In the dreams that followed the fight for the Heartstone, Renmur and his friends maintained patrols of the Basins, genned for supplies, and skirmished with Calenturi patrols.

 

One night, coming to rest at Davanna's side in the Gathering's Threshold, Renmur said ruefully, "Not much chance for quiet teaching these dreams.  I wish they'd get on with it!"

 

Davanna smiled sympathetically, "I think we all do, Ren.  Waiting for the other boot to drop is nerve-wracking.  But I'm sure that's what Terwin and his gang are hoping for.  They want us to get tired and slack about keeping watch."

 

"I'm waiting to see Gerrol and a few of the other up-and-coming Cals running around without their house crests," Renmur said, "Once they're freed up to join Terwin, I think we can expect his declaration any time."

 

Davanna nodded, "I agree, and we're all keeping as close tabs on them as we can manage.  Still, we're in good shape.  Your patrol caught them trying to attack that Heartstone in Lower Basin.  I think some of their younger recruits got scared off by that."

 

"Aye, being attacked by the Guardians is always unnerving," Renmur nodded, "And I'm sure taking another collapse or two didn't encourage any of them."

 

A few dreams later, one of the younger house members came running into the Threshold room, skidded to a stop and bowed awkwardly to Argenor.

 

"Milord," he whispered excitedly, "I just saw Gerrol and Halmer from HC and they weren't wearing their house crests!"

 

Argenor raised an eyebrow and whispered back, "Good work, Tegan, I suspect that's the signal we've been waiting for."

 

Argenor evoked Locate and found his fellow rulers and guardians, as well as his most senior initiates.  He sent Tegan to ask those in Threshold to meet him at the house, then evoked Concealment and tapped his alterors to evoke protective arts as quickly as possible. 

 

Slipping his left arm into the strap of his shield, Argenor ran lightly out of Threshold, across to Umbric Plains and up the path to Lost Caves where he collected Renmur, Kalamir and several friends who were hunting and genning there.

 

Back at their own home, safe in a room deep in the house and closed to all but Initiates, Argenor surveyed the gathering, "As Tegan probably told some of you, he spotted Halmer and Gerrol from HC without their house crests."

 

Renmur's head came up and he nodded decisively, "It's starting then."

 

Argenor nodded, "Aye, we can expect their declaration any day now. 

 

"Ambassadors, try to get to DOL and POR as soon as you can and alert them that we're going to want their help to make it as tough as possible for Terwin's gang to get up the Basins and into the house.  I suspect their main assault will bring Calenture out of hiding to escort them up to the house, so we'll need some help to try to keep them from getting 10 of their members up here.

 

"Everyone remember that once they formally Declare War, they'll be able to force our portals to open to them and let them into the house.  As soon as we're done here, everyone hits the vaults and collects as much as they can of our best supplies.  If there's more than we can carry, take the surplus to our allies.

 

"They're going to try to get into our Prime Room and Taint the Prime.  We, and the House Guardians, are going to make it as hard as possible for them to get there in the first place.  If they make it into the Prime Room, then we leave them there to sweat it out for the next few hours."

 

Several of the members looked shocked at this and Tegan asked, "But Sir, we just leave them occupying our Prime Room?"

 

Argenor smiled grimly, "They have to hold it and keep the Prime Tainted for 12 full hours.  Once they're in the Prime Room, they're stuck.  They have to try and keep their arts up and themselves alert for the entire duration.

 

"If they set foot outside, or waken and try to come back, the House Guardians will attack them again.  If we've cleaned out the vaults already, there's nothing else they can steal or damage.

 

"Therefore, we let them wear themselves out keeping watch.  Every so often, we send in a party to target one of their fighters.  We want to wear them down, eliminate as many as we can, so that when we go in to finish them off there are as few as possible who can be holding the Prime Key.  We have to get our hands on the Key so we can Purify the Prime. 

 

"Most of us should go get some dreamless sleep and gather again about 10 hours after they took the Prime.  By then, they're going to be tired and running out of supplies from trying to keep an all-night vigil.  We'll be fresher and ready and hit them hard. 

 

"And every other Seer we have goes in invisible and waits for the Prime Key to drop so they can grab it and cast Purify Prime.  That's all we need to do to get them out.  Once the Prime is Purified, it will throw them out of the house."

 

Tegan nodded, wide-eyed.

