Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
The Gate Pass Irregulars: A War of the Burning Sky Campaign
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Cafu" data-source="post: 6198201" data-attributes="member: 6692807"><p>She smiled and then took out a rolled cloth which portrayed a very good map of the forest region and the rivers as well as the surrounding land; laying it on the ground, she said:</p><p> </p><p>“Copy this roughly; now, let me show the position of the henge, which is here; the last reported position of the camps of the Ragesians and Shahalesti are here and here; they are temporary and can be moved but they haven’t done so for a little time. They could be waiting for something. Finally, the one major building in this region is the Temple, which is here.”</p><p> </p><p>Looking at the position of the various locations I asked:</p><p> </p><p>“Is there anyone in the Temple?”</p><p> </p><p>“No, but it is supposed to the haunted, like everything else around here; and it probably truly is, like everything else around here,” was her answer.</p><p> </p><p>John then said:</p><p> </p><p>“I’m not sure what the Ragesians are waiting for but the Princess Shalosha could be coming here.”</p><p> </p><p>Fayne raised her eyebrows:</p><p> </p><p>“The Princess? Coming here? She’s not supposed to be as bad as her father, or so it is said.”</p><p> </p><p>I snorted at this but didn’t say anything.</p><p> </p><p>Finally, Longhelim said:</p><p> </p><p>“If we complete these various tasks, how do we find you?”</p><p> </p><p>“I’ll find you,” was the answer; and then she disappeared into the undergrowth, leaving no trace of her passing and with her fox padding silently beside her.</p><p> </p><p>It was getting dark and we decided to set up in camp in this location; I wasn’t looking forward to spending the night here but this place was as good as any. So we set up our camp as usual and with watches.</p><p> </p><p>As it was, we didn’t need watches really; close to midnight, we all heard howling in the distance but rapidly drawing closer. This served to wake everyone up, just in time to see a group of blue figures streaking towards us through the air. As they approached, we could see that they had elven features and wore wolf pelts.</p><p> </p><p>These certainly did not act as benign phantoms as they arrived at speed and dove into attack!</p><p> </p><p>Tents were kicked over, weapons and shields were grabbed and I began to prepare spell components.</p><p> </p><p>It was at this point that Felix shouted:</p><p> </p><p>“Specters!”</p><p> </p><p>My blood froze; amongst the most dreaded of all undead; mysterious, incorporeal, vicious and incredibly dangerous. From my scant knowledge, I knew that they preyed on life force; especially that of priests or paladins but they were also desirable of magical energy; heck, in the end, they would prey on anyone who lived.</p><p> </p><p>The way these creatures flew, they were pouncing like animals in mid-air and within moments, we each had one next to us. The enemy nearest me immediately reached out and I felt magical energy leaving my body. The specter seemed to grin at me as it visibly swelled, leeching my spells; I almost wept with frustration as I felt the spells leaving my memory, again. Be that as it may, I had to make the best of it and I stepped away and cast a spell of lightning against this creature; it didn’t like that.</p><p> </p><p>Swiftly I looked around and saw that everyone was engaged.</p><p> </p><p>I was doing my best to dodge my enemy when I heard an exhortation from Felix, banishing the creatures from his sight. His faith was strong that night, as two of them flew away from the priest as fast as possible. Drudge was shooting into his own enemy; he was having some success, as some of the arrows were definitely penetrating and leaving ragged holes in the apparition. Unfortunately, there were many arrows which just shot through the specter as if it wasn’t there.</p><p> </p><p>Victor and Longhelim managed to combine to slay one as I glimpsed it floating into the ground and seemingly just sink. Then, I was again too busy trying to dodge my own enemy; too late; he tapped me and yet again I felt yet as if I needed to make an even greater effort to function. More magic left me but I managed to shoot three fiery rays into the creature; two of them were ineffectual; thankfully, the other did leave a smoking hole in its translucent torso, making it recoil, until it tapped me again and the hole seemed to close up substantially.</p><p> </p><p>Felix then managed to cast a spell on himself; I couldn’t see what it was but I hoped it was useful.