Chapter Twenty: Knowing Is More Than Half The Battle...

Frustrated that they hadn't found any "real" treasure yet - despite Dirkin's assertion that there "had to be" something down in the strange, copper-lined corridors of the Treasure House Of The Gods, Cobblethwaite's Companions debated their next course of action.

Eventually they decided to revisit the room with the rippling mirror, and Holly's magical doorknob revealed this to be concealed door into a chamber with a couple of chests that could be opened with metal rods they had found elsewhere.

From the chests, they retrieved two pairs of gloves. One pair of a leathery substance proved to be resistant to the lightning sparks that came out of the walls, the other pair - by trial and error - Kirchin discovered, by clapping them together, caused a random person in the vicinity to fall into a death-like sleep (that they could be easily woken from) .

When Marigold first collapsed there was a great deal of panic, but as the experiments went on they realised there was no great danger from the gloves.

Dirkin suggested they were revisit the room with the owl lanterns, but on the way they passed through the room at the bottom of the well shaft and noticed that under the rubble was a wooden board. Moving this they found a second well shaft, going down 100ft into a natural cave with more of the glowing water.

After sending Harry down on a rope they decided (once he was back up and told them of the corridor leading off from the cave) to just check the room with the owl lanterns again.

And they were surprised to discover that the lettering on some of the scraps of paper had changed into words they could read.

Marigold pieced the bits of paper together to reveal an ominous prophecy about the "Yellow King sailing from Kroatoa in a Virtuous Vessel", bringing death and destruction in his wake etc etc

As she thought about it, Marigold began to get increasing panicky, eventually wondering if she was the "vessel" and the child growing growing inside her was something to do with the Yellow King or something equally demonic.

Eventually, with everyone abseiling down into the newly discovered well, Davian the dwarf saw that the stonework beyond the cave was much older than that in the rooms above.

Exploring the small collection of rooms, the party battled a giant skeleton that nearly felled Kirchin (not helped that by the fact that their main fighter, Davian, had been blinded by a trap they'd set off and as the battle had unfolded, the dwarf has crashed into Kirchin accidentally knocking him out of the way).

While the bulk of the group recovered from the battle, Holly - fired up with enthusiasm after taking a magical ring from the giant - wandered into the room of utter horror!

The sight of a skinless man - his skin was pinned to the floor before him - shackled to the wall, made her scream loudly, attracting the attention of the others.

Having recovered her wits and combing the depths of her knowledge, Holly recalled the legend of the Flayed King (an arrogant king who'd sought to steal the knowledge of the Mnoren Gods and was twice cursed for his trouble, given all their knowledge and immortality, but chained forever in this place to answer one question from any brave enough to approach him).

While Kirchin and Dirkin were off searching another room (containing a replica sailing ship with a hold full of miniature gold bars), there was a lot of bickering over "what question" to ask The Flayed King.

Holly explained that, as she understood the myth, once the King had answered a question he deemed worthy, he would fall silent for a year, and anyone who tried to rescue him would be cursed to suffer the same fate.

At one point, Marigold made a break for it, determined to run into the room and ask the King about her pregnancy. Unfortunately when she got in there, the sight of him made her so tongue-tied giving Holly, Harry and Davian time to get to her and bundle her back out of the room before she could say anything.

Having dismantled the boat and taken the gold, the group put their heads together and eventually agreed that Marigold should be allowed to ask the King about her pregnancy.

The fleshless head spoke, telling her she was, indeed, carrying the 'Yellow King' and she was his method for escaping from Croatoa (the Mnoren religion's equivalent of Purgatory).

Deciding they had probably explored this 'dungeon' thoroughly, the party made their way back to the surface, to their wagon, and headed back towards Elyntia.

It was a three-week journey. The first two weeks - to the border - they saw no other living creatures. However, they did realse that Marigold's "bump" was growing at a noticeable rate - again freaking everyone out a bit (Marigold described the experience as being akin to "swallowing a bag of eels").

Crossing the bridge of the River Dart, that marked the boundary between the Known Lands of Elyntia and the Western Badlands, they arrived at the doors of the Welcome Back Inn on the night of the blood moon, with the night sky turning a peculiar mix of orange, red and blue.

To Be Continued...

CAST:

• Davian (Kevin)
• Harry (Simon)
• Holly (Erica)
• Kirchin (Pete)
• Marigold (Clare)

Background: The Royal Family Of Elyntia...

