided die: 10
(12:04:33 PM) Jarrox: I look for my ale-skin and take a swig when I see it.
(12:04:52 PM) Jack: I move to the very back of the house, away from the hostile critters.
(12:05:02 PM) Meredith: "Who are you, and what do you want?"
(12:05:49 PM) thuryl: The silhouette behind the lobster-men shifts a little, and you hear a deep voice. "Ah, you're awake."
(12:05:56 PM) Jarrox: I grab my axe and shield and take a defensive posture in front of the party. "I said that I payed my bill already.
(12:05:58 PM) thuryl: "None of you move."
(12:06:14 PM) Phulax: "Well, you are in the doorway, so it's hard to leave."
(12:06:22 PM) Meredith: "Answer my questions and we may just listen to you. Who are you, and what do you want?"
(12:06:27 PM) Jarrox: "Hell if I don't"
(12:06:51 PM) thuryl: "I'm someone who has compassion for the people of this city. I can't allow you to return it to the sea and let things go on as they have been."
(12:07:04 PM) Phulax: "Pay no attention to Jarrox, he's even more confused than the rest of us."
(12:07:18 PM) Phulax: "What is wrong with the status quo?"
(12:07:27 PM) Meredith: "The people of this city need to live under the ocean. They are suffering up here."
(12:07:35 PM) thuryl: One of the lobster-men tries to put the clamps on Jarrox's arms, but he dodges.
(12:07:39 PM) Meredith: "Wait. You had a hand at raising the island?"
(12:07:43 PM) thuryl: "Some were suffering even before this island rose."
(12:07:54 PM) Meredith: I step forward slightly to get a better look at the silhoutte.
(12:08:01 PM) Jarrox: I attack the one that attacked me with my axe.
(12:08:01 PM) Jarrox: Jarrox rolled 1 20-sided die: 10
(12:08:03 PM) thuryl: "No, I had nothing to do with the island's return. But now that it has happened, it is an opportunity that cannot be wasted."
(12:08:22 PM) Phulax: I teleport the axe out of Jarrox hands, and to the ground across the room.
(12:08:23 PM) Jarrox: "Get back Dinner!"
(12:08:25 PM) Phulax: Phulax rolled 1 20-sided die: 2
(12:08:28 PM) Phulax: ...
(12:08:56 PM) Dyen: (Sigh. Why do we let rowen play?)
(12:09:06 PM) Meredith: (because he's rping awesomely)
(12:09:18 PM) Jarrox: (It attacked me first. :P)
(12:09:19 PM) thuryl: Phulax's spell fizzles, and Jarrox swings at the lobster-man, hitting it hard and cutting a deep gash in its side.
(12:09:20 PM) Phulax: (Yeah, Rowen, that loser. :-P )
(12:09:27 PM) Phulax: "Peace!"
(12:09:46 PM) Phulax: I try to get between the combatants before things escalate further.
(12:09:49 PM) Jarrox: "Hell to peace, They are trying to get my ale!"
(12:09:54 PM) Jack: I raise my dowsing rod as an impromptu weapon.
(12:09:59 PM) Meredith: I draw my gun and point it at the scuffle going on between Jarrox and the lobsterman.
(12:10:42 PM) Meredith: "Now I'm not sure if any of you are aware, but there is a shard of metal in this weapon, and it's going into the skull of whoever moves next. Now," I turn back to the silhoutte. "Answers, please."
(12:10:57 PM) Phulax: "Please sir, you must tell us what this opportunity is. What injustice do you oppose?"
(12:11:00 PM) thuryl: The other lobster-men immediately respond to Jarrox's attack. One clamps down on his left arm for 2 damage, effectively immobilising it, while another tries to do the same with his right arm but Jarrox dodges. The third takes a slash at his face with its opened claw, which he also barely dodges.
(12:11:03 PM) Phulax: "We are strangers here."
(12:11:16 PM) thuryl: "Enough talk! You've shown your true colours!"
(12:11:43 PM) Meredith: I whip my gun around and shoot at the silhoutte.
(12:11:44 PM) Meredith: Meredith rolled 1 20-sided die: 4
(12:11:50 PM) Meredith: "I did warn you!"
