[Last Time, on El WHAT?!: Our heroes made it back to home base quite a bit easier than they came in, on account of a teleport spell, which made one particular person quite violently sick. One round of projectile vomiting later, they all bedded down in the inn for a week of rest, relaxation, and trying to figure out where the hell to go next.] [We find our heroes, or some of them, anyway, just waking up. It's a new day! Plan with ZEST!] [Session... start!] * Emmet is seated in the inn's common room finishing off a hearty breakfast by the time anybody else in the group makes it downstairs. * Fadi walks down the stairs, stretching. He yawns. "What's up guys?" * Tif meanders down the stairs a bit late. She looks somewhat unkept and terribly comfortable with it. She plops onto a seat next to Emmet and orders a big breakfast. * Fadi sits down at the same table as Emmet and orders up a large breakfast as well. "Sleep well?" * Emmet pushes his plate away from him and nods a greeting to Tif and then to Fadi. "Yep. These beds are much nicer than anything I'd slept on during training." * Tif nodds and diggs in to her breakfast, stopping only momentarily to chat. "After all the *chomp* hectic running around *chomp* lately, they felt great." So, about what happened in that cave. We have to find the... couplets that make up an entire poem so we can go home, right? I.. Guess so. I just wish Harold had had an opportunity to explain to us what his part of that whole thing meant. * Fadi devours his breakfast. He grins. * Emmet nods. Somethin' like that. We'll need to find another one, apparently. I understood that much from the... dragon. Thing. It was a dragon. What else do you call a giant lizard with wings. * Emmet shakes his head. "A dinosaur? Maybe just not possible? I don't know. I wouldn't have believed any of this could happen a month ago." Pfft, well, we're here. It didn't happen before, but it's happening now. * Tif nodds. "Well, I guess we can all agree that we need to find those rhymes next. I'm also hoping to find out who that person with the Auryn on his other hand was." * Fadi chugs some of whatever he has too drink. "So we're gonna have to deal. Honestly, I think it's pretty neat. I mean, we're exploring and seeing things not possible normally." Hrmm... yeah. You're both right. So we work with what we have and what we know. Which I guess isn't much. I get the impression that these rhymes are going to be scattered all over the place, and that means we'll have to figure out where to hunt for the next one. ... But that's all I can figure out. I was never very good at puzzles. What was the next part of the riddle? Song, whatever. We'd have to know where we were to know what was next... and I'm not sure it's that simple. We're probably going to need to ask around about this. Ask random people and see if they know anything? * Fadi chuckles. * Emmet spreads his hand on the table. His dark skin flushes a bit. "I don't know, it was just a thought." I'd think one of our mentors would know what to do... I hope. That'd be a better bet. * Fadi smirks. * Tif finishes up her meal. "MMM... good. So, now that I'm all full, let's get moving and find our mentors." * Fadi finishes as well. Let's find Alfred, then. He's probably the closest one. * Tif nodds her agreement and stands to move out into the daylight. * Harold heads down the stairs, still brushing sleep from his eyes. HOwever much rest he got, it hardly seems to have been enough.... * Nick comes down a second after Harold, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. "Where are we going?" mwuh... -- er, um, yes, what are we doing today? Hey guys! We weren't sure you were around this morning. I think we're just headed off to find Alfred and ask if he knows anything about the rhymes, song, couplets, and stuff. * Fadi stands up and flips on his shades, cracking a smile right after he puts them on. ... ahh! That's an excellent idea! * Nick pulls out his own sunglasses. "Cool. Maybe we can get moving to a city with.. I dunno, smooth roads?" I'm gonna get out of practice. * Fadi chuckles. Moving? What, and leave our teachers behind? I'm not sure we're ready for that.... * Draghmal pushes his way through the doors, voice booming. "Not ready for what?" ... Draghmal! Hey man, what's up? Hey! Good to see you. * Nick nods, rubbing his own eyes. Good morning. Morning. What brings you here? * Draghmal waves a hand in the general direction of the bar and a beer pours itself and floats over to him. * Draghmal hoists the mug. "Beer!" ... ahh, I see. ^^; So what exactly are you not ready for? * Fadi laughs. Hey, good a reason as any. Well, we're all rested.. so we're thinking of what to do next. Yeah. You never did get around to telling me what happened in that damn cave. * Nick watches Draghmal's trick, brightens slightly, and grins. And while you're telling me about that, anybody else want a beer? Nah, drinking's not for me. uh... no thanks. A bit too early for me... ^^; Sure. Beer for my darkskinned friend! * A tankard of beer deposits itself in front of Fadi a few seconds later. Okay... you guys are being awfully quiet about this. What happened in there that you can't tell me? * Fadi tests it with a sip, then drinks a bit more. Not the entire thing, but definetly a good amount of it. Well, I think you get that we snuck into the camp and encountered the leader. After that is when things got... odd. The floor lit up, there was this weird dude and a huge dragon.. Been a while since I've had some good alcohol. Like... one day. * Fadi grins. Yes, he made reference to a lot of things that we couldn't quite understand... * Tif glances at Harold. "All that talk about you getting the first... part... of what we need... Well, I guess I was hoping you'd know a little more than we did about it." ... the couplet, you mean? Uh... yeah. It's in your head... doesn't that give you any insight into it? ... well, it's trying to tell us where to go next. * Harold offers that up, but it's clearly all the special insight he has into the meaning of the lines. What's it telling you, then? * Fadi drinks some more. It's saying... * Harold pauses to try to think of how to say it. 