Editing Chronicle - Gorgoroth

'''From the Planes to the Plains of Gorgoroth'''

We floated on the plane of air as Lanzi continued to discuss the imbalance of elements with the Kirin. Lanzi asked what debts he could pay to the Kirin and his kind, mindful that we had slain two powerful creatures of air on the Prime and were therefore somewhat responsible for the imbalance. The Kirin said that Lanzi's line had many debts to pay, but then turned to Melai to ask her whether she would speak with the spirits of water to air the spirits of air in their struggle. Hattori was upset, and the aid of water would help to calm him, beseeching him to bring balance to fire and air. Melai agreed to do what she could to bring balance, but was committed to averting Ragnarok first.

The Kirin was concerned about the presence of Tuar Chan on his plane, and cautioned that one amongst us (now dead) knew more than any other the need for balance. Was he talking about Tuar Chan or Hintzu? All acts on the Prime have an impact on the other planes, and we would need to be more careful in the future. Apparently we would have to remove the positive and negative influences if Hattori was to be calmed, and all lived in fear of Hattori's influence. He sought only material balance and had no interest in the Gods. We also learnt that Yagatamo was killed on the plane of air.

The Kirin then offered to raise Hintzu from the dead, despite his rings, as he was a friend. He charged Lanzi with the task of caring for him, though. A light enveloped Hintzu and his eyes flicked open in surprise, gasping in a quick breath. The ring of fire on his hand glowed, probably reacting to the air dweomer. Lanzi bowed, promising that he owed another debt to the air spirits. Hintzu was glad to be back with us, and in such good company. We were about ready to leave, but first we had to decide what to do with Tuar Chan.

I was still adamant that we should offer him the chance to redeem himself, and most agreed that he should at least be given a chance; this meant, though, that we had to take his body with us. Lanzi stripped Tuar Chan of anything that had an essence of dweomer, including his elaborate armour. The armour was, apparently, a family heirloom and Lanzi would decide its destiny. Melai produced some sacks for the armour, but the ownership of the crown was debated. It was decided that it should go to Melai, as it was related to the element of water, but that I would take her crown. Of all the items we had gathered, it was the least disturbing and felt the most aligned to my faith. Then the thorny issue of the shards came up. Reluctantly, I agreed to take one, but only because it was aligned with Odin. The sooner we could destroy these things the better.

Whilst we arranged our equipment, Melai recounted [[Milai Gorgoroth Story|her story]]... (we should note that different flowers could mean different pantheons/mythos)

Once ready, we stepped through the portal into the ethereal plane. It was not as we expected; there was activity all over the place, chaotic and intense. We could make out a river flowing beside a large plain that stretched into the distance before us, backed by rolling farmland, but it was marred by rising smoke from many fires suggesting that war was abroad. Behind the shimmering portal to our rear rose a mountain range. Elemental spirit forms were being drawn to a large battle on the Prime, with spirits and other creatures flitting in and out of the plane all around us.

Before we could react, five fire imps confronted us, swooping towards the party and breathing fire. Melai drew the fire into herself, but was unharmed by its energy. I started to utter a prayer to Odin, but was struck by missiles of dweomer before I could finish. Similar missiles flew towards Lanzi, but he held up his rod and absorbed them before they could strike him. Matters got worse as two more imps appeared, a red and a black, smokey one. Melai fought back with Agan, but Hintzu quickly cut one down in a blur of solid attacks.

Lanzi created an ice storm that finished the imp facing Melai, and in turn Melai moved to Lanzi's side, cutting down an imp that was threatening him. Again, though, another imp appear - another of the black smokey kind. We were still facing the same number! Hintzu was assailed by flames and magic missiles, hurting him, although he was still able to avoid any physical blows. I was enveloped in flames, and cried out in pain. Melai shouted that she had been blinded, as one of the smokey imps breathed a cloud of ink-like blackness at her. Lanzi retaliated with magic missiles of his own, but they failed to connect. I spread on some keoughtomes to heal the burns I had sustained, whilst both Hintzu and Melai killed an imp each - Melai despite her blindness, which was impressive.

More magic missiles and flames struck Hintzu and I, including a blob of lava-like substance, but we both fought back with stout hearts. I landed a solid blow as Hintzu landed several, killing his foe. Lanzi used more magic missiles to assist me, and this time they were effective, dropping it dead. Now only one remained, and Hintzu moved quickly to attack it; it did not last long. In the meantime, I turned my attention to Melai, calling on Odin to restore her sight.

