At long last Occa emerges from his speil of spell casting...looking older and really needing a bath.
All of you are really itching to get on with matters.
Arrrgh! will be accompanying the party this time instead of Stiff.
Op Code asks everyone "When will we all be ready to go back in? I'm ready now."
Occa shaves, jumps in a nearby pool, jumps Tracy, jumps into a nearby pool with Tracy, and then says, "Let's go!!! Shall we do some recon to see if they have filled the places we cleared with more critters? Maybe Pharian and I could teleport there invisible, fly around after polymorphing to get an idea and then head back. What do you think? Then we could set out on foot."
Pharian agrees with Occa's plan.
Just before teleporting in, Pharian will say a couple of things to Occa.
"I am going to cast detect invisibility so that I can see you; I assume that you will be able to see me with your robe. If we end up getting separated somehow, both of us should immediately teleport back to camp. Then if only one of us shows up, the other one will know where to head back to with reinforcements."
"Why don't you lead, since my brain is going to be out of town for the weekend."
Then Pharian tells Occa the spells he has memorized.
Occa says, "Okay, turn invisible..." He casts invisibilty on himself and then reachs out to find Pharian...
Then there is an audible "pop".
So far, this winter has been a brutal one. For the past month the temperature has struggled to even get above 0F...and there has been snow on the ground since the end of December.
As of the morning of January 31st, though, the temperature is a relatively mild 20F...though there is 3.5 feet of snow on the ground...and heavy clouds threatening to dump more on you...
Against this background Occa and Pharian turn invisible and teleport into the Halls of Galahad to scout around. Darian, meanwhile, heads off alone into the woods...the snow nearly coming up to his neck...
Occa and Pharian return...
Occa is now visible and says, "Well, the dungeon is repopulated as I had feared...that is okay, though...there seems to be very little order there, so I think it will work to our advantage. Let's head out."
When he realizes how deep the snow is, he says, "Uh, maybe we should come up with a better means of getting there. Anyone with a carpet of flying? Another alternative would be to get everyone in Pharian's portable hole and then teleport....any suggestions?"
Darian, realizing that there's no way he's going to make it with the snow this deep returns to camp. "Well, I'm ready. But getting into a portable hole? How do you breathe in there?"
Occa says, "There is enough air in there to last a few minutes."
Salaam defers.
"Thank you anyway, Occa, but I will use my boots of flying to gain entrance to the Halls."
"Yeah," Gilstrock says, "I have boots which can levitate me, though I can just go up and down with them. I'll need somebody to get me moving so I can glide along. And, I could probably carry one of the elves."
Jesse looks at Cat and at Gilstrock, "Perhaps you could carry me?" she asks the strong fighter.
Gonzo looks around for a wide log and then shaves it down into two workable shovels about 8" wide with handles he can grasp with his short sword. Giving a mighty "KARUMBA" he attacks the pile of snow like a small compact snow-blower, twirling both arms in a circular motion, like a back stroke, but attacking the piled snow in front of him like a snow-blower blasting a trail with the paddles.
"Anyone coming?" he asks.
Occa says, "Let's move out."
Occa follows after Gonzo, stopping only to cast unseen servant. He orders it to help with the task.
Gonzo shovels like a madman - errrr - mad dwarf for 4 hours and 40 minutes...at which point he collapses face first in a snowbank, exhausted.
You have travelled about 2/3 of a mile...you have about 6.5 more to go.
Occa's unseen servant expired a long time ago...
It is early afternoon.
Weakly, Gonzo says.... "timmmmmmmbbbbbrrrrrrrr."
Op Code asks the others "Shall we all start digging, or do we regroup and figure out another plan?"
Pharian says, "While Gonzo's performance has been entertaining, another plan might work better. Maybe we could use Occa's bridge-- he sets it up, we all walk across, and then he sets it up again a little further on."
Occa says, "The bridge only works once, I believe...."
"Or we could just all make some snowshoes."
"Look," Gilstrock says. "I've got these boots which allow me to levitate, and I can lift nearly 500 pounds with them. That should be enough for me and almost any other one of you. Salaam has boots of flying. So how 'bout this. I lift somebody off the ground, and we're floating. Salaam flys along, and pushes us to where we want to go. I dump off the person I just took, float back up, and Salaam pushes me back. It'll take a while, but we could try it."
"If you guys don't go for that, then I say we cut down a few trees and make a sled," Gilstrock adds.
"This is a better idea."
"I like the snowshoe idea better," Op code remarks.
And so, humbled by the mighty forces of mother nature, the party returns to camp to construct snowshoes and sleds.