Harbek leans down to the stone and tree, and mutters in Dwarvish “from stone we come, and to stone we return. Let stone be forever...” he says that almost ritually, like a prayer. “... but let the tree flourish, too.”
Then he draws his hand across them both and starts to leave with the group
((With work and the impending Holidays I'm going to be hard-pressed to post more than once a day until the new year, after that I should be back to a more regular posting schedule. Thanks for bearing with me!))
You leave the sight of the shrine, having taken notes as requested by the Cartophile. The next two days are relatively uneventful. You make your way up into the mountains, climbing ever higher into the Mistcliff. Following the Cartophile's directions you find yourselves in a series of caves filled with more scrawls like those in the letter you found in the ettercap's lair; a mixture of thieves' cant and infernal writing. Thorin is able to read the infernal, and among the ever-present mentions of the Grand Master and the Monastery of the Distressed Body, he finds clues that help navigate safely through the caves.
You exit the darkness of the caves to an incredible sight. Floating hundreds of feet in the air at the center of the valley before you is a large island of rock. Enormous chimney-engines extend from the bottom of this island, burning with fitful, deep-red fires that appear to keep the island aloft. A series of odd structures rise from the rock, appearing almost like metallic crystals.
Farther down the cliff-side ledge is a flat metal dock, on which reclines a feline monstrosity with a female humanoid head — a regal gynosphinx. A matching dock is thrust out from the floating rock island across from this dock, but there is no obvious way to cross the hundreds of feet of open space between them.
As you approach the gynosphinx you notice that it appears to have suffered ancient injuries to its head, which have healed and been replaced by mechanical components. Both the creature’s eyes are now glowing blue lenses, and its head is orbited by a number of spinning metallic devices. “Entreat with me,”the sphinx says, “if you wish to cross to the monastery.” Some of you have heard of sphinxes before and know that they are famous for asking riddles. So what the creature says next surprises you. "Ask of me a question. If I cannot answer it, I will call the ferryman to take you to the Monastery. If I can, your knowledge will be the price. Take care in your question, I know most things. You do not appear entirely ignorant, and I look forward to adding whatever small knowledge you might possess to my collection."
Sparks steps forward. he has a question he, and his people, have wanted an answer for, so would speak up... "Who..." Estival, fairy dragon "Being..." Ortimay, ship captain. "that..." Driad's voice. "cursed..." In the voice of a human woman. "Kenku..." In the gruff voice of a dwarf. "peoples..." Driad, her voice crackles, like an autumn wind through dry leaves.
The gynosphinx laughs a low throaty chuckle, metallic discs whirring above its head. "You have come close, poor wrenched creature, to asking a question I cannot answer. Close enough that I will not take the price from you, even though it is owed." Nodding and looking off into the distance for a moment the gynosphinx says, "I can give two true answers to this question. Answer One: the Kenku cursed themselves. They made the mistake of trying to rise above their station. Of coveting the wealth and power of one who could strip them of their flight, of their creative thought. Of plotting against one they could never overcome. In doing so they wrote their own fate. Answer Two: A vengeful god." The gynosphinx smiles a wry smile. "You should have asked me for that god's name. That I do not know. Now ask me a different question, unrelated to this one. I will not let you off the hook so easily again."
Aerin looks anxious at the gynosphinx, unable to think of a smart question. He considers asking a trick question, such as 'What am I going to say next?' but opts not to, believing a deception might anger the creature.
I am going to call it, yeah. I had every intention of picking it back up after the holidays, but my work schedule just doesn't give me the time I had before and I'm not sure when I'll have the time again. Thank you all for your participation, and sorry for not keeping it going.
Harbek leans down to the stone and tree, and mutters in Dwarvish “from stone we come, and to stone we return. Let stone be forever...” he says that almost ritually, like a prayer. “... but let the tree flourish, too.”
Then he draws his hand across them both and starts to leave with the group
Paladin - warforged - orange
Aerin takes up the front again, watching for any danger
Perception: 21
Lost Mine of Phandelver - Dungeon Master
Sparks moves out to scout the path forward...
Stealth: 9
Flutter perception: 23
Sparks perception: 16
((With work and the impending Holidays I'm going to be hard-pressed to post more than once a day until the new year, after that I should be back to a more regular posting schedule. Thanks for bearing with me!))
