To the Keep (East)

“The lord of this land Robert, tell me about him” you inquire while finishing the last parts of your meal.

“He is a powerful demon, he gained his power by killing the last lord and took charge of his forces. It’s very rare that someone can gain an audience with him. If you do go to his keep, do not underestimate him, he is a cruel creature.” Robert appears to be scared just by talking about this demon. If he is as powerful as Robert described he may be the one who created the portal. He could be able to get you home but it sounds like **** may be the only way to gain the demon’s cooperation. “Be careful Gwen, I wouldn’t want you to get hurt.” Robert comments while holding your hand across the table.

“Don’t worry” you say while sliding your hand away from his, you don’t want to get too close to this man, he is still a demon the rational part of your mind tells you. “I am a king's knight, I can take care of myself. Do have my equipment?”

Robert looks sad for a moment, maybe he is just a nice person, but your feelings can’t get in the way of your quest. “Your equipment is in that cupboard there,” Robert tells you while pointing to a door behind you. He clears the table and leaves the room. You open the door and see your steel armour with kite shield and longsword. The armour is easy to put on thanks to the ease of design with latches and clips. You leave the helmet off to gain full vision and stop the heat from affecting your head. Robert enters the room with a backpack in his hands. “Here, take this, it’s got food, water and some medicinal herbs to help on your journey. It’s about a day's walk to the keep.” You take the bag from him and place it on your back. He leads you to the front door and gives a final word “Good luck Gwen, I hope you find your friends.” And with that you say goodbye to probably the nicest man you’ve met, leaving a safe place to enter this dangerous realm.

After walking on the main road for three hours to the keep you take a rest for a while on a clearing. This land has surprised you with how similar it appears to your own homeland. The sky is the same, the ground and everything else on the surface seems no different. However, the flora gives an uneasy feel to you, they appear darker and more sinister. In addition you have came across zero animals after all this walking, but have only heard rustling in the woods of creatures on the journey. The quicker you can get home the better. And with that thought you continue onwards.

At around sunset the path you follow splits into two. On the left path you can make out a large structure, probably the keep. But to the right leads further into the woods and noises of a struggle originate from there. A knight has a duty to help those in need, does that include possibly creatures from this realm.