Cy 4863 – Janos 17th - 20th

Taryn Bzar leads the party northwest through the great mountain range of the Olshay. With Granitar – the mountainous bear – bringing up the rear Taryn and Arvial talk. The ranger learns that the boy’s mother was a noble Myrid woman and that Illyanth is indeed pregnant. Arvial, however, is at a loss to understand why his grandmother wants him dead. Taryn further speculates that the child Illyanth carries is a girl, he alludes to the possibility that if it is there is a natural successor to her as queen.

That evening Dietrich sketches a portrait of Arvial, a masterful depiction of the boy that appears to show every emotion. Taryn suggests it is a spiritual work, lent power by something – possibly Arvial himself.

Fuls casts stoneskin on Todgem that evening. Later heavy footsteps can be felt even in the shelter of Ful’s elemental cave. The elementalist stretches out an earth elemental until he feels a prehistoric creature – possibly a large carnivorous reptile – outside. Fuls uses the earth elemental to sink the creature, which is as large as a giant, and smother it under the ground.

Suddenly Arvial lets out a piercing scream. "Let it out!" he yells, "It is hungry, not evil!" Fuls lets the creature go as Calandrin cares for his son and warns Fuls not to upset the boy again.

Next morning Arvial spots a watcher on a ridge a mile away. Taryn sends his familiar upwards to see a humanoid lay on the ground with four other similarly clad warriors behind him, hidden from view. When the watcher has finished he grabs hold of a longbow beside him; the weapon becomes snake-like and coils round the watcher’s forearm before disappearing beneath the robes. Taryn notices a pair of red glowing eyes…a demon.

Back with the party Taryn relays what the familiar has seen. Fuls immediately summons a tunnelling elemental and travels through the mountain that separates them and their enemies. The tunneller makes its way to where the five demons lay in ambush.

Suddenly they are hit by a dispel magic – when Fuls manages to re-activate the elemental and move on the demons are upon them. Fuls is hit by a demonic blade and is wracked in pain as his soul is drained. Granitar is similarly hit and roars in the most exquisite pain.

Todgem leaps forward using the dagger called Eastern Eye; he rams it through the crimson pupils of the first demon and destroys it utterly, the corporeal form evaporates into nothingness as the demon is sent back to the Abyss. Taryn Bzar hacks at the second, his deadly shortsword plunges into the eye of a second and another is destroyed.

Herla, the Malakarian priestess, casts bless allowing the more mundane attacks to harm the demons. Calandrin – who is weaponless – rams two fingers into the eyes of a third and another one is destroyed. Taryn uses a similar tactic to destroy another, his inner fire exploding the demon’s head and banishing it. Granitar is slain by the last demon before Todgem stabs it to death.

Arvial kneels at the limp body of Granitar. He sheds a tear for the great bear as both Taryn and Herla realise that the boy is in communion with a goddess…they realise that Arvial is committing its soul to Elena.

That night Herla creates a shrine to Malakar in their elemental cave. She is astonished when Arvial sits next to her and says; "May I pray at your shrine?" Herla is amazed and the two of them discuss religion, Malakar, and the upbringing of Calandrin. Herla is told that Calandrin played with Malakar and Elena when they were his age.

Next morning the wind and snow close in. They struggle through a blizzard, their progress is slow and laborious. Herla senses a demon. A shadowy figure can be seen at longbow range through the snow fall, with a deep booming voice he signals his intention to kill the child. Blood drains from Calandrin’s face. "By the gods I know that voice! It is Xalvar Nightsbane, Illyanth’s night chancellor."

Calandrin urges they retreat from the demon. Taryn calmly runs his palm over the blade of his sword, the blood bubbles, then ignites the steel itself. They huddle into a circle. Fuls Brett feels the enormous weight of a spell against him; a dispel magic has been hurled by Xanlvar but Fuls manages to defeat it. He knows that it is only a matter of time before the demon casts another.

He uses an earth elemental to drop the party deep underground, then tries to out-manoeuvre Xalvar. It soon becomes clear that they cannot outrun the chancellor, nor can they avoid the demonic help he has brought with him. Fuls realises that since they cannot hide they must fight. Calandrin argues against it but Fuls returns to the surface – just as a second dispel magic hits them. This time their magical protections and spells are gone.

A perimeter of one hundred demonic Elenorians suddenly rush in at the party, who desperately draw weapons to defend themselves. The marauding demons are upon them in seconds but it is Todgem who is quickest; his deadly knife Eastern Eye destroys the first demo and the battle begins in earnest. Taryn severs the femoral artery of his first opponent, the demonic blood ignites two of his companions and obliterates them in seconds.

But the party feel the full weight of the demonic attack in the first few seconds. Herla and Dietrich are cut by demonic blades, their souls damaged by the deadly weapons. Fuls is also cut before he can cast another stoneskin. Taryn has only one thing on his mind – protect the child! He turns aside a couple of blows as Calandrin stays close to do the same.

All the while the boy Arvial begins to speak in a strange tongue; it is a litany that increases in volume as the battle rages. Desperately they defend themselves against the impossible odds. The demons are ten deep in front of them, their feral eyes and dangerous blades close to taking their souls.

But as they cling to life Arvial increases the volume. After a couple of minutes Taryn senses a change in the atmosphere around them. It is as if the child communes with Nature itself. The air becomes thick and cloying, the pressure causes head aches and nausea. Still the child speaks.

Fuls casts a dig spell then. The ground in front of them collapses, taking the first three lines of demons with it. He continues to dig out the earth as the demons try to scramble, unsuccessfully, out of their predicament. Todgem rams the dagger through the eye of a clambering demon but they are all aware that a greater force is present.

The air around them becomes intense, a swirling vortex that begins to shred the skin of the demons trapped in the pit and corrode the steel of their blades. Such is the force of the wind that it soon becomes impossible to put anything into the swirling tornado only inches away from them. Fuls summons an air elemental around them even as the vortex subsides.

Wounded but alive the air clears to cloudless skies, the sun is warm against their flesh as they survey their new surroundings. The pit contains nothing but sand, all evidence of the demons is gone. There is also no sign of Xalvar; none of the party sense magic or demons in the area. Fuls creates an elemental causeway across the pit and the party move out onto firmer ground.

All eyes are on Arvial. Even his father, Calandrin, gapes with open-mouthed awe at what his son has achieved. Dietrich absently stares at the portrait of the young boy and notices an expression of profound joy on his face. It is also an expression that hides primal power…