"I believe Allister is right as well. But this is always a step worth trying." He looks at the others. "We can replace the hut. I say it's better to get this done now, replace the hut, then sleep."
"What harm can it do?" the gnome says, although he's not too keen on a repeat performance of his disappearing act. "We can try it, if it doesn't work we've lost nothing. If it does, we stand to gain valuable information. Possibly." He takes a deep breath. "Anyhow, I'll know what to expect this time."
Sthara insists that the party kneels around the pendant in the shape of a circle. She instructs them to close their eyes and breathe deeply and slowly. As they do, she uses a dagger to draw a winding path around the pendant, circular in shape, that eventually opens in front of each of the party members. She returns the blade to her bag, and tells them to hold one another's wrists, crossing their arms in front of themselves. She then begins to speak:
Utata omdaka Utata udongwe Utata wezinto zonke
Ubtao
Yiva umthandazo wethu Sikhokele iphazili
My friends do not speak in the dialect of your land as I do, But all the same they have need of you.
I have need of you.
Should this pendant be the key to finding a door in the maze, please show us and guide us to where we need to attend.
Provide us with something to achieve our aim, so that we may better achieve yours.
Offer us an instruction of your will, so that we might serve to please you as we seek our lesser aims.
When the words fall silent and the words cease to echo off of the broken domed ceiling everyone looks around to each other in curious expectation. Slowly, the five of you realize that the rest of the world has fallen dark. It is only the five of you, arms clasped in a circle. Your hands begin to glimmer with a golden light as the pendant rises into the air at chest height in the center of your circle. As one, all of the lights slam together into the now floating pendant. The diamond explodes and an eruption of golden sparks that shower the five of you. In the pendant's place are images of the dock in Port Nyanzaru, a massive statue of a crocodile on a man's back, and the floating, heart shaped chunk of earth, presumably the Heart of Ubtao.
The five of you come to the understanding that these locations presented are magical doors to which you could instantly walk through as a group. You also realize that you could all let go and go nowhere, but any decision you make would have to be unanimous. Wind kicks up blowing dust, hair, and leather straps around as if it were some sort of wind storm. You will have to shout over it to hear each other.
„You see the floating earth mote? We should go there.“ Allister is bracing for whatever is coming, remembering Boosey experience after being whisked away from the temple.
As the party all comes to agreement, vocal or by thought, the scene becomes clearer. A massive chunk of earth and rock torn from the earth drifts over the swampy forest, about five hundred feet above the ground. A petrified tree towers above the stone, with its stone roots protruding from the bottom. Between the shape of the rock and the branching of the tree’s limbs, it creates the impression of a gigantic stone heart hanging in the sky.
You see a cave mouth in the side of the slowly rotating “heart,” and a staircase winding from the cave up to the flattened top where the petrified tree stands. The staircase definitely isn’t natural; it was carved with tools into the rock. Your attentions are turned towards the flat area on top of the earth mote near the large tree. The image closes in on that location until it looks as if you are standing there yourself. Suddenly your guts take a turn for the worse as your bodies are pulled a couple hundred of miles across the Chultan Peninsula in half a second. With a loud pop you find yourselves in the sky atop the Heart of Ubtao, very far from Mezro.
Alone in the domed temple and with a bored expression, Eku runs her finger along her dagger's edge to test its durability. She stands and turns to say, "Now what?" but her words only echo to an empty space.
Allister prepares his body for the jolt of magical transport, but still it makes his stomach feel like a barrel of moving squids. Once he feels better, he puts his hands on the hilts of his weapons and looks for any activity.
The winds whips across the top of the heart in strong gusts. In a bad storm, this would not be a safe place to be. The sounds of aggravated bats can be heard coming from the seven foot tall stump of a tree nearby. Another tree devoid of any leaves stretches out towards the sky. A staircase is nearby that spirals around the heart.
"I only saw them for a moment. I'm not sure I would recognise them again, besides," he sticks his tongue in his cheek, "I'm not really sure I want to."
"I wonder if the elf is V.S.?" Nenne muses aloud. "In either case, the letter said we would find answers in the heart, so it seems more than likely we need to follow those stairs." She points in their direction.
"I believe Allister is right as well. But this is always a step worth trying." He looks at the others. "We can replace the hut. I say it's better to get this done now, replace the hut, then sleep."
Made you look.
„Then we should give it a try. Time to pray!“
"What harm can it do?" the gnome says, although he's not too keen on a repeat performance of his disappearing act. "We can try it, if it doesn't work we've lost nothing. If it does, we stand to gain valuable information. Possibly." He takes a deep breath. "Anyhow, I'll know what to expect this time."
Sthara insists that the party kneels around the pendant in the shape of a circle. She instructs them to close their eyes and breathe deeply and slowly. As they do, she uses a dagger to draw a winding path around the pendant, circular in shape, that eventually opens in front of each of the party members. She returns the blade to her bag, and tells them to hold one another's wrists, crossing their arms in front of themselves. She then begins to speak:
Utata omdaka
Utata udongwe
Utata wezinto zonke
Ubtao
Yiva umthandazo wethu
Sikhokele iphazili
My friends do not speak in the dialect of your land as I do,
But all the same they have need of you.
