Heart of fire

Following the inaugeration of both Hayley and Allistan into the circle of the Long Table. Apologies, I meant Lady Hayley and Ser Allistan. We returned to Erna’s Wish in order to host a small celebration. As for Dadroz, we did not hear from him again that evening. Most likely, the initiation for the circle of the Moon Blossom was taking up more time than anticipated.
 
Since it was already late when our second party ended, we each decided to stay the night at the tavern. And after such a couple of hectic days, I was quite looking forward to sleeping in for once in a while. But as the saying goes, "If you want to make the gods laugh, tell them your plans." And true to form, even this simple plan was disrupted when Luke woke us at the crack of dawn, quite urgently. Apparently, his mentor Amarra had send him a message, ordering his immediate return to Cairn Fussil. With no time to waste, we immediately set out for the wizard's tower, but not before making a quick detour to the De La Roost manor for Allistan to retrieve his armour.
 
Even with the horses we borrowed and Thorin, Allistan’s noble steed, it still took us the better part of a day in order to reach Cairn Fussil. During which, it quickly became apparent to Luke that something was seriously wrong. For the telltale smoke of the braziers that surrounded the tower was no longer visible in the sky. As we approached the forest clearing near the tower, we were alerted by a loud crashing sound. The source of which were a couple of giant insect-like creatures that were in the middle of tearing the tower down. According to both Luke and Hayley, these were Umber hulks. Living siege weapons with a chitin carapace as thick as iron.
 
Besides the two remaining, several of the creatures lay dead around the battered tower, each marked by deep scorch marks. Indicating that whatever happened to Amarra, she did not go down without a fight. But we had little time to complicate this, as the creatures charged at the sight of us. This fight proved to be a difficult one. For while these creatures seemed to fight purely on instinct, they possessed a monstrous amount of strength. Worse still, they also possessed a gaze that could drive one to madness if they crossed eyes with it. making it especially difficult for both Liliana and Allistan to hold these creatures down in order to prevent them from reaching the backline. A line they held to the best of their abilities. And on the end , each of the creatures went down.
 
With heavy hearts, we entered the remnants of the tower. Only to find more destruction and dead Umber Hulks inside. There was however no sign of Amarra. Which while worrisome, also meant that she had most likely not fallen in battle. As the others searched the tower’s interior, I decided to turn my attention to finding the source of the Umber Hulks. Which fortunately, wasn’t very difficult as they left rather large tracks. It seemed that they had come from the west of the tower and also there were no tracks indicating that any of them left the area. Meaning that these dead ones were all the Hulks that had come here.
 
At that point I heard shouting from inside of the tower. Luke had discovered an illusionary wall in the basement where he had completed his entrance trials. Upon dispelling it, we found a heavily injured Amarra lying unconsciously on the floor. Liliana was quick to administer first aid on her. When she came to, she was very happy to see that Luke had gotten her message. As without help, she knew that this tower would have very likely become her tomb.
 
Once assured there were no Umber Hulks remaining, Amarra began explaining what had happened. The Hulks had attacked her earlier that morning. Although she initially managed to hold them off, she soon realized she stood little chance against their numbers. For that reason, she decided to contact Luke for help. When she eventually started to slow down due to her wounds, she decided to flee into the basement and used what little magic she had remaining in order to set up a barrier to keep her safe, before eventually losing consciousness.
 
Amarra explained that the Umber Hulks were sent by a former lover seeking revenge. For that reason he had gone as far as to charm these creatures in order to carry out his vendetta.. This also was not the first time that he had attacked her. The attack that occurred when we met her for the first time was also orchestrated by her ex-lover. So regrettably, she decided to leave Cairn Fussil, as it was no longer safe for her. She also feared that his next attack might involve people that she cared for, which included Luke. It must be some terrible cosmic irony that both master and apprentice have such terrible luck with their love life. One with a homicidal ex and the other with three failed marriages to what I understand to be very complex individuals.
 
As a farewell gesture, Amarra presented Luke with a teleportation scroll. It would lead him to the heart of Cairn Fussil, as It was his to claim now. She hoped that it would prove to be useful to him when he eventually started building his own tower. However, that would have to wait until morning, as we were all exhausted at that point.
 
