8-14-20: The Board is Set

Despite my vows in divine service, I'll never be one to get used to direct revelations from the gods...yet here I was again in a dream, but this time...a shared dream? At Aldarleaf farm, the elf had a dream in which Oskar (the dwarf) and I accompanied him through a dragonchess board, and played out first a tactical exercise in front of the banners of our deities (Oghma, Moradin, and the Red Knight, naturally), then a battle with a goblinoid horde.

This elf--Hana--is a powerful mage indeed--he is skillful and shrewd in combat. And while Oskar seemed to care more for himself above all, he did render aid both to the mage and to me--interposing his shield on more than one occasion to throw off our opponents. I hope the halfling holds up in a fight as well--we'll need great strength if Iarno has indeed gone rogue.

I don't understand how these dreams...shared hallucinations?...work, but at least let me pen down the highlights:

Animating from stone, the goblins established a picket line while their shamans called balls of fire down upon us. Hana managed to counteract one such blast, and let fly a fireball of his own that thinned the ranks of the hostile host in front of us. Unfortuantely, not realizing the parameters of this engagement, he fell into a pit of acid--necessitating healing first from Oskar and later me.

I managed to maneuver some and compelled a spellcaster to approach.

At some point, the Hobgoblin martial bellowed out a command, invigorating the goblins with great prowess. Their other mage arced a bolt of lightning at Oskar and me, from which we narrowly avoided suffering its fullest effect, though singed we were.

Oskar then engaged the approaching mage and made short work of such a "glass cannon" as I've heard the term utilized!

Hana, despite continuing to take damage cast another fireball and further reduced the number of our opponents. Seeing his plight, I approached him at this point and laid a hand upon him to bind some of his wounds. 

At the same time, I summoned my spectral lance to harry the hobgoblin captain. He approached and sought to upend me with his shield--unsuccessfully--yet his fearsome blade struck true, striking me within an inch of my life.

As I held onto consciousness by a thread, I willed my lance forward and restored to myself what vigor I could. Oskar approached and assisted me in outlasting another onslaught, before taking position behind the captain...although he failed to find purchase, his blows glancing off the captain's plate armor.

Realizing the situation was dire, I released a torrent of pain with my borrowed mace Lightbringer, smashing it down upon the goblin in front of me. Calling upon the Red Knight's guidance, I struck the finishing blow, ending the conflict, and with it Hana's dream.

Seeing them in action allays some of my worries for the task ahead...

But by the gods...these men are indeed bizarre!