Campaign Journals 2-23-08

[Ghostwheel]

Yev'rah's journal:

I felt the tug from the familiar physical plane...
Pulling me from His presence... a new day and a new path...

I was alive again! Surrounded by my friends. I recognized the tree fort home we had made our own. An older, familiar dwarf seemed to be my healer. He made some gestures and was off before I could thank him.

I felt for the sword, would anyone notice? I knew of one who would if I didn't move fast. And again I didn't move fast enough. Damn your senses Tymora! I winked at her and hoped she wouldn't press me for details. The others didn't seem to notice. The moment passed and suddenly we were set to go on another Orc hunt.

There was a wood elf that came to us for help. He said the last remaining Orcs were of a different nature and were too strong to be dealt with by the company of me we had protecting the forest. Dettrick initially waived that off and was only going to send Tymora and a few men to investigate. Once we learned that the direction was toward Hell's Gate, we all decided to go and see for ourselves. The Tree ent would be near as well and we had to worry about the evil creatures spewing out of the Gate to all regions. Evil shouldn't be coming this far, they need to be stopped. Jalore stayed behind at the tree fort. I wondered about his motive. Had he seen something change?

Tymora and I took up our normal scouting lead. I felt different, more at ease. Suddenly a couple of arrows flew past me. We had found the Orcs. My ease turned to a great energy when I spied the evil things. I drew my longsword and immediately attacked. With a clap of thunder my enemy was hit. I knew it to be a hard blow. He staggered a bit, but it was not enough to bring him down. Tymora had her target in sight and was easily handling him. I felt the second presence in front of me before I saw reinforcements behind me. The axe of the second brute was clear in my head. It was the same that had sent me from this plane only a few days ago. I must move quickly. I slipped between the two of them as the wood elf and Creeg came up behind. I felt the wind from their weapons as they tried to catch me before they were flanked. Too late! As we dodged the blows as best we could, I was hit and so were the elf and Creeg. But we dispatched the worst of the two without much trouble. Another archer shot towards us! These Orcs were organised well. I went after the second archer, he must not get away. It was then that I heard the elf groan in pain. I had to go back and let my quarry disappear. I knew Tymora was up in that direction, I pitied the Orc.
As I used some scrolls to heal myself, Creeg and the elf, we were suddenly hit by a fireball. I was not quick enough to dodge it and felt a bit singed. Dettrick and the elf were on top of the spell caster quickly though and it was then that I heard Tymora scream. I yelled out for her to meet me half way and was off in her direction. The bows of these Orcs had a wicked sting. She was in pretty bad shape and tried to laugh off the injuries as I healed them. I could see behind her eyes that it had shaken her more than she let know. As the battle drew to a close, I used a fair amount of scrolls and spells to heal us up for the journey to meet with the tree herders. If we had another encounter this bad, we might be low on supplies.

Tymora and I saw the Tree ents first. They seemed to know we were coming. After a brief discussion where our new elf partner seemed to help, the beasts agreed to take us to meet with the giant we knew from before. They were constantly watching Dettrick as if the fire would erupt from his fingers and they would stomp him out as they would a meddling Orc. He kept his tongue and we made it to our meeting without incident.
From what I could gather, Trelang heard the words and advice and gave us an option to defend the southern forest or pursue more of the Fey'ri that had escaped down the river route. Everyone agreed that the Fey'ri were a bigger threat and couldn't be allowed to invade the southern lands from the river. We set out on the path to destroy any evil creature along the river. We didn't have to travel far...

Tymora and I saw the elves from the other side of the river. It wasn't hard to guess what they were running from. Rocks, nay Boulders! were flying from behind them. And in front of us as well, wolven creatures appeared. And ogres.
Then the giants appeared and as giants go these weren't too smart as usual. Dettrick and Terra both let loose a few good fireballs. Gladly out of the forest across the river so we couldn't set the forest ablaze....
The giants looked a bit dazed and Tymora and I engaged the wolves and ogres. I didn't have as much luck with them as I would've liked. It took a few minutes longer and the giants got closer even with the constant barrage of fireballs. I caught sight of the dwarf going toe to toe with a giant and had to stifle a laugh. The giant didn't know what happened and was soon crossing that all too familiar plane.

