The Keys of Telku / Into the Fire pt. 4 / Von the 20th, 3593 CE / 6-13-21

Trapped in a fallen wizard's tower, the Adventurers clamber through the upturned floors, hoping to escape through the top of the tower by one means or another. Thanks to the revelations of the intelligent blade Mironus, Adrienne now recognizes this tower as a sister to that of the wizard Xavian, which she encountered months ago in the the Barren Lands, and which contained at it's highest level, portals which could lead to other tower locations. The tower they are in now once belonged to a wizard named Uthion, who was a comrade of Xavian's. When the party reaches a hatch which they believe opens up to the seventh and final level of Uthion's tower, they accidentally unleash a magical rune which sends excruciating pain coursing through the bodies of some of the party members. Opening the hatch reveals a room with two destroyed portals and one which appears malfunctioning. As Baijo makes the bold decision to leap into the unstable portal, the party sees Rados, who has been tracking them since Lidea, clamber into the portal chamber from an external window and enter the same portal as Baijo. On the other side of the unstable portal is another tower chamber, this one dark and bricked over. The only other portals in the room also appear dead, but to Baijo's dismay, some things that should have stayed dead suddenly spring to life, as a wraith and a troop of wights attack. With Rados's aid, Baijo is able to destroy the undead monstrosities, but seeing no clear path forward, the duo return through the portal to Uthion's tower. The Adventurers decide to use the open windows at the top of the tower to escape once more onto the shore of the mountain lake. John finds some signs that the kobolds who triggered the falling tower trap have scattered in various directions, including up the cliff which looks over the lake, and the party decides to return to their original route of following the trail of the missing knights of Amarath. As dusk darkens the sky, they hear a cry for help, and rush forward, thinking perhaps it is one of the remaining knights. Instead they encounter an enormous black worg sitting at the center of a circle of ceremonial stones. The worg calls out to one of the party, who turns out to be Liscales, a traitor all along, and as growling maws appear among the trees, it appears a trap has been sprung, as the worg demands the deaths of all but the one "marked by Anubhak," which Adrienne has a sinking feeling must refer to her.