Day 63

Last night I dreamt of a travelling bard. It was in a time not yet passed, and he had somehow stumbled upon this diary. I don't know if it had been hard for him to invent tales to sing about, but he wrote his poems about mine and Lanua's adventure.
As clear as I can see this page, the pen and the ink, can I recall the tunes he sang to the patrons of a high class inn about us, our travels, and our encounters with the exotic.
But, as dreams so often are forgotten before they are remembered, I have no recollection of the words he sang about what lies ahead of where we are now, on our way south to Arzingdale.

I am feeling weary of all this walking today. In the stories of adventuring heroes there never seems to be any mention of the travelling. In the stories, for every leaf that there is a step, there is a tree worth of action and excitement. I have come to realise for myself that instead, for every blade of grass that a sword or bow is drawn, there is a field of long, arduous steps.

Day 62

The Tale of Enan and M'Do

As Enan shook the dice in his hand in preparation for his final throw of the game, he stretched his chest and shoulders, and his ribs gave an audible 'pop'. Then, staring straight into the pirates eyes, he slowly placed the dice on the table and proclaimed, "I've won." With his other hand he pushed his gold to the other side of the table where the pirate sat, as per the agreement.

The pirate eyed the money for a moment, and began to nod his head. As he was putting Enan's gold into a purse, he replied, "yes, it seems you do indeed have the most strips. But it also seems that I have the most swords!" And he guffawed as if someone had said something funny.

The other pirates in the gambling hall let out a battle cry and started to slash at the hostages, who all started throwing their coins at the pirates and begging them not to hurt them. A few of the patrons withdrew daggers and started waving them about wildly, hoping to get a lucky strike on a pirate, and within seconds the hall was a chaotic flurry of glinting blades.

As the scene erupted Enan kicked the Bards and Bandits table over onto his opponent, pinning him underneath. Wanting something to defend himself with he picked up the pirate's scimitar, and as he came back up from leaning over, he saw a pirate flying toward him. Not in a threatening way, however, rather the pirate had been kicked through the air like a ball by M'Do, who now stood in the middle of an angry group of six...five...four...three...two...one...no pirates.

M'Do's heroic display of sword mastery did not go unnoticed by the remaining rogues, and after the seconds it took their minds to catch up with what had just happened in the blink of an eye, they dropped their swords and ran.

As the gambling hall calmed down, the patrons that remained (and that was all of those who had not paid to leave earlier, since no one but the pirates were slain in the furore) offered Enan a share of their coins as a prize for saving them. And what a sum it would have amounted to! But the party of heroes had enough money to get by, and any more would be a temptation to spend on impulse, so Enan refused the gift and walked away from the hall with only M'Do, and a slightly bruised foot.

Day 61

Lanua has started talking more today than she has done since we saw Lait. After two full days to come to terms with what was said, she seems to be on the way back to being more like her old self. She has shown great interest in the religion of Teeluw now that she has seen it stood before her, and had a taste of it. (In case it was unclear from what I wrote at the time, Lait, Goddess of Cooking, prepared our breakfast the day she showed herself to us). Understandably, when all she knew about it was the stories I had told, she was not very enthused, but today she has been questioning me about every little detail.

I wish I still had a pencil. The one I had which I used to draw the pictures when I started this diary got too short to use. Maybe I'll get a new pencil when we get to Arzingdale, or even before then if we come to another settlement. Then I'll see what time I get to myself and I'll possibly try to catch up with the drawings I've missed.

Day 60

I can hardly believe it is the 60th day since I left Teeluw. I have come so far in that time. Now we begin our new quest - our journey south, hopefully in the direction of Arzingdale, where we will search out the man who had the stones. Pon lies behind us now, unseen beyond the snowy hills. It yielded no rewards for our determination in getting there, indeed it only brought suffering to Lanua. But now we move with a new purpose. If we cannot save Old Traders' Village we must do everything we can to save Teeluw and all the people in the world we have never met, the friends we have not yet made.

I think Enan the boar piglet can sense that Lanua is upset, for he has been walking with her all day. It is sweet to see. Meanwhile Lanua emits the aura of a volcano. If we came across this evil character today I would not be shocked to see Lanua erupt in a fury of rage and strike him down, even without the help of the stones.

Day 59

Morning

I was woken up before dawn by the smells and sounds of cooking. Bleary eyed I looked to where Lanua had slept and she was not there. But it was dark - why was she cooking so early?

It turned out she wasn't. Someone else was! I thought I must still be dreaming and, exhausted after so much time spent trekking across the top of the world, I closed my eyes and drifted back into sleep. It was only later when I woke again, still to find two people other than myself at the camp, that I bolted upright to see whom this new person was who had arrived in the night.

"Hello Esunai," the female newcomer greeted me with a smile. "Here, have something to eat. You look thin. All that running around has stripped you of your muscle. "
"Thank you," I replied cautiously. Lanua was sat devouring her own dish of the food already. "Sorry, but who are you?" I queried.
The woman paused a moment and looked at me with a knowing grin on her face. "My name is Lait, and I have come to offer you my guidance. "


Lait, you should recall, is a Goddess. There are legends of the deities appearing to mortals rarely, but to be in the presence of a Goddess; for her to have appeared to me... I cannot describe it. There was no doubt in my mind that this really was Lait; she looked exactly how she is described in Teeluw - the image of the statues carved of her.

After allowing me a moment for what she had said to sink in, she continued, "Of course you are aware that the Ice Elementals move on the place you call Old Traders' Village, and you have seen the shadows in Adramalech - the ones that shouldn't be there. Do you know what causes them? I see by your face that you do not, as Lanua did not before I told her.
"There is an evil in the North that has upset the balance of the world. I plead you to believe me - for both of you to believe me - that it is not your destiny to return to Old Traders' Village and combat the Ice Elementals. Sacrifices must be made by all the people of this world if the evil is ever to be abated.
"Instead, you must take arms against the one responsible. If you do not, the world will spiral into chaos. Even if you could save Old Traders' Village from the danger it is soon to face, a new danger would come for it soon after. It is not in your power to save it. It's future has already been written, and cannot be changed.
"I have come to you, so far from the forest that you once called home, to give you a new quest. You must destroy he who is responsible for the evil being unleashed on these lands. He is shrouded in the shadows he creates, and even Froadaelo, God of Truth, cannot see through the veil. But you have seen him. He released you from the temple, Esunai. I do not know why he showed you this kindness, but I urge you do not let it cloud your judgement. He must be stopped. It is not my place to tell you how to defeat him, that surely is your decision, although I would suggest you find assistance.
"Now, I must depart from your company. Esunai, Lanua; please, I beg of you, complete this quest. Save your world!"


With that, a swirl of snow grew from the ground around her, and the Goddess Lait disappeared.

I took a step towards Lanua and sat beside her. Of everything we had just been told, one thing stuck out more than anything else - that Old Traders' Village could not be saved. Even though she gave no outward indication that she had had any reaction to the news, her eyes told the true story. She was devastated. Everyone she had ever known would be lost. We sat next to each other and silently ate the food Lait had prepared for us until it was all gone.


Evening

We have spent the rest of the day at our camp between the ruins that make up Pon. It was about seven hours after Lait departed before Lanua spoke. Even then it was brief. She told me that she would head south. The man whom I met in the forest, the one who had saved her from her illness, was heading that way, and she has decided that he is the assistance Lait spoke of for us to find. I don't know if I agree, but he was fighting the other man - the one we thought was the silhouette that saved me. If he is an enemy of this evil that my Deities are so insistent we destroy, I will willingly search him out.

Day 58

We have finally made it to Pon. It has taken us a week more than the month we originally allowed ourselves to get here, but we were led to believe that it wouldn't matter if we arrived late. We were told that we could find a wizard, if not a stone. Well, the only stones I have seen have been the dull, frozen rocks that can be found anywhere - none special enough to merit a trek across hill and valley and through forest. And as far as wizards are concerned, I don't even know what I'm supposed to be looking for. I had never heard of a wizard until that man said there'd be some here. That hadn't worried us, we had assumed we could ask someone at Pon to show us a wizard, but Pon is in ruins. The buildings have all collapsed. None reach more than five feet into the sky. Clearly no one has lived here in centuries.

An obelisk stands outside the ruined town. As Lanua started a fire to keep us warm in this chilly place we thought we heard a hum from that direction, but when we looked closer we couldn't see anything different about it, and soon the humming stopped.

What will we do? I suppose we could set off back to Old Traders' Village in the morning and hope that we get there before the fighting ends. Would we just be running to our deaths? I don't know how we could defeat Ice Elementals with their ability to turn to mist as they are struck by swords. Lanua's flaming arrows do slow them, but not for long, and if she was capable of defending the whole town alone we would not have come to this place.

I don't know what we should do. It seems our quest has failed. It is beginning to snow. I will pray for N'Ras, K'Ylin and everyone else from the village tonight. Then we will begin our long run back to their aid in the morning. Even if it is a run to our deaths, I must help them in what might well be both their first, and final, stand.

Day 57

The Tale of Enan

It had been months since Enaerixer, Froadaelo and Roo had been taken. Enan sat in a gambling hall in the harbour district of one of the coastal towns. He was winning, as he always was. It didn't always appear that way; he would sometimes throw a game so that it did not seem as though he was a cheat, but he could always influence a game of skill to go however he desired.

