Continuing from Part 1 – like part 1, this session was DM'd by Sir Goldborn's player.
The Missing Mountain – Part 2
The group arrives at the huge structure at the center of the base of the missing mountain. Two huge walls stretch diagonally in front of them, and from a gap in the middle a path seems to lead inside to a big building. However, before anything, they notice someone sitting by walls. This person is the cleric Godrick, who seems to also have been teleported there by mysterious reasons from the region of Longuria. He had been on that spot praying for 5 hours to his god of Light to bring him some help. Now that the search party has arrived, Godrick joins our group of adventurers. With him is also his assistant Charles, a sort of hired bodyguard.
The group decides to go inside the compound. They don’t have much choice after all, since it appears this is the place that will hold the answers to all the weird happenings this day has offered them so far. As they enter the walls, their bodies feel as if they they have just crossed some sort of invisible barrier. Indeed, it seems they have. A ball of blue light, similar to the one they had seen at the gate, is now forming in front of them. It then forms into a creature with a snake like lower body and a female upper body with huge green braided hair, eyes gliming with blue light. It appears to be missing one arm, however, and struggling to stand. Before anyone has anytime to react, it shoots two green laser beams at Oscar and Poco, whose bodies immediately turn to stone. The creature then fades into blue smoke. The survivors must now also find a way to unpetrify their two companions.
They move on. The compound looks like a campus, with buildings that are very well ornamented in colors of blue, white and black. Connecting the buildings there are a few paths surrounded by grass, trees and other beautiful vegetation, flourishing with life. It definitely looks like someone has been taking well care of the garden. Some of the structure seems misplaced, though. Immediatly on the right they see a huge tower. It is not standing straight, however, as most towers like to be. This one is laying down, blocking the path to the right. On the left there is a circle of rock whose size seems to match the size of the base of this tower. On the right, another smaller circle of rock that looks like it matches the size of the smaller tower the group had found on their way from Feirun.
The adventurers decide to move on to explore the central building. It looks like a small square castle, with 4 small towers on each corner, and another bigger tower at the center. They find that the huge door has been left open. Going in, they are now in a big and well decorated hall, with a very tall ceiling. There are 3 doors, leading front, left and right. On the center, spiral stairs leading up. However, these stairs are not connected to the ground. The part of them that connects them to the floor seems to be missing. The group starts to hear a sound, a voice of someone singing. Well, if you could call that singing, as it sounds more like gibberish. They notice that it is coming from the center of the hall, from a young man wearing a robe that is just there sitting on the floor. Carefully, they approach him, and decide to call him.
“Oh, Loretta, you are back, finally!!!” His voice doesn’t sound normal, or his expressions. “Wait, you are not Loretta. Who are you? Have you seen Loretta?” It feels to the group like the young boy must be retarded or something. “La la la la la” he keeps going on. When inquired about who is Loretta, he says, in his retarded/drunken voice “Hum… Loretta. She is beautiful. The most beautiful girl I have ever seen. Not like your mother, eheheheh”. He also says “The stairs, hum…. stairs go the master’s chambers. What do you mean? They are right here, you stupid. Oh, wait they are not. Eheheheh, maybe they ran away when they saw your face. Also, I’m fine, I’m fine, I’m fine…. Oh and don’t tell master anything, ok? I am good boy. Astel good.” The group concludes that it will be almost useless to try and get information about this person, at least in the state that he is in right now. The only other information they are able to get from him comes in the form of “Me? Astel. Yes, that is my name. Astel. With an ‘A’. A big ‘A’, ok? I am a magic-user of course. Eheheh. Level 2 baby!!! Yeah!” The other unusual thing about him is that he is holding in his arms a scroll. It looks like a spell scroll, but it is clearly empty. Cai uses Detect Magic on it and concludes that it’s completely deprived of magic.
