Journal - The Crown of Wisdom

The Journey South

We spent another day resting, and thankfully allowing Arad to tend my wounds, as Aergarnion was able to control the flow of time so that we were not delaying our quest. Aergarnion was also able to take me to see Queen Arla once more to give her the gift of an acorn from Cherl... I really hoped that he was able to help the forest regrow and undo some of the damage. We were grateful to Aergarnion for his assistance once more - he would take us to the edge of where the Elvrabor ventured to save us some time before we continued farther south.

Falcor went first, arriving in an area where the forest was fairly sparse but not showing signs of destruction. It was leafless, though, due to the harsh winter and snow was on the ground. The mountains rose to his left as expected; we intended to strike straight south to meet the river and use the coast and river as a waypoint to find our bearings. Falcor had not changed of course, having barely thought time had passed as I was out on my two adventures, but he did have another gem in his armour I noticed.

He was immediately wary as he noticed Saloroc Wolf Clan riders transiting from his right to left ahead of him, so he ducked behind a tree to await our arrival. He heard a shouted order from one of them, but didn't understand it. I arrived at a bad time... the Saloroc were advancing towards us when I appeared in the open. Aergarnion disappeared instantly, leaving me to drop to the floor in full view! I at least kept my feet, but the Saloroc charged forward and closed quickly, the riders dismounting from their massive wolves as they got close. One wolf scratched a claw across me, more trying to bear me down than rake me, but I just managed to keep my feet.

I had been drawing my bow, so I put one arrow into my attacker, but as I was surrounded I dropped the bow to engage in melee. Thankfully Falcor revealed himself, moving to my right and using the power of his mind against the foe; two wolves collapsed immediately and one of the Saloroc stopped still, looking dazed. Then Falcor cut into the side of a Saloroc with his sword before they could react to his appearance. At that moment Arad was also dropped off by Aergarnion, although he at least was pre-warned, and he ran in to engage the wolf attacking me. His sword struck true, but his hammer swing just missed as the wolf whelped and twisted away.

Falcor followed up his attack with his rod, landing a solid blow on the wounded Saloroc and leaving him barely standing. The other Saloroc struck me, but the sword scraped my side and only barely drew blood. The injured wolf leapt away and fled, leaving us in combat with the two Saloroc. Falcor finished off his opponent quickly and then the three of us all overwhelmed the last of them. I might have offered mercy, as he was clearly beaten, but Falcor landed a killing blow before I had the chance. He was in a hurry it seemed, spurred on I guessed by the words of Queen Arla, and immediately set off at pace once we had recovered our weapons and taken arrows from the dead.

We jogged and walked south, covering the distance as quickly as we could. After about an hour Falcor heard a snatch of something spoken in the wind and raised his hand. We stopped at once, listening and searching the trunks of the forest for any threat. We couldn't see anything, but suspected more of the false queen's agents from the way they spoke. Trying to avoid a fight that would reveal our presence we carefully made our way around, giving them a wide berth, and moved on. We continued for a couple of hours more before we encountered anything else. It was not quite as icy as we moved south, although still cold with snow on the ground. We had kept avoiding any contact using sounds of voices or steel clinking to minimise any risk of detection as we traveled.

We were not avoiding anything at the time, but suddenly two small flying green creatures appeared around Falcor, striking at him and stinging him with a barbed tail. Falcor defended himself with his mental powers, and one turned invisible as he tried to punch it, although he still manged to connect with something. The other one wrapped itself onto Falcor and bit him, so I grabbed it and ripped it off him, holding it in my hand by its wing at arm's length. I'm glad I held it that far out because Arad stabbed it, only just missing my arm! It was writhing around and Arad punched it once, then I thrust it into the soil and let go, hoping that it would die whilst buried there. Arad administered ointment to one of Falcor's wounds, worried about the poison, and Falcor was worried too - he prayed to Milada that it wasn't his last day. I had learned from the Elvrabor a way of using Karmana's energy to slow poison's effects and called on it now to help Falcor, giving us several hours to find a way to treat him.

