on the way to the gorge of fire (part 1 of 2)

[cellio]

April 11 (Wednesday), evening

We're within Garrett's strike range (based on what we saw from the tower of Optalis), so we were reluctant to camp out in the woods tonight. Prolix suggested we hide in a rope trick instead. That's fine in principle, but there are too many of us to fit, and he only has one. So Prolix suggested that Slade and Tasha, who would have trouble getting into it anyway, stay outside in the woods. They aren't the ones Garrett would try to scry, after all. That sounded ok to everyone, so that's what we did. It definitely feels odd, though, and I have this nagging feeling we're making a mistake.

Hrolf and I talked about him staying out there with them, so that he could instantly alert me if there's a problem, but we found that the barrier breaks our telepathic link. That feels really weird now, to both of us -- being disconnected for a few minutes during the attack on Garrett didn't seem so bad, but being out of touch all night would be. I've gotten quite used to having him in my head and miss him when he's not there, but I didn't realize how much he felt the same way. He's a great companion, and I don't know what either of us would do without the other now. Mope, probably.

Bertolf is currently reading -- his first chance to do so in a long time. I lent him my books on magic; he seemed excited to be able to read but confused by what he was reading, which was obviously frustrating him. We offered him Nithelin's journal, but that was even worse, so I decided not to mention Dorl Tavyani's. So instead, I've decided to let him read this journal, which he says he would really enjoy.

April 12 (Thursday)

Garrett sent us a very scary visitor. How did he do that?!

As it was getting toward morning, a vile undead creature -- someone called it a wraith, but I think it was worse -- appeared, sending Slade and Tasha into a panic. We looked out to see a ghostly black shape moving toward the animals. It boomed out in a loud voice "send out the gnome or I'll kill the hounds!"

Slade and Tasha bolted, and most of the rest of us prepared for a fight. I polymorphed into a gargoyle for the form's flight and vision. Kyle, Turok, and Liandra jumped out and the creature turned its attention to them. It announced that it was "Sithyl, knight of pestilence", and said if we yielded the gnome he'd spare the rest of us. We weren't about to do that then, though as I write this I have some doubts I'm trying hard to quash.

Liandra summoned four arrowhawks and I flew out and used my circlet (and later a fireball), but it dodged all of that. Turok charged and hit it, Liandra called down some daylight (which bothered it some), and Bertolf jumped out to smite it. I'm especially glad of Bertolf's help, as this wasn't his fight and he joined it anyway. Meanwhile, none of us had seen any sign of Prolix.

Prolix was apparently invisible, because it roared out "at last the gnome is here!" and charged through Turok. As if we had any doubt that Garrett had sent it, it said "by the dagger I have been called to service". Pity that by Kotara-nar we couldn't send it away.

I drew Sunrise and dove at it, smiting it a good hit and then passing right through and out the other side. (That felt weird, and it gave me goosebumps.) It turned toward Turok and knocked him to the ground, then sunk into the ground.

I looked around for Prolix but he seemed not to be in the immediate area. Then the fiend rose up from the ground again and attacked me, but Sunrise blazed brightly and I was protected. I gave Turok the ability to fly and then flew up myself; it then engaged Turok, who dealt it many mighty blows and breathed on it as well.

We saw what was clearly (to me) an illusory Prolix running through the woods, but the fiend fell for the trick and chased after it. Turok smacked it again, and it said "for now you have thwarted me and denied my reward" and then sunk into the ground. We waited, but it did not appear again. After several minutes, we saw Prolix walking toward us from over a distant hill.

That coward! Prolix ran away from a fight that was specifically about him! After all his blustering about attacking Garrett (and his cockiness in general), he went and ran when things got tough. Would he really have allowed the rest of us to die protecting him while he did nothing? My patience for him is wearing thin.

I suppose he partially redeemed himself. I suggested that being near Garrett for another night so soon would be a bad idea, and instead of going to the gorge of fire immediately we should go elsewhere. Prolix told us that he can conjure up very fast mounts, though not enough for everyone. So we decided to split the group: he conjured steeds for me, Liandra, Turok, and Kyle, and he took Bertolf, Slade, and Tasha and teleported to Oakhame. We got to near the border of Lescap and Tergia today, and tomorrow Liandra will use a tree-walking spell to get us to Oakhame. (That should be neat. I didn't know she could do that.)

I was dubious about the horses at first, but I didn't see an alternative. They were smoky black with glowing eyes -- not at all the sort of thing we would normally be seen on. (Prolix made most of the eyes glow red, though through a little magical handiwork I was able to make my horse's eyes glow white instead. Much better.)

The ride was fascinating. We were racing at what seemed like ten times our usual speed, and I'm not certain the horses' hooves were always in contact with the ground. We had to hang on for dear life, but at least we didn't have to worry about being attacked by monsters. Hrolf stayed in my pack the whole time for fear he'd fly off.

