The second expedition to the Tower of Celesti resulted in the acquisition of a magical ruby from the hearth of the Fire Elemental by the daring adventurer-healer, Galen – and the exhaustion of most of Air Elementalist Wynona's magical energies. Even with the magical prize in hand, Wynona felt the need to gain some rest before risking any new dangers, or even trying to do anything with the magical ruby – as there would be no telling what new troubles might erupt.

Therefore, a new day finds Galen recovered from the mayhem of his previous visit to the Tower of Celesti, back in the base level (safely past the bronze manticore doorknocker), and in possession of a magical ruby of unknown properties.

Galen looks over his newly acquired prize, turning it over continuously in his hand while scrutinizing every one of its facets. Hmm … it's fairly obviousit's enchanted, he thinks to himself. But I wonder in what ways?

Mage Wynona yawns and stretches, sitting in a chair next to the round table in the center of the library at the base of the tower. She no longer seems overly concerned with Sugar Bowl, just so long as she doesn't take any lumps. "Oh! Excuse me," she says, covering her mouth, then leans forward, ears swivelingas she regards Galen and his prize. "What do you make of it?"

"Well," says the lightning-striped-tailed Mephitian, "I've already presumed this will fit into one of the depressions in the table here, but I'm wondering if we can use it in any other way, somehow." He thinks for a moment, then opens up his sack and takes out one of the two tomes he borrowed before. "Maybe this book of magic can tell us something." He lays the book on the table, opensit, and starts perusing through it.

Alas, Galen is unable to find specific entries to deal with "glowing rubies" or such things, and a lot of the indexing that would be required would depend upon knowledge of things magical he simply doesn't have … or a great amount of training and research that would most likely constitute something of a change of careers on his part. Nonetheless, the exotic entries in the book are at the very least interesting, and Wynona lends a wing by offering a few observations now and then as to the likely dweomers involved. Thus, Galen is able to find his way to a section on elemental enchantments … but pretty much he is able to rule out the possibility that this is any sort of self-contained magical tool.

Rather, if anything, it is a key, and its elemental properties are restricted to the fact that the ruby has been enchanted so as to glow on its own, to be highly resistant to fire, and to – if he is understanding the text correctly and Wynona's observations – have a sort of magical "fingerprint" to it that would make it ideal as a sort of magical key for a very specific magical lock.

The Healer sighs, leans back in his chair, and rubs his eyes, mentally exhausted from his search. "Oh, I could use some mateh so much right now," he says, dourly. He leans forward again, and looks over the ruby once more. "Well, Wynona … apparently, its only use is as a key." His eyes focus to the holes in the table, then to Wynona. "Shall we see if it'll work for one of these locks?"

The bat shrugs. "It seems a reasonable enough use to me. I am guessing that most likely you'd want to put it in the hole that has the sigils around it corresponding to the element of fire … ." She taps at the indicated stylized flames in the bronzework inset into the table.

"Okay, then," says Galen. He turns the ruby over between his fingers one more time. "Just one question: do you think whatever magic it'll unlock will work right now, or would we have to get the other 'keys' first, and put them all in, before anything will happen?"

"I'm suspecting the latter," Wynona says. "A lock set up like this with four keys would most likely require all four keys … but that said, we're not necessarily sure just what this is meant to unlock, so I could be wrong."

"I see," replies Galen. "Very well then; we'll just see what happens … " And with that, he slowly and carefully places the sparkling, iridiscent gem into the fire-sigiled hole.

The gem almost leaps from Galen's hand the moment it's positioned directly above the hole, and snaps into the indentation. The four little prongs close around the gem, locking it into place, and the ruby glows more brightly. The sigils inlaid in the portion of the bronze ring closest to the fitting start to glow, a reddish color flowing out through them as if a liquid had been poured into the engravings.

"I'd say that's a pretty good fit," Wynona remarks, regarding the gem and the runes.