As we were doing all this, though, the green thing launched itself out of the soil, trying to attack me specifically. I was just able to dodge backwards and avoid its sting, then the others set about it, each landing solid blows until Falcor finished it with another punch. Although the fight seemed to be over (the one that had turned invisible never showed up again, and was probably quite badly hurt), we still had to do something about the poison in Falcor. We had no way of drawing it out ourselves despite Karmana's power slowing it's effects. We kept moving anyway, as there was nothing we could do within this forest, and it was another three hours before we caught the smell of the sea ahead. It had been getting warmer, although it was still clearly winter, and we were glad to see that there was no snow on the ground in this area. It was rapidly getting dark, though, but we pressed on until we reached a wide, free flowing river and followed it for about a mile to reach the coast.

We didn't really want to stop and rest, because we knew time could be short for Falcor, so we decided that we had no choice other than to head to the temple on the island nearby. We tied a rope between us and Arad reduced our weight so that Falcor could pull us through the air behind him as he flew (using dweomer). It wasn't exactly fun flapping along in the cold winter air behind him, but at least we landed and walked the last bit of the journey! It was much warmer on the island, it seemed, so we had warmed up nicely by the time we reached the temple and village. We were unopposed, which was reassuring, and our arrival caused quite a commotion (I remembered that it had been months to these people since they had seen us). Gilrad rushed out to greet Arad, but then saw Falcor and his face became ashen; he encouraged him to hurry over then prayed to the Creator to draw out the poison from him. Falcor felt a burning inside as the Creator's power cleansed him, and we all thanked him for his aid.

Gilrad of course invited us to stay, but Falcor was still very keen to return and continue our journey as soon as we could so we politely declined. Thankfully Gilrad was able to call on the Creator to reduce our weight again, so we were able to return to the mainland in a similar manner to our arrival. We kept walking into the night, and about half an hour later we came across a recently constructed road. It seemed that the imperial troops were spreading their influence out from Freeport into the surrounding area. We crossed and put some distance between us and the road before finally stopping for the night.

Arad healed my wounds, despite their superficial nature, before resting. They both seemed to have some weird means to avoid sleeping, but I was exhausted so I made a bivouac and quickly fell into a deep sleep. Unfortunately we would not be undisturbed; after a couple of hours one of the dark former Elvrabor, servant of the false queen, appeared through a tear in reality and attacked Arad! Falcor rushed to his defence, landing a good blow, and Arad responded by willing his hammer into his hand, surprising the foe with a quick swing that landed well. Two more of them arrived in the same manner, though, just as Falcor finished the first one off with his rod.

The new arrivals stabbed Falcor and I, which certainly woke me up with a start! Falcor whipped around and cut deeply into his new foe's flank, then landed a second blow shortly afterwards. I stabbed my attacker, rolling away to get to my feet and quickly stabbing him again. Arad came to my aid, finishing off my attacker and allowing me to gather my weapons and join my friends. Falcor killed his attacked with another strong blow, catching him across the temple with his rod, but another foe had appeared behind Arad, striking him from behind and again when he turned to engage him. After his initial assault, though, he was isolated and quickly cut down by Falcor and Arad working together. I didn't join in because both Falcor and Arad were calling out that they thought they had been poisoned - the blades of our attackers has a viscous substance on them that looked nasty; so I called on Karmana's power once more to slow the poison for both of them as we had no idea what it might do if left unhindered.

Arad used an ability I hadn't seen before, or at least not used in this way, and somehow reached into the minds of the recently killed to get a sense of why they were here. Apparently they vehemently hated both Falcor and Arad (but not me it seemed, which was nice) but that was about as much as he could tell. Falcor was concerned that the ring Custor had given him to protect him from being scryed was actually some kind of beacon to track him, so he threw it away! No matter why we were accosted, we would once more have to return to the temple in order to treat this new poisoning. This time Falcor had to change into his Elvradrak form to get us there, but I first called on Karmana to allow us to walk over the water so we at least could be out to sea when he was revealed in this way, and the darkness would help as well.

