The Myth Of A Dream

Page 1

It's on a cold winter day, that you turn off your television. You stand up from the chair and you go upstairs. Tired from work, you quickly step into bed. In bed, you fall asleep, to get some rest for the next day.

A Dream

A loud singing bird wakes you up. You open your eyes. The bird flies away into the distance, as you go sit in your bed. Confused you look around you, scratching your head.

"Where am I?" You ask yourself.

You do know that wherever you are, you are not in your bedroom anymore.

"How can this be?"

The walls of the room where you are in look old.. strange.. Another singing bird gets your attention. You look outside.

"Huh..?"

"The sunlight outside the window looks white.." You think.

You can't believe what you see. You close your eyes, thinking you see it wrong. When you open your eyes again, the sunlight outside is still white.

"Ah, of course. I must be sleeping." You think.

"This is a dream."

"I will close my eyes and fall asleep. When I wake up again, all will be normal."

You decide that that must be it and so you go lay down on the bed to fall asleep again.

The Awakening

In a shock you open your eyes and look next to you.

"I hear no beep. Did I forget to set the timer?!"

You notice that there is no timer, nor table where you've put the timer on. You are still in the same old room. And outside the window is still the white sunlight. You come to the conclusion that this is not a dream, but you still can't believe what you see.

You decide to step out of bed and take a look around in the room.

"How did I get here?" You ask yourself.

And again.. you ask yourself where you are.. Totally confused you look first around the room and then you look outside the window. Now standing up, you see that outside the building there are trees. Between the trees and the building where you are in, there is a field of grass. As you walk towards the window, it becomes clear to you that the building where you are in, not even sure what it is, is surrounded by a forest and the building is in the middle of an open field of grass. Again you look at the white sunlight.. Eventhough, you now know that this is not a dream.. it still looks like.. like a dream.. like.. a myth.. like..

The Myth Of A Dream

The first steps into the myth

Page 2

Your body shivers from a cold breeze filling the room. As you hold your arms against the chest, you look down your body. You notice that you're wearing absolutely nothing. That's not strange, since that's how you went to bed. But as you look at the bed and around the bed, you can not find your clothes. Unable to find your clothes anywhere, you desperatly start to look around the room, to find anything you can wear. You see something that looks like clothes, hanging on a wooden hanger attached to the wall left of the bed. You walk towards the wooden hanger and grab the clothes. As you put the brown clothes on, you imagine yourself looking like a tramp. At least you feel a bit warmer. Below the wooden hanger you see things that look like footwear, can't really call it shoes. With the footwear you walk towards the bed. You go sit on the bed and put the footwear on.

"There! I no longer feel cold." You think.

Then, then you keep sitting there for a while, still confused.

It takes a while before anything comes into your head.

"How can this be?" You ask yourself, over and over again.

Many long moments later, after your mind has accepted the new reality, the first thought comes into your head.

"What to do next?"

Two things really get your attention. First of all, you feel that you get hungry, since you missed your breakfast. Secondly, you really want to find out where you are. The need for food becomes bigger and bigger, so you decide to see if you can find something to eat.

"No idea where I am, but let's find out if I can find something to eat in this building."

You stand up and walk towards the only door in the room. You open the door, curious to see where it will lead to. On the other side of the door is a short hall. From the room where you come out of, the hall leads to a door, that you identify as the door towards outside, looking from the opposite side of the hall through the small window in the door.

On the left side of the hall there are two other doors.

"Maybe I can find some food there." You think.

Hungry as you are, you step towards the first of the two left doors. You open the door and look at what's behind it. What you see is that it's another bedroom, very similar to the room where you came out of. Quickly you look around the room, but there is no food or anything eatable to find. So, you step out of the room towards the other door on the left side of the hall. You open that door to see what's behind it. As you step into the room, you see a fireplace in front of the door. At the fireplace are seats and a round table around the fireplace. In the back of the room you see a table with some chairs around it.

"This looks like some sort of prehistoric kitchen," you think, as you remember it from television.

Well, kitchen.. a place where you can prepare food and eat it, can't call it a kitchen. The old wood of the roof and the walls, the table and everything.. it really looks like you stepped into the prehistoric Era.

Still asking yourself how this is all possible, you walk around the room to see if there is something eatable to find. You look everywhere, below the table, near the fireplace, in every corner of the room, but even though this is a place where you can eat.. you find no food, absolutely nothing. The hunger stays and gets worse every moment. Again looking in all the three rooms of the house, but no result, no food. You end up sitting at the table in the room with the fireplace.

"What now?"

"Will have to see if I can find something to eat outside the house, the building."

You stand up and walk towards the door that leads to outside. Standing at the door towards outside, you look through the window in the door. All trees and grass outside.

Then you look at somewhere below the trees of the forest. You close your eyes and open them again. It's still there. You see that the sunlight below the trees is yellow, unnatural mystical yellow. You open the door and step outside. There you turn around looking into all directions. You see that the building where you come out of is an old small lodge. Combining that with your clothes, you get the idea that this is some sort of hunter's lodge, specially because of it's location in the middle of a forest. You walk around the hunter's lodge, not sure what you will find, but you desperately need something to eat. On one side of the house you see a tree stump that can be used to make firewood. On that side of the lodge you see stacks of firewood piled up against the wall. As you don't discover anything eatable, you continue to walk around the lodge, ending up where you started, without anything to eat. Watching a bird that's flying passed the lodge, you think about what to do now. A small sandpath leads from the door of the lodge into the forest.

"I will have to follow that path and maybe I will find something to eat in the forest."

"But where, what.."

Since you have no idea where you are, you have no idea if there will be anything eatable at all in the forest. Though, the hunger gets worse, the only way to stop it is to find something to eat. You will have to enter the forest in search for food. Not long after that, you decide to go. You stand up from the table in the eat room and step outside, to follow the sandpath into the forest.

