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lupineaerosol · 7 months

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traveler | thomas shelby x f!reader

Not my image!

pairing : thomas shelby x time traveled!reader

word count : 3,831 :P

summary : a trip to scotland for a belated birthday celebration turns into a blast from the past when you find yourself in 1919 with no chance of getting home, until you meet someone on a train to London that tells you he can help your situation and get you a visa....

warnings : angsty at times, near death experience (hypothermia), inspector campbell being creepy for the plot, bad writing, i have no concept of how much money a british pound is so ??, warnings will change with each chapter so please read them carefully!

notes : reader is 23-27 but no specified age, this is kind of an Outlander A.U. where the reader travels through a stone circle (or cairn for this one lolz) and goes back in time

a.n. : this chapter is technically an intro to the rest of the plot that ties in with the canon + vvv descriptive bc thats my writing style :P + also i suck at summaries + just recently got back into writing as a hobby, so this might be absolute trash but I'm very proud. if anyone has any issues with the content or what i write about because it goes against anything online please let me know so i can fix it!!

Not my image!

The black hoodie clings to your skin, sopping wet and forcing a chill through your skin. In the split second it took to regain consciousness, you realize your clothes are soaked, and judging at how badly you're shivering and that you're face-down in the grass, you've been asleep in the rain for god knows how long. Rolling over the damp grass to sit up, you catch a glimpse at the location you find yourself, the cairn outside the small town you had been staying at in Scotland on vacation.

The sky was dim, sunrise slowly encroaching over the heavy raindrops on the hills. Sitting against one of the boulders of the cairn, a shaky breath leaves your chest, fanning out in front of your face. Through the near hypothermia that's started to quickly make you sweat, a deep uneasiness started to take root, but you were far too panicked to acknowledge it in the moment.

You jumped to your feet, realizing how little time you have alive could be without action, rubbing your hands together for as much friction they could create, dancing your legs in place to wake your body back up. Attempting a warm breath into your hands barely helped your frigid and close-to-death state. The cold was numbing, the fog in your brain was all around you, mentally and physically, keeping the hilltop the cairn sat upon as an island amidst a sea of grey. And suddenly there was a faint light approaching.

The candlelight within the squeaking lamp softened the mist, making it far more inviting than the haze the man emerged from. Your shivers halted abruptly, the uneasiness bubbled up from your stomach to your throat, a foul taste in the back of your mouth spread over your tongue.

"'ello!! 'ello is anyone out 'ere?!" The man's shoulders shook with a powerful Scottish accent, and a strong sense of safety accompanied it. Alas, the shivers returned in full force.

"Here!" Your voice broke sharply. "I-I'm over here!" Attempting to speak up through the shakes and ambiance of early dawn proved difficult, your breathing overtaken by the cold and feverish urge to survive.

And luck was on your side today, for the first time.

"Hello?" The gentleman turned to the sound of your voice, not expecting to find you curled in a ball and soaked to the bone. And in strange clothes that were quite unseemly for a woman of your age. The outer layer that draped over you and the denim that clad your legs were downright outlandish to the man in front of you. 'Damn Americans and their strange styles of dress' He thought to himself quickly, before stepping lightly over to you, helping you up, and taking his overcoat off to throw across your shoulders.

The warmth was welcomed greatly. You nearly stopped shivering for a moment as the smell of worn and slightly wet leather, cologne and fire overtook you. It was the most definitive thing you could grasp on to in the few minutes, or hours, you had been conscious of.

"Ma'am, what are you doing out here at the time of morn'? You'll catch yourself a death of a cold out in this weather for much longer." The older man took your hand and led you to his carriage and horse. What am I doing out here? The reasoning escaped you through the fog, but you caught a glimpse.

A stone in your hands, turning in your palm as you walk the grounds of a historic castle. Your phone died in your hands mid photo, with the cairn in the fading pixels.

Where are you?

Your slowly warming hand finds its way into the soaked pocket of your hoodie, and alas, no such stone was to be found. Your cell phone and wallet remained, but judging by the man assisting you, there didn't seem to be much hope in asking if he had a charger you could borrow.

He paused to let you lean against the large wooden wheel of his cart, waiting a moment before speaking. A gentler tone took his voice. "Ma'am, do you remember how you got out here?"

