You continue your discussion with Philoren the Tall, moving into his main room inside the collapsed house, which has few accoutrements except some stone and ceramic furniture ill-suited for comfort. Asked about this, he answers that time has been unkind to parts of Lord Verinus’s Pit, that they have few people and fewer still crafters and resources with which to maintain their infrastructure, but on the positive side they do have some of the best craftspeople to be known. Conversation turns to bargaining over what “change” might come to the Pit if you cooperate. Philoren admits some difficulty in processing the idea, given how long things have remained the same under Verinus’s rule. But if Verinus was deposed, it would be an opportunity to enact positive change, perhaps even moving the Pit’s contents back to the Sky Realm (although he explains that this location has no corresponding location back in the Middle World; it exists in multiple places at once, in and outside of Time. Philoren says he would make this place more welcoming to visitors. But he defers further bargaining until an outcome of interaction with Verinus is known; too much is uncertain. He starts to add something else, “I thought you were here to… no, no [looking around at all of you] you’d not be interested.” Boamund catches this, asks and Philoren says it’s best saved for discussion later. Philoren has directed you to where Verinus’s chamber lies and follows you there; just across the Obsidian Tunnel from here. The entrance is covered by a 1.8 meter tall stone slab, as you’d seen before. Philoren tells that a stone wedge allows Lord Verinus to barricade the hall. This leaves a small gap at the top so that Lord Verinus may deign to speak with those outside, without dirtying his vision by looking upon a common person. Boamund calls out to Verinus and they engage in debate over your visit, with Verinus already being aware of some of your actions such as destroying the Skyfire and he’s none too happy at all about it, whereas Boamund counters that this Pit does not belong here. This goes on for a while then Philoren aids by saying that a conversation is worthwhile and Verinus should have the door opened. Verinus decides to invite you inside to parley and enjoy his hospitality. The discussion ends soon after and two Shadzorings slide the slab inwards, and you enter. It is extremely hot in here (as in that Melted Tower where the Skyfire was), with no visible heat source. Shrett and Fraud are soon sweating, but endure.

Bright flames in stone bowls illuminate this quiet hall. They burn without fuel or smoke. The room is furnished with a low stone platform in the south- east corner. Across from it shines a crude golden statue of a man wearing a crown. Metal and wood is piled in a niche along the south-west wall. covered the walls in crude carvings. They depict winged Sky Gods smiting deities of Storm and Darkness. And you see this Lord Verinus, standing by the throne/platform. He is a scar-covered “man” (Shadzoring), his skin crimson as the setting sun, with patches of ashen grey. He has strong arms, and a perpetual sneer. His antique plate armour is, very oddly, made of tin. He carries an obsidian longspear from which smoky vapours slither off of, and a heavy shield too, with the confidence of a seasoned warrior. There is a “Chorus”, as they are later called, of the two Shadzorings and two more fire-people or Urzani, gathered before Verinus. Crouched nearer to him on his left side, there is an animate flame the size of a hound; another Urzani, but markedly different. Yellow and blue wisps flicker, forming a mouth and eyes. It wrings two articulate hands fashioned from tin, emitting metallic grinding noises. He, called Sniveling Balugost, is simpering and cowardly and timid throughout interactions. His crackling, stuttering speech grandiloquently flatters everyone.

In the south-east corner lies Lord Verinus's stockpile of valuable goods: aged wood, silver bones, and a gold bone. [Verinus’s loot: Lord Verinus stockpiled wood and metals to control his followers through gift-giving. The wood is from trade during the Second Age, and the metals from dead God Time enemies—or so the shadzorings believe. In truth, Lord Verinus has robbed the graves of deceased followers, superiors, and even the Skyfire. He stole not just jewelry, but their very bones. Lord Verinus then melts them into formless lumps in his quarters to hide their origin. Only Sniveling Balugost has seen tin and silver bones, and he believes they came from defeated foes.

