The Gate Pass Irregulars: A War of the Burning Sky Campaign

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Thus fell Vorax Hul, red dragon and Champion of the Ragesian army!

We all looked down for some moments, unbelieving and wary, making sure that no other monstrosities were going to attack us. We did not want to be taken by surprise by some new version of Vorax Hul that had risen, like a phoenix out of the ashes.

Rather desultorily, I was looking at the dragon’s treasure but that was now a molten slag of mixed metal; all of the coins were in the path of several of his breaths. Felix, John and Drudge were also moving around healing everyone; all of us were hurt by something or other.

Victor was asking:

“Sorry, in the excitement, I have forgotten. What is our next course of action?”

Picking one or two coins up, I replied:

“We have to repair the bell and then ring it; this will signal the population that the dragon is dead and that they should get ready to rise up against the Ragesian oppressors. Rantle gave me a scroll with which to repair the bell; I shall go and do so immediately.”

Victor nodded:

“The Ragesians will be all over this tower in moments; they will have seen the dragon fall and realise that things have gone very wrong. We have to leave now!”

I hurried to the cupola and began casting the spell. The bell needed the magic to be repaired but that was achieved fairly quickly; I was then joined by Longhelim, who took out the Torch and muttered something. I saw the Torch shimmer and change form from an axe to a mace. He hit the bell, producing a deep sound; he did this several times and then he stopped. As the bell faded, we could hear faint cheering in the distance.

We both hurried to the treasure room. We saw that Drudge, John, Victor and Felix had gathered the adamantite glaive heads which had belonged to the gargoyles. Then Felix said:

“I have one transport spell left; do we want to transport ourselves back to the manor?”

Longhelim nodded and moments later, we were in the same room with Rantle and his group, who had managed to destroy the white column. He raised his eyebrows at us and Longhelim answered:

“It’s done!”

The rogue grinned and then said:

“Excellent! Never doubted you for a moment! Now we had better get back to head quarters. The Ragesians will have squadrons of wyvern riders here in moments. Follow me!”

With that, he began to weave his way through the alleys and ruined buildings, stopping every so often to watch for activity and motioning us to hide. We were not very good but we must have been sought by the weaker set of Ragesian forces because we were able to extricate ourselves from the district fairly quickly. Rantle led us through more of the city and I cringed inside at the destruction; massive battles must have taken place here. Thousands of people died; I already knew that but seeing the devastation personally brought it all home; literally and metaphorically!

Finally, we skulked to the meeting place designated by the Resistance; we had been there before; it was the church where we had sought shelter after the initial, devastating assault by the Ragesians. We had spent the night there before going to Erdin Menash’s house and ultimately leaving Gate Pass.

So much had happened to us and the city since then!

As soon as we entered into the church, we could see commotion; something was happening as people were running around, some of them disappearing depths below the building and others running out of the church itself; they looked like messengers.

Rantle took us to the basement through a maze of tunnels. Once there, we met the other two members of the triumvirate which made up the leadership of the Resistance: Erdin Menash, councilor and merchant and Diogenes the wizard of Gabal’s School. The former looked careworn and old; he had been a rotund jolly man with a flamboyant taste in colour and clothes; he had shed most of that rotundity and his clothes were sober; I suspected that it was not wise to draw attention to one self with brash clothes with the Ragesians stalking the streets. Diogenes was still as sardonic as ever but there was a more pronounced bitter cast to his face as he moved with the aid of two crutches.

Menash was the first to speak:

“Oh, well done! Well done! You really did it! I so hoped you would! Tell me, did my gifts from the past help you? That dragon cast such a bane on our lives. Now that it’s gone, we’ll kick those Ragesians out of the city for sure!”

Diogenes interrupted at this point:

“What my enthusiastic friend is saying is that we now have at least a chance of defeating the Ragesians; it’s a small chance but at least there is one; especially with the help of your army from Seaquen. How many did you bring, by the way?”

Longhelim replied:

“It was about three thousand in the time allowed by the spell. There were no instructions as to how many we should bring, as I recall, so we brought as many as we could.”

There was a silence at this and then Rantle continued after this news:

“We have about five thousand warriors capable of fighting in the city; these are now willing to come out and face the Ragesian army now that the dragon is gone; we also have three thousand of your men who I hope are on their way; finally, there is also an army of Shahalesti nearby.”

Then Diogenes took over the conversation again:

“The Ragesians have also several devils, monstrous allies and wyverns at their disposal. These are the jokers in the pack as their powers are unpredictable and mysterious.”

Then Erdan began talking again:

“The forces are under the command of General Danava, a noble man; we believe that he is being controlled by Ragesia but the level of his loyalty to Leska is unknown. There is a possibility that if you manage to reach him, then a negotiation could be initiated. Unfortunately, more recently, another Ragesian commander has arrived, a brute by the name of Legate Kolvus; he is particularly cruel and sends his soldiers into the city to “search for rebels” as he calls it. I don’t think I need to draw you a picture so what these searches are like. This man has to be dealt with before any sort of negotiation can be initiated; too many people have suffered his depredations and an accommodation with the Ragesians would be impossible to reach should he be still in the city.”

Rantle then motioned us to a large scroll, which he unrolled. It was a detailed map of the city:

“The plan is for the population to rise against the garrisons in the districts, here, here, here……”

He was pointing to the eight districts in the eastern part of the city.

Rantle continued:

“There are two thousand Ragesians here; therefore they are vulnerable to our five thousand. The bulk of the Ragesian army, eight thousand men, is concentrated here, in the Western section of the city. As soon as they population rises, they will start screaming for reinforcements; I plan to station you here.”

Rantle pointed at one section of the map. It showed the Emelk Way, the main road running through the city:

“You and the combat trained troops are to prevent the reinforcements from the Ragesians reaching their garrisons. We don’t need them stopped, just slowed down. This will give the troops from Seaquen time to assault the Ragesians from the West and then we will catch them from both sides. You specifically should be here.”

He pointed to a gate between the seventh and eighth districts.

“Then he added. Oh, and if you do see the Shahalesti, please try to convince them to join on our side. I met the Princess, you know. She is a fine lady and is genuinely concerned about the city. I’m sure she would aid you in seeking an audience with Shaaladel.”

Erdan continued at this point:

“Yes, yes, but the most important thing is to contact General Danava; he is the key. If we can get him to declare a cease fire and begin peace talks then we’re almost home; but…..you must get rid of Legate Kolvus; oh, Danava will be heavily protected as well; it wouldn’t surprise me if that Kolvus had some of his agents “protecting” Danava.

Oh, one other thing. We know that there is an underground jail manned by the Ragesians; it’s full of political prisoners. It is imperative that you locate it and free them. The city must have a political structure when the Ragesians leave.”

After he finished, Erdan beamed at us and walked over to a wardrobe, which he opened:

“Like last time, I can offer some gifts.”

He began taking out various items, handing them out to us:

There was a set of armour with spikes painted a virulent green, a ring, a book, a phylactery, a rod and a small statuette of an animal with a long trunk. He explained the uses of all of these and looked at us expectantly.

Longhelim thanked him effusively on behalf of all us and Victor was eyeing the armour, fingering the straps and looking as if he wanted to try it on. Erdan looked at him with enthusiasm.

Longhelim stood and looked at the Resistance leadership.

“Gentlemen, we thank you for the briefing, the plan and these gifts. Now, if you don’t mind, we would like to retire and rest. Tomorrow will be a busy day. May we all triumph on the morrow!”

We were taken to a small set of side rooms where we were left to retire for the night. As soon as our guide left, Longhelim motioned us into one room.

Once we were there, he closed the door and spoke quietly:

“Right, we have the gist of what is going on here. Victor, you’re the soldier; what are your thoughts on this? Do we stand a chance at all? The numbers don’t add up to me.”

Victor sat down:

“As I see it, there are two distinct agendas here: one is purely military. Rantle has certainly got a good grasp of the numbers, the tactics and what he is hoping to achieve. He also must be very aware that the numbers don’t add up, unless…….you factor in the Shahalesti. We have dealt with them before; we know what they are capable of, what they have done and what they want to do in the future; they are only slightly preferable to the Ragesians but in this case, they may be the only hope we have. The only advantage we have is that there is a Ragesian army rampaging in Northern Shahalesti. If Gate Pass is free of Ragesians, it will free them up to shore up the defences of their own homeland.

