Passwall

Once again we must return to the Fringe. I have been forced to abandon my post there in recent days with the buildup of the forces of Order, and naturally my Lord and I knew of the March of Order long before Adriana arrived as a messenger from Brellach. However, his Madness likes to drag such things out… This is no longer the Fringe we know. It has been corrupted by the stain of Order, and nothing green grows here any more. Obelisks of Order sprout up thorough the landscape and the earth beneath ones feet turn to stone, dust and ash. The smoldering wrecks of the great mushroom trees dot the landscape, their massive heads blackened by fire and soot.

The Gate of Dementia had swung open without issue, the massive gates opening up onto a different world. However, to the surprise of Adriana and the obvious satisfaction of Chuana Novria no Knights of Order rushed them, and Chuana lost no time sending a group of scouts through the gate. They were all Mazken skilled in stealth, and so naturally Nerte joined their ranks.

Nerte gazed around cautiously at the surrounding landscape as they stepped out of the shadows of the gate. Order stretched away on all sides. Behind them Mazken clanked through the gate, and began to set up a hasty defensive position on the podium before the gates, the massive bust of Sheogorath looming over all. Hopefully Order was not yet strong enough to match the massive Mazken force head on, however, in the event that it was the army would fall back through the gates and either hold it in combat or if the enemy were extremely strong close and bar the gates, and hope for the best.

She and another Mazken, Kika were to investigate the plight of Passwall. If the town still held a defense against the enemy the Mazken forces would use it as a base, reinforcing it and plunging into the heart of the Fringe. She looked Kika over quickly – she was obviously trained as a scout, however, Nerte doubted that she had grasp of any more than a basic chameleon spell… Nevertheless, with a bit of caution and even a basic chameleon spell it was relatively easy to slip past a Knight of Order. Their senses seemed dull or at the very least poorly trained. Knights of Order did not seem to be truly Daedra – they could not be reborn like a Daedra and therefore their skills as warriors or as anything else for that matter were minimal. They seemed to be created by the Obelisks of Order which jutted up through the ground across the isles, and then born from a Crystal with the aid of a Priest of Order. Like Gnarls in amongst trees, however, in Ordered landscape they could be hard to spot when they weren't moving and the real trick was to spot them before they spotted you…

To Nerte's surprise Kika managed a remarkably good chameleon spell, which she, however, easily surpassed with her invisibility spell – the only downside of which was the intense concentration required to maintain it, at least when you were doing something other than just walking. A chameleon spell was what you really wanted if you were just standing still, as it could easily make you appear as if you were not there, blending you into the background. However, if you were moving the spell was always just behind where you were, creating a blur, no matter how good the spell. However, once cast it required only minimal concentration to maintain, more of a background task for the well trained mind.

The pair cast life detect spells, Nerte thinking lenoche softly to herself so they would know where the other was and pressed forward.

Surprisingly soon they reached the bottom of the valley in which Passwall was situated. No Knights of Order had rushed forwards to fight them, in fact, they hadn't even seen one.

Passwall had changed. The town which had housed those who had come to the isles seeking escape, only no responsibility and certainly not to defeat the Gatekeeper, was blackened by soot and the stain of order marred the ground within it. However, the town appeared to have been fortified, with charred looking stakes sticking out at all angles. Nerte could make out Mazken and Auriel prowling behind the makeshift wall, bows at the ready, apparently expecting some sort of attack. Nerte slipped forwards again, followed closely by Kika. The pair headed towards a break in the fence line and dropped their camouflage spells. Almost instantly a mixture of Mazken and Auriel appeared out of the gate, brandishing weapons, which were mostly returned to sheaths upon seeing who it was, a pair of Mazken. However a number of the Daedra looked around suspiciously, apparently expecting an attack, belying the relatively calm appearance of the town before them.

"Take them through!" ordered one of the Mazken loudly. The pair were hustled through the gap in the fence line and into one of the houses nearby, a small grayish structure, above the door of which hung the three dark longsword banner of the Mazken. Nerte noticed that the house across from them had the Auriel banner hanging upon it – apparently even now the two races had different leadership.

The interior of the hut was much the same as it's exterior, the same drab, grey wood, the same style of furnishings and decorations as one would expect to find. Grakendo Udico rose from her seat behind the ancient looking wooden table. "Welcome to Passwall," she said sarcastically. "I must assume you are messengers, scouts or the entire force Sheogorath dispatched to aid us. I hope it is not the latter, although in his Madness he has done it before…" She trailed off and looked at the pair expectantly.

Nerte replied, "We are scouts from a massive force of Mazken which has taken the Gates of Madness. There is a total of around 1000 Mazken all up. The force is headed by the Duke of Dementia and Chuana Novria…"

"Duke of Dementia? When did we get a Duke?" asked Udico.

"Only several days ago the Finn Cro'hagan took the throne of Dementia by the will of Sheogorath," replied Nerte.

"So, we will all go to our doom under some foolish male," said Udico glumly.

Nerte managed to bite back an angry reply to this. She needed all the support from Udico and Desha that she could muster for the coming battle. "The plan is to force our way to Passwall and maintain it as a forward base. To reach the gates the only practical path is through Passwall. To overrun the gates of Madness Order will have to take Passwall. It must not fall until we are able to get news to the army that Passwall still stands and that their attack can commence…"

"What was that?" asked Kika as a great rumbling noise reached their ears and the ground shook slightly beneath their feet.

"That," said Grakendo Udico, "was the next wave of Order readying to crash upon us…"

Nirna caught up with him followed closely by the others and looked up the path. A tight knot of about 7 or 8 warriors was up ahead; about half dressed in golden armor, the other half in dark armor. Hemming them in on all sides were a small force of dead looking warriors, crystal-like and the same colour of the crystals thrusting up out of the ground. Without order Nirna threw a fireball towards the battle, which splattered into one of the crystal warriors, knocking it to the ground. The warriors turned empty looking helmets towards the new arrivals, and a group of some twenty more appeared over a dusty stone-like hill to the right. Suddenly, in his element, the Hero became a leader to follow. Thrusting his sword up into the air, where it caught fire, with a blaze of white light, he shouted, "Arrows, now, and hold fast!"

Around half of the group carried bows, and hastily notched them while Nirna and another spellcaster fired spells into their mix. Both spells appeared to do little, knocked warriors aside. The ensuing hail of arrows brought down a front row of the crystalline armored soldiers, and they shattered on impact with the ground, pieces of crystal exploding as the life left them.

And then they were hand to hand, swords smashing into the brittle stone of the unalive warriors. They seemed to be totally unskilled, as if they had been created and then sent into combat. Perhaps they had. Regardless, despite the odds the company only lost three men, while the crystal soldiers all lay shattered across the ground.

The Hero walked up to the group of gold and black armored soldiers. The force appeared to be wholly made up of women. The tallest of the group, one of the Golden warriors stepped forwards, perhaps the leader. If the Hero expected thanks, he was sorely mistaken.

"What do you want, Mortal?" snarled the Golden Saint leader Aurig Desha, narrowing her cats eyes in suspicion.