Before our eyes the tendrils of smoke coalesced into masses of tentacles, four distinct ones, each implanted in a readily available corpse. “Qural’lotectica!” shouts Jarl, “beware their tentacles!” We engage them early, hoping to catch them off guard. It was a mistake, as we soon found out. The tentacles could paralyze their target, and first Ivor, then Ahmok found this out first-hand. Their movement was slow, lumbering, so we (those still standing) put some distance between us and the horrors and attacked from a distance. Slowly but surely they went down, leaving us hoping that surely there would be no more fighting in store for us.
Potions were dealt for those who needed them, and we made our way outside to see what became of the ghost legion led by Raan. As we laid eyes on Rasmussen’s ship, resting on the ground, Raan approached us – it was done. We spend some time going round the vessel, admiring the craftsmanship, as well as eyeing the loot. All of a sudden Jarl, again, gasps loudly with realization – it was the Air Whisper! Sister ship to the Earth Dawn, the first two air ships to brave the world after the Scourge. Loot indeed.
By then it was mid-morning. We head off to reconstruct the elements of the puzzle to open the portal to wherever Ferros built his citadel. From his time spent with the air sailors of the Tylon Mountains Jarl draws on new talents and manages to commandeer the life boat of the Air Whisper, itself an air boat. With the help of some ghost soldiers, we row out to the points on the triangle. The lens on the Air Whisper fits in the rod on the
My lens had cycles of the moon engraved on the edge, and I found out that as I turned it to face skywards it seemed to settle in a more comfortable position. Later I was told that similarly, the lens on the pillar had a jagged line engraved on the edge. Ivor correctly assumed that it was the silhouette of the mountain range bordering the valley we were in, and again, turning it towards the mountains the lens clicked in place.
Dusk fell, torches were seen climbing up the mountain towards the Air Whisper, then settled. They made another attempt at the light. This time there was no thrashing about. The strong beam shot upwards, purposefully. Instead of going straight it curved back down, forming an apex high in the air. I saw the light shooting down towards me, but was too slow on my feet. I was still holding the rod with the lens when the beam smacked into it. The impact threw me off my feet, but the light kept going, this time towards Ivor’s pillar. From there it headed straight back towards Ferros’ mountain, presumably back to start. The triangle was now formed. Everything fell silent except for a soft drone coming from the beam itself. Even the breeze died completely.
Then, in the middle of the valley, at first barely visible but then growing rapidly, a crack in reality. It was as if the picture-scape of vision was being ripped open from behind, slowly, from the bottom up. To me it seemed like opening the rift created with the talent of the Hand, but on a larger scale. Dull light pours out from the crack, and with it infernal winds, blowing strong enough to clear the mist around it. By this time Jarl and the others came round with the air boat. I scrambled up and we then headed towards the crack. As we approached, a raft gently made it’s way out from the crack onto the strangely calm waters of here and now. It was a simple thing, with a bell post at the end.
We touch down near the raft and clamber onto it. Looking around each of the party’s faces and getting nods, I tugged at the bell.
