Torvi nods to Nalnera, ”undoubtedly.”
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Snorri retrieves the rope, elated by growing closer to the mine.
"Two days' worth of marching without rest, no worries at all! We dwarves are natural cross-country runners! Very dangerous over long distances!"
Glenda nods in slow agreement.
After a difficult march over rough, broken stone in warmer conditions than you are accustomed to, you come to a small tunnel that branches off from the main rift. Erebos brings you to a stop. [b]"Here is where the drow will most likely have gone. He can find support and his own people in this tunnel. This is the end of drowish influence here in the Earth's Wound. Beyond this, elementals and the Enemy rule. We will rest here. Warily. Once we wake, there are miles of geysers and challenging terrain to cross before we can rest again. If you have any magics that can protect you from the heat, this will be the time to use them..."[/ooc]
Beyond the branching corridor, you see a wide field of bubbling pools and geysers that shoot boiling water and mud into the air. It will take all of your magic and dwarven fortitude to cross this hellscape.
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Nalnera gazes out over the "wound." "So, Erebos, where does the heat come from? What is boiling the water? It doesn't make any sense. Things tend to be cooler down here, and a fixed temperature. There must be some interference."
Erebos thinks for a moment before responding, "There is some sort of elemental interference here, little one. But that may be too much for you to understand... Let me explain further. Our plane is composed of a mixture of elements. You have heard Dasur speak of them frequently. He is most fond of Earth, but of course earth, fire, air, and water are all equally necessary for our existence. Some surface elves consider wood an additional element, but obviously that is folly; wood is composed of other elements and is not itself elemental. Their minds have been polluted by their congress with beings from what they call the First World. Here, though, in a place composed primarily of stone and water, with an obvious element of air that allows us to breathe. But somehow the plane of fire has been breached here, and leaks into the other elements."
"Dwarven companions, do not trouble yourselves with haste. We will likely be unmolested here for a day or two. The drow should not respond with force for a time. They will be confused by your incursion and seek the guidance of their demonic advisors before they respond."
I have heard that the spirit or the soul is sometimes considered another one, though I do not know how that works."
Glancing back at the bubbling water, "If we think we will have two days then we should hurry. If they are not likely to badger us then we might be able to move undetected."
Dasur adds a sage nod to Erebos' explanation. "This is a place of great elemental conflux. A unique environment possibly brought about by a breach in the boundaries between our worlds. There is much to learn here if we had the time, but the way to Dammerhall is so close..."
Touching the ruby amulet through his shirt, Dasur summons an invisible force that begins taking care of his share of the camp chores. He sits down near a wall and opens his spell book, arriving at the exact page he was meaning to without even leafing through its contents. "Torag forged our bodies to be sturdy on this life-supporting plane, but we are not prepared to face the element onslaught that awaits us. Thankfully, I have a spell to ward off both the presence and absence of Fire, or lack thereof, when it is mixed in equal parts of Air." The wizard drones while reading the tightly scribed draconic script in his book.
"It will take a day, but I will write this magic into scrolls so we may be protected for up to 48 hours during our march." There as little arguing with him- in a rare moment of awareness for safety the elemental master had already started to set out the writing implements they discovered in the gnomish observatory.
Snorri scratches his head while discussions about the elements fly back and forth. "Let's enjoy the peace before an intense day, then. Afterwards, we'll march straight through a valley of fire, and on the other side we'll be close to Zaraketh. And with that, to Dammerhall."
”No doubt, we shall be at Dammerhall within the month!
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After a day and a half at the edge of the Wound, you come to realize the strangeness of this new place. While the distant light faintly illuminates your surroundings, the light level never changes, never shifts, the shadows always point in the same direction.
Erebos rises into the gloom
"Well, I'm sure that this will go better for you than for me. At least I have the longer legs to give me some relief. The road is long and winding. I know of two relatively safe passages through the geyser fields, but I have crossed neither of them in your life times. We will go steadily but not recklessly."
Iverna seems less than enthused. "To think I've done all this to be boiled alive in some hell-pot like a stew fish." Nonetheless, she packs her kit and hoists it on her back.
The travel is tedious and slow. You draw closer to Zaraketh, but then double back to avoid ponds of burning mud. The stone is slippery with mud, muck, and slimy growths. But even here, there is beauty. Flowers of minerals grow near boiling pools. Columns of dripstone.
You have barely gotten your walking legs under you, a mere two hours into the march when a nearby pool of rainbow colored mud explodes. A great fountain of mud reaches toward the ceiling, raining down around you.
Fail
Letting out a yelp at the sudden pain. Wiping off what she can and mumbling, "I hate this." Groaning at the laughter in her head.
