The Truth hurts

Adventure: The Truth hurts
GM: Dean Ellis
Session: Spring 811
Night: Wednesdays starting 13th Sept 11
Level: Newtonian
Location: Chez Ellis in Onehunga

Some of the information here may be of use.

Party

• Lyric played by Michelle - or Tari?
• Mortimer - played by Martin
• Valentine - a human played by Jim
• Pretty Flower - an elf played by William
• Teeanna - a fey played by Hannah
• Pierre the Halfling - a hafling played by Ian
• Tsayoi - a giant played by Chris

Employer

Princess Ozma of oz

Mission

Off to Oz, all is not well

Pay

Money, whats that? I have some nice dolls.

Treasure

Summary

TBA

Scribe Notes

Session 1

1st Thaw

I found myself at a loose end, and somewhat in need of employment, so I signed up to a likely looking adventure. But, they were fully-employed, and so I somehow ended up on the adventure to look after a Princess of Oz. This did not seem like the normal meat of adventure that I dine on, but, on the other hand, I noticed a giant of Kinlu called Tsayoi - he is a fellow fire mage and similarly unskilled at magic. Oddly, we had never met.

It seemed that any adventure that included a fire mage giant warrior would be likely to offer some opportunity for mayhem, money and the chance to bring the wicked to justice.

My other companions were Mortimer Graves, our party leader. He is a reformed black mage (now a wiccan) with a reformed half-devil(now a fairy toad) and an Alchemist of great power.

Our military scientist was Pierre the Halfling, an illusionist and something of an earth mage. Teeana the Fae also attended, she being some kind of sorceror of the mind and practictitioner of glamourye. And also Pretty Flower whose gloom is like the promise of leprosy. But, he is happily disposed to it, withal. Which left Lyric, the flying dwarven enchanter.

Braced by such support that the Guild could offer, we entered a specially reinforced room to speak with Princess Ozma. She seemed extremely moody, each mood having an impact on the weather. Which was odd, because we were inside. Rain is particularly depressing when it's falling in your living room.

It seems that there is something rotten in the state of Oz, and so we resolved to go there and find out what.

Guild Security gave us some of the tears that Ozma shed when the mood took her. They had various unpredictable effects, most of which seemed to be a curse of one kind or another. We briefly discussed our options, and decided that we few resources in the way of distance movement, Tsayoi and I decided to bring our mounts.

Travel to Oz involves, so I was told, flying up in a house in a tornado and surviving the landing or traveling by the whim of the princess. Princess whim seemed the least undignified method. I was wrong.

We arrived in a room appointed for an 11 year old girl. The colour theme was pink, accessorised with bows and yards of satin. Tsayoi and I led our mounts out of the room as fast as we could, while Teeana and Pierre played with Ozma and became dolls, shrinking down to even smaller size.

Which we did not expect, but the fire mages knew that something embarrassing was around the corner.

When Ozma grew tired of her game, Teeana and Pierre returned to their normal forms and joined us. In the corridor, we button-holed a servant and had him take us to the stables. On the way, he mentioned that he could lead us to the Chancellor, one of the Powers of Oz.

It seems that Oz is a world where powers have risen to check and balance each other in some kind of dynamic equilibrial state. There are two wicked witches, one of the west and the other of the east. There are two good witches, one of the north and the other of the south. At their juncture lay Princess Ozma, attended by the Chancellor and the Wizard.

Mortimer opined that Ozma reflected or perhaps channelled the plane of Oz, and that she was the central force of the realm. The next most important were the witches, and below them, the other powers. They are lesser powers as the witches are lesser powers to Ozma. We did not discuss this anything more than casually, and it is possible that the hierarchy of the place is a great deal more complicated but knowing that there are other powers is probably enough for us to be going on with.

The servant led us into to the courtyard outside the palace itself, and hot green sunlight smote us like a hammer upon an anvil. Tsayoi and I tried to cast Fire Protection on our friends, but our skill at magic was too feeble, and we soon tired.

In Oz, unless you are practiced, casting costs 5 times the usual FT, and any spell that fails is a backfire. Successes are still successes, however. Eventually, we manage to protect everyone that needed it, but then we were both exhausted. Mortimer asked the servant to bring us some spectacles and blind folds, which he did and this made it possible to see in the glare. Both horses were blind folded.

