Sent: 07/04 3:52 PM Received: 07/04 5:06 PM From: Josh, pennnoel@inreach.com To: Tribunal, avi@mb.imag.net Dan, lacrymosa@erols.com Blak, olver@geom.umn.edu Forrest Cameranesi, forrest@west.net ThorulfR, d88-cbr@nada.kth.se Omer, oshenker@earthlink.net Omer wanted this but i figured you guys would be interested as well, so here you go. Things to note: read the pools dialogue, i guess alric originally talked to balor there and what balor says is interesting. murgen killed shiver instead of rabican. heart of the stone journal end is different i believe. a reference to a cohort in road north. reference to cohort in across the gjol. the silvermines journal entry was really screwed up but i believe the reference to the myrkridian king belongs there, that makes sense actually. There is other stuff that I forgot to mention, have fun digging. Training Map Welcome to the Myth tutorial! The camera is your point of view. The Q and E keys make the camera orbit. Try it! Try using the Q and E keys to make the camera orbit. The W and S keys move forward and backward. Try it! Try using the W and S keys to move forward and backward. The A and D keys turn the camera left and right. Try it! Try using the A and D keys to turn the camera left and right. The Z and X keys track left and right. Try it! Try using the Z and X keys to track left and right. The C and V keys zoom in and out. Try it! Try using the C and V keys to zoom in and out. Hit Tab to bring up the overhead map. No, hit Tab to bring up the overhead map. The green dot on the overhead map is your warrior. Select the warrior and hit the space bar to stop him. No, hit the space bar to stop him. Now move him towards the flag by clicking near it. No, click on the ground near the flag. You may quickly select units by double clicking on them. Select the archers and click on the targets to attack. No, click on the targets to attack. Nice going! Way to stick it to 'em! Now make the dwarf attack the targets. No, just click on the targets. The dwarf can lay down satchel charges. Move the dwarf close to the target. No, move the dwarf close to the target. Now hit T to place a satchel charge. No, hit T to place a satchel charge. Now Control-click on the ground near the charge to blow it up. No, Control-click on the ground near the satchel charge. Now you can blow stuff up! The journeyman's special ability is healing. Select the journeyman, hit T and click on the warrior to heal him. No, hit T and click on the injured warrior to heal him. Way to help your fellow man! Formations are essential to the advanced player. Move the warriors across the river in a loose line. (Formation 3) No, hit 3, and click across the river. Scattering is useful when under attack by explosives. Hit B to scatter those warriors. No, hit B to scatter them. Look at 'em run! Organize your warriors into a vanguard. (Formation 9) No, hit 9, and click on the ground. Well done! Now make the warriors attack the targets. No, just click on the targets. Congratulations, you've finished the tutorial! Crow's Bridge Guard the bridge and town from enemy forces coming across the river. Don't forget you have reinforcements in the town! Press F8 for a complete list of keyboard commands. "The bridge is being attacked! Let's get out of here!" "What's going to happen to my pumpkins?" "Good luck at the bridge!" "The village is lost! Let's get out of here!" "They're here! Run for your lives!" A Traitor's Grave Find the traitor and kill him! A villager will lead you most of the way, but be sure to keep an eye out for the traitor. Remember that your Journeyman can heal your other units."Have you seen the mayor of Otter Ferry?" "Sure! I passed him near the stone monument." "He's a traitor to his town. Will you lead us to him?" "A traitor? Then let's move before he gets away!" "Follow me! The monument is this way!" "Quickly! Move this way!" "What are you waiting for? Follow me!" "Yikes! Guards!" "Enemies! Protect me!" "Whoops... looks like we're on our own now." "Let's get out of here!" "There he is! Kill him!" "All right! Now if we could just get away from these thrall..." The Siege of Madrigal Defeat the Soulless and Thrall guarding the opposite side of the bridge. Then pass through the town and look for a large enemy force and get it to chase you back to the bridge. "All right, let's get out of here!" "What the hell was that?" "Watch out for those Ghôls!" Homecoming Rescue another element of the Legion and secure the Total Codex (a large book). Escape to the southeast.Ambush! Clear the Knot! The Codex is in the Cathedral. Let's go! It's over here! I got it! Let's get out of here! Get 'em! This way! Flight From Covenant Escape Covenant by fleeing through the ruined city wall. Once outside the city, locate the hidden tunnel and escape through it with the Total Codex. "I don't like the looks of this." "Damn, we should have gone around them!" Force Ten From Stoneheim Find the World Knot and destroy one of its four pylons with satchel charges (dwarves can drop explosive satchel charges with the special ability key, usually "T"). "You fools! Flee, there will be fighting shortly!" "We will not! We're going to the shrine!" "Aiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!" "Save us! Save us!" "Ahhhhhh!!!!!! Run for it!" "Run away! Run away!" "You fools! Flee, there will be fighting shortly!" "We will not! We're going to the shrine to pray!" "Aaaaiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeee!" "Save us! Save us!" "Ahhhh! Run for it!" "Run away! Run away!" Bagrada Lead your forces east to the narrowest and most easily defensible part of the pass. Be sure not to leave any enemy forces behind you. They are heading up the pass! Challenging Stage The soulless have split into small groups and are searching for a way out of the canyon. Keep your dwarves together, set lines of satchel charges and ambush the enemy as they cross the frozen lake toward you. "Here comes our scout..." "Help me!!!!" "Grab those charges and set ambushes." "We don't have long until the soulless get here!" 50% DESTROYED 80% DESTROYED 90% DESTROYED 99% DESTROYED 100% DESTROYED VICTORY IMMINENT BONUS STAGE BONUS ACHIEVED BONUS NOT ACHIEVED WAVE 1 WAVE 2 WAVE 3 FINAL WAVE "There are too many soulless over there! Pull back!" "Nice work, now they're all attacking at once!" The Five Champions Find Alric and release him! If any of the five champions die, your mission has failed. Out of the Barrier Lead