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Message: <blockquote data-quote="xnosipjpqmhd" data-source="post: 2732325">Tales of the Bloody HellBook One: Long Live the Tirshata Session 6 (from 8 Nov 2003)The heroes returned to the safety of Kasmir to recuperate. New armour and weapons were purchased, and though it emptied the crew’s purses, the Bloody Hell was fully repaired. While in the company of the Kasmirans, Vidian and the others held council. There seemed no alternative but to confront the Batrean—or whatever she was—and discover the truth behind her charade.After four days in Kasmir, Vidian and his crew set out once more, armed with new-found resolve. They found the main encampment of the Za west of the Green Lagoon, as Lenatha had said. Vidian landed the ship on the fringe of the encampment. He then shouted the details of a cunning plan to the crew, and everyone sprang into action.First to act was Gann, tying a rope around his waist and leaping from the side of the ship onto the leading group of charging Za, killing one and throwing the rest off-balance. He rolled to his feet, whipped his broadsword from its sheath, and took on nearly two dozen bandits at once.Meanwhile, the remainder of the heroes descended the ship’s ladder on the other side of the ship and skirted the forest clearing until they were able to enter the bandits’ camp unchallenged. As they rushed swiftly forward, Silva parted the flaps of the largest of the tents. Beside her stood several enormous Za men.Immediately Vidian formed an arcane bolt in the air and levelled it at the Batrean’s head. The magick streaked through the misty morning air and exploded right in front of her. The Za were knocked back and had no chance to intercept Motar’s two knives that thudded into Silva’s body. Silva fell to the ground. The enraged Za jumped to their feet and charged the heroes.While Dar, Maylek, and Motar beat a hasty retreat toward the ship, drawing the Za bodyguards after them, Vidian placed his hands together before him and chanted ancient syllables of power. Within seconds he had faded into the mist and was no where to be seen!When the others returned to the Bloody Hell, they found Gann holding the ladder of the ship against desperate odds. He had suffered several gashes and cuts from the bandits’ swords, and rivulets of blood distorted the patterns of his tattoos into a terrifying crimson camouflage. The heroes fought their way back onto the ship; several Za had already climbed aboard and were prowling the decks in search of victims. Dar and Maylek slashed and beat at them, while Motar rained death on the foes of the Thrall below.For what seemed like hours the heroes struggled, though for certain it could only have been a handful of minutes. No one noticed the doubled-over body of the Batrean woman as it floated silently up the far side of the ship and across the deck to the captain’s cabin. The door of the cabin opened as if by itself, and the woman’s body glided into the room and came to rest in a crumpled heap in the corner.An unusually large and broad-shouldered Za was bending over Vidian’s winelocker in the small cabin; he would have easily been nine feet in height had he been able to stand up without stooping. He had been ravenously chugging aquavit and dashing the half-empty bottles against the wall. When he heard the muffled noise of Silva’s body being placed in the corner, he turned suddenly, drew his jagged weapon, and walked over to inspect the woman’s body.Behind the bandit, a misty cloud began to coalesce into the form of a Cymrilian windship pilot with a black iron longsword resting on his shoulder. In seconds Vidian came fully into view, and a glint ran down the silver runes of the dark blade as he struck. The blade buried itself deep into the subman’s back as if it were a hot knife melting butter. The Za screamed and cursed as he fell to the ground, smoke issuing from the gaping wound in his back! Vidian stood back, ready to strike again, but there was no need. The Za was dead.Vidian emerged from the cabin to take stock of the situation. The crew was in terrible shape, embattled on all sides and nearing death.Vidian ran to the helm and engaged the wind engine. In a few moments, the funnel roared to life, and the skiff lifted into the air, then lurched forward into the tops of the nearby trees in a sharp ascent. Several of the Za lost their footing and slipped over the side. Maylek also slipped over the edge but managed to grab hold of the railing just in time. It seemed he would haul himself up, but a Za bandit on the upper deck lost his footing and slammed into the Yitek. They fell from the ship a hundred feet above the forest! All this while, Gann had been knocked to the ground and was rolling this way and that to avoid the blows of the mob of Za gathered around him. With kicks and sweeps of sword, the thrall had been knocking over enemies and amputating limbs in a wild fury. Yet it seemed that his luck had run out, for he was exhausted and battered, and he could not parry every strike aimed at him. A Za chieftain with a deep scar across his forehead rushed up to where Gann lay and raised a thick- shafted spear above his head to strike, and Gann could do nothing to avoid it!At