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 flew until both Arad and Falcor landed hits despite the cover the barricade provided, killing another orc. More orcs moved up to the barricade to take their place, though. Falcor moved back as a result, tapping Arad so that they could clear each other's arcs of fire without having to speak. The adjustment clearly worked, as Falcor struck a good blow to kill one of the new arrivals. Arad followed with a good shot of his own, but halfway through its flight the arrow veered sharply upwards, breaking on the ceiling!

Arad dropped his bow and sprinted forward, jumping over the barricade a little clumsily to engage the foe in melee. Falcor followed, although he was able to leap cleanly over. Although their attention was elsewhere, it was clear that the room normally served as a kitchen, and more doors were to the south - one at the side of the wall near to the barricade, and more further south that presumably led to the room with the darkness in, completing the circle of the tower. Stone mounted fire pits were along one wall, and some furniture was dotted around where the tables would have originally stood. A large orc stood behind the others armed with a scimitar and shield; the shield bore the symbol of a red circle with a black hand inside. Behind the black hand orc was another snake clan shaman.

Seeing my friends charge, I stopped being cautius and tumbled over the last few rocks to reach the walkway, joining the charge (albeit a little late). Arad engaged the big guy straight away, using his hammer to smash into his chest - the big lout roared with pain and anger, but didn't seem deterred. The nearest orcs tried to shoot Arad at close range, but one ended up hitting the other! At the other end of the barricade, the orc nearest to Falcor tried to club him with his bow, but it wasn't very effective.

Falcor threw a dagger at the shaman, which did fly true but didn't penetrate his armour. Arad's hammer blow was deflected by the black orc's shield, but this opened him up to a thrust with Arad's sword, and he thrust up into his heart killing him quickly. I vaulted the barricade to join the fight, landing lightly, and the orc's hurried bow shot went well wide of me. Falcor cut down the orc that had tried fighting with his bow, and the shaman decided that it was time to withdraw and ran through the doors to the south.

The orc I had confronted dropped his bow and punched me in the head, leaving it ringing and I fell back defensively for a moment. Falcor ran to the door in the south, although he made sure to pick up his dagger first; he could see another barricade in the next room with more orc bowmen, the shaman, and an area of darkness beyond. He shouted a warning to us so that we knew not to wander in front of the door as their bows were trained on the entrance.

Arad hit the orc he was fighting with first his hammer and then his sword, cutting him down and leaving just the one fighting me. I shook off the blow to my head and darted to the side, sticking my short sword into his side, wounding him deeply. The orc staggered back, and didn't see Arad come at him from behind, quickly finishing him off.

Falcor realised that he didn't have his bow, so he ran back (avoiding any line of fire from the south), followed by Arad who also needed to retrieve his bow. I ran forward, to the east side of the door and a couple of arrows flew at me as I darted across, although no serious threat. I readied my bow as I drew near to the door.

Falcor returned to the other side of the door, bow ready so that we could both engage the foe. Arad did not... after getting his bow he collected his shield and healed himself, then headed south hoping to attack from the rear. This would have been a reasonable plan if Falcor had not sealed the door with magic at Arad's own request!

We started to exchange arrow fire, but as everyone was in cover it was difficult to land a hit. We started to get the better of them, though, as one of my arrows found its mark and Falcor killing one with an excellent shot of his own. Meanwhile Arad battered on the closed doors, literally forcing them off their hinges from the wall and clattering onto the floor. He jogged forward to the other entrance, but the darkness was still before him so he had no idea what was in front of him.

I stepped back, swapping weapons, and asked Falcor to charge forward with me... but he had started chanting. I paused for him to finish before making my move, and as I did so... more by luck than by judgement... Arad sprinted into the darkness, emerging right beside the barricade and having to quickly stop himself from running straight into it! There were some very surprised orcs next to him, and Arad ran down the barricade to engage them. Most were too surprised to react, but the farthest one had time to put an arrow into him as he advanced. Falcor sprinted forward, jumping incredibly high and far, well over the barricade and landing in front of the shaman, stabbing him before he knew that he was in danger.

The darkness suddenly disappeared, just moments too late for Arad's plan, but it seemed to be working anyway. I sprinted forward to the barricade, but these tables seemed to be slightly bigger and just a little too high for me to easily climb over in one go! I couldn't even see over the edge to throw a dagger at anyone. Bloody big people with their oversized furniture!

