Balifor Bay, Alinosti, and Wayreth Tower

21st - 22nd Gildember 348 AC

Shadow gives Grotto a “go to Hades look” at the comments about getting Cassidy drunk and taking him to the hut. “Easy on the bottle or you might be next!” He says with a grin.

Grotto laughs with Shadow! "Oh my! Well I'll drink to that!" Grotto says between chuckles. Grotto throws a few more logs on the fire and prepares for sleep.

Cassidy shakes his head, "Sorry, fellas. Neither one of you is my type. Give me a Kender girl who can play rhythm and sing back-up and cooks like my Gram-Gram and I'll be taking myself off the market."

Shadow chuckles, “ I hope for your sake that you find this kender lass quickly so that we can all enjoy her grandmother like cooking abilities. If they are anything like the Halflings from our world, we will all be happy to pull up a chair at that table.”

As the night passes, the storm worsens. At several points throughout the night, loud CRACKS reverberate through the woods as branches, heavily laden with ice, break off from their tree and plummet to the forest floor. Wind howls between the trees, a shrill whistle that makes sleep elusive and fitful. Grotto's fire is soon overwhelmed, the green wood no match for the vicious gale.

Shadow chants "Η μικροσκοπική καλύβα του Leomund" and a hemisphere of force appears. "Everyone in." The inside is dimly lit but it's warm and dry.

As the blizzard worsens, Grotto yells out to all in the party, "We are going to freeze to death if we don't stay warm! Quickly we must huddle together to stay warm! Don't be shy now! It is this or death!" Grotto takes refuge with those that join the pile to attempt to stay warm. "Anyone care to cuddle to keep extra warm!?!" Grotto asks slyly, his tone half joking.

Shadow laughs, “Cassidy have you been bedded by a Dwarf before?”

The Kender just looks to the drow and throws him a wink. "A gentleman never tells."

Shadow smiles and says “‘Tis true.”

Kysek states in an imperative tone, “It truly seems as though something or someone is trying to impede our pursuit. Someone is hiding something; and we’re on the correct path. Storm or no storm; when Raz gets back with Raven, we should push forward.”

Arthur burrows deeper into his sleeping bag and waits out the storm.

In Alinosti, at the Otter’s Bed...

“If not very large lizardfolk, then maybe stunted dragons, or maybe some sort of hybrid dragonkin…?” Ra’ziir lets his words hang in the air.

"Dragonkin? Like Marcus?" Raven lets his gaze rest on Ra'ziir, seeing no recognition of the name, he continues, "Ahh... that's right. You haven't met the boy. Marcus al'Cadenza-Windrider, son of Mariah Windrider and the copper dragon, Cadenza. She brought him to Banshee’s Point after the wyrm was killed in Anauroch two, maybe three summers ago. She's training him to be a ranger like her. Good kid, all knees and elbows. Only scales you can see are on his neck and along his jawline. But, another hybrid could take more after their draconic parent."

“Yes, precisely. We’ve heard of these ‘dragonarmies’… Could they be made up of some sort of anthropomorphic dragon hybrid, I wonder?” Ra’ziir ponders as he takes another pull from his drink.

"If this unknown enemy IS fielding a force of half-dragons, Silvanesti may be %@$#ed," Raven replies in a quiet monotone.

Meanwhile, at the Tower of Wayreth...

Romulus and Menathradon continue to spend their days sequestered in the library, pouring over any tome they can find that even mentions Chronomancy, Time Travel, Time Dimensionals, or binding spells.

Romulus' evenings are spent drinking and dining with the Archmages from the three Orders, with each regaling the others with stories of previous adventures. Romulus' tales of surviving not one, but two retributive strikes from exploding magical staves has Par-Salian, Justarius, and Ladonna all calling him a liar, but his insistence slowly wins them over. The story of how he lost a hand in a battle against a necromancer and its subsequent regrowth brings about an hours-long discussion of the divine magic that permeates Toril as well as the dozens of gods that make up its pantheon of deities leaves them speechless, especially after they explain how their own gods departed after smiting the world during the Cataclysm.

Par-Salian and Ladonna share tales about the time they hunted down a group of renegade mages near Palanthas in their youth and how, much later, Par-Salian helped in bringing the renegade wizard Lyim Rhistadt to justice.

An entire week and one-half passes like this - studies during the day, some laboratory work spent re-crafting his enchanted shurikens, evenings drinking and sharing stories with three other wizards who would be considered peers on any other world.

The Next Morning...

By morning, a thin crust of ice has formed over the dome, maintaining its shape even after Shadow dismisses the spell.

Wayreth Tower

Finally! A breakthrough!

Romulus is pouring over one of the spellbooks Menathradon has pulled from the archive section of the library. It is within the pages of this weighty tome that Romulus finds the puzzle piece that causes every other detail to fall into place. The rune inscribed inside of the gem setting of Raven's bracers - the Minimus Containment variant of the Binding spell.

The halfling leaps from his seat. "Aha! Woo! I have it! I know what to do!" He immediately heads to his borrowed quarters and wards them against intrusion and casts a Sending spell to contact Ra'ziir. He chooses his words carefully, knowing the limits of the conversation. "I have discovered how to fix the bracer. I am returning to Silvanost. Meet me at Lorraine's."

Back in Alinosti...

The next morning, Raz prepares two teleport spells - one to rejoin his companions, the other just in case it is needed. As he is preparing to to cast the first, the bladesinger hears Romulus' voice in his head.

"I have discovered how to fix the bracer. I am returning to Silvanost. Meet me at Lorraine's."

”Ok, we’re headed there momentarily.”
Ra’ziir will meet up with Raven and then teleport them both to meet Romulus.

Raven asks, "What of the others? I thought we would be meeting them."

“Romulus has a fix for the bracers… we’ll see what he’s got and then meet the others. Unless you’d rather meet Romulus later.”

Raven glances down at the bracer he damaged while reversing time in a battle against Jotuns in Asgard. "This bracer saved all of our lives. We will probably need its power again soon but we don't know what sort of dragon-man hybrid the group may run into. I think we should go to them first."

Ra’ziir relays the information to Romulus, “Logical. Let’s go see what Mr. Greenbeans has gotten himself into…”

The black robed Bladesinger readies to teleport himself and the little black bird back to the party.

Romulus replies, "I will scry Shadow and meet you there."