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The Gate Pass Irregulars: A War of the Burning Sky Campaign
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<blockquote data-quote="Cafu" data-source="post: 6205690" data-attributes="member: 6692807"><p>So, we packed up and turning into clouds, sped through the sky. At that speed, it didn’t take us very long to reach the area where Fayne had marked the main elven camp; and indeed, in a clearing surrounded by a stockade of sharpened tree trunks, the camp was clearly visible. Flying overhead, we saw a collection of tents and a large contingent of figures; some were relaxing, while others were standing guard. In the middle of the camp was a cage, which held a prisoner. Hopefully, that would be Liat.</p><p> </p><p>Just as we had almost flown by, I saw another strange figure; I almost missed it because it looked like an elf, except for its colour: it was green and it also had wings. I recognized it immediately; it was an archon and judging by what it carried and the wings, it was a trumpet archon. These were very powerful, good outsiders who were normally entrusted to guard a specific plane. What it was doing here with a small group of Shahalesti was anyone’s guess but it added yet another complication to this whole affair. </p><p> </p><p>We overflew the encampment just to confirm the details and then we flew a little further away and landed.</p><p> </p><p>Longhelim was the first to speak:</p><p> </p><p>“The green elf; with wings; what is it?”</p><p> </p><p>I told him.</p><p> </p><p>“Another outsider? Where are they getting them from?”</p><p> </p><p>I judged that to be a rhetorical question.</p><p> </p><p>This proved true as Longhelim carried on speaking:</p><p> </p><p>“Anyone have any ideas of how to proceed?”</p><p> </p><p>John said:</p><p> </p><p>“We could try the same idea by which I convinced the group of elves in the henge.”</p><p> </p><p>I was a little dubious. That may have worked once but I wasn’t sure if it was going to again; or not sure enough to warrant a potential confrontation.</p><p> </p><p>I said the same to John and then suggested the following:</p><p> </p><p>“I have an idea; it is very magic heavy but I could fly in there invisibly, using a spell to turn my body into mist. That will allow me to enter the cage; I would then cast the same spell on Liat and also the spell which would allow her to turn into mist. Then we would be able to fly out.”</p><p> </p><p>John looked at me with wide eyes and said:</p><p> </p><p>“Faden, that’s most unlike you; do you realise how dangerous that is?”</p><p> </p><p>Victor joined in at this point:</p><p> </p><p>“While that’s very courageous and could even possibly work, you have to take this into account: I saw four guards watching that prisoner; they are not slap dash nor are they inattentive. They have one function and that is to watch the prisoner. If they see anything amiss, anything at all, they will sound the alarm. Faden, you said you would need to cast at least two spells on him while they are watching; even if they won’t be able to see you, do you think they won’t be able to hear you? And as soon as they hear any spells being cast, what do you think they are going to do?</p><p> </p><p>Let me tell you what I would do; I would immediately raise the alarm and tell any spell casters to saturate the area with whatever magic they have. How many spell casters do you think they will have there, Faden?”</p><p> </p><p>John added:</p><p> </p><p>“If they think anything is amiss, they’ll blast that whole cage to hell; I would if I was in their place.”</p><p> </p><p>More ideas flowed on from there; they were mostly variations on my initial thought to try to sneak in and turn her into mist. Drudge then suggested that he could use his statuette of an enormous bear and we could make him fly and turn him invisible; then the enormous bear could just grasp the cage and we could just fly away with it but the obstacle that Victor pointed out still stood; how to sneak the cage of prisoner out of the camp in those initial few moments without being blasted into oblivion.</p><p> </p><p>I must add, that while very stylish, the idea with the bear was one of the more flamboyant plans that were bandied around.</p><p> </p><p>Finally, after we bounced various thoughts around again and again and again, Longhelim said:</p><p> </p><p>“We’re not getting anywhere at the moment. The ideas are almost there but they need some refinement. Let’s think about it for a while. I suggest we over fly the Ragesian camp to see what forces they have in the area. We’ll need to do that at some point anyway.”</p><p> </p><p>I was grateful he suggested that. I was racking my brains to find a solution but it was frustrating. So, we turned into mist and sped into the sky.