Session 18 - Duped
General Summary
Berov picked up Perle Akbar's | Half-Elf Fishmonger scent and began tracking him. The trail headed west towards Txanponetan. S'Thom and Red stayed behind with the other travellers, but Berov and Gorgoroth took two of the draft horses and followed the trail for hours until the scent trail ended. They decided that Perle likely continued west to the nearest village.
An hour or so before dawn, the pair arrived at Orsonskiln and met a bald dwarf who hadn't seen a half-elf merchant come through. He advised them to ask Linna Doghunter | Human Innkeeper at the Hound's Tooth tavern. Gorgoroth met Linna and had breakfast while Berov looked for clues while watching the villagers go about their business.
Later that morning Gorgoroth asked a bread merchant for information on half-elves, merchants, travellers, or new-commers. The only other new-commer spotted in the last week was a bald dwarf who appeared out of nowehere this morning and helped another wagon load their goods and travel to Txanponetan.
Gorgoroth guessed that they had been duped. Was the bald dwarf really Perle? Did Perle have a magical beltbuckle that could turn him into a dwarf? Was he really a dwarf that could look like a half-elf? Chasing their quarry into the big city did not seem wise, so they rode back towards their friends at Bigheaven. The pair met the caravan halfway between, and caught up on news.
The next day and a half was uneventful as the group finished their journey to Txanponetan.
The walls of the city loomed a hundred feet overhead as the trio of wagons stopped just outside the eastern gate. A friendly dwarven guard greeted them. She was interested in the head-count per wagon and informed them of the cost and benefits of the 5 Blessing gate fee. Travellers were not taxed based on the goods they brought, but by the number of people entering the city. Berov paid 20 Blessings for his party of four and left the other two wagons behind to deal with their own finances.
Just as their wagon entered the gate tunnel, a stranger magically appeared right next to Gorgoroth. She had black skin, long white hair, pointy elven ears and four spider-like eyes.
"Good job Gorgy! I just KNEW you'd take me places," she said. Berov tried to attack her but found that he could not swing his hammer at her. The dwarven guard demanded to know why they snuck in a fifth person without paying but was shocked to find 25 Blessing when she recounted the coins.
A cold wind blew through the tunnel. Iced formed on stone walls, though summer heat radiated outside. "You are not allowed here, Qix Fey-Branche," a voice called from the city-side of the tunnel. A woman with pale skin, eladrin ears and white horns blocked their path.
"But I was invited. Your guard said 'all who pay the gate fee are welcome', and we all paid," the woman with the spider eyes replied. Gorgoroth thought she might be some sort of drow, but noticed that her legs were shaped like the hind legs of goats.
The pair of strangers conversed in a foreign language that no one understood. Red caught a few elven words: contract, agreemement, treaty. But the conversation as a whole was lost to them.
"I've got an idea," Qix said in common. "A compromise. Let's all go back to one of my places. I'll let you look around as much as you want, and in exchange, you allow my access to your city."
With that, the group found themselves magically transported away. They were inside a large crystalline cavern far underground. The entire region radiated with magical energies and was blanketed in glowing moss. Red's Halo of Spores feature activated without his doing. He couldn't turn it off even if he wanted to.
Gorgoroth recognized the place. His friends had died here all those years ago. He'd lost his powers here. The Coalition had failed here. He was in the Feydark. He was back at Cachlain's Domain.
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