Starilaskur beckons.

With the evening getting late, the heroes bed down for the night. The hours pass uneventfully, except for the occasional noise from various refugees trying to get comfortable, fighting for space or lamenting the loss of their home town.

The new day dawns and food is finally distributed to the various refugees. Dried rations are handed out, with people having to make do with less than they would like. Few complain though and all eat hungrily.

Before the morning is a few hours old, there is a knock at the heroes’ tent flaps. Vaelas opens the tent flaps and jumps momentarily when he sees a Warforged stood there looking down at him.

"Good morning." The Warforged offers, in a surprisingly female sounding voice. "I'm Lieutenant Bara of the Argonth. I've been tasked with escorting you to speak with a Sentinel Marshal. He has a few questions to ask you if you have the time?".

Easing their weapons and eyeing Lieutenant Bara cautiously the group agree to follow her across the campsite, where she presents them to a middle-aged human male and a gnomish female.

"I'm Sentinel Marshal Aungar d'Deneith, this is my associate Pildurn Salsathanog." Says the human, gesturing to himself and then the gnome by his side. "We've been assigned to investigate what has happened here and to bring the perpetrators to justice. I realised that Captain Suthwell of the Argonth has probably already been through all this with you, but he needed to do so for tactical reasons, I need to do so to catch the bastards."

The group share with the Sentinel Marshal the account of their escape from the city and what they witnessed the various Warforged doing. They then ask the Sentinel Marshal if he has any information or theories on the matter that he can share with them. He pauses for a moments thought and then nods solemnly.

"Normally the information I’m going to share with you is not for civilian ears, but considering your role in things, I see no harm in filling you in on things. We have managed to 'reactivate' the two Warforged that attacked you outside the city gates. Oh yes, they can sometimes be reactivated if they are not too badly damaged. They are being questioned as we speak and hopefully we will be able to....extract some information from them."

The Sentinel Marshal pauses a moment for the heroes to digest the implications of what he has just said, he then continues.

"We believe that these rogue Warforged were acting on the behalf of a being that many Warforged seem to be regarding as some type of Messiah or Saviour. He is a Warforged that calls himself the Lord of Blades. He has a following of several hundred Warforged and operates from within the Mournland. He knows that he's safe there because Warforged seem far less vulnerable to the ravages of the land in comparison to most races."

Vaelas spits on the floor. "Lord of Blades?! Ha! Let him try his blades against the might of the Valenar and then we'll see who is the Blade Lord. This being is a coward and fights with cowardly tactics."

"Indeed," Agrees Aungar. "He seems to have chosen Vathirond to strike out at because he could do so much damage with so little risk to himself. Cowardly in many ways but tactically brilliant in others. Anyway, Pildurn and I now have the task of tracking down the two Warforged that escaped and seeing if we can bring them to justice."

Hawk furrows his brow deep in thought and slowly attempts to articulate his cognations. "As a hunter follows its prey’s trail, like a wolf sniffing after a deer. Can you or the gnome....sniff....after these magic clouds. Hunt them down? And then how do you kill the magic?"

Aungar smiles and nods. "That is exactly what Pildurn and I plan to do shortly my Shifter friend. Pildurn will examine the magical trail left by these 'Living Spells', and then with magical weapon and spell we will attempt to destroy them and subdue the Warforged."

The heroes offer to assist the Sentinel Marshal in his endeavours but feel a twang of guilt that they are already pledged to work elsewhere. When the Sentinel Marshal assures them that he is not formally permitted to work along side others, the heroes decide that they will have to leave the trail to the professional.

"Incidentally, who is it that you work for?" Asks Aungar. The group inform the Sentinel Marshal of Dirk and offer a description. He nods and asks if they know who Dirk works for.

"My friend, our Dwarven employer works for these!" states Vaelas rolling a gold coin fluidly across the back of his fingers. Nodding solemnly Aungar and Pildurn walk off in search of other clues.

A few hours later, Dua heads out and tracks down Pildurn the gnome. He manages to persuade her to sell him an 'identify' scroll for half the shop price. He then proceeds to use the scroll on the remaining wand and discovers that it is a wand of "Darkvision".

The rest of the day passes as Janin and Avalon help to tend the wounded refugees that have escaped from the town. Towards the end of the day a feeling of anticipation begins to build and it’s noticeable that the soldiers are spending time packing up equipment and preparing to depart shortly. Night falls and passes.

Early the next morning, just after sunrise, movement can be heard outside of the tents. Hawk checks outside and sees that soldiers are in the process of taking down the tents and packing all camp equipment into neat piles ready for boarding back onto the floating fortress.

After only a couple of hours all equipment is packed and a silence eventually falls over the gathered masses. Gazes are lifted upwards and the massive object in the sky slowly descends to around thirty foot above the ground.

More than a few refugees run aside in fear of the descending mass and one stocky, swarthy human, decked in a fine array of gold jewellery can clearly be heard running away shouting "I ain't getting on no flying fortress sucker! Crazy fools!!" A couple of his friends offer him a drink to sooth his nerves though and his fear is soon suppressed along with his state of consciousness.

