#outfromcor

The party camped on the downward slope, and that night Gareth and Vela dreamed of a voice that told them to travel to the scrub hills and look for an arch. After some debate, the party decided that they would follow the directions, and there they found a tunnel that led deep into the ground.

Although it was dark, the party eventually found a small cohort of humans accompanied by several small animals with strange horns protruding from their heads. A human leader introduced himself as Thornton, and said that the people who have lived beneath the ground under the protection of a being called The One since the time of the Rending (500 years). 

Thornton and The One (speaking psychically) explained that the Rending occurred because a group of adventurers accidentally helped bring a demonic entity known as The Burning King to this plane of existence. The Rending was not merely a cataclysm; it was what The Burning King and his cohort of demonic allies did when they entered the world. The Rending severed this plane from all the other planes, locking both the gods and many sources of magic out of the world. This is why the world is godless.

The One revealed that The Burning King brought two demonic allies to this world with him: Makmar and Clarav. While The Burning King is the strongest force that is keeping this world separate from other planes, the connections cannot truly be healed until all three are banished from the world. 

The party concluded that the Makmar mentioned by The One was also the nefarious Lord Makmar that sent them on this journey over the Western Mountains. Why? They didn’t know. Some suggested that it was a gambit to take down a rival; others suggested that it might be because he wants information about his ally. 

The party then decided to travel to the castle that they had seen as they crossed the mountains. They traveled a full day in tunnels beneath the ground, and when they reached it they found a completely abandoned and scorched ruin. They explored the interior and discovered the site where The Burning King had been summoned by a horrible ritual, and they found a book containing the ritual on a small stage in the uppermost part of the castle. 

Reading the text, Vela discovered that they could banish any entity summoned with the ritual by doing a counter-ritual, and so the party decided that they would travel to the giant beam of fire shooting into the sky to find The Burning King and send him from this world.

They once again went down into the earth, accompanied by The One, and emerged from the tunnels a short distance away from the walls that surround The Burning King’s keep. 

As they passed through the walls, they expected to see a grand castle, but instead they saw a massive pit dug into the ground. At the very bottom was a small, plain keep, and the pillar of flame shot out of its ceiling. Void snuck up on the keep to find it guarded by a few protectors, and the party easily dispatched them.