Yep, you can recognize the blasts as the same type.

Also, the armed forces who are attacking, from what few you can pick up through the flames, seems to be made up of a majority of creatures that reach about one meter in height, and a few tall, likely armoured ones.

Would telescopic sight reveal any more? Just so I can get the size of the force

Yep. It tells you there are four puppet soldiers with their energy shooting staffs, about twenty or so Vazhag, and two ceners. One is the dark hooded woman with the blue-tipped spear, while the other cener is not the same one she was with last time - this one is taller, robed in red rather than brown, looks much more broader physically, and seems to be barking orders around without doing anything visible.
 

All needy due to Xmas related drinking ;)

Is there a route from here to the temple? Since this is an excellent distraction we can head straight there while the Acolytes are busy on two fronts. Once I have that I'll post

The route to the temple is the same from everywhere in the cave - you have to cross the big lake filled with serpents and small islets. Remember, the cave is donut-shaped - outher circle is rock and covered in tents, the lake is in the middle, and the temple stands at the center of the lake.

My promise broken :/

Are we on the lake side? So essentially not near the boats?

There is only one, very small boat, and it was used by Alyne and Rain Feather to reach the temple, so there's no standard means of crossing this side of the lake.

"We're in trouble" Fox said after his look "the Cener are attacking the Acolytes. There's four of those mind controlled soldiers with the laser staffs and about twenty Vahzag........ The Cener woman is there too, and now another Cener. He seems to be the leader. Either way they are slaughtering the acolytes despite number disadvantage"

Silver Raven nodded at Sabre Fox's words and then said, sounding thoughtful:

"If the Ceners and Acolytes are at each others' throats, perhaps this is the chance we needed? They might distract each other, and thus allows us to get to the Deathstaff more easily... it might well be our only chance."

Before anybody could say anything more, though, Rankhar spoke, his tone hard:

"No way. I'm not going to put my men in danger by charging into a battle between people who are flinging magic about all over the place. This is our one chance to escape, and the last thing I want is to throw it away because of some longshot plan that has no chance of working."

The tone of the Drakkar Captain was pretty harsh, while Silver Raven looked at him with a gaze halfway between surprised and offended as his reaction; it was clear he wasn't going to accept the Drakkar's decision, and the only reason he hadn't said so openly yet was that he was picking the best words to do so, as he usually did.

"Sir" fox said respectfully. "We have not yet fulfilled the terms of our agreement. We agreed to help them get the Deathstaff for our escape route. To escape now could leave is wondering in here for an eternity to be picked off. We have a force to attack the temple while they are occupied and then escape. This is an excellent opportunity to ensure the Deathstsff is not used against the Dakkar nation"

Rankhar turned toward Sabre Fox with a suddenness that spoke volumes, but after a moment, he spoke, his tone icy cold:

"And how would you suggest we go about that, Drakkar Fox?"

Pain smouldered through Frost Ferret as he held the illusion in place. He knew it was logical to assume that his fellows would not waste any time, but found himself hoping they would hurry up nonetheless.

OOC: I know, pot calling kettle black and all that. :) But just to say night shifts are mostly over, Christmas madness is done and I have restored internet at home, so I should be able to join in again at last.

Good! So, in case it wasn't clear, while Sabre Fox was occupied in his rescue attempt, you and Sun Fox remained outside and witnessed the other half of the Acolytes' campsite being attacked by what are likely Ceners - so you have Sun Fox nearby if you need support or somebody to roleplay off of, and maybe a better view of what happened than Sabre Fox can get from his position.

Ferret looked around to see if there was any need of his illusion any longer or whether the Cener attack was providing enough of a distraction to keep them safe.

Noticing Frost Ferret's look, Sun Fox took a moment from her constant effort to make the fire she was manipulating grow stronger and wilder to say him, with a grin:

"Yeah, I think things are chaotic enough by now that you can drop that, Frost."

