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. They descended until they could see the masts of an enemy vessel near the far side of the bay, and then Lanzi created the illusion of Elven triremes to the rear of the enemy, with the intent of turning the defensive screen the wrong way to intercept the real Elven ships before they had struck at their targets. A short time afterwards the weather began to change again, with a wind stirring the fog and starting to lift it. The wind grew in strength, and visibility cleared to what it had been before, with showers still affecting some areas.

Lanzi began his offensive by hurling a fireball at a frigate, doing minor damage but killing many of the crew. He immediately came under arrow fire, having become visible. Hintzu, taking his lead from Lanzi for now, struck at the same ship with a fireball of his own. The new flames caught, as Lanzi had dried out the wood, and the ship started to burn nicely; it was no longer under control as the crew struggled to fight the fires. Milai's fleet swept in from the north, punching through the screening ships whilst exchanging arrow fire. Fire arrows were being used on both sides, and one of the Elven vessels suffered too much fire damage to continue, although two of the enemy vessels were similarly alight.

Hintzu switched his focus to a troop ship, dropping a flaming sphere onto the deck and letting it slowly roll along the length of the ship setting fire to whatever it touched. The Sea Elves reached their targets, the support ships, and began boarding actions. Lanzi sent a deadly gas billowing through a troop ship, slowly spreading and killing the troops trapped below decks as it did so. He also sent a meteor swarm flying towards another ship, the deck disappearing in a series of explosions. The defenders were coming around quickly, and the Sea Elves realised that they could not complete their boarding without being trapped so began to disengage. One was caught by a Gith ship - there were a few here, obviously sent by Malor to support the landing, but not as many as we feared.

Lanzi tried to disintegrate part of a troopship, although the damage was limited on a vessel of that size. Hintzu, meanwhile, rushed to the aid of the Sea Elves, calling forth a great whirlwind on the deck of the Gith ship, turning their masts into splinters within seconds and sending crew flying around as they tried to escape. Lanzi summoned a great fist to pummel the mast of a command ship, hoping to disrupt the control of the fighting ships and help keep those engaging the illusory ships from being recalled. He also placed a ring of fire on the ship, which would gradually consume the ship around it in fire.

Hintzu was quick to see the advantage of this tactic, ringing the Gith ship with fire to help the Sea Elves disengage safely. He kept up a constant fire with arrows throughout this, and with every two or three arrows loosed another of the foe fell dead. Lanzi had lost many images to arrow fire, so he turned his skin to stone for further protection, whilst swiping with his conjured fist at a crewman trying to save the ship's mast, killing him instantly. He then creating another 'creeping death' of swirling gas in a nearby frigate; in time all aboard would have to abandon ship or die in agony.

Hintzu's efforts were finally rewarded, as the Sea Elves disentangled their ship from the Gith attackers and quickly filled their sails, heading away at pace. The burning ship that could not be saved had managed to steep into the stricken enemy capital ship, boarding that rather than staying on their own deathtrap. Others jumped from the ship and began to swim, hoping to reach another enemy ship that was turning into a ghost ship due to Lanzi's gassing of the crew. Hintzu saw that another Gith ship was moving to intercept the Elves he had just rescued, so he moved in front of their ship, facing up to it and summoning a gust of wind to bring them to a dead stop in moments. He followed this with a few arrows for good measure, killing a few of the crew.

Lanzi targeted another Gith vessel, again summoning a gas that would work its way through the ship - this was proving to be an excellent tactic. He was lucky enough to resist the effects of a fireball exploding near him, as was Hintzu as he resisted some magic missiles. Hintzu also avoided a fireball, but was struck by a couple of arrows. He still had a stoneskin defence, though, which protected him. In response he breathed fire at the ship still before him, as if from a dragon, setting it afire and killing over a half dozen of the crew. Content that the Sea Elves could now make their escape, he moved to the capital ship to assist with the boarding, killing four with arrows as he arrived. The Sea Elves had fought well, and the remainder of the enemy crew surrendered the ship to them. Those that had taken to the water were able to climb aboard the frigate unopposed, with the crew all dead from Lanzi's gas. However, there was a Gith ship bearing down on them!

Lanzi then had the brilliant (in his mind) idea to commandeer another frigate that was now without crew, intending to turn it back towards the Sea Elves so that they could take possession of it. He grasped the basic principle that you turned the wheel in the direction that you wanted to go, so he landed on the deck and swung it as far to one side as he could in an attempt to turn the ship around. Needless to say that the effect was dramatic. The ship turned and listed violently to one side, eventually righting itself having come to a dead stop facing across the wind. Lanzi was still standing at the wheel, grinning, and probably deciding that this was enough to add 'admiral' to his many titles.