We took a moment to catch our breath, taking in the chaos still happening all around the plane. Melai suggested that we travel along the course of the river, obviously missing the water, and led us down towards it. Tuar Chan's body and belongings were being transported on the magic carpet, at the command of Lanzi, so we must have looked like some kind of funeral procession; well, we might have if there were friends around to see us, instead there were only fiends and demons, as well as elemental spirits.

As we reached the water, two hydrae emerged to meet us, and they did not seem friendly! They were both eight-headed, about thirty feet long and purple-brown in colour. Melai attacked immediately, slicing off five heads of the nearest beast with sweeping grace. Unfortunately that was the last we saw for some time, as all of the remaining heads breathed an icy cold, biting frost all over us. All bar Melai were frozen in an instant. We were fortunate indeed that Melai survived, as she quickly killed both beasts.

Melai was now left with a stack of bodies on a magic carpet, one of which was a sworn enemy, and was surrounded by potential threats on an unfamiliar plane. Wisely, she decided to leave the ethereal and take her chances on the Prime. Leaving the bodies hidden near the river, she sought help from a nearby caravan of Norse warriors. Almost two-hundred and fifty mounted troops escorted a caravan of supplies and a couple of thousand troops on foot.

Melai decided to play the damsel in distress to seek aid, revealing herself some distance from the outriders. A few riders drew up, their mounts were large warhorses, and the riders were equally burly. They stopped at a reasonable distance, obviously wary of an ambush. Melai called for aid, asking for the assistance of a priest of Odin. One of the riders dismounted and approached on foot; he seemed to recognise her, asking "art thou Melai?" Seeing no reason to lie, Melai confirmed that she was, at which point the man knelt and offered whatever aid they could provide. After sending a rider to summon help, he followed Melai back to our bodies. Melai explained that she had been summoned by the Gods to meet with Peron, but needed aid before continuing with her journey.

The man identified himself as Hagrad, the leader of the group Melai had seen. Upon seeing the state that we were in, though, he expressed his doubt that they would be able to help. Melai explained that I was a priest of Odin, and that if I could be helped then I might tend to the others. Hagrad then noticed the body of Tuar Chan, and was surprised that such a man would be amongst us, even though dead. Melai spoke of the actions at Minas Tiris and that, for now, the elves would remain in the land to fight with man against the common foe. Si Ti Qa, though, was getting more anxious as nothing seemed to be happening that might bring Lanzi back.

Melai could see that more riders were being brought from the rear of the column, but continued to talk to Hagrad. There was a marsh between us and Caladhon, where Perion could be found, and his group were bound to meet with fellow Norsemen beyond the marsh. At this point the first of the healers arrived, but were dismayed to see the bodies before them. They were, at least, able to confirm that we were all dead! They spoke of one called Barass that might be able to raise the dead, but only once. Once he arrived he confirmed that he could do such a thing, but that he would have to make due preparation; Melai suspected that he was only agreeing because he would be tending to another priest of Odin.

Once ready, with Odin's grace, he was able to bring me back from the dead. I awoke with a startle, surrounded by Norse faces and wondering whether I was in Valhalla! However, as they set about healing my wounds I recognised Melai and realised that I was back on the Prime. Barass escorted me to a wagon so that I could rest and pray, with my focus now being restoring our friends to life. Over the course of a day I was able to restore my strength and bring Hintzu and Lanzi back to life. As I had not been privy to Melai's explanation of our situation at the time I told them "I don't know what's going on, so don't ask!"

In all we spent three days with Hagrad's men, resting and healing. Whilst we stayed with them, Hintzu came to me with a strange request. He asked me to commune with Odin to ask for an avatar in Hintzu's form to be sent so that he could fight himself; apparently this was a necessary trial in his path of martial prowess. It would not happen immediately, but I felt that the Gods had recognised his plea and would anwer it. Thor had always liked a good fight, anyway. We also managed to solve the problem of what to do with Tuar Chan's slowly decaying body. Lanzi had about him a variety of items bestowed with dweomer, and they included a sheet that shrank things to a mere twelfth of their size and an oil that would protect items from the ravages of time. The combination of these left us with a miniaturised Tuar Chan that would never age or decay.

