The Rising Tide
Session Five of the Path Perfidious Campaign

Morday, 49 Lollmeadow – Vítday, 1 Mizzle Month 204

During the season that has passed since the remarkable investigation into the death of Ulish Van Caspan, the Village of the Eighteen Churches has attempted to return to a semblance of normality. Serecee Mylann has done much to undo the suspicion of her church caused by the corruption of Thaddeus Carvin. Vistral Molontov is imprisoned in the city of Northmeet, and has been replaced with the Tarrashar-approved Nestor as first flame of Infernus. And yet, a darkness still sits on the north. The identity of Thaddeus Carvin’s paymaster is still unknown. A degree of hostility between the Watchers and the Church of Fire still exists, and although both keep to the Covenant, the violence that erupted last summer still lingers under the surface.

The six investigators, appointed by Varamil back in Lollmeadow, have gone their separate ways. Brother Kak has roamed northern Norandor, doing the reputation of half-orcs no end of good and developing his very own musical instrument: the Kakaphone. Kak has, on occasion, returned to the Village to visit Salamar, and by the beginning of Mizzle Month he finds himself there again, happily creating his Kak-ophony.

Jass has had a very busy time of things. The Watchers could not remove the evil eye implanted into his head by Aldric Kurst. After a month of trying he was given an enchanted eyepatch that would hopefully prevent any evil beings using his eyeball as a scrying device. Leaving the Village, Jass sought out mages – even travelling to Uris and speaking to the Archwizard Gaston, but no-one has been able to help. Even the Arcanum Incognita seem at a loss to work out how to remove it, and Jass doesn’t like dealing with them as they give him the willies. He is approaching the end of his tether in regard to this matter. He has currently finished a fruitless session with the Arcanum Incognita in the Village and is spending some time with Salamar. The Church of Fire’s option of killing him and raising him in another body is looking all the more appealing, but then he remembers what happened to Manacus and thinks again.

As for the rest, Isiah de Chesiré has headed south to Uris, to search for his missing cousin, Jedidiah. His quest has proved unsuccessful. Torgellias has been masterminding a hate campaign against the Sylvani Church, and has found allies in the druids of the Norandon Circle in making a great nuisance of himself. The barbarian, Bronx has travelled widely, even participating in the ceremony of the sword in Uris on 25th Heathaze. Since then he has been greatly involved in the doings of the Norandon Circle, particularly since his mother, Jelanie was elevated to the status of Archdruid. Salamar Russ has followed the commands of the High Holy Witness of Doom beyond anyone’s expectations. He has formed the Guardians – the Watcher’s order of Holy Inquisitors – from scratch. And, although he is eager to hand the operation over to someone else, he takes his responsibilities very seriously.

Terday, 2 Mizzle Month 204

Guardians, under the direction of Salamar Russ, uncover compelling evidence that a Watcher called Hugo Nawhal is also a member of outlawed Church of the Unbeating Heart. Rather that apprehend Nawhal, Salamar decides to have the man followed. Nawhal is not working alone, and it is hoped that he can be used to lead the Guardians to his secret temple, where the local coven can be destroyed.

Morday, 6 Mizzle Month 204

While most of the Watchers are in prayer, Nawhal, slips out of the House of Passing and heads north in the direction of Mount Korvast. Salamar sends a group of three guardians and seven members of the Shadow of Mortis in discreet pursuit.

Terday, 9 Mizzle Month 204

Sulith, a wizardess and one of the Shadow of Mortis, sends a magical message to Salamar. She reports that they have followed Nawhal to a keep at the end of the Mithril Vale (approximately four days north-east of the Village). Sulith says that the ten of them are heading into the keep to break the coven. She promises to report as soon as this is accomplished. That report is never made, and by the evening Salamar is worried. Summoning a local representation of the Arcanum Incognita, Salamar tries to scry on the region, but to no avail. He determines to set out the following morning. Salamar is uncomfortable with the mantle of leadership thrust upon him, and does not wish to be responsible for any further deaths. He approaches the Torgellias and asks for his skills as a renowned tracker. Torgellias readily agrees, as do Kak and Jass who are eager to help their friend. The transmuter, Balthasar de Chesiré, also joins them. Salamar fills out their numbers with Togan, Mak, Saunto and Rupert – four burly members of the Shadow of Mortis. They leave at dawn.

