Though she had been in Rashemen, away from the seas, for a long time, Adahni never got used to seeing the vast expanse of a lake without the smell of salt air. They made their way over a rise and down to the shore of Lake Mulsantir, where two stone columns marked what had been the ancient Imaskari city of Coveya Kurg'annis. She looked out over the vast expanse of water and saw, amid the shifting mists, the tops of stone towers. She pulled her cloak about her as she saw, aid them the tentacle of some monster. It peaked above the waves, grabbed what she realized was bloated, floating corpse, and dragged it into the deeps.
"The world's conspiring to make me vomit, isn't it," Adahni said, swallowing the flood of bile that came to her throat. She took a swig from the flask she had made of her tea, and it settled her stomach a bit.
"It is an odd thing, as though the curse which makes you hunger for the life energy of other creatures intends to keep your body from nourishment," Kaelyn said, knitting her brows.
"Seems counterintuitive," Gann observed, "Although, I will say, that was uncommonly gross."
"Indeed," said Safiya, gagging a little bit.
"Nice place you're from," Adahni said.
"It is odd, though, Gann said, "This is not how I have seen it in my dreams. My dreams have never betrayed me thus."
"There must be tides on a lake of this size," Adahni said, "And if I haven't utterly lost my sense of these things, it should be high tide now. Is it possible it will reveal itself when the water recedes?" That would cause trouble, she thought. She did not relish the idea of having to enter a sunken city, and then be chased out by the rising water. Since the dip in the Sea of Fallen Stars that had begun this very strange adventure, she was not overfond of anything deep and endless.
"That would be one of two obvious answers," Safiya said, "But isn't it more likely that this is another case of two different cities sitting atop one another, a ruin on our plane, a city in another? Do you still have the stone?"
"I do," Adahni said, "Or at least I don't recall leaving it behind."
"We have several hours until sunset, anyway. Perhaps that will give you enough time to go through the contents of your pack," Kaelyn said. If she'd been anyone else, Adahni would have imagined the words to go along with a bit of a smirk, but Kaelyn the Dove was as expressionless and inscrutable as her animal namesake.
"It's right here," Adahni said, reaching into her pocket.
They meandered along the shore of the lake, the gentle waves lapping at the shore. "This place was once a major Imaskari city. There may be lots of history here... assuming the hags haven't pillaged and defaced everything... From closer it looks like there are some intact buildings." She pointed to where some buildings reached the shore.
"I can smell the rotting and corruption in the air," Okku growled, putting one paw over his snout, "The stench of bloated corpses and twisted spirits."
"I doubt we will be the only petitioners at this gate, come nightfall," Gann said,. He pointed to where a fisherman was casting his nets. "There is more to him that meets the eye." Adahni gazed at him, trying to discern what Gann could be talking about. He was a small man, maybe five and a half feet tall, with a moustache and a toque covering what looked to be a bald head.
"You sound uneasy."
"It is said one cannot go home again, but for me, this is the first time," he said, "To be here in the real world is a bit unsettling."
They stood still, watching the fisherman. He cast his nets, weighted with stones, again and again. He turned to see his catch - an old boot and a couple of wriggling eels, and took out a knife. "Welcome to the middle of nowhere , stranger!" he called without looking up. "If you've come for the fishing, you'll be sorely disappointed." He smacked the eel's head on a rock and started to gut it. A flood of saliva came to Adahni's mouth, but there was nothing for her to throw up.
"Fish aren't my favorite anyway," she said, "And my name is Adahni. I tired of being called stranger."
"Fentomy," the fisherman introduced himself. He extended a hand to shake, but saw that it was black with silt, and withdrew it, "It's just as well. You'll not catch any fish in these waters. They don't even come out until nighttime."
"Then what is..."
She looked down at the eel, but to her astonishment, it had transformed into a gold chain of uncommon quality. None of the weeds or silt of the lake were on it, it was as bright as if it had just come from the jeweler's forge. She looked at Gann who raised his eyebrows as though to say, "I told you so."
