The Plane of Fire
The fire planes is an entire realm of flame and ash, an oppressive heat cowing almost all non-natives who spend any amount of time there. Fire is one of the four elements and two energies that make up the known universe and more than any other element has fascinated sentient beings since the beginning of time. The flickering of a candle, the spark of a flint and steel, or the dying embers of a campfire, all have the potential to grow and engulf the world in flame—can a drop of water, a breath of air, or a mote of dust do the same? Elemental fire is pure flame that does not require air or fuel to burn and can take on a solid, liquid, or gaseous state, yet it will ignite and consume anything flammable and unprotected.
Wandering Dragon were pulled into this realm when they voluntarily entered the rift at the centre of a crater in Avandigor. They were sent with the intention of recovering those missing and the recovery of possible items of interest to their captors. Knowing that around 100 members of the local area have been identified as missing, they began to look for clues in the burning remains of the Avandigor buildings now present in the Fireplane. Almost as soon as they entered, they discovered that the area of town had been transported previously, and ambushers waited for those who came through.
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Having fought their way past the Mephits & Azer, the party investigated and discovered numerous bodies of the Order force that had been sent through the rift before them, along with a number of dead azer, mephits and civilians. A trail led away from the town, leading on a 6 hour or so trek across the parched realm. Arriving at an underground complex, you discovered that the Order party have fought their way into this tunnel, slaying a number of Azer along the way. Venturing down yourselves, you discover a cavern in the ground that splits open to reveal a lava river, with the surrounding cliff faces covered in cages containing the civilians from Avandigor.
Bursting into action, the group began to free the civilians from their cages, all the while being warned about the monster, the creature, that guarded them. Realising that time might be limited, you directed the civilians up and away from the cavernous river, along with the few members of the order that remained. Once around half of the prisoners were free, you felt rumbling and shaking, followed by an immense impact into one of the cliff sides. Looking at the source, the guardian creature made itself known - a huge lava spewing monstrosity:
After a struggle with this creature, during which a number of the group were doused in partial cooled lava, Wandering Dragon managed to slay it and pick some elements of its corpse clean before it's precarious teetering on the edge of the abyss gave way, nearly pulling Rasiu into the lava. Spreading his wings, Rasiu glided over to the central plinth in the middle of the crevasse, where an axe-key, one of the more involved weapons taken from the fallen azer, was used to open up their vault. You discovered a veritable treasure inside, including a battered looking disc of unusual design:
Taking a moment to rest after the fight, the group handed out their supplies to the now freed prisoners, including a young girl that Paul seemed to have a personal stake in saving. Making sure that they were well rested (and attuning to their newly found magical items), the group left Ancalamie & Brunhim Moonwalker, a gnomish expert on conjuration magic. Over the period of an hour, the two discover a fascinating aspect of the disc - it appears to have the ability to conjure a magical map of the surrounding area, and with the right attunement, could be used to pull a specific area of one plane into another - clearly an item of significant magical power. It worked by pulling the dirt of the plane it was on into a representation of the area, and the two wizards believed that they could use it to return to the prime material plane with the civilians.
Travelling back to the ruined parts of the city is a difficult trek for all, including the rescuers, but over the time spent with the civilians, it is clear that they are immensely grateful for the freedom. Arriving on site, it is clear that someone or something has been back, and several of the azer corpses have been heated down to molten metal before being extracted, leaving small pools of still hot metal. Wary, Rasiu took to the skies once more and, his silver wings glinting in the light, drew the attention of something a fair way off. As the group began preparations for returning to their plane with the newly discovered planar disk, the creature began to close. At first, it appeared to be reasonably close by, but the group quickly realised that, not only was it a bit further than they expected, it was closing incredibly fast - and it was huge.
Wings sedately beating but covering vast distances with each stroke, the creature reached the outskirts of the planar disks field just as the spell completed, and a gout of flame, an image of fire and an undoubted image of a dragon was all that the group could make out before the world turned to white.