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<blockquote data-quote="amethal" data-source="post: 3771342" data-attributes="member: 22784"><p><strong>Scene 2</strong></p><p><em>The Indomitable Fire Forest of Innenotdar</em></p><p><em>January 6th, 10 am</em></p><p></p><p>The heroes spend an uncomfortable night camped in the Fire Forest, and the next morning they each take another potion of Stand the Heat. With their present numbers they need ten potions a day; thanks to the discovery of the wagon at the bottom of the gorge they have twelve potions remaining when they set out. If they are not out of the forest by the end of tomorrow people are going to start dying, but for the present spirits are reasonably high.</p><p></p><p>When they are roughly six miles into the forest, (with eleven miles to go), the curtains of flame which have been burning steadily at the side of the road suddenly kindle into life. The sides of the road have become dangerously warm, despite the magical protection afforded to the heroes.</p><p></p><p>Up ahead there is the glint of a river, and sharp-eyes Solsus can make out the shape of a bridge. Without warning, there is a loud cracking sound and several large trees collapse into the roadway, cutting off the view.</p><p></p><p>Cristin’s eyes glaze over, a sure sign she is having another vision. She turns towards Gribron. “Its not safe! Move. Move away!”</p><p></p><p>Gribron has had a hectic and painful couple of days, and has spent rather more time than he would have liked lying in a puddle of his own blood. He is grateful for at least receiving a warning on this occasion, and moves smartly away from his current position, to take up station near Agatha.</p><p></p><p>“Don’t stand next to me, you idiot,” she says. “I don’t want your accident prone carcase anywhere where I might get caught in the cross fire.”</p><p></p><p>“That’s not what you said last ….” he retorts, but the end of his sentence is drowned out by a sudden increase in noise from the nearby fires.</p><p></p><p>The flames reaching out from the trees at the side of the road coalesce into a searing spear of fire. With a noise like thunder it drives into the ground where Gribron had earlier been standing, and then splits into three living flames. These flames form themselves into shapes reminiscent of stags, and move to engage the party members.</p><p></p><p>Almost at the same time, a massive wall of flames appears on the road behind the party, completely blocking their escape route.</p><p></p><p>The road is now blocked by burning trees ahead, and a wall of fire behind. To make matters worse, the wall of fire starts moving along the road towards the party.</p><p></p><p>Solsus takes to the air, and engages the stags with his sling. The valiant Jaws also moves towards the fray, but Solsus waves him away. The eagle’s claws are unlikely to do much damage to creatures made of flame, but the consequences to the eagle of touching them would probably be severe.</p><p></p><p>The three stags move towards the two closest targets, B’Roos and Agatha. Their attacks seem highly co-ordinated, and both of our heroes are hit. Agatha’s clothing catches fire and she steps back to try and put out the flames.</p><p></p><p>Jonathan has been prepared for more attacks by fire creatures, and lets fly with a bolt of ice that strikes its target with a satisfying sizzle that leaves its flames much diminished.</p><p></p><p>Agatha puts out the flames surprisingly easily, unaware that the potion she has drunk is giving some protection to her equipment, and unleashes her eldritch blast on her attacker.</p><p></p><p>Gribron strikes another with a bolt of magical force – one of the signature spells of Gabal’s evokers. Ambar also calls upon a force effect, but hers is defensive in nature.</p><p></p><p>Caryk too is concentrating on defence. He whispers a swift prayer to Aurean, and shimmers slightly as he calls into being invisible armour to protect him.</p><p></p><p>All the party attempt to retreat from the moving wall of flames, but the stags move to block their path. One of the stags hits B’Roos, and he collapses into unconsciousness. The wall of flames will soon be upon him ….</p><p></p><p>Fortunately, Solsus has spotted his plight. Relying on the protection of his invisibility, he lands next to the stricken Goliath and is able to relieve his burns.</p><p></p><p>The party are not able to co-ordinate their attacks effectively; all three of the stags are damaged but none of them are down. Jonathan rectifies this with another bolt of ice, which is proving particularly potent against the fire creatures.</p><p></p><p>Caryk and B’Roos are both within range of the wall of fire. The extreme heat on its fringes would be damaging them even at this distance, were it not for their protections against heat. Fortunately, the pace of the wall’s advance has slowed somewhat. It is as if killing one of the stag creatures has somehow weakened the wall of fire. Whether this is just a temporary effect remains to be seen.</p><p></p><p>Most of those who are able move around the remaining two stags and withdraw towards the barricade of burning trees. Caryk and the newly healed B’Roos are in no mood for retreat, however, and Caryk strikes one of the stags a mighty blow with his staff.</p><p></p><p>Meanwhile, Gribron has been cut off, and despite Caryk’s best efforts it is Gribron the stags target.</p><p></p><p>“Typical”, thinks Gribron. “Every creature in this damn forest wants to get a piece of me.” One of the stags aims a ferocious blow with its antlers at Gribron’s head … only for Gribron to disappear and reappear ten feet further back. He is slightly singed from his short trip, but otherwise unharmed.</p><p></p><p>Solsus brings down the injured stag with his sling, and the wall’s rate of advance slows even further. Despite this, it seems the wall must engulf leaden footed Caryk. He and B’Roos swing at the sole surviving stag but to no avail.</p><p></p><p>Jonathan, sensing that the only hope of saving Caryk from a fiery death is to defeat the last opponent, pulls out all the stops and launches his most powerful ice bolt at the beast. Agatha, following his example, lets loose with an eldritch blast. The creature staggers, but does not go down, and Caryk watches helplessly as the flames reach for him ….</p><p></p><p>There is a slight “phut” sound as a pencil thin beam of ice strikes the stag. It looks down in dismay, then follows the line back to an anxious looking Gribron. The frosty touch of Gribron’s ray proves too much to bear, and the stag collapses into a pile of ash – as does the wall of fire.