Journal - Fontainver and a New Direction

Fontainver

At last the citadel of Fontainver is in sight, still standing with Elven pennants flying proudly from the somewhat battered walls. The journey here was troublesome, with all manner of other-worldly creatures hell bent on destruction and death roaming freely around the countryside. The forest to the north was even more ominous that usual, with screeches and cries from within, and all that ventured there disappeared without trace. Even the animals seemed to shy away, and as we came farther east they all but disappeared. The farms had been looted and burned, with no food left to be scavenged. I had travelled with other men at times, but several had been hunted down and killed along the way. Luckily I had perfected the art of running faster than others and hiding well, with a little help from Essere when things got desperate. At least there was still meat to feed her then, now an increasing tide of humanity had stripped the land bare and all were heading for the one place left to find food - Fontainver. Despite the desperate times the people were uplifted - a massive army of demons had been defeated and there was still light and hope in these dark times. The strong were helping the weak and the fortunate sharing their goods with the starving.

Occasionally a small convoy would pass us in the other direction, under heavy escort by the armoured Elves, and each contained the same thing - farm supplies and equipment with a scared but determined family that knew the trade. They were off to make a new start of the farmland, a necessity if this number of people were to survive for long in one place. I thought of the things we had seen lurking around the farms and shuddered - best of luck to them. The closer we got to the walls (it was farther than I realised - the size of the place was impressive, despite the damage) the more I noticed that humans were no longer the norm, and instead it was Elves that made up most of the swelling columns snaking their way to one or other of the gates ahead. Despite the victory there were a lot of grim faces, and I did not hold up much hope of finding a hot meal and a warm bed that night. Piles of bodies were being burnt to avoid disease, and at least there seemed to be far more of the enemy in these pyres than of the Elven defenders. The lands around were not safe, but nor were they impassable, so there was still hope that peace could come again with the help of the Elves.

A temporary bridge had been built across the wide river to the south, allowing entry by more than one route, splitting those seeking shelter and making the approach more manageable. Despite this we were still pressed together as we entered an outer courtyard that swelled with refugees. We were near the harbour, which at least gave a breath of sea air to refresh us. The pace had slowed to a trudge and hunger beset us all. Marshalls gave out small flags with numbers, dividing the column into three and directing us towards areas where we could find a little shelter. I was intrigued to see the sign of Odin on these Elves, as I had not seen or heard of Odin's mark until those warriors engaged in the great battle with Malenwe spoke of Odin's light shining eternally to mark their victory, and here it was again. Here they gave out a warming soup and blessed those around, warming the soul as well as the body.

There was much destruction from the recent siege and battle, and signs of fighting could still be seen. The defenders' focus seemed to be on the people first and not their defences, which I took as a good sign for our safety. What pack horses there might have been were all gone, probably for food, and the only beasts left were the warhorses that the caravan escorts were using to take their precious farmers back out into the world. Now that I was closer to these Elves I could see that they did not resemble the forest folk we had seen from the Efferendil, and they acted in teams with rigid organisation, carefully dividing the people and seeing that their basic needs were met. My skin crawled to see that there was no freedom to move around, but I could understand the need to ration food and water carefully, at least for now. Besides which, those few that did not want to comply with the directions they were giving were treated harshly, like criminals, and beaten or worse until they had no choice but to conform.

By chance I had moved nearest to the docks, where it was clear that efforts to bring what food could be taken from the sea were as serious as those to restart farming. A strange ship, clearly not Elven, had just put in and a dour reception ceremony, heavily armed, looked likely to strip it of anything useful. In their way, though, was a figure armoured in a way I had never seen, face hidden behind a grotesque shaped mask with a helmet also hiding any hint of expression within. As they eyed each other up, a priest to one side shouted out to his fellows that this figure had been sent by Odin and that he had been gifted a vision of this arrival. This made me shudder again, as I too had seen strange visions at night. Admittedly this was not unusual after smoking good weed, but these had been particularly vivid and showed me a demon greater than any I had seen sweeping through the forest and besting even a great Elven mage. More than anything else this had made me avoid the dense forest and take a longer route here to the south. Desperate to escape our regimented progression, I dared to approach and speak of my own vision - at least this would be a curious diversion. The priest seemed to think that my sudden appearance was also Odin's will, and invited me to take food with him and the strange warrior, which I readily accepted.

After some curt exchanges in a language I did not recognise, the warrior left his ship and we both followed the priest, Baldir by name, as he led us towards a makeshift temple in the early stages of construction. Despite the damage to the defences, this seemed to be the one structure that was being worked on by any great number of people. They seemed better fed as well, perhaps to keep their strength up for the task set upon them. As I watched with amazement, a group of acolytes joined in prayer caused food and water to appear from nowhere upon what had been empty tables, and it was soon being divided up to be taken out to the camps I had originally been headed for. There were fires burning, giving warmth to the place, and some ale was handed round in some small measure of celebration for the solstice. Odin's name was spoken in thanks for every offering, and I decided that if it were not for the food I would probably prefer to be in the mass of people outside. As I turned to survey the area I was surprised to find that another man had followed us, dressed in greens and browns, armed, looking more like the forest Elves I was aware of and eyes set upon Baldir. He introduced himself, as the latter also took note of his presence, as Rhion from Walorin. This set my nerves tingling, as that was the name of the mage from my own vision! The foreign warrior was Takeda... and a bunch of other names I could barely follow, but Takeda seemed to be his given name, and he was related to the legendary Lanzi-Bao, the most powerful mage to walk the land since Lastar! This was indeed a fated meeting.