We rounded back to Dettrick's position as he tried in vain to electrocute a small water dragon that had been attacking him. We needed rest. and replenishing. Where was Jalore? He would have liked this battle...

[Boric Glanduum]

February 23, 2008

When I returned to my senses, I found myself in my room. Someone apparently had me taken there when Rimgah--curse Boric's beard--stunned me. I heard voices outside and so I rose, painfully, and made my way outside and to the ground. There I found my companions surrounding an elf that looked somewhat familiar. He introduced himself as S'ven. He was one of the group of elves I met when returning from my last audience with Turlang. He has been discussing with the others the situation he and the elves faced with the orcs. He has convinced my friends that we should go with him to help battle the orcs. We quickly made preparations and set off following.

After traveling for several hours, I saw an orc in the distance pop up from behind a tree; he was armed with a bow. No-one else apparently saw him and as I called out a warning, two arrows flew past S'ven--one on either side of his head. Ty ran forward, smoothly drawing her bow with one hand and two arrows with her other.

It's always amazing to watch her fight; she fights like a dwar at times.

Her arrows both hit home, but the orcish archer seems unfazed. Dettrick called forth one of his orbs and launches it at the orc. It burst when it struck him; he screamed once as the acid drenched him, sizzling through his flesh as he dropped to the ground, dead before he landed.

He was not alone: another orc appeared and Yev'rah moved to close with him. Two worgs stepped out of the greenery at his side. Yev drew his sword and in one smooth action struck this orc; there is a thundering "crack" that resounds through the woods. Ty whirled and shot an arrow at this new orc as well. As I swung off my mount, a lightning bolt arced between the orc and both worgs. Yev'rah was extremely lucky, as the bolt happened to pass right around him; there was enough energy in the strike to kill both the orc and one of the worgs. The other worg looked badly burned, but angry. Creeg leaped over a row of bushes, landing on the worg and stabbing it repeatedly, all the while yelling insensibly.

The ambush grew worse: another orc appeared from the brush, foaming at his mouth and wildly striking out with his sword. He moved up to Tera and hacked him several times. I moved up within ten feet of the raging orc and slashed at him through the branches of a tree. Rimgah sliced through the branches and the orc's armor equally well. It was enough to distract him from the Loremaster for a moment, just long enough for Tera to scramble away.

Another orc appeared from the trees. How many of these filthy creatures can there be? S'ven had warned us that the orcs had large numbers. Fire lanced from this new orcs mouth. A shaman? Fiery breath? The flames enveloped both Yev'rah and Creeg. This new orc grinned evilly and drew an enormous sword from a scabbard on his back. His sword stood nearly as long as he was tall.

Yev'rah dropped to the ground, extinguishing the flames, and rolled to his feet. Both the raging orc and the shaman attempted to hit Yev'rah as he tumbled, without success. He popped to his feet behind the shaman just as two of Tymora's arrows struck this orc in the shoulder. Creeg stepped in and struck the shaman with a powerful blow.

With perfect timing a ray of energy struck the raging orc. The grin on Dettrick's face had pulled the skin so tightly that his face now resembled a death-mask. This hurm {human} truly frightens me sometimes. From the gloom of the forest, two arrows raced forth and struck Ty. Another ork archer was out there, but had withdrawn apparently as soon as he fired his shots.

The raging orc, having missed Yev'rah, simply continued an arc with his sword and brought it around his head to strike at Tera. He missed and overextended himself. I took the opening and stabbed Rimgah into the orc's armpit. He elbowed the pike to one side and stepped inside my reach and stabbed his sword upward. He was unable to breach my armor, but I felt something in my stomach tear at the force of his blow. I was shaken a bit, but still able to cast my tree-walking spell. A stumbled away from the orc and stepped into the elm tree beside me.

