Next steps

Rest, Reflection, and Planning

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

He Who Watches

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Arad placed his torch down and stood back with bow ready, and I threw the doors open wide to make sure he had a clear shot.

I throw doors open, revealing small room with stout doors either side with grilled windows - prison! Check cells, and Falcor finds a human male lying on floor in last one on right.

Awkward pose, as if sitting but on his side on the floor. Late middle age. Quality robes although scuffed and dirty. Bearded and not well trimmed, but hair better.

Falcor desperately breaks the door down, breaking the lock and swinging it open. Moves quickly in towards person, touching him intending to heal but immediately falls unconscious to the floor.

We go to door, not knowing what happened, and see human starting to come round but Falcor out for the count. Arad asks what is going on - I run forward and put dagger to his neck "who are you and what have you done to our friend?"

He goes through our possessions quite rudely and eventually we find Falcor's mirror and he turns it towards Falcor and says "Tulak" - fully heals him!

Apparently we cannot help him - must rest. Interested in Falcor's armour. It was gifted to him by the Gods - does not serve them - Milada gave the gift. Interesting. You know how dweomer works? No, I have had no training.

Does he understand how he struggled in childhood? There are 3 kinds of dweomer - the likes of you and I is contained wholely within. The likes of this warrior race, draw their power from the world around them (Karmana) - Arad.

Then the Gods draw on the power of creation. The power inside you (Falcor) is greater than any human - like the power of creation but trapped inside a body that it should be beyond.

Falcor is tied to him for who he waits, but not him. Won't let Falcor touch him - don't touch me - my dweomer is empty and I will drain you again, please stay away.

Custor the vigilant - He Who Watches - watching for return of the dragon king. For generations the watchers have manned this tower to watch for return of dragon king and provide what he needs.

Does not recognise He Who Seeks Dominance Over All, and doesn't actually who the dragon king is. Always two - teacher and student, but he is the last - no student.

Cor'mellabor - Elven place , Cor'kurmar - Halfling place. Never heard of these places! We three are bound, overcome evil, must stay together to bring justice.

Agree to clear downstairs of evidence that we were here, move the bodies, and hide in the prison.

Try to rest... 6 hrs later unfortunately they come with the key and open the door. I just have time to wake Falcor and hide behind door.

Wait for one to enter, shout "attack" really loudly and stab him. Falcor runs around and cleaves two down in a flurry of attacks. Two more behind the first three, one of which is Black Hand.

We are both hit, but just manage to absorb blows with armour, until Black Orc hits Falcor. Falcor stabs smaller orc with dagger in neck, sending him down with spurt of blood.

Faces up to black orc, which puts up a good fight but Falcor lands a strong blow eventually. Weak but still fighting.

I get stabbed. Falcor punches black orc unconscious! I stab and kill last orc... and Arad finally wakes up! I'm shouting for him and moving towards him. At least he managed to treat my recent wound.

Drag bodies in, close doors, lock doors. Bind and gag orc. Arad goes back to sleep some more. Orc starts stirring after about 5 mins. Trying to struggle and yell, but cannot escape.

Try to question but starts screaming, so I punch him. Stops but refuses to answer questions. Re-gag him. Drag into cell. I try to bind his worst wounds, but have no skill. Falcor doesn't see the point of helping him, but he is our prisoner so want to look after him.

Rest again, and I finally get to sleep properly as Arad is awake. Then Falcor wakes - they all study/pray. I awake and Arad heals me. Now all hale.