Pizazz's Myth Drannor

Thyrius looks at his brother in a way that silently asks if he would like to lead the way. If Xemnez defers to Thyrius instead, and only if he indeed does so, the black cat will then take the lead.

Mirica exhaled quietly. Fey are not... the easiest to communicate to. If anyone, people of this group knew it very well. "Welcome back to reality," nodded she to Simaal but if she wanted to say anything else, it was cut off by Toc's sudden suggestion. The priestess's eyes opened wide when he offered to leave Tic here. "This ... is incredibly thoughtful of you. And ... if I can ever think of a justification for your brother's existence this would be the one. Hopefully, we can still find another way, dryads are not meant to live in the wastelands."

Still impressed but with the matters resolved, she returned to more pressing matters now. "The city is called Ythryn. And if it is just three kilometres away, would be a waste of good magic and your perfect memory Thyrius if we are not walking. Lead the way!" The sooner they could look at what is awaiting them, the better. 

From earlier...

Toc would get the sense from Xemnez that challenging, if not being in opposition, to the gods is not necessarily something new to Xemnez. If anything, there seemed to almost be an underlying excitement at the prospect, if the tightening of his grip on his battleaxe had been anything to go by at the moment.

At Present...

All that being what it may, the whole audio drama with the spirit is one that left even Xemnez frowning and torn in expression. Yet almost as soon as the mission gets missioned again, he's back to his stalwart self, accepting Simmal's apology with a mere curt nod. "It might not be a resolution. But if we can delay our adversaries plans until a better option comes at least, then we do what we must." Is all he had to add in regard to Simmal, before his attention is turned elsewhere. To Thyrius' look, Xemnez nodded and gave his elder apprpoval to lead the way, acknowledging him as always as the better navigator. But while briefly curious, if after the fact, on Toc's brother business... the moment wasn't right to inquire, so dismissed the idle thought with a sheak of his head as he followed after Thyrius.

Thyrius leads the group on a generally downwards ice cave diving experience for several kilometers. The sharp downward cliff areas require careful navigation. Without the ice climbing gear the humans and elves may have struggled more. The brothers, with their sharp claws find their toes aching slightly, but their traversing of the caves is much steadier. That said, everyone is well equipped, and now the brothers have warm enough clothes that their extremities aren't numb. 

The journey is much as described by Thyrius while at the grove. You step over massive cracks up to two feet deep that look like they descend forever into an ice demise...and short offshoots are abound. The ice, that is starting to feel like an impossible weight pressing in from all sides, creaks, groans, and crackles around you. The Leonin leads the group unfalteringly forward and downwards though. 

Eventually Thyrius realizes they're getting close to the city, as the pitch blackness of the tunnels ahead begins to shine with a dull faint blue light. The group climbs down out of an icy incline into a vast grotto enclosed by gleaming ice. Consigned to this frozen sepulcher is a fantastic city sculpted by ancient magic and illuminated in a haunting way by green and purple lights that shed no warmth. The city is slightly tilted, its spires leaning away from you as though recoiling from your presence.  You stand atop a causeway of frost-covered ice that stretches toward the city like the dead, frozen tongue of some hideous behemoth out of whose mouth you’ve just stepped.

The sound of heavy breathing from the strenuous caves echoes in the immediate area, and steamy breath slowly rises from the group as they stand for a moment in silence staring at the impressive site. Toc crouches down, and begins muttering arcane words, making slight motions and beginning a ritual.  The rest of the group knows immediately what he's doing, but the brothers look on questionningly.  Toc glances up in mid spell and says, "A brief ritual that will allow us all to speak together within our minds. Please be patient. It will take me a couple minutes."

In that time the group has a chance to further take in the site of the city before them. 

In this map, you are where the arrow indicates "to the caves of hunger". 

"Hmm... thought it would be bigger" says Simaal... before smiling and saying "kidding"...  Mentally once ready "What are folks thoughts on approaching? I for one would prefer not the straight forward route, and would rather look for alternate, less obvious entry points." Out loud he says "interesting ruins, maybe we'll find something in there worthwhile".

