Elementary My Dear Adventurer

Summary

Scribe Notes

Adventure: To Be Determined
GM: Keith
Session: Autumn 823
Night: Tuesday'
Location: Smiths online
Level: Medium+

Party

• Lim - potion master
• Sabastian - dashing hero
• Elderan - master of the air
• Vixen - The real fire mage [PL]
• Eugene - The Use-To-Be-Necro-Now-Fire Mage who dies a lot
• Minerva - Solar Celestial blast mage. [SC/MS]

Employer: Spica Capella
Mission: Multiple tasks in the Coral Sea
Plane: Alusia
Pay: 20sp per day per person, reasonable expenses and Loot (there's bound to be some. Right?)
Days on Adventure: We'll know when we get back

Guild Security have a few things that need looking into

• Finding those Platonic Solids needed for a ritual
• Exploring the more intact pyramid at the southern end of the Coral Sea
• Getting more information about Zeylandia
• Checking out anomalies in a Guild member's background before there are problems
• Rescuing the Aventi in the Shallow Sea - and is that Death Zone still there?
• Where did the Aventi come from anyway?

Scribe Notes

Chapter One: Save the Children

Day 1
Our party employer was Spica Capella, Arch Magus of the Aventi colony in the Coral Sea, south of Rangiwhero, and mother of Melody Capella. Melody was intending to explore the Elemental Planes, in search of the Elemental Planar Platonic Solids. It was hoped that these artifacts would remove the threat of a potential major incursion of Chaotic Horrors (on the southern half of the Pasifikan plateau and the northern part of the Zeylandia Plateau where the Coral Sea is found). She wanted a Guild party to ensure that her daughter would be kept safe.
Spica wasn't even sure these were the correct set of items that could be classed as the Elements of Harmony. She explained that some of her divinations indicated they might be on the Plane of Everglow or Equus. However, she had no idea how to reach those Planes (or even if they were two names for the same Plane).
She went on to ask that the party rescue some escaped Aventi slaves that were hiding in the Shallow Sea. Apparently, the merfolk there kept Aventi as slaves, and used slave collars to ensure their obedience. Said merfolk were part of a theocratic society that worshipped the demon Vephar. On the basis that it was most likely to be urgent, we chose to begin by attempting to rescue these former Aventi slaves.
Spica had also brought samples of spices that she proposed to trade with House Sulis. She wasn't sure how much that the Aventi could produce as they used to get them further south. That area was now controlled by a more powerful aboleth than the one a Guild Party defeated earlier. It was feared that the aboleth was intending to send forces to 'recapture' the free Aventi. However, it was generally felt that aboleths were like elves in that they might get around to it in ten years or more in the future, if it was worth doing at all. They just didn't want to provoke it into coming after them. Usually aboleth-controlled Aventi were allowed to fairly live normal lives unless the aboleth wanted them. They were mentally controlled from birth to believe that the abolith was a benevolent ruler and there is therefore no reason to revolt.
Getting back to the spices, Spica said some of them were quite rare and unusual. They could be worth a significant price per ounce, but I shall let Uncle deal with that.

Aqualina was present at Spica's request, to ensure that she got a fair deal from the adventurers she was hiring. Initially Spica was offering Guild Rates and salvage, but Lim and Sabastian negotiated up to the inclusion of reasonable expenses such as Greater and Lesser enchantments.
When the question of Scribe came up, the room went deathly quiet, apart from Aqualina giggling. This happens a lot. Somehow, I ended up with the job, but Spica assured me I would have help once Melody joined us.
As for Party Leader, Vixen was very quick to volunteer. This prompted Lim to comment "The volunteer gets the blame but not the authority". We decided that we really didn't need a party leader, although I was named Military Scientist.
The party made preparations. We went to Aaron's place to obtain Rank 16 greater enchantments, the myrrh generously paid for by our employer. Aaron's mum brought out milk and cookies, and even a pie, while we waited. After that was done, we got lesser enchantments from Basalic. During the process, Basalic arranged to purchase all of Lim's beer stock for the Winter Solstice celebrations.
At the market, a vast quantity of hardtack was ordered. We met with some dwarves, and Eldaran ordered a truesilver battleaxe. There was a gnome who works in wood. Eugene wanted an ice giant femur, but none was available. There were a group of three witches, who some of the others had met before. One was selling her latest cookbook so I purchased a copy. Granny had amulets, including Amulets of Jasper.... I got one for Aquila.
It was late afternoon by now, and the last thing was to get some maps from the library. It was advised not to stay in the library after sunset as strange things occurred then. It reopened after sunrise.

Day 2
Next day, after breakfast, we gathered outside the Guild. Eldaran conjured a cloud and we flew west. We passed another cloud going in the same direction, somewhat slower, with a single elf on board. Appropriate greetings were exchanged.
We landed near the city of Flugelheim and stayed the night at a very satisfactory Inn. Dinner was good, but it was obvious that the chef preferred quality over quantity - and we had to wait at least an hour to be served.

Day 3
In the morning, Eldaran conjured another cloud and we flew on south to the Great Shallows.
As we neared the place where the escaped slaves had been encountered previously, we saw broken ships below... and signs of a fight. I cast wings of light on the party and we flew down. There we could see fresh holes in the shipwrecks and evidence that there had been a raid by a large force. Someone spotted an Aventi child - who swam away, leading us to a hiding place where there were several more children, and some elderly females. They were at first afraid, but Sebastian convinced them with the help of his charismatic aura that we were friendly.

We learned that the merfolk cult had attacked and taken the all the able-bodied Aventi some three weeks ago. We took some slave-collars to be examined later. It was obvious that our party was neither sufficiently powerful nor sneaky enough to take on the merfolk cultists. They had deliberately left the survivors to die as they were not considered useful.

I party cast Wings of Light until everyone who could was flying. The older children soon learned to fly. The little ones were carried. They were very impressed with the shimmery light that enabled them to fly. We flew on to Pasifika.

