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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: 6583910" data-attributes="member: 6692807"><p>We arrived quite some distance away from Seaquen as we were determined not to be caught by the strange trap that affected transport spells. So far as we knew, this strange artifact was still embedded in the cave under the Sunken Prison nearby. Then we began walking. It gave us a good opportunity to gather our thoughts. </p><p></p><p>Seaquen was very much the same as it had been when we left just five days ago to help defend Gate Pass. There was still a large military encampment close to the city and the recovery efforts after the devastation caused by the ice elementals were proceeding apace. </p><p></p><p>Initially, we approached the camp. At its edge, we were met by a grizzled soldier: </p><p></p><p>“Sirs! You’re back! Thank the gods! What are your orders?”</p><p></p><p>Longhelim looked at the soldier and asked: </p><p></p><p>“Your name soldier?”</p><p></p><p>“Private Robert Murchison sir!”</p><p></p><p>“Thank you Private Murchison. Who is in charge of the army at this time.”</p><p></p><p>“You are sir.”</p><p></p><p>A little testily, Longhelim asked again: </p><p></p><p>“Who was in charge of the army before we arrived.”</p><p></p><p>“I was sir.”</p><p></p><p>“Pardon, Private Murchison?”</p><p></p><p>The soldier explained: </p><p></p><p>“I was left in charge until all the officers returned, sir.”</p><p></p><p>At this point, Victor asked: </p><p></p><p>“Just to confirm, all the officers were sent on the expeditionary force to Gate Pass? Every single one?”</p><p></p><p>The private nodded: </p><p></p><p>“I am a long serving soldier sir. I was a senior non-commissioned officer until I retired but I was brought back into the army because of the Ragesians. No one realised who I was until just before the Gate Pass mission and once they did, they put me in charge until they returned.”</p><p></p><p>Victor continued asking: </p><p></p><p>“How many men in our army at this moment?”</p><p></p><p>“About eight thousand men; but they are not first line troops, sir.”</p><p></p><p>Victor stood there and seemed lost in thought. Then he said: </p><p></p><p>“Please excuse for a few moments, Private.”</p><p></p><p>We all retired a little further away. Longhelim said: </p><p></p><p>“Well, there we have our answer. The army here is eight thousand second line troops or worse; the Gate Pass troops were about three thousand less whatever casualties they took; plus all the officers.</p><p></p><p>Now, the next question is to find out about our mysterious white robed monks under the prison.”</p><p></p><p>The paladin turned around and motioned for the soldier to approach: </p><p></p><p>“Private, we have another investigation to conduct at this time. It shouldn’t take us long. Please announce our presence to the deputy headmaster and let him know that we will speaking with him as soon as we can.”</p><p></p><p>He nodded and turned around and walked back in the direction of the town. </p><p></p><p>We moved to the shore line and the former ruined prison where we had our battle against Lee Sidoneth, the druid, traitor and former harbour master of Seaquen. </p><p></p><p>We arrived at the location without incident and cast some more preparatory spells. One of these included the ability to breathe water; just in case. </p><p></p><p>The Sunken Prison, as it was known, was a villa built by the shore. Erosion had caused most of it to become part of the shore with water lapping at its edges. It wasn’t exactly underwater but we would certainly be wading to get to our destination inside. It would be a little more difficult for me as last time, the water was up to my neck. </p><p></p><p>We began to wade through the water into the building. We knew one of its room had a shaft which dropped straight to the underground cave which formed part of the prison complex below. Longhelim and Victor had been given a spell which allowed them to move through the water without any visible effort. </p><p></p><p>We went in single file, headed by Victor. As we were about half way through the entrance, I saw a slim robed figure move gracefully and jump at Victor; it was swiftly followed by another. They were fast and graceful for humans, although I must say in that in comparison to the trillith Freedom, whom I had only seen yesterday, they seemed slow and clumsy, but curiously unhampered by the water. They struck Victor with their hands and although the warrior staggered slightly, he did not seem unduly hurt by the blows. </p><p></p><p>Then another four of the robed men appeared and one of them drew a scroll. A spell was cast, one that attempted to dissolve the magic on us; or Victor to be precise. Longhelim was finally able to react and shouted: </p><p></p><p>“Monk attack!”