Editing Kanimaeli - Spirit of Air (section)

==More Dead Ends==

It was in the early hours of the morning, so we decided it wasn't worth trying to get back to sleep and instead started our trek south on the road. After a couple of hours, we heard raised voices in a language we didn't recognise ahead and to the right. Everyone else decided that I should go and have a look! It was reassuring to know that they valued my friendly but cautious approach to meeting strangers.

As I moved forward, I could see that there was a group of Saloroc approaching quickly but cautiously in our rough direction. I tried to move with the Air to speed up without making too much noise, but when I stepped off the road to the right it caused the ground to crack open ahead of me for as much as seventy yards beyond my foot! I backed off, normally this time, and reported to the others what I had seen. We decided to wait and speak with them when they reached us. It was then we heard a deep bass growl rumbling from deep inside the forest, farther than the Saloroc had been. It was an ominous sound, and didn't bode well.

We kept to the east of the road, nervous about the noise, and watched as the Saloroc moved closer. They seemed to have been moving quickly for some time, and looked scared. I scanned forest around them but saw nothing immediately in pursuit. Xlotl moved down the road to greet them, and a waterskin appeared in front of him. Him called out in Common, and they responded, warning of a "big ugly thing" that was slow but formidable. They added that it was coming now, and that we should run, obviously confused as to why we hadn't started fleeing already.

Xlotl said that we sought sanctuary in the south, but the Saloroc leader warned that Tacturn is closed and they would certainly not let Xlotl in! Was that because he was a snake and not human, perhaps? He accepted the water, which is why he had paused to talk, but did not want to stay and fight. They certainly seemed vague on the details of what we might face, instead setting off at pace again. I wished them luck, but warned that Vesri had fallen. That made them swear, and they changed course slightly to head more eastward. The last one, slightly younger and more scared by the look of him, said to Xlotl: "please ask the "Kohnen" not to kill us"! Apparently the Kohnen were the Lords of Air. Pi offered him some tobacco and rations, urging him to stay strong, to which he replied: "Admir bless you".

We began moving south again... well, most of us did. Xlotl has stopped in the middle of the road and was chanting a prayer. I slowed and scanned the other side of the road for any threats; I heard another deep growl but couldn't see anything close to us. A minute or so passed and Xlotl was still just stood there chanting and writhing rhythmically. Then I caught my first glimpse of the threat - there were a couple of giant humanoid shapes moving towards the road, and it seemed that there were smaller things moving through the undergrowth around them as well. I warned the others, and Pi picked up a fallen leafy branch, walking over to Xlotl and sticking it into the ground beside him. He seemed proud that he had thought of a way of hiding him... even though it was blatantly obvious that something was there... and Pi was stood next to him in bright red and yellow armour!

I took a moment to sense the air, noticing that on the west side of the road the Air was disturbed and flowing chaotically towards us, but on our (east) side it was quite calm. The change was sudden, and aligned with the road, as if there were some kind of barrier we could not seee. Antinniera strode over to Xlotl, waving her halberd in front of him and saying that we needed to move! Pi, though, tried to placate her, saying that Xlotl was praying so we needed to leave him until he was finished.

I was wary now of shouting out loud, so I used my gifted knowledge of Storm to whisper a message to the others. I warned that the creatures' slow approach might change if they saw us, which seemed likely if nothing changed. I also mentioned that the Air was better on our side of the road. After another minute without any sign that Xlotl was going to stop, I sent a more urgent warning that the smaller creatures would be able to reach us soon and we should hurry up and leave!

Antinniera was clearly tired of waiting, and decided to loose an arrow at the foe instead! I felt that a more emphatic gesture to convey my thoughts was lacking, but simply covered my eyes briefly, anticipating what might happen next. Antinniera's arrow flew true, which was impressive, but didn't seem to have much impact on the giant. A second arrow thudded into it shortly afterwards, but there still didn't seem to be much impact.

