Journal - The Heart of Karmana

A Plea for Help

The protection of Karmana was stronger than ever within the archipelago, so nothing was likely to arrive magically that shouldn't be here, and we knew that it was hard to reach by ship from the outside. The Imperial presence in the east was static according to Elvrabor, but they were busy fortifying and settling into farming to sustain themselves, and there were at least three legions within the region. There was an evil pall over the Saloroc homeland, and the few boats that left brought bedraggled, half-starved people. We spent the time training and learning more about the region, but Falcor was keen to relight the Forge when he felt ready.

Before we had the chance, though, a boat arrived from the Elvrabor carrying some unusual visitors - two of the Elvrahum. They were similar to Garrett but a little smaller and much older. One carried a carved bone staff, and the other wore bone encircling his head. There was definitely a theme, but I didn't sense death about them. They had come seeking us specifically, and approached Falcor first, bowing before him. The one with the staff addressed him as "Lord", and said that they needed him desperately. He seemed confused when Falcor didn't recognise him, and asked if he could touch his shoulder. Falcor agreed, and he did so, pausing for a moment, and then stepped back, saying that he didn't realise that Falcor's soul was incomplete - that he hadn't yet been reborn. He recognised that the time would be soon to relight the Forge, and hesitated to distract him from this task, but he was the only one that could help them.

He introduced himself as Olgarron, although the other spoke up at that, saying "Hinar Raksen Olgarron", which the older man waved away. The second one was Hinar Lonack Akallan. They said that the dead had invaded the Heart of Karmana, and that no others could hope to rid the place of the dead and ever leave again. Falcor's soul was free to travel there and back, and one born of the dead with no soul should be able to leave as well, or so he said. They would drain power from Karmana directly, so the matter was urgent. Falcor spoke of the tapestry, which the new arrivals called "Falum's Tapestry", and said that they would return in time but we should go as quickly as possible. With only two of us to stand on the right points, though, we needed some dweomer to balance the journey, but we had enough to do so safely, and transported ourselves to the island in the north, at a point that they indicated for us.

There were snow-capped mountains before us, but it was still warm and there seemed to be places we could pass through them below the snow line. I looked behind and I could see a great, fortified city that must be the home of the Elvrahum. It was clearly meant to be a fortress first and a place to live second, with concentric rings of walls, which were deep in their blunt construction and lined with battlements. There was a pillared building in the centre, which seemed to be holy to the Elvrahum. We had been warned that we were not welcome there, as only the Elvrahum could enter. We started our trek up the side of the mountains, which was hot work but otherwise pleasant.

About halfway up to the coll we meant to pass through, we saw some figures on ridge above us, maybe a mile away. We couldn't make out any details, so we headed towards them, making out four humanoids as we drew closer. They stepped off the horizon and quickly blended into the surroundings so that we lost sight of them. When we were a few hundred yards away we saw something angular occasionally sticking up over the edge - there was something else up there... something big. Falcor hardened my skin with his dweomer, as it had been so effective before, and I used the time to make it harder for him to be subject to scrying. Having prepared a little, we approached the narrow pass and as we entered we saw a bloody big, evil looking spider up ahead. It was scuttling around, but not approaching, so we got a little closer and saw that there was a second one with two of its legs stuck into the ground, seemingly sucking life from Karmana.

Falcor loosed an arrow at the life sucker, incensed by what it was doing, but it passed through it harmlessly. Undeterred, he loosed another, but this time a different kind of arrow and that one struck true... and the spider disappeared completely! Seeing he had it under control, I turned to scan around us, seeking any evil presence, and immediately noticed two dark elvrabor archers behind us! They loosed arrows, both striking me, but the armour we had taken from the last Sarn turned them both aside. Falcor loosed another arrow, causing the other spider to disappear, and then turned to face the new threat. One of their arrows finally found a weak spot in my armour, but I was saved from damage by Falcor's protective dweomer. Seeing that they weren't going to take us down quickly, the archers flipped their hoods up and moved away, all but disappearing from sight. Falcor managed to track one of them long enough to put two arrows into them, causing them to stagger backwards, but a moment later we couldn't see them at all.

I got a sense of great evil to the north, approaching quickly, but I couldn't see anything. I warned Falcor, who muttered a quick incantation. A splatter of glittering dust appeared in mid-air as it it had hit an invisible wall, and from the way it was moving we could see that there was something pressing against it from the other side, although it was unable to pass through. We closed up, standing either side of where the dust was, and stepped through. I instantly felt utterly fucker, collapsing to the ground barely hanging onto consciousness. The whole place was permeated with a positive aura, which should have been reviving, but passing through the barrier had almost completely drained me. We had definitely transitioned to another place, that much was clear. I quickly let Falcor know how bad I was, as he seemed to be unaffected. I reached for a pot of healing ointment and slapped some on to help revive me, and Falcor stepped over to help as well. I noticed then that I was drawing energy from the ground, and forced myself to stop (the first time I had been able to control it). More immediately a concern, now I was not so drained, was a tall, dark creature in front of Falcor, which was mostly corporeal but not completely. Falcor told me that the creature was being controlled and wanted to be free, but the only way it knew how was for Falcor to kill it! Apparently exhausted from trying to stop itself, it lurched into an attack, with one massive hand connecting heavily, staggering Falcor with the force of the blow.

I called on my benefactor to dispel the evil that was controlling it, moving around to touch it as it was focused on Falcor. It was instantly changed, relaxing and sinking to its knees before Falcor. It sounded grateful as it told Falcor that his "witch" had released him. He was only a guardian here, but had been controlled by another. He feared approaching the heart again, concerned that he would just be controlled again, but did indicate the right direction to find the Heart. He pointed towards a massive canyon that had come into view as we moved through the pass, and it seemed we just had to go to the centre of the canyon, although that was many miles from us. From the description of the foe, it was almost certainly Ilianna that had invaded the Heart. Bitch. She could not come here herself, though, or she would not be able to leave - instead she stood inside the doorway to cause chaos.

The guardian said that he would seek to remove other interlopers from around the edges of the canyon, but would not approach the Heart. We left and headed towards the canyon, and it didn't take long to reach the edge. There was movement within, but it must have been at least a thousand feet down so it was hard to make out what was down there. I had a vague sense of intrusion, as if I had turned up at someone else's funeral, and had I not been with Falcor, who seemed at home, I would have been uncomfortable. Falcor was angry, though, and he transformed into his Elvradrak form, larger again that he had seemed last time, and barely waited for me to climb on before launching himself into the canyon. I gripped the stave of the planes in one hand as he dived to pick up speed before gliding along the canyon towards the centre.

Karmana Suffers

As we got closer to the Heart we could see a set of six obelisks arranged in a hexagon, and between them was a glowing, golden Elvradrak laying prone. Rays, like lightning crackling, shot out from the Elvradrak into planes that looked like gateways into other worlds, each one situated between a pair of obelisks. Five heavy flying things, the anti-dragon beasts we had seen near Sulinassauri's tower, circled slowly above the Heart, and three floating shades hovered close to the ground just outside the obelisks. As we approached I prepared some vials of water, as we were likely to need a vacuum to help close one of the portals, and at his request I passed Falcor some rods from his pack. He sent a positive energy ball into the centre of the obelisks, aimed at the golden dragon of Karmana. It was big enough to cover the three shades as well, although one seemed unaffected by it. The other two were obliterated - the first instantly, and the second after it turn to try and escape but couldn't get away fast enough. Unfortunately, what we had assumed were the rear, opaque sides of portals were actually inactive and the energy unleashed within the area activated them all at once!

Giants stepped through from Itnak Aln'a slightly to the left as we approached, a fire-headed giant from Igsol's realm stepped through in front of us, and some flying creatures emerged on the far side, climbing - the Elvraeli. I jumped off Falcor, using my mind to land safely, but everything seemed to be converging on me! I called on my patron to protect me and dispel the evil that did not belong here, aware that I was being charged down, but also knowing it was my best hope of surviving. The last shade activated what was a positive portal (we could see the friendly dog thing on the far side), turning it jet black instead, and three ragged black bat shapes flew out. Falcor conjured another positive energy ball, avoiding the portals this time, and it caught all the bats within the blast, destroying them before they could cause any damage. The shade, annoyingly, just ignored it again.

As Falcor flew over the giants he breathed fire straight down at them, doing some damage but not enough for any to falter. He called out to the Elvraeli, asking them to help defend Karmana - they were a little awestruck to learn that they were in the Goddess' presence, although they feared for their souls. They would try to help, though. Falcor banked around as I ran forward, ignoring the foes and heading for the portals. As he wheeled back towards me he was able to send a bolt of positive energy into the shade, finally destroying it. I avoided most of the giants, but the fire-headed one smacked me from behind with a massive hammer, and I barely kept my feet. I was able to use one of Falcor's wands on the Itlak Aln'a portal, and then force it to close with the Staff of the Planes, but as soon as it disappeared a beam of positive energy (which presumably had been sustaining it) struck me, veering towards me as if seeking me out. I actually felt better for a moment, but quickly the sense of an extremely powerful mind almost overwhelmed me, and I staggered slightly.

There was a flare of energy from a portal on the far side that we couldn't see, but more importantly I managed to ask (rather crudely as I tried to hold onto my senses) how to free Karmana. She just wanted us to remove the devices that were draining her, and now I had a clear vision of where the positive energy was coming from - there were rods stuck into Karmana's scales, and these were draining her energy. I dare not touch such a thing, though, knowing it could release enough power to completely destroy me! Falcor dropped an iceball on the dogs before they could reach me, ripping them apart with shards of ice, but the giants had reversed direction and were coming for me too.

I moved round to the next portal, throwing a sphere from Igsol's realm at it, but a hand reached out and caught it! Ilianna was right in the doorway, as we had been warned. I tried to close the portal anyway, but I could feel her will battling with mine and neither of us could dominate the other to exert control over the staff. The heavy flying things were attacking Falcor by now, well some of them - they were slower than he was, and those that did reach him were repelled by his protective dweomer. The Elvraeli were fighting one of the creatures, and we saw a broken body falling from the fight, but they did seem to be winning. Just to make matters worse, I saw one of my father's two-headed giants lumbering around the obelisks to join the fight! I alerted Falcor to how Karmana was suffering, but that was as much as I could do, surrounded as I was.

Falcor was using destructive spell after spell, but was struggling to affect the flying creatures; they were, after all, created to fight the Elvradrak. Now that I knew Ilianna was in the portal, I used Falcor's wand again, intending to weaken the connection the portal had with Karmana. I then focused all my will on the staff and finally managed to cut Ilianna out and activate it. In a moment the portal was gone, and her sense of will with it. Phew. Well, I was relieved at the time, but it was soon to be clear that this would bring new problems for us. I was hit by the energy beam from Karmana, as expected, and this time was able to brace myself and keep my senses. That was why I noticed that four of the dark elves had slipped through the portal at the edge before I closed it. Two ran off to my left, but the other two attacked me with daggers, doing some damage but nothing that I notice after the energy from Karmana had started to knit my wounds anyway.

