Journal - Efferendil, a Glade and the Tree

March to Spring

We set off one morning, early so there was still a chill in the air and foggy patches clung to the trees around us, without much wind to disperse them. The forest was initially easy going and we made good progress before noon. By now the forest had started to close in, slowing us down a little; at least Takeda was not wearing his armour to slow us down further. There was more growth on the forest floor as well, providing more cover but also more risk of attack without warning. We stopped for a bite of lunch and Rhion circled around us to check for predators, but found nothing.

We continued, starting to descend at first a gentle slope, but growing steeper and with spurs of rock becoming more frequent. On a particularly steep section Rhion called a halt, having heard creatures climbing up the slope below us. I asked Essere to fly up and ahead to see what was making the noise, and through her I saw ogres climbing the path - no wonder we had heard them so clearly! We prepared for battle, with most of our party hiding in the undergrowth; Baldir, though, stopped to kneel and pray and I stood casually in the centre of the path as bait for my friends.

As the first ogres appeared a little way down the path, Takeda loosed arrows, hitting with one and causing the beast to let out a loud roar of pain. Baldir caused the undergrowth to writhe around and grasp at the creatures, stopping them from approaching. I conjured a cloud of noxious gases, but I had reckoned on them charging into it and now they were immobilised the effect was lost somewhat. Whilst they could no longer see me due to the cloud, I carefully stepped behind Baldir and took cover behind a big rock. There was a noise from our right, suggesting more nearby, so I dispelled the cloud to allow Takeda and Rhion to deal with the trapped enemy. Takeda moved forward, but as he did so another ogre crashed through a bush to his right, charging at him. He managed to hit it with one arrow before it closed the distance, and Rhion also hit it with an arrow... but then 'accidentally' stuck an arrow into Takeda's shoulder! Despite this Takeda shrugged off the pain and finished off the ogre that had charged him, moving too quickly to be hit again.

At this point I noticed some promising herbs and mushrooms by the rock I was hiding behind, so I paused to gather what I could easily reach. Another cry from the right made me look up; another two ogres were charging through the undergrowth towards Takeda and Rhion! They both loosed arrows at the new threat, with Rhion landing a couple of hits, but Takeda was driven back with a strong blow to his midriff. Rhion rushed to his defence, and I conjured some magic missiles to strike the other one. Rhion had drawn his swords, slicing the hamstring of Takeda's attacker, and then slitting its throat as it collapsed to one knee. Baldir muttered a prayer to protect himself from evil. The other ogre struck Rhion, who slashed back weakly without doing much damage, but Takeda bought him a moment by hitting the creature with an arrow at point blank range. Rhion used the advantage to sink both his swords into its chest and it collapsed.

Through Essere I could see that there were at least two more out there, but they seemed reluctant to close with us, leaving only the entangled ones on the path. I shouted to Baldir that Takeda was injured and needed assistance. It was bad timing, as the undergrowth that had erupted into life and grabbed the foe just as suddenly withdrew to the sides of the path and stopped thrashing around. The ogres, though, backed off rather than advancing on us. Unfortunately Baldir, ever the psychopath, advanced towards them and (although not actively striking at them) threatened with his morning star. Unsurprisingly the foremost ogre decided to take a couple of swings at him, hitting solidly with one, and Rhion rushed to his defence, landing a strong blow in return. Takeda put a couple of arrows in its chest, felling it, and the last one fled.

We regrouped at the side of the path, and eventualy convinced Baldir to actually help Takeda (he used a potion rather than calling on Odin). He did have to tend to his own wounds as well, although in my opinion these could have been avoided! I asked Essere to sweep the area again, as Baldir was suspicious that we had been victorious too easily. This time I had to respect his pessimistic assessment, as it seemed the ogres were moving a captive past us on a parallel path about a thousand yards from the one we were using. They were to our right, which would explain the direction of some the attacks we experienced, and carried a body or prisoner slung on a pole between two of them.