Come morning, Amarra had already left. She had used her magic to teleport away while the others were still asleep, likely to avoid awkward goodbyes. It was why I didn’t stop her when I noticed what she was doing, but in hindsight, I should thought of giving her some of my travel supplies. After inspecting the remaining structure of the tower and guiding us in reinforcing it where needed, Luke decided to use the teleportation scroll immediately. Bringing us all to the heart of Cairn Fussil.
We arrived in what seemed to be an underground cave. The floor was marked by several veins of lava and the air was heavy with both scorching heat and the stench of sulphur. In front of us there was a demonic stone skull carved into the wall, with lava flowing from its mouth and eye sockets. A large indentation on its forehead appeared to match the marble sitting atop a pillar, surrounded by a pool of lava in the center of the room.
 
Before making any assumptions about what was expected of us, we decided to explore the rest of the cave first. Doing so, we discovered three separate altars with a book on top of them. In front if each altar was a circle from magical runes, which appeared to be summoning circles connected to the plane of fire. The three books seemed to be different volumes from the same series, ranging from volume one to three.
 
After thinking over our options for a while, Luke decided to take a gamble and walked through the pool of lava in order to retrieve the orb. Why he choose this method instead of using his magic to move it towards him, I will never know. Nevertheless, with the orb in hand and minimal scorching he proceeded to insert the orb into the demon skull. Which, to our disappointment, did absolutely nothing.
 
I don’t remember exactly who it was, but if I had to put some gold on it, I think it was Luke who decided to take the orb into the circle of the altar that held the first volume. Which actually did something. The runes surrounding him started to light up as the orb its energy. Unfortunately, this also summoned two elemental creatures: a mephit and a fire snake. The battle itself was not overly complicated and they quickly fell to our attacks. However when Luke attempted to leave the circle, he found himself unable to do so. With little alternative, he threw the orb to Allistan who then took it to the next circle.
 
Just as before, the orb charged itself with the elemental power contained in the circle. And just like before, another mephit and fire snake were summoned. After defeating this group, we repeated the same steps, passing the orb to Liliane. Who took the orb into the next circle and after defeating the creatures summoned this time as well, we finally had a fully charged orb. Hayley and I then proceeded to place it in the demon’s head.
 
This not only released our friends but also opened a hidden passageway, revealing a small lake of lava. Above the center of the lake hovered a giant, brightly shining crystal. However as we approached, a new challenge emerged. A giant fire elemental rose from the lake, blocking our path. This battle proved to be far more challenging than our previous encounters. Not helped by the fact that Allistan and Liliana constantly had to be cautious not to fall into the lava.
 
The battle was long and grueling. Allistan and Liliana having to take turns in order to keep the elemental occupied while the rest of us attacked it from a distance. And in the end, it was only thanks to Luke’s magic that I was able to strike the core of the elemental and finish it off once and for all.
 
Upon its defeat, its essence coalesced into some king of magical staff. Naturally we gave this to Luke as it seemed that it was somehow meant for him. That only left us with the daunting task of actually claiming the heart from the lake. But just as I was contemplating if we could catch it using a lasso, Luke had the brilliant idea of jumping into the lake. That’s when I realize that fire mages have an innate instinct to setting themselves on fire. It simple makes them happy I guess. Perhaps this instinct also explains their misfortune in matters of love. Their strong emotions simple igniting their hearts in a blazing wildfire when struck by it. Only to eventually leave them with the ashes when it dies down.
 
When he finally reached the crystal, somehow preventing himself from burning to a crisp, the lava almost instantly solidified. And with an exhausted look on his face, he firmly grasped hold of the crystal and raised it triumphantly over his head. He was now Luke, fire mage extraordinaire and master of the heart of Cairn Fussil. And with that we decided to take our leave. We fortunately did not have any issues with finding a passageway that led into the basement of the tower. Allowing us to say our farewells and wishing our best to Amarra, wherever she had gone to, before finally returning to Keralon.