Broken Relics
The heroes descended and discovered a worked stone tomb, the walls of which appeared to be inscribed with the symbols of an unknown language. Most of the delicate items that were once stored here were broken or scattered across the floor. Down a short flight of stairs, however, the relics remained untouched. Barely visible in their torch light, a rusty iron grate was seen, leading into a dark passage.

Vinara moved towards the unbroken relics and found a pair of braziers, still containing oil. The oil sputtered into flame with the touch of her torch, casting a dim light throughout the room. Morg and Gwyn moved to investigate the undamaged relics. When the brazier was lit, two large, man-shaped beings of blue crystal appeared out of the shadows and moved menacingly towards Gwyn and Morg.

The battle was fierce, as the Shard Golems radiated an unnatural aura, stabbing at the minds of those nearest to them. Their fists caused many bruises as well as additional psychic trauma. Morg assaulted one with a series of savage blows, knocking it back and shattering it. The heores were able to defeat the last golem, but both Gwyn and Morg took serious injuries in the process.

Among the ruins for the shard golems, Morg discovered what appeared to be the key to the grate. After quick rest to finish searching the tomb, they unlocked the grate which made a horrible screeching sound as it opened. They passed through and moved down the dark passageway, behind them the grate closed.

Who’s Trespassing?
As the party moved down the passage the sounds of chattering voices were heard. The scent of fresh meat assaulted them, but the darkness beyond their torch’s light concealed the next room’s inhabitants. Throwing caution aside, Morg entered the room, revealing large number of alcoves containing jars and other containers. A large series of cracks in the floor led deeper into the caves. Vinara located and lit several sconces along the outside wall, casting dim illumination across the room.

Apparently drawn by the light, half a dozen creatures emerged from the cracks in the floor, a group of Hejkin. With an evil, murderous glares, they moved to attack the party, hoping for a new source of food and treasure. The heroes were not caught unaware and met their attacks, quickly dispatching two of the hejkin who were babbling mostly unintelligible phrases. Driven deeper into their madness with the loss of their kin, the remaining hejkin waded into battle with slashing claws and two with lightning discharging from their bodies.

The battle was costly for the heroes, with Vinara’s staff breaking and more wounds for the party. However, they were able to defeat their enemies, with the last two bloodied hejkin fleeing into their tunnels. Not accustomed to his enemies living, Morg dumped oil down the tunnels and lit it on fire. The sounds of the Hejkin burning giving him some satisfaction.

Restless Spirits
Taking a moment to catch their breath after the fight with the Hejkin the party took the opportunity to search the room. The majority of the containers contained foul food, but the heroes were able to locate some usable food. In addition, several healing fruits and numerous trade stones were recovered.

Crossing the entrances to the hejkin caves, the party approached the last remaining alcove, containing a sarcophagus. As they approached it, the heroes began to feel a psychic drone in their minds. Their vision began to blur and when it cleared, a human figure was standing before them, wearing archaic robes that flowed into the room like a mist. Its fingers extended into long sharp claws. With it jaw jutting forward, opening, its words infiltrated the heroes minds.

“You should not have come here. The time is not yet right.”

Gwyn attempted to reason with the apparition, but its intentions were clear. It sought punish those who had plundered and desecrated the tomb. Moving swiftly, its claws tore into Morg, freezing his flesh. When Gwyn struck it with lightning, it became enraged at her use of magic, and summoned forth additional specters to attack the party.

Morg and Vinara make quick work of most of the new specters but not before they were assaulted by their chilling claws, and Gwyn finished them off with her magic. The fight against the haunting spirit was long and painful, with all of the heroes suffering serious injuries. At last it was defeated when Morg’s axe decapitated it, causing it to disperse.

In the Presence of Another Time
A heartbeat later, two figures emerged from the ground behind the heroes: a creature with skin like stone and a living wave of water, both vaguely human.

Our wind brother became one of the defilers and brought down death and evil to this peaceful place. But no matter, the time it not right for such trifles. you have proved worthy to carry our message back to the surface to show others that not all arcanists are defilers. You can become examples by preserving the arcane knowledge our people once held. The path you have chose might one day repair the damage done. We can only wait and hope the elemental prophecies are indeed true. Go now, and show the misguided that arcane energy can be used to preserve instead of destroy.

