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Message: <blockquote data-quote="sniffles" data-source="post: 3682565" data-attributes="member: 30035">Letter #44As the harpy disappeared through a hidden opening to the interior of the rock, three winged monkeys emerged to attack. They were smaller than the flying apes we'd previously encountered. Thor set one of them on fire while Shishir grabbed hold of another and his twin struck the third. I prodded the area they'd emerged from with my toe and found that although it looked like solid rock, there was an opening. Shouting to my friends, I dove through. Thor flew after me in the shape of an owl. At the end of a short tunnel I found myself in a large cavern. Logs had been driven into the walls to form perches for the flying creatures, though I'm not sure where they found the wood in this treeless place. Three harpies were roosting on the perches. Fortunately there was a light source in the cave other than the fire of my wings. I flew across the cavern to attack the nearest harpy with my flames. She retaliated by stabbing me several times with the spear point of her staff, then raked me with her claws.I kept exchanging blows with her, burning her while she stabbed and clawed me. Thor meanwhile also employed fire against one of the other harpies. The twins arrived on the flying carpet and within a few moments one harpy had tumbled off her perch and plummeted to the floor of the cavern. The harpy I didn't face let out a loud squawk and flew across the cavern, seemingly crying an alarm, though there was no one else present that we could see. Thor pursued her.Shishir jumped onto the perch with the harpy I fought and wrapped his arms around her. But he didn't cover her mouth and she began to sing. Thank the Keen-Eye this time I didn't succumb, nor did the twins. I think it might have affected Thor, though, as he came sweeping back around nearby rather than continuing after the fleeing harpy. I kept on burning the harpy Shishir held until she finally ceases struggling with him. He gave her a final squeeze and she went limp. His brother had been watching the wall the third harpy had flown to and announced that it was shrouded in magic. We suspected another hidden opening like the one we'd entered through. But by that point I was badly wounded and wasn't willing to fly recklessly into an unseen space, and I couldn't use the wand I carry. I hovered in front of the opening while the twins poured potions into my mouth.Thor had recovered his senses and came to add his healing to the potions the twins gave me. Thus fortified, I was ready to fly into the next chamber. This one was much smaller than the previous cave. The last harpy had taken refuge in the narrow rear of the chamber and began hurling slingstones at us. But these were obviously enchanted stones, as they burst with icy cold when they struck. Shishir maneuvered the flying carpet beside her perch and Ninad jumped off onto the perch and struck her hard with his fist. I saw the harpy's eyes roll back and she dropped her sling, but she didn't fall. Shishir then moved the carpet beneath the perch and grabbed hold of her legs. Ninad pummeled her again, and I let her feel the flames of my wings. But despite all our efforts she managed to struggle free of Shishir's grasp. I flew back to the entrance to prevent her escape, but it turned out that she had another bolt-hole. Instead of coming toward me she began to crawl into the crevice behind her. Thor quickly shaped himself into a hummingbird and followed her. Realizing she was going to get outside, Ninad lobbed one of his sound orbs at her, both to injure her and to alert the rest of our companions, who'd been guarding the main entrance. I knew I couldn't crawl through such a small space without the use of my hands, so I flew back through the large cavern to the outside. Sadly in my hurry I turned the wrong direction, and by the time I'd righted myself there was no chance that I could catch up to the fleeing harpy, who was winging toward the moon at top speed. Then Varian's hippogriff came swooping at her and he pierced her with his lance. Her wings fell slack and she went tumbling away into the distance. There must be some scavengers here or the place would be littered with floating carcasses.We were all outside the floating rock by then - Ninad had very nearly fallen out in his pursuit of the last harpy, but he'd caught himself at the edge of the secret opening. The twins and Thor went back inside the rock to search for anything of value, especially wanting to get their hands on the enchanted sling the last harpy had used. Once they'd gathered up whatever they could find - including a surprisingly large quantity of gold coins scattered on the floor - we decided to make our way to the moon to seek the dwarf called Cail.At is reduced size Avollo was just able to navigate the winding trench