The others were encountering more resistance from this group, as Arad got punched again and Falcor took two arrows in his back as he focused on the shaman. Arad responded by striking his attacker down with the hammer, then moved forward to slash another orc and rushed at the archer hurting Falcor, knocking him to the ground. Falcor at least managed to land a good blow on the shaman, but he wasn't down yet.

I finished climbing over the barricade to join the fight, but I was late. Arad cut down the last orc bowman with his sword just as I got to him, and Falcor finished off the shaman with a powerful blow that sliced through his neck. Falcor fell to his knees in exhaustion and pain, but focused for a moment and healed all of his wounds as we had seen him do before. I searched the shaman, finding a green viscous liquid in a pot, and we all took some arrows to refill our quivers. Falcor also took the golden amulet of a snake inside a circle from the shaman's body.

Whilst we were picking over the remaining orcs' bodies I suddenly remembered the other door in the north room; I sprinted up to check it, shouting: "The door! They could be flanking us!" Caught by surprise, Arad tried to follow but stumbled over the barricade and ended up half hopping across the room, cursing as he tried to regain his balance. Falcor had a better run up and valuted the barrier, catching me in the next room and stopping me.

The two of them went off on one about staying together and not running off without their protection. Like we hadn't done just that a few minutes beforehand in the middle of a fight! Bunch of girls. At least we could see that the door was still closed and I couldn't hear any activity behind it.

The big orc in this room had a bit more gold and a couple of emeralds, but that seemed to be all that was worth collecting. Arad did take a sip of the green stuff we found on the shaman, but it had no obvious effect and the liquid seemed to darken afterwards, as if losing its potency.

I checked the door for any traps, not finding any, and Arad opened it as I stepped back behind it. There was a simple, short corridor leading to a central spiral stairwell leading up to the next floor. We were a little surprised by not finding any stairs leading down, as the collapsed floor near where we stood suggested that there were chambers below us.

Instead of moving up the stairs Arad and I started searching the floors as Falcor began to move rocks, looking to create enough space to crawl down if there was no other option. Before too long we discovered a concealed trapdoor in the south east room and went to tell Falcor of our discovery.

We opened the trapdoor, after I confirmed that there were no traps, and it made an annoying creak as it swung upwards. There was a small drop and then stairs lead down to the east. The cellar was unlit and of crude stone construction, although of a similar age to the rest of the tower we had seen so far. A corridor continued east, but also branched left just after the stairs. We grabbed torches and Falcor descended first. I warned him to wait a moment while I checked the stairs for traps, and Arad took up the rear - closing the trapdoor behind us.

Whilst I checked for traps on the stairs, not finding any, Arad noticed some noise in the distance, probably to our left. Falcor began to set up a simple alarm using pots and a length of rope on the underside of the trapdoor and Arad and I looked around the passage beyond the stairs. I sneaked forward, but then accidentally kicked a loose stone and sent the skittering noise echoing down the corridor. I pressed myself against a corner on the left, looking down a corridor looking north and waiting to see if anything had heard me. I left the torch behind, preferring the darkness, and after a few moments decided that nothing had heard me. I beckoned Arad, who moved closer, but just as we were about to advance a door was opened on the left of the passage, sending torchlight flooding into the area up ahead.

The light revealed that the far end of the corridor had collapsed and was buried in rubble, matching what we had seen from above. I tumbled backwards out of sight before anyone could emerge through the door, preferring to wait until they were closer. Three orcs emerged, one with a torch, wearing familiar Blood Hand markings. They didn't appear to have noticed us at that point and were talking (although I couldn't make out the words).

We all managed to hide ourselves around corners and extinguish torches just in time before they came into view. They were just walking down the corridor towards us, but Falcor and Arad were whispering and the sound must have carried to them because they stopped and drew their weapons, throwing their torch forward to illuminate the area near to us. There was a bit of a stand off with nobody wanting to make the first move. At one point Falcor indicated that I should look behind me, but there was nothing there I could just about make out the sound of water dripping from somewhere in that direction, but I turned my attention back to the immediate threat for now.

