Cage-Rattler
First Post
Prologue - Through the Glass:
In Cormyr's canal city of Marsember, three individuals of uncommon character receive an impassioned plea from the wife of a prominent historian -- one Hagen Vanuz -- who disappeared quite suddenly.
At first glance, the recipients of the message formed an odd company: a lean, diminutive, gnome-shaped figure clad head-to-toe in drab clothing; a long-haired youth who was distinctly inhuman even if one ignored the thick reptilian tail which emerged from beneath his arcanist’s robes, and a broad-shouldered man with a self-sure, no-nonsense look about him. All very different from each other, but all bound to each other through their relationship with their mutual friend, Hagen.
Hagen had, in one way or another, played a significant role in each of their lives.
He had hesitated not for a second in lending aid to the former gnome slave Istavan , and it was Hagen who had taken the storm-touched spellcaster Sindr Mogh under his wing as a favor to the young man’s parents. Hagen was always willing to discuss the finer points of religion with the holy warrior Heinrich Stronghand, for he, too, was a devout follower of Heironeous, and worked closely with the Church as a historian.
Given his expertise and impressive store of knowledge, local explorers and treasure hunters came to him frequently for his help in identifying this trinket or that artifact. As Hagen's wife explained once the trio arrived, her husband's disappearance seemed to be tied to the object of his latest research. A brief investigation of the man's room revealed two peculiar items of note: the first being the presence of an oddly grotesque black iron mask, set carefully on Hagen's desk and surrounded by research notes.
The second was the presence of a glowing, swirling portal which silently hovered within the frame of the room's only window.
Perhaps it was out of a sense of duty, or comraderie, or simply a desire to shed light on the unknown; but the three adventurers had a feeling that the best -- perhaps only -- way to find their friend was to go in after him.
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