"Yes, I would agree," says the Mephitian, who is obviously more entranced by the visual mystical effect than the bat mage. After looking over the sigils for a few moments with wide eyes, he looks back to Wynona, with a smile on his face. "Well … that's that. Are you well-rested?"

Wynona grins. "Yes, I think so! If we run into any more trouble with disagreeable cutlery, I should be able to manage with a few well-placed bolts." Her smile wavers a little. "Not that I'm overly eager to face the killer cleaver again, that is."

Galen's smile lessens a bit, as he remembers his most frenzied encounter with it. "Yes … nor I." He blinks, pauses, and resumes a smile, softer than before, and with softer eyes. "You saved my life."

The bat laughs lightly. "I'm sure that you'll have ample opportunity to return the favor!" Her smile nonetheless has a nervous tinge to it. "Shall we continue exploring, then?"

Galen nods. "Yes, we shall." He puts the tome back into the sack, puts on his hat, stands out of his chair, and stretches. "Oh!" he exclaims. "I nearly forgot!" He opens up the sack again. "Miss Teapot, do you know what level is above the kitchen?"

A teapot pokes out of the sack. Its lid moves as it pipes out a reply, "Oh yes, why, that would be the celestial chamber. The master has models in there of the cosmos, and, well, it has some sort of significance to his magic. I am also given to understand that there is an excellent view."

"Oh, really?" says the Healer, bemused. "Do you know anyone there? Or know anything that could be important? Like, if there are any specific animates that may help or hurt us?"

"Well," the teapot answers, "actually, that room is fairly empty of animates, save for the Air Elemental."

"The room itself is animate – an elaborate magical mechanism," the teapot continues, "but it is not the talkative sort, if you catch my meaning."

"Air Elemental … and the entire room is animate … " trails off Galen. His face becomes a little more grim as he realizes something. He looks to Wynona. "Em … since you're an Air Elementalist, and you know a few more things about animates than myself … do you think it's possible for the entire room to attack us? Along with that Air Elemental?"

"Given what I've seen before," Wynona says, "I honestly can't rule it out. However, a room made out of stone working in concert with an air elemental would be highly irregular. The opposing elements don't usually get along."

"Hmm … okay … " muses the Healer. "Maybe we can somehow start an argument between them, or something like that. Any kind of distraction that can help us snatch the gem the Elemental should be guarding. Because I really don't know if we're capable of facing up against it." He pauses, and remembers something. "And if you try to use your Air magic on it, it'll only likely make it stronger, right?"

Wynona sighs, her wings shrugging. "My air magic might be useful, but in terms of damage-dealing spells, you're quite right. If I lob any lightning bolts at it, it'll only be invigorated."

Just then, the door opens up, revealing a new addition to the group: a dragon in the robes of a wizard. "Hello there! I'm Randle. I was sent by the Guild to check up on you."

Galen sees Wynona's ears flick and her face look to the door. He turns to lookas well … and his jaw drops a little, when he appraises the dragon. Will wonders never cease?? he thinks to himself.

"Hello, Elementalist Randle!" Wynona says, waving a wing by way of greeting.

At Wynona's greeting to the dragon, the Mephitian turns his head to her. "You know him??" he asks, incredulously.

Randle smiles and bows lightly to Wynona. "Hello and well met. you must be Wynona and Galen then? I've heard good things about you so far, but the Guild thought you could use someone else to explore the tower."

Wynona explains to Galen, "I don't know him personally really, as I tend to mostly just associate with wizards of my element, but I've heard of him. There aren't all that many wizards, after all."

The bat wizard looks to Randle. "We've explored the first level of the tower so far, which serves as a kitchen and dining area. We ran into several animated knives and other dishware that were rather hostile. We also got past a fire elemental to retrieve a magical ruby that serves as a key for some sort of magical lock. I am supposing we'll need more of these 'keys' to finish the lock."