Into the wild

Page 3

Walking onto the sandpath, you enter the forest. As you move further into the forest, you take a look at your surroundings. You see a roof of green leaves above you, from the many many trees in the forest. There are only a few gaps in the roof of the forest, through these gaps shines yellow sunlight onto the thick bushes on the ground. The ground of the forest is filled with bushes. Between two walls of bushes goes the sandpath that you follow, deeper and deeper into the forest.

Not sure what to find or to expect, you look around to see if there is anything eatable on the many bushes on both sides of the sandpath. With a hungry stomach you listen to all the birds in the forest, singing as they sit on branches or fly around. Now and then you hear sounds of breaking branches, moving leaves, soft squeaking sounds, the sounds of small animals moving around on the ground of the forest. Further and further you step into the forest, with nothing to see yet, that you can eat. 

A quick end

It's somewhere deep, deep in the forest, that you take a small break. You give your legs a bit of rest, as you still look around for bushes or trees with something to eat, desperate, as the need for food gets worse and worse. After the small break you continue further onto the sandpath. Not long after that, as you are still looking around for food, you notice that you don't hear any singing of birds anymore, or the moving around of little animals on the ground of the forest. You hear, absolutely nothing. All has gone quiet in the forest. You are not sure what to think of it, but it gets your attention.

A few steps later, you do hear something, somewhere on your left side, far away into the bushes. You can clearly hear it because everything else in the forest is still totally silent. You stand still to listen to the sounds. It must be some animal moving through the bushes. You continue to hear the sounds of moving leaves and breaking branches. The moving of leaves and branches gets louder, it tells you that the animal is heading in your direction. Listening to the sounds, you get the idea that the animal must be quite large. Curious as you are, you stand there facing into the direction of the sounds, listening as the sounds come closer and closer. 

"That must be a big animal." You think again.

Loud sniffing sounds are coming from the animal. Listening to the sniffing sounds, the animal becomes bigger and bigger in your mind.

"What kind of animal could it be?"

While realizing that it has to be a big animal, you start to feel a little bit anxious.

"Is it wise to stand here, should I move.."

You don't know, you have no idea what to expect. Your curiosity for now wins it from your thoughts that tell you to move on. Now you hear heavy breathing coming from the animal, as it comes real close. A shock hits your mind, from the heavy breathing.

"What for animal is that?" You ask yourself again as you become more anxious.

Again you think about moving on, as it becomes clear to you that the big animal is coming straight towards you. Eventhough your mind wants you to go further, you don't move a muscle. The fear within you becomes bigger and bigger, while you have no idea what kind of animal is coming towards you. The heavy breathing, the moving leaves and the breaking branches come closer and closer, louder and louder. You can see the bushes moving near the sandpath. Still nothing to see of the animal itself. Then.. then your eyes see the bushes behind the last row of bushes moving aside. From behind the bushes comes.. the appearance of an enormous Bear. A brown Bear, as tall as you and as big as two bushes, is standing there in front of you. You look right in the Bear's eyes. The Bear opens it's mouth and releases a deafening roar.

All your body is now taken over by fear. In total panic you turn around and start to run away. Death frightened and shouting, you look around, as you run for your life. The Bear opens it's mouth again and you can hear the Bear growling. Next you see the Bear starting to come after you. There is some distance between you and the Bear, but the Bear goes much faster than you. You run and you run, fearing for your life. Shouting and yelling as you do, you look back again. The Bear is now very close behind you.

"Oh no!" You think.

You only look at the Bear now, as it can almost grab you. That big Bear so close behind you, it makes you shout as loud as you can, feeling you won't make it. Yelling and shouting, thinking you witness your last moments, you feel that something on the ground is blocking your foot. The thing blocking your foot makes you fall down to the ground. As you fall onto the ground, your head hits something hard. All becomes black..

The Hunters

Page 4

You get back out of unconsciousness, by something hitting your head. Next thing you notice, is things sliding along your legs, things that you identify as branches from bushes. Very close to you, you hear heavy breathing. The breathing gives you a flashback, the heavy breathing is from the Bear that was chasing you, before.. You can't remember much else yet, other than that you somehow lost consciousness. The heavy breathing of the bear so close to you, drives a shock through your body. Out of fear you open your eyes. As you open your eyes, you feel your body being stuck into something. With your eyes open, you immediately get it.. you are in the mouth of the Bear. The Bear is walking through the bushes of the forest, while carrying you in it's mouth. With your mind just back out of unconsciousness, you can barely think. For a very very long moment, you just hang there inside the mouth of the Bear, dazed as you are. The Bear takes you further and further through the forest.

At a certain point, you realize that you are still alive. Though, being inside the mouth of the giant Bear, you feel that you are as dead as can be.

"Why the Bear doesn't eat me? Why does it carry me through the forest like this?" You ask yourself.

Not sure what to think about your situation, besides being barely able to think at all.. you hang there in the mouth of the Bear, looking at the ground. Panic arises in your head.

"I have to find a way to get out of here." You think.

But you realize that you are lucky that you are alive at all and in the position where you are in right now, you are quite lost. No options for escaping your fate. As you feel the teeth of the Bear sticking deep into your flesh, you get the hopelessness of your situation. You come to the chilling conclusion, that you are neither dead, nor alive. At any moment the Bear could close it's mouth completely and that would be the end of you. Many long frightening moments the Bear carries you through the forest, while you have no idea why, or where it is going to.

From close distance, you hear loud growling, from the direction where the Bear is heading to. Then you hear more growling, from other locations nearby. With fear in your heart, you look at where the growling is coming from. You see three other Bears. Those Bears are smaller than the one carrying you in it's mouth. It doesn't take long for you to figure out the situation where you are in.

"Oh, so that's the reason for me being carried so far. This Bear is gonna feed me to it's family."

An uncontrollable fear is taking over your mind and your body. You want to shout, scream, run away as fast as you can.. but all you can do is watch, while the mother or father Bear is carrying you towards the younger Bears. In the middle of the four Bears, the giant Bear drops you onto the ground.

