Trash and Burn

Scribe Notes

Summary

Adventure: Trash and Burn
GM: Scott Whittaker
Season: Summer 793 WK

Party

• Aqualina, Water Male Orc (Scribe)
• Slasher, Non-mage Male Orc (Mil Sci)
• Shooter, Non-mage Male Orc
• Gorthag, Non-mage Male Orc
• The Reverend. Necromancer Male Orc (Leader)
• Tony Birdane, Namer Male Elf
• Flamis, Fire Female Human

Time on adventure

01/04/92 to 12/05/92 AP

Employer

None

Mission

Basic exploration. Rescuing a dragon

Plane

Glorantha

Heroplane

Brittania (and maybe a few others)

Places visited

New Pavis - City on Gloranthia

Old Pavis - Ruins next door

London - City on Britannia

Major NPCs encountered

Windwhistle - a wyrm

Dasnac - Hellhound

Sarah - disembodied voice on the HMS Eagle

King Richard the Eighth - King of Brittania

Original Scribe Notes

Media:Snsu9301.zip

Adventure Summary

31/03/92

Decided to go with a party of orcs to investigate a ruined city on the plane of Glorantha. Ruined city called 'The Rubble' next to the city of New Pavis. Magic divided into Cults, not Colleges. New Pavis has rules about weapons and armour i.e. no armour to be worn and all weapons peacebonded.

01/04/92

Headed to Gloranthan Trade Delegation building in Seagate and went through portal. Days same length but 12 hours out of phase. Headed towards New Pavis. Camped in cave.

02/04/92

Guild firemage, Flamis, arrived to join party. Continued on.

03/04/92

Attacked by scorpionmen, large snail and broo. Uncut gems inside snail. Snail delicious with garlic butter. Discovered creatures were teleported in.

08/04/92

Finally reached river that flowed down to New Pavis. Made warbarge. Arrived New Pavis and filled out forms. Stayed at Rowdy Djoh's inn.

09/04/92

Went into the Rubble (Old Pavis). Found stairway going down. Attacked by various creatures and found treasure. Rested.

10/04/92

Returned to New Pavis for healing and treasure identification. Went back to ruins and continued exploring complex we had found. Killed more chaos creatures. Cleaned out the area and took it over as a base of operations.

11/04/92

Flamis did a ritual and saw vision of Priest of Thanata, with large black sword. Other orcs want it. Visited by wingless wyrm. Found another underground complex. Killed dire wolves.

12/04/92

Found secret doors which led to mirror room. Room contained ice trails and fire trails. Ice trails safe - sign lied. Next room had to avoid various glyphs to get through.

Found room with stone dragon. Needed to find three swords and a staff to release it. One of them was the sword that the priest had.

Went through teleportation ward. Found ourselves in room with each door depicting a different element. Went through into water. Found cylinder that gave us clearsight talent. Discovered area of beer followed by vodka.

13/04/92

Transported to room with table that supplied what we asked for in the way of food. Discovered we were on Heroplane. Went to library. Flamis found out about double crossbows. Found water gate which transported us to small room somewhere on Glorantha. Went down corridor and found ourselves inside of crystal chamber. Retrieved waterstaff which was floating in the middle and transported back to room with elemental marked doors.

Next was the fire door. Surrounded by fire and we all turned into creatures of fire. Beat up two fire giants. Talked to sentient pyramids who told us that we needed to find the Fire door. Found red hilted sword. Retrieved it and exited the fire plane.

Next was the Air door and we found ourselves on the deck of an airship, the HMS Eagle. Shown to quarters and shown around the ship. Left the big orcs in the movie theatre. Plane we were on called Brittania. Plane technologically advanced. Spoke to disembodied voice called Sarah.

Discovered that the Air Sword is in pirate base that the ship is going to attack.

16/04/92

Reached pirate base. There was a short time before the warfleet arrived and we had that time to get in, get the sword, and get out. Used underground river to gain entry. Fought off two iron golems and lots of pirates. Found our way to large storeroom packed full of crates, a couple of which were magical. The Air Sword was also here. Attack by two Hounds of Tindalos. Killed them, got the sword and the two magical boxes and left.

One box contained a magical ring while the other one contained documents pertaining to the entire pirate network. Watched battle between the warfleet and the pirates. Taken to London for honours.

21/04/92

Arrived at London and met King Richard the Eighth. Had dinner with the King.

22/04/92

Attended awards banquet. Entire party given titles. Banquet and dancing.

23/04/92

Went shopping and acquired new clothing.

11/05/92

Portal finally opened back to Glorantha. Went through and, again, found ourselves in room with element marked doors. Went through Earth Door. Found our way to large fortress. Worked our way to ornate room with priest and other creatures waiting. Big fight but won. Retrieved earth sword. Found our way to where dragon was and freed it with staff and swords. Dragon rewarded us with transformations then teleported us back to a beach near the Guild.

Scribe Notes

31/03/92

Guild meeting time again. Thank goodness for that. I had already missed one opportunity for adventuring because I wanted to get some training in using weapons. Starflower had pointed out, since I was in a reasonably tough and strong orcish body, that I might as well take advantage of it. Fair enough but I'll be very glad to get out of it. It's like wearing an ill fitting set of clothes. They just don't feel right.

On Starflower's recommendation I signed up on an adventure that had four other orcs in it. This adventure involved a trip to a recently discovered plane, called Glorantha, where we were going to investigate a ruined city and see what we could find. No party employer this time, just that these orcs had heard of the place and wanted to have a look.

My fellow adventurers on this trip were:

Slasher

a very big orc with several battle wounds. He had a reasonably high PB for an orc. He was 5'11 with long arms. When asked what weapon he had, he thumped a GIGANTIC two handed sword on the table. He was also wearing chain mail and carrying a crossbow. He told us he was a close combat specialist.

';Shooter

Slasher's twin. He favoured the crossbow. Apart from that they were virtually identical.

Gorthag

An uglier orc than the other two. He was wearing chain mail and a large sword. He told us he liked drinking.

The Reverend (Rev).

He was a shorter orc than the others, only 5'8, and 18 stone. He was wearing leather armour and carrying a hand and a half sword as well as a crossbow. Also there were little bits of skin hanging off him. The others referred to him as a 'holy man' but I soon figured it out. He was a necromancer.

Tony Birdane.

This guy wasn't an orc. Instead he introduced himself as a humanoid. He was tall (6'2") and average looking. Most of him was hidden in a greyish hooded cloak. He said he was a Namer by hobby. I strongly suspect he's an elf and I hope the others don't find out. Apparently orcs think that elves are rather tasty.

As for me, Aqualina

currently I'm inhabiting a male orc body (I originally was a human female) which was 5'7" and just over 14 stone. I was immediately christened 'Runt' by the others as they reckoned I needed a proper orcish name. I was wearing a nondescript aquamarine cloak (and not much else, apart from the loincloth, the red sash of defense, a scimitar and crossbow). I told them I was a water mage.

Talking of new names, Tony was christened Tody by the others.

Party leader etc was decided next. The Reverend, became the leader as he was the smartest of their group. Slasher was the military scientist, and I became scribe. I think it was because I already had my pen and paper out. All the other orcs pointed at me and said "Scribe!".

We discussed where we were going. The ruins in question are called Old Pavis, with the city of New Pavis next door. Old Pavis was a favourite spot for treasure hunters but there was so much of it that there was a good chance that there was still something to be found. Also the New Pavis authorities kept a strict control on things.

The access to Glorantha was through the local Trade Delegation, just fifteen minutes away. No need to take horses. Once the meeting broke up, Tony and I went to the Guild Library to find out more about Glorantha as at least two other parties had been there. The others decided to check out the Gloranthan Troll bar, called the Thunderbreath Gobbleguts, that had opened up recently in the docks. Curiously enough, since the place opened, the number of robberies, muggings, etc in the area had been cut at least in half. The story is that the trolls had been discouraging crimes in that area as getting mugged on the way to the pub was bad for business.

I found quite a lot of interesting things about the place. For one thing, magic is divided into Cults, rather than Colleges. New Pavis had rules about weapons and armour. No armour was to be worn and weapons had to be peacebonded. The orcs weren't going to like that. To be allowed onto Old Pavis we were going to have to fill out some registration forms for adventuring licenses. There was a curfew in force, at least there was when the last adventuring party was there.

I left Tony in the library while I wandered down to the bar to find the others and tell them what I had found out. As I suspected they weren't too impressed when I told them about the peacebonding and the curfew. When I arrived, Rev was talking to a rather scorched looking human at one of the tables. It was one of the Guild firemages, a chap called Spandex. He had been one of the first adventurers to enter Glorantha and was now part of the trade delegation. Rev was quizzing him for information and was basically learning the same stuff as I had. The others looked like they were settling down for a long drinking session.

01/04/92

I got down to the courtyard just in time to watch Slasher attempting to break the record for the amount of stuff to be loaded onto a mule. I was hoping he wasn't going to break the mule. However the mule soon made its feelings known by kicking him. Slasher tried to hit it back and missed. Finally we split the gear between two mules.

We headed off for the trade delegation building. Once there we were magically scanned for iron. Seemed the stuff was rather valuable over there. Instead they use bronze, which is rather valuable here. Hence there were quite a few controls on trading the stuff.