(12:12:15 PM) Jack: "You mean defending ourselves? Merciful Mariona, does the world consist of nothing but morons?!"
(12:12:22 PM) Lephista: I emerge behind the turtle-man, brandishing my axe. "Stop!"
(12:12:23 PM) Jarrox: I chop at the arm that is holding my other arm. "Its got me!"
(12:12:24 PM) Jarrox: Jarrox rolled 1 20-sided die: 3
(12:12:26 PM) thuryl: Meredith's shot misses. A bolt of lightning fires back at her, which she barely dodges.
(12:12:37 PM) Phulax: I try to transport the figure just outside to inside the hut.
(12:12:39 PM) Phulax: Phulax rolled 1 20-sided die: 14
(12:12:47 PM) Lephista: I yell at the turtle. "Call off your men, or you'll never get past me alive."
(12:12:52 PM) Phulax: (The "silhouette)
(12:12:59 PM) Jack: I cast Mnnima's Darklight to get a better look at the figure.
(12:13:03 PM) Jack: Jack rolled 1 20-sided die: 9
(12:13:09 PM) thuryl: The figure is teleported inside, and you can see that it's a shortish turtle-man, "only" about seven feet tall.
(12:13:16 PM) thuryl: It also looks very, very angry.
(12:13:24 PM) Jack: (Well I guess that's not necessary anymore)
(12:13:25 PM) Phulax: "This is a misunderstanding. He's drunk."
(12:13:36 PM) Lephista: I move into the doorway, blocking it. "I said stop fighting!"
(12:13:41 PM) thuryl: Jarrox takes a wild swing at the lobster-man, but his attack is parried aside.
(12:13:43 PM) Phulax: "We can still talk. If you stand down."
(12:14:00 PM) thuryl: "Drunk, is he? And you gave a drunk an axe?"
(12:14:01 PM) Dyen: I suppose I punch the turtle in the face.
(12:14:04 PM) Phulax: "Do you want to give up all hope of our help by trying to kill us now?"
(12:14:05 PM) Dyen: Dyen rolled 1 20-sided die: 3
(12:14:17 PM) Jack: "He brought it with him!"
(12:14:17 PM) Dyen: (Oh, no I don't, then.)
(12:14:17 PM) Lephista: "Hey! Turtle! I'm talking to you!" Intimidate:
(12:14:20 PM) Lephista: Lephista rolled 1 20-sided die: 19
(12:14:41 PM) Phulax: "I tried to take the axe from him. Have you never dealt with unreasonable people before? Sometimes one can't help it."
(12:14:57 PM) Lephista: "Call off your men immediately, and the dwarf will drop his axe."
(12:14:57 PM) thuryl: Dyen punches at the turtle, but only succeeds in bruising his knuckles on its shell. The turtle takes a swipe at Phulax with its flipper, but he ducks it. It then abruptly stops to turn around and look at Lephista.
(12:15:08 PM) Jarrox: "Its my ass and I'll kill you and all these lobsters and then make you into soup.!"
(12:15:08 PM) thuryl: "What? Are you with them too? How many more of you are there?"
(12:15:25 PM) Lephista: "Enough. Now call your men off."
(12:15:38 PM) thuryl: "Fine. Stop the attack! For now."
(12:15:51 PM) thuryl: The lobster-men stop attacking. The one holding on to Jarrox's arm keeps holding on.
(12:15:58 PM) Lephista: "Jarrox, put down your axe."
(12:16:10 PM) Phulax: "These are friends."
(12:16:28 PM) Jarrox: "I'll chop off its arm." My eyes look bloodshot.
(12:16:41 PM) Meredith: "He's drunk, not stupid. Somebody just take the axe from him."
(12:16:46 PM) Lephista: "Mariona forgive me, if you don't put your axe down I'll chop your arm off."
(12:16:56 PM) Phulax: I try to take the axe.
(12:16:56 PM) Phulax: (roll?)
(12:16:58 PM) Meredith: "And take, no magic." I glare at Phulax.
(12:17:00 PM) thuryl: (Sure.)
(12:17:05 PM) Phulax: Phulax rolled 1 20-sided die: 17
(12:17:05 PM) Jack: "...Meredith, have you been in the same group I've been in?"