Once safely back again we were at last able to rest properly, and in any case Arad sensibly suggested we should wait for Gilrad to brew some curatives to counter any future poison incidents. Falcor was quite keen to visit Custor in the meantime to see why he was being so dishonest with us... or if not actually confront him at least recover the tapestry that Falcor had left in his care. After resting at the village we spent a little time re-equipping and Arad gratefully received a pot of ointment that would cure poisons. I left a donation for my druid friend, and Falcor was able to tell me a little more about the sap of Cernurros after some time studying it.

Finally we were ready to journey once more, and joined one of the regular Saloroc ships to Custor's island. There were clearly more fortifications on the island than before, but everyone seemed settled. We landed in a bay on the eastern side and climbed towards the tower once more. Falcor, taking advice from the Saloroc on how to wear his trophies, had his wolf skin head daubed red in honour of the Red Skulls, displaying the war trophy proudly and to good reception. Unfortunately it seemed like it might be a wasted trip; when we arrived at the tower the guards informed us that Custor was "travelling" so nobody could see him. Presumably his body was vulnerable as he undertook whatever ritual he was engaged in.

On the way back down we sat to eat and Falcor communed with Malada using a glass vial. As he did so, the power of this artifact once revealed almost overpowered me and knocked Arad clean out! Falcor eventually apologised and resolved to be more careful with it in future. His conversation with Milada was revealing but somewhat unhelpful; Custor served "his master" Askentis in all things (He Who Sees All, one of the "eternal ones"). If Askentis willed it then Custor would help us, but otherwise he would probably not. This Askentis and his followers were apparently "neither for nor against any on Karmana". Milada said that Custor had traded power for knowledge in the forest, which suggested a willful exchange. She cautioned that Custor could only be seen through the eyes of others as his master shielded him well. After this communion we waited a few hours to see whether Custor would emerge, but to no avail, so we returned to the village and consulted the Saloroc about reaching land to the south.

We learned that there was a Red Skull fortification to the southwest that they did not wish to reveal to outsiders, but they were willing to take us there. We gladly sailed with them, as this would mean avoiding Freeport and the lands around it, and therefore the imperial legionnaires. As we made the crossing, in near darkness by this time, the Captain spotted another long boat and ordered the oars to be shipped. The hope was that we could pass behind them quietly, and Arad used a prayer to silence the water around the bow to reduce the noise further.

This was all undone when there was a sudden scream from the stern and one of the Saloroc jumped into the water... some of the Dark Elvrabor had appeared on the boat! Falcor conjured a hypnotic pattern, captivating one, I struck one and just managed to slip between his blades, and a third charged at Falcor and stabbed him just after his armour disappeared. Arad struck the distracted one with two arrows, which quickly brought his attention back to the fight. I was hit, but only scratched, and now had two attacking me. Falcor was saved from another blow as his armour reappeared just in time to deflect it. I stabbed one again and Arad charged up beside me, knocking down and finishing the other attacker. Falcor fought back, landing a good hit, and I was able to finish off my original opponent, just leaving the one engaged with Falcor.

We had another problem, though, as the other ship had reacted to the commotion and was closing on us fast. Falcor cut a massive gouge in last dark Elvrabor and his foe collapsed, dying quickly. I ran to the side and called on Karmana to warp the wood of the approaching ship, ripping a line of planks away on one side and causing it to swing sideways away from its original ramming course. It still hit our ship with a blow that shook us all, but the angle meant that there was no real damage to the ships. It was rather strange to see the Saloroc nearest the impact falling and screaming, and indeed the collision itself, all happen in silence as Arad's prayer had endured thus far.

Then Falcor launched a fireball, and a huge explosion engulfed what seemed like the entire enemy vessel. The crew on the deck were devastated and the boat was left burning in many places. Just after that, Falcor collapsed! I noticed first, but was engaged in melee by then, so I sent a mental message to Arad hoping that he could help. I quickly dropped two of my attackers, which almost seemed cruel as they had suffered so much from the explosion, but while they insisted on fighting I had to defend myself. Arad went to Falcor's side and used the poison ointment on his wounds, then prayed to the Creator to heal his wounds. Thankfully he awoke at this prayer and seemed well again.