The fog had cleared, both in your mind, and as the first bits of sunlight rose from the eastern horizon. After a pregnant pause, you responded.

"I'm vacationing here, from America." That much was true, you were from America and you were here on vacation, the only question was when you were visiting. You had flown over in a modern plane, taken a modern train from London to Edinburgh, and then a taxi to Inverness. The man in front of you made a subtle face of surprise, as if the journey you have described could have taken over 6 months, when in it only took 2 days for you to be a quarter of the way around the globe.

"I'm sorry you've found yerself so far from home, Inverness 's not a place I would expect an American to want to travel." The man moved the lantern from his hand to a metal bar attached to the seat of the carriage. He busied himself with his gloves. "If I'm correct, you're shivering out of yer britches and startin' to sweat at the same time." You nodded quickly, sharp pins and needles erupting from the skin you moved. The man brushed his hand over his chin, considering his options.

"My daughter Isa will have coffee and a warm hearth awaitin'. Once you've warmed up we can 'elp you return to wherever ye came from." The man sounded less than enthusiastic to have an American in his home, but the desperate need of your medical situation demanded his unwilling help. No one wanted to have any connection to a dead foreigner found at a locally mysterious site known for having a frequency of people going missing when visiting.

He helped you up onto the bouncing wooden seat. The smell of horse and leather of the reigns was the second most tangible thing you could consider basing your reality off of. This was obviously not the 21st century. A young woman, possibly anywhere in the 1830's to the 1940's (judging the man's attire and horse) in a foreign country with no possible way of proving her existence via official documents. That was the reality of the matter. You had no idea when you were, and if there was a possibility of getting back to the modern day.

Focus, and compartmentalize. There will be time to deal with the larger issues later on. Don't freeze to death, and then figure out what time and day it is. Gently and slowly returning to work, your brain made its first decision of this strange crisis: Deal with it later. In the meantime, you were able to do a quick mental diagnostic ; Legs work, fingers bend and grab, your stomach growls and you understand that your guts and heart still work, you've spoken to the man, so obviously your mouth and voice still work just fine. The only outlier was what year you were inhabited by accident.

The gentleman took one last glance at the girl who had barely spoken, and urged his horse forward toward the gentle outline of a stone town a few miles away.

The fire overtook the crisp and clammy feeling that crawled over your body. Heat licked at your hair and half exposed arms. You had met the man's daughter, Isa, and she had practically thrown a warm cup of half brewed coffee out of half awake panic. Although your father walking into your kitchen with a strange young woman at barely 5 in the morning would alarm you as well.

Adding to the alarm, Isa was just as perplexed about your strange, "American" clothes. She was convinced no one was strange enough to wear those clothes willingly, and since you were of similar size with Isa, she gave you a few of her old clothes to wear as you warmed in front of the fire. A bulky, tan skirt slightly too tight at the waist and a thin, loose in the bosom white blouse. You sat at the hearth with a large blanket draped over your shoulders, reminiscent of the smell of the man's overcoat.

Your clothes draped near the fire, steam coming off of your printed socks with cats on them. Isa had commented about the craftsmanship and how expensive they must have been. You barely muttered a response that would have made sense. All that time spent taking notes in World History class, and you remember nothing about Britain and Scotland after the Revolutionary war or before WWII. The grip on your phone was tight and you quietly pondered as to how you were going to keep it hidden while you were here. There was hope to get home. At least for now.

"So you really can't remember anything?" Isa leaned over to place the back of her hand over your warm forehead.

"Nothing from before your father found me." You only partially lied, you can't directly remember how you ended up at the cairn.

"But you remember your name, right?" Isa sat back in her chair, reaching for a cup of coffee on the dining table.

"Oh, right, sorry. My name is (y/n)." Your answer was curt, unrevealing as possible.

The morning dragged on. The sun was up, the clock on the wall above the sink read 7:46. Time.

"What day is it?" You asked quietly into your coffee while attempting to cool it off.

"Wednesday." Isa had been buzzing around the kitchen, completing various tasks but while also keeping an eye on you. Her father had toddled off somewhere else in the house, his footsteps were heard, but not yet seen in daylight. "But if you would like the specifics, it's Wednesday, February 5th, in the year 1919."

