Journal - A Search for Answers

Gilrad and the Villagers

As we returned to the village we noticed that the leader was talking to a small group of Saloroc (orcs) near the temple. They noticed us and started pointing, but did not seem overly worried or aggressive. The leader was obviously reassuring them that we were friends and no threat. As we got closer we could see that the leader was paying them for something. Falcor decided to find somewhere else to be, not having had much luck with the orcs before, but Arad and I approached them.

The leader welcomed us, and explained that he had been arranging for food and supplies. He introduced Team Chief Grouk of Clan Red Skull. We greeted him warmly, saying that would be friends. He asked if Arad would help them as Melak had done before, to which he said he would try and live up to Melak's legacy. They said that they were born in darkness, as we were born in light, but we were all born of the same mother. Melak had helped their clan leader in the past, which is how they had become trading partners and allies. He also said that The Mother taught them that each much fend for themselves.

The Red Skull Clan were recent arrivals, and their ancestral clan lands lay to the west. They had been driven by darkness from those lands, and were accomplished sea travelers. They warned that there was a great evil in the land, as though death were amongst the living. Not many of their fellow clans had chosen to follow the light, and many were seduced by the dark.

Arad grasped Grouk's offered hand, then a colleague gave Grouk a wineskin; he sprinkled liquor over their hands, took a swig and offered it to Arad. I could smell it from a few paces away, and it must have had some strength to it. Arad took a swig anyway, coughing a little at the bitter, raw taste, but showing respect for the ritual. Arad said that he welcomed this alliance, as friends are hard to find in these dark times. Arad also offered a pot of healing ointment, which was gratefully accepted with much thanks - it was obviously of great worth to them. They then said that they had to leave if they were to arrange for the supplies to be brought to Gilrad (now we had a name for the human leader, as nobody had cared to ask). The small band turned and left quickly, but at least we had reforged the link between them and the village.

Whilst this was happening, Falcor was lending a hand to the rebuilding efforts, and asking the villagers for information whilst working. He asked about the goblin attack; they had come from the north, what seemed like dozens, and attacked in the night whilst most were sleeping. They were not used to setting guards, so there was no warning. All of those they saw attack were goblins.

The villagers were fisherman, and had met the Red Skull clan in the waters to west; they had always been cautious near the humans, but not hostile. They had approached Melak's people when their Chief was seriously ill, and they in turn brought him to Melak who was able to heal what were mortal wounds. After that they started a trade relationship, which was valuable to the villagers as they had no contact with Freeport. The people of Freeport shunned them because of their belief in the Lord Creator; people there worship Treddar. They had instead relied on the Red Skull Clan as a valuable source of supplies they could not gather themselves.

We gathered together again, sharing what we had learned. Falcor and Arad spoke of their past worlds; Arad had lost his sister to dogs like we had seen in the south. He had heard from his torturers that Maladan, where Falcor was from, had made use of the elves in partnership, despite Imperial law being clear that elves were to be outlawed, and elves were generally hated by humans. Falcor explained that the Dukedom of Maladan was more liberal than most human lands. Arad's sister made trips to the Duke when his son was born. Apparently the Emperor did not know of this heir, but Rodel (the mage or necromancer that tortured Arad) did, and wanted information about this boy.

Falcor was supposed to accompany the heir as a companion, as it was traditional for someone from lower birth to grow up and learn together with the heir, to be friends. Sadly they were separated when the castle fell. Sarn was his name. Rodel did not know where heir was, and he had said he "...was not looking for a saviour, he just needed a soul of a god."

Falcor said on that day the legion visited such death and destruction on our castle that he wasn't sure if anyone had survived. General Andivas had asked for a private audience before the killing started, which included Sarn, but what happened next he did not know.

Arad was sent with a "gift" for the boy, by Rodel: a dagger set with a black diamond soul stone, which apparently was the most precious kind. When he was plucked by Jeanette from his death, though, he was taken to another world and he did not know what happened to the dagger, which was missing.

Arad spoke with Gilrad, calling everyone to the temple for lunch. As he waited he learned from Gilrad that Melak died about a moon cycle ago, and it was he that was laid to rest in the tomb in the temple; it had been created for him as he knew the hour of his death. Apparently he was also the one in the murals on the walls, and he had always been there, having founded the village. He had often spoken of the demon that would come after him to save the village, which had now come to pass. He spoke again about the remains of Melak, and the items interred with him. Gilrad was adamant that what was Melak's in life was now Arad's to do with as he pleased.

We ate lunch as before in the temple, following the usual ritual, and waited until the humans went back to their work. Arad then stepped up to the sarcophagus and shifted it open again, although I stood well back. He reached inside and took the rings and the amulet. He held the ring set with a stone near to the hammer, and like before the stone was drawn to it, plucking itself from the ring and slotting easily into one of the spaces in the hammer. He wore the rings and the amulet, wishing to be seen as the new priest by the village. This offended Falcor, who had been taught to respect the dead and leave them to rest... apparently in their land all of the dead would be laid to rest in this way, and defiling a tomb was a crime. I was not so bothered, as to us dead bodies are just empty vessels, but I still wanted nothing to do with the items within.

I did find out from the villagers a little more about the islands we had seen to the north and west. There were three in total, making this little archipelago look a little like a paw print from above. We were on the largest island; the most southerly of the smaller islands was apparently "cursed" and they avoided it; the central island had a tower on it that was home to the "great mage that watches", and the most northerly had some ruins on it - the villagers tended to avoid this place, but were not aware of any curses.

We decided to rest for the night and think on what we would do next... at least that's what the others thought - I had other ideas!

Night Jaunt

As ever, I slept fitfully, frequently snapping awake at the slightest sound; the Dark Forest was troubling me even as I tried to sleep. It was clearly a place of deep evil and yet was working against itself. The trees had seemed to be drawing us deeper in, hiding the tracks as soon as we had followed them, clearing a path ahead through the brambles but closing up behind us. Yet, even while the forest was drawing us deeper, the creatures we encountered clearly were trying to stop us. The attack by the spiders was perhaps happenstance, we had seen little else that could feed such huge creatures, so we must have seemed like a gift from whatever unholy gods the beasts worshipped. The dogs though were something else again; they were stalking us, hunting us. Their actions were deliberate and the unholy creatures were like nothing I had ever heard tell of, even when the old men told stories to scare the little children! Perhaps the forces of evil aligned against us were not coherent, competing with themselves for the prize of delivering three fresh souls to whatever master each served? More compelling though, was my instinct that the transition from the normal lands of the island to the closed, dark, lifeless world of the forest, was nothing natural. We had followed a path to find it, and maybe the path itself was the trap? Had we been deceived from the very edge of the village, drawn from the outset into some trap that the hellish hounds had inadvertently prevented us ever reaching?

Not long after the village had fallen silent, I gave up on my futile efforts to find sleep and gathered my belongings quietly. It took all my skills, mastered while evading the human scum in Freeport, to sneak out of the Temple without alerting the others. The doors opened soundlessly but the action clearly triggered a reaction from Arad, who stirred and mumbled in his sleep. I froze in place, sinking back into the shadows beside the doors, listening intently for any reaction. Finally satisfied that Arad had fallen back into sleep, I slipped out of the Temple door and set off to the south. Resolving from the outset to avoid the same trap as last time, I set off in a south-westerly direction, making no attempt to find the trail that we had followed earlier that day.

