(well, crap. I didn't think everyone would just shrug this off. Even if I had made the DC 20 ya'll would have been fine!

Awaiting Perspicacious' save, then I'll move things along. I'll roll for her tonight (sorry, AP) in case they're tied up.)

Perspicacious' CON save: 9

Your Tiefling companion falls to the stone floor as Porphyrion roars down. Fiorello, Amaruve, and Jean all hold their footing, however. Towering overhead and mindless in his rage, the giant rears back a building-sized fist crackling with green lightning, preparing to obliterate the Solarium in retribution against sagacious.

In moment, there is a sudden, splashing thud like a rubber mallet smacking against wet pavement. Tony and the steam skipper Brutus appear in a heap right next to you all. The skipper quickly lumbers to its Fey and collects Tony, who is unconscious.

Quote from Penguini >>

Flashes of everything Fiorello ever knew to exist erupted through his mind in a single moment and he staggered back as his mind came surging back to the present. "I sensed another's presence," he says, "but how can I..." Fiorello collects himself and calmly sits. He relaxed himself, opening his mind and let his thoughts reach out into the ether attempting to let his presence be felt. Guide me child, he thinks.

Tonya, the goblin girl, appears in Fiorello's mind. Hey eyes are wet with tears, and she regards her brother's limp body in dismay. "Mister cleric- you only have a few seconds before Porphyrion kills you all. Maybe he'd stop for one of the summerfolk, but you all don't look like sky elves to me."

Fiorello keeps his mind open while reaching out in a quick prayer, Grant me your wisdom and sight oh lord of Eagles, he asks. And the Channel Divinity: Knowledge of the Ages, gives him a greater ability to see his surroundings. (Perception 9)  But still he sees nothing. But perhaps... "Vox? Are you still there? We need your help." The bird focuses his mind and vision looking for the faint traces as he falls into an elvish voice seeking contact with any summerfolk that may be present but hidden from view, "My good folk, we are only here to help", he pleads, "Please, show yourself, help us rid your realm of this shadow."

Amaruve quells his rage (I wasn't thinking about it, but I can't rage and yet not attack). He moves to Tony and coughs a Goodberry into his friends face, and stands to defend him as he recovers consciousness. He waits for an opportune moment before striking.

Surrounding the platform are dozens of shards of broken glass. Slowly at first, but building quickly, they begin to flicker with orange light. Sagacious begins to rise, clumsily to his feet. A light blue halo surrounds his dark form still, a lingering whisper of the power he wielded just moments before. He raises a hand toward your party, clearly prepared to unleash some horrible spell. He glances upward, then, seeing Porphyrion's horrible stone skull-like face above him, wreathed in cloud. Sagacious' arms drop limply to his side.

Tony struggles up slightly, catches Sagacious’ attention, and weakly flips him off, “Moxie. Suck it... Don’t mess with my family...”

Quote from Penguini >>

Fiorello keeps his mind open while reaching out in a quick prayer, Grant me your wisdom and sight oh lord of Eagles, he asks. And the Channel Divinity: Knowledge of the Ages, gives him a greater ability to see his surroundings. (Perception 9)  But still he sees nothing. But perhaps... "Vox? Are you still there? We need your help." The bird focuses his mind and vision looking for the faint traces as he falls into an elvish voice seeking contact with any summerfolk that may be present but hidden from view, "My good folk, we are only here to help", he pleads, "Please, show yourself, help us rid your realm of this shadow."

 
The broken glass suddenly shines in bright orange. One of the blurry orange figures of Vox appears above a shard. Then another, followed by another 22. They stand silently in a scattered circle surrounding Sagacious. Their light fills the Solarium, and then, floating in mid-air is an antlered figure:

 It regards you each in turn, then glances downward toward Sagacious. Without looking up, then, it raises its staff toward Porphyrion. Fiorello and Perspicacious, you hear the figure clearly command the giant in Celestial: "Stop." 

Just as Porphyrion begins to slow, then stop, there is a tell-tale shimmer in the air in front of you. 

Sagacious' chest erupts in scarlet ribbons of blood. Narimel appears then, her invisibility dropped. Her father and their winged mounts appear above your heads, as well. Sagacious lets out a strangled shout of surprise, and the Summerfolk huntress grabs the would-be destroyer's throat. She brings her face to his and hisses, "For my people."

Her blade sinks into Sagacious' heart and the orange figures flare brightly. The hovering figure (who you now realize is Vox) regards his descendant dispassionately, then turns to the rest of you. In softer tones he simply says, "Visitors to Laputa. We thank you."

And with that, Vox disappears.

It's the next day. The five of you, along with Taesn, Cordelia, Kyo, and the two summerfolk have set up a camp of sorts in the courtyard you first arrived in some days ago. Porphyrion floats quietly in mid-air, perhaps a mile away, occasionally turning his massive head to regard a new part of the sky that has been denied to him this past hundred years.

Unfortunately, of the gate and your ticket out of this plane, there is no sign. It closed during your scuffle with Porphyrion and Sagacious, and, as far as you can tell, you are now stuck in this plane. Permanently. 

(It's free RP time! Feel free to chat to any of the 4-6 NPCs and make any decisions you like. Let me know if you have any questions!)

