"Actually, there is one other thing..." you say.  The wizard perks up.  "When I stepped outside the temple to Hermes, I noticed a couple of strange men walking past."

"Strange?  How so?" the wizard asks.

"Well... you see, they never actually looked at me.  But it was like I could feel their eyes burning into my soul.  I couldn't shake the feeling that I was being scrutinised, my every thought laid bare for them to judge.  It was... unnatural."  You shudder the last word, recalling keenly still the feeling. 

"That certainly isn't a nice feeling..." Kemvar muses.  "Hopefully, they're just paladins or monks passing through, searching out any evil influences in the town.  I wouldn't worry too much about it, my boy."

Fair enough, you think.

"Oh," you add.  "The men had a symbol of a wolf tattooed on their left cheeks."

Kemvar's eyes widen in alarm. 

"Quickly!" he shouts, taking up his staff and fitting a pair of rings onto his hands, then rushed over to a locked box to the side of the room.  It springs open with but a word, and from within he produces a sword in its scabbard and hands it to you.  "To arms!"

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A basic, typical fantasy style story with all the classic elements - elves in the forest, dwarves underground, old wizards in towers and the like. It's largely just to experiment with the form more than anything, although the idea formed ages ago before I got depressed.

The idea is that about a dozen characters meet each other along the way on a perilous journey north into the heart of evil/darkness/symbolic force thereof.

Arrith and co head north-west to the capital, Pasaveer, a day or two out from their home town of Terris. Kemvar accompanies them. They are looking for information about a cursed armour, shield and weapon that one of the goblin leaders mutters something about. On your trail is the men with wolf tattoos, and behind them is the rouge Hailyn has been waiting like a lover for.

updated Jul 8 by UltimaDan