Demons in the Citadel

1

You are the youngest of five, and you stand to inherit little of your family’s property. You know that you were conceived as a potential replacement for the more sickly of your older brothers, in case he didn’t survive to adulthood. Not only did the sibling in question grow into a man, he is the next in line to take over the family farm. He runs it already in all but name. Now as you approach adulthood, you’ve decided to eliminate the unspoken burden your existence has been on your family for so long. Just a few days ago you packed your things, and left home just before the first light, and from there trekked through the old forest toward where the sun would rise. By the time you could see well enough to distinguish the multicoloured leaves and spines of the trees around you, the village was already gone. The wood had swallowed you up, never to return home.

A little after dawn on the fourth day, you feel you are nearing your ultimate destination. There are several clues to suggest this. The impossible mix of different species, shapes and sizes of tree as you knew it has gone, making way for a sparing marriage of fir and deciduous, all carefully pruned to grow into towering monsters, and disposed in increasingly uniform rows. Soon you can see through the forest ahead, see that it ends on the other side of the high plateau upon which it sits. A few dozen paces later you stumble onto a clean cut path, and not ten yards along lies a stack of fresh logs, each a good two feet in diameter. Pleased, you follow the path toward the end of the wood.

At last emerging from between the massive timber pillars holding up the sky, you get your first look at the Citadel. It sits slightly lower on the opposite hill from you roughly two miles away, overlooking a small valley. You can see the shield wall facing you, little turrets dotted along the top, slit eyes glowing from torches still burning inside. You can see a little way past and above into the city, at the shapes of myriad roofs packed together, tiles still only blood red in the morning light. You can just make out the square mass of the Keep jutting out from the horizon, a small fortress likely built on a bump of higher ground. And of course, dominating all, the Enchanted Watchtower, snaking and spiralling upwards in a way the strength of mere stone and mortar should not allow.

From here the path you were following forks in two. The way to the left leads steeply down from the woodland plateau straight into the valley, passing at least a couple of small fortified farms. To the right the path curves gently around the valley, slowly descending to the same level as the Citadel, and presumably leading to the closest gate. To cross the valley following the path to your left, turn to 55. To go around on the slightly quicker route to the city, turn to 64.