Friday Night
Travador and I arrived
late to the gather, and quickly sought out Kivuli to see where our lodgings
were and get caught up on things. I was
glad to see that Logenn had arrived as well.
I vaguely tried to discuss the “plan” for this gather, but since I did
not have a plan, and did not know what would happen, it was not much of a
discussion. We headed to the tavern to
see who all had arrived, and what was expected.
I saw many new faces,
and many others who I had not seen in quite some time. Count Shadowmancer was there, as well as some
other members of RoseWidow. Kier was
present, and he had managed to convince Michiko to attend as well. It has been such a long time since our last
meeting in Tyrangel. I also met a
Kyrillian named Endar, and a Storm Elf named Kestrel aka “Gnoll” from Old
Tyrangel. Count Wyndham was also there, and informed me that his scouts had
seen no sign of Du’Kratha ~ something I expected. I was quite sure he was trapped on Havoc, and
told others so. A month trapped on
another plane... and still no idea of how I could help him.
Quite out of nowhere,
two Chaos Lords entered the Tavern. They
are the same ones that were bargained with at the May gather, to unite against
Kauffe. This time, they were offering to
open a gate to the planar bubble of Havoc, again for mutual aid. They wanted us to retrieve a wax castle that
was protecting Kauffe’s plane, if we removed it they would be able to attack
Havoc and take back what is theirs. It
was also a chance to find out what had happened to Du’Kratha. Count Wyndham appointed me as the leader of
the expedition, and gave me the task of choosing who would go. I think everyone in Greyhelm wished to go and
do what they could to help Du’Kratha, but of course not everyone could leave-
if we did Kirran would be undefended. In
the end it was I, Kivuli, Logenn, Kestrel, Endar, Kellian, and Sandrine. Kier reminded me of what I had been repeating
to myself… the primary objective of this mission is not to save Du’Kratha, but
to find the wax castle. We were all
given planar asylum to Chaos, and the gate was opened there in the Tavern.
Havoc
We all entered the
gate single-file. I found myself
standing on the edge of what in Tyrra would be a field with the gate in the
center, completely alone. My vision was
swimming with strands of silver and black, and the ground seemed to be moving,
spinning. I could not see any of the
others that had entered. For all I knew,
my allies had been killed or worse by the magics of the gate, or by enemies
waiting nearby. But since the gate was
in the center of the field, and I had arrived on the edge, I reassured myself
that the chaos magic which constructed the gate must have separated us. The circular field was bordered by darkness,
in which occasional movements could be seen.
I could see shadowy figures moving farther away in the middle of the
field, but none of them bore the familiar silhouette of my allies. Or at least were
not my allies anymore. For I could not
ignore the fact that any elemental I saw could be him.
I edged around the rim
of the field, staying to the shadows.
There was a shimmering pathway nearby to my left. After considerable debate, I decided that if
my allies were here with me they would decide to follow this pathway as well. My best chance of finding the others –alive
or dead- was down that path. Almost
immediately after I decided this, I faintly heard the sound of Sandrine casting
magic, then silence. Hurrying down the
path, I saw some sort of elemental monstrosity attacking her, and it dropped
her. Seeing as I was alone, I decided
caution was the better part of valor and snuck up to her body as the elemental
wandered away, giving me the chance to heal her. The elemental came back before we had even
stood up, so we both cast imprisons on ourselves and sat there, listening to it
pacing, snarling, growling. And still no sign of anyone else. The darkness was so complete I could barely
see myself.
There were a few
elemental creatures that were patrolling the path. I was not sure what their commands were, but
they did seem to have specific parameters.
Sandrine and I continued down the path, and were able to mostly avoid
combat. Although I am sure the growling
elemental creature saw us, it would not attack us unless we were directly in
its path. Luckily, we stumbled onto
Kellian, Kestrel, and Endarr, all whole and well. There was still no sign of Kivuli or
Logenn. I told the others my suspicions
about the elementals- stay off their path, and they will not attack, and we
continued down the glimmering path, pulling to the sides and acting paralyzed
every time an elemental would stalk by. There
were a few times that Kellian or one of the others was attacked, but each time
the rest of us remained silent and waited, giving us the opportunity to heal
him when the elemental left. As we made
our way down the path, we were joined by another. In the darkness I could make out the pale
skin and pointed ears of an Elf, and was glad we had found Logenn again. As we continued onwards, we could see that
this pathway led to a castle, which seemed to be spinning- it was dizzying to
watch. We regrouped in a patch of silver
light to discuss the plans. As I
informed everyone of the Plan – steal the wax castle- and distributed
protective magics, I noticed that “Logenn” was not Logenn at all!
