- Tracebe took a sample of the creature's tarry remains and sealed them in a jar. The group drew the crystal rods and held them against the door plate. The rods locked in place and turned slowly, becoming a light blue in colour. The light in the bars of the gate extended across the ceiling and down the opposite wall to form a mirror image of the gate they were lookign at. Slowly, the gate at the far wall opened and the keys rotated back to their original position. The group removed the crystal keys from the door plate and the light bars slowly withdrew across the ceiling to the new door that had appeared. The group quickly went through, hesitating for a moment in case there may be no way back.
- The gate closed and the group found themselves in a 15m sq area bathed in a soft iridescent blue light. The area was walled on three sides, and the opposite to the gate stretched an ocean of blue water that shone softly with its own inner light.
- Tracebe went into meditation and looked around. He sensed that the ocean was in some way aware, infinite yet defined. It bordered a parched land that they were resting on that had huge fissures cracking its surface. Across the ocean he sensed some kind of physical structure, like a mountain maybe.
- The group rested for a while and Valdamean performed the ritual healing on her brother who was badly injured. The ritual took a couple of hours, but he felt much better after that. Valdamean also needed to rest as her strength had been affected by the Walashi.
- Over the next couple of weeks, the group worked in study with Sable to inderstand more of the Dragon songs. Valdamean recovered from the slightly debilitating strenght drain and each learnt a little of two of the five Dragon Songs that existed. The learning would take much time and was necessary in order to be able to truly see the Dragon Robes that the singers need to wear when calling the Dragons. Without them, the Dragons may mistake them. The robes are finely constructed items of clothing that are embroidered with aspects of the Dragons; fire, water, earth, metal and air. Each song also relates to one of these aspects, and songs can be combined to call Dragons with different combinations of talents.
- Sable said that there should have been robes in the underground room where they were resting, but since there weren't then they must seek old robes that may still exist in the Hemnat empire. Since they are finely crafted, they could be anywhere, and probably kept inside council chambers due to their age and fine quality. However, with the songs the group would be able to recognise them instantly.
- The group asked how long the songs would take to learn and it was found that it would probably be many months. Sable said there was a boon she could give them to detect them directly, but the group would have to prove themselves by finding the Stone of Arialla; a finely hewn gem held in a golden dragon claw atop a crystal rod. She said it was probably still in the vaults of the old Citadel, and the group decided they would venture there directly.
- Sable also said that other Dreamweavers of the ley membrane would also be able to continue their training in the Dragon Songs, so they did not have to cease their training while they were at the Citadel. The group asked if they could take their horses, and Sable said that they could, but all would need to sleep for the journey to occur. Since the horses were not immediately tired, Tracebe sought some herbs that could induce rest and sleep and drugged one of them. Vadamean cast sleep on the rest. All entered a trance and travelled through a mosaic tunnel with many offshoots. After a few moments, they emerged at the other end.
- Slowly awakening they realised they lie upon a marbeled floor about 20m sq. In front of them was a small raised shrine atop a sandstone plinth. On the top of that was a golden sun disk about 20 cm across. The thought of stealing it crossed the minds of some of the group since there was nobody around (remind me to adjust Widdershins!!) The horses grazed nearby.
- In the distance roared a series of waterfalls, surrounding an ancient Citadel. The style was a mixture of Babylonian and European architectures (although these don't exist in the game world), and it seemed unreachable.
- Tracebe called to the spirit of the shrine and Utu came forth. He was brusque with Tracebe and did not trust in the group as much as Sable had done. He sensed a dark taint in some of them and was not as willing to aid their cause. He knew little of the Citadel and was not forthcoming in any information.
- The group decided that they would have to sort things out themselves and set off leading the horses round the treacherous outcrops to get down to the lake between the falls. As they descended the other side, a few noticed a flock of Kir (as Tracebe later identified) flying towards them. Since they were predatory, the group tried to make cover, but the birds saw them.
- Circling and attacking very quickly, the Kir launched their attack, but not before Valdamean cast a Hold Creature on one (which plumeted to its doom in the torrent below), and a couple of arrows were launched tipped with the sleep inducing herbs.
