For their various reasons, the party finds themselves joining in on King Consort Zin’s mission to storm the heavens of the Stewardess to demand the recently passed Queen Aura back from the grave. Forged in combat, 10 souls form a quick bond as they follow Zin and the Queensguard up the tower of the Ancient Skies and into the heavens themselves.
Once up the tower (finding the resting place of many dragons inside), up the golden steps of faith, and through the golden door of the heavens, the party found themselves in a dense wood. The path ahead was blocked by lighting, so the party formed two lightning rods to pull the electricity away to continue forward.
Next, they entered a clearing with two flowing waterfalls, despite everything else in the area being frozen. Two large gusts of wind were blowing through the waterfalls, preventing the party from entering a stone doorway beyond. The party discovered two corrupted bear creatures sleeping atop the waterfalls, causing the water to melt. With the bears dispatched with combat, the waterfalls froze over, and the winds abated.
Inside the stone doorway, the party entered a quiet chamber with six burning torches, a pool surrounded by 10 bowls, and a door ahead wreathed in flame. A feminine voice whispers, “Find the purification within”. After deliberation, the party each consumes a serving of the water in the pool, and finds they have the ability to douse the flames on the torches with their bare hands. When all the torches were extinguished at the same time, the exit also extinguished.
The next chamber was covered in darkness, a gargantuan shadowy figure with menacing, glowing eyes blocking the way ahead. By placing an item they found in each trial on the matching pedestals, beams of light sprung forth from above to ignite the creature of shadows. When all three beams had activated, the shadowy creature dissipated, becoming the shadows of the large marble, crystalline ballroom they found themselves in. An enormous, luxurious door stood in front of them. The party continued.
A blinding light seemed to transport them into another grove, this one with lush woods, heavy snows, and flowing water. Far down the path, they spotted three figures and what looked like a throne. With the heavy snows, the party could not make out any of the figures, but approached nonetheless. Purple crystals were sprouting forth from the earth, some with bodies, one with a Queensguard impaled upon it. Before they could reach the throne, two of the figures vanished, with one remaining. The party discovered it was Lord Saren of the Queensguard, who entered before them with the King Consort. When he turned, the party saw the man had a purple crystal protruding from his chest, purple fluid flowing down it. He offered only one word before collapsing into the throne, “Run”.
The party fled, but some fell behind. Purple crystals began to sprout forth in greater number, holding the bodies of the earlier companies. The earth was shaking. Brave souls of the party tried to help those falling back, but they were swallowed by the wave of purple, nonetheless. As the fastest runner reached the golden doorway to flee the hellscape, it warped to a purple shade, locked, and vanished entirely. The party’s vision flooded with a deep purple.
Three years pass. The only survivors of the mission are King Consort Zin and one Queensguard. Zin had returned to the capital, but demanded the councilors pledge him fealty as king. The councilors of Triven and Luxen had to be slain before he got obedience. The kingdom withers.