Crystal Quest Aftermath Epilogue, Part 3
1/20/07
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Underwater, just outside of the temple of Kel-Sir, near the fallen Tower of the Mages....
Akili, clearly recalling that the Wind Form spell doesn't function correctly underwater, settles for swimming north, and also angling up to the surface so he can move faster once he's out of the lake.
Atheele moves as quickly as he is able towards the surface following Akili
Sarai swims after Akili, as a scary pile of bubbles.
- You all swiftly approach the surface of the lake.
Akili is considering giving himself some fins, with the ever-handy polymorph wand, but decides against it when he discovers he's rapidly approaching the surface just as he is.
- The party arrives at the surface of the lake.
Once Akili reaches the surface, he attempts to change into wind form while approximately half of his body is still underwater, so he doesn't have to find something to crawl on top of first.
Sarai bubbles up into the air like an effervescent elf.
DM says, "Yeah... that makes my brain hurt. But I'll allow it."
DM says, "The windforming out of the water, that is."
Sarai asks, "So... which way are we going now?"
Andune asks, "North?"
Atheele chuckles and once in a place to move enough out of the water wind forms and hovers above the surface
Sarai shakes the remaining dampness out of her wind.
Akili takes a moment to regain his bearings, the transition from water to air feeling rather unusual, even for the wind form spell. Turning to Sarai and Andune, he replies, "That's right, north to the shore. Kel-Sir's lieutenant is waiting there."
- Hovering above (or floating on) the surface of the lake, you can see rugged cliffsides surrounding you to all sides but the southeast. To the southeast the lake drains in waterfalls to the lower lake. A wall along that edge has a massive tree growing out of it.
Sarai asks, "Like, north toward those mountains?"
- The sky is roiling and gloomy. A brisk wind sweeps the clouds ponderously towards the east.
Akili scratches his head, or at least makes the gesture. "Say.... Kel-Sir mentioned that Telven of the Falls was about a half-hour away. Was that in relation to here, or from the shore where we're supposed to meet this lieutenant?"
Atheele says, "I seem to recall it being due south approximately 30 minutes from here."
Sarai thought Telven of the falls was... well, southeast of here.
Sarai peers off toward the waterfall to catch her bearings.
DM to Sarai: You seem to recall it being roughly south from the Tower of the Mages.
DM to Akili: You would know it is about a half hour to the south of the Tower of the Mages. Which was in the lower lake. Having lived at the Tower for a while.
Akili realizes he already knew, and blames it on that disorientation from earlier. "Oh yeah, I remember now. It's south of the Tower... or what's left of it, I suppose," he finishes glumly. "Pretty close to where we are, in any case. Should we stop there first?"
Atheele thinks that would be a great place to start
Sarai says, "Time's a-wasting."
Andune says, "So let's go save some people."
Andune starts changing into wind form.
Atheele begins heading south towards Telven of the Falls
Sarai whooshes off south as well.
Atheele reminds everyone, "Remeber when we head towards the mountains again that there might be a dragon to contend with - so keep alert."
Akili nods to Atheele, then darts off south with the rest of the party, trying not to look at the miserable sky. However, he can't quite keep from looking at the direction of where the growing Void is.
- Off to the southeast the mountains are less rugged. Unfortunately the growing gloom in the sky clouds any line of sight you might have to the growing Void.
- You speed along over the wide winding Londa river, through a thickly forested valley.
- Ahead you can see the spires of Telven of the Falls approaching. There is smoke billowing up from the city and the walls have massive gaping holes blown in them.
Sarai says, "Whoa."
Andune blows around it and looks for survivors.
Atheele looks for the source of the gaping holes
Sarai blows through the holes. "Not like a cannonball."
- The northern part of the city is a massive enclosed harbor and to the west you can see the locks that allow boats to get up the cliffs from the lower sections of the Londa river.
- You reach the city and see a massive disaster area. Burning piles of rubbish and demolished houses and storefronts litter the once-pristine street.
Akili follows after Andune after wasting a few seconds being shocked by the destruction that's been wrought here. Aloud, he muses, "The Tower destroyed... this... How'd it all happen? We stopped Koron, we dealt with Matro... did someone else gain control of their army?" He doesn't really expect an answer, though, given the plaintive tone of his voice.