The other agenda is political; this one is far more nebulous. If we get to this General Danava, we should try to talk to him? I am not sure just what is going on here or why Menash wants this; there is so much that is unknown here that it just too vague. If this General is not very loyal, how did he get the command of a whole army; why did they give it to him? Ragesia has plenty of generals. In fact, how would we even meet him? He will be in his command post, directing his troops. We will be preventing Ragesian reinforcements from advancing East. We may have some success blocking them for a brief period of time but that is the sort of problem, a general, especially a commanding one, delegates; especially if there is a Shahalesti army lurking nearby; that will be his greatest concern.

As for this jail…….

I will add one thing: all of these plans and ideas are all very well but we all know what happens to them once they meet the enemy.”

John spoke at this point:

“I have never heard of an underground jail in the city but there are plenty of places that could take the place of one.”

I also wanted to make a point:

“There is nothing we can do but we have to be prepared for the fact that the plans or aspects of the plan are already compromised. As we know, the Ragesians are very skilled in placing agents, assassins and traitors within the ranks of their enemies; and I am concerned about the devils. We don’t know what sort of power they command but a devil or squad of devils could appear anywhere in the city to perform a surgical strike; even here, tonight, if they need to. We should definitely keep a watch, no matter where we are; and sleep in the same room.”

Longhelim took a puff of his pipe:

“Good points all; so as usual, we asses the situation and do it our own way, right?”

We all concurred with that.

The next morning, we woke up and had a long discussion about the sort of magic and defences we would require for our mission. We were very aware that the Ragesians would not only have skilled foot soldiers and archers but also various more exotic allies; devils had already been mentioned and wyverns and their knights were ubiquitous but there were also likely to be trolls, ettins and maybe even giants; as well as Inquisitors of course; many, many Inquisitors.

It was with these considerations in mind that we picked our spells, after much discussion and consultation between all of us. Then we cast those which would last a long time before finally leaving our room and approaching Diogenes and the others.

We were led to another room by a harassed boy. He was running everywhere and saying excitedly:

“The uprising! It’s about to begin!”

Once we were in the room with Rantle and Diogenes, the former spread out a map and began pointing:

“This the Gate we would like you to defend; if we can slow down the Ragesian reinforcements coming through here, we will be able to bring up your army and attack them from two fronts once we overwhelm the garrisons in the East of the city; and as we mentioned previously, if you manage to convince to Shahalesti to fight on our side…….

So, most of the buildings are stone, and only a couple of stories but there are several towers which are much higher; we have men stationed here, here and here; in addition…..”

Rantle went on to point out various defensive features and positions which he had established among the buildings just in front of the Gate. It was impressive; there may have been a little more to him than just being a popinjay. As I watched, he then began to describe the wall and the Tower; I was not paying that much attention; I had grown up in the city and knew that wall and Gate like the back of my hand.

“So, the wall is about forty feet tall, with a walkway on its top, defended by crenellations; the Gate and the Gatehouse itself are another matter; the Gate is made of wood while the gatehouse is fortified with stone, with murder holes in the floor; we have prepared a nasty surprise for the enemy……”

Again, Rantle went into a detailed and impressive description of the wall and Gatehouse as well as its defensive qualities. I paid more attention to those as we would be relying on them very soon. A little while later, Rantle stopped and said:

“Any questions?”

Of course, both Victor and Longhelim had several questions, which Rantle answered to their satisfaction and finally we were ready to go.

Just as we turned to go, Rantle called out to us:

“I will be joining you at the Gate.”

We arrived at the Gate shortly after sunrise; we made our way to the pathway on wall and waited; soon there was shouting and noise of battle from the Eastern side of the city; the garrisons were being attacked; or so we hoped!

We tensed and waited for the Ragesians to react; and waited and waited and waited…….

At one point during this period, I saw figure down on the ground, directing a group of soldiers; he looked vaguely familiar; I sharpened my attention and looked at him closer:

“Longhelim, that figure on the ground; the one in plate armour; does he look familiar to you?”

The paladin had been looking somewhere else but when he glanced at the ground, he just shook his head:

“No. I don’t think I have seen him before.”

I looked at him a little longer and then I remembered:

“Yes, we do know him; do you remember the last time we were in Gate Pass? We had all just met Torrent in the Poison Apple; we were attacked by a bunch of maniacs with armbands with a black horse’s head on them; and he was the one in charge. I remember it distinctly now.”

I turned around to Rantle, who was close by:

“Rantle, that figure down there; who is he?”

“Oh, that’s Kathor Danava.”

My attention sharpened even further:

“Danava? Any relation?”

“Son, I believe; but before you ask; they have been estranged for years; he used to be an officer in the Ragesian army himself. He has not been in touch with his father for years. He also believes strongly that the Ragesian invasion of the city is unjust.”

I nodded; there was very little I could do about this now but I certainly found it very interesting that the estranged son of the commanding officer of the Ragesian army was serving in the ranks of the of his father’s enemies; and there had been several strong indicators that General Danava was not as committed to the Empress as he could be. Still, that was for another time.

Some time later, Longhelim said:

“We should put some more of our spells on; we won’t know when the Ragesians will come and we may not have the time to do it once they attack. They could strike us with the devils and follow up with conventional forces.”

So we all put up another set of spells, which lasted a few hours but certainly not the whole day; and then we waited again……

It was very tense; we had no idea what was happening in the East but the Ragesians certainly did not seem to be in any hurry to reinforce their garrisons. Then suddenly, we saw a figure running across their rooftops towards us, waving his arms and shouting.

I couldn’t make out what he was saying but Victor could; he still had his magical earring which allowed him to seemingly pluck words from the winds at great distances; it was a gift from Pilus, Master of the East Wind:

“He’s shouting something about wraiths; about turning one but not before it slew two of his friends; they could be wraiths themselves now.”

Longhelim turned to Felix:

“Wraiths are of that type of undead; if you are slain by one, then you will become an undead as well. How long does it take, do you know?”

The pries shrugged his shoulders and replied:

“I don’t know but do you want to take the risk? If we leave it too long then we could be fighting an army of wraiths coming through the walls and floors. We need to go out there and deal with it.”
So several flying spells were cast as well as the spell that allowed individuals to walk on air as if it was solid earth and then we sped out from the wall, shouting at Rantle:

“We’re going to deal with the wraiths.”

As John, Drudge, Felix and Longhelim were flying, they managed to move far ahead of Victor and I; Victor was walking and he was carrying me. Most of my flying spells had gone on other people. As the others outdistanced me, I saw that Felix, John and Longhelim begin a systematic search of the houses which had contained our patrols; as Victor was approaching, suddenly, Felix brandished his holy symbol and thrust it forward into a window. Then he stepped back and shouted:

“That’s the two weaker ones gone!”

The search continued; Victor and I had almost arrived when John shouted:

“Here’s the other one,” as he brandished his own holy symbol.

Unfortunately, the rogue stumbled back, calling:

“Felix! Help!”

The priest strode forward and waved his own symbol almost negligently. I assumed by the lack of consternation that this wraith was gone as well; by this point, we had all met and were just deciding how to continue.

John said:

“We should go on; see if the Ragesians are following up!”

Longhelim just smile and replied:

“John, can you not spot a distraction when you see one. They threw that wraith in to draw us out. We need to get back to the Gate as quickly as possible; and don’t be surprised if there is an attack going on when we return!”

Thus warned, we made our way back to the Gatehouse with a certain amount of caution, only to find that all was quiet; I was a little surprised and puzzled but quite grateful nonetheless; as Longhelim had intimated, I was fully expecting to arrive into a fully fledged battle with devils.

So, we pulled back our allies who had been positioned as advance elements and stationed them back on top of the Gate. After this attack, we became fully aware that these advance elements were little better than fodder for the Ragesians; they would be far more effective as bulwarks in the defence.

So, we waited for a little time and then Victor suddenly said:

“I hear something! Tramping boots! They’re on their way!”

We passed the word to the others and strained our eyes in the western direction of the road. Finally, we saw a phalanx of Ragesian troops; it was roughly a quarter of a century, arrayed in perfect marching order with an officer commanding from the rear, accompanied by a masked Inquisitor. They were armed with swords, bows and wore full plate armour. They looked a formidable force indeed. They were still very far away but marching in perfect step; suddenly our orders to withdraw our advance elements became a very good idea; there was no way that the Gate Pass militia could stand against these disciplined, professional troops.