The fight was effectively over, with the crew able to handle any last attackers and most of the foe having jumped in the water to ease their burns and escape the fires. Our own sailor seemed reluctant to return, apparently ashamed of letting his fear overcome him earlier, but Arad forced him to with his mental powers. I still disagreed with this approach, but it at least got him out of the water and onboard. We then had a discussion with the Captain about saving the enemy sailors - we all wanted to help them, but the Captain would not take them to their outpost and instead would have to turn back.

Falcor insisted that they had to be saved, and I was glad of that. Thankfully we were now close enough that I could call on Karmana to aid us and allow us to walk the rest of the way across the water, so we thanked the crew for bringing us this far and bid them a safe journey back. We reached the beach south of us without incident and turned left to follow the coast before breaking away to the southeast as it started to curve north. We continued through the day and then stopped to rest for lunch. Falcor's snares managed to catch a couple of hares so we were able to eat a decent meal with the supplies we had brought, and Arad's prayers gave us a decent rest in just a few hours.

We journeyed on into the east heading towards the distant mountains, but as the light started to fade Falcor warned of imminent attack and we drew our weapons. Dark Elvrabor started to appear in front of us, although this time they didn't seem to be expecting us. Arad immediately loosed arrows, hitting with one and starting the fight.

Falcor rushed forward, using his mind to attack but being assaulted back. They ran to engage Falcor, but he struck both of them - anticipating their attack. As Arad and I moved forward another foe appeared in front of Arad's path and sprinted forward to tackle him. Fortunately Arad was too agile and the attacker ended up face first in the snow in front of him instead! I was once again grateful for Queen Arla's gift as Darillion's bow leapt into my hand with an arrow notched, and I quickly put two arrows into the foe that had not yet engaged, leaving him staggered and bleeding.

Falcor was stabbed, although his armour turned another blow away, and he retaliated with a powerful sword blow. Arad thudded an arrow into the foe at his feet, not wanting to waste the draw, and then drew sword and hammer. I was charged by my target and stabbed and slashed nastily before I too switched weapons. Arad struck several solid blows as his opponent regained his feet but wasn't quite able to keep him down. Falcor was slashed badly from the side as he finished one of his opponents; he turned and riposted well, but the blow didn't penetrate the former Elvrabor's armour. His follow-up swing, though, slashed his foe's hamstring and he crumpled to the floor bleeding heavily. I was hit again, but just a scratch, and slashed my attacker's neck; he slowly sank to the ground with a gurgle and died. Arad also finished off his opponent, who was struggling to keep his feet after multiple wounds.

As the last one dropped a shadow raced across us overhead, and we felt a downdraft as if massive wings were beating before it quickly passed. We could see some kind of shape in the clouds above, but not enough to see what it was. Falcor had heard something in his mind but it didn't make sense so he was wary of whatever it was. We quickly checked the bodies, finding more paper and charcoal - probably a scouting party like I had encountered before. Arad also found a smooth ball in a pouch on his opponent, though, which he carefully carried to Falcor to investigate. Falcor had used his powers to stop the last of the Dark Elvrabor from bleeding out, knitting some of his hamstring wound and pinning him down by kneeling on his chest.

He swapped with Arad in order to study the strange ball, but as he did so he collapsed into the snow and an ominous green-tinged light glowed from the pouch. I immediately ran to his side, calling on Karmana to heal him but, although some of his wounds were knitted, it did not bring him back to consciousness. I swapped with Arad, allowing him to offer the Creator's aid, and spoke to the captive. He had taken the selfish path of service to Eversor and a promised afterlife rather than becoming one with Karmana. Eventually, though, to aid Falcor we had to release our prisoner and he walked off still convinced of his God's supremacy.