Arad bent down and took a peek around the corner, darting back quickly as two arrows flew at him, way off target. All three orcs were still there in the corridor just watching for targets. Falcor, with his usual subtlety, sprinted forward straight into the closest two, killing one before they could react. Arad cursed and charged after him, rushing to the one that Falcor hadn't engaged, slapping him with his shield to put him off his bowshot (aimed at Falcor). Falcor ran the second orc through, leaving just the one that Arad had engaged. Fighting desperately for his life, he tried to jab Arad with the arrow in his hand, dropping his bow, but all he accomplished was to break it on Arad's armour. Arad dispatched him with a swift hammer blow.

Falcor pressed his back to the wall, looking for more threats, but all was quiet again. Now we were farther forward we could see that there were actually doors on either side, but the one to our right was fully boarded up and a deep chill emanated from them like that of the undead legionnaires we had fought in the death house. There was hardly any light, though, apart from a few chinks from the rubble, filtering down from above. We collected what we had dropped, including torches, and Arad salvaged a few arrows from the orcs.

Arad moved up to the door on the left, listening before cracking it open, but it was quiet and dark inside. I joined him with a torch, highlighting the boarded up door as I passed, which had clearly been that way for a while. The room I entered with Arad was large, and the torchlight didn't carry very far, so Falcor took one torch to the left as we went to the right, following the walls. The corner on the right was partially collapsed, like the corridor outside, but the rest of the room seemed intact.

Falcor switched to his lantern to provide more light, finding a door in the centre of the south wall. We found food and drink in the north west corner, and this was clearly a cellar that was used to provision the tower. The door that Falcor had found was the first here that contained a lock - an iron keyhole to be precise. I set to it with my tools and soon had it unlocked, as we had seen no sign of a key on any of the orcs down here.

Arad placed his torch down and stood back with bow ready, and I threw the doors open wide to make sure he had a clear shot. There was a small room with stout doors on either side, each with a grilled window set in them... a prison! We quickly checked the cells and only one was locked and occupied, a male human laying on the floor in the last cell on the right. His pose was awkward, as if he had been sitting but frozen there and was now on his side. He seemed late middle aged by human standards, and his robes were of quality if a little dirty and scuffed. He had a beard that was not well trimmed, but his hair was in better condition. It seemed on the face of it that we had found He Who Watches!

Prison Break

Falcor didn't wait for us to help, instead desperately putting his weight into the door and battering it down; the lock broke and the door swung open, at which Falcor darted forward to touch the man (intending to heal him), but as soon as he did so he fell unconscious to the floor. We were moments behind at the door, but had no knowledge of what had just happened. What we saw was the human groggily starting to sit up but Falcor flat out on the floor. Arad asked what was going on, but I was a bit more forceful (to be fair he was the only one there besides Falcor) - I ran forward and pressed my dagger to his neck, demanding: "Who are you and what have you done to our friend?!"

He professed his innocence, and swore that he had only just awoken and didn't know what had happened or how he had got into the dungeon cell. He wanted to help, but didn't know what item we had that might aid Falcor... which made three of us because we had no clue what most of the magical tat we had collected actually did! He went through our possessions quite rudely, dismissing most of it, but eventually we came to Falcor's mirror and he exclaimed that it might actually help. He turned it towards Falcor and said "Tulak" and at once he was back with us and fully hale, as if he had done one of his mind tricks on himself and restored all his wounds - phew, I wouldn't have liked to fight my way out without Falcor with us!

Once Falcor was back with us we were able to turn our attention to this human properly. He was obviously weak, although not physically damaged as far as we could tell. Apparently we could do nothing to help him, and only time and rest would help. He showed a particular interest in Falcor's armour, saying that it was something he should not have - Falcor explained that it was gifted to him by the Gods, by Milada in particular, but that he was not a servant of the Gods. He asked Falcor (although it was almost a statement the way that he said it): "You know how dweomer works?" "No," replied Falcor, "I have had no training."

Falcor went on (again) about how terrible it was to have such power when you are a human child, at least where he came from. The man said that there were three kinds of dweomer: for the likes of Falcor and for him it was contained wholely within, for the likes of this one of the "warrior race" (he was indicating Arad) they draw their power from the world around them, Karmana. The third was how the Gods drew on the power of creation. But he then said that the power inside Falcor was greater than any human he had met, like the power of creation was trapped inside a body that it should overwhelm.

