View source for Journal - South of the Efferendil

== Triumphant Return and a Gnome Called Hishik ==

Our return was a surprise to the guards, but they recognised us and relaxed when they were sure we were not pursued. The other prisoner we had rescued, Nethiel, was also known to them by name, and welcomed; we had given him an ermine cloak so that he was not naked. Our urgent request to speak with Malenwe was granted with speed, and we were escorted to see her.

I was a little nervous, not knowing how Malenwe would react once we revealed that Senforn was with us, and having seen her in battle! Baldir explained our plan to take him to Melai for judgement and service, but Malenwe uttered some words of power and rose, drawing her sword. Baldir later explained that she had read his aura and determined that he was not of good intent. Bravely, Baldir stepped in front of him, saying that the sword he carried had affected his mind, and beseeching Malenwe to allow him to seek penance with Odin’s eye upon him. I had been edging away in case things got violent, but Malenwe had seen Odin’s influence for good, and Baldir’s offer seemed to stay her blade… for now.

Not wanting to waste any time, Baldir started to prepare a ceremony, instructing us in our parts to help where necessary. For me that basically meant staying out of the way! Finally, he painted a blue eye of Odin on Senforn’s chest and began to intone the words that would bring Odin’s gaze upon him. As he finished his chant the eye flared briefly and a shockwave flew from it, making my ears ring, and Senforn flew backwards a yard or so onto his arse. His sword seemed to hang in the air for a second and then fell to the ground, with sparks and what seemed like a dark aura tainting the air for a few seconds. Takeda, seizing the moment, stepped forward and swore upon his honour that he would personally escort Senforn to Milai or die in the attempt, seeking to reassure Malenwe.

After this display Malenwe did seem happier that some of the evil afflicting her people had been undone. She sent orders for a bodyguard to accompany us as far as the Cloof, and we set about preparing for our journey. Rhionne, sadly, announced that he would not be coming with us; his place was here with his people, defending the great tree and the forest from evil. Takeda presented him with a precious arrow in a typically stiff and formal manner, representing the bond between their people. I also gifted him with a mark of dweomer, showing him to be a friend of the Men of Farass (although only fellow shamen would be able to see it).

Baldir had plans to set up a temple to Odin, and had gathered a small collection of priests to indoctrinate. Rhionne was also there, named as the “Defender of the Church”, and could train warriors to fight in the name of Odin and Heimdall. Baldir held a ceremony at the pool, so that all would know of this new order, and set them the task to start building nearby.

Once suitably rested we travelled north and east, intending to intersect with the Cloof and follow it towards Fontainver. The land we travelled through was looking better now, and in places there was farmland being tended, which boded well for feeding all those we had left behind when we first set out on this strange journey, although it was Autumn now.

We were eventually met by a small troop of Milai’s heavy cavalry, who provided us with horses to speed our travel. We camped together for the night, sharing food and news. Takeda reassured Senforn, who was seemingly free of the curse that had plagued him, that he would have safe passage with us. Whilst the pleasantries were going on, I was suddenly warned by Essere that there was another pseudodragon here, and then she cut off our connection suddenly (but had not been attacked). I was on edge at once, although there was no sign of attack. A short man, a little like a dwarf but not quite… no beard for a start, just a moustache, and an enormous nose… stepped into the firelight looking at me in particular and asking us to relax, that he was no threat.

Takeda had notched an arrow, aiming squarely at him. He was armed, but empty-handed, holding them up in a placating manner. I demanded to know what had happened to Essere. He seemed nervous in his speech, stammering and quiet, but confident in his personal safety. He introduced himself as Hishik Barazar Cloakshadow, a gnome no less. Baldir called Odin’s blessing on him, testing his allegiance, but he gave no reaction. I was finally given a sense from Essere that she was ok, in fact far better – she seemed happy and excited – but then she was gone again. I relaxed slightly and shook Hishik’s offered hand. A few moments later Essere returned, and with her heightened senses I saw a pseudodragon curl around Hishik’s shoulders, which I knew in a flash was called Marsat and was someone that Essere deferred to.

Senforn had reacted badly, seeing only the form of his captors and not his friendly demeanor. Baldir attempted to calm him, calling a blessing down to soothe his mind. Senforn was contrite, apologising and thanking Odin once more for saving him, in atonement he offered Baldir a phoenix feather from the Greek heavens. Finally we settled for the best way to relax and get to know this new arrival… a good smoke! Senforn, Hishik, me, and even Takeda sat down to share some excellent pipeweed. I think I would get on with Hishik just fine!

Over a few days of travel, Senforn slowly came around to accepting all of us as wanting to help him and not deceive him. Loki’s influence had been heavy upon him, so we could understand his caution. He started so share some of his knowledge of the enemy; Loki had hidden the movement of ships, had hidden Yarlug and its occupants, had hidden the hilt, and would hide LockLastar, Vorsaykorai and others. Many of the old songs were known to his agents, including Rathon, allowing travel along the roots of Yggdrasil. Loki had influence on the use of shards and artifacts, and now Senforn was aware of Loki’s influence on his own actions.

When we arrived at Fontainver, we were glad to see that the walls had been rebuilt and were once again majestic to behold. Passing inside it was clear that there was still much work to do, with new defences being erected to defend from any assault from the sea. We entered through the southern gate, over the river, with the others no longer open (another strength), although I thought I heard Baldir muttering about how it would not help if the enemy just walked through the walls.

Many of the free folk came and went from the citadel, with the road busy in both directions and bustling trade within the walls. The people were no longer desperate as they had been when we left, instead building a new community here and in the fields around. I had thought that we would go straight to the citadel to meet Milai, but Baldir insisted on going to the temple first.