"So this is it." You feel, you think.

With those monstrous Bears above you, looking at your flesh, you can no longer control yourself. You shout, you yell, you fear for your life. The mother or father Bear reacts to your shouting and yelling. Growling, filled with bloodlust, it steps towards you, moves it's head down and opens it's mouth. The murderous teeth of the giant Bear near your body. You yell and you yell, hopeless.

Through the sound of your yelling and the growling of the Bears, you hear something hitting the giant Bear in the back. The Bear reacts surprised and expresses the pain felt by the thing striking it's back. Two more things can be heard flying through the air, they both hit the Bear. With a last roar, the giant Bear drops down onto the ground, dead. You now see that the Bear was struck by three arrows. The three smaller Bears look up at their dead parent. You hear more sounds, that you now recognize as the sounds of arrows. Next you see one of the smaller Bears get hit by two more arrows. The young Bear falls down onto the ground, expressing a last roar like it's parent. The remaining Bears look next to them and start to panic. The Bears express sounds of fear. You see how the young Bears turn around and flee away. Two more arrows fly through the air. One arrow hits one of the Bears, the other arrow misses and shoots into the bushes. Both the Bears run into the bushes, out of sight and away into the distance. You express a sigh of relief, while you hardly got an idea what is going on. 

Interested to know who fired those arrows, you look into the direction where the arrows came from. 

"It's clear! The Bears are gone!" You hear from somewhere above you.

The moment after that you see a Man appearing out of the bushes. As the Man is walking towards you, you see another Man coming out of the bushes. You notice that the two Men nearing you, are wearing the same old brown clothes as you. Armed with long swords and constantly looking around them, the two Men stop in front of you.

"Too bad those Bears escaped!" one of the Men says.

"Yes, Ergil!" the other Man responds.

"We could have killed them all!" the Man named Ergil responds.

"Yes."

"We finally found the Bear's den. Luckily for us that the Bear brought this unlucky traveller all the way home to feed the young Bears."

"Yes and finally we could punish this Bear for killing two of our Hunters."

"Those other Bears we will deal with later."

"Are you alright?" the Man named Ergil asks you.

At first you aren't sure what to say, as Ergil helps you standing up. Then you feel the pain of the deep wounds caused by the Bear's teeth.

"I'm badly wounded in the side and in the back!" You say. 

"I'm not surprised. We've seen the Bear carrying you all the way in it's mouth." The other Man says.

"We thought you already died. Our scouts heard you shouting, but when we arrived, we didn't hear you anymore. I thought we were too late and that the Bear had taken another victim. When we heard you yelling again, we knew we had to act quickly."

"I thank you for saving me!" You say to Ergil and the other Hunter.

"No problems, we Men need to help each other!" Ergil responds.

"But what were you thinking, walking all alone through the forest?" The other Hunter asks you.

"He is probably from the city, Belenir!" Ergil responds laughing. " The people living within the safe walls of the city have no idea about the reality of the outside world."

The Hunter, named Belenir, laughs at Ergil's words.

"Yes, he probably is." Belenir responds.

"Come stranger. We will take you back to our camp. There you can get some rest and take care of your wounds, before we bring you back to the city." Says Ergil.

"Alright, Erbald, Argenon take the hides and the meat from the Bears, then we will head back for the camp." Ergil orders.

The two Men come out of the bushes and do as ordered. All useful meat and all useful parts of the Bear-hides get cut off from the dead Bears, then the two men put it into bags. Ergil gives everyone, including you, one of the bags. He himself grabs two bags. Following that, Ergil, who seems to be the leader of the Men, of the Hunters, signals to someone up in the trees. You look up but you see no one.

"Daldo, Nirden, Herbald! Go scout ahead! We are going back!"

And so the group of Hunters and you, together with the hides and the meat, head through the forest, towards the Hunters camp. As you see the food around you and you feel your empty stomach, you really hope that the Hunters camp isn't too far away.

The Hunters camp

Through many many bushes you go, together with the group of Hunters. You really feel there is no end to the trees, no end to the roof of green leaves, until you and the Hunters come at a small river. Along the river, goes a sandpath, a much broader sandpath than the one that you followed from the Hunter's lodge into the forest. Following the sandpath and the river, after another long long walk, you come at what you recognize as walls.

"Ah, we are back!" Argenon says.

Through the wooden walls, you and the Hunters enter the Hunters camp. As you look around, you see several small structures, buildings, made out of hides and wood. More Men, Hunters are inside the camp. You and the group walk towards a building in the middle of the camp. Ergil puts aside the hide in front of the entrance and steps inside the building. You and the group follow. Inside the small round building burns a campfire. Around the campfire sit a Man and a woman.

"We are back, Chief Ahtan!" Says Ergil. "And we bring good news!"

"What would that be?" The Man, Chief Ahtan, asks.

"We've found the den of the Bear that has terrorized our Hunters for so long. And we killed the Bear." Answers Ergil.

"That's good news indeed!" Chief Ahtan responds.

"We brought hides and meat with us, from the Bear." (Ergil)

"Ersa, show them where to put the hides and meat." Says Ahtan, while looking at the woman.

Ersa stands up and walks towards the entrance.

"Oh, we also found a lonely traveller in the forest, Chief Ahtan." Says Ergil.

Chief Ahtan raises his head and looks at you.

"Keep him here, you go with Ersa to put away the hides and the food."

As ordered, Ergil and the other Hunters follow Ersa to outside.

You stand there alone with Chief Ahtan.

"So, what brings you here, stranger?" Chief Ahtan asks you.

Struggling to find words you try to answer.

"Uhh.. Well.."

Still you can barely understand what is going on. You have still no idea where you are, or how this is possible, but now you stand there talking to a complete stranger, in what looks like nothing but a weird dream. But then you do feel the terrible need for food, you feel tired and the almost unbearable pain of the deep wounds of the Bear's teeth. Impossible to find a way to explain all or anything to the Chief of the Hunters, you keep standing there saying nothing.

