Casting Stones

Scribe Notes

Summary

Adventure: Casting Stones
GM: Jono
Season: ~Summer 826 WK
Night: Starting Monday at 7pm on the 8th of December 2025 at Jono's.
Area: West of Carzala
Level: Medium/High
Info: Information from players for Jono
House Rules: Jono Quickness and Slowness

Party

Character name	College / Skills	Race	Player	Level
Lizette	Namer	Human	Dylan	Med/High
Lila	Air/Celestial	Human	Kelsie	Med/High
Uthgard	Mind	Hill Giant	Anne	Med/High
Boris	Necro	Minitaur	Michael Haycock	High
Dae	Mind	Elf	Gus	Medium
Elidon	Ice Mage, Ranger	Elf	Michael Manning	Med
Lady Arcadia	Celestial Star	Elf	Kita	Med/High

Loot -

Employer

Mistress of Shadow (also known as Lulu Till). She is one of the local Guild leaders from Gugnir's Hope.

Scribe Notes

Related background stories on [A golden Eye on the waves] & [A golden Eye in the deep].

Of Missing Family and Earthly Demise, Keep yourself grounded!

The Commission

Mistress Lulu, as always looking to pawn off the people from the Guild. This time, being in a rush, she had no choice but to scout whatever adventurers were available in Seagate to join Lila & Boris, who the ones that were specifically requested by the commissioner of the Job.

Let’s start by talking commission fees, just to accept the commission we were offered 70 thousand silver pennies. Reinforcing the urgency to get people started and try to solve the "issue". For some of these adventurers this sum wasn’t much, for others less known (at least less known for positive aspects of their trajectories) it was a decent offer, particular when people are hesitant to travel with them.
The daughter of the Sultan has been kidnapped (or at least so it seems). Information about the potential perpetrator makes the 70 thousand pennies just to accept the commission nothing but chump change, for it seems Death itself is the prime suspect.

Not a lengthy detail of what transpired (or why) is known at this time, but between her ramblings (for she is rattled and tense), Lulu tells about the corpse of one of the horsemen having disappeared, nothing is known of which of the horsemen, or how they died nor where. But somehow, if we return its corpse to Death, the princess, daughter of the Sultan, might be returned.

Once we agreed on taking this chaotic and rushed up commission, she shared that she has had recurring dreams about Minotaurs, and a maze with a portal opening (or was it a gate? I can’t recall, I was too distracted thinking of the strange coincidence of a Minotaur, Boris, forming part of this adventurer troupe)

Mistress Lulu sent me with a staff member for a brief questionnaire about my satisfaction with the guild services. Being one of the freshest adventurers in the guild involves so much bureaucracy, sometimes I think we should just unionize to get rid of these useless detractors. (Dae, the scribe, does not know that this was just so that Lulu could safely warn the rest of the adventurers about the elf mind mage “do not let him do anything too stupid”, making it unclear what level of stupidity to allow, and which to block).

After a while, acorns adorned by a mage, for there were more acorns than mage, came to offer us buffing to deal with what is to come, Mistress Lulu aiming to be equally of assistance also offers us aid as well.
(Rank 18 Strength of Stone <18 EN>, and Lesser enchantment for those who need it) (Rank12 Strength of Shadow on us all <7 PS>).

We are warned to leave any “portal or dimension stuff” behind, since “we think they are at risk”. This truly, is becoming a burdensome commission. We are to part towards the commons of Adjepbar, and some of us would be transformed to dwarves to be able to access the district of the humble heights, particularly to visit the hobbits, where it seems Sultan is to be found, yet Lulu can offer it only to either the females, or the males. Our Party Leader chose the females to dwarvify. This transformation can last only 4 hours, so we won’t be able to walk to our destination if we are to make use of this transformation, hence we would depart from the Seagate Adventures Guild complex outside yard.

Dwarven scale armor is brought to them, while Lulu warns them “not to resist” the magic, you’d wonder what are the stories behind why they have to clarify what many would deem self obvious. Or maybe some misunderstood adventurers trying to be awesome created situations and now they warn anyone. While thinking that we heard the cracking of bones, and see how the joins of our companions fall as they take their new shapes. Marvelously, the Giant’s armor shapes with her, what is the point of powerful artifacts if they are not also convenient?. There is a lot to learn from these more seasoned adventurers.

They give us a bunch of buns in the cafeteria to bring as gifts for the hobbits. Some might have been eaten along the way We are led to a beautiful and sunny courtyard by Lulu, where they open up a big portal. Once on the other side we are greeted by people opening up a big bag in front of us with all the gems and handing it to Lizette, whom in courtly language is told “this is payment of your services, we are pleased you accepted our offer”. Addressing all of us now, we are told in hobbit elf dwarven and common “You are all esteemed guests now that you have accepted this request”. “Sultan is a problem threatening to destroy everything unless we cooperate”.

