Caladay, 32 Late Harvest 204 [continued]
During the remainder of the evening, the rest of the Chosen spend
some time catching up with Minsc. He is told of their adventures
since he left the group. Nicos tells him that he finally found Rio,
and that he met up with his old chum, Vince Loire, in Timberlake,
although he wasn't having much fun.
"The cleric in charge of the fire temple there is an old dragon,"
says Nicos authoritatively. "Doesn't know what she's doing
either - she even said Ravenna would make a good fire cleric."
Minsc shrugs, "I don't know why that is so surprising,"
he says, "you and Ravenna are very much alike, you might as
well be related."
Ravenna takes exception to this, but Nicos starts looking at Ravenna
oddly. "We've both got black hair," he says. "So
have half of Urova," retorts Ravenna. "We're both tall,"
Nicos smiles. "Stop it!" Ravenna exclaims. "I never
knew who my parents were you know," says Nicos sagely, "Maynard
found me in a basket on the steps of Scaldarnus."
"Fine!" exclaims Ravenna, "perhaps when we get back
to Norandor I'll join the church of fire." Now it is Nicos's
turn to look worried. "Hey! We don't let just any one in you
know. There's no way you could ever be a cleric of fire!" Ravenna
bridles at the challenge, while Minsc slinks away, a little embarrassed
at causing a fracas that he has a feeling will chase the pair around
the world.
Minsc joins the other paladins. Garnir is standing on the wall
gazing toward the southern world. Lustatis and Cardon are with him.
"Despite their heathen ways, these Saldarím have something
that we Urovans have long lost," says Garnir. "They have
passion. Their cause is everything to them. Every day their action
or inaction affects the entire northern world. Whatever is decided
about the Cross of Vítaeous I think I will stay here. What
say you?"
The other paladins confess they had been thinking along much the
same lines as Garnir. Even Minsc, when asked, realises that he can
do so much more good here on the Girdle than he ever could in back
in Norandor.
While these conversations are taking place, Arvan quietly returns
to the wall. Over the last two weeks Arvan has been spending much
time in closed session with Nareem and the Assembly telling them
all he can remember of the Great Dark. Talking about those things
are distasteful, but Arvan recognises that the Saldarím must
know the truth. Bearing in mind what lies ahead of him, he may never
get another chance to tell them. However, these conversations are
not the only reason for Arvan's absence.
Since he first arrived on Belsinor's Girdle he has felt a strange
nagging on his soul. This close to the southern world Arvan can
sense its corruption. It reminds him all too well of how he felt
in those ten long seasons in the Great Dark: paranoid, untrusting,
ready to strike out without thinking at the slightest provocation.
Arvan's temper is becoming increasingly short. It is all he can
do to prevent himself from flying into a rage at the slightest provocation.
And then there is The Prince.
Even with the blades, Arvan cannot see how they can possibly triumph
over The Prince. He is a god unto himself. The Prince walks Arvan's
dreams and he has not slept properly in nearly three weeks. He is
increasingly jumpy, his moods unpredictable - and that is why he
has taken to avoiding the company of the others (something he won't
be able to do once they leave these shores and head south). Only
Caius has seen what has been happening to Arvan.
Twice Arvan has woken in the night at the slightest sound. Before
he has been able to regain his senses he has had a weapon in his
hand and has been fighting phantoms. The weapon is not the Blade
of Hope, but the curved talon-edged blade from the Dark. On the
first occasion, Caius brought Arvan to his senses. On the second
he did not and Arvan used the knife against Caius. Fortunately,
the blink dog resisted the dark magic, fortunately Arvan came to
his senses before he struck his friend for a third time.
Arvan healed Caius but if he was worried before, now he is beside
himself. He could very easily have killed Caius. And what if it
isn't Caius whom he blunders into his mania? What if it is someone
less able to defend themselves? He could kill someone. Caius seems
to keep him sane, but he has realised something shocking. Caius
will have to leave him. There are only seven leaves on the clover
from Etchen. Only seven can escape the Great Dark into the Greymere.