The problem was that Falcor was dying of exposure, lain as he was in the snow. I remembered the gift I received in Cernurros' realm; I had thought to use it in some of the strange realms we had traveled to, but it would surely work just as well on Karmana... and it did indeed. A sphere of dense, warm forest appeared with Falcor at the centre and Arad still next to him. I joined them, and we all had to strip our furs off in the sudden heat. Thankfully this helped Falcor and he very quickly warmed and started to stir. It might have also broken whatever connection he had made through the glass ball by suddenly moving him to Cernurros' realm.

We rested as a snowstorm raged outside, using Arad's prayers to sleep quickly and then keeping watch. Falcor, having by now fully recovered, was the first to notice a snow-white huge wolf thing beyond the protection of the sphere. As we watched, it snuffled in the snow and dug down with its jaws, eventually emerging with its head bathed in a green light. Whatever it was it had come for the glass ball. Arad stepped out and dominated its mind, although it was very alien to him, and forced it to drop what it had just picked up and walk away peacefully.

We were not sage yet, though, as another one was behind us and we heard it growl and saw its "hackles" (more like shards of ice) rise. Falcor struck out with his mind at it, but we weren't sure whether the wolf was affected or not. Falcor asked me to retrieve the pouch, and I ran out to grab it then headed back. As I picked it up I felt a strange compulsion to open the pouch, but managed to control myself and concentrate on running. The wolf had circled to the side of our shelter and just before I got to safety I was pelted with the sharp, icy cold shards, which landed far harder than I had expected and I staggered back inside the sphere (which seemed to counter or "melt" the projectiles) in great pain.

Falcor said a prayer to Milada, the first time I had heard him invoke her name in this way, and the pain eased immediately as the wounds closed up. I thanked him and his patron; Falcor called it a "blessing" and it truly was! Falcor then ran towards the wolf we suspected of attacking, and this time was able to use his mind to disable it. There was still the first wolf out there, but it continued to walk off out of sight. Arad had the idea of smashing the cursed artefact so that it could not affect us or draw more attention. Falcor started to dig around looking for a rock, and I dipped into the soil to confirm that it was solid enough not to move or shatter with a hammer blow. Arad nudged the pouch, which I had dropped just outside the sphere (I did not want to bring such a thing into Cernurros' realm), with his hammer until it say on the stone. Lightning sparked and traced lines up and around the hammer as he did so but he persevered, feeling it tingle around his hand and arm but not hurt him.

Once the pouch was in place he swung the hammer, in its largest form, in an overhead blow straight down onto it. It shattered and at once exploded into a massive ball of fire, from within the sphere the flames wrapped around the edges and the plants inside curled up as if trying to protect themselves. It was gone in a moment, though, and the plants uncurled slowly back to their normal form. Arad, though, was engulfed and definitely hurt afterwards despite the protection of the hammer. Falcor once more called on Milada to heal the significant damage Arad had suffered, for which he was grateful.

Worried that the destruction of such an artefact might upset the balance of Karmana, I stepped out of the sphere and reached out to the exposed grass (the heat had made short work of the snow in the vicinity), reaching past their concerns over the unnatural winter to Karmana herself, seeking some sense of how the destruction might have affected her. Thankfully she seemed grateful for Arad's actions, as the thing had been leeching power away from her and was now gone. She also warned me that the dark Elvrabor were now the children of Eversor (Chaos) and Kraldar (Death) so trying to divert their life essence back to Karmana would mean fighting against two Gods - that explained why Arad and I had found it so hard to do so!

Into the Mountains

We trudged through the snow once more, finding it hard going but determined to press on. After a full day we at last reached the foothills of the mountain range we had been headed for. After the wearying march we needed to rest once more, so I created another sphere of Cernurros for us, again shocked to find how warm it was after the snow. Cernurros was kind enough to grant us sustenance in the form of several huge berries, for which I thanked him and ate gratefully and well - a single berry providing sustenance as if I had eaten well; it even seemed to ease some of the pain from battle and the journey. Falcor, though, spat his out; apparently it didn't suit his taste!

