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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: 6241896" data-attributes="member: 6692807"><p>Just then, I stopped because suddenly I was gripped by a vision, much like seeing Longhelim the boy, except that this time, I could see the entrance to the Temple; eight figures were approaching and with a shock I realised that I recognized two of them; one was Shalosha and the other was Katrina! What was she doing here?</p><p> </p><p>The other six figures were very exotic and a most peculiar mixture: there were two obvious inquisitors, one a lady with an extraordinarily fine alabaster mask and snow white armour and the other a powerful figure with hunched shoulders, again masked, wielding a spear and a scimitar; he was accompanied by a huge, white bear, no doubt a very handy pet of some sort. There were also two elves, one an obvious magician and the other was one of the elven bodyguards with a great sword; the latter was walking next to Shalosha. Finally there was a half orc wearing red armour.</p><p> </p><p>I realised that I could hear what they were saying. It was the woman in the alabaster mask who was doing the talking:</p><p> </p><p>“……have to stop fighting each other and stop the agents of Seaquen. At least we Ragesians aren’t traitors. We have always stuck to our cause; unlike some……”</p><p> </p><p>She looked at Katrina at this point.</p><p> </p><p>Then she looked at the door and continued:</p><p> </p><p>“Follow me! I will guide us through the illusions of this place!”</p><p> </p><p>Then the vision stopped. I looked at the others in shock! It was not so much that the Ragesians and Shahalesti made common cause again; that was nothing new. It was more Katrina’s presence amongst this group. I found that difficult to believe! If she was a traitor, the repercussions of her treachery would be immense; not only in Seaquen but also in Gate Pass. She was Rantle’s sister, or so he said. What did that say about him?</p><p> </p><p>Then Longhelim murmured:</p><p> </p><p>“Let us all remember; the old monk told us that Forty One would try to corrupt our past with the visions in the Temple so who knows what we just saw. Let’s be ready for anything!”</p><p> </p><p>As I was trying to assimilate just what was true and what was illusion, another vision assailed us; this time we were at the great lake in the marsh near Seaquen; we were dealing with Your Highness, the mother dragon whose child had been stolen by an individual who wanted to sell it for a very large amount of money indeed; he only succeeded in enraging the dragon so she assaulted refugees crossing Salt Lake Marsh into Seaquen; her message was simple: bring me back my child and the thief and I will stop.</p><p> </p><p>We captured the thief and the egg, returning the first and delivering the second as instructed; the visions dealt with the thief’s punishment. The dragon was not merciful; then again, I suspect that if I related this story to any mother in the land, the thief would get very little sympathy. I must confess I had little sympathy for him myself.</p><p> </p><p>Moments later, the vision changes again; this time, we are in a large, luxurious ball room. It is night. Magical light illuminates the whole space, an enormous glass window looks out over a lake, the gardens outside are exquisitely tended. Inside the ball room, beautiful ladies in gowns of shimmering silk mingle with tall, military gentlemen of many races; jewels glisten on the throats and heads of the ladies while the gentlemen wear decorations, titles and uniforms. Luxury, wealth and power are visible everywhere. This is a gathering of the elite.</p><p> </p><p>A large crowd is assembled by the window and one figure dominates the scene; there is a tangible aura of power and charisma around this individual; it is a scarred half orc; I recognized him immediately; an older version of his face is in Longhelim’s magical container right now.</p><p> </p><p>Discreet laughter can be heard from the crowd:</p><p> </p><p>“…….and this how I managed to get these scars on my forehead; not very dignified I am afraid, but true nonetheless,” Coaltongue just finishes a humorous story.</p><p> </p><p>Amongst the crowd, we could all see Shalosha, next to another elf, older but with a distinct family resemblance, making me think that this must be Shalaadel. Suddenly, another figure in a beautiful red ball dress glides gracefully into the hall; we recognize Katrina, but younger; Coaltongue speaks to her directly, indicating more than a casual acquaintance:</p><p> </p><p>“Has your mistress sent you to ruin the celebration? Have Leska tell Guthwulf he can take longer if he likes. I know he enjoys it so much.”