Chronicle - Dor

The Journey to Malen

As we came in sight of the coast, on a good and true course for the port of Malen, lookouts sighted a flying creature over the town. It must have seen us too, as it banked towards us and began a shallow dive to intercept us in open water. Melai's keen eyes identified it as a dragon, and we suspected that it was Si Lung, pressed into service of the enemy by the orb of dragon control. As we were taking in what this meant, a shout of "the sea, the sea" went up from the Drow crew; there were squid things in the water, all around the vessel. Lanzi then shouted another warning - there were black wings approaching from the south, probably the eye wing things we had encountered before. It seemed that we were being ambushed - how could they know we were coming?

There was no time to dwell on such things, and Melai ordered full sail to build up speed. Morwath was still too ill to help in the ship's defence, but by now everyone else was on deck and armed. I called upon Odin to give courage to us in the face of such adversaries, and Lanzi called images into being in his usual defensive posture, then turned to Melai to hasten her actions. The dragon climbed a little and let out a great roar, but we held firm.

As if responding to the dragon's call, giant tentacles surged up from the water around us and crashed down onto the decks; we were beset by a Kraken! Melai used her dweomer in an attempt to give Si Lung control of her own mind, although we had no way of knowing whether the attempt was successful. The tentacles thrashed at the deck, killing and injuring crew members and causing a few of us damage as well. Melai, in her hastened state, was able to hack at the tentacles as they attacked and severed four of them; the rest of us were just too slow to do any damage. The ship was lurching with each strike and I began to worry that we might be underwater once more.

I muttered a prayer to Odin, whilst Lanzi called an image of himself into being somewhere between us and the eyewings, hoping to strike at something he could see. I was struck heavily by a tentacle, but Melai was able to cut through two more as they attacked. As she did so, a black cloud suddenly covered the whole ship, choking and killing some of the crew, but as it dissipated it was clear that the tentacles had withdrawn; it must have been a defensive mechanism that the Kraken used to escape from danger. Lanzi unleashed a lightning bolt at the eyewings, which jumped around their formation and killed about half a dozen. Si Lung, meanwhile, was diving towards us and approaching rapidly.

The remaining eyewings veered off, obviously injured and unwilling to expose themselves further to Lanzi's dweomer. Melai ordered the crew to the ballistae, just in case we had to fight Si Lung or any of the squid creatures. I called on Odin to protect us from evil attacks. We were unwilling to fire on Si Lung until she showed hostile intent, so we held fast as she dived into the water in front of the vessel. Lanzi created the illusion of Tung Mi Lung circling the ship, in case a distraction was needed, and then we waited to see what would happen next.

Eventually Si Lung's head rose from the water beside us and started speaking to Melai. She expressed surprise to see Melai on a Drow ship, but explained that she was temporarily free of the orb's control and able to speak freely. Melai implored her to flee from here, but she was unable to; apparently there were still some bonds that remained unbroken. Si Lung explained that Tuar Chan and Revan were never far apart, and that the orb was in Minas Tiris with Rantor; more worryingly, they knew that we were bound for Malen on a Drow ship, which is why an ambush was planned, and Si Lung had been sent against her will to kill us.

Melai ordered the crew to change course, heading south towards Minas Tiris. Lanzi and Melai agreed on a plan involving more planar travel that might free Si Lung from the orb's influence. For some reason, though, I was the one that would have to travel with her! First I have to journey under water and now I'm off to another plane with a dragon of dubious alliegence, things just keep getting better. To top it all, I would make this journey in a boat! Resigned to the fact that this was the best chance we had to be free of further interference from Si Lung against her will, I agreed to make the journey. Lanzi told me of the command words to take me to Elysium with Si Lung (in her human form), and apparently the boat would bring me back as well.

Things went almost to plan, as I found myself in Elysium after a nauseating but thankfully short trip, and I bade Si Lung farewell. Unfortunately, Lanzi had not told me the correct command words to bring me back! After an embarassing pause, though, I was able to deduce the correct word sequence for myself. Luckily I was still within a rope's throw of the ship, and soon I was back with the party.

Morwath had recuperated somewhat by now, but wished to return to land in order to fully recover. He transformed into a bird and set off for Sutur to pass a message to Gwendolyn of what had transpired. As he left, we set off for shore in the boat that I had used to travel to Elysium, but this time we used it for its mundane purpose. We left the Drow crew with payment and orders to sail for the Western lands, carrying a message for Mandur the dwarf. We hoped that she would consider returning to her ancestoral home with her people.

As we made our way towards the shore, with the Drow vessel long gone, the surface of the sea was disturbed by another squid-like thing. It seemed to hypnotise Hintzu, who offered no resistance as it grabbed him and pulled him into the dark waters. Others appeared around us, and Melai walked across the surface of the water to attack the nearest. I used Odin's power to take control of one of the creatures, forcing it to retreat from the boat, but Melai cut it down as it fled. Lanzi put up his usual defence, filling the boat with images of himself, but then sent magic missiles flying into one of the creatures.

Melai threw herself into the water, chasing after Hintzu, and left Lanzi and I to defend ourselves. We both suffered hits, but were able to stop ourselves being dragged off the boat. Lanzi killed one with more magic missiles, and I finally landed a solid hit on another. Melai burst from the water in a frothy cloud, drawing a net behind her; in the net was Hintzu and the creature that took him, but he was unconscious. Melai revived him, although he was still very weak. Once she was sure that Hintzu was breathing, Melai then put the creature in the net with him to the sword and then released Hintzu from the net, dragging him back to the boat. Lanzi killed another with magic missiles, and I eventually battered the last one to death. We were then able to catch our breath and, with Odin's grace, heal our wounds.

Fortunately, the rest of the journey passed without incident; within a couple of days we were approaching the granite cliffs of Dor and made for a bay that offered the best shelter. Snow covered mountains could be seen beyond the cliffs, especially to the south, although the temperature near shore would have been quite bearable had it not been for the drizzle. A shingle beach lay within the bay; Hintzu and I rowed us quickly towards land and we beached easily enough. It was good to be on land once more, although the swaying would affect me for a few hours to come.

Landfall

As we were climbing from the boat we were hailed from above - a human voice that seemed quite friendly. The owner of the voice directed us to a tethering point and some rough hewn stairs leading up from the beach. Hintzu and I dragged the boat over and tethered it, and we began to climb the stairs. As we ascended, Lanzi sent a fireball soaring back to the boat, causing it to explode into flames with a crash that reverberated in the walls of the bay. After reassuring the man above that we were unharmed, we climbed the rest of the way to the clifftop and were met by a young man dressed in leathers with jet black hair, who seemed quite jovial.

The man introduced himself as 'Aran' and offered us food and shelter. We explained that our ship had met with an accident and that we had been forced to make for shore in the small boat he had seen approach. He took us to a grassy area with a tent and firepit that he had obviously been using as a camp. He explained that he was here fishing for food, and that his village was not far away. Lanzi lighted the fire with a flick of his wrist, which impressed Aran, and then offered rare spices to help with cooking a meal for us all, which impressed him even more. Aran had tobacco and mead, and I realised just how hungry and thirsty I was after all that sea travel! We tucked into a fine meal and began to relax as we shared the mead.

We could not relax too much, though, as we could just make out Minas Tiris far to the south, a stark reminder of our quest. We were surprised to learn that Aran and his folk were living in peace in the area, although they had heard of foes to the north and south, the latter including Drow from his description.

Lanzi, in his usual melodramatic manner, decided that he would try to impress Aran to win his confidence. Aran had a fishing line set up into the sea below us, so Lanzi conjured a huge fish into being at the end of the line and we helped him land it. It being Lanzi, though, the fish was so big that we had to help him carry it! He immediately decided that we must all head back to his village to celebrate his good fortune, and we agreed to accompany him.

Chatting to Aran on the way, I learnt that they had a priest of Thor in the village; it was good to hear that the Gods were respected in this area, and my hopes of finding support for our cause were raised. When we arrived, the catch caused a bit of a stir, and Aran's wife was particularly happy. We were invited to stay for a party that night, which suited us as it gave us time to meet with any individuals of influence and learn more about the area. I headed off to find the priest, while the others went to Aran's home. Once there, they decided to split up; Hintzu went to find a fletcher, Melai retired to take a bath and Lanzi went to see the leader of the village, Hallack. Lanzi then arranged for an audience.

At the audience, Hallack told us that he knew of the wars of old, but we explained that war was upon the land once more, and that the village should prepare for war before it came to them unbidden. Hallack was advised to make contact with Elerienne and to maintain friendship with the dwarves so that he would have allies when the time came to fight. He decided that his son, Hanreth, should go to Oldheart to learn the ways of war with the young warriors of the village, but that the rest of the village would stay in place until the threat was more direct. We were introduced to Haneth, who was a tall norse warrior dressed and equipped for hunting or fighting both.

Hallack instructed Haneth that he was to lead us to the dwarves for a meeting, and to obey us whilst on the journey. We first enjoyed a night of festive entertainment with the people of the village. A good time was had by all, but it was clear that they had no understanding of the darkness that was engulfing the world around them. In the morning, I paid a visit to the priest and gave him a gift, from Odin, of food for the village; I explained that it would give an immediate impact in the people's belief to present them with such a miracle, but that it would be his responsibility to turned that into lasting confidence and to guide them spiritually in their preparation for war.

We then headed east into the snow-laden mountains, with Haneth guiding us. Wrapped well in furs, we prepared for a cold mountain crossing. As we passed through the clouds we were treated to a magnificent view of the mountain tops rising above the clouds around them. The crisp air made visibility excellent, and as we stopped near a cave entrance it was clear that it would be difficult to approach without being seen well in advance. Haneth dismounted and began to tap at the cave wall, eventually finding what he was looking for and manipulating a lever to open a hidden doorway. Entering, we found ourselves in a well-made room of dwarven workmanship. Haneth left us while he awaited our dwarven contacts outside, and we got a fire going to warm the small room.

Eventually Haneth gave us warning that the dwarves were approaching, allowing us to ready ourselves for a formal introduction. Three dwarves entered with Haneth, and he introduced them as three lords of Dor; Ergar, Barant and Kerkill. I made our introductions in the dwarven language, which seemed to please them. Talk then turned to war, which certainly did not please them; they were here to trade, and would rather run or hide if war was to come to the land. They were certainly not willing to commit any troops to help with our cause, and Melai's rather aggressive actions were not helping to convince them (the loss of her fleet did not make her very sympathetic to war-dodgers)! It was only when Lanzi offered the Key of Kagrash to them in good faith, and Hintzu offered to attack Rantor that they agreed to think about our warning.

We met again the following morning, this time without Melai, and they offered their guidance in getting us to Minas Tiris by secret means, but could do nothing more to help. They told us of a spur to the south-east with spruce trees around it, but one in particular was split in two at the top and the view through the split was of the lakes below. There was a hidden entrance there that hadn't been used for ten score years and twenty, so it should be unknown to the enemy. The door was dwarf sized, and protected by a glyph. In order to gain entrance, we would have to utter the names of the lords of Dor of all ages in the sequence that a dwarf would do so. They then gave us a parchment with a map of the area to assist us. The dwarves then took their leave.

Lands of Dor

Haneth was glad to guide us, although we were unwilling to risk his life. In the end we agreed that he could guide us until we assessed the danger as being too great, at which point we would send him on his way. He proved to be a good rider, and an excellent scout, guiding us well. We rode for half a day before he called us to a halt by raising his hand.

Dismounting, he examined the ground before him and warned us that enemies had passed this way recently. He estimated that at least five giants had crossed our path, heading downwards, but they could have got ahead of us. He continued on foot, listening for danger. We followed, heading down a series of steep descents, wary of danger and we headed into the clouds and visibility reduced drastically. Lanzi heard whispers from the cloud spirits that there was danger nearby.

It was wet and slippery in the clouds, so we continued carefully in single file. As we picked our way slowly down, we heard the fall of a giant's foot somewhere to our right; we all stopped and listened. We heard some voices faintly, but the clouds concealed their location from us. Haneth picked up a rock and threw it as far as he could, and then Hintzu threw his voice in the same direction to throw off the foe. From the sound of shouts and movement, they had taken the bait.

Haneth leapt down the slope, and Hintzu followed after indicating to the rest of us the direction to take. Lanzi called some mirror images into being, feeling threatened. Melai seemed to be getting frustrated with all the sneaking around, and called a rally cry. That sent the giants rushing towards us, and both Hintzu and I were hit as they rushed us from nowhere. As we desperately defended ourselves, Melai came charging out of the mist and struck one of them down with impossibly quick blows. I used the rod I had collected from Tung Mi Lung's hoard to let everyone in the party know where the enemies were around us, although we still couldn't see many of them. Hintzu was able to kill the other giant that had attacked us, freeing us from the melee for a moment.

