A Deal Before the Fall of Lodesoon

Gid Evyn stared across the table at the artificer, Ingus Restif, his hand resting on the pommel of his hammer. He had been fighting his unease ever since setting foot in the impossible city of Lodesoon. The city, a colossal feat of engineering, hung suspended by mighty chains over a mine that descended into the Void at the heart of the world, the very thought of which felt like a profound blasphemy to Gid's faith.

“I’m not going to pay you for them,” Gid said, his voice flatter than he felt. “They’re clearly fake.” The words were ash in his mouth, a revulsion at the lie that conflicted with his very nature and Oath. (A fumbled Charisma [Deception] check)

Ingus laughed, a sharp, grating sound. “You think I believe your lie? A child could see you have no authority here, Paladin.” He glanced over his shoulder at Olanda, who stood cloaked and still near the damaged, sparking portal at the center of the workshop. “I know an interloper when I see one”.

While the two men faced off, Olanda was lost in her own world. The portal fascinated her. The runes framing it kept breaking their patterns in a way she had never seen, a puzzle that resisted her years of study. She was utterly unable to understand their meaning. (A failed Intelligence [Arcana] check) The very physics of this place felt wrong, as if everything energetic was pulled up towards the cavern's unseen ceiling, while everything cold and atrophic was drawn down into the darkness below.

Her reverie was broken by the rising tension. She saw Gid failing to negotiate, his frustration a palpable force in the room. She stepped forward. “Excuse me,” she said. "You are a skilled artificer."

"I would never pump myself up in such a way," Ingus replied, a glint in his eye as he sized her up.

Olanda understood the tension now: one man dedicated to uncovering corruption, the other to profit and a magic she did not yet understand. "I'll make you a deal," she said.

Ingus grinned. He was a man who couldn't resist a deal, a simple transaction of profit far removed from the sinister business of The Keepers who held so much sway in this city.

Gid’s hand tightened on his hammer, a fire of passionate rage burning in his chest. (A difficult Wisdom Saving Throw) He took a slow breath, the anger receding, and gave a grimace of assent, trusting Olanda to find a path forward.

The deal for the barely-functional gloves was concluded without violence. As they left, Gid felt a desperate need to get off the cursed rock hanging above Oblivion. They joined the queue for a sky bridge, a series of magical plates held in place by chains of silvery-purple light. Just as their feet touched solid rock on the other side, the cavern shuddered.

A mighty, soul-shaking CLANG echoed through the city as one of the great chains holding Lodesoon aloft snapped, whipping away into the darkness below...