Chapter 23, in which a dragon has a hard time with its food, and the half-dwarf teaches us a valuable lesson about orcs

Tujex
Tujex sighed and dusted the ashes from his clothes. He wiped the sweat from his brow, coughing violently. "If I knew it was going to be this difficult to get to a library, I would have just stayed at home." Tujex muttered as he removed the leather band that held his hair in a ponytail, wrapping it around his wrist. "Whenever you're ready," Tujex sighed, brushing a few stray strands of his long white hair from his eyes.

Red Un
"Alright, we're headin' northwest, if I'm not mistaken."

Red Un started to march into the swamp again.

Vodok
Vodok and Vodivir had escaped the explosion. Vodivirs wound was nowhere to be seen. They both followed Red Un, talking to each other, as if nothing had happened.

Mario Heartwood
Mario ran after Red Un and began to talk about what kind of books he thought it was.

Red Un
Red Un kept walking. He had a nagging feeling that something very strange had just happened, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Oh well...

"When we get outta the swamp, d'ya think we should go to Kazordoon an' rest up before we continue?"

Vodok
"Yeah! Kazordoon!!" Vodok yelled, sending a snake slithering away. Then he took up a beer and drained it. He continued following Red Un, still talking to Vodivir, refusing to give him a beer.

Swordslasher Jon
"Kazordoon.... Haven't been there in awhile." Jon looks back down to his fairy scared in his left inner pocket while no one was looking and he took off the cork to a flask and put a few drops on the fairy. "Tell my brother to bring the sword. We are moving towards Kazordoon. Hurry!" As he finished whispering to the fairy it shot towards Thais in a glimmer of blue light.

Kalistra
The assassin had been sulking the whole way through the swamp, not saying anything to anyone. She couldn't help being suspicious of people.

However, the sight of Kazordoon lifted her spirits. She walked slightly faster, wanting to taste red wine again, not the coconut concoction she had been forced to drink on her island prison.

Vodok
"KAZORDOON! KAZORDOON! WE ALL LOVE KAZORDOON!
GOES AS DEEP TO THE FIERY DEPTHS, AND ALL THE WAY UP TO THE MOON!
KAZORDOON! KAZORDOON! THE MIGHTY, MOUNTAIN OF BEER!" Vodok and Vodivir were singing. Actually they were more yelling it than singing it. Vodok, knowing beer refill was close was drinking beer as much as he could.

Red Un
Finally, they reached the great crevice in the Big Old One that was the entrance to Kazordoon. A guard peered down on them from an observation post high up in the mountain. Vodok and Vodivirs singing could be heard even up here.

"Oh no, it's those guys again. They always bring trouble when they're here..."

Meanwhile, Red Un led the party to the gates of the city.

"Welcome to Kazordoon, everybody!"

Vodok
"To the bars to the bars to the baaaaaars!!! Their supply o' beers reach up to the staaaaaaaaaars!!! To the BAAAAAAAAAARS in Kazordoon!!" Vodivir sang, as he and Vodok ran towards the bar. "Wai'. I'm gonna leave off me armour 'n' stuff... Waid 'ere." Vodok said, running to the depot. He stuffed in his armour and most of his runes and locked the safe. Then he ran back to Vodivir, who ran to the bar. In the bar he noticed a female sitting on a chair. Well... He would have if he could draw his eyes away from the Giant Beer Casks. He ran up and ordered a beer. He sat down next to a dwarf called Minorek Thunderaxe, who was talking to some other dwarfs. He sat down and was ignored, and listened for half a minute. “Then I healed 'im. I bashed the Dragon in the 'ead with me axe... But I just that second 'e turns away... Then I did what no one else dared..." he was saying. "Oi, Minorek. We all know we're gonna die some day but I be' none o' us knew we were gonna be bored ta death..." Vodok said. Vodivir groaned. Vodok had yet to enter a bar without picking a fight with anyone... Minorek turned to Vodok, fist hovering beside his shoulder.

Tranquillity
Tranquillity had been quietly sipping her lemonade and listening to Minorek tell his story of his encounter with a dragon when a short dwarf came up and picked a fight with him. Tranquillity disliked fighting between the "good" races of Tibia so she quickly tried to think of a way to break up the fight.

Quickly she jumped up, grabbed a beer from the dwarf behind the counter, and jammed it into Minoreks raised hand. Next she stepped between them and made a challenge she had yet to hear a dwarf refuse.

"How about a drinking contest? There isn't a dwarf born that could outdrink me!"

Red Un
Red Un had also decided to head for the bar, but Vodok and Vodivir were far quicker than him. He watched them disappear in the distance, singing (or rather screaming). He turned to the others.

"Arright people, you can all do what ya want in Kazordoon, but I say we meet up at the gates in the mornin'. I'm...uhm...gonna tell Vodok an' Vodivir that too...be seein' ya."

And thus, he ran in the direction of yelling and drinking. He arrived just to see a woman talk to a bunch of dwarves. He ordered in a large mug of fine dwarven ale from Jimbin and sat down at the bar.

"What's happenin', Jimbin?"

Jimbin, the dwarf bartender, poured up an ale himself and looked over at the bunch of dwarves.

"There's sum crazy woman challengin' them dwarves to a drinkin' contest. 'Ope she doesn't lose too badly..."

