Company Log 20th Heat, 802

The road continued to climb and narrow. It seemed a likely spot for an ambush, but Blackhawk assured us that we were probably safe for the time being because hippogriffs are very territorial and had killed or chased off the competition. The space between us and the shore kept getting smaller. It must be very hard to get the wagons through spaces like this! It is magnificent country though, with the sheer cliffs looming over the road. Blackhawk saw a dragon in the distance and asked if we wanted to get it's attention. The consensus was that if it continued toward us, we couldn't help but get it's attentionÉ The sun was sinking low at this point and as we came around a bend, the road canted at a steep angle towards a tower on a rocky outcropping. A limestone keep surrounded it, obviously not part of the earlier construction. Stephen approached the wall of the keep, where a number of soldiers were posted.

"Welcome to Grandview Tower, can I help you?" Shouted one of the guards, in a strange accent.

Stephen explained that we were the advance scouts for the caravan and the drawbridge opened and a group of about 20 mounted soldiers poured out. They, with Stephen and the rest of us, headed back down the road to escort the wagons in.

The Keep is a sort of bare bones military establishment. The officer in charge told us that it had been quiet, no problems lately except a family of hippogriffs. He told us we could sleep in the barracks. Not a very pleasant place, but a roof over our heads. We helped to get the caravan secured and then Rosco offered to show us the tower. It sits on the NW corner of the keep. It is made of black basalt, very carefully fitted together. It is very narrow at the bottom, but then blossoms into a large round room at the top.

We entered past two guards just as the sun was setting. The massive oval opening had no doors. Those had been ripped from the hinges. Rosco explained that a powerful wizard had lived here, but was routed out during the Wizard Wars. In the eerie half-light, we could see an incredible staircase winding up toward the tower room. The stairs were thick basalt stones, cropping out from the walls as if they had grown there. Blackhawk asked if the tower had any special powers like the Guild stronghold does, and Rosco told him it didn't.(We found later that it did, but I'll get to that.) We finally came up through a trap door in the floor, which is heavily reinforced wood at least a foot and a half thick. The sun was just setting, and we beheld a magnificent view. The circular room is open with railings all the way around it. We were amazed to see the light glinting off of Bliss, a good 30 miles away! We could also see the Navigator's Guild and the odd cliff dwellings of Sea Breeze, our next stop, in the distance. The mountains are the tallest I've ever seen. Rosco said we should head down soon because this spot tended to attract critters of all kinds. It was beginning to get dark, and he took a lightstone from his pocket. A pedestal in the center of the room caught my eye, it was about 4 feet high and made of stone. I guessed that it had been a scrying pedestal. It was etched with some language that none of us recognized. We were getting ready to leave, but for some reason the pedestal fascinated Raven. She went over and laid her hands on it. She greeted the stone respectfully and asked it to tell us it's story. None of us was prepared for what happened next. A huge flaming figure burst from the top of the pedestal and grabbed for Raven. She dodged in an uncanny manner and it luckily missed her. She greeted the fire elemental (for that was what it was), but it did not respond. It seemed quite angry. Rosco was very surprised by the turn of events, exclaiming, "That was unexpected!" The elemental then turned on Blackhawk, setting him afire! Luckily, he had a full waterskin and was able to put himself out. Raven cast a quench spell and the room was filled with steam. I spoke to the elemental in draconic, asking it to desist, with no effect. Elensul attacked it with Saba's spear, and appeared to do damage, and Rosco called down for help. Stephen began to sing a song of peace. It had no real effect on Blackhawk, Rosco and I, but Raven and the elemental were becalmed. About that time, the guards came in and told us that as soon as we cleared the room, the guardian would go away. Stephen left last, still singing. It turned out that the elemental was bound to the stone to guard the tower for the wizard who lived here. It is only summoned when someone bothers the stone. I felt rather sorry for it, because it is trapped there forever. The last time it was triggered was about 40 years ago, by two children. That was all Rosco knew of the story. Downstairs, Dorian and Rosco had rather a loud discussion. Dorian seemed very upset, but the only thing I really heard was Rosco saying, "How did I know?"

The rest of the night passed without event, Stephen played and sang, and Raven, in need of privacy, went out to the stables to sleep with her horse. I think she probably got a better rest than we did, at least the floors of the stable are covered with straw. Dorian woke us just before dawn, and we were on the road once more. It was a relatively peaceful day, but we did see something odd, a fleet of ships, several with the device of the Celestial church on their sails. Rosco rode up and Stephen apologized for the trouble our party caused. Rosco explained that he had thought the story was folklore and he didn't expect it. He said it was a good thing that the elemental was bound to the pedestal. A senior fire wizard built the tower. He liked the location,(for the view, I imagine.) He said it was a surprise that he was killed so easily. (I find myself pondering this. How was a senior fire wizard "killed easily"?)

We meandered past two vertical cliffs, valleys to the water, back through the mountains, less steep now. By three o'clock, there was rolling terrain to the left, and a steep slope to the right. Raven saw some unusual flowers, but we couldn't take the time to stop and look. In about an hour, we arrived at Sea Breeze. It is an amazing place, the dwellings built right into the steep cliff faces! There were many ladders, but no doors at ground level. The place is quite a fortress and I imagine almost impossible to breach. All of the buildings are connected in a rabbit warren of rooms, where there is even space to keep livestock! Dorian talked with us for a bit, saying that it would be a challenge the next day as the road began to deteriorate and that we would have to camp out the following night, so we should get as much rest as we could while in Sea Breeze.

He spent a moment to discuss the protection of the isle of Bliss. Most of the troops are stationed at the entrance to the bay because that is the most vulnerable point on the island. There were goblin problems here during the goblin wars, he said, but not in recent memory. These areas do give them the most worry, and there are still rangers and many retired rangers in Sea Breeze to keep things in order.

Respectfully submitted by Maxfield Jaden Fox