The Harrowing Ordeal

At dawn, the tree spoke again:

Are you ready?

The challenge is unopposed.

Prepare to face the Harrowing Ordeal.

You must prove yourself in combat.

You must fight without the aid of others.

You must fight without the aid of potions that heal.

You must fight to the death.

If you do not follow these rules, you cannot become one of the One Hundred.

The tree grew to a gigantic size, and its bark twisted to form a horrifying face. It moved toward Carlagnios, sending splinters of wood through the air.

As it rose up, its roots burst through the surface of the ground, making it difficult for Carlagnios to move. One of its pods exploded, sending shrapnel at Carlagnios.

Carlagnios fought back, making a lunging strike at the tree and covering it with a breath of fire. Carlagnios' Jagged Great Axe was like a thicket of blades, cutting off three huge branches.

With each moment, Carlagnios struck at the tree with blow after blow, like a rain of steel on the limbs of the tree. The tree looked battered and half-beaten, but it still attacked Carlagnios.

Carlagnios could not continue to take damage from the tree, and he eventually fell unconscious. The tree smashed at Carlagnios continuously until no life was left in the Dragonborn's body.

Then, the tree spoke again:

He has given his life.

He need never fear death again.

He is now one of the One Hundred.

Your friend is a brave warrior.

You can now return him to life with pride.

And with that, the tree shrunk down and became a regular tree.

Kale and Tiny took the day to cast the ritual that raised Carlagnios from the dead. He was now alive but felt quite weak.

"Am I alive?"

"Yes," replied Kale. "We raised you. Might I remind you that the reagents for this ritual are quite expensive?"

Carlagnios sagged. "All I have is my part of the gold chain." He handed it to Kale, who proceeded to melt it down into ingots.

"Am I one of the 100? Am I immortal? Garg, punch me." Garg happily complied. "Owww! OK, try cutting me." Garg's blade drew Dragonborn blood. "Owwww! I don't understand. Shouldn't I be immortal?"

Carlagnios frowned quizzically. "And yet... This is strange. I feel something that I have never felt before... I feel like ... I know something!"

"What do you know?"

"I can sense that the other 99 are far away. And I know where the Centenarch is."

"Then lead us there," said Kale. "Lead us to the Centenarch."

Who Will Stand For Justice?

The dwarves left us at the base of the Bonebreaker. From there, we flew to the top. We pounded stakes into the ground and tied up our mounts here.

As we began to explore the summit, we noticed a rustling noise from the Bag. Suddenly, the Bag flew open, and the golden chain (from the mouth of dragon) came spinning out. It grabbed two of us and summoned four puppets of swirling stick and stone. The chain and its puppets lashed out at us.

As we battled, they stunned us and dazed us, keeping us off balance. But together, we were able to beat them back. Garg marked all of them to kept them from attacking some of us. Firinne smashed and badly damaged the puppets. Bran snuck behind and struck one of the puppets and kept the others from attacking him. Finally, the tide turned when Carlagnios destroyed one puppet with a lunging strike, and Kale split apart another puppet in a cloud of daggers.

After we defeated the gold chain, Kale carefully examined it. He was concerned that the chain might come back to life.

"I will melt this down into ingots."

"No, don't destroy it!" yelled Carlagnios. "It is worth something as a gold chain."

"But I want to make sure that it is dead and won't attack us again."

"Fine," snarled Carlagnios, tearing off a small section of the chain. "I'll take my part of it, and you can melt down the rest."

Kale cast a magical fire to melt down the gold chain into ingots. Carlagnios held the ends of his section of the chain to the fire. "Can you melt these two ends together?"

We searched the summit and eventually found the fossilized stump. Kale carefully poured out the drop of life from the vial, and, after it fell slowly (almost too slowly), it hit the stump. The drop sat there, beading on top of the stump. Slowly, the drop changed color from gray to brown.

Then, suddenly, a tree grew up out of the stump. It was a small sized tree -- scrawny but healthy. It was perhaps twelve feet tall. Kale caressed the tree, mentioning that it was a cute, tiny thing.

"OK, that's kind of creepy," Carlagnios remarked.

Kale then began to cast the Ritual of Challenge. Bran suggested that we all rest while Kale cast the Ritual, since we were exhausted from our battle with the chain and the puppets.

