It was late evening.  Lenear was in Castle Hawkwind.  The castle was busy with many soldiers these days.  Many of them were from other cities, and had heard of Lenear's fame.  They often asked for pointers on swordplay.

As the evening wore on, and Andarra began one of her 3 hour prayers, Lenear crept down to the wine cellar.  When he got there, he noticed something awful.

The wine cellar was empty!  This was an emergency.  The only thing that was left was several dozen bottles of Calidor's private reserve.  He was saving that for his wedding or something.  For a moment, Lenear considered drinking it, but he knew he couldn't.  Doing so would strain the bonds of their friendship.  That's something Darian would do.

Lenear stared into the empty cellar.  What a tragedy.

{Want to go to Auspelis to get some wine?  It's really late...}

Elpi felt very proud.

He was in the Cracked Mug, and he noticed the door leading upstairs to Rand's suite was left open. Pontick was downstairs getting a new keg of ale. Elpi slipped in.

Elpi pulled out his apple. He wanted to eat it, but he decided it wouldn't go down very well with his milk. He looked around the room. Other than the usual boring stuff, there was an interesting sealed letter. It was addressed to a man named Rondo Amianh, Elpi could see, but it was written in very fancy script. The letter was sealed. Elpi decided to take the letter, to keep it safe. It was the only way to be sure. He was proud to have this new responsibility - the Keeper of the Letter.

Elpi slipped out of the room, and crawled back on to his bar stool. Shortly, Pontick made his way up from the basement, heaving a large keg of ale. After he put down the keg, Elpi heard him curse. He pulled some keys out of his pants, and locked the door to Rand's suite.

Elpi left the Cracked Mug, and walked confidently around Auspelis for a while. He then realised that he'd left his apple in Rand's suite.

{Okay Cru.. that's the intro. It's your move now. If you disagree with anything I wrote, please let me know ASAP.}

Hmmm... a bit of mistaken identity. Rand had a feeling that he would get involved in this whether he wanted to or not... that was the way his luck went. Better to take the initiative and make sure he was well-armed with knowledge. Besides, Elpi had the letter, now, and if Rand had some idea of what was going on, he might keep that flaming kender alive... if only so he could ring his neck himself. Rand HATED it when people stuck their noses in his business uninvited.

"Don't worry about it, Old Man. Still... could you tell me what you can remember was in the letter? Seeing as it's caused me some aggravation already, I'd like to know about it. Oh, and for your own sake, keep an eye on the kender like you would the kid... er... Darian, in the future. He has a habit of poking his nose where it's not wanted. That, and things tend to 'disappear' where he pokes said nose."

{Rand wracks his brains to see if the name "Rondo" rings any bells--he's quite knowledgeable about the city. After Pontick tells what he can, he'll pretty much do what he was planning to before, except he'll ask about Rondo in addition to Elpi. Maybe he can head the little fungus off at the pass.}

Rand listened while Pontick remembered what he could from the letter.

"It sounded like two old wizards, who hadn't seen each other for many years, and who were far apart. They were good wizards, and the one was trying to convince the other (named Rondo) to travel to some other plane. He said something about the karma of good magic being polluted. Apparently there are innocent people there who are crying out," explained Pontick. "To be honest with you, it was quite long. It's hard to remember all the details."

Rand thought about this for a moment. "What plane did he say this was on?"

Pontick replied, "I think he mentioned Ravenloft. No, a plane close to Ravenloft. Oh yeah, I remember now, the wizard who wrote the letter said that Rondo was good at planar travel. Better than he was anyway. And they also mentioned a river..."

Rand waited while Pontick squinted to remember. "I think he said the Palindrome River." {Or maybe it was the Palindrome "Rivir"! (Sorry...DM humour)}

Somehow Rand knew where this was going. This letter had never reached its intended destination. That meant the wizard who could help, probably had no idea what was going on. Rand certainly didn't have any experience casting planar magic. If Andarra or Kayla even got word of this, they would insist something be done about it. Especially what Pontick said about those innocent people. Oh brother. What if Elpi had already shown that letter to them? Or worse... Darian!

"Thanks Pontick," said Rand. He got a pint of ale and turned around to face the people in the tavern. He spotted Anathin, one of Ranik's heels. Rand went up to him.

Anathin was younger than Rand, and skinny. He was dirty, too. Somehow Anathin always reminded Rand of a weasel. It looked like he'd been in a fight. Rand was glad he wasn't in the guild anymore.

"Hey Anathin... can I buy you an ale?" asked Rand.

"What is it you want, Rand?" he asked, coarsely.

Rand replied with a smile, "Hey, just a friendly question... I know you're in touch with who's been around town lately." Flattery always worked on this guy.

Anathin relaxed a bit. "Well, that's true. Make it a double pint. Who are you looking for?"

Rand made a two-finger sign to Pontick. "Rondo Amiath. He's supposedly an old big-shot wizard, the good sort. Likes planar magic."

Anathin thought for a minute. "No, I've never heard of him. Mustn't be from around here." Anathin was filthy, but he had a mind like a steel trap. So this was probably true. Pontick brought by a huge mug of ale.

"What about that kender that's always hanging around?" asked Rand.

"Oh yeah, he was here earlier," replied Anathin. Rand thanked him and left the Cracked Mug. There was a good chance this Rondo guy was never in Auspelis. Maybe Starleamus had heard of him.

{I made a mistake before.  Rand's suite is upstairs from the tavern.  So Elpi went upstairs to get the letter.}

Elpi found a secret place in an alley and pulled out the letter.  On the front of it was that name, scrawled in fancy script.

