A watery portal materialized out of the engraved diamond on the stone door of Amanta. Ushered in by the knights, The Rectifiers and their host began coming through in the interior of the tallest mountain in Matar. They found themselves suspended on stone platforms and walkways encrusted with a glowing, pale blue diamond. In the center of the expansive level they were on was a towering crystalline castle. Below them, they spied a level further down, accented by glowing green emeralds. Above, they noticed a hint of sunlight, and discovered that the dwarves of Amanta had completely destroyed the ceiling of the mountain, opening a passageway to The Ancient Skies themselves. New platforms of stone were being built as they spoke to connect up toward the clouds and the tower that held the remains of the ancient dragons. On the eastern and western walls of the mountain, there were immense stone archways built, with magical entities placed in a lattice along the stone inside the archway.
Small discussions happened as Harin escorted the party toward his castle. Knights and mages of both Luxen and Amanta began filtering people throughout the gargantuan city. To reach other levels, the group noticed there were similar nexuses with portals that would teleport the users to the adjoined levels. While the party was led to the castle, Duma Van took another trip to trade with The Red Inquisitor. When he returned, he seemed to not remember who he was. He had forgotten his name, his upbringing, his background. All he recalled was between meeting The Rectifiers and leaving Luxen. After being told his name and the pieces the party knew of him, he noticed a strange red insect crawling throughout his belongings. It did not seem to leave Duma Van’s person despite attempts to do so. Perturbed, the group continued to Harin ’s castle, noticing that there was no shortage of knights and mages in the dwarven city.
Once atop the looming crystal spire, the party began to fill in specific details on The Doom, Candidates, Anchors, and The Harbinger to Harin . While they did so, Duma Van noticed that two of the mages near the balcony seemed to be nervously glancing to and from the group, their staves giving off a soft purple glow. Once the party had explained all they knew of Candidates, Harin got to his feet and motioned toward Revelrae. The two mages aimed their staves at her, and purple lightning began to coalesce around her Anchor. She was levitated and bound in the air by the spell. Harin began to accuse the party on various charges for bringing a Candidate to his city. Gale was able to defuse the situation (after having her words literally pulled from the air and tested for lies by another mage), and Harin explained his reservations and defensiveness over his city. After all, the last time a group of young heroes came to Amanta, it ended with the release of the dark god and the destruction of Amanta by black magma.
Harin then asked where Zin was, hoping to give him a proposal. Zola replied that he was missing, Londo had been killed, and that she was now acting with the crown’s authority. She said these things with sadness, but resolve. Harin sighed, but stated that perhaps Zola was the more efficient person to ask anyway. He stood up and asked the retinue to follow him to the balcony. He gestured grandly toward the archway, and a mage nearby fired off a blue flare. In response, the magical latticework on the stone under the archway began to light up. Once it was fully lit, the charges detonated, destroying the stone cleanly through until one could see the open air beyond. They spied the plains, woods, and rivers near Luxen, the dark storm accompanying the airship over the capital, even the Mythical Forest far away. Before The Rectifiers could even fully grasp what had happened, Harin pointed toward the opposite stone wall, where a similar explosion occurred. Through it, they saw the eastern side of Matar.
Adequately shocked by the display, the group returned to their seats. With a huff, Harin stated that he wanted to have Amanta made the capital of Matar. He explained his city was not only dwarven anymore, he wanted it to be a gateway combining the two halves of Matar, removing the literal and figurative divide the two halves always had. Harin continued to present his case by explaining his city. He stated that there were four levels. The Sapphire Atrium, which would eventually connect into The Ancient Skies where the buildings would be rebuilt and integrated, and the grand tower re-memorialized. The Diamond Dwarvenium, the level they found themselves on. Here is where most of the dwarves lived, trade was done, and craftsmen worked. Below the Dwarvenium was the Emerald Expanse, where the mages of Amanta lived. Harin claimed that his mages were indeed the wisest and most powerful. Finally, low in the mountain, were the Obisidian Depths. Harin stated there lived more brave souls, stronger wills, and where they kept prisoners. He said prisoners would be sent on excursions to find goods or kill beasts in return for potentially shortened sentences. Brave mercenaries or adventurers would also dwell down below. Finally, Harin added, with graveness, the level also held the door to The Deep, an immensely dangerous realm of shadow and death. He said this is where the first Talon of Scarlet met his end and where the dark magma erupted to destroy the city. This door was sealed and would not be opened for any reason or request.
