Silver Insanity

"I could manage one, maybe two people besides me for flying but I'd really rather not. So no, I can't make everyone else fly unless you know a way to get around that whole 'It disappears if you try and go up' limitation Tenser's has. Though I suppose I could polymorph the entire party and put you on my shoulders, but that's even more obnoxious to accomplish on my part than carrying one or two and likely not that much less obnoxious for the subjects..." With that, Aurora trails into the tower behind Stewart and heads to the library to peruse until interrupted.

"Well, it sounds like I had better find something other than their courtyard to appear in. I had just thought it was worth asking."

By the time Kailyn gets back, you've found an additional three viable teleport targets:

1: A circle of standing stones to the east of Greenspring, located just a bit past the high point of the pass over the mountains. Unlike the Circle of Daria, this is an active magical focus, though the writer of the book you found it in was unable to ascertain the stones' purpose. Potentially interesting, but also potentially dangerous - the stones might well object to visitors.

2: One of Lauren's research papers includes detailed pictures of the area surrounding the excavation site. This would put you in the northernmost valley of Catian, and within sight of castle Greywind.

3: A random traveler's journal includes a sketch of a "Particularly nice view of Greenspring." This would put you somewhere on the mountainside to the west of Greenspring.

When everyone has gathered again, Stewart briefly describes the targets. "If we weren't already busy, I would investigate the stones. But let's not deal with random magics today. So, I'm thinking the overlook is a good place to start. If we don't find anything in Greenspring, we can go to Castle Greywind."

As almost an afterthought Stewart adds, "Lauren mentioned that someone was gearing up for magical warfare... and there's a fair number of wizards around. But that kind of chaos seems like a good place to look for Cass to me."

Unless there are any objections, Stewart concentrates for a moment and a gate appears on a mountain ledge overlooking Greenspring.

Aurora returns to the courtyard, flipping through a handful of pages of notes she'd apparently taken while in the library. The contrast between the Aurora of the moment, with the distracted air of a scholar busy in her work and the ink stains on her fingers, and the Aurora of virtually every other moment is startling, almost incongruous, yet nevertheless comes across as natural as the other-Aurora. One last flip of the page, and then the notes disappear into a pocket, the ink stains vanish, and in the space between one breath and the next the scholar returns to the Aurora the others are far more familiar with.

No audible comment is made on Stewart's reasoning, but she nods in either agreement or acceptance and passes through the gate with the rest of the entourage.

The far side of the portal might normally grant a wonderful view of Greenspring; it's certainly at the top of a fair-sized rocky promontory. Today, however, all it grants you a view of is perhaps fifty feet of rain, after which distance nothing is visible at all.

Stewart stands before the open portal for a moment, staring at the rain, ears slowly drooping. He mutters "Etherealness would be overkill" as he walks though.

Before you is the aforementioned not-quite-cliff; behind you is a small clearing in the woods where this bit of bedrock protruded to the surface.

A few moments after your arrival, four giant hyenas burst from the cover of the trees and, snarling angrily, charge at Luma. Three of them miss entirely; the fourth succeeds in knocking her over the edge - and, unable to restrain its own momentum, goes bouncing down after her.

Aurora's laugh at Stewart's discomfort is cut off as the four attackers charge onto the scene. She's quickly airborne and headed towards where Luma had been knocked off but her momentum abruptly halts a short distance into the air. Flickers of steam hiss through the air as three orbs of tightly controlled fire scorch towards the three hyenas remaining on top of the cliff.

Stewart frowns at the hyenas, as a curtain of ectoplasm surrounds him. He gestures imperiously at the closest hyena and crystals start forming over its flesh.