Journal of Arcadius

Pelor help us.

So here I am sitting on a vehicle that resembles a sort of long extended coach, save that it travels far faster, and between planes. We are traveling between what I believe to be Arcadia or some other plane near Mechanus, and the city of Sigil.

As one might surmise, our plan failed.

It is as if some great malevolent force, beyond the gods themselves, rules the universe. Pelor forgive me for such thoughts! Surely, there is no mysterious power or being manipulating us with cruel play, like the master of a game. Surely not!

We succeeded in the first parts of our plan - collecting help from allies, trapping the Aboleth, setting up the gate to the Far Realms, and protecting the party from mind control.

Except for one important person.

The second blue being, the male, was under no individual protection, and failed to join Steinbjorn when the others retreated into his magical defense.

Alas!

He was taken control by the Aboleth, attempted to kill the female - the alienist - and then sent us on what was meant to be a one-way trip to the Far Realms. Instead, we stopped on the shore and turned back to escape before the gate closed. However, when we passed through the other way, we came out on the aforementioned plane near Mechanus.

The place itself is admirably well-run, and inhabited by helpful beings who know their roles in a most worthy way. We ascertained how to return home, but it would require going to Sigil. Paying for passage proved to be quite cheap, as it is apparently a frequent route.

Also, Walter-Tupper and Hrogar felt the need to buy mechanical clockwork hats. If I recall, Walter-Tupper is in debt to several party members, and still he foolishly squanders his money. Ah well.

There is one good thing... Ragnarr was last known to be in Sigil. If he is still there, he may have some help or advice, or perhaps be willing to rejoin us. With Ragnarr and Steinbjorn together - what power we might have on our side!

But for now, we wait.

Pelor forgive me and guide me.

*A*

Journal of Lt. Tupper, Day 261-262

Day 262
I am on another plane of existence.

So after that last bout of entries, the others came back with fresh supplies. Got a large, gaudy, booby-trapped hat from Steinbjorn, but this was disarmed and given to a tortured elf girl we met later to wear on the principle that it was the best place to hide it from her. Steinbjorn also forgot to acquire a new net for me. I get the feeling he does not like me. Throw him in with all the others, then.

As we stormed the keep, we faced terracotta golems and the Seneschal; and found a yuan'ti unit, a large blue guy, and a dungeon's-worth of people who probably shouldn't be loose. Naturally, we only let the more dangerous ones out. One of them, another blue person, said she could transport the aboleth to the Far Realms. Another was a being that claims it's not there. Another was a yuan'ti with no legs. Like I said, probably shouldn't be loose.

So after some preparation and discussion, we set up a trap to teleport the resident aboleth to the Far Realms, where its organs will turn to arachnids or something similarly nasty. Just as we're about to close it, however, the blue guy stabbed the blue girl and transported us through. We managed to make it back to the portal before it closed, but ended up in an incredible place that looks like it should be Gnome Heaven, or perhaps rather Gnome Hell since everything works perfectly. There are gears and spinning metal bits and mechanical beings as far as the eye can see. Apparently we can get back to our home plane, but we have to get to a place called Sigil and go from there. Oh yes, and I got a hat from a shop at their automated trans-dimensional caravan dispatch as proof that I was actually here. It's covered in gears and bolts and strange writing, and makes this soothing little clicking noise. Hrogar got one as well, but he's not wearing it.

All in all, nobody died or contracted spider-brain, and we're in this amazing place. It's been a good day.

I was wrong

Take back all i said about magic. It is not the answer. It is unpredictable and dangerous. Give me a good sword and shield and the blessings of my god. That is all I need. So why the change in heart. So we tried the magic way, we decided we would try to send the abalith to the far plans. We spent several hours preparing and in just a few seconds the magic gets turned back onto us. So now we are on the far plans and the enemy is safe. I can not believe i let these magic users talk me into this. I should know better. Magic is to unpredictable and not safe.
Anyways we are off, we are in some alternate plane seeking a way home. Again we have to rely on magic to get us back. O and Tupper has decided to waste money on a dumb looking hat. It amazes me to hear how much he owes people and yet keeps spending money on crap like this. It is interesting to see how people are outside of the empire. He would be a slave until he paid his debt off. Looks like the train is stopping will be interesting to see were we go now.

Ragnarr: Are You There, Pelor?

I wonder if the sun still shines back home.