Hintzu once again went to the aid of the Sea Elves facing Gith attackers (they were not armed with weapons that could hurt the Gith). He raised a wall of ice across the deck of the Gith ship to stop them from boarding easily and killed three attackers with arrows. Lanzi used dweomer to protect himself from missiles as he awaited the Sea Elves; they had steered the capital ship towards him, having seen the ship come to a dramatic stop, and now sent a crew aboard to turn the ship towards home. He then went to the assistance of Hintzu, dropping more gas on the Gith ship, although another had now joined them so there was still some work to do. Hintzu killed another four with arrows, and then met the lead Gith of the new ship, causing them to burst into flames from the inside - two were killed instantly in this manner, checking their boarding action somewhat! To reinforce the message he killed another three with arrows. The Sea Elves managed to pull their ship away as Hintzu killed four more that had managed to board; only one Gith remained as they began their escape.

Hintzu dropped a stinking cloud on the wheelhouse of the Gith ship, disabling the helmsman and preventing them from pursuing the Sea Elves. Lanzi created a ring of fire on the other ship, again to stop the pursuit. All of the Gith ships had now suffered severe damage. Hopefully Malor would not be happy with Inwe! Lanzi now turned his attention to the shore, as the landing had commenced. He flew towards the Southwest of the bay with music blaring like some Valkyrie descending from Valhalla.

The dwarves, true to their word, volley fired into the enemy as they began their landing. Lanzi used Dragor's Orb to breathe dragon fire into one of the support ships, killing many. The crossbow fire continued from the dwarves, cutting down many, but the numbers unloading were soon going to overwhelm them. Hintzu followed Lanzi toward the beach, weaving to avoid the worst of the arrow fire. Lanzi threw a fireball at catapults on a support ship, then created a ring of fire on the deck to continue the destruction. He lost his last image to arrow fire, then repeated the attack - fireball and ring of fire - aimed at destroying siege engines. As he did this, the rod he had been using crumbled to dust, the last of its dweomer expended. Hintzu arrived at the line of support ships, using his ring to spread the fires across the deck to consume more siege engines.

The dwarves sprang their last surprise, igniting great pits of oil as the enemy advanced towards them, causing great damage and confusion. Lanzi then created a cloud of smoke at one end of the fires, screening some of the enemy archers from the dwarves. Hintzu, having used most of his dwemoer on the ships, picked out the commanders of the nearest unit and killed them efficiently with arrow fire from their rear. Lanzi turned back to the support ships, using another wall of fire, a stinking cloud from Moya, another eruption of gas and a lightning bolt; this outburst of destruction marked the end of the sea battle, and he started to make his way to the southern clifftop. Hintzu, meanwhile, had killed the commanders of another unit, which should reduce their effectiveness in the battles to come, and then turned to follow Lanzi. The dwarves were falling back towards the higher ground, and were about to get unexpected support from a unit of Milai's cavalry that had been sent to aid the dwarves' escape and harry the enemy force as it marched.

Battle of Fontainver

Meanwhile, just before dawn, at Fontainver Orcus' forces were approaching brazenly with no obvious attempt to hide their numbers. Many siege weapons were being pulled by stone giants and we estimated between 12 to 15 thousand troops of various creatures. They included undead, trolls, ogres, giants, spiders, warg riders and others, and there were also some supply barges on the river. The massive column split as it approached, with some troops swinging towards the higher ground in the north. As yet there was no sign of the Gith or Malor's forces, though. Unsurprisingly there were flying demons above the column; we were expecting an aerial attack at some point. Worryingly, though, there were also disturbances beneath the water in the habour, although it was not obvious what we might expect from that quarter.

I called on Odin to shield the fortifications against missile fire, which might at least slow their attempts to break through the outer walls. Milai ensured that we were all able to fly in order to move freely around the battlefield when needed. Our own trebuchets engaged at extreme range, but were largely ineffective against the initial skirmishing lines. The attacking columns were now clearly split north and south, with spiders and infantry on the south bank of the river and undead with more infantry on the north. The flying demons were approaching over the river.

The enemy siege engines were in range now and started to target our own batteries, destroying a trebuchet with a lucky early shot. Menelaus responded immediately by projecting an image, invisible, and throwing fireballs at the enemy trebuchets. The spiders, as the largest targets, were suffering a few losses from trebuchet fire as they approached. As they came closer they also suffered from the attention of our ballistae. Menelaus continued to harrass their siege engines, with disintegration rays and by summoning a fire elemental. I called on Odin to protect Milai and myself from evil so that we might move unhindered to the place we were needed most.