Minerva: "We'll wing it... " - referring to getting the captives out with party cast Wings of Light

The party discussed various options for collecting the elements of Harmony and decided to enter the earthen portal first.

Chapter Two - Through the Earth Gate

Day 4
We spent the night at the Pasifikan trading post. Then we went through a series of rune portals around the Chaos Deeps to the Aventi settlement, known as Sanctuary. There we meet up with Harmony and Melody, as well as Spica's mermaid wife, Vydia who is the current mayor of Sanctuary. There was some argument about cubes and hexahedra, since it had been decided we would go after the Earth Cube first.
Lim bought some uncommon herbs at the market. There were items from sunken ships. I purchased a spyglass, and Lady Spica helped me fix it up for use.

Melody displayed interest in books. Lim offered a book on plants which they copied with a copy-cat spell that required a purring catfish to sit on the book. Arch Magus Spica was always after new books for her library (so was Melody) so, when I explained that I had books in my haversack, they copied all the books I had with me, and in return they permanently water-proofed them. When I went to set up my cabin, I noticed giant chicken foot-prints in the rock and had a feeling I'd better not put the cabin near those. So I cast light and performed a ritual of reading the Day Sun on the foot-prints. I saw a house with chicken legs, and an old lady outside, gardening... She then looked at me and said, "I said, no!" as she gestured and expelled me from the vision. What was she doing here, I had to wonder?

Day 5
There were tuna-steaks for breakfast, and sea-weeds... We prepared. Lim handed each of us a special healing potion.
Then we went into the ruins, past the guards. There was a stain in the shape of the Aboleth we had killed. We made our way down to where the portals were. A group of celestials, of azatas and archons, stood guard. One of the azatas, Selena, pounced on Melody, causing Harmony to laugh. Looked like Melody had acquired a 'friend'. [Melody - I think she wants to be my familiar. Harmony - More likely she wants to be your girlfriend]. The Earth portal was dialled and activated. It would stay open for a maximum of 38 minutes before automatically closing. Lim asked them to open the portal every six hours just in case. We buffed waters of strength and defence spells, and went through the portal.

We walked into darkness. There was a menhir beside us, marking the portal. There were what looked like 'bats', actually earth mephitis, high above. One of the stones, a large Earth elemental, spoke and asked what we wanted. We explained we were looking to borrow the Earth Stone. All the elementals and mephitis thought that was extremely funny. Some were even rolling around of the ground in hysterics. When they calmed down, he said that it was in the treasure vaults of the Opaline Vault. We would need to ask Sultana Ashadieeyah bint Khalid, the ruler of the Peerless Empire, which consisted of shaitan, what you might call Earth genies.

We were inside a hollowed-out space in the earth with no physical exits. The elementals offered help to travel through the earth, in particular Xavier the Xorn. Xavier said he would take us but he would need gems as payment to power his Earth Glide ability. He eats them, and using his talent gives him an appetite. Lim offered a living crystal in payment. Xavier called it Gemma and decided not to eat it, but wear it instead. Perhaps he could get a pendant to mount it on.

We joined hands and Xavier took us through the earth to a much larger geode. All reflections, fragments of light bouncing backwards and forwards, splintering everywhere. It looked like a starry night, except there were 'stars' in all directions, including down. We were standing on an obsidian sphere at the centre of the geode. Xavier explained that this is a special place for Star Celestials.

Lim did a ritual. Most of the rest of us walked to the other side of the obsidian sphere, which wasn't very far, so we wouldn't interrupt or disturb him. Selena started to sing in Celestial, a soothing song, and everything felt at peace. Apparently Lykarian Azatas, like Selena, can ease the burden of travel with their songs and antics. Lim gave Xavier another gem and we were taken to the Opaline Vault. This was an enormous geode with an entire city inside. Glowing lights, pearly towers, rainbow metropolis. It was roughly thirty miles in diameter.

To my delight there was a vast market, with merchants selling many things of interest, especially crystals and gems. Eugene was taken with an alchemy jug that had symbol of Saranrae on the bottom. I found a vendor who had crystals of vision and Ioun stones (and something to put my treasures in).

We were told that we'd have to go to the grand palace and meet with the Peerless Embassy. And then some Shaitan guards, each roughly nine foot tall, which is that average height for Shaitan, arrived with a rather sheepish Melody in tow. It seemed Melody had been asking around for information on the Earth Cube and the guards had got suspicious. After hearing our story, it was strongly suggested that we go with them to the palace and state our case for 'borrowing' it to the Sultana herself. Hopefully she won't find it so funny.

When we got there, we met with her representative, Rayshal ik Jarmen, another nine-foot tall Shaitan. We asked after the Elemental gem, but learned that it has been stolen, and replaced by a cunning substitute. With the help of Melody's knowledge of magical theory, Rayshal was able to discover that a group of Dao, a race of beings similar but opposed to the Shaitan, had somehow managed to steal it. It was important we get it back, as it was said that if something calamitous or chaotic was to happen to the Elemental Planes, all five Elemental Solids would need to be used in order to restore the Balance of the Elements.

Chapter Three: Release the Dragon!

We were told that Dao are to Shaitan as Drow are to Elves. They also had the ability earth glide, but not through bound earth. They were dark-aspected.

I did some readings
When will the Dao move the Earth Stone? A week plus or minus 3 days.
Biggest danger in the vault? A dragon.

Day 6
After we rested, Rayshal took us to a spot nearby where we could prepare. When we attempted to scry into the vault with a Crystal of Vision, saw got fiery letters saying "403:Forbidden". That implied a scry shield. It was discovered that outside the vault we could scry and our scrying showed stairs going down with two iron doors at the bottom. It was suspected that they were locked. Elsewhere in the complex we found there were four Dao, a medusa, a group of six drow including a mage, assorted duergar, some mushroom people, and a lone calamar. At the entrance of the complex was a portico. There were double-iron doors with no obvious guards, but statues that could easily be iron golems and gargoyles.