Pulling out a small lockpick, Elpi carefully lifted the edges of the wax seal.  The seal easily lifted from the edge of the paper, with a "tick" sound.  That seemed too easy.

On inspection, Elpi could easily tell that the letter had already been opened.  Whoever had done it, they weren't very experienced.  They'd botched part of the seal, and it was not very convincing.  Oh well...

Elpi eagerly poured over the page.  The familiar fancy, scrawling writing filled the sheet.
 

Dearest Rondo,

We have written to each other for some time.  As you know, vast distances separate us, and it is tiring to gate back and forth.

When last we spoke, over a century ago, things were going quite well.  But perhaps you have noticed the recent variances in the magical energy.  I have been analyzing this for months now, and I discovered something awful.  The energy of good magic has been tainted by beings from another plane.

As you know, my forte has never been in extra planar magic.  From my research, I have gathered that it is a plane that is much like our own, but is closer to Ravenloft than the Old World.  In fact, my scrying has shown me an area which reminds me of the Palethorne River, near Ravendale.  I have only read of this place and I've certainly never been there.  My understanding is they are rather intolerant of wizards.

Rondo, every spell I cast is tainted with the cries from some innocent people, somewhere in that area.  As powerful, benevolent wizards who seek to help the weak, we must do something to aid these people.  Since you are professed in gating and astral shifts, it would be much easier for you to help these people.

I implore you to do what you can.  I know you have always desired my agate prism.  If you will do this one favour for me, I would surely bequeath it to you.

Sincerely,
    Cathar Obilax
 

Entering, he found the same busy crowd, perhaps slightly smaller due to the late hour.  A cold chill went down his spine as he caught a cruel stare from Pontick.

"You little thief - I heard you broke in to Rand's suite.  How dare you take that which is his!"

Innocently, Elpi asked Pontick what he was talking about. "I haven't the slightest clue what you are talking about, Pontick," he said.

Pontick was old, but he was quick. He made snarl, and tried to grab Elpi. Elpi was surprised when he missed! Elpi bolted outside, being chased briefly by the old man. Elpi got away easily.

The kender was somewhat confused. Here he was, doing a favour for a friend - keeping a letter safe. And he got accused of stealing!

Elpi went for a little walk. It was late - probably after midnight. This was Auspelis - a fine city. Lots of interesting things happened here. It wasn't as exciting or foreign as Panapolis, but it was up there with the best. Elpi had fond memories of Panapolis. Especially the chickens.

After strolling for a while, Elpi started to wonder what was so important about that letter anyway. He reached inside his cloak to look at it, but it was gone!

This had never happened to Elpi before... it was carefully inside a deep pocket. Elpi retraced his steps, which led him back to the Cracked Mug.

Lenear said, "God Damn, why do all the bad things have to happen to me. First there was the Witch King, now it's the Wine.  I mean, drinking a few bottles is fine, but what drunken swine has taken the whole reserve?"

Lenear grabbed the first guard he saw.  "Where the hell did all the wine go?!"  The guard looked stunned.  He said "I dunno...".  Lenear stomped off, and went to the gates.  He jumped on his horse, and rode off for Auspelis.  The cool night air made him want the wine even more.

Lenear found the wine stores closed.  It was too late at night.  In the distance, he could hear some noise coming from a pub.  It was the Cracked Mug.  Lenear headed that way.

As he drew closer, he could hear the sound of broken glass crunching under the horse's feet.  Dismounting and looking around, he noticed that one of the windows in Rand's suite (which was on top of the tavern) was broken.

Tying up his horse, Lenear headed inside.  Just as he was about to enter, he saw Rand.  It looked like something was bothering him.

Rand, finishing his conversation, turned to see Lenear enter the tavern. He hailed the elven swordsman.

"Hey, Lenear! It's been a while. Where have you been? Andarra's been worried as hell. If you'd known that little excursion of yours would take three months, maybe you should've stayed home! You wouldn't happen to have seen that little fungus on your way here, would ya?"

Lenear replied, "We have been on the quest to get a sword that can hurt the Witch King. It was on some other bloody plane. We have gone through some sort of tests to get the sword. I hate when they fuck with your head.... we were gone only few days. The good part is that Pentagarn is back." Lenear also told Rand that he just came from Castle Hawkwind, and that he hadn't seen Elpi.

Rand continued, "Seems that the sticky-fingered spore has gotten into trouble again. I recieved a letter for some wizard whose name is pretty similar to mine. Don't know much... from what Pontick over there can remember, it talked about the 'karma of good magic' being polluted on some other plane."

{Based on his recent experiences, Lenear would likely react in some way.}

Lenear laughed. "You have got another letter that was not meant for you? This is starting to be a habit. This is not the first time you have gotten a mistake in your mail. You must have some 'Friends' in the messaging business... 'Mailman: I think it is addressed to Ornaiath, or Ornaphus, or Orfus, ahh what the hell let's go to the Cracked Mug and see if we can offload it onto someone'". They laughed. Lenear continued, "Karma of good magic? Strange shit."

Rand then said, "Anyway, it went on about 'innocent people crying' or somesuch. Well, they have my sympathy and all, but we're talkin' about a whole other plane of existence here! And get a load of this... this plane is supposed to be close to a fine burg called Ravenloft. I've heard a thing or two about the place, and all of it bad."

