22st of Blossom Year 801 AR

As the day arrives and our minds clear we find ourselves in a world that resembles someone’s demented dreams. We are still assuming Umbrion held us unconscious for a full day and as stated in the previous entry we have had our consciousness moved into one of the other bodies of our party. Thinking about our situation and that our only known way off the island are the kayaks I suggested to Raven that she join me on the short trip to the beach to check on McGyver and the boats. I find myself wanting to remain in sight of my body perhaps knowing it is close by gives me some sense of self and a hope that I will be returned to it. The Boats seemed undisturbed but McGyver was unconscious in one of the boats. As Raven tried to rouse McGyver I looked for signs of others in the area. I discovered many footprints ranging from human, to a large cat, to what looked like could have been an Orga. Raven was unable to rouse McGyver and upon closer inspection we found a small smug of soot on is temple, perhaps the remnants of a spell. Seeing that McGyver would be just as safe here as with us, we secured the boats and return to the others.

While we where gone Stephan and Jotok went to look to see if the un-carved gravestone was still in the path, they reported it was gone. After we rejoined the others we heard Carlota’s flute. Her song was especially enticing; she has improved since she last communicated with us. Perhaps it is due to the unusually strong magic here. Raven called to Carlota and asksÉ Have you ever been to this Island? The response was at the most vague; I took it as a maybe. Raven continued, explaining the body switching in case she was unable to detect the change. I ask her if she has seen this type of thing before? Again she gave the save vague answer.

Having our curiosity unsatisfied as to the possible benefits we could receive from further study of the wand and the garden we decide to travel back up the mountain.

While we were finishing up the discussion of our options something caught my eye. I don’t know if it is just my mind playing tricks on me but for an instant I thought I saw what looked like a hand out of the corner of my eye. Looking closer it seems to just be a small 6 foot stone hill just off the trail but it does have an unusually green foliage growing on it. All of a sudden it moved and flung itself into the air and came down hard with a smack right in the middle of the party. Jaden and I are hit but all the others manage to avoid the attack and back away. I study the hand further, it appears to be about 30’ x 50’ made of stone and covered with a vibrant green moss. As I was studding the first hand a second come crashing in and the first hand back slaps me and throws me a good 20 feet into the brush. Dam these hands are fast for there size. Raven makes her way through the brush and arrives at my side and cast some healing on me. She looks angry and rightfully reminds me that this is not your body and that it can’t take the abuse yours can. I apologize to her and tell her that I need to learn to control my usual impulsive behavior while I occupy her body and ask her to remind me if she sees me doing something that may endanger it unnecessarily. As we are talking a loud tapping interrupts us. It is one of the hands tapping its fingers impatiently. Stephen tries to talk to it but to no avail. Then Stephen starts whistling a tune. It is a light happy melody and the hand start to respond by tapping its fingers in rhythm to the enchanting melody. While the hands are distracted the party makes its way past then giving them a wide berth. After we are at a safe distant Stephen starts to walk back away from the hands. As he dose this one of the hands rises on two of its fingers and starts to “walk” toward Stephen. Stephen breaks into a run and the hand follows until it seems to reach its limit of movement with its arm securely planted in the ground. With that behind us we continue up the trail.

Further up the trail we hear many different animals around us matched with the occasional tune from Carlota. The one member of our party that has not recovered from the mind exchange is Lea. Since she awoke after fainting from the sight of her new body she has been very disturbed. She has not ceased muttering and rummaging through her papers and possessions in what seem to be a desperate mental exercise in frustration. Any attempt to talk with her just seems to disturb her further. Now she keeps repeating, “Does not want anyone to die”. We are at a loss at what to do for her and if she does not regain her mind I feel it will be almost impossible for us to reach Bliss.