(12:17:16 PM) Jack: "He was like this BEFORE he started drinking."
(12:17:18 PM) thuryl: Phulax manages to wrestle the axe away from Jarrox.
(12:17:31 PM) Phulax: (He started drinking before we got to the Island!!!)
(12:17:47 PM) Lephista: I set my own axe down in the doorway. "Now, everyone else, put your weapons away. Let's talk."
(12:17:49 PM) Jarrox: I kick the one holding me.
(12:17:50 PM) Jarrox: Jarrox rolled 1 20-sided die: 4
(12:17:54 PM) Phulax: "All right, friend Turtle, speak."
(12:18:02 PM) Jarrox: (Darn short legs.)
(12:18:03 PM) thuryl: Jarrox flails around ineffectually.
(12:18:06 PM) Phulax: I keep a tight grip on the axe and stand well away from Jarrox.
(12:18:15 PM) thuryl: "Are you going to listen to what I have to say, then?"
(12:18:31 PM) Jack: "Might as well."
(12:18:31 PM) Phulax: (This is simultaneously crazy and ridiculously cool.)
(12:18:37 PM) Phulax: "Yes."
(12:18:41 PM) Lephista: "Yes. Please go on." I perform First Aid on the injured lobster-man.
(12:18:43 PM) Lephista: Lephista rolled 1 20-sided die: 19
(12:19:05 PM) thuryl: Lephista manages to bind up most of the lobster-man's wounds. It seems grateful.
(12:19:12 PM) thuryl: "Tell me, what do you think of this city's... caste system?"
(12:19:52 PM) Jack: "To some extent."
(12:19:55 PM) Lephista: "It seems wrong to me, but I'm only a stranger. I'm in no position to judge."
(12:20:21 PM) Jarrox: "It would taste good as turtle soup." I glare.
(12:20:23 PM) Phulax: "I concur. At a superficial glance, it looks...troubling."
(12:20:41 PM) Meredith: "Yet we were informed that the lower castes, the former-humans... they are helpless alone."
(12:20:44 PM) thuryl: "Well, I am no stranger to this city, and I agree with you. For we turtles, it is certainly a convenient arrangement. We have all our needs catered for and literally never have to lift a finger."
(12:20:53 PM) Lephista: "You don't have fingers."
(12:20:58 PM) Phulax: ...
(12:21:00 PM) thuryl: "Exactly."
(12:21:03 PM) Jack: "...I suspect that's beside the point."
(12:21:03 PM) Phulax: (Ahahahahah!)
(12:21:32 PM) thuryl: "For the fish-men, things are not so easy. They are half-blind, worked like slaves and kept in the most abominable conditions. And things are even worse in the Reef."
(12:21:49 PM) Dyen: "Tell me of this reef."
(12:22:08 PM) thuryl: "How much has King Zellak told you about the dwarves?"
(12:22:14 PM) Lephista: "Nothing."
(12:22:19 PM) Phulax: "Nothing. He seemed...reluctant."
(12:22:23 PM) thuryl: "And that's all he wants you to know."
(12:22:26 PM) Meredith: "He said they had their uses."
(12:22:29 PM) Jarrox: I struggle against the lobster.
(12:22:41 PM) thuryl: "Have you noticed how all of our buildings are made from coral?"
(12:22:47 PM) Phulax: "indeed."
(12:22:47 PM) Jack: "...Yes."
(12:22:55 PM) Jack: I look hesitant and worried.
(12:23:00 PM) Lephista: I wave the lobster away from Jarrox, and pin him myself.
(12:23:09 PM) thuryl: "Except for the ones made since this city rose, of course. Coral is a rather impractical building material above ground."
(12:23:23 PM) thuryl: "But in any case, we acquire our coral from the Reef below the city."
(12:23:49 PM) Phulax: "Underground?"
(12:24:01 PM) thuryl: "Underground, yes. In the ruins of the old city."
(12:24:13 PM) Jarrox: "It hit me first! Tell that to Dinner!."
(12:24:35 PM) Phulax: "And this involves the dwarves, doesn't it?"
(12:24:44 PM) thuryl: "The dwarves are trapped down there. They feed on the garbage from the city above, and convert it to the coral our city relied upon."
