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<blockquote data-quote="Cafu" data-source="post: 6911893" data-attributes="member: 6692807"><p>The first part was a perfect mimic of Simeon’s voice. John was making it very obvious what he thought of this development. I thought it was a little off as well. We were not even there when Shaaladel was commanding the army. Even more importantly, he had won his battles. Yet now we were getting the very difficult job of telling him that he was not wanted; but his army was needed of course. Anyway, the other problem was that Shalaadel was going to continue to command his elven army in the same way as previously, no matter who was in command. I suppose the only advantage of not having him in command was that he would now not be able to put non-elven armies at greater risk. Although, of course, that could mean that we would lose the battles; after all, the elven king had been running armies for centuries. </p><p> </p><p>I really was not sure if this had been thought through. </p><p> </p><p>We spent the rest of the day researching the capital of Ragesia, Ragos; trying to find out as much as possible about the Palace and who may be conducting the ritual. Also who may be with Leska. I am afraid to say that our attempts to investigate were not very successful; there was just no time and of course any sort of divination was being blocked. However, it did allow us to purchase a few supplies and catch up on relatives through magical messages. </p><p> </p><p>The next day, early morning, we went to the Lyceum to see a familiar gathering in the large Hall. The various attendees of this council were arriving. One group stood off a little on its own; this was the elven contingent which included Shaaladel, Shalosha and various other courtiers and bodyguards. They kept themselves aloof, Shaaladel stony faced although Shalosha looked about her with interest. The Elven King’s eyes flicked to Longhelim when he entered; or more towards the Torch, as if to make sure that it was still on our possession. </p><p> </p><p>The first person we met and greeted was Torrent, the silver haired priestess who recruited us at the Poison Apple pub all that time ago. She had accompanied us on our journey to the South, where we were joined by Crystal the Seeress and Tiljann of the Seelah; both of them were also attending and looked happy to see us. I was also glad as it meant that they had survived the difficult times recently. Although I had periodically asked about them, I had been told they were alive but not their location. Katarina the traitor was the last lady who had joined for the last part of that journey but the less said about her the better. The fact that she had been a Ragesian agent for all that time had come as a shock to us but was not nearly as devastating as the blow to her brother, Rantle, one of the new leaders of Gate Pass. As it happened he was here as well, representing the city. </p><p> </p><p>In a hushed tone of voice, he also told us that the child we had found recently and left with Eleanor, a young wet nurse, was growing at an unnatural rate. </p><p> </p><p>Considering my suspicions about the connection between the child and the Great Golden Dragon, Trilla, I was not at all surprised but I had to concentrate on other matters at the moment. We were also enthusiastically greeted by Duke Gallo and King Steppengaard of Bresk. They had brought a large Dassenian army to help the cause. They were also curious to hear about our latest doings. Simultaneously, they introduced to Gaspard, the Sindairian leader, who seemed very friendly. </p><p> </p><p>Slightly apart, strangely, there were two Ragesians at this gathering. One was General Danava; he was wary and I was a little puzzled at his participation but no one here seemed to object. He was conversing quietly with another Ragesian, who was introduced as General Magdus. I remembered that name. He was the Ragesian officer who had been convinced by Shalosha to step aside from the conflict between Leska and the rest of the world until it could be discerned as to which direction the wind was blowing. He had been in charge of forces near Castle Korstull. His presence here suggested that Leska had made it known that he was a wanted man. I wondered how much of his army he had left as they too would be considered traitors to Ragesia. </p><p> </p><p>Finally, Sheena Larkins, mistress of the Wayfarers made up the rest of the Council. </p><p> </p><p>It took quite some time to organize everyone; especially as all the participants, with the exception of the elves, wanted to hear the latest news and “catch up on the latest gossip” as John put it. However, finally, even Simeon had had enough and he stood up and banged a flagon on a table. Crystal, Tiljann and Torrent all sat with us. They were bubbling over with enthusiasm of their latest doings; they had risen far in power and influence in their respective groups. Tiljann especially was far from the timid elven girl from the legendary forest of fire; and Torrent, she was now a very powerful priestess. Not quite in the same league as Felix but certainly one of the most influential and powerful of her realm, which involved the element of water. </p><p> </p><p>Interestingly, all the military men, Gallo, Danava, Magdus, Xavius Foebane and Gaspard stood together and conversed. I thought they were probably exchanging military strategy. </p><p> </p><p>As everyone quieted, Simeon began: </p><p> </p><p>“Esteemed colleagues…….”