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Part Two: City of Dragons The Rules of the Cage THE MORNING LIGHT filters dimly through the smoke billowing from the ruins of Guardwatch. Mud and ash cover the thousands of stunned prisoners who sit mutely in the non-noble corral; their captors’ display of brutality and arcane power has...

Much appreciated, doghead. I'm really looking forward to writing up the next section -- and in particular, to another long excerpt from the Unscholarly Journals of Darren the Senalline. (Thanks to the brilliant Feir Fireb). Ori - will explain a bit more on the noble blood test later in the...

We're sticking with PC p.o.v. All things in good time... The capture of the party by the Arawai's mysterious spellcasting allies marked the end of our first semester of play... so I guess that must have been May or June '96. I spent the fall in London, and we resumed play in Jan '97...

The Taken and the Dead ATRIX AND KAY have managed to leave Guardwatch before the news arrived from the south to spark panic. At dawn, after reviving Atrix, the weary Dethasian high priest sought an inspired word from Ain on their next course of action — and was told that all of them should...

The Breaking of the North KYLA WAKES UP from a cold, starless night on the plains, having walked east for most of the previous day to avoid the great host that she knew was marching south. The dust of Mercon’s seven thousand soldiers, which had smudged the whole western sky when she made her...

Broken Swords AFTER WHAT FEELS like the deepest sleep of his life, Atrix slowly becomes aware of the profound chill throbbing in his arms and legs. The air is unnaturally icy, far colder than the stone under his back. A persistent, ominous intonation in an unfamiliar language echoes from all...

The Great Betrayal AFTER DARREN'S CAPTURE, he is dragged to the dungeons and thrown without ceremony into a damp, deep pit in the rock. Tumbling desperately, he manages to cushion his fall enough to stay alive, but dislocates his shoulder in the process. After popping his arm agonizingly back...

Onto the Plains KYLA SLEEPS ONLY fitfully that night, and wakes with a start at words that reverberate in her mind, seeming to bypass her ears entirely: Only you can hear this. Go to the corridor below the eastmost wall if you want a chance to save your people. She looks down at Gareth’s...

Yeah, in a way, it's surprising there are any more chapters to this story. ...but don't worry.

Revenge of the d’Aramants ASH AND MEESHAK spend the stormy night trying to get a clear story about what has become of their other friends. It soon becomes clear that Agerain is dead, and there are rumors flying about a disguised Atrix d’Loriad and someone else infiltrating the d’Aramants...

Thanks, doghead! It's been fun to write it up in more detail than we had before.

Interrogations ON HER RETURN to camp, Ontaya rides straight to Morgant, the knight to whom she is a squire, and asks him for an urgent audience with High General Sarquin d’Loriad. (They enter Guardwatch keep at about the same time that Kay and Darren set off to reclaim Atrix’s body). To...

Well, most of my favorite parts of the first season of the game emerged out of PC pro-activity, which woke me up a bit.

Hiding Atrix DARREN RIDES STRAIGHT for the merchant camp. Along the way he passes Lucian, who is heading to his planned sparring practice with Atrix. Darren waves him frantically away, not pausing to explain. Minutes later, he dismounts at the Perigords’ tent, his legs shaking. Kay sees the...

Everything Falls Apart THE NEXT AFTERNOON, a cheerful Atrix invites Carwyn along to his regular sparring match with Lucian. Carwyn, never averse to watching attractive men hit each other with sticks, accepts at once. They head out to a remote field at the edge of the Guardwatch valley, just out...

Guardwatch AFTER THREE MONTHS on the road, the host finally arrives at its destination, Senallin’s most southeasterly outpost. The great castle of Guardwatch is built on a broad, flat outcrop of stone above a small river. Its mighty walls and hidden spring have allowed it to withstand countless...

Thanks! I'm also looking forward to reaching the bit where you joined the party -- sorry it's taking so long, but I wanted to add enough detail to give people who weren't in the campaign a sense of the characters' development. Ladybird, we'll get to you sometime before 2011, I promise. Almost...

General Mercon’s Game THE NEXT MORNING, Nina wakes to the sound of violent curses. He recognizes the voice of Athriam, the High General. “Worthless dogs! Treacherous swine! Marcor died for this?” “What’s going on?” Nina asks Agerain when he finds him outside the tent. “The village elders...

An Unexpected Knife A MONTH INTO the long march, where the fertile Senalline low country begins rising into the dry, rugged grasslands of Arawai, a delegation of border villagers holds an audience with the Generals. Nina and Ontaya are both there with their respective Families when the lean...

Marching East DARREN SPENDS MUCH of his time in Cannedun’s traveling workshop, which is also on the outskirts of the main army. The young Senalline has always been an inventor, but his gadgets have been fairly simple – spring-driven noisemakers, for example, to entertain children or distract...