Legends of Belariath

A Bard`s Memory of Empire

The 25th Year of The Ilfirian Empire

September 2007
The War

Spirettes and Jhore

The floor was littered with crumbled parchment that drifted to the marble floors like errant thoughts. She wanted to write this account of the war precise, and each day she began to write the story more paper found its way to the pile on the floor. This had to be precise for it was going to be recorded in memories of an Empire. Facts of war, the first war the Sylvan had to write about, there were monsters conquered and strange beasts attacking the populace, but not a full-fledged war. For weeks she had harbored herself in her room at Lord Ryo’s tower, but decided to leave the cool sanctum and visit the Inn. Stories were best written after meeting those who fought firsthand in a war of this magnitude.

There was magic in the kingdom, even the slow heat that followed her when leaving the odd coolness of the tower threatened to make her grow weary on the ride to the Inn. A fortunate morning, for when she walked in… out from a hole in the wall came Famrfit holding a bottle in hand yelling at someone harbored in the hole cringing.

There was an innate curiosity when it came to Famfrit, and soon enough there was a mingling of patrons in the Inn exchanging first hand experiences of the war. A war against the Spirettes, and the gathering didn’t leave out any of the facts on who was there.

Famfrit began the recollection.

“Well, alas, there wasn't much fighting to be had on the ground.  But... while I did not 'fight', you could say I did a lot of damage to the enemy lines.  Might even have won that little skirmish.  Spirettes!  Think freaky undead mind controlling necro-Chirot with powerful mind bending magic.”

There was a gathering outside the palace gates, a very important gathering of Imperial Guards and residents discussing the sighting of Spirretes and they spoke of how they used mind control on their slaves. Insects larger than anyone could imagine, eighty feet in length when full grown.

Standing by the palace gates or riding towards them the party included Zaira, Stormwind, Ray`el, Ielenia, Alkippe, Kallas Dune, Marot, Laerel, Clowe, Marot, Stormwind, Sutara, Alta, Infernis, Sairra, Kuromaku, Eraelabryn , and Odium.

The jhore were killing entire tribes of swamp goblins and more stirred in their nest ready to emerge. The party gathered to track down the Jhore and the purpose was to capture one alive with a net.  Having only one net the team tried to capture it, and when one swung at Famfrit he climbed upon its back and used his flail upon it.

Sairra joined in the recollections with Famfrit.

"Don't forget the part about the goblin, or the fact you’re the only goblin in the realm that was willing to negotiate with them"

Famfrit barked at Sarria...”Don’t skip ahead!

Sarria added, “I might add he was brave enough to take the task, when the Reeve was not"

The tale continued on and was spun in many directions. The jhore were scary beasts and Famfrit proceeded to tell her most goblins like him did not like the swamps. Mules were loaded with supplies, and everything they could carry was packed. Stormwind reminded the party they might need these things on their travels. A trail map was handed to Ielenia and Stormwind, one confiscated by a ranger, worn with trail signs and danger zones marked out.

Zaira went on ahead with her horse packed with the supplies she would need, and Marot stood waiting for orders. It was so unlike Marot to be so docile and not charge ahead brazenly. Ray’el and Odium took on the job of protecting Laerel, and promised to follow behind her and protect her.

The winds blew towards the party and the weather became cold and damp. Not ideal weather for traveling, but they made the best of it. Those that wore armor knew that the sound of their armor would alert them as Marot interjected.

“Forget the smell, they were Chirot, they'll hear us, long before they smell us.”

Clowe offered to put a spell on the group to mask their scent, but they vetoed the idea while they moved on knowing the noise from their armor might be more of a hindrance.

The soft waft of smoke was the only thing seen from Zaira as her familiar flew down and fastened itself to her arm with its sharp talons. The reflection of moonlight showed that pools of water were low, even though it was probably raining in Valencia. The small jhore on Odium’s arm caught scent of something and flew off.  Something was amiss as it began digging in the mud sending dirt flying out in back of it.

The battalion was led by Lady Eraelabryn with Famfrit carrying the banner by her side. He seemed proud of the fact as he talked to Tehya and the others in the Inn.  The Imperial Guard readied and Adrienna gathered the group representing Tamyrn’s house, and they were warned to be wary of mind control and to use their detect illusion spell. Looting was out of the question, and they were told not to loot from the Spirettes or the slaves.

A group of healers started to set up a healing camp which was very detrimental in any war. Windflower, Colyn, and Laerel were among the group. Obsession felt the magic surrounding the healer’s tent and looked up hearing the ground tremble as one of the beasts approached from the distance.

Greywind had a private discussion with Gyn to return to the healers and spoke in whispers about secrets and watching the others. Some were told not to loot, but Greywind reversed –his- orders telling them to loot as much as they could, to gather their secrets through books or scrolls. Menhir was included in this order, while poison arrows and weapons were given out from a covered cart nearby.

