Table of Contents

Introduction	Vivernicol

Chapter 1: The Gnome Conspiracy	Vivernicol

Chapter 2: The creation of the Clan	Vivernicol

-The Laws of Clans and Houses	Boridarinth

Chapter 3: The Clan growing	Vivernicol

-Invitation to tournament	Morvissen

On clan Wisp	Lebron

Chapter 4: The Great Journeys	Vivernicol

The Maere Librum Journey	Vivernicol

The Great Journey	Vivernicol

Chapter 5: The Storm brewing	Vivernicol

-Raadinov's report on the Drake	Raadinov

The Journey to Ys	Elorn

The Iberian Operation	Lebron

Chapter 6: Aurora	Vivernicol

The Auroran Operation	Lebron

On Wolf and the first trip	Vazuvius

Chapter 7: The Set Rahotep	Vivernicol

On the Journey in

time and space	Corwin

The Journey in

the Necropolis	Elorn

Letter from Master Toglia	Master Toglia

The discovery of the

underground maze	Gothgar

The attempt by Morgon

to recruit warriors	Vazuvius

Conclusions	Vivernicol

A recounting of the full tale

of what became Clan Erathorn

By Vivernicol, Weaponmaster to Clan Erathorn

(This is the knight that Alexius met in Rhisendahl)

This is an attempt at a complete recounting of the story behind Clan Erathorn, and the happenings surrounding this clan after it was formed. It is written by me, Vivernicol, having been a participant in the greater part of these events. Where appropriate, such material as has been submitted by other members of the clan has been used.

First, my own story in brief. My family has supplied the Kingdom of Albion with warriors since time immemorable. I am the sixth of my generation, the order being William, Jim, Harold, James, Estelle, Vivernicol and Mark. The estate of my father's (Walter) goes according to tradition to the oldest son. The remaining sons became knights of Albion upon manhood, with the exception of Harold, now a member of the Sunlight congregation at Wycombe. Estelle is a lesser mage, but not yet married. As for myself, there was no position for me as I matured, and so I was sent to stay with a distant uncle in the Kingdom of Neustria. There I was raised to be a knight of the realm, and attained such a position upon reaching twenty-one years of age. After serving with the Lancers of Neustria for the allotted time, a small section of land was granted for my personal use, and I was charged with the protection of a small village. Had the hand of fate moved in different ways, I might have ended my days there in peace, after long service to our king Roland. This was not to be.

CHAPTER 1: The Gnome Conspiracy

The true story begins in the autumn of the AN 992. Whilst enjoying a cup of wine at my humble dwellings, I was visited by my good friend Argon Pilchard Hallock, an Engineer in the Neustrian Army. Hallock is the largest man I have ever met, and probably the strongest too. His prowess without weapons is unquestioned, his powerful legs serving as well as many a soldier's long sword. The good Hallock was busy building a fortification for the king Roland in the southern part of our kingdom, to guard against bandits and further strengthen our interior defenses against a possible attack by our Brettonian neighbours. Hallock introduced me to the Magister Althax, Baronet of Armin sur le Pond. Althax is a tall man, even taller than myself, though he is of a scholastic bent, indeed a Mage. Always accompanying him on his travel is his pet Elorn the Ineffable, a somewhat exotic being from places distant. Elorn is a fire-imp, green in hue, and with a voracious appetite for good food and valuables alike. In short order we received orders from the Prince Jean Paul. A caravan of trading gnomes was arriving with its goods, and needed additional guards to secure its passage to the castle of the Prince. Equipping ourselves to deal with potential assailants, we rode forth to do our duty, accompanied by the Prince, an accomplished swordsman. In short order, we came to Menis du Loc, a small river running through our parish. Here a bridge had been sabotaged, leaving the gnomish caravan on the other side. Little time was left for us to consider the options, however, as we were attacked by a half-dozen soldiers in Francian garb. Charging these on horseback, we soon had them on the run, and were victorious. Under the guidance of Hallock, then, we repaired the bridge, and prepared to escort the gnomes to their destination. Whilst relaxing, however, Althax was set upon by an assassin lurking in a tree. The first bolt of this assassin hit his companion Elorn, however, and whilst she was reloading, we were able to capture her by use of magick and force. Thus captured, the lady was brought along as a prisoner, and later executed. Simultaneously, a startling discovery was made-apparently Elorn had not been injured in the least by the poisoned crossbow bolt he had been hit by. As was later explained to me, like many dwellers in the foul netherrealms, Elorn cannot be harmed by weapons without enchantments upon them, regardless of the amount of force so conveyed. This known, we returned to the castle of the Prince Jean Paul, where the gnomes were given quarters, and the Prince was kind enough to house our little group in fine rooms. Taking a deserved rest, we were woken by cries of alarm from Althax. Rushing quickly to his aid, we found him assailed by a large orc, which had somehow appeared and entered from the roof. Defeating this, we were alerted to the danger, and proceeded to equip ourselves for a fight. Searching the castle, we found that a number of the gnomes were not in their rooms. Entering the cellars, we found the culprits, in the process of opening a form of magickal gate. As an orc, then another exited from this, we saw our predicament. In a hard-fought battle testing our fortitude somewhat, we managed to reach the gate, where the Magister Althax, summoning some of his great power, closed the portal. Rushing back to the room of the Head of Caravan, we were assailed by three gnomes. The two sword-wielding gnomes were dispatched by Hallock the Prince and myself, whilst Althax in a battle to the death destroyed the leading gnome. By his side we found a large gem, one of many interesting items the gnome had attempted to sell the Prince. As the remaining gnomes had either been killed or fled, the gem was our only clue, and Althax proceeded to investigate it. Apart from its powerful heka potential, he could not determine the purpose or powers of the gem, and so decided to consult a Diviner.

Inviting such a personage to the castle, a reception was held, where Elorn was found lacking in both manners and courtesy. The Prince was not pleased, and excluded him from the rest of the proceedings. However, Althax, together with the Diviner Gavrochia were able to determine that the Gem was closely linked to the creation of portals, and set about investigating it in detail. The very next day an expedition from Francia arrived, lead by the Count Mountbatten, a foreigner having worked his way up in Francia. He demanded to know why our forces had attacked his, and so we quickly deduced that a third party was involved in attempting to cause trouble on our common border. Being men of reason, our respective leaders decided that they would exchange advisors, and a man by the name of Buzakh was assigned to us. Lord Grimsbane and a number of Neustrian Lancers arrived soon after with orders to reinforce the Prince. We were dispatched to Caen to have the Gem examined in further detail.

Setting off, fortified by our experiences, but worried by the storm clouds gathering on the horizon, we moved swiftly. Indeed we had reason to be worried. Three guards who we considered against hiring as protection followed our trail and assaulted us, but were defeated with some difficulty. In a small village where we slept that night we were molested by several drunks, which Althax swiftly dealt with. However, some hours later, more locals appeared, with a most rabid desire to attack us, believing us witches (I suspect some foul magick was behind this). Not properly armoured, but knowing that such men were no match for us, we found it necessary to dispatch them. Our adviser, Buzakh, had now disappeared, and following his trail, we were lead back to the village where he had surrounded himself by mercenaries and crazed villagers. In a crowded battle inside a house we opposed and fought the miscreants, once again emerging victorious. After paying to have those still alive healed, having no desire to inflict unnecessary death on misguided peasants, we moved on. We continued, and our next encounter was a more pleasant one, as we met the entourage of the ladies Cosette and Veronica. Taking our leave at Caen, we were lodged at the King's castle. Further investigation of the Gem was carried out, and Althax was granted an audience with the King where he explained the events of late. The King was most sympathetic and voiced support for Althax. Our next destination was Oxford in Albion, the site of Althax's education.

Journeying by ship to the Albion capital of Londun, we arrived in that city refreshed by the experience. Our journey to Oxford was uneventful, apart from two encounters with bandits and ruffians. Once in Oxford, Althax consulted with his mentor, Master Toglia. It was determined that the portal through which some of the gnomes had evidently fled, and the orcs entered, ended somewhere in the Caribbean islands. Starting our preparations for a long sea journey, we were surprised to find that Althax, using mighty magicks honed for that purpose, could transport us directly to the island of Cuba. We arrived soon thereafter. Consulting with the authorities in the form of the military commander of the island, Jean Pedros de Cavillian, we departed on one of their small galleys, heading for a volcanic isle which might well be our target. As we rowed with some haste, two large galleasses appeared from behind a jut of rock, and sped to intercept us. Seeing the hostile intent Althax once again impressed, summoning a bird of bright light, a Sun Eagle, to our presence. This sped off towards one galleass, and attacked this with ferocity, destroying the vessel and those within. Further magicks allowed Althax, Hallock, James (my good brother) and myself to approach undetected. Althax and Hallock proceeded to assault the leaders of the hostile ship, whilst James and I dealt with the marine contingent. After doing considerable damage, we withdrew, and were able to reach our destination. Boats were landed, and we were soon attacked by a number of large, foul orcs, with large swords and shields. We defeated these, but not without loss, for several of the men-at-arms with us died in the battle.

Our search of the island began, but before we could find a potential gnomish encampment, more orcs arrived, and pressed us onto a narrow ledge of land where we took cover in a depression in the ground. Some exchange of arrow and bolt took place, but the situation was untenable. Once again, Althax summoned a creature of light, and aided by this, we defeated the remaining orcs. Now finding a trail we finally reached what was indeed the Gnomish base, in a deserted tower on the island. Battling our way in, we despatched the orcs guarding the gate, and confirmed our suspicions of an alliance. Inside the tower were two gnomes of considerable skill in combat, and a magickally able individual. After a tough fight, we emerged victorious, the leading gnome being defeated by Althax's magick. We were now all quite exhausted. Some minor baubles were found, which we brought if appropriate. The situation was not reassuring, however, as the ship bringing us to the island had apparently been destroyed by marauding orcs, and we were unaware of the numbers still on the island. Althax therefore repeated his feat, and sent us back. That is, he successfully sent most of the party back. James' horse was never again seen after a rift in the flow of Althax's magick, and I did not reach the desired destination. In fact, tired and hungry I found myself deep within a forest, where my heavy plate was most inappropriate. Putting my faith in Althax's ability to correct the problem, I set forth to find high ground where I could wait. Before I had journeyed far, I met a group of tall and warlike women, who regarded me with some suspicion. They indicated that I was to follow, however, and glad to be in the company of civilized beings, I did so. When I arrived at their hamlet, I was fed and entertained, and was able to rest in peace. The next day, I once again equipped myself and prepared to set off, attempting to ask the women for the nearest city. They did not speak Trade Phonecian, however, and were not pleased when I attempted to leave. They surrounded me, and pointed back to the hut where I had slept. While I attempted to explain my wish to find a city by gesture and sign, the mood became quite strained. Most likely, some violence might have ensued, had not Althax appeared at that point, and quickly transported us both back to the safety of Oxford, where we were able to recount our experience and spend some time resting. A short prayer was voiced for the sailors of the ship, and its captain, Don Dagos, all dead at the hands of orcs.

I now spent several weeks in intense training with my mentor, Nadauer of the Templars. Those skills I acquired and honed would stand me in good steed in the days to come. After returning to my dwellings, I was quickly called again by Althax. A number of the peasants on his estate had suddenly disappeared, and there was talk of a great beast being responsible. We set out to investigate, and stalking the grounds at night, captured a small goblin without a tongue. We imprisoned this, and followed its trail to a hole in the earth by a small section of forest. Creeping through tunnels and beating off vermin, we at last arrived at a door, which closed after we had passed through it. An underground complex filled with traps and dangers was revealed to us. The beast so feared by the peasants was indeed here, and we fought it with steel and magick, sending it back to the gloomy pits which it came from. Numerous skeletons were also animated in this place, and we opposed and destroyed them. Then the wall behind us collapsed, sending a cascade of water towards us. Escaping this by magick, we penetrated a wall to find the inner sanctum of the gnomes. We defeated those here, and followed a flight of stairs up, to a small village in the Kingdom of Francia. Here we followed the escaping gnomes, and though he used most foul necromantic magick to summon more undead horrors to his aid, we were finally victorious. A new compatriot, Bergond Debrieste, Earl of Jersey, had acquitted himself well in this combat. Tragedy had struck, however, as the final gnome had killed a man with his poisoned dagger, leaving a girl child without a family. Althax here showed nobility of spirit, and took the girl in, soon sending her to be educated at Oxford, covering the full expense himself. We left the village and returned to the lands of Althax, where a celebration was held, in time for the arrival of the Count van Bruningen and daughter Corina, who were visiting Althax. It seemed that a rest was well deserved.

CHAPTER 2: The Creation of the Clan

As before, it was not to be. Later that same night, the powerful Gem of Althax surged with magick, and we were woken by Althax, a large portal of some sort in the middle of his room. Quickly getting ready, we boldly stepped through it, and found ourselves in a dank sewer. Here, a small number of horrid humanoids with the head and tail of rats set upon us, and we defeated them. The portal closed behind us, revealing the Gem, unscathed. Making our way through the sewer and out, (with some difficulty, due to the manipulations of our new compatriot, Dick) we knew that we were far from home. A moderately large, sprawling city presented itself to us, with large numbers of scaly lizardoids milling about. Soon, we were amazed to see the vast wings of a great Dragon as it landed close to us. Overcoming our initial fright, and assuming that its intent was not hostile, Althax introduced us. The Dragon was golden in hue, vast in size, and well spoken. Its name was Boridarinth, King of Boridari island. We were now on a smaller island nearby this. The Dragon seemed pleased to see us, and must have thought we arrived by design, because he quickly explained to us the "rules" of this place, and then let us be. Apparently, a system of great Clans and Houses operated. The Clans and Houses were mostly rivals, and also fought against a vast indigenous population of ratmen. The system was arbited by the King Boridarinth. Here follows a document the King made available to us:

The laws of Clans and Houses, as set forth by Boridarinth the Dragon

All outsiders to visit the islands must be part of a clan or house, must work directly for a clan or house, or must establish their own clan.

Requirements for Clans:

Each clan must have a clan symbol of a magickal nature, and this must be displayed during any official business

Each clan must have a leader. This leader must have the respect of his men, or must at least be a noble of his homeland

Each clan must have a clan magus. This may or may not be the same person as the clan leader. The clan magus must have considerable skill in wielding heka, or his clan is surely doomed to failure.

Each clan must have a clan weaponmaster. This individual must be accomplished with many weapons, and should accompany the clan leader on official business.

Each clan must have a warrior contingent. This warrior contingent must have a captain or leader of some kind, but the detailed divisions do not affect the status of the clan.

It is strongly recommended that each clan have a clan priest, to deal with inevitable injuries, and to keep heads level. However, this is left up to the individual clan.

Finally, the to be clan must be approved by Boridarinth, and must purchase their clan acceptance coin.

Further requirements needed for clans aspiring to house status:

Such a clan must have a steady mining operation providing a reasonable flow of obsidian and/or other minerals. Whether the flow is sufficient will be determined upon inspection.

Further, the clan must hold at least a small amount of land, and this must be properly defended against invaders.

The warrior contingent of a house shall number at the very least 50 men

A house shall have a clearly defined headquarters to conduct its business from

As a final gesture, the to be house must collect 100 ratmen tails and present these with the other requirements when petitioning for house status

The advantages of a House

Any clan powerful enough to reach house status has already proven that it is resourceful. However, upon reaching such status, a number of benefits accrue.