Almost as soon as I stepped beyond the protective barrier of the village, the night-time temperature dropped several degrees. Apparently the temple’s protection extended to more than just those intent on evil deeds - the elements themselves were somehow controlled inside the barrier as well. It was not only the temperature that dropped, the hairs on my neck stood on end, the sense of foreboding was almost overwhelming. Barely a few minutes passed outside the protective bubble when an ear-splitting scream tore through the night sky. Instinctively I dropped to the ground, burrowing into whatever scrub I could find and willing the shadows to conceal me. The moon was still almost full but there was at least some light cloud cover to dull its searchlight glow. A shadow passed over me from above and I risked exposure to quickly twist my head up, scanning the night sky. Whatever it was had passed overhead and let out another piercing screech from a few hundred yards to the south. Nonetheless, I let a full ten minutes of silence pass before I dared move again.

What was I doing? Was this a fool's errand from which I would never return? The safety of the village, the friendliness of the Saloroc, the relative ease with which my new comrades had helped to defeat the Goblins - had the events of the last couple of days so dulled my sense of self-preservation that I was already taking stupid risks? No, surely I had already survived far worse than whatever airborne terror stalked the skies of this little island.

My mind set and nerves steeled, I set off cautiously, once again tracking to the south-west. Knowing how far I had to travel if I was to learn anything meaningful, I purposefully abandoned stealth in favour of speed. Still taking advantage of whatever natural cover the open forest offered, I exploited the moonlight to make good speed, always ready to dive for cover at the first hint of danger.

Half an hour passed without incident and I knew I must be getting close to the point where we had crossed over into the Dark Forest. A hard to identify sound from the forest floor ahead heightened my senses and I dropped immediately into cover. Advancing slowly, staying hidden as best I could, I crept forward to the edge of a small clearing, in the centre of which a monstrous bat, fully twice my size, was bathed in the eerie light of the moon. The creature's head snapped up almost immediately, staring directly at me! Once again, it silenced the forest with an awful screeching cry, leaping into the night sky as it did so. I fell back into cover, more grateful than ever for the overhead protection of the trees. Apparently the hellish nightmares weren't limited to the Dark Forest. Was no part of this cursed island safe? Is this the reason that Father Melak built his church here, or could his church be attracting the evil? Was this reconnaissance turning into a suicide? Should I just head back to the village and tell the others that they should get as far away from here as possible? But what of my people and the justice they deserved? After so many months, had we finally found the source of the evil that had driven the goblins to attack? Was I really going to abandon the fight now that we were finally getting close to the enemy?

Once more calming my nerves, I moved on, skirting the now-empty clearing to keep the trees between me and whatever terrors were crossing the night sky above. I'd only traveled another hundred paces or so when all light and noise disappeared as I crossed the transition into the Dark Forest, this time without the warning of seeing tracks abruptly ending. I stood frozen in place for a few seconds before survival instincts took over and I tumbled backwards, more grateful than ever to see the moonlight filtering through the canopy. Was there no moon over the Dark Forest, or was the canopy and cloud cover thicker in there than on this side of the divide? No matter, I had come here with a plan and I set to it with hardened resolve.

Reaching out my left hand cautiously to the front, I found the exact spot at which my own arm disappeared from view as it crossed the curtain between the island and the Dark Forest. Smiling grimly, I realised that it would be easy now to track the extent of the barrier. Setting off more to the West, towards the coast that I knew to be only a few miles away, I used my disappearing hand to monitor the barrier. At least half an hour passed this way, before the barrier started to angle more towards the south-west again. Alone in the dark on this island of monsters, I started to imagine what other horrors I might encounter, more goblins, man-eating spiders, wild dogs, even the shadowy wraith that had brought death without end to his people? Once more I questioned my own sanity. What was I doing out here alone while my new allies slept soundly in the safety of the village? Why hadn't I brought them with me? Why was I scouting at night when this place had seemed too dangerous to proceed during the day, with friends? No matter - I was here for my people. If I died seeking vengeance then that would be an honourable death at least, and maybe when my soul returned to Karmana I would find peace again. Regardless, I couldn't shake the image of some hidden horror snatching at his hand each time I used it to test that the strange divide between worlds was still there. Scouting around the forest floor I found a stout branch, almost as tall as myself. Using that in place of my arm, I could easily track where it disappeared behind the veil with no fear of losing a limb to the creatures beyond. In this way, I tracked the divide as it ran due south, no more than half a mile from the western shore of the island. I guessed that I had been gone four hours by the time I reached the southern tip of the island and the barrier tracked to the south-east and then east. It was now clear that whatever this phenomenon was, it was enclosing something inside a very rough circle, concealing it from the world beyond.

I knew I would have to turn back soon, but I allowed myself another mile of eastward travel to confirm my theory as best I could. It was tempting to follow the barrier all the way round, but I didn't know how long that would take or what else I might encounter. Finally, after what I guessed must be almost five hours since leaving the village, I reached a small stream flowing from beyond the divide and heading out to sea. Taking that as my cue, I realised that I had to head back to the village if I was to get back before the others were awake. Before leaving, though, I crouched low and stepped through the barrier once more.

Rather than the Dark Forest I had been expecting, I had an uninterrupted view of a two-storey stone-built house atop a smooth hill, no more than one hundred feet in height. The hill was clear of anything more than thorn bushes and long grass but it was surrounded on three sides by the same evil forest. Only the southern approach, facing out to sea, was unimpeded. I was too far away to see any real detail, but the building looked mostly intact with no visible lights, inside or out. The sky above was heavily overcast and if the moon was even still there, I certainly couldn't see it. Even without the oppressive darkness and the threat of the forest, the house radiated evil and I felt a chill to my core. If the enemy we sought was anywhere on this forsaken island, then it was here for sure. As I turned to leave, my foot caught against a sharp edge in the undergrowth. Reaching down to inspect the obstruction, I realised that it was a long-since discarded shield. Dragging it with me, I stepped back through the divide, into the relative brightness of the moonlight beyond. The straps were gone and the wood was rotten but the embossed metal in the shape of a dragon was still discernible, even in this poor light.

I had seen enough, I knew that I had to tell the others of my discoveries. Moving cautiously once more and staying close to the coast, away from the Dark Forest, I retraced my steps back to the village. Although I made it back before sunrise, the eastern horizon was already growing lighter as I went up to the temple doors.

House on the Hill

I was tired and rather clumsy by this stage, and Falcor jolted awake as I entered the temple. He instinctively reached for his sword, rising to his feet, and his armour materialised on him so that he was ready for battle - if I wasn't so tired I would have remarked on something so astonishing. As it was I could barely mutter a greeting. Arad joined us just a moment later, the temple having alerted him in some way. Falcor of course asked where I had been, as it was clear I had not just awoken. I explained what I had done, what I had found, and encouraged them to return with me to the house that I saw - after I got my head down for a bit.

I used Arad's new bed chamber to get some much needed rest without being disturbed. Meanwhile Falcor and Arad did some weapons training outside by the obelisk. As Falcor was training and remembering his meeting with the goddess Malada, a symbol appeared on the obelisk, matching a symbol on Arad's prayer book, but at a different angle. An arc with a straight line touching the centre point at a perpendicular to the radius... was this the mark of the creator god?

Falcor believed (now at least) that the Creator God was the first and that the other gods came afterwards. Karmana was the only one gifted with the ability to create life, which is why she was so closely linked to the forge of life.

After training, Arad called the village to breakfast, served to all as usual, but some kept back for me thankfully. Falcor even sat with the other humans and took breakfast ritually with them, which made a good impression. When everyone else was ready they woke me, and I quickly ate before we left for the evil house to the south.

Arad went ahead this time, with me on Falcor's shoulders following (it was faster that way and we had a fair bit of ground to cover). We tracked around the circle of death, headed to the south coast, and this time stayed away from the barrier itself, following the coastline instead. Just as we turned towards the east on the south coast, not all that far from our destination, we noticed about 200 yards to our left some goblins stepped out from invisible barrier.