As I was watching and evaluating them, I could hear Rantle rattling on in the background; I wasn’t really paying any attention to what he was saying, but there were several cheers at various points in his oration so he must have been saying something right.

As I studied the advancing location, something struck me and I edged closer to Longhelim on top of the wall:

“Their discipline and formation are both their strength and weakness; I have a spell that I can cast from here that could hurt that phalanx badly, if not actually destroy it; what do you reckon?”

The paladin replied immediately:

“Our instructions are to delay them; we’re not expected to stop them so the more you can disable here the less more troops they will have to deploy in this area and the longer it will take them; also, sooner or later, those devils will arrive and we will have our hands full so do it!”

Longhelim was right. I cast my spell, disguising it from the Inquisitor, even though he was too far away to counter my magic; it was spectacularly successful. My calculation was correct and I was able to aim my spell in such a way it wiped out all but seven of the phalanx. As soon as I finished, Drudge finished three more of the soldiers with deadly accurate arrow volleys. The final four ran towards the Gate.

However, as soon we had dealt with one phalanx, another appeared. I looked at Longhelim with a question and he nodded. So I cast the same devastating spell again; I had two of them. The results mirrored my first casting except that this time, Drudge only had one target at which to aim. Having dealt with him, he switched aim to the remaining soldiers from the first phalanx.

So, that was the first two phalanxes finished, but another appeared; unfortunately, those were my two most powerful spells. I saw that the Inquisitor from the third phalanx drew a scroll and cast it at us; a ball of fire seared its way through our ranks. It was not powerful enough to penetrate our defences but it played havoc among the Gate Pass defenders so we called on them to spread and hide in the houses behind the Gate. At this point, I threw my own ball of fire at the phalanx; mine was a little more powerful and again, much of their formation was devastated. Drudge followed up with his own volleys, mopping up.

Another formation appeared; it seemed as if the Ragesian commander was determined to bull his way through the gate. This time I cast a spells which resembled an area which contained an icy storm. This did not actually hurt the soldiers but it did play havoc with their formation as they slipped and slid within the spell. Drudge began to pick out the Inquisitors and officers of the formation by this point; as this latest phalanx was struggling, another appeared behind them and rapidly reached my spell. They did not enter but unlimbered their bows; quickly and expertly they strung, loaded, aimed and loosed. A cloud of arrows flew in our direction; the sheer volume of shafts was such that it was impossible to avoid them and I was a little hurt by a few of them although most of them bounced off my defences.

Thankfully, Felix healed me and then John shouted:

“I can put a spell above us; it will deflect the arrows.”

Then he looked abashed:

“No, that won’t work. I can only put it in front of us.”

Felix then said:

“I can put a stone wall shaped like a roof above us; it will give some protection.”

“Do it!” barked Longhelim.

I saw that both he and Victor were assessing the approaching enemy. Then Victor suddenly said:

“Longhelim! Bows!”

I watched as the warriors drew their own bows from their equipment. I had never seen either of them use bows but they obviously had some familiarity with them. As the Ragesian soldiers emerged from the stormy spell, more followed, giving both Longhelim and Victor plenty of targets. They did not have Drudge’s expertise but they proved surprising adept with their bows; especially Victor.

As I saw more phalanxes appear in the distance, I decided that it was time to deploy another weapon in our arsenal.

I shouted:

“Drudge, do you want to be invisible. It’ll give you a lot more flexibility!”

The ranger just nodded as he was concentrating on his aim and I moved towards him as he fired another volley; it was not necessary for me to check but I was sure that somewhere in the distance, another Inquisitor had fallen. I cast my spell at the ranger and suddenly he was not there.

Then I moved back to the my position to see that my previous spell was exhausted so I did something else to slow down the Ragesian; a viscous acidic cloud enveloped the closest newest phalanx to us stopped it in its tracks. They were not exactly trapped but they would be moving very slowly and more importantly, the other formations would be blocked behind them.

That meant that the other formations began to mass fire their bows at us; thankfully, Felix’s stone wall defence worked very well and most of their arrows bounced harmlessly off it. I hoped that Drudge was all right; he may have been invisible but when the enemy was firing in such numbers, the spell did not always make much difference; they were going purely for saturation of an area without aiming at any particular target.

Still judging by the rate at which Inquisitors and officers were falling in the distance, Drudge was alive and well.

For the time being, the situation continued in this vein. The group of Ragesians trapped within my cloud waded through while behind them a veritable mass of other squads began piling up; and they left themselves open to Drudge’s deadly archery. Some of them decided to try to get to the gates through the side streets but there, they were met by the members of the Gate Pass militia; when the Ragesian squads were not in formation, they became individual warriors; still very dangerous but much less formidable; judging by the lack of Ragesians arriving through these side streets, Rantle and his men were having substantial success.

Longhelim and Victor were firing at the troops closest to them, just beyond my cloud. Finally, a few of the warriors burst through it and began running towards the gate.

It was a massacre! They were already weakened from the acid in the cloud; the two warriors used their bows and although they could not compete with Drudge they were still quite formidable and Ragesian warriors began falling.

Every so often, the troops at the back loosed their bows at us but again, it was as if we were protected inside a house. Oh, every so often, an arrow would nick someone and deal a flesh wound but ultimately, in an archery duel it was a foregone conclusion with Drudge on our side.

Moments later, the last of the Ragesians who had burst through the cloud fell to one of Drudge’s arrows and the others retired. The ranger then could be heard speaking:

“Felix, I’m next to you. They got lucky with a few of their shots; I could do with some healing.”

Then he suddenly appeared as my spell ran out; he did indeed look like a pin cushion. Thankfully, Felix was able to help him.

As this was happening, the archers began to pepper us with more arrows so I said:

“Drudge, I could make you invisible again; you could make life difficult for our friends back there.”

He grinned and nodded:

“Yes, let’s do that again; I haven’t had so much fun in a long time.”

He disappeared again and this time we began to see more Ragesians fall. Longhelim and Victor did not join in. They had actually ran out of arrows previously so Drudge had to give them some of his; now the enemy were much too far away. Still, that was what we were supposed to be doing; slowing the enemy down at the Gate while our army and the Gate Pass population attacked from the West and dealt with the garrison respectively.

As the Ragesians saw that yet again, their numbers were falling to the mysterious archer whom they could not locate, they withdrew further back.

I knew this couldn’t last. Soon their commanders would want to find out just what the delay was and when they did, either they would devise another tactic or call up reinforcements; or both.

Neither was good for us.

A certain amount of time passed; that was good. It was part of the plan; the longer we were able to contain the enemy, the more time our army had to assault the Ragesians from the West.

So we kept as close a watch as possible for the enemy.

Then, a group of figures came around the corner, moving towards the gate. We relaxed as we recognized them; it was a squad of scouts that had been sent out a little time previously. We watched them approach and then Victor frowned:

“There’s something odd with those men!”

As he said this everyone’s attention sharpened and Felix cast a spell on Drudge, who squinted at them in effort; despite all of our staring though, we just could not see what was wrong. Having said that, we could all see that there was something peculiar about the way they moved. It was strange, unnatural; then, as they reached the lower part of the wall, I suddenly glimpsed something odd beneath their cloaks; it was a bit of bone, rib to be exact. Just as I opened my mouth, John was ahead of me:

“Felix! Skeletons!”

As soon as he said that, he took out his strange mask and waved it at them; the results were spectacular, especially as they had been achieved by John as opposed to Felix: the figures simply exploded into shards of bone.

As John was capering about on top of the wall, I turned to Felix and quipped:

“I hope you are watching and learning, Felix.”

He smiled tolerantly and resumed watching the nearby rooftops. Longhelim shouted behind us:

“Rantle, I suggest we desist with the use of scouts. They seem to be getting caught all the time.”

There was an answering shout from behind us.

Then we settled down to watch again.

Again, some time passed and then both Longhelim and John sharpened their attention and began to point.

There were a series of flashes of flames at a tower some distance away.

Longhelim shouted:

“That’s the devils teleporting in! Let’s get ready!”

Peculiarly, something rather odd happened first. There was a flash of flame and a devil appeared just under the gate and waved his hands, obviously not hostile:

“Mortals! I want to talk!”