There was, though, an explosion of movement in the brush ahead of the large ugly creature, so something was certainly coming quickly! Antinneira struck the large target with another arrow before the smaller things came into view, though. They looked like large beetles, about a foot high - although that was deceptive because they were half in and half out of the Earth. They were heading straight for Antinniera, but when they reached the road they stopped and started churning it up instead, eating into it.

Antinneira stepped forward and sent sheets of flame out in an arc in front of her, catching three of them and burning them badly, one cracked and stopped moving completely. Pi started speaking a strange language and waving his arm, then a large rock appeared in the air above one of the beetles and fell, splatting it and sending sludge and bits of legs flying out. I stepped with the Air again, hoping to open a crack where the beetles were, but instead a crack opened towards the big, fleshy creature that was getting closer. It stepped onto the crack and a moment later appeared right in front of me! Thankfully I had backed off to the east of the road again, and it turned north towards Antinniera instead.

There were still a couple of bugs churning up the road, eating into its apparent protection, and I darted forward again to engage them, cracking the shell of one but not stopping it. I also tried to make the big thing as light as air with Storm, but it didn't work - I would need more practice at that.

The big chonky lad (he was at least ten feet high and bloated, but perhaps once like a human?) kept going for Antinniera, quashing the smouldering fires her flames had left as he stepped near them. I forced three of the bugs back with a thunder burst of Air, destroying one of them, trying to protect the barrier that seemed to be keeping them on the other side. Antinniera ran back over the road, retrieving her halberd, so she was safe for the moment. Xlotl chanted another, thankfully shorter, prayer and a part of the big guy exploded out in fragments, shredding three bugs and leaving a nasty hole. Pi joined the fight, smacking a bug so hard that it was turned into a messy paste. The big guy kept moving, ignoring the hole in his body, and this time went for Pi.

Xlotl started to fly away as quickly as he could, lifting some thirty feet into the Air, and Pi backed off to the safety of the east side of the road. I was concerned that if we left the beetles to breach the road then the protection it afforded might end, so I rushed forward again and crushed the last bug with the Air beneath my fist. This spot was safe, for now at least, but there was another group just to the north of us.

Xlotl was unconcerned, though, shouting that we couldn't defend the road and should just head to Tacturn, gliding south away from us. I was less convinced... if we could stop this group then couldn't we stop the other? Xlotl thought there were likely to be many more, though, although I pointed out that if that were true then we might never reach the town. He was still disappearing south amongst the trees, though, and I was resignedly forced to follow and regroup with the others where he landed. There was no hope that the barrier, whatever it had been, would hold them now.

After we were together again, we decided that we needed to remake Antiva before more agents of Death approached. I dumped Morsantiva onto the ground, retrieving the rest of my things from around it and leaving it for Pi to deal with. Xlotl floated Versantiva from under his turban and held it in the Air nearby. Pi stepped forward and grasped both parts whilst saying a prayer to Lord Admir. He brought the parts together above his head, suddenly understanding them and how they fitted together. One was promoting life and the other decay, but the will of Admir brought the parts together and there was a bright burst of light as they fused together. When this was done, though, Pi noticed that there was a sliver of the gem missing, a thin segment that prevented Antiva from being whole again. Pi sensed that there were still two competing voices within the game, so they were certainly not yet whole, despite being joined physically.

Xlotl explained that he had been speaking with an Air spirit during his prolonged prayer. He had learned that the Kohnen were the Lords of Air in the east, and somewhere we definitely needed to visit. The Air was unable to cross to the west of the road, although I worried that things were about to change with the barrier. He also learned that the elemental spirits hated Antinniera and her people, and it was her people's priests that were stopping entry to Tacturn for non-humans.

We continued south anyway, at least aware that we were unlikely to be welcomed. After about an hour and a half we approached a stone bridge with a single human stood on the far side. He seemed to be waiting for us, and Antinniera recognised him as Xavius, a senior priest. He seemed like the chief bigot to me, speaking of elemental creatures as "sub-human", and even suggested that Antinniera could eat us rather than waste supplies from the town!

