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Tizbiz Zeitgeist Campaign
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<blockquote data-quote="Tizbiz" data-source="post: 7086119" data-attributes="member: 6874057"><p><span style="color: #0000ff">Auryns player wrote this recap and her thoughts are marked green.</span></p><p></p><p>Just four days after the unsuccessful assassination attempt against King Aodhan and after a great deal of paperwork, Auryn and Gabriel are once again summoned by Assistant Chief Inspector Stover Delft to present an unexpected guest: Minister of Foreign Affairs of Danor, Lia Jierre.</p><p></p><p></p><p>The female tiefling does not seem to have any time for courtesies, since she skips a proper greeting, and instead presents Ms. Galadin and Mr. Carlyle with a puzzle to test their wits and attitude. In this test the heroes are to connect three rings with three lines with three magic towers. They succeed very quickly after using a little creativity. (once it was clear that we were allowed to solve this puzzle in three dimensions, it became a pretty easy task. Carlyle insisted that there had to be a way to do this in 2D as it was a classic puzzle he knew from somewhere. I just didn't bother with that approach since there were towers to be connected, not circles on the ground)</p><p></p><p></p><p> Lia Jierre seems to be satisfied with their "bending of rules," as she and Delft finally tell them about the coming mission. He tells them that the escaped duchess Ethelyn has teamed up with a group of Risuri rebels from Shale and taken hold of Axis Island, which has previously been occupied by Danor since the end of the last Yerasol war. The Danorans have built industrial plants and mines on this island and, according to Lia, Danor is now on the verge of tipping the peace treaty with Risur to reconquer the island with its own military power. She claims that she won't be able to convince the war-mongers in the Danoran council that the Risuri on Axis Island are actually rebels, since this could also just be a political feint. Therefore, the only way to prevent an impending fifth Yerasol war is to officially return the island to Danor. She also tells the heroes that her cousin, Nathan Jierre, had been on a research field trip to the island and asks them to look after his whereabouts. Initially, the constables are a bit skeptical, but they see some kind of logic in this plan (<span style="color: #008000">After all, it was „Risur“ who broke peace, so why should the Danoran military risk their soldier's lives to reconquer the island? Still Lia seemed too cunning to be an easy candidate for trust-</span>).</p><p></p><p></p><p>Delft is satisfied that Ms. Galadin and Mr. Carlyle agree with the plan and he sends them straight to the port, as the ship Impossible carrying Team 3 and Captain Smith should be ready to leave every moment. Lia promises a possible time frame of three days for the Risuri to clean their mess, since she won't be able to halt the Danoran war council any longer. Delft gives the heros the task to officially arrest the Duchess and learn about her motives. He also mentions to Carlyle that he is supposed to get information from her even if she was killed, but Auryn does not seem to understand what her chief means by this.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Carrying equipment for the party and Team 3, they hurry to the port, where the Impossible sets sail at the very same moment the heroes are on board. In the ship's belly, they agree to the plan Team 3 had worked out with Delft: A RHC commando group should enter the island unseen through a secret entrance in an underwater cave and then sneak into the military fortress in which the Duchess is assumed to be. There, Team 3 is to open the port gates via a mechanism and let the remaining Risuri fleet into the port, so that the otherwise impenetrable fortress can be taken without much resistance. Tanya tells them that Auryn and Carlyle are ultimately only reinforcements for Team 3 and both of them are happy with that sort of arrangement. Still, they all exchange their opinions on fighting styles. Only the Illusionist Letmas Sigurd is absent, as he left an illusion of himself to boil some tea (<span style="color: #008000">which Auryn finds extremely funny but turns Tanya and Carlyle rather sour</span>).</p><p></p><p></p><p>A few hours later we meet up with the fleet in the seas of Shale under increased security conditions (after all, there are still some rebels in the city, so we do not dare to enter! I never told them but the players assumed that and i went with it.) Now finally complete, the fleet sets sail towards Axis Island.. The constables try to get as much rest as possible, as they are about to face a very long night. A few hours later, the heroes arrive unchallenged in a small bay of the island. Team 3 distributes water breathing spells to all of them and Tanya explains that they will dive ahead and will then signal Auryn and Gabriel when they cleared the path.