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Windhammer, Copyright Wayne Densley 2008 All Rights Reserved
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294
The open grasslands are a direct path to the foothills of the Devkraager Tor and the best route to getting there unnoticed. From your previous travels in these lands you know that very little stands between you and your destination. History has ensured that these wide plains have remained relatively unsettled, both conflict and the ferocity of the weather having conspired to make living here very difficult. Without delay you place Pallenten on her course for the mountains. With no obstacle before her Pallenten gallops unchecked across the wind-blown grasses, only the occasional slight hill or small stream standing in her way. On open ground she moves with a velocity that is breathtaking, one that consumes the leagues as she pounds forward, leaving large tracts of ground in her wake as she arrows for the mountains and the object of your quest.
In this vast expanse you settle into the gallop and take in the vista that spreads out before you. At all horizons the plains are clear but as you look to the north you know that this day will not remain untroubled. To the north-west clouds are building upon the high mountains, their white billowing forms growing as you watch, forming and joining into a weather-front that is moving across the plains towards you. There can be no doubt that a storm is brewing, the rolling of distant thunder a harbinger of bad weather ahead.
Onward you ride, Pallenten set on her path and the leagues disappearing beneath her mighty strides. Overhead the sky is a patchwork of white cumulus and deep blue, only the thick line of advancing cloud to the north any hint that you have anything other than clear weather ahead. You search the horizon but can see nothing that might indicate trouble, it would seem that you are alone in this part of the world. You smile slightly at the thought and then take a firmer hold on Pallenten's reins; experience has taught you that it is just when you believe you have nothing to fear that things have a way of becoming very dangerous indeed.
Cresting a rise in the land you find, some one hundred metres to your right, a small stone-built farmstead. It stands on the plains as a single isolated building, surrounded on three sides by overgrown hedges that have nestled tightly against its weathered walls. It has the look of being abandoned, but the ground surrounding its front entrance shows sign of recent use.
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Do you wish to have a closer look at this farmstead? If you do, turn to section 272. If you can see no need to waste time here and want to move on, turn to section 303.
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This book, and its associated books and other documents in the Chronicles of Arborell series are the intellectual property of the author, Wayne F Densley, and all rights are reserved by him. Windhammer is best viewed at 1024 x 768 resolution. Any questions regarding the Chronicles of Arborell can be answered by emailing the author at densleyw@shoal.net.au
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Windhammer, Copyright Wayne Densley 2008 All Rights Reserved
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