The party head down towards the White Woods, where they encounter an old friend along the way. Storth, a dwarven paladin of fire, agrees to help them down the precarious and dangerous traverse down Hell's Ridge. They are joined by another traveller, a vampyre human sorcerer by the name of Irmirsul.
The downward journey is tricky. Halfway down they feel they are being watched, weeks of being hounded by Salazar has sharpened their paranoia. Irmirsul transforms himself into a bat and has a look. He spots an ogre on a ledge eyeing the party as potential food. The sorcerer returns and tells the party of the danger.
Tragladt, Wyrrin, Plo Koon, and Grimbrand bravely decide to head back up and rid themselves of the threat: none of them wish to have rocks thrown at them during a tricky descent. Irmirsul casts a wall of fog to obscure his friends' quest and this antagonises the ogre to the point that it starts to hurl rocks and boulders at them. The ogre's blind attacks prove useless and enable the party to reach the sheltered ledge.
As they emerge from the fog they are within touching distance of the gigantic beast. Wyrrin is first to react, her dire mace caves in the right side of the ogre's skull and the monster collapses past them and into the trees far below.
Later on their downward path, the dwarf firebrand Storth finds a cave marked with the fire symbol above the entrance. "It's a shrine," he tells the party and heads inside. They find warmth, fresh fruit, and a pleasant atmosphere as they shelter from the cold. They decide to rest for the night and make the remainder of the journey in daylight.
|
|
The vampyre senses sorcery in the fire but - more significantly - he feels a strange heartbeat from Plo Koon.
"I can sense two heartbeats," the vampyre tells him.
"How can this be?" Plo Koon replies. But the vampyre has no answers. Storth alerts them to footsteps below them and they spot a silver-haired elf approaching the cave. He is friendly, a native of the White Woods by the name of Baylin.
 |
Plo Koon asks him about the twin heartbeats. Being a sorcerous elf, Baylin concentrates and narrows his eyes. "If I was to wager my life I would say that this is the White Wolf's doing; the great Ulnar inhabits the White Woods and is very powerful."
"You mean I'm going to turn into a wolf?" Plo Koon says in disgust.
"I did not say that," the elf replies, "the White Wolf has bestowed a great gift upon you, Plo Koon, and when the moon is next full you will realise that."
"Great, so I will be howling at the full moon and ripping apart innocents."
Baylin does not respond, but he makes a strange gesture in front of his face and regards Plo Koon with a mysterious expression; a mixture of awe and fear.
Next morning Baylin leads them into his homeland. The forest is cold and savage and the trees are festooned with snow. He explains that there are thousands of refugees from Castle Haddon in the White Woods at present. Settlements have sprung up as the inhabitants fled the demon - some vowing never to return whilst others await the arrival of King Vainer and his armies to restore order at the castle.
They meet a wisened and crag-faced elf, an ancient sorcerer called Avar the Wise. The only topic of conversation is the man with two heartbeats. Plo Koon seems agitated and upset by the news that a wolf has done this to him.
Avar tries to reassure him. "All is not what it seems, youngling. Ulnar is the most powerful creature in the forest and if he sees fit to grant you a gift then you must have earned it."
"I didn't do anything to help him," the warrior says.
Avar points to the tattoo. "That is a peculiar magic, youngling, and the gateway that Ulnar used to bestow his gift. Fear not. Find the wolf and you will discover the truth of it."
 |
The party thank the elves and head north in an attempt to find Ulnar and his pack: Plo Koon's mood does not improve with the constant torments from his companions.
As a bat Irmirsul spots an ambush in the trees ahead of them. Ten bandits - human flotsam from Castle Haddon - lie in wait.
"Right I'm springing this bloody ambush!" Plo Koon says angrily and heads off to the bandits with the party in his wake.
 |
Irmirsul hangs back with a view to hurl magic missiles into the melee. But the fight does not start well. Despite the outlaws being lightly armed a longsword punctures the eye of the dwarf Grimbrand and slays him instantly. Irmirsul's missiles pepper the outlaws but does little damage and for the first few minutes the party flounder.
But Plo Koon is in no mood to die and - with greatsword wielded one handed he explodes into action. The blade goes left and right, carves through bone and sinew, decapitates with ease and within the blink of an eye five outlaws are dead at his feet.
With the tide turned Irmirsul urges them to save one so that he can 'feed', but that is easier said than done. Wyrrin attempts to stun one into unconsciousness but manages only to smash three ribs into an enemy's heart and slay him.
The rest suffer similar fates with Plo Koon executing a brutally mighty strike to decapitate the last outlaw - a blow so perfect that it would have killed five men.
That night the party rest apart from Irmirsul, the vampyre, as he does not need sleep. Instead he scouts the night with Plo Koon close in attendance as the party sleep. He comes upon a brute of a man, a massive wrestler called Raith the Strangler. This man has nothing on his mind other than to kill. He eyes Plo Koon as an easy target.
Both hearts beat slightly faster - but only slightly - as the strangler tries to get a grip of Plo Koon. The warrior is too quick witted, dances easily out of reach of the crushing grip of the man called Raith before delivering a couple of savage blows himself. Raith cannot cope with the greatsword and soon lies headless at the warrior's feet.
"He has a bracer of strength," Irmirsul explains after an identify spell. "I'll take it."
"What use is high strength to a sorcerer?" Plo Koon tells him.
"You can have it for a pint of your blood," the vampyre says mischievously, "but it has to come fresh from a vein."
Plo Koon considers his options and stares at the vampyre through narrow eyes...
..