D&D Addendum: Kirtan's Report on the Realm of Fire

My Lord, as we begin the journey back to the Nexus I finally have a moment to sit down and compose my thoughts regarding this realm. To begin, suffice to say that this realm is quite unlike what we imagined.Armed with the knowledge I have gained here, though, I believe that next time we will be prepared.

The Gate deposited our ship in a place of intense, bright light, which turned out to be the middle of the realm's four suns. These four suns seem to be the sole reason for the realm's label as a "realm of fire," as these suns are constantly visible. I was confused by this at first, but it became clear by the end of my journey that this realm is not oriented in the way we expected.

I suspect that this realm is inverted: a hollow planet filled with open air with suns at its core. There is no night here.

We found land by flying our ship through the vast, greenish-blue expanse of nothingness toward "north," though we didn't understand at the time what "north" meant in this realm. The trip from the core to the rim, even in my ship, took several days.

When our plebeian associates left on their own journey to explore this realm, I focused on camouflaging my ship, them set off in the opposite direction. This took me down a cliff, though curiously the cliff was made entirely of wood: massive, thick trees, growing impossibly close together. Even at the bottom there was no evidence of dirt, stone, or any other natural earth. My hypothesis is that the realm, with its constant sunlight and frequent rains, has been entirely overrun by plant life. The rest of the creatures in this realm have adapted to this environment.

While I was exploring on my own, I discovered a massive dragon, quite unlike the dragons of the Realm of Air. The dragons of the Air Realm were brutish, with low intelligence and little strength compared to the dragons of Hell. The dragons in this realm, however... I admit, they frightened me. They seem to possess true cunning, and though they don't seem specifically designed for the torture of our people, as the Hell Dragons, these great, green beasts of the Fire Realm could very well be even more dangerous.

After a month or so away from my ship, I returned with the intention of checking on the status of my plebeian associates. That was when I first encountered a titan, as the plebeians of this realm call them. They were massive humanoids, 60 to over 100 feet tall, yet they moved silently through the forest. It was very difficult to detect them. They had no apparent eyes, only dark, black pits where the eyes should be.

Their strength is incredible, and I was unable to defeat one when it attached me. One very nearly punched through my runic armor, and I was forced to retreat. That was when I grew truly concerned for my plebeian associates.

I had underestimated them, though, my Lord. They proved quite resourceful, and managed to evade the titans long enough for me to meet up with them. All but two, anyway: the elf girl and their pet dog were gone, likely killed by the titans.

A strange old man helped me find them, though it came at a cost of helping some elf, his family, and servants to escape the titans, which were apparently systematically destroying the plebeian civilizations of the realm.

From the area around the north pole we flew toward the heavens, making our way toward a "star" in the sky. It's worth noting that, although the suns were always shining brightly, if you looked into the sky you could still discern other points of light, which the locals refer to as "stars," though knowing what I know now I believe that they are, in fact, Ma'ari strongholds, each and every one of them.

The "star" we followed led to exactly that: a citadel of clearly Ma'ari design. A central tower in the citadel would occasionally emit a beam of intense, bright light, which is what gave the place the appearance of a star from a distance.

This is where I dropped off the local plebeians, much to my relief. As it turns out, the plebeians of this realm are as plebeish as ever: endlessly quarreling over nothing, full of boundless suspicion, yet relying on people with true power to save them when things get rough.

As far as they (and, at the time, I) knew, they were being released on a completely different world, though other than the citadel and the mountain it stood on the place looked very similar to the world they had left. It wasn't until my associates returned from exploring the Citadel that the shape of this world became clear to me.

Some final unanswered questions:

Neither I nor my associates actually saw any Ma'ari with our own eyes, though the Citadel is clearly their architecture. To be honest, the Citadel looked abandoned to me, though my associates insist that Ma'ari dwell within. I wonder...

The titans do not seem like natural creatures. They remind me of a Ma'ari's twisted sense of utility, creating and bending a lifeform to their needs. Still, I can not imagine them creating a creature whose sole purpose seems to be slaughtering people. Where they created by the Ma'ari and, if so, what were they thinking?

This realm seems to generate boundless amounts of energy. I hypothesize that the citadels are not merely strongholds, but also places that gather the energy of the realm. I'm not sure for what purpose, however, as the energy seems to get spent by the citadels when they emit their light. So what, precisely, is the citadels' purpose?

Armed with the knowledge we've obtained, my lord, I trust that you'll solve these mysteries in time. I look forward to exploring the next realm on your behalf.

Your humble servant,
Kirtan