You leave the sight of the shrine, having taken notes as requested by the Cartophile. The next two days are relatively uneventful. You make your way up into the mountains, climbing ever higher into the Mistcliff. Following the Cartophile's directions you find yourselves in a series of caves filled with more scrawls like those in the letter you found in the ettercap's lair; a mixture of thieves' cant and infernal writing. Thorin is able to read the infernal, and among the ever-present mentions of the Grand Master and the Monastery of the Distressed Body, he finds clues that help navigate safely through the caves.
You exit the darkness of the caves to an incredible sight. Floating hundreds of feet in the air at the center of the valley before you is a large island of rock. Enormous chimney-engines extend from the bottom of this island, burning with fitful, deep-red fires that appear to keep the island aloft. A series of odd structures rise from the rock, appearing almost like metallic crystals.
Farther down the cliff-side ledge is a flat metal dock, on which reclines a feline monstrosity with a female humanoid head — a regal gynosphinx. A matching dock is thrust out from the floating rock island across from this dock, but there is no obvious way to cross the hundreds of feet of open space between them.
As you approach the gynosphinx you notice that it appears to have suffered ancient injuries to its head, which have healed and been replaced by mechanical components. Both the creature’s eyes are now glowing blue lenses, and its head is orbited by a number of spinning metallic devices. “Entreat with me,” the sphinx says, “if you wish to cross to the monastery.” Some of you have heard of sphinxes before and know that they are famous for asking riddles. So what the creature says next surprises you. "Ask of me a question. If I cannot answer it, I will call the ferryman to take you to the Monastery. If I can, your knowledge will be the price. Take care in your question, I know most things. You do not appear entirely ignorant, and I look forward to adding whatever small knowledge you might possess to my collection."
View of the floating island:
Gynosphinx:
Harbek looks back at the others. "It seems to me that we'd best play by the rules here. I don't see a lot of other options for how to get across."
Paladin - warforged - orange
Sparks steps forward. he has a question he, and his people, have wanted an answer for, so would speak up...
"Who..." Estival, fairy dragon
"Being..." Ortimay, ship captain.
"that..." Driad's voice.
"cursed..." In the voice of a human woman.
"Kenku..." In the gruff voice of a dwarf.
"peoples..." Driad, her voice crackles, like an autumn wind through dry leaves.
The gynosphinx laughs a low throaty chuckle, metallic discs whirring above its head. "You have come close, poor wrenched creature, to asking a question I cannot answer. Close enough that I will not take the price from you, even though it is owed." Nodding and looking off into the distance for a moment the gynosphinx says, "I can give two true answers to this question. Answer One: the Kenku cursed themselves. They made the mistake of trying to rise above their station. Of coveting the wealth and power of one who could strip them of their flight, of their creative thought. Of plotting against one they could never overcome. In doing so they wrote their own fate. Answer Two: A vengeful god." The gynosphinx smiles a wry smile. "You should have asked me for that god's name. That I do not know. Now ask me a different question, unrelated to this one. I will not let you off the hook so easily again."
Aerin looks anxious at the gynosphinx, unable to think of a smart question. He considers asking a trick question, such as 'What am I going to say next?' but opts not to, believing a deception might anger the creature.
Lost Mine of Phandelver - Dungeon Master
Sparks nods, then says...
"What...' Driad's voice.
"number..." Child's voice.
"am..." Estival, fairy dragon
"I..." de'ren's voice.
"thinking..." A female human's voice.
"of..." Driad's voice.
Aerin remains vigilant, curious as to how the sphinx will react.
Lost Mine of Phandelver - Dungeon Master
(Is this campaign done?)
Paladin - warforged - orange
I am going to call it, yeah. I had every intention of picking it back up after the holidays, but my work schedule just doesn't give me the time I had before and I'm not sure when I'll have the time again. Thank you all for your participation, and sorry for not keeping it going.
Ah, unfortunate but understandable. If you don't mind I'd like to stay in the 'campaign' for the content sharing :)
Lost Mine of Phandelver - Dungeon Master
Sure thing! I'll leave it open for the foreseeable future.