Flames and Storms

1st Respitesday of Autumn's Edge, Second Age 1853: It has been one of our longer expeditions so far, as we've spent over three weeks ranging out. We made landfall on the fourth respitesday of High Autumn and immediately spent the rest of the day charting the land. The journey could've been uneventful, but shortly after making our way inland the next day, we encountered a herd of strange wooly quadrupeds that somehow managed to survive on the dead grubs growing in tufts in this land. We took the time to observe the creatures, and despite no evidence they have ever met another living thing before, they seemed to be incredibly docile. Perhaps they have developed a sense that allowed them to tell the undead from the living, and they only consider the former a threat? Lady Aria decided we will take them back to Hithfaer, which meant we will be taking the same return route as the creatures didn't seem to travel particularly fast. Shortly after we left the herd, we came across an undead horde, that was quite deliberately following the tracks of those creatures. We had no choice but to dispatch them so that there will be a herd left to take back with us. It was the first time I was able to utilize the magic stored in the mask that Aranesi made, and the undead fell under the blows of weapons enhanced by Drustanus' influence. I wish I knew what the spirit's plans for us are, we are not clerics, and yet he seems to have gifted Aranesi with a small amount of divine magic and an ability to better communicate with and combat undead.
 
On the 5th day since our landing, we finally made it to the nexus of the natural fire ley line, and the air one that Lady Aria harnessed with the help of my creation. It was a terrifying sight to behold, a swirling firenado that pulsed extreme heat in a wide radius around it. What was more interesting though, was a relatively small portal, no larger than a big door at the base of it. Malakar and I swept the area to make sure nothing had left the portal, but we were at a loss of what to do with it. The Lady seemed to fall into a trance of some kind, as if talking with her raven, and when she came out of it, she declared she will be crossing the portal. I voiced my concern about entering strange gateways that may lead to a plane of existence where everything is on fire, but the decision was made and the group braced against the rushing flames and ran into the gateway. To say it was a painful experience would be an understatement, but we made it through with many surface burns.
 
What appeared before us was a sight quite literally out of this world, a world of fire, and a world of wind, almost neatly splitting this strange land in half, with two huge armies battling it out in the middle. We remained unnoticed, and as we observed the battle, Talindra walked among us sharing many ointments to help with the burns. The battle eventually subsided, but strangely enough there seemed to be no dead on either side, as if they were fighting a battle under some rules that prevented either side from laying a killing blow. Lady Aria decided to speak with the fire side first, which I thought was walking into certain death, but we all followed. Through a mixture of determination, negotiating skill, and Malakar's knowledge of spirits, Lady Nytraven achieved what I would've thought impossible. And yet in less than two days in that realm, and before nightfall of the day we entered the portal we have emerged from it. No longer a land of fire and air, but a demiplane of smoke. The portal may have closed behind us, but left with knowledge of an entirely new realm, one that we should be able to access again in the future, and perhaps gain powerful allies in the process. I don't think Lady Cavatina could've ever achieved such a feat. Her daughter is set to surpass the mother in every conceivable way, and I will make sure no hidden threats will threaten her.
 
In comparison to the events from days before, the return trip was rather dull. We found the herd has moved from where we found them, and stumbled onto our return route, making it no longer necessary to double back over our own tracks and allowing us to explore a little more on this side of the mountains.
 
2nd Respitesday of High Autumn, Second Age 1853: Lady Gweir has written back, but Lady Aria has no plans on returning to Eglasil anytime soon, so I wrote back, inviting Lady Gweir or her representative to Hithfaer. I hope we won't continue missing each other as for now we are preparing to set sail again to explore the ruins a little ways off the coast, to make sure there will be no more surprises so close to our settlement.