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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: 6413335" data-attributes="member: 6692807"><p>We talked further. Although it was only mid afternoon, we were exhausted. Despite this, there were still many things which we had to decide. </p><p></p><p>Victor spoke up; he was usually very quiet but in this, he sounded very determined: </p><p></p><p>“As we discussed before, albeit briefly, the leadership of Gate Pass is gone. They were the first targets for the Ragesians during the initial assault. Having made some inquiries, I have discovered that both my father and brother were killed very early in the conflict. Their bodies were then cremated, making it very difficult to revivify them; it would take sorcery of the highest and most powerful degree return them. </p><p></p><p>I would suggest that we examine the remains of Diogenes and Erdin Menash and see if we can revivify them. Although I have a great deal of admiration for Rantle and believe him to be a gifted commander, I don’t think he is civic leadership material. Menash excelled at that and Diogenes can begin to restore Gabal’s Tower.”</p><p></p><p>I looked at the soldier sharply at that last comment. Longhelim tapped his pipe to rid it of the burnt tobacco and turned to me: </p><p></p><p>“Look Faden, I know that you want to do that but when exactly were you going to do it? Was it before or after we went looking for Trilla? Or maybe after we looked for the Aquiline Heart? We will also have to confront Leska? And you know we are going to have to do that as some point.”</p><p></p><p>“All right! All right!” I grumbled, ”point taken. I can’t be in all those places at once; and Diogenes will be able to devote his full attention to the Tower’s restoration while Menash will be able to immerse himself in the city’s bureaucracy, something that he will love.”</p><p></p><p>John slipped out of the tent before re-appearing almost immediately: </p><p></p><p>“I’ve asked someone to find the bodies of the two gentlemen and bring them here. So, we’ll be able to address that problem first thing tomorrow after Felix learns his spells.</p><p></p><p>Now, since we have helped to solve the civic leadership crisis , what else do we need to think about?”</p><p></p><p>I stroked my beard: </p><p></p><p>“Well, as I mentioned, we need to think about transporting the army and the elves to Northern Shahalesti to confront the Ragesians there.”</p><p></p><p>Simeon looked startled but then recovered: </p><p></p><p>“Ah, yes, I had forgotten that we had reached that agreement. Our army has suffered quite badly. Although we didn’t really have that much of a battle against Danava’s soldiers, we had to face the huge demon that Leska sent.”</p><p></p><p>Suddenly, I remembered the rather garbled story that Leska herself had sent an enormous demon to help her army against the forces from Seaquen.</p><p></p><p>I looked at Simeon and asked: </p><p>“I remember hearing a little about that. What kind of demon was it?”</p><p></p><p>Flatly, the loremaster answered: </p><p></p><p>“A Balor!”</p><p></p><p>I gaped: </p><p></p><p>“A Balor! The Empress sent a Balor? And you managed to defeat it?”</p><p></p><p>Kiernan grimaced and replied at this point: </p><p></p><p>“Yes, although it was touch and go for a while; and the creature caused some horrific casualties before we managed to banish it; we got very lucky there.</p><p></p><p>It’s one of the reasons why we are a little reluctant to go with the elves; we have suffered more casualties than you think, Faden; however, we did make the pact with Shaaladel and without him, we would not have re-taken Gate Pass so we will go as agreed and trust mightily in Shaaladel’s experience.”</p><p></p><p>Felix spoke: </p><p></p><p>“Ultimately, we will have to use the Torch but I have a magical answer which will lessen the artifact’s more……distasteful demands.”</p><p></p><p>Simeon leaned back into his chair, nodded without asking any details and then said: </p><p></p><p>“So, that’s where we’ll be going. Now what about you? What are you going to do next?”</p><p></p><p>Longhelim lit up his pipe again: </p><p></p><p>“Once we get back here from Northern Shahalesti, we will have to collect several items and scrolls; once we have them, we’ll make some preparations and then perform the ritual to summon the Elemental Lords and bargain with them to guide us to the entrance of the Dreamlands of Trilla; once there, we’ll go in and wake her up.”</p><p></p><p>Simeon looked at the paladin: </p><p></p><p>“Sounds simple enough.”</p><p></p><p>John grinned: </p><p></p><p>“Easy as pie!”</p><p></p><p>Simeon’s lips twitched and he just nodded at us. </p><p></p><p>“I think that will do for now. We all have our plans. Now, we should be getting back to make them happen.”