Thirty-ninth session (email) - August 2004 - The Resort Denouement
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The Voyager crew arrived at Sorgul's commune on July 20th, 1108.
They are cordially invited in and discuss the details of their adventures over dinner. Sorgul is intrigued enough (and trusting enough) that he offers to teleport down to see his friends, Cale & Strachan. These two men posses the disks of Odin - one of which (The Disk of Sif) is powerful enough to teleport large groups of people pretty much anywhere in the world.
21 July 1108
Sorgul teleports Roget, Roderick, and Dhersion to Cale & Strachan's keep, which is south of the city of Rota (about 200 miles from the commune). Strachan is out on a visit to Rota to see the king, but Cale invites them in and listens carefully to the party's story. Initially, he is reluctant to help, explaining that he gets far too many requests to use the disks of Odin (from people both deserving and not). However, with a touch of persuasion, reinforced with a couple of timely comments by Sorgul, he soon agrees that this mission is worthy of his assistance.
He explains that the Disk of Sif has power over mobility and can be used to teleport all of the people at the resort to a single location anywhere in the world. However, the disk has a limited number of charges - and while these charges renew on their own fairly rapidly, he expects it would be a multiple- day ordeal to ferry the stranded people home (since not all of them will want to return to the same place).
As he has near-term obligations that he cannot put off, he suggests that he travel to the commune in one week's time. He asks that the party prepare for at least an overnight stay - and any who wish to return to Teleme (the home for most of the party) should bring everything, as they will probably not be returning to Rota.
After this meeting, Cale and Sorgul excuse themselves and confer on matters unrelated to the party's mission. Shortly after this, Cale returns and takes Roderick aside to talk with him for awhile.
And then, after a nice meal (where the party meets Cale's wife, Thea), Sorgul teleports Roget, Roderick, and Dhersion back to his commune.
28 July 1108
After an anxious week, and right on schedule, Cale appears at Sorgul's commune on the morning of July 28th. He gathers the party together and gives a short briefing on the disk of Sif. Sorgul has opted to join the group and has packed lightly for an overnight expedition. As the entire party (and Lashmere) are interested in returning to the resort, Cale has nine passengers (close to his limit for a 3-charge teleport).
He spends an hour or so quizzing the group about the resort and its environs so that he can have a better understanding of where to teleport. This, he claims, will make the teleport more likely to succeed - though he emphasizes that there is no risk. As the resort complex itself was known to be overrun by goblins when the party left, it is deemed wisest to teleport to the Dyanaî village just across the river to the north of the resort.
When the moment comes, it is almost a let-down. There are no flashy special effects, no awe-inspiring sounds. It just *happens*. One instant the party is in the courtyard of Sorgul's commune holding hands in a circle, and the next, they are standing in a small fishing village. While it was a clear, dry summer day where they left, it is lightly overcast where they arrive.
Surprising to some of them, almost all of the resort refugees have survived. Of course, they (and the native villagers) are shocked to see them, having expected that they would be long dead by now. But after the initial surprise, the village gathers together to hear their tale. As they do, the clouds grow noticeably darker and it begins to rain.
During their absence (it has been roughly six months since they left and seven since the tower fell), a couple of the older guests have died of natural causes, and a few more have been killed by sporadic goblin raids. Of the rest, they fall immediately into two groups: Those who are eager to return home and will drop everything to go today - and those who have established roots of a sort and are apprehensive about leaving.
Even though the first group is the majority, Cale insists that no more teleporting be done today. He wants to learn peoples' stories and understand what they really want. In a not-so-subtle way, he is verifying the party's story. But also, he is quizzing people where they need to be returned. As the resort's teleport tower originated in Teleme (aka “The Southlands”), the vast majority ask to be returned there.
The actual teleporting occurs over the course of the next few days. Cale offers each of the party a trip to wherever they wish. Despite their far-flung homes, everybody except Roget decides to return to Sorgul's commune. Roget opts to stay behind in Dyanaî territory. Dhersion gives him the Rain King's staff and the party bids him farewell.