Quastarte has been sacked, and all the Ice Vis is ostensibly loaded into tankers for a long overland trip to the Fire Peaks, the home of Brother Im and his Fire Monks. Along the way, they learn that Tophe, scion of Poeht and Tharizdun will destroy all of them if they do not hand over the Vis.
Upon learning this, the Caravan leadership decides two things. First, there is a traitor in their midst, and second, they need a new plan, as the enemy seems well aware of where they are and what they are carrying. After ferreting out the traitors Hans and Armin from Foxtrot Company, and securing three ancient airships, it is decided to introduce the party to Quietreach, a magical land tucked neatly away between planes. For more fun reading about Quietreach’s odd location, see the tale “Rodoolph and the Hall of Doors“.
In addition to learning about Quietreach, the parties are also (re)introduced to the Opeth, Poeht’s opposite in the battle for the Vis. There are many prophecies that the Opeth has delivered over the years, but it is its final prophecy that interests us most. In the final vision, the Opeth describes a device or item that resembles an upside-down triangle, and is apparently made up of three pieces. The top two are blueish-white and fiery red, and the bottom piece is gold, all surrounding an orange center. In the vision, liquid matching the colors of the pieces can be seen streaming out from the three points of the triangle. Finally, the item is shattered into three pieces, and ends ominously with the word “APPOTHROMAX”. This leads us to the conclusion that the dragon Appothromax broke the device, and is in possession of at least one of the pieces.
At this point, both the main leadership for Quastarte and Brother Im disappear, and have not been seen since. We are able to learn much more about Appothromax from a group of Dragon Cultists kind enough to write everything down. We learned that in order to find Appothromax, the cultists believed we needed something they referred to an an “Astral Throne”. This mechanism is apparently made up of
- A Dragon Compass
- An Astral Gem
- An “Astral Throne” that houses both the compass and the gem
The parties have managed to track down all three items, and turned them over to Quietreach for investigation and potential integration into one (or more) of the airships recovered from the desert. The only remaining piece before entering the astral plane is to secure a Khyber Dragonshard to focus the power of a fire or air elemental, in order to power the elemental airship.