Lenear exclaimed, "Excuse me while I don't follow you! This letter asked for help from some wizard. Why don't you give the letter to the Wizard it was intended to and have him worry about the karma of magic. We need to save our own plane... Although I would like to find out more about this."

Rand said, "Anyway, that rotten little... uh... Elpi swiped the letter, so all of this is second hand knowledge. Now we may get a situation on our hands. Where do you think he might have taken it? I doubt to your wife... Elpi knows that he's not her favorite person, I think," noted Rand.

"You can bet your ass that if Elpi is involved, there is going to be a situation! Should we speak to Starleamus, maybe? We should make sure that Wizard Rondo gets his letter."

Rand stopped to consider for a moment. He then turned to Lenear again. "Listen," he said, "it's not that I don't feel for these folks and all, but we have a lot of problems of our own. You know, like the Witch King? He's been running amok while you guys were gone. Durenor has lost a lot of its southern territory, and his armies are preparing to besiege the capital. That's not the sort of thing we can just drop."

Lenear said, "This does not sound good. You are right. We should however find Elpi. He can cause some bad shit."

Then Rand said, "What about Andarra? You've been gone for three months. Three months! Do you have any idea how she... your WIFE... has been feeling? How do you think she'd react if you up and went on another adventure and left her behind AGAIN? I wouldn't give your marriage two months," Rand finished, with a grim face.

"She was not pleased," commented Lenear. "I mean all the time I was gone , it was not easy for her... If we go anywhere I will ask her to come along..."

Lenear ordered a glass of long-awaited wine from Pontick, while the two talked.

{I honestly can't think of a good reason why Andarra would stay behind, especially considering the circumstances.}

"Hey Rand. What is with the broken window?" asked Lenear.

Rand raised an eyebrow. Broken window? While he knew Elpi had indeed broken into his room, from what Pontick had told him, and what he had seen, Elpi had picked the lock on the DOOR.

"Actually, I'd like to know that myself," Rand stated, as he turned to head back upstairs. "Care to watch the show?"

The two headed upstairs. Rand realised that the rather hard apple had smashed one of the small panes of the window. {This was a DM glitch - I thought you were really pissed at Elpi, and intended to smash the window. You said you tossed it out the window - I thought you meant through! Sorry...}

Lenear says, "Cellars in Hawkwind castle are empty. All the wine has vanished. I'm pissed!!" {DM comment: Actually, he's not pissed.}

Rand paused, lowered his head, and shook it in seeming grief. "What a shame. What a tragedy..." He suddenly looked up at Lenear with a smirk. "Sucks to be you, eh?"

Lenear replied, "I'm ok now that I have your cellar to pillage! Anyway, let's look around the town and see if we can find Elpi. If he is not around, let's see if we can contact Starleamus."

Rand and Lenear decided to sit at a table to chat a while. A while after they were seated, Pontick approached their table, bringing Lenear's wine.

"Elpi was here just a few minutes ago. He tried to slip past, to get back in your suite, but I saw him. He kept saying he wanted his apple. I tried to grab him, and I coulda sworn he was within my grasp, but somehow I missed him. He immediately dodged out the door. He ran so quickly, he dropped this!" Pontick was holding a yellowed letter in his hand.

Pontick gave the letter to Rand. Strangely, the letter was still sealed! Elpi must have doctored the wax. He instantly opened it. Him and Lenear then poured over the letter. It read as follows:

Dearest Rondo,

We have written to each other for some time.  As you know, vast distances separate us, and it is tiring to gate back and forth.

When last we spoke, over a century ago, things were going quite well.  But perhaps you have noticed the recent variances in the magical energy.  I have been analyzing this for months now, and I discovered something awful.  The energy of good magic has been tainted by beings from another plane.

As you know, my forte has never been in extra planar magic.  From my research, I have gathered that it is a plane that is much like our own, but is closer to Ravenloft than the Old World.  In fact, my scrying has shown me an area which reminds me of the Palethorne River, near Ravendale.  I have only read of this place and I've certainly never been there.  My understanding is they are rather intolerant of wizards.

Rondo, every spell I cast is tainted with the cries from some innocent people, somewhere in that area.  As powerful, benevolent wizards who seek to help the weak, we must do something to aid these people.  Since you are professed in gating and astral shifts, it would be much easier for you to help these people.

I implore you to do what you can.  I know you have always desired my agate prism.  If you will do this one favour for me, I would surely bequeath it to you.

Sincerely,
    Cathar Obilax
 

He gave a slight smile. "At least the kender is out of our hair, for now. If he wants that apple so bad, he can bloody well root around in the street for it."

He looked up at Lenear. "I think we need to consult your wife on this. I know she won't be happy to have you going plane-hopping without her. I'd suggest bringing her along. She'd probably insist on it anyway. She's a priest, not a wizard, and their magic works in a totally different manner."

{This is a formal request by me to the DM to bring Andarra along. If she stays behind, it would have to be for an extremely good reason."}

{DM: Sure, Andarra can go.}

Lenear said, "Yes, we should see Andarra first."

{We go to see Andarra and tell her about the letter. Let's see what she wants to do.}

Lenear and Rand mounted their horses and headed for Castle Hawkwind. Elpi was nowhere to be seen. Maybe that was a good thing. As they travelled to Castle Hawkwind, Rand started detailing his thoughts.

"Okay, so now for the... I think it's the third time, I receive a letter meant for someone else. Magic is going bad. Elpi is a putz, but that's not news. Once we're done with Andarra, we should probably consult Pentagarn. I doubt he knows who this 'Rondo' is, but he'll probably be able to tell us more about what's going on. What he doesn't know about magic ain't worth knowing."

