Appearing in Riowiver, Stephen, Rurth, and Blargh found themselves in a cell. A sign on one wall had messages in multiple languages that none of them could read. Stephen and Rurth both cast ‘comprehend languages’, while swallowing chicken tongues, and saw that it said “NOTICE DIMENSIONAL TRAVELERS: This cell is enchanted. If you travel away or exit the cell, you will be immediately disintegrated.”
Stephen read the sign to Blargh. “Hmm,” the violent innkeeper said. “A trap. Well, why don’t I try seeing what Starfire does to the bars?”
“But it’ll disintegrate you,” objected Stephen.
“Firstly, it *SAYS* it’ll disintegrate me,” said Blargh. “Second, you can summon me back if it does, so that doesn’t seem like much of a threat.”
After Rurth and Stephen shrugged at one another, Blargh withdrew the sword and swung it multiple times at the bars. Sparks flew, but it didn’t seem to have much impact. Stephen and Rurth cast ‘magic missile’ at the bars repeatedly and it, similarly, had no impact.
After studying the cell and not being able to figure any way out, Blargh said, “I think I can get us out, but I’ll need some things from the Wizard’s Guild back in the pocket dimension or from my inn back in Mecond.”
“But it’ll disintegrate us if we travel away,” objected Rurth.
“It SAYS it will,” repeated Blargh. “From what I’ve heard of this Avin character so far, I’m pretty confident it won’t.”
Stephen thought it over, then said, “Well, I don’t want to hang out here until he gets back, so let’s give that a try. If I get disintegrated, sorry, and I hope you like whoever comes into possession of your cards.”
“We won’t remember this anyway,” said Rurth.
Unleashing the charged dimensional travel card, the three men found themselves back in the pocket dimension. “You were right,” said Stephen. “Let’s grab what you need in Mecond.”
“Could we just use dimensional travel to appear somewhere else in Riowiver?” asked Blargh. “Just avoid the cell altogether.”
Stephen explained, “Whenever I’ve cast it, when I enter a dimension, I appear right where I left from. We came to the pocket dimension from your inn in Mecond, so that’s where we’ll return to. I left Earth in the men’s washroom in the PEC on my old campus, so we’ll end up there when we go back. We zeroed in on Riowiver using Avin, so I'm guessing we enter where he left the first time we travel there. Which he realizes, since he set up the cell for us.”
“How did you know he wouldn’t be there when we arrive?” asked Blargh.
“I wasn’t sure, honestly,” admitted Stephen. “His name disappeared from the label in the mist, and it just showed Riowiver, so I hoped that meant he’d left that dimension.”
“We should be extra careful once we leave the cell that he hasn’t set up other traps for us,” said Blargh. “It sounds like he’s spent some time thinking about visitors.”
“Good point,” agreed Stephen. “What are you getting to deal with the cell anyway?”
Blargh muttered something unintelligible.
“I beg your pardon, what was that again?” asked Rurth.
“Lock picks,” said Blargh, clearly annoyed.
“Ahh,” said Stephen.
“Those will be helpful,” said Rurth awkwardly.
Returning through the pocket dimension and into Riowiver and the cell, Blargh set to work with the lock picks on the cell door. It ended up taking him over 15 minutes, but he eventually muttered “Got you, you bastard,” and the lock clicked open.
“If Avin isn’t in Riowiver now, where is he?” Blargh asked as he tentatively stepped out the door. When nothing happened, he looked back at the other two men and raised his arms above his head, smirking.
“Some place called Stredath, it appeared with his name in a different place in the mist around my pocket dimension,” said Stephen. “We could have gone there, and we might have been able to avoid him, but I’d rather be where he isn’t. I’ve charged dimensional travel, so we’ll bug out at the first sign of him or danger we can’t handle.”
The room was well-made stone walls, floors, and ceiling. A statue stood in each of the corners, facing the cell. All three men examined the room’s construction and, although none of them were experts, the stones making up the surroundings seemed to be expertly shaped and fitted. A single door allowed exit from the room; there weren’t any windows. The statues seemed to be Greco-Roman style naked, athletic men.
“We could be underground or up in a tower,” observed Rurth.
Walking to the door in the lead, Blargh opened it and immediately triggered three nozzles set up behind it. Flames jutted out, enveloping the innkeeper in fire and burning Rurth and Stephen as they jumped out of the way behind him. Stamping out the flames on their clothes, they watched the flame jets run out of fuel, spit some last spurts of fire, then died out.