I had a vague idea of where the new archer was hidden. I closed my mind to the sounds and sights of battle around me and moved through space into a second elm tree some distance into the forest. I had the sense of an orc hiding near this tree, so I stepped out of the new tree already swinging my blade. I appeared directly in front of him. His eyes widened in surprise, and then pain, as Rimgah's blade sliced and then stabbed through the orc's chest. A gout of blood sprayed the elm tree.

From behind me, there was a bright green flash. Dettrick again, I thought. I cannot spare a glance, however much I would like to see the damage he wrought. The orc in front of me ran backward and fired two arrows at me; they flew wide to my left. I grinned at him and stepped back into the elm tree at my side. Thank you, Tree, I thought. I could feel the tree's disgust at being coated with the orc's foul blood. I will care for you in a moment.

I moved through the space between.

I stepped out of another elm tree directly behind the archer with Rimgah upraised. Just as I did so, two of Ty's arrows slammed into him: one in his forehead and the other in his chest. The latter buried itself deep in the orc's chest until it emerged halfway from his back. The force of the blows made the orc fall backward into a sitting position, and he slowly slumped sideways onto the ground. Such a mighty bow!

I stepped back into the elm and moved back to the second tree. I stepped from that tree momentarily and caused a shower of water to appear from the sky and drench the tree, rinsing the foul offal from its bark. From where I stood I could see Dettrick slumped on the ground back where the ambush was sprung. I stepped back inside the elm and moved toward Dettrick, sensing the gratitude of the tree as I left its presence.

I was already removing gulm {healing} potions from my belt as I stepped out of another tree and jogged toward the mage's prostrate form. Fortunately, he was still conscious and able to drink the potions; I knelt and gave him three potions in a row to bring him back to a reasonable level of health.

I felt hands on my back and a warmth that suffused my body. I looked up in time to see Tera taking his hands from my shoulders and nodding at me. I nodded back and stood to see which others needed my aid.

We were close enough and so traveled back to Teuveamanthar where we rested for a day and replenished supplies lost or fouled in the ambush. It occurs to me that I am thinking and speaking in Dwarram {Dwarvish} more than I have in years. After much thought I have decided it is the presence of Rimgah. His will is seemingly strong enough to impose some of his thoughts into my mind. All that I have heard him speak has been in Dwarram, not in Common. He may not be too skilled with Common.

Our next march was uneventful, at least for the first two days. On the third day, we were surprised by four treants. They stepped out to confront us; one in the middle held up a hand and bellowed, "Halt!" I recognized him as Turlang's ... lieutenant ... for lack of a better term. Oendith, I believe his name is. Dettrick, as is his wont, begins to speak sarcastically to the treants. Sometime his mouth is going to get him killed. Tymora has shared similar thoughts with me on occasion. S'ven moved up quickly and convinced Dettrick to stop talking.

Oendith recognized both S'ven and I and took us off to confer with us. He began by telling us that some of the devils they were fighting at Hellgate Keep have escaped the treants' seige and that he cannot ensure our safety if we continue traveling.

"We had heard as much, Oendith, and we understand the risks we are taking. However, we must continue on; we must speak with Turlang. We have matters to discuss that concern the Wood and the entire region, not just the Keep. We will take the chance in order to complete these goals. Especially if you are willing to accompany us back to Turlang." He thought for a while and then agrees. "My root-mates and I will come with you. If things as are you say, Turlang must make the decision to hear you or not."

Having that out of the way, I asked him round-about questions concerning Turlang's state of mind. All he would divulge is that Turlang was "entirely focused on Hellgate Keep." As we walked back to the others, Oendith said, "You would be well-advised to keep the human mage quiet."

"I understand, Oendith; perhaps it might come better from a treant than a dwar." He made a sound of assent and, as we reached the circle of our friends, marched directly to Dettrick, put a finger-branch in the mage's face, and growled menacingly. "You will be quiet, little man." Dettrick mumbled something about his new armor; Oendith shook his head and said, "That's not what I meant. Now, we are going. Come." He spoke to the other treants and they started off into the forest.

We had not traveled far when we hear howling in the forest. Ty appeared frightened at the sound and moved closer to Dettrick. The howling continued for nearly an hour, then stopped suddenly. We traveled for another hour and Oendith's companions melted into the forest. He walked a few more steps, then nodded at me, and himself walked into the trees. We found ourselves standing before Turlang. I left the others and walked toward him.

