Next steps

Rest, Reflection, and Planning

Gilrad wasn't there - he was out with the fishing boats, and Arad discovered that there was no service in the church without him there to conduct it. He told them that there would be a feast that night, and the people seemed glad. In fact everyone was cheerful here now, feeling that things were returning to normal now that they had a priest again. It seemed almost unreal that we had just come from such a dark place just a few miles away.

We spent a fortnight in the village, resting, reflecting on what we had learned, training and practising skills and techniques. I was learning to use a shield in combat, something I had never really done before, and thinking back on the traps and locks I had tried to deal with on our adventures so far. Arad, though, was suffering; he was still getting weaker from whatever poison the skeletal claws had infected him with. Until one day when he was as good as new!

He told us that Jeanette had appeared and taken him back to her tree. Once there she had muttered a prayer, placed a hand on his shoulder, and he had been renewed and cleansed. He had tried to get information from her, but didn't get much. She had refused to be drawn on the Creator, but had shared knowledge that he could use to channel his power. This is when he told us about her brief visit in the house - apparently she hadn't meant to come then, but not then, so got it slightly wrong. Time was difficult to get exactly right.

He also asked about the tree. She explained that sometimes the minds of mortals cannot understand the creations of the Gods, but shape them into something that they would understand. For Arad the tree is a safe place, but for Jeanette it appeared as a castle. She was from Maladan... yes, the same one as Falcor, and she even knew him! She spoke as if that time was centuries ago, though, and that she had been snatched when it fell to a great evil, just as Falcor had described. She knew Sarn, the Duke's son, as well. She had been the daughter of the palace cook, and Falcor knew of her - apparently Sarn had been fond of her.

When Arad returned (it was after about a week that this happened) it was to the same instant that he had disappeared, despite spending a week at the tree. This gave him more spare time than the rest of us, and he spoke with Falcor about magic and how it was shunned by humans but embraced by the Elvrabor. Falcor made frequent trips that week to the coast so that he could practice his new found powers out of sight of the humans, still ashamed and wary of what might happen to him.

Arad also spoke to his flock, the people of the village. He explained that we had banished a great evil to the south, but that we must still quest for more cursed places to cleanse and purify. He was seeking a curator of the village so that they would have protection and a place to gather in prayer while he was gone. He also said that it was safer now to hunt in the south, but that there was still danger and the children should avoid it. Separately he spoke to Gilrad, as he saw him as the spiritual leader that the people needed, who could tend to the church in Arad's absence. He used the scroll he had found to ordain him as a priest of the Lord Creator, blessing him with a connection like the one Arad used to call on his power to tend to himself and others.

Interestingly, after hearing of Arad's quest to visit cursed places, Gilrad asked if we would be going to the cursed tower of the island to the west. Umm... yes? We urged him to tell us what he knew of the place so that we might prepare ourselves. It was the southern-most island of the three to the west, and it was the orcs that knew something of the legend of the place. They told of one that stretched the boundaries between life and death, but went too far and cursed the very rocks of the island, doomed by the depths of hell. Sounded lovely.

We asked, out of interest, about the other islands. The central one had a tower with "He Who Watches" within. Apparently he was "another side of the same coin" - as Malek was to faith he was to power. They avoided the island out of respect. The orcs had a warning, though - the Blood Hand clan had occupied the central island, and they were worshipers of the Destroyer. They were expanding their claim on these islands. Their chief was claiming to be the war chief over all the clans, and it was due to them that the Red Skull clan had lost honour. They had previously respected the tower there, but it was lost to the foe.

Speaking of the last, northerly island, the people knew only that creatures hunted there in the night. They were not sure whether there was a tower there, but said that we should stay away, particularly at night, dusk or dawn. The Red Skull clan had more warnings, saying that if we saw the Snake clan we should be be particularly wary, and if we ever unfortunate enough to see the Black Hand clan then flee for they wield powerful dweomer, although they were rarely seen.