Adjepbar, bad decisions, and the client

Once we jog further into the city (some of us highly appreciative of the Strength of Stone cast by the Lord of all that is Acorn), we advance to parts where when we have both feet in the ground, the temperature drops significantly. Along the way lulu is told that “some imps have tried to harass hobbit guards” and some of the party manage to understand from overhearing their conversation, they also catch that the wounds we see in different soldiers are from Sultan, who out for potential frustration or anger is lashing out on them, but some of the wounds are from imps and creatures of ice who are taking advantage of the chaos brought by Sultan and are harassing them every now and then.

After about a quarter of an hour jogging, we reached a row of Dwarves standing on guard, we see him, floating above the ground while holding a sitting position with oversized puffy pants, a turban, and 3 staffs across his back, then standing up he asks “Are you the adventurers we sought? My master waits inside”. This was a sad moment for me, for a second I thought he was the sultan, and that maybe we could “take care” of him if things go south, but this was Huwmm, a magnificent Djinn serving the Sultan.

On the way going further to meet Sultan, Huwmm, guard the guard of Sultan says “BIG DONG OF FAMILIAR! BIG HORN OF FAMILIAR!” he addresses Boris the Minotaur once he inquired why the Sultan is wrecking havoc here and why Sultan was not changing size to avoid damaging the premises. Huwmm answered “They have made the grave mistake of not closing the circle, he can do what the fuck he wants!”

Ruined fountains to one side, corpses of hobbits to one side, dwarf as well, hobbit servants kneeling on one knee and one foot. Portcullises that have been peeled off or removed, same for doors is what we come across on the way. Huwmm warns us “I know air magic, so don’t try anything funny”. We do not even glance at the Dwarves that were escorting us, their faces must not be very pleased with what they see and their impotence to the situation at hand.

About an hour later lots of horrifying sounds of destruction approached from further inside, the horrified faces of the Dwarves and hobbits seeing the damage to the structure, and suddenly from the bursting cloud of dust, which was about 30 feet high, we see the Sultan, sitting on a cloud formed as a cushion. This is how most of us for the first time met Sultan, Boris the Minotaur and the Lila, are acquainted with him already it appears. How can Air plane creatures grow so big, that must be about 25 feet high, it's about three Ruby's high at least!

We spend some time talking with Sultan, basically the same debrief that Lulu gave us, in the midst of if Sultan says “That is mostly the Lila that I remember, so , you have come to save my daughter again!?”. She takes this opportunity to request him to give us greater enchantments to better help him. On the topic of why was he here he claims “They made a mistake, that is why I was summoned here, they have tried to… mmm …circumvent or double dip, instead of passing the information to Sireen, they summoned me”. Sultan was trying to get a message through to Sireen, to message the guild that he needed assistance, the person whom was getting this connection foolishly tried to summoned him decided to, again, foolishly, try to bind him.

Sultan detects that there is deceit among us, he detects that Lila specifically is not whom she appears to be! She removes the mustache she used to transform her Dwarf transformation into a hobbit, and both Lizette and Uthgard also release their Dwarven transformations just in case, since it seems it is not needed anymore.

Sultan has a portal open to where they lost track of his daughter and the people with her, but that portal was to close about 2 hours from when we met him. The portal leads to the earth plane, thus, his people were of no help to him. “She was carrying 2 chests of air, very pure air that the creatures of earth should not have been interested in, do bring them back to me”

Going through the portal we find strange markings across the grounds, which have …crystallized a column of air… the interaction of elements on other planes should not shock me by now after reading others' encounters, but seeing it first hand… is always exciting, but not always in a good way. Part of the crystalized air is turning to earth, partly crumbling.

There are strange dog gopher rat things that scour out of our way that are gnawing corpses, others dragging hands feet and harm to the holes..
Going further we saw various statues of what looked to be from a range of warriors, similar to the Humn, who guarded the sultan, even the staffs are similar to it, these statues were made of earth. A keen eyed companion noted that they are petrified from the ground.

The Death of Lila

Lila decided to don different shoes and hopped into the air, she just died, vanishing in thin air in front of my eyes, my warning not to have both feet off of the ground at the same time did come after she disappeared.

The Return of the not so dead Lila

It turns out Lila just disappeared from the plane and reappeared in the portal in front of the courtyard. Once Lila rejoins us (and finds me making a stone marking of where I thought she died, damn that was a wasted effort on my part) we proceeded, only to find 2 lines of 8 genies each, and what looked like stones… or earthen creatures, the top half of them seemed to have something strapped to carry people or goods.

Investigation on the rocks

My mighty keen eyed companions find traces indicating that these beasts were not earthen in nature, but were transformed by something into it.

