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Amphitheater

Exit to Lakelands

     The leaves fell down, scarlet and ashen their dance was. The creeping chill of autumn had begun to take hold; both in Mandolf's bones and on the waning summer months. Mandolf shivered with the realization that he should have dressed less for fashion and more for the elements. As he walked through the birch grove toward a long-neglected hut, his flamboyant silks and crimson hues appeared very out of place. His hand reached into a haversack that hung at his side, producing a reflective silver flask. With a deft movement he had it uncorked and carried on to take a healthy swig of firewater. With another movement of practiced ease the cork was returned with the flask returning to its former home in the sack. "Master Caine, I have arrived with your goods." echoed his voice through the entire grove as he knocked on the worn door of the shack. "Well you sure took your time!" came a harsh response, "Well don't wait out there forever, come on inside!" Mandolf twisted a rusted knob and gave the door a shove. With some reluctance it withdrew and he entered, hastily closing it behind him. Inside the hut there was darkness penetrated only by the light of a candle on a table. The whole room stunk of dried meat and urine, and Mandolf was very careful with where his fine leather boots stepped. A robed figure approached Mandolf. "Alright, let me see what you've brought me" Mandolf reached into his bright silk shirt and revealed a small pouch, which he then set into the robed figure's claw-like hand. The hand then rose up to the figure's face. A sniffing noise came from the face and the pouch was thrown on the ground. "How dare you give me silver arrowthorn! I told you I wanted golden arrowthorn!" "But Master Caine you told me they work the same in the spell" came the desperate response from Mandolf. A claw-like hand raised, pointing a long twised finger at Mandolf. "I banish thee, Apprentice Mandolf, from Brendarr, until a time has come where you can prove yourself worthy enough to return!" A blue light began to emenate from the finger and it streaked over to Mandolf, engulfing him. His screams faded quickly as he vanished. 

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     Mandolf woke up with a dull ache all through his body. Gone was the chill, replaced with an irritating heat. He looked about. Surrounding him were tall trees. In a panic he ran to first rise by the edge of the copse. Below the hill he could see a city. With a flag even he did not recognize. So down the hill he went, with nothing but bright clothes and a lute. 
 

Mandolf DE