Sir Morguerat smiled. "I'm not hungry now," he said as he fingered the
Girdle of the Giants around his waist. "Thank you. Perhaps another time." (ooc: the party went to Khadgar's house first to pick up a few things, including the
Girdle of the Giants, before coming to the inn. Now Sir Morguerat's size and strength etc are temporarily restored to normal by the
Girdle -- no problem, yeah, Morguerat?
)
"A couple green apples for me, please," said Ghzarbanan.
"I'll have some chilled blackcurrant juice, please," said Chun-Li.
"Do you have any
orc melon, miss?" asked Magnus. "Real sweet and juicy. You've got to grant that the orcs grow the best melons -- even though they're not exactly the friendliest or most refined race around."
"Have to agree -- I love orc melon, too!" said Rufus.
"Melon... nice!" said Fenric, stirring excitedly in his seat. "Fenric... like!"
"No orc melon, I'm afraid," sighed Aiko. "They stopped shipping them in since a couple weeks back. It's got to do with the Dark Knight again... May I serve you something else, friends?"
Magnus was silent for a moment. "...well, all right, then, let's settle for some chilled blackcurrant juice too, shall we, Rufus?" Rufus shrugged his shoulders.
"No problem, friends," nodded Aiko, "I'll go in now and get the dishes prepared!"
"Good to know that this town still hasn't been touched by the Dark Knight yet," said Magnus. "Hope that remains the case."
"With a dozen of my fellow clerics around this town," said StoneRock, "we'll fry them easily if they dare take so much as one single step inside this town's premises!"
"Do you and your clerics know the
sunlight spell, StoneRock?" asked Magnus.
"No, actually..."
"I think it will be better for us to provide the Order of Clangeddin with the means to cast this spell," said Magnus, "all the better to fight the undead forces with. You know, like a
wand of sunlight or something." StoneRock nodded in agreement.
"I've got plenty of
scrolls of sunlight," said Khadgar. "I'll supply them all to StoneRock's temple. But for now..." Khadgar opened a large book which he had brought along from home -- the
Manual of the Planes.
"Interesting," remarked Khadgar. "It states here that to reach the plane of the
Seven Heavens we must first enter the
Astral Plane -- an intermediate dimension between our world and the many outer planes, of which the
Seven Heavens is one. Okay, I have no problem with that -- a
plane shift spell will enable us all to enter the
Astral Plane, though it will burn up all of my mana in a single casting -- but once in the
Astral Plane we must then look for a
pool of many colors..."
"Pool of many colors?" muttered Rufus.
"It's supposed to be a dimensional portal," explained Khadgar, "which keeps changing its colors, with the color being indicative of the plane into which it will transport us. If you step into it when its color is
ruby red for example, you'll go to the
Nine Hells."
"
I wouldn't want to go there!" cried Ghzarbanan.
"What color will bring us to the
Seven Heavens, then?" asked Sir Morguerat.
"Gold," replied Khadgar, still looking intently at the book.
"Say, that's a very appropriate color!" remarked Magnus.
"How will it be like in these planes?" asked Rufus. "What sort of things might we encounter -- and how may we
return?"
"The
Seven Heavens should be an absolutely safe and friendly place if you're
good by nature," replied Khadgar. "It is the place to which all mortals go after death if they had led virtuous lives and had been of lawful alignment. It says here it's a place of marvellous beauty, too, with vast forests, mountains and oceans all made of precious metals and stones..."
"I can't wait to visit it!" said Sir Jorlon.
"It's with the
Astral Plane," continued Khadgar, "that we need to be on our guard. Various sorts of creatures could randomly appear in this dimension at any time, some friendly to us and some hostile. This dimension is supposed to be like a great, endless expense of gray extending forever in all directions. When you enter it, it will be as if you're floating in an endless gray sky. As for how we can return..."
Suddenly a stranger in a black cloak came into the restaurant -- just as Aiko and Ryu were coming out with the dishes ready.
"Oh! Greetings, stranger," said Ryu, "what would you like?"
The stranger's voice was bloodcurdling. "You wouldn't serve
human flesh, would you? Heh, heh, heh..."
StoneRock and Sir Jorlon
recognised the voice. "It's...
It's the operative we met in Moondusk City two weeks ago!!" cried Sir Jorlon in shock.
"Yes," said the stranger as he turned towards the party. "Well, well, if it isn't Mr. Goody Goody Paladin and the Stupid Fat-ass Priest again!"
Sir Jorlon quickly stood up. "
Get behind me!" he shouted to Aiko and Ryu.