Arianwyn slashes at the undead leader as he moves past, and slowly rises, his eyes blazing with fury, "ENOUGH!!!!!!!!!" he bellows, sending a wave of eldritch power into the Skull Lord.
Arianwyn blasts the Skull Lord into a million tiny particles with a single gesture. A profound and uneasy silence falls across the Plains of the Dead.
Arianwyn appears next to Reason.
As Arianwyn blasts the Skull Lord into dust, Whiteclaw howls a triumpant sounding howl. She then lashes out as one of the Horses.
Whiteclaw swipes at one of the Horses and the frail bones are quite unable to withstand her assault, collapsing back into the earth.
The last horse kicks at the menacing gnoll once again and shifts uneasily away.
The Shades howl in unison and open fire on Arianwyn and Whiteclaw before flying back across the Plains.
Vel moves up on to the higher ground and breathes fire at one of the bonepiles.
The reversal of fortune continues as Vel finds her form in style and breathes scouring flame over the nearest bonepile, bloodying it.
Reason smiles benignly as he adds to the carnage, incinerating the last horse and offering help to Whiteclaw and Arianwyn, before backing calmly away from the centre of the battle.
The bonepiles converge on Arianwyn, swiping viciously at him. A flying femur catches him unawares and he falls, only to be injured by shards of bone grinding into his prone form.
Kia moves up the the bloodied bonepile and tries to help it out of its misery. "Time to go back to bed for you lot."
Kia strides onwards, knocking another substantial chunk out of the bloodied bonepile and restoring Whiteclaw.
Arianwyn stands up and slashes at the cursed bonepile.
Rage guides the warlock's hand and he successfully knocks a small bone out of the main body of the creature.
Kia moves up the the bloodied bonepile and tries to help it out of its misery. "Time to go back to bed for you lot."
Whiteclaw advances to attack the Bonepile.
"Thankyou so much, Whiteclaw."
As Whiteclaw and Kia contrive to recover themselves through mutual healing, the Shades concentrate on bringing down Vel and Arianwyn, hoping to increase their chances of survival at a distance.
Vel fires back a magic missile at the shade that hit her.
Raising his holy symbol, the tiefling politely obliterates the Shade nearest to him and waits expectantly.
As the Shade falls, a hush falls over the battlefield and the bonepiles and Shades turn with one accord to the heroes and salute you before sinking back into the ground.
The way to Pashira's tomb lies clear before you.
Arianwyn does his usual post-battle dusting down and then declares, "Well, we cannot keep this worthy waiting. Let us see Pashira."
Bloodied but unbowed, the group approach the tomb.
It consists of simple slabs of strone built into a shape that slightly resembles a yurt, but so worn by time and weather that it could almost be the natural result of the movements of the land.
That it is not, is indicated by the skeletal guardians who wait at the entrance and bow as you pass.
Within, all is darkness and presently, a voice.
"What brings you to this place? I am Pashira, the Iron Warrior, Kinslayer, Unmade, Accursed and Reborn. What do you want with me?"
Vel steps forward. "I am Vel, the Bone Rider. These are guest-kin of the Bone Riders. All have been marked by the Moon Mare. We seek to follow your path and gain your blessing, Iron Warrior, that the Sun Riders accept us and we may speak to their Shaman."
Arianwyn smiles with pride and pleasure at Vel's eloquence.
Arianwyn:
Vel's intent is clear and pleasing, even if her delivery leaves a lot to be desired.
Pashira considers as Vel makes her statement.
"You are new to us in blood, but you are true Kargzant. Your actions speak more than your words."
He continues.
"You have accomplished much to walk my path. Tell me what need is so great that you must do so?"
"Forgive me, my lord, may I request permission to speak?" Arianwyn says by way of formality.
"Long ago in the reckoning of your people, but a few generations in mine, our ancestors were foes. We come to you today in a spirit of unity against a vile witch whose ambitions threaten the People and the world at large. Great shall be the suffering if she is allowed to succeed. Your descendants will suffer the same fate as my fellows in the great Sky-Burning. She will destroy them."
