Thyrius nods at Simaal and Toc in a thankful gesture. Addressing Toc, he says: "I understand that keeping your concentration on temporarily allowing us to fly may be a tall ask. I'll leave it to you to decide when that cost may not seem too steep in the midst of battle. Unrelated... but may I ask why your brother is not with you already? If you can recruit him so easily, why not do so before embarking in such an important mission?"

Seeing his own brother leave to catch some sleep, Thyrius turns to Mirica: "Since this world belongs to you, I assume you are able to tell how many hours it has been since we arrived. Please let us know once the equivalent of a night has gone by. We don't want to be late for round-two." He motions to leave as well but turns for a follow-up question: "By any chance, does time here pass differently than in the other plane we were beforehand?"

(Please standby, Simaal and Jezun/Nuzej are playing out a brief mental interlude in private.)

Mirica stretched a bit with a relaxed smile. "You would be able to tell it too, don't worry. Day and night are quite obvious in that place, you can't miss it. And take any room you like except the one at the very top - that's mine." She liked it there: a window wall was facing the east, and one sleeping there would not miss the dawn. This time of the year it was fully opened and Mirica could enjoy the warm air filled with pine and wildflowers scent.

Morning plans much depended on the result of the battle - since they could tell at least if some forces were destroyed (Russell, Auril, some liches?) from here, they could prepare accordingly once they knew.

Xemnez had also risen before dawn. He liked the watching the dark fade from the savannah's skies, the hues of blue that stretched across the sky as the starts slowly faded from view. He would never tire of it. So he was glad to know that even in this strange place, the sky seemed to follow the natural order of things. He walked through the forest, along the path to the lake, the smell of the place sweet and earthy and reminding him of the eastern forests. Small critters hopped and ran for cover as he went. He stepped out of the shadows of the trees onto the beach where the pebble surface crunched and settled beneath his weight. In the night he saw a form laying on his back nearby. It was the elf wizard. Not wanting to disturb his peace he took a step away but then Toc spoke out loud, "It had been sometime since I'd met someone who I was so sure of their heart, before you and your brother arrived. People can be mercurial, hard to judge, and always have their own motivations. But...you and your brother, it has been clear from the outside, are good. Well and truly good, regardless of your brothers proximity to the spirit world. You were a blessing yesterday. Without you both, we may not have escaped that battle. You have my thanks, and the thanks of the elven people of Cormanthyr. I know. You do not do what you do for thanks, but...you have it all the same."  

It was silent for a few moments as Xemnez thought about this. But before he could respond there was more crunching as Mirica arrived on the pebble beach. She glanced at the two of them.  

Toc grins, "Busy dawn here on the beach. I guess it's been a while since we've seen one so we're all eager." 

Simaal emerges from a restful sleep....his body needed it, even though his mind worked overtime in his dreams...that were rampant with copies of people running every which way and a constant feeling that he was about to be stepped on.  Groggily he sits down at the table stacked with food. Jezun....or....potentially Nuzej appears at the top of the stairs and looks down, with a strangely calm look about him.

"So it seems," Xemnez commented, if albeit in a somewhat absent-minded matter. If left to his own contemplations a moment longer, he eventually comes to sighing and shaking his head. "Though the hunt itself may call for wit over straightforwardness, it is not the Leonin way outside of that to be anything else. But for what it is worth, you are welcome, and you -- all of your people--" He looks between Mirica and Toc, indicating in a warm look to be addressing both and perhaps more. "-have our thanks as well. Without Ajani, our own attempts to undo what's been done would prove a nigh impossible task given all that we've encountered so far. Our violent introduction to this world has already proven that much."

He grins and offers the elf a hand. "But now is not the time to sit on our laurels. Much work there is after all to be done. And I believe you mage types have yet a few things to hammer out before our return today. Part of which I yet have hope includes divining the Mythallar run before our return. Though I am no stranger of going in blind should the need be so."

