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Message: <blockquote data-quote="kumagroo" data-source="post: 4989559" data-attributes="member: 83866">I can’t believe that Joven has done this for me. We were a couple days into Shahalesti when the Ragesians struck our diminished party.  As usual, Shealis had little to say to me though the silence was definitely thicker than fog.  We had a fight the night before the attack.  I told her what Az revealed in the sending from the waterfall at the mouth of the river Inendotdar: that the Shahalesti were responsible for the immolation of the forest.  Needless to say she progressed from denial, to ridicule, to open anger as I lay at her feet the names and evidence of her people’s cooperation with goblins that would lead to the death of a small civilization.  With everyone brooding, no one was really looking out for the four wyverns that swooped down upon us.   Between Joven’s arrows and the battery of spells we launched, we were doing more than holding off the enemy, but then Joven cried out to me, “Go!  Back to the woods!  I’ll cover you!”  I’m embarrassed to say I knew exactly what he meant and I did not hesitate.  Joven would continue on to the eladrin nation, allowing me to journey back and see for myself if, indeed, The Coming Storm had managed to end the conflagration and rescue the Seela. Riding away, my thoughts went to what they had told me.  A second fight with this glaive-wielding devil and then a third that ended in truce.  A swift paddle upriver to meet with a unicorn known as Nelle, and a journey down to Lake Seela, after a several fun dips in the rapids.  The choices seemed simple once they arrived.  A spirit of some sort inhabited the body of one of the Seela.  This character, Vuhl, advocated Indomitability’s desire to eradicate the seela and “end their suffering.”  Undoubtedly, he sought only to free Indomitability.  The Coming Storm wouldn’t even consider it.  Zane dragged him out of his cave with the intent of submerging him and allowing himself to meet with the release he so actively sought for all Seela.  In a moment, the fight began.  Vuhl, or rather that-which-possessed-Vuhl, unleased a powerful field of psychic energy that caused the land itself to dance shimmer and spin out of control.  As I understand it, Zane and Damner, who were in the thick of that field, had blood running out of their ears and eyes.  To make matters worse, the enemy was capable of dominating their will and manipulating their actions.  Compounded with all this was Kazyk’s brief appearance, a grab of Az, and then a fiery teleportation out of there, leaving the Storm down one member.  I will need to document everything that this Vuhl threw at them, for not only did it nearly kill them, but I’m sure that they’ll meet him or more of his kind again. It would seem that whatever being it was, it could be contained in a physical, substantial state by the Song of Forms.  Hopefully one of them has learned it from the Seela. From there, my former companions gathered some information from the locals and decided that their best course of action would be to meet with the “soul” of the forest: the dryad Timbre.  To get there though was no small feat.  Half-consumed by madness and grief, the only way they could get close to her was to bring her a token of her lost love, Anyariel.  This they obtained from a nymph-gone-hag named Gwenvere on the south shore of the lake after finally convincing her of their intentions to stop the endless fire.  The hag had been coveting a lock of hair from her unrequited love, Anyariel.  Jealousy was dispelled, Gwenvere realized her duty to Lake Seela, and the group was given the lock of hair to bring to Timbre. The dryad was found weeping in a combination of despair and the never-ending agony of conflagration.  Again, my allies persuaded her to help and she revealed some important information.  So long as a part of her willow tree remained alive, so might the Seela who were born from it (which in turn was born from a gold dragon somehow).  It would seem that Indomitability was pinned under the lake by a sword made of wood from the willow tree.  Hence, so long as the sword bonded with someone, the Seela would survive regardless of the fate of the trees of Inendotdar.  And so the plan was hatched… Ozric had the remaining Seela survivors line up along the shore to sing en masse as one chorus.  Empowered by a boon from Gwenvere, the Coming Storm swam out into the water, quick as fishes.  The sword was to be extracted by Zane as the others assumed a flanking position.  Indomitability, in the form of a stag, never had a chance.  In less than half a minute, it was over.  Kazyk chose that moment to appear, sending his formless lemurs against the Seela, but seeing the great fire spirit dispatched with little wounds to show for it, the devil wisely surrendered.  Az’s location was given to the party by Kazyk, and he explained that with the forest now able to burn its course, he would be free of his contract (a little flaw in the wording, it would seem). It was a night of merriment fueled by the joy of freedom, Ozric’s endless flagon, and the apparently true characteristic of the fae to lack in modesty and inhibitions.  Perhaps Az was toying with me or perhaps he was bitter since he was busy recovering, but based on what I heard of the celebrations, I wonder if half-Seela children will have been conceived that night.  I shudder at the thought given my companions’ dwarven, orcan, and halfling composition. So what now?  Well, clearly the road to Seaquen is now open though I wonder if they will take the Eastern Way or the Western.  I will follow behind them, but without any cooling draughts, I doubt I’ll be able to catch up until they’ve reached the town.  Still, I’ve told Az through a sending ritual about my mentor at Lyceum, Lee Sidoneth.  I’m certain he will help them get an audience at the school if the mages there don’t immediately let them in with the Ragesian secrets they carry.  Still, it’s a trek yet to get to Seaquen.  The lands they pass through are far from safe, particularly the swamp that fills the peninsula to the west of the town itself.  But destiny has brought together their team and if they have conquered the Forest Fire of Inendotdar, I’m sure they will be safe.</blockquote>

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