Ekujae Territory, Mwangi Exapnse; Lamashan 12, 4719 AR

As the soft rain continued to pour down through the jungle canopy above, the Guardians went over their past week and a half in the jungle. It had become readily apparent that the cult of the Cinderclaws were tied to the dragon pillars they were finding scattered throughout the land.

"Perhaps," Inagra reasoned, "they are the force behind the curse that's afflicting the Ekujae."

"We destroy them, we stop the curse?" Uhn asked, his hands softly caressing Choppy.

"I mean... yes," muttered Wrin. "But I've handled the 'destruction' up until now."

The dwarf and goblin shared a glance before rolling their eyes and setting off. They were still looking for this old lake mentioned by the old man of the Elephant tribe. As they traveled, however, Uhn stopped them in their tracks. "Movement," he whispered. He guided them into hiding places spread out around a meager campsite. There, a twisted draconic charau-ka was rousing some boggards for battle. "Something is destroying the pillars," she hissed. "Now get moving, or Belmazog will have your heads!" Before the cultists could react, though, a fireball exploded in their midst, turning several to ash as Viggo's explosions caught the stragglers and Uhn charged in for more. In the span of seconds, they had a boggard prisoner.

"Tell us what you're doing here," Inagra demanded. She nodded over to Uhn who seemed more than happy to press Choppy closer against the boggard's neck.

"We're protecting our land," the prisoner croaked in Mwangi. "Damned colonists taking and destroying as you please. Dahak's divine judgement shall wipe you all out!" He struggled, but the small goblin was deceptively strong.

Inagra was growing impatient already. "Tell us something useful, or you aren't leaving here alive."

The boggard gestured to one of the pouches wrapped around the charau-ka's waist. "Belmazog sent her along with a note. I can't read it, as it's written in Draconic." Inagra fished out the note, written on a crumbled piece of parchment.

the barrier is weakening. pillars are falling. find out why. then check the mine and racharak in the north swamps.

The dwarf stared at the note for a time while Uhn took care of their boggard prisoner. Inagra turned the paper over in her hands and saw some scribbling in Common on the back along with a familiar looking seal. She couldn't place her finger on where she had seen it before, however.

"Hey, everyone?" Viggo called out from further down the trail. "Is that... normal?"

Through the treeline, the group could just make out a dome of scintillating colors seeming to rest on a small lake of mud. They approached closer, and saw a number of boggards pulling themselves across the mud in long skiffs, their bulbous eyes scanning for intruders. The dome of colors alternated between red, purple, orange, black - all shifting rapidly as they stared.

Wrin's eye's narrowed and he rubbed his small tusks thoughtfully. "Not a rainbow. What colors are missing?"

Viggo pulled out the stones that he had pried loose from the pillars. "Green, yellow...," he paused, trying to remember the jewels that he wasn't able to take. "...Blue?"

"So the pillars are connected to that dome." Inagra clenched her holy symbol, righteous conviction filling her.

"Why don't we just go in anyway?" Uhn asked. As though a demonstration were in order, a jungle bird swooped in low , grazing the dome. It suddenly burst into flames, sizzled, and fell to the mud as a stone. "Actually... such a stratagem seems superfluous to our live-itude."

After watching the guards patrolling the mud lake for some time, and noting that some sort of beast laired within, the Guardians sneaked back into the jungle, promising to return once the pillars were down. That night, as they set up camp, Inagra spoke with Renali about getting word to the Leopard tribe and seeing if their attacks on the pillars had weakened the curse afflicting the elves. Over the next few days, they began to spread out around the jungle surrounding the rainbow dome. They saw no further evidence of Cinderclaw activity, but a message arrived from the Ekujae one morning.

There has been a creature attacking our children at night. It strikes when we are unaware and slinks off past the curtain of ash. If you are still in the area, please help us.

It took no convincing at all for the Guardians to make their way back to Akrivel to hunt down this monster. Inagra made sure to ask for Abadar's guidance to speed their steps. Along the way, the came upon an old Mwangi hunter resting by a fire. Beside him, a massive sack lay still. Wrin took the lead in questioning, the torque around his neck making the Mwangi tongue easy to speak. The hunter claimed to know nothing of the problems afflicting the jungle and was merely here to get some food to feed his family. Everyone was suspicious, their hands reaching for their weapons instinctively. Inagra, however, wanted to hear what the man had to say and was most curious about what was in the bulging sack. When the dwarf bent close to examine it, however, the back of the man's head burst into a hideous jackal's face and clamped tight around Inagra's throat! Their fears realized, the party sprung into action, laying low the creature before it could cause any serious damage.

Uhn opened up the sack, and found within a creature of immense power: an angel. The malicious fey had caught it and planned to do something wicked indeed with the celestial. In thanks, the angel spoke of a hole in the earth in which the mortal creatures pulled forth gold and foul darkness. It gave them directions, and confirmed the Guardians' assumption about the Cinderclaws operating a mine in the northern jungles.