"You mentioned gathering information earlier." Thyrius responds. "We are aiming for the base of the tallest structure in the middle of the disk, but my brother and I saw many other structures equally as alien to us on our way out of the necropolis. We were in no condition to explore them at the time, but a few stops on our way to the center should help us gather the information you seek, or at least that's my bet."

Thyrius is still speaking using his voice as he is not yet sure how this mental-speak ritual is supposed to work. "As for a direct approach, the base of the center structure is vast but open on all sides, as if the building above was elevated on gigantic curved stilts. I suspect our approach will be seen no matter which way we come from... unless we come from farther up the same structure and descend upon our target."

There was something ... offputting in these netheresian cities. Big, yes, impressive too, as an example of what magic can do with the rocks, but Mirica personally would take Hillsfar over any of these technological terrors every day. When the time-eaten walls came to view and Toc established the telepathic bond, she sent a message to both - ease the practice of unfamiliar communication for brothers and to ask an important question. "Welcome to our private channel by now a usual way of talking. Since we are getting ready... There is a way to make us all a bit stronger, more resistant to influences," no, she did not give a pointed look to Simaal, "like magically induced fear. But preparations will take an hour. We can use a little rest before entering the Mythallar chamber but if the goal is to talk our way out of the situation, I would rather not waste time and little fortune in gold."

"Before going headlong in, I think it may be worthwhile to explore the nearby area, outside the center pillar. Perhaps a quick consultation with the gods about will a day matter will put your mind at ease regarding not rushing in and potentially missing out on something that could turn the tide in our favor."

"Not sure what you are expecting to find. We know where the Mythallar is, and who is protecting it. And until now surroundings in other two cities only proved to be filled with unrelated objects and creatures. But why not. If it puts your mind at ease, we can take a tour in Etherial and make sure nothing is going to interfere with our potential battle?"

Toc glances at Mirica, "Weeeell. I can't actually move us all into the ethereal with any regularity. It required my most powerful spell to emulate that ability that Jahren demonstrated to the group so long ago. If there is a chance of facing off against a diety's avatar, I'm rather disinclined to use it for some light scouting. Are we ok to just...walk?  Oh, also...." ...he tugs on a small steel medallion hanging around his neck... "...the guardian aligned to this medallion is that way, about 800 feet."  He points roughly towards the 3rd tower on the outer ring of the city, to the left of where the ice meets the city.  

He glances once more to Mirica, "If you truly want to scout using Etherealness we can, but, then there will be no gold dragons or other miraculous interventions occurring." 

"Other... two... cities...?" Thyrius looks at Mirica, his eyes intent on getting an explanation. "You mean you have already cleansed two other... Mythallar spheres in your own realm?"

Simaal seems thoughtful from his ducked down position as the city became visible before them. "Mentally he asks. "Out of everyone I literally know the least, I haven't been and bled there nor been part of it from the start of this journey. While I appreciate the sentiment of well there's some liches doing bad things to some device oh and also an avatar, I'm not sure of the actual plan."

"For the moment let's daydream and assume we've somehow managed to defeat them all. Putting aside countless tales that as soon as you defeat some undead in his lair the whole tower or castle or city all collapses, caves in, or explodes, what's our plan after the their defeat? Do we start smashing the object? Hug it tightly and tell it that it's going to be ok? Put it in a bag and take it with us, assuming it's not a city sized object? Even if we don't defeat and they just teleport away as powerful mages tend to do, what's the plan after that, how do we prevent them from coming back. Collapsing the cave wouldn't mean much to non-breathing undead. I have a lot of questions, but without research I can't think of any answer. Has anyone done any research on this object, how big it is, how it can be handled, can it be moved, and the like?"

"Let's catch the bear before we begin selling his skin. What to do with that Mythallar we decide after we free that Mythallar. Yes, we had to do it twice by now, though, only once had to face liches. There are rituals for this kind of thing and then we leave guardians. Unfortunately, the second Mythallar is in the hands of the shadovar but they count it their property and not even Larloch would be able to wrestle it from their gripe. The first one is safe, though. Hopefully, this one will be too."

