Journal - The Hunt for Kellerot

Lizardfolk Island

There was a rough path leading up to the ruined tower, infrequently used but I could see that it had been used recently. A group had gone up the hill and then returned dragging something, which was presumably me as that's where I had awoken. We could just, if we strained to see, make out the tip of an obelisk near to the tower above us. That would make sense if I was transported there by Karmana. We decided to head up towards this area, just to our east we reckoned.

Falcor led the way with Arad following and then I was behind. They were still wary, with bows drawn, but I just looked around, enjoying the walk. There was a sail almost on the horizon to the west, and a fishing boat to the south of where we were, but no immediate sign of trouble. It was dry and warm and we reached the area unopposed. What was left of the tower looked like Custor's, but it was significantly damaged (damage that looked to have occurred a long time ago). About half had collapsed between the north west and south east with only the south west quarter at full height still. There was no obvious signs of life as we approached. It did smell, we noticed as we neared, very strongly of bat guano.

The obelisk looked as if it had thrust out from the earth very recently, judging by the disturbed soil, and was a green quartz. Falcor walked up and touched the obelisk and the same "see-saw" symbol appeared as it had on the obelisk in the village. He invited me to try the same, not knowing that I was itching to try to commune with Karmana again, having felt her loving embrace once before. The obelisk was my best chance of doing so, and I knelt down to touch the earth before moving my hands onto the obelisk, reaching out with my mind for the thought, or perhaps the emotion, of Karmana. Almost at once I was overwhelmed once more with energy and love, having succeeded in connecting directly with her, it was like a rapturous joy.

I immediately pledged myself to her service and vowed to heal the damage done to her. I knew deep down that such an immense task was a lifetime commitment that might never be achieved, but at that moment I didn't care about difficulty or consequences; anything seemed possible. I, for a moment, thought that I should perhaps be worried about how my friends were reacting to my "absence", but the thought passed fleetingly as the energy flowed through me, and I tried to control it so that I was not overwhelmed in the way that I had been before.

I had been right about my friends, though, as they had seen my body collapse and were trying to revive me without success. I seemed to be staring into space blissfully and was completely unresponsive, smiling. Despite their efforts it was rather my own reluctant return to reality that eventually brought me to consciousness, having dragged my mind back to the here and now. Apparently a symbol had appeared while I was out, similar to Falcor's and also like the one on Arad's prayer book, but again at a different angle. I was more concerned with looking around me, finding that I was connected to Karmana (both the world and the Goddess) in a way that I had not been before. The world seemed more vibrant and alive, and I instinctively knew that I could connect with it and encourage it to change with me, although only in a limited way, after all... we were all part of Karmana and all connected.

Falcor snapped me out of my reverie with a warning - he had a sense that we were being watched, which he shared with Arad. Arad confirmed it - we were being scryed by someone or something! Suddenly a window in the world opened, unnaturally this time, with a small room visible on the other side that was filled with legionnaires. They wore a bull symbol on their shield and tunics, and quickly started charging through towards us. It was clear why when the portal promptly closed behind them, but we were not sure (yet) whether they were a threat to us.

Falcor stepped forward and shouted "Halt!" intending to speak with them. I stepped to the side, just behind him, wary of their intentions but not wanting to provoke a fight. Arad had his bow notched, trained on the leader. They moved into a defensive formation, in a line facing us, close together with shields and spears to the fore. Falcor stepped forward again, shouting: "State your business here"!

They kept advancing, although at a jog rather than a charge, but did not respond to Falcor at all. Still wary, but not wanting to allow them to engage us, I called for the first time on Karmana, reaching out to the plants all around us and focusing on their advance, asking that Karmana held them back in order to avoid bloodshed. It seemed natural, even though it seems strange to write about it now, that the plants came to life at their feet and grasped at them, trying to hold them in place. A couple were completely held, and even the others that were able to press on were slowed. No harm was done to them, though.

I moved forward to join Falcor, who was shouting: "We mean you no harm, put down your weapons." Arad flanked them, keeping his bow trained and splitting their attention. I flanked the other way as they struggled to break free into clear ground. Two reached the edge and immediately charged straight at Falcor. Arad managed to put an arrow into the chest of one as he ran forward, slowing him slightly and giving Falcor a target. Sure enough, Falcor danced to his right, slipping his dagger in to the side of the wounded man's shield and finishing him off. The spear of the other attacker scraped off his armour, but Falcor spun inside its reach and drove his sword into the thigh of the other one. The wounded man lost his balance and had to ground his shield to avoid falling, but that left him open to another arrow from Arad, which found its mark and he fell without even shouting out.

Two more broke free to attack Falcor again, who again found a weak spot with his dagger. I sprinted forward to join him, shouting at the foe to "stop fighting you fools". They didn't of course, seemingly fanatics of some kind, and Falcor was stabbed for the first time. He used the opening to attack rather than pulling back, cutting one deeply who then collapsed spurting blood. Arad charged forward, looking to tackle the other attacker to the ground, and managed to knock him to all fours and grapple him, forcing him to drop his spear.

Arad kept him pinned as Falcor tied him up. I tried to ask why they were attacking us, but instead he just tried to bite me. I moved to headbutt him in return, but he twisted his neck to the side, seeing what I was trying to do. Sneaky bastard! Despite their belligerence we still wanted to give them the chance to surrender, so we surrounded the writhing plants and stood ready, knowing that it would not last forever. Falcor told them to surrender and lower their weapons as soon as they were free, but when the plants subsided another portal appeared and the last two jumped through, back from whence they came presumably. We were left with just the one prisoner, still unable to move.