Vodok
Vodok took a beer from a nearby dwarf, threw 5 gold coins to him. And of course he missed and the coins rolled away on the floor. Vodok quickly drained the beer. Minorek took his beer he already was drinking and drank it. Both the dwarfs looked at the new woman.

Tranquillity
Tranquillity reached into her backpack and drew out a few gold coins that she passed to the bartender, who handed her a beer.

Tranquillity lifted the large mug of beer up and brought it to her lips and took a sip. "Whew, this is strong." she said. Slowly she drank the mug of beer and placed it down on the counter. She did not usually drink alcohol and was already drunk and swaying visibly from the large mug of strong dwarven beer.

Red Un
Red Un got an idea. He sneaked up behind Tranquillity and put a dwarven ring in her hand.

"Use this if ya wanna win" he whispered. Then he returned to his chair to see what would happen...

Vodok
Vodok looked slightly amused, as if someone had told him a half-funny joke. Tranquillity had paid for the strongest dwarven ale. Not the best one, but the strongest one. Minorek took another mug. (The least strongest one) and Vodok did what Minorek did. Minorek drank it all, so did Vodok. They both looked at Tranquillity, hiding their grins behind their beard.

Tranquillity
Tranquillity reached out for another beer, and on the third try managed to grab the handle of the mug and brought it to her lips. She managed to slowly drink it down without spilling any of the beer on her dress.

Finally done with the mug of beer she placed it on the counter and sat there smiling blankly at a point a few feet above and to the right of Vodok.

Vodok
Vodok and Minorek were hardly drunk at all, since they had taken the lightest beer, not strong at all, and the lady had been given the strongest beer. Vodok took another beer, so did Minorek. They both drank up. Then they both took another one... And another one... Now they had been served the strongest beers. It was Jimbins version of "fun" to destroy different sorts of contests. Minorek and Vodok were now very drunk.

Tranquillity
The bartender passed Tranquillity another mug. As she was sitting on her stool examining it her hand fell into the pocket of her dress where she found some herbs. Without thinking she pulled some out and stuck them in her mouth.

Instantly her head cleared and she could see again, although she had a tremendous headache. She reached over the bar and grabbed her mug and took a short sip before quickly drinking the rest of the contents. She put the mug down and grinned at the bartender. "Aaaah... lemonade." she thought to herself.

However, she decided it wouldn't be fair if she carried on with the contest drinking lemonade. "I'm out," she announced, "but you two can continue. It’s on me" she said with a look towards Vodok and Minorek.

Darkodin
All went quiet. A deadly silence. Until from the darkest corner came a voice. It was the voice of Darkodin. The legendary adventurer. "Stop wasting yer time wae the drinking and get some real wurk dun" he said. "’Ave heard o' a wee village, jus north o' here. They say it’s haunted, by a spirit who's body lays tae rest." His voice soon gets more sincere. "I need you tae free that spirit by takin it tae the lake There’s a reward fur ye. A nice stash o' gold, bout 10,000" His voice rises. "what d'ya say?"

Red Un
Red Un looked over at Darkodin.

"Sorry, but we've got a quest of our own t'think 'bout. If ya want, y'could join us, and we'll deal with this haunted place of yers later."

Vodok
Vodok and Minorek both took another beer. One of the strongest. Minorek threw up. Then Vodok threw up, a matter of seconds later. Jimbin quickly drew a dwarven ring, and tried to throw it from a three meters distance onto both the dwarfs fingers. The one meant for Minorek hit him in the face. The one meant for Vodok hit Minorek on the arm. Minorek cursed, but couldn't say any sensible words because of his drunkeness and Vodivir started laughing like a maniac. One of the dwarfs jumped forward and stuffed the rings on the two drunk dwarfs. According to ancient beer drinking laws, one of the ways to lose it to throw up. And since Minorek threw up first, Minorek lost first. Minorek and Vodok had drunk more beer than the Lady. It was not unusual that the drinkers forgot one of the drinkers and started to out drink ONE of their opponents instead of both.

Minorek was a poor loser. He started yelling out insults. "GAH!! YOU IDIOTIC umm... IDIOT!!" he started. After he had insulted Vodok with all the insults he could come up with he started to insult Vodoks mother. "Oh yeah... And I remember yer mother... Big fat 'n'..." After that two things happened at the same time. The first thing was that Vodok had punched Minorek. The second thing was that Vodivir had punched Minorek, causing much more damage than Vodok's punch. Minorek was knocked out at once. He fell to the ground. Vodivir ordered a beer, very careful to make sure he stepped on Minoreks face.

Tranquillity
Tranquillity looked down at Minorek with a half bemused half annoyed expression.

"Oh well, I guess he had it coming to him..." Tranquillity sighed. "Excuse me, bartender, may I please have another lemonade?"

Tranquillity looked around and spotted Red Un, who appeared to be in charge (if it’s even possible) of Vodok and Vodivir. She turned and approached him with a smile, "Hello, I'm Tranquillity." She held out her hand.

Red Un
Red Un rolled his eyes.

"Well, I could sure use some tranquillity right now..."

He thought a bit, and coughed embarrassedly.

"...Oh, it's your name."

He ordered in another beer for himself. Then he thought a bit again.

