Chapter Summaries- Disciple Of Fire: The chosen of Mephistopheles must face his first challenge, fighting a monster destroying a small drow village. Wyrms and Serpents: Gort reunites his old team, seeking out a priestess of Hextoria and a rogue. Rage of Winter: A chance encounter with a giant turns into a battle. The Watcher in the Dark: The group are hired to take the eye of a vicious spellcasting monster known as a Beholder. Blood Bond: An injured Mink has to be taken to the nearest city, where Gort meets someone who looks very familiar.. Beast: A blood cult causing problems in the Citadel of Light leads to the discovery of a werebear and a powerful artifect, part of the Regalia of Evil. Sleeping Dragons: Mink is spurred on to restore her mother to power over Hextoria, while the rest of the group attempt to make some money. Siege: Gort decides he requires a castle and sets about taking over an orc occupied Three Spires. Reckoning: A showdown between Gort and Tyr takes place on the roof of the castle. Long Way Home: Banished to Purgatory without weapons or armour, a way back to Darken must be found. From the Shadows: Unexpected allies are found in the vast desert- a red dragon and a mysterious shade. Shards: A hydra stands between Gort and an artifact of power. Goodnight Moon: Casper must rid himself of a cursed amulet, while Komiyan is in trouble in his home town. Reunion: Gort catches up with Tyr, who is sworn to guard the Sword of Evil. Restless: An old enemy returns to stand between Gort and the Crown. Afraid of the Dark: In order to kill that which is already dead, a journey to the Shadow Plane is in order. Uprising: A rebellion within the ranks causes another fight on the roof of Three Spires. A Summer Wasting: Four different accounts of what happened during seven weeks apart. Gort is as evil as they come. He makes deals with devils, kills his own friends at a drop of a hat.. Need I say more? He's the greatest fighter in all the land, he's never been defeated! He has made a deal to recover certain artefacts for the Dark Lord Mephistopheles, and in return, he has been granted all the power of hell at his command. Pretty cool, huh? Personally I think he was never hugged as a child... Mink is a Half-Dragon Priestess of the God Hextor. She can channel the power of her deity to create either total destruction or healing.. But she's better at the destruction. What she makes up in power and wisdom, she lacks in co-ordination and is very clumsy. She trips up over her own feet, usually at a critical moment.. People think that Gort is in charge but secretly I think there's more to Mink than meets the eye. She may be short and feisty, but I think she may hold a few surprises.. Her mother, Silvador, was the powerful dragon in charge of Hextoria, until there was an uprising and she was imprisoned by means of a magical sword. Mink doesn't seem to want to let that one lie, though... Komiyan, Gort's naive sidekick. He decided to break out on his own and join Gort on his adventures. Gort, Komiyan's 'God', displayed his power in killing a gargantuan Neolithid and now he promised to follow Gort and be his unpaid goon. Komiyan is a whirling dervish when it comes to fighting. He spins around like a tornado, slashing maniacally at the enemy until they fall into slices on the floor. It's a lot of pressure being Gort's sidekick, trust me I know, only time will tell whether Komiyan has got it in him to stick with the group, and be there when Gort bites off more than he can chew... Casper is a bartender from the town of Falloakes, where he was once in the service of the now extinct Yuan-Ti. Singly he's not a great fighter, but when it comes to getting the job done, Casper is the man. If its a locked safe, or sneaking into the King's bedroom, then Casper is the one to do it. There was a time when Casper saved Gort's life; a huge Stone Golem was about to crush Gort and Casper jumped heroically in the way saving him. Since then Gort has, "Kept him around 'cos he's... useful." Again, I think Casper is another person who has something up his sleeve. He may have saved Gort's life, but somehow I think he harbours some sort of a grudge... Jill the 'Duchess of Avron.' A wealthy heiress who married into riches only for her husband to 'die' in mysterious circumstances. Since her time as the ruler of Avron, several strange occurrences happened. None that can be blamed on her, of course... Not the sort of person to get ravelled up in combat but to deal strictly with nitty-gritty details of straightening out the messes Gort gets them all into. Hiding behind the beauty and the fan is a dark soul that just loves to screw with people's minds... Michaelus used to be a lowly town guard in the citadel in Falloakes. That was until he was out on patrol one night and he and his brigade were savagely attacked and killed. The only survivor of that night, Michaelus is now a Lycanthrope, half man-half Bear. Thrown into disarray, Michaelus joined the only group that would accept him. Gort, recognising the untold power in Michaelus quickly, if reluctantly accepted him and he has now become the powerhouse of the group. Once, Leon was Gort's greatest enemy, having defeated him over and over on the field of battle, in the name of the Light. But when they met for a third time, Gort had brought backup in the form of Casper, Mink and Jill, and despite Leon's belief in good conquering evil, he was torn apart. All that remains of him is a statue in the Citadel of Light. Violet is undoubtedly Darken's most powerful