"I do not know what are we expecting to find there. Is Auril still guarding the orb? Are liches still there? Just not sure we can learn any of this by simple scouting. Did not Xemnez say the entrance was blocked after they left? Meaning, we would have to use some magic to enter anyway. All I know is that time is precious. Still, the guardian might be the thing worth collecting first."

Toc glances at Mirica, as if judging how best to respond and seeking her approval. But, after a moment he just shrugs and starts mentally filling the group in.  This happens, as you all stand on the entrance to this massive ice cave with a tilted ancient city dimly glowing blue and green before you. He seems to take a deep breath, and then begins.

"I suppose it's high time we explain ourselves, given we are all about to fight a diety and may well perish. You should know why. Right. History lesson time. The sphere's we're dealing with are called Mythallars. The Mythallars we're dealing with all exist within this realm. We call this world Faerun, or sometimes Toril. Long ago...as in...two thousand years ago, there was an ancient human civilization here called Netheril. They existed along side elves and other races. They stumbled upon some mysterious scrolls called the Nether Scrolls. These scrolls contained vast, seemingly limitless knowledge about the nature of magic. With this knowledge the Netherese empire was born. Netheril soon became the most powerful magical nation ever seen. At least on this world. Their archmages began constructing these Mythallars. Magical artifacts that could accomplish amazing feats...one of their primary purposes was to protect the Netherese city they were built within and power magic within the city. They called these cities enclaves. The Mythallars were so powerful that these enclaves could fly. They would lift off and fly about as needed. There were a couple dozen of these flying enclaves. I should say, when these were made, the nature of magic in the universe was different. There were hard NO limits on what magic could be made to do. At the end of this empires glory days, one of their archmages named Karsus attempted to take ownership of the weave from the goddess of magic, known as Mystral. This spell killed the goddess, and all magic ceased functioning for a few seconds. Long enough for many of these enclaves to come crashing down and be pulverized out of existence. When the goddess of magic was reborn moments later, as Mystra, she also took that moment to change the nature of magic. Limits were placed on the power that could be taken from the weave. Spells were limited to what we now call the 9th circle. whereas before they had up to 12th circle spells in common usage.  Even if the cities had not crashed, the Mythallars could not function with these new limits and became inert. I should note, that this city, Ythryn, came down hundreds of years before Karsus' folly, but no one knows why." 

He pauses, but quickly continues, "Fast forward over a thousand years, and continue to a hundred years or so ago. The goddess Mystra was again slain, but this time by another god. When she died, there was a prolonged period of chaos known as the Spell Plague. A new Mystra was born, but she....removed many of the limits on magic. Unbeknownst to most people, the Mythallars could again function. It was then that a Netheril city known as Thulthanthar emerged where it had been "hiding" in another realm, for over a thousand years. A shadow realm. The people, long tainted by being in the shadow realm, are now called Shadovar. They have been attempting to rebuild the Netheril empire and reclaim the lost Mythallars. In the war of conquest, their floating city of Thulthanter was brought to hover over the great elven city known as Myth Drannor. During the battle, the city was brought down, destroying both cities. The Mythallar survived however. We have found this Mythallar and secured it from the Lichs." 

He thinks for a moment longer, and then seems pleased that he's relayed the most important bits. "An ancient Netherese wizard, now a Lich, perhaps one of the oldest creatures to walk this world, named Larloch, has recently started siphoning energy out of Mythallars, and....based on your description, feeding it into his Mythallar, or...linking their power in some way. We don't know why. But, we do know that this process seems to be damaging the weave. The very fabric of magic." 

He points up into the sky above the city. There you see faint twinkles of light occasionally.  You'd noticed them before, but....just assumed it was some aspect of the magic city and it's lights. 

"Those twinkles are broken threads of the weave. This is probably the 'taint' you mentioned. We don't know his purpose, but we do need to stop him. Our mission is to secure as many Mythallar's as we can, and setup forces at each to protect them. Some very practical things can be done to prevent what Larloch is trying to accomplish. Mythallar's can only be 'bound' by 8 people. If they are bound by 8, then Larloch won't be able to have his Lichs bind it and draw the power away. Theoretically. Since drawing on a Mythallars power requires approval by the other 8 people attuned to it. So, our goal is to secure the Mythallar. It can't be moved, well...maybe it can, but either way, we can bring forces here to guard it and bond to it. Elves from my home nation are on standby to do so, though we also hope others will join the cause and contribute forces.  We are competing with the Shadovar in this. They hope to claim the Mythallars for their own. We have an uneasy alliance, since we both oppose Larloch. Oh. One other thing. Don't touch the Mythallar. You'll cease to exist."  He grins, "Pertinent information." 

