“I prefer to consider that her life is far too precious for it to be a scenario worse than her capture. Anyhow, to the horses” Anyone else would think nothing but kind nature. Mulligan and Rowan were sure to know better. Karuk was the survivor of a group of wizards connected to the shard and that had done just that – failed to defend themselves. “I will leave the matter of the ring for you two. At worst it will be a free spell of fifth level. After used we can fill it with basic cures.”

Part of him wished things didn’t get to that point. Otherwise, it meant they had to face an enemy enough for the combo to be deemed necessary, a hard battle. The most likely outcome, said the voice of his mind. The possibility of said enemy being a master in the dark arts of necromancy didn’t make things look better. Should have asked Kempis about such mages. It was something he could remediate by having Oda send another messenger. Provided such thing was even necessary. If his assumption was right, if there was no coincidence between attack and message, Grimshard would hold all the answers.

“We have eyes on the air.” Karuk answered as they arrived, snapping his fingers and calling Ninlil in the prime material plane. Tell me what you can see, he asked the familiar.

Kempis nods at your explanation for departing Talisten. "The festival does begin tomorrow; the people will be expecting to see you...to hear from you. Of course, if you're unable to return, then I'll think of something..."

The air becomes salty and significantly cooler as you behold the rocky island of Grimshard. The sound of crashing waves reaches your ears; the foamy sea is more than eighty feet below you as the island rises like a massive spear of rock from the water below. You arrive at the northern end of the island and see nothing out of the ordinary; so, you make your way soutward, knowing that within thirty minutes you will have covered the entirety of Grimshard. As you go, Nihil has nothing of substance to report. 

As the ancient druidic ruins begin to appear in the distance, the air shimmers slightly before you, and Oda Waywocket appears as she drops her invisibility spell. "Hello, friends," chimes the old gnome in her quirky, high-pitched voice. "So pleased to see you...Rovenna's keeping watch in Talisten, then?"

     Mulligan looks to one companion and then the next before giving his horse a friendly pat on the neck.  "Oda Waywocket," Mulligan calls out in a greeting reply.  "What is the evil afoot your messenger spoke about?  All seems well here from what we have seen?"

     It is not that he does not trust Oda but with the curiousness all about them Mulligan would prefer to have questioned answered before he answers any.

Oda nods at Mulligan. "Quite right, Mulligan. No time for campfire tales and cups of wine, is there? Even if the tales were to answer my question about Rovenna. There's trouble, and you know it methinks."

The old gnome--as is her habit--taps the end of her staff on the ground twice before continuing and motioning toward the crumbled temple. "There."

Two more taps of the staff, and she adds, "Three days ago, just before dawn, a pair of Ansoran fisherman were setting about their day's work when they saw several...people...leaving the temple. Descended the rocky cliffs to the shore they did and set off in a small boat for the mainland. Even a drunken fisherman knows that only the seabirds call Grimshard home; so, they came to me straightaway and told me of what they saw. Since then I have seen no boat, nor any such people, but I have seen something more troublesome..."

Her voice trails off as she seems to fall into a bit of thoughtful reflection. "Yes, more troublesome indeed..."

Without another word she walks toward the ruins, motioning for all of you to follow. Upon reaching the temple ruins, she points to a narrow crevice in the ground. "There. I ventured a short distance within, but it is not a place for one to travel alone."

Looking as far as you can into the darkness below, you see only rudimentary stairs that lead downward, quite steeply. 

"In all the histories of Syndaris, there is no mention of such a thing," adds Oda. 

((Insight Check to see if this really seems like Oda to Mulligan?  -- 16))

     "Perhaps you should check the area for magical traps or tricks or such," Mulligan says to Karuk with a bit of a glance towards Oda.  "best to know what we're dealing with if possible."

     Mulligan half feels bad figuring the old gnome likely sees through his subtle hints and knows he is curious if she is actually herself.  Then again, he figures, Oda would understand.  If evil is indeed about there is no telling what guise it will wear or in what manner it'll attack.  