"Jimbin, you actually sell lemonade?"

Jimbin laughed.

"Yep, 'tis m'own recepie."

"What's the ingredients...?"

"Erm...can't tell ye that..."

"Oh, it's a secret recepie?"

"Errr...yeah."

Jimbin quickly hid a dead rat under the counter and nonchalantly started to clean a mug with a dirty rag...

Tranquillity
Tranquillity smiled at the half dwarf. He was not the first person to get confused with her name.

"I couldn't help over-hearing that you are on a quest. What exactly are you 'questing' for? Perhaps if you are looking for some extra company I could join you?" she said. She suspected that whatever it was that this group of adventurers was searching for it was bound to bring some excitement.

Red Un
Red Un looked at Vodok and Vodivir, who had gathered up quite a big mob of angry dwarves that would like to have a word with them about the punching of Minorek. He sighed.

"I guess any help is appreciated..."

He took a sip on his beer.

"We're lookin' for the Library 'o Legends, where all the books from the past, present an' the future are stored. Just meet up with us at the gates tomorrow if ya wanna join us. Oh, and I've got first pick on any treasures/books that we get our hands on."

Gwidion
Soft grey eyes peer form behind a mug toward Red Un with neither interest nor suspicion. But more of just letting it be known that he acknowledged the fact that Red Un was there along with the others.
The set of eyes could not help but wonder, as he brushed his dirty blonde hair from his face, as to how great love must be to allow a human and dwarf look past each others physical differences and join in a symbolic attainment of unity...marvellous. "Another please..." the man asked as his grey eyes make a gesture of his empty mug to the bartender.

Tujex
Tujex burst into the bar, a huge smile on his face. "I heard someone throwing up, so I figured I just missed out on a drinking contest?" Tujex asked looking at everyone in the bar. Puddle of throw-up lying in front of Vodok and some other dwarf, Red Un sitting with some girl at the bar, and a familiar face in the bar. Tujex squints his eyes, peering into the persons grey eyes. "I know you!" Tujex cried out as he ran over to the man. "White cape, grey eyes, blonde hair....." Tujex rubbed his hairless chin. "Your the guy with the white bird thingy... ummmm...." Tujex rambled on, trying to remember the man's name. "Gidon....Gingerbread......Grape.....Gwingon?" Tujex guessed on and on. "Okay, I give up." Tujex said, rubbing his head. The massive amount of thought was too much for his brain and gave him a massive headache.

Tranquillity
"All the books from the past present and future? I would dearly like to see this library. I will be sure to meet you at the gates tomorrow. Till then, happy drinking." said Tranquillity as she raised her mug to Red Un. She drank the last of her lemonade and headed out of the bar. She would prepare herself for tomorrow and then head to her friend’s house where she was staying.

Vodok
"Aah, but he attacked us first! It was self defence! He wanted my beer, then I said 'No way, this is my beer.' then he started to attack me so I punched him." Vodivir lied up as quick as possible. "Righ'... So why'd Minorek, you and Bad-Shot throw up?" another dwarf asked. "'Cause... Um. He threw up when me 'n' Vodok punched him. Then we threw up 'cause. Um. 'Cause we punched 'im, right? So then we threw up." Vodivir lied. "But how come yeh were so darn drunk?!" another dwarf asked. "That's not important! The important thing is that Minorek is knocked out! Shouldn't we be helping him instead?" Vodivir said. Rather help an enemy than get ten new enemies. Vodivir thought.

Red Un
Red Un finished his beer.

"Oi Jimbin, is that 'ol hotel still open? I could use a bed right now..."

"Nope, half-dwarf, 's been closed for quite sum time now. The best idea would be t'find a calm spot in the depot."

Well, I've slept in worse places, thought Red Un.

"I'll do that then. Thanks for the beer..."

Red Un began to walk towards the depot.

Vodok
Vodok and Vodivir abandoned Minorek and ran after Red Un, Vodok swiping a dwarven ring with him while he ran past.

Mat Dracon
A little kid named Mat Dracon, with a staff with a skull on its top, and a long green tunic stares at Red Un...
-Hi mr. I’ve heard your talking and... My mom just died, so I wanna see how the world is behind the door of mine house...

He tries to make a fake crying but he can’t…
-Well mr... I know some good healing and energy magics... I can also do some useful runes for your use... please mr?

Red Un
Red Un yawned.

"Well young man, since you asked so nicely, sure. Just meet us at the gates in the mornin'..."

He walked out of the bar, and soon made it to the depot. There he found a corner in which he laid down to get some sleep...

Vodok
Vodok and Vodivir ran past the little child and threw themselves to the wall, to sleep. But instead they both hit their heads against the stone wall. They both started cursing. After a few minutes they started to make themselves comfortable and then tried to get some sleep.

Tujex
Tujex watched as Vodok and Red Un left. "Leave it to a dwarf to sleep in the depot..." Tujex muttered as he walked from the bar, taking one final glance at the ranger. "Gwid... Gwidion! That’s his name!" he exclaimed just as he walked through the bars doors. He strolled through the streets, humming to himself. "I gotta find a bed to sleep in..." Tujex sighed as he continued his search for a decent place to sleep.

Red Un
Red Un dreamed...

The Master appeared before him.