Randle nods and grins. "Well, after an unfortunate episode of someone replacing my herbal tea with raw ale and sneeze-powder … I've devoted my live to protecting those around me from fire." He shrugs. "I was a bit younger then and couldn't quite control my flame yet, you see."

Wynona winces at the imagery this invokes. "Well! Ah … we were thinking of exploring onward, I believe. By the way, don't be alarmed if any of the furniture or dishware talks to you. There are a number of animates here in the tower. Mage Celesti seems to have gone rather overboard on that."

Randle's ears perk immediately. "You've secured the most important place then! Is there any food left?"

"Ahh," replies Galen, who looks back to Randle. "Well … more help is better than less." He smiles and nods. "Thank you for joining us, Randle, and give my thanks to the Council for offering your help."

"Well, unfortunately," Wynona says, "the food is all well gone and spoiled. I can give you some of my rations, though, if you haven't any of your own."

Randle blinks. "You have talking tableware here?" He looks about. "Is it self-cleaning? You know there's a premium for such items back in the Kishlands."

"Food?" says Galen. "Well … I have some rations in my knapsack … and if you'd like some tea … " He opens up his sack, and takes out Miss Teapot. "Miss Teapot, can you introduce yourself to Randle?"

"Why, hello there!" the talking teapot pipes. "Would you care for a cup of tea?"

"No need to part with rations!" Randle says. "I've brought some. I just love home-cooking." He adjusts his glasses and checks to see if his grip on the staff is correct. "Well, don't let me interrupt you. What were you up to just now?"

Wynona whispers, "Whatever you do, if the sugar bowl asks you if you'd like 'one lump or two', do not accept any!"

The teapot pipes, "I do think everyone was about to set down to a good cup of tea, myself … ."

The dragon's eyes light up. "Oh, you're sentient as well? Please forgive me for thinking you treasure, I was thinking more of the lines of the enchanted black billiard-ball that I saw in a shop that could predict the future." He extends a hand in greetings, then looks awkward when he realizes that the teapot can't shake back.

"I just had one, Miss Teapot," Wynona says, looking apologetic. "If I have any more than that, I'll be up all night. Of course, my kind usually are up all night, but I've been so trying to overcome my nocturnal tendencies … "

Randle says, "Oh, some tea would be nice. It's been a long flight."

The teapot pipes, "Oh! Splendid!" It shoots a jet of tea into the air, and one of the tea cups on the table expertly moves to intercept the stream, neatly catching every last drop. A cup of tea sits on the table, awaiting Randle.

The Sugar Bowl asks, sweetly, "Would you like one lump, or two?"

Randle blinks, wondering if this is a local custom of some sort on the lowlands. "Lump? Of?"

"Okay, then, tea it is!" says Galen, wanting to accomodate the newest member of their party (and also not to hurt Miss Teapot's feelings). "And one cup for me, too, please, Miss Teapot. And no sugar," he hastily adds.

The Sugar Bowl, having no visible face, hasn't any expression to read, but it does seem to slump somewhat, looking at least faintly disappointed.

The teapot, however, seems quite happy to oblige, and another cup of tea is filled for Galen as well.

Galen picks up the cup, but waits for Randle to walk to the table for his own cup first before imbibing.

Wynona shrugs. "Oh, why not? Miss Teapot, can I have some more tea, too?"

"Oh, most certainly!" The teapot seems overjoyed at the opportunity, and quickly fills a cup for the bat.

Galen whispers back to the dragon, "If you ask for a lump, its spoon grows to a humongous size and smashes your head. I've not the nerve to ask for two or three lumps."

Wynona sighs, and takes up the cup, breathing in the steam that rises from it. "Ah!"

Randle steps up to the table, looking back once to make sure his tail isn't about to upend anything. "Oh, thank you. If you don't mind my curiousity … do you always bring such enchanted china with you on errands, where you might be hit with clubs and such?"