Boamund and Verinus continue their debate. It’s easy not to like this rigid, arrogant, cruel Sky cultist Lord, none the less so because he reveres Shargash, the hated demon planet. He continues speaking condescendingly and offensively toward you and angrily shouts down Bog when he speaks to Boamund in Darktongue. That language sullies this place, he says, and he will not have it. The Chorus continues to caper with inept acrobatics, music and juggling. Notably, there is no food or drink served; it is poor hospitality indeed, and while Verinus sits on his throne there are no seats for you. You notice some unhappy expressions cross the faces of the Chorus—they’re not happy with what they’re doing, and likely not fond of Verinus. At some point, the Chorus sings a song or something in Firespeech and you do not understand it, except Bog who exclaims that it is a spell being prepared against you. As the “parley” grows ever more of a stalemate, Verinus orders his Chorus to go slay Bog for continuing to speak Darktongue. Philoren opens a Mindspeech spell to Boamund and tells him that Verinus might be challenged to a duel, or provoked into challenging you. Boamund offers the challenge and Verinus accepts, with the terms to be a duel to the death, one on one. The Chorus has formed a line, drawing weapons if they have any, and tentatively advancing toward Bog.

Boamund and Verinus cast magics, with Verinus first causing his obsidian spear to burst into brilliant flame at its tip, and then conjuring glowing golden armour around him. Boamund enacts his ice-sword and Versatility spell and they clash. The battle takes a quick turn against Verinus as he stumbles, jabs his left leg deeply with his spear, and drops it, falling prone from the wound. Boamund keeps slashing at Verinus but the Lord’s magical shield spell is mighty. And then Verinus uses magic to fully heal his leg and he stands. Verinus calls for Philoren to aid him against Bog but his second-in-command does not act, and Shrett makes it look more like Philoren is in danger if he acts by putting his sword to Philoren’s throat; he plays along. Bog and the others easily slaughter the Chorus, although Shrett is merciful and just knocks out the Shadzoring he faces, and he drags them away and ensures they are made harmless. Fraud and Bog are not merciful. Then Bog rushes into the duel, just as Verinus is approaching his spear, and grabs the spear then begins eating it with his Consume spell. Verinus tries to grab it before it is eaten but he fails, and he watches in outraged horror as Bog crunches on the ancient weapon. He throws some Disrupt spells on Bog and delivers several wounds, soon convincing Bog to enter the duel. Meanwhile Boamund has been hacking at Verinus’s hoplite shield, with the Lord again using a Heal Wound spell to save himself from a crippled right arm. At last, though, Verinus’s shield is ruined and he is wide open as Boamund delivers a sword-stab to the chest that freezes Verinus in place, and Boamund then cuts his head off, victorious. You have once more wrought great change in the Pit.

Now Philoren strides forward toward the throne, amazed by the change of circumstances. He explains that each year, Lord Verinus becomes more haughty, and more insufferable. His trusted lieutenant Philoren has long been near breaking. Philoren has (mostly) accepted life here. He desires novelty, purpose, and physical comforts to drive away cabin fever. You are the first outsiders in the Pit of Lord Verinus for over 50 years, and he says that now that he is Lord Philoren of Philoren’s Pit, he will be more welcoming to visitors like you. His rule will be a more benign one, but still an orderly one. The Disorder that has erupted with your visit will end as abruptly as it began. He honours his promise that you can have something crafted for you by Sniveling Balugost, who is an urzani master crafter, and one of the finest workers of tin, silver, and gold his kind have ever known. Boamund asks for his armour to be made acid-proof, and Balugost humbly, meekly answers that he thinks he can do it and hopes he can satisfy such a great hero and warrior. Your defeat of Verinus has left him visibly more terrified of you than ever, but he is very cooperative. He says he’ll go do the work in his antechamber to the south of here. Boamund strips down. The rest of you (except Fraud, who steps out momentarily to escape the heat) explore what little there is here, although Shrett notices that Verinus’s very ornate, ancient tin plate armour would fit him with minor modifications, and Balugost agrees to do that work later. Boamund asks Philoren if he might make it so that Darktongue is not forbidden to be spoken here and Philoren considers this but says that it simply cannot be; Boamund accepts that reality. Then Philoren delivers on his promise to say what he’d thought of earlier back in his house. He said that he’d thought that someone sent you here to recover the Star Captain (a Solar warrior; one of the Sky-people called Luxites) that Verinus had captive somewhere. Now that’s a surprise! But Philoren doesn’t know where the captive is. He’d thought they were in the Melted Tower but clearly not, as you’d not seen them there. Perhaps this Star Captain could be used to bring the Pit back to the Sky? Clearly Verinus had some plan for him, but he had not enacted it—was he preventing the Pit from that return to the Sky?