Rocks began to land around us, and it seemed that they were unwilling to engage us in close combat after what had happened to their friends. We all started to jog downhill, until I got hit by a rock and then I started sprinting, memories of being flattened coming back to me. I soon passed Lanzi, and joined Hintzu and Haneth. We continued at a jog until we came out of the clouds, and it seemed that we might have lost our pursuers, at least for a while.

We found ourselves in a boulder-strewn valley and found a sheltered location to rest and eat before continuing. Haneth pointed out the route we would be taking, and as we looked we noticed half a dozen riders in the valley, although we could not make out any details. The riders left the valley to our left as we started to make our way down. We made good time downhill, but as we were about halfway down Haneth called a halt again; there was something wrong, but he could not tell what. We took shelter and sent Si Ti Qa up to see if there were any threats nearby. Sure enough, a score of ogres were crossing the valley, possibly in pursuit of the riders we had seen.

We decided that we could make use of range to our advantage, so we formed a defensive position at what height we could find, looking down on the approaching ogres. Haneth did not understand the ogres' language fully, but he heard them refering to a name, 'Perion' that apparently was of value to them or their master. Lanzi alerted them to our presence by unleashing a fireball in their midst, killing eight of them before they could react. Hintzu also joined in, throwing his own fireball at them, although the effect wasn't quite as devastating. Melai then joined in as well; it seemed that it had become a 'who's got the biggest fireball' competition. By now there were only a few left alive, and they turned to flee as fast as they could.

We were able to continue without being attacked, and continued on horseback to cross the stream at the centre of the valley and continue into the foothills beyond. We passed the ruins of some settlements as the sun began to set behind the mountains. We could see a tower ahead that Haneth informed us was our destination for the day. We had been slowed by combat, so it would be dark by the time we reached it, but we should still be able to rest there if it was not occupied by enemy forces.

We rode closer, into the dusk, and then stopped out of bowshot. Lanzi used his dweomer to scry into the tower, seeing that there were a dozen elves on the lower floor. Watching and listening, Lanzi saw another elf enter the room and describe how he escaped from pursuers because someone else intervened, turning them into flame; it sounded as though he was one of the riders we had seen earlier that day. He went on to say that they were to leave in an hour for Oldheart, as someone called 'Parion' was beyond their help and there was no reason for them to tarry.

At that point a lookout called out to him, alerting him of our presence but noting that we had an elf with us and so suggesting that his lord might want to meet with us. Horses were summoned and a message was fired on an arrow towards us. Melai retrieved the message, which assured us of their good intent, and we agreed that we should approach the tower. When we were closer, Melai spoke with the occupants in Elven and showed them Agan, presumably to prove her identity. We were then directed to a door and allowed to enter.

There was much bowing in Melai's direction, and the rest of us were largely ignored (as is normal for elves). Their leader introduced himself as 'Kelorin' and admitted that they had thought Melai dead. Melai, to her credit, stated that we had saved her and killed Tung Mi Lung. Kelorin then enquired as to what brought us to the tower, to which Melai replied that she had decided it was time that Rantor left the Prime. Kelorin seemed sceptical that we few were enough to enter Minas Tiris, although he was not aware of the secret entrance.

We asked after Perion, as we had heard the name more than once now, and were told that he was a messenger to Gos from Elerienne's forces as they were in need of reinforcement. Melai informed them of the potential allies in Haneth's land and they promised to bear the news to Elerienne. We then asked after the enemy strength at the Tiris, and were told that it had been quiet recently, although it remained a powerful base for evil and an army surely resided there. The Ashurius was controlled by Inwe and the Drow, although the Vikriain still fought for good. The control that evil forces had of the region meant that the area we were in was the only option for messengers trying to reach Gos, and it was feared that corruption in the east was turning men of the north against good folk; Oldheart was trying to sue for peace with them, but with little success so far, which is why the best man available (Perion) had now been sent.

Accepting that they had to return to Oldheart, we asked that they bear a message to Elerienne informing her of our actions and our intent. They also agreed to ride in a direction that would help to reduce the possibility of our own party being detected. They were still of the opinion that we could not defeat Rantor on our own, particularly with the massed forces at Minas Tiris, but we were determined to strike at the heart of the enemy.

We rested overnight and set off early, heading back up towards the snowline. We followed a well-worn path and the going was easy enough, so much so that I had time to enjoy the views of the Oldheart forest as we climbed. Obviously this could not last forever, and later in the morning Haneth called us to a halt. He had spotted some flying creatures to the south, like dragons but smaller and with scorpion tails - wyverns by the sound of it. There were five and they were coming north, towards us. We made our way to a dip in the ground and concealed ourselves as best we could. After about an hour of waiting there the creatures still had not appeared; Melai climbed to the edge of the lip and searched the sky for them, but they were nowhere to be seen. Apparently out of danger, we continued along the path.

As we climbed the path narrowed and we were forced into single file as we crossed into snow. The footing was worse here, which slowed our pace, but we continued to climb steadily without mishap. Occasionally Si Ti Qa would pop up to search for any ambush ahead. Unfortunately it was just before he was about to check once more that we came under attack. A dozen large, green birds with stag heads swept down from the slopes above us, taking most of us by surprise. Hintzu was the only one to react, loosing arrows at them as they neared, but he was butted from his horse by one of the things and flew through the air down the side of the mountain!

I should not have worried for him, though, as I forgot that he now had some mastery of the air with his ring. He slowed himself in mid-air, landing lightly on his feet a little way down the slope, still tracking and firing his bow as he did so and causing one to fall out of the sky, crunching against a boulder. Haneth and Lanzi were hit, but clung to their steeds successfully. Lanzi quickly dismounted and created his usual mirror images to defend himself. Meanwhile, Melai had also retrieved her bow and downed another of the creatures with accurate fire.

Now that Hintzu was safely on the ground, he picked up his rate of fire and cut down three of the beasts in quick succession, causing the remainder of the flock to rise into the clouds out of sight. The archers retrieved what arrows they could whilst the rest of us kept watch, but there was no sign that the creatures were returning. I healed some of the worst wounds we had sustained, particularly Haneth's, who perhaps was not used to the kind of fights that I had become accustomed to since joining this band of heroes. We discussed this and, despite his wish to remain with us, decided that it would be best if he returned now to his duties for his father; his destiny lay with his people, and they would need his leadership in the fights to come.

We continued on foot, following the path as Haneth had directed us, and more comfortable that we did not need to look out for him anymore. After a few hours' journey we were again attacked, this time by two of the wyverns we had seen earlier. Again, they swept down on us from the cover of clouds above, but this time we were wary of such attacks and both Hintzu and Melai reacted quickly; both, by chance, chose the same target and after they had both loosed a few arrows, it was forced to dip its wing towards the ground, striking a rocky outcrop and disappearing in a cloud of shoal and dust as it rolled into the hillside beyond. Lanzi ensured that his images were surrounding him again, but it was me that was the target of the other attack, and I was lifted into the air by the beast's talons. Lanzi fired magic missiles into it as it pulled away, and Hintzu loosed an arrow; unfortunately, his arrow found me instead of the wyvern, which was very painful!

It began to take bites at me, and hit me with its stinger, although Odin blessed me and I resisted the effects of whatever venom it contained. I decided to fight back, using my free arm to swing my mace at its soft underbelly. I landed a good hit, somehow finding its heart and stopping it dead with the powerful weapon. So I was free, but I was now falling to my death! Fortunately I had found a magical fly in the dragon's hoard, and I was able to hang on as I activated it, and was carried safely back to the party. After a rest we were able to carry on with our journey.

The snow was thicker now, and we were trudging through with some difficulty; well, the others were, but my boots carried me across the snow as easily as if I were walking down the street in Sutur. Suddenly there was a piercing howl from above us and a pack of winter wolves came bounding down towards us. Hintzu, as ever, reacted quickly and ran to meet them, cutting one down before it could reach the rest of us. The others breathed icy cones of air at us, and then tried to rip at our flesh. Lanzi was hit by one, and blinked away from danger in an instant, unleashing magic missiles as soon as he reappeared a short distance away. I was right by him, so I struck out at the wolf that had hurt him, caving its skull in while it was still confused by the sudden disappearance of its prey. As I did so, though, another of the creatures jumped onto my back and sank its teeth into my left arm. Melai swung Agan around in practised curves, cutting one down without so much as a scratch. Hintzu saw that I was in danger and charged to my aid, cutting into its spine and killing it before it could do any more damage. There was only one left standing, and it turned tail and fled into the white of the snow, quickly blending in to the white background. I called upon Odin to heal the gash on my arm, but everyone else was content to carry on.

We continued our journey into late afternoon, eventually descending out of the clouds towards a valley below us. As the visibility improved, we saw two giants on the fold of the hill above us. Unfortunately they had seen us as well, and one of them blew an alarm on a horn. Melai loosed an arrow, which flew true and hit the one raising the alarm. As we readied ourselves, another giant burst out of a concealed hole beside us, swinging his axe into our group and causing much damage. Hintzu had been about to add his arrow fire to Melai's, but redirected his fire towards the new threat. He peppered the giant with seven arrows in quick succession, hardly able to miss at this range, and the giant keeled over dead. Boulders were being thrown at us now, and both Melai and Lanzi were hit by glancing blows. I took a moment to pray to Odin for protection, while Hintzu started to loose arrows at the distant foes. He hit several times before killing the one that Melai had wounded earlier. The last one retreated out of sight, but we were sure that the horn would bring reinforcements quickly.

We healed whatever wounds we were able to quickly tend to, and then decided that we needed to fly over the danger ahead. I used the fly again, and Lanzi used a Kirrin statuette, giving us a mount between two. I was lucky enough to have Melai riding with me, although I tried to keep my thoughts appropriately pious. We spiralled up to the cloud base above before continuing in our direction of travel, passing over three giants that were jogging away from us towards an encampment further on. As we flew on, we could see that the whole camp was full of giants - perhaps a hundred of them - and they were prepared for war. We were able to pass safely over them, though, and decided to stay on our mounts until we reached another tower that Haneth had told us lay ahead.

We reached the tower about an hour after sunset, and landed some way short in the dark. There were heat sources in the tower, and we had no way of knowing whether they were friend or foe. We took a moment to heal some of the more serious injuries from the day, whilst Melai scouted ahead. Lanzi turned her invisible before she left, although she was quite stealthy anyway.

Melai approached the door of the tower, which was in a similar position to the last tower's, to find the door closed. There were numerous humanoid figures guarding the place, and she was able to scale the cliff to get a better look at them; they were Gith. There were too many for her to do any more, and she used mental powers to sink quietly to the floor again. This proved to be a mistake, because as soon as the Gith detected that someone was using mental powers of this type they were alerted to a foreign presence. Melai's mind was attacked, but she was able to slink away otherwise undetected; the guards were now alert, though, and the danger to us had increased.

Reasoning that it was not safe to remain here, we decided to fly further on before stopping. Whilst it was easy enough for us to give the tower a wide berth, as we flew past we came under attack from another wyvern! It grabbed Lanzi before we were even aware that there was a threat, and we all gave chase as best we could. Lanzi lighted his headband in an attempt to give us something to follow, but in the dark we were in danger of crashing into the cliff face. I decided to reveal my light gem so that Melai could avoid any rocks, even though it would give our position away. Lanzi was bitten by the beast, and he used his own mental powers to return to Hintzu's side on the Kirrin. The enraged wyvern turned on us, and struck the fly with its talons, but luckily it survived. I swung at it with some force as it attacked, but missed and ended up losing my balance and falling to the floor! Luckily it was not too far, and we had slowed somewhat, but it was still painfully bruising.

Melai landed beside me, dismissing the fly and loosing an arrow at the turning wyvern. The others also dismounted, and Lanzi sent a swarm of magic missiles at the wyvern before it could attack again, killing it instantly. I picked myself up and dusted down my armour, but there was no time for healing. In the dark we could not find the ebony statuette that the fly had returned to; Melai had been in combat and could not say where it had fallen, so we left it. We picked our way across the rocky slope, trying to put distance between ourselves and the scene of the battle without using a light.

It was slow going in the darkness, but eventually we reached the snowline again. Melai sensed a slight tremor in the ground and warned us to stop, just as Lanzi was warned by the spirits that we should turn back. Just as we started to do so, a mouth opened in the earth beneath Melai and Lanzi, and tentacles emerged around us all. Hintzu reacted first, striking at the thing in a flash, but it was like striking stone and the weapon reverberated painfully in his grip. Both Melai and Lanzi suffered damage to their legs, and Lanzi blinked away to safety behind me. Both Melai and Hintzu struck at it, although there was no way to know whether their blows were having any effect. I tried to dominate its mind, but without success. Melai decided to try something different, sending magic missiles into its mouth at point blank range, but again there was no noticeable effect. Lanzi send an orb of colour flying into it, again without disuading it from its attack.