Once we entered the courtyard we were told to stand on a circular patch. Without warning, everything faded out and we found ourselves moving rapidly through some sort of multicoloured pyrotechnic display. I thought it was fun but Gorthag and Shooter were rather ill. Shortly after that we materialized on an identical area.

It was dusk here (Glorantha is 12 hours out of phase with Seagate) which suited us fine as we planned to travel during the night and rest by day. So we set off.

Dawn found us near a convenient cave so we decided to settle down. Slasher kept himself busy setting up traps - lots of them all around the place, including some very large bear traps. Ugh! I'll have to be careful where I step. He had also scattered caltrops about. One trap had been baited with some silver pieces. Meanwhile I went water hunting but all I could find was a small brackish pool.

01/04/92 (Seagate time)

I drew the last watch with Slasher. Near the end of it, just as it started to get dark, there was a large CLANG. Investigations showed that one of the bear traps had caught a sabretooth tiger.

Looks like its sabretooth for breakfast. The silver pennies were gone but the trap hadn't been triggered. Slasher reckoned it was pixies and started making plans to catch one. I told him he was wasting his time as those things move very fast.

When the others arrived, Rev started skinning the tiger while the others had breakfast. They ate it raw. I decided to make a small fire and cook my bit.

While we were munching on breakfast, we suddenly heard the sound of a horse rapidly approaching. To my dismay, I realised the rider was one of the Guild Fire Mages.

Slasher yelled at her to stop as the path ahead was littered with caltrops. She managed to stop the horse before it stepped on too many of them but ended up falling off and landing in an undignified heap on the ground. She sat up and started removing caltrops, while muttering something under her breath.

I recognised her as Flamis. I had never met her personally but she was a firemage with a reputation of being a bit of a pyromaniac, but not as crazy as some. She was a reasonably short person, just slightly taller than I had been, with short blond hair and a freckled complexion. Most of her clothing was hues of red. She told us that the Guild Astrologer reckoned that we were going to need some extra firepower.

While I was 'meditating' Shooter found me. He wanted to know if the newcomer was a Guild member or potential dinner. I was very tempted but decided to tell the truth.

A few hours later the camp had been dismantled and we set off. I decided to scout on ahead. I did notice however that Shooter was eying up Flamis's horse, Flamefoot, rather hungrily. I could tell he was restraining himself and reminding himself that it was not a good idea to eat a fellow party member's horse, especially when said party member could fry you in retaliation. Nothing of interest happened that 'day'. When dawn started lighting the sky we settled down to camp.

03/04/92

Again it was Slasher and me on watch when one of the traps went off. This time it was a large snake, about 9 foot long. Slasher immediately grabbed one end and began munching on it. With a muttered 'Excuse me' I grabbed my scimitar and chopped off three quarters of it before Slasher had a chance to scoff the lot. It got divided up among the rest of us. Of course the other orcs had it raw, but Flamis had already lit a fire so Tony, her and I cooked our bits.

Flamis was spreading a thin layer of some reddish sauce on hers before cooking it. When Gorthag noticed, he said 'Oooh yummy. Tomato sauce'. Before anyone could stop him he had scooped up a BIG dollop of the stuff and had spread it rather thickly on his portion. Shooter decided to have some too.

What it really was, hit them about a few minutes later (it takes a while for an orc to realise that something is not quite right). Both of them made a rush to the ale barrel and began guzzling down the liquid with gusto. Flamis explained that the stuff was actually tandoori sauce and one of its principle components was chili. Slasher was rather intrigued by the effects of this stuff on his fellow orcs and wondered if it would make a good contact poison. So he coated some on his sword reckoning it should do extra damage.

Flamis asked him whether he 'wreally' (she's got a really bad lisp) wanted his sword to do extra damage. When he said yes, she muttered something. Suddenly his sword burst into flame. Slasher was so surprised he dropped it, then stared at Flamis very suspiciously. She said that it wouldn't hurt the person using the sword as it was special magical fire and would go out in a few minutes. Sure enough it did, however Slasher still regarded the sword suspiciously before picking it up.

On the way down the trail, at about midnight, we suddenly spotted a huge twoheaded snail in front of us. At that moment from behind us came some sort of scorpion man, and from the sides came four humanoid goats. Ambush! We were neatly encircled. It was time to draw swords and go for it. I went for one of the goat things on Slasher's instructions and nearly dropped my sword. (We later found out that the goat-like humanoids were called broo).

Soon all the orcs were engaged in combat, forming a sort of defensive ring around Flamis and Tony. Just then, the scorpionman was enveloped in flame. He must be tough, as he survived it. Meanwhile I was having difficulty hitting my broo but Slasher was helping. Once that one was down we went to help the Rev. I noticed a burst of flame out the corner of one eye. Flamis had toasted the snail. I heard her boast later that it was a double-effect dragon-flames.

Finally we had defeated them all. We were planning on capturing the last one but it decided to kill itself first. The corpse of the snail revealed two uncut gems, one small and one large. Neither of them were magical, but they looked valuable.

We decided to follow their trail to see where they had come from. To our surprise the trail suddenly disappeared in an area that Tony said had a magical aura. I backed off from it as I was convinced it was some sort of ward. Tony reckoned it was some sort of teleportation area. Just as he examined it, the magic disappeared.

The cooked snail was rather delicious especially after Flamis added something she called garlic butter to it. According to Tony it was a Dragonsnail. Meanwhile Rev had been doing a Speak with Dead and discovered that these things had been sent by a magic-using broo to ambush anyone who came down the road. This broo was based somewhere in the ruins of Old Pavis.

These creatures had been affected by chaos. Slasher wanted to know what chaos was so I attempted to demonstrate. First I heaped up three piles of sand then use a colour cantrip each to turn them different colours. The heaps represented order. Then I mixed them all up. That represented chaos. Slasher finally got it when he realised that the creatures were mixed up bits from normal creatures.

A short while later we decided to camp. I managed to find a small pool of clear water that was big enough for me to immerse myself in. So I cast a waterbreathing on myself and went to sleep. A little while later I was disturbed by Slasher laying traps all over the place.

04/04/92

When I woke up and clambered out of the pool I suddenly realised I couldn't remember where Slasher had put all those traps. I had to call him over to help me out. He wasn't sure either but I managed to find my way back to where the others were. I think that dip must have put me in a good mood as I even said 'Good morning' to Flamis.

Nothing very interesting happened for the next four days.

08/04/92

We finally reached the river that lead down to New Pavis. Flamis had offered to fly us down but we finally vetoed that idea because of the mules. Someone got the idea of making a raft to sail down. While the orcs got busy and did that I wandered over to the nearest fishing village and asked them what sort of fish were in the river. I was told that there were all sorts, including some sentient species. Now that was very interesting. I'd have to keep an eye open for them. As construction progressed, the resulting raft became more and more elaborate, finally resembling some sort of war barge. I helped out with the construction under the water then, when it was finished, cast a Ship Strength on the whole thing.

The trip down the river was much faster than it would have been if we had rode down, especially with a Mage Wind going. It was also much more relaxing. However, to my disappointment, I saw no signs of intelligent aquatic life.

Once we arrived at New Pavis, two hours later, we beached the raft and wandered over to the guard house. There, we had to fill out some forms. Another requirement was to remove our armour. This meant that we were treated to the sight of the orcs having to peel their armour off. It turned out they hadn't removed it for months.

Slasher reckoned we should all stick together so we ended up staying in Rowdy Djoh's Inn. This was a bit of a dive but the orcs liked it. While some of them went off to be healed (and then get drunk) Flamis and I decided we would go shopping the next day, so we went off to our rooms. We ended up having a long talk. She's really okay once you get to know her.

09/04/92

The orcs were noisily settling down for the day, talking loudly about which bit of the ruins they wanted to attack first, when Flamis and I got up. She got the jewels from Rev, explaining that she had this magical thief-proof purse, so they would be safe, and that we ought to get them valued. We borrowed the city map, and headed for the wealthy part of town. Flamis seemed to think that we'd have a better chance of finding a good jeweller there.

She was right. We found a shop run by a dwarf. He examined the gems, and declared that the smaller gem was a ruby worth 200 lunars (a lunar is equivalent to a silver penny), and the larger at least 5000 due to its rarity, although he couldn't tell us what it was. We could bring them back later and he'd get his father to identify it. When Flamis told him where we got them from, he dropped it as though he'd been stung, exclaiming that the gems must be contaminated by the chaos creature. We had to take them to the temple to get them cleansed (which cost a hundred lunars, even though as it turned the magical fire had done a pretty good clean-up job). The priests were shocked when we told them we'd eaten toasted dragon snail. I vowed never to eat chaos creature again.

Flamis wanted to find out more about the chaos creatures and the gods these people keep on talking about, so we went to the Temple of Lhankor Mhy, the deity of knowledge, where they had lots of books and people who could answer our questions. It turned out that chaos creatures were made by the chaos gods. There are lots more kinds, including blobby things that stick to ceilings and drop on people and a thing that sounded a minotaur with a pumpkin head. Real strange beasties. They also told us that there was currently an information swap between them and Alusia.