Baldir immediately, and without a word, sprinted off in their general direction, attempting a bow shot on the run but with predictable lack of accuracy. Takeda was just behind him, having better luck with his arrows and at least getting their attention. Rhion and I, meanwhile, debated just leaving the warmongers to their fate and continuing on our own path more peacefully. We decided that Takeda was only trying to help Baldir and his sense of honour prevented him from walking away, so for his sake we should help. Takeda, now close enough to be effective with his bow, felled one of the ogres with a couple of arrows. The two carrying the pole had not stopped, though, and Baldir continued to chase them, oblivious to two more that charged at Takeda. I arrived as they set upon him, landing a hit as he struggled to avoid them both.

Takeda responded brilliantly, putting arrows into one foe as he twisted and jumped back, killing it outright. I conjured a sticky web to slow the other one down and buy him some time. Baldir finally caught up with his targets, hitting one with his morning star from behind. Rhion and Takeda were both landing hits on the ogre, but it kept shrugging them off and Takeda was injured again. Baldir was now engaged, the two ogres having thrown the pole to one side and turned to fight him, but Baldir struck the injured one down with a hefty blow to the head, making it a one-on-one fight. Rhion was the one to land the killing blow on Takeda's attacker, but it was certainly a team effort. We could now go to the aid of Baldir, although he was quite far ahead of us.

Baldir was hit by a glancing blow, and Rhion's first arrow didn't seem to bother the last ogre. Baldir managed to land a return blow as we arrived on the path. As the ogre was the only threat, and was definitely busy, I started to unwrap the package that had been slung under the pole between them. Rhion put another arrow in the foe, and Takeda jogged past it, putting an arrow in its rear. Baldir, though, was hit again and I wondered whether his hot headedness would get him killed this time. Takeda finished the ogre off before it came to that, hardly able to miss from his position behind the beast.

Meanwhile I had uncovered a surprising find - it was the lady Meghan once more! We had already rescued her from ogres once, and now we had done so again. Baldir, despite his wounds, immediately came to her aid and called on Odin to heal her. She came to, speaking feverishly about having to speak to Milai. We were not sure whether to trust her, given her second appearance so far from the first, but she admitted that she was not an elf, but a nymph; apparently her true form would be damaging to us so she chose a form that would not be threatening. Given the ferocity of the fighting, and Meghan's poor health, we elected to make camp despite not having travelled a full day yet. Baldir conducted an augury, casting the runes to see whether taking Meghan with us in search of the tree would be for good or ill, and when he was finished he was adamant that taking her with us would be the will of the Gods.

In the morning Baldir healed more of her wounds, and in return she conjured a hearty breakfast out of nowhere, which I was certainly grateful for. She said once again that she needed to get a message to Milai, and that she sought to protect us all. With Baldir sure of her friendship, we returned to the path with Rhion guiding us once more. After a steep, but short, drop we came across a small clearing that was in a natural bowl surrounded by rising ground on three sides. It was leaf strewn, and the path continued on the other side; it was clearly an old water course or one that formed in wetter weather. There were some carcasses and sacks on one side of the clearing, and the odour suggested that this might be where the ogres had slept.

Ever cautious, before venturing down I asked Essere to fly up and see whether there was any danger near. Sure enough I was vindicated when she spied some dark elves approaching along the path ahead, near to a stream. There were about half a dozen and they did not seem to be aware of our presence as yet. Rhion, meanwhile, was in the clearing and rooting quickly through five sacks and a backpack to see what might be of use. I moved forward slightly and warned the others that danger approached, and we then took cover. We were clearly not stealthy enough, though, as arrows whistled towards Rhion and Baldir shortly afterwards, one hitting Baldir and causing a nasty wound. He slid down low behind some rocks, pinned down for now. None of us could see the foe, but they were almost certainly working their way around us.

Rhion moved first, advancing forward and taking a glancing hit from an arrow for his efforts. Takeda joined me, quaffing a potion that seemed to quickly heal his wounds, and I warned him of one that Essere had spotted a couple of hundred yards to our right. Rhion was hit again, thankfully not too seriously, and seeing that we needed to do something to break out, Takeda charged in the direction I had indicated. Rhion fell back to my position at the same time, hoping for similar direction. Takeda flushed out his foe, possibly just by being extremely noisy as he crashed through the brush, and they exchanged arrow fire at point blank range. Takeda bested the foe, though, dropping him quickly. Baldir decided on a similar course of action, charging in the direction the arrow fire was coming from to the front, spotting the foe and giving chase as they ran. Takeda charged in their direction, took aim and brought him down with one shot.