1. A house has speaking rights at any gathering of the Council, and shall have 1 vote for the first 5 years of its existence, and thereafter 2 votes to cast. A ranking member from the house is required to sit at such a Council for each vote.

2. A House may call a tournament at any time the Council is not in an extraordinary session, or another tournament has been called. All houses and any available clans must be invited to such a tournament, and full lodgings and food must be provided to the visitors.

3. A house may not directly assault the headquarters of another house. If battles are fought through third parties, this is acceptable. Likewise, the house is itself safe from such direct assault, though clans may still attack houses. The exception to this is if a house declares open war on another house, in which case no limitations apply.

4. A house may have several ranked members of each type. That is, a house may have a weaponmaster 1, 2, 3 and so on. The individual bearing the ranking 1 within any of the fields may not be challenged to a duel. Ranked members must declare their enumeration with their title. Only one house leader is allowed, of course.

5. In the case of a house facing imminent destruction, ranked members and their retainers may take refuge on Boridari island, but their house is thusly struck out, and such persons are to leave by whatever means as quickly as possible, never to return to the islands.

Determining that Althax was to be the Clan Leader of the newly founded Clan Erathorn, Hallock was to be Captain of the Guard and I was to be Weaponmaster, we completed the formalities, and prepared to set off for the mainland, there to attempt to establish ourselves. Knowledge had come our way of a newly destroyed Clan, the Clan Eagle, which had established a stronghold before being eliminated. It was our intention to travel there to investigate the fortress. Soon indeed a number of undead, lead by an exceptionally well animated individual arrived, threatening us in no uncertain terms that House Morvissen was not pleased with our presence. Sir James here showed his mettle, not in the least phased by the undead horror before us, replying in a like manner that neither were we pleased with their presence. House Morvissen, a house of undead, is the oldest of the houses on the island, and our quarrel with them is as old as our Clan. Indeed, it will not end before one side is no more. We took a boat to the main island, without Althax, who had business to attend to. The journey was hard, for though the land was gentle and flat, frequent settlements of ratmen impeded our progress, due to the innate hostility of these creatures. We finally arrived at the Clan Eagle holdings, far into a narrow valley. Entering the small castle, we were attacked by many undead, but fought well, now accompanied by Althax once again. Yet the sweetness of our eventual victory was muted by the death of Dick. He had bravely thrown himself into the midst of the undead hordes, and had held them at bay long enough for us to gain the upper hand, but had paid the ultimate price, his light leather protection being woefully inadequate against the undead claws. We buried him with the proper ceremony and investigated the castle. Bringing in reinforcements in the form of Prince Jean Paul and Neustrian men-at-arms, we attempted to secure our position. This was most wisely done, for soon after, a vast horde of ratmen, presumably alerted to our presence by our enemies, laid siege to our position. Due to our deadly crossbows and the defensible nature of the castle, we rained constant death upon our enemies, and fought such ones as came to the castle walls with abandon. Our victory would have been total, had not the enemy sent a pack of skeletons, impervious it would seem to our weaponry, onto the main gates. We engaged in a great melee before the doors, and though we defeated this pack of horrors, Hallock in the process was gravely injured, his leg broken even as he was destroying his enemies. Victory was shortlived, however, as now a great demonling winged its way towards us. We were forced to retreat, after melee with the thing proved fruitless, our weapons of little effect. Many of our soldiers fell in the ensuing battle, but we at last managed to retreat to the cellars, where we found a secret passage further down. Moving here, we encountered a number of small ugly goblinoids, later determined to be hobgoblins. Beating our way through these, we fled ever deeper into the darks, finally ending up on a small isle in an underground lake. The demonling was not to be stopped however, and pursued us all the way down. Finally, pushed into a corner, it was Althax who saved us, offering to free the creature from its service to its master. Althax shortly moved to the abode of the witch responsible, putting his magick to good use. Here, a great magickal battle ensued, leaving both magi drained but alive. The foe fled, leaving Althax to melee with ratmen guards. After disturbing the magick binding the demonling, Althax managed an escape, whilst the demonling left us to deal with its former master. The attack thus defeated, we looked about us, and found further paths into the bowels of the earth. A small tribe of primitives resided nearby, and Hallock was most revered by these after showing them the secret of fire. For us, it was now most important to consolidate our position, and to get some well deserved rest. The Monk Fraadin of Sunlight was a great comfort after the battle, tending to the wounded and soothing our spirits.

A period of intense diplomacy ensued, where we attempted to bolster our forces and obtain allies. Though our travels were perilous, we prevailed, continually set upon by ratmen, and foul creations which we suspected were controlled by House Morvissen. The Five great Houses on the island are: House Kolok-Gnomish, House Wrethin-Dragon and lizardmen, House Bronze- Hammer-Dwarven, House Blood-River-Orcish and House Morvissen-Undead. From House Kolok, we recruited Raadinov and his family. Raadinov was to become our trade master, and has shown great skill and cunning in taking care of matters fiscal. From House Bronze-Hammer we were allotted Gothgar, for a share of our profits, and a favour in killing several Griffons which had been plaguing the area. In the mountains here we were also fought by an ogre. Finally, from the King Roland the greatest help was provided. Seeing the potential of the new lands, the King made Althax his Viceroy to Phaeree, as this was our new home. Further, he provided almost five score soldiers to aid in defending the realm, until such a time as we could recruit them ourselves. A great number of works were started, and details were worked out for the running of the Clan. They are not relevant here, but see the exposition at the end of this for the current status of the Clan.

CHAPTER 3: The Clan Growing

The very next month, a delivery was made of an invitation from House Morvissen, this is shown below:

From: House Morvissen

To: Clan Erathorn

Invitation to a tournament

To celebrate the 250th year of House Morvissen, a tournament will be held commencing on the 25th day of August 993. You are cordially invited to attend, normal limitations applying.

The schedule for the tournament follows:

Day 1: Arrivals, presentations, exchange of gifts between clans and houses, evening banquet

Day 2: Morning:	Initial rank challenges made

Crossbow competition

Evening:	Archery competition

Rank challenges carried out

Day 3: Morning:	Burials

Non-Rank challenges made

Evening:	Non-Rank challenges carried out

All day:	House/Clan consultations

Day 4: Joust list entry, announcement

Joust list fought, celebrations for victor

Burials

Day 5: Foot list entry, announcements

Foot list fought, celebrations

Burials

Day 6: Burials

Any remaining challenges

Challenges to House Morvissen champion

Banquet

Burials

Day 7: Final house/clan consultations

Departures

Note: Urgent challenges may also be carried out immediately subject to available grounds and approval by House Morvissen and the Dragon Boridarinth

We await your reply

Morvissen, Head of House Morvissen

This tournament, though fraught with danger, was obviously a great opportunity for us to deal in politics, and show our mettle to the other factions on the island. Once again calling on the good sense of our King, we were able to bring a number of fine Neustrian knights with us, to both take part and act as guards in the case of foul play. Making our preparations in good time, we journeyed to the appointed field, and watched as other Clans and Houses arrived, and Boridarinth raised a great globe of force around the grounds, isolating the tournament. Of the background goings on I will let Lebron speak shortly. The tournament itself was a great clash of steel on steel, many deaths and wounds received by all. In archery, Clan Clearwater of the Northwestern forests prevailed. In the crossbow competition, Clan Wyzzen (Undead) was victorious. Many challenges were fought during these days, and several weaponmasters died, including Weaponmaster 3 of House Bloodriver, who challenged me. The Joust was the next competition, and once again I took part. The prize was the Princess Lauredana of Corsica, imprisoned against her will by House Morvissen. Furious at this evil, I forced my way to the final, and there defeated the House Morvissen Weaponmaster 3 in melee, after his horse had collapsed, and a very long joust where much skill was shown by us both. I saluted his skill, but not his choice of master. The lady was released into our custody. Next was the footlist, where once again I participated. The Knight Wold of Neustria herein died, killed by a grotesque vampire creation. I managed to pass the preliminaries, however, and was the only remaining challenger to the House Morvissen champion, a great netherling wielding two large broadswords. The ensuing melee was terrible, and only by stretching myself to the very limit, wounded and weary did I manage to kill the being with a mighty strike at the critical moment, thanking King Roland for his gift of an enchanted sword, and the gods for their inspiration. The prize for this effort was a massive full suit of armour which Morvissen would never have parted with willingly but for the presence of the Dragon, Boridarinth. The Monk Fraadin used his powers to heal me, and the next day I was ready for the final challenge, a great Golem which House Morvissen offered as a champion. Dodging its massive and powerful blows, I destroyed the beast of rock and won the prize. My task was completed, and success was bought only at the narrowest of margins. We returned to Clan Erathorn to mourn our dead and celebrate our victory. Soon after, we were joined by Pertakus and several other men from Clan Wisp, they having decided to toss their lot in with us.

On Clan Wisp

By Lebron, Scribe to Clan Erathorn

Clan Wisp was twelve years old when the invitation to the tournament came. The Clan was made up of individuals from many places and walks of life. However, the core was always a number of individuals of Atlantlan origin, whose services to the government had been cut short by an internal power struggle. Determined not to be caught up in the manipulations of other players, this core established Clan Wisp, to work for themselves. I became the leader after three years, on the assassination of the previous leader by House Morvissen mercenaries. Our clan was always small and relied upon our elusiveness for survival. Progress to House status was to be made slowly, and was further complicated by Morvissen, which recognized the possible threat our knowledge might pose. We were therefore always in the background, and learnt to use the knowledge we had to the full. The underlying principle of Clan Wisp is therefore the mobilization of power outside the clan rather than the accumulation of power within it, because the latter cannot be done to the degree required.

Presence at the tournament was a must. We were not there for honor or glory as some of the other Clans, but to keep our ear to the ground and see what alliances were being made and broken. Several new clans were present. Notable amongst these was Razzin, a new clan of Ratmen, and extremely agressive. A new human clan, Erathorn, had a heavy presence, with a number of knights. As the tournament progressed, two things became clear. Firstly, Razzin's agressiveness was not matched by talent, and secondly Erathorn performed extremely well in the melee events. Their weaponmaster in particular was highly skilled, and their Clan Leader, Althax, showed some cunning in dealing with Clan Wye, which had plans to eliminate him. I furnished Erathorn with some such information, both to secure their continued presence, and to find their disposition towards cooperation. The result was more than I had expected, as Erathorn offered a merging of our two clans, our specialist knowledge supplanted by Erathorn's strength of arms. We immediately refused, in such a way that Althax would understand it as an affirmative. The rest of the tournament was spent in observing events, and watching the Clan Razzin contingent get decimated. Our path now set with Erathorn, where we would supplant each other rather than compete, we took leave upon completion of the tournament, and arranged an attack by Erathorn upon our current camp. We then returned to Erathorn and merged with the population of the clan. Our Gray School lesser Mage Darius became Clan mage, and Corwin took charge of the bodyguard of Althax. The merging was complete, and work could continue.

CHAPTER 4: The Great Journeys

Some time passed now without further danger, the Clan taking shape and with much activity all round. Here follows an account of the next journey undertaken without the assistance of Althax.

A recounting of the Maere Librum Journey, as told by Vivernicol, Weaponmaster of Clan Erathorn and noted by the Scribe Leeika

October 14th-We departed the Clan Erathorn holdings discretely, and disguised ourselves as merchants in poor wines, to make our purpose unclear, and to throw off any assassins sent by our great enemy, House Morvissen. Journeying to my holdings, we laid our plans. First, we obtained the cooperation of an acquaintance, Wolf of the Elemental School. His knowledge of the Iberian languages would enable our venture into Aragon to succeed. Here we would purchase fine weaponry for trading with House Bronze-hammer, and find a boat to Corsica. In the meantime, Her Highness Lauredana was being sent by coach to meet us in her homeland.

Little need be said of our journey through Francia, for it was untroubled, and we saw no clash of arms. Arriving at the border to Aragon our hopes were high, and though the guards were suspicious, they let us through. Yet only hours later, traveling on a dusty road on the hot plains, we were stopped by numerous horsemen of a military persuasion. They asked piercing questions, and seized upon our apparent lack of status to claim our companion had stolen his fine Garron. More horsemen arrived, and outnumbered, wishing no great battle, we surrendered to the authorities, expecting the misunderstanding to be cleared up quickly. This was not to be. After an uncomfortable night in a jail cell, we were brought before Terrius Belar, justiciar. With what appeared to be paid witnesses and without paying attention to our objections, we were condemned for numerous crimes, and condemned to be galley slaves "for the rest of your natural lives" as the justiciar expressed it. We were transported to the nearest port, devoid of all equipment, and chained to great oars in a great galley, the name "Marduk" boldly painted on the bow. Soon we were set to row, together with nearly two hundred similar unfortunates.

The following days were ones of hard work, as we moved eastwards toward the Phonecian states. Whispered plans began to take form, and Wolf, being of a technical bent, managed to jump the locks on his chains, giving us at least a chance for an escape. Yet planning was not without danger, ever-alert slave drivers eyeing our every move. The bold Hallock, Captain of the Guard, attempted to plan a takeover, but a traitor turned him in, and he suffered 20 lashes of the whip-quite often fatal. Yet Hallock lived, and bore his wounds with dignity, building his strength for the time of revenge. After weeks of rowing, and moving toward the Kingdom of Naples, our chance came. A great storm battered the ship, and oars were drawn in, most of the crew retreating below board, with only the sailing master and the occasional patrol to watch the slaves. Here Wolf slipped his chains, and continued to release Hallock, myself and Arpegatus of Moonlight, a staunch ally in this time. Now several slaves of a traitorous bent died, washed into the ocean, turbulent like our spirits. A traitor who was once a warrior tried to make his mark with a scimitar he had somehow obtained, but Arpegatus summoned me a sword of flame, and the traitor died. Now searching the ship, we found several rooms of weaponry and arms, and carried shields and scimitars to the slaves, freeing them quickly, whilst staying quiet so as not to alert the guards. Finally, the time was ripe, and the slaves charged into the chambers of the ship's marines, aided by the crew under Sailing Master Paolo Moha, who had rallied to our side. In a bloody fight they slew the marines, leaving only a handfull of enemies aboard. We pursued these into an upper level, and here Hallock slew the Ship's Wizard, Maldonado of the Black School, after said villain had paralyzed Wolf and myself with a staff of power. We continued, and meeting the captain and slave master together in the main cabin, fought them to the death, ending the struggle for the ship. Searching the ship, we found many items of use, including the weaponry brought back. Further, items of magick were our reward, for we needed all the help we could have in bringing the ship back home. Wolf was rewarded with the staff in question, and a phylactery that would increase his power. Hallock came upon a stone which seemed to bring luck, and I an armband, which, when worn in combat, allows me to sense incoming blows, and allows me opportunities to parry such blows with speed and added agility.

