Editing Walking on Clouds

{{campaign navigational box|hc=expanded|masteroftheelements=expanded}}NOTE: Although not mentioned, the Tome of Air carries on for a few levels.

| carry          = {{Hn|Tarnum (Wizard)|noname=}}{{An|Orb of the Firmament|noname=}}{{An|Tome of Air|noname=}}<br>{{carry|2}}

| Cmap          = [[File:Cmap hota 4.png|400px|xxx]]

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{{TErow| 1 |Day 1|Barsolar found a book in the Conflux library that reveals the way to the Elemental Plane of Air.  So, we've come to this impossibly tall mountain range to find the Gateway to the Clouds.  We've also brought some items with us from the Conflux that will allow us to pass into the Air Lord's land to defeat him.<p>However, the thought of walking on the clouds still frightens me.  What if these Wizards are wrong?  What if we fall through?}}

{{TErow| 2 |Day 2|In a recent letter, King Magnus stated his concern that we might not be able to contact him after we pass into the Elemental Plane of Air, or that we might not even be able to come back.  He suggested I remain here and wait for the Elemental Lords, but I refused.  The Elemental Lords won't be expecting an attack, which is exactly why I'm doing it.  Why give them time to build the army they want?}}

{{TErow| 4 |Day 4|Barsolar left today to search for the Gateway to the Clouds.  He's decided his magical talent would best be used as a scout, plus he wants the freedom to study the Elemental Planes without interruption.  I think he left because he realized I was close to removing his head from his body.  As I saw him ride away, I smiled.  Now, if I could just rid my army of the rest of the Wizards.}}

{{TErow| 7 |Day 7|I've been receiving letters all week from the Wizards and Mages under my command thanking me for building a Mages Guild.  It's almost embarrassing the way they go on.}}

{{TErow| 9 |Day 9|It had been so long since I heard from Barsolar I was beginning to wonder if he might be dead.  No such luck.  He's not only alive and well, but he discovered another Tower.  It's old and a little run down, but many of the buildings are still intact.  He found the creatures that dwell there to be rude and stubborn.  They wouldn't join him.  Nor did they have any interest in battling the Air Lord.  They can't be all that bad if they didn't like Barsolar.}}

{{TErow| 17|Day 17|I have decided that the Ancestors are punishing me.  They placed me with these Wizards, made me one of them, to completely humiliate me.<p>Today, I made an attempt to befriend these learned men.  I stripped to the waist, stood in the nearest snow bank, and then I challenged every man in the camp to wrestle.  Not one accepted!<p>"Come on!" I shouted.  "You, you, and you - all of you can take me on at once."<p>Nothing.  They just stared at me like I was insane.  No wonder they need their spells.  They're afraid to do anything that requires a little sweat.<p>And isn't it ironic that I, the Barbarian King who slaughtered thousands of magic-users, now must master magic himself or the world will perish.  The Ancestors must be laughing at me.  I know I would be if I were in their shoes.}}

{{TErow| 20|Day 20|Although it takes many years to master a weapon, using one is relatively natural.  Anyone can pick up an axe and swing it.  It's a tool.  But I wonder who came up with the complex spells that make up magic.  No wonder most of these Wizards have such scrawny bodies.  Everything is about formulas, equations, and complicated actions - all to draw the desired result.  It takes forever to memorize a simple spell.  Whoever came up with it must've been a madman!}}

{{TErow| 25|Day 25|Today, some of my assistants summoned me to a frozen pond near a grove of trees.  The Wizards broke a hole in the ice with their staves and removed the shards of ice with their bare hands.  When the preparations were finished, everyone stood in a circle around the hole.<p>"This is called a Seeing Pool," Hemoross said.  "Any still water can be used to create it."<p>"What does it do?" I asked.<p>"With it, we can find a person even over great distances."<p>Hemoross explained that they were going to try to find Barsolar.  I wasn't sure what to expect, so when the water began to glow an eerie blue I took a step away from the hole.  Hemoross grinned, amused at my apparent fear.<p>Suddenly, the surface of the water became shiny and flat, like a mirror, and then a single figure appeared.  I bent over to look closer.  It was Barsolar, walking upon what looked like a field of white clouds - the Plane of Air perhaps.<p>"He still lives," Hemoross said.  The other Wizards applauded.}}

{{TErow| 26|Day 26|I ordered Hemoross to peer into the Seeing Pool again, but this time to do something useful.  These Wizards just don't understand strategy, or else they would've told me before that they had the power to find people.<p>"Find the Lord of Air and his Conflux, Hemorrhoid," I ordered.<p>"Uh, lord, I'm afraid you've been mispronouncing my name.  It's supposed to be Hemoross," the Mage Instructor said.  Finally, the man found his courage.<p>"Whatever!  Just find the Air Lord!"<p>Later, Hemoross reported that the Lord of Air couldn't be found, even though they were able to locate his Conflux.  The troops within were preparing for war.  He saw Sprites, Air Elementals and Storm Elementals - lots of them.<p>"It seemed easy for you to find Barsolar.  Why can't you find our enemy?" I asked.<p>"If he were dead, the spell wouldn't work, but that isn't likely in this case.  I believe the Elemental Lords are immortal, although that is not my strongest subject."<p>"So, what does it mean?"<p>"It could mean several things, lord.  I've consulted with the others, and we've decided that perhaps the Lord of Air is so powerful that he can hide himself from the Seeing Pool."<p>"So, basically what you're telling me is you don't know?"<p>Wizards hate to admit their ignorance.<p>"Yes, lord."}}

{{TErow| 33|Day 33|A few days ago I sent a scout to investigate some rumors I've been hearing from the locals.  This morning, the man returned.  I clenched my fists at his report of Sprites held in cages, enslaved by the Lord of Air.  The Air Lord holds their children hostage; forcing the adults to fight for his cause, work in his mines, and other such horrors.<p>Sprites may be magical creatures, but they are slaves and I'm familiar with that helpless feeling that your life is not your own.  Nothing is more crippling than being subject to the whims of a cruel master.  Those are the memories that drove me to become the maniac I used to be.  Perhaps I went too far, but I still like to think that my cause was just.<p>"We're going to free those Sprites," I promised.}}

{{TErow| 38|Day 38|We found the place where the Sprite children are being held.  Barsolar was the one who discovered the holding pens and sent word to me.  I immediately dispatched a large contingent to free the children and bring them to my Tower until we can deal with the Air Lord and free their parents.}}

{{TErow| 44|Day 44|Some of the Sprites have learned that their children are now safe, so they deserted from the Air Lord's army.  They desperately wanted to reunite with their children, so I wasn't able to convince them to join me.  I did, however, get a little information out of them before they flew away.<p>Unfortunately, the Lord of Air has fled the Elemental Plane of Air.  I regret that I'm not going to get the chance to face him.  When asked where he went, the Sprites simply shrugged.  They didn't know why, but they did know that he left most of his forces behind to guard his realm until he returned.}}