The servant led us to the stables, and on the way we asked him about the Chancellor or the Wizard, and he said he could take us to the Chancellor. It seems, according to Mortimer, that the Chancellor had a special magic that made the workings of bureaucracy much smoother. The servant did not in so many words say it but he gave us to understand that the Chancellor had taken to drink was no longer fullfilling his office. Tsayoi wanted to terminate his employment with his glaive, but Mortimer said no.

So, we made the servant take us to the Chancellor, and we found him in his lowly divan, much taken in drink. We tried waking him up using sweet reason but he preferred to fester in his bed clothes, so we warned him that they were about to catch on fire. He jumped to his feet but soon wilted and assumed a fetal position.

When the Chancellor returned abed, Pretty Flower divined him and found that he had been afflicted by Truth. But, not simply Truth. A dark, poisonous truth, one that Mortimer's arts could not uncover. It had somehow beset the Chancellor and revealed a truth that was repellant and unhappy. It had been slowly administer in some way to gradually influence his mind.

Mortimer told us that there was a Lake of Truth that, if you drink of it, reveals something true about yourself, and this is something greatly to be desired because it reveals something of your true nature. He surmises that this body of water has been used and perverted into an arm of wickedness, the aim being to bring deviltry to Oz.

Exert from Tsayoi's Journal:

2 bad haiku's regarding thoughts of the day


Spring dolls stir to life
Sharp emerald shadows spread glare and despair
Duty failed defies true purpose



Drought stricken throats fail all
Dangerous truth walks the land spreading discord
Clouding things summer cloudless sky

Session 2

1st Thaw

Since it was clear that little more was to be extracted from the Chancellor, we asked the servants to prepare rooms and food for us, and they jumped to it at once.

After we had fed, we arranged watches but had to exclude Mortimer and Pretty Flower, because they said they had Alchemical researches to engage. Or, they were smoking something. They were certainly red-eyed and twitchy the following day. Tsayoi, Lyric, Pierre and I kept a watch. There seemed little point but it can't hurt to establish good habits.

Teeana was supposed to stand watch but she took to her bed like a limpet takes to the keel of a wide-bottomed galley, and we could not separate her from her bedsheets until the morning was all but spent. Apparently, she never gets up before 10:30 of a morning, and only if the weather has behaved itself.

Lyric, for a mercy, was particularly quiet and we believed that she might have been cursed with muteness but Mortimer was too busy. As far as we could tell.

2nd Thaw

In due course, the Alchemists stagger in and report that they have rendered down water to leave a calx of this dark truth and they showed us a twisted, crystalline shape in a phial. We discussed the possibilities of grinding the crystal into a lens, and wondered what might be revealed by it. On the other hand, Pretty Flower mentioned that perhaps the rays of the Sun could be concentrated through it, and by this means burn to a tarry mess drow. And, he recollected in our hearing of the many times he played with a toy of like nature, thus to rain destruction upon the civilisation of ants. I'm just saying...maybe someone should keep an eye on him

In any case, their researches at an end, we purposed to travel to Luneville to speak with Lord Karzon, and never was a place more aptly named, except that it be called Bedlam. Although he does not live in that particular place, he lives nearby.

Thus did we ride out from the Emerald City, Tsayoi on our mounts, our companions having decided to travel in a carriage, the better for Lyric to regale them with tales of her siblings. Which she did, from birth, it seems, to the very moment she saw them last. And, she has many siblings. Tsayoi and I rode further ahead that we might apprise our friends of any threat but yet not distract from the joy of Lyric's boundless chattering, and thus came we to enjoy Nature's silent bounty.

Pretty Flower, taken with excitement or bored to tears, one can never really tell, engaged upon magical experimentation, by casting an Elemental counterspell whilst he bestrode two realms, for there was a dotted line that curved apace with us and to the right. Such was the skill with which he cast that he manifested a shield-like agglomeration of mana on his left hand side which was purple, and this was very odd. Then, he decided to cast a Thaumaturgy counterspell in a traveling arch to form about the carriage upon which he sat, and, indeed, he manifested such magic. And, then, he had another, also potentially fruitful, magical notion, and drew himself up to cast and found that the arch acted in the way of counterspells and, he eventually agreed, he may, possibly have shot himself in the foot, but on the whole, the experiment, while not having the results expected, could still be termed a success. No one, after all, was dead, transformed or had fallen asleep for a hundred years. And, we all gravely opined that there was some justice in this.