Falcor was apparently tied in some way to the one he was waiting for. He wouldn't let Falcor touch him, even to help, as he was drained and empty and if they touched he would drain Falcor again (presumably this is what caused him to fall unconscious). His name was Custor "the vigilant" - or "He Who Watches" and was watching for the return of the dragon king. He told us that for generations the Watchers had set watch in this tower to look for the return of the dragon king and provide whatever he needed.

He did not recognise the name "He Who Seeks Dominance Over All" when Falcor questioned him, and admitted that he didn't actually know who the dragon king was either! He said that there were always two set to watch, a teacher and a student, but that he was the last of the Watchers with no student. But he had seen the signs, and the king HAD returned nearly two decades ago... but he didn't know where or who they were, only that there was no more need for the Watchers. Frankly he just seemed completely off his trolley, but he did seem to have some power (or at least did before whatever "cosmic event" hit him drained him of it - sounded like he smoked the wrong pipeweed).

One thing did make me pay attention, though, he knew of other places with people like us... including more Elvrahum! He called it Cor'kurmar, and knew of Carseld so it was not the same place with a different name. He said that it was to the north some distance - we had to go there! He also spoke of Cor'mellabor, home of the Elvrabor that Arad did not know either. He said that we three were bound together to overcome evil, and must stay together to bring justice to the world.

We decided that we would try to find a way to rest safely, for our own sake as well as that of Custor. We did our best to clear the cellar and passage of evidence that we were here, moving the bodies to hide them with us in the prison. I had a couple of hours sleep initially whilst Falcor kept watch, but then took over to let the others rest more fully. It was a good six hours later, as I was starting to nod a little myself, before I had to act. There had been some activity before, but I had just kept quiet and ignored it, having locked the door just as we had found it. This time, though, someone had a key!

At the scrape of the key in the lock I kicked Falcor and whispered "they're coming"! I moved up to the side of the door, hoping to get the drop on anyone that entered. As soon as an orc passed the door I shouted "attack" as loudly as I could, hoping to wake Arad, and stabbed the orc in the side. Falcor ran around my mark and engaged two more on the other side of the door, cutting them both down in a flurry of attacks. He saw two more hanging back behind the first three, one of which was of the Black Hand.

The orcs fought back, landing hits on us both but not penetrating our armour... well, until the Black Hand orc cut Falcor with his sabre. Falcor stabbed the smaller orc in the neck with his dagger, sending a spray of blood across the door as he pulled it out, and the orc fell, gurgling. He faced up to the Black Hand orc, trading blows a few times but eventually getting past its shield and stabbing through its side. It fell back, weakened but still fighting.

I was stabbed, but the opening gave me an opportunity to gut the orc I was fighting and he went down. Falcor deflected a sabre blow and then punched the black orc unconscious! That seemed to be the last of them. I should say that throughout the cacophany of battle I had called out at least three times for Arad, but it was now, when we had finally finished and quiet returned that he emerged, wondering what was going on! I was already moving towards him, looking to see what had kept him, and at least he was able to treat my recent wound as he could see the blood on me.

We dragged the bodies in and closed and locked the doors once more. We bound and gagged the orc captive while Arad went back to sleep, gathering his strength to commune with the Creator. After five minutes the orc started stirring and tried to struggle and yell, but could not escape. We tried to question him, but he started screaming as soon as we loosened the gag so I punched him hard to shut him up. He stopped yelling but refused to answer any questions. We gagged him again and dragged him into one of the cells. I tried my best to bind the worst of his wounds, although I did not have the skill that Arad had in such things. Falcor didn't see the point of helping him, but as long as he was our prisoner I would do my best to at least stop him dying.

Once again we settled down to rest, and I finally got to sleep properly when Arad woke again. They studied and prayed whilst I collapsed exhausted and was soon fast asleep. When I did awake, feeling a bit stiff but at least rested, Arad was able to heal the rest of my wounds with a prayer. We were now all hale and ready for a fight, but we had given the foe plenty of time to reinforce their position...

When we were finally ready to move, we first wanted to secure the room just outside. We planned to throw open the prison doors and charge anything in the room (a simple plan is a good plan). We were well aware of the need to stop them going for reinforcements and wanted to cut them off and overwhelm them quickly. I listened for any activity and then unlocked the door; immediately Custor and I swung a door each open to let Falcor and Arad charge out. There was nobody visible, so Arad ran to far door as Falcor ran to the barrels in the corner and started to roll them over to use as a blockade. Arad definitely felt fear as he neared the door - but like the feeling we had from the boarded door across the corridor and nothing to do with the orcs. He forced himself to stay to close the door, ready to block it. I followed behind, headed for the rubble in the corner to the right.