Wynona sips at her tea, then says, "Well, actually, I believe that the tea service is Mage Celesti's legacy." In a lower voice, she whispers, "I do think the animates are becoming unstable in his absence."

"Well," says Galen to Randle, "Miss Teapot here does know quite a bit about this Tower, and her help has been invaluable to us." He looks down to the Teapot. "And she makes a fantastic cup of tea," he adds, smiling.

Randle picks up a cup with one hand, slowly sipping, while making strange, arcane and ultimately incomprehensible gestures with his other hand.

Randle looks at Miss Teapot with renewed respect. "Do you know what happened to your former master then?"

"Oh! He's just out and about on errands," the teapot says.

Wynona's ears perk up in alarm, and she leans over to Randle, whispering, "I'd suggest we not talk too much about Mage Celesti in her presence. Miss Teapot seems nice enough, but I don't want to test the bounds of her stability either … ."

Galen, quick as a wink, softly and quietly nudges the dragon with his free elbow. He looks in his eyes, and gives him the "don't tell Miss Teapot that it's more than likely her master is dead" look.

Randle takes in the odd circumstances of the room at present and seems to accept them. "Ah, then how might I help in your present trip?" He sips the tea, checks to see if he isn't changing into anything different, and then downs the cup.

"Well, if any psychotic cleavers try to chop us up, I'm sure a fire mage could rather handily teach them the error of their ways," Wynona suggests with a grin.

"Well … what can you do?" replies Galen to Randle's question. "I myself am a Healer, and deem myself fairly agile. And I use a walking staff. And I take it you're already familiar with Wynona."

Randle earperks and nods to Galen, then smiles to Wynona. "We only met briefly, in a guild tavern once. She did something amazing with an overly loud tavern patron and a bit of Air Magic. Hard to forget!"

The bat says, "I'm not much of a fighter myself. If I run into any serious danger, and my spells can't deal with it … well … I run away … or fly away, if there's enough clearance. I'm a self-admitted coward, really. I suppose you might just think of me as the occasionally helpful sidekick." Wynona grins, blushing at the mention of the tavern incident.

Randle says, "Well, like most of my kind I've fairly durable. I have a good knowledge of using this staff and can protect people from fire. I suppose I could absorb lots of direct punishment while both of you find the way to decipher the ancient texts and get us out of the trapped room alive." He blinks. "I suppose I'd make the perfect side-kick, then!"

"Well … fellow part member, and adept Air Elementalist and loremistress of magic is more like it," corrects Galen, smiling at the bat mage. He finishes his tea.

Galen also decides to himself not to inquire about the "tavern incident" at themoment.

Wynona finishes her cup of tea, and sets it down on the table, smirking faintly.

"Oh come!" Randle says to Wynona, "Your magic is certainly beyond mine, and I image you've done more studying then I have, as you're less likely to burn the pages while reading them."

"Well, we all have our specialties," Wynona says. She looks to Galen. "In any case … What next, sir?"

The Mephitian blinks thrice at Wynona, at being addressed as "sir." He recovers. "Well … " he looks to Randle. "Could you tell us what you're good at? And then we can all go up to the Celestial two floors above us. I'll tell you more about what we plan on do as we climb the stairs."

Randle says, "I'm good at staff fighting and protecting things from fire … and can throw a good column of flame like most dragons."

The Healer looks him over. "I would expect that. And you use staves as well, like myself? Excellent!" He smiles. "Okay … well … before we start our ascent, do you or Wynona happen to know anything about how your fire magic could affect an animated stone room, or an Air Elemental?"

Randle tilts his head slightly. "Well … I have melted stone before. I assume, though, that we're going to be in the room while this is happening?"

Wynona nods. "I'm not really certain what might happen if we tried that. In any case, I'm not even sure what the room has in it, other than Miss Teapot's description."

Randle says, "I have no knowledge of Air, unforunately."

