Chronicle - The Turning of the Tide
Victory Celebrations
We decided to hold a proper feast to celebrate our victory, mostly for the morale of Malenwe's force but also as a chance to sample any local brews that were sure to be available despite the soldiers' hardships. We also agreed that a monument to this victory would be built on the site of the battle, which would rise up to the glowing point of light that I had created and which would shine forever more. This marked the turning of the tide against evil, and would serve as a beacon to all good souls, both to navigate these barren grasslands and to remind them that good men and folk fought together to restore the Prime to balance.
During the feast I spoke at length with Aras, trying to convince him that the Men of Farass should turn to Odin for guidance as they were currently faithless as far as I could tell. This lack of belief came from despair at their situation, it seemed, the usual feeling of abandonment that caused men to doubt that the Gods were truely watching over them. Odin had placed a quest on me to recruit supporters and to grow the ranks of faithful wherever I could, so I took this opportunity to convince Aras. I called on Odin himself to appear to us (perhaps I would have been a little more reserved with less mead, but it certainly had the desired effect). He flew to us at first as a raven, but when Aras questioned his form he took his human form and all at the table were shocked by the sudden presence of a God beside them. Aras swore an oath to Odin in the name of Farass on the spot, and I resolved to spend some time with the men just talking of Odin and what he had enabled us to achieve. It also helped that I had raised a couple of leaders from the dead after the battle; Odin's name would be spoken by these men so long as they lived, I believe. Aras was the son of Henar (sp?) and a Prince of the Men of Farass. His grandfather was too weak to take the field, so he and his brother, Celinor, commanded their forces. Some ten thousand men could be fielded in total, and they had been sent south by visions to link with Malenwe's small force.
After resting we awakened somewhat shabby and tried to remember the details of the communications we had planned to send. I scried for Yishmay's location, which was north of Nega in the Dunland, returning from battle. I then opened a window to her vicinity and we stepped through to the other continent, thankfully with no ill effects. We appeared on the trail before her force and asked for an audience with 'the General' (her disguise). This was, of course, granted and Lanzi created a place where we could speak in private. The romantic reunion was somewhat diminished by Yishmay's male disguise and Lanzi's breaking wind in the small hut he had created. We warned her of Demogorgon's threat from Zundar with the Derro, and that Orcus looked to strike from Celinas. We explained our plan for her to move north through the Sylvan lands whilst feinting at Ochi in order to lure the two great foes to battle each other. We gave her a palantir and a scroll with the shielding spell from Lanzi, and then beseeched her not to go after her father, but to leave it to us once the battle at Fontainver had been concluded. Finally, we used a limited wish to speak with Celestar, the king of the Sylvan lands; Milai asked him to grant safe passage to Yishmay and her people. He explained that they would emerge in the Old Heart forest, but that he could not protect them from Elerienne if she were to take exception to their presence in her lands.
We then returned to Malenwe, in the same way, and this time used the palantir openly to pass a warning about Demogorgon (genuine) and urging her to move to Ochi to avoid an attack (false). We, of course, expected that this message would be intercepted. Lanzi also planted a vision in the mind of the ninja (Itsuki) that had failed to capture Yishmay for Demogorgon; he saw Yishmay planning the move to Ochi, and also carrying a shard - that should tempt Demogorgon to take Ochi seriously. We also communicated with Yishmay again, this time telling her that we knew of Inwe's plans to draw out Malor's forces for her own ends, which gave us an opportunity to strike with our friends in the north to reunite the final ring with the others. The hope was that Malor would hold back some forces for his own defence and weaken the attack on Fontainver.
Enrahire's Folly
We used Lanzi's magic cloud to travel at speed to the north, invisible, following the clear track of Enrahire's forces whilst avoiding enemy forces. We eventually sighted the encamped Elven army with the King's tent clearly visible in the centre of the camp. There were about two thousand troops as an estimate, but the number of foes we had sighted on the way suggested that they had been allowed to move unmolested. We landed next to the King's tent, still invisible, and approached the guarded entrance. The tent was in autumn colours, centre-poled but with sides fitted to give it space inside.
As we entered we saw Enrahire, clearly identifiable by a platinum circlet he wore, dressed in black. Another male elf sat cross-legged at his side, dressed for war with a bow at his feet, looking as if he had been on horseback. The tent was comfortable, with rugs and furs making it feel warm. Near to the elves was a table with maps laid out, but our attention was held by the other occupant which was a creature of the lower planes. The humanoid thing had a black, fiery aura about it that made its physical form difficult to distinguish, but it was some nine feet tall. It was clearly making both Elves nervous. Fortunately, despite being invisible, we mostly managed to avoid each other on the way in, although I did bump into Hintzu inside.
