(G521 22/04/2023 via Roll20 - JF(GM), AP, KT) WA114

 (G521 22/04/2023 via Roll20 - JF(GM), AP, KT) WA114

[Fenrir and Reinward have been tasked with staging a coup in the city of Westgate to stop the evil vampire lord the Night King from doing the same. Just recently they have killed Dauntinghorn - again! This time by accident. Their house was also attacked by an Angel of Decay.]


DAY 542 (27th Eleasis) (August) cont ...

It was still early in the morning, but it seemed important to clean up the gunk left by the Angel of Decay. Ten buckets of the stuff was collected. Nobody got any sleep after that.

Reinward had been away at another vigil at the Temple of Ilmater and did not get back to the house until breakfast time.

'What happened here?' he asked.
'I'm about to go find out what it was,' said Fenrir.

They went to find Yntar Shieldblazon, a bard that they knew and Fenrir showed him a sample of the gloop.
'That comes from a horrible being called an Angel of Decay,' he told them. He then went on to give more details of the creature. Finally he warned, 'from what I hear, you can expect more attacks like this at your house. They will increase in size and deadliness.
You've really annoyed someone, that's for sure!' 

Fenrir thanked Shieldblazon for all the information and gave him fifty gold.

Meanwhile, Veddic was wondering if he could set up an altar in the house to help with defending it against undead. He did not get very far, I'm not sure why, but here is my research on the subject:

- Veddic is a Burning Brazier - these are the missionary / adventure types

- A temple of Kossuth is always led by an Eternal Flame of Kossuth. They treat everyone underneath them poorly

- The 'stay at home' clerics are called Tendrils.

- When out and about BBs use the spells at their disposal (e.g. Consecrate and Hallow) to create temporary prayer areas for converts

- Building shrines and temples is usually left to the Tendrils who come to an area later, after the BB has gained enough ground

- But a shrine could be built for 3 to 5 K. It requires Craft Wondrous Item to be built though!

- In theory it could be built by a non-Kossuth cleric or other caster type, but it would be better if it was...

- Not informing the Church would probably be a bad idea considering what rotten bastards they all are.

- Veddic was told though, to follow Fenrir, so that he could get an actual Temple to Kossuth built in Westgate.

- There is nothing stopping him from getting the ball rolling on that

After meeting the bard, Fenrir and Reinward went to talk to Gwendeth Thavalar again.
They had a chat, and discussed:
- Thistle Thavalar was aware of all the business with the vampires.
- She was not yet aware of the plan to marry her to Raz!
- She thought that Raz was nice, but (in the nicest way possible) an uncultured oaf (which was basically true by Westgate standards).
- She was likely still in love with Dauntinghorn.

'It's too late for love now though!' said Gwendeth. 'There is too much at stake, the girl will just
have to do as she's told!'

'What if we pretend to kidnap her and then we get Raz to come rescue her?' asked Reinward. Fenrir and Gwendeth turned and looked at him.
'Nevermind... sorry... forget I spoke!'
Reinward was on his eighth glass of sherry by now and fairly well cooked. I must say he often came up with some really good ideas while sozzled (this was not one of them), but he always expected someone like Fenrir to put his ideas into practise!

Fenrir sauntered into work in the afternoon. Reinward came too and had a nice nap on the couch in Fenrir's office.


DAY 543 (28th Eleasis) (August)

Fenrir's boots of Teleportation arrived today and he then ordered a Wand of Anti-Magic Ray for
the cheap cheap price of 34,125 gold pieces.

Reinward spent some of the day in the company of Gelly, talking about the Night Masks and how the human ones and the vampire ones got on, and where Sharkchum fit in to it all.
In summary she said;
'The living and the vampire Night Masks hate each other of course, but then they all hate each other. Every vampire in the Night Masks is trying to get one up on the others. They all hate the Westgate Watch above everything else though, even though they have much more to fear from the Mercenary Guild and the various House Guards. Sharkchum has been doing well for himself since his resurrection. I should imagine getting revenge on those that killed him features quite high on his agenda.'

DAY 544 (29th Eleasis) (August)

Today was the day of the Cake and Jam party at Ottery Saint Mary all the way back west near Waterdeep. Fenrir didn't want to miss that!

