They've left him alone in his cell.
He can't really be said to be lucid but he has very acute instincts for when there's someone and when he's alone - it's the last of his senses to depart him - and he's alone.
And then suddenly he isn't.
They've left him alone in his cell.
He can't really be said to be lucid but he has very acute instincts for when there's someone and when he's alone - it's the last of his senses to depart him - and he's alone.
And then suddenly he isn't.
"That'll help. ...If you're going to invite them here you need to warn me, they probably won't take it well if they find out you have a kobold friend."
"Sure. But I don't want to trust my - or more realistically Tirinquo's - life to that. Just warn me, it's not a big deal."
"...I said I'd tell you. I don't have to assume horrible things about my friends to agree to tell you."
And off she goes.
It does work, kind of. She can't use it with the teleportation form directly, but if she combines it with, for example, the light form, she can make something that points at the nearest magical thing of whatever sort. It doesn't have a range limit, though, so it'll do fine for what they want it for.
And she gets to work. Worlds without people are rare; among those, worlds without magic - or at least without magic she can detect this way - are common. Worlds with people seem to be split about 50/50 on having magic or not. She keeps portal-enspelled notes on all of them.
Yep. She comes up with a spell that'll notify them if there suddenly starts being magic - she wishes she had the form for spells that make noise, but she doesn't and they'd have to go to a human town for it and after the birdfolk she's not even going to mention it- and sets them up with defensive spells - there still might be hostile animals or whatever - and sends them off.
That's weird. Well, she can specifically aim for breathable air, she just thought 'presence of plants' was enough that she didn't need to; she redoes her world-survey with more attention to that sort of detail and gives them another place to try.
Yeah, seems like not all kinds of plants mean you've got the concentrations of air Quendi can handle. It's okay, they noticed and made it back in time.
Yeah. (Sorry about that.) She has specifically checked for that and a bunch of other things this time, though.
The part of the world they find themselves in is warm and slightly swampy, with short, thick-trunked trees, occasional bushes bearing tiny flowers, and lots of ferns and mosses. There don't seem to be any birds or animals, but some of the bugs are quite large and elaborate. The plants smell nice, but don't taste very good - bland with an undertone of bitterness.
Well, they're planning to send Melkor here, not make it a tourist destination. They poke around for any surprises that wouldn't have been observable by portal.
Nothing obvious, at first. After a while, though, someone tries a magical song, and its effect is much stronger than they were expecting, and the magic detector keeps pointing at the spot where it was sung even after they stop.
...well. That. Probably isn't good. ...or, it could be good, but it's not good for sending Melkor here.