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= Adventure 15, Part 4: Into Slovania =

== The Road North ==

The party now returned to their northward trail.  Arriving once again in Konas meant they received a warm welcome from the people; the defences following their recent Giant invasion had almost been completely rebuilt, and there were now plans for a wood and stone wall to be erected.

The party returned to Bavaria from here, arriving at Graddon a few days later.  Heading out of here, they went north through Balcom, Gorna and finally Hacht.  It was here that they learned of Derren's journey over a mountains pass into Bohemia.  While the majority of the population in this small town were fearful of leaving the safety of their home overnight, some of the locals were smugglers who used the darkness to conceal secret trading runs over the pass, meeting with their counterparts in the plains the other side of the mountains.  This smuggling continues all through the autumn, winter and spring, when there was enough dark hours to cover their passage over mountains.

Despite the short summertime night, the smugglers has successfully managed to get Derren and his companion over the pass, but they had not stayed long with them, they turned back at their earliest chance and remained out of site of Slovenian guards.

Intrigued, the party made a requests to be shown the same journey.  It would be easier now, it was later in the summer, almost autumn, and the night arrived earlier than it did the last time.  The smugglers still didn't like the short night; their own trade missions were not due to start for another four weeks, and were reluctant, but the exchange of gold changed their minds.

As night time was short, the party were encouraged to head for one of the rest caves that were on the other side of the pass; there were several dotted down the mountainside above the foothills.  The smugglers warned also about the presence of wolves on the other side, and that these rest caves were not always clear and safe to use; occasionally animals would move in.

== Over the Pass ==

The guides left with the party the following afternoon; they intended to get to the beginning of the pass as night fell properly, that would give the travellers as much darkness as was available to get down the mountains on the other side.  Right to plan, as dusk fell, they arrived at the entrance of the long narrow cleft high in the mountains between two similar looking peaks.  It took a couple of hours to walk along this tight, twisting channel, and the going was heavy.  It was cold up here, even in late summer, and the ground was strewn with rocks and was uneven in places; the party wondered how the smugglers managed to move heavy loads along here.

Eventually the pathway widened and began to fall off sharply.  The steep mountainside fell away before them but it was too dark to see further than a few a few yards away.  This was good, there was a road ahead somewhere which was patrolled by local guards.  They trudged down the mountainside for several hours more.  Exhausted and weary limbed, they began to look for caves.  Jim lead the search but Fax could see better in the dim light, and between them they found one of the caves.  It was marked with a runic marker by the entranceway, and inside it was dry and surprisingly empty of animals.  They camped down for the day; it was impossible to say how far they had come, and they could not yet see how far in front of them the road lay.

As light broadened they took stock of where they were.  Looking back up the mountain they could see the two peaks between which the mountain pass ran, but it was impossible to see where they had come out of it.  Looking down over the rolling moorland they could make out the road winding its way through the foothills.  They decided that they would try to make it that far during their next march.  As the day became brighter, people could be seen moving along the road, and they could make out guard patrols which were scanning the mountainsides for interlopers such as the party.

Night eventually fell; the party had marked the progress of the guard patrols all day long.  They watched each as they passed - sometimes northwards, sometimes south.  But regularly, an unnatural regularity that suggested they were driven by an external power.

When the darkness was full they set out, the moon was waning and it was very dark.  Slowly they picked their way down  the mountainside, and the foothills drew closer and closer.  With only one stop for food they drew close to the road.  Taking care not to be seen by any guards, they shadowed the road to the north and looked for a place to camp where they would be out of sight of watching eyes on the road, but where they could observe those passing along it.  It took a little while but a suitable place was found, a small copse of trees with thorn bushes and high grasses around it, set in a hollow between hills.  They set their camp here.

== To Civilisation ==

By early afternoon the party were refreshed and read once again.  They moved out to observe the road, and watched its guard patrols.  When the time was convenient they made their way towards it, and shadowed it for a while, raising a few eyebrows of people who were dragging their trade goods along it.  Eventually they joined the road and made their way along to the first settlement along the road.  This was the village of Gristalf.  Here the people seemed cold, the party raised many sidelong looks in their fancy attire and heavy armour.  A stay at the inn overnight showed that Charles Derren had been here too; he'd left for Vorana, but this was three weeks before.

Now the party stepped into their stride as travellers.  They began to journey during the daytime, and rest at the stopover placed during the night, much like the local traders.

