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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: 6390103" data-attributes="member: 6692807"><p>John had disappeared into the crowds; I couldn’t see him; but I did see Felix approaching; that shook me out of my funk and I stopped thinking so morbidly. Longhelim had also spotted him and together with Victor, we approached the priest:</p><p> </p><p>“Felix! You’re back!”</p><p> </p><p>He just grinned and spoke:</p><p> </p><p>“Elven hospitality has its advantages and they did manage to snag my soul before it flew to the heavens; so yes, I am back. Now, what’s been happening here?”</p><p> </p><p>Longhelim took his pipe out of his mouth and smiled:</p><p> </p><p>“I’ll let our chronicler tell you in but as you can see from the celebrations, Danava pledged to surrender tomorrow at noon, at Summer’s Bluff.”</p><p> </p><p>Felix squinted a little as he remembered just where Summer’s Bluff was and then turned to me. Quickly, I related events to him after his demise; he nodded, looked at the celebrating throng and joined in. I went back to my seat, a little apart but much happier now that the priest was back among us. I spotted John, who was dancing with a pretty girl. I was glad that despite our relative ascension, some things never changed.</p><p> </p><p>Then the music stopped and I could see that Erdin Menash got up on a table and called for silence:</p><p> </p><p>“Friends! This is a momentous day. The Ragesians promise to leave tomorrow! And tomorrow is the Festival of Dreams! We will hold the Festival to celebrate the liberation of Gate Pass! Start writing your wishes! The acolytes will begin the collect them as soon as soon as you are ready!”</p><p> </p><p>I started and looked wide eyed at Longhelim; the paladin’s reaction was such that it was obvious that this was Menash’s own initiative. I really wish that he had spoken to us about this. First, with the trillith lurking, we had already been told that the Festival was the time when resistance to their invasion of people’s dreams was at its weakest. In fact, the timing was such that suddenly I felt a suspicion that maybe it was too convenient; unfortunately, judging by the enthusiastic reaction of the crowd, they thought that holding the Festival of Dreams was a marvelous idea. There was very little we could do.</p><p> </p><p>On a personal note, I also felt that holding the Festival so soon after we had lost so many relatives and friends was distasteful; I am sure they would have liked to take part as well, but they couldn’t because they had been killed. Due to this reason, when the acolyte came and asked me for my wish, I politely declined; I noticed that Victor did not react to the acolyte either; he just stared into the night; maybe it was his method of grieving; I didn’t know but I didn’t want to disturb him.</p><p> </p><p>A little time later, I had had enough and went to bed.</p><p> </p><p>I woke up the next morning only to find that it seemed as if no one had slept. There was still an overwhelming feeling of excitement in the air. I saw the others. We all gathered, together with Vigilance and Metamorphosis as Felix conjured his magical food. We lingered over the meal as usual and then I learned my spells for the day.</p><p> </p><p>Once I had finished, I remembered something and approached Vigilance:</p><p> </p><p>“Sir, last night, as we began to negotiate with Danava we were attacked……”</p><p> </p><p>I then went on to describe our opponents, actually asking Felix to continue as he was the only person who had actually seen them. The old orc listened attentively and a few moments later sighed:</p><p> </p><p>“They are closer and more powerful than I feared. What you describe are primeval trilliths; only half formed, dreams of pure emotion, with no substance or even description still open to be shaped and influenced. The fact that they are here means that the barrier to your world grows ever weaker. We must be vigilant! We must be careful!”</p><p> </p><p>All of us were deep in our own thoughts. If beings of such power were only half formed trilliths then heaven only knows what fully formed ones would do to the general population; then again, having met a couple already, I have a pretty general idea of that already.</p><p> </p><p>With those thoughts in mind, I decided to take short walk through the city. As I walked around, yet again I was struck by the scale of the destruction and the rebuilding that would need to be done. So many structures were little more than shells. If they hadn’t been destroyed by the dragon, then they had been damaged by Ragesian siege engines; and if they had escaped those two fates, then they had been burned down.</p><p> </p><p>Almost unconsciously, my feet took me to my former home; or what was left of it. Like many of the buildings in the city, it was now four walls with no roof. The interior was rubble. I went inside and looked around desultorily; I spotted a flash of colour and, removing some rubble, I found a battered soft toy; I recognized it immediately; it belonged to one of my sisters and had been her constant companion. I tucked it away in my pack. I’d give it back to her when I found them.