I rolled back off Falcor's shoulders, tucking my legs in to spin over and land on my feet, but crouching low. I drew bow and arrow, but didn't engage without knowing we had been seen. Arad crouched as well, also with bow ready. Falcor ran towards them at full pelt, so Arad and I followed, trying to keep up. Some orcs emerged behind the goblins, and were more organised and alert - they looked in our direction and starting shouting orders at the goblins. The goblins drew swords and spread out in a line whilst walking towards us, whilst the orcs drew bows and followed casually behind.

We were as cautious as them, moving forward but using cover and not engaging. There seemed to be a red hand symbol on the orcs' clothing - not a symbol we had seen before. I say that we were cautious, but actually I was running and flipping across the relatively open ground in an attempt to catch up and reach the forest line for cover. The standoff ended when an orc loosed an arrow at Falcor, which embedded in the tree he was using for cover. Arad replied first, putting an arrow into the orc that fired, but missing with his second.

At this the orcs shouted again and the goblins charged, screaming, with swords up ready to strike. The orcs continued to move more cautiously, aiming their bows as they advanced. Falcor put an arrow in the first goblin, stopping its momentum, and it dropped dead on the forest floor. Arad tried to stay focused on the orcs, but missed wildly. I was close enough to engage now, and put an arrow into another goblin; it staggered, but managed to keep its feet as it got closer to Arad. Seeing the threat, Arad switched targets and finished it off with an arrow to the chest.

The orcs were now firing arrows at us, but most didn't penetrate the tree cover between us. Falcor loosed one at long range, finding his mark, and the first orc went down. Arad tried to line up a shot, but ended up taking an arrow in his shoulder, which badly hurt him. Falcor had his eye in, though, and put another arrow into an orc, although it exposed him and he was also hit - luckily it deflected off his armour. I focused on the closer targets, hitting the nearest goblinw, and Arad again finished it off, even as he tried to back away into better cover, arrows falling close to him.

I switched to the last goblin, striking true again... and again Arad followed up with his own arrow to kill it before it could close with him. Falcor seemed to be the target now, with arrows flying close to him, but he had still not been hit. With their goblins all slain, and two of their number down, the orcs decided to turn and run, quickly disappearing inside the barrier. Falcor shouted to leave them be, fearing as I did that they might bring reinforcements. Arad offered a short prayer to his god and healed some of his wounds, shouting "praise be to the Lord Creator" as he could freely move his shoulder again!

We quickly retrieved some arrows, and a few coins, from the nearest goblin bodies and then moved on. We headed south east to the coast and followed it around until we reached the stream I recognised as the place I had reached the night before. I found the shield that I had used as a marker, showing Falcor the dragon insignia. He found it strange and unfamiliar, whilst also reminding him of the first legion's livery. They were the only legion known to have a dragon as their symbol, and the gold-on-black shields matched the legion he knew, but the design was different in the centre. Perhaps it was an older design, although the significance (if any) was not clear.

We lined up along the barrier and stepped through together, ready in case we met resistance. The light levels dropped immediately, as before, with a stormy dark sky overhead. A hill that looked man-made was up ahead, as I remembered, about a hundred feet at its highest point. We were at the side with a gradual slope, the others being slightly steeper. It was about eight hundred feet from where we were to the top of the hill. A two-storey stone built manor house stood on the hill, perhaps five hundred feet from us. The dark forest we had seen before stopped on three sides at the base of hill, but the approach was clear in our direction all the way to the house. There were no light sources or signs of movement from inside that we could see. In fact it was ominously quiet, without any of the wildlife noises we had been used to outside the barrier. We could just about make out that there had been a track that ran from where we were up to the house, but it was barely visible now. An old path also used to spur off to the left into the forest, whilst the stream we stood next to angled to the right into the forest on the other side.

We cautiously approached until Arad and I could just about make out what was probably another two-headed dog beside the house. Arad and I took aim and loosed arrows together, although my aim was better, striking true. The beast, as expected, came bounding towards us down the slope. Falcor could now see it, and he also put an arrow in it; the strength of the blow knocked it off its feet with a yelp, but it got up and kept coming, albeit a little slower. We all had time to loose another arrow before it could close the distance, and Falcor and I struck it again. This time it didn't get back up.

Glad that we hadn't let it reach us, we were dismayed to see two more of the creatures leap out of a window of the house. They were sniffing and howling, not sure where to turn, and I let fly another arrow, again striking true. We didn't want to wait for them to charge, as it had proved too dangerous the last time. Arad missed with his shot (he was having a run of bad luck... perhaps his shoulder still troubled him?) but I landed a second hit before they turned their attention on us.

They charged forward, but had some distance to cover. I hit the first one again, staggering it, and Falcor put another arrow in it almost immediately; it dropped dead, leaving only one bounding forward, unhurt. I managed to put an arrow in it, but it wasn't enough to slow it down. I stopped taking aim, and instead jumped to the side just as it tried to knock into me, causing it to overshoot as I landed out of reach. Arad moved in, dropping his bow, and slashed its side with his sword, cutting deeply. It snarled and turned its heads to attack, but Falcor dropped his bow and charged its rear, flashing his sword out in an arc that cut so deep the beast nearly fell in two pieces.

Now we had a new problem; arrows flew at us from the house - one scratching my arm. Two humanoid archers could just be seen firing from cover in an upstairs window above the portico at the front of the house. We started sprinting forward, but I was hit again as I ran. Arad returned fire, hitting one of the archers despite the cover. Falcor reached the front door, pushing it open to see an entrance hall with a wide staircase inside. I was hit a third time, but just managed to stagger to the wall under the portico, slumping to the ground and crying out in pain. My armour had deflected a second arrow, which is lucky as it would probably have killed me!

Falcor rushed inside, and we heard him scream in terror! Arad shouted for me to stay and heal (that's what I was planning on doing!), then ran to the door to join Falcor. Falcor had been confronted by two legionnaires, but they were no longer human - what little flesh they had was hanging off them and they were more skeletal than anything else. Despite this they were moving forward to attack him, animated by some evil force as yet unseen. Falcor was so terrified by the sight that he could barely control his swords, not even landing a hit let alone doing any damage. One of them stabbed him, although he was able to turn away slightly to minimise the damage, and that seemed to snap him back to focus on the fight at hand. I was treating my wounds, pushing through arrows and snapping shafts before applying the ointment that Arad had found in the temple. It did work wonders, and I felt a lot better once I had tended to each wound.

Arad shouted at the undead legionnaires to flee in the name of the Lord Creator, but they just kept coming without any indication that they had heard him. Falcor regained his martial prowess and cut one of them down with good, clean strokes. Much recovered, I rounded the corner to help my friends, but the sight of the undead abominations caused the rage to build in me - these were a physical manifestation of the evil that had killed my people! I screamed in rage, charging forward and landing a blow on the one still standing... although my edged weapons were not the best for hacking at skeletons. Arad came around behind it and smashed it to the floor. Still enraged, I jumped up and down on the body a few times before starting to calm down.

Arad charged upstairs, finding the bowmen he was expecting, and discovering that they were also undead. He managed to reach the nearest and land hit on it before they could react. His charge put them off their shots, so both missed when they loosed arrows at him. He then smashed the first one down before swinging around and following through to smash the other to the floor as well.

Two more of the things burst through a side door to confront Falcor, and I was just about to move to aid him when one of the fallen jerked up and swung a sword at my legs, slashing across them. I shouted "they're alive!" just as Arad had one of his foes begin to move again. How could we kill these things?! The new arrivals had spears rather than swords, and Falcor caught one with his smaller sword, but got stabbed by the other. I kill (well, stop from moving?) the first one that had come back to life with my shortsword, as Arad knocked his one down (again). Falcor landed heavy blows on one of the new arrivals, knocking it to the floor. I stabbed the lifeless one, just in case, before moving to help him.