He glances up at Mirica and Nuzej, "Did I forget anything? Oh, Simaal, the Mythallars range from 50 feet across, to 300 feet across. They are huge, and either float in place or rest upon a magical stand. We can't touch them, and magic won't move them. We could POTENTIALLY attempt to fly them, and the city they're within...somewhere, but, I have no idea if that's possible."

"Just one more thing - do not touch the Mythallar yourself, but should you get the opportunity to toss an enemy into it - use it." Mirica smiled. "Was very helpful in the last fight." Unliked brothers, she did not look all that happy about fighting the goddess. Not scared, just as someone appalled at the idea. "So, the guardian first? There is a ... thing here, that can be a powerful ally but we have to find it first."

"So the most important thing I think you're saying is that I should stop treating the shadowvar as some mean goblins.... since I had no idea what they were." Simaal grins "Thank you for the details, I had no idea about most of what you said, all new to me. But it also answered my questions, don't touch but feel free to throw liches into it, after we conquer you place a call to your allies and they take care of it." "hmmm while not mentioned, we also don't know how much time we have to explore either." Simaal sighs... 

Ever since acquiescing to joining the link, most of Xemnez attention seemed to stay upon the ruined city as if searching for something... or someone. He offers little to nothing in the way of answers or suggestions, opting to leave things to his brother to field any finer details. But he had listened, whether he wanted to or not, and might occasional grunt or bristle a little at some points. The first time the Leonin's attention appeared to truly shift had been to look up to what he had assumed to be the world's equivalent of the Nyx in passing, if not another aspect of the strange ruin.

Then once more, this time to look wide-eyed at Toc over the whole 'no touching' business. "That is... This is... Much to process." He admits after a time. "If this guardian can help though, then we must make use of it. Though be warned. If this guardian is anything like the stone giants with mouths in their torso, your Auril or the Liches might be in control of it."

Thyrius takes it all in but falls short of admitting that some of the tale still makes little sense to him. He tries to clarify a few things: "So you have secured one Mythallar, and the second one you've come across is now in the hands of the Shadovar. The one we are near to would be the third. My brother and I saw four more portals possibly linked to other corrupt Mythallars, so that makes it seven. Then, there is Larloch's own Mythallar who is feeding on these unsecured others, which makes it eight. This is quite a task ahead of us if we are to repair the Weave."

Regarding sphere dimensions, he clarifies: "The one ahead of is one of the smaller ones according to Toc's measurement. It is nearly 50 feet across. If I remember correctly, I'd say that Larloch's one, the one that feeds on others, is about 200 feet across. This means that there are larger ones out there. How big were the two Mythallars you have already secured?"

Next, regarding this potential guardian ally, he adds: "On our way out of the fallen city, we saw strange and wondrous looking buildings about. There was a palatial hexagonal crowned with a glittering domed roof, for instance. There was also a tower that reaches upward like a talon, its stonework studded in chiseled runes and a blue light shining from its highest window. A third structure we saw besides the central one was an amphitheater charged with static, with cracked steps descending to the stadium floor where a tiny glittering object rested on a pedestal of black stone. The arena also sported three metal masts that rose like gigantic tridents, each one emitting a low hum and whose branches were twenty-five feet off the ground and extended fifty feet into the air. Do any of these three structures sound like they could house the guardian you allude to?"

Finally, regarding the potential "closing" of the central structure, Thyrius just says "We felt a bit of a tingle across our skins as we each passed by a line of rubble on the ground. When we looked back, the entire central structure looked slightly hazy where it did not look so before. My brother tried to touch the haze. It seemed like a solid wall of force then."

"Sooo... wall of force.... any ideas how we get past that? Also... isn't that a bit on the ridiculously giant side?"

