Against Better Judgement

Felmont 2-4 (Continued)
 
Inside this area was a large entry room with several hallways leading off from it. A thick coating of dust covered everything in here and obvious footprints were going everywhere. There would be no problem tracking Chambrin through here, at least where he went. There was furniture in here but the odd part was it was all human sized. For being in a dwarven keep this seemed out of place to me. There was also a rotted away skeleton on the floor that had been there for a very long time. There was nothing on it after a quick examination and Holly said the trail where he ended up going was quite clear although there were tracks everywhere and I couldn’t make out anything except he went…everywhere.
 
Holly led us straight to a hallway that continued on from the main entry which turned the corner to another hall with three doors. Again tracks led to all the doors but Holly said ultimately he went to this one. It was a large metal door that seemed to be stuck and it took Durbin and Dram to open it up and when they did a wave of heat and steam rushed out. Getting the door fully open there were pools of steaming hot water in here making it very humid. The whole room gave off a soft glow from the slime that covered the wall. Holly was quite interested in it and scraped some into a vial she pulled out of her pack. The could be quite a relaxing place if we weren’t in a hurry and we had no idea what else could be in here. There was a door at the other end of the room so we made our way cautiously through. The door was the same as the other and needed some force to be opened which led into another hallway with two doors.
 
Holly said he went in both doors but looks like he ultimately went through the second door to continue on. We ended up going through the first door to see what was there. It was a very large bedroom with a spiral staircase going up to a balcony about eighteen meters up and another door. This room was a magnificent bedroom at once but it had been ransacked. Everything in here had been rummaged through, cut open, broken, you name it. It was also all human sized again. We went through the remains quickly but nothing was here. Holly wanted to climb the stairs and check the door up at the top but since she had said Chambrin ultimately went on we decided to not check it at that point and continue one.
 
The next room at the end of the hall was very disappointing. What was once likely a magnificent alchemy lab was totally destroyed. It looked as if there was a huge explosion in the middle of the room. The floor was mostly blackened and most of the room destroyed. We quickly looked through the room but there wasn’t anything there so we continued on to the only door going out and where the tracks went to. Opening this door unleashed the horrible stench but was only a small chamber with another door. Opening the next door unleashed an even stronger sulfur smell. There were three small pools that had crystals around the edges. The tracks went in here but there seemed to be no way out. Holly went in to investigate and I kept the air purified around here. The smell was so heavy in the air you would likely die with no protection. She said the tracks went up to the wall and just stopped. There seemed to be no hidden entry or anything. Durbin said that wall was the same wall as the bedroom. I would have to take his word as I have no idea where we are when underground. Holly came back out and we closed the door heading back to the bedroom.
 
We discussed exploring the rest of this dungeon as there were plenty of more areas to investigate or going up these stairs to see what was beyond the door up there. Since we were already here we decided to go up the stairs, it didn’t hurt also that there were tracks leading up the stairs as well. After getting to the top and heading towards the door before it was even open I could feel the magic power coming from beyond the door. After opening the door it was like a blinding light of magical power. After being able to adjust my vision it was a very beautiful room with a large pool of water in the center which was the source of power and two large amber lions flanking the pool and a scrap of red cloth near the pool. As we entered the room the lions animated and turned to attack. I retreated into the corner, shrouded myself in darkness and invited Holly to join me while Durbin and Dram fought. After Durbin smashed one of them I was able to charge my staff with lightning and break the other one.
 
At this point we needed to study this. Since Chambrin wanted to come here and it seems he ended up here it must be the powerful magic he sought. There was the piece of shredded cloak and there were splash marks around the pool of water as if he had jumped or rushed into it. The others pressed that we needed to continue on as we needed to find Chambrin. That was of course a ridiculous notion. We needed to send for the Princess and the other mages, possibly even Geoffrey himself. This was a powerful magical artifact here that needed to be studied before using it. They were insistent so we tried a few items. We threw in a piece of broken amber which sank, shimmered and disappeared. Next I tried a mage eye which did the same but my connection instantly cut on disappearing. Finally Durbin just said he was going and just went into the pool, shimmered and disappeared. There was some disagreement as to what to do next. Dram was insistent on going. I said that Durbin had made his choice and he had to live with it. I gave my opinion as the most knowledgeable on magical matters present and he used it anyways. In the end we decided we could not just let him go through whatever it was alone. Holly volunteered to go next, we tied a rope around her and she went into the pool and disappeared severing the rope. Dram went next. I would be lying if I didn’t think about just leaving. I could go up to the windows in the ceiling, escape and loop back around to Hearth-Home and let them know what happened. I also was afraid that this would just be certain death and I would never see Rhiannon or my clan again. In the end I decided I needed to help my group, went into the water and felt an odd sensation.
 
