I gathered near to discover he was an older man, a great and mighty warrior. His golden plate leggings, gorget, and arms matched his beautifully crafted, gold breastplate worn over a torn, white shirt a peasant could only dream of. His sword was also gold; a viking's love. His strength captured my eye; his courage grabbed my heart.

"Please help me! My comrade has been captured by trolls! I am here looking for a few good soldiers to fight these greedy creatures...please join me in my quest to free my comrade!" The Honorable Galdron paused for a moment and wiped the sweat from his brow, "The rewards will be great, the treasure, plenty!"

Many of the townspeople interrupted him, asking to buy his armor, mocking his intentions, calling him to be a fraud, "...for one such as him would not need our help; besides, his comrade is probably already dead." A few remained while the crowd dispersed like waves when a pebble drops in water. Feeling his anguish, I called to the townspeople.

"Come join us! Help the Honorable Galdron save his comrade!" I called many by name, asking them to come and listen to the great Galdron's cry. HE-MAN of SAS and Barskum stopped to listen; I told them of Galdron's need of soldiers. They went to him, joining him in his quest. Stryfe and Cyphere also heard Galdron's cry. I yelled out for more to join us, "Come one, come all.....Galdron needs our help!"

Ajax scoured the city streets to find anyone who would help, telling them of the great adventure they could have. Drago II, and Bonovox, and a few others heard Ajax and went to Galdron.

Time was running out. We headed to the city limits as Galdron told them of the great fight that held his past, "Five of us went in, but only two escaped with their lives!" I wondered if we had enough people to fight them. I counted only nine of us; surely, there could have been more! We all went with Galdron--a few on horses, others on foot.

"‘Tis to the Northeast in a great field," Galdron called. "We must find the water inlet." A few of us went with Galdron, while others ran ahead. "Now East!" Galdron called, and we followed.

The water inlet could be seen in the distance when suddenly it seemed as if we were all moving in slow-motion--extremely slow motion. The evil god of lag was upon us as we slowly ran towards the sight where the trolls were last seen.

Entering the trolls' playground, I could feel the icy fingers of fear creep up from the ground--something was wrong here. The wind blew against us and we could smell the trolls' stench...an odor that was unforgettable.

"Gragokcraw!" called an angry orc mage, as he cast Harm on one warrior.

"Attack!" The warcry passed through the whispering trees. We surrounded the mage and took away his life quite easily, when Drago II called, "Up here! A orc captain!" A few followed to attack the evil captain.

I saw HE-MAN of SAS down fighting two trolls all by himself! I called to Slain, the warrior above me fighting the orc captain. "Down here!" I ran down to help. I attacked with my viking sword, hacking at the huge beast, as Slain joined us. We fought the two beasts with prideful revenge, when suddenly I could see four other trolls weaving through the trees, heading towards us. Two more caught the corner of my eye as we fell back to join our team. But they were too busy fighting their own aweful creatures: some with trolls, others with orc mages and captains. Ajax, Mat, and HellsSong joined the group, teaming up to help fight four more new creatures upon us. I heard the cry of a fallen warrior; her cry would be a warning that we did not heed.

Off in the distance I could hear more troll warcries. Another man fell to his death. I could almost hear the lag god laughing as his strength powered over our legs and we could not retreat. A few started to fall back when they heard the cry of death come from Stryfe and Bonovox. Warriors were falling, not because they were not strong enough, but because the god of lag was nipping at their time. I heard men falling left and right, their cries unanswered as the trolls rumaged through their corpses taking items of value.

"Retreat!" cried Galdron. Down went HE-MAN of SAS and Slain. I hid myself, hoping that the trolls would mistake me for a tree, but to no avail. I tried to run, but the lag held onto my feet, while the two trolls continued to split my armor with its powerful strength. Blood poured from the wound in my chest; my health diminishing. I took a few steps away from the troll as it swung at me; I tried to hide again. There I stood, open as an empty field, while the lag took of my time also. I felt a new wound on my back as the troll closest me swung his heavy axe in my direction. I cried out as my fatally-wounded body fell to the cold ground. Bodies lay about and my ghost soon found others. I watched as Galdron was surrounded by five trolls, his strength at half. Another warrior on a horse was up by the water inlet, fending off a troll and an orc mage. I could not fail in this war!

I ran along the inlet and found a wandering healer, which we had passed on the way down. Others followed as I rejoined with the living. We regained our health while we headed back to the battlefield. Soon we could hear the clashing of metal ahead. We ran to the area to find several dead trolls! Ajax had gathered up my belongings; I donned my armor, prepared for war. We went further to find Galdron, and Stryfe fighting a troll. I joined them, along with Drago II. We easily took out this beast. We walked a little further and found two more trolls. We lured them out into our territory and attacked them with ease. One by one, troll by troll, we cast these beasts to the ground, their belongings split between us. We hunted deep into the forest, tracking their every move. Suddenly, we saw two dead humans lying on the ground ahead...Roanoque and Slain! We went in deeper, planning our revenge on these aweful smelling creatures. Trees ended and we came across the glorious battlefield; HE-MAN of SAS, Ajax, Galdron, and I joined Mat, Cyphere, HellsSong, Drwo Elf squaq, Stryfe, Mal, Drago II, Barskum, Bonovox, and Almighty Strahd as they fought numerous trolls, weaving in and out of the trees ahead. To the north of me I saw a huge wooden-staked building. The trolls seemed to guard this area like a hen guards her chicks. I counted six trolls; we surrounded them and attacked. They were strong, and fearless...but so were we. Two more trolls found their way from the west, flanking us, but we were ready for their side attacks. Two to three warriors surrounded each troll--we slew them all! As we gathered the abundant treasure, the Honorable Galdron opened the wood-spiked door to find his comrade: Seer Mandor! We set him free and he thanked us repeatedly. Seer Mandor handed each soldier a reward, and we each thanked him for giving of his own treasures. We emerged victorious; the aweful trolls did come upon us, but their graves we dug. Our hearts were one, our senses keen, this battlefield...the winning dream.

Until next time, Galdron, Seer Mandor...
--Fvorboda Exlani