He stubbornly refused to respond to any questions we asked, so we stripped him of armour and collected weapons from him and the fallen, but did warn him that his life was in danger if he stayed due to the other occupants of the island that would be less understanding. Falcor told him that he "must go if you can". After this we released him and let him run off behind the tower, not caring to follow him. Instead we slowly make our way around the tower to see what was there, if anything.

Arad called on the Creator to heal Falcor and also his own wounds, then he and I split off to scout the tower quietly while Falcor covered us from behind. As we got really close the stink became really rancid. The tower had obviously fallen to ruin a long time ago, as large parts of the fallen masonry were covered in grass. There was guano piled on every layer of what was left, and the ground floor area was a thick, solid layer of guano. It was so smelly it's impossible really to describe in words.

Arad wanted to poke around in the shit in case there was a hidden trapdoor like in Custor's tower. I baulked at this... not very keen at all! I found myself dry retching as I got really close, but Arad went forward with a borrowed iron pot from Falcor, actually digging in the shit. It was disgusting to watch, let alone do it, and eventually he was overcome and starts heaving his guts up, unable to move. I ran in, intending to get him out, but I was overcome as well and end up puking next to him! Falcor, thankfully, was able to rescue us both, resisting the stink somehow as he made the journey twice. As soon as I could I moved to get farther back, trying to get the stink out of my nose without much success.

Arad had an idea to burn the guano off, and I gave up an oil flask that they threw into the shit and then we retreated to where Arad could loose a flaming arrow into it. The fire was slow to start, but as it built the heat was impressive. As we waited for the flames to grow I followed the tracks of the legionnaire to see where he had headed... but found that he had thrown himself to his death off the cliffs behind the tower! A real fanatic, I don't think I will ever understand humans.

I have been remiss because I have forgotten to mention one other thing. I had noticed a group making their way up towards the tower from the shoreline to our west, where the Elvramar we had subdued had headed toward. They were approaching slowly, so we were not concerned about their approach, and we even hoped that they might be... well, at least neutral and willing to talk. That's not to say that we wouldn't take precautions. I used my cloak, a gift from Karmana, to hide myself to one side as Falcor stood and awaited their arrival, with Arad covering him from further back.

Falcor shouted at them as soon as they were in earshot to wait if they meant to be friendly. Instead they loosed arrows, so I guess not, thankfully the first volley was well wide of the mark. Arad had been waiting and returned fire, hitting one. The second volley was much closer, and in fact Falcor was only saved from damage by the power of a prayer to the Creator from Arad, allowing Falcor to deflect the shot away with a power that guided his arm.

Falcor now returned the fire, hitting and killing the one that Arad had hurt. Realising that they were losing the battle of archers, some of the lizards started running forward, whilst others stayed back to harass with more arrows, one clipping Arad and drawing blood. He was put off his first shot as a result, but the second found its mark in one of the closer creatures. Falcor was also clipped by an arrow, whilst deflecting another (they seemed to have got their range now). He also returned fire, again putting down one of the foe.

As one got close to engaging Falcor, I sprang up and attacked at close quarters, stabbing it with both swords and leaving it barely alive, but the bastard managed to stab me in the side as I pulled my weapons free. Falcor hit another one as Arad sprinted forward to get a better shot at the ones hanging back, killing one of them. I paused, seeing how badly the lizard I had stabbed was bleeding, calling out to him in Karmana and Milada's name to stop fighting even as he stabbed me again, although his strength was fading.

Arad had a better chance to hit his targets, but their odds were improved too and he was hit with two arrows in quick succession, putting him off his own aim. Falcor was backing him up, though, and landed another hit. Their leader decided that they were losing the fight, which they were, and turned to run! Arad managed to recover enough to let another arrow fly true, felling one of his attackers. Falcor finished off the last archer with two accurate shots, leaving just the one I was trying to keep alive.

He helped his situation somewhat by deciding that he was outclassed, instead turning to run. I tried to stop him but couldn't quite catch a grip on his smooth scales and he started to outpace me. Falcor was distracted, running after the leader despite the head start it had, but Arad ran towards me, looking to intercept the foe. Just as he was about to tackle the creature, the lizard collapsed to the floor, too weak and exhausted to continue, but this caused Arad to misjudge his grapple and he ended up almost falling forwards, stopping himself just in time. I walked up as Arad grabbed it and pinned it to the floor, but it had lost too much blood and it died in his grip. I berated him a little for killing our prisoner, but it wasn't really his fault, and we had to move quickly if we were to catch Falcor.

I was going to ask after his wounds, having seen the arrows strike him, but the Creator had protected him and he looked remarkably hale considering. Falcor was actually waiting for us, having given up his pursuit, so we slowed our pace and regrouped to check our wounds before continuing down the ridge. I wanted to treat some of my wounds, and I asked if Arad would allow me to attempt to reach out to Karmana, something I had not done before, to see if I could draw on the power around us. I explained that I felt more connected with her than ever before after communing with her, both at the dragons' graveyard and at the obelisk by the tower. Arad and Falcor both said that they were willing to wait and see what happened, so I closed my eyes and reached out with my mind to the life around me, drawing on it to sustain me. I felt the power flowing into me from the grass and shrubs around us, and my wounds were closed... not completely, but enough to heal the worst and sustain me.

