Editing On The Road To Lake Bled

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''Game Date: 05 Feb 2011''<br>
''Present: Cindy, Kim, Maer, Andy, and Jim''<br> <br> <br>

August 27, 1867, Tuesday<br>

We finalize the paperwork to make Flora the legal heir of the Dashwood fortune, take our leave of the gracious Countess Scarpelli, and hit the road with William's circus troupe for Munchen (4 days's travel) and Salzburg (4 days) and thence to Lake Bled (6 days). On the way, we receive word from our Paris contacts that Rembecki has left and is on the move.  Also we spend an afternoon near Salzburg testing Anton's latest improvements on Ascenders--a mechanical winged device that enables men to fly like birds through the air.  Josephine tries an Ascender for several trips aloft, as do Katherine and Ezekiel.  After Katherine splashes down for a landing in the river, the party breaks up the test session and soon hits the road again.<br><br>

Meanwhile, something odd is happening to Flora.  Her ears itch and her hearing becomes more sensitive. Her vision at night gets sharper and thanks to her Channeling abilities she inadvertantly transfers her consciousness into the mind of one of the troupe's trained bats.  And this happens not once, but twice.  This does not endear her to the mistress in charge of the bats but an understanding is reached. <br><br>

Beignet is also not idle during this overland trip.  He arranges for the construction of two magical music boxes by the mage-artificers of the troupe. Both require an expensive gemstone which he buys for the purpose.  When completed, the larger of the two music boxes plays an unusually complex and beautifully tuned rendition of ''Ave Maria'' and it casts a spell that bolsters the well-being and abilities of Champions of good who fall inside its radius while at the same time dampens the abilities and the powers of those on the side of evil. It also hampers the use of magic and Beignet is not entirely comfortable within its range.  However, it will be a powerful talisman against the magic that Rembecki will throw at us when we battle her--which is the reason Beignet had the music box created.  Of the other music box, he tells no one outside the Gnomes who made it what it is for.<br><br>

We arrive at Bled on the evening of the 8th of September and pitch our camp on the outskirts of the village. We make our plans and set out the next day to get the lay of the land and devise the best way to attack Rembecki. By evening we have what we need and finalize our strategy. On the morrow, we will set our plan in motion and bring the fight to Rembecki where she least expects it.
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