</p><p> </p><p>He then went on to inform them of the same developments which we learned yesterday. This brought a great deal of disquiet on the assembly. </p><p> </p><p>Shalaadel barked a humourless laugh. The first time I had heard him doing something like that: </p><p> </p><p>“So, Leska makes her final move.”</p><p> </p><p>Simeon waited until everyone settle down and outlined our course of action. Everyone was looking at us and we were all stony faced as we knew what was coming. </p><p> </p><p>Shalaadel himself sped up the process as he declared, looking at the assembled army commanders: </p><p> </p><p>“The plan has merit. I will lead the armies of course. During my success in Shahalesti, you conducted yourselves adequately and under my leadership, we will prevail in the Opaline Wastes.”</p><p> </p><p>With that, he turned to one of his advisers, not seeing Xavious Foebane stiffen and both Ragesian commanders looking at Simeon. So, Simeon was not being fully truthful with us either; he had not told us that the Ragesian generals were joining us and it was obvious that they would not accept Shalaadel’s overall command. </p><p> </p><p>Simeon looked imploringly at us and Longhelim moved and approached Shalaadel. He had a quiet word and the elven king accompanied him outside, under the eyes of everyone there. Once they had left, Simeon went over some details of the coming operations and Victor asked: </p><p> </p><p>“So, since our first task is to disrupt the first ritual in Ragos, does anyone know anything about this Monuments Island or Island of Monuments or whatever it’s called?”</p><p> </p><p>I turned and looked at the Ragesian generals in the room: </p><p> </p><p>“I don’t but I know two men who do.”</p><p> </p><p>And I began walking towards them, followed by everyone else. </p><p> </p><p>They watched us as we approached them and nodded. </p><p> </p><p>Without preamble, I began: </p><p> </p><p>“Gentlemen, you have heard the ideas and plans. You know that we will have to make a powerful strike against the Imperial Palace to disrupt the ritual being held there. Would you be able to tell us what you know about the palace and of course, if you have any ideas, please share them.”</p><p> </p><p>The two Ragesians exchanged a look and then Danava began: </p><p> </p><p>“The first thing to say is that the Imperial Palace in Ragos is one of the most heavily defended buildings in the world. In fact, it is not in Ragos itself but on an island on Lake Eldren. It is a large, building with eight floors. The main reception rooms are on the fifth floor and above. Below the fifth floor are mainly the servants quarters, kitchens, store rooms and others. I don’t know exactly where the ritual is being held but it will almost certainly be held on the fifth floor or above. </p><p> </p><p>Which is just as well because you will certainly not have the time to search the whole palace. If you do manage to breach the building, you will have only a brief window to find the ritual before the palace guard find you and kill you. </p><p> </p><p>Anyway, that is another problem. To continue, access to the Palace can only be gained by barge from the mainland which takes you to Monument Island. This is named after a group of monuments, namely large statues of past Ragesian emperors. The lake itself is heavily patrolled by warships with crews of military, inquisitor and arcane personnel. Monuments island always has two ships docked as security, again with crews of powerful warriors and spell casters. The whole island is covered in security magic, which prevents magical transportation of any type, the magic of the unseen and creatures with very acute and magical senses roam. </p><p> </p><p>If someone does have legitimate access to the Palace, then they take a barge to the island, approach the Skywalk and present their documents to the Fire Giant Guards. There are always two on duty. The Skywalk is a wondrous glass bridge which leads to an entrance to the Palace. It is one of the wonders of the world, rising high over the water, covered all the way. It leads to an entrance on the fifth floor of the Palace.”</p><p> </p><p>Victor was listening to all of this with great concentration: </p><p> </p><p>“Any defences against fliers?”</p><p> </p><p>Danava continued: </p><p> </p><p>“I have never seen them but there were tales of animated dragons kept as defenders against fliers who strayed too close to the Palace; and no, before you ask me, I don’t know what animated fliers are.”</p><p> </p><p>I asked: </p><p> </p><p>“What about inside the Palace?”</p><p> </p><p>Danava replied again. He seemed to have taken up the role of speaker in this conversation: </p><p> </p><p>“We have both been inside several times and we do not remember any special precautions. You must remember that the place is full of people, bureaucrats, courtiers, generals, servants; there are thousands of them so any sort of security measures of magical or mechanical nature are not appropriate. Security of a military nature, that is guards, inquisitors and others on patrol, certainly. There are many of those but they would be the main security inside the palace.”</p><p> </p><p>He also seemed to think about it little further and then added: </p><p> </p><p>“There are also devils inside the Palace and on Monuments Island but frankly they are everywhere on Ragos. Be careful especially of erinye devils. Their archery is devastating.”</p><p> </p><p>I saw that Longhelim and Shalaadel had entered into the room again and this time the paladin was walking towards Simeon and then whispered something to him. </p><p> </p><p>Simeon called for order again and spoke loudly: </p><p> </p><p>“It gives me great pleasure to announce that the overall commander of our forces for the coming campaign is Xavius Foebane. His deputy, should the unthinkable happen, will be King Shalaadel of the Shining Lands of Shahalesti.