Another appeared in front of me, and I swung at it with my mace, hitting with a satisfying crunch; with that it withdrew from sight, so perhaps a crushing blow had more impact on these creatures. Hintzu sent flames shooting from his ring into the maw, but it shrugged them off with ease. Melai continued to hack at it with Agan, and eventually had some success, as the beast withdrew into the rock once more. We decided to move on quickly rather than delay in the area, and were able to do so without further attack.

We continued to walk through the night, determined not to leave ourselves open to attack first thing in the morning. When the sun did start to rise, we saw that we were following the valley wall and it was just about to turn west over a fold in the landscape. The view to the south was excellent in the clear morning air. Below us there was a vast, black army arrayed in campsites across the valley floor. Although we were reasonably high up, the risk of being seen was a worry, and we did our best to minimise the possibility of reflections giving our position away.

Moving more carefully, we came to a stream running down the side of the valley with stepping stones placed irregularly across it. A waterfall marked the point where the stream ran down from the cliff edge above us, and now that our eyes were drawn to it we saw that there was another wyvern perched on a rock beside it. We froze and tried to take cover amongst the rocks, waiting to see whether it had seen us. Another wyvern joined it, and the first launched itself forward. It glided down over our heads, but continued on towards the army below. The other took off, circled a few times and then flew off to the north.

We waited for a while, glad for the rest, but they showed no sign of returning. We crossed the stream without incident and continued towards the fold ahead. As we approached the fold we began to hear the sound of marching troops from beyond, although we could not see anything yet and there was no movement from the troops encamped below. Perhaps the lack of sleep was catching up with us, but we could not tell how far away the sound was; it was still morning and the air was wet with mist, so the sound travelled well. Si Ti Qa alerted us to a force of Gith, Giants and Wargs approaching along the path, so we made ourselves ready for combat.

The Wargs charged at Melai, whilst Gith archers stood their ground once they were in range. The giant with them simply picked up a large rock from beside him, his intent obvious to all. Melai cut one Warg down with quick strokes of Agan, whilst fending off the other with her short sword. Hintzu put two arrows into the giant, causing it to take a pace backwards, whilst Lanzi conjured up a rain of acid onto the giant and the Gith archers. I uttered a prayer to Odin to guide our arms, and Melai did not disappoint, cutting the other Warg down as I felt my God's grace upon us. Hintzu, not to be outdone, put more arrows into the giant and it fell to earth with a thud that I felt through my boots.

More Wargs sprang at us from the mist, having worked their way above and below us. Another giant plodded forward to take the first's place whilst the Gith targeted Melai with their bows. Missiles began to rain on us, as we were all in the line of fire. Hintzu deflected an arrow away from him, seeming to find sure footing whilst dancing on the spot. Lanzi was not so lucky, and suffered a heavy blow from a rock. Hintzu, recognising the greater threat, peppered the new giant with arrows, quickly felling it now that he had the range. It was Melai's turn to catch up, and she despatched both Wargs and a Gith that had closed with his sword. Another Gith found a way through her defence, though, and cut her under the arm. Melai's reposte skewered the hapless Gith through its black heart. I set about the archers with a warhammer formed of nothing more than my pure devotion to Odin, putting them off their aim. Hintzu ended the threat with his own arrows and it was over. The couple of remaining foes turned and disappeared into the mist, running fast.

We proceeded around the corner cautiously, not wanting to be drawn into a trap, but it seemed to be clear. We took a moment to rest as Hintzu collected arrows from the Gith; he can notch them so quickly that he is always in danger of running out. We walked for another half an hour or so before we were drawn up short by Morwath materialising in front of us in the path! Lanzi was given a little warning by the air spirits, but the rest of us had to get over our shock and alarm before greeting him warmly. There was no time for explanations, though, as we were too exposed and tired. We continued, seeking shelter.

We continued along the path, which was getting more challenging, throughout the day and into the early evening. Snow and ice was prevalent now, and I was grateful for my boots that kept me pleasantly warm. Finally we discovered a sheltered cave that we could rest in for the night, and we needed to; all save Morwath were exhausted. While we made preparations for sleeping, he told us his story and why he had returned to us so suddenly. My heart turned to ice at his words, my weariness forgotten; Sutur had fallen? How had I allowed it? At least Gwendolyn was safe. But what of Rhianna? I had not seen my sister for so long, it seemed, but then it had been too long since I had seen my home. Now I didn't want to, for seeing it would sully the memory of the fair place, would mean confronting reality. I pushed such thoughts away, trying to catch up with Morwath's tale. He was presenting Melai with a crown, a decision that had apparently not been taken lightly.

I prayed for a long time that night, and slept fitfully, with troubled dreams. In the morning it seemed that I had not been alone, but at least I had seen a message of hope. We had once again been blessed with visions from the Gods.

Dafydd's Vision

Thankfully we had a good night's sleep, but Lanzi was woken first by Si Ti Qa; someone was coming. Lanzi called us to arms, and we had just about risen to our feet when a norse voice called "Hold"! A figure was standing in the entrance to the cave, and spoke without advancing on us; "I am here from Perion - are you for him?" Hintzu called back; "hail friend! What do you seek?" A flame appeared on the ground in front of him, bathing us all in light as well as the new arrival. "Ah, ringbearer, I recognise you now." The man was wearing winter furs over metal armour and carried an axe; large chunks of gold and gems were fashioned into valuable but crude jewellry about his person. He was tall and broad, and had the bearing of a warrior. "You lead this party?" he asked, "I must speak with Melai."

I have mentioned that we were all blessed with visions during the night, and I guess that Melai was no exception, as she seemed unsurprised. She admitted that she knew why he had come, and then said bluntly that she had to leave us. Hintzu tried to convince us to stay, as it was on her word that we first started for Minas Tiris, but she told us that she could not stand by and let her race decline. Having heard the news of Sutur, I pondered my own decisions since I met my strange companions. But it was not the same, man always lives on and is tied to no place or area, perhaps that is why we were so many. Accepting her need, Hintzu wished her well, as did we all, and with that she departed.

Now that we were all alert, we discussed the visions we had seen that night whilst chewing on some rations for breakfast. We also discussed whether we still wanted to enter Minas Tiris. We had lost Melai, but gained Morwath, so it was still feasable. Our aim was to divert the gate that was within the Minas somwhere, and that aim had not changed, so we decided to press on. There was always the possibility that we might meet Rantor; an undead dragon is certainly a foe to be feared, but also an abomination that should not be in our world at all. I suggested that I might be best placed to damage such a creature, but I would have to get close to do so. Hintzu's reaction to that was to suggest that my combat tactics were starting to alarm him! In the end it was agreed by the others that avoiding Rantor was better than fighting him, and agreed by all that the gate was the first priority. Also, while we debated the point, Lanzi took the opportunity to look more closely at the Codicil, attempting to fit the pieces he had together. He was successful, as the pieces fitted themselves into some kind of magical framework that bound itself securely despite the missing pieces.

We continued our way along the path as the sun began to rise, casting long shadows from the rocks strewn across the mountainside. One of the shadows shifted as we approached, and we saw that it was in fact a black raven perched on one of the rocks. It spoke to me, obviously a messenger from the Gods! It spoke directly to me, stating what I now knew from my vision; that I had to meet with Perion in Gos, but adding that I must do so not more than two moons from now. It then turned to Hintzu, telling him of a sword that was with Odin - apparently a piece of Frastlor was in the blade. It went on to say that his monastery was gone (although I did not know of what it spoke), but that Odin had wanted one in that place. It directed us as a party to complete some 'simple' tasks: go to Minas Tiris, close the gate therein, kill all in its halls, free Si Lung and go to Gos. It also warned that Ragnarak may be coming, so we should all be ready. I questioned it about the fate of Merc, and was glad to hear that he was still loyal to Freya. It said that we had to rescue him, that the key was Inwe, and that Perion had word of his fate. The Raven was quite blunt, rude even, but his message was plain. We had to go on to Minas Tiris and try to carry out the will of the Gods.

Dwarven Trade Routes

We continued for some time, until we passed over one final crest before plunging down the side of the largest mountain yet. Oldheart was below, and we could see many fires, just as Morwath had warned us. We descended towards the trees, but had barely started to walk past a few scattered spruce trees before we spotted a place that matched the description we had been given. The others started searching the cliffside whilst I took a moment to take in the view, whilst watching for threats of course. Bits of cloud were still below us, and the smoke mixed in an ominous sight; it was as if the fires were smothering the land beneath them. A bad omen for our quest. My mind was taken off it as Morwath spoke the dwarven names that would give us entry (Dor, Barass, Cragor, Cran), and the rocks around us shook as a doorway ground open beneath overhanging moss and ivy. Hintzu managed to force it open fully, cutting through the worst of the undergrowth to allow us through.

Si Ti Qa, through Lanzi, warned us that there was both dweomer and evil lurking within, although we could see nothing but a short passage that ended in a wall some thirty feet in. I stepped in first, carrying my light source so that we could see more. It turned out that we were entering a circular room that was highly decorated. On the roof was painted a scene of a dwarf (Dor) bargaining with a red dragon (Rantor), his arms outstretched and wearing a ring with a bright blue gem on his left hand. He was kneeling on a massive mountain, which we recognised as the one we had just entered, and the snow was melting in the presence of the mighty dragon, which dominated the scene. There was also some text, which read:

A Minas built once to keep out our enemy,

Who became our friend,

May now be home to an enemy,

Who might yet become our friend.

On the floor was a pentagram with another inscription:

File:Dorpentagram.jpg

Without this we wither and die.

On the right wall, either side of a stairwell leading down, were two columns with carved human warriors in field mail and shields, both holding two-handed swords in their left hands; in their right hands were exquisitely carved platinum goblets. Above the apex of the arch leading to the stairwell a verse was carved:

As many parts shake up the dragon's den,

Kin are not always what they seem.

Doors that lead to magnificent halls,

Will show greatest treasure beyond your dreams.

Look lively and remember when,

The house of Dor lived here.

Things that mattered little to you,

Were those that we once held dear.

The path most often trod is not the shortest route.

Think again before coming here, your desire absolute.

The verse was signed with the rune of Cran.

Ahead of us there was a vast mural in relief of Rantor locked in battle with Thor on the Bifrost Bridge. Also on the bridge were two dwarves, marked with the symbols of Dor and Barass, side-by-side fighting against giants before the gates of Asgard. Fenris lay dead at their feet. Behind them, mortally wounded, was a human bearing the mark of Gundleus, who had crossed the bridge but was fighting a losing battle against three giants.

To our left was a massive iron door, almost 30' high; in relief on the iron were gems, gold and silver and they depicted the top of a mountain, looking down into the bay of Ashore. Between the bay and the mountain a large-scale battle was being fought; many warriors were depicted, including Bavarik, Gundleus, Gelmir, Elwe, Taranack, Dor and Zem. The forces of good were fighting a host of evil creatures rising against them.

The door that we entered from shut behind us, leaving no trace of its existence. Deducing from the script in the room that we should not look for the obvious route, we discovered that the door to Asgard opposite was actually a real door. Lanzi used his chime in an attempt to open it, but this time it did not work; the whole wall shook violently along with the chime, and Lanzi dropped it to the floor. After a while the vibrations subsided, but we decided not to try it again. Turning to the figures with goblets, we poured a little water into each and the arms sank downwards, stopping with a loud click that seemed to come from down the stairs. I suspected that we had disarmed a potential trap. The doors to our left were opened relatively easily by Hintzu, which immediately made us suspicious. Voices could be heard from beyond and so he closed the doors again, sealing us in.

Lanzi and Morwath between them worked out that Prakast was the dwarven female who was important to them in the first age; at the mention of her name, steps emerged from the wall beneath the door that Lanzi had failed to open earlier. Hintzu was able to open it easily now that the correct command word had been spoken. Beyond the door were stairs leading up, and we hurried to enter as we heard pounding from the door to our left. Dust followed us into the narrow corridor and we spoke the command word again to seal the door behind us. We climbed for a while, until reaching a stone wall that turned out to be a door with a hidden latch.

Hintzu carefully inched the door open, and we were immediately struck by a loud hubbub of voices and movement. The language was oriental, and it looked as if a large army was mobilising in the large room beyond the door. Any army here was not going to be friendly, so we decided to close the door again and take our chances in the chambers below; this was a direct route into the Tiris, which might be useful during an assault on the fortress but would not lead us to the portal that was supposedly beneath the Tiris. We returned to the original entry chamber, prepared for a possible fight and opened the door again, but found no sign that anything had disturbed the chamber since we left it.