The party decides to ignore the crazy guy for now, and goes on to explore what is inside of the door in the front side of the hall. They easily open it and find themselves on a huge auditorium. Well, more like a huge lecture hall, with a lot of seats and a central stand, with a blackboard. On the walls there are 3 large paintings of men with great long beards, all dressed in blue robes. There is also a number of shelves containing empty vials and books, similar to the ones they had found in the small tower. Godrick grabs 5 of the books. He also writes on the blackboard the slogan of his deity, but is causes nothing to happen. Feeling there is nothing more in the room, the group decides to leave, but approaching the door they notice that it is now blocked by some kind of blue magic barrier. From it starts to form a ball of blue light, which then shapes into 12 stirges. These are small monsters with bat wings, long beaks and 4 small legs. A fight follows, in which the monsters are defeated without much issues. Giorno Giovanna deals quite a lot of damage during the fight, but also takes some, so at the end he very unpolitely demands that he be healed by Godrick. The cleric complies, casting Heal Wounds on Giorno.
They are now able to go back to the main all, checking that the other 2 doors lead to similar lecture halls. This time they also notice that floating in the center of the hall is a smooth cristal ball, on which they can see their reflections. The crazy Astel remains unhelpful as ever in giving them any useful information about the cristal ball, about the campus or any of the other mysteries. “I want to go see the sunset with Loretta. And hey, I’m fine, I’m fine, I’m fine…..” seems to be the only thing in his mind right now.
The adventurers move outside to this time explore a building that they had seen on the left of the lecture building. After getting close to it, they realize that it appears to be covered from the inside in a familiar blue barrier. Peeking at the window the see that it looks like a huge dinning hall. Sitting on one of the chairs is a man in a blue robe. They knock on the door to get his attention, which they get. The man approaches on the other side of the door. Fortunately, unlike Astel, this one seems to be normal and more helpful. The man, whose name appears to be Sting, informs them that he is trapped inside by the barrier, which he suspects is caused by the building’s defense mechanism system. He is also very very confused at why it is daytime. The party informs him of all the weird things that happened to them during the day, leaving him even more confused. “I can’t believe it.” He says. “I guess our academy has been transported to this place by something or someone. Oh no, the master is going the be so angry! Hey, it seems like you need my help, and I need yours. Help me get out of here and then we can keep talking!” To try to avoid another fight, they tell Jenny, Carla and Josh to climb the building and to try to pull Sting from the chimney with a rope. Carla and Josh slip miserably, but Jenny manages to climb and to then bring Sting outside without any problems.
Sting can’t believe that it’s 3pm, as he is saying that 5 hours ago it was night time for him. He informs our adventurers that they are in the campus of the biggest and most famous magic academy of the Mystic Lands. It appears to have been teleported there from the other side of the world. This event is also what probably caused the Everblue to go away. He says that most of the professors and students that day were away when this happened, as they had gone to the Anual Great Magic Conference of the Mystic Lands, but that all the younger students were left in campus. He is surprised when he hears that Astel is so crazy and uncomunicative. “Ah, you have met Astel.” says Sting. “Yes, sure, he is our receptionist. He has been at the academy for 10 years and, well, he struggles a lot with learning spells, but come on, he is still level 2. Are you sure you met him? Because I have never seen him acting the way you described. Also, no I have never heard of any woman called Loretta. In fact, we only have men at the academy and we don’t go out that often, so you can imagine we don’t get to meet many women. Anyway, here is what I suggest. First we should look for the rest of the students that were left at the academy. It’s quite weird actually that you still haven’t found any of them. Then we should deactivate this dangerous defense mechanism, which seems to be on due to the unexpected teleportation. To deactivate it we must go the the chambers of our great master. Also, there we will be able to talk with a projection of his, who will surely be able to help all of us. I am scared that he will be furious, but we have no choice. The chamber is located at the top of the main lecture hall. Let’s go, and don’t try anything funny because, remember well, you need me and you need our master.”
They check on Astel, Sting confirming that he has never seen him in this unusual, crazy and retarded state. He also explains that the floating crystal ball is like a security camera. Given that the stairs to the master’s chambers are gone, they must go outside and go through a bridge that connects it to a neighboring classroom building. When further exploring the campus, they notice that some buildings are cut in half. It appears that the weird teleportation event only caused a small portion of the academy to be teleported. They don’t see anyone around, so the group just moves on to the classroom building, climbing the stairs to the top floor.
