New Banner: Between a Roc and Octoplace

A masterpiece of plot set-up placed the happless blundering fools in charge of a non-flying flying ship, under-staffed by fluffy hamsters and sailors and carrying a precious load of the last surviving children of the ape-city and their benevolent, corpulent and aptly-named protector Roly. Down in the hold was untold (un-examined!) riches in Roly's two massive treasure chests, one of which was graciously promissed as payment for safe passafe.

But, of course the job was by no means easy - the sea was supposedly populated by sea monsters and we already experienced the terror of the air. But, we had a map and a compass and set-off.

Spying two islands, we circled one in search of a landing space only to find the second island missing. An island-sized sea monster - surely not. But no sooner had we made the decision to land than we were attacked. Before we knew it the ship was bit in half and there were children falling into the sea as half of the ship raised into the air on the remaining balloons.

This time the adventures would not allow needless deaths and Durin lept in and proceeded to drown heroically. Thesis also jumped in, forgetting he had taken water-walk and hitting the glassy surface very hard indeed. Soon those with flight came to the rescue and the situation was under hand. Thesis running to the coast with 4 of the children, the others safe also.

Not a good time for the Roc to arrive then. But it did, all 700hp of it. Step-up Hawkmoon, Bodush and Mar'ach ably supported by Durin. Raining arrows of death, and maximised fireballs were to be expected, but the little blue kobold showed some of his power. Round after round he sapped the strength from the Roc and soon he was barely able to fly let alone attack.

The last we saw was the Roc plummeting like a flaming meteor into the gaping beak of the massive Kraken. Fried whole chicken for lunch with a human-child amuse-bouche.

Now, the party has no ship and is stranded on an island with some very, very angry Giants.

The Jewel in the Skull

“It was my crowning achievement! It should have shown them all that Pandit Freud was just a crazed charlatan, obsessing only about the most simple of biological functions, ignoring the wider world and its infinite fractal nature, in his perverted pursuit of fleshly perfection. While he was busy with cutting up our experimental participants for his base interests, I managed to create a work of sublime beauty. A construction that was only intended to serve the simple need of water and waste disposal for our city, but it became so much more. Through my vision, and the simple application of basic sorcerous science, the city’s plumbing became a monument to my findings regarding the true nature of consciousness and reality itself. Trickling down through miniscule pipes, the fresh clean water of a multitude of mountain springs coalesced into a reservoir above the city, filling our minds, bodies and souls with cleanliness and the inspiration of the beyond, while beneath us, our waste was washed down into the primordial ooze, along with our unfulfilled desires failed dreams and nightmares.” Pandit Jung took a deep breath, looking around, before remarking, “In the case of my mentor, this was not just figuratively speaking. His waste was often caused by his failed experiments, some of whom were quite nightmarish, even to us.”

“I managed to harness the strength of the beautiful symbolism of this system into raw power, fuelling my mentor’s experiments. Of course, he couldn’t stand this. Here he was, pandering his flawed theories to our people, while all the while, secretly needing the fruits of my superior thought to even conduct the most basic of experiments. The situation was untenable. The adventurers’ arrival was the catalyst for the events that followed. He knew he had been weakened by us having to negotiate with the subderro, and so he had to get rid of me. He cast me out to fend for myself. I was captured by the Broken Lance Orcs, who tormented me with their pitifully banal tortures. I must admit, I was certain that I would die a rather nondescript death at the hands of the orcs, before I was acquired by your agents.”

Pandit Jung rubbed the manacles on his wrists. He eyed the self-dead pig in the corner with a gluttonous gaze.

“So you want me to map out my masterpiece? Yes there is a way directly into the treasure chamber from these tunnels, but do you think that this way is actually a feasible way to sneak into the city? I mean, there is something I didn’t tell you…Freud found a way of controlling the most heinous of the waste feeders. He inserted a scrying gem into its forehead. You would need to trick it into the vortex before he uses it to kill you.”

