The following sections of the Coram Bloodclub story have been cut and pasted from the '..\Divine Divinity\Run\main\startup.v2\static\books.000' file. I'll skip the spoiler tags, since anyone wanting to avoid reading the story would have quit this topic by now. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />


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Part the Third - Journeying.

The journey to the Tower of Hastor the Vain was a long one. As befitted a sorcerer who kept a demon in his garden, Hastor chose to live in isolation as well as in splendid luxury. I knew little of the man, except he was said to be a descendant of a survivor of the Army of the Damned, and thus had demon blood in his veins. This, however, did not over trouble me. I'd yet to meet or hear of a magician (half-demon or not) who could survive a foot of cold iron shoved through his guts.

Of course, fighting was my speciality. Thieving was the skill of my charming dwarven companion, who called herself Shadow. Yet she proved no slouch at combat either, when seven foolish human bandits waylaid us on the road. I took down five of them with my faithful old double-handed sword, but it was Shadow who killed two of the others with her short bow and put an arrow into the rump of the seventh as he fled.

Naturally I tried to congratulate Shadow with a comradely hug and kiss, on which she sunk her sharpened teeth into my chin. I still carry the scars of her dainty fangs to this day. I tell my grandkids that it's where a venomous halfling once bit me, for I keep the true memory deep in my heart... along with the pleasant memory of giving her firm little bottom a squeeze as she let go of me.



Part the Fourth - Entry.

I and my companion, the shapely dwarven thief who called herself Shadow, arrived at the Tower of Hastor the Vain on a chilly evening with the snow falling lightly through the trees around us. Shadow appraised the walls grimly.

"It's as I remember from a previous scouting trip," she muttered in a morose tone. "The outer wall encircling the garden is as smooth as crystal and the top is grapnel-proof. How do we get over it orc? Fly?"

"We don't have to go that far just yet, my sweet little bruiser," I replied as lightly as I could. "Lets get a few hours sleep and at moonrise I'll show you something that might surprise you."

However it was Shadow who surprised me, slipping under my sleeping blanket five minutes after we had said goodnight. After as fine a tumble as I ever remember having, she grinned at me with those charming filed teeth of hers and said: "Well? It's the best way to keep warm when you don't dare light a campfire. Besides, you may be dead before we get another chance."

At moonrise (an almost full moon, luckily) we arose, equipped ourselves and set out towards the wall surrounding Hastor's Tower. On arriving at the wall without incident, I slung my sword and my two leather-bound bundles on my back. Then I fitted two iron spikes to the toes of my boots and slipped a pair of knuckledusters with similar spikes over my fists.

"You dwarves may know everything about tunnelling under mountains," I said to Shadow as she piggy-backed onto me between my two bundles, "but give it to us orcs - we know how to climb over them!"

With that I started to drive the spikes into the soft stone of the wall, clambering up its sheer face like a wasp. Our assault on the tower and attempted theft of the Dreaming Gem of Hastor the Vain had begun!



Part the Seventh - Battle.

It's not easy to tiptoe down a booby trapped spiral staircase, avoiding trigger stairs and trying not to touch the walls when you're a fairly hefty orc warrior with a double-handed broadsword clutched before you. On top of that my companion, the slinky dwarf thief who called herself Shadow, was in no hurry as she moved ahead of me, checking for further traps. After twenty minutes and very small progress, I was getting cramped and not a little bored.

Are we nearly there yet? I asked for the fourth time in as many minutes.

How should I know?" Shadow snapped back, but in a whisper. "I'm going on second-hand reports that the gem we seek is in a chamber about halfway down the tower. We're not halfway down yet...""

But maybe it's through one of these doors we keep passing," I suggested. "Shouldn't we take just a peek in each?" With that I pushed open the door next to me that I had noticed was slightly ajar. (Yes I know, but I was young and foolish in those days. Besides, Shadow's trap-finding powder hadn't made the door flash blue, so I guessed that I was on safe ground.)"

Shadow's squeak of alarm and annoyance was drowned out by the angry hiss of the giant snake that had been snoozing in the chamber. It was at least ten orcs in length and seemed almost too big for the chamber. Fortunately, I had fought big snakes the previous summer in the Dark Forest. The serpents there, although not as big as this fellow, had always reared-up before striking, giving me time to decapitate them.

This snake, unfortunately, was not of an orthodox nature. It shot straight at me like a battering ram, its jaws gaping and it's great fangs flashing in the lamplight!