But despite having his new Teleportation boots he could not get their easily. He needed to stop over somewhere and since he didn't know anywhere between Waterdeep and Westgate he needed a wizard to do the first bit for him.
He found one easily enough who was willing to do it for 1000 gold, so he and Reinward arrived at the Gnesher Lodge house with plenty of time left to get ready for the party.

Fenrir was there to hang out with Giselle of course. She was glad to see him, but he sensed she had enough on her plate right now to be bothered rekindling her romance with an extremely unreliable boyfriend. He knew he could always charm her into doing anything but he didn't want to make her do things that she would later regret. (How noble of Fenrir!)

Reinward, on the other hand, was on the prowl. The party was a big event at OSM. There are only about 100 people that live there, but most people get involved in the Cake, the Jam and of course all the drinking and dancing that goes with it. Quite a few people came in from the surrounding area as well.

Reinward was a tall and handsome young man, he was affable and pleasant - until he got drunk - and then he was usually brash, insulting and frankly a danger to be around.

His criteria for tonight's partner was:
1. Big Breasts
2. Not a Headache
3. Same age range
4. Be up for it

He settled on a lady a bit older than him, she was in her thirties, she was fairly  flat chested and had a rather grating personality - but - she was well up for it!
It turned out that criteria 4 was the only one that mattered.

She was Yella Bladesman. She was new to the area and was one of the three constables in OSM. She had frizzy black hair, freckled skin and blue eyes. There was a scar across her nose from one of her battles.

Reinward spent the night with her and kept his crown on the whole time.

Fenrir and Giselle ended the evening at her door after he had walked her home. They talked about recent events and he gave her a summary of what had been happening in Westgate.
Giselle was a bard now, or starting out as one anyway, so all this gossip and news was just the sort of thing she liked.
The last thing he said was;
'After I've sorted it all out, I'd like to come back here again and perhaps we can get back together?'
'Perhaps...' she said. Then she winked and closed the door on him.

DAY 545 (30th Eleasis) (August)

Today Cavu turned up in Westgate. He had been causing chaos at the Vampire Keep but now it was getting too hot for him there. He told them;
'You have about 20 days before they get themselves back in order again and start  looking at Westgate once more.'

They showed him the broken Doomsday Clock. He said:
'The games up for you chaps I'm afraid. You've been busted. What you do after this is up to you. Before making your mind up though perhaps you should read this, it came from one of our spies in the Vampire Keep...'

''
Because Demonologist often end up dead, the Blackrune usually has a scribe hidden somewhere to take notes if the Demonologist doesn't survive the process.
We managed to get part of a transcript that will interest you.


Dreknerker the Despicable: *summons a demon*
Demon: Ech, you again, what now?
DD: Back, vile creature! I demand you answer my questions, foul fiend of the pit!
Demon: Yeah, yeah. Make it quick, I've got a lava bath to get back to.
DD: My lord must know more about a Warlock in Westgate called Raziel Lightningrod!
Demon: Like what?
DD: Err ... well where he came from and why he is going after the Night King all the time.
Demon: What could I know about that? There must be hundreds of Warlocks in Westgate alone.
DD: Well... err ... I command you to tell me everything!
Demon: Come on Drek old pal. You know it doesn't work like that. If he's on our books at all you need to talk to Crunklesplatsock, he knows about that sort of guff.
        
*Unknown Demon poofs*        
        
Dreknerker the Despicable: *summons Crunklesplatsock*
C: Oh for fu... What?
DD: Back, vile creature! I demand you answer my questions, foul fiend of the pit!
C: Charming.
DD: Err .. My lord must know more about a Warlock in Westgate!    
C: Sigh, fine. What level?
DD: Err .. not sure, he can fly and do eldritch cones, that's what I've been told. And that pain sleep one.
C: Well in Westgate that narrows it down to about fifty. It's not Raziel Lightningrod is it?
DD: Yes! Tell me all about him!
C: Like what?
DD: Where he came from and why he is going after the Night King all the time.
C: Yeah, I can answer that... I don't know and I don't know.
DD: I command you to tell me everything you know!
C: Yeah, yeah. All I know is some folk say he has a Sword Coast accent. He's from out west somewhere.
DD: Be more specific!
C: Sigh. Well, Waterdeep maybe? There was a big inquisition there not so long ago because of the Bloodwar and a lot of them left the city around then. Could be he's one of that lot.
DD: Name him!
C: Doesn't work like that chief, but if you want to know all the details, ask Bnurgstickslackskin. He's the demon in charge of Waterdeep.
DD: I shall summon him!
C: He'll not like it. I wouldn't mess him about if I were you.
DD: Silence hellspawn! I know what I'm doing!
C: Don't say I didn't warn you.