At the end of the second day, Hintzu's avatar arrived and a fighting circle was formed by the Norse warriors for them to fight in. Hintzu struck first, with a lightning fast blow into the chest of his faintly glowing double. With that they both began dancing around each other, each avoiding the blows of the other with fractions of a second to spare. Hintzu took a glancing blow to his arm, but used the opportunity to retaliate more firmly. He pressed the attack home, striking twice more, but overextended his advantage and was caught with a solid blow to his side. He twisted away, but not quickly enough to avoid a follow-up attack; reversing his movement, Hintzu landed a blow on his opponent's leg, but was struck on his back as he did so. It was clear that these two were, somewhat predictably, very evenly matched. Both, though, had suffered some damage and it was beginning to take its toll. Sensing that the end was near, both launched at each other with ferocity and both ended up with solid blows to the head that sent them reeling back. Shaking their heads, they flew at each other again, but Hintzu changed direction slightly, weaving past his opponent's fist and planting a hand firmly in his chest; the avatar flew backwards, landed heavily and slowly faded from view. Hintzu was barely standing, but he was victorious!

That night was spent in celebration, once I had healed the worst of Hintzu's wounds of course. The Norse were surprised and impressed with the speed of Hintzu's fight, but determined to prove that they could outdrink him. Fortunately, he had trained with me at Calahar and was able to hold his own. The next morning we departed on the magic carpet, invisible by Melai's hand and controlled by Lanzi. This arrangement suited Hintzu and I as it allowed us to recover from the night's drinking.

We saw pockets of battle across the plains as Norsemen attacked patrols of reasonable size that they felt able to defeat. Operating well in their own land, the Norse were fighting a geurrilla war against Orcus' forces. Whilst they were able to outmatch the patrols, there were large bodies of standing troops in place that they were forced to avoid. Orcus' troops were made up of a motley mix; demons, orcs, ogres and trolls could all be made out, but they were surprisingly organised. The general flow of Norse forces was towards Caladhon, which mirrored our own path. It was clear that Perion was seeking to unite the tribes and had abandoned Gos to the enemy. We had learnt, though, that not all the Norse saw the wisdom in abandoning their homes to meet in Dwarven lands, although the seniors that held the respect of the tribe leaders knew the wisdom in collecting their power to defeat foes one at a time, rather than acting in isolation.

We occasionally sighted the winged eye creatures that we had encountered before; they were farther North and appeared to be searching for something, but did not approach us. After a day's travel we set down to camp for the night by a crag of rock in a small hollow. Melai stood guard as we slept, although the cold night gave little comfort and we could not risk a fire. During the night Melai heard unfamiliar voices, then saw a giant approaching our position quietly, sniffing at the air. He was armoured, but it was padded to reduce any noise, and he was well armed with a bastard sword and two axes. Both arms had bucklers strapped to them and he looked almost like a Norse warrior from a distance. The voices suggested that he was not alone, and he was soon joined by a companion. He too sniffed the air and then they drew their weapons; they had our scent.

Fortunately we were still invisible, so we had an advantage, but Melai waited, watching to see what they would do. One gestured behind them, then began to approach. At this point, Melai woke Hintzu, warning him of the approaching danger. "Which way?" Hintzu whispered. "I can't point, I'm invisible!" was Melai's response. She took hold of his hand and pointed it towards the threat. They then woke the rest of us, telling us to gather our possessions as we were leaving. We quietly climbed onto the carpet and Lanzi lifted us above the crag. From above we could see about a hundred creatures hiding behind the ridge of the hill, so we were wise to avoid confrontation.

We continued to avoid trouble as we journeyed for eight more nights, although there was certainly trouble around and we saw many skirmishes that we could have helped with but chose not to for the greater good. We sighted the marsh that Hagrad spoke about and rested so that we could cross without putting down in such an unpredictable environment. As we crossed the next day, we could see individual Norsemen picking their way through the marsh, but no sign at all of the enemy within its borders. The Drow ships we had seen supplying the enemy on the river did not approach it either, and the bulk of the supplies they carried seemed to be bound for the North of the river and the marsh, suggesting that they were stronger to the North. What few farmsteads we can seen had all been pillaged, and the Norse forces were all nomadic in nature.

When we finally cleared the marsh, towards the end of the day, we saw that a large collection of Norsemen were corralled just beyond its farthest extent. Horsemen and camouflaged sentries surrounded the encampment, and no fires were alight in order to hide their presence from watchful eyes. We decided to land short of their sentries and announce our presence so that we did not cause too much alarm. Making ourselves visible again, I hailed the nearest horseman and he approached with others to interrogate us whilst bowmen covered them.