We were challenged on arrival, but Baldir was recognised and made welcome. There were no free permanent quarters, but space was made in tents for us all. We left Baldir to pray and make his donations to his spiritual home and made our way to the citadel with Senforn. Essere was flying with Mursat, playing at times and generally ignoring everyone; this was very unlike her, and I felt a little spark of jealously that my companion should be so easily distracted. The citadel was heavily guarded, but Takeda played the role of lord well and we were eventually admitted and given food and water as we awaited an audience with Milai.

When we were finally in Milai’s presence we were welcomed as friends, and she commanded that we be left alone. She knew Nethiel, greeting him first and we realised that he was also of royal lineage. He was from the Old Heart forest far in the east, but had been captured in Balem whilst looking for his daughter (a potential bloom perhaps), being taken to the lower planes. He asked to leave on his quest now that he was back amongst friends and restored. Milai bid him leave with her blessing, but he took a moment to write a letter of safe passage through the Old Heart in thanks for his rescue, presenting it to Takeda. Takeda gave another arrow, marked with the symbol of his house. No wonder he has to wander around picking up arrows all the time if this is what he does with them!

Senforn had been shaking with fear since Milai arrived, uncertain of his fate, and attention now turned to him. He need not have worried so much, as there was no desire to punish him, only to help him recover. For our part in his rescue we were rewarded, and I received a valuable scroll of dweomer from the Lady Milai’s own collection. Whilst we were known to her by the times we had communicated with Lanzi, Hishik was not someone she had met. I spoke up to highlight the importance of his companion, Musat, before he could be overlooked. Musat rose to the occasion, revealing himself and explaining that he was an agent of Bahamut on the Prime, and Essere for his part spoke up for Hishik as a supporter of good. Senforn was offered redemption in battle, in service of Milai, under an oath made to Odin. Takeda, who had his doubts about trusting someone with so little honour, seemed to accept that if Senforn could prove himself as a warrior then it would begin to make amends. Lanzi suggested that we hold a big party to celebrate, which made me smile – finally a chance to relax and meet some of the local ladies!

The frivolity could not last long, of course, and Milai prepared to ride in person to meet with Malenwe. We rode as escorts, along with many of her cavalry as befits a queen, of course, and met with the Efferendil elves at the forest border. We travelled without incident back to the glade and then entered a war council to discuss the next moves in the region.

Much was discussed, not all of which I followed, but offer the following as highlights that seemed important. There was a fear that Lorien is a bloom. Life was returning to the Efferendil as before. A dragon named Si Lung plunged into the pool and was joined by Milai, at which point the sylph emerged to meet them. Far more than just a dryad, she transformed into a goddess! She reassured Milai that her change of allegiance to serve Odin was her choice and would not be to her disadvantage. Lorien could not be bonded with, as she needed to be on the Prime for this to happen, and would be the Lawful Neutral bloom. Quick thoughts on blooms: Malask CE Negative, Inwe NE, Halfling?, Yishmay LG Prime, Lorien LN, Mandur NG Earth, Gnome?, Duregar? There was also talk of military actions, with Vorsaykorai weakened by Merc’s army moving south – I gave over the Key of Kagrash that would enable a force to attack from inside, and this combination meant that they would try to quickly take the fortress.  There was the fortified bridge to the west of the forest to consider, as it kept the Men of Farass from moving south, and if taken would divide the enemy.  This was to be our objective.

First, though, we met with Rhionne again, and Takeda paid for a massive banquet so that he would be seen with all the important people from the region. His honour was at stake, so I don’t think he enjoyed it nearly enough, but the rest of us could kick back and have a good time. I don’t think it was a coincidence that he seated me somewhere just inside the kitchen (I exaggerate of course), but I’m not complaining as it was great fun at the boisterous end! It was the first gathering, as far as we knew, of the full new White Council, and Takeda did well to mark in as such with his family name so prominent.

== The Bridge at Haverel ==

Sadly we had to leave all this behind to set off on another uncomfortable and dangerous adventure! That said, to come to the aid of my people was reason enough for me to go willingly, even if I wouldn’t let the others know it. It was about a week’s travel to the far side of the forest, where we could stop and look over the rolling tundra beyond. The river was still broad, and there was no mistaking our objective – the huge walled bridge, with gatehouses on each side, sat squarely ahead. A wooden rampart had been erected to the south, adding further defences, and a large enemy force was camped to the north. It was about two miles from us, but it was impossible to approach without being clearly seen so we stopped and discussed our plan.

Hishik volunteered to go ahead and scout it out, apparently having the means to remain hidden even over such a long period of time. We would delay a decision on how to proceed until he reported back. Once the decision was taken he promptly turned invisible and we were left to wait. What I describe next is just what he told us of his trip, but I have no reason to doubt him based on what we saw afterwards.

There were Drow and Gith guarding the bridge and the small encampment behind the rampart to the south. A cart approached from the south, with a “wild man” in black driving it, and Hishik caught a lift beneath it, his size working to his advantage. He travelled this way right through the camp, and over the bridge to the other side, noting the numbers and disposition of enemy troops. He got off then, moving into cover, and sent Musat back to report via Essere. As he lay there, the troops camped to the north started to prepare to move off further north, mustering and eventually starting to move off. He had a bit of a scare returning to us; even though he crossed the bridge without incident, when climbing over the wooden rampart he fell and landed heavily on the outside, causing a guard to sound an alarm! Fortunately he could hide himself, still invisible, and just waited until the sentinels decided that there was nothing there and returned to their posts. He made his way back to us, appearing suddenly to some consternation but with some wounds from his fall. Baldir healed the damage, with Odin’s power, and Hishik seemed most impressed with this benevolent act.

We asked our companions, Malenwe’s people, to see what force they could muster quickly to support an assault on the bridge now we knew what we faced. It transpired that there could be a hundred or so cavalry ready to attack if we could penetrate the defences and open the way for them. We came up with a plan for a night attack, with Hishik penetrating in advance and Baldir and me opening a path for the main attack.