Hallock then took command of the ship, having some experience with construction of such vessels, and rallied those aboard in trying to escape the Maere Librum and fleeing to Neustria. First, we journeyed west to Corsica, knowing that it would take some time before the owners of the boat came looking. It turned out that this mysterious group of people call themselves the Starfire Guild, and that they have great power in the Maere Librum. Yet they are not honest merchants- dealing in contraband, avoiding taxation, and trapping people into slavery, and so we felt justified in treating the captured treasures as our own. In Corsica the ship was repainted and subtly changed to make it less the ship it was. Recruits were also obtained, with promises of land grants in Clan Erathorn territory. Restored, then, we set off again, this time with voluntary rowers on healthy rations. Passing along the northern coast of the continent of Afrik we recruited more troops, and set full sails for the Atlantlan Ocean. One more clash was to come, for when we sailed near Mago, the Starfire Guild found us. 3 light galleys they sent, and a race was on. A wizard entered our ship through means magickal, and while he was engaged by Wolf, I climbed into the Crow's Nest where he appeared. Swiftly, he changed into a black eagle and attempted escape, but I jumped, and with one hand grabbed his black leg, plunging into the waters below. He changed back to his natural form and attempted to fight, and in the waters he died. A staff was once again Wolf's reward, but for Hallock, the ring that changes a man into an eagle. Thus, one ship was without its wizard, and quickly fell back in the race. The second ship we outran, for our men were strong and well fed, but the third kept up, at terrible cost to its slaves, no doubt. Finally, it came within range, and Wolf fired. Inspired by the occasion, no doubt, he timed his shot to perfection and crushed the forward oars and rigging of the ship, freeing us to escape out of the Maere Librum during bad weathers. Our remaining journey was swift and hard, and though we were forced to take action against a pirate in Avillonian waters, our return was secured. Once here, Wolf was given bales of cloth for his business, the sailing master some wares and the ship he had sailed so well, and we, holding no small coin amongst the crew, left with the truly valuable goods, as well as the slaves and volunteers who would follow. Thus, our journey was ended, the task was accomplished, and we looked forward to using the goods gained for the best of the clan.

Back at Clan Erathorn, we continued our business, but it was not long before another great journey was to be our lot. It is recounted here:

A recounting of the Great Journey, as told by Vivernicol, Weaponmaster of Clan Erathorn and noted by the Scribe Leeika

Part 1: Departure

On December 15th 993, after your Serene Highness departed to have business with the King, we were informed of a ratman village within the Clan Erathorn lands. The footmen were wary of dealing with this village on their own, due to a strong magick in the area. Assuming that a dweomercrafter was present the Clan Wizard Darius accompanied Hallock and myself to the site. Once here, we met moderate resistance from ratmen, but suffered no injuries. However, as we were dispatching foes, suddenly a shimmering portal appeared in the middle of the village, and from a hiding place nearby we observed Elisia, Witch of House Morvissen heading for it. I naturally charged in pursuit, closely followed by Hallock, whilst Darius dealt with the last of the ratmen. A footman by the name of Morwick was also quickly by our side. The Witch jumped through the portal, and we followed without hesitation. This proved our undoing, for as we travelled through the portal, weapons and armour were wrenched from us violently, leaving us with no means of defence. The only item left to us was one of magick-the one foremost in our minds at the time of travel. For Hallock, this was his lucky stone, and as for any other weaponmaster, for me, the armband of parries. Emerging from the portal, we were in a dire predicament indeed, for there stood the Witch, supported by some two score orcs of Clan Spearhead. Our only hope was to flee, and this we did with conviction. After a short pursuit, Hallock noticed a cave, and we chose to escape into it. Once again, we had made the wrong choice. This proved to be the main seat of Clan Spearhead, and we were quickly surrounded by orcs. Surrender was not a tempting option, and so we scanned the area. In the middle of this cave was a pentacle, which I presume was of the exclusive variety, within which was a portal similar to the one we had travelled through. Favouring a poor chance over no chance, we ran towards the pentacle, hoping it would not prevent our entry. This it did not, and in fact, after our passage it seemed to recharge, leaving the orcs on the outside. With no means of escape and not knowing whether the Witch would be able to assault us upon arriving, we decided to use the portal before us, and clutching our remaining magicks, tentatively stepped through. The same vertigo assaulted us upon entry, but this time no force attempted to divest us of possessions. We arrived at our destination in a blink of an eye, and knew immediately that we were far from Clan Erathorn lands.

Part II: Journeys Afar

We felt a great heat, as in a desert, the sun beat down on our exposed heads, and a fine sand covered the land as far as the eye could see. Examining the land in detail, we finally made out a rocky region and started a slow march towards it, hoping to find shelter. As dusk came, and weary from the march, which upon later reflection was no more than an hour, we felt rock under our feet. Continuing into the rocky region, we fell victim to a sudden ambush. With no warning, we were surrounded by a score or so men wearing a heavy form of leather armour. These spoke to us in an unintelligible language, and brandished knives and what we assumed was a magickal form of crossbow. The meaning was clear-follow us or die. Still unarmed, and unsure of our position, we followed, and were dragged blindfold to a subterranean area, where we were thrown into some sort of prison hole. This contained about a score of men, dressed differently from those first encountered. They wore ugly leather armours, and bore many scars. Their short, reddish hair was unkept, and they looked at us with the appraising glances of condemned convicts. One approached us, sized us up, and then testingly offered a word. This he repeated several times, as if hoping for a positive response. The word was "Harkonnen." When we responded in the negative, the attitude of the men changed, and several more identifiers were offered: "Sardukar" and "Ordos." Finally, we responded, telling them "Erathorn." For the time being, nothing further. Later, our captors returned with water for the prisoners. A particularly large "Harkonnen" then came over and attempted to take my water. Aware of how precious water is in such an area, I decided to set a precedent and killed him. This temporarily dampened the aggressive tendencies of our fellow prisoners, and caused a substantial change of attitude amongst our captors. They brought us out of the prison cell, and to a room where sat an aging man who seemed to be of a sedentary bent. It was clear that he was to be our tutor, and we were to learn their language. For the next several months our days were filled with new words, and we used each other to keep our fighting skills up to date. Though what we learnt from the old man, whose name was Khaliff, was probably tailored for our ears, we got a rough understanding of the situation. The Fremen as they called themselves, are desert dwellers, living in underground complexes in the rock. The Harkonnens are their mortal enemies, and control the more heavily populated regions of the planet. Both factions rely on the spice melange, which grows only on Arrakis, the planet. To the Harkonnens, the spice is money, and to the Fremen, the base of their existence. The scene is thus set for conflict. However, this was not our concern. Our thoughts were of the Clan Erathorn holdings, and of how to return. Yet to have any chance of returning, we had to survive, and so decided to play along with the Fremen. They seemed to fight exclusively with knives and the strange projectile weapons which they had captured from their enemies. Having little skill with knives ourselves, we asked for a sword. After a lengthy discussion, they agreed to let us have some of the metal from captured Harkonnen knives, as they used a crystalline material for their own knives. Improvising a forge, we managed to produce a rather crude broadsword, which I was entrusted with. We were given sets of "stillsuits" which the Fremen called their leather armours. These would also recover our water (perhaps some form of alchemy), and enable us to travel through the desert. An expedition was to set off, carrying packs of the spice, which would be traded with smugglers from House Ordos (it seems that the power factions were solely Houses). This would be our chance to prove ourselves worthy allies. The patrol, consisting of 10 people-7 Fremen and ourselves, set off at dusk, and travelled across the land on foot. We were instructed to adopt an irregular walking pattern to avoid attracting worms. This took some time to get used to, but finally we began to adopt it unconsciously and were safe. According to the descriptions, the worms are extremely large wingless drakes attracted to vibrations in the sand. It seems it was only blind luck which had saved us from them during our initial march. Even more so, as all our magick was drained, and we had no power left, neither in dweomercraft nor herbalism. Our items of power, however, seemed to function still-indicating that not all sources of magick were blocked. The march was hard, but we persevered, having superior training to the Fremen. On day three of our march, moving through a mountanous area, we were ambushed by a Harkonnen patrol. These were easily dispatched, and we snuck up on the remainder of the enemy force and finished it. The Fremen demonstrated some skill in this, wielding their knives much as eastern assassins. We continued undaunted, though a flying creature, which we later learned was a vehicle called a carryall (a truly remarkable piece of heka-forging-we could not even see the magickal symbols) passed over our heads. Time passed, and our only encounter was with a desert lizard which I dispatched, before being told it was extremely poisonous. On Day 14 of our trek, we came to a larger section of rock, where our scouts told us a Harkonnen force was fortified. We attacked at night, in two groups, and with limited casualties defeated the force before moving on. Evading enemy "Ornithopters"-another flying marvel, we proceeded with little incident along to our destination, arriving 29 days after setting out. A large fortification was hidden in the mountain, with one of the aforementioned carryalls ready to accept our loads. Here we encountered Michael Brentin of the Ordos. He had grave news-the Harkonnens were planning a large offensive, employing many of their "rifles" which we had learnt were dangerous in the extreme. We therefore decided to leave the Fremen, after making sure they were warned, and departed quickly on wings of metal (a remarkable experience, though quite shocking). Mr. Michael Brentin (his title unexplained) offered us a deal. He would allow us to join the Ordos, and be thoroughly trained, and even offer us a small gift of our choice. We naturally obliged, and were somehow moved to another world (yes, several planets bustling with activity) to an Ordos fortification. For six months we were trained here, learning the use of the powerful rifles, how the Ordos fought, and how to fight with shields. Naturally, we know how to employ shields, but through another feat of heka-forging, the inhabitants here have been able to produce belts, which, when activated protect the wearer from all direct blows. This was quite difficult to adapt to, as normal armours work quite differently. However, after much training and a few battles, this too was no longer a handicap. The noble Hallock found the new situation much harder to deal with, but our advantage lay in our greater weapon skills, enabling us to keep weapons from hitting us at all, and being able to rely on the shields when they did hit. The entire training period, and dealing with this highly exotic environment was made much easier by the appearance of a Damius Ravenlocks, elite mercenary-who seemed intrigued by our skills and foreign appearance. We joined this worthy through the training, and were put in the same "platoon" upon finishing our training. We were Trike Platoon OP-4048 (Trikes being a strange form of land-going carriage powered by heka). Setting off for our first assignment we encountered an overturned trike and investigated. The two men there quickly attacked and paid for it. Searching the trike we found several packs of spice, and decided to hide these from our Sergeant. We were then assigned to rearguard, and suddenly set upon by a number of Sardaukar. Ravenlocks and Spitz (an Ordos soldier) in particular seemed worried, and we drew into a tight square formation, engaging our shields. The Sardukar closed and we fought for what seemed like hours. Through the gargantuan efforts of Ravenlocks and myself we defeated the Sardukar, but not without the loss of Spitz and scratches here and there. There and then we knew that more than 2 Sardukar could spell doom for even the most adept warrior. The Sardukar had fought with Scimitars, somewhat like the ones I had had made as part of our deal with Mr. Brentin. We gathered our items, and set off on the Sardukar bikes, to catch up with our Sergeant. Later that same day, our Sergeant, true to form, wanted to pass through an extremely dangerous mountain range to save time. Listening to the advice of Ravenlocks, we refused, taking a round route (this was technically desertion, but we had never had any loyalty to House Ordos from the start). Arriving at our assigned fortification, we attempted to sell the spice to various shady dealers, and succeeded in part. However, our Sergeant had somehow surpassed all expectation and survived his foolhardy trip, and we were now fugitives. Recovering the rest of the spice and preparing for a fight, we captured the local Ornithopter, just fighting off the first Sardukar as they came for their revenge. We fled quickly to a large island city were no House held sway, and prepared to make another sale, hoping for enough money to take us to a safer planet. This was not to be. Attempting a sale in a disreputable bar, we were attacked by a large number of local roughs. Opening with several rounds from our rifles, and then activating shields, we dispatched the unarmoured thugs with negligible difficulty. The innkeeper, however, managed to escape, and we pursued him. Seeing him leave another inn, we foolishly decided to inquire inside. As we were making enquiries, several men with large rifles appeared and opened fire on us. Hallock, Ravenlocks and myself managed to activate our shield before the minute projectiles landed, but Morwick was too slow, and was hit in the head, dying instantly. We fled the scene, and observed that our Ornithopter was now guarded, blocking escape. Trying the only alternative, we snuk up to the Ornithopters of the local forces, and distracting attention with a device producing a crude heka-blast, we captured one and set off. Thus we walked right into a trap. The Ornithopter was virtually drained of heka, and we had to turn back and land on a beach to save ourselves. Finally, we tried one last desperate tactic, found an isolated Ornithopther belonging to a merchant, and captured it, traveling fast to the closest and largest city we could find. Here, it was brought to our attention that transport was available back to Arrakis for those willing to enlist with the Harkonnens. In this place of such great chaos, where nobility is scant and lives cheap, we decided to offer our services to the Harkonnens, thinking that Arrakis, where the whole adventure started, might also be where it would end. During the next three months we worked for the Harkonnens, locating Ordos raiders, guarding their precious spice, and now and again fighting Fremen, who killed more than their share of Harkonnens in return. Yet we survived, for survival was our aim, and the fight was not ours. As we patrolled our section of desert, in an Ornithopther belonging to the Harkonnens, and promoted to the rank of Captain, two individuals were spotted by my trusty "pilot" Friedrich of the Harkonnens. We "touched down" some distance from the intruders and challenged them. Quickly our wariness turned to joy, for they answered in fluent Neustrian. They were Wolf of the Elemental School and Baron Agonar of Neustria. Hastily leaving to avoid worms, we transported them back and passed them off as assistant and mighty warrior. They wove a tale similar to ours. Baron Agonar had discovered a strange cube of a magickal nature on his lands, and had enlisted the help of Wolf in deciphering it. This he had done with skill, identifying it as a transport device requiring a gem of much value and a great amount of heka to activate. The two had supplied these quantities and been presented with a shimmering portal, through which they ventured, whereupon they were suddenly stranded in the desert. These had not lost any possessions, but were woefully poorly equipped. We supplied them with the proper equipment, and started our search for a cube matching the description, thinking this our only chance of returning. To our advantage, the Harkonnens favour vulgar displays of wealth, and so our "base" commander had let us see his priceless crystal, captured from enemies on some backwater world. Secondly, our magick was very slowly returning, the power seemingly coming from the spice in our food-for as we increased the intake of this, the amount of heka energy available to us increased as well. Wolf found himself without heka, as we had, but he had brought several items which proved helpful. His direct heka reservoirs were still functional, though the rate at which they replenished was almost negligible. His wand of power, enabling him to strike down an enemy with pain, also functioned, though it relied on heka from his other devices for its operation. We waited for a sign, and without our knowledge we were pointed in the right direction. An Ordos smuggler camp had been located by our scouts, and we decided to test its strength. Bringing our Neustrian group as well as some Harkonnen troopers, we voyaged in Ornithopters and stealthily approached. Our stealth was not enough, it seems, for we were attacked by well armed raiders in defensible positions. Both escape and advance were impossible, and we crouched for safety behind rocks. Here our shields came in handy, for though forbidden by the Harkonnens on account of them attracting worms, we had brought our shield generators. Using these, we could stand up and charge our enemies. By this time, I was acquiring quite some skill with the rifles issued to officers, revealing it as an extremely potent and easily employed weapon (woe be to the day when such a weapon is discovered on Aerth). We found an entrance to the smuggler camp, and defeating some poorly trained guards moved through tunnels towards the main rooms. By this time we had lost all our Harkonnen troopers to misadventure, and once again attempted to rely on stealth. Stealth is not our strength it seems, for once again we were spotted, and set upon by a single Fremen who wounded Hallock grievously before being dispatched-this even though Hallock had his shield up, and the Fremen should have no foreknowledge of such a device. A general alert was up, and we retreated, knowing that a full scale assault would be most costly. Returning to base, we decided that while Hallock was preparing for the Harkonnen attack on the base (the number of soldiers within the base a sure sign that a load of great value was present), Wolf, the Baron and myself would try to infiltrate. We walked across the desert this time, employing the tactics learnt from the Fremen-not without incident, for two of our Harkonnen troopers fell victim to the worms. Finally arriving, we executed an ambush on the guards and proceeded inside, meeting fair resistance. Pursued by numerous Ordos guards and Fremen on site, we fought our way to the central chamber, and swiftly absconded with the Carryall therein, forcing the pilot to take us out after eliminating the guards. Within the hull of this vehicle we found what we were looking for, an obsidian cube like the one that had brought Wolf here-with one difference, this one was black. Destroying the carryall to cover our tracks, we carried the cube back to the Harkonnens and hid it in the stonework of our rooms (heavily assisted by the expertise of Hallock). We then pooled our talents to come up with a plan: We would delay the assault on the Ordos "facility" until we were sure they had departed (after the loss of their carryall there was little for them to defend), and then we would move in noisily, suffering moderate casualties in the traps they surely would leave. We would leave one ornithopter behind, hidden from view, and stage a crash with our other ornithopter, to fake our deaths. Then we would stay in the installation for as long as required to generate enough heka for activation. A swift Ornithopter trip would then bring us back to the base, where we would ask to see the commander, and seize his gem to open the portal. The plan was executed to perfection, with one drawback. As we were funneling the last quantities of heka into the cube, a great force of Sardukar in Ornithopters was moving towards us from the horizon (we must assume that the Sardukar have some concept of honour so that they would follow us from one planet to another in search of vengeance for their dead comrades). We boarded our own Ornithopter, and Friedrich brought us safely back to the Harkonnen base, where we rushed into the Commander's quarters. We explained little, but claimed that the cube was a new secret weapon which would help against the incoming Sardukar. The commander was sufficiently flustered to supply the gem for "fuel" and we activated the cube. Sure enough, a shimmering portal appeared, and we hastened through it, followed by 2 Harkonnens. Where our last appearance had been into a scorching desert, this one was into water, and we swam ashore, delighted to be away from Arrakis. Here, one Harkonnen paid for his attempt to attack us, and the other fled into the wilderness, never to be seen again. So it was that Wolf, the Baron, Hallock, Friedrich and myself were returned to Aerth, for this was Magmur, and the first stage of our return to Neustria was complete. No longer would we hear of the conflict of the great houses, the terror troops of the Emperor, strange devices of exotic magics, the House of IX which produced them, the Mentat "Computers" or the Bene Gesserit "Witches." We were far from home, but we were on our home ground.

