home intro one two three four five six seven eight nine 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 appendix
Behind the blanket the Baron seated himself cross-legged on the floor and quietly chanted himself into a trance. As his soul left his body, his body levitated a bit. His soul moved first to the Ethereal Plane and studied the world around him. He looked into the souls of the men guarding him. He saw steady professionalism, pride of work, and that the amulets were still functioning -- they made the men's souls fuzzy and hard to see on this plane. They would ward off simple mischief, but would not protect from a powerful attacker who knew the men's identity.
The plane around the hut was barren. Nymphs and dryads had abandoned the trees, which is why they looked so forlorn. He coughed -- there was a poison in the air, but the Baron could not identify it's source.
The Invisible Stalker had warned him against travel on this plane, and it was clear that foul things were afoot. The Baron returned to his body. Were he at his holdings, he would next travel to the Astral Plane -- he loved traveling there. But the Astral Plain's beauty has a strong narcotic effect on the human soul, and in his travels there he had met many who had succumbed and where drifting through the plane, quite lost in reverie. They would drift until their bodies died, then the messenger spirits would hustle them away in an instant. As dying went, it was very pleasant. The Baron took strong wards with him when traveling Astrally, unfortunately, those wards were all in his "travel room" in the holding. He would have to go a different way.
The choice loomed clear: the Elemental Plane of Air -- the domain of the Djinn. He had cultivated friends among the Djinn, and he should be able to call in a favor, or two. But there are many inhabitants of the plane, and many Djinn he didn't know, and the djinn are a capricious folk. If he encountered the wrong djinn first, anything could happen. Compounding the problem was that his time on the Elemental Plane of Air was limited -- traveling there even with his customary protections was a taxing process, and those were not available to him. If some capricious djinn decided the Baron should meet his family, he would likely expire before all the meetings and greetings were finished.
But travel he must. He took a deep breath, and began the summoning that would take him to the Elemental Plane of Air....
The view was spectacular. He was floating in a sky filled with puffy clouds. There was no gravity, but there were breezes and winds of all descriptions. Breezes and winds are visible on this plane because they are air elementals. The nearest ones saw him, and came over to run their fingers through his hair and beard, and tug on his cloak. The air elementals are friendly sorts, and playful. The Baron laughed as they did, for he had been here before, and he knew that these elementals loved joy.
"Take me to the city of the Djinn." He asked, and the elementals started dragging and pushing him towards a magnificent floating city not far distant. He entertained them with songs of the sea and skies and fish and forest. But he was careful not to mention rocks or mountains in any of his songs, for the air folk and the earth folk are often at odds.
As the city loomed up, he said to his playful companions, "I seek the Djinn Swansorgger. Can you tell him I request the joy of hearing his magnificent howling again?" They laughed and a few of them blew on ahead.
As the messengers left, trouble appeared. A large Storm elemental was moving near the city, and lightning bolts were sparking from his head. He was big enough that he was likely to ignore the Baron. But if he chose not to, he would send the Baron swirling around, and there was the lightning...
The Storm ignored the Baron until the Doldrum came up. Doldrums are the outcasts of the air elementals. They are dour and calm and quite deadly to the smaller elementals, they will swallow them right up! The Baron would be unaffected by the Doldrum, but his breezy companions worried terribly, and they dragged the Baron away from the Doldrum right towards the Storm! The Baron changed his singing into a cantrip of Blending and the Storm rolled by him to confront the Doldrum.
The party moved away from the confrontation, and soon thereafter the Djinn Swansorgger flew out from the city.
"My good Baron." said Djinn Swansorgger, "You don't come often enough!"
"For that I apologize, my windy friend." said the Baron, "But sadly, my adaptation to this plane is still incomplete. And today I must make my stay even briefer than usual. A great crisis is brewing on my Prime Material Plane and I need your help."
"You have but to ask. You have entertained me with the story of Solomon and the Four Djinns many times."
"I need to enter the Steinhortz manor, but way is blocked by enemies in both the Prime Material and the Ethereal Plains. The manor is under siege. I need to get in, and get out again. Can you aid me in this?"
"It would be my pleasure. So... you are saying you need a guardian for this journey?"
"I do. This will be a journey to the Prime Material, and back again, and then a journey back to my body on the Prime Material, and none may follow or track us, or all is lost."
"It is a task worthy of a Djinn's effort. My cousin visits me today, and I would ask that you sing to him...."
"It would be my honor, Djinn Swansorgger, but...."
"But I can see your stay here already tires you this time. We will go immediately."
Djinn Swansorgger roared a mighty song, and a gem that looked like a water-clear diamond, as big as a thumb, appeared in his hand. He gave it to the Baron. "This will be my lodging while I'm away from my plane, here. Don't lose it."
Djinn Swansorgger bellowed again, and a vortex appeared in front of him. "In now, quickly, my solid world friend!" he said. The two went through the portal...
home intro one two three four five six seven eight nine 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 appendix