The Vagrant Tower Returns
Log Info
- Title: The Vagrant Tower Returns
- Emitter: Subduction
- Characters: Crik, Pelka, Simony, Slixvah, Sloan, Ulthan
- Place: The Vagrant Tower Forward Camp
- Time: March 17th, 2023
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= The Players =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Crik 5'8" 120 Lb Eaglefolk Male
A hunched over and dark feathered egalrin rogue
Pelka 5'8" 140 Lb Eaglefolk Male
Artifice-laden Egalrin, SKREE!
Simony 3'5" 34 Lb Goblin Female
Albino Goblin in copper robes edged in blue trim.
Slixvah 5'8" 130 Lb Eaglefolk Female
A rust red and white Eglarin covered in ribbons and shawls.
Sloan 5'10" 190 Lb Human Male
5'10 Dark Haired, Blue eyed Human
Ulthan 7'0" 250 Lb Human Male
Dusky, auburn-haired barn door masquerading as Dranei
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= As the GM =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Subduction 4m Lb
Eating Continental Shelfs
-=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=
Word has spread that the so called Vagrant Tower, a wizard's tower long ago banished beyond the material plane for reasons unknown, is turning into a treasure trove of archaic lore. Accessed by a portal recently discovered on the edge of the Genrivian Gorge, a base camp set up by scholars wishing to study the portal and its destination is steadily expanding into a makeshift hub town catering to adventurers and scholars both. Consisting largely of tents, the base camp now boasts something of an inn and a merchant, and there are plans for a blacksmith to move in.
This is ontop of expansions to the scholar's own tent in the form of a wooden lean-to, and a small shrine to Althea which also serves as a dedicated healer's tent after the first expedition returned with near-fatal papercuts.
The latest foray into the tower was some time ago, and the camp is becoming restless with concern that something may be amiss. There are talks of assembling a second team to send in after them. Those talks are curtailed by a bolt from the blue- quite literally. Despite the blue skies overhead, a flash of light and peal of thunder announce a sudden lightning bolt, arcing from the portal itself, and striking the earth nearby, causing a cascade of dirt and rocks to fly into the air and shower back down again. Hair stands on end, and the tang of ozone in the air preceeds a second violent bolt of electricity, this one forking high into the sky overhead.
Meanwhile, within the Tower itself:
After defeating the mischievous band of mephits that had been vandalizing a shrine to Animus within, the tower was rocked by a peal of thunder mirroring the one witnessed at base camp. The entire tower lurches, sending the adventurers within stumbling. A second rumbling bolt, and the flagstones creak and strain as the tower tips the other way. Suddenly, leaving seems like a good idea.
Pelka pauses what he was doing. He tilts his head back to look up at the where the lightning flashed, beak slightly opened. He had only recently arrived at the growing camp, and in fact had only recently been in those skies. Then Pelka clacks his beak shut and looks around, assessing the others he sees in case any show signs of being the cause of the bolt. Or the target.
Ulthan, having just arrived at the encampment, jumps back at the sudden thunderclaps. He then slaps his cheeks and moves closer to the ret of people gathered here.
An outrageously dressed Eglarin woman is present, her more rainbow from all the ribbons adorned on her than her true rust red and white coloration. She's busy conversing with some scholars at the tent. "No no, I am merely offerin' conjecture 'bout that th' leylines goin' whack mighta started all this up! We have no clue what's gonna happ-
Boom! "What in th' heckin'-!" Slixvah exclaims from the sudden bolt.
As the thunder barks and the tower begins to rock, Sloan looks around, trying to keep his footing. "I would suggest Haste in getting back to the portal! Master Crik, Are you able to fly?" Even as he asks, the butler is checking out the windows to see how much time they may or may not have.
The albino is quite jumpy, and actually screams at the first lightning bolt. After finding herself clinging to Crik, she huffs and pushes herself away from him. "S.sorry, it's just that the..." The second peal of lighting causes Simony to squeak, and once more she is clinging to the raven-feathered Eagalrin. The Goblin scurries away once more, looking embarrassed.
"I'm inclined to agree with the Butler. Let us make haste to the portal." She takes a step and looks around. "Where is that again?", she wonders.