</p><p></p><p></p><p>When the heroes actually see the expected tugging on the rope, they rush into the cave only to witness a terrible sight: Except for the Goblin Burton, all members of Team 3 have been crushed by falling rocks. Burton is also in serious trouble because his leg has been crushed under a Rock. Auryn and Gabriel rescue the goblin, drag him out of the water and make sure his leg is tended for. Still it is clear that the mission for him is over and that he will need urgent medical help. After that they retrieve the bodies of their former colleagues. In the cave itself the constables discover a petrified tree with a magically illuminated seal, as well as several unnaturally large iron nails, which have been struck into the wall. The heroes can not phantom why the nails should be there, but think that it might serve as some kind of protection from magic. Auryn climbs the petrified tree and takes the seal with the symbols of Avilona. Just as they have roughly identified the properties of this magical token (it offers the ability to fly for a short time), the constables notice some movement near the cave's exit. They decide to move carefully and with dimmed light and climb over the ladder placed in the cave. Then a person suddenly appears and commands some elementals to attack the constables. Since the heroes could only make out one man, they decide that Carlyle keeps the elementals in check while Auryn tries to "persuade" the one commanding the elementals. Auryn activates her new token so she can fly to the entrance of the cave. Surprisingly, the air elemental quickly changes sides when it feels the power of the emblem and Auryn succeeds in magically charming the attacker, telling him to wait and negotiate.</p><p></p><p></p><p>It turns out that the man, a gray-haired, skinny guy, is the foreman Nicolas Dupiers from Danor. He tells Mr. Carlyle and Ms. Galadin that his people were killed by "the forest" and a dryad, and that he was the only one who could hide in the mine and has been there for days. With many cautious and friendly words, the RHC agents explain to him that they are not the enemy and really only want to liberate the island. After a while he believes them and Auryn drops her charm. Nicolas is still frightened, but is open to suggestions on how to get him to safety should he give them his two elemental amulets. He agrees in a trade and the heros escort him out of the cave, while Burton is left to wait inside to be rescued by the ships divers. (<span style="color: #008000">we didn't really want Burton to dive through the water again as this could have lead to a dangerous loss of blood.</span>)</p><p></p><p></p><p>The heroes pass a village that is "occupied" by a small group of Risuri rebels (<span style="color: #008000">a house with inexperienced "green soldiers"</span>) and avoid it. Then they finally find a group of danoran survivors in a forest where they release Dupiers into the care of his people and continue their mission. On their way, they realize that the rumors about the "strange island" are true, as the scenery suddenly changes and they find themselves in a strange place under a blue sun (which also fits to Burton's report that the deadly rocks had come out of nowhere). The constables suspect that the nails they found everywhere could help against such unwanted changes of reality. In the middle of the night, they get to the Axis fortress and sneak to the opposite side without any problem. Auryn and Gabriel use the scrolls which had been prepared for Team 3 (which had been made by Harkover himself - thank you, old man!) to pass the wall of the outer fortress and sneak along the wall towards the harbor. Since they and their elementals are all very light-footed and / or flying, they arrive without an incident at the port's wall. On the way to the lighthouse, the constables find a warehouse with dozens of Danoran corpses, which had been carlessly piled there. As they had the foresight to request invisibility potions, they use them to get into the interior of the lighthouse and stun both the wizard, the guarding officer, and the little dragon familiar before they open the harbor gate with the opening mechanism and barricade themselves and their prisoners inside. Thanks to Carlyle's quick thinking, the heroes use the emblem they got from Dupiers to close their hideout with a (perfectly fitting!) wall of stone. This way, they can wait for the soon arriving reinforcements without being in danger as they use the spare time to browse through the wizard's notes. (Unfortunately, it contained nothing of interest)</p><p></p><p></p><p>(<span style="color: #0000ff">That really caught me unprepared. I decided that a wall of stone was not anticipated by the attackers and i could not see them fetching picks and heavy hammers in in such a short time, so i gave a well deserved point to the players. The wall held up against all waves of attackers who ran back to get equipment. Has any of the other partys had the same idea?</span>)</p><p></p><p></p><p>Ten minutes into battle, Ms. Galadin and Mr. Carlyle are liberated by their own forces. A look outside reveals that the battle for the fortress has already begun and more and more royal troops are disembarking in the harbour. During a short chat with an allied soldier about the situation and the whereabouts of Team 3, a gigantic fireball suddenly hits one of the ships. After the dust of the detonation has settled, the heroes see with horror that "something" wrapped in smoke, wielding a fiery sword and whip plows through the battling soldiers in the lower part of the fortress. They can not make out whether this person is a friend or foe, and the moment Auryn sees a flying lion shield she suspects that this could be „The Lion Shield“, a kind of avenger for the unseen court. Since Ethelyn escaped the Coaltonuge by the help of a fey, the constables are afraid that this berserker could be about to rush to Ethelyn's aid. So they decide to follow him at a reasonable distance. But since he also seems to be cutting down Risuri rebels (<span style="color: #008000">and is only referred to as a "god of war" even by rebel soldiers</span>), they suspect that he might be working for a third party or be a completely rogue element. However, the constables lose his track after a few minutes. They agree to follow him again, should he reappear, as he might know a way into the inner fortress. Otherwise, Auryn and Gabriel just plan to wait until the siege engines finally make their way through the main gate.