Chapter Four

CHAPTER FOUR

The Heroes Go Hunting

With some effort, I located the Rajan camp. I might have missed it completely if Fate had not lent a hand, for it was obscured by powerful magics. The trail I was following had disappeared, and searching the surrounding region had proved fruitless. Just as I was about to retrace my steps once again, my Avir friend returned and warned me of the danger I was in. My feet were only a few steps away from the edge of a mighty crevasse, one that had been hidden from my own sharp senses. With the help of Fate, I was at last able to perceive what had been hidden before.

I had set out with the expectation of finding a base camp of Rajan infiltrators – no more than a dozen, was my estimate, based on the size of the strike force we had met the day before.

This was no camp, however. This was an encampment.

Peering down into the rocky pit, I saw scores upon scores of Aramut archers, Zagir infantry, even Shadinn brutes, led by black-armored Rajan commanders. Hundreds of troops in all, I estimated. The encampment was a hive of activity, and was clearly preparing for battle.

This was turning into a bit more than I and my handful of companions could handle on our own. I quickly wrote another note, and gave it to Fate to deliver to the same Cymrillian officer with whom I had spoken the day before.

By this time others had caught up to me, having been guided there by my avir. Truly, my life would be far more difficult if I did not have Fate on my side.

After a hurried discussion, we decided to do what we could until the Cymrillian forces could arrive. We had spied what we assumed was the commander’s place… a fortified construct of smooth stone, no doubt drawn up from the ground through the use of enslaved earth demons. We decided that if we could take out the commander, it would leave the remaining force without direction when the Cymrillian forces attacked.

Tyranus once again summoned his mighty Shadow Dragon from the land of the dead to harry the small army and provide a distraction for the rest of us. Meanwhile, we snuck into the crevasse and past the sentries who were rushing to deal with the shadowy beast.

We reached the commander’s place and with some luck and cleverness reached the interior despite the mounted guards at the entrance. Inside we did battle with the commander of the Rajan forces, only to discover afterward that he was in fact a Tanasian in full Rajan plate armor. We captured him, and Xain did the questioning. We learned that a faction within the House of Tanas was allied with Rajanistan, and sought to destroy Cymril so that they could rebuild a new Cymril over the ruins.

Inside the commander’s fort we found a crystal sphere that, we were told, would contact his superior, i.e. Death. I took the sphere but did not take the chance of activating it at that time. We also acquired the commander’s bracers, which had given him such formidable strength in battle. These we gave to Xain, who could best make use of their enchantment.

There was also a chest, locked and warded with ferocious magics. Xain tried to break the spell, but triggered it instead, causing the chest and its contents to explode. Miraculously, we were all unharmed, but any additional information we might have gleaned from the contents was lost.

We also rescued a Mirin, white-faced and weak. He appeared to have been their slave for an extended period. He did not speak Talislan, but I could communicate with him in the Elder Tongue. I told him we would help him escape as soon as the Cymrillian forces arrived. He whispered his thanks.

Eventually the Cymrillians arrived, flying an armored windship over the area I had specified in my letter. With the shadow dragon on one side of camp and the powerful windship and its soldiers attacking from the other, and without the leadership necessary to react to these threats, the Rajan forces were quickly subdued.

– End Session Four –