</p><p> </p><p>The flight towards the Ragesians was uneventful. There was also no need to look for them; we could see figures in the sky from some distance ahead; we flew high and looked down onto a swarm of wyvern knights as well as a large red dragon who were patrolling the sky above their forces; and we could see that these were substantial. Instead of a small encampment, such as the one occupied by the Shahalesti, this was a vast camp inhabited by a true army. Ordered blocks of tents in square shapes dotted the landscape; there was a group of command tents in the middle and I had no doubt that there were all sorts of interesting auxiliaries with this army. There must have been thousands of soldiers down there and there was no doubt that the true military power in the region was below us.</p><p> </p><p>We flew on and then landed.</p><p> </p><p>I looked at the others:</p><p> </p><p>“Well, that was an instructive flight. Now that’s what I call a threat! And the Shahalesti keep saying they have this incursion under control? Looking at that army behind us, I wish them all the luck in the world.</p><p> </p><p>While we’re here, I suggest we have a look at that Temple that is around here; well, some distance away but not too much so if we’re flying.”</p><p> </p><p>Longhelim and John both nodded and so we turned into mist and flew towards the Temple this time. Again, it wasn’t that difficult to find. There was a path leading into a cliff face with beautiful, ornate carvings. This was fairly obviously the entrance to the Temple. It was an impressive structure but looked completely deserted.</p><p> </p><p>Now that we had found the Ragesian army and the Temple, we flew back, a little more informed. We decided to land on the plain but close to the Shahalesti camp. As soon as we did so, Longhelim turned to us.</p><p> </p><p>“I have just received some information from Simeon; please forgive me but he has asked me not to divulge it to you yet; however, it is something that could be useful to us; it may well allow me to come to a diplomatic solution to our dilemma.”</p><p> </p><p>I looked at him oddly:</p><p> </p><p>“So what are you suggesting exactly?”</p><p> </p><p>“I plan to ride in and ask them to release her into my care…..politely.”</p><p> </p><p>Everyone else knew that there was far more to this than met the eye but if Longhelim felt enough confidence that it could happen then it was certainly worth a try. Despite my personal feelings about the Shahalesti, they were still not the ones who were besieging Gate Pass.</p><p> </p><p>“So, how do we do this?” I asked.</p><p> </p><p>“I’ll ride in on Grenadier tomorrow morning and talk to them.”</p><p> </p><p>“Are you sure this is going to work?”</p><p> </p><p>“No, but since fighting archons is just something I cannot do, I have to try anything that has even the most remote possibility of working.”</p><p> </p><p>So, we flew on and set up camp as close as we could to the Shahalesti camp without alerting them and then thankfully spent an uneventful night, sleeping in a magical cottage provided by John.</p><p> </p><p>The next morning, as we had planned, Longhelim summoned Grenadier, unloaded him and then mounted. After that, he rode into the forest and out of our sight.</p><p> </p><p>As we were waiting, I asked John:</p><p> </p><p>“So, do you think that Shalosha has finally made a pact with the Resistance in Seaquen? And is that the card the Longhelim intends to play?”</p><p> </p><p>He just shrugged and said:</p><p> </p><p>“It could be anything; it’ll either work or it won’t and he seemed pretty certain that he had a good chance of convincing them.”</p><p> </p><p>We all waited in our own ways; Victor and Felix talked quietly; both John and I were studying our spell books and Drudge was roaming around the forest, out of our view. Some time passed and we heard a horse approaching, making no effort to hide its progress. A few moments later, Longhelim appeared, mounted and with a gagged and tied figure in front of him; it was Liat, and she didn’t look very happy.</p><p> </p><p>That was the first thing I noticed; Liat was in fact a she; and still gagged.</p><p> </p><p>Longhelim wasted few words:</p><p> </p><p>“Come, let’s break camp and move. Fayne said she was going to find us; let’s give her that chance.”</p><p> </p><p>I was looking at Liat and then asked the paladin:</p><p> </p><p>“I realise that Simeon told you something and you were asked not to divulge it but will you be able to tell me just how you managed to do this in the future?”</p><p> </p><p>He nodded and we set out.</p><p> </p><p>We spent the day travelling in the forest; or blundering about to put it bluntly. I presumed that we were being followed by Shahalesti scouting parties but I never caught sight of anyone. In fact, we did not see anyone or anything in the forest on that day apart from the usual creepy trees; there were lots of those. This travel carried on until evening and as we were setting up our camp, Fayne stepped out of one of the creepy trees.</p><p> </p><p>This was powerful druidic magic and seemed not to be part of the Burning Sky prohibition against transport magic. It was also that which made druids so powerful, especially in their own forests.