Ulthan strides towards the tent and the scholars gathered there, his long gait getting him quickly there, and he waves. "Hello and well met. What excitement we have."
Inside the tower -- Crik's beak was ajar as he glances around as the tower itself seems to have given up on its purpose. Looking around the room, he holds up the scrolls he has picked up. They disappear with a flash of his cloak. "I can glide."
Simony clings onto the corvid egalrin. After a moment, the deep voice of his adds, "... badly." Dark wings flutter, as he gestures with his hands. "All the traps have been dismantled, we should be able to run back to the portal."
In the camp, scholars are beginning to gather to look at what is going on, as well. As is all too common for those deeply invested in their academic fields, the potential for a new discovery outweighs self-preservation. The glyphs on the portal are aglow- all of them. Until now, only the first has been illuminated. Now they all glow, crackling with electricity. The air itself vibrates, as the stones that make up the portal shiver, suspended as they are by arcane force.
Within the tower, As Sloan looks out the window, the sight he sees is the sort that makes one's blood run cold. One of the massive swirling storms they have been drawing ever nearer to with each foray looms large, blocking any other sight. Lightning rips through it in sheets and streaks, and the fierce winds- strong enough to strip flesh from bone- whip at the edge of the tower, tearing away pebbles of loose stone from its outer walls. A bolt leaps from the heart of the storm and strikes, near the window, causing it to shatter violently and send Sloan tumbling backwards. Unharmed, but barely. With the window broken, the howling of the wind grows ferocious, like the howl of a ravening beast.
In The Tower - - Looking towards the door once more, Sloan begins moving towards it as he calls to the other 2 in the room. "I might suggest you would find it easier to navigate these halls on the wing as it were Master Crik, but I supposed it would be ignorant of one to assume to know what is easiest for you better than you."
Raising his voice to be heard over the storm, Sloan continues. "Mistress Simony, I will beg you forgive the crassness of my request and ask that you climb on my back!"
The Goblin is looking increasingly concerned, especially when the tower appears to be losing it's ... uprightness. Simony stares at Sloan, as if he had just asked her to do something horrible. But one crack of thunder later, and the ablino is awkwardly scuttling up Sloan's back.
In the tower -- "Sloan, are you- " Crik tilts his head curiously at Sloan (how did the butler manage to stay so polite in this situation?) but explosive thunderstrike later, he lets out a quick loud caw. "Watch the walls - don't let them imprison you!" The corvid says as he quickly moves along himself. There is a bit of a flutter as he knocks off the dust from his wings - plenty of dust - and runs into brief hopping glides, trying to navigate his way back towards the portal. He was already getting his rope out for the moment when somebody falls. Somebody will always fall into the darkness.
Outside the tower -- Slixvah is a bit too preoccupied by everything going on to make greetings and shake wings. Her shaking her head and looking at the portal. No, really, really looking at. "... heeey. Uh- Y'all! Make sure tha' portal don't explode! It's lookin' a little overloaded!" she yells at the curious scholars. "Might have ta siphon it just in case!"
Pelka catches sight of the newly glowing glyphs. "Look!" he squawks. He looks between the different glyphs and the portal itself. Then he tilts his head to one side. "Wait...the people inside!" He casts his gaze around. "Are we still sending anyone in after them?!"
GAME: Sloan rolls reflex: (14)+7: 21 GAME: Crik rolls reflex: (6)+7: 13 GAME: Simony rolls reflex: (9)+4: 13 GAME: Slixvah rolls spellcraft: (19)+15: 34 GAME: Pelka rolls spellcraft: (3)+12: 15
The humming of the portals stones gradually gains in pitch as the stones that make it up vibrate more and more fiercly. The crackling runes send out another bolt of lightning that cascades into the earth,s corching the ground and scattering more dust and stone. The hum gets higher and higher, until it passes beyond the range of human hearing, becoming a stabbing pain one feels rather than hears.
At Slix's advice, several of the scholars join her to do what they can to control the violent energies surging through the portal. They are able to calm it, directing the energy to empower the portal's magic, rather than grounding violently in arcs of lightning.
