I. b. The Final Stretch

Valisday, 5803 Suncrest 26

After a rude awakening via a twilight-hour attack, most of the party takes a slow and exhausted start to the day. Except Max - who immediately fell back into a deep sleep when he returned to his bed roll, where he stayed until the rest of camp had already been packed up.

Still hoping to have the upper hand with the early hours of the day, the rag-tag group make their way toward the stolen cargo that is their quarry. To their luck and surprise, the party catches sight of the caravan as it hurriedly takes off.

A chase pursuits - the party now filled with the adrenaline of potential glory. With some very clever thinking and a bit of strategic maneuvering, the party managed to down one of the wagons. And even more to their surprise, the caravan members started emptying what they could into the first wagon. The party was able to reclaimed a third of it's contents.

Ash, given her feline agility, immediately leapt after continuing pursuit of the rest of the caravan. And although she was so close, Ash seemed so far away as she witnessed the caravan enter into an ancient ruined stable house, where three attendees were waiting, and vanish - wagon, people, and all.

Ash returned to the others and explained the phenomenon she saw. Determining the scene required further investigation, she and Boran returned, with Boran nicking the three focus stones from around what they discovered to be a teleportation circle.

Once more returning to the group, who had mended the wagon they downed, and again to the scene of the caravan disappearance, the party realized that they had followed their quarry to ancient palace ruins. As they explored, Ash discovered the tallest bookshelf she'd ever seen, which she was compelled to climb to it's height. From there she noticed what appeared to be another bit of stone few hundred paces off the main palace.

Gathering around what appeared to be stone doors laid into the ground, method after method was tried. Ash laid down for a nap with the ancient-elven writing from the door playing in her mind - "I grow without roots, I am home to many, but none under stand. What am I?" they said to her. A mumbled wrong answer made the door glow. Through patience and perseverance, Tort was able to work out the answer - "a city."

With the definitive sound of the doors unlocking, the group pulled them open, revealing stairs of carved stone leading into a dark abyss.