Jahren teleports into the house with Jezun and Chen, curious to hear what the others have been up to.  He tells them he assumes they did a thorough search of the house for magic, and will gladly do some detecting of magic of his own, if need be.  He then fills the group in on the brewing bloody trade war, etc. but keeps it brief, knowing many are not all that interested, although if Toc cannot summon his magical mansion for the day he might be even more vague about it in case anyone is listening, such as leaving out that he triggered the war.  He also tells them that SinSin now has Ezhia, which raises the concern that the group may have put SinSin in harm's way.

With the group together, Toc walks up the stairs and shuts the door, keeping everyone downstairs.  "My magic is still protecting the basement, which prevents scrying and other types of divination. Down here we should be safe from anyone listening as well. But, we need somewhere safe to rest so....."  He summons for his magic, and a door appears against the back wall of the basement. He opens it up revealing the mansion for everyone to move within.

Taking a seat in the war room that is absent of any of his previous stuff, Toc looks to Mirica, "The time shift must have happened when returning from the Fey to Semberholme."  He looks to Fianna, "I'd heard the Fey was different, but ...I guess I assumed a short visit would avoid such things...apparently not. We must have been a day behind from then on...I don't think it has anything to do with this house." A human servant wearing a silk doublet walks in and begins pouring cups of tea for everyone. Another servant carries sugar and milk.  A third servant comes in with a platter of sliced fruit. 

Toc nods to Jahren as he talks, "So you know, the elves have decided to send a delegation to the city to make relations with Yestrel official. They'll be here within a ten day. As for SinSin....I hope your concerns do not become real. Though, at this point, I'm unsure how we can undo what has already been done. He can certainly take care of himself either way. If anyone has ideas on that front, I'd be open to them."  He looks to Jahren, "Good work on the trade war by the way. With them at each others throats, it's unlikely they'll be helping the dragon too much, and the Red Plumes will be busy enough policing the streets to worry about hunting us down."  

A few minutes later you hear the front door open. Toc doesn't look concerned, and a few minutes later a human you don't recognize walks into the room. He brushes aside his face with a flash of his hand and Tic is standing there. He glances around.  "It is good to see everyone is well."  He walks to the back corner of the room and stands against the wall quietly.  

Toc pauses and looks around the group, "Does anyone have a preference for our next move?"

"I hope you are right about the war keeping everyone too busy to look somewhere else, and not seeking outside help - dragon's help - to remove the rival. Humans do not always think too far ahead, loosing wars to win the battle." Mirica was not a politician by any means and was talking out of common sense here. "But if you are right and the war and elven delegation would keep everyone here, that is the best time for a dragon hunt, I would say. Looks like we have no choice on that anyway - the dragons will never forget, and now it is either we or them." She also was not a dragon hunter and did not really had a plan, just a general idea. "Ezia, providing we still have him, can show us the lair, as I recall. And said she is expecting it, ready and waiting for us. But did he tell where to find the young ones? I would begin with eliminating smaller. Let the Cloud wait, leave her without support. Does it make sense?"

Chen tunes out a bit while the others speak of the Feywild and timey-wimey stuff and elven diplomacy. He sits up straighter when the tea is served, and even accepts the entire platter of fruit when it is presented to him, leaving the empty-handed servant standing there somewhat awkwardly. But he becomes more attentive as the conversation turns to facing off against the dragons once more.

Do we know where to find the younger ones? he asks in reply to Mirica's suggestion, after licking the juice from his fingers.

     Fianna lounges and listens, mostly intently. She loses track of some of the trading details and such but feels she follows the gist of it all.  

     "I've no real love for this city but...  Is there anything we could do to help the better side win?" She asks Jahren.  "I assume you know which side is the better?  Whichever side does not want to feed us to the dragons, I presume?"

     "Regarding the dragons, I would agree that taking out the younger would be the wisest course of action in general, but I think whichever we can find unaware and not at home would be the best of targets.  It's getting that opportunity which is the trick..."