The time for stealth was past, though, and I heard people rush forward; Milai and Hintzu appeared as they attacked, the movement of maps suggesting that at least one had leapt over the table. Lanzi also appeared as he launched dweomer at the creature, and the familiar grey ray of a disintegrate spell had the familiar effect of not doing very much! Malenwe willed herself visible and began to implore her father to turn back from this path, at which the other elf (her brother) struck at her with the flat of his sword. Milai and Hintzu struck true and killed the creature, and I called on Odin to abjure its form back to the abyss; now we had Enhrahire's attention!
Enrahire ordered his son to put up his sword, as Milai ordered us all to put up our weapons. Milai then began admonishing Enrahire for even considering entreating with a minion of Hel. I stood by the tent flap, expecting the guards to enter, but with hands open and no weapon. Malenwe's brother pushed past me, calling angrily for the guards. Malenwe was vying with Milai for her father's attention. A nice little family reunion, really. Milai asked Enrahire for time to speak about his choices. The guards entered, weapons drawn, and I stepped back without reacting or barring their progress, but Enrahire ordered them to hold. He said "my forest has been destroyed by Orcus; with no other help, Malor was our only hope to defeat the demon."
Milai spoke of ancient alliances that could bring hope, of the new white council, and of armies that stood ready to fight the demon right now. She singled out Lanzi as the new Lastar incarnate, and then asked how anything good could come from dealing with creatures of pure evil. After an impassioned speech, and without his son whispering in his ear, Enrahire finally saw the folly in his actions. Once convinced, the talk turned to how he might best serve his people. Milai asked him to return to the forest, and that Malenwe and the Men of Farass would help to defend the land whilst the enemy was engaged at Fontainver. If that battle was won, we could crush Orcus' forces between us.
Inwe's Landing
Milai was, understandably, very keen to return to Fontainver at once in order to continue preparations for the coming battle. Once she was convinced that Enrahire's folly had been averted, we traveled once more by Odin's grace straight to Fontainver in an instant. Milai at once summoned her leaders and began pouring over plans for the defence, giving orders to relocate troops and re-position ballistae and catapults from her fleet to the defence of the fortress. The most immediate action was to attempt to counter the landing of Inwe's troops to the north, so that they could not appear on the battlefield at full strength at an inopportune moment. Unfortunately, this action would probably mean that any forces we sent north would not be back in time for the assault on Fontainver.
Showing great faith in him, Milai entrusted the command of this action to Lanzi. The reason I say this is that it meant placing the remainder of her fleet under his leadership! With no real maritime experience, of course, her admiral would be closely advising Lanzi in the best way to use the vessels. Hintzu was to travel with and protect Lanzi, as well as assisting with the battle itself. We had seen visions that told us the landing would be opposed by dwarves - the lost souls of the north had returned of their own accord to assist with this vital battle. Lanzi's first task would be to link up with the dwarves and assure himself of their intentions. He would then attempt to conceal the sea elf vessels until the enemy was close enough for them to strike from on-shore. The aim would be to destroy as many siege engines as possible before using the wind to escape Inwe's fleet, which would undoubtedly be more numerous than our own.
Lanzi and Hintzu bid farewell, promising to return as quickly as possible to assist with the battle here, and then sailed with the half a dozen ships that were ready for combat. It did not take long to reach the bay where the landing was to take place; a small party went ashore, with Lanzi and Hintzu among them, to find the dwarves. Although not visible from the sea, when Lanzi called a greeting a lone dwarf stood and approached to identify them. Once happy with Lanzi's identity (it is hard to mistake it), he discussed their plan. They knew that they could not defeat the landing troops, but they could inflict some damage as they were landing and delay their march, perhaps even drawing some forces away from the attack. To this end they would disengage to the north, and would not commit themselves to a protracted fight less they get trapped by the superior numbers of the enemy. This meant that they would not be at Fontainver, but the effect they would have should more than make up for this.
Lanzi and Hintzu then made their way to the top of the cliff overlooking the bay, awaiting the approach of Inwe's forces. The fleet already had their orders, and knew what to expect from Lanzi's dweomer. Eventually they saw Inwe's fleet come into view; they were only about a mile away, as there were showers and low cloud reducing visibility. The ships were at full sail and making straight for the bay. The fleet far outnumbered the few allied ships in the bay, with a screen of fighting vessels to the north, south and east of the landing ships and support ships (which contained the siege weapons). Lanzi summoned a fog within the bay and calmed the wind, taking longer than he would have liked, reducing the visibility to almost nothing and setting up the ambush he was about to spring. He then called on the wind to rise again, knowing that this would take some time and hoping that it would come before Milai's ships needed to escape. He made himself and Hintzu invisible and gave them the ability to fly, so that they could move to a position to attack without being seen.
They began their flight over the bay, with Lanzi creating mirror images as they traveled.