"Thank you, Isa."

Hours later and lots of planning around the limited memory you spoke about having, it was decided that Isa's father would lend you a 20 pound note he had been saving (He was subtly adamant you got his address to mail money back to him) for the trains to London, and Isa gifted you a few of her mother's worn skirts and blouses.

The plan was for you to travel back to London and hopefully return to either your home country or your family, though you knew both of these things were problematic. Isa's father, Robert, had left around 8 to ask around the town about your family, or anyone who may have traveled with you. No one had a clue. You thanked both of them urgently, and with deep appreciation. A small mental note was categorized that you should repay more than just the 20 pounds, kindness as bountiful as had been shown to you was deserved of a larger reward.

A short walk with many stumbles to the train station back to Edinburgh. The heels of your company's shoes clicked against the raised wooden deck parallel to the stone station.

"Thank you both, for your generosity." You gripped at the skirt that fell to the tips of your toes barely covered your Chuck Taylor Converse. Isa smiled gently, holding a worn and broken leather carrying case out to you to take.

"I can't do enough to pay you all back." You made a note to include Isa's mother in the thanks, as she was also indirectly gifting you items.

"Goin' home safe," a large pause entered the conversation following Robert's comment. Isa had earlier explained that her father has a strange and unusual issue with Americans. Especially visiting somewhere like Inverness. "-Is all we can pray for." His voice was genuine, but with a hint of resentment. Not towards you, but aimed at something far larger than you. Robert was odd. Everything is odd. If you were only slightly more deranged, you would be acting just as cold and bitter as he was.

The train whistle was enough to make you jump out of your skin slightly, and the final call for boarding passengers was announced by the conductor.

"Again, thank you both. Your kindness is appreciated more than you can imagine." Taking the bag from Isa's hands, the heft slightly surprised you, but recovered as you walked up the steps to the train. Part of you wanted to stay, see what life you could carve here while trying to get home through the cairn. The other part of you understood that there isn't a choice in going home.

A large smile was across Isa's face when you found her among the scattered people on the raised deck, her father seemed to have already walked away and started on the walk home. A smile and wave and the train chugged into motion, steam flying behind the glass. You catch your reflection briefly. (y/e/c) eyes and an ill greenish grey colour clung to your skin, the grey skies unrelenting in their goal to forbid sunlight from reaching Scotland’s soil. It was pitiful to see yourself like this, a homesick and anxious ache bloomed in your gut. Settling into the steady chugging, the warmth of the shirt on your shoulders, and the steadiness of your seat beneath you was reality enough to coax you into a well deserved sleep.

A clamorous crash awoke you from the short nap your body allowed, the train had stopped, and with it came your carrying case from the weak storage compartment situated above your head. Calming your racing heart, you leaned over to stand and pick the dry leather handle from the floor and returned the hefty item to its previous place. A huff of breath while you fall into your seat, and your pulse finally calms down. You looked out the glass at the yellow train station sign reading the carefully painted words ‘Welcome to Manchester’ slowly.

People filed onto and off of the individual train cars, and soon enough your train car was mostly filled, all except the private aisle you suddenly shared with an older man in a bowler hat and bulky, black overcoat. Scanning him as he took the opposing corner seat in the small room. Everything about this man was understated, his tie held no colour, nor did his vest or suitcoat. The only colour to bespeckle this man was the icy blue of his eyes, weathered by age, and his salt and pepper hair and mustache.

He carried and opened a file of paperwork close to his chest, but sitting across from him it was easy to see that he had no intention of keeping the title private; ‘TOP SECRET, SPECIAL BRANCH, BSA MUNITIONS ROBBERY : PRIME’- Suspects, finishing the sentence you couldn’t read fully. With the amount of heist movies you watched before you were thrown back in time gave you a good inference that this man was police, or whatever British version of the FBI that happened to exist in 1919.

You were shocked the man didn’t seem to acknowledge your existence in the train car, until he swiftly checked to see where your eyes had been trailing and caught you staring directly at the opened folder.

“Has your family yet taught you that staring is quite rude?” A gruff and grumbled voice projected from beneath his bushy mustache. You removed your eyes quickly from the grey-green envelope. He carried the corners back towards each other, closing the file to place it on his lap.

