In his adventures in the marsh, searching for the Saurian Village, it had only just barely caught his eye. Something…not right. The bubble in a pool of the pond had been…mismatched, by little less than an inch maybe. He had been pre-occupied with his other quest, but made a mental note of the oddity.

But now, standing in front of the pool with Praetorian, Piqie, and Venis, it was obvious.

“Well, what is it Venis?”, Fonzie asked quietly.

The Orc Sorcerer grunted and opened his eyes, but stayed in a low crouch.

“Dark magic, very powerful dark magic. I can only really detect it by focusing almost my full power inward. I think even an Immortal wouldn’t take notice if just glancing over this area, it’s that powerful and cleverly done. Watch this…” Standing up, Venis strides forward, toward the “bubble.” As his leg crosses the puddle, he vanishes completely. Startled, the three Devotee’s of Thievery start to glance around.

“Over here!” Turning around, they see Venis about 50 yards away, striding towards them as if nothing had happened.

“It’s very clever, if I hadn’t had you three to use as a marker, I wouldn’t have known that I had been transported at all.”

“So, what’s it hiding?” Praetorian asked with an arched eyebrow.

“Definitely worth looking into. Working this hard to hide something…” Piqie observed to her companions.

Fonzie looks at his Lieutenant and asks softly, “Can you get an opening in it Venis, even if it’s quite small?”

Venis smirks as he settles himself in the marsh muck, not even flinching. “I wouldn’t be much use to you if I couldn’t at least do that, would I?” Closing his eyes, the orc is quiet for several minutes, before an aura of darkness begins to form around him. Holding his arm out straight towards the “rift”, the darkness begins to gather around his fist. Slowly, the darkness moves through the air towards the rift. As Venis’ “aura” reaches the air above the mismatched bubble, the air seems to come alive with the deafening sound of insects buzzing. The three cover their ears and wince, but keep their eyes locked on that area of space.

With a shriek, a hole begins to open, the air itself appears to bubble and ripple inward. Minute after minute goes by, and the hole opens slowly. Sweat begins to pour down Venis’ face and his arm begins to shake. The hole is not even a meter across when he grunts “Go now, or never.” Fonzie nods at Piqie and Praetorian, then takes a running start and dives headfirst through the hole. Glancing at Prae with a grin and shrugging, Piqie follows suit.

“So I take it it’s too late to vote on this?” With a sigh Praetorian draws his dagger, and dives into the hole holding it in front of him.

As Praetorians feet slip through the hole, Venis gasps and lets his arm fall, and the hole closes completely and the noise ceases. Catching his breathe, the Orc grins to himself and mutters “It’s up to them to figure a way back out.”

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