Time passes and Takazar suddenly ceases his gentle rocking, falling silent as there is a shimmering about his seated body. The him that is normally present has gone and the him that is normally hidden now protects their body from wayward spirits. Takazar has entered the spirit world.

He looks about the closer regions of the world for the spirit of the Chaos beast, well, for any spirits.

Quietly watching Takaxar, Petronax whispers "yes, and I doubt it has the brains to think for itself but this is chaos, anything is to be expected. We do not know if this thing simply wandered here or if it was somehow sent, if it is watched over, or if it might do something bizarre as chaots frequently do. Thus the vigil."

He settles a pilum across his lap and adds "in the Sacred Time my grandfather would sing my forbears to come to the hearth but what Takazar will do is not really known to me. He ventures into the wild places without the support from his ancestors as guides, going through the viel for just a short step. I assume it's perilous."

Sarkalor looks at Takazar silently. Even though he cannot see anything, he feels the tension mounting.

Takazar feels the familiar surge as he enters the spirit plane. It takes him a moment to adjust and become familiar to his new surroundings. A short distance away his sees a spectral walktapus bathed in strange blue flames. It is not aware of Takazar's presence and does not acknowledge him in any way.

Bolstering his defences with a magical enhancement Takazar advances on the chaotic spirit intent on destroying it.

In reply to Takazar (msg # 331):

Takazar's spirit advances on the walktapus and wraps around the the other spirit, it struggles but almost immediately begins to weaken.

Round 1 - Takazar Success, Walkatapus fail. Walktapus loses MP

Over confident after his initial success, Takazar battles on, though feels he has performed poorly now.

The 2 spirits writhe and twist but neither can get the upper hand on the other.

Round 2 - Both fail, no loss.

Takazar continues his battle against the spirit.

In reply to Takazar (msg # 335):

Takazar wrestles the spirit gradually subduing it, thirty seconds later the spirit is defeated.

Sarkalor doesn't see anything and doesn't know what to think, only comforted by the fact that Takazar's body didn't falter and still seems impassible after a few excruciating minutes.

Very shortly after his fetch appeared over his body, it abruptly disappears and Takazar opens his eyes stating "It is done, the spirit will not return to invigorate the remains of that thing."

Petronax is quiet, wondering what power takes to wrench a spirit right out of the Otherworld. He says "this calls for celebration!" with a grin.

Nearby a small rock that no one had noticed getting incredibly hot rapidly cools back to ambient temperature.

Conaric throws his arms up in jubilation. "Come, we must have a celebration feast. The hunters have brought in a bison and we have beer, mead and kumiss. While it is being prepared we should go and meet the elders"

Sarkalor slowly displays a large smile, looking in awe at the shaman. "You, sir, are a thing of wonder!" he says. He looks at the chaos monster finally consume, then joins the others to celebrate.

Takazar opens his mouth to speak, then closes it again as he decides against one chosen response. Instead, after a moment of consideration he replies "With Chaos you are never knowing, but it was better to take the risk and prevent its return than not."

"I thank the ancestors that that decision was the right one."

He turns to Conaric "Meat and drink would be most welcome, thank you. And of course we should pay our respects to the elders."

Conaric leads the group to a small wooden building and pulls the animal skin over the doorway to one side to allow you entry. Inside is a large fire blazing in the centre with 7 seated elderly people surrounding it. They are all chatting and laughing amiably as you come. in. You notice there is no roof on the hut.

Conaric stands in front of the the assembled elders "I've brought these strangers to you. They have just fought and defeated a chaos monster that attacked the hearth."

One of the old men stands up and holds his arms open "Hello. I'm Borsad, elder shaman of Elkoi. Take a seat, we have a jug of raspberry brandy here somewhere if you'd like a drink after your efforts." One of the others holds up a large clay flagon as you sit.

Petronax, never one to knock back a drink, grins broadly. "Elkoi? Your people must range far good Borsad." He sits and takes sighs. "Conaric is being humble, he did not take a step back when the chaos horror burst into your camp, and neither did Qant of Esrolia".

"Indeed." concurs Sarkalor. "Have you ever seen that kind of monster roaming nearby before?" he asks, curious.

The jug of raspberry brandy is passed freely around the hut before Borsad answers.

He nods his approval to Conaric "Most of us here are from different tribes, for the most part we give up such affiliations when we come here as we serve the whole of Balazar. We're glad you all helped in the fight it has saved much death and destruction. Such creatures are rare anywhere here, they mainly stay north in the Elder Wilds, but as you well know they are friggin hard to kill. We have decided that for your efforts and also the loss of your friend will will grant a boon. We will, of course, heal all those who need to be healed but in addition we will grant you all a spell, healing magic is easiest here as that is the main type of spirit here but we can manage other things too."

(1 spell up to 2 points is allowed)

Petronax nods and says "you have my thanks Conaric. You say 'the Elder Wilds', what is this region, where is it and why is it named thus? If it is beset with chaos I'm surprised there's not pilgrimages for the Uroxi to such a benighted place."

In reply to Petronax (msg # 347):

"The Elder Wilds is a land to the north of Dykene. It is empty of humans and there are no citadel or even nomad encampments there. It is called the Elder Wilds because it is full of Elder races such as trolls and elves. There is even a rumour that somewhere in the mountains there a giant has a castle. Sadly there are many chaos things there too but I would think the trolls keep the numbers reasonably low." Borsad explains.

Takazar bows his head at the offer "It is generous offer, but I fear that I have no more capacity to learn spells, I and the spirit I maintain hold all we magic we can."

He smiles "To aid this place of healing and those who serve here against Chaos is reward enough."

Sarkalor listens carefully to the exchange, interested by the balazarian peculiarities. "Elder races, really?" he asks. "Do you have regular exchanges with them?"

The sartarit will volunteer to learn healing magic.

In reply to Sarkalor (msg # 350):

"Personally, I have no contact with them. I don't think anyone trusts the trolls. You sometimes see elves in Trilus although it is rare these days. You are more likeley to see dwarves in Dykene. They don't come from the Elder Wilds though, they live in the big mountain over there." He points vaguely south-east.