Session 14

Slowly, as the sun crept into the sky, Hofstedt and Sira woke up and rubbed the dew out of their blurry eyes. It looks like they HAD managed to sleep after all!

And before they each sneak off behind bushes to discreetly answer the call of nature, they note that Tom and Dirr are now snoring gently - no-longer unconcious from being beaten, now just dreaming like normal people.

Soon the whole party is awake, stretching and shaking the warm back into their muscles and wondering where on earth they were.

In the wilderness is the irrefutable answer.

I pondered going back to find that bridge. It is now painfully clear that I was meant to cross it instead of trying to follow the river. But I've come a really long way since then and there's a good chance that I'll come to civilisation sooner if I just press onwards. Certainly it's a much clearer route - the way back is through a forest, but the way ahead is just swamp.

I decide to be reckless and head out across the boggy landscape. To be honest, I love bog-levels in games. There's something about them that makes them really cool. Maybe it's the colour scheme, maybe it's the suggested squelchyness of them. I just can't get enough of them. If I could find an FPS entirly set in a swamp, I think I'd probably never need to buy another game again (apart from the sequels with improved mud effects and mosquito-bite mechanics). Hence I was never going to go into the trees when a marshy wasteland could be explored!

Slopping around in the muddy water, I soon discover bushels of Triifali seeds! Indeed, they clearly grow really really well out here! From just 4 bushes I managed to harvest almost 100 of the things! Sira should be really well stocked up now!

I start to head southwards and suddenly catch a glimpse of another human! I knew it! Civilisation!

I squelch my way up to the person and say hello

"Push off" is the response.

Seriously? This guy is alone in a swamp in the middle of no-where, but I can't talk to him?

Not quite alone. There's another chap further south... I wander over and try talking to him instead.

"I'm too busy to talk to YOU" he responds.

What's going on with these weird bog people? What exactly are they doing?

By now I'm at the edge of another wooded area. As I head south into it I come to one tree with a man stood under it.

"Will YOU talk to me?" Tom asks

"Of course I will. As long as you're not hear to damage the grove."

"What's the big deal about the grove?"

"Well this tree I'm stood under marks the spot where our ancestors brought our people into this world many hundreds of years ago. "

"For real! But that sounds quite important... So why is there only one man guarding it? I mean, what could you do if anyone attacked?"

"Oh, I have my ways..."

And weirdly this is as much of a conversation as the game allows you to have with this chap. I'm absolutely burning up to know how Celtic people got to Albion - but Tom simply won't ask!

After our little chat I can look at the tree he's talking about and Hofstedt cries out "MY GOD TOM! This is... AN OAK TREE!!!!!!"

The grove is next to a hut and since Frinos (the chap guarding the tree) won't tell me any more I decide to step inside. However, as I walk round to the front I find a sign saying "Arjano".

Looks like I've found the Druids' base! But (as Hofstedt points out incredulously) how come it's just one hut? We were lead to believe that Arjano was a centre for learning where all the druids lived. This one building doesn't look big enough for more than two people to call home -let alone a religious order!

As soon as I move indoors my questions are answered. The hut is totally empty except for two druids and a stair-case down. It looks like Arjano is an UNDERGROUND institute for druids!

One of the guys in the room walks up

"What do you want you lot? We don't get many cat people and naked old folk round these parts..."

"Please excuse my cat people friends and naked companion. We're here on an allegedly multi-part errand for king Tharnos. He sent us to talk to Brother Bero"

"That DOES sound like a multi-part quest" says the druid with a stoney face. He scurries away down the stairs and leaves the team pondering his words

"It doesn't sound multi-part to me" whispers Sira while we wait.

Soon the druid returns

"Nemos will see you now! Follow me!"

Who's this Nemos? I'll find out soon - the druid leads me into the basement.

It's quite nice down here. Sort of a spacious underground hut. Nothing nasty like torches on the wall dripping wax through the eyes of skulls or anything. I wonder why they keep the place under-ground...

The druid who brought me here wanders off and Nemos arrives.

"Druids have been here for 2000 years you know..." he starts. Perhaps he's one of these nervous people who aren't good at chit-chat, so they use an interesting fact as a way to start a conversation with you.