</p><p> </p><p>After that, I walked a little further before making my way back to the camp. As I arrived, Longhelim approached me:</p><p> </p><p>“Faden, last night, I watched the acolyte approach you; you didn’t write a wish.”</p><p> </p><p>“I didn’t really feel like making a wish; too many dead, too many missing, too many crippled, too many destitute.”</p><p> </p><p>He took out his pipe again:</p><p> </p><p>“You should write one; people are watching us; and you’re part of us. If you don’t participate today, it could be perceived as…..disrespectful. I don’t like the Festival being held either; it feels uncomfortable, especially after what we were told about the trillith. Yes, we are both aware that the Festival is the most likely moment when the trillith are going to make their move but we can’t do anything to stop it now.</p><p> </p><p>Anyway, write a wish; don’t spoil if for everyone else. I’ve already had a word with Victor and he’s agreed. People are influenced by what we are, what we do. Whether we like it or not, we are being looked upon as the best of Gate Pass. We have rescued and possess the Torch, we brought the Resistance to aid the city, even the elves speak with us. The Ragesians fear us and we killed their champion.”</p><p> </p><p>I realised he was right and took out a scroll. My wish was short and to the point. Once I wrote it, I approached one of the acolytes and stuffed it into one of the little clay urns.</p><p> </p><p>Then we all cast our longer term spells on us and joined the crowds that were already on their way to Summer’s Bluff. As we arrived, I saw that the open ground by the statue had already been cleared. The crowds were capering, dancing and celebrating. There was some singing but it was off key and quite bad; not that anyone cared at this point.</p><p> </p><p>In the open ground around the statue, there were three distinct groups: one was the Shahalesti consisting of Aurana, Shaaladel, Shalosha as well as the devas and assorted heavily armed elves who I assumed were bodyguards.</p><p> </p><p>The next group was the Ragesians, consisting of Danava together with an assortment of officers who I assumed were his staff; I spotted a group of hard bitten orc warriors who again must have been bodyguards.</p><p> </p><p>And then there was the Gate Pass contingent: mainly ourselves, Erdin Menash, Diogenes and Rantle together with Vigilance and Metamorphosis, who were also with us. The others were talking to each other but I was distracted; as Longhelim had said, if there was an opportunity for the trillith to do anything, this would be it.</p><p> </p><p>Finally, Shaaladel moved forward and raised his arms; slowly but surely, the crowds quietened and the elf launched into an assured speech; he was very good. He praised us, telling the crowds that despite our humble origins, Gate Pass would not have survived without our efforts; yet he was also very canny in that he made sure that everyone understood that without elven intervention, the city would now be a Ragesian possession. He was extremely convincing; he made it sound as if it was a symbiotic relationship and that from now on, the elven kingdom would look after the independence of Gate Pass; which in itself sounded contradictory but he managed to suggest that having an independent Gate Pass between his kingdom and Ragesia was very advantageous, to both sides. He received a rousing reception after he finished.</p><p> </p><p>Longhelim was also asked to do a speech; the paladin seemed a little flustered as he was unprepared. We had not realised that we would have to do a speech and we were all tense and edgy as we were expecting the trillith to attack. As it was, Longhelim did manage to give a speech but it sounded stilted, slow and above all depressing. He concentrated on the sacrifice of those who died as well as self- sacrifice and for once, the paladin misread the mood of the crowd who were far more interested in celebrating their victory rather than thinking about the past the or the future.</p><p> </p><p>His speech also compared badly with that of Shaaladel, who had been so erudite in emphasizing the elven contribution to the victory.</p><p> </p><p>The Ragesians, in the meantime, stood rock still and impassive as Danava rose and gave a short speech surrendering to the forces arrayed against him and then sitting down again; this was a cue for wild celebrations. Then finally, it was time to open the urns of the dreams.</p><p> </p><p>The eight priests each picked an urn and opened it. The wishes were the usual mixture; from a young man who wished that his boss would pay him and his co-workers to a man who wanted to sleep with two women at once; distractedly, I wondered how the priests were going to facilitate that one! Then there was a wish from a little girl who wished that her mother was able to talk to chickens as well.</p><p>Finally, there was only one wish left and everyone was fidgety as there should have been at least one urn asking for spring and that had not happened yet; as the last urn was about to be opened, a figure stepped forward; this was certainly not one of the priests and nor had it been there before; it was fully masked and dressed in enveloping and flowing robes; completely out of place in Gate Pass; exotic and mysterious which presumably was the intention. It was also holding a group of urns and then I heard a voice in my head.