Editing Chronicle - Malek (section)

== Malek ==

We were now in the foothills of Malek's range, having climbed in altitude as we moved south away from the river. We had found a sheltered, rocky area on a high point in the foothills to rest. [[Lanzi]] resummoned Si Ti Qa, undoing some of the damage that had been done to him when his familiar had been killed.

When we were ready to move again, the problem of transportation arose. We had lost our carpet, but still had an alternative to walking as I had a figurine of an elephant that could be used to transport us. I summoned the creature, which was quite docile, and we sat on its back and directed it on towards the mountain range. By nightfall we had reached a rather sheer cliff at the base of the range, having followed a track that continued up and across the cliffs. We made our way up the path while it was wide enough for the elephant, but soon had to stop and make camp for the night. We had not seen anyone else in the area, and no other ships had appeared on the river behind us. The weather by now had turned miserable and was drizzling slightly as well as being cold, but visibility was still quite good and we made sure that sentries kept watch. The elephant, having served its purpose, was turned back into a figurine in my pack.

[[Milai]] and [[Hintzu]] took the first watch, and during the pitch black late hours Eudora warned her mistress that armoured figures were approaching down the path. [[Milai]] quickly roused us and Eudora reported that those approaching were Gith-like and heavily armoured; their armour was similar to Grazghull's army and they were likely working for [[Guerin]]. [[Milai]] climbed up the cliff, perching above our camp to get a better look at the foe. This was an unusual place to find Gith, and they were keeping in tight formation as they moved down the path, even marching in step. A few were plane-shifting from time to time, but by and large they were forcing themselves to remain on the path.

I climbed down beneath the path, hoping to remain hidden, but [[Milai]] had other ideas and dropped an ice storm on the column as soon as they came within range. Predictably, they charged down the path to engage us as others loosed arrows at [[Milai]]; she was hit several times and could not complete whatever dweomer she had hoped to unleash next. Unfortunately they had also seen Si Ti Qa, who was above them on the cliff, and attacked him as well, hurting him. Magic missiles hit both of them in addition to the arrows, and Si Ti Qa passed out in pain. [[Hintzu]] threw a fireball, killing one and having some impact on the column, whilst [[Lanzi]] turned the path to mud underneath them. Although some were swept downwards, this did not have much of an impact due to their ability to move between planes. I called on my crown's powers, sending lightning arcing between the heavily armoured figures, and killing five of them outright, whilst [[Hintzu]] started loosing arrows at point blank range, unable to miss the packed ranks.

I sent a fireball up the path into the distant ranks, and then slowly advanced towards the nearer foe, mindful that my friends were invisible. [[Hintzu]] breathed fire at one of the Gith, burning him badly, whilst [[Lanzi]] also let a fireball off, but closer to us and killing the one [[Hintzu]] had just burned. He went on (never to be outdone when it comes to dweomer) to raise a wall of fire along the path, catching many in the waves of heat it gave off. It was clear, though, that the Gith were using the ethereal plane to move through and around barriers that the environment or our dweomer were putting in their way.

Magic missiles flew towards [[Lanzi]], but he was able to absorb them without harm. [[Milai]] and [[Hintzu]] both used their bows to good effect, and another fell to their arrows. I was the target of magic missiles, and had to suck up the damage as I was in melee with another; I landed a blow, but the Gith's armour turned it away. [[Lanzi]] replied with magic missiles of his own, killing one but not affecting another. [[Hintzu]] killed two more with his bow as [[Milai]] killed another the same way.

I was flanked by two foes now, and used the crown again - turning one of the Gith instantly to stone, as well as cracking the skull of the other with my mace, dropping him. For a moment there were no foes close, but [[Lanzi]] flew off towards where Si Ti Qa had fallen calling out dire warnings that the Gith could appear at any moment. [[Milai]] picked off another with her bow, but there was no obvious threat to me.

[[Lanzi]] reached Si Ti Qa and immediately raised a wall of fire around them both in a ring. He fished out some keotones and used them to heal his familiar's wounds, rousing him. Some Gith attacked [[Lanzi]] despite the flames, but his stoneskin and mirror images saved him from harm. [[Hintzu]] started climbing up to join [[Milai]], where he could put his archery skills to good use, as [[Lanzi]] started to flee towards them - taking hits and losing the rest of his images in the process.

