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Message: <blockquote data-quote="PhoenixAsh" data-source="post: 2378672" data-attributes="member: 18230">Update #25: The Race to WhitehearthThe crew of the airship Liralen are, by and large, a drilled and disciplined lot.  Even with only one passenger on board; elemental supports and the bindings and wards that hold her elementals in place are checked and rechecked, griffons and pinnances are cared for in their stables and bays, decks are swabbed and supplies are inspected, and the business of running the largest airship in the Lyrandar fleet runs like clockwork.  Everything is in order.Everything, that is, except the quarters and workshop of the ship’s artificer, Levic.  Ruel enters this small haven of chaos, shoving back metallic debris, brick-a-bract in need of repair, and half-finished inventions from the doorway.  Carefully, he picks his way through the junk to reach the artificer, who is leaning over his desk and tinkering with a small, darkwood box.“Levic, we will be descending shortly and I was wondering if…”“Ruel!” Levic interrupts, spinning in his chair and grinning at the wizard.  “I’ve done it, just in time too!”Ruel blinks, “That is nice Levic… but, what is it you have done?”Levic proudly holds out the darkwood box, carelessly kicking through other unattended projects as he strides up to the wizard, “I call it a callbox!  It combines the effects of Locate Object and Sending to send a signal to the receiver…” Levic gestures vaguely to a lump of iron with protruding cable hanging from his wall, “…from nearly anywhere!  Try it!  Go on, just flip the switch!”  The small box is shoved into Ruel’s arms.Bemused, Ruel flips the switch, and the room resounds with Levic’s voice, emanating from the lump on the wall.  “Callbox active.  Location: 15 feet south by southwest.  Callbox active.  Location…” Ruel flips the switch off with a grimace.  “A touch loud is it not?”Levic beams, “Isn’t it great?!  By channeling the effect specifically to the callbox, I have been able to extend the range by a factor of hundreds!  You could be on the other side of the Mournlands and it would still tell us exactly where you are!”Ruel lifts the box, sizing it up once more and smiles, “Quite ingenious Levic.  A Magic Mouth effect for the receiver I assume.  You will have to show me how you managed to extend its range so far.  But we will be descending in a few minutes, and I was curious if you would be able to cast some infusions on us before we leave.”Fortunato clambers to the doorway of Levic’s quarters behind them both and the warforged cook’s eyes swivel to the artificer.  “Levic, your icebox is malfunctioning again.  Half the kitchen floor is covered in ice.  Cynde nearly broke her leg.”Levic winces and shakes his head, “Sorry Ruel, duty calls!  Oh, it’s for you guys of course, keep it.  I hope you get a chance to use it, I want to see it work from that range…” he begins as he moves to the doorway, grabbing a kit nearly bursting with tools, “Wait… that would mean things are going badly wouldn’t it?  Well, I hope you don’t have to use it then.  But… well… er… gotta go!”***While Garrow gloats over the Irregulars in Rose Quarry, Ruel grimaces and reaches into the Handy Haversack, retrieving the callbox and flipping its switch.  As Garrow dissolves into mist Ruel mutters under his breath, “You have your wish Levic, this better work.”Alexandre turns and scrambles back into the map room, “Twenty of ‘em, at least!”Ruel swallows and steps to the fore of the group, incanting swiftly while flicking a small pad of batter out of his pouch and towards the southern entryway.  A thick pool of Grease blossoms from it, spreading over the entirety of the southern passage.  Elisa considers the odds briefly and shakes her head, “Run for it!”  She sprints around the corner and back the way the Irregulars came.  The rest of the party is right on her heels.The Emerald Claw soldiers move in.  The first pushes his way through the rest only to lose his balance on the pool of Grease and fall heavily.  A second soldier tries to leap over the first, but severely misjudges his ability and falls over the other guard.  The narrow entryway is jammed with the floundering soldiers.  Last to leave the map room, Ruel grins as he runs past Loki and Dox, “We should have a good head start!”Loki nods curtly, gripping his greataxe as he assumes rear guard for the fleeing Irregulars.  Elisa and Audric have almost cleared the canyon and Ruel and Alexandre are not far behind, but in his borrowed chainmail, Dox is struggling and they are falling farther and farther behind.  Already Loki can hear the soldiers clambering into the map room.  Suddenly he stops and looks up the canyon walls.  Stepping back a few more paces he focuses his energies and takes a mighty leap, Stomping the ground heavily.  The canyon walls crumble as boulders and a whole section of the slope tumble down to bar the way for their pursuit.  