I did some more readings and learned that the dragon was an adult Copper dragon, which was there willingly. She was guarding her treasure, but desires more. Her name was Ythilynda. The Dao have been bringing her treasure. Sebastian explained that Copper dragons are usually mind mages and breathe acid.

So, I spoke with Frodeith. Frodeith knew of Ythilynda. She used to be known for fighting evil oppressors, but had not be heard of for some time. She must have been lured here and corrupted. It was most likely she was under some kind of mind control...

I suggested that we offer her an amulet of pearl as a gift which would give her another chance to resist whatever control she was under, Sabastian integrated the pearl into a a piece of fancy jewellery to disguise it. And that became our new plan.

All buffed up, we took our potions that Lim had made with Sebastian's help and teleported to the stairs outside the vault. Lim and Sebastian untrapped, unlocked, and opened the door. We entered.

The dragon addressed us, "You aren't the usual inhabitants of the structure. You aren't dao."
Sebastian explained who we were, and offered her the amulet of pearl as a gift. She took it and gazed into the pearl before talking to herself... "It's my treasure, I must guard it. No, they keep taking things in and out... and I let them"
She abruptly realised that the mindflayer, the calamar, had corrupted her mind, and she was very angry. Sabastian asked about the Earth Gem. She said she believed the Dao meant to sell it back to the highest bidder. She also warned that we should be careful, when it was removed from the pedestal they would know because of an alarm.
We asked if there anything else. She told us to take only the Earth Gem. "Take the gem and leave," she said. "I will slay them, who dared to control me."

I am so glad I had bought spare amulets of pearl. We could have fought her, but freeing her felt a lot better - and less painful. As the great Sun Tzu once said, "The greatest victory is that which requires no battle."

The Earth Gem was sitting on a pressure plate so Sebastian did a quick switch swapping in their forgery. Finally, we bowed to the dragon, and exited. We closed the vault door, took our potions, and left.

Rayshal took us back to the Opaline Vault. The sultana was grateful, and we were well-rewarded - 200,000 silver pennies between us, much of which we proceeded to spend in the market. We would also be permitted to borrow the Earth gem when we were ready.

Chapter Four: Getting Wet

Day 7

Spica had been talking to some contacts on the Elemental Plane of Water, and learned of some tasks that might give us a way to get into favour with the authorities there. We would need to talk to a friend of hers called Zahra who lived at a major trading post city called Vialesk.

There had been an expedition looking for the Lost Nautilus of Lysianassa- a gigantic nautilus. Inside which some of the lost elemental Lord Lysianassa's power might remain. But the expedition met with disaster and Zahra was being blamed. She would need some neutral parties to investigate. Which would be us.

We went through the portal and found ourselves in a coral reef. There were water Mephits and Water Elementals about who welcomed us and asked us where we were planning to go. Transport, in the form of a turtle-drawn carriage containing a bubble of air, was offered which suited the airbreathers in the party. It was reshaped so the two aquatics could stay in water if they wanted to. To get there we had to enter and 'merge' with a very fast-moving current that would take us in the right direction. It was a few hours later that we dropped out of the current and arrived near our destination. Before us was an immense structure that had the form of a stack of tree fungi... or a smack of jellyfish.

After docking we got out of the carriage and were met by an aquatic elf named Lileone who led us to Zahra's residence. Lileone had been on the expedition, and was convinced that the evidence pointed directly at Zahra had made a navigation error that led them straight into the mass of poisonous red algae, known as the carmine scourge, that had nearly destroyed the expedition. As it was, they had managed to get back to Vialesk but had brought some of the toxic red algae with them which was now infecting the nearby reef. Zahra was adamant that the accident was caused by a 'conspiracy' as she heard a 'clanging sound' about half an hour before the accident occurred. Lileone was sure that this was an open and shut case but, she was open to new evidence - if we could find it.

When we met, Zahra explained that she had found out a marvellous discovery about the Lost Nautilus and they were heading to investigate when they ran into the carmine scourge. She was also quite adamant that she had not made any errors in her navigation and that they should have kept well clear of that carmine scourge.

We decided to speak with survivors of the expedition, beginning with the caravan master Honoke. Lim used healer empathy to determine Honoke was poisoned. And his whale sharks were dying. The party set about healing him and the sharks. One of the sharks had carved notches in its fins. I studied them, and they seemed to mean something like, "The time is now". A shark-man had put the marks there. Sahuagin, surely?

Next, we went to the office of Tsomo the Guide. The people there, crab-people called Murajau, hadn't seen him. They showed us maps and the expedition should not have gone anywhere near the carmine scourge. There was a bamboo shark there in a tank, with similar notches. Ownership marks? I thought not. We got Tsomo's home address. Some distance across the city. The door was locked. Looked empty aside from water... not even furniture. A voice said "Excuse me, what are you doing here?" Aventi person explained that they were real estate agents. But there was no sign on the door. There was swearing.

We decided to go see Razethka the Scarred, a brine dragon, the sponsor of the expedition. The shell beeped. Melody and Harmony were going to the theatre and wanted to let us know that they would be out of communication for the next hour. "All shell phones are required to be switched off" she explained. We are left waiting in the dragon's atrium. She began by giving us a corrected address for Tsomo, and suggested that we check it out. She explained that the red algae were attracted to iron. The submersible should not have been made of iron. She told us more about sahuagin. There were Malenti, who were sahuagin that looked like aventi. She added that the people here used sound to communicate on this plane, especially whalesong. The sonophor had been clogged up with seaweed and had been so for the past several weeks. It seemed to be clogging up as fast as it could be cleared. Then she invited us to leave.

We took the correct address and went to investigate. The door was locked. No answer. The party locksmiths went to work and we were in. There was a tank with some more sharks with notches in their tails. And a desk. Which was trapped, And contained maps that clearly showed that the caravan's route had been altered. There was mention of one Yuko, an alchemist. He had provided the expedition with submersibles. We visited his shop and found him tinkering. He had been importing cement and ironflame powder (that burns underwater) for Tsomo. Ingredients for a big bomb.