Another Quick Summary of the Party

The Sky-ship is destroyed completely. The Two remaining Hamster-men will not be patching it up anytime soon.
The second colossal Roc is also dead by your hands and has been dragged under the surface by the mighty Kraken.
Everyone has made it to the Beach of Cyclops Island, where Thesis has just killed a Giant child.
(So far only Thesis knows it was a child…)
The beach is inhospitable with sharp rocks and only shallow caves.
Above the beach is a steep but small cliff-face and then Scrubland.
A great deal of your equipment (Some of it magic) is lost beneath the waves, along with Roly’s two massive treasure chests.
Some debris is washing its way towards shore though.

Eolar: Mostly Gaseous Cleric of St Cuthbert.
Thesis: Razor-toothed Giant Child Killer.
Bodush: Indifferent Sorcerer of Maximised Fireballs.
Durin: Doggy Paddling Dwarf of Drowning.
Hawkmoon: Shockingly Destructive Elf Archer of Mass Destruction.
Mara'ch: Blue Kobold of Strength Draining.
Ragnar: Hulkish Behemoth of Ship Moving.
Roly: Suddenly Poor Cleric of Pelor
7 x Children: Washed but Teary.
2 x Hamster-men: In Shock at the loss of the Sky-ship.
4 x Sailors: Up the Inlet without a Ship.
2 x riding horses: Glad to be on Dry land.
Meldo: Amazingly still Alive and Kicking.

As far as I can see, the Party only lost two Horses and a Child. (Daniel)
;)

I found this Kraken just Leviathan around

Titans of the Sky and Sea

Murdering the infant Giant: 600xp.
Defeating the Colossal Roc: 15,300xp.
Surviving the size-of-an-island Kraken: Priceless.

Well I did promise you bigger things last session!
;)
Considering what you killed, survived and saved, you all did pretty well…
Frankly I’m surprised everyone didn’t go up a level!

Here are the current scores (In experience order):

Mendez: Level 16: 140,032xp (Up to level 17!)
Eolar: Level 16: 139,284xp (Up to level 17!)
Thes-hiss: Level 16: 132,708xp
Bodush: Level 15: 115,057xp
Durin: Level 14: 96,826xp
Hawkmoon: Level 13: 85,009xp
Mara’ch: Level 12: 82,103xp (Up to level 13!)
Ragnar: Level 12: 79,726xp (Up to level 13!)

Moritz, roll you're HP dice in front of Sven. Sven, roll both you're HP dice in front of Moritz.
No mutual cheating!

The Party’s (Welcome/Going-away) Party (Part 5)

The beneficiaries of Mendez’ generosity gather after he himself has long since disappeared to his chambers, partially supported by two of the dancing girls.
It is Tao who speaks first. “Again Mendez showers us with gifts. Were the fortunes he gave us the first time not enough?”
Kale speaks next. “I agree Brother. We should not allow his naivety to bankrupt him, but what can we do?”
Nervously, Eris, Mendez’ little sister speaks up. “We should all repay him in gold. He’ll resist but if we all insist, he’ll accept a token payment.”
Finally Cassim responds. “That seems fair, but how much should we give?”

The Party’s (Welcome/Going-away) Party (Part 4)

Finally Mendez finds his Mother and Sister surrounded by a large group of men.
Mendez’ Mother is younger than a lot of his Brothers. Of course she isn’t their Mother, but it’s still a little strange to realise that she’s not yet forty.
His sister is the youngest in the family, and is still only eighteen.
“Mother, Little Sister. May I steal you away for a moment?”
Both the women beam at him and make their excuses.
“I’ve missed you my beautiful boy. Have you more stories to tell?”
Mendez’ heart swells in his chest. He’d do anything to keep them safe.
Pulling out two exquisite golden rings from his pouch, he presents them one each.
“I can’t always be here to protect you, but these rings should help to keep you safe. Promise me that you’ll always wear them.”
Tears welling in their eyes, the women agree.