"Ereden'indyo. Welcome. This is not an opportune time for a visit; however, you may speak. Just do so quickly."

I retrieved a flask of pure water from my pack and extended the flask. He accepted it with a nod and I began explaining my concerns. "I admit there is trouble here, Eredin'indyo. More than I would normally want your companions to know. There is a war going on within the Keep. A civil war. The demons and the devils are fighting amongst themselves and it is bleeding out into the Forest. We suspect there have been a large number of these creatures that have escaped through our lines and are roaming the forest."

"Perhaps, Turlang, the problem lies in your defenses." He growled a response. "No, no. I misspoke. It was too simplified. Let me explain. Perhaps it is the nearness of the wood to the Keep that is allowing them to sneak from the Keep to the Wood."

Turlang just looked at me for a moment, then said, "You have been listening to those from the Emerald Enclave, have you not?"

"I cannot deny that, Turlang. But I have also thought much about this on my own--and deeply--and am forced to agree with their assessment. As you know, I was not born a tree-brother, but have come to it later in life. I have had much training as a warrior and have been taught by a High Old One of Moradin--curse my cousin's milk-dripping beard!--something of tactics. The encroaching forest makes it too easy for the demons and devils to escape. It gives them cover; there is not enough open ground for them to cross.

"I believe that if you were to withdraw the Wood from around the Keep, you would provide yourself with a barrier of bare ground. The creatures within the Keep would be obvious as they tried to cross this ground; you could pick them off as they scamper for cover."

"What you say makes a degree of sense, little one. I will consider your words. I will consider them well." His eyes were already distant.

"I thank you, Turlang, for at least giving me a hearing. Now, what do you wish of me?"

"I do not know, little one. Tell me what aid you think you can offer me."

We discuss for a time the creatures we have encountered; he tells me of the demon-fey. We discuss the kidnaping of elves and other creatures. Finally, we wander back to the rest of the group. He addresses them and tells them some of what we have discussed. As a group, we agree to track down the Fey'ri and other creatures, as we are more suited to that purpose than to a prolonged head-to-head siege of the Keep.

As we prepared to leave, Turlang held up his hand and spoke again. "You should follow the Delimbiyr River. That will provide you the quickest route, as well as the safest from the Fey'ri, as the ground is fairly open." He winked at me. "Eredin'indyo has convinced me, I believe, that despite its appearance, open ground can also provide a good defense. Beware, however, for while I believe you shall have relative safety from the Fey'ri on this route, there are reports of orcs--as you know--but also of giants and giant-kin. Use caution." And with that, Turlang walked into the forest and vanished from sight.

We took Turlang's suggestion to heart and traveled down the River Delimbiyr. He was right, for although we heard some distant howling, there was no sign of Fey'ri or their vile beasts. After several hours, however, we saw a group of elves running toward us on the other side of the river. They were being pursued by a giant whose skin had a slight blue tinge.

Frost giants, I thought as I drew Rimgah. Odd. I can almost feel the shaft turn within my hands.

When they saw us, they began yelling at us; several pointed to our side of the river, in front of us. As they did, Ty yelled out that there was a large wolf coming toward us. "It is large--nearly the size of a horse," she said while drawing her bow. "It is white and a plume of smoke rises from its muzzle." That confirmed my suspicions: a winter wolf. That meant we were facing at least one frost giant, if not more.

S'ven called out that he was going to help the elves. He scanned the riverbank quickly, then started across, wading through the river. In no time he was immersed to his waist in the water. As he crossed, the wolf came into view ahead of us. It trotted up to Yev'rah and breathed out a blast of icy air that surrounded Yev. He was not slowed by the blast of air, however, circling the wolf and attacking with his sword. Tymora launched two arrows into the side of the shaggy creature, again with such force that the wolf spun around once before falling dead to the ground.

Two more winter wolves appeared and three more giants. I feel strangely compelled to race at the giants. I have only fought a giant once before; it is not as if I relish fighting these beasts...any more than the rest of my people. Rimgah is nearly twisting and bouncing in my grasp. It is almost as if he is eager to engage the huge beasts.

