Session 20

The party accompanies Aman Bedzhi to the Zavkhan Assembly to investigate the problem with the portal leading to Otgon Sum. En route they get stuck in a lengthy discussion about how best to get the wagon they had bought in Dejang-e to ride to Jiiwani back should they take the portal. As the wagon has been extensively customised by Dasha Ravi to work on water it's a little difficult to transport, and definitely too large for the portal system, so after some argument they agree to cough up the money to have some men ride it back behind the party who would (hopefully) use the portal network to return.

When they arrive nothing seems to be amiss, but the efforts of Suna, Sassani and Kathra reveal that a secondary set of symbols has been hidden within the arcane inscriptions that make up the portal. Suspicious of why this hasn't been noticed and dealt with Kathra summons all of the Serpent Clan's Portal Keepers, who all seem to be under some form of mind-affecting magic. She calls for the Court Mage again, who uses Greater Restoration to erase this effect from two of the four Keepers.

The cleansed Keepers examine the portal and confirm that there is some form of explosive trap set within the portal, designed to trigger if someone tried to activate it from this side. They're confused as to why they didn't notice the runes until this point, until Kathra convinces them of the effects of the mental magic that had been affecting them. Unfortunately they're not able to disarm it, so the group calls for Dashya Ravi's aid.

Whilst they wait for Dashya to arrive, Wei begins to question Al-Dahiri, one of the Keepers, about how the network of portals works. Al-Dahiri reveals that the runes inscribed around the outside of each transportation circle link a pair or small group of portals together. By creating new portals with runes that match an existing gate, or creating two new portals with matching runes, new portals can be added to the network. When pressed for information on how the system could be up-scaled he revealed that each transport via the portals costs an amount of raw resource, diamond, and so the portals are not normally used when other methods of transportation would suffice.

Wei continues to pester him for information on the connections to Otgon Sum, and Al-Dahiri eventually agrees to investigate the answers to his question. As Al-Dahiri leaves, Wei follows and steals a copy of the portal connection map. This map reveals that Otgon Sum is the eastern-most portal in the network, and holds only two connections; Jiiwani, and the Imperial Palace in Maikhan City, the heart of the empire.

When Dashya arrives, laden down with supplies for the trip to Otgon Sum to finally be reunited with his sister, he identifies the magical effect overlaid on the portal as one that would cause an explosion if activated. Equipped with this knowledge, Kathra is able to Dispel Magic on the runes and reopen the path. However, the Keepers had identified an irregularity with the destination runes surrounding the portal, and there's some concern about where it may lead. Willing to take the bullet for the team, Kana volunteers to be the first through the portal, and return to inform everyone else of where it goes.

After Suna has cast invisibility on him Kana tries to activate the portal, but despite his best efforts is unable to. The Keepers confirm that this means that the portal likely has no matching gate elsewhere, meaning that the runes have been edited to be unique. After a half-hour's work the Keepers restore the runes to their original configuration, and believe the portal to Otgon Sum to be restored.

Kana again takes the plunge and goes first through the portal. He arrives back in Otgon Sum, but something is amiss. As he gets his bearings he hears the cries of battle in the near distance, and the cries of some great beast. As he returns to the portal, ready to report back in, Kathra emerges, swiftly followed by the rest of the group, Dashya and Aman. Kana briefs them on what he has heard, and the party command Aman back to Jiiwani whilst they investigate.

Rounding the corner into the main courtyard of Otgon Sum the part discover Shava Dehu holding the gate against what appears to be living trees, with some Butterfly foot-soldiers battling a creature made of wood and leaf in the shape of a giant serpent in the main area. Shava spots the party and orders them to engage. As they do so, more magical creatures similar to the first join the fray.

