Fernalion asked Sharrow to close a rift about a day away from Kar Helos. Introduced her to Ghania and Forrick who have agreed to accompany her on her first rift.
On the way the party encountered 3 Bandits. Killed them, looted 30A-N.
They entered the rift and found themselves in an underground city, hastily built, with low ceilings and crumbling walls.
At a crossroads [4], they found a makeshift home. There was an old lady living there, looked like she had been there a long time and was not doing so well in here. As soon as she spotted them she leapt towards them, screaming for food, clearly desperate. Sharrow managed to dodge out of her way and tried to persuade her to calm down, but she was clearly insane, probably as a result of being trapped in this place for so long. Eventually the party put her out of her misery. Maybe now she can find her way somewhere warm with plenty of food.
Came across an old warehouse [6] that looked like it was used to hold all manner of curious artefacts, but all the containers had previously been looted and broken. As they were setting off to leave, they heard skittering noises. Something was living in there.
Was a challenging fight against 6 Crystal Crawlers, Sharrow at one point on < 10 HP, though recovered slightly thanks to Ghania's healing.
In a large courtyard [8] they discovered a magnificent machine. It seemed to contain daylight inside a large glass dome atop a huge pylon. There were no markings on it at all, so they could only guess at it's purpose. Sharrow supposed that it might have been some sort of daylight generation device that the inhabitants were experimenting with in a last ditch effort to push back the darkness that had taken their city. While it didn't seem to have done them much good, it meant that the party didn't need to use their lantern.
Explored a large debate chamber [9]. Perhaps this was where the rulers of the city debated what to do as their city fell around them. It was largely empty, except for a bunch notes that looked like the last debate subject about how to use the Sun Light and how much energy it was going to take to power. Was about to leave when we found a [Savant's Vital Cap (+8 Health, Hard Leather Proficiency, worth 300A)], and weirdly Sharrow knew immediately what it was and put it on.
Found an underground hideout [10]. Now abandoned, looks like it was used by some secret faction that was attempting to wrestle power from the leaders of the city. It's not clear from the papers strewn across the place whether they managed to achieve their goal or not. Unfortunately a Slime Beast had taken residence while it was not being used.
An old abandoned mustering grounds for some long lost army [11], nature a long way through reclaiming the place with vines and beautiful garden atop what would have been the main field where people would gather from the now forgotten crumbling shacks. By the looks of the fading banners and standards, it would have contained a significant force, perhaps the last organised defence against the Riftlord that now claims this domain. In the centre of the grounds a large patch of bare ground houses a large intact stone structure, the flora seemingly incapable or unwilling to approach it.
Sharrow managed for find some documents within one of the crumbling structures detailing the thoughts of the commanders of this force. They didn't know what the structure was, but knew that their enemy coveted it. Concentrating their forces here allowed them to prevent their enemy from claiming it while they gathered their forces and attempted to figure out the purpose of the building. They thought that it might be vault containing something powerful, perhaps terrible, though they appear to have never managed to enter it.
The other side of the hideout they came across an old refugee camp [12]. It looked like a very old scene of utter devastation. Many people had died here. It looked like a trap had been set to kill all those that had gathered here in desperate hope.
Went back to the Sun Lamp thing [8] where it felt slightly safer to camp for the night.
Camping within the glow of the Sun Lamp proved uneventful. Maybe the more dangerous denizens of this place don't like the daylight. Glad it worked out for us.
We set off after breaking camp and soon ended up in a small residential area [13]. Most of the dwellings were boarded up and/or destroyed. The barricades down the roads alluded to a struggle in the end that the residents were not keen to abandon. We thought little of it and were about to blow on straight through when we encountered a Lava Lurker emerging from a sinkhole in the middle of a road. We dispatched it easily enough.
Outside the residential area that was a large hill [14]. Looks like it was the place of the last stand of the poor folks who lived near by. It looked like a pitched battle had occurred, with many people lying dead, half buried and rotting all around the base of the hill. We decided not to linger here, it was grim sight, not to mention the smell.
Found a large vault sure to contain ancient treasures [15]. Looks like the rift lord's minions had been working with the anarchist faction to try to get in there, though they appear to have failed in their endeavours. But first we had to deal with the Slime Beasts. Couldn't immediately get in to the vault, there was a tricky puzzle locked door. Managed to get it half open, but need to find a couple of other clues to figure it out.
Walked for a while along a river [16], the reed beds a making a lovely respite from the previous grim environs of this cursed city. Unfortunately the pleasant atmosphere did not last long, the river flooded, forcing us to make a mad dash to high ground. We got wet and and cold, but at least we didn't drown. Took some time to dry out and warm up before moving on.