He paused, and took a swig from his wineskin.

"After that," Rand continued, "We should head to Moonshade to see Starleamus. Again, Starleamus probably never heard of Rondo. However, he's in a good position to find out about him. Besides, Starleamus owes me a list of favours as long as Rikus is tall. If we're very lucky, Rondo lives there." He gave a sardonic grin at that thought.

"Which means, of course, that he won't be there. The only kind of extraordinary luck we ever have is of the bad variety," Rand added.

There was always something mystical about traveling to the castle at night. The golden lights could be seen over the city behind them. It was comforting to Rand to be home, on this plane.

The castle towers loomed blacker than the night sky, ironically seeming sinister. This made Rand shudder. When they returned from this distant place, could the castle be taken over by dark forces?

As they approached the castle, they could see midnight oil was burning in Calidor's office. He was up. This was more than just curious... this was very bad. Something was wrong. Rand brought his mount to a quick trot. Lenear followed suit.

Passing the gates, the guards hailed the two, "Lord Hawkwind wants to speak to you!"

Rand replied, "Thanks." They dismounted. Was it beginning? Could they be facing a final invasion? Rand and Lenear both took the stairs two at a time.

Calidor was polishing his sword. Again, not good. Lenear broke the silence.

"What seems to be the problem, Calidor?" he asked, with a friendly smile. Calidor didn't look up as he spoke. "Fitzgerald got hurt. But he'll recover - he's tough. But as they were patrolling, down on the front, they met their match with a band of ogres. We think it was mainly the sheer numbers, but there were Ogre Magi there as well. They dispatched one of them, and found him carrying this note."

Calidor held up a dirty piece of paper with the harsh ogre language on it. Calidor had already taken the time to have it translated. It read as follows:

Grokg-rekg: bruc peckh og, gruch peckh hruv, zru brekt hruv vikr qor!
Captain Grokg: bad magic strong, good magic weak, [we] crush weak human skulls!

Rand frowned. Yep... it was all coming together. He KNEW he'd be dragged into this somehow, and once again, his luck held true.

"I think Lenear and I can enlighten you a bit on what this ugly was goin' on about. Maybe it's better to show than tell." With that, he handed the letter to Calidor.

Calidor read the letter carefully. He looked slightly relieved that there now seemed to be a direction to go.

Once Calidor was done, Rand recovered the letter and outlined his intentions. "There are a couple of things we plan to do. First, we were going to consult your sister. She'd probably want to be in on whatever we're going to do. Then, we'll go see Pentagarn... he could tell us more. Finally, we were going to go to Moonshade to see if we can find this Rondo guy, or at least where he can be located."

Calidor nodded in agreement. "I'll leave this with you two, then." Lenear and Rand left his office.

"This sounds like a plan," said Lenear. "We should also get one of the scholars to find out more about this Ravenloft place."

He continued, "Personally I could not tell the diff between good magic, and bad magic. I always thought that most magic was not inheritnly good or bad, it was how one used it. It is only some magic that could be identified as evil or good for that matter. What the hell do I know anyway. I know about magic just about as much as Starleamus knows about wrestling."

Rand frowned at that. Lenear was basically right. While some magic was definitely considered evil, most magic was in and of itself neither good nor bad. A fireball was no more evil nor less than a sword. It depended on how it was used.

Putting his knuckes on his chin, Rand said, "For the most part, you're right, Lenear. In general, magic isn't good or bad... it just is. However, all magic needs a caster, right? Think of the caster as a filter for his magic... he leaves his own little flavour on the spells he casts."

Lowering his hand, he looked at Lenear and mused, "Thus, the intent of the caster at the time he casts a spell determines whether a spell is good or evil, you follow? In a nutshell, a good person generally casts good spells, and a bad person casts bad ones. At least, that's my theory. I'm strictly a dabbler in this sort of thing."

"Sounds good enough for me," stated Lenear. Lenear appeared to be in thought. "You mentioned Ravenloft previously. What do you know about that place?"

Elpi couldn't find the letter outside. Turning invisible, he quietly snuck into the Cracked Mug. The door creaked, but fortunately no one noticed.

He seemed to come back at an opportune time. Pontick was busy gloating.

"... kender thought he had me outsmarted. I don't even think he realized Rand and Lenear were in here when he bolted. I just picked up the letter and gave it to them. Still can't figure out how I missed grabbing him though...," said Pontick.

Elpi looked around. There was nothing shiny in here. Rand and Lenear had already left. Where did they go? Elpi was very curious.

"...asked them to put in a kind word with Calidor," added Pontick. Castle Hawkwind! Oh brother, he remembered the castle. Especially... Andarra. She wasn't too fond of him. Oh well! His friends needed him.

Elpi left the tavern.

While still in Auspelis, he came across Darian. She was obviously on her way home from dancing at the Prancing Pegasus. She called to him.

"Hey Elpi! Why are you up so late? Isn't it past your bedtime?!" she teased. She should have learned by now not to tease a kender. She rode up beside Elpi.

Darian's horse was nice, but kinda big. She smelled like smoke from that tavern. The Prancing Pegasus had that peasant smell: smoke, squishy overripe fruit, and dung. Darian had always said she felt uncomfortable in places like the Cracked Mug - it was too posh. Elpi felt fine there - ever since he'd been Mayor of Panapolis. And he knew Darian was envious of that.