I went off to talk to the people at the local river temple, while Flamis went to the Yelmalio temple. We figured that this was the closest one to the Fire College even though it was the Sun God. I found out to my surprise and delight that there really are intelligent fish in this place. It was afternoon by the time we got back and rested a while before waking the orcs in time to get to our appointment with the dwarves. The dwarf's father told us that the larger jewel was a very rare purple diamond. He agreed to cut it for 5000 sp and half the offcuts. As a cut gem it would be worth 30000 lunars here, and who knows how much back in Seagate. He also agreed to set the ruby in a ring for Flamis, who seemed to fancy it. (Ruby = red = fire-mage = it figures...)

The orcs had come up with a scheme for making broo-skin armour. They have the skin, but cleansing it will be risky and will cost 6000 lunars. I agreed to loan them the money, and the Rev signed for it. It will be ready in two weeks time.

As twilight fell we crossed the bridge, heading for the Griffon Gate into Old Pavis. Flamis and Tony were riding the mules, since their horses were left at the Inn. The orcs are planning on lots of heavy treasure so we needed the mules. There were guards at the gate who checked our passes and let us in.

The big rubble was a pretty good description of that place. Heaps of broken stone stretched for miles and miles in front of us. Not a single intact building in sight. Flamis wondered aloud as we clambered over the wreckage what kind of explosion could have flattened an entire city like this. Then one of the orcs called out and pointed. A dark hole against the darkness which could only be a stairway leading down. The orcs formed up with Flamis and Tony in the middle, and down we crept.

A passage opened up to the side. Flamis, who can see further into the darkness than the rest of us, said that there were three entrances leading off to the south before the passage ended. In front of us we could all just make out a doorway. Shooter kicked the door open and Slasher slipped into the room. Not cautiously enough. Something fell from the ceiling and wrapped him up like a slimy blanket. Shooter fired, doing more damage to Slasher than to the thing. Flamis cast and the thing went up in a ball of flame, revealing a very angry but completely unsinged Slasher. In the remains of the blob there was yet another gem. Abruptly Flamis called for silence. Then we all heard it. A noise. From past the door on the east wall.

Cautiously Rev pried the door open with a crowbar. Revealing blackness. Magical darkness which this see-in-the-dark infravision stuff can't penetrate. It advanced towards us. I backed away. thinking this could be very dangerous magic. Slasher fired into the darkness, followed by Shooter and Gorthag. Something unhuman screamed.

Suddenly a evil leering creature with great leathery wings loomed out of the darkness. A gargoyle. Followed closely by a dark troll and two trollkin. The trollkin set about clobbering Rev, while the rest of us (except Flamis who was busy trying to cast spells, backfiring most of them as I discovered later) surrounded the gargoyle. It looked to be getting the better of the fight until I managed to get an especially good hit on it from the rear. Then Slasher finished it off. The troll took a lot of killing but eventually it was all over. Rev had got one of his trollkin, and Tony had managed to skewer the other with his rapier. Only one of Flamis' spells had gone off and that didn't do much. She was looking tired and distinctly fuming, muttering nasty words in dwarvish.

The orcs looked hurt. Only Tony and I were undamaged. But there was treasure. The troll had a magical wand (which Tony said detected silver) and a magical crystal (which stored fatigue). Flamis' eyes lit up at that one. She explained later that she was tired of running out of fatigue from casting spells.

Apart from that we found 98 copper 31 silver 6 gold, 2 cut gems, an earring, a gold circlet, and a scroll written in an arcane runic script that none of us recognised. We decided to rest for a while so we could get some fatigue back. Tony and I stayed on watch while the others rested. Twelve hours later we felt a bit more alert.

10/04/92

We decided to take the lot back to the city and discovered it was near midday. The orcs got themselves healed (cost 300 silver) while Flamis and I got the items divinated. The priests took the scroll in exchange for the divination.

We found out that the crystal did indeed store fatigue points, up to eight of them, but there had to be at least one left in it at all times. It also had to be attuned to the owner. Flamis attempted to attune it but failed. When no one else objected to her claiming this object for herself, she paid 500sp for one of the priests to help her attune it. The wand did detect silver, any silver within 40 feet, but only had an 80 percent success rate. No one else wanted it so I hung onto it for now. I suppose it could be useful for locating sunken treasure ships.

Once twilight came around, we headed back to the ruins and reached the spot where we had been and carried on down the corridor. In a side room, we found one of those pumpkin headed chaos creatures asleep. Instantly all the orcs aimed their crossbows at it. I protested at first, saying that this didn't seem to be an honourable act, but the others pointed out that chaos creatures weren't very honourable anyway. So my crossbow bolt joined the volley. Exit one pumpkinhead.

There we found 55cp, 9sp and a gem in the bedding. The gem was picked up with the aid of a rag and securely wrapped in it, in case it was chaos contaminated. I tried the wand and discovered there was silver in the next room. So we went to check.

In here were four figures standing around some sacks. They were troll sized and one was wearing what looked like silver armour. Tony then told us that it was a zombie. We all aimed our crossbows at it and fired. It fell over. Meanwhile the other dark troll zombies shuffled out. These were easily defeated owing to the fact that only one zombie could fit through the door at a time. So it was a case of queue up here to be really dead undead. In this room we found 142 copper, 20 silver, 7 gold, 5000 lead pieces (troll currency the orcs said) and a size 23 set of silver chain mail. Troll sized. Too big for even our largest orc.

Since we had now cleaned out this area, it was decided to make it our base of operations. The corridor terminated in another blocked stairway. According to what we could figure out, topside, the entire building was blocking it.

11/04/92

We rested here for the 'night'. In the "morning" we discussed what sort of treasure that we wanted to find. Of course the orcs wanted to find really BIG swords. After a while I got bored with all this talk of weapons and wandered off in the direction of the large, flooded, quarry.

About quarter of an hour later Flamis caught up with me. I hadn't gone far. The others weren't very far behind her. Flamis decided she needed a very large fire so she could perform some sort of ritual. We managed to find enough wood for a reasonable sized bonfire but that was it.

We lit the fire and Flamis sat in it. She also wanted if anyone wanted a Protection from Magical Fire. I took one. Then she started concentrating on what she called a Flame Sight ritual while the rest of us kept watch. While she was sat busy with the ritual we were visited by a wingless dragon, otherwise known as a 'wyrm'. His name was Windwhistler and he told us that he was a priest of the Sun Dragon. He had flown over to see what we were up to, and was soon satisfied we were nothing to do with Chaos.

Just then Flamis fell unconscious in the fire. Frantically we attempted to put out enough of it so we could get to her. Windwhistler told us not to worry and that he would help. By some magical means Flamis was soon awake and the fire was out. She told us that she had seen a vision of a black clad human with horns and a belt of living heads. Windwhistler identified the creature as a worshipper of Thanata - a Chaos God. Flamis also mentioned she saw a large sword with a black hilt in the background. Of course the other orcs wanted it. Windwhistler warned them against it.

Soon the wyrm left us as he had other places to go to. He did mention that Alusia seemed like a nice place and that he might pay a visit. Flamis warned him to be careful as there are a lot of dragon hunters in our plane.

We had already determined that the Thanata dude lived somewhere below the rubble in this area so we started having a poke around. I was feeling rather nervous about this. An hour or so later, Shooter fell down a hole. He was unhurt and the rest of us followed. Flamis was one of the last down and she was caught by the other orcs. The corridor went west and was only wide enough to go single file. Gorthag volunteered to go to the front. Soon we found a small room with doors to the north and south. Gorthag opened the north door and got hit by a poison trap. Beyond that we were attacked by a dire wolf with some sort of cold gas attack. We all took damage from it while the three big orcs jumped on it and wrestled it. Meanwhile the rest of us backed into the room where I cast Resist Colds all round while Flamis let loose with a DragonFlames, killing the wolf.

Tony read the wolf's aura and told us that its chaos mutation was caused by a priest of Thed, cast about a week ago. The mutations were extra toughness and the cold breath. The corridor lead into a room with three levers on the wall.

We decided to check the other door in the first wall. Sure enough there was another dire wolf. We all shot at it and it died. At the end of that corridor was a room that was a mirror image of the other one - again with three levers. We went back to the first room. Some aura readings and we discovered that the switches were used to open secret doors. We had a hot meal and four hours rest before proceeding.

12/04/92

A secret door had already been spotted in the north wall, but we found that other secret doors were opened when only one of the levers were down, one in the south and one in the east. The north one lead to a blocked passage. The same thing happened in the other room and we soon determined that a north/south corridor ran between the two rooms with the opposite corridors blocked. That left us with three eastwards corridors to explore.

We wandered down the one from the northern room, which turned south and dead ended. There was a door on the corner in the north wall. A sign said Mirror Room. According to Tony. it hadn't been opened for ten months. The southern corridor was a mirror image except there was no sign on the door. Last opened, about a year ago. The centre one went down twenty five feet and ended in a door. There was no sign there either. Last opened eight weeks ago.

The wand detected silver in a north-easterly direction in the mirror room. We opened it. Inside was a sign on the wall saying 'Fire. Walk with me'. The floor was a void except for four fire trails and an ice trail. They all ended up at a door on the opposite wall. Flamis and Slasher tried the fire trails and got burnt. Gorthag tried the ice. He seemed quite safe as he walked along it and reached the other door. He opened the door and saw four goblins, three even bigger goblins, a goblin king, a dire wolf, and a broo. The orcs carefully shut the door and locked it.