</p><p></p><p>After that, he strode forward and struck one of Victor’s attackers with his axe. Everyone else, especially Drudge, who had been unsighted at the back, was warned. Felix gave us a boost courtesy of his god, John moved in and cast a cloud of glittering motes into the group; these could get into eyes and blind. I managed to cast a spell of speed and then got out of the way as Drudge sprang forward. </p><p></p><p>Then Victor was finally able to attack one of his opponents with a deadly combination of blows. </p><p></p><p>“Definitely a hostile reception,” he said, as he dropped one of his opponents and badly injured the other. </p><p></p><p>It was difficult for me to see much further and I was badly hampered by the water. That was one of the reasons I just got out of the way of the others. Judging by the way Victor and Longhelim were carving their way through them, they did not seem to be particularly powerful opponents and I wanted to save my spells for Longinus, who most certainly was. </p><p></p><p>As I was peeking in around the corner, I could see that the monks were all flying at this time and they had all produced scrolls which they were reading. Presumably, these were spells which dissolved our helpful magic again. Victor and Longhelim were moving smoothly between each other, concentrating on one opponent and methodically demolishing each one. There seemed to be a slight difference between them, a system of ranking of some sort as some of them seemed to be reading the scrolls while two others moved in with their strange martial poses and unarmed combat with hands and feet, completely unhampered by the water. They also seemed to be more resilient than the flying monks. </p><p></p><p>Of course, Drudge, was shooting arrows at them also and as he let loose several arrows at them, he shouted: </p><p></p><p>“Those two! The ones fighting! They’re not human!”</p><p></p><p>They looked human and acted human but I trusted Drudge implicitly and if he said they weren’t human then they were something strange. </p><p></p><p>By this time, all the monks had finished using their scrolls and I assumed that some of our magic had gone. However, this had given Longhelim time to fell the final walking monk and Victor had advanced against the first of the flying monks. </p><p></p><p>I must have been very keyed up or John’s teachings were finally beginning to take effect because despite giving my attention wholly to the combat in the next room, I was still able to catch something strange out of the corner of my eye. </p><p></p><p>Coming from around the corner of the building, or floating, would be a more correct way of putting it, there arrived a figure, insubstantial, female with the air around her crackling with electricity; it did not look at all friendly and even worse, it was familiar! It was the woman we had fought in the hidden temple when we had gone to the Monastery of the Two Winds, seeking help to enter into Castle Korstull; Pilus’s disciple who had taken it upon herself to school us for entering into her master’s laboratory without permission and who had also told us that we would make very good subjects for their experiments in biomancy. Her attempt to teach us the error of our ways did not go well for her in the end but it was a very hard conflict as she had the unpleasant habit of turning herself into a lightning bolt and sweeping through people. </p><p></p><p>And that was exactly what she did now, sweeping through me with a crackle. Of course, I felt as if I had just been hit by lightning. </p><p></p><p>I just about managed to struggle through the water around the corner, gasping:</p><p></p><p>“Ghost woman! Outside! The one who turned into lightning in the Monastery!”</p><p></p><p>There was a light of understanding in Felix’s eyes as he strode through the water as if it wasn’t there, muttering about dammed ghosts. I was just in time to see both Victor and Longhelim dealing with one monk each, leaving only one flying above while Drudge was using his slippers to cling to a wall above and getting ready to shoot the last one. </p><p></p><p>The two warriors exchanged a glance and Victor began to make his way through the door to the outside. John tapped me on the head and suddenly I was able to move through the water without any hindrance, which was a great relief. </p><p></p><p>There was a curse about Farlangh’s backside from outside as a crackle of electricity echoed through the room and then a shout: </p><p></p><p>“I’m going to need some help here! She’s even tougher than before!”