</p><p></p><p>“Interesting,” says Jonathan. “I’ve never seen a wall of fire move like that, and it seemed somehow to be connected to those stags. Which are unusual in themselves. They seemed to be pretty standard fire elementals to me, but I wonder why they chose to assume the form of stags. What do you think, Caryk?”</p><p></p><p>“Huh?” replies Caryk. “Sorry, I wasn’t listening. I was too busy checking nothing important had been burned off. What did you say?”</p><p></p><p>Jonathan’s reply is drowned out by a whispering in the trees. Snatches of words seem to come from all directions, growing louder, and louder until finally a booming voice yells out, “KNOW THIS! I AM THE FLAME AND I AM A PRISONER HERE. SAVE ME FROM THE PRISON OF ENFORCED FLESH, AND YOU MAY CONTINUE TO YOUR DESTINATION. REFUSE, AND NEVER SHALL YOU LEAVE THIS WOOD. YOU SHALL BE A PRISONER FOR AS LONG AS I.”</p><p></p><p>The voice drops to a whisper, but remains perfectly clear – almost as if it was inside their heads.</p><p></p><p>“You shall burn forever, and never die …..”</p><p></p><p>The flames on the fallen trees blocking the road suddenly burn even higher, and a massive draconic face appears in the fire, its head adorned with a crown of thorns. The face then slowly fades, until nothing is left but a pair of immense, fiery eyes, staring at the party.</p><p></p><p>“I’ve heard of a cat that can do that,” says Solsus brightly. “Except that I think it leaves its smile behind instead of its eyes.”</p><p></p><p>Caryk seems somewhat nonplussed by the situation. “Um, we are always willing to help a creature in need. How can we help you?”</p><p></p><p>“End the song of the deep, the song of agony and eternal vigil. Silence the forty tongues who hold me here, who doom themselves with my relentless flame.”</p><p></p><p>“How do we do that?” asks Gribron.</p><p></p><p>“Rest your flesh in the ruins beyond the bridge. Then you must follow the river DOWN to the singing lake. I lie trapped beneath its surface. Set me free!”</p><p></p><p>“Who are these singers?” asks Gribron. “What type of creatures are they?”</p><p></p><p>“They are those who imprison me. Set me free!”</p><p></p><p>"A tribe of bards!" says Caryk. "What a horrible concept. They must all die!"</p><p></p><p>Caryk takes a quick show of hands. It seems everybody is in favour of helping the strange fiery creature escape its imprisonment. Each of the party affirms his or her agreement.</p><p></p><p>“So be it!” says the creature, and vanishes. The burning trees go out, and the fiery undergrowth at the side of the road returns to its normal, smouldering level. Each of the party calls out in agony as a wave of fire flows through their veins.</p><p></p><p>“I feel different,” says Agatha. “I can no longer feel the heat of the forest.”</p><p></p><p>“Oh,” says Caryk. “I haven’t felt the heat anyway. I thought that’s what the potions did. Aurean must have been protecting me and I hadn’t even realised.”</p><p></p><p>“Or maybe all the time you’ve spent taking blows to the head has just made you numb?” suggests B’Roos.</p><p></p><p>The party do their best to scramble over the fallen trees. Solsus, embarrassed by the way ground walkers are stymied by the most basic of obstacles, flies off to investigate the bridge and the village beyond it.</p><p></p><p>He returns with the news that the village seems deserted. There are no signs of any creatures, apart from the occasional small, burning mammal scuttling along the streets.</p><p></p><p>The only places of note are the bridge itself, which has a tower on it, and a stone fountain which appears to be a shrine of some sort.</p><p></p><p>“We haven’t got very far today,” says Solsus, “but the creature did suggest we rest in the village before heading downstream to the lake.”</p><p></p><p>“Does the road follow the river down to the lake?” asks Caryk.</p><p></p><p>“No the road crosses the river and continues on its way. Its easy enough to follow the river though; it used to much wider but lots of it has burned away to create a natural road along each bank.”</p><p></p><p>“So lets check out this village,” says Ambar.</p><p></p><p><strong>Act 2 – Rivers Flow to the Deep</strong></p><p></p><p><strong>Scene 1 </strong> </p><p><em>Village in the Fire Forest</em></p><p><em>January 6th, 11 am</em></p><p></p><p>As the party approach the bridge, it appears at first to be made out of vines. Everyone’s heart sinks. Given the fact that almost everything in the forest is on fire, this bridge must be even more precarious than the last one.</p><p></p><p>However, when they get closer they realise that the bridge is actually made out of solid stone which has been carved to look like vines. Jonathan thinks for a moment.</p><p></p><p>“This is the architectural style of the Elves of Innenotdar,” he says. “Its supposed to represent a fusion of the natural and the artificial, or something like that.”</p><p></p><p>“Yes, I think I’ve heard of it,” says Solsus. “Natural is better, of course.”</p><p></p><p>“I seem to recall that the Shahalesti Elves agreed with you,” says Jonathan. “They criticised this style as being too akin to something dwarves might do.”</p><p></p><p>“When you’ve finished discussing architecture,” says Gribron, “shall we check out the tower on the bridge?”</p><p></p><p>“I have not been remiss in my duty,” replies Solsus indignantly. “I have thoroughly scouted the outside. There are three levels. From what I could tell by looking in through the arrow slits, there are no inhabitants. However, there are two dead bodies on the lowest level. I tried to squeeze through one of the arrow slits but I couldn’t fit.”</p><p></p><p>“Lard belly,” says the impressively muscled B’Roos, who looks like he might have difficulty fitting through the doorway.</p><p></p><p>“I was only discussing architecture whilst waiting for you to do your job and investigate the entrance,” says Jonathan to Gribron. “I’m sure you have noticed that this tower in the middle of the river is protected from the fire, and hence the door is very much intact. Breaking and entering is so much more in your line than in mine.”</p><p></p><p>Gribron, not sure whether or not he has been insulted, examines the door carefully but can find nothing untoward. He struggles with the lock, but Solsus is able to use his knowledge of the Innenotdar Elves and his earlier scouting to aid him, and eventually Gribron manages to open the door.