With only a glance at the river's edge, I selected a shallow, wider turn in which to cross, and quickly forded the river, passing S'ven still pushing his way across. Yet another giant appears behind the other three and crosses the river, walking towards Ty. Two ogres leave the cover of the trees and start towards Yev. Boulders were falling from the sky, targeting the running elves and my companions.

I am beginning to feel an uncontrolled rage come upon me, similar to the anger I felt following the disastrous ambush of the Boldauk. My focus narrows down to the lead giant before me, still a good distance away. Dettrick set off a massive fireball, which engulfs all five fo the giants. A truly powerful spell. "Impressive," I heard Rimgah say. "That hurm has considerable power."

As I watched, a small white dragon swept past Dettrick, nearly knocking him from his feet. A cloud of ice passed Dettrick and engulfed the Loremaster, Tera.

"Pay attention!" Rimgah again.

Six elves--I believe it was six; I'm having trouble seeing anything but the giants!--rushed past me and the lead giant strides forward. He is sixty feet--now fifty feet away. All I can see is the giant. My vision--it is narrowing. My friends have vanished from view...my friends.....what friends? I am alone. Alone against the giant. Alone.

He is mine.

Mine.

My friends told me later that I was yelling in Dwarram: battle cries. I know this to be true because my throat feels as if I had swallowed knives; it is coarse and raw. They also tell me that I dropped my pack to the ground and rushed forward, Rimgah above my head. They tell me I charged into the giant at a full run, opening the giant's stomach from one side to the other. They tell me that offal and entrails sprayed twenty feet or more.

The giant fell.

What happened next, only S'ven could tell me. Two more giants flanked me; the first hit me with his axe. S'ven tells me that Rimgah struck the giant at the same time, digging deeply into the blue flesh. The second giant then struck me with his axe, knocking me from his companion and ripping Rimgah out of his stomach. S'ven tells me I dropped to the ground like a stone; he feared I was dead.

Sometime later I came to myself. I had received some healing, but not enough that I could not feel the damage the giants' huge axes had done to me. My armor was still intact; the force of their blows, however, tore muscles and organs. I had lost a lot of blood--it soaked the ground around me.

My friends had done some good work, though. It was a true arglary {a proper butchering} as corpses, charred corpses, littered the ground around the river. Wolves, giants, ogres...all dead.

Somewhere in my head I heard a deep chuckle.

[Greylen]

Dettrick's Journal

Whew! that was one less debt to be repaid. Lucky for most of us that Udrin's cousin, Boric, happened by just in the hour we needed his services most. Lucky for us I happened to see the exchange and stopped him before he stormed off from his confrontation with Urdin.

I see the same power in Urdin that I often feel in myself when in battles casting spell after spell... the madness that grips you as you feel the power flow from you and you shape it into your enemies worst nightmare.

But I feel something more from Urdin... something less... predictable. Ah well, he is a solid companion and saved all our collective butts many times.

With Yev back and none-the-worse for wear, I was interrupted by an elf that came from the forest. I recognized him as one in the party that had returned with Ty to help defend the Tree fort, Sven I think was his name. I was very weary, but felt I owed him at least a few minutes of my time.

Orcs? He wants me to go after Orcs? "Ty, can you take a few men and deal with this for me?" I mumbled as my eyes were half-lidded. She grins widely and looks over at Yev. "Ready for some action"? she says teasingly.

Sven, interrupted before she could leave. "These are no ordinary Orcs," he warned. "They seem to be the ringleaders and as such, will not be an easy mark. They are beyond your men here."

My men bristled as he spoke those words, "Beyond the best soldiers this side of Calimport?" I asked incredulously of Sven and saw that my word had the desired calming effect on my men.

"I am sure they seemed tough," I continued and holding out my hand to forstale Sven's next remark, "But since my men have had probably less sleep than myself, I'll take a look at the 'orcs' on our way to see Turlang tomorrow."