</p><p> </p><p>This voice was mesmerizing and promising, stirring urges and creating images; even Longhelim’s voice could not match it for beauty and seduction. It intoned some sort of poem but I must admit I was too busy resisting its allure to pay a great deal of attention to what it said; then it threw the urns to the ground and huge serpentine creatures arose from the smashed vessels.</p><p> </p><p>They looked like nothing I had ever seen before:</p><p> </p><p>Think of a child’s monster under the bed, the creature in the cupboard, that elusive, sinister something that you catch from the corner of your eye as you walk in the dark, the thing that is behind you in the pitch black night and the nightmare that stalks you in your sleep. It was all of those combined but bigger.</p><p>They flew towards us with evil intent, six of them. Briefly, I looked around and saw that the crowds were full of these as well; and the elves; in fact the elves seemed to have more than any other group attacking them.</p><p> </p><p>Oddly, the Ragesians were unaffected; or not so oddly maybe. Whatever the case, they retreated rapidly from the Bluff. The elves left just as quickly, albeit in a more spectacular manner as Aurana rose majestically and cast a powerful transport spell, allowing the complete elven group to disappear.</p><p> </p><p>That left us.</p><p> </p><p>I felt an odd mental attack; I found it difficult to understand just what it was but I managed to shrug it off. I was lucky. Everyone else began groping around; they were blind! Almost as an aside, I noticed that Metamorphosis began to switch forms and faces far more rapidly that she had previously. Longhelim managed to disappear from the reach of the trillith facing him thanks to the Torch while Felix cured his blindness magically.</p><p> </p><p>I cast a powerful spell but then I received another surprise; somehow this creature not only realised I was casting my spell, she took it from me and twisted it so that it struck the rest of the group; it was my most powerful spell and almost killed everyone. I was dumb struck; Ragesian Inquisitors had perfected a technique to neutralise spells and in some cases turn them back onto you but with that, at least you understood what was happening; in this case, I had no idea what had been done or how she had done it! She just took my spell as I was casting it and used it against us. This was something unprecedented in the laws of magic.</p><p> </p><p>This was then followed by a swarm of arrows from Drudge; into me! Somehow he had been subjugated by the enemy and forced to use his skills against the group. Thankfully, the group rallied; Felix positioned one of his columns of fire which caught four of the nightmares. Victor then followed up with a series of powerful blows which dissipated one of the things and this was followed by Vigilance also forcing another to dissipate. He had turned into a stag and gored it to death.</p><p> </p><p>Unfortunately, that left several still unaccounted for and one of them cast a very powerful spell. A veritable wash of fire swept through the whole area; although we were mostly protected by our magic and Vigilance and Metamorphosis seemed to shrug it off to an extent, Diogenes, Erdin Menash and Rantle were not so lucky. The former two were instantaneously turned into ash while Rantle was badly burned and immediately sped off into the crowd, barely alive; the loss of two leaders of the Resistance was another tragedy amongst many in the recent annals of the city; I really hoped that Rantle would survive the coming battle.</p><p> </p><p>The other creature also let loose another powerful spell, but this time it was exclusively aimed at Vigilance as an intense beam of cold left it to hit the stag squarely in its chest. </p><p> </p><p>John flew up towards the human figure and suddenly a whirling swarm of blades left her robes and scythed into the rogue. Bizarrely, Drudge jerkily put away his bow and began to cast a spell; glancing at it, I recognized the movements, even if they were quite inexpert and amateurish; it was a powerful and complicated spell; and also one that took a long time to cast. I didn’t look at him for long though as I whirled and cast a series of force missiles at another of the nightmares; moments later this one also dissipated.</p><p> </p><p>John had managed to tap Drudge and cast a spell, which seemed to snap him out of his mystical reverie and the ranger immediately drew his bow again, shooting another of the nightmares. Felix managed to cast a spell on Victor and he immediately flew up and crashed into the veiled figure. Her swarm of force daggers shredded at him but he burst through it and sliced deeply into her robes. I am not sure if it was trying some more tricks of the mind but if it was, they were not working as Victor followed her up ruthlessly.