It's Dangerous to Go Alone.

Courtesy of oglaf. (again.)

Makes you think twice about going out into the world.

Adventure 9: The Gates of the Golden City

After trekking through Abizad, the group set up camp before heading further into the mountains. The cold and height was already weighing heavily upon the party members used to the warmth (everyone but Arashino Maru and Ichirou).

While the others slept, Elaria and Failn kept watch. They encountered a traveling merchant, an anthropoid tanuki (raccoon dog) named Gyoubu. Gyoubu built a fire as well as a protective circle because "Annayur is always listening." Failn purchased a few gyoubi nuts from the furry vendor, and the two wood elves listened to Gyoubu's tale of how he was now a wanderer. The Nagas had driven out the Gyoubu from their home near the massive Gyoubi Tree ages ago, and so they were scattered across the Middle World. While in the circle, it should be noted, Gyoubu was also hidden from Anden's senses as well.

He also warned them about the road ahead. To reach the gates they would have to pass through Amenobochi, the Grave Pass. Since Adanir's doors were sealed, the main roads had fallen prey to landslides and disrepair, and so the only way through was the Grave Pass. The Grave Pass had been created by the suffering spirits that were trapped from the valley. After sharing their fire and meals, Gyoubi continued westward, seemingly unfazed by the dangers of Abizad the party had just left behind.

The next day they continued on, climbing through the mountains and eventually reaching the misty Grave Pass. Within the pass the party encountered several Oni, hungry ogres, as well as Spirit Wisps, who could be soothed by tending to their shrines/graves. With Elaria's help in soothing the nature spirits and the party's perseverance, the group passed through to the final areas, where they warded off by a Bone Naga, protecting the treasures and grave of the old king of Adanir. Via Maru and Anden's silvery tongues. the party escaped the Bone Naga's wrath.

At the Golden Gates the party encountered the Dao, the earth elemental set to guard the gates. Maru and Anden again pleaded for safe passage, which was granted. After combating some ice mephits they reached the massive stone doors protecting the city from the Middle World. A small pedestal stood in front of the door, in which Anden placed his small cube-key.

The doors opened into a verdant forested valley. The golden city of Adanir sparkled beneath a blue sky ahead of them. As the party descended into the valley, they were met by a party of elven monks in gold robes, who warned them they were trespassing. A giant shadow passed over the group, and the golden form of Annayur touched down behind the elves. The dragon roared. Everything became hazy, and the party fell into divine sleep. . .

• The King of Adanir, Shivan, has closed the gates to the city for some 600 years. 
• The Golden Disciples are an order of warrior-monks who protect Adanir are revere Annayur, the gold dragon.
• The Grave Pass outside Adanir is haunted by disgruntled spirits, who were locked out of the city. This is a moment of the natural/spirit world being closed off from the mortal kingdoms.
• Gyoubu is a wandering tanuki merchant. His homeland is somewhere west, in Lost Khandar. It is a place called the Gyoubi Tree, from which the Gyoubu were scattered by the Naga Kingdom.

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.

Adventure 7: Mor-Mehr and the Mountains

The group was dropped off in Cairona by Yash and, after resupplying, headed back eastward. They went through the underground Rigun Pass to the city of The-Bin, a bustling bazaar town on the western foothills of the mountains. The goal was to travel south to Mor-Mehr, the temple-city rumored to be the gateway to the Sacanno Mountains and the fabled lost city of Adanir.

While in Mor-Mehr, the group sought information about traveling through the desert, learning that Kaftar were attacking caravans as well as sandstorms sweeping away unsuspecting parties. Ardeshir befriended a dwarven blacksmith named Balshar, who said he was headed to Mor-Mehr for a routine job of resupplying and repairing the various needs of the town. The group offered to protect him on the road as they were all going south, and so they left The-Bin accompanying Balshar.

Along the way to Mor-Mehr the group was indeed met by a Kaftar group, who tried to lure them into a trap (pretending to be a false caravan). The Kaftar attacked and were later joined by dust mephits, those elemental imps of the sands. The group managed to protect Balshar (although were quite annoyed with the mephits), and continued on.

In Mor-Mehr, they were met by the Order of Annayur, who warned them at the Sacanno Mountains were a dangerous place, and that none were very welcome there. They had sealed the entrance up ages ago to protect ruins from grave-robbers and monsters, and were wary of letting even the adventurous party in. They claimed no knowledge of Adanir's existence.