A massive Earth Elemental appeared between me and the death giant, but I was so surrounded now that I had no way out. I used dweomer to instantly move some distance away, but weirdly felt the death giant trying to catch hold of me as I passed, even though I was no longer really in Karmana as I did so. I managed to get there, though, and even though it just took a second it seemed like time had stopped for a minute! An iceball exploded where I had been standing a moment later... hopefully Falcor was waiting for me to move?! The fire giant was obliterated, and the Itlak Aln'a giants were killed as well, having already been hurt by Falcor's fire breath. One elf was killed and the other badly hurt as well.

Without the controlling influence of Ilianna the gates were activating at random, and all kinds of things were emerging now. Falcor fired a bolt of radiance at an evil-looking spider, then sent ice bolts flying into a fiery minotaur that had also come into view. A swirling elemental with lightning crackling through it appeared through the air gate, but stayed static as if guarding it. Another ragged black bat shade thing flew out of another portal. The death giant turned towards me as I took in all of this, and then turned that into a charge that forced me to my knees. It was unable to get a purchase to pick me up, at least. I drew Aramat in my one free hand as Falcor sent a radiant bolt into both of us, healing and energising us both! The minotaur had turned on the spider, killing it with powerful sweeps of his two large scimitars.

Falcor sent a fireball into one of the flying things, but it still had no effect. He did, though, order the Earth elemental to walk up to Karmana and pull out one of the golden rods. As the elemental passed between the obelisks it doubled in size, becoming even more impressive, but it didn't affect it's focus, and finally one rod was removed. Hopefully it gave Karmana some relief, and her wound knitted even as the barbed tip ripped the flesh on the way out. The elemental dropped the rod and started lumbering around to the next one. I released my protective dweomer, sending the death giant back to my father's realm with it, but only barely managed to stay behind as it tried to take me with it! I was just relaxing slightly, knowing that it posed the greatest threat to me, when another one appeared from a portal! Shit.

The elemental tore out another spike, so there were two removed from the six now, but I needed to close another gate if it was going to remove another. I coordinated mentally with Falcor, and he struck what was obviously the negative portal with a positive bolt just before I focused the staff's energy and it closed easily. That meant I was hit with a beam of radiant energy again, and I needed to be careful as I was starting to sweat from the heat inside me. The portal to my father's realm was still open, but I was wary of the giant there. Sure enough it lumbered forward and grabbed me just as Falcor landed behind it and transformed back to his human form.

The minotaur was just watching now, swords at rest, so at least we weren't being swamped just yet. I managed to force my way out of the giant's grip, and just in time as I could sense a portal growing around us. Falcor used his mind against the nearest flying creature, but that just seemed to enrage it. The black, bat-like thing screamed towards Falcor in an attempt to envelop him, but recoiled at the last moment. A flying creature grabbed me and lifted me up, which was actually a bit of a relief as it took me away from the giant that was trying to take me back to Kraldar! The giant struck out in anger as it flew up, causing it some damage. It's stony claws were painful on my shoulder, so I swung Aramat upwards and somehow found a weakness. Aramat bit deep and black ooze squirted out, and then it suddenly plummeted like a stone into the ground. We landed hard, and I was only just able to rip myself free and roll before the bulk of its body crushed me. Although I would normally have been badly hurt, the energy I had absorbed from Kamana protected me from harm.

As I stood up I felt a tug on my back, and sensed a mind searching - Ilianna must be back somewhere! I called on dweomer to protect me from evil, and Falcor summoned a massive hand in an attempt to hold the giant back and keep me with Karmana. I moved toward the fire gate, and for a moment thought that I'd seen Ilianna outside the gate! I realised after a moment that she wasn't fully corporeal, though, so it was a projection of some kind instead. As I approached, the scrub-like grass around me turned black and grew, trying to grasp at me, but I was able to force my way out just in time to avoid being held. The projection of Ilianna had been the source of the dweomer, so we had to do something about it.

A wraith emerged from Kraldar's gate, and the giant swiped at it as it slipped past, only for another one to emerge behind it. I concentrated and was able to take control of the staff despite Ilianna's influence, closing the fire gate. Sadly it wasn't the one she was using, but at least the bolt of energy from Karmana grounded at Ilianna's image instead of me. She seemed to be absorbing the energy from it, so I knew that she couldn't keep it up for too long. Before that mattered, though, Falcor was able to dispel her image. He was just too late to prevent her from casting one last spell through it, and that dispelled Falcor's Earth elemental. That meant we had to do something about the rods in Karmana ourselves, so Falcor ran over to grasp the one I had just exposed and pull it out. He was shocked by the energy suddenly flowing into him, finding himself briefly in a blissful meadow before he managed to focus and plunge back into the chaos of battle. Although the energy was almost overwhelming for him, he did manage with an effort of will to pull the rod out, which ended the effect. Again he saw Karmana's flesh knit quickly, leaving no trace.

The bat thing swooped down at me, but again was forced to recoil at the last moment due to the protective dweomer around me. A wraith also glided towards me, but the second one was caught by the giant; it reached out and grabbed it, and then drew it into its own body, absorbing it completely! Whilst doing so, it beat one fist down on the massive hand that was still holding it back, but it held firm. I ignored the wraith and jogged past, its sword sliding off my armour and feeling very wrong in some way. I ran around to the Death gate, trying to use the staff to close it, but it didn't work even with the crown's energy weakening the portal. Damn!

The giant saw his chance, closing on me quickly but recoiling from the protective dweomer. Unfortunately he had another trick up his sleeve, and tried to encircle me with his arms. I managed to duck backwards, but another giant stepped through the portal and tried to do the same thing. I could feel planar energy crackling within their arms, and used dweomer to enable me to fly - I had to get away! Falcor moved up beside me, causing the massive hand to hold back one of the giants, but then I was able to fly up out of reach. Falcor used dweomer to escape the area in an instant, taking a moment to catch his breath from a distance. As I rose into the air, the flying creatures that were still circling dived at me, but they were repelled by my dweomer before they could contact me.

One of the giants plucked the other wraith from the air, drawing it into himself like the last one - they really didn't like things escaping from my Father's realm! The Air portal kept flashing, but the lightning guardian obviously dissuaded anything from coming through. I was able to close the death gate with dweomer I channeled, at least temporarily, and the beam of energy that flew out from Karmana caused one of the giants to explode with radiance before it could get far enough away to escape. I was less smug about this when the beam latched on to me next, so I quickly moved away and waited. I needed to recover my energy before I could try to close another gate. Falcor changed back into dragon form, nervous that his protection was wearing off, and went on the offensive, ripping shreds out of one of the flying creatures before it could react. It fought back, but Falcor was able to finish it pretty quickly, and Karmana's energy meant that he wasn't left badly wounded.

The other two flying creatures had closed on him, though, so he had to fight on. He struck and bit one of them, moving unnaturally fast, and was able to avoid most of the attempts to hit him back. He tried breathing fire, but found that they were unaffected by it, instead having to finish the most badly wounded one with his talons, sending it falling heavily to the ground. He turned on the last one, ripping into that with talons and teeth, but then another foe joined it. The ragged, black bat joined the combat, and its wing scraped Falcor's wing, and where they connected it was as if tendrils were trying to suck the energy from him. Falcor finished off the last dragon beast as quickly as he could, and then went for the bat. His attacks were proving ineffectual, though, and he returned to his kit on the floor as it harried him. He retrieved something and sent a bolt of positive energy into it, which obliterated it completely.

I tried to get rid of the last giant with dweomer now that I had recovered, but it had no effect at all. I persisted, able to try just once more with my dweomer, and this time it worked; the giant was thrown back towards the obelisk and faded out of view before he reached it, returning to Kraldar I was sure. We landed, and when I tried to control the lightning elemental it instead simply asked "can I depart now"? I realised that he was an ally of Aergarnion and thanked him for guarding the path. He stepped back through, leaving us to use a water phial we had prepared with my dweomer to create a small vacuum. With that hopefully affecting the gate, I then used the staff to close the portal.

Falcor was immediately hit with a beam of energy from Karmana, so we both moved back to safety. Falcor was able to use his mind to rip the rods out of Karmana safely, and as soon as that was done the dragon form started to fade and sink into the ground. A sense of extreme and deep gratitude was felt by both of us intensely, although Falcor had a closer connection, and was able to have a short conversation with the Goddess. Just before she faded completely, I suddenly knew how to control the leeching of energy that before was involuntary, able to choose whether to take energy from around me or to keep my wounds and spare whatever place I might be within. Then, in a moment, we were in Falcor's temple on the island - Falcor had asked Karmana for a favour, he told me, and it was done. We felt energised after arriving, with wounds and mental exhaustion all gone.

Karmana Exploited

The sense of wellness didn't last long, though, and I noticed that the air was starting to tingle like there was a charge within it - something from another place was interfering here on Karmana. Suddenly, Falcor crumpled to the ground and I hurried over to see what had happened, dropping to one knee beside him. I didn't have time to do anything else, though, as the whole temple complex exploded violently, sending rubble and earth flying. It was lucky that I was low to the ground, as I managed to avoid the worst of the debris, but I was still lifted up and thrown a fair distance into the forest. I landed painfully in a clearing, but had lost track of Falcor completely.

The sky had started to boil with storm clouds, blotting out the daylight so that it felt like dusk, and a wind was building quickly and growing stronger by the minute. There were cracks of thunder as the storm grew rapidly, and I had to lean into the wind as I got to my feet. I was disorientated, but could see smoke rising from where I thought the village was, so I tried to head that way. The wind was so bad, though, that I was forced to take shelter behind a nearby tree. I thought better of the idea, though, when lightning struck a tree on the opposite side of the clearing, although it behaved oddly, seeming to dance and grow around the charred remains of the wood. The storm was still getting worse, so I backed away from the tree but used the trunk as a wind break and called down some protection from evil, anticipating an attack.

There was another loud crack as I started chanting, but the wind seemed to have stabilised a little, although still very strong. More lightning impacted the trees until there were four glowing with lightning, and the first one had taken a form and was starting to venture away from the tree. As the fourth bolt struck, though, I saw a body fall from the tree - was it Falcor? I ran towards him, using dweomer in an attempt to slow the formation of the latest creature, but without success. Another crack echoed around the woods, and a new form arrived in the centre of the clearing. This one was different, though, and one we had seen before. It was a swirling, lightning flecked, mini storm like the one that had guarded the portal at the end of the fight to save Karmana... could it aid me? The other lightning creatures looked like they might be avoiding her, so I grabbed Falcor despite the lightning crackling around him, and backed away slightly.

I used dweomer to instantly move us to the side of the new arrival. It was taking a chance, as I knew I'd be helpless for a minute after doing so, but it seemed like the best chance for both of us. It was not a smooth transition, though - instead of just arriving after a moment, I found myself surrounded by my Father's realm and a really strong force was pulling me back. I forced myself on by sheer willpower, and just before I stepped back to Karmana I felt my Father directly reaching out to pluck me away. I barely escaped his grasp, and suddenly was back in the stormy clearing as expected... I wouldn't be doing that again! The lightning creatures were starting to converge on us, but the guardian lashed out with a bolt that struck one and it simply ceased to be. I had made the right choice!

