Author's Notes

This story, Eisenmond, follows on from The Sleeping Cleric: you can find this amongst my other stories. While the stories have continuation from one to another, I'm publishing them as separate arcs to keep separate the adventures that our party took, and the significant events that took place. This one is considerably longer than The Sleeping Cleric, and will probably be released as nine or ten chapters (the former story was five).

We had a couple of changes in our party between this and the previous adventure. Jeff (Eldrann) decided that he wanted to re-imagine his character. He created a new Grey Elf Wizard at level 4 (which we'd all reached after the Demara's Fortress adventure). One of the characteristics of Grey Elves that he was particularly drawn to was how they looked down on other races (and even other Elves). He likes to play a character who is, in his own words, "a bit of a dick." I like to do this too; just with a different approach! Instead of ret-conning Taldir into the story, I thought I'd write Eldrann into retirement, and have Taldir turn up to sneer at everybody.

Jeff's wife (Kim) also wanted to give D&D a go at this point, to see what all the fuss was about. She was interested in playing a character who was a healer, so joined us as a Human Favoured Soul (Coralyn) with a focus on healing spells and abilities.

The rest of us continued as normal, each taking a new level in our existing class. The story picks up (after some preamble) on the way back to Torlynn from the fortress where party met Taran Goldstar.

Eisenmond

** I **

A forest, outside of Torlynn.

It was good to be alone again. Elantar was even beginning to enjoy her surroundings; when the others weren't with her, at least.

Until a couple of years ago, the only trees she'd seen in her life were gnarled, grey and stunted: hardened to the harsh conditions of the frozen north. They certainly weren't green, brown, yellow, red… or any other colour in between like the forest she was in now. She wandered the paths amongst the trees, marvelling at the array of colours and enjoying the freshness in the air. It couldn't be more different from Khirin Alithenen, but there was nothing that she missed about home.

The time alone had been the perfect distraction after the events at Eisenmond that had left them all feeling so incensed. She'd been out hunting most of the night for a particular beast, and the pelt that she'd claimed hung folded and draped over her shoulder. After returning to Torlynn, Elantar decided that her new cold weather cloak had to be made from its fur. It was a calculated insult, designed specifically to offend one person, and she was very much looking forwards to the reaction it would provoke. She thought about bringing the whole corpse back with her, and leaving its severed head on the pillow of the sleeping Gnome. There were two reasons that she'd simply skinned it there and then however: firstly, it was a lot less effort to carry an animal's skin than its whole body; secondly, Elantar herself had begun to change.

Almost three weeks had passed since she'd joined up with this company and, while she considered none of them to be friends, she was beginning to both value and respect them. Her choice of fur for the new cloak was a cruel joke on Boshley, she knew, but he seemed so fond of amusing himself with japery that she decided to have a joke at his expense. It was a perfectly reasonable response to what he had done to her. Bathing him in badger blood from a severed head was, as she was beginning to learn, a step too far.

Elantar was also beginning to earn the respect of some of the others. She was confident in her skills, and she'd proved valuable to the party over the past few days. She'd made a couple of mistakes too, of course, but most of them had all, for some reason, seemed to overlook her slip-ups. This had caught her off guard. She wasn't as easy on herself though, and she had made an extra effort to be on top of her game.

Eldrann hadn't come to the mines with them. He'd elected to remain in Torlynn with Taran Goldstar, the Wizard's Apprentice they'd rescued from Demara's Fortress. Poring over the stash of ancient writings they had recovered, he declared that he had more important business to attend to. Elantar suspected this wasn't the whole story though: the arrival of the first newcomer had intimidated all of them a little, but Eldrann most of all.

Two days after the party returned to Torlynn, another Elf Wizard arrived. He'd been looking for them: Nethril, Taran's mentor, had put the word out that some adventurers were in the area looking for news of his apprentice. Taldir had arrived in Torlynn assuming them incapable of anything. He was quite taken aback when he discovered that Taran had been found, albeit minus a hand, and was safely holed up in a room at The Amorous Goat, one of Torlynn's more reputable inns. It didn't stop him looking down his nose at them all though. He insisted, much to everybody's dismay, that he joined them as they continued to deal with the Ogres that had been plaguing Torlynn and its surrounding area. This though, had given Eldrann a way out of any more adventuring, and he seemed set for a life of reading and cataloguing scrolls.

And so it was, that the companions once again numbered seven. Until the day after Taldir's arrival, that was.

Torlynn; one week earlier.

"Excuse me?"

An inquisitive face peered out from under a red hood. Looking closely, Elantar could see her bright green eyes were tired. She turned to walk away.

"Excuse me?" the human repeated, more irritably. Elantar turned back and stared down the stranger. The newcomer began to look shaken. Inwardly, Elantar smiled at the effect.
"Well?" she asked, harshly. "You have my attention; what do you want?"

"Elantar? Stop frightening the poor girl…" Arden had just rounded the corner of the Smithy. She'd clearly been listening. The stranger breathed a sigh of relief. Elantar smirked and leaned casually against the side of the building.
"Erm…" the young woman began, "I'm looking for an Orc."
"To make you happy? You humans have questionable taste," Elantar responded.
"I thought we agreed that I was better at talking to people?" Arden snapped. "I know a couple of Orcs," she said, turning back to the stranger, "well… Half-Orcs. Come and sit with me and we can talk." Elantar took out her dagger and began to sharpen it.
"Let me know if my area of expertise is called for," she said with a wink. Arden put her arm around the girl and led over to a table outside the inn. Elantar sat on a nearby tree stump and pretended not to listen.