"As you guard your people by the traditions of your people, we seek to guard what we can by our traditions. Our paths are not so far apart as a our past experience now shows"
Vel narrates their path so far, connecting it to the Kargzant mythos.
"In my rebirth, I learned much, eladrin and what you say is true."
Pashira acknowledges the justice of Kia's words and then gives consideration to Arianwyn.
"The Sky-Burning cleansed our land of your kind. You do not seek vengeance? Why do you care for the People who destroyed your kind?"
Pashira sounds puzzled.
Vel speaks serenely, giving bringing full understanding to Pashira of how the history of the fey and the Kargzant intermingle.
"You are a tribe. I understand. And you will walk my path as clan."
Arianwyn pauses.
"I had thought that vengeance was in my heart, but I have seen that these people cannot be held to account for what their ancestors did. Like my own race, they are quick to anger, but quick to laughter too. Your humour and mine are much alike."
"Even in your reckoning, I am not young eladrin. I have had time to ponder and observe. Our races may be too much alike to live in kinship. Brother will slay brother. But there is rebirth too. Perhaps for both our fractious kin."
Vel describes the group's interactions with the runestones, and their implications for balance.
The warlock fills in some additional details for his companion.
Overawed by the presence of one of Kargzant's legendary heroes, Vel offers an uncharacteristically garbled explanation. Arianwyn smoothly interprets her more mangled utterances.
Pashira listens and his voice booms again.
"You may walk my road and seek rebirth. When you are rested, I will open the path to the shadow world. Walk the plains and seek the One who Devours. He must consume you. Ask what you will of me."
"Tell us more of the One Who Devours, if it is proper that we should know of such things."
"The One who Devours is a fragment of a greater being from the dawn of time. Brother of the Sun Stallion, he lies chained, waiting for the freedom to bring chaos to the world. In this place, he lurks beneath the land, writhing in his sleep. His servants roam the Plain of Shadow. The halfworld between life and death.
The Bone Riders may traverse this land."
The air blurs for a moment and finally you see Pashira. The Iron Warrior is well named. He is the largest man any of you have ever seen, and like all Kargzant, tattooed with symbols indicating his clan and calling. You see also that although unarmoured, he wears iron vambraces on his arms and it must be from these he got his name.
History DC24
The vambraces are definitely unusual. At the time Pashira lived, iron must have had incredible rarity value.
Sitting on the ground, he gestures and a fire springs up, burning brightly in the tomb and showing the walls for the first time.
"Look. There is my journey and the path you must follow."
Etched deeply into the walls are a series of pictures.
Vel stands and begins to study the pictures on the walls.
It takes Vel a little time to accustom her eyes to the archaic style of the pictures, but eventually they start to make a kind of sense.
In the first picture, a lone figure viciously scored through, walks across a broad plain, watched from afar by eyes in the darkness.
In the second picture, the same semi-erased figure seems to be calling or dancing as the eyes move closer.
In the third picture, mighty jaws erupt around him. The image is encircled by eyes.
In the fourth picture, the figure cannot be seen at all, engulfed by a firebreathing head that fills the whole space.
In the fifth picture, the head has fallen to the ground and the figure stands triumphantly next to the head. The watching eyes are now seen to belong to a flaming stallion and a misty mare.
In the sixth picture, the figure is kneeling beside the head, making obeisance to the monster, overseen by the stallion and the mare.
In the seventh and last picture, the figure stands between the stallion and the mare as the head breathes over him, and he is no longer defaced.
After Vel studies the pictures Whiteclaw asks "So, what do they all mean? What will we need to do?"
"No doubt, friend Whiteclaw, we shall be merely called upon to partake of tea with the creature." Arianwyn replies dryly, "It will be a test of etiquette."
"In all seriousness, if I am reading this correctly, and no doubt, our resident Bone Rider will tell us otherwise, we will be called upon to re-enact Pashira's journey in some manner, symbolic or otherwise. It would seem from his words that we shall have to enter the realm we know as the Shadowfell, and face an aspect of the creature he confronted."