It was a Barbazu, carrying its usual glaive with slimy green skin, humanoid but with definite features of a devil, claws and fangs; and as ugly as sin; it also had that peculiar, odd beard, which made them commonly known as Bearded Devils.

“I have a proposition for you! The Inquisitors have spent a great deal of money and spells in summoning me and several of my kind; the condition of the summoning was to help them in their endeavour to bypass the gate; but they’re dim. There requests are muddled and hazy……not like Guthwulf; now there was someone who always knew what he wanted.

Anyway, I digress; look this is my proposition. There are eighteen of us; you give us one thousand gold pieces each and we will go away; oh, and we need to kill three defenders. That was part of the deal; surely not a big issue for your side; someone must be willing to sacrifice themselves for the many!

So, what say you?”

I gaped at this brazen creature; the ramifications of what it was proposing were already swirling through my brain; thankfully Longhelim was just as quick on the uptake as I was:

“You slimy green piece of snot! The only reason why I’m replying is so that the others behind me can hear this!

You’re standing there, in the middle of the road, in full view of the forces of Gate Pass and the forces of Ragesia, shouting at us that you are willing to betray your masters just for our willingness to sacrifice three of the lives of our allies? And a lot of money? And we’re supposed to trust you after you’ve just announced your intentions to the whole world? And you’re calling the Ragesians stupid?

I’ll give you this! For once, I think one of you has left me speechless! I don’t know if you consider us even stupider than the Ragesians or if you’ve been ordered into this deal by your masters to demoralize our men.”

Then Longhelim raised his voice to an even louder volume:

“No we will not pay you money to leave! No, we will not sacrifice people to you to leave.”

The devil’s face twisted in hate. I don’t know whether it was because it had been attempting to betray us and failed or because Longhelim had pointed out that standing and shouting out his intention to betray his summoners was not very good idea; especially after he had denigrated their intelligence. Either way shouted one last time:

“You’ll regret this paladin! I’m going to use your skull as a drinking cup for the next five hundred years!”

After that, he disappeared.

But not for long, as devils began to appear all around the walls and nearby buildings. As they did so, new enemy forces also appeared around the bend on the road. This time, it was in the form of four huge animals, with trunks; they each had a large saddle; well, it was more a box really, which contained three archers and one Inquisitor.

I recognized them immediately; in fact, we had a magical version of one.

Drudge shouted:

“Elephants! If they charge the gate, they’ll go through!”

John stepped and cast a spell at Drudge who disappeared; simultaneously, Drudge gave me twenty arrows and said:

“Use these!”

Felix also used one of his most powerful defensive spells, enveloping us in a shiny shield. It felt good. Longhelim stepped out from the crenellations to deal with the devils that had appeared on the wall and then everything went quiet. The Inquisitors had managed to cast a magical silence spell on top of us. Interestingly, Felix seemed unaffected and I moved to another part of our bunker and suddenly I could hear and more importantly speak, as well. Felix’s spell was powerful and gave us protection against spells cast by evil individuals.

I looked outside briefly; as I expected, all of the Inquisitors were now slumped in their boxes with arrows in them. We had a very efficient archer. The devils had disappeared but I could hear fighting from behind us so I assumed that the Gate Pass fighters also had their hands full. The elephants were charging forward with a strange shuffling trot which ate the distance deceptively fast. The archers were concentrating their fire against Longhelim as he was outside the bunker and the only target on the walls that they could see.

Then things became trickier as devils began to appear next to me, John and everyone else inside; well except for Victor, who had one of Felix defensive spells around him which was specifically active against summoned outsiders. That seemed to have hampered some of them.

The devils were still recovering from their spell and everyone took advantage of that.

Victor, although he had only one of them in front of him, dropped his bow, drew his sword and did not quite cleave one of them in half but certainly gave them something to think about. I managed to cast a spell which also protected me against summoned creatures while John moved to within a short distance of Victor.

Felix, in the meantime, was concentrating on the elephants who were getting closer and closer. I realised that if they smashed their way through the gate then we would have to retreat immediately. The priest called a powerful column of fire on top of them, which certainly gave them something to think about even if they did continue to charge forward desperately.

Longhelim and Victor were carving their way through the devils; the latter’s shield was now dancing around the warrior, defending him against glaive attacks and John put a cloud of fog in front of two of the elephants. It was one of the viscuous ones, slowing the two front animals down significantly; unfortunately, the rear pair just squeezed around the cloud and carried on charging.

So, I put a magical, invisible wall in front of the gate and waited for the warriors to finish dealing with the devils.

Like me, Felix was leaving the devils to the warriors while he dealt with the elephants; his timing was exquisite as he managed to create a cylinder of fire which caught all four of the beasts as the latter pair were charging past their friends stuck in John’s cloud. The effects were devastating as two of the elephants became smoking husks of meat and the archers on their backs suffered the same fate.

At this point, the devils had either decided that they had fulfilled their bargain or decided that discretion was the better part of valour as they began to disappear. Drudge concentrated on shooting the elephants and quickly brought one of them down with is arrows. All of the devils had gone but not before they had created havoc amongst the Gate Pass defenders, as Rantle was shouting:

“All the priests and mages are down!”

They must have been specifically targeted but unfortunately, there was little we could do.

Finally, one lonely elephant managed to make out of John’s cloud, staggering, bloody and smoking only to run into one of Drudge’s volleys which put paid to its existence; the archer then guided several arrows into its crew and after that everything went quiet, with the exception of some healing that was being conducted on Longhelim; the paladin had left the shelter of the bunker and suffered both from arrows and some blows from the devils and their glaives.

Some time passed; we could hear Rantle exhorting his troops in the rear. The devils must have been a shock to them; with their powers, they were very unpleasant foes to deal with. The Gate Pass militia were part time soldiers; really they were, tradesmen, shopkeepers, functionaries; anything but soldiers; devils made mincemeat out of them. I just hoped that Rantle would be able to inspire them.

He must have succeeded because we saw most of the remaining defenders clambering up the wall next to us.

In the meantime, we kept watch for the next assault.

It took a little time but suddenly, John pointed and shouted:

“Look! There! In the sky!”

I squinted but couldn’t see anything; evidently, Drudge and Victor did as they watched something intently and a few moments later, I finally spotted the specks against the clouds. Something was flying towards us; a flock of something. I really hoped that it wasn’t dragons. Logic indicated that it was a squadron of wyvern knights but they were still too far away to ascertain if that was the case.

Then, just as we were awaiting the flying enemy, unearthly beautiful singing was suddenly heard all around us. It was sinister, compelling and monstrous. I knew of several kind of creatures that had these sorts of weapons and I shouted the most likely:

“Harpy!”

Simultaneously, I managed to shake the compulsion in the singing to abandon the wall and follow. The poor Gate Pass defenders were not so lucky. All of our group were too strong for the compulsion but I began to watch as various soldiers began clambering down the wall and making their way up the road. Some of them even jumped down.

John moved to the edge of the wall, to see if he could spot the harpy when he received a most unpleasant surprise. Levering himself over the wall was a huge green figure, with enormous claws and a countenance that was ugly and vicious; I had met these before but never wearing metal armour and invisible. I shouted:

“Troll!”

It was too late for John though as the creature jumped over the parapet and swiped at John, leaving a bloody gash on his neck. Unfortunately, for the troll, it became visible and left itself wide open for an attack by Victor; the warrior stepped and precisely sliced his falchion just above the armour; I swear, he nearly sliced its head off!

Trolls are reknowned for their inhuman stamina and powers of recovery but even so, the troll staggered as Victor followed it up with another strike which nearly took it down. The creature began to desperately scramble backwards, trying to get away. As this was happening, I kept a weary eye our flying foes but they were still some distance away and I could hear the comforting swish of Drudge’s arrows.

I spared a glance behind me, noting without any surprise the troll was down, with about a dozen feathered shafts jutting out of its torso. Longhelim stepped up with his Torch and began to systematically pummel it, until there was little left but charred remains; even a troll would be unable to recover from that.

In the meantime, the singing was continuing and John shouted:

“There! In that alley! That’s where they are all going! That’s where she is!”

A moment later, he cast a spell of magical silence and the singing stopped.

“Everyone, stuff something in your ears! She’ll start up again soon!”

