Ikko: 

Relaxing when he realizes the others know Valzes, Ikko bows and introduces himself.  "As Heilamin states, I am a follower of the Way of the Bronze Dragon.  We channel our Ki into elemental lightning and aspire to fight with the ferocity of the majestic bronze dragons.  I am still only an acolyte, but I have mastered the basic forms and a few advanced techniques."

After introductions are made, Captain Andy rallies the sailors and gets ready to set sail. You set off back to the east, to main land. Remember that the boat you saw from the monastery was sailing south. The party and Jannell travel the Omerian Ocean on the Flying Elbow back to dry land (the continent of Omeria). If there is anything major you want to want to do/RP, feel free! After docking, Captain Andy bids you all farewell, "Good luck to ye land lubbers! I hope you find this evil and destroy it. I can't do business if we all dead!" He then sets sail back on the high seas. A several week travel occurs through the Fairknot region, to the city of Ugash.

Ugash is a small settlement on the edge of the DoD. The populous is mostly humans, hobgoblins, and half-orcs who travel the DoD looking for treasures, rare animals to hunt, and sometimes turn in bounties on dangerous people who try to hide out in the DoD. The Ugashians are peaceful and welcome outsiders. They are hospitable to the party for the short visit. They offer the adventurers a discounted rate for renting camels for their long journey into the DoD and Obsidian Plain. 5GP each player at the promise the camels will be returned. You all set off on camel back into the DoD, for another long journey through the dangerous desert.

During your travel through the DoD, Jannell felt she could trust you enough to give some information from her father's journal. She mentioned that this has been a long obsession of her father, with entries dating back several years. She gives you a overview of what her father found about the city of Hearth. 

Hearth - The Shunned City
Thousands of years ago, the verdant island of Elsath was home to a majestic and influential city named Hearth. There, the humble and wise inhabitants of Hearth thrived under the watchful eye of great feathered serpents called couatls. These divine protectors were calm against the din of the humanoid races. A theocratic society, the high priests of the temple of Hearth were revered and respected by all, even the most hardened criminals. These priests were called Couatl Heralds.

Of course, Hearth wasn't without its woes. The city was frequently the target for invading forces. Fortunately, most invaders would tire themselves out against the power and will of the celestial-guarded city. The Hearthan people always felt safe.

But the invaders were persistent. A trio of evil rakshasa conjurers poured throngs of wicked followers into the city. As the Hearthans battled the minion hoards, the black-hearted fiends performed a ritual unlocking a gate to the Realm Beyond. This gate, named the Gate of Night, spewed horrible nightmare creatures. Greatest among those unspeakable horrors was a long slumbering, aberrant elder god named Black Tezcatlipoca, the Night Wind.

Immediately, the couatls of Hearth turned their attention to the Gate of Night. It took every ounce of their might to stop the Gate from expanding. The effort was enough to kill the majority of the feathered serpents. Only two elder serpents, Amoxtli and Ehecatl, were strong enough to survive. But the pair had to focus all of their concentration on the gate, never able to turn from it. Without the couatls to protect them, Hearth crumbled before the rakshasa's armies. Hearthan men, women, and children fell under their wicked blades.

Realizing that nearly all was lost, the Couatls' Heralds performed one last ritual of their own in three parts. The first part of the ritual warded the Temple of Hearth, preventing future invaders from finding the Couatls and the Gate of Night. The second part of the ritual hid the entirety of Hearth itself, not only hiding it from view but the memory of all mankind as well. Only those chosen by the Gods of Hearth themselves would be able to find the city. The final part of the ritual sprang a vast and volatile jungle on the island of Elsath. Once the ritual was finished, nine of the Heralds died; only one Herald remained, Brother Riane the Prophet.

(Feel free to RP on this. I will set up the next encounter tomorrow.)

Valzes is intrigued by the story. She is taking notes on the camel back as Jannell telling the tale of the Shunned City. 

