Session 37: Into the Forge

General Summary

Arrival at the Shifting Crucibles

The portal opened with a shudder like an iron gate dragged across obsidian, and through it the party emerged — scattered across a floating island of volcanic stone known as the Heart‑Anvil. The Crucibles drifted in patterns unknown, suspended in molten skies and starlit ash. From my vantage through the scrying eye, I watched as they descended carefully, each step watched by a sea of sulfur jets and glowing stone. It was beautiful in a deeply unsettling way.
Their path led them across a region so volatile it felt like the earth exhaled poison. Geysers of noxious gas burst around them with alarming frequency. Still, they pressed onward, navigating the fractured ridgeways and obsidian paths of this part of Jarak’s domain. It took them days — and several close calls — but at last, they reached the towering gates of Velthurak.

Into the City of Flame

The moment they stepped within the soot‑darkened walls, they began gathering what information they could. My lens picked up Vorn Krass doing his best to facilitate introductions — his grasp of the Thorian dialect was... limited at best, but passable. Regardless, his efforts brought the party to the one known as Mendralis of the Third Flame, an Emberforged elemental scholar whose very breath crackled with heat.
Mendralis eagerly described the plight of the Crucibles: waning, their flame-motes dull, their power drained by something unnatural. He also confirmed a crucial detail — Melkorion had passed through Velthurak, exchanging barrels of pure water (a priceless commodity here) for rare alloys once believed to resonate with the lost Arch‑Crucibles. These alloys could supposedly guide a bearer back to their parent Crucible — a troubling revelation.
And so, it was true — Melkorion was hunting the old forge-hearts, relics from Jarak’s era of shaping. If he found enough of them… the consequences could be catastrophic.

The Vault and the Vendor

The party’s next stop was Forge‑Priest Gharvek Emberbrand, a high councilor whose vanity burned nearly as bright as the Crucibles themselves. He seemed content to bask in the pride of having facilitated trade with Melkorion, more interested in reputation than repercussions. The conversation yielded little.
It wasn’t until they turned to the commonfolk — gods help us — that truth began to form. Market vendors and forge-hands whispered of darkening skies, of the chains ascending, of a Vault once belonging to Jarak himself, sealed long ago, whose key had been broken and scattered. One piece, they claimed, rested in the nest of the Phoenixdrake, a beast both feared and venerated. Another might rest in one of the ruined Crucibles themselves.
The hunt was on.

Into the Warrens

They moved northeast — deliberately avoiding the Cindershroud, choosing instead to delve through the Brimstone Warrens. The deeper they pressed into the tunnels, the more the air shimmered with heat and strange resonance. Crystals of searing hue jutted from the walls, glowing faintly in cadence with some ancient rhythm I could not decipher. Perhaps the Forge itself remembered.
Then, the scrying eye dimmed as the party approached a sunken amphitheater — black glass and crimson light. There, at its heart, stood a shrine pulsing with necromantic fire. Embedded in its core was a weapon of staggering presence — a scythe, whispering with the power of Mordos. One of the fragments they sought was inside it.
But they were not alone.

The Ravener Descends

From above, a figure tore through the heat-haze — wings like scorched banners, eyes like smoldering coals. Vurexxia. Once bound to Mordos, now twisted — tainted by Melkorion’s corruption. She landed with such force that the glass amphitheater cracked underfoot.
The party stood their ground, but Vurexxia wasted no time. Her breath unleashed a torrent of cursed fire — several of them froze, their bodies still, hearts shaken. Warby looked back — no exit, no retreat. Only one choice.
That’s when he did it. Warby pulled free the MAC‑G relay crystal and called for support from MIST.
The portal that formed was blinding — and through it stepped a lone Aethorian agent. Cloaked in violet, dual tomahawks wreathed in arcane heat, the figure charged the Ravener without hesitation.
He lasted less than a minute — but it was enough. The Ravener was weakened enough for them to fight.

Campaign

The New Dawnbreakers

Protagonists

Sunny Grannach

Brazen White Bulb Conquering Red Blossom

Dulb the Deckhand

Dulb's sheet

Level 13 Swashbuckler.

Health

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Goq-Ixai

Report Date

10 May 2025