When the world assembled itself around them again, they were no longer on that strange flying ship. They were in some small room, full of odds and ends. Most importantly, however, was that they seemed to be themselves again! Tanthalas took in his surroundings, noticing bedrolls and blankets in a corner of the room, clearly meant as a sleeping area for the imposters. Cautioning the others to wait a moment, he stepped down off the strange landing pad that they had arrived on. No traps seemed to immediately go off, so the group began to cautiously explore the room.

Flynver examined the raised surface they had arrived on very carefully. It seemed to be a solid slab of stone with markings upon it, some sort of arcane rune. Putting the pieces together, Flynver calculated that the stone they had picked up in the forest must have been linked to this surface through some sort of incantation. The knowledge for this type of enchantment was quite advanced, unlikely something that Kayono or its crew had come up with. The wizard didn’t know the magic specifically, but suspected that it might be difficult to recreate quickly or alter to go to another destination. For now, it seemed, the teleportation pad was bound to the stone, and whatever point they had travelled from.

That, in and of itself, was a partial bit of good news because it seemed there were no other ways out. The halfling looked about him, trying to find any other exit but couldn’t see anything but solid stone walls. It was as if the hideout was a carved out pocket inside the earth. Somehow, there was breathable air in here, but it didn’t seem like anyone entered this place through a door or tunnel. How was this place created?

Tanthalas, meanwhile, had moved quickly towards a desk near one of the walls. It was littered with a variety of items, including a basket of apples, but the elf’s eyes were drawn to a pile of papers with short messages on them. Rifling through the papers, the ranger found one that stood out. The short message simply read:

“We need to bring up the timetable. Make the move tonight.”

ↀ

There was no signature or date, only a small symbol. The elf didn’t recognize it but it seemed to show up on a few of the notes. Many of the messages seemed to be notes left by the spies to each other, including a reminder to “feed Snappy”, whoever that was. While the ranger didn’t know what the symbol meant, Flynver was an expert at these sorts of things. Studying it carefully, and flipping through some notes he had from classes at Hexen tower, he found a reference to an organization that used a similar type of symbol structure, usually found in the eastern regions of Lani. He couldn’t quite place the details but the wizard knew somebody who could! The bearded halfling strode across the room with the paper, reaching as high as he could to shove it into Al’s dragonborn face.

“I bet you know what this means, big guy!” said the wizard, excitedly, somewhat to Al’s annoyance.

The dragonborn looked carefully at the paper, ready to dismiss the halfling, and then paused. Holding the piece of paper close he realized he had seen this before.

“This is a guild mark, from Pua” stated the rogue. “And these small swirls and imperfections are meant as the writer’s personal signature within that guild. Why would one of the guilds be running this operation?”

On the other side of the hideout, Audak sifted through a pile of clothing and gear on a table. The boots seemed warm and made for the type of hiking required in the Spine Mountains, and the cloaks and furs seemed to match. The markings and style of dress matched those of the Wolf tribe. It seemed the changelings had not only been working inside the Bear tribe. Had he met one of them before, wearing another face? How many times had he sat with one of the Stonedigger siblings and shared a meal, never knowing they weren’t who they said they were?

Brylla, meanwhile, was investigating the storage. Kayono, or whatever its real name was, had spent a great deal of time amassing long-term rations and non-perishables. Some fresh foods also hung, ready to be used, but most seemed to be food items that wouldn’t spoil easily. The hideout seemed very lived-in, as if they had been here a very long time. Finding a steel barrel with smooth sides, the dwarf popped off the tightly snapped lip and a blast of cold air struck her face. It was some sort of cold storage, containing even more food for them to eat. Why would they need to be here for such a long time?

A good boy who loves apples

Having finished with the notes, finding little to help them, Tanthalas turned his attention to the back of the room. Near some of the shelves was a very large chest with a complex locking mechanism. It seemed as if someone had gone to a lot of trouble to make it difficult to open. At the base of the chest were several apple cores, seemingly discarded. Strange.