     FinFin was outside the house when the magical mansion was summoned and continues about the skies of Hillsfar.  Their last instructions were to keep an eye on the house looking out for watchers and unwanted attention and such and so they continue to do such, without being seen themselves if possible.  Being on a different plane than Fianna they would not be able to relay any such information but would still gather it for when Fianna returns...

"Looks like that "better side" is Lord Yestrel and he does not participate in the turf wars, I mean trade wars. But whoever wins, killing dragons is the only way to be sure we are not sold to them. So, let's hope Ezhia survived your little martial art training and has enough brain to point us the right direction."

Regarding the elves sending a delegation to meet with Yestrel, Jahren is glad to hear it.  "I have yet to truly know the man, but all accounts suggest he is a worthwhile ally if one hopes to improve the situation in this region for all parties involved.  I have yet to find evidence to the contrary in my various dealings around the city."

"Indeed, dragon hunting it is.  We can have Ezhia show us the entrance to the lair, and if we aren't ready to risk it against Verdant Cloud just yet, we could return to the cave.  I only hope the younger dragon returns there still after being denied a good deal of its treasure upon its last visit."

The grey sky above was shot through with blue. The mist that seemed to fall was all the summer clouds seemed able to muster this day as the group picked their way through the ruins. Chen picked his way up the muddy slope, a trickle of rain water draining down wherever it could find the easiest path, pushing pebbles and dirt with it as it goes, boulders offering contours beneath the weed infested hillside. Chen’s hardy leather boots were covered in clasps of steel, the laces made of chain.. magic sending invisible waves of protection up his legs and around his body.  The boots slipped occasionally in the muck as Chen’s girth pressed down into the soft hillside. His golden scaled calves bulged out of the top of the boots and were each as big as a halflings head, pushing his mass up the incline with little effort.  He reached the rise in the rocky hill just behind Jezun who seemed to practically glide up the hillside.  Jezun looks back at the others with glittering eyes, full of excitement about the strange world around him.  Chen regarded the wise....but sometimes disoriented monk. Out in the world Jezun was in his element, not amongst the confusing politics of a human city.  Ezhia was just behind Chen, as were the others. As they all reached the peak, a fierce mid-summer wind blew stiffly from the south, the smell of forest upon it, along with spray of misty drizzle. The wind swept across the ruins of the two ancient cities. Cloaks snapped and hair danced, as the eight travellers reached the summit. There they stood surveying the scene before them. Two years of plant growth and weather had done little to disguise the savage destruction before them. Small mountains dotted the landscape, while the remnants of buildings poked out at every possible angle amidst boulders and piles of dirt. Meanwhile, the sky around them was dotted with the dancing motion of torn threads.  It was worse than when they'd left. It was clear the death of Aldlas had done nothing to slow down whatever was happening here. What was worse was it seemed to now be having an affect on both the Mythal and everything magical within it. Before the Mythal was not visible, but now its presence was like a shimmering field of water around everything living or magical. Where the threads were broken, the shimmering field seemed to be absent. Magic items that decorate the group in spades sometimes seemed to spark, sometimes seemed to lose their effects for a moment or two, or other times seemed to glow brightly suddenly and then just as quickly fade. 

The group had been lucky this far, none of the strange magical disturbances had come close enough to cause a problem, but FinFin swept through the sky above them, giving them excellent scouting reports. 

Fianna thought back to the city. FinFin had made an excellent scout in Hillsfar as well, watching for Red Plumes agents who seemed ever present and watchful. But, with her help, a little bit of illusion, and some wizardy their departure from both SinSin’s and the city had seemingly gone unnoticed. 

Ezhia looked down upon the ruins. In the past his attitude had seemed indifferent, cheerful even, but now he glanced at the ruins with dead eyes. He looked over at Toc and Fianna….sensing where his demise may come from. Those two…the vicious pair in the bunch. Unforgiving, unrelenting, inflexible. 