</p><p></p><p>We left the tent and John went to see if he could find the people who had gone to search for Menash’s and Diogenes’s bodies. Thankfully, he found them quite quickly. Felix went with him to make sure that his spells tomorrow were going to be sufficient for our purposes. </p><p></p><p>I, for that matter, went to see if I could find any dwarves amongst the remaining population of the city; I wanted to try to find the remains of my family; or at least try to find some news. </p><p></p><p>I did have success in finding dwarves although it was a pitiful remnant of the once thriving community of Gate Pass. I was told some dreadful news and some better news: my father had been captured by the Ragesians. This I knew already as we had been attacked by him as a wraith. I also heard that my brother had been captured and of him there were no news. However, I was told that so far as anyone knew, my mother and sisters had not been detained; no one knew where they were but they had not been captured and they were not in the city. </p><p></p><p>I determined to try to find them tomorrow. </p><p></p><p>That was the last thing I could do this day as we were all exhausted and decided to have an early night. </p><p></p><p>We settled down and all fell asleep almost immediately. </p><p></p><p>The next day, we all awakened and learned our spells; as I was doing this, suddenly I had an idea. It would mean a slight delay in our plans but it would be extremely useful in the very near future. </p><p></p><p>Our first action was for Felix to conjure up our usual splendid breakfast. We invited Kiernan, Rantle and Simeon to join us. As we mentioned before, this breakfast had all sorts of pleasant magical effects which lasted the whole day and it was during this period of relaxation that I broached my idea to the others: </p><p></p><p>“Simeon, there is a particular spell that I have read about; it is an unusual and powerful piece of magic; from the best of my knowledge, it allows one to succeed at one particular task; it is as if one is able to supernaturally discover information, accomplish a task or succeed at a feat of power; I have heard it even allows one to shrug off the power of inimical spells or make a particularly telling attack or blow. Also, part of this magic allows you to time its activation at the precise moment when you need it the most.</p><p></p><p>Have you heard or read of this power?”</p><p></p><p>The Loremaster chewed thoughtfully: </p><p></p><p>“I have heard about it; I have also read about it but unfortunately, I do not have it in my spell book.”</p><p></p><p>He looked expectantly at Kiernan but the dwarf just shrugged: </p><p></p><p>“Simeon, you know what I have in my spell books already; and that spell is not there. I would love to get it. Why do you want it, Faden?”</p><p></p><p>“Well, it would be perfect for my ritual to summon the Elder Elemental Lords; that is really something I don’t want to get wrong; it is such an unusual event that the results are completely unpredictable; the best that I can hope for is that if I fail, nothing happens; but…….it may not be as simple as that. They may turn up, but they could be angry. I really, really don’t want them to be angry.”</p><p></p><p>Someone else joined our conversation at this point: </p><p></p><p>“You’re right Faden; it is a powerful piece of magic; it does all that you describe and it would be perfect for your ritual.”</p><p></p><p>It was Felix, sounding very matter-of-fact.</p><p></p><p>I was intrigued: </p><p></p><p>“You know this magic?”</p><p></p><p>The priest answered: </p><p></p><p>“Not only do I know it, I can do it; in fact, I have been doing it. We priests are granted this power by our deities, although we do have to gain certain powerful secrets before we do so.”</p><p></p><p>I became very excited: </p><p></p><p>“Can you tell me a little more about it? Does it do everything that I have read about? Will it help in the ritual?”</p><p></p><p>Felix nodded: </p><p></p><p>“You pretty much summed it up when you described it; and yes, I would definitely recommend getting it if you can; it can make a huge difference.”</p><p></p><p>Encouraged, I began to make some plans: </p><p></p><p>“Hmmm, the best place to get it would be Bresk, I think; that is the largest city we have explored and we have made some contacts there among those who deal in that sort of material; I have seen the powerful scrolls that Seaquen had and it was not among them; nor is it likely to be in Gabal’s Tower. Longhelim, can we make a trip to Bresk today at some point please; I have the transport spells and you have the Torch. It’ll take me a day to transcribe it into my book but it’ll be worth it.”