I have need of you.
Should this pendant be the key to finding a door in the maze,
please show us and guide us to where we need to attend.
Provide us with something to achieve our aim,
so that we may better achieve yours.
Offer us an instruction of your will,
so that we might serve to please you as we seek our lesser aims.
Utata omdaka
Utata udongwe
Utata wezinto zonke
Ubtao
Singabantwana bakho
Singabakhonzi bakho
Sisixhobo sakho.
Ilebhu ilindelwe.
Sthara whispers to her companions, instructing them to repeat the last line of the prayer to the best of their ability.
@DM:
That's:
Father of earth
Father of clay
Father of all
Ubtao
Hear our prayer
Lead us through the puzzle
––
Father of earth
Father of clay
Father of all
Ubtao
We are your children
We are your servants
We are your instruments
The labyrinth awaits
––
If I need it for the call Persuasion 21 or Religion 20
When the words fall silent and the words cease to echo off of the broken domed ceiling everyone looks around to each other in curious expectation. Slowly, the five of you realize that the rest of the world has fallen dark. It is only the five of you, arms clasped in a circle. Your hands begin to glimmer with a golden light as the pendant rises into the air at chest height in the center of your circle. As one, all of the lights slam together into the now floating pendant. The diamond explodes and an eruption of golden sparks that shower the five of you. In the pendant's place are images of the dock in Port Nyanzaru, a massive statue of a crocodile on a man's back, and the floating, heart shaped chunk of earth, presumably the Heart of Ubtao.
The five of you come to the understanding that these locations presented are magical doors to which you could instantly walk through as a group. You also realize that you could all let go and go nowhere, but any decision you make would have to be unanimous. Wind kicks up blowing dust, hair, and leather straps around as if it were some sort of wind storm. You will have to shout over it to hear each other.
„You see the floating earth mote? We should go there.“ Allister is bracing for whatever is coming, remembering Boosey experience after being whisked away from the temple.
"Is that that Heart of Ubtao?" Nenne shouts over the rushing wind. "This is likely our best chance at getting there! What say you all?"
"So be it!" shouts Sthara.
"Let us go and hurry. We know not how long this lasts!"
Made you look.
As the party all comes to agreement, vocal or by thought, the scene becomes clearer. A massive chunk of earth and rock torn from the earth drifts over the swampy forest, about five hundred feet above the ground. A petrified tree towers above the stone, with its stone roots protruding from the bottom. Between the shape of the rock and the branching of the tree’s limbs, it creates the impression of a gigantic stone heart hanging in the sky.
You see a cave mouth in the side of the slowly rotating “heart,” and a staircase winding from the cave up to the flattened top where the petrified tree stands. The staircase definitely isn’t natural; it was carved with tools into the rock. Your attentions are turned towards the flat area on top of the earth mote near the large tree. The image closes in on that location until it looks as if you are standing there yourself. Suddenly your guts take a turn for the worse as your bodies are pulled a couple hundred of miles across the Chultan Peninsula in half a second. With a loud pop you find yourselves in the sky atop the Heart of Ubtao, very far from Mezro.
Alone in the domed temple and with a bored expression, Eku runs her finger along her dagger's edge to test its durability. She stands and turns to say, "Now what?" but her words only echo to an empty space.
Allister prepares his body for the jolt of magical transport, but still it makes his stomach feel like a barrel of moving squids. Once he feels better, he puts his hands on the hilts of his weapons and looks for any activity.
"Well that was less than pleasant," says Nenne once she feels stable. "Storyteller, is this landscape what you saw when you traveled by pendant?"
She glances at the pendant to see if it looks any different, and scans her surroundings for signs of wildlife. (Perception 11)
"How we got here, I don't know. How we get Eku is less known. And what we do from here... I guess is to just advance onwards."
Made you look.
As they come out of the magic that transported them, Sthara prostrates and kisses the ground.
"Thank you."
She stands and looks around, covering her eyes with a hand. She breathes deeply.
The winds whips across the top of the heart in strong gusts. In a bad storm, this would not be a safe place to be. The sounds of aggravated bats can be heard coming from the seven foot tall stump of a tree nearby. Another tree devoid of any leaves stretches out towards the sky. A staircase is nearby that spirals around the heart.
"Yes, this looks like the place I was transported to, I'm sure of it."
„Let’s find this elf you were talking about. Would you recognize him... or her? Just in case there are several elves here.“
"I only saw them for a moment. I'm not sure I would recognise them again, besides," he sticks his tongue in his cheek, "I'm not really sure I want to."
"I wonder if the elf is V.S.?" Nenne muses aloud. "In either case, the letter said we would find answers in the heart, so it seems more than likely we need to follow those stairs." She points in their direction.
"For all we know if may very well be V.S. or at least someone who knows him. Why else would the pendant take us here?"
Made you look.