The group made for a unique image seated in the stylish waiting chamber. One spellcasting dwarf, a hulking lizardfolk, a crossbow toting drow, and a human covered in alchemical bombs.
It definitely didn’t suit the decor. Ulgrin took in the details, eyes running over the marbled tile flooring. A pleasant dark pine covered the walls. Several couches had been set up for them to sit at, each quite comfortable. He peered down at the low-table and scanned the refreshments.
A delicate pasty was soon devoured and Ulgrin groaned with pleasure. “Now that’s the good stuff. What is that, vanilla and orange?”
Saezz shrugged, already half way through his second plate. “They are good, Saezz does not worry about the particulars. But he does enjoy this chocolate flavor. Saezz’s homeland harvests cocoa quite often. It is a rare treat.” It was a bit of a ridiculous sight to see him daintily holding a plate of fine porcelain.
“If they’re paying for it, then we’d best enjoy it while it lasts.” Raelza replied, sipping a cup of tea. “Rich blokes deserve the expense for making us wait so long.”
Alyss shrugged, greedily munching from a bowl of grapes. “I doh’t - mm - mind waiting if we get to enjoy this stuff.”
“Don’t gorge yourselves,” Ulgrin urged. “We’ll want to speak to the officer with a clear head, and a stomach ache will impede that. Decadence is fine, once in a while, but this is a serious situation.”
Raelza smirked. “You say that, but you’re reaching for another slice of cake.”
Blinking in surprise, Ulgrin looked down. “I suppose I am.” This stuff was damn good, almost addicting. No wonder nobles were often depicted as fat in all the books he’d read. But it was a treat. He could have two. Maybe even three.
Ultimately his choice was made for him, as a knock came to the door. A moment of silence followed before a servant stepped into the room, bowing low.
“Excuse me. Lieutenant Klink of the Depth Guard is ready to see you.” The human in silk fineries gave another bow before opening the door to let another person inside. Ulgrin saw that the new arrival was of the insectoid Arthrans. A fairly average heighted individual, but covered entirely in a layer of black carapace.
Two beady eyes stared at them all, naturally examining their party for details.
Ulgrin could see they possessed two pairs of arms. One, larger pair, and another smaller just below. Their chitinous skin was polished to a shine, and he saw they wore a set of stylized scale-mail made entirely out of adamantine. Six-fingered hands twitched towards their weapon, a sign of an experienced warrior. War-paint had been applied to their chitin directly. It took the shape of locked shields forming a chain around their wrists, neck, and brow.
Or what passed for a brow on the person. Two antennae dangled above their head in lieu of hair or facial details.
“So you are the group who sent in the missive. Hmm.” Their voice was surprisingly high pitched, but sounded a bit like nails on a chalkboard. “Adventurous sort, I see. I’ve read the briefing, and you can consider me interested.” They walked over to one of the chairs and took a seat, hunching over slightly due to their oddly shaped back.
Clearing his throat, Ulgrin stood up and gave a bow. “Of course. I’ll begin by stating that my name is Ulgrin Hoofhome. These are my companions and employees.”
The others quickly introduced themselves. He was glad to see they were maintaining (mostly) straight faces.
“You can call me Klink. My name in Arthran is far too unusual for most humanoids to speak.” The ant-like being crossed his arms. “Well. Go ahead.”
Right. Best not keep them waiting. “Yes. I received some clues as to the location of a ruin, in particular one belonging to the Ancients. My companions and I ventured there and found a shockingly intact city. Skipping over most of the details, we found information that could spell great danger for the Stoneborn Collective. That, and we found her.”
Reaching down to his satchel, Ulgrin pulled forth Lorekeeper’s vessel. Klink stared, fingers twitching but relaxing upon realizing that Ulgrin wasn’t drawing a weapon of any kind. Setting the orb onto the table, it flashed briefly, before revealing the construct’s avatar in plain view.
[Hello. My name is Lorekeeper.] She spoke calmly.
Klink lacked the eyelids to narrow, but Ulgrin could definitely sense the ant getting tenser. “Ah. I see. So you found one of them.”
“One of them?” Ulgrin asked, shocked. “You mean there are more.”