Arad prayed to the Creator and allowed us to "nap", gaining the benefits of a deep sleep in a short time. About ten minutes later, though, he heard a cacophany of senseless noise in his mind that rose and fell in intensity. A few moments later a humanoid heat source flashed past at the edge of his vision. Arad moved so that he was near enough to wake us quickly and kept up a visual scan. A few minutes later he saw two shapes moving in a similar way and decided to wake us. We fired a couple of hastily made flaming arrows, catching a glance of some large, white, hairy, horned creatures just before we were suddenly plunged into utter darkness.

I sank into the earth and moved beyond where I thought the sphere edge was, popping up to see if I could see anything from there... but found myself within Cernurros and quite removed from Karmana! It took me a couple of minutes to, rather embarrassingly, ask for Cernurros' aid and guidance and then return to the others. Meanwhile Arad said a quick prayer to the Creator that removed the darkness, allowing them to see again even though nothing had approached close enough to be seen clearly. For a moment the plants within the sphere reached towards Falcor and Arad, almost as if to grab at them, but quickly stopped. I suspect Cernurros would not allow his realm to be controlled in such a way.

Arad tried to communicate mentally that we meant them no harm, but received a strange response that we could do "Him" no harm and are welcome in "His" realm, and that he approved of our selfless action. Again, I suspect that within the sphere Arad was reaching Cernurros and not the creatures he could see beyond the sphere. Falcor tried a more traditional approach, shouting in common that we meant no harm, and urging whomever was out there to converse with us. A deep, booming voice responded saying: "Leave, abandon this path." Well at least we had made contact. They told Falcor that continuing east up the mountains would insult them as this was a holy place and we were not welcome. No amount of reasoning seemed to persuade them, but for the time being at least they had not attacked.

We had no choice but to continue; our quest was necessary for the sake of Karmana and we would not abandon it. I said a prayer to Karmana that enabled us to move freely on top of the snow rather than being restricted by it, so at least we could move quickly, and for about a half hour it was easy going. But then a number of big, hairy creatures burst from the snow in a semi-circle around us. Snow sprayed around us as they erupted, and they roared with arms wide as a show of force. We tried to act passively, but as Arad reached for a staff two creatures took a step forward and half-screamed, half-roared to drop the weapon. Two others physically leapt at Arad, trying to pin or disarm him, and one stayed back watching us closely. One creature connected with Arad but didn't get a good grip so he was able to twist away, and the other just landed beside him. Arad used his mind to get one of them to stay at bay and not attack.

As Falcor and I had remained passive they seemed willing to talk for a moment, making it clear that they wanted us to leave their holy place. They did reveal that there was a temple here, one created by all the Gods, and it was the Gods that had created them to act as guardians. I asked whether Karmana was welcome at this temple, and they said that she was welcome but that it was not of Karmana. Falcor asked about Milada, and revealed the tear of Milada (although thankfully he did not activate it or we might have been stunned like last time he revealed it). At this they became much more relaxed, turning as another creature joined the group from behind them. He seemed older and bore a staff, and clearly had the respect of the others as they all turned to look at him for guidance.

The new arrival asked Falcor if he was the emissary of the Garden of the Goddess, and agreed that as an emissary he might be allowed to continue to the temple. He accepted that the sap of Cernurros also marked me as a representative of a God and that I might be allowed to pass, but Arad was a little more controversial. He did not know of "The Creator", and asked Arad for proof that his Creator was a true God and that Arad spoke for him. Arad prayed to the Creator for a blessing, and the Guardian (for that it was he bade us call him - his actual name was a guttural roaring sound we could not reproduce) held his staff up towards Arad as he did so. The staff glowed slightly, and he seemed to accept this as a sign that we should be allowed to continue.

He also advised that we would need an offering for the Gods, somehow sensing or knowing about Arad's dagger and its elemental stone and suggesting that it might be the most suitable. We suspected that this was because he had an affinity with water, though, and might not suit our purposes. He gave us names with meaning for them: Falcor was "The Emissary", Arad "He Who Speaks for the Unknown God", and I was "Mud Child". The others laughed at this name, but for an Elvrahum it was a name of honour and perhaps helped to put creatures with an essence of water at ease.

