ALEF Narrator |
Part One
“So while the doorway itself is invisible,” Ysvellei is saying, “there may be some subtle traces that reveal its location.”
She walks around a bend in the mountain pass. Just above the pathway ahead, thick white mist is continually appearing. At its origin, the mist is neatly shaped like a large vertical hanging circle, but then it flows forwards, outwards and downwards. The ground nearby is covered with so much dew that the dusty surface between the rocks has turned to mud.
As Donralaiz, Tririesk and Woohoo’oosh are following Ysvellei towards the mist, the air becomes warmer and more humid. There are footprints on the path - it seems that someone has taken a few steps away from the mist but then turned back towards it.
Ysvellei raises her eyebrows. “Or perhaps some not so subtle signs.”
ALEF Narrator |
“Usually I wouldn’t invoke the trespass law against someone who turned around so quickly,” says Ysvellei. “But we have no idea where that gate leads, and I think it would be wise for us to find out. And to learn - using subtle means if we can - whether the people on the other side are a danger. We may not be defending just the Wood, but our entire world.” She takes a single step closer to the source of the flowing mist. “I do want to ask you again: are you sure you wish to do this? All we know about the place on the other side is that the air seems to be breathable…”
Donralaiz |
It occurs to Donralaiz that because this is the first time he’s been in the Wood when the trespass law was invoked, he has never witnessed Tririesk and Woohoo’oosh being allowed to make any and all varieties of mischief that they want to.
The people on the other side of that gate may regret the moment it opened… if they ever work out what caused the subsequent chaos.
“For the reasons you stated,” Donralaiz says, “I am more than willing to go.”
The prospect of unknown danger feels abstract, anyway. And I’m just trying not to think about the prospect of being asked to explain anything my companions will do during our mission…
ALEF Narrator |
For a moment, Woohoo’oosh sees nothing but light - it's off-white, faintly tinged with the colour of brass. And then the owl is flying low above a neatly trimmed lawn that slopes up to a single-storey wooden building. Several sets of folding doors have been opened in the wall facing Woohoo’oosh, revealing a large workshop. A woman with pale braided hair is sitting on a bench inside, adjusting a clockwork contraption with a screwdriver.
Donralaiz |
In my experience, the fastest way to discover someone’s true nature is to observe how they act when they believe they can do whatever they like with no consequences. He considers possible ruses…
Plan 1: Pretend to be innocent, easily fooled and very easily impressed (1-40).
Plan 2: Pretend that whoever sent them is terrified of what may be on the other side of the gate, and has ordered Donralaiz to do everything he can to please (41-75).
Plan 3: Find someone charismatic and influential, and pretend to sell out to them (76-100).
Choosing an initial approach: 1d100 ⇒ 21
Donralaiz |
“Limmiri?” Donralaiz says to his familiar. “Can you manage wide-eyed naivety? I’m thinking that if we persuade the people on the other side that we’ll believe anything they tell us… the results may be instructive.”
“I don’t understand any more why you bother making plans at all,” replies the ice mephit in their characteristic chilly whisper. “But… wide-eyed and naive it is. We’ll see how long we can keep up the act with your fey friends on the loose.”
Donralaiz steps through the gateway, and his familiar flies alongside him.
Donralaiz |
Donralaiz breathes in the air, which is filled with the scent of freshly mown grass. It’s been a long time since I smelled that…
As Donralaiz walks past Woohoo’oosh, he glances sideways and down at the owl, trying to convey something like Follow my lead via a tilt of his head alone.
Bluff for a secret message: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (11) + 9 = 20
Donralaiz |
Donralaiz strides towards the building, and he waves. “Hello! We happened to notice that there’s a bit of a gap between realities over there, and we wanted to check that you know about it. Could be a hazard, if people don’t realise it’s there.” He glances back over his shoulder and sees that the gate is indeed invisible from this side. There’s no hint of any fog. But the air is definitely warmer and much less thin here.
Bluff to seem friendly and perhaps excessively helpful: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (1) + 9 = 10
ALEF Narrator |
As Donralaiz speaks, the woman raises her head and stares at him. After a few moments, she puts the clockwork aside on a bench, stands up and steps forward into the daylight.