 

"'Every other Seer?"" asked Felissa, one of the Guardians.

 

"Of course," Argenor replied, "I have to lead one wing of the charge.  My Blast is the strongest in the guild and I have more Dreamsoul than most of you.  I'm more use as a fighter and a decoy.  Besides, they'll be looking for me.  You younger Seers have a better chance of not being spotted till you can get that evoke off."

 

Renmur grinned fiercely, "But that's not the end of it.  They can try to attack again.  So we don't let down our guard till the War Time ends."

 

"Or until they disband or call for a Treaty," added Davanna.

 

Meliane, the other ruler, said, "And if they call for a Treaty, it may just take us awhile to get through the negotiations.  Their Declaration of War allows them to force our portals, but the energy to do so comes from their own avatars.  Once they commit themselves, they must continue 'till either they win the house, or the war ends."  She paused, then continued with a grim smile, "So after their assault fails, we'll let them continue to lose energy for another day or two while we stall negotiations."

 

Renmur remarked thoughtfully, "If I were Terwin, I'd Declare, then give us a day or so to sweat, waiting for their main attack  We'll need to stay alert for raids that first day, but I'd bet on their big push coming a bit later."

 

"And keep an eye on the main hunting grounds," Davanna added, "Since they're going to be losing energy every day the war goes on, so they'll be trying to make it up, either by attacking us or by hunting."

 

Argenor nodded and looked around the group, "Anything more right now?  If not, everyone hit the vaults and let's load up on those supplies."

 

Everyone shook their heads and started for the portal.

 

Another day of tense waiting passed.  Renmur and his friends spent it in tracking down such members of the Aspirant Guild as they could find and making life unpleasant for them.  Their packs heavy with supplies, they had no space for essences and so could not hunt nightmares.

 

Finally, on the second day after their planning session, Renmur entered the house and felt a strange sensation.  He'd felt it before, and knew what it meant; the house was alerting them that war had been Declared.  Knowing that the Aspirants would now be able to force their way through the house portals, Renmur evoked his protective arts and took his blade in hand before leaving the Initiate Entrance. 

 

It was a strange and uncomfortable feeling to have to sneak through the halls of his own home, keeping a wary eye out for intruders.  But he ran quickly through the house to the vaults.  There he met Felissa, also checking for intruders.

 

"No one so far," she told him, "I suspect you're right and they're going to skirmish and raid for a day or two, try to wear us down."

 

"Aye, but they'll be wearing themselves down as well," Renmur reminded her, "I've a mind to make a little tour through some of the hunting grounds and see if there are any Aspirants around for me to hunt."

 

Felissa grinned at him, "Have fun, Ren, and be careful.  We're going to need all our fighters in good shape."

 

Later that evening, members of the Gathering noticed that House Calenture was topping the Sense Dreamer list.  Argenor sent his Ambassadors to gather their allies, and collected his own members to return to the house and prepare for the assault.

 

"I'm betting that HC will have their friends from the Union helping them," Meliane remarked.

 

Felissa nodded, "Aye, I located some UOC up at Calenture too.  And more than likely, they'll demote a few more good fighters for Terwin to add to his gang.  They need to get 10 of them in here, and a lot of those we've seen in their crests are too young to be able to survive the fight to get to the Prime."

 

Kalamir spoke up, "The Light and The Radiance are gathering forces to waylay them on the way up the Basins.  They're going to have a solid force just a couple of rooms down from the house and snipers stationed at several other points along the way.  They're all wearing Jade for us."

 

Argenor nodded, "Good!  Feli's right though.  I think we can expect Terwin to have at least double the number he needs of very strong fighters.  It's going to be a tough battle to keep them out of the Prime Room.

 

"If they make it in, we keep fighting as long as we can.  If enough Aspirants get in here, and they manage to Taint our Prime,  we pull back and let them sweat out their vigil," Argenor looked around the room and his listeners nodded their understanding.

 

"Ok, places, everyone!  Let's give them hell!"

 

Renmur, partied with Kalamir, Davanna and Felissa, ran down and out to the Main Entrance of the house.  He was among the shock troops - ready to engage as many of the enemy as possible.  The rest of his party headed for the highest balcony of the House, Kalamir to Divest, Davanna to paralyze and Felissa to blast. 