Glenda somehow manages to sidestep the spray of hot mud, as if by instinct.
Dasur marched without complaint through the latest hellscape in their journey, kept comfortably cool by the magical aura that surrounded him. It afforded him a chance to look longingly at the nearby geysers, which he wished to probe to discern the source of their erratic mixing with Fire.
The wizard got his wish sooner than he expected. The nearby exploding geyer causes him to stand still and look towards the ceiling with awe, causing him to catch a burning mudball directly to the face.
With a muffled cry he flails and dances, his ashen walking stick clattering to the ground as he desperately tries to slough the mud from his face. After a few seconds of agonizing, blinding burning he manages to clear it away, exposing his dirty and horribly burned face.
"The elements lash out, unguided and frenzied!" The wizard squawks before coughing up some mud. "There is too much energy... how can such instability sustain itself?"
Snorri turns around to avoid the mud, but the heat spreads quickly through the conductive mithral armor, instantly scalding his back.
He grits his teeth and focuses on his duty, soothing the pain and healing the wounds through sheer determination.
[dice=Reflex]1d20+3 Fail
”Much better! Thank you.”
Sighing as the burns are soothed, "Thank you Glenda."
”Glenda?”
The march had been hard on Dasur, but the wizard does not seem to complain, besides the odd comment about wishing they could get closer to a particularly large geyser of steaming mud as it was passed.
Later, he starts to feel the magic protecting them wane, he signals they stop for a moment and begins to distribute scrolls to Erebos, Glenda, and himself.
Though their feet were blistered, at least they were not boiling alive.
"Thank you."
Breathing heavily, Snorri welcomed the moment of respite. Glenda's healing power had alleviated the worst of burns, but there was no magic to protect from armor chafe.
Forced March hour 4 DC 18
Forced March hour 5 DC 20
Forced March hour 6 DC 22
Forced March hour 7 DC 24
Forced March hour 8 DC 26
The power of your magic and the strength of your dwarven wills drives you forward far faster than Erebos could have predicted. After only 16 hours of marching through this strange elemental hellscape, you climb atop a small plateau among the geyser fields. It is still punishingly hot, but you are far enough away from any geysers to avoid damage in the immediate future.
"Impressive, dwarves. Impressive. A group of Drow would have needed much more magical reinforcement to cross this barrier. We can rest here safely for now."
"Never underestimate Dwarven stubbornness." pants Snorri, drinking from his waterskin.
"I can take first watch if you others want to rest."
”That sucked!”
Torvi will hit four of her companions with some healing...
Snorri
Nalnera
Dasur
Glenda
Though it strained the wizard to near breaking, he heaves himself up the final step to the plateau. "We have overcome yet another challenge dispite the confusion of the elements. The dwarven gods and and our own wills are to be credited for this victory." Dasur wheezes before setting himself down on the nearest rock.
He keeps up their Endure Elements spells so they can all be exhausted in comfort, at least. It wouldn't be long before the wizard was passed out on a bedroll, even skipping his usual hours of studying.
Groaning and sitting down, "Regnir?" I can do this but do not expect it often.
Rolling her eyes at the wraith in her mind and focusing on calling him out, "Regnir does not require the rest that we do and he is willing to be on watch so that we can all sleep without it taking half a day."
Solidifying behind Nalnear as a deep purple dwarf with soft pink and glaring at the group, "I will wake you all if something is coming. Take what time you need and then sleep so we can be gone from this place."
You rest unmolested, closer to Dammerhall than ever. I'm sure that Regnir doesn't let you sleep a moment longer than necessary, rousting you and getting you to keep moving.
Feeling every muscle ache (and some he didn't know he had), Dasur slowly rouses himself at Regnir's urging. Disheveled and quiet this morning, the wizard waves a hand to heat up his nearby waterskin and flips open his spellbook.
After an hour of study and memorizing spells, he closes the book and stands up. Just in time for the others to have completed breaking down camp. He walks out to the edge of the plataeu with staff in hand, gazing out of the absolutely normal (which was strange) sunlight in the distance.
"Erebos, looking on the valley from here, where is Zaraketh? I recall you said the western wall at the far end, but, as expected, I see nothing over this distance. Is it a finished entrance, or an unmarked cave?" The questions start to flow as the wizard breaks his silence since waking up. Somewhere within eyesight was that ancient mithral mine, and within it a map to their one true goal.
"We will have to pass nearly all the way through the wound toward that light in the distance. 80 miles or more were we bats. Our path will be longer...and more fraught. We face nearly straight south here, so you could simply follow the wall to our right and find it. There is some dwarven craft at the mouth of the mine, enough that you would not miss it."