Chronicle - The Iron Mountains

The Iron Mountains

Findor's Stair

We set off in good weather and reached Findor's Stair without incident. It was still morning and we ascended the narrow stairs in cool shadow. The stairs themselves were cut from the rock of the mountain, and used natural features where possible which made it hard to follow its progress in the distance. It was easy enough to reach the entrance to Minas Olga, but as we continued the stairs began to run away from the mountain and into a saddle before, presumably, climbing the next mountain after crossing the broken ground in between.

We made our way across the rocks in the saddle, spreading out as we were careful not to sprain an ankle on the rocks under foot. As we passed between some large boulders, a strange thing happened; one of the boulders seemed to move, and then before we knew it there were three rock-like creatures swinging great stone arms at us, and we were once again fighting for our lives. We were suprised by the sudden attack, but Hintzu recovered quickly and beat good sized chunks out of the thing nearest him. Not immediately attacked, I uttered a prayer to Odin asking for aid before hurrying to stand beside Lanzi.

Hintzu made to press home his attack on the creature now backing away from him, but a stone wall appeared from nowhere in front of him, preventing his attack. Meanwhile a vibration was building in intensity and the rock beneath Lanzi and I started to move, throwing me onto my back and separating the party. As it was, it was fortunate as the creature attacking Lanzi had swung at me and my falling turned its blow so that it did little damage. Magic missiles flew from Lanzi's hands over my head as I struggled to rise, but they appeared not to affect the thing.

The rock we were on was now moving rapidly towards the nearest precipice, and Lanzi used his boots to spring to safety on solid ground. Thankfully, I still had the ebony fly that Merc had discarded and I used it now to lift myself off the dangerous rocks. I was hit by the rock creature, but managed to safely take off before the rockslide fell noisily from the mountain, taking the creature we had been fighting with it.

I landed beside Lanzi and looked over to see how Hintzu and Morwath were doing. Both were now fighting the same creature, and it looked to have taken several solid hits. However, as we watched the rocks around their feet exploded into razor sharp pieces, perforating their clothes and causing many cuts to seep blood. Despite this unexpected danger, Hintzu managed to land a killing blow on the creature they faced, and it fell back into the rocks looking for all the world like a simple boulder again.

The one that had hidden behind a wall of rock was clearly visible from where I stood, and Lanzi had already started to use his dweomer against it. More magic missles flew from his hands, and this time they were effective; the thing fell and the wall disappeared. As soon as it did, all the vibration around us stopped and the place was calm again.

We regrouped, and were more shaken than we were injured. Having checked each other over, we quickly made our way to the far side of the saddle and continued up the stairs that we found there. We crossed another saddle without incident, although we were wary whilst crossing, and continued up more stairs beyond. The stairs were narrower this high up, and less well carved, but at least the sun was breaking through the clouds behind us and warming our backs.

Lanzi suddenly called a warning to us. Si-Ti-Qa had been scouting ahead, and he had found a trace of magic on the stairs before us. Lanzi checked it with his gem of seeing and found that a whole section of the stairs was an illusion, and in fact we could have fallen to our death if we had continued unaware! There was no trace of any hidden doorways in the rock face; it seemed that the only way on was to negotiate the gap and the 50' drop to reach the stairs that continued beyond. We could just make out the skeletons of those who had been less fortunate than ourselves and fallen into the trap.

Hintzu, being his usual acrobatic self, climbed down the gap with a rope to set a route that we could follow. He reached the bottom safely, but before he could do anything with the rope he started to swing about him with his weapon. Apparently he had heard a weapon slice past him as he landed, and retaliated blindly but connected with an invisible foe. We did not have time to contemplate his actions, though, as the rock beneath our feet was turning to mud and we were starting to sink!

Not only were we sinking into mud, but the rock face beside us was also turning into mud, and was beginning to bury us as it slid from its place. Lanzi used his dweomer to move himself to safety - appearing on the stairs above, past the missing section. Morwath seemed quite at home with the mud, simply standing upon it as if it were solid ground, and was even using it to carry him slowly down towards Hintzu. I was not faring so well, encumbered as I was by my armour, and once again had to call on the ebony fly to carry me to safety. It may not be elegant, but it was keeping me alive so I was happy to use it.

As I flew away from the mud, I saw that Hintzu had killed the thing attacking him. It was a large humanoid figure that looked like an oversized man in strange garb. Lanzi informed us that it was a genie, a powerful creature of a magical nature. But, although Hintzu had defeated it, he was now in danger of being buried by the mudslide that was flowing off the side of the mountain. I swept down, calling for him to take my hand, and was able to pull him out of the mud and onto the fly with me.

Having conjured the fly once more, I then used it to ferry Hintzu and Morwath up to join Lanzi in safety. There was now no way to find out whether any useful items were scattered amongst the rocks below, as they had been buried with the mud that until recently had been the very stone of the mountain. Once again, though, we were more shaken than injured and we decided to press on up the stairs.

After continuing for a little while, we saw that the stairs reached another saddle ahead. Once again, we slowed our pace and made our way forward gingerly. As the view opened out a little we could see that we had climbed quite a way up, although this was not news to my legs. The mountain to our right still rose steeply out of sight, but to our left a gentle slope rose to a summit bathed in sunshine. We decided to make our way to this summit in order to better get our bearings.

The ground underfoot was broken and rocky, so it was hard going and we were making a lot of noise as we went. About halfway to the summit we scared some creatures up out of the rocks; at first I thought that they were chickens, but as they flew towards Hintzu and Morwath I saw that they were some hybrid of cock, bat and lizard. They were not scared at all, but flying to attack! The horrid, chicken creatures that torched Lanzi.

Lanzi reacted first, sending what looked like magical eggs flying into one of the creatures, injuring it. Morwath then struck off the head of another with his scimitar, and it dropped lifeless to the ground. It seemed that Hintzu and Morwath would dispatch the things quickly between them, but then a horrible shriek pierced through my complacency - not from the creatures, but from behind me. Lanzi had burst into flames, and as I turned he collapsed to the ground still burning.

As Hintzu and Morwath finished the remaining creatures, I called upon Odin's power to douse the flames surrounding Lanzi. Unfortunately I was too late - he seemed to have burnt to death from the inside out! Fortunately Odin's blessing was upon me, and I was able to reach out to Lanzi's spirit and bring life back to his body. He was weak and badly shaken, but was alive once more. For once he had not lost his clothes, but his backpack had been consumed in the fire, so he was cursing his luck once more.

After spending some time healing Lanzi's wounds, and collecting some interesting eggs and potions from the area the creatures had lived in, we continued to the summit up ahead. We could see the Iron Mountains stretching away on all sides with no reference points other than the sun above us. We could see that the stairs continued up the side of the mountain to our right, and as there was no other way to continue we retraced our steps and started up once more.

The cliff face was quite shear here, and we were now high enough that the air was cool even in the sunlight. The wind had picked up as well, and was plucking the breath from my lungs. We continued for what must have been an hour before the stairs started to level out, almost at cloud level. As the stairs levelled off, we could see that they widened onto a ledge up ahead. On the ledge was perched a fearsome creature.

It looked like a large lion, but with wiry hair for a mane, brassy metallic scales and wings that were dragon-like in shape. Beside it was a cleft in the rockface that could be an opening of some kind, although that was not at the forefront of our minds for the moment! Lanzi started to cast something, but it was lost when the creature puffed up its chest and let out a deafening roar that drowned out all sounds and sent fear shooting to our hearts.

If not for the thin air and the long climb I would have fled then, but as it was I just collapsed against the rockface and could not act at all. Hintzu was similarly affected, but he was able to run back down the stairs out of harm's way. This left Morwath to face up to the thing, with Lanzi firing off magic missiles as quickly as he could. They both fought valiantly, and between them they brought the creature down. With its death, I was able to recover my senses and at least heal some of the wounds that Morwath had sustained. Hintzu eventually reappeared, having covered some distance in his flight, and we found that the entrance we had seen opened into a small cave where we could shelter.