At dawn, Kale finished the Ritual, speaking the last words in old warrior: "And so we begin the Ritual of Becoming the One Hundred."

With that, the tree came to life and spoke:

"Since the time of the deep past,

the One Hundred have stood to defend our people and our way of life.

You have begun the Ritual.

Who will will stand to join the One Hundred?

Who will stand for justice?

Carlagnios woke up. "What's that noise?" he growled.

"I think we have a volunteer," Kale replied.

After some discussion, Carlagnios agreed to go through the Ritual. "I will do it," he answered the tree.

"Who do you challenge?" demanded the tree.

"The Owl?"

"I do not know that name."

Carlagnios searched through the book that explained the early Centenarchy. He was looking for a name. "Gezu?"

"Gezu is dead." replied the tree.

"Fine... then, Logrid," Carlagnios spat out. "That one's a bastard."

"Aza Logrid Paladus. The challenge has been sent. You must wait a day and a night for her to arrive."

"Will I fight her alone?" asked Carlagnios.

The tree stood in silence. Carlagnios continued to question the tree, but the tree did not respond.

Kale suggested that we lend our magical items to Carlagnios to help him with the battle. But even with the items, Carlagnios was unsure of his victory and began to have second thoughts.

Kale tried to calm him down. "Logrid swore not to attack us. So perhaps she will not be able to fight back."

"But we're putting her into a bad situation," observed Bran. "She doesn't deserve this."

"Maybe some practice rounds will help me to feel more confident about the battle," Carlagnios thought aloud. Kale agreed to help him practice. Carlagnios swung at Kale with furious blows, and Kale warded off the attacks with his magical shield.

Even if Carlagnios could defeat Logrid, he was still unsure what else he would face in the Harrowing Ordeal to come.

"This Is Life Itself"

After the battle, we found the lone dwarf on the ground. He was in bad shape.

Through cracked and bloodied lips, the dwarf spoke. "You are not known to me." He gazed at all of us and focused his attention on Tiny, our Dwarven Cleric. "Kill me now or kill me later. It is your choice, brother."

"We should make sure that Garg doesn't finish him off," suggested Carlagnios. Garg glared back at him.

Tiny looked back at the dwarf. "You have nothing to fear from us. I don't work for the Lord Chimera."

"I don't believe you," the dwarf replied.

"But I'm a dwarf! And we destroyed the teardrop in the sky and stole these mounts!"

The dwarf sighed. "The Chimera can turn anyone to his will."

Tiny thought for a moment. He asked, "Do you know who Po is?"

The dwarf nodded.

"Do you know what this is?" asked Tiny, holding up his warhammer.

"Is ... Is that Loom?"

Loom responded through Tiny's mouth, "Aye. The Same."

"Then... you must have met Berit." We did remember the dwarf who had given Loom to Tiny.

"Yes," Loom responded.

"She never made it back to us," the dwarf explained, "so we never knew if she was successful in her mission."

"Yes, we did meet her -- it must have been three months ago."

The dwarf quickly sat up. "You must come with me."

Tiny healed the dwarf's wounds while we searched the dragon's bodies. In the mouth of one of the dragons, we found a long and large gold chain. Kale carefully separated it from the dragon's mouth and put it into the Bag.

We found nothing else and joined Tiny and the dwarf again. The dwarf introduced himself as Pesker the Younger. He led us on our mounts across the sky. After a while, he motioned for us to stop and land.

"We cannot fly any further. Otherwise, we will be seen in the sky and attacked."

He led us the rest of the way on foot. We stopped at a keep with four stone towers. At the top of each tower was a giant ballista. As we approached, the ballistae swiveled to follow us.

"We can leave our mounts here. They will tend to them for us."

We entered the keep and followed a set of stairs down. We reached a point where the stairs were flooded, and we could go no further.

"Let us wait here."

As we waited, the water slowly receded (almost as if it were being drained out), and we were able to continue.

We were led through a damp passageway, and Pesker warned us, "Move along and do not touch anything that is wet. The liquid is a venom that we use to discourage intruders."

"Oh, neat!" said Tiny.

"Uh, we should keep Tiny from touching that," Ryn cautioned.