The horsemen and their horses were very well armoured and ready for war, and thankfully they bore the symbology of Odin, marking them as forces for good. A horn was blown for those inside the encampment to be prepared, and it was clear that these men were taking no chances. A man named Malanai challenged us, but with mention of Hagrad's band and our own identity he was satisfied, removed his helmet and dismounted. We were expected and made welcome, and we agreed to follow him into their camp. Tents were being prepared and weapons stacked for the night, so even this size of Norsemen were ready to move if need be. Our escort shouted out orders for food and drink to be prepared, and called for Fremar to be sought out in order that he might speak with Melai.

Lanzi lowered the carpet slowly to the ground and we stepped off the greet Fremar, who was the Lord of this company. Servants were rushing around us, and Fremar explained that he wished to hide our presence from the enemy so a tent was being prepared. It took a few moments to put up, and we entered to hold our discussions in relative privacy. When Melai revealed her full majesty by removing her cloak the Norse (and the rest of us for that matter) were in awe of her beauty. The men, though, were hugged as brothers in arms, as is the Norse way. Lanzi seemed a little put off by this tradition, although he was restrained enough not to actually cry out in disgust.

We quickly moved on to business, and Fremar informed us that Perion had summoned all Norsemen to meet at Caladhon to strengthen their forces before choosing a target. It was against the wishes of some, but it offered the best chance of escape and defence for the moment. Melai diplomatically soothed his concerns, saying "worry not, Lord Fremar, the glory of battle will come."

Perion had also asked all Norsemen to look for the coming of Melai and a priest of Odin; Perion had also been blessed with a vision from Odin as I had, and knew of our approach. Fremar's company were from south of Gos, and were collecting their body at the marshes after conducting raids and ambushes on the journey north. They were soon to depart for Caladhon, and were in touch with Perion through a palantir! Fremar seemed embarassed to say that his palantir was from Dwarven lands (Minas Maedus), although Perion's had come to Gos by Bavarik's hand. They were aware that messages could be intercepted by the enemy, so they could not inform Perion of our location.

Speaking of the Dwarves, Fremar revealed that there was still a force within Minas Maedus, but the Norse had been unable to reach them. Hasfast was Lord of Fangor Rodrus, and wore Grobdur's crown. Six moons before, Maedus was besieged by Demogorgon and no word had been heard from Minas Morgul. Perion was seeking aid in Ishtur, but Fremar did not know for what reason. We then asked about the marsh we had seen, and the Norse within it. He informed us that there were dangers within Levoyan Marsh, which is why the enemy avoided it.

Having exchanged news, we took our leave and gave aid to the good people that gave us shelter. Melai stayed hidden so as not to cause too much of a stir, but the rest of us were more active. I was able to use Odin's power to aid those that were injured or worse, and Hintzu's strength was again useful. Melai insisted on attending to Lanzi's needs, offering him wine (which he could not drink) and later apple juice. This will not help with his humility. Later in the afternoon, Hintzu and I hit the beer tent to see what the Northern ale was like and then eventually made our way to bed to get some rest.

In the morning, despite a slight hangover, the mood was good. Lanzi was entreating Melai not to be so subservient, although I'm not sure his heart was in the plea, and eventually went on a flight to survey the land before we left. The air was clear and cold; we could not have hoped for better weather and would be able to see for miles from our carpet. There were still Blightwings to the north, but they did not approach. In our invisible state we were able to continue our journey for another two days without incident, but then came across a battle different to most we had seen.

Unlike the hit and run actions that were so common, this was a battle between two roughly balanced groups of about five hundred strong. This time we decided to intervene to ensure a Norse victory, as it was by no means assured without our help. We approached within range of Lanzi's dweomer, but it was Melai that acted first. She conjured a sheet of ice into being above the foe and allowed it to drop on them from a height. Lanzi was not far behind, though, with his characteristic fireball. Hintzu was able to loose arrows at the massed ranks, their tight formations overcoming the extreme range. My own prayers to Odin seemed a little out of place; we were too high to be engaged from below, whilst gravity was on our side and gave us the edge. I contented myself with scattering mystical caltrops to pin one side of the enemy's formation in place, enabling the Norse to concentrate their effort elsewhere.

Melai created more ice to disrupt the Drow ranks, and Lanzi killed many with a cloud of noxious gas followed by a death spell of some kind. Hintzu, meanwhile, was killing almost as many with a constant stream of arrows. After more ice, fireballs and arrows Melai, quite rightly, decided that we had tipped the balance of the battle sufficiently to ensure a Norse victory. We left confident that they would carry the day, but knowing that we had revealed ourselves to the agents of the enemy.

