We arose bright and early. Shamash and Ur apparently did not sleep well during the night. As we exited the tavern, a mole burrowed out of the ground. It looked around, and then promptly transforms into Ur’s friend Briar. Briar walks over to Ur.
Ur and Briar conversed about our journey ahead of us. Briar warned us of the dangers of the Elemental Chaos, mentioning that his own journey there changed him as a person. While they were talking, Briar reaches into an inter-dimensional space and retrieves a grapefruit sized charm. It was a seed from the feywild, that we may be able to use during barter to arrange passage back.
Briar then transformed into a butterfly, of all things, and headed away.
We decided to use Ironwale’s portal ring to make our departure from. I knew it would aide greatly in the ritual, saving me many hours of work. Dresorth explained to the guards nearby that we were working to depart. They probably had never seen a mage build a portal from here before. I spent the better part of an hour drawing over-top the stone-lain runes with my magical chalks. Ur spoke with spirits for guidance, because we wanted to make sure we got this right. Towards the end of the ritual, I lay the bristlecone in the center of the rune circle and began chanting. A great wind blew. Nature itself seemed to lean in as I instructed it to tear itself open and allow us passage to beyond its bounds. Lightning began reaching down from the sky to the bristlecone, ignoring the spires of the buildings nearby. Then a great bolt of lightning struck, and a portal opened before us.
The portal was terrifyingly chaotic, even to my arcana-forged experience. It had energy tendrils that reached around it, as if infecting the very fabric of space-time around it. The black bristlecone, now charred and spent, blew away from the portal to my feet. At this point I noticed Tazi and Dresorth were both arguing with the guards, and some money was being exchanged. I beckoned for them, and as a party, we departed, with me bringing up the rear.
After what felt like a good deal of time, we emerged from the other end of the portal. We were weak from the traumatic passage through the portal, with no memory nor concept of exactly how much time had passed. We found ourselves in a cavern hewn of a glowing red stone. The air was empty of scent, and the rock formations defined all logic. Nearby the cavern tapered to a 10-foot opening, standing in which was a Slaad. We had definitely arrived on the right plane, for sure. The Slaad, unsurprisingly distant from reality, could not successfully communicate with us. After several failed attempts, the Slaad let out a long croak which seemed to make younger Slaads emerge forth from the very walls themselves. For the first time ever, we weren’t just fighting for survival, but also for sanity.
The creatures we fought were like nothing we’ve ever seen before. Tadpoles that would phase slightly in and out of existence, they would randomly have weaknesses to different elements. Which came in handy. I derived great pleasure from using my mind to grab parts of the terrain and hurl it at my enemies in the form of various elements. I don’t think I’ve ever felt quite so deadly in combat. When we had slain them, (all the while the adult Slaad remaining inert), the main opening they had emerged from began to close. We darted through the opening and reached the outside of the mass we were on. The rock we were on was, unsurprisingly, hurtling through the void. There were a great number of inexplicable things in the sky – rivers floating in midair for no reason, liquid lighting, etc. Common sense was defied, but I knew better.
The rock we were on was floating towards a series of rocks that were interconnected by bridges of smoke. The bridges were being traveled, as far as eyes could see, by the Brazen Bazaar. When our rock got near, there was a dead stop. I proceeded to manipulate the terrain around me to create a bridge to the nearest rock, which we then proceeded to cross.
As we traversed the new rock we were on, we found an area dense with other sentient beings, hustling about between tents. We entered a tent, which as we entered, seemed to expand to contain much more than its outward volume would suggest. I was surrounded by various elemental creatures, of all types, from various walks of life, going about a number of mundane activities. Despite the fact that it felt like a carnival of natures most extreme creations, for the first time ever, I fit in.
After exploring inside the large tent for a brief time, we ran into a slaver with some “goods” for sale. This was not something we were used to seeing on our own plane. (Most societies forbid such trafficking.) Surprisingly the slave trader, (a being by the name of Ibre), had a dwarf in “stock”. The dwarf was Marsh, undoubtedly purposefully deposited here by my brother.
We attempted to haggle with Ibre, but he would not take our gold. His ability to manipulate this plane was sufficient that gold was meaningless to him, as he demonstrated by phasing part of his merchant’s table into gold. He explained that his particular set of goods could only be bought with ‘arcane crystals’. One arcane crystal, for one slave.
The only source of arcane crystals, in these parts, is Hak Karlum. Hak Karlum is apparently an ancient fortress, inhabited namely by giants, set atop a site suitable for mining valuable gems - arcane crystals included. We exchanged a large sum of gold with a livery merchant, and departed for Hak Karlum via chauffeured Chaos Glider.
My instincts tell me that my brother Frer’solund is well aware of the situation, orchestrating that we would arrive at Hak Karlum. I know that either he or his doings will be awaiting us when we arrive.,,
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