I also sensed the connection between Arad and Karmana, despite his new faith for the Creator, and Falcor was positively glowing with power... although I could not touch it in the same way as the other life around me. After a moment I withdrew my mind and opened my eyes to find that both my friends were regarding me with renewed interest. Falcor said that he had blocked me deliberately, and that I had drawn power from our surroundings in a similar way to Custor when Falcor had revived him. Arad referred to "druids" having similar powers, although the word meant nothing to me. He explained that they had a special bond with nature, and that they drew energy from the plants of his home forest, which did sound like my new bond with Karmana.

At any rate, we carried on jogging down the path, following the fresh tracks towards the shore below. As we passed the hole that Hope had emerged from (followed by FalcorDrak) we saw that the opening had closed and was solid stone, just a bare patch of rock without vegetation - like the others had described the pool of water being covered by stone. We carried on towards the coast, though, not wanting to be distracted at this stage.

Eventually the path reached a rough sand and stone beach, about a hundred yards deep to the waterline. As Arad, who was ahead as usual, turned to wave us forward he spotted a concealed wooden door in the side of the incline leading down to the beach. He held his hand up to stop us and approached door quietly, finding a circle of dried blood on it - an echo of those we had seen before and a clear mark of evil intent. He walked back to join us, describing what he had found. As we were likely to be heading into danger, I decided to treat Arad's wounds, minor as they were, so that he might save his more powerful prayers for any battles ahead. He knelt to accept Karmana's energy, something he was familiar with from his past, and Falcor noted that the transfer did affect the plants around me.

Lizard Hole

We approached the door, and I took a moment to check for traps, not finding anything. Arad set light to a torch, passing it to Falcor in case it was dark inside. They both readied bows as I stepped up and swung the door open before them. A relatively crude tunnel of packed soil was revealed, with a dusty floor of rock. Torches along the walls provided some light, and revealed that there was a joining tunnel to the right about twenty feet in, and that the tunnel ended in a T-junction further on. As I stepped inside I heard some metallic noises coming from the right-hand opening, presumably guards of some kind, and a moment later a reptile head peered around the corner.

I rolled forward and stepped to the side, ready to fight but allowing my friends a line of sight to the corner. I could see more lizards in a small room beyond a short section of tunnel, and tried to send a mental image to the others so they knew what to expect. Arad made a corking shot, sticking an arrow into the side of the closest lizard creature's exposed head. It was swinging a morning star at me, and I took the blow on my shoulder, rolling inside its guard to stab up into its throat to finish it off.

There were four more of the creatures, I could see now, and Arad used his mind to tell me that he would engage the nearest foe, so I deliberately kept to my left. Despite this plan, Falcor came crashing through and into the creature now to my right, using his momentum to thrust a dagger into him and then finishing him with a powerful swipe of his sword. I engaged the next one, scraping with my short sword (only just drawing blood) but then following up with two sword blows before it could react, cutting it down.

The other creatures had pressed their attack, so we were still in the narrow corridor, and Falcor swung to cut deeply into his new opponent, although he was hit by its morning star swing in return. It was at that point that a door beyond the small guardroom swung open and more foes poured through, making the situation more perilous. Arad helped by cutting down the lizard that Falcor had injured; I stabbed the last of the original group as Falcor stepped beside it and ran it through... now for the next lot!

I was able to land one good blow before Falcor sent a mental warning to us to stay out of the room, using the power of his mind to assail the group of lizard folk. Most of them sank to the floor, looking completely detached from what was going on around them, but Falcor wasn't finished. He conjured a spray of colourful rays that filled the small room, and four of the creature were rendered unconscious. There was only one left that seemed able to continue the fight. Impressive!

Arad sprinted forward, taking the fight to it as it faltered in its advance, stabbing him with his short sword and following up with a sweeping cut that opened its belly, and it fell dead. Falcor stepped into the room and indicated one that he warned we should tie up before it recovered consciousness. We did so, using Arad's rope, but the others were basically brainless and no threat any more.

The room that Arad had now reached looked like a barracks, with crude mattresses, wooden chests, a table & benches arranged throughout the room. There was a door opposite where we had entered, and a corridor leading out from the corner to our left. With a chance to stop and look around properly, Arad noted that the rock floor and mud walls were incongruous, and Falcor chipped at a bit of the mud to reveal a smooth, glassy surface beneath. I did a quick search of the room, finding a key on the largest lizard creature but not much else (although Falcor took an interest in a wooden mallet for potentially tenderising meat). As I did that, the others began chipping away at the mud on the walls of the larger room, eventually finding some words on the wall opposite where we entered.

The writing was like nothing we had seen before, as if rubies had been liquefied and traced in a manner of ink into the glassy rock surface before setting solid again. It read as follows:

Humbly he came

Leading only to serve

But drawn to disorder

His pride destroyed all

(Note: Humility = Red)

We knew that this referred to Ulric, the human king that had embodied humility but then been corrupted and become prideful and ultimately undead.

We checked the corridor, seeing no threats there, but then headed through the door. A short corridor led to another T-junction, with a door just a short distance to the right. I went to check it, with Falcor following, as Arad closed the first door behind us. The door wasn't locked and revealed a small room with a table (with a jug upon it), a bed, and a brass-bound wooden chest.

Again we chipped away at the walls looking for more details, and found some on the far left side as we had entered. There were more words, this time in yellow diamond:

The Wisest sought service

In the name of false gods

Now confusion his master

He seeks souls for the dead

Note: (Wisdom = Yellow)

This clearly referred to another of the Sarn that we were yet to discover, but we then debated whether there might be a double meaning here. I suggested that it almost read like instructions (as in something that was to be done here to show that the reader understood). We didn't want to actually pledge service to false gods, though, and also needed to understand it from the perspective of the Elvradhil (surely the only people able to shape rock and gems in this way).

