allgeektout

Kalthan pulled out a scrap of paper from the bag on his waist. Though the parchment itself was frayed and torn, the words on it shined as bright as they had the day they were written on it. This was his most prized pocession, his marut kanna. On it was every favor anyone had owed him, the words enchanted to remain there until it had been repaid. And right now, it was a favor that he needed.

He quickly scanned the list, curling his lip in disgust when he realized how little his sheet was filled. Like many marut, he thought favors were a currency – and right now he was dirt poor. Still, he had more than a few resources he could pull from. Finding the one he was looking for, he folded up his kanna and placed it back in his bag. He then turned to the other members of his tadassa and motioned for them to come.

The bond between a tadassa is one of the greatest magics in all of creation. The three marut that made up a tadassa will have been in a number of perilous situations together before they are officially declared a tadassa, and the Blood Magic tradition they performed to see if the Stars of the Astral Sea approved made their trust grow even stronger. But something was different about Kalthan’s tadassa – they deferred to him, treated him as their leader, when a tadassa by it’s very meaning is an equal partnership. Kalthan was not opposed to it, but it meant that he felt more responsible than most did, for if any harm came to them, it was his fault.

But he was assured that he was making a good choice now. He had heard rumors that Lady Asertain was looking for a rare chalice from a remote city in the Underdark, and he knew that she would grant him many favors in return for it, let alone the doors it would open for them.

Which is why of all the doorsteps of the planar city of Sigil, he soon found himself on that of Simulous Arange, widely considered to be one of the least competent wizards in the planeshifting business. But Kalthan didn’t worry about that – anyone could open a portal to the Underdark. Kalthan knocked on his door, and waited. He heard someone inside scrambling around the room, but not opening the door. At last, just as he was about to knock on the door again, it opened up, presenting a slim man in his 30s or 40s, bowing low.

“Welcome to Simulous’, where you can -” Simulous looked up from his bow. “Oh, it’s you. Come in.” Kalthan did, and looked around the house. It looked much the same as it did the last time he had been here, except it looked clean this time. He suspected that this is what Simulous had been doing while he had been forced to wait outside the door.

“What do you want?” asked Simulous.

“It’s time for you to make good on your favor, Arange.” Kalthan’s gutteral voice rang throughout the small house. “We need a portal to the Underdark.” Simulous’ eyes grew wide.

“You’re joking, right? I can’t afford that! The components cost alone would -”

“If it were not for us, you wouldn’t have the opportunity to buy spell components!” He pulled out his kanna. “You owe us a much bigger favor than this – but if you do this, I will strike you from my kanna.”

Simulous’ eyes grew wide. No Marut ever removed a name from the kanna until they had been repayed in full. A wiser wizard might have realized the significance, but Simulous was just eager to get out of his obligation. “Off of your kanna, forever?”

“Unless you use our services again.” Kalthan said, showing a rare grin. Simulous snorted, though he knew that he probably would.

“Alright. I need your tadassa to stand here please.”  Kalthan watched as Simulous moved as quickly as possible, drawing the sigils and completing the spells necessary for the portal to form. It took longer than most wizards, but at last Simulous came to the final part of the ritual. He turned to Kalthan, who had already pulled out his knife, knowing what was needed to finish the spell.

A quick movement, and he was done – the blood fell from his hand into the bowl that Simulous placed beneath him. Each of his companions followed his lead, and then Simulous began the final spell.

Kalthan watched as magic lights crackled and popped, and the faintest outline of a portal began to form. It grew more present every second, but Kalthan frowned; he knew it should have been much more distinct by now. After a few minutes it finally took on a black shade, the shade of portals to the Underdark. Though still indistinct, the color was a sign the portal had finished.

Kalthan could wait no more. Holding up his kanna where Simulous could see, he willed Simulous’ name off of the sheet. “Thank you for repaying us,” he said, folding the parchment and pocketing it. He began to step towards the portal, and his tadassa followed. Simulous reached out to stop them. “Wait, no!”

But it was too late.

They had stepped into the portal, and Kalthan felt a pain unlike any he had felt before. Portal travel was normally as easy as taking a step, but this time he felt himself being torn apart, shoved around, and reassembled as he moved through space. He wasn’t sure if he was going to make it out of this alive – if the portal didn’t kill him, than the pain surely would.

At last, he fell upon the earth of another land, hitting it with such force that he left a small crater. He looked around briefly, noticing his tadassa was missing, before he passed out.

*

Kalthan woke up with the taste of blood in his mouth. He quickly got up, pushing away the feelings of dizziness away as he looked around. An old dwarf turned around and saw him get up.

“You woke up quicker than I expected,” said the Dwarf. “I’m Thogmore Ironjaunt. My father was Jarvin Bonechise, but then I was taken into the clan of Ironjaunt when he died, so I took there name. Ironjaunt is a strong name, don’t you think? What is your name?”

“Kalthan,” he said curtly.

“Kalthan? That doesn’t sound very dwarven. What clan are you from? Actually, I know most of the clans, and I can’t think of any that have names like that. Are you a dwarf from the other side of the ocean? I’ve always wanted to sail across the ocean. But dwarfs don’t take kindly to water, as I supposed you know because -”

“I’m not a dwarf.” Something occurred to Kalthan. “Were there two other people with me?”

“Two others? No, I don’t think so. Just you. It was strange – the people around you said that you had come from the sky, with crackling light and a dark portal. I didn’t want to believe them, of course, but there was the pit where you landed. They wanted to leave you there, but I didn’t think that I should leave a fellow dwarf behind – although you aren’t a dwarf. Are you sure? You look like one -”

Kalthan cut him off. “Thank you very much for your help. I will not forget what you have done to help me.” Kalthan hated to add favors he owed to the kanna, but fair was fair, and he was an honorable Marut. “I must be off.” Before the dwarf could say anything else, he quickly left.

He found that he was on the upper floor of a tavern – the perfect place to see if anyone knew where his tadassa was.

“Oi, leave me alone!” said an old hag. “I’m just trying to get a drink over here! Can’t you find someone else to bother?”

“Nope,” said a young man who was sitting with a small group of other creatures. “But we would be happy to help you look for them. We’re an adventuring party, and we’re looking for another member.” Kalthan declined; he didn’t want to replace his tadassa, and he definitely didn’t want to add any more debts to is kanna.

Finally, he managed to find one person who had just come off the road from another village. “I didn’t see it up close, mind you, but I think I saw one storm just like the one you described. It was far away, just over the lake. But I saw it – crackling lights, and a portal that opened way up in the sky.”

At last! Kalthan was excited – he had a lead! All he needed to do was call in a favor and somehow get transport to the lake. He pulled out his kanna, but then his heart sank – all of them were on another plane. All of them were useless. He was useless.

He sat down next to the hag from earlier and ordered himself a tankard of ale – before realizing he couldn’t pay for it. He got up and paced around the tavern floor, as people began to look at him strangely. He needed a plan. He needed favors. Most importantly, he needed to find his tadassa. Which meant he needed to make compromises.

“Alright,” said Kalthan, surprising the young man he had talked to earlier. “I’ll join your group. What do you need me to do?”

Icon via Iconspedia.com