- Swiftly thye flew in, spitting acid as they came. Shy jumped in the way of the assaults on Valdamean as she prepared a Sleep spell. Shy swung at the birds as they flew past and managed to wing one. It fell to the ground, disoriented and the other two that were flying landed next to it. One started attacking the prone foe, while the other took a run at Shy. Valdamean managed to get the sleep spell off and the running foe fell dazed to the ground. The other Kir then looked round puzzled (it had been hit by the arrow earlier) and then slumped next to the other bird.
- Tracebe helped Shy to get the acid off his face and body to prevent it doing any more damage, while the Kir were killed outright. Krayon started to prepare the birds for eating.
- Tracebe went foraging for some herbs to help preserve the food, but discovered a very rare Tuken moss. It fruits only once every six years and has a thumbnail sized leaf cluster. He found 4 growing together and all in fruit. The fruit is renowned for its anti-toxin properties. Tracebe sought to commune with the plant spirits, and found a dark and almost manevolant spirit. After calming it a little, he took some of the amber ooze from the fruits and left them in peace. He returned to the group frothing about his find. However, Krayon was not amused as he had completely forgotten the herbs he was sent to get!
- The group rested near the water's edge for the night and set camp. During the dusk, they heard bells across the water and saw a few lights in the Citadel. Shy suggsted that Tracebe call the spirit of the water to aid them, and he said he would do it in the morning as it could be dangerous at night.
- Next day, Tracebe did call the spirit and found it aggressive. It threatened him (and the group) and said that it would never let them across the water. Tracebe through about trying to control it, but shyed away from doing so just yet. The group returned to Utu for help, but he was less help than last time. Tyr noticed a boat sailing from the Citadel to the land across the bay. The group made haste and went to meet the boat.
- J'ahnna snuck around the last few metres and saw that two Hemnat were waiting on the jetty. The group decided to ride in and were greeted openely (after the Hemnat took arms before they recognised the group as their own kind). Everyone introduced themselves and the two boatmen invited the party to travel with them and meet the sage of the Citadel. They said that only a few of them lived here now after the great wars and they were surprised to see any of their kind. The group explained that they had riden about a month (estimated) from the empire to the far west. The boatmen said the sage would be keen to meet them, but they needed to wait for their colleagues to return.
- A few moments later, two horsemen rode through the woods and joined the group. They asked the same sort of questions and invited the group aboard. As the party was mounting the jetty Shy noticed momentarily that he could see through the boat. Puzzled, he stopped. Tyr noticed the same thing, but saw it as an illusion of sorts. He winked out and told the others. As a cover story, Tracebe said they needed to pray tot he spirit of the water for safe passage as was their custom while he meditated to understand a little more. The other Hemnat waited patiently.
- Tracebe saw a passive presence waiting for them, like a trap would. He came out of his trance and they group went to make its excuses. Realising it to be the spirit of the water, Tracebe tried to control it, but failed and succeeded in angering it even more.
- The group bolted as the ship turned into a spinning column of rising water. The Hemnat illusions vanished as J'ahnna ran for it and Krayon and Shy jumped on their horses. Tracebe and Valdamean failed to mount up and started to run. Krayon and Shy pulle dtheir horses round and managed to pull Valdamean and Tracebe up. Everyone fled as the column of water came crashing down.
- Tracebe (on Krayon's horse) made it out of the range of the crashing water column, but got soaked (as did J'ahnna who was about as far into the trees). However, the twins were a little slower and got caught up in the column and were thrown from the horse and battered and bruised. J'ahnna's horse was also caught up and was swept away to its doom.
- Knackered and somewhat unhappy, the group returned to the shrine and once again sought Utu's guideance. He was still not very helpful, but the group managed to come round to the idea that there may be another way into thew Citadel other than crossing the water.
- After resting for another night they descended from the shrine and began searching around for a cave. Tracebe suggested that they look for a type of bush that was more common near cave mouths, but everyone just looked everywhere. Almost as they were abuot to give up, Tracebe noticed the bush that revealed a cave by the water's edge. Tentatively they all investigated the cave. After some aborted attempts, Krayon discovered a sink hole in the water in the cave that was revealed by bubbles of air rising in the pool.