"Greetings half-dwarf! You managed to escape from the swamp, it seems..."

Red Un smiled.

"Yep, your buddies 'ave failed again, it seems."

"Hah! Your fate is sealed anyhow!"

"Whaddya mean? And why haven't ya started makin' any scary dream yet?"

"You'll see, half-dwarf, you'll see..."

Vodok
Vodok and Vodivir couldn't sleep. But they could at least rest, but it was hard to rest, since they just had jumped into a solid wall headfirst.

Swordslasher Jon
Since Jon had been sleeping the whole time the dwarfs were drinking, he was up and about. Jon climbed up on the mountain and began to stare quietly at the moon. "I have what you've called me for" a voice whispered behind him. "Here's the custom sword your fairy asked me to bring. Can you even wield its power?", asked the mysterious character with doubt. Jon nodded silently. "It's good to see you again. Would you like to join us on this quest, Rusty?" "Maybe. What’s in it for me?", he asked with a smirk waiting for good news. "The half dwarf knows of the library and you know what else is in there." Jon says as he turns to finally face his brother.

Tranquillity
Tranquillity rolled around in her bed unable to fall asleep. She was sure that joining in on Red Un's quest would lead her to danger. Perhaps she had been wrong to join them, maybe she should just not show up at the gates tomorrow. She shook her head, she felt she couldn't back out now... but more importantly something told her she shouldn't. It was definitely the right thing to do, she thought.

She rolled over and closed her eyes. She would need all the sleep she could get. She was sure she would have need of her blade in the days to come. She was soon still, gone for the night into a dreamless sleep.

Vodok
Vodok and Vodovir had managed to get some sleep. They slept deeply, Vodok dreaming about someone repeatedly hitting him with a hammer on the head because his head hurt so much. And Vodivir was not dreaming about anything special, though his head hurt to.

Red Un
Red Un chased the Master through never-ending tunnels that went everywhere.

"Dammit! Whaddya mean my fate is sealed! Get back here!"

But the Master just laughed and moved on. Soon they reached a chamber. Red Un looked around. From the walls hung...people.

"Oh no..."

There was the old man from Thais...and the poor young boy from the ferries...elves...killed by the burning tree...and there...there was...

"NOOOOOOOOOOO! Not her! NOOOOOOOOOO!"

Red Un woke up, screaming. People in the depot looked at him.

"Uh...just a bad dream. Heh..."

It seemed that it was day. Time to head for the gates, thought Red Un. And so he did.

Tranquillity
Tranquillity jerked awake. A cry from the direction of the depot woke her. She rose from the bed mumbling something about "rude little dwarves." She dressed herself, grabbed her equipment and some food, and left the house. She headed for the gate. She preferred to be above ground so she couldn't help but feel a bit relieved to be leaving Kazordoon, despite how much she enjoys the company of dwarves.

Red Un
Red Un walked up the stairs that lead to the outside gate. The guards looked down on him.

"Curious", one of them said "he hasn't caused any trouble here."

"What about the bar-fight last night?"

"Well, he hasn't caused something that doesn't happen every night anyway."

"Right."

Tujex
Tujex was already at the gate, he had managed to talk a woman into allowing him to spend the night. A smile was on his face, his cheeks a little red. He looked up to see Red Un approaching, his elven ears picking up the conversation that the guards were having above. He laughed, walking up to the dwarf. "Good morning," Tujex exclaimed as he patted the stubby half-dwarf on his head. He knew that would probably irritate the dwarf, but Tujex does a lot of things and doesn't care when he's in a good move.

Vodok
Vodivir quickly jumped up. At least he would have if he wasn't carrying around his war hammer. So he got up a little bit then fell back down to the ground. Then he got up more slowly and woke up Vodok. "WAIT FOR US AT THE GATE!!" Vodivir yelled, as they half ran half walked towards the depot to get the things they needed.


Red Un
Red Un muttered angrily and fingered on his sword.

"Hrmmph...had a good night, elf?"

Tranquillity
Tranquillity reached the gate and saw several other beings standing around there. She smiled and approached them. "Well, I guess it is a good thing that I was woken by that screaming dwarf or else I might not have gotten here on time. By the way, I'm Tranquillity, but you can call me Tran for short." she said as she looked around at the group.

She looked around and began assessing the group. They all looked like capable warriors... and good looking too, she thought. She winked at the elf and smiled.

Red Un
Red Un coughed embarrassedly.

"Yeah, I was awoken too by that...screaming dwarf..."

"Hey, wasn't that you?" one of the guards yelled down at him. "Heck, most people in Kazordoon were woken by that."

Red Un looked up angrily at the guards.

"No, it wasn't me. I'm not dwarf, I'm half-dwarf!"

The guard shook his head.

"Sometimes I wonder what the difference is..."

Red Un
Red Un waited. Where has those two dwarves gotten to, he thought to himself.

Vodok
Vodok and Vodivir were in the depot. Vodivir had gotten his stuff for a long time ago but Vodok decided to be very careful what to choose. "Righ'. A soul fire if I meet 'at mur'drer... This bunch'a backpacks... Not 'at 'un... 'Is 'un ought'a come in handy..." Several minutes later Vodok was satisfied, but had large problems walking with all those backpacks. Somehow he managed to get down to the entrance.