*Crunklesplatsock poofs*

Dreknerker the Despicable: *summons Bnurgstickslackskin*
(Bnurgstickslackskin is a Glabrezu and much bigger that the previous demons)

B: This better be good.
DD: Back, vile creature! I demand you answer my questions, foul fiend of the pit!
B: You dare to speak to me like this? You're claimed.
DD: I do not fear *GULP* your threats! Tell me everything you know about Raziel Lightningrod!
B: Oh good. About time one of you bloodsuckers got round to this. You can work out the rest if I tell you his real name is Fenrir Thunderstaff.
DD: Who's that?
B: A warlock from Waterdeep.
DD: And why does he seek to destroy the Night King?
B: Not my department. He was passed on to other demons when he left Waterdeep.
DD: And who are they?
B: Dunno, other demons. I'm not your fucking secretary.
DD: I demand an answer!
B: Nah, I'll tell you a secret though?
DD: What?
B: I actually resisted the Planar Binding spell, but came anyway just to see what you wanted. Now come here you little...
DD: Aieeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

TRANSCRIPT ENDS
''

Once they had digested that Cavu went on;
'Now that the Night King knows who you are, I'm afraid I have to cut ties with you. We can't afford to let him know who is behind this plot against him. You can either leave now - and we will continue the fight against him with some of our other resources, or you can stay and fight it out. It's up to you, but if you stay and try and see this through to the end I can give you 200,000 gold each to be spent in furthering that goal. Either way, you won't see me again after its all over so take your time to decide.'

'What about the crown?' asked Reinward.

'I'll leave that up to you, but if you decide to leave Westgate then I would prefer it if you gave it to one of the other potential crownbearers - Jane or Pastry.'

Fenrir and Reinward hit the drinks cabinet and then sat down to think over their options.

(G520 15/04/2023 via Roll20 - JF(GM), KT) YI3

 (G520 15/04/2023 via Roll20 - JF(GM), KT) YI3

[Griffolk Ethyn the Dragon-Shaman, Corhim Sparkledingle the Gnome Wizard and Fangorino the Barbarian have arrived on Yag Island and soon became friends with my family and other friends that were there setting up defences by the Barrow. In addition, a being that looks and acts like Fenrir has arrived. In reality it is a simulacrum created by the Vicar of Ghaunadaur. Just recently Corhim, Fangorino and "Fenrir" have arrived in Sasserine to help out at Vanderboren Manor.]


DAY 584 (7th Marpenoth) (October) cont ...

It seemed that there was no immediate hurry, so Fang and Fenrir went to explore the wine cellar. Sparkledingle went to look in the library where he found several books on Sasserine. The light-fingered little rascal would have probably stolen them, but for the fact one of the servants was keeping an eye on him.

After a while he grew bored of the library and it was not long before he left Vanderboren Manor to go  and look around Sasserine a little bit.

He asked around and eventually ended up at the Witchwarden's Tower. Sasserine is tricky to get around. You either have to walk for ages to find a bridge or just use a boat to go from shore to shore. The city is a mass if islands, docks and waterways.

The Tower was the home to Sasserine’s mage’s guild and he was welcomed in and offered food and drink. He wanted to 'join up' and was offered a form of basic membership for 20 gold.
For this he was given a silver medallion (that had a picture of a chimpanzee on it) and free access to the less secret libraries and facilities.

After a while Corhim found the main notice board. He read a note that said; "Test subjects required. Well paid and free healing offered. Enquire in Dungeon 3B, Irel Brokenleaf."

When he got there, he saw that Dungeon 3B looked like a rather large tavern common room that had strange looking portals spaced around the room.

