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Holmes: The spirits defeated, and Alquas' seemingly despondent, Chimrea and Egani both start to discern that these spirits were actually the guardians of this place... and that what they guarded is a "thin spot"...
Holmes: A place where it's relatively easy to walk between worlds.
Holmes: But if the area is any indication, what sort of place would be on the other side? Would it be survivable?
Holmes: Any sort of place for a pregnant woman to be?
Holmes: Tez, for her part, notes a different connection, one that she realizes leads back to the torturous corridors of the Red Moon.
Egani peers around.
Egani: "I think we can open a portal here."
Tez sniffs, waving away the smell of burnt goblin arm. "Yeah. I did that once, when I was hunting the Praelector."
Chimrea: "No way back, no point in going anywhere but forward." Chimrea smiles, although this is the same logic that derailed her last attempted quest.
Chimrea: "You what?" she adds to Tez, momentarily derailed.
Tez: "Oh, you know. Opened a portal to the... staircase place. Then after we beat him up, we went to visit Akalatan."
Tez: "This one seems to go to the Red Moon, though, not the in between place."
Chimrea is frowning, and looks like she's thinking very hard--she opens her mouth to say something, closes it, repeats. Finally she says, "I see," in a funny overly-controlled voice.
Egani begins watching the eb and flow of the essences as they permeate the 'thinny.'
Tez stops staring at the thin spot and turns her eyes on Chimrea. "Something wrong?"
Chimrea: "Not really," Chimrea says, shaking whatever it was off. "We're going deep and far, is all."
Egani: "There! I see where the sliver starts between the worlds." Egani draws his ancient elvish sword and attempts to pry loose the flap of reality standing in their way.
Tez: "Remind me why we're going here?"
Tez: "Not that I'm not excited about visiting Hell. But I'm not sure it's that smart."
Chimrea: "I need to talk to someone who lives there," Chimrea says, then winces a bit at her phrasing. "A spirit, not a person, that is."
Tez: "Are you sure it's a spirit?"
Egani: "It's an elemental...like us, they're part spirit, part essence and other stuff. I mean, I think."
Chimrea: "Is that what you meant?" Chimrea asks Tez, suspecting not.
Tez shrugs. "Hell isn't known for elementals."
Tez regards the sliver, tilting her head to one side. "But then again, it might be Heaven."
Egani: "'Hell' is a metaphor I think."
Tez sits on a convenient rock, stretching her back.
Tez: "I'm tired. We should go quickly so I can take a nap."
Tez fishes around in her pack and munches on a slightly battered pickle.
Egani: As Egani's blade slips between realities, he draws it out, glowing and paints a circle of power with the dimensional essence itself. The glow seems to be hot as it lights the candles Egani had placed out and the red smoke from his brazier is sucked toward the nascent portal.
Egani: Sudenly, the smokey wall disolves as cinder-laden wind blows toward the heroes from the freshly opened portal. A dull red glow emanates from the other side.
Egani: "OK, then!...looks inviting."
Egani sheaths his sword.
Chimrea smiles bravely and starts for the portal, eyes open wide.
Tez levers herself off the rock and heads for the portal as well.
Holmes: Tez, at this point, realizes that the opening that Egani has made has no connection whatsoever to the tunnel that she's been observing.
Tez wrinkles her nose. "Well that's weird. Where does this go?"
Egani: "...the Ash Lairs...where Salamander lives...right? Isn't that the plan...and what we've been talking about?"
Chimrea: "That's where I thought we were going," Chimrea agrees cautiously, pausing on her way to the portal.
Tez looks through the portal, then looks next to it, and back into it. "Okay."
Tez hops through.
Egani peers into the thin area around the portal trying to see what caused Tez' confusion.
Chimrea steps through the portal behind Tez.
Egani: After deciding that this might have thin-spots to other worlds than the Ash Lairs, Egani steps through after the young women.
Holmes: The seam appears to continue for some way. Around them, each can see the world outside the seam. It seems possible to step off the path, but it's also pretty easy, somehow, to see the demarcation of the path. Eventually the path disappears, and the world of ash becomes even hotter than it had been on the other side.
