--- Adventure 1 ---

Duro'than

Angy făcu un pas spre barbar , şi cu o mişcare delicată ,

Thorn nodded, then turned towards the gnome.

"So, Drogo... Tell the others what we're up to, so we can leave. And when you meet your master again... you might stand a chance that he won't turn you into a statue on the side of the road and let the pigeons.... errrm... rest on your head. Just send him after us "

He laughed shortly, then stretched his hand towards Angy to take the map to have another look at it.

"So, we're competing against another wizard?" asked Ias. He didn't ask for the map, he just got a good sight of it while the others checked it. "Does anyone know how this tower actually looks like?"

Rissa hated towers and heights. "Is this a ruin... or a full city?" she asked puzzled.

Angy

Thorn took the map, looked a few moments on it, than took another roll of leather from his belt. Without takning account of any of those present, he sat down in the snow, legs corssed. He unrolled his own map and studied it for minutes, especially the part at the top. With a pen, he marked a spot in the lower areas, then drew an arrow to a mountain range in the topmost part, a range that seemed to stretch well beyond the map, called The Spine of the World. He then looked at the entire map and put his pen aside.

He got up and the cloak on which he had sat didn't show any sign of wetness. He handed Drogo the map of the Vanished City, then raised his own map: "one of the most precious things I ever laid my hands on... and one of the few I didn't part with." He gave a short, mischievious smile.

"Well... I say it's about time we slowly head North... We're going to need some serious equipment. Unless I'm much mistaken, the Vanished City has been vanished for so long, because no one dared cross the Spine. It must be out there. If wise ancient books don't say otherwise, I'm ready to go." he said, looking at Ias.

"Drogo... your master will be left empty-handed. Give him our salutations when you meet him"

At a second though, the map wasn't all that foreign to Ias. "I heard of the Sea of Moving Ice. Do we ever get near there?" he asked thrilled.

Rissa decided that she would stay in her wolf form, and tried to guess from where she knew about the Spine of the World and that particular sea.

Finally Ronin managed to take a look at the map and inspected it carefully. It was too cold, his eyes were teary and all he could see was the middle tower, like a sentry.

"We go through or just near Shilmista forest?" the horse asked.

Drogo was boiling, from the toes on his feet, to the tip of his reddish hair on his gnome head.

"What d-do you m-mean? Give my master salutations... you darned Half Elf! D-do you think I'll s-sit here and w-w-wait for him to get me? I am coming w-with you! After all... I have learned things for my master that would take you years to find out once you get there!"

Saying this, he stood straight, pushing his chest forward in an attempt to look threatening and important.

Thorn crossed his arms and looked at him, half amused, half exasperated. He mustered him head to toe. Truth is... he didn't really expect to get rid of this little nuisance. He shrugged. After all, it was his business if he broke his neck along the way, as long as he didn't bother anyone else.

"Through the forest, I'd say. Such a group would attract attention on the road. Or is anyone keen on crossing half of Portalia with Drogo's master at their heels?"