“They did, I apologize.” You moved to turn your body away from him, crossing your left leg over your right to lean against the window, eyes dragging sleepily over the quickly passing trees. You hadn’t even been aware the train had started moving again. Your accent seemed to surprise the man.

“American?” He queried. You nodded, turning your head back to look in his direction. “If I may be so bold and ask, are you traveling to London?”

“Yes, actually. I hope to travel home once I arrive there.” You pondered quickly over the depth of information you wanted to share with the man. “I lost my passport while visiting Inverness, I need to speak to the police in London to figure out how I can get home without it.”

The man’s mustache lifted gently with a slight smile. “Well, I suppose it’s a good thing we met today, my name is Chester Campbell, I’m an Inspector with the Scotland yard. I can get you a travel visa in Birmingham tomorrow, and then the day after you can be on a boat in London sailing back to the states.” He enthusiastically put his hand to his knee, outwardly excited for the upcoming few days. Your warning alarms were blaring in your head, but you doubted this man would let you stray away from the plan he just created.

“May I see your identification?” You hoped he would be too excited to hear in your voice how deeply you distrusted him. “It’s awfully dangerous for a young woman like myself to be traveling with a stranger who can’t prove his identity.” A shy smile lit your face gently, hoping to ease your own tension. He gave off waves of steeled and attuned senses to something. What it was you couldn’t pinpoint, but you could barely manage to stay in the same car with the way your skin suddenly crawled.

“Of course m’lady,” He handed you his badge after drawing it from within his breast pocket on his overcoat. All his information seemed appropriate for a man of his age and stature, and your hackles smoothed down with the small comfort that he was in fact a police officer. “Anything for the comfort of the fairer sex.”

Ew. Forget your skin crawling, you felt violently ill. But he could get you to America sooner. Although, what the hell would be good about being a woman traveling by herself to her nonexistent home in the states? Where would you even go once you got to New York? Dangers lurk around every turn, this Inspector Campbell was proof of this. I can’t give this opportunity away, as much as I dislike him. I might not get another chance to fall into my lap like this. “Thank you, Inspector.” A response finally fell through your teeth as you handed his badge back to him, and he tucked it back into its place within his coat. A tense conversation of small talk filled the remainder of the ride to Birmingham, your trust in him was nonexistent, and the hour and 30 minute ride didn’t improve it.

Stretching your legs from the excruciatingly long train ride was a welcomed feeling, stepping off the train and onto the Birmingham station platform. The sun was setting and you needed a drink. The trunk in your hand bumped your leg as you walked with it, eager to get away from that god forsaken room the Inspector filled with conversation through the entire ride. Swiftly asking those scattered around the buildings surrounding the station, The Garrison seemed to be the only pub within walking distance and price range, and so you started your venture to find food and drink. Your legs carried you away from the station as fast as possible before the Inspector had the chance to corner and engage you in yet another drawn-out commentary on the weather.

The Inspector had also offered to take you out for dinner, but you refused politely as you were collecting your things on the train to leave swiftly. If an hour of his time was grating years off of your life like it seemed to have done, you can’t imagine dinner with him. It might kill you on the spot.

The intricate details on the glass of the front façade gave The Garrison an odd aura that felt so very welcoming and warm, and yet the building itself had a feeling of owning wary and watchful eyes. Pushing through the doors, the rubber of your shoes squealed loudly against the marble flooring, catching the eyes of many of the other patrons through the frosted glass. You paused against the second set of doors to steady yourself and grip the handle of your carrying case before walking directly to the golden bar top and shimmying up onto a stool.

It wasn’t a great bar, in fact it was barely more than four walls, a few windows, and a mountain of liquor. The lighting was dim, keeping the more unseemly stains from the eyes of the customers. The woodworking of the booths behind you was gorgeous, beautiful craftsmanship that was beer spackled and possibly pissed on. The woodwork behind the bar seemed less abused, instead worn and well loved, and before you could admire it any further, the tall bartender asked you for your order.

“What food do you have here?” You asked swiftly, running on fumes and short tempered from the train ride. You, very less than subtly, reached down your shirt to where you had stashed the 20 pounds in your bra. Luckily The Garrison paid no attention, and you were able to order the largest meal the man in front of you could provide: a few slices of sourdough bread, cheese and a small chicken breast with potatoes. Pairing it with a large stein of beer, you were barely awake by last call, nearly asleep on the bar after everyone else had cleared out, except for the strange group of men that had been in and out of the corner room over the course of the night.