So, by the end of the afternoon, we passed Luneville. There we saw much that was strange and whimsical, and some that was just downright disturbing. We saw an house that rested on its crown, its foundations raised into the sky, a house made of glass that the dwellers within might be spied, and a proscenium arch which formed the fourth wall of the demesne of Lord Karzon. So journeyed we there, thus to present our compliments, and crave admission to his gracious presence.

There was a butler whose unction was of the most abject oil, and he led us to a room appointed for the satiation of every debauched desire, dressed in crimson and gold silks. Shortly after we were provided refreshment, a man dressed in a robe of crimson and gold sauntered into our presence. And his saunter was graceless and bespoke great world-weariness. He reclined sombrely upon a chaise longue, giving us a languid wave as he did so. Every movement and breath he took expressed ennui. DAs revealed that he was not afflicted the Dark Truth, his appearance of dissipation is the result of a different kind of malaise.

We spoke with him at length and he tells us that he is not from Oz, but that it is his second home. When pressed, he mentioned that he stumbled on Oz or created or perhaps something of both. Apparently, it was originally a high mana zone. My guess was that it was sensate, at least to some degree.

He mentioned, without much preamble, that he was worried about Mombi. We asked him to clarify because we could not tell if he meant that he was worried for her or by her. It turns out that he has concerns for Mombi's well-being and that she is under attack.

Mortimer showed him the crystalline dark truth, and Lord Karzon was much interested. When Mortimer pressed him to predict the outcome of the dark truth interacting with the Wizard of Oz, he was given much pause and decided he needed to think about it at length. He called the crystalline dark truth 'Perversion', and we wondered if he had come across it before. Mortimer also wondered if it might not, reasonably, be called Corruption, and his Lordship averred.

This led us to consider the Marquis of Corruption, for he had been involved in subverting Dramus' tower, this tower being a part of Oz, a possible line of thought that drew us to wondering if his original breach in the tower created a concomitant weakness in the Land of Oz, itself. Which is a bit of a bugger, really.

Mortimer opines that the witches are concentrating their defences, which explains the behaviour of the storm clouds in the East, and Glynda's magical fortifications in the South.
Lord Karzon promised to aid us in our travels in the morning, so we retired for the evening after a sumptuous meal.

Exert from Tsayoi's Journal:

a bad haiku regarding thoughts of the day


Lands awash direction lost danger
Master languishes thoughtless pant-less careless anguished dazed
Evil burning malaise hard truth

3rd Thaw

The next day, we exchanged pleasantries with our host and he sends us on our way to visit Mombi.

We arrived in the midst of a terrible storm, wind shouting about us and lightning falling from the sky. We found ourselves in the smoking ruins of one of Mombi's buildings,and looking about we saw devastated structures in all directions. Mombi's dwelling is surrounded by a normal wall of thorns, some 6 feet in height. We could not hear each other, and the driving rain penalised vision to the point that we could barely see a hand in front of our faces.

Nevertheless, Pierre spotted a group of creatures shambling toward us. He pointed out three huge creatures, about 9 or 10 ft high at the shoulder. They had the bodies of bears and the head of tigers. Pretty Flower identified them as Caledari, a formerly herbivorous chimerical beast. It was immediately obvious to us that they were no longer herbivorous and armed with the natural weaponry to make the preference more than just a fashion statement.

Tsayoi and I charged forth to create a barrier between them and the spell casters, with Lyric approaching in reserve to catch any outliers. Tsayoi was struck a dreadful blow that laid him open, but he didn't fall, 'though he was sorely pressed. He was briefly dazed but quickly shook off the blow. My caledar attacked me and rained blows upon me but my armour was too great and I did not succumb to its attack.
Lyric's caledar, seeing that she was a dwarf, closed upon her, Lyric unfortunately unable to bring her axe to bear in time. She attempted to withdraw from combat, but it's strength was too great and dragged her into its embrace.

Mortimer triggered an invested Quickness, and all of us except for Pretty Flower and the horses sped up. I exchanged blows with my caledar and smote it mightily, but Tsayoi was again clawed mercilessly. He withdrew from combat a little way to take a healing potion, while I positioned myself to swing my sword double-handed, bringing it to bear against both of them.

Teeana had released a Phantasm on the one that had closed with Lyric, and then, seeing that Tsayoi was sorely wounded, she cast a healing spell upon him, which, thus, improved him. He joined Lyric to help her withdraw from the creatures claws.