I used my link with Essere to point out another dark elf to Rhion. He was hit, but managed to hit his attacker back and I conjured some magic missiles to strike at him as well. Takeda came charging to the rescue again, working his way behind him and killing him swiftly, but then was struck by two arrows himself! Essere spotted another foe trying to move around our flank, and I indicated the direction to Rhion. Takeda and Baldir started searching the woods, moving forward cautiously, and another arrow struck Baldir a glancing blow. Takeda was also hit, but Baldir spotted the movement and charged into combat. He was slashed with a swiftly drawn sword for his efforts, leaving him barely able to stand. I rushed forward to help him, although I could not land a blow with my staff. Takeda joined us, but the elf twisted away from both of his arrows; it seemed he was leading a charmed life! It could not last, though, and even I was able to land a blow on him as Takeda hit and Baldir finished him off. Baldir embraced us as saviours, which was bloody annoying as he was pissing blood all over the place and it would take ages to get out.

Takeda swigged at a healing potion again. Baldir was apparently too busy chalking a rough eye of Odin onto the wound that killed the elf. It was becoming increasingly obvious why his temple was so keen for him to disappear into the forest on a quest he was unlikely to return from. But the battle was not over yet. Meghan called from up the slope, back the way we had come from, yelling "they're here!" We all ran up towards the sound of her cry, and Takeda and Rhion were hit with arrows from ahead. Suddenly a tree's branch bent down and wrapped itself around one of the foe, dragging him from cover for us all to see. Rhion took the opportunity to put an arrow into him. His companion tried to come to his aid, so Takeda and Rhion engaged him instead.

While this excitement was going on, Essere had returned and was quite insistent that she was fed up of feeding on bugs and that a nice piece of liver would be just the kind of reward she should get for being so useful at finding these dark elves in the forest. I quietly moved over to where Takeda had killed the first attacker, slitting his belly open for Essere and taking a moment to grab some gold and a small gem from his purse. His fur waistcoat looked quite warm, and well suited to the weather at the moment, so I took that as well. Takeda managed to land a headshot on the last moving attacker, killing him instantly, and Baldir subdued the held one and removed his weapons and valuables.

We tied and dragged the prisoner back to the clearing, and then Baldir set about trying to heal the many wounds my companions had sustained (I was fine). We decided that we really needed to rest and that this would be a good place to defend if we were disturbed, so made a little encampment to rest and made sure to search all the bodies for anything of use. In the morning, ready to set off, we left the prisoner bound by the hands but able to move around, reasoning that he should be able to escape after a while but not before we were well on our way.

As the forest had proved so dangerous, Takeda elected to wear his full armour as we set off, which meant a much more comfortable pace for the rest of us. That said, the forest was becoming more difficult to pass through, with the trees closer together and roots and stones forcing us to watch our step on the path. At least the ground was now level. After a while Rhion noticed something moving off to our right, but the forest was too dense to make out what. We stopped together, and I asked Essere to take a look for us. As she rose up into the air, though, magic missile streaked into her, causing her to cry with pain and fly straight back to me! She was hurt badly and I cried a warning. The bushes rustled on either side of the path, and Takeda charged off to the right with Rhion, bow drawn. They discovered two creatures that seemed to be insect like and not particularly fierce, but after they left another five emerged onto the path around the rest of us! I was bitten and found that I had to force my movements, with everything harder than usual. I still managed to launch magic missiles in my defence, but it was not enough to fell one. Takeda, though, had killed the two creatures they had rushed, but a massive hulk of a beast emerged from the ground, stopping him in his tracks. Rhion leapt forward, slashing with both swords, but then they were both struck by a sudden confusion.

Essere lashed out at our attackers, stinging one which fell paralysed to the ground. I quaffed the potion that I had been given back in Fontainver, allowing me to fly up above the melee, although I received a few hits as the things lashed at my legs. Essere quickly joined me, staying on my shoulders now we were clear. Takeda was attacked by a couple of spider eel things that also emerged from the ground, fortunately this threat cut through his confusion and he retaliated, killing one but being struck by the other before he managed to kill that too. Meghan killed a couple of our attackers, with Baldir fighting two. Rhion's confusion seemed to just urge him into attacking more violently, hacking at the great beast before him until it could endure no more and collapsed. I conjured a stinking cloud of vapours to envelop the two fighting Baldir, causing them to retch and stagger back unable to do anything more.

