Dear friends, it has been an exhausting week, but I’m excited for the next leg of my journey. And I will endeavour to share updates with you as we go along in the name of the Athasian Survey Project.

Since we left the bvaenen swamps and travelled up the Jagged Cliffs (carried by wind riders as a favour), my old handler Margaba has been briefing me on the status of the psionic crystals that my dear Adicios had sacrificed so much in his attempts to find. I now know they were called the Niraani Crystals, so named after the psionic shaper and servant of Rajaat who crafted them at the Pristine Tower. My colleague Boanhma used her druidic skills to track down a pack of thri-kreen who had found the Crystals and sold them on the black market. They had apparently changed hands several times since then, being at various times in the possession of powerful psions, defilers, and the stray cleric. After disappearing for several years, Margaba and Boanhma managed to track the Crystals down to a cleric of ”Obsidian” who claimed to be from the lands south of the Endless Sand Dunes. This cleric called himself Aitor the Lost, and other than the fact he was well-connected to the merchant house of Maraneth, it was difficult to find out anything more about him. Margaba had received a tip the cleric had been traveling north across the Glowing Desert with a cohort of ssurrans, and believes he is headed towards Lava Gorge, possibly heading for Magehome itself.

A centuries-old lava-filled basin in the middle of the desert is surely an anomalous feature if there ever was one. Since it is sacred to all Magma clerics and every ssurran on the continent, there are many strongly held beliefs about the Gorge’s origin, and yet all of them seem to be mere distractions from its true nature and origin, for which we ultimately only have speculative answers. All of those answers, however, revolve around the enigmatic Magehome tower.

To those few who are hardy or deranged enough to get close, it appears to be part fortress and part vault. The strange white stone of its surface is melted and encrusted around the edges from untold King’s Ages of exposure. In possibly the most horrendously hot place on all of Athas, the tower is an inhospitable site even for the ssurrans.

As we approached the edges of Troll Grave Chasm from the west, Margaba informed me that Boahnma would come from the south and join us in taking the crystals from Aitor.

I’m a little exhausted, but Margaba has come prepared for this mission. A powerful preserver in his own right, he brought fire protection and magic resistance charms. I also know a few things about protecting myself and keeping the air cool enough around us both to breathe.

The image you now see is what I saw as we approached Magehome. As I relayed this missive to my Veiled Alliance and druidic colleagues back in Urik, the Alliance historian said the clue to its origin lay in the colour of the stone. He believes this structure was built at around the same time as the Pristine Tower, and channeled the same forces.

Margaba opined that perhaps the magic locked inside the Magehome tower explains the Gorge’s source of lava. Could it house a permanent opening to the elemental planes? Could this be the place where Rajaat gave his champions their elemental conduits?

As we came around the cliff edge and within sight of the tower entrance, we saw our quarry standing near the vaulted gate of the tower.

…we were too late. Aitor and his half a dozen ssurran warriors were already at the door. The sigils on the door are glowing with the same pinkish glow as the Niraani Crystals in his hand. He is chanting.

This was bad. Where is Boahnma?

Margaba started to prepare a combat spell. I warned him to wait until Boahnma arrived, as I’m not confident the two of us can do this on our own, but he tells me we’re out of time. We’re both beginning to notice eldritch light is starting to emerge from the edges of the door.

Where is Boahnma?

…Margaba is right, we’re out of time. He prepares a chain lightning, while I reach out to pull the crystals from Aitor’s hand.

We both strike at once; Aitor is caught by surprise, but his warriors are not. The lightning hits home on the mage, and arcs through three of his companions. Two of the warriors fall, and I’m able to get a purchase on the crystals with my mind. I can feel how dangerous they are from where I stand.

The last ssurran warrior fires his crossbow at us. The bolt strikes the crystals right as they’re just about to reach my hand, shattering them.

There is a bright flash of white. Then red. Then black.

…

I awoke alone in a hospital bed.

An aarakocra Water priest informed me that Boanhma had arrived and taken me to Winter’s Nest, where the high clerics saved my life. There was no sign of Margaba.

Our mission has failed, and our failure came with a very high price. My old handler is gone. While I’m no longer immediately in danger of dying, the healers cannot heal my injuries. I fear I will not be able to physically continue my journey. However, being a seasoned practitioner of the Way, I am not totally without ideas. To that end, I have petitioned my old mentor in The Nexus for aid…

Sources:
* Scale, Tail, and Claw
* Wind Riders of the Jagged Cliffs
* The Vaults of Pandius: http://pandius.com/WotC/1080576.htm