The administrative paperwork took the better part of an hour, but by the time they left the palace, Mike had access to a literal fortune. Combined with the large pile of gold coins that Tal earned through her own contributions, the party was now in an excellent financial situation.
On their way back to the dorm, Mike swung by the adventurer's guild and withdrew a few thousand gold to cover their travelling expenses for the next few months. Tal also took the opportunity to deposit the majority of her reward, only keeping a little pocket money for herself.
While she was talking to the finance portion of the guild office, a lengthy process given her communication problems, Mike informed the guild of his intentions to leave the country and head to the Riverlands. While it would probably be a few days before they left, he knew that this process had to be completed at some point, and this would save him a trip.
He ended up speaking with the same gruff and taciturn male receptionist that had been working every other time he'd come to this branch. It had become so much of a common occurrence, that he was starting to wonder if anyone else actually worked this desk.
Changing his base of operations was a pretty straightforward process that only required him to fill out a few forms listing his possible destinations. Although it wasn't expressly stated by the receptionist, the language of the forms themselves indicated that the information provided would be considered confidential and handled with care. Just to be on the safe side, though, he avoided any specifics about timelines, and kept everything else vague.
Once he'd finished, he handed the form back. "Anything else I need to do?"
"That's it, but there is one other thing that I'm supposed to ask." The man answered blandly, as if he wasn't interested in this business at all.
"Alright, what's that?"
"Do you want your guild rank elevated? Based on your deeds over the last few months, I've been authorized to bring you as high as Rank 7, assuming you are interested. The Guild Master here can't do any more than that without approval from headquarters, and that would take a few weeks at least."
"That's fine." Mike replied quickly, wanting to avoid another lengthy explanation.
After getting his guild card updated, he rejoined the others and headed back to the dorms. He had a number of errands he needed to run, to start getting ready for their departure, but first he wanted to investigate the items they picked up from the vault.
While Sera went out to the archery range practicing with her new weapon, Mike used Appraise on Tal's reward, which turned out to be a pendant with a thinly cut, green gemstone sitting at the center of a complex golden latticework that looked a bit like a cage.
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The Eye of Ashae
Magic Item (Tier 3, Rank 2)
Said to have belonged to the Ashae, a sage of great renown who came to prominence during the height of the Second Pyrathien Empire, this pendant grants the wearer the ability to see through deception and perceive that which is normally hidden. Allows the user to ignore the effects of any Illusion Magic of Tier 3 or lower (of limited use on Tier 4 or higher effects), and enhances their visual perception and judgement, allowing them to pick up on otherwise overlooked details more easily.
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After Mike explained the necklace's functions, Tal replied in her ancient tongue. "Makes sense. The Ashae was supposed to have been gifted with preternatural wisdom and insight. So much so that people came from all over the Inland Sea Region to ask for her advice. Perhaps this item was one of the reasons for that insight."
"Based on what I've heard about the Sable Enchantress, we could certainly use something like this when we visit her." Mike commented while pulling out the doorknob he intended on using next.
It looked fairly simple in structure, but at the juncture where it was supposed to attach to a door, there was a small sliding plate. Underneath it was a tiny depression, only a couple of centimeters wide, that bore a large number of intricately carved arcane runes. Based on the loose translation he gathered with Communication Magic, this was where he was supposed to deposit his blood.
Nicking his finger with a bit of hardened shadow via Dark Magic, he allowed a drop of his blood to fall into the depression, and noted a momentary flash of energy pass through the knob. He examined it with Appraise again, and saw that the section about not having an owner had disappeared.
"Alright, I guess the only thing left to do is try it out."
He stood and walked over to the common area's wall. Unsure of exactly how this process worked, he tried just pressing the knob against it, and was rewarded for his efforts when the outline of a door appeared on the wood paneling. Based on the lack of hinges, he assumed it opened inwards.
Glancing back at Tal, who was standing with the obvious intention of following after him, he motioned for her to stay back. "I'm not sure what's on the other side of this door. For all we know, the demi-realm could be filled with poison gas or molten lava or something to that effect. I'd be surprised if it was, but I can't rule out the possibility. So, I'm going to make a shield around the entrance and open it with magic. Assuming that everything goes alright, we can move on from there."
Shield in place, he used a bit of Dark Magic to turn the knob and push, making sure to select his party members as permitted travelers when he felt the mental prompt. The door moved with surprising ease, almost as if it were on oiled hinges. He was expecting to see...something, once it had opened fully, but he was left staring at an opaque, black plane.
[Maybe light doesn't travel through the portal? Or perhaps this is meant as a privacy feature?]
When nothing horrifying had emerged from the doorway after a few moments, he cautiously lowered the shield and took a brief sniff of the air. Besides the distinct smell of dry, stale air, he didn't detect any odors.
Focusing his will, he chanted a quick summoning spell and brought forth a small earth elemental. The creature resembled a small, anthropomorphic pile of dirt, that barely reached the height of his waist. Despite that, he was able to give it a couple quick instructions in some kind of gruff and guttural language that reminded him of falling rocks. With a nod of acquiescence, it slowly entered the portal.