that moment, the end of Gann’s rope was reached, his body was jerked violently into the air, and the long blade of the chieftain’s spear struck only the cold ground where the thrall’s head had lain a second before. With a groan of pain, Gann went flying up into the air, swinging this way and that like a blood-stained pendulum, as the Bloody Hell gained altitude. The rope to which Gann had tied himself saved more than one life in that moment, for Maylek managed to catch of it with a wild thrash of his arms as he fell. He had just enough strength left in his thin frame to hang on for dear life. The Za who had fallen from the ship beside him was not so fortunate. Meanwhile, Vidian steadied the ship, giving Motar time to end the lives of the two remaining Za who remained on board.When they had returned to the clearing near the great spideroak, Gann and Maylek dropped gently into the shallow water as the Bloody Hell hovered above the lake. Vidian then landed the windskiff in the clearing, and the heroes gathered to tend their wounds. Gann was in terrible shape and would require much assistance if he were to survive. The rest of the heroes gave him food and drink and what comfort they could, but it was clear that he needed more aid than they could give.Vidian brought out Silva’s body and carried it into the forest to meet with the Dhuna. Maylek led the way. Within a few moments, the stony- faced man appeared once more. Vidian laid the Batrean’s body on the ground. Then Maylek approached and said they had brought Silva’s body as requested and that the thrall in their company was in dire need of the ministrations of a healer. Would Lenatha meet with them?The stony-faced man held his hand above Silva’s body. Suddenly he took a step back and yelled, “She lives yet! Her evil is not ended!”Silva’s eyes snapped open. She held up a hand, and Maylek was flung backwards against the trunk of the great spiderwood tree. He tumbled to the ground and did not rise. Vidian drew his sword. Motar flung knives. Gann ran forward to do battle. Dar cheered them on.Silva got to her feet just as one of Motar’s knives struck her in the chest. Her face was expressionless as she yanked it out of her body and tossed it aside. Vidian struck at her with his arcane blade, and she knocked the blow aside with her hand, as if she knew no pain. Surprisingly, no blood issued from her wounds!“Your weapons are useless against her,” called the stony-faced man. “Within her frame is a terrible power against whom only the ancient ones may strike blows!” The representatives of the Dhuna retreated further into the woods.Silva pointed a finger at Vidian, and like Maylek, he saw shoved backwards by an invisible force. He flipped over in the air and landed face down in a tangle of thorn bushes. Silva walked confidently past the spiderwood tree toward the remaining heroes. Behind her, Maylek stumbled to his feet, pulled the 1,000-year-old Kharakhan knife from the folds of his shirt, and buried it in the Batrean’s back squarely between her shoulder blades. She stopped in her tracks, still as a statue. Maylek half-cringed, expecting to be knocked aside once again. A green light shone from Silva’s eyes, and a shudder ran through her body. Maylek dove out of the way as blinding bolts of green lightning arced from her body to the surrounding trees, and a great cloud of dark smoke began to roll and boil about her. Those still standing dove for cover.By the time the heroes recovered the courage to peer out from behind their shelters, the lightning had ceased and the black smoke was already beginning to dissipate. The body from which it had issued lay motionless on the ground, but it was not Silva’s. Instead of the beautiful form of a young Batrean woman, before them lay the naked flesh of a man. His skin was pale and nearly translucent, as if he had lived in darkness for many years. His bearded face was frozen in an expression of both shock and agony at once. The great dagger of the giants jutted from his back.Later, when the Dhuna had been summoned and their fears put to rest, the body was shown to Lenatha, who confirmed that this had been a powerful Phaedran wizard. He had discovered a passage that led back from the world of the dead, and his spirit lived once more within the Batrean woman known as Silva.EpilogueWhat evil schemes had been set in motion during the long-dead wizard’s return to Talislanta may never be fully uncovered, but with his passing, two facts remain certain. The first was that the wizard had begun to breed an advanced race of submen who still infested Werewood. These superhuman legions of evil would continue to wreak havoc as long as they thrived in the north, and only a war would end their rampage.The second was that the crew of the Bloody Hell had delivered only a brief check--not a total defeat--in the war against evil. Someone close to the wizard still lived, though whether a servitor, a colleague, or a master no one knew. Even now, in some dark corner of the continent, they sit brooding in the cabin of a windship named the Son of Tarrune, dreaming of the next step in the conquest of the civilised world.NEXT UP... BOOK TWO: THE TREE OF LIFE</blockquote>

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