A series of attacks around town has the locals on edge. Our heroes, found at the tavern, investigate screams from the edge of the forest. Mashito, Titanius, Arabal, and Gunther rescue a maiden but a man is dead. The killer is a vaguely humanoid shadow, though it’s tangible enough to receive blows until it is dispelled.
Fern the wolf alerts them to a circle of glowing red runes on the forest floor. These runes have burned an inscription in the ground. Back at the pub, Master Wǎnzhéng introduces the adventurers to Okoe Ndudi, an elderly man wearing the three-star emblem of the venerable star-sages of Bekembe.
Sage Ndudi explains the problem and the proposed solution: the runes indicate another portal allowing void astra servitors entry to our world from cracks in the night sky. Where one of the stars should be in space, is a giant object, a dangerous frozen asteroid, or perhaps a mindless god, named Atoep. An earlier expedition of star-sages was mounted to Atoep, but communications were cut off shortly after they arrived by sky ship. The party must travel to Atoep, ignite three nodes of underground humors on fire to conflagrate the entire object, and escape before all of Atoep explodes into a new star. There is no proper reward for saving the world, but Ndudi can provide information and equipment they will need to complete their mission.
The PCs do a bit of shopping around town. Mashito finds Thestil and buys two leather bags of alchemically-produced epoxy resins that will combust when combined. Arabal purchases some flammable sticky pitch for his arrow tips. Gunther and Titanius each take a sturdy cast-iron oil lamp made by the blacksmith Lazarus. Titanius purchases a two-handed broadsword. Amongst the cold-weather clothing they take, Gunther receives a knit scarf from Bekembe, intricately woven with patterns of the star-sages. He also carries a sketch of the portal runes.
Ndudi provides a simple map of the exterior surface of Atoep, showing the location of the three excrescences, volcano-like openings inside of each they will find a chamber of vital humors to set ablaze. He explains that they can use a portal to get to Atoep, but returning won’t be easy. If they set all three nodes alight, they’ll have about an hour to escape before Atoep is completely engulfed. There are many portals and they shift from night to night based on star positions; the sages have worked some calculations, but using the wrong one at the wrong time could take a traveler halfway around the world, or someplace unknown, or… elsewhere. The party also carries their weapons and armor (of course), some flint, rope, cooking oil, and adventuring gear.
Thus equipped, they step into the designated portal the next morning. Leaving the glowing red circle of runes in our world, they are transported to a portal chamber inside Atoep. Fern did not follow Arabal through, but he maintains his supernatural connection with his companion animal many miles distant. The many glowing red portals on the floor provide a decent light by which to see in this room. The walls are a slightly rubbery yet slightly rocky misshapen surface, like inside a cavern. The PCs dispatch two more void astra servitae who arrived by portal. During the conflict, the straps of Gunther’s shield break, and he decides to leave it behind. Mashito tests the surface of a glowing runic floor pattern with his utility knife – it disappears, presumably through a portal to another place, possibly on our world.
There is only one exit from the chamber (aside from the runic floor portals). Not a door per se, but an opening in a thick, leathery membrane. Mashito steps into the passageway and plunges his sword into the wall. The membrane “door” seals shut. Gunther, Arabal, and Titanius are in the portal chamber; Mashito is alone in the corridor. Pores open in the walls, floor, and ceiling of the corridor, and small crab-like creatures start to come out.