I came up gasping in a pool of water bathed in sunlight in a clearing surrounded by trees. At least we were out of the caves! Durbin, Holly and Dram were all there. Durbin was out of the pool, Holly climbing out, Dram and I in the water. There was a stone statue of a woman laying down but when got out of the water it was just a stone, it must just be a coincidence. It did feel a bit odd here, I was slightly dizzy and my head ached slightly. The air was…different somehow here and looking around we were not in the mountains anymore, we were much lower.
 
Melwen was very excited to be out of Hearth-Home so I asked her to fly up and scout a bit ahead. Holly found the trail pretty quickly and we set off. She said the trail was pretty easy to follow and he didn’t seem to hide it, either because he couldn’t or was moving quickly. After some time a pack of boars ran across our path and the largest noticed us and charged. The others took care of it pretty quick and started talking about reloading crossbows and cutting this thing up. I almost got angry at this, I did not risk my life coming through this portal to stop and do this while we were hunting Chambrin and told them so. They relented and we moved on down the trail. After some time Melwen came rushing back towards me sending me an image of some giant bird creature and her emotion of terror. I let the others know what was coming and they set up their crossbows. Melwen came flying in and the large bird creature (a harpy!) came rushing after her. Holly and Durbin loosed their bolts and took the thing down immediately. With that we took a short break and Dram reloaded Holly’s crossbows, they were quite useful and if there was one harpy around then likely more would be around.
 
Soon after Melwen came back and told me there were indeed more circling overhead hunting. That started the others talking about trying to trap these things to kill them and even going to hunt them down and find their nest. Once more I had to focus them on the fact we were here to find Chambrin, not hunt harpies. If we wanted to do that once Chambrin was captured then I would be more than happy to help. They again relented and we continued on trying to avoid the harpies. That wasn’t possible as they are actually fairly good hunters so we had to fight two pairs of them that came in. I actually used my bow this time and found I wasn’t too bad. We killed three of the four, one did get away but maybe it could tell the others to stay away from us.
 
After more time we came upon a small village that was half burned down and no activity of anyone living there. We approached and an old man jumped off a stool sitting in one of what would be a burned down tavern. He spoke Traladaran so I didn’t really catch anything but Dram said the man had lost his family and building and was likely just broken. He didn’t make much sense but apparently Chambrin had been through here and pointed out the way he went. This was also the village of Bywater which was the first one outside the Rift so we were actually close to home! He said there was another village down the road as well. Durbin gave the man some coins and we started through the village. Yet again the others talked about investigating this village or going to the other village and again I had to remind them we were here to find Chambrin. Afterwards we could look for clues and hunt harpies and skin boars. They relented and we carried on, Chambrin was going the opposite way of the second village so he must actually be heading towards the Rift then.
 
By this time it was getting late but instead of stopping for the night we decided to continue on. Holly was able to keep on the trail he was leaving so it was fairly well confirmed we were going the correct way. As we crested the top of a hill I saw a lone figure on the next hill that seemed to be watching us and then “blinked” away. I would guess it was definitely Chambrin and we were indeed on the right path and let the others know. After traveling the night Holly said she saw that he had left the road and was following a much less traveled path but still fairly visible. It’s worth noting we were slowly going back up into the mountains up towards the Rift until we had to step off the path. The path was winding up into the mountains even more and after some time we started seeing chunks of red granite and up in the distance a two story building made of red. It seems that whatever it was had blown up and spewed debris this far? As we made our way closer it was apparent that seemed to be what happened. It was a red granite tower up here and the top of it appeared to be destroyed. The back of it was also blown out in a “V” shape and appeared to be the only way in as the bottom of the “V” was at ground level. I asked Melwen to take a quick fly around but not get too close or do anything rash (which she wouldn’t do anyways).
 
