Chapter 2: Hither

[Othniel]

"Drats!" Trixie frowns at the lock. "Foiled by magic. All right. Let me go check with my friends. Don't go anywhere!"

With that, the fairy zips back down to the others to relay both the tiny dragon's words and her mixed success and failure. "We should go check out that Telemy Hill he mentioned. Unless anyone knows how to break an enchantment."

[RorytheRomulan]

"Sorry, never got that far. How big is the cage?" asks Quill. "I don't like the idea of leaving the knight up there to fritter away, if we could carry him. And what about this tower? Maybe there's an easy fix to this up at the top?"

[Othniel]

"It's a bird cage. I suppose if one of you big folk got up there you could carry it," the fairy answered.

[Muskrat]

"I don't know how to break enchantments either," says Shiloh, shaking her head. "I agree with Quill though--we should carry the cage if we can rather than leaving the poor fellow there to face whatever predators may come along. We've already come across brigands and two giant snakes."

[RorytheRomulan]

"Garl and fiddle-flack. I guess there's only one thing to do, then."

The power of the Witchlight Monarch surges through Quill and wings sprout on her back. "I think we should take advantage of this and explore the tower while it lasts."

She flies up to the balloon, where she finds the dragon knight in the cage, and "ums" before settling on a greeting. "I'm at your service, Sir Knight, I can't get you out of that cage, but I thought we shouldn't leave you up here either."

The winged gnome lifts Talavar's prison, then flaps her wings and glides down to the floor of the bog, bringing the trapped dragon to meet the party.

Action

Charm of the Monarch: Charisma up to 13, Fly speed of 25 feet. Lasts 1 hour.

1 charge remaining. I'll use the last one when we absolutely need it.

[Muskrat]

"Good idea," says Shiloh, nodding. "Let's explore the tower. Carefully. Who knows what we might find." With that, she cautiously re-enters the tower, looking to explore it while keeping an eye out for danger.

Action

Perception/ Wisdom -1 + Jack of All Trades 1: 6. Well, she's not going to see anything that isn't obvious.

[Muskrat]

OOC

So, is anyone going to join Shiloh or are you all just waiting to see if she gets killed and eaten?

[RorytheRomulan]

Quill flies in behind the bard, carrying Talavar and keeping her eyes peeled for traps.

action

I would like to hear from the dragon as we go along.

I got you, I should be on that. Perception 22.

[ManWithDoor]

Trixie and the newly-winged Quill firmly grip the bars of the oversized birdcage, and flap their wings with all their might. It takes some work on coordination, but after a couple false starts the cage jerks out of the basket and is carried to the ground smoothly. Well, more or less. The prisoner inside is banged around a bit, but that's a small price to pay for freedom. And even though they can't actually free him, the group hustles out of the area before the snakes give up on that illusory tasty snack, and go back to their den in the Tower.

OOC

Love the creativity! Working together, you have enough strength to drag the cage out of there.

The group sees a cat-sized faerie dragon looking at them curiously as he is hustled to safety. He has a surprisingly humanoid face with a thin mustache and goatee. He is armed with a longsword belted to his middle, wears heavy gauntlets, and has a medallion around his neck showing off his service to the Summer Court of Fey.

Sir Talavar

"Greetings, honorable travelers. Are you fellows strangers to this realm as well, or unhappy inhabitants thereof? I say with sadness that the Summer Court was not informed as to the state of Prismeer. Fomorians are threatening our lands, so I was sent by Queen Titania to call upon our ally Zybilna for aid." He shakes his head sadly. "But as you can see, noble Zybilna has been overthrown and the land left in the hands of Hags of the Hourglass Coven." He stops his update, looking around even more curiously. "But I have said more than enough. Pray, tell me of yourselves. With your bravery and altruism you must be heroes of your respective realms as well, yes?"

[Muskrat]

Shiloh laughs. "Sorry, we're nobody special. But we did come here from outside the Feywild to investigate the situation in Prismeer. The hags there seem to have some hold over a circus caravan that we're all connected to in various ways. In my case, because I snuck into the circus as a child, my memories of my home were taken instead as payment. The hags are probably the ones with those memories--and I'd like them back so I can find my way home. If that means helping other folks in the process, even better."