This particular game was one of chance, named 'Bards and Bandits', in which the four players take turns to roll dice and move around a spiral so many places. The tile they land on is part of a strip, which they then own. Strips can be stolen by other players who land in them and whoever owns the most strips after twice the number of turns as there are tiles in a strip (so if there are four tiles in a strip, the game ends after eight turns) wins. If a player reaches the centre of the board before all their turns are up they move in the reverse direction for the remainder of their turns, similarly if they get back to the beginning before their turns are used up. In case of a tie, the tied players race to the centre of the board, having to land in it on the last move of their turn (so if a player was 4 tiles away and threw a 6, they would end their turn two tiles away from the centre. If they then threw a 2, they would win the game, provided no one else won between that player's turns of course).

By the eighth game with a dock worker, a regular patron of the gambling hall, Enan was beginning to get some information from him. He had been supplying the man with a steady supply of drink to loosen his tongue. The dock worker was telling Enan about mysterious shipments from far off lands. Crates that made strange noises and gave off strange, exotic smells. As Enan was about to ask if anyone had been taken ill after handling the crates (for he suspected that they might contain the poison used to kill the prince) a pirate ran into the room and started waving his scimitar about in a dangerous fashion. More pirates appeared, blocking the exits.

It made sense that they would hit the gambling hall. What better place is there to find lots of gold and be able to make a quick getaway by sea? On the other hand, the place was filled with drunken men not ready to have their gold taken from them by anyone other than the dealers and game masters.

Enan saw that this could turn ugly in a heartbeat and was quick to stand up and offer a deal. If the pirates could beat him in a game of Bards and Bandits, he would let them take his winnings and the winnings of everyone else who gave him their money in exchange for permission to leave immediately, before there was any violence. If Enan won, the pirates would leave with only Enan's gold.

The pirates did see that this course of action was sensible, at least for the moment. If they won they would take a tidy sum without incident. If they lost they could turn as violent as they had been expecting to be anyway.


Enan sat opposite the pirate and allowed him to have the first move on the 96 tile board. It was a large board for only two people to play, but Enan wanted it to take as long as possible. This game was entirely about the luck of the dice. No skills were called upon, so the pirate had just as much chance of winning as Enan.

As they got to the centre of the board, Enan had more strips than the pirate by far. In fact, with only one turn left each, and only the two players, it was impossible for Enan to lose. The other pirates readied their weapons...

Day 56

We have reached the edge of Adramalech Forest. Other than that there isn't much to say, but I thought it was important enough to interrupt the stories about the Goddesses and Gods. They haven't gone as I had expected or hoped. I feel like they are a bit boring to tell the truth. Everyone knows them in Teeluw and everyone remembers them as epic stories of adventure, but people rarely retell them. Perhaps if they did, they would see that they aren't quite as interesting as people think. Especially for a community who doesn't even believe in the same Deities. I've started now though, so I'll get around to finishing them for the sake of completeness.

It looks cold outside the forest. At least there is more vegetation on this side than there was on the other.

Day 55

The Tale of Traezaras

It took five full weeks of searching before any leads were found. The search had taken the six far away from the Kingdom where their friends were being held captive. It was a travelling trader that pointed them in the direction of a camp that they believed was home to the assassins. Lait came up with the idea to infiltrate the ranks of the murderers and find out what they could from the inside, but they could not all join. Traezaras, being the one most likely to get in, left the party at dusk to sneak into the evil camp and request to join the order. Her request was to be made with a knife at the throat of their leader. What better way to prove your worth to an assassin than by sneaking up undetected and putting him at your mercy?

Indeed it worked like a charm. The assassin was given little choice in the matter as to let Traezaras in or not. Over the next few weeks she gained their trust by whatever means necessary. She even went as far as to take a few contracts, bringing painless deaths to deserving men, earning a few coins in the process. It was all shady business that her friends would not believe when they heard the rumours.

Quite soon she began to ask questions. Subtle hints to the topic at first, such as inquiring to the mood of the other killers in regard to the King who lost his three heirs. Then she would ask who would become King should he die, and she judged the emotions found in the responses. None seemed too excited. And all the time she had been there she hadn't seen any of the poison found in the prince's blood.

Eventually it became clear that these assassins weren't responsible for the death of the prince. Now Traezaras had two options. One was to simply leave the assassins to resume her search for the true killers, but this had its risks. The assassins would quite likely come after her, for she knew much about them, and she would be the next contract. She could have killed them all before leaving but that was not her way. She had done enough killing already. The second choice, the one Traezaras went with, was to recruit the assassins to help find their targets. With more eyes looking for them their time would be shortened. Traezaras showed heroic bravery to reveal her true intentions to her associates, and heroic wisdom in finding a peaceful way to leave them, while also getting them to help her cause. All the money she had earned from her contracts would be used to pay for their services.

Traezaras returned to C'nin, M'do, Enan, Vel and Lait weeks after she had left them. They asked about the rumours they had heard, but Traezaras never spoke of her time away from her friends.

Day 54

The Tale of C'nin

Having found out that the prince had been poisoned, C'nin rushed into the great hall where Enaerixer, Froadaelo and Roo were being tried. Bursting through the door, and knocking down the two guards positioned on the other side, he yelled for the King to hear his discovery.

Restrained by two of the watchmen, one holding each arm and not allowing C'nin to move, the King allowed him to speak. And how intrigued the King was to find out that the three defendants couldn't be responsible for his son's death!

Seeing an opportunity to be freed, Froadaelo now spoke up with the suggestion that he and his party might be given leave to serve the King and find the true assassins. As one, the nine stepped forward as a sign that they would be happy to take on this assignment. The king, too, arose from his throne.

"You may go," he began, addressing the whole room, "to find the true villains who killed my heirs, on these two conditions. First; you do not return before me until you have found those that killed each one of my three children. To find the murderers of merely one of them shall not be enough. Nor shall it be enough to find the murderers of only two. And second; Froadaelo, Enaerixer and Roo - the three accused of the heinous act of murder and treason - are not to accompany you. Instead they will stay as slaves in my household where they will be treated with cruelty and abused by any who wish to abuse them. If you are loyal to your companions, then you will make haste in finding who would have my Kingdom overturned.


Six of the party of nine left the courtroom after their conversation with the King to begin their investigation and track down the true murderers. As they gathered supplies for their search they did not feel like the case had resulted in victory, but at least they would not be attending a funeral at any time soon to come. The lives of Enaerixer, Froadaelo and Roo had been spared, and that was better than nothing.

Instead of collecting supplies C'nin was studying the blood he had extracted from the prince. He was using all his knowledge of potion-craft to find an antidote to the poison, should any of the group have a run in with an assassin and require healing quickly. At the same time he was researching how to brew a shield of sorts, such that any contact with the poison would be made trivial. It would take him a fortnight, long after the slaves had been taken out of the city to the King's castle in another part of his lands, for C'nin to come up with anything substantial. And when he did he was forced to test his antidote and his shield, and in respect to Enaerixer who might, by then, have been bruised and beaten, he did not test on mice or other animals as would be expected from anyone in his field; rather he tested both draughts on none other but himself.

It was clear that his potions worked as he had not been taken ill despite the risks he had heroically taken, and then he, as the acting leader of the group, said only now was it time for them to begin their search outside the town's walls...

Day 53

The Tale of Enaerixer and Froadaelo

The trio were stirred awake by the clanging of keys on the metal gate that had trapped them in the cold, stone corner of the prison dungeon. Bones could be heard cracking as they rose and stretched off the uncomfortable rest they had had that night and the day before. Uncharacteristically, it was only Roo who had managed to get any real sleep. The guard captain escorted them to an antechamber off the great hall, ready for their trial. There was no one else to argue their corner, but Enaerixer and Froadaelo both had an innate knowledge of law and justice, and even though the laws are different in different kingdoms, the two felt confident that they would be able to use logic to persuade their judge to see the truth. Who their judge was, they had not yet been told.

Trumpets rang out from inside the great hall. A fanfare reserved for the presence of royalty. The huge, oak doors swung open and revealed the hall, transformed into a court room, where the King sat on a throne at the head of the room, surveying the accused, and emanating a lordly air about him. It was odd that he was here. Although people had been murdered, at the time it was not such an uncommon occurrence. Bandits and highwaymen lined every major road between settlements. Travellers were killed quite often, and a band of travelling performers would be at high risk of running foul of  thieves or monsters. It didn't seem fitting that a King would come to reside over the trial. That is, unless something else was amiss - something that had not yet been revealed.

Indeed that was the case. Roo was the one to notice it. He had detected the misery in the King's posture and, seeing the empty seats nearby came to the correct conclusion. It was a jump - the seats could have been vacant for any number of reasons - but the King's sadness revealed something more. His heirs had been killed. Every last one. And the King was old. His eyes gave away the fact that he was still coming to terms with being the last King in his line. After his time, there would be no one to take his place, and a lord from another family would sit in his empty throne, and reign over the kingdom.