</p><p> </p><p>Victor and Longhelim had managed to gang up on another of the specters and dispatch it when another bone-chilling howl was heard and a new creature flew from the sky. This was one was very strange, with the appearance of a huge dog, with a half a dozen swirling, flying figures of wolves within its translucent body; it was the most peculiar thing. It had the same spectral nature as our existing enemy and was just as deadly if its strike on Victor was anything to go by. It lunged with its large mouth and seemed to almost sink itself into Victor’s flesh and then withdraw, with some ethereal substance in its jaws. Seeing Victor sagging like that, it was obvious that the effect was just as vicious.</p><p> </p><p>Drudge then shot another specter when the one facing me struck yet again; my situation was getting desperate when John arrived, tapping my back with one of his wands. Immediately I felt as if all that I had lost had returned; although my spells did not return, I felt as if I had the capability to learn them again; thus bolstered, with a wave of my hand and a whisper of my lips, a quintet of force missiles thudded into my enemy, which was still stubbornly pursuing me. Very annoyingly, it refused to dissipate and swiped at me again, although this time I managed to duck.</p><p> </p><p>Then, two more enemies joined the fray; with a howl, yet another of these strange spectral dogs landed next to Longhelim and bit the paladin; and from the ground, a misty figure rose to materialize into another huge dog, snowy white with a shocking red stain around its neck; however, this one looked solid. Immediately, it tore into Longhelim with its teeth, causing a tearing, ragged wound. It seemed to take a moment to lick the blood spurting from the paladin and I had a dreadful suspicion.</p><p> </p><p>I tore another set of force missiles at my specter and it finally dissipated but it was too late for Longhelim, who was thrown to the ground by the white wolf. Despite this, Longhelim had managed to land a powerful blow against this new abomination; no matter, though; his weapons barely penetrated into the unnatural body of the creature. Then Victor also hit it only for him to be hit in turn by one of the incorporeal dogs.</p><p> </p><p>Then, just to make things even worse, yet another of the spectral dogs appeared, making three in number. </p><p> </p><p>The situation was getting desperate now. Both the warriors were incredibly weak, having been almost smothered in specters. Felix was having the greatest trouble in doing anything; it seemed as if the paralysis on his healing spells or anything to do with positive energy had returned with a vengeance and I could see him trying and trying but unable to affect the fight in any way. The white wolf turned around and contemptuously barged Victor to the ground with one shrug of its bulk. The warrior was so weak that the beast barely expended any effort at all; things were even worse now, as both warriors were fighting from the ground; Victor did manage to strike a couple of blows into the blue dog but this was almost a last stand; or fall as the case may be.</p><p> </p><p>Felix yet again was failing to act when John tried to move around the white wolf and touch the paladin with his wand; unfortunately, the wolf again was wise to that and bit him badly; then, when John did finally reach the paladin, he was unable to get the spell to work due to the nature of the environment in the haunted forest.</p><p> </p><p>I managed to hit the white wolf with a spell that weakened it but I had a horrible feeling that it was too little too late. As if to confirm this, I could hear Felix muttering a prayer in the background; I wasn’t sure if it was a magical prayer or one of supplication to Farlaghn.</p><p> </p><p>Whichever one it was, it did seem to bolster us a little and Drudge fired three arrows into one of the spectral dogs which dissipated into the night; that left two and the white wolf. John tapped Longhelim with his wand again, but this time the gods smiled on us and Longhelim was visibly bolstered, even if he was fighting from the ground. Suddenly, one of the hounds moved in my direction and I had to scurry away. Victor was able to get to his feet, now that the white wolf and the spectral hound were away from him, and that made him far more combat effective, especially as John tapped him with his wand, allowing the warrior to recover as well. The white wolf was threatening Drudge but the ranger was keeping his distance and firing into the dogs; with their abilities, they were far more dangerous.</p><p> </p><p>The other dog abandoned stalking me and ran back to the warriors where he immediately attacked Longhelim, causing yet more damage. Victor was swinging his sword but it seemed to be going through the torsos of the dogs without affecting them. I maneuvered into position and managed to fire another weakening ray into the white wolf. This one was far stronger and it was obviously affecting the creature. It looked at me, as if assessing the situation and seeing if I was a worthy target but then decided to pursue the ranger. Drudge had easily moved away from it and was still shooting into its spectral cohorts.