Zephday, 10 Mizzle Month 204

Salamar hands over the day-to-day running of the Guardians to his trusted lieutenant, Helena, and prepares to join his friends and depart. Before he can do so, he and his companions are summoned to the chambers of Archnecrotain Varamil. Salamar’s new status as head of the Guardians has removed him from Varamil’s direct control, but he is willing to listen to what his ex-superior is willing to see.

Entering Varamil’s office, in which they spent so much time back in Lollmeadow, Kak, Salamar, Jass, Balthasar and Torgellias are surprised to see the barbarian, Bronx standing in the corner of the room. He smiles widely when they arrive and quickly sweeps up Salamar, giving him a hug that pops several ribs. Varamil shakes his head and says:

“Bronx has delivered a note from Jelanie of the Order. She is an archdruid now, apparently. I think you would all like to hear this.” They now see that the Archnecrotain is holding a piece of parchment in his hand. Without further ado, he reads the contents aloud to the party.

Salamar begins to object. He has a mission of his own, and the lives of his Guardians may be at stake. “That is as may be,” says Varamil, “but from what you have told me of your destination you will have to go through the Mithril Vale to get there. This black keep that Sulith mentioned in her report, is it not at the end of the Vale?”

“It is,” replies Salamar, “but we have little time to go out of our way and investigate this, cannot someone else be sent?” Varamil shakes his head. “There is no-one else, Salamar. We may have returned to the numbers we had before the assassination of Van Caspan, but the new Watchers are young and inexperienced. Most of the more senior clergy, myself included, are leaving this afternoon for Uris.” Salamar is puzzled, “Why so?” he asks.

Varamil looks grave. “The High Holy Witness of Doom has gone to the king, Salamar. Our monarch can only have a few days remaining to him. As soon as he dies, an Enclave will be called to decide a successor. Tarex’s presence has made the nobility, the churches and the common folk sit up and take notice. They realise that this is no false alarm. They realise that his death is imminent, and that civil war could very well follow. The Watchers must be represented. We must make the right choice. And that leaves very few of us in the Village capable of acting on this warning from Archdruid Jelanie.”

“Yet my first responsibility must be to my people,” says Salamar, undaunted. “Agreed,” Varamil concedes. “I am not asking for you to embark upon this mission to the detriment of your own, I am only asking you to keep your eyes open and report what you see in the Mithril Vale.” Torgellias says that such a request is not unreasonable, and Salamar agrees to do what he can.

“It may be that these two matters are not unrelated,” Varamil says, beginning to clear his desk drawer into a small bag. “An agent of the Church of the Unbeating Heart heading into an area where the undead are a growing menace. I cannot see the coincidence. I have feared this for some time. It has been more than eleven months since you went to the Wraith Haunt and discovered the existence of this Sarakite. The notion that there is one force controlling all the evil in the Wraith Haunt is frightening to say the least. If it is somehow allied with the Lifebane Church, that would make it all the more frightening.”

The party leave Varamil to finish his packing and head outside where they are united with Saunto, Mak, Togan and Rupert. They all know Bronx from his Shadow days and are pleased to see him. They are even more pleased when Salamar tells them they could be riding into an undead infested land. The four of them are battle hardened veterans of many battles against the undead, and happily regale the party with tales of their valour if they are given an inch.

The group leaves The Village about an hour after dawn. Torgellias is excited by the prospect of encountering many members of the undead. The xenophobic little thug hates the undead almost as much as he hates goblins. By lunchtime the group has passed the great Mount Korvast and heads across valleys of long coarse grass, as they head into wild northlands of Norandor.

Caladay, 11 Mizzle Month 204

Jass is very quiet during the journey. The recent turn of events that has beset him is increasingly difficult to deal with. As the party continues to climb into the foothills of the Cullbarrens they turn to the west, following the same path taken by Sulith and her force. In the early afternoon they enter the meandering woodland that covers this part of the country. Autumn is all ready making its presence felt; the ground covered in fallen leaves and heavy with rain-water.

Sharday, 12 Mizzle Month 204

It is said a typical Sharday is one that buckets down with rain, and this day starts in the traditional manner. Except for the drumming of the rain in the trees and the heavy drips onto the forest floor, Torgellias comments that woodland is unnaturally quiet. Kak senses it too. It reminds him, very worryingly, of the road he tread into the Wraith Haunt eleven months earlier. The same disquieting stillness. Jass doesn’t notice, as he’s graduated from feeling depressed to drinking brandy. They proceed cautiously, and by the time that darkness falls they become increasingly uneasy.