“Ma’am, I hate to do this to you, but you can’t sleep at the bar tonight.” The bartender leaned against the golden surface with a rag over his shoulder. God knows what time it was, and there was no possible way of getting you to care.

“Is there anywhere nearby for less than,” You did a quick tally in your mind to count the remaining coins in your pocket. “10 pounds a night?” Lifting your head from the counter to gaze up at the barman.

He sighed above you. “Look, don’t let anyone know about it, and I’ll let you sleep at one of the booths for tonight. You seem like a good enough woman, but tomorrow morning you are done loitering here and you’ll move along.” He bargained, and your heart leapt in your chest at the grace of the cards that have been falling into place around you.

“Thank you so much, sir. I’ll help you open tomorrow morning if that would help at all, I really do mean to earn my keep for tonight.” You suggested, overexcited at the fact you had a place to stay the night. He seemed to chew on the idea in his mind for a moment.

“I don’t see why that wouldn’t work.” He nodded. “The name’s Harry Fenton, I own the Garrison.”

“I’m (y/n),” You smiled slightly. “And I think I will be going to bed now.”

notes pt2. : woooaaah holy crap that was a lot im so sorry for such a long intro chapter but trust itll make sense next chapter :P i legit worked on this chapter for a week and I will try my best to learn how to make a freakin masterlist now that im finally back into writing stuffs :> idk when pt 2 will be out but i can start a tag list if anyone wants to be added

#tommy shelby #thomas shelby #peaky blinders #peaky blinder fanfic #Thomas shelby x reader #tommy shelby x you #thomas shelby x you

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thesilicontribesman · 3 months

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Iron Hill North Bisected Cairn and Stone Circle, Oddendale, nr. Shap, Cumbria

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scotianostra · 4 months

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On December 28th 1908 Postman Robert Cunningham set off in blizzard conditions from Ballantrae to deliver the mail to the Glenapp residents. less than 2 miles away.

After two days when he had not returned a search party was organised, his body was found lying on his mail sack and covered by the snow.

In 1909 a monument was erected on the A77 between Stranraer and Ballantrae at Carlock Hill by postmen from around the country to commemorate the heroic attempt of a comrade. The inscription on the Cairn reads "In memory of Robert Cunningham, Postman who perished here in a snowstorm 28th December 1908. Erected by public Subscription.

In 1991 the Memorial was restored by the Union of Communications Workers and rededicated on 20th. September 1992.

#scotland #scottish #history #post man #adverse weather

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starshinedragon · 4 months

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SSO: WINTERDALE Fan written main storyline

The Map of Winterdale:

The Life Warden Trees of Winterdale:

Story design:

-> This is the updated version of an old post, taking into account the new main story quests and describing the quests in much more detail. -> It takes place after aging Concorde up and escaping Devil's Gap, after all of the main story quests up to 2023 December. -> Part of SSO Rewritten (my writing project of the whole story of SSO until defeating Garnok). You can find the story related posts with the tag "sso rewritten" -> Phases 1-2-3 is the main story so far, here I wrote phases 4-5-6 which are the main story quests connected to Winterdale.

-> The area of Winterdale was established in the Star Stable Winter Riders game and I added elements from SSO (kallters, rangers, druids) to fill in the empty places. The focus characters of the Winterdale main storyline are going to be Katja (as the main opponent), Linda (as she is her rival), Mr Sands (redemption arc) and the kallters. The setup for them is already in the game with the extremely effective hook when the MC spots them in Dino Valley leaving. The thematic guide for the Winterdale story is the rumor of the Ice Witch, already suspected to be Katja. The final confrontation of this phase is tied to Garnok and Pandoria.

So saddle up and get ready for the adventure!

