Trial by fire

After everything that had happened to us over the last couple of days, we wisely decided to spendsome time in Logvale in order for us to recover. Which, speaking for me personally, was more than a little welcome. As helping around Logvale allowed me to put my mind at ease somewhat. Or at the very least give me something else to focus on. This did however quickly came to an end around noonish when Liliane enthusiastically called us over to see what she had discovered.
 
She had found a small, almost dried up pond in the middle of Logvale. Now that in itself was not unusual. Butt what was, was the fact that what little water was still in it, was completely frozen over. And while admittedly it was a bit chilly for the time of the year, it was nowhere near cold enough for that. Things became even stranger when Dadroz pointed out that beneath said ice, he could see a hatch. Curious, we decided to melt the ice and opened up the hatch in order to reveal a tunnel underneath. When asked about his professional thoughts concerning it, Droz explained that the tunnel was not only old, but also in very good condition. Which most likely meant that it was formed by means of magic. A fact that was all but confirmed when we noticed several runes, etched into the walls, lighting up when we passed them. Now these runes didn’t mean much to me, but the others told me that they had seen them before. When they were running from Cornu, they had stumbled uponsimilar runes marking a path that deviated from the main road. With the pressure of Corny’s hounds calling in the distance and the promised safety of the path, they ultimately relented and followed it. Which proved to be a blessing as the path took them to Logvale far faster than the main road would have. Which was odd in itself as the main road was a straight line towards Logvale. Meaning that potent magic had intervened on their behalf.
 
As for the tunnel we had found, we decided to see where it would take us. It was mostly a roughly straight path that took us about an hour in order to reach the end of. We exited a cave and found ourselves inside a small depression between two hills. In front of us, we could see a group of Menhirs marked with the same runes we found in the tunnel. In the centre of which stood a large archway. Even stranger, was the fact that the mists of Logvale did not approach the depression. Instead seeming like a giant wall that encircled it. Cautiously we got a bit closer in order to inspect the site, when suddenly torches lit ablaze with a blue flame as a blue shimmer appeared inside of the archway.
 
Looking inside of it, we could see a woman calmy approaching us. When she passed through the archway, she introduces herself as Vivienne. She had used the runes in order to get us to come to her so that she might offer us a deal. Apparently, when Liliana leaves in order to complete her end of her families deal, she will be placed directly under the command of Vivienne. So in order to speed things along, she offered to use the gate in order to send us just outside of Keralon. In exchange for our silence in this matter to others.

Naturally we were suspicious concerning this. Especially when it became known that she was familiar with Cornu. But according to her words, she and him were not on good terms. As such she had no interests in avenging him or the like. In fact from what we could tell, she seemed true in the fact that she simple wished to speed things along. And while most of us were keen on accepting this, Allistan, Hayly and me were not convinced. There were afterall a few other matters that still needed to be addressed. First off, was the fate of poor Robert. While it was unlikely that he had survived the dangers of Logvale on his own, it did not sit right with me to simple abandon him without making at least an attempt to find out what his final fate was. At the same time, there was no way that we could take Onvyr with us through these tunnels. Meaning that we would have to leave him behind. And lastly and not at all least was the fate of the people in Logvale. While their camp proved to have some defence against the Fey, it had already proven to not be fool proof. As Cornu had already proven. An even more sinister foe could simple decide to put it to flame in order to smoke them out from behind their walls. And that is not even counting the fact that they might have to leave their camp in order to hunt for food. So personally I would rather stay behind in order deal with these matters and provide some assistance to Logvale. Or at least until a patrol from Keralon would arrive in order to provide relief. But seeing as we were divided on the matter, we simple decided to put the matter to a vote. And ultimately, the decision to take Vivienne up on her offer was made.
 
So while Luke and Liliana stayed behind with Vivienne, the rest of us returned in order to get the others and gather our supplies. Phara, Logvale’s leader, was more than a little disappointed to see us go. Especially when we could really explain to her why we were leaving and why she and the rest of the people there could not use the tunnel themselves in order to escape. However I did feel this was for the best, as I worried what kind of defences might activate should uninvited people decide to venture near the portal. Eventually, Phara relented and agreed that they would seal of the hatch. We did however promise to immediately send word to Keralon about the troubles they were facing.
 
And with that we returned to Vivienne where she, Luke and Liliana were in deep conversation. She then graciously opened the portal once more and stepped aside allowing us to pass. But not before leaving us with one final bombshell. Namely that in 15 days, Liliana was to start serving her time under Vivienne.
 