alric out of the canyon and escape! If you find any artifacts along the way, you can use them with your special ability key (usually "T"). "Uh oh." "Wait for me!" "This is great, just great." "Not this again!" "Let me handle this." "Ah, Sinis! I thought Mazzarin had killed you at Seven Gates." "Indeed, I bet you thought you'd seen the last of me, Alric!" "I have seen the last of you." "Come closer! Quickly!" "Follow me!" Silvermines Your Journeyman will lead you to The Watcher's severed arm, but beware of enemy patrols. Recover the arm and escape through the pass in the northwest. "Come this way quickly!" "We must keep moving towards the arm!" "Follow me to the arm!" "The enemy!" "Protect me!" "There it is!" "Now we just need to leave through the pass in the northwest." Shadow of the Mountain Defend the legion's standard and baggage at the top of the hill. The enemy must not be allowed to retrieve The Watcher's arm. "Let's move, they're right behind us!" "Here they come!" "Save me!" Seven Gates Eliminate any enemy forces which remain in the pass. "This should be easy! They look disorganized!" "Come kill me, cowards!" "Uh oh." Forest Heart Kill the four trow generals of Soulblighter's army, then confront Soulblighter at the forest giant's sacred statue. "Soulblighter is here! Our scouts are dead!" Heart of the Stone Soulblighter has imprisoned you in the Tain. Now you must find a way outŠ" Where's Balin when you need him?" The Smiths of Muirthemne Find an exit from the cave. Your dwarves will be key players in a successfully escape. Sons of Myrgard You are invisible! The enemy can't see you but they can \ihear\p you. Sneak past the defenders and find a big flat area to throw your signal grenade to summon the dwarven paratroopers. "We must press onŠ" "We must destroy more Ghôls!" "Maybe I should wait for backupŠ" A Long Awaited Party Find the Ghôl godhead and blast it to fragments. That's going to take a lot of satchel charges. The Road North One of The Legion's hero archers has been ambushed and killed somewhere in the north. Find his magic bow and return south with it. "Is that blood?" "Yeah, looks like we have a trail to follow." "I think he crossed the river here." "Grab the bow!" "Let's get back to camp!" Across the Gjol You are the rearguard, left behind to hold the enemy at the river. Retreat is not an option; you must hold the bluff overlooking the river. "Sir! There are too many of them! We must retreat!" "No! There is no retreating. We must hold our ground." "Reinforcements! At last!" The Watcher Find The Watcher, who has been turned to stone, and shatter him before help can arrive. "What the hell! Where'd he go?" River of Blood Fight your way into the city and locate a bridge over the old canal inside. Secure this location and wait for reinforcements (you won't get any before you take the bridge). Pools of Iron Lead Alric to the nearby World Knot, where he will bring through the rest of your force. Then head for Balor's fortress, west, across the lake. Eliminate all enemies you encounter along the way. "Hurry! Balor is on his way." "Get back!- here he comes!" "Where did you find that thing, Alric?" "What foolishness made you bring it here?" "I brought it to teach you humility, Balor." "We must follow him!" "Alric, join me and replace The Watcher." "You will have power beyond your wildest dreams, little man." "You know nothing of my dreams." "The rest of your legion has been destroyed, Alric." "What can you do, alone, with this handful of men?" "Kill him! KILL HIM!!" "We cannot retreat!" The Last Battle Lead your reinforcements to Alric and the other survivors of the previous level. Then follow Alric and wait for a chance to kill Balor. "I've got a bad feeling about thisŠ" "Give me the head!" "Give me his head and I'll let you live!" "Filthy dwarves!" "Who decided we should go this way?" The Great Devoid Carry Balor's head to The Great Devoid, and throw it in (don't listen to anything it says on the way, either). Only your dwarves can carry the head. The Desert Between Your Ears I'll Dance On Your Grave Mudpit Massacre If I had a TrowŠ Ground Zero Ground Zero (Dark) I'll Dance On Your Spiderweb For Carnage Apply Within Death in the Dire Marsh Mudpit Massacre (Dark) Mudpit Massacre (Dark) For Carnage Apply Within (Dark) " ... the seventh wave of Thrall stumbled and climbed over the slippery, piled dead and Mazzarin saw The Watcher with them and at last knew the number of his days." Of all the avatara in the Four Ages there is no doubt that Mazzarin was the most powerful and his death the most salient victory of the Dark during the Wind Age. Alric Avatara Avatara "Second Era tradition tells of a hero rising in the East, who loosened the bloodless grip of the wicked things which had dominated his land for time beyond memory Š " Balor The Leveler A berserk at the Stair of Grief, having been told that the hosts of the Soulless were so many that their spears would hide the sun, is said to have replied 'Then we shall fight them in the shade.' Berserk Hero Berserk Heroes Bran of the Iron Skin Hrungnir Bereft of Fear Bram with Screaming Iron Hervard of the Bloody Stump Angtyr the Sword Lover Tyrfing Slaughter's Son Baugi Widow's Husband Tyrvard of the Silver Hand Thyrm of the Mighty Blows Thrend atop the Piled Dead Brantyr of the Whistling Steel Skrymir of Brawn Renown Luh of the Long Arm Thrudnir Shield Sunderer Tyr of the Singing Sword Surt with One Eye Suttung Ironheart Surtnir of the Shadowless Hands Angnir of Fire and Iron Thiazi Widow Maker Thrymnir Coward's Master Hjonvard who Vultures Follow Reifnir Always Wounded Gymir Battle Seeker Thewyn Splinter Grip Angvard who Feeds the Worms Leifnir with Seven Fists Rudnir Filler of Graves Bramtyr Piler of Corpses Glaynir Chooser of the Slain Hervard of the Iron Gale Hjonfing with Arms Soaked Red Jarlnir who's Gaze Freezes Thorgeisl who's Laugh Stinks of Killing Ingvar Death's Favored Son Tyrgeis with a Shirt of Scars Thorolf Impaled Three Times Eirik who Jams the Gates of the Underworld Tyrggve of the Nine Wounds Tyrolf Flame of BattleBerserk Berserks "The early dwarvish eddas always speak of heroes 'having gone north into the mountains to slay Ghôls', but most repeated is tale of Dvalin son of Alfrigg, third ephor of Stoneheim ..." "Hours after the fall of Stoneheim, the dwarves defending Myrgard collapsed the barbican, entombing ten thousand of their number behind as many tons of shattered rock." Dwarven