Next, we went to check out Tsomo's warehouse. We put a transparency on the door and could see several Sahuagin inside. One appeared to be a mage. A water mage, why was I not surprised? We worked on a plan.

Chapter Five: Don't Blow up the Loot!

Minerva: 'Those chemicals are valuable, don't blow them up!"
Vixen: 'Yes, don't blow up the loot!"
Eugene: 'Yet'

We readied ourselves, and the door was then unlocked and opened. Vixen and Eldaran engaged the sahuagin nearest the door, while I cast light on my crystal, illuminating the inside...

The rest of the Sahuagin charged! The nasty sahuagin water mage triggered a darkness cancelling out some of my light. Sebastian cast fear. I cast bolts of starlight. Vixen parried. I got off a double and dropped Vixen's opponent. Then Eldaran dropped his. The frightened one kept trying to get away and failing. Lim chased the mage woman off the mezzanine. Eugene was hitting another one down the back. Vixen and Sebastian ganged up on another one and killed it. Lim killed the woman's guard. I moved forward so that my light cancelled the darkness. Eldaran killed the one who was still trying to run away. Lim killed the mage. And Eugene killed the last of the sahuagin.

We searched the bodies. The mage was a female; she had a holy symbol of Furcalor so we asked her aura, "When will the demon turn up?" A deep voice answered, "When I feel like it". Sounds like an interesting curse. She also had a map marking places around the main forging area where Tsomo had planted some of his explosive chemicals, planning to create a big boom.

It took some hours to find and remove all the sabotage... but once done, the city was safe. The mage had a sending shell on her and we figured Tsomo had the other one so we bluffed him in thinking he was to meet her.

On the way to the rendezvous point we spotted him. He ran and we gave chase, through the crowds in the market area which was criss-crossed with canals for the aquatics to use. Bridges crossed the canals. The resulting turmoil caused the crowd to part for just long enough for me to get off an increased gravity spell that stopped him in his tracks. And so, we captured Tsomo alive. Zahra invited us to come on her next expedition, but it would take some time to get it organised.

In the meanwhile, we decided to investigate the Plane of Fire.

Chapter Six: It's hot in here!

Day 8
Spica didn't know much about the Plane of Fire beyond the obvious; that it would be hot and we will need protections against fire. Only Melody would be coming with us. The City of Brass was the main metropolis. The marketplace was said to be second to none, though expensive. The brass was believed to be made from the souls of mortals. It was not a friendly city. Extraplanar people had few rights. Spica said that she had had a strange feeling that we were the subject of somebody else's astrology reading - something about visitors from the Material Plane. They may be aware that we're coming. She couldn't get any readings. It is known that the City of Brass has been at war with the Peerless Empire on the Plane of Earth for long ages. Something about a stolen warpick made of solid diamond.

There would be efreeti and azer (fire dwarves) and intelligent salamanders. The efreeti were very much in charge. The fire gem is a tetrahedron. We approached the portal. There was heat coming off it as soon as it opened. We were met by a collection of fire elementals and fire mephits. Apparently, they had seen no-one from Alusia in a thousand years (which supported the hypothesis that this was not the same Plane of Fire as the usual). We were inside a bubble of air, that provided a barrier from the heat and flames. We were told to stand on a particular circle that could transport us to the City of Brass in groups of four. This worked.

We were welcomed by an azer. An azer are basically flaming dwarves, short-lived sentient light-aspected and vulnerable to cold, but strong in fire. Who asked if we had anything to declare. Since we were at the market, we purchased a map of the City of Brass, made of some kind of fibrous material. It turned out to be a rather large map and, as we were struggling to fold it back up again, we were approached by an octopoid fire elemental who introduced himself as Zhoz. He said his employer, a female efreet named Qalkami Mishalq, wanted to see us. She wanted us to sort out a problem with a rival noble family, basically bringing them down in the pecking order. At first it seemed like she was threatening to take Melody as a hostage but that wasn't quite the case as we found out later. In return for our help, she had contacts who could help us with the tetrahedron.

She needed us to infiltrate the estate of a rival faction, the Cinderfuries, who lived in a mansion called Emberhearth, First, we would need to neutralize the off-site security, or lots of armed guards would turn up. Second, we needed to secure some records from their library. Third, she wanted an heirloom known as the Cinderfury Gorget. Fourth, there was some evidence she wanted planted. We should keep the destruction to a minimum, as she had plans for the place but we can certainly loot the Cinderfuries. Plus, it would be best, as being outsiders, we should try to avoid being noticed by other efreeti who would have no qualms about killing us, or worse, selling us into slavery. We would have four hours to do this. She gave us each a medallion that would protect against fire and told us we only had four hours to do this and return. The longer we took, the more chance there was of us being discovered.

We were taken to a casting area to test our spells. She didn't think falling stars was a great idea. Too conspicuous and would attract too much attention. We need to be much more subtle. She then took us to her modest apartments, since her family's main estate was in the City of Zjarra, where she showed us an large aquarium of tropical fish that she had collected from the Elemental Plane of Water and told us that watching them relaxed her. That was weird. Melody was fascinated by it.

She showed us a plan of the estate. The mansion was scry-shielded, but the guardhouse was not.

We had a stroke of luck. Her azer butler came in, handing the lady an invitation. Another noble efreet was planning a gala the following night, and that would get Xojject Cinderfury, the head of the noble family, out of the way. That would make a good time to infiltrate the Cinderfury mansion. She emphasised that we needed to take out the security station first, otherwise things could get messy. So, we used crystals of vision to determine that there were two salamanders with four azers in the room. Meanwhile, she insisted that Melody was going to stay with her and said it in a way that Melody was reasonably happy with.

While Melody was taken away to be 'entertained', presumably by the contents of Qalkami's arcane library, we worked on a plan, but as usual, ended up not following it.