Just as things seemed to be improving, another massive creature rose from the ground next to the path, leaving a gaping hole behind it. As usual, rather than seizing the opportunity to get away before we were attacked, Baldir instead charged to fight this new threat. If not for Meghan I would have gladly left him to it, but instead I flew up above the stinking cloud, using it as a defensive layer below me. From my elevated position I could hear the sound of fighting, and caught sight of Takeda's armour flashing in the undergrowth, but could not see exactly what was going on. I conjured a flaming figure to mock-fight the massive hulk in an attempt to distract it from battering Baldir to paste. Meghan shouted a warning for Baldir not to turn around; I could not quite see her through the vapours below me, but there was a flash of energy, perhaps light but I could not be sure my senses were deceiving me, and the creatue we faced fell dead instantly. The glamour disappeared as quickly as it had arisen, but unbeknown to us Rhion had run up to aid us and caught a quick sight of Meghan in her full natural glory, causing him to pass out on the spot. Meanwhile Takeda killed whatever he was fighting, so the immediate threat was over.

Baldir ran to Rhion's side as soon as Meghan said it was safe to do so. Takeda joined us, and killed the two remaining creatures so that they could not threaten us when their nausea passed. Baldir rubbed keoghtones onto Rhion, healing his physical wounds but not reviving him. Meghan warned that the sight of her true form could permanently damage weak minds, and that he might never awaken. I returned to the ground and joined Baldir, although I was lost as to what we might do for Rhion. Baldir healed the worst of our wounds so that we could defend ourselves if necessary. Essere was badly weakened from the initial attack, so I took the decision to reveal her presence to the party. Takeda was cautiously welcoming, convinced of her existence when she gently licked his hand. Meghan had heard of such creatures, although they were very rare. Baldir refused to believe that she existed and Essere was too frightened by his slightly unstable nature to go near him, so annoyingly he refused to heal her 'imaginary' wounds. Takeda graciously allowed me to use a healing draft to revive her, and now I found myself in his debt.

Takeda and Baldir decided to venture into the underground lair of the creatures we had fought, either to find a place to shelter or to see if there was anything of value. The tunnels they found were pretty bare, except for a few skeletons picked clean of flesh, and one proved unstable, with earth collapsing onto Takeda - thankfully Baldir was able to dig and pull him out with only minor damage. But they eventually came to some kind of living chamber with their hoarded treasure. There was too much coin to carry, and they ended up picking out the best items and carrying them back to hand up to us. A scroll with a spell that allowed gentle manipulation of the mind was nice, and Baldir found a shield with Odin's eye on that made him very happy (cue "it was the will of the Gods" type speech). A nice short sword was also a highlight (although not for me of course). We camped and rested, hoping that Rhion might recover and not sure what to do if he didn't. Thankfully by morning he had opened his eyes, then responded to voices and finally seemed to fully recover his senses.

As Rhion was physically hale, we were quickly able to continue our journey, working our way through quite thick growth that had encroached on the path. It was slightly warmer now, although the morning chill could still be felt, and the ground was damp and soft underfoot. Meghan was sometimes able to assist by moving the larger plants aside to aid our progress, but we spent a full day moving like this without any clear idea of the distance we had travelled. We stopped for the night, clearing a small space to make camp, heartened by the fact we had not been attacked for a whole day! Rhion was concerned with the rate of progress, though, saying that we needed to reach the tree before a certain night or it would move and we would lose our chance.