"Oh, I understand. You must be tired from the long walk all the way from the city, from Grimbar." The Chief says. "And I ask you these silly questions, I'm sorry."

You don't find yourself able to say yes, or no, or anything. All you do is nod, since that's the easiest thing to do, easier than trying to tell what really happened.

"Well, you can take some rest here. After that my Hunters will take you back to the city. You people from the city have clearly no idea about the dangers outside the city walls. Spiders, Bears and other deadly animals await you in this forest. In the open fields between the city and the forest Orcs and Wolves wait for you, to swallow you to the last bone. It's very unwise to leave the city on your own, it's a miracle that you've made it so far. Let that be a lesson."

Again you nod.

"Ok, come with me. I will show you your rest room."

The Chief stands up and walks towards the entrance of the building. You turn around to follow the Chief of the Hunters. You can not withstand the pain coming from the wounds, while you turn around. An expression of the suffering leaves your mouth. The Chief stops and looks back.

"Are you wounded?" Chief Ahtan asks.

"Yes." You answer.

"How did that happen?"

"From the Bear." You answer.

"Oh, the Bear got you? Well, good that it's dead. I will tell it to Ersa. She will take care of your wounds."

"Ok, thanks." You say, as you nod.

"Well, let me show you your rest room now."

As said, the Chief leads you to outside and outside in the camp, Ahtan walks with you to one of the buildings. Ahtan shows you the building.

"There you can rest and get some sleep," says the Chief as he points at a hide lying down on the ground. "When Ersa has made the food ready, I will send someone to get you."

"Ok, thanks." You say.

Rather you would've liked to eat now, but you realize that you got no choice. The Chief leaves the building as you go sit down on the hide. Somewhat later Ersa enters your rest room.

"Hello, come with me. I will take care of your wounds." Ersa says.

You follow the woman to the building of the Chief and close to the fireplace you go sit down. After Ersa is done, taking care of your wounds, you walk outside to go back to your rest room. In your rest room you lay down onto the hide. Later, a Hunter enters your rest room.

"Food is ready. Come to the eat room." The Hunter says.

You follow the Hunter to the eat room, another building inside the camp. In the eat room you go sit and finally you can eat. Eventhough you feel you could eat much more, you are glad when you've eaten your bit. Done with eating and drinking, you go to your rest room. While walking through the camp, you look at the sky. Between the trees on both sides of the river, you see the white sunlight.

"Strange, it feels like I've been walking a whole day, but the sunlight is still the same." You think.

In your rest room, you lay down on your hide. With the filled stomach and as tired as you are, it doesn't take long before you feel the sleep coming. Every little move you make, makes you feel the pain of the wounds. Eventually, your need for sleep wins it from the pain and you fall asleep.

Towards Grimbar

Page 5

As you spend some time in the Hunters camp, you learn some thing about the strange world that you've entered. The world hasn't got day-and-night periods. The sky stays white all the time. The Hunters sleep and guard in shifts. It's in the eat room that the Chief of the Hunters looks up, after he has finished eating.

"How do you feel now, stranger?" The Chief asks you.

"I feel better." You answer.

"Good, because after sleeping, my men will bring you back to the city."

You look at the Chief, not sure what to say.

"So, finish your eating, then get some rest, because you have a long ride ahead of you."

As told, you eat your food, you drink your water and you go to your rest room. In the rest room you lay down on your hide and try to sleep.

"Wake up citizen! No time to be lazy!" You hear as you wake up.

You look aside you and see a Hunter standing at the entrance of the rest room.

"Come on! The men are waiting!"

You shake your head to get yourself fully awake and you stand up. Behind the Hunter you step outside.

"Ah there you are! You lazy citizen!" You hear.

Following that, you hear the Hunters of the camp laughing. A group of six Hunters is sitting on top of horses, standing in the middle of the camp. Chief Ahtan is standing in front of the group of Hunters and he's looking at you.

"Get behind Ergil on the horse, citizen." The Chief tells you.

"Hold on tight. It's going to be a rough ride," says Ergil as you get up on the horse behind him. "We need to ride as hard as we can, Orcs and Wolves rule the hills and grasslands towards the city. Lean forwards and wrap your legs around the horse, citizen. So you don't fall off."

"Alright we go men!" Ergil, the leader of the group shouts.

And so the group of six Hunters, with you in their midst, ride out. Out of the camp, the group follows the sandpath along the river. The group keeps going through the forest on full speed.

A long ride takes you to the edge of the forest. Outside of the forest the path keeps following the river over some green hills. The mystical white sunlight fills the sky. On the open fields and grasslands you have a clear sight on your surroundings. Fields of grass paint most of the landscape. On your left and in the back you see high moutain chains, there are many forests in the far distances into all directions. In front and on the sides it's grasslands, sometimes as far as the eye can see. In the back you see the forest where you came out of, getting further and further away. All the time the group of Hunters keeps leading you over the sandpath alongside the river. On the other side of the river you see rocky hills appearing in the distance. Just before the rocky hills, you and the Hunters cross the river over a wooden bridge. On the other side of the river, the sandpath continues, from the open grasslands into the rocky hills. During the long ride, you feel that you could use some more sleep. Half dazed, tired you hold onto the horse, finding it hard to keep attention. On and on goes the ride between the rocky hills.

A sound can be heard in the back. The sound immediately shakes you out of your sleepyness. You look back, as you recognize the howling of a Wolf, from television. More howling can be heard from upfront. Shocked you look forwards.

"It's an ambush!" Ergil shouts. "Citizen, hold your arms around me! We will have to ride for our lives!"

