Post
by Anoush » Sun Jun 13, 2021 3:45 am
Bloodbeat’s Journal:
I ran into Vralino the other day at No Fuk, a seedy tavern in Throal. The tavern’s Name was a long, and separate, story.
She was planning an expedition to Cara Fahd. ork heritage. Her ork friend, Maksa Uttarpak, was recommending various way for her to connect to her gahad, some sort of ork passion. Maksa made the point that Vralino had never learned to be an ork, growing up and living in cosmopolitan Throal. He claimed she was “the worst ork ever.” I didn’t know that many order, so couldn’t comment. Maksa had suggested a trip to Cara Fahd, an ancient, long-gone nation of orks. It was destroyed before the Scourge, and since then, picked over by looters. Vralino agreed that a trip there could teach her about this ork passion and she really liked the idea of getting rid of looters.
So, Vralino collected a couple others — Lazulin (troll Raider and Sun Herald) and Azurea (troll Shadow and Purifier) — and we made plans. I did some research at the Great Library and learned that Cara Fahd was established roughly 1,000 years ago, just south of the Delaris Mountains. A long way away. The nation lasted about 250 years. It was involved in two wars, one with the troll nation of Ustrect and another with the human nation of Landis. During the latter, both armies were decimated by a series of earthquakes, which also destroyed Cara Fahd. This occurred about 200 years before the Scourge.
So we booked passage on an airship for the western Twilight Peaks. We bought supplies for several weeks in the wilderness and set off. The trip took about 2 weeks by airship, then 2 more weeks trekking through the mountains following a troll guide we’d hired. Our route through the mountains started in the Twilight Peaks, then wandered into parts of old Ustrect, then skirted the southern peaks of the Delaris Mountains, Our guide left us in a deserted mountain valley with directions on how to continue. We continued south and eventually came upon the river valley the guide had described.
Along the way we found many valleys inhabited only by spirits ready to be put to rest. Vralino amused us all by summoning a Fire Marauder to cook dinner for us. Azurea warned us about numerous dangerous plants, including poison ivy. Lazulin studied the mountain espagra.
Once we reached the valley where Cara Fahd was supposed to be, we were at a loss for where to go next. The most excitement we had was when we saw, or thought we saw, the silhouette of a flying dragon in the distance. We did see numerous griffons. Another day Lazulin swore he saw an airship in the sky.
So we tried talking to the spirits. Vralino summoned earth elementals who told us the only other people around were hunters and trackers, but that in the ruins there were others. Ruins, where? We had no idea. Vralino searched around and found some animal tracks, so we started following them. Eventually, we found stone markers with symbols etched on them that indicated Namegivers used these trails, too. From the signs, Vralino thought that they weren’t residents of the area, but perhaps surveyors? This all happened on the same day that Lazulin had spied the airship.
So, we followed their path. The ground was warm, and eventually the grass died out and was replaced with bare rock. Soon we saw lava on the surface, some still glowing and molten. The astral was open, and there was an ancient, astral imprint on the earth. In the area we found the remains of an old war — ancient, broken weapons, pot shards, all the debris of the long-dead, including broken stone walls. Could this be Cara Fahd?
The path continued and soon we were crossing a lava field. It was crazy hot. Every step was painful, and as time went on, the incredible heat wore us all down. I saw the heat shimmering off the ground even on the astral. Vralino summoned a fire elemental to help us resist the heat. I don’t know how we would’ve survived without its aid.
After an hour or so, the elemental suddenly un-manifested. He was still present astrally, but hiding. The temperature spiked. Still wondering what caused it, a fire-filled suit of armor burst from the ground nearby, carrying a sword made of fire. Vralino talked to it, really, argued with it. Then more figures appeared. A cavalryman on fire, with a steed made of pure flame. A female figure brandishing a whip of fire. Another with wings of fire and wielding two blades. We had no choice but to fight them.
Meanwhile, Vralino continued arguing with the initial figure. We learned that the first figure was Aknash the Rager, the cavalryman was Duvok the Breaker, the whip-holder was Kalki the Punisher, and the winged one was Jagila the Hungry. They demanded that we explain ourselves, and tell them why we were trespassing on the land. Still, we fought them.
Vralino explained about our quest to find her gahad and that we weren’t here to loot the ruins, but the fight continued. Jagila rocketed off leaving a trail of fire, hitting Vralino with the flames. Aknash burst into flames when Azurea killed him. Duvok gave us a final salute and pointed us toward the ruins, saying that we were half a day behind the others, and that it had been a pleasure to test our mettle, just before charging Azurea and getting killed himself. Jagila ordered us to “Go! Take care of the looters!” and then blasted off into the sky, followed quickly by Kalki.
We patched ourselves up and followed Duvok’s direction. In about four hours we reached the edge of the lava field, and three hours later reached a ziggurat, fallen into ruins. We rested a short ways away overnight.
The next day, the astral was open. On the ziggurat we saw wards, but no alarm seemed to have been raised. We found the tracks of the looters, 3 to 6 people in all. We opted to try to sneak into the pyramid. So everyone received a Shadow Meld, and we proceeded quietly up to the third level of the ziggurat. Vralino managed to trigger a trip wire, but nothing happened as a result, or so we thought. Inside, there were stairs leading downwards which led to a large hall.
There, we discovered that the trip wire had set off an alarm. They were ready for us, hiding behind statues and in various niches. It was a tough fight. Their leader was a female elf in heavy armor, with a broad sword and shield. She was a very experienced warrior, who introduced herself as Pilli Endros, a Theran. There was a windling who peppered us with spells, always staying out of our reach; she was called Viseniara Candler we learned. There was a human archer Named Gelinia Astrapoles, who was also very adept at keeping her distance. A male elf possessed Nethermantic abilities, but was also skilled at stealth attacks, Named Rindalos Hex.
We finally beat them, although it was a close call. I had to bring Vralino back with Last Chance. When we left the ziggurat Jagila was waiting for us, and she told Vralino that she would come to her aid when called upon.
Outside, we found a drakkar of Theran make. But none of us knew how to fly a drakkar. And we were hundreds and hundreds of miles away from home. We eventually found a troll clan in the nearby mountains who would fly the drakkar to Throal for us, in exchange for us giving them the drakkar after they’d dropped us off there. Both parties were happy with this arrangement.
Quite an adventure! Not only did we find the ruins of Cara Fahd, but Vralino found her gahad.