</p><p> </p><p>Another of these succumbed, driven into oblivion by blows from all three warriors. Poor Felix was still attempting to cast his spells but he was finding it impossible. Then, for some reason, John had drawn his rapier and jumped in to attack the last dog; he was wielding the rapier which was now the Limb of the Living Forest of Innenotdar and as he hit the creature, the rapier effortlessly punctured its torso. In fact, that was the last blow it suffered as it also dissipated into the air.</p><p> </p><p>At this moment, a hail of arrows flew over our head and several of them struck the white wolf. This creature, weakened and wounded, looked at us malevolently for one last time, as if remembering our faces and then transformed itself into a swarm of tiny snakes which burrowed into the ground. The warriors swiped at these as fast as they could but the reptiles were so small and nimble that they had little success.</p><p> </p><p>John immediately began to use his wand on everyone who was still affected by the specters, which was most of us to a greater or lesser degree; as this was happening, we saw a rank of elven archers emerge from the darkness. One of them shouted something out in elven. We had another scramble for John’s magical helm but before Drudge could put it on his head, the archer shouted again, this time in heavily accented common:</p><p> </p><p>“Come with us if you want to live! Those creatures will be back and there will be more of them! The Taranesti spawn of evil lives forever and everywhere in this benighted place. We will take you to a camp where there are more of us. You will be safe there!”</p><p> </p><p>As he was saying this, his archers were walking around, and keeping a careful watch; I could see that they were nervous and tense, ready to fire at anything untoward in the darkness. Longhelim glanced at all of us and nodded imperceptibly; we were in no shape to say anything to these elves. I didn’t think they would take “no” for an answer.</p><p> </p><p>Despite their peremptory attitude, this could still work out for us; we were all aware that one of the promises we made to Fayne was to try to rescue another Taranesti, named Liat, who was being held prisoner at this camp. So, we followed Longhelim and set out with the archers.</p><p> </p><p>The journey took some time; I could not see where we were going but they were obviously moving on a path; it was also obvious that they were slowing down to make sure we could keep up with them. John, in the meantime, was using wands to heal us as we were travelling. This slowed us down a little more, to the irritation of the elves; they really didn’t like being out here in the night; I couldn’t blame them for that though; I had only been here one night and I hated it already.</p><p> </p><p>Finally, after a long time, we were suddenly able to discern flickering light in the distance; as we approached, we entered into a grove. In front of us, we saw a ring of stones. These were massive monoliths, about half as tall again as Longhelim and made of a black stone. The light danced on them briefly but they seemed to absorb it. They were rectangular and covered in ivy; in the brief flashes of light, we could see that the ivy had formed into strange runic shapes. Some of the stones seemed to have suffered some sort of abuse, having been pushed over, but not one looked to have been affected by time.</p><p> </p><p>More figures appeared out of the darkness and there was an unintelligible exchange in elvish.</p><p> </p><p>Quickly I looked around; we had been mistaken. We were not in the main Shahalesti camp; rather we were with the group that was desecrating the henge as Fayne would have it. If we negotiated a halt to these activities, then that was one of the tasks that would convince her to help us reach the hidden city of Phorros Irrendra.</p><p> </p><p>As this was running through my mind, a figure became apparent; a serene, elven lady who moved with the fluid grace characteristic of her race. She resembled an aristocrat even by elven standards and she scrutinized us carefully. She was not armed although she wore a chain shirt of silvery metal, mithril unless I was mistaken.</p><p> </p><p>In light but accented Common she addressed us:</p><p> </p><p>“Welcome and well met! Shalosha has told us of your presence and your mission here. Have you found it?”</p><p> </p><p>Rather guardedly, Longhelim asked:</p><p> </p><p>“Found what?”</p><p> </p><p>“The path to the hidden city of the Taranesti!”</p><p> </p><p>This last name was said with some vehemence.</p><p> </p><p>Then the conversation switched to another language and John whispered to Longhelim:</p><p> </p><p>“She’s speaking in Sylvan. Put your necklace on. I’ll translate for Faden, Felix and Victor.”