Arad stood, instead of kneeling, and spoke the names of Treddar's children known to us to be bad (from the point of view of the Elvradhil), denouncing them as false gods whilst holding his faith to the Creator as unshakeable. There was a flash of power in our minds and he was gone! Optimistically I believed this to be a good thing and tried the same actions, but nothing happened. Perhaps we each needed to find our own path? In which case mine was in the previous room, but we would need to find Falcor's as well before I would leave him.

We headed back to the guardroom to check the walls there, but found nothing. We continued back towards the entrance, knowing that there was a T-junction we had yet to explore, and as we neared the entrance there appeared a blinding white light before us and Arad stepped through, back from wherever he had gone. He was a little confused, having to be reminded of where we were and what we were doing, as he had apparently been for weeks, having been "tested and found worthy" to learn from the Gods.

After a short conversation about Arad's other-worldly experience, remembering that we were potentially still in danger so we could not talk for too long, we returned to the room he had disappeared from. I checked the chest for traps as the others cowered in the far corner for some reason. It helped that the key we had found on one of the lizard creatures fitted the lock, so I was able to open it easily. Inside was a purse, a dagger in a scabbard, and a cruel looking whip. I took the dagger, finding it to be well made and inlaid with a snake, head at the tip, and an ornate handle with gold wire. I kept it, allowing Falcor to take a look in the chest. His interest was drawn by the clothes that I had ignored, taking a shirt so that he was slightly less naked under his equipment. In doing so he discovered an ornate silver torc in the style of a snake that had been wrapped in the clothes, which he took to study later.

As we left the small room, a lizard creature walked past the T-junction we hadn't explored yet, and although we tried to stay hidden, he glanced towards us and spotted Arad. Arad had been tracking him with his bow, so he immediately let loose an arrow, striking him as he yelled something. He staggered a little and then ran off to the left, but Falcor and Arad intercepted him in the larger "barracks"... he was probably hoping to find the guards we had dealt with. I remained to watch where he had appeared in case others came up behind us, but nothing came. Arad engaged the creature with his bow again, missing once but then killing him with his second arrow. A quick check of the corridor revealed a door to the right, and a corridor linking back to the barracks with other exits leading deeper into the lair. All was quiet again, and we regrouped in the barracks.

We knew that the text here was linked to me and humility, so we planned to demonstrate an act of humility whilst I touched the runes on the wall to see if there was a reaction. Our initial plan was for me to be ordered by Falcor to remove the crown and lay it on floor in preparation, but Falcor said after a moment's pause that Karmana had spoken to him, well in terms of feelings anyway, giving him an overpowering sense of upset that the removal of the crown was wrong.

Arad decided to use a new prayer that he had learned during his time away from us, moving close to the runes and muttering a quiet prayer, asking the Creator to help him sense what was intended here. His vision changed and he felt shorter, seeing other people but similar to us in same place. The shorter one had his hands pressed on the wall, whilst a human stood beside him in a full set of armour matching Falcor's partial one, with a fine longsword and all gems set and glowing. Arad saw that he was talking to the shorter person as the runes appeared in front of him on the wall. It appeared to be a memory of when the runes were first created, which was interesting but not specifically helpful for activating them right now.

We modified our plan so that Arad would just lift and replace the crown on my head, but even this proved to be a bad idea as the moment it was lifted there was a massive mental assault on my mind, trying to dominate me. I did manage to resist, retreating into my own mind, but I had to let go of consciousness to do so and immediately collapsed. Falcor sat me up so that Arad could return the crown to my head and keep it there, but it did not revive me. Arad had a sense that there was an evil presence in the room there with them. He prayed to the Creator to protect me from evil, which did ease my breathing but again failed to revive me. Falcor tried the simple act of putting smelling salts under my nose, causing a physical reaction but again not waking me up.

Arad instead tried a prayer of healing, and that certainly worked, reviving me immediately, but Arad paid a high price for it as he was drained of most of his vitality. He had to resort to using another prayer on himself, as well as ointment in order to restore his strength. I was fully restored, though, and the evil presence appeared to be banished, at least for a time. Arad went on to say a prayer for Falcor, healing his wounds, and each prayer made the room feel better, perhaps bringing order to where there had been chaos before.

I tried touching the runes again, this time with my crown firmly on. In my mind I knew that I did not have the strength of Falcor or the wisdom of Arad and that I was only even here because I was literally the last of my kind from Carseld. Even with that humility in my heart nothing seemed to happen; worried that I was not worthy, I asked my friends for help, saying that I could not do it alone. At that moment the runes began to glow - it seemed that a genuine plea for help had been the key. We waited to see if there was any further reaction, but nothing else changed... it seemed that Arad's experience had been unique to him and not necessarily linked to this place.

With that in mind we returned to the smaller room, noting that the runes here had not remained glowing. Arad muttered a quiet prayer again, and again was blessed with a vision. He saw the creation of the runes through the eyes of an Elvradhil, as if his own hands were on the rock before him, channeling Karmana's power. The person he was experiencing this through could hear the sounds of combat immediately behind him, so it was clearly created at a time of danger and not peace, although its purpose still eluded us. It was clear from Arad's vision that it was Karmana writing the words, not the individual.

Arad repeated his earlier actions, touching the runes and pledging service to the Creator, denouncing the false Gods Eversor and Kraldar. The runes responded to his touch, glowing in the same way as those in the previous room had for me.

