The Keys of Telku / Heathen pt. 5 / Vish the 27th through Eire the 2nd, 3592 CE / 6-30-19

The Adventurers are fending off an attack by a pack of ghouls who were chasing a hapless half-elf ranger through the foothills of the Grey Mountains. The confrontation is taking place at the site of a ruined shrine, which the party had been investigating, hoping for clues that might point them towards the legendary "Pillars of Midnight," rumored to be the location of the third Key of Telku, while their companion Sara Djemel seeks the Pillars hoping to locate her missing comrade from the Light of the Sun, a paladin of Jeda name Jaryn. The tide of the battle begins to turn as Nari fells another ghoul with bolts of magical force, and then the cavalry arrives, literally, in the form of their missing friend Adrienne, who is accompanied by several armed men they've never seen before. Adrienne and a man dressed like a ranger quickly dismount and join in fighting the ghouls. It appears to be the last straw in convincing the ghouls that the battle is lost, and the two remaining creatures flee into the trees. Adrienne shares that she awoke days ago in front of a massive walled city called Akama, a city no one in the party has ever heard of before. She managed to convince the guards who intercepted her that she was an ally when it was discovered that they too had been fighting the cultists of the Hand of Naraash. Thus with the aid of her newfound allies, she had gone searching for her missing companions, only to encounter them here at this ruined shrine. The half-elf also takes the time to introduce himself as Ramha Greensleeves, a traveler who had been seeking Akama. As he and Nari swap tales, he informs her that Akama was founded hundreds of years ago by a faction from Veluna who hoped to build an army in secret in the Grey Mountains, but ended up instead simply staying in the city they had built and making a life for themselves, isolated from the rest of the Seven Kingdoms. The Adventurers accept the offer of aid from the ranger and city guardsmen to accompany them back to Akama. Marking the city on her makeshift map, Fiora notes that they will reach the end of the map's ability to track the Black March by the time they reach Akama. Though the two day journey is mostly without incident, as they are nearing the city on the second day, the ranger quickly ushers them behind a rocky outcropping, though Henry and Adrienne do peak around the corner to glimpse shadowy figures moving through the trees and catch snippets of a guttural language. The ranger tells them that these are more patrols of the Hand of Naraash, and it becomes obvious that being this close to the Black March will prove increasingly dangerous. When they reach Akama, they learn that the only route to the Pillars of Midnight is up the mountain river that flows relentlessly towards the Moonsfall. They meet a dwarf named Glasur who claims to have the last remaining "moonboat," the only kind of vessel that can travel upstream against the Moonsfall River's relentless current. The party agrees to allow Glasur, who has his own axe to grind with the Hand of Naraash, to take them within a day of the Pillars. The half-elf, Ramha Greensleeves, even pays for the passage in exchange for being allowed to accompany the Adventurers. After two days on the water, the party spots smoke coming from around an approaching bend.