</p><p> </p><p>Drudge let off a volley of arrows into one of the final nightmares leaving only the veiled figure, who was struck by Victor just before it fled again. Then it turned around in the air and pointed at the colossal statue of Drakus Coaltongue.</p><p> </p><p>A voice screamed in my head, a clarion call of glory and beauty:</p><p> </p><p>“Behold our victory!”</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Cafu, post: 6390103, member: 6692807"] John had disappeared into the crowds; I couldn’t see him; but I did see Felix approaching; that shook me out of my funk and I stopped thinking so morbidly. Longhelim had also spotted him and together with Victor, we approached the priest: “Felix! You’re back!” He just grinned and spoke: “Elven hospitality has its advantages and they did manage to snag my soul before it flew to the heavens; so yes, I am back. Now, what’s been happening here?” Longhelim took his pipe out of his mouth and smiled: “I’ll let our chronicler tell you in but as you can see from the celebrations, Danava pledged to surrender tomorrow at noon, at Summer’s Bluff.” Felix squinted a little as he remembered just where Summer’s Bluff was and then turned to me. Quickly, I related events to him after his demise; he nodded, looked at the celebrating throng and joined in. I went back to my seat, a little apart but much happier now that the priest was back among us. I spotted John, who was dancing with a pretty girl. I was glad that despite our relative ascension, some things never changed. Then the music stopped and I could see that Erdin Menash got up on a table and called for silence: “Friends! This is a momentous day. The Ragesians promise to leave tomorrow! And tomorrow is the Festival of Dreams! We will hold the Festival to celebrate the liberation of Gate Pass! Start writing your wishes! The acolytes will begin the collect them as soon as soon as you are ready!” I started and looked wide eyed at Longhelim; the paladin’s reaction was such that it was obvious that this was Menash’s own initiative. I really wish that he had spoken to us about this. First, with the trillith lurking, we had already been told that the Festival was the time when resistance to their invasion of people’s dreams was at its weakest. In fact, the timing was such that suddenly I felt a suspicion that maybe it was too convenient; unfortunately, judging by the enthusiastic reaction of the crowd, they thought that holding the Festival of Dreams was a marvelous idea. There was very little we could do. On a personal note, I also felt that holding the Festival so soon after we had lost so many relatives and friends was distasteful; I am sure they would have liked to take part as well, but they couldn’t because they had been killed. Due to this reason, when the acolyte came and asked me for my wish, I politely declined; I noticed that Victor did not react to the acolyte either; he just stared into the night; maybe it was his method of grieving; I didn’t know but I didn’t want to disturb him. A little time later, I had had enough and went to bed. I woke up the next morning only to find that it seemed as if no one had slept. There was still an overwhelming feeling of excitement in the air. I saw the others. We all gathered, together with Vigilance and Metamorphosis as Felix conjured his magical food. We lingered over the meal as usual and then I learned my spells for the day. Once I had finished, I remembered something and approached Vigilance: “Sir, last night, as we began to negotiate with Danava we were attacked……” I then went on to describe our opponents, actually asking Felix to continue as he was the only person who had actually seen them. The old orc listened attentively and a few moments later sighed: “They are closer and more powerful than I feared. What you describe are primeval trilliths; only half formed, dreams of pure emotion, with no substance or even description still open to be shaped and influenced. The fact that they are here means that the barrier to your world grows ever weaker. We must be vigilant! We must be careful!” All of us were deep in our own thoughts. If beings of such power were only half formed trilliths then heaven only knows what fully formed ones would do to the general population; then again, having met a couple already, I have a pretty general idea of that already. With those thoughts in mind, I decided to take short walk through the city. As I walked around, yet again I was struck by the scale of the destruction and the rebuilding that would need to be done. So many structures were little more than shells. If they hadn’t been destroyed by the dragon, then they had been damaged by Ragesian siege engines; and if they had escaped those two fates, then they had been burned down. Almost unconsciously, my feet took me to my former home; or what was left of it. Like many of the buildings in the city, it was now four walls with no roof. The interior was rubble. I went inside and looked around desultorily; I spotted a flash of colour and, removing some rubble, I found a battered soft toy; I recognized it immediately; it belonged to one of my sisters and had been her constant companion. I tucked it away in my pack. I’d give it back to her when I found