Andune sighs and realizes he has more killing spells than saving spells. "I think my Dimension Door might come in handy to herd people into your bag, Akili. ...IF we find any people left."
- A few desperate folks pick through the wreckage, with seeming very little hope. Their faces are smudged with soot. You can see bodies of soldiers both of Telven and Slavaac in the streets.
Sarai investigates, looking for signs of the exploding boulder of DOOM that was used against the tower.
DM to Sarai: It seems to you that the damage was mostly done via catapults and maybe some really big burly creatures with clubs.
Andune turns into half-elf form to try to comfort these people and explain that his group is here to help.
Sarai says, "This damage wasn't done magically. It was done the old-fashioned way, with fist and stone."
- The few survivors turn towards you at first with fear, then with a little bit of hope.
Atheele looks around trying fo find a way to communicate the imending doom to such beleagured people
- A ragged woman rushes forward saying, "My children... you must save my children.
Sarai phases out of wind-form.
Andune says, "Where are they, ma'am?"
Akili comes to a landing near Andune, also shifting back into solid form. He nods to Sarai's explanation with a sigh. "They were headed this way, so I'd guess it was the army. I wouldn't expect this many Slavaacians here otherwise." He turns to the survivors, taking out his newly-created Bag of Saving, but not sure how to persuade them that in it lies their safety.
- Other survivors put their hands forth pleading for food.
- The woman turns and points towards a massive pile of rubble farther up the street. "In there... they were in the observatory when the boulders struck..."
Sarai proclaims, "People of Telven: you have suffered greatly, but the danger is not past. We have come to save what we can."
Andune whispers to Akili to hold out his bag for the Dimension Door. "If you folks step through this doorway, you'll be in a safe place. We'll go look for the children. Anyone else missing someone?"
- A stern old man says, "Crazy old lady. Your children are dead. Don't waste their time."
- The lady turns toward the man, "They're not dead! I can still hear them..."
- A wiry young man eyes Andune, "Safe place? What do you mean?
Akili positions the mouth of his bag such that people can walk into Andune's Dimension Door spell, when cast, and will emerge on the other side for a brief instant before entering the bag. Following that, he moves over a bit to Sarai, and announces, "Time is short, everyone. We will save what we can, but we must make haste."
Andune says, "We'll see what we can find. The rest of you, please, we don't have much time."
Sarai says, "Death is coming to Telven of the falls. We know of a safe place, and will take you there."
Andune says, "The gods created a special place for you to be safe."
Sarai exclaims, "But you MUST hurry!"
- A little girl tugs on Akili's shirt, "Are you Eldar?
Atheele says gently, "No little one, but he is a servant of Eldar."
- A hush comes over the crowd. You hear 'Death?' muttered as the group grows a bit more sombre.
- The wiry man looks at the dimension door and walks toward it.
- The group begins shuffling towards the door, wary and somewhat wierded out by this whole thing.
Sarai jogs over to the pile of rubble, and makes an arcane gesture.
Akili's expression shifts from startlement, to amazement, to sorrow, then back to something resembling calm, and smiles at her. "I am not, little one, but I know Eldar well. I know you must be scared, but we can bring you to a safer place. All you have to do is be brave, and walk through the door my friend Andune has opened."
DM to Sarai: You cast Jaffer's Spell of Sensing. You sense three small beings huddled deep under the rubble. You also sense another form somewhere higher in the rubble as well as eight other forms back by the group.
- The little girl hugs Akili, then runs off to follow the group.
Sarai shouts, "Atheele, come help me! There are four still living in here!"
- About half of the group has gone into the portal now. A couple of them look hesitant, watching the others go through very carefully.
- The woman cries, "My babies..."
Akili returns the hug with a touched smile; it's the first time he can remember anyone seeing him for the first time not being terrified, or at least worried, about what he looked like, and the colors of his craft.
Andune says, "It okay, we'll find anyone still alive."
Atheele runs off to help Sarai.
- The woman is frantically climbing about the rubble.
Andune takes the woman by the arm and tries to escort her towards the door.
Atheele begins hoisting rocks off the rubble and throwing them aside trying to clear a way to the living
Sarai tries to find the safest way to excavate them.
Sarai says, "Hang on, we don't want it to collapse on them."
- The rubble is heavy and some are a bit too big and heavy to just heave out of the way. Some of the smaller ones, once pulled out, make room for more to fall down.