You do as told. Ergil and the Hunters strike their horses with the handles, to make the horses go as hard as they can. Loud howling comes from the rocky hills on your left side. You look up and see the appearance of a grey Wolf. From the right you hear growling. With fear taking over your mind, you look in the direction of the growling. From that right side you see multiple Wolves coming down the hills, towards you and the Hunters. The sounds of the Wolves come from all sides now. As you look back, you see many Wolves chasing the group over the path. The eyes and teeth of the Wolves are of bloodthirsty killers. Those Wolves will tear everyone of the group apart.

"Go! Go!" You hear Ergil shouting to his horse.

Fearful as you are, you keep looking at your back and the sides. Between thirty and forty Wolves are now running behind the group. Growling and howling the Wolves continue to hunt you and the Hunters all the way through the rocky hills. The end of the rocky hills is in sight. After the last rocky hills, comes more open grassland. Along the river, in the middle of the grasslands, you see the walls of a big city.

"We made it!" You hear one of the Hunters saying.

"Look, the Wolves stop chasing us!" Shouts another Hunter.

You turn your head around. Indeed, the Wolves stop their chase right at the end of the rocky hills. The Hunters and their horses don't stop. In full speed the group heads over the path towards the gate of the city.

Grimbar

On top of the wall above the city's gate stands a guard.

"Open the gate!" Shouts the guard.

The two parts of the gate open, as you and the group come closer. The Hunters ride through the gate and together with you, they enter the city.

"Close the gate!" Shouts the guard.

Behind you the gate gets closed again, by two other guards.

"Halt!" Shouts the guard standing above the gate. "Who are you?! What purpose brings you here?!"

The Hunters stop as other guards come standing in front them.

"We are Hunters and we are heading for the Grimbar Inn." Answers Ergil.

"Alright, alright!" Says the guard. "Have orders from the City Head to check everyone coming in, since Men of the traitorous Thief Clan have been spotted in the city, robbing people at the market."

"But you can go. You Hunters smell too much to be Thieves." The guard laughs.

A little bit irritated by the guard's words, the Hunters continue their way into the city. Over the main road of the city, the group goes between the many citizens busy with their daily businesses. Somewhere along the main road the group stops, at the Grimbar Inn.

"Okay citizen, you are back within the safety of the city walls." Ergil says to you. "You can go your own way now. We will stay at the Inn, drink some, get some rest and then go back to the camp."

Struggling to find words, you step off the horse, together with the Hunters.

"I.. I want to thank you." You say to Ergil. "How can I ever thank you all for saving my life and for bringing me here."

"Don't need to." Says Ergil. "Just keep in mind that the world outside the city is too dangerous to go walk there all on your own. Next time there might not be anyone to help you out."

"Come with us, citizen." Says Belenir. "I will offer you a drink."

"Oh yes, Belenir is the Drink Head of us." Ergil laughs.

You have no idea what else to do, or where to go, it doesn't take long for you to decide.

"Alright." You say.

Together with the Hunters, you enter the Grimbar Inn.

Working at the Grimbar Farms

Page 6

Inside the Inn, you and the Hunters step towards the bar. Belenir orders some drinks from the Man behind the bar. After the drinks are paid, the group walks with the drinks towards one of the tables. There, at the table, you and the Hunters are having a good time. You drink and get drunk, from the strong drinks. Belenir orders more and more drinks and you empty one glass after the other. The Hunters talk and laugh, having a good time. You mostly drink and look around. Inside the Inn there are two other groups of Men, sitting around tables, talking, drinking. While sipping from the glass, you start thinking about yourself.

"What am I going to do now?" You ask yourself.

You find yourself unable to answer your own question.

"Where am I going to sleep? How will I get something to eat?"

Realizing you've got no money, you start to get worried.

"Will I have to live like a tramp?" You ask yourself, while you look at your clothes.

You can't answer any of your questions, all you can do is sit and empty one glass after the other.

The door of the Inn opens. You see a Man walking in, it's a soldier.

"Alright! Listen everyone!" The soldier shouts.

All the Men in the Inn stop talking.

"I am the personal messenger of the City Head. I'm sent here to offer everyone of you, to work for the City Head himself."

"Work? What work?" One of the Men in the Inn asks.

"The City Head is looking for Men to work at the city's farms, the Grimbar Farms. You will be paid well."

"At the Grimbar Farms? Oh no, no money can get me to work at The Farms. I'm not that crazy." A Man reacts.

"No, me either." Says another Man.

You see more Men shaking their heads. The soldier asks the Men on one of the tables if anyone wants to take the job. All the Men refuse the offer, again shaking their heads. The soldier walks towards the table of you and the Hunters.

"Does anyone of you want to work for the City Head?" The soldier asks again, looking at everyone on your table.

"No." Answers Ergil, as he shakes his head.

The other Hunters also turn down the offer. The soldier looks at you.

"You, do you want to work for the City Head himself?" The messenger asks you.

As you look the soldier right in the eyes, you are still thinking. Though you quickly realize, that you can not refuse this offer.

"This is my chance to get money for food." You think.

But you are a little hesistant, since you having no idea what you are signing up for.

"Well.." The messenger asks. "Yes or no?" 

"This is my chance, I have to take it." You think.

"Yes, I take the job." You answer.

Everyone in the Inn reacts surprised.

"Alright then. After the Inn is closed, wait outside. The courier will pick you up at the Inn." The messenger says to you.

The servant of the City Head walks towards the last group of Men. Again the messenger repeats his offer. None of the Men on the table accept the offer.

"I'm not that drunk." One of the Men responds.

The messenger turns and walks towards the exit door. He stops at the door and looks back, at you.

"Remember to stand outside the Inn. The courier won't wait."

As the words of the messenger echo through your head, the servant of the City Head leaves the Inn. Shortly after that, the Hunters stand up from the table. The Hunters go upstairs, to their rest rooms. The other Men leave the Inn one after the other. With the last Men standing up, the owner of the Inn tells you that he's closing the Inn. You stand up, stretch your arms and walk out, feeling quite drunk. Outside the Inn, you stand and wait, as told.