I was on first watch, which passed without incident, but on Takeda and Baldir's watch they heard scratching and scuttling nearby. They roused us, but as they were doing so a large insectoid creature erupted from the ground beside us. I shouted at Takeda to target it, as his back was turned, and sent magic missiles into its body, but it seized Meghan and started to drag her back and down. Another creature came up on the other side of us, grabbing Rhion and stabbing him in multiple locations as it did so. He managed to stab it with his sword as he was grabbed, but it didn't seem to slow the thing down. I tried conjuring a stinking cloud but that didn't seem to affect it, so I then forced it to fall into a deep sleep. This worked, but sent Rhion to sleep as well. Baldir landed a hit as I ran past and slapped Rhion, bringing him quickly back to alertness. Turning back to the threat, I threw one of the darts I had found in the snake creature's lair; it split into a dozen darts with a loud buzzing sound, striking home but not bringing the creature down. Rhion closed quickly and slashed at the creature still dragging Meghan, again doing damage but not felling it. Baldir was hurt as the thing lashed out, collapsing to the ground, but it was quickly killed as Takeda switched to bow and Rhion continued to slash at it.

Takeda knelt at Baldir's side and quickly applied Keoghtones to his wounds, bringing him back to consciousness. He was ungrateful, having missed his chance to go to Valhalla, and I pointed out that he was likely to have plenty more chances given our journey so far! He at least tended to Meghan and Rhion's wounds without complaint. We decided not to linger any more and gathered our meagre possessions before moving on. We walked for another full day without incident, with the woodland growing less dense towards the end of the day. Darkness was nearly upon us when we heard the sound of water moving ahead; we had reached the river at last. Rhion explained that we would have to cross in the canopy of the trees, and that he must seek the right place to ascend.

The rest of us sat down to rest, and smoke a little, as Rhion moved around the trees, which were massive here. He stopped and looked up sharply at the sound of a birdcall, then gestured to Meghan and they both began to climb a tree to see where it had come from. They seemed to leap and run up the tree, and I did not think that I could have followed in their climb even at a slow pace. Thankfully they returned just as quickly and said that they had made contact with an elf and now knew where to cross. Rhion went to meet with them as I began to assist Takeda in removing his armour once more.

An elf named Merrial met Rhion at the top of the tree bridge, and he gave the dire news that drow and gith had surrounded the glade that we sought and desecrated its natural beauty. He also warned that we should cross quickly before the drow ships came down river, but that there were safe places on the other side we could rest at. We were lowered ropes and assisted to climb to the mass of intertwined branches at the highest levels, stepping carefully as directed until we emerged onto a massive natural bridge, with the branches seemingly knotted around themselves to provide a safe walking surface. A warning shout went up as we crossed of ships approaching and we hurried to the other side where, thankfully, a door opened within the trunk of the tree. We entered to find a stairwell illuminated in soft starlight, jogging down so that we could get away from the river in time. We exited at the base of the tree and carried on jogging into the forest for about an hour, enough for darkness to envelop us.

Eventually we stopped and a short man, matching the legends of halfling folk in stature, casually met us whilst puffing enthusiastically on a pipe. "You are the travellers we have heard so much about!" His greeting was as unusual as his appearance, although it was no surprise that the elves could pass messages faster than our travel. He introduced himself as Hallum of Westernas (in the deep south of Amorsland). We snatched a quick meal before setting off once more, for about a quarter hour this time. We had to follow closely in the dark, but suddenly found ourselves in a large flowering part of the forest with numerous little lights hanging from the trees all around us, once invisible they were either shielded by dweomer or by clever design. These must be elf houses! The beautiful sight was cut short as Hallum led us quickly into an opening in a tree and then down slightly into a huge dining hall.

The hall was filled with all kinds of races of free folk, and rather temptingly with food and drink aplenty! There were even humans of an oriental look, immediately catching Takeda's attention and he wasted no time in greeting them and asking about their heritage, I think in an attempt to recruit them, although it was a strange way to do so. They said that they had fled from Vorsaykorai and were "Ronin", but that they would follow Takeda if he were to regain his lost standard. I struggled to follow the logic of these strange folk.

We spent a fair part of the night eating, drinking and conversing with the various folk gathered here. It was nice to relax, but as we did so the weariness of having been on the trail and all the fighting started to take its toll and we were earlier to bed than we expected. We were awoken early by the sound of horns and elven melodies being sung from the trees. It was beautiful, although it might have been more so about an hour later. Cries of "she's here" started to reach us, and we realised that this was not a normal wakeup call but that someone approached. An elven rider burst into the clearing, blowing his horn, and announced that Lady Malenwe had come to join in the battle ahead. The drow were to the north and all were to assemble for battle immediately.

