Your involuntary journey takes you across the mountains. As you cannot see whereyou’re going, you stumble and fall frequently, but the Orcs always get you backon your feet fast by kicking and manhandling you.
You cross the secret passage once more and enter Lowangen.
“We should take the road to the southeast. It’s a detour, that’s true, but we’dwalk right into the Orcish army if we were to follow the Svellt,” Antharon chimesin when he sees you looking for the right path to take.
The path you are on has grown first damp and then wet over the last hour or so,and on both sides of it, reed has started to take the place of bushes and trees.Now the path ends, and ahead there is log road leading straight into the swamps.You remember the swamps, the ones that are considered so dangerous no one entersthem unless they have no other choice…
Do you
You actually did it! You have braved the hostile swamps and came out alive. Butgrateful as you are, you would still feel a lot better if you could be sure youwill never have to enter this dangerous and forbidding area again as long asyou live…
You have reached the bank of the Svellt where a rickety landing-stage sticksout into the water. To the north, the path disappears into the mud of the riverbank. You couldn’t possibly continue along there.
From the landing-stage, a path leads southward. Originally, it must have continuedup north as well, but now it disappears into the mud of the river bank that way.
Something is moving along the road far away. It might be a herd of cattle ormaybe it’s a large party of travelers.
You have no chance of escape. From ahead of you, a small army of Orcs comes running.Behind you, twenty more blackpelts suddenly charge down from the mountains. Youare completely surrounded.
One of the Orcs, quite obviously the captain, addresses you: “You prisoners of[NAME], you surrender or you’re finished!”
Will you
surrender?
or fight?
When you wake up, you notice that you have been blindfolded. Except of some piecesof clothes and things, of which the Orcs probably believed you need them to march,all of your possesions have been stolen. - You can’t really remember the fightat all. At some point of it, one of those creeps must have hit you on the head.- Someone pokes you in the side - hard. The Orcs start moving and take you along.They keep you on the right track by liberally kicking and punching you.
The captain orders some of the other Orcs to tie you up. After that, the Orcsfall on your baggage and don’t even stop with your clothes you’re just wearing.Only when you tell the captain, that you feel yourselves humilated by your nudeness,he allows you to put on again some old rags. You also get some things back, ofwhich he believes they will help you marching. After that, he lets his men blindfoldyou.
Because of the blindfolds, you cannot see what’s going on around you. The Orcsare talking. Apparently they consider their next move. Suddenly, someone punchesyou: “You! This way!”
For hours, the Orcs march you through the mounains without another word. In theevening, the blackpelts take a break. You are given bread and water.
You areextremely tired and fall asleep.
You are wrenched from sleep by a kick in your side. Apparently, the Orcs areready to march on. They manhandle you back on track, liberally interspersingtheir ministrations with strategic kicks.
Around noon, you hear water gurgling. For some hours, your involuntary trip goesalong some stream. Then, you are forced into the water which goes halfway upto your knees. After reaching the opposite bank, you leave the stream behind.
In the evening, the Orcs take a break. The last few miles were very exhausting,as you are back in the mountains. After scarfing down some bread and water, youfall into a deep slumber.
On the next day, the trek through the mounains continues. Finally, you reacha cave. After collecting numerous bruises from the stone walls of the corridors,you are relieved of the blindfolds. You hear a door being shut and locked behindyou.
Slowly, your eyes grow accustomed to the dim torch light falling into your cellfrom the corridor outside…
An arrow hits the ground ten paces in front of you!
Another arrow, this time just five paces ahead!
The next arrow hits the ground right in front of [NAME]; this time, you notice thatit came from immediately above you.
In the forest canopy, you notice an Elf with his bow drawn back, watching youwithout moving a muscle. Thus, it isn’t his arrow that hits [NAME]. It must havebeen fired by one of the others becoming visible now in the many trees surroundingyou. One of them points his weapon in the direction you came from. What couldhe mean by that, you think?
The next arrow hits [NAME] throat!
This time, [NAME] is the target, and the arrow misses your companion’s throat bya hair’s breadth.
And now, a veritable hail of spears and arrows goes down around you!
Just out of curiosity: How long did you expect to last against this?
Attack the archers?
Flee to outside bow range and turn back??
Wait what happens?
Just who do you want to fight?
You reach a clearing with a small cabin right in the middle. Against the backdropof the forest, it is hardly noticeable. Anyway, you can’t go any further as thereis an Elf standing in the clearing holding one of the longbows favored in thisregion. The arrow is nocked and pointed right at you.
“Stop right there, or I’llshoot!”
“We’ve come from Gashok!”
“We’re friends!”
“We have come to avenge you, friend Artherion!”
With a bestial scream, the Elf fires the arrow in your direction but misses.Then he runs to his cabin and disappears inside. Before you have a chance tocross the clearing, you see flames rise through the reed roof; Within moments,the whole cabin is aflame. There’s no hope of saving anyone or anything fromthis inferno.
“I have no friends, only enemies!”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“You are mistaken!”
“Not everybody is like the people of Gashok!”
“If that were so…”
“We almost died ourselves in that town.”
“We know what you must have gone through.”
“Guess.”
“Beat it. I do not want to see anybody.” With these words, he turns away andvanishes into the forest.
“No one can imagine what it is like to wake up in the middle of the night withyour home going up in flames around you, and there are a dozen brown-clad figuresoutside your door who push you back inside… into the flames… whenever youtry to get out. They were everywhere, at the front and at the back. And whenI tried to get past, through the sticks and the stones they threw at me, theydrew swords and attacked me with them. They wanted to kill me! Not just chaseme off or something like that. No, they really wanted to kill me. Cleanse mysoul in the purifying flames to allow at least one Elf to enter the halls ofBoron instead of vanishing in Limbo.
And spawn of the One Without Name they called us. For years, I’d been laboringlike an animal. I’d even given up magic so as not to frighten them. But I diduse it that time. I used magic until it hurt, though it didn’t hurt me as muchas their leader. I flew off then. And should I ever see one of them around here,I’m going to kill him if it’s the last thing I’ll ever do.
The only one in town who wasn’t like that was the herb woman on the market, probablybecause she was afraid of them herself. A witch, they called her. Who knows?It might even be true. In any case, she nearly knows everyone in town.
The whole trouble started when two men came to Gashok. One of them seems tobe the leader. If you really want to help me, get away from here and kill thatguy, so all folks will again be able to live together in peace.
Exhausted, he falls silent. Then he looks at you, as if he’d just come back froma faraway place, and the horror in his face takes your breath away.
Suddenly,he turns away and vanishes into the forest. Soon, the only thing you hear isthe chirping of the forest birds.
You reach the clearing with Artherion’s cabin again, but there is no sign ofhim anywhere.
When you reach the clearing, Artherion approaches. “I have heard. I would liketo thank you all very much. Please, come in and be my guests.”
The cabin has disappeared. The only trace of its existence is a large heap ofashes. There is nobody to be seem or heard near or far.
Orzatai
Ugorzzih
The mages disappear to the west, including the Salamanderstone.
The mages disappear saying
“Wait, you don’t have the genuine stone. The genuine one must be still at Lowangen!”