</p><p></p><p></p><p>(<span style="color: #0000ff">I was quite happy that the party appeared as shellshocked as the soldiers they encountered and had actually prepared Auryn´s player about „this Lionshield“. She wanted the vekeshi in Flint to not be murderers and so she asked what Dawkins would do if the Court demanded the death of someone and Old stag feeled the need to deny the request. I told her about a guy who is sent when the unseen court is really angry about something. My players sometimes misread hints and complain later and i did not want them to charge Asrabey not knowing the risks.</span>)</p><p></p><p></p><p>In the meantime the RHC agents hear news about a "prison" that has been taken by the royal forces, but whose danoran prisoners refuse to hand out any information. Since Carlyle knows how to use and get even the smallest bit of information, and Nathan Jierre is still missing, they decide to help out with the interrogation. It turns out that the Danorans were mistreated badly by the Risuri. Bit by bit they learn that the people refuse to talk to them because they are afraid of a certain Danoran soldier. So they decide to approach the man who is suffering from a bad wound on his eye. The soldier seems to hate all Risuri and does not want to believe that the attackers were simple rebels. The heroes try to explain to him that 1) if he truely was a Danoran patriote he had to support the decisions of his government and that 2) a king of Risur would certainly not attack the people of his future bride. After some tough discussions he finally tells Mr. Carlyle and Auryn that he is secretly suspecting an inside job, since the well-defended fortress would never have fallen that fast. In exchange, the constable hand him over his weapons, take care of his wounded eye, and order their people to leave the Danorans who apparently wish to defend themselves.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Outside the prison they find another track of the "god of war" and finally find an escape route (<span style="color: #008000">which we have already assumed be out there somewhere</span>), which would lead directly to the port. This leads to a complex with a teleportation circle, which had been changed with a magic ritual. Also 87 golden swords and some dead soldiers lie scattered on the ground. This magical gate now points to an unknown location in the Dreaming. Carlyle fears that the Fey/God of War could summon more reinforcements and covers the circle with some of the gold swords to seal it off. The party continues to make guesses about who the guy could be, and with the help of Carlyle's experiences (<span style="color: #008000">he has never fought against such a person before, yet the style seems familiar to him</span>) and Auryn's knowledge (<span style="color: #008000">the last survivors of Elfaivar were armed to the teeth and would cut down entire companies in their rage</span>) they conclude that they could be lucky and their attacker might "only" be a very well-equipped Eladrin veteran. Just as they come to this conclusion, they notice someone moving swiftly atop the roofs, in the direction of the main keep. The heroes follow him on the ground as fast as they can, when he suddenly leaps and activates a magically glowing sphere. The growing light illuminates the smoke around him and to Auryn's horror she recognizes the man from ancient descriptions as Asrabey, the esteemed husband of her ancestress Kasravina, who was the mother of matriarch Launga (<span style="color: #008000">he also seems to have recognized at least something familiar in her, since he casts a friendly wink in her direction</span>). Shortly after, the constables are blinded by the bright light and can only hear how the iron nails are torn out of the wall. Then the landscape changes at once. Fortunately the light grows darker soon, and Carlyle remembers that a certain Asrabey had been a great help to the Risuri in a past Yerasol war, as they happened to be on the same side (he had freed a captive Eladrin, good man! ). To their surprise, they find themselves in a swampy environment, which somehow replaces the wall that had been in front of them and opens up the way to a huge labyrinth.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Asrabey first cuts his way through the hedge with his blazing sword and then continues his way running above the thicket, as the party slowly cuts through the labyrinth and fights with illusions and animals. They „persuade“ one of the fey hedge guards to clear a part of the way for them, but this fey is killed by "something" shortly thereafter. The murderer then confronts Auryn and Gabriel personally: it turns out to be a Dryad, an ally of Ethelyn. Since the constables seem unable to negotiate this time (<span style="color: #008000">and the dryad's initial attack on Carlyle was totally unexpected</span>), they face the threat and beat her down. The way to the main keep is now (<span style="color: #008000">hopefully!