As we approached the security station, we could hear shouting. A deep voiced entity was berating somebody else. Salamander were yelling at azers, something about rebellion. Lim charged one salamander and Eldaran shot at the other one. Vixen attacked the one Eldaran shot. The Azers ran and hid behind the furniture. I cast light and Sebastian joined in the fray. And before long both salamanders were down, and at that the azers just surrendered and pleaded for mercy. We allowed them to escape to join the free azer. In return, they wanted us to steal an artifact called the Flamebinder's Jaw from the Cinderfury's mansion, the jawbone of a famous ancestor, the first azer to attempt to free his people. When we were asked how we would find them, they told us not to worry about that as they would find us. There were more azer slaves in the manor as well, so we should try to free them too. All this freeing of slaves. I was not entirely sure that Uncle would approve.

Chapter Seven: The Mansion of Fire

We went unseen and scouted around the mansion. There were lights inside, but the curtains were drawn. There was a patio at the back, and a rear entrance. Eugene used ESP and scouted inside. There were quite a few minds present. One was encouraging a group who were pensive. Another, in the centre, was doing paperwork. With an animal. Some others were apparently working.

Inside one room by another back door, we could hear one person talking to some others. Lim knocked quietly on the door, and whispered, "Delivery from the eye". The door opened and there was an azer there in red robes along with a group of others. They saw we weren't their kind, and pushed the door shut. Lim forced it open. The leader bolted for the window, while the others picked up weapons. One asked in common who we were and why were there. Sebastian explained that we were working with the rebellion, and were contracted mercenaries. Lim explained that we had come from their friends in the guardhouse. They could leave now and nobody would come looking. Eventually, we talked them into going. We found a bunch of potions, two invisibility, two 20-point healing, and a scroll of heroism.

We headed through the room towards the front of the house. The next room was set with table and chairs, a dining room or perhaps a meeting room. Beyond it was a library with loads of books and other stuff. Contracts, lineages, magic. We found evidence; we planted evidence. We emptied the more valuable (and useful or evidential) items into our portable holes. We found magic books, many with a theme of summoning. It took about half an hour.

We looked through a transparency into the central hall. We could see a female efrit who had been working on household accounts - and now was playing with a young red dragon-like creature. After making preparations, Lim walked in, played a harp and singing. The efrit woman commanded the drake to run at Lim, but it failed to resist and became his friend. She resisted too and drew her tulwar. Lim said that he had been sent to entertain, using the name of the efrit hosting the party. She was convinced, put the weapon away and sat down, distracted.

Sebastian lost the jewel.

Vixen had opened a door on the far side of the room as I was inspecting the stairs, and then it all went mad. There were these imp-like creatures in there, called mephitis, and they attacked. Sebastian tried to sap the efrit and failed. Lim was befriending the little drake. I had been the stairs and turned to find a fight in progress. I shot one of the mephits and then Eldaran got in the way. The efrit woman turned on Sebastian. Eldaran and Visen fought the mephits. The drake broke loose until I floored it with increased gravity. Sebastian killed the efrit woman and the mephits were soon destroyed. It was quiet again.

Lim: "Mephit acting."

Chapter Eight: Upstairs

Minerva: I thought maybe we should just banish that fire elemental. But we're on a Plane of Fire...

We knew there was a fire elemental upstairs and prepared with fire counter-spells, and light-sword spells. Upstairs was a balcony and beyond it a sitting room with a bookshelf full of what appeared to be works of fiction.

We opened the door to the right, and there was that fire elemental. Eldaran hit it with an ice-ball. Vixen charged in and started hewing into it. And was joined by Lim. It punched back. Hard. Another ice-ball went it, they hit it, and then it went out. The walls of this room were covered with shimmering swirls and adorned with mosaics of metallic tiles. It was weirdly attractive.

There was a marble desk piled with brass sheets, covered with fine writing. Among them were some slave documents that could be used to liberate the azer. We also found a brass azer jawbone displayed on top of a metal stand that we thought must be Flamebinder's Jaw.

In their gallery, among other items, was a battleaxe that had green crystals which were composed of djinn blood, a breastplate big enough for an ice giant engraved with ancient script, and a set of steel bracers set with garnets depicting the southern sky of Alusia seen from the far south. That was odd. Also there, was a cloak of dragon-hide. We also located some items belonging to a former sultan of the Earth plane. Conquests of war according to the plaque on the display plinth.

We took the loot and left - unseen through the back door. The drake was put into one of our portable holes with an air spell to keep it alive. We doubted we could take it back to Alusia and intended to sell (or gift) it to our host. As we came around the front, we saw there was a regally dressed ifrit, who seemed to have no difficulty seeing us. She said 'Well done' and disappeared. Our host (and Melody) met us at the gate.

Our host explained that we would be able to borrow the fire gem. We also would gain one simple boon each, similar to a minor wish (with limitations).

The octopoid teleported us back to the portal, and we returned to Alusia.

Later we got a message from the Fire plane - our host was well pleased and she was now taking over the Cinderfury mansion.

As we were preparing to go to the air plane, a messenger arrived from the Plane of Air, a sylph named Ashasar, representing the Concordance of Elements, who apparently wanted to know what we thought we were doing. A meeting room was made available. We were told that the Concordance of Elements were a secretive organisation responsible for maintaining the balance of the elemental planes, and they wanted to know what we intended to do with the crystals. It seemed they thought we intended to steal them so were prepping for a worst-case scenario. Melody explained about the Chaos sleeping in the deep, and using the elements of harmony to ensure that it either continued sleeping, despite cultists attempting to wake it up, or Banish it off our Plane completely. Since the leaders of the CoE were the ones that controlled access to the Elemental Stones, they needed reassurance. Ashasar, after hearing Melody's explanation would speak to the rest of the Council although he wasn't sure that Melody was after the right Elements for the purpose. He would have to check with the others. However, they had a more pressing problem. As part of their earlier preparations, they had sent an agent, Jamila, to fetch the Horn of the Hurricane, an item to which air creatures are vulnerable. The last time they had heard from that agent, she was on her way to Port Eclipse, a notorious hive of scum and villainy. Said agent was way overdue and other, evil, forces were after the Horn for their own schemes.

