Editing Efferendil (section)

==Restoring the Glade==

The rest of us were stirring by this point, and Tak asked us to stay calm and not scare off the animals. Something else was about, to, though, as their ears pricked up and they sprinted away. They warned Tak that there were "things" approaching. We carried on the task of clearing weapons and sweeping the glade for any other impurities, but again received a warning of intruders coming - apparently the birds had spoken to Tak about it! We readied ourselves for a fight, and didn't have to wait long.

A small horde of orcs and larger (some ten feet tall) ugly creatures approached from the south, on both sides of the stream that flowed there. There was also what looked like a demon flying above the trees from the west. Tak and I both shouted warnings, and I loosed a bolt, striking the nearest orc. Silanna followed up from behind me, finishing it off, and then put down another one with a second arrow. Tak also targeted the orcs, killing three in quick order! Tak was on the other side of the pool from me, and he dived into the water to swam rapidly across, leaping out to join me. We continued to target the orcs, and their courage quickly failed - they turned and ran. That meant we could focus on the other flank for now.

Streaks of light shot from the demon into Silanna, and she staggered in pain. Tak raised his hand and shouted "Power" in Gnomish, pointing at the demon, and there was an intensely bright flash in the sky. When the light faded there was nothing left; the demon was gone! We engaged the giant creatures next, but struggled to hit them with our first volley. Silanna started to move towards their side of the pool, and Tak shouted at her to get back, wanted to use our ranged advantage for as long as possible. I fired flechettes into one of the giants, and Tak hit the same target with arrows, eventually putting it down. There were plenty more advancing, though.

One of the creatures started to tip rocks into the stream from a large bag on their back; it seemed that they were trying to dam the flow of water. Silanna and I kept up our bow fire, killing one more, but Silanna had moved around to the large tree and was charged down by one of the giants despite putting an arrow into it at close range. Tak struck a couple more with arrows, and I managed to send one to sleep, but it wasn't enough to stop them from bridging the stream and closing with us. Silanna did manage to kill the one that had engaged her in melee, though. As they closed on me, Tak turned and sprinted away, leaping into the water again! I managed to dodge a spear that one thrust at me, and my own blow struck true, but now I was facing them all alone!

Tak was quick to return, though, springing back out of the water and rushing the foe from the flank, looking much angrier! Silanna chanted something and multiple images of herself appeared, making it impossible to tell where the real Silanna was. I managed to kill one foe, but I was completely surrounded so I fed an oak leaf into a new gadget I'd created, firing a cloud of shredded leaf at some of the foe to cause them irritation and distract them. Tak later pointed out that this was quite symbolic, using the glade's natural resource to defend it from attack... I was just trying to survive!

The orcs were advancing again, having regained some courage with their giant allies in front of them, but Silanna killed two with arrows once they emerged from cover. Tak traded blows, taking some damage, and I managed to finish another one off, so we were at least holding our own. The melee was getting a bit mad, though, as there were Silannas everywhere! Tak and I eventually took down a giant foe each, and that was enough to break the will of the few remaining, and they turned to flee. Tak was enraged about the desecration and draining of life from the glade, wanting to hunt them down, but Silanna was able to talk him down before he went too far and he started to seem calmer.

Instead we focused on undoing some of the harm, clearing one of the dams away to help the water flow. Silanna shouted a warning, though, as she heard a rider approaching. They were riding fast, and were soon upon us, but it turned out to be a male elf! He only saw us at the last moment, as he had been looking up at the sky. He drew up sharply, alert but not looking especially hostile. He addressed Silanna in their elf-tongue, asking about the demon. When he learned that the demon was gone he seemed to relax a little and sheathed the swords he had been carrying. He spoke in Common, thankfully, and acknowledged the rest of us. He introduced himself as "Farion", which seemed to excite Tak, who had heard legends about him. He also spoke Gnomish and recognised the Ironcloaks that Silanna and I wore. He wasn't above hard work, though, and agreed to help us remove the last dam, saying that it was important to restore and protect the great tree.

As we worked, he explained that the pool itself was a gate, but there was a blockage somewhere that had cut off the pool from its natural water source. We were joined by more elves as they arrived looking for Farion, and eventually there were about twenty of them and we were able to clean the glade in quick order. He agreed with Tak's concern about the threat that the orcs posed to Fontainver, and said that he would send a messenger to warn them. The elves were also interested in Tak's bow, and he allowed them to try it, but they decided it wasn't for them as it would be too unwieldy to use from horseback. They did offer to replace Silanna's bow, though, which they tactfully described as a bit "basic". Farion explained that they were seeking to reopen the natural gates across the land, and that this was one of them. He was also interested in what we had learned about the mountains where Fontainver once stood. He had heard of Bathomet, who he said fought for all half-folk, not that he was good or ill, but he would fight for those (my?) people. He also confirmed that the Lich King Mercantire Carass still ruled over LockLastar, so I could not find my people there.

Tak was quick to offer to explore the waters below the glade and try to clear whatever blockage might be there. Farion seemed relieved that we were willing to take on the task, and offered Silanna and me some potions that might help us survive underwater. We rested first, needing to recover from the fight, and Tak explored a little on his own. He saw lots of holes and bubbles, but no obvious way through without moving rocks, so we would all have to try together. We entered the water, after drinking some potions. I also created a bubble of air that I put on my head so that I could breathe freely as we explored. There was a large rock at the bottom of the pool that together we were able to lift and move, revealing a hollow that we could enter. At the bottom of that there was a hole that the water was entering, with and increasing current now we had removed an obstruction. We took the plunge and entered, being spun around as we shot through the narrow passage, eventually being spat out the other side into darkness.