Inside the tower, the floor suddenly becomes the wall as the entire tower is pitched onto its side. Crik and Simony are sent tumbling, falling hard against the wall that has become the floor, but Sloan reacts quickly enough to engineer a more graceful landing. Their exit is in sight, but is now above their heads- the corridor leading to the portal has become a narrow upwards passage with the shifting of the tower.
Ulthan peers around as he doesn't feel too useful with the energies being shifted around, then raises his voice in a question. "There are people inside? Do you need me to go look for them?"
Pelka holds up a contraption in each taloned hand and touches them together. After a few moments he turns one of them around and tries to connect it from the other side. It doesn't seem to be of much help. Finally he lowers them and watches some of the other scholars at work, mumbling something about incompatible arcane sources.
The albino thunders in, grunting, and then groaning as she hits the new floor. "Did... you see the cart that just hit me?", she says, sounding pained. Staggering to her feet, she wobbles momentarily. "We need to leave!", she suggests, painfully making her way towards the portal.
Slixvah wasn't one to be all squawk and no peck. She quickly scrabbles forward, pulling out a knife and carving out several runes across the dirt and earth, making a conduit back to the portal before jamming the blade into the tip of her haphazard runes. The metal attracts some of the lightning, redirecting some of the flow and channeling it through the earth and back into the gate.
She looks over to Pelka, grinding her beak. People inside... "Oi! Big guy!" she calls out to Ulthan. "Or any one really! Take this-"
A long, ribbon like feather unravels and floats near the portal. "-And poke your head in! We need info! I gotta stay on this!"
GAME: Simony rolls athletics: (8)+-3: 5
Inside the tower -- Crik's foot sticks out in an awkward angle as the corvid egalrin managed to land in the least presentable way possible. Nothing exploded, at the least. Not even the round bomb that rolled out from under his cloak. It is quickly snatched up and hid into the folds as he slowly climbs back onto his feet. "... aughh..." A dizzy shake of his head, as he tries to get his bearings again. "... I have... rope?" He suggests, with a low croak coming from his throat, as he looks up at the portal, watching Simony try to climb up.
Ulthan grabs whatever he's being offered, and steps forward, slinging his flail into a loop on his belt to free his hands.
GAME: Sloan rolls athletics: (1)+10: 11 (EPIC FAIL)
Slixvah's animated feather latches onto Ulthan. Despite the material, it feels like a steel braided cord on a whip.
Inside the Tower - - Kneeling down and waiting for Simony to climb onto his back, Sloan tenses as the Building heaves. Sliding along the floor until his feet find purchase on the wall, looking up at the passageway that is now above them, the butler frowns. As he looks at former floor for handholds even as simony tries to scramble up, the butler makes even more deplorable progress. "If you have a means of securing the rope master Crik, I am amenable to your idea!"
GAME: Ulthan rolls reflex: (13)+2: 15
Ulthan yelps a little as he feels himself sucked forward, but he quickly reaches out his hands, grabbing at the stones anchoring the portal. His head pokes in, and he spends a moment without his head, before he pulls back to relay to the rest of the people what he saw inside. There were people on the bottom of a well, some 30 feet down, from the portal.
Inside the portal, the group see a head pop through the shimmering blue threshold of the portal- have a brief look of panic, and then retract once more.
GAME: Crik rolls weapon2: (6)+6: 12
Pelka slowly makes his way closer to Ulthan and the portal. He doesn't see anything he can do that the giant human couldn't, but at least Pelka will be close enough if something does come up. "What did you see?!" he shrieks as soon as Ulthan's head reemerges.
Inside the tower -- Crik winces at the falling compatriots. Looking around, he then pulls out his hand crossbow. The solution to everything. Grabbing the spool of his rope, he wraps it around the bolt. Yes, the rogue crow was crazy enough to try it. Taking a steady aim at the portal - regardless of heads poking in - he lets the bolt loose. It hits! ... and clinks back down towards the corvid who quickly steps aside. "... climb and secure it down first? I didn't want to hit somebody's head." And not because he just shot wide.
