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Message: <blockquote data-quote="the Jester" data-source="post: 865981" data-attributes="member: 1210">The First Battle of the Great War"So what do I think of this Great War of Ethics?  In a way, it's kind of funny," says Orbius.  "It's not about territory or conquest, no one's after anything.  In a way, it's a tremendously huge war about nothing.  It's about belief, and you can't control what people believe."Lester ignores the philosophical discussion going on with the Eye, Sybele and Horbin, choosing instead to smoke some pipeweed.  He rolls one up and sparks it up with his firefinger ability, granted by Froth.Our heroes pass the early part of the night, napping through an hour that leaves them as restful as a whole night.  Then, as they're deciding their next move, with Sheva proposing they wind walk to the Shining City, they start to hear distant noises, thundrous and loud but far, far off."An army," Sybele states.  "Passing some miles away."Wind walk it is.  In vaporous form, the party follows the noise and soon they can see the army in the distance.  Sybele estimates at it about 12,000 men and orcs combined- probably 10,000 of them orcish.  And they're flying the colors of the Forinthian Empire, definitely a force of Law."Orcs!" Horbin exclaims softly.  "Why orcs?"The party backtracks the army's trail and soon finds a grim scene- a halfling shire, burning and put to the sword.  There are some survivors, but not many.  The story is clear... the orcs and their Forinthian allies are up to no good.Sheva and Sybele exchange a glance.  They remember Zodiac the orcish pistoleer, one of Sybele's old boyfriends- one of her dangerous old boyfriends.  He was some kind of Valonian agent.   He might be out there... if the other pistoleers are as puissant as he was, and if there was a unit of them in the army, that force would be deadly.The party wind walks south, towards the Shining City, leaving the dubious force untouched behind them.  They don't really know what's going on, and they have pressing engagements.  The leagues fly by, and soon they're over the sea.  Sheva uses a sending spell to find out the date from Habiskis- 12/27.  Almost four months have passed.  They move over an island- and as they whiz over it, they see a battle in the distance.  "I think that's Pesh City," Orbius calls. The battle looks big.  There's a massive naval engagement-"Is that the Chaos fleet?" the L shouts."And I think that's the Forinthian flag," Sybele says, gesturing at a massive, deadly-looking wedge of ships flying the colors closing fast on a disorganized-looking circle of Chaos warships.There are ships as far as the eye can see, and besiegers surrounding Pesh City's walls.  There are small breaches in the defenses, tied up in secondary barriers along the streets.  The glow of fire rises from dozens of places.  In the distance, there is a constant rumble of violence.  The air hums with catapult shot, arrows, sling bullets, oil- the instruments of war.  Smoke is everywhere."Holy crap," says Lester.Next Time: What will the party do in the first battle of the Great War of Ethics?</blockquote>

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