Dinosaur Hunt: From the Diary of Yar’rag Setab

Dinosaur Hunt: From the Diary of Yar’rag Setab

Adventurer, Scholar & Wizard of no small power

Today I decided to go on a Dinosaur Hunt. I began by assembling my equipment, which included  my vorpal blade, winxy pistol, seven league boots, dimensional pouch, ring of elemental air control and 'Nutcracker' my trusty magical shield. I had my pith helm on and my compass and spyglass. Water in my pouch and enough food to see me well fed for a month. I walked gingerly from the Tower at the Edge of Reality to the mystic gate which stands in the grounds of the tower. I stood before it and invoked the words of power “Ecom ho tirips fof eth teag torpstran em dan torpstran em won”. With that the vortex opened up and beyond a tropical land awaited me. Eager to get on I entered this ancient world.

As I stepped forward on to the lush beach I looked up into the sky and watched a group of pterodactyls swooping down towards the see hunting primitive fish. It was then that I noticed the long necks of both plesiosaurs and mauisaurus breaking the surface of the almost calm ocean water some even had a meal in their teeth. The air was fresh and the breeze cooling even though the sun was climbing high. I had already taken a potion which allowed my lungs to cope with the much purer air.

With a sigh I began looking up and down the beach and scanning the tree line. Although prehistoric islands can be a lot of fun they can also contain dangers which most people are unaware of. It was then that I spotted the ancient marker stone that once proclaimed a jetty had once adorned this beach. Oh yes perhaps I had not mentioned this before but the island I was on had once been inhabited and it also was not your standard island but one which existed in a pocket dimension.

The people who had settled here where once of Atlantis and they had fled the civil war which had brought that once proud civilisation low. I had learned of this island from my grandfather, for it was from here he recruited his two unusually intelligent and long lived pterodactyls Aspectus and Venaria a mated couple.

However as usual I get distracted with facts which whilst interesting are not overly relevant to this current story. In any case I had found the marker, it had been placed their almost five hundred years earlier and her it was looking almost as good as new.  Seaweed clung to its base along with the shell of a dead cameroceras. I took the shell and placed it in my pouch, stored away for latter. Looking around I found an old trail almost overgrown with lack of use.

I decided to follow the trail and drew out my winxy pistol and vorpal blade. I was alone and did not want to fall foul of any of the creatures that dwelt on this island. There may not have been many or any humans upon the island in hundreds of years but I did not want to reintroduce the taste of our blood to them.

As I moved cautiously along the trail, taking in the natural beauty of this prehistoric paradise I could not take my mind of off the notion I was been watched. By what or by whom I could not tell. I knew it could not be magical scrying as I have long been immune to things, which meant whatever it was physically here. If I was lucky it was a scared herbivore trying to avoid my presence, if my luck had run out it may well be a predatory dinosaur looking for its next meal. I have never had any desire to become another creatures food so I remained on guard.

Eventually I came across tracks. A group of smallest dinosaurs, bipedal by the looks of thing, light on its feet and by the length of its stride long of leg for its size which was likely less than a metre tall. As I followed the tracks I soon came across a partially rotted and vine covered tree which had fallen across the trail. As I prepared to attack they struck not one, not three but half a dozen 70cm high dinosaurs long necked and long tailed their forelegs looked like clawed arms. Coloured in various greens they ran at me teeth bared and making shrill noises.

Then it happened bam, each slammed into my double body shield, an invisible force field which only magical attacks can penetrate. They hissed they tried to bite and they clawed at the invisible thing which kept then well away from me. Nut Cracker had saved me again. I could have killed them but that as you know is not my way.

I took out my note book and began sketching them even as they tried to eat me. Been a kind soul I removed some meat from my pack and through it clear of me so they might gain some reward for their troubles. Using my book of knowledge I identified them as Coelurus. Then once I had dallied for about an hour I picked myself up cast a flash spell and scared of my would be attackers. As fun as it was I had something important to do and so climbing over the fallen tree I continued onwards until I came upon a small river and an old stone bridge which had seen better days. It appears as if once in the past a spell battle had played out on this bridge and whilst it still stood some of it had fallen down over time as wind, water and plant growth had worked its will on the bridge so that only the left side was now whole or strong enough to take my weight.

I stopped here and fed, watered and relieved myself. As I did so I came across something in the vines a golden ring shaped as s circular chain. Once a fine ruby had been set in it, however the ruby was now a shattered ruin. A finger bone still passed through it although it was dirty and stained by the elements. I added this to my pouch after sensing that it no longer held magic.