“The Collective is aware that such beings exist. We once held possession, sorry, protected one, but they were stolen some fifty years ago.” They let out a low chitter. “But since you have come into contact with one of them, then I suppose I may be blunt.” Klink unfolded their arms, leaning over. “We already know.”
“Y-you do??” Alyss blanched.
“Saezz almost expected this.” Their lizardfolk friend commented. “We are not the first to stumble into lost ruins.”
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“You would be correct. The government knows. Most nations know, or are suspected of knowing. It’s the world’s worst kept secret, if I’m being honest. They sent me to confirm whether or not you were speaking out of your ass. We’ve known for a long time, but that information has been kept from the general public. And most government officials for that matter. We force them to take a geas before spreading the info.”
Ulgrin collapsed back into his chair, a heavy weight over his mind. “Oh. So you know. Then… what is being done?”
“Nothing.” The ant said bluntly.
“Nothing?!” Ulgrin shouted, all breath leaving him.
The ant gave a shrug, smaller arms mimicking the motion. “There isn’t much that can be done. We send expeditions in an attempt to find more information, but all attempts thus far have brought nothing new. Knowing there’s an apocalypse coming doesn’t help much. All we can do is stockpile resources and prepare for the inevitable.”
“But. You can’t just…” Ulgrin’s voice failed him, petering off until he stared down into his palms.
[I may be able to help with this.] Lorekeeper said suddenly. [My database holds a map of all other facilities under the project. Continental drift may have broken the image, but I have already calculated their altered locations.]
At that, Klink suddenly shot forwards with great speed, barely visible to the naked eye. Magic rolled off of them in waves. A very powerful fighter, Ulgrin thought. Far superior to any of his group. They clenched Lorekeeper’s orb tightly, talons pressing into the crystalline material. “Speak. Now.”
Lorekeeper paused for a moment, shock on her face. He doubted she’d ever been properly threatened before. [Ah. Yes. One moment. I am spinning up my illusory field.]
A moment of uneasy silence filled the room. A bead of sweat rolled down Ulgrin’s neck.
Then, with a blue flash, a horizontal plane appeared in the center of the room, just above the table. There was an image of an enormous supercontinent, one roughly circular in shape. The blue landmass shifted, cracking apart to form the world as it had become. Fragmented and broken. Sixteen flashing blue beams of light rose from different locations across.
Ulgrin could see the one they had discovered Rohl. Another one had appeared in the center of the Skyhammer Peaks, almost smack dab in the middle.
Interestingly enough, he could also see one at the Eye of the World.
All things considered, each continent had at least one facility or installation on them. Klink scanned the map, taking in each and every detail with as much fervor as the ant could.
Then the Arthran released a breath, letting go of Lorekeeper’s orb.
“That is… quite the breakthrough, I must admit. With this information we can certainly do more. But, I’m afraid, most of the other nations won’t allow us to officially send teams to investigate.” They paused, thinking for a moment. “But we might be in luck. How would your group like to be officially sponsored?”
“Wha-” Ulgrin started, trying to recover his wits.
“I suppose ‘officially’ will be a bit much. It will have to be off the record, mind you, but if we’ve got a group willing to delve into the secrets of the Ancients, then we might as well use you. Though we already knew the location of one of these places.” They clenched their mandibles tightly.
“Really?” Raelza asked. “Which one?”
Klink stepped over and placed a hand right over the location in the Stoneborn Collective. “Right here. We’ve known about this one for centuries. But I’m afraid that knowing it exists is not the same as being able to access it. It is in the Underdeep. Far below, farther than anyone dares to delve. Even you dwarves don’t try.”
“Saezz guesses that no one returns and likely dies a horrible death?”
“You would be correct, scaled one.” Klink replied succinctly.
Thoughts ran through Ulgrin’s mind like a wave. Being officially sponsored? That would take a load off of his mind. They wouldn’t need to worry so much about coins nor equipment. Or getting to the other continents. But looking at the map, he felt a deep sense of dread fill him.
There was far too much to do, and so little time.
Ulgrin took a deep breath, falling back into his seat and closing his eyes. Is this what his Grandfather had warned about? Had he known? But deep down, he knew he had to make the Dunvi proud.
