We have safely dealt with the icon for the next 149 years.
Having arrived in the Cage earlier this day, after being teleported to near the location of the portal in Glantri, we immediately set out for the Astral plane.
I must say, my first impressions of the Cage are, well, not easily put into words. For example, the first humans we saw had a most unusual hairstyle; Mohawks, I believe. And that's the humans; there's a discomfortingly large number of fiends walking the streets, and their opinion of me probably isn't that distinguishable from my opinion of dog food.
In order to enter the Astral, we headed to a tavern. This tavern has a gate on its premises; for a small fee, one is allowed to use this gate, although its presence is not advertised to the casual passer by. I believe one must ask for the special meal, or something similar.
Oh, there are no language problems in the Cage anymore. Everyone can understand everyone else. There's a universal tongues spell in effect. It's believed that this is probably due to the merchants. It surely can't hurt trade now can it?
In the areas we've been wandering, Lani, who looks distinctly upperplanar, has been receiving a number of none too casual looks. By the distinctly lower-planar looking creatures, funnily enough.
At any rate, the Astral was a blast. Being a place of the mind, the stronger you are mentally, the greater your power on the Astral. For example, it was trivial to defeat Roland at arm wrestling. I doubt I'd ever be able to do that anywhere else.
There is nothing solid on the Astral. Moreover, one doesn't walk to a destination; one simply wills oneself there, even if one has never been before. Also, there's no need for food or water on the Astral. Indeed, poison is ineffective. Nonetheless, the Inn is located on both sides of the gate. Business wasn't booming on the Astral side, shall we say. It did provide a destination to think of for when we returned to the Cage.
Interestingly, the Astral has gates to many (but not all) locations. If we ever wanted to go somewhere, all we'd have to do is think of the place we wanted to go. We'd eventually end up at an open gate. Pretty handy.
However, today we went to the Prison. The Prison essentially looks like a sphere. A large sphere, with many suspiciously weapon looking objects protruding from its surface. Divulged of any magic, we were allowed to wander down a long corridor, constantly feeling a tingly sensation; no doubt some form of magic was regarding us suspiciously. At the end of this long corridor, we spoke to a very old dwarven fellow.
Apparently, he's so old, if he left the Astral, he'd age suddenly, and die. Note to self: although one doesn't age when on the Astral, time has a way of catching up when one leaves.
In the prison, to store an object, it costs three gold per week. If one wishes to withdraw the object prematurely, then any excess gold is refunded. We set various conditions on the icon, regarding who can withdraw it over time, and promptly deposited it for 149 years.
No-one has succeeded in taking an item from the Prison. Moreover, the same rules that apply to deities and avatars and proxies on the Cage apply here. Not allowed.
Then we said bye-bye to the Astral, hello Cage.
With nothing urgent to pursue, Turia's going to give us a guided tour of the Cage.
There is so much that Turia has shown us over the past several days. Far too much to cover in detail.
The first place she showed is a place where one can ask the owner of the building a question, for a cost. Apparently he'll find out the question by asking his skulls; he collects them, and I suppose he has some manner of forcing the information out of them.
After this Turia showed us a set of ordinary-looking stairs, and said that the mages guild was there. Apparently it costs to become a member, but may well be worth it for those of us who are mages. Don't mess with the doorman she says, since he's a bound demon. Probably one who looks for any excuse to cause trouble.
Then there is the rubble of an old temple. Apparently the previous inhabitants had a plan to take over the city, but the Lady disagreed.
Not all in the Cage is evil and nasty, as I have somehow gained the impression. One place, a windmill attached to a bright yellow building, known as the green mill, is a kind of greenhouse. It's inhabitants include elves, angelic creatures, and the like. No fiends.
We then saw a mechanics shop, a place Zim didn't get to see, since Turia and I purchased some presents for his wedding from there. The place is called The Hands of Time. Manning the shop are gnomes, and big tall black creatures known as Modrons. Modrons are fellows with phenomenal endurance. They are also phenomenally lawful. To an extreme. We purchased Zim and his wife-to-be their presents from here. A pair of matching watches; they have an unusual face. The hands first go up, then down, in honour of the clock in the Lady's ward. How unusual! They're quite nice. Hope they like the gift.
Finally we got to see Turia's old hang out, the Black Sail. Ah-hem. An interesting crowd. I think they thought exactly the same of us. After all, she's gone from hanging out with assassins, fiends, and the like, to hanging out with paladins and the like. It took them a long time before they believed we were really married.
