We have, once again, flown back to Serraine. We have also begun reading the book.
The book written by the Lady mage is far more informative than the one by the halfling. She indicated that she arrived there by going down a very deep (obviously) lift. Things are different there. Communication magic fails, as does transportation magic.
Aegos (the place with the lift) is essentially conquering the locals, who are primitives. This invasion has been going on for years. Not only is Aegos conquering the locals, but they are also enslaving them. Not very nice.
The soldiers who arrive at the other end of the lift are `encouraged' to stay, after their term of service is over. In other words, Aegos did not want others to discover the existence of this place. However, the lady mage indicates she deserted, and left by travelling to the north pole. Apparently at the North Pole there is another entrance to this inner world. However, her description lacks detail.
In short, it sounds like she decided she didn't like what was happening to the locals, and wanted to let the rest of the world know of Aegos' little secret.
There are several points I find interesting. The first is that the lift is so very long. A trip from our surface takes over a day. Either there was already the hole, and the lift was added to it, or the people of Aegos dug the hole themselves. If they dug it, then it would have required a great deal of effort. I would guess that by the time they decided to dig this hole, they already know of the existence of what was on the other side.
Another interesting point is that the lady mage chose to publish the book simultaneously in many places. Either she wanted it to sell well, or she was worried someone would try to suppress it's existence. It was then, after her book, that the halfling published his version. The halflings version is stupid, and sounds like a fairy tale. Perhaps no halfling wrote this book, but it was made up in an attempt to discredit the lady mages book? Apparently the halfling is now dead. It is not known what has happened to the lady mage. For all we know, the lady mage is just a made up person.
In other aspects, we have decided to try and get a commission to go exploring, by both Darokin and Serraine. The next council meeting in Serraine is in four days. We'll wait for that first, and Lani's sister will raise the issue.
In the meantime, we'll celebrate the new year. Zhi will want to party.
Fascinating. Magic did not work properly today. Magically bound creatures broke free, mage and priest spells failed to work. Essentially, it appears that mundane magic has decided to stop working. Hopefully things will be back to normal tomorrow?
New Year's day, and there is something to celebrate. Magic is normal again. Priests have tried divinations, but no-one knows what is happening. We asked Leo, and he said it is a reoccurring echo from the week of no magic.
Fancy that?
The council met today. Lani's sister reported that the council would like a week to think of the matter. The item, that of funding us to go on this trip, was budgeted (cheaply) at 50000 gold.
In this week, we may as well go to Darokin, and see what they have to say.
Unfortunately, Darokin has already commissioned a ship (with Karameikos). It left two years ago, and nothing has been heard since.
So Darokin is out of the question. We'll pin our hopes on Serraine. We should be back there tomorrow.
The council had another meeting today. Unfortunately, they will still want to talk it over.
I did a sending to Jose and Martin. Things are going well.
There was yet another council meeting today.
It looks like we are in luck. The council will agree to fund us, at a value of 75000 gold, although they prefer to pay us in assets, rather than pure cash (it appears cheaper for them on paper, according to Lani's sister).
We've broken down our request into several items. We wish to be made citizens (convenience).
We wish 5000 gold worth in gems (petty cash).
Four of us will be sent into Top Ballista, for training (normally only the best of the best pilots get to go to Top Ballista). It is valued at 2000 gold each person. Those of us who go into Top Ballista (Turia and myself included) will be expected to take an active role in flying the falcon. It'll make Zim's life a lot easier.
We desire 15000 gold worth of spell research assistance, for when Lani decides to try and research that teleport gate.
We have asked for 5000 gold worth in spare parts for the falcon.
We have asked for a mansion (valued at 20000 gold), and apartment block (12000 gold), and a large house (10000 gold). We can hold onto these (rent them out, etc), or sell them as we choose).
The council will meet again in one week, and a decision will be made.
The council met, and it was agreed.
We will now arrange things, and begin training at Top Ballista!
Everything has finally been arranged. And I have achieved the rank of Squirt!
We've organised a great deal in the way of supplies. Plenty of food and water (never know what may go wrong). Various other things. We spent all of the 5000 gold petty cash.
Tesserael will be leaving us here. He has other business to deal with. Hopefully we'll be back in time for his wedding.
Hopefully we'll be back in time for the WDL games as well.
We've decided to enter via the North Pole, since it's unlikely we'll be allowed to use the lift (not without being thrown in prison, anyway).
We'll go to a monastery near Wendar first. Hopefully they will have some sort of maps of the north.
This monastery isn't quite what I expected. It's literally a large fort. The people are friendly enough, although their clothing is a bid drab; they seem to be a tad fond of brown robes.