The dawn hour is sacred to the followers of the Morning Lord, and whenever it was possible (outside of the ceremonies) Mirica tried to greed rising sun with the prayers alone. Assuming the free-roaming guests could wander anywhere including any of her usual spots of meditation, this morning she did not leave her room until all the prayers were given, pausing just a bit more to get the last moment of the peaceful beauty of the early morning.

It was a pleasure to see people get up early (a trait that could only be encouraged) so, she was smiling when joined the two early birds at the lake. "Guess I am not the only one who needs every drop of sun before returning to that darkness. Speaking of which...," as lovely as it would be to just sit and chat, Xemnez was right, the break was nothing but the short pause before the next battle. "Do you feel Russell's presence? And have you seen Simaal yet? What about Auril and liches?"

Thyrius had spent the night not in the cabin nor the beach nor the forest. He found a lonely rising rock not too far from the place the rest of the group was staying and set there, meditating for hours.

Disturbed by the sunrise, the black cat stands up and searches for his brother. It may take a while but he eventually finds Xem and a couple of the others at the beach. Waiting for an opportunity to speak, he says: "The spirits have seen it fit to grant me a couple more favors. One of them, in particular, should allow my brother and I to temporarily soar through the air. This should free you up, Toc, for more powerful spells when the fighting resumes."

The sunrise in this strange place is perfect, thin clouds catching the dawn orange and reds...the reflection on the lake capturing the sky along with the mountains in a rippled imperfect mirror of it's beauty. Birds flit here and there. A warm breeze comes down the valley in gentle gusts that stir up the water and blow across your bodies pleasantly. 

Toc nods to Thyrius, "Very well, I will consider my options then. Let us go inside and chat with Simaal." 

The group moves insides after enjoying the sunrise on the lake.  Within, the early morning sky shines beautifully through large windows.   Mirica reaches out with her own sense as best she can, but as far as she can tell, there has been no change to the membership of the Myth Drannor Mythallar.  That means Russel is likely still alive. Toc confirms, and they both let everyone know.  Then everyone looks to Simaal, curious about any changes to the Ythryn Mythallar 'membership'. 

At the top of the stairs, Jezun seems to be deep in thought as he leans against the bannister, his eyes containing a thousand mile stare. 

Simaal sensed changes almost immediately yesterday. He has just been waiting to see if anyone else joined.  Three members had their link to the Mythallar severed. Then, four joined, meaning the Mythallar's membership is now full. Sadly, he has no specifics about whom may or may not have changed. 

"Ok, correct me if my counting is wrong here. Usually, eight people can attune to a mythallar, except for "ours" that was damaged and could connect only six. The one in Ythryn still could connect to eight people (meaning, it was not damaged yet) and yesterday had six connections filled. With Simaal it became seven. Three of the previous "owners" either died or otherwise severed their connections and four new joined, making it full eight. Correct so far?" That was just the groundwork for a little investigation. "So, we have three "old" owners, Simaal, and four new."

"Now, unless one person can attune to several mythallars, Russell could not be among newly joined. However, it could be those wizards that he brought. As an alternative, that last group... Newcomers...The mullet-wizard group...  Were there four of them or more? If only four, it can be them joining.  Not sure what is better but at least they fought the liches. The most interesting thing is what happened to the three surviving previous owners. Were they on the battlefield? Did they run away? Got captured? I doubt one of the survivors is Auril - she did not look like someone willing to share. If others joined, she has to be dead. But who were two others who died as well? I am quite curious what happened with the magical disturbance."

"So many questions, so few answers... Still, knowing at least the winter goddess is out of the picture makes things a bit easier. We can return at any moment. Just know, that for the next ten days we can not come back here."

Toc confirms that a person can only attune to a single Mythallar. 

Simaal thinks for a few seconds. "I'm thinking the four are the most human of folks of the bunch, the late comers to the party. Due to removal of their magic, and most liches on our side of the room and Auril was really badly hurt, so the only challenge would have been from bird's master. Nonetheless can't be helped. That said, I know how we can likely get the Auril's attention.... and she'll know about it. Basically using this sphere I can change the weather, but she'll just change it back so it's not exactly foolproof."

