The dragon suffers in unconsciousness for several minutes before help arrives. First is the glowing being. It has no defined form but it's touch seems to help significantly. The second you recognize only when it gets close. An Angel! A bone fide soldier of heaven! The being checks over the Dragon and casts several powerful spells, but in the end sighs in defeat.
He has been infected by the Cabal. Come with me, please. he says, his voice sounding like spoken music not unlike Yho's.
The glowing being takes up the dragon and flies off toward the Mountain.
When you get there you are allowed entry onto the most secure of peaks. The journey is a twisting path for walkers and fliers. Permanent hurricane-force walls of air, invisible to the naked eye, make progress up the mountain restricted to say the least.
You are brought to a holding room and told to wait. You do so for several hours...
Ardwellyn takes a moment to look around at his companions and see if any need healing.
Frist curls up in a corner, trying to nap, but he only ends up sharpening his claws on the stone floor repeatedly, which produces an uber-annoying chalkboard-like scraping noise again and again.
"In the name of all the gods of Celestia, please stop doing that." says Ardwellyn.
Caraid pops out of existance and reappears with his full weight on top of Frist's claws.
"Stop. Please."
Glad to be thinking of something else...anything else...Fristcore grins evilly with all his teeth showing.
"Mmmmmmmmmm. I haven't had dog yet. I wonder what it tastes like? I imagine they're quite chewy..."
He then drools a bit, the golden-yellow spittle emitting wisps of sulfurous smoke from the stone floor.
"I could go inside your stomach and you could see what its like?" Caraid offers. "You might find me a bit of a mouthful though."
Just as things are abbot to get interesting a messenger, specifically a fairy, appears at the door and becons you all.
You are led to a cave with the fallen dragon, who is still unconscious, and the angel. He nods to you as you enter, then starts asking questions.
Did any of you see and kind of suspicious mage in the vicinity of your fight or witness any member of the enemy's numbers wielding magic?
Mar makes a dramatic showing, raising his eyebrows and rolling his eyes, though truly he's quite enjoying the familial bickering. It felt nice to be part of something again.
"This isn't the place for that, you two...
Caraid shakes his large head. "I saw no magic - just a huge cyclops. I don't know why the shield was falling..."
"From the sky I had a good view of the battlefield, and I was well beyond the shell for a time; I saw no mages, I'm confident."
Distressed that he couldn't do anything productive in the healing department, Yho Yho has been anxiously wing-pacing back and forth-every once in a while stopping to hover so he can shake his head at himself, and then continuing.
Shaking his head at the pain in his head when he concentrates, Frist answers angrily.
"I saw nothing! Just eviscerated trolls and flying skeletons! Why are you not fixing my cousin?!"
The angel nods and completely ignores Frist's outburst. That's worrying. A magical malady such as this is usually produced by a caster of significant power.
He goes quiet for a moment.
Please, return to your abodes and remain ready for action. I must deliver this to the Guardian.
"I did not see any spellcaster, but it could have been cloaked in invisibility. I can, however, tell you that whatever this affliction is, it has the taint of Evil about it."
The angel nods. I detected the same. Whatever it is it's completely new, which means Cabal. I'll let you all know when I learn more.
Snorting at the angel's stoic attitude, Frist leaves and takes wing to hunt something more edible beyond dire rats.
Ard's comment stops Yho Yho's wing-pacing,
♫"Invisibility...yes, good call Ard! I will have to be more attentive in scanning the battlefield for such anomalies!"♫
"Wise words. We'll await our next call. Safe travels, friend."
"Does anyone ever leave the shield?" Caraid asks. "I could go and spy - they would not see me, or catch me."
"Unless they did, or did. Better to assume that the enemy has whatever capability you think they shouldn't have, and plan for that, then underestimate then and realize your folly too late."
The angel glances down at Caraid and raises and eyebrow. Others such as yourself have said the same, Blink Dog. He sighs. No one goes beyond the wall unless given the blessing of the Protector. Who knows, maybe you will get what you wish one day.
Gliding through the upper atmosphere near the barrier border, Frist revels in the chill wind and freedom. Listing to a aside he glances below looking for furtive motive that might indicate edible prey....or at worst...enemies still inside the dome.
Something then clicks in his head. Strangely with no pain accompanying it this time!
"Inside. Inside!"
He then performs a wing-over maneuver and flys as rapidly as he can back to the 'Hospital.'
When he arrives again, most of the others are gone. Frist arrives in a near-frenzy of excitement, crowing about something...
"The angel! Get me the Angel! Inside! He was attacked from INSIDE THE DOME!! That's why we didn't detect it! The land was poisoned INSIDE. The culprit...must have done the attack on my cousin too! It all makes sense! It might have even happened prior to the attack for all we know! All of it may have just been a distraction!"
It takes a moment for the angel to arrive again. He hears you out and the only crack in his façade is a flutter of his wings. Come with me. He says.
The rest of you get a burning summons not five minutes after you left. You are escorted past the cave and higher onto the mountain. Here you meet the angel again and Frist, who seems agitated. The stones you found in the ponds are on a stone table before you.
We have a troubling theory that Frist here has presented. Frist, if you could fill everyone in on your stroke of insight?
Frist nods and tries to concentrate, frowning the whole time he speaks. He starts slowly, but by the end is speaking rapidly and is almost out of breath!
