textfiles/adventure/demons_winter.sol

~Demon's Winter

RPG Adventure from SSI/US Gold.


There  were  five of us..... all brave adventurers. Well, to be 
honest, all but one of us were brave, but more of our cowardly dwarf 
companion later. 

The strongest amongst us was a Ranger who went by the name of Lone. 
Tall he was,  and  fast  in  battle.  Our  cleric  was a fellow 
called Clarence, He worshipped  the  god  Illo.  Illo  is the god of 
life so we knew Clarence's ability  to  return the dead to life 
(when his god heard his prayers) would come  in  handy  in  our 
quest. You'd think that Clarence would be a man of peace because of 
his god's distaste for battle but, don't you believe it. I was  
surprised  to  see  how often he threw himself into the front ranks 
of some our biggest battles. What can I say about the next member of 
our band? Fidget is a dwarf. He's quite strong, moderately fast, 
certainly not stupid -  and  the biggest coward in Ymros. But his 
skill at disarming traps would be  useful  so  we  put up with his 
whingeing. Apart from anything else, he made a good pack-horse! 

Our  wizard  was a canny fellow called Izzy. Izzy is a dark elf, 
skilled in item  lore  and  learned in fire runes. And me? I'm Zeke, 
the leader. I may not  be  the  fastest  or  strongest  but  I'm the 
smartest and when you're hunting big game, brains can be very 
useful. 

We  met  up by the ruined village of Ildryn. Clarence bowed his head 
at the sight  of  the ruins but the rest of us (except Fidget) were 
itching to get our  hands  on  some weapons and bash some heads! So 
our first stop was the nearby  town  of  Seaside. I bought myself a 
short sword and Lone grabbed a mace while the other three settled 
for knives. A quick stop in camp outside town and we were equipped 
and ready for a scrap. 

While  we  were  in  Seaside,  we  heard  a  useful  rumour  in the 
tavern. Evidently,  an  evil  priest, name of Jesric, had gone off 
on a quest for a powerful  crystal. He was working for someone 
called Eregore. Clarence said we should remember those names in case 
we met up with them in the future. 

Our next stop was the College of Hunting where Lone learnt to hunt. 
We knew it  would  save a lot of gold if he could supply our 
provisions rather than us  stocking  up  at the tavern and paying 
their exorbitant prices. For the same reason, we agreed to camp out 
whenever possible rather than staying in inns.  The  sooner  we got 
a decent amount of gold behind us, the sooner we could  hire a ship 
and set sail for more adventures. Even Izzy seemed quite excited at 
the prospect of a bit of sea-travel. 

The  town of Elborat was our next stopping place. And there, things 
started to  get  interesting. In the tavern, an old woman told us 
how her house had been  burnt to the ground by kobolds. Their camp 
was to the south and their leader  was  a  brute  called  Uffspgot. 
I saw a gleam in Lone's eye and we grinned  at  each other. "Come 
on", I said, and, as one, we turned and left Elborat, heading south. 

The kobold camp wasn't far and inside were several camp fires and 
tents. We prowled  round  cautiously.  Several  tents were empty but 
others contained living  quarters for the kobolds. In another, a 
woman was being harassed by some  of the foul creatures. None of the 
groups of kobolds lasted long! The woman thanked us and rushed out 
of the tent - who could blame her?! 

One  tent contained maps which showed that towns other than Ildryn 
had been attacked.  In another, Clarence spotted something; a scroll 
half-burnt in a fire. He read it out to us. "It's hard to make out 
the words" he said "It's very  badly  charred.  Ah, hang on, .... 
cult worships Xeres .... catacombs under  the  Temple  of Gamur" he 
looked questioningly at us, but none of us had  heard  of  it 
either. "Here's another useful bit" he added, "ermm .... codeword  
-x-".  Izzy gave one of his rare smiles and said "better look for 
this  temple  then". Continuing round the camp, we finally found 
Uffspgot's tent.  He  had  2  kobolds  and  2  orcs  with  him - no 
problem. Before we attacked,  we  heard him say to one of the 
kobolds, "we do not attack again till  my  master  Xeres commands 
it". By the time we had finished with him, his master would have to 
shout very, very loud for Uffspgot to hear him. By now,  we were 
feeling pretty good. I celebrated by learning the mace at the 
College in Akistu. Izzy suggested we head for the Guild in New Gleon 
to see if  we  were  ready  for  advancement.  We were! On our way 
back across the island,  we  stopped  at  the  College  of  Potion 
Lore for Izzy to do some studying.  I  won't bore you with our minor 
battles, though some were quite spectacular - and lucrative. Just 
let me say that we found plenty to occupy our  sword-arms  and we 
NEVER ran away, not even Fidget, though he tried to keep out of the 
action as much as he could. 

Travelling  north  again,  we  found  a  tunnel leading under the 
sea to an island.  We walked warily through it. In one side room 
full of mist, an old man  met  us.  He warned that the one we were 
seeking was just a puppet. He added  that  the puppeteer was eternal 
and his talons far-reaching. Leaving him,  we  continued  onwards.  
At  the  end of the tunnel, we saw a message painted  in blood. 
Fidget read it out and blanched. "Beyond this point lies the  temple  
of  the  Death  Lord,  not a place for those who cherish their 
lives".  Lone just managed to grab the back of Fidget's trousers 
before the cowardly dwarf headed back for the mainland! 

Inside the temple, we gave the codeword and were shown to a stairway 
at the back. Lone pushed Fidget to the front to check for traps. I 
must admit that considering how much his hands were shaking, he 
didn't miss one. 

Down the south corridor, we found the words "gloriosus victime" 
carved on a wall.  In  a room further down, Izzy found a scroll and 
we moved a bookcase to find another exit. Through this doorway was a 
morgue of sorts. A man lay in  a  glass  case in suspended 
animation. "Leave him till later" suggested Izzy  so  we  went back 
to the corridor and turned left. In a laboratory, a cage  of  rats  
caught Fidget's eye (he must have been hungry) but Clarence picked  
up  two  vials  of  serum,  one red and one blue which he handed to 
Izzy. 

Back  to  the stairway and north. Past another trap and into a 
guardroom. A quick  scrap, then on to the next fight with a group of 
Xeres' followers in another  room.  Then  we  retraced  our  steps  
to the other branch of this northern  corridor. In one room, I 
noticed a trail of footprints leading to a wall and stopping dead. 
Closer investigation showed us a secret tunnel. 

It was hard to map and several times we got lost. But eventually we 
came to the end of the tunnel and a Skull Room. Three passages led 
off. Two of them split,  each  leading  to  an  armoury. In each 
one, a piece of weaponry or armour  lay  begging to be taken. But 
hovering round them in each case were some glowing spheres. Should 
we try to take them? While we hesitated in the first  room  which  
contained  a  special mace, Izzy solved the problem and grabbed  the  
mace.  At  once, he was surrounded by will 'o wisps. But they were 
easy to defeat and soon all four items were ours. 

