The Journey To Tor Three days after their arrival back from Sicas, the party’s customary celebrations in the alehouse were rudely interrupted when a party of Black Dragons arrived and somewhat unexpectedly arrested them! Fortunately Grimmir managed to  suppress his natural inclination to go for his axe, and in short order they were being escorted in the direction of the royal palace. They were escorted into a meeting room where they were shortly joined by Pallantides and another man he introduced as Dexitheus, a priest of Mitra. He also introduced Mario, one off his agents, a Zingaran who would be joining them. Pallantides told them that they had partially translated the scroll they had recovered from the Black Rider and that it concerned an ancient prophecy of the “Heir to Atlantis”.. who would be born to one of seven maidens each marked with a star-shaped birthmark on their breast.  Dexitheus informed them that by interrupting the ritual in Sicas the party had inextricably bound themselves into the prophecy and thus were charged with stopping the prophecy or befalling a fate worse than death, and the torments of Hell in the afterlife beyond! Somewhat perturbed by this doom,  they readily agreed to sign-on as regular agents of the Black Dragons, whereupon they were informed that according to the prophecy the next maiden had been born in the region now known as Tor in Nemedia, and there they must go to find her! After Conan himself popped into say “Hi”, they spent the rest of that evening availing themselves fully of Pallantides’ S hospitality! Next morning after dispatching numerous Palace servants off on errands top purchase rations and  securing mounts from the royal stables, they set off on the Road of Kings. For three days they travelled eastwards without incident, by then as the late afternoon sun began to dip to the Western Ocean, they spotted a column of smoke ahead. Kimrah, Grimmir, Ravi and Marco, spurred their horses forwards, while the more cautions Mario and Vanko proceeded at a more leisurely pace. As they crested the rise they could see all the signs of a bandit attack. Slaughtered livestock, a body in the fields riddled with crossbow bolts, a burning farmhouse outside which a woman pointing at the house and screaming for her baby. Riding forward Grimmir noticed that the woman was bleeding heavily from a wound in her leg from which a crossbow bolt protruded. Kimrah executed a rapid dismount and headed for the burning house, despite the overwhelming heat, he was rapidly followed by Ravi. While Grimmir tended to the wounded woman, Marco went over to the nearby stream and soaked his cloak, pacing it over his head a shield before moving towards the burning house.  Kimrah, kicked in the door and he and Ravi headlined in to the smoke-filled interior, followed in short order by Marco. Vanko and Mario meanwhile had crested the rise and spotted the body lying in the field nearby and also the sheep carcasses, heading that way the saw the tracks several horses and noted signs of some of the sheep carcasses had been removed. However neither had the tracking skill to determine more, so they went over to ask Grimmir to take a look. The big Vanir had just finished applying a tourniquet to the woman’s leg and, with their help, began preparing to remove the bolt and bandage the wound. Back in the burning farmhouse, they continued searching through the smoke and flame fruitlessly – until Kimrah suddenly heard a baby cry which seemed to be coming from above him. Spotting a ladder which led to an open loft he quickly scaled the ladder and retrieved the squalling infant. They quickly left the burning building and returned the infant to his grateful mother. They left the distraught widow and child with her brother-in-law and after a brief debate, decided to hunt down the bandits. Using Grimmir’s tracking skills, they followed the bandit’s trail to the hills to the north east and there administered the King’s Justice upon them! The Border Ranges Resting that night in the bandit’s camp, they were somewhat surprised the next morning to discover that one of the sheep carcasses had gone. No one on watch the night before had seen or heard anything, but searching round Grimmir and Kimrah found the tracks of a large cat that had obviously come down into the camp and filched it.  As they headed into the mountains, it started to get colder and Vanko wrapped himself up warmly in his woollen hat and scarf. That night as they camped, Grimmir though he smelt cooking coming from up the trail, but decided not to investigate. Next morning Marco thought he smelled porridge which appeared to be coming from a crack in the mountainside, moving forward to investigate he discovered it was a cave and entered cautiously a female voice called out inviting him in for breakfast. Followed by the others they were offered bowls of steaming porridge by the occupant – a grey haired, though youthful faced  wise-woman, who was keen to know what was happening in the outside word. As they traded stories it became apparent the woman was considerably older than she should be – referring to the town of Tor as a “village”.  After a pleasant breakfast and trading for some of her wound-salve, she sent them off on their way with a warning to look out for the man-brutes that infested the mountainous area ahead. That evening as they settled down to camp they were indeed attacked by four of the hulking man-brutes. They proved formidable foes and all of the party were badly wounded – Kimrah almost fatally so. Next morning, they decided to return to the wise-woman to seek her help with Kimrah. The wise-woman was happy to help, and they camped near her cave for a couple of days while she tended to the wounded Hyrkanian. When they eventually set off, they made good time though the mountains. Passing by a mercenary encampment on the other side of the border, from whom they got directions,  they descended down into the rich farmland of Nemedia. A day or so later they stopped at a village, Homlett, where all the men had been “recruited” by a mercenary company passing through. The women and children remaining were struggling with some of the basic tasks the men would normally do . The party decided to stop and spend the day helping them, though Marco spent much of the time trying to persuade Mario to “take his leisure” with one of the village women. With the grateful thanks of the women ringing in their ears, they set off again early next morning, about midday they came across