We shall open a way for you out of the mountains, for you are still being hunted. Know too that the one who hunts you is not entirely lost; he can be reformed.

With that the spirit of earth and water moved into the hejkin tunnels, reshaping them into passageways large enough to accommodate their heroes. Exhausted the heroes took a much needed rest before venturing into the tunnels. After several days travel in the tunnels, the party emerged back on the surface.

As they approached the surface, the familiar smell of dusty air entered their lungs, but the air was was strangely cool and humid. As their eyes adjusted to the daylight, it took them several moments to comprehend what they saw – a forest of trees, lush and green stretched before them. A loud crack rung out and they glanced around for the clearing. Unnoticed at first, the party found themselves surrounded by dozens of spears pointed at them.

Their eyes trained downward to the short creature holding the glittering iron spear. Less than four feet tall, and wearing primitive masks and clothes adorned with feathers and other trinkets, their captors were instantly recognizable – halflings. One wearing a headdress of feathers and skulls stepped forward.

“You are our captives now. You will come with us.”

More Than One Way Out
In the middle of the Forest Ridge, the party was surrounded by Halfling warriors who demanded they surrender. Knowing the fate that would likely await them, none of the hero’s wanted to surrender and they prepared for a fight. The halflings, knowing the adventurer’s must be powerful to survive the tomb, were reluctant to fight and a compromise was reached, whereby the adventurers were blindfolded and lead to the halfling village. Vinara’s innate capabilities with the Way allowed her to track their course, unbeknownst to the halflings.

When the long march ended, the heroes had their blindfolds removed found themselves in what appeared to be a ruined temple. A few remains of prior guests of the halflings were visible around a blood-soaked altar. The smell of fresh cooked meat made their stomach’s churn. Distant conversations were heard in the language of the halflings and although what was being said was unknown, the party quickly realized they were near a larger halfling settlement.

Negotiating with the Halfling Elder
Before long a large procession of halflings arrived at the temple. The elder of the Halfling tribe demanded to know why the party had intruded into their sacred forests. The Gwyn told their tale of being pursued by the obsidian storm and their encounters with the elemental spirits of earth, water and fire. The Halfling Elder was delighted with their tale and believed that they could help bring about a new Green Age for Athas.

The elder explained that if they were to pursue their goal, they would need to master the many powers of the world: mental, primal and arcane as well as have sufficient physical prowess to survive the many dangerous encounters that they would face. Their lack of training in the Way would need to be compensated for if they were to have any hope of success.

The halfling elder told the heroes of how the Deposers of Kalak had sought their aid and were gifted with a magical spear they used to help defeat the sorcerer-king Kalak. This spear was crafted from the sacred Tree of Life and could not be made again, unless another tree were found. They also learned how the Dwarves of old were able to resist the sorcerer-kings longer than many others, as evident by their survival of the Cleansing Wars. Finally they told how the sorcerer-kings were on the path to become Dragons and suggested that a powerful preserver could aspire to such powers as well.

As a gift, the heroes were inked with tattoos resembling flame wreathed heart representing their friendship with the halflings and to provide them with assistance in times of need. Gwyn took a particular interest in the tattoos and the process for enchanting them.

Hacking the Thick
The heroes left the halfling village and headed north toward the less treacherous western approaches of the Ringing Mountains. Within the Forest Ridge, the group felt rather odd, as if they were walking through two lands at once. They felt like they were moving between one land with firm earth and another atop clouds of mist. None in the group, including Morg, had ever seen such lush and thick trees with broad leaves. None had ever felt such cool and moist air. Hacking through the forest was difficult and they needed to rest often.

One of their short rests was interrupted by exotic screeching sounds and the underbrush erupted and a large group of Zairtail, vicious reptiles, emerged. The party was stunned by the gaze of a larger lizard, while swarms set upon Vinara and Morg. With some effort Morg cleaved through the swarm to attack the gazer, while Vinara was attacked by anther larger creature who latched on to her leg. Gwyn used her magic to summon flames that consumed a second swarm. Just as the party was gaining control of the fight, a large beast with orange and black stripped fur emerged from the jungle and began to attack Gwyn.

The party eventually defeated their attackers, but suffered serious wounds. Eager to reach Tyr, they only took a short rest to bind their wounds and recover a bit of their strength. With Vinara guiding them, they continued on through the forest.