Fire Aclay
Fire Aclay came and asked Red Un what he was waiting for. He didn’t look too much like a warrior but he could back it up when he needed to. He waited patiently for Red's answer.

Fire Aclay
Fire Aclay's patience wore thin and he paced back and forth... he was suspicious of people who just waited around certain places for no particular reason.

Tranquillity
Tranquillity shook her head, she had had the weirdest vision of Red Un calling people midgets, tripping over his own feet, and then being mysteriously teleported to the bar where he began drinking beers with a mysterious paladin. It all seemed crazy to her (except about the part about drinking beers) so she just shook her head and tried to ignore it. She failed, and giggled to herself at the thought of a half-dwarf calling others midgets.

Smiling she turned around and greeted the newcomers before returning to trying to catch the elfs eye.

Braldril
Braldril stood up after a long nap against the cold stone wall. He did not know the time of day or even the day itself. "I must have been asleep for quite a long time..." He slowly increased his pace as he walked out of the depot, looking both ways for any kind of trouble. Oh how he loved to get involved in arguments and fights. Now that he had awoken from his energizing sleep, he felt that he could do anything.

Fire Aclay
Fire thought that Red Un was a man of few words... if any.

Red Un
Red Un had been lost in some kind of illusion, or dream or whatever. He had been back in the bar, but now he was at the gates again. A young warrior looked at him impatiently. Then a memory of the question he had been asked surfaced.

"Who I'm waiting for? Just me fellow adventurers. We're goin' out on a quest of sorts. Maybe ya wanna join us?"

Braldril
Braldril walked into the bar, very sleepy, and sat down at the counter. "I'll have three of your strongest beer." Braldril slipped on the dwarven ring he had in his backpack, not wanting to get drunk, but only hoping that the beer would energize him and wake him up. He looked around the bar, not seeing many familiar faces. "I wonder where everyone has gone...."

Fire Aclay
Fire Aclay accepted Red Un's invitation for adventure, in exchange for knowledge of exactly what they were looking for.

Braldril
Braldril leaned back in his chair. "Hmm, I wonder what today will bring...."

Fire Aclay
He had heard something about a book.... hmm and he thought a sword also...

Red Un
"We're lookin' for the Library of Legends, where all the books from the past, present..."

Good 'ol dramatic pause, Red Un thought.

"...and the future are stored. Right now we're headed for Femur hills, in look for a flyin' carpet."

Braldril
Braldril stood up and left the bar walking slowly towards the gates to set out for a daily adventure. A little bit of hunting and looting. All a hard days work for a knight. He was arriving to the gates when he saw a small party ready to set out on a quest. "Perhaps I will join them..."

Tranquillity
Tranquillity turned around was surprised to see that one of the dwarves she had been drinking with yesterday was one of the members of Red Un's group. Tranquillity looked around her once more at the company she now found herself in. "This is indeed going to be an interesting adventure..." she thought.

She turned to Red Un and said, "Are we waiting for anybody else?"

Vodok
"Oi, 'at assasin 'n tha' other... Roku guy... I en't seen 'em around for some time..." Vodok said. "We don't have time to stick around... We could leave a note. Wait, someone'd steal it... Let's put it on the wall!" Vodivir drew his knife and started marking the wall. "What do I write?" Vodivir asked Red Un.

Red Un
"Uhm...well, if ya wanna ruin a good knife...'We've gone to Femur hills, come there if ya wanna see the library.' That ought to do it..."

Fire Aclay
Fire Aclay accepted and was ready to service Red Un at any cost. "From Kazordoon to where, my friend?" asked Fire Aclay.

Red Un
"Well, as I said, we're goin' to Femur hills. I hope yer not 'fraid o' heights, 'cause we're gonna to a little carpet-flyin'."

Fire Aclay
“I shall join you. As long as my feet are secure I’m fine.”

Braldril
"If I may I wish to join your party," Braldril said as he advanced towards the party. "But, I need to know the purpose of this.... adventure before we set out."

Vodok
"Hm." Vodivir muttered, he didn't want to ruin his knife. So instead he picked up a nearby stone that was rather sharp and tried to write on the wall. It didn't work very well. "I hope they can guess where we're goin'..." Vodivir said, moodily kicking the wall. (He didn't like when his ideas didn't work) but that resulted in a sharp pain in his toe.

Fire Aclay
Fire Aclay looked confused. Then with a happy face finally remembering he said, "I hear of an ultimate sword of pain and a demon of some sorts. But I also hear of a high concentration of orc shamans in the west," he said with a woeful tone. "I help run an underground news source of dangers and conspiracies. This will make the business rich if true!"

Rukell of Zion
"What are you doing?" said Rukell with a stern look.
Fire Aclay told his master the news of what he had heard and Rukell went away chuckling. Rukell was the boss who Fire Aclay gave the news to. They knew if what they heard was true it would mean big profits! So Rukell went back to his work station humming a little tune. For he was not fit for battle.


Red Un
Red Un turned to Braldril.

"I don't know how many times I've had to say this. We're lookin' for the Library 'o Legends, where all the books from the past, the present and the future are stored."

He turned back to Fire.

"I dunno anythin' about a sword, and as far as demons goes, I hope we don't run into any more of 'em."

