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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: 6238783" data-attributes="member: 6692807"><p>So, we all advanced to the space in front of the mirror and then, as per our instructions, we willed ourselves into it. At this point, my reality seemed to bend, twist and warp as my body was drawn into the surface of the glass and pressed through. As this was happening, I saw a vision from the past; it took me back to Gate Pass, as we were fleeing the Poison Apple pub. I did not remember this previously, because the reality was too frightening but now I could literally see a huge red dragon flying above us, but so low that I could even see the flame scarred face of the creature. It seemed to look at me with its yellow eyes; eyes that looked into my soul forever. The whole vision lasted for the blink of an eye but that dragon’s gaze would live in my memory for eternity.</p><p> </p><p>We all seemed to pass through its surface and arrived beyond it in a corridor with a door in front of us, a blank wall behind us and a large bell above our heads.</p><p> </p><p>“What the…..”</p><p> </p><p>John spoke but his words echoed through the corridor, dangerously; so dangerously that they hurt our ears. I clutched at them and was surprised to find blood on my fingers. My ears were bleeding! Looking around, I could see that the others were suffering in the same way. Obviously, sound in this corridor was dangerous!</p><p> </p><p>John, although also clutching his ears, was still excited and he was whispering:</p><p> </p><p>“I think that I have gained some powers; somehow, going through that mirror, it’s done something; acid is not as deadly to me as before and I have the same defence that Faden gives to Victor and Longhelim when he sprinkles the diamond dust on them; you know, the one against weapons. I think the nugget gave me those powers.”</p><p> </p><p>Even though he was whispering, it still hurt a little so Longhelim drew the attention of the rogue and put his finger across his lips. John stopped talking. I pointed at the bell and then concentrated. I managed to establish a mental link to Felix:</p><p> </p><p>“Do you have one of those magical silence spells. If that bell starts ringing, we’re in serious trouble.”</p><p> </p><p>The priest looked up with dread and quickly cast a spell; immediately, the area around us went completely quiet. Suddenly, I heard John’s voice in my head:</p><p> </p><p>“Great! Nice one! I’m going ahead to see about that door.”</p><p> </p><p>He moved forward carefully but as he reached about half way down, he must have stepped on something because the bell’s clapper began to bang furiously. It was completely silent of course but if the magic had not been in place…….</p><p> </p><p>John turned towards and grimaced as he looked at the bell. Then he shrugged and turned to the door. It took him a little time, but he managed to pick the lock. When he opened the door, it revealed a large verse carved into the wall and two mirrors set at angles, facing each other. One of these, on the left, was blue while its opposite was red. Curious, we all moved forward, making sure we took the silence magic with us; the bell clapper was still flinging itself furiously against the bell.</p><p> </p><p>As we approached, I was able to read the verse as follows:</p><p> </p><p>Speak your name and be divided</p><p>To Paths Sinister and Righteous</p><p>A sacrifice of blood</p><p>Is the Key to your Salvation.</p><p> </p><p>Mentally, I said to Felix:</p><p> </p><p>“Well, Paths Sinister and Righteous means divided left and right; and if this is the second test then that is the Trial of Offering; the rhyme suggests that we need to make an offering of blood.”</p><p> </p><p>The priest replied drily:</p><p> </p><p>“Well, the question is how big the offering needs to be, doesn’t it?”</p><p> </p><p>“We won’t know until we do it so we better get going.”</p><p> </p><p>Everyone else agreed and one by one, we stepped forward and spoke our name, wincing slightly at the noise; even doing that was a little harmful.</p><p> </p><p>I was the last one to say my name. So far everyone except Drudge and Longhelim had been judged righteous, going into the red mirror. As I stepped forward and spoke my name, I felt myself being pulled towards the red mirror.</p><p> </p><p>As my body traversed through the glass surface, I experienced another vision.</p><p> </p><p>I am with the others and we are on a mountain farm outside of Gate Pass. I recognize the hills nearby; more importantly, I recognize the people around us; a boy, who looks very much like a young Longhelim, plays with two identical girls, obviously twins. They have red hair and squeal in glee; the young Longhelim has a stick in his hand, his mighty sword. The girls play his adversaries; every so often, the boy lets himself be distracted by one of his opponents when the other ambushes him from behind, causing all three of them to tumble into a free for all involving much shouting, squealing and laughter.