At the top of the spire, within the fortress of Jabel Shammar, you found yourselves in the warming radiance of a room of pure white.  The evil which had been ever-present since your arrival was gone.  An older woman stepped from behind gauze curtains and introduced herself as Parnaith, wife of Danar Rotansin.  She seemed to know your purpose, but wanted to know if you were trustworthy to receive her gift.

With Parnaith’s conversation the Storm Guard paused for a moment of reflection.  You spoke of the friendships and bonds formed since you arrived at the city with nothing but the clothes on your back.  You spoke of regrets, but also your new purposes, greater than yourselves.  In the end, Parnaith was convinced that you were not like her husband, and understood the implications of your actions.  She spoke to Carric last: his resolve against the Galchutt was strongest of all.  She presented him with a small, ornate, glowing egg - -  the key to pass the guardian.  And with that, she vanished as a spirit might.

You used Parnaith’s sanctuary to your advantage and rested.  Then, you made your way back down the tower, through the water-filled room.  Raelen had a solution: using his dwarven axe, he summoned an Earth Elemental which battled the giant eel allowing everyone to pass unmolested.  The elemental even survived the encounter, though was badly damaged.

As you moved on, Carric made two discoveries.  First, the mystical egg that Parnaith had gifted you pointed the way toward your goal: the guardian that protected the entropy sphere.  Second, he sensed the presence of Galchutt here, in Jabel Shammar - -  and they in turn sensed him.

You next found two exhausted-looking humans resting in a hallway.  As you approached, they awakened and their demeanor changed.  They suddenly were animated, curious, and anxious for company.  They questioned each of you as you passed, and begged you stay with them for a meal.  Their behavior was off-putting enough that you intended to skip their invitation, but then their true nature was revealed: some sort of spirit-creature leapt from these humans and attempted to possess both Carric and Raelen. Fortunately, each was able to resist.  

You let loose some quick attacks on the spirits, but, passing through the floor to escape, they looked for other targets.  A moment later, Ebrahim was possessed, and quickly turned invisible.   Phen, with his blindsight, could sense Ebrahim and first held him with magic - which worked for a moment - and then tried to freeze him in a chaostitech bomb, which Ebrahim was able to dodge.  A moment later, Irinia was possessed as well.  With no recourse, you assaulted your teammates and hoped the blows, plus assistance from Raelen’s aura of protection, would free them.  Eventually the spirit in Irina was destroyed.  Ebrahim made one last attack on Carric with a Vorpal Disk, but fortunately missed anything vital.  He too was freed and the spirit that possessed him fled.

After some quick healing, you made your way through a massive cavern - the inside of Jabel Shammer existed in some extra-dimensional space, allowing it to be larger inside than the spire was outside.  The chamber contained lava pools from which rose flaming salamander creatures.  They were servants of a massive lava dragon, which demanded treasure, but would settle for “sport” (a fight) if you chose.  In a rare cautious moment, you chose to part with some of your treasure rather than fight, and handed over some of your infrequently used magic items.  The dragon seemed slightly disappointed, but grudgingly let you pass.

Past the cavern, the passage walls around you ended and ahead was a pathway of bone surrounded by pure blackness.  Avalia identified this as the “Utterdark”, the realm of souls that died which were unable to move the afterlife.  The maddening effects of this passageway caused Ebrahim and Irina some problems, but working together you were all able to cross.

Finally, you reached the massive guardian, and depositing the egg-key in its open palm, it disappeared, exposing a virtual doorway.  Stepping through, you found yourself in the chamber with the Entropy Sphere.

The Sphere, floating in a central cavity, was much like a reverse void bomb.  Energy pulsed outward toward walkways and “doors”.  One walkway had long ago been destroyed, causing some energy to arc wildly around the room.  As you cautiously examined these things, Carric sensed the Galchutt moving - they now also knew that the way to the Sphere - and passage to Vallis - were open.   

You moved into action, quickly choosing a pathway.  As you did, Avalia sensed the oncoming Galchutt and suggested she and Irina stay behind, hoping to at least slow them and buy you some time.  Reluctantly, you agreed.  Raelen led the way onto a path toward the Sphere, and visualizing the mystical moon, you all stepped through.

Your flight through the aether was disconcerting, but started as expected: the Vallis Moon appeared and grew closer. But then, something went wrong: you were pulled sideways unexpectedly and sucked through a “crack” in space itself.  You impacted unexpectedly on a grassy plain; this was not Vallis.  But where were you?

Getting to your feet, you looked around at the landscape and saw behind you a massive thunderhead, many miles away but abnormally large and lacking color.  It was definitely unnatural.  Then, turning, you noticed two creatures: a worg and a wolf standing on a rise nearby.   The wolf strode forward and transformed, revealing himself as a shape-changed druid.  The man introduced himself as "Keelan Stormforge, druid of the Everwood", and behind him, his companions appeared: a dwarven warrior, a human cleric, and an elven archer astride a small dragon . . .