Chapter Seventy-five
Earth Ashari
It was still mid-afternoon. While we had gotten sufficient rest, it would still be eight or nine hours to the edge of the plateau. We were so close, we decided to keep going so we'd get to Terrah around dusk. We all flew for an hour so we'd still have some light when we got there.
We started seeing trees in the distance, probably the jungle. As we started to get close to the edge of the plateau, we could see where the trees ended and met a grassy plain. The grass was a beautiful green, especially after having been on a desolate, colorless plateau for several days.
A huge lake covered the land to the northwest. It looked like at one point it had been higher, but had receded to a lower level. A river ran along the edge of the plateau, from the northern lake to the southeast. How could there be such contrasting terrain so close to each other?
A crevasse ran near the river. I followed it with my eyes northward. Where it should have dropped off, it instead leveled out. That was probably where we wanted to go. The sun was setting behind the mountains as we made our way off the plateau. The switchbacks down the side reminded me of our way to the cove we met Captain Deacon in.
We followed the crevasse, which led to a village built into the cliffs. Melima and Sephra wanted to camp for the night instead of coming into the secretive village in the dying light. We wanted to give a good first impression.
We could see the village from our camp. There were several caves along the cliffs, and several people were walking around. It was hard to tell if they were children, or gnomes. I was excited to meet them in the morning.
We kept a watch, just because we were close to the village and didn't want anyone to accidentally stumble upon us. I took the second watch. About two hours into it, three people came from the south, going towards the village. The two in the back were holding a long pole between them, a boar-like animal tied to the pole, probably for the Winter's Crest Festival the next day. The person in the lead paused and looked in our direction, but kept going without taking further action.
Melima was concerned about how we entered the village as we packed up camp the next morning. Sephra wanted to cast spells on us to make us look fancy for the holiday, Melima wanted to present gifts. I was content with just walking in like we would any other town, I saw no need for fanfare. The other ideas were dropped.
Making our way into the village, there were a few fields north of the village and quite the bustle in the village itself. There was a large cave, about two storeys high in the eastern cliff. The houses were simple stone, with flat-topped roofs.
The village was mainly populated by humans, though there were several gnomes as well. Occasionally we'd see a half-elf, dwarf, tiefling, or earth genasi. A large bonfire was prepared in the center of the marketplace, but had not yet been lit. There was a smaller fire to the side where a gnome was cooking the boar-like beast I'd seen the previous night. His spit was rigged with gears so that he only had to turn a handle a little bit to make the spit itself turn quickly.
A larger building—the largest in the village—sat in the northeast of the village, near the cave. An older human came from the building, casually walking towards us. He had tattoos come from his face and arms, centering on his chest. He wore a light robe with an open chest. Probably Headmaster Pa'tisse.
He greeted us. "Welcome to Terrah. Welcome to our small village. What brings you here?"
"Hello! I am Melima, from the continent of Fenraas, and I am of the high and noble family Moonfeather." She briefly introduced the rest of us. "We come seeking celebration and refuge and opportunity. And we come bearing gifts. We are so grateful to have come upon your lovely village and quaint city of loveliness."
I wanted to bury my face in my hands. So much for avoiding grandeur. The man gave us a kind smile. "Well, welcome. Welcome. You are—I assume—the group Vox Imperium. Am I correct?"
"You know who we are?" Melima asked, excitedly.
"Several days ago, a message was sent from the headmaster of the Air Ashari. We welcome you to our village, and understand that you are seeking something."
"Yes!"
"I would ask that you not mention it to anyone else. But we will—this evening—talk further and discuss it. But for now, welcome to the celebration!"
Entertainers started arriving in the bonfire area and playing lively music. People began to dance in the main square. It reminded me of festivals at home, in Raishan, in more carefree times. I was glad those times could still exist.
"Feel free to enjoy the festivities and partake," the headmaster continued, "and we will speak this evening. After the bonfire is lit, spend a few minutes, then come into the main building and me and the other elders will speak with you about what you seek."
We found an area to sit, then found some food and drinks. I was happy to find drinks that weren't fermented, a special holiday creation. People started to gather in groups to exchange gifts, so we brought out our gifts for each other.
I gave my gift to Jörgen. I'd carved a bird for him in a perched stance, with the left half being a hawk, and the right half being a raven. He'd forget so often which bird he wanted as a familiar, switching between the two frequently and then realizing he'd conjured the wrong one when it appeared. He laughed and attached it to the top of his staff. I didn't anticipate that he'd like it so much.
Jörgen gave Sephra a stone he'd enchanted with a shielding spell and attached to a necklace. She was so excited about it and put it on right away.
Sephra pulled out a powerful healing potion and gave it to Ari'yasa. The druid pulled out a necklace she'd picked out for Melima and thought she'd like.
Melima pulled out a scroll and a bag of mushrooms. The scroll would allow me to feel as if I'd rested for an hour, just by reading the scroll, uninterrupted. She didn't say much about the mushrooms, just that she thought I'd like them.
