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Alzar leaves Magden before sundown, not wanting to spend too much time here. He heads off down the road and is joined by golem and familiar. After pausing for a moment to ensure, they head off on the carpet and land in welcoming embrace of some hills a few miles to the north-west and bunker down.
Dawn breaks and spies Alzar already studying and preparing his spell selection. Shortly thereafter they begin to move again, floating over land, close to ground, staying to the north of the road by a couple of miles so as not to be seen overly much. The miles pass quickly enough, with a few stops and diversion to avoid shepherds with their goat herds, a tavern after the road bent towards them, and a small village.
Hours snake by and Alzar nears the Dark Woods. He was expecting trees, and a forest. But that’s not the Dark Woods, not anymore. He should have known better, and asked more questions. The Dark Woods was once a forest, a classic, deep, dark, sylvan forest like many others he has encountered. And then the Sand Mire hit, and the curses and destruction, both magical and natural, followed. And the woods petrified and are now dead trees of stone. It’s dark because it’s silent and foreboding. There is a main road through here though, and there are travelers moving through it, in both directions. In here is the High Temple.
There is an Obelisk poking above the trees, and Alzar heads to it, still on the edge of the woods, and lands. The obelisk is made of stone, and heads about 200 feet above the ground. It’s old – ancient. Made of a glistening blue stone. As Alzar watches, a bolt of lightning comes down from the heavens (it’s a cloudless day) to crackle into the obelisk and the stone glows, and archaic runes are revealed, and Alzar’s Helm of Fun Reading Time can make it out. It’s about the old forest, and the pre-Sind days.
A short while later Alzar has moved into the petrified woods and there is an alcove, with a ring of stones around an altar on a hill. He searches out and tries to find and possess him, so he destroys the altar. They move on.
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