As we approached the broken tower cautiously Melwen came screaming back to me again. Images of a large serpent eye and pure terror came across. She nestled up in my hood quickly again but then emerged and tried to actually pull me away while sending me danger emotions. She was even more scared then with the harpies so whatever it was must be big. As we approached Chambrin called out we both knew each other were there so we may as well talk. He said he never really lied or betrayed anyone and we were Marshalls of the Rift and were not in the Rift anymore. He told us to just leave him alone and he would let us go live our lives. He also said something troubling that it wasn’t where we were but when we were. Did the watery portal take us to a different time period? I began to panic at the loss of Rhiannon and everything else we had worked for. Durbin and Dram persisted and finally Chambrin gave up trying to talk and the serpents eye made sense fairly quickly. From out of the darkness in the tower came a large, black wyvern with Chambrin coming behind him. Perhaps this was where it ends.
 
Holly had already worked her way up by the tower and somewhat beyond Chambrin. Durbin and Dram were in front of me and the wyvern went straight for them. I conjured a globe of darkness and started preparing a ball of lightning that would explode on contact with the ground. I thought this more effective than trying to hit Chambrin himself as he could likely just deflect it. The wyvern threw itself at Dram who dodged and blocked furiously. Durbin attacked the thing, i knew he could hurt it but this wasn’t an orc, this was a mighty beast that best fought with a number of skilled soldiers. I charged my lightning and Dram backed towards me causing the wyvern to block my line of sight to Chambrin. I knew Holly was back there but I would have liked to have a backup plan. Turns out it wasn’t needed, Holly let loose a bolt that destroyed Chambrins leg and sent him to the ground screaming. I threw my lightning at the ground beneath the wyvern but I hadn’t charged it properly for the larger beast so I’m not sure how much it did. As Dram and Durbin danced with the wyvern I charged a true lightning bolt when we heard another scream from Chambrin as Holly must have shot him with another bolt. Durbin had also managed to make the wyvern limp somewhat.
 
It seems they had both had enough. The wyvern retreated, picked up Chambrin and set him on its back. He asked for a parley and said he had an object that would allow us to go back to the Rift and he held up a small statue. That piqued my interest highly but I was also very suspicious of this man. He would give it to us if we just let him go and we would not hear from him or his wyvern again. I trusted him none but the object was magical. He was also getting woozy and would drop it if we delayed too long. Dram asked me but I stayed silent in my sphere of darkness aiming with my lightning bolt just in case. Dram and the others discussed and took him up on his offer. He actually set the statue down and the wyvern turned and was going to limp away. I shouted to Dram to grab the object, I didn’t want to spend any more time here. In a second I made the decision I cannot let this man go. He said it himself we’re no in the Rift anymore. He also lied and attacked the dwarves. At the very least we should capture him and take him back with us to stand his trial. It was not the honorable thing to do and I don’t quite feel right about doing it but I threw the lightning at the beast. I forgot to mention I had charged this bolt quite high. It hit the wyvern in the side of its chest, searing a large hole in the beast causing it to flop to the ground. Unfortunately Chambrin collapsed, fell off the wyvern, hit his head on the second floor and tumbled to the ground dead. That was very unfortunate and I did question whether I had made the right choice. Ultimately I believe I did as he would have caused trouble here, when, or whatever this was.
 
Dram had been able to get the statue intact which mattered most. We were also all exhausted and needed to rest going a full day, night and most of the next day. We went through Chambrins body and took all of his items which were fairly powerful. The wyvern didn’t have much in the saddlebags but the scales and such would be a good collection. Durbin and Holly set about breaking down the wyvern so I focused on this statue praying to Ilsundal that indeed could take us home. After a few hours of examination it was true. It was a key, allowing us to return to the pool in Hearth-Home from any pool of water. The problem was it was empty. To take us all back it would take a week to recharge! That was frustrating but at least we could get back home and to our proper timeline. Since we were in a different time it seemed logical to just stay put and return when we could. Dram had other ideas of investigating the Rift and looking into Geoffrey’s “broken story” as he keeps calling it. I did not like it and tried to explain that messing around with portals and time magic was highly dangerous. Also something about remembering history which was laughable to me. I asked him what happened at Blackmoor and he of course had no clue. I drove home the point that humans don’t know history and forget things quickly. I should not have snapped at him but I was tired and stressed. Plus I was strongly against this idea but the others were onboard so I couldn’t just leave them wandering around on their own. At least if I was with them I could stop them from doing anything foolish.
 
First we had to rest. Then we could look in the morning.