The Men of Leng initially got ready for a fight, with some desultory attempts at attacks. The party was more than a match for them, with a summoned Ankylosaurus helping out probably more than a match for the Men of Leng. But as Arradin struck down one of their number, another fled back into the rift and the others plunged their own claws and daggers into their their eye sockets and necks, killing themselves within a few seconds. As their bodies bubbled and frothed into a green muck, the rift behind them closed and the Ankylosaurus leapt… hurtled… ran… plodded through. What adventures he encountered on the other side of the portal to Leng, we’ll never know. The party had time to check out their surroundings, they were in what appeared to have been a garden sunken in a natural gully of the mountain, between two looming structures. Alabaster fountains and benches had survived the millenia of cold abandonment, but the garden itself had not. A pale marble staircase wound up to the main street level, some 50ft above them. The party sneaked forward, up the staircase and into the Rising District’s upper streets. From here they could see the almost untouched opulence of the Rising District’s fabulous buildings. While the lower city had seen seismic destruction and the encroachment of the ice field, the Rising District was a better reflection of the ancient majesty of Xin-Shalast. Also, crawling with Rune Giants. The search parties evidently continued, but only solitary Rune Giants patrolled the Rising District. One, regrettably, passed by the party as they emerged from the curving staircase. Halvard threw himself against a wall and Dagfinn cast an Invisibility Sphere. The next time this spell gets cast I’m going to impose penalties to hide for everyone who picks that moment to either ask what they can do within this sphere. It was all kind of beside the point for that round because the Giant rumbled Halvard, who was not included in the sphere and created his combo electricity-fire cone across the entire huddled party. Ron did some more Matrix shit to get away from it, but it was otherwise a very effective attack.
They made their way towards the Golden Road and the point at which the Golden Road lifted up out of the Rising district and became a sweeping causeway to the higher slopes of the Mhar Massif. At this point, their position was quite precarious, because if they ran out onto the broad Golden Road so close to the city nearly every Giant on the lookout would be able to see them. The light was failing as it was late afternoon and darkness might prove to be of some assistance, but that wouldn’t help them if they were ousted from their hiding place in the meantime. As they kept their eyes peeled for more patrollers, Ron saw a single streak of gold emerge from the Slave district, soar into the sky above and burst in a shower of glittering sparks. A second later, more streaks pierced the sky and the gathering dark was illuminated by scores of golden explosions. Hunting horns sounded from all corners of the city and the party watched in surprise (not the game effect, just the regular kind) as the throngs of Rune Giants in the Rising District turned South and rushed to the Lower City. Someone, somewhere had just bought them a chance at making the ascent without being plasma-coned to death.