Baldir was wary, and excused himself to pray for a moment. Rhion claimed to be an elf in the service of Malenwe and his descriptions certainly matched some of my own visions. Perhaps he had some knowledge of the mage's "tree" that he had seemed so desperate to defend in my dreams. If nothing else there might be some knowledge of dweomer to be found there, but he seemed reluctant to be drawn on the details of the forest paths. He recognised Odin's followers, but said that he was "for Frey." Baldir returned from his prayers and claimed that Odin had guided him and that our company was to be entrusted with a task, and that Takeda would guide us. I didn't sign up for any quests!

Takeda explained that he was seeking a lost standard of his family (apparently mislaying a flag was a source of great shame where he came from, and no you can't just make a new one - who knew?) The last known location was at Vorsaykarai, which as it happened was where Lanzi began his journeys in our lands. My interest was piqued now - the chance to follow in Lanzi's footsteps (and with some well armed allies) was too good to pass up. We agreed to rest and meet at noon the next day so that we could prepare for our journey, and I was told that a mage at the keep would assist me in the morning, but the night was our own. We were all invited back to Takeda's ship, but I quickly made my apologies and got away to spend some time elsewhere. Let's just say that I wasn't expecting to see much female company once we left Fontainver... I also heard that there was some ridiculous argument about honour and who got to sleep where on the boat, so just as well I avoided that!

On the morrow I made my way to the keep to meet this "Merion" I had been directed to. The guards there were, understandably I guess, not happy about some disheveled guy turning up and claiming to be on important business, but mention of the name I was to meet and that Father Thomas (Baldir's boss) had sent me was eventually enough for them to escort me in. I was greeted by a kindred spirit, not armed and without armour, badly shaven gray hair, brown and black clothing in the style of Farass, blue eyes, and nearby a nice looking staff with ivory twists holding a green gem stone at one end. We shared some herbs, trying them in pipes and relaxing whilst we chatted. It was relatively quiet here, and for the first time I really noticed how much noise the mass of people had been making as I lived among them outside. He offered me a small bottle of purple liquid which he swore could make me fly. I know a few herbs like that, but they are strictly not to be taken near any long drops; this, though, I was assured was the real stuff. He warned me to drink it all in one go, though, and not sip at it or the effect could be unpredictable. He gave me some ointment for wounds, and a best of all a scroll with dwemoer that would send a group of men or creatures to a deep slumber mid action. This I spent some time scribing to my own spellbook for use later. Once our pipes were done I bid farewell and made my way slowly through the throngs towards the wharf and Takeda's ship.

Father Thomas was there and had arranged for us to take on the role of escorts to yet another group of farmers travelling out with supplies, heading south and west in the direction I had come from so I knew what to expect. The Lawrence family, as they were called, were to be in our care until we reached a farmstead and we would then continue on our own. A large oxen pulled cart was their transport, but we would travel by foot as horses were too scarce to spare.

A Farming We Will Go

The first day was slow going, as we were travelling against the flow of people still making their way towards the fortress. We had food for only two days travel and then would have to fend for ourselves, so I was glad when we turned from the road and headed west along what was once a thick hedgerow that had been flattened for the advancing army now departed; the ground was hard enough for the cart to make good progress and my spirits lifted a little to be out and free in the countryside again. That said, there was still no sign of wildlife and smoke rose from several spots near and far where something had suffered at the enemy's hands. We camped without much shelter and stood watches looking for danger.

I was on first watch with Rhion, and he hissed a warning after a few hours - his elf-sight had picked up movement to the south, so I quietly woke the others. Once we were up and ready Rhion loosed an arrow and a gurgling sound suggested that it had found its mark. Baldir moved forward, but I stayed by the cart to keep watch over the family there (and avoid any unnecessary fighting). Now both Rhion and Baldir were loosing arrows, and hitting their targets from the commotion they were causing. There was some arrow fire back, but it was ineffectual. Finally I could see some ugly humanoids moving towards us (Essere gives me the ability to see in the dark through her senses, but it has a limited range). Baldir let up a warcry to Odin and charged into combat, seemingly eager to do so. Rhion stayed back, hitting another target with an arrow. Takeda, who was still struggling to see in the darkness, also loosed an arrow but it went wide. I summoned dweomer to use my one tried and tested battle spell, with a shout of "missile" a green bolt streaked towards one of the beasts, felling it as its chest was pierced (although the dweomer leaves no visible mark that I can see, having studied many such bodies). Baldir put one down with his spiked mace, although he received a nasty wound in return. The rest was settled at bow shot, with Takeda killing one and Rhion two more to leave none standing. The rest of the night, thankfully, passed without incident and Baldir was able to treat his wound with prayers making the flesh visibly knit.

The morning brought the opportunity to loot the dead, although I doubted that such filth would carry any dweomer. There was a small argument between Takeda and Baldir over whether the farmers should receive some of the coin. Baldir thought that they would be better served by the donation going to the temple, would would in turn offer protection and equipment, but Takeda believed (probably rightly) that by the time the coin got from Baldir's money pouch to the temple they would have lost the opportunity to benefit at all. Takeda was getting less careful about how he addressed us as he became more familiar with our company, and it now sounded as if he called us "Fon", "Ron" and "Boulder"a - not that this bothered me, and in fact his accent made it quite amusing, not that he would see the funny side if I laughed, I'm sure. I forget which side of the argument won, but noted that I should try to pocket my own coin from time to time to avoid any such discussions.

