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The Gate Pass Irregulars: A War of the Burning Sky Campaign
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<blockquote data-quote="Cafu" data-source="post: 6086481" data-attributes="member: 6692807"><p>We looked at each other. Subconsciously, I had been expecting it. Gate Pass was city of merchants, craftsmen and farmers, not soldiers. It could not have stood up against the Ragesian war machine for any length of time; but it was still devastating news. I just hoped that the sack of the city had not been too bloody; but these were orcs and worse that we were talking about. It was going to be messy, no matter what I hoped.</p><p> </p><p>Looking at my friends, none of them looked shocked. I think we had all been expecting it at some point or other; everyone looked worried. They knew the capabilities of the Ragesian military just as well as I did.</p><p> </p><p>Simeon continued: “This news is less than a week old: although the city has fallen, the Ragesian hold is still tenuous. However, we don’t know what the orcs plan next.</p><p> </p><p>As for further enemy movement, we know that the Fourth Ragesian army is trying to flank the elven forces in Northern Shahalesti around the mountains; we do not have any more detail than that at the moment. The Third Ragesian Army is facing Dassen and you have a better idea as to how long that engagement will take. The Western Ragesian Naval Fleet is blockading the capital of Sindaire and the remains of the First Army are lurking outside Castle Korstull.</p><p> </p><p>Oddly, Gate Pass is the only place where the Ragesians are actually holding land; bar that, their strategy so far seems to be to cover as much land as possible. We think they may be looking for the Torch, but we are not sure.”</p><p> </p><p>Simeon smiled mirthlessly at us: “The good news is that we’re not dead; or not yet at least.”</p><p> </p><p>Evan Katrina looked around at him after that comment, obviously shocked. This was the first time that Simeon actually said something which showed that he realised just what stakes we were playing for here. The more we did, the greater targets we became. We had already seen that the Ragesians were masters of the art of assassination. Steppengaard would certainly attest to that. We were under no illusion: we were already targets; hopefully, just minor at this stage. This may have changed after the Ragesians found out about our actions in Dassen.</p><p> </p><p>There was a period of silence as we all absorbed the ramifications of Simeon’s last comment.</p><p> </p><p>Then the mage seemed to shake himself. He straightened and said:</p><p> </p><p>“We have also been doing some research into the whole fire tunnel and magical transport issue; we have been able to ascertain certain things. First, the fire effect is at its weakest in the midnight hour. So, due to the urgency of this mission, we propose to put spells on which will protect you from fire; then Mistress Sheena Larkins of the Wayfarers will magically transport you to a city near the Monastery.”</p><p> </p><p>I was a little concerned. It seemed a little too easy:</p><p> </p><p>“Are you sure that those spells will be enough to shield us?”</p><p> </p><p>Simeon replied: “No I am not sure; if you have any spells against the element of fire yourselves, I suggest you use them as well. They certainly couldn’t hurt. You will also be travelling through various mountain passes and high ground; I suggest that those of you who can use it, should purchase specialist equipment for that purpose.</p><p> </p><p>I will see you here in a few hours.”</p><p> </p><p>John and Drudge left immediately, presumably to buy the ropes and stuff. Simeon approached me:</p><p> </p><p>“Faden, I’m sorry to hear about your journals; especially the circumstances under which they were taken from you. I have had some copies made; would you like a set? Just to help with your own reference?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yes please; that would be most helpful.”</p><p> </p><p>Soon, an acolyte arrived with a book and I happily began to read some of our past deeds; mostly to see if they could give a clue as to what we could expect at our destination. I lost myself in the narrative.</p><p> </p><p>Someone tapped me on the shoulder. I looked up, blinked in surprise. Everyone was there; Drudge and John were loaded with rope, grapnel, various hooks and pitons; Sheenah Larkins had arrived and was talking quietly to Longhelim. Kiernan was there with several other magicians.</p><p> </p><p>Sheena turned to us: “It is good to see you all! What tales you must have to tell! Promise me that the next time you return, you will come to the Wayfarer and tell me all you adventures. I’m sure they would make a very good play!”</p><p> </p><p>Longhelim bowed and kissed her hand: “Of course my Lady! We would be delighted.”</p><p> </p><p>Personally, I thought it would be a cold day in hell before I set foot on that ship of theirs again.