In another room, we found the words "forward 3 and right 1 will get 
you out of a crush" carved into the floor. We had no idea what it 
referred to but I felt we'd missed something so we returned to the 
main passages. Back in the lab, Clarence (bless his bald pate) found 
a secret passage. We found a food storage  area and a workshop with, 
among other things, a mallet. At the end of  the  corridor was a 
temple. Moving the altar, we discovered yet another secret passage 
and cautiously proceeded down it. 

Part  way  along,  I  heard the whirring of massive machinery. "This 
is it, guys", I said, "remember the carving .... forward 3 and right 
1" and dashed forward  following this pattern, the others hard on my 
heels. A bit further and  we  came  upon  a  black doorway carved 
with gold runes. Listening, we could hear chanting coming from 
behind it. A hobgoblin stood between us and the  door,  but  not  
for long, and with him dead on the ground, we hurtled through  the  
doorway,  past  the  body  of  the  dead hobgoblin, and found 
ourselves  in  a  black  room.  In front of us was a ghostly, white 
figure, Remondadin.  Lone  led  the attack, and the five of us, 
working together as never  before,  finally  defeated him. With 
Remondadin dead, the black room was strangely silent. 

On  our  explorations  under  the Temple of Gamur, we had already 
noticed a group of wizards praying in the underground temple, but 
not to Gamur - they were  praying to the evil Xeres. Clearly, these 
catacombs were only part of a  small cult that worshipped Xeres, the 
demon who had destroyed Ildryn. It was also clear to us that we must 
find Xeres himself before he found us. 

We  left  the black room through a doorway to the south and found 
ourselves back in the main Temple. However, Clarence reminded us 
about the man in the glass  case  and  pointed  at  the  mallet  
that Fidget was carrying. So we returned to the morgue. 

With  one  swing of the mallet, the case was shattered and we could 
see the man  more clearly but he still didn't respond. Izzy looked 
closer. "He's in a  deep trance ...... I wonder ...." and reaching 
into his pocket he pulled out  the  two  vials of serum that 
Clarence had found in the laboratory and given  to  him.  He 
examined the man, who stared vacantly into space. "I'll have to risk 
it" he said, and gave him a mouthful of the blue serum. 

Suddenly,  the  man  sat up., a wild expression on his face. 
"Qoorik!, I've seen it!" he cried and grabbed at Izzy's shoulders in 
a frenzy. "They tried to  shut  me  up, but I've seen it! Its 
entrance is hidden in the forest to the  north-west  of  Idlewood." 
As if his body had given up the last of its strength,  he  slumped  
back onto the slab. Izzy shook his head and sighed. "He  is  still  
alive  but  only barely; we will get no more help from him. Leave  
him  in peace" and, with sadness, we left the room, vowing to avenge 
the poor wretch who lay within, bereft of his senses. 

No-one  tried  to  stop  us  as  we  left the Temple. We headed 
towards the south-east  of  the  island  where,  on  our  previous 
explorations, we had noticed another tunnel heading out under the 
southern sea. 

Not far inside, we found ourselves in a large cavern, filled with 
the sound of rushing water. A message carved in the floor read 
'Pirates' Cove - enter at  your  own  risk'.  "Them's  fighting 
words" said Lone and Fidget went a sickly shade of green. 

Passages  led  off  north,  south  and  west.  Along  both  north 
and south passages,  Fidget found and disarmed traps and soon after, 
in each case, we were  attacked  by thieves who we quickly slew. A 
College was at the end of each  tunnel,  Disarm Traps in one and 
Detect Traps in the other. Having no need for either, as long as 
young Fidget was with us, we retraced our steps to the main cavern. 

At  the  end  of  the western tunnel, over a stretch of water, we 
found the town  of  Pirates'  Cove. Surprisingly, despite the 
warning at the entrance and  our  rough reception in the other 
tunnels, we were completely ignored. But, in the pub, an old man was 
telling the tale of Malifon, so we paused a moment to listen, though 
we had heard the tale before, many times. "....and Malifon  made the 
Earth his home", said the old man, "but soon the Ancients became  
angry  at him and, in a great battle, banished him inside a volcano 
to  live  till  the  end  of  time". He finished his tale and picked 
up his tankard  to take a draught. Lone tapped my arm. "Sometimes, 
my friend, with all the things we see and hear, I get the feeling 
the end of time isn't too far away". Somehow, I had to agree with 
him. Malifon's volcano might be the last thing any of us saw. 

We  left  the  Cove  and  tried  to  decide where to go next. While 
we were deciding,  we  visited  two  of  the  Colleges.  Fidget  had  
died and been resurrected  twice  during  recent  battles,  so  the  
small man decided to improve his skills and took a course in 
fighting with the mace. Lone learnt beserking,  which  he  felt  
might give him the edge in a tight scrap. At a nearby  town,  Fidget  
purchased a morningstar then we took another trip to the Guild at 
New Gleon and found we had advanced enough to gain another few 
levels. Hereafter, we visited Guilds whenever we came across them, 
to check on our progress. 

We bought a ship in the docks and set out to sea. I had also learnt 
hunting skills,  so  between  us, Lone and I kept the five of us 
well supplied with fish  on  our  long  sea  voyage. We travelled to 
various islands along the coast, but never straying too far from the 
main island where we had started our travels. We also investigated 
the small islands in the inlets along the coast. 

Lone  enrolled  at  the  College of Armoured Skin which Fidget said 
sounded disgusting. However, this skill gave him even more 
protection in battle. At Dragontooth,  we heard a rumour in the pub 
that someone had found the Shard of  Spring  a  few months back. The 
Shard had disappeared 200 years ago and no-one  had  seen  it  
since. It is said that if anything happens to it, we will  all  be  
destroyed  by  the winter that will follow. While we were in 
Dragontooth,  Clarence  enrolled  at  the  College of Mace and later 
at the College  of  Persuasiveness at Chandris. It would help us get 
a better deal when  we  purchased  new equipment. All this time, 
Izzy had been using a +1 crystal  dagger  that we had collected 
earlier. Our other fights had gained us  some more useful equipment 
and I had a mace, constant speed +2. We also had  some other weapons 
that we had collected and since our ship now needed considerable  
repairs, pirates and sea monsters having taken their toll, we sold  
our  spare  weapons  at  a  local marketplace. We had also gained 
two cursed axes which we got rid of as soon as possible! 

To the south, we found two islands, and on the furthest south of 
these, the town  of  Idlewood,  mentioned by our friend in the glass 
case. We bought a lantern  in  the marketplace and visited the inn 
where we learned that deep within  the ancient demon city of Qoorik, 
there is a place called the Amber Vault  where  one  can  seek  
guidance  in  the  flaming runes. The dungeon entrance, invisible 
till one stepped into it, lay a short distance away. 

We descended into the depths, Fidget checking for traps once we 
reached the bottom  of  the  staircase.  To  the  west, we found a 
great, black archway covered in runes and south of that, more 
passages and rooms led off. 

In  one  room  to the far east, we entered a room where three slaver 
demons attacked  us.  The  fight  was  long  and hard but when it 
was over, Fidget spotted  something  in  a far corner. It was a 
black metal wand. "I'll take that"  said  Clarence as he reached 
past the thief and tucked the wand into his robes. 