Two more of the creatures reached us, though, and they started to suck power out of Falcor's body, his arms and legs starting to rise slightly from the ground. One was almost immediately deleted by the guardian, though. I quickly tried to protect Falcor by creating a barrier to stop evil from touching him, and the lightning arced around him, his limbs dropping back to the floor. Our friendly guardian removed the other one that had attacked Falcor, leaving two more... but they were wisely hanging back rather than risk suffering the same fate. I finally had a moment to check Falcor, finding that he was still alive, although his body was cold, his heartbeat slow, and he was clammy to the touch. He had suffered some injuries from being thrown, as I had, but was otherwise intact. I used some energy to heal him, but it wasn't enough to revive him.

Instead I spoke to the lightning guardian, which unfortunately only served to confirm my fears. Falcor's link to Karmana had been broken because Karmana had been displaced... my Father had taken her place! I asked if I could find sanctuary for Falcor's sake, and to learn more of what had happened, and the guardian agreed to take us to the realm of Air. He warned me not to resist, and then I went rigid as I was surrounded by lightning before appearing in the air, with no land in sight. I thanked the guardian as he faded away, then searched Falcor's packs for the feather I had seen him use before to summon aid. I was able to make contact, through the feather, with Aergarnion who said that he would be with us when he could. I healed some more of Falcor's wounds, but again it was not enough to revive him, so I waited patiently with nothing more I could do.

I regularly saw things moving around, but they seemed to avoid us until about half an hour later (although time might be different in this realm) I saw a figure approaching directly, which sure enough turned out to be Aergarnion. He spoke of his fear that it was the Lord of Chaos that had blown a connection open for Kraldar to use to seize Karmana. How could he consort with Chaos? That wasn't like him... and Chaos would consume him like everything else! Aergarnion also confirmed that Karmana was not felt anywhere now, so it was worse than I had thought. I could only assume that Kraldar had taken the Forge for his own purposes.

My stomach knotted, but I knew that I had to return and try to face him. I could not leave Karmana, or Falcor, like this. Aergarnion was happy to look after Falcor's body, although his soul was no longer within it, and delivered me to Borarla so that I could start my journey. As soon as he left, I walked slowly forwards with my arms raised and head bowed, knowing I would not be alone. Sure enough, an arrow thudded into the ground ahead of me, so I stopped and looked up. I saw nothing, so I just said that I sought an audience with their Queen - as she would know the truth. A very green, armoured Elvrabor walked into sight and stepped up to me. He just wanted me to leave, which was hardly a surprise. When I said that I wanted to seek passage west with the Saloroc, he seemed slightly happier (not much, though), and said that he would pass work to them but I must leave at once, pointing the way I should walk before disappearing into a tree.

I spent the rest of the day walking, not wanting to risk stopping until I reached the coastline. I made it just as the day was darkening, and made myself comfortable on the grass between forest and sea, not making a fire as I didn't want to destroy any wood. There was a chill from the wind blowing out to sea... towards the Forge. That was different - life was being taken rather than created now, perhaps? I could sense... no, I could actually see if I concentrated, that souls of the dead were being carried towards the Forge. My father was taking all the souls from Karmana for himself, it seemed. One caught my attention, though - it was the soul of a Saloroc, but one of the lost Dragon clan... I could sense it! It came from the East, so perhaps within or beyond the mountains that lay that way, but was quickly pulled West towards the Forge.

I scanned the sea, noticing a faint light out to sea, so I used dweomer to cause Ulric's sword to glow brightly with light. I had intended to get the attention of the ship, but the sudden light revealed worrying shapes in the shadows around me. They quickly melted away into the darkness, realising they had been seen, and now I was worried that I was surrounded by the agents of death. I hid the sword's light before revealing it again to reveal the shapes again, so I charged towards one and reached out to touch it. I suddenly found myself in a nothing place with stone underfoot; the shape I had seen had looked like one of my father's giants, but what I actually faced in that place was one of the wraith things we had fought near Karmana and it turned with a snap to look at me.

I managed to hold it back by force of will, then took the Staff of Planes and again exerted my will to take myself back to the beach. Thankfully it worked, but now I didn't want to sleep in the darkness! I stuck the sword in the ground next to me and eventually managed to drift off into a fitful sleep. I only realised that I had managed to fall asleep when I suddenly awoke to find myself confronted by several Saloroc bearing the red hand mark. Two were holding bows pointed in my direction, but I realised that they had just loosed arrows at something behind me; the other one had their hands free. A black, ragged bat thing swooped past moments later, trying to grab one of the Saloroc but missing.

I urged them to get close and used a prayer to protect us all from evil and the next time a bat swooped it was forced to recoil. Then I took a few steps to draw the foe away from the Saloroc, knowing that only dweomer-infused weapons could hope to harm them. Sure enough, the next attack was directed at me and I managed to land a powerful blow. There was a second one, though, that grabbed me and I only just managed to shake myself clear. Then the first one returned to grab at me as well, and it took all my strength to break its grip before it lifted me too far! I did manage to land a blow on one of them, and thankfully my armour deflected the next attack.

Aramat struck true again, and a wing crumpled, forcing one to the ground, and I followed up with Ulric's sword. It was badly hurt, but not destroyed and I was lifted clean into the air this time. Again I managed to break free, although the landing was painful this time and my shoulders ached where I had been grabbed. I did manage to cut a gouge out of its belly as I dropped, but it kept flying. The Saloroc had been watching all this, but had stowed their weapons and claws had extended from their hands - they were itching to fight, and I asked if they could deal with the wounded creature as I fought the others. They were happy to, and engaged in melee as I focused on the flying one. This time my armour held and I was able to cut more gouges out of its underside, and on the next pass I easily finished it off. I turned to see that the Saloroc had ripped the other one apart with their claws, so we were out of immediate danger.

Their ship was nearby, and we rested there until dawn. The Saloroc homeland was infested with death, the temple island had been ravaged, and most of their people had fled to take their chances in the Empire. The seas were not safe, and the waters near the Forge were not navigable. I believed that I needed more information on how the flow of souls had been affected, what I could do about it, and what had happened to Karmana. Despite not having any previous contact, I knew that the Elvrahum knew most about the flow of soul energy, and that they had a fortified city to the north. Garrett had spoken about it, and I had seen it, so I asked if they could take me north. They were happiest to sail close to the shore, and if there was a chance of finding refuge then it could help us both, so they agreed. They would not approach too closely, though, and aimed to land a good distance to the east of the city.

I ended up sleeping in because of the poor light, and was shaken awake by a Saloroc as the Captain wanted to get underway. The seas were rough, even this close to the coast, and the crew was reduced. The sails were barely usable because of the strong wind towards the Forge, so it was slow going. After a few hours one of the Saloroc that was mounting a large crossbow at the prow shouted an alert - he had seen something in the water on the port side. I took a look, and sure enough there was a shape just under the surface that was keeping pace with the ship. I asked if they had bows, and was directed to a tarpaulin near the mast, finding and stringing a bow just before I heard the twang of a crossbow bolt being released.

I ran back and could now see two shapes in the water, and they both had riders on their backs, but I couldn't make out the details. They veered towards us, though, and two flying ray things leapt out of the water right over the boat, landing in the water on the other side. Their tails whipped at us, and one scraped off my armour, but they were gone in a moment. As they passed over, two humanoid wolf creatures, about seven feet tall, jumped off onto deck. They landed heavily, with one sprawled on the deck, so I asked why they were attacking us. All I got back was "Death commands it" and "you will all die", so they didn't seem likely to back down. Not waiting until they had fully recovered, I put two arrows into the nearest one, then dropped the bow and drew swords. I closed the distance and slashed at one, landing two blows but having to fight with Ulric's sword to control it properly.

To anyone watching it must have looked very dramatic, with a "glowing white maiden" (thanks to the crown) fighting a snarling wolfman on the deck in the midst of a storm, but things were going to take a dark turn. I finished the first wolf creature with Aramat, and it flashed as he dropped. The flying creatures jumped over the deck again, forcing the sailors to duck out of the way, and I engaged the second wolf creature. I felt a sense of energy from another place, and one of the Saloroc shouted that the dead creature moved, so I lay into my opponent quickly, worried that time mattered. Sure enough, I had a sense of a void behind me, which I had to resist falling into, and glanced at the dead body - it seemed to be getting fuzzy at the edges... what were these things?! I had badly hurt the other wolf creature, but it wasn't enough to stop it ripping the throat out of a Saloroc sailor. His shipmate avenged him, though, thrusting his short sword through the creature from behind, killing it.

I shouted at him to throw the body overboard, as what looked like a Saloroc Death Shaman appeared out of the other body, with hands reaching up out of the void below it. I swiped at him, but even Aramat passed through without harming him. I fought to sheath Ulric's sword, which clearly didn't want to be sheathed, leaving me free to concentrate on the new threat. The Shaman bowed slightly to me, which was a bit embarrassing, and the sailors were all shouting "M'rat" (Death, I think that meant) and pointing at it. I tried telling him to leave, and did establish a telepathic connection; it wasn't like the Elvra, though, just an exchange of information without any of the senses or emotions I was used to. He refused to leave, saying that Death could not be denied or defeated.

I commanded Aramat to flame and struck him, this time meeting some resistance. The shaman looked down at the wound, but then just turned away and lifted his staff. It seemed he was only partly in this world, so I sheathed Aramat and used Ilianna's staff to close the portal to the void beneath him, and noticed that he sank slightly and his knees flexed as he hit the deck. The Saloroc sailor that had fallen with their throat ripped out started to get to their feet... except it was a completely different Saloroc! If every dead body just became a portal to let another foe take their place then this fight might never end. I looked over at the second dead wolf creature, and sure enough the Saloroc dragging the body had leapt back as another creature of death began to climb from its misty remains, although I hadn't seen any race like it before even in life. The rays jumped out of the water again, this time near the stern, and one caught the Captain with its tail, although he didn't seem badly hurt.

I tried striking the shaman again, and this time it had more effect. He was still focused on his staff, though, and one of the skulls that adorned it came alive, staring at me and trying to summon me to the realm of Death (it felt like my father was beckoning to me). When I resisted, it tried to just snuff out my life, but again I managed to resist. This was seriously disturbing, and powerful. I still had the staff in my hand, so I used it to close the void that had opened in the wolf creature's remains, and struck two solid blows on the shaman's flank. He drew a nasty looking mace (the metal similar to Aramat's), finally turning to face me. The Saloroc were not idle during all this - they were trying to fight, but their weapons had no way of harming the foes we faced.

I swung one more, decisive blow on the shaman with Aramat aflame, and he finally dissolved into mist. Unfortunately, it seemed that the mist might form into something else. The Captain had ordered the crew that were out of the fight to row towards the nearby shoreline, still near Borarla, and I fought to keep them safe. The new Saloroc warrior had attacked me, so I retaliated but found him to be a tough opponent. I had been hurt again, and normally that wouldn't concern me, but with every fallen foe being replaced with another I couldn't keep it up forever. After a couple of minutes we crashed into the shoreline and the sailors started to jump over the sides. The Captain came forward for me, though, and I feared for his safety.