 

Renmur did a last check of his supplies, making sure fresh shields were at hand, and his chakrams and elemens were all in place.  Then he filled in time by methodically casting Dexterity, Embolden and Defense on himself and the members of his party.

 

Up on the balcony, Kalamir said, "I'm going to alternate Divests between Terwin and Gerrol."

 

"Good," Davanna approved, "I'll alternate Paralyze on the two of them, then."

 

Felissa added, "I'll target Gerrol, Ren, you stick to Terwin."

 

"Sounds good," Renmur agreed.

 

Nerad was methodically casting Sense Dreamer and reporting on the progress of the party making its way up the Basins toward the House, "Allies first on Sense in Upper Basin, invaders second in Middle Basin."

 

A few minutes later, "Terwin's made it into Upper Basin.  Upper's on top, Middle's off Sense, we're second."

 

Renmur fidgeted as he waited.  He envisioned the running battle on the Upper Basin and longed to join in, but knew his place was here as part of the last defense of the house.  He knew that the allied GKs would have all the portals bound and that they would fight every step of the way up the plane to the house, falling back and regrouping each time a room was overwhelmed.

 

A runner burst through the outermost portal and gasped out, "They're one room down!  Bindings up!"

 

The assigned Gatekeepers quickly cast their bindings on the house portals and prepared to defend them.  Everyone else gave their equipment a last, hurried check, and waited for the onslaught to reach them. 

 

Seconds later, the first of the enemy, wearing Calenture Blood-colored uniforms, burst through the portal.  They were met with a fusillade of blasts and chak fire that reduced several of them to soulspheres almost instantly.

 

"Cannon fodder," thought Renmur, holding his fire for the moment.  He had quickly seen that the first through the portal were young dreamers, too weak to have a real chance in the fight, but useful to draw fire and waste supplies before the main troops poured in behind them.  The main body, led by Ferdan and Terwin, were not far behind the youngsters.

 

Mindful of the plan, Renmur moved quickly to attack Terwin.  A green flare washed over the other's avatar, instantly followed by the violet flash and crackle of a Paralyze evoke.  Renmur got off two quick shots, but the other managed to hit a dreamsoul elemen then his Dexterity alteror and was back in the fray before he could be collapsed. 

 

Dodging and weaving to avoid enemy fire, Terwin raced for the main portal, Renmur on his heels.  As the Entrance filled with warriors in green and red, Terwin's plan was obvious.  He meant to shatter the binding and lead his people inside, leaving the defenders to contend with the Calenturi and Union fighters outside.

 

Another green flare lit Terwin's avatar, followed by the crackle of a Paralyze, but the Aspirant Ruler kept running.  Snapping off a quick shot anyway, Renmur wondered what Kalamir had removed instead of Terwin's Dexterity.

 

At that moment, Renmur's single-minded focus on Terwin betrayed him.  He was caught in the back by several shots and although Kalamir tried to heal him, three more hits from high level chakrams quickly reduced him to a soulsphere.

 

Seconds later, his avatar reforming in the House Sanctuary, Renmur called, "Terwin and at least two more of them are at the main portal, get our people to pull back to defend the Prime."

 

As he spoke, Renmur was renewing his own protections, swapping in a fresh shield and checking his chaks.  He was ready to run back to the fight when Kalamir appeared almost on top of him.

 

"Damn!  Can you art me up again, Ren?"

 

Renmur shook his head, "It's going to be close quarters from now on, Kal.  You stay here and try to heal instead."

 

Kalamir nodded, "Ok, get out there and give 'em hell, Ren.  I'll do my best for you."

 

The instant they passed the portals into the House, the invaders were attacked by the House Guardians.  Renmur emerged from the sanctuary to the surreal scene of Terwin and a group of his followers fighting with the invisible Spirits of the house. 

 

Abandoning chaks as too dangerous to defenders he could not see, Renmur grasped his Gatesmasher and leaped into the fray.  He dodged in behind Terwin and slashed at the other's unprotected back.  Terwin screamed and dodged sideways to escape both his attackers.

 

From across the room, a powerful Blast caught Renmur, and he screamed and turned to face the new attacker.  A healing glow spread over his avatar as Kalamir Restored him.  With a sense of shock, Renmur realized that he was facing Galthar, one of HC's oldest and most powerful Seers, now wearing the crest of the Aspirant Guild.

