“Back to the Abziri Dacha”, Lord Tazellayt replies.

”Now if you would kindly let us go about our business, before we start to think you are being disrespectful”, he says in that same slightly slurred drawl.

He then goes back to lounging on the deck.

”Oh, after a quick bathe in Lake Amidu to wash away the Kalahata dust, that is. No water is so fresh”, he says almost dreamily.

Persuasion/Deception (advantage for Enhance Ability): (1, 17)+9=26 (ooc: so glad for advantage there)
Special: Seeming - Just less than 8 hours, Enhance Ability (Eagle's Splendor) (upcast at 3rd level) - Snow and Varielky - Just less than 1 hour - Concentration

Auger nods, and is suddenly quite happy to have Driss along to answer a set of questions Auger would not know how to respond to. "Okay, keep us steady, we might get through this without any concern."

No concerns. At least for now. When these riders reported back there might be a pursuit if the real Lord and Lady are around to point out the obvious problem with their subterfuge.

The rider’s eyes had been focused in the distance to the west, on Castle Abziri, whose lands you are currently passing. He visibly tenses when Snow tells him your planned destination, lips pressing together firmly, arcane energy casting the merest shimmering warmth around him. But that stops when Snow adds the bit about bathing in the lake. 

The rider, a captain in the imperial forces, almost imperceptibly breathes a sigh of relief. He bows to Snow and Varielky, holds the eyes curtly of each person on deck, utters an incantation, and with a crackle of magical energy, disappears, reappearing momentarily back in his saddle. 

He gestures to the other rider, and the two break away in opposite directions, then pair up and turning back toward El Harrouch Castle their mounts’ enormous wings beating at a slow, steady pace.

“Well played, Snow!,” Granophyre says, as Trivedi Das pulls out and lights his pipe, his hands shaking slightly.

Benita La Cass snickers and then guffaws. “Bruiser! I didn’t know you had that up your sleeve. Care for a cup of tea, milady?” She nudges her in the ribs, plainly entertained. 

The rider’s eyes had been focused in the distance to the west, on Castle Abziri, whose lands you are currently passing. He visibly tenses when Snow tells him your planned destination, lips pressing together firmly, arcane energy casting the merest shimmering warmth around him. But that stops when Snow adds the bit about bathing in the lake. 

The rider, a captain in the imperial forces, almost imperceptibly breathes a sigh of relief. He bows to Snow and Varielky, holds the eyes curtly of each person on deck, utters an incantation, and with a crackle of magical energy, disappears, reappearing momentarily back in his saddle. 

He gestures to the other rider, and the two break away in opposite directions, then pair up and turning back toward El Harrouch Castle their mounts’ enormous wings beating at a slow, steady pace.

“Well played, Snow!,” Granophyre says, as Trivedi Das pulls out and lights his pipe, his hands shaking slightly.

Benita La Cass snickers and then guffaws. “Bruiser! I didn’t know you had that up your sleeve. Care for a cup of tea, milady?” She nudges her in the ribs, plainly entertained. 

"Me neither! I guess we can thank Snow for that." Varielky answers, a little more enthusiastic than she'd normally be, perhaps also due to the magic's influence. The act of playing out the Lady Tazellayt, however, she drops shortly after the rider departs, so if the magic persists it might seem a little odd, as the figure standing there looks like the Lady but clearly doesn't behave like her.

But even while she answers Benita, Varielky keeps her eyes on the direction the riders were headed, thinking about the last exchange. "I have a feeling," she says to nobody in particular, "that we've only bought ourselves some time, and this isn't the last we see of those two. And next time, possibly with reinforcements." She finally averts her eyes, to look at those around her, disguised as they are. 

Snow breathes out a sigh of relief as the Roc’s disappear into the distance.

He looks at everyone on the deck, and out to Driss, Auger and Baylen.

”That was tense. Well done everyone for playing your parts”, he says, congratulating them.

”Although Varielky is most likely right, the ruse will not last long. They were too curious”, he adds.

”The magic can remain for many hours, if we choose to keep the disguises”, he clarifies.

“Shall we make haste?”.

He then turns and points to Auger, whispering, “Nicely done you three. Are you all ok?”.

"It looks like things went well on your end. Driss ended up having to answer some questioning from the other rider, so quite lucky that I sat back here. We are fine here. I think I will stay with Baylen and Driss for now and we will maintain our position behind the ship. Message again if you need us to do anything. I assume once we get to the correct vicinity you will need us to scout ahead."

Snow in the guise of Lord Tazellayt still, nods his understanding to Auger.

"Auger asks if we want him to scout on Baylen, when we get closer. I am not sure he will be able to find what we are looking for, but making sure there are no surprises couldn't hurt, right?".

