Magic Kingdom For Sale* (*Some Assembly Required)

[Isida Kep'Tukari]

*Phaeder's spells help heal most of the party, and with Shal's clerics, soon everyone is only slightly worse of the ware. Sadly, Shal was not the only loss, as nine of the servants fell to the twig creatures and razor leaves. They are mourned by their fellows, and buried or burned according to their beliefs. Shal's funeral takes longer, as was fitting considering his station.*

*His clerics cleanse and anoint the body with oils, dressing him in his finest holy robes. He is placed upon a fine pyre of fragrent woods soaked in oils, propped upright to greet the rising sun. At dawn, the pyre is lit, and tended until noon when it burns down. The ashes are gathered and placed in a golden urn, which is placed in the portable shrine to Pelor his priests carry.*

*The party presses onward towards the Lake Without A Name. Slaying the tree-creatures seems to have put a bit of a void in the power structure of the surrounding area, so the rest of your trip is made unmolested except for the occasional thunderstorm. Finally you arrive at its sandy shores, the lake a huge expanse of blue-gray water, dotted with the occasional tree-speckled island. You send out the scouts to explore the area, and one comes back early, reporting a lone woman camped on the north shore. The expression in his eyes clearly shows that this is no ordinary woman...*

 

[Thanee]

Allyra

“A woman you say? Alone? How does she look like? And more importantly, did she notice you, or even talk with you?”

 

[Xael]

...so the rest of your trip is made unmolested except for the occasional thunderstorm.

*Rezomael considers the rest of the joyrney to be a complete success.*

*Ignoring the scout's indication about the woman's unnormality, Rezomael speaks to the group:* "That's the second lone woman we've met here in the wilderness. I wonder if this is usual here. But we should go see her, she probably has more information about the area. But I don't think we should bring the whole caravan with us. We've gotten this far, so we really need to start picking places to build something soon, and while that might include running people back and forth, we might as well delay that as long as possible until we decide what and where."

 

[Sephiroth no Miko]

"Who knew the untamed wilderness would be such a great place to meet unattached women?" *quips the ghost. Phaeder gives Anshul a swift mental kick.* "Joking, joking! Hey! Ow! Geez, what crawled into your bedroll this morning and died...?"

*To the rest of the party, Phaeder merely adds,* "Yes, I agree there's no need to bring the entire caravan for now and we're more mobile by ourselves anyway. But weren't we planning to settle somewhere on the north shore?"

[OOC: Isida, how long have we been travelling? We started in sometime in spring, I think, is it summer yet?]

 

[Thanee]

Allyra

Allyra had not yet taken the time to take a closer look at the area herself. Wandering along the shore with the rest of The Hex would be a welcome change. From the glimpses she could catch until now, it turned out to be a good decision to come here, the lake and the forest surrounding it would make a splendid and beautiful place to build their new home.

Her mind quickly wanders off towards the building plans and she finds herself judging the location with every glance towards suitability for their intentions, only here and now distracted by the natural beauty of it.

 

[Xael]

But weren't we planning to settle somewhere on the north shore?"

"Depends, I guess. At some shore at least, but now I'd maybe prefer to start just where the river and lake meet. We'd also get the advantage of moving water, and increased defensibility in two directions instead of one. And I think it might look cooler. I also like the few islands over there, though they're probably not very big. But I suggest do a quick investigation of them soon too."

 

[Thanee]

Allyra

“There is something to be said about cool looks for sure,” Allyra says with a wink.

“We will have to circle the lake once at least and then decide what would be the best place to settle down. The northern side is still my favorite. Close to the river, yes, that would be good. I can also see us raising a smaller keep on one of those islands, if they are big enough, to keep the water-side save. Do any of your people know about building riverboats?”

 

[Xael]

“We will have to circle the lake once at least and then decide what would be the best place to settle down. The northern side is still my favorite. Close to the river, yes, that would be good. I can also see us raising a smaller keep on one of those islands, if they are big enough, to keep the water-side save. Do any of your people know about building riverboats?”

"Yes, I agree that maybe we should take a look around the whole lake first. I doubt that the wizards with me are any good at building ships, but I'm sure we can manage. We can always just a build one damn huge bridge or a simple raft. Or fly. We'll probably have to make a trip to the mountains too, for a supply of stone. I'm pretty sure we aren't running out of wood anytime soon."

 

[Thanee]

Allyra

“Or stone for that matter. I also have no worries, that we will get our material across the water in time, I was more thinking of ships to traverse the river upstream. In time, we could even build a smaller fortified trading outpost where the river bends north, the closest point from the river to Gallis Hall. Riverboats could travel between here and there, or even further north. Admittedly, that is still far into the future, we have some groundwork to do first. But it doesn't hurt to plan ahead, or does it?”

With a sly smile on her lips, Allyra looks at her friends, to see what they have to say.

 

[Sephiroth no Miko]

"Do any of your people know about building riverboats?”

"Hmmm.... I think there's a shipwright or two in there, yes," Phaeder answers, looking at the lovely expanse of blue water ringed by the forest. He grins at Allyra and Rezomael suddenly and shakes his head. "You two are leaving me in the dust.... but then, you were always better at planning ahead than I. Stone? Wood? River forts? I'm still stuck back at how cool a keep on the lake would be. But yeah... it'd be a good idea to circle the entire lake first. Do you think it would be feasible to leave the caravan somewhere and just do it ourselves? As Rez pointed out, we should start construction soon and the Hex is a whole lot faster alone." *He rubs the back of his neck a little sheepishly.* "Besides... I kinda miss when it was just the six... ehr, five now I guess, of us, you know?"