There were a few gems and coins in the cave, that the creature must have hoarded, but the best thing was that it was out of the wind and relatively warm. Having endured much in our journey so far, we decided that it would be best to rest here overnight before continuing. After making my prayers to Odin, I was even able to get a reasonable night's sleep. We got ourselves up early to continue up the seemingly endless stairs first thing in the morning, this time wrapped in warm furs. The cold wind certainly helped me to wake up!

The stairs were not as steep now, but still climbed higher. We could see some way across the mountain range now, and could make out the path of the stairs in the distance, winding between peaks. The sky was clear blue with just a few wisps of cloud, and as the morning wore on the wind began to drop and the sunlight brought a welcome warmth to our bones. Some time before noon, Morwath called a warning to us. He had seen some flying creatures in the distance ahead and to the left of our path. He used his eagle eye to take a closer look at them. He described them as bat-like egg-shaped things with a large eye and rat's tail; there were about a dozen of them. They sounded a lot like the creatures that we had battled before reaching Calahar, that had dropped acid on us. We now felt quite vulnerable grouped on the narrow stairs!

I called upon Odin to protect us from evil, anticipating a battle, but Morwath had a plan to use the elements to our advantage. He started chanting into the wind, arms outstretched, and we felt the breeze shift direction towards the approaching creatures. As he chanted the wind picked up, although we were in relatively calm air, and the creatures increasingly struggled to make any headway towards us. Then Morwath manipulated the wind to allow them to approach very slowly, bringing them within range of Hintzu's bow and Lanzi's dweomer.

An ice storm was conjured by Lanzi, battering the already struggling foe with chunks of sharp ice. Over half of their number fell to the ground, their wings pierced and battered, leaving only three still in the air. Hintzu loosed arrows at them, and within a minute the last of the things had fallen to their death. Morwath ceased his chants and the wind gradually returned to its original level, allowing us to continue unopposed.

We continued around the mountain, with the sun now at our back. Ahead of us we could see that the path opened out slightly, and a crack could be seen between the path and the rockface. As Morwath carefully edged around the crack, the ground slumped beneath his feet and scree slid away from him into the enlargened crack. He kept his feet, which was fortunate as a huge antlion was waiting below to capture any prey that fell from the path. I called down Odin's favour upon Hintzu as Lanzi summoned magic missiles to strike the beast. Morwath dodged it's mandibles as Hintzu landed solid blows upon it, killing it. The Antlion waited for victims at the bottom of the scree.

Quickly passing the corpse, we continued up a steep section of stairs that was more of a scramble than a path before the slope eased off once more. We heard what sounded like an animal's cry of pain carried on the wind from ahead, and also the tinkling of water. The path flattened out into a basin of sorts, with pools of water and a few scattered pieces of vegetation clinging to life. The stairs continued on the far side of the area, but the cry of pain seemed to be coming from somewhere nearby.

Having already been assaulted by rock and ooze, there was some debate about whether we might face a watery foe in such an area. Morwath used his influence over the elements to give us the ability to breathe underwater (although I was not keen to test this ability) before starting to cross towards the stairs on the far side. I took a pinch of dust from the ground, in case I needed Odin to remove any water. Lanzi had, typically, created mirror images of himself in case we were attacked.

As it turned out, we were not in danger from any water, but we were about to be attacked. Four ugly stag-like things with lion's tails and badger's heads leapt from hiding around and above us. They had no teeth, but just a bony ridge on each jaw that dripped with a grey liquid. They were fast and sure footed, and Lanzi barely had time to let loose with his magic missiles before they were amongst us. One took Morwath's shield in its mouth, ripping it from his arm, and compressed it until it lay in broken pieces on the ground - their bite seemed deadly! Hintzu killed one, but I was attacked by one that gripped my shoulder guard in its mouth. I hit it, but it was difficult to get a good swing at something so close. It ripped my shoulder guard off and struck again, but I was ready this time and fought it back.

Lanzi had been outflanked, with one of the things on the path behind him. He tried conjuring some grease, hoping that it would slip to its death below, but it kept its feet somehow. Hintzu and Morwath fought side by side and eventually hacked down another, leaving just two. I had kept mine from getting hold of me, and with the three of us surrounding it we were able to kill it quickly. Lanzi, though, was not faring well and the creature had gotten hold of his shoulder. He had no armour to preoccupy it, so we had to act fast. Hintzu fired arrows into it, hoping that none would find one of us in the melee, whilst we all hacked and battered it with all the strength we could muster. Thankfully we were able to kill it before it could seriously hurt Lanzi, and with a little healing we were all fine. My armour, though, was in desparate need of a blacksmith's care!

Regrouping and catching our breath, we continued onwards. After a short way we could see that we were approaching another saddle between mountains, with the ground rising on our left to meet the path ahead. As we reached the saddle, we could see a slope leading away from us on our left with a stream running down it, fed by many rivulets as it went, and there was a small pond beside the stream a little further along. The stairs continued up on our right hand side, and we warily made our way towards them.

Morwath suddenly looked to his left and shouted a warning. He had seen something moving amongst the rocks, but they were very hard to see. I called Odin's blessing upon us in preparation for battle, and sure enough we all started to see the creatures approaching us. They were large beetles, some twelve foot in length, and their colouring blended well with the surrounding rocks; only Morwath's warning had prevented us from being surprised.

The nearest beetle was subjected to a massed attack by the, now ready, party. Lanzi let off a fireball, and I called down a flaming column from the heavens, so it was doubly struck by fire. Hintzu was able to pepper it with arrows, and it died some distance away. Lanzi sent off another fireball, and I influenced another to slow its actions so that we would have more opportunity to damage it at range. Morwath then called upon a wall of thorns to grow around them as they got closer, preventing them from reaching us. Hintzu then used his ring to send a fireball into the thorns, turning it into a blazing wall of fire. By the time that the flames had died down, all the beetles were dead.

Not wanting to linger in an exposed area, we hurried up the stairs and the ground to our left soon started to drop away. It was late afternoon by now, and I was beginning to wish we had paused to fill our water bottles at the stream. My thoughts were broken by the sound of splashing from the pool we had seen earlier. It was below us now, and as we looked down we could see a number of manta ray fish-like creatures flying straight out of the pool and up towards us, flapping their wings. They moved incredibly quickly for creatures that looked like they should only be able to move through water!

We had no time to prepare, as they were on us straight away and a mad melee ensued. I was able to give strength to Hintzu's arm with a quick blessing, but then I was fighting for my life. Morwath once again proved his worth, though, by influencing the minds of some of the creatures, sending them back to the pool and out of the fight. Hintzu, with Odin's blessing upon him, killed all the remaining creatures within reach and then turned to assist me. With his help, I was able to call upon Odin again, this time dominating the mind of one of the attackers and turning it against its own kind - trying to help Lanzi in doing so. Morwath was able to kill the one still fighting him, but had sustained some bad injuries. Now there were only two left, one of which was under my control, and fortunately my creature proved stronger and killed the other.

Lanzi then told us that he had been warned of another threat behind us by a voice in his mind. He also said that he had seen a fin emerge from the rockface, moving towards us. It sounded as though he had taken a blow to the head and was hallucinating, but then Morwath cried that he could also see a fin moving towards us, from ahead this time. What manner of creature could move through solid rock like water?

We soon found out, as two creatures emerged from the rock either side of us. They were squat, bulky things with blue/brown scales and ivory teeth, as well as a large fin on their back that had given away their approach. Lanzi sent magic missiles firing towards one of them, and in retaliation it sprang to attack; it knocked Lanzi clean off the ledge and landed on top of me, pinning me to the floor. I just had time to send my 'pet' swooping down towards Lanzi before the breath escaped from my lungs. Behind me Morwath was facing another creature, but instead of standing his ground he jumped off the ledge! His intention became clear, though, as he transformed into a great eagle and circled to attack. Hintzu was surrounded and, despite fighting bravely, he fell to the many blows of both creatures. The heavy creatures that emerged from the rockface.