"Hey!" Carlagnios yelled at Tiny. "Don't touch that, Tiny!" he snarled, slapping Tiny's hand. Tiny pulled back his hand and looked sorely disappointed.

As we continued through the passageway, we noticed giant stones hanging above us. It seemed like the stones could be dropped to block the passageway and prevent further intrusion.

We finally reached another flooded area (which Pesker called "a water lock") and waited for the water to be drained out before we continued.

"Why is this area so well defended?" asked Ryn.

"We have help to do this. I'll show you."

We continued until we reached a towering steel wall with a picture of Moradin shaping dwarves.

The wall slowly moved to the side, opening up the way to a yawning room containing a large city. The floor was in tiers, leading downward. In the center of the city was a long and large set of leafy green vines.

"Welcome to the Siege City," declared Pesker. "Melora's gift provides us with food and shelter. She protects us with the venom behind us. And the plant keeps us all alive."

He led us to our quarters and told us to rest there, while he let the elders know of our arrival. "Bale here will take care of your needs," he said, motioning to a human next to him.

"Hello, I'll be your translator here in the city. I can translate between your Common tongue and Dwarven. I'll also keep the rooms clean. If you need anything, I can get it for you or tell you where to find it."

"Where did you learn your languages?" asked Firinne.

"I learned Dwarvish here, and I learned Common in school."

"When did you go to school?" asked Carlagnios. "Was it a special school?"

"Did you have to take the short bus to get there?" asked Garg.

Bale looked confused. "I can also help you around in the city." He pointed to a large, square building. "That is the Temple of Moradin." He pointed to the base of the plant in the middle of the city. "And that is the Shrine of Melora. It is open only to those who have been invited." He waved his hand across the city. "And the rest -- is the city. That's it."

"He's somewhat simple," Tiny whispered to us.

The rest of the day passed uneventfully.

The next day, we were met by an acolyte. He was dressed like a junior priest of Moradin. "I'm here to take you to the Temple of Moradin," he told Tiny. "Is it true that you carry Loom?" Tiny nodded and let Loom speak to the acolyte.

At the Temple of Moradin, we met a priest named Ionel Brownstone. He wore a bushy beard and had to push it aside whenever he spoke.

"You have come a great distance," he told us.

"Yes," Tiny replied. "We used a rope to get to this world."

Ionel raised his hand. "Before we speak, would you join us in a prayer to Moradin." He glanced at Carlagnios and his Jagged Great Axe. "Your new warriors look strong. Would they like to pray with us?"

"I will pray with you," said Carlagnios. "How do you pray to Moradin?"

"Let us kneel in prayer." He began to chant, and Carlagnios followed his words. "Moradin ... Patron of craft... Seeker of soul ..."

After the prayer, he gave Tiny a suit of magical Dwarven chain mail, and he gave Carlagnios a pair of gloves that he called "Dwarven throwers."

"The 100 are long gone from this world," Ionel noted.

"Yes," said Kale, "They're now in our world."

"I wonder," said Ionel, "did they go the same way that we did? We originally came from your world. Where are you headed?"

"We seek the Centenarch," replied Kale. "To get there, we need to find our way to the Bonebreaker."

"Ah, I have heard about that place. There is one who is a scholar and a powerful mage. He would know more about this. I can bring you to him."

He led us to a small house with a sign above the door. The sign was in Dwarven and read "House of the Magus."

We were met by a short, stocky dwarf carrying an axe and wearing chain mail. "I am Gyuna Brassfitter," he said. "I am a mage."

"I am Kale, a student of the Lycium Arcanum."

"Ah, I see that you are wearing leather armor," noted Gyuna, chuckling beneath his breath. "So many magicians are content to sit in the back of the battle. I, on the other hand, like to be in the thick of things."

He paused and gazed at Kale. "I sense... that you have an object of great power."

"Yes, we do," replied Kale, handing him the coin with the dove and chimera.

Gyuna examined the coin. "This coin is the seed of contradiction. This was used to grow the Cthona." He looked up at us. "Do you know why the worlds are separate? The contradiction holds the worlds apart.

"The stone men were the guardians of the contradiction," he continued. "The 100 brought the contradiction to this world in order to gain their powers."

He stopped at looked at each of us. "Which one of you has touched the seed of contradiction?"