Battle for the Glade

Takeda, unsurprisingly, was eager to join battle. Rhion started to marshall us like were were a part of this army - possibly feeling somehow responsible for the loss of the glade and wanting to put things right. Baldir I didn't even bother asking, as any chance to throw his life away battling the enemy seemed to excite him. I was, it seemed, the only sane one that thought joining in a massive battle was a stupid thing to do. I stubbornly resisted marching in line with the rest of them - I was not a part of this army! There were a little over a dozen halflings, more than a score of mounted oriental warriors, and some fifty dwarves with us. The rest of the army, ahead and behind were elves from the Efferendil.

It was slow progress with the numbers involved, but only about an hour's march before the forest started to noticeably thin out and we were slowly moved into something resembling a line of battle. Lady Malenwe then made an appearance in person, riding along the line and giving a rousing speech urging us to free the forest of the evil occupiers (although her words seemed to appeal to the elves and the halflings more than the rest of us). She was stunning to look at, and her voice melodious, though so I didn't mind appearing to be enraptured. I quickly paid attention, though, when she spoke of the Men of Farass, who had marched south to Haveril - it seemed odd to divide their strength, and knowing that there was a strong oriental force at Vorsaykorai I feared that they would suffer great losses. Her final words spoke of offering the enemy no quarter, which seemed at odds with the elven way of treating prisoners. It was as if the world was going mad, and me with it here on a battlefield!

As the army assembled we detached ourselves from forming up and instead looked for an opportunity to break through to the glade itself. The army started its advance, and the tactics of our part of the line seemed clear enough - the dwarves would be the shock troops, advancing in a wedge into the enemy line, with other infantry following up closely so that they were not surrounded. Horse archers exchanged fire with drow archers, and also surged to assist any part of the line that showed weakness. Heavier cavalry, although there was little of it, looked for exposed flanks or harassed units to hinder their advance. We followed behind for now, which suited me, but my churning gut anticipated the time that we would have to make our way forward.

Explosions of fire and concentrated arrow fire, quickly followed by bellowed war cries made it obvious when battle was truely joined, and progress was painfully slow, if we were really making any at all. Rhion for once was keen to get into the fight, moving up slightly to the left of the dwarves and pushing his way forward. Baldir was quick to follow, calling on Odin to entangle some of the enemy to the left flank to make it easier to move forward. Meghan also moved up, although not as far as Rhion who had engaged in melee with a few enemy troops that had pushed into the infantry line, killing one before it noticed the new threat. Takeda moved up with his bow, only engaging at point blank range to minimise the risk to allies, and put two of the enemy down at once. Not wishing to get that close to the front, but wanting to help, I caused some of the enemy heavy infantry to fall asleep, allowing the dwarves to advance slightly until the ranks could reform ahead of them.

We continued to move forward as more of the enemy fell to our allies, and Baldir again entangled those to our flank as we passed his previous line of defence. Takeda put another two down with arrows, and Baldir could hold himself back no longer, charging into the line and bashing the brains out of the nearest foe. I put a stinking cloud a little ahead of the dwarves, stopping enemy reinforcements filling any gaps in their front. Rhion, Baldir and Takeda each killed another foe and we felt the momentum of our advance starting to make a difference. Meghan raised a wall of thorny growth to our flank as we once again moved past Baldir's defences, a good sign of our progress. We were getting closer to the tip of the wedge now, narrowing the front between the dwarves and the line of dweomer-created defences. Takeda, Baldir and Rhion were making a real difference, killing more of the enemy as their line grew thicker, but Takeda had to check his fire as he also killed an elf that moved in front of his target. The melee was swirling madly as individual duels to the death were fought and often interrupted by one or the other side getting help. The foe was fighting hard now, but we realised it was out of desperation as we were close to breaking through their line completely.

Suddenly the enemy just seemed to disintegrate, with most falling as they were overrun, and a few running while they were able. I even managed to finish one off as we surged forward quickly - as much because I was forced forward by the ranks behind us as it was any conscious decision to charge. It made more sense to rush forward than get pinned down trying to fight the last few defenders, and somehow I found myself behind the enemy lines with Meghan, the others needing to finish their opponent off before they could disengage. I let out a cry, jumping into the air, letting our allies know that we had broken the line and hopefully giving them a boost of energy. Takeda rallied to the call, joining us and urging us on.

