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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: 6217592" data-attributes="member: 6692807"><p>Drudge stayed at his lookout point while the paladin and I moved back to the camp.</p><p> </p><p>We settled down for the night, wrapped in our night clothes and night armour.</p><p> </p><p>It felt as if I had only just gone to sleep when suddenly there was a shout and I blearily opened my eyes; there was activity all around me; violent activity; I was never a quick riser although I had improved since I began doing dangerous things like leaving Gate Pass but suddenly I heard Felix shout his usual imprecations to drive away undead which quickened my reactions quite noticeably.</p><p> </p><p>“What happened?” I shouted at Felix, who was still holding his holy symbol.</p><p> </p><p>John replied:</p><p> </p><p>“I was keeping watch when I saw a translucent hand brush through Victor; I shouted to alert everyone as it looked as if we were being attacked by undead but Felix seems to have driven it away and there’s no sign of any others.”</p><p> </p><p>I grunted:</p><p> </p><p>“That’s annoying; this interruption is going to affect my spell tutorial; I’ll have to rest longer now.”</p><p> </p><p>Grumbling, I went back to sleep again. This time, I slept longer, but still not long enough, as I was woken again, this time very unpleasantly as I saw an undead apparition in front of me; I recognized it immediately; it was the same type which we first met in the graveyard outside of Bresk in the kingdom of Dassen, and then more unpleasantly, in the sewers underneath the castle in that same city; it was a shrouded figure and from past experiences, looking under the shroud revealed a kaleidoscope of features or souls, all screaming in eternal torment.</p><p> </p><p>And this one touched me, causing the usual unpleasant effect which drove one of my most powerful spells from my memory. Spell casting rapidly, I put a lightning bolt through its torso which definitely affected it and it shrieked in rage and pain with a multitude of voices. Judging by the shouting and moaning from the other room, there were others and they were also engaged. I saw that Longhelim was in the same room as I but getting ready to join the melee by attacking the one which had drifted into this room. Seeing it in such straights, he sprang forward and managed to hit it several times so effectively that it dissipated.</p><p> </p><p>“Get thee hence to the hell where you belong!”</p><p> </p><p>Another imprecation from Felix to drive them away by the power of this god. Then I glanced at the doorway and saw that at least three of them had lined up, faced by Victor, Felix and Longhelim, who had moved into the other room. Drudge would no doubt be firing arrows from some convenient location; moments later, Victor swiped his falchion three times through the torso of one only for it to be totally unaffected. Thankfully, Longhelim strode forward and managed to strike the same one; seeing this, John managed to move away only for them to begin brushing their shrouded arms against the warriors. We already knew what the effects of their touches were and it was imperative for them to be either driven away or dissipated as quickly as possible. None of us would be able to stand against them for too long.</p><p> </p><p>Then, suddenly I saw one of them stagger as this time Victor struck it three times; it shuddered and dissipated. Longhelim also struck his although it still managed to retaliate and hit him. Victor then joined in and concentrated on the last two remaining apparitions and these were quickly dispatched.</p><p> </p><p>We looked around cautiously for any other opponents and then I asked:</p><p> </p><p>“What happened? Where did they come from?”</p><p> </p><p>Drudge answered:</p><p> </p><p>“I was watching while we waited for you to finish sleeping; I heard someone chopping wood and then I saw a figure chopping at a tree; judging by the description, it was this Rhuarc: a figure in a cowled cloak with a huge scimitar. I actually saw his face; he looks human, with a moustache that goes around his chin to form a short beard. He saw me as soon as I saw him and we engaged in an archery duel. He was losing so he made those undead things appear with his scimitar; after that, he disappeared in front of my eyes; he didn’t use magic either; it’s an ability which uses the owner’s perception to deceive him; it is very difficult to learn and takes a great deal of time and discipline. This Rhuarc must be very powerful.”</p><p> </p><p>It was also quite clear that instead of us looking for him, he had found us instead; and had made his hostile intentions quite clear right from the beginning.</p><p> </p><p>John interrupted at this point:</p><p> </p><p>“Faden, we’re not going to get enough time for you to rest and regain your spells; he’s going to hound us continuously; I suggest you cram.”</p><p> </p><p>I was very reluctant to do this; especially with so many of the creatures around which damaged physical faculties. I debated this for some time but ultimately, bowed to the inevitable and had to cram, with the usual unpleasant aftershock of physical weakness and mental sluggishness.