</p><p> </p><p>Fayne spoke in her accented common:</p><p> </p><p>“I see you have succeeded; yet…..why is Liat still tied and gagged? Please release her immediately!”</p><p> </p><p>We all greeted the druid and Longhelim complied with her request. As soon as the Taranesti was released, she ran to Fayne and exclaimed:</p><p> </p><p>“I didn’t tell them anything! But the ones behind me; they have some agreement with the Shahalesti!”</p><p> </p><p>Fayne looked at us:</p><p> </p><p>“I know there were no great battles between yourselves and the Shahalesti; yet you managed to convince them not only to abandon the henge but also to give you Liat; I would hear how this was accomplished.”</p><p> </p><p>John answered at this point:</p><p> </p><p>“I convinced those at the henge to leave; in return I gave them a favour.”</p><p> </p><p>“What favour?”</p><p> </p><p>John just grinned at her:</p><p> </p><p>“I told them they could follow us when we attempted to find the city.”</p><p> </p><p>“Cunning”, she replied although there was a singular lack of concern in her demeanor.</p><p> </p><p>She then looked at Longhelim who said:</p><p> </p><p>“I was given some information which helped me liberate Liat.”</p><p> </p><p>Fayne just nodded and then said:</p><p> </p><p>“I gave you my word and you shall have the secret. Of course, when I tell you this, I have just handed the fate of my people into your hands. I hope you will not treat this responsibility lightly. If these secrets should fall into the wrong hands then the Taranesti will be no more.</p><p> </p><p>To gain access to the entrance of Phorros Irrendra you must do the following:</p><p> </p><p>Follow the course of the River Nallanthes; it goes underground several times but you must follow it until you see it flow into a cave with a beach of black sand. Once you find that, you must create a bright light behind you; then let your shadows guide you. Follow your shadows and then create another light behind you; every time you come to a junction in the passage, your shadows will guide you. Remember though, this guiding light must always be from behind.</p><p> </p><p>A note of caution: the spirits of my people are angry; many of them did not go to the afterlife and they may be guarding our last bastion. These spirits may not be pleased to see you. To reach the city, you may have to destroy them.</p><p> </p><p>Finally, two of those you seek are in a manor near a tree whose leaves shimmer like emeralds. The final, Rhuarc, moves like the wind and could be anywhere in the city.</p><p> </p><p>If you find the Torch, leave! The Shahalesti will also leave. Please remember, what I have just told you has placed the fate of my people directly in your hands; please treat the knowledge with the respect it deserves.”</p><p> </p><p>Liat was looking at us with a mix of emotions, as if she had just realised what her freedom had cost. Longhelim raised his hand in a salute to the two Taranesti as they disappeared soundlessly into the forest.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Cafu, post: 6205690, member: 6692807"] So, we packed up and turning into clouds, sped through the sky. At that speed, it didn’t take us very long to reach the area where Fayne had marked the main elven camp; and indeed, in a clearing surrounded by a stockade of sharpened tree trunks, the camp was clearly visible. Flying overhead, we saw a collection of tents and a large contingent of figures; some were relaxing, while others were standing guard. In the middle of the camp was a cage, which held a prisoner. Hopefully, that would be Liat. Just as we had almost flown by, I saw another strange figure; I almost missed it because it looked like an elf, except for its colour: it was green and it also had wings. I recognized it immediately; it was an archon and judging by what it carried and the wings, it was a trumpet archon. These were very powerful, good outsiders who were normally entrusted to guard a specific plane. What it was doing here with a small group of Shahalesti was anyone’s guess but it added yet another complication to this whole affair. We overflew the encampment just to confirm the details and then we flew a little further away and landed. Longhelim was the first to speak: “The green elf; with wings; what is it?” I told him. “Another outsider? Where are they getting them from?” I judged that to be a rhetorical question. This proved true as Longhelim carried on speaking: “Anyone have any ideas of how to proceed?” John said: “We could try the same idea by which I convinced the group of elves in the henge.” I was a little dubious. That may have worked once but I wasn’t sure if it was going to again; or not sure enough to warrant a potential confrontation. I said the same to John and then suggested the following: “I have an idea; it is very magic heavy but I could fly in there invisibly, using a