The Party’s (Welcome/Going-away) Party (Part 3)

Mendez next searches for Cassim and Kale. They are the best swordsmen of his Brothers, so they deserve the next two gifts.
Finding them in the arms of two of the exotic dancers, Mendez coughs to gain their attention.
“What’s up little Brother? Can’t find a girl of your own?”
Cassim has just turned thirty but Kale is only a few years older than Mendez himself.
Indignantly Mendez responds “I’ve never had a problem finding women! I just wanted to give you both a gift, but now I’m not so sure you deserve it.”
Hastily dropping the girl from his lap, Kale apologises. “A gift? What is it?”
Mendez smiles. Of all his Brothers, Kale is the most like him.
“I have a Scimitar for you both. They’re amazing weapons if used skilfully.”
Trying not to snatch, Cassim and Kale take the swords greedily.
“Thank you little Brother. Your generosity, as always, is too much!”

Interlude in Febril - The Mad God's Amulet

Szandor was not in the best of moods, Istvan realised. Having been his number one “problem solver” for the last few years, he had developed the skill of leaving a room before the fiery bolts of death appeared into a scientific discipline. Unfortunately, he had a nagging suspicion that Szandor would take an early exit in the worst possible way, so he just stood there, his eyes fixed squarely on the oddly shaped jewel hanging from a copper chain around Szandor’s neck.

“So let me get this straight,” Szandor was building up momentum. “Not only did you fail to see how letting Bodush and his merry band of hapless do-gooding idiots wander around with the disciples of Thereanthor, who have been talking for time immemorial about how to summon their master back from the pit,” Szandor took a deep breath. Why did his sentences have to be so long? “No, you had to report back to me how this was brilliant as it kept them from seeing our hand behind the scenes of the recent attack on Febril,”

If only he would finish this sentence, maybe there was a chance of giving an answer that would allow Istvan to avoid instant immolation, but no. “Not thinking about how this could lead to the most dramatic political upheaval since the Forbidden Lands became forbidden!” Istvan took a deep breath to say something, but Szandor kept droning on.

“And now, when I have finally found a way to save all of the ingrates of the furnace coast from being ruled by an infernal overlord you tell me that you have lost them? You tell me that they flew away? In a HAMSTER SHIP? If I wanted to appoint a household jester, I would go to the bard’s guild! I managed to capture a Derro, do you know how much hassle that was? Do you know how many hours I spent in the temple library, pretending to read about antique waste disposal systems, while researching how we can get rid of Zatark, only to find out that the only reliable way of getting that done is in the hands of some insane, flesh fetishising derro tailors with delusions of grandeur? Do you even care that my dire cats are starving, because even in his captivity, Pandit Jung managed to get hold of needles and threads and are using the rat-population in my dungeons to feed his compulsive need to create new and interesting life-forms, well do you? Of course not, nobody appreciates my sacrifices, nobody realises what I go through to keep the Furnace coast safe. All they talk about is that I am some sort of creepy old man, nly interested in dusty old artefacts. I hear them gossiping endlessly about my simple pleasures. I think I deserve some recognition.”

Szandor motioned to one of army of identical female servants who was bringing in a tray of dried fruits. Istvan breathed a sigh of relief. Szandor’s anger at him had been channelled into general disgruntlement with the world, so any immediate danger had passed.

“Right, let me know when Bodush, or any of his compatriots are spotted. I need adventurers stupid enough to go into a Derro infested hell-hole, and I know only of one group that fit that description that have the capability of making it out of there alive with the item I need to save the world. Without the Mad God’s Amulet, we have no hope, any of us.”

The Party’s (Welcome/Going-away) Party (Part 2)

Breaking away from his Uncle, Mendez finds two of his brothers.
“Zumurrud, Tao! I need to speak with you.”
Zumurrud is Mendez’ oldest brother and already in his late thirties, while Tao too is in his early thirties.
Greeting him with warm smiles, both Tao and Zumurrud embrace him.
“What’s the matter littlest Brother?”
“Nothing’s wrong, but I wanted to give you these before I got too drunk.”
With that Mendez hands over two spectacular long bows.
Both the Brothers seem touched but confused by Mendez’ generosity.
“You have already given us each fortunes from the cave of wonders. Why reward us further?”
Mendez pauses for a moment and then tries to explain.
“I ran from my responsibilities but you all stayed and protected each other and our parents. These bows are just my contribution to that protection. Use them well.”