Brokenleaf was a male half-elf wizard and for reasons that could only be guessed at he had prepared the room to summon monsters into when certain actions were performed. He stood at the back of the room where he was pouring himself a drink.
'What do I do?' asked Corhim.
'Whatever you like. This is an early test, I just want to know how people react when they come into here completely cold,' replied the half-elf between swigs of his beer.

Corhim shrugged and had a look around. He saw a lever on one of the pillars so reached up and pulled it. A small demon materialised in one of the portals and ran to attack him!

Corhim tried a Colour Spray spell. The demon seemed more shiny. After a few more spells he then deduced that spell effects were being reversed on this creature. He cast Haste on it, which made it flop onto the floor. The demon seemed to have been dealt with so Corhim cast Magic Weapon on his crossbow and then went to pull another lever.

A Flaming Sphere appeared in one of the portals. Thinking quickly, Corhim ran over to the bar and picked up a jug of beer. He then threw it over the Sphere, which extinguished it.

Brokenleaf seemed sad at the loss of beer though so Corhim went over to a large barrel to refill the jug. When he turned the spigot though, a Swarm of Insects rushed out of it. He ran back a bit and cast Glitterdust. This seemed to do the trick and the Swarm dissipated.

Corhim had a vague feeling that these attacks were - in some way - adapting to his powers, to fully test his skills and abilities. The next lever summoned three ghouls and they came after him. Corhim almost always used non-violent magic though and while a Grease spell slowed them down, they were soon running after him again. One got its claws on him and he was badly hurt before pulling free and running off again.

With no way of really fighting them on the hoof he used a spell to fly up into the rafters of the dungeon-tavern and then attacked from there. He cast Blindness on two of them. The other one threw a chair at him.
The two blinded ghouls fumbled around the room - and started pulling levers! Corhim didn't know what to do as the dungeon started to fill up with other monsters! A small floating eye ball, some sort of troll or something. It was chaos and all Corhim could do was cower behind a rafter.

Brokenleaf sighed, put down his drink and walked down from the bar.
'They are not meant to pull the levers themselves,' he explained to Sparkledingle, before clearing the room with a few well placed Magic Missiles.

Corhim, rather shaken, walked up to the bar and poured himself a nice refreshing glass of lemonade to calm his nerves.

(G519 08/04/2023 via Roll20 - JF(GM), AP) WA113

 (G519 08/04/2023 via Roll20 - JF(GM), AP) WA113

[Fenrir and Reinward have been tasked with staging a coup in the city of Westgate to stop the evil vampire lord 'the Night King' from doing the same. Just recently they killed Dauntinghorn again. Poor Dauntinghorn!]

DAY 541 (26th Eleasis) (August) cont ...

Veddic had been told to take Dauntinghorn (magically asleep and stuffed inside a barrel) out to Spectre Island (five miles north of Westgate) on his magical carpet. He had been told to get a couple of barrels of ale too, to make it look like he was doing a delivery and not a  kidnapping.

It was later in the evening then that Fenrir heard Veddic on their magical communication gems. 'I'm under attack! I'm about half-way to the island. It looks like brutish ghost owls! Dozens of them! Evasive Manoeuvres! Oops... there go the barrels...'

Fenrir summoned the Day Air Watch, but by then it was too late.

Veddic returned to Westgate and said, 'sorry Fenrir, he just sort of slipped off. Sunk like a stone, so I guess he is dead again. Probably be back in a few days, if its like last time. Bloody Brute Ghost Owls.'

'Never mind,' said Fenrir. 'Can you send a message to Thistle for me?'

The message was:

''
Hi Thistle, I'm Veddic Fen's cleric friend. We need to get Raz to you ASAP. Can you tell me where  you are? hope you're good.
''

(Note: Thistle may have wondered who "Fen" was!)

There was no answer though. Fenrir decided to go to the Thavalar Mansion again to talk to Gwendeth Thavalar. She would not give Thistle's location.

'How are you?' he asked.
'At my wits end!' she cried.
Fenrir talked to her some more, trying to sooth her frayed nerves. He convinced her that the best thing to do was get Raz and Thistle married as quickly as possible.
'I suppose you are right. To defeat these horrible vampires we must act quickly. What news of poor Trystran? Are you treating him well? It's not his fault, poor boy.'
'Oh yes,' lied Fenrir. 'He's comfortable in a secure location...'

