Editing Journal - Kelditch's Staff (section)

==An Ambush of Our Own==

The large cave that Amur had brought us to was like a basin within the mountain, with most of the people in smaller caves around the edges. The large space at the centre seemed to be used as a place to meet and train rather than live in. It was clear that the people had been here for a while, but that it was not meant to be permanent. We waited in the central area for Amur as he went to find Farouk, although he returned alone and apologised, saying that we would need to wait a little. He instructed his people to erect a tent, similar to when we were first welcomed by him.

It wasn't long, though, before a large, athletic warrior approached us alone. He was wearing a strange helmet which had the horns of one of the creatures we had seen &quot;red pants&quot; fly on mounted upon it. He went straight to Falcor and invited us to join him for water, entering the tent. We went through a similar ceremony of pouring water and then passing it to each of us in turn, saying &quot;we drink water&quot;. When that was done we were given a smaller cup each to drink freely and Farouk relaxed, sprawling on the floor and saying &quot;we are friends now&quot;. His Common was much better than Amur's, and his greeting as &quot;friends and warriors&quot; seemed genuine.

There was some talk of our exploits on the journey here, but when we tried to explain that we wanted to intercept an item of Kelditch, and I revealed the part of the staff we already had, he was taken aback. Apparently he could sense Kelditch's aura upon it, and would not speak of the Gods without his shaman being there, and he sent someone to find and bring them. While we waited, Falcor and Farouk started comparing weapons like typical men so I zoned out for a bit, just enjoying a refreshing drink. Eventually the shaman arrived, wearing slightly more ornate robes and not carrying weapons, but otherwise similar in garb. Farouk called him &quot;Affiah&quot;.

He was taken aback by the power of the staff as well, as well as hearing that we had been to the temple on the island and spoken with Kelditch. We then described having traveled to the land of &quot;Itlak Alna'a&quot;; they spat at the mention of the name, calling them the &quot;lord of dust and nothing&quot;, but said that it was his influence that was changing their land. Kelditch had set them the task of closing the portals to that realm in the mountains, but they had been driven back and we knew there were many now. On a positive note, they pledged to aid us in stopping the other part of the staff from falling to their foe, recognising the power of their lord in the part I had, and how terrible a loss it would be if the enemy took it.

We also learned that &quot;Soldar&quot; was the other brother of Kelditch (as well as Kraldar of course) that was able to leave Treddar. It seemed that he was able to do so without even a fight because he was so different from his father that they both just wished to be apart. Affiah related tales that said in Soldar's land the Gods do not trouble the people and the people do not trouble the Gods... sounds interesting - perhaps I should try to reach this place? It was far to the west they said. I remembered that Kelditch had mentioned a &quot;lost uncle&quot; and asked if they knew who this way, but this seems to cause great offense to Affiah, so I had to apologise as I hadn't meant to. Apparently they do not speak of the &quot;lost Gods&quot;. They also knew of the dark elf prince and the warped blade he wielded, but they had learned to avoid him as he was very dangerous.

Before we could plan an ambush I had to check to see where the staff was now, and I asked if I could be taken to a nondescript place that wouldn't reveal our location to any observers. I had sensed another mind watching before, so I was wary and didn't want to bring trouble to this place. Farouk said that he would &quot;persuade&quot; one of their mages to come with me to detect any attempt to scry as well. Some of the warriors took us to a sheltered rocky spot and I focused through the staff on it's sister part as before. I could see that it was surrounded by at least a score of giantkin, and that they trekked beside a parched river bed that was no more than a stream now. That was on the right, and the mountains were ahead, no more than a day or so march I guessed. Dry scrub was to the left. I had learned enough, so I withdrew and sensed that a mind was following me as I did so. I was able to mentally &quot;slam the door&quot; in their face, though, and it felt quite satisfying to know that I could return to my body safely. The mage had noticed that something tried to connect but hadn't reached us, and it was good to have it confirmed.

I returned to Falcor and explained where I had seen the staff and what we might be facing. We would have to leave quickly if we wanted to intercept it on foot, and we could not allow ourselves to be delayed in enemy territory. Falcor was worried about this, and produced a scroll that he could not use, but that might allow us to travel quickly and intercept them at a point of our choosing. I could understand the scroll, so I believed I could use the power within it to transport us... but only the two of us; no others could travel with us. It did mean we had time to rest, though, and even a day to kill with some training, the people here interested in our ways of fighting compared to their own.