Further down the river we came across a small port area [17] before the river opened up to an unfathomably large underground lake. It looked like this was part of the exodus where people tried to flee the riftlord's forces. Cargo was still piled high on some of the boats that never had a chance to sail away. While we were looking around Ghania managed to take a hit as some loose cargo fell on her, but she seems fine enough. As luck would have it, amongst some of the stowed cargo, we found one of the pieces needed to open that vault, so I guess it was worth it.
A ways away from the port, we discovered a large open area with cobbled floors. It looked like some sort of staging area. It had what looked like a large monument [18] depicting raging people, weapons attacking with looks of pure hatred and fear over their faces. It was covered in black soot from a ring of fire that seemed to always be burning around it, never seeming to go out. It was pretty impressive artwork ... until we realised that they were actual people! Some sort of foul magics seemed to be keeping them intact, carbonised in a fiery hell that never ceases. I suppose this was some horrific punishment for their rebellion against the Riftlord. I just hope that once we end it, they can finally go in peace. On the plus side, it gave Ghania an idea for the last piece of the puzzle to enter the Vault.
At the far end of the monument clearing, there was a large clock tower [19]. It was here that we found the RiftLord where they had clearly been holed up for some time, there were traps prepared for anyone who dared approach. The RiftLord was clearly inspired by Lava Lurkers, but it didn't help them. I managed to trap them most of the fight with a Hold spell. It took a lot of effort to do it, but it meant we could just sit back and bombard them from afar. Eventually they broke out and I ran out of Aether, so the fight ended with lots of kiting and slowly whittling them down until finally Ghania finished it off with a well placed attack to the face. Even in death it imitated the Lava Lurkers, slowly melting in to a puddle of lava.
We decided to head back to that vault, safe in the knowledge that we had defeated the worst thing this place had to throw at us. Once we git it unlocked we finally managed to open the door, a massive stone slab the took a lot of effort to move. Honestly, wasn't what I was expecting in there, I assumed a powerful weapon to help fight the Rift Lord. Instead it contained a pair of boots ... nice boots for sure, but still ... boots. Oh well, guess I have some new treads now.
We managed to backtrack our way out of the rift, reaching the fresh evening air outside just in time to camp for the night before the journey home the next day. I was a little surprised when the rift closed as soon as we had left it, it was like something was keeping it open just long enough for us to leave. Weird! According to Ghania it's normal for that to happen.
On the way back we met a travelling market. There were an assortment of people and caravans hawking and impressive array of merchandise. It was funny, as soon as they saw us they just started extracting their wares from the carts, setting up stalls and tents. Seemed to me like a lot of effort for a small group returning home. I got talking to one of the vendors, turns out their head trader is quite superstitious, considers it his duty to provide for travellers and always believes that "Where there is one, others will come". Unfortunately they weren't around at the time so we couldn't meet them. Hopefully we will see them again some day. Unfortunately they didn't have anyone who could identify our loot, but I managed to sell some books and stock up on supplies.
Finally we made it back to Kar Helos. While I was still new to the place, it felt good to be back there. Perhaps one day it would feel like coming home.
Fernalion was glad to see us return, and seemed surprised of our success, though he didn't show it overtly. I sensed that he didn't often see such successes first time out.
He was kind enough to point us towards Elendryl's Enchanted Elements, a shop in the heart of Kar Helos, where we could hawk our wares and get things identified.
I don't mind admitting that I was a little enchanted myself on meeting the proprietor, the lovely Elendryl was a sight to behold and a shrewd businesswoman. I had to pay a small fortune for her services in identifying our loot. We had just left the store when we encountered a group of visitors who looked like they had been waiting for someone to exit the store. Apparently they called themselves The Bright Kindred. Note to self: think of a bad-ass name for our group! Apparently one of them had accidentally set off some magic device in the store which Elendryl didn't take too kindly to and promptly barred them. They paid us 200A to go back in sell their wares for them. I could tell that Elendryl knew exactly what was going on, but she served us with a wry smile. The group thanked us and paid up, hopefully we will see them around.
Managed to have a long chat with Fernalion. While I still can't figure out how or why I got here, he told me his theories about it. Turns out people have been arriving here for decades, since around the same time the rifts started forming. He thinks that if we were ever able to close all of the rifts then the visitors would also stop coming, and perhaps those here could go home too. He thinks that each rift leads to a separate "plane" ruled over by a Riftlord who jealously guards its own domain in a hierarchy, each with a master Riftlord above them until the at the top must sit the master of them all. If we can figure out who the Riftlord at the top is and take care of them, maybe then this chaos will stop and we can return home.
Something to aim for at least!