We  returned  to  the  corridor  and  travelled south, then west. A 
doorway beckoned;  Lone  moved  to the front and shouldered the door 
open. It was a blacksmith's  shop.  Inside,  the  blacksmith  -  an  
old  troll,  his face disfigured  so  that one eye was permanently 
closed - gasped as we entered. Then  he  seemed  to compose himself, 
smiled and spoke. He said he had been working on a new weapon, 
designed for the ones who wish to kill Xeres. Lone stepped  forward,  
thanked  the troll and took it. It was a jewel-encrusted broadsword.  
However, I cautioned him not to use it until we had identified it 
properly. My caution was well justified; it turned out to be cursed! 

Heading  back  towards  the  stairs  we  had  entered by, we went 
through a doorway  and  found ourselves in a stately mansion with 
three doors leading off the main hall. In a bedroom, which looked as 
though it hadn't been used for  a  long  time,  Fidget  investigated  
a  bed with a straw mattress and emerged grasping a pair of 
spectacles. He perched them on his nose and said "these  make me 
feel smart". Lone laughed. "They must be magic if they make YOU  
intelligent"  he said. The dwarf made a face, pulled off the specs 
and passed  them to the wizard, who patted Fidget's shoulder to try 
to cheer up the small man. 

We also collected a blank piece of papyrus and in a library, we came 
across a  tome, the only book that was left. Izzy tried to read it 
but failed till he  wore the spectacles. Then he told us that it was 
about some gods called the  Ancients who created everything but died 
out many eons before man ever walked the Earth. 

In the corner of the library was a bookcase. Lone and I moved it and 
behind was  another  room.  Black  runes were carved on the walls 
and at a desk, a skeleton,  its  skull  shattered  but its hand 
still clutching a quill pen, caught our attention. I saw a piece of 
paper on the desk which read - Ymros is  mine! - and pointed out to 
the others that the arrangement of the runes matched the number of 
letters on the paper; five runes, a space, two runes, space,  then  
four  more.  "I'll  memorize the runes" said Clarence, with a glazed 
look in his eyes. 

Two  doorways  back  on the main floor had so far been barred to us. 
One, a tunnel  from  which  the  stench  of  death  blew  out,  
turned  out to be, apparently,  a  dead  end.  The other, the 
entrance to a dark temple of red stone,  was  also impossible to 
enter; the sense of evil permeating from it and  an  unseen force 
both combined to push us back. "There must be another way  in"  
murmured  Izzy. "Clarence? Do you think the wand might help?" The 
cleric shook his head. "There's nothing here to operate it on" he 
said "but perhaps,  the  arch  we  saw when we entered? That was 
black and covered in runes...." 

We  retraced our steps to the arch. Clarence took a deep breath (I 
think we all  did) and used the wand. The next thing, we were 
transported to a small room.  A  door  lead  south.  Quietly,  
Fidget  pushed it open and we crept through.  A  corridor  on  the  
other  side was the entrance to the Demon's temple.  The  entrance  
was  not  unguarded though - in front of us stood a level 6 mage, a 
level 8 fighter and an evil spirit. 

Manoeuvering  into  position, we quickly dealt with our assailants 
and then investigated the surrounding rooms. In one, a staircase led 
downwards so we took it. 

At  the  bottom of the stairs, we entered the third level of the 
dungeon. A room  to  the  right contained an empty bag which 
Clarence took. A corridor lead  north and a small, elegant room to 
the left housed a level 14 mage, a priest  of  Xeres. "A human!" 
cried Lone "How can he ally himself with that fiend?"  and  the  
lanky  ranger  raced forwards, oblivious to the imps who obviously  
acted as servants to the priest. A short but vicious fight ended in 
our victory and a prize - a skeleton key - which Izzy took. 

In  another room to the top left, an apprentice's room (the only 
inhabitant a  level  10  mage who quickly gave up the ghost), 
Clarence spied a pile of red  dust  which  he  collected  in the 
bag. To the right was an altar room complete  with  skulls on the 
blood-splattered walls and drawing of demons. "Love  the decor" 
muttered Fidget as he examine the altar which had demonic references  
to the demon Xeres. Lone and I pushed the altar aside to reveal a 
short passage into another small room. 

Clarence  took  a  pile  of  small  black  coins  from  one corner 
and then investigated  a  censer in the room. Noticing a residue of 
red stuff inside it,  he quickly poured the red dust into it. A 
demon appeared and said "the father  of  demons  sees  all. Only 
those who possess the Demon Crystal can escape  his  sight"  and  
then vanished. "I wonder where that can be?" said Izzy.  "Oh  well,  
no doubt we'll find out - sooner..." "...or later" added Fidget. 

As we walked towards the northern doorway from the altar room, 
Clarence had a  closer look at the coins and passed some across to 
me. They were ominous black objects with a picture of a scythe on 
them. 

Through the north door, we found a large area with several rooms 
around it. There were some corridors that transported us to other 
parts of the dungeon too  which made life very confusing. In one 
room at the south end, Clarence collected  two  more  items,  two  
phials of liquid, one a greenish ooze of goblin  blood  and  one  a  
transparent  silver  fluid which he told us was unicorn blood. In 
the same room was a microscope but we were unable to move it. 

At  the  north  of this level, we entered a room with a stairway 
guarded by two  gargoyles.  After  we  slew the creatures, we 
stepped warily downwards into  the darkness of the fourth level. 
This level was somewhat smaller but interesting  to explore. In one 
room was a magic circle though it seemed to serve no purpose. 
Another area was a small graveyard which had a large tomb with a 
magical stone door at its west end. 

Walking  cautiously  south,  we  came  upon  a  wall of silver 
bricks. Izzy pointed into the distance to draw our attention to a 
fabulous silver palace visible  above  it.  However,  there was no 
doorway in the wall. Around the corner  at  the  end  of  this  
passage,  we surprised two slavers who were attacking  an  old man. 
After we had dispatched his assailants, the old man thanked  us  and  
explained that he was the groundskeeper of the palace. He went on to 
tell us that there was a secret entrance into the palace through the  
silver  wall  we  had  just  passed. As he slowly trudged off down 
the alley,  we  retraced  our  steps and Fidget walked along the 
wall, suddenly turning and disappearing from our sight as he walked 
straight through it! 

We  followed the dwarf and found ourselves in a beautiful garden 
with trees and  grassy  walkways.  In the centre was a healing pool 
but fortunately we were  in  no  need  of  it  - yet! A door led out 
of the western end of the garden  and  we  passed through it into a 
hallway guarded by a large silver snake.  I  thought  we were in for 
trouble but luckily the bigger they are, the  harder  they  fall  
and with all of us working together to defeat him, even  a  huge 
serpent didn't survive. Two rooms led off; one was empty, the other 
provided us with a jade torch which burnt with a magical blue flame. 

I  took  it and led the others back to the main room where I had 
previously noticed  a  pillar  shaped  like  a serpent with an open 
mouth full of oil. Using the torch on the pillar opened a secret 
passage leading west. Luckily Fidget  was  checking  for  traps as 
we walked down it as he discovered and disarmed a trap which could 
have caused us some injury. 

The  study  at  the  end  was small but lit by an unknown source. It 
looked empty  too  but Izzy's eagle eyes spotted a silver pen in one 
corner and he passed it to our cleric who filled it with the silver 
unicorn's blood. 