spell to turn my body into mist. That will allow me to enter the cage; I would then cast the same spell on Liat and also the spell which would allow her to turn into mist. Then we would be able to fly out.” John looked at me with wide eyes and said: “Faden, that’s most unlike you; do you realise how dangerous that is?” Victor joined in at this point: “While that’s very courageous and could even possibly work, you have to take this into account: I saw four guards watching that prisoner; they are not slap dash nor are they inattentive. They have one function and that is to watch the prisoner. If they see anything amiss, anything at all, they will sound the alarm. Faden, you said you would need to cast at least two spells on him while they are watching; even if they won’t be able to see you, do you think they won’t be able to hear you? And as soon as they hear any spells being cast, what do you think they are going to do? Let me tell you what I would do; I would immediately raise the alarm and tell any spell casters to saturate the area with whatever magic they have. How many spell casters do you think they will have there, Faden?” John added: “If they think anything is amiss, they’ll blast that whole cage to hell; I would if I was in their place.” More ideas flowed on from there; they were mostly variations on my initial thought to try to sneak in and turn her into mist. Drudge then suggested that he could use his statuette of an enormous bear and we could make him fly and turn him invisible; then the enormous bear could just grasp the cage and we could just fly away with it but the obstacle that Victor pointed out still stood; how to sneak the cage of prisoner out of the camp in those initial few moments without being blasted into oblivion. I must add, that while very stylish, the idea with the bear was one of the more flamboyant plans that were bandied around. Finally, after we bounced various thoughts around again and again and again, Longhelim said: “We’re not getting anywhere at the moment. The ideas are almost there but they need some refinement. Let’s think about it for a while. I suggest we over fly the Ragesian camp to see what forces they have in the area. We’ll need to do that at some point anyway.” I was grateful he suggested that. I was racking my brains to find a solution but it was frustrating. So, we turned into mist and sped into the sky. The flight towards the Ragesians was uneventful. There was also no need to look for them; we could see figures in the sky from some distance ahead; we flew high and looked down onto a swarm of wyvern knights as well as a large red dragon who were patrolling the sky above their forces; and we could see that these were substantial. Instead of a small encampment, such as the one occupied by the Shahalesti, this was a vast camp inhabited by a true army. Ordered blocks of tents in square shapes dotted the landscape; there was a group of command tents in the middle and I had no doubt that there were all sorts of interesting auxiliaries with this army. There must have been thousands of soldiers down there and there was no doubt that the true military power in the region was below us. We flew on and then landed. I looked at the others: “Well, that was an instructive flight. Now that’s what I call a threat! And the Shahalesti keep saying they have this incursion under control? Looking at that army behind us, I wish them all the luck in the world. While we’re here, I suggest we have a look at that Temple that is around here; well, some distance away but not too much so if we’re flying.” Longhelim and John both nodded and so we turned into mist and flew towards the Temple this time. Again, it wasn’t that difficult to find. There was a path leading into a cliff face with beautiful, ornate carvings. This was fairly obviously the entrance to the Temple. It was an impressive structure but looked completely deserted. Now that we had found the Ragesian army and the Temple, we flew back, a little more informed. We decided to land on the plain but close to the Shahalesti camp. As soon as we did so, Longhelim turned to us. “I have just received some information from Simeon; please forgive me but he has asked me not to divulge it to you yet; however, it is something that could be useful to us; it may well allow me to come to a diplomatic solution to our dilemma.” I looked at him oddly: “So what are you suggesting exactly?” “I plan to ride in and ask them to release her into my care…..politely.” Everyone else knew that there was far more to this than met the eye but if Longhelim felt enough confidence that it could happen then it was certainly worth a try. Despite my personal feelings about the Shahalesti, they were still not the ones who were besieging Gate Pass. “So, how do we do this?” I asked. “I’ll ride in on Grenadier tomorrow morning and talk to them.” “Are you sure this is going to work?” “No, but since fighting archons is just something I cannot do, I have