6 Arodus
continued

Defeating the last of the Cinderclaws was certainly an important milestone, but to return we needed to get past the probably-insane goblin king.  But that all became secondary when we saw what we’d also gained access to.

Alseta’s Ring lay just beyond the room the Cinderclaws had been occupying. Or at least, I assume it was Alseta’s Ring, because it seemed to embody six portal entrances that looked like ornate, non-functioning gates arranged in a circle.  But it didn’t appear to have been built there so much as it apparently appeared there. Before us, the rock seemed melted rather than carved, and some of the ornate decorations of the Ring were almost embedded in the surrounding rock rather than artfully transitioned.  The center of the ring had an impressive domed ceiling, and featured a (dry) fountain in the center, around which were six statues, each facing one of the archways.  At the north end of the room stood a pair of double doors that looked sturdy.

The damaged archway we came through had a name damaged by whatever forces brought it here, but it appeared it could be “Lotusgate”, which would mesh nicely with legends of these gates.  It appears the common situation was that each of these “stations” would connect with multiple gates, creating interlocking waypoints one could use to reach a number of different locations. I wonder if there is a “map” here of the various destinations and/or stations that were available when it was all working.

In speaking earlier with Renali, it appeared she too came here when the Cinderclaws did, just not with them.  They’d been using “Huntersgate”.  I was reminded  that quite recently the gate from Huntersgate to here had been functioning.  How much of the system was still functioning?  The danger this artifact represented suddenly became palpable.  I thought of Calmont and Voz and shuddered to think but for a couple of largely random events, they could have gotten here first.

Of course we still had no means to operate the gate or understood what that even meant.  Were there five destinations available to us?  Or was only the way to Huntersgate operational?

I noticed both Aemi and Liberté taking mental notes of the entire area.  They each seemed fascinated for completely different reasons.  Aemi spoke briefly with Renali about what language is spoken in her land. I wasn’t listening closelym but Renali appeared to give a long answer that ended with “Mwangi common,” whatever that may be.  If Aemi or Liberté knows it or learns it, perhaps I can then learn it from them.

We spent a few minutes looking over this room before the ever-curious Gath moved towards the double doors.  On a hunch, Aemi called out to take the holy symbol of Alseta with him, so he grabbed that and carefully approached the doors, ready to search for traps.

Unexpectedly, a fully armored elven guard emerged from the very door itself, solidified, and upon seeing the holy symbol in Gath’s hand, allowed him access.  Good call Aemi.

Inside was a small room that appeared to have once held valuable papers or records, but they apparently had been moved rather than plundered.  There only remained a spattering of loose papers and … and one small, rather neat pile.

It was the deed to the citadel, with paperwork releasing it to the finders of said paperwork.

Both Aemi and Liberté inspected it and pronounced it authentic, although I’m not sure what expertise Aemi has to make such an announcement.  But it was exciting nonetheless.  This is why I was here! My card was The Keep!  Again, right place right time! Hell, right people!  I’m part owner of a castle with people I only met about a week ago.  Or will be part owner.  Nobody at home will believe this.

And then the realization that nobody at home can know about it, at least the gate part.

And then the sobering thought that “our castle” has a recently and maybe still operating artifact that can bring people and creatures with bad intentions from hundreds if not thousands of miles away.  That “our castle” may be the biggest danger Breachill has faced since the Goblinblood Wars.  That there’s so much we still don’t know but now we insist we be responsible for by virtue of claiming ownership.

Suddenly my shoulders felt very tired.  With the gentle warmth of joy comes the icy cold mantle of responsibility.  Thanks Nethys.  I should have seen this coming.  But I don’t get the sense that balance has been fully reestablished.  There’s more to do yet.  And yet, if Nethys has been giving us “the small stuff”, I’m not looking forward to the big stuff.

We gathered up the deed paperwork and considered how to get past the barghest.  Every idea returned to killing him.  I don’t think anybody, even our own goblin Qantrip had qualms about killing him.  The hesitancy was we weren’t sure we could.  I think we finally convinced ourselves he would bleed like any other foe, and if he bled enough he’d die.  We decided how to buff ourselves, and set up a plan to attack him from two directions.

We entered the room, and there was the barghest, floating 20 feet above us, preaching to his makebelieve cohorts.  We couldn’t even reach him, let alone make him bleed.  He sensed our motives and immediately cast blink to make himself difficult to hit.  Floating above the ground, the barghest was a target for the archers (and they hit him repeatedly!) but our big-damage melee fighters such as myself were left with no target.  Liberté made himself big with an extract so that even standing flat on the ground he could now reach him.  When she asked, he also made Kyira big.

The barghest went invisible but Liberté’s sword found meat anyway.  Then Trip called out from the treasure room, “Uh, he’s in here!”  I entered and in this small place it was easier to hit an invisible creature.  I moved to one side to make sure my companions could get in, but unfortunately, now in their large forms, they couldn’t come through the doorway!

It was me and the archers against the barghest, and the barghest only had one available target: me.  I won’t lie; I came close to meeting Nethys in person with all the biting and clawing going on.  I never intended to go up against it alone!

But in a race to the death, he won.  We gathered up our people, his treasures, our new deed, and our new friend Renali and headed back to Guardian Way six miles underground first and then about the same distance overland.

We went to our individual sleeping arrangements and slept very well.