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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: 6115808" data-attributes="member: 6692807"><p>That night we rested, undisturbed again. In the morning, I conjured my steeds. It took a certain amount of time as it was a complicated formula; and I had never done it before. The results were insubstantial creatures with some resemblance to horses and everyone was looking at them dubiously until I managed to clamber on top of one of them. The others then mounted, far more gracefully than I and we set off; their opinion soon changed as they realised the speed with which these magical beasts could travel; since they were not hampered by the snow, they sped on the road at great speed, galloping tirelessly mile after mile, the magic giving them an unnatural sure footedness, making the ride easy even for a novice such as I. It took us only a day to reach Eresh and everyone quickly became a convert to these “ghost horses” as they became known.</p><p> </p><p>We dismounted a little outside of the town as we did not want to cause a panic and then walked; we had decided to go to the Inn at the Peak’s Shadow first and try to rent some rooms. As we arrived, it was obvious that the town was trying to get back to its feet; there was a great deal of activity as people rebuilt and the inn was a centre of activity by default. The innkeeper, Thashalnos, greeted us eagerly, wanting to know where we had been and what we had done; we gave him a very abridged version of events. He absorbed it all eagerly and then I noticed that a little crowd had gathered around us, all of whom were listening to our tale. After we had finished, Thashalnos took out a scroll and gave it to Longhelim:</p><p> </p><p>“This arrived for you from the Monastery.”</p><p> </p><p>The paladin unrolled it and then handed it to John:</p><p> </p><p>“It’s an invitation; from Longinus; which one is he again?”</p><p> </p><p>“West Wind,“ I replied.</p><p> </p><p>He grunted: “Not sure what that means.”</p><p> </p><p>I added: “Well, it’s the one that Caela used to follow before she switched.”</p><p> </p><p>John muttered: “Well, I hope we won’t have to explain to him why we killed his former disciple.”</p><p> </p><p>Longhelim stood up:</p><p> </p><p>“Let’s go to bed; we will have a long day tomorrow. Thashalnos, do you have any rooms spare for us?”</p><p> </p><p>As one can imagine, he had plenty or rooms and we spent the night undisturbed.</p><p> </p><p>The next morning, we made sure that we looked our best and then marched up the road to the Monastery again. This time, we were obviously expected as the doors opened as soon as we reached them and inside the beautiful courtyard, stood an honour guard of approximately forty monks. They looked at us and saluted in their way; it was all very stylized but nice of them. Then one of them stepped forward and said:</p><p> </p><p>“The masters will see you now; please follow me.”</p><p> </p><p>We were led through the courtyard and I had a chance to admire the architecture without someone trying to kill me this time. It was even more impressive than at a distance; the walls were thick but brightly painted; the ubiquitous flags and pennants fluttered in the wind and the stone floors were amazingly even. As we entered into the interior, the change was extraordinary; due to the thickness of the stone, it was far warmer than I was expecting; the corridors were also well lit and everything was very clean. The monks were obviously good housekeepers. There was little natural light as the windows were tiny and had glass; otherwise, it would have been freezing; instead the whole corridor was a very pleasant temperature.</p><p> </p><p>We were led into a luxurious chamber; there were six cushions on the floor and two figures already seated. One of these was dressed in a white robe etched in feathers. He was also wearing a mask:</p><p> </p><p>“I am Longinus,” he introduced himself. As he spoke, I noticed that he seemed to wheeze. </p><p> </p><p>The other was dressed in red robes, illustrated lavishly with a dragon. He was dark haired with a beard and a moustache and looked at us, eyes bright with curiosity. He looked amused at the proceedings. Their clothes were another reference to the Great Spirits, the Eagle of the Air and the Dragon of Fire yet what they had to do with the monks and their Monastery was a mystery to me. </p><p> </p><p>“And I am Pilus; it is very good to meet you. Your defence of Eresh is known to us. Your defeat of the Ragesians was truly heroic.”</p><p> </p><p>Longinus spoke up at this point, his voice still wheezing:</p><p> </p><p>“You have performed mighty deeds; come now, present your request for the boon for which you have travelled here.”</p><p> </p><p>Longhelim stood up and spoke, modulating his voice as only he knew how:</p><p> </p><p>“Master Longinus, Master Pilus, we seek to enter Castle Korstull and recover the Torch of the Burning Sky. The Empress Leska makes war on all the lands; her armies attack towns, cities and countries; she uses spies, assassins, traitors and creatures beyond the ken of man; everything, anything and anyone is used to secure victory; no one is safe. If she manages to lay her hands on the artifact then we will all become Ragesians. We ask to be given the chance to recover the Torch and be given a fighting chance against the Empire.