Hero Dwarven Heroes Bui Brami Hrani Barri Durin Alfrigg Dvalin Berling Grerr Solblindi Uni Iri Bari Jari Var Vegdrasil Dori Ori Delling Ivaldi Brokk Eitri Baugi Tind Haddings Soli Dari Nori Jar Oni Vnarin Ari Eri Uri Telling Felling Gilling Deri Duri Trakk Ivoldi Norling Jarling Solling Varling Jvalin Balin Dwarf Dwarves Dwarven Pathfinder "On the last day of the siege at Seven Gates a priest asked the Giants present of their faith. A young one showered the man with chips of stone as he struck the ground, 'The Earth is our Faith.'" Grayleaves Graybark Oldbark Deeproots Longbranches Hardwood Wisebark Oldgrowth Highbranches Ironwood Stoneroots Millionleaves Yellowleaves Stonebranches Evergreen Wintergreen Greatwood Ironroot Morningwood Forest Giant Forest Giants We know not whether Fetches wear the skins of men out of necessity or whim, but we do know they are not from our world and their arrogance is without equal among the minions of the Fallen.Fetch Fetches Long enemies of the civilized nations, the truce which brought the fir'Bolg and their famed bowmen into the Light was forged by ou'Kahn the Great King and Caliban during the Sword Age. " ... though the Ghôls were afraid to kill him after his capture at Myrgard they dislocated his arms at the shoulder 'with a chisel' to prevent him from ever drawing a bow again." Archer Hero Archer Heroes he'Rero il'Edi ka'Fou ka'Lemba ka'Tanga ke'Nyatta ki'Ntampo ku'Bhasah kwe'Si ma'Pungu mho'Ndoro nwa'Nga ndo'Ro nkru'Mah nsi'Ah nyo'Ro ou'Ngan og'Un ob'Atala os'Hun tsho'Fan ya'Nalo ya'Nvalou ye'Boah yu'Rugu iu'Shee yn'Jouyll yn'Drogh ny'Anmey ry'Ghunver ny'Marro Archer Archers The Ghôls have forever been at war with the dwarves around Myrgard and Stoneheim, and the rape of the dwarves' ancestral home there has been the Ghôl's rabid dream for centuries. The Ghôls worship enormous pieces of unworked stone, moved in antiquity to the open meadows far below their mountain dwellings. They alone remember the names of the dark gods. Crusher Masher Breaker Snapper Killer Grinder Gnasher Screamer Splitter Eviscerator Destroyer Crasher Dasher Wounder Ruiner Tamer Gentler Butcher Slaughterer Extinguisher Pulper Crusher Flattener Squasher Squisher Pounder Bruiser Hasher Pulverizer Harasser Tormentor Shrieker Squealer Screecher Howler Severer Mangler Eradicator Lascerator Disabler Crippler Lamer Mutilator Ghôl Ghôls "Not a palm's breadth free of wounds on his body, Five Motion Bloody Jaguar knelt to kiss the earth and drawing strength from her rose to charge the thickest gathering of the enemy." "Returning to the ruin Muirthemne had become in their absence, the deathless Heron Guards each tore nine gold tiles from the palace wall, every one the weight of a grown man ... " Eight Flint Deer Twelve Eagle Falling Sun Six Motion Bloody Jaguar Five Heron Waiting Cactus Eight Pride Stalking Rabbit Three Vulture Drum Ten Stone Reed Four Serpent Seeking Shadow Seven Lizard Tongue Nine Eagle Red Skull One Flint Puma Twelve Serpent Falling Eagle Seven Wind Lizard Nine Serpent Rising Puma Seven Crocodile Rain Six Coyote Flower Thirteen Bloody Crocodile Five Rabbit Fleeing Jaguar Three Moon Jeweled Fan Seven Jaguar White Flower Five Obsidion Heron One Serpent Green Talon Seven Devil Puma Four Motion Skull Fan Five Monkey Bloody Stone Six Vulture Dog Star One Deer Burning Skull Nine Serpent Bloody Sun Eleven Vulture Fire Serpent Ten Eagle Burning Stone Seven Eagle Jaguar Claw Twelve Flint Sun Collar Twelve Devil Burning Wind Thirteen Rain Jeweled Fan Thirteen Wind Moon Stone Fourteen Flint Moon Eagle Journeyman Journeymen " ... an obsidion knife screamed in a tongue he understood not, it's words violent, clear and distinct, tearing his breast and pulling him toward the dark thing which had risen from the shadows." " ... what we pulled back was less a corpse than it was a carcass -- the barest ribbons of flesh clung to his ribs and spine." Keeper of the Dismal Paths Thief of the Silent Fate Darker Shadow on a Waning Moon Quiet Student of Untaught Knowledge The Goassamer Fate Awaiting all Fools A Cheerless Gathering of Dreams Pride at Dusk Joyless Messanger of Still Places Deemer of Suffering Weilder of Dim Shapes Serene Death Stalking Silent Sacrifice in Vain Ill Omens and Destiny Seven Shadows Crossing Broken Chains of Smoke and Night Cloudless Night Without End Waning Moon Over Lifeless Moor Night Lost in Fog Vile Oaths and Scorned Supplication Solitary Walker of Darkened Lands Hushed Whispers from Opened Graves Whispers in the Ears of Evil Men Faded Memories of Forgotten Nightmares Misery's Wet Nurse Broken Oaths and Unspoken Regrets Mahir Mahir Desirous of power and immortality, the warrior race of the Myrmidons left their northern kin to join Balor and the Fallen Lords, and so they became known as The Kithless. While still flesh and blood, the Myrmidons were most vain about their long hair and body paint, spending the eve of battle before a mirror rather than in a bedroll. Gorerage Lifelust Swordslaughter Bloodhunger Battleslaughter Warwilling Angerflame Greedhunger Swordbite Ironhammer Lifethirst Soulthirst Souldeath Skinhunger Bloodflame Soulthirst Bloodlove Goreflame Soulrage Warrage Lifestifle Ironfate Bloodfate Soulfate Lifedoom Hearttear Skinpeel Doomrage Deathcaress Gorecaress Frothinghunger Bonepowder Bonesplinter Bonehunger Boneflame Bonehammer Boneslaughter Bonerage Hearthammer Heartflame Hearthunger Fleshbite Fleshthirst Fleshhunger Fleshrage Fleshdoom Fleshtear Ironheart Myrmidon Myrmidons "A house gutted by fire, a well poisoned with carrion, what had been sheep in the morning spread like a thick jam against the long wall of the barn..." Sinis Scaripant Cormorant Shade Shades "Every Skræl believes that he who dies in battle is reborn seven times to revenge himself upon his destroyers, and that each of these seven incarnations may itself give rise to seven more ... " He Who Gathers Cattails He Who Swims Deeply He Who Speaks Slowly He Who Hunts Longest He Who Throws Farthest He Who Laughs LastSkræl Skræl "A house gutted by fire, a well poisoned with carrion, what had been sheep in the morning spread like a thick jam against the long wall of the barn." Soulblighter Twice Born Called 'Hollow Men' in the West, the Soulless are most feared for the sticky venom with which they anoint their javelins before battle, for wounds contaminated by the toxin never heal.. Soulless Soulless Mothers would tell their sons to go to bed, or the eight-eyed cave spiders would take them into their dens and feast upon themŠ After scoffing at the ease at which he killed one, Hrungnir was told "what they lack in strength, they make up for in numberŠ"Cave Spider Cave Spiders The Spore, though immobile, are feared for their deadly vapor.... Cave Spore Cave Spores "Bahl'al descended to the flooded, rusting halls of Si'anwon and under the sea there took no breath for nine days, searching the ruined palaces and temples of the Trow for the dream of unlife." " ... the seventh wave of Thrall stumbled and climbed over the slippery, piled dead and Mazzarin saw The Watcher with them and at last knew the number of his days." Thrall Thrall "' ... or we will cut down your people like a pine forest.' But the Ghôls laughed and gibbered at the Trow emmisary in answer, licking their long knives and hurling at him pieces of rotting meat. One Ghôl asked above the clamor why the Trow had singled out pines. 