Wyrin uses her survival skill to stitch the wounds in the elven woman Leafblight. Irmirsul leads the party north, keen to escape the clutches of the Rogue Hierarch.
The return of Kysan'tel lifts the sombre mood of the party, particularly the other Wildling woman Wyrin. They are joined also by another woman, an elf called Atris, a killer from the southern lands.
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Kysan'tel decides to have a go at the Compass of Ulnar, hoping to gain a clue as to their plight, but her attempts fail and she discovers nothing new.
But Irmirsul is more successful. Into the head of Ulnar he jumps and the White Wolf answers his telepathic questions.
"Well met vampyre - one of the twelve hierarchs of the White Woods has gone rogue and he seeks the compass . . . . and your blood..."
Then the wolf's mind is gone.
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Irmirsul senses movement in the trees and the party decide to dig in and await the hierarch's next move. Kysan'tel, who is unknown to the hierarch, decides to lay in wait and sets a small camp in the trees to attract whatever comes next. Wyrin, Atris, Tahlia, and Valorn the archer climb trees not far from the camp whilst Leafblight chooses a rope trick for safety and Irmirsul becomes wraith-like.
A lone elf greets Kysan'tel, who is under no illusion as to the true nature of the newcomer. He is an enemy and searches for the party. Irmirsul can see the boots of speed, a treasure gained by the slaughter of their friend Plo'Koon. The elf is supremely confident despite knowing he is surrounded and - most of all - is within touching distance of a wildling woman.
Kysan'tel wastes no time, hurls a lightning bolt at the elf and follows up with a strike which is deflected by the agile elf. The elf casts a eight magical pebbles behind him and where each one hits the ground there sprouts one of the hierarch's warriors.
Urmirsul colour sprays the first elf and stops him in his tracks. Wyrin narrowly avoids being shot in the eye and retaliates in the best way she knows; by throwing a spear through the skull of her attacker. Atris uses a sling to wound an elf as the fight spreads chaotically through the trees.
Valorn is well hidden and his first arrow punctures the eye of a warrior whilst his second causes an elf to double up as the shaft punctures his groin. Irmirsul uses his rope to bind an elf, his eyes seeking new dangers in the fight as he holds the elf firmly and soundly with the magical rope.
But the hierarch's warriors are not without magic themselves. A small black globe hurled at Wyrin causes a blistering explosion and the wildling is ejected from the tree and dumped onto the ground with lacerations and burns.
The leader barks a command at his remaining soldiers. "Bleed the vampyre!" But his shouts merely attract a sling bullet in the face from the hidden elven thief Tahlia. It thunders through the skull and cracks it like a flimsy egg shell, slaying the leader instantly. Leafblight, herself badly wounded, slips from the safety of the rope trick and faces two opponents hurrying in for the kill. Her first arrow rams through a throat and a second stops the other as it slams into an unprotected stomach. The enemy staggers to a halt, barely able to believe that he has sprouted an elven arrow from his ribs.
The tide of battle has turned. The party close in on their foes, confident now that the battle is won but wary of the growing wounds sustained. Irmirsul casts a fireball to engulf an enemy and for good measure Atris fells it with a sling bullet.
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Tahlia slips quietly onto the ground, as thieves do, when the fight is won. Irmirsul and Kysan'tel ponder the fate of the last surviving (and heavily bound) enemy. The vampyre wants information (and blood) so the questioning is two-pronged. As Irmirsul asks the questions Kysan'tel gains the real responses from an ESP spell.
But Tahlia is startled by the fact that the dead elf seems to move. She raises this to the party and Leafblight reacts by casting web on the corpse. Irmirsul senses an undead and the corpse is slowly becoming a lich.
Kysan'tel strips the body and takes off all the magic. Immediately the body stops moving.
They identify the objects: Boots of Speed, Cloak of Withering, Longsword of the Qurum and the Ring of the Lich.
But something else is hidden amongst the loot, a magical item so powerful it can hide itself. By blind luck (or good fortune) Kysan'tel finds it and slips it away unseen by the party. She then takes the boots of speed whilst Tahlia helps herself to the cloak of withering. Leafblight helps herself to the longsword of the Qurum, a weapon that she intends to learn in the coming weeks.
Irmirsul, who has advanced in his sorcerous studies, casts stoneskin individually on the entire party, protecting them from many of the melee weapons they will face.
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Then, along with Kysan'tel, they interrogate the prisoner. Irmirsul and Valorn gain a glimpse into the hidden object that the wildling has gained...the ring of the Elder Born, when they show the prisoner the casket. He reaches out desperately - then is consumed by the strange magical chest.
Valorn realises that the casket has taken the prisoner's soul, much to Irmirsul's annoyance as he is denied a feast. But the vampyre is well nourished, having tasted blood that very night. The archer realises that he cannot utilize the casket and hands it to Leafblight. The battlemage uses her knowledge to activate the casket and is healed instantly! The elf beams with satisfaction as she is able to walk unaided for the first time in days.
So they head north. Kysan'tel gets the feeling that the ring, which she now wears under her gloves, has not left the White Woods for centuries, but she feels that it is not trying to stop them.
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They happen upon a cemetery, a place where elves bury their dead. Instead of headstones trees sprout from where the elves lie in eternal slumber. The older the tree, the older the grave.
A figure moves between the trees. An ageing elven woman, white haired and emaciated, with strangely opaque skin. "I am the Keeper," she says. "Take not what is hidden from this place."
The party listen to her but have no intention of heeding her advice. She sighs deeply, then tells them what they already know: a hierarch has gone rogue and he wants Ulnar's Compass and the blood of the vampyre . . . .though she has no idea to what ends . . . . . .
..