|
Meeting up again after their break, the three heroes eyed each other
carefully. Little appeared to have changed, although Surya's armour -
while still black - was significant in not radiating the evil it once
had, and Hildraft was wearing the glass armour captured from the Hand
of Drok in Narthal. This latter, however, instead of being black, was
a radiant blue, the same shade as the Axe of Glass, and glowing in the
same way.
Reital castle itself was a hive of activity, and Surya explained some
of what he'd achieved in the last three months. In something of a volte-face
on his previous approach, he had accepted the offered crown of his homeland
and was to be crowned King of New Tellare on Mayday. He was also to be
married; given his likely levels of absenteeism from his realm, it seemed
wise. So the lovely Leonora of Rhorien was to be Queen of New Tellare.
 The
newly-acquired lands to the south and west had been parcelled out, with
Torir Evrom, Ingamin (dismissed by Vardar Peacock for his support of the
Wyrmslayers) and Hansen the Bard being made councillors for the three
new regions of Jyresh, Tarasyrnda and Coronos respectively.
On hearing this, Sack immediately clapped his Teleport helmet
on his head and hurtled across the miles to Cyrn Lothlin, where he demanded
his magical cooking knives back from Hansen, then turned his back and
returned to Reital without any futher ado.
Surya also mentioned that he had invited virtually all the rulers and
significant people in Alair to the wedding, and most of the males to the
Stag Night. The idea of holding the latter in Sigil had occurred to him,
as this seemed to present more options for random fun than anywhere else
he could think of.
Hildraft was worried. An item of news he'd heard on his travels indicated
that the new King of Kobur, his home city, was building his forces for
war, and putting pressure on Clan Bogadun about the adamantite only they
in all dwarfdome could forge. In addition to this, it seemed Gloiran had
closed its' gates completely and Nisur was cut off in some way from all
news.
Kobur,
Erean Mountains, 18th April 1602
Deciding to investigate, he inveigled Sack into Teleporting them
all to Kobur. There, he discovered that the rumours were basically true,
with rumours of trouble to the south in Orcland the main cause. He left
Ivhold Crusher with a Sending imbued so as to allow the Clanlord
to contact him directly in the event things became really bad.
Gloiran, it transpired, was sealed. King Dorain had received some sort
of warning from the Goldeneye that bad times were coming, and had closed
off all access to his realm while he waited for it to pass.
Nisur was more worrying; no word had come from the southernmost dwarfcity
for more than two months. Clearly something was wrong, and it was likely
to take the dwarves many more months to decide what to do about it. Disinclined
to wait that long, Hildraft prevailed on his comrades to accompany him
and headed south by Wind Walk.
Nisur,
Erean Mountains, 18th April 1602
Arriving outside the gates, they discovered them open. This was by no
means unusual; in times of peace, the outer gates of a dwarf city usually
did stand open, for trade and travellers to pass in and out under the
watchful eyes of the gate guards. This was the sticking point; there were
no guards. There was no blood, no debris, no sign of a fight at all; but
the whole gateway radiated a palpable aura of abandonment. The spell Detect
Magic, however, did reveal small traces of magic of an interplanar
nature.
Exploring carefully, the companions found the halls and chambers of Nisur
undamaged, untouched, and empty of all life. Tools and meals lay half-used
on tables; documents on desks - but no living being was to be seen.
As they descended, the sense of nearby magic
increased, until finally they entered the council chambers behind the
King's quarters. There, they found a magical effect, suspended in the
air at the far end of the room. A shimmering portal of mauve light, alien
in the extreme in its' design, hovered an inch off the floor and an inch
away from the back wall.
Clearly it was a Gate.
Surya dared an Identify spell, discovering that it was a gate
leading to Heppetah (whereever that was!). Hildraft used
a Sending to describe it to Xerxes, who reported that Heppetah was probably
a parallel Prime, another material plane like their own.
Unwilling to explore it preciptately, the group settled down to obersve
it for a while. Surya and Hildraft were content to watch it, but Sack
quickly grew bored, and collected a large pile of stones, which he proceeded
to throw through the Gate one after the other.
After around two hours, without the slightest warning, four humanoid
creatures stepped through the portal and strode towards the startled heroes.
They were nearly human in appearance, although there were differences;
harsh, angular features, odd-coloured eyes, upswept ears, claws, grey-green
skin. In fact, they looked not unlike the Githyanki people of their erstwhile
associate Kazoth; however there were differences, most noticeably in clothing
and equipment (which were minimal and rather plain). They weren't Githzerai
either.
Further speculation had to wait, however, as the creatures charged at
the intruders, strange-shaped blades raised.
Sack still had a doubled-fists-sized rock in his hand, and simply followed
through, hurling it directly into the face of one of the four new arrivals,
sending him tumbling backwards unconcious. Hildraft released a Searing
Light, which scorched one of the warriors, although not fatally, whereas
Surya, trying for communication, activated his Bull's Strength
while calling "Welcome!" with optimistic diplomacy and being
utterly ignored.
Drawing blades, the three engaged, and within seconds the three alien
creatures were cut down, though not before one had shouted something incomprehensible
at Surya, allowing Hildraft to hear the language and learn it through
the power of his Ta'nara gift. The language, too, was similar to
Kazoth's, and was probably from a similar ancient root.
The stunned prisoner was secured, and brought around. Hildraft's eyes
burned into the alien, slanted one of the strange creature as the dwarf
opened the interrogation. "You have made a mistake..." he said
grimly. The warrior laughed at him. "The stunted people are the slaves
of the Ithilid Empire," he boasted, "and you shall be too. You
have made the mistake here."
"Who are you?" asked Hildraft. "We are warriors. We fight."
came the answer with splendid indifference.
"You die too easily," commented someone when Hildraft translated.
"We have fought Mind Flayers before," said Surya dismissively.
"In the Underdark."
"Oh! The Lost Ones," replied the warrior when this was translated.
"Poor fools."
Hildraft attempted a Dispel Magic on the Gate, but perhaps
unsurprisingly nothing happened. He remained to guard the prisoner while
the others explored a bit more. Sack located the Royal Treasury, and Surya
went looking for the armoury. He didn't find it, but he did find a major
forgeworks.
As he was turning to leave, he heard sounds of movement. A form was walking
down the rows of anvils and presses towards him. At first he was almost
grateful for someone living in all this abandonment; then he realized
the creature was two feet taller than he and made of metal....
|
.