</p><p> </p><p>Katrina shakes her head:</p><p> </p><p>“No, Your Imperial Highness; I am here for Lord Shaaladel. He has missed an appointment.”</p><p> </p><p>The elven Lord seemed to start at this statement but Coaltongue added:</p><p> </p><p>“Are you two squabbling again? You’d better go Shaaladel; it would be better if Leska didn’t come here; she would be such a fish out of water in this gathering.”</p><p> </p><p>Coaltongue turns and looks at us, his eyes suddenly piercing and his face stony, almost as if he could discern our presence but instead something even odder happens; an apparition walks through us; a tall, powerful figure wearing red robes and the most elaborate bear mask we have seen so far; tribal charms mark her long braids, the only indication that it is a woman. The music stops.</p><p> </p><p>The inhuman mask turns to Shaaladel and a voice emanates from its depths:</p><p> </p><p>“Attend to your advisor Shaaladel.”</p><p> </p><p>The elf turns and hurries out, plainly obeying her command.</p><p> </p><p>She then turns to Coaltongue and continues:</p><p> </p><p>“Music please, my emperor. Do not deny yourself your……fun. The summer is so precious, these long years.”</p><p> </p><p>After that, she turns and strides towards the door. Coaltongue stares at her for a few moments and then looks at the musicians who begin to play again.</p><p> </p><p>Just as she reaches the door of the ballroom, it bursts open and the group we had seen outside rush in, led by the knight in red armour, charging through the figures. We were taken completely by surprise when they looked at us, began drinking potions and casting spells. Katrina flew up into the air and began to cast; I recognized the spell; it was one of Gabal’s secret spells, known only to students of his school and gifted ones at that. A ball of flame enveloped us and there were other magical ingredients involved, which stripped fire defensive magic. I was slightly burned from her assault but Victor looked far more hurt.</p><p> </p><p>Obviously, this was no vision!</p><p> </p><p>It was the half orc in red armour who drank the potion while the Inquisitor in white armour stood back, surveying the scene. Shalosha, together with her elven bodyguard just retired to a corner and watched developments; the elven mage now had a skeleton with him; he raised his hand and shot a black beam at Victor; I recognized it immediately; it was a weakening beam; I shouted this to the others although they almost certainly recognized it. Finally, the other inquisitor, the burly one with his white bear rushed forward, with the bear taking a swipe at Longhelim.</p><p> </p><p>After this onslaught, we were able to react; the warriors closed with the bear and the Inquisitor; I managed to cast my spell of speed on the others. John cast a spell on Drudge without any visible effect and he cursed, shouting:</p><p> </p><p>“They’ve countered invisibility magic!”</p><p> </p><p>After that, Drudge ran his way past the bear and inquisitor in the usual manner and shot the Inquisitor in white armour as he did so. Several arrows sprouted in her side and the inhuman mask turned in the ranger’s direction; the others looked almost shocked that he dared to shoot her!</p><p> </p><p>Suddenly a wall of flame appeared in front of us and on top of Longhelim and Victor. The heat was turned towards us and I winced, thinking how badly Victor must be burning; Felix, John and I, hidden behind the wall, were still protected by our magic and this wall did have an unintended benefit as Felix was hidden behind this wall, thus making it impossible for the masked Inquisitor to counter Felix’s powerful healing spell, which he delivered to Victor immediately. That was a relief as the warrior had been staggering after the onslaught of all the magic which had been targeted at him. The enemy seemed to be thoroughly informed about our capabilities, no doubt courtesy of Katrina. With horror, I realised she must have had access to all of my journals in Seaquen…….</p><p> </p><p>Then I smiled inwardly as I wondered just how badly the Inquisitor must have been cursing Katrina for putting that wall of flame there; maybe they were not quite as co-ordinated as I thought; then I realised that it was time to put my spell dueling to the test; I had been practicing assiduously every chance I had but on my own. There was a huge difference between practice and reality; I was about to find out just how different. I stepped through the fire wall to see what was new.