Heroes: Vladimir, Machteld, Malik, Niobhe
Year 648 MR (2nd quarter)
The Heroes enter the Temple of the Phoenix, where they must prove their worth facing ancient glyphs, riddles, and magical guardians. One of the rooms of the temple is a wondrous library... it seems to contain all the knowledge of any text ever written! The Heroes aquire as much knowledge as they can about a few unclear matters, for future reference.
When they go through the final door of the Temple, they find themselves on a vast balcony high up the mountain. The ershegh Phoenix soars in the clear sky, fighting the Serpent, an ancient and powerful awnsheg. On the balcony, the Serpent's minions, poisonous snakes and horrid yuan-ti, assault the Heroes. With magic and blade, the Heroes defeat the monsters, just in time to witness the Serpent casting one last deadly spell at the Phoenix; the majestic bird explodes in a huge ball of ifre, sending the Serpent into the sea, and then back to his ships.
The Heroes, full of hope, patiently wait for night to fall, and for the sun to come up again. At dawn, they're not disappointed: the Phoenix is reborn from the light of the sun, and comes to them to greet them and thanks them.
Niobhe steps forward, asking the Phoenix to help her put her father's soul to rest, free from the shapeless lump of metal that was once his sword. The Phoenix embraces Niobhe in the folds of her wings. there, among endless fire, she meets her father's soul, telling her he will fight with her against the shadow. When she emerges from the fire, she holds in her hand a magic golden scimitar, ablaze in flames. She names the sword Flamewing.
Year 648 MR (3rd quarter)
The Heroes return to Aryia to say their goodbyes, and prepare for their next voyage. Vladimir has been suffering more mystical dreams, pushing him to travel to the realm of the Raven, in Vosgaard, where his half-brother, Drago, is waiting for him.
The Heroes sail east and then north, making port in the realm of Zoloskaya. There they find an enlightened wizard ruler, Uvna Farzeb (the Silver Servant), who shares information about Drago the Warlord. This menace has pillaged and razed several of the northern realms, without claiming any for his own, but simply moving on to the next realm, for more pillage and destruction. Yet, something has stopped him in the realm of the Raven.
The Heroes leave their ship in Zoloskaya, and continue by varsk, eventually reaching Magdagrad. They witness the destruction broguht by the Warlord, and then meet him and his Witch, Neeva Chernyi. The encounter has nothing in common with a family reunion: Drago is cold and rude, while Neeva rapidly dispatched with small talk, to explain the reason of her call.
When Dragon and his horde were about to invade the Raven's realm, they were approached by a man called Chardath, bent on revenge against the Raven. He haad been a servant of the Raven, and made possible for Drago, Neeva, and their best warriors to infiltrate the Raven's castle and take the awnshegh by surprise. But when the Raven was about to fall, Chardath stabbed him with a silver dagger, bearing a 12-sided dark gem in its pommel. When the Raven's blood touched the gem, both the awnshegh and Chardath turned to shadows, and where imprisoned inside the gem.
After weeks of studying the gem, Neeva has discovered that the blood of Azrai (which also flows in Vladimir's veins) can activate the gem again. She wants the Heroes to enter the gem, and find a way to free the Raven, and possibly Chardath, so that Drago may kill them both.
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