The transit to the next destination was nearly instantaneous, without all that cold and nonsense you ran into in your escape from the darklands. You stepped out, ready for anything.
Well, almost anything.
You looked around to see yourselves in the middle of a 200-foot diameter domed chamber, a large, 200-foot diameter chamber filled with softly humming crystals, floating motes of multicolored light, and a dozen stone bunkers. There are dozens of elves, humans, and halflings around, talking, chatting, and generally exuding an air of business, despite the hour. Or maybe because of it? What time was it anyways? How far did you travel?
Several elven soldiers moved in on you, weapons to the ready. They looked to be carrying a dangerous assortment of tea and cucumber sandwiches?
"Welcome to Galtgate. Would you care for refreshments? If this is your first time to Galtgate, I recommend that you step away from the gate a bit. We have a fairly high flow of traffic here, and it is always embarrassing when new arrivals trip over the last batch. If you do not have a portal key garnet, you can purchase one at the key vendor stall to my left." one of them said.
Quilindra looked at you with a devilish grin and said to the guard, "Ah, thank you. I would indeed care for some refreshment," she raised her wrist to show an assortment of gems, "but I have all the keys I need for today."
"Nice magic, Greenie," Calla mutters as the guards can clearly see them without any problems.
She lets herself relax -- at least visibly -- as the guards appear to be most interested in killing them with kindness (again) than weaponry.
"Indeed, we're just passing through," she adds.
A startled look and whisper, "Galt, we're near Galt. Just like that?"
From her discussions with Anklebiter, and what she remembered from long-ago studies, Calla knows that the Elf Gates, or aiudara in the elven tongue, have been key to the elven nation's power since their creation by the mythical elven hero, Candlaron the Sculptor in time ages past. They link all of Kyonin, and many other parts of the world, and are the key to the elven nation's ability to project mercantile and military power across the continent with a relatively small population base. Elf Gates come in two primary configurations: one-stop portals, and hub portals. The one-stop portals lead only to a single destination, typically a hub. Hub portals can access several different gates, with an activation gemstone keying the hub to the specific gate destination.
"Thank you kindly," Anklebiter replies to the guards, accepting a cup of tea and a tray (!) of cucumber sandwiches, which he proceeds to wolf down. "Hm-hm! I simply must have the recipe for this sauce. Delicious. Simply delicious."
"But not enough for my tastes," Bruendor says, taking a look at the gems the portal key merchant has for sale. The less we're reliant on our generous benefactor, the better, he thinks to himself.
Kel moves away from the portal as suggested. "This is certainly not what I anticipated." If Anklebiter doesn't curl over after eating the sandwiches, then Kel enjoys a few as well.
As Quilandra, Kelendra and Anklebiter partook of the refreshments, Bruendor wandered over to the merchant stall selling portal key gems. There were high-quality gems of several types and cuts, each with a tiny glimmer of magics deep inside. The pricing was listed in several languages, and seemed to be about 500 gold pieces for each gem.
Calla will follow Bruendor, being more interested in his activities than eating the elves' food.
She looks for keys to Irrisen and Ustalav.
Assuming she finds one, she murmurs to her dwarven companion about being sick of the cold .
As Calla and Bruendor approach the gem vendor, she spoke. "Welcome to Galtgate! If you are looking for gems suitable for use as portal keys, you need go no further. We have portal gems for all of the major hubs in Avistan. As you can see, the gems come in various sizes and shapes, including those pre-drilled for necklaces or bracelets like the one your friend there is wearing. Are there any that you are specifically looking for? Or would you care for an all-in-one option like this bracelet?"
She held aloft a bracelet that looked to be made of braided golden wire with about ten gems threaded onto it, each separated by a pattern of pearls and gold balls.
"I quite like the sound of the full bundle," Bruendor says. "How much for that?"
Kel wanders over to join Brue and Calla as they haggle with the merchant, hoping that she can lend her diplomatic skills to negotiating a good price. "What a pretty bracelet, I do hope it's a good price. I'd be sure to tell everyone where I got it." Kel flashes a smile at the vendor.
The vendor smiled at both Bruendor and Kelendra. "I normally charge 10,000 gold pieces for this fine bit of jewelry, but I have one here where the wire braiding is not quite right. I could let it go for 8,000."
Calla shakes her head, indicating that it's too much for her. She glances over at Bruendor to see if he'll buy the whole thing.
If not, she continues with her plan to buy just the gem for Ustalav.
Kel smiles pleasantly to hide her surprise. "So the individual gems are 500 each and the bracelet with 10 gems is 8,000, I'd love to hear about the other features of the bracelet?"
"Well, as you can see, the bracelet itself is a work of beauty, with braided gold wiring and the highest quality of pearls set between the stones. It is a piece fit for any noble, I can assure you. Also, the gemstones set in this bracelet of the highest quality, able to sustain the portal magics for the longest durations. This is no mere bauble of gems strapped to a leather thong. It is a work of art, as I am sure you can appreciate."
In the background, Anklebiter is bravely investigating more of the sandwiches on offer...
Lefrik still seemed stunned by the idea of gate gates that..just go anywhere. He does have a sandwich. And downs it, but seems overwhelmed looking about at every bit of conversation.
damn, I forgot about the loot sheet. Will get to it today, I promise.
"Let's just get a gem for each step, that's four total, we may need our resources later and we should stay cautious." Kel advises the party on her perspective. Once the gems are purchased, she'll look to proceed through the next gate. "Where do we go again? Will there be more sandwiches?"
