Adventure 16: No DeLorean Required

For a short time the party had a chance to relax. They stayed in touch with the wizards who would be responsible for their journey back through time, and did little else. They discussed the possibility of defeating Derren while he was still mortal, but they recognised the wizard's strength, and decided against an assault; this was also complicated by the wizard's friendship with Petorus, whos generosity they were relying on to complete their own journey. They laid low.

Return Trip

The wizards were ready. They only asked for two hours preparation time before they began the incantation, but other than that the party were free to choose the time of their departure. They had prepared one of the magical laboratories to use in the magic, in the middle of which on the stone floor they'd traced out a large circle in white sand. Around the room were the remains of their mathematical calculations; it seemed nothing had been left to chance.

The party were eager to investigate the work of the wizards. They had much riding on this, and had concerns over the safety of the journey. They spent some time in discussion with the wizards, who could offer little help. The mathematics had predicted the party's return correctly, their mass and volumes were included in the calculations, but there were some concerns over the equipment that the party had acquired during their stay. Anything the party brought with them, they were told, would be fine in the return - the magical aura would ensure its safe return. Other equipment was in doubt. The wizards couldn't say if it would be safe, or if it the magic would be able to carry it. There was some discussion about the possibility of collecting a few special items, mostly books, to take through as souvenirs (of some value to the people of later years) but they decided not to do this when the wizards recommended that the party didn't make large changes to their overall mass. The wizards also pointed out that they were unsure of the effect of time passage. The mathematics, they said, should return them to the time they left, but as 10 months had elapsed since their arrival, they couldn't say with certainty if that 10 months would be accounted for in the magic, or if it would be added on to the time of the party's arrival.

They started the preparation, the first hour and a half was spent tidying and purifying the circle, before the party gingerly stepped in. Next the five friends were prepared for the magic; this involved being sprayed with herbal liquids and anointed in several places with an oily balm. This took up the final half an hour of the preparation time. Eventually the party were given one last chance to back out. The did not take it.

The wizards stood around the ring and began their incantation. Some raised their arms, others closed their eyes. At first nothing seemed to happen. But then the party began to glow dully, and the glow grew brighter as the incantation picked up pace; it was brightest where the balm had been applied, and moving, and finally breathing became difficult for the party. Next the floor became watery, like wet cement, and they sank slowly until the floor level was up to their knees. Then Formil disappeared, he fell through the wet floor. Stunned looks among the wizards were replaced by smiles; they were clearly pleased their magic was working. The incantation continued uninterrupted, though, and then Jim and Randy fell through too. Another moment passed, Fax and Insorce exchanged worried glances, and the incantation continued. Then Fax fell through the floor too.

A Heavy Landing

Formil landed with a thud on a stone floor. He felt quite disoriented. Carefully he stood up and looked around, rubbing the bruises from where he'd landed awkwardly. The floor beneath his feet was dry and firm; his axe was on his back, and all seemed well. He took one step forward, and was narrowly missed by Jim arriving just in front of him. Randy landed down the corridor behind him. After a few seconds they realised that they were in the room they'd been in when they suffered their fate some 10 months before. Formil checked the floor again, just to be certain.

"What's that noise". They heard the sound from further out the corridor, where they expected the stairs to be. "Blimey, they're back" came a second shout. This was swiftly followed by the sound of booted feet running and the drawing of swords. Jim, Formil and Randy had moved into the room, Formil moved to the corridor entrance, as two burly fighters came down the steps and confronted them. They recognised each other immediately.

The front fighter moved forward and was engaged in combat by the likewise advancing Formil. These fighters were tough before, and had presented quite a challenge. The extra experience they had learned while away for ten months soon began to pay off, however, as Formil was much more effective in the fight. Behind the fighters, one of the wizards moved to stand at the end of the corridor before unleashing a Magic Missile spell at Formil; the compliment was already being returned by Randy. The wizard cast again, then backed off up the corridor as the first fighter fell. The second fighter moved up, and was dealth with by Formil slightly more effectively. The wizard had backed out to the room at the top of the stairs, Randy threw Ice Storm at him as Formil closed quickly; the dwarf spotted the falling return of Fax out of the corner of his eye as his axe landed on the hapless wizard. He'd though he'd be out of range of an armoured dwarf - but had not considered that Randy had already used his Haste spell to give his friends much more speed.

Formils axe landed true, and the wizard exploded, he'd been cleanly sliced and the pieces lay twitching on the floor as Insorce the cleric arrived with a loud thump and an "ooogh" on the hard ground outside the barn.

They realised there was a Wizard missing; they began a search immediately. With Insorce's spells being somewhat disrupted by the journey, they relied on Randy's magic and Fax's keen elfish eyes to conduct the search. There was no sign of him.

A few minutes composing themselves helped them to recall what they'd been doing at this barn in the first place. They were reunited with their trusty mule; they were quite pleased to see the beast, but it looked at them like they'd only been away for a few moments (which, of course, they had from the mule's point of view). They decided first of all to drop in on the farmhouse where they'd been helping with a snake infestation.

The farmer was pleased to see them, but seemed confused. "Where's the other one?" he asked, "You know, the tall ranger?"