</p><p> </p><p>Felix also crammed and then we sat down to his magical breakfast. After we finished, we put various other spells on ourselves and decided to turn into mist and fly down to the central tree which contained a variety of cunning dwellings inbuilt in its trunk.</p><p> </p><p>After we landed at its root, I was struck by its enormity; I guessed it must have been huge to make such an impression on us from the distant cliff but once we were next to it, its size was truly awesome. One could easily drive two horse carts through its trunk.</p><p> </p><p>We saw various rope bridges winding up its enormous trunk, as connecting the various dwellings and leading to neighbouring gigantic trees, forming an arboreal network. These rope bridges looked old and distinctly unsafe; I was certainly no climber and looking at the heavy armour of the warriors, I was sure neither were they; and the dwellings seemed to be very high up.</p><p> </p><p>These seemed to be literally tree houses; they were circular in shape to accommodate the shape of the tree and built around the central trunk with a walkway around their outer edge; most of them looked dilapidated and abandoned, with one exception. One of them looked as if it had been cleaned and inhabited recently.</p><p> </p><p>Victor and Longhelim were looking at the bridges with concern as well.</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t like the look of those at all,” muttered Longhelim.</p><p> </p><p>Victor had advanced to the foot of one of these bridges at the lower part of the tree and was giving it a shake. It wobbled alarmingly.</p><p> </p><p>Turning, to us, he shook his head and said:</p><p> </p><p>“Using these bridges in armour, is just asking for trouble; they’re just too unstable. We may not fall at first, but sooner or later, someone will.”</p><p> </p><p>I looked up to the house which looked inhabited and stared at the walkway.</p><p> </p><p>“Felix, if you can make Longhelim fly, I will put the same magic on Victor; they can take the rest of us up. We can land on that walkway.”</p><p> </p><p>The warriors perked up considerably at this idea.</p><p> </p><p>Drudge was only one who made an alternate suggestion, saying:</p><p> </p><p>“Don’t bother carrying me; I’ll climb up there.”</p><p> </p><p>So, Felix and I cast the magic on the warriors and Longhelim held me under my arms, while Victor held John in the same way while Felix hung on the warrior’s back. In this manner, we all flew onto the walkway. Due to the heavy burden, the flight was quite slow and this allowed Drudge to beat us there. The ranger was waiting for us on the bridge, looking around carefully, just in case there was an ambush nearby.</p><p> </p><p>The walkway, unlike the bridges, was quite firm and moments after we landed, we looked around curiously.</p><p> </p><p>The view from up here was peculiar in an arboreal way; as I stated before, the trees were enormous and majestic; this effect was magnified once we saw them from above; there was a sea of branches all around us; visibility was poor and the ground was barely visible from this height. Even though I wasn’t very good at climbing I couldn’t help but be amazed at this new world we had just entered; for a moment, just a brief one mind you, I almost understood what it was that elves found so attractive about living in trees; actually, I think that this was the highest I had ever been, arboreally speaking.</p><p> </p><p>As with all the others, this dwelling was circular, with wooden walls and built around the central trunk. That seemed to act as an architectural anchor. There were a couple of windows and a door in front of us.</p><p> </p><p>Longhelim concentrated first but declared that there were no evil auras from within. Then John looked at the door and was convinced that it was not trapped; unfortunately, he found it was locked. He worked at it for some time with his picks but the lock defeated him. Drudge stepped forward with his own set of picks and managed unlock the door, with John giving detailed instructions from behind his shoulders.</p><p> </p><p>With the warriors in front, John called up his invisible friend and who pushed open the door. It revealed a round, comfortable chamber, possibly some sort of sitting room with two pot plants and three doors, obviously leading to a further three rooms off this main space. In the left part of the room, there was also a circular set of stairs going up, leading to an upper floor.</p><p> </p><p>I cast a cantrip which would reveal any magical auras but there were none.</p><p> </p><p>The warriors flew in, not touching the floor and opened the internal doors. Thankfully, none of them were locked. One led into a study, the other was empty and the final one had only a carpet on the floor.</p><p>As the warriors were checking this, I was intrigued by the pot plants. I made my way over to one of them but the floor opened under my weight; I just about managed to keep my balance and sway back from falling into the hole. It was a very nasty trap! I could have fallen down to my death! My yelp drew everyone’s attention and suddenly everyone became far more careful about where they were stepping.