NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 2813488" data-attributes="member: 143">Chapter 524Cal and the dwarves got no sleep the rest of that night, in the aftermath of the attack on Ember Vale.  The house that the beetle had slammed into in its final rush had collapsed in upon itself, trapping a family in a tenuous space beneath sagging supports in the cellar.  Umbar summoned an earth elemental to help excavate the survivors before the structure collapsed.  Others in the community had been injured in the attack, but thanks to Cal’s advance warning, no one lost their lives. There was another close call in the wreckage of the town inn.  The entire front facing of the building had been torn away, revealing the ruins of the common room on the first floor, and a row of sleeping rooms directly above.  Arun and Beorna had been helping to free a young man who’d been pinned under the common room’s long bar by a fallen beam, when a loud creaking sound drew their attention around in alarm.  Two of the heavy struts supporting what was left of the ceiling had buckled against the beetle’s assault, and the third was bent, the weathered wooden pillar cracked a few feet above where it vanished into the floor. “We’re going to lose it!” Beorna said, crouched under one end of the fallen beam, using her legs to slowly push it upward.  Arun was at the other end with a broken shaft of piling as a lever, pushing it up enough for the templar to drag the man out of his prison.  As soon as he was free, Beorna pushed the broken beam out of her way, picking up the groaning man as she staggered toward the gaping open front of the inn, Arun just behind her. Their efforts seemed to push the tottering inn over the edge; the beam sagged with a loud creaking noise, and debris rained down on them from above as the ceiling edge tilted a foot downward.  Beorna was hit solidly by a small table that fell down from the sleeping room above; fortunately she was wearing her helmet, and she merely sagged a bit, protecting the injured man with her body. Arun staggered against the creaking pillar, driving his hands against it, willing it to hold.  “Come on!” Beorna shouted back at him. “Get him out!” Arun shot back.     Several other pieces of furniture and broken boards from the sundered front wall clattered down as Beorna navigated the mess of debris and staggered out into the open street beyond.  Once clear, she immediately laid the injured man down in a space far enough away from the inn to be secure, and turned back to where Arun remained inside. But the danger had passed.  As the templar reentered the stricken structure, she was surprised to see Arun still standing against the strut, which now stood straight, undamaged, holding the remaining ceiling securely in place. “What did you do?” she asked.The paladin drew off his helmet, and ran a gauntleted hand along the length of the strut.  “I’m not quite sure.”By the time that all of the villagers had been safely gathered, and those that had suffered injuries had been treated, the eastern sky had brightened with the coming of dawn.  Two homes, the inn, and the forge were either heavily damaged or destroyed, but the rest of the settlement had escaped damage.  The main gate was a total loss, but that at least could be rebuilt swiftly with raw materials at hand.  The evidence of the battle was just those physical remains of buildings and fortifications, streaks of blood staining the ground and the blackened circle where Cal’s shadowed fireball had struck.  The giant vermin had disappeared within a few minutes of the battle’s end.  Cal had spent some minutes in the road where the outline of the fallen giant beetle could still be seen imprinted in the dirt.  He finally found something; bending down, he lifted the dead beetle, now smaller than his forefinger.  He looked at it for quite some time, thoughts swirling. Fear and uncertainty was evident in the faces of the sixty people who gathered in front of the tower, even as the sun began to break above the horizon to the east.  The dwarves were there, impressive with their heavy armor and weapons, and even Cal carried himself with an aura of somber dignity and presence as he stood atop a low masonry wall that separated the tower grounds off from the main road through the village.  The people quieted, looking to their leader for reassurance, for despite the gnome’s short stature, his reputation among the common folk of Ember Vale had been certified over the last twenty years.  He was the Archmage, and his words carried weight. “Friends,” he told them, “We have suffered a violent assault upon our community.  Thanks to the intervention of a few good friends,” he indicated the dwarves with a nod, and sixty faces turned briefly toward them, “no lives were lost.  We do not know who or what was behind this attack, but rest assured, we will not cease looking until we uncover the responsible party.  Our buildings have suffered damage, but those can be replaced.  Of more importance is the healthy and safety of our people… that, we will ever fight to ensure.”“Will there be more of them?” one of the villagers asked. “In all honesty, we cannot be certain,” Cal said.  “For today, I ask that you not go out into the fields.  Those whose homes were destroyed should stay with friends; we will set up quarters in the Commons Hall for people who do not have other options.  If you can, help with the rebuilding effort; we will try and get the gate up again first, and then work on salvaging what we can of the damaged structures.  Give me a day, and we will do what we can to determine the nature and dimension of the threat.”The faces of the villagers showed that they were not entirely reassured, but there was nothing that they could do except to shuffle off to their assigned tasks, or to return to their beds to catch up on lost sleep.  The dwarves lingered, and accompanied Cal into the tower. “A fine speech,” Umbar said.  “So what is it you intend to do?” “Right now, I intend to get about eight hours of sleep,” Cal explained.  “And after that…”He paused, his brow tightening as something seemed to flash through his thoughts. “After that, we gather our forces, and take the fight to our enemy.”</blockquote>

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