Questions in the Purple Light

Maine landed badly. The portal spat him into purple light and arcane silence, a chamber cut from stone and marked with runes that glowed like they had been waiting for a mistake. Two Githyanki warriors stood within it, blades drawn but not yet moving, their attention sharp enough to feel like another weapon. They wanted answers before blood. Who was he? How had he found the way into the void? Was it the portal, or something else? Did he serve the Dragonborn? Was he a surface worlder? Most importantly, did he have a dragon? Maine did what Maine does: he tried to talk his way through the impossible without admitting how little of it he understood. He handed over the note written in Gith. He claimed he had fallen through while investigating the rocks. He admitted, in the most Maine-shaped way possible, to being a fan of dragons. When pressed harder, he tried to turn the interrogation into a bargain: let him speak to his friend, and he could bring them a dragon. The warriors did not relax. Maine tested the room with the Cloak of Billowing, letting the fabric flare around him for no reason except the most important reason: proof. Magic still worked here. Whatever this chamber was, it was not a dead zone. Then one of the Githyanki began another question. What do you know of dragons? The answer was interrupted by a rock falling out of the portal and striking Maine in the head. For one terrible second, the room became less mystical and more stupid. Maine, already doing his best not to be killed by planar soldiers, had to explain that the rock had not come from him. Somewhere on the other side, Jonah had decided that throwing stones into the void was an acceptable rescue method. The Githyanki heard enough. Ash came through next, then the others, forced by the portal into the cramped room until the chamber held too many bodies, too many weapons, and too little patience. Victor arrived last, disguised as Gith but not yet tested by scrutiny. The warriors turned on Ash at once, mistaking him for the one with the dragon. Ash tried to make the case simple: they had found Maine, they wanted to leave, and no one needed to make this worse. The Githyanki refused. Maine answered with magic, trying to freeze both guards with Hold Person before the room could collapse into violence. Both resisted. The portal chamber stopped being an accident. It became the first fight of the captivity arc.