</p><p> </p><p>The first thing I saw was that the vision had changed; no longer were we in a ball room but rather in a huge, primeval forest; the Living Forest of Innenotdar and before I began to concentrate, I saw two figures involved in a running conflict; an elven maiden wielding a wooden sword and a huge stag; Anyariel was the name of the maiden; she was a legend in the Forest; the stag was the trillith, Indomitability; I caught a glimpse of a lake and the Selah, the fey race native to that land, who were singing; then the trees burst into flames; I assumed it must have become hotter although I couldn’t tell.</p><p> </p><p>The vision finished but I had the greatest shock; Drudge had disappeared but there was a pile of ash and equipment where I had seen him last!</p><p> </p><p>I had a truly dreadful suspicion when I began a series of complicated maneuvers and movements designed to disguise my spell casting from the Inquisitor; I watched them all as I was doing this; the Inquisitor was watching me, completely still, following in dreadful concentration, waiting for the moment I released the spell; the elven mage was grinning at me, looking smug; a moment later, I released the spell, catching them by surprise as she was unable to counter me; a thick acidic cloud descended on that corner of the room, avoiding the Drudge’s remains but settling on Katrina, the Inquisitor and the mage and his skeleton. The redhead screamed a curse and suddenly appeared next to the half orc in a flash of flame; the Inquisitor calmly walked through the cloud without difficulty; of the elven mage and his skeleton, there was no sign.</p><p> </p><p>Glancing down, I saw Victor and Longhelim had converged on the Inquisitor and his bear; there was a defensive spell visible on the Inquisitor; it was the same one I routinely cast on the warriors but it would do him little good against Victor and his adamantine falchion; it was the one material that could by pass that spell; almost casually, belying oh so many hours of practice and growing expertise, Victor sliced his sword several times across the torso of his enemy; it was done so fast that I barely realised that it happened but the Inquisitor was staggered and almost fell off the bear, covered in blood, with most of his armour hanging off him in shreds; Longhelim then stepped forward and systematically hamstrung and slaughtered the bear, which roared threateningly but ultimately in vain; the Inquisitor had to jump off as his steed collapsed under him.</p><p> </p><p>The half orc in red armour ran forward at this point; Shalosha and her bodyguard still did nothing and there was no sign the elven mage and his skeleton so I assumed that they were still in the cloud while the other Inquisitor still looked at me with dreadful concentration.</p><p> </p><p>Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that the vision showed Anaryel pinning the stag to the ground at the bottom of the lake while the Selah still sang but then the vision changed. This time, I saw a group of elves fighting another bunch of elves; Shahalesti against Taranesti by the looks of them; one of the leaders of the former looked just like Shalosha’s bodyguard and he was accompanied by another female elf who suddenly raised her hand and a spray burst out of her hand, sending a wave of Taranesti warriors into oblivion; somehow, in this crazy place, they appeared in front of us and charged! They seemed to be real, especially as several of them cut me with their swords.</p><p> </p><p>Longhelim had confronted the half orc knight while Victor took one blow to finish off the Inquisitor; I dodged the blows aimed at me by the elves as I engaged in a deadly magical dance with the surviving Inquisitor; yet again, I managed to fool her and loosed off a spell; a bolt of lightning struck Katerina and she cursed loudly again, obviously struck; another bolt hit the Inquisitor but she just shrugged it off; I wasn’t surprised; she was the secondary target as I had expected her to have defences in place. Victor would be the best person to deal with her. Surprised, I saw that Katerina had several images dancing around her true form; I prepared to do something about that.</p><p> </p><p>Victor had carved his way through the elven warriors until he was next to the half orc and then proceeded to trade blows with him as well. The latter was a skilled warrior and it was fortunate that both Felix and John were nearby to heal Victor; Felix also managed to release a column of fire on the top of the elves which obliterated most of them. I tried to cast a little spell against Katrina but this time the Inquisitor did counter me and my spell was ineffective; however, this did allow Victor to almost carve the half orc into several pieces; thankfully, Longhelim then took up that work were Victor left off and the paladin felled the enemy quickly; he then made sure that the half orc stayed down as we had been noticing that for some reason the latter had mysteriously been getting better throughout the combat.