Bevis dropped in for the evening, but didn’t get a lot of game in. We spent a while doing kingdom building, then just as things looked like becoming fun, someone cast “summon spouse” and he was yanked away.
We are in mountains, which is very different from forest and cities. There are not many trees and no buildings. There is not much magic, and no people but us. We travel more slowly, because the shape of the ground interferes with her usual mode of locomotion. The horses cannot come here. I do not know why there are mountains, or for what purpose they were made such an inconvenient shape.
We saw a Roc, but not very close. We flew straight down a long way very fast, but I don’t think that was what she intended.
Michael,
Not really much to say, again. I can’t imagine what kerfuffle my recent … actions may have caused. Be that as it may, I have a certain old hand-me-down with me that you may have heard of in passing, and I have bonded to it. It’s actually been around long enough to have developed a personality. You hear all sorts of things, obviously, but we seem to be getting along well enough for the moment. It isn’t very talkative, perhaps because it’s been dormant for a good while. I might call it “Tom”, after its initials, if I need to refer to it.
As for me, well, we are in the middle of integrating Varnhold. The main issue is that it’s a fair ways distant. We patrol the lands on the road between here and there, but no a lot else, and so we were looking to expand the areas that we control. This means the mountains to the south of Varnhold and in particular Lake Silverstep. The lake is shaped uncannily like a dragon footprint and this has given rise to a number of stories … or who knows, maybe they are not stories. Tom hasn’t told me anything in particular. If there was really a continent-sized silver dragon making footprints, then it was a very, very long time ago.
Anyway. The lake is home to a species of very, very delicious eel. It turns out that these things are somewhat intelligent – about as intelligent as a four-footed animal – and consequently difficult to catch. Rainor was plucking them out of the water, the rest of us fished all day and caught nothing. It seems that you can catch them with berries blessed by a druid, but that’s about it.
I think it would be a fine idea to set up a fishing resort here, to ban the use of magic (unsporting, you know), and then when the fishermen fail to catch anything to sell ’em grilled silverstep eel (which we do use magic to catch) at a positively exhorbitant price. Perhaps license one or two fishermen to use magic, and tax the catch outrageously. All for the conservation of the species, of course, to prevent overfishing.
Anyway. We headed up into the mountains. We found a nice clearing and what do you know, we were promptly attacked by a Roc. Yes, they are as enormous as all the stories make out. It grabbed Sir Prancealot (who was with us) and flew off. I attempted to teleport to the thing in midair to give Sir P a Feather Fall, but calculating range is tricky, and – look, I wound up plummeting from a height of several hundred feet. I did get the spell off and saved myself, but I was out of the combat.
Arrgh! Arrgh! Guess what my character is wearing on her other hand? That’s right: a ring of Feather Falling.
The thing is – I have a Ring of Feather Falling. Have done for ages. I removed it while getting to know Tom, and just forgot to put it back on. It’s going back on, forthwith!
Anyway. I think Rainor shot the Roc a few times and Rainin – who can fly by the way – caught Sir P in midair. Rainor tells me that Rainin saved him rather than me because he was confident that a) I can take care of myself and b) I wouldn’t have teleported into midair without some idea of how I was to get down. Hrmmph.
Dave missed the fact that half-celestials can fly. This will be … interesting.
So. We’d like to find this Roc’s nest. And loot it. My Locate Object doesn’t have the range, but I’m pretty sure I have a scroll of Create Treasure Map laying about. Someone back at Forth Tuskwater wants a Roc egg to make an omlette, and it will be quite fortuitous if this particular one has one. I have a rod of Extend Spell, so I’m pretty sure we can get it back there on a Floating Disk [900 lbs – 9 hours, 18 hours with the rod]. It will be rather egg-on-a-teaspoon. We shall have to find the egg and see. If there is one.
As always,
Seldrynn.