The Gobbo stays out of the way of any potential falling projectiles. "Do you have something heavy to throw through the portal?" She wiggles her fingers a little. "I can assist by improving someone's strength, should let you throw heavier things farther than you might normally." She looks from Sloan to Crik and back.
With the mages present working on stabilizing the portal, there are no more errant bolts of lightning arcing out and threatening those without, but within it is a different story. The tower is shaking violently, flagstones working themselves loose and threatening to topple. It makes climbing difficult, as the group within discover.
Ulthan is able to describe what he saw within- the missing adventurers appear to be at the bottom of a thirty foot shaft made of granite flagstones, and the portal on that side seems to point directly down towards them- he nearly fell through and towards them. They appear to be struggling to make their way out, and the whole place is violently shaking.
GAME: Sloan rolls Athletics: (4)+10: 14
Inside the Tower - - It was a good idea that Crik had. But it didn't work. Looking uo the shaft, Sloan clears his throat and shifts his weight towards an alcove 10' up. jumping up, the butler grabs the ledge and begins to pull himself up. "When I get up master Crik, pass me the rope...there is another door further up that we might be able to repeat the process.
Slixavh stares at Ulthan. People were right there? Trapped at... the bottom? A pause, calculation, recollection. And then a look of calm determination crosses her visage. She releases Ulthan, dashing back to the camp and returning with a coil of rope. She slams it down and starts to tie it around herself. "Big guy! I'm goin' in! Get this tied off on something solid and get people ready ta pull us up!"
GAME: Crik rolls athletics: (12)+5: 17
Ulthan nods at the beribboned bird, then reaches to adjust the rope a bit before uncoiling the rest, tossing the end towards the rest. "Tie this up, I need to hold onto this." Then he loops the rope couple times across his body diagonally, grabbing onto it on the side where the bird-person has fastened themself to one end.
Inside the tower -- Crik looks at the discarded bolt in sadness - it would have been great. Yet the tower shakes and crumbles, and his tail bobs up and down. "Of course." The corvid says with a spread of his wing - and then moves onto climb right beside him up towards the alcove. Finding a spot to wrap the rope around, he tosses the rest of it over to Sloan and Simone; leaning against the alcove, he takes in a deep breath. "Rope is secured." He states - in near mechanical voice.
With Slix no longer contributing to the redistribution of magical energies, the ground begins to shake along with the stones that make up the portal. Pebbles dance. Pelka and the scholars are able to keep it barely contained, but it's clear that they are struggling without her. Nevertheless, they are holding any kind of catastrophe at bay- for now. The rope is tied off to a tree, and several of the laborers as well as the burly dwarf merchant on site come to help anchor the rope and pull when needed.
Within the tower, things are becoming progressively more violent. The door at the bottom of the shaft, seperating them from the storm outside is ripped open and then torn clear from its hinges, disappearing into the hurricane of immense proportions outside- making the consequence of falling the next leg of their climb all the more perilous.
Slixvah gets herself tied off on the rope, glancing behind herself as she spies the others getting to work. She singles out Pelka, "BROTHER! Get on the sigils!" She inhales deeply, offers a silent prayer to Cernan. Then runs straight for the portal before leaping and diving head fist.
GAME: Slixvah rolls fly-4: (11)+10+-4: 17
Simony simply hugs at the former floor, eyeing the flagstones with growing alarm as they attempt to slip out of place and fall. As people climb upwards, and the birdlady's intervention arrives, She watches and waves.
Ulthan belays the rope out into the portal, measuring by feel how much he has let the ladybird dive. He begins to apply a bit of grip on it after about 20 feet is played out to brake in case there's a problem beyodn the portal.
Inside the Tower - - Climbing into the alcove next to Crix, Sloan reaches down to help Simony up. And then the 'floor' is no more as the door gets ripped off the hinges. that was a large storm and Sloan wanted no part of it.
Seeing a Bird person descending from the portal, Sloan calls out. "This adventure gets more and more curious!"
Pelka blinks as Slixvah dives through the portal. His own wings ripple a bit. Pelka is close enough to where Ulthan is that a simple halfway turn to the side, allows him to lay one hand on the rope. His armor begins to emit a hum. Glowing energy traces various lines and seams. Pelka shivers a bit. Then he turns one foot and the other, diggent them into the ground to brace himself. "Do we pull or just hold on?" he asks Ulthan, without taking his eyes from the portal.