The court was formally introduced to the trial, and this was when Enaerixer, Froadaelo and Roo learned that the King's last living son had gone into hiding after the assassinations of his brother, the prince who had been next in line to the throne; and his sister, the princess engaged to be wed with a prince from a neighbouring kingdom - the union of the two hoping to join the kingdoms under one banner, more than doubling the strength of each.


The trial was long and uninteresting as each side argued that they must have been responsible for the death of the prince and perhaps even the other two heirs, or that they obviously didn't have anything to do with it. Despite the three defendants protesting their innocence, the fact was that none of them could back up their story. After the play they had gone straight back to the inn feeling embarrassed and just wanting to forget the night and the play they had been part of. They had no alibis.


All hope would have been lost, if it had not been for the way in which the prince had been killed. It hadn't been made very clear in the trial, but, where most had assumed he had been struck down by steel, in fact it was a much slyer method that had ended his life. C'nin, being the one who specialised in brewing potions, had last night sneaked into where the prince's body lay lifeless, so that he might have a closer inspection of the corpse. What he found would prove the innocence of Enaerixer, Froadaelo and Roo. The poison used to suffocate the prince's soul was not one that any man or woman from the northern continent could create...

Day 52

The Tale of Enaerixer and Froadaelo

It was a cold, spring morning, and the party of heroes, who would one day rise up to the positions of deities, had been travelling throughout the night. They came to the gates of a town just as the morning watch was starting their duty. As usual, Traezaras was the one to knock on the viewing window to be spoken to, so that she may request entry into the town. And as usual, the doors opened shortly after her conversation with the guard.

The party found themselves at the end of a grand looking road, bearing no reflection to the muddy path they had been walking along outside the perimeter of the walls.
"Beautiful," commented Lait as they made their way along the street in search of an inn to rest in. The others, apart from Roo, murmured their agreements.


That evening the group visited the theatre district of the town to enjoy a play put on by a travelling band of performers. They had seen this band perform before in one of the larger cities of men, but this play was new. At least it had a title that they had not heard before. But as so many plays had the same themes, the party found this particular play predictable and dull. Some found it so uninspiring that they left early and went in search of more interesting pass times to occupy the evening. Those to leave were C'nin, Enan, Lait, M'do, Vel and Traezaras. This left Enaerixer, Froadaelo and Roo watching the play, and it is with these three that the story continues.

When the performers saw people leaving early it put them off balance. Certainly, it was almost unheard of for so many people to walk out midway through. One of the men on stage, having forgotten his line, instead drew attention to the three who remained. He had banter with them, amusing the rest of the audience at their expense, before inviting them onto the stage to join in the play.

Feeling pressured into obliging after their friends had insulted the actors, they got up and took positions on the stage. The play skipped a few scenes to the exciting battle against the evil monsters. Without subtlety in what they were trying to convey, the actors killed each monster played by Enaerixer, Froadaelo and Roo in horrific and embarrassing ways.
The play concluded with the three feeling shamed on behalf of their associates, and they walked back to the inn through the crowds of the emptying theatre with their heads hanging.


The next morning there was a loud banging on the door to Enaerixer's and Froadaelo's room in the inn. Barely dressed, Enaerixer opened the door to be greeted by an angry looking guard captain. Without explanation he arrested Enaerixer and Froadaelo, and another member of the guard could be heard arresting Roo further down the corridor.

They were to be charged with the murder of the band of performers! It was unthinkable that they had been involved in any murder, but they made no fuss. They would be given a trial before sentencing, and that was when the siblings planned to escape. They planned to win the trial, showing the town that they were innocent, and be free to walk away...

Day 51

Religion in Teeluw

Millennia ago, before a single tree grew in the region that is now Teeluw forest, nine mortals roamed the world, wandering between the encampments of men and elves and all the other races. They all came from one family of nomads.
Enaerixer and Froadaelo were siblings. They had much in common and, with their instinctual knowledge of the difference between right and wrong, they took their places as the leaders of the group, always knowing the right and just decisions to make.
Lait was the one the group trusted with their valuables. She always knew how much things were worth in comparison to anything they needed so that they may take good deals from trades. She also provided the food and clothing for the group, made with the spoils of the lands they travelled. No other person alive at the time was better at preparing the essentials for a journey.
Occasionally the group would come to territory controlled by a short tempered and cruel king. In such instances the beautiful Traezaras would act as ambassador for the group, and they would be allowed safe passage.
Sometimes, if such a short tempered and cruel King was initially able to resist Traezaras' charms, then C'nin would use his knowledge of the arcane to brew a draught for Traezaras that would cause all but the strongest willed man to fall under her spell.
If even C'nin's methods were unsuccessful, and the strong willed king became violent, M'do would intervene with her sword and shield, taking on any number of opponents and always coming out on top.
While Lait kept record of their possessions and the associated values thereof, it was Enan who took responsibility for trading and earning a wage. He had contacts in every settlement on the coast, so while near the ocean, the group would never want.
In a group where everyone had their part to play for the good of the whole, everyone got along amicably, none more-so than Vel, whom everyone loved as their closest friend.
That is, everyone but Roo. When the group had to rest, Roo was responsible for the night watch to protect them against evils that may stalk the night. He was able to function almost without sleep, but his relationship with the group would have been no different if he was never awake. He distanced himself from everyone, including Vel.

The tribe of nomads accomplished great tasks, but such stories must wait to be told in their deserved level of detail.


In the Teeluw of the past and present, priestesses have been chosen to commune with the Goddesses and Gods. It is their responsibility to educate the town, and to offer advice on the decisions to be made. Their commitment is for life, and they must sacrifice all but their work.
To follow the teachings of the Deities, the greatest sins one can commit are apostasy and gluttony. At birth we are adopted into their group, that which depended on the input of every individual. No more must be carried than what is necessary to be comfortable.

Day 50

What I learned today has shocked me! Whilst talking to Lanua about which stories I'm going to write over the next few days, she suggested I write about the religion in Teeluw, "since it seems important to your people." I was confused by this. I had been under the impression that it was important to all people, and I don't want to write about things everyone already knows about - that wouldn't be any fun to read.

To my disbelief it turns out that Lanua had never heard of Enaerixer, or Roo, or Enan, or any of the other Goddesses and Gods I might have mentioned so far, until I named them. Nor has anyone else from her village.

In a way this is good news for me - it means I have nine exciting tales of how the Deities achieved their status to write about! And perhaps an entry on the structure of religion in Teeluw too. There is much for me think about. I expect I'll give an overview of the entire religion in my writing tomorrow, and then the story of each Goddess or God one each day until we reach Pon.

Day 49

I don't feel well at all. I've been fine all day but this evening I feel like my insides are tearing themselves apart. I think I must have eaten something that had gone off. To tell the truth I'm surprised neither of us have suffered from this until now - it's not like we have a very sophisticated way of preserving our meat.

I'm going to try and get to sleep soon so that hopefully I can wake up feeling fine again. We made good progress today, but there's only so much I can write about walking through a forest. I suppose the people of Old Traders' Village might find some of the things I take for granted fascinating, but I think I'm going to try and think of some more tales of Teeluw to fill the next few pages.

Day 48

This morning, after breakfast when I was rooting through my bag to find the Fraechyn leaves, I found the stick-whistle I made at the festival in Old Traders' Village. I wonder how everyone is doing back there. I wonder if they're preparing to make a stand when the time comes. Well, hopefully the time won't come. We'll find a stone or a wizard before then. I'm sure of it.

I've been practising with the stick-whistle all day. There are so many holes to cover up and leave open to get the right note. Lanua was quite irritated with my lack of skill in playing it this morning but then at lunch she fashioned one for herself, and so this afternoon she has been teaching me how to play it properly. When I learned a song she sang along with my playing. It's good to see her without as many worries.

Enan goes crazy when either of us play the stick-whistles. He jumps up and rolls on the floor and spins around and runs in circles; it's incredibly funny to watch him dancing to the music.

Day 47

Another late night entry into this journal. We have been making it to sleep later and later each night. If we carry on, we'll soon be going to sleep at a regular time again!

After the man I met yesterday told me that there is a better chance of finding a wizard than a stone, and that we wouldn't need to get back to the village to use the wizard, we have had quite a relaxed day today. We haven't been too worried about taking it easy for a change.

I don't really have much else to write about, other than that we think the man might be the same one that healed Lanua the other day. I wish I'd learned his name so that I don't have to keep referring to him as "that man". But something inside me tells me that I was freed from the temple by the one he was fighting. Originally we thought the same person had saved us both, but last night the man didn't seem to recognise me at all. So I wonder where the silhouetted man is now. He surely had a stone, judging by how he was fighting. Maybe he would be more willing to lend us some assistance.

Day 46

After setting off at dawn, it was well after noon that we stopped running through the forest. We were going to make a final push to get to Pon in time so, despite the agony in our tired muscles, we kept going. That was until we came to the edge of a cliff. It wasn't a long way down, and it was easy enough to climb on branches and roots that poked out the side. But we did stop. Down on the lower level two people were engaged in an epic battle. 

Lanua and I crouched down simultaneously to watch as the two darted between the few trees in the clearing below, colliding often with deafening thuds of fists and rings of striking metals. The two were perfectly matched; it seemed as though they would stay there forever unless one of them made a mistake and the other could seize the opportunity to gain the advantage.