Things were looking desperate, but Lanzi had managed to regain the ledge somehow, so I commanded the flying creature to attack the thing on top of me. Already wounded by Hintzu and Lanzi, my ally managed to kill it in short order; unfortunately, the weight of the body prevented me from moving. Lanzi obviously felt endangered, as he used one of his more powerful displays of dweomer, turning the last attacker to dust with a grey ray from his hand. He then used more of his dweomer to push the heavy body from on top of me, allowing me to move at last. I thank Odin that my armour was strong and kept me from being crushed completely.

I immediately turned my attention to Hintzu, and called upon Odin's favour to bring his spirit back once more to fight for good. Hintzu recovered at once, but was very weak. We were all in a bad way now, but Lanzi asked us to be quiet; he was speaking to the voice that had warned us of danger.

I was not party to the conversation, but apparently we had angered the Earth spirits by taking the stairs without their permission. Lanzi had been advised that we might be able to appease them if we were to kill a Behir that was living in the mountains, in a large lair some way up ahead. Apparently we had to fly, though, as the spirits would not allow us to pass on foot. After healing each other enough to continue, we used the ebony fly and Morwath, who by now could fly himself, to continue by air. We were not a moment too soon, as a great mouth opened beneath the spot we had been standing on just before. Lanzi's mysterious advisor had done us a favour, it seemed.

We flew on, following the stairs closely, looking for the lair we had been told about. It was over half an hour before we sighted a good possibility; beneath the stairs we could see the gaping maw of a large cave entrance and skeletons were scattered around it. The cave was just above the floor of the valley, where a river was starting to form from the streams running into the valley. A small pool lay outside the cave entrance, and the bright reflection from the surface prevented us from seeing anything within the cave itself.

We landed on the stairs, rather than in the valley, so that we had time to prepare ourselves for the forthcoming combat. I called down the favour of Odin, and Lanzi wove his dweomer around us so that we had the best protection possible before proceeding. When we were all ready, we flew down into the valley and straight into the cave entrance to land just inside. The cave narrowed as it went back into the mountain, and lying against the back wall was a forty foot long wingless wyrm with many legs that glared at us from the dark.

Lanzi let out a cry, and I felt as though Odin's grace had left us; the beast had somehow undone all the work that we had just undertaken to protect ourselves and we realised that the battle would be hard fought indeed. The thing scuttled onto the roof of the cave, moving without impediment despite its size, and with a crack a blast of lightning flew from its head and struck me in the chest. Hintzu fired arrows at it with blinding speed, but they appeared not to have any effect.

Having closed the gap between us, the wyrm ran down the side of the cave to attack us in melee. Lanzi quickly used his dweomer to move himself to the other side of the cave, out of harms way. Despite the burning ache in my bones, I rose to meet the attack and landed a solid hit on its head, causing it some distress. It reared back and lashed out at me sideways, catching me off guard and throwing me to the floor once more, and as it did so its tail wrapped itself around Hintzu, immobilising him. More lighting flashed out at me, and I was badly wounded by now. Fortunately, in concentrating on Hintzu and I, it had allowed Morwath to get into a good position to strike. His blade flashed again and again, and eventually the beast collapsed to the floor, letting out its last breath.

I, for one, was relieved that there would be no more attacks; I had been hurt badly, and we were all in a fairly poor state. Lanzi, of course, was already sorting through the loot scattered around the cave. The one item that was of particular interest was a parchement that read as follows:

A Lord will reunite those rings,

But their owner will summon evil things,

To do his will upon the Prime,

Until all's spent bar time.

From the West the stranger came,

And fought with fire and flame.

He will be the dark wolf's bane;

First Lastar's power he must regain.

After our fight we all agreed that we would have to rest in the cave before continuing. There were some sticks of incense that Lanzi told me would help to focus my prayers, so I used them in my daily ritual before sleeping. When I awoke, I felt rested and particularly favoured by Odin; perhaps this would be a good day. The first order of business was to determine whether we should retrace our steps, in case we had missed the hidden entrance, or whether we should continue on past the cave. I used the runes to ask for Odin's guidance, and it was clear that we still had to travel further before we would find what we sought, so I advised not to waste time backtracking.

There was no dissent, so Hintzu climbed up to the stairs and let a rope down for us to join him. Once we were all back on the stairs we continued our journey, hoping that the Earth spirits had been placated. We did see some fins emerging from the rockface ahead of us, but no attack came and no contact was made. We continued for over an hour without event, but could see that the valley we were following ended up ahead.

As we approached the end of the valley, the stairs rose steeply up to our right and a ridge that crossed to the mountain ahead of us came into view. At the centre of the ridge was an arch of Dwarven construction that bridged the gap between rocky outcrops. Below us a river ran from left to right and down another valley heading back towards Calahar - probably the river White Wash. The mountain we were climbing towards was snow capped, and I shivered at the thought of travelling through the mountain snows.

Upon reaching the bridge, we bravely roped ourselves together before setting foot on it! Our cautious instincts were seemingly proved right as a winged serpent appeared from nowhere on our left as we crossed. It looked like a dragon, but with no legs, and its wings shimmered with a myriad of colours. We readied ourselves for combat, despite our precarious position, but the creature made no move to strike us. The rainbow coloured wyrm appeared next to us.

Lanzi called to us to lower our weapons; he was talking to the serpent in his mind, and apparently it was not evil. Lanzi explained that the serpent's name was Quatl, and that it was opposed to evil but wanted to know our reason for being on Findor's Stair. Lanzi spent some time explaining our purpose, although he was cautious in what he revealed, and in turn received some guidance. Apparently we should look to the rockface beside the stair just as the snow meets the path, Andruin's sign would be revealed and the riddle with it.

Lanzi then went on to discuss the issue of balance. Quatl told him that we had disturbed the balance by killing the Behir, and that in order to restore balance we would have to confront Hatori, a giant crocodile. We needed to enslave Hatori, apparently, although I have no idea how one might do such a thing. Quatl did wish us well in our quest to take the ring of power from Calios, the cloud giant, and offered to aid us indirectly when an opportune moment presented itself, for which we were grateful.

We continued our journey, heartened to know that there were still creatures of good willing to help our cause. After some time, Si-Ti-Qa brought Lanzi's attention to a section of the rockface that had dweomer about it. Morwath could see Andurin's symbol, although I could not make it out, and Lanzi touched the wall as Quatl had directed. The riddle appeared on the rock, and Lanzi read it aloud followed by the answer.

In Age gone by when not in heaven,

A mage brought peace and funeral pyre.

Crowns worn their points total seven,

His was the new breed's gem of fire.

To Andurin's home you have come,

In flight from dark into sky and cloud.

What is written of old cannot be undone,

The names of those left behind, cry aloud!

For this way is barred to all but three:

Elf, man, dwarf, perhaps thee?

Nenye, Aerandir, Findor!

The door cracked open, swinging inwards, revealing a short passage leading to a larger room beyond. We entered the passage, and the doors swung shut behind us. The larger room proved to be at the bottom of a high shaft, the ceiling lost in darkness above us. Pictures adorned the walls, and to the West could be seen Lastar, with his staff and gem, charging forwards at the head of a force of men, elves and half elves into a battle that spilled over onto the adjoining walls. To the North an elf with a five pointed crown (Nenye) and a half elf (Aerandir) were being slain. To the South, the forces of good were overwhelming Dispater's forces. To the East was depicted the Iron Mountains and Minas Olga, at the foot of which a dwarf (Findor) was being killed and his two pointed crown was falling to the ground. Lastar was hurrying to the aid of Minas Olga.

The others had made their way into the room, and as they did so a half dozen brain-like creatures with dangling tentacles dropped rapidly from above. They had beaks buried in the tentacles, and they squawked and chirped as they attacked. More could be seen above them, just hovering for now. The tentacles wrapped around my three companions, and Lanzi's spell died as he stiffened and froze. Hintzu used his ring to conjure a wall of fire in the room ahead of them, causing some disarry amongst the creatures' ranks, but some still pressed home their attack. Hintzu used the ring again to send sheets of flame at the nearest attacker, causing it to burn to death, and then attacked another and finished it off rapidly.

