(given our long-ish break, not much got accomplished this session, but lots of visiting & remembering was done)

After spending some time apart, attending to personal matters, most our regular crew has re-assembled to discuss the pressing matters of the day for the region for which they seem to be feeling an increasing amount of responsibility.

Simply enumerated, they are:

• Decimar's assertion that the volcano, in which the eld magical energy collection engine is house, is soon going to experience an unfortunately explosive event if someting isn't done;
• The presence of a baby kraken in the lake, and the water elves' descriptions of its growing power and influence;
• The expanding influence in Ebonheart Vale of the Shadow Court of the Fey;
• The continuing struggles of the refugees and other residents of the valley against less-than-savory elements.

While the exact meaning of soon for a being as old as Decimar (16k years give or take) couldn't really be accurately gagued, it was agreed that this was likely the most important matter facing the region. Potential annihalation will have that effect.

Happily, Decimar provided some general instructions during previous visits about what could be done to avert disaster. One simply had to travel to the sites of the obelisks which were part of the old magical collection and distribution network and restore them to working order. This is something that any mildly skilled practitioner should be able to accomplish.

As luck would have it, one of the newest residents of Raven's Bay happens to be one of the Eld, recently released from stasis into a world much different from the one he remembers. In the magical laboratory he has attempted to set up in a large local doesn't-leak-that-much house, our crew spoke to him at some length about what tactics, tools and procedures one might use to repair one of the obelisks. He shared what knowledge he had, then bid them farewell and good luck; long term exposure to magical fields had been observed to create very strangely deformed magical abominations.

The closest obelisk is located on an island just south of Raven's Bay, so the gang pulled out their folding boat and went for a scouting mission. The plan was to sail around the island, check it out, land if safe, and return to port. The island has a very bad reputation in the area as a place from which one does not return, and around which the fishing is just terrible, so why would you even want to go near it?

Sailing around the south side, a nice beach for a landing was spotted, the only complication was an acrid stench. Our brave compainions observed a sheen on the water, and basically shrugged when nobody started immediately gasping for air. There was no animal life of any kind to be observed in the water or on the shore, which was deemed strange. Morwen, local expert on all-things-natural volunteered to scout about a bit, so a landing was decreed.

About 20 ft from shore, patterns started to swirl in the sheen on the water, followed shortly by the emergence of three tall shapes made of water encircling the boat. What would our heroes do?

Merrin, most alert of the crowd, decided that this boat needed more ravens, so he called forth some spirit guardians. Varis, not to be outdone — and to make sure that every eye was on our resident performer — blasted a two of them with a rolling wave of thunder, causing a bit of a splash with his re-entrance onto this stage. Hoping to make some icicles, Morwen threw some frostbite at a water thing; if body language could be read, a shrug might have ensued.

As the Towers of Effluent approached the boat, both the ravens and Wrenaldo took aim and made some waves in the creatures. The creatures, not used to victims that fight back, targeted Wrenaldo with the first attack, slapping him around and hauling him off the boat. Shrieks and a hissing noise could be heard as he descended to the bottom of the shallow bay the boat was in.

The next attack seemed to go slightly awry, as one of the enemies attempted a fancy, flashy attack, (perhaps emulating Varis?)  tangled itself in ripples and waves, accomplishing nothing. The third, however, might have laughed and promptly hauled Shade off the boat.

Shade called on his shield's ability, and poured himself out of Merrin's shadow to return to the deck of the boat, where his melted flesh was promptly healed by the shadow's bearer. Wrenaldo, too, decided that grappling with magical water, while under toxic water was less than ideal, and misty-stepped to shore. Morwen decided that two drowing companions was enough, made sure everyone could walk on the water, and promptly lept off the deck and ran to shore.

Varis was the next target for a dunking by a mightly insulted column of animated water, after having been compared to a rivulet of dirty water into which a cow had just pissed. Varis was made might uncomfortable while being firmly pressed against the surface of the water — everyone involved seemed somewhat confused.

A few more passes from the undunkable fighers plus a few spells from the peanut gallery later, and the beings collapsed back into the ocean from which they came. The boat was folded up and carried ashore.

A rest and some food was had on the beach, and a hike up the hill towards the monolith was undertaken. Several uneventful hours of slogging up a sandy hill later, a pulsing aura was felt when approaching the obsidian tower. No obvious entrance was in sight, so Merrin tried to magically locate the tools that would be required to make the required repairs. A confusing reading of several places was obtained, but it was enough to help locate a potential entrace to a complex below the hill everyone was standing upon.

Tune in later for the riveting tale of the exploration of an ancient magical power transmission tower, and of ad-hoc linesman work by untrained semi-professionals.