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Message: <blockquote data-quote="RangerWickett" data-source="post: 824086" data-attributes="member: 63">Chapter Two, Part TwoThe quick-thinking Rivereye tries to negotiate with Indomitability, apparently thinking he’ll be able to change its opinion.  Crystin seems to waver back to near consciousness while Rivereye talks, as if whatever had stunned her was distracted, but even her father Haddin is more concerned with the mysterious force that threatens them.Rivereye has an easy time communicating psionically with the spirit of the fire forest, and so he acts as medium between the party and it, managing to learn that because they have proved resistant to the forest’s flames, Indomitability has chosen to let the pursuing Inquisitors follow them without resistance.  He has reduced the flames in their path to almost nothing, so they’ve been able to close the distance quickly, and the Inquisitor group will arrive in a matter of minutes to destroy them, and then Indomitability will kill the Orcs too.Torrent points out how nasty it would be if they were hit by a dispelling spell, since it would not only negate their current fire resistance, but would also ruin their future applications, leaving them defenseless.  Rivereye quickly tells Indomitability that, hey, if it’s that important, they can just leave the fire forest without having to have a fight.Then Indomitability says something that gives them a bit to hope for.There are already too many here who oppose me.  I will tolerate no others to defy me.“No others?” Rivereye asks.  “What others?”Indomitability’s voice burns with withheld anger as it replies.Though they could not conquer me, the ones from below trapped me here.  I have made sure they cannot escape, but nor will they release me.Rivereye looks around to the group.  “Hey guys, what do you say we do Indomitability here a favor and free him, so maybe he’ll let us pass?”Diogenes looks around at the fire forest and the flames that have been trying to kill them for the past hour.  “How about no?”Just then, Kathor spots a horse a few hundred feet away, picking its way through a pocket of trees that are not flaming much.  Atop it rides a Orcish scout, dressed in a Ragesian army uniform.  He tells the rest of the group that the Orcs will be on them in just a few seconds, and he’s definitely in favor of at least giving the fire forest the benefit of the doubt.  Torrent and Rantle agree, and that’s enough for Rivereye.  He tells Indomitability that if it aids them and tells them how to find it, they’ll do whatever they can to help free it.  Indomitability agrees, and the group quickly mounts up, riding to find a more defensible location.In the distance, the Orc scouts spots them and blasts a horn.  Soon thereafter more horns blare, and within a minute a half-dozen Orcs on horseback are within viewing, chasing close behind.  However, they and their mounts both seem to be tiring quickly, since suddenly the fire forest is no longer being forgiving to them.  At the back of the group, though, rides a figure covered in heavy furs, wearing a polished bearskull mask that gleams in the firelight, and he spurs his forces on.  Everyone recognizes him as an Inquisitor.The group comes upon a low cliff that they can put their backs to to prevent flanking, and they deposit Haddin there, since the old man can’t seem to control his coughing.  The rest of the group turns to meet the approaching Ragesians, visible in dark flashes as they pass between interposing trees.  All of them except for Kathor dismount, since they’re not trained in mounted combat.  Diogenes and Torrent quickly cast defensive spells on themselves, while Kathor and Rantle quietly divide up which of the Ragesians they’ll go after.Stopping just over two hundred feet away (Diogenes recognizes this as a classic distance beyond which most spells are ineffective; good form), the Ragesians form a line of horsemen, ready to attack.  Behind them, the Inquisitor dismounts imposingly, then throws his hand forward as an order.  Shouting a battle cry, the Ragesian soldiers spur their horses, and charge.</blockquote>

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