Alter Aeon The Great Library

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AABN:  48335
Title: the Quest for the Silver Halberd, part 5

The Quest for the Silver Halberd, part 5

by Sparity Ket, Captain of the Order of the White Knights

On the third day, they party drew near to Torlynn.  The weather was
unusually brisk despite it being autumn, and it had begun to snow even
heavier than before.  Torlynn was a tiny village in wooded valley near the
Jungfrau River.  The river was frozen over, and the trees were bare.  The
houses and shops had fallen into disrepair with many having been boarded up
and abandoned.  Only a few people were visible, and they all looked tired
and careworn as if they had been working under a great strain.  The
adventurers were directed to Burgomaster Gustovan, a heavyset man with dark
hair, a thick mustache and a silver-framed monocle, who answered all of
their inquiries.

According to the burgomaster, thirty-five years ago, a wizard called Barrik
built a keep near the village of Torlynn.  The construction took only a
couple of months, aided by the wizard's magic.  After several years, during
which time he established a local reputation as a good and law-abiding man,
Barrik, now commonly known as the Wizard of Newcastle, took on several
apprentices from Ritterholm and Torlynn.  A number of apprentices came and
went over the years.  Though the wizard only visited Torlynn him self once
a year, his apprentices came to town regularly for supplies or, in at least
two instances, to visit their families and friends.

But as the years progressed, rumors of Barrik's increasingly strange
behaviour gradually drifted to the nearby villagers and eventually,
fourteen years after his arrival in the area (21 years ago now), Barrik's
first and most loyal apprentice Alicja, who was now a respected wizard in
her own right, appeared in the village to say that she was leaving her
master.  She departed immediately with little explanation, soon thereafter
marrying the Marques, and over the last several years contact with Barrik's
four remaining apprentices became less and less frequent until ceasing
altogether a few months ago.

Though a few villagers ventured over to the keep, their hails were never
answered, and traffic soon stopped entirely.  Woven into the fabric of
Torlynn's walls were warding spells designed by Barrik to keep monsters out
that were long overdue to be renewed.  Recently they had begun to fail, and
with no one able to renew them, villagers were fleeing for the safety of
Ritterholm.

Since villagers had helped with its construction, the burgomaster able to
provide a basic map of the keep.  With proper directions, the party set out
again.  The hike from Torlynn to the Barrik's Keep was not difficult. 
Although strangely dirty snow fell during the entire trip, there were
plenty of game trails and hunters' paths to follow.  In two hours, they
were standing before the ominous keep.  Justice recognized the location
from his vision, sign and all, although there were no sentries outside the 
entrance.  They quickly scouted around the perimeter of the keep, and,
finding no other obvious entrance, stepped foot through the battered door
and looked around.