Flynver, similarly intrigued, picked up one of the apples on the table and tossed it at the chest. As the apple was about to strike the chest, the chest suddenly snapped open, exposing a row of vicious teeth. A long, probing tongue snapped out of the gaping maw, catching the apple and drawing it in. A crunching noise was heard before the chest then spat out the core and began panting like a dog, its tongue lolling out. Tanthalas threw another apple, watching with amusement as the chest continued to snap up the apples and enjoy its snack. It made some sense, the elf supposed, that a being who could change its shape at will would choose a beast like this to be its companion.

While the others continued searching, Tanthalas kept coming back to what he assumed must be the Snappy that had been referenced in the note he had found. After several feeding visits, the elf began testing how intelligent the creature was. It seemed to respond like any other animal he had worked with, though this one seemed to have been domesticated. It seemed willing to listen and even respond in very simple ways. Tanthalas tried several commands, trying to find out what the mimic had been trained to do. The simplest command was to tell it to eat, it seemed to have no problem following that command. However, he did discover that there were some specific commands that it would also listen to, such as “chair” or “chest”, commands which would cause Snappy to transform immediately. Perhaps it was more than companionship that the spies had needed? How much did Snappy know? What else could it do?

The research notes

While Tanthalas was occupied, the others continued their search of the closed room. There were still no signs of exits, but Flynver had detected the presence of a magical aura emanating from just inside one of the stone walls. There had to be some sort of hidden hatch or illusion concealing whatever was emitting the aura. Working as a group, they searched the area until they found a hidden compartment built into the stone wall. It wasn’t big enough for one of them to fit through, but perhaps it was intended that way on purpose? There appeared to be a locking mechanism preventing it from opening, but Al made short work of that. Popping open the small stone door, they found the source of the magical aura.

It was a small device, perhaps slightly larger than one of Flynver’s books. There was a single dwarven rune upon its surface which Brylla translated to mean “Press”. Flynver fought the urge to immediately push it. At the back of the compartment was a large sack containing a lot of gold pieces, possibly the spies payment for the job. Next to the device were a stack of folders filled with papers. The crew each grabbed a folder and started to comb through the detailed notes that had been left in the secret cupboard.

The reports went back several years, grouped by season, detailing several exploratory experiments and their observations. The four doppelgangers appeared to be running some sort of lengthy study of the Wolf and Bear tribes. Over the years, it seemed that they were escalating attempts to trigger emotional outbursts and then measuring the length of time it would take for them to be calmed by some sort of field that was mentioned multiple times in the reports.

“Do you think they are trying to find the weaknesses in this field?” guessed Tanthalas, trying to piece together the puzzle. “And hey, Audak, look… you’re in here.”

The ranger passed the report over to the barbarian who started to comb through the details. The report outlined several experiments on himself and Urnalo, testing their responses to various stimuli. From what was written, it appeared the researchers had concluded Audak to be immune to the effects of the field. Urnalo, on the other hand, seemed to be able to be stimulated beyond the field’s capacity, at least temporarily.

What wasn’t clear, from the notes, was the underlying purpose. Why was this study being done? What was this group trying to do with this information?

While they went through the papers, trying to find out what was happening, Flynver noticed that the rune on the device was glowing. Placing his small hand over it, the device began to make a strange “KACHUNK” noise, repeatedly, as the magic in the device activated and began creating a parchment paper with words upon it. It was a simple demand:

“Report”

ↀ

The device appeared to be the way in which the research group was communicating with their handler within the guild. Tanthalas had heard of devices similar to these that had been used back in Eldravire, before he left the elven cities for good. Based on the size of the reports that the crew was keeping, it should be capable of transmitting fairly complex messages.

Working together, they decided to try to draw out the unknown actor with a ruse. A simple message was sent:

“Complications. Difficult to explain. Possible to meet in person? Will wait here until you are available. Please hurry. Snappy is not good company.”

