Shade pt 2

When last we left our oh so brave and noble heroes, they had begun to arrive deeper within Dragonier.

The flying city of Krilzor, one a majestic sight to behold indeed within the fallen nation of Dragonier, would have inspired awe and told you of the glory of a people that has since been extinguished. Now it remains as a tastement to the savagery and evil of Heth.

Or at least it would if, you know, you could much see it. Right now, the city is apparently encased in what appears to be some kind of utter blackness, dark as the Void itself. Heck, given Heth's supposed connection to the Void, perhaps it IS.

Either way, this is the place and called here you were.

GAME: Kravar rolls perception: (14)+18: 32

GAME: Un'eth rolls perception: (12)+25: 37

GAME: Stirling rolls perception: (10)+17: 27

GAME: Kerbasi rolls perception: (7)+11: 18

GAME: Durrankar rolls perception: (5)+22: 27

Stirling flicks a stuff of cigar to the ground and grinds it underneath the heal of his mithril leg. "Looks like we are going in. Looks safe enough for birds." he comments with a grimmace. "Everyone ready for a fight?"

Un'eth has seen, both firsthand and through visions, the work of Heth and the Void. For a moment, the sphere of utter black is a terrifyingly familiar image. Her focus then promptly returns, and she takes note of other creatures at the periphery; living creatures, or at least the forms of them. Claws point to the flying birds. "Carrion feeders, there."

"...I'm just hopin' this isn't really a 'kill zone,'" Kerbasi is saying of Krilzor. He stands towards the front of the airship. The Gray Triangle hangs about his neck. Its weight is comfort, given the land they're in. He wears the robes of his order, and given the height they've traveled and his normal habits, Acleese has long sense given up on the hair. He reaches up to adjust his glasses. "It might be. I ah, wager we might want t'see what's down there first, though. I could call upon th' Lady's Eye, give us all th' form of clouds, gird us against th' eye of th' common undead...but I'm open t'suggestions?"

Kravar has been peering through his spyglass at the city snd then nods. "If the birds can fly through that, we should be able to..." He pauses and turns his head to look at the airship. Glancing around for gnome 'crew' he remarks, "Should we go under our own power? Perhaps the ship can go back across the border until we need to return south."

Durrankar says, "I'm hoping not either." Durrankar says to Kerbasi. "It looks like the carrion birds are flying in easily.....""

Brundle and Fythe, those intrepid airship pilots, are staring at the darkness.

"We can attack it," offes Brundle.

"Attack the darkness?" asks Fythe. "Are you mad? No, we're going to let these brave souls march into it, thank you."

"...I--" don't want to hold more funerals than we need to, the Vardaman almost says. Then remembers that's not the best of things to say. Not everyone dances in graveyards, shaking hands with Deceased Aunt Julia and swapping recipe ideas. Funerals are great, maaan. "It's not a bad idea," he says, instead. "If there aren't any other ideas, heh. I'll ask th' Gray Lady if She might help us." Atr this point, it seems the darkness is just going to wait for you.

And why not? It's not going anywhere.

So pointed out, the carrion birds are still doing their thing.

Stirling nods to Kerbasi "Its best to not announce our presence until it is neccisary. If you have a mist form spell to get us in, lets do that then. The less they know the better." he adds as his red artifical eye stares at the ball of blackness.

Kravar looks back and forth between the party members. "Fythe is right," he says to Brundle. "Better we do this alone. Once we are off, take your ship back across the border - as far as you must to remain safe." Then he looks at Stirling and Kerbasi. "This magic will turn -us- into mist? Will we still be able to fight?"

"Well..." the priest says. He runs a hand over his sleeve, to resettle it. "This prayer will last around fifteen hours, if She answers. You'll be able to assume th' form of a cloud, and back again as often as you wish durin' that time. The transfer from solid t' wind takes about a minute, so please be mindful. ...th' second prayer will ask th' Lady to hide us from Heth's servants. If it's unintelligent, or mindless, th' prayer works wonders an' we should pass on by. Something with a mind of its own might see us. ...but that's less likely too, if we're in wind form. In wind form, we look like spirits or clouds, an' move around 60 miles per hour in flight."