</p><p></p><p>The door opens outwards, like all good tower doors, and Gribron is somewhat surprised to see a one foot stone cube on the floor just inside the entrance. It is glowing with magic light, and has a message painted on it in Elvish. </p><p>Fortunately Gribron is fluent in the Elf tongue, and can translate.</p><p></p><p>“The password is ‘friend’.”</p><p></p><p>“Shouldn’t it say ‘Speak friend and enter’?” says the traditionally minded Solsus.</p><p></p><p>Gribron says ‘friend’ in Elvish, then scans the room for magic.</p><p></p><p>“There’s some sort of magical glyph here,” he says. “However, it seems to be dormant. There’s also a ward on the door, but I must have bypassed that when I opened it because nothing bad happened.”</p><p></p><p>Behind the cube are the two dead bodies Solsus had mentioned earlier. The party moves into the room and examines them. It seems that they were protected from the fire inside the tower, and simply burned to death. They have some nice equipment which the party salvages. Jonathan takes a finely crafted shortsword for his own use. </p><p></p><p>Stairs lead up to the middle level, which is dominated by a long table. On the table there is a holy symbol of Dol Arrah, a journal and a miniature wooden representation of the village. Again, the only thing that stands out is the shrine.</p><p></p><p>Gribron examines the journal. Unsurprisingly, it is written in Elvish. He quickly turns to the last entry and translates it for the benefit of his comrades.</p><p></p><p><em>“I tire of spending my days rescuing the burning bodies of survivors and tending to them to no effect. The last survivor I found was a woman who still believed that the Living Wood of Innenotdar could not be abandoned. She asked my help looking for her boyfriend. We found him in a hidden basement under the Shrine of Anyariel, where he had gone to curse the Anyariel name, along with a dozen other of the townsfolk. </em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>“The fire had somehow burned in from the roots of the shrine, and they had long since been claimed. Though not dead, they are despairing, and their curses haunt me. The woman saw her beloved and fled me into the woods, seeking an impossible death. I found myself hoping something ate her. I never learned her name.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>“ I can do this no longer. To whatever god hears the prayers of the doubting, please give me the strength for the task ahead of me. I am going to deliver the despairing to the mouth of the White River UPSTREAM, where at least they can have some reprieve from the fire. </em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>“May someone find what I have hidden. It would help bring to justice those responsible for the destruction of my beautiful homeland, for which otherwise none shall shed tears.”</em></p><p>Solsus and Jonathan both seem to recognise the name Anyariel.</p><p></p><p>“I think she was a hero of Innenotdar,” says Solsus. “She died a short while before the forest caught fire. She was a friend of the forest’s fey, blessed by the forest itself, and drove darkness from the forest with her magical sword.”</p><p></p><p>“I believe so,” says Jonathan. “The sword in question was a greatsword, carved in wood.”</p><p></p><p>B’Roos’s ears prick up at this mention of the sword. “What sort of magical greatsword?” he asks.</p><p></p><p>“I’m not sure,” says Jonathan. “She used it to defeat many monsters, including a blackguard from Ragesia and a golem of white clay. Not sure how relevant that is though.”</p><p></p><p>Skimming through the journal, Gribron picks up some more information about its author.</p><p></p><p>“The elf who wrote this was a cleric of Dol Arrah. His name was Bhurisrava. I think that’s a celestial word, but dunno what it means. Anyway, with the devastation in the forest he wanted to convert to Olladra and so he could be better at healing the victims, but he didn’t know how.</p><p></p><p>“Its pretty grim reading. The elves tried to put out the fires, but they couldn’t. The fires just wouldn’t go out.”</p><p></p><p>Somewhat sobered by the lack of loot on this level, the party head up the stairs to the top floor.</p><p></p><p>This area is bare of interesting items, but there is a locked cupboard. Unfortunately the lock proves to be beyond Gribron’s skills.</p><p></p><p>“Don’t worry, this key will fit any lock,” says B’Roos, who proceeds to batter away at the door with his sword. The sword soon wins the unequal battle.</p><p></p><p>The closet contains housekeeping materials. “What kind of lunatic puts a lock that good on a cupboard containing all this junk,” fumes Gribron.</p><p></p><p>However, there is one item of note. There is a paper pouch, marked “for later study” in Elvish. The handwriting is the same as in the journal. The pouch is also labelled in Goblin, which Gribron can’t read but Solsus can.</p><p></p><p>“Take one for visions of the Fire Maker. Do not take more. These are poison. May cause drowsiness. Do not operate heavy siege weaponry.”</p><p></p><p>Inside the pouch there are seven innocuous looking seeds. Solsus is somewhat familiar with herb lore, and suspects they may be hallucinogenic. He used to partake of similar substances in his misspent youth, before he came to realise the weight of responsibility on his shoulders.</p><p></p><p>Gribron consults the journal, and finds a reference to the seeds.</p><p></p><p>“Apparently Bhurisrava got them from the corpses of some goblins. He used his magic to speak to the spirits of the dead goblins, and found out some information from them. The goblins lived in caves beneath the forest. They were responsible for setting the forest on fire, after being hired by a Ragesian orc.”</p><p></p><p>“We already knew the Ragesians started the fire,” said Solsus. “Coaltongue loved fires. But surely it was a magical fire, not something as mundane as a blaze started by goblins? This fire clearly isn’t natural.”</p><p></p><p>“The dead goblins didn’t go into any details,” says Gribron. “Anyway, they called the seeds ‘dream seeds’, which give visions of a ‘dream realm’. Bhurisrava tried one, but it didn’t work.”</p><p></p><p>This reference to dreams gets Jonathan’s attention (unlike the Fire Maker part, which is ignored by everyone).</p><p></p><p>“Elves don’t sleep,” he says, “so they are hardly going to dream. I’d like to try one of those seeds. Anyone else like to give it a try?”</p><p></p><p>Jonathan is the only one willing to experiment, so he settles himself into a corner of the room and takes one of the seeds. He starts to feel sleepy. For a moment he fights off drowsiness, but then he decides to surrender to the sensation.