Then he turned to the rest of the party.

"Well, I guess we ought to get goin'."

And then he started to walk.

Tranquillity
Tranquillity smiled at Vodivir. "Hold still," she said, "I can ease the pain." She took Vodivirs foot and concentrated what little healing magic she had into Vodivir foot. "There, I hope that feels better."

Tranquillity reached into her backpack and found a knife that she had used for training. She took it out and handed it to Vodivir, "Can you write that message on the wall for me? I think it requires somebody stronger than me." she said smiling.

Braldril
Braldril stood for a moment looking at the ground then looked up at Red Un. "Perhaps I will join your quest. Maybe I will get something good out of it..."

"I need to go get a few...supplies...ah it will only take a moment."

Braldril took off towards the depot and returned a few minutes later.

"Alrighty then, I'm ready."

Fire Aclay
Fire Aclay was nervous at the fact that what he had to tell his boss was untrue! Oh, how he dreaded the day the quest was over. To keep his mind off of it he asked, "Red Un, what adventures have you accomplished so far on your quest?"

Vodok
Vodivir shrugged. He didn't feel the pain in his left toe any more, and it wasn't his knife he was risking... So he started to make some markings.

We have gone to femur hills. Come there if you want to see the library, Vodivir wrote, and gave back the knife to the lady, slightly blunter than before.

Red Un
Red Un stopped and looked back.

"C'mon people, are we gonna get goin' before the sun sets?"

Then he started walking again, conversing to Aclay.

"Adventures? I'd rather not think of them very much. We've killed some elf-ghost-thingy, I personally got pretty badly beaten by a demon, we just barely saved Ab'Dendriel from total destruction, had our ship almost destroyed by a monstrous sea-creature, defeated an army of orcs an' minotaurs, and then got thrown all the way over Tibia to Venore, only to almost get burned alive in the swamps. How's that for an adventure?"

Tranquillity
Tranquillity smiled towards Red Un and pulled her backpack up onto her shoulders. She marched quickly off towards where Red Un was and fell into step with him. Whatever lay ahead of her could wait she thought. For now she would just enjoy being out in the sun again. She smiled as she walked and listened to the birds singing and the bee's droning. Today really was a beautiful day she thought.

Vodok
"Yeh fergot 'bout them cyclopses, 'at sinkin' islan', 'em dragons, weird mutatin' dungeon an' prob'ly alot more..." Vodok said.

Vodok and Vodivir both followed Tranquillity. Vodok was staring down at the ground, the weight of the backpacks were pushing him down towards the ground while Vodivir was walking, carelessly swinging around his war hammer. Vodok threw two backpacks to Vodivir so that he could carry them instead. Vodivir sighed, picked them up and continued.

Fire Aclay
Fire Aclays eyes were wide open. Maybe he would have a story after all! But at the same time would he survive? He closely followed Red Un and wondered how many other people were joining them. As he followed down the mountainside the wolves charged.. and quickly fell dead. They found themselves at the dwarf bridge and Fire Aclay ate some meat to hold off his hunger for the journey. "Red Un, uh sir, what is in the femur hills that we are looking for?" Fire Aclay hoped he wasn’t asking too many questions, for he felt he was being watched. The dwarf's scream still echoed through his head... hoping it was nothing he listened carefully to Red Un.

Red Un
Red Un looked a bit confused.

"Well, if we're ever gonna make it to Femur, we shouldn't go over the bridge, but turn straight around and go north..."

Fire Aclay
“What are we looking for in femur hills?”

Tranquillity
Tranquillity sighed, if things continued on like this she was sure it was going to be a very long trip. "I believe Red Un said we are looking for a magic carpet at the Femur Hills."

Red Un
"Yeah, a carpet is what we're lookin' for..."

Fire Aclay
"Okay, looking for a library, going to Femur hills, to get on a carpet, got it!" said Fire. All of a sudden Fire remembered what he heard about a great movement of orc shamans from the west heading down to Venore. "Red Un!" he yelped, "What if we’re seen?" Chills went up his spine.

Red Un
"Seen? By whom?"

Fire Aclay
"Since I help run underground news, my spies tell me of a great force of orc shamans coming from the west down to Venore, and we are trailing along the Kazordoon mountains! What will we do?" said the frantic Fire Aclay.

Fire Aclay
"Usually if there are shamans there is every other type of orc to back them up. They liked Venores swamp area and elevated ground for ranged defence so our best guess is that when they stop their westward march they will head south to Venore." rambled Fire.

Fire Aclay
Rumbling was heard.

Braldril
"That does not sound like something that greets you when you walk into his realm... Perhaps we should speed up a bit..."

Braldril clasped his Dragon Lance...not knowing what was to come next.

Fire Aclay
Fire Aclay had never encountered shamans before and so he held his dragon hammer as close to him as he could.

Tujex
Tujex who had been thinking about random things (surprising... Tujex + thinking) was snapped out by the sudden rumbling. He looked to everyone else who had already readied their weapons for whatever was to come. "Guess I should pay more attention," he muttered. He didn't know whether to load his crossbow of unsheathe his blade, for he didn't know what he was up against. So one hand was gripping his sword hilt while the other rested upon the satchel in which he carried his bolts. He stared into the distance, his eyes tightening as he strained to pick up any sign of life coming towards them.

