The group completes the trials in the tomb of King Arashir and then heads to Azirash, The Dawn-Crowned City, and capitol of Darijaan. It stretches along the crystal waters of Lake Saphirra, its alabaster towers rising like blades of light against the sky.
The Trials
Arashir smiles and turns slowly, his spectral hand tracing circles through the air. With each motion, a door reveals itself… radiant, immense, and terrible to behold.
“These are the paths that test the heart, not the hand,” he says, voice both warm and commanding. “Each is a reflection of the truth within you… and not all truths bring comfort. Each will ask something different… Do well, and you may yet see the dawn.”
The chamber hums as golden light floods the room. Dust rises from the floor like glowing embers, swirling into four massive doors of shining metal and ancient stone.
The first stands to the east, its surface hammered bronze etched with the sigil of a roaring lion. The word COURAGE burns across its arch in steady flame. The air before it thrums with heat and the faint echo of distant battle-cries.
The second door gleams like polished marble veined with silver. Balanced scales shimmer faintly at its center, one pan carved from sunlight, the other from shadow. This is the door of JUSTICE, and when you look upon it, your reflection wavers as though the door itself weighs your worth.
The third door is carved from translucent crystal, its edges lost in swirling mist. Shapes move faintly beyond… reaching hands, uncertain steps. A single word glows above it in quiet white light: FAITH. Its presence feels still, like the moment before a breath.
The last door, to the north, is a slab of black ice shot through with veins of blue fire. Frost creeps outward from its frame, and from deep within you hear a hollow wind whisper a single word: RESOLVE. Its light is cold but unyielding, promising not warmth, but endurance.
The doors shimmer faintly, light rippling across their surfaces like waves of liquid gold. You can feel something behind each… waiting, perhaps even watching.
AREA MAP:
Here’s a small map of the area where the party is currently operating:
SoCrates
I don’t like sand. It’s coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere. It makes me very happy that we are back in civilization. It’s going to take forever to comb out my fur, maybe I’ll pay one those, what they call it … serving woman to do it.
The last trial was interesting, our party was split in our decision, mostly in ways expected, but one was not in a way I expected. I should keep an eye on him.
After giving the high priest a statue Arashir gave us, the high priest in return gave us some gold Judging by the reaction from the rest of the poors in the party, it is probably a good amount. Maybe this time when we go shopping I won’t be the only one spending gold.
Kragg
I had a dream…much like the other dreams that have gotten me here. The many beings who speak to me and guide me tell me to seek out a priest? a prophet? I will know them when I see them. I am to participate in a ritual of guidance. A ritual of purification. A ritual of belonging. This will help me follow the dreams…the call I have felt. It must be done. The ones who stand against us are strong. I must be stronger to face them.
Xander/Tatiana
Xander
Simply disagreeing with the confines of a ridiculous test should not result in being placed in an empty pocket dimension. Yet another overreach by these pufed up entities who fashion themselves as lesser deities, but borrow their magic from the spirit realm. Where is the learning? Where is the craft? Where is the art? Gone I say.
Tatiana
It was so nice to be in the void again. So peaceful. So calm. Too bad Xander was with me though. He wouldn’t stop bitching the whole time.
Grayson Jay
The High Priest in Azirash has suggested that perhaps Mortivara is flirting with the powers of Noctis in order to better combat the forces of Kathgar. He also shared that in the past She has chosen champions to serve as her conduit here among mortals. The thought of what sorts of dangers and disasters the powers of the Gods might wreak among men and women is debilitating. The shards of Solis have already brought forth demonic enemies that we have been hard pressed to combat. The innocent casualties could be disastrous. Although I know Mortiva welcomes the dead, I know too that she does not promote a mortal’s early journey towards her embrace. Enjoy life, do not fear death, that is her will. I think. I hope.
Queen of eternal peace
grant that we might protect those in harms way
grant us the power to cease
Our enemy’s plans this day
Grant us the knowledge needed
to stay one step ahead
Grant us Wisdom heeded
To ensure the deceased stay dead
Our Lady Mortivara,
grant us courage in your silence
to stand victorious against Kathgars violence
Bless us this day with Your heart
As into our next phase of Your journey we embark
Amen
Koios
Journal Entry No. 08:
You would think, that me being the Shard Bearer, people would listen to me. We had a split decision and created a monster. The manifestation of Mercy and Justice. We managed to defeat it though.
Ultimately, we received a new shard. Eventually this thing might be too large to carry. Thats tomorrow problem. We got paid and time to shop.
Thalia
We are getting dangerously close to my home, a place I tried to be forgotten from. This will be tricky, I hope my past doesn’t come back to find me. And my friends, they were a minor distraction when we first headed out in the desert, but like a cranky old camel, their company had grown on me. And now I’ve brought them to the edge of where my past, could hurt them. Should I tell them? Let’s see if the Soot Black Raiders are around Azirash. Last time I was here they had been chased out but I’ve been gone too long to know now.
Hopefully this mantle, will not be too much of an attractant for the light fingers of the pickpockets. I’ll keep it hidden away and see about offloading it as soon as I can. I hate getting noticed like that. I wish these things don’t come to me.