After he battle, there were little over a hundred men left, with around forty being returners. Everything was deathly silent, and Hurst gave some words for the fallen. There were eleven pyramids ahead, all around fifty metres square, save the largest at the back, which was double the width.
After a rest, the three elves wandered off on their own to investigate some of the lesser pyramids, and the paid mercenaries headed into the nearest one to look for plunder. Hurst insisted on heading straight for the large pyramid, and the party took the lead, with him, Gem, Taveck, and Cleric Boyden. They were met with a huge stone door, but with a group effort they budged it open.
Inside was a long corridor, with ancient carvings adorning the walls. The carvings depicted images of the civilisation of Symbaroum, such as battles long past, and even what looked like a person walking through some sort of door and disappearing. Brunt and Orlan were confused as to why the others were so interested in that detail.
After checking the walls for traps, they continued down the corridor, but Orlan and Lanky booth triggered some sort of floor switch, and bolts flew out of well hidden holes the walls, hitting them. After this, they were much more cautious, and managed to avoid the rest of the floor switches.
At the end of the corridor was a large open room, with a higher ceiling, and now carvings covering the ceiling too. Maddox used detect magic, and found that there was some sort of magical trip switch in the middle of the room; possibly going across the middle of the room, but not to the ceiling. They then noticed some cogs and a mechanism on the far side of the room. Boyden said he would be able to disarm it, but only from the other side of the room. Maddox turned him into a gaseous form, making the task a simple one as he flew up high by the ceiling. It turned out there was a falling ceiling trap, but Boyden had no trouble disarming it.
Then, they reached a vast central room, over a hundred feet square, with a large square hole in the ceiling, giving views of the sky, where the centre of the pyramid would be. There were steps on all four sides heading to the main part of the room. There was a large statue of heroic figures in each corner, and and alter in the middle of the room. But most interesting were twelve stone arch shaped door frames arranged like the numbers of the clock around the room, with the alter in the centre. The arches were numbered, one to twelve.
Boyden said that he'd been working on his rituals, and that surely the archways could be portals, activated from the alter. This confused Brunt and Orlan; the others finally told them the truth about Eberron. They both looked sceptical but shrugged it off, not really sure what to believe. Brunt did seem interested though. Orlan wasn't as sure.
Boyden headed on down to investigate, the others following. Brunt also noticed fresh animal bones lying on the floor which seemed out of place. As Boyden reached the alter, some sort of trap was triggered and a magical barrier appeared around the edge of the room, leaving only a ten foot wide perimeter outside of the barrier. The party and the other four were inside the barrier, but the rest of The Returners were on the outside.
One of the mages called from outside the barrier that they'd found another alter seemingly connected to the barrier, and Boyden noticed that there were lines connecting the central alter to the twelve arches and the barrier, so they agreed to work rituals on both simultaneously. Before they got chance to start, there was a loud flapping noise coming from above. Swooping down was a large dragon of some sort, who landed in the centre of the room. It made a comment about how excited it was that it's food had delivered itself straight to him. He was looking forward to eating Maddox first; the dragon was a lindworm and saw the cloak that Maddox wore.
A violent battle ensued with the ten people in the room fighting the dragon. At one point it picked up Lanky with it's tail and whirled him around like a rag doll, and then charmed him, causing him to throw his sword at Maddox. However, the strength of numbers proved to much for the lindworm, and he was soon defeated, though not after it had caused a considerable amount of pain. The party took this chance to heal up, whilst Boyden started working on the alter. Before he started he told them once the ritual was done, he would be able to hold it for only a few seconds, and would then drop concentration to get through a portal, at which point they would only stay open for a few more seconds.
As he started, they noticed each portal was numbered from one to twelve, but there was no other writing. Then, as he started the ritual, blue light travelled out from the alter to each arch, and to the alter outside the magical barrier. The light began to manifest some writing at the top of each arch, though not clear enough to read, as well as a thin film of light flickering across the door frames.