</p><p> </p><p>Sheena continued: “Of course, I have been in Ostalin many times but the closest location to the area you want to go to is the city of Yen Ching. It is a few days away from where you need to go. A dear friend of mine owns a lovely house there and I plan to take us to his garden; it is a delightful place and so discreet.”</p><p> </p><p>“My lady, any help you can give us would be most appreciated. It is good of you to help us,” replied Longhelim.</p><p> </p><p>“Excellent, then I will see you all tomorrow evening. Good night!”</p><p> </p><p>The next day, everyone prepared. Personally, I summoned a familiar. It was something I had been thinking about and now it was time. My chosen creature was a black rat. I deliberately chose this animal as it had a great many advantages; above all, rats were known as great survivors and the gods knew, it would need all of its survival traits to live through the next few years with me.</p><p> </p><p>As the ritual was completed and the little animal approached me, it grew a little bigger, sleeker and it looked up at me; its eyes lost some of its animal nature began to sparkle with awareness. It ran up my hand, arm and settled itself on my shoulder.</p><p> </p><p>As I joined the others, they looked at the new addition to our group and smiled, especially John, who already had a little viper as his familiar.</p><p> </p><p>The ritual had taken me almost all day so we were nearly ready to go. Sheena was already here, talking to Simeon, while we began to cast the various spells before we went through the tunnel of fire. </p><p> </p><p>Thus, all the spells were cast, mostly to protect against fire and then we waited until the appointed time. On the midnight hour, Sheena cast the spell.</p><p> </p><p>The next few moments were ones I do not wish to repeat in my lifetime; it seemed as if we were hurtling out of control through a tunnel of fire; a tunnel that twisted endlessly and seemed to pulse, haphazardly becoming stronger and weaker without any logic. I could feel the terrible heat eating through our fire protection and I was getting uncomfortably hot when we seemed to be almost wrenched from our path and then we were thrown into an exposed courtyard.</p><p> </p><p>Or, rather we were thrown inside a cage, with a strange pillar in its centre; the same pillar we had seen in the caves below Seaquen; we now had direct evidence that it did indeed disrupt magical travel. I had only the briefest moment to register this before someone began to scream at us:</p><p> </p><p>“In the name of Lord Onamdammin, drop all your weapons. Who are you and what are you doing here?”</p><p> </p><p>A quick glance revealed that not only where we all in a small cage, the courtyard was surrounded by four towers, full of archers; and their bows were leveled at us; many, many, bows.</p><p> </p><p>The annoyingly loud woman began shouting again: “In the name of Lord Onamdammin, drop all your weapons and possessions. You are summoned to his august presence.</p><p> </p><p>Longhelim shouted out in reply: “We are from Seaquen. We go on a peaceful quest on behalf of the Lyceum. We mean no harm or foul.”</p><p> </p><p>Then, Longhelim, with a grimace, dropped all his weapons. When I saw the paladin doing that, I did the same; as did Felix, Victor and finally and most reluctantly, John and Drudge. All of our movement was watched zealously by the loud mouthed woman and the archers.</p><p> </p><p>Our possessions were taken away; as this was happening, I suddenly realised: Lord Onamdammin, or Khagan Onamdammin to give him his title, was the ruler of Ostalin.</p><p> </p><p>What was he doing here? This was supposed to be a small city near the Dassen border. Then I looked at that blasted pillar and realised that it was not even guaranteed that we were even in Yen Ching. These pillars were going to play absolute havoc with the Wayfarers and their way of life.</p><p> </p><p>Our weapons and equipment were taken away, the loudmouth, shouted again:</p><p> </p><p>“Lord Onamdammin will see you now. You are most fortunate to have been granted this audience; the Lord is leaving tomorrow morning. Be most respectful. We will not tolerate disrespect to our Lord.”</p><p> </p><p>We were led out of this courtyard into a large, luxurious room. I still had no idea where we were. The room was beautifully furnished with dozens of plush beds; several veils hanging in the room, obscured the full dimensions and décor but some of them had been pulled back, creating an open space; the ceiling was bronze and so polished that it was like a mirror. A young man was sitting down at a desk. He was exquisitely dressed, in white silk, with a bright red belt. He wore a sword and as we entered, he was picking up a small handless cup of tea; he looked at us with interest. I noticed that he was remarkably tall and that he had a lot of elven blood.</p><p> </p><p>As he looked at us, he said:</p><p> </p><p>“Tell me, you are from Seaquen, yes?”