I have just finished casting some sendings to several people, having had twelve hours to rest and rememorise. We did decide that before choosing what we should next do, we should have an idea of what may happen in the Thyatian part of the world.
One of my mage collegues in Corunglain stated that the Heldannic forces there, which were dealing with the humanoids in the crater, will be staying for the winter. He further informed me that the humanoids in the crater are presently "nicer", but that the humanoids in the broken lands are upset for some reason.
It is reassuring to hear that the Heldannic knights are staying put. Earlier myself and the others were worried the Heldannic knights could head anywhere, into Ethengar, or perhaps as a force to invade Norwald, but knowing they are wintering eases these concerns. Indeed, given that winter is coming, perhaps the entire region will have momentary respite from the general upheaval it has been experiencing of late.
I also performed a sending to Phoranin. She claims to not know much of what is presently happening. Interestingly, she avoided answering if she was aware of the possibility of something big about to happen (prior to the period of no magic). I am well aware that Phoranin avoids lying in any way, although she has no problem with omitting certain (usually critical in my experience) facts. Together with her rather timely choice of when to leave the party, the other and I have come to the conclusion that she knew something was about to happen. I have not been given the impression that anyone is in the least surprised by this.
In other news, I informed Elsa, Thora's head priestess, of Thora's "death", so that she may perform any appropriate rituals. Furthermore, Major Kalimi has indicated that the situation at Darokins western border is stable.
Given that things seem to be about as stable as we could hope for, the others have convinced me that our time is better wasted looking for a dragon in these parts than it is spent in the East. So we will now head to the Trident Isles, where we believe a metallic dragon might be. Zim has conceded that asking Leo where the dragon may be (when we get to the area) may be our only viable option, else we risk having to fly through winter storms if we take too long.
In the twelve hours in which we have ben flying, we have been paralleling the newly red area. Curiously, it is not spherical, but instead appears to be rectangular, in a sense. It would seem that the important regions, those that are populated, are the ones infected most. We have been told that intelligent creatures are affected more by the curse than less intelligent. Likewise, perhaps the spread of the curse is influenced by the density of intelligent creatures in nearby regions? It would be interesting to see what would happen if every intelligent being in the region packed their bags and left.
Well, this is really besides the point at the moment.
We have continued to follow the border of the region covered by the vermeil. Interestingly, the straight line was broken when we encountered a large swamp. At this swamp, rather than continuing in the straight line, the vermeil instead bulges out to neatly encompass the entire swamp. I wonder what it is that has caused this. My present theory is that there are a number of intelligent creatures there (or maybe just the one very intelligent creature). It would be interesting to find out one day. Perhaps there will be time to investigate when we head back to the Darokin part of the world.
We investigated some unusual stone structures today, which seemed to pop out of nowhere in the plains we are flying over. The consist of a series of stone blocks that have been placed in a particular (and circular) pattern, with a single, red, magical stone residing in the center. Whilst we were poking around, a slightly scaled humanoid appeared, whom Gurzurk cast a tongues spell with in order to communicate.
The structure we were investigating is sacred to these people. The stones represent rebirth, and were made by this race. According to them, the place is sacred to "The Great One", a dragon of some sort. The person we spoke to is training to be a shaman; the shamans interpret the will of the great one.
Fortunately, the stranger did not seem to be violently offended by our investigations. Indeed, he cooked us a lizard that he had caught. I can honestly say that it tasted far better than the mush that Gurzurk has been creating for us. Pity there was so little to go around.
There are a number of other sites such as this littered around the place. We originally thought it may be possible to arrange a meeting with the dragon they worship, but after some discussion, it would appear that they probably aren't on such intimate terms with the one they worship as a god. Although it would be nice to find out more about these people, I feel there are far more interesting things to do.
We are close to the dragon. Leo informed us earlier today that the nearest metallic dragon's lair ison the second island of the chain, six miles inland, inside a cave. Highly accurate of Leo, for which we are all thankful.
We also saw a village on the tip of the mainland, which Gurzurk and I flew down to. It is a colony of Texeiras, one of the Baronies. They are certainly far from home. In a way, this makes me think of Thyatus. I had no idea that any of the baronies may have an expansionistic policy. Well, perhaps they do not.
It seemed much like any other place. There were human ships in port, and humans all over the place. They were obviously baronies people, as immediately clear given their colouring. This particular area is called the horn (no doubt due to its shape). To the south are monkey folk. We also heard that the lizard men can apparently change shape.
There was little to learn about this place. They did tell us that we should be careful of the dragon, in particuar we should avoid the dragon. It has apparently attacked several ships in the region. Of course, Gurzurk and I just politely nodded at these warnings, silently ignoring them.
The guards at the gate didn't know that the region cursed by the vermeil had spread. Well, I guess the local lord was being a bit quiet about that. Hmm. Well, I gave the guards something to tell their mates... Pretty soon the entire place will know.
Oh, much more importantly, we purchased some real food to eat for a while. It's just divine!
Well, not my concern.
We have had no difficulties in finding this island. Earlier today, before Zim made his perfect landing on the beach, we flew around the island and spotted the cave entrance. It wasn't very hard to see. Unfortunately, most of the island is mountainous, hence our landing on the beach, over six miles distant from the entrance.
It should only be several days before we arrive at the entrance. It will do us good to get some exercise. It is good to simply be outdoors, although the weather could be a bit better.
Aha! Dinner presented itself to us today, and it didn't taste too bad at all.
We were surprised by some large crab-like crustaceans which leapt out of the sand to attack us. There were four in all, but even though they looked well armoured, and in general very impressive, they didn't stand a chance.
They're not bad to eat as well. A bit strong perhaps, but I don't mind the taste of crab. It beats Gurzurk's gruel though. Can't blame Gurzurk though. I suppose fine cuisine isn't the domain of that dwarf deity he worships.
Hmm. I wonder what it is that these huge crabs eat.
This island really is the place to be. Today we started to head inland, and on our way were attacked by four manticores. Big flying creatures which threw spikes from their tails. We successfully killed two of them, but the other two managed to escape. Apparently Lani cast Tasha' Uncontrollable Hideous Laughter on one. It died when it fell from the sky.
We have chosen to stay a while so that Safranna can cure the pelts of these beats. They can be quite valuable, or so she tells us.
I, of course, have taken some bits as pieces in case they might be useful as components at some future date.
Resolution day. If only we could be in Sind right now, where everyone indulges in their most favourite of vices.
Spurred on by Turia's subtle hints, I have stated my intent to cut down on the number of curries I eat, although it pains me to make such a declaration. A pity I cannot indulge in my curries today, as we only have access to travelling food - gruel. I guess I'll just have to make up for today's lack some other day. That certainly seems fair to me. I don't think I should tell Turia though. What she doesn't know can't hurt me.
As for Turia, she has promised to become a nicer person. She does have a point of course... but I think I should stay away today, if I can. After all, she can freely indulge in this particular personality trait today. Ouch!
Oh, Leo found out some more information for us today. Alphatia was destroyed and sunk. In other words, the gods did an amazingly thorough job. Joy. I guess they don't mind participating in genocide every so often. Flex the muscles, so to speak. I think I give up.
At Zim's request, I did a sending to the Empress, but it failed, as expected. I also did a sending to Lyril. She confirmed that the Isle of Dawn, and some other protecorate of Alphatia, are still where they should be.
We have started to head for the lair again. We saw the dragon fly overhead earlier. It's about twice the size of the falcon. We couldn't see what colour it was. I hope it doesn't mind chatting.
It is late in the day, but we now stand before the entrance to the lair of this metallic dragon. We have decided that it is best to wait for morning before entering...