I tried something different; waving Aramat, still in flames, above my head I focused on my father's gifts, screaming at the foe to "Begone!" as I focused my will as a daughter of Death. Aramat's flames flared, and the cold fire jumped at the three foes - one winked out of existence entirely, and the other two collapsed, leaving the original dead bodies behind on the deck. I sagged with the release of tension, sheathing Aramat and gasping for breath. I wasn't sure we were going to escape that fight at all! The Captain was impressed, but he still looked pale with shock - he explained that the "shaman" I had fought was the actual Mrat - the Saloroc Lord of Death. It was said that he could be beaten but never defeated, and as long as his Lord ruled over Death he would always return to the fight. Now we had seen the truth in these words!

I respectfully suggested that we burned the bodies while we had the chance, which he agreed to, although we would somehow need to find dry wood. I risked using a little dweomer - after all, Kraldar clearly knew where we were right now, and removed the moisture from some driftwood that the crew used to build a pyre, and it readily caught. Once the bodies were aflame, and respects had been paid, we pushed the ship out into the waters and continued. I noticed we sailed a bit closer to shore this time, despite the risk of hidden rocks. It was many hours later, presumably when dusk would fall if we could see the sun, that the Captain ordered us to beach again for the night. The crew drove stakes into the sand to hold the ship so that we could rest, and I suggested that I sleep near one of the watch posts so that I could be awoken if there was a threat.

I couldn't have been asleep for long when I was shaken awake by a Saloroc sailor. Something big was moving just north of us, emerging from the water. I jumped over the side, using my mind to slow my fall and moved to intercept these new arrivals. There were several huge forms, looking like they had been lying on the sea floor for many years, but roused by recent events. They made clicking and squeaking noises when they saw me, which was no language I understood, and I backed towards the ship, shouting up for them to be cautious while we saw what these things would do. I got my answer soon enough, when the lead one vomited acrid seawater at me, which stung nastily. So they weren't friendly, then!

Shouts of alarm rose from the ship behind me as I drew my swords and advanced. Again, I had to fight with Ulric's sword, as if there was another hand upon it. Aramat made the first cut, though, slicing through rotten flesh and sending rotten seawater and puss oozing out. The revolting mix stank so much that I couldn't help retching, but still managed to land more blow. One of the things advanced towards the ship and bow fire arced towards it in response; the other creature engaged me. A sharp anchor struck me solidly, leaving a ringing in my head. I heard the sound of fire catching behind me, but was too busy to see why. It took several more blows before the first foe dropped, as I had to practically carve it apart until it couldn't resist any more. I heard "burn it" called from behind, and quickly glanced back to see that the Saloroc had set fire to the creature that had approached the ship, and a few of the sailors were pouring water down the side to protect the vessel.

I cut into the other one several times, and more pestilent gunk came out as I did so. It was just as disgusting, but I was getting used to it and didn't gag this time. I struck again, but then it vomited at me just as the first one had. I managed to dodge the worst of it, but the splash still stang and I was flagging. I managed to finish it off, carving it up as well, but the sea itself seemed eager to join the fight and had run up the shore towards us unnaturally - the Captain even shouted a warning from behind me. I was forced to use dweomer again, destroying the water in the bodies to see if that helped. It worked - the sea receded back to normal as soon as I had finished my spell.

I rejoined the crew, who were shaken by the encounter - there was so much wrong with the world! We hauled the ship even higher onto the shore, beyond the high tide mark, to seek sanctuary. We set a fire to sleep by, and took turns to watch - two looking out to sea and two inland. The wind was not quite so strong here, just slightly, but it did lift the mood a little. I got a full night's sleep before taking my watch, so the crew was starting to rouse as I saw a couple of figures approaching from the forest. I warned the Saloroc and watched, readying a bow just in case. They looked as if they were carrying something, which they dumped on the ground about four hundred yards away before jogging quickly back into the forest. I decided to go forward, a bit more relaxed, and found fresh deer that we could use to eat. I shouted thanks into the forest and with some of the Saloroc carried it back to the fire for us to eat!

The crew were in good spirits, as was I for a moment, and I spoke to the Captian of how the great Tree might offer the forest some protection from the Creator. The Captain thought for a moment, and then announced that we must build something in thanks - we had burned and destroyed so we should now build. He ordered the crew to gather stones and lash them together to make a crude altar. Once they were finished, I used dweomer to shape the form of the stone into a rough shape of a tree canopy with the trunks being the supporting legs. It wasn't brilliant (I was no Elvradhil), but it did bring order where there had been none before. I recalled the ceremonies I had seen on the island - the folk there had worshiped the Creator, so I took some time to dedicate the new altar to Creator formally, giving it a divine blessing... and when I did so, the stone changed again, this time into something that looked much more like the tree canopy it was meant to be, finely worked. Light glowed from it, making it a beacon in the darkness, and for the first time since the shattering of the temple it was as if we stood in daylight. I felt much better, with a strong sense of satisfaction, and over the course of a couple of hours the Saloroc came to take a moment at the altar; I hoped they felt the Creator's blessing too. There was an energy flow coming from the altar itself, which I could feel as long as we were close.

After that time, we reluctantly knew we had to leave and continue our journey. We were surprised to find we had a following wind to help us on our way, though, so the sailors didn't have to row as hard for the first half of the day. It was slower after that, but the crew were in good form and we were not far from where they planned to drop me off. The Captain offered to wait, but I urged him to take his crew to safety - only ill could become those that stayed within Kraldar's reach, so he thanked me for bringing hope in these dark times and offered me a gift of a small amount of healing ointment. I thanked him and his crew, for they played no small part in our victories, and we parted as equals as far as I was concerned.

The Elvrahum and Falcor's Soul

I climbed the slope and turned west, the peaks of the mountains to my right and the cliffs on my left as I headed towards where I knew the Elvrahum fortified city to be. The dim light and low clouds made the mountains seem more ominous that I remembered, and I could sense a powerful energy that was not of Karmana from beyond the peaks. The last time I had tried to enter it had almost killed me, so I was wary of making a crossing without speaking to the Elvrahum first. There seemed to be some movement up in the mountains, although nothing seemed to be focused on me. After an hour or so, I noticed that the short scrub I was walking through was shot through with spiders webs, although thankfully quite small.

I took hold of my serpent staff, knowing that it could be useful against smaller vermin, and keep going. When I stumbled slightly on a thicker strand of web, though, I stopped and took a good look around and at the pattern of the webs. It did seem like there was almost a lateral line of thicker strands as if a barrier - or an alarm to warn of anyone passing this point. I followed the line towards the cliffs, then deliberately flicked it with my staff and watched for a reaction. I saw a disturbance some way off, although it was impossible to see what was causing it. I deliberately moved back and activated the serpent staff to create a barrier. After doing so, I moved back towards the edge of the barrier to see what was there. I was glad I had taken precautions, because there was a mass of quite large spiders crowding against the barrier, with bright yellow markings. So that was terrifying... I decided to risk using dweomer again and fly for a while! I rose well above the scrub and flew west until I was only about four miles from the city. I set down and looked around carefully, thankfully not finding any sign of spiders, and then continued on foot.

I kept walking until I was in the shadow of the city walls, which were impressive when you got that close. There was no entrance visible on this side, so I tracked north while staying a few hundred yards from the wall. I began to swing back west again and saw a grand gatehouse up ahead, which was almost certainly a major entrance. There was a track visible leading from it into the mountains, and I kept going until I was on the track before turning towards it. About fifty yards out I walked straight into an invisible barrier! I tried shouting, but also speaking telepathically, to the guards to ask for an audience. The response was in my mind, and it was clear that I would have to wait until the Lord Protector could meet, and judge, me. I sat and waited patiently, glad that I wasn't fighting for my life for a change.

After twenty minutes or so, the gate up ahead opened and a familiar Elvrahum figure approached. He was one of those that had spoken to Falcor about the threat to Karmana before we journeyed here the last time, so I bowed as he approached. He was Highnar Lonak Acklan, I think. He confirmed what I knew of my Father and the effect it was having, but didn't think that they were able to help at all. When I spoke of Falcor's condition, though, he thought that the power we could sense in the Elvradrak graveyard might well be Falcor's soul, and feared that the creatures there would be feeding off its power. It could not survive there forever - I might have at most a few days to retrieve it. If I could bring Milada's artifact with his sould back to the Elvrahum, as well as his body, then they could help to return his soul to the body. I would have to go, and quickly!

As to how we might help Karmana; he spoke of defeating the "Lords of Death", of which there were four:

M'ret - the death of the Saloroc (I had bested him once already, but he was not truly defeated);
Amat - the death of the Elvra;
Tingus - death to the elemental;
Nidhil - death to the divine (and Kraldar's Deputy).

He warned that I was more vulnerable than I had ever been, as I was already walking in the land of Death. He was kind enough to give me a blessing to aid me, given in the name of the Daughter (Karmana), but the blessing came from Milada as we had lost our connection with Karmana. The blessing invigorated me, and I caught a glimpse of a wonderful garden with a beautiful feminine figure in simple robes, surely Milada herself, who looked at me in a way that suggested she didn't fully trust me. I had the impression that "perhaps one day" I might be trusted, but for now I had her blessing - as long as I used it to bring Him back to her!

There was one place that Karmana could still be - with the Elvradhil within the holy darkness. She was gone from the light, but hopefully Midhhil had not found her yet. It was late in the day by now, and Acklan seemed to notice for the first time that I was alone with only what I carried on my back, asking if I had shelter for the night. I had some basics, of course, but he quickly offered to provide proper shelter here where they could watch over me. He also asked if I had any protection for my soul, as Falcor had, which I did not. He said he would see what he could do and left. I sat and waited again, and about an hour later Elvrahum emerged with a tent, a firepit and more to give me comfort. Each time they crossed to where I was they paused and waited for a sign from the walls that they were safe to cross the barrier.

I slept well under their protection, and felt refreshed - not least because of the fresh food and drink I had been offered. Acklan appeared just as dawn broke, and presented me with a gold ring with a large black diamond set within it. He said that I had an unusual soul with an energy he had not seen before, but that this should suffice. An act of will, if I found my soul to be separating from my body for any reason, was all that would be required to seek haven within the stone. I thanked him, asking how I might repay such a fine gift, but he answered only that I should bring the Guardian back, which would be best for all that cared for Karmana.

I left the little camp for the Elvrahum to break down and set off at once, knowing that Falcor's soul would not last forever, beset by evil as it was. Acklan weirdly watched me go for some time, long after I would have expected him to return to the city. I tried to focus on what was ahead instead, noticing that there were some things flying around the peaks near the pass I was headed for, although it was hard to tell what size they might be from where I was. There were also things moving on the ground; not that it was any surprise that the way would be contested. As I drew nearer, I could see that those on the ground appeared to be humanoid, and as I closed to within a mile they stopped moving. Probably just taking up positions to jump me as I tried to pass.

I called on dweomer to strengthen my arm now that I was closer, anticipating a fight, and continued trudging towards them. When I was about four hundred yards out, I noticed the ground ripple as something moved just under the surface from my right to left up ahead... was this a guardian of the Elvrahum within the soil? I stopped for a minute, but saw no more and decided to continue anyway. To the surprise of nobody, when I was within a couple of hundred feet the foe leapt into view and charged at me. There were three Saloroc... well, they were once Saloroc - now they were "post death". One other figure came on behind them, looking more like a skeletal human and apparently the leader of this band as it shouted orders to the others.

