Aria 25,26 1877 4th age

The Stormcrows looked at the man floating in the air a distance away, noting his half black face and red robes. He spoke. “Who gave you permission to travel upon my desert?” Lothar spoke for the group and apologised for the intrusion on his desert. “I insist on you joining me at my castle.” He then waved his hand and the phantom steeds which the group was riding were dispelled and the group floated to the ground.

He pointed to the north where the group could see the dust cloud that surrounded his castle. The group moved to the castle. The man reappeared in front of the door. Flook Dingle Jag could see that he was aglow with magic. They entered the wizards home and were impressed with the quality of the castle. The floors were of a blue tile which seemed cool to the feet. The walls had several paintings on the walls. One was a sequential picture of a woman from birth to death. Another wall had a picture of a ship sailing and the ship was moving in the painting. A third wall had a red curtain on it. The group saw stone golem servants bringing in water for the group. “I am Tarot and you are my guests.” in a tone that brooked no disagreement.

A discussion ensued, the Stormcrows found out that Tarot was the last of a group of wizards who overlooked the races of Beldorn and would push things in a proper direction. He mentioned of Barabass and his Dragon wife Ruth, of Felker, Ho Chin, Abdul and others. Flook Dingle Jag recongized these names as great wizards of previous ages. When asked about his age, Tarot said older than you think. The group asked more about why he doesn’t do things like that today. His response was that without the rest of wizards it wasn’t worth it. He went over to a table and waved a hand. Images of Lothar flashed by. He turned and said that Lothar is a node of history. Lothar was rather miffed about the intrusion.

Tarot invited the group to dinner and insisted on it. Each had their favorite dish served to them. A cursory look at the dinnerware, the group realized that the value of the dishes exceeded some 15,000 gold. He then suggested that they retire to the parlor and insisted on them having a drink. The parlor had a map of the world and the Stormcrows asked about where there they were on the map. The group realized that this would be worth alot to cartographers of the region. They noticed that the liquor that was being served also had a high worth.

The Stormcrows and Tarot discussed the location where the group was going. Tarot gave some information about the lizardmen who lived there, the structure, a little of Varanos and the book that the group was looking for. It seems that Varanos was turned into living metal due to some curse that he has not been able to remove.

Dessert was served and Tarot insisted on them having a piece. The Stormcrows decided that they needed to leave. Tarot insisted on them staying but Lothar said no that they needed to leave. The Stormcrows left through the front door and found a howling desert wind blowing but decided to press on and then would go up through a rope trick to rest for the night.

It was during this rest, that Lothar’s sword Blackrazor spoke to him. It spoke of him unlocking the least of its abilities and described other quests that would be required of him to unlock the rest of the swords abilities.

The Stormcrows traveled across the desert the next day and over the hills seeing mostly desolate barren terrain. After several hours of travel green was spotted by Nuna As the group got closer they could see a community within a large green area and blue of water. The group landed and walked through the upright crops along the outside of the town. The Stormcrows looked at dusty colored lizardmen who were working the crops and the lizardmen looked back. At the gate of the town the group was stopped by a trio of guards who hissed at them. Flook Dingle Jag understood the words and translated them to the group. It was not a object of greetings. One of the trio spun some balls on a stick making a clacking sound and soon a head popped up on the wall by the gate. This lizardman had a cloth cap on his head and told the group to go away in a tongue understood by the group. The stormcrows deliberated about this until the lizard man with the cloth cap disappeared rather rapidly behind the gates. He reappeared and told the gate keepers to open the doors.

A musty reptilian smell assailed the stormcrows noses as well as a putrid rancid smell. Several lizardmen stood between the humans and the doorway they had just entered. One extremely large lizardman with his hand on the lizardman with the cloth cap whispered to the cloth cap one. “You are welcome here” with a look that looked like a grin. “We are eating, please join us.” The lizardmen motioned the group to walk down the street, the rancid smell got stronger and the group saw why. There was an open pit with various dead creatures, being eaten by the lizardmen. The Stormcrows felt that disrection was the better part of valor and began to back away towards the gate. Lizardmen from behind crowded behind the group. Flook Dingle Jag yelled out that they had come to see Varanos. This stopped the lizardman push. The big lizardman picked out six of the lizardmen and motioned Flook Dingle Jag to follow them. The lizardmen went back and forth trying to get Flook Dingle Jag confused. They came upon the structure described by Tarot, a squarish building surrounded by water with a bridge going to a set of doors. Outside the water area was a series of holes. Flook Dingle Jag was told that the entrance was at one of the holes, Fluke noticed that bones littered the holes but was pushed nearly into one of the holes when a purple worm came out of the ground and attacked Fluke. The creature swallowed Fluke whole but Fluke was able to d-door out of the stomach back to the group.

In the meantime the remaining stormcrows, were slowly being hemmed in by an increasing number of lizardmen. Some were touching the arms of the heroes in a manner that suggested that they would be the dinner. Flook Dingle Jag’s return startled the lizards and the group flew up into the air and blasted fireballs at the massed lizardmen. Flook Dingle Jag, being particulary annoyed flesh to stone the big lizardman and then distingrated him. The group left to discuss particulars of entry the next day.