"Mayors don't have bedtimes!" he said, lifting his nose high in the air. Darian glared at him. Elpi burst out laughing, pointing his finger at her. Elpi ran off, and Darian tried to chase him. He did a quick side-roll into an alley, and she lost him.

"Elpi, I'm going to kill you!" he heard her say, in the distance. Darian was strange that way. She could be at his throat one minute, and best friends the next. Elpi began to wonder if he was Darian's best friend in the party. He snickered as he headed for Castle Hawkwind.

Rand and Lenear headed to Kayla's room. The door was open so they went in.

Kayla asked, "What is going on?". Lenear and Rand explained, and showed her the letter. Lenear and Rand waited while Kayla read it.

She explained that while she was casting some spells, she noticed a sound like crying or screaming, in the background. She mentioned that it didn't seem to affect her spells' potency.

"Well, at least now we know this is for real," commented Rand. Lenear nodded. With that, Andarra entered the room.

Rand was happy he didn't need to spend too much time talking to Kayla. She could be so self-righteous at times it made his skin crawl. He once had a slight attraction to her for her looks, but that had died a quick and unmourned death as he got to know her better. At times, she reminded him of Talia's father, Ra's al Ghul, whose motto was "by any means neccessary".

Rand kicked himself. He hadn't thought of how to present their case to Andarra. He decided to go for the quick and to the point.

"Hey, Andy. Me and him," Rand quipped, as he jerked his thumb at Lenear, "just found out that magic is screwed up and we have to go to another plane to fix it. Wanna come?"

"WHAT?!" Andarra said, as a flood of emotions made her both blush and tense at the same time. Andarra was not known for hiding her feelings. She quickly came closer, while Rand and Lenear seemed to cringe subtly. Rand held out the letter, which she immediately grabbed.

Rand and Lenear looked at each other while she read it. Lenear cracked a slight smile, which quickly disappeared.

"There is no way in Hades you are going to that plane," she decreed, and silence filled the room, so you could hear a pin drop. "... without me!".

Rand and Lenear exhaled. They knew this would happen. Andarra gave a glance over to Kayla, who nodded. That meant more work for Kayla, but she seemed to enjoy the responsibility.

{Let me know if that's up to spec. I would like to NPC Andarra... if that's possible. Otherwise, managing four characters in a PBeM would get a little hairy.}

Elpi saw the door open, so he went in.

"Hi everyone! I heard we're going plane hopping again! Whoopeeeee!!" said Elpi. He bounded around the room, very excited about this new adventure.

"Oh, dear," said Andarra, glaring at Rand, as if he was the one who had invited Elpi. They all exchanged glances, like maybe having Elpi along might not be such a good idea.

"Uh, Elpi," said Rand, "I really don't think this is something that you---". Suddenly, Andarra, Rand and Lenear exchanged looks of fear. They all realised at that moment, that Darian might show up at any second.

"Kayla-it-was-nice-talking-to-you-we're-leaving-right-now-bye!!" said Rand, and he bolted for the Airship. Maybe they could lose Elpi in Moonshade.

They all walked quickly toward the airship, when Elpi asked "What's the hurry?".

Andarra replied, "We really don't want Darian to show up. She's a... um, nice person, but she might get us into trouble. Again."

They boarded the airship, and it only took a few minutes to get to Pentigarn's cave.

Entering, they found Pentagarn reading.

"Greetings, my friends. Good to see you again. And you are always welcome here," he said, in his trademark raspy voice. It was nice to have Pentagram back again. He asked, "What brings you here?".

They showed him the letter, and the ogre magi's writing. They also explained what they knew. Pentegarn thought carefully for several minutes.

"Hmmm. To be honest, I had noticed something, but I hadn't thought it was a threat. You see, it is impossible for magic of a different plane to affect magic on this plane, that is, the Prime Material Plane. However, I have heard of this place." He fished around in his maps for a while, mumbling the words "Ravendale", and "Palethorne".

"Yes, here it is," said Pentagern. "Now I know why the magical essence can affect us. This place is known as Ashterod. It's literally a demi-plane, which exists literally in between our plane, and Ravenloft." He paused with a concerned look on his face.

"It's not the safest place to be..." he added. Pentagorn went to his books again, and shook his head. "Those names sound vaguely familiar, especially Obilax. But I'm afraid I don't have any information on them."

Lenear asked, "Is there any way we can get there safely?"

Pentagurn replied, "Hmmm... that's a tricky one. Let's see what I've got here." He fished around in his stuff for about half and hour. Rand and his friends waited patiently, looking around the place. There was so much stuff here, that one could be entertained for hours just looking around.

"Ahh," he said. He returned from his forrage with two small, blue crystals in his hand.

Elpi noticed the crystals were shiny.

"I'm not sure if Rand's going to like this," he said. "This is a long shot, but it can be done. If you take these to the psionic, what's his name? Raskus. Take these to him, and tell him they're power crystals. He'll know what to do. With a little tinkering, I bet he can make that boat of yours jump planes!" Pentugarn gave the crystals to Rand, who tucked them away.

"I don't know about safely," added Pentugarn. "Then again, is anything every entirely safe?"

At that moment, Pentegarm realised he'd done most of the talking. He asked the adventurers if they had any questions.

{Variant spellings of Pentagarn provided by yours truly}

{Yeeesh, ya just had to piss me off, eh?}

Pentagarn's fears were unfounded. Rand loved any opportunity to upgrade the "Aces High", to get it to go faster, or farther, or give it some new ability it didn't have before.