Vodok
"I reckon we pass the dwarven bridge (which I hope they've managed to replace by now) and just start running..." Vodivir said. He looked down at Vodok. "Vodok'll need to make as much distance as possible from them, if they wanna kill us..." Vodivir said.


Red Un
The robed man peered down from a mountaintop high above.

An orc army, he thought to himself. If this can't stop that accursed half-dwarf, I don't know what can...

Red Un drew his sword.

"Well, I say that we try to find a hidin'-place before this orc army comes marching all over the place. Any suggestions?"

Vodok
"Nope. Unless... Well... Hmm... I've got it! The cave under the Kazordoon dragon! Let's go!" Vodivir said, running to the cave of the Kazordoon Dragon. "Don't... go up to the dragon... ." Vodivir said, attempting to pull out his shovel as he ran.

Tranquillity
Tranquillity nodded and ran along with the group. She couldn't help feeling like she was being watched. Her senses were alert for any sign of danger, from orcs or anything else that might get in the way. Her hand was near her sword as she ran on, ready to fight.

Vodok
Vodivir and Vodok were both underground in the cave. "Righ'... We just wait 'till them orcs've passed, then we go up and continue our quest without any blood spill." Vodivir informed Vodok.

Up on the mountain...

"They are soon all in a cave... If we go in from all sides they'll be trapped like a rat in a sack." one of the robed men said to the other.

Red Un
The dragon stirred. It smelt fresh meat wandering close. It knew that the meat must be in the tunnels below. Many a long night had it pondered over this. It wanted to find a way down there, so that no food could hide from it again. And now, it thought it knew how. It walked over to the hole and listened.

"Well, I 'ope we're safe in this cave. Those orcs aren't stupid, ya know" said someone down there. The smell from the speaker was strange, thought the dragon. It was like a dwarf, but also like a human. Must be a half-dwarf. And there were other smells too. A nice feast indeed. Slowly, silently, the dragon started to dig with its claws...

Tranquillity
Tranquillity was tensed, her senses straining to hear anything from outside. From behind her she heard a sliding and scraping of rocks. She turned around to tell whoever it was to be quieter so that they wouldn't be heard and saw a gigantic claw reaching down from the hole above, searching for them.

Quietly she tried to catch the attention of her travelling companions and motion them away from the claw behind them.

Fire Aclay
Fire Aclay's heart pounded. For that was the last news update he had received. He usually got messages from his trained messenger sparrows but in a cave they would surely not find him. He saw a gleaming in the distance, the gleaming was a flash! First white, then red, as if a fire.... "oh no," he thought to himself.

Red Un
The dragon breathed fire into the cave. It wanted its food warm, and preferably dead. One of the food, the half-dwarf, screamed to the others.

"Get behind me!"

Then the half-dwarf held out its shield in front of the oncoming blast. It must have been a magic shield, for the dragons' flames didn't get through.

That it should be this hard to get food...

Fire Aclay
The orcs heard the dragon so they scattered. Red Un held the flames back. The rest didn’t want to stray far from protection but they didn’t want to stay around the dragon either. Fire Aclay started writing his will. "Can anyone here summon a decoy?" Fire yelled. The flames grew hotter and were heating up the adventurers armour.

Vodok
The dragon was breathing in fire and at the same time making the hole bigger. It stuck his head in, and Vodok managed to quickly shoot a heavy magic missile at the dragon, which barely damaged it but annoyed it a little. The heat was getting unbearable, and it was still getting hotter... "Ideas?" Vodivir asked.

Fire Aclay
"Summon a couple deers and make them run <-- that way so we can get out of here while the dragon is busy!!!!!!!" screamed Fire Aclay.

Red Un
The dragon reeled from the blow that the dwarf had thrown at it. If there were magic-users down there, perhaps it'd better find some other food. Magicians didn't taste very good anyway. It pulled out its head and went back to its usual place, only to find a bunch of orcs that tried to hide there.

Maybe it wouldn't have to go hungry this day after all...

Red Un heard orcish screams above and ran for the opposite hole. He started to climb up.

"I don't know 'bout you, but I'd rather take my chances 'gainst the orcs than the dragon..."

Vodok
"I'd rather not take my chances with any of them..." Vodivir said and took a deep breath. "MY OH MY!! THE DRAGON THAT’S DOWN HERE IS ATTACK US!!! SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP US!" Vodivir yelled. Vodok imitated Vodivir. "YEAH! 'TIS BREATHIN' FIRE DOWN 'ERE." Vodok yelled, hoping the orcs were going away.

Fire Aclay
"RUN LIKE HECK TO THE FEMUR HILLS!! " said Fire Aclay.

Fire Aclay
Fire Aclay looked back as the group ran. When they made it outside the cave they saw the orc forces and the dragon were warring near an opening of the cave but they couldn’t let them go. Fire Aclay did not think for this possible, but the orc shamans had control of a giant spider that 2 orc riders were on. Half the orcs fought the dragon, while the others ran after the group. The giant spider and war wolf riders looked crazy and the spearmen pelted the group continually. Fire from the shamans, spears from the spearmen, and a poison blaze of rage from the giant spider. The two orcs that rode the giant spider also threw spears at them. They had special masks and weren’t affected by the poison clouds. The orc forces were a blur fighting a dragon in the distance, while the spider was clearly on the group’s tail. They had reached the Femur hills but spiders can climb walls!