Checking around some more, we saw that outside of the rows of Djinni, there were about ten dozen corpses of what seemed to be beardless Dwarves, slightly oversized, about 6 feet high, built like stone houses.

Boris the Minotaur casts necromantic magic, and the magics of the land swarm towards him, as if the necromancy of these lands have been either untapped for too long, or bolstered recently by something. The power of his necromancy spells seem to act about two ranks higher here.

Boris starts calling upon the souls of the fallen Dwarves, they in a guttural language tell him “Ugglar(?) made good and bad choice, to come and attach, he came to attack due to the riches” When asked who he worked for, “The people who lost the riches, cut the earth from my feet and I will lead you to it!!! We must warn the rest of the clan, that the creatures of ice took the riches!"

Uthgard (our giant) using their experience in reading the field of combat recognizes the order of the battle and directed us to the once likely to be the latest to die since that previous spirit had limited outdated information, the next Dwarf-like creature’s soul told us “The guides betrayed us!! Cut my feet from the ground! I will lead you!! The guide was the small one with the forked tongue, and a trident. There were some much bigger ones, but they came to us some time ago…I….I don't ... know… I… I think I died…”

Trying to get more information from the spirits they tell us “ I had some mushroom rocks and allussian beef… it was very good. They brought it the day before yesterday… Wait!!! They poisoned her, because she fell down, and then!... And then?... And then this thing came down! and it had a contract, it was terrible terrible, CUT MY FEET OFF FROM THE GROUND!”

The creature is described as having no form inside a blackened clothing with unnatural blackness with a huge curved blade across his back on a stick.

Uthgard (our giant) using their experience in reading the field of combat recognizes the order of the battle and directed us to the once likely to be the latest to die since that previous spirit had limited outdated information, the next Dwarf-like creature’s soul told us “The guides betrayed us!! Cut my feet from the ground! I will lead you!! The guide was the small one with the forked tongue, and a trident. There were some much bigger ones, but they came to us some time ago…I… I don't ... know… I… I think I died…”

Having gotten the information we could, we decided to focus on the two chests that seemed undisturbed but empty are above the palanquins, for we had little time before the portal back to Alussia closed on us. The chests seemed to have safeties on them in case someone tried to pry them off of the palanquins, but luckily, I summoned the little hobbit spirit in me and was able to dislodge them safely with some help! (Ha! Sonny would be proud!)

Back to Adjepbar City and the Sultan

After we come back through the portal, with both chests somehow, the hobbits… now some of them are dressed up to the nines! With turbans, groveling to the ground in front of Sultan. He claims one of 4 hobbits at his feet has betrayed him, and he is trying to figure out who to kill, maybe will kill two of them he says, while the hobbits quiver he tells us, that none actually betrayed him, he just wanted to get rid of two.

The Sultan threatens to heal Lila of her ailment, but she says she is not suffering, it’s part of her powers. He is displeased with her from siding with the darkness. Turning his attention to Lizette, he asks her to fix the statues djinn.

Sultan gives Uthgard the Giant two trinkets of spinning air, which he claims she can trade them in the Bazaar.
The Minotaur retells of the creatures of earth and about what happened.

Sultan tells us “Go to the bank, look for the toads, but don’t touch the water, there are cats that lurk near the reeds, if they touch you you would die”, and then to the hobbits he orders them to make bags “Make them from silk balmed baked clay.”

The hobbits come with the silk balm baked clay after about half an hourglass.

“HOBBITS! BRING US CHILLI!” Yells out Lila. Then we are told to put the chilli in our feet, knees and ass to disguise for the cats.

The random bags made of mummified baked silk are given to us.

Once we are back with the toads, we caught 7 of them (not thanks to me, and thanks to me not Lila either), we find out that Sultan has worked out which hobbits to kill, but then killed the other 2 instead. Lunacy or Ingenuousness? Psychotic regardless. Note to self, Windy things are even less reliable and even more fickle than the Fae. Turns out Lila and I did not come back alone, Mana leaches, they helped us remove them, but some damage was already done.

The sultan tries to hire Lizette in the future, impressed by her skills despite her mortal upbringing.

“You must go with your servant Lulu, and get an enchanter to track these creatures” Says the Sultan. We find out a bit more on why his daughter might have been targeted, turns out there is a debt between the Sultan and the Horsemen, and tricked by other Djinni, Sultan somehow got indebted to fulfill this position! But the Sultan came to an agreement with Death, of which we do not know the details.

“If we find an enchanter following things, what should we follow?” We asked, only for nonsensical responses to be given.

Potions were going to be given to us, but there was no time for it since we were rushed to the portal. We must go for them on the way back since we have to go after an enchanter, and we know not what perils lie ahead, but coming into contact with Death itself seems to be likely. ---
Buffs granted to the party in this episode: Rank 18 Strength of Stone on endurance (+18 points EN) (all) (Source: Acorn Mage).
Rank ??? Lesser enchantment for everyone that require it (Source: Acorn Mage).
Rank 12 Strength of Shadow (+7 points PS) (all) (Source: Mistress Lulu).
Rank ??? Greater Enchantment for everyone (Source: Sultan).