Clear the Path
Vinara continued to lead her friends through the jungle, stopping only long enough to forage for food, they quickly made their way to edge of the Forest Ridge. As the area cleared, they found a deep divide separating the Forest Ridge from the Ringing Mountains. A long slice of the nearby cliff face had recently sheered off from the mountain and fell, wedging itself precariously between the two sides of the chasm.

Wary of danger, they proceeded cautiously and Gwyn sensed an odd energy about the stones. Carefully making their way across the bridge, avoiding they pockets of energy, they noticed the corpses of several individuals on the ledges below. As they neared the far side of the chasm, they were set up by vicious Gith.

With a burst of arcane energy, Gwyn vaulted over the Gith and landed, knocking several of the piercers off the edge and down into the chasm to their deaths. Morg engaged in a fierce battle with the Gith leader, a spearhead, and was nearly overcome. If not for the vitality granted by his rage and the cackling shruken head he wore around his neck, he would have been killed.

Vinara attempted to keep her companions alive by channeling her primal magic while engaging the spearhead and the hobblers. Eventually their opponents were defeated, but the heroes were greatly weakened by the encounter. While they rested, Morg ventured down the cliff face to the ledge with the corpses. While most was ruined, he recovered some useful gear, and a priceless treasure for Vinara – a bronze staff shaped like a rigid cobra.

Twisted Desert Denizens
As the group descended through the Ringing Mountains back into the desert surrounding Tyr the sun began to move towards the horizon, casting long shadows of the rocky landscape. The shadows were abruptly snuffed out by a bursting darkness that overwhelmed the area. The sickening familiar clatter of falling stone shards rung out once again.

A clutch of warped lizardfolk jumped onto the rocks as the sky continued to darken. One of them lets out a blood-curdling shriek and the others responded in similar tones. With their cries the hero’s skin begins to crawl as a static charge began to build in the dry desert sand.

As they continued to cry out the ssurrans attacked, the three sandwarped ssurrans moving into melee with the group, while the twisted ssurran began chanting. Gwyn’s magic clawed through the attackers, while Morg moved in to interrupt the chanting. Too late a swirling mass of sand formed behind Vinara and blinded her before blasting her with stinging sand.

Once again the party was victorious but greatly weakened from the fight. Gwyn finished off the last of the sandwarped lizardfolk with a burning spray of fire while Vinara and Bear dealt the killing blow to the twisted ssurran. The Dust Devil was finally finished with a combination of Gwyn’s lightning and Morg’s axe.

Wastewalker Assault
With only a few moments to catch their breath, a whirlwind of sand and stone swirls at the top of the nearby boulders. Flanked by three yellow-skinned ssurrans is a black-scaled lizardfolk with deep purple eyes and a spiny back. “You cannot essscape me, arcanisstsss!” Seemingly called into existence by his words, flying bits of obsidian coalesce into two human sized lizard-shaped elementals that pulse with lightning…

Wind and Stone
Finally confronted by their pursuer, and still suffering the wounds of their long journey out of the mountains, Morg, Vinara and Gwyn took stock of the situation. Remembering their encounters over the past days, they prepared to meet the Wastewalker.

Morg moved in quickly to attack the Ssurrans and Storm Shard having trouble connecting with the lizardmen, but greatly wounding the storm. Vinara made the most of her healing to to keep Morg alive during his assault, while wounding several of the lizardmen. Gwyn used her magic from behind the lines, having taken many serious wounds during their march from the Forest Ridge. The group was able to defeat several of their opponents, but the outlook was bleak, as the Wastewalker had yet to enter the combat.

During the battle, the Wastewalker held back, trying to convince Vinara and Morg to turn upon Gwyn, but they never wavered in their support of the friend, knowing that she was one of the few true preservers in Athas. The Wastewalker began to listen as they recounted their encounters with the elemental spirits, who had charged them restoring Athas. Although skeptical, he listened as they told him the information imparted by the Halflings. Finally, when Gwyn herself showed the tattoo given by the Halflings, did he call off the rest of his attackers.

The hero’s debated the fate of the Wastewalker, trying to decided between killing him, taking him to Tyr and setting him free, promising to only hunt defilers. Eventually they settled on sending him and his follower free, trusting that he appreciated the difference between defilers and preservers and knowing that he could be a valuable ally in the future.