(12:24:56 PM) thuryl: "I... I don't have the words to describe their situation to you. You should see it for yourself."
(12:25:06 PM) Dyen: (Is Soylent Green people here?)
(12:25:21 PM) Phulax: I frown darkly.
(12:25:22 PM) Jack: "Would you be willing to show us?"
(12:25:30 PM) Jarrox: I stop struggling and look at the turtle man, "They eat what?"
(12:25:35 PM) Meredith: (soylent green is people everywhere, because its soylent green.)
(12:25:43 PM) thuryl: "You'll see it soon enough. The temple is down there, below the Reef."
(12:25:48 PM) Dyen: (Shush, it was a line.)
(12:26:00 PM) Phulax: "What do you want us to do about this?"
(12:26:08 PM) thuryl: "King Zellak... he asked you to use the temple's power to sink this island into the ocean, didn't he?"
(12:26:16 PM) Phulax: "Indeed."
(12:26:20 PM) Jack: "Yes... And you want us to keep it afloat."
(12:26:26 PM) Dyen: "He said he would do that."
(12:26:31 PM) thuryl: "I have a different proposal. We had to change once, in order to survive. We can change again."
(12:26:34 PM) Dyen: "He intends to accompany us to the temple."
(12:26:45 PM) thuryl: "Use the temple's power to return us all to our original forms."
(12:26:46 PM) Jarrox: I start to giggle, "Wow, life on this rock must really suck. I'm glad that I'm just a visitor."
(12:27:34 PM) Phulax: "That...makes a lot of sense. Why wouldn't Zellak want to do that...if he's not abusing power?"
(12:27:37 PM) Lephista: I look up from my struggle with Jarrox. "If we do what you ask, how do we reckon with the king?"
(12:27:42 PM) Meredith: "No offence, but we've no reason to aid somebody who broke into our room, in the middle of the night, armed and clearly spoiling for a fight."
(12:28:03 PM) Phulax: "We've little reason to trust the King either."
(12:28:07 PM) Lephista: "They're not carrying weapons, Meredith."
(12:28:08 PM) Jarrox: "Make him into soup."
(12:28:17 PM) thuryl: "King Zellak has lived for over six hundred years. That is far longer than even dragonborn naturally live. I think he is afraid to give up his immortality."
(12:28:37 PM) Meredith: "And lightning flies around inside on it's own? They are armed, they just have no weapons."
(12:28:43 PM) Lephista: "Couldn't we wish for a compromise?"
(12:28:51 PM) Jarrox: "I know a chef that can make a great turtle soup."
(12:28:57 PM) Meredith: "And that isn't the point anyway. The King was not hostile to us, at all. This creature has been."
(12:29:02 PM) thuryl: He frowns at Lephista. "Do you have a proposal?"
(12:29:34 PM) Lephista: "Well, we can restore you to your original forms, but leave the King immortal and on the throne. The temple can do that, right?"
(12:29:50 PM) Jarrox: "Yeah, ol' dinner here took a jab at me first."
(12:29:50 PM) thuryl: "You can try."
(12:30:01 PM) Jack: "'Cept the king's coming with us, remember?"
(12:30:08 PM) thuryl: "Of course, convincing King Zellak will be another matter."
(12:30:33 PM) Lephista: "To even enter the temple, we need to exemplify the spirit of Mariona. I do not think we can succeed in the trials if we are helping one side defeat another."
(12:30:35 PM) Meredith: "Unless the king sits with us as we wish, he need never know until it's too late."
(12:31:27 PM) Meredith: "Lephista has hit the real issue. We cannot be part of a struggle between these people."
(12:31:46 PM) Phulax: "Why would need to mislead the king, though? Perhaps compromise is possible. Restore the humans and dwarves, return them to land, and then sink this island."
(12:31:49 PM) Lephista: "The king needs us a lot more than we need him. We can dictate terms."
(12:32:46 PM) Jarrox: "Yeah, and ate well too."
(12:32:53 PM) Jarrox: eat*
(12:32:54 PM) Lephista: "But their old society can't function without humans and dwarves. We have to restore everybody or nobody. The King will have to be content with reigning on land, I think."
(12:33:26 PM) Phulax: "But why would the king go along with us, if we aren't giving him anything he really wants?"
