Adventure 8: Abizad

The heroes met in the remains of a tall domed building the stone giant Gaddadhara. They took shelter in his cave-ruin-home and inquired about the road ahead.  Ahead of the party lay a mountain pass to Adanir, which wound through the ruins of an old trading city called Abizad.

Gaddadhara informed them that the ruins of Abizad were plagued with the restless souls of mortals trapped there when Adanir sealed the gates to prevent other mortals from reaching Adanir as well as Elder Elves from visiting the outside world. It was also home to a wandering Ushi-oni, a bull creature tamed to guard areas from trespassers.

The party also met Arashino Maru, a half-elven cleric who was also trying to find Adanir for unknown reasons. With the loss of Steiger, Maru helped heal their emotional and physical wounds and the group continued on.

At the entrance to Abizad the party fought off mountain harpies as well as a lumbering troll. With some diligent teamwork and effort the party managed to stop their enemies and continue forward.

Abizad was a crumbling city partially covered by years of avalanches and mountain collapses. The sandstone and adobe buildings, painted in tiled in the Majirahan style, were covered in debris and failing. The bazaar streets were empty. Two large structures stood out: a tired pagoda on a hill, and further down towards open cliffs a domed tower.

The party wound through the streets toward a temple to Neral, the Celestial Warrior, and inside they found a priest's corpse clutching a box. Arashino Maru took the box, awakening the ghost of the priest. With Ardeshir's help they rebuffed the ghost's advances.

Continuing uphill to the pagoda, the group found a courtyard full of deceased. While Ardeshir and Failn set to disarming and burying the corpse's weapons, the rest searched through the pagoda. Finding the remains of Abizad's city council, they found some more relics amid the ruins, and awakened a second ghost. This one was turned by Maru, and the group fled toward the city's rear gates, winding deftly through the city streets with maps taken from the pagoda.

Upon reaching the rear gates, the group crashed through them to ascend into the mountains above, toward Adanir.

The Dark Witches

The following document was discovered on the body of Steiger. It was the results of the research into the Dark Witches he received from Shiranui, the court librarian at Tahirah.

The Dark Witches

When the world was young, and the Creator was fashioning the mortal races, there arose from the Void a consciousness. This consciousness too coveted worship, and fashioned from the gnarled and hard places the crones that became the Dark Witches. It is said when Tien Lung brought the body of his sister Tiamat to the Apsu, Tiamat’s consciousness splintered and became the life-force of these Witches, each embodying parts of the chaotic dragon’s psyche.

They are immortal, fed by the Apsu and in turn feeding it the souls of light from the Creator’s “pets.” They are macabre and delight in darkness, often toying with mortals or creating elaborate pacts which they use to their advantage. They can alter their form, curse their enemies, travel enshrined in the ethereal plane, and they delight most in blaspheming against the Creator and his Middle World.

They dwell in the deepest hollows and ruins, often roaming to keep from being found out. They steal infants and fester in mortal dreams. They often turn the very land into traps and wards, ensuring most mortals do not visit them unwanted.

The witches are difficult to truly kill, regenerating lost limbs and flesh through the darkness they serve. The only way to kill them is to throw them into their own portals to the Void, feeding them to the beast that created them.

You met Tataka, the Bog Witch, in Gurigashon. She is devoted to catching travelers in that festering swamp. She represents Hunger. Other Witches dwell in the dark corners of the earth. Known Witches are:

Zeniba, the Money Witch, who grew out of the greed of Taishan. She dwells hidden in the ruins of Xendu on the east coast, preying on the lure of treasure-hunting fools. She is Greed or Covetousness.

Keket—the Dark Sandsiren—who dwells in Dekri Cataract, driven there by the Kaftar when they overtook Nemburu. She reviles the sun and stalks Majirahans during the night. She is Lust/Desire.

Holda, the Weasel, who lives in the Northern Kelim woods around the Labyrinth of Sirrush. She beguiles traders and Northmen explorers. She is Deceit.

Your cameo bears the visage of Harinidra, the Dream-Thief. She dwells in Ra’s Shalan Wadi by the Bazahn Wastes and torments sleeping mortals with their fears and failures. Thus, she represents Dreams and Fear. It is said she inhabits a special realm around a place called Nyura’s Point, and possesses potent magic.

It should be noted that other emanations of the Void’s Daughters probably exists, as most mortals who encounter them do not live to catalogue them. Some can be easily dealt with (if not killed), but others are dangerous and require magic or silvered weapons, while having the advantage of other immunities as well.