In-game start date: May 25th, '75
After the destruction of Ter'Nathra, and based on Eherom's dream, the party decides to head East in the hope of finding Ehrheral's tomb. There's a general belief in the party that it's approximately one hundred miles from the southern edge of the great wall, though none are fully certain on this point.
The party traveled for two days without incident, then began to notice a change in the color of the sky up ahead. There seemed to be a large, white wall ahead, leading to speculations of mist or smoke, though the wall did not appear to drift or grow with time.
Thufark, using Farsee, reported that the wall had uneven borders and thickness and stretched North and South as far as he could see, though it appeared to only be two to three miles wide. Undeterred, the party pressed on and soon began to notice the smell of the ocean in the air and a sound like that of roaring water. After another day, they reached the edge of the wall to discover it truly was mist and that a canyon had been carved into the land, filled with a torrent of running water, flowing away from the ocean, hundreds of feet deep. As the party watched, a poor, soon to be ex-whale was carried past them far below.
All agree to follow the canyon North for three days in the hope of finding either the cause or a place where the entire party could cross, Cuddles included.
After four days, driven on due to a change in the nature of the echo from the canyon, the party came upon a great waterfall, whereupon the river expanded outward and dove into a huge hole. Gusten scouted the change, reporting that at its widest the cavern was three to four miles across, as though the earth and simply split open, dropping to a depth of two thousand feet. There, the water continued to flow underneath the earth. Old ruins could be seen, revealed by whatever had caused the canyon.
The party agreed that the best course of action would be to circle around and continue going East, as they had been intending over a week ago. It was by then April 5th.
On his watch that night, Al'xios saw strange glows moving under the water. Informing Thufark, who was on watch with him, the two crept to the edge of the cliff to get a better look. They counted twelve lights, fifteen to twenty feet in diameter, disapearing under the cliff. They woke Ayrkin and Gusten, then Thufark leaped off the cliff, fly spell in tow, in order to get a closer look.
Due to some mistiming, Thufark's spell ran out and he fell, though he did manage to snag a bit of cliff before plunging into the water below. Faced with a long, slippery climb back up, he activated his glow stone and bedded down for the rest of the night on a ledge.
Up above, when the monk did not return after half an hour, concern grew and Ayrkin agreed to fly down to see if he could determine what had happened. Thanks to the glow stone, he found Thufark and the two soon returned. In Thufark's report, he characterized what he'd seen as a "swimming train."
By the next morning, the water level had risen considerably and there was no sign of the strange lights. As per usual, an argument erupted over what to do: stay and loot the caverns of the ancient civilization or proceed onwards and eastwards. Ayrkin (of course he was the one wanting to loot) lost the round and the party headed East, trading the cooling mist of the river for the heat of the wasted lands.
While distractedly trudging through the head and sand, the party was set upon by a boned, scissored, monster of a centipede, its tail that of a scorpion, its mouth spewing Aereolus fire.
And…fight!
When the black liquid it spewed hit Jayden and Rook, the two turned against their companions, nearly losing their own lives as their compatriots fought them off as well as the monster (though Rook lost his arm to Al'xios' blade). Erica, Ayrkin, and Thufark all concentrated on the centipede, who took some time to subdue. Jayden managed to gain enough control of himself to call down water to wash himself and Rook of the foul substance, freeing them from its grip.
After the battle, all notice that Rook's arm appeared to be regenerating, or at least healing over quickly — a sign that Klest was likely back.
While the party began to rest and heal, Thufark explored the hole out of which the centipede had emerged. It led into a hexagonal corridor. As it was much cooler in the tunnel and vaguely defensible, the party agreed to move down into it. This surety was quickly challenged as several smaller centipedes appear down one end of the corridor.
Fight!
These centipedes being adolescents, they were far easier to defeat and the party returned to healing, resting, and praying. Surely, the bickering won't be too far behind.
