— Keira —

Aside from waiting for Aleka’s and Emerick’s answer, Keir's only plan had been getting a drink with Marsaili before leaving the city so the pair made their way directly to the temple of Lunith.

Marsaili clearly called on her connection to Stoneshield’s system as a prismatic frost-like glaze crossed her eyes. After a few moments she led the way towards the transit hub they’d arrived at as she said “I Jus’ needed ta check where the temple is. As ye know the clergy a Lunith dinnae exactly advertise.”

Keir nodded and answered “It was certainly faster than following a vague trail of clues through the city to find it. Even if all you’d done was tell me where to go, it would still have been a great help.”

As they transitioned back to talking off and on about inconsequential things Marsaili led the way along a line of orichalcum to one of the tunnels.

Once again it was a fairly quick process to retrieve a cart big enough for the pair of them and load into it.

The difference came when they arrived at the stop. Instead of exiting up the large set of stairs back to the cavern floor Marsaili led the way to one of a pair of fairly large archways.

Beyond the arch was a twenty foot wide cylindrical room with a half dozen circular platforms of different sizes half set into the wall.

Marsaili led the way to the smallest platform and Keir saw there was no ceiling above the platform and countless fingernail sized runes formed a lattice like pattern along the wall.

After Marsaili sent a trickle of mana into one of several small runic circles surrounding a dwarven word, the platform began rising smoothly into the air.

Keir was somewhat aware of such elevating platforms but aside from some mage towers and mines with sufficiently valuable resources, structures tall or deep enough that stairs weren’t more efficient than maintaining the complex runes that powered them, were few and far between.

Eventually after passing three more open cylindrical spaces the platform came to a smooth stop. After the platform had fully stopped moving a translucent lattice in the pattern of the runes along the stone burst apart with a sound halfway between a popping bubble and the shattering of thin glass.

It wasn’t obvious but as she looked around the room, Keir saw that the open pits where the other platforms were situated below, also had lattice-like shields with a circle on the front.

As they stepped off the platform, which immediately began sinking back down, Marsaili said “If ye dinnae know, ye can put a little mana inta those circle ta call a lift ta the floor yer on.”

As Marsaili led the way through the archway, instead of entering a transit hub they walked out into the interior of a roughly cylindrical space that must have been at least sixteen hundred feet wide. Homes and a few shops lined the wall and merchant stalls formed a bustling market around a wide central square, or perhaps circle, with a fountain in the middle. Wrapping around the fountain was a fifteen feet wide curved ramp that reached up to the ceiling 20 feet above.

Much like the streets below the crowds in the market were mostly dwarves with an odd assortment of other races. Unlike below there were a lot more families and children. Also the adults were mostly dressed in more casual clothes instead of work or formal wear.

As the pair walked through the market occasionally one or both of them would find something of interest to examine, though both rarely purchased anything. What they did buy mostly went into Keir’s newly empty pack.

Eventually their slightly meandering course led them to the circle around the fountain. Up close Keir saw that there was a corresponding opening leading down on the opposite side from the ramp up.

Marsaili led the way up the ramp into another presumably circular space, but rather than a mostly open area, the ramp let out into a similar sized open area to the central circle below, surrounded by homes with narrow paths in between them. Once again in the center of the space was a fountain.

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Twice more the pair walked up curving ramps that led between layers of residential districts before Marsaili led Keir down the narrow paths between homes.

They walked a somewhat convoluted path that led them to an arched tunnel barely wider than a typical city alley. As they walked into the tunnel Marsaili turned to look at Keir, with a small smirk and said “Jus’ make sure ye watch yer step, If ye don’t that next step’ll be a long one.”

Keir was about to ask for clarification but the meaning of her words were clear when they reached the end of the tunnel. It opened out onto a half circular platform of stone and steel that protruded from the massive pillar. Attached to it were five suspended walkways that extended out at different angles and for different lengths. Three seemed to extend to large suspended platforms between the columns and the other two joined up with other paths to create intersections.

Marsaili gestured towards the railings and added “Even still ye’ll want ta take a look. It’s quite a sight.”

Keir walked over to the railing and looked down at the city below. Looking down between the many crisscrossing walkways, she saw dozens of temples, ranging in size from that of a large house to good sized forts.

Keir knew the many temples must be impressive from the ground but she felt the view she had from thousands of feet up in the air was even more impressive. From the ground one could see more detail but from above she could see all of the myriad aspects of the pantheon laid out like a stained glass window or majestic quilt.

Beyond the temple district the myriad of paths and platforms made it harder to see but the rest of the city laid out far below was still an impressive sight. The strange maze like warren of streets seemed if not more sensible than at least intentional. Clearly there was a logic behind the layout, even if she didn’t fully understand it.

After what could have been a seconds or minutes of staring out over the city below between the paths and platforms beneath her, Keir walked over to where Marsaili was waiting near one of the paths.

As she drew close to the surprisingly patient dwarf Keir began to apologize for the wait but Marsaili waved it off and led the way across one of the bridges that led to a junction.

Soon enough they were walking along a seemingly haphazard mess of intersecting rope bridges. Given all she’d seen so far of one of the most renowned cities of artisans Keir was not especially surprised that even the longest of bridges barely swayed beneath their feet.

The large platforms covered in buildings and open park-like spaces were suspended from thick chains of black adamantium and blueish silver Mithril. The paths on the other hand were mostly thick wood planks suspended with ropes, only the longest and those that intersected with other paths instead of a destination, were held up by ropes reinforced with mithril wires.

Seeing how many paths there were, Keir was glad for the passive upkeep of the System. Plenty of the paths they traversed were clearly little used but the wood planks were clean and sturdy and the ropes weren’t even cosmetically frayed.

Keir had often fought along the rocky cliff faces of her home so she wasn’t exactly afraid of heights. Regardless it was still nerve racking enough when walking along a rope bridge barely wide enough for two dwarves to walk abreast, without having to think about how long it may have gone without meaningful repairs.

Eventually after a long and winding walk they finally reached a smaller half concealed platform the size of a city block perhaps two hundred feet below where they had emerged from the pillar. It was partially hidden from the ground by an overhanging ledge on the pillar. From above it was hidden by both the platform they had exited out onto and a larger suspended platform that hung between the two.

The only thing on the heavy platform was a fairly basic warehouse with a sign across the front that simply read “L and R Industries” under larger dwarven writing that presumably said the same thing. The warehouse almost entirely filled the space.

Marsaili paused for a second at the end of the bridge and said “Aye, This should be the place. Are ya familiar with wha’ ta do ‘ere?”

Keir shook her head slightly and answered “Not really. I never had a real reason to seek out the aid of The Lady of the Moon or her clergy.”

Marsaili nodded apparently as much to herself as Keir and said “It should be through here.” and set off towards a small entrance that looked to be intended for employees.

As she set foot onto the platform Keir half expected the warehouse to vanish and show the true temple. Instead the structure remained resolutely present even as Marsaili walked over to and through the door.

Inside was a small area with a gnomish time clock, some basic protective gear, and a half dozen small footlockers.

Marsaili didn’t even glance at the objects as she led the way into the warehouse proper. Rows of unmarked crates and barrels lined tall shelves that extended off into the distance.

Keir was just thinking about asking if Marsaili was sure they were in the right place as she set off confidently into the warehouse.

That changed about a dozen steps in when the warehouse dissipated like smoke in a strong wind, revealing they were in fact standing in a courtyard with obsidian walls and pale gray stone flagstones. About twenty feet away was a polished obsidian cube shaped structure with a door forged from what looked to be adamantium.