</p><p></p><p>He starts to experience wild dreams. At first he sees the forest, with the flames rising higher, He can hear a distant, distorted song which in his dream state he recognises as the sylvan language – even though he has never heard it spoken before. He can’t shake the feeling that someone is hiding in the shadows at the edge of his vision, but whenever he turns around there is nothing there.</p><p></p><p>The dreams move back in time. He starts to experience what he is convinced are visions of his past life, even though his re-birth was supposed to have ended his past life forever. The dreams start to spin forward to the present. </p><p></p><p>There is a ship, always on the move, somehow larger on the inside than the outside, and a woman, always laughing. Then there is a fire, the flames rising higher and higher. Pain, unconsciousness. </p><p></p><p>Then a magnificent city, towers reaching for the sky. Starving, killing, stealing, killing and stealing.</p><p></p><p>The scene moves to Gate Pass. Two heads in a bag. Then into the future; the city overcome by blood and swords. A path to power, shining bright. A torch? Then it turns into a silvery blue serpent.</p><p></p><p>The serpent lashes at Jonathan with its tail, and he cries out in pain. Then the serpent starts to fade away.</p><p></p><p>Outside of the dream, Jonathan’s scream alerts the others. They are not sure what to do to ease his pain.</p><p></p><p>They are somewhat bemused when a silvery blue flying serpent starts to materialise in front of them. Gribron is the first to react. A cone of scintillating colours bursts from his hand, and blinds the strange newcomer.</p><p></p><p>Ambar and Caryk swing their weapons at the serpent, which is floating effortlessly in front of them. Caryk misses, but for a second it seems like Ambar has hit the creature. Then there is a strange, dizzy sensation and Ambar’s sword has somehow struck herself instead. </p><p></p><p>B’Roos is somewhat perturbed by this turn of events, but lacking any other options he too strikes at the creature. His blow strikes home, and the beast is forced back. Solsus takes advantage of this and moves in to heal Ambar.</p><p></p><p>The beats, despite being blinded, has identified Gribron as the source of its misfortune. It lashes out with its tail and he screams in a manner reminiscent of Jonathan a few moments earlier.</p><p></p><p>Caryk strikes at the creature, and again there is a sense of reality being warped, and Caryk hits himself smartly behind the ear.</p><p></p><p>“Lucky it was only his head,” thinks B’Roos. He’s figured out that whatever strange power this creature possesses, it requires a short interval to “re-set” itself, and quickly follows up Caryk’s attack with one of its own.</p><p></p><p>It’s a mighty blow, and it seems the creature cannot possibly survive it, but at the last instant the monster somehow manages to teleport from the chamber and can be viewed through the nearest arrow slit.</p><p></p><p>B’Roos’s disappointment is short lived, however, as the strange side effect of teleporting comes into being and the creature is transformed into a pile of ash, which floats gently down to the ground.</p><p></p><p>The party decide that Jonathan is not in any immediate peril, so let him sleep. He wakes up ten minutes later.</p><p></p><p>“What did you see?” asks Agatha.</p><p></p><p>“Weird, dream stuff. It didn’t make any sense. I got a feeling Gate Pass is in danger, but I’m not there so who cares.”</p><p></p><p>The party realise that this “deserted village” has hidden dangers, and decide to follow the advice of the strange fiery being and rest in the safety of the tower.</p><p></p><p><strong>Scene 2</strong></p><p><em>Shrine of Anyariel, Fire Forest</em></p><p><em>January 7th, 9 am</em></p><p></p><p>The next day, Solsus is the first to awake. He is pretty sure the tower, despite being away from the flames, should be uncomfortably hot, but he feels fine.</p><p></p><p>He decides to forego the usual potion of Stand the Heat, and takes a cautious trip outside. He is pleased to discover that the potions are no longer needed; whatever the mysterious fire being did to them is protecting them from the effects of the fire forest.</p><p></p><p>The party discusses the plan for the day. They need to head along the river, but it wouldn’t hurt to have a quick search of the village first.</p><p></p><p>Solsus, Gribron, Agatha and Jonathan decide to visit the fountain, which is probably the shrine of Anyariel referred to in Bhurisrava’s journal. The other three will explore the rest of the village.</p><p></p><p>The shrine is a beautiful stone fountain in the shape of a willow tree. Its pool has boiled away, and the trees which once surrounded it have been cut down – presumably to stop their continual burning. </p><p></p><p>Solsus gets the impression that this was once a druid shrine, and carries out a careful inspection. He notices a pair of bodies in the “branches” of the stone tree. Unusually, they have not been affected by the flames, and show no sign of fire damage.</p><p></p><p>This is somewhat suspicious, and Jonathan and Gribron decide to take pot shots at the bodies with their crossbows. Agatha is not willing to play this game, and withdraws to a safe distance.</p><p></p><p>After a few attempts, Jonathan is the first to hit one of the bodies. The “corpse” hurls itself from the branches and rushes towards him in a fury of teeth and claws. Its partner is not far behind. The stench from these creatures is appalling; Jonathan Farrier has a strong stomach, but Gribron starts to look green around the edges. Gribron backs off and lets fly with a bolt of positive energy, but he is too queasy to shoot straight.</p><p></p><p>“I do believe these are ghasts,” says Jonathan. “Sages believe people who consume corpses can sometimes turn into this kind of undead. I’d have thought all the bodies around here were too well done for their tastes.”</p><p></p><p>The ghasts are unimpressed by the lecture, and tear into Jonathan with their teeth and claws. Most of the attacks miss, provoking a barrage of hissing criticism between the two vile creatures.</p><p></p><p>“Possibly a husband and wife team,” thinks Gribron and Agatha.</p><p></p><p>However, one bite does strike home in Jonathan’s thigh, and he feels an icy numbness spreading through his body.