"Amazing tale! It is not for nothing to join you, I guess. Thank you!" She smiles at Jannell and puts away her journal as Jannell finishes the story. "I wonder who is the evil that we need to stop? Rakshasa, maybe?"

Ikko:

"That sounds...uncomfortably...like my vision.  We are undoubtedly on the right track," says the martial artist.

"Rocky-what now?"

OOC: Just swamped a little at the moment - will be a little passive for now.....sorry all.

"Fascinating!Jannell, how long ago did this attack on Hearth happen? Did your father discover anything about when this occurred? What happened to the Rakshasa when Hearth disappeared? Did your father's journal mention anything about these Smoking Mirrors cultists-- I imagine they may be somehow related to these Rakshasa? Am I to understand that the Gate of Night is yet open? With a single couatl always fixed on keeping it blocked or halted from growing? I am sorry for all the questions. Did your father journal mention any of this?"

Persuasion: 30

Throughout the journey, Mackenzie can be seen to enter many periods of silent contempation of the magnitude of task that lies before the group, but does portray a grim resolve to find the root of the cultists power and put an end to it, or die trying.

Jannell happily answers your questions Heilamin.

How long ago did this attack on Hearth happen? "Several decades as far as I read. Maybe 100 years even. My father never got an exact date."

What happened to the Rakshasa when Hearth disappeared? "As far as my father's notes go, the only survivors of the invasion were the couatls and the herald Brother Riane. "

Smoking Mirrors cultists? "None. The last entry in his journals was normal and just more information on Hearth. I suspect he found out of the cultists quickly and hastily sent his journal away."

Gate of night: "The Gate of Night is being held closed. But the power behind it makes the couatls power wane. For all we know, it could break at any moment." 


You all continue your travel through the DoD for several more days. Your journal takes you through a battle with a strange elemental covered in obsidian rock, who has recently killed half a dozen cultists. You see that their tracks lead the wrong way, and continue to travel to the Well of Secrets. After another day of travel you arrive at the Obsidian Plain. 

The environment here is made of all black glass and rock. Spike growths and huge pillars shoot up randomly, making for lots of hiding spots, and no vegetation is in sight. Thick clouds overhead that hang like a dark smoke obscures the desert sun. The pillars resemble black claws reaching for the grey sky, as it shines the black reflective stone. It already feels 20 degrees hotter here than in the desert. This place is like hell on earth. You all move slowly through the jagged terrain carefully on camelback.

After traversing the hellish landscape you finally arrive at your destination...the Well of Secrets. Like a black stab wound shattering the charred land around it, a pit 30-feet wide in diameter and 200-feet deep lies before you. Shards of sharp, obsidian glass surround its edges like black teeth in the maw of some wicked gargantuan worm. The climb looks treacherous, and a quick inspection of the obsidian rocks around you finds they are razor sharp, even to the smallest of touch. You aren't sure you can tie a rope to the rocks. Jannell shakes her head, "It can never be easy can it? This is where the well is marked on the maps. It must be at the bottom of the pit."

This encounter was written to be in increments. So here is what I will do. I will allow you all to think of a game plan to get down the pit. Once you have an idea, I will say how many checks we will need and how far down you can get. This is a dangerous descent, they may be falling or environment damage taken. Let me know if you have questions in discord, or feel free to game plan in #player-discussion

Ikko:

looking carefully down into the pit, Ikko looks to see if there are any ledges or other safe zones on the way down.

Perception:  6

Ikko looks around, and the mouth of this pit is brutal. You do not see any other entrances or even ledges. 

Ikko:

Seeing no easy way down--with or without a rope--Ikko says, "Brazzak, if you can channel the strength of the bronze dragon to carry us down, I can temporarily bestow upon you the flight capability of the bronze dragon.  It should last long enough for you to fly each of us down to the bottom of the well.  What do you say?"