</p><p> </p><p>In the background, a man walks behind a plough drawn by two oxen while keeping an eye on his three children. There is no sign of their mother.</p><p> </p><p>A change of scene in the vision; we see the boy Longhelim finding a cave. In the manner of all boys, he must investigate; we see him going inside, picking up a stone and collapsing. His father rushes in, picks up the boy and runs back to the farm………</p><p> </p><p>Then everything changed again and four of us found ourselves in a very different environment; I could see Victor, Felix and John; there was blazing fire all around us and we were standing on a piece of rocky ground with flaming fissures; fortunately, they were not wide; there were also a series of pillars in the room; these were initially very low but the further they increased in distance from us, the taller they became. At the far end, there was a portal next to which was a shape carved into the wall; this carving resembled the shape of a sword. Above us was a red orb in which lay a silver sword, presumably a key to the portal; as well as this sword, there was a creature there; I had never seen anything like it; it looked like an amorphous crimson blob with an ever changing collection of faces, limbs and mouths. If a small child’s nightmare of the mother of all monsters had come to life, this would be it. Even more strangely, the creature was singing; its many mouths produced a strange compelling harmony. Its body reflected the fire and created its own shadows on the walls. It was quite unnerving.</p><p> </p><p>On our left, we could also see a pair of shadowy figures; they seemed to be in another chamber like ours but it was impossible to see much more, except that there was some sort of liquid on the ground and it was rising. Judging by the bow on one and the armour on the other, I guessed that the shadowy figures were Longhelim and Drudge.</p><p> </p><p>John immediately cast a spell which put a magical silence on top of the creature in our chamber. Obviously he liked the singing even less than I did.</p><p> </p><p>Out of the corner of our eyes in the other sphere, we could see Drudge grab Longhelim and walk on air to reach the top of their sphere. There they settled and seemed to be watching something or someone out of our sight.</p><p> </p><p>However, I had to stop paying attention to them at that point as the nightmare moved out of the magical silence and proceeded to utter a Word of Power so vile and malign that it could have been overwhelming. Thankfully, the Word did not have enough strength to overcome us with the exception of poor Victor, who just stood there and gaped at it in stupefaction; I could see John was trying to concentrate to do something to someone but it was impossible to tell what.</p><p> </p><p>I managed to cast a spell at the nightmare but unfortunately, I was unable to penetrate its natural resistance to magic and my black ray bounced off.</p><p> </p><p> Felix then cast a spell on Victor which I recognized as flying magic; at this point, the nightmare acted again, enveloping us in a sticky, black magical miasma which was so antithetical to all we stood for that it even harmed us physically; especially poor Victor, who was affected so badly that he proceeded to sink to his knees and retch violently.</p><p> </p><p>I glanced at the other sphere but I couldn’t see Longhelim or Drudge any longer; the liquid was still rising though. Victor recovered and immediately flew at the nightmare, which proceeded to swing at him with all its strange extremities and mouths; I lost count as to how many times Victor was attacked but somehow the warrior managed to dodge his way through this physical maelstrom and slash the creature with his sword. The nightmare recoiled and tried to move back but Victor kept pressing it.</p><p> </p><p>John cast his spell of speed and I stepped to the side and managed to cast another of my black weakening rays at the nightmare; this one did penetrate its defences and I felt it bite. My attention was wrested back to the other sphere that moment though, as I saw a multi coloured rainbow wash Longhelim and Victor in its light; this was a very difficult and complicated spell with a whole set of components and results. I had theoretical knowledge and how it worked but I had not been able to research it to its individual components; I did know that their opponent must be a very powerful. </p><p> </p><p>My attention was drawn back to our sphere, where Victor was now pressing the nightmare in his archetypal manner, probing, slashing, bashing and crushing; more and more of his strokes cut into the creature, its limbs, mouths, eyes and ears; it flailed back furiously but it looked as if my weakening ray had affected it quite badly. As I was getting ready to cast another spell at it, I was distracted by a gasp from Felix who was looking at the other sphere; with horror, I saw that Longhelim had nearly collapsed with three arrows in his chest; it was very difficult for us to tell as we were seeing these figures as only shadows but the only person visible with a bow was Drudge, who was now just looking into the distance.