healer, one who fought alongside Leon in their efforts to restore unity to the land. Since his death, however, she's decided to take a slightly different route.. She seems to be working on something big, but she won't let on exactly what it is. Silvador, Mink's mother, is an Ancient blue wyrm, previously imprisoned by an obsidian sword. Now released by Mink, she plans to restore her throne in Hextoria, and gain power by any means possible. This Tyr guy seems to be walking around with Gort's face, and damned if we know why. He's the captain of the guard in the Citadel of Light, and that's pretty much all we know. If Gort knows who he is, he isn't telling. One of the great race of Yuan Ti that Casper used to work for in Falloakes. He believed her dead, until she found him again and gave him a rather nasty piece of information. Jade mostly hides out in the darker places of Falloakes, and has pinned her hopes of salvation for her race entirely on Casper. Whether this will pay off or not, only time will tell. Zathras is an ambassador from some other dimension, who had the, uh.. luck to run into the group while they were stranded in Purgatory. Master of languages and mind-bending magic, but hasn't quite got the hang on grammar yet. Garganon is a fearsome yet surprisingly cultured dragon who makes his home in the bleak desert plain Gort and co. were banished to. Perhaps the only creature to trust Gort in a deal, something he may come to regret. An intelligent weapon picked up by Komiyan, Blackshard, or just Shard if you like, seems to be one of the greatest swords on Darken, if a bit mouthy. I can't help but remember what Komiyan was told about not trusting talking weaponry, though.. MDJ: Murder, Death, Jill. Casper turned to Jill. “And what have you been doing with your time then?” he asked, amused eyes visible over his tankard as he took another deep swig. “Well,” said Jill, coyly, “I have been involved in quite a mysterious event down in Falloakes myself. When I say involved, I did arrive after the murders, but it was interesting nonetheless.” “Murders!” exclaimed Komiyan. He sat back in chair, clearly shocked. After a moment, he noticed he was the only one at the table who had reacted in any way, and now Casper’s mocking grin was directed at him. “Who have you killed now?” Gort was his usual direct and boorish self, and asked the question with an air of supreme, even hostile disinterest. “’I’ have killed no-one.” replied Jill. “My friend recently took a position at the St. Leon Academy near Falloakes, a somewhat insipid finishing school for the daughters of the upper-classes. She had only been there a little while when something terrible happened. I’ll tell you the story she told it to me” “I had only been at the school for a few weeks when one morning, during the second lesson, one of the two brothers that own the school came into the classroom. Edward Danderby, he was wonderful, so unlike his brother Richard. Although they were near identical, it was easy to tell them apart due to their temperaments. Edward was an open, artistic soul, so free and friendly that he seemed so much younger than the 44 years he had shared with his brother on this earth. “It wasn’t unusual for Edward, or even Richard, to come into the schoolroom, as it lay between the main entrance and their shared study. It was far more common for them to use the corridor that ran along the sides and back of the classroom that to come through the doors at either side of the front of the room, but recently Edward in particular had taken to the habit of dropping by in the mornings to share greetings with the students. “Edward told me that he would be in the central square, painting by fountain all that morning, if Richard wanted him. He said it was unlikely, as Richard had started a fire to burn some old documents, and that no doubt all day he would spend going through old ledgers, fussing over penny mistakes several years old. With a laugh he left by the east exit, the one directly by the main school doors. “The morning passed peaceably for a few hours, and just before the bell sounded for lunch, Richard came into the room through the west door. He had his heavy, long brown coat that he always insisted on wearing, even though it was a fine summer’s day. His face was slightly pale, and he looked quite queer. He fixed me with a long, silent stare, and I began to feel uncomfortable. The entire room fell silent, a feat I wish I could accomplish more often with 20 girls, and after a pause of several moments he spoke. “’Edward…’ he said, in such a melancholic, no, such a morbid tone that it quite frightened me. The look on his face was indecipherable, and I could not fathom what it was he wanted. “He repeated Edward’s name once again, and then turned and left, back to his study I presumed. After a stunned second or two, I turned back to my class, and tried to quell the unruly whispering that sprang up. “About ten minutes or so later, Mary Kelso, an officer’s daughter from one of the farther reaches of Darken, left to the go to the toilet, something I don’t normally allow, but in this case I was assured it was ‘absolutely necessary’. I mention it only for as she left by the west door, Richard re-entered the room from the east. “If he had looked odd and not quite his normal austere self earlier, now he looked fraught. His hair was mussed and the bottom of his coat was dripping wet. He glanced around the room wild-eyed for a moment, before hurrying out of the west door. He didn’t say anything this time, which