They are now standing in front of the door leading to the bridge they must cross to reach the master’s chamber. The door is covered is a blue fog-like barrier*. The party has no choice but to cross it and face the inevitable boss battle to come. Indeed, as they cross it, boss music starts to play. A ball of blue light is in front of them and is starting to take the shape of some weird creature. Fortunately, they shoot it with arrows and kill it before it takes form. Right after, two other monsters start to form. One right behind them, a Giant Snake like creature, but with only half of its body, and another one at the far end of the bridge, a stone Gargoyle**. The Gargoyle will take some time to reach them, so they focus on the Snake and, although not easily, manage to bring it down. Gordon, Josh and the euphoric Feirun soldier are left unconscious in the process. Then they go for the Gargoyle, shooting it from afar and eventually finishing it off with melee blows. The path is now clear and everyone is alive.
Sting brings the group to the chambers of the academy’s master. It is wide and full of top magic equipment. On the wall they can see a display of spell scrolls, where one of them seems to be missing. A magic projection of an old man with a great gray beard, dressed in fancy blue robes, appears at the center of the chamber. “Ah, Sting it is you!” says the projection of the master. “Can you explain to me what you are doing in my chambers? And who are those people? You just had to interrupt me right at the middle of the Great Conference Social Dinner, didn’t you….” The situation is then explained to him. Fortunately, he doesn’t seem too angry. “Ah, I am sure there is a way to fix this” he says. ”I, Astifald the Great, have seen much worse back in my adventure days. How do do you think I managed to reach level 25, eh?”. Then he explains. “So, part of the academy was teleported. But the spell missing from the wall seems the me that it was actually a Repulsion spell. In fact we don’t keep any Teleportation scrolls in the academy. Anyway, I guess it is clear to me who caused this to happen. Who? Oh, come on guys? It’s easy. Astel. Yes Astel. Crazy? You say he is crazy? I am actually starting to think he must be a genius instead!! But well, now I would really like to go back to my delicious lobster. As a reward for your efforts I offer you the chest I have under my desk. Just don’t you dare take anything else from the academy, ok?”. *
Sting uses some academy potions to heal the people who were unconscious and also prepares two unpetrification concoctions. They head back to Astel (yes, they just left him sitting there alone in the middle of the conference hall). On the way, they notice something happening to Giorno. He starts to twitch uncontrollably and then starts floating in the air with his eyes glowing red. He starts speaking in a female voice that everyone recognizes, except Godrick, Charles and Sting. “So, is it your hobby to go around assaulting and robbing beautiful women? I am surprised. It has been a few years since someone took something from me. I guess you guys are indeed less boring than I thought. Ahah. Don’t worry, I too like to steal things from time to time. However, I am afraid I absolutely can’t let you go without getting back what is mine. I will be waiting at the bar in Feirun. Bring me my horns by the end of the day and I will forgive your insolence. DO NOT make me show you what happens if you don’t. See you my dears.” Giorno goes back to his usual state, not realizing at all what just happened.
Our adventurers grab Astel and they all head back to Feirun, including the Sting and the now unpetrified Oscar and Poco. They must return the horns to the woman, find out what is wrong with Astel and teleport over 100 people back to Longuria. Arrived at the village, they go to the main bar, where they see the blonde mysterious woman in her purple dress sitting at the counter. She is still holding her bag with something shinning from inside. “Ahh, you have arrived.” She says. “Wonderful that you decided to bring back what is mine. Just wait a bit.” Astel, who is still acting weirdly, is happy to see her. “Loretta, Loretta, there you are. I knew you couldn’t have gone far. We have to go see the sunset.” he says. ‘Loretta’ tells him to wait outside and Astel complies. She then goes back to a man she was talking to at the counter. It seems they had made some kind of bet over who can drink their beer faster. They start drinking and the guy clearly finishes it way faster. He puts his empty glass down, boosting of his easy victory, but as he looks back at it the glass is now full, while ‘Loretta’’s is empty. “Seems like I won.” she says in a tricky smile. “Do you remember what you said you would do if you lost? Oh yes, you said you would kiss a goat”. “NO NO NO” screams the man, but before he can find any excuses he suddenly realizes that Jolly is now sitting on his lap and is already starting to lick his mouth. The man runs out of the bar, runs away from Feirun and no one ever saw him again.