The group felt quite good about their message, certain that there would be enough details there to identify themselves as the research group. Now, all they had to was wait. The response wasn’t immediate, but after some time another message did come through. Unfortunately, it seemed the sender was stuck in the town of Balderston, a town far to the east, near Pua. It seemed they would have to be travelling soon if they were to find the source behind this.

Gathering up on the teleportation circle, Tanthalas waved a goodbye to Snappy, tossing one last apple to the mimic, as they all grabbed hold of the hearthstone. Flynver happily activated the stone, sending them into darkness once more.

From another world

The forest seemed to swirl into existence around them, the chill air of the Spine Mountains once again striking their faces. Nearby, Bleg waited for them, seated on a large rock and staring up at the sky. The early light of morning had given way to the full light of mid-day, indicating that the group had been gone from here only a few hours, despite what it had felt like. Noticing their sudden appearance, the minotaur’s large frame stood and approached nonchalantly, unsurprised.

“Good, you’re safe” he said, stating the obvious. “We should get you back to the village, the prisoner should have come around by now. We tried to get the others, but they slipped away into the woods.”

Bleg didn’t even wait for an answer, or inquire about what they had been doing or where they had been. The chef simply turned his hoof and began stomping out of the forest with his long strides, his axe resting casually on his shoulder. Flynver had to hustle to keep up.

As they filled the minotaur in on what they had discovered in the hideout, the chef’s bovine face seemed to take on a puzzled appearance.

“I’ve seen these creatures before, back where I am from” he began, slowly thinking through what they had said. “Always duplicitous and dangerous, but usually they work as assassins or thieves. I’ve never heard of them running research experiments or working in groups before.”

“Where in Lani are you from?” asked Brylla, curious as to where the minotaur had travelled from.

“I’m not from this place. The world I am from, there is much war” Bleg started, a sad tone to his voice. “It is nothing like this place. I’ve travelled the planes, done my time in the adventuring business, but when I found this world it seemed like a perfect place to retire. So calm. So peaceful.”

“Have you ever heard of the Galactic Empire?” asked Flynver, recalling something he had seen during their strange detour into that other plane.

“I don’t think so” replied the confused minotaur, “but there are so many doors from Sigil, I never travelled to all of them.”

As they exited the tree line and returned to the fields of the Bear tribe village, they were met by an unexpected sight. Most of those who had fallen were being helped by Lorena, healed back to consciousness. The other Wolf tribe members who had been captured had been let go and the pen had been taken down. The two tribes were working together to help the wounded and clean up the mess of the attack this morning. Some sat around the fires in mixed groups, eating and telling stories. It was as if the morning had never happened.

“Something doesn’t seem right” commented the minotaur, watching the Wolf tribe and Bear tribe members helping each other, laughing, sharing meals. Having read the research notes, Brylla knew this was the work of the field that had been studied. It seemed Bleg, and themselves, were not affected.

“We need to speak to the elders” Tanthalas stated with a serious tone. “Audak, lead the way.”

When they found Ergthok, Audak’s grandfather, he was seated at a fire with his advisor Olga and the wolf tribe leader Urnalo. The rest of Audak’s family was nearby, sharing laughs. Ergthok was in the midst of recounting an old story of when he was younger and had met Urnalo at the Wolf village. It was all very unsettling to watch.

“What is going on?” demanded Audak, his voice filled with both parts anger and incredulity. “This morning you were ready to murder us all, now we sit together and tell stories?”

“Grandson, grandson, calm yourself” spoke the tribal leader, calmly, as if to a child. “These are good people and it was all just a misunderstanding. We know now it was that creature that caused all of this.”

“My son would not have wanted us to hold such violent grudges between friends” spoke up Urnalo, apparently having recovered from her grief. “We need to move forward.”

“There is some sort of magic affecting you all” spoke up Brylla, a hint of urgency in her concerned tone. “Can’t you tell that something is wrong?”