'Go there'? 'Northeast'? Well, it's sort of like a _pull_ in that direction.... So yeah. I guess the issues are these: The boss of the camp seemed to know we were coming. There was a man with an Auryn on his wrong hand who helped and then disappeared. And lastly, after a trial, Harold got a couplet and we apparently need more. * Tif glances at Harold. "Well, that looks easier to say than you made it sound initially." Northeast is the mountains again. There may be more caves up there. I guess I hadn't thought about it hard enough... ^^; * Fadi nods. Unless you've got some indication of distance. That would help. No, I really can't say anything about distance. It's just... a pull. That's a little harder to work with. It doesn't seem... prudent... to set out in that direction without knowing where we're going. * Fadi shrugs. "What's the point if you already know where you're gonna end up?" Besides, what else are we gonna do? I'm sorry I can't say any more. * Draghmal snorts loudly. "Be glad you've got that much." I mean, we *could* just kill goblins until we're old.. But I want to get home to sweet, sweet pavement. * Tif shrugs. "I just thought we should find out more before setting out... but if you're all sure this is better..." There's just one problem with finding out more. What, precisely, do you wish to find out, and how, precisely, are you going to find it out in this little town? Exactly my point earlier. We're not gonna ask random people. And there's noone here who knows what we're talking about. Is there a larger city we could go to? * Tif nodds at Harold's suggestion. Bigger cities are always good. You'd want to check at the Library, or in Gateway. If nothing else, you can visit a temple and consult a god. If they'll tell you, anyway. It's probably too much to hope for electricity, eh? What would you want electricity for? Where we're from electricty powers lights and stuff. ... oh, I'd think so. Well, where do we want to visit, lady and gentlemen? You'll find out in a few hundred years. Good stuff. Why in the world would I need electricity to power a light? That's what a light spell is for. No magic, also. ..Speaking of magic. Hey, Draghmal? Yeeeees? You're a wizard-type guy, right? Uhh.. * Draghmal frowns. ..Whaaat? I believe he's a 'sorceror', isn't he? I'm a sorceror. There _is_ a difference, and you would do well to learn it. It may save your life someday. Okay, whacha got that's not the same? ..Okay. Anyway, that levitating thing you did earlier.. * Harold tries not to look too embarrassed. * Draghmal looks back and forth between Fadi and Nick, and looks thoroughly confused. "Gentlemen, please. I may have two ears, but that doesn't mean I can listen to both of you at once." Oh, sorry. Fadi, be quiet for a sec. * Tif facepalms at this whole faux pas. * Fadi nods. "Yeah, sure. What'cha saying Nick?" Alright. So, that levitation magic.. Could you, like, put it on some special shoes I've got? Theoretically. Why? Because back home, I'm pretty good with them, and they move fast. If they're a little off the ground, and you take the wheels off, they can go almost anywhere. Nick, what are you getting at? Hoverskates, man. Hoverskates. * Dragmal looks thoughtful. * Nick grins as the image plays out in his mind. I could ask Albert to take the wheels off.. Someone's watched too much Back to the Future. It should certainly be _possible._ Don't diss that movie, man. Would you do it? ... could you discuss your hoverskates after we've decided what we're going to do next? I'm on a roll, chill. I fear you misunderstand the nature of these things. Huh? * Fadi leans backwards. "He don't know how they work." The crafting of magical items is expensive and time consuming. Crafting a powerful item can take months of time, and require the resources of an entire adventuring company. ..oh. And this is a powerful one? It is not, perhaps, so powerful as many legendary items, but first I would have to discover the proper conditions in which to craft it, obtain the proper materials, and bind all the enchantments in place. All while ignoring any business of my own. ... so! Shall we leave to visit Gateway? * Nick sighs and looks down. "Damn." Good plan! * Fadi nods. Let's. Alright, then. I guess we should make some preparations before we go... I wonder if we shouldn't train more first, too... Training's good, I guess.. Well, yeah. Better we can take care of ourselves, less trouble we get in when the shit hits the fan. Train if you feel it necessary, and then move on. It is not the way of the adventurer to stay too long in any one place. Hmm... alright. I know I'd like to speak with Feld again... I would really like to have gotten access to my spells before we set out on a long journey. That would probably be good. And I should polish up my skills with Draghmal too. Something about the usefullness of a spell that shows me what things are magical. I need to get better with lockpicking and stuff. Never know when we'll be attacked by a fearsome treasure chest. * Fadi laughs. * Harold scowls at Nick a little, but hten moves on with business. "Well, how long do you think we'll need?" Why do that when you can just break it open with one hit? Because rogues do the subtlety thing. You stick to breaking people. Because you're less likely to damage what's inside. * Draghmal downs the remains of his third mug of beer and stands. The mug carries itself back behind the bar and begins idly cleaning itself with a bar rag. For my purposes, I don't think more than a day or so would be necessary. What he said, too. hmm... ok... I'll see you later, Tiffany. * Draghmal walks out the front door. So... I guess we go our separate ways today? Sure. * Nick sighs and walks for the door. * Fadi nods. "Alfred's at the smithy, right?" * Tif nodds as well. Let's meet here this evening so we can all compare notes on our progress... [Session... end!]