The Golden City
With the black clouds that had pursued them for what seemed like ages finally gone, the group approached the gates of the city of Tyr. Looming over the skyline of Tyr, the great Ziggurat of Kalak and the Golden Tower were visible at first, then the rest of the city rose above the horizon. The group entered the Caravan Gate and began their exploration of the free city, determined to continue on their quest to restore Athas to its former state and topple the defilers that were the cause of its fall from Glory.

Setting Up Shop
Having spent a few days in the city of Tyr, the heroes decided that their best course of action was to establish a base of operations in the Elven Market. The new shop, Free City Tattoo, would require an investment in order to set up shop. Gwyn, Morg and Vinara traveled about the city attempting to sell some of the treasures they had uncovered in their flight from the Wastewalker. They had little luck in the Smith’s District, although they located several interesting shops including the Tarnished Cup.

About the same time the disgraced noble, Castri, wandered into the Artisan District to look up an old friend, a Half-Giant named Karlen who was the proprietor of Karlen’s Eye. Although Karlen was unable to directly aid Castri, he did pass along a rumor that he had heard about a recently uncovered ruins called the Face in the Stone, which could contain valuables that he would be happy to sell and give Castri a commission. Karlen also suggested that Castri be on the lookout for new arrivals in the city, a group of adventurers who arrived after the last obsidian storm.

A short while later Castri found the adventurers making their way about the city attempting to finance their new venture. After a brief introduction the entire group returned to Karlen’s Eye and arrived at a satisfactory price that would let the group get enough seed money for their shop. Karlen also suggested that if they needed money and were so inclined the city was holding a gladiatorial contest during the upcoming Festival of the Cooling Sun.

Morg set out to enter the group under the name Obsidian Storm for the five day gladiatorial contest.

First Arena Game
Morg and his companions entered the Arena, not knowing what their first contest would be. The beast masters released a pair of Ankheg and their broodlings, and with that the fight began. The large Ankhegs moved forward towards the gladiators but were unable to close the entire distance. Castri let loose a series of arrows and felled one of the broodlings. Vinara and Bear targeting the closest Ankheg along with Gwyn (who was careful to disguise her arcane abilities) and Morg. The beast was bloodied but still was able to grab and hold Morg, dragging him away to be eaten by the broodlings. Eventually the beast went down under the constant assault of Castri, Vinara and Morg, but not without inflicting serious wounds on the party. The second Ankheg and the remainder of the broodlings were defeated by Vinara, Gwyn and Castri, leaving Team Obsidian Storm victorious.

Personal Business
Following their success in the arena, each of the gladiators placed bets in the Elven Market on the outcome of the next match. Morg also placed bets on him winning the entire competition. After that, they went their own ways to take care of personal business.

Morg and Vinara traveled to the Merchant District to see about securing more supplies to their former village. They were able to locate the warehouses of House Wavir and found their associate Rhotan Vor in Tyr. After arranging for supplies to be sent to the village, Rhotan asked for help in locating the fabled Vault of Darom Madar, a storehouse of treasure for a merchant house that was destroyed many years ago. In exchange for acting as guards, they would receive a cut of the treasure and percentage of the profits.

Gwyn began her search for the Veiled Alliance in the city. Although the group is as elusive in Tyr as any other city, the recent overthrow of Kalak has given the Veiled Alliance a slightly improved reputation in the city. Although she had not made contact with any particular cell, she felt confident that she would be able to be able to subtly use magic in the upcoming arena games to be noticed.

Castri attempted to make contact with Agis a noble of House Asticles and one of the Deposers of Kalak. Although he was only able to make contact with one of his assistants, Castri was determined to continue to pursue this, in hopes of helping his new friends learn more about the events leading up to Kalak’s death.

Later that night, Vinara was awoken by a raspy voice carried on the wind. The unmistakable voice of the Wastewalker simply said “Prepare for my arrival tomorrow night, I bring dire news.”

Coins in the Coffer
After a night of rest, team Obsidian Storm entered the arena once again, this time to find themselves playing against members of the Red Cord mercenary group in a game of coins in the coffer. Morg, Vinara and Gwyn formulated a strategy with Castri as the rules of the game were explained: No attacks on opposing team members, each coin placed in the teams coffer scores one point, the team with the most points after five rounds wins.