After a meagre breakfast we continued our slow journey west, with Rhion scouting ahead for danger. The weather was damp and the cloud low, so having someone able to give warning was useful. After a while he signalled to us and crouched down, and a few moments later we heard something pass over us in the cloud above. Baldir noticed movement below us and to our left, some way off, but Rhion was focused ahead and loosed an arrow at an unseen target. He started moving to his right, shouting for us to protect the cart, as a group of figures started running at us from where Baldir had sighted them. They were calling out, and thankfully the language was Elvish - Baldir translated for us "take cover!" Rhion was runninng back towards us, pursued by five figures that were clearly not Elves, and there was still something above us in the clouds. I had climed up onto the cart to get a better view, and to provide cover from arrow fire, but suddenly a grotesque creature with the shrivelled torso of a woman and eagle like legs swooped down and tried to grab hold of me. I reacted just in time, using the cart's contents to shield me and its talons raked the boxes around me. I raised a shield of dweomer to protect me from it, as Takeda reacted with impressive speed, putting four arrows in it in quick succession! I followed up with a magic missle that finished it, and it came crashing down onto the side of the cart, thankfully rolling off onto the floor.

Takeda changed target, killing one of the approaching creatures, and Rhion picked another one off. I had a good look aroung for threats and thankfully most were a long way off, so I hopped down and started plucking some feathers from the beast. They might be of some use for research, and I suspected (rightly) that the others would appreciate a few for making more arrows. Essere picked at its wounds, enjoying fresh meat for a change. Takeda kept up his rate of fire, killing two more hobgoblins (that is the name we used for them anyway) and the last thought better of approaching and ran. The Elves reached us shortly afterwards, a little late for battle but a welcome sight nonetheless. They were from Fontainver and had been hunting the harpy (that is what they called the flying creature) since they encountered it at a farmstead not far from here. Note: let someone else check the buildings when we get to our destination. Baldir thanked them and formally blessed them and they went on their way, heading back towards the fortress now that their task was done.

We continued west once more, and the weather started to brighten up a bit. As visibility improved we could see quite a way down the slope to our right, towards the forest, and noticed some movement between two columns of smoke. We resolved to keep an eye on the area to see how they reacted to our presence, unable to avoid contact whilst with the ox cart and unwilling to abandon the supplies within. After a score of minutes it was clear that the figures below intended to intercept us, as they moved to cross our path. Rather than ignore this threat we prepared a defence, unloading crates to serve as temporary barricades and sending the family with us to hide some way off. As the enemy (for they were more of the hobgoblins) approached we judged their numbers to be around thirty, all armed and dressed in black. We were all nervous about these odds, but Rhion discussed tactics with the others and carefully made his way around the flank so that he could surprise them and possibly divide their strength as they closed.

They spread out as they closed, and we could now see the crude symbol of the great skulled wand that I knew from my dreams belonged to the great demon, Orcus. Takeda started loosing arrows at extreme range, hoping to deter them, and killed two. Baldir killed one with two carefully aimed arrows, but they showed no sign of reluctance as they jogged up the gentle slope. The arrow fire continued for a little longer, and Baldir and Rhion both killed one, but Takeda again was faster, killing three in the same time. But then the mass of creatures was close enough to scream and charge at us, hardly slowed by our makeshift defences.

I was anticipating this moment, and used the scroll that Merion had given me on the creatures flanking us around the cart, as a magical sand drifted through the air to settle on them they fell to the ground mid-charge and slid to a stop in a deep slumber. About half a dozen were affected, and Takeda put arrows in the necks of the first two to jump the barricade, so we had halved their number at least. Having done what I could I turned and ran as far as I could, leaving the warriors to do their thing! I lay prone in some heather, peeking out to see what would happen next. Rhion picked one off from his vantage point, finding easy targets now that they had their backs to him. Takeda killed another before it could attack. Baldir smashed the head in of the first to approach him. So far so good! One creature climbed the cart and leapt onto Takeda, trying to bear him down, but he rolled his body as it landed, dumping it onto the floor and put an arrow through its head, pinning it to the ground; it twitched and lay still. Meanwhile Baldir had bested another, pitching it back over the barricade, and Rhion picked another off at range.

It was clear that these creatures were no equal to my new friends, and over the next few minutes Rhion and Takeda had killed two more each and Baldir another. By this time I had sat up to enjoy the show, lit my pipe, and started to preen Essere with the little brush I carried for her. The fighting styles of Baldir and Takeda were very different, the former deflecting and countering blows and the later seeming to flow around them so that swings failed to connect and the creatures were immediately off balance. I should note that neither were flawless - they both took nicks and blows and by the end they were clearly in some discomfort. When only one was left standing, Takeda dropped his weapon, twisted low under his opponent's blow and grabbed it in a headlock, squeezing hard until its eyes rolled up and it fell unconscious. Apparently it was a great honour to take a prisoner, although I'm not sure what we were supposed to do with it.

Baldir called on Odin to heal his wounds, and Takeda's, as Rhion joined us again. There was certainly power in his faith, and Odin visibly answered his prayers - I had heard Odin being praised after the battle with Malenwe and again at Fontainver, and I could see why. The creatures had, unfortunately, slaughtered the ox in their frenzied attack, and I set about removing its guts before it spoiled the meat, slipping a little liver to Essere as a treat. Baldir was all for executing the sleeping foe, as well as our prisoner, which seemed a little unpriestly to me, but Takeda would have none of it anyway and in the end they were woken individually and shown the massacre of their fellows which soon had them running off. Baldir set about arranging the dead bodies into the shape of an eye of Odin, which would eventually leave a mark on the land. Meanwhile I was helping to cut up the ox to carry the rest of the way to the farm; at least we would eat well today.