Mortimer, in the meantime, had cast Damnum Minatum which he could cast upon several targets, and three of our assailants were blinded. Sadly, one of mine could still see. Pierre tried to slip past this one, so that he could stab it in the back. I was expecting great things from his dagger, for one has, from time to time, made the acquaintance of illusionists, and they have all, to a man, been superlative assassins. Which tells you how pathetic illusion magic must be.

I was deeply disappointed to find that our illusionist hobbit could barely scrape up sufficient damage to the threaten toilet pater. Indeed, given the shaggy nature of the beasts we opposed, the only thing he did with his daggers was make them more fashionable.

Tsayoi delivered a telling blow to the beast who had closed with Lyric and, since it was stunned and blind it was easy for her to escape its clutches. Then, Teeana suggested that I speak to my war horse, Trample, and get it to attack our enemies, which sounded like a good idea. Except that Trample was much taken with floral arrangement, and attempted to engage me in literary discourse. And, it appeared that he had been afflicted by some tear of Ozma and he had turned an unbecoming shade of pink. So, I decided to essay combat with the caledar because this seemed the least dire alternative, particularly when Trample cast eyes at Tsayoi's Animal Growthed war horse, which is, apparently 'Tho big and thtwong...'.

Lyric, freed from the unnatural embrace (yes, there was a lot of that going on just then), swung at the beast with her axe and made it take a backward step. Tsayoi returned to help me with the two I was engaged with, while his war horse fended off the advances of Trample and, at the same time, dealt with a caledar that had jumped on it from behind. The caledar wanted to mount him, and given the way things had gone with Trample, Tsayoi Growthed war horse seemed spoilt for choice.

Noting the advances being made upon his mount, Tsayoi lowered his glaive and charged the caledar. His horse lashed out with its hooves while Teeana laid a healing hand upon its fetlock. In the ensuing frenzy of lashing limbs, the caledar was stunned by a terrible blow. Lyric and I laid into our caledar while Mortimer Hellfired them all.

Soon there was nothing but the bloody ruin of our enemies, except for one which Mortimer turned into a kitten so he could talk to it.

So, we healed up and examined the area. Pierre took out one of Ozma's tears and created an enormous zone of comfort where it was warm and dry hundreds of feet across, which helped in our investigations. In fact, we quickly found a room that had survived the burning and devastation as a result of it.

We found folds of silk filling up a room, which, according to various arcane divinations of Pretty Flower and Mortimer, was a coccon or chrysalis of some kind. Pierre attempted to make a wall invisible so we could see through it, but some reflective magical element fended his spell off, although he didn't end up invisible, himself. We decided that playing with it too much might not be healthy, so we made Pretty Flower divine it, which he did while the rest of us gathered wood and food for a meal.

After we had eaten, Mortimer interrogated the kitten. It turned out that when it was not a kitten, it, and other caledar, had fallen under the sway of a Dark Binding, becoming very hungry, and not for leafy greens. A dark man had led his friends here, and promised them lots of yummy food, which is why they leapt upon us. It didn't explain their interest in Tsayoi's horse, mind. Mortimer opined that the kitten's description matched the Dark Priest, which seemed to fit the evidence so far.

Pretty Flower told us that the coccoon was some kind of defensive curse, which seemed odd. Then, he and Mortimer conferred and decided that it might be some vehicle of of transformation. They inferred, based upon the position of moss on trees, the play of light upon the pools of water and the count of partridges in pear trees, that Mombi was the one inside the coccoon. Further, they believed that Teeana, being a princess, would be able to remove the curse thus releasing her. The logic defied me.

And, yet, when Teeana stepped into the room the silk parted like a drawn curtain, and an egg the size of a man was revealed at the centre. When Teeana kissed it, the egg crumbled to dust. When it all settled, we saw Mombi sitting on a chair, and apparently much rejuvenated. In fact, she seemed to be about 22 or so, and if not a raving beauty, then at least passably attractive. Also, she had a pair of fairy wings sticking out of her back.

She was more than just a little tetched about having ended up in the coccoon, and she said she was going to find the priest and, by the sound of it, killing him was not on the list of things she was going to do to him. It sounded interesting, anyway, and given our conversation with the kitten, we were intrigued as to her plans. But, instead of the Dark Priest, she meant some priest fellow who lived in Loonville. He was, according to Mortimer, worthy of a good kicking from time to time, but, we told her, he was not the one who had caused the devastation around here.

But, Mombi disagreed, and, having been there at the time, we were forced to agree that she might have the weight of evidence on her side. She told us that the White Priest (this is the one from Loonville, apparently) gathered up an angry mob of villagers and led them to her home, where they set about destroying her property, and would have slain her had she not been protected.

