Journal - Conquering Fire

The Highest Temple

We knew that we would have to face Sostrol next, the last of the Sarn, but also now a Lord of Fire. Sostrol was the strongest of the Sarn, and to fight him in a place of fire would test us dearly. First we had to reach his realm, and Falcor told me of a temple in the highest place to the southeast of the island, where any world could be accessed with the right mastery over elements. We thought that such an approach would be better than trying to force our way through either the humans where the Sarn ascended from, or the frontline of battle between Air and Fire. We also ruled out Kelditch's temple as it was too difficult to reach.

So Falcor used the tapestry and the burning brazier once more to move us across the islands. We arrived in what we knew was the vicinity of the temple he had spoken of, but we could not be that accurate just using the tapestry. As we traveled, though, I sensed that dweomer was used in an attempt to divert our path to another place. Somehow we were both able to resist, though, and arrived in a snowy landscape as expected. We were enveloped in cloud so thick that we could not see very far, so it was impossible to get our bearings. Falcor hadn't realised that our travel had been contested in some way, so I spend a moment warning him that using the tapestry might not be a safe way to travel in the future.

Without any landmarks visible, we made the assumption that the direction of the wind was coming from the forge to the northwest, so we put the wind to our left and walked what we hoped was northeast, trying to get a sense of whether the land was rising. Fifteen minutes later, having not learned much about the landscape, Falcor warned that he had a sense that we might be being watched. We knew that there were guardians here, and expected to be intercepted at some point, but there was also a chance that the dark elves had followed us. We kept going, but scanned our surroundings for any sign of trouble. It was about another fifteen minutes before Falcor caught a glimpse of movement; it was one of the Guardians, he was sure.

A moment later there was a series of roars as the Guardians burst from the snow behind us, but their focus wasn't on us - they were attacking some dark elves that had been moving towards us. There were more Guardians ahead, running towards us, but we forced ourselves to stay calm and wait, and sure enough they were passing by to join the fight and did not mean us harm. Falcor turned to run with them, aiming to help with the fight, and I thought to do the same but paused as a Guardian shaman stepped out of the cloud to appear right next to me. He bowed slightly, saying "my lady" in high Elvra, before turning his attention to the fight. Falcor had conjured some magic missiles, sending them into a long sword wielding elf that he judged to be the greatest threat (the others all had daggers, although we knew what their poison could do).

I asked the shaman if it would be acceptable for me to join the fight, and he protested slightly, saying that it was their duty to defend me. I said that it would entertain me, and so he asked if I wished for them to withdraw completely. I declined, curious to see how they fought, and hurried to join the fight, drawing my swords. Falcor had already engaged in melee, cutting the one he had already hurt down with a single blow. A fireball exploded behind me as I moved forward, washing over me harmlessly but hurting the shaman. He had managed to dive into the snow to mitigate some of the damage, but his back was still charred and smoking slightly. A dark elf was also engulfed, and burst into flames before dropping dead. I changed from moving to join the fight to trying to help one of the Guardians, healing a little of the damage he had suffered.

I moved forward again, as more dark elves were approaching, without realising it I had moved just in time - fire rained down from the murky sky just behind me! Sadlyu the Guardian I had helped was killed by the flames striking the ground, and the shaman was badly burned, left whimpering in pain and unable to act. I engaged a swordsman, landing a couple of good blows, and Falcor summoned a lightning bolt to strike at the mage just on the edge of my vision, catching another swordsman in the bolt as he did so. The force of the bolt rips holes in both of them and they dropped, lifeless. I finished my foe off with another blow, but Falcor was engaged by a dagger-wielding opponent. Falcor's armour deflected the dagger blow, and he struck at the foe twice, causing the elf's legs to buckle with the power of his blow, and leaving him dead.

The group of Guardians that had been behind us initially were falling, and the dark elves turned on us as we closed, one blow scraping off my armour. Falcor was hit, but thankfully the poison didn't seem to affect him. I cut one down with multiple blows as Falcor finished off his opponent, leaving just one. I struck him twice as the Guardian shaman started chanting over one of the fallen, and finished him off as Falcor moved to help another of the fallen. Falcor was able to heal his wounds and draw out the poison so that he fully recovered, and the shaman was equally successful in reviving the warrior he was tending to.

Falcor moved to another fallen Guardian, but they were beyond his help, so instead he spoke with the shaman. He sought guidance on how to reach the temple, and had the shaman confide in him about how detached we "Gods" are - the cheek! We searched the mages body, as we had a tendency to lose them in our usual encounters with the dark elves, and found a couple of spheres we knew were part of their technique to move between worlds. One was a deep fiery red shot through with yellow, and the other green shot through with black marbling that was moving constantly. There was also a dagger that contained dweomer; although the blade was plain, the handle had organic elements woven through it in a strange design. He also carried a couple of potions: one was a sealed glass vial with a viscous, deep green liquid; the other was an unmarked metal flask, stoppered but definitely containing something.

The shaman commented on the red globe, seeing a clear link with Igsol, the Lord of Fire... was this the true lord of the fire realm? Falcor took the dagger, although we didn't know what it might be capable of. The potions we divided; one had some kind of healing properties, and Falcor took that, whilst the other offered protection against fire. That would be particularly useful, we thought, and as the most vulnerable I took that one. Falcor spoke with the Guardian shaman again, but he suddenly snapped his head around and stared intently for at least ten seconds. He said that the temple was under attack! We told him to go, and that we would follow as quickly as we could. Falcor was tossed a potion by the shaman to help with his wounds, but then he loped quickly out of sight. Falcor drank the potion down and his wounds were fully healed in an instant. We set off, following the tracks that the Guardians had left in the snow.

