An adventuring party recruited from Osirion teleports into Azir on the 8th of Desnus. Rahadoum's recruiting contact in Osirion wrote ahead to note they were expected. Couple of guys he's known a long time - a wizard, a ranger - and a new guy, sorcerer, probably to replace the cleric they usually travel with. They spend two days in Azir getting oriented and head out to the front. The ranger wears an unusually high quality amulet of Nondetection; the sorcerer wears a headband for intelligence, which is a bit unusual as sorcerers usually don't need it to cast, but some variants do; they are otherwise unremarkable. Chaotic Good, Lawful Neutral, no reading, which could mean neutral or 'hiding it'. They work quickly and effectively, manage resources reasonably well, get recommended to higher-ups for a closer look on that account.
(That sounds perfect and Vanyel will take some, he slept terribly, it's fortunate he managed not to project hard enough to wake everyone else with his nightmares.)
They're going to prepare spells for going to Urtho's Tower, in case they get permission to do that.
The shaman explains that he isn't sure they'll find anything useful by Urtho's Tower, there's nothing left but slagged rock, but - he's spoken to one of the spirit warriors and guides, and if Moondance has a feeling this is important, they will honour that.
It's also a four-day ride into the Plains.
Which means two days on Yfandes, but she's the only Companion here.
"Mahdi, could you Teleport there if you had a memory shared by Mindspeech?" he asks. "I assume you have been there," he adds to the shaman. "I guess I could try to do that and Gate, if you want to save your teleports."
"...I guess 'Fandes could stay back," Vanyel offers, with some reluctance. "It'll be a bit uncomfortable, but she's a lot of weight and I don't think Mahdi should exhaust himself with teleports. Or I could try to Gate first and see if that works, that isn't per-person."
"Or I could Teleport you there and then you can open a Gate for everyone else, if that's easier."
"Oh! That's a good idea, I can definitely do that. I've just never tried Gating from someone else's memories I got via Mindspeech, I bet Leareth could do it but I'm a lot worse at Gates than he is."
So Mahdi can Teleport Vanyel and Fazil and Hagan there and then Vanyel can open a Gate for everyone else.
Vanyel does so; conveniently, there's a well and small hut over it nearish to where they've teleported, which he can use as a doorway and avoid the need to strain his Gating abilities by doing it Leareth's way and casting it on thin air.
Above ground is a silvery, melted-looking stub of what must have once been Urtho's Tower. It's enormous.
Belowground is lots of melted rock, some of it with remaining crushed structures, fragments of stone walls and doorways and marble floor - and then, below that, many hundreds of feet but well under a mile deep, is a staircase which seems intact, at least past the point where the stone itself melted and sagged onto itself, sealing it utterly from the surface. The stairs lead down, deeper into the bedrock. There's a door.
He can't seem to get further than that, though. There's a blind spot around the whole area.
"- yep, there's something down there. Might be out of Dimension Door range but it's close, if so."
If Hagan can point the exact bearing, Vanyel can try to Farsee it too and get a sense of distance. "...Hmm. Maybe seven hundred feet down? From over directly above it, though, not here, I assume we want to be as close as possible."
Then he'll head down with just Vanyel and Hagan and Fazil, aiming for just above the spot where Hagan can't sense more.
Vanyel give them a mage-light. "Well. Nothing exploded. Area ahead has magical shielding that's damaged but partly intact, that must be what blocked you."
He studies the shielding, double-checking that it is in fact just that and not some sort of trap that will explode when they open the door. And then shields both of them and opens the door, just in case he's wrong.
Nothing explodes. There's also no fragile explode-y magic on the other side, so he uses the doorway for a Gate to bring the others down.