Worried that we might be forced to retreat without Melai's assistance, Morwath checked that we could still leave and enter by the secret door we found outside; fortunately he had no problem using it, so at least we had a viable line of retreat. Unwilling to use the doors, we made our way down the stairs instead. As we had suspected, they were trapped but we had disabled the devices by pouring water into the goblets. We spiralled safely down to the foot of the stairs, where a short passageway ended in another archway with carved figures left and right. The room was quite large and very well decorated.

Behind us was depicted Frey with bow aimed at the far wall; the figure was carved such that it emerged from the wall and became almost a statue, with the wall itself decorated with a woodland scene. To our left we could see Loki, in black, leaning over and whispering into the ear of a samurai, who in turn was looking up into the face of Hel (this scene was not as well carved, and might have been a later addition). Opposite us was Fenris, coming out of the wall as if reaching for Frey, snarling, and free from the broken chain behind him on the Bifrost Bridge. To our right was a glorious figure of Odin in full battle armour, pointing at the roof as if giving an order. To his left was Thor, responding to Odin's direction, charging into battle. Directly opposite Thor was a figure of Hel with her black and white face, a dragon's head over her right shoulder whilst to her left an undead host was being marshalled. Above us, spread across the ceiling, was a large tree canopy.

Particularly interesting, though, was the decoration on the floor. Arranged around a purple stylised lotus flower with eight petals, and at each petal there was depicted an oriental figure. I recognised a pantheon of Gods, each one matched with the Gods of my own beliefs shown on the walls. Nearest us, paired with Frey, was a small, plump, smiling man. Next was an older man with a white beard and over-sized egg head; he held a stick in one hand and a peach in the other and was paired with Loki. Next was a being with three faces, eight arms and silvery skin, its eyes glowing red and flickering with fire; it was paired with Hel. Next was a man with ebony skin and a yellow kimono (Yen-Wang-Yeh). Next was an ugly, blue-skinned semi-human with wings that carried a drum in its left hand and a hammer in its right (Lei Kung); it was paired with Fenris. Next was a young man, simply dressed in a plain brown kimono. Next was an aged, bald man with a long white beard and a blue kimono; this must be the wisest of their Gods, as he was paired with Odin. Finally, paired with Thor, was a large muscular man in green armour with red skin. Underneath Yggdrasil, in the centre of the lotus, was depicted an egg.

Unfortunately the grand decoration had distracted us from an imminent threat; a group of undead in various states of decay came shambling towards us at a surprising pace. Hintzu, as always, reacted with unbelievable speed and raised a wall of fire between them and our party. The foul beasts kept coming, and many collapsed as they burnt, but a dozen or so made it through to attack us. At that point Lanzi and Morwath dropped lifeless to the floor! Before Hintzu and I could react, we were engulfed in a fireball, and the flames caught on Hintzu's clothing. Despite this, he lashed out at what appeared to be the two strongest foes and they were crushed beneath his blows. As they did so, Lanzi and Morwath regained consciousness, although they were not well.

Morwath lashed out straight away and felled the nearest foe, whilst Lanzi called on his dweomer; the energy from his outstretched fingers flew across the room, but rebounded at him before disappearing without any noticeable effect. Meanwhile Hintzu decided to loose some arrows at the figures that were keeping a distance, reasoning that they might be the spellcasters. His hits did seem to put them off, as no more dweomer was directed our way. The remaining creatures clustered around Hintzu, seeing him as the main threat, and this gave me a chance to call on Odin's power to drive back the undead. The power emanating from my holy symbol sent them fleeing from us, and they burnt into nothing as they passed through the flames before us. The only ones remaining were those that had kept their distance, and Hintzu finished them off with a few well-placed arrows. Finally we were able to catch our breath, and heal the worst of our wounds.

Although it went against our normal choice of direction, we agreed that we should look for a passage in Hel's image as we were seeking a gate to her domains. Sure enough, there was a doorway to be found there, and Morwath quickly worked out that he could open it by speaking the name of the oriental deity 'Yen-Wang-Yeh' whilst standing on his image. Hintzu took the lead, taking us down another stairwell and disabling a couple of traps that had been set there. Eventually we reached a circular room some 30 feet across.

The room appeared to have once been a records room, with parchment scattered across the floor. However, the room had been blasted with fire and much of the records were charred or worse. A single door led away from the room to our right. Opposite us was a depiction of Gundleus wearing a six-pointed indigo crown, seated on a white charger. Beside him was Bavarik, and they were both charging down a mountainside with an army of men. Lanzi closed the door behind us, whilst Hintzu investigated the other door. Morwath and I searched for scraps of parchment that might still have something of use on them.

Suddenly Hintzu shouted a warning that he was under attack, and flames sprang from his ring into the air before him. Morwath rushed to his aid, slashing at the air, but I could not see any foe! Lanzi used his dweomer to shield himself against this unseen foe, but Hintzu whirled around and cut at the air before declaring that he had slain it. If it were not for the trust I had in him, I would have said that there was nothing there at all; perhaps an illusion or personal hallucination. Either way, we were safe.

After a bit of time spent shifting through the scraps of parchment, we found a few that might prove of use to us. Once we were satisfied that there was nothing more of use to us, Hintzu unlocked and opened the other door. Beyond was a passageway that ended in a broken and burnt door hanging from one hinge. Beyond that was a large room with an overturned table next to a large hearth on the right. The table could have seated as many as thirty dwarves, and would have taken some force to overturn. The hearth was surrounded by a white marble mantlepiece and the symbol of Dor was carved above it. Old stores were stacked on the left of the room, but had been burnt in the past and since overgrown with mould and slime. Another doorway, this one missing its door completely, could just be seen at the far end of the room and stairs seemed to lead upwards beyond it.

We made our way down the passageway and into the room, but as we did so one of the larger funghi started shrieking from the far corner of the room. With such an infernal racket we would lose any chance of surprise if we met anything hostile! Our attention was diverted, though, by a huge beetle pulling itself down from the chimney hole within the hearth. Hintzu moved to meet this new threat, laying good hits on its back, but thwarted by its hard shell. Lanzi sent magic missiles streaking into the shrieking fungus, but it continued to let out its painfully loud cry. I called upon Odin to bring peace to the area around the fungus, silencing it for now. The sound of Hintzu's struggle seemed loud in the sudden quiet, and he cried out as the beetle gored him. With renewed effort he struck at the beetles head, severing it clean away from the body. Any thought of respite was ended as another beetle emerged from the hearth. I was nearer now, and struck it a solid blow as it emerged. However, in doing so I failed to see that a giant puffball fungus had rolled down the stairs and was approaching me rapidly. A cry from Morwath alerted me just in time, and I dodged to the side as it rolled past my nose. Unfortunately, this was too close; a jet of spores hit me full in the face as it passed, leaving me blinded and choking.

Lanzi threw a black ball of dweomer at the new danger, but missed it narrowly. Morwath used fire against the beetle, a column of flames crashing down and crisping it in an instant; he also paid the price for being distracted by the beetle as the spore ball rolled towards him, and he was soon choking in the same way that I was. Lanzi threw another black ball of dweomer at it, this time hitting squarely. The ball immediately deflated and became lifeless. Eventually the spores cleared from my throat, and Morwath's, although it could have been much worse.

Hintzu moved towards the stairs to ensure that we were not surprised, seeing skeletons strewn across the steps (the lifeless kind, not the undead). They looked to be dwarves by their size, and were dressed for travelling. A scrap of parchment remained on one corpse, and I hurried to read it. It appeared to be a code of some kind that might help our passage through the dwarven halls.

We continued up the stairs, which were getting wetter underfoot as we climbed. We paused, concerned that we were following a main trade route when we were supposed to be finding hidden chambers. We then spent some time searching the room with Gundleus on the wall and the main chamber we had just left, looking for anything we might have missed. We had to finish off the shrieking fungus when it started up again, but otherwise we were undisturbed. We found nothing to suggest that there were any other hidden routes, and were left with no choice but to continue.

By the time we reached the top of the stairs we could clearly hear rushing water ahead. We emerged into a large cavern with a narrow rock bridge extending over a significant drop that ended in a fast-flowing river far below. The other end of the bridge ended in the rockface, where a door was visible with runes carved above it. The lack of immediate danger made us all wary and we discussed the best course of action.

Somehow I was persuaded to venture across the bridge first! However, all due precautions were taken and I was roped up and used the rock climbing ability that my cloak gifted me with to climb across the underside of the bridge in order to avoid any traps or observing eyes. Having done so safely, though, Morwath strode across the bridge without any regard for his safety; fortunately he did so without incident. The runes over the door read:

Travel he on the great road to Malen,

Remembered those of Dor who had fallen,

To make this passage open,

And allow your trade to happen.

Morwath began reciting names from the house of Dor as Hintzu crossed to join us, but as he did so an ominous rumbling sound filled the air. The bridge began to crack and parts started to fall away into the river below. Quickly, I remembered the coded note we had found on the stairs and called out the name it gave from the verse before us: "Hogrold". The door opened before us, but I was forced to cling to the cliff as the bridge finally gave way and collapsed entirely. Hintzu had managed to join me on the cliff, and we hung either side of the now open door. Morwath had shifted his form into that of an eagle, circling above where the bridge had been.

At this point we were still in control of the situation, but that soon changed! Giant bats, disturbed by the collapse of the bridge, swept out of the darkness above us and started to cling to Hintzu and I, as well as fighting with Morwath in the air. We each began our own struggle with the creatures, unable really to tell what was happening with the others. Lanzi was the only one with any perspective, and he used his dweomer to send magic missiles flying at those creatures he could aim at. The bats on Hintzu and I were sucking at our blood, and I could feel the strength ebbing from my arms. A burst of light appeared in the centre of the cavern, illuminating the scene just long enough for Hintzu to create a stinking cloud to disuade more bats from approaching. Morwath flew over to join Lanzi, who was still sending magic missiles at any targets he could find, and between them they put paid to one of the things. My struggles to free myself were proving futile, so I pulled out my gem of light and tossed it into the open doorway, providing some light for everyong to get their bearings.

The bats did not like the bright light, and dived at me whilst screeching loudly. Morwath and Lanzi killed another, and I was finally able to batter one hard enough to send it falling towards the water below. Hintzu, meanwhile, used his strength to pull himself and the bats on him into the room beyond the door. There was a large room inside that gave him space to move freely, and he made good use of it to throw one of the creatures from his back. Lanzi, now out of immediate danger, sent magic missiles into the bat on my back, and again a weight fell off me towards the fast flowing river. Free at last, I too pulled myself into the room, just in time to see Hintzu collapse! I ran to his side as more magic missiles streaked into the bat on his back. I called upon Odin's grace to heal him, and he rose to throw the last creature off him. We were now all free and on solid ground, which was bad news for the three remaining bats. Morwath slashed one to death, Hintzu speared one with arrows and Lanzi used more magic missiles to destroy the last one.

The fight had been exhausting, and we took a few minutes to catch our breath and tend to wounds before taking in our new surroundings properly. It looked as if we were in an old counting house, with parchment and quills scattered around the now ruined room. To our left was an extensive script carved into the wall that seemed to speak of the crowns (in order).

Scattered through time and space,

Each returned to its own place;

Adorned with rainbow hue,

Mage’s light split anew.

To be found in confident Ages past,

Except, that is, the uncertain last.

Thus one remained in darkest dust

A salt-laden thirst, for water lust.

And with no air to breath,

All in ash was wreathed.

That crafted to thwart Devil’s aim,

Long forgotten, in Zundar had lain.

One to radiant Olga came,

And in its mineral treasure lay,

Hidden in steamy mountain’s core,

Clap of thunder and lightening roar;

Found by Frastor but soon did pass,

From Dwarven Lord to human grasp.

With Elemental Ring they were forged,

And in those spirits their stones gorged.

Found in Rodrus one had air to breathe;

Through the smoke of battle they did leave,

Over icy mountains for Sutur they yearned,

With good counsel to Maedus it returned.

From Elf removed, and Demon’s fire bound,

In Dragon’s richest halls was found,

On the magma of Tiris gate it had lain,

But through smoke came Dragon’s Bane,

And divided oriental man became,

Then back to Demon, lost again.

Kept safe another lies underground,

In hope it will not be found.

Found by Ranger in Old Forest falls,

Travelling to demons’ magma filled halls,

As elf blood oozes, it adorns the Dragon Friend,

To find itself in farthest Amorsland.