I tried to force them away with my will, and found them easy to dominate... but then I was opposed by the will of Kraldar himself! His mind was directly upon me, and I was unable to push through to the weaker minds he protected. They had stopped moving, but now they came on again, untiringly, and two engaged me, striking nastily with their axes before I could shake my mind clear. The leader was hanging back, and kept shouting at the last Saloroc to stay near him rather than engage me, I guessed to defend him while he did something else. My arm holding Ulric's sword had gone limp with the ego of my father upon it, but I was able to regain control and slice into the foes as another blow skidded off my armour. I was cutting deep gashes and slices of flesh came off, so it was clear they were not living, but then I heard the ominous chanting from their leader and decided I had to try and get to him. Ulric's sword was working with me now, seemingly keen to progress up the hill for some purpose of its own, and it still felt as if there was another hand upon it, which was creepy. I saw some bony flying things launch from the cliffs on either side and start to dive down towards the fight - was this was the leader was controlling?

I cut an arm off one foe and the red light within its eyes winked out to leave just dark voids staring at me. It did not fall, though, so I sliced its head off with Aramat. That time it went down, and it opened a gap that I threw Ulric's sword through towards the chanting figure behind. It was a great throw, but at the last moment the sword arced away up the hill, as if seeking to take itself into the valley beyond, instead landing on the ground some distance away. I reached for my serpent staff and threw it on the ground in the leader's direction, and it started to transform into the massive snake that had helped me so many times before. I smashed Aramat into another Saloroc, smashing its left arm, and seeing its eyes wink out as well. It seemed to just freeze and stare into space, so I swung at the last foe but pushed past, trying to reach the leader behind.

I need not have worried too much, as the massive snake perfectly entwined their leader and started constricting, stopping his chanting after a few moments as he was completely enveloped. I fought the last dead Saloroc until its eyes winked out as well, again stopping but not falling... until one of its legs gave way and it toppled slowly to one side. The flying things started to swoop back towards the hilltops, so it was likely that they were following the constricted foe's direction. As they landed, I commanded the snake to return to its staff form, although I had to step in with Aramat to finish off the badly damaged skeleton. Again, like the others, the red eyes winked out and it froze in place. I was about to continue trekking up the hill when I noticed that the one I had decapitated had started moving again - searching around for its head! I quickly kicked the head downhill, and it started slowly crawling after it. The others were moving now, so I quickly decapitated the leader, sending his head soaring down the hill with a well placed kick, but then the two others attacked and I was struck another blow. They were still weakened, though, and I was able to knock the mockery of life from them and set about hacking their heads off, throwing those down the hill as well.

I continued my journey, aware that the bodies were crawling after their heads behind me, but confident that it would take them too long to interfere with my journey. As I crested the high point of the pass, I could see the huge valley before me. It was completely covered in a low cloud with the tops just below me. The clouds were dark, though, not white as you'd expect, and I could see flashes of lightning within them. Despite the sense of foreboding, I descended into the oppressive clouds. There was no visibility at all, so anything could be out there, and I kept hearing sounds and scanning around around for threats, relying on the slope to guide me down into the valley. At one point I did see something up ahead, so I stopped and waited before going on. Just afterwards I heard a sucking sound up ahead to my left that lasted for a good ten seconds. I angled right and kept moving, hearing it pass behind me. There was a low sound like a whale from its direction, and then an answering call from up ahead, so I swerved left this time to avoid it.

My heart was beating loudly as I kept moving through the darkness, not knowing what to expect and anticipating an attack at any time. It felt like a slight relief, then, when I eventually emerged below the cloud, quite abruptly, finding myself only a few hundred feet from the base of the valley below. The ground was being pockmarked by explosive lightning bolts, with one going off every second or so across the few miles I could see. I was surprised to see such a positive energy in a place tainted by darkness and death, but as I watched I noticed that the energy was flashing upwards, not down - the energy was being stolen from Karmana!

I backed up into cloud and tracked along the side of the valley, not wanting to walk through whatever was down at the bottom. I soon had to use dweomer to fly, as the cliff was too steep to traverse, so I continued for about an hour before dipping down to see what was there. I could see plenty of dragon bones still, like the last time we were here, and there was a circle of clear air up ahead that I expected was where Falcor's soul could be found. Acklan had spoken of the Guardian's soul both attracting evil but also keeping it at bay, so it made sense. I was still some way from the circle, though, so I continued within the cloud for another half an hour or so before dipping again to orientate myself. The circle of clear air was much closer now, and I could see that it was brightly lit, a stark change in the darkness around it.

I moved away from the cliff, heading straight towards the centre of the circle, dipping in and out of the clouds to stay on track. As I drew closer, I noticed two flying creatures converging on me quickly. I managed to slow one down with dweomer, but the other swooped in and raked me. They were massive bats, about twenty feet in span, and it was trying to grab me with both claws. Thankfully only one had found purchase, so it came free (painfully) as it flew past. I managed to carve some good gouges into the slowed creature before it could fly away, and I noticed that blood splattered from the wounds, so they were definitely living creatures. The first one returned for another pass, and I took another nasty scrape, but was able to land three good hits in return, sending it tumbling to the ground dead. I was able to face up to second creature, knowing that I had an advantage with my speed, and sure enough it could not evade my attacks and soon fell to join the other one.

I flew on, reaching the circle at last and paused. I looked through, passing freely within, but noticed that there was a change as if crossing a barrier between places; inside it was not a place that Kraldar held (yet). On the ground in the centre was the fresh carcass of a red dragon, about fifty feet long, badly mauled and eaten. Was this Falcor's true body? It was clearly dead, and in a very bad way. The eye sockets were empty and I could see his bones where large chunks of his flesh were missing. Worse, it was surrounded by smoky, shadowy shapes (like the ones I saw in the night near Borarla) that were just standing there, pulsing. There were six in total, and seemed to be feeding off the energy that was coming from within the carcass. A strobe-like bright glow could be seen shining from the very centre of the carcass, bright enough even to shine in the daylight within the circle. That must be his soul!

I started to close on the strange circle, diving down towards the shadowy figures. There were six in total, and as I drew closer I could see that they were the same ones I had seen on the shore near Borarla! They were all the same size, but looking at them gave the impression that some were actually larger but it was as if I was seeing them from farther away. I risked a prayer to protect me from evil as I closed within thirty yards or so, and I had a strange feeling as if I was particularly connected to this place. It was as if I could claim it for my own, and I felt a strange compulsion to do so. There was no deity here, at least for now, so it was free for the taking. I resisted the urge, though, and focused on what I had come to do.

I moved towards the one that looked like a dragon, although now that I was this close looking at the shapes side-by-side made my senses rebel and I had to look away and refocus to stop myself going dizzy. I tried to use the stave of the planes to close whatever portal they were using - it looked like they were in the spaces where the portals had been around Karmana when we came here to save her. Unfortunately I sensed Ilyanna's intervention, which prevented me from using it. Instead I threw the Captain's pot of healing ointment at the dragon shade and used my own dweomer to try and dismiss it. It did work... I think. The shade vanished and left behind a shimmering grey rectangle. A portal of some kind was still there, but the shade had gone. I was sure now that these things were what remained of the Sarn's souls (not the primal ones, but their own - human? Perhaps something else now).

I tried the stave again, and this time was able to force Ilyanna back and take control. I directed this at the next shade clockwise around the circle, and this time it closed the portal completely to leave just empty air. I battled again with Iylanna to try on the next shade, but this time she gained the upper hand, smirking at me in my head. She looked surprisingly calm, which was troubling - she was never normally calm! The battle of wills continued, and I forced the next portal closed. Half of the shades were gone, and two portals closed, and I hoped this would help Falcor to keep his soul intact longer. As I started to try the next one, though, a new portal opened and the Dark Elf prince stepped through with some warriors. He was ready for combat, his sword drawn, and I noticed it had six black diamonds set in a familiar star pattern in the blade, near the hilt. There were runes on the blade too, but I was hoping not to get a close look at them!

He closed the distance quickly, and I could not know how many more were ready to join him from beyond the portal. If it had not been for my protective prayer earlier, I'm sure that he would have struck me - he was fast and accurate, and the sword was exceptionally made. I decided that fighting them all was a bad idea, so I flew straight up, managing to dodge his last blow before I was out of reach. They had bows, so I wasn't safe, but it gave me a moment to think. I tried closing another portal, and this time Ilyanna did it for me! She obviously wanted Falcor's soul for herself. I flew towards Falcor and saw the prince below me thrusting his sword into one of the shades, draining its energy. I dived straight into Falcor's carcass, which was gross, and (holding my breath for a moment) took hold of a shining diamond hovering within his rib cage. I quickly uttered a word of power and shifted several hundred yards down the valley to the south west.

It didn't look like they had noticed me, and they were taunting me about hiding in the dead body of my friend when I left, so I left them to it and kept moving until I was outside the circle of daylight (which had shrunk considerably without Falcor's influence). Then I risked using my mind to travel quickly to where I had entered the valley, atop the surrounding mountains. I arrived in what I thought was a matter of minutes, and thankfully could see the city below so I had arrived in the right place. As I started my descent, I could see the same movement just beneath the ground that I had noticed before, although I still didn't know what caused it. I was about to find out, though, as a huge snakelike creature burst out of the ground in front of me. It reeked of rotten flesh, was lacking eyes, and was about twenty feet long. Whatever it had once been, it was no longer living.

The creature dived into the ground again, but this time encircled me, causing the ground to shake and become loose, almost like a liquid, so I started to sink about a foot or so. I drew Aramat, but also the staff of the serpent, holding it up to charm the creature as it lashed out at me. It became mesmerized, not even reacting as I cut into it with Aramat. Had it been living then I might have pitied it, but I felt nothing as I cut into it until its head separated and it collapsed. There were screeches from above on both sides, and as I kept moving towards the city I could see that the skeletal winged creatures had taken off again and were diving towards me. I stopped, drew Aramat and commanded it aflame, then shouted at them to "begone"! They obeyed this time, turning slowly and lazily flapping their wings until they alighted on the rocks again.

I continued once more, this time unmolested, and was surprised to see that Aklan was still stood where he had been when I set off. Had he been here the whole time? I bowed as I approached, and this time even got a little bow back. He said that I carried a heavy burden, and I passed him the diamond with Falcor's soul. He studied it with some interest, but expressed concern that there were black flecks within - it was possible that the soul had been damaged (likely, actually, I thought after what I had seen, but I said nothing). I asked if he was able to save Falcor, and he wasn't sure. He advised seeking out those that knew the Elvradrak best - the Dragon Clan of the Saloroc; he would take their advice about the best way to help him.