In thanks for their hospitality and kindness, I donated all the gold from my share that I could not carry to the village to help them trade with the Red Skull clan and rebuild, they had a second chance that had been denied to my people, and so it was that I gave freely and gladly. The others seemed moved by this and also donated to the cause, and Arad praised us all for our good hearts. We had some trade dealings with the Red Skull clan as well, particularly with regard to arrows that Arad seemed very keen to procure. Having a man of faith on the island was apparently very important to them, as they seemed to respect and listen to him as they would a shaman in their own clan. They were not comfortable with the father God concept, but respected him nonetheless. I tried my best to pick up some of the orcish tongue in these encounters, hoping that over time I might pick up enough of their language to be useful.

We also discovered another soul stone... one that we had been carrying all the time! The gem set in the ring that Arad had plundered from Malek's tomb, when we tested it near the hammer, leapt out of its setting and fused itself into place in the star design.

We then discussed our next steps. The cursed island sounded like the next place to seek out evil, but if there was a watcher that we could learn more from then that should be our immediate focus - especially if he was in danger now the orcs had occupied the tower. It was clear that we would be met with hostility by this clan, members of which we had seen with the goblins in the south, though.

He Who Watches

Arad asked for a crew from the village to drop us on the central island, and return each night for three nights or if they saw a flame from the tower. After than, Gilrad would have to assume that we were lost and be solely responsible for the spiritual wellbeing of his people. Looking at the shape of the island, the best place to land was in the north, where the tower did not have as much visibility due to a rise in the ground near the coast. We sailed out and then were dropped off in a rowing boat at the shoreline, which was gentle and easy to beach on. We were hoping that in the dark we could approach the tower unseen.

We arrived before midnight, and clouds overhead meant that we had a chance to move without being seen. Falcor carried me as Arad scouted ahead, wary that the effort would make a little more noise and allowing Arad the best chance to remain hidden. The tower itself was lit up like a beacon in the dark night, so we had no problem navigating, and we moved south east towards the sloping ground leading up to it. After crossing about half the distance, we heard a blood chilling screeching from somewhere to the north - "bats!" I whispered to Falcor. These were the same as the one I had seen at night on the main island.

We all dropped to the floor as something flew overhead, sure enough it was a giant bat. We heard another rapidly approaching from the south west, flying much lower over us whilst screeching loudly. Falcor loosed an arrow, which found its mark in the body of the thing, causing it to screech again and fly away. Another arrow thudded into the ground off to one side, presumably from Arad. We heard more screeches - it seemed that they were hunting in a pack of sorts, or coming together due to the screeching.

Falcor moved forward again, hoarsely whispering "come back Arad"! The response came back "on my way"! He came into view a few moments later. Arad watched the sky to the south and I looked to the north, with Falcor scanning left and right. Another bat swooped down at us from the side, screeching before raking at Falcor with claws and trying to bite him, but not getting past his armour. Falcor responded by loosing an arrow, which sent it crashing into the ground, sliding slightly with its momentum.

Arad urged us to move on, jogging forward. I started to follow, but in moments we were attacked again, this time by three of the massive bats simultaneously - but more screeching in the dark suggested that these would not be the last. I raised my new shield, but being unfamiliar with it, or so I thought, I was unable to fend off the attack, being raked and bitten as well as pierced by its tail! Falcor and Arad escaped immediate damage, but the thing at least had stopped flying and was trying to eat me. I stabbed back, but was unable to get a good connection and only did a little damage. Falcor and Arad came to my aid, putting arrows into the beast until it shuddered and fell dead to the floor. They were very skillful (or perhaps fortunate?) not to hit me as I was so close.

I instinctively hunkered down by the dead bat, wary of further attacks, but Falcor came over and used his healing ability to make all of my wounds disappear again. He said "keep low" and stood over me protectively. Arad, meanwhile, managed to put an arrow into one of the bats flying away before it disappeared into the night. He shouted to us: "come on, there are lights to the southwest coming!" He was referring to a party of orcs that were leaving the tower to investigate the noise that must have been audible for miles around.

Even as we started to move again, the bats swooped back to attack. A pair of bats dived at each of us, showing impressive coordination in hindsight. Arad and I were both clawed by the beasts, and even Falcor was scratched a little. Arad put two arrows into the bat that had attacked him, but it wasn't enough to put it down. Falcor managed to land one hit into another bat, but the main concern was that one of the bats had stayed to bite and claw at Arad. It struggled to find a purchase, and Arad responded by dropping his bow, willing his hammer to hand and striking it down in one quick blow.