A steep ramp is extended from the side of the Argonth and the soldiers begin hauling their equipment aboard with military efficiency. Shortly afterwards the four hundred refugees and our heroes ascend the ramp and are stood on a small plaza aboard the floating fortress. Soldiers reappear and begin to usher the refugees into small groups and lead them off to temporary accommodation. Dirk tells the heroes to stay put while he gets a guide to their quarters.

Peering over the side of the fortress, Hawk sees that it has ascended back up to around three hundred feet. He judges the distance as accurately as he knows how.....by spitting over the side.

Two tiny figures can be seen left on the grounds where the refugee camp was. A tall human male and a small gnomish female. They wave briefly then the gnome casts a spell and summons a 'phantom steed'. Both climb aboard, secure themselves in and the horse sets off towards the city at an incredible speed.

"Bah, the horses of the Valenar can run faster that that!" exclaims Vaelas, knowing full well they the spectral beast is moving three times faster than the fastest horse he has ever seen.

Dirk reappears at their side, accompanied by a Brelish soldier. The solider leads them all across the surface of the fortress, away from the residential area and towards a towering military building at the rear of the fortress. They pass small buildings along the way, with up to twenty refugees each in them.

They ascend several flights of stairs and are shown into two plush rooms that look the kind that would be reserved for visiting dignitaries or ambassadors. Three beds in each, a private wash room, clean bedding and even a balcony giving a view out over the rest of the fortress.

For once the group are quite pleased that Dirk has such a fondness for the comforts of life and an....appreciation of money and what it can obtain. They each wash and make themselves comfortable in their new quarters.

Janin spends some time penning a letter before heading out to the House Sivis enclave to see if he can get it sent onwards. He is disappointed to be told though that the enclave is for official military use only. On his way back to his room he bumps into a familiar face; Sep, one of the human boys that they saved from Vathirond on their initial escape.

"Master Janin!" Sep exclaims, bowing slightly. "I'm glad to see you made it out of Vathirond again, we all heard about you heading back in there a second time to show them zombies how it's done! It was actually the courage you all showed that convinced myself, Tam and Ban to sign up to the Blademarks guild and eventually become famous adventurers ourselves!"

"Are you sure that's wise?" Janin enquires with concern. "Aren't the Blademarks guild basically a group of sell-swords? Mercenaries for hire to the highest bidder? Couldn't you end up fighting for someone you consider your enemy? Or even fighting against us?"

Sep half nods and half shakes is head. "It's a bit like that, but since the Last War ended, the jobs have been a lot more menial. Protecting merchant caravans, bodyguard work, that kind of thing. Besides, the Blademarks guild has been running for hundreds of years, I'm sure it would have closed if it was too dire. Oh and the pay is good, we get two silver pieces a week and food on top!" Janin's mind wanders back to the fact that he is currently being paid two gold a day for doing nothing. He says nothing to the young boy though and lets him go about his business.

On the morning of the second day on board Argonth, there is a knock at the door of the heroes’ quarters. The door is opened and a young Halfling woman is stood there. "Good day sirs, I'm here to tend any wounds you might have sustained in Vathirond. Apologies to taking a full day to get to you, but I wasn't informed there was anyone staying in these quarters until just now."

"We have no wounds that need healing." Vaelas proclaims. "Well, I have one, but it is beyond the ability of your healers. Even the Valenar healers cannot heal this wound." He adds gesturing his bandaged hand.

Avalon steps forward and asks the Halfling woman if he may walk with her and discuss healing matters, to see if either can learn from the other. The woman accepts and the two leave. Avalon returns three hours later and spends a while sat on the balcony pondering his thoughts.

Meanwhile, Dua is determined not to be thwarted in discovering what the potions he has do. He asks around and although there are some mages on board, he is told that his best and cheapest method of getting a potion identified is likely to be a dwarf that spends most of his time in the only inn on Argonth. So Dua heads to the inn known as "The Bowels" and tracks down the dwarf in question.

He seems pleasant enough and assures Dua that if Dua pays for his drinks all evening then he'll identify the potions for free. Dua sees this as quite a gamble and doesn't like the idea, but the nagging curiosity of what each potion does is too great, and he eventually agrees to buy the dwarf his drinks.

Twelve gold pieces of ale later, Dua is told that he is in possession of potions of Lesser Restoration, Fox’s Intelligence, Barkskin, Blur and Cure Light Wounds.

Three more days on board Argonth pass. Hawk and Vaelas join some of the soldiers in sparring sessions, Janin spends time in prayer and assisting refugees. Avalon checks regularly on D-Ablow, stabled in the lower part of the ship.

Finally on the fourth morning Argonth seems to have come to a halt outside the city of Starilaskur. Looking far more decadent than the ram-shackle ruin that Vathirond was....before it was attacked. It fills the refugees with a sense of hope and everyone seems eager to disembark (especially the swarthy human male draped in lots of gold jewellery).

As the heroes watch from their balcony, the ramp extends and the refugees begin to leave. Dirk joins them and initiates a discussion about how to proceed next. "I suggest that we split up and ask around, see what we can find out about these bandits causing trouble in the local area. We'll meet up at an inn at the end of the day and see what we've all found out. I've heard tell of a nice inn, off the main roads, not Ghallanda endorsed, but still pretty decent. It's called The Horn Blowers. I suggest we meet there."

Everyone nods in agreement, gathers their belongings and depart from the floating fortress.