I started to climb after [[Hintzu]], but as I did so I was attacked from behind by a Gith appearing on the Prime; [[Hintzu]] saw that I was in danger and returned to my side. [[Lanzi]] dropped a fireball behind him to cover his escape, continuing his escape. [[Hintzu]], now beside me again, killed the Gith that had appeared with point blank arrows to its chest, then raised a wall of fire around us to protect against further attack. He fired through the wall at any targets that presented themselves, killing at least one.

[[Lanzi]] kept moving away from the threat, acutely aware that there were archers amongst the foe, and then created an image further down that he could use to direct his dweomer. [[Hintzu]] and I were confident that we could hold our own together, and [[Hintzu]] dropped the wall of fire so that we could both engage the enemy. [[Milai]], though, called down for us to climb up to join her.

[[Hintzu]] could cover my slower ascent, so I started up the cliff. Unfortunately, at just that moment, [[Lanzi]] used powerful dweomer to force all the Gith in the area onto the Prime. [[Hintzu]] and I were instantly surrounded! Magic missiles flew at [[Lanzi]], but he was unaffected by them. I was attacked and hit from below, although I was helped by [[Hintzu]] dropping a fireball below me. [[Lanzi]] responded to the magic missile attack in true one-upmanship style by sending a meteor storm down on those Gith nearest him, killing most of them in the huge detonations. [[Milai]] and [[Hintzu]] killed one apiece, both reacting quickly to the situation, but then [[Hintzu]] seemed to go into a fighting trance as he killed three more in quick succession, all at point blank range. Magic missiles rose in response to the dweomer attacks, this time aimed at [[Milai]], who took some damage, but she replied by dropping ice onto the Gith again, killing at least one.

Seeing the swarm of Gith below me, I dropped from the cliff, twisting to grapple with one directly below me. Unfortunately he moved to the side just as I did so, and I ended up face-planting myself into the path, eating gravel and destroying my lantern as I landed. [[Lanzi]] continued his assault on the other group of Gith, sending lightning jumping between them, and at this they turned to flee. [[Milai]] killed two more with arrows, as [[Hintzu]] killed another. [[Milai]] was hit by an arrow again, but she had used Agan to heal herself and shrugged it off. I got hacked at on the ground, but my armour spared me the worst of it. A fireball exploded, launched by [[Lanzi]], killing two of the archers that had been troubling [[Milai]]. [[Hintzi]] summoned a fiery ball, burning one Gith to death as he hacked another one down.

Slightly dazed, I staggered to my feet and desperately fired a lightning bolt through the packed ranks around me, frying half a dozen of the foe, who were unable to escape the blast. [[Milai]] and [[Hintzu]] killed at least three more between them, but it was hard to tell as the remainder were turning and running. [[Hintzu]]'s ball killed at least one more, as did magic missiles from [[Lanzi]], and they were routed for sure. Not to be outdone, though, Eudora appeared and sent a fireball after them, killing two more.

Panting for breath, we paused to take stock of our position. It had been a hard fight, but we had survived and were ready to move again quickly. [[Lanzi]] suggested that with some dweomer my elephant could be made to fly, but the rest of us poo-pooed the idea, not sure what flying would do to the elephant's sanity; they are skittish beasts at best. Instead we climbed around the new gap in the path (except for [[Lanzi]], who of course flew across) and continued our climb on foot.

We walked for an hour before even looking for another place to rest, wanting to put the scene of the battle well behind us. I had to keep using dweomer to warm [[Milai]] and the cold was biting even in our thick furs. Eventually we found a relatively shallow slope that [[Lanzi]] was able to use as a base for a summoned hut that sheltered us from view and from the elements; in fact it was quite pleasant inside. We rested, although we still posted guards, and this time [[Lanzi]] and I took our turn.

It was hard to hear anything outside over the wind blowing down the valley, but at one point we were sure that we heard a large creature flying close overhead; it could have been [[Guerin]], and we were ready for combat for some time afterwards, but nothing came of it.

Once rested we discussed our long term plans. If [[Milai]]'s fleet was still strong in the West then we could take our new dragon ally (assuming quite a bit, but that was our plan) to guard them whilst we pursued other objectives in the West. When ready, though, and if able to co-ordinate with Nega, then we could attack Celinas and Ochi, pincering the enemy and securing a sea route of resupply. With a power base in the south to build on, there was a chance of uniting our allies to fight back and retake the north.

With our breakfast discussions done, I again used dweomer to protect us, all this time, from the increasingly bitter cold. The path was clear, for now, and we continued up the narrow, snow covered trail. Visibility was horrible due to the ice, snow and bitter winds hitting our faces. With the path only four foot wide at best it was slow going in this bad weather.