"Well … I believe so," answers Galen. "According to Miss Teapot, the entire room may be an animate. But we'll just have to see for ourselves." He looks to Wynona. "Are you sure you're not certain of what could happen? Could a fire attack possibly extinguish an Elemental of Air? And what are the characteristics of Air Elementals, anyway? Like, how fast and agile it is, how it could attack us, and such?"

Wynona says, "It really depends on the type. There are various types of elementals. In general, most of them are virtually invisible, because they're made out of – well – air."

"You won't find any elemental faster than one made of air," Wynona says, "and they can most assuredly fly. If they attack, it might be with buffets of wind. More powerful air elementals might even use the effects of a storm, such as launching attacks of lightning, but in order to do that, they would 'cloud up' first, looking more like a miniature storm than anything else, thus at least giving you some forewarning that something awful is about to happen."

"Hmm, I see," says Galen. "But would you, as an Air Elementalist, be able to see or detect it in any way? And could you possibly control it, somehow, even if only for a second or two?"

Randle hmms. "Hot air tends to leave a shimmer in the air, like over a desert. If it hit it once with my breath I'm sure I could make it visable enough to at least give a warning."

Wynona nods to Randle. "That might work. As for controlling it, I could try. Again, it depends on the type and its strength. The main limitation of air elementals is that they are usually only used outside, as they tend to require a considerable amount of air as their anchor to the physical plane. I might be able to use some buffeting winds to push the air elemental around, but that would only be a delaying tactic."

"As for detecting the elemental … my echolocation might possibly detect it, but if it has any intelligence, that's only going to be temporary. An intelligent air elemental would be able to find ways to counteract my keen hearing," Wynona remarks, frowning.

Galen nods, absorbing the information. "Okay … and if the Elemental got ready to strike with lightning, is there any way to divert the stroke, like, having a metal conductor in front of you or next to you? Or do Air Elemental lightning strikes always hit whatever they're aimed at?" He thinks for a second. "And could you, as an Air Elementalist, conjure up some sort of 'shield' against such an attack?"

Wynona nods. "Yes, I can put up a fairly effective air shield. It won't be all that mobile, though, so it wouldn't help us much for me to cast such a shield ahead of time before we get up there."

Randle looks at his staff. "Well, my staff has a iron body and a silver tip; will that ground lightning?"

Wynona says, "Magical lightning doesn't fall the normal rules of nature, given that it can be lobbed about at specific targets. I wouldn't count on trying to apply that sort of logic to it, except as a desperate last-ditch measure. More likely, it would hinder you more than to help you."

"Hmm … all right. Thank you, Wynona," says the Healer. "I'll tell you what," he addresses to the party, "I think the best thing to do, is to go up there first, and look at the room; that way, we'll know for sure what we're up against (and it seems that Elementals won't attack till provoked). Then we regroup outside the room, hopefully out of ear-shot of the Elemental, and form a new plan from there. How's that?"

Wynona nods. "That sounds like a good plan."

Randle grins anyway. "Such is what they told me at the academy. 'You'd have to be daft to be a mage carrying an iron staff; it'll disrupt some of your casting.'" He picks the six-foot long thing up and tosses it lightly into the air for a moment. "But can you think any other weapon a mage would rather not be hit by? I pride myself in being unconventional."

"I'm quite sure that, no, I would rather not be hit by that much metal," Wynona admits.

"So I see," says Galen to Randle, realizing for the first time the dragon's staff is made of iron – and then wondering just how strong the wizard/fighter is to be able to fling it about so effortlessly. "Well then … shall we begin?"

Randle nods. "Sounds like a plan to me. Then again, I'll do much if it means a home-cooked meal afterwards and cheering townspeople."

Wynona says, "Well, if we can dispel this storm, I'm sure the farmers would be happy. Now then … I have the best hearing, so I'll volunteer to scout." Withthat, she starts heading up the stairs, ears swiveling forward.

Randle earperks and hurries after Wynona. "Don't forget, I can see heat in the dark!" His footfalls disappear up the stairs.