</p><p> </p><p>Ladies, gentlemen, I am bringing this Council to a close!”</p><p> </p><p>Simeon did that so fast that I thought he was almost afraid that Shalaadel would change his mind.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Cafu, post: 6911893, member: 6692807"] The first part was a perfect mimic of Simeon’s voice. John was making it very obvious what he thought of this development. I thought it was a little off as well. We were not even there when Shaaladel was commanding the army. Even more importantly, he had won his battles. Yet now we were getting the very difficult job of telling him that he was not wanted; but his army was needed of course. Anyway, the other problem was that Shalaadel was going to continue to command his elven army in the same way as previously, no matter who was in command. I suppose the only advantage of not having him in command was that he would now not be able to put non-elven armies at greater risk. Although, of course, that could mean that we would lose the battles; after all, the elven king had been running armies for centuries. I really was not sure if this had been thought through. We spent the rest of the day researching the capital of Ragesia, Ragos; trying to find out as much as possible about the Palace and who may be conducting the ritual. Also who may be with Leska. I am afraid to say that our attempts to investigate were not very successful; there was just no time and of course any sort of divination was being blocked. However, it did allow us to purchase a few supplies and catch up on relatives through magical messages. The next day, early morning, we went to the Lyceum to see a familiar gathering in the large Hall. The various attendees of this council were arriving. One group stood off a little on its own; this was the elven contingent which included Shaaladel, Shalosha and various other courtiers and bodyguards. They kept themselves aloof, Shaaladel stony faced although Shalosha looked about her with interest. The Elven King’s eyes flicked to Longhelim when he entered; or more towards the Torch, as if to make sure that it was still on our possession. The first person we met and greeted was Torrent, the silver haired priestess who recruited us at the Poison Apple pub all that time ago. She had accompanied us on our journey to the South, where we were joined by Crystal the Seeress and Tiljann of the Seelah; both of them were also attending and looked happy to see us. I was also glad as it meant that they had survived the difficult times recently. Although I had periodically asked about them, I had been told they were alive but not their location. Katarina the traitor was the last lady who had joined for the last part of that journey but the less said about her the better. The fact that she had been a Ragesian agent for all that time had come as a shock to us but was not nearly as devastating as the blow to her brother, Rantle, one of the new leaders of Gate Pass. As it happened he was here as well, representing the city. In a hushed tone of voice, he also told us that the child we had found recently and left with Eleanor, a young wet nurse, was growing at an unnatural rate. Considering my suspicions about the connection between the child and the Great Golden Dragon, Trilla, I was not at all surprised but I had to concentrate on other matters at the moment. We were also enthusiastically greeted by Duke Gallo and King Steppengaard of Bresk. They had brought a large Dassenian army to help the cause. They were also curious to hear about our latest doings. Simultaneously, they introduced to Gaspard, the Sindairian leader, who seemed very friendly. Slightly apart, strangely, there were two Ragesians at this gathering. One was General Danava; he was wary and I was a little puzzled at his participation but no one here seemed to object. He was conversing quietly with another Ragesian, who was introduced as General Magdus. I remembered that name. He was the Ragesian officer who had been convinced by Shalosha to step aside from the conflict between Leska and the rest of the world until it could be discerned as to which direction the wind was blowing. He had been in charge of forces near Castle Korstull. His presence here suggested that Leska had made it known that he was a wanted man. I wondered how much of his army he had left as they too would be considered traitors to Ragesia. Finally, Sheena Larkins, mistress of the Wayfarers made up the rest of the Council. It took quite some time to organize everyone; especially as all the participants, with the exception of the elves, wanted to hear the latest news and “catch up on the latest gossip” as John put it. However, finally, even Simeon had had enough and he stood up and banged a flagon on a table. Crystal, Tiljann and Torrent all sat with us. They were bubbling over with enthusiasm of their latest doings; they had risen far in power and influence in their respective groups. Tiljann especially was far from the timid elven girl from the legendary forest of fire; and Torrent, she was now a very powerful priestess. Not quite in the same league as Felix but certainly one of the most influential and powerful of her realm, which involved the element of water. Interestingly, all the military men, Gallo, Danava, Magdus, Xavius Foebane and Gaspard stood together and conversed. I thought they were probably exchanging military strategy. As everyone quieted, Simeon began: “Esteemed colleagues…….” He then