Chapter Seven – Chasing the Walking Castle and Mount Celestia

Alturiak 23 – Chess 20, 1371 D.R.

[Studied in Excelsior Chess 20-Tarsek 5, 1371 D.R.]

            Sigil is definitely a place to visit more than once.  Thinking that, our next course of action took us back to Sigil on our way to track down the Walking Castle with the green eye.  We started by heading to the Tooka’s with our empty jar and he allowed us to use the gate to Sigil at the cost of three gold.  We took him up on the offer and to Sigil we went on our next adventure.

            Upon arriving back in the City of Doors, we almost immediately found a man whom looked more lost that we were and decided to see if we could help at all.  His name was Faithful Servant Li and he was a clerk in the palace of the Master of the Dead in the Celestial Bureaucracy.  It appears a petitioner named Golden Morning Radiance had become bored while waiting for an excessive amount of time in line with other dead souls and wandered off.  During this time, she managed to stumble through a gate to Sigil.  We, of course, offered to help him out.

            Knowing we would need a guide we hired a tout named Trilit.  He was a halfling who had, fortunately for us, seen Golden Morning Radiance.  She was being followed by both a Mercy Killer and a Dustman and was heading towards the Hive.  We immediately headed off in that direction.  Remembering Beno from our last visit to the hive, we stopped to see if he had any information.  Beno had been roughed up by the Mercy Killer for the same information but gladly gave it to us for a little coin.

            Cedar came up with a great idea, again (man, he’s good to have around).  He suggested that Faithful Servant Li deputize us, which would help us in dealing with the Mercy Killer.  It was a good plan and Li had no problem doing that for us.  This gave us official authority to take Golden Morning radiance from him without a fight. 

            We ran into the group of them in a back alley of the Hive.  The Dustman and Mercy Killer were fighting it out when we arrived.  After defeating the Dustman, the Mercy Killer turned his attention to us.  Li read the proclamation stating we were in service of Yen Wang Yeh, Judge of the Dead and we were here to recover Golden Morning Radiance.  The Mercy Killer stood down until Golden Morning Radiance said she didn’t want to go.  Through some quick talking she agreed to go with us without incident.  We escorted them to their gate location in the Clerk’s Ward and saw them on their way with no lines for her this time.  We then continued on our adventure.

            We headed to the Smoldering Corpse looking for Ebb Creakknees and Dreel to help us find the Walking Castle.  Trilit took us safely there and very directly, which was refreshing.  Dreel had just returned from the outlands and had seen our castle pacing back and forth along the same route, which was unusual for the castle.  Since its path was predictable, we determined it would be worth our time to track it down and Dreel offered to come with us.  He mentioned that a wizard and a group of mercenary tieflings had attempted to take over the castle but he was unsure of their success.  We got some supplies and headed out.

            Our gate out was located in the Clerk’s Ward.  We thanked, and paid, Trilit and went on our way.  We traveled for the remainder of the day moving away from the mountain that Sigil sat atop.  When we awoke, I could have sworn we had made it further.  Cedar and the others asked so I didn’t have to but the Outlands are always shifting.  That’s what makes it hard to determine travel times. The shifting is also what gets dangerous along the fringes.

            The evening before making camp we found the Walking Castle.  It was on its now well-worn path with its Green Light shining.  Dreel took us through a depression and told us to stand on this 5’ diameter grassy pillar.  He said the castle comes back and sets down here to rest at night.  Smashed by a castle, that’s what I signed up for on this adventure.  He assured us that the grassy area ended up inside the castle as long as we stayed on the pillar.  When asked if he had ever tried it, of course he said he had considered it and ran away at the last minute.  Anything to give us confidence.  Just then the ground started shaking with each footstep the castle took.  The castle could really move at a good pace over the land.  I was in awe as it approached us.

            In this time where a privy is only found at an upper end establishment, I felt like a bug in a privy as the castle stood over us ready to take a seat.  As it lowered itself to the ground, the escaping air was like the wave after a fireball goes off, but not nearly as hot.  As the castle finally rested on the ground, we let go of each other to size up our new situation.  We were definitely inside the castle walls and weren’t expected to be there by any means.