PHASE 4 – Entering and exploring Winterdale

PART 1: Icestorm

Unlocking Winterdale:

-> MC is called to Valedale. At the runestones before the portal spiral leading to the Secret Stone circle, we meet with Avalon, Evergray and the druids who arrived from Winterdale. The leader of the Winterdale druids is Cairn Stevenson (middle aged, but younger than Evergray, white beard, blue and brown robes) and his horse is a white Percheron wearing new brown and light blue druid tack, called Ossian. They came to ask for help, since the storm in Winterdale has gotten worse. Last night a huge blizzard hit the valley and they think it is magical and suspect the hand of the Ice Witch might be in it. They are unable to dispel it and ask for the help of the Soul Riders.

-> We ride with them through Dino valley and they give us some exposition about Winterdale. They say Pine Hill ruled over most of the valley historically. They tell us about the cold micro climate, when the kallters migrated from Dino Valley to Winterdale, and that the current persisting winter storm started many years ago. The storm is sometimes weaker, sometimes stronger, but always present. It cut them off from the other parts of Jorvik as the Frostfire pass leading to Ashland and the Seaview pass leading to Marchenghast froze over and the blizzard halted the works on Northlink tunnel. The Lord of Pine Hill mansion, who has the strongest voice in how Winterdale runs itself does not seem to care anymore. Avalon asks them how did they leave and intend to go back to Winterdale then if there is no way open.

-> MC, the Soul Riders, Avalon, Evergray and Cairn arrive at the Icengate where Nanook and Sedna (kallters) wait for us on horseback. They perform a ritual and open the magical lock on the passage. The team is escorted through the tunnel of ice and rock, made of a similar design as Stonecutter’s vault. Halfway through it Magnus Steinar’s ghost appears as he guards this tunnel. Sedna tells him everyone here is a friend and they are to have safe passage through the Icengate whenever they please. The team exits the tunnel high in the mountains and looks over the snow covered Winterdale valley ravaged by the blizzard.

Fighting the Storm:

-> The team descends on the steep Meander trail (from the Winter Rider game) and arrives in Meander Stables, where the druids set up camp. You are greeted by Eric Lowe, the owner or Meander stables. There you are introduced to the other druid characters of Winterdale by Cairn. They tell you of the situation: the magical storm started some days ago and won’t stop. Katja’s frost powers wreaks havoc, flash freezes sweep across the valley every other minute and the winds, snow and raining icicles destroy houses, stables and threaten to freeze everyone to death. The team is asked to help the valley. MC agrees to help, while the druids try to figure out a solution to stop the storm.

-> MC is sent on four different missions in four consecutive days with the Soul Riders to introduce you to the layout of Winterdale. For each mission, you go to a location in Winterdale to help the people fight the storm by dispelling frost, gathering firewood, saving the animals, etc. To get anywhere, you have to ride through the storm. Each time a flash freeze is coming you have to take cover. Icicles rain on the way indicated by the circles appearing in front of your horse that you have to dodge. You and your Soul Rider partner get there, help out and return to Meander. First, you go with Lisa to Cape Point village, next with Anne to Icewind Station, then with Linda to Pine Hill village and finally with Alex to Anvil Woods Druid Village and back to Meander.

Dispelling the Storm:

-> In the meantime, Evergray and the druids tried everything and figured out that they can’t dispel the storm alone and need help from Fripp. MC is sent to ride back to Valedale through the Meander trail, Icengate passage and Dino valley (there is not an available trailer in Meander yet- not until you open Northlink). You ride to the spiral portal in Valedale and fail to open the way.

-> Katja appears on horseback, cornering MC, tells you that they have blocked your access to the Secret Stone Circle. MC vows to stop her terror of Winterdale, but she just laughs and tells you not if I stop you first – forever! She sends fer frigid powers after you. You race back to Meander the way you came, dodging icicles and also Ice Spectres, that are like shadow seekers, but made of mist and frost and are controlled by Katja. You get back to Meander and tell the druids that Katja blocked you from opening the portal. Evergray is unusually cheerful about this and when they ask him why is this a good thing, he tell you that he figured it out. Katja blocked you from going to the Secret Stone Circle, because the solution lies there. By uniting the power of MC, the Soul Riders, druids and kallters and Fripp, you will be able to stop the storm. Avalon, the forever optimist points out the only problem is getting there.