Although she looks about thirty years old, her hair is almost completely white - there are just a few copper-coloured strands running through her complex braids. Her skin is a darker copper colour, with a metallic sheen that’s particularly noticeable where the sun reflects off her cheekbones.
She’s wearing light grey overalls over a black tunic. She frowns at Donralaiz but doesn’t respond to him - it’s possible that she hasn’t understood a word he’s said.
Woohoo'oosh |
Well, I don’t know what the humans here are like. But the ones who wander into the Wood always treat Donral like… a person, even if they don’t trust him. While to them the rest of us are nuisances, puzzles or things to be appeased…
“Incoming understanding!” says Woohoo’oosh. With fluttering feathers and arcane hoots, he casts voluminous vocabulary. He brushes a wingtip across Donralaiz’s ankle.
Donralaiz |
The woman’s unfamiliar words start acquiring meaning in Donralaiz’s mind, and when he speaks he can answer her in her own language.
He continues trying to seem friendly. “Hello! My name is Donralaiz. This is Woohoo’oosh and this is Limmiri. Is that your gateway between worlds back there? If not, we thought you should know. There’s a gateway between worlds back there.”
ALEF Narrator |
“Hello, I’m Zefalra,” the woman replies, sounding somewhat dazed. She glances for a moment at Donralaiz, but then she’s staring at Woohoo’oosh again. “Welcome to the Heights. I was going to make a no doubt foolish-sounding exclamation about a talking owl, but now… Owl. Who can cast a spell to help you speak my language. Sorry. Is this usual where you’re from? Where are you from?”
Donralaiz |
Donralaiz decides that Woohoo’ probably only needs a selective translation. “Her name is Zefalra,” he says quickly. “And we’ve arrived at a place called the Heights.”
He shrugs. “I don’t really know what’s usual,” he says to Zefalra. “Everyone says our home is a bit peculiar. Did you know about that gap? It doesn’t look very well signposted.”
ALEF Narrator |
Meanwhile, Tririesk has reached the workshop. It’s a large space, so it doesn’t seem that cluttered, but there’s still a lot of stuff here, mostly clockwork devices, large and small, at various stages of completion. There are also several cupboards with lockable glass doors - the shelves inside them are filled with scrolls and books.
ALEF Narrator |
As Tririesk flies around a corner of the building, she sees a young man with steel-coloured skin and silvery hair walking along a path towards what is probably the front door. Several other people are also approaching, but in a wide formation, as though they are planning to split up and go around both sides of the house.
‘Formation’ is perhaps an appropriate word, as these people are dressed in dark grey clothes that vaguely resemble military uniforms.
ALEF Narrator |
Tririesk quickly overtakes the people walking around the house, but they are already visible to Donralaiz and Woohoo’osh by the time she rejoins her companions.
Some of the people in uniform-like clothes are frowning. Donralaiz, Woohoo’osh and Tririesk have all seen this expression before, on the faces of certain talented but arguably narrow-minded human travellers who are suspicious of any kind of unfamiliar magic within the borders of the Wood. But these particular people are not looking at the new arrivals to their world - instead, their attention is focused further away, in the direction of the invisible gate.
Donralaiz |
“Wait!” says Donralaiz, and starts running to his left, hoping to get between one of the groups of uniforms and the gate. “I think you may be missing something important!” His tone is an attempt at breathless naive earnestness.
Diplomacy to delay whatever they’re trying to do: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (20) + 9 = 29
Donralaiz |
What were they planning to do before I interrupted? Those looks of concentration directed at the gate were a bit worrying. We need to make sure we have a way back.
Keep up the enthusiastic and harmless act.
“We’re just here on a neighbourly visit,” he says. “To check you knew about the hole in reality. Hello! Also, one of our friends wandered through earlier, and maybe she's lost. We need to find her before we return home, or she could become trapped here forever.”
Hopefully Tririesk is nearby and gets the hint.
…But of course, even if she is nearby, she probably can’t understand a word I’ve just blathered.