Items granted to the party in this episode:
Bag of gems worth 70000 Silver pennies.
Uthgard the Giant gets two trinkets of spinning air to use in the Bazaar.
Dwarven armor for Lizette and Lila (assumed to have been returned?)

Of Readings & Revelations, Mages please pay no mind to the Mind Mages!

Readings, Seagate, and Hasty Researches

Revelations are put in the ground in front of us, for no one knew if we wanted to deal with them or not. Lizette ever the cautious divination them to ensure no magical traps wards or curses lay with them, meanwhile our Leader Uthgard, having the same amount of courage as size, picks them up and starts to read them out loud for the rest of us (yet, Lizette remains unconvinced that even listening to prophetic nonsense is truly safe).

Shortly thereafter, we are joined by one of Lila’s former associates—a bard, whose name I regretfully did not record. He claims to work for Sareen (Sireen?Scribe holds no consistency), Mistress of the Great Heart. He says, gesturing vaguely, among other nonsense (bards, never trust them, they are too successful while courting, foul magics I say!) “and I am also to lead you to several interested parties who wish to share lunch.”

As if that were not enough, the bard then has the audacity to strike up a conversation with me about my mother, claiming he attempted to court her several times in the past, and asking after her health. The gall. Were I a villain, I would have cast a Geas on him without hesitation and sent him on perilous quests!.

The bard speaks quietly in Dwarvish with Lila and Lizette. I do not catch the substance of the conversation, but notice a nearby group of roughly two dozen Dwarves running errands with unusual urgency.Lizette warns him sternly about portal instability. He responds by dismissing Lulu’s portal work entirely, boasting of his own superior abilities. I take note of this arrogance for future reference.

“So you are back already and brought an extra” Mistress Lulu says referring to the Bard who serves Sareen. We travel via his portal to Seagate. At the guild, we are supplied with eight potions, one to neutralize poisons, the rest healing potions . We are warned that terrible magic was once performed in the Elvish Isles.“There is a very unpleasant man who lives in a hole,” someone explains helpfully, “and he emerges at night to read the stars. He is surrounded by great women such as this one,” gesturing broadly at Uthgard.

We decided to consult the library. Vixen, the one versed among us in courtier ,a addresses the librarian to inquire about sources relevant to our investigation.

“There were others researching similar matters not long ago,” the librarian says, pointing toward a pile of books on sea creatures—before abruptly becoming distracted by Uthgard’s presence. “Oh! Oh! So beautiful!”
From our research, we learn that adventurers once slew a Kraken Heart, which had been used in foul magic—magic that allowed sharks to fly through the air, among other horrors. A dagger was supposedly used to stab the heart.
The librarian hands us a book written in Brownie. “It contains information on the Four Horsemen,” she says, offering to read passages aloud. The Horsemen are speculated to be tied to the seasons, often worshipped by humans in differing forms. There are mentions of courage, determination, and one whose nature opposes feasting. Another passage references fae powders—commonly known as pixie dust.

Festivities with Sareen

We are issued amulets by Sareen’s envoy, the bard of all things…bardic. “Today’s password is custard,” we are told. The amulets allow spellcasting within the area and enable healers to locate and assist us remotely.

We are informed that we will be entering a traveling carnival. Colorful outfits and elaborate crowns abound. There are factions distinguished by red crowns, and others who openly oppose them. We are warned of a particular woman who wishes to speak with newcomers. “Do not let her bite you,” comes the warning. “She is performing penance for the actions of others.” (In my professional experience with them, probably one of the saner ones).
Lady Olga, as she is called, is a shapechanging wolf attempting to escape destiny itself. A bite from her passes on her curse, slowing the victim’s mind.

We observe elves from Alfheim, creatures of the Great Heart, and others from the Broken Heart. There is also a Titan present at the camp, Matt, whom apparently dislikes hearing non-Giant spoken in his presence, and once had a feud with one of my companions.

The Bard, provides Boris with a spare amulet, ensuring that anyone attempting to magically identify him will mistake him for an E&E specialist rather than a necromancer. . Boris requests pickup the following day at 6 PM.

As we pass through the portal, we are greeted by Celador, an elf who recognizes notable feats of each elven member of our group. We are introduced to a hobbit in a short cape and large feathered hat who observes us keenly.. We are told this is the capital ,I mean, captain of the Guard.

Fine cooking scents fill the air, accompanied by pleasant music. A courtyard holds half a dozen tables, with more elves present than usual.
At its center stands a massive well—roughly 150 feet across—adorned with elegant statues of elephants blowing water downward. Judging by the sound, it is very deep.

