Gandlin the wizard
Once upon a time there was large tree. Larger than any other tree ever seen. In the middle of the tree there was a wooden house. In that house Gandlin, the wizard lived. Gandlin was old and retired but still quite powerful. But suddenly, one day something terrible happened.
It was night and dark on the outside when suddenly someone knocked on the door. Gandlin walked to the door and opened it but there was nobody there. "Who's there?" he screamed but nobody answered. Gandlin closed the door. After a few seconds he heard a terrible scream. Gandlin ran out of the house with his staff in his hands. He got to find the source of the scream...
An awful looking and sinister figure in a cloak was grabbing Gwendolyne, the fairest of maidens in his village. He was just in time to see Thorax The Horrible bundling her on his horse and with the most horrible and screaming laughter gallop off, Gwendolyne screaming in terror ....
Gandlin tried to run after them but he soon gave up realizing that he could not run as fast as a horse. Instead he started to look for tracks on the ground. He followed the tracks for many hours until he came to an open place in the forest near a river where he saw the horse standing in front of him. Gandlin hide in the bushes but he couldn't see Thorax or Gwendolyne anywhere.
He listened patiently seeking out the tones, a stirring of a leaf, the soft breeze above in the tree tops and what he thought was breathing and even more faintly a thumping pulsating sound. It was becoming very difficult to determine what was illusion and what was reality within these bushes.
And then he noticed what he had missed before. The trees were partially obscuring the entrance to a cave. As he approached the cave very carefully, he could here muffled voices. Should he go in however, or fetch help from his village?
So many reoccurring thoughts swam around in his head like waves pounding on the rocks, cutting areas out of softer parts along the rocky wall to form areas of privacy. There was something going on in that cave but he not what and this dreamed vision was pressing on his imagination. His ears tried to block out all the sounds except the important ones.
In all excitement he began to move slowly into the cave. The voices got louder and he could see light coming from around the corner. Gandlin stopped just before the corner and listen. He could now hear what they were saying.
A very deep and throaty voice shouts at Gwendolyne to stop screaming:"It's useless, no one can hear you, you may just as well save your breath". "What do you want with me?", she asks. "I insist that you let me go immediately", once my village knows about this they will bring all their wrath to bear on your people. You will be cursed forever.
Gandlin assumed that the deep voice was Thorax's. It would not be wise to just step out in front of Thorax and ask him to surrender. What he needed was a clever plan and maybe some help. To avoid being spotted he slowly sneaked out of the cave again.
Alas, armed guards were blocking his access out the cave and horses and men were milling around. He may be spotted, so with his wizard skills, made himself instantly invisible. He finds a horse and unseen mounts it and hurries back to the village for help.
He could feel the cool air on his forhead for little dropplets of water had formed there. As he looked around the room as dusk was settling into the dark areas of his abode he wanted to rush to Gwendolyne and tell her of his vision. "No, I must gather my thoughts and understand this vision," he thought. Was it all a dream or was some of it real.
When Gandlin arrives at the village it is night and no people outside. he has to wait until the morning so he finds a hay stack where he can sleep the night. When he wakes up the sun is already high in the sky, but he can't see any people. He goes to a nearby tavern to get something to eat. The tavern door is not locked but he can't see anyone inside either. Where are all people he asks himself?
Slowly taking a quiet breath of cool morning air once again the old wizard examined his dream. Often he was dreaming within a dream and not untill he talked to Gwendolyne did he really understand what his visions were about. What really mattered now was what he needed to do. "How urgent is this," he wondered?
Still, "where are all the people"? He needed help. Then all of a sudden he heard it, a distant rumbling that got louder and louder, was he smelling something "burning"? And then he heard lots of shouts and screams. It was coming in the direction from the river.
Gandlin was not sure if it was the villagers or if it was some kind to of attack so he didn't want to run and meet them. Instead he headed straight against the church. He ran into the church and climb up into the tower on the inside. Through a small window he can see almost the whole village from up here.
And just as well, as it would seem that Thorax has sent his army and must have encountered some of the people who fled the village. Gandlin realizes that Thorax's hooligans would be invading the village shortly. He needs to get out and find refuge with Ludgrun, a very good friend who with his family and a few villagers were living in a cave out of harm's way.
Gandlin went out of the church. He couldn't see the enemy but the sound told him they were close so he starts to run. He soon reaches the end of the village where the forest begins. Know he must find Ludgrun's cave.
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