Thankfully it was not far to our destination and we were able to manhandle the cart with some effort down the slope to a ruined farm, although the shells of buildings were not too badly damaged. We helped to shore up the worst of the damage so that the family would at least be protected from the elements as they set about rebuilding and tending to the land. Baldir and Takeda made several trips back up the hill to loot the dead and search for usable arrows. We had ox for lunch, and for dinner, but it was most welcome and filling. Finally we sat around a fire discussing our next move, enjoying a good smoke (well I was, and Rhion shared my pipe) now that our first task was done.

Searching for a Tree in a Forest

I was keen to find the "Tree" that I had seen Walorin defending, knowing that it was important and that there might be great dweomer there. I suspected that it was related to portals between worlds, and that the scrying stones I had seen in my dreams (in the hands of the enemy admittedly) were key to controlling the portals, which would explain the importance of denying it to the enemy. Baldir also saw the importance of this, keen to ensure that the Tree was not left undefended, especially if Malenwe had taken her people north. Takeda, though, was totally focused on his damn flag and did not see how the Tree would help to retrieve it. Rhion, who confessed to knowing something of the Tree did not want to take us there or even speak of it in any detail. So we were split. After a bit of back and forth I realised that Takeda actually had no idea where his standard was, and only knew that it had been at Vorsaykarai many years ago with some of his people, so it could actually be anywhere by now! So, if we had access to a scrying stone then surely it would help us to find the standard's current location? This would save us time and effort as well as giving us some idea of what to expect and how to prepare. This was the argument I put to Takeda, and relucantly he had to admit that his only plan was to go to the last known location and search from there, so if dweomer would help us find the standard then it was worth a little diversion. I won't mention that I have no idea what the scrying stones do or how to use them... I'm sure we can work it out if we find one! Rhion was the last we needed to convince, then, and (perhaps the smoking helped a little) he began to weaken, eventually agreeing to guide us if we promised to leave the scrying stone in place and not weaken the defences in any way. He also admitted that it had been abandoned, so there were no Elven defenders assigned to protect it, which made our task all the more urgent.

We left the next morning, this time heading north and west towards the Efferendil clearly visible ahead of us. The grass was peaty in this lowland area, and hard going, with tufts of bracken hiding swampy areas our feet were only too eager to find. Rhion seemed to make easy going of it, scouting ahead as usual, but the rest of us were considerably slowed. After a few hours we saw him duck down into the bracken, and quickly followed his lead, awaiting his signal. After a few minutes he appeared and whispered that he had found two men of Farass making for the forest, which was unusual this far east. We decided to greet them openly rather than risk surprising them, and followed his lead towards slightly higher ground. We saw them as we rose up, both wearing furs and leathers that blended well with their surroundings. They were facing away from us and by their movements seemed to be hunting something, or someone. We waited, unwilling to disturb their prey, and watched as they split up and loosed arrows at something down a slope beyond where they crouched. After a few arrows they drew swords and stood, prepared to defend themselves. Green creatures charged over the ridge towards the nearest figure, orcs by the look of them, wearing bits of rag tag armour and carrying a variety of weapons, with a vague reddish theme to their clothing.

Rhoin was closest, and a little to our right, so he had the best view. He loosed a couple of arrows, killing one of the creatures, but then looked to his right and ran back towards us, urging us to flee! I sent Essere up into the air to see better what our situation was. The orcs had charged up the slope to engage the archer ahead of us, but the other man had someone (humanoid but difficult to see) under his arm and was moving towards the forest. There was an ogre there, though, which he hadn't seen from his position lower down. There was another ogre stomping up the slope towards Rhion and us! Despite the danger I knew we had to help, and unusually for me shouted to everyone to stand firm, and that these men needed our help, and even jogged towards the ogre to reinforce my point!

Baldir and Takeda loosed arrows, eventually hitting a couple of orcs, and I let a magic missile fly at the ogre, which seemed to annoy it. Takeda checked its charge slightly with an arrow in its chest, but Rhion shouted that there were more coming. I grabbed some sand from my pouch and used the dweomer I had learned from the scroll, pleasingly it worked and the ogre caused a minor tremour as it crashed to the ground fast asleep in front of us. Baldir killed one orc with an arrow, as did Rhion, but Takeda killed three in the same time! He then switched targets to another ogre as Baldir and Rhion picked off three more orcs between them. I backed off, unable to help now as the orcs closed to melee, and Rhion drew two blades causing greeny-yellow blood to fly as he spun in combat. Takeda finished putting down the second ogre, then killed an orc that tried to engage him. Baldir bashed an orc to a pulp, making sure it did not rise again. The first ogre woke from its slumber, slowly getting to its feet as it shook its head, but Rhion was there with his blades, slashing at its hamstrings to put it down and thrusting deep in its neck to finish it. Takeda casually put an arrow into the last orc before it could decide whether to run or not, and we were done. The man that had fought the orcs was dead, overwhelmed by them, but I urged by comrades not to rest and told them that there was another in danger who needed our help.