</p><p> </p><p>At this point, several other figures stepped forward and I started as I realised that two of them were not elven: one resembled a humanoid but it had wings instead of arms while the other was again a humanoid but with the head of a lion. I recognized them immediately; the former was an avoral while the latter was a leonal. They were both powerful, good outsiders. Both of them looked at us steadily but did not say anything. A further figure was another elf; this one heavily armoured in a breastplate, wearing a great sword; he looked just like Shalosha’s bodyguard in Castle Korstull.</p><p> </p><p>While I was looking at them, the lady elf was rattling on in Sylvan and John was providing helpful commentary:</p><p> </p><p>“She’s saying her name is Lkendreis and the tough looking elf is Turovist; the bloke with the lion’s head is Manrik and the other funny one is Chaeluk.”</p><p> </p><p>I whispered back at this point:</p><p> </p><p>“They’re both good outsiders of some power. Don’t take them lightly.”</p><p> </p><p>John continued:</p><p> </p><p>“She’s saying Shalosha warned them we were coming; she’s repeating if we have found a way to get to Phorros Irrendra. What is that Faden?”</p><p> </p><p>“That’s the hidden city of the Taranesti,” I replied.</p><p> </p><p>Longhelim replied in Sylvan and there was another quick exchange with Lkendreis.</p><p> </p><p>John was still interpreting:</p><p> </p><p>“Longhelim is saying he has no idea where it is and she’s asking him whether we at least have a clue; he replied that there’s nothing we can tell them at the moment. She doesn’t look very happy.”</p><p> </p><p>John himself then exchanged several sentences with Lkendreis. Whatever he said, it did not go down well as her answers became shorter and the tone of her voice more clipped. She gestured at the henge and the forest several times and then stepped to one side, as if offering a path to the centre of the stones.</p><p> </p><p>Longhelim said:</p><p> </p><p>“Right, we need to rest. It has been a long day and night and we need sleep to recover.”</p><p> </p><p>We set up our sleeping spaces and we saw that the elves were keeping watch so we all decided to rest at once, without our own watches; there was no point; we were so weak that such a strong group of Shahalesti would overpower us in moments if they wished.</p><p> </p><p>However, once we were in our blankets, Longhelim began to whisper:</p><p> </p><p>“None of them are evil; not surprising; I am very surprised to find the outsiders here but they are definitely allied to these Shahalesti. In fact, the leonal even warned us that one of his strongest spells is a word of power which affects only those who are not good.</p><p> </p><p>Can anyone think how the elves got them here through the planes?”</p><p> </p><p>I answered:</p><p> </p><p>“They must have been here before the problems with magical travel; now they’re stuck. This could work for us. I wonder how they feel about elven children staked to trees?”</p><p> </p><p>Everyone looked at each other, thinking about that and John and Drudge nodded their thanks to Longhelim for the warning about the leonal.</p><p> </p><p>The paladin continued:</p><p> </p><p>“The Shahalesti have been conducting rituals here. They believe, or so they say, that it is only those rituals which are keeping the evil of the forest at bay. They said that the specters which we met are very typical of the kind of creatures that roam this place at night; horrors released and commanded by the Taranesti. From my own recollection, this place is important to the religion of the Taranesti but it is more where to with the concept of balance, which needs to be achieved. The Shahalesti seem bent on destroying this balance.”</p><p> </p><p>John then joined in the whispering:</p><p> </p><p>“I asked her about the Taranesti genocide……”</p><p> </p><p>I interrupted, whispering incredulously. It is difficult to shout while speaking in this manner but I gave it a good try:</p><p> </p><p>“You did what?”</p><p> </p><p>“I asked her about the genocide and she gave me the same spiel she gave Longhelim about the evils that the Taranesti were fostering in the forest. She also stated that the Taranesti were a threat so they had to be eliminated.”</p><p> </p><p>Once I heard that last sentence, something coalesced for me regarding the Shining Lands of the Shahalesti. I had always had a worrying concern about them but I was finally able to structure mentally just what this was.</p><p> </p><p>The Shahalesti practiced the philosophy of the absolute. They dictated, they ordered, they stated and they forced; they did not compromise, they did not ask, they did not suggest and they did not tolerate. Once you were within their sphere, they made all the decisions and if you did not follow them then you were deemed a threat and eliminated; like the Taranesti.