Arad and Falcor got into a rhythm rolling, catching to slow, and then upending and stacking barrels - larger ones first and then smaller one. Meanwhile I started to move the rubble and worm my way into the collapsed area. Custor locked the door behind us, trapping himself again but it was the only safe place for him as he was still too weak to risk his life with the orcs here. Once the door was fully barricaded, and I had made some progress digging, Falcor lighted a lantern and they came to see what progress I had made. They were concerned that my tunnel wasn't wide enough for them (well, why did they think the Elvrahum were safer in their holes?), but they were also concerned that they didn't want to make the whole lot collapse on me (touching). Arad whispered that they were going up separately and to keep going, not to come back.

They started going vertically, just to the east by the wall on their right. I eventually reached the light of the room above and peeked out, looking right and left to see what had changed. The barricade of tables was still to my left just past the door to the stairs, and there were orcs along it with bows as before... unfortunately they noticed me! Falcor broke through and, with a push from Arad, pulled himself up into the room to my right, which thankfully was empty. Arad chanted a prayer to keep him safe from attacks before trying to climb up behind him.

The orcs started shouting for help as I quickly pushed out of the hole and flipped over a couple of rocks to the edge of the wall and cover. I turned and called to Falcor to bar the door, only to see that he had just finished doing so! Instead he turned and helped Arad up. A couple of arrows had flown past just behind me, but I warned them of the threat just in case they missed it.

Falcor sprinted through the firing arc, right around to door, and I had to check my shot for fear of hitting him. He called out that there was a third orc at the barricade. Arad moved forward, still carrying the lantern from downstairs despite the torchlight here, but placed it down to draw his hammer and sword, preparing to follow Falcor. Falcor threw the door open, calling for us to follow, and charged at a couple of orcs trying to guard the stairwell - killing them both before they could even raise their shields properly! I stepped to the side, tumbled and flipped up to the doorway and stepped back into cover as quickly as I could.

Arad offered a prayer to the Creator to protect him from arrows and blows, not wanting to run recklessly in front of the bows ahead like Falcor did! Falcor jogged upstairs, lighting what was left of his faggot, to see what faced us there. I waited for Arad, ready to hold the door if they tried to follow us. Falcor found another barricade on the next floor, this time made of crude beds on their side, with more orcs on the other side. Arad ran around the corner towards me, arrows flying at him from (now) five orcs as he did so, taking one hit but not serious and then reached safety.

Falcor, despite only peering up at the next floor with just his head visible, was pierced by an arrow and we heard his scream from downstairs. Arad ran up the stairs to help him, shouting at me to keep the door safe. It took just a few seconds to reach the conclusion "fuck that" and I started up the stairs after him - we were better off sticking together! Falcor chucked a torch at the beds, which in their haste to erect a barricade the orcs had not stripped of their bedding, and managed to start a decent fire. Then he ran forward, leaping over the other end of the barricade (not alight), and killed two orcs with quick and accurate blows.

Arad charged in to help as a Black Hand orc engaged Falcor. Arad's hammer blow put the orc off, sending his scimitar slashing wide of Falcor, and he followed up by running him through with his sword. The orcs to his left let fly with arrows, but his armour held and he was safe for the moment. Falcor ran back to the stairwell, just as I was arriving, and he crouched to allow me to climb on. We needed to reach the roof, then we could fight our way down without fear of being surrounded. Arad sprinted to join us, grabbing a torch and throwing it at the remaining beds to start another fire. Arrows flew at him as he ran, but they were seemingly deflected by powers beyond our ken and he remained untouched.

We kept moving, quickly reaching the next floor, which just had a short corridor and doors visible, but didn't stop. Falcor started to tire and missed a step, tipping me into a bruising rough landing, although Arad was just behind and grabbed me so that we didn't have to stop. When we reached the roof a few moments later it initially seemed clear of foes. It was night, so dark, but we could see the battlements in the moonlight. The stairs were covered so we would have to circle around to check the whole roof. Falcor moved first, and quickly noticed an orc to our far left; he started running at a charge, shouting a warning, seeing another orc just to the left of the stair opening. He put the momentum of his run into a vicious stab, gutting the orc who didn't even have time to loose an arrow.