            Upon our scattering, we saw a teifling guard in each of the four towers as well as a mage (Red Wizard) on the wall.  Bow and bolt fire attacked the ones on the towers while Shane headed for the wizard.  Cedar was stunned by a color spray spell.  Oskar helped finish off those who made it down to our level.  When all was said and done, we had finished them all off with relatively mild injuries.  Cedar really did well with his flaming spheres against the mage.  How appropriate for a Red Wizard to be cooked with flames.  Primula’s bowshot to finish him off was on target and sunk in deep.  One Tiefling who still had a little life in him shot Oskar in the back.  He was eliminated as a threat rather quickly.  A gargoyle-like beast attacked as well but was taken down efficiently. Even though is had been a rather scary, dark figure not seconds before, it turned into a dog after it was killed. 

            After searching a bit, we found what remained of the crew.  They had all been murdered, or so we thought.  We found a note from someone named Vanya, whom we are assuming is Daravil’s daughter.  She and a few of the crew apparently escaped through a portal to a place called Heart’s Faith.  In her letter she mentioned some of her, now diseased, crew including Beril, Sarus, and Little Pragus.  We gathered the gear from our enemies, prepared ourselves, and looked for the gate to continue on.  We were unable to find the gate, however.  Cedar discovered in the mage’s spell book it identified him as the student of someone named Arnulf.  Putting together some of the coincidences, we gathered he was the Red Wizard we needed to be worried about and he, too, was in pursuit of Vanya and probably overheard us.  Dreel offered to continue guiding us to Excelsior, the gate town for the plane of Mount Celestia where Heart’s Faith was located.  We agreed but decided to rest the night before continuing on to find Vanya.

            During the division of treasure, I claimed a really intriguing dagger.  It was a green steel dagger, which was forged in the fires of Baator.  It was very light and very quick.  Cedar still only carried his staff, which had me worried.  Without over-thinking it too much, I gave Cedar the dagger so he’d have another weapon.  Since it was small and light, it made sense that he should have no problem using it.  He appreciated it as I appreciate all of his magical support.  I hope he uses it well.  It was the first time since our trip to the Dwarven Safehold that he seemed to forget whom my dad was associated with and accept things the way they were.

            The next day we woke up early in the morning since we had to be on our way before the castle left for the day.  We traveled for the day towards Excelsior and eventually stopped to make camp.  During the night another hideous monster thing attacked us.  When we killed it, it turned into a bird about as big as a crow.  Cedar told us they were called Darkenbeasts and then murmured something about how cruel it was to the animal host to have this done to it.  It was assumed this was sent by the Red Wizard we were chasing so we knew he was still alive.  This became a nightly occurrence until Cedar started casting some Rope Tricks for us to sleep in.  The beasts then continued on looking for us and did not find us.

            We ran across a group of what Dreel told us were Modrans.  They were cubical creatures.  We couldn’t tell if they were on patrol or on procession.  It was decided that we should avoid them and continue along our way.  They were odd creatures but, without knowing if they were friend or foe, we needed to continue on our journey.

            We finally arrived at Excelsior on the 8^th of Chess.  We were approached a little ways out of the city by a group of archons.  There was one leader-type whom was a hound archon and about a dozen lantern archons.  We were welcomed to Excelsior by Arturonius, the hound archon, and found out that the Red Wizard, Arnulf, we had been chasing had been jailed.  They were going to try and rehabilitate him.  It sounded to me like he’d be there a while if that were their intent.