</p><p> </p><p>Longhelim replied: “Yes, we are.”</p><p> </p><p>“What is the status of the Lyceum and the town now? I heard it had suffered in the storm.”</p><p> </p><p>“Ah indeed, but the Lyceum is mostly unharmed; there was only superficial damage and Masters Simeon and Kiernan are there, running thing and supervising the rebuilding of the town; that was destroyed, as I am sure you have heard.”</p><p> </p><p>“Interesting.” The Khagan went back to his tea. “This is a time of great change in our land. A ruler must be careful lest he makes the incorrect decision. Tell me, what would the advantages be to Ostalin if I allied with Seaquen?”</p><p> </p><p>There were so many nuances to that question, I didn’t even begin to know where to begin. For a start, there was the whole Seaquen/Dassen question; then there was the issue that the Khagan had a dreadful reputation abroad, supposedly a weak, dithering ruler who allowed himself to be guided by favourites.</p><p> </p><p>It should also be remembered that Coaltongue had been killed while he was in the process of conquering Ostalin at the head of the Ragesian First Army, so it was difficult to know just what choice Onamdammin had as regards allies. There were the Shahalesti I suppose but Dassen was in the way.</p><p> </p><p>Cleverly, Longhelim dodged the question: “Your Majesty, I am no diplomat. I have no doubt the advantages would be many but I cannot list them as I have only just returned there recently and had to leave very quickly. May I suggest you send an envoy to the Lyceum? I do not doubt that they will be very happy to listen to any proposals you may have.”</p><p> </p><p>The Khagan nodded and sipped: “Indeed, so what are you doing here in Yen Ching?”</p><p> </p><p>Well, at least we were in the right city. I was quite relieved.</p><p> </p><p>“We are here to make contact with the Monastery of the Two Winds. We believe that there are various matters with which they will be able to help us; mostly with the mysterious storm that devastated Seaquen. It is no secret that it was not natural and the Monastery’s expertise with wind magic is well known.”</p><p> </p><p>Onamadammin nodded again, seemingly satisfied with the explanation:</p><p> </p><p>“Master Pilus is a very learned man. I will be in contact with him after he has helped you. I will be most interested to find out what he has to report. If he tells me that you have conducted yourselves with honour and if he believes you are worthy, then I will pledge my forces to fight Ragesia.”</p><p> </p><p>Then he turned to the woman who had led us here: “Felpan, our guests are to be given beds and entertainment; see that they are allowed to leave tomorrow with all their equipment.”</p><p> </p><p>After that, he rose and left the room, leaving us in this unaccustomed luxury.</p><p> </p><p>A few moments later, a group of young men and women joined us; overall, they were the most comely group I had ever seen. They all looked as if they had been picked for their physical perfection. Wide-eyed I stared at them as they arrived and stood in front of us.</p><p> </p><p>Longhelim smiled at them but continued to unpack his back pack. Victor took out a little scrap of paper and wrote something on it; he didn’t do it surreptitiously, but it was discreet; he then handed the scrap to Drudge, who in turn handed it Longhelim; the paper made its way all the way to me; I was the last to see it; it said: “the walls have eyes and ears”. Of course they did! It hadn’t occurred to me but in retrospect, it was obvious. I took the piece of paper and fed it to my rat; one of the nice things about rats is that they will eat anything.</p><p> </p><p>Longhelim had finished making up his pallet. Then he turned around to our group of guests:</p><p> </p><p>“Ladies and gentlemen: you honour us with your presence. I realize that you are here for to provide for us but please feel as if your duty has been fulfilled. My group and I plan only on sleeping here. I would like to stress that this is in no way a slight on your talents.</p><p> </p><p>I cannot speak for Mistress Sheena.”</p><p> </p><p>I didn’t sleep well that night. Every time I woke up, there they were, watching us. Obviously, they had been tasked to spend the night here, no matter what we did. They made me quite uncomfortable.</p><p> </p><p>The next morning, Felpan arrived to collect us. She looked a little surprised when she saw the arrangements in the room but didn’t say anything. She said:</p><p> </p><p>“His Majesty, the Khagan wishes you well. Follow me and I will lead you to your horses.” </p><p> </p><p>As stated, we were led to the horses and rode out as quickly as possible. We managed to have a quick look at the city before as we walked. Surprisingly, it looked very wealthy; the houses were substantial and there were many aqueducts, which suggested a sophisticated water supply; there were also many flags and banners fluttering in the wind, giving the whole city a bright, colourful, cheerful look.