The next stop along the road was the city of Vorana.  They had barely checked into their hotel before they received a invitation from Count Friedrich von Halpstein, the local feudal lord, to join him for dinner.  They accepted, of course.  It took just a few minutes to tidy themselves up, before heading out to the Count's castle which was right by the city.  Friedrich von Halpstein welcomed the party to his home, to his city, and to his country.  Despite their presence being a technical illegality, he seemed genuinely pleased that they were there.  He told them that foreign visitors were seldom seen through Slovania, and that he was delighted to make new friends.

The party spent the evening in guarded conversation with this man, they discussed some of the local politics, and a little of how the Duchy was operated.  They also asked about Charles Derren; Halpstein was only too pleased to discuss this matter with the party, the Gaul noble had stayed in the Halpstein castle only a few weeks before.  He told them that Derren was on his way to see the Lich King, that he was seeking a method to bring immortality, and that he was talking to everyone he could find about such matters.  von Halpstein went on to tell the party a little more about the road that lay ahead of them.  He warned them of the next duchy along, that they might encounter danger there.  The Count of the province, Allesandro Megora, was rumoured to be a werewolf.

For once their night's sleep was not punctuated by the howling of wolves in the mountains.  The party slept uneasily with such silence.

The next morning they left Vorana and headed along the north-east road.  By evening they arrived at the last town of the Duchy of Halpstein, Zubagra.  Here the people were very quiet, wanting to have little to do with the party at first.   Eventually a few warmed to the Jim, he worked hard to break the ice with them.  They were clearly unnerved about events that had been happening here for many years.  They are a close-knit farming community, but occasionally a farmer would awake in a morning to find one of his cows mauled, or some of his sheep or pigs butchered in the night.  The bodies would be mutilated; they'd be half eaten by some kind of wild beast, and would be left to rot where they had died.

The next days journey took them into the Duchy of Megora.  There were subtle differences between here at the town of Evingira and their previous stop off at Zubagra.  The people were warmer and more friendly; the party found it easier to talk with the local people, yet upon reflection they had found out far less from these people.  A few seemed to grumble about the tax burden, but otherwise they were quite ordinary.  Careful questioning showed that 

The next village was a much smaller place called Hanmun, which sat in a low plain between Evingira and the seat of the Duchy at Borullis.  The people here seemed on-edge; there was a current of fear running through them.  It soon became clear that people here did not venture far overnight.  Normally they remained indoors with their doors locked tightly shut.  There had been reported sightings of large grey wolves, some bigger than a man, running over the hills nearby to the village through the night, and occasionally they'd had villagers go missing.  The wolves have never been seen in the daylight.

The next day the party arrived at Borullis.  This is another large Slovanian city; only slightly smaller than Vorana.  Upon their arrival Count Megora invited the party for dinner; this seemed to be a custom among the nobles of the area.  The party accepted - the feudal leaders here seemed to know how to live in comfort.  The count was an interesting man; he was a quieter than von Halpstein, yet seemed much more approachable.  The party did not pursue the subject of Werewolfs with this man; there were no obvious signs of any lycanthropic illness, and discussing the matter between themselves, they realised that they had begun to lose time in their chase of Derren.  It now looked like they could be dragged into some local matter involving a werewolf who had somehow been given the title of Count.

The discussions continued.  The party had many reasons for chasing Derren, but none that they were certain would be safe for themselves.  While they wanted to catch and either stop Derren from being a menace, or at least stop him from becoming a vampire, they could not predict what effect this would have on the future, and their own early lives.  Nor could they be sure of any kind of victory; Derren alone would be a tough opponent, and he would have his accomplice Yanneg with him.  The began looking objectively (for the first time since their arrival) at what their course of action should be.  They decided it would be to find a safe way to reverse the spell that had put them here; a way to send them home.

They talked about who would know of such magics; it was, after all, wish magic that had produced this devastating effect.  They presumed Derren knew nothing of it; they'd talked to Magnus Elberman (Yanneg) about this matter some time ago before they were double-crossed by him, and he knew nothing of the subject.  It would be unlikely that Derren would be an expert in this field if his finest student knew nothing of it.  The only other in these lands that had any reputation with magic was the Lich King himself.  If they followed Derren, their path would lead to the Lich King; and now their own path was leading that way too.  Who were they that they could deny destiny.

== To Petorus, by the Direct Route ==

When morning came, the party said their farewells to Count Megora and pressed on along the road.  By evening they arrived at Trest, an agricultural village where they stayed the night at the local inn.  A day later they reached the market town of Suma.  The next town along the road was a large town where pottery and smithing were popular, this was Kebill.  This place had been doing a roaring trade just recently in small weapons, mostly short swords, maces and shields to the farmers and other better-off peasants.

