The Embers of War, Can I Go With My Friends?

Kaldmont 6 990AC
 
To anyone reading this in the future and seeing a large gap in entries I apologize. Please keep in mind that I am an elf and prone to putting things off (compared to humans) and I also have been studying and contemplating my future a great deal lately. I see now why human and elf relationships are rare as our perception of time passes differently and we have various goals that change. In no way do I regret being with Rhiannon as it has pushed me to adapt to the human world and her viewpoint which has been tremendously helpful though somewhat frustrating at times. So if I should perish and you are reading this in the future Love I regret nothing.
 
To catch up on events in the rift now. We had a short excursion up to Kleine to look into the theft of many, many random items in the town and one very highly valued artifact. Had it not been for the artifact and the sheer amount of items stolen I would not deem it worth my time. It turned out to be not much, just some local Goblins stealing and hoarding items. We did find a pair of our enchanted elven boots but not from our clan though. It was how the goblins were getting in and out unnoticed. We also saved a local child from a severe punishment as they were trying to pin the theft of the artifact on someone.
 
During this trip I made sure to remember to keep Rhiannon informed of what was going on via Melwin. She is getting quite a lot of exercise from this! It is a lot to ask of her to make these trips but she understands and Rhiannon takes good care of her as well. Most humans think birds love to fly and can do it forever but it is actually quite taxing on them. When we returned from this trip Rhiannon was quite happy with these updates. This is somewhat different than my elven kin who can go months or years without updating each other or being in each other's presence. Perhaps I should dedicate some of my study time to human skills as well rather than focusing solely on magic.
 
I should also note that the Goblins had some what we believed to be orders written on hide. Pickman wasn’t fluent but said he would be able to translate these for us and we could pick them up later.
 
Kaldmont 10 990AC
 
Pickman delivered us the translation and the news was dire indeed. The evil humanoids were gathering for a meeting in a few weeks and it seemed serious. They even included the Rakasta which was odd as they were very isolated and not aligned with any of the evil races. This could be disastrous indeed. We met with Valum on what to do and marching a whole host there to fight would not be practical. I suggested a small force, led by us with some champions of all the races. A small strike force could get in, deal a huge blow and get out far more easily than a whole army marching to war which he agreed and pledged to several of his best warriors.
 
After meeting with Valum we went back to the Sarcastic Goat where Rhiannon was playing. We went over the items we received from Raven the Goblin adventure and went over the plans to head to Silvercreat and Hearth-Home to ask my clan and Durbins for assistance. Rhiannon retired and we finished up our business and I was just getting ready to follow her upstairs when the door opened and Erik entered. I sighed and hurried up the stairs hoping this wouldn’t lead to what I thought. Sure enough a few moments later Dram knocked on my door and said the Burgormeister was requesting us immediately for an urgent matter. Rhiannon was getting quite attached to his wine collection so there was not much resistance from her so I agreed as well. She got dressed in her (and my) favorite blue dress. On the way out in the rain Erik was about to use his coat to shelter her but I just parted the rain around us to keep us dry. We once again made a late night trip to Torlynn.
 
The trip was uneventful and, as usual, we were offered food and refreshments even at this late hour. Always in such a hurry although this time time was actually of the essence. We were led to Gustavons chambers and it was darker than usual with a large hooded figure sitting off to the side. Gustavon was his usual pleasant self and asked us to help save the rift once again and introduced his friend Kaminari who turned out to be a Rakasta! He was an elderly magi of the Rakasta and explained the leader of the Rakasta, Kamaggi, seems to have been taken by a dark influence and was planning to join the evil humanoids on a war against the goodly races of the rift. The mention of the Rakasta on the hide makes sense now. He asks us to help fix the situation.
 
My first question is how of course? Does he have any ideas on what we can do? He does of course, he has a stone that can transport us to the palace. He tells us to be wary as Kamaggi has changed and may have killed everyone in the palace. We would need to neutralize Kamaggi so that Kamanari can return (he was exiled) and calm his people down and break the alliance with the evil humanoids. This made sense but I was actually worried. Rakasta were feared warriors and their equivalent of elven rangers were terrifying from the tales I heard. This would be dangerous. If we didn’t fix the situation my people would take the brunt of any attack from the Rakasta so this was necessary. We agreed to help.
 
We gathered our items and I spoke to Rhiannon about our plans. I told her the full truth of what was going on as I really could never lie to her and building any relationship based on lies is not a good way. She was, let's say, less than enthused but agreed it was necessary. I really needed to stop putting off my gift plans and focus on getting that together. I kissed her goodbye and returned to Gustavons chambers ready to go. Kamanari gave me a rock full of magical power and explained I needed to touch the rock, all those who needed to travel and then speak the word of power and we would be transported to the garden inside the palace.
 
I did as he said and the rush of energy was powerful. Spirit animals whirled around us, grabbed hold and transported us right to where he said it would. It was over quick but almost knocked the wind out of you and made my stomach lurch. After regaining my senses it was eerily quiet and very tranquil. The sound of running water and the occasional clunk and splashing of water broke the silence every so often. The garden was beautiful and the woodwork was exquisite. In this calming atmosphere it was hard to believe that there were serious problems here.
 