</p><p> </p><p>As soon as we were a short distance out of the city, Sheena cast several protection spells on herself and said:</p><p> </p><p>“Farewell and good luck. I need to return to Seaquen. I will report on what the Khagan said.”</p><p> </p><p>We rode over the rolling country side. The mountains could be seen in the far distance and they were our ultimate destination. As we rode, John was complaining:</p><p> </p><p>“I can’t believe I just spent the night in a harem and the only thing I did was sleep!”</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Cafu, post: 6086481, member: 6692807"] We looked at each other. Subconsciously, I had been expecting it. Gate Pass was city of merchants, craftsmen and farmers, not soldiers. It could not have stood up against the Ragesian war machine for any length of time; but it was still devastating news. I just hoped that the sack of the city had not been too bloody; but these were orcs and worse that we were talking about. It was going to be messy, no matter what I hoped. Looking at my friends, none of them looked shocked. I think we had all been expecting it at some point or other; everyone looked worried. They knew the capabilities of the Ragesian military just as well as I did. Simeon continued: “This news is less than a week old: although the city has fallen, the Ragesian hold is still tenuous. However, we don’t know what the orcs plan next. As for further enemy movement, we know that the Fourth Ragesian army is trying to flank the elven forces in Northern Shahalesti around the mountains; we do not have any more detail than that at the moment. The Third Ragesian Army is facing Dassen and you have a better idea as to how long that engagement will take. The Western Ragesian Naval Fleet is blockading the capital of Sindaire and the remains of the First Army are lurking outside Castle Korstull. Oddly, Gate Pass is the only place where the Ragesians are actually holding land; bar that, their strategy so far seems to be to cover as much land as possible. We think they may be looking for the Torch, but we are not sure.” Simeon smiled mirthlessly at us: “The good news is that we’re not dead; or not yet at least.” Evan Katrina looked around at him after that comment, obviously shocked. This was the first time that Simeon actually said something which showed that he realised just what stakes we were playing for here. The more we did, the greater targets we became. We had already seen that the Ragesians were masters of the art of assassination. Steppengaard would certainly attest to that. We were under no illusion: we were already targets; hopefully, just minor at this stage. This may have changed after the Ragesians found out about our actions in Dassen. There was a period of silence as we all absorbed the ramifications of Simeon’s last comment. Then the mage seemed to shake himself. He straightened and said: “We have also been doing some research into the whole fire tunnel and magical transport issue; we have been able to ascertain certain things. First, the fire effect is at its weakest in the midnight hour. So, due to the urgency of this mission, we propose to put spells on which will protect you from fire; then Mistress Sheena Larkins of the Wayfarers will magically transport you to a city near the Monastery.” I was a little concerned. It seemed a little too easy: “Are you sure that those spells will be enough to shield us?” Simeon replied: “No I am not sure; if you have any spells against the element of fire yourselves, I suggest you use them as well. They certainly couldn’t hurt. You will also be travelling through various mountain passes and high ground; I suggest that those of you who can use it, should purchase specialist equipment for that purpose. I will see you here in a few hours.” John and Drudge left immediately, presumably to buy the ropes and stuff. Simeon approached me: “Faden, I’m sorry to hear about your journals; especially the circumstances under which they were taken from you. I have had some copies made; would you like a set? Just to help with your own reference?” “Yes please; that would be most helpful.” Soon, an acolyte arrived with a book and I happily began to read some of our past deeds; mostly to see if they could give a clue as to what we could expect at our destination. I lost myself in the narrative. Someone tapped me on the shoulder. I looked up, blinked in surprise. Everyone was there; Drudge and John were loaded with rope, grapnel, various hooks and pitons; Sheenah Larkins had arrived and was talking quietly to Longhelim. Kiernan was there with several other magicians. Sheena turned to us: “It is good to see you all! What tales you must have to tell! Promise me that the next time you return, you will come to the Wayfarer and tell me all you adventures. I’m sure they would make a very good play!” Longhelim bowed and kissed her hand: “Of course my Lady! We would be delighted.” Personally, I thought it would be a cold day in hell before I set foot on