Ulthan turns his head and tells the other bird person. "I think she wanted you to work on the runes."
Inside the tower -- Crik quickly moves to pull back his rope as the tower continues to shake and collapse around them. Dark beak moves up after Sloan calls out. His own wings reflexively spread out. "Clip the wings-!" A familiar low voice calls out as he moves over towards the edge of their little alcove. Crossbow in hand.
Outside of the portal, those present can see something... unusual Ghostly shapes shimmer around them, cut stone. Just in the periphery of vision, at first, but eventually they become more substantial- still ethereal, but growing less so. Floors and walls, tracing out a labyrinth, with the portal at its center.
The tower lurches, shifting again, now at an odd angle so the vertical shaft becomes a steep slope. Slix must react quickly to avoid slamming into flagstones.
GAME: Slixvah rolls reflex: (20)+4: 24 (CRITICAL SUCCESS) GAME: Slixvah rolls witch+intelligence: (8)+7+5: 20 (Concentration in violent movement) GAME: Slixvah casts Strong Wings. Caster Level: 7 DC: 16
A figure comes out of the portal above, a rainbow of ribbons trailing behind them as wings are tucked in tight. The birdperson divebombs in, a singular rope connecting them to the portal. She twists about in the wind, almost looking like she's about to go off course from the tower lurches. But her wings flare out and catch the wind to spiral into a barrel roll and flap once hard. "Helllllooooo~! Never fear! Slix is her-! Wait nonono don't shoot!" she calls out, cheerful, then pleading but doing everything in her power to not panic and look about the destruction and the crossbow.
"METI OT EB FUBUF!" she chants in a yell and motions in the air, sigils forming on the limbs of her wings before magic takes hold and the wings shunt out an extra couple yards. "HURRY! GRAB ON!" she shouts, holding out the length of rope to them. "AND DON'T LET GO!"
Simony blinks in surprise as a burst of colour and feathers appears through the portal and plummets to their location, stopping shy of colliding with them. She does not need any further encouragement, clinging to a section of rope, even biting at it to hold on for dear life.
Inside the tower - - Not being the kind of person that needs to be told twice, Sloan reaches for the rope, adjusting his weight as the tower shifts, the butler holds on tight. "Madame! You are proof that angels do exist!" Holding tightly to the rope, he keeps an eye on Simony.
Crik looks around with his beak opening. "There are more imps in here?!" He swings his crossbow about as he flicks his head back and forth. After a moment, he looks down at his own crossbow - and quickly hides it. That did not happen. "This is the plane of air and the storm is coming!" He warns Slixvah as he glides on over to grab onto the rope as well. And stares blankly at the wall. "Well executed dive." He compliments after a moment.
Pelka jerks his head in different directions to examine the portal stones. "Do -what- with the runes?" He squawks. Then he shakes his head. "Never mind, I'll figure something out." He casts a quick glance at something to the side and then does a double-take. "Are you seeing this?!"
Ulthan shakes his head. "No time to look, going to be fishing for birds soon..."
GAME: Sloan rolls strength: (4)+4: 8 <OOC> Slixvah will fly to be ready to catch anyone GAME: Slixvah rolls fly-4+4: (2)+10+-4+4: 12 GAME: Crik rolls strength: (13)+1: 14 <OOC> Slixvah says, "im going to spend 3 rpp on that one" GAME: Simony rolls strength: (7)+1: 8 GAME: Ulthan rolls strength+5: (3)+3+5: 11 GAME: Slixvah rolls fly-4+4: (11)+10+-4+4: 21 GAME: Simony rolls Strength: (20)+1: 21 (Rpp reroll)
Ulthan notices that the rope suddenly becomes MUCH more heavy, suddenly enough that he doesn't quite have time enough to brace. A fact not helped by the fact that the dirt his heels had been dug into has turned into a much slicker flagstone without his notice. Throughout the area surrounding the portal, more of the ephemeral stonework begins to pop into existence, stone by stone. Some of them wink back out again.