Next stop was the city of Rena, which was the seat of Count Valoris Belmada.  Once again they accepted the hospitality of the local lord, and stayed in his castle overnight.  Valoris seemed a tired man.  Years of strife, of political manoeuvring against Vampires who had ended up ruling some of the most powerful Duchys in the land, and against a Lich who showed no favourites other than himself had worn him thin.  He was tired and ready to give up the fight.  He quite liked the idea of becoming a farmer in the quiet hills around Rena.

The next evening the party reached Pashir Amanna, a small town with a strong woodcutting industry.  Their lumberjacks would not go into the woodland at night; they stayed well clear.  The woodland had a strange reputation once night fell.  The party pressed on to Sigula the next day; this place was still close to the Amanna woodland, and while largely agricultural, there was still some woodworking taking place.  Their people too knew of the reputation of the woodland and would not enter into it.

The next day the party passed into the Duchy of Oclava.  The first village they stayed at was Dormun, where the people seemed to be suffering from starvation.  They worked the lands but they had no money and barely enough food.  Outside the inn beggars gathered to harvest a few small coins from the many travellers that passed this way.  At the next town, Hoddah, the party encountered the same problems; carefully asking questions the party established that the people were being bled dry by a grossly inflated tax regime.  They were bendt under the strain.

The next stop was at a village called Meuna.  Much like at Dormun, they were accosted by beggars outside the inn.  The next day they reached the city of Hapsch, the seat of Count Egris Oclava.  He too shared his hospitality with the visitors, but this time the fare on offer was much poorer.  Egris told the party that the King had suspected he was becoming too powerful; his Duchy had become wealthy, and the King feared that the Count was positioning himself to challenge the king.  The Lich's response was to raise taxes; he raised them so high that the whole Duchy suffers.

At the next town, Kartah, the party encountered organised militancy.  The peasants were on the verge of revolt; they knew that they could not take on a Lich, but overthrowing their own Count might relieve the pressure on the population.  The party felt that the Count would not put up much opposition to this kind of threat; indeed he'd seemed quite willing to stand down if the peasants were to try and blame him for the predicament.

The next town was the last of the Oclava Duchy.  Here the party encountered the same suffering among the farmers of the town, but there was also a busy, thriving port where goods were traded to and from the capital, upriver.  The port traders seemed unperturbed by the raised taxes; they were making plenty of money anyway - the taxes were little more than an inconvenience to them.

The party were glad to leave the squalor of Oclava behind them; the next Duchy they entered was the land of the King himself, the Duchy of Petorus.  The first village was Kempsch, which was a rich place established on farming and mining, making good money from their proximity to the capital.  The place seemed too well off to be a village, but seemed to maintain it's status with a population spread out over a rural district.  The last stop-over before reaching the city of Petorus was the town of Hulorgia, which seemed to specialise in metalworks and fine art which they successfully traded into the capital.

The capital city, Petorus is an imposing construction.  It towers high, and taller buildings still were encountered, the deeper in the travellers went.  At the heart of the city is a large open square, fronted on the east by the Kings palace and around it were several important buildings including a Catholic church, an academy of magic, a small library, some good hotels, a bath house, and even a temple to the four.  The flagstones covering the ground here were well laid and very level; the two steps leading up into the palace were broad and well made.

The first place the party stopped was at a reasonably priced hotel.  They needed a good place to stay, and there was plenty of choice.  Keeping away from the central square seemed like a good way to save money, and once checked-in, they retired to their beds.  A good nights sleep in comfort was very welcome.  The next morning they made their way over to the palace to try and get an audience with the King.  The palace is a pretty imposing building; the floor to the lobby was made of polished marble, but showed the signs of its constant use.  Visiting the King's court seemed to be a common activity for the citizens of the city - there was even a queue of people waiting to do this.  The party joined the queue, but they did not stay there for long.  They were quickly recognised as foreign guests, and were met by an officious man who booked them an audience for the end of this same day.  The party were very happy at this celebrity treatment.

The party now had the whole day to spend relaxing.  They investigated the Library, made fools of themselves at the Magic Foundary, which turned out to be the name of the magic academy off the square.  They even plucked up enough courage to pop into the hotel where Charles Derren was staying.  They asked if they could see him, and a runner was sent.  When Yanneg came down to meet them, they suddenly realised that they'd not given any though to what they were going to ask.  They stared blankly, blinking, and looking somewhat gormless.  Yanneg was not impressed and returned to his suite.

The party left the hotel feeling a little sheepish, and went off to investigate the bath house.

== A Meeting with the King ==

Arriving at the Palace at dusk the party were ushered into the presence of one of the Kings aides.  He gave one or two pointers to the party to make sure that they knew how to behave; he suggested it would be bad to go into the King's court and make any demands, and that politeness would get them far further with any help they needed.  He also helped to smarten them up a little and make them better presented.  He also warned them that the King would be meeting them in court, this meant that some of his senior lords would be present as would scribes and such.  The King would not be alone so being circumspect with sensitive information would be a good plan.

