Episode 55 - Destiny Will Arrive

General Summary

The Guardians waited five days before the elves from Iadara arrived at Crying Leaf.
The elves arrived and said they would send word to the consulars at Minas Amer that the Guardians of Golarion were requesting transportation.
The response came quickly and the Guardians were instructed to the elven gate in Celwynvian. Someone from Minas Amer would be waiting there for them.
An elf named Zevris was waiting for them at the Celwynvian elven gate. He opened the portal to a tower off the coast of Minas Amer. The Guardians were provided with gryphons to fly them from the tower across the lake to the Great Archive.
Four guards stopped them as they were about to enter the pyramid. They instructed the Guardians to present their “gift” before they would be allowed entry. Zevris told them that their presence was requested by the Great Readers themselves, and it would be to them that the Guardians would present their gift.
Once inside the pyramid, Zevris took them into a study room where a gnome was dictating theorums of the akashic tapestry. Two elves scribbled every word down on parchment. The gnome was a badly scarred Naebler. He was blind.
Naebler was happy that the Guardians had come. He hugged Reh tightly. He explained that he had been in one of the libraries within the pyramoid, somewhere he was not supposed to be. A portal opened in the air and a big bald drow with a glowing green eye stepped through. Naebler panicked and was somehow able to shove him back through the portal. Without thinking, he rushed through the portal after him. The portal closed, and Naebler found himself stranded within a laboratory of some kind. The drow was there, along with a big scary looking human. The drow seemed unhappy and was holding a black and red pyramoid of his own. The way he was holding it, and the look on his face, told Naebler that the drow’s pyramoid was broken or at the very least not working as intended. The human became enraged and started smashing things. He screamed for Chakos to come out and face him. He started beating Naebler, yelling for Chakos to come out and save the gnome from the beating. The human, Matan'sa the bald drow called him, beat Naebler so badly that he ended up blind.
Zevris said he found Naebler’s body on the bank of a nearby river. He thought the gnome was dead. Not only was he alive, but when he said who he was the draa’kyl took him into their ranks. Naebler began dictating some of the knowledge Chakos instilled in him.
Naebler told Reh to let Chakos know he was okay. He couldn’t go back into the pyramoid now, but he was now in a good place. He may not have been a good fighter, but it turned out that he was a good student.
Rooker was able to use Cure Blindness of Naebler, restoring his eyesight. The gnome hugged him and wept.
Once he had composed himself, Naebler took them to the Great Readers. Once there, Rooker donated the book from Tharzduun’s temple and the group was allowed entry.
Twelve elves sat entranced with a book hovering in front of them. A magical quill wrote and drew thoughts and visions from each of the Great Readers.
Naebler led the Guardians into a study and showed them books from the Great Readers. On occasion, one of two of them would have a similar vision. This time, all twelve shared an Incident. It happened in various cities, but they were all the same - a giant rock, one the size of a mountain, was pulled from the sky and crashed into the city. Thousands upon thousands dead. It was a vision not of the past, but of the future.
The notation beside the description made reference to an artifact that had been there for several years. It was a box that had been filed away. No one knew what it was for. It bore the names of each of the Guardians who were in attendance.
Within the box was a ceramic tile of teleportation and two healing potions. A spell of ancient magic took Reh, giving her a form of detect magic.
Naebler took them to a study where the magic of the tile would be able to work. He wished them luck and told them to come back if they lived.
They broke the tile and were teleported to the ruined city of Enkiral. The mighty citadel had once stood tall in Avistan, but it was destroyed when the Worldwound tore open the planar rift to the Abyss. Since that day, the ruined city has been overrun with demons, devils, intelligent undead, and all other sorts of evil creatures.
Enkiral was ruled by a benevolent wizard named Rommath the Ageless. During the appearance of the Worldwound, Rommath was able to protect some of his people and did everything in his power to protect Enrikal. However, the abyssal planar energy was too strong even for him and the city crumbled into the ground. He became trapped within the wreckage, never to be heard from again.
Reh saw a glowing rune of Nethys, similar to the one that had adorned the box the tile had been in. She also saw a glowing pathway that led to the ruins. The Guardians followed her lead.
The path led them into a building that had been sunk into the ground. Traps and magical books filled the building. The Guardians found clues that the place had been tainted much like the temple of Tharzduun. They fought off two abyssal wraiths, and as soon as they dissipated the Guardians heard a familiar sound - the thumping heartbeat of the dragon shard. Somewhere within the building, the final piece of Zalatas’ prison waited for them.