that ship of theirs again. Sheena continued: “Of course, I have been in Ostalin many times but the closest location to the area you want to go to is the city of Yen Ching. It is a few days away from where you need to go. A dear friend of mine owns a lovely house there and I plan to take us to his garden; it is a delightful place and so discreet.” “My lady, any help you can give us would be most appreciated. It is good of you to help us,” replied Longhelim. “Excellent, then I will see you all tomorrow evening. Good night!” The next day, everyone prepared. Personally, I summoned a familiar. It was something I had been thinking about and now it was time. My chosen creature was a black rat. I deliberately chose this animal as it had a great many advantages; above all, rats were known as great survivors and the gods knew, it would need all of its survival traits to live through the next few years with me. As the ritual was completed and the little animal approached me, it grew a little bigger, sleeker and it looked up at me; its eyes lost some of its animal nature began to sparkle with awareness. It ran up my hand, arm and settled itself on my shoulder. As I joined the others, they looked at the new addition to our group and smiled, especially John, who already had a little viper as his familiar. The ritual had taken me almost all day so we were nearly ready to go. Sheena was already here, talking to Simeon, while we began to cast the various spells before we went through the tunnel of fire. Thus, all the spells were cast, mostly to protect against fire and then we waited until the appointed time. On the midnight hour, Sheena cast the spell. The next few moments were ones I do not wish to repeat in my lifetime; it seemed as if we were hurtling out of control through a tunnel of fire; a tunnel that twisted endlessly and seemed to pulse, haphazardly becoming stronger and weaker without any logic. I could feel the terrible heat eating through our fire protection and I was getting uncomfortably hot when we seemed to be almost wrenched from our path and then we were thrown into an exposed courtyard. Or, rather we were thrown inside a cage, with a strange pillar in its centre; the same pillar we had seen in the caves below Seaquen; we now had direct evidence that it did indeed disrupt magical travel. I had only the briefest moment to register this before someone began to scream at us: “In the name of Lord Onamdammin, drop all your weapons. Who are you and what are you doing here?” A quick glance revealed that not only where we all in a small cage, the courtyard was surrounded by four towers, full of archers; and their bows were leveled at us; many, many, bows. The annoyingly loud woman began shouting again: “In the name of Lord Onamdammin, drop all your weapons and possessions. You are summoned to his august presence. Longhelim shouted out in reply: “We are from Seaquen. We go on a peaceful quest on behalf of the Lyceum. We mean no harm or foul.” Then, Longhelim, with a grimace, dropped all his weapons. When I saw the paladin doing that, I did the same; as did Felix, Victor and finally and most reluctantly, John and Drudge. All of our movement was watched zealously by the loud mouthed woman and the archers. Our possessions were taken away; as this was happening, I suddenly realised: Lord Onamdammin, or Khagan Onamdammin to give him his title, was the ruler of Ostalin. What was he doing here? This was supposed to be a small city near the Dassen border. Then I looked at that blasted pillar and realised that it was not even guaranteed that we were even in Yen Ching. These pillars were going to play absolute havoc with the Wayfarers and their way of life. Our weapons and equipment were taken away, the loudmouth, shouted again: “Lord Onamdammin will see you now. You are most fortunate to have been granted this audience; the Lord is leaving tomorrow morning. Be most respectful. We will not tolerate disrespect to our Lord.” We were led out of this courtyard into a large, luxurious room. I still had no idea where we were. The room was beautifully furnished with dozens of plush beds; several veils hanging in the room, obscured the full dimensions and décor but some of them had been pulled back, creating an open space; the ceiling was bronze and so polished that it was like a mirror. A young man was sitting down at a desk. He was exquisitely dressed, in white silk, with a bright red belt. He wore a sword and as we entered, he was picking up a small handless cup of tea; he looked at us with interest. I noticed that he was remarkably tall and that he had a lot of elven blood. As he looked at us, he said: “Tell me, you are from Seaquen, yes?” Longhelim replied: “Yes, we are.” “What is the status of the Lyceum and the town now? I heard it had suffered in the storm.” “Ah indeed, but the Lyceum is mostly unharmed; there was only superficial damage and Masters Simeon and Kiernan are there, running thing and supervising the rebuilding of the