</p><p></p><p>Gribron backs away from the ghasts, trying to seek safety in numbers by standing behind Agatha. The two of them, with help from Solsus’s sling, manage to take down the first ghast, but the second is unfazed and fastens its teeth into Gribron’s neck. He too is paralysed, and the stench is such that Agatha has to pause to be sick before leaving him to his fate.</p><p></p><p>The remaining ghast pursues Agatha, but she is able to stay one step ahead of it for long enough for Jonathan to shake off his paralysis. He has an inkling the creature is protected against fire, so strikes it with bolt of electricity. This slows it down long enough for Agatha to lay it to rest with a blast of eldritch energy. The two of them have enough time to write “I am an idiot” on the back of Gribron’s tunic before he too throws off the effect of the paralysis.</p><p></p><p>Solsus lands beside them.</p><p></p><p>“Good work defeating those vile undead. Now lets see if we can find that hidden basement to the shrine referred to in the journal.”</p><p></p><p>“I’ve got a better idea,” said Gribron. “How about we just sit here for a bit until I stop being sick?”</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="amethal, post: 3771342, member: 22784"] [B]Scene 2[/B] [I]The Indomitable Fire Forest of Innenotdar January 6th, 10 am[/I] The heroes spend an uncomfortable night camped in the Fire Forest, and the next morning they each take another potion of Stand the Heat. With their present numbers they need ten potions a day; thanks to the discovery of the wagon at the bottom of the gorge they have twelve potions remaining when they set out. If they are not out of the forest by the end of tomorrow people are going to start dying, but for the present spirits are reasonably high. When they are roughly six miles into the forest, (with eleven miles to go), the curtains of flame which have been burning steadily at the side of the road suddenly kindle into life. The sides of the road have become dangerously warm, despite the magical protection afforded to the heroes. Up ahead there is the glint of a river, and sharp-eyes Solsus can make out the shape of a bridge. Without warning, there is a loud cracking sound and several large trees collapse into the roadway, cutting off the view. Cristin’s eyes glaze over, a sure sign she is having another vision. She turns towards Gribron. “Its not safe! Move. Move away!” Gribron has had a hectic and painful couple of days, and has spent rather more time than he would have liked lying in a puddle of his own blood. He is grateful for at least receiving a warning on this occasion, and moves smartly away from his current position, to take up station near Agatha. “Don’t stand next to me, you idiot,” she says. “I don’t want your accident prone carcase anywhere where I might get caught in the cross fire.” “That’s not what you said last ….” he retorts, but the end of his sentence is drowned out by a sudden increase in noise from the nearby fires. The flames reaching out from the trees at the side of the road coalesce into a searing spear of fire. With a noise like thunder it drives into the ground where Gribron had earlier been standing, and then splits into three living flames. These flames form themselves into shapes reminiscent of stags, and move to engage the party members. Almost at the same time, a massive wall of flames appears on the road behind the party, completely blocking their escape route. The road is now blocked by burning trees ahead, and a wall of fire behind. To make matters worse, the wall of fire starts moving along the road towards the party. Solsus takes to the air, and engages the stags with his sling. The valiant Jaws also moves towards the fray, but Solsus waves him away. The eagle’s claws are unlikely to do much damage to creatures made of flame, but the consequences to the eagle of touching them would probably be severe. The three stags move towards the two closest targets, B’Roos and Agatha. Their attacks seem highly co-ordinated, and both of our heroes are hit. Agatha’s clothing catches fire and she steps back to try and put out the flames. Jonathan has been prepared for more attacks by fire creatures, and lets fly with a bolt of ice that strikes its target with a satisfying sizzle that leaves its flames much diminished. Agatha puts out the flames surprisingly easily, unaware that the potion she has drunk is giving some protection to her equipment, and unleashes her eldritch blast on her attacker. Gribron strikes another with a bolt of magical force – one of the signature spells of Gabal’s evokers. Ambar also calls upon a force effect, but hers is defensive in nature. Caryk too is concentrating on defence. He whispers a swift prayer to Aurean, and shimmers slightly as he calls into being invisible armour to protect him. All the party attempt to retreat from the moving wall of flames, but the stags move to block their path. One of the stags hits B’Roos, and he collapses into unconsciousness. The wall of flames will soon be upon him …. Fortunately, Solsus has spotted his plight. Relying on the protection of his invisibility, he lands next to the stricken Goliath and is able to relieve his burns. The party are not able to co-ordinate their attacks effectively; all three of the stags are damaged but none of them are down. Jonathan rectifies this with another bolt of ice, which is proving particularly potent against the fire creatures. Caryk and B’Roos are both within range of the wall of fire. The extreme heat on its fringes would be damaging them even at this distance, were it not for their protections against heat. Fortunately, the pace of the wall’s advance has slowed somewhat. It is as if killing one of the stag creatures has somehow weakened the wall of fire. Whether this is just a temporary effect remains to be seen. Most of those who are able move around the remaining two stags and withdraw towards the barricade of burning trees. Caryk and the newly healed B’Roos are in no mood for retreat, however, and Caryk strikes one of the stags a mighty blow with his staff. Meanwhile, Gribron has been cut off, and despite Caryk’s best efforts it is Gribron the stags target. “Typical”, thinks Gribron. “Every creature in this damn forest wants to get a piece of me.” One of the stags aims a ferocious blow with its antlers at Gribron’s head … only for Gribron to disappear and reappear ten feet further back. He is slightly singed from his short trip, but otherwise unharmed. Solsus brings down the injured stag with his sling, and the wall’s rate of advance slows even further. Despite this, it seems the wall must engulf leaden footed Caryk. He and B’Roos swing at the sole surviving stag but to no