At times there were gaps in the path, forcing us to climb around them. On one occasion we were in the process of doing so, with [[Milai]] and [[Hintzu]] ahead, me halfway across and [[Lanzi]] behind when something happened. Huge worms burst out of the cliff ahead of and behind the party, although I had no notion of it due to my position and the weather. The first worm roared at [[Milai]] and waves of intense heat radiated from its toothed maw, which was large enough to swallow her whole.

There was very little room to dodge any attacks, and [[Milai]] was hurt, although thankfully not swallowed, and [[Lanzi]] was only saved by his stoneskin dweomer. [[Milai]] responded with a cone of cold, which didn't seem to have any effect, but followed up with strong swings with Agan. [[Hintzu]] tried both fire and arrows, but both were ineffective against the creature. [[Lanzi]] conjured a great hand to protect him from attack and another to pummel the worm he was facing, but neither were effective - these creatures were shrugging off even the most potent dweomer. Meanwhile, oblivious to what was happening on the path, I was crossing the gap in the wind and snow.

[[Milai]] was landing good blows with Agan, but it was not as effective as normal, so she called several arrows to appear in her quiver, calling for [[Hintzu]] to use them. She was hit again, though, as the beast lunged forward. [[Lanzi]] was again saved by his stoneskin, so called up some mirror images for additional protection; he also tried to lower the magic resistance of the creature.

[[Milai]] and [[Hintzu]] fought on, but even the new arrows had no effect, so she called some more effective ones up for him. Meanwhile Agan was being put to good use, but could not protect [[Milai]] from more damage. [[Lanzi]] lost an image and sent magic missiles streaking into the maw of the worm, but again without any visible effect.

I could vaguely see shapes ahead of me, which warned me that something might be amiss, so I stretch out with my mind to see what was going on. I could only detect [[Lanzi]] behind me, who was alarmed and probably under attack, and an animalistic mind near to him - I could sense nothing of those ahead of me.

[[Hintzu]] tried the new arrows that [[Milai]] had provided, and instantly saw the benefit. A quick volley saw the creature rear up and fall lifeless. I reached the path just as [[Milai]] was starting back to check on us, and I warned her of [[Lanzi]]'s danger. [[Hintzu]] was close behind her. [[Lanzi]] was trying more dweomer, lowering resistance and striking with a column of fire, but again with no visible effect, and again being saved by his stoneskin.

I prayed to [[Odin]] to protect my friends, unable to climb back across quickly enough to help. [[Lanzi]] fired a couple of rays at the beast, but was unable to hit it despite its size. [[Hintzu]] dropped down in between the beast and [[Lanzi]], dodging an attack by flattening himself to the floor and then springing up and drawing his bow again. I chanted to [[Odin]], bringing further favour upon us, as he engaged the worm.

[[Lanzi]] lobbed an orb of dweomer at the creature, but again it had no effect. [[Hintzu]] then engaged the thing, dodging attacks whilst firing a stream of arrows. Almost a dozen must have hit home before the creature inevitably perished.

It took us a little while to cross over the gap (without being opposed this time) and then climb over the huge bulk of the dead worm ahead of us, but eventually we were able to continue on our journey. It was a little after this time that [[Lanzi]] suddenly remembered that he had a scroll that would allow him to control the terrible weather! Reading it was quick enough, but it was another half an hour before the worst of the weather had subsided and instead it was simply cloudy with a cool, strong wind. This was certainly an improvement! I'm sure that [[Morwath]] would have thought of this earlier!

We decided to take advantage of the relatively good weather to fly up (with the help of dweomer) and reconnoitre the surrounding land. We roped ourselves together so that we could remain invisible, as we no longer had the carpet to aid us, and I donned [[Tuar Chan]]'s helmet to allow me to see everyone. Luckily I had already been made invisible or [[Hintzu]] would probably have been off in fright!

When we flew up we could see over a dozen calderas in the surrounding mountains, which did not help our search! We only had a short time in which to continue flying, so we alighted close to one of the nearest. As we descended, [[Milai]] spotted a large flock of oversized birds to the south, heading north, and what looked like a dragon climbing out of another caldera. Perhaps [[Guerin]] was searching for the same thing as we were.

We diverted to a nearby trail so that we had some good footing, below the caldera, and removed the rope around us. Out of danger for the moment, we ate before moving on; we would need our strength. [[Milai]] and [[Hintzu]] went ahead, following the path, and I followed with [[Lanzi]]. The path climbed in front of us, with stairs carved into the rock. [[Milai]] was struggling a little with a leg wound, so I used [[Odin]]'s power to heal some of her wounds before we started the slow climb up.