He cannot take Caius with him into the Dark because there is no
way out for him.
As Arvan returns to the wall on this evening he sees his companions,
he sees Minsc and the other paladins, but he avoids them all. The
nagging desire for murder that is still alive within him keeps him
in the shadows. He doubts he will see them again for long before
they leave this place. He cannot permit it.
Sharday, 33 Late Harvest 204
As Elias heads into his last week of training with Kendra, the
other members of the party begin to prepare themselves for the journey
across the sea. They all start taking lessons in how to speak Mannenite
and, after a few days, even Brack has mastered a few words - although
their tutor questions Brack's choice of those words.
Sunday, 35 Late Harvest 204
After a final round-table discussion and furious debate, the fate
of the Cross of Vítaeous is finally decided - and the Urovan
paladins aren't entirely happy about it. Lustatis is given the journals
of Sir Nybor to return to Norandor and place somewhere suitably
holy. The Cross will remain on the Girdle, but the Saldarím
will labour to create a shrine to the Moon God Vítaeous and
place the cross within it. Paladins and clerics are welcome to visit.
And that, Nareem declares, is the end of the matter.
News reaches the Chosen that surprises them. Sir Garnir has asked
permission to remain on the Girdle and help the Saldarím
fight the good fight. All the other paladins within him, including
Minsc, have also agreed to stay.
Sharday, 40 Late Harvest 204
The time has finally come. It is the day of Elias's passing out
from his paladin training. Elias and his fellow paladin hopefuls:
Garath, Saldtor, Harrigan, Sark, Miranda and Sesstini gather on
the proving ground beneath the Tower of the Marshal. The rest of
the Chosen of Narramac are present, including Arvan who finally
emerges from his self-imposed exile. The visiting paladins and clerics
from Urova also attend, but there is not much of a crowd of Saldarím
- evidently they have more important things to do.
Elias has already heard from Kendra that he has been successful.
For the last few days he has begun to manifest some of the tell-tale
powers that mark out the paladin. He is surprised to find that Nareem
himself has come down to officiate the ceremony. Kendra smiles at
Nareem (her husband as it turns out) and ushers the seven forward.
Elias and his companions stride up to the imposing Nareem and declare,
"By our Faith, and on our Lives we do swear fealty to The Light.
We promise to uphold the fourteen laws of the Saldarím unceasingly."
Nareem nods, smiles slightly and then turns around and walks back
to the Tower of the Marshal.
"That's it?" stammers a disbelieving Garnir, "It
takes three days to swear a paladin into the Order of the Hawk.
There are strictures to be followed, fasting…." Alessandre
says, "I guess the Saldarím aren't that big on pomp,"
and she skips forward and leaps upon Elias kissing him passionately
about the face. She may not agree with this insanity he is bent
upon, but she isn't going to ruin his day.
"Well done Elias," says Kendra when Alessandre finally
lets him up for air. "We have something for you." Elais
is given his own Saldarím armour, enchanted to protect him
against evil. Minsc also congratulates Elias, and tells him that
he has made the right decision.
It is then that Arvan reminds them all that many decisions need
to be made. The storm is clearing and they can sail in three days.
"With the exception of our familiars, our animal companions
cannot go with us into the Great Dark. Caius has agreed to accompany
us as far as the Gates of Perdition. He can then use his magical
abilities to journey home. Shredder cannot. You must decide if you
will take him, or leave him here Brack."
Morday, 41 Late Harvest 204
Brack's decision is not one that easily taken. Since they met,
Brack has felt Shredder to be a kindred spirit. And indeed, Brack
seems to be the only person with whom Shredder can spend more than
two minutes without trying to eat. However, in the end it is this
great affection for the beast that forces Brack to leave him behind.
Brack approaches Edward Lustatis. He knows the cleric is planning
on returning to Norandor and asks him to take Shredder with him.