Composing his face to one of great seriousness, he turned to Elpi, and said, "Elpi, this is a very serious mission we have. As such, we need you to perform a very important task for us. Seeing as you're Starleamus' must trusted advisor, we need you to travel to Moonshade and inform him of our situation. In addition, we need you to find out everything you can about both Obliax and Rondo. It's a difficult job, but I'm sure you can handle it. Good luck, and godspeed."

Pentagarn cut in, "Oh Rand, I strongly believe you'll need dear Elpi here." He walked over and put his arm around the little Kender. "I think you'll find some of his racial abilities quite handy on Ashterod."

Rand wondered if Pentagarn was picking up some of Sorin's old habits. He hated cryptic wizards! "Pentagarn, what exactly are you talking about?"

Pentagarn replied, "Well, you'll find out when you get there. I'd rather not say - I'm afraid that if I told you, you might not want to go!" He chuckled. "But we all know this is important, and fear is not an ally. Especially not on a demi-plane of Ravenloft!"

Rand interrupted. "WAIT a second here! You said it was BETWEEN this plane and Ravenloft! Now you're saying it's part of it! Besides, put enough wine in me, and fear will NOT be a problem."

"Well, planes are strange things," explained Pentagarn. "It is between us and Ravenloft, but not in the spatial sense. Really, it retains some partial characteristics of both planes. In that sense, a demi-plane is 'closer' than any other plane. That is why its magic can influence our plane."

Rand grumbled. Both at Pentagarn, and at the prospect of having to travel with Elpi. "But we must speak to Starleamus!" pleaded Rand.

Pentagarn went back to his desk. "I think I can save you a little time there. You see, I've already spoken to Starleamus, a couple weeks ago. He said he knew nothing about it, although he had noticed similar effects. He said he was very busy, and would have one of his apprentices look into it. I guess he simply doesn't have time to deal with the little things, like saving the world," Pentagarn quipped.

Pentagarn added, "I'm not really concerned about this effect itself. The problem is that is might give the Witch King some ideas. (Or the Emporer, for that matter). If he could figure out a way to dampen good magic from another plane, we might never be able to figure out which plane it is. So it would be hard to stop him. Without magic, I'm afraid the we'd lose the war -- quite decisively."

Pentagarn seemed to know what he was talking about. Andarra nodded in agreement.

Pentagarn then said, "Oh, and one more thing!" He fished through his potions rack, pulling out a small crystal vial. Pentagarn unstoppered and sniffed it. "Phew... yep, that's the one." He put the cork back on, then handed it to Lenear. It contained a thick dark green liquid. It was so dark, it was almost black.

"What's this?" asked Lenear.

Pentagarn stated, "It's in case of emergency. If you're getting your ass whupped, drink it down. But only outside!" he cautioned. "I wish I had more time to help you. But there are other pressing matters."

Elpi began saying, "So when do we get to go on the ship? Can I drive it? Do we have to take something to make our stomachs settle? Who's coming? Are we all gonna go? Are we leaving now? Can I get some food to bring? I wonder what they eat on other planes? Do you think they eat apples? Where do....."

Rand sidled over to Pentagarn. Whispering, he said "Are you SURE we have to bring the Fungus along? I'm not exaggerating when I say he's a walking disaster area! Sure he's fearless, but he also has a way of announcing our presence to anyone who might want to do us harm. That, and he jumps into things before anyone has a chance to think! You know, like Darian. YOU hang around him for a week and see how valuable his fearlessness seems."

Pentagarn smiled. He knew Kenders could be annoying. But he had the party's best interests in mind - safety.

{Unless you want to ask Pentagarn anything else...}

The characters headed back to the Airship, and made the quick trip back to Hawkwind Castle. When they arrived, Raskus greeted them. It was almost like he sensed the technological opportunities. Rand filled him in on the details, and presented him with the two blue crystals.

Raskus said, "This is amazing!!! Where did Pentagarn get those crystals? The first one is a resonance capacitor. It builds up a kinetic energy then releases it through the other one. The second stone creates a breach in the inter-dimensional frustum."

Thinking for a moment, he continued, "I think I can work this into the ship's design. However, there may be some problems adjusting the field harmonics to the controls. Two things: the ship will need to be going at precisely knot nine, which happens to be it's top speed, and you have to be precise in setting the proper sub-spatial coordinates. If make an error, who knows where you may end up? You will need these coordinates: 567 32 33 1045, and 767 21 09 1972 to return. Make sure the dials are set correctly. I will need approximately two days to make those adjustments."

{..... Star log four ..five.. six svneighnine. After traveling through the cosmicloud we haaave stopped to install the power dialithium crystals that Pentagarn haaas givnus.... hehhe}

{DM Note: I've provided some flexibility for future DMs. The ship is not necessarily equipped for travel to any plane. RIght now, it may only work for a demi-plane. It is up to the DM to decide if using the airship is appropriate for his adventure. Also, the characters will need the crystals...} Lenear, Andarra, Rand and Elpi hung around the castle, preparing for the journey. Elpi never seemed to leave Raskus' side, eagerly awaiting the completion of the upgrade. Then, early on the second day, it happened.

"Hi everyone!!! How's it going, old man?" teased Darian, as she flaunted some new clothes before Rand. Andarra was visibly aggravated. Everyone was eating breakfast in the mess hall. It sounded like Darian didn't know what was going on... yet.

{Oh boy.}

Lenear said "Oh Boy..... Darian how are you doing?!!" He gave a big smile.

