Cathedral Of Feathers

Kara'fen makes his way through the crowded forest of chalk-white "bones" jutting from the ground. Sight is restricted, and Kara'fen makes several stops to regain his bearings. Jonl is able to easily climb up the bone protrusions and view the surrounding forest.

After spending a night in the woods, the group approaches the edge of the Demon Fields and the beginning of the celestial rubble they must cross to the Cathedral of Feathers. A roaring scream of pain is heard through the woods, in the direction of the celestial rubble. Jonl climbs up to witness a scene taking place a short distance away, at the edge of the celestial rubble ahead.

A muscular humanoid with the features of a lion is being tortured by a squat humanoid creature whose skin drapes over it like it were melting off the bone. Overseeing the torture is a large toadish creature with clawed hands and a gaping maw of razor-sharp teeth. Several more of the smaller creatures with draping skin are in the vicinity. Obvious signs of a recent fight are visible, especially long red claw marks on the giant toad creature. Jonl knows from the group's talks with Kara'fen that the smaller creatures are called Dretch, and the larger toadish creature is a Hezrou.

After Jonl reports his findings, the group decides to charge into the fray while the creatures are wounded. Snake leads the charge, brightening the battlefield with his shield and blinding several of the dretch. As the skirmish begins, the dretch begin to unleash vile smelling gas that incapacitates those unfortunate enough to breathe in a lungful of the nasty substance. Jonl unties the lion-man and witnesses the terrible wounds of his torture, several fingers and toes have been cut off, a sort of "de-clawing" they interrupted.

The battle is over relatively quickly as the wounded creatures fall. The lion-man introduces himself as Leoness and thanks the group for saving him from further torture. He leads the party to his lair inside the celestial rubble where they can safely rest and tend to their wounds. On the way, Leoness answers several questions about his origins, his current situation in Occipitus, and his knowledge of the test of the smoking eye.

After spending a peaceful night in the dark (in comparison to attempting to sleep in the bright red light above), the group departs from Leoness. He offers them a parting gift, a cold iron spear from Celestia, a weapon to aid them on the test and their travels.

Picking their way through the mounds of rubble, the group arrives at the ruins of a once mighty cathedral. Only the first floor of the cathedral remains intact, the upper floors having long ago crumbled and fallen. Jonl scouts it out, climbing up on the roof to look through large gaping holes in the ceiling.

Jonl finds that the cathedral floor is broken up into an entry hall, a large main sanctuary, and two smaller side chambers. In the entry hall he finds two creatures with the body of a giant spider and the upper torso of an elf, and a large open-faced pit in front of the stone doors to the outside. One of the side rooms contains massive amounts of debris. Jonl can hear a feminine giggle from the sanctuary, but chooses not to risk taking a look.

After Jonl returns, Morgan decides to go knock on the stone doors, but no one answers. Disappointed that the Abyss isn't as homely and welcoming as he imagined, Snake and Morgan force open the doors. The room appears empty, except for some rubble, with no pit or strange creatures in sight. Prodding about the room, they discover that their is indeed a pit in the room, covered by some sort of illusion to appear as part of the floor.

A second set of stone doors separates the entry chamber from the main sanctuary, which are opened to reveal the rubble-filled sanctuary. At the far end is a statue depicting an obscenely fat biped with the head of a ram. Sitting on the statue's shoulder is a scantily clad, seductive lady with large leathery wings on her back.

As the group enters the room, a streak of lightning crackles across the entry chamber from the fingertips of one of the elf-spider abominations, its body slowly becoming visible, floating eerily in the air with no obvious support. The spider creature follows up with a wall of webs that Salla gets stuck in.

As the portion of the party in the entry chamber comes under attack, the few members of the group in the sanctuary are charged by a large creature with the lower torso of a snake and a more human-like torso. The creature is covered in bright fiery red scales wielding a long fiery spear. The winged seductress emits a giggle and flies along behind the large snake creature. As it approaches it points its flaming spear at the doorway and a wall of fire erupts between the rooms splitting the party in two. Snake charges at the creature, while Morgan unloads frozen bolts into it.

In the entry chamber, the second elven spider has made its appearance with a lightning bolt and web. A few more minor spells are slung as the group flees from the heat generating wall of flame, followed quickly by the elven spider's deaths.

Jonl ends up hiding on the rooftop from the winged seductress as she attempts to lull him out into her waiting arms.