Part III: Aerth, the way back

The land was lush here by the coast, and fish aplenty swam in the clear waters. Our rifles and other devices from the far lands ceased to work, but we were not worried, for our skills would come into their own here. Following the shore, we soon came upon a small village of natives. These were almost universally friendly, and we decided to make the little community our home, where we would prepare our journey. A ship seemed the obvious answer, and with great energy Hallock set to preparing the plans. Wolf was to liaison with the natives, learning their language, Hallock was to direct, and the Baron, Friedrich and myself would provide labour for the project. First, we set off on a small expedition to a nearby mountain range, there to obtain iron ore. The ore we formed into crude tools for the construction, and for the next 6 months we laboured, thoughts of home driving our efforts. To our surprise, we were still completely without heka, Wolf theorizing that the spice might be responsible. Finally, the day came when sails were ready, the last plank was fastened, grease was applied to the boards, and our supplies were loaded. A number of natives were willing to come with us. These were RomRom, Natik, Dobin and T'Kaa-Hallock's newfound friend. We left with fond farewells to the village, and our hearts filled with new hope. Of our waterbound journey to the coast of Afrik little needs be said, except the voyage was perilous and taxing, and only the inspired efforts of Hallock at the helm enabled us to stay afloat. Yet all this was for nought, for after putting in to land to avoid a storm (here Hallock found a parentless monkey and named him Brutus), we were spotted by slavers. Attempting to flee, Wolf summoned a wind elemental to fill our sails, but the pursuers had similar magicks, and were closing fast. We loaded our rear scorpion and prepared to do battle, but the hostile ship was better armed, and salvo upon salvo of burning spears slammed into our ship, dooming it to a watery end. In the ensuing confusion, we managed to make good our escape into the jungle, cheating the slavers of their prize. When they had departed, we continued northwards, considering our options. Even as we were recovering from the last ordeal, more enemies appeared. This time, they came from the depths of the forest, and we recognized the bestial tattoos of headhunters. Knowing the danger of poison, and possessed of no armour, we were again forced to run for our lives, just as saviour, in the form of the Marduk and our good friend Paolo Moha, the sailing master came into view. We were divided in the chase, and cursed with foul fortune, Friedrich, T'Kaa, Hallock, Brutus and myself falling into a vast pit. This even as Wolf, the Baron, RomRom, Natik and Dobin were lifted to safety and set full sails for home. In the air and falling fast, we thought all might be ended, for such a pit would surely be filled with spikes and all manner of evils. Not so, for as we hit the ground we found not ground at all, but deep water. The landing was painful, it is true, but we were still alive, and immediately tried to make out our surroundings. A voice intoned in the darkness "One would think that jumping into mantraps was something to be avoided-'tis lucky for you that I was able to remove the spikes, and one should be grateful for rain......" A bright magickal light suddenly illuminated the cavity, and we looked upon a dark bearded man in loose leather clothing sitting on a ledge. This was Muertin, and as he lit his large pipe, he explained that he had been stranded here whilst experimenting with a teleportation spell (unfortunately, he had had such confidence in his own teleportation techniques that he had never bothered to learn the standard ones, so he was as trapped as we were). However, he had found an exit in the stone. His continued presence was due to him not being fond of the idea of venturing into the tunnels a lone wizard. Our appearance was therefore fortuitous. We scurried into the tunnels, avoiding poisoned arrows from the headhunters above, and made substantial progress. A strange form of heavy-boned humanoid resided in the tunnels, and we were forced to neutralize several individuals who attempted to block our path. Coming to the end of the domain of these creatures, we found a large gate with some magickal symbols. Exercising great care, we investigated, and found that a complex system of deadfalls operated in front of the door. Disarming these, we were able to open the gate, and gazed upon a long passage with rows of metal bars along the walls. These led into a large room of some sort. Testing the safety of the passage with a stone, we saw it snapped away by a large tentacle, and immediately understood our predicament. Hallock formulated a solution involving having one of Muertin's wind elementals fasten a row of spears in the roof of the passage, for us to use as a means of transport to the other side. This ploy was relatively successful, with the exception of Hallock slipping onto the ground and only barely escaping being dragged into the mass of tentacles below. On the other side, we found a dirty prison with many men, and we released these. Making our way out, we fought our way through the guards-assisted heavily by elemental magicks from Muertin. Reappearing on the surface we found ourselves in the middle of the headhunter camp, and executed a speedy escape into the forest. We found food, recovered our strength and started following a river to the sea. Pursuing headhunters soon appeared, and we dispatched them with powerful magicks. T'kaa then suffered what I fear was a knock on the head, as she suddenly became most aggressive, and with several rather fortuitous spear thrusts slew a lion, claiming this made her a "big warrior." We carried the lion to a nearby village, where celebrations were held. The worthy Hallock was here challenged by a local thug who wanted T'kaa for less than savoury purposes. Suffering several devastating blows, Hallock nevertheless triumphed, showing the locals what power is in a carefully positioned kick. Muertin now departed to investigate our means of travel, while we recovered as guests of honour. On the sixth day, Muertin returned, and warned us that he had observed two freed prisoners heading towards the village, hotly pursued by two score headhunters. Having had enough of these savages, we carefully laid an ambush, digging out a large man-trap to Hallock's specifications. Muertin covered this with a sheet of stone, and just as the foe was charging in our direction, annulled its existence, sending them onto the spikes below. He followed this with a firestorm, sending the remainder back from whence they came. Their leader, a witchdoctor of some potency, was at this time fleeing for his life, and we pursued, finishing his two bodyguards in the blink of an eye. As we approached in loose formation we were worried by him suddenly turning around and looking at us in defiance. T'kaa, being the least careful, met his eyes with a cry of gleeful expectation, and promptly froze, turning to stone before our eyes. Those remaining attacked the foe, and found to our disbelief that our weapons again and again did not bite, turned away by a powerful defensive force. Yet no defensive heka lasts forever, and as our blows were hitting home, the witchdoctor swiftly snapped a gem from his necklace, throwing it at Hallock whilst shrieking "Curse you" in a language we could somehow understand. The gem turned to light, and sped towards Hallock, who somehow resisted, and sent the shining orb away towards the horizon. As our final blows hit home, the witchdoctor snapped one more gem from his chain, and speaking his final word, dropped it on the ground. Obtaining the necklace, we saw a small whirlwind forming around the released gem, and Muertin shouted "Summoning circle" as we started to depart. Some distance away, we saw a great demonling come into view, as the shining orb returned and slammed into its head. Temporarily confused, the demonling soon started to search the horizon. Using his remaining magicks, Muertin delayed the beast and we fled to the coast. Having no money to pay for our transport, we decided to board a galley, and spent the night resting, preparing for our operation. Muertin once again was instrumental, paralyzing several guards and giving us enough time to charge the ship's marines and captain. These were killed (with the exception of 2 marines), but in the meantime the doom of Muertin was sealed. The Lieutenant of the marines, an Aeropan knight, no less, engaged the invader in combat, and with mighty blows slew him. Our entrance was too late, for as we returned from our dealings with the marines, we saw Muertin's lifeless body fall into the sea, where it was not long until sharks gleefully appeared. The Lieutenant was spared however, for he had but been doing his duty, and had no quarrel with us. His story was one of a violent shipwreck, and then a continual quest to return to Aerop, there to seek employment. He held quite some coin amongst the crew, and wanting to leave before the Captain's death became known to the authorities, we departed in haste that morning, once again traveling at full speed towards our beloved Neustria.

Some days later, we were making good speed when we observed a stack of smoke emanating from some buildings on the mainland. Tentatively, we launched a boat with Hallock and myself, leaving Friedrich and our Aboriginal friends to look after the ship. After landing, we were met by a large Afrikan warrior by the name of Delmada. The smoke was from his village, which had been burned to the ground by headhunters. His fellow villagers had been either killed or captured by the headhunters, and it was most important that they be rescued before being killed. We resolved to give whatever help we could in this matter, and were lead by Delmada through the jungle. While on this trek, our ship departed, presumably a mutiny having occurred. This was the last we saw of it. Moving to another village, we found the same story, and were joined by several large and powerful warriors. Moving with great speed, we caught up with a rearguard of headhunters, and engaged them in melee. Their lethal poison took its toll, killing our two compatriots, while we were fortunate and avoided the poison. Chased from the water by large crocodilians, we hastened towards the mountains. Struggling through the harsh paths here, we finally found the valley of the headhunters. Ambushing the guards, we had a vantage point from which to plan our assault on the camp proper. Defeating a band of headhunters in canoes, heavily aided by Delmada's deadly long bow, we gained entrance to the camp, and fighting our way into a stone complex which could not possibly be the headhunter's work, we managed to free some of the prisoners. We then departed by whatever means we could find, and prepared for our journey back to the coast, there to attempt to find a new vessel. An attack by further headhunters and wolves was beaten back, and to our relief further journeying was not required, as Viceroy Althax had located us, and willingly transported us back to the Clan Erathorn lands. It had been a most taxing journey, but much had been learned. Surprisingly, we arrived back very soon after we had departed, indicating that somewhere along the line time had been somehow altered. Joyous indeed was the day that we returned, to us several years after our departure.

CHAPTER 5: The Storm Brewing

Once again our time was occupied with the doings of the Clan. Wolf and the Baron Agonar would return to consider the implications of the Cube found earlier, but first, they agreed to a task for the Clan, under the auspices of Raadinov. His report follows:

Clan Erathorn Internal Report

To: Althax Erathorn, Clan Leader

From: Raadinov, Clan Trade Master

Re: Subterranean Quarters

Date: December 26th, 993

Believing it to be desirable that the areas beneath our holdings be explored further, I hired 2 adventuring types, a Wolf of the Elemental School and Baron Agonar of Neustria to map some of the tunnels. They were instructed that they might keep minor items of treasure they found as payment. Otherwise, the cost to the Clan consisted of an oil lamp, 300' of rope and some torches. The rope was later recovered. The persons in question returned after some 7-8 hours, intent on terminating the engagement. They had first encountered the neanderthals that Your Highness found on his last visit there. These seem to have some special attachment to Hallock, Captain of the Guard, as they continually repeated his name upon seeing the intrepid two. Continuing beyond these territories, the group was set upon by hordes of "small ugly Gnomes" as they so ignorantly describe it. The fact is, they must have encountered vile Hobgoblins (who look nothing like Gnomes at all, of course). These were intent on eating the group, and ignored all counterattacks to continually throw the group into a large iron pot. One such Hobgoblin, a female partner to the leader, seemed to possess some primitive form of dweomercraft, and spoke Hiero-Aegyptian. Baron Agonar managed an escape with the promise of obtaining food, and continued beyond these territories. He followed an exceedingly long tunnel, repeatedly set upon by a plant firing 5-10 long, arrow- like spikes into his shield whenever he approached. Finally, he found a chamber of inordinate size, and was immediately trapped by a large, dark Drake! This Drake never supplied a name, but agreed to trade a sword for the Barons armour (for some reason, the Baron had but chain mail, supplying some explanation about having lost his plate armour in foreign lands). After some verbal fencing, the Drake destroyed a large number of Hobgoblins that had been convinced to attempt an attack by Wolf, and then caused the Baron great harm with an evil spell of ugliness. It was only Wolf's appearance that enabled the Baron to escape. Now Wolf was trapped, and forced to leave all valuables behind. The Drake then fully intended to slaughter him, but according to the tale, just then a neanderthal blundered in, allowing Wolf to charge past the Drake, grab an ornamented helm and flee. The Drake then spent some time searching for the two, but they eluded him and returned.

In conclusion, we have a Drake some distance below us, but with an outlet in one of the inner mountains of the range. It has no opportunity to sneak into the castle, but is nevertheless too close for comfort. It is also clear that the Drake breathes a bolt of lightning, making any assault with metal armour futile. The Drake seems to have a great treasure, which is very useful for two reasons. Firstly, it enhances our treasury, enabling us to prepare our defenses better, and secondly, items of power may further enhance our capabilities. My recommendations is therefore that an elite team of 8-10 warriors and magickally empowered worthies stage an assault on the place with the intent of slaying the Drake, and obtaining its treasure. These should be fully protected with dweomers and equipment, and must be prepared for casualties, but conversely, not killing the Drake before our battle with House Morvissen is very unwise indeed, bearing in mind our foe's ability to bring evil to its side. My final recommendation must be that we wait with such an assault until the worthies Vivernicol and Hallock return from wherever they are, as their battle prowess is very much needed in any such endavour. A map of the subterranean regions explored so far is enclosed.