Morwath had stiffened and was still, so it was clear that the tentacles could paralyse a man. I called on Odin's grace to release him and Lanzi from their paralysed state, allowing them to move again. Morwath immediately changed shape, and I could not see what he had become. Hintzu drew his bow and loosed arrows into the creature that held Lanzi, killing it. However, the creatures had risen some way into the air by now, and both Lanzi and the dead thing fell rapidly. Fortunately they landed on the creature holding Morwath below them, so Lanzi was unharmed for now.

Morwath was now upside down in the tentacles of a creature that had Lanzi on top of it and a dead creature on top of Lanzi. The only good thing about this situation was that the creature could not rise due to the weight it was bearing. I called Odin's favour upon Hintzu's actions, and the Father of the Gods guided his arrows to strike down another beast high up towards the ceiling. Hintzu then tied a rope to an arrow and fired it into the beast with Morwath and Lanzi, hoping to pull it down towards us.

The rest of the creatures that had stayed high above us all suddenly fell into the flames. I later learned that a mental battle had been taking place between Lanzi, Morwath and the creatures; evidently the creatures had been bested, although it had mentally drained my companions. Hintzu's plan had been going well, but then the arrow slipped out of the beast and it was free once more. Lanzi used his dweomer to levitate himself (slowly) to the ground, so that we only had to worry about Morwath. Hintzu decided that Morwath could survive the fall, and buried an arrow deep in the creature holding him. Both fell immediately, but Morwath was able to twist away from the dead creature, landing heavily but intact. The tentacled creatures that attacked in the entrance to Andurin's Halls.

It seemed we were safe; at least, for now. I had not been touched during the fight, and Hintzu fared well, but Lanzi and Morwath were not so lucky. As soon as the fires were extinguished, we checked the room for exits and found a large door leading East and a concealed door to the South. Hintzu heard a thudding sound getting louder from the East, so it seemed that we would not be able to rest for long! Lanzi used his chime to open the door to the South, and as he did so something large started to batter at the other door. There were steps behind the Southern door, and Lanzi and I hurried up them.

Hintzu and Morwath guarded the rear, where the Eastern door was being broken into pieces, and I lead the way up the stairs. Upon reaching the top I found an arched entrance into another room that was filled with two-headed trolls! Lanzi let off a fireball into the room, while I tried to hold them in melee and we both shouted for help. Hintzu and Morwath were being attacked by a large creature weilding a club, but were able to cover their escape with the aid of Hintzu's ring. We were in desperate need of their aid, as both of us were being overwhelmed by the trolls crowding around us.

Morwath arrived and created a wall of thorns to slow them down before we were overrun. Hintzu arrived shortly afterwards, and the three of us began to press forwards as our blows felled the trolls. Lanzi backed us up with a fireball into the midst of the thorns, turning it into a wall of fire before us. The trolls were beaten, and we could just make out one fleeing on the other side of the flames.

Once the flames had subsided, we made our way into the room and took note of the carvings on the walls. To the West was the City of Calahar under siege by forces bearing Demogorgon's banner. To the South the same forces were at Minas Olga, and Demogorgon could be seen picking up people and throwing them into a river of souls. To the North there was a great gathering of Dwarves at Olga, who appeared to be celebrating. In their centre was a grinning depiciton of Fandor, descending some stairs and holding a parchment. To the East, Loki's face emerged from dark clouds and was staring at Fandor. Beneath Loki's face was another dwarf (Dor) leaning over with his arm around the neck of a red dragon. On the ceiling Kalasar and Andurin were shown looking at each other; Kalasar was holding out a five foot long staff, whilst Andurin had a furrowed brow and appeared concerned.

We discovered a door hidden in the image of the bridge before Calahar (leading West), and Lanzi again used his chime to open it. We were in some haste, as we had not been able to properly cover our tracks. A short passage lead to another small room with some stairs leading up on our left. The room was decorated, with a mountain scene to the West showing a long chain of elves carrying heavy packs and leading carts in a journey. Gillia lead the elves, and wore a crown with four points tipped with red gems. To the North was depicted Calahar again, but this time with ships bearing the rampant horse symbol. Olga could be seen in the background and an army was heading towards it bearing red flags with a black ship symbolised on them (Taneth); they were also picking up the rampant horse standards. To the East was a scene from a Dwarven hall; a dwarf (Frastor?) picking up a shard from the floor, and being highlighted by a blue/white light as he did so. To the South (need to check!) was a scene showing Ezollach striking down Bavarik.

We hurried inside and closed the door behind us - hoping that it would remain hidden to any pursuers. Hintzu crossed to the stairs to stand guard as we took stock of our position. After taking a moment to catch our breath we were quickly on our feet again, as the door started to open behind us. Readying ourselves for another fight we were surprised, but pleased, to see Merc slip into the room! Lanzi rushed forward to embrace him in welcome, and we were all relieved to have him with us before making an assault on Calios' fortress.

Merc looked cleaner and smarter than usual, so he had obviously had some time to rest. He also seemed much calmer and more assured. He quickly related what had happened in the time we had been separated, which was quite a lot! In summary, whilst we had achieved climbing Findor's Stair, Merc had relieved Sutur, defeated a large enemy force in battle, and united the free folk.

Merc's Story

There was a discussion about various aspects of the story, as well as one about the balance of the elemental forces in the Iron Mountains. It appeared that our earlier actions had destablised things, and that bringing balance back to the area was one of our short term objectives. However, the discussion was interrupted by Hintzu, who warned us that he could hear noises from all around. There was a banging sound from no particular direction, and behind the door that Merc had closed behind him could be heard the scraping of metal on stone.

As a precaution, Lanzi used his dweomer to harden Hintzu's flesh, making him impervious to normal blows. Morwath also made preparations, disguising us in ogre form in case we were found by giants. I called Odin's favour upon us as the fighters readied their weapons. As the sound changed from a thumping to a scraping sound, we decided to move on. Merc lead from the front once more, now he had returned, and began to ascend the stairs.

Morwath was last to leave the room, and as I started up the narrow stairs I heard him scream behind me. Turning quickly, I was taken aback - the noise proved to have been made by huge insects, which had burrowed their way into the room and had surrounded Morwath. One had attacked him from the side, and its mandibles were locked around him. Hintzu was fasted to react, pushing his way into the room and setting upon the creature that held Morwath. He quickly killed the thing, freeing Morwath, although its mandibles remained buried in his side as he pulled himself free. Giant insects attacked Morwath, burrowing from the floor

Si-Ti-Qa, who had remained in the room to warn us of pursuit, panicked and blasted the room with dweomer-induced fear. Unfortunately for us, the only effect was to cause Hintzu to run for his life! As Hintzu disappeared up the stairs, Morwath quaffed a potion that healed some of his wounds and jumped out of immediate danger. Lanzi joined in from the stairs, launching magic missiles into the room. I landed a solid blow on one, but it retaliated by biting me. The bite was crushing and almost cut through me, and then it injected something acrid into the wound that burnt with even more pain.

I was suddenly surrounded by fog, and could only see the creature that I was engaged with, although I could hear sound of battle echoing in the room. With another solid blow I crushed something vital in the creature and it fell, lifeless to the ground. I shouted "what is happening? I cannot see!" Almost immediately the fog disappeared, but unfortunately I only had my sight for a second as another creature was revealed before me too late for me to avoid its blows. I fell across the body of the creature I had killed moments before.

In the meantime, spurred by dweomer-induced fear, Hintzu had sprinted up the stairs and into another room occupied by a pair of giants. The room was recently hewn and without carvings; a blank canvass waiting to be filled. Hintzu moves faster than any other human I have seen, and he was past the giants and through another door opposite before they could stop eating and react to his presence. Climbing more stairs, Hintzu blundered into a room full of funghi in complete darkness. A high pitched squealing assaulted his senses, but did not slow him down. However, his progress through the fughi, which were varied in size, did slow him and caused him to trip and fall into the stairs at the far end of the room. The fall must have knocked some sense into him, as the dweomer started to wear off and he was able to collect his thoughts.