-> You can actually get to the Secret Stone Circle on foot, however, there is one problem besides the storm, and that is the cursed Nightmare Forest. You have avoided it so far, taking the paths next to the Meander river, but now you have to go through it. As only the Soul Horses are strong enough to go through the storm and the dark forest, Alex, Anne, Lisa and Linda are riding double with Cairn, Avalon, Sedna and Uyarak (the other magic user of the kallters beside Sedna) and MC takes Evergray. You ride through the storm, hiding from the flash freezes and ride into the dark forest. The Nightmare Woods in covered in snow and ice, shadow seekers patrol and dark blue and purple wisp-like spirits drift amidst the gloomy trees. The team takes the path through the abandoned Crescent Lake Ranger Station up to the Aurora pass and then the western road leading up to Starshine Mountain. You ride up the steep mountain path (design based on the Starshine Legacy games) and get to the broken bridge.

-> Katja appears behind you sending an army of Ice Spectres. You run through the narrow path and jump the broken bridge. She stops before the jump and her horse rears, not being able to come closer to the Secret Stone Circle. Fripp awaits you in the circle and tells you don’t worry, no servant of darkness can come into the circle again, because he woke up the guardian tree of the Circle: Astral Crown. You see the formerly leafless big tree towering over the circle now covered in azure and lilac leaves, that shine like stars. The riders dismount and form a magic circle, everyone positioning themselves in front of each runestone. They perform a ritual and dispel Katja’s Icestorm from Winterdale.

PART 2: Exploring the valley

The Roads to Winterdale: Marchenghast and Northlink

-> Now that the storm is gone, MC can properly explore the valley. The Secret Stone Circle’s portal to Valedale is open again. A cutscene takes you back to Meander so you don’t have to ride through Dino valley again. Eric, the owner of Meander stables thanks you for saving the stables and the village and promises to put in a good word for you for each place in Winterdale. The Meander Championship is unlocked, it runs through the Coldstone forest and Frostbitten fields.

-> After the full introduction to the Meander area, it is time to open Winterdale properly for people and the horse trailers. Eric sends you to Cape Point to meet a ranger friend of his (Aiobhinn, the leader of the Winterdale rangers) who will lead you through the Seaside pass up to the Marchenghast Castle. Eric apparently knows everyone in Winterdale.

-> At the Marchenghast Castle they open the gate for you. There are very few people and servants there and MC meets the lord of the castle. He was told that you stopped the storm and asks how. As you can’t say magic, can choose from different stupid options to try to explain scientifically how you stopped a whole blizzard. Whatever you choose, Lord Marchenghast laughs and says he know about magic in Jorvik, don’t worry he just thought you would be better at lying. He opens the gates and grants you safe passage through the castle and estate and sends you on your way. The rocks have been removed from the road in Goldenhills and cars can now access it, opening the trailer options in Winterdale.

-> MC rides to the Baroness and tells her that the storm is over and the work on the Northlink tunnel can continue. You are sent to tell this to the workers. While the main story calls you back to Meander, the tunnel dailies are now unlocked, requiring you to help in the work for seven days to build the tunnel.

Rangers and Pine Hill:

-> Eric tells you Aiobhinn liked you and is willing to properly show you Winterdale, now that the storm is gone. You are led though Coldstone forest with the blue crystals and trail riding pathways and arrive in Explorer’s Rest Ranger Station. You are going with Aiobhinn as she checks on all of her rangers throughout the valley. You help the rangers clear the paths covered by the snowstorm, unlock races. They show you the path leading to Frostfire pass, but it is not accessible, until it melts.

-> Next, you ride north, and he shows you Pine Hill village and tells the gossip about the lord of the mansion, Mr Sands. You meet the people of the village and stables, unlocking many side quests. The ranger shows you the Rimefang woods, but you only ride on the path next to Meander river, because the forest is infested with wolves. Frosted mammoth pine trees, fallen trunks, misty woods. If you go too close to a wolf, it will start to chase you and you need to gallop to lose it. If it catches you, you are teleported out of the woods with the message: “Your horse got you out, but be careful, next time you might not be this lucky!” She tells you there is a hidden kallter village in the middle, but you can’t reach it, unless they invite you.

-> You ride to Icewind station. You meet Henry Stevenson(the old guy from the Winter Riders game), second in command to Aiobhinn and brother of Cairn who is the leader of the rangers at Icewind station. He reports to Aiobhinn and tells you the rumors about the Nightmare Woods and that there are two abandoned stations there. They plan to man them again one day, but not until the woods are haunted. You unlock side quests and races in the Icewind Woods.

