Ulmwin blinks a few times, seeming a bit caught off guard with that line of questioning, before letting out a slightly defeated "Ah. Right...", letting out a deep exhale before continuing.

"I guess back then was mostly just... A white lie? Truth is I was getting bored of how long the portal was taking to prepare, doing some prestidigation, when suddenly we had to rush and be quick and I stumbled a bit- So when I came through on the other side and everyone started worrying... Well, I thought I somehow ****ed up. So I decided to spin it as an intentional thing rather than me messing up... In retrospect, I don't think I actually did anything wrong. But I also didn't really think much more about it after. It didn't seem a big deal to me, but it also felt like nothing strange happened, and end of the day everything is fine, so no issues..? It was just embarrassing. "

"... Hold on. This isn't a prank you guys set up right? Did Holger talk you all into this? "

((Totally forgotten all of that! Not the eye though, that whole experience is burned into my soul 😭.))

"Aye think Holger was partly a plant, a cloud, a bird and a pot last aye saw of him. He is too busy to get up to much."

Randy is looking intently at Ulmwin during his explanation, with a look of concern on his face.  He looks over to Kreldoran.  "Do you think it's possible he picked up a hitch hiker during that initial transit?  That might explain what we saw."  He mutters to himself "Come to think of it, there is a passing resemblance to the All Mother's true form, although not nearly as big or powerful."

The gnome dusts off his shoulders as Randy mentions "hitchhikers", as if that would serve to get rid of any interplanar parasites...

"Anything is possible... I could potentially attempt to divine the answer to a question, if we know what to ask, or if we think it's something buried within Ulmwin's subconscious, I could with his permission, of course, probe his thoughts. I could also see if he's currently being affected by any magics, if we wish."

Ulmwin shrugs, mostly seeming tired over this whole debacle by now.

"If it'd make you feel better, sure, I'll be willing to try out most anything. Let's start with inspecting the magics thing, yeah? Mind probe doesn't seem like the most fun thing..."

Kreldoran casts a spell, and looks Ulmwin and his things over, confirming the rattle is only imbued with the magic of friendship and memories of pranks. 

"Let's see... deck of cards... illusion. Ring, transmutation and enchantment... topaz pyramid, conjuration... metal cube, conjuration... rapier, necromantic.... my, you've a lot of things, Ulmwin! Cloak, transmutation... lute, evocation.... pipes, enchantment and conjuration... amulet, abjuration, conjuration and evocation. Lots of magic items, but nothing that seems to be detectably affecting you beyond that. No spells or curses cast on you that I can detect, but I could smack you with a remove curse in the morning, just to be on the safe side?

"Aye say we try that, why not?"

He then goes and looks out a window to see if he recognizes any landmarks.

"Tomorrow we'll head out then?"

Ulmwin nods, perhaps a bit abash about his collection.

"I'll admit, I do like to carry around a lot of the magical knick-knacks we have... I suppose that if anyone would accidentally end up with something cursed, it could probably be me, though it'd be very particular to be... This."

"But sure, if it's no problem, I'll take a remove curse in the morning," Ulmwin agrees, not seeming too particularly worried himself. He does ever so briefly turn back to Randy with a raised brow, however.

"You really think it was some... Thing, you saw? That's strange..."

((@M0rt, that was all going off the various sheets, I don't know if there was anything that got removed/sold/traded that wasn't on there, or anything added that didn't make it to the sheets, but feel free to let me know if I goofed on anything.))

(( I think it's correct..? I admit, I honestly forgot about half of the stuff on the old sheet and should move it over to the new one for sure, but I think I would at the very least have deleted them should they have been lost/used somehow. ))

Randy shrugs. "Anything is possible. The transportation spells seem to route through Astral space.  Astral travel can be hazardous and there are many beings that travel there and some may live there. If one just happened to wander into the path of the spell just as you went through..."

((The image of an astral bug on the windshield comes to mind. :P ))

Ulmwin considers Randy's thought for a moment, at first stern... But then seems to slowly grow a smirk, a bit smug perhaps even, although what follows is probably just a joke.

"Ah, I see... Well, then it suddenly makes sense doesn't it? It's just all the sweet astral ladies... Can't get enough of my bardly charm!"

...Probably a joke.

Randy gives him a look, smirks. "Didn't know you had a thing for glowing octopi."

A light smug smirk yet again. A shrug.

"Eh, you never know... All draconic sorcerers had to get their bloodline from somewhere. Who knows where Holger's ancestors got his particular brand of magic from, hmm?"

Randy thinks about it for a second and shudders. "There's an image I could do without. I don't need anymore nightmare fuel!"  

(( Getting treacherously close to H***tai territory...))

((Interesting.  There's a word ban function in this thing.))

Ulmwin bursts out laughing. Easy for him to do, he didn't see whatever this tentacle light creature they were talking about looked like...

Kreldoran's note taking has slowly ground to a halt.

Dornikal clears his throat and repeats his question.

"So, off tomorrow them?"

"Ah, yes, quite. I'll be sure to prepare the ability to purge Ulmwin of a curse, just in case is... ahem... dalliances with...", his mage hand lifts the page up for him to read, " 'sweet astral ladies that resemble glowing octopi' have left him with anything to remember them by."

"I have a few readings to take, ensure that we're stable, and that the repairs held. Do you wish to set off on foot tomorrow, or shall I be teleporting you to the outskirts of Torfelna? It would be to a circle known to me, though I think it has fallen into disuse. Though that would the benefit of not irritating someone showing up unannounced. However, I wasn't sure if you were wanting risk it again, given what we just experienced."

((You'd be able to spend the day doing a bit of exploring the local environs, which while he wouldn't ask you to do so directly, Kreldoran would likely appreciate the local lay of the land, but he can send Fiona out to scout should you elect to just while the day away in the tower. Just let me know how you'd like to proceed and we can go from there.))