'Once cut, pines never regrow.' spoke the emmisary, to which the Ghôls had no answer save to be silent." Igne Ferroque tympanum caput saxum pugnus pugil stultus tonitrus femuf auris morsus dolabra index fractum atrox muglio potens acerus malum hebes ictus sanguis ebriosus fustis demens mons latus lapicida venenum luctari furor filius tofus mola saccus pernix ultor quercus invidia tegula cutis terramotus calcitrare pulvis ira quassare vis Trow Trow The Mayor History has proven a thousand times that no man has ever gained from a bargain with The Dark, yet cowards and fools continue to try, and The Fallen never turn them away. The humble farmers who feed the West, suffering the worst in every conflict, conscripted before age fifteen to fill the ranks of the army. Jean Thomas Edward Henry Eadwine Gregory Geoffory Albert John Phillip Bernard Paul Arnold Fulburt Edmund Matthew Richard Francis Leo Walter Charles Louis GuyVillager Villagers After the armies of The Province were finally broken at Covenant, the survivors scattered among the free cities of the North, taking their arms with them. Malory Moore Montago Moliere Mauriac Mather Malthus Macaualy Strephon Tarquin Alisander Berel the Unworthy Balin Clairemonde Darras Floridas Gahalatine Hector Kay Lucan Melias Naram Pelleas Tristram Bors Gareth Kaherdin Gaheris Accolon Sansloy Warrior Warriors Imprisoned by Connacht during the Wind Age, The Watcher only escaped by tearing off his left arm at the elbow, like a wolf chewing through his leg to escape a snare. The Watcher Mad Goat of the Fens " ... though the dwarves before Myrgard were unshaken by the wights opposite them, each knew the slow, bleeding death-fever which awaited those who survived the battle." Wight Wights Wednesday August 3, Crow's Bridge The Legion heads south; Shiver reaches Madrigal. Yesterday our legion entered the village of Crow's Bridge and halted there for the night. We are just four days march from the besieged city of Madrigal now, and with a little luck should arrive there in time to prevent its capture by the enemy. Shiver, one of the Fallen Lords, has been attacking the city for two days, but so far has been held back by its defenders. It's obvious to everyone that the line must be drawn at Madrigal. We cannot allow The Fallen to push us any farther north. Fearing for their safety, the villagers here pleaded with us to remain when we broke camp this morning. None of them understand yet what is happening, but they have all seen the refugees from the south, and they are frightened. Our officers seemed unsympathetic until the people returned with nine young pigs and ten dozen loaves of bread. Fifteen of us are to stay now, perhaps to fight boredom instead of the Fallen Lords, and watch the bridge here for two days. Tuesday August 5, King's Highway The Legion reaches Otter Ferry; Madrigal under siege. Having turned back the attack on Crow's Bridge, we headed south to rejoin the Legion in another small town called Otter Ferry. On our way we met a force of our own men hurrying in the opposite direction, who gave us ill news. The vanguard of our army, sixty thousand men, has been camped near Otter Ferry for two days now. The mayor of that village must have guessed our plan to cross the Scamander River behind the main enemy force, and to attack them by surprise. Perhaps in the cowardly hope that he would be spared when the Dark sacked Madrigal, the mayor intends to betray us to the enemy. A quick death will be too good for him, but we will have time for nothing else. We all know the battle for Madrigal will decide the fate of all the Northern lands, and that while this traitor lives all our plans are in jeopardy. One of the locals knows of the clearing where the mayor arranged his meeting with the Dark, and will lead us there. Friday August 8, Otter Ferry The combined armies of the North attack Shiver by surprise. Our vanguard has crossed the Scamander unchallenged and remains hidden on the southern bank of the river. Their assault will begin two hours after midnight against Shiver's right flank, at the same time the Madrigal garrison throws open the Gate of Storms and attacks her from the front. But I won't be anywhere near Madrigal when this happens. An hour before the main attack a small group of men and I will head in the opposite direction and strike at the enemy camp alone, hoping to divert forces and attention from the city before the real battle begins. The plan is to fight our way across a bridge and into the captured village of Comfort. From there we'll locate the enemy camp and draw out as large a force as possible, allowing them to chase us back over the river. Every thrall that follows us is one less that our main force must hack to pieces at Madrigal. Monday September 15, Outskirts of Tyr The Watcher enters Covenant in search of the Total Codex. The battle for Madrigal lasted four days without pause. Shiver fell on the first night in a spectacular dream duel with Murgen, one of the Nine. No one expected this. We have never before challenged one of The Fallen and won. But the truth behind the victory is stranger than any of the rumors. Apparently the Nine found the severed head of one of Balor's enemies from the old days, buried out in the desert under several tons of sand and rock, and managed to start talking to the thing. Balor is the power behind The Fallen Lords, and we figure his enemy is our friend. They say that The Head had an old score to settle with Shiver, and told Murgen