Session 19: Surprise

On top of the mountain just after defeating the Quaking Earth, the adventurers faced the question of how best to get back to the ground. They stood around for a while debating various methods, such as Billy using his new travel-through-earth powers, Aggie flying herself to the ground, or reusing the eagles they had used to navigate the passages into the mountain. Eventually they decided that the eagles were the best option.

Aggie was also keen on trying to take some of the books with them, as they could prove useful. As the eagles were carrying people to the ground in pairs, Aggie chose to go last as she could spend that time shovelling books into the Bag of Holding. As she was doing so, she was able to spot her own homestead and farm from the vantage point at the top of the walking mountain.

Before long, they had all successfully made it to the ground. They moved away from the Quaking Earth as quickly as possible, not knowing how long it would remain standing. However, they realised that they had left their horses and wagon at the cabin back at the mountain shack, and thus decided that they had no choice but to walk the road back to go get them. Too far away from anywhere in particular t to reach shelter before the sun set, they had to erect a makeshift camp by a nearby creek. Aggie spoke to Terra and asked her to teach her the spell she had used when fighting the Quaking Earth, and Terra agreed to teach Aggie the spell Flame Blade. Abe went hunting and successfully brought back a sheep carcass. The meat fed them for the night with leftovers for the next morning. Abe and Aggie bickered about whether the skin of the sheep would work to make a good bag to carry the remaining meat in, and Aggie successfully made a carry bag (if rather bloody) out of the skin.

The next day, the group travelled on foot to Manzanita Post and once again ran into Calvin the station clerk. The group didn't stay long, and eventually they made their way to the horses. The horses were fairing just fine, and so the next step was straight on to Blackwater.

Several days later, they finally make it back to Blackwater to be greeted by highly confused townsfolk. The walking mountain was tall enough that it was visible from town, and so they were all generally curious to hear about what had happened. The adventurer paid a visit to Mayor Irving,and told him the story. He paid the group $50 for the trouble and after some negotiations from Aggie he also offered them a tab for celebratory drinks in the local bar.

Aggie coralled the group into having a victory party. There, she challenged Billy to a drinking contest which Terra also then joined. Aggie, Billy, Abe, Maurice, Elisen and Terra all spent some exhausted but triumphant social time in Blackwater through the evening. Elisen and Aggie spoke with Terra about her what her plans would be now. Terra explained that she had with her an amulet that had the power to transport her home, and that was her intention. Finally, Terra made her way to her rooms at the hotel and the rest of the party retired to their own quarters for the night.

The night passed.

When Abe woke the next morning, Abe noticed that something was wrong. As the holder for the bag of holding, he noticed that it had been moved slightly from where he left it. On top was a note: "*Nothing personal. It's just business.*" Abe soon found that several items were missing from the bag of holding, including all the valuables. Abe raced downstairs to ask the bartender if he had seen anything. The bartender responded that he had seen Maurice leaving the premises early in the morning. Outside, the wagon and contents along with Hercules were also missing.

Abe came back inside as everyone else was waking up. As he told them about Maurice disappearing, the majority of the group got very quiet. Aggie went into denial and refused to accept it, instantly going searching for Maurice and assuming that Abe was just pulling a prank.The rest of the group surmised that Maurice, who had always been keen on getting to the Bibble knowing that it was related to his history with Cromwell, was most likely on his way to find the book first.

Abe went and used the $50 reward from Mayor Irving to buy supplies, now they they no longer had their wagon. Meanwhile, Elisen and Aggie went to go say goodbye to Terra. Terra and Elisen spoke extensively about their homeland, with Terra mentioning something about Elisen killing her people's general. She said that she was going to go home to tell her people that the Quaking Earth was dead, and to tell Elisen's people the same, although she would try to omit Elisen's presence in this act. Terra gave Elisen a scroll that may one day help Elisen get back home but that she would need to find an item attuned to the home world to use it. Aggie gave Terra a hairpin of her's in the hopes that in case Terra ever needed to find them again, she could use the pin to help locate the group.

Regrouping in the street, the group once again set their sights on heading to Strawberry. By studying their map of West Elizabeth, they determined it would be roughly a three day ride, or only two days if they rode hard now that they had no wagon. However, the time that it took to gather all their supplies meant that Maurice was almost an entire day of travel ahead of them.

They prepared to set off on their quest for Strawberry, Maurice, and the Bibble.

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