</span>) open.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Tizbiz, post: 7086119, member: 6874057"] [COLOR=#0000ff]Auryns player wrote this recap and her thoughts are marked green.[/COLOR] Just four days after the unsuccessful assassination attempt against King Aodhan and after a great deal of paperwork, Auryn and Gabriel are once again summoned by Assistant Chief Inspector Stover Delft to present an unexpected guest: Minister of Foreign Affairs of Danor, Lia Jierre. The female tiefling does not seem to have any time for courtesies, since she skips a proper greeting, and instead presents Ms. Galadin and Mr. Carlyle with a puzzle to test their wits and attitude. In this test the heroes are to connect three rings with three lines with three magic towers. They succeed very quickly after using a little creativity. (once it was clear that we were allowed to solve this puzzle in three dimensions, it became a pretty easy task. Carlyle insisted that there had to be a way to do this in 2D as it was a classic puzzle he knew from somewhere. I just didn't bother with that approach since there were towers to be connected, not circles on the ground) Lia Jierre seems to be satisfied with their "bending of rules," as she and Delft finally tell them about the coming mission. He tells them that the escaped duchess Ethelyn has teamed up with a group of Risuri rebels from Shale and taken hold of Axis Island, which has previously been occupied by Danor since the end of the last Yerasol war. The Danorans have built industrial plants and mines on this island and, according to Lia, Danor is now on the verge of tipping the peace treaty with Risur to reconquer the island with its own military power. She claims that she won't be able to convince the war-mongers in the Danoran council that the Risuri on Axis Island are actually rebels, since this could also just be a political feint. Therefore, the only way to prevent an impending fifth Yerasol war is to officially return the island to Danor. She also tells the heroes that her cousin, Nathan Jierre, had been on a research field trip to the island and asks them to look after his whereabouts. Initially, the constables are a bit skeptical, but they see some kind of logic in this plan ([COLOR=#008000]After all, it was „Risur“ who broke peace, so why should the Danoran military risk their soldier's lives to reconquer the island? Still Lia seemed too cunning to be an easy candidate for trust-[/COLOR]). Delft is satisfied that Ms. Galadin and Mr. Carlyle agree with the plan and he sends them straight to the port, as the ship Impossible carrying Team 3 and Captain Smith should be ready to leave every moment. Lia promises a possible time frame of three days for the Risuri to clean their mess, since she won't be able to halt the Danoran war council any longer. Delft gives the heros the task to officially arrest the Duchess and learn about her motives. He also mentions to Carlyle that he is supposed to get information from her even if she was killed, but Auryn does not seem to understand what her chief means by this. Carrying equipment for the party and Team 3, they hurry to the port, where the Impossible sets sail at the very same moment the heroes are on board. In the ship's belly, they agree to the plan Team 3 had worked out with Delft: A RHC commando group should enter the island unseen through a secret entrance in an underwater cave and then sneak into the military fortress in which the Duchess is assumed to be. There, Team 3 is to open the port gates via a mechanism and let the remaining Risuri fleet into the port, so that the otherwise impenetrable fortress can be taken without much resistance. Tanya tells them that Auryn and Carlyle are ultimately only reinforcements for Team 3 and both of them are happy with that sort of arrangement. Still, they all exchange their opinions on fighting styles. Only the Illusionist Letmas Sigurd is absent, as he left an illusion of himself to boil some tea ([COLOR=#008000]which Auryn finds extremely funny but turns Tanya and Carlyle rather sour[/COLOR]). A few hours later we meet up with the fleet in the seas of Shale under increased security conditions (after all, there are still some rebels in the city, so we do not dare to enter! I never told them but the players assumed that and i went with it.) Now finally complete, the fleet sets sail towards Axis Island.. The constables try to get as much rest as possible, as they are about to face a very long night. A few hours later, the heroes arrive unchallenged in a small bay of the island. Team 3 distributes water breathing spells to all of them and Tanya explains that they will dive ahead and will then signal Auryn and Gabriel when they cleared the path. When the heroes actually see the expected tugging on the rope, they rush into the cave only to witness a terrible sight: Except for the Goblin Burton, all members of Team 3 have been crushed by falling rocks. Burton is also in serious trouble because his leg has been crushed under a Rock. Auryn and Gabriel rescue the goblin, drag him out of the water and make sure his leg is tended