that her one weakness was vanity, and showed him how to exploit it. The Head appears to know something about everything, and now it has us looking for an artifact called the Total Codex. It's been located in the ruined city of Covenant, but the first group sent to retrieve it has not returned. In a few minutes Murgen himself is going to send a few of us through a World Knot to Covenant, to bring back the Codex. Monday September 15, Shepherd's Gate, Covenant Flight from Covenant as The Watcher closes in. The Watcher has entered Covenant from the north, and his tireless undead are raping the old city a second time; tearing down what few structures stand in their way, and choking the sky with dust and smoke. That he wants the book which now rests at the bottom of my pack is clear. Against my better judgment, I opened the Codex last night to a random page and read about the life of a man not yet born, who would resurrect the Myrkridia and visit horrors on the world without equal in history or myth. I believed every word. I have resolved to destroy the thing before allowing it to become an instrument of the Dark. Mauriac is on his feet now, talking to the men. We met him and a few other survivors of the first expedition hiding in a collapsed cellar a few hundred feet away from the outer wall, and joined them for a brief rest until dawn. Mauriac was prince regent here during King Alric's adolescence, and knows of an underground tunnel just outside the city which leads to Shoal, a village four miles away down the coast. The King's family used it to escape Covenant when Soulblighter leveled the city twenty years ago, and today we hope it will help us elude The Watcher. Friday November 7, Plain of Scales The Deceiver approaches the mountains We were two days in that tunnel out of Covenant, The Watcher crossing above us every few hours, shaking the ground in his fury and twice nearly burying us alive. Sometime on the second day the tremors grew less distinct, and we were relieved to find nothing but rats and mosquitoes waiting for us when we reached Shoal. Not wishing to return west we headed down the coast toward the old city of Scales, where we met Maeldun's southern garrison and turned over the Codex. We learned there that by coincidence the combined armies of the North were only four days behind us, heading for the mountains to stop The Deceiver, another of The Fallen Lords, from crossing the Cloudspine before winter. But we can't wait for them: There is a World Knot west of the Cloudspine and The Head insists that the enemy has learned to travel through the Knots. If we don't destroy this portal we might hold the mountains only to be outflanked by forces emerging from the Knot behind us. Eight dwarven irregulars and every man in Scales from the Legion has volunteered for the demolition mission. Wednesday November 12, Fool's Traverse, Bagrada The Deceiver attempts to cross the Cloudspine at Seven Gates and Bagrada. Damn I hate the cold. A few months of warm weather and you forget what it's like to have your eyes frost shut and the snot freeze in your nose. And it doesn't bother the undead one bit either, I'm sure. We're up here in the mountains to stop The Deceiver from crossing into the west before winter closes the high passes. It's already started to snow pretty good, so we shouldn't have to be here longer than a few more days. Bagrada is a maze of tiny canyons criss-crossing the mountains between the Plain of Scales and Forest Heart. There are thirty small groups of men like mine waiting at key junctions inside the pass, but the main body of our force is camped in the valley below. With hot meals and dry beds. I guess the worst thing about having a reputation for being a bunch of hardasses is that the Legion always finds itself where the fighting will be ugliest. So we're up here as the first line of defense against an attack by The Fallen. Tyrfing just came running into camp bellowing that our scout's signal fire has gone out. That means trouble. Friday November 14, Devil's Overlook, Bagrada The Deceiver is driven back; Stalemate for the winter. The snow hasn't stopped in two days, and in some places the drifts are already twice the height of a man. Even The Fallen will have to wait until spring before they try to cross the mountains here again. But not all of the enemy retired ahead of the snow. For the last two hours we've watched a column of a hundred soulless, separated from their masters and obviously lost, wandering the canyons below. Gimli and the dwarves are running about like delirious children. It should be a spectacular ambush. Rabican has held Seven Gates, and the snow has begun there as well. We have done the unthinkable. We have pushed The Fallen back to the mountains. But our success here is tempered by Alric's failure to return west with the eastern army before winter, and The Watcher's continued presence behind us. It's not going to be an easy winter. Wednesday November 19, The Barrier The Five Companions approach The Deceiver's camp. I have turned back my journal a few months and placed the next two entries in chronological order after Bagrada, where they seem most appropriate. I did not witness the events I am about to relate, but instïead repeat here the stories of those who survived them. It wasn't until after the disaster at Forest Heart that the rest of us even heard about any of this. It all started when the Nine learned that Alric had been captured by The Deceiver, and his army decimated. I'm not certain how they figured this out, but I'll bet the Head told them (and this was back when the Head could do no wrong). At the behest of the Nine, our officers chose five champions from among the Legion. They were carried over the mountains by balloon and dropped at night in the rough desert twenty miles from The Deceiver's camp. Their instructions were to rescue Alric by any means available, and to return him to the west. I believe that The Nine were suspicious of the circumstances surrounding Alric's capture, and wished to discover why The Head had sent him over the mountains. Wednesday November 19, The Barrier The Five Companions flee with Alric. Finding Alric, the companions later told me, was the easy part, and breaking the enchantments which bound him the matter of but a few moments consideration. It wasn't until they turned to escape, leading the barely conscious and unresponsive Alric, that the rescue became a thing of legend. The