As he catches up with Dox again, Loki smiles broadly, “Now we will have a better head start.”The Irregulars reach the high ground of the canyon entrance, but the great pit in the earth they flew over before looms as a barrier between them and the pinnance.  Dox and Alexandre struggle to divest the changling of his armor, while Audric crosses the narrow metal railway suspended over the gaping pit, with easy grace.  Elisa tries to climb down the slope to find an easier spot to jump the pit, but loses her grip and nearly cracks her skull open on a rock, only barely grabbing a hold of the ledge to keep from sliding down the incline.  Rising, she carefully steps back and leaps for the other side.  Unfortunately, the rock underneath her foot gives way as she lands and she tips precariously at the edge of the chasm and flailing, just barely manages to grip an exposed pipe and haul herself onto the ledge.  She climbs back up and Audric grips her hand to pull her up on to the opposite side.  Elisa collapses and takes several deep breaths while Audric sizes up the remaining Irregulars on the other side, “I do not think they can make a crossing here.  Let’s get Wydeth to get the pinnance across the chasm.”  Helping Elisa to her feet again, the two of them run up to the pinnance, where Wydeth is already making hasty preparations to take off.  As they jump onboard Elisa barks, “Wydeth!  Get us over the other side, quick!”The Pinnance is up and over the narrow gap between the rock faces in a matter of seconds, long enough for Dox to finally removed the rest of his armor.  Wydeth brings the pinnance to a hover just above the rocky walls.  Audric grips the young Lyrandar pilot on the shoulder, “Down!  Take us down!  We need to pick them up quickly!”“No way!  I’m not risking that again!” Wydeth declares flatly.Elisa grabs a length of rope and leans over the edge of the pinnance, ready to drop it down to the group below.  The vessel lurches with the movement, and bumps against the rock face before Wydeth straightens it out again.  “Are you trying to get us killed?!” He screams, keeping a white-knuckled grip on the controls.  “You’ll tip her over!”Audric squints ahead in the near dark.  “The other side, past that divide.  It is a lot more open there and that chasm is not nearly as treacherous.  Can you land there?”Wydeth looks ahead and nods, “No problem.  Just sit still while I bring her down, okay?”  Sweat trickles down his brow, but he brings the pinnance down safely in the wider opening.  The rest of the crew cross the smaller chasm safely, though both Ruel and Loki slip and suffer minor bruises before making it across.  Wydeth guides the pinnance up and out of the canyon, and free of Rose Quarry.  On the way back they see a second pinnance descending towards them, loaded with another group of Liralen crew and Ruel laughs, retrieving the callbox.  “I guess Levic’s toy worked after all.”  Both pinnances return to the ship and dock in short order.***The Liralen is already preparing to depart.  As the Irregulars disembark from the pinnance Aloysius, the ship’s first mate, approaches them.  “Grelyn tells me the campsite down there is a flurry of activity.  I hope you managed to get directions for us.”Ruel nods, “Yes indeed and we must hurry, the Emerald Claw is down there and they are heading for Whitehearth as well.”  He produces the map and the two go to the flight deck to plot a course towards Whitehearth.  The ship’s elemental ring flares to life and the Liralen leaves Rose Quarry.Elaydren bursts into the flight deck moments later, “What did you find?”  All three smile and stand back from the map.  She leans over it, studying it silently for a long moment then grinning, “This is perfect!  Several of these are other lost Cannith sites!  Very well done!”  She clears her throat, “Captain, how long will it take to get to Whitehearth?”“By my reckoning we should be roughly over the area in two hours.  But it is in the Mournlands, and the gray mists will make precise navigation impossible.  We will need a ground expedition to reconnoiter the area; the second team will see to that.  Ruel, you and your friends should visit the healers and get some rest; you may well be called upon in the morning.”Ruel nods quickly and returns to the rest of the Irregulars, who are unloading the collected loot recovered from Rose Quarry.  Levic and Oliver d’Sivis stand nearby, looking over each item.  “The shield is magical eh?” Levic lifts it up and frowns at the emblem on the front.  “Not going to be able to sell it with that though.  I’ll take a look at the lot of it and let you know what it comes out to Oliver.”  The gnome nods and smiles to the Irregulars, “I will let you know what your share is, after we are done with all of this business of course.”  The pair trot off, earnestly discussing the finer details of the retail value of each item.“So, what now?” Dox asks.“We will be over Whitehearth in a couple hours, but the other group will be going down first.  We are to rest and be ready to go down ourselves in the morning.” Ruel replies.