</p><p> </p><p>I also noticed that Shalosha moved for the first time; she left the corner and moved towards the spot where Drudge was now a pile of ash and scooped up a handful.</p><p> </p><p>I tried another spell but was countered again; she was obviously getting used to my patterns; I had to change my forms somehow. The cloud still remained and there was still no sign of the elven mage and his skeleton.</p><p> </p><p>Suddenly the vision changed again and this time we could see the Ragesians assaulting a Shahalesti city; the Inquisitor with his bear called a column of fire on a tower full of Shahalesti and yet again, from thin air, a squad of Ragesian orcs landed among our ranks, swinging their axes.</p><p> </p><p>As we all whirled around and tried to avoid all those axes hitting us, another burst of flame struck the whole group indiscriminately, originating from Katrina; Victor and Longhelim shared a look; I had lost my defence against fire now and realised that if the sorceress was going to continue doing that, it was going to get very painful. The orcs were looking burned but they were still happily slashing at anything that moved, including me.</p><p> </p><p>“Felix, a little bit of help here,” I shouted as I dodged yet another axe.</p><p> </p><p>“Coming, coming,” was the answer from the priest.</p><p> </p><p>Then Victor took off the ground and flew towards Katrina; he was making himself an enormous target for a powerful spell caster but at the same time, maybe he could distract her despite the many images that were flying about her form. Most of the orcs swung at him while he flew away and amazingly, they must have been badly burned as each one fell over as he swung; one moment I had about three or four intimidating soldiers threatening me with huge axes and the next moment they were all on the floor, having tried to hit Victor.</p><p> </p><p>One of them did clip the warrior as he flew by, making him spin towards the sorceress; Victor had to right himself but even then, he managed to swing at her, albeit off balance; unfortunately, he missed but he did force a rather undignified scramble from Katrina as she avoided the blow. As all the orcs had fallen, Longhelim flew to join Victor. Now seeing two warriors facing her, the sorceress stepped back and a ring of fire sprang up around her, forming defensive shield; both warriors had seen this spell before and knew exactly what to expect. They were going to burn.</p><p> </p><p>Suddenly, more visions appeared: as before, there were two of them, one on each side of the room. The first shows a woman in monk’s robes gliding down from the sky and landing next to the Inquisitor with his bear; she nods at him and says something, which could not be heard. The other side of the room shows a far more intimate and longer scene: a darkened room contains two women; of them is recognizable as the Inquisitor in the alabaster mask facing us right now; she is next to a sitting figure, braiding her hair; the seated figure’s face is turned away from us; despite the noise in the room, this time we can all hear the seated figure speak softly:</p><p> </p><p>“Etienne, please raise my spirits tonight; I am weary.”</p><p> </p><p>We realise that the seated figure must be Leska herself.</p><p> </p><p>The standing Inquisitor replies:</p><p> </p><p>“Mistress, Kreven reports that he has found six hundred more souls to torture; so, the Scourge will be ready in a month; we will not need the Torch.”</p><p> </p><p>Leska sighs:</p><p> </p><p>“Yet, she who trusts the sun can still be burned.”</p><p> </p><p>After that the vision fades; I didn’t have any time to think about what we had seen but I pledged to remember it for later. Then my attention was seized by the appearance of the elven mage and the skeleton next to him; they emerged from the acidic cloud seemingly none the worse for wear and immediately the wizard hit Longhelim with a weakening ray. Despite this, Longhelim moved forward, confronting the elf and struck him several times; Etienne moved up and touched the elf, whose wounds closed completely. I tried to take a hand and began to cast a spell; unfortunately, the Inquisitor was watching for that and this time not only was she able to counter my spell, she was also able to steal it from me and put it on top of my head; and poor Felix’s as well, since he was next to me. It was the same spell that Katrina used against us: a wall of flame, a particularly strong one.