Merc had sprinted in pursuit of Hintzu as he passed him on the stairs, and also passed the giants before they could react fully. He paused , though, upon reaching the room full of funghi. He could make out something in the air with his infravision - possibly spores disturbed by Hintzu's flight. The immense squealing noise also gave him pause. Merc called upon Freya and caused a flame to start in the room, but it failed to spread and the spores in the air did not ignite.

Merc noticed a light at the far end of the room - Hintzu had lighted a torch and was making his way back. The high pitched squealing stopped as he entered the fughi covered area, and he hurried through to join Merc. They turned to make their way back to the rest of the party, but were soon confronted by the two giants that had attempted to give chase. The giants were hideously deformed and had found it difficult to follow at pace.

Hintzu was burning with shame at his earlier uncontrollable fear, and threw himself into combat with renewed vigour. Hurling his torch before him he slashed at one of the giants, cutting it to pieces in his anger. The other giant punched Merc heavily, but he retaliated with solid hits and, with both of them attacking it, the giant did not last very long. Once the threat was no more, they set off once more to rejoin the remains of the beleaguered party.

Hintzu arrived just in time to see Lanzi and Morwath being enveloped in acid spat from the mouths of one of the remaining creatures. Lanzi passed out and Morwath was spat at a second time, falling into unconciousness. Hintzu and Merc lay into the creatures with vigour and quickly killed two. One was apparently dragging my body into its burrow, but Hintzu engaged and killed it before it could get beneath the ground. Merc faced up to the remaining creature and put it to the sword.

We were safe for now, but we had paid for Hintzu and Merc's absence at a terrible price. Lanzi was badly hurt, but was revived by Merc; his backpack was ruined (a fairly common occurrance) and his cloak was in tatters, having been eaten away by the acidic spittle. Lanzi, by some miracle, was able to use his dweomer to bring me back to life. I did not know such things were possible without calling upon the aid of a God. I hope that this does not mean that Lanzi is beginning to think of himself as a God, as Lastar once did before him. For the moment, though, I was grateful. Merc aided me in tending my wounds and then I was able to call upon Odin to bring Morwath back to us.

At this point it became apparent that the two fighters had not escaped unhurt. Both Merc and Hintzu began to feel sharp stomach pains, causing them to double up. After asking some searching questions, we began to suspect that the funghi spores might be affecting them in some way. Merc called upon Freya's favour to purge any poison in his system, and I passed by Elixir of Health to Hintzu so that he might do the same.

With the party out of immediate harm, there began a long discussion - dare I say, argument - about whether we should continue with our current quest or regroup elsewhere before returning. Merc was unwilling to leave, as he believed that we could not reasonably return with the defenders alerted. I wished to press on, as we were not as badly off as we had been in the past, and the option to withdraw was always there. Morwath wished to withdraw temporarily to recuperate. Lanzi wished to withdraw to recuperate, but did not think that there was anywhere nearby where it would be safe to do so. Hintzu was undecided, being mindful of his friends' concern but wishing to continue if possible. In the end we decided to continue, although with some misgivings. The room was convered in funghi.

We made our way up to the room with the funghi in, but were unwilling to enter whilst the spores posed a threat to us. Hintzu used his ring to conjure magical flames, filling the room with fire and destroying everything within. There were no signs of any carvings or any other clues within the blackened room after the flames had subsided, so we continued on.

At the top of the stairs was a locked wooden door, clad in iron. Hintzu quickly unlocked the door with his tools, entering the room with Merc. The door had been concealed as part of the wall, and the room was highly decorated. To the West was a depiction of the Elf Taranack wearing scale mail that glimmered with a myriad of colours, a half elf and a dwarf leading a band of free nations' warriors up Findor's stair. To the South Taranack was set apart from his companions, pointing into the wall and beckoning behind him, leading them away from the stair. To the East was depicted Kalasar having his throat cut by Ezollach, the lich. To the North the Half Elf was shown looking down from Sutur as Elves, Men and Dwarves entered through its gates; a door was set into the barbican, as if it were a gate.

Within the room were a half dozen black cats that sprouted waving tentacles from their bodies. There was something not quite right about them, as if they were not quite grounded in reality, and our eyes strained with the effort of trying to see them clearly. This disconcerting effect did not stop Merc and Hintzu from charging forwards to meet them in combat, and they were soon surrounded by the creatures. Lanzi, confronted by one of the creatures that had already been injured, bravely attacked with his bare hands. His skills should not be underestimated, as he was able to fell it in a flurry of blows. The three of them fought on - the weight of numbers preventing them from moving forward and confining Morwath and I to the stairs, unable to assist. By the time I saw the foe for the first time, their number had been halved. As I advanced, Merc and Hintzu killed the creatures they were duelling with and helped Lanzi dispatch the last of them. It seemed that I had missed the fight, although I did not regret a chance to rest my arm.

After taking stock for a moment, Merc opened the far door to reveal a large room beyond, which was also decorated. To the East was an image of a huge army of gnolls, with Yeonoghu leading them, climbing over Minas Morgul. A dwarf was being killed and the Ring of Fire being taken from him by Yeonogu. To the South were Tanarii with a Balrog killing a dwarf bearing the symbol of Zem; the Balrog was ripping the Ring of Air off his finger. To the West were a group of Norse men, with a samurai in their ranks, between two large mountain ranges; they were killing gnolls, orcs and goblins in the valley. A river was nearby, and from the ships depicted there were more men and elves hurrying to join the battle. To the North was an image of Minas Morgul again, but this time surrounded by dwarves and other diminutive folk. The tower was burning and being pulled down. At the heart of the image, a dwarf was fighting with Yeonoghu and beating him back. There were doors in the centre of each wall, and the one to our right was ajar.

The room was tall and well lit, allowing us to see clearly the contents. Standing amongst the remains of dwarves, watching another dwarf being roasted over a fire pit, were a number of two-headed giants. Seeing the mistreatment of the dwarf's body enraged Merc, and he charged forward without hesitation to engage the foe, quickly followed by Hintzu. Morwath also entered the room, but a little more cautiously. Several giants moved to confront the attack, whilst the other made its way to a door and shouted in a guttural language that I did not understand. The intention was clear, though, it was calling for aid.

Merc, in his frenzy, cut down the first of the creatures, but as he did so another entered the room - heeding the call for aid - and a huge cyclops crammed his frame through the door opposite us, large metal balls strapped in a bandolier across his chest. Hintzu killed another, to balance the fight a little, but the cyclops threw a ball at Merc and it burst into flames! It missed Merc, but came dangerously close to me - fortunately the worst of the flames went beside me, but I had to dab at my tabard to prevent it from catching. One of the giants, demoralised at how quickly his fellows had been slain, turned to flee. Just then the room was filled with smoke, spreading from the fire at the centre; Morwath had conjured the smoke to obscure the aim of the cyclops, and it worked - the next ball missing by a wide margin.

At this point I could not see very much, so I called upon Odin's favour to aid Hintzu, who was just in front of me. The last visible foe fell to Merc's blade and we were given a respite from the fighting. Morwath called some thorns into being, blindly hoping to fill the room, and we were still in some danger from the balls that the cyclops was throwing, although they were not aimed any more. Nervously we waited for the smoke to clear, and as it did so we began to make out the forms of a different attacker. They are best described as giant orc knight things, although they made noises like a bear might before it charges. They attacked as soon as they could see us, swarming us in a crazy melee without form. Hintzu was the only one who seemed to anticipate the attack, and he cut many of them down as they came at him. Lanzi decided that he was better off being hidden from the enemy and used his dweomer to turn invisible. The assault was backed up by the balls still being thrown by the cyclops, but they were doing as much or more damage to their own than to us. I struck one down, and could see that Merc and Hintzu were untroubled by these new foes, driving their way forward.

Despite their armour, these new creatures were poor fighters and were faring badly in the melee. Another fell to the cyclops' missiles, Morwath cut one down, I killed another with my rod and Lanzi (still invisible) struck at another with magic missiles, killing it. Lanzi's act gave his approximate position away, and he was clipped by a retaliatory attack, but the creatures knew that they were losing the battle and started to withdraw in the face of Merc and Hintzu's blistering defence. Lanzi managed to leap out of danger, although the rest of us were unaware of his actions at the time. Morwath killed another and the rest gave up all caution and ran. Only one remained, sinking to its knees and dropping its weapon.