"We can potentially narrow it down a bit further," Thyrius chimes in. Turning to Simaal, he asks "Did any of the severed linkages occur while we were still in the battlefield? That floating skull claimed the Mythallar was theirs, so perhaps one of the broken linkages was disrupted when Jezun cracked it. Another one could've severed the moment I disabled the green lich. If the answer to my question is yes, then we have our three. If the answer is no, then it just means the two defeated liches are able to maintain their linkages while restoring themselves elsewhere... or they were never linked to begin with."

Simaal thinks back. The chaos of the battle was intense and a lot was happening, but he carefully thinks back to when that green flaming skull one fell....yes...he did feel a connection lost. However, the other skull that Jezun took out caused no such disruption.

"Perhaps the mullet-wizard's party took out one other lich before the last one escaped..." Thyrius ponders.

Toc shrugs, "Conjecture aside, shall we plan our return?"  Toc begins his morning casting that now, even the brothers recognize, as one that will allow everyone to breath in water.  A few minutes pass and Water Breathing has been cast.  "I will ensure our minds are linked before we depart. Oh, and yes, one more thing." 

He begins casting a spell, and a few moments later, a door appears in mid air, within the cabin.  Toc opens the door, revealing a somewhat plain, but well appointed resting room with some beds, shelves full of rations and equipment....and his twin. His identical twin, except his elven robes and clothes are tinted green instead of blue, steps out of the doorway.  

He nods to Mirica, Simaal, Jezun, and both the brothers. "Hello there, my name is Tic."   Tic glances around, "Where is Russel?"  

Toc winces, "Um, sorry Tic, it turns out Russel was an agent working with Thay."  

Tic looks entirely unsurprised, but says nothing more and only grunts a bit. He sits down on the bench glancing at the food but not eating anything.

Toc turns to the rest of the group, "So, what other preparations shall we make."  He glances up to Jezun, "Jezun....is that you?"

The monk, who is now a wizard, apparent in affect and bearing, "it still is, but Jezun wished to take a respite for a time. He has... a great deal to catch up on. He was not ready to acknowledge reality for so long, and allowed himself to be buffered, or shrouded, in undeserved ignorance. He has decided to open his eyes and become more aware, and play a more direct part in our... arrangement. He has some memories he now can access more easily thanks to Simaal. He is now catching up. I'm taking the burden for now, and he'll be back soon. Thank you for indulging us in this unique arrangement. We are copacetic, not that we were in a struggle before. I am impressed with how you fared in the fight. I am eager to lend my talents to finishing it. Toc, I expect we have much to prepare. How may I be of assistance? Some protective magic to prepare for whatever they have lying in wait for us?"

He moves down the stairs and eats sparingly, and has an easy smile on his face that might belong more to Jezun, or perhaps they're sharing it.

Simaal stands up, adjusting his equipment and backpack to minimize noise, and readying his shield. "I think our biggest preparation would be to not go where we were last if that's at all possible, outside overseeing the city would be best. For all we know the city moved and we'll end up under miles of ice and rock, so get ready with barrier shields and the like. I can possibly escape such environment if not killed outright but unfortunately have nothing that would help others. Then we'll sneak and scout our way in. It's possible the non-lich humans may be in the area, and birdman may be sneaking around and possible sensors from others. Auril's still alive and kicking, and she along with anyone within miles of the city would become aware of warming temperatures which I intend to do when we're there, it's a ten minute process." He looks around trying to figure out what folks are thinking.

"As I said before, we will appear on the same spot from which we left. I also think Auril should be dead for four other creatures to freely attune to the mythallar. Unless they managed to convince her to share, which is unlikely. There were hours past the battle, who knows, what happened with the Disturbance. Again, if four creatures could spend an hour in peace and quiet there by the mythallar, everything and everyone aggressive had to be destroyed. But Russell can hang around, for scouting, for example."

"Just let me know when you want to return".

"I appreciate the nature of the magic that brought us here, my question is more for the mages of the group on whether they can bring us there from here." says Simaal.