</p><p> </p><p>I had a dreadful realization:</p><p> </p><p>“It’s that spell of many colours! One of the things it does is send people mad!”</p><p> </p><p>Felix began to concentrate immediately; from the corner of my eye, I saw Victor still pressing his opponent. Then Felix finished and I saw Longhelim touching Drudge; the latter seemed jerk at the touch and then began to fire into the distance at some unseen opponent.</p><p> </p><p>Then John shouted at me:</p><p> </p><p>“Longhelim says their opponent is a ghaele and its invisible!”</p><p> </p><p>A ghaele? A good outsider? Fighting with a paladin? Surely Longhelim must have made himself known to her? Maybe she was mad as well? Well, whatever the situation, that was speculation for another time; the other two were in great trouble. I knew exactly what John was getting at and began to concentrate. A moment later, I was able to grant my spell to Drudge; he could now see invisible beings in the same way I could.</p><p> </p><p>Just as I finished doing this, I saw that Victor had finished his opponent. However, we were still watching the drama in the next sphere; a wall of flashing blades had materialized on top of our friends; incredibly, they both managed to jump out of the way on top of their sphere. Drudge was still firing at something out of our sight; more importantly the water was still rising to I concentrated again and gave Longhelim the power of flight.</p><p> </p><p>Victor returned with the silver sword; we presumed that if we fitted into the gate by the portal, then it would take us to the Trial of the Self but we needed to wait for Longhelim and Drudge. It looked as if they had a far tougher opponent; especially if Longhelim found it difficult to fight good outsiders.</p><p> </p><p>We could only watch the shadows flitting in the other sphere. It was difficult to tell what was going on except that the water was rising all the time. Moments later, another large shadow appeared, quickly followed by another; it was difficult to tell what they were but they both surged against Longhelim and Drudge; oddly, the latter did not budge or flinch.</p><p> </p><p>John then called out:</p><p> </p><p>“I’m in touch with Longhelim; he says that the water is rising and there is little they can do. They cannot fight the ghaele; Drudge has tried to fire at her and his arrows are not doing anything; as a paladin, Longhelim will not take any hostile actions against her. The ghaele has erected a magical invisible wall so Drudge cannot see through it anyway. She’s also summoning monsters but they cannot get through the protection Felix put on him; she’s even put a barrier of whirling blades behind them; he’s telling us to go. There is nothing we can do.”</p><p> </p><p>I was very reluctant:</p><p> </p><p>“I think we have to stay to the end. I don’t want to abandon them!”</p><p> </p><p>John turned on me and was quite curt:</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t want to watch them die; let’s at least respect Longhelim’s wishes. We have to go.”</p><p> </p><p>I took that as his emotions talking to a great extent.</p><p> </p><p>John continued:</p><p> </p><p>“There is even a possibility that if we go, then they will also open a portal in their sphere.”</p><p> </p><p>I thought that was deeply unlikely but didn’t say anything. There was no point. It would either work or it wouldn’t.</p><p> </p><p>So, Victor took off with the silver sword which we had obtained; he placed it in the gap next to the mirror and the latter turned into a shimmering portal as the previous ones had done. Victor then flew back and ferried everyone else next to it. As he was doing this, I was still watching the neighbouring sphere anxiously but there was little change. Drudge and Longhelim seemed to be in one place and not doing a great deal. Nothing was happening to them either. The one factor that was changing was the level of the water.</p><p> </p><p>As we were next to the portal, we continued to observe the neighbouring sphere but there was still no change. So, we looked at each other and John finally nodded. Wordlessly, we stepped through, first Victor, followed by Felix, then I with John last.</p><p> </p><p>We appeared in a large empty room made of stone; as we were still recovering from our portal travel, suddenly, Longhelim and Drudge appeared, alive and well albeit wet.</p><p> </p><p>We surrounded them immediately:</p><p> </p><p>“What happened?” John almost shouted. “You’re alive!”</p><p> </p><p>Longhelim told the story:</p><p> </p><p>“Well the water rose above our heads and we had to hold our breaths. We tried chasing the ghaele around but that was pretty useless since she swam like a fish; then poor Drudge began to falter. He began to struggle for breath and it was at that point that I saw that he was in real trouble as he began to choke. Then he stopped struggling and just became still. He died. As soon as that happened, that sphere dissolved and …….