</p><p> </p><p>Well, it taught me that despite my attempts to learn spell dueling, I still had a very long way to go before I could hope to go toe to toe with Inquisitors. Unfortunately, this was also a very painful lesson for me and the priest.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Cafu, post: 6241896, member: 6692807"] Just then, I stopped because suddenly I was gripped by a vision, much like seeing Longhelim the boy, except that this time, I could see the entrance to the Temple; eight figures were approaching and with a shock I realised that I recognized two of them; one was Shalosha and the other was Katrina! What was she doing here? The other six figures were very exotic and a most peculiar mixture: there were two obvious inquisitors, one a lady with an extraordinarily fine alabaster mask and snow white armour and the other a powerful figure with hunched shoulders, again masked, wielding a spear and a scimitar; he was accompanied by a huge, white bear, no doubt a very handy pet of some sort. There were also two elves, one an obvious magician and the other was one of the elven bodyguards with a great sword; the latter was walking next to Shalosha. Finally there was a half orc wearing red armour. I realised that I could hear what they were saying. It was the woman in the alabaster mask who was doing the talking: “……have to stop fighting each other and stop the agents of Seaquen. At least we Ragesians aren’t traitors. We have always stuck to our cause; unlike some……” She looked at Katrina at this point. Then she looked at the door and continued: “Follow me! I will guide us through the illusions of this place!” Then the vision stopped. I looked at the others in shock! It was not so much that the Ragesians and Shahalesti made common cause again; that was nothing new. It was more Katrina’s presence amongst this group. I found that difficult to believe! If she was a traitor, the repercussions of her treachery would be immense; not only in Seaquen but also in Gate Pass. She was Rantle’s sister, or so he said. What did that say about him? Then Longhelim murmured: “Let us all remember; the old monk told us that Forty One would try to corrupt our past with the visions in the Temple so who knows what we just saw. Let’s be ready for anything!” As I was trying to assimilate just what was true and what was illusion, another vision assailed us; this time we were at the great lake in the marsh near Seaquen; we were dealing with Your Highness, the mother dragon whose child had been stolen by an individual who wanted to sell it for a very large amount of money indeed; he only succeeded in enraging the dragon so she assaulted refugees crossing Salt Lake Marsh into Seaquen; her message was simple: bring me back my child and the thief and I will stop. We captured the thief and the egg, returning the first and delivering the second as instructed; the visions dealt with the thief’s punishment. The dragon was not merciful; then again, I suspect that if I related this story to any mother in the land, the thief would get very little sympathy. I must confess I had little sympathy for him myself. Moments later, the vision changes again; this time, we are in a large, luxurious ball room. It is night. Magical light illuminates the whole space, an enormous glass window looks out over a lake, the gardens outside are exquisitely tended. Inside the ball room, beautiful ladies in gowns of shimmering silk mingle with tall, military gentlemen of many races; jewels glisten on the throats and heads of the ladies while the gentlemen wear decorations, titles and uniforms. Luxury, wealth and power are visible everywhere. This is a gathering of the elite. A large crowd is assembled by the window and one figure dominates the scene; there is a tangible aura of power and charisma around this individual; it is a scarred half orc; I recognized him immediately; an older version of his face is in Longhelim’s magical container right now. Discreet laughter can be heard from the crowd: “…….and this how I managed to get these scars on my forehead; not very dignified I am afraid, but true nonetheless,” Coaltongue just finishes a humorous story. Amongst the crowd, we could all see Shalosha, next to another elf, older but with a distinct family resemblance, making me think that this must be Shalaadel. Suddenly, another figure in a beautiful red ball dress glides gracefully into the hall; we recognize Katrina, but younger; Coaltongue speaks to her directly, indicating more than a casual