2. Strange Entrances

15th Therendor, 999 YK

Following on from last session, they fight the carrion tribe group they encountered in the labyrinth.
Bhaltair does an inspiring performance!
The Razor Wind tribesmen are very angry, they frenzy and attack.
One of them goes for Naze, who screams in terror.
Valaari runs up behind the triber and decapitates them, thinking Naze was wounded.
Valaari loots the dead and then distributes their weapons.
Both Runmae and Bhaltair are shaken by this. Bhaltair begins to build cairns for the dead, which confuses Warren.
Warren asks Bhaltair if they think the carrion tribes would do the same for them. Bhaltair doesn't care.
Bhaltair questions why they don't have respect for the dead, but they offered them a chance to join. Valaari explains that the Demon Wastes taints everything it touches, they can't permit anyone to leave.
Warren thinks that building cairns is a waste of time and resources. Valaari overrules him and offers a compromise, they'll all help to build the cairns so that it's faster.
They debate the fastest way to do this, and decide to make an above ground grave next to some cacti.
Zaphkiel and Naze are having a whispered conversation. Zaphkiel is confused, the corpses are going to dissipate and be reclaimed by the plane?
Naze has to explain that's not how it works here. Oh.
Naze is unfamiliar with what actually happens, suggests they may have to burn the bodies to make them dissipate.
Whilst building a cairn, Runmae whispers to Bhaltair and questions this whole thing. "These are the good guys, huh?"
Bhaltair cuts some of the corpses to nourish the plant. The cactus slowly begins to move towards the blood. Valaari tells them not to touch.
Naze is just standing there until Valaari tells him to help, which he does. Warren similarly isn't helping until Valaari chews him out and tells him to help.
They move on, and they level up to level 2!
When the group stops to rest, Zaphkiel is confused and questions why they are stopping. Naze has to explain that mortals need rest and wound care.
Zaphkiel questions how long they will need to rest for. All night!?
Zaphkiel will stand watch. They're disgusted. Evil doesn't sleep.

16th Therendor, 999 YK

In the morning, Naze calls Zaphkiel back from their vigil. Zaphkiel is disappointed there were no demon attacks.
The day goes mostly without incident, but Runmae spots the remains of a campfire.
They find a note. Valaari can't read it, so they hand it to Runmae.
Runmae reads it and passes the information on to Valaari. Valaari is outraged, they need to find these people! They've been trekking around here for days.
Bhaltair uses one of his powers to try and detect a planar rift, and does sense something nearby. That's an interesting skill.
Valaari asks Bhaltair to lead them to it. Even if they can't find these people, they need to mark a new Khyber entrance on their map.
As they walk, Naze wishes he had some more protection. Zaphkiel responds by glowing and then consuming him, merging them together. Oh.
This bamboozles the group.
Naze then unmerges with Zaphkiel, quite an experience.
Valaari asks if there's anything else they need to know about him? He swears he didn't know he could do this!
It takes a few hours, but Bhaltair is able to locate the Khyber entrance, a cavern that descends into the ground.
Valaari wants to go in and identify which demiplane it is, but it's very dangerous. They ask everyone elses opinion.
They all start egging Warren on to go and check it out. He's stealthy!
Fine, Warren agrees to go in. Valaari gives him orders, he goes in, looks around, and comes back. If he's gone longer than 10 minutes, they're going in after him.
Warren descends into Khyber and finds himself in a landscape of rolling metallic meadows, with forests of adamantine trees and a river of flowing mercury. He witnesses rust monsters feeding on the grass. He deduces this to the Ironlands.
Warren returns to the others and explains he thinks it's the Ironlands.
Bhaltair asks what this means. Is that a region of Khyber? Valaari explains it's a demiplane.
Valaari asks if Warren saw anyone in there, but he just saw bugs. No tracks, it did score his boots up though.
Valaari recalls that the Ironlands are safer than some other planes, but still dangerous. They recall that the Kech Shaarat inhabit the plane, as well as fiends and metallic animals.
Valaari marks the entrance to identify the plane.
Valaari suggests waiting by the entrance to see if the group resurfaces. Runmae wants to speak to this group, she missed the last Airball game and wants to know if they saw it.
They debate it, Bhaltair suggesting the rest of the patrol is more important. Valaari is convinced, these people may never resurface.
They check out Warren's map and confirm it's good.
They continue the patrol, and that evening, Valaari has a dream. When they awake, they don't remember the specifics, just that they need to go somewhere.

The Postmen's Letter

This is Carro Canowyn d'Sivis, navigator and scribe of the 3rd Orien Expedition into Khyber, informally known as the Postmen. We have had to surface in what I can only assume are the Demon Wastes, or possibly somewhere along the Byeshk Mountains in Droaam.

I am not so certain that a safe route through Khyber exists. The demiplanes are universally hostile to us, though not equally dangerous. The variety in horrors that exist down there is truly mind boggling.

I don't really know why I'm writing this, it's not going to go into the official report. Writing helps me make sense of my thoughts, though.

I knew this mission would be dangerous when I signed up for it, but nothing could truly communicate what was waiting for us down there. Words almost don't do it justice. Khyber is both terrifying and wonderful, and though I fear we are doomed, I don't-

I don't regret coming. I've seen things I never would've dreamed of, alien flora and fauna, geological impossibilities, and even places where the very fabric of reality is different to what we know. There's a demiplane where light is a liquid!

We're going to spend the night on the surface and treat our wounds.

Valaari's Dream

Valaari, you find yourself in a strange place. You're standing on a ledge overlooking a vast, ruined city built into the walls of a great ravine. You cannot see the bottom of the canyon, it seems to descend into an impenetrable darkness, but rising from that darkness at the canyon's widest point is a spire, impossibly tall, rising above the walls of the ravine.

Bridges connect the spire to the rest of the city, and you can see what appear to be…golems, and other forms of construct going about their day, tending to a city that nobody lives in.

You've never seen this place before, and never read of anything like it either. You feel a slight pull towards the spire in the center, like something within is calling out to you, or to anybody who will listen.

You can't understand what is being communicated to you though, beyond this pull to find this place.