In any case, we dissuaded her from visiting vengeance on the priest until she had sorted out her home. She directed the clouds to be about their business and gathered some trees to repair the buildings, and such was the power of her magic that she had soon rebuilt much that had been destroyed, even to the point of growing a bower over which a veil of decency might be drawn.

Exert from Tsayoi's Journal:

a bad haiku regarding thoughts of the day


Witch home destroyed by White
Change washed lusty heat cleared old webs
Evil beasts installed by Black

4th Thaw

The next day, we had breakfast, and I smoked gently. We tossed some ideas of what we're going to do next, until Mortimer told us that we are going to look for Gayalette. We packed our stuff up and have a word with Mombi, who ministered wisdom to us. She laid before us three options:

The Easter Bunny

a huge rabbit with a basket full of eggs. We would ride in the basket.

The Elevator Man

a man who gives access to a cross-Oz traveling device

The You are here sign

TBA

We eventually decided on the Elevator Man since the Easter Bunny lacks all dignity (and we were mortally afraid of what a normal happy bunny that delivers chocolate eggs would be like when the dark truth had done some work on its fluffy fur and teeth) appropriate to our party. Once Mortimer had made his decision, we leapt onto our various means of conveyance and head in the direction that Mombi gave us.

We traveled through peaceful, woodland glens and followed carefully groomed game trails until, after several hours, we were confronted by fields of scarlet poppies. Immediately, Mortimer warned us back, because, it turns out, the poppies issue a cloying, soporific scent. Because of Mortimer's quick thinking, we safely skirted the poppy field until we came to a river. We joined it and followed its course until we emerged near a town.

Outside the town were large glass structures, very like plumbing. Except for very very big people.

We met a halfling standing nearby, and he told us that he was the Elevator Man. As our gaze passed over the vitreous plumbing, we thought once again of the Easter Bunny and the issue of dignity seemed more ambiguous.

In any case, he and Mortimer immediately hit it off, and in no time at all, took a liking to each other. Soon, they were engaged in a Mechanicianly exchange that must have been very interesting.<yawn>

The Elevator Man showed us all his collection of buttons which were extensive, and he explained at enormous length what they did, in an interesting way <yawn>. Apparently, pressing a button takes you to a place in Oz, which seemed pretty obvious, and interesting, deeply, deeply interesting.

Mortimer wondered if the Elevator Man had a button that led to Gayalette, but he only had one that led to her Palace. And, Mortimer said that she was hardly ever there. So, he wondered of the Elevator Man if there were any way to build a button that led to Gayalette, herself. At which point, both hobbits eyes glazed over and they began chattering at each other like Quickened chipmunks.

So, we spoke with the Elevator Man and he sent us to China while he and Mortimer did interesting things with buttons. We stood in a small room while the Elevator Man pushed the button in the right way. Which was a surprise, because I didn't think there were too many different ways to push a button, but apparently, 'This is a job for professionals'.It was like being squirted down a hole into a cistern that was being tossed between two giants. Once we arrived in China, we looked around the place and bought some crockery while the hobbits engaged in Mechanicry.

After a time, having seen a lot of crockery, we made our way back to Mortimer and found him cackling to himself and rock back and forwards, which is no kind of display to expose junior Guild members to.
Lyric nagged at him, pulling on his arm until eventually he snapped out of it. Apparently, she has this as an Adventuring Skill. Mortimer told us that he and the Elevator Man had built a new button and the evidence suggested that it was remarkably likely to work. So, we all trooped into the small room and were flushed across Oz.

Eventually, shaken but unstirred, the room came to a stop, and we found ourselves in a woodland clearing. We emerged to look around but the place seemed empty. Then, a young woman emerged from the trees, and danced all around us. Mortimer introduced us to her, and she was Gayalette. Pretty Flower gazed checked her out and she appeared to have been taken with unkind truth.

So, while she was talking to us, I plaited some flowers into her hair and cast Cleansing Flame upon her, giving her to believe that the spell was to make her prettier.

While the plan worked as expected, yet there were results that were not anticipated, such that Pierre and I were flung away from Gayalette, and slashed mightily by thorn bushes which sprouted explosively from the ground. Mortimer took to the air and grabbed Pierre, who had been dealt a stunning blow, while I rolled back towards the Elevator Man's little room. Everyone else had already piled into the room, and soon I was inside as well. Mortimer and Pierre ascended through the air as quickly as they could, while we were rained upon with Diamond Javelins. Tsayoi took a few javelins, and assumed a fetal position, while Lyric nagged at the Elevator Man to take us to China, while Mortimer and Pierre flew in the direction of the Emerald City.