</p><p> </p><p>“What sphere?” interrupted Felix.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, in our trial, we had big sphere with a tree in it. There was a globule of amber on the tree; that was the key to the portal. We couldn’t get in first but as soon as Drudge died it dissolved and I was able to get the amber and stick in the aperture next to the mirror which then became a portal. I took Drudge’s body and here we are.”</p><p> </p><p>I was musing:</p><p> </p><p>“So, this was the Trial of Offering? Did that mean that you had to offer you life? Then how come we had to kill the monster that we encountered? Hmm, two sides of the same coin maybe? Balance? One side has to take a life that is being offered and the other side has to offer a life to be taken? So, a Soul always has to be in Balance to attain transcendence?”</p><p> </p><p>Longhelim interrupted me:</p><p> </p><p>“Anyway, what happened to you? What was your Trial?”</p><p> </p><p>I replied:</p><p> </p><p>“Ours was far more orthodox; we appeared in a place full of fissures and fire. We also had an orb but this one had a silver sword; there was also a big misshapen ugly monster that tried to kill us so Victor took care of it; as soon as he did our sphere dissolved and released the sword. After that we watched you and tried to help as much as possible. After that, we took your advice and left.</p><p> </p><p>I was just thinking about the significance of the two chambers and their opposition yet symmetry…..”</p><p> </p><p>As I was talking to Longhelim, I suddenly realised that somehow a window had been opened in my mind and a path of magic which I had never encountered before revealed itself to me; it was divine magic! A powerful death spell; with one touch, I could kill! It wasn’t very nice magic but it could be very powerful. I examined the peculiar structure of this spell, fascinated…..</p><p> </p><p>“Faden, Faden!”</p><p> </p><p>Longhelim tapped me on the chest.</p><p> </p><p>“I lost you there for a moment. Where did you go?”</p><p> </p><p>I explained to Longhelim about my new magical acquisition and he smiled:</p><p> </p><p>“Strange you should mention that. I also seemed to have acquired a spell; but mine is the opposite. It is the most powerful of healing spells.”</p><p> </p><p>Victor interrupted at this point:</p><p> </p><p>“My head hurts just thinking about it but somehow I have acquired the knowledge to cast the same spell which Faden described; and I have no knowledge of spell casting. How is that possible?”</p><p> </p><p>Drudge ventured next:</p><p> </p><p>“I’ve got the same magic as Longhelim; and my spells are of a completely different nature.”</p><p> </p><p>John then added:</p><p> </p><p>“I’ve got the death magic.”</p><p> </p><p>To be followed by Felix:</p><p> </p><p>“And I have it as well; it is something I can request from Farlanghn but I rarely do.”</p><p> </p><p>Again, I began thinking aloud:</p><p> </p><p>“So, symmetry and opposition; balance; water and fire, life and death, good and evil, take a life, give a life and finally healing and death; it all makes a peculiar sense…….”</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Cafu, post: 6238783, member: 6692807"] So, we all advanced to the space in front of the mirror and then, as per our instructions, we willed ourselves into it. At this point, my reality seemed to bend, twist and warp as my body was drawn into the surface of the glass and pressed through. As this was happening, I saw a vision from the past; it took me back to Gate Pass, as we were fleeing the Poison Apple pub. I did not remember this previously, because the reality was too frightening but now I could literally see a huge red dragon flying above us, but so low that I could even see the flame scarred face of the creature. It seemed to look at me with its yellow eyes; eyes that looked into my soul forever. The whole vision lasted for the blink of an eye but that dragon’s gaze would live in my memory for eternity. We all seemed to pass through its surface and arrived beyond it in a corridor with a door in front of us, a blank wall behind us and a large bell above our heads. “What the…..” John spoke but his words echoed through the corridor, dangerously; so dangerously that they hurt our ears. I clutched at them and was surprised to find blood on my fingers. My ears were bleeding! Looking around, I could see that the others were suffering in the same way. Obviously, sound in this corridor was dangerous! John, although also clutching his ears, was still excited and he was whispering: “I think that I have gained some powers; somehow, going through that mirror, it’s done something; acid is not as deadly to me as before and I have the same defence that Faden gives to Victor and Longhelim when he sprinkles the diamond dust on them; you know, the one against weapons. I think the nugget gave me those powers.” Even though he was whispering, it still hurt a little so Longhelim drew the attention of the rogue and put his finger across his lips. John stopped talking. I pointed at the