During the first round both teams moved quickly towards the center of the area, avoiding the treacherous brambleweed. Morg began to work the crowd as he taunted the other team and moved to block their coffer. Castri attempting to disrupt the charge fired arrows, but his opponents were not deterred. During the second round Castri’s arrows proved equally ineffective, however Gwyn grabbed a coin and deposited it in her team’s coffer. The Red Cord moved to the pile of coins, grabbing three, and headed towards their coffer. The halfling forest keeper conjured vines to ensnare Vinara.

Intercepting his opponents, Morg knocked them back with a ferocious roar. Gwyn’s elven speed allowed her grab a coin and drop it in the coffer, then carefully using her arcane powers, she leapt through the air and knocked the halfling down.

Seeing potential trouble, Castri used his abilities with the Way to move the remaining three coins from the center of the arena to Vinara’s feet. Still entangled by the conjured vines Vinara grabbed and tossed a coin, it just landing short of the coffer. Morg continued to push his opponents back from their coffer and making a good show of it for the crowd. Gwyn chased the halfling, who had ducked beneath he legs and grabbed one of the coins as Vinara’s feet. She used her magic again to summon claws that lifted the halfing and the coin into her coffer. Too late she realized that her attempt to conceal her magic might not have been successful. Vinara, finally free of the halflings vines, deposited the last coin into her coffer and closed the lid, with the halfling still inside.

Morg continued to do battle with his human opponents, with neither side making any real progress. When the final gong signaled the end of the game team Obsidian Storm had won with a score of 4 to 0. The members of the Red Cord retrieved their halfling and walked out the arena as the crowd cheered for team Obsidian Storm.

Finding Friends
After resting, the heroes ventured out into The Warrens to the Elven Market to collect their winnings a place new bets on the outcome of the gladiatorial contest. Although their team was gaining some amount of fame the competition was as well, making the outcome of the tournament still uncertain.

Castri left the Elven Market to meet up with Khalos the aid to Agis who was supposed to be arranging a meeting between them. Pleasantly, Agis had agreed to meet following the third day of the tournament.

Gwyn and Morg made their way from the arena into the Warrens, attempting to create an opportunity to make contact with the Veiled Alliance. After a short while they realized they were being followed and maneuvered to follow their tail. Neither Morg nor Gwyn were particularly subtle and they were lead into a quiet alley where they could converse with some degree of privacy. Their new friend was a red-skinned Tiefling who introduced himself as Jarvix. As they expected, he claimed to be a member of the Veiled Alliance and announced that they had noticed Gwyn and were intending to make her an offer, once she passed their final tests. She was to meet them at dawn on the fifth day of festival.

Later that evening a freak sandstorm blew across the city, and the Wastewalker appeared to Vinara. He spoke of terrible visions that he had where a great sandstorm began to devour the world. In the vision, he saw a lost shrine where evil stirs called the Face in the Stone, and a powerful defiler who is searching for the Face, to unleash the evil. He tasked Vinara with taking up her true destiny and stopping this defiler. However, he felt she was not strong enough to take on this task, and so he offered to train her, starting at dusk on the third night of the festival. He departed with the sandstorm.

The Gaj
The following day was the last of the group battles in the arena, and Obsidian Storm intended to continue their winning streak. The arena was refitted with numerous pillars, blocking their view of the opposing gate. However, the suspense was ended when the announcer revealed that they would be fighting a dreaded Gaj.

Knowing the speed was of the utmost importance to defeat a powerful foe, the team moved quickly. Castri moved to to get a clear shot but his arrow bounced harmlessly off the creatures thick carapace. Gwyn summoned an orb of shifting arcane energy and hurled it toward the Gaj, but the nimble creature ducked just in time avoiding it despite her elven accuracy. Morg and Vinara moved up keeping cover between. The Gaj, slower to react than its opponents, moved forward and unleashed a blast of psychic energy, injuring them both. As Morg’s shrunken head amulet cackled some of the Gaj’s psychic attack was rebounded.

Castri let loose another volley of arrows, but although his aim was true, the arrows failed to penetrate its defenses. Gwyn attempted to assault the Gaj’s mind and remove all evidence from her foe’s senses, however the Gaj’s mental defenses withstood the attack and all she accomplished was to drawn the attention of the beast. Vinara used her primal magic to heal Gwyn and boost her allies defenses. The Gaj moved in while Morg waited for the most opportune moment to strike and sunk its mandibles into Gwyn, holding her in place. She was able to avoid it’s feathery antennae but her wounds were severe. Summoning all his rage, Morg unleashed a furious set of blows on the Gaj, scoring two serious wounds while the creature was occupied with Gwyn.