The battle is hard fought, and, whilst the party is victorious, it is not without casualty. All of the Butterfly foot soldiers in the battle are unfortunately burned _after_ having somehow died in the battle (don't ask), and both Sassani and Wei Liang near death during the battle. As each approaches their end a strange occurrence takes place. A black hound, with glowing blue eyes, teeth, and arcane markings on its fur, appears to them both and offers them the option to end the fighting in return for a favour at a later date. Sassani flatly refuses, stating that she was prepared for her end, but Wei bargains with the creature, which calls itself Huli Jing, and secures the end of the current battle in exchange for protection at a later date.

Once this deal is struck the remaining beasts retreat back into the forest. As they go, a colossal serpent formed of wood and stone stirs around the lip of the canyon that hides Otgon Sum from the outside world. Nothing more is heard from the forest.

The group check in with Shava, who requests they call Aman back through the portal, then retreats with him into quiet discussion. Sassani checks in on the prison, and finds both Mana Ravi and Gahr He still in their cells. Sassani promises to put in a good word with Shava for their release, but reminds Dashya (there reconnecting with his sister) that Shava has instructed him to repair the gates of the compound.

After everyone has had a chance to catch a breather they are summoned back to Shava's pagoda, where Aman reveals to them that the Butterflies are not the simple gang of bandits that the party had believed. He tells the group that the history of the Empire as they know it is a lie; humans didn't win the great war and create their peaceful existence afterwards, but were actually badly losing and on the verge of being wiped out. He reveals that outside the Empire many other sentient races exist, but that an immense spell has been cast across the whole land that stops people within its effects from wanting to leave, and stops those outside from wanting to enter. This spell has kept Maikhan separate from the rest of the world for hundreds of years, to keep the humans left inside safe.

Aman reveals that the spell is powered by the rule of the Empire. The Bright Emperor was actually a being known as an “elf”, from outside of the Empire's borders, who created and cast it to protect humanity from being exterminated. However, as the only “elf” within the borders, he was not able to sire a pureblood child, and his half-elven daughter, the Bright Empress, was now discovering she was unable to maintain the barrier. Creatures from outside are beginning to slip through, and it is believed this is what “the greys” that the party had encountered were.

Aman and Shava reveal that the Butterflies is actually a network of outposts on the borders of the Empire, watching for creatures from beyond making their way through the barrier. With the Bright Empress's power waning, it appears that Otgon Sum is the site of the first major breach. They ask the group if they would be willing to trace back along the route that the greys took to get to the jungles around Dejang-e to locate this hole in the barrier and pass through it. Whilst nominally a fact-finding mission, they state that if the group were to return with a couple of elf prisoners whose blood could be used to restore the barrier, then things could go back to how they were, but that this would be up to the group to make a judgement call on. The Butterflies are willing to equip the party for the escapade, regardless of their actions on it.

A few days pass as the group grapples with these revelations. Whilst this is happening Dashya tries and fails to invent a method of “vaping” potions (at Wei's request), though also begins work on methods of automatic transport, perhaps via magical metal horses, or some form of self-powering pedalo. Sassani, Wei and Kathra successfully petition Shava for Mana's freedom, on the logic that with her free Dashya will be more inclined to work with the Butterflies. Shava releases her on the agreement that the three would be responsible for Mana and Dashya's good behaviour. They are moderately successful in requesting Gahr He's freedom; Shava agrees to release him only as the group leaves to pass through the barrier, to travel with them as their squire. Dashya and Kana begin work on rebuilding Otgon Sum after the attack from the forest beings.

Wei Liang is haunted by Huli Jing's voice in his head, and sees visions of the hound once more as it questions and teases him about the revelations that Aman made about the Empire. It asks if Wei is familiar with somewhere called “The Wyld”, but doesn't elaborate at all when he says he is not. It states that its request for protection may be called in sooner than expected, before vanishing again. The following morning, as Kathra emerges from her dorm, she finds a heavily armoured humanoid creature with golden skin and hair waiting in Otgon Sum's courtyard. The creature states that it is searching for Huli Jing, and demands Kathra's help in finding it.

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