</p><p> </p><p>I whispered after listening to John:</p><p> </p><p>“We’re going to have to make a decision as to what we are going to do next; without healing, we become much weaker and this is a very strong group. Shalosha will know in a very short while that we are here, if she doesn’t know already; and this lot aren’t going to leave this henge voluntarily.”</p><p> </p><p>Longhelim grunted and whispered back:</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, I know. Let’s sleep on it. We’re between the devil and the deep blue sea as usual.”</p><p> </p><p>After that we all slept.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Cafu, post: 6198201, member: 6692807"] She smiled and then took out a rolled cloth which portrayed a very good map of the forest region and the rivers as well as the surrounding land; laying it on the ground, she said: “Copy this roughly; now, let me show the position of the henge, which is here; the last reported position of the camps of the Ragesians and Shahalesti are here and here; they are temporary and can be moved but they haven’t done so for a little time. They could be waiting for something. Finally, the one major building in this region is the Temple, which is here.” Looking at the position of the various locations I asked: “Is there anyone in the Temple?” “No, but it is supposed to the haunted, like everything else around here; and it probably truly is, like everything else around here,” was her answer. John then said: “I’m not sure what the Ragesians are waiting for but the Princess Shalosha could be coming here.” Fayne raised her eyebrows: “The Princess? Coming here? She’s not supposed to be as bad as her father, or so it is said.” I snorted at this but didn’t say anything. Finally, Longhelim said: “If we complete these various tasks, how do we find you?” “I’ll find you,” was the answer; and then she disappeared into the undergrowth, leaving no trace of her passing and with her fox padding silently beside her. It was getting dark and we decided to set up in camp in this location; I wasn’t looking forward to spending the night here but this place was as good as any. So we set up our camp as usual and with watches. As it was, we didn’t need watches really; close to midnight, we all heard howling in the distance but rapidly drawing closer. This served to wake everyone up, just in time to see a group of blue figures streaking towards us through the air. As they approached, we could see that they had elven features and wore wolf pelts. These certainly did not act as benign phantoms as they arrived at speed and dove into attack! Tents were kicked over, weapons and shields were grabbed and I began to prepare spell components. It was at this point that Felix shouted: “Specters!” My blood froze; amongst the most dreaded of all undead; mysterious, incorporeal, vicious and incredibly dangerous. From my scant knowledge, I knew that they preyed on life force; especially that of priests or paladins but they were also desirable of magical energy; heck, in the end, they would prey on anyone who lived. The way these creatures flew, they were pouncing like animals in mid-air and within moments, we each had one next to us. The enemy nearest me immediately reached out and I felt magical energy leaving my body. The specter seemed to grin at me as it visibly swelled, leeching my spells; I almost wept with frustration as I felt the spells leaving my memory, again. Be that as it may, I had to make the best of it and I stepped away and cast a spell of lightning against this creature; it didn’t like that. Swiftly I looked around and saw that everyone was engaged. I was doing my best to dodge my enemy when I heard an exhortation from Felix, banishing the creatures from his sight. His faith was strong that night, as two of them flew away from the priest as fast as possible. Drudge was shooting into his own enemy; he was having some success, as some of the arrows were definitely penetrating and leaving ragged holes in the apparition. Unfortunately, there were many arrows which just shot through the specter as if it wasn’t there. Victor and Longhelim managed to combine to slay one as I glimpsed it floating into the ground and seemingly just sink. Then, I was again too busy trying to dodge my own enemy; too late; he tapped me and yet again I felt yet as if I needed to make an even greater effort to function. More magic left me but I managed to shoot three fiery rays into the creature; two of them were ineffectual; thankfully, the other did leave a smoking hole in its translucent torso, making it recoil, until it tapped me again and the hole seemed to close up substantially. Felix then managed to cast a spell on himself; I couldn’t see what it was but I hoped it was useful. Victor and Longhelim had managed to gang up on