Toc shrugs, "Thyrius, yes, you have it right. And yes, we have quite the task. The other two Mythallars were 150 and 100 feet across. Now, about this wall....if it's just a big old wall of force there are a few ways through. Teleportation of any sort should work, disintegrate a section should as well, or dig our way under. Let's deal with that when we get there. But it sounds like first we're all agreed to go for this guardian..."  he eyes the Leonin, "...and be aware that control may not be certain. Unfortunate to hear, but understood." 

During their time spell casting and talking no one has witnessed any movement in the city ruins. Though lights do shine from many tower windows. Toc stands up and...following the pull from his medallion leads the way.  Its nearly 600 feet across the icy span that leads to the slanted city. Green and purple lights cast an otherworldly glow upon the frost draping the silent city. Clawing spires, broken domes, and steeples leaning at odd angles surround the huge central citadel that is lifted up on tree trunk like stalks. At the foot of the ice causeway, a giant statue lies prone and motionless, its surfaces gleaming with rime. It appears to be nearly 20 feet tall, though is now on its side and broken in two. It has no face and a thick neck, and a massive teeth filled mouth in the center of its torso. A massive sledgehammer is clutched in its hands. The thing appears to be solid rock. Both brothers recall passing it on the way out of the city.  (Y1 on map below)

Toc points to the left along the rim of the city. "The medallion is pulling that way." 

As the group steps from the ice bridge onto the surface of the slanted city, they stumble and almost fall as their balance is immediately thrown off. When you recover, you realize that gravity has now shifted to match the orientation of the city. For those on the ice bridge still, those standing on the city surface appear to be leaning to the left rather dramatically. Otherwise, the transition from ice bridge to city surface goes without trouble and the broken statue makes no signs of moving. 

The large inset arena is to your right, sparkles of energy dancing around the strange forks sticking in the air. The group fights their curiosity and turns away from it, heading left.  (Y3 on Map) 

You tread along the slick black stone of the enclave eyes and ears alert for any motion. The first structure you come to is a spire that is much like the one you found upside down, stuck in the ice and snow out in the Vale. A stone walkway leads to the tower that claws upward and inward, its pointed roof leaning menacingly overhead. Narrow windows pierce its walls, gargoyles cling to its eaves, and a doorway at the tower’s base gapes open. Single minded about your task, you continue on. 

Once past the first tower you begin walking past a large section of city buildings on your right. No sound, no motion....just the dim magical glow and icy silence of this place that seems more like a tomb the longer you look around. An arching strut of dark stone rises from the ruined district to a junction high up on the central spire. A gate engraved is set into the base of the strut, though from here you can make out no details, but it certainly strikes you as the "entrance" to the main central tower. (Y6) This strut seems to extend well beyond the wall of force's location, as described by the brothers. 

Continuing on, you reach the 2nd tower just as you're done passing the first city district.  This tower looks the same as the last tower you passed. Following Toc's guidance, you continue on.  Once past the city district, you see the next section contains a canopy of golden leaves crowning the trees inside a large sunken basin. The trees grow in stark contrast to their bleak surroundings, their branches swaying even though the air is deathly still. (Y10 on map).  Beyond the grove further into the city you see a colossal building has many lofty turrets in a state of disrepair, the ground below littered with their rubble. A giant-sized door at the base of the structure stands slightly ajar. (Y9 on map)  Continuing past the grove, you see a tall thin tower on the inside of the outer ring. (Y11 on Map) The walls of the tower are etched with intricate designs of hands and eyes. Silver light flickers from a high window, above which a large, carved eye animates and blinks. Part of the tower’s roof is missing. 

Finally you reach the 3rd outer tower. A stone walkway leads to the tower that claws upward and inward, its pointed roof leaning menacingly overhead. Narrow windows pierce its walls, gargoyles cling to its eaves, and a doorway at the tower’s base gapes open. Right nearby, just inside the lip of the city, you see a deep well plunges through the city floor into darkness. Five crystal benches encircle it, glinting under the purple glow of a nearby street lamp. (Y12) 

You've yet to spot any creatures, or hear so much as a whispered voice. The creaking and swaying of the grove was the closest you've come to seeing life here.