</p><p></p><p>The paladin nodded as he ate. </p><p></p><p>It took as a little longer to finish and then we began our very busy day.</p><p></p><p>The first part of our agenda was to transport the armies to Northern Shahalesti. We had sent runners to the elven camp and they returned with the news that it would take the army until the afternoon before they were ready to leave; that timescale was matched by the packing we were seeing from the Resistance Army. Kiernan remarked that if they were going to arrive at their destination in the late afternoon or dusk, this would be less than ideal from a tactical point of view should the enemy decide to attack. </p><p></p><p>Another message was sent to Shaaladel asking his advice; a scathing but typical reply came back, stating that he would have thought it obvious that if the army was spending the day taking down the camp today then only fools would want to be teleported into unknown territory in the darkness; especially those who could not see in the dark. </p><p></p><p>Longhelim finished reading aloud and said: </p><p></p><p>“In other words, we won’t be going anywhere today because the camps have to be taken down; instead, we go first thing tomorrow morning. So, what do we do today?”</p><p></p><p>I had an answer immediately: </p><p></p><p>“We go to Bresk; try to find the scroll. If we can get it quickly, I’ll be able to make a start in transcribing it into my book.”</p><p></p><p>Everyone was amenable to that idea so, we prepared our spells and transported ourselves close to Bresk, capital of Dassen. </p><p></p><p>The city was certainly far more lively than we remembered; the walls were as imposing as ever but this time, instead of them being forbidding, the open gates and the streams of people going in and out gave the impression of a far more vibrant community. We joined the throng; after all, we were dressed as normal travelers; plate mail armour was uncommon but not completely unknown and to have three people wearing it in one group suggested an experienced group of warriors, more than anything else. Unfortunately, groups dressed like us were becoming increasingly common in these dark days. </p><p></p><p>Victor had also wisely chosen to wear his more subdued suit of plate armour and forego his preferred set; the one with lime green spikes. </p><p></p><p>We entered the city and conducted our business without incident. The specialty shops were still there and thriving; my particular scroll took a little hunting but we managed to find it in the end. It took several hours but finally clutching the my prize in my hand, we made our way out of the city to a deserted spot and transported ourselves back to Gate Pass. </p><p></p><p>It was early afternoon by the point and I immediately sequestered myself in one of our tents and began to prepare my quills, pens and inks to transcribe the scroll into my book. Soon, I was lost in my world of magical algorithms and formulae.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Cafu, post: 6413335, member: 6692807"] We talked further. Although it was only mid afternoon, we were exhausted. Despite this, there were still many things which we had to decide. Victor spoke up; he was usually very quiet but in this, he sounded very determined: “As we discussed before, albeit briefly, the leadership of Gate Pass is gone. They were the first targets for the Ragesians during the initial assault. Having made some inquiries, I have discovered that both my father and brother were killed very early in the conflict. Their bodies were then cremated, making it very difficult to revivify them; it would take sorcery of the highest and most powerful degree return them. I would suggest that we examine the remains of Diogenes and Erdin Menash and see if we can revivify them. Although I have a great deal of admiration for Rantle and believe him to be a gifted commander, I don’t think he is civic leadership material. Menash excelled at that and Diogenes can begin to restore Gabal’s Tower.” I looked at the soldier sharply at that last comment. Longhelim tapped his pipe to rid it of the burnt tobacco and turned to me: “Look Faden, I know that you want to do that but when exactly were you going to do it? Was it before or after we went looking for Trilla? Or maybe after we looked for the Aquiline Heart? We will also have to confront Leska? And you know we are going to have to do that as some point.” “All right! All right!” I grumbled, ”point taken. I can’t be in all those places at once; and Diogenes will be able to devote his full attention to the Tower’s restoration while Menash will be able to immerse himself in the city’s bureaucracy, something that he will love.” John slipped out of the tent before re-appearing almost immediately: “I’ve asked someone to find the bodies of the two gentlemen and bring