Jon says, rising from the table, "I will help but would like to wander around town and pick up some special supplies."
Farad spends the morning making sure he has an adequate supply of warm clothes that can be layered. "Doesn't someone here have a magical device that we can open up to escape the weather when we camp?"
"Hey you wern't supposed to mention that. I was hoping to enjoy my tent all to myself. But yes I still have my tent...havn't really tried to see how many people it will hold but it does supply me with plenty of food. And a good nights rest. Pillows are so much nicer to lay on than the ground," Kelar says with a smirk.
Raz turns to Kelar..."And you've been keeping this a secret the whole time?"
Raz looks slightly annoyed.
Farad looks at Raz, "It wasn't a secret. Its not his fault if you forgot about it."
The elf looks at Kelar, "Do you know if the item has a limited number of charges, or can be used every night?"
After procuring whatever supplies you need, you gather again at The Bow for a last lunch.
Finally, you set out, with Jo-owrn leading. The temperature is almost 15F, now. You pass through the bulk of Ar'razam before exiting through the city gates to the west. It is a mid-sized city, perhaps twice as large as Sandas. It is ruled by His Exalted Arch-Mage, Istan, who lives in a great palace in the middle of the city, right next to a mage's guildhall which dwarfs the one in Sandas. The place is clearly a mecca of sorts for magic users. The city streets are crowded, and many of the people you pass are obviously mages or students.
Ar'razam is built near the entrance to a valley which runs deep back into the Rocky Mountains. To the north and south are tall, snow-capped peaks. Looming over the city to the north is an enormous mountain, whose upper slopes are buried in the clouds.
"Tammal El," says Jo-owrn. "The tallest peak in Amrica. Atop it is the tower of the White Wizards."
At last you pass out of the city and into the country. Surrounding the city is farmland, which is fallow at this time of year. Eventually you leave that behind, too, and enter a heavy mixed coniferous/deciduous forest. The road you are on is called the Happy Road, and it runs more or less straight west up the valley. While there is 14" of snow on the ground here as well, the road is fairly well used, so you make good time. You ride until an hour after dark, then make camp in the woods. Once there, you examine Kelar's tent.
The elf speaks a command word, and it pitches itself.
You all pile in....to discover that it is much larger on the inside than the outside. Inside, it is 120' square. One one side are ten luxurious beds made up with silk coverings. On the other side is a stable for 10 horses. In between are tables and chairs...the former set with a meal for ten people. There is also a large water basin and a strange bush upon which grow many different fruits. Even the leaves look to be edible.
The whole place is comfortably warm, and illuminated with a soft magical light that Kelar can command to brighten or dim. The elf speaks another word, and the door locks itself. Beside it is a large window. However, while it shows a view of the surroundings outside, it is from a vantage point some 10' above the tent. There is also a second door, at the back of the chamber. Opening it, you see a strange place of colourful, swirling mists. Farad immediately recognises it as being the ethereal plane.
You close the door and pass an altogether comfortable evening. While there is not enough food or beds for all, it is sure much nicer in here than outside (on the Prime, anyway), where the temperature dips to -2F overnight.
"Hmmm bigger than usual. Or maybe I just never notice that much. As far as I know Farad it has unlimited charges but has to be folded up each day to recharge," says Kelar. "Speaking of my tent, Farad you seem to recognize that place in the back. What would happen if we left something there. Would it be there the next evening when we pitch the tent again?"
"Good question."
Farad leaves a few coppers, a dagger and some food (his own) there.
"Any of you brave rangers want to go outside and catch a live rabbit to try leaving in here overnight? I wouldn't want to try it with a horse or anything important. But it would be interesting to know if this place could serve as a quick way for one of us to carry the others, simular to that portable hole. But if it could be opened but once a day that would pose a problem."
Ayazin objects. "I don't see what is so unimportant about a rabbit, or for that matter, why we need to subject a live creature to your experiment. We want to know if objects left in that space will persist, and your objects will give us that information. There is no need to sacrifice a life."
Farad shakes his head. "We'll eat the rabbit tommorrow if that would satisfy you. Surely you don't object to the natural order of hunting for food. But I would like to know if something can survive in here when its closed up. We might have need of a quick escape. Remember I can only take two people with me to another plane. If I could use this like the portable hole our companion here has it would be useful."
Raz nods. "I agree with Farad. Such an experiment is needed if we are determine if the tent can be used to aid us in an escape situation. Ayazin, surely you understand the need to use a live animal for the experiment."
"I can understand the need for the information, yes. But why would we need to enter the ethereal doorway to escape? If you are wondering if the doorway is a chamber or an exit, why can't Farad just go in and see for himself? Surely that would tell us more about the doorway than saying 'let's toss in a rabbit and see if it dies or vanishes.' At least let us perform the inanimate object test first, and if the objects are not still there tomorrow, then we will know that a rabbit would have shared the same fate. If the objects are indeed there tomorrow, perhaps we can move on to other tests."
"Perhaps we should also consider that a single rabbit could live in a chamber for days on the air that our party, with horses, would consume in a few minutes. Especially if we engage in one of these discussions."
"Well let's just do the inanimate object test first then if that goes ok then we can go to the bunny test. Besides I would hate to get he animal loving patrons of the group in a tissy over tomorrow's dinner," says the cavalier.
Britan brushes his horse and feeds him. When he is all taken care of, he makes his bed on the ground and has some dinner.
"Hey Raz how about a quick game of poker before we go to sleep?"
He tosses a piece of beef jerky at Raz.
Raz catches the jerky and starts to chew on it.
"I like the way you think," he says in reply and promptly looks through his sack for his cards. After a moment he finds them and starts clearing a place to play on. Looking around to the others he asks, "Anyone else want in?"
Farad, having mentally marked Tammal El for future reference, says to Jo-owrn, "I wonder if there are any passageways leading to the tower through the inside of the mountain. You said you knew of one person who went there before... how did they get in, and what business did he have that they let him? I'm making it my business to learn all I can about these Wizards."
"I don't know about passages," says Jo-owrn, "But there is a road to the summit. It is a hard journey, even in the summer when I attempted it. Near the top the road is blocked off by a fortress, guarded by elves. They would not let me pass on to the Tower itself, and I had to return.
"As for the arch-mage who gained entry, I do not know how he did it. Somehow he befriended the Wizards, and they allowed him to do research in their libraries. But he had his own agenda, and somehow managed to steal a number of their books for his own collection. He eventually transformed himself into a lich, and was ultimately destroyed by the arch-mage Stiff, who then returned the stolen books to the Wizards."
Jo-owrn smiles.
"Stiff earned some brownie points for that...but they still refused his request to study with them."