"He does not smell like a fisherman," Okku said, "He reeks of soil and feldspar - stuff of the earth."
"Your deception isn't quite savvy enough to trump my eye, genie," Safiya said, smirking.
The fisherman started chuckling, and handed the necklace to the red wizard, "A prize for the star pupil," he said, "Though in truth, I am a dao. I have no interest in deceiving you. When visiting more primitive worlds such as this, I prefer to adopt a form that will not alarm the natives."
"Fair enough," said Adahni, "I'll respect that, so long as it is harmless."
"We have something in common, then. We both are outsiders stepping in the backyard of the Slumbering Coven. But the doors are not open by day. I must go, this is not a place to linger come nightfall. Farewell for now."
"For now?" Adahni asked.
"I trust we will meet again, in some form or another."
He turned and walked off down the shore, into the setting sun. When Adahni turned, she saw the gaping maw of a shadow yawning behind her. When she turned back, the genie had disappeared. She chuckled, shaking her head, and stepped through.
The lake in the shadow realm was inky and black, the sand lit with an unearthly glow. The air was suddenly full of flying creatures not of the mortal plane. They didn't seem interested in the companions like mosquitos or horseflies, and avoided them as they walked up the beach towards a jetty that had taken the place of the stone columns on the shore. Standing at the end was a man - not a man, but something reasonably shaped like one, that stood eight feet tall, a turban on his head.
"Ah, I see you've made it here!" the creature announced. Adahni jumped as she realized he spoke with the voice of Fentomy, "I knew you weren't an average beachcombing adventurer."
"Dao are not known as fishermen," Safiya said.
"If you know the dao, then you are aware of our deep connection to the earth. Personally, I love plucking things from the water to the ground. Call me eccentric, but I consider this a small victory against the war against the Elemental Plane of Water. In any case, I could use the services of one such as you, who managed to find their way here without any help. I have a business proposal."
"A war?" Adahni asked, but was shut down by a glare from Safiya, "All right, I'm listening."
"I run one of the largest gem mining operations in the Great Dismal Delve. But our daily yield has been reduced due to sabotage by one of my rivals," he said, "To recover my profits, I need a heavy lifter. A being of great strength and power, but easily controllable."
"We're not slaves," she said.
"Please," Fentomy crooned, "Slavery is a distasteful descriptor and not appropriate in this case. Is the weapon you wield a slave to you?"
"We're not weapons either," she said, "But philosophy aside..."
"There is a being that I can use... I mean a being that would do a favor for me - beneath Coveya Kurg'annis. It is among the mightiest of the earth elementals bound to his plane."
"What do you need me to do?"
"I simply need you to vanquish the earth elemental in the Skein beneath coveya Kurg'annnis so that it will return to the Elemental Plane of Earth, where I have the means to... hire him. In exchange for this service, I will give you a key that will let you directly to the Skein. And when you return, I will pay you your weight in gold."
"The Skein is not easily accessed, and I suspect we may need to go there," Gann said.
"Very well, "Adahni said.
The lakes water were much lower in the Shadow Plane than by daylight, but the corpses that dotted the water were still their. Their smell was somehow different, muted, much like color was muted. The companions made their way up the jetty. As they reached further into the lake, the buildings rose up around them like a stone forest, lit by the eerie white light of torches that would have glowed orange and yellow in their home plane. After a long walk, when the sand was a mere speck in the distance, they reached a domed building that reached further above the water. A great creature stood guard. He looked vaguely like an orc, but a malformed one, with great beefy arms that bent his back forward and made him stand like an ape on comparatively skinny legs.
"You!" he bellowed out to them as they approached, "You must come here, now!"
