What has gone before #3 June 12th
The Salsenahain that had rested with you for the evening was gone the next morning. The party continued north through the foothills, heading into Sheravar (the Gazelle people) territory. Wandering down from the foothills, strange hooting noises were heard ahead. Weapons were draw and everyone positioned themselves for possible combat. Eight wolves romped into view, a few of which scattered when the party appeared before them. The rest attacked with a ferocity and strength that failed to do any significant damage at all. As the last wolf went down, a large group of Sheravar came in view1. They were pleased with the unexpected help from the strangers and invited you to camp with them. During the course of the evening, they described an ancient Chen Kunda artifact a days march north-north-east.
June 13th
The party trekked another day north, arriving at the ancient artifact near sundown. Six black obsidian pillars with Chen Kunda runes on them stood in a hexagon pattern. A detect magic revealed that the pillars were indeed magical. Fra Rentec happened to be in range, and it also revealed that his ring and pouch were magical, and that something very powerful was in the pouch since it "showed through" (normally, a spell would have to be three or more levels above the magic on the pouch to be spotted). Attempts to translate the runes on the pillars revealed only a few words that could be understood; "initial", "harrasment" and "strike force". A close inspection of the area resulted in a unpleasant discovery; Urakai tracks were found leading out of the hexagon, but not into it. Small pieces of leather and metal were also found. A sling stone from Guide's sling landed in the center of the hex without any odd effects noticed. Then Guido cast a "operate teleportal", and something odd did occur. The pillars began to pulsate with a eerie blue glow, with one pillar brighter than the others. Each melee turn, the bright pillar would shift to the next clockwise pillar. When the initial pillar was reached, the glow disappeared. The sling stone was still in the center of the hex, untouched. No further information could be gleaned from the site, and everyone bedded down a prudent distance from the strange pillars.

During the evening a strange event occurred. Baldar, ever alert during the midnight watch, noticed Ziwa's bed roll was empty. A quick look around revealed that she was missing. After everyone was awakened, the group headed for the Chen Kunda artifact to see if any evidence of Ziwa could be found. No signs existed, and it was decided to attempt tracking Ziwa from her bed roll. That was when she was discovered sleeping in it. After Ziwa was woken, she told of a strange dream. She was standing in a unfamiliar landscape. There was an old Elf standing next to her. There was no sun, but everything in the area gave off a odd glow that allowed her to see. The old elf told her she was in the "shadow land", and that she would need to know something of it, including the fact that she could walk it if she desired, to complete her journey to Nostrilia. She noticed people in the distance. The old elf called them "foolish" and said that there was danger here. As she watched, a man was attacked by something that appeared no more than an absence of the odd background glow, but who's presence she felt like a winter's freeze. The man stiffened, then relaxed and continued on, the strange presence gone. The winter chill was not, however, and she felt that something terrible had happened.
Further experimentation with the sword revealed that Ziwa could indeed transport herself to the shadow land when she was holding Facinalethvree.
June 14th
Another days march brought the party into Tayger territory. The Tayger had a small variety of lizard as familiars. They appeared agitated. Arab Mycain translated for the party. The Tayger had been attacked by two different groups during the past few days. One was determined to be the Urakai by careful questioning. The other was the servants of Veskavar. Fra Rentec provided some background on Veskavar. It was an ancient dragon that inhabited the ruins of Smagean, the stated destination of the expedition. Veskavar had a group of Dragon newts (lizard men) to serve him. The dragon newts roamed Smagean, neither helping nor hindering any who wandered in unless they approached the palace ruins that held Veskavar. The dragon newts were described as dim witted but incredibly strong, with a fortunate tendency toward avoiding confrontation. The constant virgil by the dragon newts resulted in Smagean becoming a safe, but stripped, set of ruins. No recorded conversation or meeting with Veskavar had ever taken place in the several hundred plus years it had lived in Smagean, although rumors of great treasure in the palace abounded. Now it appeared that the Dragon Newts were on the warpath.
A council of war was held. Fra Rentec, confronted by the party, finally admitted that he was headed for Nostrilia, and that his original plan of sneaking out of Smaegen to avoid tipping the Ibisi had to be scratched in light of this new discovery. He said that a secret door had been found by Salask, the Hcetlac Cleric that had been killed on a expedition to Nostrilia a month before, in one of the fortified buildings. It was hoped that this was a weapons cache with a STAM crystal (or something more powerful) in it. A STAM crystal, he explained, would store multiple low level spells and release them all simultaneously on command, multiplying the effect of the spell tremendously. He went on to admit that Naval Intelligence also knew about the weapons cache and was likely to be a few days behind them, attempting to reach the same destination in order to save the STAM crystal for some super secret project they were working on. The Hcetlacs felt it would be in Kethem's best interests to ensure that the STAM ended up in the hands of the Kethem Guard, where less secrecy would allow study and possible duplication of the weapon by Kethem sorcerers, as well as providing a better capability to repulse Stangri raiders running the Arketh Channel (between Kethem and Orbaal) at Noru Castle. The players agreed with this readily. Fra also provided a copy of Salask's last log that he had taken off of Boffin, the NI rep that had died in the Kodor attack a while back (attached).
It was finally decided that an attempt to check out the cache would be attempted, but that any return to Nol would almost certainly be intercepted by the NIA. Ziwa and Guido suggested that the best course of action would be to head into elvish territory with the STAM and hope that the elves would be helpful. This was agreed to by Fra, along with a triple pay bonus and exclusive rights to the spear head found in the Chen Kunda ruins for the party. One obstacle remained; Arab Mycain would not guide the party to Nostrilia because of Arab Reliefs orders. For the sake of his brother, Arab Myina, he would not try to hinder them, but if they chose this journey they must do it and the return on their own. Everyone reluctantly agreed.
June 15th
Another day and the party was resting just outside of the foothills surrounding Nostrilia. It was decided to wait to the next day to attempt the penetration into the ruins. During the evening, Guido asked Fra about his ring, and whether he was in some way linked to Holder Montor. Fra informed him that the ring was a standard Fire Temple artifact that automatically provided the wearer protection from firebeams and flamebolts, and that it was a common though expensive item in Kethem. The party waited anxiously for the next day.