The three friends made their way back along the path to their boat, and the next morning the crew returned as well with more than enough food for the trip back. Leo and Jin had been told by Zilo where the elven army had marched to the north of the coastline.
Zilo approached the captain and asked, "Before we head home, we'd like to get a look at the northern mountains. Can you get us close to them?" The captain grimaced looking to his men when Zilo added in, "We'll pay double what was promised."
Leo suddenly stands and stares at the two people, with an angered expression, as the captain shook Zilo's hand in agreement. Zilo wanders back to Leo and Jin, as Jin offers some of his drink to the angry magus.
"Zilo, you had no right-!"
"Hey man, we have more than enough gold, besides Maldrek won't mind a bit more off the top of our income, trust me." Meanwhile, across the world a tiefling wizard counts up his pay from a recent job, and he sneezes, and gets a bad feeling in the pit of his gut.
The three begin to sail another few miles up the coast until they get within view of the mountain, but something about the mountain was wrong. It was tall to be sure, not the tallest around, but still a sight to be seen, however the peak was obscured by some form darkness.
The dark veil was far off, but solid black like if a lighthouse emanated the absence of light. Also, unlike a lighthouse, it was practically the most unwelcome sight around. Zilo leans over the railing staring at the peak and says, "That reminds me of home."
Jin and Leo look at the bard and for a moment there is a small pang of sorrow before the captain snaps them out of it by shouting for his men to prepare to drop anchor. Then one of the crew leaps down from the top deck to the three adventurers.
"You all can take one of the row boats, shoreline looks too shallow to get any closer." Zilo flashes the crewman a smile and he and his friends board the small vessel and Jin takes no time at all rowing them inland. There was still a long walk to the summit though, but just as Zilo began to walk, Leo grabs him by the shoulders and spins him around.
"Hold on a second, You are really about to march right on up to a black void without any plan?"
Zilo shrugs and says, "What's the worst that can happen?"
"NO!" Shouts Leo pointing at Zilo's face.
"You don't get to decide that. I may not be on par with Maldrek, but I am the only one of the three of us who hasn't died yet."
Jin tilts his head and Zilo waves his hand dismissivly.
"I was undead, not dead, and jury is out on if he made it all the way to dead."
"OH THAT MAKES IT DIFFERENT THEN!" Yells the trickster, who takes a deep breath.
"Look, Zilo you're good, but I need you trust me here. You and me need to figure out what that thing is before we walk into it."
Zilo sighs and looks up to the mountain dejected, "It does remind me of my home, dark, and cold, the thick dark aura there is meant to obscure all light to and from it, I would hazard a guess that inside any light would be unseen to the outside."
Leo smiles and responds, "Okay, that's a start. Is the environment of your home hazardous to beings like us?"
"Shouldn't be, despite assumptions, the plane of shadows is rather mild for the most part."
"den why is it frostin at de summit?" Remarks Jin, pointing to the mountain. While the peak itself is hidden by the dark, the spots where the mountain meets the dark look to have the faint outline of a snowy mountain side.
"You sure that isn't from the top? Mountain peaks have those all the time." Says Leo, but Zilo shakes his head and looks up to the peak again.
"No chance, while light cannot escape, ambient temperature can pass through Planar Veils like that. My home wouldn't freeze the landscape like that. The outlying snow would melt from my homeland."
"Perhaps this isn't your home after all, but something close. Another plane of evil." Says Leo stroking his chin before continuing, "Did you learn about any other planes that it might be?"
"I studied the Inner Planes, or more specifically the elemental planes. That said, this looks to be a Negative Plane, not elemental." Says Zilo.
Jin waves them forward and remarks, "Walk'n talk boys, dis hike ain't getting any shorta." The other two begin walking along but as they go the discussion shifts away from analysis of the planar anomaly.
"Looks like I get to go into the portal this time." Says Zilo.
"dis time? What happen last time?" asks Jin.
"I was stuck guarding the boat, and everyone else went in. It sucked. By the by, do portals to other planes open here all the time?"
"This is the first I've seen."Says Leo with a shrug.
"What happened with da other one?" Asked Jin.
"Apparently there was a demon lord on the other side that Cruxis told off. It was blocking passage to Deneval at the mouth of the river." Explains Zilo.
"That place were that girl stole our ship?" Asked Leo.
"Technically she stole her ship, and yes." Answered the Bard, who then followed up with, " But yeah, then we arrived in the city, got the bar, met Aria, and before long we got hired to kill a monarch, and you both know the story from there."
As they spoke the planar anomaly finally was right in front of them and they could feel the chill of the other world in front of them. Once there they looked it over a bit more until eventually Maldrek snapped his fingers.
"I got it, this isn't a portal, its a form of change to the material plane."
"What's dat mean?" Questions Jin.
Leo presses his hand through the edge of the blackness and explains. "It was made because of something that happened here, not from somewhere else." Leo brings his hand back out and there looks to be a stiffness from the cold environment beyond them.
"So the elves are doing this?" Remarked Zilo.
Leo begins to look over his arm and says, "No way, something much more powerful than the elves, thought they might have started something. Something that is maintaining it still, possibly."
"Fantastic!" Shouts the monk, followed by taking a huge gulp of his drink.
"This... might be an opportunity in disguise. If we report this to the elves, there could be a huge reward for fixing this." Smiles Leo.
"But if the army couldn't handle this, how could we?" Asks Zilo.
Leo turns to the bard and says, "Alone, we'd be screwed, but if we come back with the rest of the company, then we could maybe do it. The creatures beyond might be strong, but not godly. For now let's just head back to the Deneval and... where's Jin?"
Leo and Zilo look around the small area they were in, but realize that Jin isn't there. Both look panicked, as they slowly turn their heads to the blackness.
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