Teleportation and Going for a Swim

Mid-morning, Anarire 19, 370 F.S.

En route to the Sidhe tower on the Isle of Souls, Thargus asks others in the party who "the other ship" was, referring to Dyderic's ship who had shown up on the Isle of Souls when the Master's minions decided to launch an attack upon the Sea Tiger. The party lets him know it was a merchant named Dyderic. Thargus then tells the party that Dyderic is more than a mere merchant, dealing in extortion and black market trade (Thargus had done work for Dyderic in the past). He found it interesting that Dyderic would take interest in the party.

The party continues to investigate the archways atop the ancient Sidhe tower on the northern end of the Isle of Souls. Deliberation ensued as to the operation of the gates. In the end, Siglan's adventurous streak won out and he (with the aid of Alexis) walked under the arch with the numeral "7" inscribed on its lintel in Sidhe. He disappeared. More deliberation ensued. After a bit, curiosity won out and, one by one, everyone in the party except for Vyn and Thargus (who has been following Alexis around like a puppy) walked under the arch. Before Y'lora entered, she told Vyn that if the party did not make it back, that he was to travel back to the Sea Tiger and tell Captain N'Questra what has happened.

They did not come back.

After an hour, Vyn begins the one-day trek back to the Sea Tiger and informs Capt. N'Questra of the events, and that most likely, the rest of the party is in the Bay of Arnur Culri (according to the text found in The Master's library, this is where they believe the tower would be taking them). Vyn requests that N'Questra voyage up to Arnur Culri to pick up the party. N'Questra, realizing that the "cargo" for which he was charged with safely delivering to, and returning from, the Isle of Souls is now 1800 miles to the north, agrees to travel to Arnur Culri with the condition that he must first make a two-day delay by stopping in Nestbaggann to drop off the rescued slaves and captured minions with "somebody", as well as restock the ship's supplies. Vyn acquiesces, and travels aboard the Sea Tiger.

*flashback one day*

Arimas, Siglan, Alexis, Thain, Y'lora, Johan, and Bruno, having stepped through the teleportation arch, find themselves on the top floor of yet another similar yet very different tower. The Sidhe sigil "7" is inscribed in the middle of the floor. About the pentagon-shaped room are five more archways, each with a Sidhe numeral inscribed in their lintels (6, 9, 12, 5, and 3). Arimas notices that arches 6, 9, and 12 possess an aura whereas 5 and 3 do not. After closer interrogation of the diagram found in the tome concerning the 12 Towers, Alexis hypothesizes that all gateways may not be presently working, and some may only work one-way. In any event, after stepping into the various arches and realizing that nothing happened, the party came to the conclusion that they are stuck here.

Looking out from the windows of the tower, it could be seen that this tower was located in a large body of water, with the shore about 50 yards to the north. Siglan and Y'lora heard a splashing sound from within the tower, some floors below them. Investigating, they find that the first floor of the tower is completely submerged. Y'lora finds some relatively fresh humanoid tracks on the second floor near the stairway that leads down into the water. The tower contains nothing of noteworthiness; just some sparse and very old and decayed furniture. While investigating the second floor, Siglan hears something in the water. Looking into the stairway leading down, Y'lora sees the water boil (as in movement below the surface... not steam and such).

Returning to the top floor, the party debates on how to escape to land. Arimas apportates Y'lora out of the tower and onto shore. Soon afterwards, several of the villagers living on the coast approach Y'lora. She begins a discussions with one of them, a fisherman. She explains that her party is in the tower and needs to reach land. The fisherman wants nothing to do with "that blasted tower", explaining that they have lost some men in the past when attempting to investigate the tower in the bay. He tells of a mysterious great shark that can pull men from dry ground into the water that haunts the tower. Y'lora convinces him to let her borrow his boat (for a nice deposit of copper, of course) and she makes her way back out to the tower. Alexis and Thain are the first two to climb into the boat. Just as Thain makes his way into it, the boat shudders as something very large runs into it from below the water. Y'lora loses her balance and falls into the water.