Falcor hit the last one standing, but not enough to fell it. I yelled out that I had no weapon that would kill these things (I also shouted at Arad to try his fancy new hammer). I moved to help Falcor anyway, stabbing into the last one standing and putting my weight behind it, doing just enough to bear it to the floor. Arad saw the sense in hammering at the skeletal remains, pulverising one of the fallen skeletons nearest to him.

Another of the fallen started moving again right next to me and Falcor, and we heard sounds from the other door downstairs (to our right as we came in) suggesting that more were on the way! To make matters worse, two more crashed through into the room with Arad upstairs, although he had time to prepare himself before they reached him. In response to this new threat... Falcor fucked off! He headed through the doors at the top of the stairs, and then just about remembered to shout "follow me" from the corridor beyond. That was easier said than done! I jogged onto stairs, but had to turn to cover the rear or the things would have been on me again. One had already stood up, although he hadn't reached the stairs yet.

Realising that we weren't keeping up, Falcor thankfully returned - charging into the flank of the new skeletons that were headed for Arad, stabbing and crashing into the nearest. Arad advanced to aid him, smashing the same one with his hammer, and it went straight down. Falcor followed up on the next one with his larger sword, sending that to the floor as well. Falcor shut the door and shouted for me to join them upstairs. As he turned to do so he saw that two more skeletons were coming through the doors above me, so he charged back to engage them as I backed up the stairs, unaware that they were right behind me! Falcor's clash of steel as he reached them soon warned me of the danger, though.

I quickly ran up to help Falcor, striking with my dagger but failing to have much impact on the bones - I was used to striking between bones to hurt things, but there was nothing between them to hurt! Arad swung his hammer again, feeling as if the weapon was almost guiding itself towards the target, and he shattered the rib cage of one, causing it to collapse into a pile of bones. Falcor was as effective as ever, knocking one down on his right, but now there were two behind us coming up the stairs to worry about.

I was stabbed as I turned, just before Falcor moved to slash his sword through the foe, sending him to the floor. I was badly hurt (again), and looked for a way I could escape immediate danger to treat my wounds. Arad charged around to join us, swinging his hammer again, and smashed clean through one - bits flying everywhere. A couple more started to get up, though, so I back flipped and rolled past Arad to get away from the immediate danger. I had not judged the situation well, though, as I found myself right next to another one that was just starting to rise!

Falcor was fighting hard, and shouted "can't we do anything to keep them down?!" I was too busy to reply, stabbing the one that was reanimating until it went down again. Falcor was hit badly, blood seeping from a heavy wound. I smacked the one I just put down again with my short sword, hoping it would stay down long enough for me to do something about my injuries. Arad hit out with his hammer again, smacking a skull clean off the shoulders of a foe, sending it rolling into the corner. He stepped in to help Falcor, just as Falcor landed another hit with his sword that staggered the foe enough to send its own thrust wide.

Falcor fully healed himself with a thought, which we were starting to get used to but was still incredible - almost as if reality had changed so that the wounds had never happened. I slapped some ointment on to my own wounds, which helped to stem the bleeding and made me feel a little better, but I was still sore and aching. Arad missed the one attacking Falcor, but swung around and landed a blow on one coming up the stairs behind him, sending it crashing into a heap on the stairs.

Falcor cut another one down, although a return blow slid off his armour as he did so. He saw more of the things coming into the corridor behind the ones we'd already encountered, and with a little panic in his voice screamed that there were more of them! Arad cuts another one down with his sword, and Falcor smashed at it as well, trying to keep it down. I was being engaged again, dodging one attack, and put my short sword into it, putting it down again. Would this fight ever end?

They had started to swarm Falcor and Arad now, coming from all sides at once; Falcor took a hit from one and Arad was only saved by his armour holding. Another one started to get to its feet behind Arad , making the situation even worse. Frustrated by the inability of my blades to do permanent damage, I gripped the skull of the one I had just put down and literally ripped its head off, throwing it down the stairs.

Arad pulverised the skull of another one - his hammer certainly seemed to be effective. Falcor and Arad landed further hits, desperately fending the attackers off, but no more went down. Arad shouted for me to watch the foes on the balcony that he had not been able to smash... well why did he think I was ripping their heads off!

Arad smashed another one, right from top to bottom, splintering it into pieces. He did get hit in return, but again his armour saved him from harm. Falcor also took a hit that rang loudly on his armour but thankfully didn't penetrate. He turned his attention to his attacker, felling the thing with one strong blow. Arad hit another with his sword, but didn't manage to put it down.

Falcor rushed past the heap of bodies, shouting for us all to come with him. He kept swinging, though, at he prone bodies on the way - seemingly doing some damage. One rose up behind him as he passed and Arad put yet another on the floor with his sword. I cut down another foe, although I was sure I had done so twice before! The things finally found a way past Arad's armour, and he winced in pain. Where did Falcor go?! He ran back in, perhaps realising we were in no position to follow him! He attacked two from the rear as Arad and I engaged them to the fore, knocking one down.

Falcor and I double-teamed the last one standing, bringing him down, but yet another one started to rise in its place. Arad smashed two on the floor to bits, aiming to stop them permanently. Falcor came to my aid, putting his weight behind a broad swing that knocked the foe down again. Arad called for us to take care of any that were not yet smashed. I shouted back that ripping their heads off worked, and to prove the point I ripped the skull off the one that had just fallen. Falcor went into one of the side rooms, asking us to finish off those that we could. He found an old bedroom in disrepair, although it clearly used to be finely appointed. There were no other exits on that side.

Arad smashed another body as Falcor returned to our room, to find himself confronted with another rising skeleton as he tried to cross. He knocked that down before it could even fully rise, then slashed at more remains on the floor as he continued around the top of the stairs. Arad smashed the remains of another... we finally felt like we were starting to clean up now, although we were exhausted from fighting for so long. I ripped the head off the last one that seemed to remain intact as Arad came over to check on my side of the room; he realised that I had it in hand, and instead we went to join Falcor as he explored some more.

Falcor was investigating the room on the other side of stairs. It had been some kind of dressing room, but all was now decrepit and rotten, although there was an arch to another room in the south. Before we could join him, four more undead legionnaires rushed into the main room from the north, two heading towards Falcor's back, and the other two on us. Falcor turned at our cry of warning, and bundled them both straight through the bannister onto the stairs below. Falcor just manage to catch himself and stayed on his feet above them.

Arad was stabbed twice by the new assailants and collapsed to the floor! I rushed to help, knocking down one of his assailants with two good blows. Falcor came around, outpacing the two he knocked down the stairs, and used his mind to fully heal Arad. Phew, that probably saved us all! I stepped up next to Arad, knocking another one to the floor in his defence as he rose to join the fight again. He moved forward to engage another attacker, shoulder-to-shoulder with Falcor.

Arad landed a good hit with his hammer, caving in the chest of the foe, which collapsed to add to the bones strewn everywhere. Falcor also landed a good hit, cutting through the arm of one into its chest, causing it to collapse. A stab to his torso in return luckily deflected off his armour. Falcor moved to the doors at the top of the stairs again, stamping on bones as he made his way there, but doesn't see any more enemies. Arad pulverised the skull of one on the ground with his hammer. Another one started to stir near me, but Arad came over and smashed it to bits before it could rise.

