25th Heat, 802, continued

Shortly after we passed the marker indicating that we had entered halfling lands, the trail began to climb. The condition of the road had deteriorated greatly, the gnomes are definitely more industrious about maintaining it than the halflings, but I understand that the halflings, or more likely, the hobbits, value comfort and stories and good food and drink and so are disinclined to stray far from home to do road repairÉ It was another misty foggy day, in fact the fog had gotten worse. We came to a bridge next to a spectacular waterfall. I think we would have enjoyed seeing it more if it had been a sunny day, but as it was cold and wet, the freezing mist was rather unpleasant. Shortly, we came to a place where the path split. The path we had been on kept going, but there was a trail heading up the hill. Blackhawk, Elensul and I decided to investigate, to make sure nothing was waiting to ambush the wagons. We found a large boulder, sanded flat on one side, which was carved in Elvish with the words "Green Hall". Of course we were intrigued, but as the path seemed mightily steep and treacherous with the fog, I sent Jeck up to investigate. In a moment, he felt very far away, so far that I couldn't contact him and the only sense I had of him was that he was indeed still alive. Of course I went after him, with the others staying behind to maintain vocal contact. It was really no use, for in no time sound was so muffled it was impossible to make out the words being shouted. As I walked, the path behaved in a very peculiar way. I was sure there was solid ground in front of me, but as I placed my foot, it disappeared. It was only my quick reflexes that saved me from falling into a deep chasm that had opened in front of me. I jumped it quite handily and then moved on. I can hear a voice laughing and cackling in the mist, but when I address whomever it is, they will not answer me. After a while, the same disconcerting shift happened in the path, and I faced a much wider gap. I could hear laughter again, but still had no sense of Jeck's whereabouts. I wasn't sure if I should just give up and head back down, or continue up. On one hand, there was the job we had been contracted to do, but on the other, my companion, my familiar, was lost. If I left him, it would be like losing an arm. I had just decided to continue when Elensul appeared. He agreed that we should continue up the path, and felt as I did, that this was a magickal effect of some kind. We found a stone staircase that opened onto a meadow. The fog was very thick, but we kept seeing shapes out of the corners of our eyes, sometimes flying, sometimes walking. Elensul thought he saw a figure with a sword, but when he called my attention to it, it had vanished. About that time, we looked around and saw that the path had ended and that we had no idea where we were in reference to it. We looked around a bit, but to no avail. Suddenly, Elensul pulled me over and I saw what he did, an army of skeletons with swords and shields advancing on us.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Meanwhile, Blackhawk, Raven and Stephen were arguing about what to do. Raven wanted to follow us, believing that she was best equipped to heal us if necessary. Someone should stay and guard the horses and the gold, she reasoned, and she could travel faster alone. Finally, Stephen allowed that Raven might be right, and agreed that she should go, but he wasn't at all happy about it. Raven encountered the same tricksy path problems, but was not so lucky at navigating as I was. She took quite a fall, but fortunately was only scraped and bruised, no broken bones. A concerned DeVal told Raven that faeries sometimes played this kind of tricks. He then lead Raven along the edge of the path and she also found herself at the top of the staircase in the meadow.

Stephen and Blackhawk stewed as the time for Raven to return passed. Stephen occupied himself playing his harp, which amused Moondrop greatly. Blackhawk asked Moondrop to check on us and she also vanished into the fog. Soon, the wagons came rolling up. Stephen explained to Dorian and Roscoe what had happened and Dorian was quite chagrined. It seems he had forgotten that there was a trick to getting to Green Hill. It is guarded by powerful illusions that can be fatal to the uninformed, an illusory ground covers multiple deep pits and chasms. He suggested that Blackhawk and Stephen follow him, shuffling their feet and always with a hand on the cliff face. Once at the top, they walked as we had, a long ways with no trail to follow, when they came upon a bubble that was clear of fog, with Raven on one side, and the skeleton army on the other. Blackhawk and Stephen were about to start a melee, but Roscoe threw a rock and the skeletons dissipated. Elensul and I had a similar experience with the skeletons and had resumed walking. The others, meanwhile were looking for a flower Roscoe had told them to find, a golden orchid. If you walk around it 3 times deosil, in a 2 foot circle, it takes you to Green Hill the cliff. Luckily, we found the party then, and were all transported at once. A little voice below said "excuse me?" It was a halfling carrying an enormous hammer and shield. "Can I help you?" Blackhawk asked about Jeck and he assured us that he would be found, much to my relief. Apparently the magic for is impossible for flying creatures to navigate. They lose all sense of direction. We climbed further, out of the clouds and into a glorious landscape of green grass and wild flowers, butterflies and a blue, blue sky.

The green hill had many round doors in it and we were directed to one of them by our relatively taciturn guide. After a moment of discussion between he and Roscoe, we were taken through a warren of halls and brought to a beautiful room with four large round windows. In the middle of the room was a huge table and in the larger of two chairs, a venerable hobbit. Roscoe bowed low and said, " Sir Edgar, I'd like to introduce you to more of my order if that is alright. Edgar Tallfellow is a retired guild member, and from his insignia, a master. His wife, Olivia came in looking every bit as cheerful as I was led to believe hobbits are. Roscoe told them about Jeck and Moondrop and Edgar snapped his fingers and presto! There they were. They were exhausted because they had been flying the whole time, no place to alight. Edgar said it would be his pleasure to put us up for the night. Dorian suggested that we sleep for 7 hours and then let the wagon drivers and the rest come up and sleep while we guarded the wagons. Edgar's staff began to bring in a feast the likes of which we've seldom seen. Smoked pheasant and swan wraps were just the tip of the iceberg. Hobbit hospitality is unrivaled in my book! In one way or another we all thanked Edgar for his hospitality. Stephen offered to play his new Gnomish harp and was unhappily surprised to find that it wouldn't stay in tune. His pipes weren't up to his usual high standards either, so finally in frustration he summoned a guitar. The performance drew quite a crowd. I wish I had half his talent. Raven asked Edgar if they have a lot of phase spider problems here, and he replied that they are well protected. Blackhawk asked him if he felt any disturbance in his magicks, but Edgar said he hadn't noticed any weakness. When Blackhawk pressed the point, he explained that cycles are always coming and going and that it's just the way of the world.All things change, he said. We then asked if there are many hobbits in the isles. Edgar said virtually the only hobbit settlements are in the midst of the Elvish lands or in strong human nations. Elensul asked about elves, and was told that there hadn't been an Elvin visitor in 5 years. Edgar said the last one was Gelmir! This, of course, made me think to ask if he had known Uncle Max. He had, and so I told him about our concerns for the rest of the Companions and about Uncle Max's untimely passing. He was as sad as I can imagine one of these jolly people being. I was sorry I told him, but soon Stephen's playing and some of our less depressing stories cheered him a little. Dorian apologized again for not telling us more about how to get to Green Hill, and then spent a while telling us what to expect on the rest of the journey to Fort Vindemar. He said there will be real things in the fog, which continues for a ways, as well as illusions. He expected us to get to Troll Bridge by tomorrow at sunset and to Fort Vindemar the next day. He said the main threats would be humanoid types, and that Troll Bridge is not a fort anymore, it is ruined and abandoned, but it will provide some shelter and we will camp there. The apprentices came up to eat and get some sleep so all of the magick users, myself included, could get enough sleep. It seemed like my head had barely hit the (very soft) pillow, when we were awakened to guard the wagonsÉ

Respectfully submitted by Maxfield Jaden Fox