Sven looked skeptical still, but seemed mollified, as were my men, but Ty looked annoyed. I winked at her and grinned so she'd know my reasoning.

That night, my rest was fitful... Battle never worried me for my own safety, but the worry for those who trusted in me and followed me sometimes plagued my mind. This was no exception as we'd lost men to the battles with the orcs and almost lost more. When I returned from Talking to Turlang, I must explore more options for making our budding community safer.

The next morning, preparations complete, we started for the area the Orcs had holed up. It was a pretty uneventful ride and the tan and white palamino I was riding seemed determined to try and grab anything withith reach to eat on the way... after the 20th time of jerking his head back, I finally had to resort to little shocks until he decided it wasn't worth the effort... Ty just laughed silently at me from her position in the front while all this went on.

About midday, Urdin called a warning to us pointing to the left. Looking over, I saw the ugly head of an orc pop up, just as he fired two arrows at Sven. They both missed, but the thunk as they hit the trees around him testified to the power behind them.

"Hmmm," I thought as I gathered the weave within my palm, "I guess Sven was right. These don't seem to be ordinary Orcs". I launched the newly formed greenish orb and hit the Orc in the chest, the Acid from the Orb sizzling a hole deep into his skin just after two arrows from Ty hit him as well... He dropped. "Dead I hope" I thought, as I scanned the area. Ty was already next to the downed Orc... Man can she move.

Another orc started firing arrows at us from in front, and as Yev ran to engage him, a couple of Wargs also appeared at his side. Yev struck the orc, a thunderclap startling me... "where in the nine hells did THAT come from?" I wondered.

"This won't do," I grinned, as I stretched a string of the weave between the Wargs, the Orc in the center. "Yev, duck" I called as I released the energy and saw the lightning arc between the three. Yev easily rolling out the connection.

I laughed and could feel the battle frenzy rising up in me, as I cast spell after spell. Two orcs had appeared closer to us, and engaged the fighters toe-to-toe... VERY un-orc like... so I hit them with scorching rays and a fireball to keep them on their toes.

I grinned again at Urdin, as I saw him move INTO a tree. This was EXCITING! and I laughed again with the sheer feeling of raw, untamed power coursing around me and through everything and everyone. In times like this I could SEE the lines of force exuding from every living thing, and in many cases, I could almost directly manipulate it. The harder the battle, the more I became closer to reaching out and directly manipulating those strings...

As fire struck unexpectedly, scorching my new armor, (and to be honest, heating it up to an uncomfortable level) I realized we must have a third orc somewhere around. Quickly drinking a potion of see invisibility, I scanned around again and saw the orc, just as he raised a wicked sword, penetrating my armor on the shoulder and releasing a blast of arcane energy into the wound... I screamed. I don't scream very often, but that HURT!

Backing away, my head swimming, I gathered the weave again and hit him with a couple of scorching rays, but while hurt, he didn't seem hurt enough. Sven distracted him a moment from behind, but got hit himself. I could see the energy pouring through the blade conduit into Sven and shuddered.

"I can't take another hit like that" I realized as the armored orc turned to me again, a nasty smile on his face. I had backed up against a tree and as he advanced, I could see the organized lines of the weave that enveloped and gave shape to his corporeal form.

My pain hazed mind unconsciously started picking apart the weave around the orc, when it hit me... I can unravel this! The words were there, drummed into me for years in Battle school. The power now unlocked in my mind. A few quick gestures, the activation word and a green beam struck the weave around the orc, blinding me a moment and then leaving... nothing. He had been utterly destroyed, his body disintegrated beyond any hope of recovery, below that of the gods themselves...

I slumped against the tree, the rough bark scratching my backplate. I removed my helmet, the slight breeze blowing feeling good against my sweat drenched brow... closing my eyes, I tried to summon the power to reach in my pouch for a healing potion, but didn't find any to answer my call.

Urdin found me in that state, and thankfully raised the potion to my lips for me... the warmth infused my body, refreshing and replenishing the weak life-force I had left. Two more potions followed the first, and I raised my hand to forestall the next...

"Thank you, my friend" I smiled "Didn't know how I was going to get the energy to drink that first one myself. But I'll be fine now." Urdin grunted and walked off to check the others.