(12:33:28 PM) Jarrox: "Why not just sink the island and not change anything?"
(12:33:57 PM) Phulax: "I can't go along with that if it means condemning the humans and dwarves to long lives of suffering, Jarrox."
(12:34:07 PM) Dyen: "I would see and speak with the dwarves and humans, if possible, befor eI can speak in favor of one or another."
(12:34:11 PM) Lephista: "Because, Phulax, we are giving him what he wants. He'll be king, he'll live forever, and with his followers restored to their old forms, his kingdom will be safe from outsiders."
(12:34:47 PM) Meredith: "But the caste system would still exist. The King will not give up his power, and we achieve nothing."
(12:34:47 PM) thuryl: "The humans -- or what were once human -- don't talk much, but you can try. As for the dwarves, I don't think they can talk any more."
(12:34:48 PM) Jarrox: "They've been doing it all there lives. Servants are meant to serve. Ask any of the servants back at my estate."
(12:35:09 PM) Lephista: "Damn it, Jarrox, you're a dwarf yourself."
(12:35:36 PM) Dyen: "Turtle, I would ask your name, and a favor."
(12:35:43 PM) Jack: "There's something else we haven't considered. Isn't it true that the temple grants the heart's desire?"
(12:35:57 PM) Jack: "That sounds a bit deeper than just some random wishing."
(12:36:01 PM) thuryl: "So the legend goes."
(12:36:13 PM) Lephista: "Huhm. That's interesting."
(12:36:15 PM) Phulax: "The fact is, we must ascertain the truth of this situation more thoroughly, before we can rightly judge how to change it."
(12:36:16 PM) thuryl: "I have never used the temple myself, of course."
(12:36:32 PM) Jarrox: "Yeah, I'm a dwarf. That turtle aint no dragonborn, not anymore. Time moves one and everything changes. We can't stop it."
(12:36:40 PM) Meredith: "My hearts desire is not to start a civil war on this island. Restoring the slaves will cause that to happen, I believe."
(12:37:24 PM) Meredith: I round on Jarrox. "Humans are hunted and hated out their, as they are treated like slaves in here. Watch your tongue, dwarf."
(12:37:32 PM) Meredith: there*
(12:37:33 PM) Lephista: "Mariona teaches us not to accept an unjust peace."
(12:38:19 PM) Meredith: I speak to the turtle. "What do you plan to do, if we do aid you?"
(12:38:45 PM) Jarrox: "So Mariona teaches to accept unrest?"
(12:38:51 PM) Phulax: "Sometimes wars have just causes. If the slaves are abused as Mr. Turtle claims, we would be right to free them."
(12:39:07 PM) Lephista: "If Mariona had not taught me to pin your arms, you would still be swinging your axe."
(12:39:11 PM) thuryl: "To tell the truth, my original plan was to kill you and attempt the pilgrimage myself. Of course, then you had to wake up and force a change of plans."
(12:39:22 PM) Jack: "Oh, lovely."
(12:39:33 PM) thuryl: "I tell you this only so you will trust me."
(12:39:36 PM) Phulax: "How...delightfully candid."
(12:39:46 PM) Meredith: "You cannot make the pilgrimage. The King said that a humonoid is required. Hands too." I wiggle my fingers.
(12:39:54 PM) Jarrox: Jarrox rolled 1 20-sided die: 2
(12:39:56 PM) thuryl: "So he says. Do you believe him?"
(12:39:59 PM) Meredith: "Well, okay, you can make it, but you cannot reach the temple."
(12:40:07 PM) thuryl: Jarrox struggles feebly against Lephista.
(12:40:16 PM) Lephista: "That could have been a lie, to explain why he was using us rather than one of his own people."
(12:40:39 PM) Lephista: "He did need a reason, but that reason doesn't make sense. He could take a frog-man."
(12:40:42 PM) Phulax: "I felt suspicious of the king from the time he spoke to us about the state of the humans, and refused to explain about the dwarves."
(12:40:46 PM) Phulax: "He had something to hide."
(12:41:42 PM) Dyen: "Turtle, I would ask your name, and a favor."
(12:42:01 PM) thuryl: "I am Skrass. What do you want?"