You are talking with Balugost when Boamund’s sword Taanashayara the Smiter of Demons rattles in its scabbard with muffled words; something it has never done before. Drawn, it shines brightly and says in Firespeech, “Father!”. Sniveling Balugost giggles bashfully; responds, “Oh, oh my. Welcome home, Taanashayara.” You are wowed by the coincidence and learn that, indeed, some years ago the hero Alikandra Lat had the sword made for her here. And then another surprise happens. A woman walks into the room: a tall, muscular, broad-shouldered warrioress with long straight black hair and a crooked, twice-broken nose, bearing old armour with heraldry of three tigers bowing before a great oliphaunt rampant, and an empty sword scabbard at her side. It is the formerly dead (met as a ghost in Tibbol-Korrin) hero Alikandra Lat! She speaks in Seshnegi: “We three are reunited again; we have come full circle. These heroes who have Malkion’s favour are to be thanked for this.” You greet her, baffled how she has returned to life and come here. She soon expresses what Boamund worries might happen: she asks for “her” sword back, so that she may now join these Hero Wars and use it to aid the people of the West against the growing evil. Boamund is about to hand it to her but pauses, and tells her she could get her own sword made here, and that he rightly was given this sword by her so it feels wrong to have it taken back, and so forth. Doubt grows in his mind. She is resolute but there is an edge to her voice and a cruelty to her demeanour and a hint of insincerity that make him wonder if she is all she seems to be. Boamund asks the sword if she is who she claims but the sword refuses to enter the debate. The argument grows more tense. Fraud, who has come near, uses Soul Sight and sees that she is no physical being – she is a manifested spirit. He tells Boamund this, and now it’s clear that she is not being truthful.

Asked why she wants this sword so badly, she screams out “To take it out of harm’s way during these Hero Wars!” and she bursts her human form, with spectral gobbets of flesh showering those around her and a foul blast of wind erupting as she transforms into a great horrible figure of a naked woman with bat wings, talons and fangs; far from the noble figure she was. Taanashayara exclaims, “Lo, she is indeed a demon! The succubus Bahariel returned in vengeance! And she attacks, reaching out for Boamund with a clawed hand and cursing with an incantation. He pushes her hand aside with his shield and her spell is defeated. Three of you rain blows on her, and she is robust but weakening. She curses him one more time, calling out that he will feel the coldness of what it is to be entombed within stone, and reaches out with that claw and magic, but Boamund again deflects it. [And well he did—this was a Transmogrify Flesh to Stone spell!] You deal the final blow and she is rent apart and sent screaming away, destroyed. Phew. That was close. Boamund recalls that Bahariel escaped you in Tibbol-Korrin, but now you have won! And a more personal change has been won. Losing that sword would have been a bitter thing, too.

Soon, the situation far calmer, some of you go into Balugost’s antechamber to watch him work. Two polished andesite pillars frame an open entryway. The room beyond is curiously plain. A large stone cube about one pace high sits near the north wall. The floor is scattered with rock fragments. There is an alcove in the north-east corner. Sniveling Balugost uses stone tools lovingly melted into shape with his own heat for metalworking. These tools look like random stones to the uneducated eye. They are piled along the eastern wall. Balugost has collected raw materials—colorful stones and tin lumps —along the western and southern walls. The stone cube is an anvil-stone, which provides Balugost with a flat surface for hammerwork. This obsequious flame only calms when metalworking. His flames become a patient amber, and his voice rises to sing the metal into shape, as he engulfs the stone, using himself as the forge-fire. Shrett is so interested he accepts becoming weary from the heat.