Special: Seeming - Just less than 7 hours 55 minutes-ish, Enhance Ability (Eagle's Splendor) (upcast at 3rd level) - Snow and Varielky - Just less than 55 minutes-ish - Concentration

With Auger in the lead upon Baylen, you reach Lake Amidu in another hour. Its waters are indeed crystalline and clean, and they reflect the mountain peaks behind it, the trees upon its surrounding slopes, and the Reaver’s Word and Baylen when you glide smoothly above it. Fishes break the surface beneath you to feed on insects floating upon the otherwise placid blue. On its shores, you spot in passing two hippos, a dozen elephants, twenty zebras, a pack of hyenas, a lone sable, two lions, a flock of flamingos. The surrounding slopes are in motion where families of gorillas and smaller primates gather nourishment from their surroundings.  

Bearing northwest from Lake Amidu, you sail upon the breeze, following mountain valleys which meander below. You spot many lone cabins, meadows with flocks of domesticated goats, and higher up, large caves within which you can barely make out the movements of enormous forms. Giants, perhaps.

The ship rounds a peak that from the lake seemed nondescript but from the far side bears a resemblance to an anvil. “This… it is not unlike…” rumbles Granophyre’s basso, and the scholar reveals his mima-stone and utters the trigger phrase which pulls the illusionary image from it, the map of the ancient Cindarrine empire. In the image, there is indeed a mountain near where the entrance to Core of Dacite is depicted. A mountain shaped like an anvil. But not just one mountain. Two, a pair of geological twins.

“How far have we come?”

A day’s march is the answer. 

Onward you float, and soon, “There!,” someone shouts, for a second hillside, from this new angle, now seems also to bear the appearance of a second anvil. 

“We are close!,” the scholar says, almost holding his breath, the excitement in his voice electric.

From his spot in the second seat Auger enjoys looking out and down at the beautiful vistas before him, though he occasionally turns and watches behind, to see if any riders follow them. 

After the Lake, the sighting of the giants gives Auger a shudder as he remembers an encounter in the desert a little while back. The massive creatures just attacked on sight it appeared. Looking at them, trying to judge their size, Auger at first misses the signs of excitement aboard the Reaver's Word. But finally he turns to look at them and sees that Granophyre was projecting his image into the air. Auger of course could not make out any details of the image but given the clear sign of excitement Auger again turns his attention to the surroundings, before asking Driss to bring them back closer in case they needed to communicate through Snow. Perhaps this was it!

"It does look like a match, that is for sure", Snow says revelling in Strewn's excitement. Having dropped the illusion he can see the joy on the old academic's face.

"Based on the positions of the mountains, where do you expect the entrance to be?", he asks from his place at the helm of the Reaver's Word, slowing the ship down so they can get a good look at the area.

"This looks like the place", he whispers to Auger as he notice Balen flying close.

Special: Enhance Ability (Eagle's Splendor) (upcast at 3rd level) - Snow and Varielky - ?? minutes - Concentration

With everyone so excited around, Varielky can't help but feel the same. They were finally close to the end of this journey, and considering all they'd been through, that they managed to get this far was no mean feat - despite the fact they died twice on the way. However, Varielky knows not to let the euphoria cloud their judgement, and perhaps at this moment, it was best if she said a few words. It's not that she had much else to do until they land anyways.

Calling everyone close - at least close enough to hear her, in the case of Auger or anyone busy still searching for the entrance - she reminds everyone of the dangers that still lie in wait. "(...)Orc tribes in the area, imperials that could be searching for us, or just other strange phenomena that happen to be around, like the Hollow Ones we encountered before. Not to mention those giants..." It occurred to her that giants have been there since the very beginning. The first time she met Ednyss and Mittens, they were nearly buried alive because of that giant. Then, that gargantuan crab, the giant in the sands... maybe others she currently does not remember. "...and lastly, we don't even know what we might find in the core, once we find it. Be it security measures left untouched all this time, some creature that made its way into the core by chance, or even crumbling walls, threatening to bury us underneath."

Varielky didn't want to spoil the mood, however, so she then follows up with why they shouldn't be afraid of the dangers to come. Mostly, that includes describing the challenges they have already bested, be it a beaten foe, a castle infiltrated, a person saved or a piece of lost knowledge found. Making sure to mention as many heroic moments each of them experienced as she can, leaving nobody out. Except perhaps Varielky's own, which she tries to speak of as little as she can; but she won't stop anyone else from telling about them, or of anyone else's. This isn't her speech or anything, but instead a call to bravery and valour.

(Trying to trigger Inspiring Leader, to grant 12 THP to up to 6 allies within 30', so hopefully all of us? Auger, Varielky and Snow make three, Benita and Granophyre two more, and then the last one... Driss, I suppose?)

(All named by Varielky feel the positive effects of her leadership.)

Granophyre then answers Snow’s question.

“We must set down, and from the ground I believe I can, with accurate placement of the mima stone’s image, triangulate the ancient location of the great gate of Clan Scoria.