So others had come this way before or perhaps they had been native spell casters of lost Atlantis. Why they had fought was beyond my knowledge and so I carried on careful not to get too carried away by flights of fancy and idle speculation. After what seemed like an hour I finally came to a clearing. However something was not right. Looking more carefully at the floor of the clearing I soon noticed that the clearing was littered with bones, all belonging to strange creatures I could not easily identify.

What was odd though it that many of the bones had wounds on them reminiscent of hunting spears the kind used to bring down big game such as boars and bears? I started looking for tracks and it soon became apparent that these bones had been dumped here and that a wagon had been used to bring them here what was also odd was that the wagon had been flanked by at least two large bipedal dinosaurs larger than the Coelurus by about three times. The wagon had been pulled by another type of dinosaur a quadruped by the looks of the tracks. Things where becoming more and more curious.

As I prepared to leave collecting some of the more interesting teeth and skulls, it happened a cross bow bolt bounced of off my double body shield looking around there in the jungle was a human atop a gallimimus, a large ostrich like dinosaur, a predator to be sure but this was bridled and saddled. The humanoid on it was red of skin and dark red of hair. It wore feathers in its hair and wore teeth around its neck. It wore lacquered banded leather armour on its chest and shoulders and clutched a rather advanced cross bow. This it now discarded and instead readied an obsidian tipped spear which now glowed purple. I cursed as I realised its magic would allow it to pierce my own protective magics. Then before I could blink beast and rider came charging towards me the red man calling out a battle cry. I just about had time to leap to one side and the spear passed through where I had been. The beast also snapped at me but I was not able to penetrate my shield although the force of its attack did send me flying.

As I rolled to my feet I fired of my winxy pistol. Its effect on dinosaur and rider where rather interesting as the hex the gun fired took its effect. The strap on the riders saddle came loose as the beast tripped throwing its rider over its head onto the ground. Then showing there was no love lost between beast and rider the dinosaur decided its former master was an easier target than I. For my part I ran.

I had not seen a red man since Carcosa, what in the nine hells was it doing here. Well for whatever reason I was not staying around to conduct an interview. The path ahead was clear and so I took to the air and flew forward using another of Nut Crackers abilities. As I did so I soon emerged from the jungle to be confronted by an awesome sight.

Before me was a great lake and around it where all manner of dinosaurs, mostly I am glade to report herbivores and across the lake an island upon which stood a palisade. The dinosaurs included stegosaurs, triceratops, a heard of parasaurolophus and even a family of diplodocus. Even the sky was filled with flying reptiles two I soon noticed ridden by red men.

It was then I decided to take a gamble and lower my double body shield in order to active Nut Crackers invisibility spell. You see as great as the shield was it can only have two of its powers active at once. With invisibility and flight active I flew at speed towards the island. As I got closer I soon realised the island was deserted and the palisade a ruin. However this was where I had been heading all along and now I was here my excitement grew.

As I landed where once the gates had been I looked around to make sure the red men where no longer in the vicinity, they were not so stopped to check for traps and magic and upon discovering neither I proceeded. The place had been attacked not too long ago and although their where signs of struggle, including blood and discarded weapons all bodies had been cleared away.

Noting the largest building I went over to it and entered making my way to the main bedroom on the first floor. How did I know there was a master bedroom on the first floor, let’s just say a little imp told me. Once inside I saw a large mirror hanging on one of the walls. Even though fighting had occurred the mirror was still intact and undamaged.

“Nepodnalaever” I called and the class of the mirror ripples and then vanished revealing a portal to a gave deep below the island. Oh this was just too good to be true. So again casting out my mind and focusing on magic I discovered a spell hanging their waiting for me. It was a rather nasty one, a form of stasis spell which held a greater shadow in stasis until such a time as someone crossed the fresh hold without the right object. Well I did not have the right symbol but I did have a way of dealing with the shadow.

I took out a golden candle of Sol, which due to a goodly amount of prayer contained a sun spell of the fourth circle. I held the candle up to just below where the shadow was been held and prepared to light it. I had to be careful because for the spell to work I had to cross the threshold and dispel the stasis which would mean the undead evil could attack. One, two and I went on two. The spell shattered and the shadow launched forward towards we then the candle went off and the room was filled with holy sunlight. The tortured spirit screamed an unearthly scream as the light burned it away to nothing.

Now checking for conventional traps which I found, I took out my tools and began to disarm the mechanism which would cause the stairs to turn into a smooth slide and deposit me in a pit which no doubt would then close and fill with water, there might even have been spikes in the pit but I was not really prepared to find out.

