Warriors in this tale: Zyler (aka Clive, Weston, and Forbes) Lord MisterT (aka Lord Elston, Lord Boone) Athena (aka Amala, Isoke) Lord Odyseus and special guest star by Trimasel the Demon of Trammel *************************************************************************************************************************************************** Catalin urged his stallion faster. She had already carried him further and faster than he could have hoped, yet he urged her to fly a little faster. As the branches gouged as his face, and the bramble whipped his ankles he hoped there would be somebody at Paws to help in this hour of need. ======================================================== =================== ============================== =========================== Typically, his patrols of the southern roads leading to Trinsic were uneventful; only a few wild animals to chase off the roads so as to not become too familiar with mankind. This patrol had started out the same, and after clearing the wild animals, he decided to venture to the valley of mages. He would occasionally visit them to hear their stories and vend the occasional scroll of magic he had found. When he arrived at the aged stone tower, he was met with the visage as shock; the mages’ faces still bore their expression of horror as they lay strewn about the stone steps that led up to the main chambers. Catalin grimaced when he noticed Orlan hanging from the statue, his body contorted and crumpled. He raced inside, and found a similar exhibition of death and dismay, but he noticed his friend Jerrain, the herbalist, clutched a small scrap of.. paper? It wasn’t quite paper it shimmered in a way that he’d never seen paper do before as Jerrain’s blood dripped upon it and trickle to the moss covered stone. The astonishing deed of what Jerrain had accomplished went unnoticed by Catalin; for it was no small task to remove the page from a blood-bound journal. Catalin took up the page, and found his own name written therein. “Master, we’ve recovered the stone, but we are unable to complete the ritual here. A man known as Catalin has crossed the barrier into the valley and we must retreat.” ======================================================== =================== ============================== =========================== Reaching the grassy square of Paws, Catalin leapt from his steed and allowed her to wander into the woods to find her breath and rest. He raced up the stone steps and burst through the doors. “Jupiter! I bring ill tidings from the south! The mages, they’ve all been slaughtered” Upon his announcement the entire room turned towards Catalin. The company Jupiter had been hosting began their hushed murmurs. “What evil have you discovered?” Jupiter inquired slowly, “What is that wretched scrip you clutch?” The blood still dripping from the pages, Catalin looked to the paper almost as if he’d forgotten he had it. ======================================================== =================== ============================== =========================== Using the remnant log of the blood-journal, Jupiter had been able to ascertain the headquarters of the villains who had murdered the peaceful mages. Their lair was deep within the dungeon of Fire – a dungeon lined with traps and alarms. Jupiter knew the only chance they had to reach the main tower, was to don disguises and infiltrate their inner sanctum. Much to Jupiter’s surprise, the plan worked! It seemed all of the mages were unaware their party had arrived. Nearly all of the evil wizards were gathered in the back of the tower in attendance of some corrupt siesta.