Arad also went left, hugging the wall and got slashed as he came face to face with the foe, fortunately not a serious wound. A Black Hand orc moved up from behind the first foe, though, and this time it was his armour that saved him from injury. I tried to aid Arad, stabbing his attacker, and Arad followed up with hammer and sword - the orc fell to our combined blows. Arrows were flying at Falcor, but he escaped harm - orc were worse at archery than Arad! A gang of orcs came rushing from behind us now that we had moved in one direction, trying to gain an advantage, but Arad smashed one down with his hammer in front and then spun and cut one approaching from behind with his sword. I also started to turn, which was fortunate as one was stabbing at my back and I only received a nick in my side as a result. Falcor came rushing back to help, killing one with a stab in its side, and I turned and stab another in the gut who fell gurgling to the floor dead.

More arrows were flying at us, although the "surprise" party was defeated at the stairs. Falcor shouted at Arad to go one way as he goes the other, saying that I should stay and guard the stairs... typical tall person bias! Falcor sprinted towards the nearest orc with a bow to the north, stabbing him as closed quickly to melee range. Arad sprinted the other way, although he wasn't quite as fast and took an arrow before he could close the distance. The orcs dropped their bows and started to punch or claw at them instead. Arad passed by the orc that was trying to engage him and kept sprinting at the last one with a bow, killing him with a single sword stroke. Falcor stabbed a second time, lifting the orc up with the power of his blow and throwing him over the edge of the tower! He was dead before he hit the ground, though, thankfully.

The last orc dropped to his knees, holding up his hands and pleading for mercy. Arad forced him to the floor and tied his hands so that he was no longer a threat. Falcor thanked Arad for saving his life once more, but urged him to come quickly so that we could secure the next floor. Arad said: "Remember this mercy!" then ran to catch us up. We stopped at the next floor, where the doors were as Arad called on the Creator to heal his wounds, restoring some of his health.

Falcor inspected the door but found nothing unusual. I was hiding just at the corner to the stairs, listening for any pursuit from below, but all was quiet at the moment. Then Falcor whispered a warning - he was aware of a magical aura to his right behind the wall. I inspected the area and found a concealed door with no obvious traps, but Custor had warned that there were powerful forces protecting his "trinkets" behind concealed doors so we elected to leave it for now.

Instead we opened the obvious door to find more orcs behind not one but two more barricades waiting for us! Falcor stepped back and conjured a display of coloured lights, which sprang from his outstretched hands and caused four of the orcs to collapse to the ground on our right. I moved to the left as Arad went forward, and I shouted: "drop your weapons if you want to live!" The one was closest too didn't seem to want to comply with my reasonable request, so I stabbed him, causing a serious wound. Arad followed and engaged the next orc, killing him with quick and precise sword blows.

What arrow fire there was was ineffectual - Falcor's little light show seemed to have spoilt their little welcome party. It was going well until a Black Hand orc chanted some guttural words, pointed his hand at Arad, and sent a magical bolt streaking into him, unerringly avoiding everyone else in the way and causing him some pain. I fought with another orc, both avoiding each other's blows for a while until I stepping in and skewered him with my sword, putting him down for good. The Black Hand orc was full of surprises, pointing a short black rod at Arad and sending another magical bolt into his chest... now he was really hurt. Arad managed to close the distance to engage him, cutting deep with his sword, but he didn't go down. In return he slashed Arad deeply in his side with a scimitar, leaving him barely able to stand with blood flowing freely from the wound. Arad made one last effort, slashing at his opponent's neck and clearly opened an artery as blood spurted out and the orc collapsed with a groan. Arad nearly did the same, going down onto one knee and breathing heavily.

Falcor engaged another two orcs, killing one with a single strong blow. I ran up to help Falcor, stabbing the distracted orc from behind and killing him. Falcor moved to Arad's side, touching him and doing that miraculous healing that made you look twice - all his wounds vanishing in a moment. Before we could relax the doors we had been advancing on were flung open and a group of black hand orcs charged out to attack us, followed by an even bigger black orc by far - carrying a particularly nice short sword. Falcor used his mind to assault them as they enter, causing two to collapse to the ground and one to stop in shock and confusion - this was a nice power I hadn't seen before! Falcor shouted at Arad to stick to the plan and tie up the ones behind us even as he ran forward to engage the big guy. I tred to cover his back, engaging the other one still fighting, twisting so that his first blow scraped off my armour as I got closer.