Akili watches Sarai and Atheele with concern, wanting to help, but he can't set the bag down... "Andune!" he calls. "Can you hold this? I'm going to help them!"
DM to Sarai: You think you really should get the top one first. Also you're going to need some way to brace up the upper rubble from collapsing as you try to create a tunnel to them.
Andune says, "Sure."
Atheele looks at Sarai and says, "Which rocks can we pull out safely?"
Sarai asks, "Andune, you can still cast wind-form, right?"
Andune says, "Not me."
Sarai says, "Oh, that was Oyaht."
Akili hands the bag to Andune, then moves over to Sarai and Atheele, pulling out his Scepter. "I can pull out bigger ones with this, and I can polymorph anything larger, if you can tell me what to work on, Sarai. You're better at this stuff than I am."
Atheele nods and looks to Sarai for direction on which rocks to hoist
Sarai says, "Well, start with the person on the top."
Atheele starts with the big one just as Sarai directs
Sarai points up into the pile. "There is one person, probably an adult, up there."
- The rubble on the very top is far too big to lift.
Akili uses a combination of his boots and his wings to quickly dart to the top of the pile, and looks for the person Sarai is referring to. If he can figure out where the person is, he'll use his Scepter's blade to cut the bigger rocks down to size.
DM to Akili: The pile is exceptionally massive and you cannot readily tell where the person is.
DM to Akili: You think you could maybe dig your way through in a way, by slicing rocks to smaller bits and tossing them aside, but it seems it would take hours to get to the first person.
Sarai clambers up onto the rocks, and spends a minute performing arcane rites.
Akili considers the situation as Sarai climbs up, and has to shake his head. "I can't figure out where he is, and if I move fast, I might injure them instead." He offers the Scepter to Sarai, who might be able to make better use of it if she can figure out exactly where the trapped people are in the pile.
Sarai works to finish the spell before taking the scepter.
While waiting, Akili checks back over his shoulder to make sure Andune is handing the line of people without any visible problems.
- As Sarai completes the spell, the iron bar sitting on the ground in front of her rings like a bell.
- The bar flexes and stretches, expanding and changing shape.
Andune keeps encouraging people to enter the doorway as quickly as possible.
- Andune has nearly finished herding the group into the door. The last two look a bit reluctant, but are starting to go in, looking nervously at what Sarai is doing.
Sarai takes a step back from the iron bar.
Akili hovers up in the air, glad he's recently learned that particular technique without wasting the magic of his boots, and watches with interest.
- The blob of iron begins to take shape into a humanoid form. It grows to about 15 feet tall and stretches, making a shrill sound of metal scraping against metal.
- It turns its featureless head towards Sarai, looking expectant.
Sarai blinks in startlement.
Sarai says, "Uh, hold up these rocks here, so they don't fall in."
- The iron form nods assent, then turns towards the pile and sets its massive hands against the stone, holding it firm.
Akili appears seriously impressed, and tries to figure out exactly which spell Sarai just cast, as it appears she created a golem out of a single iron bar.
DM to Akili: You would expect it is one of Galger's spells, but it is not one familiar to you. Galger tends to do very simple tasks using massive summoned beings for no apparent reason. You expect the thing is probably a construct. Constructs require very explicit and specific instructions. Like trying to word a wish.
Sarai takes the scepter from Akili, and... "Akili, what's the best way to make this thing move that rock?"
Akili shakes off his distraction, and considers for a moment. "Well, that button there," he carefully points out, "will extend a pole with a gripping claw, up to 20 feet long. So you can use it as a prybar. That's probably the best way, if carving the rock isn't feasible."
Sarai hands it back to Akili. "You take the tiller, and I'll man the crow's nest."
Sarai points. "Move that rock there."
Akili chuckles despite the situation, and accepts the Scepter back. With the careful application gained from frequent use of the Scepter, he attempts to do as Sarai has instructed.
- Akili begins pulling some boulders out from the pile.
- The giant compensates for the missing boulders, managing the keep the pile up while Akili undermines it.
Akili works quickly, aware that the ticking clock will run out of ticks altogether too soon.
- A faint voice cries out from behind the rocks, "Help..."
Sarai smiles with pride at the iron golem.
Andune is apprehesive, even from over here.