The Dragon came through a fiery gate,

Destroying human King with burning hate,

Holed up in ice-covered mountain top,

The evil worm’s terror would not stop,

Despite Dwarven bribes and brave quest,

Yet felled he was by brothers from the west.

From Lastar’s head control was lost,

Crowned Evil now leads the host.

After gathering together (Lanzi blinked over the river with ease, whilst Morwath was able to fly over almost as easily), we spent several hours recovering from our exertions and eating what rations we had with us. Hintzu even found some clothes to dress himself properly, as he was still wearing the burnt rags that had been set fire to!

When we were ready, we advanced through a doorway in the far wall, entering a smaller square room beyond. This was a crossing of ways, with doors in each wall. There were old weapons in the room, laying next to skeletal remains of dwarves. The doors had been smashed down in the past and then poorly repaired so that they were just about usable. Above the door opposite us was a short script, which quickly yielded the name 'Lagrash' when we applied the code (without any experimentation this time).

Stop, hold and begin again.

Red dragons await no one.

We keep thee from being slain;

Help send you back home again.

No weapons can you wield in Dor;

You must leave them at the door.

As Morwath spoke the name, the floor before me fell away to reveal a staircase leading down. As it did so, though, the doors were barged in by a stream of ugly creatures that rushed to engage us in close combat. Dweomer flew about us as we reacted to the threat; Hintzu created a ball of fire in one doorway, Morwath created a wall of thorns in another and Lanzi raised a wall of fire in a ring around us. Many of the closest creatures were killed in the flames, but the remainder backed off and arrows began to fly at us from three sides! Hintzu returned fire, and each of his arrows killed one of the beasts; however, there were so many that he would run out of arrows before they were all dead. I used Odin's power to dominate one of the creatures, sowing dissension in their ranks by forcing it to urge others to retreat. Lanzi created mirror images to protect himself from the arrows, which were mainly pinging off my armour. Morwath, though, caught one in his hand! He handed it to Hintzu with what looked suspiciously like a swagger. Lanzi used more of his dweomer to confuse one flank of the enemy, causing to fall on one another in a sudden melee. With that we made good our escape down the stairs, and Morwath sealed the room behind us with another wall of thorns.

We descended into a square room with a poem carved in oriental script opposite us:

What of the light, the sun, it's faded,

just as the crystal is spread and jaded?

But what of the sword, its platinum plates,

to steer Destiny, thee of shapes?

My Lady would not change easily,

as you weave the crystal freely.

But don't you see that we are set,

with the glow of the sword Regret.

But life, for you, would slip away,

if you were given the sword Decay,

But Destiny, whom knows one true,

Would give this crystal to so few.

For some of us, the light would shine,

to radiate off our decline,

While the crystal is built, its many facets,

who of us can change the sets?

The platinum though, seems threatening,

but to some it’s of a dream,

And Destiny, whom beside we walk,

will show us the sword and whom we stalk.

Be them with this platinum sword,

to pace beside a foe so near,

Or be it with the crystal matrix,

To path our future, forever fixed.

Another verse was carved into the wall to our right, but this time in Elven script:

So dark, deep black to touch the sinking solid to surprise,

One wink or blink , Ah! Now I see,

Pointing spikes like devils claws,

To clutch the moon or pick a star,

Rocky spires, turrets grotesque,

Plaiting pillars, skipping wispy clouds,

Children's circles hands held spin,

Mocking o'er the taunting void,

The dancing weaving mandolin.

A shooting star past Morgul’s mound,

The fingers seem to try to pinch,

Some passing wish,

The elf-wise and empty fingers click.

I watch yet nae go near,

Perchance my soul to snatch,

Deep down a cave in belly lie,

Some dark Black Widow's web.

Some carcass case chaste last.

To stroke and poke,

The prancing dreamer's song,

The bone, stone, loudest crack,

Flickering flames to trance,

The wood nymph’s sirens lull,

Morgul, Morgul, Morgul.

A door in the far corner of the room was ajar, but what really grabbed our attention was the dozen or so Gith in the room. They appeared surprised, rather than warned of our approach, which was promising. Hintzu used one of his rings' abilities to alert Lanzi that some kind of dweomer affecting an area would be advantageous. Lanzi responded with the obvious choice, a fireball into the room. The Gith did not fall, though, and Morwath raised another wall of thorns whilst I called Odin's blessing down on us all. The Gith pressed forwards out of the thorns to engage Hintzu, who by now was ready for them. What we were not ready for was the fireball and lightning bolts that emerged to strike us! The pain was intense, and I staggered backwards.

Lanzi responded with another fireball of his own, and a few fell in the flames. Hintzu and Morwath both attacked the nearest Gith, and both defeated one each in quick order. This victorious surge was soon suppressed by another lightning bolt slamming into us. Lanzi and I were particularly hurt, and were forced to hold back as Hintzu ran lightly forwards, starting and ending his dance of death in a few heartbeats; the remaining Gith outside of the thorns laying dead at his feet.

Morwath offered us some protection from lightning while we assessed our next move. Hintzu suppressed the fire that had spread in the thorns, stopping the last few Gith from burning to death. Freed from the thorns, they surrendered to us. To my horror, Morwath stepped forward and beheaded one! Shocked, I leapt forward to prevent him from doing the same to the others, grabbing him in a headlock from behind. Unfortunately I misjudged my strength and stunned him as I did so. Hintzu and Lanzi were quickly able to stun the two Gith without harming them, allowing us to find out why Morwath had acted in such an evil manner.

Needless to say, Morwath was not happy that I had stunned him in my haste to protect the Gith. He raged that they were still a threat to us, despite their submissive nature, being apparently able to attack us with their minds in a similar way to Lanzi and Morwath's powers. I still could not countenance their slaughter, insisting that to treat them as animals made us no better than the foe we fought. Hintzu agreed with me, whilst Lanzi (himself threatened in the same was as Morwath) could see both sides of the argument. Morwath was very animated and threatened to leave us if we interferred with his actions again, warning me in particular not to touch him. I agreed to call on Odin to send the two, still unconscious, Gith to another plane in order to placate Morwath and he seemed to calm down after that. I fear that, should we ever get the upper hand in our struggle, Morwath could become more of a threat than an ally; he must be watched.

We had to spent some time healing our wounds before we could move on, and Odin's grace was a boon to us all. When we were ready, we descended some stairs that we found behind the door in the opposite corner of the room. The stairs were covered in spiders webs, and we had to cut our way through the thickest of them. Eventually we reached the bottom without upset, finding a small passageway with doors left and right. With no indication of which way to go, Lanzi used his chime in an attempt to open both. The left-hand door opened to reveal a thick mist, whilst the right-hand one had a clear passageway leading to another door. As we investigated this passage, a mouth appeared in the wall at the end next to the door and began to repeat "Go back!" many times in common.

Lanzi warned us that there was evil here, but we had determined to follow the path of evil in order to find the source of their infestation here; the portal. Lanzi again used his chime to unlock the door here and Hintzu carefully opened it. Beyond was a passageway full of green vapour that was slowly drifting towards us, probably disturbed by the motion of the door. It was difficult to see far, and there was a strong sulphurous smell from the vapour. Hintzu used one of his rings to drive the mist back away from us, and urged us to stay with him as he jogged forwards. We ran to keep up, coming upon a staircase leading down that seemed to be free of the green gas, although it was clogged with webs.

We were able to hold our breath long enough to force our way into the staircase, and continued to hack our way down to emerge into another passageway with three doors, although there seemed to be lights flickering ahead of us almost as if leading us towards the last of the doors. This aroused our suspicions, and Lanzi used his gem of seeing to check the doors; apparently none of them were real, and the whole passage was some kind of illusion! I attempted to dispel the illusion, but whatever dark dweomer had been weaved here it was too strong for my simple faith to overcome. We determined to climb back to the last room and look for exits that we missed.

Returning, though, meant dealing with the green mist. Unfortunately we were unnerved by the feeling that we were being drawn into a trap, and didn't stop to plan how we would do this! We blundered into the mist and immediately began to lose our direction. I backed out to catch my breath and think of what to do, Hintzu started to throw up, Morwath went ahead and found a void in the wall that we didn't find before, while Lanzi started to call on his dweomer. In short, chaos. Lanzi summoned a wall of wind that started to clear part of the room, but I had simultaneously summoned a dust devil to drive it before me. The two did not mix well, as the dust devil could not pass the wall of wind. Leaving it at the door, I followed Lanzi in the passage he had begun to clear. I called on Odin to bless me with true seeing, and found that not all was as it seemed. Then, unfortunately, I caught a whiff of the gas and began to throw up as Hintzu had.

Lanzi was trying to explore further, but the wall of wind did not extend far enough. When I was able, Lanzi dropped the wall and I called on the dust devil to advance as we followed close behind. Lanzi also made Hintzu and Morwath immune to the dweomer that created the gas so that they did not have to follow so closely and could defend us if necessary. We followed the line of the true wall until we reached a door that Lanzi was able to unlock.

Beyond the door, stairs led gently down out of the nauseous fog, and we eagerly advanced... a little too eagerly, as a gaping hole appeared in the floor before us! We just about managed to avoid falling, and were able to get around the hole to advance more cautiously. At the end of the passage there was a door on the left, also locked; again, Lanzi opened it with his chime, and Hintzu opened it to reveal a square room about thirty foot across.

No other doors were visible; there were just lanterns hanging from each of the other walls. On the far right wall, there was a script in common:

I ride the winds and walk the clouds,

On wings of fire, I cross the skies.

Ruined cities lie in my wake,

The shattered dreams of many kings,

The broken tones of power's call.

For deep within, it is the soul,

That hears my wings and cries with joy.

I bring no peace to calm the storms,

Of kingly men or common born.

One and all hear my call,

From temple priest to simple man;

I burn away the worlds of both.

With wings of fire, I call to man,

To leave his world and fly with me.

I am the torch that all men seek,

The Light of Knowledge, the Flame of Passion,

That ends the gloom within the soul.

The sun's own light is paled by me,

And men see me with awe and fear.

I am the light of ages past,

Yet hold the keys to future time.

If you would seek the higher light,

Then take the wings within your soul,

Leap to the sky and seek me out!

You will not find the path I flew,

It is your own, not mine you seek.

You are not I, nor will you be,

Until the day you take the torch.

A dragon then to shout my words,

Of burning skies!

Come! Burn with me!

Although fascinating, this did not present us with a way out! Hintzu and Lanzi began to search for another exit, but as they did so I saw a bear-like creature with wings in the room. No one else seemed to have noticed it, despite it standing in the centre of the room! It grabbed for Hintzu, raking him painfully with its claws and grabbing him in a bear hug. I quickly called on Odin to protect him from evil, forcing the creature to drop him. The creature then turned on me - it's claws digging through even my armour. Hintzu and Morwath both attacked blindly, but were fortunate and landed solid hits. Suddenly we were engulfed in flames, although we managed to avoid the worst of the unexpected fireball. Hintzu, unpeturbed, dealt a death blow to the creature.

Taking a moment to check our wounds, Hintzu noticed that there was a key lashed around the neck of the dead creature. He tried it in the door we had just entered through, and found it to be a perfect fit. Opening the door again, he was surprised to find that there was a different corridor outside. We reformed the party and made our way carefully down this new passage towards another door.

As we approached the door, it flew open to reveal a purple/violet light from a large cavern beyond and the sound of flowing water. Stood in the door were a collection of samurai in full armour. Beyond them, we could just make out an orb with the figure of Revern stood next to it. A barking started from just next to Hintzu, although nothing could be seen. Taken by surprise, only Hintzu was able to respond quickly.

Shouts of alarm went up in the cavern, and arrows started to fly into the corridor. They were not the only missiles flying toward us, though, as hailstones started to pelt us and flames filled the corridor. There were clearly a number of dweomer users against us, and the shock of the multiple attacks caused me to fall unconscious. Morwath seized control of the minds of some of the samurai and sent them off in an attempt to take the orb from under the noses of the enemy, leaving just one standing against Hintzu. Unfortunately, another fireball knocked Hintzu down before he could strike again. Morwath reacted quickly and healed some of Hintzu's wounds to keep him in the fight.

Lanzi used his own dweomer to call an opaque cloud of gas into being just inside the cavern, giving us some relief from the bombardment we had been suffering, although it also obscured our view of the enemy forces. Hintzu, a little refreshed by Morwath's aid, killed the invisible dog that had been harrying him from the start of our fight. Momentarily alone, Lanzi shut the door to give us a moment to collect ourselves. Morwath brought me back to consciousness and between us we healed the worst of my wounds, although I was still weak. We heard a couple of loud bangs from the other side of the door, accompanied by screaming, and Lanzi decided to summon an Efreet to assist us, and then took a moment to use some healing lotion on himself.