Brack requests that Shredder be taken back to Uris and looked after
by some paladins until he returns. Quite what moves Lustatis to
cast his sanity to the wind and accept this proposition will, perhaps,
never be revealed. However, he agrees to take Shredder.
Sunday, 42 Late Harvest 204
Rumour reaches are heroes that the Saldarím are planning
a great banquet for them in honour of their quest. It is also rumoured
that the feast will include large hunks of roast meat - a delicacy
that has hitherto been missing from their diet since arriving on
the Girdle. Unfortunately any chance of such a repast is cut short
by events beyond their control.
The party witness a huge force of Saldarím marshalling in
the shadow of the Tower. Nareem is amongst them, the only knight
on horseback. The group notice that the Norandon paladins, including
Minsc, are also present. Elias heads over to Nareem to find out
what is going on. "There is danger six thousand miles to the
east!" Nareem declares, almost breathlessly. "The sea
has frozen and raiders from the Midnight Lands are pressing the
garrison hard. There is no wall there."
Elias doesn't question how Nareem knows this, but is curious over
how he is going to move such a large force six thousand miles. His
curiosity is soon sated. Two members of the Cadre emerge from the
crowd carrying a brass ring of slightly more than six feet in diameter.
They lay it on the ground and step back. The ring rises of its own
volition until it is precariously balanced on its edge. Then it
expands, while the area within the ring darkens into an inky blackness.
Ravenna recognises a magical portal, and surmises that an identical
one must exist at the destination in point.
"I am sorry I cannot be there to bid you farewell," says
Nareem as his troops muster. "Follow the thirteen laws and
you will prevail. Die in the Light!"
And with that Nareem, the Saldarím as well as Minsc and
the other paladins march through the wormhole and are lost from
sight. "'Die in the light?'," questions Nicos. "They're
such a cheerful bunch."
Vítday, 43 Late Harvest 204
A mixture of trepidation and steely purpose grip the Chosen as
the sun rises on this day. After a few words of encouragement from
Kendra (who is acting as Marshal in Nareem's absence), and a final
farewell to Shredder, the party are taken two miles to the east
along the wall to another tower. This one is much smaller than the
Tower of the Marshal and not made of the tell-tale black stone of
Ashardon. To the south the sea is still boiling away. It still looks
a little stormy to them.
The Chosen and Caius are introduced to Gustavus, a powerful wizard
and member of the Cadre. They also notice a crane that stands next
to the tower, ready to winch a boat over the wall and into the black
sea. It is the strangest boat they have ever seen.
The craft is sleek like an arrowhead, and made of iron-shod wood.
It is twenty feet from nose to tail and only seven feet in height.
There is no forecastle, no aftcastle and no masts or any other signs
of propulsion. Neither is there a gunwale or any obvious means to
prevent a person falling from the deck. There are two small port
holes either side of the bows. Could if be they are travelling inside
this device?
Gustavus speaks in a high-pitched nasal drawl. "I am certain
none of you have travelled by arrowship, therefore I will tell you
what to expect so that you do not panic when the time comes. We
cannot travel atop the water of the Black Sea. We would be spotted
by the Mannenites or worse and never reach our destination. The
arrowship is designed to travel beneath the waves. Before it is
winched over the side of the wall we will enter the craft and take
our seats."
Gustavus raises a hatch and they can peer in. The interior is very
sparse consisting of ten chairs a few crates and very little else.
It is also a foot deep in water. Nicos starts muttering that there
is no way he is going to travel under the water. He points out that
fire and water do not mix. Everyone ignores him.
