Editing Journal - Kelditch's Staff (section)

==Rest and Experimenting with Portals==

Once we had lost ourselves in the rocky slopes a bit higher up, we were able to make our way more carefully back to the home of the Red Clan to inform them of our success, and to get some much needed rest. We ended up spending a month with the people here, learning from them and teaching our own techniques. Their shaman were particularly interested in teaching me the method they used to close portals, which no longer worked for them because Kelditch's power was denied to them for some reason. I promised to try it for myself, not knowing whether it would work or not as I had no idea where my own powers came from.

Falcor also explained more about his quest to relight the Forge of Karmana, and why he had come seeking me. I apparently carried an ancient soul within me that was a key part of the process to restore the Forge. Falcor had another, there were a couple of Elves (not the bad kind he said) and an Elvrahum (whatever that was). That left just one undiscovered, apparently the essence of intelligence. This led us to talk about the gateway to the Dead, and that made me pay attention. It seemed that the natural gateway between Karmana and the Dead had been closed for some time, which would explain how Kraldar was able to trap the souls of the dead and draw on their power. Unfortunately if we were to open it, whilst it would allow souls to return to Karmana, it would also allow the hordes of undead to invade the world as well. There was also a &quot;Queen of the Damned&quot; trapped somewhere, imprisoned by the Sarn. It was a bit much to get my head around, to be honest, but I said I would help if Falcor would take me north to my mother's clan and vouch for me there. He agreed, once the Forge was alight, and said he had to travel there anyway so our paths would align.

When I was sure I had mastered the technique of the ritual to close a portal, we set off on foot to see if we could affect the portals to It'lak Alna'a's realm. We traveled north first, and then tracked west along a ridge towards the area we knew would have portals open. The ridge was quite sharp in places, but at least we only had to watch one direction for threats (on the ground at least). It was mid-afternoon, when we were drawing close to the journey's end, that we met trouble. We were approaching another peak where we could turn south or north to traverse it, when we saw something at our level on the southern side just coming into view. We stopped and watched, seeing five humanoid shapes in total, probably about a mile ahead of us. There was a taller one at the back, wearing clothes of some sort. As they drew closer it was clear that they were giantkin, but of a type we hadn't seen in the mountains before. A couple of hundred yards away the taller one stopped and started chanting as the others ran towards us. Falcor flashed an image of the smaller ones attacking a great forest, so he had seen some of these before and they had evil intent.

Falcor sent a lightning bolt crackling through the runners, obviously causing them some pain, but their mage at the back disappeared from view. I conjured a shield, wary of dweomer being hurled at me, and prepared to meet the charging giantkin in melee. Falcor, though, sent another lightning bolt arcing through the line and they all writhed in agony, most falling and only one left moving forward. Horrified, I moved forward to quickly slit the throat of the last one, putting it out of its misery. The smell of charred flesh made me gag, and brought back unpleasant memories. I tried to concentrate on finding the invisible foe, but a lightning bolt flashed the other way this time, striking me. The pain was intense, but thankfully short-lived although it left an odd taste in my mouth.

Falcor turned invisible and told me he was moving forward, passing by me on the ridge. I moved forward as well, but we had seen nothing so far. A web suddenly appeared stretched across the ground on the path ahead, presumably conjured by Falcor, and there was some disturbance in the far corner where he might just have snagged something. I tried to irritate the mage using dweomer, as it affected a small area. It should either slow him down or could keep him occupied for a little while. But then Falcor just opted for more destruction, causing a fireball to explode in the area engulfing it all in flames and combusting the web almost instantly. There was just a flash of the giant caught within the blast... an absence of fire more than anything else... before the flames were gone and we lost sight of him again.

Falcor conjured a flashing pattern of lights, and tried to warn me not to enter. Like I couldn't work that out for myself! I didn't want to talk to him anyway, he was just destroying everything, did he have no control?! I moved forward again and shouted, half at the invisible mage and half at Falcor, to &quot;just stop this; it's pointless&quot;! Falcor conjured a stinking cloud anyway, roughly where the mage had been, and I used dweomer to protect myself from fire... if Falcor could create a fireball then so might the foe! We were not attacked, though, so perhaps at least one person had listened to me. Falcor jogged down the path, trying to put as much distance as possible between us, and I matched his pace a little behind him. We reached the peak and decided to move around to the north (the opposite side to where we had seen the giantkin come from).

Once we were starting to turn the corner I stopped to check behind us, not detecting anything evil there, so I tried to reassure Falcor that nothing was following us. We moved up towards a blind corner and Falcor looked around to see what lay ahead. Unfortunately there was another party of giantkin, the same as before - one mage with a bunch of fighters carrying large hammers. I moved ahead to block the path as Falcor put an arrow into the mage, and I was quickly surrounded by foes; at least there was only room for three of them on the narrow ledge. Lightning engulfed Falcor, but at the same time he seemed unaffected by it and he put a second arrow into the mage. I struck one of the foe several times, but his hammer crunched into my chest leaving me breathless and fighting back the pain... they hit hard!