Boamund, wondering where that Star Captain is, checks the north-east alcove, which contains Balugost's few metal tools for fine work, and his finished stonewares. Unlike the workroom outside, it is nicely paved with thin tiles. As Balugost works, he comments that you had talked with Philoren about the Star Captain and he couldn’t help but remark now that the being was named Antaersus. You inquire about what else he knows. Centuries ago, Lord Verinus commanded Sniveling Balugost to dig a tunnel through the rubble at the eastern end of a Buried Hall. This leads to a secret door, which opens into the Audience Chamber where you’d been before meeting Philoren (holding a throne and a wall with paintings of Solar scenes). Balugost gives directions. Shrett is resting off the heat-exhaustion. Fraud and Bog go to the site, and while Fraud is obsessed with finding some hidden mechanism around the throne, Bog discovers the doorway concealed in a painting of Lodril, the “Lowfire” god.

The two walk around a spiraling tunnel and stairs which lead to an empty hall with a rubble-choked opening in the far end. They call out as they go, and hear some faint voice in reply and some clanking. The gap in the wall shows light coming from within. Bog and Fraud walk in and see that the interior is half of an ancient Galanini hall, collapsed down the center of the aristocratic hall. Six pillars remain upright, and the southern wall is mostly intact. The floor's tiles are covered in dirt, and soot obscures the once-beautiful wall paintings. The only light inside the Buried Hall emanates from Antaersus the Star Captain. Antaersus's wrists, ankles, and wings are bound with chains of enchanted silver. He sits in the hollow of the megaron's hearth, as though the long-dead fire might warm the Luxite, and he is barely able to move, so visibly weary.

Antaersus retains his noble appearance despite his exhaustion. He is a strongly built man with fair hair, and eyes like the sky before twilight. Two golden wings extend from his back. His raiment including his armour shines in the dark, as if made from liquid light, and if it was all part of the fabric of his being. An elegant longspear also made of pure Light lies out of reach against a far wall. You address him and find that he speaks Tradetalk. You offer freedom and he is pleased, all the more so when he learns that you’ve killed Verinus, hatred of whom he does not hide. He explains more. Antaersus is one of the Star Captains who defended humanity when monsters covered Glorantha in darkness. Many of his comrades were slain before the Sun Emperor led the gods out of the Underworld. At the request of Lord Polestar, captain of the Solar armies, Antaersus descended to the Middle World, but was struck by a freezing gust of wind [hmmmmmmm] and fell to this Pit. Landing in the Melted Tower, Antaersus was seized by Lord Verinus while paying respects to the Skyfire. Following a short interrogation, he was bound and imprisoned. His feelings toward humanity are bittersweet. The love which inspired his people's sacrifice is not diminished, but Antaersus regrets that so many of his friends fell while protecting mortals. He misses them terribly. And despair grows within him that he will never escape here and his fall into this Pit was pointless. Antaersus's star is in the Hunter constellation. His celestial role was/is to guard the corpse of the Sky Bear lest it should reawaken and threaten the Celestial City. You ask if he can return the Pit to the Sky Realm and he is doubtful, but agrees to go meet Philoren and the other people, and discuss possibilities, so you shatter his enchanted silver chains and free him. He hobbles along using his Lightspear for support and you aid him to return to the main Chamber. He meets Lord Philoren and they have a tense but respectful conversation. They continue to converse as you say your farewells. Boamund’s armour has been completed and it’s rather nice—enchanted to resist 3 pts of acid until (if) that is overcome. And Shrett’s new tin armour fits fine now. It will make quite an impression upon viewers; it is unique and surely worth a fortune.

You gain +5% in your Fire Rune if you have it, and +1 party luck pts = 2, and you can use improvement roll(s) on Firespeech.

You walk back up the spiralling path out of the Pit, and are struck by the sudden shift to bitterly cold weather on the frozen lake. Soon you make it to the Crevasse Between Worlds. The way is indeed blocked by a large crevasse, which at first sight looks too far to jump. Looking down into the crevasse, the icy walls can be seen to go down for an incredible distance. At the bottom there is nothing but blackness. On the far side sits the Winter King, watching you with an eager grin. He looks far larger and more grandiose now, seated on a mountainside. There is no doubt now that you behold the god Valind.

Shrett wishes he had mana enough to use his Movement rune again. Bog surveys the abyss and invokes his Darkness Rune, forming an impressive bridge of ice that stretches, screeching as its ice forms from the near side of the crevasse, arcing across the gap and reaching the far side. It is sturdy and enables you all to cross safely.