A strikingly beautiful woman glides toward us—no less radiant than the most dazzling among our own party. Sareen herself comes to greet us.

I personally fail to pay too much attention to our more than deserving host, Sareen, for the overwhelming attention other elves and mind mages are giving to our direction are too intrusive. (city elves know nothing of politeness, and neither do mind mages who form cliques, no wonder we don't have the greatest of reputations). I try to stick like glue, as politely as I can, to Uthgard despite our short acquaintanceship.

Drinks are offered.
I notice a skinny, pale individual with strange, colorless eyes—almost albino. Another figure dressed in mourning black asks me to relay that my mother is doing well. He claims the black attire repels mind mages, who avoid sadness and dark thoughts.

Sareen appears to have believed our visit concerned the Kraken. While there is a connection between her revelations, the Kraken, and the Djinn, she did not expect us to be investigating a missing Horseman.
She confirms: Death is indeed one of the Four Horsemen.
“I did have some prisoners,” she suddenly says, though declines to elaborate—too many ears, and too little interest.

A Rapier's recounting of the accursed Janxes

A King’s Rapier suddenly leaps onto a table, recounting its battle with the Janx upon hearing Utgard mention them. Its former wielder lost a leg in that encounter, apparently Janx wounds cannot be healed or regenerated.

The city of Katavvar is named as their point of origin.
Advice is given, among them a slight confusing one is: “Close your eyes when fighting them. They alter extremes.”

Lady Olga asks if we are attached to the wolf. To which Vixen addresses it calmly, stating what comes as obvious.

An ex-member of the Gold Crown offers assistance, warning that his former allies may attempt to abduct our mind mages.
Lady Olga hands me a bag of gold coins—apparently sent by my mother.

Lizette tells Olga she intends to avoid death whenever possible. Olga merely smiles. “Oh yes. You will struggle greatly. That is usually how it goes.” Making us unsure if that was a threat, a reading, or just her general wisdom. Nearby, young people play a ball game using wooden rackets—twenty of them, divided into teams.

Sareen informs us that spellcasting against us has been curtailed, though betting on Lizette continues unabated (unclear if the betting is in her marriage, her demise, or both) . Matt the Titan will return soon, and time is limited.

Discussion returns to the Kraken. Sareen clarifies that beneath the Elvish Isles lies a dark temple—the site of the Kraken’s death. Her guests insist that Dae and associates must address the matter to confirm destiny’s chosen (bullocks, this is just another ploit to drain me of my life essence)

The Gold Crowns—heroes of Azeroth—are mentioned.
Talk turns to Heart Stone Anomalies, the Elvish Isles, and their divided ownership between Destynians, Alfheim, and the Drow—who avoid one another to prevent war. Talks go further, bringing back the Janx to topic, foreboding a likely unescapable crossing with them. It is suggested that the Janx interfered with the Horsemen. There may be “little death” and “big death.”
Sareen offers allies of her own to assist later on.

Abandoned child, Underwater Prison, things are looking dim

A ranger reports a mountain on the Plane of Earth occupied by dangerous individuals—vampires, as it turns out. Sareen suggests we speak with them. Some of her prisoners are cultists of Pestilence and tied to the vampires.
She asks if we can swim. And dance. Dancing, apparently, prevents vampire charm at certain times of day. The prisoners are underwater—between life and death, possibly due to their cult practices. We request th e opportunity to meat them, and proceed to do so
We are given bread before departure. Bread is always good before you do extenuating exercises, such as swimming.

Once we get close to a sailor, he offers us help by casting buoyancy and water breathing upon us, granting temporary gills. Waterproofing is requested by Lila and Uthgard. On all of us. And we receive a glowstone to help with vision, for he suspects we will need it

Underwater, while swimming towards the prison, a figure approaches—it is Lila’s adopted son. He is disappointed that his mother visits prisoners but not him. ((I feel bad for him ,, but there is nothing I can do). We learn he is betrothed to the Muse of the Seer. (I gift him the sack of gold coins received earlier as a wedding gift), and also, we learn that the seer doesn’t want him anywhere near his muse. We leave the crestfallen toad/frog-child and proceed to get into the prison.
Lila unlocks the door, then seals it behind us. (we don’t want to be responsible for a prison escape) Bubbles rise through the halls.

In one of the rooms, where there are two silhouettes, Lizette identifies the prisoners as Blanched Humans—beings with perished attributes who consume life. Proceeding further we get into a room where there are nine of them. Lilla goes to communicate with them and they greet Lila politely, coughing. She becomes ill from the exchange—fatigue, necrotic decay—but Boris delays treatment since we have to interact with them a bit longer and he does not want to do it repeatedly if it could be avoided.