We weren’t sure if many heeded our advice as the singing began again a few moments later and this time the various defenders followed it into an alley way on the opposite side of the street. Unfortunately, we couldn’t see her or it as it moved, suggesting it must have been very stealthy.

Longhelim had glanced at the distance of the flying enemies and then with a look at Victor, he stepped into the air and began moving rapidly towards the new source of the singing. Victor nodded and looked steadily at the approaching fliers, noting their progress.

As Longhelim disappeared, John approached Drudge and cast a spell on him. I recognized it; it was a flying spell and the ranger flew after the paladin.

The former had already disappeared down the alleyway. I couldn’t see what has happening but there was a lot of shouting from the alley. Then Drudge began to shoot into it; as he let off another volley, a figure appeared, slumped on the ground. Longhelim appeared behind her and grasping the body, he unceremoniously took it by one its ankles and moved back to our defensive position; there, we could all see that the fliers were that much closer.

I am afraid that there will be another break for the time being as the SH has caught up to actual play.

It's been glorious. Again

As we watched Longhelim and Drudge approaching, suddenly I heard a voice in my head:

“My name is Metamorphosis; I need your help; my Master, Vigilance, has been captured by the Ragesians and must be rescued. He has to be here before the others come!”

Judging by their stunned faces, Felix and John had also received the same message.

John shouted:

“Who are you? Show yourself!”

I was trying to keep an eye out on the approaching wyvern knights as well as looking around for the source of this mysterious voice. A moment later, a figure stepped out from one of the alleys nearby; it looked like a lady, and judging by the shape of her ears, she had a heavy mix of elven blood. The only clothes she wore were a shimmering shawl of red and gold which covered her body; she also had a bandaged knee. There was something very odd about her face though.

Calmly, she took flight towards us.

Another movement caught my eye; Drudge, not realizing what was happening, was tracking her with his bow.

Quickly, I shouted:

“She claims to be a friend. Hold you fire!”

Thankfully, no volley of arrows flew towards us yet; Longhelim and Drudge began to move towards us as fast as they could, although I could see that the ranger was also healing himself with one of his wands.

As the flying newcomer approached, I was able to discern another very disturbing aspect; her countenance seemed to melt and change continuously, as if unable to settle on one set of features; Metamorphosis indeed! It was very unnerving. As I thought about her name, something was tugging on the back of my mind.

As soon as she landed, John challenged her brusquely:

“Who are you then?”

She seemed to gather her shawl around her face, making it easier to look at her directly and replied:

“I am Metamorphosis, a Trillith; as I said, I serve Vigilance, who has been captured by the Ragesians and it is most important that he is rescued.”

Something about the way she said that, or about the names continued to niggle at the back of my mind.

John brusqueness changed to interest:

“So, just exactly what is a Trillith? This is the first time we have been able to talk to one of you. Usually, you tell us things and then try to rip our throats out.”

She looked at him steadily and said:

“I will answer all your questions but first I would aid you to defeat your enemies. I can make you fly magically amongst other things; I can also make you larger or smaller. Do any of you wish to any of these enchantments?”

John blew a breath through his cheeks and then tentatively said:

“Flying would be good.”

She cast a spell on him which I recognized as the magic of flight. As the spell finished, I felt myself relaxing slightly and I put away my spell components; Victor had also been deceptively close to her and I could see that he lowered his falchion slightly.

I said to her:

“All help is welcome; our two friends are on their way but I think we should also get Rantle here; he is one of the leaders of the Resistance and they have made careful plans; I doubt that these have factored in the trillith. At this precise moment, men and women of Gate Pass are losing their lives while they rise against the Ragesians. If their sacrifice is to be worth anything, we have to hold this Gate as long as possible.

From what you are saying, you are going to ask us to abandon it, so you need to tell him why.”

She looked at me, her ever-shifting countenance unreadable; it was impossible to tell if this was something that had occurred to her; the fact that she would have to explain her actions to anyone.

She replied:

“I will be very happy to explain to you who we are and why I need your help but I think that it would be best if everyone was here. In the meantime, please allow me to help you deal with the Ragesians who are on their way here.”

At this point, Longhelim and Drudge arrived and Rantle was also on his way up to the top of the Gatehouse. Introductions were made quickly but time was running out; in fact, as I turned around I saw that time had run out.

I felt flattered. It seemed that this time the Ragesians had sent a whole squadron of Wyvern Knights against us; two ranks of four flying reptiles arrowed their way towards the Gate with their riders aiming crossbows at our positions.

As soon as they were in range, they fired but the bolts made little impression on our improvised stronghold.

Longhelim was healed by Felix and Drudge had already healed himself so the ranger stepped up to the arrow slit and returned fire; as usual, where he aimed, a figure fell.

Metamorphosis quietly continued to cast magical flying on everyone and the rest of us conserved our energy while Drudge picked off the knights. Changing his tactics, he began to spread his arrows. Despite their losses, the knights continued to shoot; they were also quite good, with several bolts sinking into the ranger or glancing off his armourr; they must have been highly trained to shoot from the back of a flying reptile; thankfully Felix was able to take care of any hurts that Drudge suffered.

Finally, the Ragesians arrived at our position but by this point their strength had been severely diminished as two of the knights had fallen under Drudge’s arrows and all the others were hurt; this allowed one volley from Victor this time to down a third knight leaving five and seven wyverns; Drudge had also shot down one of the wyverns.

The remainder now flew around our makeshift shelter either landing behind us or to the side; several others were flying by, attempting to snatch the unwary off the battlements; I was using my wand of lightning bolts. It was ideal for this situation, leaving scorch marks on the beast against which I aimed. One attacked Victor; poor thing, it was the last action it ever took. Another also closed with Longhelim and the paladin proceeded to smash it silly. It didn’t quite drop but it staggered around and did not look as if it wanted any more part of this fight.

There were three which were trying to scrabble their way through the walls of the Gate, attacking through the arrow slits between the crenellations; one of them scratched me quite badly but thankfully, I had Drudge next to me. Longhelim and Victor also braced themselves for more battle.

I moved away from the edge and stayed in the background; I had a feeling that my spells would be needed later in the day.

What followed was a systematic destruction of a squadron of the feared Wyvern Knights. By this point, there were five of them left with only three knights but they were well trained; they followed up on targets such as John or I with little or no armour. Both of us were hurt yet it was nothing in comparison to how Victor and Longhelim carved through their ranks. They could barely get through their armour and even when they managed to scratch or stab the warriors with their tails, Felix's spell was able to render their powerful poison harmless.

Simultaneously, Drudge concentrated on the three remaining knights. These tried to fire their cross bows at him but the ranger shot them as fast as he could reload his bow. Ultimately, this destruction did not take that long and as the last wyvern dropped to the ground, Felix and John were already moving through the rest of us, healing. I was badly hurt as the wyverns seemed to go instinctively for a target that was unarmoured.

As Felix was tapping me with a wand, I watched Rantle scrambling up to our makeshift strong point:

"Well, that was impressive; I don't think I have ever seen a squadron of wyvern knights destroyed either so quickly or so thoroughly. They don't have too many of those either!"

Then he turned to Metamorphosis and immediately, I could see the charm oozing out of him:

"And who is this beatiful.....?"

Metamorphosis's countenance chose to change at this moment, obviously disconcerting him; he wasn't expecting to see anything like that.

“………lady?”

He finished rather tentatively.

I made the introductions:

''Rantle, please be known to Metamorphosis; she is a trillith; and before you ask, she is just about to explain to both you and we just what a trillith is.''

I turned expectantly to her and as did everyone else.

She looked at us and she suddenly took the guise of a half orc; I recoiled slightly: I was never really going to get used to that. Then she said:

''Now that the danger is over, I can tell you what I know as quickly as I can. The trillith are the dreams of the psionic dragon Trilla.''

I glanced at John briefly. In previous conversations, we had speculated about the nature of the trillith and he had hit the nail on the head. How he had done it was beyond me but that was exactly what he had said.

Longhelim then asked Metamorphosis:

''Please start at the beginning; although we are aware of who Trilla is, Rantle is not; and since he and his people have been fighting, spying, lying, dying and waiting for us to return, it is he whom you will have to convince to allow us to abandon the mission with which the Resistance have tasked us.''

