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Expedition 2 - Escalation

Feb 19, 2016
Expedition 2 - Escalation
  • From Tales of the Alliance the Diaries of Sasha...

    Day 1
    We return to The Vale after a good month back in the kingdom. Whilst back home however, the orcs of the khans forces took to assaulting the town of Greymere. Though The Lion Guard and House Fenix rallied together, my time in our land has left me....tired. Ever since the dreams started about Ser Kaylen, I have not slept....well that is, every time I do sleep, my fears and the terror override my control of my magic whilst I sleep causing me to set fire to any object near me. The elders of the Academy of Magic have thought it best for me to vacate my chamber in the tower and sleep in one of the rooms below, which are protected by a magical barrier.

    Anyway, as we stepped through the portal, I realised that we had moved camp to a more suitable location, and I noticed how many more brave souls have joined us on the expedition.

    The first thing I did was venture out into The Vale so that I could research the plant life to see if any of the foliage that grows there could survive on the other side of the portal...stupidly I got caught out on my own by The Chosen who wasn't very happy about me going alone. After a brief shouting match with him, he turned and said he will be informing Kaylen of my behaviour....what a tataltail!

    It wasn't long until the Khans forces reared their ugly heads and battle commenced. Surprisingly, even in my exhausted state, I was able to destroy 5 heavily armoured Undead, though the battle ended quickly, leaving just myself, Kaylen, The Chosen and The Dean of The Academy left on the field. Needless to say that we retreated back to the camp, and the orcs retreated back to theirs.

    I also introduced myself to the new Dean of The Academy as I hadn't had the chance back home. A lovely chap who I think very highly of. He has asked me to help him conduct research of The Vale for a few magical favours.

    The rest of the night was mostly guard duty for Her Grace as Rhen had decided to spend her evening in the tavern drinking.


    Day 2

    As usual, I thought it was a priority to seek out my mentor in magic, in order to learn the next tree in my fire magic. He once again was very patient with me, even though I'm a fast learner and I quickly grasped the abilities he explained to me.

    We also had another mage come through the portal, Margery, a fire mage and ritualist. More fire mages are always good and we would now be able to deal with more Undead as they attacked.

    Somewhere along the line, one of the Northmen had slowly started to become something else. Though he was still him, I could feel the same presence that The Chosen gives off emanating from him.

    Shortly after Q left The Vale to return to the King on important business, we all headed out to the ritual circle, in order to perform a ritual on a lady called from The Iron Bank, in order to infuse her with Knowledge, as asked for by....The Designer. I'm not a fan of the faith as stated, and this designer falls into that category regardless of who worships her.

    Arriving at the ritual site, we saw off some of the Khans forces, but as a few got away, we knew we'd have to act quickly to avoid butting heads this far away from help.

    We weren't quick enough and thus caught in a pincer attack at the site. Countless of my brothers, sisters, friends and comrades were slaughtered by the foul forces....including Kaylen. As I saw her go down, I was ready to run in and die by her side. Heston the Temple Guard had other plans for me, and proceeded to throw me down the side of the hill and into the trees to hide. I couldn't believe it, nearly all the expedition had been killed because of some stupid ritual!

    On our way back, we collected four bags of resources before running into The Chosen and Wulfric, along with some other members of the expedition. We returned to the ritual site, where Wulfric entered one to one combat. He survived thankfully and so we returned to camp....where we were instantly held under trial by The Three for the horror that was the ritual circle massacre.

    The biggest shock of the day was yet to come however. Soon after the survivors returned and the camp was secured Kaylen stormed back into camp. The person that walked in looked like Kaylen, but the anger....the rage that rolled off her in waves, wasn't like the Knight General. The Chosen could see my shock and feel my fear as he placed a soothing hand upon my shoulder. The Dean proceeded to perform some checks on Kaylen to ensure it was her. It was....she had been returned to me.

    I knew that this miracle that had occurred must have had something to do with The Three. I asked The Chosen and Wulfric if they would accompany me to The Fane, so that I could pray for the first time in my life. I spoke in The Fane, thanked The Three for what had happened and left offerings as a token of my gratitude. The manifestation of my fire magic, and my prized Fire Lilly from The Mountains of Fire back home.

    Both The Chosen and Wulfric said I had done well and that I had started on the right path to faith. Part of me felt lighter, like I could sleep soundly now that Kaylen had....died and come back to me. Perhaps tonight, my sleep will be peaceful.

    Day 3
    I couldn't have been more wrong! The dreams.... the nightmares only returned stronger than ever. I had burnt a hole into my sleeping quarters during my sleep...thankfully it didn't spread to the whole encampment.

    As I was awake early, I decided to go out into The Vale to gather research and resources, where I happen to upon an Undead rat heading down the road....he didnt last long. My anger at myself and my lack of decent sleep somehow had made my fire magic a tad more explosive....that doesn't normally happen.

    The Dean of the Academy lead myself and a small group out to the ritual circle in order to try a new tactic for running rituals. The plan worked and he has asked if I would feel comfortable about leading these groups in the future so we could perform safe and successful rituals in the future. He seems to trust me a lot which pleases me greatly.

    Back in camp, The Chosen had fallen to his knees and cried out that he had been given a brother....the Northman was gone and we had another Chosen within the expedition.

    Later in the day, whilst out looking for more resources with a mole beastkin, we found the Khans forces heading our way and proceeded to head back to camp down what we call preachers hill. The Khans forces were already there and I blasted an Undead with a fire bolt.

    I was ready to battle, but The Chosen demanded that we fall back to the camp where it was safe. None of The Lion Guard were so ready to flee to safety and part of me felt really proud that I was fighting alongside such brave people.

    We also executed some bloke for treason against the crown....he didnt deny anything so the trial and judgement were quick.

    Just as we had finished, a man from House Fenix ran into the camp to tell us that Margery (Our new fire mage ritualist) had gone to the ritual circle alone and was performing a ritual. We rushed to the site as it wouldn’t be long before our portal closed and we would be left to die in The Vale. Arriving at the site, it seemed that Margery was finished and ready to return to camp....she scared me to death!

    Our time in The Vale was nearly up, before we left, we held a service in The Fane to honour our fallen and pray to The Three. As I stepped through the portal to return home, I looked back, just before it closed behind me, only to lay eyes upon the three shadows that haunt my dreams.

    I fear for the next time I return.

    Sasha Emrys