Ebonitus, who also speaks giant, responds in giant to Harshnag, D.o.R.K. and Devin "It would certainly be expedient to use their services to save some time and trouble, but we will need to stay alert and watch and learn how to operate this contraption. Harshnag, it would be good if you would accompany us on the flying boat, the journey should not take too much time."

Harshnag responds in the same language "thanks but no thanks, travelling in one of those things -  apart from being a bit squishy - ain't natural. If the All father wanted me to fly he'd have given me wings or a suitable mount of some sort. I'll wait here until you return!" 

"Can not--" D.O.R.K started say something, only to pause and look thoughtfully away for a moment. She then shook her head dismissively, before turning back to Harshnag once more. "Very well then. It is perhaps a good thing you remain, as clearly we are not the only ones interested in this oracle of late. And if any are of a mind to disrupt things further, having a stalwart guarding such as yourself protecting this place would do all of us well... That is, if that is your intention." She replied this time in common, figuring the need for secrecy to be largely at an end.

"But do take care, Warrior Harshnag. For if this trouble maker has had the wiles to disrupt your people's way to such an extent, it is more than possible that they have the means to discern any intervention, and seek to remove such threats to their ambitions." With that, D.O.R.K leans/looks a touch more over the side to call down to Mullo. "We will be making use of the vessel. I presume you intend not to, and this is fine given your compatriot there." She gestures to Heatone. "But should they require rest during the journey, do not hesitate to make use of the deck at the very least, Shaman Mullo. We should otherwise be underway shortly to the closest shrine." On that note, she shares a look with Devin, seeming to seek confirmation at least from the Arcane Acolyte.

Ebonitus is a little torn, Harshnag has been of great assistance, and Ebonitus suspects we would not have made it this far without him. Having heard his opinion of Klaus, Ebonitus is not sure of the wisdom of climbing aboard one of his contraptions - he is part earth, not air. He does however think that time is of the essence and this "airship" may make travel quicker - and perhaps safer. He does think they will need to keep a watch to be sure of getting off the airship again. He made sure he took notice of what it was the crewman did to lower the ship towards the ground, in case he needs to do it himself.

To D.o.R.K. he says in common "OK, with Harshnag staying here," he looks wistfully toward the giant, "and Mullo travelling under her own steam," he looks towards the shaman, "I guess we should get this show on the road." Then he adds to Devin, "Do you have the map to show Klauth's men where we need to go? I'm not entirely sure we will be well received if we try to land near a shrine, perhaps we need to think of an appropriate approach before we get too close."

Devin gives D a thumbs up and a big grin.  "Ya boss, you got it!"

"Right the map!  Harshnag can you pass me the map?" he says in exclamation at the mention of the map.

Devin is getting a bit excited.  "This is a new adventure.  We flew with Uncle Zeph, now we fly again!  This is great!"

After getting the map (presuming he does) he heads for the helm.  "Here is where we want to go." he points to the closest shrine, the Great Worm Cavern. "Can you get us an hours walk or so from it?  We don't want to land right near them" 

Would Mullo have any advice to give as to where they should "land"?

Once all of the Giant-speak ends, and it is made clear the party is moving on without Harshnag, Mullo scowls again. She is still not sure what her duty is where the desecration of the burial mounds is concerned, but she feels she should be there to at least supervise. She climbs onto Haetone's back and looks up at the giant. "Please wait for us, Harshnag."

D.O.R.K shook her head at being called 'boss' or started to at least, before bowing her head in further thought. Following a fully realized dismissive headshake, D.O.R.K stood back to observe proceedings for a while, refraining from making any mentions or reminders of her crude copy of the map. Just in case.

"Given the nature of the vessel and the closest terrain, it is unlikely we will be landing near it regardless, but descending as we did earlier, Ac-..... apologies. Ebonitus. But you raise a fair point. As do you, Devin. But we shall see if the terrain permits it, once we have better eyes on it."

Ilezenya will quietly get the plan from the others once they are airborne, since he didn't understand any of the giant-talk. He isn't surprised that Harshnag isn't accompanying them - he was too big for the boat, after all. The half-drow agrees that it would be prudent, if not planned, to learn how to maneuver this airship. With that in mind, he decides to talk with the navigator and find out how he or she discerns their position and where they are headed. Ilezenya is familiar with the stars and can usually tell where he is on the ground at night...he wonders if the navigator does this in the sky.

