Space, the final frontier, it may be big but there is one thing that can be said about it, there is at least stuff in it. It may be spread quite far apart but stuff there is. The Astral Plain on the other hand is devoid of anything, there is no up, there is no down not even a side to side. All of a sudden there is a loud boom, followed by an ethereal tearing sound and a comedic plop as Garrick, Sigrid and Lucian disturb the emptiness. The tear in space slowly closes up behind them and Lucian, his giggles slowly subsiding asks "What the hell just happened? Did Finn do this?" Sigrid shrugs noncommittally. Garrick considers recent events, the last thing he can recall is tossing the bag Finn had thrown to him in the portable hole. Given the events that followed and the fact that they now appear to be floating in nothingness, the bag may have had some kind of magical element to it. The three of them try to get some form of bearing as to where they might be. It seems that they are able to move through this space almost by thinking of the movement rather than any physical biomechanics. The novelty of this soon wears off though as they come to realise that there is not obvious exit. The three of them spend some time, deep in thought, trying to recall anything from their vast fountain of magical knowledge that might give them a clue as to where they are and more importantly how the hell do they get out.
After much contemplation Lucian's eyes open suddenly as recollection of a banishment spell suddenly pops into his head. Unfortunately it is not one he is able to perform himself but Garrick should be able to do so. There is one problem however, whilst it should be able to send Lucian and Sigrid back to where they came from it will not work on all three of them, Garrick will have to stay behind. Given that he was the one responsible for them being here in the first place this is probably the right course of action. The three of them gather together and Garrick casts the spell on Sigrid and Lucian. There is a pop, and Garrick is left all alone in the vastness of the Astral Plane.
There is a pop followed by the sound of Lucian and Sigrid being unceremoniously dumped on the stone floor of the room. Finn and Farraine turn to the source of the sound, shocked expressions etched on their faces. "Where did you two come from? Where did you even go? Where's Garrick"
Lucian looks at Finn, it seems that the Wizard has not yet forgiven the Halfling for uncontrollable laughter he inflicted upon him. Nevertheless, Lucian proceeds to explain recent events to Farraine and Finn and that the rescue of Garrick is now their top priority.
Back in the void of the Astral Plane, Garrick floats, legs crossed and prays to his God for assistance but is met with only silence.
After a lengthy discussion, the rest of the party decide that the best course of action is to head back to the surface and track down the one person who may poses the mystical knowledge sufficient to rescue Garrick, Vajra Safahr, The Blackstaff of Waterdeep. As they are leaving they bump into none other than Flutterfoot Zipswiggle who is struggling with a rather large sack of his various belongings. Together they all make their way back to the surface and the familiar streets of Waterdeep. Finn tosses a couple of silver pieces to Flutterfoot so that he may get a cart to help get him and his belongings to Trollskull Manor whilst he and the rest of the group head off to Blackstaff Tower.
As the party approach the gates outside Blackstaff Tower one of the guards recognises them and immediately bids them welcome before escorting them to the large oak doors at the foot of the tower. Beckoning them to wait, he heads inside, returning a few moments later he motions them inside and escorts them to a room where Vajra is sat waiting for them. Lucian explains that the party appear to have misplaced their Cleric after a bit of an incident with a portable hole and what is likely to have been a bag of holding. Vajra shakes her head despondently, her hand cradling her forehead in disbelief. Lucian asks if she may be able to assist in the return of their friend as despite their extensive knowledge of the Arcane our party are at a bit of a loss. Vajra suggests that she may know of a spell and commands one of her aides to fetch the necessary components. Finn then proceeds to tell her of the attack on Trollskull Manor and the capture and subsequent sale of Ozen and Byron and asks if she may be able to offer some assistance in their rescue. Vajra takes a moment to consider the situation, "I may be able to help, I know of a fast ship that will allow you to catch up with the ship containing your employees, give me till sunrise and I will send word to you at Trollskull Manor when it is ready to depart. Now lets see if we can get your Cleric back safely."