</p><p> </p><p>It is said that your mastery of wind magic is such that you would be able fashion a way for a small group to avoid the dangers of the firestorm above the castle. We ask for you to grant us this boon.”</p><p> </p><p>The paladin stopped and respectfully sat down again.</p><p> </p><p>Pilus spoke at this point: “The arrival of the Ragesians here has confirmed what we have feared all this time; it is to be war; the longest and worst war that any of us will remember; and the most powerful artifact in this war will be that which you seek: The Torch of the Burning Sky; we can help you regain this but……so long as it is on this plane, the war will always continue; oh, there may be respites in the conflict while nations recover but sooner or later someone will want to use it, thinking themselves master strategists; therefore, you must promise that if you recover it, once the Ragesians are defeated, you must return it here; we will find a way to either destroy it or take it away from this plane.”</p><p> </p><p>None of us said anything at this point. I couldn’t help but think that the monks were very naïve. If, and I would have to qualify this word strongly, we were fortunate enough somehow to obtain the Torch of the Burning Sky, I would expect it to be immediately taken by the leaders of the Resistance and given to the generals who were most likely to make the best use of it. After that happened, I would not expect to see it again; however, that was an argument to make another day.</p><p> </p><p>Pilus then smiled that amused smile of his again: “My brother and I will enchant an orb; this orb will allow you to create a passage through the firestorm raging around the Castle.”</p><p> </p><p>Then he clapped his hands and a monk appeared with a tray bearing eight small cups:</p><p> </p><p>“Come,” he said, “a toast! A toast to our new alliance!”</p><p> </p><p>We all took a cup, including Longinus, despite his mask. We toasted to our new alliance. Then Pilus said:</p><p> </p><p>“As a further sign of our good faith I have another proposition for you: I have heard it said that you have gathered a great deal of the equipment from the Ragesian force which you defeated. We would be willing to purchase this equipment from you; we will open the treasure rooms of the Monastery for this purpose; your need is immediate and we are willing to fulfill it as a sign of good faith in our new alliance. Is this agreeable to you?”</p><p> </p><p>Longhelim replied: “More than agreeable; and you may rest assured that the leaders of the Resistance in Seaquen will receive a full report of your generosity and willingness to help in our mission.”</p><p> </p><p>Longinus nodded at the paladin and Pilus smiled a little crookedly and said:</p><p> </p><p>“We will begin to work on the orb immediately; please return later and the monks will take you to the chambers where negotiations will begin. It was very good to meet you.”</p><p> </p><p>We had been politely dismissed so we rose up and left the room. Once outside, a monk led us out of the monastery and we returned to the Inn. There, we immediately went up to our room. Longhelim cleared his throat and then began:</p><p> </p><p>“Now that we are out of the Monastery, I have to tell you all something: this is a lesson is what is called a “diplomatic necessity”. When we went to the Forbidden Valley, one of the guardians was a group of monks; the main guardian inside the complex was Caela, principal disciple to Pilus and former disciple to Longinus. There was also a permanent storm above the valley. So what does that tell us? Well, personally, I would be stunned if Pilus and Longinus were not aware of the complex; they would have had to have been deaf, blind and stupid not to have realised that something of that magnitude was happening about a day’s travel from their monastery; having now met them, they both strike me as very shrewd and powerful individuals; that means that they must also be directly or at least indirectly responsible for whatever unsavoury activities were going on there; however, we are not from here and most importantly, we need their help; without their orb, we cannot enter Castle Korstull.</p><p> </p><p>So, we are pretending that we are not aware that they are responsible for whatever was going on and they are pretending that we don’t know who was responsible. If we force the issue, then they will not give us the orb and we will not be able to enter the Castle. There is also the little matter that when Lord Onamdammin asks “his good friend” Master Pilus for a report, then we can also forget about any alliance that Ostalin may be thinking about forging with Seaquen. It stinks to high heaven but I cannot think of any way of confronting them without reaping some fairly heavy consequences.”</p><p> </p><p>All of these events were something I had been thinking about and had roughly deduced myself but Longhelim was so much better at laying them out for us examine so to speak.</p><p> </p><p>The paladin continued: “All of this grates on me quite badly because there were obviously some very nasty things going on in that complex, not least the kidnapping of various townsfolk and also the previous mission from Seaquen but……we have to compromise.”