The Sea of Spices - Chapter I, Part II

The party returns to the Salty Voyager and settles their nerves after the shocking jungle episode. The next morning they return to the pond carrying a rowboat from their xebec. They use a complicated scheme to ferry all of the adventurers and retinue to the pile of crumbled black ruined stones in the center of Nushnos' death lake.

The islet is searched, and although Amarath the Scholar ascertains that it is indeed the ancient remains of some ruin that they are standing on, no entrances, passages, chambers, shafts or treasures are found. Zusander strips to his scimitar and dagger and dives several times to the bottom of the pond, but also discovers naught; the party returns to their vessel and rests another night.

The next morning they set out for the mountain rising above the jungle; for two days they slash and tread and sweat and drudge through the thick undergrowth and choking lianas, encountering naught but occasional placid family groups of orangutans. By the evening of the second day they have reached the rocky base of the vegetation encrusted mount and while searching for a campsite they discover an ancient road of worn black stones in the jungle, heading directly for the mountain. There are intermittent piles of crumbled basalt slabs alongside the road which the Scholar Amarath identifies as the vastly ancient remains of buildings.

As twilight sets in the party makes camp alongside the black road but are disturbed by the sudden sussurus of ghostly chanting whispers coming from the mountain above accompanied by a vast vertical shaft of shimmering blue light thrusting up into the night sky from a spot on the lower reaches of the mountain, with the road pointing directly at this ghastly illumination.

The Physician Asem Somchai, the Fighting-Man Ulnoc, and the Henchmen Hanamandu, Modibi, Sabmon and Fulompha begin running down the road towards the blue shaft of light upon the mountain, ignoring the calls of their companions. Zusander grabs Mobidi's arm and tries to overpower her but after she begins pummeling him he lets her twist out of his grasp and rush after the others.

The party attempts to chase their apparently mesmerized compatriots, but all of the ensorcelled dashers aside for the mail-clad Asem Somchai are able to outpace the party. Fearing further violence if they physically interfere with the Physician they instead follow him.

An hour later Ulnoc comes to his senses while dashing down the dark road leading steeply up the mountainside; he attempts to stops Fulompha but she soundly ignores him so he instead turns around and begins jogging down the slope, soon coming across the Ankhor Physician followed by the rest of the un-mesmerized adventurers and Henchmen.

The party continues following Asem as he dashes up the steep mountain road, and an hour later they come upon the source of the massive shaft of blue ghost light; upon a small ledge or plateau in the lower reaches of the mountain, the ancient road leading up to it, is a vast circular pit, from which the beam of light emerges. Two monoliths, resembling vertically elongated pyramids, stand close together where the road intersects the pit, one of each side of the terminus of the paves, with Doctor Asem Somchai dashing straight towards the point between these two markers...