Metamorphosis turned her disturbing face to the commader:

''Trilla is a great golden dragon with powerful psionic powers; she is the daughter of Syana, a powerful defender of the elven people in the Haunted Forest of Ycengled, far to the North of the Shining Lands of Shahalesti. When Trilla was a young dragon, she was captured by Drakus Coaltongue and tortured by one of his allies, a Bone Devil; although she was rescued, Syana lost her life and Trilla was spirited away by some of her elven allies into the Underdark to heal and recover; the trauma she suffered would have driven almost all other beings mad.

She was taken to a cave deep in this underworld realm where she went into a slumber and as she slept, some of her dreams took a solid shape. In the beginning, they dissipated when she woke but there came a time when they became a part of her consciousness. They were aspects of her life, of her thoughts, her desires, her impulses and above all, her emotions. That is why the names we give ourselves are descriptive. They also describe our abilities.

Time passed but our poor mother did not get better; the trauma caused by the death of her own beloved mother, the torture she suffered without even knowing why, the loneliness of her new existence all combined to drive her more and more into a dream world that was given greater reality by the power of her psionics.

One of the most powerful trilliths or dreams that Trilla first created was Freedom; it was her most powerful impulse as what she wanted above all was to be free of the Underdark, of torture, of Drakus Coaltongue and his Bone Devil; but she knew that if she left the cave, Drakus was seek her out again.

Freedom first followed the thoughts of his creator but as time went on, he realised that he was able to manipulate Trilla's thoughts and dreams to create more trilliths, but of a type that he wanted, that he could command. It reached a point where Freedom was keeping his creator continuously asleep or in a stupor and controlling her dreams. This gave him the power to create trilliths. This ability affected his sanity; the combination of an insane being in control of a psionic dragon which can give its dreams reality......well, you can imagine how the rest of this goes.

Many, many of my brothers and sisters are now mad and actually born of nightmares. They wish to invade this reality for want of a better and term and convert it into Trilla's dreams; to do this, they will invade the minds of the people of Gate Pass; that is how they plan to cross over.''

I murmured:

''The Festival of Dreams......''

Metamorphosis nodded and continued:

''Indeed; the Festival of Dreams is a moment when the people of Gate Pass are most vulnerable to an attack from our world.

Vigilance is another powerful trillith created by Trilla a long time ago. Somehow, she must have realised that there was a danger of her dreams permeating into this reality and she created him to prevent this by watching over the people here.''

John asked:

''What about all the others we met?''

''Those were just individuals; think of what would happen if a whole legion of beings such as the ones you met invaded Gate Pass and the surrounding lands; and worst of all, many of them have allied with the Ragesians. I don't know what the details of this alliance is but I can guarantee you that whatever it is, it will mean the conquest of Gate Pass.''

Rantle interrupted at this point:

''I hope you will excuse me but this is a little difficult to take in; we are in the middle of a life and death struggle against the Ragesians and you're trying to tell me that there is another danger that is just as great lurking in some dream world?''

He turned to us:

''You've met these Trillith? Can you tell me what to expect?''

Longhelim nodded to me and and I gave him a short account of our encounters with Indomitability in the Fire Fores; the trillith that we only knew as Ernest the halfling in Castle Korstull, who had ultimately possessed the skeletal body of Syana; and Madness in Dassen; I was about to launch into our encounter with Agony when Rantle stopped me.

He looked at me in horror:

''So the eternal fire in the Forest of Innenotdar was caused by one of these things? And they walk through walls? And they’re strong combatants? And they cast poweful spells? And they possess people or monsters or skeletons? Gods, is there anything they can't do?''

I looked at him:

''They're dreams and nightmares. I don't really know what they can do.''

He looked at us, obviously thinking hard:

''So what can we do?''

Metamorphosis spoke again:

''Vigilance would help; if we are to hold the nightmares at bay, his presence is essential. He is also very powerful and he has defended this world for years; but, he has been captured by the Ragesians.''

Rantle interrupted at this point:

''How has he been captured? How do you capture someone who can go through walls?''

Almost absently, because my mind was on something else, I answered Rantle:

''Probably lots of ways we don't know and several ways I can think of at the moment; someone could be keeping him in his corporeal form through the Song of Forms; even I have managed to research magic which can force an incorporeal being into a corporeal state. I have a spell which has a small chance of succeeding; it’s certainly not guaranteed but if I can do it, then it is certain that Ragesian magicians have also found ways of capturing and imprisoning someone like Vigilance.

Longhelim, by the way.......

I stopped as I saw everyone else staring at me:

''What?''

John said:

''Magic to turn a trillith corporeal? What magic is that and when did you have time to research it? We have been together most of the time and we’ve barely had time to sit down never mind try research a spell like that; and you never mentioned this once!''

I shrugged:

“I analysed the magic of the Song of Forms from the Seelah; then I duplicated it to suit my purposes; as I said, it’s not a very powerful spell; I haven’t had the time to refine it and study it in depth; it was a makeshift solution but it’s the best I have at the moment.

Anyway, Longhelim, as I was saying, isn't a lot of this sounding familiar from your dream? That bit which was talking about a vigilant one, and one who will change......''

Rantle was also looking at me and interrupted:

''It sounds like you know far more about these trillith than you give yourselves credit for; you've already began researching them.....

Drudge interrupted at this point:

''We've company coming!''

Alarmed, I looked towards the west, trying to see what new enemies the Ragesians had decided to use against us.

Drudge's dry voice next to me said:

''You're looking the wrong way, Faden'.''

Looking East, I joined the others in watching a tall humanoid figure striding towards us......in the sky. It was walking on air.

Metamorphosis retreated into the background again, but Rantle was still there and asked:

''Who is that?"

Even though it was quite a distance away, there was no mistaking that figure.

I said:

''It's a ghaele; a good, extraplanar being of great power; it looks as if the Shahalesti have decided to announce themselves. Longhelim, I think that we will be needing your diplomatic skills soon.''

The paladin never took his eyes off the ghaele as he replied:

''Right, everyone remember the rules; she'll be here very soon.''

''Rules?'' asked Rantle

John replied this time:

''Yes, the rules are simple; we keep our mouths shut and let him do the talking unless we are asked a question directly. If we have something really important to say, then we can whisper in his ear; apparently, this is allowed in diplomatic circles; we act as his advisors. It does get a little odd when Faden has something to say because then Longhelim and he has to kneel down but diplomacy is a funny business all around; people say one thing but mean another; phrases are hidden within words and your freedom if not your life hinge on what you say when; we’ve had to learn the hard way; we ended up in a dungeon in Dassen due to bad diplomacy once and one of us had quite a bad time; not as bad as our professional diplomat companion who was supposed to prevent this; he was tortured to death; mind you, the person in whose court we were being diplomatic was quite mad; he even admitted it later. ''

Rantle stared at John and said:

“I’d like to hear that tale fully sometime.”

Then he grinned:

''I like your rules though. Next time we have a situation like this with Diogenes and Erdin, I’ll suggest we instigate them. In the meantime, I’ll follow them as well.''

The paladin nodded as the ghaele reached us.

She was a magnificent being with a superficial resemblance to an elf but with those extraordinary eyes like pearls and otherworldly armour with design and ornamentation that was obviously not of this plane. I had seen another of her kind in the Fire Forest of Innenotdar but that one had been in some sort of comatose sleep; this one was in her full glory.

She wasted no time:

''Greetings! My name is Eritae and in the name of my mistress, Aurana Kirondaal, I invite you to the Aquaduct District; His Majesty, King Shaaladel wishes to meet with you and discuss terms and tactics. My mistress requests you be there at the zenith of the sun.''

I did a quick calculation in my head; if we were to make the appointed time and place, then we would have to leave now, and we would have to fly.

Longhelim looked at Rantle with an unspoken enquiry.

The latter replied:

''Go! We'll handle anything the Ragesians throw at us; I think that since the Shahalesti have arrived, holding this gate has suddenly become less important than gaining their support. However, I want to go as well; I will hand over the supervision of the Gate to my second in command and accompany you.''

The paladin nodded and then turning to our new acquaintance, said:

''Metamorphosis, you were offering flying magic previously? If you would be so kind.......''

As requested, the trillith cast that spell on us and we flew off to finally meet the legendary King Shaaladel.

As we flew over the rooftops, the ghaele kept up with us easily. I flew to her side and asked:

“My lady, may I ask please: Your mistress, Aurana Kirondaal? I am afraid I am wholly ignorant of the Shahalesti Court; may we know who she is?”