Although they were a little confused as to how I could see over the ridge, they followed my direction and sure enough the other man was facing an ogre alone, trying to defend a woman who was hurt. We ran to aid him (well Takeda kind of jogged - it looked like he was running but he was really slow). Rhoin got there first, engaging in melee straight away to draw its attention away from the others and slashing at its belly whenever an opportunity presented itself. Takeda gave up trying to close and drew his bow, but to be fair he didn't need to get closer as he put an arrow straight through its eye and killing it instantly! The rest of us came to the aid of the man, who was grateful but urged for someone to help to heal his female companion. She was clearly an elf, wearing a tattered blue robe with no weapons, armour or jewelry. Baldir immediately knelt beside her and uttered a prayer to Odin; she was still weak, so I graciously offered to smear healing ointment all over her. I am not an experienced healer, so I just put it wherever I could to make sure the effect was worthwhile, and the effect was most invigorating.

Rhion recognised her as Megan of Vorsay, a name which greatly disturbed Baldir, who kept saying it was of "ill portent" and linked to the Drow (a race I had fortunately not met, but apparently evil cousins of the Sylvan Elves). The man introduced himself as Garth, and Baldir healed his wounds as well. They were travelling to Fontainver, but had lost many of their number to the enemy and were trying to find shelter in the forest. Rhion warned them that there was little shelter to be found at the moment, and the forest was dangerous to travel. We agreed to assist them in reaching the river Cloof before going our separate ways. We set off at once, not knowing whether there were more ogres around, and Rhion again scouted ahead of us. This time he was able to warn us of large groups of the enemy and we used the forest to evade detection.

Eventually we found a good place to rest for the night and Rhion shared his concern that the groups he had seen were in fact search parties looking for Megan. We started to pump her for information, in the nicest possible way (there seemed no chance of any time alone for anything else). Vorsaykarai was held by samurai working, we suspected, for Malor and they were working with Gith and the undead - something that made Baldir spit with anger - led by a Lich of great prowess with a sword. The sword had apparently been key in the fall of the temple, being of great evil power. The samurai were led by a general named "Haru-san." Rhion warned of quite a bit of enemy activity on the river and its banks, so advised that we stay together for the night and only move when we could assess the danger and the best routes to take.

We did not get to rest for the whole night, though, as we were woken by the sounds of battle in the direction of the river. Creeping closer we could see that the battle was actually on the river, with at least one vessel burning on the water. There were troops marching parallel to the river below us, probably moving to aid someone or outflank someone. I started to help Takeda back into his armour as Baldir and Rhion took a closer look at the troops - confirming that they were of the enemy. Rhion came back to fetch us, although Takeda was still not ready, leaving Baldir to monitor their movements. The reckless twit engaged them with arrow fire as they turned to move towards the river - this was a fight we could have easily avoided! The troops scattered as they came under fire, not sure where the attack came from or how many they were facing. Rhion joined him and they both fired as targets moved. Baldir then thought it would be a good idea to draw even more attention by conjuring a bright light in the middle of the forest at night - genius! There was lots of shouting now, and they started to move towards our position.

I arrived in time to see Rhion and Baldir kill one of the enemy each, although it was difficult to see if any other arrows had found their mark. They jogged forward now, looking to scale the bank and engage us directly. Takeda killed two, having finally joined the battle - he certainly did well at close range. I sent a yellow magic missile down at the nearest, killing him, and in an unusual flare of dweomer his body also turned yellow! I'm not sure why that happened, but perhaps it was an emotional response to being overrun by ugly warriors! We were swarmed by the foe quickly, and I was knocked unconscious by a blow to the head. Essere struck back as I fell, killing (or possibly paralysing) my attacker. I obviously don't know for sure what happened next, but we were obviously victorius in the end. Rhion switched to swords and stood his ground, allegedly killing four; Baldir killed two by his (more honest, I suspect) account; Takeda took the fight to the enemy, jumping down and attacking from behind once he had dealt with those nearest him and apparently accounted for six of the foe; Essere tells me she put another one down that got too close to me, and the last surviving enemy fled in terror.

I awoke with a start shouting "the colours, look at the colours!" I then realised that I was surrounded by my companions and that Baldir had healed my bleeding head, which was a little embarrassing. He then turned his attention to Rhion, who had also suffered a deep wound. Baldir and Rhion then moved off to get a closer look at the river battle, but Takeda apparently had only managed to get some of his armour on and needed to go back for the rest! I went back to help him, aware that he would never find it in the pitch black forest, and using Essere (who was very happy to see me back on my feet) to allow me to see where we had come from. Once located I spent some time petting her whilst Takeda struggled with his armour, helping to fasten it where I could.

There were Elves on the banks of the river, engaging the enemy boats. One was ablaze farther down river, but there were two others fighting back and we had no idea whether there were more enemy troops moving through the forest. Everyone seemed to be keen to join the fight, although I couldn't see why we wouldn't take this opportunity to go on our merry way unmolested. Reluctantly I tagged along, keeping Takeda company as he sprinted really slowly towards the battle. Sure enough there were more of the enemy troops between us and the Elves, although they were not expecting an attack from behind. I used my dweomer to send half a dozen to sleep as Takeda picked one off with his bow. Rhion and Baldir charged into combat, and seemed to be enjoying letting their aggressive sides out. Rhion cut two down, but Baldir was felled by a lucky blow as one of the foe spun to meet his charge. I dashed forward, using my healing ointment to return the favour and restore him to health, as Takeda covered me - he put three down in quick order, giving me time to get out of there again! I found a nice mossy log to hide behind while everyone else kept the rest of the foe busy.