GAME: Kerbasi casts Wind Walk. Caster Level: 15 DC: 23

Durrankar says, "I think we can do that. But first sign of trouble....we get off the airship and the airship runs. All right?""

GAME: Kerbasi casts Hide From Undead. Caster Level: 15 DC: 18

Kerbasi says, "...Lady, grand us th' form of spirits, an' guard us against th' eyes of undeath." Kerbasi makes the incantations, and sets the offering. The air chills, and goes as quiet as the grave. Then of course, magic! The priest fades from view, becoming as ethereal as a cloud above."

Stirling breaths out, shakes his limbs out a little as he prepares to go under the effect of the spell. "Alright, lets do it. Everyone keep close." he says with nod to Kerbasi. As his body turns to mist he rushes forward towards the city.

Durrankar begins to turn to mist...which mean his staff does too. He starts to yammer and curse and more at ever increasing speeds until his voice is no more. And Durrankar says 'finally....silence'. At least for a second, until Durrankar too, turns to mist.....

Kravar grins broadly as Kerbasi explains. "That's the best magic I've heard of yet," he admits. Then he glances at the others. "We can fly in a two lines," he holds his hands up in an upside down V shape. "Like birds do when they travel together. Kerbasi can be in the front, since it is his spell..." He peers at the darkness-encircling what he hopes is really a floating city. "Find a place to land first, just to orient ourselves, and regroup. Once we're all ready we can explore. If it's too dark to see each other...I'll sound a horn, and we can regroup and try again."

Kravar looks up to see how his plan is going over and notices half the party has already turned to mist and sped off. Red-faced, Kravar does the same!

"Someone with better eyes than me might prefer t'take the lead. Perhaps one of th' reptilians?" Kerbasi suggests. The young priest adjusts his glasses, though the motion is more mimed at this point. The mist-hand moves up to grasp the mist-lenses, and move them as they float along. "An' did anyone see the vultures?"

The vultures did not seem to draw any unusual attention, and so Un'eth joins them. Black scales alter to feathers as the mass beneath them shrinks and rearranges itself. As the Death-Singing shaman utters words to alter the others, she is already one more carrion bird in the sky.

Mist and vultures!

Soon enough, you're moving through the starry sky to join them, leaving the airship behind.

"You know what the world needs?" asks Brundle.

"What?" says Fythe.

"More corgis."

"Agreed!"

And then they wait as you gain distance. Finally, you're reaching the edge of the bubble. There is a chill to it as you touch it and everything seems to slow down, but within a few seconds, it passes, it lifts, and you're within a city that is itself darkened and damaged. Glimmres of light, including one near to you, stem from still (if barely) active mana-lights. The vultures appear to hve been drawn to a handful of very rotten wights that have long since become inactive due to their inability to find any positive lift-sustainign energy. Certainly wights, yes, given their sstretched skin, palliad appearances and more.

This entire city of Krilzor is shrouded in this chilling darkness, but it doesn't appear to be doing much for the city's undead populace.

Heh...that isn't something I'd ever thought of. Creatures like th' wight are always hungry for th' souls of the livin'. If there's no one around...we may have cannibalistic wights on our hands. Too bad for them, I suppose." No sympathy, there. Kerbasi is regarding the wights and other fallen undead, if any, as they land. A study from a safe distance. Well. Safe here is relative, isn't it?

Stirling follows the Kerbasi mist down and pulls out his deathray as soon as he materializes himself. "City is probably full of them, careful not to draw attention." says the chrome clad artifice pointing a very large four barreled gun.

Durrankar is also misting down with kerbasi. Once they 'land' he looks to Stirling, then towards the undead. He's being very cautious...

Kravar floats down next to the others, then begins to ask in a lowered voice, "How do we--" in mid-sentance his form begins to change back to normal. "Ah." It looks like it's going to take just as long as Kerbasi warned. To pass the time he begins looking around. He can't use his spyglass yet so he watches at the vultures and their grisly meal, then looks around at the buildings and the still-working lights. "Has anyone seen or heard anything like this?" he finally asks the party. "An entire city shrouded in darkness and chill"

Durrankar says, "This makes my skin crawl...under my scales."