them. After that, I walked a little further before making my way back to the camp. As I arrived, Longhelim approached me: “Faden, last night, I watched the acolyte approach you; you didn’t write a wish.” “I didn’t really feel like making a wish; too many dead, too many missing, too many crippled, too many destitute.” He took out his pipe again: “You should write one; people are watching us; and you’re part of us. If you don’t participate today, it could be perceived as…..disrespectful. I don’t like the Festival being held either; it feels uncomfortable, especially after what we were told about the trillith. Yes, we are both aware that the Festival is the most likely moment when the trillith are going to make their move but we can’t do anything to stop it now. Anyway, write a wish; don’t spoil if for everyone else. I’ve already had a word with Victor and he’s agreed. People are influenced by what we are, what we do. Whether we like it or not, we are being looked upon as the best of Gate Pass. We have rescued and possess the Torch, we brought the Resistance to aid the city, even the elves speak with us. The Ragesians fear us and we killed their champion.” I realised he was right and took out a scroll. My wish was short and to the point. Once I wrote it, I approached one of the acolytes and stuffed it into one of the little clay urns. Then we all cast our longer term spells on us and joined the crowds that were already on their way to Summer’s Bluff. As we arrived, I saw that the open ground by the statue had already been cleared. The crowds were capering, dancing and celebrating. There was some singing but it was off key and quite bad; not that anyone cared at this point. In the open ground around the statue, there were three distinct groups: one was the Shahalesti consisting of Aurana, Shaaladel, Shalosha as well as the devas and assorted heavily armed elves who I assumed were bodyguards. The next group was the Ragesians, consisting of Danava together with an assortment of officers who I assumed were his staff; I spotted a group of hard bitten orc warriors who again must have been bodyguards. And then there was the Gate Pass contingent: mainly ourselves, Erdin Menash, Diogenes and Rantle together with Vigilance and Metamorphosis, who were also with us. The others were talking to each other but I was distracted; as Longhelim had said, if there was an opportunity for the trillith to do anything, this would be it. Finally, Shaaladel moved forward and raised his arms; slowly but surely, the crowds quietened and the elf launched into an assured speech; he was very good. He praised us, telling the crowds that despite our humble origins, Gate Pass would not have survived without our efforts; yet he was also very canny in that he made sure that everyone understood that without elven intervention, the city would now be a Ragesian possession. He was extremely convincing; he made it sound as if it was a symbiotic relationship and that from now on, the elven kingdom would look after the independence of Gate Pass; which in itself sounded contradictory but he managed to suggest that having an independent Gate Pass between his kingdom and Ragesia was very advantageous, to both sides. He received a rousing reception after he finished. Longhelim was also asked to do a speech; the paladin seemed a little flustered as he was unprepared. We had not realised that we would have to do a speech and we were all tense and edgy as we were expecting the trillith to attack. As it was, Longhelim did manage to give a speech but it sounded stilted, slow and above all depressing. He concentrated on the sacrifice of those who died as well as self- sacrifice and for once, the paladin misread the mood of the crowd who were far more interested in celebrating their victory rather than thinking about the past the or the future. His speech also compared badly with that of Shaaladel, who had been so erudite in emphasizing the elven contribution to the victory. The Ragesians, in the meantime, stood rock still and impassive as Danava rose and gave a short speech surrendering to the forces arrayed against him and then sitting down again; this was a cue for wild celebrations. Then finally, it was time to open the urns of the dreams. The eight priests each picked an urn and opened it. The wishes were the usual mixture; from a young man who wished that his boss would pay him and his co-workers to a man who wanted to sleep with two women at once; distractedly, I wondered how the priests were going to facilitate that one! Then there was a wish from a little girl who wished that her mother was able to talk to chickens as well. Finally, there was only one wish left and everyone was fidgety as there should have been at least one urn asking for spring and that had not happened yet; as the last urn was about to be opened, a figure stepped forward; this was certainly not one of the priests and nor had it been there before; it was fully masked and dressed in enveloping and flowing robes; completely out of place in Gate Pass; exotic and mysterious which presumably was the intention. It was also holding a group of urns and then I heard a voice in my head. This