Khyree's Story

As you steer the ship closer you can tell by the lake's crystal clear water that the water collected here is shallow, but deep enough for your ship to land comfortably. The crater is high above the forest; only a few other nearby peaks are higher. The land around the crater continues a steep descending slope 800ft or so down to the jungle on one side and to the ocean on the other. The nearby peaks protrude out from the ocean.

It seems unlikely that any bands of humans like the slavers or even creatures such as centaurs could make their way up here very easily. The air is thinner but cool and comfortable. If any creature at all resides up here, it would be unlike anything you've encountered.

It is a peaceful sight. You could easily land in the crater lake. It would be comfortable to rest and recharge.

As peaceful as the area feels, something strikes you odd about the rock formation at the center. It's a bit different than the other rocks around the crater. There's a slight discoloration that doesn't match the other rocks. It also seems oddly symmetrical to you. As your ship comes around closer, you catch glimmers of light as the sun's light plays across the surface of the rocky peak. You wonder what could be catching the light that way. The glints almost seem metallic. At the origin of one glint, your keen senses notice what looks like, from this distance, to be a hairline crack that's unnaturally strait. It stretches completely over the entire formation. It almost seems like a seem.

Cloudy mist still lingers at your feet due to the ship's disguise.

Khyree eyes the spired formation warily, as she sets down the ship at the edge of the pool. She needs rest and recovery time and hopes that the crystal clear water will have time to settle so that she can possibly take aboard some for drinking at some point.

You easily set the ship down at the edge of the pool. When the ship comes to rest the cloudy mist at your feet stirs. You are pretty sure that the ship is completely disguised as a cloud formation. The air is cool and the water calm. You are able to rest.

After filling the barrel with water, Khyree sets up her bedroll in the captain's quarters, secures the door, and eventually falls asleep. When she awakens, she will meditate and focus her Ki, before going out on deck and practing her formations, then training.

The sleep was needed and restful. When you wake you meditate, attuning to, focusing on, and absorbing the force of the Dragon. You invite its energy and you coax it into the reserve of the Dragon Ship as well.

But this time like never before, you felt you had to penetrate a veil to connect with the force. Much of your meditation in the past has been done in the presence of your master Grekkor, so at first you thought the veil may be due to Grekkor not being present to guide you as he did in the beginning or as he later meditated along side of you helping draw out the energy. But you are not so sure that is the reason. It felt as if the Dragon force had been scooped out of the area, taken, bottled up and you first had to penetrate the borders that confine it.

A little at unease by the difficulty of the meditation but now fully rested and recharged (
Khyree--Current HP: 24, Temp HP: 0, KI: 3
Dragon Ship Ki reserve: 1d4+3

You take to the main deck and begin practicing formations. After a little while of focused work, you hear a loud mechanical noise come from the rock formation in the lake's center. When you look the rock opens up and out sputters a small flying machine, piloted by a small figure...a gnome maybe.

The machine rises upward out of the opened rock, propeller patoons on its side turn 90 degrees, and then it makes a circle around the lake, before making an inquisitive narrow circle above the cloud formation (your disguised ship) resting in the water.

Khyree watches the curious aircraft and its occupant as it flies around the lake and comes in for a closer look of the cloud ship.

You confirm that the pilot of this peculiar flying machine is a gnome as it gets close and circles your ship--disguised as a cloud formation settled in the clear water. The machine hovers for a moment as side pontoons rotate 90 degrees. Sparks fly from the pontoons and smoke fills a control seat area where the gnome pulls levers and adjusts gears. A cylinder of blue energy glows brightly by the gnomes side.



After a moment of inquisitive puzzlement on the gnome's face, he pulls levers, the pontoons change direction, and the machines flys off, outside of the crater area.

The rock formation still remains open.


Khyree--Current HP: 24, Temp HP: 0, KI: 3
Dragon Ship Ki reserve: 7

Khyree stands stunned for a few moments at what she has just seen, before gathering her senses about her and preparing to take flight once more. She watches the gnome and his flying machine vanish into the distance, before taking the helm and causing the cloud ship to rise into the sky.

Once they have ascended to a decent cruising altitude, she moves them along on their continued course.

The flying machine sputters off. You raise the ship up above the land mass and continue on course.

About four hours go by traveling 1000 ft above the coast when you see a city below...

Dragon Ship Ki reserve: 5

Khyree scans the city for the best area to dip the ship down long enough for her to debark and then have it vanish back into the sky. Her funds are meager, but she needs to resupply food if nothing else.

Discovering the spot between hills on the narrow river, Khyree directs the dragon ship down. Then, as quick as she can get off the cloud-disguised vessel, can sends it back into the sky.

As you bring the ship down behind a hill, you get a good view of the hilly area. It's still very jungle-like here, but more open and less dense than the area where you evaded the centaurs into the clearing guarded by the ents and ultimately connected with the ship.

Looking back toward the coast you notice a strange structure near the river. It has a large pipe with steam coming from it. The city is about a half mile beyond that.



You set the ship down in the river, disembark, and send it back into the sky.
Time: early afternoon

With the ship safely back in the clouds, Khyree glances at the odd smoking pipe stilling out of the building. A curious chimney perhaps. She shrugs and sets off on the road toward the city she saw along the coast.

You easily find and take the road, which basically follows along side the river until it eventually crosses it over a bridge. Over the bridge, the road splits from the river and follows a narrow inlet waterway. Soon you are close enough to the strange structure you saw landing the ship to get a good look at it.

It looks mostly human in design--not the tribal humans that you grew up with, but the type of humans who build cities, walls, and keeps and who are controlled by kings and queens.

But there are definitely some modifications that look just as strange up close as they did from the sky. These you are not convinced are human in design. There are smaller pipes beside the large smoking you noticed before. There are additions to the building of odd shapes as well. Also, a constant subdued hum comes from the structure. You also notice a thick cable attached to a round copper plate. The cable runs from the plate down into the ground.

You don't see anyone around the building.

Khyree eyes the odd structure suspiciously and keeps on task to reach the city. She minds her own business and goes about her way.

After following the road for another quarter mile, Khyree rounds a bend around a hill and finally sees the walled city ahead. It appears to be surrounded by a wide waterway on all sides except on the side of the city that is ocean shore. The road bends and leads toward a large drawbridge with defense towers on all corners. The bridge is down. You can see a caravan of some sort heading toward it now. The caravan, which is between you and the bridge, is still a distance from the bridge. You yourself are about a quarter mile away from the bridge.