This information in hand, we discarded our armour in favour of heka protections. Knowing where the Drake was residing, we prepared an expedition, consisting of Althax, Hallock, James, Darius and myself. We descended to the appointed place and assaulted the drake viciously. The battle was fierce, Althax bombarding it with mighty magicks, Darius giving support, whilst the rest of us engaged in melee. This was to be a fateful day for James, for the Drake chose him to assault with all the fury of its breath and talons, and managed to slay him just as Althax delivered a devastating blast of magickal power, sending both the dead James and the drake plummeting out of the cave to the foot of the mountain below. Though we found great treasures, powerful swords and items of magick, it was a painful day. Long did I mourn my brother, and arranged to have his body returned to Albion, for burial in the family grounds. His death is a great loss to us all, but we shall continue, honouring his memory as we go along. Yet even as our Clan lost one member, we gained another, in the form of the Lady Nicholle de Tuchera, a mage of the Elemental School, who was quickly impressed by the Clan, and decided to join our cause. Indeed, her committment was such that she sold her lands and estates, and donated the full sum to Clan Erathorn.

These events bring us to January in the AN 994, when we had become more accustomed to our new surroundings. A day in January Raadinov called us together, quite distraught. Apparently, a large convoy carrying obsidian of great value had been ambushed by criminals from the Starfire guild, and diverted onto a vessel belonging to the city-state of Ys. It was determined that a covert expedition to Ys with the purpose of determining the whereabouts of the ship, and to scout out our enemy would be appropriate. I was not included in this journey, being greatly busy attempting to organize forces for the Clan. This being so, the tale of what happened in the following days is left onto Elorn, most faithful companion of Althax:

The Journey to Ys and ensuing troubles

By Elorn, Fire Imp compatriot to Althax, and Connoissaire Extraordinaire

'Twas early in the morning when the Master Althax summoned me, his dark eyes a foreboding of his determination to succeed in the great work before him. We promptly disguised ourselves as peasantry, and chilled out in a wagon. Food was adequate. Then we smoothly rolled on, until camping out in a barn, Althax being too cheap to get us proper rooms. We got some rest, but being the incredibly on-the-ball guy that I am, I quickly noticed something a bit off. The wizard babe Nicholle was gone, and the smell indicated that the huge peasant guy who had been eyeing her earlier was responsible. I woke Hallock, and let him do the business. He caught up with the victim and killed him with a vicious kick to the back of the head, sending the plates of his scull searing into the guy's brain. We dumped the body off a cliff. The next day we moved on. We arrived in Ys, where the guy with the wagon set about selling some stuff. We lodged in an Inn, and went about getting the info. The boat with the stuff was on its way to York, so we beamed off and found the village in question. Here we smoothly slid in with the natives, some of them serving us some excellent poison. We fooled a stupid villager into telling us when the boat would come in, and prepared to wait. Hallock, however, the great oaf, had a big demon-guy after him, and this bad dude made him kill off a little brat of a human kid. Hallock was kinda distraught, and confused, 'cause his big sword was lighting up. Just for this, we were to be arrested, so the others were. Then I got them out, and we decided to let them think that we had to flee. We returned to Ys to get our horses back, but some stupid guards intervened, so Hallock and Althax killed them. Before leaving without the horses (Althax not having planned this), Althax summoned a big Sun Eagle and had it attack the headquarters of the Starfire Guild, sending them some blasts of heka and the like. Then, after having a big meal in Oxford, we got back to Neustria, where we checked out Hallock's sister. True enough, she was a bit down, having been tortured by the Demon. We brought her and stuff back to Clan Erathorn. Soon after, some ugly looking dudes from Ys came and made trouble with King Roland, saying that they wanted Althax or else. So the King told them to push off, and they got a bit upset. A couple of meals later, a declaration of war came from Neustria. We went to check on the King of Brettony, who agreed not to attack. A little later, however, he got whacked and his cousin was put in as main guy, so we were suddenly at war with Brettony anyway. Althax went to Albion and got them to send us some troops. Then all this activity started, with everybody training troops and stuff. The bad thing is that with all these soldiers, all the food gets eaten up, which is really inconsiderate, I mean why eat all the food just 'cause they're going to war, eh? EH? Well, anyway, Viv' says it's enough now.

(In the interests of not offending the reader I've edited some sections of Elorn's exposition which were thought somewhat graphical.)

Knowing now that we faced turbulent times, our preparations became even more important, and I continued in my task of training forces and organizing for defense. However, even as I was doing this, other sections of the clan were busy in other areas, as Lebron herein explains.

The Iberian operation under the auspices of Clan Erathorn

By Lebron, Scribe to Clan Erathorn

Word had reached me that House Morvissen, for reasons as yet undetermined, had contacted a tribe of Slugbellies, and allied these to a large tribe of orcs. These were found to have appeared in the Pyrenees, kidnapping a number of clerics belonging to the temple of Elbin nearby. Simultaneously, plague had broken out in the village adjacent to the temple. The importance of such a move is evident, Morvissen was attempting to gain a hold in a remote mountanous area, to simplify attacking their enemies (largely clan Erathorn) on Aerth. A countermeasure was needed. If a small group of capable individuals could restore the clerics, thought imprisoned rather than killed, the village might be saved, through an appeal by the high priest to his deity. I determined that the most available party would consist of Delmada, the Zulu Huntsman operating as the Clan Erathorn Huntsmaster, Vertigo, a landless Knight travelling to a nearby Shaolin temple to receive special training, and Father Stephen of Canterbury with Brother Mark of Wycombe (brother of Vivernicol). I introduced Delmada to Father Stephen and sent them into the mountains to meet Vertigo. Here they were assaulted by a group of heavily armoured orcs, and defeated these only with the help of the elements, as the orcs remaining after a long battle were hit by an avalanche and destroyed. Accompanied by several peasants going the same way, they finally arrived at the Monastery of the Franciscan order of Elbin at Maladetta. Soon the temple was localized, the predicament of the people seen, and a plan of assault formulated. However, though the Orcish and Slugbelly inhabitants were pressed, the group could not gain entrance. The situation ended with Delmada and Vertigo engaging in melee, with Delmada being forced to flee, and Father Stephen, tricked into parlaying with the occupiers, captured and chained. Mindful of the possibility of failure, I found it prudent to investigate the situation, and determined the position of Father Stephen. With a surgical strike, I was able to rescue the Father, but only blind luck was responsible for the timing of my investigation. Seeing that the group was inadequate for the task, I informed Viceroy Althax of the situation. He arrived, and though able to determine the position of the enemy, he estimated the strength of the enemy to be such that it was not worth the risk of attacking until we were stronger. The operation is therefore still incomplete. It is my assumption that by now the village has been destroyed and the monastery overrun, so that a full scale assault is the only means to dislodge the enemy. This will require the full resources of Erathorn, and will be undertaken at such a time as is determined proper by the Council of the Clan.

CHAPTER 6: Aurora

In my task both as commander of the forces of Clan Erathorn, and faithful servant of the king, I rode swiftly through southern parts of Neustria, attempting to raise more troops and surveying our defenses. On my way, I stopped at a monastery dedicated to Isth, there to pray and gain inspiration for the dark days ahead. As I was resting, noise woke me, and even as I left the central tower, I could see a number of men on horseback, chasing two men who were hard pressed indeed. When they came closer, I recognized the two as my companions from the Galleass, Wolf of the Elemental School, and Baron Agonar. The men in pursuit bore the insignia of the foul Starfire guild, robes indicating several of their mighty Mages. Doubtful of the sense of a fight, and not wishing to involve the mild monks of the temple in our battle, we sought a way out. Wolf had a single option, a Cube allowing us to open a portal and escape. Yet he did not know where the Cube would take us. We braced for the unexpected, and entered the portal. Wolf later told me that the Cube had been found in the possession of a crazed wizard, who had taken up residence in an old abandoned tower. Disabling the wizard and putting him in Agonar's dungeon to protect him from himself (the wisdom of such a move is questioned), Wolf had started investigating the cube. Travelling to Lynne, a nearby city, Wolf had purchased gems required for the cube's operation. However, on the way back, he had been set upon by men from the Starfire guild, and been forced to take this side-road in order to escape. Whether just coincidence or fate, none can say, but it does strike me that whenever I encounter Wolf, a great and perilous journey seems to result soon thereafter.

We emerged confused from the portal, to find ourselves on a plain. Several men from the Starfire guild had pursued, and we defeated these before we had time to consider our surroundings. Wolf executed the survivor on the spot, the judiciousness of the move in question, but supported by Baron Agonar. Taking stock, we were somewhat poorly equipped, but with enough horses to move rapidly. As we set up camp, strange men with the bodies of lobsters came. We attempted to communicate, but they seemed intent on opposing us. I theorize that we had invaded their territories. We defeated the "lobbermen," and being most hungry, found their meat to be most delicious. Moving hastily towards a nearby mountain range, we had to evade numbers of the lobbers, and found refuge on a ledge high up on the mountain. Here we made up a fire to keep wolves at bay, but the fire burnt down, so we were attacked by a pack of ravenous wolves. After defeating these, we were pinned down by some strange humanoids with the heads of otters, which denied us passage past the mountain. A fight ensued, where Wolf finally defeated our enemies with the use of a powerful wind. Unfortunately this caused the passage to be blocked, so we spent the next several days moving rock and consuming wolf steaks and lobbers. Finally passing through, we rode down into a huge valley with a lake in the middle. On the way down, we were ambushed by large numbers of "otters" and had to force our way through. In the process, our Engineer friend, Francois, brought along to help Wolf in his calculations, was killed by a spear. Wolf himself only barely escaped a trap, vaulting off at the last second as his horse fell to its death on the spikes below. We grabbed him and fled down to the lake. Here we were able to cross with the help of some primitives in a boat. These had seen our approach, and noting that we were humans like them, had decided to help. We were introduced to their village, and were soon told of their predicament. Their witch doctor had disappeared a few days before, and after this several villagers had been killed by a large animal. We agreed to do what we could.

Searching the hut of the witch doctor, we found various paraphernalia, and a trapdoor. Below this was a passage into the earth, and a huge, hungry wardog. Feeding this and attempting to establish a rapport with the animal, I befriended it. Descending, we found a door leading into a round room. Within this room was what Wolf determined to be a summoning circle, with the chalk making up the circle being disturbed. Before we could investigate further, Fenris (so named), gave a warning, and we turned to face a number of skeletons. After defeating these, we continued in, to find a passage into the ground, dug by some extraordinarily powerful creature. Following this, we came upon an underground complex filled with traps, skeletons and a number of ottermen. We defeated these with ease, except for a battle in which Wolf was grossly savaged by two of the otters before Agonar and I could rescue him. He survived, however, and we continued on. Finally finding the monster in question, a powerful netherling, we slew it with some difficulty, then continued. Now going up again, we found a large tower, and entering through the cellars, ascended to find floor upon floor of large locked doors. Proceeding to the top, we found ourselves faced with a decked table, a large monstrosity, and a rather smug imp. As we attempted to parlay with the imp, we felt progressively more confused and weakened, and so struck before it was too late. With an inspired blow, I clove the head of the monstrous foe in twain, sending it back to the gloomy pits from whence it came. The imp, however, barely escaped, hiding in the forest surrounding the tower. Surveying the grounds, we saw a great fortress, reduced to rubble by time and probably a battle of some sort. The tower stood untouched, however, and a good thing it was too. We spent some days taking stock and opening some of the doors. Many writings of a magickal nature were contained therein, and Wolf set about the task of investigating. Observing the valley from the tower, I determined that an army was gathering on the mainland. This known, we gathered the grateful villagers and provisioned ourselves in the tower. The expected offensive came, and after scouting the enemy, I returned to wait. The enemy came, a great number of lobbers and ottermen, lead by the imp. In the ensuing battle, we held the enemy at bay using rocks which we had earlier pulled off the walls. The ottermen were well lead, however, and built a number of catapults, with which they started bombarding our walls. Wolf summoned several elementaries to try to stop this, but wizards amongst the enemy destroyed these. Hard pressed to hold the enemy at bay, and continually bombarded by large rocks, we had to retreat to within the tower, abandoning our vantage point at its top. The situation was dire indeed, but Wolf, to his credit, found a solution. Using the truename of a netherling (found in one of the numerous books of the tower), and summoning this to his aid, he ordered it to kill the imp. Following the orders to the letter, the netherling did its task, returned with the imp's head, and promptly departed. While not pleased at us having to enlist such help, the matter was presented to me as a fait accompli, and so I had no voice. The imp general being killed, the ottermen and lobbers rediscovered their apparent hostility. They broke off the siege, and fought a battle against each other. Every otterman was killed, and the remaining lobbers thereafter departed.

Having beaten off the invader, our goal was now to return. Wolf continued his studies, and determined that time here passed 30 times faster than on Aerth, allowing us to stay for long without falling behind on events there. At this point, I determined that this would be an ideal training ground for new troops. When Wolf discovered that he could open a portal once every month (Aerth time), the scene was set. Travelling quickly to a fortress where contact might be had with Erathorn, I ran into one of the clan's members, and explained the situation. I was led to a nearby city, where recruits and in fact an entire operation was being prepared by Lebron. Returning to Aurora, I started the training program, and for the next several years dedicated the majority of my time to this. The Legion which I hoped to create was to be based on the fighting forces of the Roman states at their height. Training was to be intensive, but Lebron had picked the recruits well, so the majority survived the training programme. Since the recruits were prisoners with heavy sentences over their heads, my purpose was twofold-to create a force of shock troops for Erathorn, and to allow these men a chance to see the brightness of Isth and thus to lead them onto the right path. The only break from this programme was the journey to the Necropolis, and events therein. This is described later. Now, a second report by Lebron, regarding his preparation for the Aurora situation.

The Auroran operation under the auspices of Clan Erathorn

By Lebron, Scribe to Clan Erathorn

Word had reached me that Vivernicol of Erathorn and Wolf of the Elemental School had disappeared. Investigating the matter, I determined that they were in an exotic location, and likely to return soon. Further, I determined that the location was potentially useful for the training of troops, and that there was the possibility of unknown riches. From this, I deduced the need for a number of items. Firstly, I had to obtain a moderate number of recruits to be trained. Since the location might be disagreeable to them, the recruits could not have a choice. Prisoners, preferably not hardened criminals, but with heavy sentences were most appropriate. I made the arrangements to have 150 of the proper description released into my custody. Equipment for these was purchased. Further, a vessel would be needed to help with any exploration. Considering that a whole vessel could probably not be transported, I determined to obtain a vessel, remove the essential parts, and to rebuild the hull in the new location. Receiving information on a pirate ship in the Channel Isles, I required a fighting man to take care of the pirates. Remembering Sir Vertigo Warson as having done adequately in the Iberian venture, I sought him out. I presented him with the plans, emphasizing the possibility of substantial gain, and he agreed to at least participate in the first part of the plan. Returning to Mers du Loc, we purchased passage on a ship leaving for Albion. In this venture we were accompanied by Beuf de Rhino, a Captain in need of a ship. At the appropriate time, we went onto the deck (in the midst of a storm, not planned for) and absconded with a small rowing boat. After some manipulation we arrived at the pirate isle, and planned an attack. Vertigo arrived from the sea, and proceeded to attack the vessel, showing great potential. At one point it was necessary for me to apply force to a hostile dweomecrafter to prevent an unsatisfactory conclusion, but otherwise the operation went according to plan. Returning with the ship, I recruited workmen to disassemble it. A further set of 100 prisoners was seconded to me for one month to assist with work. Such materials as would be necessary for construction, and a plentiful supply of tools was purchased. Needing a leadership for the expedition, I invited Nicholle de Tuchera and Delmada to take part. The three leaders set off to obtain a crew for the ship, and after some initial difficulty caused by divergent goals (Delmada and Vertigo having different opinions of the nature of the speech to be delivered), Nicholle was able to recruit the required number. The next day, the entire menagerie departed. Following them, my preparations were justified, Wolf confirming my assumptions. I remained for some time and seconded an operative to Wolf. Returning to Aerth, I observed Wolf in some hurry attempting to purchase arms for his fledgling army. Later, word reached me that he had been robbed and captured. Investigating, I found him to be imprisoned by a set of local bandits. Not wishing to interfere, I waited for him to get loose before the portal closed. He managed this by breaking the inner joint on his thumb to slip his manacles, and then using elemental magicks to escape. As he rushed to the portal just in time, I observed, then set about my next project.