</p><p> </p><p>He took out his pipe and bit on it sharply:</p><p> </p><p>“What I would suggest is that we conclude our business here, take whatever they are willing to give, leave as fast as we can and hope we never set eyes on this bunch or this blasted monastery ever again!”</p><p> </p><p>As I remembered the face of the cleric from the House of Healing whom I had found in the vat, I couldn’t help but feel sullied but what we were about to do but ultimately our mission was so important that personal beliefs had to be set aside. If there was any chance that we could recover the Torch, than that had to take precedence over almost anything else; its strategic value was incalculable.</p><p> </p><p>Frowning, I asked one last question: “We’re not really going to give them the Torch, are we?”</p><p> </p><p>John just rolled his eyes: “You must joking! We won’t have it! If we can get it, as soon as the leaders of the Resistance hear that, you can bet your bottom copper that they’ll actually leave the safety of their stronghold to get their hands on it! And that’s the last we’ll see of it!”</p><p> </p><p>“Now, John……” admonished Longhelim gently. Then he added: “Everyone agree?”</p><p> </p><p>So, swallowing bile, I nodded; I saw the others emulating me one by one.</p><p> </p><p>The next few days were very busy; we had to hire several mules to transport all to the equipment to the Monastery; there, the monks had their own experts who assessed the quality of the armour; not surprisingly, they pronounced it standard Ragesian work, in other words, of superior quality; all the suits of armour, the weapons, the ammunition and other miscellaneous pieces of equipment were valued and the totals added; it was a handsome figure and then we were led into one of the treasure rooms of the Monastery; there, we spent a great deal of time discussing what we should obtain amongst the equipment available and for whom.</p><p> </p><p>Finally, it was all done. We had obtained several wands of healing; these would be invaluable. All of us also had magical sacks which were deceptively large; these were the same as the ones already carried by Drudge and John; they could also double up as backpacks; just in case, we also purchased a magical bag with the same characteristic, only bigger; our large hammer went in there: I had discovered that it had a name: Kiano and that it was particularly potent in smashing objects.</p><p> </p><p>We also exhausted the Monastery’s supply of diamonds and diamond dust; both of these were invaluable as spell components. Finally, everyone also received a cloak which bolstered their defences against magic. Then individually, both Drudge and John purchased a couple of lenses between them; these would allow them to use magically aided perception; John also purchased a headband and a helm; the former would stimulate his spell casting and learning, while the latter would allow him to read ancient and unknown languages; both magical and mundane. This sounded like an intriguing addition to his repertory. Drudge also purchased a set of shoes which allowed him to climb walls vertically, just like my spell.</p><p> </p><p>I obtained an amulet that would bolster my general well being but the warriors returned with a very peculiar sight; both Longhelim and Victor now had strange small shapes whirling around their heads; Longhelim had one, a pink rhomboid; Victor also had one of those as well as an additional one: a dusty rose prism.</p><p> </p><p>I had heard of those; they were called ioun stones and they had various different powers.</p><p> </p><p>Finally, both the warriors sported new amulets around their necks. These provided additional defences.</p><p> </p><p>Unfortunately, for my purposes, there were no magical formulae to be had.</p><p> </p><p>All of this took approximately a week. At the end of that time, we had a final meeting with Pilus and Longinus; we met in the same luxurious chamber again and this time Longinus spoke to us in his wheezing voice, through his mask:</p><p> </p><p>“Here is the Orb.”</p><p> </p><p>He handed a small pouch to Longhelim. The paladin took out a crystal sphere which had a miniature storm blowing inside.</p><p> </p><p>Longinus continued:</p><p> </p><p>“Upon activation, the Orb will release a storm which will blow the fires away, creating a pathway; be warned though. It will not last for long. At most, you will have a week, maybe even less. You must complete your mission quickly.”</p><p> </p><p>He paused briefly then continued:</p><p> </p><p>“You are not the only group interested in the Torch. The remnants of the First Ragesian Army, under General Magnus, has been encamped outside of the fire storm for some time. They patrol the area. They also have a contingent of the Shahalesti with them. There may also be others; we do not know.”</p><p> </p><p>I was so startled that I asked without thinking, finding it difficult to believe what I heard:</p><p> </p><p>“A contingent of the Shahalesti? With the Ragesians? How? The two nations are at war; a Ragesian army is invading the Shining Lands as we speak.”</p><p> </p><p>Longinus turned that masked face towards me: “Are they? We did not know.”</p><p> </p><p>Then, he dismissively turned away. At this point, Pilus approached with a small box, which he gave to Victor.