Jass awakes in the night with a terrible throbbing about his bones. It is the same throbbing he felt in the Wraith Haunt, when he was drained almost unto death by the undead. Despite his convalescence he knows that he will never completely recover from the wound. But the fact that it is acting up now tells him that something unholy is close by. He quickly alerts the members of the Shadow of Mortis who are on watch, and wakes his companions.

In the darkness, beyond the camp fire, shapes are moving in the darkness. These are wraiths. Jass recognises the way they move, he knows their piercing red eyes and can hear them muttering in their mind. Were the party with any other protectors they may have been in trouble, but Saunto, Mak, Rupert and Togan are members of the Shadow and Salamar is strongly blessed by Mortis.

The battle is swift and deadly. Torgellias feels the claws of the wraith within him, and Jass also suffers from their hands. But the Shadow wield enchanted blades, and Jass has his magic. Salamar calls upon the power of the Mortis and snares the dark mind of two of the wraiths, compelling them into battle against their companions. In the end the undead cannot to stand up to the force of the party and their allies, and miraculously no-one is killed.

Salamar attempts to speak to the wraiths he has dominated, but they hiss and curse him and claim that to continue on his present path will lead to his destruction. “It will not be you who strikes me down, wraith,” says Salamar and the undead are destroyed. The rest of the night is spent uneasily. Wraiths have power in darkness, and until dawn they are vulnerable.

Morday, 13 Mizzle Month 204

In the morning, Torgellias says that a decision has to be made. If they press on today they will reach the southerly end of the Mithril Vale this morning, and can then press on its length. But they will not reach the Black Keep today, and will have to camp in the Mithril Vale. If the Vale is really full of undead, Torgellias doesn’t think this is a particularly good idea. Even if there were no undead the Mithril vale is a dangerous place.

The Vale was once an astonishing source of the metal Mithril, hence the name. In ages passed the dwarves mined the vale to exhaustion. This has many open mine-shafts littering the vale, this combined with the vale’s habit of being filled with thick mist make navigating it a hazard. Torgellias proposes that instead of going through the vale, they go around it. They will avoid the inherent dangers of the place, and any further undead that dwell by pressing on the north-east and then swinging back to the west. The only problem is that this will put a further day on their journey.

Salamar is not sure. His people are in danger, and yet they can be no help to them if they do not reach their destination. At length the group is in agreement and the journey continues under Torgellias’s direction.

Sunday, 14 Mizzle Month 204

The party progress through, and out of the woodland and begin to traverse the glades that sit in the foothills of the Cullbarrens. Turning to the west, they make camp at dusk approximately two hours from the head of the Mithril Vale, and the location of the black keep reported by Sulith. Although they are on their guard, the night passes uneventfully.

Vítday, 15 Mizzle Month 204

They set off at dawn tracing a broken path along the northern wall of the vale, where it abruptly meets the Cullbarrens. Stopping at a distance of a mile they can see a crooked black keep rising from shelf of hard stone in the mountain-side. From this distance they can make out no movement. To their left, and sweeping southwards is the silent Mithril vale, still heavy with morning mist.

Balthasar volunteers to transmute himself into a sparrow and fly off to the keep to have a look around. They agree to leave Saunto with the horses and Doug, and the rest will slowly approach the keep. The hobbit, a little puzzled by his own bravado, draws on his magic and flaps off in the direction of the keep.

Getting closer, Balthasar sees that the keep of ancient stone rises out of the hill top to a height of forty feet. Rumble litters the ground before it where the top floors collapses many years ago. However, as he approaches, there are signs that this place has been inhabited quite recently. A new wooden door has been placed in the doorway, and shutters cover the small windows that wind around the structure. There are footprints in the mud around the tower that tells of many comings and going, but except for the wind and the chill rain there is silence.

Searching the area, while waiting for his companions, Balthasar notices that the door has been locked from the outside. However, flying up the side of the keep, he is able to gain entrance through one of the derelict windows. Hopping in, he has a look around. He flies down into darkness, and must transmute into a rodent capable of seeing in the dark. Carefully clambering down the stairs the hobbit sees that the highest surviving level was recently used sleeping quarters with many beds. Going down the rickety stairs Balthasar feels particularly uneasy.

This is the ground floor (although the stairs still go down). There are creatures here. They are humanoid, but they are not moving. Balthasar is no Watcher, but he senses that they are undead, and he barely escapes without being mashed to return to Salamar and make his report. The rest of the party wastes no time in getting there.