We'll stay here for a day to live in comfort for possibly the last time in a long time.
Unfortunately, they cannot tell us much of what is to the north. They did entertain us with some information about Wendar. Apparently, Wendar has no army. Rather, the king is the army literally. Reportedly he slew the leader of an invading army without leaving the capital. Clearly this is a great exaggeration.
The Alfheim elf refugees have settled in as best they are likely to. Things should be alright by the next generation, which is a long time away, given elf lifespans. Apparently the Alfheim elves find it strange how the elves and humans live in harmony with each other.
I wonder if one day Wendar will become inhabited by solely halfelves. No humans, no elves, just a mixture. I doubt I'll live long enough to find out.
We left the monastery early this morning. We'll want to get over the Denegoth mountains. We will start mapping our route now. It's a good thing we picked up several map making kits before leaving.
Hmm. There was a thud in our engine today. We landed, and found some blood. I guess a bird got unlucky. It took a while to land, sicne we are over mountains at the moment. Zim only just made the difficult landing.
Zim cleaned the engine up, and we'll be on our way again tomorrow.
We've been flying along, and it looks like there is a big mountain range to the north. The east is hilly, and the west is flat terrain. We've decided to head east.
Ah, married for two years now. Time flies when you're having fun, as the saying goes.
It really is a huge mountain range. The range has started to curve westward. We'll follow it.
The mountain range has curved to the north, so now we are travelling directly north again.
By doing so, we entered a valley, and encountered a tribe of winged horses, or pegasi.
It's a break to the monotony, so we've chosen to pop down and have a chat. They really are rather friendly, and quite a bit more intelligent than I would expect.
Unfortunately, they don't really know that much of the surrounding part of the world. Apparently there are dragons in the mountains, there are stupid giants in the north, and far to the east are humanoids of our size, although these are just legends. These humans are probably the people of Norwald (the tip of Norwald is virtually due east of here). Ginat birds also attack them from time to time.
My companions have decided to build a shelter for these winged horses. Gurzurk wants to make a stone structure for them, so that in times of trouble (weather wise), they can take shelter. I personally think we should leave these creatures be, rather than provide them with things they cannot themselves duplicate. For example, they are being taught about fire, but without hands, how can they themselves create fire?
I think it best to leave these creatures as they are. It would be bad if they became dependent on things they cannot duplicate.
The pegasi we have mostly spoken to is named Revick. That they name each other is by itself an indication of quite some intelligence.
We left the pegasi this morning. We've decided to head north-east until Alpha (in Norwald) is due south.
The terrain we've been flying over really is quite stunning, pristine. We've passed a number of lakes, rivers, and other landmarks. I am impressed by the scenery.
As Alpha is now due south, we will head north.
We are either over a really big lake, or the sea. Either way, we keep heading north.
We have noticed that the lodestone has started pointing downwards a bit.
The compass has increasingly started pointing down. It is now quite low, having already bumped against the casing.
The sun is very low on the horizon.
Bummer. We've hit an anti-magic zone. Zim had to crash land the falcon, which he managed to do without excessive damage. Of course, the extra dimensional space is closed off, with Safranna and Roland within.
We have to get the falcon out of the anti-magic area, which is about a distance of 1000 feet. It won't be that easy.
Gurzurk will build a shelter at the edge of the anti-magic area, and will build a 300 metre runway (since one day we're going to need it).
I've done a sending to Nemon asking him to teleport in some appropriate equipment, namely ropes pulleys, jacks, wood saws, tents, ice cutting equipment, wood, shovels, wheels, snowmarkers, and other miscellaneous equipments.
Now we wait.
Nemon arrived with our equipment.
Unfortunately, it's a blizzard outside, so we have to wait.
We had to shovel our way out of the shelter, the blizzard was that bad. At least we can still see the falcon. Well, its tailfin anyway.
We get to work jacking the plane up, so Zim can get to the undercarriage.
Zim managed to put a single wheel back on the falcon today. That leaves one to go.
Lani flew one half a day north, to determine the extent of the antimagic zone. Unfortunately, she did not find an end to it. She did hear some howling though. I guess there's something there.
The other wheel has been fixed up.
It is a blizzard today, so no work will be done.
Managed to set up a pulley system today, leading out of the entimagic area (we have plenty of rope).
Tomorrow Lani will try monster summoning spells in the hope of nabbing something big and strong.
Huzzah. The falcon is out of the anti-magic area, and Roland and Safranna have been returned to us. The monster summoning spells Lani has really helped.
We tried to determine how much the anti-magic zone curves, but our results are inconclusive.
It looks like we'll have to walk. That really sucks.
Well, we are getting paid handsomely. And we should be safe from our numerous enemies as well.