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The Demagogue Parade - Mission Progression:
Quest:
White Mantle Wrath: Demagogue's Vanguard
Quest: Urgent Warning
Wyrm
- 25 Jun 2007
After being lost for quite a long time trying to find their
way out of the fen the Bloodstone was in, the team finally manages to locate a
member of the Shining Blade. Not the one they were looking for, but at this point
they were glad to see anything that wasn't a spider. Those spiders were annoying.
"Greetings,"
said the Shining Blade scout they ran into. He probably had introduced himself
but after getting lost in the jungle and not finding Evennia anywhere they really
didn't care about going through formalities with a lackey. "Evennia isn't
here. Unfortunately, word has spread quickly about your slaying of Justicar Hablion
and for the past few days we've been fighting off the Mantle patrols that are
hunting us down. Even as we speak there are patrols on their way here, so it's
not safe to stay much longer. If you would be willing to take a message to Councilor
Vaylor, who is, as we speak, trying to enlist the aid of the Centaurs. You can
find him to the South, near Ventari's Refuge." This
conversation would have been more of a dialog had there been two things different.
First, the team was pretty much pinned down to the ground after having fought
so many spiders trying to find the place and their feet needed a rest just as
much as their minds did. Secondly, they had learned along their travels that most
people they encountered were just going to say what it is they were going to say
regardless of what was going on, so it was better to just let them ramble on and
tune them out as needed. This was exactly what they did with the scout now talking
to them. They were mostly concentrating on dumping the junk they had picked up
for whatever reason along the way and restocking their supplies with the local
merchants. They did manage to catch what they thought were the important parts
of his speech, though. What they heard was something like this: "Evennia
isn't here... Hablion... Mantle Patrols... message... Refuge." Once
they had left the not-so-hidden camp of the Shining Blade along the path the scout
had drawn for them (they expected he had realized they weren't paying attention
to him) they were greeted by the jungle once again. Unfortunately, they were at
a higher altitude now, which meant that they wouldn't have access to the restorative
waters they had come to expect when fighting, a fact they were none to pleased
about. Hardly had they left the camp than they spotted a Mantle patrol heading
towards them. Unfortunately, the Mantle spotted them as well. "There
they are! The Traitors!" said the leader of the Mantle patrol. "By Demagogues
orders we shall bring you down!" "Three
of you, six of us," said Stargazer. "We win." They
did, indeed win. The battle was short and hardly worth mentioning if not but for
one tragic occurrence. "The
map is gone," said Vex. "Uh
oh," said Arty. "Should we go back and get directions again?" "I
know the way," said Renebelle, who had remained silent for the most part
until this point. "All
right, if you're sure you know the way," said Stargazer. And
so they were once again on their way, with Renebelle giving them directions. They
had a few more encounters with the Mantle along the way, but for the most part
they had little trouble and soon left the jungle behind them as they were back
on the dry tops, where they found Vaylor and a group of Shining Blade standing
over more dead Mantle. Relieved to find a group that would actually fight instead
of asking them to do all the work, they approached Vaylor and offered him the
message from the scout they met a while back. "This
is terrible news," said Vaylor. "The Mantle are moving faster than I
had anticipated. We too must now hurry or we're be in real trouble." "Hurry
to where? Wouldn't it be better to fight them here?" said Arty. "No,
we cannot fight them outright, their numbers are too superior to what we have.
You must head for Aurora Glade and warn Elder Gretchen," said Vaylor. "She
is spear-heading our efforts to gain access to an old druid refuge called Henge
of Denravi. We will be safe if we can make it there, but that all depends on our
being able to find it before the Mantle swarm over us." "Well,
let's get moving then," said Buffy. After
a very brief stay at the refuge, they were once again traveling. Fortunately,
they didn't encounter any more Mantle patrols and crossed paths with very few
creatures, which were mostly insects, albeit very large insects. Making good time,
they soon ran into another Shining Blade scout, who happened to be scouting for
Elder Gretchen. "White
Mantle on the move, you say," said the scout. "Well they came through
here once already but passed so quickly I'm not sure what they hoped to accomplish.
I've been posted here to keep watch just in case more decide to come through." "All
right, let's keep moving then," said Buffy. "Elder
Gretchen is just ahead," said the scout. They
parted company and were soon at Aurora Glade, where Elder Gretchen appeared to
be waiting for them. "It
is good to see you," said Gretchen. "I was afraid you had been killed
by the Mantle." "Us?
Killed by the Mantle? Don't make me laugh," said Sanskirt. "Your
scout said something about the Mantle being through here already," said Stargazer. "Yes,
that's true," said Gretchen. "They came through here so fast that we
were barely able to react, which is very disturbing." "Disturbing
how?" said Stargazer. "Because
they headed straight for the run pedestals that unlock the gate to Denravi,"
said Gretchen." Only the inner circle of the Shining Blade new of our plan
to use that as a refuge, which can only mean one thing: there is a traitor in
the Shining Blade." "That's
not surprising," said Buffy. "Every organization has people willing
to sell out their comrades." "True,
loyalty seems to be a luxury these days," said Gretchen. "In any case,
we now need to redouble our efforts. If the Mantle reach Denravi before we do,
all will be lost for us." "Leave
that to us, we're pretty good at races," said Buffy. "Very
well, I leave our future in your hands," said Gretchen. Parting
company once again, the team moved into the old druid village and began chasing
the Mantle, hoping to beat them to Denravi. | 