Adahni approached cautiously. She was not sure what, or whom this creature was, but trying to talk things out would be preferable than engaging in a fight on this narrow plank of jetty. How easy it would be to fall or be thrown into the water, and to drown under the weight of her armor. To become another bloated body along the shore.
"I see that weak gear you are wearing. For even stepping outside your home so poorly equipped, you must be either very brave or very stupid."
Adahni almost laughed out loud, realizing this brutish-looking creature was trying to market to her.
"Don't get upset I will assume you are just brave! But bravery can only take you so far. To go all the way, you must outfit yourself in Omaga's fine armor!" Omaga grinned brightly, revealing several gold teeth.
"I'm sure it's lovely, I'll see you on the way out," Adahni said. Before the creature could protest, she went on, her spirits raised by the relief of not having one of those long arms sweep her into the waters below.
They approached the entrance to the building and found it guarded by two hagspawn, powerfully ugly men with jaws too big for their faces and faces too big for their jaws, their shirtless barrel chests gleaming with oil or spray in the torchlight.
"Look, it's another petitioner," the on on the left grunted. Join the crowd. We're placing bets on how long each of you will wait before either you give up and leave... or snap."
The one on the right clapped his hands together with glee, "Heh, see them snap! SNAP!" He snapped both fingers.
"So let me get in on the betting," Adahni suggested, "I'm a gambling woman, after all."
"Har!" Guard Left barked, "Noone's ever asked that before. You're a good sport, you. Okay, Mulv, what do you think? Shall we let the nice petitioner bet?"
"No no," Guard Left, apparently named Mulv, griped, "Bets off." He crossed his hairy arms across his chest and shook his head.
"Sorry about that Guard Right said, "If it were up to me, I'd gladly take your money, but you heard Mulv."
"What's wrong with Mulv?" asked Adahni, putting a hand up and whispering.
"Wrong!" Mulv growled, apparently being possessed of keener hearing than she imagined, "Mulv wrong! Smash! Snap!"
"Whoa, calm down there Mulv, I'm sure the stupid petitioner didn't mean it," Adahni bristled, but the guard leaned down and spoke to her lowly, "It's no matter to me, but you might show more tact around Mulv. When he was a B-A-B-Y he was D-R-O-P-P-E-D repeatedly by his M-O-T-H-E-R to see if he would bounce."
"Me bounce!" Mulv announced, grinning.
"I imagine such "droppings" were intentional," Gann said, "Hags are rarely afflicted with maternal instincts common to other races."
"Drop it, cousin," the other guard said, putting up a hand, "Look, if you want in, you can wait like everyone else."
"I suppose I could make it worth your while," Adahni said, wondering what would make anything worth a hagspawn's while.
"As much as we would love to take your gold, we can't. If hagspawn could cry I would be close to it right now because, as much as I'd like to line my pockets, we just can't let anyone in."
"And why's that?" Adahni asked, jingling the coins in her purse.
"Look around you," he said. For the first time, she did. A group of genasi stood behind her, an ape man by their side, and a couple of creatures she assumed were genies. Each were quiet, sedate, staring at the door. "There's a mov of very powerful, very influential beings all of them waiting to get inside. If I let you in, that could drive them over the edge."
"Snap!" Mulv shouted excitedly.
"Exactly. It's highly entertaining when the petitioners fight each other, but sending you in would probably turn them on us. We've only got the numbers to control a crowd about half this size."
Adahni looked about her, "So, if I got the numbers down by a half?"
The guard guffawed loudly, "You really think you can do that? You're welcome to try, and we'll be taking bets on how long it takes you to kill yourself."
"Oh, don't worry about me. I've been told I have a way with words."
She turned to circle up with her companions.
"I feel I must justify the sealing of my lips throughout your conversation with the guard," Gann said.
"You never need to give me a reason for keeping your mouth shut," Adahni said.
Ignoring her, Gann continued, "I do not enjoy conversing with other males of my species."