The Jhore began pouring out of the marshes, and was a ferocious sight to be seen with iridescent scales and long muscled tails. They fell trees coming through, and snapped at each other.

Guards yelled.

 “Get out of the way, they have already killed. There are men left behind, their bodies smashed beyond recognition.”

Dowjin_Qui spoke out to his group.

 “You might not know me very well, I know one of you in particular, I've gotten off on the wrong foot. But we need to keep this together. I expect teamwork. If anyone gets a stick up their ass about following orders, people may die because of it.”

No matter the people’s differences, they gathered to fight together using the best of their abilities to outwit and kill the Spirettes.

It was good to let them know what the Spirettes looked like, and that is exactly what Famfrit explained to Gabriel.

“They look like malnourished chirots, but their minds more than make up for this. They have the ability to make people into mindless slaves, and if they have ANY intelligence, they -will- use that on our troops. They can fly as well, so expect them to enter into our troops. If you see one fly... kill it fast. It may free slaves, and THOSE are the real danger.”

Reminiscing:

Famfrit and Sarria continued.

Sarria smiled, “What was amazing was what was happening above the battle field wouldn't you agree Fam? Especially when they unleashed that hellish wave of magic across the field of battle"

Famfrit chuckled and shook his head.

“Keep skippin' ahead! At any rate, I wasn't in the goblin skirmishers.  They were wave two.  My orders were very specific.   Arrows were ranged until they came into us.  So I was shouting orders to the men to hold their ranks while the sky rained death down onto the foes, and the consort came with fire and murder in her hands.  Their forces were broken, charging jhore beasts, and goblin anger machines flailing in their midst. They almost broke our forces... almost... and that is when my command to my troops took effect. We had bombs, designed to neutralize the magic. We started to toss them into our own men, and the effects wore off faster than it took to cast the magic itself.  From there, victor was assured from death above.”

Sarria intervened and told about her duties.

"I was with the imperial armies. Sadly soon as the magical wave hit I had to use the bombs like how Famfrit ordered his men to do, otherwise a big angry rock- troll under magical derangement wouldn't have been very pretty"

The story revolves:

Men drew heavy carts as asked to the healer’s tent. Jarod fulfilled the duties he was asked, bringing a cart to the tent where Obsession was. An eerie song was heard as Ray`el sang in the distance, the notes hung in the air to motivate those around him.

With a soft bound upwards Christine-Daae took flight to the air in front of them, on lookout for what she could see.

Kuro moved on ahead carrying a pot of water and some odd flowers directly towards the thundering footfalls.

Eraelabryn orders were to burn the bodies and if they spotted someone down, she would fetch them. One never knew what Byrn meant by that. It could mean fetch them alive or send a vulture.

Kuromaku was clever and there was no wonder he was an Imperial guard. He knew that they were dependent on their slaves, and so dependent they should get rid of the slaves first leaving them vulnerable.

Loathe and Zaira both spoke of the Spirettes and their abilities surmising that they could control them and use the group against each other if they were successful. The Empire’s Companion spoke of fire which brought a smile to a few lips. L`aquera noted that the jhore were not affected by mind control, and spoke of their size and wing span.

Infernis shook his head and carried a flower wrapped within leather. He walked over to the Moriel L`aquera to give her some news.

"We also found some papers that may pertain to the Spirettel."

Infernis stepped up and handed her the paper.

"I just found this today, mixed in with the papers regarding the Mephos.”

 He stepped up to the Fire mage girl, should he get close enough, lifted the leather and unwrapped it, holding it rather high and right beneath her face.

"Here"

Stormwind’s hand went immediately to his sword in case something was wrapped inside that might harm L`aquera.

A hiss was heard and the crash of her chair was kicked back. She headed for the door at a running pace with her hand held to her chin and throat. The burning she felt didn’t relay there was a rash forming on her neck as she headed out the door.

Infernis cursed.

"Get her! Don't let her get away, damn you!"

The thud of Kuromaku’s footsteps followed L`aquera’s, along with Loathe, Saaira, Kalas, Ielenia, and Alta Nova, who was seconds too late blocking the doorway with her crystal sword. Ray`el let out a blast of cold ice towards the consort, and as he did it Infernis called out.

"Don't kill her, damn it...Just restrain her...The Emperor will kill us all if we let her hurt herself."

Zaira had the common sense to evaluate the situation before taking pursuit, knowing that the Emperor’s companion might have been poisoned or blinded.

L`aquera twisted to evade being very agile trying to escape them, her own dagger whipped about as the Torian Ray`el tried to stop her with a blast of ice to her back… which threw her forward.