Onboard the Airship 

With map in his hand Devin turns to the spokesperson “we will take up Klauth of his offer of this craft and crew. “Here is where we want to go” pointing to the closest shrine, the Great Worm Cavern. "Can you get us an hours walk or so from it?  We don't want to land right near them!" The spokesperson turns to one of his crew and asks “do you know of this place” pointing to the map. The crew member looks at the map and up at the low hanging clouds “weather permitting we should be there not long after dawn."

Mullo mounts Haetone and the party waves goodbye to Harshnag as the spokesperson gives orders to get underway. The airship rapidly climbs into the clouds but Haetone is easily able to keep up.

While it is bitterly cold in the clouds as the airship makes its way to the east, it is very hot next to the furnace and down in the cabins it is quite pleasant. During the night, Mullo occasionally brings Haetone on board for a rest but generally spends most of the time flying behind the airship. She notices that at some stage in the night the winds from the north suddenly strengthen and start to blow the ship south rather than the easterly direction it had been travelling.

DM roll = 1

Another DM roll = 16

One more DM roll = 5

At some stage during the night when both Illezenya and Ebonitus are off-duty and asleep in one of the cabins, Ebonitus is woken by the soubd of Illezenya tossing and turning and muttering something that sounds like "I promise, I promise." 

Whats going on - Illezenya only

 When Illezenya comes on deck for his watch, observing the stars he quickly works out that it would appear the airship is being blown off course.

As the sun comes up - sometime after 7.00 am - the party which is now on deck realises that there are not over the edge of the Spine of the World enroute to the Great Worm camp but rather they are over the great forest to the south of the Spine of the World that is known as Lurkwood.

DM:

 Ilezenya come up on the deck of the airship before dawn - before even the first hints of dawn - to observe the stars both in the pitch black of night and during the first lightening of the sky. He works out their general position based on a series of bright stars and the placement of the moon for this time of year, and concludes that they are off course. He goes to the one steering or navigating - whichever is on deck, and points out the stars and relays the meaning. "We are not on the correct path to our objective..." Shortly afterwards, the world grows bright enough that all can see the vast forest beneath them, rather than the mountains they had expected, and know for themselves that they are off track.

When Ebonitus arises he looks over to where Ilezenya was sleeping, noticing that the bed is now empty, he proceeds through his morning routines and heads up on deck. Looking around he notices the forests below and asks "Where are we? Is this where we are meant to be?" He then turns to Ilezenya, and when the opportunity arises to converse discreetly with him, asks "How did you sleep last night? You seemed a little restless at times."

D.O.R.K needed little in the way of rest, so only the usual maintenace kept her below deck before 7:00 AM. If at all possible, she would ask of the crew's speaker before they retired to make use of whatever spare tools or materials might be on hand. Though more than that she'd been reluctant to request or inquire into before most of the crew had to retire the night before.

When inevitably drawn topside and discovering the error, she traced the symbol along her forehead a few times as the conversed, before then eventually chiming in. "Perhaps this is providence. The closest tribe that would be connected to the Great Worm Cavern, as it was described on the map, likely belonged to those we fought at our previous destination. If so, and had their demeanor been too much like their leader, or if over the course of negotiations, they became aware of the conflict, they were bound to act upon some-..." She pauses there and looks for Mullo.

Though regardless of whether Shaman hadn't wandered off by then, any of the others would pick up on her choosing her next words carefully. "-less than sociable recourses, impeding our calling. Hmn.... We will need to speak with the captain about a possible course correction. Mayhaps we continue southward to the 'Shining White' instead, or the other locations we were told of that might provide benefits for our ongoing mission."

When a moment allowed for it after the discussion, the living construct wasted little time in bestowing the vitality of her goddess to others, ever in anticipation of trouble.

(OOC: Don't forget everyone to hit the long rest.)

--> Casted (3rd level)Aid on Mullo(or Ebonitus, if not accepted), D.O.R.K and Ilezenya.

