Four Fates Under the Southern Sun, 3.5, Session 28

Start: 9 am, Foreautumn 23, 401 GA

After brief preparation, the fight with the Spawn of Gisarlarinzee and her attendant Iaríl attendants commenced.

The spawn, while otherwise fearsome, was made much less so by the preparatory spells the party prepared, and they emerged victorious, and relatively unscathed.

After a short postmortem, they explored the vast pool deeper in the chamber. There, they found the promised relic - Emilia and Ílíshlu's circlet of living ice. It was surrounded by gold. Deeper in the chamber lied an oddly out of place altar in an outmoded form, evidently dedicated to Zhir's aspects of sky and dragon. Nearby were the belongings of several adventurers, including Holow's belongings.

Holow gathered her belongings. Emilia donned her circlet, and drank in the abundance of power it provided her. Alasdair carefully examined the area for magic and traps. Ryardynin assisted his allies with the bounty of the hoard, but Pan's eyes were elsewhere. What purpose had this strange altar in a place like this? Before Alasdair had warned him of the trap, Pan had touched the altar.

With a crack of thunder and the smell of ozone, he was pulled away, to somewhere else.

The party pieced together the altar bore a very specific trap. Whomever laid it, placed it long, long ago. It was keyed to only trigger if one matching virtually his exact description touched it. It was odd and truly out of place. It almost seemed whomever placed it there anticipated his arrival, and even his precise actions. They were reasonably unsettled by this. Pan was gone for only a few minutes, but during those minutes, speculation and panic were rife.

Pan's perspective was quite different.

He was drawn into a blindingly bright oblivion, where down was wherever one directed the concept of 'down'. Space, distance, and dimensions bore strange weight here, and he was immediately disoriented.

The strangeness of the space was broken by a never before heard, but simultaneously familiar voice. It spoke thusly: "Your pilgrimage to this place is noted, son of dragons. You have been called to a greater purpose, and for that purpose, you will have to be prepared. Open your mind in surrender. Your destiny calls."

Pan hesitantly obeyed. The transformative process was excruciating, and was as if he was remade - but to what end, and for what ultimate purpose? What was truly in store for him and his future?

After this process, in parting, the voice spoke thusly: "Seek Yolrud. You will be guided by a steward. He lies dormant in the drymire. Seek his council."

In the moments before being shunted back to where he once was - where who he once was once was, Pan felt as if something uncomfortably familiar touched his mind.

Pan explained his absence, his new form, and his new companion to his fellows as best as he could. For upon his return, he found a companion with him. It was a Tempestan, named Grimnosh. Again, it seemed oddly familiar, as if it bore a part of him once lost, but a part of himself he never truly had.

The party collected the rest of the hoard among their belongings. Around this time, the chamber shook and began to collapse.

Ryardynin took quick and decisive action. Realizing a direct path back to the boat would be far too long and perilous, and possibly a path fraught with Nightwalkers and worse, he elected to the more conservative path - back to the entrance of Eeg-sha-nûl.

There, Alasdair and Emilia convened with the elves.

Voltaea did most of the talking, as she seemed to most always. She expressed genuine surprise at their return, especially after the collapse of the lower chambers of Eeg-sha-nûl, and genuine surprise there was no conflict with the giants. The fact Emilia brought back the circlet and wore it floored her. Instead of any kind of ambush or aggression, perhaps recalling how handily Alasdair slew the Nightwalker, they showed reverence and finally, a shred of respect.

They returned as a group back to their companions and camped. It seemed as if the reality of the situation was dawning on Voltaea, and she spoke a bit about this with Emilia. She found it likely she could be afforded some blue ice, which she insisted Emilia would not need to purchase, and Master Eluë would know how to proceed. The circlet would convince him, she assured.

The party and their small retinue of elves rested, in a hut constructed of magic, provided by Ryardynin.

XP: 7,850
End: 11 am, Foreautumn 23, 401 GA