     "What do you know of Grimshard?" Mulligan asks Oda, wanting the information but also to keep her attention on him.  "I must admit I am not quite this historian I could be."  ((What does Mulligan himself know?  Nat 1 -- Mulligan knows nothing special about the island.))  "Any historic battles or tragedies occur on this land?  Any cursed graveyards or a history of pirates?"  

For Mulligan...

 "Grimshard..." repeats Oda. "This place is little more than a footnote in the history of Syndaris. No villages...no residents...just a solitary mass of rock upon which druids of old built a shrine. Not a word was etched in these old stones."

The old wizard motions to the crumbling structure around her as she utters the words these old stones.

"Most surmise this shrine served the simple purpose of providing a place of meditation, reflection, and worship."

After tapping her staff upon the ground yet again, she adds, "But what lies below feels contrary to the original intent of this place."

Rowan, hearing the mention of Rovenna has an idea. "I don't suppose you have any scrying magic? Or long distance, two way, communication? It would be good to check in on Rovenna."

     "Alas, no.  I do not. I am afraid my voice only carries so far," Mulligan replies to Rowan.  "I would have a better chance of teleporting us to her directly than speaking to her from here.  And I am afraid my chances of doing that are less than my chances of accidentally putting us at the bottom of the ocean..."

     Mulligan is chagrined by the fact.  He had opportunities to learn magics like Rowan speaks of but he generally finds communicating annoying enough when done face to face without having to deal with it anytime or anywhere someone decided to bug him.  Such magics would be the downfall of civilization, in his opinion!

     "Oda, you say the tunnels or whatever lies beneath feels contrary to the original purpose," Mulligan begins.  "Do you mean to suggest you know them to be a relatively new thing?  Could they not be older than the purpose people later ascribed to this place?"

Oda's gaze falls upon Rowan, to whom she replies, "My suspicions are confirmed then; Rovenna's whereabout are unknown to any of us."

Turning her attention to Mulligan, the old gnome says, "Yes. This tunnel could indeed be older than than the druid shine built upon it. Such a thing is possible. But such a thing seems a strange coincidence, however..."

With that said, Oda draws a small crystal sphere from somewhere deep within her robes. "The time seems right for this old wizard to spy upon a young wizard. Let us hope an invasion of her privacy causes no one to blush..."

Oda, in accordance with Rowan's suggestion, spends the next ten minutes casting a scrying spell. You watch expectantly as she remains nearly motionless, completely silent, and wholly absorbed in her effort. 

"Nothing," Oda replies. "Nothing at all. Three possibilities there are: she resisted my divination magic...she is not on this plane...or she is no longer among the living."

Karuk was many things. Sociable was not one of them. He always found it hard to enter conversations and that time was no different. Mulligan request to check for magic traps was almost a blessing. Opening his grimoire the half-orc started chanting arcane words, ritually casting detect magic. As usual, Ninlil circled over his position, keeping watch.

“We were ambushed on our way to the capital. At different roads, by different undead but all mentioning the Fragment of Aeris.” He broke his silence when Oda mentioned the results of her scrying. “I had just arrived when we received your message and there was no sign of Rovenna. Timing considered, I don’t think the spell failed to reach because she resisted. That said, if everything is as connected as it seems, maybe she is not dead. Hostages make for a good way to ensure enemies move exactly to where one wants.”

At the very least she was not undead, otherwise the spell should still count her as a creature and show her surroundings. His eyes turned to the stairs. Could they lead to another plane of existence? Either that or the place was guarded against divination. There was another possibility, a better one – he was wrong and whatever could be taking place on Grimshard had nothing to do with the Defenders.

“Can you think of any necromancers that could be behind this?”

Notes: Apologies for the delay. Holidays preparation madness and all of that. Karuk ritual casts Detect Magic and Ninlil keeps watch from the sky. Let me now if any rolls are necessary.