Satisfied with her purchase, Calla looks around for Quilindra to see if they can move on and deal with these elves once and for all.
I wonder how much a statue costs?
The vendor's smile falters as you decide to pass on the bracelet. "Well, if that is indeed your decision, then please feel free to pick and choose your destination gems from these containers over here. Anything on this table will be 500 gold pieces."
Seeing Lefrik looking at one of the statues, she turned her attention to him.
"The elves of Keferindryl are some of the most famed artists in the world, young master, and I can see that their artistic ability has indeed caught your eye. These statues are one of a kind, and guaranteed to only increase in value the further from elven lands that you go. I hear that in Qadira these statues will sell for triple the paltry prices I charge here."
Quilandra smirked and stayed in the background as you made you purchases, but at Kelendra's question, she spoke up again.
"Our next destination is Icegate. I doubt there will be sandwiches. In fact, it is likely to be less than hospitable, given the weather there this time of year. However, we won't be staying long."
Anklebiter sidles over to have a look at the statues.
"Do you sell any sculpting equipment?" he asks the Elf. "The little hammers and knives, the brushes and everything else?"
His ears twitch when he hears Quilandra's words about the next destination.
"Icegate? We have time to buy some scrolls of Endure elements here before we go? You say we won't be there long, but... well. Stuff happens. Besides, it's a good spell to add to my book, right?"
"No, master goblin. I am a dealer in art and gems. I am afraid I do not sell crafting materials, not does anybody here at Galtgate. We are purveyors of end products only. And as far as I know, no one here at the gate itself sells any magical scrolls, though of course you are free to ask around. This isn't exactly a market. More of a stopping place for travelers to refresh themselves and purchase the things they need to move on to the next auridara."
As he listened to the elven gem merchant's reply, Anklebiter studied the statue. It was indeed of fine craftsmanship, and had a flowing quality to it that he hadn't seen on similar sculptures. It was probably worth a lot of gold, but not likely as much as the paper tag indicated. It read 5000 gp.
Anklebiter eyes the statue, then tugs on Lefrik's sleeve so he'll lean over and the Goblin can whisper in his ear: "It's pretty and well-made, but way overpriced. Haggle if you really want it."
Calla looks around to see if anyone might have cold-weather gear or furs they could use to that end.
"You drive a hard bargain, friend," Bruendor says to the merchant. "But I'll take the bracelet." Bruendor hands over the lion's share of the coins in his purse, and snaps on the bracelet to his wrist.
That cost a pretty penny, but it'll be much harder for the Council to track us if we could have gone anywhere, he thinks.
"Let's take a few minutes here to rest, heal, and be sure we are ready for the next steps. AB, let's go together and see what scrolls we can find that will help you, I'll negotiate just in case any or all of our fellow travelers happen to be biased against your kind."
There were quite a few merchants with furs to sell, though none was willing to dicker on the price. You could get a set of fur coats for everyone at 20 gold apiece, a price that you knew well and good was almost twice what these garmets could be bought for anywhere else. Kelendra's sweet disposition was able to convince one stuffy merchant to part with a scroll of Endure Elements, though, at normal cost.
Once the evident purchases had been made, Quilindra called out "Everyone ready? I think we can go anytime in the next few minutes, as the auidara doesn't look to be in use at the moment."
As soon as you indicate your willingness to go, she touched the activation stone to the portal and stepped through its shimmering surface. As you follow her through, one of the guards says in astonishment, "Icegate? Why would anyone go there?" It is the last thing you hear before the portal squeezes you into oblivion.
As you step through the far side, the biting cold is immediate, and you are glad you bought the coats, those of you that did. Looking around, you can see that the auidara here is a smallish white stone arch, no more than eight foot at its tallest point. The arch looks out over a frozen lake, and snow is heavy on the ground. No more than thirty or forty feet away stands a group of four elves with drawn bows, glaring at you. Behind them, a hundred or so feet away, stand another eight.
In the lead group, one female clad in mail and furs leans upon her bow. Her skin is milky white, as is the hair poking out from beneath her hood. One of her long ears twitches in disdain as she says in strangely accented Common, "You there, lower your weapons and cast no spells! Hands where we can see them! Give us no cause to attack, and you might well live this day."
Calla -- glad she spent the gold on new furs, regardless of the cost -- keeps her bow up, though it drawing an arrow back yet, in the face of a potential enemy.
"We plan to live this day no matter what," she barks back, immediately starting to search them for evil.
Calla detects no evil from the ones in the front, though their narrowed eyes at her words show that they intend to be the ones walking away from this encounter alive.
Calla narrows her eyes right back at them.
"Do you greet everyone coming through the gate this way?" Calla asks acerbically. "We plan to pass through; trust us we have no desire to spend any more time here, or in your presence, than we must."
"This is our home. Would you not wish to protect your home? These days, no one comes through this gate that does not mean trouble, so yes we do greet everyone coming through the gate this way. Now, I would not wish for there to be any violence. So I will ask you again to lower your weapons. We can discuss your continued safe passage, and the toll you would pay for it, but I hate to negotiate these things at arrow-point. It seems so...mercenary. As you are the intruders here, however, I would ask that you show your good intentions by lowering your weapons and giving us the sign of peace." She held her empty hands in the air, palms upward.
Calla lets out a low grunt and lowers her bow, though she keeps it in hand.
"Nothing comes through without intending trouble?" she repeats. "That seems odd considering where we came from. Still, we will be happy to leave as quickly as we came. Our business is not here."