for. Still it is clear that the mission for him is over and that he will need urgent medical help. After that they retrieve the bodies of their former colleagues. In the cave itself the constables discover a petrified tree with a magically illuminated seal, as well as several unnaturally large iron nails, which have been struck into the wall. The heroes can not phantom why the nails should be there, but think that it might serve as some kind of protection from magic. Auryn climbs the petrified tree and takes the seal with the symbols of Avilona. Just as they have roughly identified the properties of this magical token (it offers the ability to fly for a short time), the constables notice some movement near the cave's exit. They decide to move carefully and with dimmed light and climb over the ladder placed in the cave. Then a person suddenly appears and commands some elementals to attack the constables. Since the heroes could only make out one man, they decide that Carlyle keeps the elementals in check while Auryn tries to "persuade" the one commanding the elementals. Auryn activates her new token so she can fly to the entrance of the cave. Surprisingly, the air elemental quickly changes sides when it feels the power of the emblem and Auryn succeeds in magically charming the attacker, telling him to wait and negotiate. It turns out that the man, a gray-haired, skinny guy, is the foreman Nicolas Dupiers from Danor. He tells Mr. Carlyle and Ms. Galadin that his people were killed by "the forest" and a dryad, and that he was the only one who could hide in the mine and has been there for days. With many cautious and friendly words, the RHC agents explain to him that they are not the enemy and really only want to liberate the island. After a while he believes them and Auryn drops her charm. Nicolas is still frightened, but is open to suggestions on how to get him to safety should he give them his two elemental amulets. He agrees in a trade and the heros escort him out of the cave, while Burton is left to wait inside to be rescued by the ships divers. ([COLOR=#008000]we didn't really want Burton to dive through the water again as this could have lead to a dangerous loss of blood.[/COLOR]) The heroes pass a village that is "occupied" by a small group of Risuri rebels ([COLOR=#008000]a house with inexperienced "green soldiers"[/COLOR]) and avoid it. Then they finally find a group of danoran survivors in a forest where they release Dupiers into the care of his people and continue their mission. On their way, they realize that the rumors about the "strange island" are true, as the scenery suddenly changes and they find themselves in a strange place under a blue sun (which also fits to Burton's report that the deadly rocks had come out of nowhere). The constables suspect that the nails they found everywhere could help against such unwanted changes of reality. In the middle of the night, they get to the Axis fortress and sneak to the opposite side without any problem. Auryn and Gabriel use the scrolls which had been prepared for Team 3 (which had been made by Harkover himself - thank you, old man!) to pass the wall of the outer fortress and sneak along the wall towards the harbor. Since they and their elementals are all very light-footed and / or flying, they arrive without an incident at the port's wall. On the way to the lighthouse, the constables find a warehouse with dozens of Danoran corpses, which had been carlessly piled there. As they had the foresight to request invisibility potions, they use them to get into the interior of the lighthouse and stun both the wizard, the guarding officer, and the little dragon familiar before they open the harbor gate with the opening mechanism and barricade themselves and their prisoners inside. Thanks to Carlyle's quick thinking, the heroes use the emblem they got from Dupiers to close their hideout with a (perfectly fitting!) wall of stone. This way, they can wait for the soon arriving reinforcements without being in danger as they use the spare time to browse through the wizard's notes. (Unfortunately, it contained nothing of interest) ([COLOR=#0000ff]That really caught me unprepared. I decided that a wall of stone was not anticipated by the attackers and i could not see them fetching picks and heavy hammers in in such a short time, so i gave a well deserved point to the players. The wall held up against all waves of attackers who ran back to get equipment. Has any of the other partys had the same idea?[/COLOR]) Ten minutes into battle, Ms. Galadin and Mr. Carlyle are liberated by their own forces. A look outside reveals that the battle for the fortress has already begun and more and more royal troops are disembarking in the harbour. During a short chat with an allied soldier about the situation and the whereabouts of Team 3, a gigantic fireball suddenly hits one of the ships. After the dust of the detonation has settled, the heroes see with horror that "something" wrapped in smoke, wielding a fiery sword and whip plows through the battling soldiers in the lower part of the fortress. They can not make out whether this person is a friend or foe, and the moment Auryn sees a flying lion shield she suspects that this could be „The Lion Shield“, a kind of avenger for the unseen court. Since Ethelyn escaped the Coaltonuge by the help of a fey, the constables are afraid that this berserker could be about to rush to