We eventually broke through the cloud tops and could see the temple up ahead of us. There were some huge blue-skinned giants fighting the Guardians at the base of the slope the temple sat upon. We could also see some dark elves on a hill to our left, past an unnatural patch of cloud that clung to the ground. It didn't look like the Guardians could hold the giants for long; the giants were about fifteen feet tall and towered over them! As we moved forwards, a white dragon looped above the cloud, some way to our left, and one of the elves launched a fireball at it. Falcor, on seeing this, transformed into his dragon form, his kit clutched in one claw.

The cloud was definitely not moving with the wind, so we suspected dweomer of some kind. Falcor headed towards it, but climbing to pass over it. As he nearer the hill beyond the cloud, a lightning bolt shot out from the cloud towards him, thankfully ending just a little short as he picked up speed after his climb. Seeing this, I turned towards the cloud, suspecting that it was hiding something, or someone, important. I saw one of the Guardians cut in two by the huge axe of one of the giants - they were seriously outclassed here. Falcor saw the other dragon erupt near another giant, quickly disappearing back into the snow with it, leaving no trace behind. In a moment, though, he reached the dark elves on the hill and breathed fire down onto them. There were a couple of white-winged creatures near them, but they fled in fear before Falcor had even reached them. The damage he caused melted the snow and left the elves badly burned, but it seemed they had all survived somehow. One was definitely cowering in fear, unable to act, though.

I headed into the cloud, but just on the edge of it I suddenly realised that there was a misty flying creature right in front of me. It was quite small, but the beating of its wings seemed to be refreshing the cloud, which explained why it would not disperse. I screeched to a halt, dropping my bow, and drew swords to engage it. The foe had an unnatural control over the elements, it seemed, especially as we associated them with fire and not ice or water. I sliced blades into the creature, and in response it turned its head right round and vomited green shit at me. My eyes and nose were streaming and painful, but I was able to blink away the worst of it and keep my bearings.

On the hill near Falcor, one elf tried to rouse the frightened mage, but without any success, so he drew his bow and yelled something to his companions instead. Falcor wheeled round and then slammed his body into the slope, catching three elves underneath him. One was crushed to death immediately, and the others were pinned and unable to move. I was readying a strike at the misty creature again when fire exploded around me. The creature was vaporized, but the dweomer washed over me harmlessly. The part of the cloud between me and the centre quickly started to disperse, and I could see a wall of four giants in front of a couple of sword-wielding elves that stood back-to-back. I wasn't sure I could win this fight!

I called on my mysterious patron to give me the power to dispel evil, and also flashed a quick image to Falcor of what I had found. I received a response from an unfamiliar mind of being pinned to a rock and molested by giants in a hot, dusty red realm. I retorted that I had already been there and it wasn't to my liking. Falcor took off again, killing another elf with a flick of his tail as he did so, and stretched forward to bite the archer in front of him. The power of his jaws almost killed them outright, and snapped his bow, but he released him and kept climbing. Falcor flew towards the cloud, and me, just as I was surrounded by the four giants. My patron's power protected me as I kept moving forward, making it incredibly hard for the giants to land a blow on me (thankfully). I knew it was of limited duration, though, and was grateful to see Falcor fly low overhead, roaring a challenge.

I ran into the cloud, barrelling past the dark elf swordsmen, and quite by accident found the mage I was looking for right in front of me! I kept up my speed and deliberately charged into him, sending him sprawling to the ground. I staggered to a stop just past where he had fallen and found a massive wall of icy blizzard just next to me. I sensed that this was a transition between places, and suspected the mage had opened it to summon the attacking force. Falcor had wheeled around again by now, and once more breathed fire at the foes below him. Two of the giants were consumed by fire, utterly destroyed by it, and the other two were badly burned. It should have been no surprise, I suppose, that they had a weakness to fire.

I sheathed my swords and reached for Kelditch's staff, thankfully finding that I could instantly dismiss the portal with a thought. The remaining giants let out a great roar as I did so, being cut off from their home. Falcor flew into to the cloud, looking to aid me against the mage, and saw the heads of the giants first. Having a target, he used my own mental image to gauge where the mage would be and lunged his head into the mist. As he got close he could see his target, and bit down on the mage, following up with a claw. I turned and cut into the mage's neck with Aramat, killing him. By this time I had been hit a few times, but the stoneskin dweomer that Falcor had prepared me with before we left protected me from harm.

Falcor clawed at one of the dark elves, and his target seemed to be struck with terror when he realised what he was facing. I engaged in a protracted fight with the other swordsman, eventually managing to best him and cut him down. Others had appeared from the mist, though, so I engaged another in melee.

Falcor keeps clawing at one elf, and I land a succession of hits on another, but not connecting well enough to finish him. Clouds starting to dissipate now. Falcor finishes off the elf with his claws. I fell another elf, leaving one elf and the two giants. Dweomer still helping me out there. Hit and feel the bite of a longsword this time, but giants still unable to land a blow. Falcor's wings buffet one of the giants, but doesn't affect him much. I finish another elf, and turn attention to giants. I hit a giant, sending it back to its own plane. One left... but three more giants coming from our flank!

Falcor bites the giant I was engaged with, killing it, then grabs me and takes to the air, heading for the temple. A scary amount of giants were converging on it, and another unnatural cloud suggested there might be another mage as well.