We approached without incident under the cover of darkness, with our small army just a short distance behind us. Hishik went on ahead, invisible, and Baldir stepped forward with me in readiness for the attack. We waited… a mess tent and the need for the enemy to gather to eat we had decided was a chance to attack when the outer defences were weakened and a bulk of the Drow in one place as a target. Eventually a bell chimed, the dinner call. We waited a little more to give the foe time to move before acting.

Hishik used dweomer to create a solid stone bridge under the arch of the gatehouse nearest us, preventing the portcullis from being lowered and ensuring the cavalry could get onto the bridge. I conjured a wind wall in front of me, which would deflect arrow fire once the fighting started. Baldir, not waiting for me to begin the attack, dropped a fire storm blindly into the compound, setting alight the mess tent with many Drow within. Perhaps he thought my spell was the start of the attack… but why would I start a fight whilst standing on my own some distance from an army without any form of defence? Weird.

Taking the fire as the signal to attack, Takeda ran forward shouting a battle cry and loosing arrows at the ramparts. The cavalry began to move, although hesitating as the gate was still intact. I fixed that, with a fireball aimed straight at it that exploded with splinters and flames, leaving an entrance for the cavalry charge. As planned, the arrows sent our way in return were blown up and away from us, leaving us unharmed for now. I used more dweomer to confuse some of the defenders near the gate as the cavalry charged through, losing only a handful of riders in the advance thanks to the chaos and timing of the attack. Takeda, still running forward, picked off a defender from the rampart, and the cavalry pressed their attack under the portcullis to reach the main bridge. I confused another group of defenders as Takeda reached the gate, killing another Drow as he entered.

At this point the wind wall died down, which was painfully obvious when I was struck by an arrow! I used dweomer to shield myself, and both Baldir and Takeda were also hit. Takeda killed another defender, unfazed by his wound. Hishik, seeing that we (well Takeda) were in the compound, joined in by hypnotising a group of Drow  with a swirling pattern of lights. Takeda blew on a horn, summoning Norse beserkers to join the fight, immediately sending them to attack the nearest Drow, even as he took another hit. Baldir ran forward, levitating up to the level of the rampart, and used a fireball to incinerate a half dozen Drow. Takeda moved up behind the beserkers, picking his targets more carefully now and finishing off four in quick sucession.

Left alone and with the fight raging more inside now than out, I decided to summon a war horse to carry me forward rather than just walk. I began to regret this decision when I felt a powerful surge of dweomer accompany the summons, but it quickly drained away into my belt, imbuing it with a minor, but permanent, enchantment that seemed to help me anticipate where threats would come from. Baldir continued his levitating act, moving around the outside of the rampart to engage the Gith, but failing to land a blow. I rode forward just in time to see him knocked unconscious by his foe! Hishik continued his own offensive, causing two to fall senseless whilst killing another with magic missiles. I was close enough now to hurl flaming bolts at the foe, but failed to connect. Takeda killed another two foes that got too close, though.

I summoned a flaming sphere on the rampart we hadn’t assaulted yet, to the right of the gate, hoping to force the defenders back, and used shocking grasp to jolt a Gith from behind. Hishik hit a foe with an arrow, but unimpressed with the impact, he followed up with a flaming dart that literally burnt the Drow to ash! Takeda managed to kill one of the Gith, as well as another Drow, and then swigged a potion that made him stronger, renewing his attack – two more Drow fell to his arrows. He then swigged another potion, clearly looking for an advantage to keep the momentum of our initial charge. It seemed to work as he quickly felled another two Gith and two Drow, forcing the defenders back. He linked up with Hishik who, seeing the wounds he had sustained, rubbed keoghtomes on him to ensure he would not fall.

Most of the beserkers had been slain, but one remained and he killed a Drow. Seeing that there was now a pocket inside the gate, I rode in and targeted the defenders in the nearest tower, confusing them as I had others earlier. Takeda and Hishik saw the opportunity, running in to attack the tower from within, Takeda killing a Drow that tried to stop them. I had taken some arrow hits since joining the main fight, and used keoghtomes to heal the wounds before they brought me down. Takeda reached the top of the tower, putting an arrow in the Gith there, and Hishik darted past him, stabbing the Gith in his side, killing him. Takeda, finally running out of arrows, drew his katana and ran the Drow defender through. With the tower secured, and the Gith dead, the remaining Drow surrendered to us. The cavalry had secured the rest of the bridge. This was a great victory!

After resting a while and treating the worst of our wounds, as well as ensuring the bridge would be held by a force until relieved, we started the journey back to the glade and Malenwe. Reaching our goal without opposition (the forest was increasingly safe for the forces of good), we saw that a large oriental army was gathering, brought through the astral links from Evrinstar. This would be the force that would retake Vorsaykorai, and Yagitamo would be the great general to lead them once more. Malenwe was glad to hear of our success, rewarding Hishik in particular with finely crafted and enchanted arrows.

== A Family Reunion ==

Baldir stayed at his nascent temple for a while whilst the rest of us travelled on to the south to meet the main part of Yagitamo’s army. As we rode we came across Takeda’s clan, which was an opportunity he could not pass up as his father was with them. I knew that it was important to him to impress his father and the troops of his house, so I used a little dweomer to enhance his appearance and bearing for this auspicious meeting. He started apologising almost immediately, which seems to be something his people do a lot, although it was for the loss of his ancestral Dai Ku, so that seemed reasonable. He was tasked to replace it with a better weapon in order to redeem himself. He then presented his father with the wakashasi of Tuar Chan, but his father said that he should instead present it to Yagitamo to increase the honour of his house. He then offered valuable gems from the hoard at Yarlug, and his father took half – the other half was for him to keep to mark the bond between them. Messengers were then sent to request an audience with Yagitamo.

The meeting with Yagitamo came with a huge amount of ceremony, and any fears I had of Baldir being left behind were soon forgotten. To be fair, Takeda was honoured with an audience quickly, only second to Yishmay herself in speaking with him. It was going well until he started asking if he could have any arrows. Just because you give them away to everyone you meet doesn’t mean we all do it, Takeda!