Ethelyn's aid. So they decide to follow him at a reasonable distance. But since he also seems to be cutting down Risuri rebels ([COLOR=#008000]and is only referred to as a "god of war" even by rebel soldiers[/COLOR]), they suspect that he might be working for a third party or be a completely rogue element. However, the constables lose his track after a few minutes. They agree to follow him again, should he reappear, as he might know a way into the inner fortress. Otherwise, Auryn and Gabriel just plan to wait until the siege engines finally make their way through the main gate. ([COLOR=#0000ff]I was quite happy that the party appeared as shellshocked as the soldiers they encountered and had actually prepared Auryn´s player about „this Lionshield“. She wanted the vekeshi in Flint to not be murderers and so she asked what Dawkins would do if the Court demanded the death of someone and Old stag feeled the need to deny the request. I told her about a guy who is sent when the unseen court is really angry about something. My players sometimes misread hints and complain later and i did not want them to charge Asrabey not knowing the risks.[/COLOR]) In the meantime the RHC agents hear news about a "prison" that has been taken by the royal forces, but whose danoran prisoners refuse to hand out any information. Since Carlyle knows how to use and get even the smallest bit of information, and Nathan Jierre is still missing, they decide to help out with the interrogation. It turns out that the Danorans were mistreated badly by the Risuri. Bit by bit they learn that the people refuse to talk to them because they are afraid of a certain Danoran soldier. So they decide to approach the man who is suffering from a bad wound on his eye. The soldier seems to hate all Risuri and does not want to believe that the attackers were simple rebels. The heroes try to explain to him that 1) if he truely was a Danoran patriote he had to support the decisions of his government and that 2) a king of Risur would certainly not attack the people of his future bride. After some tough discussions he finally tells Mr. Carlyle and Auryn that he is secretly suspecting an inside job, since the well-defended fortress would never have fallen that fast. In exchange, the constable hand him over his weapons, take care of his wounded eye, and order their people to leave the Danorans who apparently wish to defend themselves. Outside the prison they find another track of the "god of war" and finally find an escape route ([COLOR=#008000]which we have already assumed be out there somewhere[/COLOR]), which would lead directly to the port. This leads to a complex with a teleportation circle, which had been changed with a magic ritual. Also 87 golden swords and some dead soldiers lie scattered on the ground. This magical gate now points to an unknown location in the Dreaming. Carlyle fears that the Fey/God of War could summon more reinforcements and covers the circle with some of the gold swords to seal it off. The party continues to make guesses about who the guy could be, and with the help of Carlyle's experiences ([COLOR=#008000]he has never fought against such a person before, yet the style seems familiar to him[/COLOR]) and Auryn's knowledge ([COLOR=#008000]the last survivors of Elfaivar were armed to the teeth and would cut down entire companies in their rage[/COLOR]) they conclude that they could be lucky and their attacker might "only" be a very well-equipped Eladrin veteran. Just as they come to this conclusion, they notice someone moving swiftly atop the roofs, in the direction of the main keep. The heroes follow him on the ground as fast as they can, when he suddenly leaps and activates a magically glowing sphere. The growing light illuminates the smoke around him and to Auryn's horror she recognizes the man from ancient descriptions as Asrabey, the esteemed husband of her ancestress Kasravina, who was the mother of matriarch Launga ([COLOR=#008000]he also seems to have recognized at least something familiar in her, since he casts a friendly wink in her direction[/COLOR]). Shortly after, the constables are blinded by the bright light and can only hear how the iron nails are torn out of the wall. Then the landscape changes at once. Fortunately the light grows darker soon, and Carlyle remembers that a certain Asrabey had been a great help to the Risuri in a past Yerasol war, as they happened to be on the same side (he had freed a captive Eladrin, good man! ). To their surprise, they find themselves in a swampy environment, which somehow replaces the wall that had been in front of them and opens up the way to a huge labyrinth. Asrabey first cuts his way through the hedge with his blazing sword and then continues his way running above the thicket, as the party slowly cuts through the labyrinth and fights with illusions and animals. They „persuade“ one of the fey hedge guards to clear a part of the way for them, but this fey is killed by "something" shortly thereafter. The murderer then confronts Auryn and Gabriel personally: it turns out to be a Dryad, an ally of Ethelyn. Since the constables seem unable to negotiate this time ([COLOR=#008000]and the dryad's initial attack on Carlyle was totally unexpected[/COLOR]), they face the threat and beat her down. The way to the main keep is now ([COLOR=#008000]hopefully![/COLOR]) open. [/QUOTE]
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