Wolf continued building his army and dwellings, mining for copper and silver. The three Clan Erathorn members completed their ship, and a further ship was completed by Wolf for his own purposes. For the happenings herein, Lebron has supplied the following, written by the Alchemist Vazuvius, and handed over through some agreement between the two.

On my encounter with Wolf of the Elemental school and our first journey

By Vazuvius, researcher in Alchemy

(I believe you know the one)

Long indeed had I been alone, shielded within my fortress of stone. Endless days have I spent in search of the answers I must have, and now only perfecting those answers remain. On such a day, a spy of mine reported intruders nearing my domain. Before they destroyed him, I could clearly see several humans, for the first time in what seems like eternity. I sent my confidante, Adante to investigate. The intruders were sufficiently intriguing to warrant an audience. Their leader, one Wolf of the Elemental school was honest and fortright. Though reckless, this convinced me of his sincerity, and we were quickly in agreement. I would provide him with such creatures of labour as was appropriate, and he would in return supply large quantities of copper ore, needed for my experiments. We exchanged notes, whilst his ally Pierre, of a martial bent, trained with my troops. The arrangement proved fruitful, as his mine expanded to yield more copper and even considerable quantities of silver. As his own debts were huge, this arrangement continued for some time, with the greater portion of yield accruing to me as payment for my labour, and the rest being purchased for good coin. As he was able, Wolf purchased my worker drones, and now he is fully self-sufficient in this field. However, as the Knight Vivernicol was training troops on a substantial scale, it was advantageous to me to have my drones trained in the art of war by him, and then to sell some to Wolf at a high price to cover my cost.

Of my encounter with Althax Erathorn and others, little need be said. On my own initiative, I decided to join the departing boat and gain information as to the lands to the South. The journey was uneventful in real terms until we reached a tropical island where a number of vampires assaulted us. We killed these, and beat off further attacks during the night. The next day we approached their castle, and gained entrance to the graveyard. Here, I, Delmada and Sir Vertigo Warson destroyed a number of vampires and other undead, and descended into some catacombs, killing the creatures therein. As we continued in and killed some ghouls, Althax Erathorn, a mage of some repute in his homeland, and Nicholle de Tuchera, a mage who had accompanied us earlier arrived together with the knight Vivernicol. As these seemed capable of handling the situation, I had gained some information regarding the islands to the south, and they were somewhat suspicious of me, I decided to leave and returned to my castle.

The energetic workers of Wolf, under the auspices of the Shipwright Rinaldo Beck, completed a ship for Wolf, and he departed to investigate events in the North. As he related to me, the journey was long and somewhat perilous, but nothing truly threatened them. Coming to the northern continent, they docked in a large cave used by Aegyptian forces when they still defended their settlements in the North. After an initial foray into the woods here, where several soldiers died, the victims of traps and beasts, they returned with tales of lizardoids. These are of the Saurian empire, and the greater forms are powerful warriors and mages both. Knowing this, I decided that my presence was required, and transported myself aboard the ship. Journeying forth again, Wolf and Pierre suffered the dangers of the forest, and more soldiers died. Locating a large city to the north, they had to return due to problems of food and the toll of the hostile forest. While they recovered, I scouted the area, and determined a place for us to transport with magick, rather than risk the forest. When activating this magick, however, an anomaly in the fabric of heka disrupted my casting, and Wolf was sent into the heart of the enemy city. Here he was captured, and in short order tortured to reveal his origins. Pierre and I set off in pursuit, by sheer luck finding the place in question. Here we subdued several inhabitants, and using powerful persuasive castings, I started to determine the location of Wolf. Our manipulations were uncovered, however, and the city guard descended upon us. Pierre was captured, and even I only narrowly escaped. Starting anew, I finally determined where the pair were held, and contrived to systematically exchange the guard with individuals under my influence. After three weeks of torture, Wolf was greatly scarred, but had revealed only his name. The moment was ripe, and I struck, killing the torturers and freeing the pair. We moved into the forest, where the two started to recover. Pursuit was quick, however, and though we turned to fight, several of the Saurian Inquisitors were present, so flight was the only option. After braving the woods again, we returned to the ship, only to find it gone, a mutiny likely. We pursued the ship along the shore, deducing that it had moved in an easterly direction. During a great storm, our suspicions were confirmed when we saw the ship out of control on the open sea. We boarded our small raft, and attempted to row out, this probably being the last chance to recover the ship. The attempt was a failure, however, as I was the only one able to hold on, and we were all swept up onto the shore. When light returned, our journey continued, and on the shore we found Rinaldo Beck, alive but battered. One of the Aegyptian towers of watch was along our path, so we investigated it. Here I fell through a simple hatchway, down towards great lakes of molten lava below. This being the case, I returned to my castle to continue my studies. Wolf explains that the tower was empty, save for a pedestal which somehow granted Pierre a sword. Soon thereafter, by blind luck they once again encountered the ship, and this time gained entry and subdued the largely drunk mutineers. Some time later, they returned, and repairs were started on the ship. Wolf had of course lost a number of items of power during this trip, and was not pleased.

CHAPTER 7: The Set Rahotep

This account covers some overlap over our own exploits, as two separate groups were journeying forth. At the point where Vazuvius departed from Althax, I myself was accompanying the latter, as there was need for several skilled warriors. A document found on a dead body in the catacombs had revealed that a huge treasure could be expected in an unbroken tomb in the Gorge of Osiris, Aegypt. Leaving the vampire island, we continued on a north-easterly heading, attempting to find this planet's likeness of Aegypt, formed by the vastly powerful magi who lived here. Finally arriving at Gibraltar, we had to pay a hefty tax for entrance to the Maere Librum. Althax and Nicholle departed to purchase a map, and experienced some difficulty in doing this the proper way. Not wishing to pay for the item in question, they engaged in lengthy subterfuge to extricate the item. This finally successful, we continued at good speed towards Lybbos, there to start a land journey to the Gorge of Osiris. However, along the way, the entire crew was struck down with plague. Delmada was first so afflicted. Later, it was to be determined that the infection must have come from a ghoul in the catacombs. Forced to return to Aerth, Pertakus of Isth did a great work, and proceeded to heal us all. All that is, except Delmada, who did not join us, not being of the right creed. He was left to his own devices, locked in a room in the castle. After a week, he emerged healed, but at the cost of considerable heka energy furnished by Althax. Having spent the equivalent 30 weeks at Aurora, I once again joined the group. We made our trek to Aegypt by land, the ship, not surprisingly, having disappeared. Our first destination was Memphis, where we made initial inquiries, posing as tourists. From there, we moved to the city of Farnoc. At Farnoc, we joined a caravan moving towards the Dakhia-Amun oasis, and left this at the small village of Aartuat, the closest place to the Gorge of Osiris. We set up our base at an inn here, and the next day started our quest by surveying the village.

A cleric of some repute, The Hapy Merha-Aptut dwells in the village of Aartuat, and so we went to visit him. On the way, we were ambushed by a large crocodile which burst from the waters. Defeating this, we observed the body disappear, and concluded that it must be some form of netherling. Merha-Aptut confirmed this for us, and furnished us with weapons and warnings of the dangers in the Gorge. A party, consisting of Nicholle, Althax, Vertigo and myself set out for the Gorge. Despite powerful magicks to cloak our approach, we were set upon by two dozen or so bandits. Their charge on horseback caused us some difficulty, but we defeated the scum. Worse indeed was the pair of heka-wielders behind, for one of them did me grievous damage, sending me a blast of cold chilling me to the core. Images of torture, foul beasts, and a feeling of being drained of life filled me, but I continued on, and all our enemies were slain. In this fight, Vertigo acquitted himself well, using his two scimitars to great effect. Our two magi, Nicholle and Althax, were indispensable, killing numbers of enemies with their great heka. As we needed rest, we returned to Aartuat. Among the items of the bandits, we had found two in particular radiating great magick. These were a Serpent Ankh and Bloodied Moon, and according to Merha-Aptut, they served some purpose connected with the Necropolis and the unlooted grave therein.

The next group journeying forth consisted of Nicholle, Delmada, Sir Sergio Leone (a knight recommended us by Lebron, and transported here by Althax), and myself. No enemies presented themselves along the way, and we arrived at the entrance to the Gorge of Osiris unscathed. The Gorge was guarded by two structures. A pylon with ominous looking archery slits, and secondly a temple dedicated to Osiris. Riding through the pylon, we were stopped by a man with a Jackal's head. Several other strange men and women with he heads of other animals surrounded him. He claimed he was Anubis, and that we would have to be judged before we could pass into the afterlife. Having no such plans, we stalled him, until suddenly his companions attacked us with no warning. The leading individual, large and powerfully built, with the head of a lion, let forth a great roar, which paralyzed poor Nicholle with fear. Sir Leone and I charged the miscreants, whilst Delmada withdrew for some unknown purpose, Lion-headed beast hotly in pursuit. After we had defeated the five beings within the pylon, Delmada returned, having killed the lion-headed one. The pylon contained little of value, except a couple of books which Nicholle found intriguing. The temple itself was the next structure. A row of sphinxes lined the path to the gates. Not wishing to offend any followers of Osiris within, we determined to approach openly and meet whoever might dwell here. As we passed boldly between the sphinxes, we were fortified in our optimism, a wave of good will sweeping over us. Nicholle did not seem to feel this, for what reason I cannot say. The great gates of the temple swung open on our approach, and the sweet smell of flowers greeted us. Venturing within, we saw several ecclestials regarding us. Approaching, we engaged in conversation. Sir Leone must have been aware of something we were not, for he became suddenly hostile, behaving in a most improper manner towards these unknown clericals. Then, the many statues along this inner path animated, and with one strike from its spear, one of the statues killed Sir Leone. The statues moved in, and soon we suffered the same fate, our actions seemingly having no effect. Thinking all was ended, we prepared for the afterlife, and woke uninjured in a simple stone cell. Elorn and Fedoai, compatriot to Sir Leone-an "Amazonian Wing-nymph," were outside. Telling us that we were in a cellar, they urged us to get free. Delmada and I summoned our strength and broke down the door. At that point, a guard was heard coming down the stairs. As he swung round the corner, Delmada held him fast, and I pummeled him soundly, perhaps too soundly, for he died. I have considered this situation, and the appropriateness of my actions, and have resolved that my attack was unreasoned, as to our knowledge the ecclestials might have found Sir Sergio's tone threatening, and we did not know what control they exercised over the statues. I have resolved to do penance, journeying to Rome and the Papal palace at my first opportunity.

Regardless, we continued, searching the cellars but finding nothing of use. We followed Elorn, who had some inkling as to where our gear might be. Entering the inner sanctum to find our weaponry we encountered the high-priest, Setem-Nefer. He seemed pleased to see us, and explained that the statues were a device to protect against hostile visitors. It seems that Leone's rather hostile approach had activated dweomers of defence, and our fate had been sealed at that point. The priest, returning our equipment, had great need of our services. A number of crocodilians of the type we had encountered in Aartuat village had infested the Osirium beneath the temple, and he had been unable to exorcise them. Ignoring the wrongly coloured clerical garb we had found on our way to the inner sanctum, (the High Priest explained that these had belonged to vanquished invaders) we agreed to help. Stepping into a hard reed boat within the inner sanctum, the High Priest accompanied us down to a flowing river, where the boat moved with the current. Some distance into this area, the High Priest suddenly disappeared, mocking laughter ringing in our ears as we were set upon by large hippopotomus-like demonlings. We defeated these with fury at the treachery, and continued towards a landing, but not without mishap. Hit by the creature's giant tail, Delmada was swept into the water, but managed to clamber back before the creature could drag him under. It is fortunate indeed that the involuntary swimmer was not Sir Leone or myself, as our armour would have dragged us to a watery grave. Reaching the landing, we ascended to flights of stairs to the Osirium itself. After this, we felt strangely refreshed and invigorated. The Osirium was a square house of stone, flanked by four sphinx-like statues, one before each door. These were upright, however, and when approached, spoke to us. The one woken first offered Leone power and mighty weapons if he would but put down those he had and step inside. For some reason, never clear to me, he agreed, and disappeared inside for some minutes. Emerging again, he wielded a great sword with pulsing runes of bluish hue and a shield of an unknown nature. Around his head he wore a headband in the shape of a lethal asp. He looked at us with a mixture of hatred and restraint born of an inner struggle. The asp headband seemed to be biting into him, for blood trickled down from his forehead. We knew then that he was lost to us. As we refused similar inticements from the other sphinxes, the first one attacked, suddenly appearing behind us. We fought this viciously, whilst Nicholle attempted magicks to neutralize the evil headband. However, in one last great act of defiance, showing that his act had been misguided rather than motivated by evil, Sir Sergio Leone wielded his sword, charging the sphinx with the intent of delivering his last blow. Then he was dead. As we defeated one sphinx, another animated, and appeared behind us. Nicholle was severely threatened by the last sphinx, but I was able to come to her rescue, then Delmada ran up behind it, and together we shredded it into shards with mighty blows. This done, we resolved to deal with the number of mosaics on the walls surrounding the Osirium. As we started on this, the body of Leone disappeared, and we destroyed his weapons, heavy evil laying over them. We knew then that he was truly doomed to be a servant of the netherrealms, a fate worse than death. Nicholle used her great knowledge of magick to gain control over the boat which had brought us here. Suddenly, four great crocodile-like monsters approached and attacked us. We fought them hard, and defeated the villains, to continue. On the first picture, we observed a great serpent, flanked by several animal-like monsters. Delmada touched one of the flanking monsters, and was immediately lost onto us. Knowing full well the futility of following him, all we could do was wait. To our great relief he soon reappeared, claiming that he had been to a place of foulness, and had only just managed to return before the portal was closed. As the remaining pictures were of a similar nature, our predicament was clear. We returned to the Osirium to deal with what was therein. Immediately after we opened one door, a large statue with the heads of the four monstrosities we had defeated spoke enticingly to us, telling us to lay down our arms and join him. Resisting this strongly, Delmada and I charged the statue, and with two mighty blows splintered it into shards. In the rubble of this we found "The Book of Eternity," radiating Great magick. This was the third of the great items. Further, we found an oriental, tied up and ready to be sacrificed. His name was Kirenaj, and he had been transported to the temple by mistake after being caught by a dweomercrafter. Initially, he was greatly confused, but quickly regained his senses, and joined us, having unfinished business with the inhabitants of the temple. So did we, and sought a way out. Delmada then noted that the murals herein had changed to depict scenes of Osiris and the benevolent underworld. Once picture remained unchanged, however, so we examined it more closely. The faces of the four monsters we had defeated before the Osirium were here imprinted in a circle. Most likely, we would have to push them in the right sequence to pass. Using deductive reasoning and a leap of inspiration which I did not quite comprehend, Nicholle determined the proper sequence, starting at the top and then moving clockwise. I pressed the murals, and a door glid open, presenting us with a dark passage. At the end of this winding and twisting passage, we observed a green light. Nicholle once again showed the value of her wits, deducing that the green, the colour of Osiris, came from the statue of Osiris which had previously been in the Osirium. It was necessarily within the inland lake we found here. Delmada volunteered to search, but found nothing. Requiring someone yet untried, rested and energetic, and preferably able to hold their breath long, I selected Elorn and helped him in. Sputtering at the indignity, he nevertheless searched the entire lake before finding the statue. The rock statue of Osiris deep in the lake was massive, and though Nicholle attempted to have a powerful elemental move it, it was to no avail. Other means were needed. Nicholle, with the assistance of Delmada's Osiris statuette, here performed a work of some cunning. Studying a model of the entire temple here on a ledge, a miniature replica perhaps for the benefit of ecclestials, showing them their place in the scheme of things, she found the solution. Using the first law of sympathetic magick (the details of which are quite beyond me), she moved the statuette from the replica lake to the replica Osirium, and let magick take its course. A great rumbling was heard, as the statue started to move, and then this became a flash as the statue was suddenly transported to its rightful place. We felt greatly pleased at having done this good, and took the flight of steps leading out, with the intent of ridding the temple of the rest of its evil occupiers.