On a lighter note, Harin figuratively opened his arms to the world, stating that Amanta would open its doors yet again. It would house anyone and everyone, and even provide a stipend to those displaced. As a last offer to sweeten the deal, Harin said a new crystal spire would be raised in the castle’s grounds that would shine white with a golden balcony, resembling the sun itself rising. It was a short meeting, but Zola and her Rectifiers agreed to Harin’s proposal; Amanta would become the new capital of Matar, at least for now. Once decided, Harin imparted some knowledge on possible relics they could use to counter the great forces that attacked Luxen. He said the Scarlet Temple near Illeta or Selina’s Blight for relics of flame, while Turner the councilor and an underwater temple possibly near Elisi may hold relics of water.
As a stinger for agreeing to have Amanta’s resources at their disposal, Harin asked The Rectifiers to journey to the Obisidian Depths and deal with a group of shades that seemed to be trying to group together. Harin explained that shades were elves that delved too deeply into shadow. He added that they would try to convince the party that they simply wanted to emerge from darkness, to be free. Harin said to ignore their pleas and to wipe them out. It only took one of them to destroy Amanta with the dark god’s help, so they would not risk it again. The Rectifiers agreed and departed to resupply.
While they stopped for a moment in the foyer of Harin ’s castle, Duma Van decided to venture back to the white desert through his dark crystal. He was not gone for very long, but he seemed quite nervous and worried when he returned. He recounted that when he arrived, the red insect materialized into a humanoid red mist with the voice of The Red Inquisitor. It pulled itself and Duma quickly through the desert to a dark crystal palace. There, the red shade pulled forth a piece of a wooden wheel that completed a contraption in the center of the room. Around the room were what appeared to be broken portals. Duma spotted a flash of Luxen through one of them, though it vanished quickly. Stating this is what he had been searching for for so long, yet had already had as well, The Red Inquisitor completed the wooden wheel and spun it, vanishing into the ether. The pillar and wooden wheel shattered. Duma showed the group a cloak he had pulled from a long dead body that shrieked when gazed upon. He also retold that he found the remains of a campsite in the chamber with the portals and wheels. Unsure what they had just done, the party decided to ask Daren, The Gunslinger of Smoke.
They found the former hero in the foyer and pulled him somewhere private to speak. His reaction to the news was grave. Daren stated that this chamber was where he and his allies were locked away for nearly 20 years after slaying the evil creatures known as The Ebonyborn. He added that the wheel they spoke of was a tool that King Korrin had mastered that allowed him to travel through time itself. Daren began to truly explain the hidden details of the hero’s conquering of The Third Doom. He started the story by explaining the three groups of heroes. First there were The Fist of Korrin, which defeated the Ebonyborn threat and were sealed in their crystal castle. Next, nearly ten years later, were The Talons of Scarlet, who helped the dragonborn rebel movement known as Scarlet, under the leadership of Selina. Tricked into believing King Korrin was the true threat, they helped defeat and kill Korrin, letting Selina escape with “her” son, Aurum, only a child at the time. Just shy of another decade later, Daren stated his group, The Fist of Korrin, was freed from their shadowy prison into the world where The Talons of Scarlet had just been executed. Daren tried to begin explaining how his friends had then used samples of blood to fuse with The Talons to create what they knew as The Bloodied Heroes, but before he could truly elaborate, a familiar red tear appeared in the air. A looking glass materialized and pulled The Rectifiers into its vane.
They came to in Luxen, though it appeared to be an older version of the city. A heavy rain covered the white stone. They stood amongst a crowd gathered before a wooden stage topped with gibbets. They could not quite hear the speech the elven man wearing the crown was giving, but he appeared to be accusing the group about to be hanged. That group was The Talons of Scarlet. After the speech ended, the king motioned to the executioner, who pulled the level and dispatched a mighty group of heroes. Shortly thereafter, the king looked toward the party and yelled to his knights with a point of accusation. Knights wielding titanmetal great swords leaped toward them, entering combat. The Rectifiers noticed they seemed to be specters superimposed onto other people, though they were not sure who yet.
After a harrowing battle, another set of knights began to charge, but were interrupted by a wall of flame. A hooded figure leaped forth with a flaming halberd, summoning the wall. He turned to The Rectifiers who then spotted a deep red snout poking through the hood.
“Run,” he said…