My energy somewhat replenished, I cast about for Ty, finding her in Yev's good care. She smiled brightly when she saw me lumbering over. "D, I can hear you a mile away in that thing." She laughed pointing to my new Mithril Plate. "Its a wonder that you can move at all" She smirked and hopped to her feet.

I laughed as well and ruefully conceeded that she had a point. While the armor was very comfortable, it still hampered my movement somewhat. But it was fun to have, and felt somehow 'right' that I should be wearing it.

Taking stock of our situation, we determined that we needed more supplies and rest, so heading back the way we came, we arrived at Fort Tree before night fell. A good nights sleep and raiding the potions and scroll stock got us back to full health.

Leaving Jeeves in charge again, we set out to find Turlang. Again it was fairly uneventful, until we walked into a grove and the trees around us suddenly came alive, encircling us. The one in front of Urdin bowed formally and began talking with him. I was hot and tired, and trying to bring a little levity to the moment, asked Creeg to to smile, so he didn't frighten our guests... the Treants were singularly unimpressed and the leader even walked over to me with a warning.

"Sir," I replied solemly, "I don't think that anyone would disagree that I have done much for the forest in my time here. Your warning is unnecessary" He looked at me, then had us follow him to Turlang. Urdin handled Turlang well, and accomplished our mission of visiting him. I hope he follow the advice given. At the same time, he asked that we look at the Elven City of Elfport, as some of the devils he was trying to contain had slipped his grasp.

So, we started our journey down the river towards Elfport. We followed the river fairly close, since it was on the edge of the forest and easier walking.

A days ride later, Ty signaled us that there was some commotion on the other side of the river. Sure enough fleeing Elves were running full out north... the reason became very apparent as boulders crashed around them and the heads of some Frost Giants appeared over the tree-lined hill. Sven moved to cross the river to help the Elves.

The opportunity was too perfect, the giants grouped too well... Calling the weave, and tweaking the end result slightly here and there, I launched the fireball dead-center into the Giants. It exploded with a fury beyond that of the normal fireball, as the enhancements I'd tweaked into the spell blossomed into a massive roaring ball of fire, hotter and bigger than any I'd produced.

"That HAS to hurt" I yelled excitedly, my companions glancing at me amused, yet a bit awed. When Ty called out her warning, I had already started my next spell and looking over, just changed the target to the giants and wolves that had just crossed to OUR side of the river.

The lightning arced through the wolf and giants, and Ty's arrows finished the job. Ty and Yev seemed ok dealing with some Ogres that seemed to be the wolves masters, so I turned my attention back to the Giants on the other side, just in time to see Urdin yelling something in Dwarvish about the giants paternity and table manners, as he struck with the new Halberd that his cousin had brought him. What did he name it... Rimgah? Funny I hadn't seen the power radiating from it before, as it sliced open the bell of the lead giant, causing it to double over, as the second struck Urdin a mighty blow, knocking him back. Amazingly he shook off the blow and struck out again with the halbard, but a third giant also hit at the same time with his huge battle axe, knocking him to the ground again. A third hit by the other Giant still standing put Urin out cold. At least I hoped he was just knocked unconcious.

Weaving together another fireball, I launched it at those two giants and watching it ignite around them, I caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of my eye. Turning, I found myself looking into the eyes of a young white dragon, only a few feet away. Surprised, I feel it's icy breath coat my armor with ice, as arrows suddenly thunk into the dragon from two directions and a fireball hitting it from Tera.

Visibly hurt, the dragon dove into the river and started heading up stream... "oh no you don't" I yelled, and drawing on one of my most powerful spells, I caused lightning to jump all around the area the dragon was in... but to no avail. "Damn him to the Nine Hells" I muttered as I looked to see if I can strike again. But the dragon was gone.

Looking at my companions, we had came out of this pretty well. Urdin was revived by Yev and no-one seems to worse for the wear. Now if we can just stop those elves, maybe we can find out what is going ON here.

I walked to the river and start cleaning the frost off my armor... Ty keeping her customary watchful stance.