Salla gets brave, and leaps through the wall of fire, wishing the pain would stop as he lands on the other side. The large snake creature puts up a decent fight, but falls from the concentrated attacks of Snake and Morgan. The winged seducer, tired of Jonl's games, approaches Salla. Morgan steps in behind her, and with a single swing of Alakast he drives the staff through the back and out the chest of the demon, killing her instantly.

Kara'fen recommends the group rest up in the cathedral. As the days pass, the group finds things to do, like mess with the second side room, which is some sort of old celestial library. But the books have taken a life of their own and assault any intruder. The group gathers some samples of the books to take. During their time resting they also experience the cathedral's namesake. On occasion, for a short burst of time, the cathedral is whole once again, feathers float in the air, heavenly music plays, and the windows show a green, blissful scene of the wild.

After a few days of rest, the group descends the stairs in the back of the sanctuary, minus Kara'fen who is unable to physically proceed to the test. At the bottom of the stairs they find a square room with a single door to the side. Sitting at an oak desk in the center of the room is a withered, desecrated corpse covered in a strange mix of funeral wrappings and golden filigree armor. The corpse lifts both hands showing their empty, then speaks: "Adimarchus, Most Potent Ruler of Occipitus bids you welcome to the Test of the Smoking Eye. If you are here, then Occipitus lies fallow, without a strong hand to guide its development. Know then that you are a pretender to Adimarchus's throne. If you are worthy, step forward and undertake the Test of Judgment." One withered hand points to the door. "Go through the door, slay the occupant behind it."

The door leads to a chamber containing a series of wooden platforms that form a network of bridges, seemingly connected by fine webbing. A door is at the far end of he chamber. The ceiling is thirty feet above, and the a spike-covered floor is thirty feet below.

An invisible Modisto flies to the other end of the chamber and back to check things out, and manages to not get eaten. Still not desiring to fight something on the wooden platforms, Salla beings to detect evil around the room, pinpointed a single aura in the dark. Snake begins to fire flaming arrows in the direction that Salla directs, and they catch glimpses of some giant spider creature skittering about the ceiling. Jonl beings to fire arrows in the platforms with light spells upon them, to illuminate the area in a more persistent fashion. This seems to cause a reaction as Salla's next detect shows the evil aura directly in front of the group. From under the platforms a giant hideous spider with razor-sharp claws on its legs lurches upward and at the group.

A front line is formed and melee is had. For many members of the group, their weapons prove useless, unable to penetrate the supernatural carapace. With a tight formation those who can hurt the creature slowly bring it down.

Herald Of The Smoking Eye

All that remains of the creature they slew is a pile of a hot ashes. After letting them cool down for a bit, amidst the ashes a large amulet on a black iron chain is discovered. The amulet's face is a large flat disk with an etching outlining a gnoll wielding a triple-headed flail.

The floating ball of gas that is Tercival collects back up into his unconscious self a few minutes after the end of the fight. Shortly thereafter he comes to, a quick look of sorrow passes over his face, and he thanks the party for saving his life. Alek has no idea who or what the creature is, but upon seeing it he felt a holy wrath fill him, nothing like he has ever felt before. He remembers charging at the creature as if seeing it from a third-person perspective, barely in control of his own actions. As the group goes about their post-battle business, Tercival is happy to help with whatever tasks at hand, offering healing wherever it is needed. But he doesnt say much, or offer much in the way of taking the reigns, he seems to be distracted by his thoughts.

Shortly after the battle, as the group begins to question where they are and what they are going to do, a figure is seen making its way over the flats in your direction. Snake can pick out that the figure is about Salla's height, dressed in green robes and wielding some sort of staff with a white flag tied to it, which it waves every so often as it continues walking in towards them. As it gets closer Snake can pick out that it carries several curious knick-knacks secured in various spots that mostly consist of bones, feathers, and rocks. Stitched in black on the front of its robes is a circle split in half. One half is empty, the other half contains a skull with a smoking eye.

The humanoid approaches the entrance. Its skin appears thick and leathery with black blotches dotting it. A hood is drawn over his face revealing little. The creature raises its hands to show it carries no weapons and says "My name is Kara'fen. I will be your guide through the test of the Smoking Eye." "Welcome to Occipitus", he motions around him indicating the harsh red land behind him.

Immediate reactions are to throw detect spells, Salla detecting Kara'fen as an evil presence and several magical auras about his body. Tercival seems to have realized the same thing, stepping back and shouting at Kara'fen, "What are your intentions evil demon?" He draws his glowing white sword.