Now we turned our attention to the door that the last lizard had emerged from. I checked for any traps before opening it, revealing another small room with a table and two chairs, a bed, and a chest. The table had a bowl of fruit on it. I moved over to the chest and discovered a small needle trap, which I was able to disarm. As I did this the others searched beneath the mud on the walls for any more runes, and did find some across the two walls in the southeast corner. The letters were written in amber this time, as follows:

In service of Truth

No soul could be lost

Driven mad by the darkness

His lies destroyed all

(Note: Truth = Amber)

Whilst we recognised the link to the virtue of "Truth" it was not one that we believed that we represented... there were six virtues and only three of us, so somewhere in the world were three more "champions" like us, and we would need a different person to activate this script in the same was as the others.

I finished with the trap and opened the chest, finding a purse, a fist sized uncut crystal violet (buried under clothes), and a morning star at the bottom. I took the weapon, although unfamiliar with its use, as when we had met the skeletal foes a cutting blade had struggled to damage them effectively. Arad took the gem, and Falcor the purse.

Leaving the puzzle as we were unable to activate it, we moved up to the corridor that seemed to link all of the areas we had visited so far, crossing over to a passage on far side where we found another door. Again I checked it before opening, this time finding what appeared to be an armoury. There were racks of arms and armour, shields, javelins, morning stars, swords, plenty of arrows (which excited Arad), and three large chests.

As the others started collecting arrows and searching the walls, I checked the chests and found a trap on the centre one, although I couldn't determine what form it took. I was able to disable the mechanism, though, and opened it to find it was full to the brim with very high quality steel bars... this would be a significant boon to the Red Skull clan of Saloroc if we could guide them here (it was far too much and too heavy for us to move). I opened the next chest, but I must have missed the mechanism on that one and I heard the tinkling of breaking glass as I lifted it, then was knocked out by an invisible gas.

Arad dashed in to pull me out, seeing that I was convulsing and seemed to be getting worse. He prayed to the Creator to heal me, which certainly helped slow the poison, but didn't neutralise it so my body continued to suffer. Falcor tried to lever the last chest open with his sword, which again caused a gas to be released, but he was able to get away before it got into his lungs. Thankfully the poison was short lived and I came to of my own accord, being a little disorientated and weak but gaining most of my strength quickly once I was conscious.

We waited at least as long as I had been affected before approaching the chests again, and were able to look inside without ill effect. They were all filled with the same thing - lots of steel bars. There was a real wealth here and we would have to ensure that it was our allies that secured such a treasure rather than our foes; it was a real wealth for any military force or merchants. We would certainly need help to move them all, though.

Once we were able to continue our search for more of the runes, we found some across the walls in the southwest corner, written in emerald this time, as follows:

Once sharpest of Mind

His dominion was fruitful

Through anarchy to darkness

He reaps life from the slaughter

(Note: Intelligence = Green)

Again we knew that another would have to activate the runes here, so we left and made our way to the next turn off the main corridor. There was another door, and whatever was behind it was noisy, with banging of metal and some kind of conversation between lizard folk audible as we drew near. I opened it with the others covering, and inside was a large cookhouse; a firepit was surrounded by five of the lizard humanoids cooking spit roasts (one humanoid, and one large fish). There was a door in the centre of the north wall and the whole place reeked, with a slightly acrid tint that suggested the "food" probably wouldn't agree with us. The creatures were not armed like the others, and appeared slightly different... perhaps females?

Falcor shouted at us to "stay out of the room" and ran forward, right across the room to near the other door, before conjuring a hypnotic pattern in the air surrounding the lizards, his armour disappearing again as he did so. It seemed to work as they were mesmerised, stopping what they were doing but not reacting to our presence. Falcor shouted to us to check the walls whilst he stayed to maintain the pattern. We moved in and started chipping away at the nearest wall. One of the lizards managed to drag its gaze away and charged at me, screaming, with a knife!

I managed to dodge the first blow, and the second scraped my armour as I drew my sword to defend myself. Arad charged in, knocking the creature back, but it kept its feet. Falcor shouted to leave the rest alone as I smashed the dagger out of its hand. I quickly sheathed my sword and lunged at its legs, but failed to grab hold of the smooth scales. Arad had better luck, forcing it to the floor. I grabbed the rope from his pack and tied it up, cutting what little was left off and giving it to Arad.

We continued our search of the walls, drawing a blank in the north and west where we were hoping to find something. We extended our search, but grew careless and without thinking ended up entering the area of Falcor's spell... in a few moments we were mesmerised as well! Falcor stopped concentrating on the spell, and summoned his armour back as he quickly bound a couple of the lizards before they recovered. The lights eventually faded, releasing me, Arad, and the lizards from the spell.

Quickly realising what had happened, Arad rushed forward and knocked one lizard to the floor, stunning it before it worked out what was going on. The other one saw what was going on and immediately tried to cut the bonds of the one beside it, so I dashed up and swung the flat of my blade into its head, pushing it away and slightly dazing it. Arad used his rope to bind the one he knocked down, leaving enough for perhaps one more humanoid. I shouted at the last lizard to stay still if it didn't want to get hurt. It shouted something like a trill and hiss, and still tried to cut its companion free, so I stabbed it before it could succeed. I perhaps overdid it a bit, as the blood spurted out and it fell silently to the ground.

It seemed to be breathing at least, so I called Arad to see if he could help to stem the bleeding. Falcor asked that we check the bonds it was hacking at, which I did, as Arad tried to administer first aid. It seemed that lizards were not his speciality, though, as he wasn't able to stop it from deteriorating. I finished re-tying the hands and feet of the other lizard, but when Arad told me that he was having no luck I felt guilty and called on Karmana to heal the wound I had caused, preventing an unnecessary death. It felt more difficult to do so being underground and away from the life giving energy of the plants outside, but it worked and it started struggling again. Arad used the last of his rope to bind it, leaving us free to examine the room again.