He pointed down to a dark shadow in a crevice that cut through two jagged pieces of rock. “It is there. The back entrance to her lair.”  He took a deep breath.  “In there you’ll find her. It’s an almost straight down shot, then into some ruined structure and tunnels, then out into her main chamber.” 

Now that the decision is made to tackle the dragon, Chen's demeanor turns from cheerful to serious and quiet resolve. The tension is evident in the dragonborn as he eats only sparingly (well, relatively speaking) and only at breaks, as if his mind is occupied with the coming battle. He has spoken little on the journey here, but now replies to Ezhia: Does she use this entrance, as far as you are aware? 

If he can get a moment to whisper to Jahren or one of the others, Chen will also ask: Do you think we should bring him with us? He could attempt to betray us to earn the dragon's favor.  

There was a reason to go straight after the main target too, of course, and Mirica did not insisted on the idea to take down dragons one by one beginning with the smaller.

"Before we go in - do hope we can scout first - keep in mind that she is poisonous and quite intimidating. I have a few Antitoxins on me, so, before we begin - ask if you need one. With fright I can help but only if we have an hour to prepare. Again, hope we are not about to barge in before we are ready."

"Indeed, let's scout.  Is FinFin up for the challenge, or would you like me to go in?"

Jahren turns to Ezhia "well, you have brought us to her, just as she instructed, eh?"

Ezhia looks at Chen with a snear on his face, "That crack look big enough for a dragon?"  (the crack does not, it looks big enough for Chen).  Ezhia continues, "No, she uses that teleporting ship shrine place, or....other means that I don't know of...."   Then he looks apprehensively over at Jahren, "Indeed I have. And as you all wanted. Seems everyone wanted the same thing after all. A big happy family. Guess I can be on my way then?"  He says it with little hope in his voice. 

Toc seems to have pulled out a small lodestone from his component pouch....last time he did that he killed that goblin by disintegrating it....but he doesn't seem about to act....just...preparing depending upon what the group decides... 

     "You think you're ending up dead, no matter what you do," Fianna says almost gently to Ezhia, looking deep into his eyes.  "It's not a question, I can see it.  But you're wrong...  It's a tricky path to survival for you, true, but it exists.  And it exists with us.  Those of us standing here around you.  It does not exist via the worm down there.  Worms always turn in the end.  Always..."

     Fianna steps to the crack and looks down into it for a long moment, then turns and looks at her companions.  Ending on Ezhia.  "Join us.  Lead us try.  Give us your truthful and honest guidance and knowledge in all things while we walk this path and at the end you will be a free and hopefully better man.  But at the very least free.  Join us and you will be one of us.  We will fight for your life against out foes as we would fight for each other."

     Fianna pulls the necklace Ezhia once wore out of her bag, then she takes off the bracers.  "I will return your items to you.  I'd even help you retrieve your pets again, if they wish to be reunited with you...  Pledge yourself as one of us and you will be such.  Or, stay as you are - our captive who is in constant fear we'll kill you once we have no more use of you; a trapped creature doing whatever it can just hoping it finds a way to turn the situation but who knows even if they did the next situation would be at least as bad."

     "Then there is the third offer...  My people do like things in threes after all.  Your third choice is run.  Now.  Turn tail and take your chance and see how far you make it.  Maybe we'll kill you before you even finish making the first step...  Maybe we'll leave you for desert after we're done with the dragons.  But yeah, you can run now and keep on running for whatever length of life you have left.  It is your choice..."

Later... Assuming the world didn't blow up due to the above...

     Fianna once more looks down into the crack and ponders.  "Yes, we do need a scout... Are you sure you do not mind?"  Her finger scritches the pseudo dragon's neck as she asks the question.  There is a soft, worried but accepting "Grrrrwaaaaaaynnnnn" in response.  Fianna drops her head for a moment and then takes a few steps away from the crack.  

     "This only take a dozen or so minutes," She says to the rest of the group and then walks a bit off into the woods for some privacy. 