them here. So, we’ll be able to address that problem first thing tomorrow after Felix learns his spells. Now, since we have helped to solve the civic leadership crisis , what else do we need to think about?” I stroked my beard: “Well, as I mentioned, we need to think about transporting the army and the elves to Northern Shahalesti to confront the Ragesians there.” Simeon looked startled but then recovered: “Ah, yes, I had forgotten that we had reached that agreement. Our army has suffered quite badly. Although we didn’t really have that much of a battle against Danava’s soldiers, we had to face the huge demon that Leska sent.” Suddenly, I remembered the rather garbled story that Leska herself had sent an enormous demon to help her army against the forces from Seaquen. I looked at Simeon and asked: “I remember hearing a little about that. What kind of demon was it?” Flatly, the loremaster answered: “A Balor!” I gaped: “A Balor! The Empress sent a Balor? And you managed to defeat it?” Kiernan grimaced and replied at this point: “Yes, although it was touch and go for a while; and the creature caused some horrific casualties before we managed to banish it; we got very lucky there. It’s one of the reasons why we are a little reluctant to go with the elves; we have suffered more casualties than you think, Faden; however, we did make the pact with Shaaladel and without him, we would not have re-taken Gate Pass so we will go as agreed and trust mightily in Shaaladel’s experience.” Felix spoke: “Ultimately, we will have to use the Torch but I have a magical answer which will lessen the artifact’s more……distasteful demands.” Simeon leaned back into his chair, nodded without asking any details and then said: “So, that’s where we’ll be going. Now what about you? What are you going to do next?” Longhelim lit up his pipe again: “Once we get back here from Northern Shahalesti, we will have to collect several items and scrolls; once we have them, we’ll make some preparations and then perform the ritual to summon the Elemental Lords and bargain with them to guide us to the entrance of the Dreamlands of Trilla; once there, we’ll go in and wake her up.” Simeon looked at the paladin: “Sounds simple enough.” John grinned: “Easy as pie!” Simeon’s lips twitched and he just nodded at us. “I think that will do for now. We all have our plans. Now, we should be getting back to make them happen.” We left the tent and John went to see if he could find the people who had gone to search for Menash’s and Diogenes’s bodies. Thankfully, he found them quite quickly. Felix went with him to make sure that his spells tomorrow were going to be sufficient for our purposes. I, for that matter, went to see if I could find any dwarves amongst the remaining population of the city; I wanted to try to find the remains of my family; or at least try to find some news. I did have success in finding dwarves although it was a pitiful remnant of the once thriving community of Gate Pass. I was told some dreadful news and some better news: my father had been captured by the Ragesians. This I knew already as we had been attacked by him as a wraith. I also heard that my brother had been captured and of him there were no news. However, I was told that so far as anyone knew, my mother and sisters had not been detained; no one knew where they were but they had not been captured and they were not in the city. I determined to try to find them tomorrow. That was the last thing I could do this day as we were all exhausted and decided to have an early night. We settled down and all fell asleep almost immediately. The next day, we all awakened and learned our spells; as I was doing this, suddenly I had an idea. It would mean a slight delay in our plans but it would be extremely useful in the very near future. Our first action was for Felix to conjure up our usual splendid breakfast. We invited Kiernan, Rantle and Simeon to join us. As we mentioned before, this breakfast had all sorts of pleasant magical effects which lasted the whole day and it was during this period of relaxation that I broached my idea to the others: “Simeon, there is a particular spell that I have read about; it is an unusual and powerful piece of magic; from the best of my knowledge, it allows one to succeed at one particular task; it is as if one is able to supernaturally discover information, accomplish a task or succeed at a feat of power; I have heard it even allows one to shrug off the power of inimical spells or make a particularly telling attack or blow. Also, part of this magic allows you to time its activation at the precise moment when you need it the most. Have you heard or read of this power?” The Loremaster chewed thoughtfully: “I have heard about it; I have also read about it but