</p><p> </p><p>“We incanted a divination about your mission and it was revealed that you will need protection from deception. This is the Earring of the Whispering Wind; it will aid you in this. When you wear it, you will have acute hearing; and three times, you will be able to tell truth from lie. Use it well.</p><p> </p><p>Now it is time for you to go. Guides will take you to the borders of the lowlands.”</p><p> </p><p>We thanked the masters for their gifts and their help. Then we left the Monastery.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Cafu, post: 6115808, member: 6692807"] That night we rested, undisturbed again. In the morning, I conjured my steeds. It took a certain amount of time as it was a complicated formula; and I had never done it before. The results were insubstantial creatures with some resemblance to horses and everyone was looking at them dubiously until I managed to clamber on top of one of them. The others then mounted, far more gracefully than I and we set off; their opinion soon changed as they realised the speed with which these magical beasts could travel; since they were not hampered by the snow, they sped on the road at great speed, galloping tirelessly mile after mile, the magic giving them an unnatural sure footedness, making the ride easy even for a novice such as I. It took us only a day to reach Eresh and everyone quickly became a convert to these “ghost horses” as they became known. We dismounted a little outside of the town as we did not want to cause a panic and then walked; we had decided to go to the Inn at the Peak’s Shadow first and try to rent some rooms. As we arrived, it was obvious that the town was trying to get back to its feet; there was a great deal of activity as people rebuilt and the inn was a centre of activity by default. The innkeeper, Thashalnos, greeted us eagerly, wanting to know where we had been and what we had done; we gave him a very abridged version of events. He absorbed it all eagerly and then I noticed that a little crowd had gathered around us, all of whom were listening to our tale. After we had finished, Thashalnos took out a scroll and gave it to Longhelim: “This arrived for you from the Monastery.” The paladin unrolled it and then handed it to John: “It’s an invitation; from Longinus; which one is he again?” “West Wind,“ I replied. He grunted: “Not sure what that means.” I added: “Well, it’s the one that Caela used to follow before she switched.” John muttered: “Well, I hope we won’t have to explain to him why we killed his former disciple.” Longhelim stood up: “Let’s go to bed; we will have a long day tomorrow. Thashalnos, do you have any rooms spare for us?” As one can imagine, he had plenty or rooms and we spent the night undisturbed. The next morning, we made sure that we looked our best and then marched up the road to the Monastery again. This time, we were obviously expected as the doors opened as soon as we reached them and inside the beautiful courtyard, stood an honour guard of approximately forty monks. They looked at us and saluted in their way; it was all very stylized but nice of them. Then one of them stepped forward and said: “The masters will see you now; please follow me.” We were led through the courtyard and I had a chance to admire the architecture without someone trying to kill me this time. It was even more impressive than at a distance; the walls were thick but brightly painted; the ubiquitous flags and pennants fluttered in the wind and the stone floors were amazingly even. As we entered into the interior, the change was extraordinary; due to the thickness of the stone, it was far warmer than I was expecting; the corridors were also well lit and everything was very clean. The monks were obviously good housekeepers. There was little natural light as the windows were tiny and had glass; otherwise, it would have been freezing; instead the whole corridor was a very pleasant temperature. We were led into a luxurious chamber; there were six cushions on the floor and two figures already seated. One of these was dressed in a white robe etched in feathers. He was also wearing a mask: “I am Longinus,” he introduced himself. As he spoke, I noticed that he seemed to wheeze. The other was dressed in red robes, illustrated lavishly with a dragon. He was dark haired with a beard and a moustache and looked at us, eyes bright with curiosity. He looked amused at the proceedings. Their clothes were another reference to the Great Spirits, the Eagle of the Air and the Dragon of Fire yet what they had to do with the monks and their Monastery was a mystery to me. “And I am Pilus; it is very good to meet you. Your defence of Eresh is known to us. Your defeat of the Ragesians was truly heroic.” Longinus spoke up at this point, his voice still wheezing: “You have performed mighty deeds; come now, present your request for the boon for which you have travelled here.” Longhelim stood up and spoke, modulating his voice as only he knew how: “Master Longinus, Master Pilus, we seek to enter Castle Korstull and recover the Torch of the Burning Sky. The Empress Leska makes war on all the lands; her armies attack towns, cities and countries; she uses spies, assassins, traitors and creatures beyond the ken of man; everything, anything and anyone is used to secure victory; no one is safe. If she manages to lay her hands on the artifact then we will all become Ragesians. We ask to be