4.6 Reunion Under Foreign Skies

Albert showed himself as the group
made their final preparations to depart. Sajaina stayed back with him
as they gathered themselves around the primal stone from the
Voidspawn world, calling upon its connection to that place to fuel
the teleportation. They held tight to their stockpiled water as the
world bent around them, catapulting them through the twisting
corridors of space to deposit them upon the barren hellscape; a
shadow world to Tirisea's light. The wasteland of jagged crystals and
unbearable heat stretched on for many miles, the twisted distance
making mockery of their attempts to cross it into the mountains. Each
minute seemed to carry them such a tiny distance, the mountains never
appearing any closer. The party desperately tried to stay cool,
sloshing down water much faster than they expected under the brutal
sun. Timmeron wove spells of shadow and reflection, trying to keep
the sun at bay but to little avail. Eventually, Travize took the
shape of a large shadow creature to shield the party from the
terrible light.

 They contacted Ulag through telepathy,
urged by him to find shelter immediately. The open ground would offer
them little but death after twilight faded, and there would be far
too many Voidspawn to fight. He promised to meet them at the
mountains. Baygrith fired up his portal machine, managing to
correctly calibrate the mechanics despite the anomalies common to
this plane, landing hem near enough the mountains that they were able
to take shelter under an illusory mound crafted by Sal.

 They contacted Ulag again, giving him
landmarks to work with to help them navigate. After a brief respit,
they head out, following Ulag's directions in hopes of meeting him
and the children stranded here far too long ago. Their path took them
through a pack of Voidspawn they were unable to avoid, leading to a
fight for their lives as they worked frantically to stop any of them
from getting away to warn their brethren. One escaped, however,
fleeing effortlessly over hills and cliffs that gave the party no end
of trouble. But just as it was passing from sight, Ulag and Evie
struck from the shadows, killing the thing instantly. They
approached the party, bearing in their eye a haunted gleam born of
feasting on the sickening flesh of Voidspawn, and living every day
under the threat of death. They had done what needed doing to survive
and it had changed them. They had grown up in many ways, but none
would say they were the better for the experience.

 Along the way, however, the far flung
forsaken had found the aid of allies- people who dwelt within that
horrid world who hated the Voidspawn as much as any Tirisean. They
offered food and lodging in exchange for service, and though one
group demanded a price Ulag was unwilling to make any of the children
pay, they were eventually taken in as family by a group of Leonid
people called the Hostana It was to these people that Ulag and the
kids lead the party, all the while coaxing them to avoid flashy
displays of power that would attract attention. Despite these warning
the party's earlier use of tactics against the Voidspawn ambushing
them in the mountains attracted another hunting party which they were
forced to fend off before they could make their way more stealthily
to the Hostana camp.

 The camp itself turned out to be
beneath a hidden passage, deep underground. But the party was not
welcomed as warmly as Ulag an the kids were. They needed to be tested
and understood- the Hostana did not like strangers. One of them
invoked a spell of understanding using magic reminiscent of the
sigils of Bartos to allow them all to speak the same language, though
only while in the sigil's glow. Speak they did, though the topic soon
became surprising. The Hostana were sympathetic to any attempt to
beat back the Voidspwn (Kailatos, in their tongue)- though they
cautioned that the Kailatos helped to keep in check the Vuul, who
were of similar stock, but individually sentient. However, they found
themselves much more worried over a looming threat of even greater
magnitude foretold by a prophet of their people. It was said that a
powerful being of law would come to end the world.

 The revelation shook the party
slightly, for until that point they had assumed themselves among a
very small number of people assured that such a danger even existed.
But the surprises did not stop there. The Hostana also knew of a
person with knowledge that could help win such a fight, but he was
imprisoned by the Vuul. The party found themselves in desperate need
of a dual plan. They had most of all to complete their original
objective, which was to lure the king and queen Void Spawn back to
their own world, then trap them there with the Archivist's power. But
they also needed any information they could get about the prophecy of
coming doom and any tools that might be used against it. A plan was
hatched, one which would might draw the Vuul and Voidspawn both into
a confrontation with each other, simultaneously calling back the
Voidspawn leadership to defend their ilk and also lessoning the
ddefenses around the Vuul stronghold. They would bomb the Voidspawn
hatcheries, stunting their reproduction for a time and simultaneously
offering the Vuul a fighting advantage they could not resist. That
would not be the end of the dangers, though. The Hostana also told
them of the five Dread Lords of the Vuul, who would almost certainly
remain at the citadel. When together, they improved each other's
defenses, rendering each other almost unkillable. It was them,
naturally, the party would need to overcome to rescue their prisoner
and escape with his information.

 Sttling down to rest and refine their
plan, the party once again readied for a dawn that would bring
carnage and blood, even if it was under a foreign sky.