Greeting all ye brother and sisters of our great clan,

 

I (Shuhara) have taken it upon myself to relay to you all what happened last night. Due to the fact that my English may be somewhat lacking, I have asked my father Brell to take notes, and put to paper, words that in some feeble way could give you a glimpse into the heroic deeds of my fellow clan-mates last night.

 

What a venture of hope and glory...

 

A few of us were gathered in the place some of us call home, the Meeting Hall in Baishi, when a herald came from our clan Lore master Al-Qadim: "It has begun!" was his words, as he hastily came through the door to the room behind the mana pool, showing an hitherto unseen diligence and fever.

 

His face was glowing with excitement, as he uttered words in the ancient Empyrean tongue, mixed with the more familiar Isparian dialect. It was difficult to make everything out to completion before he made his way back out again, but after discussing it for a while, we understood, that he had spoken of the opening of "the path", of which the mighty Lord Asheron had spoken. A path that could lead us to the very tools we should seek, to ban the Hopeslayer from our land once again.

 

We knew that we could not make way to the portal that had appeared between 3 ancient Empyrean stones facing each other up the Northern mountains of Osteth. We also understood that heading into the Obsidian Plains would be sheer foolishness, so we started to head for the location that Al-Qadim had mentioned in a moment of clarity, east of Yaraq. From reading Asherons Missive, we understood that the first part of the key to defeat Bael'Zharon lies in his past, when he was once a man named Ilservian Palacost. He had a son named Avoren, that was killed during the wars that raged the lands, long before we arrived here from Ispar. Avoren's dead body lies in a crypt in the desert. A surfeit of magical energy infuses the skull, energy with a resonance attuned to Ilservian Palacost. The skull can be used to drain some of the vital essence of Bael'Zharon. So this was a vital piece of the puzzle.

 

Wolgarth, Falcorette, Damelon, Shatter, Guttyr, Aisquin, Phoenix Stormbringer, ... I know I am forgetting the names of heroes, that gave their lives for this adventure... forgive me, my memory is still confused by the images I see from our battles, Images that kept me awake last night, when my weary head finally found rest on the pillow. Hera El Amun-Ra brought some of her clan-members to join the battle. What a remarkable lady... giving up her time to fight for glory to aid us younger ones to be victorious. Later we were joined by others too. Aeria's daughter, along with siblings or younger family members of many of the major Monarchs in Dereth.

 

The portal seemed restricted, as those older than 30 or younger than 15 were unable to enter. As we headed into the dungeon, called the Empyrean Cloister, we were met by hitherto unseen forced of undeads. Liche's and Lich Lord's were there off course, but also Risen Soldiers and Risen Knights. We learned why these ancient creatures have gotten their name of undeads, because no sooner had we slain them and witnessed their corpses rot, and they arose again from the grave. A stench of death was in the air, as we furousiously fought our way down through the twisting corridors through the Empyrean Cloister.

 

As we came to a Large room, more heavily guarded than the hallways - we were suddenly faced with two portals. These two were restricted in a peculiar way. A few trips back and forth made us realize, that the lower Cloister portal only allowed ages 15-25 to pass through, where as the higher portal, leading to the mausoleum itself, allowed ages 21-30 to pass through. We quickly divided into two teams, and whished each others Asherons speed before heading through the portals.

 

As we entered the portals, the forces against us grew in strength. We were continually in touch with the team going through the other part of the Cloister, and we quickly discovered that the two teams were largely dependant on each other to complete this with success - yet we were unable to do anything to help the other team, except by offering encouragement to proceed and compassion when one of our fellows died, and were sent tumbling to the Lifestone.

 

Suddenly we were standing face to face with a closed door, that we were unable to open. As we discovered we were depending on the other team to push a button in their half of the dungeon, and when the did this, the door opened, and we were facing an acid pit - that although it wasn't too wide, seemed scary enough to most of us - especially the mages, that rarely have a very high jumping skill. After buffing to the best of our ability, and gathering every bit of courage, we jump across the pit, and this is where the major part of our casualties took place. Seeing there was no hope of recovery from the pit, we pressed forward, and found a switch that opened a door, blocking the path for the other team, and then they were faced with the acid pit. Even more casualties over there, and as we worked our way through the dungeon, we had to jump another even wider pit of acid - as did the other team.

 

To much regret I died, attempting to jump the second pit (there are two in each part of the dungeon - lower and upper), because I did not realize I had Weakness other IV on me. But since I was the link between our two teams, I attempted to the best of my ability, to coordinate the efforts, back in Meeting Hall, while the other pressed forward. The upper team, pushing towards the Mausoleum were in the end room, were even able to see the Skull of Avoren, but couldn't get to it due to the fact that a closed door could only be opened in the lower part of the dungeon. And the team there were reduced to only a single team-member that finally had to give up. There was no way he could make it on his own.

 

A second attempt a little later, was faced with the same type of defeat. The Lower team unable to get to the final button, to open the gate to the Corpse of Avoren.

 

We did however learn a very valuable lesson. The strength of the lower team (level 15-25) is as important as the strength of the upper team (level 21-30). Therefore even though one may be able to enter with the upper team, they really SHOULD go with the lower team if they at all can do so. Jumping skill needed to pass the pits are 150 and 175 respectively - but better have a bit more to give to be on the safe side - and DON'T jump if you have Weakness or Clumsiness on you!

 

Phoenix Stormbringer, was ever so kind replacing the armor I lost with a completely new outfit, that actually is even better than the one that I lost (no - it was not GSA, just something that looked like GSA <grin>).

 

We had a BLAST, and I can only commend my comrades, for their courage and honor, in seeking the tools that may eventually ban Bael'Zharon from the realm of Dereth.

 

Let us press on, and try to gather our forces once again - in yet another attempt to secure the Skull of Avoren.

 

Hail be to all my brothers and sisters in this wonderful family. We were at the front lines - and we WILL prevail!

 

On behalf of Shuhara, Brell