The  pen  began to glow and Lone gave the piece of papyrus he had 
collected earlier  to  Clarence. The pen seemed to move with a life 
of its own and we watched  spellbound  as it wrote a message on the 
papyrus that Asaht is the Holy City of the Ancients. 

In the same room, tucked away and so we almost missed it (it's lucky 
Fidget has  good  eyesight)  was  a  tiny  scroll.  The dwarf picked 
it up but the writing  on it was far too small for even him to read. 
We walked back up to the  room where we had found the microscope. 
Fidget put the scroll under it and  said "this could be useful. It 
gives the location of the Ice Temple of the  Ancients - it says it's 
in the tundra far to the north." "Perhaps we'd better head that way 
once we've dealt with Xeres" said Lone. 

At  Clarence's  suggestion,  we  returned  to  level  four  and 
entered the graveyard.  The cleric tried the skeleton key on the 
tomb door and the door shimmered  and  changed  from solid stone to 
a curtain of blue light. I led the  way  as  we  stepped through and 
found ourselves in a larger graveyard with tombstones stretching far 
into the distance. 

The  graveyard  was full of mist and our footsteps were strangely 
dulled as we  slowly traced a path between the stones. The stones 
got closer together and  gradually  we  found our path being blocked 
by them. But at one point, Izzy  stepped  forward  and the 
tombstones shifted in front of us. We found several  other  places  
in  the  maze  that  did  the  same  thing  and  by manoeuvering 
carefully, we found we could clear a path through the whitened 
blocks. 

On  the  other  side  were more stones, though dotted sparsely about 
on the damp  earth.  Ahead of us, way to the north, Lone pointed out 
a large mound so  we  headed  that  way.  But  soon, a river crossed 
our path and we were forced  to  travel along the bank, hoping for a 
place to cross. Instead, we were  startled when a shadowy figure 
appeared out of the mist - a ferryman. He  said  nothing,  just  
held  out a skeletal hand and waited silently but expectantly.  Izzy 
hissed at Clarence, "pay him", and the cleric cautiously held  out  
the  black coins. The bony fingers closed over the coins and the 
deal  was  made; we had our transportation over the river, though it 
wasn't what we had expected. 

"Not  more  graves" muttered Fidget as we disembarked from the ferry 
and we saw  yet  more  gravestones  stretching  into the far 
distance. There was a passage  between some stones to the far west 
temptingly labelled "exit" and the  dwarf  would have taken it if 
we'd let him but Lone led us through the stones to the mound we had 
noticed from the other side of the river. 

The  path  we  took  led  to  an  entrance,  but it was guarded .... 
by the Gravekeeper  and his entourage; an evil spirit, a ghoul, a 
skeleton mage, a ghost, a zombie and a skeleton. The Gravekeeper 
advanced towards us through the  fire  and mist, his skeletal form 
striking terror into all our hearts, but I knew we were equal to the 
challenge. 

Lone,  Fidget  and I laid about us with our weapons while Izzy 
blasted away with  spells  gleaned  from  his knowledge of fire 
runes and Clarence tried turning  the  undead  creatures.  The  
fight  was  hard but we succeeded in destroying our enemies. The 
Gravekeeper, the last to be overcome, dissolved into  grey  ooze  
which  turned  into smoke and floated away with the mist. Before  
us,  a  dark,  ominous  tunnel  lead  into the mound and we knew an 
important confrontation awaited us down in those sulphurous depths. 

The  lowest  level  was  strange in shape, a central maze of tunnels 
and my heart  started  to  race as we went to enter it. A stone 
archway framed the entrance  and  a  huge  fire  blazed  in front of 
us. A ruby eyed snake - a salamander  -  barred  the way. As it 
died, a voice rang out, echoing round the  whole  area.  It  was  
Xeres! "Woe the mortal who stands in my way" he cried  "for  Death 
shall follow swift my hand." But there was no choice, we could only 
go forward. 

So, we walked deeper into the tunnel, Fidget checking for traps but 
finding none.  The path wove round and round with several dead ends 
but finally, we came to the centre of the maze and Xeres himself 
stood before us. He looked down  at  us  and  said  "so you have 
found me. Killing me will not end the destruction."  His  eyes  
passed  over  all  of us in turn and he continued "There  is  
something bigger here than your mortal minds can understand. If you 
kill me, all of Ymros will go down with me." 

Xeres  was  flanked  by  two  salamanders,  a  gargoyle  and a 
slaver. Izzy discharged  the  biggest  column-of-fire  spell  I  had  
ever  seen him use straight  at  Xeres (like the rest of us, I think 
he panicked a bit) but it did  the  trick  and  the  demon  was 
obliterated. His minions fell swiftly though not without cost to 
ourselves. With them all dead, we looked through the  archway  ahead  
of  us  and saw the town of Idlewood, looking far more peaceful  
now, but as we passed through the arch, we all felt we had missed 
something. 

Izzy  slapped  his  hand  to  his  brow  in exasperation. "The Amber 
Vault, remember?  We  heard  about it in Idlewood but I didn't see 
it. Come on, we have  to go back and find it. It must hold some 
useful information for us." A quick trip back through the dungeon 
and we were back at the lowest level. To  the south of the area, the 
normal fabric of the dungeon was replaced by a  length  of 
brickwork. This difference gave us hope that we had found the 
location  of  the Vault and we walked along the wall till we found a 
secret passage. 

Inside  was  the  Vault.  Flaming  runes covered the floor and 
skeletons of demons  hung  on  the  walls.  The  heat  almost drove 
us back but Clarence examined the runes closely. "I can translate 
some of it" he said "using the runes  we found earlier that said 
'Ymros is mine'." He frowned. "That gives 'se-re-  en-r-n-e  ...'."  
Izzy  interrupted  him "that's got to be 'secret entrance'  surely?"  
"You're right" said Clarence, "and that gives us a few more letters 
and means it's easy to translate the rest of the message. 

'Secret  entrance  to  Ice Cathedral leads to Demon Crystal'." Lone 
grinned and  reminded  us  of  the message we had got earlier (it 
seemed a lifetime ago)  when  Clarence  had burnt the red dust in 
the censer. At least now we had a new location to aim for - if only 
we could find it. 

We started our search for the Ice Cathedral, travelling by boat from 
island to  island,  looking  and searching, avoiding ghost ships, 
fighting pirates and sea monsters until we began to doubt that we 
would ever find it. On our way  north, we found the College of Fire 
Runes on one southerly island. But we pressed on, going ever north. 

Landing on one northern island, we spotted a dungeon entrance. Lone 
led the way  as  we  entered  a twisting passage. In a large room, 
we came upon the biggest  ice  dragon we had ever seen - alright, 
I'll be honest, none of us had  seen one before .... but he WAS big! 
Izzy prepared to cast a column of fire  at  the  creature  but  
before he could do anything, the dragon moved forward, his blue 
scales glinting in the dim light, and breathed a spell at the wizard 
who was immediately frozen in ice. 