They refined their plans. Gwendeth would arrange the wedding. The wedding itself would be small and quick. Later there would be a 'royal wedding, in front of the entire city, assuming that the coup succeeded.

Fenrir continued on his coup-attempting way, first talking to Portia, then Gelly. He was not sure what he should be doing next and talked about killing more of the Night Masks. He mentioned Gelly a Night Mask called Kysaer Whitemantle "The Rider in White", but she had never heard of him.
His name was on Cavu's hit-list though.

The last act of his day was to go to Gondeth's Mageries and order a pair of Boots of Teleportation.

He had a late dinner and eventually went to bed. He hadn't seen Reinward since lunch.

DAY 542 (27th Eleasis) (August)

At around one in the morning Fenrir's house on Wizard's Cut was attacked by an undead being that may have been an "Angel of Decay". These are terrible monsters that ooze damaging decaying magic all around them.

The Hallow spells that protected the place a little, but the monster still managed to smash the front door in and enter the house. It was hit by the dart trap at the door and the 'house wizard' a man called Pavel cast Ray of Enfeeblement on it. Raz leapt out of bed and joined the defence.
The house guards tried to help too, but were only a distraction.

Anyone that got close to the thing got mired in its oozing decay around its feet. This horrible stuff went out from it, filling the room and making everyone sick.

Fenrir was next to arrive on the scene and started blasting away. Pavel tried some other spells with not much effect. House guards and rogues were having to retreat as the aura around the  Angel of Decay was sucking the life out of them.

Veddic was last to arrive and used Turn Undead, but the Angel resisted. Raz had to retreat, badly injured. Fenrir kept blasting and Pavel cast a Fireball spell. In the end it was a Fireball that finished it off.

It was defeated, but the front door was in splinters and the entire hall was covered in an evil smelling gunk. Veddic healed everyone up. Only one of the guards was dead.

Karma Kingdom - Beta 1.0 b201

 Karma Kingdom - Beta 1.0 b201

 

Still working on this! 

Here is the latest:

FIXED BUG #179 - when drinking a mana potion get: (Skill Check: You gain 1 additional spell points due to your ability in Magic!) Magic is not a skill any more. What skill is used?

IDEA #509 -colour in the generic quest log

Added Hexmages. They come via the Court, and only if you have greater than 300 Magic Points. (from random MTG card - 'Archmage Emeritus')  

New random dungeon encounter - Phantom Warrior

 

---

Anyway, did a lot of work on the game earlier in the year, but I've slowed down a bit again. I should really try and generate more interest, but the coding part is the fun part for me :)

Here is the link to the game:

http://roztov.epizy.com/stw/generate.html

 

 

 

(G518 26/03/2023 via Roll20 - JF(GM), HF, OL, SH, AL, FF, DL) K3

 (G518 26/03/2023 via Roll20 - JF(GM), HF, OL, SH, AL, FF, DL) K3

[This is the third part of the story I heard from my brother Corum about an unlikely band of adventurers known as the 'The Habibi Club'. They were: Ewiz the Great a human wizard, Sir Buttskii a gnomish bard, Tate a halfling rogue, Kayne a human sorcerer, Goobus a rather fat human bard, Gilbert a human monk and Walter the White a half-elf druid. We last saw them causing trouble in the Huntsman Inn north of Waterdeep.]

DAY 3

In the morning the group was smaller. Ewiz had already gone on ahead with some horsemen and Wendy had decided to stay at the Huntsman as she had met a friend of hers and was busy catching up with gossip.

Harag Tusker the half orc was there though, still wanting the lift he had arranged the day before.

Gilbert and Kayne went outside to get some air and look around. Meanwhile Walter the Druid tried to talk to some women at a nearby table in the common room of the Huntsman but only ended up annoying them. When three Road Wardens stepped in Tate had to come to the rescue with apologies and a few gold coins.

After breakfast they set off again. Tusker sat up front with the driver. After a few hours of travel they entered an area of forest and deep inside it they saw that a tree had fallen over the road. The coach stopped and suddenly they were attacked by goblin bandits that had been waiting in the shadows of the forest.