acquaintance: “Has your mistress sent you to ruin the celebration? Have Leska tell Guthwulf he can take longer if he likes. I know he enjoys it so much.” Katrina shakes her head: “No, Your Imperial Highness; I am here for Lord Shaaladel. He has missed an appointment.” The elven Lord seemed to start at this statement but Coaltongue added: “Are you two squabbling again? You’d better go Shaaladel; it would be better if Leska didn’t come here; she would be such a fish out of water in this gathering.” Coaltongue turns and looks at us, his eyes suddenly piercing and his face stony, almost as if he could discern our presence but instead something even odder happens; an apparition walks through us; a tall, powerful figure wearing red robes and the most elaborate bear mask we have seen so far; tribal charms mark her long braids, the only indication that it is a woman. The music stops. The inhuman mask turns to Shaaladel and a voice emanates from its depths: “Attend to your advisor Shaaladel.” The elf turns and hurries out, plainly obeying her command. She then turns to Coaltongue and continues: “Music please, my emperor. Do not deny yourself your……fun. The summer is so precious, these long years.” After that, she turns and strides towards the door. Coaltongue stares at her for a few moments and then looks at the musicians who begin to play again. Just as she reaches the door of the ballroom, it bursts open and the group we had seen outside rush in, led by the knight in red armour, charging through the figures. We were taken completely by surprise when they looked at us, began drinking potions and casting spells. Katrina flew up into the air and began to cast; I recognized the spell; it was one of Gabal’s secret spells, known only to students of his school and gifted ones at that. A ball of flame enveloped us and there were other magical ingredients involved, which stripped fire defensive magic. I was slightly burned from her assault but Victor looked far more hurt. Obviously, this was no vision! It was the half orc in red armour who drank the potion while the Inquisitor in white armour stood back, surveying the scene. Shalosha, together with her elven bodyguard just retired to a corner and watched developments; the elven mage now had a skeleton with him; he raised his hand and shot a black beam at Victor; I recognized it immediately; it was a weakening beam; I shouted this to the others although they almost certainly recognized it. Finally, the other inquisitor, the burly one with his white bear rushed forward, with the bear taking a swipe at Longhelim. After this onslaught, we were able to react; the warriors closed with the bear and the Inquisitor; I managed to cast my spell of speed on the others. John cast a spell on Drudge without any visible effect and he cursed, shouting: “They’ve countered invisibility magic!” After that, Drudge ran his way past the bear and inquisitor in the usual manner and shot the Inquisitor in white armour as he did so. Several arrows sprouted in her side and the inhuman mask turned in the ranger’s direction; the others looked almost shocked that he dared to shoot her! Suddenly a wall of flame appeared in front of us and on top of Longhelim and Victor. The heat was turned towards us and I winced, thinking how badly Victor must be burning; Felix, John and I, hidden behind the wall, were still protected by our magic and this wall did have an unintended benefit as Felix was hidden behind this wall, thus making it impossible for the masked Inquisitor to counter Felix’s powerful healing spell, which he delivered to Victor immediately. That was a relief as the warrior had been staggering after the onslaught of all the magic which had been targeted at him. The enemy seemed to be thoroughly informed about our capabilities, no doubt courtesy of Katrina. With horror, I realised she must have had access to all of my journals in Seaquen……. Then I smiled inwardly as I wondered just how badly the Inquisitor must have been cursing Katrina for putting that wall of flame there; maybe they were not quite as co-ordinated as I thought; then I realised that it was time to put my spell dueling to the test; I had been practicing assiduously every chance I had but on my own. There was a huge difference between practice and reality; I was about to find out just how different. I stepped through the fire wall to see what was new. The first thing I saw was that the vision had changed; no longer were we in a ball room but rather in a huge, primeval forest; the Living Forest of Innenotdar and before I began to concentrate, I saw two figures involved in a running conflict; an elven maiden wielding