Once we had been granted permission to continue we took the time to rest in Cernurros' realm for the night and this time we were able to get a good rest without being disturbed. It was a clear, bright morning when we were ready to continue so we could get our bearings a little more clearly. To the south is what was Carseld, but it was blanketed in grey mist and fog; the Guardian had spoken of there being bad spirits there when I revealed where I was from, and I could see how that would be true. Our path was upwards, though, and we dressed for the cold and I prayed to Karmana to ease our passage which allowed us to walk lightly on the snow.

As we climbed we could see the Guardians at a distance occasionally, but we were not disturbed or threatened by anything. We were about halfway to the summit when we suddenly sank into the snow; Karmana's blessing had worn off, but we decided to continue our journey the hard way, forcing a path through the snow until at least midday so as to save Karmana's blessing for freedom of movement at the top. When we felt it was time to stop for lunch, what we could make of it anyway, Falcor set snares and we rested for an hour or so. I looked all around at the clear skies and mountains so close to my former home; I had not been so high except on Hope's back, and my people had never ventured into the mountains to explore. If only we had come in better times.

Arad alerted us with his mind that he could see a group of four of the snow creatures approaching from behind us at some pace. They seemed to be heading for us, but we weren't sure whether they were trying to warn us of something or even not focused on us at all. I scanned the skies in wariness, and could see nothing at all there, which in itself was a little unusual. I called on Karmana to grant us the ability to walk on the waters of her realm, but found that the connection to her was a little weaker, so I added "...and those other realms that she could reach".

As we watched the group draw nearer, a large beast erupted from the snow in front of them. It looked like an Elvradrak! We started running to join them and determine what was happening, and I asked Falcor if it was an Elvradrak, one of his kind, but he answered no! It seemed that we must defend the group from her. Falcor changed form to fly quickly down the slope, leaving me to pick up the various bits he had dropped to do so. Arad sprinted ahead as I paused to gather it all and then follow at a slower pace. Falcor's transformation got the creature's attention and her head craned round to stare at him. She quickly left the group and flew straight up to meet Falcor, going much faster than we expected. She screamed "I will never submit to you again, slaver!" at Falcor as she attacked, and Falcor was raked by her claws but managed to avoid her bite.

The beast let out an ear-splitting roar, and a crack of snow falling echoed in the distance. Falcor responded with claws and also bit hard at her. We ran to help and I moved to the side to get a clear line of fire, but Arad moved around to the opposite side so my bow wouldn't allow me to shoot! Arad loosed an arrow, but it just glanced off her scales. There was also a mental battle going on, with both Falcor and Arad able to attack her in this way. The physical ripping of claws continued, of course, and she finally managed to bite Falcor, causing him serious injury. His retaliation was no less bloody, though.

Arad conjured spears that he hurled at her, each one flying true. After that barrage she turned her head and spewed an icy blast at Arad, losing her grip on Falcor as she was distracted. Arad dodged the worst of it, but was still rimed with ice and in significant pain. Having been unable to use my bow, I had closed the distance and now used my boots to leap up into the air, stabbing my sword into her flank and dragging it down as I tumbled back to land in the snow beneath them.

Falcor keeps raking at it, getting weaker but still fighting. Arad hurls more of the Creator's spears and she seems to be struggling to stay in the air.

Falcor uses his power to heal himself this time instead of attacking. Then rolls and pushes dragon down, yelling "Stop! We are the same!"

We are not the same, Slave Lord. I am no longer your Slave Lord. Few enough of us that do not surrender our lives. Will not submit to any rules, calls it slavery. Known as Death From Below.

Confused - the yetis are intruders and He once commanded them to defend Karmana, but would now prevent it? Arad eventually allowed to heal her. Left in peace for now - warned of Fire Wyrm at summit! It is all places in one place.

Nap and recover then continue with Karmana's blessing again, reaching the summit as the sun is setting in the west with a red sky.

Slight plateau on top with a promintory on top of that. No heat sources and getting dark. Approach the slope that leads to the very top.