When we opened the door on the end of the southern corridor. The sign in this room said "Trust in Fate to get through. All Fates must be conquered". Again the floor was void except for flat topped pillars, at floor level, with different symbols on them. Slasher hit a pillar with a sledge hammer and started vibrating. We soon found out that the circle with a dot inside is the symbol of fire, while the toroids were cold. We found we had to jump from symbol to symbol but only land on the stars. All of them had to be landed on. This meant leaping over the other ones. Well, we all tried, some were more successful than most (lucky Flamis - she doesn't burn easily and could heal herself when she did). If we missed we ended up either landing on a strange symbol and being affected or being sent back to the start. I took damage from the fire and cold, managed to miss and land on a chaos one. I was so close to the other door that I decided to take a chance and step on the last unknown symbol, instead jumping and risking being teleported back to the start. It turned out to be pain and it felt like my insides were being ripped apart. I fell through the door, barely conscious and definitely exhausted. For some reason Shooter found he was allergic to his armour so I lent him my sash.

Inside we discovered a stone dragon. We all felt awed. I curtseyed. Flamis and the big orcs went for the door - which was sealed. Tony fainted. The dragon told us that he had been imprisoned here during the Chaos Wars - a long time ago. We had to find three swords and stick them in him to free him. One had a red hilt, one was white, and the other was black. Guess which black one. We also had to find a staff with a retractable blade and stick that in him as well. They are somewhere in this complex and we may keep them when we have finished as well as any treasure we find. This must qualify as a good deed. We also found out that his main power was Transformation. Even better. Maybe I can get my old body back this way.

A wave of warmth passed over us all and we found that we were fully healed and any chaos features removed. That meant Shooter could put his armour back on and I got my sash back. A door behind the dragon lead towards a passageway. The walls were mostly covered in carvings of Chaos defeating everything. Not nice. A hundred and fifty feet down we encountered a wall of blackness. Occasionally flashes of colour could be seen. Tony said that it was some sort of teleportation field with a destination of Glorantha. We tied ourselves together, however as the first one went through the rope parted with a very clean cut. I wasn't very sure about this at all and Flamis had to talk me into going through it, mainly by pointing out that I didn't really want to stay there by myself.

We found ourselves in a hexagonal room with a black marble floor. I felt like I had been in a desert for a week - not a pleasant feeling for a water mage. I couldn't detect any water either. All I felt was complete misery while the others tried experiments. The orcs attempted to break down the walls and only succeeded in breaking the pickaxe. Finally we determined that all walls and floor were magical and the walls needed to be hit in sequence. We did so and the entire room started spinning. I passed out.

When I came around, I found myself in a crumpled heap in a large square room with four doors, one in each room. Above each door was a symbol, a different one for each door. My dowsing detected water behind the east door, and the north door symbol we remembered as being fire.

From that we deduced that west was earth and south was air. This was verified by opening the doors. We found a wall of water, a churning vortex of air, non-burning fire, and a solid wall of earth. I felt better as soon as I touched the water and cast Water Breathing on the entire party.

I wanted to head straight in the water but Rev advised caution. Guess he's right. We ended up deciding to try the water anyway.

I soon found this water was the oddest I had ever encountered. For one thing the waterbreathing was redundant. We could have breathed it unaided and we could talk to each other. Also it was possible to standard walk without any visible means of support. However I could still swim, if I wanted to.

Flamis spotted something glinting below so we went down to look. It turned out to be an extended octagonal cylinder with a button on each face. The buttons are black and each side was a different colour of the rainbow, all colours plus octarine. Also there was a button on each end. When Gorthag pushed one of the end buttons, the end rose slightly, rotated one face, then popped back in again. Meanwhile I decided to summon a dolphin to see what we could find out about this place. The spell worked but somehow I don't think it was a dolphin I got.

About that time Gorthag pressed both ends of the device. Both ends spun off but Rev managed to catch them He put them in his pack then looked into the cylinder. For some reason he became entranced and we had to snap him out of it. Then we found that the lids wouldn't stay on. Somebody pressed the button on the octarine face and we were all enveloped in scintillating colours which seemed to be sinking into us before it vanished. The item then fell apart and disappeared, including the two end caps. The last magic to impact on us was Light Alteration. Just then I spotted something swimming towards us. It was white and had what looked like a bottle for a nose. By the way it was swimming it looked more like some sort of shark.

Rev asked it the way out. It wasn't sure. but it did know the way to a place where we could find lots of beer. The orcs went straight for it. It took quite a bit to coax them out of it. I think discovering the area of vodka just in front of the way out helped. The vodka was very intoxicating and was even better than the stuff Kishwa had. I decided to capture some in my waterskin and take it back. Hopefully I wouldn't drink it first. This stuff was GOOD. Somehow I made it though the opening but everything after that was a bit fuzzy. I think I went to sleep. I think we all did.

13/04/92

We woke up with no hangover, surprisingly enough, and discovered we were lying on a floor littered with cushions. There was a door in one wall. We went through it and entered a room containing a table and chairs. A voice said 'What do you want?'. It seemed to be coming from the table.

It didn't take us long to determine that whatever food we ordered would appear on the table, however the table did balk at some of the orc's selections such as marinated elf. As well as the usual breakfast, I ended up with several bars of chocolate, some weybread, fruit, faerie wine (just like the stuff on Tir-Na-Nog without the magical effects), doughnuts (just like the ones from Alphonses) and some icecream. The last two were Flamis's idea. The doughnuts were so delicious I had to request some more because I ate the first lot without realising it. Also, somehow, Shooter had managed to create some light while Slasher had been blasted by a shockwave. I think it was because the Rev said that the place was high mana. Shooter then proclaimed he was a mage too.

After a while of this, the table 'suggested' we had had enough and that we should leave. We took the hint, went through the door, and found ourselves standing in what looked like a main street. Tony then told us that this plane was called HeroPlane. The street was empty and Flamis took the opportunity to protect us all from magical fire. Around us were signs pointing in different directions. One said 'Information' and another said 'Clothing' and the one pointing behind us was 'Eatery'. Flamis and I wanted to have a look at the clothing shop. If it was anything like the eatery behind us, then there were somethings I could finally get - once I had the body to wear them.

However Rev decided we were going to the library so we started following the path labelled 'Information'. As we did. everything else vanished apart from the building ahead of us. We reached it and entered. Inside were rows and rows of books and manuscripts. Just inside the entrance was a counter, blocking further progress. Something metallic came out from behind it and asked us what we wanted to know.

Rev did most of the talking. We found out that HeroPlane was connected to all other planes and there were at least 33,516 ways to get there. We had to find the correct gate to get back to Glorantha. When Flamis asked what gate we required we all felt some mana impact. It was like being probed by a Mind Mage. The being behind the counter said we needed to find a water gate.

Meanwhile Shooter was wanting to know how to become death aspected so I told him about the lake near the drow city I encountered on my last adventure. He managed to get a map for it. Rev obtained a map showing where the portals are and was told that we would find the staff through the water gate. Flamis was getting plans for some sort of weapon called a bazooka, while the orcs were getting drawings of double crossbows. I was just getting bored.

We followed the path to where the water gate was located and found a small lake. We jumped in. To my surprise it wasn't water and we ended up landing in a heap of feathers contained in a small room. There was a door in the wall. Somehow Shooter's sword was turned a bright neon pink. He started scraping the colour off until the sword burst into fire. Flamis was grinning. Tony then informed us we were back on Glorantha.

The door opened out into a corridor and we cautiously advanced down it. Suddenly the floor dropped out from under us and we found ourselves spiralling down a descending shaft. I was hoping there would be water at the bottom so twisted around so I was diving. Wrong move. We smacked straight into some sort of invisible barrier and I managed to dislocate a shoulder. Fortunately it wasn't my weapon arm.

This time we were inside a large crystal chamber which someone remarked could be the inside of a gem. Floating in the centre was the staff, surrounded by a high magical field. I threw a chocolate wrapping at it and the wrapping went right through it. That told me that the staff was somehow out of phase with the rest of reality. Flamis tried to snare it with a web but the web had nothing to hang on to.

We sat and meditated on the problem for a while while purifying. Shooter discovered that it was possible to float all around the room, as if we were in water, so it wasn't long before they're all bouncing around the place and cannoning off the walls, ceiling and floor.

Flamis then tried to hit it with a Weapon of Flames spell. To her utter surprise, a fiery duplicate of the staff appeared. She later commented she had to be at least another five ranks more experienced for that to happen. The original staff still floated there, unharmed and untouchable.

Meanwhile I was speculating whether that high mana zone around the staff could be treated as if it was water, irregardless of what effects Flamis was observing. I mean firemages cannot cast spells in water, but then all the water I had encountered so far had been of a rather unusual nature. Since my water form talent also makes me partially invisible, it might put me in phase with the staff. A million to one guess but there was nothing to lose.

So I tried it. After the fourth attempt of entering the zone (that talent still needs practise) I felt the talent kick in. I reached out and found I could now touch the staff. So I grabbed it and cancelled the talent. The staff also phased into solid form.

Suddenly we found ourselves back in the room with the four doors leading into the elemental areas. The water one was now sealed. One down, three to go.

Flamis examined the staff, especially the four buttons spaced evenly around it. She came to the conclusion that any one of them would be used to cause the blade to spring out. I presume that was so at least one button would be easily accessible. Meanwhile Slasher is wanting to give my shoulder orcish first aid. I declined his offer.

