Day Five of the Odinsleep (The Better Part of Valor/Loki's Tower)

Day Five of the Odinsleep; 7 am – 12 pm, (Sunrise to Noon)

As Grotto stirs to wakefulness, he is confused by his surroundings.  Questions pour from his lips faster than Cedron can even respond at first.  “Where are we?  What happened?  Are we alive?”  The dwarf looks around in confusion, his hands groping for a weapon, something he can hold on to as he regains his bearings.

“We are in a safe place, but they are not.”  Cedron replies as he pulls open the window of the cloak's extradimensional space to reveal what is going on outside.  “We need to get back out there. Our friends require assistance, so that progress can be made.”  With his words spoken, the minstrel-priest opens his cloak, ejecting himself and his patient from the folds and back onto the battlefield.

Grotto, though his mind is still muddled, looks around, “I make a better medic than a spear stop in this battle.  Hanging back to heal might be my best choice right now.”

Kysek quickly scans the area.  He sees the first spiked monstrosity continuing to plod away  from the group and the other two approaching slowly from behind.  He looks around to his companions and calls out, “Are we doing this?  Or continuing toward our goal?”

Niklas runs up beside the elf, “Sorry  I was delayed.  Had some trouble with my mount at first.  What's our plan here?”

Drax remounts, shaking his head at the rapidly changing whims of his companions.

Ra'ziir sheathes Grumbar's Razor and looks to Raven.  “Do we fight them now, or later?”

Raven frowns, his hands itching to fight as he glances around at his companions.  He remembers the words of the Valkyrie and his prior recklessness.  He knows that the party could defeat the creatures but the cost in magic and blood could be considerable and even though he fared better in the battle than Grotto, his own injuries could prove to be a liability.  “Unless Shadow wants to face them now, I think we should move on.  There is nothing to gain by fighting and nothing to lose by not.”

The Bladesinger nods as Shadow joins them.  The dark elf replies, “We should save our resources for the fight to come.  Let us depart.”

The group takes to the air on their eight-legged Sleipnirs, swinging wide around the lead beast as they head south.  

The Sea of Mamora rises to the group's right, its waves crashing against the rocky coast.  The flying horses race through the sky, covering a hundred miles and more in a matter of hours.  The snow covered ground thaws and wildflowers sprout, grow, and bloom into their fullness as the day edges ever closer to the heat of summer.

Finally, the rocky coast begins to rise, becoming rougher, rockier, and higher until, finally, a tower comes into the view.  The Sleipnirs descend, alighting a few short miles from the building.  They wait patiently for the group to disembark, pawing the ground with their hooves.  The lead horse motions toward the tower with its head and neighs, indicating that the herd will come no closer to the spire.

- - - - -

• Arthur: 100% health;

• Bubo: 100% health;

• Cedron: 100% health; 

• Drax: (181 of 181) 100% health; Nondection (active until 7 pm), Undetectable Alignment (active until Day Six at 5am); 

• Grotto: 100% health; 

• Kysek: 100% health; by morning half of the Tome will have been read; 

• Niklas: 100% health; 

• Raven: 66% health; 

• Ra’ziir: 100% health; 

• Shadow: 97% health;  

• Spewer: 100% health;