The party entered the hall when they were called.  The guard at the door suggested that they approach the throne.  The room was lit with magical light, there was an area just in front of the throne that glowed brighter than the rest of the room, this was clearly where those who came for their audience were expected to stand.  Around the ceiling of the huge room was an observation gallery, where others could watch the proceedings of the court.  A few eyes could be seen peering down.

The party presented themselves and described their time travel predicament.  The Lich at first did not believe them, but upon taking a look at their aura, it was clear that they'd been affected by Wish Magic, and that the magic was still affecting them.  He asked what they wanted, and was surprised by their request.  But this presented him with an opportunity.  He had a delicate task that he needed doing, and the arrival of the party seemed to solve a quandary that he'd been struggling with.  He told the party that he had a quest they could do in return for his help, and that if they desired he could discuss the delicate matter with them in private.  When they agreed, he adjourned the court, and invited the party to follow him to his private quarters.

He left through the large double doors behind the throne; the party, accompanied by two of the Kings guards and by the senior scribe of the court, followed.  The King did not return to any living quarters, but to the party's surprise he lead them to his private office.  This was a reasonably small room, something that was unexpected.  The office had a desk and a few chairs; the King sat at the desk and the party were invited to sit where they could.

Next the King told of a vampire problem he was suffering.  Well, suffering would be too specific a description - really he had been monitoring the growth in power base of one of his vampire counts and deemed that it had grown too big for the King to ignore.  You don't get to stay as a King for hundreds of years if you ignore such an expansion of power.  The vampire in question, Count Beracul, was lord of a wealthy duchy.  It was known that he had his own select group of vampires that worked together, and that he seemed to be at the head of that powerful group.  It is also known that he's been training his guard police in a military manner, and seems these have become something of a private army.  These factors together point many fingers of suspicion.

The King cannot deal with vampires using the same techniques that he uses for human counts.  Just hiking the taxation and eroding the power base isn't enough - vampires are quite powerful and this lightweight action might provoke an open power challenge from the count in question.  With vampires, it's usually necessary to have them removed from office permanently; it was fortuitous for the King that the party turned up at this time, he was considering sending a team of his own men.  This would be costly and would be much more likely to raise suspicion from the vampire in question.  This gets around that problem, and gives the party a worthy task for the mighty gift they've asked the King to provide.

The party accepted the task, only Fax the Druid raised any kind of dissent about returning to their own time - he had all he needed available here!  The King promised to send a messenger in the morning to show them into the Magic Foundary where the King's magic users would begin their investigation into the wish magic which had brought the party here.  The travellers then returned to their hotel and began planning how they would go about defeating the vampire.

== Preparing for the Journey ==

The whole of the following morning was spent being ''Detect Magic''d and having their aura measured.  It's not the size of the aura that counts, they were told, but the brightness.  After this the party went to meet with Petorus's senior aides, they needed information about the region into which they were travelling, and about the Count Beracul himself.

To make the journey across country without raising too many eyebrows, the party decided that they needed a good cover story.  A visit to the mining guild, they thought, would provide that nicely with all the mountains (and mines) in this region of Slovania.  They pretended to be a company looking to expand their mining operations east of Petorus, and went to enrol in the guild to give credence to their claims.  Their meeting went well, although they were unprepared.  The guild secretary they spoke to asked what their company was called, and they realised they'd not even discussed a name; Jim floundered.  Eventually they picked the name ''Brown Bear Mining'', which made Fax's bear into the company mascot.  They collected a leather seal with the mining guild stamp upon it.

A quick check down the gear was made - just in case the party needed anything extra.  The didn't; they had equipment to keep up their mining cover - they had pickaxes, shovels and wet weather gear.  They set out the following day.

== On the Road ==

Now they were fully prepared, the party set out towards the east.  They passed through several places until they reached the Duchy of Hune, and entered the city of Khup eight days later.  This duchy bordered Beracul, and, as seemed to be the custom these days, the party were invited to dine with the count.

Count Garramus Hune was a tall man, with a neatly trimmed beard.  He greeted the party with his deep voice and welcomed them into his home.  They shared a meal, which contained plenty of rich meats, and afterwards chatted about the purpose of the party in Beracul's duchy.  At first the party held to their story; they were unwilling to reveal the truth of their mission to a stranger, even though he was a count.  Hune, however, had suspected the party were more than they seemed.  He had been working for the King in the matter over Beracul for some time; he had given support to spies operating over the border in the duchy.

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