The group’s passage through the remainder of the tunnels beyond the dark cavern went smoothly enough. It seemed as though all threats had receded after that faithful encounter with the creature in the darkness, and they could feel the weight of dread slowly leaving them with every step they took away from that awful place.
The walls of the tunnels beyond grew increasingly peculiar, though, the sheer black slate of the deep reaches of the Feydark giving way to large crystalline formations that caught the light of their torches and reflected it back at them with a thousand different hews. The strange formations would continue and grow in frequency as the group progressed, and after a full day of travel, the crystal was practically ubiquitous with the stone around it.
Moreover, the scattering of the lights they carried with them became so prolific that they would never have noticed a second light source further down the tunnel if their torch hadn’t been extinguished by a sudden gust of wind from the same direction.
It seemed to be a draft that came from further down the tunnel, and it carried a peculiarly sweet and refreshing scent with it. Like drops of dew upon a fresh spring field of all things. It was then that they caught their first glimpse of the glow in the distance, and they proceeded cautiously, allowing the far-off light to illuminate their path rather than lighting another torch.
The sight that awaited them as they emerged from a low rocky depression was as unexpected as it was mystifying.
What was revealed to them was a sea of stars reaching all the way to the horizon, quite the concept considering there was still a ceiling above their head. Upon closer inspection however, it became clear that the ground beneath their feet also appeared to be filled with stars in a great ocean that stretched out as indefinitely as the sky of the surface above. This place was truly a marvel unlike anything known to the mortal realms.
As they took a tentative step into the shallows of the great underground lake, the ground beneath the surface began to waver. Upon closer inspection, it could be seen that the rocky bottom of the pool seemed to drop away almost immediately past its edge, seeming to fade rather than recede, becoming ethereal before completely vanishing. The water's surface was like a thin newly formed sheet of ice, yet underneath its contents flowed spectacularly.
After gazing into the depths for a moment longer it dawned on them all what they were looking at. The starry image shifted and whirled beneath their feet. What they had stumbled on was the wondrous border of the lands of the fey and the celestial realm. A boundary between worlds not spoken of anywhere in the mortal texts of the prime material plain Carric informed them, and he was fairly certain of that fact. Yet, here it was, a whole world buried within another far beneath its surface.
This left the party with a bit of a dilemma. The boundary between plains seeming thin and unsubstantial, gave the impression that one would simply fall through if they applied any pressure to the surface at all. With no one certain of the course ahead of them it seemed as good a time as any to rest for the day, and so they set their camp on the shores of the starlit lake and pondered their next move.
“I want to take a moment to review where we’ve gone so far,” Rory said. “It's been several tendays since we left the Oracles rest, and I want to make sure we’re still on the right path.” “There seems to be only one path before us,” Carrick chimed in. “All of the side passages we sought out back in the tower led to dead ends, and I’d say that last nightmare we passed through had to be the darkest place the Oracle spoke of.” He looked apologetically at Morrah as she visibly shivered, clearly still shaken from the experience.
“We’re in agreement on that point,” Rory replied, “It's the next part that I’m concerned about. What did she say next, something about three sisters?”
“You few who are strangers to this place you tread, know that there are those who now slumber. Seek out the three sisters who have laid long in rest, and with their aid thaw his icy chest," Elxador recited in perfect recollection. The others all turned to him caught off guard by the word perfect recital. The elf just shrugged and went back to sharpening his knife.
“Have you ever considered taking a gig as a traveling menstrual,” Morrah said in a half-mocking tone, you’d be a riot at parties,” and the others had a good laugh, glad to see that the shaken woman was apparently in good enough spirits to be cracking jokes.
“All the same, I wish we had a little more to go off of,” Rory added. “I’m not sure where we’re supposed to find three sisters in a place like this, or why we even should for that matter,” and they threw up their hands as they spoke, clearly feeling agitated about the whole situation and the cryptic nature of it all.
Carric, put a hand on Rory’s shoulder in response. “We’ll just take it one step at a time,” and he tried to sound reassuring. “I’m sure that if nothing else this Astrazalian place will have some answers for us. I actually have heard of that one, though admittedly only in myth.” This got the attention of the others and Carric was obliged to go on, not that he minded.
“I don’t know much mind you, only a few tales passed down along the sword coast.” The others leaned in intrigued and not buying the wizard’s feigned self-restraint. If there was one thing Carric couldn’t resist it was telling a good story.
“Go on,” Rory said with a smirk. “Well if you must know,” Carric began, “Astrazalian is supposedly an ancient Eladrin city that is said to reside somewhere in the vast uncharted seas to the West of the Sword Coast, it is also often referred to by its High elvish name, Evermeet, but scholars disagree on which nomenclature was originally used, or even if they are the same place.”
“I’d wager Astrazalian is the more accurate translation, seeing as that is what the supposed residents of the city call it.” Morrah piped in. Carric nodded. “The tricky thing is, none who have ever sailed off to find the city have ever returned to prove its existence. Sure some have claimed to have seen it, either far off in the distance during a freak storm, or in a strange dream while sailing out on the open ocean, but none have ever brought anything back to prove that they made it to the city. To be honest I always thought it was just an old wives tale. Something to keep the sailors entertained during the long uneventful journeys up and down the Sword Coast.”
“Oh no, Astrazlian is certainly a real place,” Elxidore said. “The prince has been trying to take the city for millennia. I’ve had many friends and family who have lost their lives in one of his foolish wars or on some ill-advised expedition.”
The others regarded the elf with incredulity and a little bit of suspicion. “What? I certainly don’t have any warm feelings towards my master in servitude if that’s what you’re thinking. I doubt any of my people do, though few would declare it openly.” This last statement seemed to resonate with the others, and they couldn’t help but admire the brash young snow elf then, for it was clear to all from their time on the surface what happened to those who defied the Prince of Frost.
“Well we’re not going to get anywhere dwelling on the past, now are we?” Morrah offered up.”We’ve still got a long way to go before we reach this Astrazalian place anyway, so we can worry about getting to the city when we have a clearer path ahead of us. For now, we had best get some rest. The actual entire night sky isn’t going to cross itself you know,” and as they all turned to regard the incredible sight just beyond the edge of their camp, the horizon somehow didn’t seem so far as it had before they had settled in.