Exert from Tsayoi's Journal:

a bad haiku regarding thoughts of the day


Deep wounds great pain flares
Helping hands busy days forgotten mental aspect
Spring blossoms diamond spikes impede

Session 3

5th Thaw

The rest of us fled to China by means of the Elevator Man to give ourselves time to regroup. Once there, we cast about for where to go next, but, alas, could not come to a conclusion. Teeana believed that we might direct a bird to carry a message for us, but the distances involved seemed to make that impractical. At this time, I found myself attended by a pair of pink butterflies, drawn, no doubt, by my flame.
In any case, all choice was removed from us when everyone one of the Elevator Man's buttons became identical with the one that led to Lord Karzon's house.
We took the hint and headed thither instanter, and our conjecture proved accurate in all respects, including the bit about how annoyed he might be. His servant took us directly to his lounging room, where he put us to the question. It was delicately done, but we were left with no doubt that an answer that was not complete and truthful would be met with something more than a simple arched eyebrow.
Somewhat after a pointed conversation with Lord Karzon, in which the delicately-arched eyebrow featured predominantly, Mortimer and Pierre were conducted into his Lordship's presence, whereupon they let us know of their adventures. It seems that Mortimer had had to climb to an unprecedented height to get above Gayalette's walls, which grew incredibly high. Having barely escaped capture, the hobbit's made for the Emerald City, but could find no trace of us, so headed, under their own advisement, to Lord Karzon's.
When we were all gathered, I cast Cleansing Flame so that he might know what magic had afflicted Gayalette, whereupon Lord Karzon informed us that Gayalette was part dryad. And, more than simply part dryad, she was prodigiously flammable. We did not doubt this, having witnessed the incandescent evidence, although it is fair to say that many of us were shocked that a senior Guild adventurer might not have passed this critical intelligence to certain well-meaning although poorly-informed members of the party.
We are told, further, that she has been taken to her palace for treatment by her servants, which we believe are known as Gillikans. Further, we are told that the only way to restore her is to use such magic as will restore to her original self. An Elixir of Youth is mentioned in such a way that you can hear the capitals.
As it happens, Mortimer has a persimmion that has just the properties that Lord Karzon thinks will work admirably. One might opine, on a long and tedious night, that, perhaps our senior Guild adventurer is more than simply prepared. Before the magic phrase 'Dib dib dib' is uttered, the Elevator Man is summoned and we are flushed to Gayalette's palace.
When the box stops swirling and the doors open, we find ourselves in a a hall. We can see a pair of black beetles the size of ogres, each of them wielding glaives. Note the plural. When DAed, their aura stength is 'Formerly living'. This is because they are entirely covered by chitin, which is not living fibre. I am assured they take no extra damage from Weapon of Flames, and so subside somewhat. Another large bug, a spider, drifts down the corridor, levitating with its legs folded beneath its thorax, and stroking a pair of mandibles that look like long, straight, mandarin moustaches.
This spider is the representative of those who are in attendance upon Gayalette, and in fact, not Gillikans, who are hobbits that affect brightly-coloured dress. It seems that they have access to quite a few magics, and although not as learned in healing arts as are some Guild members (notably absent from this party), they were nevertheless magically skilled. It explained, as it led us towards a doorway occulted by a bead curtain which was clearly enchanted, explaining that the curtain would reveal the college of any one who passed through it.
So it was that I changed to my other college and dripped a bit onto the carpet when circumstances would allow. Thus it was that we passed into Gayalette's palace without setting off any alarms and causing any unnecessary distress.
We were left to our devices at length in a waiting room for that purpose. Upon a time, a spider came to us and led us to Gayalette's sickbed. We hoped that we might have an opportunity to speak with her and explain how a certain senior Guild adventurer had neglected to inform the party about her flammable physiology. Well, I hoped that I might have such an opportunity, actually, but the rest of the party being entirely unfamiliar with the tenets of chivalry, I got told to shut up and not set anything on fire. However, Gayalette was entirely unresponsive and seemed to be in a coma.
Mortimer, by special means of his Alchemy, somehow passed the persimmon into her. For a mercy, it didn't kill her outright, and according to the divinations of the spell casters, she even seemed to be on the mend. We left her to the care of her spider attendant, and asked him to let us know the moment her condition changed.