Falcor said "let's get out of this room!" Yeah... when we're safe from skeletons rising from the dead again and again, maybe! He was looking down the corridors further into the house, checking for more threats. I pulled the head off a skeleton next to me, throwing it away. Arad increased the size of his hammer, impressively, but then wildly missed a prone skeleton that wasn't even moving and smashed a hole in the floor. I guess he was still getting used to it. I jogged to the doors to see what Falcor was doing, not seeing any more immediate threats.

Falcor came from my right towards the left corner of the corrider, saying "I heard a sound, come with me." I joined him at the corner to listen. Arad finally managed to hit the last skeleton, smashing it into dust and ending what seemed to be an endless fight at one point. On the way to join us, Arad apparently saw the "girl from the tree" come through a door in the world, saying "oh, it's a bad time, I'll come back" and disappearing again (although he wisely didn't mention this to us at the time). He joined us at the corner of the corridor, looking down another corridor leading towards the back of the house with doors on each side.

Falcor noticed my wounds and healed me in the same way as Arad - in an instant it was as if I had never been wounded - so wondrous! I moved forward and listened carefully at the wall on our left, where the sounds seemed to be coming from. I thought that I could make out more than one creature... light footed, but large, and most of the noise was coming from their bodies hitting the walls as they moved around. We carefully moved forward, seeing an open room to our right that was long decrepit with a couple of tables, there was a way through to the corridor on the far side. I moved towards the door ahead on the left. The door rattled as something thumped against it from the inside heavily. Thankfully the door seemed to be relatively sturdy and held.

Falcor moved into the room on the right, disturbing dust as he moved... and then noticed that the dust moved slightly towards the wall on his left, which was odd. Looking closer he could make out a concealed door behind the table. I tumbled forwards to the next door along the corridor, which was opposite another opening to the right. That room was as decrepit as the last one, although the dust had been significantly disturbed - it seemed that the skeletons had come from here to confront us.

Falcor pressed the concealed door, which clicked and popped out towards him, and he could feel the slight air movement into the edges of the door. He said quietly, thinking we were still close, "this way guys!" We had moved on, though, with Arad joining me further along the corridor. I moved over to the door on our left, listening carefully but only hearing the wind, likely from a broken window. I opened the door just as Falcor popped his head round and said "Oi! This way!" We started moving back towards him, but Arad provoked another heavy bump on the door as he passed... the door might be sturdy but it looked as though the hinges might come out of the wall! I tumbled past door, which was looking very unsafe now, and resolved not to come this way again!

Falcor explained that he had found a secret door, which he opened carefully with his weapon. He found the preserved mummified remains of a human inside, wearing rough looking clothing, but newer than the remains of the house. His woolen cloak, covered leather armour, and a backpack. There were also a couple of sacks in the small room with him. Perhaps an intruder of some kind, force to hide from the things we fought once he discovered that they could not be easily killed?

Written on the west wall, seemingly in his own blood, although long since dried, was the following:

Together forever, one soul that we share​

Split into two by the fire that bears all​

Mine are the Skies, the Land and the Sea​

And Mine is it all but I gift it to thee​

​So empty, so powerless... Where are you gone?​

So cold, so lonely.... Where are you gone?​

I still know your love from the skies up above,​

Your voice is the one that fills all of my soul.​

You speak to me from the skies up above,​

Your voice is the one that I hear over all.​

​So empty, so powerless... Where are you gone?​

So cold, so lonely.... Where are you gone?​

I still know your love from the skies up above,​

Your light burning bright fills all of my soul​

You burn the skies in joy at our love,​

Yours is the light that I see over all.​

​So empty, so powerless... Where are you gone?​

So cold, so lonely.... Where are you gone?​

​I still know your love from the skies up above,​

The touch of your fire fills of my soul​

You tend to my children with care and with joy​

Yours is the touch that I crave over all.​

​So empty, so powerless... Where are you gone?​

So cold, so lonely.... Where are you gone?​

​Apart through the ages, one soul split in two​

Born in the fire, a third can make one​

Joined across time by bonds forged in stars​

Together forever, one soul that we share.​

I got closer to see what they are looking at, as Arad started to copy down the text. It was quite dark in the recess, but there was just enough light to make it out. Falcor grabbed the sacks, hesitating for a second, but then pulled them out into the room to look inside. Falcor said that there was something odd about body, and warned to be careful. He approached and examined the body carefully. They had been male, human, an adult; the dark cloak would have covered him but was aging badly. He wore soft leather boots and leather armour and trousers. He had been armed with a dagger and short sword, both still in scabbards. He also had a backpack and pouches still on his body.

Falcor used his weapon to cautiously look under the cloak. The dagger was in particularly good order; a dragon curled around the pommel and another was etched along the length of the blade. Gold binding made it look even finer, and it was clearly in better condition than the short sword and completely free of rust. Falcor took it, refusing to consider that it might be of more use to me considering its size. Hmm... I will remember that... Arad did find some better tools for locks and traps than the ones I had cobbled together, though, so that was something. Clearly this person had meant to loot the place, or perhaps look for information like we were... interesting. There was also a hooded lantern and two flasks of oil that I took, with flint and steel to replace the ones I had given to Falcor. We shared a little money that we found, but the rest seemed beyond salvage.

I warned Falcor about the door and advised him to avoid it, so we headed into the other corridor. We passed a storage room, with several cupboards and drawers, but very run down. There was no sound from last room on the right, and I listened carefully at the door. Arad moved into the central room to see if there was a similar secret door to the last room, and quickly found that there was. He opened it to find a few sacks and a small chest. Meanwhile I opened the door on the right of the corridor, finding another bedroom inside, which looked recently occupied due to the patterns of dust disturbance. There was a quiver of arrows and a short bow inside, next to the window.

Arad popped open the chest, and set off some kind of trap as the room rapidly filled with a noxious gas! Thankfully Arad was not badly affected, although he coughed and choked a little. He found a significant number of coins inside. Falcor, hearing Arad's coughing, came to the doorway and asked if he was alright. As he seemed to be fine, Falcor went into the recess to retrieve the sacks, finding silver and copper coins.

We divided the arrows and coin and then met back in the corridor to start back towards the front of the house, looking up in case of any roof spaces. Arad checked out another bedroom in southeast corner near the stairs as Falcor looked at the (formerly) well appointed southwest room. I was still catching up! Falcor found an iron chest, but could not force it open. Arad clearly had a sniff that there might be treasure, sprinting out of the room he was in, heading for where Falcor was! At least he offered to give me a lift, so we both arrived together.

I approached the chest, wary of traps, as Arad quickly stepped back. I didn't find any obvious traps, so set about trying to spring the lock with my new tools. As I was working, Arad spotted two goblins emerging from a bush and moving to the west, with the bush about one hundred yards to the south of the corner we were in. Eventually the lock on the chest clicked satisfyingly and it was ready to open. The others were now covering the outside with bows in case any goblins came closer. Unfortunately I must have missed something, as there was an intense flash of light and heat from the chest, which burned me badly even though I had tried to keep to the side, and caught Falcor slightly, blinding us both. Arad jumped over the bed to help, uttering a prayer to the Lord Creator to heal my wounds, and thankfully restoring my sight as well. He did the same to Falcor, who was calling out in surprise and alarm, still unable to see.

With the immediate aftermath dealt with thanks to the Creator, I had a look inside the chest. I found a small ornate inlaid gold wooden box, a large leather pouch, and a metal scroll case. I handed the scroll case to Falcor, who cried "ouch!" and threw it at Arad! Arad, rather more calmly, opened the case and looked through the three scrolls inside. Apparently they meant nothing to him, so he handed them back, individually, to Falcor. This time he took a closer look, and apparently they were arcane scrolls enabling a door to be locked, acid to be created, or to possibly turn us all invisible (which sounded really rather useful to me).