Using his Mortis-granted powers, Salamar determines that there are ten undead life-forms on the lowest floor of the keep. Trusting to Balthasar that there are no living things on that level, a plan is soon formed. A quick Knock and Fireball spell later and the interior of the keep’s ground floor is a smoking ruin and the creatures inside have been blown apart. The force of the explosion fractures the ancient stone and causes more masonry to fall from above, but the keep is left standing.

There were ten zombies on the ground floor. Ten. The same number of Guardians and Shadows that Salamar sent after Hugo Nawhal. The Watcher has a sinking feeling, and searching the dead he uncovers the body of the wizardess, Sulith. Using his powers to speak to the dead, Sulith’s corpse informs Salamar of what happened.

Sulith and the others traced Nawhal to the keep, as she reported, and then headed into deal with the Lifebane Church. They were confident of their chances and their personal power. Sulith was sure they would have succeeded, were it not for an outpouring of undead from the lowest level of the keep. Zombies, wights and even wraiths. The last think Sulith recalls was a wight as it sank its fangs into her face.

Salamar is distressed. The mantle of leadership that Tarex saddled him with was not something he desired, and now he realises that he has sent his people to their deaths. The three members of the Shadow help to gather the bodies of their fallen comrades and carry them to where there is earth enough to dig a grave.

While this has been happening, Torgellias has skirted around the outside of the keep. He can say, with certainty that eight horses left the keep three days ago, and they headed south down the vale. It seems that after the altercation with the Watchers, the Lifebane Church abandoned the keep. They have to follow them, and a lengthy discussion begins as to how to make the best use of Balthasar’s ability to teleport in the chase. However, the vale is twenty miles wide, trying to teleport ahead of the enemy without knowing where they are going would be fruitless. Plus, Balthasar is doubtful that he would be able to safely move a large number of people to somewhere he has never been.

And thus, a search of the keep is proposed to gain more clues. The party move in carefully, treading over the still-molten remains of the ground floor. Descending the stairs they discover the heart of this coven to of the Lifebane Church. Much of the paraphernalia of the temple to Mortis as worshipped by the Lifebane Church has been removed. However, the symbols of the church are everywhere. On the floor is a circle drawn in blood and at its centre a cairn of human skulls. An altar is against the far wall. It is also stained in blood. Everything else has gone.

Searching the room they find nothing except for a box of suspicious candles, until Kak notices that the entire altar can swing away from the wall. It takes surprisingly little effort to move it and reveal a dark passage way leading into the earth. As the entrance is uncovered a blast of cold air fills the chamber, Torgellias and Bronx flee the room in terror. Jass feels his bones beginning to throb. There is something down there, in the dwarven tunnels carved beneath the Mithril vale. Salamar confirms that there are undead beyond the opening and, giving how Sulith and the others fared, fighting them may not be wise.

Kak moves to close the altar, but before he can do so a distorted mockery of a man lumbers through the opening and attacks him. Salamar recognises a wight, and warns Kak to avoid its touch. But the monk knows his own abilities, and is grateful to have a foe that his fists can harm after facing the incorporeal wraiths. With great speed Kak breaks wight’s backbone and hurls it back into the darkness. The altar is closed , but the party can still hear a scraping sound behind it. Salamar advises they leave.

On the surface they prepare to follow the horse tracks from the keep. At Torgellias’s insistence, Balthasar teleports the pair of them to the foot of the vale, but there is no way to pick up the trail. The fact that on the way Balthasar inadvertently sends them both to the top of one of the highest peaks in the mountains convinces Torgellias not to rely on his companions powers in the future.

Terday, 16 Mizzle Month 204

One day into the chase, the trail they are following seems to be heading back to the Village of the Eighteen Churches, zigzagging across the land. The clerics have taken time to try and conceal their route and seem to be attempting to throw off pursuers. However, the skills of Torgellias are a match for them. This is the first day of the dark of Mortis and, although this means Salamar is at a disadvantage, so is their quarry.

Zephday, 17 Mizzle Month 204

The party plunge into a woodland. The path is now definitely heading south-west, away from the Village. Torgellias loses the track on this day, however, the party have arrived on an obvious path and (and having no option) follow that path until Torgellias can recover the trail.

Caladay, 18 Mizzle Month 204

By mid afternoon they come out into an enormous clearing where nine cylindrical columns rise two-hundred feet into the sky. The remains of a tenth column lies crushed to the ground. These strange geological artefacts have been part of the local terrain for as long as anyone can remember, although their nature has never been determined as far as Torgellias knows. They have been known as the haunts of wyverns, but none of those creatures are visible at present.