relieved me greatly. We heard the door of the study slam, the clunk of the heavy door lock, and then the uneasy silence prevailed again. “I tried to get the girls’ minds back to the lesson, but I didn’t truly believe it was possible. It was almost the time for lunch, and besides, my own mind was sorely distracted by Richard’s odd behaviour. I didn’t have long to ponder over it, for after a few minutes of ineffective mathematical solutions, I heard the scream from the court-yard. “The girls and I rushed out of the school. We were already on edge, and it seems as if the discipline of the normally calm students had been totally overcome by the same feeling of dread I felt. The source of the scream was immediately obvious. Mary Kelso stood near the statue of St. Leon that overlooked the court-yard garden, and she pointed in the direction of the fountain. “There had obviously been a fight. Edward’s easel and paints were scattered across the court-yard, and some were even floating the fountain itself. And there, horribly, was a body. “I ran across the court-yard and into the fountain, and then knelt down, ignoring the water. Some of the girls made to follow me, but I shouted at them to stay back. After a second of silence I stood up, and turned to face the girls. Now some of them could see the dagger in the corpse’s chest. It was easy to recognise. It had been a gift that Richard had received only a few days before, and something he had been immensely proud of. A small but lethal weapon, it would have been easy to conceal it in that coat of his. “One of the girls, I forget which, said she would go and fetch Mr. Richard. This brought me back to my senses. The absurdity of Edward lying dead in the fountain had distracted me, but I knew the danger facing anyone who disturbed Richard. I ran with the girls to the study, although the water was weighing down my dress, and even the normally voluminous sleeves stuck to my wrists, making my movements slow, awkward and horribly nightmarish. “We banged on the study door, and tried the handle, but it was locked. We tried the window, but that too was locked, and the heavy curtains drawn. As it was too small for even the youngest girl to enter had we broken it, we had choice but to send into Falloakes for the sergeant, and wait until he and his men came to batter down the door. “They were not long, half an hour at the most. Sergeant Evand was most efficient, and the door was wrest from its hinges with the utmost alacrity. Inside was a horrible sight. The brother was hanging there, a rope around the heavy chandelier support. The room was sultry, the heat from the fire combining with the warmth of the day. The sergeant would not let anyone else into the room while he looked around. He seemed to pay particular attention to some papers on the desk, but he soon let the body be taken down and laid upon the floor. “I was not present for any other examinations that the sergeant may have carried out, but about an hour later I was called into the study. It was still warm, but even though I had changed my wet clothes, I felt a slight chill being in there. “He looked me squarely in the eye, and spoke in a low, monotonous voice. ‘I normally begin these sessions by asking for a name, but I know you will lie to me. Won’t you, Mrs. Danderby?’ He unfolded a sheet of paper before me on the desk, and I saw it was the marriage licence for my wedding to Edward, dated only a week before. As I looked at his signature I almost felt like crying. “However, I had known it would come out, and was prepared for it. Seeing he had not surprised me or caught me off guard, he continued. ‘Well, Mrs. Danderby, I suspect you know the reason for the two deaths today, namely, that is, yourself.’ “I did not react. The Sergeant placed another document in front of me. ‘This is the note we found by your brother-in-law’s body.’ He said it with a sadistic pleasure, stressing my relationship to the poor victim. ‘It quite plainly indicates that he killed his brother Edward ‘unintentionally’ and then took his own life in remorse. ‘Would that scenario agree with what you know of the two of them?’ “I agreed that it did, although I could bring myself to believe it. “The Sergeant sighed, and put the suicide note into a leather satchel. ‘I find it hard to believe. The dagger went straight into Edward’s heart killing him instantly. I suspect something, and I shall be taking this to an expert. Naturally, we can’t just assume that a note is genuine just because it is found next to a body. I do hope we won’t be meeting again, Mrs. Danderby.’ “And I did not see the sergeant again. About a week later I heard his expert had confirmed that the wrote was indeed Richard’s handwriting, based off years of invoices and letters that would have been impossible to replicate. “With the matter of the deaths finalised as far as the law was concerned, the family solicitors began to gather, and I wondered what would become of the Academy.” Jill smiled. Komiyan looked at her in surprise. “Is that it?” “Indeed it is. It should be more than sufficient, should it not?” “But you said murders. There was only one, and it wasn’t that mysterious.” “My dear friend, it was quite plain to me that there had been two murders, and also how and why it had been done.” Jill smiled to herself once again, as she thought of the document in her valise, recently received from her solicitor, bequeathing the entire estate and holdings of the St. Leon Academy, Falloakes, to the widow of Edward Danderby, Mrs. Jill Danderby, née D’Avron.