Vishal takes the spell scrolls for now as he remarks, “I’ll try and give you updates every couple days via sending.” 

Ranari nibbles her lip. "Not much, unfortunately. It's a wild zone a thousand miles from our borders, so we don't have many details. It links to Lammannia, and it has a lot of megafauna--giant animals that sometimes come out. But it's not considered big or dangerous enough for a dedicated complement of Edgewalkers. You won't be welcome there, and you may need to fight off some of the local wildlife. But it's not actively trying to kill you."

Akuma listens quietly for a moment before Ranari's last statement causes an amused chuckle and a slight muttering under her breath. "That's reassuring. Animals will be the least of our problems." Akuma is otherwise silent, taking in the information and letting the others ask any remaining questions.

Taran indicates Caelius, "H-He w-w-was s-saying M-Miss Miira, th-that w-w-we w-will re-retrieve her. Y-You c-c-can tr-trust th-the- u-us. W-We are a g-g-good t-team."

Kaori shivers at the thought of giant animals trying to kill her, though she remains quiet in the corner, fiddling with the strap of her sword's sheath. Her eyes flick between Ranari and Miira with the occasional coo as she listens.

Ranari dismisses you all, and you head for the portals to Ruukosi. Once there, you're quickly guided to the water exit, where a strange vessel floats.

The vessel looks like a massive concave bowl made of dark wood studded with shimmering blue crystal. There are seats that can be reclined into beds, but it'll clearly be a little cramped. The captain of the vessel is a young kalashtar man who fits perfectly behind the control crystal, which is also blue. "Hop in," he says with a smile. "And get settled, we'll be in here for a while."

"I-Is th-there an-anything y-y-you n-need us to d-d-do?" Taran asks, finding a seat as out of the way as he can, "Th-There w-were n-n-not m-many d-details."

(Retcon notes:

Taran would ask Sim to continue helping with his project via letter. Instructions are much the same.

Taran would have given Kaori two Potions of Keen Edge.

Taran would have given Kaori, Caelius and Vishal an improved Potion of Superior Healing, and Kaori, Caelius and Akuma an improved Potion of Greater Healing)

Vishal looks a little hesitant at the metal box as he climbs in, “Next time I’m going to prep some water spells for this.....” 

The kalashtar chuckles. "Don't worry, we use these all the time. You don't have to do anything, just hop in and don't fire off any spells." Once you're all in, he places a hand on the control crystal, and an opaque dome of blue force springs up above you. The vessel descends, and you're off through the river!

OOC: You're kinda gonna be...stuck in here for a couple days. If there's something you want to rp/do during the trip, do so now--otherwise I'll move you guys on Thursday when I have a slightly less chaotic schedule.

A few hours in, and after Taran has checked all of his equipment three or four times, rearranging his various packed items at least twice, and checking the sharpness of his sword and daggers, he is sitting tapping his leg and looking back and forth at the blue dome.

Caelius sits crosslegged beside Taran,

Taran gestures, keeping the movements small.

Caelius signs,

As they travel Vishal eventually pulls out his small set of drums grinning he starts to play them lightly the beat a familiar children’s nursery song, 

“Oh there once was a woman who swallowed a fly, I don’t knew why she swallowed the fly, perhaps she’ll die.....” 

Performance: 25

Kaori opens her beak and begins gently rocking back and forth to the music, attempting to hum along.

3 - Performance

Most of my exercises are easier while moving. Taran thinks, while signing.

 It should be easy, he has lain still for ambushes while hunting for hours on end. He's meditated with Diamond multiple times, this shouldn't be that hard for him.

But every time he starts settling into the correct mindspace, entering into the familiar Flow, he hears someone cough lightly, or the transport shifts in the water, causing his gaze to snap to the dome. He tries not to move too much, to avoid bumping into Mister Caelius or the others.

Then Esteemed Vishal begins playing, and it is an excellent song, but in the enclosed space it is so loud , and Kaori's singing is beautiful, but she is so close. He fights against his breathing becoming rapid. Focus. Calm. And just... wait? He feels his gut tightening as he glances at the looming blue dome again.

He pulls out his new goggles, leaving the cloak in the bag, and begins nervously polishing the lenses. Maybe he should go over his story for the mission? Being an Edgewalker? He knows a bit about Lamannia, he could admit to being born up north, admit to growing up near a zone, he has practical experience in truth and he could play into that. His eyes flick around again, knee bouncing with nervous energy.

After a (for some less than others) peaceful journey up the river, your kalashtar pilot finally brings the vessel up on the banks of the river. "This is your stop. Good luck out there." He salutes as you all climb out of the vessel. You find yourself on the Syrkarn steppes, a day's travel or so from the Riedran border.

OOC: Okay, any final preparations you want to make for the entrance into Riedra, put them up. If you don't have any, please still post something here, even if it's just a description of what your character's looking and acting like as you head for the border. Once everyone's posted, I'll update to your entrance into Riedra and arrival at Borutesh.

Taran leaps out of the vessel like a coiled spring, taking deep breathes of the wide open air. After a few seconds of just breathing, he turns back to the pilot, "Th-Thank y-y-you, an-and h-have a s-s-safe journey."

That taken care of, Taran pulls out his new cloak, pulling it around himself and throwing up the hood, the dappled patterns seeming to meld into the surrounding landscape, "Sh-Shall w-we c-continue our n-normal f-f-formation?"

Vishal puts on his ring, making sure he blends in some as he says, "Normal formation should be fine. If we run into someone I can handle the talking. Remember most Riedran's can't read so I don't know if Cael's book will raise any questions. Otherwise lets try and keep a low profile. Once we have her I'm going to prepare some protection spells in case something goes down with the spirit." 

Akuma takes the potion of healing with a thankful nod and stows it in her bag. As they reach their destination, she adjusts her own cloak around her form, eyes studying their surroundings carefully as she speaks simply. "Let's get in, get out, and avoid too much suspicion along the way. Protection spells should work nicely."