We got organised and went through, discovering that the portal was suspended in mid-air, being watched over by a group of air elementals and mephitis. Nothing else was in sight, except for a waiting air-ship. Vixen had some trouble with the lack of orientation and began rapidly 'falling' much to some of the elemental's amusement, and she let off a dragonflames while being rescued and brought back by Elderan. Apparently, they were making bets on who and how many would 'fall'. Something of an overreaction I thought. Meanwhile, I released Aquila from my glove. He seemed to be enjoying himself in the expanse of airs.

First stop was their Enclave post in the Plane of Air, then we would take the airship on to Port Eclipse. Melody and Harmony would stay back at the Enclave to do further research and maybe determine if they were indeed on the right track or chasing the wrong set of Elements.

There were five seats on the ruling Council of the Concordance of Elements, one each for each element, and a fifth, just known as Balance. Only in times of dire need, such as impending apocalypses on any of the Elemental Planes were the Crystals taken out of their very secure places, and brought together to restore the Planar stability. It was said that they were used to create the Planes in the first place and maintained that Balance so that everything in the Inner Planes were in Harmony with each other. The Council had been concerned about requests coming from the Earth, Water, and most recently, the Fire Plane that these crystals were being sought after, so they had decided to step in.

Chapter Nine: Any Port in a Storm...

We boarded the airship and set sail. Soon we saw there was a storm ahead of us and air mephits behind of us. Captain Nyx deployed smoke bombs and a net. I got some target practice. It would be a three-day trip, so we set watches. There was no north, but then there hadn't been on the Earth, Water or Fire planes either.

On the second day, at about ten bells, the airship stopped. There was a stale odour and the air felt flat. Nyx said that we'd run into Dead Air. We had to join in and pedal, so as to wind up the spring. Eldaran attempted to cast mage wind, but it was apparent that Dead Air equated to zone of dead mana.

Late afternoon that same day we spied a big cargo ship. As it approached, a voice boomed out. Thought we were salvage. Nyx objected strenuously to the very suggestion!

On the third day, we spotted what appeared to be a cloud on the horizon. It flickered with blue energy. Nix swore, "It's them again!" She said it was full of these elemental air creatures called wyrds who, like trolls, would demand tribute from passing airships. She wanted us to submit. We had other ideas. They closed on us and got hurt. Nyx called, "If you're going to do this stupid thing, don't let any of them get away!" One of the damned things kept closing on me so I could not cast, and was trying to make me feel miserable. But they were swiftly defeated. Sebastian healed me.

Finally, late that afternoon, we came to a huge rock adrift in the endless void. Around and around we went until we reached an inner harbour. Nyx dropped us off, and said she'd be back to pick us up next week. She recommended an inn called the Aching Anchor. There was a dwarf innkeeper named Thunder Skyforge who charged us 10sp a night. We needed a translator since everyone here spoke Auran so we decided to go with an awakened blue jay named Ceru, whom we paid in music. Lim made beer. We get served meat and other foods on skewers. Things tended to float around on the Plane of Air.

In the morning, Ceru suggested we talk to one Briel Everscribe, elven cartographer, from a prime material plane, who had been here for ages. Lim made wine. Sabastian and I went to get bottles. I was impressed with the high-quality glassware, which would be worth a lot back on Alusia. The glassmaker told us about some thugs who barged into town, looking for someone, roughed him up. Then we talked to the elf. She loved the wine. She loved hearing us speak elvish. A bunch of elementals arrived a few days ago looking for a Janni named Jamila, putting out a bounty. The Duchess was looking for her. A bounty has been collected.

Next, we went to visit an undine named Maren. Lim traded potion recipes and we learned something about a 'blast of harmony' taking out chaos. And that the minions of the Duchess shaking down businesses, looking for somebody.

Chapter Ten: Cold Storage

Back at the bar, we asked and were told that that the Duchess was better known as The Duchess of Four Winds. We then met with a sylph named Klarh who was a dockworker, and very talkative. She told us that rumour had it that the Coldfire King had most likely claimed the bounty. This person was an ifrit who had business all over the planes, much of it somewhat dubious. He managed a tavern, named the Sleet Saloon, which was said to be little better than a prison.

Next morning, after a breakfast of fruit on skewers, we went to investigate the Sleet Saloon. It was a weird place; a rundown steel building, very tall and stuck on the edge of a massive stone stalagmite. It looked closed, which was odd for a tavern. The round steel door was locked, but Sebastian was able to fix that. It was ice-welded shut so we proceeded to yank it open. Sebastian, Eldaran and I went in first, because we all had magical protection against the cold.

Sebastian called out... and an ice mephit came to us. Sebastian explained that we were here to purchase ice. With a loud banging a giant ice-creature came out. He offered to sell us potions to protect against cold. It was indeed very cold, and I was very glad I had acquired that aerial affinity talent. Sebastian offered to sculpt the ice troll a statue out of ice. It was extremely pure ice and was frozen in such a way to remain translucent. The carving kept the ice troll and the ice mephitis distracted so I was able to sneak off behind the bar, cast an unseen spell and went for a look-see. I found the missing agent frozen inside a large block of ice, hidden behind some other blocks of ice. I then snuck outside and informed the party. We made a plan.

We cast our preparatory spells and unlocked another set of doors that led to the docks before forming up in two groups, one by each door. Sebastian went in the main door and offered to enhance the statue with some magic.... and then he cast blackfire. One of the trolls fell catatonic, another went berserk. I cast light. Lim ran straight in and hit the catatonic troll. Hard! Enough to snap him out of it. Vixen and Eldaran tackled one of the other trolls. I got off a powerful Bolts of Starfire, and with the damage they'd already taken, two of the trolls fell. Then I got to kill a mephit in melee with my sword, while Sebastian finished off the other one. Vixen, Lim, and Eldaran killed the last troll.