Jean watched the scene play out and nodded to herself. To some unseen figure she said "Hey folks, I'm Jean O'Donoghue. In today's action packed episode we saw a young girl bound to a titan of destruction. Don't do that, children are our most precious resource, abusing and exploiting children is one of the worst things a person can do. Studies have shown that children can carry the scars from early trauma throughout the rest of their lives. So now you know, and remember - The More You know!"

“Jean! Stop talking to the lounge knuckle hole and help me up!” Tony struggles to stand.

Jean snickered and then went to do just that.

Tony struggles up with Jean’s help, “Thanks. I guess saving your butts really took it out of me.” Tony gives a weak chuckle.

Amaruve reflects on those critical moments. He remembers...

*The ringing of the portal grows. Overwhelming as it is, the portal is surely open, miles away. The moment arrives, Amaruve is ready to strike. The ringing stops abruptly. The chaos of falling stone, and the battle overhead suddenly seem eerily quiet. He hesitates but a moment. Will he find the same fate as Tony had? A familiar scent on the air catches his attention, like a campfire on a summer breeze. She's there! Segacious raises his hand! Amaruve moves to strike. He's missed his chance! Then in an instant, the Crimson wound appears. 

Amaruve's mouth hangs open, as Narimel demonstrates her ability. He isn't sure how to articulate this feeling. Such power, grace, fury... The moment passed immediately, but stretches on in his memory.*

Amaruve sits with his party around the campfire beside Prespicacious. His head is turned toward the Summer Elf, aloof, sitting separate from the group. His mouth hangs open again...

He jerks his head back to the fire. Watching the flame, he thinks back to the watery creature they encountered in the Lounge Knuckle Hole, and he looks up through the wisps of smoke, and chuffs, as if to ask, if the spirit there could relate.

(The first thing I would have done once able, would be to ask Vox where the staff went, since we saw it disappear.)

Still reeling from the events of the past few days, Perspicacious is thankful for a bit of respite. Even if their current situation, and the future of their leaps, is questionably grim. She regrets not getting a chance to further talk to Sagacious. Part of her had hoped, little though it may be, that he might listen to reason if she told him what she had learned from the Archmage. Still, he deserved what he got, for the children he had harmed, and the pain he had caused the people of this world. She would not shed a tear for him.

"Cordelia, I don't suppose the dust buster there tells you anything useful? We've never missed a gate before, but surely we can't be stranded.... after all this time? Kyo, any words of wisdom?" asks Perspicacious, trying to get the group brainstorming. 

After Sagacious died the Oar appeared in Tony's hand. (I'll leave it to him to recount the story of what he did, and sacrificed, to allow Vox to remove it from the tiefling.)

Speaking of Vox, they have been silent since the fight in the Solarium. All of Laputa had been eerily quiet since you first stepped foot here. Now that the Stormwall has fallen and the thrall that Sagacious held over this sentient castle has been broken, light and life is beginning to return. Birds are flitting through the hallways, and a warm breeze causes the grass the wave gently (standard-issue post saving the world stuff!)

The remains of the robot guardians are strewn about the entire island. Even those that avoided suffering harm in the battle with Porphyrion have gone dark, their bodies devoid of life now that Vox and the spirits of the Summerfolk elders have left this place. One curiosity: a small species of mammal has appeared in the past few hours. Small, yellow, and striped, they bound around the island seemingly uncaring of any of you.

Remembering that he can’t actually use the Oar, Tony tosses it to Amaruve, “Yo, Brother Bear, catch. I can’t use the thing, figure you might have something for it.”

Quote from AsbestosPenguin >>

"Cordelia, I don't suppose the dust buster there tells you anything useful? We've never missed a gate before, but surely we can't be stranded.... after all this time? Kyo, any words of wisdom?" asks Perspicacious, trying to get the group brainstorming. 

Cordelia props herself onto her elbows and manages a grin. "Actually, I was just kidding when I called it that, P. A Dustbuster is... Well, anyway, bad news on that front. Dusty is dead. Gordra could have explained it better, but it must have drawn its energy from the latent potential of the gates in each leap. Now that the gate is closed... I don't see any way to rig a means out of this world." 

Kyo has been sitting silently for the past few hours. When you say his name, Perspicacious, his ear flicks and he looks in your direction. After Cordelia relays her grim news, the tiny warlock jumps into her lap and curls into a ball. Duchess walks up to him, and they bump noses. Kyo still wears his cloak, but asleep, he looks just like a normal, albeit very large, cat. Cordelia scratches his ears absently and says with a hitch in her voice,

"Kyo is... Kyo is just a cat again. Maybe he burned through all of his power to spare my mind from Sagacious' attack, maybe the gate closing has shut him out from Vasht's power. Maybe-" Tears well in her eyes and she hugs the sleeping feline gently. 

Perspicacious nods, a bit dejectedly, as Cordelia basically tells her they are dead in the water. When Tony tosses the staff to Amaruve, it sparks a curiosity.

"You know, Tony, I don't think you ever told us how you acquired the staff. One moment we see Sagacious' toy taken away, the next it's in your hand." As she says this, she leans towards the goblin more, and strokes the Tear of Avarice hanging from her horn. "I would love to hear what happened. You must have had to do something magnificent to recover it from Vox."


Persuasion: 17

Tony, though strained, looks up toward the Tiefling, “Oh, I’d be happy to tell you all about it. Perhaps we can discuss my heroics over dinner when we get back to the city?”

Insight: 23