I had seen at least one of their souls near Borarla, but knew that they were not in the forest. He suggested that I try the other side of the mountains. If I followed the coast east it would take me close to the island I needed to reach - in fact there used to be a bridge there. Great, back where the spiders were then. He did let me rest before I set off, as I had before, so that I would be ready for the journey. We discussed my swords before I departed - Aklan recognised the skill that it would take to create a weapon such as Aramat, and said that the smith would need to be almost divine to imbue it with such power - it was two swords wielded as one, one in the land of the dead and one on Karmana, so that anything killed by it would be destroyed utterly, not even able to escape in death. The other sword, which I knew as Ulric's had some sense of mind as it had a connection with a powerful soul in the land of the dead... one that now had a connection and believed it to be theirs to wield. Their people could drain it of power, but then it would lose that which made it special and become just a sword. I should seek the Elvradhil, and the most ancient of them, if I wanted to know more about Aramat in particular.

The Lost Saloroc Clan

I arose as early as I could, meditated for a few hours to restore myself, and then traveled east, tracking the cliffs. I could see things flying around the tops of the peaks to my left, but nothing seemed to approach from that direction. As I made progress towards the narrowing of the land between cliffs and mountains, I could see that the land was becoming increasingly barren and drained of life. After a few miles there was no life left, with shriveled remains of the scrub all that was left, and I jumped back suddenly as I unexpectedly sensed energy beneath my foot just before I put it down. I had a sense that whatever had that energy had noticed me too. I stood on a rock and tried reaching out telepathically, but there was no response. I decided to do the sensible thing and fly above the ground, rising to about ten feet and then continuing, still tracking the cliff edge. From my new vantage point, I noticed ripples in the ground like the ones I had seen with the huge serpent in the earth before, so I increased my height (remembering that they could get to at least twenty feet long). It was a good job I did so, because a couple of the creatures leapt up at me but fell short by about ten yards or so.

I carried on, ignoring them now, and eventually found myself over greener ground once more. I took this as a sign that I had passed their territory and descended to about six feet about the ground to carry on. After an hour or so I reached an area of heavily churned up ground, as if the ground itself had been attacked by axes all over the place, which was odd. There were no obvious footprints that I could determine, but I was no tracker. I kept moving forward in the air, getting close now to where the rocky slopes met the cliff edge. As I neared this natural ambush point, I started trying to detect evil, as I had thought I'd seen movement in the rock to the left on the approach. Sure enough, I eventually sensed that there was an evil presence in the rocks, so I flew close to the cliffs and watched as I neared it. I wasn't expecting a fucking massive spider to leap about thirty feet in the air, arcing towards me from above with its sharp legs all aimed at me!

One leg penetrated, with a couple more sliding off my armour, but it was enough to bears me down to the ground, taking the wind from me as we landed heavily. Its legs thudded into the ground, suddenly explaining the disturbance in the area. Luckily I wasn't completely pinned, and was able to roll to my feet. I could see that there were at least two more of the things out there, although they weren't my primary concern right then! I managed to draw both swords (one was still as if another hand was upon it), and hacked at the spider. It seemed to be alive, although tainted by my father's realm, but I was distracted by its horrendous arachnid appearance and hacked wildly into it, cutting chunks out of it and killing it before I even began to think. Then I realised that its death might open a portal! I quickly flew out to sea, leaving the other spiders stamping the ground angrily at the edge of the cliff, and dipped down to progress below their level. I flew back up after about four hundred yards, trying to distract the spiders that were tracking me with dweomer, but it only affected one of them. Instead I climbed much higher, about fifty feet up, where I was forced to stay above the land because the wind over the sea was noticeably stronger.

Once I was past the narrowest part, I started to leave the spiders behind. They preferred to hide amongst the rocks, it seemed. I flew on until they were out of sight and then angled down towards the ground again. Back at about six feet up, I carried on until my dweomer expired then walked on, thankfully with no spiders in sight. I made best speed east for a couple of hours until I could see the ruins of a great bridge up ahead. There was a spear of rock sticking straight up, although broken up with time and weather, and a similar formation on the far side of the straight. As for the bridge itself, only the beginning of the span remained, with the rest completely gone. It was strange, though, because there still appeared to be a spectral bridge that completed the span, about a mile long and more than ten yards across, but insubstantial. The stone definitely ended quite close to the remains of the tower.

As I drew closer, I could see movement on the spectral bridge, all headed towards my side and all spectral in nature. It seemed like it was some place (or perhaps, I thought later, time) other than my own. The figures looked humanoid and when I was within a hundred yards or so I was able to focus on one, although it took great effort, and I noticed that it kept going onto the bit of stone bridge that was still there. When it entered the tower, though, I lost track of it - and realised just how hard it had been to focus on an individual up to that point. I walked right up to the steps that led up towards the tower, and felt a chill. The dead were crossing, and stepping off onto the island!

I stepped back and used a protective prayer to shield myself from the spirits, then stepped forward again and climbed the stairs. At the top, there was an Elvrahum figure facing away from me that was extremely reminiscent of Aklan. In fact, he was set in the same waiting pose that Aklan had used when I left the city to search for Falcor's soul. I concentrated my mind, sensing an ancient history here, and immediately got a sense of a deep aching sadness pervading the place. Then I saw a figure, though - it was my father! Kraldar strode up the stairs and onto the bridge, drawing what was clearly Aramat, but also a large hammer with a star symbol and embedded gems. He drew the hammer back above his head and spoke... well, I never got to find out, as Kraldar in the present interjected his mind and stopped the vision abruptly. He clearly didn't want me to know what he did here; did this used to be the path for the souls of the dead to return to Karmana? Did the Elvrahum Lord Protector (leader of the Ma'ardus - warriors of light) guard the path and guide the souls? My father might have been the one that broke the bridge in the first place, then.

I stepped up to the edge and touched the spectral bridge... and I was surprised to feel a resistance! I stepped out, a little nervously, but found that I could walk upon it. In fact, I was able to cross the bridge, despite it seeming to be incorporeal. I was walking away from "death", and it did seem as if the world was a little lighter after I crossed, although I don't think it actually was, and I just felt slightly better about myself. A rare occurrence! Just as I was stepping onto the stone on the far side, I got my first sense of a connection with Karmana in a long time. It was distant, but definitely there, but again it was lost as Kraldar shut down the connection. He was too powerful here!

There was grassland on this side, but a sparse forest lay just a few hundred yards away. I paused to dedicate the remains of the stone bridge here to Karmana, stressing that it was blessed to her, only to her and to no other. I held Falcor's soul against my chest to try and make a connection with Karmana. As I completed the ceremony, I sensed that the essence of Falcor wanted to leap across the bridge to join with Karmana... but in that moment I saw the image of Kraldar standing on the bridge waiting to take Falcor's soul for himself, and I just about managed to snap the connection closed in time to stop Falcor. Dismayed, I could do no more than continue my journey into the forest.

It was a wild forest, with much more undergrowth and protruding roots than I remembered from Borarla, but it was at least full of life. The going was difficult, but not dangerous, at least for the first half an hour or so. It was then that I noticed there was an unnatural stillness, and that the bird song had stopped. I crouched by a tree, scanning around for any threats, but it was the tree I should have been wary of - it started moving and reached out to grab hold of me! I tried to communicate with it, but when an answer came it was from somewhere else, and it said: "it can't understand you, it just wants to eat you - you should not be here".

I tried to say that I was not as bad as I appeared, asking for a chance to explain myself. I had to dodge a massive flint sword that the tree had pulled from the ground, though. The answer from the unknown mind was that I would have to get away from my attacker first. I used dweomer to summon a spray of colour that thankfully stilled the tree, so I started running (I knew it would not last long). I soon stopped, though, as an arrow thudded into the ground in front of me. A second arrow landed inches in front of me, so it was a good job I stopped. I crossly flashed a message that "I was just trying to get away", but the response was that I had to "appease the forest or go no farther".

A number of smaller creatures had emerged from the trees, like miniature treemen - a little comical in appearance, but in numbers I had no doubt they could be a threat. They did give me an idea, though. I used dweomer to change my form, becoming like one of the smaller creatures, and once I had done so the things blended back into the forest, apparently satisfied - at least for now. I asked whether the forest had been appeased now, and in response an Elvrabor jumped down from the branches up ahead, saying with some trace of amusement: "sleeping maybe, rather than appeased". The Elvrabor was not as well dressed as others I had seen, although the outfit he wore fitted perfectly with the wild forest around us. He admitted that I "intrigued" them (I had no doubt that there were others, unseen), and had not killed so I had earned the chance to speak.

I explained that I needed to travel past the mountains to try to save an Elvradrak, seeking the Saloroc Dragon clan, and showed him the diamond that held Falcor's soul. I had to be honest with him, this close to Borarla, and he seemed satisfied - I was granted permission to continue, but had to agree not to harm anything that was of the forest... and to kill anything that was not. With that he disappeared into the trees again, so I wasted no time in continuing. At first I stayed in the strange, tree-like form, but then changed back into my own form to continue more comfortably (and speedily).

A while later, I head Saloroc voices up ahead, perhaps raised in argument, although I didn't know enough of the language to tell what was being discussed. When I was closer and caught a glimpse of a couple of figures, I shouted out a greeting and asked what clan they were. The figures reacted by moving out of view behind a thick clump of trees. I heard bits of chanting as I moved around to get closer, so I said a prayer of my own for protection. I worked my way completely around to the other sided of them, seeing a group of half a dozen or so, but knew that I had been tasked with killing what was not of the forest. I wasn't sure whether they qualified, but they were certainly not the sophisticated Dragon Clan that I sought - more like the Wolf Clan due to their barbaric and hostile demeanor.

I aimed my bow at them, but noticed that the forest was coming alive around me, trying to grab at my legs. Thankfully it was unable to find purchase, so I loosed at the largest of the foe, who was deliberately shielding the shaman behind him. The warriors in front of him shouted excitedly when they saw me, turning back to ensure they were heard and pointing towards me, although I thought there was an edge of fear in what they were saying as well. I moved sideways, hoping to break line of sight with the Shaman, but I was intercepted by two of the Saloroc and forced to fight. The light changed around where the Shaman was standing, becoming brighter than a lantern with a warm light, but it was too hard to see exactly what he was doing.

I struck two good blows on my first attacker, but suffered an axe blow to my side in return. I was able to finish him with my next stroke, though, and wounded the other before his companions joined the fight. I was worried about the body becoming a portal, so I shared my blows between the others whilst keeping an eye on the fallen one. There was no change, at least in the couple of minutes I could keep them at bay by dodging or deflecting most of their blows. I was forced to kill two more, though, as I heard the shaman shouting urgently. A portal had opened, but not through a body - the shaman had summoned Ilianna's dark elves. Shit, this was getting out of control again! I sheathed one sword and grabbed the stave of the planes, using it to slam the portal shut just as Ilianna's attention started to focus on me.

I finished the last Saloroc near me and engaged the elves instead. I managed to cut one down, although I had a gash across my midriff in return, but then another portal opened. Ilianna wasn't going to give up that easily, it seemed. Thankfully two elves were cut down in a hail of arrow fire from the forest, so I might not have to fight them alone. I did notice a miasma forming over the dead bodies, though, so I concentrated on closing that (and it worked, thank goodness), before facing the last dark elf. I struck with one blow, but that wasn't enough to put him down, and then Ilianna stepped out of the portal! No, it was just a projection - phew! That was dangerous enough, though, and my foe's swords clanged on my armour as he redoubled his efforts to take me down.