The storm only grows in intensity inside the tower, the sound of shattering windows barely audible over the hungry howling of the wind outside.
GAME: Slixvah rolls witch+intelligence: (15)+7+5: 27 (Concentration due to violent movement) GAME: Slixvah casts Heroism. Caster Level: 7 DC: 18
Pelka turns his head long enough to see what's going on with the rope, then walks back and applies his own artifice-enhanced strength to the group tugging. "Is this working?" he calls out. "I think it's working!"
Ulthan feels the strain on the rope increase suddenly, so he leans back against the pull, clamping his hands down and trying to haul, while yelling "PULL!" to the rest of the team.
As she is jerked around on the rope, Simony's eyes open wide as the rope slips from her grasp. She doesn't fall far, as she clamps her teeth HARD to arrest her fall. Her hands quickly take up their former positions, and the Gobbo dangles for dear life. "Hmmy pp!"
"While ya'lls compliments can be laden upon me fo' laters, WE GOTTA GO, SWEETIES!" she panic caws, passing the rope over to them as she starts on up. But she lags behind, making sure others don't lose their grip. A shift makes her slam against a wall, but she kicks off and- OHCRAP! She blasts over to swoop up Sloan, hands straining but a few feathers grab him in an in iron grip. "I gotcha! Grab the rope" she implores, trying to get more headway towards the portal.
The intensity of the situation makes everything feel heightened. So much so that she reaches out and pulls several shimmery threads out of the air. "HET PTSEYRA SI ITHNI EM!" she yells her incantation, several runes appearing around the strands before she jams it into the side of her neck. Eyes pulse cerulean. "GO GO GO!"
Crik caws as he holds onto Slixvah with his own hands. Several of his trinkets and loose pages fall from under his cloak, as he folds his own wings. "Go! Go! Go!" He chants with the other, mroe rainbowy egalrin - and his voice seems to pick up a very similar timbre. Maybe mimicking her voice helps somehow?
Sloan thought he ahd the rope. grasping firmly, he looked down into the storm and...slipped. There wasn;t really time to register what was happening before Slix catches him once more. Forwining, the Butler reaches up and grabs onto the rope once more. "Apologies!
GAME: Pelka rolls strength+4: (17)+3+4: 24 GAME: Ulthan rolls strength+5: (2)+3+5: 10
Pelka grasps the rope with both talons. He leans back and looks up at the sky, pulling with all his strength. His wings spread and flap, adding a bit more of force. But the glowing lines of energy lining his armor flare and no doubt that's what makes the difference as the team begins hauling the rope, and whoever's holding onto it, back out of the portal.
Ulthan 's heave almost costs the team everything as this time both his feet slip a bit, but thankfully he falls outwards from the portal, just adding his weight to the haul of the team behind him on the line.
The albino hangs on this time as the rope is hauled on, though she keeps her eyes firmly shut. "Please Navos don't let me fall to my doom. Or do anything that leads to my doom this day."
With Pelka no longer assisting the scholars- many of whom are largely theoretical in their arcane talents- struggle to contain the wild energies of the portal. A bolt of lightning leaps out, striking one of them down. The team are hauled hand over hand out of the portal. Finally when the last of them is clear of its threshold, there is a deafening boom, and all those gathered in the vicinity of the portal, those holding the rope, those who had been working to control the portal's instability, those that had been approaching to attend the injured scholar- all are launched backwards with tremendous force.
As they begin to regain their senses, they can see- the energized portal at the center of a ghostly labyrinth, a labyrinth which is slowly building itself out of stone plucked from the ethereal. And climbing above it, the translucent silhouettes of floor after floor, with haphazard butresses and offhoot spires, that climb high into the sky above.
The humming has stopped. The pebbles no longer dance. No more peals of thunder, only the ringing in the ears of that final blast, and the grinding of stone as the bottom floor of the Vagrant Tower rebuilds itself in the material plane.
The glow fades from Pelka's armor. He slumps slightly, then falls to one knee, wings drooping. His gaze pans across the base of the tower, then traces up. "Did they do that?" He turns to look at the party that emerged from the portal.