Finally penetrating the Gaj’s armor, Castri’s arrows finally struck home. Gwyn again failed to wound the Gaj, but she did manage to escape its powerful bite. Vinara moved into melee with burst of primal power trailing after her bronze staff, causing a halo of primal magic to surround her strengthening her allies. The Gaj, its attentions now focused on Morg, savagely ripped into Morg with its mandibles and antennae as it unleashed another blast of mental energy. Morg, barely conscious, was unable to connect with the Gaj, but he was able to escape its grasp.

Castri’s bad luck returned as his arrows bounced off the Gaj’s shell. In desperation Gwyn unleashed a blast of lightning wounding the creature but also Morg and Vinara. Vinara drew the last of the life energy out of the Gaj, renewing Morg’s vitality as it died. Once again team Obsidian Storm was victorious.

Crodlu Racing
The fourth day of the festival opened with a series of crodlu races as the individual contests began. Morg, Gwyn and Castri found themselves competing against each other and two other gladiators. The objective was simple, be the first to guide their crodlu across the finish line after two laps around the area.

The three friends vowed to work together to help Morg win the competition, knowing that only he would be available for the final day of competition. Morg pushed his crodlu hard trusting his athleticism and endurance to help his lizard carry him across the finish line. Gwyn pushed her crodlu hard, while hanging on with all of her strength, all the while maneuvering to prevent the other gladiators from overtaking her friend. Castri had more difficulty keeping up, being unused to the animals, however his skill with the Way caused a great difficulties for the others as he caused debris from the track to blind and hinder them.

Near the finish line Castri collided with another rider sending both of them tumbling across the finish line just behind Morg who finished first and Gwyn who finished in second place. After the race, the three collected their winnings and stayed at the arena to watch the other races. Members of the Red Cord were eliminated but an elf of the Moonrunner tribe showed impressive skills in the racing and looked to be a top contender for the final match of the festival.

Across the Wastes
During the fourth day, Vinara left the city to journey with the Wastewalker to a hidden location to receive training on the ways of a primal guardian. After a day of travel, where she listen to the Wastewalker discuss how all aspects of nature were interconnected, they arrived at a hidden oasis in the foothills of the Ringing Mountains.

The spirits of fire challenged her to destroy the defilers and their allies in order to prevent more damage to the world. The spirit of earth warned her that she would need to endure great hardships if she were to take up the task of restoring Athas to its former state. The spirit of water tasked Vinara with healing the world that had suffered so much at the hands of the sorcerer-kings. Finally the spirit of air challenged Vinara to be cautious in her approach to restoring Athas, knowing that the entrenched power of sorcerer-kings and their allies would not be easily overthrown.

Accepting their challenges and demonstrating her ability to overcome her adversaries, the spirits invested her with the power to become a primal guardian. She learned the power to summon a new companion to help her in quests – a living zephyr that could obscure the vision of her enemies and push them about. Satisfied that her training was complete she began her journey back to Tyr.

The Veiled Alliance
Gwyn journeyed back to the The Warrens to meet her Veiled Alliance contact Jarvix and complete her initiation on the night of the fifth day of the festival. They traveled deep into the Warrens and down into the depths of an abandoned building. From the basement they traveled down into the Under-Tyr, the ruins of the old city of Tyr.

At the gates of an ruined building Gwyn demonstrated her skill in preserving magic by opening the door without harming the fragile lichens nearby. Inside the building she found other members of the Alliance who tested her moral character and dedication to the cause of preserving magic.

More than satisfied with her responses, she was inducted into the Veiled Alliance. She learned that the cells were currently debating divulgence – whether to maintain the secrecy that has protected them for so long, or whether to reveal themselves to the population and capitalize on the death of Kalak to promote good-will towards their members. With the future of such actions uncertain, Gwyn returned to the surface to watch Morg’s final match.

Agis of Asticles
Castri to the estates of Agis in the hopes of learning more about the events surrounding the death of Kalak. Although initially suspect about his motives, Agis eventually divulged much that was previously unknown, hoping that Castri would use such knowledge to help bring about a positive change to the world.