They moved with impossible speed. I struggled to keep focused on them; one moment I would be looking right at them and the next they would be fighting in my peripheral vision. From the look on Lanua's face, she was having the same problem. I remember mumbling a question of how they could move so fast, to which she replied with a clueless sigh. At the time the only explanation I could think of was that they were Demons. It wasn't much of an explanation; Demons always work in the shadows, out of sight - everyone knows that. They don't let people see them. If these were Demons then they were behaving far out of character. No, surely they were something else.

For half an hour we stayed at the top of the cliff and watched them fight, not wanting to climb down into the middle of the action. It was only as we were about to turn to find another way down that a cloud passed in front of the sun and the darker of the two combatants disappeared. As if he was never there. There was no sign of him. The remaining fighter didn't seem as taken aback by this as Lanua and I were, and he immediately took off to the West.

The two of us sat stunned for a minute, not sure whether we should move, or if doing so would place us in the middle of another battle. Then Lanua spoke.

"They were using stones!"

Could they have been? It seemed like a reasonable deduction to make. The stones are supposed to help us fight the Ice Elementals, and if we could fight like that then we would be bound to win! 

My mind was cast back to the Dwarven mines when I fell and lodged a shard of a stone in my arm. When I later fought a dau'kelaq I struck it once and it was slain - a very different outcome to my first encounter with one of those creatures. In my head I skipped forward in time to our trek to Pon. I have carried the water and equipment on the arm with the shard in, and I hadn't even noticed the weight. In fact it was only at the top of that cliff that I realised how odd this was. 

So I agreed with Lanua that they had been using stones, and by my experiences with a tiny sliver, I attempted to appreciate the magnitude of the effect from wielding a full stone. I picked up Enan and jumped off the side of the cliff, catching a vine close to the bottom to slow my decent as I had done in my escape from Teeluw. Nothing broken. I set Enan down for Lanua to look after, and I sprinted, with all the speed I could muster, after the second fighter. 

I'd have preferred not to run off and leave Lanua and Enan behind, but I knew that she would be too slow moving between the trees to ever catch up to the man. I hoped that he also would not be as accustomed to forests as I, so that I would be able to close the gap between us.

He had been in a hurry to get wherever he was going - his sword had carved a path out of the forest and the ground was trampled. Good. He would be slowing to clear the foliage that I may sprint through without diversion.

By the time I got to the end of the trail night had fallen. There I found a wooden building, not unlike N'Ras' inn. A light was flickering through the upstairs window. 

With the Shard-Blade ready in my hand I pushed open the front door. It was clear that this had indeed once been an inn but, apart from the visitor upstairs, only forest animals had stayed here in the longest time. I climbed the stairs and stepped so that I was facing the wooden door into the room of the fighter. 

I raised my left fist.

Knock. Knock. 

The floorboards creaked. The doorknob began to turn. I clenched my sword in my strong arm. The door swung open. 

Before me stood a man. No ordinary man, however. He was easily 7 feet tall at least and his skin had a pattern to it that, at a glance, made him look as if he was covered in feathers. He was holding a sword - the one he had been using earlier. It had symbols on the hilt, as I will draw at the bottom of this page when I get around to it. His chest was about twice the width of mine, and it looked like he would be able to effortlessly withstand any attack I could throw at him. 

"You were using stones to fight," I stated to break the disconcerting silence. 

"I was," he confirmed. 

"My companion, Lanua, and I, Esunai, are on a quest to find stones at Pon so that we may protect her village from an attack. Ice Elementals are moving closer every day as they have done before, but this time there are no stones in the village to use for defence. I have chased you here through the afternoon and into the night so that I may ask, on behalf of the people of Old Traders' Village, to take a stone back with me to ward off the Ice Elementals." 

"I see. So you're who she thought I was. The stones attract evil, one that you have seen. I cannot give them away freely, or at any price. I suggest you carry on to Pon. Now, I must begin my journey to Arzingdale. I have a message for the guilds that must be delivered in person." 

With that he made to leave, but I stood my ground. I could not allow the stones to slip away so easily.

"But Pon is too far! We'll never make it back to the village in time!" 

The man's face shifted as the expression of boredom was joined by an expression of irked discontent. "Perhaps, for your sake, that would be best," he muttered. "If you do find a stone at Pon, which I would consider very unlikely, you would have no trouble getting back to your village in time. If not, then you might find wizards from my city there who can control Elementals as familiars. In that case there would be no fight to race back to. Now, move aside. Neither of us can gain from continuing this conversation." 

Lanua found me at the inn just as the sun was beginning to rise. I regretfully recounted how I had failed to get a stone, and how the man had said it was unlikely we would find any stones at Pon, but telling me that there could be wizards, whatever a 'wizard' might be, who can control Ice Elementals from afar, rekindled the hope that our quest will not fail.

Day 45

Stone buildings all around us. This is Adramalech's Teeluw village. How strange that a civilisation hidden in a forest would build with stone, but the proof lies crumbled and ruined before us. I wonder what happened to them. Why are they no longer here? The remnants of a town are fading under the moss and lichen.

Our mood has been very different today. The sense of urgency we have to complete our quest in time has come to the forefront of our minds. It has overtaken the curiosity we had about the man who saved Lanua and released me from my tomb. There are signs that could be interpreted as indications that the figure has travelled this way, but they don't look recent. Maybe he lives in the forest. It is not of our concern.

Tomorrow we will do our best to speed through Adramalech. There is still at least some chance we will make it to Pon, and even if we don't, who is to say that the stones aren't found nearer? It would be ideal if we could find one lying around under a bush.

Day 44

We have been moving quickly today, trying to make up for lost time. It has come around quickly, but the time for us to think about giving up on our quest to find a stone at Pon is nearly upon us. In just over a week we will have been on our journey for a month, and we always planned on turning back after that time to make it back to the village before the attack, so that we may help them defend against the Ice Elementals with or without the mysterious weapon.

We had been so hopeful that we would make it to Pon in time. Certainly, we had doubts, but we never doubted it so much as to seriously consider turning back early (despite what may have been said and written at the time when moods were low from all the walking and dreary scenery of the wastes). But now I am beginning to lose confidence. Lanua cannot tell, as she has always lived in nothing but a sparse desert of rocks, with an occassional visit to the belly of a mountain. She doesn't understand a forest in the same way I do. I can see that we aren't even at the heart of Adramalech yet. The trees and foliage is getting thicker every hour we move west. Even if Pon sits right at the edge of the forest we will not make it in time. It has taken nearly two weeks to get this far, and we aren't half way through.

Perhaps Pon is in the forest. It might not have been when the Dwarves wrote about it in their runes, but maybe Adramalech has since grown to consume it. I fear that that is the only way we will make it in time. However, we still have time, and I can be optimistic for one more week. I'll happily carry on racing through the forest until Lanua decides she wants us to turn around.

Day 43

I do not know what time it was when I awoke, but I did so with a start. When I opened my eyes I was still in the same dark, musty room that I trapped myself in two days ago.

I heard a whisper. It was like the breeze passing through the leaves in the trees, but it had more structure. I could hear words slithering into my ears.

"You can't count shadows in the dark."

Again and again the sentence was repeated. Without light from outside, and only a small room to wander around in, I could not guess at the time; at how long the bodiless voice spoke the same words to me countless times. Minutes? Hours?

I thought I was going insane from not eating or drinking in too long. Then the voices stopped. The silence pierced my ears. I heard my heart begin to race until it was drowned out my the dull roar of my empty stomach. Then, as I bent over in discomfort I was blinded by a ray of light from the gap in the slowly and silently opening door.

As the door slid into its fully open position a silhouette materialised in the doorway. A man spoke with a voice terrible and deep, "can you count them now?"

I was stunned as I watched the silhouette fade into nothingness, consumed by the sunlight.


As quickly as I could, I made my way to where I had left Lanua and Enan. I hoped to find her sitting up, her body's natural restorative powers turning the tide of battle against the fever. I prepared myself to find that the battle had been lost. I did not expect to find nothing.

I was certain that I had gone back to where I left her. I searched around a little more and, sure enough, I found traces of our being there (such as bones from the fish I had eaten for supper). I was in the right place, but there was no one else here. Had she had a miraculous recovery and was now on her way to Pon without me, not knowing where I could have gone? Or was she searching for me? Surely not, or Enan would have led her to the temple.

I called out, a little reservedly at first, not wanting to disturb the forest, but then I called out again as loud as I could manage. Birds flapped overhead as they flew away from the sudden burst of noise. A moment later I heard the footsteps of a small, four legged creature running toward me. Joyfully, it was a familiar stripy boar piglet that came through the undergrowth. Lanua followed, much more quietly. She pushed her way past a bush into the clearing in which I had last seen her. How different she was when I left to when I returned. There was no sign of any illness about her. In fact, she seemed healthier than me - I still had not eaten.

As desperate as I was to learn about her last two days, my stomach was unaware that we had been reunited and was still calling out into the forest. I did not even wait for the food to be cooked before I ate it.