We found loot:
Three giant-sized magical heavy picks.
Two bottles of liquid ice. 2440 sp worth of sapphires.
Two twenty-point healing potions.

We moved the blocks of ice and liberated Jamila. She was alive but frozen and under a hibernation spell. Sebastian chipped her out. The hibernation spell was configured to end when she was thawed to room temperature. In another block we found a Necklace of Fireballs. Lim left a note... "The Dusty Sylphs send their regards."

So we thawed out Jamila. She asked who sent us, and then took us to her safe house. We got to rest while Jamila used a sending spell to confer, and confirm our identities and purpose, with her boss in another room. She explained that the Horn had been the centrepiece of a Djinn noble's airship mast, and was now in a junkyard. Said wrecking yard was run by a bunch of awakened clockworks. The password for access to the junkyard was 'Balance' in all four elemental languages.

The airship wrecker's yard really did look like a junkyard. Pieces of airship and whole airship wrecks were attached to pylons where crablike clockworks swarmed over them. It was hard to tell whether they were repairing the airships or disassembling them. One of the smaller clockworks came to the entrance. We gave it the password and were led to a cluster of large pylons. Nestled in there we spotted what could be the Horn. And then, a whole bunch of air elementals and lightning elementals appeared. They didn't look friendly and demanded we hand the Horn over to them. Of course, we weren't going to comply.

Chapter Eleven: Lightning attack!

First up, most of us prepared spells, while Eldaran grabbed for the Horn. The air elemental went invisible, but since we all had witchsight that wasn't a problem. Then the lightning elementals shot bolts of lightning at us, and moved to flank behind us. Those things were seriously lightning fast. They unleashed more lightning bolts and a thunderclap. Vixen moved to attack. I fired orange bolts of starlight at all three elementals. Sebastian healed us up, more than once. Vixen destroyed one of the lightning elementals. Lim engaged the air elemental and whaled into it. Eldaran finally managed to extract the Horn. More lightning bolts blasted us. Lim ended the air elemental. Eugene did a bolt of fire, and I shot an orange bolt of starlight at the last lightning elemental. Then Vixen finished it off.

Minerva (of elementals): They don't have genes. They don't even have pants.

After looting a dropped wand, we quickly and quietly returned with the Horn to Jamila's safehouse, and waited some days for Nix to take us back to the portal. It was suggested that the Horn be relegated to the Guild Vaults, but it seemed more appropriate to leave it here with Jamila's people.

Melody called. These were not the elements we were looking for. The required elements remained to be found somewhere else, possibly on a plane called Equus (or Equestria). We got sent back to Pacifica, where we met with our employers and were rewarded, even though our mission had been a dead end. From there we returned to the Guild via the Sea of Grass portal.

People

• Spica Capella - Aventi and Arch Magus of the Aventi colony in the Coral Sea, south of Rangiwhero, and mother of Melody & Harmony Capella. Party employer
• Vydia Capella - Spica's mermaid wife and current Mayor of the Aventi Colony. A Siren/Bard
• Melody Capella - daughter of Spica Capella. Has spells from all Colleges.
• Selena - an azata lyrakien from the Outer Plane of Elysium who is inseparable from Melody, serving as her familiar.
• Harmony Capella - Melody's mermaid sister. Also a Siren/Bard.

Earth Plane

• Sultana Ashadieeyah bint Khalid - the ruler of the Peerless Empire
• Xavier - a Xorn that provides transport for the cost of gems
• Rayshal ik Jarmen - a nine-foot tall Shaitan, emissary of the ruler.
• Dao - a race of beings similar but opposed to the Shaitan. Stole the earth gem

Places

• Sanctuary; Aventi colony in Coral Sea,
• Coralville; Merfolk colony in Coral Sea.

Earth Plane

• Peerless Empire - which consisted of shaitan, what you might call Earth genies.

Quest list

1. Rescue refugees
2. Collect for the Elemental Planar Platonic Solids
   1. Earth
   2. Air
   3. Fire
   4. Water

Other Notes

On Azata Lyrakiens

This tiny woman has a lithe form with delicate butterfly wings. She is surrounded by sparkling lights and gentle rainbow arcs.

Lyrakien are divine musicians and messengers, mainly in the employ of deities of travel and natural wonders. They love to explore and visit beautiful places, especially locations with excellent views of rainbows, moonlight, and the stars. Whimsical and joyous, they love contests of song, dance, and knowledge, and keep journeys happy by distracting their companions from weary feet and stale food. Mortals who please them with excellent tales and new songs may be rewarded with elaborate maps, forgotten shortcuts, or rambling directions to hidden locations that hold lost magic.

Lyrakien are light-hearted creatures, but they are very protective of breathtaking natural locations. Often called "glistenwings" by gnomes and halflings, lyrakien are frequently mistaken for fey—while they are generally friendly with true fey, their origin is the plane of Elysium. Like other azatas, they grow restless if they stay in one place too long.

Every so often a lyrakien azata can emit a five foot radius pulse of holy starlight that causes damage to all within the area. ((D)). Creatures that are evil take double. A magic resistance check negates the damage.

A lyrakien has the following talents: Detect Aura, See in Darkness, Detect Moral Compass as well as being immune to being restrained. Most of their spells come from the Bardic College as well as one to create lights that dance with their music. Travelling with a lyrakien can negate travel fatigue by their company and performances.

Mil-Sci

Daily pattern

How much time does the party spend sleeping, eating, traveling, doing rituals, etc each day

Travel Magics

What travel magic options does the party have, how far per cast/or per day if duration is longer than usual travel time. Can the party eat/sleep/etc on the mode of transport.

Watch Order

Day Watch. Used when stationary, or on a larger transport such as a ship
First - ??
Second - ??
Third - ??

Night watch
First - ??
Second - ??
Third - ??