Bog immediately comes before him and tells what you did, noting that he defeated the Skyfire and brought it back for his usage. Valind fixates on that issue and disapproves. He notes though that Zorak Zoran had always done such things Valind didn’t like, but still bad things will come of having this Skyfire nugget in his world. Bog is disappointed that Valind doesn’t acknowledge your successes. He is a cruel, harshly judging Winter King.

Nonetheless, Valind welcomes you back into his entourage and departs, with you rushing to keep up. Ahead, you see a disturbance, where two *giant* walrus, each the size of three or four horses, are struggling under the assault of a sizeable group of heavily bundled snow troll hunters who wear ivory ‘snow goggles’ with slits in them. The walruses are roaring in fury and pain. The snow trolls; called uzhim; are trying to keep their distance and outmanouvre the beasts, hurling a javelin now and then, and the walruses are ungainly and slow, but it isn’t clear how this struggle will go, as the beasts are mighty and cornered.

Valind puts his hands on his hips, surveying the conflict, and pronounces: “Welcome to my world. We are now very far from your lands. My snows, ice and cold never depart from here. For you, this is a brutal place, yes? If not for me, you would be frozen, dead already. You like your warmth too much, I think. Where we go now, it will be much colder than this. I think you may struggle, hah! We have little time, but perhaps you would like an ally? I wonder what you are made of – does the ice run in your blood yet?”

You take on the challenge with gusto, rushing the walruses to aid the Uzhim. You pick one that Fraud blinds with a Darkstrike and you batter away at it as it roars, ineffectually thrashing about trying to stab its tormentors. The Uzhim keep their distance while you melee, but their javelins are helping to wear down and distract the beasts. The first walrus is crippled in the forequarters and goes down. Fraud blinds the second one and you engage it, again battering it with blows and avoiding any harm from it (and well so— it would do 1d10+2d8 with those tusks!). Bog manages to climb atop the second walrus’s back. Fraud rushes in just in time to get in a slash with his death-sword and he cleaves open its heart, sending steaming gouts of blood into the icy world of Valind, and the great beast breathes its last. Valind booms out: ““I like you – you are harsh! Uncaring! Cold – like the ice!”

The Uzhim sing songs of victory, dancing and calling approval for your aid. They join you in feasting on the huge corpses; a windfall of food for their community. They hail Bog and shower him with respect that surprises him, and tell him that in their brutal lands, even trollkin are valued. Uz must work together to survive here; there is no room for discord. Bog really likes this and says he might return for longer term. They welcome such a visit. You leave, with them promising, “Friends and favours are as strong as the glacier in this realm. We will watch you and return if we can help.”

And you continue across the frozen wastes. The ice becomes easier to traverse, and you continuously see the Winter King Valind ahead. Periodically he slows down, then stops, and turns to see how far behind you are, and impatiently gestures for haste or yells encouragement. Suddenly, there is a vast sound of ice splitting, and a huge ice cliff begins to emerge from the ice, moving upwards before you. It extends as far to the left and right as can be seen. You see that Valind is on the top of the cliff, rising with it. Bog rushes the crevasse and leaps, landing on the side of the far wall and sticking to it like a tick. Shrett, too, runs and leaps and holds on tight. Fraud invokes his Monkey’s Grip and Boamund his Monkey’s Tail and they both use their blessings to join the other two in climbing up the vast, ascending cliff. You see in front of you first fissures in the ice, which emerge from the ground and move upwards in the body of ice, and then, suddenly, an entrance to an ice cave is revealed. You climb up and then forward into the ice cave before it is carried away. Eventually the ice cliff stops rising and grinds to a halt. This Dizzying Ice Cliff is a surprise obstacle that Valind did not say you would have to cross, but such surprises can happen in heroquests.

The cave leads into a long tunnel, sloping upwards through the ice. In some parts it is level, in others steeper. At its narrowest point there is only space for one person to pass at a time, but in other locations it widens out into gleaming ice caverns. The surrounding ice has a crystalline appearance, with a scalloped surface, like being inside a gemstone. It is illuminated throughout with a soft blue light. In some parts, the sounds of cracking can be heard through the ice, and it appears as if parts of the interior ice are moving against one another. You look forwards, and wonder what lies beyond. You must not be far from the White Pillar God now, and the northern edge of the Middle World!

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