We must have climbed for just short of half an hour before reaching a small plateau some two hundred yards across. There were more stairs on the other side, and the caldera was to our right about three hundred feet above us still. [[Milai]] flew up to investigate the caldera, while the rest of us created a small circle of stones so that she could find us again whilst we were still invisible.

[[Milai]] returned to inform us that it was a normal caldera, some two hundred feet across with a pool in the centre, but with no obvious features that matched the poem we were trying to follow. We realised that searching every caldera in the area was impractical, especially considering the enemy occupation. Instead we took another look at the poem to look for better landmarks.

It seemed that furrows in the landscape that might resemble a face should be a feature that we should look for. It also seemed reasonable that to follow the directions in the poem we should be starting at one of the entrances to [[Malek]]'s halls.

We flew up again, back towards the volcano, looking for the furrows. A flock of bird-like creatures could be seen behind us to the east, and the dragon we had seen was also heading east, and also searching calderas. [[Milai]]'s sharp eyes spotted a feature that could match the area we were looking for as we drew closer to the vast mountain. We landed to draw up our plan and to rest before going on.

[[Lanzi]] conjured another hut for us to rest fully in, and we spent about six hours in preparation. We could hear that the dragon was still in the area, but we were not disturbed. Whilst we were doing so I spent time divining the path we should take, seeking guidance from [[Odin]]. I asked for direction to the exit from [[Orodruin]]'s halls in [[Malek]] that [[Blaven]] used at the time he discovered Blaven's Pool.

When we were ready, we roped up again, invisible, and flew up the side of [[Malek]]. The volcano was obviously still active, and smoldering boulders occasionally landed around us, although they were infrequent enough not to worry us unduly. I had the impression that we should be heading to our right, so we veered onto a different bearing and continued for about an hour before seeing something of note. Nearly a mile away, in the direction we were travelling, we could see a flickering light. As we drew closer we could see that it was marking an entrance way into the mountain side. [[Lanzi]] called a halt so that he could give himself the ability to see in the dark, and then we continued.

There was a path leading away from the entrance, which amounted to nothing more than a lava tube with covered lanterns mounted to the wall on either side. There was nobody visible, and [[Lanzi]] informed us that there was no discernable dweomer in the area. The lava tube sloped upwards into darkness, and we flew inside before I risked revealing my gem of brightness. I swapped my helmet for the crown, preparing in case of a fight in the enclosed space. The tube started to widen after half a dozen minutes travel and it was obvious that it had been carved into a wide passageway. It turned slightly to the left before ending in a stone door.

I spent a moment contemplating how to tackle the door, but I sensed that [[Odin]] was impatient and that I should simply push it open. The door was well balanced, and opened easily to a simple shove. A scene of carnage was revealed, as the door opened into a large room strewn with bodies of [[Orodruin]]'s folk. On closer examination, though, it was obvious that the bodies were old, perhaps as much as two years. There was a [[First_Poem_from_Malek|poem]] running around the walls that made interesting reading. This seemed to be a guardroom that had been trashed, and the defenders had seeming died fighting around a damaged door to our left. Another door was opposite this one, but was undamaged.

We passed through this door, entering a corridor that turned right and climbed up stairs. After a climb it flattened out again and turned to our left, ending in another door. Beyond this was a medium sized square room with yet more bodies inside and a door opposite. However, [[Odin]]'s voice told me to turn to the right, to a slightly misshapen part of the wall and speak the command "Grun", causing a hidden door to open. Behind was a well-hewn spiral stair leading upwards.

[[Lanzi]] closed the door behind us as we began what turned out to be a long climb to the top of the stairs. Eventually we entered a corridor that turned to the left before narrowing to a rough tube-like tunnel about 4 feet in diameter. We still had dweomer allowing us to fly, so we lay in the air and willed ourselves forwards down the tunnel. After some distance the tunnel began to widen, allowing us to stand. Ahead of us was a source of incredible heat. Just before the opening beyond, though, was an area of illusory floor that we had to fly over to be safe. Thankfully we did so and emerged into a large lava cavern, with the intense heat from the molten rock some hundred feet below us. The air was thick and sulphurous, and I called on [[Odin]] to protect us from the heat before it became intolerable.

