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.
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