Audak shared what they had learned in the research notes, the details of the experiments, but it only seemed to further cement in the tribal leaders that it was all a big misunderstanding. Only Olga seemed to be paying close attention and hearing them out. When the others returned to their discussions, Olga stepped away from the fire to join them.

“I don’t know how what you have said could be true, but if it is as you say, then you need to find who is behind this.” Whatever else may be happening, no matter how calm and accepting Olga might be acting, her years of advising had trained her never to ignore new information and to always address all risks. “Bleg, take some of our people with you. Find out what is happening.”

The minotaur lowered his head and sighed. It seemed retirement was over for the time being.

The inquisition

“This is pointless, it’s not going to talk.” muttered Audak, pacing across the barracks in frustration. After speaking with the elders, Audak and his friends had come to talk with the spy who went by Kayono. They had been at the questions for a while now and had made no progress. The spy had been disarmed, but was otherwise just resting on a bunk, waiting. There were no shackles or restraints and, outside of some guards posted at the door, no attempt to confine him. The changeling simply waited silently, amusing itself by mimicing whomever was attempting to interrogate it.

“Whatever you would do is nothing compared to what they would do to me.” it said calmly, not even a trace of fear in its voice.

Tanthalas had had enough.

“Get him, Blitz” the elf called, gesturing to his small drake companion who was more than happy to oblige.

The small talons and sharp teeth of the drake sunk into the creature, tearing at the spy’s clothes and flesh. The doppelganger yelled out in shock, scrambling away from the small reptile. Clearly it had not thought the heroes would actually resort to any sort of torture! Frantically looking around, it spotted the elf nearby and reached for Tanthalas’ sword, fighting the elf to get a hold of the blade. The doppelganger drew the sword and then, much to everyone’s surprise, turned the blade inward and impaled itself, driving the blade as deep as it could.

The creature collapsed to the ground, certain it had finally escaped. However, the torture was not yet done. Tanthalas reached down and pulled his blade from Kayono’s dying body and then placed his firm hand upon the wound. With closed eyes, he whispered a few words in elven and the wound began to close up, the blood flow stopping. The creature’s saucer-like eyes opened and stared up at him, registering surprise but now also fear. It seemed his escape would not be so easy.

“Fine, I will tell you what I can” it said with resignation, reforming itself into the face of Kayono. “I don’t know who is behind any of this, that is above our pay grade, but I can tell from your minds that you truly want what is best for these people. The field is weakening. You must not let the Dark through! That is more important than anything else.”

Earlier, Tanthalas had thought that perhaps the study being done here was somehow tied back to what had happened in Greenfell, perhaps another part of the cult of the Dark, but the changeling’s words made it clear that it was more complex than that. There was another group at play, one that was trying to stop the Dark with very strong magic, something that could affect all of Lani. What would happen if that field came down? Was it better to live in a world of peace where folks were artificially calmed, or one of full freedom that might be filled with chaos and fear?

Hitching a ride

Brylla was not a fan of the artificial calm being put on people, pulling their agency away. She had always believed in the protection of knowledge and life but this seemed like a step too far. And why were there no histories of any of this? Why had this never been mentioned in any of her teachings? How could something this large and important have been wiped from all records? She could only think that the great library in Pua might hold some answers. With the other clues also pointing to the east, it seemed they would have a long road ahead of them.

Bleg gathered together a few solid warriors to join them for the voyage and Audak said his goodbyes to his family. Though Audak had only just gotten back the day before, it seemed fate was already taking him away from home again. Wearing his new amulet proudly, he gave his aunt a tight hug and told her to be safe.

“Listen to your own advice, boy” she said, poking him in the chest. “I expect you back in one piece!”

Loaded up with rations and warm clothing, the large group began the trek out of the Spine Mountains. Audak and Bleg took the lead, guiding the rest of the group through the twisting paths across the tundra and mountain trails. It took two full days to get back to the main Denn highways on foot, but at least then they could hitch a ride for some of the way with the regular caravan routes. That helped them most of the way until they reached a point near the eastern pass through the Spine Mountains. The main trade caravans to Pua tended to go a longer path through the elven lands of Eldravire before arriving at Pua. The more direct route before them would require some cross-country hiking to reach the next set of major trade roads.

