The Scarab

[Festy_Dog]

Riss' eyes brighten considerably with the warm welcome of the cleric.

"You ever tackled kobolds before?"

Riss'tiq'chek thinks for a moment, then shakes his head.

"I have heard of them though," he says quietly, seeming to remember something, "But I have never encountered them on my home plane. My time away from there has been brief thus far, and I have much to experience."

 

[UniversalMonster]

One by one, your group boards the Diana by climbing up the rope ladder. The formian, who is apparently unable to talk without his voicebox, shakes hands with each of you and waves his antennae to welcome you aboard.

As the last member fo your group boards the ship, the formian busies himself with pulling up the rope ladder and rolling it again neatly.

Ram-tet shouts from below, "We'll expect you back within a week or so! Be careful! Good luck!"

He waves you off. The formian takes his palce behind a battered wheel at the rear of the ship and the Diana pulls away at a steady climb, then turns and aims itself into the sky.

The ground falls away.

You are now airborne.

 

[Old Fezziwig]

Well, this is quite the business. One week. We'd best get organized or else we'll all be headed for the big sleep. Ashan walks around decks until he finds Casandra — he waits to see if she has a moment, if she does, he offers her a friendly hand and says, "Well, it looks like the whole thing is headed off. I'm Ashan, by the way, I apologize for not introducing myself earlier, but I had to see if you were all square, and you seem to be. Anyhow, we appear to have a really tight time frame here, and I was wondering how you made all this? I mean, I got no kick, but I feel kind of uneasy — the rumble's really vague. Any thoughts on how we might handle this without kicking off?" Ashan waits patiently for an answer.

If she does not have a moment or doesn't want to talk to him, Ashan thanks her politely and heads off looking for Osric, running the above bit by him.

 

[Arknath]

Hremelan walks about the deck, whistling a happy tune as if he'd not a care in the world. He finds a quiet spot and sits down, thumbing through a large book that he pulls out of his pack. As he opens the book, a little sparrow pops out of the middle of it and ruffles his wings at the halfling. Hremelan giggles and shakes a finger at the bird, muttering something under his breath. The bird looks indignantly at the halfling and then takes a perch on his left shoulder. Hremelan lights his pipe and mutters, "...damned second-point spells..." and scribbles something on the page.

 

[Festy_Dog]

Riss moves a few steps to a railing of the ship and marvels at its shape and speed. He hangs his head over the side and lets the wind run through the fur on his head.

He soon sights Hremelan's sparrow and can't help wandering over to look at it.

"You have a nice familiar," he says, tilting his head to one side, "I didn't get to interact with animals much back home. I like them though, seeing as I practically am one."

He chuckles and smiles at the little bird and tries to imitate some chirping noises. He doesn't seem to get it right though and just shrugs.

 

[Jarval]

Osric moves up to the prow of the Diana and stares down at the ground, watching the buildings of Rigus pass below.

Listening in on Ashan's talk with Casandra, he speaks up. "It sounds like it could be an easy job, and I should be able to fend off any deaders that might be strolling around. But the kobolds could be a worry. They tend to come in tens and twenties, not ones and twos. Sticking together would be an idea. They like to pick folk off one at a time, not tackle a bunch o' us."

 

[UniversalMonster]

The formian moves by your group and taps the "voice-box" item that hangs around his neck.

"sqrrrrk..bzzt. Dodecahedron Gate.."

He points with one arm and waves his antenna around.

In the distance you can see it- a gigantic shape hanging motionless in the sky. It seems to be built of massive beams of iron or stone into the skeletal form of a 12-sided figure. Other airships can now be seen lining up to move through any of the 12 apertures in the shape. As they pass through the gateway there is a crackle of light, and a flash, and then the airship disappears as if nothing had ever been there in the first place.

The Diana takes it's place and circles the Dodecahedron Gate close enough so that you can see shifting lighted runes play across the surface of the beams. When the runes align, the aperture seems to flicker slightly.

The Diana lurches forward and pushes through the gateway to the other side. There is a crackle of light, and then a blinding flash.

Suddenly the deck seems to lurch upwards. Many of you are knocked off of your feet as the Diana materializes with a skidding halt in the air high above a featureless desert.

(CR 1/3. balance checks: DC 10. Failure means 1d4 damage. I'm rolling dice with e-tools in case anyone is wondering).

Ashan (roll 15)(+6 balance)=21. success!
Casandra (roll 6)(+2 dex)=8. Casandra is thrown to the deck for 2 pts damage
Osric (roll19 )(+1 dex)=20. success!
Riss (roll 15)(+3 dex)=18. success!
Khulmbanos (roll 6)(+6 balance)=12. success!
Hremelan (roll 19)(+3 dex)=22. success!


Casandra falls badly against the waterbarrels and then thrown against the deck. She is slightly hurt, but everyone else seems ok.

The crackle of Tchikkatlikkit's voice-box can be heard through the desert air.

"bzzt.. crk. .er.. Sorry! crkkkkkk."

You have now reached the Prime. Your airship is facing the rising sun, at an altitude of about 300 feet.

 

[Festy_Dog]

Riss hurries to assist his comrade to her feet.

"You fell pretty hard," he says, "Are you okay?"

 

[Arknath]

Adly (Hremelan's familiar) is very skiddish. When Riss approaches, he flutters to Hremelan's head and perches there. " 'ey! Tha's me firkin' 'ead ye blasted bird, not a dead rat-" suddenly, embarrassed by what he has just said, Hremelan will glance up at Riss and shrug, "Sorry, govna'. Di'n't mean n' offense by it." he says meekly. "Thank ye for the nice words, bu' as ye can see, 'e's a li'l nervous an' all. You do any magic?"

Hremelan will stuff away his book and put Adly gently in his pack (after prying the frightened sparrow from his skull) and close it up when the formian announces they are nearing the gate. When the transport is through, he'll privately regard Casandra with a bit of pity. "Poo' girl. Not as light on 'er feet as she looks." he mutters to himself.

"Hmmmm, i' appears we 'ave arrived. Where t' now?" he'll ask of the group.

 

[Mytholder]

Khulmbanos had been peering over the railing, idle dreams of bank heists and burglary from on high running through his head. He barely avoids smashing his bulbous head on the railing when the ship lurches.

"Oi!" he shouts, "watch it! Shout next time you're going to do that." He then scrambles up onto the railing, to look down and see what's now below the ship.