Rhion was surrounded, but slashed around him with his two blades, cutting another foe down. Takeda killed another, trying to ease the pressure on Rhion, and Baldir staying still for a few moments, deep in prayer, before springing up and charging to assist, catching one by surprise and pummelling it to the ground. Takeda killed one more, leaving just one fighting; it thought better of facing all three opponents and jumped into the river, splashing away as fast as it could. Baldir didn't pause, though, taking a flask of oil from his pack, setting light to a rag in its stopper and throwing it onto the deck of the nearest boat. Fire spread across the deck, throwing sharp rays of light and dark shadows flickering through the trees as the flames grew. I moved into a thicker bush to make sure I didn't become a target for enemy archers. Takeda took careful aim and took out the helmsman with an arrow, leaving the boat to drift aflame.

We stopped to catch our breath (well actually I had been doing that for some time, but everyone else was certainly sweating with exertion). We quickly picked over the bodies for anything of use and then moved away in case the commotion had attracted any unwanted attention. However, for my bloodthirsty friends this was still not enough - they wanted more blood on their hands! So once again they moved towards the battle and the final boat as yet undamaged. It was attempting to rescue crew and equipment from the boat we had already seen burning, which itself was now against the river bank on our side. There was a lot of panic on board and they were firing, apparently blindly, at both banks of the river. We could not see any targets, but it was obvious that they had been attacked in this area. Baldir, who I shall from this point forward happily refer to as "the mad monk", ran onto the burning boat that the enemy was abandoning for good reason! Rhion and Takeda supported him by taking out an archer each, allowing him to reach his target without harm. There seemed to be no immediate danger, but wary of yet more unseen enemy forces I decided to climb a tree; it provided an excellent view of what was going on, some cover and protection from arrow fire, and removed the risk of being surprised on the ground. I lit my pipe and settled down to see what the mad monk would do next.

Takeda and Rhion continued to support him with arrow fire, killing several more of the crew, but Rhion was hit by an arrow in return - fortunately it was not so serious that he could not continue. Mad monk had set light to another flask of oil, and hurled it onto the deck of the other boat, which was close enough now that he was standing on the sinking, burning remains of its companion. Some poor creature ran screaming into the river, covered in flames. I asked Essere if she wouldn't mind having a look around farther down the river bank in case there were any nasty surprises coming our way. She flew off quickly and quietly, and soon it was obvious that there were some elves hiding a little way from where we were, although it seemed that they had been struggling to deal with the enemy and had suffered some casualties. Takeda and Rhion took out another three of the crew, although Takeda seemed to struggle to match Rhion's accuracy at this range. Some of the crew started to jump into the river from the now burning boat, and Baldir obviously decided he had done enough and made his way back to the bank.

I climbed down from the tree to meet Baldir, as Takeda and Rhion finished off the last of the visible targets, and told him where the elves were located. We made our way to the nearest of them, identifying ourselves as friends before getting too close. Baldir then set about staunching wounds and treating the injured as best he could. The elves were grateful for the assistance, both in battle and afterwards, and led us deeper into the forest to a small clearing being used as an infirmary and makeshift camp. I helped to light a fire and boil up an infusion with some herbs that the female leader (or that is what she seemed to be) gave me. I kept a few samples, of course, to dry and experiment with in my pipe. She explained that they were fighting the enemy with guerrilla tactics, but the convoy they had ambushed had turned out to be troop ships and the retaliation was more than they could deal with (see - this is what happens when you pick fights you don't need to). They were about to flee when we intervened, and thanked us for our help. They were glad to hear the news of Fontainver and the victory over the evil army, but the forest was literally a shadow of its former self.

I asked if there were any sages with them that I could share study notes with, and I was directed to a delightful lady known as Lyrian who spared me a couple of scrolls. We were also asked if we wanted to travel together for a time for extra safety, an offer which we gladly accepted. Takeda had to leave his armour off to have any chance of keeping up, but we met no resistance as we travelled anyway and quickly reached the point where Rhion indicated that we would have to leave our new friends. Rhion told us that we were travelling south to a place known as "Grim Glade", which did not sound particularly nice, and he warned that we must not drink of the water there and to be wary of water nymphs.

As we journeyed south the forest started to feel warmer and warmer, and the trees closed in until we could only just keep sight of each other, forced to walk single file between the undergrowth and tree trunks. Eventually we were stripped down as much as possible, and I was bare chested and still felt swaddled in sticky closeness. We stopped for a water break, taking only from our flasks, and Rhion warned of movement ahead. A blade flashed from the think undergrowth beside Rhion, barely missing him, and suddenly all the sprigs and plants around us turned to snakes! Watching the squirming mass was hypnotic and a whispered voice told me to grab hold of Takeda's pack (which contained his armour at this point), and without even wondering why I found my hands tugging at it. As Takeda was pulled slightly off balance a snake bit him, but his strength was such that he quickly regained his balance. I was also bitten, twice, but kept pulling at Takeda's armour, unable to think of anything else. Baldir was wrapped up in a great snake's tail and crushed, but fought back and with all his might managed to force himself out of the gripping coils. Rhion slashed back at the undergrowth where he had been attacked from, landing a satisfying hit and drawing blood from something.