OOC:  Ikko can cast "Fly", or "Feather Step" as he calls it, on Brazzak, who should be strong enough to carry us down to the floor 200 feet below in the 10 minutes the spell lasts.

"I...I get ta...fly?

YES PLEASE!"

Valzes walks up to the edge and looks down the pit. "Going into a deep unknown pit sounds like a great adventure! Let’s do it." Eagerness is all over her face. 

Ikko:

Calling on the power of the Bronze Dragon, Ikko touches Brazzak on the back of his shoulders and two translucent bronze dragon wings sprout there.  Though wholly insubstantial, they empower the dragon kin with flight as long as Ikko can maintain his concentration.

(Casting Fly).

"Well it seems like you are already proving your worth....that climb looked mighty dangerous, let's hope Brazzak is indeed strong enough" and with that MacKenzie awaits his turn....

Brazzak, you are able to fly for the first time! The hot air hits your face as your sweep your wings and fly over the dangerous pit. With your strength, you are easily able to carry the rest of your party down the pit , where there is a spot of compact ground that will not tear you to shreds. There is a small tunnel that goes into the walls of the pit and then curves. Assumingly, you cautiously and slowly move through the tunnel, ready for anything that might be around the corner. What you find, is a large stone door. There is no handle or lock to pick, and one attempt from Ikko proves that the door is heavy. With the combined strength of the party, but mostly Mackenzie and Brazzak, you are able to shoulder the door open into a chamber.

This 30-foot diameter circular chamber was expertly carved from the obsidian. And it appears that someone once lived here. A large, round, stone table 10-feet across dominates the center of the room, well-used mining tools and eating implements spread over it. The table rests over a large, colorful carpet that, oddly, hasn't been affected by the extreme heat as it looks in pristine condition. At the southern end of a room, a map of the continent of Elsath hangs on the wall. A shield made of what-looks-like shimmering feathers rests against it. Finally, sitting at the table opposite of the map is a skeleton wearing brightly color armor, but unlike any you've ever seen. The skeleton's skull is elongated like a lizard, with two huge eye sockets. A bony ridge extends from the top of it's head like a fin. Through its vacant eye sockets, the skeleton stares at the map on the wall. One of its bony hands is raised in front of it, fingers upward as if it was once holding something.

Jannell scans the room. She firsts eyes the skeleton, approaches to get a closer looks, then says "This is Brother Riane! My father's journal described him well, he was the last of the Couatl Heralds. I hadn't mentioned before, because I wanted to be certain Brother Riane was here....but before disappearing, Riane told the tale of the 'True Last Heralds'. He states in his story, that one hundred years after the death of the Last Herald, five braves souls would be chosen by the gods to find the Shunned City and enter its sacred temple. The True Last Heralds are meant to defeat the Black Tezcatlipoca, the elder god, and banish them to the Realm Beyond." Jannell looks at everyone one of you, with a look of content and hope. "Riane must have made a home here, not to be disturbed in his last years of life."

Jannell then looks to the map on the wall. She immediately recognizes the outline as Elsath from the map in her fathers journal.  

Feel free to explore the chamber and ask questions. 

Ikko:

Thinking that the carpet and shield might be magical items, Ikko moves over to take a look at each of them.  Although he is also curious about the armor worn by the skeleton, he avoids it for now, saying, “Does it appear that the skeleton is pointing at something in the map?  Or was it holding a goblet of some kind?”

Arcana on Carpet:  9

Arcana on Shield: 18

Valzes eyes light up, her face is filled with joy and wonder. She walks around the chamber looking at every corner of room while holding her journal on her hand and recording every bits that she comes across. 

"There’s no where else I rather be! Now I think I know why she sent me here." She continues looking around. 

Heilamin walks up to the map looking for any new locations that might not be on other more mundane maps. Investigation: 20

Heilamin also inspects the shield and carpet.

Arcana Shield: 3

Arcana Carpet: 4