...you are now on a quiet street, really, in the middle of a town of darkness. The chilld settles in your bones now, present long enough that you can really tune it out if you want to. It's not having any real effect on you, in any case, beyond a little of the old discomfort. Nothing some bold adventurers can't tune out. The carrion birds land on the wight and begin pecking away, pulling away bits of flesh for their meal. And why not? Wight meat is tasty meat.

"I don't know just of th' top of my head," the priest says. "I don't reckon any of us like bein' here, though. I guess it looks to me like Heth has a bit of gas. Maybe some of it's finally escapin," he says. Maybe the city got caught in a dragon-sized fart, he suggests. "Let's find some of th' old temples, or mage guilds? An' poke around? Any place that may have had power to it, I reckon. What do y'all think of that? Any other ideas?"

GAME: Kerbasi rolls knowledge/history: (7)+12: 19

GAME: Stirling rolls spellcraft: (18)+23: 41

GAME: Kerbasi rolls spellcraft: (13)+15: 28

Stirling scans the surroundings, his red eye taking in the structures around them. "Looks like... a darkness spell but on a very large scale. No single wizard does this, perhaps finding its source will provide us with a clue as to why we are here." he comments nodding to the city center.

GAME: Durrankar rolls spellcraft: Trained Use Only: 0

"Heh, yeah. All I can think of now is it was a small center for art. Some of it th' erotic sort, I suppose, but it was never what you'd call important. I mean...when I'd heard of it, it was allus a footnote to another place. Or, some wizard was visitin' to find ideas for more personal towers, if y'uh. Catch the meanin'. ANYHOW, I guess those places might be a place t'start," Kerbasi says, adding to the artificer's report. The young priest surreptitiously rubs at his arms. It's cold.

Durrankar says, "For all we know, this could just be a dead zone....." he says with a roll of his eyes."

"Heh. Well, let's look for th' source, then?" suggests Kerbasi. Mist occasionally swirls around his feet, and others. It's a reminder of the still-present magic, though they're in corporeal form. "We could try lookin' for their mages' guild, or some of th' temples. Or--did y'have an idea?" the priest asks, turning to Stirling, who appears to be thinking.

Kravar rubs his chin. "A library perhaps, something where scholars would have kept records..."

"I have enough ward t'last us most of the day. Once it starts t'get dark, we'll need to find a place to hide," Kerbasi says, after nodding to Kravar. The priest adjusts his lenses. "I suppose we'd be checkin' for recent histories? Or...this occurred after the city fell? I suppose I am assumin' that," he says.

Stirling nods "Library might be a good start but something powerful is causing this darkness so I figure its center is a clue we can follow up on as well. An artifact or something or... " the artificer sighs "Lets get moving, I don't want to stay in one place long."

Durrankar says, "Good idea. Lets find the center of this and bring it down....then maybe we can find out what caused it..."

"Heh, alright. Well, th' library is as good as any. We might check recent histories. ...or I suppose foundin' documents. ..." Kerbasi sets off after Stirling does, along with the rest of them.

Kravar looks at the wights. He has a shortbow out now, but he hesitates before closing his pack. "One thing is certain, we should stay together. And keep near cover - buildings and walls rather than the center of streets."

GAME: Durrankar rolls 1d20+3+2: (5)+3+2: 10

GAME: Kerbasi rolls stealth: (20)+7: 27

GAME: Durrankar rolls stealth: (7)+1: 8

GAME: Stirling rolls stealth: (4)+2: 6

GAME: Kravar rolls stealth+2: (14)+5+2: 21

SLow.

Very slow.

Let's face it, you're not the /stealthiest/ bunch, which just means creeping through the city slowly. With Kerbasi taking a stab at guessing the architecture, you're able to make your way thgrough the streets towards the approximate city center. These streets are packed.

..with rubble.

And wights, actually. Most of them aren;t moving. They've fallen into inactivity due to the lack of tasty life force to feed on. Some of them seem to show signs of having been scavenged by carrion eaters and rats and such.

Finally, you're making progress towards the center of the city. A great many buildings of elaborate design, thouh faded and damaged, You begin to pass through a market, now, or at least what once was. It shows the signs of survivors who tried to battle off the wights. Overturn3ed talls made into makeshift barricvades and more...