a wooden sword and a huge stag; Anyariel was the name of the maiden; she was a legend in the Forest; the stag was the trillith, Indomitability; I caught a glimpse of a lake and the Selah, the fey race native to that land, who were singing; then the trees burst into flames; I assumed it must have become hotter although I couldn’t tell. The vision finished but I had the greatest shock; Drudge had disappeared but there was a pile of ash and equipment where I had seen him last! I had a truly dreadful suspicion when I began a series of complicated maneuvers and movements designed to disguise my spell casting from the Inquisitor; I watched them all as I was doing this; the Inquisitor was watching me, completely still, following in dreadful concentration, waiting for the moment I released the spell; the elven mage was grinning at me, looking smug; a moment later, I released the spell, catching them by surprise as she was unable to counter me; a thick acidic cloud descended on that corner of the room, avoiding the Drudge’s remains but settling on Katrina, the Inquisitor and the mage and his skeleton. The redhead screamed a curse and suddenly appeared next to the half orc in a flash of flame; the Inquisitor calmly walked through the cloud without difficulty; of the elven mage and his skeleton, there was no sign. Glancing down, I saw Victor and Longhelim had converged on the Inquisitor and his bear; there was a defensive spell visible on the Inquisitor; it was the same one I routinely cast on the warriors but it would do him little good against Victor and his adamantine falchion; it was the one material that could by pass that spell; almost casually, belying oh so many hours of practice and growing expertise, Victor sliced his sword several times across the torso of his enemy; it was done so fast that I barely realised that it happened but the Inquisitor was staggered and almost fell off the bear, covered in blood, with most of his armour hanging off him in shreds; Longhelim then stepped forward and systematically hamstrung and slaughtered the bear, which roared threateningly but ultimately in vain; the Inquisitor had to jump off as his steed collapsed under him. The half orc in red armour ran forward at this point; Shalosha and her bodyguard still did nothing and there was no sign the elven mage and his skeleton so I assumed that they were still in the cloud while the other Inquisitor still looked at me with dreadful concentration. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that the vision showed Anaryel pinning the stag to the ground at the bottom of the lake while the Selah still sang but then the vision changed. This time, I saw a group of elves fighting another bunch of elves; Shahalesti against Taranesti by the looks of them; one of the leaders of the former looked just like Shalosha’s bodyguard and he was accompanied by another female elf who suddenly raised her hand and a spray burst out of her hand, sending a wave of Taranesti warriors into oblivion; somehow, in this crazy place, they appeared in front of us and charged! They seemed to be real, especially as several of them cut me with their swords. Longhelim had confronted the half orc knight while Victor took one blow to finish off the Inquisitor; I dodged the blows aimed at me by the elves as I engaged in a deadly magical dance with the surviving Inquisitor; yet again, I managed to fool her and loosed off a spell; a bolt of lightning struck Katerina and she cursed loudly again, obviously struck; another bolt hit the Inquisitor but she just shrugged it off; I wasn’t surprised; she was the secondary target as I had expected her to have defences in place. Victor would be the best person to deal with her. Surprised, I saw that Katerina had several images dancing around her true form; I prepared to do something about that. Victor had carved his way through the elven warriors until he was next to the half orc and then proceeded to trade blows with him as well. The latter was a skilled warrior and it was fortunate that both Felix and John were nearby to heal Victor; Felix also managed to release a column of fire on the top of the elves which obliterated most of them. I tried to cast a little spell against Katrina but this time the Inquisitor did counter me and my spell was ineffective; however, this did allow Victor to almost carve the half orc into several pieces; thankfully, Longhelim then took up that work were Victor left off and the paladin felled the enemy quickly; he then made sure that the half orc stayed down as we had been noticing that for some reason the latter had mysteriously been getting better throughout