*A tear drops from her eye*

Damn that fool hearty elf! I need to know where that vortex went. Did anything happen to him before he went through? The only way he wouldn't be able to call his weapons to him was if he is either unconscious or...

*She cuts off and shakes her head*

No, that can't be.

I would think to get better details you should ask Calliope or Thogeon. They were the ones to witness everything.

We were all effected by some type of fog, it was pretty disconcerting and caused a blindness, it left me disoriented, so I would think everyone was pretty disoriented.

I witnessed the whole thing! It was like a nightmare! No one could believe it was happening!

*Railinn wipes a tear from her eye and nods*

Then I will come back with Calliope and Thogeon are around. I must go and make preperations in the event the worst has come to pass.

*Another tear falls as she picks up his weapons and looks at them. She starts to move towards the door. As she walks both of the daggers grow increasingly hotter until it gets to the point of being so hot she can't hold them anymore. "Ouch" she exclaims as she drops the daggers. They both slide across the floor back to the point of origin to the vortex again. She looks at them in awe.*

*She moves over to where the daggers now lay and slowly moves her hand through the air over the daggers and her hand starts getting red hot. She pulls it back and turns around*

Is this where he went through?

don't tell me that there is a residual energy left there.

she looks at the place where there are charred marks on the floor.

Why yes! How could you know?!

If we can get Barbus here... he may be able to reopen the vortex.

I only hope that Rathil is ok.

*She takes one of the daggers and etches a rune into the floor underneath where the votex opened and looks towards Re'anna*

There is always residual energy left over when a vortex to another plane opens. The difference is that the energy that is left over here doesn't lead to another plane.

*She pulls out a bag from under her robes and takes a bit of glowing dust. She throws it up in the air and begins to say a few words in a language unknown to Phara or Re'anna. The dust starts to circulate through the air. Half the dust hovers over the rune etched in the floor and the other half circulates in the air about 5 feet behind the rune.*

There were two portals here last night. Esane must have known Rathil would try to follow her so she set up a decoy vortex. She went through one and in the confusion Rathil must have gone through the other.

Of course you are right but not always is it that strong. Sometimes you can not even detect such things unless you are trained and know what to look for.

*She nods* Very good, The energy is always stronger the fresher it is and it diminishes over time.

*She walks over to the real vortex where not much of the dust is gathered*

You see here how only about a quarter of the dust moved towards this energy. This energy is much weaker. This is the real vortex energy. It diminishes much faster.

*She walks back to the rune*

And this here is much more potent. This energy was manufactured with some very powerful magic. To make it look like a real portal. A lot of strong energy was put into this.

Is there enough left of the real one to be able to determine which gate it opens?

I have heard that there is a way...


I will return, I need to see if I can contact Barbus and an old friend.
I will be back shortly.

Yes, there is but I don't have the required materials here. I will have to go back to the guild house and get them. There is only a very small window left.

*She stands and runs out the door*

*Phara sits down at the bar, wondering what's next?*

*Railinn comes running back into the bar carrying a few vials of powder and a dish and mortar. She sets everything down on a table near to where the dust had circulated around the vortex. She sits down and begins mixing a bit of each of the vials together and grinding everything up in the dish.*

*She takes her time in mixing and when she feels everything is in order she stands up and walks to the spot and carves another rune into the floor. She takes the dish of mashed up powders and carefully pours the powder into the lines of the rune. When it is filled up she stands up and steps back a little bit. She closes her eyes begins chanting. The dust she mixed begins to move around the floor and swirl around the rune. After a minute or so the red dust begins to sepreate itself from the rest and rises up into the air. It forms the same shape of the rune carved in the floor in midair over the rune. Railinn stops chanting and the dust hovers for a minute before falling back to the ground.*

*Alatariel comes downstairs. She looks very tired and depressed*

*As Alatariel comes down the stairs she enters just as Railinn has finished up her ritual. As the dust falls to the ground Railinn staggers back and falls into a chair. Alatariel recognizes this woman from the guild house although she has never spoken to her before.*

*Altariel looks at the woman.*

Railinn right?