Mystran rest

[Iron Dragoon]

Understood, thank you!

[Anastasia]

That gets Antenora to nod, "Nothing was lost," she points out, "And we did gain insight. Whatever that lie is, it is powerful enough to threaten us credibly. As it was said: He is the terminus. He is where it will end. He is one of hers. We don't know what we meddle in here, only that it is a matter of great cosmic importance. I'm sorry Alicia, but the risk was too great. Not with what we know and the power we have now."

"So now what?" Syala asks, crossing her arms. "We went here out of desperate need, that changes nothing."

"I would suggest we find the Man of the Winds," Antenora says, "Force him to speak raw truth, force him to tell us what we need to know. What we can use to decide if this is meaningful or a mistake. "

[Ebiris]

Were they credibly threatened? Alicia didn't feel so.

"Very well. Lets take care of that frog and depart then," she lets Antenora lead them back to the throneroom.

[Anastasia]

The frog is there - and Antenora simply removes it with a touch, carrying the face. It doesn't object - perhaps it's not that stupid, but she carries it with her.

How are you getting out?

[Ebiris]

Alicia attempts to open a gate to the astral plane from here.

Spoiler: ShowHide

Alicia HP: 785/831 (-46 vile)
Active spells: Many moments of prescience (CL 38), extended mind blank (CL 39), extended nondetection (CL 39), greater heroism (CL 36), extended ray deflection (CL 39), epic mage armour (CL 36), sensual blessing (CL 36), greater foresight (CL 38), keen edge (CL 36 on sword), dance of the unicorn (CL 36), extended greater anticipate teleportation (CL 38), repelling shield (CL 38), freedom of movement (CL 36), greater visage of the deity (CL 36), recitation (CL 36), greater true seeing (CL 36), good hope (CL 36)
Defences: AC 108, CMD 117, spell resistance 51, energy immunity (fire and cold), status immunity (polymorph, petrification, disease, poison, stunning, sleep, paralysis, death effects, disintegration, energy drain, ability damage, ability drain, mind-affecting, and fear), nondetection (DC 54), freedom of movement
Stat buffs/penalties: +4 morale attack/skills/saves, +10 armour AC, +25 competence perception, +7 insight AC/ref, +4 str, +2 dex, +4 con, +2 int, +4 wis, +4 cha, +1 natural armour AC, +9 shield AC, +3 luck AC/attack/saves, +2 morale ability checks
Perceptions: Arcane sight, true seeing, 5 mile tremorsense/blindsight/scent perception +87
Sorcerer spell slots: 6/16/16/14/9/9/15/9/9/4/8/4/7/7/6/3
Duskblade spell slots: 6/23/22/23/11/7/16

[Anastasia]

No good, at least not in the castle proper. Defenses most likely.

[Ebiris]

That's the sort of thing arcane sight really should warn her of before she expends a ninth circle slot.

Oh well, she renders them all invisible again. "Quiet, lets leave the way we came," she says, starting to fly back out to escape from that battlefield they arrived at.

[Anastasia]

This is easy enough and this time you return home.

"So...now what do we do?" Kascha asks.

[Ebiris]

"Where can we find this Man of the Winds and how much help can we really expect from him?" Alicia asks, going back to what Antenora said earlier.

[Anastasia]

"Jessica's still looking, he's not in Pandemonium," Syala reports, "Last I heard, she said he'd gone to ground and will take some time to find."

[Ebiris]

"So we're at an impasse. And we don't even know if anything on 666 can even be useful to us," Alicia concludes, disappointed. "We can keep Jessica looking if she has the time, but for now we're back where we started and no closer to countering Shar's recent moves."

[Anastasia]

"It's unfortunate," Antenora says, "Alicia, would you have fought there or retreated?" She meets your eyes, "I couldn't justify the risk, justify a battle somewhere that an errant word could possibly warp reality."

[Ebiris]

"It depends, we hadn't yet learned enough to know if it was worth fighting for," Alicia says to Antenora. "We don't even know the truth of its reality warping effect. I wanted us all to watch our words out of an abundance of caution, but we don't really know what it's capable of or how it works."

[Anastasia]

"How about we see if we can make a second trip better?" Syala suggests, "Any spells or preparations that may aid us. Rather than chasing our own tails here."

[Ebiris]

"I don't think any spells are going to make another trip go differently than the last one, and we're more likely to run into opposition this time. At least until we get some information from the Man of the Winds we may as well just leave it alone," Alicia says, not wanting to go right back immediately after leaving.