In general, her old ``friends'' seem all right. I wouldn't trust them with anything, but they're fun to be around. Sharing drinks with fiends. Hmm. Never would I have thought it would happen. Ever.
The Black Sail is where we've been staying. No-ones been poisoned, but only because Gurzurk has been checking. Oh, and Roland got roughed up a little by the local authorities, who assumed he was guilty of something due to his choice of accommodation.
Anyway, we also got to see Imel's Happy Tongue, a place with an interesting story, and even more interesting choice of cuisine. For example, I got to eat the death cheese, made from the milk of the catoblepas. Damn me, who would've thought someone would think up an idea like that. Tasted all right though.
The owner, Imel, has an interesting story. In short, he was told to obtain a squid (the intention being for a small slippery thing from the ocean). He ended up with, due to his ignorance, a large squid. Of the illithid spell jamming ship variety. Whatever that is.
The Great Bazaar is also of interest. You can pretty much buy anything here, if you can manage to find it. I wanted to find some pieces of Barghast, a naturally teleporting creature, but had no success. We did see some interesting items. For example, Bartonian green steel; it makes for very light, very sharp blades, on a par with red steel, but without the side effects. I picked up a few, to see if there's any interest back home.
The Great Gymnasium. A large building, if a bit plain outside. However, the interior astounds. Luxurious marble walls, ornate chandeliers. It speaks of wealth and luxury. If one has some sort of academic or relaxing pass time, then it can be done here. They even have a zero-g environment. I am impressed.
And if you need to freshen up from the dirt of the street, visit Chirpers. It's a place with a number of specialty shops within. For novelty value I purchased a stone flower from the elemental plane of earth for Turia. It's meant to last a long time.
At Chirpers, we saw a strange thing, a Bozak Draconian statue, although I do not know where these creatures are found. It doesn't look like it belongs to the friendly variety of two-legged creatures. At the centre of Chirpers there are three crystal spheres. In one, there is a stone quadruped. In the second, together with molten lava, there is an iron butterfly. In the third, there is an eyewing, with an attached sign asking people to not tease it.
The Lady's Ward is quite nice and clean. People are probably too scared to do anything out of hand here. Then again, there's not much to do in this ward. There are two things of interest. The Tower of the Wyrm, where a dragon with supposedly very nasty poison is used for executions, and the Temple of the Abyss. The temple is black, imposing, and has several (still alive people) skewered on blades attached to the walls of the building. We didn't stay for long. It is a temple to the Lords of the Abyss. Not our kettle of fish.
In lighter news, Melany got to go to the local temple of Hermes. A very big, imposing building.
If I ever need a good set of armour, I know where to go. It's called Trabans Forge, a dwarven run metal shop that sells only field- or full-plate armour. Pumping the bellows was an ogre, merrily singing away. We actually met another paladin here, of the order of the Planars Militant.
Should I require a strange item of any sort, I should go to Prime Exotics. Curious. I wonder if they really can obtain anything. Oh, and I really must remember that pet shop. Flying cats and giant space hamsters. Very interesting creatures.
Whilst we were wandering around, we were handed an interesting pamphlet. Apples of immortality, for 3000 gold each. Supposedly they were steeped in the juice of the apple of immortality. Someone wanted to profit rather than become immortal. We purchased some, but they aren't as good as advertised, or so our identify indicates. Each apple will reduce age by one to six years, but there is a small but cumulative chance that eating an apple will remove all the effects of previous apples. To be expected.
If information is required, then one must ask at the Hall of Information. I guess I'll be going there. Information is such a valued commodity. Unfortunately, there's meant to be lots of red tape at this place.
That, in a nutshell, is what Turia showed us of the Cage. I am highly impressed. Unfortunately, everywhere else is going to seem plain by comparison. Certainly on Mystara. The Cage seems to have so much to offer.
I think we'll be spending a few more days here.
We all split up and did our own things today.
I headed out with Turia to the Skulls fellow, to see if I could glean any interesting information.
On the way we saw perhaps the most impressive statue that I've ever seen. Standing 200 feet tall, it was that of three-eyed horse. Each eye consisted of a single, giant sized gem. The body of the statue was made up of fist-sized chunks of azurite and onyx. Needless to say, it was constantly guarded. Anyone who can afford such an ostentatious display of wealth can afford to pay for guards.
The skull place was appropriately dark and gloomy. We even had to climb a bone ladder. I first asked about Gareth, the new deity in Sind. A deity that preaches non-interference and yet protection at the same time. The master, the man running the skull show, answered without visiting his skulls. Said it sounded like it could be the Lady, although why she'd be there, who knows.