bell and then concentrated. I managed to establish a mental link to Felix: “Do you have one of those magical silence spells. If that bell starts ringing, we’re in serious trouble.” The priest looked up with dread and quickly cast a spell; immediately, the area around us went completely quiet. Suddenly, I heard John’s voice in my head: “Great! Nice one! I’m going ahead to see about that door.” He moved forward carefully but as he reached about half way down, he must have stepped on something because the bell’s clapper began to bang furiously. It was completely silent of course but if the magic had not been in place……. John turned towards and grimaced as he looked at the bell. Then he shrugged and turned to the door. It took him a little time, but he managed to pick the lock. When he opened the door, it revealed a large verse carved into the wall and two mirrors set at angles, facing each other. One of these, on the left, was blue while its opposite was red. Curious, we all moved forward, making sure we took the silence magic with us; the bell clapper was still flinging itself furiously against the bell. As we approached, I was able to read the verse as follows: Speak your name and be divided To Paths Sinister and Righteous A sacrifice of blood Is the Key to your Salvation. Mentally, I said to Felix: “Well, Paths Sinister and Righteous means divided left and right; and if this is the second test then that is the Trial of Offering; the rhyme suggests that we need to make an offering of blood.” The priest replied drily: “Well, the question is how big the offering needs to be, doesn’t it?” “We won’t know until we do it so we better get going.” Everyone else agreed and one by one, we stepped forward and spoke our name, wincing slightly at the noise; even doing that was a little harmful. I was the last one to say my name. So far everyone except Drudge and Longhelim had been judged righteous, going into the red mirror. As I stepped forward and spoke my name, I felt myself being pulled towards the red mirror. As my body traversed through the glass surface, I experienced another vision. I am with the others and we are on a mountain farm outside of Gate Pass. I recognize the hills nearby; more importantly, I recognize the people around us; a boy, who looks very much like a young Longhelim, plays with two identical girls, obviously twins. They have red hair and squeal in glee; the young Longhelim has a stick in his hand, his mighty sword. The girls play his adversaries; every so often, the boy lets himself be distracted by one of his opponents when the other ambushes him from behind, causing all three of them to tumble into a free for all involving much shouting, squealing and laughter. In the background, a man walks behind a plough drawn by two oxen while keeping an eye on his three children. There is no sign of their mother. A change of scene in the vision; we see the boy Longhelim finding a cave. In the manner of all boys, he must investigate; we see him going inside, picking up a stone and collapsing. His father rushes in, picks up the boy and runs back to the farm……… Then everything changed again and four of us found ourselves in a very different environment; I could see Victor, Felix and John; there was blazing fire all around us and we were standing on a piece of rocky ground with flaming fissures; fortunately, they were not wide; there were also a series of pillars in the room; these were initially very low but the further they increased in distance from us, the taller they became. At the far end, there was a portal next to which was a shape carved into the wall; this carving resembled the shape of a sword. Above us was a red orb in which lay a silver sword, presumably a key to the portal; as well as this sword, there was a creature there; I had never seen anything like it; it looked like an amorphous crimson blob with an ever changing collection of faces, limbs and mouths. If a small child’s nightmare of the mother of all monsters had come to life, this would be it. Even more strangely, the creature was singing; its many mouths produced a strange compelling harmony. Its body reflected the fire and created its own shadows on the walls. It was quite unnerving. On our left, we could also see a pair of shadowy figures; they seemed to be in another chamber like ours but it was impossible to see much more, except that there was some sort of liquid on the ground and it was rising. Judging by the bow on one and the armour on the other, I guessed that the shadowy figures were Longhelim and Drudge. John immediately cast a spell which put a magical silence on top of the creature in our chamber. Obviously he liked the singing even less than I did. Out of the corner of our eyes in the other sphere, we could see Drudge grab Longhelim and walk on air to reach the top of their sphere. There they settled and seemed to be watching something or someone out of our sight. However, I had to stop paying attention to them at that point as the nightmare moved out of the magical silence and proceeded