"What's wrong with her?" the newcomer asked.
"None of us can really tell," Arden responded. "She's got a big chip on her shoulder about something though. She seems to basically not like anybody…"
"She has an air of bravado, but quite possibly the saddest eyes I've ever seen. I don't mind admitting that she scares me a little though," she said, taking a seat.
"She frightens us all in one way or another; we all suspect she's done some horrible things. Gravak's been looking very strangely at her for a couple of days now, and if even he's wary, well…" she tailed off as she noticed that the girl had began to breathe more quickly, and was struggling to get her words out.

"Gravak!" she finally blurted out. "He was one of them!"
"What do you mean, 'one of them'? Arden asked, confused.
"I had a dream. Gravak, Chosen of Tontor, was there," she said.
"What's a Tontor?" Arden asked, bewildered by the new word. The stranger shrugged her shoulders.
"I don't know anything else about him," she said, "there were others too, one called Taldir, one known as The Badger… are you Arden?" The Bard began to look spooked.
"How could you know that?"
"It was in my dream… there were seven altogether. One is ice, blood and shadow; another a small yellow flower and an Elf whose path cannot be seen. I know it must sound strange, but I think I'm supposed to help you."

"You should come and meet us all," Elantar said, re-joining them. She was glad to see the girl jump at the sound of her voice. "I think Buttercup will surprise you."

"Who are you?" Arden asked.
"I am called Coralyn," she answered, but gave nothing else away.

"Ah, here comes the Mayor's lapdog," Elantar said after a few seconds of silence. Sigmund was cautiously approaching them from the town square, where a crowd had just began to gather.

"Umm… Miss Arden? The Mayor deman-uhhh… requests to meet with you again," he said as he reached them.

Arden noticed the gathering crowd in the town centre and gave a brief, knowing smile. Her plan had worked perfectly so far. Now came the hard part.

The outskirts of Torlynn, six days previous.

"To properly extort a Major from a backwater such as this," Arden began, "you need to win the people over."

It had been a slow journey back from Demara's Fortress. Buttercup, Boshley and Eldarion had all suffered at the hands of the Shadows and could barely lift their own weight. They were bringing a lot of plunder back with them, and the load was fairly evenly spread. Boshley's extremely weighty plate armour and tower shield were amongst the load that they all carried. But now, finally, they were at the edge of the small town of Torlynn.

"What do you mean?" asked Boshley, inquisitively.

"I've seen it before," Arden said knowingly. "We all heard the people here talking about Gustovan before, didn't we? He's lost their support. No doubt, once upon a time, they loved him, elected him Mayor and happily lived out their dull lives. Then the Ogres came. They looked to their beloved Mayor for leadership and discovered that he had none. They're looking for new heroes! Ogres are the cause of their recent troubles, and we're bringing back five Ogre heads. Give me a couple of days, and this town will be eating out of our hands!" None of them had seen Arden this excited before.

"But how?" Boshley asked, still confused. "We're just a bunch of strangers, and this is only five Ogres. It's not like all their troubles are over."
"Watch and learn," replied Arden with a wink.

"Sigmund! How fares business? Has Gustovan managed to use the privy without your assistance yet?"
"Excuse me?!" the Mayor's Paige was quite clearly offended.
"Oh, come on Sigmund… we can all tell that it's you who does all the work. Does he ever let you sleep a full night?" Sigmund chewed his lip and said nothing. Sternly, he beckoned them to follow him to Gustovan's Manse.

"Well, if it isn't our brave adventurers!" the Mayor exclaimed, attempting to sound cheery, but only barely disguising his disappointment that they were all safe.

"Wonna sleep!" Buttercup bellowed. She'd done this every ten minutes or so on the journey back from Demara's Fortress.
"I echo that," said Eldarion, dead on his feet. Boshley joined the two of them as they left to find their rooms. They wouldn't see any of the three for a couple of days.

"They had a hard time of it Mr. Mayor," Arden said with a sad nod. "The dangers we have faced can scarcely be believed!"
"Here it comes…" the Mayor muttered under his breath.
"In truth," Arden began, "we are all in need of rest, but hear me out first."
"Go on…" said Gustovan reluctantly.
"The Ogres… they were the least of your worries. Don't get me wrong; they were a problem, but there were worse things in that old fortress."
"Were a problem?" Gustovan perked up. Elantar noticed that he had chosen, for now, to ignore the rest of what Arden was saying.
"Didn't I tell you?" Arden feigned frustration. "Ogres simply aren't a challenge for the likes of us. Their heads await you in our saddle packs. But there were worse things in there. Let me t…"
"No!" Gustovan growled firmly. "Ogres! We made a deal: Ogres were our problem! I'll not hear any more fanciful tales of Dragons or Basilisks or any other such nonsense! You're already robbing us blind!"
"Mr. Mayor! If you'll just allow me to speak!" Arden stated. "We have experienced grave peril, and ask that you hear of the danger that has been averted."
"I'll not be taken for a fool again! I'll have witnesses this time: the townsfolk are blaming me for everything, but they can hear your lies for themselves!"
"Mr Mayor," Arden chuckled nervously, "I really don't think that'll be necessary, will it? I'm sure someone of your great wisdom can judge f…"
"Silence! Await my summons at the tavern. I'll hear nothing further from you until then!" Arden sullenly nodded in agreement. In silence, the party left the room.

When they were back outside, Arden began to grin. "I can't believe he went for it!" she whispered excitedly. "We have him right where we want him."