((Thanks for the kind words, Pristine, and I'm glad you soldiered on and didn't give up. I can see why you thought the whole plane-jumping quest could be a waste of time, mainly because I think I made a few mistakes on its initial implementation. The players more than picked up the slack though, and I think all of the reasons I did it managed to pan out in the end.))
Muun and Quintus decide they have a minute to scope out a potential hiding spot, and after bypassing some debris and squeezing through a few tight places, they find an abandoned alley that could easily serve as a private spot to regroup. They make note of it as they depart toward the Golden Griffin.
Behind the building, the four heroes converge in a spot that is probably not being watched, but it is definitely less secure than would be preferable. At the exact ten minute mark, Arianna shimmers into view directly beside them. "Quintus, Tarkus," she nods to each of them in acknowledgment. "Relax, your disguise is fine," she reassures Tarkus after he begins to panic at being recognized.
"Not everyone will be happy to see you," she continues, "But there's no time to debate it right now. Come, before we're spotted." She pushes a panel of wood under a window sill on the building, and an old crate nearby slides discreetly to the side. Arianna produces a wand from within her cloak and waves it over the ground under where the crate was. She then walks directly into the wall next to that window, passing directly through it.
The party follows, and a staircase is there to greet them. Together the five of them descend a short distance, and at the bottom of the stairs is a thick metal door. "Mindflayers don't have skulls?" she says to the door, and it opens outward.
On the other side of the door is a long hallway with various doors that people are filtering in and out of. These people are not wearing the standard black and green, and seem to be moving with purpose.
"Welcome to the Resistance," she says. "I'm sure we have plenty of questions for each other, but I think it best to wait until we see the captain. He's just at the end of the hall, come on."
This place is very cramped, and in walking down the hallway each party member has to go to some lengths to avoid bumping straight into a passerby. The rooms on either side are all somewhat small, save for what appears to be everyone's sleeping quarters.
At the end of the hallway, Arianna opens the door. It opens into another room only slightly bigger than average for down here. In the back corner, there is a very tall man whose movements are slightly off-kilter, organizing a book shelf. Directly in front of the party is a desk with a small man seated behind it, staring intently at them.
That man is Ivor Fireheart.
Apart from an eyepatch covering his left eye, he seems none the worse for wear, other than one or two extra wrinkles on his face. Without saying a word, he rises from his desk and walks calmly to Val. He raises his hand as though he were about to shake Val's.
Then he punches Val square in the stomach as hard as his dwarven body can muster.
"That's for leaving us out to dry for twenty years," he says matter-of-factly. "Mind, I still haven't made up my mind if I trust you. My gut says no, but Arianna seems to think you're innocent, so you have the benefit of the doubt.... for now."
He looks at Tarkus. "Get that damned disguise off. I can't see through it like she can, and my gut reaction to seeing a stranger in that cursed uniform is to kill on sight."
He returns to the elevated seat behind the desk. "I don't care where you've been unless it was on the Legion's tit, and if it was you wouldn't tell me anyway. I want to know two things. One, did you gather any useful intel from outside the city, and two, are you gonna join the resistance or not?"
From the back of the room, the tall man makes some unfamiliar sounds and turns its head. On closer examination, his entire body is either covered with, or made of metal.
"Captain," he says in a curious monotone voice that sounds like it's being spoken into a suit of armor, "I am detecting elevated levels of chroniton radiation on our visitors. Analysis suggests that they may have recently encountered a temporal anomaly. I recommend --"
"Gods damnit, Jack, what did I tell you?! Keep that nonsense to yourself! No one understands it but you! Just be quiet and organize my book shelf like I told you!"
Jack tilts his head. "Captain, I have organized this book shelf thirty seven times today, each employing an alternate method of classification. At this pace, I will have exhausted all of the methods of classification in my memory banks in three hours, forty seven minutes, and twenty four seconds. Would you like me to program additional sub routines so that I may continue to obey your commands?"
Ivor deliberately ignores Jack's question and merely waits for a reply from the party.