Quick Summary of the Party

Eolar: Wind-bag cleric of St Cuthbert.
Thesis: Razor-toothed Lizard of Destruction.
Bodush: Indifferent Sorcerer of Mass Destruction.
Durin: Rampaging Dwarf of Melee avoidance.
Hawkmoon: Sneering Elf of Raining Death.
Mara'ch: Blue Kobold of minor irritation.
Ragnar: Growling Behemoth of Impressiveness.
Roly: Oddly Obese (considering his hardship) cleric of Pelor
8 x Children: Dirty but healthy.
2 x Hamster-men: Fully fit thanks to Roly.
4 x Sailors: Fully fit thanks to Roly.
4 x Riding horses: Shaken and a little stirred.
Meldo: Alive and Kicking.

The Party’s (Welcome/Going-away) Party (Part 1)

After the blissful introduction of friends and family, Mendez goes off to give out the presents he's acquired from his recent adventures.
He finds his Uncle Mendoza first and pulling him aside, hands him a beautifully stitched pair of leather boots and a solid looking gold ring.
“You’ve always been kind to me Uncle and I wanted to thank you. These boots will help you with your favoured sword-fighting tactic.”
Mendez notices his Uncle looking at the ring.
“The ring? The ring will help when your sword cannot.”
Mendoza’s eyes well up as he embraces the similar looking, but much slenderer Mendez.
“I love you Mendez. Never forget that.”

Yet Another Year Wiser

It’s been a year in real time since I last made everyone age a year and as time passes in an odd (unfathomable) way in game time, we may as well keep this consistent.
Everyone add one year to his or her character.
Any bonuses and penalties should be applied now.
This does not include Ragnar, Mara’ch and Hawkmoon, but would include Elogyn, Chen or Wer if they were ever to come back.

Also, as I’ve been banging on about it for so long, everyone should know exactly how much money he or she have. (If you're not sure, then all you have is your haul from your last adventure.)
Everyone debit one of the following amounts for a years worth of living expenses:
Free board and food (e.g. Eolar): 0gp
Frugal living (e.g. Chen): 50gp
Standard adventurer's living (e.g. Thesis): 500gp
Extravagant living (e.g. Mendez): 1000gp

When the last tree has been felled

Eolar finished flying over the remaining clearings. Each and every one of them had one of those trees in them but none of those used any hamster or sailors as bait. He stopped the search and turned towards the shore where they had left the ship.
He was worried.
When he approached the remains of the once mighty sky ship, he was tense. He materialised and started to walk towards it. A few meters away relief overcame him. St. Cuthbert, the all powerful god, had also taken care of Meldo and the horses. He looked inside and all five looked at him. Meldo looked up from the hay that was scattered around the ship and Eolar could see the resentment in the eyes. "I'm sorry that I had to leave you old friend! But a mule is not made for the jungle!" He started to stroke the head of his trustworthy companion, but Meldo disapprovingly continued feeding.
Eolar had to smile about his mule's stubborness. He detached the other four horses after a quick check that nobdy had taken any equipment. Everything was just as they had left it.

He was about half way round the island when the sun slowly started setting. It was a nice sunset and he stopped to give the horses and Meldo some rest. Looking at the orange sun he thought back a few hours. When the tree had caught him, he had thought that this time he might have gone to far. That he had been too presumptious. But when his magic had failed him and he was just about to accept his fate, St.Cuthbert had shown HIS power and showed him a way to escape. He stared at the sun while reciting a prayer praising the superiority of his god.

Yes, he was protected and all creatures who had dared to attack him so far had suffered greatly. St.Cuthbert had led him to this desolate place. A place where the power of Pelor had failed. And although there were no people left to be guided onto the right path and shown their mistake, Eolar could not help feeling superior as well. Roly had saved 8 children by hiding. With the help of St.Cuthbert, many more lifes and the town could have been saved.
Eolar couldn't see a way off this island yet but was sure that St.Cuthbert would lead him. While prompting the horses to continue the way back to the fallen city, a psalm from the holy book came to his mind:

The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?