We journeyed to the Forest Ridge where the halflings granted us the use of a Heartwood Spear, pulled from an ancient Tree of Life. They told us that Kalak was attempting to transform into a powerful dragon, and if successful he would bring great destruction to the lands. They instructed us that only by working together could we hope to overcome Kalak’s potent defenses.

During the gladiatorial contest, we struck at once; I used by talents with the Way to weaken his mental defenses, Sadira used her arcane powers to breach his other defenses. Rikus then threw the spear and landed a mortal wound, one that should have killed him, except for the massive life force he was draining from the crowd. We, along with Tithian, followed Kalak into the Ziggurat of Kalak.

Once inside, we found Kalak in the midst of his transformation and attempted to finish him off, but he was too strong, still empowered by the life forces he had stolen. Only the quick actions of Tithian, who began smashing the obsidian orbs around his chamber cut him off from the energies and allowed him to be finally defeated.

If you hope to defeat other sorcerer-kings you will have a much harder time than we did, for the other sorcerer-kings will not be distracted by the rituals that Kalak was attempting when he was slain. Even at your peak, you will need all the help you can receive, you should look find powerful artifacts to aid your quests, but where to start looking is unknown to me.

Armed with this knowledge, Castri returned to watch the final games of the festival.

The Final Duel
The final match of games was between Morg and and elf named Aric, from the Moonrunner tribe, had earned a reputation for ruthlessness. The two gladiators closed on each other taking cover behind pillars as they did so. When they were close Morg stepped out from behind the pillar and taunted the elf into attacking.

Happy to oblige, Aric charged forth swiping with his massive obsidian blade and landing a deep wound on Morg. The wound began to sting and burn from the poison that was coated on the blade, clearly showing his intent to kill. Morg became enraged and his fury gave him the strength to ignore the wounds and continue fighting. Both gladiators maneuvered around the pillars and patches of brambleweed. The elf’s use of poison and magic during the attack gave him a slight advantage, but the crowd clearly favored Morg. A couple attacks that were parried by Aric appeared to be the turning point, but the combat ended quickly as a massive swipe from Morg’s axe removed the elf’s head.

After the celebration, Morg and the others collected the winnings from their bets and began to prepare for their next journey. They decided to search for the Face in the Stone as the urgency seemed greater. They let a disappointed Rhotan Vor of House Wavir know that when they returned, they would help him search for the lost tomb.

Desert Trek
Morg, Vinara and Castri headed to the Merchant District to purchase supplies for their expedition into the desert. Eager to start their trip, the trio did not spend much time listening to news or gossip, but rather made their purchases and headed back.

While the others were busy procuring supplies, Gwyn opened their shop and attempted to attract some business. The day was slow, with only one patron, a merchant named Dalem Shom, of House Shom. While inking his house symbol onto his arm, Dalem expressed concern over a missing caravan and a dramatic increase in raider activity. Gwyn mentioned that when they were in the desert, they would keep a look out for the lost caravan.

The group set out the next day, guided only by the shared visions of Vinara and the Wastewalker, they headed towards the rising sun. Watchful for the vague landmarks seen in the visions, the group struggled against the harsh terrain, with Gwyn suffering the most as they crossed ravines and escarpments.

As the group moved through a particularly narrow section of the badlands, thin strands of nearly invisible crystal suddenly became apparent. As they got closer, it was apparent that the strands formed a large web stretching between several of the boulders. Having seen this type of web before, the heroes were not surprised by the appearance of two large crystal spiders. The battle against the spiders was not difficult for the seasoned adventurers, although the blinding light reflected by the spiders caused Gwyn to be blinded for a short while.

After eight grueling days of travel, the group finally reached what they assumed could only be their destination; a dust storm hanging in place over a cliff wall. The stationary storm, a twisting pillar of blowing dust and sand ascended over 50 feet into the sky. The screaming wind promised stinging death to those who entered.

Storm’s Edge
From their vantage point, the adventurers could see more than a dozen humans and humanoids among the jumble of rocks and dunes ahead of them. Their ragtag and eclectic dress suggested they were raiders. Some were perched atop the rocks as sentries and other gathered farther away, partly sheltered by a large boulder. Numerous bound human captives lay near the edge of the stationary dust devil. While they assessed the situation, three of the raiders began to drag a captive across the sand and tosses him into the swirling dust. The captive screamed and was gone.