Akili's ears prick up at the voice, and he tries to move even faster, although still being careful might make that any faster movement impossible. "I can hear someone," he calls to Sarai. "We're close!"
Sarai points. "He's right in there."
- As Akili pulls out the boulders, he sees a face peering out through the dust and darkness. He is a grimy and old man, scarred from ancient battles.
Sarai reaches down and tries to give him a hand out.
- The man reaches up, his body cramped from being jammed into a tiny space.
Akili continues removing rubble while Sarai tries to pull the old man out, just in case there's still something pinning his legs in place.
- The man says, "Help... I... I am too weak." He rests his arm on the rubble, peering out.
Sarai says, "Atheele, give us a hand."
Atheele lends a hand to the old man - using a rope if necessary for the height.
Akili pauses in his excavation, leans down, and presses a hand to the old man, casting his amplified minor wounds spell, as it may help a little. Once it's cast, he resumes his rubble-clearing activities.
- Between Sarai and Atheele, they are able to pull the man out. He is dirty and bruised and his legs are covered in scrapes and gashes.
Sarai says, "Ok. Akili, come with me."
- His wounds heal and he looks down at his legs, then up at Akili.
Sarai climbs down lower on the pile, looking for the best way to get the children out.
- All the people have gone through the door except for the woman who looks anxiously on, waiting to see her children.
Off a bit from the group, having watched all this, Kaira puts her hands upon her hips and states, "This is taking TOO long, we have many more places to go."
Akili shows the man a quick smile - wisely not showing his teeth while doing so - then takes to the air, following Sarai as requested.
DM to Sarai: You expect that the ground is probably more sturdy than the rubble. Maybe there's a sewer?
Andune walks to the woman and the old man newly rescued and tries to pursuade them to hop into the bag.
Sarai says, "Hang on a moment."
Sarai fades to wind-form.
- Both the old man and woman seem pretty confused at the prospect.
Overhearing Kaira's comment, and grimacing a bit - as he was thinking the same thing - Akili quicky wings over to Andune and the pair, and tells them, "This city is not safe. We have to get as many people out of here as fast as we can, as there are many others that still need saving. The bag is safe, I promise." That said, he flies back over to Sarai, wondering what she has in mind.
Andune says, "Thanks, Akili."
- Both the man and woman gaze at Akili for a moment in wonder.
- The woman says, "I need to see my children are safe... and maybe they won't go into the bag without me.
Sarai, now in wind form, breezes into the pile of rubble.
- The old man eyes the bag and tries to figure out how to climb in.
Andune holds the bag out for them. "I understand. The bag will be here when you are ready, but time's a-wasting."
Sarai breezes out of the rubble, and begins solidifying.
Akili keeps his voice low, just in case Sarai doesn't have good news. "What'd you find?" he asks as she shifts back from her wind form.
Sarai says, "They are alive and well, short of being trapped."
Kaira grunts, "She found nothing, now lets get going."
DM to Sarai: For the record: Sarai went into the rubble, found the children in a large 'tent' shape made of rubble with a large metal shaft going through. After exploring, she found a nearby metal panel that led down into a sewer tunnel, which leads under one of the stone blocks forming the tent.
Akili is too far away from Kaira at this time to hear her, and asks warily, "How far down?"
- The lady leers at Kaira, "They're alive... you'll see!
Sarai says, "They are in a large opening amid the rocks. There is a sewer system that runs underneath their prison. So I'm thinking your sword can chop a hole, so they can escape through the solid tunnels rather than the rubble."
Kaira glares at the lady. "And we're wasting time when there are tons more people out there to save."
- A light mist falls across the rubble and streets.
Sarai blinks.
Sarai says, "Akili, just breeze in there and save them with the bag."
Andune calms Kaira. "We saved you when your town was attacked. it's only right that we try to save these little children too. Perhaps you can lend Sarai and Akili a hand. Children might be reassured by another child's voice."
Sarai says, "And we'll be on our way."
Akili looks very relieved. "That'll save a lot of time. Nice find." About to shift to windform, he blinks, and nods. "Even better." So instead, he wings over to Andune, and asks for the bag upon landing. "I'll get the children myself, and then we need to get going."
Sarai describes as best she can how to find the children.
Kaira does calm down a bit. "Fine, but I don't think Akili or Sarai need me getting in the way."