Privately, Adahni thought the non-brain-damaged hagspawn was downright companionable, but was interested in what Gann was thinking, and so chose flattery. "You are much more pleasant, that is true."
""We spawn of hags come in many shapes, sizes, and temperaments, much like the men and women of Rashemen. While granted, I am breathtakingly handsome, the footman you saw - he is a more common cut of face and build among us half-breeds."
"And why's that? Obviously other half breeds, myself included, differ from each other, but we rarely look like entirely different species."
"I suspect I inherited the features of my father - and there is a certain awareness I carry that makes me wonder if dreaming shaped me. Not all spawns can walk in dreams as I do - in fact I do not know of a one who can."
Again with the damned dreaming... "Well I suppose I'll be glad that Murv won't be visiting me in my sleep anytime soon," Adahni said, "Now, I'm going to have some words with the other petitioners. I'd prefer it if you all stood back and let me work what magic I have."
Safiya rolled her eyes, "I would hardly call what you do "magic," but if it soothes your ego to believe so..."
"Not everything is best solved with a fireball," Adahni said, "If you're ever Neverwinter way, ask about a sorceress named Qara."
She surveyed her companions on the jetty again. "Okku," she said, "Come with me to speak with the Telthor."
"As you wish," Okku agreed.
They approached the telthor spirits, a wolf and several badgers pacing back and forth at the end of the jetty. It took Adahni squinting to see their shadowy shapes in the dim of the shadow plane. They paused to look up as Okku approached.
"The Bear King has left his barrow. How strange," the wolf rumbled, his voice as much in her head as her ears.
"Why would my spirit-kin be petitioners at this place? Perhaps the foul reek of this place confounds my sense of smell... but these pups have an unnatural stench to them."
"And he keeps company with flesh and blood beings. How confusing," a badger observed.
"Okku travels with me," Adahni said. And not the other way around.
"Brothers," the wolf said again, "This one speaks to us. I understand the language, but lack the willingness to hear it."
"Children, you will hear the words of my friend as if they were my own," Okku commanded. Adahni put her hand on his iridescent fur.
"I wonder why you are so far from your barrow, but we will answer the questions of your follower."
"This two-legged one suffers from an... illness. The affliction will spread to the land if it goes uncured - thus I am bound to protect her until she is cured. And you, children? Why are you here, in this awful place, so far away from your home?"
"But this is very near our lands," a bear said, melting out of the shadows, "We roam the darkness beyond the cliffs and feed on the corpses that wash ashore."
Adahni suppressed her gag reflex.
"What kind of nonsense is this?" Okku demanded. "Why would you behave as vultures and feed on carrion?"
"We do what comes naturally, cousin bear," a badger said.
Okku turned to Adahni, "These telthor act as common beasts and disgrace my kind. Such petulant children should be disciplined - by fear or fang."
"They are your people, not mine," Adahni said, "If you say something needs to be done, something needs to be done."
"It has been too long since I have disciplined a wayward pup," Okku rumbled, the corners of his mouth turning up in a smile, "Now, don't flinch."
The bear king drew himself up to his full height, the fur on his back standing on end. "Worthless, corpse-gnawing maggots!" he bellowed. Adahni tried not the flinch, "Lower your heads and flee my sight! I will give you a moment's head start - and if I catch you, I will tear off your limbs and shove down your gullet a feast of your own carrion. Now run!"
The telthor. despite their justifications, did not need to be told twice. They turned tail and capered up the jetty, one of the badgers diving headlong into the water to swim away. They flew away like shifting, flickering lights on the jetty, and disappeared into the blackness of the night.
You're good at this," Adahni said, "Have you ever considered becoming a bard."
"The bard of the bears!" Okku chuckled, "No, no. I prefer to be king."