As they made the trek across the fields to get to the eastern roads, the sun finally came out. After days of mist, clouds, and snow, they all took a moment to pause and enjoy the warmth of the sun on their skin. In the middle of a field, with the sun falling down, the dangers of the Dark and some magical field seemed so far away.

“What is that up ahead?” called out Alandal, pointing at a glinting shape several hundred meters away. Sure enough, there seemed to be some sort of vehicle at the side of a road, with two small figures moving about it.

The travellers approached cautiously, but felt confident with their superior numbers. With the 10 of them, including little Blitz, it would take a small army to put them in any real danger. As they got closer, they relaxed a little bit more. A small, older, gnome was standing near the side of what looked like a colourful horseless transportation wagon. He was looking down at a pair of feet sticking out from under the vehicle.

“Fedric, do you even know what you’re doing down there?” shouted the little gnome, seeming exasperated.

“I don’t see you offering to help, do I?” responded a small voice from beneath the undercarriage.

“Excuse me” interrupted Flynver, clearing his throat and approaching the vehicle. “Can we be of help?”

“Hello there!” came the response from the older gnome, accompanied by a large and welcoming smile. “Don’t suppose you know anything about fixing these things? Darn thing stopped working and we haven’t the foggiest!”

A loud noise, followed by a cry of pain and several gnomish curse words escaped from below the vehicle.

“Please? My husband is going to either hurt himself or our ride.”

With Audak’s great strength and Flynver’s magic, they soon had the vehicle repaired and ready to go, much to the delight of the gnomish couple. As a reward, the older gnome, who went by the name of Rodrig, offered to give them a lift on their way. Graciously accepting, the large party squeezed their way into the back of the transport, trying to find places to sit around the stacks of pies and cakes in boxes.

“We’re out for deliveries, heading east!” explained Rodrig, amused at watching Audak and Bleg trying to squeeze their huge frames into the tail end of the vehicle. “You saved us spoiling our shipment. With any luck, we’ll still make it by nightfall. Where are you headed?”

When Flynver mentioned Balderston, the two gnomes began to go on about how they loved it there this time of year, and how their cousin ran a small shop. Not that his baking was anywhere near as good as theirs, but he tried so hard, didn’t he? Once they got going, the couple seemed to have no issue with filling the silence during the ride to the Balderston outskirts. When they finally unloaded, everyone took a moment to stretch out from their travel in the cramped space.

The couple waved goodbye from their vehicle as it kicked up dust from the road, chugging along past those riding on horseback or in wagons. Looking around, the large group took in the sight before them. A large sign stood by the road side reading “Welcome to Balderston”, mostly covered with colourful banners and streamers and other decorations. Some sort of festival appeared to be in full flight, with people happily walking all around, bringing children and adults alike together in a joyous celebration of… something?

As they approached the town center, a large sign board was propped against a fence reading “Heroes Fest” with several artistic renderings of fantastical heroes such as one might find in a child’s fairy tale book. The town itself seemed much more recent than some of the larger ones any of them had visited in the past. Compared to Denn’s milleniums-old architecture, the town was very modern! Most of the buildings were new, within the last few decades, and bore brightly painted signs and a very uniform style. This place felt like a town on the rise, perhaps boosted by its proximity to Pua and Vornstrand with easy access to the western trade routes and also the eastern sea. The streets were filled with crowds of people walking about, checking out various stands and offerings.

As Flynver watched the sea of people towering above him, he began to realize that finding their target might not be the easiest thing.

Credits

• Cover image: “The Hideout”, composited by Jason St-Cyr using artwork by Pavel Tsygankov (sourced from ArtStation) with minor changes for additional elements from generated images (created using NightCafe).
• Van image: “Horseless Wagon” generated by Jason St-Cyr using NightCafe