We jogged forward with Rhion and Baldir just behind. The pace was easy as the ground sloped gently downhill, but the scene was devastating; ash surrounded us and everything had been burned to the ground. We were approaching what had once been a pool, but was now just cracked earth and rock. We could see a set of trees standing in the distance, though, and glimmers of green between the trunks... this must be the glade, and it was probably not really on the Prime which was why it still stood. Unfortunately there was also a winged, vaguely humanoid but vulture-headed demon standing between us and the glade some nine or ten feet tall, and I think it had seen us.

I conjured a wall of fog and stayed near it, ready to hide if necessary, and sure enough the demon took flight and headed rapidly towards us. Baldir called on Odin to protect Takeda from evil, just in time as the demon swooped down at us, raking the ground and trying to bite but missing us all. We were equally ineffective, but as the thing beat its wings to stop its rapid flight Rhion and Takeda managed to pierce its hide with arrows. Now that it was close it raked Baldir and bit Rhion, doing significant damage, although Takeda put another couple of arrows into it and I quickly stepped into the fog before it decided to take a swipe at me. It raked Baldir again, but as it dipped its head towards Rhion again he put a sword through its neck and it thrashed around screeching before disappearing completely.

With the path now apparently clear, I left the safety of the fog and we hurried towards the trees ahead. As we got close we passed the stumps of a ring of trees that would have surrounded the inner glade until they were cut down and burned. The inner ring, now we were close, seemed incredibly tall. The bark had been singed on the sides facing outwards, but were otherwise untouched by the flames. We walked slowly around to what Rhion assured us was the western side, and he looked closely at each tree as we circled around. Rhion stopped, apparently satisfied that we were in the right place and uttered a short phrase in an elven tongue, causing a shimmer and then a gate to appear between the trees. Beyond the gate was a solitary, massive tree - this was our goal.

The Tree

We crossed the threshold of the gate and suddenly found ourselves within a short wooden corridor. The walls contained images of all the Norse gods carved into the wood (or shaped from it, as there were no signs of the carving and only smooth surfaces). As we moved around they seemed to shift so that they were always watching us, which was slightly unnerving. At the far end of the corridor, about thirty feet away, was a stylised tree (Yggdrasil as Baldir's book would have it) and Odin and his wife on either side in relief, all arranged about an archway. Behind us was carved a great dragon, which I guessed symbolised the coming of Ragnarak. Baldir, of course, was ecstatic and praying madly due to being in such a holy place.

Beyond the archway was a thirty foot square room with a pedestal at the far end on which was sat an orb - the palantir I had seen so much about in my dreams. On the wall behind it was a carved image of a gate just like the one we had entered through, and before it on the floor was an elaborate pentagram. To the left of all this, near the wall, was another pedestal with an open book upon it, and to the right a vast collection of scrolls, apparently neatly stacked by topic. Knee-high braziers were set upon the points of the pentagram, and stood ready to be lit. The ceiling was a half dusk dark blue with stars arranged in constellations depicting a dozen gods and runes associated with them. The walls were beautifully carved, like the corridor, and completely dust free.

As Rhion entered the room the gate opposite shimmered slightly and a light seemed to glow from its surface, the sky turned to a pink/yellow and the stars faded slowly from view. Takeda moved towards the book and I towards the palantir, leaving Baldir at the entrance still praying. I immediately reached out and touched the smooth surface, and it seemed to react to my presence. I heard voices, and saw a purple light; Mephrass? Was this intelligence gathered by Wallorin? So he knew of the attack that would come, but did he know it would be his death?

