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.

One of the sentries moved to the rear wall and did something to the wall there, opening a concealed door in front of the leader. Meanwhile the patrol were extinguishing the lanterns they had been using, as there were plenty of torches around the walls providing light. Beyond this new door was a small hallway with a circular wall on the far side (perhaps a central stairwell?) and the orcs started filing through. The last two were still wary and looking around, and when they heard another sound they yelled out and drew swords again.

The sentry by the door yelled back at them, and again they put their swords away, moving quickly to catch up with the rest of the patrol. The sentry started to close the door behind them, and Falcor had to hurry to get through (Arad was already there, but we couldn't see him of course). This made too much noise, and this time it was the sentry that stopped, letting go of the door and drawing his sword. Falcor moved away to the north, where there was a closed door, as the patrol were heading south through an open door - there were no other exits we could see. The sentry ran through, barging orcs aside, to their leader, shouting what I think was "stop"!

They came back, talking and yelling, this time they were getting organised with orcs detailed to block the open doorways. Falcor set me down in case we needed to fight, but the orcs had paused, talking to each other, and I ducked down and moved quietly towards the door we had entered through. Arad edged towards the closed door in the north, but the rope went taut just before he got there.

I got close to the orc in the doorway and threw a small pebble behind him, hoping that he would investigate, but it seemed they were too disciplined and he didn't move despite turning his head at the sound. A new orc appeared in room to the south as I backed off again. This orc wore a symbol of a snake within a circle - it was a shaman that the Red Skull clan had warned us about! He started chanting, which was ominous, but there was not much we could do.

As he finished his incantation a pale glowing light surrounded us all, making our location obvious to the watching orcs! Falcor strode forward, chanting something of his own, and a spray of colour erupted from his hand over the heads of the orcs, causing a handful of them to fall unconscious just as they were stepping forward. The shaman was caught in this magic, although he was still standing... he did look around wildly, though, as if unable to see. I started to move forward, knowing that a fight was inevitable now, but Arad grabbed me and pulled me back... before running off to fight himself! Bloody cheek.

I moved to the entry door, which the orc had closed from the other side, I found the mechanism to open it and then engaged the orc inside, getting one stab of a dagger in before he could react. Arad smashed down the first orc he came to with his hammer, and Falcor moved in to attack the shaman, stabbing him. The two of them then ganged up on him, cutting him down before he could work any more magic.

Arad cracked another one with his hammer, dropping him with the strength of the blow, and then cut another down with his sword. Falcor, meanwhile, was moving between the ones on the floor executing them, killing two before the doors on the far side of the next room crashed open. More orcs started coming into the fight although the counter attack didn't seem to slow Falcor and Arad much, just hitting their armour if anything.

Arad cuts another one down but then was surrounded, as he was the farthest forward. Falcor still seemed obsessed with the defenceless ones, executing another two on the floor. I landed another hit, holding the flank for now. Arad killed another with his hammer but was still under pressure. He cut another one down, driving his sword with such force that it almost cut him in two! Then suddenly chaos seemed to take the foe... one orc fell to the ground near Falcor, one dropped his sword and just roared with unbridled rage at Falcor, two stopped what they were doing - appearing to be dazed, and another also collapsed near the far door.

Despite this changed threat, Arad got stabbed in his side. I finished off the one in the entrance hall, but then heard more approaching from the north. The enraged orc rushed forward and pounded on Falcor's armour with his bare fists, not really doing any damage. As I anticipated, two orcs came through the door to the north and spotted me first, but I was able to twist and duck away from their strikes. Arad smashed another down with hammer, evening things up a little for now.

Falcor then conjured a wall of fog in the hallway to the north, blocking visibility to and from the room beyond and probably filling it entirely. Arad charged forward to help Falcor with the enraged orc, cutting at his rear but not doing enough to stop him. The orcs attacking me got in each other's way attempting to get to me, so I easily dodged their clumsy attacks. Meanwhile the enraged orc screamed in anger at being struck from behind, turned and punched Arad so hard in the face that he was left bloodied.

Arad backed off a little, but shouted that he could hear a commotion to the west, before fending off the enraged orc from landing further blows. Falcor ran up to engage the ones attacking me, but they managed to push through the doorway and he couldn't adjust his blow. Arad had more success, using his hammer to put down the enraged attacker.

I decided to keep the orcs' attention on me, knowing that Falcor would soon finish them from behind, so I used what little of their language I had picked up to shout (I think) "You Weak!" and spat on their feet. I followed up by stabbing one with both daggers, killing him outright! The other orc shouted something rude at me, but couldn't hit me - turns out that they were weak!

Arad rushed in to smash the last one from behind, killing him before Falcor could get his blow in. Trying to get a better weapon, I started to pick up a short sword from the dead orcs, but Arad stopped me and offered his as "a loan to be returned" - it was apparently gifted by Jeanette so he was rather fond of it, and it was certainly finer than the orcs' swords (although they seemed perfectly functional).

Falcor returned to the doors in the south that opened to the west, but there was no light - not even from the well lit room he was standing in. He muttered that "it feels magical" and kept to the side, unwilling to enter the unnatural darkness. Arad approached the last living orc, who was still in some kind of magical daze and was wandering aimlessly, looking around. Arad punched him in the face, perhaps a little sore from his mate's punch earlier? The orc reeled backwards but kept his feet, looking even more confused.

We talked about the best way forward and decided to move through the fog in the north rather than this blackness. Before we continued Arad punched the orc once again, causing him to fall to the floor unconscious. We moved to the end of the hallway, and rather spookily the fog dispersed as we approached. This room was similar in size to the one we had just left but the floor had significantly collapsed leaving broken rubble across a large part of the floor. Someone had conveniently laid pieces of wooden planking as a walkway across, leading to the far left corner where the interior wall had collapsed as well. The wall was intact at our end so we couldn't see around the corner from where we entered.