Falcor finished the examination of the walls we had started, not finding any runes in this room. As he did so Arad was trying to communicate with the spirited prisoner, discovering that it spoke some halting Elvradhil. Despite this all he could really get from it was "enemies of our Lord must die" and provoking it to spit lizard goo at him, so I guess it wasn't very conversational.

One thing we did notice was that the body roasting on the spit looked very much like a human. Rather than leave it to be potentially eaten, we carefully lowered the body into the coals to be consumed by fire rather than lizards. Arad said a prayer asking the Creator to guide the unfortunate soul to his grace, and as he did so it felt almost like a wind blew through the room, which we all felt and was frankly a bit spooky. Could souls be redirected in this way? This was certainly something to think on.

We checked the door to the north, which opened to reveal a dark space with a large food store, most likely a larder even in the original construction. There were several hanging bodies, and as I entered I could hear the sound of birds fluttering that turned out to be a wooden cage of fowl to the right of the door. Falcor brought a torch, revealing the bodies to be a frog thing (as we encountered near Hope), a large fish, and dog-faced creature. There was nothing much else of interest, but there was enough fruit for us to eat well and collect some fresh provisions.

We backtracked to the corridor and continued further in, finding a branch to the left that had a set of double doors in the right hand side. I put my hood up to remain unseen and approached the doors, noting that the corridor continued west out of sight. The stone doors were probably once quite ornate, but whatever had been engraved there had been deliberately chipped away, leaving nothing that we could usefully glean. The only positive was that I did not find any traps or locks.

Whilst I was checking, though, the others heard sounds from the corridor farther north, and I heard some to the west, although seemingly quite distant initially. I covered the west with my bow as Falcor covered the north, and the sounds grew louder until a couple of lizards rounded the corner in front of me, strolling down the corridor unalarmed... well, until they saw Arad!.

They reacted first, charging at Arad yelling something in their strange language, and they were followed by many, many more... plus one was blowing a horn to presumably summon even more help! An answering horn could be heard from the north, past where Falcor was waiting. Not waiting for the reinforcements, Falcor ran towards me and used the power of his mind against them, with one dropping its weapon and running straight past clutching its head. Another one sat on the floor and started poking at his morning star, showing no interest in anything else going on.

There were still plenty with fight in them, though, so Arad loosed an arrow, hitting one charging at him. Falcor dropped his bow and attacked with his sword instead, cutting deeply into the lizard to the right of Arad's target. The shock of the mental assault seemed to have had some effect, though, as their initial attacks were wild and hardly posed a threat. Most of them had passed me, shielded by the cloak as I was, but the last one was chanting ominously, probably a shaman of some kind, so I put an arrow into him. My second shot was wide as the lizards in front of him reacted to protect him.

Arad put a second arrow into his target, but somehow it kept its feet. Falcor ran his target through, then dashed past me to engage one of the two trying to shield the shaman at their rear. Bright light exploded in Falcor's face, but he managed to blink it away and dodge aside. I moved to protect Falcor's back, dodging around the dribbling one and stabbed the one behind him. Valiant as this was, it did cost me as I took two hard hits for my efforts.

The badly hurt lizard finally reached Arad and weakly tried to disarm him, but it failed and died with an arrow in its gut. Arad charged forward to assist me, cutting into one of the foes that had hurt me. Falcor somehow managed to throw his dagger past the lizard he was fighting toe-to-toe and embedded it into the shaman, interrupting whatever chant he had been concentrating on. I stabbed the lizard I was fighting again, then followed up with another blow to kill him... but just too late to stop him connecting his weapon with my shoulder painfully. Falcor also landed a solid blow, leaving one of his foes barely standing.

Then things got worse! Another group of lizards charged from the corrider we had heard the answering horn from, hitting Arad solidly from behind. I helped a little by slaying the lizard in front of him, at least allowing him to turn, but he was still surrounded. Falcor finished off the lizard he was attacking, closing with the shaman and punching it right in the face, sending it staggering backwards. I engaged the other lizard near him allowing him to deal with the shaman, and landed a blow that was not quite enough to put him down.

Arad spun around, fending off one attack and opening a nasty wound in the one that had been directly behind him. His armour saved him from a return blow, allowing him to stab again, leaving the lizard gurgling in a pool of blood on the floor. He danced to the side, sweeping through with his long sword to deliver another nasty cut into another foe. I finished off the lizard I had attacked, freeing me up to help Arad as the enemy swarmed forward. Falcor had more light exploding in his face, but again managed to dodge any permanent damage. He was finally able to run the shaman through, and now we had only one front to fight on again.

Arad stabbed another, finishing it off, but then focused on parrying attacks due to the number of wounds he had suffered. He blocked most blows, but took one bad cut and was bleeding profusely. We rushed to join him, even as he landed a blow on one of the two attacking him. Falcor hit the other one with a powerful blow, and I darted in to finish it off, leaving just the one. Falcor pushed through, cleaving a wide sweep into its side and it collapsed dead.

Falcor used his mind to heal me... but when I thanked him he didn't respond, more move at all; he had zoned out like he had before we met Hope, but for longer this time. I used the crown to heal Arad and we waited to see if Falcor would come back. I had tried the crown on Falcor, of course, but a negative presence pushed me back before I could even begin to transfer energy so I withdrew quickly.

