Editing World on Fire

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{{TErow| 1 | Night of Shooting Stars - Part I| It seemed as if that night would never end. Standing dazed on the bare hilltop above the village, I couldn't take my eyes off the streaks of fire as they cut across Eeofol's sky; they were too blistering to notice some of them go out and others light up. Then I realized they weren't going out at all, even after I lowered my eyelids. The day was about to break, yet I could still only see a mishmash of dark and light strokes. Frederick had told me never to look directly at the sun so as not to harm my eyesight, but he had never mentioned that searing light just like that could also pour down from the sky by night. I pressed my palms to my face and darted almost blindly down the slope toward the creek. I think I screamed. I was scared.}}

{{TErow| 1 | Night of Shooting Stars - Part II| The water and the coolness helped. My eyesight was coming back to me, but the fear didn't go away—it felt as though that blinding flame kept scorching me inside. While I could still see, I noticed that the stars whose tails blazed so brightly in the night sky were not burning up in midair. They were making it all the way to the ground, like huge smoldering rocks, strangely slowly, and seemingly not far from here, just beyond those hills. Then the wind brought a faint odor of smoke—not like the morning smell of stoves in houses.<p>Over the past few years, I had gotten used to asking questions, then unlearned to do it, and eventually mastered this art again. When I met a man who knew far more about the world than I could imagine, I wanted to ask and ask and ask without end—I was curious about everything. Then I suddenly realized that I was asking too much nonsense. Frederick tried not to show it, but his displeasure sometimes got the best of him and he sent me away. There was no punishment worse than coming back from a lab full of wonders to a barn filled with broken rakes and dirty burlap bags. I began to think before opening my mouth—and I guess I slowly learned to ask the right questions. One such question I wanted to ask right now: Can rocks so much like the sun fall from the sky?</p>}}

{{TErow| 2 | Frederick| To find Frederick. I had to find Frederick. Nothing could be more important now. Not because of the telescope—well, everything that could fall from the sky had already done it... It was just my heart telling me that it’d be better to be by his side now. Any knowledge he had, even the very lore that made him so feared by my fellow villagers, could be useful today.<p>For as long as I could remember, I had always been alone and lived in a barn with Grampa Haye. He was not my own grandfather—that I knew somehow, but he still fed me, gave me clothing, and let me sleep by the stove in his house in winter, but the rest of the time, I preferred to be on my own. Frederick came into my life when I was... hmm, well, I don't even know how old I am now. Doesn't matter—that was the first time I ventured into the hills behind our grove and saw a big new house, and next to it, one disturbingly tall man and two smaller ones, like halflings, but different, grey-skinned. Then I learned that these little people were called "gremlins," and that they were not really human, but Frederick refused to answer my further questions, and I never saw the gremlins again. And then, perhaps out of fear of the unknown, I froze and let myself be caught—though I could have hidden in the forest from anyone. Frederick realized that I wasn't the kind of person that chased him off to this neck of the woods, and he let me come see him sometimes. I guess he needed some live ears to listen to his crazy hypotheses—and he didn't care that I was a silly little girl who couldn't even count her fingers.

I stayed in the lab for weeks on end, for no one missed me in the village anyway. My thin hands were often just what Frederick needed. Sometimes he asked me to crawl inside a sophisticated machine to find a burst hose or check the wear on a gear. Such joy it gave me when I was able to help and the assembled mechanism began to hiss and spin—even though I hadn’t the faintest idea what was happening. He, however, always knew what was going to happen and why it should work.<p>To find Frederick. There was hardly anyone who could deal with the unusual around here.</p>}}

{{TErow| 3 | Halflings and Demons| Many who had not believed in the danger opened their eyes now, but there were also many who shrugged off the trouble, even though it was knocking at their door. The difference? The former had already seen what the celestial guests did to living beings, while the latter yet had to. It was too late for them to get wiser, though; I could see from the hills how the creatures were flooding the farms we had left behind.<p>For the first time in the decade passed since the last bad harvest, something bigger than a new turnip dish recipe had happened in the halflings’ lives... And I never imagined it’d carry this much sorrow. Frederick, where are you?</p>}}