Kara'fen steps back as well, raising his hands to show he means no aggression, and says "I cannot control my unfortunate heritage, fiendish blood flows through my veins. I swear that I have come here with no harmful intentions...I only wish to see you pass the test, just as much as you wish to return to your city I am sure."

Anglor, seemingly oblivious to the brewing hostility, blurts out "Occipitus...a holy man once told me an epic of an angel fallen from Celestia into the Abyss. The layer he fell on was called Occipitus I believe. The epic ends with the fallen angel the unholy ruler of Occipitus, left to his own bitterness and regret. Not the most warming of epics...more I suppose a fable to teach against betrayal."

Kara'fen nods as Anglor speaks and follows up, "Yes, part of Occipitus was once Celestia but is now corrupted and consumed by the evil of the Abyss. The fallen angel you refer to is the demon lord Adimarchus, the ruler of Occipitus until he vanished fifty years ago. Now Occipitus desires a new master, it is not just simple rock, Occipitus is a living thing. Adimarchus left behind a test, whomever passes this test shall be the new rightful ruler of Occipitus."

"I was told that I would find ten travelers here, with the power to pass the test, and the motive. As the ruler of Occipitus, it would grant you certain boons, including the ability to shift between planes....to send you back to your city....you come from an area called Cauldron, yes? I know of your home. I met another traveler here at this same spot many years ago. My experiences with him were...unpleasant. He called himself Dyr'ryd, a cruel and psychotic demodand native to Carceri. He forced me to lead him to the first part of the test, but he failed before he could even start the test." A brief smile passes over Kara'fen's face as he mentions this. "He spoke of Cauldron often. He seemed to be fascinated with the city."

More talk of returning home is called for.

"It will require all of your efforts to pass the test." He looks at Tercival and Morgan. "I was not told to seek any individual, but a group of ten, and here you are."

"Will you be coming with me then, or will you hide in this cave until you die from starvation or by the claws of the slaad that inhabit these mountains?"

Salla attempts to target Kara'fen with a hold person but the spell fails. Kara'fen returns the favor, charming Salla.

More questions are asked, and a few interesting bits are discovered. Most notably that Dyr'ryd belonged to an organization called the Cagewrights, and that he was very interested in the setting of Cauldron claiming its unique geography and positioning make it an excellent spot to carry out certain planar rituals.

After a couple days of resting, and encountering one of the Slaad creatures that Kara'fen spoke of, the group begins the 100-mile trek to the Cathedral of Feathers.

The first night in the flats is a harsh one as a creature resembling a demonic lion attempts to drag Salla off in the middle of the night. Salla is saved before the creature can run off with him.

Into the second day, they enter deeper into the flats passing herds of creatures resembling bison. One herd begins to stampeded toward the group. Kara'fen urges everyone to run, and wisely everyone pays heed to his words, running out of the path of the stampede. Two giant hippo-like creatures are charging behind the herd...the cause of the stampede. Kara'fen calls them "thunder beasts" and recommends they are best avoided, while the group is tiny compared to the creatures, the creatures would consider the group "edible".

Later in the day Kara'fen finds a "furrow", a small cliff that runs through the flats. Kara'fen takes the party down into the furrow, explaining that they will avoid the majority of hunters this way.

A night is spent in the furrow, and on the third day of travel a second stampede flings itself into the furrow. Kara'fen continues to advise everyone to leave hastily, which is done. Glimpses of a "vrock" are had, pushing the stampede along. The creature is a gastly humanoid shaped vulture. The group seems to not be noticed, and they continue along the furrow.

The furrow finally comes to an end, and Modisto flies up to find another one nearby. The group climbs out the first furrow and into the second, continuing the journey.

At the end of the second furrow, Modisto flies up again to check out the situation. He just happens to make out some movement in the hair-like "plants" that are growing up around the edges of the end of the furrow. Six demons that Kara'fen had described previously as "babalu" are hiding in the growth, apparently aware of the group below and waiting in ambush.

Modisto reports what he finds and a plan is formulated, involving fireballs, flashes of blinding light from Snake's shield, and Alakast's devastating attacks. The fight is long, but no one is hurt too badly. The creatures are covered in an acidic slime that leaves behind a few scars on Morgan's blade.

Nearby is the "Demon Fields", a forest of bone-like structures. Kara'fen leads the party around the edge of the forest and decides to camp there, before leading the party into the Demon Fields.