As I thought, we met with Baldir later that day, and could now set off on our own course. Hishik had asked for aid for his people, and warned that the south was held by the enemy in strength from here.  We were to travel with him and discern the friendly and enemy dispositions, offering direct help if we were able to. We rode southeast, soon leaving the army behind us and I revelled in the freedom of being in the wilderness once more. The oriental laws and formalities were even more stifling than the elves, something I had not thought possible!

== The Journey South ==

After a few hours, we were on alert as a dust devil could be seen off to one side of our line of travel ahead. We readied for combat as it seemed to change direction to intercept us. Then we heard beating wings, and a group of winged lion beasts swept over the hill, heading for the dust devil rather than us. As they got near, the dust devil collapsed down into a single, male figure, drawing swords in readiness for a fight. The figure was wearing loose, baggy trousers, with bare chest. It’s swords were large and heavily curved, a design I was not familiar with (although I happily confess to being no expert on swords). One of the winged creatures roared at the figure, whilst the others bounded forward to attack. Hishik was suddenly surrounded by images of himself, a clever defence. Baldir seemed to be lost in prayer, but suddenly ran forward to defend the lone figure, shouting that he was for good, hitting the nearest creature with his morning star. I responded, using the claw that I had found in the Yarlug trove to shock the same creature from afar.

Takeda initially struggled to land any hits, but eventually managed to put an arrow in the foe, as did Hishik. Takeda’s second hit landed well, causing the beast to roar in pain. I used a spell to increase the power of my dweomer temporarily, but again felt the dweomer surge as the spell came into effect. The dweomer had worked, but it made my skin really itchy, interfering with my focus for the rest of the fight. Takeda put the injured creature down with another arrow, and in response its companion roared again. The roar weakened me, making my equipment seem so heavy that I fell to the ground with a gasp. It also seemed to affect Baldir, although he remained standing. Baldir was also bitten, opening a nasty gash, and was deafened by the roar. A great terror seized me, and I began desperately pulling my backpack off in order to be able to run. Baldir responded with a wild swing that landed, causing the beast to recoil, and then Takeda finished it with an arrow. There was just one left, and it took flight, fleeing the way it had come.

The following was confusing, as I was unnaturally terrified and forced to flee so I was not paying attention to what transpired. My friends tried to recall what happened, but it makes little sense. I started to flee as soon as I was able, leaving my equipment on the floor. Baldir had, meanwhile, tried to talk to the figure we had fought to defend, but he could not understand his tongue and the figure returned to a dust devil, disappearing in haste to the south. Hishik tried to charm me, to prevent me from running, but failed. Baldir dropped some equipment, also weakened, and then tried to run back to the horses, still slower than normal, shouting “I’m deaf” as he did so. Takeda started running after me, but was far slower so I easily outpaced him.

Baldir was too slow to reach a horse to follow me, Hishik was too small to mount a horse without help. Baldir was shouting loudly at everyone, assuming that they were also deafened by the roar, but eventually managed to get to a horse and ride after me. After a couple of attempts, riding past me each time, he succeeded in easing my fear and I gratefully rode behind him back towards the others. Strangely we passed Takeda on the way, who then had to turn and jog back behind us! We eventually all returned to Hishik, who had wisely decided to stop for a smoke and see how we did.  You can see why I say this was confusing, and perhaps the roar of the lion beast affected us more than we realised.

We camped for the night, but it did not go undisturbed. On the second watch I could feel the ground trembling, and quickly woke Takeda as Baldir woke Hishik. A “sail” or “fin” approached rapidly, breaking the ground before it and a creature jumped right out of the soil with blinding speed at Takeda, who only just managed to step to the side to avoid it’s lunge. Baldir stepped forward and hit it with his burning mace. I used a dig spell, hoping to undermine its attacks but also doing damage to it directly due to its affinity with the earth. Takeda was then able to finish it off quickly with arrows.

Thankfully we were able to rest after this intrusion and continued our journey in the morning.  It was raining a little, and visibility was slightly reduced. We started to climb a gentle slope, but the footing was uneven and slightly boggy. After several hours, Takeda called us to a halt, listening intently. A faint hiss marked the arrival of several arrows from our right, with Takeda, Baldir, and Hishik all hit. I dismounted quickly and raised a shield of dweomer. Our position was enveloped in a stinking cloud, causing Baldir to retch, and magic missiles flew towards me, landing harmlessly on my shield. More arrows flew at us, but missed their mark this time. A floating, goblin-like thing appeared to my right, trying to catch me in a web, but Essere protected me and I was unaffected. Hishik threw glitterdust, trying to reveal our attackers, but only ended up outlining me for the enemy! I tried to taunt them, goading them to engage in melee, but it seemed to have no effect. Takeda rode past, loosing arrows, but to no effect. I lashed out with my rod, landing a good hit – they were solid it seemed. It grabbed at my arm in return, sending a shock of lightning up to my shoulder and leaving a slight smell of singed flesh. Takeda was hit by a couple of arrows and fell off his horse!  Baldir came to my aid, landing a hit of his own, and I finished it off. Hishik healed himself somehow, and Baldir tended some of my wounds. More arrows flew at us, and we decided that we would avoid this fight if we could (it was good to see that some sensible thinking was wearing off on my friends). We mounted and rode off at speed, evading any sign of pursuit.

The ground was still rising, and we would occasionally rise out of the mist to get a reasonable view of the landscape. There were mountains to our left, some distance off, and water ahead of us – perhaps a wide river we would have to cross. After about ten minutes at a fast pace, we slowed and allowed Baldir to treat the worst of our wounds, then continued riding south at a more measured pace.