Suddenly, the four statues cracked open, and a dragoul emerged from each, but even more terrifying was a more fierce looking dragoul-a crypt lord-who rose from the floor not far from the alter. He boomed that they would not be allowed to use the technology of his civilisation, and started walking towards Boyden at the alter. Another fierce battle began. The crypt lord used a cold attack, affecting everyone in the room, as well as swinging with his black blade, and some sort of life stealing mind attack. Orlan did his best to keep the crypt lord away from Boyden, with Lanky dealing some nasty blows as well. The others started to take down the lesser dragouls. Gem got into a rage, taking down a dragoul, and Taveck proved that having only one arm didn't mean he was useless. Hurst showed what a bad-ass he was, getting stuck into the fight. Everyone gave it their all.
As the battle raged, the light in the portals became a solid blue and the writing above them lit up, now legible. The barrier around the room weakened too, and the Returners outside it started to fling fireballs and the like at it, though it sounded like they were under attack too. The party started to read what was on the portals whilst continuing to fight. They said things like "Strahd's Realm", "Always Winter", and "The Free Cities". They quickly realised they were clues for which realm the portal lead to, but none so far seemed to fit.
They desperately check each door in the heat of the battle, eventually finding that door five said "The Dragon Between". Maddox was quick to get the reference and called to everyone that it most likely referred to the genesis story of Eberron. However, he was still eager to check the final two doors. Wulf was having none of it, and dived straight through the door. At this point, Boyden had to drop concentration and start heading to the door too. Finally, the last doors were checked and the party agreed to go through door five. One by one they header toward it, and helping matters was the fact that the crypt lord was defeated. It looked like plain sailing but then more Dragouls and even another crypt lord spawned. They were relentless.
The barrier finally came down, and what remained of the outside Returners--about fifteen of them--rushed in toward the portal, slaughtering enemies in their wake (although more enemies followed them in), including the new crypt lord. Of those who stated inside the barrier, only Orlan, Hurst, Fenya and Taveck remained. Brunt had decided to try his luck on the other side. An emerging Dragoul grabbed Taveck's leg, pulling him to the floor, and Hurst yelled at Orlan to help him as Hurst jumped through the portal. The portal would only remain open for a few more seconds.
Fenya got through and Orlan heroically headed for Taveck, easily killing the dragoul clinging onto his leg. Taveck leapt up and made it through in time. One of the final Returners--the drugged up half-elf name Alvalor--flung a fireball, wiping out half of the remaining dragouls. Orlan took a long glance at the portal, but made up his mind. He stood his ground, ready to die valiantly. The other Returners had all gone through the door. The enemies kept coming at Orlan and he kept putting him down. He waited for the end but it never came. Suddenly, there were no foes left to fight, and he was alone in the room. He collapsed into a heap.
The others found themselves in a forest, though with a much different feel to Davokar. It was light, the sun shining down warmly through the canopy. Miraculously, they were all but Orlan were present, and the four leaders had all made it to. They knew not the fate of Orlan, though it seemed likely he was dead. For Hurst, this was a huge moment, one he'd been waiting for for a decade. He screamed triumphantly, thought they weren't completely sure they were back home. Of the other fifteen, there was much happiness, but also sadness, for some had lost loved ones in the final battle.
Wulf noticed something odd about the trees. They looked old, but didn't have all the traits that ancient trees should have, as if they hadn't been there for long. Eventually, the Returners decided to follow the scent of Wolve the wolf. They soon came upon a new looking town, which appeared to still be being built. They came across some farmers, who eventually told Maddox that they were in Cyre in Eberron, but that the date was about a year or so on from when they left. This was the date they expected, but Cyre shouldn't have existed so this was cause for confusion, however the farmers did not want to talk further.
They headed to the town, and learnt from the guards that this was new Cyre - not the city called new Cyre, but a new new Cyre. It turns out that Oargev ir'Wynarn's expedition was a success. Though the party had gone through a portal to Symbaroum, the men left behind had won a giant battle. Upon expelling the demons in The Mournland, part of it was reclaimed. A small section was no longer covered in mist, and the greenery came back. Prince Oargev reclaimed the land as his own and refounded Cyre. This was the new city of Oargev (named directly after the prince--now king--due to his valiant efforts in battle). The Mournland, now split in two, has become known as the Southern Mourn and the Northern Morn.
The news of the Returners was so big, that the prince himself came to see them. He clearly knew Hurst, and was excited and glad to see him, after thinking him dead for a decade. Other Returners were reunited with loved ones, and had much to celebrate. The party could finally rest, their quest to get back to Eberron finally complete.