Tusker killed the driver and called in the goblins. A fierce battle commenced. Walter and his rat lead the charge, as the others piled out of the coach to take on the goblin attackers.

Kayne attacked with his magic, aided by Goobus at the side of the coach. Gilbert charged off to the right to fight two goblins in the tree line. Tate charged to the left, but struggled to fight all the goblins there and had to climb up a tree.

Buttskii, who was a gentle fellow and not used to violence cowered under one of the seats in the coach. But when a goblin came in to try and flank Kayne and Goobus, he bravely stabbed at its knees with his dagger.

Up the tree, Tate was badly injured. Goblins were shooting crossbow bolts at him and another  was climbing up to get him. Not knowing what else to do he dropped his crowbar on the goblin which hit it right in the head and sent it tumbling to the ground.
Looking down he could see that Tusker had been killed and with their leader gone the goblins that remained alive fled into the forest.

With the fighting over it only remained to get Tate out of the tree. He had two crossbow bolts in him and was too injured to climb down. Walter tried to climb up to get him, but after falling twice gave up.
In the end Goobus and Buttskii convinced Tate just to fall out the tree and for them to  catch him. Remarkably, this worked!

They gathered the goblin dead, looted their corpses, moved the tree and got the coach ready to go again. Luckily none of the coach horses had been injured in the fighting.

(G517 25/03/2023 via Roll20 - JF(GM), KT, AP) WA112

 (G517 25/03/2023 via Roll20 - JF(GM), KT, AP) WA112

[Fenrir and Reinward have been tasked with staging a coup in the city of Westgate to stop the evil vampire lord the Night King from doing the same. Just recently they have been going after Dauntinghorn again - something that is starting to look a bit like bullying to be honest.]


DAY 540 (25th Eleasis) (August) cont ...

Fenrir was a force to be reckoned with and the simple sailors of Dauntinghorn's ship were no match for him. As they fired volleys of crossbow bolts ineffectually at him he put them to sleep one by one with Painful Slumber of the Ages.

By now Reinward had turned up and after casting Blink and Mage Armour on himself he joined the battle. There was a magic user of some kind on Dauntinghorn's ship and they seemed to be the only real threat.

Reinward sneakily threw some daggers at them, killing them instantly. This was the only fatality of the fight. I later learned, that it was a slyth druid called Garock.
It was starting to look like Reinward had something against druids!

Once they had cleared the deck they headed for the captain's cabin. Other nearby crews had seen the fighting and rushed to help their sailor friends. Reinward opened the door and went in, while Fenrir stayed outside to fend off the new attackers.

Inside the cabin Dauntinghorn had backed into a corner while one of his crew stood in front of him with a sword.

As always, Reinward made things more complicated then they needed to be by casting some form of Darkness spell and slipping on his magic Blindfold. After a scuffle he managed to knock out Dauntinghorn and drag him outside. An area of the ship's deck became supernaturally dark.

Fenrir tried shouting 'I'm the Commander of the Watch! Stand down all of you! I'll seize all your ships!'

This just made everyone on the docks more angry as the Watch here really hated in this part of the city.

Reinward was under attack by two angry sailors. He kicked over a barrel of water. With the barrel empty he tried to stuff Dauntinghorn into it. It was chaos though, sailors, marines, annoyed dock workers were everywhere.

Fenrir flew into Reinward's bubble of darkness and tried to fly off with Dauntinghorn. He was a big lad though and too heavy. They grabbed him together and stuffed him in the barrel, then moved down onto the dockside. People avoided the darkness bubble, but every so often someone would enter the gloom by accident and have to be scared away.

Reinward sloped off into the darkness and Fenrir eventually managed to lift the barrel and rose into the air. As the DAW arrived to see what was going on he called them over, 'Give me a hand with this barrel!'

They then took the barrel, with Dauntinghorn in it, back to the main Watch barracks.

With Dauntinghorn in a cell and a cleric on hand Fenrir woke him with the old 'stab and heal' technique. He then sent some Watch clerics and adepts down to the docks to revive and heal the sailors he had put to sleep. They were not able to do anything to help the druid. It's the poor Animal Companion I feel sorry for, they tend to slowly pine to death after their master or mistress dies. I hope there was a compassionate cleric with enough sense to bring the slyth and his companion to other druids.

