“Scepter!” Ecko’s sonograph blares. Ecko jumps, frantically looking around - he communicates that it may have been a command word. He had accidentally let the wind go early. Ecko seems more preoccupied with absorbing the information present in the Mage’s quarters - things, tomes, components, all of that. And if Extradimensional Spaces was a focus of the room...something might open up. Like a portal. Ecko’s eyes bug out in curiosity.

In a bright arcane explosion, sending Eralynn clear off her feet and skidding along the ground in the room, a doorway appears where she was once sitting down, drawing. A portal has opened, to what looks like, on the other side, some sort of fancy mansion. Eralynn sits up, shakes her head and her face turns into wonder. She mouths the word Wow!

Catching a skidding Eralynn, Ysabell helped her to her feet and said in rather nonplussed tone, "Are you alright.  That doorway should've cut you into two.  Would've been an unfortunate sight for the staff to have to clean up."  Assuming the woman was alright, she moved a bit closer to the doorway with a raised eyebrow.  "So it seems this Matreous has been busy.  Anyone care to do a little exploring?"  And with a few graceful and confidant steps, she walked towards the portal and crossed over to the other side.  

MORE TOMORROW!?!?

Garmus lets out a strangled cry when he sees Eralynn get blasted back and hurries over to her, eyes bugging out when he hears Ysabell's comment about getting cut in two.  He grabs her hand, moving her arm around as he looks her over.  "Dammit Lynny, ya got ta be more careful!"  He growls at her as he looks her over once more.  "Pick yer things up so we can get through that blasted death hole."  He orders as he pulls out his battle axe.  "Damn mages and their books."  He grumbles as he waits for Eralynn.

Raastin offers a wry grin, excited at the possibilities to come. "When one door shuts, another literally opens it seems," he quips, he offers an arm to Eralynn as he moves toward the door. "Shall we?"

Ecko seems beyond delighted. He excitedly echoes the sound of the portal blasting open - and Eralynn's subsequent fall - over and over, jotting some nonsensical notes down in a small pad that only Ecko will understand. Curious. He'd heard about such spells before. Maybe the mage found something curious to work on? Ecko had seen those engineers lock themselves away for months. Without any hesitation whatsoever, he pushes through the portal after Ysabell.

"Are you alright.  That doorway should've cut you into two.  Would've been an unfortunate sight for the staff to have to clean up."
"Dammit Lynny, ya got ta be more careful!"  He growls at her as he looks her over once more. "Pick yer things up so we can get through that blasted death hole."  He orders as he pulls out his battle axe.  "Damn mages and their books." 

Eralynn, a little spooked, gathers her things, gets up and nods her head in total agreement and cautiously stands near the dwarf. She points to the open portal with astonishment. She steps through the portal as well, with Garmus, putting a confident hand on his shoulder to guide him through so they go together.

M1 - FOYER AND HALLWAY

As everyone enters the portal, it violently winks out of existence behind you. The first thing you notice is that the mansion is eerily quiet. Rooms with windows to the outside are lit by an indigo miasma swirling outside the mansion, which colors everything in the room with its tint. In the larger rooms it tones down the warm light of the oil lamps. You get the sinking feeling you are no longer in Candlekeep, but in some..pocket dimension perhaps? The ceiling arches to fifteen feet overhead, and long hallways stretch out on either side of the foyer.

The second thing you notice, standing in the middle of this area, is a middle-aged man wearing gray robes.

"Oh, my! Good heavens!" he startles, then regains his composure. "Hello! And, who might you be?"

Like a deer looking towards headlights, Ecko's eyes remain transfixed on the swirling purple energy where windows should be. He remembers the sight from his venture into the limbo of the world. The hours spent being shunted through unknown chaos had left an impression on the Kenku. 

He jumps as the party is addressed, though, and immediately returns to his usual, active self. He has trouble expressing his curiosity enough. "Hello!" he reflects, gesturing to himself. "Ecko. Investigators." He twists his neck, continuing to reflect a message in an amalgam of words. "I have not seen him exit his room for days now. I fear something might of happened," he calls in the voice of Maurice, who he assumes the mage living here would be familiar with. He points to the figure, blaring a message on his voice recorder with a gnomish-tinged accent. "Are you Matreous?"

Eralynn gasped at the new scenery. She immediately begins sketching furiously. The miasma outside the windows were so beautiful. It would just take a moment. Just a moment. 

"My word, what an interesting collection of people you are!" He says, taking another step forward. "Yes, indeed! I am Matreous. I see you have found the key word to entering Fistandia's Mansion! Well done! But, why are you here? Are you looking for me, it sounds like? Your arrival just might help me solve this mystery!"