Lanua recalled what happened after I went in search of water as I swallowed mouthfuls and mouthfuls of food down whole. It was only this morning that events began to unfold differently to how I had expected. It was similar to my experience, in fact. When she had resigned herself to thinking that there was no hope, a mysterious stranger appeared before her. He was tall - taller than anyone she had ever met (this was emphasised a lot when she told me, but I would like to point out as a reminder that all the people in her village have Dwarven blood in their veins). When he came to her she was so ill that her vision was all a blur, but his skin had an odd texture to it. He knelt next to her lying on the ground, put on a glove, took something green out of a purse and tickled the palm of her hand with it. She recalls how it made her muscles spasm, as if her fingers wanted to hold onto whatever it was and never let go. As this went on Lanua's health rapidly restored. When she began to stir, the man put the thing back into the purse and took out something else; this time it was blue. He told her to close her eyes for a moment. When she opened them seconds later, there was no sign of him.

Day 42

Honestly, I had hoped not to still be here in this room now. I have not found a way out, nor a way to reopen the door. I imagined Lanua magically recovering to more than her full strength and, with Enan sniffing out my trail, the two of them could find and rescue me. But that didn't happen. Lanua is probably still struggling to stay in this world, and I am getting hungry after a day without food. My stomach growls and the noise echoes around this chamber. I almost feel like I'll be able to collapse a wall with my rumbling belly. I haven't managed to yet though.

I suppose I'll go back to sleep now and dream about being in Teeluw, but with all my new friends from Old Traders' Village and, of course, Enan.

Day 41

I left early this morning to find more water for our days ahead. South seemed like the most sensible direction for me to go; at least I knew that I would eventually find Icecarry River if I didn't find any streams or springs before then. I did not find a stream or spring. Instead I found the entrance to an ancient temple.

I had been wondering why there wasn't a civilisation in Adramalech as there is in Teeluw. Well, it seems that there once was.

I am in the temple now. I presume Lanua is in the same place she was when I left this morning.

I cannot get out. A door closed behind me as I explored the temple looking for a long forgotten gutter taking water down into the rooms below.

I am trapped.

It's odd. I didn't think our quest would end like this if it were destined to fail. I always imagined an epic battle. We fought valiantly, but in the end the enemy was just too strong for us to defeat. We sacrificed ourselves to allow others the chance to escape.

But no. There isn't an epic battle. Instead, Lanua deteriorates as the illness takes a tighter and tighter grip on her until she dies of dehydration, and I will starve in this underground spire. I wonder if our bodies will ever be found.

Day 40

We have made little progress today. Lanua's illness grew too much last night and we have been unable to move at any pace but the slowest. It hasn't helped that the sun shined much warmer today than it has done since before winter. For nearly the whole day we have waited in a shady patch behind a rocky wall while Lanua rests and tries to recover. I hope she can fight the fever. She has drank enough water to last a week since this morning in an effort to cool down, but it has been of no use. I will need to replenish our supplies tomorrow whether she is better or not, but I don't like the idea of leaving her alone. Enan will have to be enough company for her for an hour in the morning.

Has it really been ten days since we crossed Icecarry River? It would take twice as long to get back to it now if I had to carry Lanua. There's a chance that Flowing Lake is still south-west of here, but we started off so far north; I doubt we would be able to get to those waters in under five days. By then it could be too late, especially if I had to move her. I will have to heal her using only that which I can find nearby.

Day 39

Lanua has been sneezing all day. She says it started when she smelled a flower that was growing on the side of a tree. I can't be certain but I think she might have an allergy found rarely in Teeluw that causes flu like symptoms when the person is exposed to certain kinds of plant. She could get a lot worse if we don't get out of the forest soon. Her temperature is already much higher than normal.

Unfortunately, I can't be sure which plant triggered her reaction. Ever since a Teeluw Elder had the condition, all the plants that caused it were removed from the town and the commonly visited areas of the forest. As such I've rarely seen them, and when I have seen them I haven't been aware that they are the problem plants. I don't know what I can do to stop Lanua sneezing. For once Purge Nettles aren't the answer to an ailment.

Day 38

Adramalech is fantastic. I've been in such a good mood all day and I have no idea why. I feel so refreshed after drinking from the streams - more than I ever did so in Teeluw. But I miss Teeluw. In a way I wish I could be back there; back before all that happened came to pass. I wish the circumstances had never arisen, because if they did again I would behave in exactly the same way.

On the other hand, in a way, I'm glad I had to leave. Without leaving I would never have met N'Ras, K'Ylin, Lanua or anyone else from the village, and I've written about Lanua's trouble crossing Icecarry River. What would she have done without my help? Tried to get across and failed? Or perhaps tried to find an easier place to cross, but how long would that have taken? She wouldn't be as far on her way to Pon by now if she had had to search for another way over the river, and we need to get to Pon as soon as we can so that there is enough time to turn around and get back to Old Traders' Village before the attack.

Yes, despite necessity tearing me away from my friends, I'm glad it did. I'm happy.

Day 37

Nothing has happened today. The shadows still have me on edge but there is nothing I can do about it for now. My guard stays up as we walk, as does Lanua's after I have been talking of the uneasy feeling I have. Enan still takes an odd interest in what seems to be nothing.

Day 36

Kraet The Seer's Story

Teeluw is governed by the Elders and the Priestesses. From the point of view of the Elders, they are the highest power in our town, with the Priestesses in more of an advisory role. From the point of view of everyone else, the Priestesses are in charge. Now, that isn't because the Elders are unliked, or because the Priestesses demand their power; rather, it is because the Priestesses commune with the Goddesses and Gods, and they are granted with wisdom that the Elders simply aren't privy to. Because the Priestesses know more about the forest and its community, everyone (besides the Elders) accepts their word. If they say a storm is coming and homes need to be protected from flying debris, or that a tree will fall and a family needs to be moved to safety, everyone will help carry out their suggestions before the event happens - and the event always happens.

Kraet was an Elder. He lived at a time when Humen from the Western cities were beginning to hear about a community in Teeluw Forest. They came to find our people, and they came to take our Hazelignum wood - the wood used for the armour crafted for distinguished members of the society, it is both light and strong and, most importantly to Teeluw, it is rare. Only small amounts are allowed to be cut each year. Otherwise the Hazelignum trees would decay and die until none were left.

Unknown to the Teeluw, an army was amassing in distant lands with the intention of destroying the forest. They would take the Hazelignum wood first, and then take the wood from other trees to build with or burn in their city of stone.

A smaller group came first, and the Priestesses were told that the forest was in danger, so people were sent to deal with the threat at the western edge of the forest, before any harm could be done. But the priestesses were unaware of the troops that marched toward our home. The Goddesses had not shown them what was on its way.

However, for some reason, Kraet was shown. He could see them coming in his dreams. The Goddess Vel sent him the information he needed to keep the forest alive. He used all his influence with the other Elders and the Priestesses to focus the fighters in the town to move out to the edge of the forest where the first scouts had been spotted - where the army was heading.

As the army came over the hill on the horizon, the archers began to loose their arrows so quickly that it was as if a cloud had passed in front of the sun. Not one arrow struck a living creature. But this was Kraet's plan all along - to scare the invaders away, not to harm them as the scouts had been harmed under the direction of the Priestesses.

The Humen turned back to return to their homes moments before getting into the forest that they had spent so long trekking to, carrying heavy equipment for chopping and cutting and splitting back unused.

To Kraet's merit, he took no credit for the victory Teeluw had had, instead acknowledging that the Goddess chose him to unite the slowly distancing governing bodies of Teeluw before they were too far separated.

Day 35

Enan has been walking with Lanua today; his leg seems to have healed already. I'm glad of that. Since he doesn't need carrying any more I have been able to jump through the trees again.

I was going to write the story about Kraet the Seer as I said I would do when not much happens in our journey, but instead I thought I would write about the shadows. I know it doesn't sound like something that would be very interesting, but it has had me confused ever since I noticed it this afternoon. The shadows don't seem to be in the right places. I can see the sun shining in the sky, and I can see the trees all around me, and I can see their shadows, but somehow - I'm not sure how to explain it - it almost seems like there are too many shadows. It's hard to tell in a forest with so many things blocking the light, but after living in one for my whole life I feel like I should trust my senses when they tell me that something is wrong with the woods. Lanua said she hadn't noticed anything, but Enan has been sniffing around at pieces of ground that didn't seem to have anything special about them.

It is dark now, so the only shadows are those cast by the eye-staff. They all seem to be in order, but I can't shake the feeling that something is wrong with Adramalech. With this and the return of the Ice Elementals to the area around Old Traders' Village, ideas of a world wide event have crossed my mind. Is it all connected?

Day 34

Lanua and I walked together on the floor of the forest today. It would have been too dangerous for me to travel through the trees for two reasons. Firstly, I have been tired all day after I stayed awake last night to look after the boar piglet. Secondly, I have been carrying the piglet in my arms. We planned to leave it behind this morning and let it find its own way, but as we walked away it followed, limping after us as if it wanted to join our party. I couldn't bring myself to abandon it. I think we should give it a name but Lanua thinks I'm being silly.

Maybe I'll call it Enan after the God. It seems fitting since Enan is the God of orphans and names. In fact Enan seems like the perfect name for him.



Lanua is poking the fire, as she seems to enjoy doing so much. I've just told her Enan's new name and she seemed to accept it without too much hesitation.

Now I must catch up on the rest I missed last night.