Lone and I rushed at the dragon, weapons at the ready, trapped the 
beast in a corner and slew him before he could do more damage to our 
party. Clarence and  Fidget  didn't  get  a chance to strike a blow. 
We collected our poor, frozen  wizard  and  explored the lair and 
surrounding tunnels. Despite the attentions  of  mountain  giants 
and an ogre, we completed our explorations quickly,  finding  the 
College of Ice Runes in a northern passage and, in a small room to 
the south, an icicle which Lone took. 

A  quick  trip to the healers restored our friend to full health, 
though it cost  us  quite  a  bit  of  gold,  and we continued our 
search for the Ice Cathedral. 

"Land  ho!"  shouted  Fidget, rousing us all from our slumbers and 
we leant over  the  rail  to  see  an  island  to  the west. Was 
this the one we had searched  for  all  these weeks? Yes! On the 
island, we found a temple made from blocks of ice. "This must be the 
Temple of the Ancients" said Izzy. We could  tell  that  once  it  
had  been beautiful but the blocks of ice were tumbled  and  cracked  
so  that  the  once-proud  edifice now lay in ruins. Inside, we 
found the entrance to the Ice Cathedral but the scattered blocks 
that had formed the entrance many centuries ago had fallen to block 
the way in. We knew from our discoveries in the Amber Vault that 
there was a secret way in - but where? Lone led the way again as we 
started to search for it. 

We found it at last, a secret passage through a wall. The Ice 
Cathedral was still beautiful, despite the great damage that had 
occurred. At one end was an  octagonal pedestal of blue ice on which 
was a dark violet crystal. "The Demon  Crystal"  whispered  
Clarence.  Dark mist swirled between us and the crystal  and  I  
could see strange shapes forming in it and then dissolving again.  
For  a  moment,  I felt it seemed to examine us, then it cleared to 
reveal  the  crystal  in  all its horrifying glory. Clarence stepped 
slowly forward and took it. Then we left the Cathedral as quickly as 
we could. 

Back  outside,  in the main body of the Temple, a library in the 
north-west corner had been ransacked, just a few scrolls littering 
the floor. Clarence pushed  the  scraps  of parchment aside to 
uncover a prayer scroll which he took.  A passage east looked a 
likely route to take but a noise alerted us. Rounding  a corner, who 
should we come across but Jesric of the High Temple of Malifon! 

He  turned  to  us  and said "Until I find the Demon Crystal, I 
claim these ancient  ruins  to  be mine!" His tone told us he would 
take no argument on the subject but, unfortunately for Jesric, we 
had other ideas. 

Despite his sword and armour, we defeated him fairly easily. Fidget 
noticed a  medallion  around  the dead priest's neck. "It shows he's 
Malifon's High Priest" said the dwarf, taking the heavy amulet and 
passing it to Lone. "It might  come  in  useful  then"  said  the 
lanky ranger, tucking it into his pocket. 

A doorway nearby led into a corridor. The air was chilly and 
instinctively, I  drew  my  cloak tighter round me but it made 
little difference. A squeak from  behind  me made me turn, to see 
Fidget, mouth open, pointing a little distance  down the corridor. 
What the small man had noticed but the rest of us  had  missed  was  
-  a pair of ghosts! One was an evil-looking man, the other  a  
kind-looking  priest.  They  seemed  to  be  arguing  and, to our 
amazement, we could hear what they were saying. 

One  voice said "You are a fool! Your god is dying and still you 
pray." The other  responded  "He  is  still  strong. Find me a god 
who can break these walls  and  I  shall  worship  him  instead."  
As  we  walked into the next corridor,  the voices followed us. 
"Long have I quested, and at a volcano a spirit  conquered  my  
mind.  It  is  a  spirit as old as time. It once was strong,  but 
was defeated and rests now, regaining power ....... behold its power 
....." We all gasped as images of fire and pain engulfed our senses. 

Faint  heartbeats echoed in our minds as the ghost said "Oh Dark 
One, whose power  is  so  great  -  I  cannot  worship thee. Instead 
I offer to you as sacrifice  an  old fool who cannot see a candle in 
the shadows." We all got the  impression of a blade and pain, then 
the heartbeats ceased. I realised we had witnessed a murder from 
long ago. 

Returning to the main body of the Temple, we found a door made of 
ice, and, noticing  a  hole  in the door, Lone inserted the icicle. 
Suddenly we found ourselves  transported  to the other side of the 
door in an Altar Room with an altar of blue ice against the south 
wall. Clarence put the prayer scroll on  the  altar  and as the last 
of the foreign words from it left his lips, the Temple was flooded 
with light. A powerful voice spoke to us. 

The  voice spoke to us, not aloud but through our minds. It told us 
how the White  Knights  had  created  an Orb of great power, capable 
of acting as a catalyst  between  the Ancients and Mortals. The 
voice continued to explain that  it  was  the  last of the Ancients 
who Malifon believed were dead and that,  with  help,  Malifon  had 
broken through the Imprison spell that had trapped him. Ymros was 
doomed unless he could be bound again.  Finally, the voice said 
"Through the Orb, I can give you the power to renew his binding. It 
lies in the Vault of the White Knights, northeast of the desert, 
guarded by  Kalek-Zin,  the  greatest of the Knights. He can surely 
be persuaded to give the Orb to you. When you have it, return to me 
and I will give you the powers  of the Gods. The Ancient has 
spoken." The light faded and the voice was gone. 

Reverently,  we  left the Temple of the Ancients and sailed east, 
passing a few  islands,  until  we  came  to a small one that was  
mountainous in the centre  but  had  an  inlet  that could be 
entered from the south coast. We landed  on a beach and to the 
north, found the entrance to the Vault of the White Knights.  
Appropriately, the walls inside were painted white and Izzy pointed  
out  the  Knights'  names  carved  on them. "This whole Vault is a 
memorial  to the Warriors of old" he explained.  An octagonal pool 
sparkled in the centre and Clarence identified it as a healing pool. 
I realised this pool  might  come in useful as I expected some 
challenge awaited us inside; there  seemed little chance we could 
just go in and take the Orb.  A secret passage in the north wall led 
into the Fire Chamber of Kalek-Zin. 

Though  a  wall  of  fire  ahead  of us filled the room with light, 
no heat emanated  from  it.  "Karek-Zin's burial chamber," whispered 
Clarence. "The greatest  of  all the Knights." An alcove in the 
flames became apparent and we  edged  towards it. Inside we could 
see a glowing Orb and I sensed great power coming from it.  We moved 
into the alcove. A pure white spirit weaved in  and  out  of  the  
flames, guarding the Orb whose colours changed as we watched  it.  
Clarence reached towards the Orb to take it from its pedestal but 
the spirit intervened. "The Orb of Evertime is the greatest artifact 
of the  White  Knights"  it  said. "If used unwisely, it could 
endanger all of Ymros  but since I sense Ymros is already in great 
peril, I will release it to  you  if  you  can  show you are worthy 
of it. Pass the tests within the Vault and the Orb is yours. 