The flying demons closed quickly and became the first target for archers; Milai personally dispatched one with her bow that came too close. Recognising the danger that the flying assault posed if they were not taken care of before the ground troops arrived, I selected a spell from Cillian's prayer book that I had noted would be useful for just such an occasion. As I envoked the words from the page I felt Hel's touch within me, sending a shudder down my spine and purple energy crackled around me. Although the effect passed quickly, I was left with the feeling that I had to concentrate just a little harder to connect with Odin than before. The effect could not be argued with, though, as a strong downdraft of air plunged five of the demons rapidly into the ground, killing them all instantly. Milai also turned her attention to the remainder, killing two more as I collected myself for my next, dangerous action.

I already knew that Cillian's prayer book was dangerous, but there was one chant that could block, slow or (if they were persistent in their attack) even destroy the centre of the enemy assault. I was not confident that, from what we had seen of the enemy's strength and troops, Fontainver could hold against the combined might arrayed before it. I took, therefore, a risk that I knew would weaken me and that I would have to atone for later, by once again channelling Hel's power onto the battlefield. A tremendous black storm cloud appeared above the field before Fontainver, casting a shadow over the front ranks of the enemy and stretching almost to the outer walls. They would have to pass under it if they were to continue their assault. I felt my powers weaken as Hel's touch once again caressed me, but firm in my conviction that this was necessary to ensure victory I held my concentration. My first act was to call down lightning strikes on the trebuchets that Menelaus had been attacking, destroying the remaining engines. Menelaus reacted by turning his attention to the barges, confusing the crews with dweomer and causing chaos as they swung around wildly on the river.

Milai killed another two flying demons with arrows, working to clear the skies as soon as possible. I called hail to rain down on the advancing troops, causing them all injuries, but unfortunately also wounding Menelaus (who I could not see as he was invisible). More flying creatures suddenly appeared and swooped to attack our weapons mounted on the towers of the western wall, and Milai responded by charging to intercept, killing one before it could even reach its target.

The undead were closing on the walls now, and Mimh (the high cleric of the Sea Elves) met them, destroying many that attempted to approach her. An illusion of undead climbing one of the inner walls appeared, which Milai called to the defenders to ignore as she chased down and killed another flying demon. My hail storm continued to pound the approaching column as they showed no sign of checking their advance, and the closest spiders were killed by defensive volley fire from the walls. The next stage of my storm allowed me to send tornados ripping through the lines of troops, killing many as they were flung into the air, and finally slowing their advance as they were battered by the swirling winds. Menelaus joined in by causing acid to fall on the lead unit, who had suffered the most.

Milai killed another flying demon, but seeing the undead walking through the outer wall unimpeded she attempted to slow them by dropping a sheet of ice; this seemed to have no effect, though. Mimh tried to slow them with a wall of fire, this time causing them damage. Seeing this, Milai attacked with a fireball, killing many, and then set about another flying demon until it too fell to its death. Menelaus also joined in, dropping another fireball into the undead, and finishing off the first of the undead units.

My storm now turned into a downpour of acid rain, causing further pain and damage to the enemy troops that still refused to turn back. Another undead unit started to push through the wall of fire, and the regular Elven troops seemed unable to fight them as their weapons proved useless. The first breach in the wall was made at this point, with a section of the northern wall falling under concentrated fire from the battery on the high ground. Mimh attacked the undead in the courtyard with a fire storm as Milai dropped another fireball on them, before turning and killing another two flying demons in melee.

The acid rain continued from my storm, and by now the centre of the enemy had been decimated with massive losses and any survivors seriously injured. Mimh continued to fight the undead, killing many, but many of her prayers had been expended by now. Fortunately we were about to receive reinforcements, as Lanzi and Hintzu arrived at speed on a cloud! Lanzi attacked the trebuchets to the north with lightning bolts as they approached. Another section of wall fell, though, and Milai raised a wall of force to seal the new entry point.

The spiders in the south had crossed the river over an invisible bridge and started climbing the walls, forcing the defenders to fight hard in an attempt to repel them. Lanzi continued to attack the trebuchets, launching a meteor swarm that put the remainder out of action and killed or seriously injured the giants manning them. Hintzu helped though, with a flame strike on one of the engines, followed by felling four giants with four arrows!