Fire Aclay
Fire Aclay turned pale with fright.

Red Un
Red Un promptly drew his sword and cut off one of the spiders' legs. It reeled in pain.

"C'mon! We've gotta get to the carpet! Follow me!"

Tujex
As Tujex ran an idea struck him. "That's just crazy enough to work!" he screamed. The elf kicked off of a rock, flying backward, he landed right behind one of the orcs snatching its mask from its face and kicked it off of the spider. The orc fell into a cloud of the spider's poison and died a rather painful looking death. Tujex smiled as Red Un severed the other spider’s leg, and Tujex took the last spear the orc rider he had just killed had, and sent it into the head of the other. Once the riders were finished he grabbed hold of the reins and kicked the spider in the sides a little. The eight legged beast let out a screech as it broke out into a dash. Tujex caught up to the others with a smile. "Will I ever cease to amaze me," Tujex thought. "Anyone want a ride?" Tujex said with a smile as he put on the mask.

Red Un
"Thanks, I'll pass. Besides, I don't think enormous spiders are allowed on the carpet..."

He hurried onwards towards the magic carpet.

Vodok
Vodivir had arrived at the carpet, and so had Vodok, who was completely out of breath. "Get.. ready to start..." Vodivir said, waving a small bag of money in front of the carpet flyers nose. He lifted about a foot, ready to set of at any second. "HURRY!!" Vodivir yelled, then he sat down on the hovering carpet.

Fire Aclay
Once the dragon had scorched the last of the brave orcs and watched the last 58 run away, he set his sights on the climbers. His anger burned against the half-dwarf who had blocked his flames. The dragon rose up into the sky, and with a loud bellow of his anger he summoned fire from the sky. It was raining fireballs! All the orcs burned up but 1, an orc shaman with a magic shield. He had read Red Un's mind and floated towards the warriors. Fire Aclay had two heavy magic missiles he was saving for a time like this. So with two blasts he paralyzed the dragon’s wings and the dragon fell bloody and unconscious. Fire still came down from the sky and the orc shaman grew nearer. He seemed to be more powerful than a regular orc shaman and soon floated up to the carpet.

He knew what Red Un was looking for.... and wanted to find it for himself. There were craters everywhere. Creatures and trees were ablaze. Then the creature absorbed the fire into his evil staff and the crystal ball glowed red. They had made it to the carpet, but what of the shaman?

Red Un
Red Un looked at the grinning orc shaman. Then he picked up a rock and threw it at the shaman. This didn't cause much damage, but he lost his concentration over the floating-magic and fell to the ground. THAT caused much damage.

Red Un ran onto the carpet.

"We need to get to the Ice Islands, Vega to be exact."

The carpet-owner sat down.

"No can do, half-dwarf."

"What?! We're in the middle of a frikkin' fire-rain, and ya don't wanna fly..."

"...to Vega, half-dwarf. No carpet-flyer would be crazy enough to go there, what with the storm and all."

Red Un sighed.

"So, ya heard of that too... Is there ANY way to get to Vega?"

The carpet-guy thought a bit.

"We-ell...I guess there IS one carpet-flyer crazy enough to go there."

"Okay, fly us to him!"

"No can do, half-dwarf."

"You say that a lot, don't ya..."

"He lives in the Outlaw Camp, and that's no place for any sane carpet-flyer."

"So, I guess we'll have to WALK there?"

"Exactly. I can take you as far as south of Kazordoon, but then you're on your own."

"Very well. HEY EVERYBODY! Get up on the carpet!"

Fire Aclay
The orc shaman, barely breathing, said, "I will offer you my service, and unlimited runes, if you let me join your quest Red Un.... yes I know you name, and I know about the library o' legends. You obviously have enough power over me, so I am someone you can trust. All orcs either defeat, or become servant of their rival. Since you have (ouch) defeated me in battle, and since danger is around every corner, I suggest you accept my offer."

Fire Aclay dreamed of unlimited runes, but he was also wary. "Why did you attack us?" said Fire Aclay. "Don’t you remember? We were off to invade Venore. I can even read what you don’t remember! I read Red Un's mind just before he ran up the mountain. And since my forces are dead anyway, and you outnumber me, I think it would be wise to take an asset like me along."

Tujex
Tujex jumped off of the spider, which seemed to not want Tujex to leave. Tujex sighed, and placed his hand on the spiders forehead, a slight light coming from his palm. He pulled a flute like instrument from his pocket and blew a low note. "Whenever you hear that, come." Tujex commanded as the spider scampered away. Tujex watched the spider until it was out of view before he got on the carpet," I'm ready when you are," he said looking to the carpet driver guy.

Red Un
Red Un looked down at the orc.

"Well, all I can say is...too bad."

Then, in one slice, he cut of the shamans' head. The head rolled away a bit and grunted and cursed a while until it realised that it was, in fact, dead. Red Un nonchalantly wiped off the blood from his sword.

"If there's one thing us dwarves (and half-dwarves) learns early in life, it's to NEVER trust an orc. Now, get on the carpet!"