We eventually noticed a structure ahead in the mist, what appeared to be a derelict barn as we came closer. We could just make out a conversation, and three figures emerged from the barn; two Gith and another, taller, toadlike creature but standing upright like a person. There was an immediate psionic battle, with Hishik’s assault killing one Gith outright. We were suddenly plunged into darkness, and I was struck with an unnatural terror once more, turning and fleeing as fast as I could. The remaining Gith re-entered the building, whilst the toad thing charged towards us. Baldir’s horse bolted in terror, but as it broke out of the darkness he vaulted from its back, rolling back to his feet and turned to fight. Hishik moved himself out of the dark area with his mind. Takeda did it the more traditional way, walking into the light and loosing arrows at the toad creature from behind (it had rushed past towards Baldir). A new creature appeared from nowhere, a vulture headed flying demon that clawed at Baldir. Baldir was pre-occupied with the toad creature, landing a strong blow from his morning star that seemed to cave its head in before it vanished completely. He also summoned some flaming “meteors”, striking at the new foe, but with no effect.

Takeda put arrows into the back of the vulture thing, and Baldir struck again. He was raked by claws in return, though, and staggered back. Fortunately this cleared a path for Hishik to bury an arrow in its chest, felling it, and again the body vanished into nothing. Takeda advanced on the barn, but there was no sign of the other Gith. There was evidence that the barn had seen some use, but it was completely deserted. Baldir, with Odin’s grace (he’s always going on about how it isn’t him), healed their wounds and then cancelled the darkness outside so that they could retrieve one horse at least. They then began to search for me. Working on the direction that I had started in (I certainly hadn’t tried to disguise my exit), and using Musat, we were eventually reunited when Essere made contact. The fear had worn off eventually, and I was glad to be found as I had no idea where I was when I came to my senses. At least I had my pipe with me to pass the time.

We continued the journey with just one horse for the rest of the day, then rested overnight. I was able to summon another horse the next day so that we could continue at a slightly faster pace by sharing them. When we stopped for lunch, though, we were disturbed by two men wearing Orcus’ symbol, who sent a flaming arrow into the sky to summon aid. Hearing horns answering, we tried to escape, heading directly west at first but then looping around to the south. It was still misty and damp, but eventually in the afternoon we could make out the broad river ahead of us. There were three large, heavily laden, black ships heading east – troop carriers by the look of it. We decided that heading west was the better option, moving towards and away from the river to use the mist to hide us whilst keeping track of our direction.

The ground started to descend gradually, and then we could make out a camp ahead of us. Black flags flew above it, some two leagues from us. We skirted around to the north, going out of our way to avoid a confrontation that would not end well for us. We kept going until nightfall, then stopped for a rest. Baldir suddenly jumped up, holding his morning star, claiming that something had pulled on his cloak. There was a cry of surprise and a small thud as he did so; a small humanoid rose to his feet, backing away slightly, but seemed no threat. He said he was a Killymurris and warned of a large group of Drow nearby. He then left to bring his family to us, as we seemed nice. They seemed a desperate, miserable, bunch and we advised them to head north to the Efferendil where they could find a new home. We needed to move, but the river was the only option now.

We got ready to move, approaching the river, and heard troops marching east where we had been. We left the horse and got closer on foot, looking to assess the crossing. It was soft underfoot and the river was still as wide as before, from what we could see. We used a variety of ways to tackle the crossing. Hishik had the easiest, as he was able to simply blink across with his mind. He also took my equipment with him. Takeda flew across, covering the rest of us with his bow (although he would need light if we were attacked). Baldir crossed into the ethereal walking across the riverbed without having to worry about drowning. I decided to swim, with the aid of dweomer, which proved to be a little more dangerous than I had hoped. A giant fish (at least I hope it was just a fish) took a bite at me as I was about halfway across, leaving a great blood trail in the water. I was fast enough to outpace it to the bank (thanks to my dweomer and Odin’s blessing to keep the cold out), but of course I had to get out at the end of it! I sent an urgent message via Essere that I had been attacked, hoping that my friends could drag me clear when I got there. What they did was far more random, though, which was entertaining (at least looking back it was). Takeda lifted Hishik up, flew above me and literally dropped him on top of me! As we collided, Hishik used his mental power to move us both instantly onto the bank and safety, although I ended up swimming in the reeds, with Hishik on top of me, so it took a moment to realise what had happened!

Takeda quickly applied keoghtomes to my wounds, putting me once more in his debt. With the pain eased I comforted Essere before dressing. Hishik used a cantrip to clean my clothes, which just made me slightly uncomfortable but was apparently an improvement from everyone else's point of view.

Hishik led us south away from the river, with the ground gently rising and getting firmer. As we climbed we began to see a large orange glow ahead - a fire of some kind. We decided to rest rather than continue into unknown danger. The morning was cloudy with a little drizzle, and we set off towards the fire we saw in the night. A few hours later the cloud had lifted a little and we could see foothills ahead of us, but Hishik also warned that he could see some large shapes moving around. Baldir also spotted a troop of soldiers to our right, on horseback, and beyond an army of thousands. Spots of smoke rising from our left suggested that there were more troops in the area as well. The horse riders seemed to be scouting the flanks of the army, so we needed to get out of sight.

I swigged a potion that shrank me to a fraction of my normal size, allowing me to hide easily in the rough ground. The others tried to hide as best they could, with Hishik being the most proficient at not being seen. A couple of outriders grew close, and we could just about hear them conversing, but then they spotted Takeda. He loosed arrows, trying to stop them, but they went wide and the riders made off quickly. Now we were in trouble!

Takeda ordered us to run, we needed to relocate quickly. I hopped on Essere's back and flew after him, giving Baldir quite a fright. We found a better spot to hide after a few minutes, and then lay low as the riders returned with help to search for us. Carefully moving only when it was safe, we were able to escape from danger, although it slowed us down.

More fires could be seen as we climbed even higher - the forces here were extensive and seemed to be centred around Findorsvelt. They appeared to be moving north east, and we were forced to pick our way between armies to either side so we were moving south west. We moved under cover of invisibility when we could to reduce the risk of detection.