</p><p> </p><p>It was for this reason that everyone stood still, while the two warriors flew around the room as they moved without touching the floor. John had also commanded his invisible friend to roll up the carpet, just in case there was an opening underneath it. </p><p> </p><p>Just as we were all watching the carpet being rolled up, something snaked out from outside the door and suddenly I couldn’t breathe; simultaneously, I felt a great pain in my head. I screamed in panic and turned to see a whip wrapped around my neck, and I felt blood pouring down the back of my head. The whip was held by a drow woman with violet hair, dark red leather armour and violet eyes that sparkled madly as she saw her whip wrapped around my throat; in her other hand, she held a rapier; she smiled at me as she yanked the whip, drawing it even tighter. I gurgled to draw more attention.</p><p> </p><p>Everyone else turned around and froze momentarily, with the exception of Drudge and his extraordinary reactions, who moved and shot off several arrows in her direction. She drew back her arm, unwound the whip with an expert movement and in a series of extraordinary flicks she proceeded to whip me raw; or that’s what it felt like but at that point everything went black………</p><p> </p><p>I came to with Felix next to me; the cleric must have healed me as the pain had gone; there were sounds of conflict outside; Victor had gone outside into the walkway; I could hear him shouting:</p><p> </p><p>“….another one! She’s got a two bladed sword! Watch out Longhelim!”</p><p> </p><p>The paladin also stepped through into the walkway and conflict continued. I got up and stepped into a position where I could see everyone; Drudge was already on the rope bridge beyond the walkway while the noise made it obvious that there was combat between the drow women and the warriors. It seemed very intense as well:</p><p> </p><p>“Longhelim, they’re very strong and skilled. Be careful!”</p><p> </p><p>Making sure I could see everyone, I quickly cast my speed spell. This aided the warriors considerably and even Drudge was in the effect, despite being on the tree bridge; which was just as well as a new opponent entered into the fray at that point. A black shade flew through the branch and coalesced next to the ranger, tapping him several times. Drudge screamed and focused our attention on his new plight.</p><p> </p><p>Felix shouted:</p><p> </p><p>“That’s a shadow! Undead! Incredibly dangerous! Will kill unless dealt with very quickly!”</p><p> </p><p>I acted immediately. I cast my wall of flame spell on top of the new arrival; this spell was particularly effective against undead and the creature recoiled visibly, badly hurt. Then Felix himself also responded by casting a cylinder of fire on top of it; when the cylinder was gone, so was the shade; so was the bridge for that matter; and Drudge as well. I hoped he was all right.</p><p> </p><p>At that point, our attention was drawn to the other fight. Longhelim was bleeding very badly while Victor was fencing skillfully against opponent with the two bladed sword; I still couldn’t see the wielder, but I could see the one with violet hair and could also see that she was badly hurt, as she also had several of Drudge’s arrows sticking out of her torso. At this point, Longhelim staggered under the onslaught of her whip and fell over, bursting into flame.</p><p> </p><p>Felix stepped forward to heal Victor, the only warrior he could reach with any safety. The warrior also looked badly bloodied from a previous onslaught. Felix healed him successfully while the warrior fenced with his unseen opponent. Then the first drow flicked her whip from distance and hit Felix, again and again, felling him with swift, accurate blows. Those whips were deceptively deadly. Desperately, Victor stepped over Longhelim’s body, and as she recovered her balance from her assault on Felix, he caught her several times with accurate, powerful cuts; this was too much for her and with a despairing wail, she dropped to the floor. Apparently, from her wailing, the other drow was her sister.</p><p> </p><p>Simultaneously, I could also see Drudge laboriously levering himself up the semi burning bridge and moving to a safe location, from where he managed another shot at the last opponent.</p><p> </p><p>There was a scream from the corner where I couldn’t see and the two bladed sword licked out at Victor with devastating accuracy. Almost simultaneously, three arrows flew out from a mysterious location in the nearby trees, which hit Longhelim, causing him to sink deeper into unconsciousness.</p><p> </p><p>So, Rhuarc was out there as well.</p><p> </p><p>Desperately, I stepped around and finally saw the other drow; unlike her partner, she was dressed in plate mail armour and had an intent, mad expression to her face as she grunted and screamed every time she swung her blades at Victor. Despite her armour, she was badly hurt, with blood pouring out of many wounds. She obviously didn’t care at this point though; she was a berserker. Victor stepped up sliced her around the waist several times, with visibly drastic results as more blood poured out; then Drudge shot her one last time, causing her to fall onto the walkway.</p><p> </p><p>The situation was still deadly though; despite having no melee opponents, Victor was very badly hurt, John was trying to reach the doorway to heal either Longhelim or Felix who were still unconscious on the ground. The unseen menace of Rhuarc was still lurking in the trees, waiting for the next person to show.