unfortunately, I do not have it in my spell book.” He looked expectantly at Kiernan but the dwarf just shrugged: “Simeon, you know what I have in my spell books already; and that spell is not there. I would love to get it. Why do you want it, Faden?” “Well, it would be perfect for my ritual to summon the Elder Elemental Lords; that is really something I don’t want to get wrong; it is such an unusual event that the results are completely unpredictable; the best that I can hope for is that if I fail, nothing happens; but…….it may not be as simple as that. They may turn up, but they could be angry. I really, really don’t want them to be angry.” Someone else joined our conversation at this point: “You’re right Faden; it is a powerful piece of magic; it does all that you describe and it would be perfect for your ritual.” It was Felix, sounding very matter-of-fact. I was intrigued: “You know this magic?” The priest answered: “Not only do I know it, I can do it; in fact, I have been doing it. We priests are granted this power by our deities, although we do have to gain certain powerful secrets before we do so.” I became very excited: “Can you tell me a little more about it? Does it do everything that I have read about? Will it help in the ritual?” Felix nodded: “You pretty much summed it up when you described it; and yes, I would definitely recommend getting it if you can; it can make a huge difference.” Encouraged, I began to make some plans: “Hmmm, the best place to get it would be Bresk, I think; that is the largest city we have explored and we have made some contacts there among those who deal in that sort of material; I have seen the powerful scrolls that Seaquen had and it was not among them; nor is it likely to be in Gabal’s Tower. Longhelim, can we make a trip to Bresk today at some point please; I have the transport spells and you have the Torch. It’ll take me a day to transcribe it into my book but it’ll be worth it.” The paladin nodded as he ate. It took as a little longer to finish and then we began our very busy day. The first part of our agenda was to transport the armies to Northern Shahalesti. We had sent runners to the elven camp and they returned with the news that it would take the army until the afternoon before they were ready to leave; that timescale was matched by the packing we were seeing from the Resistance Army. Kiernan remarked that if they were going to arrive at their destination in the late afternoon or dusk, this would be less than ideal from a tactical point of view should the enemy decide to attack. Another message was sent to Shaaladel asking his advice; a scathing but typical reply came back, stating that he would have thought it obvious that if the army was spending the day taking down the camp today then only fools would want to be teleported into unknown territory in the darkness; especially those who could not see in the dark. Longhelim finished reading aloud and said: “In other words, we won’t be going anywhere today because the camps have to be taken down; instead, we go first thing tomorrow morning. So, what do we do today?” I had an answer immediately: “We go to Bresk; try to find the scroll. If we can get it quickly, I’ll be able to make a start in transcribing it into my book.” Everyone was amenable to that idea so, we prepared our spells and transported ourselves close to Bresk, capital of Dassen. The city was certainly far more lively than we remembered; the walls were as imposing as ever but this time, instead of them being forbidding, the open gates and the streams of people going in and out gave the impression of a far more vibrant community. We joined the throng; after all, we were dressed as normal travelers; plate mail armour was uncommon but not completely unknown and to have three people wearing it in one group suggested an experienced group of warriors, more than anything else. Unfortunately, groups dressed like us were becoming increasingly common in these dark days. Victor had also wisely chosen to wear his more subdued suit of plate armour and forego his preferred set; the one with lime green spikes. We entered the city and conducted our business without incident. The specialty shops were still there and thriving; my particular scroll took a little hunting but we managed to find it in the end. It took several hours but finally clutching the my prize in my hand, we made our way out of the city to a deserted spot and transported ourselves back to Gate Pass. It was early afternoon by the point and I immediately sequestered myself in one of our tents and began to prepare my quills, pens and inks to transcribe the scroll into my book. Soon, I was lost in my world of magical algorithms and formulae. [/QUOTE]
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