Unprompted, the prisoners claim ‘not to be with the wolves’, also they claim no Horseman was killed. He was freed. “He is returning to the desert.”

They offer help in exchange for freedom, (what happened with not trying to be responsible for an escape?) They speak of creatures of earth, creatures with side-teeth, a desert well, cand that these creatures have charmed their mistress, “These women with nasty crows came, captured us and brought us here”. “They said we had done something against nature and that we had to have judgement passed on us”.
One wishes desperately to be dry—but we cannot let him leave without endangering others. In his path. He explains he was born blanched, possibly due to blue sands. Grassland hunters once preyed on his people. Some of his people disappear, become birds, and return changed.
With the glowstone, we see his makeup differs from that of Ajardpar.
Lizette heals Lila and double checks just in case.
We exit to find Lila’s son with a beautiful girl— —and feel all our abilities surge two ranks higher. This is not an omen, at all. right?

Of Red Crowns, Falling Giants, and Histories That Refuse to Stay Dead

Children who grow up unsupervised, and the happy mistakes they make.

Carlos, the frog boy, paid us little mind upon our exit from the prison. This was hardly surprising. He was preoccupied with the Muse at his side, and with the six women standing beside her: all dressed in red robes, crowned in gold, and with that particular ability to make me feel uncomfortable.

Lizette, ever perceptive, casts Empathy—and nearly drops it in shock. The Muse is pregnant! Irresponsible little youths! We have magic for that! Or sheep intestines!> I am getting off topic, this means, somehow, Lila is on the verge of becoming a grandmother. The implications of this revelation were still settling when one of the red robes approached us directly.

Of Red Robes & Preparations.

“We have waited a long time to speak with you,” one of them says coolly. “You are wasting too much time talking to everyone else.”

They immediately attempt to separate me from the group on the grounds that I am, quote, “paranoid.” A bold claim, coming from six crowned women who clearly arrived with unknown schemes, mind mages, never trust them.!

They explain they are expecting “a friend of Matt” to fall from the sky shortly. Once healed, he will leave to assist in a fight.
“Who are we fighting?” Lila asks. “Nasty elemental creatures,” they reply. “Likely rock elementals, controlled by someone. We advise necromantic and E&E countermeasures to be prepared.”

They hand us paperwork. I mean, more revelations. Because of course they do.

Lizzete begins the counterspells on the team, with a few more protection spells being hurriedly cast by the team for what is to come.

Half a dozen figures come running toward us. Then a corpse, eighteen to twenty feet tall, crashes down between us and them. Preparation spells and counterspells are still being cast while this interruption transpires. The red-robed women finish healing the fallen giant and then, in perfect unison, turn to stare at the Muse (I feel sorry for her, I suspect where this is going).

They speak to Uthgard in Destynian. When she does not respond, they switch to Giant. (Hill Giant, to be specific)

Haphazard fight!

We are taken by the not so corpse anymore to where his colleagues are still fighting
Spiders, massive ones, coordinated surround us as a stone elemental emerges nearby.

Arcadia draws first blood, smashing one spider so violently that the creatures riding its back nearly scatter. Luna, her furred companion attempts to follow up but misses as the spider collapses awkwardly.
Uthgard follows in action, felling another foe, another spider and spotting additional forces moving in—undead, fast, possibly a ghoul.
Lila moves to Arcadia’s aid, stunning a third spider with a precise strike.
Boris charges the last, his swing crude but devastating, rupturing the insides of the spider and leaving it twitching.
Lizette attempts to Banish the stone elemental, whom manages to resist.

Hellfire answers our intervention, significantly impairing us.
Lances strike Lizette and me.
Undead riders surge forward. One reaches us, slamming Lizette with a charging glaive and then, for good measure, skewering me as well.
Uthgard stomps the undead and remaining spiders into the ground. Boris finishes another spider.
Lila moves through the chaos like a gust of wind, everywhere at once.

To our dismay, more arrive:
A figure encased in oversized stone armor.
A creature wreathed in ice.
A Titan.
An elf—an odd woman—begins shedding her robes, revealing gleaming shinny armor beneath.

Lizette unleashes a wide-area healing surge—restoring endurance to friend and foe alike.
The ghoul is identified: a Seer of the Lunar Empire.
When the earth elemental retreats, the spiders dissolve into mist and follow it.
One surviving caster flees into the shadows.

Matt the Titan greets us as we withdraw. “Oh,” he says mildly, “you smell of the Muse. You must be from the camp.”
“We should leave,” one of the titans says. “There are worse things coming.”

Back at the camp, where the only peril wears Red.

Back at camp, the six of the women in Red Robes remove their crowns and set their glasses on nearby tables(?).