Marching Order

Skirmish Formations (Front)
Double File	Single File

Buffs

General Buff Notes

Buffs listed in the table don't need to be detailed, other buffs not on the table must be mentioned at the time they are cast.
Y means always on, N/- means never on, 'Sit.' means when the party has time for buffs before a fight.
Weapon Spells which weapon/s it is going on normally should be noted also

Long duration buffs

Magic	Rk	Effects	Dur	Lim	Sabastian	Elderan	Vixen	Eugene	Minerva	Aquila
Greater (Aaron)	16	+17% all areas.	3 Months.	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Witchsight (Sa)/(Mi)	20/12	See in dark, 150'/75' underground. See Invisible, rank based.	10.5/6.5 hrs	N	Y	N	N	?	?	?
Blending(Sa)/(Mi)	10/6	Invisible-ish when not moving	11/7 hrs	Sit	Y	Sit	Sit	?	?	?
Walk Unseen(Sa)/(Mi)	6/6	Invisible-ish	7 hrs	Sit	Sit	Sit	Sit	Sit	Sit	Sit
Shadow Wings (Sa)	14	Fly 16-44mph	7.5 hrs	?	Sit	Sit	?	?	?	?
Shadowform [Sa]/Coruscade(Mi)	9/14	+20%/30% def 1/2 in close	5 Hours	?	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Water Proofing (Li)	10	Protected from Rainstorm, general waterproofing.	33 Hours	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Water Breathing (Li)	15	Breath underwater.	16 Hours	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Vapour Breathing (El)	10	Ignore bad gas. (Including Farts)	6.5 Hours	Y	Sit	Y	Y	?	?	?
Feather Falling (EL)	9	Feather	6 Hours	Y	Sit	Y	?=Y	?	?	?
Hot Wind(El)	8	21/13 def 9 magic prot V Fire & Ice	4.5 Hours	Y	Sit	Y	N	?	?	?
Fire Proofing (Vi)	6	Resist non-magical fire up to Bonfire size, Smoke.	7 Hours	Y	Sit	Y	Y	?	?	?
Fire Armour (Vi)	6	Ablative protection against magic fire.	7 Hours	Y	Sit	Y	Y	?	?	?
Ice Armor	7	6Ft 1En +27 to resist Fire	4 Hours	N	Sit	N	N	?	?	?
Name ???	??	????	? Hours	?	Sit	?	?	?	?	?

Short duration buffs

Magic	Rk	Effects	Dur	Lim	Sabastian	Elderan	Vixen	Eugene	Minerva	Aquila
Strength of Darkness [Sa]	13	+8 PS	140 min	?	?	?	N	?	?	?
Weapon of Flames (Vi)	12	7DM or 13DM against Undead + 13SC	17 Minutes	Scabbard	Rapier	Scabbard & Tulwar	Scabbard & Tulwar	?	?	?
Creating Light Sword (Mi)	8	SC+9 DM+3	13 Mins	?	?	?	N	?	?	?
Arrow Flight (El)	13	+4 DMG +14 Sc	18 Mins	Bone Trident	Blowdart	Bow Trident	N	?	?	?
Walk on Water (Li)	7	Walk on water, waves cause agility checks.	40 mins.	?	Sit	Sit	Sit	?	?	?
Waters of Strength (Li)	20	[D-2]+20 to Physical Strength.	105 mins.	Y	Y	Y	Y	?	?	?
Resistance to Light (Mi)	10	+22 to resist light	110 Minutes	?	?	Y	?	?	?	?
Name ???	??	????	? Mins	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Name ???	??	????	? Mins	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Name ???	??	????	? Mins	?	?	?	?	?	?	?

Numbers for GM

Magic	Rk	Effects	Dur	Lim	Sabastian	Elderan	Vixen	Eugene	Minerva	Aquila
Name ???	??	????	? Mins	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Name ???	??	????	? Mins	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Name ???	??	????	? Mins	?	?	?	?	?	?	?

Loot and Expenses

SP & other cash value loot

• 200,00sp - Recovering the Stone of Earth.
• ???? Selling things to Cult of the Red Wyrm.
• ???? Selling Fire Drake (Assuming it wouldn't survive returning to Alusia, otherwise loot)
• 2,420 worth of Sapphires.

Significant Items

• Magic Dagger.
• Trident - Elf Bane.
• Trident - Human Bane.
• Wand - Healing.
• Battle Axe - With Crystalised Jinn blood on it.
• Breastplate (odd iconography).
• Bracers (Steel, Garnets in form of Southern sky).
• Cloak (Drake/Dragon hide).

Minor Items

• 4 * Rank 10 Silvered/True Silvered? Tridents
• 1/2 Conch shell
• 5 * Potion, 1 different.
• Explosive alchemist stuff
• 3 * Giant sized magical heavy war picks.
• 3 * Giant-sized high-ranked breastplate.
• 2 * Liquid Ice.
• 2 * 20 Point Healing Potions.
• Magical necklace. (Fireballs?)
• Wand (Energy bolt)

Calendar

Autumn
	Moonday		Duesday		W'ansday		Th'rsday		Frysday		Reapsday		Sunday
	Lugnasad
Fruit (4)
			1	Guild Meeting	2	Left Guild	3	Great Shallows	4		5	Reached Portal	6	Plane of Earth
	7	Plane of Water	8	Plane of Fire	9	Cinderfury Mansion	10		11	Plane of Air	12		13
	14	Floating Rock	15	Sleet Saloon	16	Scrapyard	17		18		19		20	Return to Alusia
	21		22		23		24		25		26		27	Return to Guild
	28		29		30
Harvest (5)
							1		2		3		4
	5		6		7		8		9		10		11
	12		13		14		15	Equinox	16		17	Seagate Autumn Fair	18	Seagate Autumn Fair
	19	Harvest Moon	20		21		22		23		24		25
	26		27		28		29	Michaelmas	30
Vintage(6)
											1		2
	3		4		5		6		7		8		9
	10		11		12		13		14		15		16
	17	Blood Moon	18		19		20		21		22		23
	24		25		26		27		28		29		30	Beerfest