Arad had a closer look in the other corner of the room, and found a concealed door. He asked me to check it before any of us tried to open it, moving hurriedly away. So little faith! How many explosions can you set off in one room, anyway?! He moved to the window again, and saw more goblins to the south. This time, though, they had crossbows trained on the house. I guess that they saw the "fireworks" and wondered what was going on in here! Arad shouted a warning to Falcor, who moved to a window to see.

Having determined that the door was safe, I opened it... but it turned out that it was just the garderobe! There was nothing of interest there, so I made my way back to the others. Arad was drawing his bow as if about to fire, which alarmed me! I asked him not to shoot - we didn't want to bring a swarm of goblins down on us! I was hoping the fear of the things that were usually here would keep them away. I also suspected that there was a goblin tunnel exit in the bushes outside... would that link to the basement of the house, if it had one? Falcor shushed us as we debated whether to engage or not, and told us to come downstairs.

Downstairs

We went back to the entrance hall, and Falcor tried the door on the left of the stairs. Inside was a billiard table, so it was obviously once a games room, although it was poorly lit because the windows had been boarded up. It was dusty, but things had moved through the room, as we knew. There were no other doors visible. Then he noticed that there was another concealed door, right between the games room door and the stairs.

I went forward to check and open it as Falcor stood behind with sword ready. Meanwhile Arad was on the other side of the stairs, checking there to see if he could find anything. The door opened easily enough... but then two more undead legionnaires leapt at me, clawing! I may have screamed a little. Luckily I think they were expected someone taller, and I was able to dodge their attacks.

Falcor was ready, and stabbed one with the reach of his sword over my head, but despite being a solid connection it did no obvious damage to the creature! Falcor shouted a warning to Arad, who in turn shouted that we should fall back as he came around to join us. I wildly swung at the things before turning to run, but did not connect. I rolled and tumbled away as Falcor backed off, and Arad charged forward with his large hammer swinging. He hits one solidly in its lower body, doing clear damage, but it kept coming and clawing at him in return, thankfully just raking his armour.

I threw a dagger, which also connected but did no visible damage. It looked like this fight might be up to Arad to win! He swung again, and this time the first thing collapsed in silence, unmoving. The other one jumped forward, though, and got its claws into Arad - his strength seemed to ebb at the touch of the foul creature. Arad edged back towards the games room that we had now taken refuge in, trying to swing with his hammer as he did so, but not finding his mark. He grew in size suddenly, towering over the creature, but still trying to retreat without letting his guard down.

It was nerve-wracking watching him fight for his life, especially as he was fighting for ours as well! I was behind the door (ready to close it if Arad needed to disengage, of course), and Falcor was ready to (I think) physically shove the creature back to allow that to happen. Thankfully Arad managed to land two blows eventually; the first only caught the creature with a glancing blow, but the second just about knocked it down so that Arad could finish it. Neither of the corpses moved, thank Karmana, and we breathed a sigh of relief.

I peeked out from behind the door, just checking that there weren't any more on the way before relaxing slightly. All seemed clear, so I asked after Arad's health, knowing that he was not unscathed. He wasn't feeling great, but for some reason didn't feel the need to try the special potion I had "acquired" in Freeport. He went to retrieve his sword, which he had dropped earlier to use the hammer.

Falcor peered into the dark recess where the things had come from. Another doorway was just visible in the far corner of the narrow, plain room. Seeing that it was safe, I retrieved my dagger from the first creature. It seemed that only weapons of power could do any damage to these things. They were more skeletal than the others we had encountered, and carried less equipment.

Falcor started to light a faggot so that he could see, but also to provide me with light as I examined the door. It was very robust, with more iron work than doors elsewhere. Also, it was locked and barred... from our side. What could these things have been trying to keep in? Or were they trying to keep something in when they were human, but failed? Either way didn't bode well.

Again, we found a circle of blood drawn on the door, a mark of some kind - although whether marking a boundary or as a warning wasn't clear. This time the circle enclosed a six-pointed star, like on Falcor's armour or Arad's hammer. The mark was old, although almost certainly in blood. We took a moment for Arad to use some ointment on his wounds before pressing on.

Falcor unbarred the door, telling us that we should go this way despite the ominous portents. I put a little oil in the old lock, and then picked it with ease... which just worried me even more! Arad urged me to open it, and I quickly pulled the door back, keeping behind it as it swung open. A small set of strait, rough stairs were revealed, leading down. They were possibly older, and certainly crude compared with the ornate house above. They were still human sized, about seven feet tall and five wide.

I went first, checking the stairs for traps as we cautiously advanced, but finding none. There was a room at the end, nearly twenty feet square but slightly narrower across. We didn't get close enough to see more at this point, as two more of the skeletal legionnaires came screaming up at us, sprinting up the stairs towards us. I desperately dodged their first swings, trying to get out of the way so that Arad could engage them.

Falcor threw the faggot into the centre of room, with impressive accuracy considering how low and narrow the stairs were, backlighting the creatures (and somehow making them even more terrifying). Arad chanted a prayer to the Lord Creator, asking for the power to banish them from Karmana... but whilst it seemed the Creator was good at healing he wasn't so good at banishing undead monstrosities. I'm sure Arad would blame his own weakness, though.

I had dropped low after the initial charge, but sprang to my feet to defend myself. I needed have bothered, though, as Arad pushed past me to engage them. Rather him than me, as he got raked by their claws as he closed with them. Falcor moved me back behind him, which was absolutely fine from my point of view. Arad was at the front swinging his hammer now, and landing a good blow on one creature's chest, sending it reeling backwards into the room.

I decided that I would do the important job of covering the rear, just in case we get surprised. A job I think went well, as we were not attacked. Falcor charged forward, barrelling into one with his full body weight, forcing it to the ground with him on top. Arad engaged the other one, and this time its claws scratched ineffectually at his armour, although it did put him off his swing. Falcor stabbed the one he had wrestled down with the new dagger in its eye socket and it stopped moving.

Arad evaded his attacker well, but still could not land a hit. Falcor moved behind it, but couldn't get the dagger to strike true; he hit with his sword, but it made no physical contact and left no mark. Falcor grabbed at its head instead, ripping it clean off with brute force, leaving the body to collapse to the floor. Arad smashed the one with its head still attached, despite it not moving any more, just to be sure.

Looking around we could now see that they had been in a room made from simple stone - floor, walls, and ceiling. It had clearly been built, but in a much different style to the house. The ceiling was arched, about a dozen feet at the centre and half that at the walls. It was empty save for the bodies, dust, and detritus. A door was in the far left corner and, although older and cruder than the one at the top of the stairs, it was another solid wooden door with a heavy iron lock and bar. Arad then noticed a well concealed door that stood opposite the obvious one, which blended in well with the stones.

Falcor picked up his faggot again, and follows Arad's direction to highlight the join with the light it afforded. Arad took a moment to heal his wounds with more ointment as I inspected the door. There were no traps that I could find, but I struggled to locate the opening mechanism. Arad came to assist, and it turned out that you had to press on a rock that was a little higher than I had been looking. I pressed and it moved fairly easily, a sigh of air sounding as the door moved and the pressure equalised.

There was a small room behind the door, plain again, with three chests the only notable feature. I started checking the chests for any traps, and Arad followed behind, opening them after I had finished with each. Falcor warned that he could sense something in the centre one. Arad exclaimed as he discovered the first one contained hundreds of gold coins; none of us had seen that much money before! Falcor opened the second one and found a small velvet pouch, a wooden box inlaid with a picture of tree in mother of pearl, something wrapped loosely in silk, and an ivory scroll case.