companions say that Alric became more and more lucid toward the end, and revealed things that day in the desert which only made sense in the light of later events. He continually returned to the belief that he had been betrayed. Alric babbled about a suit of armor so powerful that it's wearer was invulnerable to attack and tireless in battle. He claimed that it was buried somewhere in the eastern desert, and that he had been sent by The Head to retrieve it. They say Alric talked about The Head often, ridiculing The Nine's belief that it was one of the avatara of Connacht. Connacht was the great hero of the Wind Age, who drove the evil Moagim from the earth, and The Head claims to have been one of Connacht's closest advisors during this time. Once Alric even spoke of The Head's defeat by Balor, where it lost its body. I've begun to wonder how one of the avatara of the Wind Age outlived Connacht by hundreds of years, to fight Balor in a battle long before our time and before the West had even heard of The Fallen Lords. I have been unable to reconcile this with what I know of history. Sunday November 30, Outskirts of Silvermines Forward elements of The Legion explore Silvermines. The old stories all tell that when Balor freed The Watcher from his prison under the Cloudspine, one arm was left trapped in his prison of solid rock. Bound by a powerful confinement dream, it should have remained there forever. But it didn't. Rumored to be the tomb of the first Myrkridian king, this barrow has seen constant warfare since it's discovery during the Wolf Age. No victor has been able to enjoy the spoils of war for long before the next band of brigands and thieves arrives to depose him. We're a hundred miles from Bagrada and two days ahead of the rest of the Legion today, outside a town called Silvermines, looking for The Watcher's arm. You have no idea how small it makes you feel to be poking around the ruins of an abandoned town looking for the shriveled arm of the second or third most powerful sorcerer in living memory. I don't understand how the arm got to Silvermines, or how The Nine knew where to look for it, but I can tell they want it bad. They hope to use The Watcher's arm against him, if we find it. Kind of like if we knew his true name, only better. Again, I don't pretend to understand. Problem is The Deceiver is thinking the same thing. Some of The Fallen are over a millennia old, and their rivalries go back just as far. We know The Deceiver is looking for the arm too, and has been digging up Silvermines since last summer. We're going in this evening to grab it. Sunday November 30, Foothills of the Cloudspine Rabican is routed by The Watcher; Maeldun marches north to help. The enormous volcano overlooking Seven Gates is erupting for the first time in ten centuries. The tremors started late yesterday and since midnight there has been a constant rain of hot ash and fire. Even here, thirty miles away, it already feels like summer. As if the mountain's fury were an ill omen, Rabican was encircled and crushed by The Watcher, who attacked by surprise from the west. The survivors of this battle who have reached us speak of ribbons of fire tearing flesh from bone, and thick clouds of poison which rotted whole formations of men to pieces in moments. Our wizards were powerless to stop the carnage. They also say that the pass of Seven Gates has become a raging river, fed by snow melting as the volcano heats the earth around it. The defenders who remained in the pass are surely drowned, and in a few days when the water is gone the pass will be open again, and undefended. But none of this concerns us. What remains of the Silvermines garrison is less than ten minutes behind us now, determined to claim the arm. We are äall too exhausted to continue running, and our scouts have chosen a hill up ahead where we can make a stand. I've heard there are a number of our own men among those pursuing us, turned to the dark by The Deceiver. None of us look forward to meeting them in battle. Sunday December 7, Seven Gates Maeldun secures Seven Gates; The Watcher escapes over the mountains. The Watcher drove his army without rest through the fleeing remnants of Rabican's forces and into Seven Gates. We are there now, inside the pass, where he then clashed with The Deceiver on his way east. The bodies of the undead are everywhere, melted and broken. It seems inconceivable that anything could have survived. I don't know why he attacked The Deceiver, unless somehow he found out what was going on in Silvermines. One of the veterans said that these two had it out after the battle for Tyr, twelve years ago, and that The Watcher barely survived. I have a feeling the real reasons for what happened today go back even farther than that. Whatever the case, while the battle raged only a few miles away and we thought The Watcher was coming for us next, I was glad nobody had asked me to carry his damn arm. It looks like the volcano will keep Seven Gates open through the winter, so Maeldun is sending out patrols to retake the pass. The Legion's growing fame seems to draw danger like a candle attracts moths, and if any enemy units survived the floods and fighting I'm sure we'll be the ones to find them. So ends the seventeenth year of the war. Tuesday May 19, Edge of Forest Heart Soulblighter returns from the Untamed Lands in the south and attacks The Legion. It's spring again, and after five months of rest the Legion is once more on the move. Last week we passed through Seven Gates into the eastern lands over the Cloudspine. The Fallen seem to have abandoned the mountains, but for what reason we cannot tell. The Legion is here alone, camped on the edge of Forest Heart and dangerously far into the territory of The Fallen. Two of the Nine are with us, Cu Roi and Murgen, trying to make contact with the forest giants who live in this place, to beg their help against the Dark. No man has seen one of the giants since the first battle for Seven Gates thirty years ago. They helped contain the fury of Balor himself for three years, but on the fourth they did not return and the pass was lost. One of our scouts just came crashing through the brush, winded, and a crowd of excited soldiers has gathered around him. Someone hurrying out of the group paused beside me long enough to say, "Soulblighter is here. Put that in your journal." Wednesday May 20 (?), Inside The Tain I do not understand what has