Ardeshir Rouhani vouched for the party's good faith, and after deliberating with the Order's leader, Mateen, managed to get the Gate to the Golden Road opened. They were warned of slimes and harpies, as well as a stone giant named Gaddadhara who dwelled on the road to an ancient city of Abizad, a fallen trading post.

In the old temple ruins at the foot of the mountains, the group slinked through past some minor traps of the Order of Annayur's doing, and also encountered some oni and more dust mephits. Ichirou managed to bravely fend off a darkmantle, and the group uncovered the remains of a treasure store hidden away by bandits years ago.

They continued out from the old temple into the mountain passes, where they passed by great painted murals of the destruction of the forests that had now become the Astara Desert surrounding Majirah. Then they approached a massive stone citadel, whereupon they met Gaddadhara, the stone giant...

Adventure 6: Tiger Sword Glade

After a few days of waiting around Tahirah, the group was brought back to the library where Sihamuni presented them with his initial findings from the Auran Tomes they brought him. He also gave Steiger some information regarding the Dark Witches, one of whom was shown on his cameo trinket.

With new information in tow, the group turned southward toward Tiger Sword Glade. There Anden, the half-elf sorcerer, hoped to consult the sage Yash about his identity and the mysterious cube he'd been carrying around. The first step toward the glade was the Feypool, the sacred lake that the elves' saw as their Edenic beginnings.

Kappa are mischievous water imps.

At the Feypool, they saw the priests setting up camp along the shore, among them Jarumi, whom they'd met at Kali. Jarumi exclaimed that kappa--water imps--had taken over the shrine. They devised mechanical devices to leach away the power of the prayer stones (ino-ishi), and that the dimmed light of the stones brought forth a gumon, a strange spirit creature. The stones had to be freed and reactivated through magical prayer in order for the gumon to be vanquished.

Gumon appear wherever

 divine energy is weak.

The party went into the Feypool shrine where they encountered the long-limbed gumon and the kappa. While party rogue Ichirou disabled the devices around the ino-ishi, the party kept the gumon at bay. With Elaria re-lighting the stones, the party was able to take care of the gumon and free the shrine's divine energy.

Continuing westward, the party overcame a thick wall of brambles and continued to the glade. There they encountered tiger guardians as well as a weretiger, Vepkhi, who had been cursed by Yash ages ago in order to protect the sage. Elaria managed to stymie the tigers' aggression, but Vephki demanded proof of worth. Steiger tried him in combat, but was knocked out.

Vephki was still pleased with the party's actions, and Yash appeared. The sage was a giant, winged white tiger. Unlike Rajasaru, he was more into directness and pride than mental games. Yash told Anden that his small cube was the key to the gates of Adanir, the lost city of the Elder Elves. He recounted how when Shisano lifted Ishtar to the heavens (whose tears became the wood elves), she was with Shen's child, and this child had to stay behind. The child was looked after by the gold dragon Annayur, along with some elven disciples, and through this was born the Elder Elves, a noble and proud elfin lineage who built a great citadel in the Sacanno Mountains, the massive ranged separating Tahirah and Majirah.

Adanir had locked itself away, however, at the close of the second age, and was more a mythical city than any real place. To find its entrance would be a treacherous journey. The group debated which leads they should follow up on, and how they should deal with the threat of Naga invasion. Anden suggested going to Adanir might prove useful in helping bring them into that fight as well, and so the group decided to head back east. They asked Yash for a ride to Cairona, so they could travel back to the temple-city of Mor-Mehr, a rumored shrine to a gold dragon, and a good place to start.

Yash, the great Tiger Sage.

Upon Yash's back they flew toward the city, covering miles in moments, and the party set out for a new adventure.

• The Auran Tomes were translated by Sihamuni, the royal librarian at Tahirah. They mentioned accounts of Kazim the Abjurer's time among the wind djinn, as well as the history of the Astara Desert and unions between the Majirahans and the Elder Elves.
• The Feypool is the holy birthplace of the elves, a great lake that is tended by priests. The group rekindled the shrine's prayer stones and battled a gumon spirit creature.
• Tiger Sword Glade is the home of the great sage, Yash. It is protected by Vephki, who was transformed into a tiger guardian by Yash when the sage caught him hunting in the forests.
• Yash explained that the noble Elder Elves are separate from the Tahirah wood elves, and given that Queen Shahrzad had a cold reaction to Anden's parentage, it might seem there is bad blood between the peoples.
• The Elder Elves were bearers of powerful magic, including flying carpets which they traded with Majirah. They dwell in Adanir, a citadel hidden among the great mountains between Tahirah and Majirah.

The Auran Tomes

Here are the translations of the Auran Tomes that were found beneath Rhotas Barav.


