Again within the sanctuary of blue light cast from the Reliquary, Ekel and the ghostly party continued through the Mists towards the distant Necrolith.  Soon, the Mists began to fall away as the party crossed the border into another domain of the Nightmare Lands.  The cold, unyielding fog suddenly became the harsh, biting wind of a sandstorm.  The ground beneath Ekel’s feet shifted as it became a sliding dune.  In the onslaught of the sudden storm, the old Seeker lost his footing and began sliding down a steep incline.  The phantom party followed, vainly trying to keep Ekel safe until he finally came to rest at the bottom of a tall dune.

Above, the night sky was empty of stars.  In the brief respite from the storm offered by the leeside of the dune, the party could make out the Necorlith towering in the distance.  Before it, however, stretched a long rock wall, towering out of the desert.  The sandstorm behind them poured over the top of the dune, obscuring all sight.  Farid, familiar with such things, urged Ekel to race for the shelter of the wall, wherein he could likely find a cave to wait the storm out in.

Stumbling across the shifting sands, Ekel fought ahead of the encroaching storm, but eventually reached the base of the rock wall.  There, towering above them and carved from the face of the cliff itself, stood five megalithic figures.  The statues were dressed strangely, in the manner of ancient desert peoples, draped in robes and adorned with crowns and scepters.  They were the images of ancient kings, except for one detail: each bore the face for one of the party members.  Farid, Ian, Brandon, and Leif all stared out from the cliff wall, gazing into the onrushing storm.  The last figure, presumably depicting Storin, was half crumbled, and was continuing to disintegrate in the storm’s winds.  With no more time to ponder the visages, Ekel and the party began searching for shelter.  Very soon, they found a short stair leading upwards towards an opening in the cliff face.  As the storm slammed into the rock wall, obscuring the faces of the towering statues above them, Ekel and the party entered the opening.

The opening led to a short passage, which ended in a large closed door made of stone and carved with detail bas-relief.  Ekel lacked the strength to open the door, but after searching a loose block to the side of the door was discovered.  With all of his effort, the block was pushed in, revealing a space beyond.  There, past the immovable door, a shaft descended into the rock.  Moving carefully, Ekel and the party finally emerged into a tightly crowded chamber.  This room was full of what seemed to be offerings and other treasures, as well as a large gilded sarcophagus.  Many items were mundane, such as bolts of cloth or jars of grain, where others were covered in gold and jewels.  Both a chariot and a long boat were stored here, though for what use none could tell.  After some searching, Farid was pleased to discover many of his belongings stored in chests and jars in the chamber.  Ekel claimed them for him, and the group began to search for another path.  Eventually, inside the sarcophagus, a hidden door was found.  It opened onto a narrow stair that descended even deeper.

Cautiously, the group proceeded down.  As they did, they discovered a subtle change taking place; as they descended, their ghostly substance was beginning to materialize.  They could see each other, though their images were still transparent, but they were able to interact with their environment, and more so could feel the rising heat of the air. 

Continuing down the incredibly long stair, they came at last to an opening, crowned with a statue of a jackal headed figure.  Farid recognized the image as being of Anubis, an ancient god of the underworld amongst his people’s ancestors.  Beyond the doorway guarded by the statue was a wall of solid darkness, yet a hot wind could be felt blowing through the barrier.  Gathering up their courage, the party moved through the curtain of darkness under the watchful eye of Anubis.

Beyond the doorway was a shocking sight; a river of fire burned in a vast underground cavern.  At the bottom of the stairs, a large, golden boat floated above the flames, moored to the stairwell by a large iron chain.  Finding no other way, the party gathered in the boat and cast off, finding themselves magically pulled across the burning river by unseen forces.  The heat was immense, yet the party did not burn or suffer, likely another magical trait of the boat.  Gliding past rocky pillars and stalagmites, the boat continued on its way across the flames.  As it did, the ghostly party found themselves becoming nearly solid again, though with a faint translucence along the edges.  They were still errant spirits, but now they had entered the Underworld.  The light of the Reliquary shone weakly against the raging heat of the inferno all around them.

Eventually, however, the flames gave way to a stone ledge, and darkness beyond.  The party disembarked, and headed forward, knowing of no other direction to proceed.  There, in the cave beyond the river of fire, a massive chamber stood.  In the center was a high stone platform, ringed by open pools of flame.  A larger pool backlit the platform, upon which was a rise of steps, like a ziggurat.  Atop the uppermost tier, a rock throne sat; there, the room’s lone occupant sat.  As the party approached, they could clearly see Farid’s visage giving down upon them.

Taking the Reliquary from Ekel, Farid bounded up the steps to confront the being wearing his stolen body.  The others began to follow, but before they could, the figure arose and commanded forth a host of burning serpent-men – salamanders – from the firey pools.  The battle was joined, with Farid trying to win past the salamander guards near the throne while the others fought on the ground.  Watching from above, the not-Farid gave another command, summoning forth a gigantic snake of burning flame from the pool behind the throne.  As he sent the snake against the party, Farid won through to the throne and touched the second-body thief with the Reliquary.

As happened before with Storin, Farid appeared inside an empty space with no walls or floor.  With him was a adolescent boy, perhaps in his early teens.  The boy was not angry or as defiant as he had been, and actually seemed relieved that Farid had won through.  Farid asked to be allowed his physical form back, and the boy, who introduced himself as Trebaine, agreed, but on one condition.  Trebaine’s twin sister, Leylia, had not taken a physical form when the Stone of Judgment had been shattered by Ghrym.  Instead, she had been taken hostage by the leader of the Forsaken, an evil priest named Nau’leens.  Gohrn had been his general, and there was another beast creature who served him, but Trebaine and Laylia had been his unwilling servants.  By taking Leylia as a hostage, Nau’leens was ensuring Trebaine’s cooperation, and had ordered the boy to use his powers over elemental fire to destroy the party.  But the boy had relented, and promised to return Farid to his own body if the bard promised to help his sister.  Farid agreed, and suddenly the two were back in the throne room, Farid seated upon the throne and Trebaine holding Reliquary.  The boy quickly returned the artifact to Farid, and then directed him to lead his companions through a door in the back of the room.

As Farid ran down the steps from the throne and called for his companions, it became clear that the remaining salamanders and the fire snake were no longer under Trebaine’s control.  The party regrouped and headed towards the doors in the back, and moved through them just before seeing the fire men and the burning serpent savagely attack the throne.  Suddenly, the room was filled with fire.  As the party ran down the corridor, the flames rushed to meet them.  The corridor then gave way to an abrupt end, hanging out over a dark chasm below their feet.  After only a second’s hesitation, the party jumped into the darkness below as the domain above and behind them was consumed by fire.  They fell, into the Mists…