"I was hunting...never mind...I was out and was thinking about the poisoned stones. It occurred to me that whomever planted the stones, may have poisoned my mightier cousin as well! The attack may have even been planned to distract us from the whole plot!"
Frist gets a gold star. :)
"What you say makes the most sense. The question now becomes, who would have access to the Owlbear spawning grounds and at least one Dragon's cave?"
Closing his eyes, Ardwellyn looks around at the immediate area, this time looking specifically at the sorts of people who you wouldn't pay attention to: servants, messengers, that sort of thing.
"Or who can get into places like that." Caraid offers. "I can flicker within the shield. Could someone come through it like that? Or do we have traitors inside?"
Mar shook his head and neck after returning and hearing the news. The idea of traitors bothered him to his core.
"Who would do such a thing!?"
Frist bares he dagger-like teeth and scrapes his claws on the stone beneath his feet.
"A self-proclaimed 'survivor' is my guess. A traitor who thinks we are already doomed..."
He finishes his statement with a hiss, hating the dark thought even as it comes out of his mouth.
We have no idea who this could be. In spite of the animosity between the two, too many puddle had the ability to go to both the owlbear and lizardman zones for us to even guess at who it may be. Our only option is to wait, for now. I will spread the word that our young friend here has died. That should goad the traitor into acting again sooner as opposed to later.
If any of you have any ideas on how to catch a traitor, I'm all ears. Otherwise, head back to your homes. I'm sure it won't be long before you're need again.
Frist leaves, but he effectively let's out his frustration on some scrub bushes on the way home with a fireball or two...
Yho Yho scans the area with See Invisibility to see if there is anyone eavesdropping in a clandestine fashion...
No invisible spies detected.
♫"My suggestion would be to set up a fake excursion, making it look as vulnerable as possible for who is involved. Announce privately in the normal working channels we have found and are going to work on a major weakness in the shell-a different area for each channel-so we can isolate where the outside force shows up and tie it in with the specific channel. Send in a "work crew" to each area with a viable escape route, just enough to make it look real. If possible, have an elite attack force of trusted soldiers-those who put themselves at the most risk and performed most proficiently-ready and means to instantaneously transport them to the area."♫
It takes a long time for you to get called back to the mountain. Much longer than you were expecting. You are called several times, and the anticipation is intense, until you feel where you are called. All minor beaches and skirmishes that are really below you in almost every way. There are several serious incursions during that time and the Haven loses some important resources, but you yourselves are always tied up elsewhere. The intruder's work, no doubt.
Then the calls stop. They stop for weeks. It's troublesome, but you're barred from the Mountain until called and you can't ask too many questions without getting odd looks.
Finally, almost two months later, you feel the call, and the Mountain as your destination!
When you arrive you find the young Gold still unconscious and the Angel stands by him. He gets you each by name as you arrive. Once you are gathered he casts some kind of privacy spell and says, I have finally spotted an opportunity to determine our mole. Or young friend here is stable, but the Cabal's magic is to much for his underdeveloped magical defences. We need a special potion to heal him. The good news is we know how to make it. The bad news is a key ingredient is outside the shell. A long way outside it.
I'm gong to be frank. There a good chance you won't come back from this one, so I'm not going to order you. This will be voulenteer only.
You will be the only ones actually gathering what we need. I have managed to plant false locations of the needed materials close to the shell with several channels and agents. I will know which channel is compromised by which gets the nastiest reception.
Not wanting to be last to volunteer, Frist immediately speaks up, slapping his tail on the rocks to get attention.
"I volunteer. I would be remiss if my cousin died here and I could have done something about it!"
"And you won't be alone," Mar says, in a firm voice, striking his front hooves against the ground. "I'll be there; I volunteer as well."
The Haven was all he had left, and it wasn't even a question for Mar.
"Clearly this is the will of the gods. I will go. Just give me a list of what is needed, and we should procure enough to inoculate as many people as we can."
Very well. You will be accompanied by an alchemist loyal to me and the Protector. He will be responsible for the actual collection. Here is a map to your destination. He hands a folded leather map to Ard. I have included a requisition order for 500 gold worth of equipment for each of you should you wish to obtain supplies. You leave at dawn tomorrow morning. May the gods be with you.
Your route leads you out the north east edge of the shell, up the western edge of a mountain range, over a high pass, and down into the next valley to what looks like a town.
You gather at the appointed place not long after you are dismissed. You have just enough time to gather supplies.
You are close to the Shell in a wooded valley. The Alchemist you were promised arrives last. You hear a flutter of wings, then a rush as a human-looking bird arrives, a Harpy! She looks at each of you, moving her head to do so, then boss slightly.
I am your Alchemist. Abrasax is my name. Let us go. She doesn't wait for your response. She strides off on clawed feet toward the shield.
The shield here dips deep below the normal surface. At the very bottom, you see the fabled Earth Shield rise from the ground to meet its lofty brother. It's this shield Abrasax approaches. She takes a small stone and carves an arc like a cave mouth in the shield and it dissolves!
Quickly! The door will not last for long! She hisses.
Ardwellyn moves through the hole without delay.
Frist squeezes through as fast as he can, grumbling about the narrow confines.
Mar moves next, following behind Frist a short way, still getting used to the weight of his barding as he folds his wings. "That's a dangerous tool..." he muttered. "Not something that can be replicated I hope."
She holds up a clawed finger, Just once! Quiet now! There are eyes all around!