When we exited the portal, we found ourselves amongst a similar group of Menhirs near the edge of Lorewood. And in the Distance, atop of a hill, we saw it. The silver city of Keralon standing proudly. My imaginations about its grandeur hardly did it justice. And with the realisation that it would only take us a few more days of travel in order to reach the end of our journey liftin our spirits, we set out once more.
 
That said my mind often wandered back to the people of Logvale, Robert and Onvyr. Don’t get me wrong, informing Keralon about the situation would prove to be of greater good than simple staying there and waiting. But such is the benefit of hindsight. At the time however, the idea that we were leaving them behind did not sit right be my. As such, I came to the conclusion that after arriving at Keralon and informing the guars of the situation, I would return to Logvale in order to find our lost compatriots and help the people there as best as I could.
 
Upon hearing this, I had the feeling that several people would be willing to join if I asked them. Especially Alistan. But allow me to tell you something about Alistan. He is courageous, noble of spirit and loyal somewhat to a fault. So there is no doubt in my mind that if I had asked, that he would have been the first to volunteer. But that is precisely why I could not ask him to join me. Because I did not want to force to choose between helping others and spending what little time he had left with his sister before she had to leave. Similar with the others. They all had hopes and dreams waiting for them in Keralon and it would be cruel of me to ask them to put those on hold.
 
As the evening was starting to fall, we were preparing to find a place to set up camp when we notices a trail of smoke in the distance. Suspecting that there might be fellow travellers who had set up a camp, we decided to get closer. It quickly became obvious however that that was not the case as we heard the telltale sounds of battle in the distance. When we reached the source of the sound, we found a tower standing in the middle of a clearing with several large braziers standing around it, with a mighty flame burning in each of them. In front of it, a woman was fighting of a heavily armoured figure, a gloom we would learn later, flanked by two pixies. The question on which one of the two was the aggressor quickly got answered when the pixies turned towards us to hinder our advance. Wanting answer on what was going on, as well as having learned my lesson about unanswered ones from my killing of Cornu, I decided to use a blunted arrow in order to knock one out of the sky. The other one however was not so lucky as Luke launched a firebolt at it, burning it to a crisp. The rest of us moved to protect the woman from her attacker. Giving her ample room in order to launch a spell of her one, which caused the golem to be engulfed in a massive pillar of fire, ending the fight.
 
The mage introduced herself as Amarra, current owner of Caern Fussil, the tower of the fire mages. And while she had no idea as to the identity of her attackers or their motives, it was obvious to her that this was no random attack as the golem proved to be rather resistance to her magic. Hoping for some answers, Hayley treated the concussion of the pixie, who was most confused when she woke up. Sadly she could tell us very little as the last she remembered was flying around with her sister before venturing into a blanket of mist. In fact she even had no idea as to how she came to be on the material plane. This all pointed towards the notion that something had taken hold of their minds with magic and forced them to do its bidding. She was of course most depressed when we informed her of the fate of her sister and decided to return to the forest of Lorewood in order to find a way home. I offered her to join up with me as I would be heading that way in a few days, but the idea of waiting that long was not that appealing to her.
 
With the departure of the pixie, Amarra was kind enough to offer us shelter for the evening. She also give us a bit of welcome advice about Keralon. In particular that the use of magic items was not allowed for people who did not belong to a knight order. Which was a problem as both me, Hayley and Liliana, who had received a powerful sword from Vivienne, obvious possessed magic weapons and would be stopped at the gate. However this would be a problem that we would solve when we got there. For now, there was another matter at hand.
 
As you can imagine, the notion that we were standing in a wizard tower was most intriguing for Luke, who wasted no time in finding himself inside the library. And while he was going through as many books as he could, Amarra joined him in order to make him an offer. As she had only just returned from her trip, she was currently looking for a new apprentice. If Luke was willing, all he needed to do was succeed in a test and the position would be his. Naturally he accepted and they agreed to do the test first thing in the morning. In order to celebrate this, Amarra even went as far as to perform a ritual that gave Luke a bit more insight into his magic. It seems that most people have an affinity for each of the great elements, with varying degrees. However Luke has an overwhelming affinity for fire magic, along with a connection to the summer court of the Fey. Which was most unusual. Later she would perform the same ritual on Hayley, only to reveal a similar result but only for wind and the winter court of the Fey. A most intriguing result, but one that would not mean much to us for many years to come.
The next day, as agreed the test took place. We were even allowed to help Luke in order to complete it. Now out of respect for Amarra, I will not include the details of the test here. All you need to know is that Luke succeeded with flying colours and succoured his apprenticeship. But despite this, Luke decided to continue onwards with us for a bit more in order to reach Keralon before beginning his new studies. Something that we were all grateful for. And with that we continued our journey to Keralon once more.