     Alone with her familiar, Fianna smiles down and apologizes through the bond they share.  She knows FinFin is uncomfortable in any other form and she really strives her best to accommodate her friend, but on some occasions a bit more stealth is required.  Reluctantly, Fianna sketches out a circle upon the first floor.  She pulls a few meaningful knickknacks out of her bags and places them at deliberate points around the circle.  FinFin flutters up for a moment, stretching in the gloriousness, then lands in the center of the circle.  "Mrow!" the creature utters and Fianna accepts their permission and begins the ritual.  

     A dozen plus a few minutes later, Fianna returns.

     "It is done, FinFin is doing their best to scout it out..." She says quietly, then finds a place to sit and narrates what FinFin finds as they find it...

((FinFin transformed from pseudodragon to imp.  After the ritual the two exchanged some actual words, since imps can speak, and then FinFin turned invisible and flew off to the crack and down into it, exploring...  FinFin did not want the party to see them in that form so invisibly snuck past them without so much as a 'how ya do?'))

"They're very nice," Jezun says to Ezhia after Fianna's pitch. The monk has been contemplative on the long walk, his mind deeply pondering what Ezhia's knowledge of SinSin means for the man's fate. So when she speaks up about a peaceful option, he is hopeful and helpful, though not foolish enough to think the man will immediately agree. "Though I imagine they will be very not-nice if you say yes to number one and then during the battle turn on us or try to flee. That would be bad. For you."

Mirica listened Fianna's words with a rare feeling of righteousness (she really did not like the word or the idea behind it, usually associated with the term, but here and now it was the one to truly describe the deed). She still did not hate the man in a way one does not hate or lectures a crocodile for preying on other living beings, and really, the only difference here was that that particular crocodile could talk. But it was never about him or any other moralless villain they came across - their souls were their own, it was about choices the group does. And that one felt right.

"You know full well the dragon will never forgive or forget. You were, like any other being for them, is a walking snack for a rainy day, mildly useful meanwhile. You still are but less useful now. And without the dragon you would not be even tolerated in Hillsfar or any other city around. You care for nothing but your life - and this life has no future with your former - or will be former soon - master." There was no need to repeat the obvious, but Mirica wanted those words to truly sink in to the core of what the man had for a soul.

Ezhia looked at Fianna as she made her offer, with the caution and wariness of a mouse being stalked by a cat. His eyes darted around at the group as she spoke, seeing indifference, caution, and, in the case of Toc, a promise of death should he do the wrong thing.  There was a long, quiet pause. The mist formed droplets on his face that ran down his forehead and dripped off the tip of his nose. His thoughts raced inside his head as he continued to eye the group. Finally he seemed to make a decision and replied, "I don't know what game you play at. If you are so holy and self assured in your ways that you need to try to offer me some sorta salvation. Maybe this is a real offer. Maybe you're toyin within me. Maybe yer just usin me to toy with that dragon down there. Maybe yer conscience needs this before you do away with me. Whatever's goin on here, I want out."  Toc's fingers twitch. "So let me make a counter offer. I have some info that could still help ya. I'll take it to my grave if I need to, so threaten'in to kill me won't get you nothin. If you agree to let me get outta this place alive, and give me three days to get outta here before you decide to hunt me down, then I'll pass on the info....and take my leave." 

As far as everyone can tell, he seems to be putting all his cards on the table. He glances around, trying to figure out how his offer is landing with people. 

     The moment he says “counter offer” Fianna says “no” and casts Plane Shift and attempts to send him to the elemental plane of fire...

Spell attack: 34
On a hit he needs make Charisma save vs DC 20 or be sent there...

Disregard

((Were we typing at same time?? lol, what I screw up??))

(If any character would like to take a reaction to this sudden attack, you may.)

Fianna suddenly pulls forth powerful magic, and reaches out to touch Ezhia.....firmly placing her hand on his shoulder.  The magic pulses, shimmering around the man..   14 ...but Ezhia remains firmly on this plane of existence. 

(Roll initiative.) 

Ezhia : 22

Tic and Toc : 18