I opened the last one once I had checked it, finding it to be full of silver. Our attention was first of all on the gold, and how we could carry it. Falcor reckoned that he was strong enough to carry it in sacks in his pack, although I swapped out any silver I had for gold coins, you know, just in case we got separated... that much gold can do strange things to people!

The pouch contained six diamonds, which we shared, and there was an amulet in the box. The amulet was a simple circle of gold with a gold chain, the circle was inlaid with white metal showing a tree and roots almost circular in it's design (the tree of life?) and Arad swapped his grave-robbed amulet for this one. In the silk wrapping was a hand mirror, ornately finished and embossed with organic designs, also in silver. The scrolls were of a type that Falcor could understand, although he still seemed uncomfortable doing so, with the titles "shield" and "fireball".

Finished with the loot, we moved to the other door and Falcor lifted the bar. I didn't find any traps, so I unlocked the door - again a bit worringly easy. Falcor swung it open to reveal a dark tunnel beyond, this time of old, packed earth about five feet wide and seven or so high - it was some kind of old excavation. There was evidence of timbers encrusted into the walls, and the tunnel sloped gently downwards. Arad was worried about being locked out of the house, so Arad ran back and collected the bars from beside the doors, throwing them into the new tunnel.

Hall of Death

We started moving down the tunnel, with me checking for traps and Falcor behind me holding faggot up for light. The tunnel turned sharply left, and a little way down we could see that there was an opening on the right, like a hole broken through the wall. As we got closer we could see that there was another circle... this time with fresh blood and no star, marked on the floor in front of the hole.

I peered around the corner into the hole - it was a steep downward slope that then levelling off, and reminded us immediately of the goblin hole entrance we had seen in the north. I could hear some muffled sounds, and was pretty sure that there were goblins in there somewhere. Arad darted past, without any change the the sounds, and Falcor followed, moving ahead of him. As he did so, though, the floor collapsed under him! He disappeared down out of sight with a crash.

Arad peered down and then lowered himself into hole, quickly trying to treat Falcor's injuries from the fall, with some success to be fair. I leapt down to join them, landing lightly. I had lit the hooded lantern as we entered, and now we were below floor level I uncovered it to examine the hole in more detail. It was about twenty five feet long, with straight sides. The tunnel seemed to continue beyond this, so I started making my way to the far side.

Falcor dusted himself off and cursed the stupid hole, but followed on behind. When I reached the end I got onto Arad's shoulders and he stood so that I could just reach the top and jump slightly to pull up and roll into the tunnel. Arad then boosted Falcor, who pulled himself up, then turned and helped Arad in turn. Falcor extinguished the faggot, and I passed the lantern to him for better light as we went on.

The passage ended shortly afterwards, opening into a large chamber that disappeared into gloom at the far end. The hall was lined with sarcophagi on both sides and dug out of ancient, solidly packed earth. The ceiling was higher, about twenty feet up, with a curve to the side walls. It was not ornate, but crudely built. A couple of the lids of the sarcophagi were askew, and another fully open, although none of them were decorated in any way. There were some unnatural patches where there was a lack of heat further into room, which was ominous.

We moved cautiously into the room, drawing weapons. The light showed that the next two sarcophagi were also open, but the patches of cold ahead had not moved yet. Inching forward, the light revealed a skeletal warrior standing in front of a final sarcophagus, this one in the centre of the hall. The warrior did not react or move in any way. We stopped at once, knowing that at some point it would turn on us, and trying to draw up a plan, although we went a little further to reveal four more skeletal warriors, slightly different in appearance to the first, so we were facing five.

We came together in the centre, protecting Arad as he called on the Creator to banish these foul creatures. Falcor rolled the lantern a little way forward to ensure that we had light and to keep his hands free. Arad called out his prayer chant loudly, holding his new tree amulet before him... but it still did nothing.

Falcor had a new idea - magic acid! Well it was different... We collected our waterskins, bar one, in a pile and Falcor read from one of his scrolls. He was really nervous and shaking, but thankfully it seemed to work as the scroll disintegrated in his hands. He winced and stepped back, but we were too busy trying to get rid of the dangerous skins to really notice.

As we ran forward to throw they came rapidly to "life" and charged forward at us, forcing us to throw the first skin practically in their face. I missed, but Arad hit and the acid coated the skeleton, burning away bits of armour. I got scratched as the thing leapt at me, although I turned away from the worst of the blow, and I managed to lob my last skin over and into one of the creatures at the rear. Acid splashed over it, again burning at whatever bits were left from its previous life.

I was scratched lightly again, unable to land a blow in return. Arad put his hammer into one with a good swing, and the foe disappeared completely! Falcor charged into one on right, pushing it back but not quite bearing it down to the floor. He followed up with a stab, doing heavy damage with the dagger. I stab the one that stood at the front when they were guarding, but again found that my weapons would not do any damage. Falcor kept pushing his foe back, this time successfully bearing it to the ground.

As we fought we noticed an ominous black mist starting to rise from the sarcophagus at the end of the hall. Falcor finished off the one underneath him with the dagger, then got back to his feet. I was struck with a short sword, but luckily my armour turned it aside. Arad landed another good hit, doing significant damage but not putting the thing down. Falcor grabbed another one, forcing it towards a sarcophagus. I leapt towards him, trying to get away from the attacker I couldn't hurt, but got cut nastily along my side as I jumped away.

A wraith started to form out of the black mist - it was the source of the evil, as we had seen in visions and in the dark past we had all escaped from!

Arad smashed one down, at least helping with the odds. Falcor tried to move back, shouting "let's go!" He kept stabbing the one he had grappled, though, until it stopped struggling. Arad engaged the one that had cut me so badly. The bleeding was bad, and I lay in the coffin wondering whether it would be an ironic resting place as I bled out. Then I remembered the potion I had! Not knowing what it would do, I was a little nervous, but what could be worse than this? I downed it quickly, and almost immediately felt much better. My wound knitted before my eyes and before I knew it I was feeling like I'd not even been in a fight! I told them it was a good potion...

Arad was not faring so well, though, and got stabbed badly. He did strike back, doing some damage, but not enough to fell the last skeleton. We did not have much time now! Although we would only reflect on it later, we did notice that the wraith forming wore a crown, and that it had a single point at the front. Whether that was important or not remained to be seen.

Falcor moved to engage the last skeleton, flanking to avoid Arad's swinging hammer. I tumbled behind it so that we surrounded the thing completely. I knew that none of my weapons would hurt it, so I tried to grab at its arm and disrupt its attacks, but it frustratingly kept moving its arm just out of my reach every time I thought I was about to get hold. Falcor scraped it with the dagger, but didn't get a solid connection, whilst Arad tried something new - as he could will his hammer smaller and bigger with a thought, he shrank it down to move more easily, then began the swing and caused it to grow to full size just before hitting the foe. Well, that was the theory... it was clear he needed a bit more practice as he missed wildly with his first attempt. Falcor connected with his sword, using the flat of the blade in an attempt to club the thing's head off, but the force of the blow was not sufficient and it kept moving.

The skeleton was still trying to claw at Arad, but his armour was protecting him for now. I felt an ominous darkness starting to envelop me... the wraith was here! I shrank and rolled away to one side, a deep chill throbbing in my arm where it's incorporeal fingers just missed touched me. Thankfully it was only fleeting and I managed to get clear. Arad tried his "little hammer, big hammer" trick again, but I think he overcompensated for the last time and missed so badly that he almost lost his grip entirely! Falcor had got a good position, though, and thrust the dagger inside the thing, causing it to collapse into a pile of bones with bits of armour clanging to the floor around it.