three abandoned wagons, loaded with now-rotting grain. The wagons were infested with rats, some of which were enormous and feasting on the corpses of the drivers. The larger of the rabid rats undaunted by humans, attacked them, but were swiftly dealt with, though Vanko noticed, as they rode on, that the scratches and bites he’d received in the fight were itching! Chaos in Tor Arriving in the city of Tor, Marko immediately set about looking for somewhere to dispose of the horses and weapons they had recovered from the bandits, managing to get a reasonable price for them. Grimmir, as soon as he got his cut, immediately headed for the nearest tavern The Azure Flask and slapping down a handful of silvers on the bar, set about the serious business of getting drunk. The others joined him at a more sedate pace, Vanko and Kimrah being more interested in the food on offer. A  couple of hours later, having eaten, there was a disturbance as the tavern was visited by one of the local nobles, a huge Vanir, Lord Ivannor known as the Northwind, and his guards. Seeing Grimmir sitting there he came over to greet his fellow northerner, discovering that he and Grimmir were distant kin. Many, many drinks later  they retired to the common room, Grimmir having to be dragged there feet-first! Next morning they woke up hung-over and with a vague memory that they had been invited to the local arena to witness a combat against the “jungle-beast”. Over breakfast they discussed how they might find the girl they were looking for. Marko and Vanko suggested various ridiculous plans, till eventually Mario hit on the idea of seeking-out one of the local midwives. He was pointed in the direction of “old Meg”, but when he arrived at her house, he found she had left to visit her cousin and her husband, Tuthomes the Seer immediately went into some kind of seizure on seeing him and began spouting all kinds of gibberish-sounding prophecies – none of which sounded particularly helpful. Mario dragged the aged seer back to The Azure Flagon whereupon on seeing the others, he went through the same routine, going on and on about them being “marked”; something about “silver defeats the darkness”;  “islands rising”; “the girl will be gone from the place of the dead”; and “ the dark king will not fall from the sword blow unless delivered to his queen” – before collapsing in a faint. Eventually they headed off to the arena and were escorted to the  Northwind, who was busy being stitched up by his surgeon, Oliver, and his young daughter, Lori, after an encounter with his “jungle-beast”. Marko, checking-out the young girl though he saw the edge of a birthmark at her collarbone and was just about to announce this where there was a crash and a huge roar as the “jungle-beast”, a great ape, burst from its cage, swatting aside its two handlers. Scenting blood from the Ivannor’s wounds the beast headed directly for them. The ape was a fearsome opponent. As Oliver escorted the badly wounded Ivannor to the relative safety of a nearby room, the lord shouted to Lori to fetch his guards and the young lass ran off. Vanko stood his ground initially, before having to flee to safety from the beast’s blows. Kimrah and Marko fired arrows at the creature while Mario and Grimmir moved to attack. Vanko limbered up his crossbow and shouted helpful things at his friends like “don’t kill it or there will be no entertainment for the crown this afternoon!” Not even the doughty Vanir could stand longs against the fury of the beast and he was badly wounded. Raging the barbarian charged in once more to attack, only to be rent asunder as the beast dealt him a fearsome blow. The remaining members of the party redoubled their efforts at the death of their friend and eventually bruised and bloody they were triumphant. Ivannor was saddened by the death of his distant kinsman and cancelled the afternoon’s games. He even offered to hold a wake for Grimmir that night in The Azure Flask Next morning, after the wake,  Ivannor  summoned them and met them with a grim look, informing his that his surgeon’s daughter had vanished in the chaos at the arena. He also told them that the beast appeared to have been freed deliberately, possibly as a distraction while the girl was snatched. Marko suddenly remembered the glimpse of the mark he had seen on the girl’s chest and informed they others. Still hungover, Mario suggested they went to visit Oliver, but he could tell them little other  than confirming the birthmark on her chest. They then headed to the arena where Vanko managed to track down a steward who remembered a black rider leaving the arena about the time the beast broke free, in a hurry heading southwards. Asking what lay to the south of town, they were told, apart from some houses, there was a ruined barracks and the city graveyard. Suddenly Vanko remembered the words of the seer yesterday about “the place of the dead” and they headed to the graveyard, arriving just as the sun set. On arrival they were met by macabre figures clad in funeral shrouds, from inside the graveyard they could hear sounds of a struggle and a woman’s voice raised in anger. Seeing through the disguise of those confronting them they leaped into combat.  Mario and Vanko cut round the guards, leaving them for Kimrah and Marko. Inside they graveyard they could see a soldier trying to hold down the struggling Lori while the black rider attempted to force her to drink something from a small flask, another nobleman stood and watched while behind him an uncanny steed stood patiently. As battle was joined, Vanko focussed his attentions on the nobleman, manoeuvring himself  into positions where he could do most damage. Outside the fight  against the guards swung into their favour when the battle was joined by a small wiry Pict, who uttering a strange lowing battle-cry jumped into the fray on their side. Mario, managed to help free the girl, who immediately leaped at and attacked the black rider, scratching at his eyes. Vanko managed to get a telling blow against the nobleman, who fled the scene badly wounded. Seeing their leader flee the battle, the surviving guards also fled, leaving the party to focus their attentions on the black rider who had grabbed the girl and was attempting to drag her kicking and screaming onto his black steed. Unable to defend himself properly while holding Lori, the combined attacks of the party made short work of the Stygian. His master dead, the uncanny steed leaped into the sky and flew off southwards.