avail. Jonathan, sensing that the only hope of saving Caryk from a fiery death is to defeat the last opponent, pulls out all the stops and launches his most powerful ice bolt at the beast. Agatha, following his example, lets loose with an eldritch blast. The creature staggers, but does not go down, and Caryk watches helplessly as the flames reach for him …. There is a slight “phut” sound as a pencil thin beam of ice strikes the stag. It looks down in dismay, then follows the line back to an anxious looking Gribron. The frosty touch of Gribron’s ray proves too much to bear, and the stag collapses into a pile of ash – as does the wall of fire. “Interesting,” says Jonathan. “I’ve never seen a wall of fire move like that, and it seemed somehow to be connected to those stags. Which are unusual in themselves. They seemed to be pretty standard fire elementals to me, but I wonder why they chose to assume the form of stags. What do you think, Caryk?” “Huh?” replies Caryk. “Sorry, I wasn’t listening. I was too busy checking nothing important had been burned off. What did you say?” Jonathan’s reply is drowned out by a whispering in the trees. Snatches of words seem to come from all directions, growing louder, and louder until finally a booming voice yells out, “KNOW THIS! I AM THE FLAME AND I AM A PRISONER HERE. SAVE ME FROM THE PRISON OF ENFORCED FLESH, AND YOU MAY CONTINUE TO YOUR DESTINATION. REFUSE, AND NEVER SHALL YOU LEAVE THIS WOOD. YOU SHALL BE A PRISONER FOR AS LONG AS I.” The voice drops to a whisper, but remains perfectly clear – almost as if it was inside their heads. “You shall burn forever, and never die …..” The flames on the fallen trees blocking the road suddenly burn even higher, and a massive draconic face appears in the fire, its head adorned with a crown of thorns. The face then slowly fades, until nothing is left but a pair of immense, fiery eyes, staring at the party. “I’ve heard of a cat that can do that,” says Solsus brightly. “Except that I think it leaves its smile behind instead of its eyes.” Caryk seems somewhat nonplussed by the situation. “Um, we are always willing to help a creature in need. How can we help you?” “End the song of the deep, the song of agony and eternal vigil. Silence the forty tongues who hold me here, who doom themselves with my relentless flame.” “How do we do that?” asks Gribron. “Rest your flesh in the ruins beyond the bridge. Then you must follow the river DOWN to the singing lake. I lie trapped beneath its surface. Set me free!” “Who are these singers?” asks Gribron. “What type of creatures are they?” “They are those who imprison me. Set me free!” "A tribe of bards!" says Caryk. "What a horrible concept. They must all die!" Caryk takes a quick show of hands. It seems everybody is in favour of helping the strange fiery creature escape its imprisonment. Each of the party affirms his or her agreement. “So be it!” says the creature, and vanishes. The burning trees go out, and the fiery undergrowth at the side of the road returns to its normal, smouldering level. Each of the party calls out in agony as a wave of fire flows through their veins. “I feel different,” says Agatha. “I can no longer feel the heat of the forest.” “Oh,” says Caryk. “I haven’t felt the heat anyway. I thought that’s what the potions did. Aurean must have been protecting me and I hadn’t even realised.” “Or maybe all the time you’ve spent taking blows to the head has just made you numb?” suggests B’Roos. The party do their best to scramble over the fallen trees. Solsus, embarrassed by the way ground walkers are stymied by the most basic of obstacles, flies off to investigate the bridge and the village beyond it. He returns with the news that the village seems deserted. There are no signs of any creatures, apart from the occasional small, burning mammal scuttling along the streets. The only places of note are the bridge itself, which has a tower on it, and a stone fountain which appears to be a shrine of some sort. “We haven’t got very far today,” says Solsus, “but the creature did suggest we rest in the village before heading downstream to the lake.” “Does the road follow the river down to the lake?” asks Caryk. “No the road crosses the river and continues on its way. Its easy enough to follow the river though; it used to much wider but lots of it has burned away to create a natural road along each bank.” “So lets check out this village,” says Ambar. [B]Act 2 – Rivers Flow to the Deep[/B] [B]Scene 1 [/B] [I]Village in the Fire Forest January 6th, 11 am[/I] As the party approach the bridge, it appears at first to be made out of vines. Everyone’s heart sinks. Given the fact that almost everything in the forest is on fire, this bridge must be even more precarious than the last one. However, when they get closer they realise that the bridge is actually made out of solid stone which has been carved to look like vines. Jonathan thinks for a moment. “This is the architectural style of the Elves of Innenotdar,” he says. “Its supposed to represent a fusion of the natural and the artificial, or something like that.” “Yes, I think I’ve heard of it,” says Solsus. “Natural is better, of course.” “I seem to recall that the Shahalesti Elves agreed with you,” says Jonathan. “They criticised this style as being too akin to something dwarves might do.” “When you’ve finished discussing architecture,” says Gribron, “shall we check out the tower on the bridge?” “I have not been remiss in my duty,” replies Solsus indignantly. “I have thoroughly scouted the outside. There are three levels. From what I could tell by looking in through the arrow slits, there are no inhabitants. However, there are two dead bodies on the lowest level. I tried to squeeze through one of the arrow slits but I couldn’t fit.” “Lard belly,” says the impressively muscled B’Roos, who looks like he might have difficulty fitting through the doorway. “I was only discussing architecture whilst waiting for you to do your job and investigate the entrance,” says Jonathan to Gribron. “I’m sure you have noticed that this tower in the middle of the river is protected from the fire, and hence the door is very much intact. Breaking and entering is so much more in your line than in mine.” Gribron, not sure whether or not he has been insulted, examines the door carefully but can find nothing untoward. He struggles with the lock, but Solsus is able to use his knowledge of the Innenotdar Elves and his earlier scouting to aid him, and eventually Gribron manages to open the door. The door opens outwards, like all good tower doors, and