Forbidden Lands

At last we were in sight of the Fortress of the Eye of the Rose. We knew that orc Emperor Hroka the First had gifted his spouse one of the gems missing from the crown of Stannenghast, so we had to find a way in. As we watched wagons laden with ale and barley passing by, Boldo spotted a cowled figure in the woods - an elf, clothed in living ivy of uncertain gender. They introduced themselves as Mergolene of the Red Runners and joined by other elves as well as a Treekin.

Angor bristled at the insults by a particularly snooty elf called Alserso and stood up to challenge him. The ent Kotinda was impressed with his bravado and patted him on the head. After further introductions, Mergolene told us that the ruby was in a clasp on the empress Soria's cloak and the gave us a replica that could be exchanged. They also told us of a secret route from the chapel of the gods that would lead us into the heart of the citadel along with a cryptic poem to guide us. Finally we were gifted three magical talismans in the shape of humans made from copper that could be filled with the blood of a living donor and transform us into their shape for a quarter day.

We entered the city cautiously to see much boisterous fighting and revelry going on amongst the orcs. Boldo offered his services as a healer and collected enough blood from broken noses to transform us to orc form and offer a little more safety. We headed into the throng, playing at being drunken, roistering orcs and managed to stock up on arrows and torches from a merchant before entering the chapel of the gods.

We passed a series of trials, following the clues in the poem, making our way up the tower, up endless staircases. We retrieved a book that none of us could make sense of from a lectern, before hearing an Orc guard and a human in the next room. Our attempt to make a stealthy attack failed and Boldo accidentally killed the human with a thrown rock intended merely to knock them out. Oops. The guard only managed to get one shout out before we silenced them - had anyone heard? Time would tell.