The party was smuggled out of Sa-Hareth in the caravan of the merchant Mazyar, who braved the Stairs of Sighs canyon as a shortcut to Taravast. The Stairs were curse-bound to only open for the yearly pilgrimage of Lord Arha's ghost army, which sought to rescue the sorceress Hatisse from Taravast. As characters traversed the canyon, they began to unravel the witch's curse: a haunting love song, rains of blood, and tar-winged harpies built around the remains of the army, throwing down bone. All these tricks of sorcery aimed to remind Arha of his demise and rest his spirit peacefully — an indelicate attempt to reveal his fate had led to the slaughter of another caravan's members.
Allison Hargreeves led a group into the harpies' lair, sending the creatures in a fit of violence that saw them attack an incoming horsecar and nearly kill further newcomers. The spree also opened up the cliff-burrowed temple holding multiple tombs of the ghost soldiers, allowing a team to infiltrate and cleanse Arha's bones — while, in the outside world, several characters disguised Bai Mingyu as Hatisse to distract the dead warlord and bide the tomb raiders their time. The story of Hatisse's betrayal of Lord Arha, who could not bear her scorn, surfaced. In the end, Lord Arha and his army were appeased and sent off, although Wei Wuxian and Lily Evans still seek to give final justice to the spirits of their victims. The witch's curse has dispersed. The Stairs of Sighs passage is now freely open for travel.
INTERLUDE: STAIRS OF SIGHS
The party was smuggled out of Sa-Hareth in the caravan of the merchant Mazyar, who braved the Stairs of Sighs canyon as a shortcut to Taravast. The Stairs were curse-bound to only open for the yearly pilgrimage of Lord Arha's ghost army, which sought to rescue the sorceress Hatisse from Taravast. As characters traversed the canyon, they began to unravel the witch's curse: a haunting love song, rains of blood, and tar-winged harpies built around the remains of the army, throwing down bone. All these tricks of sorcery aimed to remind Arha of his demise and rest his spirit peacefully — an indelicate attempt to reveal his fate had led to the slaughter of another caravan's members.
Allison Hargreeves led a group into the harpies' lair, sending the creatures in a fit of violence that saw them attack an incoming horsecar and nearly kill further newcomers. The spree also opened up the cliff-burrowed temple holding multiple tombs of the ghost soldiers, allowing a team to infiltrate and cleanse Arha's bones — while, in the outside world, several characters disguised Bai Mingyu as Hatisse to distract the dead warlord and bide the tomb raiders their time. The story of Hatisse's betrayal of Lord Arha, who could not bear her scorn, surfaced. In the end, Lord Arha and his army were appeased and sent off, although Wei Wuxian and Lily Evans still seek to give final justice to the spirits of their victims. The witch's curse has dispersed. The Stairs of Sighs passage is now freely open for travel.