This flock of monstrosities was wheeling about chaotically. Then Caspian happened. A pinprick of blinding white light appears before a prong at the front of the steam skipper. It explodes outward toward the creatures, enveloping five of them in the fury of its blaze... And then there were three, all flapping madly away as quickly as their wings would carry them. 

"Damn, monkey man! That was... damn!" You hear Taesn exult. "Is Caspian okay? You didn't crack anything with that crazy shot, did you?"

Fiorello interrupts, saying, "Impressive as it was, we are at risk of falling further behind our quarry. I believe we were planning to take a short rest on that island?"

You make your way to the skull-shaped rock. It is large and relatively featureless, with no plant life to speak of. There are veins of copper criss-crossing its surface, however, which shine brightly in the midday light. Fiorello has conjured a large notebook from somewhere, and is quickly writing notes. After inspecting the ships and ensuring they have what they need to rest for 15 minutes, or so, Taesn approaches your party.

"Alright, I suppose it's talkin' time. Who are you all? Our handsome little goblin I know by reputation," she winks at Tony, "But I've never heard of any of the rest of you living on the island. How did you get here?"

Tony has his feet kicked up on the dashboard, flashing a sharp-fanged smile with a wink. “They’re a bunch of dimension hopping do-gooders. The cat works like a communication stone for a magical, blue angel. Evidently, this place is about to bite the big one, so they’re here to fix it. Seems like the kidnappings have something to do with it.” He looks to the others, “About right?”

Taesn blinks at Tony, then she turns to the others. "Anyway, where are you from, where is your island? I've never found one with people living on it."

Jean shrugged. "Aye, basically. We've seen some really weird stuff, one jump we got turned into talking mice. I still have cheese cravings from that one."

Tony just extends an arm toward Jean with an arched eyebrow toward the Eladrin.

"Ooookay," she says. Then she turns to Amaruve, "What about you, lil' monkey? I reckon you're a mouse on the side, too? Must be dangerous business, what with all the cats you're collecting."

Amaruve transforms into a mouse and bows graciously. 

(Does this short rest apply to the Skippers only, or are we able to benefit from the rest as well without taking additional time?)

(yup,. If you need to spend some hit dice you can roll away.)

"Honestly, that was a fairly good summary," says Perspicacious, trying not to act too surprised in front of Tony. "We've been traveling multiple worlds for what seems like years now. I'll add that it's not by choice, but rather by some inter-planar mishap that occurred on our own world." Perspicacious pauses a moment, remembering the fateful event in Gordra's office, which of course brings memories of Gordra himself. He could have explained their predicament so much better... She shakes the memories from her head and motions at the skippers before continuing. "You seem to have a lot of fanciful things in this place, surely you've some concept of portals, gates, or other phenomena that are either manufactured or natural doorways to other planes of existence? We're just on a continual parade of worlds is all, and eager to seek out those in need so we can in turn hope to proceed home, eventually... one would hope."

"Unless there's a vacation world somewhere where we can live happily ever after under a sun that shines but never burns and we're fed juicy tidbits by all sorts of lovelies. I would be fine on a world like that."

Amaruve wobbles a bit as he moves over to an enormous tree, enormous to a mouse, and slumps against it.  These two battles have taken a lot out of him, more than you might think. While he rests he dozes for a few minutes and his form returns to the norm. (Hit die: 9, 4, 8) [Edit: with Fiorello's healing only the first die is needed.]

Tæsn, to her credit, only widens her eyes briefly in response to Amaruve's transformation. "Fascinating..." she says after a moment. Peering closely, she lowers her steampunk goggles over her eyes and slides a dial, transforming them into jeweler's lenses to better observe the mouse's tiny axe. "That is some surprisingly fine craftmanship, mouse. It's Amaruve, right? Can he understand me?" she asks with her magnified eyes locked on the druid's tiny, drowsy face. 

Quote from Rivina >>

"Unless there's a vacation world somewhere where we can live happily ever after under a sun that shines but never burns and we're fed juicy tidbits by all sorts of lovelies. I would be fine on a world like that."

 
Tæsn smiles. "As to that, warrior," she says with a grin, "There are one or two lovelies lying around in this world." 

Quote from AsbestosPenguin >>

"We're just on a continual parade of worlds is all, and eager to seek out those in need so we can in turn hope to proceed home, eventually... one would hope."

 
You hear a voice call out from behind you, "Which is what I saw in the your memories at the fair, Perspicacious." Fiorello has finished documenting in his journal, and he walks to a copper-veined boulder just within the group's circle. "My apologies to you all. I fear that you have likely become only too accustomed to making difficult and selfless decisions with insufficient data. However," the aarakocra raises a finger/feather, "That is what makes you heroes." 

The cleric twists a "hand" in the air and conjures a large, leather-bound book. "Our histories do indeed make extensive note of the existence of inter-planar travel, my dear tiefling. That technology, or magic, was utilized by our fore-bearers to travel to this plane. That was, oh, nearly 200 years ago, now."

Tæsn rolls her eyes, "We don't need a history lesson, bird. What I want to know is," she looks at the party, "Why are you doing this? Why not just stay put if you're just going to have to start all over again every time you find one of these... portals?"

(oh, dunk- is anyone else low on health? Sorry Amaruve: Kyo and Fiorello are able to heal)

The moment Fiorello finishes his notes, he releases the knowledge-based power he had accrued, healing you all for 21 HP

Quote from Adaxter>>

... "That is some surprisingly fine craftmanship, mouse. It's Amaruve, right? Can he understand me?" she asks with her magnified eyes locked on the druid's tiny, drowsy face. ...

 Baobur nods with a squeak

Quote from Adaxter >>

Tæsn rolls her eyes, "We don't need a history lesson, bird. What I want to know is," she looks at the party, "Why are you doing this? Why not just stay put if you're just going to have to start all over again every time you find one of these... portals?" 

"We all most likely have different reasons, returning home, undoing wrongs, or just solving this strange mystery. I haven't been travelling the planes for as long as my other companions, but I'll keep at it as long as I am able. 

Fiorello's nods along as Kyo speaks. He looks pensive in the brief silence that follows, then closes his eyes, "I see that you all have suffered in your travels. You, young lady," he nods to Cordelia, "have thoughts so dark that I cannot make them out." His eyes open. "I wonder... Were you the only ones affected by this accident? It seems unlikely that-"

Suddenly, the skippers begin noisily venting steam. They lumber to their feet. (Tony, who was resting in Brutus, is tossed about a little.)

"Well, a conversation for another time, then," says the owl. 

"Strap in, kids!" shouts Taesn (who clearly cares more about flying than solving a mystery).

(Kyo- roll Perception and/or investigation in your ship to determine how far you can see!)

Beep, boop, swish, tap.

Perception: 23

Cordelia spent most of that rest sitting and petting Duchess. Duchess didn't seem to like being away from the ground, so the human did her best to calm the cat's nerves. She briefly wondered how Duchess felt about her son being turned into a real boy. 

As soon as the word was given, Cordelia lept up and hopped back into the pilot seat ready for action. She smiled determinedly at Jean, "Maybe this time we will see what we can do if the bear can cease from showing off..." She meant to say that as a light poke of fun at the bear, but she was still pretty bad at changing her tone.

Amaruve licks Cordelia's face and lumbers back to Capricorn, a little wobbly still. He shifts back into a monkey and climbs reluctantly up into his seat.

Cordelia does her best impression of a smile and nods. At least someone understands!