Vajra's aide returns to the room, a shining diamond in their hand. Vajra takes it from them and places it carefully on the floor and proceeds to draw a chalk circle around it followed by a series of runes. She steps back and begins to utter an incantation. The air crackles, Finn, Farraine, Lucian and Sigrid look on with hopeful anticipation as Vajra continues to perform the complex spell. There is a whoosh and a portal appears in the centre of the circle, inside of the portal is a rather bemused looking Garrick. He steps through the portal and stands there, relief washing over him as the portal closes behind him and he sees his friends once more. They all thank Vajra for her assistance and hand over a significant amount of gold for the diamond that was consumed by the spell. As they make their way to the exit Vajra calls out to them, "Remember, I'll send word in the morning when the ship is ready"
Thanking her once more our Party make their way back to Trollskull manor. As they walk through the doors it is clear that Flutterfoot has been making himself at home as a number of tables have been moved and a target of some kind is now hanging on one of the walls. The enthusiastic Gnome is behind the bar pulling pints and talking with a number of the customers. Seeing the group walking in, Flutterfoot jumps over the bar and runs over to them.
"Welcome Sirs, M'lady, I hope you don't mind but I thought I would set up a couple of my most infamous and popular games, perhaps you would like to try them for yourselves, what'll it be, darts, or the Rat Race?"
The party look at each other, it has been a wild couple of days and they still need to rescue Ozen and Byron, Finn reminds them that there is nothing that can be done until morning so they might as well enjoy themselves tonight.
"We'll try the Rat Race" says Farraine, a smile spreads across Flutterfoot's face as he leads them over to an area of the bar where a number of tables have been pulled together and a wooden track has been laid on top of it. A series of lanes run from one end to another and off to one side there is a cage with an unhealthy number of rats inside for an establishment that up until the capture of their chef, served food. Each member of the party select their rat of choice and place their bets, nothing too extravagant but enough to make things interesting. At least that was the case until Farraine throws down 50 gold pieces and shit got real, real quick. Flutterfoot places each of the rats in their own lane, counts down from 3 and raises the gate holding them in place. The rats begin to scarper up the track, cheered on by their respective punters. Its a close race and the tension is palpable but it is Finn's rat that emerges victorious and the Halfling takes his winnings with a sly smirk and places the coins in his pocket with a satisfying jingle.
"Darts?" says Finn, feeling confident after his victory. He is met with reluctant nods from his cohorts and Flutterfoot escorts them over to the circular target hung on the wall. It is separated into various segments each of them numbered. Bets are placed once more although this time Farraine is a little less carefree with his cash and Flutterfoot hands over 3 small darts. Finn is first to throw and he calls upon his sharpshooting skills to score an impressive total. Lucian is next and much like his athletic ability his darts skills could use more work. Garrick follows the wizard and despite his best efforts it appears his aim is still a little off, perhaps it is still somewhere in the Astral Plane. Finn still tops the leaderboard as Farraine takes aim with his first dart, it strikes the board and Finn's smile fades just a little, another dart follows and the smile is replaced with a more worried expression, the final dart sails through the air and buries itself deep in the target but Farraine's aim is a little off. Finn's smile returns once more. Finally Sigrid takes her turn. The first dart bounces off the edge of the target and flies through the air before sticking into the tankard of a shocked patron, the second manages to hit the target but it is in one of the lower scoring segments. The Final dart hits the board but the Druid's final score is only enough for Sigrid to prop up the bottom of the leaderboard. Begrudgingly coins are placed in the Halfling's outstretched palm and the party retire to their normal table to have a drink or two, or three, or more.
As the Inn empties of it's patrons our heroes close up for the night and head up to the bedrooms. Tomorrow should be an interesting day, they have a boat to catch and friends to rescue, what could possibly go wrong?
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