Lena and Hauk were bored and set off adventuring where the roads would take them. Setting off from Lena’s house on the Waterfront, they crossed Lake Rumare over the surface – Hauk was wearing the Ring of Happiness and so did not need any additional Water Walking spells, plus the light was improving the shine of his armour, with the other enchantments boosting his image further. They came ashore at Weye, Lena had to pull Hauk away from the lake because he was keen to string up some slaughterfish with his sword, which was not working very well with him above the water line and the fish strictly below it. “Oh, come on, we’ll find something else to fight!”

The first thing they came across was Fort Nikkel which wasn’t much of a fort, so they continued North to Fort Empire that turned out to be overrun with trolls, minotaurs and spriggans. They all fell before Hauk after a few swings of his sword (poisoned). If he thought his armour might get dirty, he summoned a dremora to take the blood spatter. “I suspect he’ll be spending his evenings polishing up that shine…” – thought Lena. “But fair enough – he’s a formidable fighter.” Lena was hoping for some Shadowbanish wine, but no. Still, they found some rings and stuff to sell for the Bravil house fund. Amazing what those beasts drag in, magpies all of them.

Continuing on the Ring Road East, Lena and Hauk came across a nice little village by the name of Alleswell. It was late at night and raining hard, so they decided to stop at the inn. Yep, the rumours were true – the place was abandoned! No, wait – it was haunted! By some invisible elven women claiming that their privacy was being invaded. WTF?! Another invisible character pleaded with Lena for help to dispel this awful invisibility cloak! “Well, I don’t know if I want to see the faces of those women, actually!” – “Oh but please, they are my sisters, they are always like that!” – “The more reason to keep them invisible!” But permanent invisibility is a very rare thing, defies the Third Law of Perception in fact, so Lena and Hauk both got very interested in the matter from a purely professional Arcane point of view. It was worth while to at least look into it, even if it meant going back out into the pouring rain because no, they couldn’t rent a room for the night until the matter was resolved. Really? I bet it is this attitude of the publican and not his invisibility that undermined his business!

Back out they went to the nearby fort, found the mage responsible, easy enough. The mage was rather incoherent though, couldn’t explain how the spell worked – it was all a botched experiment! But here is the scroll to reverse it. Hmmph. At least now they should be able to get a room for the night?!

Next morning it was still raining, but Lena and Hauk set off anyway. Next stop – Sercen. A couple of bandits attacked them as they were passing, so obviously more bandits were holed up inside, always worth a visit. Half a dozen heavily armed marauders were inside this small single-hall ruin. A decent fight ensued, and Lena accidentally hit Hauk with one of her spells. Oh he didn’t like that at all! He turned on her and she was out cold in no time. 😞 Hmmm, we’ll need to have a chat about that, we’ll have none of that “for your own safety” nonsense, thank you very much!

With that sorted, the remaining bandits were defeated, except one: he locked himself in a section behind two masterful locks that Lena could not open. The coward! But with a little practice, a skillful mage can summon creatures to appear on the other side of a fence without opening the gate. Not so clever now, being locked in with an infinite supply of summoned Hungers, eh? He put up a bit of a fight, but ultimately didn’t stand a chance. And this is why Ayleid ruins are littered with skeletons behind locked doors.

The bandits didn’t have much interesting loot, but the ringleader wore a nicely enchanted cuirass, shield, axe and some rings, and together with Welkynd stones, it made it all worth while after all. Lena grabbed their wine as well.

Back outside it was still raining, so continuing East on the Ring Road and passing one wet Legionnaire on an equally wet horse, Lena and Hauk came across a roadside inn with another Legion horse grazing outside. The Legionnaire was patrolling the inside of the inn, and a good thing it was too because the publican was planning a murder! And her plan was that Lena should do it. What is wrong with you people?! The Legionnaire was listening in, heard everything and didn’t bat an eyelid. Not his job going after murderers apparently, he’s just patrolling the Ring Road. Ummm, correction – he’s patrolling roadside inns. Well, just the Roxey Inn, really. And what business is it of yours, anyway?!

We’ll have to think about that murder plot. The intended victim is a necromancer, so this could be interesting. But first we turn in for the night and cross the lake to the Imperial City in the morning to offload some of the loot.