Rand felt a headache coming on. He had been wondering how things could possibly get worse, and now they had. Elpi or Darian alone was bad enough. Put the two of them together...

Lenear walked in front of Rand, turned his back to him, then turned his head to face Rand. He whispered, "Tell me something Rand, do I have a paper stuck on my back that says: 'FUCK WITH ME I'M A BASTARD'?".

Rand whispered back, with a gloomy look on his face, "Welcome to my life, Lenear. I'm in this just as deep as you. Looks like we're gonna suffer through this one together. And we WILL suffer, oh yes."

He produced a bottle of wine from one of his cloak's pockets, opened it, and took a looooong swig. He then passed it to Lenear, knowing the Elf would be needing it for moral support.

Lenear said, "Thanks, I need some of that."

"I'm not old... I'm simply wise beyond my years. Anyway, there's nothing much happening around here," he lied casually. "Raskus is tinkering with the ship, as usual. He was mumbling somethin' about 'field harmonics'. Hey Lenear, fancy a friendly game of cards? How about you, Elpi?" Rand hoped that this would both change the subject, and distract Elpi from blabbing the whole thing to Darian by having him show Rand his great (read: non-existant) expertise in gambling.

Lenear asked "So, Darian, what have you been doing lately?" He tried to keep the conversation around what Darian was doing. This was not hard to do.

"Wow, you look good, have you done something to your hair?" he asked.

"Oh yes," Darian grinned, "I went to see Serge, and he can work wonders! Expensive, though. I basically had a full make-over." Starleamus would be proud.

"That is amazing, you did that all by yourself?!" asked Lenear. Darian went on seemingly forever about herself. This was something she loved to talk about.

Rand let Lenear handle talking to Darian for the moment. For some bizarre reason, she was still jealous that whatever romantic notions he had were for Talia, and not for her. Not that Darian's opinion mattered all that much to him.

His expression became more somber. While his relationship with Talia had improved drastically, it dealt with issues he'd never really dealt with before. Everything about Talia fascinated him... she was beautiful, competent, smart, and mysterious. Until recently, he had been extremely angry that she was willing to place her loyalty to her father above him. While recent events had changed that {foreshadowing of upcoming adventure here}, he was perplexed at the depth of emotion she was able to draw out in him. She had made her feelings plain for him, and he idly wondered how Darian felt about the fact that the man whom she dubbed "Old Man", Talia called simply "Beloved". Was he in love with her? He wasn't sure he knew whether the emotions he felt for Talia were love, but decided that he was willing to find out.

Lenear's false-sounding (to him, anyway) commentary on Darian's ramblings drew him back to the present. Conversations with her always made him feel like he'd had too much to drink: disoriented, confused, and slightly nauseous. He decided to make a show of displaying interest he didn't particularly feel in the recent events of the flighty girl's life. Hopefully, talking about her favorite subject (herself) would distract her from their actions. Rand was about to speak, when Elpi walked in with Raskus.

Raskus was so into his project, that he hadn't eaten supper or breakfast. He walked in weakly to get some food. "I'm adding the field harmonic resonator, and it seems to be balancing rather--" Elpi interrupted him.

"We are going plane hopping!!" blurted Elpi.

Seeing Darian in the room, and thinking of all the adventures he and Darian had had together, filled Elpi with excitement and anticipation of the upcoming adventure. Elpi was caught up in his excitement.

Innocently he turned his head towards Rand and said, "Can Darian come? Maybe she can help!"

Rand and Lenear were not stupid. They looked at Elpi, pointed with their fingers, and laughed hysterically. Lenear even rolled on the floor.

Darian started laughing, too. "Yeah, sure, Elpi," she said, sarcastically. They all had a good laugh. "I bet Andarra would love that!" she said as she elbowed Andarra, who was sipping her juice, causing it to spill. Andarra wasn't laughing.

"Let me guess! You're going to get the Book of Fate for Sorin! He he he." She went over to the breakfast spread and dipped her finger in the cake. She sucked the icing off her finger. Getting all this attention from Rand and Lenear was great.

She continued, "So anyway, when he suggested I go blonde, I thought, that's simply too much! He wanted it a bright yellow, like her robe," she pointed at Andarra, "and I was like, no way. So he did the curls and --" She went on and on and on...

Andarra glanced down at herself, noting her usual lack of robes. Rolling her eyes, she wondered where Darian had gotten the idea that she wore said robe at any time other than ceremonies. She almost spoke up, but chose to remain silent, as she had throughout this debacle. It was always difficult for her to keep her opinions to herself. If she had her way, she'd have told Darian to get lost some time ago, and to bring her kender with her.

Elpi tried to interrupt, "No really, it's true. We ARE going plane hopping." Somehow, Rand and Lenear were able to keep Darian talking, and she ignored Elpi as if he was playing a joke on her. She started to wonder if they had played a joke on Elpi - telling him they were going plane hopping. She knew how Rand felt about adventuring now, and also how unlikely it would be for Andarra to let Lenear go away again.

{Andy would have bristled at Darian's assumption that she was the stay-at-home type.}

Finally, Elpi gave up and sat down to eat his breakfast and sip his milk. It would be much more fun if Darian went, too. But it looked like she was too interested in shopping.

Darian switched the conversation around to recent exploits. She explained how she'd risked her life on some distant island, to rescue Alsander. She'd even tried to kill Mordraneth. She didn't want them thinking she'd wimped out. She was geniunely interested in Lenear's recent escapades, and she asked a lot of questions.