Our respite was short-lived, and the door flew open as the remaining samurai charged at us. I took an arrow, interrupting my call for Odin's aid, and some dweomer that summoned a ram's head to smash into Hintzu; he blocked the attack with his daikyu, but the force of it sbroke his weapon in two! I created a web in between us and the enemy dweomer users, just as a lightning bolt slammed into us. Hintzu fought to hold the samurai from getting amongst us, whilst Lanzi threw meteors into their midst to thin their numbers. As he did so, he sent the efreet to attack Revern. Morwath used his control of the elements to protect me from lightning, as my armour tended to attract it! Hintzu began to win the fight at the door, killing two of the foe and taking a few paces forward. The efreet did not fare so well against Revern, taking a lightning bolt in its chest that killed it outright. Magic missiles came streaking towards Hintzu, but Lanzi seemed to be able to absorb the power without it affecting him.

Another fireball exploded in the corridor, and the constant bombardment was taking its toll. Hintzu charged forward to attack one of the mages, hoping to get us out of the corridor and distract them from casting; his weapon just didn't seem to connect on the mage, though. Morwath called up a wall of thorns to trap Revern in place, whilst Lanzi unleashed lightning of his own at him; again, though, it appeared to have no effect. The one in front of Hintzu blinked away to safety, in the same way we had seen Lanzi escape from danger, whilst Lanzi began chanting in an attempt to make Revern less resistant to his attacks. A large stone hand appeared out of nowhere near Hintzu and tried to grab him, but he reacted with his usual speed and stepped aside as it lunged. Lanzi threw a fireball at the mages near to Hintzu, but again with no effect, and Hintzu was still struggling to land a blow - this was frustrating! More magic missiles soared towards Hintzu, but again he was unaffected.

Revern then used his dweomer to send a series of rainbow-hued beams of light shooting at us, hurting Morwath and instantly taking my life! I know that I wanted to be closer to Odin, but I seemed to be getting a little too close with increasing frequency. Lanzi called down an ice storm in response, catching the mages and Hintzu in the storm, but at least disrupting their casting. Morwath used a power we had not seen before, sending all the wood in the area scurrying away from him, including the staves that the mages were clutching! Hintzu was finally able to land a hit as the mage he was attacking was dragged back by his own staff. The wood soon stopped its retreat as the mages countered Morwath's dweomer, but Lanzi scored a little victory as his magic missiles landed solidly on Revern, causing him some discomfort.

Hintzu pressed his advantage, chasing down and killing the mage he had struck earlier. He then charged at another, but his path was blocked by another huge hand. Morwath ran forward to assist, but was struck by a blast of icy cold air that slowed him down. Acid began to rain down on Lanzi and my prone body, which did not bode well for my recovery! Lanzi still managed to let off some magic missiles into Revern, causing him some real pain this time. Morwath reached the other mage but struggled, as Hintzu had, to land a blow. Revern began to fly away from us, fleeing at last!

Morwath used his powers to enable Hintzu to walk in the air, so that he could pursue Revern. Lanzi unleashed all he could at the fleeing mage, sending swarms of meteors at him followed by magic missiles. Morwath called on the element of fire, causing a searing column of flames to strike at Revern. All the attacks caused him to stop his flight in an attempt to raise some defences, but Hintzu was right behind him! As a last-ditch effort he struck out with a great thunderclap of sound and a lightning bolt, but Hintzu pressed his attack and cut him down. Revern was dead! But so was I...

Climb to Minas Tiris

Despite the death of Revern, we were not quite clear of danger yet; the last acolyte was still standing, but running for the far door. Fearing that he would bring reinforcements upon us, Hintzu caught him as he stopped to catch his breath in the doorway. With a great display of martial ability, Hintzu struck with just two fingers at the mage's neck, but missed completely as the terrified man bent double to retch on his feet! With only his pride seriously hurt, Hintzu struck again with a terrifying 'ultimate wedgie' maneouvre and this time found his mark, leaving the acolyte stunned and helpless.

Lanzi, meanwhile, had hurried to my body and attempted to bring me back from the brink, but without success. Morwath also moved to aid me, now that the threat had passed, but there was nothing he could do until we found a safe place of refuge. Hintzu collected a daikyu from one of the samurai on his way back to us, although it was not of the same quality as the one he had lost in the fight. Morwath collected the orb that Revern had been standing beside and whisked it into his bag of holding. Lanzi, having tried everything he could think of to assist me (for which I am very grateful) finally gave up and instead moved to Reverns prone body to loot him of his dweomer.

With the essentials covered, Hintzu began to wash away the acid on me with his waterskin so that he could move me. Morwath, seeing this, helped out by creating several gallons and dumping them on me. That certainly had the desired effect, and as I was dead I could hardly complain! They took my body to join Lanzi, sharing the items between them and passing the orb back to Lanzi; it was the orb of dragon control that he had given to Revern when he was just an acolyte himself.

Shelter was the primary aim now, although there were no clear exits to safety. The cavern itself, though, was at least seven hundred feet across and by the look of the uneven walls it was a natural cave. Using one of the many nooks in the wall, Morwath moulded the rock around the party to shield it from view and everyone settled down to rest. Morwath had an idea; he would use a powerful item that would allow him to temporarily wield the necessary power to resurrect me, but this would leave him exhausted for a fortnight. However, Lanzi's dweomer might be able to delay the effects long enough for us to make our escape. It was, I am glad to say, agreed that it was worth a try. After hours of rest and meditation, during which plenty of activity could be heard in the cavern searching for our whereabouts, including shouts of "one's wearing a crown", Morwath was able to bring me back to life.

Amazingly, unlike before, I was immediately full of energy and aware of my surroundings. Excitedly, I insisted on being told what had happened and how I had returned. Between Morwath and I we were able to heal Hintzu, and then I had to pray to recover Odin's favour. This gave Lanzi the opportunity to study the items recovered from Revern and share them amongst us. Luckily he had some boots to replace mine, as they had been destroyed (along with a few other items) by the acid as I lay dead. Morwath attuned himself with the orb, hoping to learn something of its nature. Unsurprisingly, it was evil! It was also intelligent, and if we were to make use of it then a power struggle was the likely outcome. To my mind, it was better off being destroyed. As if to prove my point, Lanzi attempted to study the orb himself, but dropped it quickly as it attacked his mind!

We were almost ready to move on, and the commotion outside had certainly died down. Just before we left, I took the waterskin that we had been using to piss in during our time in the refuge, I used Odin's power to purify it and turn it into water before blessing it so that it might be used in the blessings we would certainly need in the hours to come. My potions of holy water had also been destroyed by acid, so this would have to do until we reached civilisation again. Lanzi, for his part, researched how the gate to the abyss might be closed; unfortunately this was an evil act, requiring a human sacrifice to complete the ceremony! We agreed that it would be better to bring a more benign portal to us than to use such methods, although it would mean that we could not be sure where the gate to the abyss would end up.

It was all very well talking about gates to planes, but the truth was that the gate was in the Minas, which would almost certainly be guarded by Rantor and probably Tuar Chan as well! Morwath, due to his neutrality, took the orb and attempted to use it to contact Dracor Augusta to ask for his help. He was successful in using the orb, but the dragon he saw in it was not Dracor. A deep green/blue eye opened and a voice spoke to Morwath, saying "what now, Revern?" The dragon claimed to be Si Lung! She was near to Minas Tiris, but trapped underground in a hidden chamber with no obvious exits. She agreed to aid us in fighting Rantor, but only if Dracor also agreed, as it would take at least the both of them to counter Rantor's power. Morwath then changed the focus of the orb to Rantor by picturing the colour gold and the element earth. Dracor was searching through mounds of gold, looking for something, but stopped when he became aware of Morwath. He was impressed by our survival, thinking that we had fallen, and even more impressed that we had slain Tung Mi Lung. However, he was unwilling to leave Nega unprotected, as it was the last bastion of good now that Sutur had fallen, so unless we were in dire need he was unlikely to assist in our fight.

Finally ready to emerge from our refuge, we watched as Morwath shaped a door in the rock, swinging it open to allow us out. The air was much clearer as we walked into the large, cool cavern we had fought in earlier that day. Only two samurai remained there, guarding the exit we wished to use some five hundred feet away. We started to run towards them as Morwath attempted to summon Si Lung to our aid using the orb. They shouted an alarm and drew bows, and I took two arrows in my side, causing me great pain! Hintzu returned fire, hitting each with an arrow, but his new weapon did not have the same power as his last. Lanzi used his dweomer to create an image of himself a little way from the foe, and then used it to begin the casting of another spell. The samurai were alarmed by the image's appearance and fired at it, but with no effect; however, they also fired at Hintzu, and one of their arrows found its mark.

Hintzu loosed another arrow, sending one staggering backwards, and then Lanzi unleashed his dweomer, causing a fireball to explode in their midst. The one that Hintzu had just hit was killed instantly, and the other was not so lucky. With his clothes and possessions on fire, he flailed around until Hintzu put him out of his misery and killed him. I stopped running and called on Odin to heal the worst of my wounds. As I did so, another samurai popped his head out of the doorway and quickly retreated. Shortly afterwards, the sound of a deep horn blast could be heard; there was likely to be an army descending upon us!

Hintzu reached the door, seeing the samurai beyond turn to run up some stairs. He put a couple of arrows in his back, slaying him, and shut the door. He then took the unburnt daikyu to replace his, sensing that it was a better weapon. Lanzi told him that the arrows they had been using were also imbued with dweomer, and Hintzu collected as many as he could. I called on Odin to watch the door whilst we collected ourselves, and a misty wyvern came into being beside it. Morwath finally, after some pain in his battle with the orb, succeeded in summoning Si Lung. However, instead of the huge dragon we were expecting, she appeared in the (quite beautiful) image of a female sea elf, although without the usual clothing that an elf would insist upon!

Si Lung thanked Morwath for freeing her, and warned him that the orb would use the shards against him. She then agreed to accompany us as we made our way out. Apparently the sea elves were fighting a large battle, although what she saw might be in the future, and it was on the scale of Ragnarak. She was concerned that Melai was not with us, although she knew that the elves wished to depart these lands, and that Melai would have to convince them to stay. She was not particularly positive about fighting Rantor without Dracor, but understood his concerns.

We were ready once more, but before we could proceed the door opened and arrows flew towards us. The first volley was poorly aimed and missed us, but the second caught Lanzi and wounded him. We could see two bowmen and two oriental men armed with guisarmes. Lanzi shielded himself with dweomer, whilst Hintzy used a ring to create a stinking cloud of gas that enveloped them all. They all reeled from the effects of the gas, doubling up and choking, whilst Morwath threw darts at them, causing some damage. They staggered around, trying to escape the gas and one came too close to the misty wyvern I had left on guard - it struck and paralysed him before disappearing. Morwath killed another with a dart, and the last two attempted to escape up the stairs.

Morwath called upon a dust devil to disperse the cloud so that we could pass freely, although it would take a few moments to do so. Lanzi called on his own martial arts, which we see rarely now that his dweomer is even more powerful, and bravely attempted to disarm the paralysed man. Sadly, he failed, so perhaps he just needed the practise. I stepped in to tie up the man before Lanzi embarrassed himself any further!

With the cloud dispersed enough to pass, Hintzu ran after the last two and paralysed one with a quick strike. The last man drew a katana, obviously not willing to go down without a fight. He failed to land a strike, as Hintzu expertly weaved his way between the arcs of his blade and then drew his Lajatang before striking him down with a powerful blow. There were shouts from behind us, as samurai were charging across the cavern to reach us, so we all moved into the stairs area, then Hintzu threw the paralysed foe into the cavern and shut the door.

Hintzu struggled to lock the door, so Lanzi used his dweomer to secure it instead. Faced with the prospect of battling our way through an entire army, we decided to try a new strategy. We took out a carpet from Morwath's bag (it is amazing what it can hold) and lay on it while Lanzi used his dweomer, combined with a few sups of a potion, to turn us invisible. We could then use the flying powers of the carpet to glide above the heads of our foes without having to worry about bumping into anyone or being heard whilst moving. I called upon Odin's wisdom to guide me, asking to be shown the way to the top of the Minas. With a few whispers we were on our way up the stairs.

We passed over the soldiers hurrying to repel our attack from below, finding it a bit of a squeeze at times, but the only worries we had were when we had to direct the carpet whilst others were around. Luckily, there was generally enough commotion to hide or muffle any sounds. It seemed that we were at the very bottom of the mountain, and we slowly worked our way up out of the depths. Occasionally, as we progressed, we found ourselves off the beaten track in corridors that were untrod by human feet; in these we saw a variety of creatures, including large spiders, but were untroubled by any of them. Eventually, in one of the less well-used corridors, we came to a closed door that was too narrow to fly through and were forced to stop.