Galen is just about to tell her that he should go in front – then catches himself in time, when he realizes that she would be the one most likely to be able to spot and communicate with the Elemental they're about to face. He sighs, and moves himself between her and Randle. "Be careful, Wynona," he says.

Wynona's ears poke up above the floor first, as she comes up the stairs, swiveling around. Then, she pops up, carefully examining the room, and momentarily overcome with awe at the slow-moving machinery. She ducks as an armiture swings slowly by, carrying a sphere representing one of the heavenly bodies. "Oh my," she says, drinking in the details.

Galen looks around, eyes wide, taking in the arcane scenery. There must be more metal in here than in all of Rephidim, he thinks to himself, awed by the sphere. Then, he realizes something, grimly. Where are we going to find the gem in this place??

Randle steps in after Galen, scanning the room warily. "Very carefully, I think. A Gem of Air would be somewhat clear. Might it be too transparent to see?"

Stong winds blow through the open windows, as the sky outside is overcast and stormy. Drizzle comes down, and due to the openness of the room, there's a faint mist that pours in. Nonetheless, despite the jumble of machinery, the dragon is able to make out a point of illumination amidst the chaos – a glowing diamond set upon a pedestal in the center of the room, atop the sphere representing the Known World.

"Oh!" exclaims the dragon. "A map of the Known World!" He blinks. "And there's a gem on it!"

Galen's head darts in the direction of Randle at his mention of "gem." He inquires to the dragon silently, with his facial expression, Where?

Galen follows Randle's finger, and sees the gem. He blinks, thrice, as he appraises the sparkling diamond. It's beautiful.

Wynona looks toward the center of the room. "How curious!" she says, regarding the bronze sphere that represents the Known World. "A sphere? Everyone knows the world is flat."

The bat then looks around, ears swiveling. "Oh. I do think we have company."

The Healer quickly glances to Wynona. "Where?"

A wind blows through the chamber, stirring the heavy tapestries hanging on the walls … and sending a chill up the spines of all present.

Some of the mist drifting about the floor of the room coalesces together, toward the center of the chamber, rising up in an unnatural fashion to form a pillar, which then resolves itself into a female humanoid form – an avian, though of indeterminate species, with a wild mane of feather-hair, and an amused quirk to her beak. "Welcome," she twitters, in an airy whisper that is nonetheless heard through the room.

The chill makes Galen's head-hair raise up a little bit, and his tail starts to bottle-brush, ever so slightly. Oh, durgh.

Randle hmms. "Well, if it knows we're here there's no harm is talking then." The dragon takes in a breath and calls out, "Hello over there! We're here to see the Master. Might you be able to show us where we might find him?"

"Uh oh," Wynona says. She leans over toward Galen. "This is one of the more powerful ones."

The elemental turns misty eyes upon Randle. "No, I most certainly cannot. At least, not in the way you would like."

Galen, quick as a wink, desperately motions Randle to keep his mouth shut. He looks the dragon straight in the eyes, with his own eyes of alarm. Let me dothe talking, please, he conveys through his expression.

Randle blinks at the misty eyes and the wings in back. He realises he's staring at them and quickly turns nis eyes back to the others. "Well, it was worth a try."

Galen looks over the wispy, ethereal entity before him in unconcealed amazement. After a moment, he recovers himself, and clears his throat. "Ahem, good day, em … Miss Air. May we speak with you?"

"Certainly you may," the elemental whispers in that same pervasive, blatantly magical manner, and each word is accompanied by a breeze that carries about the room.

"Thank you," replies Galen, his manner a little more relaxed, but his tail still the tiniest bit bottle-brushy. "Can you please tell us more about yourself? Such as your favorite hobbies, or who else is in this room with you, other than ourselves?"

"The enchantments of this chamber are entrusted to myself alone," the air elemental says with more than a touch of pride in her voice. "I am not a ghost, as some might fear, but I am an elemental of the air – the most pervasive and variable of the elements, for the heavens are my domain, and there is nothing above them."