voice was mesmerizing and promising, stirring urges and creating images; even Longhelim’s voice could not match it for beauty and seduction. It intoned some sort of poem but I must admit I was too busy resisting its allure to pay a great deal of attention to what it said; then it threw the urns to the ground and huge serpentine creatures arose from the smashed vessels. They looked like nothing I had ever seen before: Think of a child’s monster under the bed, the creature in the cupboard, that elusive, sinister something that you catch from the corner of your eye as you walk in the dark, the thing that is behind you in the pitch black night and the nightmare that stalks you in your sleep. It was all of those combined but bigger. They flew towards us with evil intent, six of them. Briefly, I looked around and saw that the crowds were full of these as well; and the elves; in fact the elves seemed to have more than any other group attacking them. Oddly, the Ragesians were unaffected; or not so oddly maybe. Whatever the case, they retreated rapidly from the Bluff. The elves left just as quickly, albeit in a more spectacular manner as Aurana rose majestically and cast a powerful transport spell, allowing the complete elven group to disappear. That left us. I felt an odd mental attack; I found it difficult to understand just what it was but I managed to shrug it off. I was lucky. Everyone else began groping around; they were blind! Almost as an aside, I noticed that Metamorphosis began to switch forms and faces far more rapidly that she had previously. Longhelim managed to disappear from the reach of the trillith facing him thanks to the Torch while Felix cured his blindness magically. I cast a powerful spell but then I received another surprise; somehow this creature not only realised I was casting my spell, she took it from me and twisted it so that it struck the rest of the group; it was my most powerful spell and almost killed everyone. I was dumb struck; Ragesian Inquisitors had perfected a technique to neutralise spells and in some cases turn them back onto you but with that, at least you understood what was happening; in this case, I had no idea what had been done or how she had done it! She just took my spell as I was casting it and used it against us. This was something unprecedented in the laws of magic. This was then followed by a swarm of arrows from Drudge; into me! Somehow he had been subjugated by the enemy and forced to use his skills against the group. Thankfully, the group rallied; Felix positioned one of his columns of fire which caught four of the nightmares. Victor then followed up with a series of powerful blows which dissipated one of the things and this was followed by Vigilance also forcing another to dissipate. He had turned into a stag and gored it to death. Unfortunately, that left several still unaccounted for and one of them cast a very powerful spell. A veritable wash of fire swept through the whole area; although we were mostly protected by our magic and Vigilance and Metamorphosis seemed to shrug it off to an extent, Diogenes, Erdin Menash and Rantle were not so lucky. The former two were instantaneously turned into ash while Rantle was badly burned and immediately sped off into the crowd, barely alive; the loss of two leaders of the Resistance was another tragedy amongst many in the recent annals of the city; I really hoped that Rantle would survive the coming battle. The other creature also let loose another powerful spell, but this time it was exclusively aimed at Vigilance as an intense beam of cold left it to hit the stag squarely in its chest. John flew up towards the human figure and suddenly a whirling swarm of blades left her robes and scythed into the rogue. Bizarrely, Drudge jerkily put away his bow and began to cast a spell; glancing at it, I recognized the movements, even if they were quite inexpert and amateurish; it was a powerful and complicated spell; and also one that took a long time to cast. I didn’t look at him for long though as I whirled and cast a series of force missiles at another of the nightmares; moments later this one also dissipated. John had managed to tap Drudge and cast a spell, which seemed to snap him out of his mystical reverie and the ranger immediately drew his bow again, shooting another of the nightmares. Felix managed to cast a spell on Victor and he immediately flew up and crashed into the veiled figure. Her swarm of force daggers shredded at him but he burst through it and sliced deeply into her robes. I am not sure if it was trying some more tricks of the mind but if it was, they were not working as Victor followed her up ruthlessly. Drudge let off a volley of arrows into one of the final nightmares leaving only the veiled figure, who was struck by Victor just before it fled again. Then it turned around in the air and pointed at the colossal statue of Drakus Coaltongue. A voice screamed in my head, a clarion call of glory and beauty: “Behold our victory!” [/QUOTE]
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The Gate Pass Irregulars: A War of the Burning Sky Campaign
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