King Keeg Ridend (45)

Queen Elisota The White (36)

Keeg Ridend "The Bloody" came to the throne of Elyntia in 2004 at the age of 35, succeeding his uncle, Ater III, whose death by poisoning remains a mystery.

He is a harsh, but he believes fair, taskmaster - demanding the best from his military commanders, advisers etc and not suffering fools gladly.

Keeg's credo - from his reading of the Mnoren sacred texts - is "might is right" and he maintains that as long as the army of Elyntia remains strong, he has the mandate to rule and will earn his room in Ündain when he walks the "Glorified Way After".

A truly martial family, from the dominant House Ridend, Keeg has insisted his children - the twins Castor and Mirabella and his youngest, Ysabella - all received the best combat training available.

In the closing months of The Secession Wars both Castor and Mirabella led units into battle - scoring decisive victories each time and earning the respect of their troops.

While Keeg's children have all taken to the way of the warrior, they all know that their father is constantly looking to make worthwhile matches for them, marriages that can secure important alliances for him.

Queen Elisota is rarely seen at court. Rumours of her mental instability have long circulated, even before her husband became king.

More often than not she can be found in her private garden in the grounds of the, appropriately named, White Tower which has been planted, at her orders, entirely with flowers that bear white blooms.

She believes white is the colour of royalty and her "connection" to the colour is the Mnoren gods telling her that she is their holy champion.

Unsurprisingly, there are also rumours that the king has taken a number of lovers.

Prince Castor (21)

Princess Mirabella (21)

Princess Ysabella (16)

History: The Secession Wars (2009 - 2011)

The Secession Wars (also known as The Dukes' Rebellion and The Elyntian Civil War) was an intense 30-month conflict centred primarily around the winter capital of Elyntia, Winterhome, although smaller skirmishes spread across large swathes of Northern Elyntia.

Almost exactly 150 years after the end of The Thousand Year War, the Dukes of Kanon and Spartax in the North-West of Elyntia rose up in open rebellion against the King Keeg The Bloody.

Keeg The Bloody

Part of their grievances was the fact that orcs and goblins were still allowed to live in Elyntia; it was only the wilder, more feral clans that had been driven south of The Bright River (the minority orcs remaining in Elyntia were generally peaceful and kept themselves to themselves while the Goblin Market in Canigli is still celebrated the length and breadth of the country).

Neither foolish nor naive enough to strike directly at the capital, Kaerater, the dukes and their barons lay siege to the King's estates in Winterhome, the second city of Elyntia.

Through dark magics and remorseless assaults, throwing wave after wave of troops at Winterhome, the city was razed to the ground with its population reduced to a tenth of its original size, eeking out an existence in the ruins of the once great city.

One of the ironic things about this conflict, given the racial tension that helped spark the war, is that both sides freely used orc and goblin mercenaries in their armies.

Smaller pockets of rebellion popped up across Northern Elyntia during this time, mostly barons sensing that change might be in the air, trying to seize a slice of the pie for themselves or settle personal grudges.
 

Princess Mirabella riding into battle

In the closing months of the war both Prince Castor and Princess Mirabella, the 18-year-old twin children of King Keeg, led units into battle, winning both decisive victories and the respect of their troops.

Eventually, the Dukes of Kanon and Spartax were slain (rumour has it some of their barons were bribed to change allegiance back to the king) and their rebellion was crushed along with their dreams of their own independent state.

The dukes' heads were paraded through Kaerater on pikes, then left to rot over the entrance gate of Túr Hwit (The White Tower) .

The barons who had stood with the rebellious dukes were called to the capital and forced to march into the palace under the severed heads of the dukes.

There they had to bend the knee to the king and swear new oaths of fealty - with the added threat that should they entertain traitorous thoughts again, not only would they meet the same fate as the dukes, so would every member of their extended families.

The remains of Winterhome today - a barren desert of ruins

Background: The Coinage Of Elyntia...

From top to bottom: the copper bit, the silver dollar and the golden dragon

Elyntia operates a very simple coinage system, with the main unit of currency being the silver dollar ($), an Elyntian adaptation of the old Sevledian word 'taler' (meaning 'coin').

Dollars, and to a lesser extent bits, are very common in the towns and villages of Elyntia, but gold dragons are a rare sight outside of the rarefied enclaves of the rich and famous in the major cities. 

Minted in the Elyntian capitol, Kaerater, the relative values of the coins are:

20 copper bits = one silver dollar
50 silver dollars = one gold dragon