Ahh, so we have a prideful sort, here, muses Galen to himself. He starts thinking … "We can all see that you are most dexterous and beatific, oh most ascendent member of the four Elements," says Galen. "And any and all enchantments in this room are entirely yours, with no one else in here? And what are these wondrous enchantments here which you you undoubtedly wield so well?"

The elemental makes a sweeping gesture with one hand, taking in the surrounding machine-work. "I power these models of the cosmos, which I am pleased to do, since they are a testament to the glory of the heavens." A brassy representationof the sun arcs slowly overhead, ringed by a mane of stylized "flames", and having the stern face of a lion.

Randle looks about at everything, obviously impressed. "Besides beauty, have they any other uses? Say, cartography?"

"Ahh," coos the Mephitian, genuinely impressed by the picturesque representations. "So these magnificent models of yours are not animates? Or this room? Everything in here is powered by you and you alone?"

If the elemental had a nose, it looks like she might sneer at the dragon's remark. "This chamber is a testament to the heavens, not to the lowly earth." She then looks back to the skunk. "They are animated only by my power, and by mundane machinery."

"So I see, so I see," says Galen. "And surely, since you are obviously so mighty, you could fly to the farthest corners of this world and back without any trouble whatsoever? Or are you currently indebted to serve and stay in this room only?"

The elemental's beak quirks in a faint smile. "I am compelled to maintain this chamber, not to wander off entirely – especially not when there are guests about."

Randle brightens. "Well, at least we're guests now! Did you design any of these works yourself, Oh Elemental of Beauty, or is it to work of another?"

"No, that would have been the work of Mage Celesti," the elemental admits, "though he had many craftsmen involved in the actual construction of the components, as with the assembly of this tower as a whole."

"I would assume as much," says Galen. He bows most gracefully. "We must leave your presence now, most magically mighteous entity of the elements. Thank you so very much for allowing us to look upon you, Miss Air. Thank you." And with that, he turns around, and motions the other two party members to leave.

Randle blinks from admiring the works in the room, then bows to the Elemental with a brief smile and hurries off after the other two.

The three adventurers arrive safely back in the library at the bottom level of the tower…

Randle walks down the stairs and stretches his wings a bit as he gets through the door. "Well … she looked nice, didn't she?"

Galen leans back against a wall, and sighs. "Yes, she most certainly did … but it's her getting ugly with us that worries me," he says. He takes off his hat, and wipes his brow. Then he looks to Wynona. "Well … anything you can tell us about what we saw up there? The more information, the better."

Wynona says, "Well, I can tell you that heading back down here was a good idea. She would be able to hear anything we whispered in the room – her magically enhanced hearing would be far better than anything I could boast."

"She is most certainly an intelligent elemental – if a bit proud – and although she had a manifestation in a single location, she could quite effectively defend the entire room with gusts of air, so just trying to distract her while we grab the gem would be a very difficult task indeed."

"Also, I can say with certainty," Wynona adds, "that if we got on her bad side, she could most probably channel some of the energy of that storm raging outside right into that room, in the form of lightning."

Randle ponders, "Well, if she's the one powering the room, would it necessarilyhurt anything by taking the key? We still don't know what's behind the gem-seals. Perhaps she might even want us to succeed, as long as we agreed to either return the key or leave it in the building?"

"Lightning … in that room … full of metal," thinks Galen out loud. His head-hair starts to slowly raise up a tiny bit, again. "And she can't leave the room, so we can't trick her into showing off by asking her to show us how fast and far she can fly." He thinks. "Does anyone have any ideas on how we can trick her? Because I don't think combat is a very good option for us right now."

"Well," Wynona says, "I know that air elementals cannot pass through other elements. Not that it does us any good, but even though she looks like a ghost, she can't pass through walls – not unless there are big holes in them."