Falcor cut deeply into the big orc at the end of his charge, but this one was tough and kept fighting. Arad did as Falcor asked, quickly tying rough knots on the hands of a couple of the unconscious orcs as we kept fighting. I stabbed the orc I was facing up to deeply with both dagger and short sword... but somehow he didn't go down! Falcor took a nasty cut from that nice looking short sword, but it allowed him to cleave the big orc from waist to chest in retaliation, the body falling away slowly in a fountain of blood as he pulled his sword out. I was cut by a scimitar, having over committed thinking that I would kill him first, but I just kept stabbing and gritted my teeth against the pain, and he never go the chance to strike at me again.

The last two orcs woke up and quickly tried to rush Arad, but he evaded their blows, dropped the rope and willed his hammer into his hand almost as he was swinging, smashing one dead before he could react. Spinning, he drew and slashed upwards with his sword in one motion, killing the other. Falcor walked up to the orc that was standing in a daze, punching him hard in the temple and sending him unconscious to the floor.

We entered the room that they had rushed out from, finding no more enemies there. It was a makeshift throne room of some kind, or an audience room. There were chests prominently to the side of the throne, which caught Falcor's attention. There were more doors on the other side to our left, although closed. I asked Arad if he needed any help dealing with his prisoners, but he answered that he thought that they could come to some understanding. I loudly and pointedly replied that I "...hope they comply for the sake of their LIVES." He tied them up securely without any trouble, as I tied the others up with some rope that Falcor was carrying. He went over to the orc with the interesting (and painful) rod, taking it as well as a scroll of invisibility and a glass vial with a clear viscous liquid. I also picked up the big orc's short sword, which was a nicely balanced weapon that I decided to keep.

Falcor walked over the the chests in the next room and bashed the locks off, finding a large amount of money inside. I piped up that I thought we were clearing the tower of orcs for Custor, not looting it! I don't know why nobody seems to trust me around valuables when I'm clearly not the thief around here! I moved up to the other doors, looking for any traps, as Arad barred the doors behind us to prevent any surprises. Beyond was a smallish room with more doors opposite where we entered, and tables to the right with some clutter on. I suggested going back, as they were barred from this side, but the others were concerned about secret doors and wanted to check beyond for any more threats.

Arad tried to listen at the door, but there was a violent discharge of electricity that gave him a shock, and he heard a voice saying "not here, my son, not here". This soon dissuaded him from pressing forward and he picked me up, agreeing to backtrack to the stairs. The orcs were still tied up in the next room, not showing any signs of resistance. The leader, well we hoped that they didn't come bigger than that anyway, was a topic of debate. Arad was all for beheading him and using the head for a show of power in an attempt to get more orcs to give up or leave. Falcor had very strong views on the desecration of the dead, though, and would not agree to it. Instead he ended up carrying the whole body with him down the stairs!

As we approached the next floor, with Falcor holding up the body ahead of us, I shouted crudely in the orc language: "Stop! No fight!" There was some confusion with my very basic grip on the language, as an orc reply came (in common thankfully): "You surrender?" We replied "no, YOU surrender!" to clear things up. Falcor shouted: "We have your leader!" I added, for clarity: "We killed him!" We tried to convince them to leave peacefully, but had to back out of sight before they would risk moving. We listened from around the corner, hearing what sounded like them leaving, and Arad took the time to collect his captives from upstairs in case we needed to show them that we did leave some alive if they surrendered. Arad tried to questions the orcs about the tower, but they were definitely not cooperating. Apparently to them Karmana is their dark mother, and those that bring her wisdom into the light don't understand her message. Great, just what we needed - another perspective!

Now we checked the doors in the room, with the fire from the beds having burnt out and no sign of the orcs that were here previously. One door was barred from the other side, but the other was not and I almost fell through as it swung open. The room beyond was empty despite the barricade, so we crossed to another door. The room beyond that was also empty - it was a bit eerie to be honest after all the resistance we had faced so far. I moved around towards the far door, and after a few moments Arad charged into the room, throwing a torch forward for light, but there was nothing there. Falcor barred the door behind us and once I had checked it I opened the next door, ducking down to allow better lines of fire. Despite all this caution there was just a small empty hallway with doors at far end, mirroring the structure on the ground floor... which made us suspect that there might be a hidden area to our right.