"Once we are inside I will give you each a necklace that
will grant you the ability to breathe water. These must be returned
to me at the end of the journey. I will then summon a water elemental
using the water in the bottom of the boat as a conduit. It will
fill the craft driving out all the air and surround the arrowship
with its own body out to a two foot radius around us. The crane
then lifts us and deposits us in the Black Sea. The elemental will
protect us from the deleterious effects of the Black Sea and it
is under the elemental's power that we will move under the sea and
toward our destination. The summoning will need to be recast each
day of the journey to hold the elemental with us. This is a rod
of spell storing that contains the necessary magicks, with it I
will not have to draw on the weave while we are in the southern
world. The journey will take twelve days. They will not be the most
exciting days you have ever spent, but you should be able to catch
up on your sleep. If you have any valuables that might be adversely
affected by water you can seal them in a watertight trunk before
we leave. However, you will not be able to access them for the duration
of the journey."
The group are not happy with this. Alessandre is certainly not
looking forward to a very boring few days. However, it is quite
apparent that they have no choice in the matter. Gustavus also tells
the group that Nareem empowered him to give an identical spell storing
rod to Ravenna as per her request to be able to take magic into
the Great Dark without it having to cast it.
Brack looks into the cold water. Dwarves and water mix slightly
less well than fire and water. But he is insanely brave and decides
to take the matter stoically. The party seal their belongings in
the trunks and clamber into the arrow ship. Gustavus takes his position
at the helm. "Ugh! The seats are all wet!" declares Raza.
Gustavus draws upon his considerable arcane prowess and the water
around the Chosen's feat begins to bubble and take on a vaguely
humanoid shape. The water elemental engulfs the chamber, and everyone
hurries to fasten their necklaces so that they can breath.
Soon they feel the lurch of the crane taking the strain, and the
craft is hoisted from the wall and swung out in a wide arc. As this
happens, the temperature in the boat drops markedly, and the craft
begins to shudder. They have crossed the boundary between the northern
and southern worlds. Arvan closes his eyes. Even at this distance
he can still taste the Great Dark.
Foul winds buffet the craft as it is slowly lowered toward the
churning sea. Fortunately, inside the arrowship our heroes cannot
see the forked lightning and the ash black sky, but they can hear
the howling of the wind and they can feel the ship being battered
against the wall to their north as it is slowly lowered.
Eventually the arrowship strikes the black sea, the tether connecting
it to the northern world is severed and the boat is cut loose .
It slowly sinks below the dark waters. All light is cut off. Elias
can feel Alessandre move closer to him. Then there is a lurch, as
if the elemental has just woken up and arrowship hurtles forward
toward the Land of the Mannenites.
Sharday, 5 Autumn Colours 204
For twelve days the Chosen of Narramac remain on the Arrowship.
There is no conversation, very little light and mealtimes are a
pantomime. Nicos feels the inability to 'flame-on' very acutely.
Yet they survive the discomfort and, guided by Gustavus, eventually
make landfall in an alien and inhospitable land. The journey is
remarkably uneventful. The speed of the elemental and the skill
of Gustavus taking the group through the unknown dangers of the
black sea.
It is after moonrise on this day when the arrowship bubbles to
the surface less than twenty yards from dark and rocky coastline.
Instinctively the Chosen glance upward and Nicos is greeted with
a pleasant surprise. It should be the dark of Calafax, and Vítaeous
should be full in the sky - but the position of the moons are reversed.
Vítaeous is nowhere to be seen, and the full power of Calafax
burns within him. He is quickly instructed not to cover himself
in flame and act as a handy beacon for their enemies.
Gustavus gives a spell-storing rod to Ravenna. "Nareem instructed
me to give you this," he says. "Place your magic within
it before entering the Great Dark and you will be able to draw on
it freely without being tainted by the evil. Good luck." Gustavus
has (understandably) no desire to remain anywhere near these lands
and he and their transport is quickly gone marooning the Chosen,
Alessandre and Caius in the southern world.
The Chosen are soaking wet, but the night is warm as they slosh
quietly ashore. The beach is filled with razor-sharp stones that
would cut their feet to ribbons were it not for their heavy boots.
According to Nareem they have made landfall close to the village
of Imrhyool, and must make contact with a man named Kalu on the
near-by Hangman's Hill.
