You emerge from the one-way portal into a strange spirit world: colours are washed-out, pale and grey-tinted and vision becomes misty after a few hundred yards. There are strange creatures in a herd at the bottom of the hill, indistinct in the mist, but their sickening chittering can be heard all too clearly. When they notice you they swarm up the hill and attack.

The things are grey bipeds with a parrot-like beak and large, black eyes; they are cut down in their droves but other herds hop over to investigate then attack. But then you start to hear whispering voices: “Don’t look at them! Don’t look at them!”. Fighting your instincts you look away from the creatures and they stop trying to bite you.

The disembodied voices become more talkative. “Yes, they cannot see you if you do not look at them. See? They go about their business. But do not look!” “You have come for the Coven, yes?” “We can show you where they are, we can.” Eventually they coalesce into ghostly humanoid forms, but they seem only vaguely interested in you. When asked about the missing boy they reply “yes, a boy, he went to the Coven, we think. They have him.”

You follow them as they drift across this strange world but they vanish as you approach a spired castle. You cannot get close to this as it is surrounded by a red shimmering field which you are unable to penetrate. Presently several ancient-looking, emaciated figures appear on the battlements and start laughing at and taunting you, boasting of their invulnerability and claiming that you are now trapped here and “your life-energy will feed the Coven’s work!”

Then you hear the earlier voices again, back to being invisible. “We can help you” they whisper. They tell of a circle of stones that keeps the shield in place: the stones cannot be broken but if four goblets are placed upon them the spell can be ended. The Coven hid these goblets but they have been found by four inhabitants of this world; you just have to retrieve them and place them on the pillars to break the spell. The goblets are held by Cynan Moel the giant atop his mountain; Old Usine the witch in her cottage in the Forest of Questions; guarded by Mayer Ythel the Great Cat in his cave in the Hills of Cowardice; and the last on an island in the Lake of Sorrows. The voices don’t know or understand what these places but they point you in the right direction: you decide to head first to the Forest of Questions.

The Forest of Questions is a creepy wood. Trees look like faces, there are spiders’ webs everywhere and strange noises fill the still air. Rhen can tell that the place is even more magical than the rest of this spirit world. Paths lead everywhere but you quickly find yourselves at a small cottage outside which stands an old woman, clearly Old Usine. She is ancient and stooped and very, very ugly. She greets you with a cry of “Ah! Wanting to be cooked up, eh? Jump in the pot! Jump in the pot!” and opens her door and beckons. All your questions are answered with more questions but she eventually concedes that she does possess a goblet will give it up if you answer her riddles.

When enough riddles have been answered she looks deep into your eyes and says “very good, very good” in a slightly surprised tone. “Maybe you shall have the cup. Yes, I think you shall.” She then winks and you find yourselves holding the cup, a goblet is of plain pewter. “Now, begone, or I shall put you in my stew!” With that she chases you from the forest with a flurry of suddenly animated pots & pans.

Next you make your way to Cynan’s Mount, a bleak and windy peak devoid of all but the scrubbiest vegetation. It is an arduous climb which gives plenty of time for Cynan to see you coming. When you are within earshot he starts shouting at you: “WHO dares to come to Cynan Moel, strongest of the strong, bravest of the giants, undefeated in battle by any mortal or spirit? Do you wish to be CRUSHED, puny ones?” “Know ye not that those who cross Cynan Moel’s enchanted threshold without invitation will be cursed for eternity?” “The wisdom of Cynan Moel is legend; dream not of outwitting me, little ones! I am the wiliest of all the giants and I can see into your hearts!” “Watch for my guard dogs, little ones! If Cynan Moel does not crush you then his guard dogs will surely eat you!”

His taunts break your spirits: the best that you can come up with is to repeatedly demand that he hands over the goblet. However a giant with a superiority complex, an altitude advantage and a plentiful supply of large boulders is in no mood to comply and rocks rain down upon you.

While the others weather the giant’s storm of boasting and boulders Coran sneaks up by a different route. Creeping into Cynan’s stone hall he spies a goblet sitting on the table with the food: a great cup of brass set with stones. Guessing that this in not the one you are after he spies another, normal-sized goblet being used as a holder for a giant’s candle. He just has time to grab this and run before Cynan realises that he is being robbed; the angry threats and boulders reach a deafening crescendo as the party flees desperately down the hill.

Possessing half the goblets you next decide to face Mayer Ythel the Great Cat in his cave in the Hills of Cowardice, but as you approach these deserted hills a scrawny-looking man emerges from some scrubby bushes as you pass. The strangest thing about him is that unlike the bizarre fairytale beings you have encountered so far in this place he looks fairly normal. However he seems to have almost completely lost his mind; you manage to get him to tell you that his name is Badwood, he has been here a long time and Mayer Ythel took his ring from him and he is to frightened to get it back. He begs you to retrieve this ring although he doesn’t seem entirely convinced that you’re real. When questioned about the missing boy he does recall seeing him but doesn’t believe he was real either.

You head into the hills without Badwood as he is too scared to come with you and as you make your way you begin to understand why: a terrifying, mournful howl echoes across the slopes and sends shivers down your spines. Three times you hear the howl and each time the fear deepens; by the time you discover a cave a terror has gripped you all and you enter with great trepidation. As the last person passes inside, a black shadow drops from above the entrance and the Great Cat leaps on Abdjib’s back.

Mayer Ythel is indeed a fearsome predator, a panther of light-absorbing blackness with green slitted eyes, but his strength lies in the dread of his howl and a stealthy kill; in a straight fight with half a dozen of you he is outmatched and soon he lies dead. Searching his cave you find the feather-patterned silver ring that Badwood described to you and a silver goblet with spiral patterns. But you also find the bones of a young human, and amongst those bones lies Hast’s family talisman. Your search for Immin’s son is clearly over.

So now you must travel to the Lake of Sorrows, whatever that may be. If you are successful there – and if the voices have not lied to you – you can face the Coven and hopefully find a way home. Maybe Badwood can help you. Probably not …