Harkahnon Ruins 14 - The Return
One by one, the group rushes through and into the portal of the geometrically strange room. As Borimer gets ready to leave, he notices that the demon creature has stopped banging on the door.
You arrive to a loud destination with the deafening roar of something that sounds like a cross between a roaring waterfall and a continual cracking of ice all around you.
It is dark all around you except for the portal behind you and stars in the sky above you. There are also crystals around that reflect the light of the portal but are otherwise dark. That's when you get your bearings and begin to understand where you are standing.
You stand in what can only be described as a basin of a former cave. High walls surround you on all sides with no apprent exit. The walls are lined with long and wide pink and purple crystals, some as large as a tree. They are almost like angled mirrors surrounding you but part of the rock walls. The cave itself is immense, more than two hundred feet in diameter with walls that go up at least 50 to a hundred feet on all sides.
But the cave itself is being destroyed. Looking up, you see that whatever used to be the roof of the cave is gone. You can see the stars above, and in the center, a distant moon or planet.
Then a chunk of rock and crystal cracks with a boom and flies into the night sky, exposing more of the stars to your view. You see now that there is a spiraling trail of debris forming a type of ring around the distant moon, but it is spiraling there from the world where you now stand.
After a moment, you realize what is happening. The far moon is no moon at all. You are on Allevia, and that is your home world of Tienna. Its destruction is imminent. You can vaguely make out roiling turns of what must be molten rock and lava covering the planet with cracks of red and brown running throughout. It is a dead planet now, you realize, dead because of what happened in the Temple of Ashmere -- dead because of Tarimar's actions and the anti-magic explosion from Augmantium which shook the world and brought on the Kuvlah Tah.
You stand there mesmerized until a movement to your right catches your attention. The portal still glows brightly (remember, Androlus says it stays open for about 30 minutes), making shimmering flashes across the crystals around you.
Borimer sets down Flint near Androlus, and he and the rest of the party move toward the movement cautiously, weapons raised.
From between reflective crystals, as if between two mirrors that obscured your view, steps a man.
But this is no man per se, not human. He appears elvish with ashen skin, something the legends in the Xren Codex called the Drow. He wears a robe of gray and looks at you with yellow eyes, seemingly oblivious to the destruction around you. He holds up his hands in peace.
Then he speaks to you, but not with his mouth. He communicates directly to your minds, stating:
"He said you would be here at this hour, at this place. And here you are. I am sent by Azaron. He said some of you would know that name. My name is Brand, and I am Azaron's apprentice. He sent me here to give you a message and send you back.
Others have passed through the Time Ark just before you opened the portal. Their appearance reset the Time Ark code to the natural date of the universe with the setting 111-111-111. This put you back in the future at the time of the destruction of Tienna."
At this, he points a finger up at the crumbling planet above.
"Regrettably, the destruction of Tienna has spread and is tearing apart Allevia as well. It is too late to stop that destruction here. You must return to the temple and enter a new code into the Time Ark. The code you must enter is--"
He is interrupted by a crack like thunder. A gargantuan piece of rock and crystal separates from the wall around you, falling and landing...on Androlus and Flint, killing them instantly. It then leans and crashes against the side wall, cracking and crumbling.
"We haven't much time," Brand continues, "You must enter the code 436-732-992. Save the newcomers and escape through the Ark. Only you can prevent this destruction from happening. You must destroy Tarimar before he can cause this. Seek out the Five Pillars of the Gods. Acht Karabi. Remember these words where you go. I can give you nothing further at this time. The gods forbid any further interference. But today, all gods weep at the destruction of the twin worlds."
He does not allow you to speak or comment, and he likely would not hear over the din of destruction around you. He steps back between the crystals and disappears from view.
Behind you is the portal. Destruction of Allevia is imminent as further crystals and walls crack and sputter.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:36, Wed 19 June 2013.
