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We only rowed for an hour before we emerged from the shelter of the cliffs. Argonne ordered oars up and unfurled the sails. Thank Mühbelung that our toil was over. My gloves were ruined and my blistered hands ached. The Swift was true to its name, setting a cracking pace now that the sails...

Whilst we could have set out that afternoon, I decided that it would be more prudent to travel at dawn. That way we had the entire day to reach the isle, rather than travelling part way in the darkness, which is what would have happened had we set out that day. The remainder of the day was spent...

Chapter 4 - Revelations and Investigations I slept well that night. Very well. The excitement of the previous evening had taken its toll, for I did not hear my usual dawn wake up door pounding; damned pageboys! I had become so hardened since setting out from Halfast some twenty five days ago...

Argonne, Strav and Mortec ran to the path with Moxadder and I following more cautiously. More fairy lights appeared over the path, lighting the way. However, they did not help Argonne. In a fit of clumsiness perhaps caused by the speed of his decent, he tripped and slid, landing on the stones...

Theron, the grizzled and scarred captain of the Baron’s guard taught us team strategy and tactics. “In the games there are three rules that you must follow to succeed,” he said. “Rule one, strike them with arrows first. Rule two, always concentrate your attacks on one opponent as you’ll down...

Even though I was keen to learn more, the mystique and dreadful aura of the unknown caused some hesitation on my part in actually speaking to one of the magicians. I made several aborted attempts to knock upon the door of their apartments, but was too daunted to actually lay knuckle to timber...

The following day, the twelfth of Low Summer, I woke to find that the sun was up, as were many notables from the previous evenings feast, including Timandra, today wearing an enchanting emerald green dress, Zmrat and others of the Massive Hand. Morgan, Argonne and the rest had all risen earlier...

The room we found ourselves in was a library. Books rose from the floor to the ceiling. They sat in shelves that ran the along every wall of the room. I glanced at Mortec and saw he was practically jumping out of his rather small boots. That fellow really needed to learn some control. The Baron...

Sitting perched atop a bluff, its’ blue stone walls rising dramatically from the earth, was the Castle of Baron Yorath. Beneath it sprawled the large town of Yorathton. “Sweetmeats! A tasty treat for the weary traveller”, cried a hawker as he winked at me. It was more than enough to convince...

Chapter 3 – The birth of the Hydra The sun was throwing our long shadows before us when we arrived at Yorathton. After ten days tramping along empty and boring roads, sleeping on the ground, or at best in a chair in Leathes Abbey with a tome as a blanket, we had finally returned to...

Maybe an hour or so after settling myself I heard Mortec calling out. I answered in kind and soon he was telling me a remarkable tale. The three, as mentioned before, struck out along the cliffs to the lighthouse. As they wandered forward Morgan noticed that the light was already shining, even...

Eventually Argonne and Moxadder returned to the Abbey with Maron Devlis. They told us that the villagers had returned and only five of their number were missing. Those villagers kidnapped were, the old crone Wilma, Olvan the Boatwright and three girls, Kareena, Lessha and Nadine. Those with the...

We wandered hurriedly through town. There were still no villagers. Perhaps they had been all taken to be sold on the slave blocks in some distant port? After another hour, it was now past midday, we arrived at the Abbey. There was immediate and gruesome evidence that the brigands had called...

Gazing up from his pointing finger we saw a small cottage perched high up on the cliffs to the west. Another exclamation from Argonne led our eyes to a beach at the base of the western cliffs, and what looked to be two caves set back where sand met vertical rock face. We decided that despite...

By sunrise it became evident that Moxadder was not well. He was pale and his eyes revealed desperation. Every now and again one of his hands would twitch as if in spasm and his right eye had developed a tic. I had seen this many time before in others, but the signs were the same. His drug horde...

Chapter 2 – An unusual business at Ravenswood The sun shone in the early morning sky. A good omen and an excellent day to begin our journey south-east to the Barony of Yorath. Surprisingly the entire company, I was sure Moxadder would not return, gathered at the Green Arms as had been arranged...

As I walked back to the group I saw that not all had been idle. While I spoke with the Prince, Moxadder and Argonne had rifled through the corpses. Peasants, through and through, scrounging for anything of value. Baastian gathered us together and hurried us along, wishing to leave the scene...

At this point I should note that weapons are not usually on show in most cities, well not weapons of significance like swords, and as I was expecting a night of passion, not violence, I had left my rapier back in my room. The pikeman readied for the lepers charge but they were overrun before...

Once I had finished dining I took leave of the group, after dropping my gear off at the room that Baastian had taken out for me. As we were due to head off the next morning, I wished to meet Absquith and see what he thought of my news. Morgan came along too, he was quite pleased with the turn of...

There was a collective of gasp of surprise. I tried not to but even I who had been exposed to wealth from my earliest days, could appreciate the cost involved. As I mentioned earlier it was some five thousand Silver Sickles to enter. Only the mound seemed immune, he was still wiping his bloody...