This left the problem of transporting Charlos, who can't really ride a horse but who also can't keep up with that speed. He seemed kind of ashamed to bring it up, but he hesitatingly said that he could possess one of us. He and I talked about what that meant, and once we determined that it would not be ultimately harmful I volunteered. It was quite strange to be carrying another mind in my own, and to be a passive observer more than an active participant. Very strange. Hrolf commented on it later, too. I guess I'll be doing that once more, when Liandra transports us to Oakhame tomorrow. Still, I'm glad Charlos stayed with us instead of teleporting with Prolix. He's the only other person I've met who's been touched by Agondre in the way I have, and I feel good having him around.

When the time ran out on the horses it was the end of the day and we were on a road outside a small town in Lescap. We argued about camping versus finding an inn, but the call of beer was strong for Turok, and I am sick of camping, so we opted for the inn. Inns have been dangerous places in the past, but I think they are not so bad now. (Kyle disagreed.)

Before we went in I urged everyone to be discreet. We're just passing through; we don't want trouble. That worked about as well as telling Garrett that it's time to send his dagger in for its 500-year maintenance and we'll take good care of it for him and return it a week from Tuesday and look, we'll even give him a receipt. Turok, beer, and discretion just do not go together. Ok, perhaps Turok is inherently attention-grabbing, being a half-dragon, but there are better and worse ways to handle it.

Immediately buying a round for the house, telling boisterous tall tales, and breathing on his shots to set them ablaze before drinking them don't exactly count as being discreet. But it was a good chance to unwind and the people were not ultimately harmful, so it all worked out in the end. Still, they're probably going to be telling stories for a long time; I hope Garrett doesn't have eyes and ears here.

A gentleman invited me to sit with him. He had an air of nobility about him, and he was wearing a sash with a red edge. (I don't know what that means. I'll have to ask Marius.) He said his name is Jacque Michel, and when I introduced myself (there seemed no point in lying about my identity at that point) he said "ah, I thought so". We talked a while about the war, which he has been trying to avoid while being useful to the nobility instead. (He didn't elaborate on that and I chose not to pry.) He said that this time the sides are too-evenly balanced; there have been mini-wars like this in the past, something of a sport perhaps, but before things get too nasty one duke will win the favor of the emperor and that will end it for a while. This time, of course, that hasn't happened.

He had heard rumors of stranger creatures joining the fight and I said I had heard such things too. Perhaps we should stop trying to disguise what's going on; I have been trying to stick to the official story, that the dukes are warring with each other, when dealing with those not already in the know. But I can't rile against the silliness of this "sport" too much because there's another reason those armies are there, nor can I tell the truth for fear of setting off a panic.

We spoke pleasantly for a while and he invited me to his room, which I politely declined. Turok spent the night with a barmaid.

At one point I casually asked if there were any bards in the area, and someone fetched a lute player. He played well and I rewarded him for his music. We didn't hear a lot of musical news, but that's not the only reason I listen to bards.

April 13 (Friday)

This morning we left the inn, found a wooded area, and walked through the trees to Oakhame. It was fascinating! Liandra cast a spell and we walked straight into a tree, spent some moments in a nondescript but natural-feeling, peaceful limbo, and then walked out of a tree in Oakhame. It was much more pleasant and calm than Prolix's teleports; as I try to work out how to do teleportation, I have to try to find a way to capture the feel of that intermediate state the way Liandra did.

Prolix, Bertolf, Slade, and Tasha had been here a day already, so Seamus and Mairead had heard some stories from them. Liandra got a big homecoming welcome, of course, and Tasha seemed happy to see Kyle again.

Seamus was really excited when we unpacked the sound-spheres from the caverns of Laryn for him. I asked if he thought these could be used to calm Agondre, and he said it's certainly one of the applications he was planning to investigate.

Seamus gave us an update on the war. Things aren't good -- we knew that -- and the armies are falling back. I asked if it was time to heal Agondre's pool again, and Seamus and Liandra thought that would help.

Seamus said the dukes are now all too ill to rule; regents seem to be doing their work. This raises the question of who can end the war, when we're able to drop the cover story. It's frustrating -- if we could banish the monsters from Cardior for good, the armies could go home -- but those monsters are part of the sickness, so we can't send those armies home until the root problem -- caused by Garrett -- is fixed. Meanwhile, the people who ought to be farming the land -- which is going to be harder this year than last due to the sickness -- are stuck there fighting monsters and pretending to fight each other. Sigh.

While we were talking I could see that Seamus' gaze kept returning to the sound spheres. Eventually he slipped away to investigate them. I saw him take a sphere, a harp, a jeweler's knife, a notepad, and some herbs into a secluded spot. He didn't seem to mind quiet observers, so I followed at a distance. The sphere was made of many layers, and he began by slicing just the top layer -- and when I woke up, several hours had passed. I was extremely well-rested, and I remember hearing beautiful music the whole time. Seamus was very excited by this, and was writing notes furiously when I woke up. I decided to slip away and not disturb him.

We are going to be staying here a few days, so we can procure various magics and figure out what to do next. It seems that visiting Cardior would be beneficial; in addition to trying to heal the pool some more, we can recover Charlos' holy sword, which we might be able to get enchanted so that he could wield it. In addition, we need to take Bertolf home. And, of course, we want to return to our planned visit to the gorge of fire.

In the meantime, though, I will be helping Kyle negotiate with the priests of Kord for a belt of strength, and Turok asked me to enhance his cloak of resistance.