</p><p> </p><p>In fact, Rhuarc decided to pre-empt the situation and two arrows struck Victor while the third quivered into a tree very close to his head; the warrior turned to us with a stunned look on his face just before he began to float down. Unfortunately, he had been flying over the former location of the bridge that had become a victim of collateral damage.</p><p> </p><p>“Magic’s gone!”</p><p> </p><p>We could hear his shout as he plummeted.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Cafu, post: 6217592, member: 6692807"] Drudge stayed at his lookout point while the paladin and I moved back to the camp. We settled down for the night, wrapped in our night clothes and night armour. It felt as if I had only just gone to sleep when suddenly there was a shout and I blearily opened my eyes; there was activity all around me; violent activity; I was never a quick riser although I had improved since I began doing dangerous things like leaving Gate Pass but suddenly I heard Felix shout his usual imprecations to drive away undead which quickened my reactions quite noticeably. “What happened?” I shouted at Felix, who was still holding his holy symbol. John replied: “I was keeping watch when I saw a translucent hand brush through Victor; I shouted to alert everyone as it looked as if we were being attacked by undead but Felix seems to have driven it away and there’s no sign of any others.” I grunted: “That’s annoying; this interruption is going to affect my spell tutorial; I’ll have to rest longer now.” Grumbling, I went back to sleep again. This time, I slept longer, but still not long enough, as I was woken again, this time very unpleasantly as I saw an undead apparition in front of me; I recognized it immediately; it was the same type which we first met in the graveyard outside of Bresk in the kingdom of Dassen, and then more unpleasantly, in the sewers underneath the castle in that same city; it was a shrouded figure and from past experiences, looking under the shroud revealed a kaleidoscope of features or souls, all screaming in eternal torment. And this one touched me, causing the usual unpleasant effect which drove one of my most powerful spells from my memory. Spell casting rapidly, I put a lightning bolt through its torso which definitely affected it and it shrieked in rage and pain with a multitude of voices. Judging by the shouting and moaning from the other room, there were others and they were also engaged. I saw that Longhelim was in the same room as I but getting ready to join the melee by attacking the one which had drifted into this room. Seeing it in such straights, he sprang forward and managed to hit it several times so effectively that it dissipated. “Get thee hence to the hell where you belong!” Another imprecation from Felix to drive them away by the power of this god. Then I glanced at the doorway and saw that at least three of them had lined up, faced by Victor, Felix and Longhelim, who had moved into the other room. Drudge would no doubt be firing arrows from some convenient location; moments later, Victor swiped his falchion three times through the torso of one only for it to be totally unaffected. Thankfully, Longhelim strode forward and managed to strike the same one; seeing this, John managed to move away only for them to begin brushing their shrouded arms against the warriors. We already knew what the effects of their touches were and it was imperative for them to be either driven away or dissipated as quickly as possible. None of us would be able to stand against them for too long. Then, suddenly I saw one of them stagger as this time Victor struck it three times; it shuddered and dissipated. Longhelim also struck his although it still managed to retaliate and hit him. Victor then joined in and concentrated on the last two remaining apparitions and these were quickly dispatched. We looked around cautiously for any other opponents and then I asked: “What happened? Where did they come from?” Drudge answered: “I was watching while we waited for you to finish sleeping; I heard someone chopping wood and then I saw a figure chopping at a tree; judging by the description, it was this Rhuarc: a figure in a cowled cloak with a huge scimitar. I actually saw his face; he looks human, with a moustache that goes around his chin to form a short beard. He saw me as soon as I saw him and we engaged in an archery duel. He was losing so he made those undead things appear with his scimitar; after that, he disappeared in front of my eyes; he didn’t use magic either; it’s an ability which uses the owner’s perception to deceive him; it is very difficult to learn and takes a great deal of time and discipline. This Rhuarc must be very powerful.” It was also quite clear that instead of us looking for him, he had found us instead; and had made his hostile intentions quite clear right from the beginning. John interrupted at this point: “Faden, we’re not going to get enough time for you to rest and regain your spells; he’s going to hound us continuously; I suggest you cram.” I was very reluctant to do this; especially with so many of the creatures around which damaged physical faculties. I debated this for some time but ultimately, bowed to the inevitable and had to cram, with the usual unpleasant aftershock of physical weakness and mental sluggishness. Felix also crammed and then we sat down to his