Those eyes regarded my briefly and then she replied, as if she had made a decision:

“My mistress is a trusted and valued advisor to King Shaaladel; she is also a powerful archmage.”

I thanked her and then flew over to John:

“Do you remember that name at all? I don’t remember hearing it in the past.”

He shook his head and we flew on and I then flew to Longhelim, who was also next to Victor. Speaking quietly I said:

“Longhelim, back to what I was saying; that strange dream you had; some of it is beginning to make sense now. Do you remember what you told us? About a single vigilant gatekeeper denying the dark masquerade? And being imprisoned in war? Well that sounds like that Trillith Vigilance. And the other bit, about one seeking us who is made to change?”

Wordlessly I looked at Metamorphosis, flying slightly ahead of us.

I continued:

“Then, there’s the bit about someone seeking justice from a father who cast him out with nothing but his sword. That could refer to the Danavas; and then there is a line about the throng sharing their dreams and opening themselves to nightmares. Well, that must be a reference to the Festival of Dreams.”

Both Victor and Longhelim were nodding as I was speaking; I finished with one last line:

“The Torch shall fall from the hand of its wielder and the song of the deep shall be no ally.

I haven’t worked out this last bit yet; having said that, now that we are discussing it, the only thing I can think of is that if the dark masquerade, as they call themselves, win, then the Torch shall fall from Longhelim’s hand because he will be dead and the song of forms won’t work because the world will be this strange reality in which the trillith normally inhabit. That’s a stretch though, I grant you.”

Longhelim grunted and replied:

“Well, it’s the best interpretation we have at the moment so let’s go with it. I still don’t recognize the woman who sent me the dream though. It would be nice to know.”

I sighed:

“Probably another trillith who we haven’t met yet. Anyway, we’d better get ready; the Aquaduct is coming up.”

This monument, which characterized the district, rose magnificently above the rooftops; made of stone it was a series of pillars supporting a canal which brought water from the nearby mountain rivers; it was also one of the few stone structures in the city left intact as the Ragesians were just as dependent on its function as everyone else in Gate Pass.

We descended to the main square, at the foot of the water towers, only the find that the elves were waiting for us. A luxurious, open marquis had been raised, under which sat an ornate wooden throne; sitting on it was a solitary elf with a simple coronet around his brow; there were various groups of elves roughly standing in a circle; they were gaily clad, the ladies in beautiful gowns and the men in tight, tailored garments; everywhere, there was colour; I was no tailor but even I could tell that the material would have cost a small fortune anywhere else. Some of the men wore robes and there was a substantial military presence in the form of a group of those special elven soldiers with the double handed swords. I had heard Shalosha say that they were called Dreadnaughts or some such name.

There was also a variety of powerful, good outsiders, as I expected; several lantern archons flitted restlessly through the air, looking for enemy and two astral devas stood watchfully on either side of Shaaladel’s throne; here and there, I saw archers placed in various parts of the towers, aquaduct and nearby buildings, keeping a careful watch on the proceedings.

In one of the groups, we saw the Princess Shalosha; I was pleased at that as it meant that she had not fallen out of favour with her father after failing to secure the Torch in the Haunted Forest of Ycengled. She also seemed like someone who could be a moderating influence on her father.

All in all, it looked like a powerful and exotic court.

As we landed, everyone stopped talking and looked at us; or specifically, they looked at the Torch, almost hungrily; oh yes, they knew exactly what it was; and compared to them, we were an unprepossessing bunch, scrappily dressed, straight from combat, covered in green goo from bearded devils, scorch marks, arrows holes and wyvern blood. Nevertheless, Shaaladel stiffened when he saw us and even stood up.

We approached in turn and then inclined our heads. The elven king looked almost monolithic, with an expressionless countenance which had lost the look of youth prevalent on most elves; instead his face was angular, all planes and sharp features. It served to make him look less human and more alien. His hair was blond and tied in a neat queue at the back of his head. He was taller and seemingly more solid than most of the elves I could see and he had none of that strange ethereal nature which sometimes characterized their race. Unlike his courtiers, he wore a sober set of clothes, beautifully tailored but not as ostentatious; despite this, his charisma would guarantee that that he would always be the centre of attention in any gathering. He had that air of age and experience which said that he would know exactly what to do in any situation that fate threw at him.

He was the first to speak:

“Greetings, Heroes of Gate Pass. I have heard tales of your deeds for some time now. You have become a force to be reckoned with.”

He had a surprisingly deep voice and as soon as he spoke, I knew that the games had begun; his first sentence conveyed so many meanings that I had only to think about a few; admiration yet irritation; he was telling us that he knew exactly what we had done yet we had no way of knowing just how much he knew; was he even aware of the trillith for example? Telling us that we were a force to be reckoned with was nonsense, considering the resources he had at his command even just in this square; two astral devas, a ghaele and a swarm of lantern archons? And that was before the elves themselves even came into play? Yet it was also a way of telling us that he knew we had gained a certain amount of power; no doubt he had received a full report on our actions in the battle of the Monastery of the Five Winds in the Haunted Forest of Ycengled from Shalosha and her bodyguard.

As usual, Longhelim answered on our behalf:

“Thank you and greetings in return. We have come to meet with you as requested. It is an honour to meet you, Your Majesty.”

Thankfully, Longhelim was also skilled at this game; he acknowledged the salutation in like kind and made sure that he considered the meeting a request, not an order; he then acknowledged that Shalaadel was a King, which was crucial to kings; they believed that was very important that others acknowledged their titles.

And the so the diplomatic dance began and was continued by Shaaladel:

“We have many things to discuss but above all, I would like know how you plan to fight the Ragesians in Gate Pass and if we can come to an alliance.”

I tugged at Longhelim’s armour and he knelt down so I could whisper in his ear:

“This is it; this is the only way that the numbers make sense. If he has enough men, then suddenly our war against the Ragesians is winnable; without him, we stand no chance; but……he also has a Ragesian army rampaging in Northern Shahalesti; and there is a road that leads straight through our city to his capital; with the Torch unavailable either to them or him, that road has suddenly acquired huge strategic importance; if he loses it to the Ragesians, his realm becomes incredibly vulnerable and he is caught in a pincer movement.”

I said all of this very quickly so Longhelim did not keep Shaaladel waiting for any great length of time and as the paladin rose, he said:

“What resources do you have available, Your Majesty.”

Shaaladel replied:

“I have ten thousand men and assorted allies at most one day away; man for man, this force would beat any Ragesian army.”

Longhelim said:

“So, what would you have? I will not waste your time or ours by pretending that you are unaware of what is happening at this moment; you would not be here at this moment if that was the case.”

Shaaladel nodded and gave a very slight smile, a mere stretching of the lips, as if he acknowledged a point:

“The first and most important thing is that I should be the commander of all allied forces; I am the most experienced; I have been commanding armies for centuries and have led many campaigns.

Once the Ragesians here are defeated, I want the assistance of the Resistance as well as your assistance with the Torch to defeat the Ragesian 4^th Army in Shahalesti. If we are able to transfer our forces there without the enemy being prepared…….well, Drakus conquered most of the known world by doing exactly that.

After the enemy is defeated, I want to be established as the ruler of the former Ragesian Empire.

Finally, I want the Torch.

Those are my proposals. Please consider them; by all means have a discussion with your advisors.”

Game on!

Longhelim motioned the rest of us to retire to a corner of the square as a discreet murmur arose from the courtiers.

We stood together and Longhelim spoke quietly:

“Right, we all heard the proposals; what do people think? Victor, John?”

John spoke first and to the point:

“Him being the commander is obvious; he was leading armies decades if not centuries before any of us were born; now that Coaltongue is gone, he must be the greatest living military strategist; and more important, he’ll have the ability to react to anything magically unpleasant that the Ragesians throw our way.”

Victor then added:

“Assistance with the defeat of the 4^th army is another obvious one; he wants it eradicated from Shahalesti. The thought of a Ragesian army walking through his lands must be anathema to the Shining Lands and he may be under some political pressure to destroy it; so, he is dangling the freedom of Gate Pass like a carrot in front of us to get our help.

We need to be a little careful though; we don’t want to ally ourselves with the elves too overtly; they are not exactly popular with other nations; but…..this should work; Northern Shahalesti is so remote that barely anyone knows what is going on up there and if we move his army up there, no one will care. We should just make it clear to the Resistance and others that this is the only elven army we plan to move and that it is going on a purely internal Shahalesti mission.