We carried on for the rest of the day and, in the early evening, reached the foothills of a mountain range that we had been approaching for most of our journey. There were many minor skirmishes being fought in the foothills; both sides were searching for some advantage, but the Norse seemed to have the ascendency in most cases, using the terrain to pick battles that they could win. We turned North along the line of the mountains, and the air turned colder.

'''Caladhon'''

We approached a large fortification from the South, seeing first the outer curtain wall across gaps in the mountain ridge surrounding a fortified settlement. Defensive siege engines were positioned to cover any approach on foot, and beyond these defences could be seen even better works, in the manner of the Dwarves, with thick walls defending a higher position. Towers topped some of the ridge spurs, covering the major approaches. Above all of this a three-pronged tower rose to spikes around a central position. From this point could be seen a bright, dweomer- fuelled blue light that threw into sharp relief the shadows of five individuals stood around it.

The walls were all manned for war, with between five and ten thousand manning the fortifications, depending on the reserves. As we passed the outer walls a force of pegasus and griffins rose to meet us, calling for us to identify ourselves. Melai chose to reveal herself, causing those nearest us to genuflect and an escort to be assigned to take us further. We approached the figures on the illuminated tower, were we could now see a palantir sat on a pedestal, which appeared to be the source of the bright light. As we came closer to land, the light formed itself into a bright blue eye, and the figures on the platform dropped to one knee to welcome Melai.

One stood as we alighted; this was Perion. The others with him were his trusted Captains, and we exchanged introductions. Perion recognised Hintzu as the ring bearer as well as Melai, to Hintzu's surprise. Perion assured us that we were in trustworthy company and that the Gods themselves sat in council to hear our news. A table, with places for us all, had been laid out; it was reminiscent of the white councils that we had seen on so many ancient walls. A good, hearty fare was laid out for us to dine on, but servants had been banished to ensure secrecy.

Discussion soon turned to the matters at hand, and all agreed that Ragnarok was as close as it had been in the 2nd Age. For the North the onset of Ragnarok would be disastrous and they were already failing to hold back the Drow. Without Gos it had been necessary to create another stronghold in the North for good, a step that Perion had taken against the nomadic nature of his people. They were as committed to averting Ragnarok as we were. The Elven folk were key to the forces of good surviving, and they did not want to forsake the remaining Dwarves either. Melai spoke of her mission to convince her people to stay to fight against Ragnarok, which had been successful, but the Dwarves were not represented and could not stem the tide of evil creatures in their domain; Hasfast rated his people's survival in days not weeks and Dor had been taken by Rantor. The Dwarves could not do as they did in the 2nd Age, so only the Elves could now turn the tide. Since Gwendolyn had been unseated from Sutur, battle was overcoming Perion's warriors. They were beset by Drow in the North, Demogorgon in the East and Orcus in the South.

Perion recognised the need to take decisive action to defeat the Drow, and intended to strike directly at Morgrad. However, he had no idea how to reach the enemy's stronghold. He believed that the gnomes of Ishtur might know a route to Morgrad, and sought our aid in reaching them. The Dwarves of Maedus were important to holding this position, and also might know how to contact the gnomes, so one possible objective was to aid them in their siege and in return learn what they knew of the gnomes. Melai was concerned that this diversion could take us away from the fight against Inwe for too long, allowing Hel to extend her infuence on the Prime, but it might prove to be a more direct route in the long run, as none of us knew how to reach Morgrad.

The use of scrying was discussed, but had become difficult of late; Perion suspected that the enemy were also striking at Ishtur, and had taken measures to throw him off. He also revealed that Yeoghnu was imprisoned here, and Demogorgon was as yet unsighted of the artifacts. In fact he had acted as a useful distraction to Orcus, which is why Perion wished to concentrate on the Drow while he had the chance. The reason for the caution in this meeting was that, as we were well aware, Inwe had a habit of corrupting the minds of men to ill; the memory of the corruption of Iki-Moko, ringbearer, was still fresh and several eyes were turned onto Hintzu as the name was mentioned.

A second course of action, to find the bearer of the hilt of Frastlor, was discussed. Imrahir thought that the three swords could be used together, but nothing had ever come of it; must the ancient blade be re-forged? If Lastar had stood before the gates of Valhalla with Bavarik at his side, would history have been different? Perhaps blade and gem should be re-made together. Lastar had put unknown powers in the gem using Dwarven and Elven dweomer and skill. Since the gem had shattered no good had come of it, even when the good shards were used. Perions also agreed with our intent to split the gems from the rings and return them to the Elves. As for the crowns, at least the seventh crown needed to be unmade, as it held power over the others. Certainly until then, Perion would council that we constrain the use of our powers as much as possible in order to conceal our purpose from the enemy.