We emerged in the gardens, and were quickly discovered by guards. Resolving that we would make a stand, and die or conquer, we prepared for a great battle, and were served that and more. Great numbers of enemies from all parts of the temple emerged, and only our great fury and lightning strikes kept them from overwhelming us. Many dangerous priests capable of lethal magick were overwhelmed before they could strike. Such magick as did strike us was turned aside by the great defensive heka of Nicholle, as she drained herself totally to protect us. Indeed, the battle was such that Nicholle herself had to resort to her sword to keep foes at bay long enough for assistance to arrive. We forced the enemy to retreat to their inner sanctum, and here they tried a desperate tactic. Summoning fully a dozen great demons with the upper bodies of boars, and wielding great knives, they hoped to finish us off. We stood fast, however, and eleven of the demons died on my sword. The last one was killed by one of Delmada's magicked arrows. Our saving grace was the time needed to summon a demon, as we were able to slay each one before it was joined by others. Delmada rained death on our enemies whenever possible, and finally they tried one last tactic. The remaining priests and guards charged us. Back to back Delmada and I made a stand, and helped by terrible speed granted us by Nicholle, we slew every one of them. Charging into the inner sanctum, we saw a further priest and defeated him. Breaking through the wall to enter the shrine to Osiris, we found a great golem-statue of Sebk, which animated and attacked us. With mighty blows I defeated this, even as Delmada slew a giant crocodile summoned by the monstrosity. Collapsing with exhaustion, we noted that the high priest had been the only one to escape us, then great tiredness overcame me and I slept for hours. Though uninjured due to the protective dweomers, the battle was of such ferocity that my hands bled with the exertion. Indeed, I have an inkling that such a battle will be in store for us when we face Morvissen before the lands of Erathorn.

The next day, much rested and revived, we proceeded to search the grounds for such items as the evil inhabitants had stowed away. These we gathered to help us in our further tasks. However, during the search, Nicholle, picking up a statue of a black serpent was suddenly faced with that form itself. Fleeing from the foe, they called my help, and together we defeated the gruesome netherbeing, but not without injury. The very sight of the thing was draining, and its icy gaze further chilled our very beings. It was a clear reminder to us that nowhere in the Necropolis is friendly, and that we must be on our guard continually. That morning we gathered our gains, and proceeded back to Aartuat village, there to take stock of the situation and regroup. For my part, I received a message from Wolf indicating unrest on the part of my legionnaires. My time in Aartuat was clearly up, and I prepared to depart, wishing the remaining members of the expedition good luck, and bringing all non-essential items with me back to Erathorn. As Lebron and I rode out of Aartuat, I was glad indeed to be out of this place, but had also to consider the danger of those remaining. I returned to Wolf's dwellings and there completed the training of the legionnaires. During our dealings in the temple, Althax had been busy, using powerful magicks to attempt to find information regarding our foe, Rahotep.

On our Journey in time and space

By Corwin, Commandant of House Leader Bodyguard

I awoke that morning, eager for the day head.

A vague foreboding troubled me, however, and soon thereafter, the Viceroy Althax Erathorn appeared, with news of a journey he was about to undertake. I joined, always with the protection of Viceroy Althax in mind. First, a journey to the sphere of Aurora was undertaken. Then the journey went to that place's Aegypt, Memphis to be accurate. Then a journey in time, to about a month before took place. Althax spent some days in the library of that city, researching the matter of the Set Rahotep. Our remaining in this time was assisted by the Gem responsible for the portal to Aerth. Althax completed his search, and also found a potential apprentice, one Sebtef of Memphis. Agreement was reached on a pickup date for this individual. We then travelled back in time for over 1000 Ans, to when Rahotep was still Vizer of lower Aegypt. We set ourselves up in an inn, and investigated the temple of Set. Rumours were spread to the effect that Althax was a powerful visiting dignitary. Soon enough, invitations reached us both from the temple and the last vizer, who was maneuvering to get his position back. We went to the temple to attempt to get a look at Rahotep. Intrigue aplenty was taking place here, but most of it was irrelevant to our mission. Depraved entertainments identified this as a temple of evil. Rahotep did not appear, the most important person there being one Utat-Nebbu, probably Rahotep's right hand man. This matter being a dead end, we moved further back in time, to try to find and capture one of the great objects which have been appearing in the Necropolis. Finding information regarding the transportation of a valuable cargo to the temple, we joined a caravan to intercept. On the way we were attacked by bandits supported by a very able heka-wielder. We beat them off, primarily through the use of magick, and continued. Taking leave of our caravan at the appropriate place, we snuk into the caravan with the goods and camouflaged ourselves. At a time when the caravan was still, Althax distracted the guards, moved into the main wagon, and evading magickal protections, retrieved a heavy box. We then departed this time and place, just as Althax felt the magick within him grow weak. Returning to Oxford, Althax was strengthened, and proceeded to return to pick up Sebtef. He then rested and returned to the Necropolis, there to join up with the rest of the group once again.

Now refreshed, the remaining few prepared to venture further into the Necropolis. For the details of what happened therein, I will once again rely on Elorn for an unbiased account.

The Journey in the Necropolis and ensuing troubles

By Elorn, Fire Imp compatriot to Althax, and Connoissaire Extraordinaire

'Twas a sad day indeed when the good Vivernicol departed us, leaving on a set of the horses we gave him, with our loot in his saddlebags. Those left were me, Althax, Vertigo, Kirenaj, Delmada and the little bint. As we were sitting around, having a decent meal, we suddenly noticed a massive ripple in the magic juice. It came from Delmada's room. We grooved over, and Delmada opened. He claimed that nothing had happened, but we knew of course that this was codswallop. As we slid around his room, we noticed that whenever he got close to one of the candles, the flame turned blue. This was a bad sign. Around then, a couple of guards came up and started asking questions about a whole family that had disappeared. Then the guards strangely started insulting each other and went out to fight. The fight wasn't bad to watch, but there wasn't much blood. Nicholle told us that earlier in the day, Delmada had wanted a big magic circle to keep stuff in. We were pretty suspicious.

The time had come to go back and check out the Necropolis. We moved in, and camped out in the Pylon before the place. This was another stupid idea by Althax, 'cause before long we got attacked by those stupid boar-demon guys. We started chopping 'em, and moved towards the temple were they were popping up. As some buffoon (probably Kirenaj) opened the main gates, he found that he was holding the statue of a blue demon. Naturally, the demon-guy soon appeared, and we had to melee him. Several of the others freaked out, 'cause the guy was pretty ugly, but that's really their problem, isn't it-just no willpower. Anyway, the big dude got killed and then we moved on. In front of the inner sanctum was another door. Another boar-demon popped up, so we killed him, chopping him up into tiny pieces. Nicholle now cunningly dispelled the illusion on the door, and we saw another statue of a brown bad-guy. We avoided this, and charged into the inner sanctum. Here was a bad guy, another bad guy in a circle of flames, and a boar-demon (or boring demon). We had a major battle with these guys. The first bad guy snuffed it quite quickly, the boar-demon got chopped, and then the last bad guy disappeared. Delmada got seriously mushed, and passed out. Althax decided to go to Oxford to find the last bad guy, and popped off. Then the bad guy came back, seriously psyched, half-transformed into a lion. Kirenaj and the guy had a battle with Nicholle pouring on the magick, and at last the high priest bought it. We gathered the loot, and went back to Aartuat. Althax came back, had discovered nothing, and had a really tough trip. He'd missed the target, ended up on the netherrealms with a big serpent-thing. There he'd tried to mush it, but it hadn't worked, so he'd just escaped.	Kirenaj, who's a moonlight guy, tried to heal Delmada, but he got some seriously bad vibes from the dude, so he quit. Back in Aartuat, we lobbed Delmada to Merha-Aptut, who got the same vibes. Delmada was kinda conscious. Based on all the evidence, we thought he might be a bad guy, so we dragged him in and confronted him with the position. He said he had a pact, with his god-dude, and there was nothing evil about it. This was badger-spit, however, so we concluded that Delmada had gone bad. Althax pretended he was going to read Delmada's vibes, but put him to sleep. Then he opened a portal, and lobbed Delmada through it, almost dead and without any stuff. It's the last we've seen of him. He had some good loot. The rest of us, told that Osiris guys had noticed their temple beeing free, decided to hurry up. The Osiris guys might be happy about us saving the temple, but they wouldn't like us looting, so we decided we'd better do it before they came.

Back at the temple, we moved further into the Necropolis, and systematically checked out everything. Here are some of the juicier parts. First, we went into the funerary chapel of the Duat, to see what was on. Pretty soon, this shady spectral shape popped up, and started demanding that we return his statue to him. We spent a lot of time chatting to this thing. In particular, Kirenaj gave it trouble, and so it attacked him. Pretty soon, he got whacked, felt bad, and looked a lot older. As we were checking this out, this huge guy came walking up to the chapel. He was obviously some kind of uncooth savage, with a big sword, ugly metal armour, and a big helmet with a baby-dragon's head in front of it. We asked him what was the give, and he said he was Morgon of the Khergans. Fair 'nuff I thought, and grooved while Althax and the boys chatted with Morgon. It turned out he had a map of the area, so he tagged along. First, we found the statue in question, a poorly concealed door leading to a room where we dug it out. We restored it, and the spectral guy, who claimed he was a Pharaoh (likely) buzzed off.

Next we checked out the Shrine of Bast. This was kinda boring, since the cats there were embalmed, and not very tasty. Through one of the typical secret passages, we came into a cave where some priestesses of Bast hung out. They wanted us to leave, and since we didn't want to hurt them, we did. We flew around the Gorge for some time, checking out tombs to look for THE BIG ONE. When we were walking (bad idea, and as usual not mine) through a gulley, this crazy guy suddenly appeared and dropped a boulder on us. We skipped clear. Later Morgon killed him. We found a sealed tomb, and went through. Well into the tomb, we broke another slab, and then the roof started caving in. Pretty quickly, we moved into the tomb and found it full of poison. Althax did his stuff, and everybody got out. Inside were a lot of big valuable-looking statues. Althax skipped these off to Erathorn, then we checked out the rest. In another tomb we found a model of a chariot, then we ran into some people. They were obviously here as vile grave-robbers, ready to loot the bodies of the dead for profit. Since we were here for the same stuff, we had a chat. We told them of a tomb somewhere, and they showed us a hidden one which they couldn't open. After they had buzzed off, we opened the grave. A dodgy chill came from the tomb, so I figured someone was a little upset. After a lot of useless discussion, we left empty handed. The mage-babe wasn't happy and thought we should move the slab back again, but we didn't. Althax went and told the robbers they could have what was left in the tomb. This probably got them killed.

We went to the Shrine of Bes, and waited for the sun to hit the statue square in the face. Then we got moved to some place where Bes was having a party. This was most cool, and the humans managed to get themselves humiliated several times each. Food was delicious. Eventually, we had to leave, before I had finished my meal. The Chapel of the sun was next, but nothing much happened here. At this point, whatshisname appeared with Vertigo, who had remained behind in the village. Next was the Shrine of Buto, a cobra-headed goddess. We checked it out, and found a standard secret passage to a tomb. Another of the stupid spectral thingibobs appeared, and wanted an offering. After some parlay, we left a BUC each. Going out, a trap door opened into a snake pit. Morgon willingly jumped into it, but was stopped by Vertigo. Getting past, we grooved onwards, checking out some more boring tombs. At one point Althax stupidly blasted some bees coming along, and made an entire tomb collapse upon them, destroying all their lovely honey. This was most stupidly stupidly stupid. Well, we slid further into it. Finally, we found a ravine moving further in, fitting the description Althax in his extraordinary wisdom was relying upon. Everybody scrambled onto a ledge high up, and a big gate suddenly appeared. This was pretty hard, so we pushed some pictures on it to make it open. Oh, and while we did this, a strange misty shape appeared and gave us a lot of garbage about being scared of him. When we went in, some more stuff came up telling us we were doomed doomed doomed and stuff. Inside was a painting of the big bad guy, four slabs, and two portal things with bad guys. We broke the red slab, and found a big maze. The end chamber brought us back to the start, and the entire thing was a complete waste of my precious time. Behind the green slab was face and hands. Morgon was idiotic enough to put his hand in it, and got injured. On one of the portals, with some bad vampires, ghouls and other foul- tasting things, Morgon was fooling around, and managed to bring us a ghoul. He killed it. Behind the gray slab was a passage. We went in, against my advice, and a big block of rock fell down behind us. Then spikes came out of the roof and the roof started coming down. Nice work Althax! Nicholle managed to conjure up some big rocks, and blocked the roof before we got pancaked. We dug out, and smashed the black slab. The Rahotep guy had more to say, and gave us another speech about being Doomed. Behind was a room with a well. Morgon went in, checked it out, and found some shiny pieces of junk at the bottom. Althax, however, in his great wisdom, was convinced that there was a trap in here. In fact, so was absolutely everybody, and we all thought it had something to do with the roof. So Althax decided to send me down into the well to trigger it. I went in, started grabbing the loot, and then the roof kinda caved in. Well, maybe not so much caved as got eaten through by a big pool of acid. The humans were panicking above, and managed to get out bumblingly, while I trudged out, grateful to Althax for this wonderful experience.	Next up was another brilliant plot, Nicholle this time deciding that it was time to get someone killed. The demonling portal was the target. Nicholle or Morgon, or some other human, doesn't matter 'cause everybody followed, held onto the portal, and disappeared. Everybody did the same, and soon we were all somewhere on the netherrealms, surrounded by a bunch of netherlings, demons, fiends, and other seriously bad dudes. The humans had the usual problem keeping their cool, but Althax managed to open a portal out of here, and we just managed to escape the hungry horde. Another great piece of planning brought to you by Althax. Having set off every conceivable trap in the place, we went to the picture of Rahotep. Before smashing it, Althax finally did something useful, and made sure he was protected against poisons. Well done, as a lot of poison gas came pouring out when the picture was smashed. A dark wall was behind, and we smashed this too. Behind was a big room full of sarcophagi. In each was a mummy, which was very heavy and hard. Althax thought they were golems, and all were dumped with the acid. At the other end were some big doors. We broke through, and some big vulture-thing flapped off, saying it was the Khu of Rahotep and we were doomed etc. Behind was a burial chamber. In short order, we demolished the entrance, and found a sarcophagus. Pushing off the lid, we got a bit of battle. A speedy mummy jumped up and Morgon killed it. Then, the mummies found earlier came running, and we spent some time playing before we killed them. We searched the place, found a bit of loot, and decided enough was enough for one day. We had kicked some, and buzzed off to Erathorn, for a big meal. Morgon decided to come with us. Dinner was a demanding affair, as I had to order something very special from the cook. First of all, I needed a large dog, preferably fat....... (In the interests of the reader, I've decided to cut Elorn short at this point.)