Down I went and found myself in an underground grotto. The room glowed due to a combination of gems and electrum in the walls, a pool of clear water and a strange moss which gave of a blue-white light which was amplified by the gems, metal and water. All of which was pretty but not why I was here.

No I had come because the arch mage Oceanus, former disciple of Velios the Mage-Priest of the Mal-Rashee had hired me. When I say hire let’s just say he had something I wanted no needed and he needed some fool to come here and get something he had asked a friend to hide many hundreds of years ago.

Looking around I found it in an alcove standing above the water was a decanter, made of moon crystal and stoppered with a star saphire. What the decanter did or what he wanted it for was not important, well not important to me. So looking around I noticed that the cave acted as a shield against magic, the water was blessed and the gems contained lighting and frost magic.

So I quickly deduced that I could not just take it. So how could I grab the decanter and not get myself into a whole world of hurt. I knew just what to do. Not many people know this but I am psychic. Not very psychic and not a powerful psychic but once I did a job for a cleric of Vishnu and in return he helped me unlock my inner sight and fortify my mental strength.

Focusing my discipline and casting it out like a fishing line a used my mind to grab the bottle and bring it slowly through the air to me, never disturbing the ground or the water. It worked well at first. I forgot the first rule of steeling objects on pillars, platforms alters or in alcoves: always, always replace like with like lest you set of a trap.

In this case I set of two! The first called into existence a storm elemental and mixture of elemental water and air. The second caused the portal which brought me here to begin to close. The solution my seven league boots, this was going to hurt and it did. Invoking their power the boots tried to carry me seven leagues all at once. Slam I flew into and through the wall to the room, bang I flew through the outer wall of the main building, smash I hit the palisades outer wall!

I was bruised and bashed but I had the decanter, as I looked up I saw I also had company, before me stood a pteraman. A type of lizard man which had a head resembling a pterodactyl, lacked a tail and could transform into with a hybrid or full pterodactyl form. This one held a blast sceptre and ordered me in broken English to hand over the decanter. Lucky for me I was no longer flying or invisible so I called upon nutcracker and unleashed a lightning bolt straight into the creatures chest frying it before it could react. I grabbed his fallen sceptre and ran, then flew and took to the air.

To the beach I few as fast as I could suddenly their where three red men on giant dimorphodons. They had lances like their ground bound counterpart and as they closed on me began firing purple beams of energy at me. By all the gods of magic and mayhem this was turning into a rather sticky situation.

If I turned to fight I might be over whelmed, if I carried on fleeing they might hit me. In the end I fumbled with my pouch and slid the decanter in and called up one of my assassins smoke jars and a thunder stick. Dodging another blast I almost dropped both and almost lost the spell I was calling to mind. However I had been through worse and so I cast glue and adhered the stick to the jar and then pulling the sticks cap I let go. It flew out behind me and then the thunder stick blew as destroying the jar and realising the smoke in one foul cloud. As it blinded and caused the riders to temporarily lose control of their mounts. I hit the ground and activated my boots sending me towards the beach.

Unfortunately 7 leagues happen to be roughly 24 miles and this island; well the part I had traversed was only about five miles deep. This created an overshoot of some 19 miles taking me out into deep water. Water filled with hungry predators which make modern day sea creatures seem like a tame sea world display team.

Thinking quickly I activated my flying ability once more and used it to stop myself hitting ocean instead I flew hard and fast back the way I came. I gained height as well and after three quarters of an hour later I reached the shore where I had originally arrived. Wasting no time what so ever I reactivated the gate stepped through and said a fond farewell to my dinosaur safari.

Once back I walked slowly back up to the tower fell quite literally through the door and allowed my animated study chair to catch me. Reaching into my pouch I pulled out the decanter and my journal and began documenting my adventure. Three things where playing on my mind. Firstly why where red men on that island which is a demi plane of this reality and linked to earths past, secondly how had the pteraman known I had the decanter, I cannot be scryed or magically detected and even abilities which detect future events get a little fuzzy when I am involved, thirdly where the reptile man and the abhumans working together or did they represent two different factions.

My mind whirled and it was only calmed by me writing down this tale, which was meant to be a simple dinosaur hunt but got hijacked by an arch mage and which has caused me more questions than it provided answers. Oh how silly of me I have fallen for the arch mages scheme he knew if he sent me I would end up letting my own curiosity act like the bait on a fisherman’s hook. Hmmm if only I had the will power to ignore all I had learned and get on with my own affairs.

Well that is all for now I shall most likely write again and write again soon.

Most kind regards,

Yar’rag Setab

Sunday 10^th Day of Harvest 717 IC