the combat. I also noticed that Shalosha moved for the first time; she left the corner and moved towards the spot where Drudge was now a pile of ash and scooped up a handful. I tried another spell but was countered again; she was obviously getting used to my patterns; I had to change my forms somehow. The cloud still remained and there was still no sign of the elven mage and his skeleton. Suddenly the vision changed again and this time we could see the Ragesians assaulting a Shahalesti city; the Inquisitor with his bear called a column of fire on a tower full of Shahalesti and yet again, from thin air, a squad of Ragesian orcs landed among our ranks, swinging their axes. As we all whirled around and tried to avoid all those axes hitting us, another burst of flame struck the whole group indiscriminately, originating from Katrina; Victor and Longhelim shared a look; I had lost my defence against fire now and realised that if the sorceress was going to continue doing that, it was going to get very painful. The orcs were looking burned but they were still happily slashing at anything that moved, including me. “Felix, a little bit of help here,” I shouted as I dodged yet another axe. “Coming, coming,” was the answer from the priest. Then Victor took off the ground and flew towards Katrina; he was making himself an enormous target for a powerful spell caster but at the same time, maybe he could distract her despite the many images that were flying about her form. Most of the orcs swung at him while he flew away and amazingly, they must have been badly burned as each one fell over as he swung; one moment I had about three or four intimidating soldiers threatening me with huge axes and the next moment they were all on the floor, having tried to hit Victor. One of them did clip the warrior as he flew by, making him spin towards the sorceress; Victor had to right himself but even then, he managed to swing at her, albeit off balance; unfortunately, he missed but he did force a rather undignified scramble from Katrina as she avoided the blow. As all the orcs had fallen, Longhelim flew to join Victor. Now seeing two warriors facing her, the sorceress stepped back and a ring of fire sprang up around her, forming defensive shield; both warriors had seen this spell before and knew exactly what to expect. They were going to burn. Suddenly, more visions appeared: as before, there were two of them, one on each side of the room. The first shows a woman in monk’s robes gliding down from the sky and landing next to the Inquisitor with his bear; she nods at him and says something, which could not be heard. The other side of the room shows a far more intimate and longer scene: a darkened room contains two women; of them is recognizable as the Inquisitor in the alabaster mask facing us right now; she is next to a sitting figure, braiding her hair; the seated figure’s face is turned away from us; despite the noise in the room, this time we can all hear the seated figure speak softly: “Etienne, please raise my spirits tonight; I am weary.” We realise that the seated figure must be Leska herself. The standing Inquisitor replies: “Mistress, Kreven reports that he has found six hundred more souls to torture; so, the Scourge will be ready in a month; we will not need the Torch.” Leska sighs: “Yet, she who trusts the sun can still be burned.” After that the vision fades; I didn’t have any time to think about what we had seen but I pledged to remember it for later. Then my attention was seized by the appearance of the elven mage and the skeleton next to him; they emerged from the acidic cloud seemingly none the worse for wear and immediately the wizard hit Longhelim with a weakening ray. Despite this, Longhelim moved forward, confronting the elf and struck him several times; Etienne moved up and touched the elf, whose wounds closed completely. I tried to take a hand and began to cast a spell; unfortunately, the Inquisitor was watching for that and this time not only was she able to counter my spell, she was also able to steal it from me and put it on top of my head; and poor Felix’s as well, since he was next to me. It was the same spell that Katrina used against us: a wall of flame, a particularly strong one. Well, it taught me that despite my attempts to learn spell dueling, I still had a very long way to go before I could hope to go toe to toe with Inquisitors. Unfortunately, this was also a very painful lesson for me and the priest. [/QUOTE]
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The Gate Pass Irregulars: A War of the Burning Sky Campaign
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