Even as the cleric struggled with her mounting wounds and Uhn felt he could go on no further, they continued their own assault. It's body tense with the jolts of electricity delivered from Viggo and burning from the wounds of Inagra's divine magic, the creature fell to the ground, breathing no more. Solemnly, the Guardians examined the small campsite and discovered what they feared: small, delicate bones. Uhn's face twisted into rage. "Oh, they are dead. Dead, dead, dead!" He slammed Choppy into the muddy ground, his anger startling his companions, who were used to seeing the goblin's battle rage.

"We have to take these to the Ekujae," Wrin was already wrapping the bones carefully. Inagra began to plot their path to Akrivel.

Arriving the next day, Akrivel heralded the explorers as heroes. They had heard the reports of the minions of the Cinderclaw being felled within the jungle, the pillars falling before their might. There was a sense of hope in the community that the curse hanging over the jungle would soon be broken. Wrin and Inagra pulled aside Nketiah and showed her the remains, explaining about the draconic monster they had encountered. The half-elf translator took the remains gratefully, but a sorrow lingered in her eyes. "Please," she said, "stop them. Stop this from ever happening again."

The Guardians spent the night, once more enjoying the hospitality of the Leopard tribe. In the morning, Nketiah told them to stay alert for some missing grippli traders. They were late for their arrival to the treetop city, and she had begun to fear that they had fallen victim to the Cinderclaws as well. As their path to the mine happened to pass through the traders' route, the Guardian's agreed to look for them and send them to Akrivel if their paths crossed.

The next few days were a tedious slog through constant rain and muddy ground. Finally, however, they found the tracks of numerous humanoid creatures leading to a sprawling cam surrounding a hole in the ground. Small buildings were erected around the perimeter and it appeared that the Cinderclaws had pulled a massive mound of dirt and mud up from below. Inagra even spotted a caged dinosaur as big as a building at the far side of the camp. The four warriors huddled together, discussing their battle plan.

After some preparation, under the cover of night, an orb of darkness floated up into the sky, nearly invisible against the inky black above. Suddenly, an explosion of fire consumed one of the homes, sending the Cinderclaw guards running. Across from the Guardian's position, a sickly looking kobold stepped out of one of the buildings, carrying a staff that burned with a ceaseless flame. She began shouting orders, but was cut off as the massive dinosaur trampled through the camp, scattering guards with every step. More explosions shook the camp and the orb of darkness swooped lower, turning all that passed through it into a fine mist of blood. The chaos consumed the cultists for hours as the Guardians continued striking where they were least expected. Finally, as the sun began to rise over the misty land, the party stepped into the clearing. The dinosaur lay dead, numerous javelins piercing it's thick hide. The kobold leader had been hacked in two and her remains caught in an explosion that came from her own home. The sphere of darkness that surrounded the flying Uhn had long since run it's course, but the goblin was coated head to toe in gore and he wore a smile of maniacal glee.

"Come on," Wrin spoke in typical monotone and gestured to the massive hole dominating the land. "I think we can safely say there's something down there that they don't want us to find." Leaving the grisly scene behind them, the made their way down into the earth, Uhn taking the lead as usual. At the bottom of the ramp was another pillar, seeming to wait for them. Wrin called out to his magic, but the pillar was faster this time. A beam of violet struck out at the barbarian who only had time to say, "Hey-" before disappearing as though he were never there.

After a brief panic (and Wrin dispelling the pillar's magic), Wrin made a hypothesis that the goblin would soon return. He argued that they'd make better time if they just moved on anyway, though Inagra shot that suggestion down quickly. After an hour, Uh returned, a smile on his face and his body shaking with excitement.

"Did you know there's a place where you can fight forever?!" he shouted, unable to contain himself.

While Uhn prattled on about the other plane he was momentarily sent to, the Guardians continued to explore the jungle. They heard rumors, once more, sent from the Ekujae, about an abandoned temple hidden not far from them. It seemed a logical place for more Cinderclaws to be holing up. Yet as they traveled, they found not a temple, but a misty glade where the rainwater collecting in large pools of brackish water. Wherever the rain landed, the sound of sizzling acid could be heard. Unsurprisingly, a pillar stood within this mist-choked valley.

Everyone advanced slowly, taking care to avoid the pools of acidic water, while Wrin fumbled with the arcane energies here. When they had gone deep enough into the territory, however, a band of crocodile-like creatures surged forth from a hollow log, weapons held high. They stood no chance as they plowed headfirst into Choppy and Viggo's explosions. Not long after, the orange light from the pillar's eyes went out. The rain continued to fall. Nearly a month had passed with these warriors waging their war against the jungle cult. They were so close now.

Who are the Cinderclaws? Who is Belmazog? What do they want? Coming soon... the assault.

-Dungeon Master