Enough Hardune survived the attack to reclaim sufficient fortresses to reopen enough rivers to prevent immediate doom, but their number were too depleted to wage a war, even with the aid of the greater dwarven empire.
Cedric Bospian. In The Last Dragon War, 1st ed.
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When Kole returned to consciousness, his leg had been healed.
“Welcome back,” Zale said.
“Thanks,” Kole said. sitting up. “How’d we do?”
“There’s nothin’ shinier than an enchanted glowin’ sphere,” Rakin said from where he sat, lounging in a chair with his feet propped up against another.
“That means we won?” Kole asked.
“Aye,” Rakin said with a sigh. “I thought ye were supposed ta be smart.”
“You were out for a while,” Doug said, “Mouse’s team won too. It’ll be us and two other teams in the final in two weeks.”
“Tell me what I missed,” Kole said.
Zale recounted her defense of the passageway. She’d held the door, activating her darkness aura and killing any kobolds that entered it. Eventually, their minds cooled from their shiny fueled frenzy enough for them to start throwing weapons into the darkness.
Doug and Rakin had made the trek back to the starting location without incident, but Kole’s explanation of the illusory trap impressed them despite its futility.
“Are ye concerned ye showed yer illusion spell?” Rakin asked.
“No,” Kole said, “I’ve learned enough magic by now that it could have very well been a wizard spell. And besides, I can’t see myself not using invisibility during the battle royale.”
They talked on their way to a celebration in the Griffin’s Roost, arriving nearly at the same time as Gray and his team. Roars of greeting met them as they entered, and they were treated to round after round of drinks.
They spent the whole day and the rest of the night celebrating with the adventurers within. The tavern had a festive atmosphere after the sealing of the rift and the end of the conscription of adventurers, and the success of the establishment’s youngest patrons was just an excuse to indulge in revelry.
At one point, a few of the musically talented patrons started playing, and the place broke out into song and dance.
They stayed far too late and drank far too much. But Zale had foreseen this eventuality. When it was time to go, she pulled out a handle to the Dahn, and opened it up right inside the tavern. Gray, Mouse, Harold and Esme all joined them, and all eight of them passed out in the common area.
Amara woke them all up the next morning, wandering into their home in a daze.
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“What’s everyone doing here?” she asked.
Despite them having been up far too late, Amara looked the worse for wear.
“Where have you been?” Zale asked, sitting up abruptly. “You look terrible!"
Zale then winced with pain and let out a groan.
“Speak fer yerself,” Rakin said, chuckling to himself.
He had just stepped out of his room at the noise of Amara’s entry, looking just fine, as he’d abstained from drinking due to the precepts of his order.
“I did it!” Amara said, remembering herself.
She had what at first glance appeared to be a two-gallon keg tucked under one arm, Gus riding atop it with a triumphant pose.
“What’s that?” Zale asked.
“The autobroom!” she said proudly, holding it up.
She ran over to the table, picked up a bowl of nuts that had been set out, and threw them on the ground,
Everyone was too enthralled by her actions to react—the hangovers didn’t help with their reactions either.
Amara opened the top of the keg, pulled out a small hose, and set the lid aside. Placing one hand on top of the device, she took the hose by the other and pointed it at the nuts. A loud hissing noise suddenly filled the room as air rushed into the hose, and back out the top of the keg-like-device.
The air sucked in the fallen nuts with it, bringing it up the hose and depositing it into the keg. The air flew out of the top and the nuts remained within.
When she was done cleaning the mess up, she deactivated the device, looking even more exhausted.
“What in the gods is happening right now?” Esme said, looking around the room.
“Amara has been trying to make a runed device to help clean up crumbs,” Zale explained.
Esme looked very unimpressed by that.
“You see—” Amara began to explain how it worked.
Mid explanation, Esme just left, while the rest of her party listened, trying to feign both interest and comprehension—neither of which were assisted by their current mental and physical states.
“I got the idea when I saw your void bubble!” Amara explained at the end. “It sucks the air into the barrel through the hose, and the runes on the top only let air leave.”
“That I understood,” Harold said enthusiastically, something of the explanation finally being simple enough for him to comprehend.
“When did you have time to do this?” Kole asked.
“After the rift closed,” Amara said, letting out a big yawn.
“That just happened this week,” he said. “You did all this in under a week?”
“Ummm, maybe? I lost track of time,” Amara said, sheepishly.
“Wait, void bubble?” Gray asked, Amara’s words catching up to him.
Zale sighed herself, and then showed them her void bubble, conjuring the black sphere in the center of the room.
“Argh!” Zale screamed suddenly, clutching her head.
As soon as the bubble appeared, the entire room began to tremble and the bubble vanished, only flashing into reality for an instant.
Everyone moved to Zale with varying levels of concern and speed, but she pushed them all away.
“I’m alright,” she said. “It just took all my Will from me in an instant. It was like I was trying to lift a mountain with my mind.”
“Maybe negating the Font of Space in an extra-dimensional space isn’t the best idea,” Kole suggested.
“That seems like a good rule,” Zale agreed, forcing a smile through the pain she was still feeling. “How about breakfast?”
“It's lunch time,” Amara said, letting out another big yawn.
“Brunch it is!” Zale said, though she seemed less than excited by the late hour.
So, the eight of them—Amara left to her bed to sleep off a week of work—headed to Molly’s for a celebratory brunch. They vowed not to let this one get out of hand.
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