All through the day and the following night, the adventurers flew north. They soon needed to wrap themselves in the winter furs that they hadn't used since they were in the Alps. The spring thaw should have begun weeks ago, but the fields and pastures were still covered in snow. The wind whistled through the arrowslits of the flying stronghold, chilling them to the bone.
Soon after dawn, Garyn & Rohit spotted a flock of creatures in the distance, flying in formation. It was soon evident that they were headed in the same direction, and gaining on them. Invisible and gaseous, Martok flew off to investigate. There were a dozen huge griffons, with riders clad in full plate, their tabards emblazoned with the moon and five-pointed star of the Imperial Legion. Unperturbed, the adventurers maintained their course.
When the griffon cavalry caught up to them, their captain ordered the adventurers to land their aircraft so that it could be inspected. Employing his bardic wiles, Lukwind explained that they were secret agents on a mission from Empress Leska herself and that his superiors would be furious if the captain jeopardized their quest by detaining them. The captain demanded to see their identification papers, so Clicker used a limited wish to produce some out of thin air and handed them to him through the arrowslit. The captain was flabbergasted. He had never heard such nonsense in all his life, and yet there was nothing to refute their outlandish claims. He returned the papers to Clicker and then the griffon cavalry wheeled about and flew back the way they had come.
The adventuring party tunneled beneath the city of Helsmuth in their mobile stronghold, the Winnebago. They were surprised to find a vast complex of worked stone, 150ft deep, which they were unable to phase through. They tunneled even deeper, where they came across a channel through the rock that had formed naturally. One end opened into the dungeon complex, where it had been barred with an iron portcullis. In the other direction, the channel sloped off into the Underdark...