            Excelsior, itself, was an incredible place.  You could feel the good pouring from it.  There were eleven floating castles, which decorated the sky around the city.  There were mounted patrols of knights both on land and in the air on mount I could only dream about in my best stories.  We were told the gate to Lunia, where Heart’s Faith was located, was in the Tower of Thought.  We were warned it was a wet trip on the other side so we decided to do some shopping in town before we continued on to Lunia.  The shopkeepers were very straightforward and honest and gave us great prices both in buying and selling.  It was a market like I have never seen before.  Oskar and Shane were treated like nobles here.  I am guessing it was due to their belief structure.  Cedar got some waterproof skins and some air bladders to help keep his stuff dry and help him float to shore.  It sounded like a good idea to me but was there really going to be that much water?

            When we arrived at the Tower of Thought, we found it guarded by some lantern archons.  The allowed us to pass and we entered to find a lower room filled with many, many stairways going up.  We each chose a staircase that befit us and needed to think of Heart’s Faith and Lunia on our way up the stairs.  I was wondering just how far up the stairs would go when I suddenly was falling – yes, falling!  With a splash I landed in what was an Ocean with a mountain off a little ways.  The water seemed better than normal and felt…good.  We found out later it was holy water – the entire body of water was all Holy Water!  I found out later it is called the Silver Sea.

            While we were splashing about and floating our way into shore, a group of creatures that appeared to be elves with the lower portion being an octopus greeted us.  They helped us into the shore.  They were called Zoveri.  When we arrived on shore, yet another fascinating creature greeted us.  This guardian had the body of a lion but had wings as well.  It was named Arguros and it was an llamasu.  It asked our business and Oskar informed it of our current intensions.  He found us an escort to go find Vanya in Heart’s Faith.  This was incredibly helpful.  He began to talk about the paths up Mount Celestia and the challenges they held for growth but my mind wandered to take in the sheer beauty of the place.  The mountain itself was topped in golden sun.  Lunia was mostly dark but lit by moonlight.  Selune would have enjoyed knowing her presence is here. 

            The guardian called a Diva guardian, a winged being with white eyes, to guide us to Vanya.  We found her at a hospice in Heart’s Faith.  Vanya listened intently to what had happened, the fate of her father, the recovery of her castle, and the Red Wizard looking to eliminate her.  We all received a warm hug for our travels as she showed her appreciation.  She also assisted us in finding lodging while we stayed in Heart’s Faith. 

            Due to the rarity of this experience and liking the idea of resting in a place this safe and comfortable, we elected to stay for a while.  Shane and Oskar immediately took to the paths up Mount Celestia.  Shortly afterwards, to my surprise, Cedar took his leave and headed the same way.  Did he not want his time to study?  Why was he headed up Mount Celestia?  I decided to try and take in what local lore, stories, and information I could find and everyone was more than willing to talk with me about everything.  It was amazing.  No gold up front, no veiled threats, just pure information for the gathering.  Our stay was pleasant and very enlightening for a few of us.  Let me explain.

            Oskar had the most varied experience from the sounds of things.  After heading up the mountain a ways   he felt drawn back to the water for some reason.  He met a Northman Captain named Fernoch Bearhugger.  The captain took him out onto the water heading towards a tower of flame.  While out there I’m sure it was a grand adventure as Oskar is not fond of the water but he recovered an ergosh from the tower of flame.  Upon his arrival back with the group it was discovered that Oskar’s ergosh in the room had rusted away as he set sail.  Shane did not speak much of his adventure on the mountain but it was obvious by the look on his face, the glow in his eyes, and the posture he now held that something inspiring had happened to him.

            Cedar seemed at a huge loss for words upon his return.  He mentioned reaching a new understanding of things and appears to have an air about him more similar to Shane and Oskar now than before.  He totally seems inspired.  It will be interesting to see what these changes due to Cedar’s personality and how it effects who he is now.

            After everyone returned, we headed to Excelsior.  Oskar’s Captain friend offered to take us out to the portal that would take us back to Excelsior.  We took him up on the ride and, upon jumping through, found ourselves in the Tower of Thought again.  The group decided to spend some time here to study, recover and re-supply.  I will gladly take the opportunity to learn more about this new town and whatever stories, lore, and songs it may hold.

The Songs and Stories of My Life,

Kerith of the Dalelands