I took custody of the prisoner whilst Merc and Hintzu advanced on the rock-throwing Cyclops. It was being fed ammunition by a couple of Ogres, but it pushed them aside and took hold of a huge lump of masonry. With a grunt it hurled the mass across the room, but it sailed over the heads of Merc and Hintzu and instead came straight at me! I tried to move aside, but the prisoner's weapon caught in my feet and I fell, arm outstretched to the floor. The world went black and I felt nothing.

My body had been crushed, as had that of our prisoner. I do not know what happened next, although something prevented my soul from departing completely. When I awoke, I was quite whole and was surprised to find myself in the company of Dwarves! I had not thought to see them here, the halls being so overrun with the enemy. I was still not well, but noticed that Merc's ring was upon my finger - we had used it before to bring people back from the brink, but I did not realise that it was so powerful. I would have to spend some time giving thanks to Odin and healing myself before I could continue.

I sought out my friends and had the details of what had transpired from them. Apparently Merc and Hintzu had made short work of the Cyclops, and the Ogres had fled when the giant fell. Lanzi had discovered and opened a hidden door that led to a tomb, and the party had sealed themselves in to avoid detection. A sarcophagus stood in the centre of a black room, and blue torches had flared to life as they entered. Dwarven runes were upon the wall and read as follows.

Lastar was taken before the Valhalla Kings,

In Asgard he was asked to answer for many things,

But at the Rainbow Bridge he stood proud,

And cried his virtues out loud.

Rings of Power he did create,

To counter the Devil incarnate,

From Elven stone and dwarven gold,

A balancing power he did mold.

The Crown of Kings gave enchanting light,

To the land as dark as night;

At each King's death and to re-unite,

The Crown of Kings became that of Light.

From Zundar came the eminent stone,

And with a gift Balem chose alone,

To honour the Mage whose power he sought,

And believing, wrongly, the wizard he bought.

Why then the gates of Asgard shut,

Too full the house of Odin but,

Lest his memory be left to die

To Anubis did Lastar's path lie.

But from that ancient path he turned,

For his mortal powers he yearned,

And overcome by pride and rage,

Scattered them through Land and Age.

Also in this room were carved images on the walls; to the North could be seen Erowin climbing Findor's Stair, wearing the 3-pointed crown with yellow gems. He was fighting his way through undead creatures to reach Olga. To the East, Erowin was shown kneeling before a chest and lifting from it a plain staff, examining it closely with obvious interest. To the South Erowin was seen being slain by the Lich, Ezollach, and his crown was being taken from his decapitated skull. To the West could be seen Orcus with the bedraggled figure of Daudrag before him, offering him a darkly glowing green ring; Orcus towered over him, but was offering his hand in friendship. The sarcophagus cover was carved in the shape of a Dwarf, and it was marked at the feet with the symbol of Andurin.

Si-Ti-Qa had detected an aura of dweomer about the sarcophagus, and Lanzi discovered another hidden door in the North wall where Erowin was entering Olga. However, the party decided that it was time to rest and recover from the recent fight. Merc attached the ring of regeneration to one of my (thankfully intact) fingers and my remains were left to reassemble themselves whilst the others tended their wounds and treated their equipment.

After a full day's rest, I was only partially regenerated and the others were beginning to get restless. They decided to open the sarcophagus (despite our past experiences with them) to see the remains of Andurin. Sure enough, the skeletal remains of a dwarf wearing symbology of Findor's house was inside. His remains were accompanied by scroll cases, battleaxe, shield, helmet, gold and a small chest inlaid with silver and mother of pearl in a dragon shape.

As the party decided that they could put the items to better use than their previous owner, and began to loot the tomb, the Northern door began to open. A threatening voice shouted "I wouldn't do that if I were you" from the darkness beyond. After some diplomatic quick-talking from Merc, the owner of the voice revealed themselves as Galen, a dwarf descended from Andurin's house. After returning Andurin's items, replacing the sarcophagus cover and apologising for disturbing his resting place, Galen agreed to escort the party into the dwarven halls.

Once safely inside, Galen explained that the Dwarves had fled from the fall of Olga into the Iron Mountains and their numbers had dwindled slowly since then. They were under attack from forces commanded by Calios, and there were only forty of them left alive. They had no contact with other Dwarves, and were pleased to learn that they were not alone. Meals were provided for those of us that were still alive, and Merc told our hosts of the current situation - which was grim, but not desperate. We learned that Calios was working with Orcus, and that the Dwarves would be able to get us close to him by using the tunnels that were still under their control.

We remained within the Dwarven halls until we were all fully recuperated, which included my recovery from being, if not dead, then very actually dead! I had thought that such power was reserved for the Gods, but if man can contain the dweomer for such a thing in a simple ring then I dread to think what damage the artifacts we seek could have done to the balance of power in our world. Whilst I was recovering, the others had aided the Dwarves in defending their realm, fighting Calios' forces who were joined by creatures that had an affinity with the element of Earth. The attackers had been recently reinforced, probably as a result of our actions, so it was only fair that we should offer our aid.

When we were finally ready to go on, Galen agreed to lead us as far as he dared and provided us with directions for the remainder of the journey. He would get us within the outer wall of the fortress, if all went well, but it would be up to us to breach the final defences. He stopped in front of a well concealed door and warned us that we were about to leave the safety of their realm, and that we would have to kill anything we found on the other side so that the entrance remained hidden. Agreeing, we prepared ourselves for combat as he swung the door open.

We entered a highly decorated room, to the North and East was a scene showing an open hearth before the keep of Sutur where dwarves of Orodruin worked with metal. Imrahir, Taneth (his tabard showing a black ship in silhouette in front of a full moon) and Hangar were present and Hangar was receiving a sword from the toiling dwarves. In the West was a dark scene of Dordraug reaching over a dead dwarf to take a 7-pointed blue crown and a gem, his face evilly joyous. To the South was a depiction of the Battle of Aarda; men, elves and dwarves were scattering before forces under the banner of a dark grey wolf and a female weilding 6 weapons, each in its own arm. In the centre, Orcus could be seen handing a plain wooden staff to Dordraug. Some verse was carved on this wall:

In darkest Zundar he had toiled,

Careful to leave its halls unsoiled,

The first was forged a piece in violet,

Ill of omen and sullied with violence.

In Olga Frastor wore his Crown with pride,

As Findor and many of his sons died.

Born out of ashes by the Lords of Sutur,

Crowned Castellan, fiery orange its colour.

Inuik discovered the yellow crown,

Given to Sutur Lords it‘s passed down,

And to the hands of Dark Wolf it came

Before returning to Rodrus once again.

From Elven Lord to Demon witch,

Through Ninja’s hand to Dragon Lich,

Samurai Lord last wore crimson crown,

Until to the Abyss it passed down.

Born in green from forest falls,

From Kaled Zem to Dark Wolf’s Halls,

From chains in Sylvan lands breaks free,

Until the betrayer dwarves kill Dormarie.

Through the ages since Gundleus dies,

The Red dragon holed up in Tiris lies.

Adorned in indigo through life and death,

Raised again, destruction comes with fiery breath.

Found in Ishtur’s gnomish halls,

By Dark Wolf who answered Orcus’ calls,

Fleeing to Olga from Sylvan chains,

With blue crown Guerin hacks and maims.

Two giants were stood in the room, with canine creatures in front of them, probably searching for evidence of intruders. They were to get it first hand, as Hintzu lept from the shadows and butchered two of the dog-like things before they could react. Merc was just behind him, and felled one of the giants in similarly quick order. Galen, our new ally, took down the last creature leaving one giant suddenly alone against our party. Although it fought back, it was quickly killed and the secret of the entrance behind us was safe.

The door to the next room was open, and we could see at least a score of creatures preparing for our assault. They were burly, ape-like humanoids with ruddy/red skin and blue noses and were all brightly dressed. Morwath called forth thorns from the ground around them and held them in place. Lanzi sent streaking firey meteors flying towards them, and their crys suggested that they had suffered from the attack. Galen shouted at us to follow him, and set off towards the other door in the room.