Eventually we reached the site we had seem on that first night, a village had been torched and some buildings were still smoldering. A giant was using a huge fire to cook on, and was gorging himself on something I didn't want to study too closely. Rather than confront a giant, which might draw attention to our position, we attempted to skirt around.

Keeping low we crested the ridge to the right of the village, but there was another giant on the other side. We all froze and hugged the ground, as yet unseen... well we thought that was the plan, but Takeda had other ideas. Yelling a challenge he charged straight at the new giant! The giant bellowed a challenge of his own, getting the attention of the first giant. I sapped it's strength, but I'm not convinced it helped much as it's massive sword nearly knocked Takeda from his feet. The other giant came thundering towards us, so Hishik blinded him  to buy us some time. Takeda hurt the giant attacking him with good, solid hits, but the giant's riposte was far more effective, cutting into Takeda and sending him flying sideways in an arc of blood. He didn't get up. Then it turned its attention to me!

I slowed the giant's progress, but it wasn't enough to stop it. I closed my eyes expecting the inevitable blow, but Hishik conjured a hypnotic pattern and mesmerised the giant in mid strike. We were saved! I tried to thank him, but to everyone's surprise I roared like a giant! Every time I tried to speak it was as if a giant was speaking instead, possibly some side effect from a surge of dweomer. Fortunately I still had my mental connection with Essere, who in turn could speak with Muersat, so Hishik explained to Baldir what had happened.

Baldir was able to raise Takeda from the dead, weak but alive. His breastplate was ruined, though, having been sundered into pieces. Baldir healed more of Takeda's wounds, although he was still too weak to flee. We only had so much time before the giants would escape from Hishik's dweomer. I used the potion of dimunition on Takeda and then carried him and we made a hurried escape.

We kept going until evening and then rested under a rocky shelter. There were camp fires all over the plain below us - there seemed to be no end of enemy forces. We could just make out Vorsay in the distance... where were they all coming from? Baldir tried to help with my voice, which was still that of a giant. I wonder if the giant was trying to politely converse with its fellows with my own voice? A shame we didn't have the chance to fully study the effects of the surge. Fortunately Odin's power removed the effect with Baldir's first prayer, so I would be able to study and use dweomer again.

== The Great Reversal ==

We were both blessed and cursed that night. At first I just thought that Baldir was losing the plot, as I dimly awoke to see him conversing with a bird, a Raven, but then awoke fully as we heard someone approaching from above us. A beautiful woman jumped lightly down to join us, no less than the avatar of Artemis, to warn us that the fate of the world depended solely on us and gave a divine gift of a bow and quiver. Apparently there would be more gifts and guidance forthcoming.

Whilst blessed by this visitor, we were cursed by terrible visions of the imminent coming of Ragnarok. The armies of good were marching into a trap, and all would be lost if we could not change the course of events. But to do so would require time itself to be controlled, and the Gods would lead us to an artifact that could do just that. It would be well protected, so this was no simple task.

Awakening was not much better, as with a screech a number of enormous eagles swooped down from above us, straight past but wheeling to approach directly. As they did we could see that they were not just huge birds, but had hindquarters like a lion. Friend or foe? They could be messengers from Horus - we had been told to expect other messengers. Hishik took the precaution of raising mirror images of himself (I must ask how he does that), but we did not attack. One landed on the edge of our ledge, well sort of hovered, still beating his wings, as there wasn't room for him to actually land. He spoke: "Come, there is no time." He was offering us a lift!

We, um, eventually all got onto one of their backs. It wasn't easy mounting a massive beast that was still beating its wings to stay level, and a couple of us might have fallen off in the attempt. But we were soon underway, travelling at incredible speed, south at first but then turning south west. After a while we encountered a group of flying demons, which I struck with magic missiles, but the griffins (for that is what we rode) simply dived past them and outpaced them until we couldn't see them any more, continuing our hasty journey.

After more hours of travel, which was starting to get quite uncomfortable, we saw what must be LockLastar - towers and fortifications around a peak in the mountains. We were headed somewhere else, although not far, and Hishik recognised a distinctive shape from his vision last night, calling our attention to it.

The griffins dropped us on a high ledge that appeared to be nothing more than a rocky ledge in a somewhat precarious position high in the mountains. Hishik was convinced that there was a door here, though, and after the griffins departed, wishing us good luck, we turned our attention to the rocky cliff. Hishik pointed excitedly to what could generously be described as a well-hidden stairway as evidence that we were in the right place. I didn't like to look down at it as I started to feel dizzy - I certainly hoped that there was another route for us to take.

Hishik found a gnomish mark on the rock, and then read a script that we recognised - verses from the "Mistress Moon" poem. There was also the symbol of a crescent moon and a stylised bow. We used some dust of appearance, which settled in previously invisible cracks to reveal an elven-style door before us. With a loud, audible, crack the doors started to open - seemingly moving with life as they silently swung inwards to admit us.

Before we entered, Baldir warned us that we would need holy water, and he appeared to have run out... great. Baldir then set about conducting an elaborate ceremony on the clifftop ledge; did I mention it was only about twenty foot across at its widest? It was hard to argue with the result though, as Odin himself appeared before us, and we pressed ourselves to the floor overcome with awe as soon as he did so. Baldir was gifted his holy water (it couldn't get much holier), as well as ale (good to see a God with the right priorities), and a recipe for brewing the best ale in the land (if we lived that long). The guidance of Thoth and Ptah was also offered - if what we had heard about Thoth was true then he had all of the knowledge of the world so that should be useful.

Once the divine audience was over we set about the more practical task of proceeding through the inevitable magical traps before us. The first step was to boil the holy water to create steam; as we did so a vacuum formed in the doorway, sucking in the steam, and then suddenly golden birds (normal sized this time) flew out and above us. We were on the right track. Next Baldir created an image of a night sky above us, and reflected the starlight into the door, realigning it with Air. Within the darkness we saw the bright image of a phoenix flying towards us, banking to the side at the last minute, but leaving a feather to pass through the door... whereupon it erupted into flame and then turned to ash. A kirin then flew from right to left before us. Baldir created light on Takeda's obi so that he could see in the darkness, then sprinkled salty holy water. As soon as he did so we ran in and to the left, and the ledge collapsed behind us leaving just the cliff and then the doorway vanished.

