Return to Kandam
We return to beautiful Kandam, it is colder than last time we were here. Upon our arrival we see a dragon-drawn chariot coming our way, driven by a blue-armored young man. Some investigation reveals that the man is an illusion, and the dragon's lightning breath weapon is very painful. We flee and burrow into the snow to set up camp and rest. Dawa discovers a network of slimy worm tunnels under the snow.
After resting we travel around using Improved Dimention Door until we find the zone of darkness. Weird bugs keep coming to eat our light but we are able to hold them off as we march for several hours, eventually finding some tracks to follow. We encounter a number of shadow ninjas who say Uptala told them to keep people like us out. We fight, then make our way across the bridge they guarded to another giant chasm. At the bottom is a city, with no magical darkness. A dragon comes and breathes on us but then flies away, and we reach the bottom without further incident. We explore the city, finding several signs of large nasty monsters in residence. We come to a set of doors with demon heads on them and pass through. We are attacked by some gem men and a Lich with some very nice blue armor. We defeat them and collect a black metal crown from the lich, which we store in a lead box. After the combat some delayed fireballs go off and we are attacked by an arial servant, but we barely pull through and make it to a room inhabited by a very shiny ancient statue of goodness. We rest with the pretty statue and heal up.
The next room is full of fire, and a giant demon corpse attempts to enslave us. We chop off his head and continue on past some zombie Kali worshippers who once sereved Utpala and Shiva. They tell us (via speak with dead) that Utpala is obsessed with a riddle from Greece or Rome, and seeks Mandagalora, which will emenetize the eskalon. We find an altar covered with eldritch symbols similar to those we saw in the underwater city of Bali. We take a rubbng to examine later, as well as some coins and rocks.
We next enter a weird spiral corridor which appears to grow as we follow it. At the end we encounter a nasty hag who hides in a prismatic sphere and sends out all sort of fun creatures to fight us. We steal her cup and run away, only to encounter the head of an extremely large snake, from which we also flee. We end up at the edge of a frozen sea of milk, which appears to have healing properties. Beside the sea is a giant metal tree. A the base of the tree we encounter Kubai and the rest of the giant snake. This is the tree of Aborga, near the axis mumdi, and a few miles from Ool. She asks us if we follow the footsteps of Atrirani or the wingspan of Garid. Aborga is the snake, and he brings the darkness. He was recently freed by the removal of a great stone, causing the darkness to return.
We return to confront the snake, using a well-aimed Earthquake to re-bury its head. Tekalili comes to congratulate us. She offers us knowledge if we will bring her a handmaid before the sunrise (next one is Sept 21). She also wants the dog coat of Myderrae from Ool. She can control anything that is dressed in white. We go back to Kubai at the sea of milk. She warns us not to trust Tekalili. She knows Evelake by the name Mordains. We rest at the sea of milk then travel away from the mountians to teleport back to Basra.
