The Danger Gang Begins To Infiltrate Calpe
The Danger Gang sleeps in the church outside Chrysopolis, hoping to rest before launching their big plan to infiltrate the thieves guild in Calpe. Martialis summons a few rats and casts animal friendship on the biggest one. He convinces them that he is a friend of Norwit's. He then hits the sack, leaving old Xenon to keep an eye on the sleeping spell casters. Their rest is interrupted however, by a loud banging on the church doors. Lugurix is screaming about something chasing him. Xenon opens the door and rouses the rest of the party. Martialis is worried that it might be another one of his false flag operation, but before he can question him a Phase Spider phases into the church. The gang unleashes a flurry of spells and stabbing. Giant Ants are summoned. Stabbings are doled out. Lugurix explains that he was taking Martialis's advice to head out and become a better adventurer, and the best way to do this is to tackle a dungeon. A local farmer told him he heard about one at the bottom of a well, so he conscripted said farmer to help him infiltrate said dungeon. The farmer leads him to an old well which leads to a room with a warded door. Unfortunately, he didn't notice the wards and bust down the door. The Phase Spider attacked them and ate up the farmer. Lugurix took that opportunity to book, but the spider was hot on his tail. He runs back to Chrysopolis where he, luckily, finds the Gang sleeping in the church.
Everyone eyes Lugurix suspiciously. "Come on, take us to this dungeon." He begrudgingly agrees. They borrow some horses from the stable and ride out past Nicomedea towards the Sangerias river. Lugurix points out the well, which has a sign reading "Danger! Do Not Open! Danger Inside!"
Showing a sign like this to the Danger Gang is like dangling meat in front of a hungry tiger.
Xenon leads the way down the well, the others close behind. At the bottom they find a small room with a door; the door covered in wards. The door is lying on the floor, having been knocked off it's hinges. A quick listen reveals only the sound of rushing wind. They head in to the other room to find something really odd. It appears to be a misty door to outer space. Arben the know-it-all explains that this is probably a portal to another plane, probably the Astral Plane, and they definitely should not go in there because things get crazy in other planes. They discuss how they could try to get some one or something in there to investigate; a summoned animal or something. Lugurix finally volunteers, saying he needs a little more adventure, or at least XP. Everyone is very dubious about this and they decide to have Gershom cast Augery to figure out if this is kosher. However, before he can cast, Xenon just shoves Lugurix into the portal. He bounces off. They try throwing a rock at it; this too bounces off. They all scratch their heads. "Alright," Arben continues. "Maybe it's not so much a portal as a window. Or maybe a one way portal from the other side." That prospect seems especially disturbing. They futz with it a little bit more; Xenon tries to walk through in case it was a question of intent, but no dice. Can mushes his face up against it, but sees nothing but infinite space. Finally, they decide that Martialis should Stone Shape over and they should put this on the back burner. Before they Marty seals it up, Arben drafts a quick Note To The Astral Plane. Before they leave, they do a quick scan of the two room dungeon. They find carved on one of the walls "Ariobarzenas". Ariobarzenas was an Armenian king that fought Alexander. It was also the name of serveral kings of Pontus.
Lugurix says he's gonna head out in search of adventure. Martialis cautions him to be more cautious in the future. They head back to Chrysopolis to tell Eorl about the crazy thing they found. He's waiting outside the city walls. "What the shit? What happened to the plan, man?" Eorl asks.
They explain that they found this crazy ass thing that is probably a window to another plane. Eorl seems surprisingly disinterested. He explains that he has to leave town for a little while, go underground for having the Bogatyrs take out Ishopra. He'll be in touch, though. Arben asks if he can have something personal of his to lend credence to their plan. Eorl thinks it over, then decides to let him borrow his Fire Sword. "Don't lose this," he says. He then rolls out the barrel with the dead Doppelganger stored inside. Arben stuffs the sword inside and seals it back up. Eorl bugs Oeonoe for a Divination, which ends up warning them to look out for people with a mark, and a mountain ghost, and a needle, and a half girl. Eorl loans them some money, then disappears into the shadows.
Arben and Can don their John and Man disguises and roll the barrel down to the docks. They pick up a few textiles to help with their cover stories. Martialis transforms into a snake, then hides inside Can's pants (inevitable). They board a boat bound for Calpe. Meanwhile, Xenon and Gershom put on their best digs and hop in a cart headed that same way.
When the boat arrives at Calpe, Can and Arben make their way over to the dice parlor. "Uh, Kismet!" says Can, excitedly. They open the door. Arben makes a bee-line for the bar. "I'm looking for the big cheese," he says. When they tell him that he's out of town, he acts all exasperated. They tell him he should talk to Narcis, the number two in town. If they want him, they can find him at Big Yohannes's Dry Goods Store.
to be continued...