Raven, distracted by Leas current bout of ranting walked backwards into small clearing and stumbled over a battalion of small gold field mice. The mice where in formation and seemed to be dressed in uniforms. The first few rows scatter as Raven tries not to step on any of them. I immediately dart after Raven before she can fall, and help her out of the field and into the cover of the brush. We quickly move out of the immediate vicinity and stop to discuss thing again. Carlota stated playing again; I believe it to be the childhood ditty “Hickory Dickory Doc”, apparently this was to be a joke ­ No one got it. I think it pissed her off. We asked her whether we should return to the boats. This time it was obvious that she thought that was our best option. At this time we also thought of asking Jec how long we were unconscious but he did not know. Our new plan is to leave here in time to camp for the night on the North East end of this island and then leave at dawn and try to make landfall on Thieves Island before dark. We were again interrupted by a sound coming up behind us. It was the mice again and this time they had a 4-foot high siege engine with them. We quickly moved on.

As we arrived at the wand a breeze came up as if from an approaching storm. The weather has been bad and we were hopping it would improve before tomorrow and our journey to Thieves Island. Jaden examines the wand further and casts read magic but there is no magic writing on the wand just ruins. We decide to pass on exploring the garden and head back down to the boats. As we’re leaving I toss a stone at the wand, partially to see its range of its protection and partially our of frustration. Raven, reminding me not to take risks, distracts me and I miss the target.

On our return trip Stephen hears something like the sound of someone singing to themselves “Dumb Di Dumb Dumm”. We all take cover and see a creature cross the path in front of us. It was the oddest creature we have seen so far on the Island, and that is saying something. It had a head of a bottlenose dolphin but with what looked like a mohawk of something resembling thick hair. Its body was that of a panda bear but with the legs of a kangaroo. We let it pass and continued to the boats without further incident.

After spending what seemed like an eternity deciding who would travel with whom we finally got on our way. We arrived safely at the South East tip of the Island and settled in for the night.

The night is still cloudy and I am still unable to get an idea of the time left until Beltane, so for now we will call today the 23rd of Blossom. Surprisingly the night was uneventful. Perhaps the inclement weather has helped hide out presents. The first event of the day was at sunrise. At the end of Stephens watch we again had a visit by a raven. It cam in from the north circled 3 times and then flew off to the south. I continue to wonder if this is a guardian directing us to move on or a spy reporting our movements. Lea was also up early, desperately writing in the sand and then wiping it clean and starting over again. Then all of a sudden she says in a coherent voice; “To return us to our bodies we have 2 options. The first is to find a high level cleric. There may be one in Puddleby.” Stephen then asks in a reserved tone, “and the other option?” Lea insists that she does not want to talk about it. I am glad she spent so much time and effort in coming up with that brilliant observation. At least it seem her mind has returned.

Raven seems to have had a restless sleep and appears agitated. A personal note: I must give her some additional instructions on shaving. She said she had a disturbing dream of a fox being hunted and a feeling of exigency for us to move on and stay hidden. She also dreamed again of her shield with wings. As she is describing her dreams to us Carlota’s flute start to play, this time with a renewed urgency and to our amazement for the first time since Turlough she apparated and held out her hands toward Raven. Raven finally knew what Carlota wanted and gave her the shield. The shield faded away and then repapered on Carlota’s arm with a peaceful smile faded away. As she was fading I could swear I heard hear say ”it was about time”.

As we were making our final preparation to leave the island Jotork has named Wanderland, Stephen decides to play one last song of discovery and to his amazement senses something. He detects a Fairy Crossroads just outside of camp. We decide to take a quick look. The doorway seems to be marked by a large bolder and Stephen calls out a welcome. In an instant we are swept away in a whirlwind and find ourselves on top of a tall stone tower overlooking a castle. Below us we see though the torrential rain and wind, an immense fortress, manned with an army of troupes that look like they are preparing for battle. Jotork notices a banner on the castle displaying a burning skull gripped by talons. Lea says this could be Umbrion’s island and this his infamous tower. Jotork also mentions the doorway could not be far and Stephen again calls out. Thankfully we are returned to our camp. If we thought out journey was challenging so far, I fear for what lies ahead.

BlackHawk