Unusually, Ilianna was ignoring me and focusing on her fallen troops. She was absorbing their souls - I saw the wraith form of one rush right into her. I ignored my foe, getting slashed across my back as I ran towards the portal. I grabbed a waterskin, stabbing it so that it leaked, and threw it into the portal whilst using the staff to force it closed despite Ilianna fighting me. After that, I was able to turn and kill the last dark elf before rushing at the big Saloroc. My first cut only seemed to make him angry, though, and he swung a massive axe that connected heavily, staggering me but somehow not penetrating my armour. I struck with another good blow as the shaman finished his chanting, but there was no discernable effect so I just kept fighting. I cut into the big one with another two blows, and he slowly sank to his knees and fell.

I shouted that M'ret comes, hoping that he would see that it was futile to fight. I got an unexpected response, though, when he said: "not M'ret, it is Amat; save me mistress"! I turned to see that a massive Elvradrak head had started to emerge from where one of the dark elves had fallen. This was the Death of the Elvra. I suppose it made sense that it would be an Elvradrak, but I hadn't been prepared for the sheer size of the thing. I tried to will it to return, but it just laughed at me, and I sensed it scoffing "YOU would try to control ME? I don't think so". I had one other option to try, though. I took the serpent staff from my back, and used its most powerful ability - to force Elvradrak away from it. To my great relief it worked! Amat was forced back through the portal as I planted the staff and spoke the command word. That would buy us some time at least.

I spoke to the shaman again, whose name was "Ralek". I learned that their clan respected the trees, even though they were not strictly of the trees themselves they were able to live here in peace. It was Ilianna that had saved their clan from the death of their homeland, and in return all she had asked was to be told when they saw me, which is why the dark elves had come. I could not convince him that Ilianna was anything other than a saviour, and I could understand why - she used people by offering them something they desired that wasn't hers to give, asking for small favours in return. I was at least able to trade a scroll for some healing ointment, which I then used to help close the portal that Amat had emerged from. Another portal opened, of course, but even though it took some time I was able to close that one safely before Amat could return.

When I was sure that there would be no further intrusion into the forest, I left Ralek and continued my journey, sad that I had not known they were friends of the trees. The whole encounter could have been avoided if I had. I would have to try and learn Saloroc! The rest of the day passed without incident, and when I was too tired to continue I found some cover to rest under a bivvie. I knew that a fire would not be welcome, so I just ate what I already had and slept. It wasn't that cold, and surprisingly the night seemed to pass uneventfully. Perhaps here, as I was nearing the mountains, was an area that was not controlled by any one faction? I was able to meditate in the morning without disturbance, although I sensed that there was a transition that was more significant that simple territorial boundaries here.

I carried on regardless, with no other options open to me, and waled east until I was past the mountain range (it took about three hours or so), before turning south. I was still in an old forest, but it seemed to be increasingly better kept, or at least less wild. I felt a bit more comfortable knowing that disorder was lessening, as if I was getting closer to the Creator. After four or five miles I again noticed that the normal forest sounds had reduced and started to scan around for any threat. I also noticed that, for the first time in a very long time, I could not feel my Father's realm intruding - had I passed beyond his reach for now? I stopped and said a quick prayer to the Creator, hoping that he might hear me, and when I looked up I noticed that there was a snake-like creature, about ten feet long, wrapped around a branch above and ahead of me, just resting its head and watching. It was quite iridescent, with a predominantly blue head although slightly multi-hued, and a semi-metallic coppery body.

I first tried reaching out with telepathy, and it moved its head slightly and flicked its tongue out, but otherwise provided no response. I tried speaking a couple of words I had picked up in Saloroc: "Prite" (a formal hello) "Durg" (a rather generic form of "friend"). I got a reponse to this, in perfect Common, as it commented that my Saloroc was TERRIBLE. Which was fair, although I had started to learn some vocabulary before the world went to shit. I apologised, in Common this time, and said that I sought the Dragon Clan. It seemed to raise its hackles (scales? pointy bits on its back?) and asked why. I explained that it was to seek help to save the soul of "He", and that I was a friend to him. He was worried that I brought death (the usual), and I asked if he spoke of Aramat Gendrossin (the sword). He knew that this was death to the Gods, although I was quick to point out that none had died by my hand, but then noted that it belonged to Nidhil (Death of the Divine), which was interesting.

He was more worried about "Zmayashtoroz", though. I established that this was the name of the serpent staff that I had been carrying around since the swamp encounter in Rozdyrevdoy (the Saloroc homeland). He admitted that he held the key to the path that I sought, but said that he would not allow Zmayashtoroz to enter. I said that I would gladly give it up to the Dragon Clan for their aid with Falcor's soul. He said that this was a powerful offer, but asked if there was a trusted second party that I knew who might hold the staff until he kept his end of the bargain by giving me access to the true path to the Dragon Clan. I immediately though of Aergarnion, as there was none I would trust as much with Falcor's future. He knew of the Lord of Air, and seemed to be willing to trust him as well, so he asked me to wait and began to withdraw.

I saw him twist and coil into the foilage and then just disappear, so I sat and meditated calmly, mentally thanking the Creator for bringing me such a fortunate encounter. It must have been about an hour before he returned, and just a moment later I heard the familiar beating of wings as Aldemot (not Aergarnion, but a trusted agent that I had met before) landed next to me. He explained that Aergarnion was not willing to leave Falcor's body unattended, so he had been sent to act on his Lord's behalf in this matter. The serpent stated the terms clearly - exchange of the staff for passage to the Dragon Clan, to be kept by the agent of the Lord of Air until his path had been proved true, and we both formally agreed to the terms in front of Aldemot. For his part, Aldemot took the staff and departed with it, after which the serpent did as he had promised.

A wall about forty feet across and about thirty feet high appeared between a couple of the trees to the south. It was misty in appearance, but sharply defined, and I could not see through it in the way I had for other portals, although it was definitely a transition to another place. He also warned that, whilst he could guarantee that I would be on the true path, he could offer no guarantees as to what reception I would find. I had no choice but to continue, though, and I stepped into the portal. I was surprised to find that what had seemed like a deep mist was actually only paper thin, and I immediately found myself on the other side. What was disconcerting, though, was that the other side appeared to be identical to the forest that had already seemed to be there! I looked back, and sure enough the serpent was still in the tree branches, although he did not look metallic now (the colouring was the same, but not with the same sheen to it). I spoke to him to ask what would have happened if I had continued without his blessing, but his response was to ask if he knew me! When I explained what had just transpired, he said that I had spoken to his brother, but that he was glad that I had arrived with his brother's blessing.

There were apparently those that had arrived by other means, and I asked if it was the Elvradheramat (dark elves), which it was. No surprise there after the last encounter with them! He asked that I did not wield Aramat in this place unless my life threatened, or if it was to directly oppose the agents of chaos. They had only been here a matter of days, it seemed. I placed an empty waterskin, with his permission, on the ground as a marker to help me find this place again, and then used some dweomer to shield myself from being easily found (again with his blessing - protective dweomer was acceptable, it seemed). As I did this, though, I became aware that I had no connection with this place - it was as if there was no life at all to draw on, even though I was clearly surrounded by it. When I commented on this sensation, the serpent said that it was because I was nowhere now. That made no sense to me, of course.

I was resolved to travel onwards, so I stepped forward and noted that the portal closed as soon as I had taken a few steps. The place was disconcerting, because of that lack of sensation I was used to having, even though the forest seemed quite pleasant to all my other senses. The energy did feel like Karmana's, though, even though it felt different in some way. I was glad that there was no sense of my Father's realm at all, at least. I walked south, tracking the mountains, for three hours or so until I noticed that the forest sounds were more subdued, and had a feeling that I might be being watched. I casually reached out towards a tree that I was passing and half-turned to look back, just managing to catch a glimpse of something roughly cat or dog-sized flying into the branches of a tree. I saw greens and yellows in terms of colour, but that was all I could see before it was out of sight. I tried walking back towards it, but heard a burst of movement from the far side of the tree, and it was gone and out of sight by the time I reached it. I carried on walking for a bit, turning again but seeing nothing, but then caught a glimpse of something a couple of hundred yards to the east - humanoid this time.

I muttered some dweomer to disguise myself as one of the dark elves and then moved to the west to reach one of the larger trees, peering back and waiting to see if anything moved. For a few minutes there was nothing, but then I saw another flying thing in the tree canopy to the east - the same or similar as the first one I'd seen. I continued my attempt at deception, studying the ground and then indicating to the south. I saw the flying thing a bit more clearly, and it did look a bit chaotic in nature, and then I saw one of the dark elves. Yep, it looked like they were after me again! I used some dweomer to protect myself from evil and then sprinted east towards them. I saw another flying creature, which disappeared as I approached, but lost track of the elf as well.

It felt like I was chasing shadows, so I used dweomer to get as far away as possible, then jogged to the south east for ten minutes or so before slowing to a walk. I went this way for a good five or six hours, until the light started to fade slightly, sure that I had lost my pursuers for the time being. The trees started to thin out to the east, and I could eventually see the sea beyond the forest, so I turned south. As I was doing so, though, I noticed a flying creature about a half a mile away to the north west, flying above the trees. I kept going, though, until it began to get dark when I found what cover I could and laid down to rest.

Remarkably, I was able to sleep undisturbed. I meditated a little in the morning and then headed south for a few hours. I began to get a sense that the forest was better tended at this point, so I turned south west to head into the forest in the hope that I might encounter someone. About a half hour afterwards, though, I heard the screech of an animal in distress somewhere off my right shoulder. I turned towards it, jogging forwards to see if I could help. I noticed birds flying away as I closed to within a few hundred yards of where the cry had come from. It wasn't the encounter I had hoped for, as I found the party of dark elves butchering a deer. Hoping to get the drop on them this time, I sprinted forwards and managed to close to melee. They did notice me, but it was too late to easily escape and they drew swords or daggers, ready for the fight. I went straight for what appeared to be their leader, and Aramat drew first blood, but he deftly dodged Ulric's sword and drew blood himself with some artful blade work.

There were three on me in total, with the one I was facing clearly the best swordsman. There was another in the tree nearby tracking me with a bow, but he seemed unwilling to fire into the melee, at least for now. Again we traded blows, like for like, until I finally struck with both swords as his riposte slide across my armour. Ulric's sword drew blood again, and this time he staggered, but I was hurt too. I had been ignoring the others, recognising the greatest threat, but had suffered some nicks from them too. I had to make a decision - to stay and try to finish him quickly, or escape before I was overwhelmed. I gritted my teeth and pressed the attack, and thankfully it was Aramat that connected first. As he fell, he simply disappeared - before he even hit the ground. I couldn't ponder this, though, as more blows rang against my armour from the other two.