Meghan had been promised the chance to send a message to Milai, and Baldir suggested that he try to contact Father Dafydd as they had met often and he might have a better chance of making the connection. He stepped forward and placed his hands on the palantir, concentrating. Again the palantir reacted to touch, sparkling silver, and the gate also glowed... and then so did Baldir, which was a little worrying! However he was focused on Father Dafydd and it was working. He saw a massive army approaching a great city (Gos we were later to learn, in Everinstar) that had been ravaged by war. As he focused he felt as if he were swooping down towards a group of figures clearly discussing strategy and afforded the respect of leaders. Father Dafydd was amongst them and Baldir landed on his shoulder. All those around him looked startled and wary, but Dafydd saw a raven, a messenger of Odin, and saw this as a good omen. Baldir spoke, through the raven, and quickly outlined that we needed to speak and it concerned Wallorin's tree and artifacts and that Takeda, a relation of Lanzi was with them. Dafydd quickly cut him off, asking whether we had a palantir, and then saying to stop this communication and await a response.

Although this seemed short, I had anticipated caution as I knew from my own dreams that conversations in palantirs could be overheard. We did not have to wait long when an oriental voice called to Takeda through the palantir - this must be the great mage himself, Lanzi! Takeda, following our previous use of the artifact, placed his hands on the palantir and was immediately granted sight of Lanzi despite the vast distance between us. Takeda was our way of proving we were truely who we said we were, as he was able to speak of ancestry with Lanzi that the rest of us did not understand but seemed to satisfy him. We passed on what information we could on the situation in Amorsland, and also spoke of Wallorin's research. We had found a description of the gates and how they worked as understood by Wallorin himself, and it was a very useful summary of all that was know about them and their use. I took a copy of these notes, and then (with Odin's power through Dafydd) we were able to physically hand them over to Lanzi through a portal that closed the distance between us to a mere step for just a minute. We were warned, though, not to pass through ourselves as we might never get back. Meghan was also able to pass her information to Milai, and when we were done we all felt that we had gained some respect from this white council.

Takeda, now getting used to the palantir, next attempted to scry for his standard. He saw a large hall with a dozen arched windows. The ten pillars between these windows carried images of the gods - oriental on one side of the room and Norse on the other, facing each other. I recognised Odin, Frigga, Thor, Hel and Loki, but not their oriental equivalents. There was a raised platform at one end of the room with a dozen standards, including Takeda's, arranged behind a low oriental style table. A samurai was kneeling before an elf (Mercantire) and the elf addressed him as "Haru-san", asking how the battle went. He answered that it went well, with the bridge at Haverel secured and forced moving east, pushing the men of Farass back. Another army was ready to march south to Locklastar. It was clear to Takeda that the samurai was not happy having to play the role of subordinate. The image suddenly broke and was replaced with a dark, cold passage lit only by a hooded lantern in the hands of a dwarf. He talked in whispers to his companions, more dwarves and a single oriental monk, shushing anyone who raised their voice. They were on a mission to help someone, but it was not clear who. The image changed again, showing rolling plains with a river, then land rising to a mesa with a castle on top (Vorsaykorai?) Takeda could make out, from this high angle, a small track winding up the side of the mountain below the tower to the right of the of the castle entrance. The track seems to stop suddenly below the castle... perhaps a hidden entrance to the fortress.

For now we were done, although we would spend some time going through everything in this room and the items we had found on our journey to see what might be of worth to us. We returned to the glade outside to find that the battle had been won for good. Meghan summoned sunlight to the glade, and started to enlist the help of the elves to begin the slow healing process that would restore the glade to life. We were to spend some time here resting, learning and identifying items before starting our next journey. We had learned a lot, and the chance to reflect on what we had done (and study the scrolls of Wallorin) helped me to grow my knowledge of dweomer and produce even more varied and surprising effects.

Eventually Rhion warned us that we would have to move on if we were to make use of the tree, because it was due to move with the coming of Spring. We entered in the same way, without trouble, and prepared the gate (using Wallorin's directions) to lead us to the Ethereal. Our plan was to travel to this plane and across it towards Vorsaykorai in order to travel quickly and without interruption (we hoped), aiming to discover the hidden path that Takeda had spied. We would then, if all went well, infiltrate the fortress and steal away the standard without fighting anyone! Although we had Baldir, so that was unlikely to happen.

We stepped through the gate and emerged into... grey. Deep, thick, greyness surrounded us. We could breathe normally, felt normal, and even stood upright without any trouble, but we could not see more than a hundred yards if that. Everything was grey in every direction and we had no sense of where we were or where we should go! In fact it would be fair to say that things were not exactly going to plan. We were able to move quite normally, but had no idea which direction we should travel in!