Surprised and once
again worried that one of our allies was lost, we interrogated this male
Surface Elf, and found out that he was a new adventurer to Greyhelm and had
accidentally wandered into the gate. I
was amazed that one so young and inexperienced in adventuring could have
survived this far, and on his own. Since
we had come too far to send him back, and he obviously had some skill, I
decided he would come with us the rest of the way.
The path widened,
giving us a clearer picture of the Castle and the layout. I have heard that some planes mirror Tyrra in
their creation, and this was one of them.
The sky swirled with silver and black and black pillars resembling
Tyrran trees rose up to meet it. The
ground was covered in flakes of something that crackled when stepped upon, very
similar to the fallen leaves seen in autumn, even though it was midsummer on
Tyrra. The silver light was illuminating
much of the ground between us and the castle doors, and I had my doubts about
our group being able to sneak the rest of the way up. Not to say that my companions are not
competent- I trusted their abilities even more so than my own- but that we were
mortals in a hostile plane, with little cover to protect us. We cautiously made our way forward, moving
from pillar to pillar, circling around the building. I asked Endarr and the Elven male (name?) to
circle around and see if they could hear anything. Kestrel was also checking out the
building. When they returned, they
reported to me that they heard voices, but since they have never met Kauffe,
Du’Kratha, or anyone else who might be here, they could not tell me what or who
was within. Since I was the only one
present who had spoken to all of those who might be here, I decided to circle
around and check it out myself.
There was a window and
two figures speaking within. I could
hear the voices of Kauffe and Du’Kratha…and as close as I was, their words were
still indistinct. Silently cursing
Du’Kratha’s ability to stop his voice from carrying, I moved in closer… and
stepped knee-deep into a hidden ditch that had been covered by
havoc-leaves. Kauffe looked out the
window and demanded to know who was there.
I said nothing and hoped my ankle would work once I managed to pull
myself out of the ditch. As Kauffe gave
Du’Kratha an order and ran out of the building with some of his elementals, I
shouted a warning to my companions so that they could run or hide. I was on the other side of the building, but
I believe Kestrel attracted Kauffe’s attention and then bolted off into the
darkness. Kauffe and his handful of
elementals followed.
Peering around the
door, we could see Du’Kratha clearly standing guard at the entrance to the
Castle. Despite my warnings about the
changes to his personality, Kellian attempted to speak to him, and was taken
down. Fortunately Kauffe’s orders were
limited enough that Du’Kratha could work around them, and only attacked us when
we came too close to the entrance. To my
surprise and disappointment, Du’Kratha was capable of turning incorporeal, and
evaded all of our binding magics.
Frustrated and angry, I could see that there was nothing we could do to
help him here. I focused on finding the
wax castle. Kestrel returned to us, and
by working together we were able to draw Du’Kratha away from the door long
enough for Kellian to enter. I did not
see Kellian enter, so I got around Du’Kratha and entered as well. We quickly found the wax castle and left the
building just as Kauffe and the others were returning. I told Kellian to run for the gate, stopping
for nobody. Knowing that we had no hope
to win a fight on Kauffe’s own plane, I called for everyone else to
retreat. We were already greatly
scattered, and I could not even count to see if all of us had been able to run,
though thanks to Sandrine’s healing I did not see any bodies on the ground. Sandrine and I were among the last of our
group to leave, stopping on the way out and on the path to make sure nobody
else had fallen. From what I could tell,
Kellian had already made it out, and the others had followed. As we neared the field, I tripped over the
shield of a fallen comrade. Since Kivuli
and Logenn had not been seen for this entire trip, I assumed it belonged to one
of them. Thinking it might have been
Kivuli and remembering my promise, I went back to search for his weapons, but
could find nothing in the darkness. Seeing
that Sandrine was still waiting for me I gave up and joined her in running
towards the gate. Around this time a rip opened in the sky, and a stream of
black ooze started pouring into the plane.
I can only assume this was the Chaos elementals invading. We heard Kauffe order Du’Kratha to him, as
well as his other elementals, and they ran to meet battle.
To my surprise, Kivuli
joined us near the gate. As it turns
out, he had not died, but had approached the Castle from a different direction,
and was going to join our battle when I had called the retreat. The shield and pouches I was carrying
belonged to Logenn. Not knowing for sure
if the rest had made it out, and already carrying the guilt from the one
resurrection I knew of, I waited by the gate for as long as I felt possible,
with Sandrine and Kivuli next to me.
Although the Chaos lords had granted us planar asylum to Chaos, that
would not protect us from their elementals or from the damage that was being
brought to this plane. When the ground
began to shake so badly we could hardly walk, we all decided we had waited long
enough and jumped through the gate back to Tyrra.