Baldir, now free, offered up a prayer to Odin that drove the snakes back and away from us, thankfully. Takeda shrugged off my grip and jumped into the undergrowth where Rhion was still probing, bringing a curved blade down in a flash and slaying the thing that had attacked. The strange affliction of my mind ended suddenly, and I again had full control of my actions. We regrouped, checking wounds, but Baldir strangely refused to treat my snake bites even though there was a real risk of poison having got into my system. Despite reason and pleading he would not aid me, considering my wounds too minor. In the end the debate was settled by Takeda forcibly taking the healing ointment from him (my own had been used up by now) and applying it to my wounds, which immediately felt better. Baldir became sullen and withdrawn, at this, accusing Takeda of subjugating anyone that would not do as he wished.

Rhion urged us to move on, and resolve our differences once we had found a place to rest. I had a torch with me, which I lit and handed to him to use to scatter the snakes ahead of us, clearing a path until the forest was back to normal. A little further we noticed a glint to the right of our path, and on investigating we almost tripped over a chest in the undergrowth. A second chest was found before we reached the source of the reflection, and both chests were rotten but full of gold coins! We dragged them as best we could into a small clearing where we found a skeleton with damaged armour, which had been catching a ray of sunlight to cause the glint. There were bags and boxes around the clearing, all old and overgrown to some extent. I found a necklace, which I put on, and took a little gold (too much would have been too hard to carry). There was a nice box with a serpent inlaid in jet with gems studded to give it colour, so I took that as well. We divided some gems between us, as they were easy to carry, and I also took a couple of potions (one green and one purple). Having taken what spoils we could we quickly left the ill-fated place and continued our journey.

It was getting darker, and not just because of the dense tree cover, so we decided to look for somewhere to rest. There was nothing in the way of clearings, but one small area at least allowed us to sling a couple of hammocks and post guards so we resolved to stop there. Baldir and Rhion took first watch, but we were woken in the darkness by the screech of an owlbear as it attacked Baldir. We scrambled out of bed as the mad monk decided to scream back at it rather than attack! Takeda had no such hesitation, grabbing his bow and putting three arrows into it, killing it before it could do any damage. Baldir started to lament the passing of an innocent noble creature, or some such bollocks, as I gutted it so the meat wouldn't spoil before morning. Having been awoken we switched watches, but the rest of the night passed uneventfully. Once we had packed up and eaten a little meat (much to Essere's joy), we continued to follow Rhoin's lead through the thick undergrowth. After some hours Rhoin drew our attention to a tree that was slightly smoother than the others and had runes carefully etched into it. A waymarker, perhaps? We continued for about another hour, finding several such waymarkers, before the forest began to open up a little. Rhoin stopped again and indicated for us to listen; we could faintly hear a trickle of water - he indicated again not to drink any we came across. After a short distance we found a brighter area and stopped to eat what rations we had and again sip from our waterskins.

As we were packing up we noticed some flying things approaching at speed - three of them, only small, dark red but with white horns and a barbed tail. They darted in too quickly for us to take up any kind of formation, and one stung me and I collapsed into unconsiousness again. Essere retaliated, stinging it back and it collapsed to the floor beside me. Rhoin slashed one with his sword and it squealed and fled. Takeda killed the last one with a quickly notched arrow. Four larger creatures then appeared on foot, having used the distraction to get close, and attacked. Essere stung the nearest one to me, adding another unconsious body to the pile, as Rhoin cut one down with carefully placed slashes and Takeda pincushioned another. Baldir also landed a good hit, but before he could land a second blow Takeda had finished it with another arrow. Baldir thankfully had no objections to treating me this time, and I was revived again with Odin's grace warming me as I awoke. Takeda and Rhoin looted the bodies as he did so, looking mainly for arrows as they were getting very low. Baldir finished treating me with healing ointment, which left me much refreshed.

Again we did not want to tarry too long, so set off once more and the forest closed in again, with the warmth that came with it causing sweat to bead all over my body. After about half an hour Rhoin stopped again. We could definitely hear running water now, and we could just make out a rock face to our right behind the trees that was slick with water. Rhoin looked up and as we followed his gaze we saw two massive spiders above us, another ahead and one behind, with thick webs strung between the trees. Baldir had picked up a new shield from the treasure trove we had found and it proved its worth now as the spiders curled up to drop quickly onto us, spreading out their hairy limbs just before reaching us to attack. One struck his shield with a loud "bong" but he was unharmed. Rhoin was not so lucky as he was speared in multiple places and then crushed to the floor, pinned and unmoving. Takeda was also badly hurt, and the situation looked dire. I prodded the bulk of one beast with my staff, but it was pretty ineffectual. Takeda drew his curved sword, which was unusual, but put it to good use and thrust it into the spider, pulling it along until the spider let out a high pitched shriek and curled up in its death throes.

Baldir was having no luck trying to swing above his head and my staff was no use against the massive beast. Rhoin was about to be devoured, or at least carried off to be food later, and only Takeda had managed to hurt one - but even he could not fight three of them. In desperation I lashed out with my mind, sending a shockwave of thought at the puny brain of the creature above us. The creature instantly curled up, dead, and promptly fell onto Baldir, pinning him to the ground. Oops. Takeda charged at the spider wrapping Rhoin in webbing, slashing with two strong cuts through its head and slaying the thing. I used dweomer to send the last spider to sleep, leaving it hanging and slowly spinning around in the air.

We managed to cut up the spider on Rhoin enough to get him out and start first aid, then Takeda rolled the other carcass off Baldir (I had tried and quickly found that I would not get anywhere on my own) and I got out of the way as he put his superior healing knowledge to good use, eventually reviving Rhoin. We were not it a good state as a party, but we could not rest here, so we continued along the path until we reached a slight opening. It was only a few feet across, but there were no trees on the right and only a drop down a cliff to our left, so we rested overnight. Baldir, after some prayers, spent time treating wounds before sleeping, and I spent my usual time studying dweomer and writing up this journal. We were not disturbed, though, and were able to continue in the morning much refreshed.