I focused on the one wielding swords, and found him easier to land blows on. After a couple of minutes he fell, again disappearing, but it did mean I was struck in the back with a dagger. It might have been poisoned, but I didn't notice any effect so I turned and struck a decent blow in return. His daggers scraped off my armour this time, but I felt a stabbing pain in my neck as one of the flying creatures appeared out of nowhere. Again, although painful, I felt no further effects, and I swung at both the foes, connecting with both. The flying creature disappeared, but I had a sense of where it might be so chanced a swing with Aramat and felt a connection. It appeared as it fell from the air, it's body landing on the ground and staying there. I turned my full attention to the dark elf, quickly cutting him down, and then looked up to find that the archer had already gone (at least it seemed that way).

All of the bodies had disappeared except for the flying creature, which lay crumpled on the ground. At least it didn't appear to be touched by death. It had an unusually large body compared to its wing size, suggesting that dweomer kept it in the air. It was certainly otherworldly, and didn't seem to belong to this place, or anywhere like it. Something was holding it here, though, and I could sense an energy around it that might be preventing it from returning to its home. I wondered whether, if I did find the Dragon Clan, they might know more about it. I used a sack to wrap around part of its tail and dragged it behind me as I continued walking southwest, as best as I could reckon from the mountains I could see. After about half an hour, though, the body suddenly disappeared, leaving my hand with an empty sack. I dropped it in surprise, scanning around for any threats. As I did that, another of the flying creatures became visible - it was very close, in a tree right in front of me.

I tried speaking to it, but it didn't seem to acknowledge my words, instead dropping to the floor lightly. Its stance was odd, though, with its wings dropped low to the ground, and its arms limp by its side. I backed away and it shuffled forward until it reached the sack I had dropped, pointing at it and looking up at me sheepishly. I eventually decided that it just wanted to go home, and was hoping that I could help. I took another sack out of my pack and gingerly started to wipe its wing, noticing that there was some oily residue on it. It offered no resistance, and by the time I had wiped both wings it disappeared, just like the body had. That left me with two dirty sacks, so I placed those into a third sack and returned them to my bag... I didn't want to litter!

I continued my journey southwest for several hours more, but then came across a small clearing where an unusually well dressed Saloroc sat on a low-lying tree branch reading. He nodded as I entered, politely, but a larger, more brutish Saloroc stood by him. This one was still well dressed, but was armed with sword and spear, as well as a hand axe, and glared at me suspiciously. A leather pack was placed on the floor nearby.

Origins of the Dragon Clan

I had a long conversation with the Saloroc that called himself the "Keeper of Hisstory", with his guard "Telok’hranitel" not participating. It seemed that I had traveled either back in time or out of time, as Keeper did not know Death and the Saloroc were not divided into clans in the same way we knew them to be. He listened to my story with interest, although it was all alien to him, but assured me that he remembered everything and of course fully expected to be alive in my own time as the concept of death was not something he could comprehend. He looked at Falcor's soul, but said that I should seek him out in my own time when he might understand more about it and be able to help. He did say that Falcor's Elvradrak body could only be restored in the Forge... but then added that the Ardroc might also work. If his soul and his human body were brought together, though, then the soul would transfer to the body, even if it took time.

I think I created at least some of the names of the Clans in my conversation, which was a little unsettling! He liked "Dragon Clan", as well as "Tiger Clan", and of course they would come to be in his future. I advised him to seek out the Elvradhil and seek shelter in their deepest places of safety before the events I knew would come to pass played out. I would try to seek out the Elvradhil in my time and ask after him or his guardian in the hope of seeking his help when he knew more about death. He helped with my wounds, restoring my body with energy, and bid me farewell before disappearing suddenly. It was me, though, that had actually disappeared as I had just returned to my time. The nature of my surroundings had changed, although I was in the same place. It was older and rougher, and the breeze had shifted. More blatantly, the crushing sense of pervading Death was all around again.

I used dweomer to help shield myself from detection again and then headed towards the southern edge of the mountain range, where Falcor had spoken of an old Elvradhil hall (although I don't think he had ever visited). I was wary, knowing that there would be danger here, and about an hour into my journey I heard the sounds of a moving armoured force to my left. I stopped by a tree and saw marching legionnaires approaching, about half a dozen by the look of it, with what looked like a golden Pegasus symbol on their shields. I didn't know the legion, but as they had a habit of putting creatures they killed onto their pennants I was not expecting them to be helpful.

Instead of fighting, though, I tried a bluff. I slipped the ring of lies onto my finger (for the first time), and leant nonchalantly against the tree and waited. Eventually I was seen and a cry went up. They approached with weapons drawn and their leader called out to me to identify myself. I said that I was a priest of Treddar, dressed for hunting the Elvra, and seeking to kill them. They eventually seemed satisfied, although a little confused, and I urged them to continue with their own orders. At that point their training kicked in and they marched off on whatever mission they were dedicated to.

I walked on, but it was only a half hour or so before I heard shouting and the sounds of combat. Not wanting to miss the chance to help an ally, I headed for the noise to find more legionnaires, but this time fighting Wolf Clan Saloroc. There were dead already, all Saloroc, and it was clear that the legionnaires had the upper hand. I could see a miasma starting to form over the bodies, and I rushed forward to try and close it. The legionnaires noticed me, but were focused on the Saloroc for now, especially as one of them was cut down. I managed to close off the portal that was opening, but of course that would have got Ilyanna's attention. I used it again to close whatever portal was forming over the human body, and this time sensed Ilyanna trying to focus on me, but then another human fell!

The legionnaires seemed refreshed as a portal fully opened above the latest casualty. Two Saloroc dropped as I engaged the nearest legionnaire, leaving only the Saloroc leader still fighting. I finished off my foe just in time to see the bodies of the Saloroc get sucked into the open portal. I threw an orb of Ithnak Alna into the portal, hoping that Treddar might investigate that place, but then the last Saloroc fell. One of the two remaining legionnaires just jumped into the portal with an expression of rapture on his face, and the other paused with a similar look but then turned and pressed his attack on me. The last Saloroc body was sucked away like the others - feeding Treddar with power, no doubt. A strange hand reached through the portal to help the legionnaire, putting force behind his blow, but thankfully the surprise of this intervention made his aim just wide of the mark.

I countered with two good blows, but I could see the wounds knitting immediately after I caused them. I commanded Aramat aflame, hoping that this would counter the healing power, but as soon as I did so the portal snapped shut in an instant. I guess Treddar didn't want to face Death just yet. Without his aid, the last legionnaire fell quickly and I was alone again. Except every fucker knew exactly where I was now, of course! I set off towards the mountains quickly, but this time angled to the right of my previous path, before veering left of my mark and then straightening up, hoping it might help to avoid pursuit. Being clean and white in a forest, though, there wasn't that much I could do to avoid standing out.

The first hour was fairly calm, with normal forest sounds and the feeling of life all around me. Did the coming of death change the nature of life? The time I had entered with the Keeper of Hisstory had felt completely different. A little farther on I heard the familiar sounds of clinking that gave away the movement of troops, and veered right to avoid them if I could. As the land started to rise towards the mountains I could hear sounds of combat to the south, but this time decided to leave well alone and kept moving upwards. I was looking to find somewhere to rest, knowing that sunset would come quickly in the lee of the mountains, but climbed up to see if there were any rocks that might offer shelter. I looked back over the forest, and it did seem that the area I had come from looked a little different to the surrounding forest, as if slightly better kept, at least in the near past. There was also a clear line of felled trees to the south with a few fires already alight where the Legionnaires were camped. That part of the island was obviously under their control. Looking towards my destination, there was a strange cloud on the mountain. It was too localised to be just weather, but was certainly ominous. I could see no obvious sign of Elvrabor trees anywhere to the east of the mountains, though.

As the shadows started lengthening around me I felt a slight twinge of irrational fear. Instinctively I used dweomer to protect myself, feeling calmer, but felt like I needed to do more. I began to collect wood and stones to build a wind chime, linking the wood of the forest, the rock of the mountains, and the air around them. Once I had a rough chime I added some healing ointment to add some life essence and began to dedicate it to the Creator. About halfway through the ceremony, I noticed that I was being watched by a bearded, horn-helmed figure in the shadows. I kept chanting, pacing around the shrine, but saw another figure appear from the shadows after about ten minutes. After another ten minutes or so a figure stepped from the shadows in the rock about forty yards in front of me - I was sure that there was nobody there before, so perhaps they had stepped out of the rock like the Elvradhil?

He told me to stop, moving to confront me, and it was clear that I wouldn't be able to complete the ritual, so I stopped and addressed him. He spat at any mention of the Elvradhil or the Gods, rejecting them all, and made it clear that he wanted to break the shrine I had built. He demanded that I backed off, but I refused, using dweomer to protect the shrine against magical attacks. He advanced, so I stepped between him and the shrine and drew Aramat, commanding it aflame. At this, all the figures dropped to a knee; the closest said "Armatrocbalvar - truely?" and then demanded to know where I had stolen "Armatumvar"? I knew that Umvar meant "Shadow" - and it seemed that these were some perverted Elvradhil that had devoted themselves to shadow. Another figure stepped from the shadows, and this time he seemed to be actually formed of shadow, drawing the darkness with him as he moved. I summoned a bright beacon of light with the word "Luc" into the shadows behind him, effectively a big "fuck you" to these foul creatures. The light rippled out, strangely slow enough to see, and the new new arrival disappeared instantly. The two that had been keeping a distance stepped into the shadows and then emerged much closer from others, but then I was in melee with the nearest. Aramat cut into him, and he looked at it with what seemed to be avarice, but he also landed a heavy blow in return. One plunged his hand into the shadows around him and pulled out shards of darkness that he then threw them at me, the shadow effectively streaking in a long line towards me before drawing back. Thankfully I was able to dodge most of them, and one glanced off my armour.

I struck another two blows with Aramat, although I was now beset by two of them, and my armour kept me in the fight. Ulric's sword struck the final blow on the first one, though, and I turned to the other. He was using two axes, striking more quickly, and we exchanged blows. His weapons seemed to bite as if they had unusual power behind them. The other kept sending streaks of shadow towards me, but I felt no pain from them and managed to kill the axe wielder, again striking the final blow with Ulric's sword. I turned and shouted at the last one to go, or to meet the same fate, and he stepped back into the shadows, disappearing.

I was sore and tired now, but I summoned more light - this time making the shrine itself a beacon. I then dedicated it to the Creator as I had intended to from the beginning, moving the bodies away so that they would not desecrate the shrine. Once that was done, though, I decided to return to the forest to rest... I didn't like it here very much! Fortunately I was able to find shelter and slept the night without being disturbed. As I was meditating in the morning, though, I head voices from up the slopes. I moved nearer, just looking from behind a tree, and I could see shadow dwarves around the shrine. The one that was formed of shadow was accompanied by heavily armoured warriors, although his form seemed affected by the light and he paced around the shrine warily. I watched for what felt like an hour as he kept using dweomer on the shrine, presumably trying to destroy it or at least remove the light, but he had no success. He finally swung a blow at it in frustration, but recoiled before touching it, then turned his back and marched into the rock in frustration, followed by the others. I waited for ten minutes or so, and then approached the shrine myself. I touched it and said a prayer of thanks to the Creator, then shaped the crude rock base into the lower half of a tree using dweomer to complete the shrine.

Satisfied, I returned to the forest and start skirting south around the mountains.