Having told Arad what I had experienced, I asked if he could bring Falcor back as he did me before (when the presence tried to possess me). Arad prayed to the Creator, calling his healing power down for Falcor, but it had no obvious effect. He tried to call on the Creator to protect him from evil as well, and this time it seemed to work. Falcor snapped back into consciousness and collapsed to his knees.

He told us that he had been transported to some other place, seeing soulstones floating, arranged from left to right - amber, yellow, green, blue, purple (only five because we had put one soul to rest?) He had reached out for the blue, recognising it, but it was weakness not strength. An amazingly beautiful woman appeared, and he called out for Milada in hope, but he was mocked instead. He was being drawn into responding, so he showed strength and resisted, which forced her to recede. This made him think that he should try to do the opposite to what they represented.

Next he reached for purple, and a king appeared wearing a crown with a purple soulstone, carrying great weapons, and he felt a crushing power on his mind. He resisted again, laughing at the king, despite the assault, and he seemed almost impressed. He wore rings with black soulstones on 3 fingers, and stared hard at him, saying "Robur... I see you now!". Falcor mocked him, but the king ignored his words, saying "you will be ours again soon; Kraldar is looking forward to welcome you home. Anima would call you friend with such arrogance." It was at this point that Falcor was returned to us, thanks to the Creator. Were they talking about death and / or the land of the dead, hence the reference to Kraldar?

Returning to the mundane, I searched the shaman and found some gems (not soulstones), gold and two scrolls that Arad took an interest in (they were prayers to remove a curse and for levitation). We took a moment for Arad to pray near the doors, trying to get a sense of what was on them before they were damaged, but his mind was drawn to the experience of Falcor when he had entered the dark place, and he went into a trance in a similar way. We had no way of calling on the Creator, or even Karmana (my limited knowledge of her power had been exhausted for now). Thankfully, he came back to us a little later, managing to bring himself back through the power of the Creator. He had appeared in a vacant space, apparently, with nothing there but deathly cold and no visions to challenge him.

Once we were set and ready, I opened one of the doors to reveal a large pillared hallway with a wooden throne on a stone dias at the far end. It was almost a hundred feet long, with humanoid heads hung in the style of hunting trophies along the side walls. With horror we realised that there were some Elvra amongst the heads, so Arad and I start taking those down. We collected five in total, bringing them into the centre of the room.

Falcor, meanwhile, started scraping the walls, working around the room to the throne. This ornate chair was heavily carved with snakes and lizards (about two thirds lizards to one third snakes) with lots of small gemstones inset, at least one for every creature depicted. It was large enough for a humanoid of Falcor size, or more likely a large lizard creature. It was clear from the dias that something else had originally been in its place before. Falcor also noticed that part of the floor behind the throne looked a bit odd, and warned us about going behind throne without due care.

By this time we had finished collecting the heads, and I used my flask of oil to set a good fire to cremate them. I put my hand into the fire, willing their souls to Karmana, but Arad also prayed to the Creator at the same time and Falcor felt a keen sense of loss from Karmana. He made a plea to Arad that if we found the remains of Elvra again, that we try to return them to Karmana in the future. Arad acquiesed for now...

I investigated the area Falcor had indicated, noticing the difference in the flagstones at once, and then found a mechanism to open what was effectively a trapdoor. There was a shaft below that dropped down to a passage heading west, with metal rungs providing a way down. We discussed the best way forward and decided to leave for now, but meaning to return once we had found the remainder of the poem we suspected was scattered through the rooms on this level.

We returned to the passageway and continued to the west. After a short distance we found a door to our left and another ahead in the distance. I moved up to first door, checking it for traps and then opening it. We found another large vaulted room with pillars, similar to the last one but this time with wooden tables arranged like a simple dining hall. The walls were still caked with mud, and the floor covered with a combination of mud, straw, and other detritus. There were half a dozen lizards here, one looking very similar to the shaman we had dealt with earlier. Apart from this immediate threat we could also see that the floor was glowing in a couple of places, which we suspected was linked to our efforts with the poetry. We had caught the lizards looking at these areas with interest, and it was clear that they were puzzled by the recent change, well until we opened the door and got their attention that is!

Falcor was ready with his bow, and somehow managed to thread an arrow between the advancing warriors to strike the shaman behind them, but it was too late to stop it from conjuring a blinding light right into my eyes. I was unable to see for the rest of the fight, so this is pieced together from all of our recollections. The last thing I saw clearly was the lizard warriors rushing straight towards me, so I knew I would have to try and defend myself. Arad moved into the doorway to assist me, getting hit by a morning star but striking back with both weapons and cutting his attacker down with deep strikes. I felt more than heard an arrow from Falcor fly close to my head and connect with a foe in front of me, so I tried to jab at it with the morning star, failing to connect. Then the door to our right was flung open and another armed party of lizard creatures advanced on our flank, and to make it worse we heard a horn blast echoing down the corridor we had come from. Falcor stepped closer to the door, trying to use the power of his mind to strike at the newcomers, shouting at me to stay low.

We thought things were bad... then they got worse! The shaman was still active and another blinding light burst into Arad's eyes, and with that Falcor was the only one who could actually see. It was going well so far... Arad was hurt, no longer able to dodge the blows aimed at him as he couldn't dodge what he couldn't see. Falcor did manage to put an arrow into one in the doorway, killing it, but then had to draw sword and drop his bow to defend himself. I moved forward, calling out to my friends and trying to clear the doorway so that we could at least hold a choke point, but found a foe straight in front of me, its weapon connecting with mine more by luck than any intent. Arad did manage to connect a swipe with another foe, getting a grunt of pain and quickly followed up in the same area with a rain of blows that eventually overpowered it.

