The Keys of Telku / Into the Fire pt. 2 / Von the 19th through the 20th, 3593 CE / 5-16-21

It is approaching evening on the Adventurers' first day of travel up Mount Galadea. They have been commissioned by King Tharin of Amarath to investigate how it was that one of his nights came down the mountain bearing the necklace of his uncle Lomaran, the lost heir to the kingdom, who had disappeared 30 years prior in the Anorian Sea, as well as to discover the fate of the rest of the knight's missing party. They have been promised boons by the king for successfully completing the mission, but for Tarrus's former retainers, their mission is also driven by the hope that they might find one of the legendary Keys of Telku in the course of the search. As the sun hangs low in the sky, the Adventurers reach a bridge, spanning a deep ravine and flanked by a waterfall. As they attempt to cross, they discover the bridge is guarded by ice trolls, who demand a toll. As Adrienne negotiates with the ice troll leader, the party is joined by a fox darting across the bridge, one which reminds Adrienne immediately of her former companion, Nari. After the toll is paid, the trolls reveal that they had also encountered the party of knights, one of whom fell into the ravine to his presumed death. After putting some distance between themselves and the bridge, the party beds down for the night. They discover that the fox is actually a kitsune healer named Baijo, who followed them from Lidea after learning of their mission from Rados. Baijo hopes to use his divine powers to help the missing knights, if any yet survive. That night John and Marrow take turns keeping watch. During his watch, John spots a mysterious light in the trees, and follows to investigate, but returns to camp when he realizes that the light has been slowly hypnotizing him to lead him further and further away. During her watch, Marrow hears the howling of wolves coming from somewhere in the distance, but otherwise the remainder of the night is uneventful. The next day as the party continues to follow the route taken by the knights, they discover three graves, each inscribed with the name of one of the missing knights. As they realize with dismay that now only two of the seven knights may yet survive, the Adventurers are set upon by a band of kobolds, decrying that the party has trespassed on the lands of someone named "Brazzermal." Though one of the kobolds, a spell-caster, does drop Marrow into a trans-dimensional pit, the party is able to defeat the kobolds and their eidolon pet with relative ease. The spell-casting kobold escapes, and soon after the spell fades, allowing Marrow to rejoin the party. They decide to track the kobold, and discover his trail leads to a mountain lake with a crumbling tower which has fallen and now leans precariously against the cliffs overlooking the lakeside clearing. Adrienne volunteers to investigate, and discovers that the tower appears to have been sinking over time into the muddy lake bottom, so that it is the actually the third story that serves as an entrance. As Adrienne searches the submerged levels, she finds the skeleton of an armored warrior. After dragging the body and its gear to shore, she and the rest of the party attempt to determine the origin and nature of this body, which appears to be too decomposed to be one of the missing knights.