Episode 7 -- Towards the Next Place

 <--Josh was not at this session.  Riikka played his character. -->

Daumphney was semi-comotose while laying on the stone floor.  He was still badly hurt and exhausted from the fight against the necromancer.  The rest of the team was debating what to do next as smoke from the fire Arpina lit in the wizard's bedroom seeped into the chamber.  As the team heard rock and wood cracking they collectively surmised either the Arpina's arson or the team's other breaches of the tower's magical barriers had weakened the structure enough to make total collapse imminent.

The team resolved to jump out a window.  This was an easy decision for Mortimer because the flying scroll he had used less than an hour prior was still in effect.  Lumi said she would just "misty step" out of there.  Mortimer figured he could carry Daumpney's semi-comotose body out while flying -- at least far enough to be clear of falling rocks.  Only Arpina was left without a way out.  Mortimer said he would tie off a rope to a tree or rock outside so she could zip line out.  He started looking in his backpack for a pulley and harness she could use.  But shortness of time prompted her to use her shield instead of the pulley.

The escape went according to plan.  However, Mortimer did lose his grip of Daumpney, who was writhing deliriously in pain while still 30 feet above the ground.  Fortunately Daumpney's monk training caused him to land well so he took no damage from the fall.  Daumpney was also fortunate that he landed outside the zone of falling rock.  Mortimer quickly guided crippled and nearly asphysiatic Daumpney through the thick dirt cloud to Arpina  after lifting Daumpney to his feet.  

The team members climbed to the nearest high point of the mountain to get their bearings.  All they could discern from their location was that the entire mountainside that had held the tower was now collapsed.  They surmised the horse and its two precious bottles of whiskey were also destroyed along with everything else that had been on the final stretch of trail to the tower.

Lumi transformed into a small bird to get an improved vantage point from higher up.  Upon her return she recommended the team travel due north across the rocky highland forest to an imposing tall structure.  She thought the tall structure might be part of the mining town north of Oak Pine known as Dhun Murul.

But first the group had to descend to below the tree line and find a camping spot before night fall.  The team went with Lumi's choice of campsite a little below the tree line.  The night passed uneventfully without interruption.  Lumi and Arpina ate a stew of wild berries and mushrooms Lumi harvested near the campsite.  Mortimer ate rations he brought with him.  Daumpney just focused on recovering from his wounds.  Lumi kept watch because she needed very little or no sleep.

The team hiked north the next morning.  Arpina was wishing her beautiful warhorse were with her.  Mortimer wanted a horse as well to carry Daumpney, who was still hurt bad enough to be having trouble keeping up.

The team reached the structure around mid-day or late morning.  Close up it had the appearance of being a very old and long abandoned ruin.  Mortimer shouted "Hello!" in Dwarvish at the structure.  A large murder of ravens swarmed into the sky from the structure's roof in response.

Two starving horses were tied up near an entrance.  They appeared to be near death.  Lumi fed them some oats she found in their saddlebags and magically conversed with them.  The horses told her they normally lived at the royal stables but had been travelling with their courtly owners for three years in search of the missing prince of Astren.  They told Lumi their riders had disappeared into the building entrance two weeks ago.

Mortimer was amazed that horses could be capable of so much intelligence.  His upbringing at Raven Brook's tannery had conditioned him to think of horses as nearly mindless brutes -- mere appliances that when worn out by age and a years of labor were only useful as sources of raw materials for leather and glue.  But these horses were clearly worthy of more respect.  Mortimer wondered if he had been misjudging the many horses he had dispatched during his 12 years of leatherworking.

Arpina continued searching through the horse's saddlebags.  She found a map of Astren and a travel  journal.  The journal showed the riders were knights of the court who were in their 3rd year of questing for the lost prince.  Their journal indicated the building at this location was the ancient Monastary of the White Raven and they believed this is where they would find the lost prince.

The team untied the horses and removed their saddles.  Lumi directed them to go to a nearby meadow where they could feast on grass.  Daumpney went with their horses to make sure they find them safely.

The team minus Daumpney then entered the old ruined building to find the lost knights.  Past the entrance they found a large chamber and what appeared to be a solid stone alter upon a wide dais at the chamber's far end.  Mortimer went directly to the alter and started investigating it closely.   He saw dust patterns on the floor that indicated the alter had been slid out of position and someone had been pulled feet first into the alter's current position.  Arpina tied a rope around Mortimer's waist to prevent him from being irretrievably pulled away if something within the hidden passage suddenly pulled him in.

Mortimer found a recent handprint in the dusty cobwebs in the top ledge of the alter.  He put his hand there and pushed.  This made the alter move a little.  He pushed harder for slightly better results.  But he was not strong enough to push the alter aside by himself.  Arpina and Lumi joined him.  Arpina's tremendous strength was the deciding factor for pushing the alter aside to reveal steps leading down beneath the surface of the dais.

After pushing aside the alter, some details of its locking mechanism became visible.  These details implied the team had not found the easiest way to move the alter.

<-- The session ended here -->