"I did," replied Kale, "and Carlagnios and others. Why? Is it dangerous?"

"I don't know if it is. So, you need to find the Bonebreaker? I have visited it on three occasions. It is in a wild country that is very treacherous. As for the mountain itself, it is really more of a hill. Over time, the weather has worn it down."

"Yes, we need to go to the Bonebreaker to cast the Ritual of the Challenge," said Kale, showing Gyuna the ritual.

"These are dark magics that use the Cthona," noted Gyuna. "My dwarves can lead you to the Bonebreaker. But you will need to visit the Shrine of Melora first."

He led us to the shrine at the base of the plant in the center of the city. He introduced us to Callum Ironeye, a human priest.

"This place, and all within it, are holy to me and to everyone around us," said Callum. "Come, follow me."

He led us to a room inside the plant. The room was damp, and sap dripped from the ceiling. Tiny looked around in awe and whispered to us, "This is life... all around us."

"The nectar of this plant is possessed with natural energy," he said. He handed us three bottles of the nectar. "These will help you to heal your wounds and regenerate your bodies."

He went to the back of the room, lifted up a chest, opened it, and removed a bundle of cloth that wrapped a vial. He motioned to Firinne.

"Take this," he said.

"What is it?" she asked.

"This... is life itself." he answered. "Once in a while, the plant gives up a drop of life. If you drop this on a table, the table will sprout leaves and branches."

"Interesting," Kale remarked. "Could this be used to... grow a tree ship?"

Callum nodded. We looked at the vial more carefully and realized that it closely resembled the tree ship bottle that we used in the City of the Orc King.

"Take this to the Bonebreaker, and use the drop to resurrect the fossilized stump."

With that, we left for the Bonebreaker, continuing our quest for the Centenarch.

Four Dragons and a Dwarf

Account of the Dwarf, Pesker the Young:

In the moment before I saw the travelers, the certainty of my death was absolute. There were four of the beasts around me, their hideous mouths curled upwards. Lying disarmed and bleeding, I knew they were merely toying with me. And then I saw a group of shapes in the sky.

They were vulture drakes, plummeting towards me, and I could swear I saw a dwarf perched atop the lead mount. Of course, hallucination is common in cases of battlefield shock. Surely these too were the chimera’s henchmen, come to claim me for some horrible interrogation.

The drakes touched down hard, and armored soldiers tumbled off, springing forward. An elf in the lead somehow fired an arrow before landing, the shaft glancing off the lead dragon. The four creatures twisted their heads, momentarily puzzled.

And then they charged. The soldiers drew their blades and shields and the two groups slammed into each other with a mighty crash. The chimeric dragons belched gouts of red flame onto the attackers, knocking some down. A man in the front bellowed “HOLD THE LINE!” as he pulled a companion back up. The attackers pressed back, blades whirling. In the back I saw a wizard hold aloft an orb, glowing with dark energy. Suddenly a sheet of black flame burst upwards from the earth. The four dragons screamed in pain, engulfed by the flames.

It was now difficult to see exactly what was happening. The dragons seemed to lunge forward, trying to push their way out of the flames. But each time, with ringing blows and shouting, the attackers pushed them back into the black fire. Lancing spells and arrows pierced back through the flames. Flashes of holy light silhouetted the dragons as they continued to fiercely attack.

A dragon retreated, trying to circle around the edge of the flames, even as some of the attackers circled the other way, flinging daggers and firing arrows. Finally, one of the terrible dragons crumpled backwards, collapsing into the black flames. Another followed, stumbling back as axes and swords rent its flesh. The final dragon took flight, fleeing as its companion fell.

And then the party approached me, the steaming corpses of the dragons smouldering behind them, their armor still smoking, fresh blood on their blades. Terrified, I believed that surely these were servants of the Chimera. Why would they attack the dragons? What could they want of me?

Account of Clarence, Servitor Animata:

Party is in flight. Party encounters four reptilian creatures of indeterminate origin and one humanoid of diminuitive stature. Party descends. Instruction given by Controller: “Stay in the back, Clarence!” A large fight commences. Some party members become unconscious. One dragon dies. Another dies. A third dies. A dragon flies away. The party is victorious.

Instruction given by Controller: “Clarence, help me lift this chain!”