We began exploring the palace. The deck around the walls for the garden was very creaky so I wrapped mana around Dram’s feet so he could step above the deck and move more quietly. One room off the garden had eerie black candles that were magical in nature. Something odd was likely going on here. Exploring more of the palace we found several desiccated husks of rakasta. The palace was beautiful though. The artwork, wood work, everything was gorgeous. Different from elven work but still beautiful. I’m sure Rhiannon would love to visit some day but the rakasta are very reclusive.
 
We continued through the palace cautiously. We found a Rakasta that was alive and chained to a beautiful marble and quartz table. I stopped to check on it while the others proceeded ahead and I quickly heard the sounds of battle that didn’t last too long. I asked if they needed assistance but they were fine. I kept an eye out the door and down the halls but everything was clear. The Rakasta seemed to be alive but barely. I was more worried about anything coming from the hall and cornering us. I heard shouts and movement behind me only to turn around and see Dram and Durbin trying to grab at or hit a…something hard to describe. A puddle of black burning liquid? I tried to wrap it in mana which just forced it to alter its route. I tried to wrap it like I would water which seemed to work. Durbin had a jar he was trying to put it in and we almost had it when at the last second it escaped.
 
Durbin rushed after it and I followed. I assumed Dram was too but he stayed behind to try and do something with the Rakasta that was chained there. The thing had gone under the floor and was moving quickly through routes that were blocked by walls for us. Durbin simply pulled out his ax and chopped a hole through it. The chopping of the wood pained me I will admit. It was very beautiful and although the pain was not physical I winced at every chop but was not going to say anything to Durbin in the state he was in.
 
We chased it and seemed to have it cornered when a Rakasta appeared in the hall and shouted something at me. The slight delay was all I needed. I transformed the air around it to heavy poisonous gas while Dram ran up to confront it. I went into the room Durbin was in and he was hacking at a moving dead Rakasta that the thing seemed to inhabit. I shouted for him to not destroy the vessel and wrapped it in mana to try and control it somewhat. I tried to get Durbin to carry it to the garden area but to no avail, the thing just wanted to swipe him down so he knocked it out. After that I just maintained my spell and moved it slowly to the garden while Dram fought off the other one.
 
It took some time and we reached the garden. I used most of my energy to shape the stone on the ground and wrap this whole thing up so it could not escape. As I was doing that though the thing jerked suddenly, opened its eyes which were black and then the black seemed to dissipate and the thing went limp. Dram came running in and said he destroyed the idol which must have broken the things connection to this plane. From the sounds of battle this place would be swarming any minute but Dram was arguing about something that we needed to stay longer. I said we just need to grab this Rakasta (I had a feeling she would be important) and get out of here. If it was the leader or her sister she could explain what happened. He relented, I touched the stone, everyone else and spoke the word of power and we were back in Torlynn.
 
We were back in Gustavons chambers with the almost dead Rakasta and Kamanari was there as well. When he saw the other Rakasta he shouted, “YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO KILL HER!”
He pulled out some small metal objects that looked like throwing weapons so I began casting my newly learned magic. It alters mana around a person and deflect missiles by the slightest as I figured he would target me. He was targeting the Rakasta on the ground though and managed to hit with a thrown metal object. It became clear what was going on and instead of myself I simply shifted the spell to her and luckily I did as I could feel the magic working to deflect the next two incoming objects.
 
To summarize what had actually happened Kamanari was the bad guy here. The thing he summoned to control Kamaggi (she was the one we brought back) was too powerful and broke free of his control. That was why he had to flee. I wrote a short message to my tribe and sent Melwin on to warn them of what was going on. He had some story about how he was only trying to do right by his people, just like the Black Knight was trying to restore his titles. We needed to get her to a translator and Melinir was mentioned but my people traded with them and I know at least a few of my clan could speak with them so we made for Silvercrest. The decision was also easier as the elves would be the first to be hit by any attack.
 
I explained all this to Rhiannon and she wanted someone else to go. I understand why she would want this but these are my people and I had to be there. She relented again and I kissed her goodbye again for a short while. We rushed to Silvercrest with Dram carrying Kamaggi on horseback. They were on alert of course and brought us straight in. I explained the situation and we needed someone who could speak with the Rakasta so, of course, they brought Princess Adelle to assist and she was immediately concerned.
 
I am going to skip over some tedium that I quite frankly don’t remember very well. We had some confusion but ended up taking Kamaggi back to her home and she was able to quickly bring the situation under control. The Princess and one of her maidens came with us as well which pretty much exhausted the power of the stone so we had to walk back down the cliff of the plateau which was pretty exhilarating. I would love to learn more about them and visit someday but they seem like they just want to be left alone at this point which I cannot blame them.
 
With the immediate threat of war lifted and things going back to normal I remembered our main mission. Working with Prince Elladin about the strike force for the evil humanoid chieftain meeting. He made the same observation as Valum about leading an army there but was intrigued by the strike force idea. He also pointed out an issue with Pickmans translation. We had 3 DAYS, not 3 WEEKS. This was going to be very difficult indeed.
 
Durbin had already rushed off at this point but Elladin said they could contact the dwarves and let him know the new schedule. There was going to be much to do and we decided to meet in Kleine to make our move. I went back to Torlynn and spoke to Rhiannon about the change of plans and she was angry but I could see the fear in her eyes for me. She even wanted to ensure that this was a real and serious issue that warranted my attention. She spent some time with the Princess which seemed to calm her down and she agreed. I really need to start speaking to others about the ideas for gifts I have for her. I’ve been putting it off for too long now. The next few days will surely be interesting.