Godrick, who is now holding ‘Loretta’’s bag, gives it back to her. Fortunately she doesn’t seem angry that they used one of her potions, claiming that it was actually smart and that she would have done the same. “Now if you will excuse me, I have a sunset to watch.” she says, heading outside to where Astel is, grabbing him by the arm and heading off with him to the west edge of the Great Plateau. It seems that at that moment Astel was actually the most interesting person in the village for the mysterious woman. The members of the group, either because they where confused, tired or scared of the woman, forget to also go to the edge of the plateau, therefore wasting a unique chance to witness the most beautiful sunset in the world.
When ‘Loretta’ and Astel come back, Astel now appears to be in a more normal and non-intoxicated state. He remembers all that happened during the day, but he doesn’t know how he performed the teleportation. He recalls that, at the moment it happened, he simply wanted to take ‘Loretta’ to see a beautiful sunset. Also, in the state he was in he actually thought the scroll of Repulsion was a scroll of Teleportation. Our adventurers are confused, but they must find a way to go back to Longuria. What they know for now is that clearly Astel had been drinking the pink liquid from the woman’s bag, so they try to investigate that. Obviously, they start with the less obvious approaches first. Godrick drinks a bit of the liquid, hoping that it will magically give him the ability to teleport. Nothing happens. All he realizes is that it tastes of alcohol and strawberries. The mysterious woman tells them that it is simply strawberry liquor, one of her specialties in fact.
At this point a middle aged woman, a local from the village, approaches the group. She becomes very emotional when she sees Astel. “Astel, oh Astel. It is you, I know it is you. My son, you are back!!!” They hug each other for a long long beautiful moment. After that she thanks the group for bringing him back and explains what she knows. Astel is indeed her son. He had mysteriously vanished from the village 10 years ago. He had disappeared on a day he was helping her harvesting strawberries.
The group gathers everyone that had been teleported from Longuria at the village’s central plaza, determined to finally bring them back. They feed some strawberries to Astel, but it doesn’t seem to have any effect. Godrick bravely tries to ask the mysterious woman for her horns, but immediately regrets it. She is furious at him and, had Godrick insisted even a tiny bit more, he would have suffered terrible, but maybe funny, consequences. She does provide him, however, with the remainder of her strawberry liquor.
They believe making Astel drink it will be the final missing piece, so before doing it they receive their reward from the Mayor and they split the treasure they got from Astifald the Great. They ask Astel to drink the liquor and to focus hard on sending everyone back to where they came from. Indeed, as he drinks it, glyphs of blue light start forming around our adventurers. The mysterious woman, ‘Loretta’ acording to Astel, waves and winks at them saying “It was really an interesting day. I will be keeping an eye on you!” Then, suddenly, the group realizes they are not at Feirun anymore. As the blue light starts to fade, they see they are back at the inn where the day had started. The people sitting at the tables enjoying their night beers are astonished at these people appearing out of nowhere. The adventurers head outside of the inn to confirm they are really in Trilo. They are, indeed, in Trilo, and in the middle of the sea, standing tall next to Ashen Island, is also, indeed, a huge mountain with its top covered in blue snow.
*This is a Dark Souls reference by the DM. Made unconsciously, but still, a Dark Souls reference.
**Yes, another Dark Souls reference.
***Here the DM forgot to mention that there was actually another scroll missing from the wall: a shinning scroll of Time Stop.
Timekeeper's Note
Next session will be on Feb. 14 and two weeks will have passed. At this point, everyone will be finished with their training!
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