19/08/5-10

Milivoj jumped off, his now flaming skeletal horse. Otto began using his Wind's Crest shield's ability to summon winds to extinguish the flames, while Cassini used Tidal Waves to start doing the same from the other side. Valeyo approached the front of the crashed ship and saw it was called the Starscraper. Shiek began climbing up the side of it, and soon hopped onto the deck. He helped Valeyo climb aboard and they began looking around the ship. The main way below deck appeared to be the metal hatch on the deck, still hot from the burning flames. Shiek used a hook and a rope to open the door, and shouted down for anyone. Janske responded shouting for help from inside. Shiek made his way deeper into the ship, though the smoke, until he reached the back. There he saw Janske crushed beneath a mass of wood, that by all accounts should have killed him. After a quick inspection, he appeared to barely be hurt. When Shiek asking him about it, Janske raised his free hand, showing a ring with a missing gem, before saying "I think I did die, the diamond was consumed.". Otto and Milivoj soon entered and the three of them worked to gather to lift the beam off the halfling man. They pulled him out of the ship, injured but alive. The rest of the hold was in complete disarray. Food and other supplies were scattered everywhere, as were coins, likely from what would be the group's remaining payment. With the smoke clear, they could see bodies, of guards, some dead upon impact while other having been hit by loose cargo.

Outside, Janske asked to be brought back to town. Before that, the group pondered what to do with the horse, with Valeyo insisting that it was killed. Milivoj took it aside and executed it. Janske began to walk away, but Shiek stopped him to ask, if he will be leaving all his stuff in the wreckage. Janske waved it off, saying he was in no position to carry it now, and would just send someone to collect it later. Shiek smirked and waited for Janske to move away, before getting back on the ship to search it, with the help of Cassini. Milivoj and Valeyo began walking back to town with Janske.

On the ship, Shiek identified the source of the loose coin - a ornate magical chest in the back. He also found some ornate bottles of whiskey from Brandvold's Distillery, as well as a couple of bottles of Skalan's Fines Gin. The chest was infused with Abjuration and Evocation magic, from what Cassini could tell. They decided to leave it there, before returning to town as well.

The first group arrived back at Velidol, right as the Stormstrike returned with the parachuters they had gathered - three passengers. Back in the Open Tap, the group leveled with him about the phoenix and the roc. When he realized, that they could instead get a phoenix egg, he got excited and asked them to capture it, but the group refused, even when he offered to double the reward. He left their table, and the group began talking about the phoenix. Milivoj mention he had read more of the book on the Violet Flame, but most of what it spoke was about the fall of certain countries, not magic. Shiek brought up the possibility of the Emisar's soldiers having been killed and then revived by the nature of this flame and the Milivoj suggested that the phoenix itself may have been corrupted. They came up with some ways of incapacitating it, but the fight was still likely to be a challenge.

A few minutes later, they were approached by Morgan, who placed a map on their table. He began explaining their travel plans. It would take 4 days to reach the mountain and 4 more days to scale it. The plant was to do 5000ft per day on day 1 and 2 half as much on each of the others. They would stick together for the first two days and then split up. Valeyo told him of the creatures they fought, and they shared a concern about flaming yetis. As for advice, he recommended Valeyo be tied to someone strong at all times, and that they should prepare for ice, though it seemed snow was unlikely. He left the map with them and told them to find him if they had any more questions.

None of them looked forward to the climb, with Shiek hardly having seen snow before this and Valeyo being particularly bad at climbing. Saphira even pointed out that 8 days was just the one-way trip and it would take as many to return. Valeyo said he was working on something for that, but he was not yet finished.

20-24/08/5-10

Guided by the combined efforts of Morgan and Sapphira, the group had little trouble making it to the mountain's base safely. They avoided herds of giant oxen and bears wandering the woods, with no issue. At the foot of the mountain they prepared for their final rest before their ascent.