Day 33

I don't have much time to write anything now. Today, a boar rushed at Lanua so, to defend herself, she shot it with an arrow. I couldn't stop her in time. The boar rolled over itself and when it lay still, it was clearly dead. Now, an orphaned and injured boar piglet has come into our care. Its leg looks broken to me. I have applied Purge Nettles to the poor creature's wound. The noise it made was horrendous, but it is a necessary pain for it to endure in the circumstances. After a lot of struggling to try and get away from the nettles, it has finally fallen asleep. Now that it has finished wailing, Lanua has also dozed off. I'm going to stay awake for a while and keep watch over both of my friends.

Day 32

It is a month ago today that I left Teeluw. I have seen so much in such a short time, and it has made it feel like much longer. But in Teeluw they will still be talking about me; about what I did. Someone else might have stepped into the position left open by now, but they will still be feeling the consequences.

In Adramalech I keep expecting to see my friends jumping through the trees alongside me, but of course I never do. The types of trees, the noises, the smells, they are all the same, but this forest is very different to the one in which I grew up.

We had eggs and the last of the rabbit meat for tea this evening. I found the eggs up a tree as you would expect, and I decided that, since there is no community to impose its rules on me, we would eat them. It is generally not acceptable to eat eggs in Teeluw except on special occasions (although priestesses are allowed to cook with them). Lanua made a fire and I cooked them in her pan while she roasted the rabbit. The eggs were a delicious change from the stews we have been eating for tea recently. I think I'll try to find some more on our last day in Adramalech before we leave it behind us on our journey to Pon.

Day 31

It is so refreshing to be back in the trees! The pains in my legs and feet have all but gone. Enaerixer is healing me now that I’m back in her domain, or perhaps it is Froadaelo, God of Spring, giving me a new energy as we move into his season.

The Shard-Blade has been sheathed all day and my newly crafted bow has been over my shoulder ready to be drawn at the first sign of trouble on the ground. As Lanua traverses the forest floor, I swing between the branches 30 feet above.

We have seen so much more wildlife today than I have done since I stepped out of Teeluw nearly a month ago. I hadn’t realised how much I have missed the sounds of insects crawling through the trees and soil and making their own little songs that, together with the songs of the other species that call the forest home, create a wonderful symphony of music for the birds to sing to. The distant feet, galloping through the logs, combines with the dripping splashes of water into puddles on the floor to provide the rhythmic beat behind the melody. Leaves rustle in the wind to signal a new song about to be played. Thunder rumbles from the storm in the South, but it isn’t scary any more. It is calming down, exhausted from its constant struggle over the last few days.

Lanua, never having been in a forest before, is overwhelmed by the colour as much as anything else. No more are we wandering through drab, grey and brown valleys, or over dull, grey and brown hills. We aren’t in the grey and brown village that she grew up in, and the sky is, at least for now, not filled with grey and black clouds. The blue sky, the green leaves, and the orange and red sunset - her eyes cannot be used to so much richness. And her mood has improved noticeably. No longer does she complain that I’m walking too slowly. Indeed, she has begun to hinder our pace as she studies every new thing she finds in a world in which she has never been before. More than once I have had to remind her that we need to move quickly so that we may give ourselves enough time to reach our destination in under a month.

But I do not deny that, by spending a few days moving a little slower, we will heal our bodies and minds so that we may quicken our pace later on in our journey.

Day 30

Icecarry River. That must be what we crossed today.

We have been travelling west for the last nine days. As I have written before, the rocky hills seemed like they would go on forever. Every day has looked the same; not even the weather changed. That is, until last night. Lanua and I were arguing about which way to go today. Toward the eerie light of an unknown civilisation or onward to the West. Neither of us wanted to back down and submit to the other. We were both quite tense after more than a week of nothing but each other's company. That is when we heard it. From the South came the terrifying rumble of thunder, as if the sky was cracking its ethereal bones. The lightning began soon after that and by midnight, despite us being beyond the reach of the storm, the flashes lit up the sky as if it were noon. It would have been foolish to head that way today as the battle between sky and ground carried on.

And so it was that our path led us to a river. For once I knew something about the world outside the forest that Lanua didn't. The river we came to was Icecarry River, and if we had attempted to canoe down it, our bodies would have washed up on the shores of Flowing Lake. I know this because I have been to Flowing Lake once before in my life. It is on the edge of Teeluw, at the end of Teeluw River. I have seen the spears of ice stabbing themselves into the turbulent waters of the lake, as I saw them today making swimming or canoeing across the water impossible.

But the river hasn't been the only change of scenery this day. It would seem that we are finally out of the barren wilderness, for today we came to the first trees of Adramalech Forest - the forest north of the Flowing Lake and south of the edge of the world. Only a few trees grow this far away from their siblings, and only a single tree found its way across the water all those years ago. But one was enough. Like a fish put back in water after being held out for minutes, I returned to the trees. The branches of a tree on the far side of the river came out far enough for me to be able to jump across from half way up the single, adventurous tree.

Unfortunately, Lanua grew up on the ground, where any step is guaranteed to be placed also on the ground. It was enough of a struggle just to show her how to climb a tree.

When she was finally on the branch from which I had jumped over the river, I had already decided that she would need to cross another way. If she had jumped, her body would be skewered by the ice in the water, and I would be on this journey alone.

Instead, I took the length of rope out of my pack and tied an end to each of the two tree trunks. Then, after I had taken Lanua's things across for her, she grabbed the horizontal rope from above and crawled over the gap like a worm.

On the other side of the river we carried on walking west until we came to the edge of the main part of the forest. It was early when we decided to set up camp for the night but I wanted to craft a bow and some arrows before entering Adramalech. Besides, we had almost run out of food so we needed to refill our packs, and the opportunity to catch some fish from the shallow streams nearby seemed perfect.

Day 29

I had been under the impression that this wilderness was just a boring expanse of nothingness besides rocks and dead trees. But maybe I was wrong. This afternoon, when we had stopped to have something to eat, I noticed a speck of green poking out between two boulders. It was the bud of a flower.

We've seen a few more since then too and, after all, it is the beginning of spring. Maybe this is a beautiful meadow in summer when the plants have all come back out after hiding from a harsh winter season.

It is evening now, and to the south-west we can see green lights. They come from far off behind a tall hill, so we can't see the source of the lights. It looks like it would be about two days walk away. Maybe it is a city. I think we should start to head in that direction in case it is a settlement of some kind. They could help defend the village from the elementals and we wouldn't need to go all the way to Pon and risk finding nothing.

Lanua disagrees with me, as seems to be the norm lately. She doesn't want to change our course. We'll discuss what to do next tonight.

 The light of civilisation across the hills.

Day 28

I wonder what we'll find when we get to Pon. Will there be a pile of stones for us to freely take from? Doubtful. After having time to think about it, I'm not sure there will even be any stones at Pon. Why should there be? There aren't any left at Old Traders' Village - Humen from cities in the West came and took them all long ago. Why wouldn't they have taken them from Pon, too, if there were stones there? Surely Pon is nearer to their cities than the Dwarven Mines; it is possible that Pon had all its stones taken away even before Old Traders' Village. Maybe we should have stayed in the village and prepared for the attack. We could have trained the people to fight and defend themselves. Instead, the two best fighters have gone on a quest to find some miraculous counter to use against the Elementals, and we have left everyone unguarded and vulnerable.

Day 27

It feels like we have been walking for weeks. The muscles in my legs hurt badly and there is nothing I can do to ease the pain. I have blisters on my feet that make it difficult to walk, especially on the uneven terrain. In Teeluw, we use our arms to move around the town as much as our legs. Climbing up ropes and swinging across bars between the platforms. My body isn't used to all the walking.

I think Lanua is getting a bit annoyed with me, for my pace has slowed considerably over the last few days, but I can tell the journey is taking its toll on her too. She just refuses to show it, and the thought of saving her village motivates her to carry on at a speed.

The landscape hasn't changed since we passed Lanua's farthest camp a few days ago. Rocks everywhere. Burrows dotted here and there. A few lonely, dead trees always off in the distance. Hills going up and down, up and down. We can see far off to the horizon, but there is nothing there that we can't see an arm's reach away.

Day 26

Ilaeryol the farmer's story.

Everyone in Teeluw is trained to survive in the forest on their own. It's not because that is ever really a threat - the people of Teeluw plan to live where they do for a very long time to come - rather it is so everyone has some skill at all of the important tasks. Should it be necessary, a fletcher could help search for plants with medicinal properties, or a healer could help craft arrows. Everyone can do everything.

Of course, the fletcher would make better arrows than the healer, because she has spent her life honing the skill. But, in Teeluw's history, it was Ilaeryol who advanced the furthest past her peers, and even her successors, at her craft. No one in Teeluw has ever been able to farm in quite the same way.

First I should explain how farming works in Teeluw, as I understand that forest farming is not the norm.

It is the farmer's task to collect the ingredients required to make food for the town. This is not just restricted to ingredients grown by the farmer, but it is also up to them to collect from the trees and bushes and plants that grow naturally in the woods. An expanse of forest is cleared of the wild plant life that grows there and the earth between the trees is sown with the seeds for cereals and other similar crops.