The mage disappeared from view, not unexpectedly. Falcor put an arrow into the back of the injured giant instead, and it stiffened and fell off the cliff. I engaged the next in melee, landing some good hits. Fire exploded behind me, but Falcor ran through it just as I cut down my opponent and he was able to leap over the body to engage another. I mean it looked good, but it was spoiled slightly by the hammer smacking into his side as he landed. Unperturbed, he responded with powerful blows that cut deeply into his attacker and they fell dead in but a minute. I had struck my own opponent several times, and Falcor was able to skewer it from behind quite easily leaving us seemingly alone. We knew the mage was close, though, unless they had decided to flee.

We were close now, though, so I moved on ahead. We could see that there were more giantkin near what looked like a portal on the plateau ahead, although they were more like the kind we had encountered before. I used dweomer to restore some health and aid me in the fight, moving forward again to the edge of the plateau. I had deliberately made sure that I had the enemy's attention, and they started moving towards me. There were a couple of small groups, half a dozen in total, and as they closed up they bunched together enough that Falcor was able to explode a fireball amongst them. Two fell writhing and then burst into flames, eventually falling still, but the rest kept going and closed quickly on me. They were so focused on me, though, that Falcor was able to attack from the flank, striking one heavily in the side.

I finished off the largest foe, but took a hit in return as I was surrounded by this stage. Falcor cut through his opponent, quite literally as they were almost cut in half! I killed one of the smaller ones and that evened things up nicely, leaving just one for each of us to take on. They were not a match for us one-on-one and we were both splattered in blood as they fell quickly. I noticed, though, that the portal had started to glow slightly; could more be coming through? Falcor ran ahead as I pulled my sword from the body of the last foe, and I followed behind. He stopped, though, and started casting just as one of the red-pant creatures stepped through the portal. This new arrival's demeanor was quite casual until he saw Falcor. He reached back to touch the portal, appearing to shout through it, and a moment later it's beast emerged - much bigger than the one we had seen before. Red pants leapt on its back and they took to the air, and Falcor let his spell fail so as not to engage them. Now I was even more confused about his willingness to make others suffer or not!

I had moved closer than Falcor by this stage, focused on trying to close the portal. The first step was to add elemental water, knowing that the portal was linked to fire and dust; this was supposed to increase the chances of successfully closing it. I conjured a LOT of water, getting drenched in the process but catching some in a waterskin. I didn't mind being wet, though, as there had been plenty of fire around recently. I started the ritual the shaman had taught me, including throwing the water through the portal, and focused my concentration on forcing it closed. This time I deliberately didn't use Kelditch's staff so that I could see if the power I channeled would work. It did! It was strange, though, it felt right like no other dweomer I had used, and I had a sense of inner peace like never before. There was also no sense of power coming from anywhere else, which was odd and different; normally I could sense the energy flowing into and out of me, but this time it just happened... almost like it was my own doing instead of another's. I would have to reflect on this.

Having confirmed that the ritual worked, we started the return journey. Thankfully this time it passed without incident and we were welcomed back. Affiah was particularly excited to know whether it had worked or not, but I was wary of talking too freely in public and asked if we could have a private conversation just for the shaman to hear. Falcor went off to drink and celebrate with Farouk as Affiah took me into a cave that had clearly been set aside as a temple. I confirmed that the ritual had worked for me, but this seemed to sadden him as he interpreted it as meaning that it was their faith that had failed them and not that Kelditch's power was cut off in some way. I tried to suggest that the power might have come from somewhere else, which is why it might have worked for me, and that I knew Kelditch did not have a direct link to the land any more. Affiah seemed suddenly happier, and wondered if &quot;the sleeping God had awoken&quot;. I agreed - Falcor had suggested that he was awake not, and Affiah at once seemed to know what to do. Apparently this happened regularly, if infrequently, and if Treddar had awoken then it was normal for Kelditch to withdrawn. He said that he would take his people into the desert to seek shelter, as Kelditch would not be able to give them the power to protect the mountains.

This was all going quite well, but then I made the mistake of over-sharing and saying that the power I had used might have come from myself. Then to explain that, I told him I was related to Kelditch by blood. He became quite agitated when I said Kelditch was my uncle, angry even. He demanded to know which of the brothers I claimed was my father. When I told him that my father was Kraldar he lost it completely, seemingly completely oblivious to the hypocrisy of at the same time revering Keldith, the son of Treddar, whilst condemning me, the daughter of Kraldar as a &quot;daughter of Death&quot;. Clearly father and offspring are not the same!

He could not be reasoned with, though, and ordered the guards to draw swords on me, running off - presumably to seek the aid of the Farouk. I offered no resistance, but after a few moments it was clear that they had no intention of attacking me, instead looking nervous and happy to wait for the return of Affiah. I wasn't content to wait, but I also didn't want to hurt them, so I used the ability to transport myself that I had learned from Falcor, instantly appearing in the chamber where I had last seen Falcor. I surprised some warriors there, although they recovered quickly. I had to take a minute to recover my senses properly after such a sudden shift, but I asked as calmly as I could where I might find Falcor. One of the warriors happily offered to take me there.