Baron Travador and
some others were waiting on the other side, ready to attack us. I suppose elementals had been coming out of
the gate as easily as we had come in.
Endar was there, and I am glad for the Kyrillian’s presence, for I think
he is the only one who retained the presence of mind necessary to keep track of
everyone and count those who exited.
Aside from Logenn, all had returned.
The Chaos Lords were also present, and once we knew for sure we had all
made it back, the gate was closed.
Upon identifying the
wax castle, it appeared to be no more or less than what it was- a protection
for the Plane of Havoc. We gave it to
the Chaos lord, who destroyed it using High Magic. Everyone present was informed of what had
happened, and we prepared for a battle.
Surely, if Kauffe survived the Chaos Lord’s attack, he would come for
vengeance. Kivuli and I also visited the
Earth circle, and thankfully Logenn resurrected.
It did not take long
for Kauffe and his remaining havoc elementals to arrive in Kirran. I am not sure if he thought we would still
have the wax castle, or if he just wanted vengeance upon us, but it did not
matter. Their numbers were almost equal
to ours, and they had Du’Kratha on their side.
The fighting was fierce, and I think it is only due to the
determination, endurance, and skill of those in Greyhelm that we even survived
it. Du’Kratha was still doing what he
could to disobey Kauffe, and managed to save a few adventurers while he was
killing others. At one point late on in
the fight, just when we thought we were winning, Kauffe transformed. His features melted and reformed, and we saw
the death and darkness elements drip away from him. He had become the Chaos
Lord he once was, and he was weaker for it.
We all felt a magical burst as our skills renewed, and the fighting
continued. I thought the fight might be
over soon, any minute now Kauffe would give up, rift away and take his
elementals with him- and still Du’Kratha had not been recovered. As the realization hit me that we may never
get him back, that my expectations for his rescue had been … in error, I became
far more emotional and far less rational than I should have been. And despite my best efforts, the fighting was
too intense for me to keep track of him.
Yet the fighting
continued.
And continued…
Saturday Morning
As I felt the
Daystar’s light burning my skin, we finally killed Kauffe and his minions. There was no sign of Du’Kratha. Everyone was exhausted; some stretched so
beyond their endurance that they had lost the ability to speak. All the sane people drifted off to their
cabins to sleep. I had a hunch about
what might have happened, and have never been known for my sanity…so I stayed
awake through the dawn and eventually found Du’Kratha in the forests
nearby. He was himself - any sign of his
transformation as a Havoc Elemental was gone.
Finally able to rest we retired to our cabin and slept through most of
the next day, which was far too hot for fighting.
Saturday Night
We attended Feast, and
sat with newly-squired Crazyeye Sam and Douglas, and took some time to share
information. I was keeping a wary eye on
Du’Kratha, who was showing signs of his extended stay within Havoc. But by and large his changes were positive-
he seemed happier, and seems to have come to peace with his hatred of spiders.
A trio of rat
scavengers arrived in the Tavern. It
seemed like they were looking for a place to hide, and after reassuring them of
our ability to protect others, they eventually confided in us. They had an object to deliver to Ralair. Anything Ralair wants would be bad for
us. Fortunately, the rats had second
thoughts, and were afraid of the undead.
After more reassurances of their safety, we were able to convince them
to give the item to us, and to lead us to this meeting with Ralair. One of the larger rats, named Scabies, took a
liking to me and my castings of “powerful dark elfie magicks”, which was
amusing. Michiko was given the item and hid
it, then later passed it on to me. I
suspected it may be one of the items necessary to empower Traegor. Even if it was not, it was a very valuable
item, which had some unusual magical properties.
The main fighting
force followed the rats out to a field to meet with Ralair. Meanwhile, Sereg and I crept around the area,
looking for a place to hide the item. We
made our way cautiously and eventually hid the item in a dark abandoned
building. We quietly returned to town
without incident, but could not find anyone in the Guild hall or Tavern. I was a little surprised that Du’Kratha had
not waited for me, but I know he is usually needed in battle.
Still keeping an eye
out for any wandering undead, or perhaps Malshaar, Sereg and I slowly
progressed down the trail towards where we believed the battle to be. As we neared the field of combat from the
forests, we realized we had no idea which side of the field contained our
allies. Since we felt very exposed in
the moonlight, and some of the shadowy forms were moving closer, we decided to
wrap a magical representation of a circle of power around our waists, and
continued onwards. It was fortunate that
we had done so, for one of these shadows was Malshaar, the shadow wraith that
used to help the Lich Malyon. He spotted
us and moved forward, and I dropped our circle.