From the plateau where the columns stand the party can look down upon the vast forests that huddle against the feet of the Cullbarrens. Quite visible to them here is the fetid pit that locals refer to as the haunted wood, and they know as the Wraith Haunt. Their journey seems to be taking them there.

Sharday, 19 Mizzle Month 204

The closer they get to the Wraith Haunt, the more Jass’s bones throb and the uneasier their steeds become. Salamar, Kak, Jass and Bronx inform the others of their trip to Garwood eleven months ago, and what they found there. They speak of Sarakite, and Salamar begins to draw worrying connections between the Lifebane Church, Jelanie’s letter and what they discovered in the Mithril vale.

By midday the path they are following opens onto a wider trail. Kak recognises it instantly. It is the path from the main Hadradan road to Garwood. Torgellias says that horses travelled this way recently, and it becomes apparent that Nawhal and the Lifebaners came this way. But what business do they have in Garwood?

The closer they get to Garwood, the uneasier that Jass becomes. He can hear a muttering in the air that no-one else can hear. That by itself is a cause for concern, but there is a more. A heated malevolence that defies the cool autumn wind. However, Jass has little time to dwell on these feelings as very shortly the group has arrived in the town. The keen eyed hobbits spot a group of individuals around a house on the outskirts of the village that once belonged to Custar Merry.

“Ghouls!” shouts Torgellias. “Get them!” Whether or not the hobbit meant it is irrelevant as Bronx and the four members of the Shadow of Mortis charge across the intervening distance to engage with the undead. Torgellias quickly follows, and before the more sensible members of the party can rationally plan what to do next, or to point out that there are a number of figures inside the house as well, battle is joined. Kak flies into combat against the ghouls, as do the other members of the Shadow.

Suddenly from within the house a goblin leaps into the fray. He is heavily armoured and carrying a notched hand-axe. Bronx takes a contemptuous swing at him, that the goblin easily ducks around. The goblin smiles at the barbarian who is more than twice his height. Then he attacks and Bronx soon realises that this foe is a very real threat – even to him.

Jass looks at the battle forming in front of him. He curses that he cannot hurl a fireball at the house without killing his friends. All the pain and frustration of the last season is boiling within him. It must have some release! He turns to Balthasar. “Turn me into something that can fight these things!” he commands. Balthasar shrugs and transmutes the sorcerer into a hulking, nine foot troll. This is certainly to Jass’s liking and he charges into battle, quickly twisting the heads off his adversaries.

The battle continues. After a titanic effort, Bronx eventually despatches the goblin, but the barbarian is remarkably unsteady on his feet and after his rage has subsided he collapses to his knees. However, the rest of the battle is going well. The Lifebaners are in the dark of their moon and were not expecting to be attacked here. The fury of Jass the troll is more than any of them can handle. Then Hugo Nawhal, wearing a death’s head mask, appears in the doorway to the house and hurls a spell at Salamar.

Salamar resists the magic, but he knows it was potent, and for Nawhal to be able to throw around that sort of power during the dark of the moon makes his formidable indeed. Undoubtedly it will take all their power, determination and skill to best this foe. Only by working together do they stand a chance of ending the threat of this evil man, who has perverted the divine will of Mortis. Then Balthasar turns him into a fish.

Where once the powerful Nawhal stood, now a goldfish flaps helplessly on the ground. As Jass enters the house and kills the remaining Lifebaners, Balthasar picks up the fish and drops in into his waterskin. They are victorious over Nawhal, but Kak gestures quickly. There is something inside the hut that they must see.

Entering the hut is a trial. A crystal skill sits on a shelf in the wall and seems to dominate the room. Kak throws it outside and Torgellias cuts it into small pieces with his vorpalised demon-claw. On a table in the room is a map of Norandor to the north of the Timberlake road. There are arrows heading from the Wraith Haunt west to Timberlake, east to Northmeet, south to Oakholme…. and then there are other arrows moving from the Cullbarrens to the same places. It is a map of an invasion.Bronx gives a cry. There is a letter on the table that may explain the presence of this goblin in Garwood. The letter says:

A conspiracy between the goblins, the Lifebane church and the forces of Sarakite. How can this be? And when? Then Balthasar informs them that Jass has collapsed.

To Jass everything seems to have frozen. His companions, the bodies of the dead, it is almost as if he has been taken out of time. He can hear the muttering even more. He curses. His heart is still racing from the carnage he relished, and now he is being singled out again for more torture. “What do you want?” he yells.