Shooter pressed one of the buttons and a six inch long, wicked looking blade sprang out from the end of the staff. It was then possible to twist the other end in order for the blade to spring back. Flamis took the staff back and gave it several practise swings. She must have been pleased with the results as she stowed it with her other one.

We entered the fire door and found ourselves surrounded in flame. Fortunately Flamis's magical fire protections were keeping us from harm. Like the water plane, it was possible to walk, or swim. I chose the latter.

After a short while we noticed that Flamis was turning into a fire creature. It didn't take us long to realise that the same thing was happening to the rest of us, although a bit more slowly. A lot more slowly in my case. I tried resisting the effects but to no avail. Soon Flamis looked like the fiery equivalent of my water form. The orcs followed suit ten minutes later and I was another ten minutes behind them. A rather odd experience but one that was not totally unpleasant.

Flamis suddenly became even more fiery as she switched on her fireflight and zoomed ahead of us. Suddenly we spot two, rather large, fiery creatures - this planes version of fire giants, that want to invite us for a six course lunch, with us as the courses. Flamis sped around behind them while I ascended. The Rev dropped. The others stayed where they were, preparing their crossbows.

We all fired at the left target - as Slasher instructed. It died instantly. The crossbow bolts also burnt up. The other creature charged the group of orcs. Meanwhile Rev ascended rapidly towards it sword drawn. I decided that was a tactic worthy of a swordfish and decided to do the same. The giant managed to hit Slasher. Slasher's flame flickered and nearly went out. At that point Flamis cast a spell and the giant went out.

Slasher was looking in a rather bad way so Flamis fed him some healing potion. Then I got her to put a fire flight on me so I could scout ahead as well.

We were barrelling along at a fair pace when we suddenly bounced into some sort of invisible barrier. On the other side was a stream. Boy, did it look inviting. However there seemed to be no way in, or around either. I tried going up and down but the stream remained in front.

Flamis sped off to see whether or not it was possible to find a gap from following the stream and discovered it travelled in a circle. As far as I could tell, that was real water on the other side and it was looking more inviting by the second.

We tried hitting it and throwing spells at it but nothing worked. Flamis was rapidly going through her repertoire. Finally she used Web of Fire and somehow managed to penetrate the barrier with it. We touched a strand of the web and immediately found ourselves on the other side. The stream was now behind us with a barrier blocking access. Darn it.

We continued on. Soon Slasher spotted three glittering pyramids in the distance so we decided to see what they were. They turned out to be sentient. One spoke, reckoning Slasher looked tasty. Rev asked them for the way out of this plane of fire and was told that we needed to find the fire door. It didn't matter in what direction it was in. They told us they hadn't seen the sword we were looking for either.

Flamis was trying to burn a hole through the base of one of them, by using a Heat Metal spell but all the reaction she got was the pyramid thanking her for a very pleasurable sensation. Meanwhile I was getting bored with this and started continuing on in the direction we were going. Any direction seemed to be as good in this place.

The others finally caught up. When we looked back, the pyramid had gone. At that moment we heard a chuckle from an indeterminate source. Just then, in front of us, a hobbit appeared. The three big orcs rushed forwards and started hitting it. It didn't seem to be affected by that. Shooter decided to try another 'magical' incantation. The hobbit disappeared, leaving Shooter convinced that he actually was some sort of mage.

I was suddenly passed by three large orcs as a large, red hilted sword, appeared in front of us. They tried to get it but found that it was illusionary, just like the staff was. Didn't stop them trying to grab it though. A hellhound then appeared introducing himself as Drasnac, which Rev started to have a chat to. I was more interested in watching the antics of the other orcs. They turned to attack the hound, but beams of light from the hound hit their weapons and caused them to appear 40 feet away. There was an immediate mad scramble for them. Meanwhile Flamis cast a Weapon of Flames on the sword and this time it worked. Rev grabbed the sword and had to evade the other three rushing at it all yelling "Mine!"

Meanwhile I saw the way out, straight up, and went for it. I had had enough of this place. Once we found ourselves back in the room (with the fire door now sealed as well) Rev had the other three dice for the sword. Gorthag won. The look on his face was like he was in love.

Flamis discovered that her Aspect had changed from water to fire. In fact it was more like double fire. Fortunately I still had my water aspect. Flamis also had some special potions of elemental water which could change an Aspect to water. Since she couldn't use them any more she gave them to me. Just in case my aspect got changed.

Tony had determined that the sword was semi-sentient and magical with a primary purpose of containment. Gorthag would need to bond with it in order to communicate with it. That shouldn't be too difficult. Gorthag and that sword looked like they were going to be inseparable.

The next room we entered was through the Air door. I presume it's the white hilted sword we're after now. This time, after stepping through, we found ourselves on the deck of a ship. At least that's what it looked like, even though the deck was enclosed in some sort of glass. All we could see out was air. There was a layer of clouds far below.

Also on deck was a bunch of men in uniform. They looked like some sort of ships officers. One of them stepped up to us and asked us where we had come from and what we were doing here. Rev attempted to explain. To our surprise he just nodded and said that we weren't the first to appear in that manner. He then summoned a couple of the officers and told them to conduct us to the VIP quarters. I soon figured that this guy was the captain. He also told us this was the HMS Eagle and they were on their way to find one of their ships that had gone missing.

We were taken to some plush quarters and shown inside. Then we discovered there was some sort of force barrier blocking the entrance. The table was stocked high with food. I started eating some of the fruit. Rev reckoned I should be eating more red meat as other orcs do. I strongly reminded him I'm not actually an orc and stalked off to the bathroom, locking the door behind me. It didn't take me long to figure out how to fill the bath with water. Once that was done I cast waterbreathing, then immersed myself and had a nap.

When I finally awoke I was dimly aware of someone banging at the door. So I got dressed and went to see who it was. It was Flamis. Apparently the others had been getting a little concerned. The Captain was there too. He introduced us to a disembodied feminine voice which seemed to come from midair who said her name was Sarah and she was the ship. The Captain then explained that all mages had to be registered and we all had to put our arms in this box to register the fact that we were mages. I did so and felt a pinprick. Flamis, Tony and Rev did likewise. Even Shooter put his arm in the box. Obviously he still thinks he's a mage as well.

The Captain then showed us around the ship, starting at the firing range since the orcs wanted to know about the weapons that the guards were carrying. So we were showed something called high explosive bullets which destroyed half the target. Of course the orcs wanted one of those weapons. Somehow I suspected showing them the ships armoury and weapons was not a good idea.

We were also shown places like the ships recreation room, pool, library and something called a movie theatre where moving pictures could be seen. The three big orcs were rather fascinated with that so we left them there. Sarah arranged for some suitable entertainment for them.

Meanwhile the rest of us were in the library studying this place. Tony told us that the plane we were on was called Brittania. I'm not sure what the others were reading about but I asked Sarah to show me some pictures of various things such as coral reefs, fish life. She said that merfolk also lived here so I asked her to show me some scenes of their culture and society. After a while I got bored with looking at pictures so I wandered off, enjoyed the pool for a bit then went back to our room. There I just sat and talked with Sarah about various matters.

Meanwhile Flamis had gone to one of their meditation rooms and started a FlameSight ritual in order to get a location for the sword. She received a picture of a fortress. When she described it to Sarah, Sarah recognised it as their destination, some sort of pirate base in a place called Afghanistan.

Later on, we assembled in our room, except the three big orcs who had decided to take up permanent residence in the movie theatre, and planned how we were going to get in this place. I reckoned that since this society was air based then why couldn't we sneak into this fortress from underneath, especially if an underground river flowed under it. After all they had to get their water from somewhere. Rev thought about it then concluded it was an excellent suggestion.

We found the other orcs in the movie theatre and discovered they were watching something called 'cartoons'. Something about a wolf like creature trying to catch a very fast bird. It was very violent. The orcs were loving it. So did Flamis when things started exploding. Anyway we explained to them what we were going to do. They started going on about some strange weapons that they had seen in the movies that someone by the name of Rambo had been using and that they wanted some. Sarah wasn't about to give them any.

Finally we left them to it.

15/04/92

Not much else had been happening. Flamis was practising quarterstaff with one of the crew. She found the guy was very good and extremely fast with a completely different style. Sarah said it was oriental.

Also Rev had gone to see what the others were up to and ended up having a meat pie eating competition i.e. see how many can be eaten at once. Even though he's more intelligent than the average orc, he's still an orc.

16/04/92

We were due to arrive at the pirate base this day. Sarah had already determined that there was an underground river flowing under the fortress. So I went off to waterproof everyone's equipment using the ships pool to increase my chances. Flamis was first. She didn't want to hang around any longer than necessary. Silly fire mage. Everybody knows that water can't hurt you. At least it doesn't burn people.

At this point the other orcs came in. Maybe Sarah had run out of suitable entertainment. Either that or they were bored. They decided to start jumping off the high board and trying to make the biggest splash they can. I nearly had an orc land on top of me. Flamis got soaked. She was furious and stalked off to cast dry cantrips on herself. I had to use all my willpower to stop from laughing. Fortunately I had managed to get the spell off first and her gear was safe.

I decided that I should show the orcs how diving should be done so I decided to climb the high board and demonstrate. However I must have slipped on a patch of water on the board, or I was still having trouble with this body as I struck my head on the board while doing a forward somersault.

