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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Droid101" data-source="post: 1770457" data-attributes="member: 942">The Heroes are taken down some tunnels.  Dark rock and simple excavation techniques were used; hardly the work of Dardenkidin, where Ogrim hails from.  They follow the two dwarves for a few minutes and are led into a small cavern with an altar and statue of Moradin.  A robed dwarf approaches.“These evilbloods, and this dwarf, say that they placed the stones to awaken the Gods!” the dwarf says.“Hm, is what he says true?” the priest asks.“I believe so.  We placed three stones into a pedestal, and after a great flash of light, we were here.  The people there had a prophecy about a ‘Tribe that Shines’ doing exactly that,” The Necromancer explains.“Yes, our legend tells of a ‘Glowing Clan,’ perhaps they speak of the same thing?” the priest responds.“Either way, we’re really far from home, and we’d like to know if you have any way to help us get back,” Eltharion interjects.  “We come from like, 5000 years in the future, at least I think.  We gotta find a way back.”This draws a curious look from the priest, who strokes his beard.  He takes a few paces, then stops.“I think I may know something that could help you.  When the great cataclysm created the Gods and the races, several holy or magical temples appeared, strewn across the land.  One of them, our records say, is strongly linked to time.  Perhaps if you travel there, you can figure out something that can help you.  That’s all I can think of, I’m afraid,” the priest states.“Hm…” Ogrim is thoughtful.“But, if you are going there, there are some things you should know.  The supposed creator of time had several special items linked to his existence.  You should at least know the names of these items, in case that information becomes necessary.  The items are the Armor of Karanthius, the Sword of Jekaintinar, and the Sword of the Maimed Lord.  Use this knowledge well.”“It’s our only option.  Let’s get going,” Damaré puts.  The Heroes are allowed to rest in an empty cave for the night, and start traveling in the morning, following instructions given to them by the priest.  They travel for a few days in the direction given, across rocky ground and low plains.  The sky is cloudy and dark every day.“This is definitely a time of trials.  No sun at all…” Ogrim states.  The group presses on.“Getting a read on Moradin?” Eltharion asks.“Yes, I feel a connection,” Ogrim responds.“Looks like there weren’t any Gods where we were before, they just hadn’t been created yet,” The Necromancer reasons.  Nobody disagrees.After almost a week of dead-looking rocky flatlands, they reach a huge rocky outcropping that matches the description given by the priest.  As they approach they see a small cavernous entrance.  They go inside without hesitation.“Be on yer guard,” Ogrim states, readying his Orc-Killer axe and shield.  Everyone else gets out their weapons as well.The tunnel is about ten feet high and ten feet wide, and they proceed with caution.  After about fifty feet, the light from the outside is all but gone, and they reach a large iron door, blocking the entire passage.  With some effort they break it loose and push it open slowly.  Inside the door, they find that the walls are finely carved and shaped.  They go into and out of what seem like ‘rooms,’ but they’re all completely bare stone.  After a little searching of dead end tunnels, they find a staircase leading down.  They proceed.At the bottom of the stairs, there is a passage left and right.  They go right, and turn right again, and it turns into a large room, dimly lit by a glowing pedestal.  Before the pedestal, however, is a bunch of stepping stones with letters on them.  The pedestal has a glowing sword on it.  The letters are arranged as follows (the characters are at the top, pedestal would be at the bottom):  A  E  R  O  G  A  K  J  SR  M O  L   F  M  A E WD  O N  D  O  U  L  E  OI    R O  F  N   E  S  T   RN   I  A  K  E  J   F  O  DT   A R  A  E  H  T  F   SI    N L  O  M  D  A  M  AN  T  H  I   A  H   T   O  IA  L  F  U  I  M  E  D  MR  I  U  S  D  R  O  L  E“What in the world…” The Necromancer looks perplexed.“We could go back, there was another way…” Damaré starts, but is cut off.“Here, I’ll try this,” Ogrim summons a celestial dog.  It hops onto the first “A” square, and seems unharmed.  Ogrim motions for it to move over to the “E” square.  It does so, and a huge rectangular-cubed shaped block falls from the ceiling, and at the same time, the block below the dog falls down into darkness.  The block from the ceiling replaces the “E” block, so it seems as though nothing occurred.“So, we can only step on certain blocks and remain safe…” Ogrim surmises.  “The dog stepped on the “A” and was fine.  We just need to spell out ‘Armor of Jekaintinar.’  It’s so simple,” Ogrim walks out onto the “A,” then the “R.”  The blocks maintain position.“See?” Ogrim follows right to the O, up to R, then right to O……and falls.  