</p><p></p><p>I moved out effortlessly this time and tried to shoot a set of force missiles at her but they only seemed to bounce off the crackling air around her; Victor had arrive next to her and managed to strike at her torso, obviously doing some sort of hurt as I could see his sword pass through her, with some wisps being cleaved by the blade. </p><p></p><p>He was quickly followed by Victor, who also managed to strike the ghost as he arrived; of course, with the power of the Torch, he was able to make sure that the blade of the axe went through her torso. Even she was looking shaken at this point, confronted by the two formidable warriors who obviously had no problems in striking her, so, quick as a snake, she shot out her hand and tapped Victor, who staggered, and then she made a short step into the wall. </p><p></p><p>We all looked at Felix, who spat and said: </p><p></p><p>“That…….she’s just healing! Ghosts can do that. While she’s in the wall, we can’t do anything to her. There’s nothing we can do for the time being; we had better heal and just get ready for when she returns.”</p><p></p><p>So, quickly we began to cast some healing spells. We had been hurt only slightly by the monks but she had been a different proposition; this was compounded as suddenly, she leaned out of the wall and struck Victor in the chest with much the same results as before. In retaliation, the warrior proceeded to methodically slice the wall from around her. </p><p></p><p>Unfortunately, despite exposing her to an extent, it still meant that she was partly defended by the stone as both Longhelim and Drudge managed to strike her. However, it did give me an idea…….</p><p></p><p>We healed again when suddenly, a blast of lightning swept through all of us and landed in the wall, again quite close to us. Mentally, I alerted Longhelim: </p><p></p><p>“Get ready!”</p><p></p><p>I also made a sign to Victor, to get ready and I could see Longhelim doing the same at Drudge, whom I couldn’t see. </p><p></p><p>I cast a spell and a green beam shot out of my hands, destroying the area of wall into which I had seen her go. Unfortunately, I could see that Drudge was just on the other side but thankfully, he landed adroitly, his bow ready. More importantly, she was there and I could see the surprise on her features despite their ghostlike nature; both Victor and Longhelim surged forward, striking mightily, with arrows flying in from Drudge. </p><p></p><p>This was too much even for her and with a final ghostly wail, she dissipated into the air.</p><p></p><p>We waited cautiously for a few moments in case it was another ghostly trick and she re-appeared again but it seemed as if we had managed to banish her back to the ethereal plane. So, we continued to heal and John also tapped Felix with a powerful wand; the priest’s brief contact with the wand had damaged his spiritual essence and John’s wand would heal this. </p><p></p><p>After we were back to our usual selves, I realised that it was likely that the enemy was aware of us so I cast a few more defensive spells on the warriors.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Cafu, post: 6583910, member: 6692807"] We arrived quite some distance away from Seaquen as we were determined not to be caught by the strange trap that affected transport spells. So far as we knew, this strange artifact was still embedded in the cave under the Sunken Prison nearby. Then we began walking. It gave us a good opportunity to gather our thoughts. Seaquen was very much the same as it had been when we left just five days ago to help defend Gate Pass. There was still a large military encampment close to the city and the recovery efforts after the devastation caused by the ice elementals were proceeding apace. Initially, we approached the camp. At its edge, we were met by a grizzled soldier: “Sirs! You’re back! Thank the gods! What are your orders?” Longhelim looked at the soldier and asked: “Your name soldier?” “Private Robert Murchison sir!” “Thank you Private Murchison. Who is in charge of the army at this time.” “You are sir.” A little testily, Longhelim asked again: “Who was in charge of the army before we arrived.” “I was sir.” “Pardon, Private Murchison?” The soldier explained: “I was left in charge until all the officers returned, sir.” At this point, Victor asked: “Just to confirm, all the officers were sent on the expeditionary force to Gate Pass? Every single one?” The private nodded: “I am a long serving soldier sir. I was a senior non-commissioned officer until I retired but I was brought back into the army because of the Ragesians. No one realised who I was until just before the Gate Pass mission and once they did, they put me in charge until they returned.” Victor continued asking: “How many men in our army at this moment?” “About eight thousand men; but they are not first line troops, sir.” Victor stood there and seemed lost in thought. Then he said: “Please excuse for a few moments, Private.” We all retired a little further away. Longhelim said: “Well, there we have our answer. The army here is eight thousand second line troops or worse; the Gate Pass troops were about three thousand less whatever casualties they took; plus all the officers. Now, the next question is to find out about our mysterious white robed monks under the prison.” The paladin turned around and motioned for the soldier to approach: “Private, we have another investigation to conduct at this time. It shouldn’t take us long. Please announce our presence to the deputy headmaster and let him know that we will speaking with him as soon as we can.” He nodded and turned around and walked back in the direction of the town. We moved to the shore line and the former ruined prison where we had our battle against Lee Sidoneth, the druid, traitor and former harbour master of Seaquen. We arrived at the location without incident and cast some more preparatory spells. One of these included the ability to breathe water; just in case. The Sunken Prison, as it was known, was a villa built by the shore. Erosion had caused most of it to become part of the shore with water lapping at its edges. It wasn’t exactly underwater but we would certainly be wading to get to our destination inside. It would be a little more difficult for me as last time, the water was up to my neck. We began to wade through the water into the building. We knew one of its room had a shaft which dropped straight to the underground cave which formed part of the prison complex below. Longhelim and Victor had been given a spell which allowed them to move through the water without any visible effort. We went in single file, headed by Victor. As we were about half way through the entrance, I saw a slim robed figure move gracefully and jump at Victor; it was swiftly followed by another. They were fast and graceful for humans, although I must say in that in comparison to the trillith Freedom, whom I had only seen yesterday, they seemed slow and clumsy, but curiously unhampered by the water. They struck Victor with their hands and although the warrior staggered slightly, he did not seem unduly hurt by the blows. Then another four of the robed men appeared and one of them drew a scroll. A spell was cast, one that attempted to dissolve the magic on us; or Victor to be precise. Longhelim was finally able to react and shouted: “Monk attack!” After that, he strode forward and struck one of Victor’s attackers with his axe. Everyone else, especially Drudge, who had been unsighted at the back, was warned. Felix gave us a boost courtesy of his god, John moved in and cast a cloud of glittering motes into the group; these could get into eyes and blind. I managed to cast a spell of speed and then got out of the way as Drudge sprang forward. Then Victor was finally able to attack one of his opponents with a deadly combination of blows. “Definitely a hostile reception,” he said, as he dropped one of his opponents and badly injured the other. It was difficult for me to see much further and I was badly hampered by the water. That was one of the reasons I just got out of the way of the others. Judging by the way Victor and Longhelim were carving their way through them, they did not seem to be particularly powerful opponents and I wanted to save my spells for Longinus, who most certainly was. As I was peeking in around the corner, I could see that the monks were all flying at this time and they had all produced scrolls which they were reading. Presumably, these were spells which dissolved our helpful magic again. Victor and Longhelim were moving smoothly between each other, concentrating on one opponent and methodically demolishing each one. There seemed to be a slight difference between them, a system of ranking of some sort as some of them seemed to be reading the scrolls while two others moved in with their strange martial poses and unarmed combat with hands and feet, completely unhampered by the water. They also seemed to be more resilient than the flying monks. Of course, Drudge, was shooting arrows at them also and as he let loose several arrows at them, he shouted: “Those two! The ones fighting! They’re not human!” They looked human and acted human but I trusted Drudge implicitly and if he said they weren’t human then they were something strange. By this time, all the monks had finished using their scrolls and I assumed that some of our magic had gone. However, this had given Longhelim time to fell the final walking monk and Victor had advanced against the first of the flying monks. I must have been very keyed up or John’s teachings were finally beginning to take effect because despite giving my attention wholly to the combat in the next room, I was still able to catch something strange out of the corner of my eye. Coming from around the corner of the building, or floating, would