“We also have Safiyah’s eyewitness account of three tall black pillars. They do not appear in this image, for the the stone’s map takes as its scale continents, not mere acres. 

“Once we have determined the spot, I possess a tool of my artifice with which I can remove earth and carefully dig until the entrance is uncovered.”

At that moment, as Granophyre pauses for breath, Py, who had been scouting ahead this whole time, comes buzzing back at highest speed, chirping in its clicking voice to Auger: “Imperials! A large contingent, encamped close by a small gorge ahead where the two anvils join!”

"It's never easy, and you called it Varielky", Snow says having listened to the inspiring words of his companion before Py brought the bad news.

"Why else would they be here but for the same reason as us?", he says worriedly looking at Strewn.

"I won't be able to disguise us again for a while, that spell drained me too much", he explains not waiting for an answer. "First things first though, let's try and set down before we are spotted, assumng it is not too late", he says looking around for a suitable landing spot.

"Whilst I'm sorting that, anyone got any good ideas of how to handle this?".

Perception: 17+9=26

At the sighting of the mountains and already being close to the ship, Auger moves himself back to the Reaver's Word just in time to hear Varielky's inspiring speech. When Py shows up with its news Auger immediately asks for details. "How many?" he asks out loud,  "Any recognizable insignia among them?"

Then he turns to the side Py indicates and tries to catch any view of the imperial contingent. "Yes, settle us down." Auger calls out, hoping they can find a spot before being seen. As he calms and begins thinking he turns to Py again. "Were there any Rocs there among them? Perhaps I can approach and..." and what precisely, "attack?"

"And already we face a new hurdle!" Varielky almost chuckles, it was perfectly timed. "But Auger had just proposed a great plan. If our paths cross, and if they stand in our way, attack!" They fought the empirials many times, why should they fear them now?

"Attack..." Auger says, his voice dropping off. It was not so much fear that gave him pause as the reminder of how easily and often he had killed people. Still these Imperials...

Auger nods at Varielky. "An attack from me on Baylen could be quite damaging for them, especially with surprise and if unopposed, but while we settle the ship lets talk through it. Would the aim be to drive them off? Annihilate them? Distract them while the rest of you do..." Auger lets his voice trail off again but looks around hoping others have ideas.

While waiting to hear if Py has any other details, Auger looks over to Driss and signals that they were going to be landing.

“Many,” Py says. “Dozens. Jenghen soldiers. Structures. I saw a giant among them, and two Rocs.” (OOC: You’ll need to see them for yourselves to get more information. )

“I hesitate to guess what the imperial presence here could mean,” Granophyre says. “I fear that you are right, Snow. Perhaps everything I had hoped to uncover is already known by the Empire. But we must not lose hope.”

As afternoon sunlight slants down from above, Snow spots a hidden crevice near the foot of the nearer Anvil peak, surrounded by a burnt forest with new young growth around its fringes. (OOC: a byproduct of a forest’s natural life cycle). It sits perhaps five miles from the large encampment Py saw. The mountain’s slope around its lower perimeter makes line of sight to the camp impossible.

Snow manoeuvres the Reaver's Word carefully down to land in the secluded crevice, his confidence at helm growing by the day.

"You are right Strewn, hope is not lost. Even if they know the approximate location, they might not have the means to find the entrance", he says smiling at him.

"It doesn't sound like an attack on the encampment would work, we are out numbered. If we are lucky, we can find the entrance and it will turn out the imperials are in the wrong place. If not, getting eyes on them would help determine a course of action", he says moving from the helm towards the centre of the ship.

"Py, did you happen notice three tall black pillars near the enemy camp?".

'Surprise', 'unopposed', that was not what Varielky hoped to hear, and her expression changed to reflect that, disappointment and disagreement clear to all. Even so, she realises that, given Py's report, Just facing them head-on won't be simple. "If they know we're here, they might chase us even if we drive them away. They might also point those other two Roc riders in our direction if they return with backup. Therefore, it would be best to either avoid them entirely," better to Varielky than a surprise attack, "or annihilate each and every one of them. In the case of the latter, I think the best option would be to draw the roc riders away or kill them while they're on the ground. Because otherwise, once they're off the ground, I cannot help you fight them.

"Then, we have two options. One is to focus entirely on the giant. I do not know what fighting a giant is like, but if we can best them - no, once we defeat them - I imagine most common soldiers will lose heart, which will make things simpler for us. It might not be easy to do while surrounded by many soldiers, though, so the other option is to take them all out before facing the giant. That will allow us to fully focus on the giant once we're done, but we might be worn out by then. But lastly," she turns to Py now, and it occurs to her she hardly ever spoke to the little thing. "What do you mean by structures? That the enemy is well organised into tactical structures, or that they actually have buildings with them? The former could make it easier to dispose of common soldiers, but the latter..." Varielky fought many things, but buildings? She couldn't cut through thick stone, and even wooden buildings will make things hard to deal with.