The next thing I remembered was waking up on a trolley. Surprisingly my head didn't hurt. Even more surprisingly my shoulder didn't hurt anymore either. Sarah said I was going to be okay just to lie down for a little while.

A little later on I tried the high board again. Not as good as I had hoped but at least it was a reasonable dive. However I'm going to have to get out of this body. The reflexes and musculature are all wrong. Then I got to work waterproofing everyone else's equipment including my own.

After I had finished the Captain summoned us to discuss the plan. He told us that they were going to go in low and drop us off near the fortress. We were going to have to go upstream to get under it. Also the fortress was quite large. The missing ship would have been, by now, captured and the crew either killed or enslaved. The warfleet, lead by the HMS Richard Coeur De Lion, was on it's way to destroy the fortress. We had twelve hours to get in, get what we wanted, and get out.

ETA was now half an hour.

The Captain gave us some waterproof watches so we could keep track of the time. However we were to return them. We were also asked what other equipment we wanted. The orcs wanted some fancy weapons, however the Captain re-iterated that they weren't going to get any of those. Wasn't the idea that we were going to sneak in as unobtrusively as possible anyway? From what I had been studying in the last few days, I asked for a divers knife and six glo-sticks. Those I could keep. Once I had the knife I strapped it to my leg.

Shortly we were over the area and we were lowered to the ground by a pool from which a waterfall descended over the cliff. The stream flowed swiftly into the pool. Clearly it was too dangerous to enter the water here as Rev pointed out. Meanwhile Slasher caught a rabbit. And ate it. Alive.

The stream flowed out of an underground passage about two miles away. Rev organised us to fix a net across the stream to catch us if we got swept downstream. Then we headed upstream. Halfway to the cliff entrance I cast waterbreathing on everyone and we roped ourselves together before slipping into the water. Slasher went first with Shooter at the back.

We entered the underground section and found we were totally immersed. It was very dark, and even our infra-vision wasn't working too well. So I triggered a glo stick. The current was rather swift as we fought our way upstream.

Two more glo-sticks later we found a pool with a pipe leading into it, and steps going to a door. Suddenly a shockwave went though the water. Only Shooter and I remained conscious so we hauled the others out of the water onto the steps. It didn't take long before they came around. We carefully examined the steps for traps. Flamis reckoned there had been some sort of grenado in the water. Meanwhile I triggered my Water Form talent - just in case. I hoped it would make me more invisible.

A few minutes later we were through the door and into a corridor. The way was lit by some sort of large glo sticks mounted on the ceiling. Suddenly we encountered two large iron golems. Some of us dived to the sides, I went to the floor. We all ended up being toasted. The orcs fired crossbows at one and managed to do some damage while Flamis hurled dragonflames at the other. It blew up also damaging the other one which also blew up. Liquid fire splatted all over. Flamis had some on her but she wasn't worried.

Once Flamis had done Heal Burns all around, we progressed onwards and up some stairs. Rev was making notes on the strange symbols on the signs. Gorthag reckoned that the sword told him that the other sword was higher up.

Soon we found a gun turret with some large guns in them. We wanted to immobilise them in some way but finally concluded it was nearly impossible and we didn't have the time to spare.

Later we found a barracks room with people sleeping in it. I reminded the others of an orcish saying 'Ten thousand throats can be cut in one night by a running man'. At least I think it was orcish. So they decided to sneak in and kill them all. Flamis reminded them I was looking for a female body. However there wasn't one. I kept watch outside while the others carried out the job. Within minutes they were all dead. Rev tried to use Speak with Dead to interrogate the corpses but didn't have any luck. Then Rev led them in some sort of gruesome ritual with the bodies. The orcs collected heads and started having brain sucking races.

We carried on and soon encountered a large steel door with ten buttons next to it. After some discussion on how to open it we decided not to.

Another set of steps was found so we went up. As we did so we heard some voices. Rev suggested that Flamis should go around the corner and create some sort of diversion. Flamis just smiled in that feminine playful sort of way and adjusted her clothing. So she went around the corner and squealed. Nothing happened. She came back and told us that there was a group of guys there with two open kegs next to them. We rushed them. They were all male and the kegs contained vodka. Not even Flamis's natural attributes would have made any impression on these guys, they were that drunk. Soon they were all dead except for three, who were unconscious.

Flamis was able to interrogate one to find out where the sword was as this guy knew dwarvish with an accent. When they had the map that the guy had drawn, Slasher wanted to kill him but Flamis wouldn't let him. So we left him tightly tied up instead.

The sketch map led us up to the fourth level and in front of a steel door. A strange symbol was drawn on it. Alongside was a panel of buttons. Gorthag started playing with them and the door slid open. Meanwhile I remembered about the wand of silver detection and tried that. It registered a deposit straight ahead.

Shooter charged down the corridor courageously with Slasher and Gorthag not far behind. There were some tracks like what would be found in a mine, on the floor. This led Flamis and I to speculate that we must be in some sort of silver mine. Bit odd that the walls didn't look like they had been dug out though.

Soon we encountered a three way split. One branch curved to the left (the NW), to the right (NE) and straight ahead (N). Gorthag had been starting to get a response out of the sword so we suggested he ask it which way we should go. He did, then waved the sword down the NE corridor and proclaimed 'That way'.

So we followed him for quite some time until the corridor came to an abrupt halt. It turned out that the sword had meant us to go north but Gorthag had gone north-east as that was the way he had been pointing the sword.

We backtracked then went up the northern branch. After a while we encountered a glowing cross- hatch grid blocking the corridor. Tony said it was magical. I peeled off some wrapping off a bar of chocolate, and threw it at the grill. The wrapping sparkled, fizzed and disappeared. I nibbled at my chocolate while the others debated what to do next. Flamis tried using her staff to touch one of the studs that was emitting the energy. She managed to scorch the end of her staff.

Meanwhile Rev had located a panel in the wall. He opened it and found four buttons, two red, the other two green arranged in a square with the each colour on opposing corners. Tony stared at them for a few moments then pressed the two red ones. Instantly the grill disappeared. We all went through. Rev found an identical set of buttons on the other side and pressed the two green ones, restoring the energy grill.

Another hour got us to to a large steel door. Drawn on it was a large S with two vertical lines on it. There was another one of those numeric keypads alongside it with some extra symbols as well. Flamis decided she didn't feel like stuffing around any more and she was going to melt the sucker. So she pulled out a brazier from her pack, lit a fire in it, then stared at the door. It didn't take long before it started to glow a dull red. We could start to feel the heat pouring off it. It got hotter, but it didn't seem to want to melt. Shooter decided it was soft enough, so he hit it with a sledgehammer and managed to bend it slightly. The rest of us got to work with the crowbar. We bent the crowbar, but also managed to bend the door enough to squeeze through - after Flamis let it cool down again.

Slightly further on down was a a set of double doors with handles. Rev ended up tying a rope to one handle and pulling. The door swung open. The room beyond this door contained various boxes, crates etc. Hanging from mid air in the centre of the room was a glowing sphere containing a white hilted sword with a clear gem in it. Flamis also pointed out two of the crates as being magical. It would have to be the two that were right at the bottom of a large stack.

Rev threw a spike into the glow. As it entered it was surrounded by electrical sparkling. Flamis had the idea of getting the orcs to lift a loop of rope into the field and try and snag the sword. They nearly got it but managed to snag the blade instead and ended up cutting the rope.

Just then two burning patches appeared in the opposing corners of the room. For a moment I thought it was Flamis fooling around then two dragon like creatures appeared, covered in some sort of icky blue stuff. One rushed to the attack. Gorthag intercepted it while Shooter and Slasher went for the other one. The rest of us dived for cover behind piles of crates.

The first volley of crossbow bolts just bounced off the thing. Rev realised what was happening and yelled out that we needed magic or magical weapons to kill these things. So Gorthag used his nice new sword and hit it. The sword immediately glowed red. Rev tried to cast a spell and went arthritic. Meanwhile the other one had attacked Slasher who was now lying on the ground with blue stuff over him. Tony called out that these things were Hounds of Tindalos. Slasher then had the idea of attempting to throw the thing into the electrical field surrounding the sword. With a bit of luck it might hit the sword as well.

Flamis was in the midst of preparing a spell so I grabbed the staff and triggered the blade. Meanwhile Slasher had succeeded in throwing the thing, right through the field, but didn't manage to knock the sword out. Somehow it pulled Slasher through as well. He didn't look too healthy after that. He was lying on the ground with smoke issuing from him. Flamis was sculling a healing potion. It turned out her spell attempt had backfired leaving her with no fatigue.

I rushed the thing with the staff and was rewarded with it's tongue flicking out and hitting me in the stomach, leaving a nasty hole. Ouch! That blue stuff burns. So I hit it back with the staff's blade. Tony was coming out to help and got hit on the head with it's tongue. By now Gorthag had succeeded in dispatching the other one so he and I struck it simultaneously. It disappeared. It didn't take long to get the other sword down so Slasher and Shooter diced for it. Slasher won. Meanwhile Flamis commented that the staff might be a water mage weapon so I decided to hang on to it.

The next task was to move a lot of boxes so we could get at the two magical ones. Tony attempted to open them but failed to do so. We therefore decided to carry them off and deal to them back on the ship. According to our watches there was only two hours left before the fleet arrived so we decided to run for the pool. I managed to trip near the bottom of one flight of stairs while Tony fell down another staircase.