town; that was destroyed, as I am sure you have heard.” “Interesting.” The Khagan went back to his tea. “This is a time of great change in our land. A ruler must be careful lest he makes the incorrect decision. Tell me, what would the advantages be to Ostalin if I allied with Seaquen?” There were so many nuances to that question, I didn’t even begin to know where to begin. For a start, there was the whole Seaquen/Dassen question; then there was the issue that the Khagan had a dreadful reputation abroad, supposedly a weak, dithering ruler who allowed himself to be guided by favourites. It should also be remembered that Coaltongue had been killed while he was in the process of conquering Ostalin at the head of the Ragesian First Army, so it was difficult to know just what choice Onamdammin had as regards allies. There were the Shahalesti I suppose but Dassen was in the way. Cleverly, Longhelim dodged the question: “Your Majesty, I am no diplomat. I have no doubt the advantages would be many but I cannot list them as I have only just returned there recently and had to leave very quickly. May I suggest you send an envoy to the Lyceum? I do not doubt that they will be very happy to listen to any proposals you may have.” The Khagan nodded and sipped: “Indeed, so what are you doing here in Yen Ching?” Well, at least we were in the right city. I was quite relieved. “We are here to make contact with the Monastery of the Two Winds. We believe that there are various matters with which they will be able to help us; mostly with the mysterious storm that devastated Seaquen. It is no secret that it was not natural and the Monastery’s expertise with wind magic is well known.” Onamadammin nodded again, seemingly satisfied with the explanation: “Master Pilus is a very learned man. I will be in contact with him after he has helped you. I will be most interested to find out what he has to report. If he tells me that you have conducted yourselves with honour and if he believes you are worthy, then I will pledge my forces to fight Ragesia.” Then he turned to the woman who had led us here: “Felpan, our guests are to be given beds and entertainment; see that they are allowed to leave tomorrow with all their equipment.” After that, he rose and left the room, leaving us in this unaccustomed luxury. A few moments later, a group of young men and women joined us; overall, they were the most comely group I had ever seen. They all looked as if they had been picked for their physical perfection. Wide-eyed I stared at them as they arrived and stood in front of us. Longhelim smiled at them but continued to unpack his back pack. Victor took out a little scrap of paper and wrote something on it; he didn’t do it surreptitiously, but it was discreet; he then handed the scrap to Drudge, who in turn handed it Longhelim; the paper made its way all the way to me; I was the last to see it; it said: “the walls have eyes and ears”. Of course they did! It hadn’t occurred to me but in retrospect, it was obvious. I took the piece of paper and fed it to my rat; one of the nice things about rats is that they will eat anything. Longhelim had finished making up his pallet. Then he turned around to our group of guests: “Ladies and gentlemen: you honour us with your presence. I realize that you are here for to provide for us but please feel as if your duty has been fulfilled. My group and I plan only on sleeping here. I would like to stress that this is in no way a slight on your talents. I cannot speak for Mistress Sheena.” I didn’t sleep well that night. Every time I woke up, there they were, watching us. Obviously, they had been tasked to spend the night here, no matter what we did. They made me quite uncomfortable. The next morning, Felpan arrived to collect us. She looked a little surprised when she saw the arrangements in the room but didn’t say anything. She said: “His Majesty, the Khagan wishes you well. Follow me and I will lead you to your horses.” As stated, we were led to the horses and rode out as quickly as possible. We managed to have a quick look at the city before as we walked. Surprisingly, it looked very wealthy; the houses were substantial and there were many aqueducts, which suggested a sophisticated water supply; there were also many flags and banners fluttering in the wind, giving the whole city a bright, colourful, cheerful look. As soon as we were a short distance out of the city, Sheena cast several protection spells on herself and said: “Farewell and good luck. I need to return to Seaquen. I will report on what the Khagan said.” We rode over the rolling country side. The mountains could be seen in the far distance and they were our ultimate destination. As we rode, John was complaining: “I can’t believe I just spent the night in a harem and the only thing I did was sleep!” [/QUOTE]
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The Gate Pass Irregulars: A War of the Burning Sky Campaign
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