another of the specters and dispatch it when another bone-chilling howl was heard and a new creature flew from the sky. This was one was very strange, with the appearance of a huge dog, with a half a dozen swirling, flying figures of wolves within its translucent body; it was the most peculiar thing. It had the same spectral nature as our existing enemy and was just as deadly if its strike on Victor was anything to go by. It lunged with its large mouth and seemed to almost sink itself into Victor’s flesh and then withdraw, with some ethereal substance in its jaws. Seeing Victor sagging like that, it was obvious that the effect was just as vicious. Drudge then shot another specter when the one facing me struck yet again; my situation was getting desperate when John arrived, tapping my back with one of his wands. Immediately I felt as if all that I had lost had returned; although my spells did not return, I felt as if I had the capability to learn them again; thus bolstered, with a wave of my hand and a whisper of my lips, a quintet of force missiles thudded into my enemy, which was still stubbornly pursuing me. Very annoyingly, it refused to dissipate and swiped at me again, although this time I managed to duck. Then, two more enemies joined the fray; with a howl, yet another of these strange spectral dogs landed next to Longhelim and bit the paladin; and from the ground, a misty figure rose to materialize into another huge dog, snowy white with a shocking red stain around its neck; however, this one looked solid. Immediately, it tore into Longhelim with its teeth, causing a tearing, ragged wound. It seemed to take a moment to lick the blood spurting from the paladin and I had a dreadful suspicion. I tore another set of force missiles at my specter and it finally dissipated but it was too late for Longhelim, who was thrown to the ground by the white wolf. Despite this, Longhelim had managed to land a powerful blow against this new abomination; no matter, though; his weapons barely penetrated into the unnatural body of the creature. Then Victor also hit it only for him to be hit in turn by one of the incorporeal dogs. Then, just to make things even worse, yet another of the spectral dogs appeared, making three in number. The situation was getting desperate now. Both the warriors were incredibly weak, having been almost smothered in specters. Felix was having the greatest trouble in doing anything; it seemed as if the paralysis on his healing spells or anything to do with positive energy had returned with a vengeance and I could see him trying and trying but unable to affect the fight in any way. The white wolf turned around and contemptuously barged Victor to the ground with one shrug of its bulk. The warrior was so weak that the beast barely expended any effort at all; things were even worse now, as both warriors were fighting from the ground; Victor did manage to strike a couple of blows into the blue dog but this was almost a last stand; or fall as the case may be. Felix yet again was failing to act when John tried to move around the white wolf and touch the paladin with his wand; unfortunately, the wolf again was wise to that and bit him badly; then, when John did finally reach the paladin, he was unable to get the spell to work due to the nature of the environment in the haunted forest. I managed to hit the white wolf with a spell that weakened it but I had a horrible feeling that it was too little too late. As if to confirm this, I could hear Felix muttering a prayer in the background; I wasn’t sure if it was a magical prayer or one of supplication to Farlaghn. Whichever one it was, it did seem to bolster us a little and Drudge fired three arrows into one of the spectral dogs which dissipated into the night; that left two and the white wolf. John tapped Longhelim with his wand again, but this time the gods smiled on us and Longhelim was visibly bolstered, even if he was fighting from the ground. Suddenly, one of the hounds moved in my direction and I had to scurry away. Victor was able to get to his feet, now that the white wolf and the spectral hound were away from him, and that made him far more combat effective, especially as John tapped him with his wand, allowing the warrior to recover as well. The white wolf was threatening Drudge but the ranger was keeping his distance and firing into the dogs; with their abilities, they were far more dangerous. The other dog abandoned stalking me and ran back to the warriors where he immediately attacked Longhelim, causing yet more damage. Victor was swinging his sword but it seemed to be going through the torsos of the dogs without affecting them. I maneuvered into position and managed to fire another weakening ray into the white wolf. This one was far stronger and it was obviously affecting the creature. It looked at me, as if assessing the