{{TErow| 4 | Uncle Kett| The nightmare came in the light of day. It was like if you wanted to wake up, you just couldn't because you were already awake. Wide awake and incredulous. Things that felt so important just a few days ago, seemed to be just gone, shrouded by fog. In the course of these days, the imaginary danger grew into a very real horror. Several villages in the north were gone, as if they had never existed—the news was brought by the lucky survivors. The stench of fires and sulfur was now everywhere, and any stirring in the bushes caused consternation.<p>At dawn we ran into some refugees. The halflings—one I recognized as the elder of a village half a day's journey away—were looking around in a daze, unsure of what to do.<p>“Uncle Kett! How did you make it here?”, I called out to him. “Don’t tell me you ran here through the woods all night, straight from your farm… or did you?”<p>“Well, when someone starts ramming down your door, you’ll get not only out of bed, but out of your pants too! So yeah, we ran off... We need to gather people, that's what I think!”<p>“Who chased you off? Goblins, like five years ago?”<p>I already knew the answer, but somehow I hoped Kett would say something else.<p>“Devils… with some big old horns. I don’t really know what they were," the elder said sheepishly. "They killed my dog at once… he whined so horribly. Then they kicked in the door. And I jumped out the window; not time to get dressed that was. They stood in a ring around the farm. I don't even remember how I got past them. I met someone else in the forest later. But I'm afraid that's all of us, and we’ll never see the others…”</p>}}

{{TErow| 6 | Frederick and Henrietta - Part I| I'd often been berated and branded an adventure-seeker. And what are adventures? Stories of glorious heroes and dragon slayers sung in taverns by traveling bards? Sure, I liked to listen to them—but they never mentioned the fatigue, the bloody feet, the stench of dead bodies, or the screams of people eaten alive that echoed through the forest all night. The demons were on the hunt. Villages were not enough for them—those who took shelter in the forest were now in danger too. Frederick and I spent the night sitting by the fire looking in the flames, regurgitating the same slow, meaningless remarks. We were so exhausted we couldn't even bring ourselves to sleep. If this was adventure, then I can assure you I never wanted adventure.<p>By morning we were in agreement: nothing to do here for us. We must leave the Valley immediately.</p>}}

{{TErow| 6 | Frederick and Henrietta - Part II| As the sun was getting high, the numbness we had fallen into the previous night had finally passed. At least Frederick spoke as quickly and vigorously as before, and his eye was keenly aware of the smallest details in the chaos.<p>“Henrietta, I want to thank you again. Perfect timing to get me out; it seems our aliens know more about demonology than the entire Bracadian Academy. They're already summoning some pretty powerful creatures from the Elemental Plane of Fire, and I don't see them needing months of rituals, rare reagents, or the favorable position of celestial bodies to do it. If we delay any longer… I wouldn't love to see Eeofol being turned into a nice warm place like the ones where those things are coming from, through portals and gates. You know, some of them prefer to live in active volcanoes, and Eeofol is full of fire-breathing mountains that once became dormant but can be brought back to life.”</p>}}

{{TErow| 7 | Last day| All night long something rustled, whooshed and muttered around the camp. It was the little servants of the horned creatures—imps and familiars. We tried to scare them off by launching exploding projectiles into the darkness, but to no avail.... By morning, the vile creatures were already snooping around almost in plain sight, unafraid of anything. In a few more hours, this horde would overrun the last corners of our part of Eeofol. It was as clear as day: if we did not leave the Valley today, all would be lost.}}

| style="padding-left:7px; padding-right:5px;" | {{H|Marius|img=Marius (HotA)|Demoniac}}

| style="padding-left:7px; padding-right:5px;" | {{H|Nymus|img=Nymus (HotA)|Demoniac}}

| style="padding-left:7px; padding-right:5px;" | {{H|Axsis|img=Axsis (HotA)|Heretic}}