Drums and trumpets could still be heard behind us, but we could not discern any noise from beyond the door. Si Lung, though, warned us that there were creatures there and that they were evil. Hintzu stepped off to attend to the door, and I kept hold of him so that I might give him Odin's blessing. Lanzi also took the opportunity to protect himself with dweomer. Hintzu eased the door open, but it was pitch black beyond and the weak light we stood in could not penetrate very far. Hintzu used his ring to create a flaming sphere just beyond the door, rolling it forward to light up the square room beyond.

There were about five green, winged beasts in the room, and having seen the flames they were now moving towards our door. As they moved forward, the flames winked out and the room was again plunged into darkness. An arc of flame shot out from the door into the room, presumably from Hintzu, again lighting up the room, but the two nearest creatures appeared unaffected by the fire. It was difficult to tell what was happening, as we were all still invisible, but when a fireball exploded in the room it was safe to assume that it was Lanzi's doing. The creatures ignored the flames once more, but then lightning shot forward and did affect them.

I caused the ceiling to appear as if it were a cloudless, moonlit night sky so that we could all see without someone letting off a fireball every few seconds! Lanzi and Morwath were now both visible, and it was no surprise that two of the creatures targeted Lanzi. They did not seem to move naturally, though, just blinking forward to strike at him. Morwath unleashed more lightning, striking one full in the chest and killing it. Suddenly the two that attacked Lanzi fell, great gouges appearing in their backs - it was Hintzu, who had slain them without breaking Lanzi's dweomer. Lanzi, ever the cautious one, blinked himself back down the corridor to safety, but I cannot criticise him as I decided to call on Odin to protect me from these devils. Another one fell to invisible blows as Hintzu continued his rampage, but the last one did not stay to oppose him and disappeared without trace.

We took the carpet through the door, Odin guiding me to take the door in the left-hand wall of the room beyond. Through that door were more stairs leading up, but we were relieved to see that there were lanterns along the walls so we would no longer have to worry what might be in the dark. With two of us now visible, Hintzu scouted ahead up the stairs as the rest of us followed. He found a door with a poison dart trap, which he was able to disarm, but was unable to pick the lock. When we reached the door, though, Lanzi was able to use his dweomer to open it, revealing a small room with some unusual and incredibly ornate statues within it.

On the floor was the symbol of a lotus flower, which we had seen recently and was the first clue that this was again a representation of the oriental pantheon. A gold statue of an aged, bald man, his beard studded with diamonds, was directly opposite the door we had entered from. Slightly to the right was a gold statuette of a muscular man with jade armour and red eyes. Right again was a gold statue of a man with a cheery grin. To the near right was a gold statuette of a large egg-headed bald man holding a stick and a peach with a marble beard. Closest to us was a silver statue of a creature with a man's body, three heads and eight arms. Near left was a jet statue of a human in a gold robe. To the left was a tourmaline statue of an ugly, winged creature with a gold loin cloth. To the far left was a wooden statue of a human monk. In the centre of them all was a large, jade egg. The only other obvious exit was a staircase to our left.

Odin's guidance suggested that we should climb the stairs, but we knew from past experience that there were likely to be other exits hidden in this room. Hintzu checked the stairs and found a trap, which he disabled, whilst Lanzi confirmed that there were two other, hidden exits from the room. We inspected the wall behind the statue of the deity paired with Odin in the last room we saw in this arrangement, but without knowing the name of the deity there was no obvious way to open it. Si Lung warned that there was something fearful beyong the door, so we should be cautious. Lanzi used his chime in an attempt to force the door open, but as he did so the vibrations climbed to a painful crescendo and the chime shattered in his hand! The room started to shake as the noise reverberated around, and the hidden door cracked open. We heard shouts of alarm from above, and Hintzu put all his strength into forcing the door open, in which he was successful.

Four samurai, who had been standing in a corridor until we broke their wall down, were taken by surprise as we confronted them. A wave of heat and the sound of machinery suggested that some kind of forge or foundry lay nearby. Lanzi raised a wall of fire across the opening, but caught Hintzu on the wrong side, as he could not see him to ensure he was safe. Hintzu's mastery of flames afforded him some protection, and he lashed out to cut down one of the samurai. I put a wyvern watch near to the opening to keep the others contained, although the fire was taking its toll and another fell dead.

Hintzu burst through the fire, taking damage as he did so, but almost rushed into a lightning bolt from Morwath aimed at some samurai that were running down the stairs. The bolt ricocheted up the stairs, killing the first man and causing screams to echo from further up. The flames took the life of another samurai in the corridor, but then Lanzi used his dweomer to slam and hold shut the door we had opened so violently. I took a moment to heal some of Hintzu's wounds, following the sound of his shouts to find him.

We decided to follow the stairs to see what was up there, but when we reached a corridor that was covered from both sides by bowmen we paused for thought. A shout came from our right, saying "you can come no further - we would accept your surrender now!" Hintzu started to string them along, but they were obviously impatient as a couple of bottles with fizzing tops rolled towards us. Hintzu quickly kicked them back, and a small explosion was quickly followed by curses of surprise and anger. Not waiting for their response, Morwath filled the corridor with flames; luckily, Hintzu was able to get the right side of them this time! There were some very unhappy samurai about now, so we withdrew to the room with the lotus flower and I quickly called on Odin to heal some of Lanzi's wounds.

Lanzi reopened the door he had closed before, revealing just the corridor and bodies. With all seemingly quiet, we entered the corridor, heading left towards the noise of machinery. Before continuing, Lanzi and Morwath made themselves invisible again, and then we all followed Hintzu, who marked his progress with chalk marks on the wall. Si Lung closed the door behind us; she had not been involved in any of the fighting so far, but seemed to be able to make herself invisible or visible at will.

At the end of the corridor was a staircase leading down, but we could hear voices getting closer. They did not seem alarmed, though, as they were busy complaining about some dwarven prisoners! Perhaps it was fate that brought us this way so that we could help them. I pressed myself against the wall, and watched as a Gith and a samurai emerged into the corridor. Seeing that there was nobody on guard here, they switched their complaints to the laziness of their comrades, until they saw the bodies. They hurried over to them, but were convinced that no one could have passed them on their way up, so continued to the end of the corridor and out of sight.

Quietly we made our way down the stairs, listening for any noise that might suggest more guards were approaching. The stairs looped downwards, and after a little while we heard dwarven voices. They were discussing what might be going on upstairs, but insisting that they keep working. At the foot of the stairs we walked into a large, hot room to see dwarves working hard on pieces of machinery that looked like they might be part of some great siege engines. There was a large vent at the far end of the room leading up in a steep slope, with ropes, chains and pulleys hanging down. We could not see any guards. The passageway continued under the vent, and a locked door was to our left.

Hintzu spoke from nearby, saying "hail, friends!" The dwarves stopped, but their apparent leader told them that it must be a trick and they were to carry on working. They were all wearing loincloths and were obviously used to hard work; their appearance was lean for dwarves, but very muscular. Lanzi began to explain that we were friends, but hidden from view to avoid detection by the samurai. The dwarf reluctantly agreed to fetch the leader of all the dwarves here, which were from the house of Dor, but only if somebody showed themselves. Lanzi and Si Lung appeared before them, reassuring them somewhat, and they woke their leader, whose name was Shem.

By the time we had finished the introductions, all of the dwarves had gathered to see us; there were about two score in total. We explained that the evil forces were led by an undead Rantor and Tuar Chan, and offered our aid in their escape. Apparently the vent is the quickest way out, although no escape that way had proved successful. We decided to scout it out using the carpet, but not before trying to arm the dwarves with something. Luckily at this point, Morwath produced a small armoury from his bag! By the time he had finished about half of the dwarves were armed with an assortment of weapons, including a sunblade!

Once invisible again, we all mounted the carpet and rose up through the vent to see what was beyond. It did not look promising, as the vent emerged onto a sheer cliff face, with a pulley system allowing the machine parts to be lowered to a ledge some hundred feet below, and there was another sheer drop beyond that. On the ledge an army of men and elephants were making their way around the mountain. Wyverns swooped around the vent to watch for any escape attempt.

We returned to the dwarves and described what we had seen, suggested that we might try the locked door instead. Apparently it was used by guards and was kept locked regardless of their coming and going, so they did not know what lay beyond. Hintzu was able to unlock the door and open it, revealing stairs leading up. We climbed steeply up through an archway into a small room with weapons and armour stacked neatly around its sides. There was only one exit, which was another flight of stairs to our left. Si Ti Qa signalled to the dwarves that it was safe to proceed, and they eagerly set about arming the remaining dwarves when they saw what was available.

We continued up the stairs, reaching another locked door, and Si Lung again warned us of samurai on the other side, concentrating she decided that it must be some sort of thoroughfare, as there were a large number of movements all crossing the same way, from our right to our left. This gave us a conundrum, as we were hoping to get the dwarves outside without a major confrontation. We decided to discuss the situation and come up with a plan.

After much debating, we settled on a possible way forward. We would take the shaft out, using dweomer to get the dwarves safely down to the ledge below, and Si Lung would provide support in her dragon form. If Rantor showed up, which was likely, Si Lung would make a dash for the sea and safety and we would sieze the opportunity to make for the top of the Minas.

Still invisible, we flew up the shaft on the carpet and beyond, so as to avoid the swooping wyverns. Then we stopped to use dweomer. Morwath turned a huge section of the mountainside into mud, sending it sliding down onto the troops below and reducing slightly the distance from the shaft to the ledge. Many of the enemy were killed instantly, or forced off the side of the cliff, and those that remained were in chaos; it was an awesome sight to behold. Then came another awesome sight, as Si Lung appeared in dragon form beside us and darted forward to attack the nearest wyvern. Meanwhile, I used a scroll to fashion a rainbow bridge from the shaft opening down to the ledge below so that the dwarves had an escape route.

The wyverns screeched as they fought, possibly a cry of alarm of some sort, but it did not last long as Si Lung ripped one then the other apart in quick succession. They had achieved their purpose, though, as we saw Rantor emerge from atop the cliff beside us, swooping down straight at Si Lung. Lanzi shouted at the great dragon to come near so that he could use his dweomer to aid her, and she flipped in the air to turn towards us. Lanzi gifted her with extra speed so that she could lead Rantor as far out to sea as possible, giving us more chance to succeed. Si Lung rapidly dropped down and away, towards the ocean, and Rantor followed. I called on Odin to strengthen Hintzu's resolve as I knew that the foul creature could influence the hearts of even the bravest hero.

We had no time to waste, so unfortunately we had to leave the dwarves to make the best of the situation for themselves. We started the climb towards the top of the cliffs beside us straightaway. After a few minutes we were high enough to see the Minas tower, which was octagonal at the base and split into several separate towers at the top. The tallest tower was our target, and Lanzi directed the carpet towards it. Arched windows opened out on all sides at the top, and we topped up our invisibility to avoid any embarrassing appearances as we approached. As we closed, I protected us from evil, with Odin's grace, and Lanzi turned Hintzu's skin into a stone-like surface to protect him from attacks. Morwath called on the elements to protect us all from fire and lightning, so we were better prepared than usual for the fight ahead. Just before we got close enough to see where we would enter, I sprinkled some of my holy water over us all and muttered a quick blessing.

Confrontation

We could now see most of what lay in wait for us. The most prominent feature was a purple, shimmering gate at the far end of the room; at least we could see our objective! Two devils stood guard over the portal, marshalling a stream of undead that steadily marched out of the portal and down a spiral stair in the far corner. There were similar stairs in each corner, and they were covered at the top with a stone pagoda. Samurai lined all of the windows, providing cover with their bows from any (visible) foe approaching. Tuar Chan stood near the gate, surrounded by the undead, with a guard of Gith in front of him. A massive saddle with a platform built on it stood to one side, and was obviously intended for Rantor to wear when transporting Tuar Chan and his minions. There was no furniture at all, and the room would have been quite bare had it not held so many creatures. The floor was highly polished and dark, and the reflections made the hall seem even more full. On the ceiling was a great fresco of a dragon battling with Thor, striking a killing blow and destroying the rainbow bridge.

Tuar Chan had been gazing into a palantir, and as we entered he shouted to his men, indicating where we were. It seems that he could track us through the palantir; could this be why we had been ambushed so many times since Lanzi took to wearing his crown? We were not in a good position; the gate was on the far side of the large hall and so was Tuar Chan. We decided to fly around the outside to minimise the amount of samurai who could fire at us, and then re-enter close to the gate. There was a lot of shouting from within, although none of it was panicked. As we were about halfway along the length of the hall, one of the devils emerged ahead of us to stop us from going further and two wyverns dropped from the roof above us.