Auran Tome 1: Recordings of Kazim the Abjurer

The first tome is a record of Kazim the Abjurer’s time in the city of the wind-djinn, under the rule of the Djinni lord, Al‘Ŝafan Anil, the Sky Caliph. This kingdom was ruled in a vibrant city that floated about a mile above the dunes called The Citadel of the Winds. Its ruins are now shrouded in sandstorms and clouds, rechristened the Hanging Gardens in the Astara Desert near Majirah.

Most of Kazim’s entries record the lives of the djinn, and how they felt the Majirahans were spoiling the lands of the desert since they’d driven out the Nagas. Indeed, he remarks how the vegetation had been “creeping more and more toward the mountains and coasts since the Shah came into power.”

“The djinn of the winds are kind, if not mercurial, proud of their heritage and nomadic lifestyle. Indeed, like the wind, they are quick to change their dreams and whims, but are still fond of the characteristic nobility and honor-bound oaths that all djinn are known for. They quite lament the loss of the Naga Kingdom, having been burned down by the Majirahan armies to drive them westward, and ever since the verdant hills have become more and more bare for the sake of a human empire.”

Of note are several entries he makes years later.

“The djinn are being courted by powers greater than I. Indeed, even the Naga King Vasuki has hinted that if he could harness the djinn’s power he could exact revenge on all mortals. My time in the Citadel is becoming more fearsome, while I watch my back from supernatural predators in the hopes of making sure no one can use the djinn’s powers for ill will. Friendships may be made of strong bonds, but none is stronger than the will of the Creator to prevent the destructive desires of Evil.”

And later:

“It is with a heavy heart I return to the Citadel of the Winds. My intentions are not as honorable as the Sky Caliph believes, and it is after I have done my duty and sealed him away that I can rest easy. Indeed, after what the Radiant Lord took as his penance for being sealed, I can sleep easier knowing—or rather, not knowing—what I have given up. Each djinn-vessel requires a price, and Al‘Ŝafan Anil’s vessel is that of air. Memories are ethereal, floating in an invisible tether between sensation and consciousness, and these I happily give up if it means I do not have to relive the knowledge I gave my wife and son to the Efreet.”

Auran Tome 2: The Djinn of the Sands

The second tome is (part of) an account of the history of what is now the Astara Desert. It is written by a djinn scholar named Al’Aziran, who says in the introduction, “much of what I write is the truth, although mortals would have you believe we were to blame for the calamities. In actuality, it is the existence of Free Will among both djinn and mortals that conquers.”

Al’Aziran explains that the Creator fashioned three beasts on the Middle World: Leviathan, the serpent of Water that guards the Eastern Oceans; Ziz, the bird of the Air, who perches upon the tower of Zenith and hunts the Great Wasteland Desert of Falak; and the Behemoth, the beast of Earth. 

While Ziz and Leviathan have survived, the Behemoth was slain in a joint hunt by djinn, Nagas, and Men (who would later found Majirah). This massive battle created the Scar, the massive crevasse that runs between the two deserts. It is said Behemoth’s remains sit at the bottom of the scar, waiting to be picked by vulturous wizards and treasure hunters.

The tome also explains that the djinn, when driven out by Majirahans and Elder Elves of the Mountains, went into the desert and hid in the city of Ubar, whose presence is hidden by the raging sandstorms and heat of the Wasteland.

“Indeed, the greatest threat of the desert was the union of the Majirahans and the Elder Elves of AdanÍr, who under the protection of Annayur, created an army of flying-carpet cavalry and sand-storm rangers. Until the alliance broke down, this Empire of the Suns proved troublesome, until Kazim the Abjurer quieted the power of the djinn inside his brass vessels.”

The final chapters begin to explain the history of the Djinn of Ubar, saying that “the realm is lost to mortals with whom the djinn wish no contact, but those who can find the dragon of the sands, Shabnan, may ply him for the city’s whereabouts.

“For the acolytes of Ŝirahz have proven friendly to the djinn, devoted to the power of their dragon and not Celestial manifest destiny. Understanding the clues to a dragon’s whereabouts (such as Majirahan scholars can attest) can bring fortune to travelers looking for the hospitality of the acolytes or the djinn.”

Lastly, the tome also explains the djinn crafted many items that could be unlocked only by djinn blood, that these relics—often weapons and the like—were designed so that the djinn could be protected from their enemies. The djinn of Ubar can recraft these tools if need be, allowing another to harness their power. Such items were lost when many djinn settlements failed, like those of Al-Duram and Kinshala in Lost Khandar.