Indeed, the Acolytes are so confused between the fire who dodges their attempt at being put out and the Ceners' attack, they wouldn't really notice the Drakkarim escaping at this point, so dropping the illusion is ok, if you want to do it.

"We go the same way the others did. By boat. I can't believe the Acolytes would only keep one as transport to the temple. Plus we know they use Kraan, we could track some down. It shouldn't be that hard with all the confusion"

So, if I've understood your plan correctly, Sabre Fox, you're gonna lead the group into rushing for the lakeshore and then looking for some way to cross, right?

Pretty much yes. Even before seeing the post about their being too much confusion I'd pretty much figured that out. The Acolytes are clearly too busy, but if we can try and avoid the sight of the Ceners then all the better

Rankhar didn't seemed very keen with Sabre Fox's suggestion, but after a moment he nodded, before silently commanding the group to live the tent.

Once outside, they noticed that the battlefield had changed - the Acolytes were being herded by massive walls of blue flames, and it seemed like a group of red-robed figures lead by one carrying a golden staff was rounding up a group of escaping Acolytes to lead them against the Ceners...

Frost, you can see both things, so if you want to rejoin with Sabre Fox, Silver Raven and the nine Drakkarim that now compose the group, you just need to post yourself doing it - with the chaos of fire on both sides and people falling dead everywhere from the Ceners' attack, nobody is paying you any attention.

Ferret relaxed and let the illusion dissipate. He moved towards the people emerging from the tent and looked around for a clear way to go. "It makes sense to move on as quickly as we can," he said.

OOC: Is there anything to stand on to see the lakeshore from here? Does the tent structure look sturdy enough to climb a corner of it? I have another option, of course, but it's not very subtle. :)

You can see the lakeshore from where you are, without need to climb anything - and the tent would not be strong enough to support your weight, no. Not that it'll matter particularly; you can't see any boat anywhere on the lake, only the moltitude of small islets and the snake swimming in the water. If a boat is to be found, it must be on the opposite side of the lake from the temple in the middle, since that's the only part of the shore you can't see, and wherever you can see, there is no boat in sight.

Telescopic sight to look for signs of  boats to crossing? Also if anyone has animal control then possibly use it to sniff out Kraan or perhaps divert the Snake away so we can swim using telescopic sight to reveal the best way to the islands so we don't swim all the way
This message was last edited by the player at 17:20, Thu 02 Jan 2014.

I think I told you that you can ALREADY see the entire shore, and that the only portion of shore you can't see is what's hidden by the ENORMOUS structure of the Temple? Telescopic Sight doesn't allows you to see through buildings, Sabre Fox - if you want to see what's on the other side of the temple, you'll need to circle around the lake a bit. :)

If you want to suggest how you're planning to reach the shore, though - dashing, moving furtively, walking with nonchalance, creating some more diversion, etc. - that's something that might be useful. Or, more importantly, wether you want to move toward the more chaotic zone were the fight is going on, or rather away from the fight to the more calm section of the camp; this is the kind of information that might well affect what's going to happen you.

And if you have any other requests I haven't thought about yet, feel free to tell me, and I'll see if I can do anything to help you with them! ^_^

"Then let's go!" Fox said making a dash to the shore

Just checking if there had been any developments is all ;)

The group moved to the shore as fast as possible, with Sun Fox soon joining them when it became apparent that her distraction with the fire wasn't required anymore - in fact, the battel between Acolytes and Ceners seemed to be well underway as an explosion of black smoke filled the air in front of the Ceners' troops, only to be frozen solid barely a moment later, allowing the Acolytes to launch a pince manouver.

Sun Fox was panting slightly from her exertion as she rejoined the group near the lakeshore, but then she grinned and asked, looking amused:

"So, what's our next move? Do we need to swim to the temple? Because those snakes don't seem like they'd like it if we try to... and I don't know if our fellow Drakkarim can swim with all that metal on them."

Rankhar bristled visibly at the woman's words, but didn't commented them, likely proving her right.