Exploring  the  Vault,  we found two secret passages, one on either 
side of the  Vault.   We  found  that  these  linked  with each 
other, also passing through  a room adorned with paintings of the 
ancient Warriors. Leading off this  maze  of  passages we found a 
series of rooms, one for every class of adventurer,  not  only  our 
own but also visionary, scholar and others.  We entered each room in 
turn. Each was a proving room where we would be called upon  to  
show  our worth, each according to his own class specialities. In 
rooms  that  did  not  apply  to  one of us a voice told us we were 
free to leave. Lone had to fight a cave bear, Fidget to disarm a 
trap; gradually we all completed our own tasks. 

Leaving  the  final  room  we  returned to the alcove. This time the 
spirit allowed  us  to  take  the  Orb  and Clarence reverently 
picked it up. Even Fidget  seemed  somewhat subdued as we turned and 
retraced our steps to our ship  and from there, sailed west to 
return to the Altar Room in the Temple of  the  Ancients as we had 
been instructed.  On the way, night fell and as we slept on the ship 
we all heard the same voice speak to us. It said, "The Orb  of  
Evertime now is yours, but your quest remains in vain. I was alive 
before  mortals  touched  the Earth and no mortal there can touch 
me. It is true  that  with  the Demon Crystal I can lay neither 
tooth or claw on you. But  I can make you wish you were never born."  
"Let these words of Malifon be  heard  -  The  sky  shall flare the 
Earth shall bleed. All that is dark shall  rise  up  in  Glory,  and  
all  that  is  Light  shall  be  trampled underfoot." 

It  was very hard to go to sleep the next night in case the voice 
returned. It  didn't .... but instead we experienced visions. Dark 
and gloomy forests and  rivers  of blood ... great battles and a 
black force with power beyond our  comprehension.  One  by  one,  we 
saw the gods killed - the Eagle, the Swan,  the  Raven,  the  Woman  
of Colours, the Tiger. One by one they were defeated  and  fell  
into the flaming waters below. We saw clerics all over Ymros  wake  
up  to a new day with the feeling that something had been torn from  
their  souls.  Great thunderbolts fell from the skies and each 
temple was  turned to ruin.  We woke, stunned. Clarence put into 
words what we all suspected.   "They're  dead,"  he  said, his voice 
quavering. "The gods are dead.  What  can we do? Who will help us 
now?"  "I have a feeling that will be answered when we get back to 
the altar room," said Izzy, laying his hand on  the  cleric's 
shoulder - though he was no longer a cleric in truth, his god having 
been destroyed with the rest. 

"Come," continued the wizard. "Let us see what the Ancient One has 
to say." We  returned  to the altar room, using the icicle to enter, 
and  once again Clarence  used  the  prayer scroll on the altar and 
the Ancient One spoke. "You  have  done well. With the Orb, I may 
now transfer some of my power to one of you. I offer to make one of 
you a God. The Power of the Ancient Ones lies in the God Runes. Two 
spells it allows you to cast in camp are Uncurse and  Imprison."  
The  voice  went  on  to  explain.  "To  keep Malifon from 
communicating mentally with the natives near the volcano, we put a 
curse on the  land  round  it.  This  is done through the three 
crimson glyphs. Each glyph  sustains  the  curse  on  the land round 
it and any mortal who walks there  will  rot  with  every  step.  
You must destroy each glyph using the Uncurse spell while camping on 
the same space as the glyph. Until all three glyphs  are  destroyed,  
you  will not be able to use the Dark Chapel to go back in time to 
the Dawn of Man." 

The  voice paused, then continued. "Only in the Chapel of the Past 
will you find  the  entrance  to  Malifon's  volcano. Imprison is 
used to seal off a passageway  and  the room it leads to so no 
creature can pass. This is what you  must  do  to  defeat  Malifon 
as it would be impossible to kill him in combat.  Even  all  the  
Ancients could not kill him. His power is so great that even the 
Demon Crystal will shatter if you come too close to him. Cast the  
Imprison  spell when the Demon Crystal glows white, it costs 100 
spell points."   There  was  another  pause and then the voice said, 
"One will be given  enough  experience  to gain the wisdom you need 
and 200 spell points with  which  to  cast  the  God Runes. Go to my 
holy city and convert to my faith  for,  in  the  time to come, the 
new gods shall falter and die. Good luck." 

We  sensed we were being scrutinised and then the voice asked us who 
wished to  become  a  God?   I  looked at Lone, he looked at 
Clarence, Clarence at Fidget  and  Fidget  at  Izzy.  Izzy didn't 
look at anyone. He just stepped slowly  forward  and said "I do." We 
expected some sign that our friend had been  elevated  to  such  a  
rank but, no. He turned back to us, looking no different,  but  
calmly  reminded  us that we must travel to Ancient's holy city.   
We had previously learned at Qoorik that Asaht was the holy city of 
the  Ancients,  so  it  was  to  there  that  we  set  sail.  
Entering  the oddly-shaped  temple  at  Asaht,  Izzy converted to 
the faith of Ancient. A trip  to  the  Guild  confirmed that he had 
indeed gained several levels of experience,  and  we were once again 
ready to continue on our quest. "Where to?"  asked  Fidget as we 
returned to the ship.  "East", replied our divine companion, his 
eyes fixed on the distant horizon. 

Directly east of Jacanth we found a small, mountainous island with 
an inlet containing  a  healing  pool. We sailed back out of the 
inlet and continued east  where  we  found  another  larger  island.  
Anchoring the boat on the shoreline, we started to explore.  We 
walked into the mountains and through onto  a  sandy  beach  with  
buildings  around it. To the northwest was one containing  a small 
room full of maps showing a volcano south of the island and  the  
Dark Chapel that the Ancient One had mentioned to us on an island to  
the  south  of  that.  Back outside and along the beach to the 
south, a ship  lay at anchor on the inland sea. Guarding it were two 
mountain giants and  a  Titan  -  a huge figure wielding a huge, 
shining sword. Lone gave a battle  cry, at least that's what I think 
it was, and we attacked. Within a short space of time, the ship was 
ours. 

We sailed back towards the entrance and, leaving the ship, walked 
along the beach  to the east. A short bridge led over the water to a 
small island and a  bell tower. Just inside the entrance was a short 
corridor. Two rooms led off, one north, one south. In the north room 
was a skeleton mage called the Bellkeeper; a powerful assassin, he 
had been hired by Eregore to keep watch over  the  bell  tower.  He 
screamed threats at us and attacked. Lone and I killed  him  and as 
he breathed his last, we felt a cold force fly past us, followed  by  
the ringing of a massive bell to the west.  In the south room was  a  
dog, obviously the Bellkeeper's pet, but at the end of the corridor 
was  something far more important - a huge bell. On the wall above 
the bell were  some runes and, squinting at them slightly, Clarence 
translated them. "'Ring  bell  at midnight'" he said. "But how?" 
asked Fidget. "We're always asleep  at  that  time  -  it  seems  
impossible to stay awake that long." Confused, we returned to the 
outside of the dungeon. 