to try anything that has even the most remote possibility of working.” So, we flew on and set up camp as close as we could to the Shahalesti camp without alerting them and then thankfully spent an uneventful night, sleeping in a magical cottage provided by John. The next morning, as we had planned, Longhelim summoned Grenadier, unloaded him and then mounted. After that, he rode into the forest and out of our sight. As we were waiting, I asked John: “So, do you think that Shalosha has finally made a pact with the Resistance in Seaquen? And is that the card the Longhelim intends to play?” He just shrugged and said: “It could be anything; it’ll either work or it won’t and he seemed pretty certain that he had a good chance of convincing them.” We all waited in our own ways; Victor and Felix talked quietly; both John and I were studying our spell books and Drudge was roaming around the forest, out of our view. Some time passed and we heard a horse approaching, making no effort to hide its progress. A few moments later, Longhelim appeared, mounted and with a gagged and tied figure in front of him; it was Liat, and she didn’t look very happy. That was the first thing I noticed; Liat was in fact a she; and still gagged. Longhelim wasted few words: “Come, let’s break camp and move. Fayne said she was going to find us; let’s give her that chance.” I was looking at Liat and then asked the paladin: “I realise that Simeon told you something and you were asked not to divulge it but will you be able to tell me just how you managed to do this in the future?” He nodded and we set out. We spent the day travelling in the forest; or blundering about to put it bluntly. I presumed that we were being followed by Shahalesti scouting parties but I never caught sight of anyone. In fact, we did not see anyone or anything in the forest on that day apart from the usual creepy trees; there were lots of those. This travel carried on until evening and as we were setting up our camp, Fayne stepped out of one of the creepy trees. This was powerful druidic magic and seemed not to be part of the Burning Sky prohibition against transport magic. It was also that which made druids so powerful, especially in their own forests. Fayne spoke in her accented common: “I see you have succeeded; yet…..why is Liat still tied and gagged? Please release her immediately!” We all greeted the druid and Longhelim complied with her request. As soon as the Taranesti was released, she ran to Fayne and exclaimed: “I didn’t tell them anything! But the ones behind me; they have some agreement with the Shahalesti!” Fayne looked at us: “I know there were no great battles between yourselves and the Shahalesti; yet you managed to convince them not only to abandon the henge but also to give you Liat; I would hear how this was accomplished.” John answered at this point: “I convinced those at the henge to leave; in return I gave them a favour.” “What favour?” John just grinned at her: “I told them they could follow us when we attempted to find the city.” “Cunning”, she replied although there was a singular lack of concern in her demeanor. She then looked at Longhelim who said: “I was given some information which helped me liberate Liat.” Fayne just nodded and then said: “I gave you my word and you shall have the secret. Of course, when I tell you this, I have just handed the fate of my people into your hands. I hope you will not treat this responsibility lightly. If these secrets should fall into the wrong hands then the Taranesti will be no more. To gain access to the entrance of Phorros Irrendra you must do the following: Follow the course of the River Nallanthes; it goes underground several times but you must follow it until you see it flow into a cave with a beach of black sand. Once you find that, you must create a bright light behind you; then let your shadows guide you. Follow your shadows and then create another light behind you; every time you come to a junction in the passage, your shadows will guide you. Remember though, this guiding light must always be from behind. A note of caution: the spirits of my people are angry; many of them did not go to the afterlife and they may be guarding our last bastion. These spirits may not be pleased to see you. To reach the city, you may have to destroy them. Finally, two of those you seek are in a manor near a tree whose leaves shimmer like emeralds. The final, Rhuarc, moves like the wind and could be anywhere in the city. If you find the Torch, leave! The Shahalesti will also leave. Please remember, what I have just told you has placed the fate of my people directly in your hands; please treat the knowledge with the respect it deserves.” Liat was looking at us with a mix of emotions, as if she had just realised what her freedom had cost. Longhelim raised his hand in a salute to the two Taranesti as they disappeared soundlessly into the forest. [/QUOTE]
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