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Message: <blockquote data-quote="sniffles" data-source="post: 2660473" data-attributes="member: 30035">New Beginnings and Dark EndingsIt is difficult to speak now of the beginning of this part of our story, so dark is its ending. But I will try to tell it in the order in which it occurred.Though it was hard to find privacy in which to discuss our own concerns amid the noisy festivities of the wedding parties, my friends and I managed to gather and speak of when and how we wished to depart from Camber. Many of us sought to slip away quietly before dawn, to avoid prolonged farewells. Though we have no specific reason to feel thus, we all have a sense of urgency in seeking more information about Covenant's quest. But Rock did not wish to depart so secretively, and in any case he had arranged to plant the magical acorn for Billy and Andrea Tanner on the morning following their nuptials. At first he insisted that the rest of us go on ahead and he would catch us up at a later time, but we declined to be separated from him. Most of us made our way to the Tanner house, our former home during our previous stay in Camber, to witness the planting of the oak tree that morning. It grew instantly to a great height and spread its welcome branches well over the small house, even extending one limb that would be perfectly suited for a swing. I hoped then that the good folk of Camber would never have need to cut this tree. Now perhaps it will not matter. We rode away without as many difficulties as we had expected. Perhaps the townsfolk were all too engaged in their celebrations to concern themselves with our departure. Nekaya rode away from our party to meet with Pakkin at the appointed place, and spent some moments chastising him when she learned that the goblin had taken crops from a nearby farm. She took him back to the farmhouse, which was presently unoccupied, and left a silver piece to repay the farmers. A useless task, or so it now appears.Our breakfast had taken longer than we intended, and we had not ridden any great distance from the town by the time midday arrived and we paused to permit Nekaya to make her prayers to Horus-Re. As we completed our light repast, Nekaya and Erim heard a sound like thunder in the distance. We all saw a red glow in the sky lying in the direction of the town. We were at once alarmed, recollecting Gadron's warning. We began to prepare to return even before we saw the brief flare of flames in the heavens. We rode back to Camber as swiftly as our mounts could manage. Aratan outdistanced all of the other steeds and I was obliged to rein him in as we came within sight of the walls. Nekaya called upon Pakkin to ride to the opposite side of the town and see what he might. Then a group of townsfolk came rushing out from behind a boundary wall beside the road, shouting of fire, fog, demons, and something blocking the gate. We advised them to flee and rode onward.As we came nearer we could see two walls of ice had appeared in a funnel-like formation before the gate, with a third wall between them forming a doorway. Several creatures stood in this doorway that at first resembled bearded Men, but on closer inspection I saw that they had tails. All of them bore long glaives. Through the gaps in the ice we saw what appeared to be many corpses. Phaele at once hurled a blast of fire at the ice wall, bursting it into a chill mist that hid the bodies from view.Rock shouted out "Barbezu!", which is evidently the name of the creatures we met. Erim warned that the creatures themselves could not be harmed by fire or ice, but were vulnerable to silver weapons. I drew my bow and the two silver arrows I had acquired and fired upon one of them as they rushed us. Behind me Nikos hurled his darts in a flurry of flying steel, while Nekaya called upon Horus-Re to bless us, and Erim endowed us all with arcane haste.Phaele tried out a bolt of lightning on these barbezu and found it injured them well enough. Rock's hammer sent one of them swiftly back to the plane from which it came. Two of the barbezu turned their attention toward Phaele, and I spurred Aratan toward them to defend her. Their armored hides were difficult to penetrate with my blades but I managed to slay one. I caught a glimpse of Rock and realized that he had gone into a rage, not the usual cold fury he shows in most battle but a hot blaze that might have melted the ice.The field was filled with bursts of lightning, shouting, and cold mist. I kept Aratan whirling around the second devil and managed to avoid taking any wound myself, though Aratan was struck once and began to bleed profusely. All the wounds inflicted by the barbezu bled freely. More barbezu appeared suddenly, and someone called out that such creatures can summon more of their kindred if they choose. But we were determined to destroy them all.Once Liadan and I had disposed of the second devil nearest Phaele, we turned on a third nearby. Then I saw that one of the creatures fighting with Rock had summoned up a dome of ice, entirely covering that area and hiding my friend from view.Erim attempted to dispel the ice with his magecraft but failed. Phaele hurled a ball of fire at it, shattering a goodly portion of one wall. That part had evidently been weakened by a blow from within the structure. But the interior of the dome filled with mist, making it difficult to see what took place within. Just as Nikos destroyed the last of the barbezu, we saw something larger and bony in form appear within the ice dome. I leaped down from my saddle and approached the broken structure. As I passed through the mist I felt a fearfull chill. Phaele hurled another bolt of lightning at the dome and it filled with steam as more ice was vaporized. The bony creature made a motion, and suddenly a swarm of shapeless small creatures appeared at its feet, attacking whatever lay nearest to them. I sliced at them furiously with my blades as I tried to make my way toward Rock, for my friend was covered in blood and appeared near to collapse.A gust of wind from behind me cleared the mist and steam, revealing that the creature Rock battled appeared to be made entirely of bone and had a long tail with a poisonous stinger at the end. Liadan rushed into the area and bestowed Lathander's healing on Rock, who seemed oblivious of his woeful state. I heard a crash outside, which I soon learned was the sound of Pekuah's hooves striking the icy wall. Phaele called upon her 'thunder lance' to strike the bony monstrosity. Rock continued to rush at it in a frenzy, while Liadan followed him about, calling upon Lathander's mercy.Abruptly the bone creature vanished, reappearing just behind where Nikos stood. Phaele turned her magical lance on it once again. Nikos also struck at it and was wounded in return. This I could only see in glimpses, for I was still occupied with eliminating all of its small minions. When I looked again the bone creature was gone. Rock smashed the last of its minions to pulp. The field of combat fell eerily silent. Nekaya advised us that she had examined the bodies before the gate and found no survivors. As we stared at the scorched roof of the barracks, just visible over the wall, we saw a strange greenish mist rising above the remains of Camber.</blockquote>

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