We attempted to exchange some “friendly” banter, but he was not
interested. We were able to approach the
battle in increments, periodically dropping circles of power while Malshaar was
near, then lifting the magic and continuing on.
Conveniently, we happened to be headed towards our side of the fight,
which was also where Malshaar was lurking, picking off people who were not
paying attention. Finally we got close
enough where our allies could see us, and Malshaar was drifting away. We even had an amusing moment, as Sereg and I
were approaching Baron Travador, and Eristhadt came up upon us as someone
mentioned the name “Malshaar”.
Apparently, he saw my shadow standing behind Sereg and assumed I was
Malshaar, or maybe that our combined silhouette was Malshaar, and with a flying
leap Eristhadt ran past me down the trail, presumably to find us. After much shouting and laughter we all
reunited and joined the battle.
I saw Ralair right
away, his transform as a Green Dragon Knight clearly distinguishable, with a
small undead army at his back. He was
egotistical, rude, and woman-hating as ever. I
think he is one who was meant to be born into a different race. Or something.
Certainly not a Vornae.
We encountered another
figure on the battlefield, one which we have never seen before. My suspicions are that this raised corpse is
Tonzen, the one who originally tried to resurrect the Drakeolich Traegor. Of course, that is nothing more than an
educated guess. I had also found
Du’Kratha. Apparently he had waited in
the town for my return, but somehow we missed each other. I guess there is such a thing as “too”
sneaky.
There was also a glowing
sphere that floated on the battlefield. It could have been one of the same green
spheres we have seen before, but they have always been stationary. We
suspected that this may have been the source for the renewal of the undead
forces we were fighting, for no matter how many we slayed, more came out of the
mist to join us.
The rats were helpful,
when they became truly motivated. I
continued to place minor protectives on Scabies the Rat, and he continued to
bring me friends of mine who had fallen unnoticed on the battlefield. Although I know many people criticized helping
them, as they were only rats, I feel that they were incredibly useful, as I
know Baron Travador would have resurrected during that battle had it not been
for one of them.
The fight did not go
well. Ralair now has the ability to
channel his Master Traegor and can throw obliterations as if they are
spells. The rat leader died, and we were
nearly out of resources, so a retreat was called. Looking to make sure nobody was left behind,
Baron Travador noticed Kier, who was trapped in one of Ralair’s imprisons. Luckily Baron Travador was able to rally
enough people to get to Kier without any losses.
Fortunately for us, Ralair
also had enough of the fighting and transported away. I am unsure if the floating orb was
destroyed, or if it disappeared with him.
We all thought the
night’s battles were over, but we were mistaken. Just as many of us were leaving the Tavern to
go to bed, we were attacked by panthergasts.
There was at least one for Surface Elves, and an Alpha for Dark
Elves. Kier had already retired for the
evening and regrettably missed out on his favorite sport. The panthergasts were being assisted by
Malshaar, who would occasionally attack us when our backs were turned. Since our resources were already heavily
depleted by the fight with Ralair, we ran out of our remaining life spells
quickly, and many of the younger Quentari Elves were forced to resurrect. Fortunately the Surface Elf panthergast was
killed. As soon as we were given the
chance, we directed all those who were not Dark Elven to make a run for the
Guild hall and the protection of the circles.
Then the rest of us ran for the circles in bursts. Although a few were attacked by Malshaar, all
who were still alive made it to the Guild hall and took refuge in the Earth and
Celestial circles there. It was cramped,
but it was safe.
We tried
circle-jumping to kill the Dark Elven Panthergast, which would attack non-Dark
Elves if it felt they were in the way.
But it was a useless endeavor, for the building had 5 doors and all the
Panthergast had to do was exit to regenerate all of its abilities. In addition to that, every time we left a
circle, Malshaar would pop in through one of the doors and pelt the person with
spells. It seemed this would go on all
night. Eventually we all discussed the
possibility of placing a Ward upon the building, so that we would limit our
enemy to one door, and could spread out to sleep here for the night if
necessary. I was the only one left who
could cast the spell, and with an Alpha panthergast after me, 5 doors to
defend, no life spells, and a Shadow Wraith lurking outside, I was not willing
to take such a risk. As I said so,
Malshaar began to cast a Ward on the building.
We interrupted it instinctively… but then thought about it. We are in the Guild Hall, with a large supply
of Formal Scrolls, including lesser and greater DFM, and we have a supply of
components here…and Malshaar and the Panthergast can only wait outside till
dawn… so the next time that Malshaar decided to Ward the building, we let him.