Falcor loosed another arrow, picking yet another bat out of the sky, and then struck a second one with an arrow just before it again flew out of sight into the night. Again we moved forward, and again we were attacked. Two attacked Arad, with a further one wheeling away to avoid colliding with the first two, and one landed on me again! I was yet again raked and bitten, and feeling decidedly the worse for it. Arad was also raked and caught by a tail strike, doing serious damage. I stabbed the one on me, and this time managed to open its guts, killing it. Falcor and Arad loosed arrows at the same target, between them sending it crashing to the dirt, then switched targets and again acted together - both hitting the second target, although this time it stayed in the air.

I tried to hide next to the body of the bat that had savaged me, too wounded to expose myself again, but thankfully the last two bats seemed to decide that we were too dangerous to be worth trying to eat and flew off. I stood shakily and Arad came over at once, calling on the Creator to heal my wounds, which helped a little. The others started to gather some arrows, although many were broken, and Arad also took a moment to heal his own wounds.

As we were setting off again, trying to get some distance away from the site of the battle before the orcs arrived, Falcor asked to see the symbology on my shield and sword again. Arad called me back to benefit from more healing, but we were wasting time - we could do that once we were safe. Whispers in my mind warned me that they were plotting against me, and I started to walk away. Arad managed to heal me anyway, catching my shoulder, for which I was grateful but a little confused - were they trying to distract me? I was right to be suspicious as Falcor charged at me!

Falcor shouted at me not to resist, as it was "for my own good" and grabbed me from behind, locking my arms with his so that I couldn't stab him. I struggled, but Arad was there too, peeling my fingers off my sword and they were too strong for me. Arad forced me to drop the sword, but my shield was looped over my arm and not so easy to remove. I tried to bash Arad with it, but without being able to move my arm I could not put much power behind the blow. Eventually Arad cut the leather straps with a knife, and the shield dropped to the floor.

It was as if a veil had lifted from my mind and I could immediately see sense. The things were cursed, and had forced me to come to harm, or to miss a good blow, even tried to turn me against my friends! Falcor was carrying me away from them in case I tried to retrieve them, but I did not resist... I wanted nothing to do with them now! I thanked Falcor and Arad for saving me, and warned them not to touch either of the cursed things. We moved on again quickly, noting that the lights had reached the bottom of the hill and wanting to loop around to the east to avoid them.

Falcor called a halt after we reached the base of the hill to the east to discuss our plan. He said that he might be able to make us invisible to the foe, which sounded like a fantastic idea to me! I would take time and we would need to stay close for it to work, though. The lights we had seen were out on the plain to the north, as we had predicted, and our plan was to get close to the tower and then wait until the patrol returned so that we could sneak in through the open door. Falcor warned that if any of us attacked then we would become visible... and if he attacked then we all would!

Arad healed more of his wounds as Falcor prepared. He then lit a bit of paper, shielding the light with his cloak, so that Falcor could read the scroll he had retrieved. Falcor muttered some weird syllables, chanted a little, moved his arms in some strange patterns and then, despite some initial scepticism, we had all indeed disappeared! There followed a bit of invisible fumbling... I managed to find Falcor, largely because he hadn't moved and I had been watching him, and he lifted me to his shoulders. Arad eventually managed to find and tie a rope between him and Falcor so that they would stay close. Falcor whispered "left, right, left", until Arad snidely remarked that he didn't need to be told how to walk!

We approached the tower without incident; it stood about thirty feet high, with three stories marked by arrow slits on the top two, out of reach from the ground. There was definitely some movement on the roof, judging by the shadows moving in the light there. A double door faced east, but was closed. Broken earth and rubble lay to the left of our approach, near to the tower, and we headed instinctively for this cover even though we could have stood naked in front of the door without being seen (hmm... must remember for any future invisible jaunts to ensure I reappear baring my arse - what fun)!