***Ruel's shoulder still aches uncomfortably from his fall in Rose Quarry.  Grelyn applied a bandage for the abrasions, but prescribed bed rest as a curative for the bruising.  Leaning down from a rail on the deck above the pinnance bay and watching the second party prepare for departure, Ruel is delaying taking his medicine.  His expression is clouded as he watches them and it has little to do with the pain.  Enough falls, tumbles and turned joints had accompanied his upbringing and training with House Phiarlan and he never had time to baby his injuries.Kashandi is among the half-dozen crew preparing to depart for the Mournlands, still uncharacteristically silent and somber since receiving the love note that he had altered and delivered to her.  He feels a small pang of guilt and considers telling her of his alterations.  He then considers the possibility of their rivalry turning really ugly, of making another enemy like Dysinth.  He shudders and averts his gaze towards Fortunato.Despite his objections to Ravien, the warforged cook will be forced to see the blasted remains of what used to be Cyre.  His movements as he loads his gear into the pinnance seem mechanical… Ruel smirks and shakes his head.  They always do.  He cannot help but wonder what is going through Fortunato’s mind behind his unblinking expression.Cynde d’Lyrandar skips into the pinnance bay with a cheerful grin, “This is going to be great!  I’ve wanted to try out a pinnance since I first got on board!  Hey Krynson, can you do any tricks?”The pilot looks back at her and rolls his eyes with a small smile, “Not this time Cynde.”“Aw, he’s no fun is he Fort?” She slaps Fortunato’s broad back, still grinning.  “Hey, can you put this in for me?  I have to get a few potions from the kitchen.”  Fortunato smiles and nods, and the young scullery girl bounces back the way she came.Ruel intercepts her as she returns from the kitchen, before reaching the pinnance bay.  "Cynde, pardon me, may I have a brief moment of your time?""Sure!" she replies."I was hoping that you would take these.  One is for Fortunato, the other is... well, also for Fortunato but for you to use.  He has told me you can cast a spell or two."  He hands over a small bundle, a crossbow and twenty bolts and a Repair Light Damage scroll.  "Just in case.  He does not have a ranged weapon, and he probably should."  Ruel shrugs.  "They might come in handy, would you mind terribly taking them with you?"Cynde smiles and studies the scroll, her short cropped hair bobbing around her face.  "Hey thanks, these might come in handy! It's hard to imagine Fortunato getting hurt but yeah, just in case. . ." she grins and raises the scroll to her temple in a mock salute as she saunters back to the pinnace bay.“Isn’t that sweet?”  Kashandi emerges from a side passage, folding her arms as she smirks at Ruel.  “She’s a little young for you, isn’t she?”“You are one to talk of such things.” Ruel retorts quietly.Kashandi glares at the wizard, “Nice job fetching the map for us, by the way.  The captain is wise to let the real professionals handle things from here.  We’ll have the schema back while you lot lick your wounds.  But Cynde is my friend, if you hurt her, I’ll-”“Unlike certain people who have boarded this ship,” Ruel interrupts, “My sole motivation is not simply to bed members of the crew.”“And just what are you implying?” The bard’s voice is ice.Ruel smiles slightly, “I am certain he is thinking about you right now.”Kashandi's face goes pale and she whispers, “How do you know about that?”Ruel rolls his eyes, watching the ceiling as he replies, “Its very obvious Kashandi.  Jasper practically drools when he watches you.”Kashandi strides up to the wizard, “You just mind your own damn business.”  The two lock eyes for a long moment.  Ruel is the first to avert his gaze.  Kashandi harrumphs and stalks down the passage.“Kashandi?The bard pauses in mid-step.“Good luck.”***The pinnance departs in the early morning hours and is gone well past when the Irregulars have slept, prepared equipment and spells and even had a full breakfast.  They wait with Wydeth by their pinnance as it nears mid-day; silent as they have long since finished talking plans and tactics.  There has been no signal from below on the callbox receiver.  Captain D’meryl enters the bay and approaches them.“I think we must consider the possibility that the second team has met an unfortunate fate.  Wydeth, I’d like you to take the pinnance and begin to sweep over the site and see if you can locate their vessel.  You’ll have to fly close to ground, so Gemma will accompany you with one of the griffons.  Now I don’t want you t-““Captain! Captain! They’re coming back!” Errol announces breathlessly as he comes running into the pinnance bay.The bay doors are opened and the pinnance flies up and through, teetering to its side and crashes down to the deck.  Both the vessel and her crew are in very bad shape.</blockquote>

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