Well anyway, Dauntinghorn was outraged at his treatment, very angry towards Fenrir, so they left him to cool off for a few hours.

Later that evening Fenrir had Veddic come down to the barracks and cast a Zone of Truth spell on Dauntinghorn. Veddic said he would first have to rearrange his spells.

They set up some extra guards in the barracks. Fenrir slept in his office.

DAY 541 (26th Eleasis) (August)

In the morning Veddic cast a 'ZOT' spell on Dauntinghorn.
'Why are you associating with a known vampire?' asked Fenrir.
'I don't know what you are talking about,' replied Dauntinghorn.

Fenrir mused that the young man might actually believe what he was saying.

Reinward, ever the joker, walked into the cell, using his magic ring to disguise himself as a vampiric version of Dauntinghorn.
'I vant to marry Thistle Thavalar, ha ha ha,' said Reinward in his best vampire impersonation.
'Don't sully her name on your vile lips!' cried Dauntinghorn, standing with his fists raised.

Fenrir sighed. He was getting nowhere, so he put Dauntinghorn back to sleep and stuffed him back inside his barrel. He then arranged with Veddic to have him taken away to put with the other barrels on Spectre Island.

After that, Fenrir and Reinward went out. Their first port of call was to put an add for a waffle-iron in the Westgate Gazette. This was a message to Cavu to try and get his help after there had been nothing from the blasts into the air the other day.

They then went to visit the Night Parade. Once inside their house of nightmares he asked them, 'what do you want to make you fully on side?'
'We want babies!' was the sinister reply.

Reinward offered to fill any handy receptacle with a 'donation' but they declined the offer. Fenrir then struck a deal to give them all the people he was currently holding in barrels. 'You can make babies with them?' he asked.

After that they found Raz and took him to the Thavalar Mansion. Reinward was disguised as a random watchman.

The guards at the gate would not let them in, so Fenrir wrote a note;

''
I'd feel better if you had Raz as protection, as discussed. Please say where you would like to meet for a rendezvous.
''

Ten minutes passed and there was no reply. He then gave the guards a couple of gold and told them to pass any return message to his house. This they eagerly agreed to, like many people in Westgate they were big fans of Fenrir and his spectacular displays of power.

Back home finally, and later in the evening the two rings of Eagle's Splendour were delivered by Auntie Vanya. Reinward took her to his room and had his wicked way with her again. He wore the Crown. You may remember, dear reader, that Vanya was a succubus in disguise!

Fenrir had missed Werren's party or whatever it was at House Malavhan. He sent some flowers to apologise. 'Very sorry, was on official Watch business!'

In the Mountains of East Java. Part 1 - Mount Bromo (Final Draft)

 

In the Mountains of East Java. By Graham Foss.

Part 1 - Mount Bromo

The drive up to the Bromo region from Malang takes about three hours. We had set off at midnight, so it is still dark when we arrive in an unknown village to change our car for a bright blue jeep. This is all arranged by Adi our guide, and we go and sit in a harshly lit porch while a deal is struck with the jeep’s owner. It’s three in the morning and cold, an unusual feeling in Java. It’s been a steep climb in the car, but it has all been on tarmac. From now on it will be on dirt tracks.

In the jeep it is another hour’s drive, in the mysterious dark, still not really knowing what to expect. It must be even more enticing, exciting, for the children. Our two sons are fourteen and twelve, our daughter is nine.

Still in darkness we stop on a dusty plain for my middle son to pee. The air is thin, the stars are bright. As I stand a few steps away from the jeep, I can see my breath. In the headlamps I see ice crystals on the tufts of grass that grow in the dust. I momentarily worry if I am dressed warmly enough for what is to come next. When we set off again, the jeep in front of us kicks up clouds of dust that are illuminated by our lights.

We finally arrive in an area of buildings lit by the lights of dozens of vehicles parking up on the narrow road, decanting tourists. It has the hustle of a busy bus station, a small army of appropriately dressed walkers, a muddled throng completing the last hundred metres on foot. We find ourselves in a dimly lit compound. There is an excitement in the air, anticipation.

