That Figures

The dense jungle seemed to close in on the worn road like some constricting snake attempting to crush its victim.  The air was thick with the smell of plants and heavy with humidity.  Pockets of mist drifted to and from between the plants that lined the road, moving almost as if they were living creatures.

Between the heat and humidity, every step along the road seemed to be an effort of enormous proportion.  The chirping of insects blended with the roars of distant cats and the cries of a myriad of birds to form an almost hypnotic melody.  The song of the jungle seemed to be doing an excellent job of dragging the heroes down into a slumber.
Suddenly the party found themselves surrounded by a black mist which was sickening.  Baru and Seglun looked around as the mist dissipated and saw a huge tree with a gaping maw facing the party.  When the mist completely cleared Varrid saw Minja laying on the road, her breath shallow.  Seglun advanced immediately to attack the tree.  Baru found himself entangled with a root which pulled him toward the maw.  Arvien cast fire on the tree, which was untouched.  Then she was in the grasp of a root also.  Drovic tried lightning on the monstrosity and found that electricity also did no damage.
Ralom cast prayer on the party and then sped to Minja's side to apply healing.  Baru found himself pulled again toward the tree, and was gnawed upon by the mouth.  Seglun also was pulled toward the tree.  Drovic now had the roots grasp him and start to pull him toward the tree.  Grunyar fired a volley of arrows, these actually caused some damage to the hulking enemy.  Arvien dimension stepped away from the root holding her to a tree branch where she was hopefully hidden from the nightmare tree.
The battle continued with Grunyar continuing to fire volleys, Baru and Seglun attacking with their weapons.  Varrid pulled out her heavy crossbow and reeled the trigger back.  Finally she fired a bolt which also found its mark.  At last the nightmare collapsed on itself and the roots retracted.  Ralom called all around to give everyone some badly needed healing.
The city of Tvashsti was not unlike Pakat.  Its architecture was generally simple, the streets were crowded with people who avoided any manner of contact with the group, the sun bathed them in merciless heat.  The people of Pakat seemed less poor than those in Pakat and were better fed.
After numerous twists and turns, Minja led them out of a narrow alley and into a wide park that seemed to be in the center of the city.  In the middle of the park, surrounded by fountains and flower gardens, a majestic temple rose high into the sky and spread out to dominate the groups vision.
"Behold," said Minja, "the Great University.  Here the priests of Tvashtri, the god of science and technology, pass the days learning all that there is to learn.  If your questions have answers, this is where they can be found.
Minja led her group right to the front door of the university.  Students wandered back and forth engaged in debates of mechanical, philosophical and magical nature.  The fountains danced and splashed with an almost musical rhythm.  All in all, this was quite a paradise.
Baru knocked on the door, which was answered by an elderly man with a shaved head who was dressed in golden robes.  "Welcome to the temple," he said welcomingly.  "What is your business here at the temple?"
Seglun explained that the group wished to get back to their home.  Arvien stepped forward and asked about the lycanthrope they had met in the jungle and showed him the tiger statuette that the woman had carried.  Since the party was here to research he demanded payment before allowing them in.  Varrid whispered to Minja, "What should we offer?"
Minja replied, "Usually a magic item will suffice."
Ralom pulled out a flail that the party had taken from a dead Dark Sister and offered that to the elderly gentleman.  HE accepted the item and ushered the group inside.  "I will find a young student to help you.  By the way where did you retrieve this flail from?"
Ralom explained about the attack in Pakat and also described the scene in the jungle.  "Do you know who the young woman, a Dark Sister, could have been?"
The man replied that the Dark Sisters were a secret cabal who served the evil Kali.  "They are to be feared but you, strangers, certainly seem to have enough power to overcome them."
After several minutes of twisting and turning through austere corridors, he introduced them to a young man named Paqui.  "Paqui will be you assistant and do all that he can to help you," he added as led them into a research room.
Unfortunately, there wasn't too much that Paqui could tell them.  After hours of research and digging through files, he admitted defeat.  Just as those words left his mouth a middle aged man entered.  After a few quick words, the newcomer dismissed Paqui.  He motioned for the party to follow him, but said nothing until they entered his office.
"I am Sidrathi, a member of the university staff.  Where did you get that tiger and what do you plan to do with it?" he demanded.
Arvien stepped forward and explained that all this group wanted was to get back home.  "We have no interest in the statuette itself, unless it can help get us home."
Sidrathi looked relieved and explained, "I found that the silver crossbow bolt, Ravana's Bane had turned up in Tvashsti.  I bought it and studied it for a year, it was created to destroy Arijani.  He probably had been searching the land for it.  Fearing the power that the bolt represented, I tried to destroy it.  When I found that was impossible, I decided to camouflage it.  First, I had it melted down.  When that was done, it was cast in the shape of a tiger.  Finally it was encased in a porcelain shell so that none could see it was made of silver.Recently a young assistant name Tega disappeared along with the statuette."
"Wow, that is quite a tale," scoffed Grunyar, "I don't know if I believe a word of it."
Ralom was more accommodating, "Who is Arijani and what do we have to do with him?"
Sidrathi explained, "Arijani is the lord of Sri Raji.  He is a high priest of Kali who lives in Bahru, the accursed city.  The temple of Kali is his home.  The legend says that strangers may be able to destroy him, if they have Ravana's Bane."
"So we have to go to Bahru and destroy a Lord?" queried Arvien.  "But how given that the bolt is no longer?"
"I can take you to Kopa, the blacksmith, who can reforge Ravana's Bane.  He melted and reshaped it for me, I sure he can reforge it," was Sidrathi's response.
"We'll take it," offered Seglun, looking forward to killing another lord. 
So the party stayed in Sidrathi's office for the night.  In the morning, after Arvien had eaten her fill, the party set off to Kopa's shop.
The blacksmith's shop was similar to those that the party had seen countless times before.  The only thing that made it stand out was the quality of the items displayed for sale.  Without exception, they were among the finest examples of the smiths' craft that they had ever seen.
As the party took in the shop, a hulking figure stepped out of the back room and into the orange glow of the coals.  The blacksmith's features were friendly and detracted from the frightful impression made by his magnificent physique.
When he saw that the group were not native to Sri Raji, he darted nimbly about the room, closed the shutters and drew the curtains.  In a matter of seconds, they were in darkness broken only by the smoldering inferno of the forge.
Kopa wanted compensation for any equipment destroyed in the process.  After some negotiation the party agreed to his demand.  With the door locked and privacy assured, Kopa set about doing what he did best.
Kopa's hammer boomed like thunder as he beat the edge onto the bolt.  Glowing embers flashed about the room with every blow.  After hours, a spent Kopa handed over the newly forged bolt, Ravana's Bane.  The bolt now glowed with magic and wonder.  Varrid looked at her crossbow with newly found desire to wield it well.

DM's Notes:  The party earned 1,000 XP for the night.