Eralynn looked up for just a moment to give Matreous the kindest of smiles in greeting, then continued to draw, wiggling her fingers and magically adding color to her portrait.

"What craziness have you gotten us in to?"  Garmus says to Eralynn as he looks around the room and takes in the strange swirling in the windows.  He adjusts his armor and decides to keep his axe out, not real comfortable in this current setting.

Seemingly un-phased by their strange new locale, Ysabell stepped forward and began pleasantly, "Wonderful, we've found you still amongst the living.  I've been asked to find you by an acquaintance of mine from a nearby town, well, nearby Candlekeep of course." she added pausing to look around the unusual space as if just noticing its peculiarness for the first time.  "The town is supposedly cursed and I was told you might be able to assist them.  Is that true?"   

"What craziness have you gotten us in to?"
Eralynn looked at him innocently, holding up her drawing, which looked like a decently detailed animated representation of the window and the miasma outside. She pointed to it, and then to the window happily, as if trying to say, Look! Isn't it beautiful! What a wonderous place!

 "The town is supposedly cursed and I was told you might be able to assist them.  Is that true?"   

"Oh yes! Absolutely, I could. How interesting! Ah, however, there is a slight problem. I have no idea how to leave!"

At that moment, upon hearing the news, Eralynn's crayon broke, and she froze, her head slowly turning to the sage, as if to say, Uh. What?

"What!?"  Garmus hollers and stomps up to the mage, getting in his face.  "Ya best be figurin' that out real quick magic man or we're gonna have a problem."  Garmus growls, his expression a mask of aggravation and maybe a touch of worry.

"Oh dear.  That is quite unfortunate.  I do hope we don't starve in this watercolor world." Ysabell replied.  "Where exactly are we?  Perhaps there's another exit somewhere in this realm?"    

Raastin guffaws loudly, "What!?!" Absent-mindedly he picks up Eralynn's broken piece of crayon, handing it back to her. "How is that so?" The half-elf begins to pace frantically, thinking out loud and spitballing a number of questions. "Have you retraced your steps? Do you have notes? Have you fully explored this place? Who is Fistandia? Who would call someone Fistandia? Did their parents hate them? When is lunch? Have we eaten lunch? Anyone else hungry? How in the Nine Hells do we get out of here?"

"No idea how to leave?" Ecko echoes, his already magnified eyes bugging dramatically outwards. He instantly jots some more info down on his notepad, burying it somewhere within his brain. He seems to be more curious with the nature of the environment and how it was magically constructed more than escaping. He winds up some more questions on his sonograph raven perched on his shoulder. "How did you get in? Who's Fistianda, and if this is their mansion, why are you here? What have you tried to leave? Do you have any idea or leads on what to do? I'm quite familiar with arcane pocket dimensions - we had a demonstration in our Omni-Smelter, but I was never let inside after poor Haggins got shredded to bits testing out a pocket neutron collider - but this seems more magical than technical." A pause. "Would you let me have a look around? I'm fascinated by these things."

"What!?"  Garmus hollers and stomps up to the mage, getting in his face.  "Ya best be figurin' that out real quick magic man or we're gonna have a problem." 

Eralynn gets up and hugs him like a loving sister, she makes a few hand signals. Everything will be ok. We will figure this out. Just like another mystery.

"Have you retraced your steps? Do you have notes? Have you fully explored this place? Who is Fistandia? Who would call someone Fistandia? Did their parents hate them? When is lunch? Have we eaten lunch? Anyone else hungry? How in the Nine Hells do we get out of here?"

Eralynn, at the mention of lunch, perked up expectantly at Matreous, wondering the answer. She nodded and rubber her tummy.

Matreous fiddles nervously. "Ah ha. One at a time! One at a time. Allow me to explain what I know." he says. "The Joy of Extradimensional Spaces, the book that was on my desk, was donated to Candlekeep by a powerful wizard named Fistandia. This book is a treatise on extradimensional spaces similar to those created by the Mordenkainen’s magnificent mansion spell. In arcane shorthand, Fistandia detailed how she created a permanent Mordenkainen’s magnificent mansion spell and recorded the command word to open the mansion’s doorway. I was intrigued by this, and, as I am a master of curse removals, I simply wanted to expand my knowledge. I came across the book, discovered it's activation word, and well..here i am! I believe a code word is hidden somewhere here to allow us to leave - I have just begun to explore this place. Would you join me?"

Garmus reluctantly moves away from Matreous, his arm around Eralynn's shoulder, still glaring at the mage.  "Told ya I wasn't gonna be able to follow rule number one."  He says to her.  "He best have some ale in this dump."  He states, his tone sullen.