Session 4

5th Thaw contd

I have no recollection of the events that led up to this, but it seems that while we were attending Gayalette's sickbed, the spiders had been fine-tuning their magical divinations, and they had zeroed in on me as the caster, even though I was, for the moment, an Adept of the College of Water Magic. While they did not actually thump me over the back of the head with the handle of a mattock, still my recollection of the events immediately preceding a return to my usual clarity of thought is somewhat jumbled where it exists at all.
It turns out that the butterflies that attended me were the manifestation of a curse. It did very little directly, except identifying the one who set Gayalette on fire, and at the same time, provided a medium for a Major Curse to propagate, apparently without consideration of range, duration or the innocence of the target.
We were allowed to depart the palace, because, although there had been certain unanticipated side-effects, yet the spell had successfully Cleansed her of this perversion of the truth. Nevertheless, everyone believed it would be a good idea to leave this place and speak, again, with Lord Karzon. We went back to the Elevator Man and left.
Lord Karzon, in the mean time, had decided that Cleansing Flame was not a winning strategy. Instead, he had grown to believe that we needed to collect sand from each of the four surrounding deserts, and other elements which were central to the structure of Oz. Mortimer agreed, discoursing at length on a number of possibilities for the gathering of these things. And the rest of us nodded for there is nothing to profit a man when an Alchemical Hobbit sees an opportunity to play with the very fabric of reality itself. Nod, say little, prepare documents that show your innocence is the only sensible approach.
So it is that we travelled to Mombi. And, the sun was westering at an alarming pace, being as late in the afternoon as 3 pm, such that I was much taken with fatigue and asked to be taken to a bower to recover shortly upon our arrival, and Mombi opined that such a bower could be found forthwith. And it was.
Some hours later, I emerged from the bower much refreshed. And smoking.
There was some peculiar business with clouds, however. They were argumentative and not terribly gifted with intelligence, which was a surprise not in the quantity but in the fact that they had any of them at all. By taking advantage of their near mindless aggressiveness, they were convinced to hie them to a desert, there to snow it into submission, which task they took up, and were soon gone.

Session 6

6th Thaw

Glinda blessed us with flight and we left from Glinda's palace, and headed to the desert to the south. The terrain was essentially lush forest land and grass, demarcated by a line of dark grey as wide as my wrist. The desert started immediately beyond it, and headed away from us.
Mortimer gathered mighty arcane forces and within moments he had created a drab, grey shovel, which he passed to Pierre, who, on the other hand, summoned an unreal gorilla. Soon, the shovel of arcane puissance was passed to the unreal gorilla, who attempted to gather the sand with it. Unfortunately, the sand of this deserate was unusually resistant to be parted, and the shovel started to slowly disintegrate into sand, and when the tide of disintegrated shovel reached the unreal gorilla, it popped like the thing that it had never been.
Again, Mortimer gathered mighty arcane forces and within a short time he had created a drab, grey 10 foot pole, which he handed to Pierre, who, on this occasion, laid out a tarpaulin. He summoned an unreal gorilla, and passed him the 10 foot pole. This time, as the disintegrating sand fell upon the tarpaulin, which, in turn, began to disintegrate.
Tsayoi decided to take up one of Mombi's sand-gathering barrels, and attemped to scoop up some sand in a sweeping motion. The rest of us retired to well beyond the minimum safe distance, having seen the remarkably unhappy effect of the sand on inanimate or unreal things, and decided that discretion was the crowning achievment of valour and that we should be breeding for it.
As it happens, the giant managed to scoop an enormous amount of sand with the barrel, but also managed to graze his favourite floor dragging knuckles with the sand, and they started to slowly disintegrate.
Mortimer, under the instruction of Teeana, held out a mirror to Tsayoi, and within moments, he was restored, his lost members instantly restored.
Then we followed Mortimer to the next desert, which was shifting in nature. Pierre could see uncertain things slithering in the sand, which, itself, seemed to roil, twist into currents, and otherwise behave in no way like well-mannered sand. Again, Tsayoi scooped up some sand, this time by tying a rope around it and throwing it into the sand. Once it had filled, Lyric Mage Locked the lid, and we drew it in.
Finally, we travelled to the impassable desert, where each grain of sand doubled their collective weight. Mortimer gathered mighty arcane forces and created a spoon long enough to sup with the devil of a drag grey colour. Sweating and straining, holding the spoon two-handed and much aquiver, he managed to hoist out enough sand to fill a brownie's thimble, and then collapsed from exhaustion. We managed to collect small samples of it into alchemist phials, and soon had gathered a useful pile.
We returned to Mombi with our treasures, and to receive instructions on what to do next.

