Dolmen Tor - The Druid Wood
Dolmen Tor, Delve 1 - by Arianne Ranulph put out the call. There was much ground to cover and so few druids in the wood to explore before the next new moon. I was sent to Norest to recruit anyone willing to earn some coin to help with the search. A very specific dolmen was being sought out... A dolmen atop a hill. However, the Tors, a section of the great druid wood, was full of hills riddled with dolmens. Some bore into the hills, some sat at the foot, and just as many crowned the hills. But Ranulph was clear, there was precious little time. He received a message from the Archdruid months ago and was ordered to find a very specific dolmen in the tors. The Archdruid himself hasn't been seen in the druid wood or even Tumyrae in many years. So Ranulph, the senior druid in the wood, an initiate of the 4th circle, rallied the local druid circles and neighboring ones to his cause. As far away as Aledonia, and Eadland, druids made their way to the wood and took up the search. As each new moon passed, Ranulph became more desperate. And now, months later, he has reached out to those outside of our community. With the promise of gold to line their purses, they accepted the call. The wood is normally hostile to those outside our circles, the paths shift, the animals torment and the druids themselves chase people from the woods and, if necessary, kill those that refuse. Even now, some refer to the forest not as the Druid Wood, but rather as the Dread Wood.
For weeks the Tors have been littered with tents, erected to house the strangers. But it was the druids who, in the end, found the dolmen. I found it. It was nearing dawn when I ascended the dolmen. And there it was, the marking we were looking for, a small etching, easily missed at the base of one of the portal stones. But what was more conclusive was what shouldn't have been there. In the darkness, the absence of even moonlight during this new moon phase, a stairway was visible by my torchlight. A stone, weathered stairway. This was not a common sight for dolmens. They are used as shelters for the dead. In this dolmen, rather than a plinth supporting one of our honored dead, there were stairs descending into the belly of the tor. Even as I watched it, the light from the rising sun caused it to shimmer and evaporate before my eyes. I was thrilled.
Ranulph was cautiously excited. But so cautious that it bordered on skepticism. He couldn't afford to delay or stop the search in the event that I was mistaken. I was not. We had a month, and he had us continue the search. After weeks of strangers walking up and down and through the tors, a handful were identified who might be experienced enough to trust with the best lead we had so far; the dolmen I had identified.
A couple of dwarves, uncle and niece. The uncle, Brother Stonebeard, was an acolyte of the dwarven god Moradin and his young, broad-shouldered niece, Gertrudie, seemed tireless and enthusiastic for the adventure. A wisp of a halfling who went by the nickname, Tiptoe, was capable of slipping through spaces too small for even the dwarves. A keen-minded human mage, Ellis, who was local to the area. And, to Ranulph's relief, an elf, Mordras. Ranulph trusted the elves from the North of the wood. Perhaps trusted them too much. However, they guarded our Northern border from the vile ranks of Goblin Mountain. Since I had identified this tor and dolmen, Ranuplh trusted me to lead the way.
To speed up the process of finding the right dolmen, Ranulph had familiarized everyone with the symbol to look for. And now that we were about to descend into this dolmen, he provided parchment to everyone in the party. On each parchment was written the archaic phrase "Anal Nathrack Uth Vas Bethad Dochiel Den Vay"... I only understood a few of the words, something to do with a charm and a serpent and opening a passage or door. The day before the descent he made all of us recite the phrase, over and over again, correcting the pronunciation until we were all becoming short with him. But he insisted and none of us rested until we could recite it without error. As night fell, and we prepared at the entrance to the dolmen, fixing backpacks, cinching belts, Ranulph approached. "We don't know what's in there. Be prepared for anything. Once you find a throne room, recite the words you've been taught. And don't disturb our honoured dead." He stared directly at Ellis and Tiptoe. All of this he had told us a hundred times or more the day before. But then he added, "You must exit before dawn, before the stairs disappear." Of course, I had seen the stairs disappear myself only a month before. I felt a fool for not realizing we were racing time. My new companions looked from one to the other, as the tension in the air increased. Apparently I wasn't the only one who missed the obvious. "And..." continued Ranulph, "after you say the words... if you find anyone, bring them up with you." "Who?" I asked. Ranulph looked at each of us before saying "I don't know. But..." he paused, considering, "I've been told there might be someone in the dolmen. Bring them out safely and before the sun rises." And that's precisely when the stairs shimmered into view at the edge of the torchlight.
|