I was the closest, and hurried to open the door before Galen reached it, mindful that he was our only guide through the maze of chambers we found ourselves in. I was right to be concerned, as I was immediately confronted by a pair of stinking trolls with more behind them. Merc pushed his way to the fore, engaging them with his blade whilst Hintzu used his ring to conjure a ball of flame in an attempt to clear the way. I called upon Odin to grant me a flame, and began hurling fire at the bodies that Merc was leaving behind in an attempt to kill them off - fearing their habit of recovering from even the most mortal of wounds. From behind us, a huge bolt of lightning flew into their ranks, causing some to fall and all of them to scream in agony. But still they kept coming! Morwath joined in by conjuring a wall of flame, and between us we assailed them with fire. Still some broke through and engaged us in melee, forcing Hintzu and I to batter one down and Merc to slice through another.

Lanzi sealed the door behind us, and Morwath dropped the wall of flames so that we could fight our way onwards. Merc and Hintzu were able to fell the remaining trolls, but we could see more down the corridor and some of those that had already fallen were beginning to pick themselves up again. I struck about me to fell the trolls rising from around us - we could not afford to let them get to Lanzi or Morwath at this stage. Hintzu used his ring again to burn more of them. Lanzi sent flaming shurikens flying past us with his dweomer, and Merc did what he does best and bested the few trolls that had not been engaged yet. Soon they had all fallen, and we set about burning all the remains before we had to face them again. We also took a moment to heal the wounds that had been suffered during the furious combat.

Having recovered somewhat, we made our way to the end of the corridor and climbed a flight of stairs before pausing at another door. I offered up a prayer to Odin before Merc opened the door and we stepped into another highly decorated room. In the West was shown a ninja killing a demon quietly from the shadows, with Marilliath projecting her form through a pentagram in the background. In the North Dardraug, wearing a 5-pointed green crown and holding a wooden staff, was thrusting his sword into a winged demon (almost a smaller likeness of Orcus). In the East, Iki Moko was slaying Marilliath in the halls of Zundar - it was in the entrance hall, as the violet flower with the engraved verse by Iki Moko's hand that we had seen before. To the South, Daudraug was being thrust to his knees before the Sylvan Queen, Lucielle, in a forested area.

There were bizarre hybrid creatures, half man and half scorpion in the room. Some were armed with bows, and it was clear that at least one weilded some dweomer as a fireball exploded in our midst, which was followed with a lightning bolt as the hand-to-hand fighting started. The bolt bounced from Merc's shield, though, and was turned back on the foe. Morwath slowed the enemy with another wall of thorns, which allowed Hintzu to finish off the two closest creatures.

Lanzi unleashed more lightning into the room, this time arcing around between the foes and hitting Merc and Hintzu! As the harsh light of this attack was just fading from our eyes, an ice storm followed it - seemingly coming from the enemy and from Lanzi simultaneously. Backing away in the face of this storm, I retreated to the rear of the party; I could not engage the foe and my wounds needed tending. Hintzu went on the offensive, using his ring to set fire to the thorns and then following up with arrows at any target he could make out. After the fire eventually burnt down, it was clear that there were none left alive.

We made our way to the right, up a spiral staircase, until we reached another, smaller room. A half dozen lumbering Umber Hulks stood in the room, with another half dozen small insectoid creatures amongst them. As Merc emerged into the room, two more Umber Hulks burrowed their way into the stairwell behind the party, where Lanzi and I were standing, and we were soon engaged in a fight for our lives (again).

Hintzu raised a wall of fire, cutting off some of the creatures, and then loosed arrows at the insects, picking off two of them. Where I stood, now in combat, I could only hear more of the things burrowing their way into the stairwell as the air filled with dust and the sounds of combat. I'm not sure what happened exactly, but Lanzi and I killed one of the attackers and then the other disengaged and we made our way up to the rest of the party, who were similarly surprised at the sudden end to the encounter.

Cautiously making our way forward, we crossed the room and entered a small passage leading to a door that had been left open. Beyond the door the passage opened out into a large room, but we were attacked again before we reached it. They used the same tactics, engaging us on all sides at once, but this time we were ready for them. We fought them off again, and again they retreated into the rock where we could not follow. By this time we had all suffered greatly and feared another attack.

The large room contained a pentagram, with a gem-studded, silver bowl on a silver dias stood at its centre. A shimmering liquid cast odd reflections from within the bowl, making the carved walls seem strangely alive if you spent too long looking at them. On the East wall a grusome scene showed an enormous female giant giving birth to a wolf (Fenris) that emerged into the room. On the West wall, Thor lay on his back, dead, smashing the Bifrost Bridge into rainbow slivers beneath him - a serpent was wrapped around his neck with its teeth in him. To the North a depiction of Loki showed him naked and with an erection, flames shooting from his fingertips into a tree that was fully ablaze (on the South wall) as were the men, dwarves and elves around it. On the roof Asgard was being torn down by giants and many flying creatures were circling and swooping to drop rocks on the walls - I saw Griffins, Manticores, Eagles and more in their flock.

The flames to our right seemed even more real as we made our way forward - we could feel the heat radiating from the wall. We also noticed the skeletal remains of various humanoids over on that side of the room. It was then that I started to hear voices. They were coming from the bowl in the centre of the room, but I could not make out what they were saying. I approached the bowl, not heeding Merc's insistence that we should continue in haste, and tried to make out the voices more clearly. I could just about make out words...

"There! See, they have Chimera, Manticore, Griffin."

"Yes, my friend, she says they may need our help."

"I would not turn back now!"

There were two distinct voices, and one of them sounded familiar. I turned all my attention to the bowl, and made my way into the pentagram; I also called for the others to wait - that we should investigate these voices further, although only Lanzi and I seemed to hear them. The pentagram glowed and changed colour to a light blue, which was a good omen. In the bowl I could see Calios' fortress from above, with giants on the walls overlooking plentiful gardens. Manticore, Chimera and Griffin flew about the fortress, overseeing all that went on below. As I watched, the view moved further away, looking into the early morning sunrise, and I saw a gold dragon in the distance with a rider upon its back. Again I heard voices...

"We must make it quick, we are not sure if this is to be a rescue."

"Quatyl says that they are in need of help, that is enough for me."

"They have saved me before; I would not forsake them."

I recognised the dragon as Draco Augusta and realised that it was his voice I had heard before. But the image was fading, and I became aware that Merc was shouting for us to follow; Lanzi was at my side looking into the bowl. I heard another voice in the background, saying...

"My Lord and ally I offer you intelligence for nothing... occupied... our actions... key to darkness..."

But the voice was snatched away as Merc called again for us to follow. This time I responded, and we hurried towards the stairs that the others had already started to ascend. The stairs ended in another door, and once Merc saw that we were on our way he opened the door and entered the room beyond.

In the centre of the large room that was revealed was a female elf lying on the floor, partially naked, moaning as if in pain. The room itself was decorated in a similiar style to the last room. To the East, Fenris stood unchained on the Bifrost Bridge, and souls were jumping into the black river below, unable to pass. Opposite this, to our left, Odin was shown kneeling before a pale giant with mottled blue skin; the giant held a huge morningstar and was shown ready to swing it down at Odin - a blasphemous image! To the South, a serpent was shown emerging from the ground and uprooting a tree in the process, all highlighted by the red of a setting sun. To the North, Loki was shown raping Elven women. The floor was black and highly polished, like a river, and images of corpses struggling to get free were worked into the stone. Above us, dark clouds were shown masking part of a full moon.

Merc cried "Lucielle!" and made to run to the Elf's aid, but Lanzi cried a warning - things were not as they appeared to be and an abomination lay hidden behind the illusion of a helpless maiden. As the spell was broken, a writhing blob with many eyes and mouths appeared to us, along with the strange smell of flowers. The thing oozed towards us, taking advantage of our hesitation. Morwath reacted first, attacking it with his scimitar, and was quickly backed up by Lanzi who used his dweomer to send missiles streaking into its bulk. I called upon Odin to delay its advance, causing it to hesitate while we organised our attacks. Merc and Hintzu held the line whilst the rest of us supported them with prayers and dweomer. The thing reared some of its mass up and fell upon Merc; when it withdrew he was gone - it had swallowed him! Fortunately, the overzealous attack had left it vulnerable and Morwath seized the opportunity, getting in close and landing a critical blow that caused it to shudder and collapse.

