The Hideout

Boom, boom, boom, boom!

"Who the hell's busting my door at this time!?" cursed the diminutive wizard. Still wearing a nightgown and a nightcap, the gnome jumped out of bed and rushed to the window above the front door, where only blackness awaited.

Boom, boom, boom, boom!

No one's at the front door, which means... He rushed to the lowest floor of the two story house, running for a huge bookshelf.

Boom, boom, boom, boom!

Saying a few arcane words, the wizard waved his hand to remove the bookshelf out of his way, revealing a crystal ball and a blank wall where the bookshelf once stood. Approaching the crystal ball, he started the arcane passes necessary to activate the scrying device.

Shartleg shafaer ikn garmth!

He peered into its depths to see a dark alley, where a dwarf was pounding his fist into a wall, holding a woman hoisted on his shoulder. The dwarf was sided by a halfling, which quickly turned his eyes to gaze at the gnome.

"Open the door Erbag! The guards are on our tails!" the halfling ordered.

Heh, I see the eye is still working, the gnome thought to himself. He stepped away from the crystal ball, dismissing the scrying, and, with a few more arcane words and a wave of his hand, the wall on the right of the crystal ball disappeared, revealing the same characters that were displayed in the scrying.

"I thought you'd never show up again, Tavian, you thief!" said the gnome to Tavian.

"It's good to see you to Erbag." said Tavian, hurrying trough the passage and urging Alfgir to follow him "Listen Erbag, we need a place to stay until the heat cools off."

"Hey, it's your hideout, not mine! Feel free to lie around!" the gnome proclaimed, leading the troupe away from the bookshelf, turning to make the passage and the bookshelf solid again "But at least, I'd say introductions are in order, no?"

"Ah yes! Erbag, this is Alfgir Axeweave. He knew my father and helped me bust out of prison." he said, motioning for the dwarf dropping the unconscious young woman on a couch "And that is...er...a girl we rescued from the joint with us. Anyway, Alfgir, this is Erbag Erthol, a friend of mine and one of the best illusionists and artificers on the market." Tavian introduced "And this" he said, motioning for the house surrounding them "is my number one hideout."

“Well met, gnome” proclaimed the dwarf “Say, ya have any food in here? The food in jail is no good.”

“Yes, please, follow me” said the gnome, while scurrying through a door out of the room. Tavian and Alfgir, after checking that the girl was still unconscious, followed Erbag into a kitchen, where Erbag was already readying a table with ale, bread and cheese. They sat around the table and Tavian and Alfgir started to eat without ceremony. They talked about the details of Tavian’s capture, they’re time in prison and they’re escape.

“Indeed you thought well of coming to me Tavian” said Erbag, after listening to they’re story carefully “there’s no safer place in all of Calimport than the studies of the greatest illusionist on this side of the Calim River!” proclaimed the gnome, without any trace of modesty.

“I thought so, Erbag. Listen, I need new armor, weapons and such. So does Alfgir. See what you can get us.”

“No problem Tavian. I’ll see what I can do. In the meanwhile, please follow me into your rooms” said the gnome, jumping down from the stool where he was sitting. They quickly followed the gnome, climbing a set of stairs into a…wall.

“Are we s’posed tha sleep here on tha floor?” asked the dwarf, puzzled. Not bothering to answer, the gnome proclaimed several arcane words and, with a final motion of his hand, the wall slowly vanished into thin air, showing a corridor with four doors on each side. The gnome led them down the hall, stopping at the last pair of doors.

“This is where you’ll be sleeping. I’ll be on the first room to the left and I’ll teleport the girl to her bed on the room next to this one” he said, pointing to the one on the right “Tomorrow I’ll start the search for new weapons for you, now I’ll get back to sleep, since you idiots woke me up in the middle of the fricking night! Seriously, why couldn’t you escape around dinner time or…” the rambling continued as the gnome moved away from the corridor and down the stairs. Without a word, the halfling and the dwarf parted ways, each into his own room, tired and wanting nothing else but sleep.