Wall? (Date 1/12/15)

Yuri laughed his heartiest, belly laugh once the Prince tracked him down at the theater and told him of the dream message. The mere thought that the Empire was inaccessible, blocked by some great powerful barrier seemed ludicrous. He had journeyed back in forth several times in his youth, and though it had been years since he’d been back, he volunteered to escort Euwyn and his crew personally, claiming a small, empire-run port town known as Lindenrock, lay just a few days from the great gorge.

The party’s departure was delayed briefly, however, as Marty felt the need to bolster the group’s divine protections, enchanting their weapons with holy power. While Euwyn and Hedge waited for that, Ilyana and Giada got bored and went on ahead.

The elven girls made their way to the gorge, using the forest as cover. They saw a great winged beast surveying the canyon on frequent flights, and chose to approach with caution. Managing to avoid the dragon, they descended into the gorge but found it largely dull and uninhabited. They decided to press their luck. Searching the forest south of the gorge, they found a great rent in the earth. A strange steam rose from the entrance, and the place was pungent with an acrid stench. No sooner had the cave come into view than the dragon emerged, charging the pair as if alerted to their presence. Ilyana became separated from Giada, but when she paused to reconnoiter, the beast dropped out of the sky! There was nowhere to run, but rather than attack, the dragon instead asked questions, revealing several odd facts. Its task was to keep people contained, but it didn’t see Ilyana as falling to that mandate. He also mentioned, that the Fey Queen had a similar duty. Urging Ilyana to return to “where she belonged” the dragon slunk back to his cave.

The Prince arrived and the elves related their findings, but rather than being deterred, Euwyn was determined to bypass the beast. Though Strom had warned ominously not days prior that the wards would destroy them, he ordered the party to head south to try to circumnavigate the beast.