Falcor turned on the wraith, shouting "for Maladan!" and thrusting his sword into its form... but there was nothing for it to connect with and he met no resistance. I darted to the sarcophagus behind it, hoping to find another weapon that might hurt it, and heaved the top over to one side. The top crashed to the floor on the other side, and I could see a body laid out for burial inside, with shield and a short sword laid carefully atop the body. The shield had a star inlaid in silver, surrounded by a gold circle. My interest right then was on the sword, though, which had a triangle with a line through it etched onto the blade near the hilt, pointed down the blade.

I grabbed the sword, turning towards the wraith as I did so. As I did, though, time almost seemed to slow and the blade sent a warmth through my arm and body, it felt instantly comfortable and perfectly balanced. It was more than just a fine weapon, though, it felt... connected in some way, to me personally. I could not imagine ever fighting with anything else again. Falcor swiped ineffectually at the wraith with his dagger, instead focusing on trying to pass some ointment to Arad, who he could see was badly wounded. Arad was not responding though, as he had started a chant that was growing in strength, calling on the Creator in some way and focused entirely on the wraith before him.

As Arad's words came to a crescendo his hand started to glow brighter and brighter until it was painful to look at, then a ray of light shot out, enveloping the wraith in a ball of light that exploded (although there was no sound or pressure) with tiny shards of darkness splitting up into nothing until the light faded with a sharp crack of thunder and we were left in darkness. After a moment I realised that it wasn't actually dark - the lantern was still casting a light, it was just taking time for our eyes to adjust after the intense light Arad had channeled.

After a moment of stillness the ground began to shake and dust fell from the ceiling. We were all slightly stunned, but I eventually found my voice and called to the others to come and look inside the sarcophagus with me. Arad called "what have you found?" whilst swinging his hammer at the fallen skeleton. As it struck the floor a crack appeared and the shaking intensified. Cracks started to appear in the ceiling as well. We needed to get out of there!

I looked in the sarcophagus again. It looked like there was once a crown on the body's head, like the one we saw on the wraith, but it was missing. I said to Falcor "grab me!" and took hold of the shield as he picked me up. As soon as I touched it, just like the sword, I felt a connection, and resolved never to let it go... which was a little worrying in hindsight, as I had never trained with a shield or intended to keep it until I touched it.

Arad had got the ointment that Falcor had thrown at him, and was putting it on his wounds. We shouted at him to run as Falcor carried me towards the tunnel we had entered through. He followed, stumbling as the floor became more uneven and cracked, but keeping his feet. As Falcor carried me I drew and threw away my old sword, sheathing the new one in its place and getting a better grip on the shield. I didn't want to lose them now!

We reached the end of the pit, and I jumped down with a bit of "encouragement" from Falcor. Arad took a moment to light a torch (yeah, we didn't pick up the lantern in our rush to get out, so bite me) and then they scrambled down, Falcor running past me to get to the far side and prepare to boost us up. Arad was lifted, tipping the torch over the edge and pulling himself up, and then Falcor threw me up after him. I sprinted forward to the corner ahead as Arad helped Falcor up. The whole place was still shaking and rumbling so we were not out of danger.

Arad waved the torch at the goblin hole, looking for a way out, but found that it had collapsed completely. Chunks of the ceiling were falling down on and around us now, with Falcor taking a nasty smack to the head from one particularly large piece. I was hit by a clod, staggering me a little, but I kept going. We headed for the stone room ahead, hoping that it might be a bit more stable. Arad seemed to be struggling to keep up, possibly feeling the effects of his wounds as he pushed himself forward. Falcor was as swift as ever, though, picking me up again and running into the room with me.

The stone was no more stable... in fact it meant the falling debris was more dangerous! Falcor sprinted up the stairs even as they buckled beneath his feet, Arad following behind. As we reached the entrance hall the walls were starting to cave in and bits of ceiling fell around us. Falcor carried me out of the door, and I looked behind to see the house collapsing as the hill itself seemed to subside. Arad cleared the door but a part of the stone portico fell and knocked him straight to the floor, unconscious!

I shouted at Falcor to stop and help Arad, and to be fair he did so, running back despite the danger as the house began to fold in on itself. He started to drag him out, being hit a glancing blow by another piece of masonry before he could get clear. I ran up to help drag him, but as soon as he was out from the portico Falcor stopped to use his last jar of ointment on him. The ground was still shaking, and even here was becoming dangerous as mini sinkholes started to appear around the hillside. Thankfully Arad started to come to and we dragged him to his feet (well, mainly Falcor to be fair).

It was about midday outside, and fully light. This was not a surprise except that the permanent gloom that had accompanied the inside of the illusory circle had disappeared and the light was now bright and welcoming. We could see the tangled, webbed forest around us as before, but the light made it look merely tangled rather than sinister. We could hear, even above the rumbling and cracking, noises of creatures fleeing from the house. Whatever we had done, it seemed to have lifted the curse from this place, and was driving at least some of the evil creatures away in the process.

We didn't have time to stay and take in the view, though, as the ground was collapsing in places and we needed to get off the hill. The mostly demolished house was collapsing into the hill, which seemed to be subsiding around it as well. I could see a huge spider escaping from the house, presumably what we heard upstairs behind the locked door, but it showed no interest in us thankfully.

We started jogging down the hill, with Arad thanking Falcor and able to come with us. He offered to carry (yeah, steal more like) the shield I had found, but I refused. I would not give it up that easily! To be fair, he did try to lift me up to carry me, but he was still weakened from the wounds those foul skeletons had inflicted and was unable to even lift me up. Falcor exclaimed "come on, get a move on, we have to get out of here"! Arad explained that he was too weak to lift me, so Falcor grabbed me and ran to the south, with Arad following.

We could hear the whole house just imploding behind us, and I was able to get a good look as the others focused on keeping their feet. The whole of the hilltop was cratering, with any remains of the house being buried within it. Arad said "don't forget the silver - we can come back for it"! I didn't think we would be getting anything from that tomb any time soon, and nor did I fancy coming back now that we had banished what was here. Victory felt good, though, even if it was hard won.

The ground became firmer after a while and Falcor slowed to a jog. Setting me down, we continued to the coast at a walk to allow everyone to get their breath back. It had been a harrowing escape, after all. We took a minute to look back, although there was now nothing visible atop the hill, which itself was noticeably lower, and then began to walk back along the coast. It was odd seeing the dense forest to the side of us, where before it had appeared light and sporadic due to the illusion, but it didn't take long to realise that there was something nagging at us... hunger!

It had been ages since we ate, so we sat down for some proper lunch, Falcor sharing his food for once (is this what he counts as a celebration?) and plenty to go round knowing that we would be returning to the village where we could get more. We also talked a little about what had happened and what it meant, although we didn't know much. At least we knew now that those shades could be defeated! Falcor called it a "Sarn" and talked of how it had destroyed Maladan (his home) and his people. He suddenly embraced Arad, thanking him for destroying it, although Arad of course asked him to thank the Creator. We also noted the crown with the single point, in case that was important, and how it had been missing from the body. I was flush with excitement and new-found hope, but the others seemed more broody and reflective so I sat quietly to enjoy the last morsels of the meal.

We shared our last waterskin and talked a little about the symbols on the shield and the short sword. If the triangle on the sword was part of a whole that also included the symbols on the shield, then in addition to the star (two triangles) and the circle, there were intersecting lines like a cart wheel, similar in fact to the burnt lines around the obelisk in the village. Hmm... we were still no wiser as to the meaning of these symbols, though.

We enjoyed the rest of the walk back to the village, our burdens for at least one afternoon having been lifted and the day pleasant. We arrived back around mid-afternoon to see the expected activity trying to make repairs and sort out usable remains, particularly focused around the meeting hall in the south. We were greeted by most with a nod or a wave, although the children came running to see if there was anything to see. Arad gave them some coppers, which made them excited.