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?