to utter a Word of Power so vile and malign that it could have been overwhelming. Thankfully, the Word did not have enough strength to overcome us with the exception of poor Victor, who just stood there and gaped at it in stupefaction; I could see John was trying to concentrate to do something to someone but it was impossible to tell what. I managed to cast a spell at the nightmare but unfortunately, I was unable to penetrate its natural resistance to magic and my black ray bounced off. Felix then cast a spell on Victor which I recognized as flying magic; at this point, the nightmare acted again, enveloping us in a sticky, black magical miasma which was so antithetical to all we stood for that it even harmed us physically; especially poor Victor, who was affected so badly that he proceeded to sink to his knees and retch violently. I glanced at the other sphere but I couldn’t see Longhelim or Drudge any longer; the liquid was still rising though. Victor recovered and immediately flew at the nightmare, which proceeded to swing at him with all its strange extremities and mouths; I lost count as to how many times Victor was attacked but somehow the warrior managed to dodge his way through this physical maelstrom and slash the creature with his sword. The nightmare recoiled and tried to move back but Victor kept pressing it. John cast his spell of speed and I stepped to the side and managed to cast another of my black weakening rays at the nightmare; this one did penetrate its defences and I felt it bite. My attention was wrested back to the other sphere that moment though, as I saw a multi coloured rainbow wash Longhelim and Victor in its light; this was a very difficult and complicated spell with a whole set of components and results. I had theoretical knowledge and how it worked but I had not been able to research it to its individual components; I did know that their opponent must be a very powerful. My attention was drawn back to our sphere, where Victor was now pressing the nightmare in his archetypal manner, probing, slashing, bashing and crushing; more and more of his strokes cut into the creature, its limbs, mouths, eyes and ears; it flailed back furiously but it looked as if my weakening ray had affected it quite badly. As I was getting ready to cast another spell at it, I was distracted by a gasp from Felix who was looking at the other sphere; with horror, I saw that Longhelim had nearly collapsed with three arrows in his chest; it was very difficult for us to tell as we were seeing these figures as only shadows but the only person visible with a bow was Drudge, who was now just looking into the distance. I had a dreadful realization: “It’s that spell of many colours! One of the things it does is send people mad!” Felix began to concentrate immediately; from the corner of my eye, I saw Victor still pressing his opponent. Then Felix finished and I saw Longhelim touching Drudge; the latter seemed jerk at the touch and then began to fire into the distance at some unseen opponent. Then John shouted at me: “Longhelim says their opponent is a ghaele and its invisible!” A ghaele? A good outsider? Fighting with a paladin? Surely Longhelim must have made himself known to her? Maybe she was mad as well? Well, whatever the situation, that was speculation for another time; the other two were in great trouble. I knew exactly what John was getting at and began to concentrate. A moment later, I was able to grant my spell to Drudge; he could now see invisible beings in the same way I could. Just as I finished doing this, I saw that Victor had finished his opponent. However, we were still watching the drama in the next sphere; a wall of flashing blades had materialized on top of our friends; incredibly, they both managed to jump out of the way on top of their sphere. Drudge was still firing at something out of our sight; more importantly the water was still rising to I concentrated again and gave Longhelim the power of flight. Victor returned with the silver sword; we presumed that if we fitted into the gate by the portal, then it would take us to the Trial of the Self but we needed to wait for Longhelim and Drudge. It looked as if they had a far tougher opponent; especially if Longhelim found it difficult to fight good outsiders. We could only watch the shadows flitting in the other sphere. It was difficult to tell what was going on except that the water was rising all the time. Moments later, another large shadow appeared, quickly followed by another; it was difficult to tell what they were but they both surged against Longhelim and Drudge; oddly, the latter did not budge or flinch. John then called out: “I’m in touch with Longhelim; he says that the water is rising and there is little they can do. They cannot fight the ghaele; Drudge has tried to fire at her and his arrows are not doing anything; as a paladin, Longhelim will not take any hostile actions against her. The ghaele has erected a magical invisible wall so Drudge cannot see through it anyway. She’s also summoning