“We’ll accept.” Ulgrin stated, eyes opening.
“We do?!” Alyss squeaked, still not quite up to speed on the whole situation.
“Good.” Klink said. “I’m afraid that we won’t be able to fund you much, not as it stands. But you’ll be receiving a significant grant by your standards. We’ll also arrange transportation for the other continents. Once you’re on the ground, though, you’ll be on your own. Try not to be locked up, the Stoneborn doesn’t have infinite favors with everyone. As rich as the nation is.”
“We won’t disappoint, sir.” Ulgrin said, swallowing. “But there’s a lot of factors here. Lorekeeper, is there any information in your records about the purpose of the sites? Having a clue of which to go to first might help quite a bit.”
[One moment.] Her eyes flashed. [I’m afraid that I do not have the clearance to know their true designations. The location is all that I have for now. Perhaps I can acquire access to my database with further information and authorization, but for now their purpose remains mostly hidden.]
It couldn’t be that easy, he supposed. “Then we’ll have to pick one. But which? There’s so many locations.”
Raelza gave a snort. “Just pick the easiest to get to first. Then we’ll start from there. No need to make it so complicated.”
Klink nodded. “I’ll leave this to you all. We’ll also be attempting to hire other groups to find them, but I’m doubting you’d be willing to lend Lorekeeper over to us?”
Ulgrin paused, unsure of whether or not to piss off the ant. “Well. Perhaps it would be best if she stayed with us? Right now her existence is unknown to everyone. If nobody knows she’s even a thing, then she won’t be stolen. Do you think you could obfuscate the paperwork?”
The ant gave a chitter. “So that’s your angle. Very well, what you said makes sense. For now, I’ll state in my report that you simply possess a map. I will need to make a copy, though.” They quickly retrieved a large sheet of parchment and got to work sketching it down with great detail.
Turning away, Ulgrin scanned the map with great unease. Looking at the map, he intuited that finding the one in the Lost Hinterlands would be difficult. Likewise in going towards The Eye of the World. Let alone the Land of Thunder, which housed a great many titanic megafauna.
“Any suggestions?” He asked, turning to his friends.
“Saezz would prefer not to go to his home just yet. As good as that would be, you are all currently ill-prepared for the jungles. Perhaps we can go to Sal’havast?”
Shaking her head, Raelza interjected. “I’ve been there and it isn’t great. Elves are a bunch of stuck-up assholes. No, Drow don’t count. Our matrons might still be stuck-up, but only to the extent that they’re on their period and not to an absurd degree. I’m not biased,” she said with no small amount of bias.”
Alyss sheepishly gestured towards the Andiran Monarchy. “Um. Well… I do have family there. I don’t know how accepting they’ll be of a bunch of adventurers, but it wouldn’t hurt.”
Ulgrin looked over the map, pulling out his own copy. Andire would definitely work. A temperate environment with a low amount of threats. Unless you counted the fey as a threat, in which case it was a bit of a hellhole. Otherwise, it would be a good staging point for setting out. The only bad part was the fact that their destination lay straight in the middle of Lake Andire.
Navigating to the bottom of those depths would be difficult to say the least. But at least they could work around that, and the waters would be warm at this time of year. They could also ask the local fey for aid, but that would be a bit of a gamble.
Ulgrin stepped into the map, placing a hand over Andire. “Alright. Then we’ll be heading there.”
Klink spoke up, ceasing their writing. “Ah, a decent choice. Very well. I’ll begin making arrangements. I’ll have a bag of coin slipped into your room.”
“You know where we’re sleeping?” Alyss asked.
“Of course I know. Do you think we wouldn’t investigate a bunch of doomsayers trying to talk to a high official? Also, your leader marked your current place of residence so we could reply to his missives.”
“Fair.” She replied.
Tuning them out, Ulgrin found himself staring at the map. This was a huge undertaking, and the ticking clock at the back of his mind kept on spinning. Only time would tell if this was the right choice.
And so we get another big reveal. Yep. Turns out everyone does know the world is ending. Go figure. But now, Ulgrin and company have been hired to do something about it. This is their first step into a globe-trotting adventure.