magical breakfast. After we finished, we put various other spells on ourselves and decided to turn into mist and fly down to the central tree which contained a variety of cunning dwellings inbuilt in its trunk. After we landed at its root, I was struck by its enormity; I guessed it must have been huge to make such an impression on us from the distant cliff but once we were next to it, its size was truly awesome. One could easily drive two horse carts through its trunk. We saw various rope bridges winding up its enormous trunk, as connecting the various dwellings and leading to neighbouring gigantic trees, forming an arboreal network. These rope bridges looked old and distinctly unsafe; I was certainly no climber and looking at the heavy armour of the warriors, I was sure neither were they; and the dwellings seemed to be very high up. These seemed to be literally tree houses; they were circular in shape to accommodate the shape of the tree and built around the central trunk with a walkway around their outer edge; most of them looked dilapidated and abandoned, with one exception. One of them looked as if it had been cleaned and inhabited recently. Victor and Longhelim were looking at the bridges with concern as well. “I don’t like the look of those at all,” muttered Longhelim. Victor had advanced to the foot of one of these bridges at the lower part of the tree and was giving it a shake. It wobbled alarmingly. Turning, to us, he shook his head and said: “Using these bridges in armour, is just asking for trouble; they’re just too unstable. We may not fall at first, but sooner or later, someone will.” I looked up to the house which looked inhabited and stared at the walkway. “Felix, if you can make Longhelim fly, I will put the same magic on Victor; they can take the rest of us up. We can land on that walkway.” The warriors perked up considerably at this idea. Drudge was only one who made an alternate suggestion, saying: “Don’t bother carrying me; I’ll climb up there.” So, Felix and I cast the magic on the warriors and Longhelim held me under my arms, while Victor held John in the same way while Felix hung on the warrior’s back. In this manner, we all flew onto the walkway. Due to the heavy burden, the flight was quite slow and this allowed Drudge to beat us there. The ranger was waiting for us on the bridge, looking around carefully, just in case there was an ambush nearby. The walkway, unlike the bridges, was quite firm and moments after we landed, we looked around curiously. The view from up here was peculiar in an arboreal way; as I stated before, the trees were enormous and majestic; this effect was magnified once we saw them from above; there was a sea of branches all around us; visibility was poor and the ground was barely visible from this height. Even though I wasn’t very good at climbing I couldn’t help but be amazed at this new world we had just entered; for a moment, just a brief one mind you, I almost understood what it was that elves found so attractive about living in trees; actually, I think that this was the highest I had ever been, arboreally speaking. As with all the others, this dwelling was circular, with wooden walls and built around the central trunk. That seemed to act as an architectural anchor. There were a couple of windows and a door in front of us. Longhelim concentrated first but declared that there were no evil auras from within. Then John looked at the door and was convinced that it was not trapped; unfortunately, he found it was locked. He worked at it for some time with his picks but the lock defeated him. Drudge stepped forward with his own set of picks and managed unlock the door, with John giving detailed instructions from behind his shoulders. With the warriors in front, John called up his invisible friend and who pushed open the door. It revealed a round, comfortable chamber, possibly some sort of sitting room with two pot plants and three doors, obviously leading to a further three rooms off this main space. In the left part of the room, there was also a circular set of stairs going up, leading to an upper floor. I cast a cantrip which would reveal any magical auras but there were none. The warriors flew in, not touching the floor and opened the internal doors. Thankfully, none of them were locked. One led into a study, the other was empty and the final one had only a carpet on the floor. As the warriors were checking this, I was intrigued by the pot plants. I made my way over to one of them but the floor opened under my weight; I just about managed to keep my balance and sway back from falling into the hole. It was a very nasty trap! I could have fallen down to my death! My yelp drew everyone’s attention and suddenly everyone became far more careful about where they were stepping. It was for this reason that everyone stood still, while the two warriors flew around the room as they moved without touching the floor. John had also commanded his invisible friend to roll up the carpet, just in case there was an opening underneath it. Just as we were all watching the carpet being rolled up, something snaked out from outside the door and suddenly I couldn’t breathe; simultaneously, I felt a great pain in my head. I screamed in panic and turned to see a whip wrapped around my neck, and I felt blood pouring down the back of my head. The