The group split into pairs and begin to investigate the beach -
Raza goes with Brack, Nicos with Ravenna and Elias with Alessandre
and Caius. Arvan uses his powers to take the form of an owl and
ascends into the night with Hedwig. Hangman's Hill is all too visible.
There is a great fire burning there, and it soon becomes apparent
to Arvan that they have arrived at a bad time.
Arvan's keen ears can hear terrible sounds that are yet to reach
his companions. Carried on the wind are the sounds of battle; the
sounds of people screaming and people dying. There are not only
fires burning on Hangman's Hill, but many small infernos dot the
immediate vicinity. Over to the north is a town that must be Imrhyool
and it is also burning. The Chosen have arrived in the midst of
a battle of some kind. Arvan's night vision can see scores of people
running and killing and dying in the dark. And worse for his companions,
there are also troop movements on the shore-line. Crossing the mile
from the beach to the hill might be difficult, but it is plain that
remaining on the beach will be suicide.
Arvan swoops down to the beach and quickly gathers his companions
before they can reveal themselves to the enemy. Raza has already
spotted a group of heavily armoured soldiers marching up the beach,
hunting for further victims. They need to get off the beach and
get off it quickly. As one, Alessandre and the Chosen of Narramac
begin to scramble up the low cliff into the unknown lands beyond.
The full moon of Calafax lends Nicos its strength and he quickly
crests the cliff and flops down in the long and slightly sharp grass.
Nicos, Raza and Alessandre quickly pull their companions to safety
just as a group of twenty soldiers march across the point where
they came ashore. It is fortunate that the beach is rock and not
sand. In the darkness, there should be no tracks to betray their
presence.
The Chosen lay motionless as the soldiers pass by. In the light
it is difficult to get a good look at them. They are dressed in
similar raiment, which indicates an organised military of some kind,
although any symbols or standards are obscured by the dark. Eventually
they are gone, and our heroes breathe a collective sigh of relief.
Tangling with Mannenites two minutes after making landfall would
not have been greatest start to this endeavour. The question now
is what their next move should be.
Elias points out (with unexpected wisdom) that they cannot afford
to wait until the soldiers have gone and then make their way to
Hangman's Hill. For one thing they don't know how long the soldiers
are going to tarry here, and more importantly, they cannot afford
to be seen by anyone. They have no chance of simply blending in
as they might do back in Urova. Their appearance, their very skin
colour will mark them out as invaders. They have to get where they
are going under the cover of darkness and hope this Kalu will be
there to help them. Besides, these soldiers will eventually find
their tracks and then they will find them.
Carefully the Chosen and their companions make their way through
the night toward the blazing fire on Hangman's Hill. The terrain
is uneven and largely made up of thick clumps sharp glass, occasionally
punctuated with a handful of wizened trees barely taller than a
man. As they crest the top of the cliff, the land falls away sharply,
and they see the small valley they must cross to reach their destination.
The valley is filled with fires and the sound of screaming. It
now becomes apparent that they have not stumbled upon a battle,
but a massacre. The first fires they come across are small homesteads
- probably outlying buildings or farms of Imrhyool. Lying in the
dirt are the burned and burning remains of the inhabitants of these
buildings. They do not appear to be armed. Arvan advises against
checking any of the bodies. If they are going to survive in the
southern world there are some depravities they will have to learn
to ignore.
But with each passing step it gets worse. These Mannenite soldiers
are not just killers, not just butchers, they are sadists. And they
are indulging themselves on their own people. The screaming is coming
from those adults and children locked inside their own homes as
the soldiers set it on fire. The cries of anguish come from women
and men held down and violated by a mob of black-skinned attackers.
Brack motions the party to silence and cover. There is something
unnatural out there. The group hunker down in a tiny copse of dwarf-trees.