Ilaeryol brought back bounties of food unlike anyone else ever managed to harvest. They were never spoiled by the animals in the forest; they were always perfect.The only time she was unable to grow what she had planted was when a travelling merchant passing through the forest on his way to the East had traded her some tropical tree seeds.

When the High Priestess Namifra was blessed it was a day of rejoicing. It is the tradition of the Teeluw to celebrate a new High Priestess to show the Gods that she has the support of the people in the hope that they will accept her in her new position.

Disaster struck. When the priestesses were preparing for the feast, they found that all the food stored had gone bad! Maggots crawled over the fruits of the forest and were having a feast of their own.

Ilaeryol had been picking hazelignum nuts and had overheard the commotion in the food stores. Immediately she dropped the nuts and began skipping from branch to branch through the trees to the farm patch.

She got there to find the field full. Not of the crops she had planted there, but of the tropical fruit trees from far away lands that had never grown before.

The exotic fruits were taken back to the town and served in place of the expected feast. Enaerixer was delighted with how much Namifra was respected by the people and granted the longest life of any High Priestess to her. Ilaeryol's loyalty to the Goddesses and their heralds was rewarded too. From that day, whatever Ilaeryol planted in her farm would be fully grown one day later and would always be in perfect condition, as well as immune to rotting when it had been picked.

Day 25

Drass the assassin's story.

Drass lived in Teeluw 1000 winters ago. Teeluw was much different then to how it is now. You might be surprised to find out that an assassin ever lived in Teeluw, but there was a time when people travelled between the East and West a lot more often. Back then the Teeluw people were very nervous of being found by outsiders. A few from the village were, therefore, selected to be trained as assassins. They would silence any who came close to revealing the secret of Teeluw forest.

The assassins, despite playing a role the town felt was necessary, were looked down upon for their opposition to the peaceful ways of the Teeluw. As such they stayed very much to themselves. That is, until Drass began his training. He questioned why he had to live as an outcast in his home. He drew attention to the shadowy group of killers. People began to talk. There were fears of an uprising from a lethal sub-community in the town.

Before either side could take any action, a caravan came through the forest and was attacked by fercacs. A hunting party, out on patrol, saw the attack and quickly came to the aid of the caravan. But this meant Teeluw had been exposed to the world. The assassins were bound by oath to slay all those who had just been saved.

When the other assassins prepared for the slaughter, Drass prepared to protect the caravan from the deadly forest once more.

The battle was short. Despite his skill, Drass was killed quickly, along with the caravan. Those on the patrol that originally saved the caravan were also killed.

The ruthless murder of so many people prompted the elders to discontinue the assassin training. But, as no one ever found the people of Teeluw until they revealed themselves through their own will, and because the town in the trees has been left alone ever since, some say the assassins lived on.

Day 24

Last night, after I had finished writing, Lanua asked me if she could read the journal. Before today she had only seen the page with the drawings of the runes and the page for Day 21 (when we met). I didn't see the harm in letting her see what I had written, especially since I've been writing it with the intention of showing it to people if I ever go back home. In a way, Old Traders' Village is like a new home for me, so, from that point of view, Lanua is precisely who I am writing it for anyway.

I fell asleep before she had finished reading it so it was only this morning I was able to be given her opinion.

She was mostly positive about it, but she pointed out that some of the shorter entries weren't very interesting, and fair enough - if not much happens in the day then there isn't much I can write about. I'm hardly going to record every word of a conversation to bulk out a page in my journal.

As we trekked across the frozen slopes, past Lanua's furthest reach into the wilderness, and, as I'd predicted, down into a valley, we both tried to think of a way to make the dull days more interesting to write and read about.

It was the afternoon when we came up with a solution. What if I write about something else on those days? There are many stories that the Teeluw people tell that are unknown to the people of Old Traders' Village. If the life of Esunai is mundane, I will tell the story of Drass the assassin, or Kraet the seer, or Ilaeryol the farmer.

I won't tell a story about one of them today though; it has been a long a difficult path between camps, across unpleasant terrain. We both need to sleep ready for tomorrow. It looks like we'll start heading upwards again before the day is out.

Day 23

Today has been very uneventful. I don't really have much to write about it. We just walked and walked. We made good progress; we're quite far from the village now indeed. Lanua and I didn't even speak very much; we just wanted to get to where we're going. It's very cold as well. The terrain has taken us quite high up. The air is noticeably thinner where we have set up camp than it was where we slept the previous two nights. 

We're nearly as deep into the wilderness as Lanua has ever been. She says we'll probably pass that point early tomorrow morning if we set off at dawn. After that we're into the unknown, but at least it won't be up hill any more. From the top of a nearby tree I could see that the landscape is more or less level to the horizon.

Day 22

The fire was still smouldering and Lanua was still asleep when I roused at dawn after a warmer night than I had been expecting this far north. I had not slept soundly. My dreams were haunted by the Elemental. More than once I awoke with a tight grip around the hilt of my sword.

Later on, when Lanua had awoken, we ate some of the meat she had caught before running into me yesterday. Over breakfast she told me about how she preferred the excitement of the wilderness above the monotonous poverty of the village.

She had always wanted to leave. She spent half of her time out in the nothingness north of her home, living off just what she could find for herself. When she went back to the village it would be to bring back a bounty of food. Meat from trappings mostly, but on rare occasions she would find the tracks of the herd and be able to bring back a beast with juicy, tender muscle meat, and lots of it too from a single animal that would rely on its legs to escape the many dangers here. It would also come with lots of fat that would be used to keep warm - first by the animal, then later by the villagers. Finally, the hide and fur would become clothing, rope, or whatever else the people could use it for. But as far as Lanua could tell, there was only one herd in the wilderness, and every time she saw it it was always a lot smaller than she remembered it being the time before. She told me that she wouldn't be surprised never to see it again.

To find food wasn't the reason she was out here this time though. In her previous journey into the wilderness, Lanua had found some pearls of frost, just as K'Ylin and I had, but Lanua had found them long before us as she travelled deeper into the wilderness often. Like K'Ylin, Lanua realised that they precluded an attack from the "monsters" that I suspect to be Ice Elementals. Unknown to K'Ylin, however, Dwarven texts that Lanua had found in the mountain recorded that the signs of activity from the Ice Elementals appeared long before the previous attack. In fact, the pearls of frost had disappeared two months before the last attack even began. Lanua had also read riddles about how the Dwarves had won the battle. The red, glowing rocks had played a vital role, but nowhere did it say more than that; there was nothing to explain why the rocks were so important.

In an attempt to prepare to defend the village from an attacking Ice Elemental, Lanua had come to the North to spend a few days observing them. After that she would head west to a city, named Pon, mentioned in the Dwarves' runic texts. It seemed the Dwarves had thought Pon might be a second source of the red stones and, with the nearby mine home to only fragments, Lanua wanted to try and find some at Pon and make it back in time to defend the village.

We shall both set off tomorrow. I would not be able to sit idly by waiting for an attack that I know everyone is ill prepared to counter, and Lanua has a better chance of getting to Pon quickly and safely with someone watching her back. We will allow ourselves one month to find some red stones. After that we will make out way back to Old Traders' Village and defend it with or without the mysterious and unlikely weapon.

Now we must rest. We sleep again where we did last night. Our packs are full of the meat we caught today; we don't know how easy it will be to come by food in the West - neither the Teeluw nor inhabitants of Old Traders' Village have been out that way since there were Dwarves in the mountain.

Day 21

When I came down from the trees this morning I found some more pearls of frost. I don't remember them being there last night. Did the monster come to these woods?

I carried on walking north. As I did I could feel the temperature drop with every step I took. Before too long the ground grew crisp under foot and a white powder covered the floor. Tracking the monster would have become impossible if its tracks had been as scarce as they had been yesterday, but this region of the wilderness seemed to be its territory - there were signs that it had been here to be found everywhere - and I was trespassing.

I came upon a series of caves. They were like the burrows I have been trapping for food, but much larger. Big enough for me to enter. Big enough for someone to enter at least. There were footprints in the snow outside the entrance to one of the tunnels. Not the footprints of an animal, and not the marks of the monster. These footprints were from a human, and I only knew of one other human in these parts.

Of course I entered the cave. Part of the motivation for me to come into the wilderness was to find the woman who could translate the runes from the mine. I was certain that the prints belonged to her. They were much lighter than mine. They were the kind of prints I would have expected to find left by the kind of person who favoured a bow. Light as a feather; not the heavy trenches pressed into the ground by the feet of a swordsman or brawler.

The cave was not too dark; light managed to bounce its way around the corners and through the tunnels well enough. With the red glow from the staff I could see almost as well as I had been able to outside. But the tunnels echoed. I did not realise it at the time but my sense of hearing was greatly hindered in the tunnels. I couldn't tell which direction sounds were coming from.

I was quite far into the cave, still able to see clearly, when something brushed past me. I felt a freezing chill all over my body. I span around and saw the path I had just walked along covered in pearls of frost. The path that had definitely not just been covered in such items. But now it was. A freezing breeze blew from ahead of me and I turned around again, feeling as if there was something behind. Pearls of frost were appearing everywhere now; they seemed to be growing out of the ground before my very eyes.

