[imported_Gwynn]

It started in Britain. An unlikely person, a traveller in ragged clothes, has recited a rhyme of treasure to be found. the location masquaraded cleverly in the song, about a prison by the Ocean. I silently blessed whatever God blew the wind named Jerek Stormgard in my way, for it was our trip in the dungeons near Yew that reminded me there is an island prison near the coast. I got Lill from the stablemaster and departed on my jolly way to find this Morris. I arrived at the Halls of Justice too late, Morris was already dead. As I silently whispered the name of the child, Keir, I heard his voice in my head "The small town of peaceful Orcs. The scribe on the mountaintop has been hiding the boy for me." I sighed and returned to Britain for my bag of marked runes and some supplies. As the fog of the daze of the spell wore off, I noticed the ex-vampire Kyo standing before me. He asked if I'd need help with the cluse, and I agreed two eyes and two mind are always better when searching for treasure. Acting upon Kyo's suggestion we first checked Bucaneer's Den which was a failed expedition as the city was crawling with the Eithka which we barely managed to escape. As we stepped out of the Gate which Kyo summoned, a thought popped into my mind. Orcs. The Orcish Village. Cove! It wasn't long 'till we reached the wooden palisade of Cove, and made our way to the little house on the mountain. The orc was reluctant to divert information on the whereabouts of the child, fearing we would be agenst of the Lord Ciro, an evil aristocrat from Trinsic. When I finally told him that Morris told us to come here, he told us what to do. He talked of a small island cottage which I immidiately recognized as I used to go there to think, to be alone for a while. We found a hat, with the name Keir embraided on the inside. I whispered the word 'honor' just as Nobing the scribe told us back in Cove, and the spirit of the cottage's owner appeared. His now ghostly form was covered with horrible wounds. He whispered to us of his murderer, Lord Ciro of Trinsic, who imprisoned Lord Morris, guardian of Keir, to find the location of the child's secret treasure. The spirit, before fading, told us to keep searching for the child, for before Ciro found this cottage, he was taken in by one of the Trinsic Guards. He told us we should be able to find him in the outskirts Trinsic. I gasped, hearing such evil is so close to my hometown, and raced Kyo to get to the guardhouse, the location of which was well known to both of us. Arriving there, we found a pair of shoes, hastily thrown away. I had a hunch those belonged to Keir as well, as it can't be such an adult guard with feet that small. Kyo whispered the word 'spirituality', just as the ghost of the farmer told us, and letters formed from the stone near the shoes, a handwriting of a child, hidden by an enchantment. He wrote of Lord Ciro finding him, nad that he had to run into the jungle of Trinsic, to escape his pursuers which whould have surely lead to his death. Kyo unfolded a map on the stone floor, and got a scribe pen from under his cloak He began drawing lines on the map, until he finally managed to calculate the most probable way Keir went. There was a valley right there, with and old abandoned house. We mounted up and gallopped there with great haste, knowing that as we've been hot on Keir's trails, so was Lord Ciro, and our goals differed greatly...

[imported_Gwynn]