"It's good to be king," Adahni said, "Now... those genasi over there." She looked. Their leader was dressed very finely, in a brocade coat that reached his knees, his turban studded with jewels. He wore a saber at his waist, but it looked more ceremonial than threatening. She also observed how he stood uncomfortably, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. She knew that look. The privies at the Cuckoo's Nest were not nearly as capacious as they should have been for a bar so large, accommodating so many patrons needing to empty their bladders.
She took the water skin from where it hung by her side and took a long swig, sloshing the water in it so it sounded audibly against the gentle lapping of the lake water. The leader of the genasi winced visibly.
"Do you need a drink?" she asked, sidling up to him. She sloshed the skin around some more.
"No!" he exclaimed. "I mean, you are most kind, young lady, but... I seem to be... would you ask the guard you were just speaking with to let me in to use the, erm, facilities? You seem to have a rapport with him."
"No dice," Adahni said, "He said there's no way. But, I mean, there are some privileges that come with being male... you are male, right? We're in the middle of a lake in the night, surely..."
"I am a prince!" the genasi exclaimed, "I have patience only royalty can muster. I cannot be seen... urinating into the lake. Surely it would not endear me to the hags here to pollute their home."
"What if you were to run up the jetty to the shore?" Adahni asked, "We'll be waiting here for a long time, I wouldn't want a prince to get a kidney stone. If genasi get kidney stones? Do you? In your bladder? Your very, very, full bladder?"
"Oh, gods damn it all!" the genasi prince cursed. "When I come back, will you save my place in line?"
"Why of course," Adahni said, "It would only be honorable."
"Guards!" the prince bellowed, "Come with me to shield the royal member from the sight of the unworthy." He took off down the jetty much as the telthor pack had
"And Safiya says it isn't magic," Adahni scoffed, "I say a few words, and poof! They're gone."
She looked around more and saw a pack of lividly white apes around the corner where the jetty wrapped around the building.
"Who are those" she asked Okku.
"Those are uthraki," Gann said. Adahni jumped.
"Don't sneak up on me like that. I've been known as a bit of a loose ballista," she snapped.
"I'd believe it if you weren't so uptight, my lemming," Gann said, "In any case, as I was saying, those are the uthraki are a race of ... primitive creatures. They do have some rudimentary religion, however. They worship the very entity that infects, well, you. Approach them. I think your very presence will present you with an... opportunity."
"While I am nothing if not opportunistic," Adahni said. She approached them carefully.
"Spirit eater!" one of them bellowed as she drew near. His words were corporeal, unlike those of the telthor, but garbled, as though they had learned language from more advanced beings before their mouths and throats were truly suited to it, "You betray the Gift! If this were a place more private, I would hasten your inevitable destruction."
"They never learn, do they," Gann said.
"Learn what, Gannayev?"
"Learn not to fuck with you," he said, chuckling.
"Insolence!" the uthraki shouted, "The Spirit may reside in an unworthy vessel, but it is still to be respected! I will be waiting around, out of the sight of the guards. Approach me, and you will die, and the spirit-eater will move to a more worthy bearer."
"Oh, approach you?" Adahni challenged, eyeing the muscular build of the ape-men. They were short, to be sure, standing a mere four and a half feet tall to Adahni's five, but their arms were long and their muscles bulging. She put a hand on the hilt of her blade, taking comfort in the technology that her comparatively weak ancestors had developed to defend themselves against stronger predators. "You mean, like this?"She stepped forward, swiftly and threateningly. As she anticipated, the uthraki did what she thought he would, and swept forward with his long arms, trying to take her feet out from under her. She jumped deftly back and then used one of those feet to tip him back into the black water below.
She brushed some dirt off her shoulder, and returned to the less brain-damaged of the two guards.
"Well, the crowds see to have thinned out a bit," he said, "Too bad, I was betting against you. And… the bribe?"
She tossed purse to him, which he caught.
"Pleasure doing business with you," he said, "I hope you find the answers you seek."
Behind him, a portal opened up.
"Shadows beyond shadows," she mused.
"And that," Gann said, "Is where my home lies."