By the time we got to the pool our time was nearly up. I was a bit nervous that the waterbreathings were going to stop while we were in the river but Rev reckoned it would be okay. I recast on myself, and Flamis requested one too. Then we jumped in the pool and let the current carry us down. Tony nearly ended up over the waterfall but Rev managed to catch him. Shortly we clambered out of the river. At the same time someone spotted the ship coming over the hill. A few minutes later we were hoisted up in the elevator. Once there we were all bundled off to the medical unit.

Sarah told us we had only been in there for four hours. There much have been some time dilation effect in there. The boxes had already been examined. One of the boxes had contained a whole series of other boxes and inside the last one was a ring, while the other had contained secret documents pertaining to the entire pirate network. Rev tried the ring and Tony reckoned his defense had been increased by twenty points.

After a few hours we were told that the fleet was now heading towards the base, and that the Eagle was leading them in. It was a great honour, according to Sarah, and we were invited to the bridge to watch. So I got into uniform and joined the others.

I found a spare seat by the navigator where I could get a good view. Behind us was a gigantic fleet of airships. The one immediately behind us was the royal flagship. We watched as the outskirts of the fleet engaged the pirates who were trying to stop us. They didn't stand a chance. Soon we were over the base and were literally pounding it flat. Huge explosions were appearing below. Flamis and the orcs were pressed up against the glass. The pirates put up a good defense but it was soon all over.

The captain told us that he had orders to take us to London where we were to be honoured. It was all that information that we had brought back that would make it possible to cripple the pirates that had been causing havoc with shipping. The trip back would take five days.

On the way back, some of the flotilla peeled off to deal with other secret pirate bases.

I spent most of the trip back either in the pool or looking at pictures, some of them animated, that Sarah had provided. At one point Flamis came in all excited and wanted to show me something.

It turned out that she had been watching something called 'Supergirl' and decided she wanted a costume just like that. I asked Sarah to show me what she meant. It was a picture of a flying girl dressed in a minidress and cape with a large S on the front. Flamis said she'd like something like that but her one would not have any blue in it and the letter would be an F. Fair enough. It looked nice though. Earlier on, I had just been watching something and had been discussing the possibility, with Sarah, of making an imitation mermaid's tail for myself that would enhance my swimming. Should look really good once I'm back in female form.

One odd thing. We had noticed that our vision was getting clearer and the light wasn't hurting my orcish eyes so much. Since it didn't seem to be affecting Tony it must have had something to do with that cylinder thing on the Water Plane.

21/04/92

We finally arrived over London. It is quite the biggest and busiest city I have ever seen. The sky was full of airships, of all shapes and sizes which were making a deafening racket with their hooters. Sarah explained that that was their way of saying Welcome home and Congratulations. We were treated to an honour escort as the Eagle and the Couer de Lion headed towards the landing area.

Again we were in our dress uniforms. The Couer De Lion landed first and the gangway was lowered. A red carpet was rolled down in then a distinguished gentleman stepped down. Something about him told me that he could only be the King. He had this air about him that chiefs and Guild leaders do. Sarah said he was King Richard the Eighth.

We were conducted to his presence, introduced and congratulated. I bowed then attempted to hide behind the others. The orcs grovelled. At least they know how to recognise royalty. King Richard thanked us for our help and invited us to his country estate for a private dinner on an informal basis. The orcs demanded a reward, specifically a big block of gold. Then we were shown to a group of horseless carriages (Sarah said they were cars) and were instructed to get in. Since there wasn't room for us all in one car, it was suggested that the three big orcs be in one and the rest of us in the other. Rev insisted on riding with the rest of his clan. Fair enough. Just after we got in the driver handed us some badges to wear, one each, and told us that they would allow us to talk to Sarah. He then showed us how to use them. He also told us that there was television and a drinks cabinet in the back. The TV was showing replays of the battle and we decided to abstain from the drinks for the moment. Instead we were fascinated by the views out the window.

About an hour later, we arrived at the King's country palace. First we were offered some drinks. King Richard told us not to worry about formality as we were his friends. We'd only have to worry about form at the official functions tomorrow. Flamis was introduced to a drink called a Bloody Mary. She liked it a lot, but one of the ingredients, Worchestershire sauce, isn't available in Alusia so she was given a crateful to take back. I was offered some of the King's brandy. It wasn't too bad, but I think I'll stick to vodka.

Dinner was - interesting. The orcs were behaving very orcishly, even down to wanting to carve their initials into the table. I was feeling rather embarrassed but the King seemed to be amused. He told us he did have some magical talents, mostly in the areas of Mind and Namer.

The food was delicious. I was having a whispered conversation with Sarah to determine which knife, fork or spoon to use when. About then I noticed King Richard's familiar, sitting on his shoulder. It was a flying lizard, or gecko, by the name of Oscar. The orcs were doing some rather disgusting things at the other end of the table (we were at the top end by the King). Suddenly a large block of gold appeared on the plate in front of them. King Richard grinned. He whispered to us it was really a lump of rancid butter. Oscar had used Molecular Rearrangement on it. That prompted me to tell him the story on how I got the name of Butterball on my last adventure.

Dessert was even better than dinner. It was chocolate in various forms. After dinner the other orcs reckoned that Rev was getting a bit of a goody-goody and proceeded to slide him along the table. Rev must have enjoyed that as he went back for more.

After dinner the King showed us his games room. He said that it used something called virtual reality holograms and we were able to imagine ourselves in whatever situation we were in. So we sat down in a comfy chair in a booth each and had to wear some odd looking helmets on our heads. I found that it was possible to alter our appearance so I recreated my old body so that I could show Flamis and the King what I used to look like. The King was dressed as an adventurer with LOTS of knives while Flamis was dressed in her proposed flying suit. Tony looked like he was in some sort of armour. There was no sign of the orcs. Maybe they were somewhere else. I later found out they had gone 'hunting' monsters.

The King explained that we were playing some sort of adventure game. As I looked round I realised that we were standing in some sort of city street. Flamis bought a newspaper and we discovered that someone called the Black Claw was menacing the city, robbing the banks and stealing babies. We decided to head towards the nearest bank. As we reached there a horseless carriage pulled to a stop and several blue clothes men rushed out. Tony started shooting at them.

By this time I was getting tired of this one and decided to find my own fun. Abruptly I found myself completely immersed in water and discovered that I was still in my old form, but had the tail of a mermaid. I had a really entertaining time cavorting around under the sea in some sort of adventure story the computer was creating which involved having to get something off this evil sea creature to save the merfolk. It was a bit scary but FUN. I succeeded in my quest and ended up in a festival where I was the star of their aquatic ballet.

Just as I was deciding what to do next, I found myself back on the couch and back as an orc. The King said it was time for us to go to bed as we had the award ceremony tomorrow. The bed was comfortable though. It was a like a bag full of warm water. The King said it was a water bed.

22/04/92

Next morning we were roused by the King's servants and given some fancy clothes to wear. I soaked in the hot tub for a little while, got dressed and joined the others for breakfast - a really big one. Flamis offered Slasher a bottle of something and Slasher drunk the contents. Flamis started giggling as it was a bottle of spicy relish. She then handed him some tabasco sauce to wash it down with. Meanwhile I was introducing Tony to the delights of oranges.

After dinner we dressed up then were conducted to some waiting vehicles. We found ourselves being driven down the main streets which were lined with masses of cheering people. Flamis was lapping this up as she waved to the crowd. I just wanted to disappear. I decided to grin and bear it.

Finally we reached the Palace and were conducted into a waiting room. About fifteen minutes later our names were called and we were summoned in. Each of us had to go in front of the King, kneel, then he would hand us a scroll and proclaim our title. He also pinned a medal on each of us. Flamis became Lady Flamis of Coventry. I was Lady Aqualina of Cornwall (it was announced as Lord but the scroll said Lady - clever King). Tony was Lord Bardane of York. The other orcs already had clan titles so they were Slasher - Warlord of the Fangtooth Clan and Lord of Sanghurst. Shooter was Lord of the Fangtooth Clan and Lord of Aldershot, Gorthag was Lord of the Fangtooth Clan and Lord of Kew while the Rev was Lord of the Fangtooth Clan and Lord of Edinburgh. We were also told we were Peers of the Realm as well as Knights or Dames of the Order of the Leopard.

We were then introduced to the other nobility present. Gorthag was squeezing some peoples hands as we shook hands with them all and was somewhat surprised when some of them withstood his grip and squeezed him back. Next we gave some short thankyou speeches. I kept mine very short. After that was the formal banquet. There really was Roast Boar with Apricot and Camembert sauce as one of the courses. Now at last I can say I have eaten the food that all adventurers are traditionally supposed to eat. The orcs were being gross again, shocking some of the nobility. Was that a grin the King was trying to hide? Dessert featured all sorts of wonderful sweet things. Flamis took particular delight in a dish of flaming orange-flavoured pancakes.

After dinner was dancing. It didn't feel right asking ladies to dance and it would have looked really odd dancing with men. So I decided to sit in the corner. Some ladies did some up and ask me to dance but I declined, claiming I didn't know how. I was about to refuse another offer when the King whispered that it wouldn't be a good idea to turn this one down. It was his sister. So I accepted and soon was on the floor, trying to remember to lead with the opposite foot. I found that the dances were remarkably similar to formal dances on Alusia. I noticed Flamis on the dance floor with the King. The night went on and I found I was enjoying myself. The orcs went off with some of the younger set to a place called a 'Heavy Metal' bar. Tony also went off with a group of elves and drow. That left Flamis and I the centre of attention. I was being plied with vodka and was feeling rather tipsy ....