We had determined to meet the foe as they entered the mountains, away from the territory of the dark elves, and the scroll allowed us to turn translucent and misty and be carried along on an arcane wind at great speed. We saw the occasional roaming band of giantkin, but were easily able to avoid them and go unnoticed on our journey. When we reached the northern side of the mountain range we found a sheltered spot between rock outcrops and stopped to check on the staff's location. The dweomer allowed us to return to our corporeal bodies over about five minutes, and then I could focus on the staff once more. I had another clear picture of where the band of giantkin were... we were close! They were walking up a path on a nearby mountain, and it would be easy for us to get up ahead of them from where we were. We used the last hour or so of the misty travel to ensure we were ahead and then made our way along the path to a likely ambush spot where we would be above them as they passed by. I drew from my usual power source to gain extra strength, but was surprised to find that power seemed to flow from Falcor himself and the effect was magnified; I had never felt so strong before! Falcor turned us invisible as the giantkin party drew closer, assuring me that we would be able to attack without revealing ourselves, but that it would be fairly short in duration.

The enemy party lumbered up the path and started to pass us by, probably more than a score now, and then Falcor threw a fireball into their midst, killing four of them instantly and burning some others. We both started to move, using our telepathic connection to keep track of where we were; I went down onto the path and headed towards the centre of the pack where the largest giants were, whilst Falcor kept above them. He then dropped an iceball on the rear of the group, killing a few more and causing more injuries. The giants begin to run, scattering to either side of the path so that they weren't clumped together. This was handy for me as I was able to run down the path they had cleared in the centre. Falcor kept moving too, jumping down behind them and sending a lightning bolt streaking through a line of the foe from the rear, killing two more.

More importantly, Falcor had seen the staff, sending me an image of the giant carrying it, and I closed on the target as quickly as I could. Falcor sent another lightning bolt into the foe, and I had a rueful memory of Meglar and his despair with the destruction he had caused when he lost control. Would I ever see him again? He had always come back before, but this time I wasn't sure. Falcor picked up on the thought, thinking that I was criticising him. He flashed an image of the giantkin destroying an ancient forest with fire, but that just made me sad; we should try not to become that which we hate. Back to Falcor, I said that it was just a memory, but two more of the giantkin had fallen dead, smoking. I fought back the sick tension in my stomach and concentrated on the staff - as soon as I had it we could leave.

I closed with the giant that had the staff, but it was stuck between its armour and its body, high up on its back. Without climbing I wouldn't be able to reach it... I could cut it down to size, though. I drew my swords and struck, landing one blow but finding it odd to fight without seeing my weapons. There was a bellow of alarm and those closest started trying to strike at me, but they couldn't see me and only one came close, scraping my armour. Falcor sent a ray of dweomer into the staff bearer, making him weaker, and then I was able to land several blows in quick succession, killing him. Many of its fellow giantkin had converged on me, though, and I was surrounded. I slashed another foe, already wounded, and he fell, then turned my attention to the staff.

I sheathed my swords and grabbed it with both hands, yanking it free and jumping down from the body I had stood on to get it. I was struck heavily in the back as I did so, though, falling forwards against the cliff edge where I was able to steady myself and tuck the staff under my cloak. Falcor dropped another ice ball behind me, catching some of the giantkin moving towards us and killing another three or so. Falcor then attacked with his mind, confusing one of the larger creatures. With the staff behind my back out of sight, I used my free hand to draw Amarat and cut down one of my attackers, making a gap to escape through. I ran before the gap could be closed, slipping through and moving back up the path towards a bit of slope I could run up.

Falcor became visible again, and bravely shouted out to try and distract the foe that were chasing me, but only one took the bait. He was hit painfully as the creature closed with him, but Falcor responded at once and skewered his attacker, dropping him instantly. We both ran up the slope, and I became visible on the way just after we had converged on each other, with the giantkin still chasing. Some of them were getting tired and fell behind, and then Falcor grabbed me and instantly transported us about two hundred yards up the slope with a word. We were able to catch our breath for a minute and then continue our escape, the giants falling farther behind as they exhausted themselves.