The party awakens to loud footsteps and angry murmuring, accompanied with the faint smell of dragon shit coming down the passageway past the cove where they were camped out. They find their adolescent guide absent, guessing that he must have gone on ahead.
The party decides that there is no point wasting time, so they get up and make their way down the tunnel toward the Gates of Hell. As they proceed they sense the temperature rising. THRAX guesses this means they're getting closer.
After about an hour and a half of walking, the party arrives in a huge chamber. In this chamber are probably about 20 dragons, various objects, a pool of water, and at the opposite end is a flaming hole in the wall where the now-immense heat seems to be coming from.
Next to the hole stands a very tall, very old dragon who is being approached by the pair of dragons that hurried past the party earlier.
dragon 1: "Duoserg, your snot-nosed great-grandson shat in our tunnel yesterday!"
dragon 2: "And I stepped in it!"
Dragon 2 shows Duoserg the excrement stuck to his right foot.
Duoserg (in raspy voice): "Is that so? Would you like a moist towelette or something?"
dragon 2: "No, we want to kick his queefy little ass! Where is he?!"
Duoserg: "But, wouldn't you get more shit on your foot if you kicked his ass?"
Growing irritated, the first dragon retorts "Are you wanting to pick a fight with the Visugori, old man?"
In response, some of the other dragons in the chamber take stances around Duoserg.
Duoserg: "Don't be ridiculous!! The Visugori are too weak and few in number to take on the Mai Famdamli. Your group of vagrants couldn't knock a hole in a wall! Do yourselves a favor and take a walk!"
The two Visugori see that they are quite outnumbered, so they turn and leave. As they make their way out of the chamber, the first dragon turns back and says "Lord Vankar will hear of this!" As they exit the scene, they fail to notice the party standing nearby.
Duoserg (to another dragon): "Where is Beosurg?"
other dragon: "I don't know m'lord. I don't think he's returned from the quartz mine yet."
Duoserg: "When he does return, send him to me. It's not polite to be defecating in tunnels. That's why we dig holes in the ground."
As stated earlier, the inside of the chamber is quite hot, except for the corner where the party is standing. Since THRAX and the other draconians, Elric, Jarsar, Xaklafor, Veiko and Vash are virtually unaffected by the excess heat, the group of them approach Duoserg.
TRHAX: "Uh, excuse me, Duoserg..."
Duoserg stoops down to take a good look at THRAX, studying the patches of human flesh and dragon scales that make up his skin.
Duoserg: "Hmm. What manner of being are you, young one? You look like some hideous science experiment or something."
THRAX: "Y-eah... My name is Thrax the Hell-Fire, and I've come to retrieve the Phoenix and Kaiser Dragon Crystals from beyond the Gates of Hell."
Duoserg: "Have you, now? How droll. (chuckles) Go back and inform Vankar he's wasting his time. There's no way he can locate the Dragon Crystals without--"
THRAX: "The Dark Flare?"
THRAX withdraws his Dragon Sabre with the Dark Flare fused in it and holds it up. Duoserg gives a look of astonishment.
THRAX: "By the way, I'm not working for Vankar. In fact, me and my party back there are trying to stop him from building his weapon. That's why we've come here to retrieve the crystals."
Duoserg: "Hmm... Tell me, young one... How did you manage to come across the Dark Flare? Furthermore, how did you know the Phoenix and Kaiser were located beyond the gates? The only way one could know is if they were descendant of Xanthur, and that line has been extinct for centuries."
THRAX: "Not necessarily. Xanatos, the last descendant of Xanthur, disappeared into the human world some years ago. While there he underwent a magic spell that changed him into a young human named Thrax, which happens to be me."
Duoserg: "Hmm. I see... Well, then if you are indeed Xanatos as you say, then you should remember that in order to cross the Gates of Hell you must first submit yourself to certain physical and mental challenges."
THRAX: "Well, we're kinda in a hurry, so can we get around that or something?"
The other Mai Famdamli laugh at THRAX's preposterous statement.