My grip tightened around the hilt of the Shard-Blade. I spun around again and saw it. The monster. At first it was like a ghost; incorporeal. I could see through it to the wall behind as well as I could see it itself. Gradually its form grew more solid - from something as substantial as breath on a cold day, to a hulking creature that looked to be made up of jagged blocks of pure ice.

The monster bore a resemblance to the Water Elementals from stories. They too could choose to be a gaseous cloud of vapour, or a man shaped column of liquid, or anything in between. Perhaps the monster used to be a Water Elemental, but lost its ability to sustain a liquid form in the low temperatures of the north.

The origins of the monster weren't my first concern as it became more and more solid before me. I had two options - either I stayed to fight, or I turned and fled. There would be no peaceful solution with an Elemental.

I did not think that fighting would be successful. It would turn to mist as my sword was about to hit it, then return to its icy form to attack me with cold, heavy fists. I had to run. I span on my heel and darted through the tunnels. When I came to a fork in the path I went left without a thought. The way took me up and up, then around a corner, and then all of a sudden I was back outside.

I allowed myself to turn around to see how much distance there was between myself and the Ice Elemental. As I found my footing it emerged from the cave mouth. I began to turn to run once more when "shweish!" A flaming arrow soared past my ear (so close to my head, I later discovered, that it singed some of my hair). Then another flew through the space between my arm and my side, then a third between my legs. For an instant I thought I was being ambushed but I soon realised that all the arrows, that had missed me, had found their intended target - the Ice Elemental.

The archer was crouched about 50 paces from me and had another arrow ready to shoot. However, this one had not been lit.

"Good, you've led the monster to us!" She shouted to me with a hint of sarcasm. "The fire will only melt it for a minute or so, after that it will chase you again. So I suppose that gives you just enough time to tell me what you're doing with my Dragon-Eye staff, but not long enough for you to think of a lie that will stop me from shooting you. "
"It was a gift from the leader of Old Traders' Village. I needed a light so that I could explore the Dwarven Mine and I was given this. I had only gone looking for a torch. "
"You think faster than I gave you credit for. But there is a hole in your story. I was home that day you came to my house looking for a torch, which, by the way, is a very odd place to expect to find one when there are shops nearby. You didn't see me but I overheard your brief conversation with my father, and I am well aware that he sent you away empty handed. You must have sneaked back in later and stolen the staff! "

Please stop reading over my shoulder now.

Behind me I heard the Ice Elemental's struggle cease. The archer whispered something and released the arrow she had been holding. Mid flight the arrow tip became fire, and it buried itself in the Elemental.

"Thank you. "
"Don't. I'd prefer not to have to fight the monster to get my staff back when you could just bring it to me. Come, we should continue our conversation somewhere safer - I don't have enough arrows to keep it at bay for very long. I have already used four more than I would have liked to. Having said that, I'll happily use one on you if you try anything. "

I had no choice but to go with her. The Elemental was already recovering from the last shot. I ran the distance between us and then we both jogged away, with her slightly ahead to lead the way. Every so often she would crouch down and whisper to herself, and the snow would melt away around her and the ground would reveal itself to look freshly burned.

On the other side of a small incline in the land we came to a pit. It was huge. It was impossible to see into it due to all the smoke rising up out of it. I asked what was down there but the woman wouldn't tell me. She said that if I knew I would turn around and take my chances with the elemental. It wasn't the most comforting response but she assured me that I would be safe there as long as she was with me.

"Now, tell me who you are, why you're here and why you were exploring the mines. "
"My name is Esunai. I'm in the wilderness to try and learn why the Ice Elemental is getting so close to the village again after leaving it alone for so long that the only memory of it ever coming near is bound to a folk song, and I'm right here because you told me, while you were aiming at my head, to follow you. I wanted to explore the mines to search for clues as to why the Dwarves died out. "

My abrupt honesty caught her off guard and she hesitated before talking again. I took the opportunity to speak more and to ask a questions of my own.

"You are Al'Lanua; Lanua for short. You are the most skilled with a bow in your village by a long way, and you always win the shooting game at the Festival of First Seed. You are also the only person who can translate the runes carved in the Dwarven Mine and the other reason I came into the wilderness was to ask you to tell me what they mean and why the rocks glow. "

I took this diary out of my pack and found the picture I had drawn of the runic carvings. Lanua had become quite quiet, almost distant, and seemed not to know what she should be doing. She looked at the picture and I could see her translating the text in her head.

"I'll give you the eye-staff if you tell me about them. And why the rocks glow. "

At this she looked up.

"You found rocks that were glowing? "
"Yes, why? What are they? "
"Do you have one with you? "
"In a way. I fell in a cave in the mountain and the rock I had with me shattered causing a shard to lodge itself in my upper arm. What do the runes say? Here, take this - it's yours anyway. "

I offered Lanua the eye-staff hoping that she would decide I'm not just some dishonest rogue, and that she would tell me what the picture said.

"It says 'The Power Of The Mountain Succumbs Only To The Greed Of The Soul' but, before you ask, I don't know what it means. "

Neither did I. After a short time we sat down and began to talk about what I had been up to since I left Teeluw, and about her life, which was entirely more adventurous than I would have expected from anyone who lived in Old Traders' Village.

That brings the story to where I am now as I write it by the red glow of the Dragon-Eye Staff and with Lanua poking the fire she made and occasionally reading over my shoulder to make sure I'm telling it right.

 The Ice Elemental.

Day 20

The rain still has not stopped but at least the wind is much calmer now. I left the inn this morning after only a few hours of interrupted sleep. When I got to the barren lands it did not take me too long to find some pearls of frost. The monster must have come close to the village last night. I thought it would have retreated into its territory from fear of the weather but apparently it did not.

I have been walking all day. As time passed by it became harder and harder to find traces of the monster. There have been many times when I have wondered if I am heading in the right direction. Then again, what is the right direction? I am tracking a monster that nearly destroyed the village all that time ago. Am I heading straight for it? Should I be trying to flank it? In the end it doesn't really matter - all I can do is walk on and hope to find more pearls of frost until I can see it and hopefully it can't see me. Then I can decide how best to approach it.

As the sky began to darken I found a rare patch of trees in this desolate landscape. I have set up camp at the top of them and the eye-staff glows and illuminates the surrounding area. I would not like to be out here in the pitch dark.

 Lonely trees.

Day 19

In the night a terrible storm blew in from the south. I decided that it would be best not to travel into the wilderness in such conditions. I hoped that the weather would calm down before the day was out but I had no such luck. It is now dark and the wind and rain still have not stopped for more than a few minutes at a time. The ground outside is beginning to flood. Roo is in those clouds.

With the noise of the storm I doubt I'll be able to sleep. Instead I will sharpen my Shard-Blade, check my equipment and make some final preparations for my trip north. I don't need to take too much as I'll be able to catch my own food, the way K'Ylin taught me yesterday, and after all this rain I can't imagine water will be too hard to come by.

Day 18

Today K’Ylin and I went tracking in the wilderness. Last night at the festival, amongst all the talk of food for the next months, I asked her where the winter supplies came from. When I was in the wilderness two weeks ago it took me such a long time to find anything worth bringing back, but there I was eating meats that had clearly been caught out there quite recently. K’Ylin told me that there is a lot to be found out there by someone who knows where to look, and she offered to show me some of the tricks to finding enough to eat in this forgotten village.

The first lesson was how to tell if a burrow had something living in it. Things to look for include hairs at the opening or droppings nearby. The ground in the wilderness is too dry to look for prints and there are no trees close to the village so the methods of tracking I knew from Teeluw did not apply.

The second lesson was how to flush out something that lived in the burrow. K’Ylin told me that when there were lots of burrows near to each other, chances were in favour of them being connected underground. Lighting a fire at one of the entrances would scare the occupants into fleeing their home through one of the connected exists. Again, the tracking skills I acquired in Teeluw did not use this method - after all, lighting a fire in the woods would be silly. But there was almost nothing to unintentionally set on fire in the wilderness near the village. It proved to be an effective method of bringing out the small animals and directing them into snares we had set up.

Before too long we had enough meat to last K’Ylin a week but I wanted more. I wanted to try and find some without help and to show her that I had learned well. We travelled west for about five minutes - just so I wasn’t hunting in the same area as she had been. I found some burrows with earth that had recently been disturbed; it was a sign that something had passed through the opening recently. As I stood up to find more openings K’Ylin stopped me. She had spotted some pearls of frost on the ground where she was watching me from.

Perhaps to your surprise, I knew what these pearls of frost were. They were not from the cold - in fact it has been quite warm for the last few days. They were from a monster.

Last night at the festival there was a song about the history of the village and it mentioned a monster attacking and the Dwarves fighting it until it fled back into the wilderness.  It had never been seen again since but it lived on in the songs. The song also told of the signs the monster left where it had been - pearls of frost. K’Ylin was convinced that the monster was returning and she was worried about the destruction it might cause now that there are no Dwarves to fight it off.

For K’Ylin’s sake, I am going to go into the wilderness in search of this monster. I’ll try to find out why it is returning and, if I must, I will fight it. Hopefully I won’t be fighting it alone. If I go into the wilderness I might find the woman who can read the Dwarven runes and, hopefully, if it comes to it, she will help me fight the monster - I know she is skilled with a bow.

 A snare ready to catch supper.