At the Grimbar Farms

You wait and you wait outside the Inn, until you see horses towing a wagon down the road. The Man sitting on top of the wagon makes the horses stop in front of the Inn.

"Get on the wagon, quick!" The Man shouts at you. 

Hastily you walk to the wagon and you go sit on the back, in between other Men. None of the Men is saying anything, all looking in front of them. The courier softly strikes the horses with the handles and the wagon moves again. Along the road the courier stops at several other Inns. One other Man gets picked up. The wagon comes at the city's gate. The guards open the gate and the courier leads the wagon outside. On the sandpath outside the city, the courier strikes the horses harder, to make them speed up. On a crossing the wagon goes left. Through vast open grasslands bordering forests on both sides, the sandpath goes further and further. During the ride, you see herds of grazing beasts, wandering over the grasslands. Over some slowly climbing hills and after a sharp turn to the left, you eventually see fields with crops in front of you. The sandpath ends at a group of three buildings in the middle of the crop fields. The wagon stops at one of the buildings.

"Step off! We've arrived!" The courier shouts.

All the Men on the back of the wagon step off. You take a look around you, as you come off the wagon.

"Ah, finally you people are here!" You hear someone saying.

You see a Man has come out of the farm house, standing in front of the door.

"Come on you farmhands! Stand in line! You are working for the City Head now! Need to get some order in you lazy scum. I'm your Farm Head. And I will show you that life outside the city is different. You will be working hard, in shifts, at The Farms the work is never done."

"What about our payment?" One of the new farmhands next to you asks.

"Yea." another farmhand adds.

"You will get your payment." The Farm Head answers. "At the end of every shift. But first you'll have to proof that you are worth the money. Until you've learned your way around here, you will get food and a place to sleep, but only when you work hard. Come, I will show you your work clothes and tools. Then I will show everyone of you where he needs to go and what his job is. I will also let you see the place where you farmhands will sleep and eat."

The Farm Head shows you and the other farmhands everything. You put on the farmhand clothes, grab your farm tool and go to the crop field where you are ordered to go.

On the crop field at the Grimbar Farms, you do your work. And as you do your shifts, you start to learn your work. Every shift the work goes better and better. After work, you eat and go to sleep, only to wake up again and do your shift. Several shifts later, after work, during eating, the Farm Head enters the rest room of the farmhands.

"Well, you Men have proven you can handle the work at the Grimbar Farms. From now on, you get your payment, as promised."

The Farm Head walks around the rest room and hands out the money to all the farmhands.

"Here you go!" The Farm Head says to you, as you receive your coins.

A feeling of celebration enters your body.

"Now I can finally buy my own food." You think.

The Farm Head leaves the rest room. You look at the coins, before you put them into one of the pockets in your pants. Done eating, you go to sleep. Next day you continue your work and get paid again during eating. Like that, you spend shift after shift. Many, many shifts go by and you get quite some money in your pocket.

At the end of one shift, again during eating, the Farm Head enters the rest room.

"Men! This was your last shift! Your work at the farm is done. A new group of farmhands will replace you. Go to sleep, get some rest. After sleeping the courier will bring you back to the city."

The Farm Head hands out the last payment and steps outside. On one hand you are glad with the money that you've earned so far, on the other hand you have uncertainty in your head.

"How am I going to earn my money now?" You think.

With that thought in your head, you go to sleep. The Farm Hand wakes you and the other farmhands up.

"The courier is here!" The Farm Head shouts.

Half asleep, you step outside. Yawning, you stand in the middle of the other farmhands at the wagon of the courier. Other Men, farmhands, step off the wagon.

"Get on the wagon!" the courier shouts.

With all of the old-shift farmhands on the back of the wagon, the courier hits the horses with the handles.

"We go!" (courier)

And so, the wagon rides off, away from the Grimbar Farms. The wagon follows the sandpath all the way back, back to the city.

Back in Grimbar, starting to live a dream

At the city's gate, the courier drops you off. Together with your colleague farmhands, you walk through the city. At the first Inn, the group stops.

"Let's go in for a drink." One of your colleagues says.

"Yea!" Shout several other Men of the group.

You follow the group into the Inn. Inside, the group goes standing at the bar. It feels great that you can now buy your own drinks. You empty one, two drinks very quick. At the third drink, you think about that you need to keep money for other things. Slowly sipping, you look around, talk a bit and listen to your colleagues.

"I'm going to get me some girls." One of the Men says, half celebrating.

"Oh yea." the group responds.

During the conversation one of your colleagues turns his head and looks at you. It's the colleague that worked with you on the same crops field at the Grimbar Farms.

"So, what you're going to do now?" the Man asks you.

"Oh, I don't know.." You answer.

In fact, you really don't know. The question of your colleague brings you back deep into your thoughts.

"What am I going to do now," You think. "Now I have money, but what am I going to do with it? Where am I going to stay, where will I sleep?"

You think and you think, with uncertainty, but still you feel a bit more comfortable now, with a good sum of money in your pocket. 

"Well, I'm going back to my family, to my wife, my children." The colleague responds. "See you all."

The Man empties his glass, puts it down on the bar and leaves. Other Men from the group leave soon after that. Eventually, everyone of your colleagues has left, as you stand outside the Inn. After a very long time thinking about what to do next, you can think of nothing else but to go back into the Inn.

"Ah, you back." The owner of the Inn says, as you walk in again.

"Yes." You say.

"Do you wish to hire a rest room at the Inn?" The Man asks.

You look up.

"Oh, not sure. Maybe." You answer, in a polite attempt to dodge the question.

"Well, think about it. And let me know when you've made up your mind." Says the owner of the Inn.

You go sit at the bar, buy a drink and continue to think about what to do next. At a certain point, you decide to have a look around the city. You stand up and walk outside. From there you walk through the main road of the city. You pass the market. The market is very busy, with people looking at goods, sellers shouting, advertising their products. From the market you go further along the main road. The main road ends at a gateway, heavily guarded. From the main road, you enter a side road. Like that, you walk through many streets, side roads, back alleys. On a bench at a small open place, you go sit down. There you sit for a while. You come to the conclusion, that there is no other way..