Arad threw the torch into the hallway for light and we all checked the walls for any kind of entrance. Falcor warned of dweomer where we were trying to look, which convinced us further that there was something to find... it was just really difficult to spot! Just as we were about to give up looking, I finally noticed a concealed door just where we had been searching. As I moved forward the light must have highlighted something I hadn't seen from the other side. It was really well concealed, and again we heeded the warning of Custor and decided that it was not safe to investigate. Instead we went north, following the established pattern for opening a door so that Falcor and Arad had the best chance to engage any foe... but it was yet another empty room! This abandoned floor was freaking us out now.

We checked the room, finding nothing, and then unbarred the door we first checked on this level. This led us back to where Arad had left his two captives... except that they weren't there any more. They had pulled the torch bracket he had tied them to off the wall and disappeared with the big orc's body. We descended to the bottom of the stairs to find an unnatural darkness around the door area. Falcor and Arad excavated a hole to the basement in the rubble and then Falcor started to remove the barricade we had set at the beginning of this escapade, which took some time.

When we were set, Falcor healed me with his mind, and then used a scroll to make me invisible. Falcor went back into the basement and made his way to the trapdoor as I sneaked out to try to find an advantageous position to attack from. I went left, moving carefully along the wall through an extended area of darkness, eventually emerging to find that the doors had been barred here, so had to go back. I crossed through the darkness again, moving more carefully over the wooden planks until I was just over halfway across. It was at that point that Falcor decided I had had enough time, and he cracked open the trapdoor, emerging behind some orc bowmen that didn't immediately see him. He began to open the door wider, seeing another orc with a bow and then felt a weight suddenly slam onto the trapdoor from behind it. Falcor resisted, using his strength to force it up, throwing someone off and onto the floor, but effectively announcing his arrival.

He burst into the room, cutting two orcs down before they could react, and screaming that he was attacking so that there was a big commotion for us to hear. I could hear lots of orcs shouting close to where I was. Falcor started to take arrow fire, but it was so bad that one orc put an arrow in another. Falcor turned his attention to the black hand orc he had dislodged, stabbing him with a powerful blow to the side, then following up with a vicious cut into his neck that left him falling in a spurt of blood. More arrows were loosed at him, but an orc ended up killing one of his own! Falcor was then swarmed by orcs, coming from the other rooms, but they got in each other's way and he had time to jump back down into the trapdoor and get back behind the corner at the bottom of the stairs.

I kept moving, feeling the floor change to stone underfoot and veering right as I did so, trying to follow the memory of the room from the last time we were there as I was still in darkness. Arad was less cautious, sprinting past me in the dark... and running straight into a wooden barrier, almost breaking something in the process. I heard him pass me and the crash just in front of me when he hit, so I slowed down. Arad climbed over a table that had been used to barricade the door, moving south, and emerged into the light to find two orc bowmen there facing him. I was moments behind, but the barrier was too high to easily get over so I shoved it forward to make a gap. Unfortunately Arad was so close that this shoved him off balance and towards the orcs.

Arad turned this motion into an attack, slashing one orc down with his sword.

Falcor gave himself the ability to jump further than normal and as the orcs piled into the stairs after him he stepped out in front of them. The front one was so surprised he lost his footing when the one behind him crashed into his back, falling at Falcor's feet. The next couple stopped due to the chaos in front of them and Falcor attacked with his mind again, knocking three unconscious. The last one on the stairs did not escape either, as Falcor jumped right into him before running past and up into the room above again. He immediately moved to engage the orcs in the nearest doorway, killing one as he got there.

Arad brought down the other orc in front of him with a hammer blow and then sprinted south to join Falcor. Falcor had arrows fly at him from every direction, and was hit four times, but thankfully only two shots penetrated his armour. Arad continued past Falcor to engage the archers, hammering one and cutting another with his sword, felling them both. Now it was one-on-one with each of us fighting one orc, given the way the fight had gone so far that wasn't good odds for the orcs. Sure enough each fell to our blows and finally there was a moment of calm.