given the chance to recover the Torch and be given a fighting chance against the Empire. It is said that your mastery of wind magic is such that you would be able fashion a way for a small group to avoid the dangers of the firestorm above the castle. We ask for you to grant us this boon.” The paladin stopped and respectfully sat down again. Pilus spoke at this point: “The arrival of the Ragesians here has confirmed what we have feared all this time; it is to be war; the longest and worst war that any of us will remember; and the most powerful artifact in this war will be that which you seek: The Torch of the Burning Sky; we can help you regain this but……so long as it is on this plane, the war will always continue; oh, there may be respites in the conflict while nations recover but sooner or later someone will want to use it, thinking themselves master strategists; therefore, you must promise that if you recover it, once the Ragesians are defeated, you must return it here; we will find a way to either destroy it or take it away from this plane.” None of us said anything at this point. I couldn’t help but think that the monks were very naïve. If, and I would have to qualify this word strongly, we were fortunate enough somehow to obtain the Torch of the Burning Sky, I would expect it to be immediately taken by the leaders of the Resistance and given to the generals who were most likely to make the best use of it. After that happened, I would not expect to see it again; however, that was an argument to make another day. Pilus then smiled that amused smile of his again: “My brother and I will enchant an orb; this orb will allow you to create a passage through the firestorm raging around the Castle.” Then he clapped his hands and a monk appeared with a tray bearing eight small cups: “Come,” he said, “a toast! A toast to our new alliance!” We all took a cup, including Longinus, despite his mask. We toasted to our new alliance. Then Pilus said: “As a further sign of our good faith I have another proposition for you: I have heard it said that you have gathered a great deal of the equipment from the Ragesian force which you defeated. We would be willing to purchase this equipment from you; we will open the treasure rooms of the Monastery for this purpose; your need is immediate and we are willing to fulfill it as a sign of good faith in our new alliance. Is this agreeable to you?” Longhelim replied: “More than agreeable; and you may rest assured that the leaders of the Resistance in Seaquen will receive a full report of your generosity and willingness to help in our mission.” Longinus nodded at the paladin and Pilus smiled a little crookedly and said: “We will begin to work on the orb immediately; please return later and the monks will take you to the chambers where negotiations will begin. It was very good to meet you.” We had been politely dismissed so we rose up and left the room. Once outside, a monk led us out of the monastery and we returned to the Inn. There, we immediately went up to our room. Longhelim cleared his throat and then began: “Now that we are out of the Monastery, I have to tell you all something: this is a lesson is what is called a “diplomatic necessity”. When we went to the Forbidden Valley, one of the guardians was a group of monks; the main guardian inside the complex was Caela, principal disciple to Pilus and former disciple to Longinus. There was also a permanent storm above the valley. So what does that tell us? Well, personally, I would be stunned if Pilus and Longinus were not aware of the complex; they would have had to have been deaf, blind and stupid not to have realised that something of that magnitude was happening about a day’s travel from their monastery; having now met them, they both strike me as very shrewd and powerful individuals; that means that they must also be directly or at least indirectly responsible for whatever unsavoury activities were going on there; however, we are not from here and most importantly, we need their help; without their orb, we cannot enter Castle Korstull. So, we are pretending that we are not aware that they are responsible for whatever was going on and they are pretending that we don’t know who was responsible. If we force the issue, then they will not give us the orb and we will not be able to enter the Castle. There is also the little matter that when Lord Onamdammin asks “his good friend” Master Pilus for a report, then we can also forget about any alliance that Ostalin may be thinking about forging with Seaquen. It stinks to high heaven but I cannot think of any way of confronting them without reaping some fairly heavy consequences.” All of these events were something I had been thinking about and had roughly deduced myself but Longhelim was so much better at laying them out for us examine so to speak. The paladin continued: “All of this grates on me quite badly because there were obviously some very nasty things going on in that complex, not least the kidnapping of various townsfolk and also the previous mission from Seaquen but……we have to compromise.” He took out his pipe and bit on it sharply: “What I would suggest is that we conclude our business here, take whatever they are willing to give, leave as fast as we can and hope we never set eyes on this bunch or this blasted monastery ever again!” As