Need magical travel suggestions.

[MaxKaladin]

My problem: I've sent the party and some retainers on a mission to locate the 'Tomb of the Archmages'. They know where to go (what island anyway) to find it, but it's about 2500 miles away. It's a fairly straight shot to get there from where they are. The voyage can be made by sea hugging the land most of the way. The problem is that I really would rather avoid having a ship hanging around once they get there. I suppose I could have the ship wreck or something like that, but it seems rather cliche.

Instead, I was wondering what sort of things their patron could do to get them there pretty quickly considering he is 18th level himself with both plenty of money and lots of political connections. His main restrictions are that he has never been there and cannot scry the area (magical interferance with scrying being one of the things keeping the place undiscovered for so long).

I would rather avoid 'poof, you're there' if possible but am not completely adverse to it.

The party is around 5th level and does have a wizard and a cleric in it. There are 5 party members, some servant types, and a load of gear and provisions.

 

[Snofox]

Simply have the ship drop them off and say "we'll be back to pick you up in {insert appropriate time frame here}". et viola, no boat waiting around. 2500 miles is a fairly extreme distance (it's almost like crossing the atlantic ocean), and it's not unreasonable that the boat would need to go to a major port for maintenance.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Could always use portals/gates. Wizard opens up one, gives the players a map to the next one and a week later they are their. This allows you to run some adventures on different planes.

 

[jollyninja]

does he know a cleric? i forget the name of the spell but a priest who was going the same way could turn them all into clouds and get them at least part of the way with a few spells. a little more interesting then a flat out teleport. if he get's them there, have him mysteriously get shot in the head after his spell.

 

[thatdarncat]

the name of the spell is windwalk

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

Shadow Walk will get you about 42 miles per hour for 1 hour per level, and Wind Walk will get you 60 MPH for 1 hour per level. 3 or 4 scrolls of either spell, and they could be there.

 

[Sodalis]

You can give them a one time use item with fly cast into it- say a ring? or armor?

that way, they can fly there, and then the charge is used up and they would have to find another way home.

another things is to have them sail there. Once there, they harbor the ship, but is attacked while they are away- sinking it...

 

[FungiMuncher]

Another option is Shadow Walk. At 42 MPH, 8 hours of travel a day, they could get there in about 7.5 days, with 8 castings of the spell. The time on the Shadow Plane could be as safe or dangerous as you want it. This would allow more creatures, including pack animals, to travel than Wind Walk, though its debatable if they would like it or not.

Wind Walk would take about 5.2 days, 6 castings.

Teleport would be more limited by the weight of everything, and would only safely get them to the closest location the wizard knew. The rest of the trip would probably be a simple hike.

Also, you don't need to send along a spell caster. Their patron could acquire a magic item with one of these effects, and it could even have a limited number of charges.

 

[Frostmarrow]

Take a short-cut through Sigil. If they step through a portal to Sigil from where they are now they can travel two blocks in Sigil to reach a portal that goes to where they are heading. The only problem is the second portal is situated five miles above ground...

 

[KidCthulhu]

FungiMuncher took the words right out of my mouth. An item that allows Shadow Walk can be very cool, but also offers enough danger that the party won't use it willy-nilly and unbalance your campaign. Plus it's a cool effect, one of those things that can really shape your entire party persona.