whip was held by a drow woman with violet hair, dark red leather armour and violet eyes that sparkled madly as she saw her whip wrapped around my throat; in her other hand, she held a rapier; she smiled at me as she yanked the whip, drawing it even tighter. I gurgled to draw more attention. Everyone else turned around and froze momentarily, with the exception of Drudge and his extraordinary reactions, who moved and shot off several arrows in her direction. She drew back her arm, unwound the whip with an expert movement and in a series of extraordinary flicks she proceeded to whip me raw; or that’s what it felt like but at that point everything went black……… I came to with Felix next to me; the cleric must have healed me as the pain had gone; there were sounds of conflict outside; Victor had gone outside into the walkway; I could hear him shouting: “….another one! She’s got a two bladed sword! Watch out Longhelim!” The paladin also stepped through into the walkway and conflict continued. I got up and stepped into a position where I could see everyone; Drudge was already on the rope bridge beyond the walkway while the noise made it obvious that there was combat between the drow women and the warriors. It seemed very intense as well: “Longhelim, they’re very strong and skilled. Be careful!” Making sure I could see everyone, I quickly cast my speed spell. This aided the warriors considerably and even Drudge was in the effect, despite being on the tree bridge; which was just as well as a new opponent entered into the fray at that point. A black shade flew through the branch and coalesced next to the ranger, tapping him several times. Drudge screamed and focused our attention on his new plight. Felix shouted: “That’s a shadow! Undead! Incredibly dangerous! Will kill unless dealt with very quickly!” I acted immediately. I cast my wall of flame spell on top of the new arrival; this spell was particularly effective against undead and the creature recoiled visibly, badly hurt. Then Felix himself also responded by casting a cylinder of fire on top of it; when the cylinder was gone, so was the shade; so was the bridge for that matter; and Drudge as well. I hoped he was all right. At that point, our attention was drawn to the other fight. Longhelim was bleeding very badly while Victor was fencing skillfully against opponent with the two bladed sword; I still couldn’t see the wielder, but I could see the one with violet hair and could also see that she was badly hurt, as she also had several of Drudge’s arrows sticking out of her torso. At this point, Longhelim staggered under the onslaught of her whip and fell over, bursting into flame. Felix stepped forward to heal Victor, the only warrior he could reach with any safety. The warrior also looked badly bloodied from a previous onslaught. Felix healed him successfully while the warrior fenced with his unseen opponent. Then the first drow flicked her whip from distance and hit Felix, again and again, felling him with swift, accurate blows. Those whips were deceptively deadly. Desperately, Victor stepped over Longhelim’s body, and as she recovered her balance from her assault on Felix, he caught her several times with accurate, powerful cuts; this was too much for her and with a despairing wail, she dropped to the floor. Apparently, from her wailing, the other drow was her sister. Simultaneously, I could also see Drudge laboriously levering himself up the semi burning bridge and moving to a safe location, from where he managed another shot at the last opponent. There was a scream from the corner where I couldn’t see and the two bladed sword licked out at Victor with devastating accuracy. Almost simultaneously, three arrows flew out from a mysterious location in the nearby trees, which hit Longhelim, causing him to sink deeper into unconsciousness. So, Rhuarc was out there as well. Desperately, I stepped around and finally saw the other drow; unlike her partner, she was dressed in plate mail armour and had an intent, mad expression to her face as she grunted and screamed every time she swung her blades at Victor. Despite her armour, she was badly hurt, with blood pouring out of many wounds. She obviously didn’t care at this point though; she was a berserker. Victor stepped up sliced her around the waist several times, with visibly drastic results as more blood poured out; then Drudge shot her one last time, causing her to fall onto the walkway. The situation was still deadly though; despite having no melee opponents, Victor was very badly hurt, John was trying to reach the doorway to heal either Longhelim or Felix who were still unconscious on the ground. The unseen menace of Rhuarc was still lurking in the trees, waiting for the next person to show. In fact, Rhuarc decided to pre-empt the situation and two arrows struck Victor while the third quivered into a tree very close to his head; the warrior turned to us with a stunned look on his face just before he began to float down. Unfortunately, he had been flying over the former location of the bridge that had become a victim of collateral damage. “Magic’s gone!” We could hear his shout as he plummeted. [/QUOTE]
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The Gate Pass Irregulars: A War of the Burning Sky Campaign
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