The path we followed sloped gently down and then eventually became better defined and steepened, with steps being carved into the rock. Rhoin referred to it as the "Druer Path", and was happier now that he had found something familiar. It was apparently a trading route between the Sylvan realm and the Cloof, or at least had been. The trees were definitely thinning, giving us a better view over the cliff to our left, and it was this that alerted us to some other users of the path up ahead. The path turned to the left lower down, allowing us to see a group of about a dozen humanoids moving up the path towards us. I sent Essere ahead slightly to get a better look (I referred to this as "far seeing" for the rest of the party, who had still not really seen Essere; if there was one thing I learned from the shamen of Farass it was that "magic" can explain anything to the ignorant and gullible). I was able to see them through Essere's eyes - they were armed with polearms and wore furs and patchy armour, but had dog-like features and their bodies were hairy. As I was relating this to my companions, Rhoin spat out "Gnolls" and drew swords, moving swiftly forward to engage them. We hurried up behind, not wanting to be separated, and battle was quickly joined.

Baldir prayed and caused the plants around the path to come alive, clutching at the gnolls and restricting their movements; the narrow path also meant that there was nothing they could do to escape, other than to fight through to face Rhoin or attempt to flee, which they didn't seem to be interested in. I caused a few to fall asleep, making it even harder for them to move up, then Takeda killed several at the front with arrows. Rhoin leapt over the bodies to strike at the ones behind, but Takeda was too fast, killing them both before Rhoin could land a blow! This encounter was only going one way, so I sparked up my pipe and settled down to watch. Rhoin, who seemed to despise these creatures with a passion, finally reached one that was alive; it was unable to move, being held firmly by the plants Baldir had enchanted, but Rhoin ran it through without pause and dived into the mass of plants, disappearing from view. When the plants settled down and receded after a few minutes all that was left was a trail of murderous destruction and Rhoin at the end with blood all over him. We thought for a moment that was the end of it, but then we spotted a solitary creature running down the path ahead. Rhoin was busy tipping the bodies over the cliff, I guess just to make sure that they were all REALLY dead because, you know, they were ugly or something. He did at least pause to strip them of valuables first.

Rhoin urged us forward, seeking to track down the last of the foe, although I doubted that the creature would be interested in finding us again. After an hour or so we did find it - dead. There were tracks of elves, but we had no way of knowing of what alliegence. I used my own brand of wild magic to attempt to interpret the signs left by the elves, took a good puff on my pipe, and let the elements I could see and touch randomly arrange themselves in a million different ways in my head until I started to see the truth behind the surface. Four of the elves had come, straight down the cliff, surprising the gnoll and killing it quickly. They had hardly paused, continuing their descent over the cliff to our left in some haste.

Baldir and Rhoin were worried that these might be Drow, looking to overtake us and set an ambush. We hurried our pace, travelling as quickly as we could without exhausting ourselves. A few miles later the cliff and drop eased off to our left and the path levelled off, we had picked up the trail of the elves from where they had finished their descent and it continued straight ahead. This forest was much more comfortable to travel through, even though we were hurrying, a deciduous forest with low bushes that were easy to move through - not that we had to as the path was in even better condition here and easy to follow. It was not long before it opened into a clearing with a statue of an elven archer firing his bow in the centre. Four elves with blond hair and blue eyes sat cross-legged in front of the statue, facing us with bows on their laps, and nearly identical in appearance. Silver birches surrounded the clearing and in one movement elves appeared from within them from all sides, all with bows notched. We froze, knowing that we were dead if they wished it, but Rhoin spoke to them in their tongue and one stepped forward, asking our names.

Once we had introduced ourselves the elf motioned to his kin to put up their weapons and then introduced himself as Fellis, then the other three with him as Caladhra, Gren and Shallor. They were sons and daughters of Celerienne and Beran. We were made welcome and, thankfully, given fresh food and water as well as places to rest. We spoke of Takeda's quest, but not of our search for the tree at Rhoin's request. They believed that the samurai took the standard north to Malor, with Haru as their daiymo. However he had been seen recently in the south, at Vorsaykorai, no more than two moons ago. They suggested that Meghan, who we had parted with at the Cloof, would know best of the situation at Vorsaykarai, and that she was the aunt of Celerienne. We also discussed the undead, with Baldir giving a heart tugging account of how he had watched his mother die at their unnatural touch in Fontainver, and they had also heard that a Lich (probably Mercantire Carass, formerly a Sylvan elf of some reknown) had been with the enemy. We stayed for some time to reflect on our journey, to study, and to learn. They were also kind enough to identify a pair of bracers in the box I had carried from the snake encounter as being imbued with defensive dweomer, so I took to wearing them at all times!

We spent some time with the elves, who lived in the great branches of the trees as well as walking amongst them. I learnt to draw on dweomer without as much effort, increasing the spells I could call on without resting, and was also taught some new spells, knowledge I devoured eagerly. It helped that my tutor was quite beautiful, but sadly the rumours that elves could not be charmed proved true so I had to content myself with gazing at her lovely face (and body when it wasn't too obvious) whilst listening to the almost musical lilt of her voice. Sadly the day came when we could delay our departure no longer; Rhoin was quite agitated about reaching the glade before a certain date as the location of the tree moved with the seasons.