"WHAT are you DOING? Do you have ANY idea who I AM?”

Infernis cursed and pointed to them.

"Take her down now or I'll kill you myself! Do it! She has all the information she needs, so put her down!"

Kuromaku of the Imperial Guard used his spirit weapon, and the translucent bar of spirit energy appeared in his hand. It looked much like a bat and he swung it at L`aquera’s head. It would only drain the vitality and fight out of her without harming her.

"We not kills. Only stops her."

A stun bolt from Zaira, and another ice bolt from Ray`el was shot out towards the consort. Ielenia spun her staff to trip her and the combination of spells and physically stopping her brought her down knocking her out on the floor. She came to slowly, and panting for breath.

Infernis seethed seeing some not reacting to what he said and glared at those showing a lack to react when he told them to. He kept silent until she was tied.

"Gag her quickly, and bind her hands...Quickly, damn you, then remove her weapons."

Zaira thought twice about casting another spell when the viceroy told them to stop and tie her.

Ielenia of the Imperial Guard took her staff and the flower holding it under the bound L’aquera’s nose letting the flower linger there.

"This truly will hurt you more than me L`aquera, but it must be done"

Ielenia came to the conclusion as she watched the consort’s face swell and redden… they had the way to beat them.

“I don't think that is helping her…more like poisoning her...allergic reaction perhaps? Well now we know how to beat them.”

L`aquera’s symptoms became worse, and they called out for a healer as the red rash made her face swell from her ears up. Zaira came out with a comment that turned a few heads.

"I can take her to the Cave if we need to kill her."

Infernis called out to them.

"Get a healer...Quickly, surely you have a few on premises for accidents and such."

In the meantime Ielenia of the Imperial Guard placed a hand on L`aquera’s neck checking her pulse and monitoring to see if she grew weaker or was getting better.

Kuromaku used his badge to message the guards and fetch a healer from the palace.

“Is Done. They be's here soon."

The rash rapidly spread from L`aqueara’s face to her neck, then her breasts and belly. Kuromaku took the cue to not wait a second longer and placed his hand on the dark elf’s chest using the spell cleanse flesh to pull the toxins out of her body. Ielenia tried helping by forcing the contents of a vial down L`aquera’s throat. The contents would cure most poisons.

A screech, muffled by the bottle was heard pouring down her throat, and the flesh that had been so red seemed to burst outwards. A strange milky liquid began exuding from everywhere and smelled worse than the swamp, burning the fingers of those touching it, the milky substance rolled down along her clothes that weren't tattered. The smell was far worse… ranking high within any Jhore that lived in the swamps. Terrified silver hues found and latched on Kalas.

Kalas pulled a water skin from inside his cloak and tried scrubbing the milky substance off. It burned his hand, and he knew it was hurting her … doing little to ease her pain.

"This does not look like it is working! I will not stand here and allow this torture to continue to happen to her."

The pain was terrible and muffled moans came from L`aquera as Kuromaku felt his own hands burn from the poison while laying his hand on her chest. Her silver eyes didn’t leave Kalas’s for a second he was her lifeline while she endured the pain. Wounds dark and red formed on her body, and yet no sword had touched her flesh.

Infernis shook his head.

"Damned fools, more concerned with protocol and form than with what's needed. Keep it up."

Kuromaku clenched his sharp teeth and poured more of his own troll soul into L`aquera pushing out the infection made by the Spirettes. A shivering and thankful L`aquera seemed grateful for water…yes the one everyone feared with fire…was being cured by magic and water.

"Kuro.. .enough… please. You’re pressing my tit into my heart."

L`aquera had a touch of venom in her voice, but the exhaustion was evident as she asked with a little venom in her voice and a shake of her head.

“Can I get these bindings off my wrists Kalas?"

Kuromaku did as she asked but not before getting a few sly gropes in for his own pleasure. The consort showed a side most never seen as she asked Kalas to hold her, balking at the idea about being given a bath. She just wanted to be held, and to be held by Kalas.

Infernis turned to the Troll, and patted his shoulder. He was given some of the white substance to be analyzed by Ielenia. He ordered the others to be careful but to clean up the milky substance washed off of L`aquera.

"You healed her, not me...I just yelled and made people mad."

Famfrit’s version:

Their forces were broken, charging jhore beasts, and goblin.

“Beasts, and goblin anger machines, bombs were thrown and they almost broke our forces but that is when my command and troops took place. We tossed the bombs even on our own men, and the effects wore off faster than it took to cast magic.  

Sarria concluded:

"I was with the Imperial armies. Sadly; soon as the magical wave hit I had to use the bombs like how Famfrit ordered his men to do. Otherwise a big angry rock troll under magical derangement wouldn't have been very pretty"

The War Ended

Tehya

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