We raced for the valley, speeding dangerously close to the thick-branched trees of the jungle, jumping our rides over treestumps and undergrowth and we finally arrived by the cave that led to the valley. Fortunately we met no resistance and barged into the house. It was empty. We frantically searched every inch, knowing the stakes were great and time is of the essence. What we left behind was a home turned over, and mayhaps made someone very angry upon arriving home. As we escended the stone stairs in despair, a loud, painful scream echoed from over the jungle. My heart raced. It came from so close. We came to the wrong place and now Keir was dead, or at least captured. "Where to now?" I asked of Kyo, already speeding past the cave leading out of the valley. He took out a map while riding, checking landmarks around the valley. "There's an abandoned house by the beach I passed earlyer, we should go there." I nodded and said we should separate and approach from both sides, having greater chance of actually running into whoever screamed. I chose to approach from the west, Kyo rided along towards the south. Riding through the forest I smelled ashes, and it wasn't natural fire. Soemone used magic not far from my location. I followed the pungeant odour left by the magical consumption of sulphurous ash, and stumbled upon the burnt out remnants of a small sandstone ouse. There has been a magical battle not long ago, and a torn, bloody shirt was one of the things still in decent condition in all the rubble. As I touched the shirt, everything went white, and a vision hit me. Lord Ciro, who now I recognized as the member of the Trinsic Counil, has been reading something that looked like a bloody parchment made of human skin. I catched a glimpse of a white tent, and the sandstone towers of Trinsic in the distance, when the shaking and yelling of Kyo brought me back to reality. After assuring him that I haven't just fainted from the sun and humidity of Trinsic's forest, he believed that my vision might've been a strong magical imprint upon the shirt, left behind by the horrible death of it's owner. Thus finding the location of the murder, we made our way back to Trinsic, to inform the council of the crime, and to assemble a search party, finding Lord Ciro and bringing him in for the council to judge his actions and serve justice. Trinsic, while in decay since the great war and reclaimation of Britain, still had it's allies, and soon warriros answered the magicall call from around the country. Cochise, a Holy Paladin of the Ministry, Psycho of the warrior guild Hateful Target from Britain, and Nazgul a headhunter. Of this illustrious group it seems I've been the only one lacking combat experience for the the task, but despite the warning of the Council I decided to see the end of it. As we closed in on the hiding place it was obvious that he made precautions of his own. Reapers, creatures of dark magic, blasted their way through the forest, and a fierce battle broke out. I tried to dodge spells and stab with my bardiche whoever approached, but before I could notice I was hit by a spell from the side and fell from my ride. Narrowly hiding behind a treestump averting a second spell from hitting me full-on, I began running towars the white tent on the clearing. Right as I reached the clearing, Lord Ciro exited the tent, wearing full plate armor in the colour of vibrant blood, wielding a strange blade. As he murmured a spell pointing at me, I tried to duck but it was of no use. With deadly precision his spell flew towards me.

[imported_Vulcan]

[imported_Gwynn]

As the energy bolt flew, I raised my bardiche and prepared for the impact, but realized I've already been knocked around in the battle, and there was a high chance this spell will be the last thing I'll be seeing alive. Before the inevitable happened, I've seen a bright white blur as Cochise used his holy staff to block the spell from tearing me apart. I smiled, thanked him and got to my feet, as the rest of the warriors have already exchanged blows with Lord Ciro. Whatever secrets the treasure held, he has already used it, as his eyes were empty, and his flew was flowing with an inhumane light. As we ran to join the rest of the warriors, Cochise told me that the Reapers in fact wasn't in employ of the Lord, but killed him and took a powerful tome of necromantic magic, but not before Ciro called upon a mighty spell raising him from the dead and filling his blood with the power of the demon princes. I took a deep breath, raised my bardiche and charged into battle with the others. Now there was more at stake then just some treasure. If Lord Ciro, with his new-found demonic powers, would be the one to walk away 'alive' from here, he would raze Trinsic, and perhaps more, before he could be stopped. With dark power imbuing his armor and sword, his strikes were dreadfully accurate, and his defences almost impenetrable. Even the five of us couldn't score more than a few hits on him, while he's been slowly wearing us down. My attention wandered for a second and it was enough to recieve a mighty bash from his shield, so strong that the impact made me stumble back dazed. As I tried to regain my stature before he follwed with a coup-de-grace, he stabbed Kyo's llama right through the heart, causing him to fall down to the ground as his mount perished with a deafening cry. He rolled backwards and quickly cast a spell, a demon taking the place where he stood. Like a sub-conscious command all the other warriors backed off, took out their bows and summoned demons in their stead. Lord Ciro let out a loud scream as he realized no matter now many of the demons he can slay, new ones take their place while arrows showered him from all the sides. It didn't take long after even his undead strength vaned and he collapsed under the heavy fist of one of the demons. Cochise dismissed the demons with a prayer, and now we approached a heavily wounded Lord. We looked at each other, and the warrior named Psycho stepped forth to deal the final blow. As Ciro's head rolled in the grass, a floating shape appeared, walking out of the forest. As he greeted us, I recognized his voice as that of Morris, which I heard in the Yew Prison. He thanked us for avenging the deaths of many by the hands of Ciro, who have been driven mad by the promise of treasure, and the unimaginable power it would give. With a final farewell the spirit vanished, leaving us standing on the blood-soaked grass. We have been victorious. Trinsic has been saved, and now I understand a little more of the heroes of the old.