monsters but they cannot get through the protection Felix put on him; she’s even put a barrier of whirling blades behind them; he’s telling us to go. There is nothing we can do.” I was very reluctant: “I think we have to stay to the end. I don’t want to abandon them!” John turned on me and was quite curt: “I don’t want to watch them die; let’s at least respect Longhelim’s wishes. We have to go.” I took that as his emotions talking to a great extent. John continued: “There is even a possibility that if we go, then they will also open a portal in their sphere.” I thought that was deeply unlikely but didn’t say anything. There was no point. It would either work or it wouldn’t. So, Victor took off with the silver sword which we had obtained; he placed it in the gap next to the mirror and the latter turned into a shimmering portal as the previous ones had done. Victor then flew back and ferried everyone else next to it. As he was doing this, I was still watching the neighbouring sphere anxiously but there was little change. Drudge and Longhelim seemed to be in one place and not doing a great deal. Nothing was happening to them either. The one factor that was changing was the level of the water. As we were next to the portal, we continued to observe the neighbouring sphere but there was still no change. So, we looked at each other and John finally nodded. Wordlessly, we stepped through, first Victor, followed by Felix, then I with John last. We appeared in a large empty room made of stone; as we were still recovering from our portal travel, suddenly, Longhelim and Drudge appeared, alive and well albeit wet. We surrounded them immediately: “What happened?” John almost shouted. “You’re alive!” Longhelim told the story: “Well the water rose above our heads and we had to hold our breaths. We tried chasing the ghaele around but that was pretty useless since she swam like a fish; then poor Drudge began to falter. He began to struggle for breath and it was at that point that I saw that he was in real trouble as he began to choke. Then he stopped struggling and just became still. He died. As soon as that happened, that sphere dissolved and ……. “What sphere?” interrupted Felix. “Oh, in our trial, we had big sphere with a tree in it. There was a globule of amber on the tree; that was the key to the portal. We couldn’t get in first but as soon as Drudge died it dissolved and I was able to get the amber and stick in the aperture next to the mirror which then became a portal. I took Drudge’s body and here we are.” I was musing: “So, this was the Trial of Offering? Did that mean that you had to offer you life? Then how come we had to kill the monster that we encountered? Hmm, two sides of the same coin maybe? Balance? One side has to take a life that is being offered and the other side has to offer a life to be taken? So, a Soul always has to be in Balance to attain transcendence?” Longhelim interrupted me: “Anyway, what happened to you? What was your Trial?” I replied: “Ours was far more orthodox; we appeared in a place full of fissures and fire. We also had an orb but this one had a silver sword; there was also a big misshapen ugly monster that tried to kill us so Victor took care of it; as soon as he did our sphere dissolved and released the sword. After that we watched you and tried to help as much as possible. After that, we took your advice and left. I was just thinking about the significance of the two chambers and their opposition yet symmetry…..” As I was talking to Longhelim, I suddenly realised that somehow a window had been opened in my mind and a path of magic which I had never encountered before revealed itself to me; it was divine magic! A powerful death spell; with one touch, I could kill! It wasn’t very nice magic but it could be very powerful. I examined the peculiar structure of this spell, fascinated….. “Faden, Faden!” Longhelim tapped me on the chest. “I lost you there for a moment. Where did you go?” I explained to Longhelim about my new magical acquisition and he smiled: “Strange you should mention that. I also seemed to have acquired a spell; but mine is the opposite. It is the most powerful of healing spells.” Victor interrupted at this point: “My head hurts just thinking about it but somehow I have acquired the knowledge to cast the same spell which Faden described; and I have no knowledge of spell casting. How is that possible?” Drudge ventured next: “I’ve got the same magic as Longhelim; and my spells are of a completely different nature.” John then added: “I’ve got the death magic.” To be followed by Felix: “And I have it as well; it is something I can request from Farlanghn but I rarely do.” Again, I began thinking aloud: “So, symmetry and opposition; balance; water and fire, life and death, good and evil, take a life, give a life and finally healing and death; it all makes a peculiar sense…….” [/QUOTE]
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The Gate Pass Irregulars: A War of the Burning Sky Campaign
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