To  the  east of the island a small path led into the mountains, and 
at the end  of  it  we found a small hut. Inside, an old peasant 
woman greeted us. Smiling,  she  waved her hand to encompass the 
interior of the hut with its sweet-smelling  herbs.  "Please  stay.  
If  you wish, you may sleep here in comfort"  she  offered.  Izzy 
smiled at her. "I accept, on behalf of myself and  my  companions"  
he said.  We settled down and were soon sound asleep. But  suddenly, 
we woke to the screeching of an owl outside.  Everything was still  
and  quiet, the moon seeming suspended in the heavens with a magical 
feeling to the air. But there was no sign of the old woman.  
Collecting our weapons,  we  walked outside into the darkness. 
Fidget looked up at the sky and  gasped. "It's the middle of the 
night. Quick, let's go to the bell and ring it!" We hurried down to 
the bell tower and rang the bell. The sound of angels crying opened 
up from the heavens, then everything went quiet again. Lone  
frowned. "Now what?" he said. "Nothing's happened!"  Despondently, 
we walked back outside, having no idea what to do next. 

Boarding  the  ship,  Clarence  suggested  we  set sail to the  
south as we hadn't  yet  explored  in  that  direction. Leaving the 
ship on yet another small,  sandy beach, we had walked just a few 
steps when we noticed a gate, standing open, inviting us to enter. 
With a chuckle, Izzy said, "I bet this was  shut  before  we  rang  
that bell!" and, with Lone leading the way, we entered.   A short 
way down the corridor, a voice from nowhere spoke. "Only those  who 
worship Malifon may enter this temple. What is thy name?". Quick as  
can  be,  Izzy  replied "Jesric". "You may enter," said the 
disembodied voice.   The  corridor  led deep into the mountains into 
a small room which was completely bare. "This is strange," said 
Izzy. "Where's the temple?" We explored  every  inch  of  the  room, 
then returned to the corridor. To our surprise,  where  there  had 
previously been a bend in the passageway there was  now  a  
crossroads.  To  the east was a healing pool but south another 
passage beckoned us deeper into the mountain. 

Soon we came to a small, square, sand-filled room with its walls 
painted to depict  a  desert  landscape.  Two  huge salamanders 
leapt out of the sand! Defeating  them,  we  walked  to  the  south  
end of the room and a passage suddenly  opened in the east wall as 
the doorway, through which we had just entered,  vanished.  Through 
the new exit a bridge led over a small stretch of  water  and split, 
one piece going north, one south.  As we explored the area, we 
discovered that the whole place was a series of transporter rooms, 
each with its own climatic characteristics. After the desert room, 
we found one  with  walls  of  fire,  twenty feet high, guarded by a 
fire elemental; another  was  bitterly  cold  as magical snow fell 
onto us and an ice demon surveyed  us  with its cold, blue eyes 
before attacking. Soon we had mapped the  area,  apart  from one 
section. In one seemingly normal room, a purple haze  filled the 
north wall. I tried to walk through it but failed and none of  the 
others had any better luck. But on the side wall was a crystal eye. 
Lone  pointed  out  the  carving above it. "'Only high priests 
allowed past this  point,  show  identification'",  he read. "I 
wonder...." and reaching into   his  tunic,  he  drew  out the heavy 
amulet we had taken from Jesric after  he died and held it in front 
of the eye. Then he smiled at us as the mist slowly dispersed and we 
saw a corridor leading north. 

Thus  we  entered the main part of the High Temple, with its high, 
engraved ceiling  and  wide  hallways.  The  size  of  the building 
dwarfed us (with apologies  to Fidget) and made me feel very 
vulnerable and helpless. To the left,  a  doorway  led into a room 
of dreams and to the far southeast was a beautiful  cathedral,  
guarded  by three orange spellbinders - giant snakes which  moved  
hypnotically  before us. But the octagonal room to the north, with 
its crystal floor decorated with geometric designs and inscribed 
'Only the  right  path  will  bring rewards' seemed more promising. 
We discovered that the north, west and east walls were not solid, 
though they appeared to be  at  a  cursory glance and, remembering 
the inscription on the floor, we went  east  ...  right.  Once 
through the "wall", we found a corridor going north with two 
doorways. The first one led into a room inhabited by a demon lord,  
selected  by  Malifon to watch over Eregore and make sure he did his 
job.  Killing  the  demon  lord  and his two attendant hounds, we 
entered a second  room  whose  cracked  walls  still bore evidence 
of a complex spell which  had  once  been  carved  there.  It  
appeared to be the God Rune for breaking  a  binding  and Izzy 
pointed out the places where the apprentices would have stood to 
cast the spell. 

The  second  doorway  from  the  main corridor led into a room 
containing a large  crystal  ball.  To my amazement, the voice of 
the Ancient One issued from  the  crystal, assuring us that we were 
doing well but that we must go on,  for Malifon had gained control 
of the Shard of Spring and was planning to  destroy  it.  All  of  
us knew that if that happened the world would be plunged  into  
deepest winter!  Hurrying, we had just rounded the corner of the  
next  corridor  when  a voice rang out - it was Eregore! "So, you 
have found  me,"  he  cried  from  the northern end of the room we 
were about to enter  as  his followers, a collection of highwaymen, 
thieves, fighters and mages,  watched  with  evil  eyes  glinting. 
He pointed at us. "Destroy the infidels!" he shrieked, and the 
motley crew advanced towards us. 

Eregore's  followers  attacked  us  and  the  fight  was  long and 
hard but eventually  we were victorious though none of us escaped 
unscathed. Eregore stood  at  the north end of the room in front of 
a large black mirror and a look  of  horror  came over his face as 
he realised we had triumphed. I led the  way  as  we  walked  
towards  him. As we got closer we could feel evil emanating  from 
the black mirror but to the other side of Eregore I noticed a  
beautiful,  round,  multi-faceted mirror which hung by a thread from 
the ceiling.  Eregore  spoke. "You fools - you believe you are so 
powerful. You have  no  idea what true power is. Malifon, my master, 
is the supreme power ... you're lucky he let you live so long." "He 
cannot harm us as long as we hold  the  Demon  Crystal  of  
Kalek-Zin,"  replied Izzy, in his usual calm voice. 

Eregore  looked  questioningly  at  the  mirror,  then  said,  "Who 
is this Kalek-Zin?"  "He was the greatest of the White Knights, but, 
alas, has been dead  for  centuries," responded Izzy. Eregore looked 
even more worried and we realised he was but the tool of a greater 
power. He looked to the mirror for  more  guidance  and  said,  "All  
the White Knights are dead. There is no-one  to  stop  me taking 
over Ymros. Malifon will help me take power and make me ruler of 
these lands." I was amazed when Fidget stepped forward and said,  
hesitantly,  "If  he  plans  to help you, then why has he stolen the 
Shard  of  Spring?"  "That's  not  true!"  screamed Eregore, turning 
to the mirror.  He  stared  at  it  and asked "Do you have the Shard 
of Spring?" A powerful  voice spoke from the mirror and replied 
"Yes." Eregore shook with fear  like  a child. "If you destroy the 
Shard, a bitter winter will strike the  land." Then he thought and 
added "Of course, you will spare your loyal followers....."  The  
voice  spoke firmly "Your purpose was to free me. Now you  have  
done that, I have no need of you." "Why?" asked Eregore. Malifon 
replied,  "My  winter shall cleanse the land of mortal souls and 
once again silence shall embrace the Wind and Gods shall walk the 
Earth." 

