The next hall we choose turns out to be a magical passageway with trees and a remarkable simulation of natural sunlight. As we progress, the passageway gets larger and the trees turn to silver, gold, then crystal. We arrive at a beach with a dock, with an island palace barely visible across the water. There are sturdy rowboats at the dock, and in each one is a well-dressed man holding out a hand. We try saying, doing, and giving them various items, but the boatmen barely react to anything except paper. Agace tries drawing himself and writing "invitation" beside the image. That does the trick! The rest of us aren't nearly so artistic; luckily all we have to do is write "invitation" and our names.

After crossing the water and reaching the palace, we're led to a ballroom. The people dancing and partying try to talk to us, but communication failure seems to be a theme here. We bow nicely to the king, and are led to rooms where we are given baths and fancy clothes, because boy, do we ever need them. Especially the baths. Agace is given the option of either a suit or a dress, and he chooses a dress because it looks easier to move or fight in. Ritha is confused, not having figured out that obsidimen are asexual. "Are you actually a she? Have I been getting it wrong all this time?!" After the party ends, we start to explore the grounds. Over the next day or so we explore the building, the gardens, the island, the hedge maze, the library, the kitchens, the palace roof...

Sine mentions "Azlos" and the people in the palace seem to recognize the name, but he doesn't seem to be here. She decides that this place is boring, and wants to leave. Agace agrees: "Yes, let's go back to a place where things are trying to kill us." He says this without a hint of sarcasm.

Since we're on an island, we try to find boats, but all we can find are pleasurecraft we don't know how to sail, or tiny rowboats that might break up at the first hint of a wave. That evening, we watch as people arrive in those sturdy rowboats for another ball. Ritha thinks she can tell which boat came from "our" beach, and Agace spends the party following the lady who rode in it. Our plan is to hitch a ride by tying ourselves to her boat. When the ball ends, the revellers return and tell their boatmen where to take them. Revi listens and, to her great surprise, actually hears someone speaking good old dwarvish, telling the boatman to take him back to Thera. She immediately flies up and asks him for help, and he seems very amused. He's never actually met anyone who was trapped here before. Revi doesn't like his attitude, so tries glowing with green fire to get some respect... and he draws his sword, one eye glowing green. Agace arrives and defuses the situation, but the man leaves, refusing to help. Revi swears revenge and Agace draws the man so we'll remember what he looks like.

Meanwhile, "our" lady has returned to her boat. Ritha tries to be charming, and discovers that the lady speaks elvish! She assumes Ritha is elven royalty, and Ritha doesn't set her straight, but instead awkwardly asks if she and her friends can hitch a ride back to the beach. "Oh no, that would never do!" The lady orders rowboats for everyone. At the docks, the lady says she can tell it's Ritha's first time here, and gives her some advice: those gold and silver trees? Don't take too many branches, it's awfully gauche. Then she leaves the beach and disappears, her own magical passageway leading somewhere different. When we return to our own magical passageway, we're famished... it appears the food we'd been eating for several days wasn't actually real. Luckily we decided against staying for months to learn the language!

Next: Because We Haven't Had Enough Pyramid Yet
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© Megan Jones 2008. This story wouldn't be possible if not for my endlessly entertaining friends, and the Earthdawn RPG originally by FASA.