Blargh’s body was burned to a crisp. Starfire jutted out of the remains, still in pristine condition.
Stephen released Blargh, causing the charred remains to disappear and the sword to clatter to the ground. He charged the innkeeper’s card, then unleashed him, and Blargh stood next to them again.
“I guess you ran into some problems, but at least you got out of the cell,” he said, looking around the room. “How long did it take me to pick the lock?” After they told him about 15 minutes, Blargh grunted then picked up Starfire then wandered around the room re-examining the craftsmanship on the stone blocks and the four statues in the corners. While he looked around the room again, Stephen and Rurth cast ‘identify’ and examined one another and saw that they’d each taken a wound from the flames. Afterward, he examined the flamethrowers and said “It doesn’t even seem to be a doorway, there’s nothing behind them except their fuel tank. It’s just designed to trigger if the door is opened, burn whatever is in front, then it needs to be refueled or setup again.”
“Identify doesn’t provide any information about it, so it isn’t magical,” observed Rurth.
“Ah,” said Stephen in surprise. “Did you notice that one of the statues is magical?”
Rurth and Stephen examined the magical statue.
Enchanted Statue Adam
Animated head allows conversation and cognition. Early prototype from the artificer Yamin.
“It doesn’t seem very animated,” said Rurth. Looking the statue in the eyes, he said, “Hello?” Nothing happened.
“It doesn’t seem dangerous,” said Stephen. “Maybe it only talks to Avin and tells him what we’ve been up to here. Let’s keep looking for another way out.”
After they’d examined the room for 20 minutes, Blargh loudly said, “I think I’ve found something.” Pressing a button hidden in the crevice between three bricks, part way along one of the walls, there was a click and a section of the wall moved inwards a few inches.
“Amazing that there wasn’t any seam,” said Rurth looking at the secret door. “Very fine craftsmanship. It isn’t magical, either.”
Blargh pushed open the door and a dark corridor continued. Stephen and Rurth both cast their light spells, and they saw that the passageway continued into darkness. With Rurth in the lead, since he had light, followed after 5 feet or so by Blargh, followed in another 5 feet by Stephen, they entered the corridor.
Immediately after Stephen entered the corridor, they heard a voice in the room behind them loudly say, “Excuse me.”
Returning to the room, they investigated and didn’t find anything different.
Blargh looked at the magical statue and said, “Isn’t his head in a different position?”
Stephen and Rurth examine it, but couldn’t remember its former position. The three men departed again, and again, as soon as Stephen left the room, the voice loudly said, “I can’t talk if the dimensional traveler is in the room, but I can talk to your companions, or we can shout to one another.” Rurth headed back into the room, while Blargh stayed in front of Stephen in the corridor.
“Hello,” said Rurth walking up to the statue, whose head was now moving and looked at him as he approached. “My name is Rurth.”
“Nice to meet you Rurth, I’m Adam. I was constructed by the famous artificer Yamin,” said the statue.
“I saw that when we cast ‘identify’ on you,” said Rurth. “I’m sorry to say, we’re not from this dimension, and we haven’t heard of Yamin, but I’m sure he’s very impressive.”
“She was one of the greats,” said Adam sadly. “I so miss the conversations we used to have.”
“When did she pass away?” asked Rurth.
“It would have been over 600 years ago now,” said the statue. “No one keeps me up to date on current events or what the date is.”
“What do you do here?” asked the wizard.
“Your friend had it mostly correct, I observe the room and update Avin when he returns about what has happened. I have to obey his commands, but just the letter of the command, not the spirit. He told me not to talk to any dimensional travelers in the room, which is why I can talk to you now,” Adam said. “And why I can shout to you when you’re in the hall.”
“Aren’t you required to be loyal to him, as a captured magical item?” asked Rurth.
“He never captured me,” said the statue. “He’s told me I’m not worth the bother. Frankly, I’m glad, I wouldn’t want to be loyal to him. Tell your friend that there’s a manticore waiting when he exits the corridor. It has a nest above the exit and will attack anyone walking in front of it. There are rocks littering the ground outside. If you throw them, it’ll chase them, then not be able to find what you’ve thrown when it gets to it. Just keep throwing stones away from you when it approaches you, and you should be able to get past it without a fight.”
“Otherwise,” continued Adam, “if you return, you can let a sheep or goat run around outside and slip past once it kills the beast and starts eating it.”