"I think she is drawing her focus on the physical realm by her connection to the air around the tower rather than what's inside that chamber," Wynona adds.

"Ahh," says Galen, looking at Wynona. "Perhaps … perhaps, if we could somehow block the windows that are open to the outside, even temporarily, then she would be deprived of her hold on this plane of existence, and thus give us enough time to snatch the gem?"

Randle hmms. "Well, I'm a strong flier, I think I could brave that storm to close the windows from outside."

The bat frowns. "I don't think I saw any shutters. And the Council said that we can't go about flying outside – For one thing, you'll be fried by the lightning. That's already been tried."

The Mephitian muses. "Hmm … how many and how big were those windows, anyway?"

Wynona furrows her brow. "Hmm. Large enough for any of us to climb through if we were foolhardy enough. However, the idea of blocking off the windows is sound. We'd need something to block them with, of course. It needn't be a particularly solid obstacle, really, and we don't need to nail it in place or anything like that. It would just have to impede the flow of air. But mark my words, once she catches on to what we're doing, I'm sure she'll try to stop us."

Randle hmms. "Is the lightning outside magical? If I put my staff in the window, would she be able to aim the lightning from outside, or would that catch the lightning before she got it under control?"

The bat looks up to Randle. "I think you're putting far too much faith in your metal rod to help out with lightning-based attacks. It just doesn't work that way. If it did, then air mages like me would be of no use to anyone who thinks to just carry an iron rod around."

Randle hmms, looking down at his tail, then extending his wings to see how wide they'd go. "Does the window have to be seamless? I can be a fairly large obstacle sometimes."

The Mephitian thinks some more. "Well … what could we cover the windows with, then? Blankets? Boards? Or was there something in that room we could move around and cover the windows with?"

Randle says, "As long as I stayed away from the gem, I don't think she'd mind me traveling to the upper deck and taking a look at the air until I got to the window."

Wynona nods to Randle. "Well, with your wings spread, you might be an obstacle, yes. We just have four windows to contend with."

Galen thinks and thinks … and can't think of any more ways to go against the elemental. He sighs again, deeper this time. "I'm going to take a seat at the table; I'm flabbergasted."

Randle says, "So perhaps a way to keep her occupied while someone blocks the windows?"

Wynona says, "Well, I suppose someone making a grab for the gem would count as a distraction … though I'm sure that whomever gets that job is going to have a tough time dodging lightning bolts. All that machinery in there is going to make flying dangerous." Wynona winces. "Not impossible, just dangerous."

"Hmm," muses Galen, "did any of that machinery look movable, or bendable, to you?"

Randle says, "The machinery … if we damanged the machinery in some unstable way might she be equally bound to repair it?""

Wynona shrugs. "That goes beyond my ability to know. That depends on how she was instructed. Mind you, magical machinery that complex … damaging it might give us new problems to worry about."

Galen blinks. "'New' problems?"

Wynona pantomimes an explosion, with her hands going out, and says, "Boom."

"Any road, insofar as things in the room to use to block the windows … how about those tapestries hanging between the windows?" Wynona adds. "Those were fairly heavy, and they might even be enchanted, to protect them against the elements, what with that room being open to them and all."

Galen's blue eyes suddenly grow a little brighter. "Yes … yes, that would work. That would work very, very well." He nods to Wynona. "Okay, we'll use the tapestries … but how can we apply them on time?"

Wynona frowns. "Well … there's three of us … "

Galen ponders the situation a bit more … then gives up for the day. His shoulders slump a little. "Well, compatriots … I think we've all had enough for today. Perhaps we should wait till tomorrow, and start afresh … and maybe even with some kind of reinforcements." He looks to the bat and the dragon. "What do you think?"

"Sounds like a plan!" Wynona says, then looks to the dragon.

Randle nods. "Sound good to me. I need to go outside anyway – I could sure use a smoke!"

Tighrius has disconnected.