went on to inform them of the same developments which we learned yesterday. This brought a great deal of disquiet on the assembly. Shalaadel barked a humourless laugh. The first time I had heard him doing something like that: “So, Leska makes her final move.” Simeon waited until everyone settle down and outlined our course of action. Everyone was looking at us and we were all stony faced as we knew what was coming. Shalaadel himself sped up the process as he declared, looking at the assembled army commanders: “The plan has merit. I will lead the armies of course. During my success in Shahalesti, you conducted yourselves adequately and under my leadership, we will prevail in the Opaline Wastes.” With that, he turned to one of his advisers, not seeing Xavious Foebane stiffen and both Ragesian commanders looking at Simeon. So, Simeon was not being fully truthful with us either; he had not told us that the Ragesian generals were joining us and it was obvious that they would not accept Shalaadel’s overall command. Simeon looked imploringly at us and Longhelim moved and approached Shalaadel. He had a quiet word and the elven king accompanied him outside, under the eyes of everyone there. Once they had left, Simeon went over some details of the coming operations and Victor asked: “So, since our first task is to disrupt the first ritual in Ragos, does anyone know anything about this Monuments Island or Island of Monuments or whatever it’s called?” I turned and looked at the Ragesian generals in the room: “I don’t but I know two men who do.” And I began walking towards them, followed by everyone else. They watched us as we approached them and nodded. Without preamble, I began: “Gentlemen, you have heard the ideas and plans. You know that we will have to make a powerful strike against the Imperial Palace to disrupt the ritual being held there. Would you be able to tell us what you know about the palace and of course, if you have any ideas, please share them.” The two Ragesians exchanged a look and then Danava began: “The first thing to say is that the Imperial Palace in Ragos is one of the most heavily defended buildings in the world. In fact, it is not in Ragos itself but on an island on Lake Eldren. It is a large, building with eight floors. The main reception rooms are on the fifth floor and above. Below the fifth floor are mainly the servants quarters, kitchens, store rooms and others. I don’t know exactly where the ritual is being held but it will almost certainly be held on the fifth floor or above. Which is just as well because you will certainly not have the time to search the whole palace. If you do manage to breach the building, you will have only a brief window to find the ritual before the palace guard find you and kill you. Anyway, that is another problem. To continue, access to the Palace can only be gained by barge from the mainland which takes you to Monument Island. This is named after a group of monuments, namely large statues of past Ragesian emperors. The lake itself is heavily patrolled by warships with crews of military, inquisitor and arcane personnel. Monuments island always has two ships docked as security, again with crews of powerful warriors and spell casters. The whole island is covered in security magic, which prevents magical transportation of any type, the magic of the unseen and creatures with very acute and magical senses roam. If someone does have legitimate access to the Palace, then they take a barge to the island, approach the Skywalk and present their documents to the Fire Giant Guards. There are always two on duty. The Skywalk is a wondrous glass bridge which leads to an entrance to the Palace. It is one of the wonders of the world, rising high over the water, covered all the way. It leads to an entrance on the fifth floor of the Palace.” Victor was listening to all of this with great concentration: “Any defences against fliers?” Danava continued: “I have never seen them but there were tales of animated dragons kept as defenders against fliers who strayed too close to the Palace; and no, before you ask me, I don’t know what animated fliers are.” I asked: “What about inside the Palace?” Danava replied again. He seemed to have taken up the role of speaker in this conversation: “We have both been inside several times and we do not remember any special precautions. You must remember that the place is full of people, bureaucrats, courtiers, generals, servants; there are thousands of them so any sort of security measures of magical or mechanical nature are not appropriate. Security of a military nature, that is guards, inquisitors and others on patrol, certainly. There are many of those but they would be the main security inside the palace.” He also seemed to think about it little further and then added: “There are also devils inside the Palace and on Monuments Island but frankly they are everywhere on Ragos. Be careful especially of erinye devils. Their archery is devastating.” I saw that Longhelim and Shalaadel had entered into the room again and this time the paladin was walking towards Simeon and then whispered something to him. Simeon called for order again and spoke loudly: “It gives me great pleasure to announce that the overall commander of our forces for the coming campaign is Xavius Foebane. His deputy, should the unthinkable happen, will be King Shalaadel of the Shining Lands of Shahalesti. Ladies, gentlemen, I am bringing this Council to a close!” Simeon did that so fast that I thought he was almost afraid that Shalaadel would change his mind. [/QUOTE]
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