Andune lets Akili take the bag from him.
Akili listens carefully to Sarai's description, repeating bits of it to make sure he's got it right, then launches into the air, shifting to windform while on the wing, and dives into the pile of rubble. When he finds the open space the children are in, if it not a big enough area for him to fit within, he intends to carve a path to the sewer below, where he can then persuade them to enter the bag.
Andune relays this plan that he overheard to the woman so she is prepared to enter the bag too.
DM to Akili: You find the space with the children inside. There is actually plenty of space for you to fit. When the children see you, their eyes go wide with awe. The youngest asks, "Are you an angel?"
Akili to DM: Akili looks surprised, then amused, and wonders if there's something different about him that he hasn't noticed, besides his wings. He smiles to the youngest, and gently replies, "You can call me that. My name's Akili, and I'm here to bring you - all of you - back to your mother. But you're too big to come with me as you are, so you'll have to hop in this bag, here."
DM to Akili: The children all nod, then climb into the bag eagerly.
Sarai fades to wind-form again, in anticipation of heading to the next destination.
A short time later, a mist of wind emerges from the rubble, and takes the form of Akili, who darts back to the party and sets down in solid form, looking distractedly pleased by something. To the lady, he says, "Your children are all safe inside, and are waiting for you. Make haste, as we must move on." With that, he opens the bag for her and the old man to enter.
Andune says, "Good job, Akili. Let's move."
- The old man is already in, but the lady looks in, then gives Akili a hug, "Thank you. Thank you all."
- The lady climbs in quickly.
Akili looks pleased again at the hug, but doesn't have time to return it before the lady steps in. Closing the mouth of the bag and securing it on his person, he says, "Okay, I think there's only one other stop before Vortex. Kel-Sir mentioned some settlements to the west of the Tower... but if we stop there, we'll have to be faster. We've got to get to Vortex with enough time to open the portal and save the people there."
Andune thought we were going to a city near the shore.
Akili notices Andune's confusion, and points out, "We're meeting the lieutenant there, yes, who has a faster way to Vortex than flying, if I recall correctly."
Andune says, "Ah. OK."
Akili to DM: How much time have we spent here?
DM to Akili: About an hour.
Sarai is ready to fly.
Kaira is most definitely ready to get out here.
Andune follows.
Akili takes wing, and then wind-form, and heads west at maximum speed.
Sarai exclaims, "Wheee!"
- You fly rapidly over the rocky mountain terrain. Swiftly you find yourself past the locks and flying over a rocky mountain path.
Atheele follows, keeping a wary eye out for dragons.
Akili, figuring they'd spent about an hour at Telven, estimates that they have no more than some eight hours remaining from leaving there to finish at Vortex, and uselessly strains to push more speed out of the spell. As he cruises along, he glances at where the Void should be, just in case the clouds clear at all in that direction.
- About an hour later you find yourself approaching a split in the path. One going northwest, the other south.
- Directly in front of you is a massive mountain range, capped with snow.
Sarai slows a bit. "What is our current destination?"
- Off to the east far in the distance you see the clouds getting darker and darker until it seems totally black about where you'd estimate the Tower of Watchers to be.
Akili considers for only a few moments. "Our final one is north of where we met Kel-Sir. He mentioned that there was a settlement to the west, but I'm not sure I recall exactly how far away it was. I'm presuming he wouldn't have mentioned it if it was much too far away. I vote for Northwest, as we won't have to backtrack as far if we can't find it... unless we want to change course now."
Sarai says, "Fine by me."
Akili to DM: What direction *would* the Void be, in relation to Annor?
DM to Akili: You'd expect off to the east somewhere from your calculations.
Akili nods, and glances around. "Other opinions? Northwest, or north to find Kel-Sir's lieutenant to get to Vortex? I think we're down to some seven spare hours."
Andune says, "Northwest sounds good."
- You fly along a valley floor following the northwest path.
Akili doesn't hear anyone else speaking up, and so heads northwest, at least for a little while... if he doesn't see a settlement by another half-hour's time or so, he'll vote for heading straight north instead.
- After about a half an hour, the path veers to the west, a massive mountain range looms ahead.
Sarai scans the ground for any signs of people.
- Off to the west a bit you see what looks like signs of a reent battle.
After that half-hour, Akili speaks up. "Okay, I don't think we're going to find-- huh. What's that down there?"