Lizette checks us all, Lila, Boris, and Uthgard are poisoned. We promptly deal with it

The red menaces, I mean, red robes, present new revelations.
“We have done our homework over the last two years,” some of they say. Another group claims “All of you are of good hearts. Most others are false. Listen to us. Not to them.” Red Robes, they don’t even trust each other! Ha! (Or maybe I drank too much wine and forgot what was said, red robes, it must not have been significant)

The History (As They Understand It)
Death is missing—not slain, but charmed into unspeakable acts to facilitate the rebirth of the Kraken’s Heart (or was it the Kraken himself?). “That Krasei must not be named,” Lila mutters.

Death was manipulated by vampires of the Plane of Earth to remove the Kraken’s Heart from the well. The Heart passed from vampire to drow, specifically the Moriquindy, near the Elvish Isles, who seek dominion over those lands. The Heart is meant to be restored there to resurrect the Kraken.

Separately, the followers of Pestilence, long despising Adjepbar, were informed by their masters that Pestilence was gone. They withdrew Pestilence and Poverty from the region, fostering Avarice and Greed among the hobbits. This corruption led to the summoning of the Sultan and the destabilization of Adjepbar. The cult desires its fall.

Adjepbar, they insist, was meant as tribute to the Djinn, particularly the Sultan of the Bazaar, though the hobbits rarely advertise this.

At the exchange of the Heart, the Janx appeared. The vampires fled. Speculation places this either outside Katavvar or within the Plane of Earth itself.

The Janx seem to have one-shot Death.

“At one point,” Lila adds, “the Guild believed only three remained.”. Is there only one Janx left now?.

Death was imprisoned using a Royal Sword. Of the four remaining Janx we learn that:
One went mad and vanished.
One commands portals.
One specializes in dismemberment.
One corrupts and seduces through darkness.

The sword is believed to be stored in the vault of the Artificers’ Guild in Katavvar. A duplicate exists. A switch may suffice.
Mind mages, we are informed, are usually crucified outside Katavvar’s walls. Which…should not pose to be an inconvenience to us… The city itself is believed to be ruled by vampires from within.

They advise approaching Morgore (or Morgul?—pronunciation remains disputed between me and my reluctance to clarify) and using his tunnels. He may know of a spirit useful to us.

Timeline fragments follow:
Big Death took the princess ~24 hours ago.
The Sultan was summoned ~5 days ago.
The ambush occurred shortly after negotiations failed.
A Janx and a mortal were bound together, unnoticed by Death.
Little Death slaughtered the caravan on the Plane of Earth.
The Janx pursued Death—but kidnapped the princess instead.
Little Death recovered the Heart ~1.5 weeks ago.
This allowed the mortal and the Janx to return.
A spirit in the tunnels—someone who died saving another—may be key.

The remaining Horsemen, we are told, would gladly replace Death and have no interest in his return.

There are reports of temporal knowledge gained within the tunnels, its source unclear. Janx, vampires, drow, Death… or something else.

The sword was last scryable a week ago—missing for only a day. Likely Janx involvement.

Lizette is warned: vampires may target her specifically.
A massive vampire nest exists where sunlight never reaches.
She could, apparently, be mauled to death by a very large black bear.

We are handed tools for dealing with such things.
Including an enchanted demonic dagger. I do not like the weight of it all.

Of Heat, Lions, and the Predators underneath the Pyramid

Still at Syreen’s Camp

The air carried the quiet tension of ceremony rather than celebration. A gathering of roughly twenty five Red Robes, some crowned in gold, others bareheaded, were close to us. Word was passed to us that “the couple known as the Elemental Twins wish to speak with you.”

They soon approached—an athletic young couple, dark-haired, dressed well but without ostentation. They addressed us not in Common, but in Hill Giant, which Utgard kindly translated.
“Syreen has requested that we bring you to our temple,”
“There, we will teach you how to do things in the middle.”

What exactly was meant by the middle was not clarified, though the weight of their tone suggested it was no metaphor.
They drew us away from the crowd and spoke further. One of the Janx, they warned, possessed the ability to turn an ordinary blow into a great one, among other dangers we would soon face. We were cautioned about the heat, and assured that extra water would be brought, especially for Elidon our Ice Mage.
We were instructed to bring provisions sufficient for what we call seven days.

There was also some dissatisfaction voiced regarding the number of Mind Mages currently lingering around Syreen’s domain.

One of the twins appeared strongly celestial in nature, Celestial Summer.
Much was said that did not fully survive translation, but Utgard was very clear on one recurring warning they gave us, “Lions.”

They questioned Arcadia closely about the breadth of her celestial aspects, and seemed genuinely pleased when she confirmed she was attuned with all types. They remarked that she would surely impress their Lord when the time came.

After gaining some distance from Syreen’s camp, the twins started studying a palm tree at length, they then split it cleanly in half. Within the rupture, a thin portal formed, narrow enough that our larger companions struggled to pass, though all eventually made it through.