23/04/92

I don't remember much about getting back to the Kings residence but I must of somehow as I awoke in bed. It was about midday so I ran a bath, cast a waterbreathing, and ended up having another nap. For some reason the servant who found me wasn't at all concerned at finding a fully submerged, comatose body in the bath.

After lunch the King asked Flamis and I (there was no sign of the others) whether we wanted to go shopping. So we did, in a place called Harrods. We ended up with all sorts of things namely, tents, sleeping bags and other essential adventuring gear. Flamis ordered her 'flying' suit while I was able to request my tail. I also found the swimwear department and, with the help of a shop assistant, managed to find some to fit my old body, all ready for when I swap back. The one I really like is a brief silvery blue twopiece with an iridescent scaly pattern. There was also a matching skirt I could wear over top of it and could easily slip off. I also got a cloak that I could wrap around myself to keep myself warm.

I also bought some new clothes such as stuff like the diaphanous things I saw in Faerie. Flamis wanted to get some cosmetics and some lingerie, so I did too. Fortunately that sort of stuff packs small and is light. She bought a geologist kit for her Earth Mage boyfriend while I found some interesting models of various places in the city for Kryen. I also managed to obtain a light, underwater, crossbow and replenished my chocolate supply while Flamis found a spyglass.

Flamis had her costume delivered later that day. Mine was going to be a few days later. Her one was just in time for a costume party at an amusement park, where there were air slides and water slides. Wheee!!!! I managed to find a collection of water beings such as selkies, and other water mages, to join in with their party in the pool, while Flamis and the other fire mages took off for a fly around the city.

24/04/92

Next day, Flamis, Rev, Tony and I were at the Royal Society of Magical Arts buildings being questioned about Alusia. They were attempting to construct a portal directly to our plane. I hope so as I want to come back here one day. They had found Glorantha but it would take them two weeks to get the portal open. Flamis decided to spend the time learning how to make double crossbows. Meanwhile Gorthag wanted to learn how to surf. That sounded interesting, like some kind of wave-riding, so I went with the orcs to a beach in a northern place called Scotland. It was icy cold in the sea, but the waves were huge. It was magnificent! I'm going to take this surfing thing up when I get back.

11/05/92

Finally the portal to Glorantha was opened and we stepped through. Flamis looked almost too flashy in her 'flying' suit. We found ourselves in the small room with the doors to the element planes. The only one left was the Plane of Earth. And at the other end of that was the extremely nasty black clad chap with the skulls. I was not looking forward to meeting him. But we had no choice.

A wall of earth confronted us as we opened the earth door. It looked solid. We even tried disbelieving it but it still appeared solid. Just how were we going to move through a pile of earth? Shooter reached out and touched it. To our surprise, his hand went right into it. Shooter disappeared into it and we followed.

Visibility wasn't good but it was better than I expected it to be. Again we had the choice of walking or swimming. I chose the latter. After a short while we encountered a large burrowing sentient who said he was a mole. And that he was a "shaper". He told us we were heading towards a large fortress. There was an old tunnel we could follow which would take us underneath it. The orcs were rather suspicious of this but Tony assured us that the mole was not under any sort of control. The mole also told us that the fortress contained several goblins, broo and a few hounds. The latter had to be those blue coated things we suspected.

Finally we followed the tunnel towards the back entrance, worked our way under the fortress, and found a hole in the floor. This lead into an empty room with no visible exits. No auras and no magic could be detected. Slasher thumped the wall with his anvil but the walls were solid. Finally Rev spotted a square outline in the ceiling. I activated the staff's blade and started probing at the outline. It seemed to be a sealed trapdoor which was confirmed when the orcs formed a pyramid and investigated. Finally Shooter managed to force it open.

After Slasher threw us all up, then climbed up himself, we found that we were in a storeroom containing old mouldy food, mostly vegetables. The orcs reckoned it was orcish food and started stuffing their faces. The only door to this room was a thick wooden door with a hole in it. There was a catch on the other side. Rev animated an arm, that was lying around, and made it open the door, just in case of traps.

Slasher and Gorthag asked their swords which way to go. To our surprise they indicated opposing directions along the corridor. So we picked a direction and went for it. Shortly we discovered that this end of the corridor bent to form a circle and met up with the other end. Another branch headed south. This time the swords were in total agreement so we headed down it.

Shortly we encountered a patch of magical darkness. Shooter crawled in. Soon there was a clattering. Something had fallen on him. At the same time the darkness disappeared. It turned out he had bumped into, and knocked over, a brazier containing coals that generated darkness. Flamis gathered a few up but what magical aura they had dissipated after a few seconds.

We continued on and soon encountered a set of large double doors. As we watched the doors ponderously swung open revealing a large room with an ornate throne at the other end. The black Earth sword could be seen on the far room. The big black clad guy was seated in the throne. Two smaller thrones were on either side of the main one. One contained a goblin, the other a broo wearing black robes. All three were wearing crowns. There were two other broo, seven goblins, and one of those Hounds of Tindalos. I felt a chill pass through me. This was the place in Flamis's vision.

The big guy stood up and smiled. "Welcome. I've been expecting you. Prepare to meet your doom." At the same time the goblins advanced. Rev asked him if he would kindly hand over the sword and let us leave. He replied with the international symbol of refusal.

Battle was quickly joined. Flamis was hit with a Dragonflames that was cast by the Hound, but it did little damage, thank goodness. Rev's and my crossbow bolts missed the big guy but Shooter pinned the broo king to the wall. One goblin went berserk, charged, and was killed for his trouble.

Rev then hit the goblin king with a crossbow bolt while Shooter killed the broo king. Meanwhile I wasn't having much luck hitting the big guy with the water bolts from the staff. One shot hit one of the goblins. Flamis was having better luck with Dragonflames. One water bolt did hit him but it just splattered, having no effect. I got the chills again, this time for real, just as a sling bullet from the goblin king hit Slasher. Shooter then succeeded in hitting the big guy with a crossbow shot. A second shot from him succeeded in killing the bad guy. The Hound disappeared. So did the goblin king. Flamis saw something magical appear and disappear. We figured he went Unseen and slipped out a back way, or maybe there was some kind of teleport in operation.

The goblins and broo immediately charged us. Slasher killed a goblin and hit two more. Rev dispatched one of them. Flamis hit a broo with Dragonflames and it exploded. Most of us took damage, as did the goblins. Finally there were two goblins left and one broo. Rev called to them to yield. The goblins decided to surrender while the broo suicided. Slasher grabbed a goblin and cuffed it around a bit before taking it aside. I suspected he was planning on using some creative questioning techniques. Meanwhile Shooter grabbed the sword.

A quick search revealed a secret panel behind the black guy's throne. It opened revealing a box, with a large padlock, which we dragged out. Slasher's goblin died under torture. The other one had already been skinned. Tony couldn't find any traps on the box, magical or otherwise, so he attempted to open it. He got hit by a needle trap in the process but succeeded. Inside was assorted jewellery, a magical magnifying glass and a book written in drow. Rev could read it and discovered that it was a tome on the Dukes of Hell and may contain information on how to summon one. The magnifying glass could be used to enhance Detect Auras.

We also found a black box with a single white button on it. Before we could stop him, Shooter pressed it. We found ourselves in the room where the dragon was, but we still seemed to be in the throne room as well. The dragon thanked us for succeeding and asked us to stick the swords and staff into him. We did so. Instantly he turned back to flesh and could move again. All the weapons then appeared in our hands again.

The dragon asked us what we wanted. It already knew what I wanted but I affirmed my request to regain my original form. The dragon smiled. Suddenly I felt dizzy and nearly fainted. When I regained my senses I discovered I was in my original body and wearing the clothes I had worn when I got zapped by the Zigmar ward. I was so happy that I rushed up and hugged the dragon as well as giving it a kiss. Then I had to sit down as I had to get used to this body again.

Meanwhile the others were trying to decide what they wanted that was in the dragon's power.

Flamis finally chose to have the Fire-proofing spell as a talent, and the orcs received immunity to fear checks from Rev's magic. Rev made the comment I had turned ugly, however it turned out I had actually gained three points of physical beauty.

We also discovered that the light effect that had hit us on the Water Plane had given us an effect similar to elvish witchsight. This meant that I could see in the dark like an elf and sometimes see invisible. Very useful indeed.

The mule, our horses, and all the stuff we had left in town, suddenly appeared. The dragon said that he was going to transport us straight back to Alusia and that he was coming with us. There was a blinding flash of light and ...

12/05/92

... we found ourselves, with all our equipment, standing on a beach. It was night time. I soon recognised this beach as one I used often. We were back on Alusia within walking distance of Seagate and the Guild. So, after saying goodbye to the dragon we did just that.

By the time we got back, dawn was breaking. Before we had a chance for breakfast, we were debriefed and divinated. Nothing unusual, except for the new clearsight talent, was discovered. I also found that most of my skills were still at the same level. Next thing to do was to start re- practising my swimming, get Kishwa to help me with horseriding, and go and learn troubadorian stuff such as acrobatics.

But first, lets just see if this mermaid tail really works ....