Mullo felt uneasy all night, though she did force herself to rest in spirts about the strange flying thing to keep from becoming exhausted. Haetone, also, feeding off of Mullo's energy, was restless. At one point, Mullo realized the winds were throwing the sky craft off course. She at first felt compelled to make this known to one of her traveling companions, but then the thought occurred to her: the more south, the further from Sky Pony territory. She didn't like the idea of keeping information from those she had chosen to protect, but her people had to come first until Uthgar or his father told her otherwise. It was bad enough they were planning to steal from the mounds of the other tribes. Her stomach hurt just thinking about it. But the sooner they completed this ... task, the sooner she would be back near the axe.

Once the others had gathered and were discussing changing course to the Elk's territory, Mullo wondered if she could then steer them toward Griffon and then Gray Wolf territory next. How many mounds will they want to desiccate before they are satisfied? When Dork offers to cast a helpful spell on her, Mullo is awoken from her musings. She pauses, but then decides it best to let the metal female do what she thinks will be most helpful.

Devin slept hard.  The excitement of the previous day left him worn out.  Aslan, his pet Tressym, curled up with him and kept him warm.  After preparing for the day Devin handed out the small goodberries that had kept them fed for so long.

Walking up on deck Devin really didn't know where they were.  After hearing some of the discussion about being off course he decided he was going to pay attention to how the crew was flying the craft so he could learn more about it.

"Since we are off course is the north side of the Evermoors a possibility?  Close to a place called Zymorven Hall which, if I recall correctly, was on the north side of the Evermoors.  We have business there and it would be a great spot to stop.  I also think there is a shrine just south of these woods. A place called Shining White if the map is correct.  Can we go there and then go east?."

After the early morning discussion about where to go now that they were blown off course, Ilezenya gathered the rest of his group together during breakfast to tell them about the disturbing dream he had. Speaking in low tones to not be overheard by the crew, he said, "I had a strange dream last night - images of a slavering serpentine mouth surrounded by iridescent, multi-colored feathers. This thing spoke in a booming voice, saying, 'You and your friends are not to hurt my chosen ever again!' I don't know who the creature was speaking of - nor do I know what the creature was. But we should remember our dreams and share them from now on." 

D.O.R.K nodded to Devin, and with little more to add from there, had been content for things to inevitably lead to the prospect of breakfast. At least so long as they needed to wait on the ship's captain to awaken to further discuss a change of plans. Though she needed no such refueling, she'd sit(or stand, as the case may be) with the others in companionable silence throughout much of the meal. That is, up until Ilezenya spoke up...

"I do not 'dream' as you all do, but if any entity outside the purview of my goddess reaches out to me in a like matter, I will be sure to convey this and their message to the group. Beyond this, I cannot promise any divine message from my goddess will be shared if secrecy is required of me. I expect the same in return, though it is doubtful such will ever come about given the nature of our mission." She admits as much, mirroring Ilezenya's quiet tone in a more calm demeanor. "As for this serpentine creature, it is logical to presume they are connected to the other tribe, and are referencing either the chief or its shaman we faced but days ago as their champion. If this is the case, then provided they do not use further overt means of impeding our mission, it is recommended we continue to give them their space. If they continue to interfere however, we shall have to deal with them, one way or another."

She looks then to a likely scowling Mullo. "The gods willing, a more violent recourse should not at all be necessary, as they have proven reasonable enough to warn us at the very least... No. Its more accurate to say 'threaten', but this is still within the realms of reasonable. However, if the rest of you wish to redouble our efforts to return to our original course and speak with this creature, I am not against this."

Ebonitus nods at Devin's suggestion, "If we can get this other business done, and visit a nearby shrine, then that would be expedient. though we will need to return to the temple for our next move after that." He keeps his thoughts about the Ilezenya's dream to himself, though he internally mulls over it to find some meaning. 

Devin pulls out Harshnag's map and the party agrees that they are somewhat north of northeast of the Shining White mound (i.e. between the two most easterly pine trees on the map) As the party is discussing what to do (DM Roll = 1) the wind changes direction to blowing from the southeast. It is no longer blowing as strongly as it was from the north and is also considerably warmer.

Does Mullo have any knowledge of any creature like what Ilezenya described or what it might mean?

Here's a straight roll: 20

Not with a roll like that!