We have tea in an open shack and talk to a young backpacker couple from Yorkshire. They work (something to do with music), but from hotel rooms and hostels. They tell us that their packs had sat on the floor of their flat throughout 2020 while the pandemic raged, but now they are living the life they had planned back when they had bought them. Nomads with laptops.

I take in the other people as they come and go, a mix of local east-Asian tourists, a smattering of Westerners. All dressed for the cold. It feels jarring after the heat of the city. Malang is far below somewhere, still sleeping.

Do I want to join the Fajr prayers, my wife asks? Sure. I can see now that one of the other lit up buildings is a Mosque. Me and the boys go to the men’s wudu room and perform our ritual wash before prayers, then go over to the glass-walled prayer room. It is small, with no separate area for the women, so they are at the back. My wife and daughter are behind me and to my left, while my sons and I are up closer to the front. It is nice to see them back there with the other women and children as usually they would be off in another room entirely. There are about thirty men at the front with us. We form our lines and wait.

I don’t often join in prayers with the family, but there is something special about this moment. With everyone dressed for the mountains it almost feels as if we are in a temple at the foot of Everest. Something from a film.

As we wait for the Imam to start, I wonder if other Muslim men take pride in praying with their sons? They surely must. I have prayed with them when they were little, rolling around on the floor and being silly, but now they know the ritual better than I do. I just follow what everyone else is doing. Mosques are always warm and welcoming places for me. They like converts.

I am not a spiritual person, but if I was ever to truly believe, it would be in a place like this. We are so high up the air is noticeably thin. In this Mosque on top of a mountain, you feel closer to God. We pray, then leave the compound and follow our guide to the start of the trail.

In the end, after the spiritual build up, the walk to the viewpoint is disappointingly short. Barely fifteen minutes. I was looking forward to a good trek, something to make the reward at the end feel earned. To stretch out my legs a bit at least.

The viewpoint, a flat area on an outcrop is still dark. Dozens of tourists, tightly packed. Slowly, Semeru reveals itself, a massive volcano, thirteen miles away, flanked by smaller mountains and smoking craters. The scale is difficult to gauge. Slowly, as the dawn light grows brighter, we see more of Semeru, more detail is revealed. Every few minutes a puff of smoke that must be the size of a block of flats emanates from its top.

The tourists jostle about, taking photos and selfies. We do the same. In the dawn light, I imagine a time before tourism. There can be no doubt that Semeru would have been a god to those that lived here long ago and if someone isn’t worshipping it now, then they should be, just to be on the safe side.

The rising sun picks out the detail of the surrounding mountains, the forest, and the dusty plain at the foot of the volcano that we passed along in the dark. It is called Pasir berbisik, the Whispering Sand. I try my best to take it all in, but it is almost too alien, too vast. Semeru is too big and too distant, like we are gazing down onto another planet. All the photos I took did not do Semeru justice, they look strangely like paintings. 

Eventually, in the warm morning air, we drive back down to the sea of sand, a vast dustbowl of volcanic ash. Adi instructs the driver to stop at a long line of tourist shops and cafes. The children are tired, so they lay down in the back and sleep. Me and the wife, still eager for adventure, walk to the Tengger Caldera. Local men offer horse rides to get us there, but it is a short walk and besides the horses all look too small and thin to carry my well-fed Western bulk.

There is a temple of some kind at the bottom, although it might just be another gift shop. The stone steps with their ornately carved bannisters that take us all the way up to the lip of the crater again give me the sensation of having wandered onto a film set.

The roar of the cauldron is sudden and unexpected, only hitting us when we reach the very top. There is a stone handrail, but it is broken in many places and the drop on the other side of it to the pit below looks terminal. The smoking, roaring, sulphur deep at the bottom of the cauldron looks as close to Hell as I ever wish to get. When the wind changes, we choke on the sulphur and turn away to catch our breath. There are lots of tourist here now, it is getting very hot as we go back down. We pass old people taking the stairs cautiously one at a time. Only on the way down do I notice the stone of the steps is worn as smooth as glass by the dust and passage of feet and I decide to descent the same way the old people do.

Back at the hotel I am glad to wash the dust and the smell of sulphur off. The packed lunch the hotel has provided contains cold toast, butter, and sugary jam. I spread the toast with a teaspoon and eat all of it.

The pool is closed for maintenance, so the children watch cartoons on their phones.