The Lost City of Lhesa

"Perhaps it would be best to not try that inside the city limits? That would be best tried back in the woods, lest something goes wrong or it triggers some sort of defensive magic lingering about." Feanor said calmly.

He had flinched as she had touched it, and had backed away a fair bit as she examined it, his magical abilities were limited utilizing the magical properties of objects, he possessed no ability to defend himself from magical attacks.

Debbie nodded silently and held the orb with both hands, almost as if she was going to throw a softball. She exhaled a deep sigh and squeezed the ball with all her might. A white glow began to occur around her, moving her hair as though she was in water, that let out a low hum as the aura grew in intensity. Sparks shot off her body and the ground around her rumbled. She clenched her teeth and groaned a little. The orb itself began to glow brightly as well, as if the white aura around Debbie was being shifted towards the orb itself. She seemed to be in pain based on the intense look and hostile eyes and the air pressure around the group becoming too much for them to stay near Debbie only compounded that look. After what seemed like five minutes of this, Debbie let out a pained yell and dropped to her knees, panting as the white aura around both her and the ball faded. The shaking stopped, the air returned to its placated state, and her long, red hair fell to her side.

"Okay..." She said between breaths, "I think....it's done..."

Debbie wearily handed the orb to Tavish before sighing and putting her hands on her knees to help her get back to her feet.

Ravven watched as Debbie began channeling energy into the artifact, the young man wearing a slightly concerned expression as he backed up slightly to put more space between himself and the glowing orb. Just as he was about to ask if they needed to give Debbie a hand, she finished what she had been doing with the orb, physically unharmed in appearance from what Ravven could tell. It did seem Debbie’s efforts had paid off, as several runic markings were now visible on the orb.

“Well, I can’t say I expected this to point us back towards the city. Is this some type of artifact that was used to help explorers find their way back to this city? Or perhaps it’s pointing towards something specific that is inside the city.”

If the orb was simply pointing towards Lhesa, Ravven didn’t consider it much of a find. If it was pointing to something specific in Lhesa, however… Well, that could prove to be profitable.

The orb didn’t lead them on a clear path through the streets of the city, of course. It pulled in a straight line, where buildings and monuments, hills and canals blocked the route. The explorers took what detours they thought seemed most likely to carry them on in the right direction, and by that route, always careful to mark the way back, they made their way through the empty city of Lhesa.

At first, Tavish suggested they have a look in the occasional building along the way, but that quickly fell by the wayside as home after home, and business after business was found in the same state of mysterious emptiness. There were no signs of violence, or destruction, or even a hurried exit. There were also no signs of the people that once lived here. It was if one day, every man, woman, and child in Lhesa simply decided to leave, all together, and with only what they had in their pockets at that moment.

The cashboxes in the shops still held their centuries-old coins, and valuables had been left on the shelves to rot away, or to gather nearly a thousand years of dust. They carried out enough to fill their pockets as treasure and artifacts, coins and gems and jewelry, mostly. What could be easily carried on their persons, they carried with them, and everything else, they left behind.

They walked for hours, following the orb through the sprawling city. At noon, they stopped and discussed whether to press on or to go back to the camp, but in the ned, decided to continue. They had to backtrack a few times when they chose the wrong route, or when a shortcut through an old building was blocked by still locked and sturdy doors, or a lack of a back way in the direction they were headed, but the city had been laid out well enough that such problems didn’t arise too often.

The sun was dipping strongly to the west, when the explorers crested a large hill and were greeted by the sight of the most magnificent building yet. Perched in the side of a cliff that towered above much of the city, they could have easily seem it for miles if not for the hill and the narrow streets. A grand marble edifice looked out over the city, gold shining from the pillars and statues that decorated the structure.



Waterfalls flowed down the cliffside next to the edifice, feeding into a large lake at the foot of the building, surrounded by what had once been a magnificent park.

To the south, they could see where several of the canals flowing out of the river flowed down a series of locks and into a sprawling harbor, where the stone docks waited for ships that had never returned.

“I… um…” Tavish stared at the building for several seconds, then stammered out, “I think we have found the location of the temple.”

The remnants of the city brought a tear to Feanor's eyes, the magnificence of the city reminding him of the tales of Mithlonde he heard as a young elf. He could easily imagine the city with same level of preservation that Lhesa had, instead of the dreary arcane ruins that persisted there now.

"Truly...a stunning temple."

Feanor watched the crew with disdain at the cowardly actions of their Captain. Some men apparently only had eyes for themselves, and could not be trusted to look out for others. Opening a temple was not likely to do anything that would endanger the ship before it had a chance to leave.