With the thing apparently dead, we set about cutting Merc free from its bulk, and he was fortunately only lightly burned by its stomach acids. Galen indicated that we would have to remove some blocks from the wall here in order to allow us access to a shaft that lead up to the fortress above. I tended to Mercs injuries whilst the others covered the entrances to the room. When Merc was ready (he was not in the mood for rest) we assisted Galen in removing a couple of blocks from the wall.

After some chiselling and hard labour, there was enough of a passage for Galen to crawl through to the shaft. He reported that it was still open to the air above, but would be a hard climb for us. This was as far as he was prepared to accompany us, and insisted that he had to return to his people. He thanked us briefly for the aid we had rendered and wished us well before departing. I can only hope that their small community lasts long enough to be reunited with the other Dwarven houses.

We now had to climb an almost vertical shaft to reach the surface - something that we have been less than successful at in the past! Hintzu went first, and easily made his way up the length of the shaft; he climbs as well as a bird, almost floating up sheer cliffs. Si-Ti-Qa accompanied him so that Lanzi would be able to relay to the rest of us what was going on. At the top of the shaft was a culvert next to a high wall at the edge of a beautiful garden. It was early morning and it was clear that we had penetrated only the outer wall of the fortress. The description sounded a lot like the scene I had experienced in the bowl back below us, and I was now sure that an ally was on the way to aid us.

Hintzu used his strength to break and bend the bars enough for him to slip through, and then secured the rope using the same bars. Merc then began the long climb to meet him; making it to the top without mishap, but struggling to get his shield between the bars at the top. The struggle may have loosened a knot, because Morwath found that one was coming undone as he climbed and had to pause to re-tie it. Tired from the effort, he returned to us and I took his turn. Odin was with me and I reached the top safely, no longer burdened with heavy armour. Morwath followed, having rested, and was equally successful. Having been so fortunate up to this point, it was almost inevitable that Lanzi would suffer an accident. He fell at the base, not grasping the rope properly, and used his dweomer to teleport to the top. He appeared slightly above us and fell roughly to the ground - fortunately only his pride was injured.

The sun was rising now, and we could see a gate in the wall we needed to pass; however, an owl call alerted us to the presence of flying creatures that were probably working for our enemy. Si-Ti-Qa flew up to the top of the wall to see what creatures might guard it. There were giants, including the boulder -throwing cyclops, at the barbican and along the wall's length. A griffon was taking off from the gatehouse and something resembling a flying bugbear stood atop the wall not far from us.

After a rather protracted (considering our location) discussion about the best way forward, it was decided that we would arrange a diversion to make the creatures think that they were under attack from without, whilst at the same time using a powerful prayer to take us into the heart of the keep. It was hoped that this would force them to divide their forces and allow us to attack a weakened force in a precise attack.

Hintzu produced a fire and caused a pyrotechnic display whilst Morwath caused a large section of the wall to turn from stone to mud, effectively breaching their defences. Meanwhile, Lanzi hasted our movements and I prayed to Odin for his blessing. Merc went through the complex ritual to open a door in the air that would (we hoped) take us into the heart of the enemy's stronghold.

We emerged into a vast hall in darkness that stretched beyond my limited sight. The ceiling was vaulted and held up by regulary spaced columns, and there were aerial creatures depicted flying between the butresses. We could just make out a huge marble table, about 6 foot high, some distance away; it was clearly a room designed for giants. The illustrations on the walls could not all be made out, but for completeness I will record them now. Opposite, around a pair of huge double doors, were paintings of cloud giants. To our left were depicted female giants with Yishmay in the centre. Behind us were battle scenes of giants defeating the Gods. To our right were similar scenes of giants slaying elves, men and dwarves.

Growling, and advancing slowly were four spotted lions, circling the great table to our left. Merc and Hintzu did not pause long, and immediately engaged them in combat; by the time we had all emerged from the portal, two lay in bloody rags on the floor. Morwath, knowing that speed was essential to our plan, used his affinity with animals to hold the remaining creatures still so that we could continue the advance. Merc shouted a warning - he had seen giants approaching!

Without any warning, a green, noxious cloud descended on us and our already limited sight was completely blocked. I could hear the sounds of battle ahead and to the left, and began making my way towards the noise. Merc had engaged the foe, and single handedly killed one of the giants; the other had turned and fled, but was doubtless going to fetch more of his kind. Lanzi was choking on the foul mist that surrounded us, and Hintzu was rushing to his aid. Still as good as blind, I threw caution to the wind and ran forwards, hoping to find a clear area. The plan worked, of a fashion, as I emerged from the cloud only to run headlong into a wall! Fortunately I was not hurt, and turned to see that Merc was fighting with a flying creature of some kind. He was enveloped by a fiery breath from the creature, but shrugged it off and dealt it a mortal blow. Meanwhile, Hintzu had found Lanzi and slung him over his shoulder - he used Lanzi's headband with its gem of light to follow the wall until they were clear of the gas.

Reunited, and free from immediate danger, we ran through the doors in pursuit of the last giant. A massive spiral staircase twisted away in both directions and we made our way upwards, despite the sounds of alarm from below. We soon reached another set of double doors, although the stairs continued, and Merc ran straight into them, bashing them open with his momentum. I was dazzeled momentarily, as light streamed in from the room beyond, and also from the smell! The vast, open, room was full of avian creatures and great arches were open along the walls - allowing them free access from the air outside.

Merc's sudden arrival had shocked the nearest creatures, but it was clear that if we remained here we would be locked in a titanic struggle that would cause us too much delay. Hintzu was nearest and, with quick thinking, pulled Merc back whilst using his ring to cause fire to billow into the doorway. This gave us enough time to drag the doors closed and continue upwards; hopefully the creatures would struggle with door handles!

The stairs emerged, after one more twist, into an opulent sky blue dome. The ceiling was decorated to match an azure sky with wisps of clouds that almost fooled the observer into thinking it real. The room was a living space, and an enormous 4-poster bed stood against one wall. We did not have time to take in all the furnishings, however, as Calios stood at the end of the bed, directing a number of giants to engage us. Three cloud giants moved forward to engage us, whilst a cyclops started to heft a large rock - I was damned if I would get crushed again! Two of the lion creatures were also in the room, presumably pets of Calios. The odds were worrying, but there was still a danger that we might be pursued, so Lanzi used his dweomer to seal the door behind us. There was no going back.

Before I could react, another noxious cloud enveloped us and this time it caught me breathing in - in moments I was gagging and retching and unable to do much at all! Morwath used his mental powers to send a couple of the giants and the lions running, which evend the odds up a little. The others were all engaged in fighting, as far as I could tell. Morwath then attempted to delay Calios with a wall of thorns, but he had the mastery of the air thanks to the ring he was wearing, and was able to fly over the barrier. Merc and Hintzu killed the giants that hadn't fled, but were under constant attack from the rock-throwing cyclops. Fortunately the combat kept them moving, making them hard to hit. Concentrating on Calios, Merc let loose with some arrows and this enraged him, causing him to come down to ground level to fight. This was a mistake, as anyone who has fought alongside Merc and Hintzu would know! With blow after blow they brought him to the ground, and Hintzu claimed his prize - forcing the ring from his finger.

At the loss of their leader, the remaining foes cowered in the corner. Merc was insistent that we take what we could carry and leave immediately. I advised that we take stock for a moment, as I was convinced that Dracor was on the way to our aid. Merc, though would have none of it and called another portal into existence, this time taking us to Nega. We had scarcely a minute to enter the portal, so the argument was brought abruptly short. I considered for a moment staying and waiting for our friends, but the others all grabbed what they could and ran through the opening in the air. Alone, I could not expect to last long, so I reluctantly hefted a chest to my shoulder and followed the others.