I almost (but not quite) felt sorry for Eregore as I saw his face 
change as realisation  dawned.  Suddenly  he saw what he had done 
and how he had been used  by  Malifon.  Taking a curved dagger, he 
calmly killed himself before any  of  us could stop him. Malifon's 
voice spoke once more: "Your meddling has  become  a  thorn  in my 
side. Eregore died a fool's death, your deaths shall  be  worse. For 
now I shall shatter your precious Shard and my Winter shall  begin.  
Do not believe you have felt the last of my wrath, Your pain is my 
sustenance, your blood my drink. I do not intend to starve." We 
heard a  shattering  sound  that  shook the bowels of the earth. The 
black mirror shattered  but  the  faceted  mirror  remained  whole. 
Swiftly, Lone rushed forward and took it, then we left the Temple. 

Outside,  a grim sight met our eyes. As predicted, the land was in 
the grip of a bitter winter and all the towns were in ruins. We were 
on our own. "We have  to continue," said Izzy. "We've gone too far 
to turn back now." So we returned  to  our  ship  and  sailed  
south, avoiding battles with pirates, monsters  and  ghost  ships  
now  there  was  no  way we could get our ship repaired.  Fairly  
quickly we came to the island with Malifon's volcano and found  the  
glyphs  the  Ancient  One  had  mentioned.  Anchoring  the ship 
off-shore,  we  walked  to the first glyph, each of us losing one 
hit point with  each  step.  Arriving  at the glyph, we set up camp 
and Izzy cast the Uncurse  Spell.  Lightning flashed and the glyph 
was gone. The land was now safe  to  walk  on in this section of the 
island so, once we had rested and regained  our  strength, we 
carried out the same procedure at the other two glyphs. 

Each  spell  cost  Izzy 50 spell points. In a bay to the south of 
the large island,  we  found a smaller one on which was the Dark 
Chapel. On the floor in the centre of the building was a large, 
round circle of glass from which a  never-ending  stream of 
blinding, yellow light poured out. Lone held out the  facet  mirror  
over the circle of light. Powerful beams of light burst off  its  
facets, blinding us, while I felt my head reel. We felt ourselves 
being  sent  back  in  time  and when everything eventually slowed 
down, we found  ourselves  in the Dark Chapel as it had been ten 
thousand years ago. The  shifting  walls  had  solidified  into  
white stone and the Chapel was filled  with the spectral forms of 
grossly-disfigured men - haunting images from the dawn of Man, their 
heads bowed in prayer. 

At  four  alcoves  round the edge of the Chapel were circular 
carvings with runic  inscriptions.  One showed a lightning bolt, one 
wind being sucked up into  blackness,  another  the creation of the 
universe and the fourth some kind  of  ghostly  apparition. Clarence 
translated the runes: "Power, Void, Divinity  and  Spirit."  Soon,  
we  found  their significance as a spectral priest  at  the north 
end of the room chanted "Power, Divinity, Spirit...." and  paused.  
"Void"  replied  Izzy. Without warning, a huge, blue fireball burst  
into the mountain, melting the rock and opening a passage from which 
stale air flowed. The passage led deep into the mountain, to a room 
with an ancient stone staircase which was covered with runes and 
cracked by time. A huge  stone statue dominated the room but, as we 
entered, it came to life -a guardian was attempting to stop us 
continuing. 

It  had reckoned without Izzy's column of fire spell. Luckily he had 
enough spell  points  spare  to  blast the statue and, defeated, it 
turned back to stone. Sulphurous mist flowed round our ankles as we 
ascended the staircase to  emerge in an icy waste at the top of 
Malifon's volcano. Another pit led down  to  our  left and we 
descended yet again, this time into the heart of the volcano. The 
Demon Crystal glowed violet as we explored the caverns. At the  far 
east end we fell down a shaft, even deeper into the volcano and in 
this  section  we found a golden bridge spanning a lake of fire. It 
was not unguarded  but  once the two dragons and the demon 
commanding them had been destroyed  (our  hardest fight yet) we 
crossed. The crystal was glowing red as we entered a hall full of 
purple mist. 

The mist swayed as though it was alive and as I looked into the 
mist, I saw faces  of  people we had known and places we had seen on 
our travels. As we stepped  into the mist, we travelled through our 
memories - the tent at the Kobold  Camp  - the octagon room - the 
old woman's hut - and the icy tundra of  the  northlands  by  the  
ice  dragon's cave. During all this time, the crystal  had  glowed  
violet, red and orange but as Lone stepped forward to enter the cave 
Fidget shouted "Stop! Look at the Crystal!" and I saw it was glowing  
pure white. Quickly, we set up camp just outside the cave and Izzy 
cast  the  Imprison  Spell. Light flashed and a resounding primaeval 
scream was  heard  from  the  depths  of the volcano. The walls 
shook and began to crumble  around  us.  As  the  Imprison  Spell  
took  effect, the sounds of Malifon's  agony  were  quickly  stifled  
but  the  walls  of  the mountain continued to shake. 

Just  as  I  felt  the  walls  were  about  to collapse about us, a 
strange combination  of darkness and light surrounded us and the 
Ancient One spoke: "You  have  done  well.  As  long  as  the  spell  
holds, Malifon's evil is contained  in  the volcano. Many 
adventurers set out to destroy the root of this  evil.  Many  died  
along the way and many gave up the quest when they could  not find 
the courage to continue. You alone have succeeded, time and again  
... to destroy Xeres, acquire the Orb of Evertime, destroy Malifon's 
High  Temple  and eventually imprison Malifon himself." "Although 
Malifon's evil  has  been  contained, the effects of his evil are 
still being felt on Ymros.  With  the  Shard  gone,  the  land  
still lies in Winter and though Malifon's  Corruption  is  now 
ended, many towns have been turned to ruins. Perhaps  worst  of  
all,  the  Gods  that the people of Ymros relied on for centuries  
are  dead and the people have lost hope." "I do not say the work is 
yours for you have done more good that the land can ever repay. 

For  this  reason, I can offer to reward you by making you immortal 
and you shall  rule  by  my  side  for  the  rest  of  eternity." I 
couldn't see my companions  but  I felt their agreement when I said 
"We must decline. There is  too  much  work to be done here on 
Ymros". "You are indeed noble," said the  Ancient  One.  "If  
mortality is your wish then it shall be granted. I will  make  sure  
the  rest  of  your lives are visited by good fortune and 
prosperity." And so it was. Lone went back to the town of Woodhaven 
and was instrumental in its reconstruction. 

After  rebuilding  the  city, he settled down there and lived to a 
ripe old age.  Clarence  became  the  first in two millennia to take 
up the title of High  Priest  of  the Ancient One. With his 
accumulated wealth, he built an enormous  temple  to  The  Ancients  
and spread word of the new God. Fidget heard  in  the  tavern  of  
untold wealth in lands to the north and went in search  of  the  
fortune.  He  gathered a party and explored many dungeons, 
eventually retiring in luxury. Izzy went on a great quest for the 
Lifestone in  order  to build a new Shard of Spring. While he did 
not live to see its completion,  the  new  Shard  was named in 
honour of him and still protects Ymros. What happened to me? Well, 
that's another story! 


~                           *****  THE END  ****