25-24/08/5-10

First Day of the Ascent

The climb was hard, but with the ropes to help them it was manageable. Valeyo kept close to Sapphira, the rope separating them being no more than 15ft. Towards the middle of the first day, Milivoj noticed some enormous mountain goats, that he considered using as a mount. Soon after, came their first obstacle. A small tributary to the river Velika, about 8ft wide and fast flowing. Milivoj jumped across and helped Valeyo who leaped after, only for Sapphira to fly over on her bees and Otto with his steps of night. Soon everyone was across, but they were able to continue. The mountain was getting steeper and they were now quite close to some of the goats, that Milivoj had seen before. With Sapphira's help, he snuck up on an unsuspecting goat and lassoed it. He then put to use all the knowledge he had of breaking in horses to bring it to heel. While it took a while, he managed to control it eventually. Their next obstacle was a 40ft climb, which everyone avoided by flying or relying in a goat, except Valeyo who climbed it completely solo* (with a lot of help from a flying, climbing Sapphira.). Towards the evening, they were asked to help the Stormstrike with finding a place to rest for the night. They soon did, and the group setup their dome.

During her watch, Sapphira noticed something flash in the clouds. The sky turned from the midnight blue to a violet glow, which appeared and then suddenly was gone and darkness descended. This happened a few more times, before it went out for good.

26-24/08/5-10

Second Day of the Ascent

The group prepared for travel, Valeyo lamenting 7 days more of this. Despite this, the travel continued. They first faced a 150ft climb, which they overcame by using wild mountain goat forms. Next was a unstable path of gravel, that caused Otto and Shiek to slip and drop some of their items. Soon after, Valeyo put his hands on a boulder for balance, which he realized was instead a chunk of metal. He began clearing the snow from the object and realized it was the head of a large warforged, roughly four times his size. Over the back of the head were large scotch marks, where it had been separated from the body. Where its eye holes were, the glass that would cover its eye sockets, was not glass. It was instead more akin to a sky stone composite. When they tried extracting them, it became clear they were less lenses and more long tubes. All together, they were almost a foot long and tapered in a way designed to fit into something specific. Inside they lead to a smaller head, serving as looking tubes. It seemed that the head was instead the helmet of a large armorsuit, which a smaller warforged would use. There was writing on the side, reading "Suryanvichi". The "Suryan" part Valeyo recognized as usually meaning "sun" or "star", but the rest of it was unfamiliar. It didn't appear like there was a way to open it up, so the group continued onward. The rest of the day was difficult, but they were able to hit their goal, albeit a bit late. The air here was noticeably thinner, making them feel exhausted much quicker. Morgan went to scout ahead for tomorrow for a bit and soon returned. He told them there were two routes for them to take tomorrow, one started with a climb and the other with a walk, but beyond that way anyone's guest.

In the night, Sapphira hear the calls of some sort of large creature, unlike anything they had encountered on the mountain so far.

27-24/08/5-10

Third Day of the Ascent - Splitting up

The group woke up to find themselves in a cloud. It was exceptionally cold, much more so than the prior days. Cassini started with an augury to determine the best way to proceed. After reading the start charts, he came up with the clue "If care is taken climb first and quiet.". After this information, the group decided to start with the climb. The climb, turned out to be the most challenging yet. Casssini had to turn both the displacer beast and himself into giant mountain goats in order for the party to be able to make the climb. After a little while, they encountered a waterfall, currently frozen solid by the extreme cold. Even from a distance, they could see, embedded in the ice, a greatsword. Upon a closer look, it was untouched by time, and with some Temerian characters written on it. Cassini decided to attempt to free it from the rime, by using dragon's breath to melt the ice around it. After a while, it was loose enough for Milivoj to break out. Just from how it had cut in the ice, he could tell it was magical. He stashed it in the bag of holding and they continued onward.

Another half an hour later, a noise came from ahead of them, sounding like something being eaten. They remembered the second part of Cassini's omen and they cast Pass without a trace before proceeding. Soon something came into view ahead of them. The back of a large centipede form of a Remorhaz, blocking their way.