Shadowkami

Heading carefully up the pass, the group began to find tracks, indicating around a score of light-footed, but armoured, individuals, well-versed in wilderness lore, had passed up the valley no more than a week ago.

All paused to bring up defensive magics, and Sack went Invisible and moved ahed to scout. Around half a mile further on, he found a place where the narrow pass suddenly opened out into a wide, steep-sided depression, before carrying on again through the mountains.

Carefully, Sack inched himself to where he could see into the dell.

Sure enough, there was a small, smokeless campfire towards the far side, with nine figures gathered around it. Two pairs of two more were set at either end to guard the entrances.

Each was armoured in close-fitting, scaled armour, almost like lizard scales, and equipped with sword and bow. Something in the way they moved nagged at Sack's mind, but he dismissed it for the moment while he used his Crystal Ball to warn the others, and Spiderclimbed around the lip of the dell until he was perched on a precarious ledge, just above the northernmost of the guards.

From there, he could see them more clearly, and several things added themselves to his mental picture. First, they did not match the description he'd been expecting. Their swords, while curved, were not the same as the Dyvka Kobort had carried, and that their conversations in the Empire had led them to understand were common in the unknown East. Nor were the men below the almond-eyed, slightly yellow people he'd seen walking arrogantly through Thornal. In fact....

These were elves!

Not quite the same breed as the elves of Sildor from before-times, nor those of Belamir and Viridor; certainly not Fae Mhor. But elves none the less.

The was all Sack needed. He dropped from the ledge as the others rode in (belatedly noticing Surya trying to start a conversation and caring naught for it) and hurled himself onto the two guards. A swift flurry of invisible blows brought both down, and he leaped for the other side of the exit valley.

Surya had met no joy trying to parlay, and unleashed two swift arrows, bringing down the first two guards. Behind him, the other two backed towards the valley wall, into the shadows - and vanished! Enhanced by the Robe of Eyes, Surya's sight saw them fade into the shadow itself as they went.

Next to him, Hildraft scanned the campfire for an individual with different markings - a lleader - and snapped out a command, attempting to Hold him for interrogation. The spell failed, and the nine around the fire scattered, heading for the shadows at the edges of the depression.

Sack slaughtered the third guard with a single blow, and knocked the fourth flying, his chest caved in and ribs splintered.

Hildraft's second attempt rooted the leader to the spot, and Surya's swift arrows reaped half the fleeing survivors. A second spell from Hildraft roasted another in Searing Light, and Sack, disdaining further arrow-fire, took care of the final few with an improvised club made from half a brick.

Silence fell, and the three carefully immobilized their prisoners before reviving them for interrogation. A search revealed coins, both peculiar foreign ones with holes in, and some few familiar ones, clearly loot or evidence. Maps and orders were found; the maps showed the areas of the eight passes quite clearly, but the further west they went, the less clear. This impression of exploration was heightened by the package of orders carried by the officer; reading them with his Ta'nara abilities, Hildraft reported that the scout party was ordered to explore, map, report back, and leave no witnesses.

After casting a Zone of Truth, they brought first the wounded man, then the officer around, and Hildraft questioned them, learning theirlanguage as he did so. They claimed to be of a people called the Shadowkami, Shadow-Spirits, and this party were trailblazers, sent to map the "barbarian lands to the west" before the invasion. When asked where "the others" were, he pointed backwards and said "the army" was 25 ran that way. A failing of the Ta'nara; no inherent ability to understand units. A ran turned out to be 2½ miles, making the army about 63 miles away.

"How many?" was the next question, and the officer closed his lips and would not answer. Both Sack and Surya leaned over, trying to intimidate him into answering; Sack was merely terrifying, but Surya relaxed his control a little and let the aura of Tormentor flow across the sand - and the shadowkami's resistance crumpled.

He said the army comprised 150,000 fighting kami. This seemed bad enough, but casual questions after stumbled on the fact that this was per pass; the whole invasion force therefore was over a million men.....

More presure was needed, and Surya worked the Sword of the Dead Legions' dark spell over one of the dead shadowkami. To the horror of the commander, it started answering questions. Between them, the group elicited the information that each army was led by a general - the Beloril one by a General Kyu - and that the whole people "answered to the Dark One". Each had their own mon or crest, and these were drawn out. The Dark One had his own tent, and few went in; this man had never actually seen their leader. His presence was perceptible however.

Clearly some rethinking was in order. Aborting their scouting mission, the group slew the wounded prisoner, secured the leader, hid all traces of the battle, and hastened back down the valley.