Quest #38 "Betwixt Water And Stone"

[OGRE MAGE]

Spider Cave
Starday, 27th of Goodmonth
Late Morning, Overcast, Warm, Buggy

Luther and Amun are terrified by the others touching the small stone spheres, certain that nothing good can come from it. Keg is totally speechless, moving back to the cave entrance to stand guard against intruders.

Wake cautiously removes the white sphere and Yrias the green, neither of them suddenly dying either. When they do nothing with them, TK starts talking to his (red or grey?) sphere, demanding it make him taller and more powerful. His demands are not met, but once Yrias stores his sphere carefully on his person, a feint feeling of magical security washes over the newcomer.

Luther wants no more trouble to befall him, having quite enough hanging over him already. Amun asks if the magical obelisks can get people off the island, thinking well beyond the initial benefit of trinkets. The Fun House on the diagram peeks her interest, having never seen the two words used together in such fashion. Perhaps a trip to the west to search for such a place is in the groups future, if their trepidation wanes enough.

Actions?

positions:
Keg (F3) AC:1 23/23
Luther (R4) AC:3 24/30 (Torch)
The Knife (T2) AC:4* 8/8
Wake (C1) AC:3 10/10 2/3 first (Torch)
Amun (F1) AC:2 13/13
Yrias AC:5 8/8 3/3 1st RM, CL, DM 1/1 1st

[Jernau35]

I think the plan was for him to pick up the red, so let's go with that.

[OGRE MAGE]

Sounds good.

Post away then, please.

[Urson]

Luther
If you people are done pissing on the dragon's nose, let's move. We've still got some terrain to explore.
Luther leads the way out of the cave, pausing at the entrance to study the jungle around them for potential threats.

[gurusql]

Wake

Wake being young and fool-hearty and not wanting to leave magic in the cave, picks up the grey one as well an secures them both in his backpack and then follows Luther out of the cave.

[Bluehorse]

Keg eyes the bags that are obviously holding the orbs. I say this changes things... Let's get these back to town and hand them off to someone that knows magic and get them out of our hands. Then we can continue with our own mapping and exploring.

[Jernau35]

The Knife

The Knife looks at his red orb after it fails to do anything. "Maybe it need a password or something", he mutters, before putting it away.

"So it looks like we're supposed to take these orbs to the square places for whatever reason. Maybe it is something to do with getting off the island. I mean, I'd prefer power and wealth beyond the dreams of avarice. We can always take a boat to get off the island. Mad wizards think big, Amun. We should think big too".

"Fun House, eh? Do you think it's an actual house? The temple is an actual temple. Looks like a long walk though."

The Knife looks at Keg, suprised. "Give them to someone else? Are you mad? Didn't you hear what I said about 'power and wealth beyond the dreams of avarice?' I'm not giving that to someone else."

"But I think we should go, yes".

[Karaunios]

Yrias

"I wouldn't give it away. Actually, I don't think the one I have could bring anyone to harm. I have a feeling of security that I didn't have a moment ago.

I also must apologize for me taking the orb after having been you who dealt with the danger here. I know it was me who risked picking it but, still.

Anyway, I think we should go to hope you don't mind me coming along with you."

[sastaz]

Amun seems to come to a sudden realization about the map.

"Amun see now, map is for island. But island is huge, full of cliffs, flying small men with spears. Amun agrees, we shall plan and go, but to which house?"

To Yrias

"Brother welcome to join us. There be enough monsters on this island for every weapon", she says, baring her teeth in a grin.

"Now let move. We have spheres and should not wait here for more spiders to come."

She starts walking for the cave exit.

"Gnome wish to go first? Will be quickest to exit and hardest to ambush."

[Bluehorse]

The Knife
The Knife looks at Keg, suprised. "Give them to someone else? Are you mad? Didn't you hear what I said about 'power and wealth beyond the dreams of avarice?' I'm not giving that to someone else."

Keg grumbles. Those are going to bring us nothing but bad luck. Best pass it to someone else. Besides, what if something happens to us out there? he points more or less northward where they were heading before. And these turn out to be important? That means they are going to go from lost, to found, to really really lost all over again. What if they get in the hands of someone we have no reason to trust? I would rather them at least be with someone we know than someone that is a potential enemy.

[gurusql]

Wake

Let us keep exploring.

[OGRE MAGE]

Northward
Starday, 27th of Goodmonth
Late Morning, Overcast, Warm, Buggy

Leaving the cave behind after securing the 4 colored spheres on their persons…. PLEASE record which sphere(s) you took on your sheets so I don’t need to scour this thread again in a month. …anyone else who claimed one as their own feels a strange sense of security as well.