One of the corpses of the fallen clerics knits itself together and staggers to its feet. When it speaks it is with a resounding, female voice that Jass can hear in his mind. “Who do you serve?” it asks. Jass destroys it with a sweep of his powerful, simian arms, but another corpse forms to take is place. Jass tries to run but his legs feel like lead. “My children have tasted your soul,” says the corpse. And now Jass knows that this is Sarakite.

Sarakite reaches forward and lifts the eyepatch that Jass is still ludicrously wearing. “So that is where you have been hiding,” she says (although obviously not to Jass) “Do you not wish to play anymore?” Jass feels a sharp pain in his eye and backs away, throwing Sarakite from him. This brings the Witchwyrd’s attention back to the sorcerer.

“He did this to you,” she gestures. “The one called Kurst.” Jass nods. The undead intelligence hops to another corpse and continues. “You hate him.” Jass says that he does. “I could remove this eye,” says Sarakite. “I could free you from him.” Jass is sceptical. What would Sarakite want in return for such charity? “I want what you want,” she says. “I want Kurst destroyed. If you agree to help me accomplish this, I will remove his power over you.”

Jass may have the appearance of a troll, but he still has his wits. By freeing himself from Kurst he would only bind himself to Sarakite. Why do these creatures go out of their way to torment him? “Let me help you,” insists Sarakite. “Let me remove the eye. Then return with your friends. When I need you I will come for you, and you will help me.”

“Help you do what?” asks Jass, defiantly. “Help you plot a war?” Sarakite shakes her head. “Why would I ask to betray your friends? Whether they stand or fall of no concern to me. My forces will sweep across this land. All who oppose will die, with no help or hindrance from you. A scant mile from where your body lies in the waking world a force of many thousands of my legions are moving. They will swamp yourself and your friends in minutes. Will you allow me to help you, in return for you helping me destroy Kurst?”

“No!” yells Jass. “Return me to my body! Now!” The urgency in Jass’s voice tells Sarakite that his decision has been made. At least for now. “So disappointing,” she sighs. “So very disappointing.”

“Jass!” says Salamar as the sorcerer’s eyes flicker open. “Are you all right?” Jass sits up. “We have to leave this place now! There are thousands of undead coming this way!” Torgellias heads into the woodland to verify this tale. Can the invasion laid down on the maps they discovered have all ready started? “How do you know?” asks Balthasar, but Jass does not reply. As he gets to his feet they can hear a crashing through the forest to the north and Torgellias rushes back in alarm to confirm what Jass has said.

Salamar, Balthasar, Kak, Bronx, Torgellias, Jass and the four Shadows mount their steeds and gallop as fast as they can from Garwood. When they reach the Hadradan road they pause. Decisions have to be made. They have to warn people. It is agreed that Balthasar’s ability will be invaluable in the days ahead. He will take Salamar back to the Village and then to Northmeet to spread the word. From there they will go to Uris. Meanwhile, everyone else will return to the Village on foot.

Kak shakes his head. “I’m going to Oakholme,” he says. “There are dozens of villages along this road. Each of them unprotected. The Village or Northmeet might be able to defend themselves against the undead, but Oakholme certainly can’t. They need to be warned.”

The enormity of what is happening is slowly sinking in. Ten thousand goblins heading south to Northmeet will have to go through the Village of the Eighteen Churches. Thousand upon thousands of undead heading south, east and west from the Wraith Haunt will destroy all thinking life in the northlands. None of them are sure what can be done about it, but they know that unless they act, nothing will be done. The Village is virtually defenceless. All the high powered clerics are in Uris. Colharn, the duke of Northmeet, is also absent. It seems that this strike was long planned.

Saunto, Mak, Rupert and Togan re-mount their horses. Bronx climbs onto Doug. He wants to get to his mother and warn Jelanie of what is happening, but with the speed the undead move he knows that he must head towards the Village. Torgellias climbs onto his riding dog and the group rides off. In a burst of magic Salamar and Balthasar depart for the Village. Kak turns and runs at his magically assisted pace to the west. Jass stands alone on the road for a moment. In his mind he can still hear the words of Sarakite. “So disappointing, so disappointing.” He shivers. He feels he has made another enemy today. He doubts that this Sarakite will leave him alone. Jass turns his troll form and lumbers after the riders.

The End of The Rising Tide
Bronx, Balthasar, Torgellias and Salamar follow the Path Perfidious in The Fist of Maglubiyet
Jass and Kak follow the Path Perfidious in The Gauntlet of Rammon Cha

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