Slixvah is the last one to pop through, her wings having grown in size and strength, and her eyes trailing arcane runes. Flapping up suddenly becomes flapping forward, and with her overcompensating for the lack of wind, she shoots forward and away from the portal. The rainbow ribboned egalrin almost gets her bearings, but is buffed by a secondary explosion, picking her up and throwing her further beyond before she lands again for the second time, several pained grunts and cracks coming from her before she finally settles.
There's a little breath. A chuckle. A giggle. Then full bellied howling laughter- despite how painful it is. "AHAHAHA! WE JUST- AND THEN- AND WE- AAAAHAHAHA! AHAHA- /FUCK/! MY ARM HURTS SO MUCH! AHAHA!"
It takes her a moment to collect herself, the laughter dying down to pained giggles as she holds onto her arm to sit upright. And she spies- "... ah... ha ha... ah. Well shit, sugar. This jus' got a hella lo' mo' interestin'..."
Ulthan idly checks the backisde of his pants for tear with one hand as he lowly stands up from where he was psuhed after falling on his rump and shoved by the power of the... whatever. His eyes trail upwards as he looks at what is forming aboe and around the portal.
finding himself in a world where the ground is sensible enough to be under him, Sloan groans softly as he stands. Looking a tthe portal, the butler frowns and looks at the tower building itself around them and sighs a resegned sigh. Shoulders slumping for a moment, the Aesir born servant takes a deep breath, squares his shoulders, and raises his chin proudly. "My thanks to you all for rescuing us from that predicament. I fear now though, that our journey is being extended." Eyes turning upwards, he frowns even more deeply.
Looking at Slix, Sloan approaches quietly. "Do you require assistance madame?"
Simony slowly pulls herself up from where she was flung onto the ground, coughing out dirt and grass, her face smudged and scraped. She winces, and then starts over towards Slixvah, a hand on her holy symbol of Navos. She kneels down next to the Eagalrin. "Show me where it hurts, and I will ask my God to help you." The Goblin is giving the arm a once over, without touching it.
Crik was completely fine with being flung face down onto the dirt. His tail makes a bit of a up and down weaving motion, before he slowly rolls up. His beak cannot hold back the eerie, deep throated sounds - eerily sounding like his kin that would come to lurk by the gravesite.
His more bird feathered kin though, might recognize it as just exhilirated laughter. Until he suddenly stops. "Climbing kit." He pulls out one of the chained journals and flips it open to make a scribbled note.
Ulthan looks up and shakes his head. "Well, now, that sure looks like excitement is piling up, here."
The wounded scholar is eventually gathered up and rushed towards the healers' tent, a nasty scorch mark on her chest bodes ill for her health. The rest of those assembled begin picking themselves up, some still deafened after the blast, most disoriented, and begin helping each other limp away to gather their thoughts and lick their wounds.
The tower continues to build itself for some time- but eventually stops, the first floor complete but no further, the walls ending in haphazard shapes due to missing flagstones, appearing only as intangible shadows. The portal through which the party was rescued now lies at the centre of this structure, abuzz with arcane energy but silent, for now.
Some of the scholars are already keen to begin exploring this labyrinth, and are discussing theories even as they limp back to the camp to recuperate.
Slixvah's left arm juts at an odd angle from the elbow. "Oh, I'm fantastic," the beribboned egalrin enthuses. Can egalrin look pale? She looks pale. But she can't help but tear her gaze away from the tower rebuilding itself. Hearing Ulthan, she can't help but chuckle. "Yeah, reall' pilin' up and buildin' a foundation."
She looks over to Sloan and Simony. They're asking how she's doing. Didn't she just answer that? It was hard to tell. Holy symbol? Healing. What needs healing? Slix looks down. "Ooh. Yeah uh- owowowowowowow," she pains, trying to get up to limp off with the rest of the others.
The Goblin sighs lightly, and a prayer is whispered, her holy symbol glowing with a faint light. She puts both hands on Slixvah's arm, at the break, letting the magic do its work. Simony is there for some time, until the arm is no longer at an improper angle. The pain, at least, dulls and fades somewhat, which brings relief.
-End Scene-