Xeresgate
You follow the rightmost path up the short hill and it isn't long before you've confirmed your suspicion... it is leading toward an underground temple entrance. The entrance is naught but a hole about twice as wide as your average well, with stone steps descending into it. There are black marble plinths around the entrance, but they are lying prostrate on the ground and not in what is the usual erect position. (It is possible this is in respect of some deity, or perhaps even to further conceal the entrance to ward off attacks; it cannot be said for sure.) You recognize fire runes in the plinths, which would seem to indicate that the temple is actually a place of tribute to the Scorched Earth Clan. (Why they couldn't just call themselves the Fire Clan has been a point of dispute with the more simplistic elemental clans for decades now.)
It is then that you lose a bit of heart. For if this is a place of tribute to the Scorched Earth Clan, then it is entirely possible that the smoke coming from the mountainside was just from traditional fire magic exercises. Still, you decide to stalwartly press on. You begin your descent down the stairs, hoping the sweet smell of roasted beef or swine will soon fill your nostrils. The stairs seem to wind for a greater time than they should before revealing you to quite an open auditorium of sorts, almost entirely filled with fire mages. This is most assuredly a preemptive strike-type defense tactic, as any normal person would be completely vulnerable at this point, with several winding flights left to go before reaching the auditorium floor. You silently thank the heavens that you are invisible, for you've heard that fire mages are unusually cranky sorts.
You finally reach the floor of the auditorium and see a meeting hall past the hordes of fire mages through a red marble archway. It is then that you smell the most sumptuous meats whose vapors you've ever had the chance to inhale! You home in on the source of the heavenly aromas, and it is indeed the meeting hall where they are originating from (Damn, can those fire mages hold a roast party!).
The only problem is your current position. Making your way across the auditorium is sure to be suicide, but you can see no other means to get to the food you now crave more than you have anything in your entire life! Now is the time to use your cunning. One must never underestimate the powerful force of cranky mages in large numbers. You see that a small group is gathered around an outcropping resembling a large stone battle mask, bowing and gesturing. It appears hollow inside for whatever reason. That may be of use. Then again, what better ally has an invisible young man than chaos? Perhaps a diversion is in order.
Whatever you do, you must do it quickly before your stomach's rumbling gives you away!
It is then that you lose a bit of heart. For if this is a place of tribute to the Scorched Earth Clan, then it is entirely possible that the smoke coming from the mountainside was just from traditional fire magic exercises. Still, you decide to stalwartly press on. You begin your descent down the stairs, hoping the sweet smell of roasted beef or swine will soon fill your nostrils. The stairs seem to wind for a greater time than they should before revealing you to quite an open auditorium of sorts, almost entirely filled with fire mages. This is most assuredly a preemptive strike-type defense tactic, as any normal person would be completely vulnerable at this point, with several winding flights left to go before reaching the auditorium floor. You silently thank the heavens that you are invisible, for you've heard that fire mages are unusually cranky sorts.
You finally reach the floor of the auditorium and see a meeting hall past the hordes of fire mages through a red marble archway. It is then that you smell the most sumptuous meats whose vapors you've ever had the chance to inhale! You home in on the source of the heavenly aromas, and it is indeed the meeting hall where they are originating from (Damn, can those fire mages hold a roast party!).
The only problem is your current position. Making your way across the auditorium is sure to be suicide, but you can see no other means to get to the food you now crave more than you have anything in your entire life! Now is the time to use your cunning. One must never underestimate the powerful force of cranky mages in large numbers. You see that a small group is gathered around an outcropping resembling a large stone battle mask, bowing and gesturing. It appears hollow inside for whatever reason. That may be of use. Then again, what better ally has an invisible young man than chaos? Perhaps a diversion is in order.
Whatever you do, you must do it quickly before your stomach's rumbling gives you away!