situation and seeing if I was a worthy target but then decided to pursue the ranger. Drudge had easily moved away from it and was still shooting into its spectral cohorts. Another of these succumbed, driven into oblivion by blows from all three warriors. Poor Felix was still attempting to cast his spells but he was finding it impossible. Then, for some reason, John had drawn his rapier and jumped in to attack the last dog; he was wielding the rapier which was now the Limb of the Living Forest of Innenotdar and as he hit the creature, the rapier effortlessly punctured its torso. In fact, that was the last blow it suffered as it also dissipated into the air. At this moment, a hail of arrows flew over our head and several of them struck the white wolf. This creature, weakened and wounded, looked at us malevolently for one last time, as if remembering our faces and then transformed itself into a swarm of tiny snakes which burrowed into the ground. The warriors swiped at these as fast as they could but the reptiles were so small and nimble that they had little success. John immediately began to use his wand on everyone who was still affected by the specters, which was most of us to a greater or lesser degree; as this was happening, we saw a rank of elven archers emerge from the darkness. One of them shouted something out in elven. We had another scramble for John’s magical helm but before Drudge could put it on his head, the archer shouted again, this time in heavily accented common: “Come with us if you want to live! Those creatures will be back and there will be more of them! The Taranesti spawn of evil lives forever and everywhere in this benighted place. We will take you to a camp where there are more of us. You will be safe there!” As he was saying this, his archers were walking around, and keeping a careful watch; I could see that they were nervous and tense, ready to fire at anything untoward in the darkness. Longhelim glanced at all of us and nodded imperceptibly; we were in no shape to say anything to these elves. I didn’t think they would take “no” for an answer. Despite their peremptory attitude, this could still work out for us; we were all aware that one of the promises we made to Fayne was to try to rescue another Taranesti, named Liat, who was being held prisoner at this camp. So, we followed Longhelim and set out with the archers. The journey took some time; I could not see where we were going but they were obviously moving on a path; it was also obvious that they were slowing down to make sure we could keep up with them. John, in the meantime, was using wands to heal us as we were travelling. This slowed us down a little more, to the irritation of the elves; they really didn’t like being out here in the night; I couldn’t blame them for that though; I had only been here one night and I hated it already. Finally, after a long time, we were suddenly able to discern flickering light in the distance; as we approached, we entered into a grove. In front of us, we saw a ring of stones. These were massive monoliths, about half as tall again as Longhelim and made of a black stone. The light danced on them briefly but they seemed to absorb it. They were rectangular and covered in ivy; in the brief flashes of light, we could see that the ivy had formed into strange runic shapes. Some of the stones seemed to have suffered some sort of abuse, having been pushed over, but not one looked to have been affected by time. More figures appeared out of the darkness and there was an unintelligible exchange in elvish. Quickly I looked around; we had been mistaken. We were not in the main Shahalesti camp; rather we were with the group that was desecrating the henge as Fayne would have it. If we negotiated a halt to these activities, then that was one of the tasks that would convince her to help us reach the hidden city of Phorros Irrendra. As this was running through my mind, a figure became apparent; a serene, elven lady who moved with the fluid grace characteristic of her race. She resembled an aristocrat even by elven standards and she scrutinized us carefully. She was not armed although she wore a chain shirt of silvery metal, mithril unless I was mistaken. In light but accented Common she addressed us: “Welcome and well met! Shalosha has told us of your presence and your mission here. Have you found it?” Rather guardedly, Longhelim asked: “Found what?” “The path to the hidden city of the Taranesti!” This last name was said with some vehemence. Then the conversation switched to another language and John whispered to Longhelim: “She’s speaking in Sylvan. Put your necklace on. I’ll translate for Faden, Felix and Victor.” At this point, several other figures stepped forward and I started as I realised that two of them were not elven: one resembled a humanoid but it had wings instead of arms while the