It doesn't here. I suppose that Pelor's out here, maybe. I cast a spell, and it still does pretty much what it's supposed to do, so there's got to be something out there. Supposedly.

But it's different, back at home. I never had to wonder if Pelor was watching over me, never had to wonder if he was there. I could look up into the sky and bloody see him, the sun hanging in the sky, bright as a bastard, too damn hot, but it was always there, you know? And you didn't always know why, and you didn't always know what the hell it thought you should be doing, but at least you knew it was there.

But out here, in Sigil, it's just gray. Gray half light reflected by an arse-ton of mirrors, so that it makes the gray even bigger. It stretches off farther than I can see, farther than Pelor himself could shine. There's nothing out here. Pelor himself has written me off, given the damn mist lord leave to call in the favors I owe him.

And he has.

And I've paid the bastard back, damn it. I've paid him back in blood, sweat, and limbs. I've meddled in his petty disputes, done my part to see that he won, and cursed his name every damn minute of it, until his finally declared us even and promised not to bloody bother me again.

Which, while Ryan's out exploring and learning or whatever the hell it is the cheerful bastard does, leaves me here with the retarded girl.

By Pelor's beard, I shouldn't call her that. I like to think I'm making progress, but I can't even bloody tell. Hell, I can't even tell how long I've been here.

At least I've found a decent liquor supplier. It's about all I've got left.

Pelor, if you're even still listening, get me the hell out of here.

Not that it matters. The bastard isn't paying attention, anyway.

Dantroe

This group does seem to associate with some strange people. I understand the logic of releasing the enemies of the aboleth, and at least they left the ilithid caged. But now they want to use the strangest of the prisoners to send the aboleth to the far realms? She treats the question as if it were a mere curiosity. even if she can, it sounds like she will require much preparation, which we can't afford to wait for.

And when she's done, how do we know she won't just send us to the far realms with it? We've (well, okay, they've) killed one of these beasts the old fashioned way already, why do they hesitate on this one?

I hate mist

As i my group checks the cells I am keeping an eye on the mist. As I sit here watching it I think there has to be a good way to combat it. Surely there is some steps that can be taken to make this mist less of a threat. I do not know of any. Perhaps this is the fault and short coming of the empire. I understand why they made magic illegal. I have seen the earth were nothing grows and life is sucked out of living items as casters us their spells. I guess a balance needs to be determine. Sadly I fear a lot of knowledge is going to be lost due to the sins of our fathers.

Hmmm there is a lot of commotion going on down the hall and do i see a snake creature. WHAT THE HELL.

Steinbjorn: Priorities and Pragmatism

I have never really understood honor.

You would think that I would. I spend enough time around it. My wife certainly understands it, and would follow it to the death. So it's not that I've never seen it, it's not that honor is unfamiliar, or that I despise it. It's just that I don't get it.

Sometimes I think that's how Valdis and I have kept each other alive. Her conviction keeps us going through times when anyone else would falter. And, for my part, there are times when I can look at a situation, consider the finer points of right and wrong, cost and benefit and, sometimes, make a decision that one with a sense of honor could not.

I know enough about honor to know that I should keep these things to myself. Tupper's hat was a fairly innocuous example, an attempt to convince one who should probably not be on this quest that he is not welcome, without resorting to sending him to a distant plane of existence.

I've done much worse.

We were sent to destroy a lich once. It was a foolish quest; we were not remotely powerful enough to stop the damn thing, but we were sent anyway, just the two of us. Face to face, it could have killed us, but it decided that it would be more... interesting, I think, to toy with us. It was awful, a great blur in my memory, nothing clear until I found myself, alone, in the dungeon of the lich's fortress where I found... something. To this day, I'm not entirely certain what it was. Some great demon that would, under normal circumstances, as soon consume my soul as speak to me.

But he was trapped by that lich. Somewhere, I knew that Valdis was trying to fight the thing, probably dying. And if she wasn't yet, she would be soon, and she would fight that damn undead or die trying.

She would die. I knew it.

So I let the thing out. All it wanted was to destroy it's captor, so I let it out. And Valdis later expressed her curiosity as to how the lich had ended up dead before she ever found him.

She still doesn't know. She didn't know then. And, should that illithid find it's way out of its cage to take vengeance on it's captor, she won't know now, either.

It pains me to lie to her.

But if it keeps her alive? It just might be worth it.