Gribron is somewhat surprised to see a one foot stone cube on the floor just inside the entrance. It is glowing with magic light, and has a message painted on it in Elvish. Fortunately Gribron is fluent in the Elf tongue, and can translate. “The password is ‘friend’.” “Shouldn’t it say ‘Speak friend and enter’?” says the traditionally minded Solsus. Gribron says ‘friend’ in Elvish, then scans the room for magic. “There’s some sort of magical glyph here,” he says. “However, it seems to be dormant. There’s also a ward on the door, but I must have bypassed that when I opened it because nothing bad happened.” Behind the cube are the two dead bodies Solsus had mentioned earlier. The party moves into the room and examines them. It seems that they were protected from the fire inside the tower, and simply burned to death. They have some nice equipment which the party salvages. Jonathan takes a finely crafted shortsword for his own use. Stairs lead up to the middle level, which is dominated by a long table. On the table there is a holy symbol of Dol Arrah, a journal and a miniature wooden representation of the village. Again, the only thing that stands out is the shrine. Gribron examines the journal. Unsurprisingly, it is written in Elvish. He quickly turns to the last entry and translates it for the benefit of his comrades. [I]“I tire of spending my days rescuing the burning bodies of survivors and tending to them to no effect. The last survivor I found was a woman who still believed that the Living Wood of Innenotdar could not be abandoned. She asked my help looking for her boyfriend. We found him in a hidden basement under the Shrine of Anyariel, where he had gone to curse the Anyariel name, along with a dozen other of the townsfolk. “The fire had somehow burned in from the roots of the shrine, and they had long since been claimed. Though not dead, they are despairing, and their curses haunt me. The woman saw her beloved and fled me into the woods, seeking an impossible death. I found myself hoping something ate her. I never learned her name. “ I can do this no longer. To whatever god hears the prayers of the doubting, please give me the strength for the task ahead of me. I am going to deliver the despairing to the mouth of the White River UPSTREAM, where at least they can have some reprieve from the fire. “May someone find what I have hidden. It would help bring to justice those responsible for the destruction of my beautiful homeland, for which otherwise none shall shed tears.”[/I] Solsus and Jonathan both seem to recognise the name Anyariel. “I think she was a hero of Innenotdar,” says Solsus. “She died a short while before the forest caught fire. She was a friend of the forest’s fey, blessed by the forest itself, and drove darkness from the forest with her magical sword.” “I believe so,” says Jonathan. “The sword in question was a greatsword, carved in wood.” B’Roos’s ears prick up at this mention of the sword. “What sort of magical greatsword?” he asks. “I’m not sure,” says Jonathan. “She used it to defeat many monsters, including a blackguard from Ragesia and a golem of white clay. Not sure how relevant that is though.” Skimming through the journal, Gribron picks up some more information about its author. “The elf who wrote this was a cleric of Dol Arrah. His name was Bhurisrava. I think that’s a celestial word, but dunno what it means. Anyway, with the devastation in the forest he wanted to convert to Olladra and so he could be better at healing the victims, but he didn’t know how. “Its pretty grim reading. The elves tried to put out the fires, but they couldn’t. The fires just wouldn’t go out.” Somewhat sobered by the lack of loot on this level, the party head up the stairs to the top floor. This area is bare of interesting items, but there is a locked cupboard. Unfortunately the lock proves to be beyond Gribron’s skills. “Don’t worry, this key will fit any lock,” says B’Roos, who proceeds to batter away at the door with his sword. The sword soon wins the unequal battle. The closet contains housekeeping materials. “What kind of lunatic puts a lock that good on a cupboard containing all this junk,” fumes Gribron. However, there is one item of note. There is a paper pouch, marked “for later study” in Elvish. The handwriting is the same as in the journal. The pouch is also labelled in Goblin, which Gribron can’t read but Solsus can. “Take one for visions of the Fire Maker. Do not take more. These are poison. May cause drowsiness. Do not operate heavy siege weaponry.” Inside the pouch there are seven innocuous looking seeds. Solsus is somewhat familiar with herb lore, and suspects they may be hallucinogenic. He used to partake of similar substances in his misspent youth, before he came to realise the weight of responsibility on his shoulders. Gribron consults the journal, and finds a reference to the seeds. “Apparently Bhurisrava got them from the corpses of some goblins. He used his magic to speak to the spirits of the dead goblins, and found out some information from them. The goblins lived in caves beneath the forest. They were responsible for setting the forest on fire, after being hired by a Ragesian orc.” “We already knew the Ragesians started the fire,” said Solsus. “Coaltongue loved fires. But surely it was a magical fire, not something as mundane as a blaze started by goblins? This fire clearly isn’t natural.” “The dead goblins didn’t go into any details,” says Gribron. “Anyway, they called the seeds ‘dream seeds’, which give visions of a ‘dream realm’. Bhurisrava tried one, but it didn’t work.” This reference to dreams gets Jonathan’s attention (unlike the Fire Maker part, which is ignored by everyone). “Elves don’t sleep,” he says, “so they are hardly going to dream. I’d like to try one of those seeds. Anyone else like to give it a try?” Jonathan is the only one willing to experiment, so he settles himself into a corner of the room and takes one of the seeds. He starts to feel sleepy. For a moment he fights off drowsiness, but then he decides to surrender to the sensation. He starts to experience wild dreams. At first he sees the forest, with the flames rising higher, He can hear a distant, distorted song which in his dream state he recognises as the sylvan language – even though he has never heard it spoken before. He can’t shake the feeling that someone is hiding in the shadows at the edge of his vision, but whenever he turns around there is nothing there. The dreams move back in time. He starts to experience what he is convinced are visions of his past