He waited for a good five minutes before the elemental returned and relayed its information. Apparently, the barrier between realms prevented it from sending any kind of mental message. Something that Mike took note of for future reference, as it would influence how he made use of the item.
Unfortunately, the summoned creature wasn't the brightest, so it could only inform him that there was some kind of structure on the other side of the portal, that it didn't detect any overt threats, and that the dirt tasted bad. When asked to expound on that, it merely emphasized that the dirt was bad.
[Serves me right for trying to skimp on the mana, I suppose.] He thought with some chagrin as he dismissed the elemental, allowing it to disperse and vanish.
"Going in?" Tal asked as he pulled out his spear and checked his panoply of magic items to make sure they were functioning.
"Based on what I could gather from my summon, there shouldn't be anything too dangerous on the other side, but to be on the safe side, I want you to stay here. If I don't come back, wait for the time limit on the doorknob to expire. That should force me back out, unless I get killed somehow."
As he was explaining, she had started walking around to stand in front of the portal, carefully observing it. For some reason, he got the distinct impression that she was dissatisfied by something.
"Hey, be careful. The elemental might have been fine, but there could be some kind of environmental hazard that we don't know about. It could even filter through the portal."
Mike did one final inventory of his equipment, regretting that he still hadn't gotten his mental protection item back from Selene yet. He'd lent it to her in order to prevent any undue influence from the Cabal or the undead while she was conducting her investigations. Thankfully, it had turned out to be unnecessary, but he figured that it would be necessary for him going forward.
"Okay, I think it's time to…" He trailed off as he realized that he was the only one left in the room. Apparently Tal had already stepped through the portal.
"Shit." He cursed under his breath as he ran through it himself. "Are you alr…" He trailed off once again, but this time for a very different reason.
Mike found himself standing next to an idyllic looking pond, complete with frogs on lily pads and hovering dragonflies. The pool itself was partially surrounded by a cliff that rose about 4 meters from the water's surface. A small waterfall cascaded down from its heights, creating a soft rushing noise that mixed soothingly with the ambient sounds of insects and birds. The rest of the area was dominated by a lush forest that seemed to stretch as far as the eye could see in every direction.
"I'm fine." Came the response from the woods behind him. Tal was carefully examining a nearby tree. Without looking at him, she explained. "I believe all of this is an illusion. With the Eye of Ashae assisting me, I can determine that the majority of this place is disguised to hide its true shape. That being said, there is something strangely real about these illusions that even the Eye cannot fully penetrate. I suspect that the demi-realm itself is creating them."
"Ah, yes. I see." Mike replied, feeling a little stupid for having worried in the first place. "Hm, I thought the elemental said there was a structure here…"
"It's over there. I can see it through the trees." The elf replied while pointing at a spot of dense and impenetrable foliage.
"I''l take your word for it." He acknowledged, before walking that direction. "Come on, let's check it out. I bet it's the source of all this."
The 'structure' turned out to be a fairly large cabin, of sorts, built into the side of a wooded hill. It seemed to have three floors, to include a sort of basement level dug out of the hill itself. A porch extended from the middle layer, creating a scenic resting spot for the cabin's occupants, complete with a set of patio furniture.
"Out of curiosity, what does this all look like behind the illusions?"
Tal took the Eye off for a moment, glanced around, and then put it back on. "Completely different. The plant and insect life are all fake, and rather than a pleasant blue, the sky is a misty grey that seems to curve strangely. However, the hill is still there, and the cabin appears to be much the same."
Mike activated his Aerosense, momentarily becoming dizzy as the information he gained from it began to conflict with what his eyes were telling him. The feeling faded in a few moments, as his mind adapted to the strange dissonance, and he was able to determine that nothing was moving within the cabin, or indeed anywhere else in the demi-realm. This was less impressive than it sounded, since the realm itself seemed to resemble a sphere roughly three hundred meters in diameter.
Aside from the currents created by their presence, the air in this realm was dead and stagnant, with a sort of sterile lack of content that reminded him of hospitals from his previous world, albeit without the scent of disinfectants.
"I don't think anyone has been here for a very long time." He muttered, suddenly feeling a bit like a grave robber.
There was a basement entrance, but Mike figured that going in through the front door was probably the safest option. Just because there wasn't anything living in there, didn't mean that the place wasn't trapped in some way. The front entry turned out to be a grand set of double doors bearing ornate carvings. While plant motifs were common on much of the surrounding walls and columns, the doors themselves bore two symmetrical images of stags, locked in intense combat with one another.
To be on the safe side, he repeated his previous method of creating a shield surrounding the entryway, and then opening it with a bit of Dark Magic. Much like before, this didn't result in any more than the door swinging open, and after waiting a few moments, he let the shield fall.
The interior of the cabin was dark, but thanks to his ring, he could see a large foyer with other passages branching off to either side. A pair of staircases flanked the room, leading up to a balcony on the next level. As far as he could tell, there was nothing of any real interest in this first room.
After exchanging a quick nod with Tal, he took the lead, and started inside.