"I'll have to try to make a living, in this.. this world, this dream world."

You stand up and head for the Inn where you came out of. Hoping that the Inn is still open, you will try to get some sleep there. After sleep, you will go around the city, to search for a job. And when you have a job, you will try to get a house, a place of your own, in this city.

A long time goes by. You find a job at The Stables of the City Head. As you work for the City Head, you get a home provided by the City Head himself. You work, get to know people and get to know a little bit more about the city and the world that you've somehow entered. That's how you spend many many time. All goes fine, the wounds from the adventure with the Bear have almost completely healed. Enjoying your drinks at the many Inns in the city, enjoying life at your home and learning to know your nice neighbors, you really start to like the dreamlike reality below the ever-white sky. It seems to you, that all could only get better and better from here. But all is not how it seems..

The Orc King

Page 7

Surrounded by the sound of roaring trolls, the Orc King Orgnak is sitting on his throne. In The Deeps of the Black Shadow, Orc King Orgnak has his King Base. With his hordes of Orcs and Trolls, he rules over vast regions of the world. The only ones holding back Orgnak's world domination, are two Human City Head regions. Time after time, Orgnak is plotting new battle plans, building new hordes and sending them out. The Orc King is raising his hordes, from The Sources of the Black Shadow, deep deep below his King Base. Inside the King Base, The War Machine of Orgnak is working non-stop. At forges within the King Base, the servants of Orgnak work on making swords, shields, armor and then put it on the hordes of Orcs and Trolls coming out of the deeps. Above ground, in camps, Orgnak's servants make bows and arrows. The Orcs stole the knowhow of crafting and using bow and arrow, from the Humans. Although, the Orc King controls most of the world's regions known-to-date, he's still frustrated. The Humans have managed to hold off Orgnak's assaults for so far.

The release of the Dragon

"Your servants are ready," an Orc messenger reports to King Orgnak.

Orgnak isn't paying much attention to the messenger. The Orc King is busy with working out the final details of his latest battle plan.

"The survival of the Humans depends on their strongholds, their cities." Orgnak thinks. "If I take down their cities, then the Humans won't be able to hold my hordes. I have to find a way to take the Human cities. But it will take thousands and thousands of Orcs to take one of those cities, if it will be possible at all. Instead of taking the cities, I could destroy them."

Shifting his mind from taking the cities, to destroying them, the Orc King thinks about his options. He raises his head with a smile, as he gets an idea.

"Go up to Dragon's Peak and tell the guards of the peak, to release the Dragon!" Orgnak orders, to the Orc King's messenger waiting below his throne. 

As the messenger hastily runs away from Orgnak, the Orc King enters The Realm Of Thoughts. In The Speech Of The Black Shadow, used by both Orcs and Dragons, the Orc King sends a message, an order to the Dragon.

"Attack the Human cities, burn them!"

In addition to the order, Orgnak plants the directions towards the two Human cities, into the Dragon's head.

"Soon, the Orc and the Forces Of The Black Shadow, will rule over all land, below and above ground!" The Orc King shouts, before chewing on a bone.

Humans, belong to The Forces Of Light. As of now, the future of The Light, depends on the Human. Besides Humans, there are no other known Forces Of Light in the world, in the known world. As mentioned before, the area of the world controlled by Humans, consists of two City Head regions. One City Head region is all the way on the top of the map, below the Top Edge Mountains, the very edge of the known world's map, known by Humans. The other City Head region is in the down-right part of the map. The edges on the down and right side of the City Head region, border the waters of The Sea. The Top Edge Region, is headed by City Head Beloras. Beloras has been very successful in his attempts to protect his City Head region. He even took back some ground from the invading, ever-assaulting Orcish hordes. The The Sea Region, is headed by City Head Dogorlad. City Head Dogorlad has suffered many many assaults from The Forces Of The Black Shadow, from the hordes of Orcs and Trolls. So far, Dogorlad has defended The Sea Region well, from the city of Grimbar. In the midst of all of this, working at The Stables of Dogorlad, you have found your way around in Grimbar, in the world. Though, nothing could prepare you, for what's about to happen.. The myth continues..

The destruction of Grimbar

Page 8

At The Stables of the City Head, you do your daily work. You bring fresh water and food for the horses, sweep the ground and saddle the horses. As you sweep the ground, you think about how you're going to spend your time when you're done working.

"I'm going to the Inn," you think. "Getting me some nice drinks. Yea.."

You are already enjoying thinking about it, way way in advance. 

It's on your way through the city, on your way to get water for the horses, that you hear heavy roaring, sounding through the sky. Surprised and shocked, you look at the sky. Everyone around you is standing still and looking at the sky.

"Oh, no.. What is that??" Someone down the street shouts in fear.

"That, is not an Orc, or a Troll." A woman next to you says.

The roaring brings back a flashback in your head, from your adventure with the Bear.

"This has to be from an enormous beast." You think.

The joy in your head, is struggling with upcoming fear. The roaring comes back, this time it's much louder, closer to the city.

"Get inside, get inside! The city is under attack!" A guard shouts through the street.

The silent citizens standing on the road around you, turn from one moment into the other, into a stampeding mass. Shouting, yelling, screaming the citizens go to their homes and close the doors behind them. You yourself, run back to The Stables. The guard of The Stables looks at you while you enter.

"Okay, stableshand, stay inside! The City Head has ordered every citizen to stay inside, until further orders."

City Head Dogorlad is looking at his staff and personal guards.

"What will I do?" Dogorlad thinks.

"Tell me, what are my options?" The City Head asks his staff.

"It's a Dragon, my City Head." One of the staff says. "Our options are very limited."

"Is my family safe?" Dogorlad asks his Personal Guard Head.

"Yes." The Personal Guard Head answers. "They are barricaded in the secret room."