 

As he dodged behind and around struggling figures, trying to get to Galthar without being hit too often by that powerful Blast, Renmur realized that there were nearly a score of very powerful fighters in the room.  Far more, and far more powerful than they had tracked as members of the Aspirant Guild. 

 

Galthar turned as he was caught from the side by a flash of chakfire and the flare of a Blast.  Davanna and Felissa had come in from the internal portal and joined the fight.  The distraction allowed Renmur to reach the Seer.  Knowing the other had too much Dreamsoul to be collapsed quickly with a blade, Renmur switched to a level 50 Chakram and fired point blank at Galthar.

 

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Felissa's soulsphere wink out, then Galthar turned the full force of his Blast on Renmur.  Desperately, Renmur fired, depending on Kalamir to keep him coherent long enough to collapse the Seer.  With the last rags of his dreamsoul, he fired a final shot and had the satisfaction of seeing Galthar flash out of the room as a soulsphere.

 

Coalescing in the Sanctuary again, Renmur was startled and dismayed to see how many of his housemates were there, recasting their protective arts.

 

"They don't have just a few of HC's best fighters," Felissa said grimly, "They have almost all of them.  Too bad we don't have an Aspirant all set to take over HC.  They'd be a pushover right now!"

 

Meliane stopped in the middle of casting Dexterity and a slow smile spread across her face, "I wonder....  Anyone want to bet whether GreyHawk and DOL would like to start a little side war and have a go at draining the HC Prime?"

 

Renmur nodded slowly, "They could do it too.  Declare right now, hit HC fast and hard and be in position to drain just about the time Terwin's boys are getting booted out of our prime room.  With HC's best fighters stuck here, they'd have an easy time of it."

 

Meliane nodded, "I think I can be more use for now by finding Grey and suggesting it to him.  Don't you guys suffer too many more collapses for now.  We'll restore your energy through the strength of the house, but save your supplies so we can hit them in the morning."

 

Renmur nodded, but continued to cast his arts.  He emerged from the sanctuary and ran up toward the Prime Room.  In the final room before the Prime, he found a last Aspirant battling a House Spirit, and dispatched the dreamer with a few quick blows of his Gatesmasher.

 

He burst into the Prime Room and sidestepped quickly to avoid becoming an easy target.  The fighting was still heavy in here.  Aspirants still battled Spirits and Gathering Members.  Argenor was blasting furiously, Davanna was back in the fray wielding her Fateslayer, and Felissa was blasting as well.  There were still 13 Aspirants fighting and Renmur knew his goal had to be to eliminate as many as possible now.

 

A quick glance showed him that Argenor was blasting Terwin, so Renmur ran up beside the Aspirant leader and added his blade to the attack.  Between the withering blasts and the Gatesmasher, they quickly brought Terwin to near dissolution. 

 

A green glow bathed the Aspirant's avatar and Renmur glanced quickly around, trying to spot the Restorer.  He was just in time to see Felissa evoke a final blast on Canora, then succumb herself to a burst of pink chakfire.  His own moment of inattention cost him dearly, as his avatar was caught in a crossfire and quickly reduced to a soulsphere once again.

 

Back in the Sanctuary, Renmur began methodically reapplying his protections.  Before he finished, both Argenor and Davanna popped through the portal and resumed coherence.

 

"It's ok, Ren, enough for now," Argenor said.  They're down to 11 in the Prime Room.  But that's enough to Taint it.

 

"Time to make up some of our losses and plan the next move."

 

Before Renmur could reply, the portal chimed again to admit Meliane, a triumphant grin on her face.

 

"They're going to sweat now!" she crowed, "GreyHawk and the Light have Declared on Calenture.  While all the best HC fighters are over here harassing us, DOL hit them hard on their home ground."

 

There were appreciative laughs from around the sanctuary, "Great work, Meli!" exclaimed Argenor.

 

"It really didn't take a lot of work," she replied, "Once I told Grey and the others who all were up here wearing Aspirant crests, they got gleeful looks on their faces.  I barely had time to suggest it before they were into planning their assault."

 

"I think it's about time we hit the Mission Board and rewarded our fighters," Argenor said, "Everyone who took collapses for the house, report to us and we'll do what we can to replenish your energy.  Then we need to meet back here and plan how we're going to make this night hell for our little friends in the Prime Room."