I still couldn't connect, struggling with the new weapons and suddenly being blind all at the same time! Falcor landed a good hit against a foe back in the corridor, then tried a mental assault again and this time one dropped its weapons and ran headlong into the open door, sending it flying into my arse! After that it turned towards the wall and just stood there staring. Another one ran into its companion, pushing it into the wall, and then kept running past Falcor and down the corridor out of sight. The door bumped me forward a bit, and I decided to throw my morning star down and switch to the sword that I knew to give me half a chance. I shouted "was that you, Arad?" not knowing what was happening behind me, but now effectively cut off from the others.

Falcor finished off the lizard he had wounded, just as more lizards started approaching from behind him. I swung with my sword and this time connected well with the foe I knew was there somewhere, cutting deeply. A sudden wave of cold dread washed over me, but I was able to steel my nerve and stand my ground. There was some muffled shouting from Arad in the corridor behind me, followed by chanting as he called on the Creator to heal some of his wounds. Falcor ran another one through, and was definitely carrying us through the fight at this point; thank goodness he could still see where the threat was!

Lizards charge from east now two on each of Falcor and Arad I get surrounded, although I might not realise it.

Arad prays to Creator and two freeze, immobile in front of him.

Falcor stabs one with dagger. I get hit from behind by two blows, which really hurts. I fortunately manage to connect with first foe and the blow was deadly.

Arad calls out with mind, feeling a presence and hollow laughter. I shout "behind the door!"

Arad tries to hold my foes, but it wasn't successful.

Falcor continues the fight, running one through as he was distracted by Arad turning his back.

I swing with short sword, connecting with a target, and follow up with sword killing it (not even knowing it was the shaman). I was hit by his companion.

Falcor shouts that door is shut, two foes strangely held, and he is fighting one. Falcor stabs and kills it just after he did so.

Arad prays again, but nothing changes. Falcor steps up to held lizard, swinging sword (we can't see such an evil act). I connect with another foe, but follow up misses.

Arad shouts to Falcor to help me - he is holding some. I by some stroke of luck manage to kill the last just before Falcor comes through to help. He embraces me, saying he is not sure how I did this.

Arad warns that held ones will not stay held. Falcor manages to tie legs together with last of Arad's rope.

Arad reckons blindness will wear off, but will take over an hour not minutes. Glad to hear it isn't permanent though!

Falcor unties both and moves them one by one into corner, then reties them. Moves us so we are with him. Door closed and dagger spiked latch.

Lizards come round and start to get to feet. Falcor wants Arad to shout in Elvradhil to stay still. He says "Do you understand me, we will kill you if you don't comply" They respond "enemies of our lord will die"

Falcor describes threat and stands between us, swords drawn, Arad warns them again and they hiss and spit but don't get closer.

Used bow strings and my fishing line to secure the prisoners to reduce the threat.

Approach glowing floor (guiding us). Gold tracery on floor in the shape of a star - words outside:

Lost to our mother Chaos their lord Only death truly ordered Will see Justice return

Two points of star glowing (N and SE) Hexagon in centre looks like it was once an obelisk, but broken and shattered so it was broken to base. Basalt.

Ask to be moved to point aligning with red (humility) and enter a trance, being at one with Karmana. Realise that the way is not open and withdraw back to the room, where Falcor is trying to revive me.

Ask if Arad will go to the other glowing point, encourage him to make a connection to Karmana, as it is a point he is meant to be in. But depends on his willingness given his connection with the Creator.

Retrieve Falcor's bow, my morning star, and from the shaman a scroll (negative plane protection), a colourless odourless vial, and 15 gp.

Arad stands unaided erect with a huge smile on his face, all wounds healed, saying "my mind is clear - to honour Karmana is to honour my Lord - she is his most precious daughter"

"That which is of Karmana must return to Karmana, but that which is not dispatch in his name" Fully restored and with his thanks.

So glad that we are of one purpose and aligned as I had worried we were working against each other. Now not the case.

Arad so full of energy that he is able to call on the Creator to heal all of my wounds with a couple of prayers.

Head back through door and turn left, heading towards open door where some of the lizards came from. Another, smaller room beyond the door. Another door to right. Empty, but medium-sized room. Some weapon racks against walls, but mostly empty some javelins.

West wall - body of humanoid creature pinned. Javelins stuck in body. Torchlit still. Mud on walls still. Heavily scuffed straw and stone on floor. Arad signals to stop but move up slowly. We do, although Falcor seems slower than normal, looking at lizard corpses as he passes them.

Arad says "I will guard the door as you investigate the room - close the door behind you" We jog in, starting to look around. Odd amphibian thing used as a target for javelins, so Arad has to remove javelins and bindings to lower it to floor.

I start checking walls for runes. Arad lays body down and prays to Creator for its soul. Sense of soul passing like wind through room from a cold despair to warmth, but brine like of the sea.

I find script across north and west walls in corner:

Strongest of all Mighty master of beasts Now servant to bedlam His weakness brings death

Purple = Strength

Falcor touches the runes, saying that he denounces the chaos lord and swears to fight to preserve lives, even if it costs him his own. Eventually work out that his armour is a key... proving who he is.

Return to star and Falcor approaches his point, with us near our points but standing back. He disappears. We guard each door. I eat an apple.

After ten minutes Arad steps onto point and prays for Falcor. He also disappeared.