Information

Intelligence

Princess Ozma

Seemed to be about 11 yrs old, behaves like a 7 yr old girl. On this occasion, her mood swings were, apparently, more pronounced than usual, and accompanied by meteorological special effects for the most part.

Fascinated by dolls and girlhood fripperies.

Mortimer opines she is the central power of Oz. Her magic is unbound by the restrictions of a college, and seem to be an expression of her whim. If I have accurately captured Mortimer's thesis, it is that Ozma is a personification of the Land of Oz. She reflects what is done to it. Perhaps Oz is, itself, sentient in some alien fashion, and Ozma is its means of expression.

The Witches

There are four

According to Mortimer, they, in an ideal world, create a state of dynamic balance and tension.

Gealette

The witch of the North

She is, apparently, a good witch, although we haven't met her and can't really comment. She is, like Ozma, a power, however not as extreme. Her particular magic is the magic of the land and living things.

Glinda

The witch of the South

Also a good witch, so we were told. As yet unmet. Like the others, she is a power. Her particular magic seemed to be focused around barriers.

"The WWoW"

The Wicked Witch of the West (name unknown).

A wicked witch. Her magic was not discussed.

She is a suspect and may be acting against Mombi, thus to gain access to concentrated wickedness.

Note from Mortimer:

I'm not sure about the full extent of her magic but she was in past collecting a full dining room suite by turning Guild members into furniture.

Mombi

The 'wicked' witch of the East

A witch who must be wicked to keep the title else it will fall into the hands of the evil. Her magic is of an elemental nature. It seems that there was more to be said about her, but we either did not discuss it or if we did, I forgot that we did.

We wonder if she is a target for attack, because she would be the weakest of the four witches, and without all four much of the balance of Oz may fail. This may be why Lord Karzon is worried for her.

The Chancellor

We met him, he was hungover. Apparently driven to it because Ozma had become unmanageable. Also a power, although less powerful than the witches. He has magic that makes people work well with each other.

The Wizard of Oz

Not yet met. Apparently drinks with the Chancellor a lot. He is a power of the same order as the Chancellor, or so Mortimer thinks. His magic is about chicanery and fraud.

The Gnome King

Not yet met. My impression was that he was to the East. Another power, but Mortimer never attested any particular magnitude thereof.

The Knowledge Dragon

Not yet meet. Described as an enormous dragon that lives inside some mountains to the north, or actually is part of the range. Yet another power, magnitude undefined by Mortimer. Willing to bet it's pretty up there.

Savnok, the Marquis of Corruption

He is a suspect because Dramus' tower may have given him a toehold with which to exert his influence. Perhaps it is he who has corrupted the Waters of Truth.

The Wizard of Oz

Not yet met. Described as a charlatan, and yet a power.

He may be our greatest weapon against the dark truth, i.e. the fiction that reveals a higher truth.

Dramus

A guild member and a power on Oz as he has part of teh plane with him in his tower which seems to have many iterations that are all linked to Oz and he can affect Oz through the tower and visa versa.

Calendar

Spring: Thaw (10)
	Moonday		Duesday		W'ansday		Th'rsday		Frysday		Reapsday		Sunday
		Candlemansa	1	Guild Meeting	2	Travel to Oz, speak to Chancellor	3		4		5		6
	7		8		9		10		11		12		13
	14		15		16		17		18		19		20
	21		22		23		24		25		26		27
	28		29		30
Spring: Seedtime (11)
	Moonday		Duesday		W'ansday		Th'rsday		Frysday		Reapsday		Sunday
							1		2		3		4
	5		6		7		8	Rites of Thunor	9		10		11
	12		13		14		15	Equinox	16		17	Eostre	18
	19		20		21		22		23		24		25
	26		27		28		29		30
Spring: Blossom (12)
	Moonday		Duesday		W'ansday		Th'rsday		Frysday		Reapsday		Sunday
											1		2
	3		4		5		6		7		8		9
	10		11		12		13		14		15		16
	17		18		19		20		21	Floralia	22		23
	24		25		26		27		28		29		30	Walpurgisnacht