We’ll need is some powerful Ragesian prisoners from the conflict here to activate the Torch though; Shaaladel also will have to move fast here in Gate Pass as that Ragesian army was in the far North looking for the Torch; now that Leska knows that it did not find it, no doubt she will find something creative to do with it. She’s surprised us unpleasantly in the past and no doubt she’ll do it again; and as I have said before, she always seems to be several steps ahead of us.”

I chimed in then:

“The third one is being made Emperor of Ragesia after the end of the conflict; an elf as emperor over a nation of orcs and half orcs? That will be interesting. I really don’t know about that one, but since he could have walked into Gate Pass and taken over anyway, this one seems a courtesy request at best. I don’t think there is any problem here and now but what the South will think of that later on is the question.”

Longhelim put his fingers on his chin thoughtfully and I knew he was wishing he had his pipe. Quietly, he mused:

“Which leaves the last one. His request to be given the Torch.”

I added:

“Yes, that’s the big one. As I see it, the third one is meaningless without the last request. On the one hand, if we give it to him, it’ll mean he will become the ruler of the world unless we get another Rhuarc; and that bloody thing on your shoulder will continue causing more and more grief; bear in mind, we also promised the masters of the Monastery of the Five Winds in Ostalin, that once we finished with the War, we would destroy it.”

Longhelim nodded and said:

“I remember; this is an evil thing. I agree; with it, Shaaladel will become another Drakus Coaltongue, no matter how the elven bards dress it up. Except that instead of Ragesia, read the Glorious Everlasting Shining Empire of Shahalesti, where everyone is….what was that term they used when they wanted to take over in Seaquen Faden?”

“Spiritually pure,” I added flatly.

The paladin nodded:

“Yes, that’s right; spiritually pure.

So, we say no to the last one.”

I drew my breath sharply; none of us had any idea how Shaaladel would react to being denied; yet we all realised that the last request was a step too far. Rantle, who was with us, had no comment to make; neither did Metamorphosis, who had managed to merge into the background as usual.

So, Longhelim strode back to Shaaladel with the rest of us in tow. The elven king was conversing with one of the devas but he turned around as we approached.

Longhelim was short and to the point:

“We agree to all of your requests except the last one; that one is non-negotiable, I am afraid.”

The King’s face was unreadable and he looked at us for seemingly a very long time; the tension mounted and I began to think that something untoward would happen; finally, the King spoke quietly:

“Then, I propose an amendment; instead of being given the Torch, I want it destroyed.”

Longhelim looked at the King for a long time; I was trying to work out all the repercussions of the new request as well as trying to work out just what Shaaladel was playing at; without the Torch, he was giving up any realistic claim to the Ragesian Empire. Without a way of transporting armies, he did not have the manpower to cover the full area. The only explanation I could think of at this time was that he was going to sweep through the North and annex a large part of it; there were enormous forests there and they would suit his people; then he would then bide his time and sweep South and West generations into the future. He was an elf after all; thinking hundreds of years ahead was natural to him.

Longhelim looked at all of us; we all gave a small nod; to all intents and purposes, we had just determined the future of Gate Pass.

Longhelim said:

“We accept.”

There was no cheering but the tension in the air immediately lessened and a murmuring began among the courtiers again; Shalaadel immediately gave a signal and trumpets began to sound shrilly. Victor’s attention sharpened and he whispered something to Longhelim.

The paladin smiled quizzically at King Shalaadel and said:

“A day away?”

The King smiled at Victor in appreciation and replied:

“No; if you remember, I said within a day. Let’s just say that the situation in Gate Pass is in the balance right now and the sooner we get involved, the better.

What will your role be now?”

The paladin said:

“There is a prison behind enemy lines; it is full of several important inmates, including one who could literally make the difference between the survival and fall of the city. We will go and rescue them.

In the meantime, please let me name to you, Commander Rantle.”

He pointed to the former thief.

“He is one of the three leaders of the Resistance in Gate Pass. He will introduce you to the local men of power influence and acquaint them with the new alliance.”

The King looked at Rantle and nodded.

As this was happening, I was whispering urgently in Rantle’s ear:

“Be very careful in how your treat him and how you speak with him; he may look all elven and kingly but he is obsessed with this purity of spirit. He has already led two separate crusades which resulted in the complete genocide of two nations; and they were elves. He saw them as a threat so he eliminated it; I have never been able to find out why but he is ruthless in a way you or I will never even comprehend. He will not hesitate to cleanse anyone’s spirit, if he sees fit; he may not do it immediately but remember he thinks tens if not hundreds of years ahead. He’s also someone who called Drakus Coaltongue his friend and ally.

You have the tiger by the tail and he thinks your hands are filthy; remember that and pass it on.”

Rantle was wide eyed as he nodded; I hoped he took my advice to heart. My own heart beat a little faster as I saw that one of the astral devas was looking at me but then my attention was absorbed by the approach of the Princess Shalosha:

“I would like to show my appreciation of your diplomacy; my father is not the easiest of people but I hope this alliance is the beginning of a new age of understanding. Thank you and I hope we will see each other again.”

After that, she walked away.

With all the attention of the elven court now away from us, we moved from the tower and the square and all of us breathed deeply for a few moments.

Longhelim breathed out and said:

“That could have gone very wrong; I just hope we did the right thing.”

Then I took out a map of the city and laid it out on the ground; turning to Metamorphosis, asked:

“Right, can you tell us where this prison is?”

She pointed at a building:

“Here.”

I blinked and looked again:

“Are you sure?”

She nodded and I turned to Longhelim:

“I know that place like the back of my hand; I’ve spent years there. That’s Gabal’s Tower.”

The paladin looked again and nodded gazed at me with a question:

“That’s good isn’t it? You knowing the place so well?”

I was thinking hard, trying to work out all the repercussions:

“Well, yes and no. Yes, I do know all the nooks and crannies of the place; there was one floor to which I was never admitted; I wasn’t an adept of enough power; but as for the rest, yes, I know it very well; I also know all the defences; unfortunately, that doesn’t mean I know how to by pass them. For example, I know that there is a ward which will prevent us from transporting ourselves magically inside the Tower. That being said, I believe that we will be able to do so into the grounds, providing they’re not swarming with Ragesian troops, which may well be the case.

Inside the Tower there was also powerful defensive magic; when it was not in use by the students, the Tower would fill with mist, making it very difficult to see anything anywhere; there was also an effect which would make you lose all sense of direction and annoying voices would scream next to your ears, giving you false directions; oh, and if you managed to find a door, then it was always magically locked. Now I know that it is all one particular spell, but believe you me, it was very irritating if for some reason you had to study or work outside of normal school hours. Master Gabal was inordinately proud of it; I think he gave it some personal tweaks which made it a little easier for him and his top assistants to move through his quarters. We lowly students were expected to be in our rooms or suffer the consequences.”

John was shaking his head and grinning:

“So, your lauded master was actually treating you like a bunch school boys; his mighty students.”

I snorted:

“Well, if you had met some of my fellow students, you’d lock them in their rooms at night as well.”

Then I stopped speaking as I realised that most of these students were now probably dead, either fighting for the Resistance or taken for the Scourge; unfortunately, I had had no time to see if any of the spell casters we had rescued from Agony’s oubliette were students from Gate Pass; there hadn’t been any obvious ones anyway.

Longhelim then said:

“So, we better stop wasting time; how do we want to do this? Do we get into the grounds, try the main Tower itself, or go just outside?”

I thought about it a bit and then said:

“As I said, there was a ward inside the Tower which stopped magical transport into it; I doubt that will have changed. If this has now become a prison, there is a high risk that the Ragesians have stationed troops or guards in the grounds; that’s what I would do.

Rantle was pretty sure that the Resistance had eliminated all the anti-teleportation pillars in the city so my suggestion is to teleport just outside the walls and see if we have any nasty surprises waiting for us; Metamorphosis can make us all fly just to give us more options.”

“And when we get inside the walls, how do we access Gabal’s Tower?” asked Longhelim.

Felix spoke then:

“I’ll make another hole in the wall, in the same manner as the one I made into the clock tower.”

The paladin considered for a moment and then said:

“It looks like we have a plan. Let’s get to it!”