life, even though his re-birth was supposed to have ended his past life forever. The dreams start to spin forward to the present. There is a ship, always on the move, somehow larger on the inside than the outside, and a woman, always laughing. Then there is a fire, the flames rising higher and higher. Pain, unconsciousness. Then a magnificent city, towers reaching for the sky. Starving, killing, stealing, killing and stealing. The scene moves to Gate Pass. Two heads in a bag. Then into the future; the city overcome by blood and swords. A path to power, shining bright. A torch? Then it turns into a silvery blue serpent. The serpent lashes at Jonathan with its tail, and he cries out in pain. Then the serpent starts to fade away. Outside of the dream, Jonathan’s scream alerts the others. They are not sure what to do to ease his pain. They are somewhat bemused when a silvery blue flying serpent starts to materialise in front of them. Gribron is the first to react. A cone of scintillating colours bursts from his hand, and blinds the strange newcomer. Ambar and Caryk swing their weapons at the serpent, which is floating effortlessly in front of them. Caryk misses, but for a second it seems like Ambar has hit the creature. Then there is a strange, dizzy sensation and Ambar’s sword has somehow struck herself instead. B’Roos is somewhat perturbed by this turn of events, but lacking any other options he too strikes at the creature. His blow strikes home, and the beast is forced back. Solsus takes advantage of this and moves in to heal Ambar. The beats, despite being blinded, has identified Gribron as the source of its misfortune. It lashes out with its tail and he screams in a manner reminiscent of Jonathan a few moments earlier. Caryk strikes at the creature, and again there is a sense of reality being warped, and Caryk hits himself smartly behind the ear. “Lucky it was only his head,” thinks B’Roos. He’s figured out that whatever strange power this creature possesses, it requires a short interval to “re-set” itself, and quickly follows up Caryk’s attack with one of its own. It’s a mighty blow, and it seems the creature cannot possibly survive it, but at the last instant the monster somehow manages to teleport from the chamber and can be viewed through the nearest arrow slit. B’Roos’s disappointment is short lived, however, as the strange side effect of teleporting comes into being and the creature is transformed into a pile of ash, which floats gently down to the ground. The party decide that Jonathan is not in any immediate peril, so let him sleep. He wakes up ten minutes later. “What did you see?” asks Agatha. “Weird, dream stuff. It didn’t make any sense. I got a feeling Gate Pass is in danger, but I’m not there so who cares.” The party realise that this “deserted village” has hidden dangers, and decide to follow the advice of the strange fiery being and rest in the safety of the tower. [B]Scene 2[/B] [I]Shrine of Anyariel, Fire Forest January 7th, 9 am[/I] The next day, Solsus is the first to awake. He is pretty sure the tower, despite being away from the flames, should be uncomfortably hot, but he feels fine. He decides to forego the usual potion of Stand the Heat, and takes a cautious trip outside. He is pleased to discover that the potions are no longer needed; whatever the mysterious fire being did to them is protecting them from the effects of the fire forest. The party discusses the plan for the day. They need to head along the river, but it wouldn’t hurt to have a quick search of the village first. Solsus, Gribron, Agatha and Jonathan decide to visit the fountain, which is probably the shrine of Anyariel referred to in Bhurisrava’s journal. The other three will explore the rest of the village. The shrine is a beautiful stone fountain in the shape of a willow tree. Its pool has boiled away, and the trees which once surrounded it have been cut down – presumably to stop their continual burning. Solsus gets the impression that this was once a druid shrine, and carries out a careful inspection. He notices a pair of bodies in the “branches” of the stone tree. Unusually, they have not been affected by the flames, and show no sign of fire damage. This is somewhat suspicious, and Jonathan and Gribron decide to take pot shots at the bodies with their crossbows. Agatha is not willing to play this game, and withdraws to a safe distance. After a few attempts, Jonathan is the first to hit one of the bodies. The “corpse” hurls itself from the branches and rushes towards him in a fury of teeth and claws. Its partner is not far behind. The stench from these creatures is appalling; Jonathan Farrier has a strong stomach, but Gribron starts to look green around the edges. Gribron backs off and lets fly with a bolt of positive energy, but he is too queasy to shoot straight. “I do believe these are ghasts,” says Jonathan. “Sages believe people who consume corpses can sometimes turn into this kind of undead. I’d have thought all the bodies around here were too well done for their tastes.” The ghasts are unimpressed by the lecture, and tear into Jonathan with their teeth and claws. Most of the attacks miss, provoking a barrage of hissing criticism between the two vile creatures. “Possibly a husband and wife team,” thinks Gribron and Agatha. However, one bite does strike home in Jonathan’s thigh, and he feels an icy numbness spreading through his body. Gribron backs away from the ghasts, trying to seek safety in numbers by standing behind Agatha. The two of them, with help from Solsus’s sling, manage to take down the first ghast, but the second is unfazed and fastens its teeth into Gribron’s neck. He too is paralysed, and the stench is such that Agatha has to pause to be sick before leaving him to his fate. The remaining ghast pursues Agatha, but she is able to stay one step ahead of it for long enough for Jonathan to shake off his paralysis. He has an inkling the creature is protected against fire, so strikes it with bolt of electricity. This slows it down long enough for Agatha to lay it to rest with a blast of eldritch energy. The two of them have enough time to write “I am an idiot” on the back of Gribron’s tunic before he too throws off the effect of the paralysis. Solsus lands beside them. “Good work defeating those vile undead. Now lets see if we can find that hidden basement to the shrine referred to in the journal.” “I’ve got a better idea,” said Gribron. “How about we just sit here for a bit until I stop being sick?” [/QUOTE]
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