Xlotl tried addressing him, but was ignored. I suggested it was not worth his time; this Xavius seemed not to care for us, and I did not care for him! Xlotl just said that he was "very boring" and turned invisible, moving off the road. Meanwhile Xavius was offering to permit Antinniera entry if she offered one of us as a sacrifice! After a few moments, we noticed Xlotl outlined in a bright glow near to the water off to our left, just before he dived in. The priest made some movements with his hands, up and forward, which was a trigger for an attack.

Pi charged forward, but crumpled unconscious as soon as he stepped on the bridge! Archers started to engage us from the trees on the far side, and I only just got my fan out in time to deflect one... with Pi down, I was now the obvious target! I ducked behind a tree and started to whip the Air around to form the Protection of the East. Antinniera joined me, asking what I was doing but I was too focused to answer until I had finished. Xlotl launched a spear of dweomer towards the priest, striking him but without much impact.

Once I had the Air moving and could keep it going without too much focus, I explained to Antinniera that I was using the Air to protect me from arrows and would try to get Pi out. With my fans moving the Air as I advanced, I managed to reach Pi having only been clipped by one arrow and having deflected another; the rest failed to find their mark beyond the turbulent Air. I grabbed Pi's ankle and dragged him back into cover, arrows flying around me, and Xlotl swam away quickly once he saw we were safe.

Xlotl emerged from the river some way downstream, and we joined him once we had moved far enough back into cover. Thankfully, Pi came to without any intervention - whatever had caused him to pass out had been temporary. We kept moving, following an old path near the water that headed east. Perhaps this was once used to reach the old temple? Several hours passed without interruption, although we were aware that there were others moving in the forest... hopefully just Saloroc. The path started to veer right away from our easterly course, and we paused to talk about food.

The others seemed concerned that we were not carrying enough rations, although there were plenty of insects within the forest, so I hadn't noticed a problem with finding food. Apparently not everyone ate insects, although Pi certainly seemed to enjoy trying them. We took a break whilst Antinniera went hunting for "something more substantial", eventually returning with a small deer. I tried it, but it was too rich and heavy for my taste. The others seemed pleased, though. Why kill something when there was so much around that was alive just waiting to be picked up? Strange.

We continued after that for another few hours before the forest started to give way to more open plains. At the edge of the tree line we could see an open plain with what looked like a dead forest on the other side. There was still a track, though, and it was easy to follow without as much undergrowth. It seemed to lead straight towards the dead trees in the distance, but we carried on until we were about a mile from them and the light began to fade.

We settled down quite comfortably in the grass to rest. I was able to keep watch as was now normal, but Xlotl insisted on exploring the dead forest a little on his own. He returned at some pace before long, explaining that he had seen things flitting around in the dead trees... things he described as "flying spiders"! He, wisely, had decided not to stay long enough to encounter one properly.

When the light started to grow before dawn, I noticed a dust cloud blowing on the wind to the north, just outside the dead forest. It was several miles away, but definitely kicked up from the ground rather than carried with the wind. Other than this observation, it had been a peaceful night. Were we at a boundary, where there was less movement? Xlotl and Antinniera shared some of their arcane lore, and then decided that we should take some time here to learn about some of the artifacts recovered from the moathouse.

I kept the ring of lapis lazuli, which could apparently allow one to walk on water. Xlotl kept the crown, although he had not learned all of its secrets. He discarded the wand, though, as it was completely drained and useless. Pi's warhammer, much like him, could cause chaos; it was a good weapon, though, and he resolved to keep using it despite Antinniera not being able to discern all of its secrets. The circlet with the broken gem could summon an Earth elemental, but needed an intact soulstone to control it! Thankfully, the granite ball that Pi carried would give him the ability to control Earth elementals, so they worked well together. The shiny, steel pick was capable of parting elemental Earth, but not normal Earth so it would only be useful in very specific situations.

While Xlotl and Antinniera were studying the items, Pi and I investigated the source of the dust to the north. There was a line of hills ahead, and we passed within a hundred yards of the dead forest, but after four hours of travelling we could see that there was a faily well-trodden path that followed the line of the hills. It ran roughly northwest to southeast, and it was clear that something large or fast-moving (or a group) had passed along the track when I saw the dust.