Another Life

A morning of calm

 
As the group prepared to enter the Calmlands, Jarek and Milo discussed their travel after the plains.
 
The Dwarves. Due to wars with the goblins and other monstrous peoples in the mountains, the dwarves have receded to their capital of Hur Toruhm. For us, this would be the longest route to Rhaetha, but we would definitely find civilization on the way.
 
The Unknown Lake. We can take a more direct path through the shores of an uncharted lake at the edge of the Calmlands. There is less risk than, say, the mountains, but we h ave no idea what is in store for us there.
 
The Feymarsh. An ancient fae kingdom stood where the Feymarshes are now, and though the nation is no more the swamps and fens are full of eldritch magics; hallucinations and arcane abnormalities are around every corner. Definitely the shortest of the routes, but the most perilous.
 
Sera piped up after a while; she has briefly traversed the Calmlands (whilst hunting one of her marks for capture).
 

Extraplanar

 
Four days of (relatively) silent travel pass before our group heard anything. A strange collection of words (none of which make any sense) wafted over a small hillock. After much argument Jarek kept the princess with him around a small fire, and the rest under the protection of Bee's pass without trace decided to investigate.
 
Unfortunately for the investigators, the sounds were coming from bizarre, foreign creatures: fungal-crustacean humanoids, with eyestalks and antennae, and vestigial bat-wings. Sera, from somewhere, pulled up the name "mi-gos", aberrations from another plane, adding with a whisper, "I love bug monsters." Thankfully, everyone returned unscathed; Sera also failed to sense any extraplanar portals within the surrounding landscape. Saldar's grace.


 
Two weeks pass, with very little incident, until the landscape changes -- we come across what can only be described as a gigantic circus tent.
 

Ramora's Inn

 
Thankfully, we had heard of this place -- Ramora's Inn, a checkpoint of sorts within the Calmlands. It has survived almost impossibly in the dangers of the surrounding landscapes. Sera had stayed at the inn once before, and could speak to the safety it provides.
 
Outside the doors we were stopped about ten feet away by a butler-looking type, who dispelled some kind of protective magics before waving us in. Tiberius commented that the warding magic is quite powerful (probably the most powerful he'd ever seen).
 
The "tent" opened up to the lobby of a rather fanciful inn. An elderly woman across the lobby took interest in our group as we entered: "Ah, they're here!" She qualified her statement; there are not many who traverse the Calmlands, and our existence is strange. As a "test!" she offered to us an hourglass pendant: "I will judge whether you may stay here."
 

Judgement

 
Milo -- a troubled past that longs for a better future; a danger to onesself out of self-fear and anxiety. "Don't burn down my establishment, love. I sense you will find the future you long for."
 
Tiberius -- a noble warrior who yearns for something greater; through finding onesself you ]will find what you desire.
 
Leigha -- royalty, a welcome surprise; one who is safe with the friends they keep.
 
Bee -- fated to become a sister, a guardian of the wilds, already chosen; one confused that a forest reaches only to the edges of its branches; the wilds choose its guardian; there is a sister that we have lost, and Bee will replace her.
 
Jarek -- also of the forest, but not of the forest; no one knows where this one is going; be cautious, but not too cautious; let your guard down, but not too much.
 
Sera -- one who does not know half as much as is thought, and will be learned in the unfortunate hard way; and your birds will not save you in the end.
 
Tired of the Long Road -- Remora spoke of the beast's desire to help as well as the desire to see it's family.


 
Remora is baba's sister (and therefore our aunt).
 
The butler-figure took us on a short trip through the inn -- the place is impossibly large and complex (very Studio Ghibli-esc).
 
 

Teatime

The tearoom was surprisingly empty for the inn's size; it seems we missed the bulk of the company. Our group sat down next to one another, with Auntie Remora and the butler-figure at a nearby table. Bee and I made smalltalk with auntie.
 
The tea we were offered was quite good; it was not until a few minutes into sipping that we started slumping onto the table -- the drinks were poisoned. "It is I, Gareth!" (and Russ). The poison seemed to be a paralytic, leaving us cognizant but otherwise paralyzed. Tiberius was able to get from the dastardly duo that they've been hired to snatch the princess, and there's competition.
 
We were incapacitated until staff at Remora's Inn found us poisoned; they offered us antitoxin, and with that we dashed off to catch. Outside, we found Gareth and Russ piloting a strange mechanical device with a large (wrecking ball) metal device hanging beneath it as it floated in the sky).
 
Thinking fast, Milo cast an illusion spell, forcing Russ to believe that a terrifying mi-go had phased through the ether to appear in front of the flying ship.
 
Tiberius fashioned a whip out of the rope of holding and managed to lasso onto the strange ship. Bee followed up with entangle, grabbing onto the rope and anchoring the two to the earth. Spell-slinging ensued, but not until Tiberius and Jarek were knocked unconscious by the machine's giant wrecking ball. The blow destroyed the bones in Jarek's left leg.
 
As a last "fuck-you", the strange ship disappeared in a shimmering light, taking with it the last of Bee's energy; she began to fall towards the earth, unconscious.
 
"Tiberius, as I once carried you: you must carry me." Tiberius pulled out his bone-repair potion. And boy did it repair Jarek's bones: for several minutes (even an hour), the bones painfully regrew themselves back into the places they once were. Jarek felt every moment of the ordeal.
 

Down Time?

 
As we scurried back into the inn, a roar on the horizon signaled the majestic and dangerous arrival of a dragon. The red drake thundered overhead, trying to break the inn's magical barrier (but to no avail) before soaring off.
 
We stayed in the inn a week, for Jarek's leg to heal. As he grew better, the princess' health started to decline again.
 
Broken (left) leg: half move speed. Movement requires a cane or crutch. The Dash action will now throw you prone after the dash. Disadv. on balance checks. If treated with a splint, will heal in 8 weeks.