"...Ever since the great Canto lead us here from the world of our forefathers!"

Now this I want to hear. Normally I wouldn't take the bait when people do this sort of thing to me. I sort of don't like this "Start with an interesting fact" stuff as I always feel it means the other person wants my first impression of them to be that they're terribly clever. And if they so badly want me to think they're clever then I CERTAINLY don't want to give them the pleasure.

However - on this occasion I respond: "Tell me more about this interesting fact. You're clearly a terribly clever and interesting person."

"Oh well since you insist - I'll allow you a dip into the broad pool of my historical knowledge. *ahem* Two thousand years ago, the land of our forefathers was destroyed by crusaders. Canto and Dana, as a result, led the chosen ones (us, the druids) through the kingdom of mists to Albion"

"hmm... ok... so... 'Land of our forefathers'... Is that earth yeah?"

"Land of our forefathers"

"Um... yeah. And 'kingdom of mists' - are we talking outer space?"

"Kingdom of mists".

"So... you've got no juicy facts for me after all..?"

"We're the chosen few you know"

"Ugh... Ok. Well, at the moment I need to find Brother Bero. There's a certain king (who I won't name to protect his modesty) who gets so drunk all the time he can't s@ti5fy his \/\/0man aLL /\/16h7. If you know what I mean"

"Oh dear. I'm sorry to hear that! You see... Brother Bero is *probably* DEAD!"

"He's DEAD?!?"

"Yes *I expect*"

"What the eff???"

"Well ok. I guess I should explain. Arjano, the underground fortress of the druids is mahoosive! WAY bigger than you'd expect. It's like some kind of epic city under ground or something yeah? Ok, so 400 years ago there was a huge scrap amongst the druids in Arjano. It was us against these fire worshiping druids who were splitting off from the proper druidic faith ok? Well, we beat them off in the end and they went out into the world and became the Kenget Kamulos - you know, the super-slick assassins who are quite stupid. They're the kind of people who, when hired to do a murder, wouldn't question meeting up with their contact deep, deep in the heart of an incredibly dangerous haunted guild-hall filled with deadly traps and monsters..."

Sira looks shiftily about, but no one notices as Nemos the leader of the druids goes on...

"Ok. So yes we beat the fire worshipping assasin monks right. BUT after that a large part of Arjano was left in a bit of a state - filled with ungodly war mechanisms and demons and whatever. I dunno why we never bothered to deal with it - I guess it's like how you move into a new house and never quite get round to unpacking the last box of old pans with their lids missing until 400 years later someone wants to climb into it in search of magical artifacts and *almost certainly* gets them-self killed. You know what I mean?"

"not really..."

"Brother Bero wandered off into a sealed part of Arjano looking for magical artifacts. Only he hasn't come back and since that part of the building is infested with demons and deadly contraptions, it's fair to assume it's 'cos he's been made into a toasty and snacked on by nightmare ravagers."

"Oh balls."

"Still, you lot are PERFECTLY placed to go look for him!"

"Err - seriously? How'd you figure that one?"

"Ah well. Everyone else would LOVE to go in there, but basically it's taboo. Sort of like how Belle isn't meant to go into the east wing in Disney's Beauty and the Beast because it's full of satanic torture traps and fire-worshipping abominations. Only since you're not a druid it's fine for you to go in"

"psst" whispers Naked Hofstedt "I'm starting to see how this is a multi-part quest..."

"Seriously, Hof? Are you really? Well that's amazing. I totally hadn't worked it out - I'm so glad we've got you with us you pointless old burden."

"Yeah - we have to rescue the Druid so that then we can get the amulet off him for the king..."

"*sigh*"

"So that's decided is it? Excellent." proclaims Nemos. "Now, I won't send you into a dungeon of demons who've been holding 400 years worth of grudge without any help at all. So allow me to introduce Bero's foster son Mellthas the mute"

Mellthas steps up with a sign with "Please don't make me go into the demon dungeon. These people treat me like an idiot just because I can't talk. I have a degree!" written on it.

Nemos smacks it out of his hands.

"Ignore that. Mellthas is a bit simple. Look after him for us would you? I'm off for some paella. Do stop by if you get out alive! Ciao!"