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Valley of the Perytons, Barrier Peaks Oktha held the spyglass to his eye and studied the enemy village from a warrior’s perspective, searching for any exploitable weakness in the barbarians’ defenses. Having no opposition within the valley, the village had no need of a wall, not even a wooden palisade. There were no dogs or other guard animals present, nor were there any horses or other mounts, and despite the villagers’ reverence for the perytons none of the monsters saw fit to dwell amongst them. Most of the barbarians were armed with primitive stone weapons, although a few carried metal weapons most likely scavenged from the ruins. The stone keep in which the girls were being held was intended to serve as a strongpoint for the village, but it didn’t seem like the current owners were making use of its fortifications. Oktha returned the spyglass to its case. “Minimal vigilance. The constructs seem to be confined to the greenhouses, and none of them have the look of a

Technomancer’s road, Barrier Peaks The two men finally exited the winding tunnel, stepping out into the late afternoon sunlight and looking out over a large valley dominated by mature pine trees. The steel rails of the ancient road once continued out over the valley on a long wooden trestle bridge, but that bridge had long ago fallen into ruin. That didn’t concern Oktha, however, since following the ruins to the bridge’s terminus on the other side of the valley would be a simple task. What he was concerned about was finding Shelagh, Septina and Glenna; they were swept away by the river when the old iron bridge collapsed. A blanket of dark clouds was descending upon the valley. It would snow soon, and snow at this elevation could become a raging blizzard in a blink of an eye. Dead or alive, they had to find the girls soon. Oktha slowly scanned the valley, looking for telltale signs of dangers that a less cautious traveler might miss. Peryton bucks soared over the valley as if

Technomancer’s road, Barrier Peaks For six days Shelagh and party followed the ancient steel rails as they traversed impossibly rugged landscape. She was impressed by the immensity of the road’s construction, which made even the grandest dwarven citadel look like a child’s sandcastle. The steel road spanned deep chasms and raging river gorges, soared above small valleys, clung precariously to the sides of sheer cliffs and bored through solid mountains. The builders even put a stout wooden roof over large sections of the road to protect it from the all-too frequent avalanches. That such a monumental construction could survive intact for centuries in these unforgiving conditions was a testament to the technogolems that maintained it. There was never a time when Shelagh didn’t see at least one of the tireless constructs meticulously going about the task it’s long-dead masters had given it. Until now, that is. Shelagh let out an exasperated breath. “I should have known something