Tez kicks a rock off the path. "I'm hot." she whines.
Chimrea: "I think we need to follow the hot part a little farther," Chimrea says, glancing back at Egani.
Egani takes that as a request and sidles forward to take the lead. "Uh, yeah." Egani walks along the seam and into the Ash Lairs proper.
Chimrea was just curious to see if Egani agreed, but she doesn't mind following as long as she has the sense they're headed in the right direction.'
Tez trudges along behind them. "Are we there yet?"
Egani rigs a fan by weaving together some spare materials and continues to breathe through the cloth mask he devised earlier.
Egani: As Egani concentrates on the heat, imagining this place like his forge, he is able to push the heat away, drafting it up and around the travellers. It is still quite warm, but almost bearable.
Tez doesn't actually mind the heat but continues to complain anyway.
Egani sweats profusely. Heat like this can wear a guy down but he's used to working a forge.
Chimrea doesn't say anything, though her dress becomes damp with sweat and the going is hard for her.
Holmes: The way is dark, and it's difficult to follow the passages from the description that Egani recalls of how to get to the Salamander.
Holmes: As they go along everyone notes that Tez is keeping an eye out, leaving the others to concentrate on navigation.
Chimrea pulls the Spider's web from the loop at her belt and holds it in her palm, laying the fingers of her other hand lightly against the strands. She lets her eyes unfocus and her steps begin to meander a bit, pulling in the direction of an extra thread of heat she feels in the web. Several times she pauses, confused, but Egani points to the right turn every time.

Holmes: Cassio, following the rebel goblin and his horde of refugees, notes that the the column is stopping.
Cassio: "Whats happening friend?"
Holmes: "We're approaching the city of the Cyclops," it says with an apologetic look. It gets a resigned look and says, "Look, there's another way to go, but we'd have to deal with Trogli tribes that have settled there recently."
Holmes: It then looks indignant, "Fine, you decide which way we should go, then!"
Cassio: "Who are the Trogli?"
Holmes: The goblin blinks in disbelief momentarily, then considers that his audience is not a Methian, but from some place farther south... "Trogli are... they are dumb cave dwellers. They hate light, and everything that comes into the caves they live in. But they are strong. Perhaps stronger than Lugroki."
Cassio: "Lets go with the city of the Cyclops."
Holmes: The goblin nods, satisfied that he'd made the right decision to start with.
Holmes: He proceeds forward...
Holmes: *
Holmes: After a little bit of careful moving forward (which the goblin explains is all about looking out for brigands), suddenly the caves they've been traveling open onto natural light...
Holmes: It's day somewhere
Holmes: As the group emerges, Cassio gets his first view of the city of Sacanoth. It is built in several levels into a vertically walled chasm in the mountains.
Holmes: Beings of many different races mill about the place. Humans, Goblins, Dwarfs,..
Holmes: But what catches his eye are the cyclopses
Holmes: One eyed giants, a pair of them, thirty feet tall, each of whom stands beside the entrance to the one building to be seen.
Cassio taps the little guy on the shoulder, 'So, where are we headed?'
Holmes: "We need to ask the Cyclops for safe passage," it replies nonchalantly.
Cassio studies the Cyclops with a look of wonder, "Are they friendly chaps?"
Holmes: The goblin follows his gaze, "Oh, those are just his henchmen. Thanok... he's the big one... is inside his palace."
Cassio: "Oh. wow."
Holmes: Indeed, the one building comes into perspective as to it's size as they approach...
Holmes: it takes a while
Holmes: The city is, if not vast, quite impressive in it's dimensions
Holmes: And yet the center of it all is dominated by this one edifice.
Holmes: It seems to be built of the local sandstone... as such it can only be crafted with so much precision. This leaves the whole thing with a somewhat primitive look to it.
Holmes: But, that said, the work that went into creating the building, and the care, despite it's primitiveness, shows.
Holmes: It is a work of great art, in it's own way.
Cassio: "I bet this kind of structure would be much more resilient against say, meteor strikes."
