Interlude

With the ending of the immediate threat, the group remembered that they had left allies and friends scattered across the face of Alair. Electing to retrieve Billy the Bear first, Sack began to prepare to travel to Vorsand. Surya was happy to go, but Hildraft felt a need to meditate and pray in the wake of the awesome events of the past few days.

Before their departure, Niotanv visited them once more. The departed disciple brought word that the Gods had found a way to express their gratitude for the defeat of Cain.

Hidden deep within the three powerful weapons borne by the heroes, Niotanv related, were powers beyond the discernment or reach of mortals. Although themselves unable to discover the precise nature of these powers, the collected Gods of Alair were able to shift reality slightly and release these powers. This they had done, adding more might to the already mighty enchanted weapons.

There was an element of considerable trust in this; before the fact, the Gods were unable to tell if the powers buried in the weapons would be inimical or beneficial. The most they could tell was that the new capabilities would be relevant to the weapons' basic nature. Here Niotanv glanced tellingly at Surya.

He left them then, to explore the new abilites in their arsenal, and to retrieve their lost friends.

Emerging from Sack's Bag of Holding, Surya looked around himself at the city of Vorsand. He had not been there for several months, and the changes were striking.

The pair were met at the doors of Skufruss' tower by Bruukr; once again, it seemed that there was no sneaking into the Lord of Dragons' domain. The castellan of Vorsand had never met the Tellaran before, but once Sack had introduced him, bowed with respect and greeted him in her master's name. She escorted the pair to one of the informal audience chambers on the third floor, and settled them there to await the pleasure of the Kin wizard.

A few minutes later Skufruss joined them. He looked tired, though not as totally exhausted as he had the day he'd created the Elf Hammer. They exchanged news, the two telling him how the Quest for the Sword of Law had ended, and Skufruss relating how the Elf Hammer had been disabled.

The Lord of Dragons was as emotional as they had ever seen him, angered by what he referred to as a "betrayal". On being asked to elaborate, he revealed that the mysterious eldritch figures who'd intervened were the Firstborn, the oldest of the Kin and the only twins. Always strange and unpredictable, they had been kept out of the fighting during the Elf Wars until the final battle at Lantalaure. Brought into action then, they had become - as Skufruss related it - "squeamish and weak" when confronted by the realities of war, and had deserted from the Dragon's forces midway through the siege. Since then they had not been seen, but clearly they'd not been idle during that time. Now they had chosen to resurface, apparently to oppose Skufruss in his assault on the Elves.

He had only minimal reports of what had happened in the forests of Belamir, but it appeared that the peculiar effect that had swallowed Skufruss' construct was still in place, although curiously enough radiating absolutely no magic whatsoever. It was clear that Skufruss was consumed by curiousity about what the Firstborn had done, as well as furious. He seemed confident, however, that whatever it was could be solved, and broken, and that the Elf Hammer would be freed from within it.

Skufruss said he expected a full-blown war in the spring at the latest - sooner if the elves moved quickly - and appeared confident that he could prevail.

"Be sure to let us know when," commented Surya dryly.

"Is that an offer of alliance?" Skufruss replied quickly

Surya looked uncomfortable. While not inclined to support the elves, with whom he had significant differences, he felt great friendship for some, Elverandil in particular. Sack, of course, would have been quite happy to watch Skufruss roll over the elvenkingdom. He resorted to writing to make his point, that the elves had always shown a tendency to suddenly decide that some race or nation didn't deserve to exist; they'd done it before with the lizardmen, which had led to the war with Tellare and the battle of Thallan. "Now it's your turn; next it could be the Orcs, or the Empire," he finished.

Finally Surya spoke. "I feel it is my duty to mediate here," he said. Skufruss looked surprised. "That'll be a job of work," he commented, although it was noticable that he did not directly oppose the idea. They moved to other subjects.

Reunited with Billy, Sack then teleported them back to Reital, where they retired to consider the day's events.

Calling a meeting with General Harker, Surya laid out the new information he had obtained about the political situation in the northlands. He gave instructions that the recently demobbed Dragonarmy soldiers who had been returned to the land should be re-mobilized, to prepare for the defence of the realm.

Harker raised the suggestion that they should, if possible, remain on the farms until the harvest was in, otherwise New Tellare would be facing starvation by New Year; as there wasn't actually a war on Surya agreed and the General devised a system of militias and local musters to keep the men trained and ready.

He was given the task of preparing battle plans against attack from either Belamir or Tarlanor - or both at once - and also plans to attack elven reinforcements coming in from the sea. Surya suggested the idea of pre-emptive strikes against sea ports to prevent reinforcement, although with the only inhabited ports lying within Dalaghendor this was a last-ditch idea, more likely to start another war than stop this one. Harker suggested sending scouts to examine the ruins of Belegond, to see how much remained of the ancient elven harbours there.

New Tellare's borders were to be patrolled vigorously, and undesirables refused entry.

Last of all, Surya arranged ambassadors to travel to the other neighboring states - Dalaghendor, the Kordasa, the Orcs and Enning, to assure them of New Tellare's peaceful but strong stance, and to solicit their assistance in preventing the onrushing war. Surya planned himself to visit the Empire.

Sack teleported himself and Surya into the ruins at some distance from the camp they'd made two days before. Putting his unparalleled stealth skills to use, he ghosted up through the rubble towards where Hansen and Inveros Moonflame were morosely cooking breakfast in full armour, clearly pessimistic about the survival of the Questers.

With a wierd, tongueless hoot, Sack leaped out on the pair, making them start with surprise. Both were clearly relieved to see Sack and Surya alive, and pressed them for details.

For a while the Questers teased them with obscurities, but finally Surya related the events, and Hansen scribbled them down.

Moonflame had concluded that with the death of Zerhal and the removal of the Sword of Law, his mission was accomplished. He therefore decided to turn for home.

Sack wanted to locate the Redeemers, to try and find a druid who would Awaken Billy - he felt his part in stemming the corruption of the Vileflow would make a strong bargaining point. A visit to the Temple of Aderra in Thornal looked like a good start on this.

Surya was considering the "army of undead" mentioned by the tortured Pulverae in the dungeons under the Praetorian Barracks. It seemed something that needed attention; and there was a good chance of finding Cullinan there.

All these things were southwards.