They can hear a wretched sniffling and straining and whining. They
see two black-skinned Mannenites, unarmed and fleeing for their
lives, dart past their place of concealment. Moments later come
their pursuer. Three Mannenite soldiers. Two are heavily armoured
and armed. The third is a handler of some kind, in charge of something
quite horrible.
In his hand he holds a leash and at the end of that leash are six
truly twisted creatures. They are Brack's height, but far less broad
with the distorted features common of goblin-kind. But they are
like no goblins the Chosen have ever seen. Their skin is translucent,
they can see the fire-light and the moon-light through their sickly
yellow sheen, and make out the dark and irregular shapes of the
creatures' internal organs. They carry this skin like an overcoat
ten sizes too large. It sags horribly and is dragged along ground.
And they seem ravenous; lurching, spitting and straining at the
leash that holds them. Their handler can barely hold them.
And so he releases his grips. The creatures speed after their fleeing
prey and very quickly catch the first. He screams as he is brought
down and under their flailing arms. It is not a scream the Chosen
would ever like to hear again. The creatures tear into him, they
open their mouths - a mass of razor-sharp teeth distending like
those of a shark - and bite down on their quarry. Vampire-like,
they suck the blood from this poor unfortunate. The Chosen can see
it quickly filling their translucent bodies, turning them from dull
yellow to the darkest red. Like ticks, they feed on their victim
under there is nothing left but a dry husk. And then they look up,
their blood-lust is not satiated. They sniff the air and resume
their pursuit. The Mannenites follow them, and the danger passes.
"What the feck were they?" asks Nicos, utterly disgusted
by the scene. Elias looks at the desiccated remains of the man the
goblins attacked. He feels a little ill at the sight of it. They
have certainly arrived in the southern world. Arvan is quick to
point out that things get worse with every step south they make.
He seems harder and more driven than his companions have seen him
of late, and he is determined to drive them onto the hill.
Arvan purposefully leads his companions onwards. He urges them
to ignore the horror and the carnage around them. The death, the
destruction, the rape. There is a group of Mannenites sitting around
a campfire, roasting a baby that can be no more than nine months
of age. One cuts a large helping of meat from its thigh and hands
it to his hungry companion. The baby screams. The Chosen know there
is nothing they can do. They cannot fight an army, all they can
do is reach their destination unseen.
By the time they reach Hangman's Hill, the Chosen are feeling sick
to the core. They have avoided the Mannenite forces, but they have
not saved themselves from the horror these forces have left in their
wake. Alessandre grips Elias's hand so tightly that the paladin
has lost all feeling in his fingers. Unfortunately, what is waiting
for them on the hill is even worse.
They approach their destination as cautiously as they can. Hangman's
Hill seems to be a centre to the barbarity that is sweeping this
land. The top of the hill is flat and surrounded by a ring of trees.
The trees are supple. Several adjacent trees have been bent double
and their tops tied to the to the ground - the trunks of each trees
over lapping and forming a cross. Several people have been tied
to the cross. When the rope holding the treetop to the ground is
cut the trees will snap back to their proper position ripping the
victim in two. But there is more. Figures hang from scaffolds by
their ankles, their chests opened and their internal organs lying
on a heap on the ground.
There are dozens of black skinned soldiers in the clearing, holding
their wicked blades. In the centre is a giant man bare to the waist
and his hands covered in flames. He is babbling in the Mannenite
tongue to a woman in front of him. She is hogtied with some sort
of serrated rope, and is bleeding from her wounds. The man snatches
a heart from the ground before him and eats it. Then he retches
and sicks it back up all over her. He then turns and shouts at the
men stands next to the ropes holding down the trees.
This is the last straw for Nicos. He has seen too much in the past
hour. The barbarity stops here - and besides this upstart Mannenite
thinks he has power over Fire? Nicos will show this Firestarter-wannabee
the meaning of power! Before any of his saner companions can stop
him, Nicos flames on.