Unfortunately, the skulls were unable to inform me of anything regarding potion fruit trees. They could tell me of several demons that are natural teleporters.
Far more interesting are the rules placed on immortals. I already know most of them, but it's good to get a second opinion. As we know, they are not allowed to directly interfere with mortals on the prime material plane, with the notable exception of priests, paladins, proxies, etc. I guess a deity could chose to directly interfere with Leo on the prime, though no doubt he has sufficient protection.
It seems there is some allowance for deities to interfere directly, but the rules for this are unknown. It has been known to happen.
No deities or avatars are allowed in the Cage. Proxies, priests, followers, and the dead are allowed.
Deities are not allowed to directly attack each other. There are some anecdotes regarding this. One is that an avatar appeared in the Cage, hunting for an enemy. He was destroyed in a dual over the city, by an avatar of the Lady perhaps?
I also tried finding out the relationship between deities and their followers. The skulls didn't know, but the Master said that he knows of someone who knows who can answer. Unfortunately, for that information he wants the skull of the High Priest of Aoskar, who recently died. No-one knew their plans, they didn't even know who Aoskar is. They were completely destroyed. Unfortunately, I don't know of my survival chances for retrieving this skull.
On the way out, we bumped into an Upper Planar creature, who has decided to spend the next decade or so trying to encourage people of the Lower Ward to do honest work. He's not having much success, unsurprisingly. Then he read our mind, and said that if we want to speak to Archons, we should go to Arboria. He then helpfully informed us that many Upper Planars can read minds. Joy.
Lani observed a ``first earth'' fight between an archon and a deva today. The archon lost. It would appear that archons aren't much for rules.
I went to the hall of information today. Apprently there are no known permanent portals to the Astral plane on Mystara. None that are known anyway. With respect to mercenaries, he informed me that I should speak to the Ministry of War. Another appointment, this time for tomorrow.
Had my appointment with the Ministry of War today. There are mercenary companies based in the Cage. The Mercy Killers, or Doom Guards, can also be hired.
There are offices for mercenary companies in the market ward. They charge 10 gold per person per week, where that cost covers logistical support. The advantages to hiring Cage based mercenaries is the increased number of spell casters, planar creatures, and so forth. Their opinion is that they are probably on a par with the Alphatian mercenary companies.
For some reason, Gwen has decided to make a telescopic sight for her crossbow. It's not exactly useful. Strange gnome.
The others had contracted the Mystaran sage to research the Sundered Man. He did come up with some new information: the Sundered Man used an artefact to boost his own power. Perhaps his weakness is the same as the artefacts weakness? We'll have to see what else the sage can determine.
Most importantly today, we went to the Archon Embassy. They sure are a relaxed bunch! No problems sitting down and having a chat.
In short, they had the Hammer of the Archons, but lost it in Bartor, lost to fiends. They no longer know exactly where it is, since they lost it 1300 years previously. The demons possibly still have it.
They do have the anvil. It won't be a problem to get access to that. He even said that Nyx was a pretty good enemy to pick.
Anyway, the Demon Lord who might still have the Hammer is Dana the Demoness, although it could have been traded to someone else. He thinks that Dana is a Mariluth.
Interestingly, whilst archons are immortal, they can be killed if slain on their home plain. Unfortunately, they can feel pain. So it's quite possible to capture an archon, and torture them for eternity. Not so good.
The ambassador said he wouldn't be able to penetrate power mortal magic that protects against divination. This is reassuring.
Well, Turia left word with her buddies that we'd like to get in touch with Dana. She's told us that Mariluths are big women with snake lower halves, and six arms. They tend to use a sword in each arm.
We received a letter today. We are invited to see the alufiend at the tenth pit, three hours before anti-peak, tomorrow. No doubt regarding our desire to see Dana.
These sorts of creatures are mostly not affected by fire, cold, lightning, etc. That sucks.
This tenth pit place is just strange. They listen to a weird sort of music, with a constant, fast, loud thumping beat behind it. The interior was quite dark, with a few red lights, some people with whips, using them on some other people. Both parties seemed to be enjoying themselves immensely. Hmm.
We spoke to a female demon. We explained what we wanted (the hammer), and in return we might be willing to slay one of their foes. She stated that she would inquire with her superior, and perhaps an arrangement could be made.
So we'll have to go back to see her again. However, I somewhat suspect that it may well be beyond us.
At any rate, I have pressing research that must be attended to. If my companions need me, then they know how to contact me. In the meantime, I feel like researching. Hard. Perhaps for the better part of a year.