Holmes: The goblin says, "Meetee ers?
Cassio studies the design as they progress
Cassio: "Big fiery rocks that fall from the heavens like the breath of some foul god."
Holmes: The goblin's eyes widen, "This happens for real? Why would anyone want to live out on the unprotected surface of the world?"
Holmes: He shakes his head.
Cassio: "Girls and Sunsets."
Holmes: The goblin frowns. At this point Cassio becomes aware that Vajaari men are watching him. One has a great obsidian war club at his side, and the other is adorned with the skin of a leopard.
Cassio: "Whats with them?"
Cassio points out the men as non-chalant as possible
Holmes: The goblin shrugs. The man with the war club starts coming Cassio's way, intent on intercepting them before they reach the palace. His compatriot follows at a distance.
Holmes: As Cassio picks up the pace in order to try to arrive ahead of the Vajaari, he notes that he's leaving the goblins behind... their short legs aren't finding a reason to keep pace with him.
Cassio sighs and rejoins the group
Holmes: The Vajaari, having had to pick up his own pace slightly, interposes himself between Cassio and the portico. Right under the shadow of the two mighty giants.
Holmes: He speaks in very halting Rhiani: "You people kill brother mine."
Cassio sighs again, and lays his hand on the hilt of his bejeweled sword
Cassio: "Who?"
Cassio: "And who is 'you people'?"
Holmes: "Brother on boat, go to Kaitaine. You sink. He die," he tries to explain. "You make right for me."
Holmes: He does not look remotely happy.
Cassio: "Oh really, I can't seem to remember that. Of course, that could be because I wasn't actually there, but I digress."
Holmes: His hand, too, goes to the handle of his war club.
Holmes: "You pay for you people," he tries again. "Pay for brother."
Holmes: The man in the leopard skin watches patiently, trying to look comfortable.
Cassio: "People that approach me in strange places and demand ridiculus things tend to be very dissapointed with the outcome."
Cassio stands relaxed as one can be when ready for anything
Cassio: "Perhaps I should speak in more plain terms for someone as dumb as you. Go now. Or Pain."
Cassio notices he isn't leaving
Cassio: "Perhaps you didn't understand my ornate language. Perhaps you need to see just what you will face. Perhaps you are a fool."
Cassio draw the longsword of Lysander out slowing, and lays its sharp and ready blade against his left arm
Cassio moves it such that the incoming rays of light sparkle off the blade's hilt-borne gems
Cassio: "This sword has slain hordes, utterly destroyed beasts so foul their name can't be spoken."
Cassio: "Do you really think you are its match?"
Cassio glares at him, "You won't even be worthy of note in the tale of this sword. Just one more little thing crushed by its tremendous power."
Holmes: The Vajaari draws his war club to match. But he looks from his weapon to Cassio's... and then up to the Cyclopses above....
Holmes: And he decides not to risk it at this juncture.
Holmes: As he turns to leave, he gives a look, however, that says to Cassio that he may try to find another way to make Cassio pay for his pain.
Cassio just sighs and sheaths his sword, "I wonder what I got myself into."
Holmes: Cassio notes that the goblin beside him is shaking from the encounter. But he slowly pushes on, addressing the cyclops on the left:
Holmes: "We seek an audience with his magnificence!"
Holmes: The cyclops, apparently having watched the encounter, bends slowly, and says, "He's busy... what's it about?"
Holmes: L Ike ? guards everywhere, Cassio gets the idea that these will be more helpful if paid to be so.
Cassio wonders what the going price is for entrance
Cassio draws out some of his money, not too much, such that the cyclops guard can see
Cassio: "It may be to your benefit if we could have a short audience. Just a trifling matter really, nothing that won't take more than the briefest of moments."
Holmes: Cassio's silver is easily enough to impress the Cyclops who after a moment of bargaining, motions Cassio and the rest on into the palace.
Holmes: Inside, much like outside, is impressive for the effort put forth to make this massive building well built. Soon they reach the courtyard, and the truly massive Thanok sits upon a titanic granite throne.
Holmes: He looks bored.

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