He looked to the left where the fading sun illuminated the top of the central rock formation. Yes, whom shall he be afraid of?

Hamster Down

Sukki wakes with a start.
She’s still clinging to the air-sack and still in open water.
Groggily she tries to get her brain working. How long has she been sleeping? Why haven't Mendez' friends come to find her? What was it that roused her?
Suddenly she feels it again. Something is brushing against her leg!
Unable to see into the inky darkness below her, she tries to pull her leg upwards but whatever it is grabs tight and pulls back.
Before she can even scream, she’s dragged down under the surface. Her harness effortlessly snapped from the buoyant air-sack.

When Guinea-pigs Fly

Sukki shivers in the water. She hates water. Not to drink obviously but being immersed in it.
She curses herself for her cowardice. She’d left it too late to land near the island and had drifted too far past to make it back.
Clinging to the partially deflated air-sack, all she can do is wait and hope that Mendez’ friends will come and rescue her.
She feels quite optimistic. Mendez was funny looking but had looked after them when able and had proved to be a good and loyal friend.
Surely his associates would be no different?
Allowing herself a small smile, Sukki prepares herself for the long, wet wait.

Blood will out

Rubbing his eyes, Mendez stumbles downstairs and walks into his Father’s study.
“What happened? Where are my friends?”
Estaban smiles warmly at his favourite son.
“They were gracious enough to run a little errand for me.”
Mendez eyes narrow. Partially due to the hangover he’s suffering from but mostly due to his growing suspicion.
“You didn’t ‘make’ them go did you Father?”
The smile doesn’t waver from Estaban’s face.
“I needed a little help and they were conveniently available. Don’t fuss so much. From what you’ve told me, they’ll easily be up to the challenge.”
“How could you Father? They’re not men to be trifled with. They’ll kill you!”
Only now does Estaban’s smile fall away.
“No they won’t. Not with you here to protect me.”
Mendez’ face turns stern.
“I won’t help you against my friends.”
Estaban merely sighs.
“Yes you will my Son, whether you wish to or not…”

The King (of the Swingers) is Dead

His apes lie dead and dying around him. The interlopers have proven themselves much tougher than he anticipated, but they haven’t faced his strongest apes yet.
They surge forward in perfect formation…

New Banner: Tempted by the forbidden hamster fruit

Luscious and succulent, the last surviving hamster-man dangles from the branches of the huge willow tree at the centre of the clearing. Eolar spies him and quickly goes to his aid. But he forgets the lesson given by Roly only minutes before. "Don't go in the clearings, on pain of DEATH!". But, when did death ever worry the mighty Eolar?

Miles from the other members of the party Eolar materialises and is immediately gripped by the many branches of the tree. Unable to do much more than destroy the odd branch he is dragged incessantly toward the gaping mouth. Death is certain, even the celestial bison can only hold out a short time.

But, incredibly, he turns insubstantial as a cloud once more and floats away in a wisp. Soon the rest are summoned and the hamster is quickly saved by judicious use of invisibilty, fly and teleport. The tree is quickly burned. And the party survive.

But, the question of how they are to get off the damned island is far from resolved. Can they survive the loss of 6 hamster men? Can the ship be repaired? Will it float let-alone fly? How do hamster men breed? Can the apes be taught to man a ship?

I guess we find out next time.