other was again a humanoid but with the head of a lion. I recognized them immediately; the former was an avoral while the latter was a leonal. They were both powerful, good outsiders. Both of them looked at us steadily but did not say anything. A further figure was another elf; this one heavily armoured in a breastplate, wearing a great sword; he looked just like Shalosha’s bodyguard in Castle Korstull. While I was looking at them, the lady elf was rattling on in Sylvan and John was providing helpful commentary: “She’s saying her name is Lkendreis and the tough looking elf is Turovist; the bloke with the lion’s head is Manrik and the other funny one is Chaeluk.” I whispered back at this point: “They’re both good outsiders of some power. Don’t take them lightly.” John continued: “She’s saying Shalosha warned them we were coming; she’s repeating if we have found a way to get to Phorros Irrendra. What is that Faden?” “That’s the hidden city of the Taranesti,” I replied. Longhelim replied in Sylvan and there was another quick exchange with Lkendreis. John was still interpreting: “Longhelim is saying he has no idea where it is and she’s asking him whether we at least have a clue; he replied that there’s nothing we can tell them at the moment. She doesn’t look very happy.” John himself then exchanged several sentences with Lkendreis. Whatever he said, it did not go down well as her answers became shorter and the tone of her voice more clipped. She gestured at the henge and the forest several times and then stepped to one side, as if offering a path to the centre of the stones. Longhelim said: “Right, we need to rest. It has been a long day and night and we need sleep to recover.” We set up our sleeping spaces and we saw that the elves were keeping watch so we all decided to rest at once, without our own watches; there was no point; we were so weak that such a strong group of Shahalesti would overpower us in moments if they wished. However, once we were in our blankets, Longhelim began to whisper: “None of them are evil; not surprising; I am very surprised to find the outsiders here but they are definitely allied to these Shahalesti. In fact, the leonal even warned us that one of his strongest spells is a word of power which affects only those who are not good. Can anyone think how the elves got them here through the planes?” I answered: “They must have been here before the problems with magical travel; now they’re stuck. This could work for us. I wonder how they feel about elven children staked to trees?” Everyone looked at each other, thinking about that and John and Drudge nodded their thanks to Longhelim for the warning about the leonal. The paladin continued: “The Shahalesti have been conducting rituals here. They believe, or so they say, that it is only those rituals which are keeping the evil of the forest at bay. They said that the specters which we met are very typical of the kind of creatures that roam this place at night; horrors released and commanded by the Taranesti. From my own recollection, this place is important to the religion of the Taranesti but it is more where to with the concept of balance, which needs to be achieved. The Shahalesti seem bent on destroying this balance.” John then joined in the whispering: “I asked her about the Taranesti genocide……” I interrupted, whispering incredulously. It is difficult to shout while speaking in this manner but I gave it a good try: “You did what?” “I asked her about the genocide and she gave me the same spiel she gave Longhelim about the evils that the Taranesti were fostering in the forest. She also stated that the Taranesti were a threat so they had to be eliminated.” Once I heard that last sentence, something coalesced for me regarding the Shining Lands of the Shahalesti. I had always had a worrying concern about them but I was finally able to structure mentally just what this was. The Shahalesti practiced the philosophy of the absolute. They dictated, they ordered, they stated and they forced; they did not compromise, they did not ask, they did not suggest and they did not tolerate. Once you were within their sphere, they made all the decisions and if you did not follow them then you were deemed a threat and eliminated; like the Taranesti. I whispered after listening to John: “We’re going to have to make a decision as to what we are going to do next; without healing, we become much weaker and this is a very strong group. Shalosha will know in a very short while that we are here, if she doesn’t know already; and this lot aren’t going to leave this henge voluntarily.” Longhelim grunted and whispered back: “Yes, I know. Let’s sleep on it. We’re between the devil and the deep blue sea as usual.” After that we all slept. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
The Gate Pass Irregulars: A War of the Burning Sky Campaign
Top