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Windhammer, Copyright Wayne Densley 2001 - 2007 All Rights Reserved
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489
 From within the confines of the blue sphere you watch as the Jotun approaches. He is a huge creature, spattered with the blood of battle and ferocious in demeanour as he makes for where you stand. It is only as he comes within a hammer's reach of your position that you realise he cannot actually see you.
"Show yourself vehmin!" the Jotun commands. "I know you are here even if I cannot determine how it is that you are."
"What is your name? Are you of the living?" the creature demands. It is the last question that tells you that something is not right here. You decide to answer.
"I am Halokim Vesh, a Dwarvendim of the Stone Kingdoms, and yes I am of the living."
With your answer the Jotun General lays down his hammer and approaches you with his arms outstretched.
"I am Aggamem the Elder, Consul to the Jotuni Bruhaj and General of the Jotun of the March. How is it that you come to this damned place?"
Without thinking you move forward but find the blue sphere a wall of energy that you cannot breach. If you are to talk to the Jotun it will have to be without him seeing you. It is a situation you are not unhappy with.
"I cannot show myself Jotun, the power that has brought me here will not allow it. Why is it that you ask if I am of the living?"
The giant Hordim turns and points towards to the continuing violence of the battle. "We are trapped here, Dwarvendim and we are all of the restless dead. By some device brought about by either malice or accident those who fell in the battle for this town have remained here, the sparks of our existence caught in a never ending conflict that replays itself with every passing storm."
"I tell you vehmin that all the dead, Hordim and Man alike, are caught here; wraiths held without release and fated to die over and over again. I do not know anything of your customs but my warriors have earned the right to have their Book of Scars measured, and to then pass into Hallen'draal. They must be allowed to do so."
"And what of the men and women of Kal Murda?" you ask, "Why are they trapped in this place?"
Aggamem shakes his head. "I cannot tell you. All I know is that with the first strike of lighting to hit the plains all the dead of my crue and all the vehmin of this settlement must once again fight. It does not end until the storm passes and I can tell you that there is no glory in it."
You have seen the violence of the battle and go cold at the thought that the townsfolk of Kal Murda should have to continue to endure such a tragedy. There seems little that you can do however.
"I know nothing of what holds you in this place." you reply, "Is there anything that can be done?"
The Jotun General shrugs his shoulders and stoops to retrieve his hammer. "It is beyond my knowledge as well vehmin. I can only say that the Powers of the World cannot know of our plight for they would not suffer such a circumstance to continue if it was known to them. If you have any opportunity to do so, bring our need to their attention. Only the Shan'duil has the power to release us all from this torment. If this can be done my warriors will find their place in the Feasting Halls, and only then will your brothers and sisters find rest."
As the Jotun speaks the battle falls upon the marketplace as a melee of flashing iron blades and struggling bodies. Instantly the Hordim is swallowed within the uproar as a cloud of arrows rain out of the sky, bringing down all who stand beneath them.
You have seen enough. Quickly you bring the blazing stone to your lips and whisper the word needed to bring you back into the world of the living. In a gut-wrenching shudder the terrible visage of the fall of Kal Murda dissolves into the more imminent reality of the approaching storm. Around you the ruins of the settlement are as you have previously found them but it takes a few moments for you to readjust. When the power of the stone dissipates you are left dazed, your thoughts overcome by what you have witnessed.
A powerful blast of thunder to the north shifts your focus away from the visions of the past to your pressing need for shelter, and you see quickly that there is none to be found here. You have seen the Town Hall in all its untouched glory but it stands now as a mere shell. With no roof it extends upon its foundations as nothing more than a facade and a few broken walls. Your shelter from the coming storm will have to be found elsewhere.
In the encroaching darkness you guide Pallenten along the western reach of the main thoroughfare and realise quickly that Kal Murda can provide no sanctuary. The relentless assault of Jotun hammers has left the town a desolation of crumbled walls and fallen stonework, and there can be no safe cover from the storm within its ruined confines.
Without any further hesitation you mount Pallenten and turn her towards the western gate. Nudging her forward you quicken her to a canter. As thunder rolls along the plains you can feel the growing power of the winds as they throw debris along the road ahead of you. It is melee of shifting gales that the village comes to life.
Within the bluster there are no shapes or ghostly moving forms, just the wind and the remembered cries of a thousand butchered souls that echo silently through the desolate streets. Embraced by the power of the strengthening winds ill-defined and furtive shadows move at the corner of your eye, never seen in the open but there nonetheless. No matter the cause it is easy to imagine the restless souls of the dead drawing life from the storm and it sends a cold chill down your spine. With the storm at your back you hurry Pallenten along all the faster, making a hurried exit through the western gate. As you pass out onto the plain you admit to yourself that you are glad to be out of the village. You do not believe that you will ever return.
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Your conversation with Aggamem the Elder has left you unsettled, but there seems little you can do about the plight of the residents of Kal Murda at this time. If you wish, record on your character sheet that you have spoken with the Jotun General then turn to section 301.
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This book, and its associated books and other documents in the Chronicles of Arborell series are the intellectual property of the author, Wayne F Densley, and all rights are reserved by him. Windhammer is best viewed at 1024 x 768 resolution. Any questions regarding the Chronicles of Arborell can be answered by emailing the author at densleyw@shoal.net.au
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Windhammer, Copyright Wayne Densley 2001 - 2007 All Rights Reserved
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