The fight against the undead continued, with Menelaus using fireballs against them; I joined in by raising walls of positive energy and fire, which started to fry them as they were boxed in. Unfortunately the western walls were now almost empty of defenders as they had fallen to the undead as they passed through the stone. Fortunately there were no ground forces left in any fit state to follow up on the success of the undead assault, so if we could deal with them then the western defences would still hold.

I started to make my way to the south, where the battle was now most hotly contested, and dropped a couple of fireballs into the undead as I did so. Lanzi called an ice storm to strike at the remaining giants in the north, and Hintzu finished all but one off with arrows. Milai used a fireball to attack the undead still outside the walls, whilst Mimh killed more from ground level, and our combined efforts were having some success against them. However, the south wall was now being overrun by the spiders. This at least allowed the inner wall defenders to launch volley fire at them, killing many.

Lanzi raised a wall of force in the northern breach, which meant that both wall breaches had been filled... at least for now. Hintzu conjured an incendiary cloud to continue the attrition of the undead that had penetrated the outer walls, then quickly killed the two flying demons that had escaped Milai's attention in the north. I joined Mimh to continue the attacks on the undead, throwing another fireball and killing more. To add further to our woes some units of froglike creatures started to emerge from the sea to the east, and we did not have many defenders there, or reserves to reinforce them with.

Milai disintegrated a wall of force that the enemy were using to cross the river, depositing all those in the act of crossing into the water; for many this would mean their death due to the heavy armour they wore. Arrow fire from the eastern defenders struck the new attackers, but it was clear that they would reach the inner walls quickly. Mimh killed more undead, as Lanzi killed more of them with a well placed chain lightning strike, and Hintzu charged into melee, killing six more. I killed a spider with a column of flame sent by Odi, but then aided Mimh with the undead once again. Lanzi and Hintzu continued their assault with more chain lighting and melee attacks. We were destroying them slowly, but there were so many of them that it was taking time.

The last few spiders were killed, although the outer wall defences had been seriously weakened by their assault. One of our remaining trebuchets landed a good hit on a barge, causing it to sink quickly. Menelaus conjured fire breath, directing it at the undead and killing yet more of them. Lanzi wished for his spent power to return for as long as possible so that he could continue the fight; having already expended vast amounts of dweomer fighting his sea battle there was only so much he could do before needing more.

My own prayers had drained me to the point where I was becoming less effective, so I took a moment to don a specially prepared cloak and appealed to Odin to come to Milai's aid. Odin used my body as a vessel and appeared in his image as a wise old man. I must confess that I would have preferred the Norse warrior avatar in this particular situation, but who am I to question the will of Odin? He teleported to Milai's side.

Mimh and Menelaus were fighting the undead between the inner and outer walls, as the only defenders that could harm them. Hintzu joined them and entered the walls in an attempt to fight his way to any survivors. The enemy had created a new wall of force or other invisible bridge, and Milai tried to block it with her own wall of force and ice sheet. A fireball exploded around her, but she was unharmed. Odin spoke to Milai, but in her battle frenzy she did not recognise her God, or thought him a trick of the enemy, and paid him no heed.

Mimh and Menelaus finally destroyed a second unit of undead, giving some relief to the remaining defenders. Lanzi moved to assist Milai, disintegrating another wall of force and sending hundreds more into the river. Menelaus managed to get a message to Hintzu to aid in the defence of the keep, as the last of the flying demons were attacking the highest tower. Odin now turned his attention to Lanzi, guiding him towards the most powerful of the foe. A giant hand appeared in front of him to prevent him from hunting down the enemy, but the master mage was able to dispel it with ease. Milai, meanwhile, raised another wall of force to hold the enemy at bay. Lanzi disintegrated another wall of force bridge, but this time there was one beneath it, so the troops were able to continue across once they recovered their balance.

A small unit of giants had reached the outer wall and attempted to force their way through, but were all slain by the brave Elven defenders. Hintzu had collected some arrows from the dead defenders on the western walls, and now made his way towards the keep, killing a dozen enemy infantry with an arrow each in passing. I cast airwalk, mindful that when Odin's avatar was done with my body I might find myself in mid-air! Lanzi disintegrated the last wall of force, depositing yet more of the attackers in the river. Milai threw a fireball at those troops that had made it across the river, whilst Mimh raised a wall of thorns to seal the hole the giants had forced in the outer wall, trapping some of the enemy as she did so.