Acting quickly to maintain the element of surprise and prevent more of the captives from being killed, the group sprang into action. Castri launched a volley of arrows across the boulder taking out one of the tarek raiders who was throwing captives into the storm. Morg charged the nearest raider while Gwyn used her magic on a tougher looking tarek. Vinara and Bear moved to position themselves but were unable to take down any of the raiders.

Gwyn summoned claws of arcane energy to tear away at the raiders foolish enough to close in with her. Vinara drained the lifeblood from her opponent to heal Morg who had been wounded battling several of the humans. Castri continued to launch arrows into the raiders switching to those near the captives after they tossed another into the storm.

The group suffered a bit under the hail of javelins and stabs of spears, but eventually they emerged victorious. Although one of the raiders was alive, the heroes tossed him into the storm. The surviving captives were discovered to be the missing House Shom caravan and promised to tell of the heroics of their saviors upon their return to Tyr. Although there was little to be found on the raiders, they did share one thing in common – a tattoo of a snakes skull. None knew of the significance.

Dust Devil
After taking a short rest and seeing the merchants of House Shom off, the heroes decided that the only course of action was to attempt to penetrate the sand storm in the hopes of finding the Face in the Stone. Acting on Castri’s advice, the group lashed themselves together and entered the storm with Morg and Vinara leading the way.

Each was challenged to endure the rigors of the dust devil while helping their comrades through the worst parts. Simple brute strength to push through the sandstorm was not enough, in order to withstand the rigors of the dust devil, each had to avoid getting turned around in the swirling sand. As they pushed further in, the intensity worsened and the punishing winds caused sand dunes to form and shift, threatening to bury them.

Suffering many small wounds, the party eventually emerged from the storm to find a hollow area of still air along a high cliff face. The cliff contained the relief carving of a massive humanoid face – clearly the Face in the Stone. The empty eyes were black shadows, but the gaping mouth was set with two granite obelisks that appeared to be massive teeth. There appeared to be flashes of movement within the cave, but who or what it was, was not possible to determine at the distance.

The Face
The heroes cautiously approached the entrance to the face and as they did so, it became apparent that the movement within was caused by a small group of hejkin. Castri decided to remain outside the face, standing guard in case any of the marauder’s allies attempted to breech the dust storm surrounding the Face.

Gwyn moved forward past the obelisks, which crackled with lightning, striking her. Not seriously injured, she continued in and attempted to intimidate the hejkin into fleeing, bu they were not routed and battle commenced. Morg and Vinara rushed into the cave as the hejkin unleashed lightning attacks of their own. Despite her magic claws tearing into the hejkin, Gwyn suffered the worst under their attack. Two of the hejkin were defeated by Vinara and her entourage, while Morg and Gwyn slew the others.

The group retreated out past the Obelisks, which eventually went dark again. Carefully approaching them, they attempted to discover a way to disable the trap. Unfortunately their actions caused the traps to explode, causing further injuries.

Hejkin Lair
Venturing down the left-hand passage, the group heard a strange sound, akin to a breeze through a fine crystal chime. The source of the sound was found to be the most unusual sight the adventurer’s had seen – running water. Free running water falling down one side of the corridor, pooled in the center of the runnel and flowed away down another constricted channel. Vinara’s keen eyes spotted a shape resting 10 feet below the surface of the water. The creature, resembling a scorpion with tentacles in it’s mouth, was recognized as a chuul. Wary of disturbing the beast, the group vaulted over the stream and continued on down the corridor.

Past the pool of water, the twisting corridor ended in a wide chamber stinking of rotting carrion and spoor. Piles of debris were scattered like nests, and large hole was visible in the center of the chamber. Barely visible in their flickering torchlight, several more hejkin were visible.

Hurt and tired, the heroes charged in to try and make quick work of their foes. Gwyn summoned a blast of fire, burning the hejkin chief as he rang a gong near the entrance. Vinara and Bear took down two of the hejkin quickly before being attacked by the chuul who approached from behind. Morg charged the chief and knocked him into a pit in the room, but its quick reflexes saved it from certain death. Pulling itself out of the pit the chief tossed Bear into the pit and savagely tore into Morg with its claws.

Eventually the hejkin were defeated and Bear was able to climb out of the pit. The group, now completely exhausted was forced to rest in the foul lair of the hejkin. During their rest they uncovered some coins that the hejkin were hoarding, but very little else of value.