After these events, time was spent dealing with the business of Clan Erathorn. A pressing matter was the recruiting of a good weaponsmith and heka-forger. The most reputed Guild in Europe is the Francian, so we visited it. Althax, offering generous terms indeed, was able to convince one Pieter Arxaime to join. However, as the Guild is controlled by the Francian king, we first needed the permission of King Francois I. A carefully written petition was sent, and an audience was granted. During this, we were informed that Albion and Francia had agreed to stay out of the matters regarding Brettony, Ys and Neustria. Further, an invitation was given to our King Roland to visit Francia after the cessation of the current hostilities. The King was most helpful, and supplied documents granting Master Alxaime release from his Guild operation. Speaking with the guildmaster, we agreed upon the terms of the release, and then Master Alxaime and his family moved to Clan Erathorn. He was given a generous sum to equip the forge, and set about preparing his new workplace with energy.

Problems plagued the clan again when several of those who had ventured into the Necropolis suddenly became ill, suffering great pains and troubled by weakness. Pertakus showed once again his mettle, healing those of Sunlight and Moonlight. Morgon, not being either, would have to be healed in another way. The following is a letter from the tutor of Althax to one of his peers, which should suffice to show the amount of effort required to accomplish this. At the behest of Lebron, Master Toglia agreed to let us reproduce it here.

A letter from Master Toglia to Mistress Nathanielle

Dear Colleague,	Londun, 29/6-994

He's done it again! My star pupil, graduated with top honours has made another enemy! This time, he had managed to get one of his dubious "friends" infected with some lethal disease. Naturally, this "friend" is not of either Light, and so cannot be healed by the proper ecclestials. Furthermore, his standing is not sufficient to warrant greater magicks, and so Althax badgered me for the location of a great herbalist. The closest of the necessary power is probably Methral of Sherwood, so I directed my too energetic pupil there. He spent some time having the dying man searching the forest before actually using his magicks. Eventually, he bumbled onto Methral. As he later reported, the two first asked for help, and when Methral refused, for reasons of his own, they forced him through a portal. Seizing him, they attempted to threaten him into creating the appropriate potion. He refused, and extricated himself from the situation. Althax, seeing the failure of the effort, burned away to Nepal, where he had some clerical with skill in herbalism carry out the healing. He then went back about his usual business, with not so much as an apology to Methral. Methral being a man of a volatile temper, it can only be hoped that their paths do not cross again. Regarding my magickal research.....

Here Master Toglia launched into a lengthy description of things magickal, which have no relevance to the current exposition. Having successfully healed Morgon, the next step was to deal with the Brettonian situation. A meeting was held with the King, and Council of Magi, with the purpose of forming a strategy. Preliminary agreement was reached, the participants retiring to work out the details. Before we could do much more, however, Gothgar, our mining master, appeared, somewhat distraught. He had apparently found a maze beneath the obsidian mine, and was eager to investigate. For the details, I refer to this by Gothgar himself.

On my discovery of the underground maze

By Gothgar, Mining master to Clan Erathorn

The excavations were proceeding at an average pace, the humans doing the bulk of the labour using their below-par skills as best they could. I was investigating a new vein of obsidian when my senses told me there were hollow areas beyond. Spending that day excavating the rock, I broke through into a substantial open area. A dank and decaying smell met me, indicating that this might be a connection to the underground realms. If this was so, we might encounter all manner of hostile beasts, so I contacted the clan authorities. On the scene quickly was Vivernicol, the human bladesmaster, and Morgon, a barbarian. Getting a torch for the humans, we lowered ourselves down, and found a room bisected by a turbulent underground river, most likely linked to our own river above. A 10' wide bridge crossed the river. Quickly, we were attacked by 10 heavily armoured zombies. There was only space for two fighting them, so the two human warriors moved up. Aided by magick, they slew the zombies, the armour of the undead foe making them especially tough. Fetching Althax, we continued further in, I staying back as a rearguard. A further dozen or so skeletons appeared, and with tremendous speed the humans destroyed them. Continuing in, it was clear that the complex was large. I sensed many cavities, and an irregular flow of water, indicating many small streams. The humans continued to find and kill an ogre and some large centipede creations, as well as a gigantic slug-being swimming in the water. Into the complex they found the pouch of a messenger, containing a letter from which we concluded that this complex had been used by House Morvissen to stage a surprise attack on Clan Eagle. Withdrawing to consider our options, it was decided that a full-scale operation with the purpose of clearing and sealing off the complex would have to be sent. Whilst waiting for this, a watch of 10 men was posted by the entrance to the labyrinth. Excavation otherwise continued in a different direction.

Due to the time differential with Aurora, many events take place simultaneously, or are somewhat jumbled with regards to those on Aerth. The following are several accounts by Vazuvius, again supplied through agreement with Lebron. They tell of several expeditions by him with others to places distant, and the events therein. Some of the following material may be a little metaphysical, so beware.

The Attempt by Morgon to recruit warriors

By Vazuvius, researcher in Alchemy

My continuing research was interrupted by one Morgon of Erathorn. His purpose was to train troops for Erathorn in the minimum amount of time. This he proposed to do by utilizing probability travel and a distortion of time. The information regarding this was supplied by Wolf, who performed the necessary calculations. He was able to recover the Cube he had used to journey to Aurora in the first place, henceforth designated as Cube 1. Furnishing Morgon with the calculations necessary for his return, he prepared the Cube. My own studies in probability travel were far from complete at this point, but I was intrigued to see the system in operation, so I agreed to join. My servant Kenji followed. The cube was activated, and the characteristic multicoloured door appeared. Those stepping through were Morgon, 34 of his trainee soldiers, Kenji and myself.

PART I: The Saurian Empire

Immediately after arriving, we knew something had gone wrong. Even so, there is no chance of stepping back through a probability gate, as it is a one-way affair. The planet we were on was dark with clouds and ashes. Great mountain ranges jutted up on all sides, and volcanic eruptions shook the earth. A small quantity of air allowed breathing, but reduced mobility. We moved through the landscape trying to find signs of life, or the cube to escape this unhelpful place. The metaphysics of this contingency were inappropriate, however, so my interest in the universe here was limited. The absence of magick is so total that the project would not be sustainable.

During our search, 12 of the soldiers were killed by falling rocks or sudden fissures opening beneath their feet. Kenji and I were very close to one of these but avoided it. Finally, we found something of interest. It was a round building, shaped like half of a ball, and with a strange metal item swirling around on top. Finding a secret entrance into this activated by a coloured section of the wall, we stepped inside. A number of incomprehensible boxes and glass windows greeted us. We could not make anything out of these. Soon, however, a figure appeared and regarded us. Morgon attacked this, but his blade passed clean through it, as if it was some kind of wraith. We concluded that it was a form of illusion. The illusion was under the control of its creator, and spoke to us, garbled at first, but soon gaining control of our language. In fact, it was able to converse with both Morgon and I in our respective languages. It informed us that we had entered the territory of the Saurian Empire, and not satisfied with our place of origin and names, it told us to wait for a patrol to arrive. Food and drink was supplied, the taste somewhat bland. A week later, the patrol arrived. It consisted of six large reptilian warriors, carrying strange metal devices, and more familiar swords on their backs. These appeared from nowhere, and after telling us to follow, disappeared again. We suddenly appeared inside a metal construction, and were introduced to the crew. The construction was apparently a vessel, capable of travel between planets and stars. The mechanics of this without the use of heka are beyond me, but they will not always be. The ship would take us to a planet, where further consideration would be made of our case. Whilst aboard, we studied the surroundings with varying degrees of comprehension. Morgon found the Saurian's weaponry to be extremely dangerous, but their skill to be no more than high. According to Wolf, weaponry of this nature brought home will not function, so we did not dedicate much time to learning about it. The ship arrived at its destination, and we met the Consul. We explained that we were from Aerth, did not know of the Empire, and had arrived by accident. This was enough, we were handed documents (in fact a small item of "plastic" containing all the information in some roundabout way) and dumped on the planet. This was a strange place, full of noise, with a heavy irritating air, swarming with Saurians and various other humanoids, and full of strange devices and vehicles. The details of these are too numerous to recount, but I am studying the items at length. The amount of coin (furnished through the strange cards in some abstract manner) given us by the Council was modest, and would last for a month at most. Fortunately, we were also given three "Universal Translators," small devices translating our speech to the necessary language. This was especially useful as our spent heka energy did not return, leaving our reserves depleted permanently with each spell woven. We therefore required further money, and most of all needed to calculate how to return. Wolf's estimates indicate that such a process carried out by a qualified mathematician (such as me) would take roughly 3 months, with any errors potentially fatal. As we were sitting in an exotic eating place, we saw a sedentary Saurian set upon and robbed by two others. Having nothing else to do, we set upon the thieves, rendering one unconscious and the other fleeing. The Saurian's items were returned to him, and he was most grateful. Exploiting the moment, we asked him for assistance around town. He agreed, and brought us back to his home, a small section of a large house. Ascending in this house was done through a box moving through a chute, and moved by some unseen energy. Our first priority was a map, and the Saurian soon furnished this by pushing a number of "plastic" pieces on a box. The map was shown on the piece of glass before him, and then transferred to proper paper by a device (or a "machine" as the Saurians call them). Morgon furnished the necessary equations, and the Saurian showed great skill in transferring these "into" one of the "machines" which in the blink of an eye supplied the requisite solution. The Saurian turned out to be a mathematician, fortunate for us indeed. What was less fortunate was the position of the Cube, close to a distant star on a water planet. Passage to this place would cost us 100,000 Credits (BUC equivalent) each, far beyond our current means. Looking for work, we were handicapped by our lack of understanding of the devices, language and culture of the aliens. No legal work for which we were qualified would furnish the necessary money in a reasonable time. Morgon therefore resolved to use illegal means, and soon found these. Against the advice of the Saurian Mathematician, Morgon joined a championship of gladiatorial combat, the prize for the winner being 100,000 Credits. The championship would go through a number of rounds with different weaponry required in each. Using his own magick, he gave himself great speed, knowing that this was the only way he could possibly prevail. In the first round, Morgon met a Saurian and was thoroughly trounced. I found it necessary to disable this Saurian, then Morgon killed him before collapsing. Having recovered, he attempted the same again, and this time defeated his opponent. He went through the rest of the championship with ease, emerging the winner. Moving on to the next championship, we prepared more carefully. In the first round, he was pressed by a Drow-like humanoid until I disabled this one. He went through several more opponents with moderate difficulty. Then he encountered another "Drow" using two scimitars. The battle went the wrong way, so I intervened with protective magicks on Morgon, just in time to save him from being diced. After a long and spectacular display, Morgon killed his opponent. In the final, Morgon was to meet a strange insectoid alien with four arms and an equal number of swords. Success was unlikely, so we decided to cheat some more. The end here, as always, justified the means. Placing a casting of such a nature as to cause a foe's blows to land back upon him, I retired to watch the fight. The alien was skilled, and soon landed several blows on Morgon, injuring itself severely. Then Morgon, suddenly aggressive, landed an excellent blow on the alien, killing it instantly. The prize was ours.

Spending some of the money traveling to the place where the cube was supposed to be, we found it and returned to inform the remaining soldiers. Some time had been spent training these. We also spent several weeks studying Saurian equipment, and bringing back such items as would be beneficial, bearing in mind the superior metallurgy of their smiths. Then we activated the Cube, using a form of energy known as "electricity." Surprisingly, we returned back to Aurora with no mishaps. The Saurian mathematician, whom we had brought with us, was startled at first, then transferred to Clan Erathorn. Some time distortion had taken place, as I saw my own back going into the previous portal. We had words with Wolf, then I continued my research.

PART II: The Great Steppes

Some time later, I received word from Morgon. He planned another expedition, this time with the purpose of recruiting soldiers for Clan Erathorn. I agreed to accompany him, and we prepared the Cube. Leaving this time was Morgon, Tabard of Llangollen (a Barbarian from Wales), and myself. We emerged on a plain with no significant features in sight. Picking out a random direction we set off in search of life. This place seemed far more appropriate. There was a modest flow of heka in the area, allowing us to recover our energies. Secondly, a small light device, inoperative at Aurora and Aerth, functioned here, indicating that a certain mixture flowed. The task was now to determine what inhabitants were here and what degree of development they had reached. The next day, Morgon ascended under motive dweomers, and used the pair of excellent spyglasses he had purchased from the Saurians. He spotted some figures on horseback, so we pursued, using further motive magicks. Placing ourselves in their path, we were faced with ten orcs. They did not speak our language, so we used dweomers to facilitate understanding. Apparently, the orcs belonged to a tribe and were of a nomadic nature. Many other tribes roamed the plains, with only the occasional light settlement providing permanent bases. A certain amount of conflict went on, with a random mixture of Orcish and human tribes. Having realized the importance of horses for movement on the plains, we attempted to purchase three horses from the orcs. They naturally refused, so we killed them. After the battle, we took the remaining nine horses (one having been killed by Morgon) and set off. We had suffered some damage to our equipment, so we used Orcish equipment as replacements. The quality seemed acceptable. Tabard had suffered substantial wounds, so we continued at a comfortable pace. With the exception of wild animals, several of which seemed interested in our mounts, the following twenty days were uneventful. During our parlay with the orcs, we had learned that there was a village of some sort 20 days to the south, but as we were unlikely to run into this, we decided to continue for the river we were told was to the north. True enough, after our trek we located the river, and set up camp, making sure to water our horses generously. Having determined that this place could possibly be what I was looking for, I determined to obtain some more useful allies. I found and retrieved the Cube, and sent the barbarians back, with the message to return with some appropriate adventuring types. They would be back a year hence, when I would have had time to investigate in detail the situation herein.

(This report, brought back by Morgon and Tabard is the last from Vazuvius at the moment. Further reports will be furnished when they are received. )

Conclusions

That is the full story to the best of my knowledge so far. I have tried to do all participants justice, and to recount the events objectively. However, as a full participant in many of the events, no doubt the story is somewhat coloured by my own perceptions and emotions. From this time on, it is likely that my busy position as leader of the Clan Erathorn armed forces will preclude my taking part in the expeditions to come. I will therefore attempt to get full accounts from such participants as are able and willing, and will supply these when appropriate. For now, I refer the reader to the appendices for information regarding the current clan and its doings. These were set up with the assistance of Lebron and Raadinov, tradesmaster to Clan Erathorn.

July 5th, 994

(The campaign now stands at January 24th, 998, so there's quite a bit of stuff not recorded, and there have been quite a few changes. For example, the Clan is now a House, Delmada is now dead, Kirenaj the Ninja is dead, Nicholle's player has changed character, Prince Jean Paul is married, Althax has retired as leader and Vivernicol is a Baron with a pregnant wife. You should probably also see the letter which Alessandro got during your session here, but all in due time.......)