"So, what options Do we have?" The City Head continues, as he turns his head back to his staff.

"We've never been attacked by a Dragon before, my City Head. In fact, we don't actually know, how we can defeat it." Says one of the staff.

"Well, we will see how much it can take. Order our archers, to fire salvo after salvo on that Dragon!" Dogorlad says to the Personal Guard Head.

"Alright, City Head!" Says the Personal Guard Head, before he leaves the room in all haste.

"Let's go to the roof and have a look." (Dogorlad)

The City Head walks out of the Main Room and goes up along the spiraling stairs. The spiraling stairs end up at the roof, the roof of the City Head's House. On top of the roof, the City Head and his guards and his staff, take a look at a giant beast flying high in the sky. The Dragon is releasing a frightening, stunning roar, as it's now above the city.

"There is nothing that we have in our possession, that can kill that." One of the City Head's staff thinks out loud, filled with fear.

"Give it all we can give, then we will see about that." Dogorlad responds.

Just at that moment, the Dragon attacks one of the outer towers of the city's defence. With arrows fired upon it, the Dragon slams into the tower with it's claws. Rubble is what remains of the tower. Yelling, shouting guards fall along with the remains of the tower, onto the ground. A shock can be seen on the City Head's face. Dogorlad watches, as he sees the Dragon flying further into the city. A rainstorm of arrows, flies through the air, into the direction of the Dragon. The giant Dragon roars. Deeper into the city, the Dragon visibly moves it's head down. A cloud of fire, shoots out of the Dragon's mouth, burning all houses, buildings below it. The fear on Dogorlad's face, turns into panic, after witnessing the cloud of fire coming out of the mouth of the Dragon.

"We are doomed!" One of the staff says.

"No, we will survive this. As we always did." Dogorlad responds.

"But how? We have no chance against this beast." Another staff member adds.

The City Head realises this dreadful fact all too well. Though he can't show it to his staff, guards.

"What I do? What I do?" The City Head asks himself desperate.

A whisper enters his head, the whisper is in The Realm Of Thoughts.

"Human, City Head, banner carrier of The Forces Of Light, the Orc King attempts to take the city and to wipe out all Humans within. You can not withstand the fury of the Dragon. For the survival of The Light and of your people, flee. Flee from the city."

"Flee, but where to?" the City Head asks, half confused, not even knowing who he's asking.

"To the ancient city of Holldurm, below the Holl Mountains." The whispering voice responds.

A loud cracking sound takes Dogorlad out of The Realm Of Thoughts. The City Head looks in the direction of the sound. The monstrous Dragon has destroyed another tower, in the middle of the town.

Fleeing, for the sake of humanity

You hear screaming, shouting and yelling, crying women and babies. Through the sounds of panic and despair, you hear the flapping of the beast's wings, the roaring. Now and then you hear cracking sounds, from throughtout the city. From inside The Stables though, you have hardly an idea what's going on. Another sound can be heard. It's the sound of a loud bell. You've never heard it before. As you continue to hear the sound of the bell, you ask yourself what it could be.

The guard of The Stables enters the stables.

"Come quick, stableshands! The City Head is assembling the citizens at the market!"

You follow the guard, out of The Stables, out of the gateway of the City Head's House. Behind the guard, you run through the main road towards the market. At the market, it's filled with all the citizens of Grimbar.

"Citizens of Grimbar! Listen!" You hear City Head Dogorlad shouting. "While my guards will distract the Dragon, I will lead you out of the city! We must hurry and get our women and children to safety. We are now fighting for our survival, the survival of Humanity, the survival of The Light! Follow me!"

Through a side road, you follow the frightened masses, as you look constantly in the sky. The flapping and roaring of the Dragon can be heard on your right, above the city. Going along with the masses, you go through several side roads, all the way to the back of the city. Near the back corner, at the city's outer walls, you go through a passageway. The passageway, leads you to outside of the city. Headed by the City Head, you and the other citizens of Grimbar, run over the fields of grass outside the city. As you run away, you look back at the city. Now, for the first time, you can see the beast, the Dragon, flying above the city. Smoke and fire of burning houses, buildings can be seen across the city. Half of the city's towers are gone. Arrows, countless arrows, shoot through the sky above the city. The Dragon releases a deafening roar, thundering over the fields.

"That Dragon is monstrous." You think, with fear.

Your eyes see how the Dragon spews fire out of it's mouth. The cloud of fire coming out of the Dragon, sets more buildings of the city on fire. Dogorlad leads you further and further away from the city. The Dragon and the city become small dots on the horizon. In front of you, forests and a mountain chain have moved from far distance, to much closer nearby. Still you hear the roaring Dragon, way way back. With the citizens of Grimbar, you go over some grassy hills between two forests. Over the hills, through the forests, you go and you go. The ground is getting steeper, nearing the slopes of the mountain chain. On the mountain slopes, you go up and up along a mountain path. As you continue to climb, you come above the treeline. From the high moutain side, you look down on the world below. Forests and green fields fill the landscape. The mountains of the chain are sprinkled with smaller and bigger rocks. The grey rocks are all there is to see on the slopes of the mountains. Higher and higher you follow the mountain path, behind the City Head.

City Head Dogorlad looks at his wife and children. Protected by his personal guards, his wife and children walk along with him over the rocky mountain path. The path gets smaller. Honestly, the City Head can't see how anyone could be living beyond this point. But the directions put inside his head, tell him that he needs to go in this direction. On a path just large enough for one person at a time, the citizens of Grimbar follow Dogorlad all the way. It's around one of the many bends in the path, that a hole appears in the side of the mountain, in front of Dogorlad's eyes. The mountain path leads right to the hole, to inside the mountain.

"Phew, it looks like we made it." Says Dogorlad, in relief.

Below the mountain

Page 9

Living in the old mountain city

The scout of Grimbar returns to Orgnak

Page 10

Unleashing the hordes