The Terral Gate

Chapter 4

The party rushed back to check on where they left Thorril before they continued on to Stonehaven. The dwarf had said he would make his way as soon as he regained his strength, but Mar’Jania encouraged the “better safe than sorry” approach and wanted to see if Thorril had run into any trouble before leaving, not to mention find Bud. They eagerly jogged to where they were first ambushed. Thorril was gone, but Bud ran to MJ from the bushes and started licking her face as she greeted him.

“Looks like Thorril has made his way already,” said Lodi, noting also that the donkey was gone. “We should do the same. The day is getting on and I’d like to get an early night’s sleep,” he looked between Mar’Jania and Kat, “I didn’t say anything before, but I didn’t sleep well either.”

“So none of us could sleep?” Gerberkan spoke up. The adventurers realized that none of them had gotten more than a few hours of sleep the night before due to nightmares, cold sweats, and plain old insomnia. They started walking down the path and talking about their nightmares. The chat continued on and off for about 20 minutes. The winds picked up and the sky was soon thick with clouds. The temperature dropped just as quickly. When the group reached the top of a grueling hill they were rewarded with a fantastic view of the grassy valley below. It would have looked more inviting if not for the gloomy change in weather or the newly infamous dark energy hanging over the mountains far off in the distant background, recognizable only by the intermittent flash of yellow lightning that illuminated the ominous cloud. The group hadn’t spoken about the cloud above the Terral Gate that was sending the world into a panic partially because the dark marks on their hands were a constant distraction and partially because, as many were calling it the precursor to doomsday, nobody wanted to be the one to suggest that their efforts were in vain anyhow.

Nonetheless, the afflicted party was finally able to see Stonehaven below. It was only a few miles away at this point- just as far as Thorril had said it would be. The monastery looked exactly how Lodi thought it would from Thorril’s vivid description. ‘He must really love that place,’ thought Lodi.

There was something off about Stonehaven, though. As the group got closer, digging their feet in the dirt of the path’s steep decline to stop themselves from stumbling too quickly, it became clearer and clearer. At first Lodi just thought there were some campfires within the walls, but eventually realized the walls themselves were on fire. Gerberkan commented that there didn’t seem to be anybody- clerics, monks, paladins, or otherwise- trying to put the fires out. Stonehaven looked deserted!

The group’s nervous steps shifted from walk to run.  They took shortcuts through the brush to skip switchbacks, ran through a couple abandoned campsites and waded through a small creek, trusting in each other to keep up. Gallus didn’t know about this place or why they were going, but he could tell this group needed help and they still owed him an explanation about the dark energy they were giving off.

The cloudy skies were darkening as the sun set by the time they reached the fields directly in front of Stonehaven. Things didn’t look any better, either. The group was out of breath and as they approached the large wooden doors of the monastery black smoke began fighting its way into their lungs. The fire was still raging inside and just as it looked from far away nobody was around to do anything about it. Lodi turned to the rest of the group before pushing the giant front door open further as if to make sure they were okay with it.

“We may as well go in. There’s nothing around for miles,” Kat offered.

“We need to help!” Mar’Jania added.

Lodi strained and pushed hard, keeping his head low to avoid the smoke that billowed out. The door swung slowly and mightily open and the group started looking frantically around the courtyard.