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{{SorQrow|seer=2|loc=0, 28, 0|quest=Return with:<br>{{An|Pendant of Dispassion}}</br>|prop=The head of the family, the honorable Odo Two Aulns, heard me out, but didn’t bat an eye.<p>“Your adventurousness will not do you any good, Henrietta. I think you're making it all up, but you know me,” Odo grinned, “can't say no to a young lass—I'd have some of my lads go with you, but since you say there are such horrors around, it wouldn't hurt us to protect ourselves, would it? Tell you what, get the elder of Dry Ryehill to lend us the Pendant of Dispassion, then we can stay protected and spare those men.”|comp=Ah, exactly what I needed!  Here is the reward I promised.  You still wish to trade the Pendant of Dispassion, yes?}}

{{SorQrow|seer=2|loc=5, 20, 0|quest=Return with:<br>20 {{Cn|Halfling (Factory)|name=Halflings}}</br>|rew=20 {{Cn|Halfling Grenadier}}s|prop=This is where you stashed your supply of firecrackers. Actually, you were saving them for the festivities, but now they'll be useful elsewhere. All we need are volunteers to arm them.|comp=The volunteers were a bit wary of the new weapon at first, but now they seem to like it even better than regular rocks. These definitely made their shooting way more effective!<p>Do you wish to arm all the volunteers?}}

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{{SorQrow|seer=2|loc=13, 23, 0|quest=Return with:<br>{{SmCost|w=15|gem=15}}|rew=25 {{Cn|Halfling (Factory)|name=Halflings}}|prop=This family lives in the sticks and remains impenetrably calm—Henrietta even thinks that the solitude and monotony of their lives have made them quite dim. When they hear the latest news, they don't even bat an eye. The gray-haired father laments the lack of manpower, but agrees to let some of his laborers go with you, yet only for a hefty payment.|comp=The head of the family eyes up the bag of jewels greedily, and the laborers take their slings and are ready to follow you. Do you wish to hire them?}}

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{{SorQrow|guard=1|loc=23, 8, 0|quest=Be:<br>{{Hn|Frederick|Artificer}}</br>|prop=This road comes down from the laboratory, and leads south through the forest towards Dry Ryehill. There's no point in going down this road now—must find Frederick.|prog=This road comes down from the laboratory, and leads south through the forest towards Dry Ryehill. There's no point in going down this road now—must find Frederick.|comp=Do you want to pass?}}

{{SorQrow|guard=1|loc=24, 16, 0|quest=Defeat:<br>{{Hn|Xarfax|Knight}}</br>|prop=The closed gates of the Erathian outpost can be seen ahead.|prog=Trying to storm the gates is too dangerous. Must wait for Xarfax to be defeated.|comp=After the defeat of the possessed and the flight of Xarfax himself, this outpost was deserted. Do you want to pass?}}

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{{SorQrow|gate=1|loc=21, 6, 0|quest=Be:<br>{{Hn|Frederick|Artificer}}</br>|prop=Frederick had long ago entrusted Henrietta with the key to his laboratory, but today she is surprised to find another pair of lugs on the gate, with the shackle of a ponderous lock threaded through. There is no semblance of a chink on it, and all attempts to find some secret button are futile. Probably its secret is only known to the scientist himself.|prog=All attempts to open the heavy lock are futile. The shackle is so thick, even if one were to try sawing it off, it would take hours, perhaps even days. Even if the lock were cast in solid gold as a reward for the more persistent burglars, there is no time for such foolishness now.|comp=Frederick presses his palm against the lock, and it trembles. His fingers make a shape and touch the lock again, several times. Something clicks inside; the shackle, as if turned liquid, disappears inside the case. Frederick swings the gate open and invites all to follow him.}}

{{SorQrow|gate=1|loc=24, 16, 0|quest=Be:<br>{{Hn|Frederick|Artificer}}</br>|prop=This mountain path leads to Frederick's factory. He's the only one who knows how to get there.|prog=This mountain path leads to Frederick's factory. He's the only one who knows how to get there.|comp=Do you want to pass?}}