Misadventures Past

When the children finally fall asleep, the priest Roly reaches for another bottle of red wine and tells the Party the sad tale of Ape city.
“A few years ago we were visited by a dark haired stranger. Our entire population was under constant attack by the monstrous, carnivorous apes and we thought all was lost until the good-looking stranger came up with a ridiculously simple plan.
We gathered up pebbles from the beach and when the apes attacked we pelted them with these simple missiles. Most of us missed but the few that hit so enraged the apes that they cast about for something to throw back.
All they had was the fruit growing on the trees. They pelted us with barrage after barrage of bananas and mangos. Even a few of the more dangerous fruits such as pineapples and even the occasional coconut!
The food, although mushed up was still edible.
We were saved!
… Or so we thought.
The stranger, Mendez was his name, left us and after a few more weeks, one of the apes got smart.
When searching for something to throw back at us, one of them simply picked up one of the hundreds of stones left scattered from the previous exchanges.
He threw it back and, unluckily for us, it hit one of the Warriors on the wall.
His skull caved in, the poor Warrior died instantly.
The other apes saw what he’d done and copied him. The tide of the battle changed immediately. Guard after guard was killed and then they scaled the outer wall and were in.
It was a massacre.
I managed to hide some of the children in the basement of the church but could do nothing more. Petitions to Pelor feed us and perversely, we’ve learned that if we stay dirty they can’t seem to sniff us out.”

Thank the (wrong) Gods!

Eolar, Ragnar, Hawkmoon and Durin finally reform from their gaseous forms and join Bodush, Thesis, Mara'ch and the others just inside the main wall of Ape city.
They are just discusiing what to do considering the deserted state of the city when a corpulent figure emerges from one of the buildings and waddles towards the newly arrived group.
“Pelor be praised, salvation is at hand!”
Though caked in dirt and looking like he hasn’t washed in years, Eolar easily recognises the vestments of a Cleric of Pelor.
He is leading eight smaller figures who turn out to be children. The eldest is a girl around eight, the youngest, a boy of four.
The fat priest looks at Eolar joyfully. “I’d almost lost my faith! How did you find us?”
The Cleric introduces himself as ‘Roly’ and though well into middle age, has a naïve look about him.
Perhaps it's the sight of the poor orphans that causes Bodush to surprise everyone by conjuring up a magical mansion, filled with delicious hot food and staffed by invisible servants.
Everyone soon forgets their immediate troubles and despite it still being early, they all relax in safety until the next morning.

Experience has taught us Nothing

Unfortunately yesterday’s debacle, although succesfulish didn’t gain you much experience. The Party is pretty powerful and your opponents were either idiots or stuck-in-the-muds.
Unsurprisingly, no-one went up a level.
Here are the current scores (In experience order):

Mendez: Level 16: 134,925xp (Back where he belongs!)
Eolar: Level 16: 134,642xp (Blind faith beats bad planning.) [edit:creation cost 200XP]
Thes-hiss: Level 16: 128,066xp (What Hamsters?)
Bodush: Level 15: 110,415xp (The Hamsters who can fix the Sky-ship.)
Durin: Level 14: 92,184xp (We should search for them urgently!)
Hawkmoon: Level 13: 80,367xp (And get them to carry our stuff.)
Mara’ch: Level 12: 77,461xp (Sorry I can’t. I’m sunbathing.)
Ragnar: Level 12: 76,244xp (Growl!)

I promise you bigger things next session…
:D

Status Report

The Party have regrouped and made camp in the abandoned guard house just inside the main wall of the desolate city.
Although since waking aboard the Sky-ship, you have already defeated the gigantic Roc, crash landed the Sky-ship, steered it to safety, rescued three sailors (minus the one that died), rescued a Hamster-man, battled dozens of carniverous apes, fled magically and travelled over twenty miles to the deserted city, it is amazingly still only about 10am.

Assif kept track of HPs but what of everything else?

Hawkmoon:
How many arrows has he used?
Other than the Clairvoyance, how many spells has he already cast?

Mara’ch:
Apart from hiding, what has he done?
Has he cast any spells other than attempt to enfeeble the 50 odd strength Roc?

Durin:
He raged against the Carniverous apes but did he also rage against the Roc?
How many javalins did he leave uncollected when the Party left so hurriedly?
How was he flying when fighting the Roc?

Thesis:
Has he got anything other than HPs that can run out?
He did use at least two Potions… (Fly and Water-walk.)