- She swam down and discovered a beautiful cavern (air filled) on the other side - about 15m away. The cavern was lit by an inner light in the fantastic stalactites and stalacmites that adorned the cavern. The pool she came up in lead to a small flight of steps that two stone Lamassu watched over (a Lamassu is a winged lion with a Hemnat face). She tied off the rope and pulled herself back through to tell the others.
- There was some discussion and the faerie refused to go. Valdamean had a heated conversation with it outside the cave, but came back in and said that Tyr would not be going. The group left some items behind and started to make their way through. Unfortunately, the less fit members of the party suffered from the arduous underwater journey and a couple nearly drowned.
- Pulling some of their belongings through (as agreed and packaged), they dried themselves off and headed off up the cavern into the interior of the rocks. After a few metres, the winding path came to a circular room about 5 metres in diameter. In its center was a completely still pool with a small brick wall around its edge.
- Shy noticed that there was no reflection in the pool and everyone stared in wonder. He put a finger in and it was icy cold, and when he pulled it out it was not wet. Taking his life in his hands, he stood up and jumped in, disappearing and not leaving any ripple. A few moments later, he returned with a tale of being in another room amidst the sound of rushing water. The group soon followed and found themselves in a subterranean antechamber where two statues of Inquisitors stood at the base of a long staircase.
- Proceeding up, Valdamean decided to swap places with Tyr so that the fearie could join them. Krayon returned to help Valdamean through the water again, and bring some more of their belongings. Unfortunately, Valdamean fell unconscious from the ordeal (after being weakened last time) and Krayon attempted to revive her (but failed). Rushing for aid, the group carried Valdamean through the portal to the Citadel. Shy tried to revive his sister, but fumbled, lodging her tongue in her throat. Tyr rushed to his mistresses aid, and managed to restore her senses before she died. Unfortunately, she was only on 1 fitness point and near the brink of death - and needed rest.
- J'ahnna ventured out into the Citadel to look for a place to rest. The house opposite seemed fine and everywhere was deserted. Shy salvaged a bed from the next house to be used as firewood and they put Valdamean to bed to rest for a few days. Setting watch, they settled down as night drew in.
- After a couple of hours, Shy heard a soft brushing sound at a window. Tyr listened in too and the sound was followed a few minutes later by the exchange of some dialogue in an unknown language. They saw some light from outside the window's shutter recede after the dialogue. A few minutes later, as Shy was checking the rear window, similar dialogue ensued followed by the same soft brushing sound. The noise carried on for a few minutes and then the dialogue was exchanged again and the light receded.
- Concerned, he woke Tracebe to ask if this might be some form of ritual and Tyr did a detect magic. The results indicated that it was some kind of magic of the black aspect, and that could be protection, warding or some kind of barrier. Tyr went upstairs to try and spy on the creatures outside, but could not glance too much without opening the shutters. He noticed that they were humanoid (but so are Hemnat) and were painting something over the windows. Traceb entered meditation and discovered that his astral field was caged. The group decided they were being trapped and awok the warriors.
- For a coule of hours they waited to see if the unknown creatures would complete the house a seal the upper floor. But they did not.
- The next morning, the group descended out the upper window on the rope they had brought. J'ahnna tended to Valdamean inside the house, while the others scouted outside. They found that each window and door in the lower floor had a sigil painted on them in a deep red paint). The same had also been done to the doorway that they came out of after coming through the portal well.
- Shy and Krayon tried to push the exit door open with a bed pole, but it wuold not budge. The group deduced they had been trapped inside the building, but could not work out if this was for their protection or not. If it wasn't, then why had the beings who had done this not completed the task?
- After a scout around the Citadel, they found a number of houses all similar. In one, overlooking the harbour, they found a writing desk with some recent ink, quills and parchment. Using some ash from their fire, Tracebe tried to see if they could read the impressions on the parchment that was there. There were traces of writing, but not in any tongue the group could understand.
- The rest of the Citadel was mostly locked and barred - the main buildings at least; the main chambers, the tower and the ziggurat.
- The group decided to investigate this mystery next time ...
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