I am just going to give you this information instead of trying to remember each character individually. The spheres act as a Luck stone, bestowing a +1 to all Saves. They do not stack.

Moving north through the jungle again, a small clearing is found next, about a mile northwest of the cave mouth. The clearing is circular, and only about fifteen feet across. Absolutely nothing grows from the dark, bare jungle floor inside the circle.

Scattered throughout the bare ground are 4 square rocks and 8 circular stones, reminding anyone who saw it of the diagram they found recently, though the symmetry of this place has clearly been disturbed.

Actions?

positions:
Keg (F3) AC:1 23/23
Luther (R4) AC:3 24/30 (Torch)
The Knife (T2) AC:4* 8/8
Wake (C1) AC:3 10/10 2/3 first (Torch)
Amun (F1) AC:2 13/13
Yrias AC:5 8/8 3/3 1st RM, CL, DM 1/1 1st

[Jernau35]

The Knife

Surveying the clearing, The Knife says "This can't be coincidence. It's got to have something to do with that map and those orbs".

"This is just a theory but tell me what you think. The writing on the cloth said that "the friends" were testing the orbs but weren't able to finish."

"Here's the crazy part: what if this circle is some kind of magic teleporter? Orb holders can travel to places like the temple and the Fun House. But something went wrong and the circle was damaged. That's why the friends never finished testing".

[Karaunios]

Yrias

"This is strange. I thought you mentioned the circles and squares in the diagram corresponded to obekisks that you found in the jungle? At least the two that you've found so far. This looks like a miniature recreation of that.

Maybe the ones doing tests were killed or got teleported, like you say. It could well be a teleportation device. But if they got teleported away, they sure got to test it. That would contradict what's written on the piece of cloth."

He examines the rocks to see if they have any holes that might match the stones that they got in the cave.

[Urson]

Luther
Luther stays outside the circle. If this is supposed to be some sort of teleporter, I suspect it's not finished. I can't see someone leaving it abandoned like this if it was working.
I shoulda spoken up sooner- I think we'd do well to get these back to Chauncey and the wizards in Clifftown.

Is there anything notable about how the 'diagram' has been disturbed? Does it look like the disturbance refers to the temple and obelisks that have already been located?

[gurusql]

Wake

Wake is also interested in what is out of place. Since has the map he pulls it out to compare. He develops a scowl at the mention of Chauncey.

[sastaz]

Amun

"Yes, if others teleport, how others return to write on cloth? Although might be one survivor documenting survivor's fallen brothers and sisters that were teleported?"

While the others check the map she walks up to the closest stone in the circle that seems to have fallen, or been dislocated, "outside" of the circle. If she can discern that of course. Does it seem that the dislocated stone was damaged and/or overturned in some way?

[Bluehorse]

Keg eyes the area curiously, despite himself.

Does the perimeter if the "lifeless area" match the edges of the stones? Or does it appear something doesn't match at a particular spot?

[OGRE MAGE]

Northward
Starday, 27th of Goodmonth
Late Morning, Overcast, Warm, Buggy

Looking over the area carefully, the investigators find no other clues to what they might have found. After searching for a while, the entire setup looks very crudely constructed, and the barren ground has a distinct turpentine smell to it. None of the stone markers appear to have been damaged, only dislocated.

Lifting or moving the rocks reveals nothing new either. Yrias finds no spherical indentations in the strewn asymmetrical stones. The entire area gives off a feel of some kind of reproduction, almost like ancient cave art or something similar. The scattered remains gives the impression that someone or something didn’t like what they found here.

Actions?

positions:
Keg (F3) AC:1 23/23
Luther (R4) AC:3 24/30
The Knife (T2) AC:4* 8/8
Wake (C1) AC:3 10/10 2/3 first
Amun (F1) AC:2 13/13
Yrias AC:5 8/8 3/3 1st RM, CL, DM 1/1 1st

[Jernau35]

The Knife

"Do you think," says The Knife quietly, "that whoever wrote on that cloth was being ironic when they said 'special friends'?" He shrugs. "I don't know. Maybe the cloth-writer didn't know anything about this place. But it's weird."

The Knife turns to Keg"Do you remember those ogres we fought the first time we scouted this area? Do you think they could have something to do with this? They built it? They smashed it up?" The gnome chuckles all of a sudden. "They probably didn't write the cloth though!"