The block from above perfectly replaces the block below.  Damaré’s eyes widen.“I’m going after him!” Damaré yells, and he jumps onto the same O, and falls in exactly the same way.  The Necromancer and Misani follow after.  Eltharion looks frantically for a another solution.…………..Crashing stone, thundering cracks, and intense pain.  Ogrim is partially buried under rocky rubble.  He throws the rocks off and finally gets to his feet.  He hears hissing, like snakes, from behind him.  He turns to see what it is…………….Eltharion finally gives up.  “Here goes…” He jumps onto the “G” and falls in the same way.  After a crash and possibly a broken arm, he stumbles to his feet.  He hears hissing, and through the dim light of his flaming scimitar, he sees a statue of Ogrim standing right next to him.  He instantly closes his eyes.“Wonderful…” Eltharion says under his breath, making his way toward the hissing noise, swinging his scimitar as he does so.  He feels his scimitar strike something, and a slight groan is heard… a woman’s voice.The woman’s voice continues, however, some kind of arcane chanting.  …………..Eltharion opens his eyes; the sun is bright.  He looks around, seeing two men and two women, all very tall, with blue auras surrounding them.  To his left, one of the women is touching the statue of Ogrim, returning him to flesh.  She moves on to Damaré, The Necromancer, and Misani, returning them all to flesh.“Was I stone, too?” Eltharion asks.“Yes, you all were.  My name is Jerik.  These are my friends, Mansin, Lani and Jane,” the brown haired human says.“Eltharion.  This is Ogrim, Damaré, Nekky, and Misani,” Eltharion points to each one.“Don’t call me Nekky…” The Necromancer mumbles.The humans’ clothing is very odd.  They have strange looking metal things on their hips.  Like small crossbows or something.“Why… what’s going on?” Eltharion asks.“Let me explain.  We read an ancient prophecy.  In that prophecy, it said, basically, that we had to come to this ancient ‘Temple of Time’ and free the ‘Frozen Ones.’  Once we did that, war in our world was supposed to end.  Once you completed your task, of course,” Jerik explains.  “We’re dying to know what your task is, and of course see if we can help you with it.”“Ancient temple of time?  I don’t suppose you mean that it is older than 200 years, do you?” The Necromancer asks.“200 years?  No, it must be thousands of years old.  At least 8000 years.  Maybe more.  Not exactly sure…” Jerik responds.“Uh oh…” the Heroes look around, confused.“Can you come into this cave with us?” Damaré asks.“Actually, we already searched the cave.  At the very bottom level, there is a strange device, that is supposed to allow the user to travel through time.  You need a specific kind of item, however, to let it happen.  You need a psionically charged crystal.  A rare kind, to boot,,” Jerik says.“Time travel device, that’s just what we need,” The Necromancer states.  “Our task is to get that crystal and travel through time.  Can you help us recover it?”“Wow, I suppose we can help you.  We’ll take you back to the library in our city.  We can look up the item and it’s past owners, possibly,” Jerik thinks, nodding to the rest of his friends.  “Follow us.”The Heroes follow them for a minute as they go behind a large copse of trees.  One of the humans takes out a small metal device and presses it, and a large metal bird appears in front of them.  Stairs lead up inside of it.“This is our transport, we call it the ‘Raven.’  Hope you like it,” Lani explains to them.  Inside are all kinds of glowing buttons, contraptions, and all sorts of other things the Heroes don’t even bother to fathom a guess at their function.Raven picks up off the ground, as the Heroes can see out of the windows.  It rises up high into the air, and in a flash, instead of being over a lightly forested area, all kinds of strange looking tall buildings are below, with lights everywhere.  Moving metal vehicles fly by in every direction.  The Raven lands and the group proceeds into one of the gargantuan buildings.  Books are everywhere.“How tall is the tallest building?” Eltharion asks.“Over 200 stories,” Lani answers.“Are you saying, 2000 feet?” Eltharion replies.“Probably closer to 3000, but yes, that tall,” Lani says.  Eltharion is dumb-struck.The Heroes, helped out by the strange humans, pour over books on ancient artifacts and relics.  Eventually they find the one their looking for.  They look down the listing of the past owners of the item, and the current owner is a man named Kendri Starseal.“Oh no...” Jerik says.“What now…” the party groans.“Kendri Starseal is one of the most powerful businessmen in the world.  It may be difficult to access him…” Jerik looks defeated.“We’ll think of something…” The Necromancer says, not drawing a whole lot of enthusiasm from the rest of the party.Can the Heroes find Kendri?  Can they talk to him?  Can they even get his autograph, let alone his relic of power?  This and more, next update!</blockquote>

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