Legends of Old Urthe - Hell on Urthe  (D&D v3.5)
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Fourth Age - Old Urthe: The Gardens of Brother Inurien

The party circled the wall until they found the entry and there, after a short conversation with the Gatekeeper, they passed into the Gardens.

The Gardens.

A place of madness and mayhem.

The first indications that all was not quite right was when Daleraith was attacked by one of the trees, which seemed to feed on his mind, and then again, when Alasha'an, despite all warnings, strayed off the path to face near suffocation in the grip of the grass, before the party pulled her free.

Then, as they made their way to the top of the lookout, they found their progressed hampered by animated suits of armour that danced to their own insane tune.

The Gardens themselves looked peaceful enough from atop the tower, a verdant forest encircling a huge lake. But as the party followed the path around, they found that this apparent tranquility was but a facade.

Seeking Inurien hither and thither, they first happened upon a pit, where they released an unearthly being who was imprisoned therein. He immediately took to the skies. But he left behind a whistle which itself held another being, a Djinn by the name of Djeroboam who related a terrible tale of a battle far, far away.

Shortly thereafter, the group was joined by Evenlegs, a taciturn Elf who claimed to have been sent by Parthan to aid them, though their old comrade had never before shown signs of the mystic might necessary to transport one across the Urthe. Or beyond, if the group's suspicions about these Gardens were correct ...

The madness of the Gardens seemed to be wearing off on the party, for discord broke out in their midst, leading to a parting of the ways as Alasha'an took off on her own in disgust.

The main group continued the search for Inurien, befriending some child-like rock-tossing giants in the process. But then they encountered Gnook, who turned out to be more than he seemed when he transformed into a dreadful demon and crushed Quintilla under a huge clawed foot.

It was in his temple though, set on an island at the edge of the lake, that they found the first clue that would lead them to Inurien; a small beaten copper oblong enscribed with the word "TO PASS".

Next they encountered a mysterious portal, through which Slayer and Saffaris freely passed, but an arrow loosed by the impetuous Daleraith led to a gout of flame issuing forth which engulfed both him and Ogin, leaving not even ashes to mark their passing.

Much saddened by the loss of three comrades, the party, nevertheless pressed onwards, obtaining a second token marked "REMOVE" from a dwarf on stilts who insisted that he was a mighty giant, and that the tokens were necessary to "pass through the Sacred Archway to Inurien's Hall of Doors."

Meanwhile, Alasha'an had entered the Ziggurat on the far side of the lake, and, after some nasty moments spent huddled in a void between a rock and a hard place after the "stepping stones" between them vanished, and an encounter with a peace and quiet loving skeletal figure, had found a third token, on which was written "PORTAL".

Alasha'an also came across a Pool of Visions, and a hidden tomb with unquiet spirits whose nasty habit of flinging pottery shards at uninvited guests saw her beating a hasty retreat.

Meeting up again with the main party, an uneasy truce broke out, as the group was joined by yet another visitor to the Gardens - one Calanor Charvel, who was sent to find Slayer by a common acquaintance, Brislar Fyfield, and, yet more strangely, literally pushed into the Gardens by a man claiming to be Saffaris' father !

After a slight misunderstanding, the group entered the Ziggurat, and after even more nastier moments in the void, were sent packing by the skeletal figure ... all except Evenlegs, who took exception to the apparent continued existance of a "creature of darkness", and who was unceremoniously flung into the lake, never to resurface, for his pains.

Examining the Talismans, the party determined that there must be one or more pieces still to find, and so, guided by Alasha'an, they re-entered the Tomb, where after a few hair-raising moments they recovered a fourth token which bore the inscription "BOOTS".

Piecing things together now, the party once more assembled before the archway where each in turn removed their footwear, and thus passed through into the Hall of Doors, where they found themselves welcomed by the Garden's denizens.

Inurien arrived, whilst the party was remonstrating with Erlang and the rest, covered in blood, back at last from some mission or other that seemed to have gone horribly wrong. He apologised for his absence, and explained to the party that they had all met before, long ago, when the party returned with an Orb that was the key to locating the elusive Stone, though he pronounced that Nanoc, at least, would not return.

Inurien further told the party about Saffaris' relationship to Math, the Dark Savant, God of forbidden knowledge, and furthermore, her grandfather.

Things got a little frantic when the missing quartet of Quintilla, Daleraith, Ogin and Evenlegs were found to have passed through a Portal leading through to the First Age, and Inurien immediately set about despatching a team of his servants to rescue them, while the rest of the party fulfilled their destiny and travelled to Hell itself in search of Seeker's Orb.

And so they passed through the Dread Portal.

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