Duoserg: "There's no 'going around' the challenges. In order to cross the gates, you first have to prove your worthiness! (points to the 5 draconians in the party) It's a good thing you brought friends. You'll need all the help you can get!"
Realizing that once again he'll have to make an ass of himself to proceed forward, THRAX asks, "OK, what are the challenges?"
Duoserg: "You must first cross this pool of water here and survive, then you must pass the logic test. If you make it that far, then you'll have to defeat the Guardian Spirits that keep the gate sealed. THEN, if you can make it through the gates, it's at least a day's journey through the Hell Fire Pit before you get to the Crystals... if you can find them! So then, Thrax the Hell-Fire, do you accept this challenge?"
-YES-
-NO-
THRAX (shrugs): "Well if this is the only way to get through the gates, then I guess I have to."
+YES+
-NO-
Duoserg: "Very well. Go and prepare for the challenge."
THRAX and the 5 draconians make their way to the area where they prepare to take on the forthcoming challenge to cross the Gates of Hell. Meanwhile, the human members of the party are starting to feel the effects of the immense heat of the chamber. An older female dragon approaches the human party members.
female dragon: "You must be accompanying Mr Thrax over there. It's not safe for humans to be this close to the hell-fire pit. Let me take you to a more-habitable spot."
The female dragon leads TRITHAL, AXEM, Danika, Anri, Adeth and Kuta to a ledge at the edge of the chamber, where there is a vent to the outside. From this ledge, the party has a bird's eye view of the area where THRAX and the others will take on the challenge to enter the gates. The female dragon reaches up above the party and opens the vents to the outside, allowing the chilly, snowy air from the mountains to blow in. Immediately, a blue field of energy tries to escape from TRITHAL.
TRITHAL tries to boost his energy while chanting something in the Macha language, trying to keep his Macha symbiont from escaping his body. Kuta rushes over to TRITHAL, withdraws a Red Crystal, and creates a red energy barrier around TRITHAL to contain his fleeing spirit. Kuta also tries his Macha power to get Macha-Rei to remain in TRITHAL, but also has no luck.
With the majority of his own energy focused on maintaining the barrier, Kuta calls out to Danika, "Danika, I need your help!"
Danika hurries over and says, "What do I do?"
Kuta: "Take his hand and talk to him in Kureganese. Tell him to pull back the symbiont."
Danika walks over and takes TRITHAL's left hand, and speaks to him in Kureganese as Kuta instructed. Gradually, the blue energy trying to escape TRITHAL is reabsorbed. Once TRITHAL became conscious again, Kuta instructs him to take the Red Crystal and feed it with his own power. TRITHAL does so, turning the crystal and the barrier purple.
Kuta: "That should keep your symbiont from escaping, but it will also inhibit your wind and spirit powers." (to female dragon) "How close are we to Okremafort?"
female dragon: "Probably a 3-day hike over those mountains... but less than a day via the old underground rail tunnels."
Kuta: "The shoukanjou is becoming stronger. I feel it, too." (to TRITHAL): "Mugen, you'll have to make sure that barrier remains strong, or else your Macha symbiont will escape your body."
TRITHAL (voice muffled by the energy barrier): "No joke! That's way too strong of a pull for it to be a normal shoukanjou! Vankar must be using the third Amplification crystal to boost it or something!"
AXEM (to female dragon): "Tell us about the underground rail tunnels you mentioned. Do they go all the way from here to Okremafort?"
female dragon: "Yes, they do... if they're still intact between here and there. Hundreds of years ago, before the Nengo wars, Okreman Territory was developing into quite a modern society. But, after the wars started, the tunnels were never finished. There might still be some working equipment down there. If you're heading to Okremafort, that might be the fastest way to get there."
AXEM: "Yee! We might have to go check that out as soon as THRAX gets the dragon crystals from beyond the gates!"
By this point, THRAX, Elric, Jarsar, Xaklafor, Veiko and Vash are ready to begin the challenge.
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