Sarai says, "Be-attle."
Akili grimaces again. "I have the distinct impression that this kind of thing is happening over most of Annor. Well, we're here... let's check for survivors, and then make all unreasonable haste."
Sarai whisks across the blood-stained field, looking for movement.
- You fly down to the scene, seeing bodies of not only Slavaacians and Telven soldiers, but also un-uniformed fighters.
- One of the Slavaacian soldiers seems to be moving.
Sarai asks, "Farmers and stuff, perhaps?"
- The un-uniformed fighters are grizzly rugged men that otherwise look Telvenite.
Sarai says, "Hadn't thought about that. I suppose he's not invited."
Akili gives Sarai a curious look. "Not inv-- oh. You mean the Slavaacians? Hm. They aren't really of Annor, it's true.... Huh, I wonder where Koron ended up, after Kenlow was done with him."
- Andune says, "As long as we don't save him, he'll die with the rest of the world.
Kaira peers. "So we can't save him but we spent way too long saving those children?"
Akili looks ahead of the battlefield for any signs of habitation. "Enough people are going to die, despite whatever we do. And Kaira has a point, of sorts; we don't really have time to make character judgements. Might as well scoop him up now and sort it out later, when destruction of the world isn't impending."
Sarai says, "I don't suppose it would hurt, since we're here... but I don't think it would help either."
Sarai says, "The Annorans will likely murder him anyway."
DM says, "Well Akili, you have the bag, so you have the final say."
Akili reasons, "After being moved to a different world entirely, they might be a little distracted to hold grudges. Still, he's here, and we are...." He shrugs, and swoops down with the bag.
- The soldier is badly wounded, but alive. His leg is bloody, but not bleeding noticably.
Akili lands solidly in front of the soldier, a hand free to cast spells just in case the soldier has a really dumb idea. "Okay, I'll make this fast. You can stay here and die with the destruction of the world, or you can hop in this bag and take your chances with the Annorans that have been saved. You've got three seconds, and then I'll decide for you, starting now."
- The soldier looks up, "Um... okay."
- He attempts to climb up, but winces in pain.
Sarai chuckles. "A wise decision."
Akili looks vaguely exasperated, and spends another amplified minor healing spell. "There. Now, climb in."
- The soldier hops in.
Akili reseals the bag, and leaps up into the air again. "If they've fought like this, there's probably not much point in going farther west," he reasons. "But I'm still open to suggestions."
Sarai says, "Let's go where we can be sure of people."
Akili nods his agreement. "North of the Tower, and then to Vortex it is." He finishes shifting to wind form, and starts heading in that direction.
- The ascent up the mountain is quite steep and chilly, but in wind form you can manage it.
- As you approach the ridge, flight is getting difficult as the wind blows at you.
Akili to DM: Do we have to cross this mountain range to head where we're going? I figured we'd be backtracking to the east a bit to get all the way north of the Tower.
Sarai pushes on as best she can.
DM to Akili: Oh, you could go east or west around the ridge. East will work, taking you closer to the tower.
Akili advises, "Sarai, rather that pushing straight over, let's veer east a bit. We'll have to backtrack that way a little bit anyway, since we went west to get here."
Sarai says, "Sounds good."
Akili drifts off to the northeast side of the ridge as he cruises, hoping to find it easier going.
- After flying east a bit, you find yourself back at the lake where the Tower of the Mages was. North looks like much easier going now.
Sarai says, "Doh. Looks like we took the long way round."
Akili nods to Sarai. "We did; I knew the settlement was off to the west a bit. Didn't expect it to be quite that bad of a turnout, though," he remarks unhappily. "Still, the time's spent, so let's keep going."
Sarai nods, and whooshes north.
- You fly on, zooming through valleys.
- The mountains are massive and this area seems relatively uninhabited.
Several hours pass as you fly among the chilly valleys.
Akili tries not to count the passage of time, aware that Kel-Sir stated that the journey to the shore, even as fast as this, was going to take around fifteen hours. As he flies, he periodically checks back east at where the Tower of the Watchers is, or perhaps was, at this point.
- At this point, you can't even see past the mountains without raising your altitude.
- After several hours of flying, you are all pretty beat, having been awake from almost two continuous days.
- The Game is paused here.
>>>End of log