on the moon's pocked surface. After a time we came upon an opening, spotted by Thor, which got him quite excited. As we were examining it, the twins noticed a flying creature gliding across the trench, though it didn't look like an ape. They investigated and discovered that Prince Vultan's daughter, Shiera, had followed us. As there was no way to safely send her back to her father, it was agreed she could stay with us, though Shishir insisted she do as he said. The tunnel we entered led to several other connecting passages, all of them used, but one more often than the rest. We decided to follow that one. After a time Ninad warned that he could hear a deep voice, apparently singing drunkenly. I didn't hear it at first; eagles don't have hearing to match their keen sight, and I'd elected to remain in eagle form. We found a large cave with a firepit in the center. Sitting by the fire drinking beer was a large dwarf. He had obviously been drinking for some time. Thor conjured a quantity of water and splashed it on the dwarf to sober him. After we'd introduced ourselves and explained our mission, Cail was persuaded to show us the way to Bloodfist's stronghold. On the way he told us a story of how another band of adventurers had defeated Bloodfist's father, Red Chest, long ago. It grew darker and darker in the tunnels, though of course that didn't trouble the dwarf. Eventually he told us to wait while he went ahead to scout. While waiting, we discussed how to go about attacking the ape. Thor had already sent a message through his birds to Vultan and the arrowhawks, but it would be some time before they would arrive.During our discussion, Delna the fairy emerged from hiding and remarked that she could "do things" with the magic glass the Fey Queen had been using to spy on us. When Shishir asked her a few questions about this, she explained that the glass could somehow manipulate time - though of course she didn't use those words. As you know, brother, the small fey are rather simple. I imagine her conversation resembles how Rahon would speak if he could.By this point Cail had returned and told us he could take us nearer to Bloodfist's location. He was surprised that we already knew where Bloodfist was; while the dwarf was gone Ninad had used the dowsing rod to confirm that Bloodfist has black shards. As we followed Cail toward the ape we continued discussing Delna's claims and what we should do. After a good deal of questioning Delna managed to explain that the show glass could cause a day to pass for those using it while anyone else would experience no time passing. It could also cause time to stop altogether. Thor was very excited by this and became unusually thoughtful and serious. He's usually so reckless, I forget how clever he can be. He suggested that we could use the glass to give us extra time to rest and prepare spells before facing Bloodfist.But Delna wouldn't agree to this unless the glass was returned to her care. Ninad tried to persuade her to take it back only temporarily, but she would have none of that. Shishir didn't like the thought that the Queen could spy on us again, but Delna was convinced that the Queen wouldn't be angry with her any longer if she had the glass. At last I suggested that perhaps letting the Queen spy on us was less dangerous than failing to pursue Varian's prophecy, and we could simply try to assure that the Queen wouldn't see anything we didn't want her to see now that we knew she was watching us. Shishir reluctantly agreed to this, and the glass was handed over to Delna, who clutched it protectively to her breast and settled in mid-air. It was almost comical to watch the tiny fairy screw up her face in concentration. She and the glass began to glow and I felt a strange sensation wash over me. _______________________Quips & Quotes:Hedrin: "What's the d6 for?"Devo: "It's for generating random numbers between one and six. But that's not important right now."patv: "The harpy doesn't like your presence."sniffles: "Aw, but I gave her the gift of fire!"Devo: "The gift that keeps on giving."Hedrin: "She wants to return it."patv: "You feel the weight of your brother on the carpet."Zora: "No, I'm not heavy, I'm his brother."patv: "The harpy's sling is still lying on the perch, like a discarded bra."patv: "You can see the moon is pocked, cratered, has acne..."Zora: "It's the Edward James Olmos moon!"Hedrin: "It's an underground flying ape movement."Devo: "I had one of those once."Devo: "Stop the whale!"Hedrin: "I want to get off!"Devo: "Respect my au-Thor-ity!"Devo: "So the dwarf's a beeritone. Who knew?"Devo: "I cast create water."patv: "Is it cold?"Devo: "It's twelve gallons."patv: "Bloodfist's father was Red Chest, from the blood of his enemies."Devo: "Guess what his mother's name was?"Zora: "Red Butt, because Red Butt gives you wings."</blockquote>

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