((Coljin knows more than anyone else, including me! I have his original post stuff, that I can put in if needed.))

(Well, I've been searching OLD PM's from the goblins site to find what I typed up on Ardent's Stead as Coljin's hometown, and I'm coming up empty, so far.   Here is what I remember)

It is a pretty small village, off the beaten path and not overly travelled to as it is in a forest; hence the forest gnomes being the main inhabitants.  The most known, non-gnome resident is a wizard who put up a small wizards' tower in the hamlet.  The gnomes and wizard, along with a nearby dryad community, work together to keep the village and the surrounding forest safe. 

It is mainly an agricultural village, that occasionally gets traders for it's farm goods and a very few visitors that the wizard has.

((So, do we want to go back there? It isn't probably a great place to get gear and such but maybe we can prevent the burning of the Shire? :P))

Kreldoran would take Randy aside at some point for a serious conversation. 

"What do you know of leylines, lad?"

Arcana Check from Randy? 

((Maybe we should just go to Torfelna? It is full of academics and such to help us with Randy's quest and Dornikal can get some information there, maybe. Not sure there is anything for the gnomes?))

((M0rt hasn't posted in over a month, though they've logged in more recently than that, and Burns has been swamped at work for almost two months, so Zokk and Ulmwin's concerns/missions probably don't need to be fore-fronted. Coljin had expressed interested in gaining items/knowledge that would benefit his hometown, which could potentially be gained anywhere. If he was looking to touch base with members of his order, there could potentially be at least some presence in all but a few exceptions.))

(Yay, you found it, and my memory was *kinda* good.   Pixies, not dryads.  Original mage is now dead.  Tower/tree.    heh.  )

So when Coljin is asked about his home, he will prattle on as long as you let him.  So here you go, Dornikal.

+_+_+_+_+__

   A small forest hamlet with mainly wood gnome residents, called Ardent's Stead. Named after the renowned Gnomish mage who first lived in this forest. He based his home here by building a Mage's tower inside a towering/magically altered great blue spruce pine. Slowly, people moved into the area due to the safety the mage provided. Even though the mage has now been long dead, the hamlet survives and prospers. Now his old apprentice lives in the great blue spruce. The main non-gnome traffic that Ardent's Stead receives, is due to some rare traveling mages or adventurers who come to speak to the new owner of the mage tree. 

Other than gnomes, a human druid also has a cabin on the outskirts of the town. And a community of Pixies coexists in peace living right beside the hamlet, living in small tree houses overlooking a stream that they consider blessed.   

The forest is 50% evergreen trees, with the remainder being mainly oak, birch, and sugar maples. The climate is temperate, having all four seasons. The winters can get harsh, the summers hot and dry. Terrain is mild, some hills, some small elevation changes. Nothing extreme near the hamlet. Many small streams.  

The gnomes have cleared out the area around the Ardent's Stead to grow some orchards. They grow many types of apples, grapes, and sweet cherries. Most families tend to a large garden to grow vegetables to feed their family. 

Torfelna works, let's go there!

((Yeah, I have Google docs for each of you with all the early character stuff from way back, but I've been less good about adding other relevant things to it since. I've also got the majority of the secret DM messages of Dornikal's adventures before being liberated by the party.))

Dornikal is befuddled by the random details provided by Coljin.

"Oh, aye pixies. Uh, aye good to know how many pine trees ye have in proportion to not." He looks around to see if anyone else thinks that's an odd point but powers through.

((Dornikal, give me an insight check please?))

Arcana check: 20

Randy looks thoughtful at Kreldoran's question. "They're supposed to be lines of magical energy traveling through the earth and water, connecting points of power.  A skilled mage can tap into that power to cast spells more powerful than what they could using their own personal energies.  There are "currents" within the lines, dictating the direction of the flow of energy.  Some transport spells use this current to travel from point to point. Caution has to be taken when tapping these lines as they can be immensely powerful and the type of energy can be positive aligned, neutral, or dark.  There are some rather gruesome tales about what can happen if one accidently taps an "evil" line and it overwhelms the caster."

Randy has read a few books on the subject, and perhaps attended a few seminars or the like, enough to know that they are thought to be invisible currents of magical energy that permeate and flow across and through the plane. Some view them as untapped potential, others as the pinnacle of folly, the deep use of them only sought after by those with more funding or desperation than sense. From his studies, Randy likely views them as real, but often inaccessible, invisible movers of force that are beyond the means of most mortals to influence or draw from, the way that upper air currents sometimes move the high, thin clouds in a way not felt on the ground, or the way waves lapping on the coast don't hint at the deep ocean currents.

Kreldoran nods, "I see you're not new to the idea. Your talk of a Gate jogged a memory. Brilliant researcher, specialized in leyline research, theoretician type, name of Prindlefern. Professor Prindlefern. Called leylines 'conduits of potential probability', and I'm sure he's come up with something more pompous by now. One of his hypotheses was that portal magics were only possible where leylines fall... A convenient standpoint when one doesn't have the reliable means to detect them in the first place. Are all young men so cocksure in their brilliance? I brought up the issue of those skilled in magical abilities being able to teleport to and from at will, and his blustering response that the leylines themselves guiding users to appropriate spots was roundly ridiculed... Myself foremost. Ahem . I did not treat the boy kindly, I'm afraid to say. But, if you're hunting gates to other worlds, might be worth a consult. I hear you're thinking of Torfelna? Last I knew, he was at the Academy still. I'd make an introduction for you, but probably best you don't mention knowing me, much less that I gave you his name. I've a copy of his dissertation around here somewhere..."

((Sorry, I got tracked off again. I've skimmed through most that happened, do let me know if there was anything in particular that was missed. But in the grand lines he'd have been helpful as he could, acting as partial translator, maybe flying a bit more, but otherwise just keeping to the background, collecting stories of the dragonborn and playing music. He has no real destination he'd want to particularly set out himself, just intent on keeping with the party. It does seem like he's trying to avoid where he originally came from, though. ))

((Would he have been forthcoming with where that is?))

"It's a forest!"  he says indignantly to the Dwarf.  "Of course it matters what trees are there.   When you work in a mine, does it matter to you if it contains 95 chunks of lead for each clunk of platinum you find?"

But mainly, he was so happy to be talking about Ardent's Stead, he just blabbed on about anything he could think about as long as you listened.

Randy thanks Kreldoran and reads the treatise with interest. He speculates as to whether or not a ley line's proximity could account for Holger's wild surge and current troubles. He then gives it up as a moot point for now as he has no way of determining if a ley line was present or not and no intention going back, although he does keep this possibility in mind in the event he runs into Prof. Prindlefern.  He suspects the Professor might be very interested in investigating an area where a gate was present and so much wild magic was released.  He then remembers that his own planar magic had differing effects on the gate, which causes him to wonder about the origins of his own magic as well.

Insight: 18

"No lad, no! Aye said it was good to know!"

He backpedals on his words but keeps firm his inner lack of interest in trees.