We were in the plane of air for a moment, but then stood in a dark room. Only a highly polished floor, set with tiny dots of different hues, could be seen, illuminated by the glow from Takeda's obi. We were certainly not on the Prime any more, and we would have to correctly pass the tests before us if we were to reach our goal.

I could see, through Essere, that there was a columned arch invisible to the human eye. We stated our purpose and pledged allegiance to the Gods before stepping into the arch, appearing in a small room with stairs leading down at each corner. Tall statues of samurai warriors stood by each stairwell, and braziers stood in the centre of each wall. Hishik found another gnomish verse, entitled "Band of Fate", and there were marks representing each element on the statue bases. The ceiling had a night sky upon it. We used the verse to work out that the statues were not in the right order. Lighting the braziers, we added para-elemental offerings to represent the correct order, and on doing so the statues drew their swords and marched into the right places by our reckoning. The faces of Egyptian Gods shimmered over the braziers and then were replaced by Norse Gods.

The order of the room was now: Loki (N), Earth, Fenris (E), Fire, Odin (S), Air, Frey (W), Water - representing the 1st Age.

Takeda placed a gem on the Earth statue, which animated again - stepping aside with a bow. We descended the stairs about a full turn before stepping through another portal into another vast room with a shiny floor. We were immediately attacked by stone figures, nearly ten feet tall, with Egyptian style carved features. We had to defend ourselves, and I landed a good hit with my rod (no time for casting here). Takeda and Baldir were both hit, although they returned with assaults of their own. Takeda's arrows were not as effective against the stone creatures, but still did damage and eventually one cracked into pieces under his relentless assault. Hishik managed to get a spell off, but it had no visible effect. Baldir took another hit, and then I was struck on my side, the blow winding me and numbing my arm - fortunately it wasn't my weapon arm and I landed another blow in return. Takeda smashed another foe, leaving two. I was hit on my chest, tossing me backwards and almost stunning me completely. I hurriedly uttered a defensive spell and blinked instantly away from the danger. Hishik ran in to help just before I disappeared, hitting the monster but with little effect. Baldir dodged another swing, hitting under the beast's arm, as I rubbed healing keoghtomes onto my wounds. I was blinking around the battle now, never in one place for too long, so felt a little safer as these foes were slow. Takeda took out the one that had hurt me, and then everyone turned on the last, still battling Baldir. Baldir had the final blow, though, putting down the opponent he had fought toe-to-toe with throughout.

We took a moment to heal wounds, with Odin's blessing before again looking for hidden features around us. Through Essere, once more, I saw a salamander just a little way from us, watching passively. Baldir suggested that we show our mastery of fire, setting his mace aflame. Cue a display of flame as flaming spheres, flaming arrows, and whatnot were cast about like some kind of party display. The salamander remained unimpressed. Thinking a little more carefully about the elements and the trials we faced, we instead presented him (it?) with a gift of ash. At this he wished us good luck and at once we were transported to another square room like the first, but this time with stairs at the centre of each wall. In the corners were, in turn, a humanoid form shaped by steam, what looked like a turd, a pillar of smoke, and a turd-shaped piece of magma.

We surmised that the steam was the odd one out here, but we didn't have access to the dweomer we needed to quench it. Baldir began a prayer, counting on a boon from the Gods that we had been promised. An ibis-headed egyptian god appeared, Thoth, the god of knowledge. We all cowered on the floor in awe again, apart from Baldir who stood with his arms raised within the aura emanating from the God. Thoth knew of our quest, of course, and granted us aid in the form of three blank scrolls that would become the dweomer that we imagined we needed at any time. I was not just awed but impressed with this boon and the way he wove the dweomer so chaotically to produce such a thing. I would remember this encounter for ever more. He also granted Baldir an Ankh that would protect us against energies whilst on other planes, and allow our dweomer to function normally no matter where we were. He emphasised that everyone for good, on and off the Prime, was counting on us, before disappearing as instantly as he appeared.

We immediately put the blank scrolls to good use, conjuring a cone of icy blast to transform the steam. As soon as we did so the floor beneath us gave way, but instead of falling we found ourselves floating in the air, which now surround us in every direction. A towering, forty-foot tall, whirling storm thing was before us, and birds flew out from it in a massive cone, surrounding us. Baldir set off a fireball, killing many birds as they swooped to attack us. Takeda and Hishik fucked off invisible, leaving Baldir and I to suffer from countless attacks that soon threatened to overwhelm us. I used a scroll to start blinking around, avoiding their attacks, whilst Baldir concentrated his attacks on the storm. He was able to destroy it before he got too weak, at which point the birds simply flew away leaving us alone.

We healed what wounds we could and then concentrated on the inevitable hidden guardian, in this case a water elemental. I used dweomer to breath steam onto it, and the creature itself seemed to part at the touch of the steam, sucking us down inside itself to suddenly appear in another square room. Norse gods were depicted on the walls in the order: Frey, Loki, Odin, Fenris (clockwise). There were two braziers in each corner in the same order containing: radiance, ash, nothing, nothing, steam, salt, dust, mineral.  There was an excerpt from the Blaven's Pool poem on the floor.  The two empty braziers were the focus; one was correct as it should have vacuum, but the other should have what was missing - lightning. I jolted the brazier, and immediately water began to erupt from the stairwell nearby. We closed in on Baldir, who raised the Ankh in protection; the right choice, as the room exploded and water crashed down into where it had been, leaving us in an endless ocean.