(12:42:24 PM) Dyen: "May I cast a spell upon you, that allows me to divine Fate's will?"
(12:42:31 PM) thuryl: "Is it dangerous?"
(12:42:37 PM) Jarrox: "To teach you a nice soup recipe," I chuckle.
(12:42:49 PM) Dyen: "Never has it been."
(12:42:57 PM) thuryl: "Very well. But if you harm me in any way, my men will kill you."
(12:43:14 PM) Dyen: I cast Feeling the Way on Skrass.
(12:43:17 PM) Dyen: Dyen rolled 1 20-sided die: 4
(12:43:23 PM) Dyen: (Sigh)
(12:43:31 PM) Phulax: Grumble grumble.
(12:44:10 PM) Jarrox: "Like you went going to try that already Soup Dish."
(12:44:17 PM) Meredith: "What promises do you make, Skrass, of not killing us as soon as we turn our backs? You admit yourself you were going to do it before."
(12:44:49 PM) Jarrox: weren't going to try*
(12:44:55 PM) Lephista: "Jarrox and I do not have our axes. If he still wanted to kill us, he'd have done it already."
(12:45:28 PM) Meredith: "We haven't led him to the temple yet. He admits he's never been. He may well need our help."
(12:45:29 PM) thuryl: "That depends. What can you promise me, and how can I trust you?"
(12:45:35 PM) Dyen: I step back, nodding.
(12:45:52 PM) Dyen: "I thank you for your cooperation, Skrass." I bow.
(12:46:08 PM) Phulax: "I promise not to support tyranny or oppression."
(12:46:11 PM) Meredith: "I still have my weapon, and so does Phulax. If we were going to attack, we would've already."
(12:46:34 PM) Jarrox: "Trust us? Get the hell out of here and stop trying to kill us and I might think about trusting you."
(12:46:44 PM) Lephista: "I promise not to harm you, or to wish for anything that would harm you. And you can trust me because I have already passed on the chance to slice you in half."
(12:46:58 PM) Phulax: "You saw how I brought you inside. I could dismiss your guards as easily if we wanted to harm you. But we don't."
(12:47:00 PM) thuryl: "I have a compromise. I order my men to kill Jarrox and the rest of you help me."
(12:47:11 PM) Phulax: "No."
(12:47:15 PM) Jack: "That sounds like a fair compromise to me."
(12:47:23 PM) Meredith: "Now, don't be hasty Phulax..."
(12:47:30 PM) Lephista: "I promised him safety if he put his weapon away."
(12:47:36 PM) thuryl: "Can you keep him under control?"
(12:47:40 PM) Phulax: "He may be a sad wreck of a dwarf, but he doesn't deserve death."
(12:47:53 PM) Dyen: "Promises are easily made and easily broken. We cannot decide at this time. We will enter the temple, and now that we know another side to this story, we may well take it."
(12:47:56 PM) Jarrox: "I'm with a bunch of idiots. Fraxxox was right, I only associate with idiots."
(12:48:07 PM) Lephista: To Skrass: "I'll answer for his actions from now on."
(12:48:24 PM) thuryl: "Very well. I will hold you to that. Now, tell me what you plan to do."
(12:48:46 PM) Meredith: "We plan to get to the temple."
(12:48:58 PM) thuryl: "And after that?"
(12:49:24 PM) Meredith: "You'd be better off asking Mariona's puppet over there."
(12:49:32 PM) Jack: "I honestly cannot say I know."
(12:49:58 PM) Lephista: "I still say we should try to compromise. Neither Skrass nor Zellak will enter the temple, and once there I will wish for something that they have both agreed to."
(12:50:16 PM) Lephista: "The rest of you can with for whatever you want, as long as it doesn't screw this up."
(12:50:51 PM) Lephista: "Does that sound good to you guys?"
(12:51:03 PM) Jack: "The problem here is that Zellak is unlikely to compromise. And once he knows that we're not 100% behind him, he's likely to turn on us."
(12:51:13 PM) Phulax: "I would support your effort, Lephista."
(12:51:16 PM) Jack: "We're not the only people on this island he can use as pawns."
(12:51:30 PM) thuryl: "You know, you could always kill Zellak before he reaches the temple."
(12:51:31 PM) Lephista: "That's true. He has some others captive."
