Molikai/ADeadlyWorkshop

In an enclosed valley not fifty miles from Chiaroscuro, Tepeth of the Forge's last resting place lies untouched, the defences awry. The final resting place, yes, but not a true place of rest: powerful ghosts haunt the region, and it is best left untouched unless you are truly confident in your ability.

The Initial Approach

The initial approach is through the usual soft, low grasses and plains on the southern coast: The first indication of the manse, then, is the towering cliffs of Sandstone that define it. The area has bneen extensively reshaped, and unless a character is capable of climbing of leaping 300' up a sheer cliff face, the only way in is through the valley mouth: A pass perhaps fifteen metres across, marked by a low wall. There is also a stone sign, in Old Realm - see Aspect book: Earth, page 66, to left column.
The wall stretches from cliff face to cliff face, Approximatly 3' high: Of Plain marble, it is quite distinct, and closer examination will reveal Fine traceries of Orichalcum and jade throughout it. This Wall reinforces a ward Vs.. well, pretty much everything: I reccomend at least strength 6, so essence 3 exalts will be able to climb through without too much difficulty, and exalts of higher essence won't even notice it: Their followers and assorted minions, however, will almost certainly be trapped outside. The wall reinforces and supports the ward, and thus said ward can only be removed by destroying the wall: and the ward is projected slightly in front of the wall, so that it can only be touched directly by those it does not affect. On the other side of the wall can be seen the geomantic sigils that anyone trained in occult should be able to recognise as what supports the ward.
The valley itself is deep, plunging away below them, full of rich red earth: Little to no plant life, however. There are six identical, wide hills rising out of the floor: Identical, to the extent that the fact that this valley has been extensively reshaped is obvious to anyone. All large enough to build a small castle on top: The place is baked in the sun, and is breathtaking in it's august severity, the Way the Sun is the predominant force within.
The problems will begin as they start to progress across the valley: At random intervals in increasing frequency, The ground will shift and twist. Pits might open up at their feet, sharp shards of stone at the bottom resulting in a nasty, lethal fall(A drop of 20 feet onto jagged stones, inflicting 4L unless they succed an a Dexterity+athletics roll, difficulty 4, to dice or jump away): Those truly unfortunate might have the stones in the walls as well, moving as if in a whirlwind, turning the pit into some form of shredding machine (As above, save that every turn they remain within the pit, they must make a stamina+resistance roll, difficulty 3: Success, 1 level of lethal damage: Failiure, 3 levels of lethal damage), or merely caving in on top of them (Innflicting an additional 5B, and resulting in suffocation until they manage to dig themselves free: A co-operative effort, difficulty of which I leave to the drama of the situation.). It might rise up under their feet at a truly prodigious rate, getting narrower and harder to stay on, ultimatly resulting in arather painful fall (Climbing by 10 feet every turn, requiring a dexterity+athletics roll at an initial difficulty of 1: every subsequent turn, it climbs another 10 feet, the column becomes narrower, and the difficulty to remain on the peak increases by 2: after 5 turns total climbing, it will be 50 feet in the air, and the difficulty wil lbe 7: the tower will disintegrate on the following turn, resulting in an automating fall. Should they actually hit the ground, The jagged shards of stone will make the falling damage lethal.): there might be mild tremors, resulting in temporary quicksand that drags at the feet and traps those who stumble (submerged in 'liquid' rock up to knees, like thick mud: increase difficulty of all physica lactions by +2, and require a dexterity+Athletics roll every turn in which they wish to move: If they fail, the ground will immediatly start to solidify: Treat it as a clinch upon those who fell scoring 8 successes every turn, clinching to damage the character with an effective strength of 4.). Stones might even rise out of the ground, and move at a prodigious rate to shred the feet (Increase difficulty of physical actions by 1, require a dexterity+athletics roll should they try to move: Failure inflicts 2 dice of lethal damage.)- or those whom are already trapped (2 dice of lethal damage to anyone whom is in an earth 'clinch'.). These effects may combine, and each last as long as you feel they maliciously should.
In short, the ground is out to get them. Those with some way of tracking essence flows will, if they are diligent, be able to trace these disturbances to an artifact buried in the valley floor: Should they manage to unearth it - it is over ten feet deep, and the effects will be strongest and most frequent that close - and destroy it, or otherwise shut it down, then the disturbances will stop. It has the appearance of a sphere of White jade, bedecked with geomantic sigils: rods of various colours pass through it. Discerning the operation of the device is a difficulty 3 extended action requiring 10 successes, with duration per roll of 1 turn: Because, of course, the device will be fighting the whole time. How exactly they turn it off, I leave up to you: My own suggestion is that the rods are crystaline samples of the earth of the area, and if removed in the correct order, send the device into quiescence.
That leaves the problem of finding the Manse. It should be obvious that it is upon one of the hills: Which one is the interesting question. Climbing any of them will find naught but an empty surface, bereft of structure: Those who are particularly observant, or better yet who stunt, will sooner or later that there is only one hill where the disturbances in the earth do not happen: Only one hiill where, should they approach it, they find themselves climbing a different hill. They might discover this through observation of the attacks, through each climbing a different hill, or marking them in some way. This being an oddity, the wise might recognise this as a form of first age cloaking device: A highly sophisticated one, at that. Any attempts to walk directly at the hill where the manse is will fail: they will find themselves turning onto a different surface. Either a perfect awareness charm, such as 'Eye of the Unconquered Sun', or a suitably ingenious stunt, Will enable them to ascend the correct mound: Once upon it, they will be safe from the earth attacks, and finally be able to see the manse.

The Approach through the Underworld

Should the party approach the valley in the underworld, Things will be broadly similar: The valley will be much the same, devoid of Manses, and the same bare stone: The ward will also be present. There are a few key differences, however.
Firstly, While the ward is present, the wall and warning sign are not: So the ward has no obvious source. Furthermore, once within, while there are no disturbances of the earth, and the Mound upon which the Manse sits can be climbed with no difficulty, There is no obvious way to tell upon which mound the Manse is placed: Upon climbing it, However, Anyone there will be ambushed by the Hungry Guardians. Furthermore, any attempts to enter creation from the underworld, made atop the hill upon which the manse sits, will be countermagicked by the equivelant level of countermagic - unless the transition spell was of the Void circle. In other words, There will be the usual Nasty Side effects, and the effect will fiul. Anyone wanting to enter creation within the valley will be forced to move onto the valley floor before they may do so - of course, it does make for a fast way of finding the right hill.

The Outer Garden

The first sight of the Manse is as stunning as it is rewarding: Towering walls of white marble, reaching 20 feet into the sky,, carved with images of the Unconquered sun and his servants, forging and fighting: Most numerous of the images are that of gigantic clockwork dragons, ravaging armies of fair folk and demons, and other entities anathema to creation. Most delightful of all, of course, is the towering gate. Imperishible, a colossal steel structure inlaid with a gold image of the Unconquered Sun: The image is in the centre of the double-gate.
Even more interesting, is that the gate hangs slightly ajar. Anyone could just walk in...