A ten-headed hydra reared up before us, fish-like heads dancing around to attack from different angles. Takeda put an arrow into one head, causing it to sink lifelessly. Baldir tried to strike the body, but to no effect. Takeda took out another head, and Baldir got the idea, changing targets and knocking one of his own down. It then became the Baldir and Takeda show (well, mainly Takeda to be fair). Between them they took out all of the heads, leaving the creature lifeless and sinking out of sight. (I think the final tally was 8 to Takeda and 2 to Baldir) Hishik did try a fireball, but again the creature shrugged off anything not specifically aimed at one of its heads.

We searched once more for the invisible guardian that would allow us to progress, immediately seeing a phoenix waiting to see what we would do. We knew that we would have to offer a negative gift to proceed, so Baldir summoned a mouse from somewhere and I killed it with my skinning knife, offering the twitching sacrifice to the phoenix. The phoenix spread its wings and glowed brightly with radiance, becoming blinding. Baldir protected us with the ankh and we walked forward.

We were instantly shifted to another square room. A ball of lightning crackled to our right, with mineral ahead, a radiant flow was to our left and steam behind us. The radiance was misplaced and we needed to move mineral there. Using the protection of the ankh and a sack we took some of the mineral to the right spot, and again we were transported to another place.

This time we stood on a crystal floor in darkness. Baldir made Takeda's obi glow again, and the light revealed a large oblong room with a gap in one wall. A small, multi-coloured and slightly translucent, appeared alarmed by our presence. She (for she was female) spoke politely to us, though, and I found her words strangely compelling. She quickly convinced Takeda and I that there was nothing to be found here and that we should leave as quickly as we could. Baldir and Hishik remained unconvinced and instead talked quietly together.

It was dweomer of course, and powerful at that. Baldir and Hishik devised a cunning phrase that correctly used command words to reassure Crystal (her name) that we were for good and were here to relieve her of her guard duty and retrieve the timepiece... oh and also managed to ask for a lift out of here! I would record these command words, but Crystal's charm had quite bedazzled me and I wasn't paying any attention at all.

Once the command words had been spoken the dragon reared up, shaking itself, and looked slightly confused. She said simply "now?" She then turned, with crystals falling from her skin as she moved, saying "it's in here." Now free of the charm, we all followed, passing skeletons of those that had come before. There was a pedestal with blackness above it and a disc floating within. More crystals fell from Crystal's body, revealing multi-coloured scales beneath as if she was coming of age or being release from something. She seemed sad, as if guilty for ending the lives of those we could now see, and rubbed at the walls to remove more of the crystal.

Baldir and I failed to grasp the disc, and Hishik finally took it from the darkness. Baldir's hand started to disappear! He hastily made a prayer to Odin to remove this curse from him, which thankfully worked and his hand was back to normal. The room, however, started to disappear in the same way, as if only the presence of the timepiece had allowed it to exist at all.

We hurried to Crystal, who would have to carry us out quickly. Mounting a dragon with smooth, crystalline scales proved to be difficult, though, with only Baldir getting a firm grip on the first attempt. We helped Takeda up and then Hishik used his mental powers to get himself and me up quickly to save time. Crystal took to the air, disappearing into blackness above us. Eventually we emerged above the shores of a moonlit ocean. Crystal was so happy to be free and in the open air again, playfully flying around until she remembered that she needed to let us off, landing fleetingly and then soaring away again. We decided that we had had enough excitement for one day and needed to rest and treat our wounds, spending the rest of the night on the shoreline.

Baldir reckoned that he knew where in the planes we were, and therefore which stanzas of an ancient Elven poem would return us to the Efferendil. Thankfully he was right and we emerged next to the pool in the woods as if we had never started our journey south (which was kind of the plan). The sylph was here but the place was otherwise deserted. We did a little scouting just to ensure we would not be interrupted, but there seemed to be no activity at all around us.

Meursat communed with Bahamut by some means, asking him to join us at the glade, which he quickly agreed to. An old man with a staff appeared, the dragon taking a discreet form, and Hishik introduced himself as Meursat's companion. He discussed the need to reverse time on the Prime, stressing the Gods' assessment of the situation, and agreed with him that it was necessary. We would need the Flore of Athena, though, to make the change.

Out of courtesy we warned the Sylph that we would be talking to Athena, and she went off in a huff. Baldir used the pool to speak to the Goddess, and she quickly confirmed that the Flore was on the way. She also warned that we would need a creator God (one of the Egyptian pantheon) if we wanted to protect our minds, otherwise we would be doomed to repeat our actions. [Note - we need to ask Malenwe about a symbiant for Persephone.]

Baldir suggested that we use Wallorin's house to link with the Ethereal where we might talk with Ptah. Once inside we were surprised to find Malenwe there, in despair. We explained our purpose, giving her new hope, and activated the portal. Again, the Gods were watching and waiting so Ptah spoke to us immediately. He could protect our minds, saying that the events we had experienced in this time would be like memories of dreams to us.

We returned to the glade, and a clothed sylph came to watch as we started the ceremony. Hishik manipulated the device to set the time that would be returned to. Ptah's face appeared in the pool and he told us to stare into his eyes. This was the last thing we remembered, if that is the right word, when we woke in our beds, the army of Malenwe once again around us in the forest. Time had reverted.

Although it would not be until we spoke to each other about our strange dreams that we would piece everything together, the first indication that something had changed was actually a number of gifts left for us by the Gods. I had a scroll case with the powerful scrolls in it, thank Thoth for his favour. Takeda had a glorious new Dai Ku that would redeem his honour, Baldir a bow of his own and the recipe for ale that Odin bestowed on him, and Hishik a scroll case like mine. There were also some gems of great value, which would help with preparations for our next venture.

I'm a bit confused about this section of my journal. I sort of remember writing it, but then had to write it again before I forgot it all. It never really happened, so I debated for a moment writing it at all, but felt that it was important to capture the detail of what happened (did it happen?) in case it was useful in the future, so here it is. Basically my head hurts so I wrote it down so I didn't have to worry about it any more.