happened. Falling back before two myrmidons in Forest Heart, I was enveloped by a greenish haze which tore me from the earth. Now I find myself here, in a vast underground cavern with many of my comrades. We have been unable to find any way to the surface. Murgen believes us to be trapped inside the Tain, a relic forged by the Smiths of Muirthemne during the Wind Age. Soon after its construction, the Tain was taken from Muirthemne by raiding barbarians from the south, and believed to be lost forever. But they say that the darkest artifacts have the abili ty to bend men to their will. Calling soundlessly to the wicked and discontent from thousands of miles away or hundreds of feet beneath the earth or sea, and that in this way they always come to light again, no matter how buried or forgotten. So it was that Soulblighter rediscovered the Tain. The artifact was used only once before it disappeared, by Connacht, against the terrible race of the Myrkridia. Until now, Murgen said, no man except its creators knew where its victims were taken. I'll try to feel privileged while I starve to death. I have nothing more to write. Tuesday May 21 (?), Inside The Tain Murgen believes that we are close to finding a backdoor. A secret exit from the Tain added by its creators so they could escape the thing if it were ever used against them. It will be hidden, of course, and almost certainly protected by traps, but it is our only chance of escape. The caves are so vast that we've been able to locate less than fifty of the four thousand men we suspect are imprisoned with us. Murgen hopes that he can release the others after we have escaped, by destroying the Tain at the exit. I asked him if doing so would also set free everything which had ever been imprisoned in the Tain, but got no response. We had no food when we arrived, and little water. The only man to drink from one of the many shallow pools we've found was struck by a madness so potent we were forced to gag him to stop his screams, and leave him behind. Murgen is signaling that our break is over. Sunday May 23, Near Myrgard The Legion heads north toward Balor's fortress as Balin and the dwarves attack Myrgard. I think Soulblighter lost his nerve when the Tain shattered. To him, only a few seconds passed between the invocation of the thing and its sudden destruction, while it took us two days to escape the caves inside it. Anyway, he didn't stick around to figure out what went wrong. Messengers reached us today saying that Maeldun has lost Bagrada and that The Deceiver crossed the mountains at the Stair of Grief. Worst of all, what's left of the Nine had it out with The Head, which had apparently been double-crossing them ever since they pulled it out of the ground last summer. Something like a civil war erupted back west, too, as thousands of our own men unexpectedly rose to defend it. Two of The Nine were killed, which makes them something like The Three now, if you also subtract Murgen and Cu Roi, who did not escape the destruction of the Tain, and the others who have died this year. The only good news is that Alric is still alive, and will join us tomorrow. The dwarves with us are closer to their occupied homelands than any of their race has been in fifty years. Not expecting to return, many of them have decided to give up their lives rather than abandon their country once again to the Ghôls who have overrun it. What follows is their story. Tuesday May 24, Myrgard The survivors strike deeper into the old dwarven territories. What I record next is hearsay, though the dwarves who remained with us after Forest Heart swear by its truth. It seems impossible that they could have any knowledge of events occurring hundreds of miles away, deep in territory long held by the Ghôls, yet their conviction does not yield. I repeat here their story, and allow the reader come to his own decision. Led by their pathfinder, Balin, the dwarves landed in the midst of a sea of Ghôls and laid waste to them with grenades and satchel charges. But the enemy boiled like ants from their burrows in the mountain, and each one that was killed seemed to be replaced by two others. Yet at last the attacks ceased, and the dwarves found themselves masters of the bloody patch of ground where they had taken their stand. Bodies and pieces of bodies lay everywhere. A swift council followed their unexpected victory, and the survivors resolved to locate the Ghôl's ancestral stone godhead and blast it to fragments. The Ghôls have worshipped this enormous piece of unworked stone since the birth of their race, rolling its hundred tons wherever their migrations have taken them. The continued presence of the Ghôl's idol at Myrgard is a blasphemy, and to destroy it would be to spit in the face of their entire race. More than ever now, the dwarves expected to die. Monday June 15, Edge of the Dire Marsh The Legion enters the Dire Marsh. The Watcher lies in ambush ahead; Soulblighter follows behind. The Legion has come two hundred and fifty miles in little more than two weeks. Not returning west, to safety, but headed north, toward the melted cities of the Trow and Balor's fortress. Back in Forest Heart, Alric convinced our officers that the west was lost. That our small force could contribute nothing to the hopeless battles that would soon be fought around Madrigal, Willow and Tandem. These cities would fall, he said, and all their people would die, whether we sacrificed ourselves or not. Then he told us what we could do instead. Alric was interrogated by Balor during his captivity, and he learned by chance that Balor has bound each of The Fallen to himself, to ensure their obedience to his will. The Fallen draw their power through these links, and were Balor to be killed they would all be powerless. The armies of the Dark would collapse. Balor must fall. But today we are only at the edge of the Dire Marsh, nearly five hundred miles from his fortress, with The Watcher waiting in ambush ahead and Soulblighter shadowing us from behind. We have a long road before us. My cohort is leaving the main column in a few moments to discover the fate of a scouting party which has not returned. None of us expect to find them alive, but we must recover an artifact carried by their leader, gr'Uman, Lieutenant of Archers. Wednesday June 24, South Bank of the Gjol The Legion's rearguard tries to hold Soulblighter at the Gjol. The Legion has reached the Gjol, the poisoned river which