(12:51:49 PM) Phulax: "All this hinges on knowing with more certainty what is going on here."
(12:52:27 PM) Phulax: "We need to know that you are telling the truth, whether or not the king is an oppressive tyrant, how exactly one gets into the temple, et cetera."
(12:52:37 PM) thuryl: "Very well. Stall for time with King Zellak. Tour the city. See for yourself what it is like."
(12:53:01 PM) Lephista: "All right. That sounds okay to me."
(12:53:04 PM) Phulax: "Hmm...we do have some very curious scholars here." I smile.
(12:53:06 PM) thuryl: "And when you realise that my way is the only way, I will be waiting."
(12:53:08 PM) Meredith: "Of course we may be toppling one tyrant to enthrone another."
(12:53:14 PM) Meredith: I gesture at Skrass.
(12:53:44 PM) Phulax: "If all were restored to their original forms, there would be little need for the present caste system to persist."
(12:53:57 PM) thuryl: He laughs. "I am nearly as old as Zellak is. I have no illusions that I would survive the restoration of the city's people. I do this because it is the right thing to do."
(12:54:58 PM) Jarrox: "Ha, there is no such thing as right. Only what we want ourselves."
(12:55:25 PM) Phulax: I frown at Jarrox.
(12:55:36 PM) Meredith: "Jarrox speaks the truth. We all came for our own reasons, after all."
(12:55:41 PM) Dyen: "True enough. What will we want, then?"
(12:55:58 PM) Lephista: "I want what's right." I smirk at Dyen.
(12:56:04 PM) Jarrox: "I want to drink. Now."
(12:56:06 PM) Phulax: "Justice."
(12:56:19 PM) Jack: "Knowledge."
(12:56:23 PM) Phulax: (For great justice.)
(12:56:54 PM) Meredith: "And thats the reason you came to the City? Because you just knew there'd be a moral dilemma to solve, Lephista, or that there would be an underdog to be freed, Phulax?"
(12:56:56 PM) Dyen: "I will not reduce myself to a single word, I think."
(12:57:17 PM) Meredith: "Before we decide who is lying, you should stop lying to yourselves."
(12:57:23 PM) Phulax: "Not precisely. I came to Elpis looking for those I could help."
(12:57:36 PM) Phulax: "The oppressed certainly need it."
(12:57:41 PM) Lephista: "Well, no. I came for more personal reasons."
(12:57:50 PM) Phulax: "I lie to myself? Then tell me what the truth is."
(12:57:58 PM) Jarrox: "I didn't lie. Could you pass me one of my ale-skins.?"
(12:58:17 PM) Meredith: "I read books, not minds, Phulax."
(12:58:23 PM) Jack: "I think you've had enough for one day."
(12:58:24 PM) Phulax: I smile.
(12:58:38 PM) Phulax: "Then why do you accuse me of deceiving myself?"
(12:58:51 PM) thuryl: Skrass clears his throat.
(12:59:00 PM) Jack: "Yes?"
(12:59:03 PM) thuryl: "You will see the true nature of our city for yourself tomorrow. That will give you the information you need to make your decision. For now, do you have any other questions for me?"
(12:59:15 PM) Phulax: "How will we find you again?"
(12:59:32 PM) Meredith: "I'm sure he'll invite himself to our quarters. Right?"
(12:59:59 PM) Jarrox: "Do you like parsley, sage, or rosemary?"
(1:00:07 PM) thuryl: "I live in the northeastern spire of this city, the one with a ball of bright blue coral on top. If you wish to see me, simply visit there and ask for me."
(1:00:34 PM) Phulax: (Rather fond of garlic, actually)
(1:00:45 PM) Lephista: "I don't have any more questions. And my arms are starting to get tired."
(1:00:47 PM) Phulax: "Very well."
(1:00:57 PM) Jack: "I think that's pretty much it."
(1:01:02 PM) Phulax: "We will meet again, Skrass."
(1:01:24 PM) Dyen: I meditate and pray briefly before sleeping on the seaweed mat.
(1:01:29 PM) thuryl: "Very well. Until then, rest for what remains of the night, so you can keep your eyes fully open tomorrow."
(1:01:31 PM) thuryl: End session.