[[Lanzi]] flew across the cavern, reaching a ledge above and opposite our own, but as he reached it he saw some Gith in the tunnel beyond moving away from him. He quickly shielded his light source, but it was too late so he used a fireball instead! The fire was tightly contained within the tube, and quickly travelled back towards us! The flames stopped just short of [[Lanzi]], leaving him looking smug about his good judgement. He followed up with a lightning bolt, killing two of the Gith that had been injured before. [[Hintzu]] reached the ledge next, sending more fire down into the enemy and killing another two, before sending a cluster of arrows into their ranks, killing three more. The remainder that were in sight turned and ran, understandably realising that their position was indefensible.

We all followed at a normal pace, entering a rough hewn square room with three more exits, all above our level. Above each arched exit was a symbol; to our right was the symbol of Taneth, to our left were two symbols we did not recognise and ahead were two others (possibly dwarf and gnome - a mark of [[Orodruin]]'s folk?) that my senses told me was the exit we should take.

We flew up to the exit I indicated and entered another corridor, but after some sixty feet it narrowed into a rough-hewn passage and [[Lanzi]] warned of an invisible creature flying up ahead. [[Hintzu]] used his ring's powers to outline the creature in a green light that we could all see. I called on [[Odin]] to grant [[Hintzu]] the power to see the true nature of things, including invisible creatures. [[Lanzi]], meanwhile, attempted to lower its resistance to dweomer and disintegrate it; although it dodged the ray. Despite all this preparation, [[Milai]] took a more direct approach, charging forward and cutting it down with bold swings of Agan.

We joined [[Milai]] at a more leisurely pace and continued down the passage. It continued to narrow, and moonbeams shone through holes in the ceiling. We carried on, passing through the moonbeams, and eventually emerged outside again. [[Hintzu]] was no longer flying at this point, and I shielded my gem of light before stepping out into the night.

A path leading away from the passage split into three, one leading up a spur of [[Malek]] to our left, one curling away to the right and another ahead of us gently descending. Nearby was a sheet of smooth, shear rock, matching the description in the poem we were following, so we headed towards it. As we got very close, we saw that there was an almost indiscernable path chiselled out of the rock, leading up and back towards the summit of [[Malek]]. The path was also covered with illusory dweomer to make it seem like the rock around it; this was the path we had to follow. After cresting the ridge, it sloped down gently towards a pool of ice.

Again, using the poem as a guide, [[Lanzi]] caused the earth to quake and the ice cracked into a rough outline of a frowning face. There was water below, and with the moonlight shining through the eyes of the face we could see three holes in the rock some distance down, each leading into a twisting tunnel. I spoke the words Magnified, Magnificent, Manifest in Gnomish (with some dweomer so that I could understand them) and an eerie light glowed around the holes - then the moon moved impossibly quickly across the sky to illuminate the pool fully. There was an audible crack and the water started to drop; it took some time, but eventually the water drained completely and left the holes clear.

[[Lanzi]] used his dweomer to sprinkle a glowing dust down into the cave, and as it fell it swirled around another hole, one that we hadn't been able to see before - there was another hidden exit. [[Milai]] then used powerful dweomer to wish that the true route to Blaven's Pool was revealed; as she did so one of the original holes widened slightly and the glitterdust faded. We renewed our flying ability and flew out just inside the lip of the cavern, looking straight down. [[Lanzi]] fired a small meteor down into the cavern, and as it fell the lights around it formed the shape of the phoenix constellation in the 'well'. Looking around in the rock we could also see the words "Blaven's Pool" carved into the side of the entrance.

We continued down to the ledge, laying on it for shelter as [[Milai]] used her dweomer to still the water below us. As the water calmed and the reflection of the Phoenix constellation became clear there was a great burst of positive energy that ripped through the air, threatening to consume us; the ledge was the only thing that protected us. The gate was unstable, and we all looked to [[Lanzi]] to bring it under control. He admitted that he couldn't do it on his own, which surprised us! He also admitted he didn't really know how to stabilise it, but would give it a go and wasn't worried that it might not work, which didn't surprise us.

The great light storm and energy blasting from below was a little distracting, so [[Milai]] created a pocket of stable ground and air for us to work within safely. [[Hintzu]] used his chalk, making me a little nervous, to sketch out the pentagram to [[Lanzi]]'s specifications, although I was able to assist with some of the detail due to my study of ancient history during my years in the temple library at [[Sutur]]. [[Lanzi]] also took a moment to blink to the top of the shaft and hide it with an illusion in case the energy brought unwanted attention. While he did this we started work scraping the pattern into the ground and melting some silver coins to create an indelible pattern. Dweomer was used to summon braziers and a Phoenix feather. [[Lanzi]] then summoned a fire elemental to light the braziers and melt the feather!