feeds the Dire Marsh. Soulblighter has been continuously engaging our rearguard for the last two days. Between this and The Watcher's many ambushes along the way, it seems as if the two Fallen are racing to see which can destroy us first. We will cross the river at midnight, but leave a number of men in ambush for Soulblighter when he tries to follow. Alric's intent is to hit The Watcher while Soulblighter is delayed, and then flee north before either can force a decisive battle. Yesterday I saw iu'Shee, captain of archers, with a fist full of white arrows five feet long and tipped with fragments of bone. I lost track of who was carrying The Watcher's arm when we fled Silvermines, but I suspect it's turned up again. My cohort was chosen to hold the Gjol against Soulblighter. Thursday June 25, Near The Watcher's Camp The Legion escapes after The Watcher is turned to stone; One hundred volunteers return to shatter him. We retreated from the river into chaos. There was no time to write until the following day, when we finally left the swamp for drier ground in the north. We held Soulblighter at the Gjol long enough to let Alric spring his trap on The Watcher. Turned out I was right about those arrows: Alric had been working on them since we entered the marsh two weeks ago, and they were tipped with fragments of bone from The Watcher's arm. I sure wouldn't have wanted to get stuck with one, but apparently they turned The Watcher into stone, leaving him paralyzed and helpless. But he didn't die. Twenty berserks chosen to accompany the archers tore through the enemy and piled the bodies of the dead at The Watcher's feet, but all were killed before they could deliver the final blow. Rather than leave such a dangerous enemy behind us to be rescued, a hundred men volunteered to return and smash him to fragments before help can arrive. Monday July 20, Near Rhi'anon The Legion enters Rhi'anon; A small force is sent ahead to secure an important bridge. None of us miss the mosquitoes and leeches of the marsh, but this bleak landscape is hardly better. We are outside the old Trow city of Rhi'anon, abandoned centuries ago in the war which nearly exterminated their race. Each hour brings us closer to Balor's fortress and almost certainly to the end of our own lives. After weeks of shadowing us, Soulblighter's army vanished after the battle on the Gjol. He's certain to show up again soon, but meanwhile it's given us a welcome rest from fighting. Alric has been busy again, hardly sleeping I'm told, planning for the coming battle. A single berserk reached us yesterday, after having come all the way over the mountains from the city of Willow, fourteen hundred miles away. He delivered to Alric a single package the size of a man's fist, wrapped in rags. He refuses to talk with anyone about events in the west. A small group of us are going into the city ahead of the main force tomorrow, to secure a bridge which Alric fears the enemy will destroy if we attacked in force. Once it has been secured, the Legion will follow. Tuesday July 21, Rhi'anon As The Legion presses toward the fortress, Alric prepares his trap. I am not a coward. I think that my actions over the last seventeen years prove this. Yet I was relieved to not be among those chosen to die. In four hours, just after sunrise, the twenty-two hundred survivors of the Legion will attack Balor's fortress. Those men will surely die. There are perhaps half a million of the enemy between here and the stronghold. Alric left at dusk, alone. The old maps, he says, all show a World Knot in Rhi'anon, though it has never been used in our time. He intends to find it and bring through a hundred picked men to a point he believes will be almost on top of the fortress. From there we go after Balor. We have watched a dim comet grow brighter each night until now it is visible by day, and at night brighter than the moon. Some of the men have taken it as an omen for ill, but only the next few days will tell. Before he left, Alric told us that Madrigal had fallen. Tuesday July 21, Rhi'anon The Legion throws itself at the fortress while Alric's party goes after Balor. Alric's plan is a mad one. One of the many strange things we found while trapped inside the Tain was the shredded battle standard of a long dead race of evil creatures called the Myrkridia. Many years ago Balor himself imprisoned them within the Tain. Or at least that's what Alric says. The Myrkridia were the most vicious servants of the dark in another time, now long past, but I'd always heard that the Myrkridia were hunted to extinction by Connacht, the great hero of the Wind Age. Alric says Connacht and Balor are two different names for the same person. I think four months in the desert addled his mind. How could the greatest hero of the Wind Age, the king of Muirthemne during it's Golden Age, became the greatest evil in our time? Alric intends to approach within a hundred yards of the fortress, and raise the Myrkridian standard. Because of Balor's old enmity toward the Myrkridia, Alric is certain that this will so enrage Balor that he will come to deal with us himself. All we have to do is plant the standard and wait. Tuesday July 21, The Great Devoid The survivors of Rhi'anon arrive at The Great Devoid with Balor's head. "Balor has been killed before," Alric told us after we raised the Myrkridian standard, "and each time it has only made him more powerful. Our best hope is to cut off his head, and hurl it into the Great Devoid. Only in this way will the world be rid of him forever." As Balor approached, Alric drew from his robe one of the five Eblis Stones, and for a few moments it made him an equal of Balor. I have no doubt that this is what was brought to him yesterday, though where it was found or how Alric arranged for it to be delivered I have no idea. I am only certain that he must have set this plan in motion months ago. There are fewer than thirty of us now, most of whom are men I've never seen before. The rest of the Legion was sacrificed in front of the fortress, to give us time to take Balor's head while Alric held him motionless. After writing these last lines, I will bury this manuscript so that it may survive even if we do not. After all the danger we have faced, it seems ridiculous to do that only now. I cannot see what could possibly stand between us and the Great Devoid, only a few thousand yards away. Josh Noel pennnoel@inreach.com orange on bungie.net