Cautiously, they asked Darian if she'd noticed anything weird in her magic. She said "No". They were not surprised at this. Darian rarely casted spells for the purpose of good, in the purest sense. Wasn't she the one who had given Elpi one of his golden lessons: "Never blow anything up unless it's fun"?

Meanwhile, Andarra had a talk with Raskus, and found out that the ship would be ready in about four hours.

{If you are buying or bringing ANYTHING that is not on your character sheets, let me know now, otherwise it's not going with you!}

Rand breathed a sigh of relief. He remembered that Darian had somehow jumped to the conclusion that because he'd retired from active thievery, he had also semi-retired from active adventuring. The latter was flagrantly untrue, and he had retired as a thief years before he had ever met her. Still, once Darian got a notion into her head, she clung to it like a pit bull. Rand privately considered this reasoning to be a textbook example of that unique creature called Darian-logic. Still, he thanked whatever gods there were for small favours. Now they only had one pain in the ass coming along.

It was also a blessing in disguise. Since Darian had convinced herself that Rand didn't go on adventures anymore, she naturally assumed that most of his actions were not related to anything she'd be interested in. Thus, she wouldn't be paying much attention to him as he left to make a few final preparations. Seeing as Darian was engrossed with talking to Lenear, he took this opportunity to slip out. Moving VERY quietly, he slipped from the dining room.

Checking his gear, he noticed that two of his standard items were missing... rope, and oil. His grapnel was useless without the former, and the latter just had too many uses.

He'd also have to ask Andy if she had any healing potions in stock. While he had total faith in her healing abilities, it was always best not to tempt fate.

{Rand is planning on buying 100 feet of silk rope (something I meant to put on the sheet but forgot), as well as a gourd of oil. I'm not talking lamp oil or greek fire, but the sort which removes door-squeaks. He's also going to buy a bottle of wine or three. I always assume he carries enough components to cast any of his spells at least five times. Another careless omission on my part was his theif's tools. He never goes anywhere without them. He doesn't need to buy a new set... that was a mistake on my part when I was updating the sheet. He should simply have them.}

{Elpi was never one for preparing so he will wait until everyone else is ready.}

{Lenear no longer has Glandring - He gave the sword back to Pentegarn :( (weep weep)}

{Lenear has two potions of extra healing, and a potion of invulnerability from the last adventure. Lenear would like to get: A spare cloak, half a dozen of small rocks (have Andarra cast Continual Light on them), sleeping poison, protection from evil scrolls, a dagger, wine.}

Since the crystals were such a pure energy source, Raskus also re-routed the airship's system power through them. This didn't really increase the top speed of the airship, but it did give the airship a noticeable acceleration boost. That could come in handy in case of airborne pursuit.

Raskus worked diligently on the upgrades as the others prepared for the voyage. As he was working, he discovered a more efficient way to use the crystals. Rather than using one crystal to focus the other, he used a lens from an old pair of spectacles. This allowed them to keep the other crystal as a spare.

Raskus gently separated the extra crystal from the conduit mechanism. As he carried the shiny crystal inside, Elpi tried to snatch it.

"No, Elpi! This better be kept by Rand," said Raskus. He gave the delicate crystal to Rand, who tucked it away deeply, with the intention of keeping it pickpocket-proof.

Rand smiled at the thought of Elpi's reaction when he could not find the crystal. Fingering the fabric of his cloak, he thought that with this thing, he could become a great smuggler if that was his desire. Too bad it wasn't.

Everyone separated to get their stuff. In all the commotion, Darian finally realized that something was going on. She asked more questions, but decided not to go. The fact was, her last adventure really scared her.

Rand was surprised at Darian's reluctance. Still, he determined, it was definitely for the best. Darian's skills would be redundant with both him and Elpi present. That, and he wouldn't have to put up with her inevitable whining about not knowing what they were doing there and wanting to go home. {You all managed to collect the items you requested.}

Rand stood on the bridge of the airship. He had carefully scrawled the coordinates Raskus had given him on a piece of paper, along with the return coordinates. (These coordinates were somehow based on Pentagarn's planar map). He tacked this to one of the consoles. The others loaded their stuff onto the ship, and Andarra made several trips back and forth to carry food onboard.

Finally the moment of truth arrived. Raskus and Calidor stood on the platform, and Andarra hugged her brother. Darian and a few of the guards were there too. This was something they all wanted to see.

They boarded and closed the hatch.

Rand lifted the ship off, and immediately noted the performance improvements. For one thing, the ship was much quieter. Also, Raskus had fiddled with the stick, producing the feeling that it was eager to go. Clearing the castle, he turned with the wind, and accelerated. He pitched the nose up a bit, filling the front window with blue sky.

Lenear chucked, "Hey, Raskus really fixed this thing!" he said, feeling the forces on his body. Rand had a perma-grin on his face.

"It doesn't go any faster, but he tightened the controls. It's a bit more peppy now," stated Rand. He leaned into it, and watched the speed dial's arrow climb. There was about one inch left on the throttle, for top speed.

four, five, ... six, ...... seven! ............. eight!!

As they approached knot 9, the ship rattled and shook. This was normal. Rand's palms were sweaty, and his stomach was queasy. He looked back at the others, who were seated and staring back at him. He wiped some sweat from his brow and said, "you guys ready?"

Lenear, Andarra and Elpi shouted back, "Yeah!"

Rand punched it.

{...Engage!!}