Steep slope so Falcor uses grappling hook and dagger, pulling himself up, and I enlarge holes with dagger to make foot holes as I follow. Arad bow drawn covering.

Falcor crests the top and sees a warmer patch in the ground ahead about ten yards.

We gather at top as Falcor lights a lantern (takes some warming), and clear that warmer patch has been liquid at some point in the centre, but now frozen.

He then directed light ahead reveals a stone structure that was well constructed but is old and heavily eroded. Walls partially collapsed in many places. Snow covered inside.

Arad blesses us with the power of the Creator but then gets a sense that he is being watched.

Approach the structure and then Arad suddenly sprints past, slipping on the snow but keeping his feet, and then stops and prays for light, highlighting an area ahead and to our left that showed another corner of the structure, with another pile of rubble as if cleared.

Glowing large wyrm emerges from snow and scuttles towards me as I reach wall of temple. Falcor rushes forward and uses his mind to attack - causing it to slump to the ground.

No connection to the Gods here! Feel compelled to leave - unsafe. Arad says that he doesn't feel we should be near this temple. Starts levitating, rising above the ground. I walk away, but then start moving back to where we arrived.

Water melting around creature running slightly in to centre of temple, so must be a slight slope inwards.

Falcor confused as to why we want to leave so soon. Arad lowers rope so that Falcor can tow him but he keeps his distance.

Start moving to the east, away from the fire wyrm, but Falcor notices a discolouration that might be an entrance in the centre of the temple.

Asks Arad to look from his vantage point, and he prayed for more light - hole in the centre about ten feet across. Constructed.

Arad interested so starts to descend - gets some help by Falcor yanking his rope. Strange... the compulsion to leave seems to have diminished.

Falcor entered the temple, but as he made his way in he suddenly withdrew a step - he had sensed that something had tried to draw power from him under his foot.

Try lighting oil on snow, but doesn't melt easily, start to dig under it and make a runoff. Falcor passes a trident (which he makes suddenly appear out of nowhere) to help move the snow.

Falcor investigates further - was an entrance to the west originally. Lowers lantern down hole on rope, but just a very deep shaft.

Lantern placed on last bit of ice and wait for it to melt. Tip of gold lines can be seen inlaid into stone floor.

Spend a half hour revealing the star. Solid gold circle within the star, which we haven't seen before. One pile of rubble would have formed a pedestal that could have sat on the solid gold circle.

Decide that we need to wait until morning, Falcor watching creature closely.

As sun rose in east - beautiful crisp clear day. Now clearly see that rubble under creature is like the walls and flagstones.

Another pile of rubble - like basalt - to north of temple now visible in the light. On inspection this was an obelisk.

Six structures arranged evenly around the central temple. Six pillars holding conical roof about them, all intact. Stone pedestal about 3' high in each with concave top.

Falcor looked at hole and it looks like structure was sheared from top - that was the pile of stone inside the temple.

Falcor moves to out of place flagstone and hammers into it to try and move it - a good four inches thick!

I check what used to be archway for any trigger traps, but nothing. Then examine them, finding an engraving on the outside - runes that we had never seen before.

Approach structure to SW - star base with six hexagonal pillars holding conical roof. Pedestal in centre inside with concave top. Each pillar has a star with runes inside, all different.

Runes from northern pillar (not star) also on pedestal.

Same runes always face temple, and each pedestal has a symbol that matches the one to the north. In the South, significantly as the stanza for the Sarn relates to South, the runes on the pedestal match the ones always facing the temple.

Focus on this one and Arad calls a blessing from the Creator. Sudden gust of air as he does so, coming from inside to out from structure.

Arad steps onto base and as he does so there is an explosive in-rush of air and we hold on to the closest pillars (constant pull).

Falcor fights against it but we lose our grip and fly in towards the centre, disappearing with a pop.

Both arrive in grey nothing with no air, unable to breathe. Quickly use Cernurros' wand to create a pocket for us to land in.

Should have used a feather! Doh...