Someone was here?
The adventurers had expected to arrive somewhere deserted, surrounded only by magic items left behind by Mages of the Netherese era. The moment they saw the old man, they moved to defend themselves.
"No need to be nervous. I mean you no harm."
Not one of the adventurers let down their guard.
They weren't greenhorns on their first adventure. Why would they believe a stranger meant them no harm just because he said so?
The old man paid no mind to what they thought. After speaking, he paused for a few seconds, then said in a distant voice, "I only want to ask you about the Main Plane."
Tingen Archmage's pupils contracted. He quietly cast a detection spell—True Seeing—and discovered that the teleportation passage had brought them into the Outer Void.
"Is that so strange?" the old man asked. "The Main Plane exerts a powerful suppression. Anchor a Demiplane to it, and the Demiplane loses its potential to grow."
"Within the Main Plane, it will never grow into a Plane of its own, not even the lowest sort of lesser Plane."
But it's safer that way, Tingen Archmage instinctively retorted in his mind. Then his heart skipped a beat, disbelief showing in his narrowed eyes.
He can hear my thoughts?
The old man heard him and smiled. "You're a Mage. You should know that ever since Mind Flayers appeared, the human mind has no longer been absolutely secure."
At those words, Tingen Archmage shook out his robe, and a succession of spells flared around him. He also drew his weapon, ready to summon a creature from an Alien Plane to use as a shield.
The old man laughed at the sight. "If I were you, I'd stop. Toying with magic before a Legendary Mage of the Netherese