As we approached the rubble, though, we could see some sort of large heat source writhing around within it, so we obviously backed off and moved away! We headed slightly north instead, and waited patiently for the patrol to return. About two hours later, we heard and eventually saw / smelt the orc patrol returning. There were eight of them in a loose formation, looking weary after a night searching for shadows. They looked a little stockier than other orcs we had seen, but were otherwise like the Red Skull clan members. They did bear a bloody hand in a circle marked on their armour, though. The armour itself was quite reasonable by orc standards. They were all armed with swords of some kind, and half had short bows.

We started to approach as they walked up to the door, hoping to fall in just behind them as they entered. One at the front banged on the door with the hilt of his sword, there was some exchange of words - perhaps a password of some kind. A couple of orcs looked over from the roof above, but didn't seem too interested and soon went back to their lookout. The doors were opened and light flooded out, although that didn't bother us as it passed straight through. Inside we could see a squarish room with no obvious exits and a couple of orcs on sentry duty. The patrol started moving inside, but we had to dart forward to avoid the closing doors, getting uncomfortably close to the last two from the patrol.

Arad got through easily enough, but they turned and looked in towards Falcor as he got past... well he was bigger and noisier generally. The doors closed behind us, and metal bolts put across, so we were in at least. We had agreed in advance to head right once inside, so we stood unmoving near one of the walls - stock still. The last two orcs were clearly suspicious, and started shouting at each other, drawing their weapons. There was lots of movement and talking, with orcs looking around to see what the commotion was, but then their leader came back and smacked one in the face, shouting at him. They sheathed their swords and stood back in line, apparently waiting for something.

Go back to far side, one of sentries does something to wall and opens a concealed door in front of leader. Torches around walls so well lit, patrol extinguish lanterns.

Small hallway beyond, circular wall on far side (central stairwell?) and they start filing through. Last two are wary and looking around. Yell and draw swords again.

Sentry yells at them, they put swords away and move quickly towards door. Then sentry starts to close it. Falcor then hurries to get through door (Arad already there, but we can't see him).

Sentry stops, letting go, draws sword, and yells something. Falcor moves away to the north, walking to minimise north. Sentry runs through to leader, shouting "stop"!

Come back, talking and yelling. Blocking doorways, apart from closed door to north. Talking. I duck down and move quietly towards one door. Arad edges towards closed door, but rope taught just before he gets there.

I sneak up and throw pebble, then move back quietly. New orc appears in room with previous leader. Snake circle orc - Shaman! He starts chanting...

Pale glowing light outlines us all! Falcor strides forward and starts chanting - spray of colour erupts from hand over heads of orcs, causing a handful of them to fall unconscious as stepping forward.

The shaman is still standing, but seems unable to see. I start to move forward, but Arad grabs me and pulls me back before running off.

I move to the small door, which the orc had closed, find the mechanism to open it and engage the orc, getting one stab of a dagger in before he backs off.

Arad smashes down the first orc with hammer. Falcor moves in to Shaman, stabbing him, Arad joins him and cuts him with sword. Falcor finishes him with his large sword.

Arad cracks another one with hammer, dropping him. Falcor executes one on floor. Arad cuts another down with sword. Falcor executes another.

Doors crash open on far side of the room Arad and Falcor are advancing into, orcs start coming into the fight. Orcs struggle to fight back, hitting armour if anything.

Arad cuts another one down. Falcor executes another two on floor. I land another hit, holding the flank. Arad gets swarmed as he is farthest forward, smacks one with hammer, killing him.

Arad also cut with his sword, killing another by almost cutting him in half. Suddenly - orc falls to ground near Falcor, one drops sword and roars with rage at Falcor, two dazed, one by far door collapses.

Arad gets stabbed in side. I finish off the one in the entrance hall. Enraged orc rushes forward and pounds on Falcor's armour, but not really doing any damage.

Two from north come up on me, but as I was turning, so just manage to evade strikes, one scraping my armour. Arad smashed another down with hammer.

Falcor conjures a wall of fog in hallway to north, blocking visibility to/from room beyond and filling it. Arad charges to help Falcor, cutting rear of orc but still standing.