be a more correct way of putting it, there arrived a figure, insubstantial, female with the air around her crackling with electricity; it did not look at all friendly and even worse, it was familiar! It was the woman we had fought in the hidden temple when we had gone to the Monastery of the Two Winds, seeking help to enter into Castle Korstull; Pilus’s disciple who had taken it upon herself to school us for entering into her master’s laboratory without permission and who had also told us that we would make very good subjects for their experiments in biomancy. Her attempt to teach us the error of our ways did not go well for her in the end but it was a very hard conflict as she had the unpleasant habit of turning herself into a lightning bolt and sweeping through people. And that was exactly what she did now, sweeping through me with a crackle. Of course, I felt as if I had just been hit by lightning. I just about managed to struggle through the water around the corner, gasping: “Ghost woman! Outside! The one who turned into lightning in the Monastery!” There was a light of understanding in Felix’s eyes as he strode through the water as if it wasn’t there, muttering about dammed ghosts. I was just in time to see both Victor and Longhelim dealing with one monk each, leaving only one flying above while Drudge was using his slippers to cling to a wall above and getting ready to shoot the last one. The two warriors exchanged a glance and Victor began to make his way through the door to the outside. John tapped me on the head and suddenly I was able to move through the water without any hindrance, which was a great relief. There was a curse about Farlangh’s backside from outside as a crackle of electricity echoed through the room and then a shout: “I’m going to need some help here! She’s even tougher than before!” I moved out effortlessly this time and tried to shoot a set of force missiles at her but they only seemed to bounce off the crackling air around her; Victor had arrive next to her and managed to strike at her torso, obviously doing some sort of hurt as I could see his sword pass through her, with some wisps being cleaved by the blade. He was quickly followed by Victor, who also managed to strike the ghost as he arrived; of course, with the power of the Torch, he was able to make sure that the blade of the axe went through her torso. Even she was looking shaken at this point, confronted by the two formidable warriors who obviously had no problems in striking her, so, quick as a snake, she shot out her hand and tapped Victor, who staggered, and then she made a short step into the wall. We all looked at Felix, who spat and said: “That…….she’s just healing! Ghosts can do that. While she’s in the wall, we can’t do anything to her. There’s nothing we can do for the time being; we had better heal and just get ready for when she returns.” So, quickly we began to cast some healing spells. We had been hurt only slightly by the monks but she had been a different proposition; this was compounded as suddenly, she leaned out of the wall and struck Victor in the chest with much the same results as before. In retaliation, the warrior proceeded to methodically slice the wall from around her. Unfortunately, despite exposing her to an extent, it still meant that she was partly defended by the stone as both Longhelim and Drudge managed to strike her. However, it did give me an idea……. We healed again when suddenly, a blast of lightning swept through all of us and landed in the wall, again quite close to us. Mentally, I alerted Longhelim: “Get ready!” I also made a sign to Victor, to get ready and I could see Longhelim doing the same at Drudge, whom I couldn’t see. I cast a spell and a green beam shot out of my hands, destroying the area of wall into which I had seen her go. Unfortunately, I could see that Drudge was just on the other side but thankfully, he landed adroitly, his bow ready. More importantly, she was there and I could see the surprise on her features despite their ghostlike nature; both Victor and Longhelim surged forward, striking mightily, with arrows flying in from Drudge. This was too much even for her and with a final ghostly wail, she dissipated into the air. We waited cautiously for a few moments in case it was another ghostly trick and she re-appeared again but it seemed as if we had managed to banish her back to the ethereal plane. So, we continued to heal and John also tapped Felix with a powerful wand; the priest’s brief contact with the wand had damaged his spiritual essence and John’s wand would heal this. After we were back to our usual selves, I realised that it was likely that the enemy was aware of us so I cast a few more defensive spells on the warriors. [/QUOTE]
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