...Where The Company of Heroes Gather and Bond

"Not orcish, not dwarf, only some humanoids regard themselves as houses. Human? Elf?" Korgazhar tried to recall if his clan had any contact with this Eilserv house.

"Ah, I remember! They served some sort of dark deity. It's not a good sign that they're involved in this affair."

Having passed on the limited information he gathered to Julian mentally, Ælfric settled down for a night of watchfulness. Before contact was broken, Ælfric asked Julian when they could expect the wizard's return. A night's sleep meant he had his cloaking ability back but he would hold it in reserve should the giants and their wolves approach the cave.

"If we do not leave, we will have to make our stand here sooner or later," he said to the others.

Korgazhar nodded to Fernal, seeing as the barbarian was adept at monitoring the patrols. "Time the patrols when you see them, so we'll know exactly when to move when the time comes."

She pauses her view and walks over and brings back her barrel. She quickly digs out her mess kit cup before returning to viewing with her spy glass. Be a while before they stop searching. You all made an impression. Besides we need to time to get ready anyway.

Having given his unseen servants some time to scour his library for relevant information, and receiving Ælfric's message that House Eilserv was a faction of powerful elves that once served dark gods, Julian begins to pour over the collected information to see what he might learn before turning in for the night to recharge his body and arcane energies alike.

Even as his companions settled in after their return to rest and recover, and while they watched the new patrols, Korgazhar mentally reviewed their options."Is this how we operate? Our mage runs off after every fight, while we wait until he's brave enough to reappear? He's like a child with his fancy teleporting toy, and all of you are coddling his time wasting. None of the information he has uncovered so far has done us any good." Korgazhar became angrier and angrier as time passed, with no sign of Julian.

Fernal calls back, Mages. You should know how they are. Something you live with. Not a lot of concern in her voice.

His morning spell preparations complete, and his helm recharged, Julian gathered some small amount of supplies from his tower before retrieving the vial filled with rock from the cave his allies currently hid in. He takes a step, and finds himself in the cave surrounded by his allies. "Our enemies possess divination magic similar to my own. Do not disturb me, I must ward our hideout." Walking to the cave's entrance, he begins casting the ten minute ritual necessary to cast Mordenkainen's Private Sanctum.

Korgazhar was about to say something curt at the reappearance of the wizard, but Fernal's nonchalant words still rang in his head, so he kept his peace for the moment.

Fernal is taken back strangely by Korgazhar behavior or lack of it. She pauses in thought even a moment or two. Which is odd for her.

Julian is it safe for us to travel outside now that you have casted magics there? Appears she is a bit concerned and obviously has no idea what he has done.

Julian would have responded to the inquiries of his teammates, but the intricate nature of the spell required his complete concentration, and answering questions verbally risked interfering with the verbal components of the spell. Once his chanting and gesturing was completed, however, he turned to acknowledge the group. "My apologies. We can speak freely now that the cave has been warded."

Making his way to the flattest section of the cave, Julian sits cross legged on the floor. Casting high level magics before breakfast was a tiring endeavor. "In here we are safe from the scrying eyes of the giant's allies, Fernal. No divination magic can pierce these wards; however, no magic I possess can protect us outside its bounds. The cave, and a small bit of land outside it is protected, but step too far out and detection is possible, though unlikely. Our enemies have no way of knowing, after all, when we will leave the protection of these wards, and continually attempting to divine our location would be incredibly taxing for even the most powerful of mages."

Possibly losing his tongue again, Ælfric greeted Julian with a single word.

"Eilserv?"

Korgazhar judged that Julian was none the worse for wear, nor were the other two who went on their botched kidnapping mission. He kept his irritation in check, in favour of thinking and planning ahead."Everyone has recovered. Good. We now have a more difficult task ahead. What are our options for teleporting all of us into a safe spot? Since charging up the front gate is now harder."

Still sitting crossed legged on the floor, Julian contemplates their options. "Before any decisions are made, know this. I have but one use left this day. If we use it to infiltrate, we will need to employ more traditional means of exfiltration. Beyond that, if I can see the destination, there is little chance of failure; however, safe transport is never guaranteed without a piece of matter from the desired destination."

Rising to his feet, he walks to the edge of his wards, staring out of the cave. "In all likelihood, they have once again warded our last point of insertion. I do not think it wise that we should enter that way once again."