====== The Outpost Beneath the Aetherstone Tree ======

===== Party =====

  * [[campaigns:latitude_history:characters:chad-darrelson|Chad Darrelson]]
  * [[campaigns:latitude_history:characters:kara-stormtongue|Kara Stormtongue]]
  * [[campaigns:latitude_history:characters:amelia-frodedottir|Amelia Frodedottir]]
  * [[campaigns:latitude_history:characters:thordak-faerdhal|Thordak Faerdhal]]
  * [[campaigns:latitude_history:characters:netheril-faerdhal|Netheril Faerdhal]]
  * [[campaigns:latitude_history:characters:bartholomew|Bartholomew]]
  * [[campaigns:latitude_history:characters:thorin-steinson|Thorin Steinson]]

This expedition began badly by any lawful measure. The party met in [[campaigns:latitude_history:places:nidaross|Niðaróss]], stole a longship, destroyed all but one other longship in the harbor, and fled northwest through storm and pursuit. Their destination was not chosen by charts. [[campaigns:latitude_history:characters:chad-darrelson|Chad Darrelson]]'s patron had drawn him toward a specific tree on a rocky island far north, among the [[campaigns:latitude_history:places:aetherstone-islands|Aetherstone Islands]].

On the island, the party found sleek stone-scaled dragons digging up and eating charged [[campaigns:latitude_history:lore:aetherstone|Aetherstone]]. The rocks resisted ordinary gravity, and the party began to understand why such a place mattered. When Chad entered a fugue state and recognized the tree from his vision, the party dug among its roots and found a cave descending thousands of feet into a great cavern.

Below the tree stood an Atlantean outpost. Its halls showed tile murals of old glory and war darts, and an [[campaigns:latitude_history:lore:atlantean-guardian-construct|Atlantean Guardian Construct]] guarded the way into an armory. The fight knocked Chad unconscious before Thordak revived him, and beyond the guardian the party recovered relics that would echo through later adventures: the [[campaigns:latitude_history:lore:orb-of-crafting|Orb of Crafting]], the [[campaigns:latitude_history:lore:infernal-orb|Infernal Orb]], a flame-tongue spear, explosive darts, and gravity darts.

The expedition nearly trapped itself. Chad, [[campaigns:latitude_history:characters:bartholomew|Bartholomew]], and Amelia left the cave, cut the rope, boarded the longship, and fled, while others remained below. Netheril studied the [[campaigns:latitude_history:lore:orb-of-crafting|Orb of Crafting]] and learned how to empower [[campaigns:latitude_history:lore:aetherstone|Aetherstone]] into true anti-gravity items. By attaching an empowered crystal to the rope, the remaining party escaped.

From there, the expedition became the first rough beginning of [[campaigns:latitude_history:lore:aetherstone|Aetherstone]] flight. The party gathered wood and stone from island to island and worked toward a levitating longship that [[campaigns:latitude_history:characters:skythor|Skythor]] could pull. The outpost also left deeper questions: why Chad's patron wanted it, what Atlantean knowledge remained hidden, and what old powers had once shaped the barriers between worlds.