Bodush:
Has cast at least four Teleport spells but How many maximised Fireballs and chain lightnings?

Eolar:
He has cast two Wind walks but what else?
What healing spells did he use on the Hamster-man and the two surviving Sailors?

Ragnar:
Is there a limit to how many times he can change forms back an forth?

What I’m asking for is that everyone makes sure that they note down what they’ve done and what spells and items they’ve used up.

Bad Weather Stops Play

Sadly they'll be no game this evening.
It snowed and it's England.
Next game:
Tuesday next week.
12th January 2010.
TUESDAY ASSIF!
I could do Thursday but I wouldn't be able to get there until 9pm and Scott has a problem with Wednesday...

Current HP

Your current HP chaps

Mara'ch Full: 56 Current: 37
Eolar Full: 124 Current: 61
Thesis Full: 193 Current:161
Durin Full:154 Current:154
Hawkmoon Full:84 Current:60
Bodush Full:69 Current:45
Ragnar Full:91 Current:50

(Edited because poor Kirk couldn't understand it.)

New Banner: Killer Gorilla

Reel them in Eolar and we'll knock them down.

A useful, if somewhat underhanded, use of a spell. Get the apes to do as you say, command them to come to their new master and then hack them down mercilessly. Nice.

Having conquered all of the visible threat, but knowing that this was just the very pate of the ape-headed mountain, we hastily moved on. (I think it might have had something to do with snow.)

Eolar and three others find themselves heading towards the city at an impressive speed in cloud form, only to be met by Bodush and the others who had teleported there, had a cup of tea and found somewhere to hole up.

Level up and find out why someone left the gate to the city open. And, by the way, where was our welcoming commitee??

Arcane Train vs. Divine Airways

Bodush takes in the ruined gate before leading his group through it and is unsurprised by what he sees.
The city has been brutally sacked. No people line the streets. No shopkeepers or city-guards.
No one.
Interestingly he sees no corpses or even bloody remains.
All any of them can see are the feral animals and the occasional rat.
Still, the carnivorous apes are over twenty miles away. Bodush can feel himself relax and his little companion ‘Gajarpan’ hisses contentedly.
By the time Eolar and his bunch of clouds arrive, Bodush’s team have found an empty guardhouse to camp in.
“What kept you?” asks Bodush sarcastically.
Annoyingly for Eolar, he can’t snap off a cutting retort while vaporous.

Train of Thought

Unfortunately as Bodush can’t actually see the city, he teleports everyone he has with him to the next best place.
There are shrieks from the sailors and a whimper from the Hamster-man as they find themselves on top of the giant Ape-head Mountain at the centre of the island.
They don’t have time to fall however before Bodush spots what he’s looking for and teleports them all to just outside the great gate of the city.
It’s only taken them about ten seconds to travel twenty-five miles!

Four’s a Cloud

Eolar leads Ragnar, Durin and Hawkmoon across the twenty-five or so miles. They travel high above the treetops but fail to see a single sailor or Hamster-man.
They do see several of the strange clearings that Hawkmoon had described after his scrying spell. About a hundred feet in diameter with single trees at their centre.
At the tremendous speed they’re travelling, it only takes them about half an hour before they arrive at the walled city.

Beaten by a Bunch of Damned Dirty Apes

Driven back by the baffling magics of the disgusting ugly man-things, the huge apes prepare themselves for another assault.
Disconcertingly though, the Party take this opportunity to make good their escape.
Eolar calls to the heavens and transforms himself, the massive Ragnar, Hawkmoon and Durin to smoke and they drift off into the air.
Bodush smirks to himself. “Only four?” he mutters under his breath.
Looking around he does a quick head count: Thesis, three sailors (two alive, one dead), and one of the freakish Hamster men.
He can do that. Just as he’s casting the spell however, the little blue Kobold, ‘Mara’ch’ sprints back into view from his hiding place.
Unable to take an extra person (regardless of his tiny size), Bodush is forced to abandon the dead sailor.
At least the apes won’t let his body go to waste.
With a flash of arcane light, they are gone.