Features started to form in the column of energy in front of us and a forceful voice echoed in the cavern saying "What? Who is there?" The others recoiled around me as a dragon's face took shape, but the crown protected me from its radiance. As its maw continued to emerge we saw two red, burning eyes peering at [[Lanzi]]; to his credit he held the gaze and spoke his name. Shimmering colours surrounded the now fully-formed head, although it seemed to be just an image rather than actually being present. Somewhere behind me I heard a small voice say "you've been a very brave boy!"

At this point [[Milai]] started to freak out - kicking a brazier over and shouting at [[Lanzi]] to stop the gate opening. [[Lanzi]] and I tried to calm her, but without much effect; it was clear that [[Tung Mi Lung]] had left a mark on her mind. She conjured a wall of force between her and the dragon's image, but it crumbled away under the power of the positive energy, so she drew Agan and stepped in front of [[Lanzi]]. At this, the dragon spoke again, "you summoned me! There is no harm here. Wield your weapon against me and I will kill you all. Am I here on the Prime?" [[Lanzi]] released the fire elemental in order to focus on helping [[Milai]], but [[Hintzu]]'s words had more effect. He reassured her that this was not her enemy that he had saved her from, but a dragon related to the positive plane. Even the dragon seemed impressed, saying "he understands us, but knows not why."

[[Milai]] stepped back, still wary but calmed slightly. [[Lanzi]] quickly asked the dragon about properly opening the gate, amongst other things. The dragon made it clear that he saw the she-elf ([[Milai]]) as an enemy, but was very interested in the antics of [[Rantor]] on the Prime, and also that it was the 7th Age; speaking of the "stars being aligned". He recognised [[Blaven]]'s name, and mentioned dragon names that we had not heard - Bhamat and Tiamat (alignment dragons?). [[Lanzi]] revealed the orb, but refrained from using it. After hearing our request for aid, he wanted to retreat somewhere to hide and consider. There was some discussion amonst ourselves as to whether Mother Nature's Emissary was actually a dragon. Our musings were interrupted when he warned us to close the gate - things were coming and if they were released then Ragnarak would be assured - only [[Lastar]] had succeeded in stopping it before, and we would have to destroy [[Rantor]] if we hoped to triumph.

I realised that we were being manipulated! Iki Moko knew that after Ragnarak the artefacts would have no power; the one that had the greatest power base on the Prime that did not rely on artefacts or other-planar power would then be free to triumph. This is why he traded artefacts for a greater power base, and he probably set us on the path to open this gate in order to hasten Ragnarak! [[Lanzi]], realising that the warning was real, quickly froze the other brazier, extinguishing it, and the dragon's face disappeared immediately. The explosion of positive energy was still sustaining itself, though, so [[Milai]] created a wall of ice to block it off. She nodded to [[Lanzi]], impressed that he was willing to turn down the chance to command the greatest power on the Prime. [[Lanzi]], however, considered that he was already the greatest power on the Prime, so the decision was an easy one!

A new danger presented itself, as the cavern was once again filling with water, threatening to drown us. [[Lanzi]] quickly disintegrated part of the ledge we were on to remove the pentagram we had created. We then flew out at pace to avoid the water, but then rested in one of [[Lanzi]]'s conjured huts to reflect on what we had seen. We agreed that we should be seeking to close all the gates, rather than open more; that much we had learned. We should also seek to return any artefacts to their original planes and remove influence from other planes. [[Lastar]] had sought balance, but made the mistake of balancing other planar powers on the Prime rather than removing them completely, so things were quickly unbalanced. We also discussed the blooms, and how they could be swayed to positive or negative by our actions and the actions of the enemy. Perhaps there were two blooms in a race when they had been divided but only one when they were united and balanced. (Eg [[Milai]]/[[Inwe]] for the Elves, [[Yishmay]]/Revern's daughter for men, but only [[Mandur]] for the dwarves who was on the tipping point, hence the lost souls being key to balance). The enemy targetted races on the cusp and forced them out of balance, turning them on themselves.

After resting and discussing these points, we retraced our steps to the chamber in [[Malek]] with the poem around the wall. It seemed that the [[Sarnim Stone]] was being bargained for in return for a special suit of armour by [[Orodruin]] in the distant past. Worryingly it seemed that he was in the halls of [[Hades]] when he did so.