On the other side, other than immediately oppressive heat, laid sand. Endless dunes stretched before us, broken only by pyramids rising from the sand. Scattered across the desert were dozens of lions, perhaps four dozen or more.

After long deliberation, we chose to fly over safely. Arcadia granted us the gift, and we reached the base of one pyramid, rushing inside lest the lions take notice.
Our guides examined several pillars until one yielded a hidden passage. “Here. Through here.”. Deeper within, they announced, “This is our abode.”

Boris asked about the upper levels of the pyramid and was told they held nothing of importance. Lizette inquired about the lions; the twins explained it was seasonal, normally, there were far fewer.

Utgard set watches for the night. Training would begin at first light.
They offered Lizette the chance to DA them, but she declined. From their reaction, it seems they have suffered unsavoury adventurers before (or perhaps this was just a ruse, maybe they are no better than those Red Robes…).

The Training Episode

The training focused on combat against creatures larger than human, emphasizing precision—always striking the middle.

Arcadia was Kind enough to grant us Strenght of Stone Rank 13 to avoid mishaps during training.

On the fourth day, lions breached the pyramid. We were ordered to engage them as a live exercise.
As preparations were made, some of us heard a low humming, like rapidly beating wings (are these….flying Lions?). The threat revealed itself too late: mounted invaders, cloaked in shadowform, attempted to ambush us.

The first enemy felled resembled a grotesquely Pantomimed warped elf. Another appeared as an elf unnaturally stretched, as if pulled thin by unseen forces. The important part, no flying Lions (fingers crossed).
They formed a semicircle around us. What followed was a brutal slugfest.
Boris and Utgard struck with tremendous force in the opening pulses. Arcadia and Luna held several foes at bay. Eladon valiantly, anchored a chokehold with unwavering resolve, assisted (barely), by this scribe.

Lizette, however, was relentlessly rushed. It was clear they wanted her dead above all others.

During this combat, many of my colleagues ventured to practices what was learned these few days, and they all seemed to get a good degree of success, but noticed that it had limitations on how much it taxed them to use it. (Scribe Note: Mechanically, it is a melee attack without rolling, aiming for those middle points of the D100, we know we can do it a few times during combat, but at what extent we are not sure, we know there is a limit to it tough).

Steel rang, spells cracked, and screams echoed through the pyramid halls. The clash drew in opportunists: lions crept in to drag away the fallen. One was slain when a necromantic spell, deflected by Lizette’s shield, struck true into the noble beast.

At one point, Lizette appeared to explode into bone and blood. Did she sacrifice herself? Self implode taking 3 enemies with her? The courage of these seasoned adventurers knows no limit.
Seeing the tide turn against them, and Lizette gone, the spellcaster who had focused on her withdrew from the battle.

We seem to have secured the Pyramid…. But at what cost?

Buffs & Mil Sci

Long Term (assumed always on)

Magic (caster)	Rk	Effects	Duration	Da	Ed	Jo	Ru	So	Th
Greater Ench.	here's hoping	+ to Res, Mag, Com, and S&S.	Var
Fire Protection (Ru)	6	vs normal fire	7 hrs
Fire Armour (Ru)	6	28 pt ablative vs magical fire	7 hrs
Armour of Ice for Party (Eli)	12	8pt FT armour, -2 AG. -20 Stealth, 1/2 Fire damage taken for the next 80 fire damage, stacks with other defensive magic.	6.5h
Armour of Ice for Elidon modified by Ring Of Black Ice. (Eli)	12	+2 damage protection (ft & en), stacks with armour. +13 def in melee, +26 def in close.	6.5h
Resist Cold (Eli)	11	increases temp gague by 3, protection from hypothermia, -3 damage from cold attacks	12h
Self Only
Purification (Dae)	5	5 pts of MR. 1 pt MA	24 hrs	?

Short Term

Magic (caster)	Rk	Effects	Duration	Da	Ed	Jo	Ru	So	Th
Shadow Wings (So)	6	36 mph, 126 miles range	3.5 hrs
Walking Unseen (So,Jo)	6		7 hrs
Weapon of Flames (Ru)	7	+8 SC, +5 Dam, +8 dam vs undead, cold, water	12 min
Mind Speech (Da)	6	Range 210ft - One primary target plus 7 other targets	70 mins
Weapon of Cold (Eli)	12	+13 SC, +5 Dam (Triple Dam to creatures of fire)	17 mins
Ice Traversal (Eli)	6	2 targets gain +2 TMR of flat ice	140 mins

Misc

Herbalist Lunch/Broth

Watch Order

8pm	9pm	10pm	11pm	12am	1am	2am	3am	4am	5am	6am	7am
???		???				???				???
???				???				???

Marching Order

Skirmish Formations (Front)
Default ... ... ...	Double File ... ... ...	Single File ... ... ...