Lanzi turned his attention to the enemy troops that had scaled the southern walls, welcoming them with another fireball. Hintzu reached the keep and immediately killed two flying demons having caught them unawares. I was now back to my usual form, and used dimension folding to reach a section of the inner western wall overlooking the remaining undead. I then allowed my mace free reign to launch a meteor strike on their ranks, killing more than a score of them. Lanzi, not to be outdone, killed nearly as many with more lightning, and then did it again with another strike. Hintzu finished off the last four of the flying demons and a few infantry, now well placed to pick out targets with his arrows.

I raised a wall of fire in front of the undead, and Lanzi then sandwiched them with a wall of fire behind them. They would either slowly burn or be destroyed trying to force their way out. Then a demon appeared to the south, launching a fireball at defenders and surrounding some archers with a wall of fire. Lanzi massacred an enemy unit with a double meteor swarm strike, killing almost 200 outright and I then finished most of the rest off with a fire storm. The few remaining foe inside the fortress were now no match for the defenders, and started to disengage or outright flee. Milai made sure their resolve was broken by dropping an ice sheet on them, killing another score.

Mimh had been fighting the undead almost alone, so I aided her by containing them with another wall of fire - these abominations had to be destroyed while we had the chance. Lanzi again saw what we were doing and sandwiched them with another wall of fire, which left them no way of escaping and they were all burned to ashes. Lanzi then used chain lightning again against the enemy still on the south wall. Milai rallied the remaining defenders in the courtyard, leading them back into the outer wall to the south in order to repel the attackers that had made it that far.

What followed does not need describing in detail, as the demon left his beaten forces and those not engaged started to withdraw to safety. The frog creatures had not been stopped by the defenders, but seeing that they were the only ones to reach the inner walls they withdrew in good order back into the sea. Milai successfully drove the attackers into the river, slaying those that dared to stand against her. The attackers to the north that had not scaled the walls pulled back and kept moving north. The enemy's centre column, apart from the undead, never made it to the fortress, having been devoured by the storm they refused to avoid at the start of the battle. Fontainver was saved and the tide was turning - the enemy would lose their hold on the west.

I set out at once to speak with Mimh about atoning for the use of Cillian's prayer book, vowing to destroy it and crying out that Odin had given us victory to all that would listen. I would have to undertake some holy quest at least, and our recent visions suggested that we should move to aid Perion in Inwe's domain. Milai's immediate concern was setting troops to conduct battlefield repairs and tend to the wounded; there was still a potential threat if we sat idle. Hintzu aided with moving the heavy stones required to fill breaches in the walls. Lanzi headed for the keep to await Milai (repair work being beneath his mightiness, unless accomplished by dweomer), and instead occupied himself with announcing the great victory (using dewomer of course), with associated fireworks. Having spoken to Mimh about my need for atonement, I headed to the keep to discuss our next move. Reports were that enemy forces were still active to the north, so scouts were dispatched to track their movements and warn of any possible attack.

Milai then moved with us to her private chambers and we discussed the touch of Hel on me when I used the accursed prayer book that I now wished to destroy. I spoke of my wish to seek atonement, and Milai saw this as a priority, asking Hintzu to accompany me when I prayed with Mimh; I welcomed my friend's presence as he was the most honest and pure companion, sure to speak out with any concerns. Whilst the others rested, weariness catching up with them, I prayed for atonement with Mimh and sank into a trance where I saw a vision of Odin. He recognised that I owed him a quest, and showed me that I should seek out an artefact that we did not know existed - a scabbard to the holy sword we had often seen in visions before. We would have to travel far to the south, to a place known as Locklastar, to find it but it would aid our cause.

I discussed this vision with my friends the next day, and they in turn shared the visions they had seen. Lanzi, unusually, was convinced that we should remove the shards from the Prime entirely and leave them for the demons to fight over elsewhere. Over the next few days the scouts returned and reported that there was no longer a threat from the north, but that the dwarves had disappeared and the Drow had been harried but not decisively defeated. The fleet, with its captured ships, returned to port which was well received, and with the victory morale was high. However, without metal (traditionally received when trading with the dwarves) it was hard to replenish weapons and repair warships fully.

Milai decided that we should spend a month fortifying the position once more, and conducting our own training where necessary. Hintzu could no longer fight any better monks to advance, as there were none better than he, but he somehow entered a trance where he was able to fight himself to learn more, but when he returned was dejected as he was not victorious on this occasion. Milai, dedicating her victory to Odin, decided to devote herself to the worship of his wisdom and set herself on the path to becoming a true acolyte; I hoped that I would be able to guide her truely once I had proved my loyalty to Odin. We met once everything was prepared, having decided on a plan to approach Locklastar by dweomer cloud.