I remembered the face of the cleric from the House of Healing whom I had found in the vat, I couldn’t help but feel sullied but what we were about to do but ultimately our mission was so important that personal beliefs had to be set aside. If there was any chance that we could recover the Torch, than that had to take precedence over almost anything else; its strategic value was incalculable. Frowning, I asked one last question: “We’re not really going to give them the Torch, are we?” John just rolled his eyes: “You must joking! We won’t have it! If we can get it, as soon as the leaders of the Resistance hear that, you can bet your bottom copper that they’ll actually leave the safety of their stronghold to get their hands on it! And that’s the last we’ll see of it!” “Now, John……” admonished Longhelim gently. Then he added: “Everyone agree?” So, swallowing bile, I nodded; I saw the others emulating me one by one. The next few days were very busy; we had to hire several mules to transport all to the equipment to the Monastery; there, the monks had their own experts who assessed the quality of the armour; not surprisingly, they pronounced it standard Ragesian work, in other words, of superior quality; all the suits of armour, the weapons, the ammunition and other miscellaneous pieces of equipment were valued and the totals added; it was a handsome figure and then we were led into one of the treasure rooms of the Monastery; there, we spent a great deal of time discussing what we should obtain amongst the equipment available and for whom. Finally, it was all done. We had obtained several wands of healing; these would be invaluable. All of us also had magical sacks which were deceptively large; these were the same as the ones already carried by Drudge and John; they could also double up as backpacks; just in case, we also purchased a magical bag with the same characteristic, only bigger; our large hammer went in there: I had discovered that it had a name: Kiano and that it was particularly potent in smashing objects. We also exhausted the Monastery’s supply of diamonds and diamond dust; both of these were invaluable as spell components. Finally, everyone also received a cloak which bolstered their defences against magic. Then individually, both Drudge and John purchased a couple of lenses between them; these would allow them to use magically aided perception; John also purchased a headband and a helm; the former would stimulate his spell casting and learning, while the latter would allow him to read ancient and unknown languages; both magical and mundane. This sounded like an intriguing addition to his repertory. Drudge also purchased a set of shoes which allowed him to climb walls vertically, just like my spell. I obtained an amulet that would bolster my general well being but the warriors returned with a very peculiar sight; both Longhelim and Victor now had strange small shapes whirling around their heads; Longhelim had one, a pink rhomboid; Victor also had one of those as well as an additional one: a dusty rose prism. I had heard of those; they were called ioun stones and they had various different powers. Finally, both the warriors sported new amulets around their necks. These provided additional defences. Unfortunately, for my purposes, there were no magical formulae to be had. All of this took approximately a week. At the end of that time, we had a final meeting with Pilus and Longinus; we met in the same luxurious chamber again and this time Longinus spoke to us in his wheezing voice, through his mask: “Here is the Orb.” He handed a small pouch to Longhelim. The paladin took out a crystal sphere which had a miniature storm blowing inside. Longinus continued: “Upon activation, the Orb will release a storm which will blow the fires away, creating a pathway; be warned though. It will not last for long. At most, you will have a week, maybe even less. You must complete your mission quickly.” He paused briefly then continued: “You are not the only group interested in the Torch. The remnants of the First Ragesian Army, under General Magnus, has been encamped outside of the fire storm for some time. They patrol the area. They also have a contingent of the Shahalesti with them. There may also be others; we do not know.” I was so startled that I asked without thinking, finding it difficult to believe what I heard: “A contingent of the Shahalesti? With the Ragesians? How? The two nations are at war; a Ragesian army is invading the Shining Lands as we speak.” Longinus turned that masked face towards me: “Are they? We did not know.” Then, he dismissively turned away. At this point, Pilus approached with a small box, which he gave to Victor. “We incanted a divination about your mission and it was revealed that you will need protection from deception. This is the Earring of the Whispering Wind; it will aid you in this. When you wear it, you will have acute hearing; and three times, you will be able to tell truth from lie. Use it well. Now it is time for you to go. Guides will take you to the borders of the lowlands.” We thanked the masters for their gifts and their help. Then we left the Monastery. [/QUOTE]
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The Gate Pass Irregulars: A War of the Burning Sky Campaign
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