A band of humans charges you. Several are armored, several are mages. The mages have an odd eye insignia on their robes. You don't get the chance to ask what it means, because they attack you.
You meet an Empire patrol, wandering the hills looking for someone or something. When they see you, they immediately decide you're who they're hunting for.
You search the bodies. You find gold, and a variety of useful items. However, you find no sign of who they are or where they came from.
You are taken into the inner sanctum, and taught the learning and rituals of the church in a clipped, cost efficient way. You are told to strive for self-improvement in all things, and that the obtaining of money is the surest path to that end.
The temple's prayer books are very good. You learn the spells Divine Thud and Mass Charm. In addition, your Mage Lore skill improves. Eventually, you leave, your heads filled with a variety of bizarre ideas.
You are welcomed back to the temple and accorded all the luxuries due someone who's entered the inner circle. You are given food and drink, and trade news about goings on. There's nothing much else for you to do here. You leave.
The mandrake hasn't grown back yet.
A priest approaches you. However, when he sees your Anama rings, he turns mutely back. The gates are closed tight against you.
A large patrol of Empire soldiers marches near you. They are very apathetic - they barely bother to search as they march. They give you a cursory look, and march on. It is strange to see Empire troops so demoralized.
This remote, rubble strewn valley has a path leading up into it. You would guess that the path has used a fair amount, and not just by people but by carts and wagons. You wonder why so many people would march up such a nondescript valley.
When it becomes clear that you won't leave peacefully, the guards don't shrink from the task of slaying you.
You march into the large valley, currently occupied by the stranded Third Empire Army. The army is determined to keep interlopers at a safe distance, and your being from Exile doesn't help. A band of guards moves to keep you away.
As you turn, the shade says "Wait please!" Then, a moment later, it wavers. "Oh no! I must fly, before I am found!" It disappears.
It says "I hoped you would come to me. It is easy to appear here, near where my body is. The key is in Footracer, and the key to Footracer is in Blackcrag."
"Blackcrag has a side entrance - search closely. You will have allies against us, so that we may be stopped." The form wavers. "Oh no! I must fly, before I am found!" It disappears.
The comfrey root isn't quite ripe yet.
You are in a massive expanse of plains. The roots of the thick, lush grasses are too thick for Empire plows to cut, so these lands have escaped domestication so far. With the monster plagues, they are mostly empty now, or settlers or travelers.
To the north, you see an enormous mountain range, the largest in the Empire, which separates Valorim from the rest of the world. Due north, you can see a huge pass, and can just make out the fort blocking it.
Ahead of you to the north, you see a massive fortress. It's a huge slab of black stone, it's sharp parapets watched by a multitude of Empire soldiers. This is Blackcrag Fortress, the sentinel watching the pass between Valorim and the rest of the Empire.
Unfortunately, Valorim is under quarantine. This castle is here not the keep the people of Valorim safe, but to keep them in. The guards watch as you approach, ready to kill you if you overstep your bounds.
You search for some good ember flowers but the specimens you find are completely inadequate for your purposes. Maybe later.
As you search the flowers for good specimens, you hear dark, ethereal laughter. You look around, and find that a group of swamp denizens has soundlessly surrounded you. You have no choice but to fight.
The forest ahead is very dark and shadowy. Eerie flickering light dance among the trees. The branches over your head sway slightly, which is very peculiar considering there's no wind.
The forest gets darker, and seems to close in around you. You suddenly lose the path.
The forest brightens a little, and you think you see sunlight ahead. You think you're almost out.
The ground of this remote valley is covered with a thin layer of slime. Suddenly, the stones under your feet start to buckle and shift! Huge, loathsome creatures slither out of the earth, pleased that food has come to them at last.
The monsters dead, you eagerly search for loot. Unfortunately, way up here in the mountains, they haven't really been able to get any. The little metal you find has been nearly disintegrated by the worm's acidic excretions. Very disappointing.
You give the gremlins your food. The scurry off with it, cackling hideously. You're alone in the woods again.
You refuse the gremlin's request, hoping they won't attack you. Your hopes are in vain. Angered by your insolence, they charge you.
You give the gremlins your food. Unfortunately, you don't have enough to sate them. After gobbling down what you do have, they decide to have you for dessert.
You search the bodies of the unpleasant forest creatures. They don't have much. However, one of the gorgons was wearing a gold necklace! You take it with.
The glowing nettle hasn't grown back yet.
You stand at the end of a deep, dark valley, full of sharp crags and broad expanses of rubble. In the distance, you see a massive stone circle, each of the stones eighty feet high. You feel a strange overwhelming compulsion to approach it.
You stand at the end of a deep, dark valley, full of sharp crags and broad expanses of rubble. In the distance, you see a massive stone circle, each of the stones eighty feet high. The clouds overhead are gray and angry, and the valley is full of shadows.
You climb this craggy valley, watching carefully for alien beasts. At the head of the valley, you see a huge cave mouth. As you climb, you suddenly feel a strange, powerful desire to go north and explore. You struggle to fight it.
You climb this craggy valley, watching carefully for alien beasts. At the head of the valley, you see a huge cave mouth. As you climb, you suddenly feel a strange, faint desire to go north and explore. You aren't sure why.
You hear a strange whispering inside your head. You recognize it - you heard it in the stone circles you found around Valorim. It tells you you must go north. You can go this way no farther. The compulsion to go north overwhelms you.
As you climb into this dark valley, you suddenly start feeling a powerful desire to go to the end of it. Strange voices in your heads pull you forward. You feel you can't reach the end soon enough.
As you climb into this dark valley, you suddenly start feeling a powerful desire to go to the end of it. Somehow, you think a major reward awaits you at the end.
When you move forward, the massive pack howls and charges. Their six powerful legs churn up a remarkable amount of dust.
The beasts attack without the slightest hesitation.
You search the guards. The alien beasts have broken their weapons and chewed up their armor. You do find some gold, and a nice bronze ring. As you leave, however, you see that the alien beasts have found you.
The clouds over this valley are so thick that it almost seems like night, even though it's the middle of the afternoon. A bitter wind sears your exposed skin. There are bits of bone everywhere. You suspect you're getting close to the end.
A patrol of Vahnatai guards runs up to you. They pause. At first you think that your former allies may be ready to parley with you. They, emitting eardrum tearing screams, they charge.
You stare out at an all too familiar sight - a cavern, miles wide, lit by green fluorescent fungi. Your eyes quickly adjust, absorbing the grim familiarity of the view. You have no warm feeling of homecoming - these are Vahnatai lands, not human.
It was from this cave that the Vahnatai sought to obtain their total vengeance on the Empire that wronged them. It is from here that the monsters originated, and it is here they must be stopped. Somehow.
A Vahnatai patrol had seen you approach, and was waiting in ambush. When you get close, they emerge and charge. Their battle cries echo across the cavern.
The water is cool and refreshing. Incredibly so, in fact. It must have absorbed energy from the stone it passed through. You feel recharged.
As you drink, the water rapidly loses its glow. It's unlikely anyone will be able to get any appreciable benefit from this pool until it recharges, which won't be for some time.
This small, modest bridge crosses this river at a narrow spot. The path and the bridge have already gathered a light layer of mold. The Vahnatai must not come up here much.
More Vahnatai have died at your hand. You feel ill. Considering that it was their aid that saved you in the war with the Empire, it's horrible that it has had to come to this.