A fireball exploded on top of us, but Morwath was able to dissipate it harmlessly, protecting us all! It seemed strange that he had not done so on previous occasions, but the ways of the druid were often inscrutable. Lanzi and Morwath were suffering from attacks on their mind, probably from the Gith inside the hall, but Hintzu and I were unaffected. I called on Odin to guide Hintzu's hand as he drew his daikyu beside me. Before he could fire, though, Morwath collapsed the side of the hall in front of us, burying at least a dozen samurai in rubble.

Lanzi created a shimmering sphere of dweomer around us, which I guessed was some kind of protection, but it did have the unfortunate side effect of highlighting to everyone where we were! Still suffering under mental attacks, Morwath called on thorns to grow from the floor beneath the Gith, trapping them where they stood. Hintzu loosed arrows at the devil in front of us, killing it with just three solid hits! He had time to send another arrow into the flank of a passing wyvern before Lanzi took the carpet sideways into the gap in the hall's ceiling. Seeing a chance to strike back at the Gith, Lanzi directed some dweomer at them that caused them to act erratically and even to fight amongst themselves within the thorns they were still encased by.

Tuar Chan started to loose arrows at Hintzu, but he deflected every one that came close, and then turned and killed the last devil with arrows of his own. Lanzi became the target of Tuar Chan's next attack, now that he was visible, and three arrows buried themselves in his body, killing him outright! He then switched his attention to Morwath, but fortunately he was able to catch the arrows that were a threat with his dweomer-laced gloves. Hintzu returned fire with arrows of his own, but only one was able to hit him, such was his skill.

The Gith began to force their way out of the thorns, now that Lanzi's influence had ended. I quickly checked him for signs of life, in case he had just fallen out of shock, but I saw none and could do nothing to aid him. Morwath took an arrow himself, and was seriously hurt by it. The wyverns attacked Morwath and Hintzu (I was still invisible), but they were spared damage by stoneskin and the displacement cloak respectively. Morwath's cloak could do nothing to stop the arrows from Tuar Chan, though, and he quickly fell dead with shafts protruding from his chest. Hintzu continued to fire back, but again only landed one good hit. I call on Odin to guide his actons again, hoping to give him some advantage in the exchange. There were now arrows flying at Hintzu from all around the room, filling the air and putting both me and the wyverns in danger. It was only the stone skin of Hintzu that prevented him from harm, but it could not last forever.

Seeing that things were not going well for us, I raised Lanzi from the dead, forcing him to remain prone so that he did not instantly become a target. He quickly used his dweomer to bring up several mirror images so that he would not be so easy to hit. He then exposed himself to risk throwing a fireball into the midst of the Gith, now just below us. Arrows were still flying, though, so I held out a jar of keotones for Lanzi. When he grabbed my hand, so I knew which of the images was really him, I applied the whole jar to him immediately, allowing their healing properties to give him sustenance.

Hintzu shouted a warning for us to close our eyes and then caused an explosion of light below, blinding many of the foe to reduce the sheer volume of arrows in the air. His plan was even more successful than he thought it might be, as Tuar Chan himself was blinded by the sudden light. Hintzu was able to hit him again in his blinded state, and successfully deflected the return fire. One of the wyverns was also blinded, and crashed into the wall as it continued its flight, breaking its neck and killing it instantly. Tuar Chan continued his attacks, seemingly unaffected by his ability to see; in fact he had closed his eyes, so he clearly wasn't dependent on them.

Hintzu had run out of his best arrows, he had been firing that often, and the ones he switched to had no effect on Tuar Chan. Switching targets, he killed two other archers that had not been blinded instead. Lanzi fired magic missiles at Tuar Chan, but they had no effect on him. Suddenly, Tuar Chan was surrounded by a glowing light and his wounds all disappeared completely! We would have to start over again! In an attempt to balance the battle slightly, I raised Morwath from the dead, and his first act was to cover himself in keotones, with which I could not argue! Meanwhile, Hintzu continued to pick off archers that were not blinded. The volume of arrows had reduced significantly.

Lanzi used some dweomer that I had not seen before, causing a massive hand to appear and grab Tuar Chan, crushing him in its grip. Tuar Chan responded by drawing his katana and slashing at the hand. After several hits it disappeared, but at least it gave us some respite. Lanzi, meanwhile, sent a beam of grey light at him, but again without effect. Tuar Chan kept his katana in hand, probably having expended his arrows as Hintzu had. It was a challenge, and Lanzi gave Hintzu the ability to fly so that he could go to meet him in battle.

As Hintzu descended he continued to fire at other targets, killing the wyvern and other archers. I chanted a prayer to Odin to protect him, and the rest of us. Morwath, though, used his ability to send wood flying away from him, and all over the room bows and arrows started to move away, with or without their owners. Hintzu used the effect to his advantage, letting his bow carry him forward towards Tuar Chan faster. Tuar Chan threatened us, using dweomer to enhance his threats in an attempt to frighten us, but we were having none of it and stood fast. He then sent a cone of cold blasting at Hintzu as he approached, but it too had no effect. Finally accepting that the dual had started, he leapt into the air over Hintzu's head, striking down with his katana as he passed. In doing so, though, he came within range of Morwath's staff and was hit with a bolt of lightning as he landed.

Lanzi was becoming quite agitated as his dweomer continued to fail, muttering spells that seemed to have no effect at all. I called into being an area of caltrops behind Hintzu so that none of the samurai could strike at his back as he fought with Tuar Chan. Lanzi sent more magic missiles at Tuar Chan, but again without effect; he was enraged. My last action had finally turned me visible, but I used this as a weapon; I called upon Odin's power and raised his all-seeing eye above my head, commanding the undead to leave this place. The marching column stopped immediately and all the undead in the room returned to the portal, thinning the enemy's ranks.

While I had been occupied with this, Hintzu had fallen! He was overcome by Tuar Chan's skill with the sword and taken a nasty wound, falling to the floor and not moving. Lanzi responded with more magic missiles, but again they did nothing! Tuar Chan turned and hurled a small bead from a necklace at us, and it exploded into a fireball that burned me badly. Morwath sent another lightning bolt into him, and Lanzi roared with glee as his magic missiles finally found their mark. Tuar Chan was now the one suffering. I call on Odin to heat the metal armour he and some other samurai were wearing, hoping that the searing heat would kill him even if we could not. Morwath threw darts at him, and they split in mid-air to turn into a buzzing swarm of missiles, peppering him with small impacts. At last, Tuar Chan fell before this assault!

Lanzi directed the carpet down towards Hintzu's body, and Morwath breathed fire at the samurai as we landed, killing four of them in a moment. We were still surrounded by foes, although reduced in number, and Rantor might appear at any moment. Hintzu was dead or seriously wounded and we had yet to do anything with the gate!

The remaining samurai closed with us quickly as we landed. Lanzi dodged a few swings with deft ease, before drawing a wand from his belt, pointing and speaking a command word. Nothing appeared to happen, but those that hadn't reached us yet suddenly ran into an invisible barrier. Unfortunately, Hintzu's prone form was on the other side of the barrier and as I was running to check on him I also hit the barrier at speed! Morwath touched Lanzi whilst uttering a prayer, but then fell to his knees; he had no obvious injuries, but was obviously suffering some kind of attack as he collapsed.

Lanzi raised his usual effective defence of mirror images to protect him from the samurai that got past the barrier - the others unable to reach us. One of Lanzi's images was cut through, and as I could not reach Hintzu I moved to his defence. I struck at the nearest samurai from his flank, breaking his skull in one powerful blow. Calling on Odin to confuse our foe, I soon found that I need not have worried as half a dozen of the samurai dropped dead, leaving Lanzi looking smug.

Lanzi gasped with pain, although I could not see anyone strike at him. I was busy, though, fighting toe-to-toe with the last samurai on our side of the barrier. I had landed one hit on his body, but it had not put him down. Some of the Gith beyond the samurai dropped dead; Lanzi was fighting back with dweomer more powerful than I had expected. In a desperate attempt to protect Hintzu's body (I could see more samurai emerging from stairs at the far end of the tower), I read from a scroll to raise a wall of thorns just beyond his prone form.

A huge, red, flaming apparition suddenly flew into the room! It had immense wings that it curled behind a body that was Avian in appearance, with bright red and orange feathers. It let out a piercing shriek and grew bright to the point that I had to shield my eyes. As I averted my gaze, I saw that a wall of fire had sprung up around us, but was protecting us from the foes trying to fight their way through the thorns. The samurai that were caught in it were lying on the floor, burning. With a last swing, I took the face and helmet off the samurai trapped with us and we were alone.

I rushed to Morwath's side, as Lanzi killed yet more with his dweomer behind the safety of the fire wall. I managed to awaken Morwath, glad that he was physically well even if his mind had been hurt. The nearest samurai fell unconsious as the bird approached, alighting beside Lanzi. Lanzi, though, was doubled over in pain; he was probably suffering attacks on his mind as Morwath had. In response, he sent rays of coloured light shooting from his body, turing a samurai into stone, killing a Gith and blinding a few others. Things were looking up, but then Lanzi shouted a warning: Si Ti Qa had sighted Rantor approaching fast!

Lanzi collapsed, wounds appearing on his body, but we needed him to deal with the portal! Suddenly, Melai appeared beside the palantir and rushed to Lanzi's side. An explosion of radient energy killed all of the remaining Gith, and I used all of my pot of keoughtoms to heal Lanzi's wounds. Melai was awesome in her appearance; a far cry from the bedraggled figure we had rescued from a cave, she was beautiful enough to bewitch the stoutest of hearts

Lanzi simply gaped at her, whilst I was distracted by Morwath's erratic behaviour. He was muttering that Gwendolyn was calling and that he 'must leave'. We all had to leave, and quickly! He drew artifact from his pouch, something we had only agreed to if we had to split up again, and as he pushed them towards us he started to change into bird form. Melai called for the shard from Tuar Chan, and I scrambled to obey, finding the likely pouch and throwing it to Melai. The phoenix (for that is what the bird was) burned brightly with light and then faded into grey and nothingness; it was gone. Melai passed the shard to Morwath, performing an exchange before he left - how is it that these two were expecting one another? I was surprised almost every moment!

I reached down and grabbed both Hintzu and Tuar Chan, turning and running towards the portal as fast as I could drag them. Melai lit the braziers using some spare cloth she had, enabling Lanzi to concentrate on the ceremony to divert the portal. Melai also gave him a phoenix feather to burn, saying that it would protect him. Lanzi called power into himself and unleashed it at the portal, at which point the brazier with the feather in exploded and the purple portal changed to blue with a massive crack.

I contined to run, screaming with the effort of dragging two bodies, towards the portal. Meanwhile, Melai drew her bow and stood over Lanzi, urgin him to flee. Rantor could now be seen by the naked eye, and none of us particularly wanted to be here when he arrived! Lanzi used a wand to provide us with some kind of dweomer shield, but I had no doubt that it would not last against Rantor.

Morwath turned fully into an eagle and flew out of one of the openings away from Rantor. It was not the first time that Morwath had left us for his own reasons, but it was concerning none-the-less. There was no time to worry about it, as we were all intent on getting through the portal. Lanzi ordered the carpet through and then followed, with me on his heels dragging Hintzu and Tuar Chan's bodies behind me. Melai paused only to grab the palantir before following us through.

We were, once again, floating in the bright blue of the plane of air, although without the panic that I felt last time; I had at least learned how to cope with the strange, weightless feeling. This time it was different, though, as horrible orange/red colour stained the usual blue sky to one side of us, and an equally intrusive deep blue and purple stained the sky opposite it. All around us was in conflict, with creatures of fire fighting creatures of air in a huge, pitched battle that was so large it was hard to take it all it.

Lanzi immediately turned his attention to the gate behind us, fearing that we could be followed. He took the palantir from Melai to use, but explained that he needed fire. Melai produce some flasks of oil, which she positioned in the air and Lanzi ignited them with dweomer. Using his codicil, he then changed the gate again - this time to the ethereal plane. We, at last, felt a little more secure.

As we took a moment to assess our condition, a very large Kirin appeared in shimmering rainbow hues beside Lanzi; addressing him directly he asked why we were leaving in their time of need. Lanzi explained that his intent was to prevent Rantor from reaching this plane. The Kirin assured us that no creature of negative power could follow through the gate, as it was created with an item of great positive energy.

Note: The Codicil enables the use of gates to access other planes, but changing a gate may simply move the existing planar link so care must be used. Eolorand mated with Hel to produce a son - Daudrag! Do not fight him without due preparation! Loriel is now known as the Oldheart. Perion is the future king of Men.