They lit the bonfire just after sunset. The light extended beyond the houses, but suddenly ended when it got to the fields. Was it magically being stopped?
We joined in the celebration for a little bit longer, then headed to the building Headmaster Pa'tisse had indicated. Jörgen offered to do the talking, which I objected to. The rest of us decided Ari'yasa would be the main one talking.
Something caught the corner of my eye by one of the houses, but there was nothing there when I turned to look. It happened a couple of times. "What's wrong?" Melima asked.
"I don't know. I thought I saw something," I said.
"It might just be something in the air from the festivities. It very well could be herbs or burning liquor," she suggested. I didn't know what it was, but I felt a little funny.
The building was plain stone. It looked like it was used for town meetings, religious services, and other large gatherings. There were several stone benches in the first part of the room. The far end of the room had a stone slab table with several chairs around it, none of which matched.
There were four people sitting at the table, including Headmaster Pa'tisse. A dwarf, half-elf, and a gnome accompanied him. On the wall behind them were five tapestries. One with the symbol of the Ashari people, and the other four showing symbols of deities—The Wildmother, The Archheart, The Platinum Dragon, and The Dawnfather.
Headmaster Pa'tisse welcomed us and invited us to sit. "So, according to the messages that have been received from the headmaster of the Air Ashari, you currently are searching for the Astral Stones. Is that correct?" We nodded our heads. "This is something we have guarded for a very long time, and we do want to help. Based on the information that we have and have been given, this is something that we would very much be in favor of happening. The hard part..."
The gnome stood up and opened an old tome. "The only known reference we have to the Stone from the Earth Ashari—our Stone—is that it was entombed with one of our late Druidic champions. And the hard part is, their tomb... we don't know exactly where it is. It was never recorded, and it has been ages since anyone has ventured to their tomb. But we do know from the writings we do have, is that by one of the ancient gnomes was placed a guardian to protect it. So it could be a very dangerous journey to find it. So, that is what we know. The other thing we know..."
He started flipping through the pages of the tome. "The entrance to the tomb is— from our cave, it's probably several days' journey into the catacombs. And we know for certain that some other creatures and things have tunneled in and through our tunnels. So we can give you approximate directions, but as you venture forth you may find that they are not one-hundred percent accurate."
He started reading from the book itself. "So, once you enter the cave system..." It was a story of someone going through a labyrinth. He was reading from a Gnomish text, so sometimes he'd slip in a Gnomish word, but his speed of reading and translating simultaneously was impressive.
I was confused at first as to why he was reading a random story, until I realized that it was the directions to the tomb. I started taking notes— Half a day's journey straight, at the first fork—which will have three options—go right, then right again, then left, then right again, left twice, straight at another three-way split, left again, straight, left, at a break with three paths going down, straight, and up, we should go down. Left again, straight, right three times, then we'd finally come to a door that was magically enchanted.
Headmaster Pa'tisse nodded to the gnome. "Thank you so much." He turned back to us. "We understand that your journey is of urgent matter. We do warn you going through these caves— we do not go in there very often. The caves themselves split off and go underneath the plateau. I would just take extreme caution. No one has ventured to the tomb in a very long time, and the guardian is inside the tomb once you get inside, past the door. We aren't exactly sure if you would just have to defeat it, or what, but it is some sort of construct that the gnomes constructed in order to guard it, but you will need to figure that out. Once inside, there will be a tomb. Encased in the tomb is the staff that contains the Astral Stone."
The dwarf spoke. "When you have finished, you should be able to—based on the other things we have been able to gather from it—you should be able to use the door itself again. Close the door behind you, and then on the back side of the door, there should be—from what we gather—an inscription. Figure out the inscription, and when you re-open the door it will open to whatever location you desire. From what we know, if you do it incorrectly you will then have to make your way back through the caves the way you came. But that is the way it was originally—according to our historical records—it was originally designed. It is of Dwarven make."
"So, we close ourselves inside the tomb?" I asked. "Or do we close the tomb and then try to go back in?"
"Close yourselves inside the tomb," the dwarf said. "The back side of the door has the inscription. Hopefully, over the years nothing has breached the tomb and caused any damage. But be careful on your journey. There are many creatures, big and small, that are subterranean and can cause havoc in the caves."
"Do you have any spells or warriors or information about these monsters that we will face to give us an advantage?" Melima asked.
Headmaster Pa'tisse frowned. "One of the ones that we have run into on occasion, and we ourselves are not as well equipped as warriors to do this, because the tomb itself— there are creatures that we know of..." He described a huge worm, taller than Keothi, that sounded a lot like purple worms that Sindus always wanted to find to extract their venom, but had a different coloration— white and blue.
"You will find on your way down that there may be intersections. Don't be deceived by what may be the travel of natural creatures versus the carved caves."
"What differences are we looking for?" Melima asked.
"The carved caves leading to the tomb will be more tall and elongated, the burrow of the worm will be very much round. So if you come across an area where there is an intersection and one way is more arch-shaped and one is round, continue on the arch."
"How is the light situation?" Melima asked. "Is it better to travel in darkness, or would we carry light?"