“Thank you,” said Rurth. “That’s all very helpful. Could we bring you with us?”
“Hmm,” said the statue. “No one has ever offered that before. I’m securely anchored here, and I’m pretty heavy. I think you’d need stone working tools and something to move heavy objects.”
“We’ll come back if we can figure out a way to safely rescue you,” said Rurth. The wizard rejoined his friends, recounted the conversation, and the three men moved down the corridor.
***
Sitting in the tea house, the three men were in cushioned seats, a blazing fire warmed the room and the five workers in colorful garb had made them comfortable and brought tea, a large bowl of rice and lentils, mixed with herbs and spices, and some smaller bowls with other delicacies to eat.
Rurth and Stephen each cast ‘comprehend languages’, while Blargh drank tea and tentatively sampled the cuisine.
“Thank you for your hospitality,” said Stephen. The five hosts looked surprised, then excited.
One of them said, “You speak Epcierian?”
“Epcierian? Is that the name of your language? We don’t speak it, we cast a magic spell that lets us communicate,” said Rurth. “Does everyone in Riowiver speak Epcierian?”
The five hosts stared at Rurth flabbergasted, then began to laugh. “You don’t realize how strange it is to hear you speak with a perfect accent and ask such basic questions, sorry for our laughter, we don’t mean to offend,” explained the most outgoing host.
“We laugh at Rurth all the time,” said Stephen, earning an annoyed look from the young wizard.
“Epcier is the name of this mountain range. Our people have lived here since the creation of the world, herding beasts, and providing comfort and provisions for travelers. In exchange for donation,” he added meaningfully, looking at the three men.
“Very reasonable,” said Stephen. “Should we donate now, or…”
“When you’re finished, make yourself comfortable now,” the man said. “I am Oshen and my colleagues are Zanihor, Neyir, Jongo, and Voming.” The other hosts bowed as each was introduced.
Blargh, not able to follow the conversation, had finished the pot of tea. Holding the empty pot over his cup, he looked meaningfully at the absence of liquid coming out. Jongo bobbed twice, then grabbed the empty pot and disappeared into the back.
“You work for the dark lord Avin, I presume,” said Oshen.
“I don’t think so,” said Stephen. “That bastard. He kidnapped my druidess!”
The hosts looked at each other, confused by the statement. “We mostly host his servants, coming and going from his nearby fortress. We would not speak ill of him, but he has not been kind to our people.”
“Well, we don’t work for him, say anything you want about him to us,” said Stephen.
“Ask them if they have anything stronger than tea,” suggested Blargh.
***
Blargh had settled into a rhythm of drinking until he passed out, then immediately starting to drink again as soon as he regained consciousness. Stephen had made the wrong comment about their main dish of rice and lentils and Neyir had been teaching him to make it, to exacting standards.
All three men had grown sick of the dish, which made up the bulk of what they were eating, but any time they talked about continuing their trip, Neyir refused to let them leave until Stephen had mastered his goal of crafting the dish in the traditional manner. A goal he wasn’t aware he’d ever had. Rurth lounged around bored.
Going through the multistep process, pretending he was learning to use a new piece of equipment in a physics lab, Stephen followed the steps he’d been taught diligently, thinking how much he loathed the dish and how excited he was to never consume it again. As he finished the dish and Neyir exclaimed in delight that he had it, he felt a familiar sensation and realized he’d captured a new card. Neyir gave them a strange look for being in his kitchen, then escorted them back to the main room.
Pulling out his mirror and casting his ‘identify’ spell, Stephen examined the new card.
***
Wandering around the small village of Vegnos, the three men hadn’t found much of interest to purchase or trade for. Their travels through a string of teahouses to make their way down the mountain and reach the village had been uneventful and, in many ways, pleasant. The villagers told them about a caravan going to the larger city of Ailo which visited twice a week and would be leaving in two days. After securing accommodation, they were killing time in the village until they saw an airship approaching from Epcier, the mountain range they’d come from.
The three men found one another in the small village.
“What do you figure that is?” asked Blargh.
“Nothing good,” said Stephen.
“Perhaps it’s something Avin has sent after us,” Rurth said. "There’s been enough time that he may have found out we were in his cell.”
The ship landed outside of town, and men in black armor began pouring out down the gangway and spreading out. Avin came striding down behind them.
“That’s all I need to see,” said Stephen, and unleashed dimensional travel. The three men instantly found themselves back in his pocket dimension.