Arad was worried about being taken from behind, and went back to close the doors to the south. They could only be barred from the other side... but Falcor apparently knew a spell that would hold them closed. He spoke a short incantation and the doors seemed to stiffen despite having no bar - holding fast when pushed. Of course his armour disappeared as he did this, which was as amusing as ever!

I moved forwards toward the wooden planks as Arad jogged back to join me. Falcor was last, but looked around and suddenly shouted "eek orcs!". They had been hiding behind the door, waiting to catch us from behind, but Falcor's slightly effeminate warning caused us to turn and sport them. I shouted "For Karmana!" I charged at the nearest, striking true with my new short sword, badly hurting him.

His companion lurched forward, stabbing me in return, as I finished off the first one. The others rushed in to help, and there were blades and hammers everywhere, but it seemed that everyone was trying so hard not to get in each others way that they could not land a blow. Finally Arad managed to cut the second orc down with his sword.

Arad tried to bind my wound as Falcor moved forward onto the wooden planks to look around the corner. He saw a makeshift barricade across the entrance to the next room, made of overturned wooden tables. Orcs crouched behind the barricade, bows drawn and ready to engage. Falcor immediately dropped into the rubble beside the walkway, shouting "orc bowmen!" He crawled into cover and retrieved his bow so that he could engage them, arrows pinging off the rocks beside him. One was so close that it seemed it would hit until his armour reappeared just in time to deflect it.

Arad was moving up, trying to get a shot, and edged into Falcor's firing arc. Falcor tried to shout a warning, but no sound came out - in fact there was no sound at all from that area. An arrow bounced off a rock in front of Arad, richoceting into his armour but not penetrating. Falcor loosed an arrow past Arad, which flew true and stuck straight into the target's chest, dropping him. I started moving carefully forward over the rubble by the wall, trying to get into a firing position out of the way of the others.

More arrows fly and Arad landed a hit, with Falcor hitting shortly afterwards, killing him.

More orcs move to barricade. Falcor moves back as a result, tapping at Arad to warn him he was moving. Falcor landed a hit on a new one, killing it.

Arad loosed another arrow, but flies straight into ceiling about halfway to target.

Arad drops bow and sprints forward, jumping over barricade a little clumsily. Falcor follows, leaping cleanly over. Looks like a kitchen on the other side.

Stone mounted fire pits, furniture although missing the tables. Large orc stood behind others with scimitar and shield (red circle with black hand), and snake clan shaman behind him.

Seeing them charge, I forego caution and tumble over rocks to reach planks. Arad hammers into big guy, causing him to yell a roar, but cannot penetrate with sword.

Orcs try to shoot Arad, but one ends up hitting another. Orc tries to club Falcor with bow, but not very effective.

Falcor throws dagger at shaman, hits but doesn't get through armour. Arad's blow deflected by shield. Arad gets his sword behind the shield though, running him through.

I vault barricade and land lightly, but my blow doesn't connect, but at least his arrow goes wildly wide. Falcor cuts one orc down. Shaman runs through doors to the south.

Orc drops bow and punches me in the head, leaving it ringing. Falcor runs (picking up dagger) to door in south. Sees another barricade with orc bowmen, the shaman, and an area of darkness beyond. Falcor shouts a warning.

Arad hits with a hammer, landing a blow but not felling him, then follows up with sword and cuts him down. I stick short sword in the one that punched me. He staggers but keeps his feet.

Falcor realises he dropped his bow and runs north and around to go and get it - shouting to tell us about the barricade and why he was running away!

Arad finished off the orc I stabbed, then also runs back for bow. I run forward, to the south, but skirting the edge of the room. A couple of arrows fly at me but miss. Ready bow.

Arad also picks up shield and heals himself. Falcor runs back to barricade. Arad runs south... but we locked the door!

Start exchanging arrow fire, but all in cover and none hit. Arad batters on doors, forcing them off their hinges onto the floor. Jogs to other edge of darkness.

Falcor moves forward, arrows around him but none on target, returns fire from other side of door, killing one. I also hit the target, although he doesn't go down.

I step back, swapping weapons, tell Falcor we go together... but he has started chanting. Arad sprints into darkness, emerges right beside barricade and just stops in time. Some surprised orcs next to him!

Runs down barricade to engage the orcs. Most surprised but last one takes his time and sticks an arrow into Arad. Falcor sprints forward, jumps over barricade incredibly right over orcs on barricade in front of shaman, stabbing him.

Darkness disappears. I sprint to barricade, but just slightly too high to climb over in one go! Can't even see over to throw a dagger. Falcor gets an arrow in his back.

Arad gets punched but shrugs it off, then kills him with one blow of the hammer. Moves forward and strikes the next with long sword.

Falcor gets another arrow in his back! Arad moves around and knocks the one hurting Falcor to the ground. Falcor still fighting shaman, landing a good blow.

I climb over the barricade to join the fight a bit late. Arad cuts last bow orc down with sword. Falcor kill shaman with powerful blow, slicing through his neck. But falls to knees in exhaustion.

He instantly heals himself, though. I search shaman finding a green viscous liquid in a pot that I take. We all grab some arrows. Falcor takes golden amulet of snake in circle from shaman's body.

I remember door to north, and sprint up to check it. Arad tries to follow, but stumbles a bit over barricade. Struggles to keep up, cursing.

Big orc has 15 gp and 2 emeralds, shaman had 4 gp, that's about the best of the loot.

Arad takes a sip of green stuff, but no obvious effect. Goes darker.

I check door, Arad opens it, just a corridor (lit) leading to spiral stairwell. No down... know from cave-in that there should be, so search floors and eventually find a concealed trap door in SE.