"Well, most of you are elves, so you do have the ability to see in the dark, though you do have an elderly human with you. It may be advantageous to travel in the light as well. Though it will be dark, nonetheless, underground."
"Do you have any trinkets or glasses, or spells that would help individuals who are night-blind to be able to see that we can buy from you or trade?" It was starting to make me uncomfortable with how often Melima asked for people to give us things. I already felt like we were well-equipped.
"Well, we are a fairly simple people," Headmaster Pa'tisse said. "We do have a few spellcasters in the village. Though they are powerful, most of the magics, as you would know," he said to Jörgen, "most of those spells do not last for an extended period of time, and from what we know, this journey may be a two to three day journey to get there."
It seemed that the people didn't have much in the way of magical items, they were a more simple and homely people. The half-elf that had yet to speak looked as if she were more of the spellcasting type than the others, with more intricate and Druidic-styled tattoos.
"Other than the directions and information we have given," the headmaster continued, "you're kind of on your own to get there. But we do have this information as to where it can be found."
"Has there been anything odd been happening in the area lately?" Melima asked. "Some of the other continents have had strange creatures showing up. Have you had anything unusual?"
"Not recently. Though, as the guardians of the gate to the elemental plane, we tend to keep a close eye on it, but there has not been anything strange happening from the elemental plane. Yes, just stay on course and hopefully you won't get lost, and hopefully things will work out. Whatever you do, make sure that you go straight at the first fork, because the rift to the elemental plane is on one of the other forks. And we wouldn't want you to fall into the Elemental Plane of Earth."
Melima mentioned to our party that we use the door to go to the sphinx. I suggested we just use it to go to the next tribe. The elders suggested that we go to the Water Ashari next, just because of how the tribes were, and the Fire Stone was said to be on the Elemental Plane of Fire.
I asked about the Water Ashari tribe, if there was anything we needed to know to get there via teleportation. They knew it was on the continent of Grenmar, thought to be on the western shore— partially on land, partially in water. They did offer to send a message ahead so they knew to expect us. The dwarf also said that the door worked slightly differently from most teleportation magic, and just knowing of a place should be enough to get us there. I did know of a town called Darkshire on the far southern end of the continent, though it was not governed by any nation.
"Is there any information you would tell me that if you were in my boat you would like to know?" Sephra asked.
"Make sure you got some weapons on ya," the dwarf replied. "Whatever creatures are in there, they probably want to eat ya."
"I'm used to that," I said.
"Just make sure—" the gnome started, "based on the journey and what we know of it—stick to the directions and then make sure you are prepared with multiple types of spells when you get to the door itself, because we don't know anymore exactly how this construct guardian is built. The designs have long been lost. A lot of Gnomish constructions usually are immune to things of one type or another, so just make sure you are prepared with multiple types of magic."
"Of the other beasts we will face," Melima said, "do you know of any weaknesses or spell types they are more vulnerable to than others? Or resilient to?"
"Beasts in particular," the headmaster said, "we do not know that much. The one thing we will say is if—from the journeys we have made into the caverns, because the caverns are also a place where we gather minerals, materials, and other funguses and algaes and other— if you hear something rumbling, stay put, keep silent, and try not to make a lot of noise, because most of the creatures underground can feel you move."
"Good to know. Thank you."
We decided to rest for the night in the village, rather than heading into the tunnels after having been up all day. They didn't have an inn, so we just picked an area to cast the dome. As we settled down, I asked Jörgen if he could send a message to King Caylus, asking if there was anything weirder going on.
He cast his sending spell from his spellbook. "We made it. Is there any hooligans going on up there?"
He repeated the response from the king. "Things are normal here. Nothing unusual as of yet. Good to know that you've made it. Continue on and keep us apprised."
Sephra asked if he could contact her mom. My stomach grew tight at the thought. "That sounds like a bad idea on so many levels."
We had no reason to do that, though because Jörgen had seen Sephra in her mother's form, we could keep the idea in the back of our minds for if it ever became useful. Sephra was also worried that she might know Jörgen somehow from before he lost his memory. There was also the concern that creating that connection would give her an opportunity to scry on us.
"What if she's scrying on us right now?" Ari'yasa asked. I doubted that it was likely, but Jörgen cast a spell to check, just in case. He didn't see any signs, but part of me wondered if she would have stopped before he cast the spell.
I shook my head. "There's a part of me that's like, would she really do that every day for the past five-hundred years? But some people might. I don't know." I thought of Vax back at the Tree, checking the knife every night. "It just seems like she would have enough other evil things to be doing."
"Yeah, I think she could do that every so often," Sephra said. "But what if she did that while I was at the castle? Like wouldn't she be like, 'why the heck is my daughter at the castle?' and then be doing it more?"
We got thinking about ways to prevent Sephra from being scryed on, but she was worried what her mother might do if she had been scrying, then all of a sudden couldn't. "Why haven't we thought of this before?"
"Because we're just learning about this magic now," Ari'yasa said. "We were young and naive."