Nicos inhales the sweet, sweet scent of burning fabric and melting
breastplate as his clothing slips away from his body in a molten
heap. The nimbus of flame extends around his body to a distance
of ten feet under the full moon of Calafax, and the light overpowers
all other fires on the hill. All eyes turn to look at Nicos. They
see the cleric, resplendent in his fiery nakedness, as well as the
other members of the Chosen quickly diving away from him.
"Eat this, Muddy Funster!" Nicos yells at the bare-chested
leader of the Mannenite force, and unleashes a couple of well placed
flame arrows that blow the man back from his victim. He smiles.
He jeers. Then all hell breaks loose.
The Mannenite soldiers move into to engage the Chosen of Narramac.
Raza and Brack race to meet them, but they are quick to realise
that these Mannenites do not fight like any force they have thusfar
encountered. The warriors seem to have supernatural abilities or
magical powers that put them one step ahead of their blows, or allow
them to strike with unnatural force. It is unnerving, although it
is unlikely to be enough to put off the Chosen.
The leader of the Mannenites looks at Nicos. Light plays around
the man's head and suddenly he unleashes a burst of fire from his
eyes that engulfs the cleric (as well as Elias and Alessandre who
were standing nearby). Nicos laughs maniacally as the fire washes
over him to no discernable effect. Elias dives out of the way, but
the fire strikes Alessandre squarely in the chest and knocks her
back down the hill. Without hesitation Elias plunges after her.
The battle on the hill is brutal. Ravenna and Nicos rain down electrical
and fiery death on the Mannenites while Arvan, Raza and Brack use
the Blades of Virtue to devastating effect. Elias, however, is in
trouble. A pack of those horrible tick-like goblins are loose on
the ground beneath the hill and they are closing on the inert form
of Alessandre. Without thinking for his own well-being, he draws
his sword and plunges into them.
Up on the hill Nicos squares off against his opposite number. The
Mannenite is now covered in his own nimbus of coruscating flame.
However, Nicos knows that he is no priest of Calafax and wonders
just how much protection any weirdo evil powers will provide against
the holy wrath of his god. He summons power enough to throw a super-charged
fireball at his enemy.
The Mannenite is blown backwards again, the force of the explosion
snuffing out the magical flame that surrounds him. He staggers to
his feet, reddened and wounded by the blast. He looks at Nicos,
his face a mixture of disbelief and hatred. "You burned me!"
he exclaims. Nicos laughs, tosses off a one-liner and drops another
fireball on him. The Mannenite turns and runs.
With their commander leaving the battlefield at an expeditious
rate, the surviving soldiers turn and flee with him. The Chosen
are victorious, then Ravenna realises that they are one man short.
Elias has had a great deal of blood drained by these goblins. He
has Alessandre over his shoulder and is crawling his way back up
the hill trying to kick off his pursuers. He knows that if he can
just reach the top he will have a fighting chance of being killed
in a less gruesome fashion. Suddenly, he hears a command to drop
flat and a ball of flame races over his head, striking the goblins
and igniting them. The stench of the burning goblins is terrible
as Elias struggles back to the top of the hill and turns Alessandre
over to the healing hands of Arvan.
"We have to follow and make sure we kill the leader,"
says Ravenna pragmatically. There is still an army down there in
the village and she fears that their foes will return in greater
numbers. They are all short on magic, and there is no way they could
hold the hill for long against such a large foe.
However, none of the other Chosen seem too keen for such a course
of action. Running away as quickly as possible would be a wiser
move - once Elias has finished berating Nicos for starting the fight
in the first place, although the fire cleric is unrepentant.
Arvan has found the woman tied with a serrated rope. Carefully
he unties her. In broken Mannenite he questions her and tries to
understand what has happened here. However, it is obvious that she
does not want to talk. All they really get from her is the name
of her tormentor, Ularstis. Then she has run off, leaving the Chosen
alone on the hill top. Well, not quite alone.
"Over here!" comes a shout. And it is spoken in Hadradan.
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