Perion wished to make Caladhon the new Sutur and bring Gwendolyn here to strengthen the unity of the good forces. If Hasfast (younger brother of Briniog; his older sister married into the house of Zem, and his younger brothers were Caldron and Drumskar) were still alive, it would be good if he would attend Perion as well. The new White Council would sit in Caladhon, and we should return to Caladhon before confronting Inwe if we did learn of a route to Morgrad. Perion himself had taken on four tasks for himself: Firstly to stay alive, secondly to find Morgrad, thirdly to prevent the Sarnim Stone from being reforged, and finally to wield the reforged sword as the last of Bavarik's line.

It was then our turn to speak of what we had learnt in our travels. We warned that Rantor was orchestrating the onset of Ragnarok, as he had done in the second Age. The other dragons we knew of were Si Lung, Dracor Augusta and (until recently) Tung Mi Lung. Due to our actions, the inner planes had been thrown into turmoil and were severely out of balance. Perion stated at this point that his people had been affected by the weakening of the plane of air; their ability to predict the weather and live off the land had been affected. We advised that Perion should not engage the forces at Gos, and he agreed, instead urging us all to send whatever good forces and allies we met to gather at Caladhon. We spoke of the crown wearers, so we were all clear on their location; unfortunately the binding piece was in the hands of the enemy. This topic brought us to the location of Tuar Chan.

We expressed our wish to see Tuar Chan redemeed if possible, as his original corruption was not entirely natural. Perion said that he would not wish to accept Tuar Chan, as he could never trust him, but if we asked him to take Tuar Chan into his care then he would do so. We agreed to let him know how his redemption progressed and not to leave until the issue was resolved.

Lanzi offered payment in gems for a new stronghold here at Caladhon; a new mage's tower after the one at Sutur was lost. Perion took the payment, distributing it amongst his Captains, and gave Lanzi leave to use the floors of a tower that were not occupied for his own purposes. We took our leave to rest, as the journey and entry to Maedus would be a test of our strength, and inside we could find a bloody battle.

Caladhon was well-founded as a defensive position, but left a lot to be desired as a settlement. Although the Norse priests were heavily involved in support of the fighting, there were only a few rudimentary shrines for their prayers and no temple at all. I left what money I had with the senior cleric and discussed the building of a temple to Odin, but it was clear that I would need more funds in order to complete such a project. Melai started to be seen with an orange/gold lizard with her, seemingly like Si-Ti-Qa was always in the presence of Lanzi. Lanzi was dressed in a rich white kimono again, and spent much of his time working in his allocated tower.

We met again in one of the dungeons to see what could be done with Tuar Chan. He was returned to full size and then bound in the cell, which had no windows. I raised him from the dead, with Odin's grace, and Melai tried to take advantage of his confusion by talking about his past, when he fought for good. However, he rejected her and laughed at us, despite his bonds. He talked of the voice, meaning that of the heartstone, that spoke to him. Lanzi tried dweomer to coerce him and I called on Odin to help him atone for his deeds. Hintzu gave him water and Melai healed some of his wounds. Now Tuar Chan was confused, still thinking he was our ally and oblivious to the death of his brother and father. He did not understand why he was bound, or why we were asking him to atone for things he could not remember. We freed him from his bonds, but had to explain to him the terrible things he had done, and the loss that Melai had suffered due to his action, which seemed to affect him as much as the loss of his family. As some of his memories started to come back, he began to accept in horror that he was responsbile for evil deeds. He asked to commit Seppuku, ritual suicide. Melai agreed to act as his second and presented him with his own Tanto, and he took his own life with it, Melai striking a clean cut to his neck as he did so. He died with honour, so his soul was saved from Hel's embrace. The rest of the day was spent in mourning in his honour.

Lanzi had a change of heart regarding his ancestral armour, presenting it to me to be worn on the promise that I would surrender it at his request. I responded that it would be an honour to wear it, and that it would always belong to Lanzi or his ancestors no matter how long I wore it. I gifted my own armour, which was worn but of good quality, to Perion to do with as he wished.

After the period of mourning, we were resolved to press on with our quest, as time was not on our side. We travelled invisible on the carpet again, as it had worked so well for us so far. We flew down the mountain range, crossing over a saddle to the Eastern side, intending to pass Minas Morgul on our way to Maedus. The mountains got higher as we flew South, with nothing but broken steppe to the east, slowly changing to a barren desert.