Druids and Cape Point:

-> Aiobhinn remains in Icewind and Henry offers to guide you through Anvil Woods to meet the druids and his brother. You ride to Anvil Woods and are introduced to their Life Warden Tree, Wise Leaf. They built their village around it. The tree is a gigantic oak who talks in verses, metaphors and talks like an old wizard and is generally whimsical and wholesome. In the side quests, you help the druids fight against Dark Core, as the corporation wants to cut down the forest. The Anvil Bay Championship is unlocked (joint project of the druids and rangers, organized by Henry and Cairn, running through Anvil and Icewind).

-> The druids tell you of their brothers and sisters in the other druid village of Winterdale: Jorwatch. You go there and meet them, unlock quests. They tell you that they guard the path leading to Jorcrater, since noone is allowed to enter as it is too dangerous. Finally, MC is asked to meet Fripp and Cairn in the Secret Stone Circle and you are rewarded with 100 Star Coins (just like at the end of each phase).

PHASE 5- The Kallters and Mr Sands

PART 1: The Redemption of Mr Sands

Secrets of Pine Hill Mansion:

-> Meeting at the Secret Stone Circle. The dark side have been awfully quiet lately and the Soul Riders suspect they are up to something. With Pine Hill Mansion so close, Linda proposes a plan for she and MC to sneak into Pine Hill Mansion (like she did in Starshine Legacy 2) and gather information. MC meets Linda in Pine Hill Village and they wait for nightfall.

-> The hole in the wall Lisa made back in SSL 2 is still there, hidden by a bush, but Linda knows where to find it. It is dark now and you have to find your way through the maze. You do, but there are some guards and dogs outside the house, you have to sneak past them. This time, unlike in the game, you get in through the greenhouse after finding an open glass panel. Linda tells you of the adventure they had here back in high school with Lisa, when she got stuck up in a scaffolding. Luckily, the house itself is empty so you are free to wander.

-> In the main hall, Linda shows you the pictures of the Soul Riders she saw last time here. However, there are four new pictures on the walls, paintings of the Dark Riders (Sabine, Katja and Jessica) similar in style, wearing similar ceremonial dresses. The fourth picture is still covered with a tarp, high on the wall, so you can’t see. MC and Linda get into the library and start looking for clues. Linda finds Sands’ journal. They find out about Rosalind, who was burned at the stake hundreds of years ago for being a suspected witch. She was in fact, a druid and Sands hates the druids because they didn’t save her. He himself turned to dark magics trying to bring her back, but only managed to reach Garnok, who offered him immortality and Rosalind back if he helps the forces of darkness achieve victory.

-> Mr Sands appears and captures them, trapping them in two magic circles. Linda and MC focus their powers (playing a slider-click mini game), but cannot bring his spell. Linda asks him about Rosalind and tells him she understands why he did it, but this is not the way. She manages to upset Mr Sands enough to break his concentration and MC breaks the magic circles. Linda makes a moonlight flash and they run away, escape through the main entrance. Meteor and MC’s horse wait for them there and they escape Pine Hill Mansion.

Saving Justin (again):

-> Katja makes a plan to lure the Soul Riders into a trap. Just like she kidnapped James in Starshine Legacy 4, she now plans to kidnap Justin. Justin has discovered his druid powers since meeting the Singing Yew in South Hoof and has been training. Justin was to meet MC for training in Silverglade, but he doesn’t arrive. After waiting a bit, you get up to investigate. MC finds signs of struggle and uses moon vision to see what happened. You see Katja surprising Justin and even though he tries to fight back, Katja charms and mind controls him, like she did to James. You call the Soul Riders to tell them Justin was kidnapped, but they say Katja already called and gave them an ultimatum: she wants MC to come to Dark Core Platform and bring their Soul Horse.

-> It is an obvious trap, but you have to go. No sneaking this time: you are to meet the goons at the DC ferry in Moorland. MC and their horse are brought to the platform and led in front of the portal, where Katja, Jess, Sabine and Mr Sands wait for you. Katja is keeping Justin in a magic circle at the edge of the platform where he last fell and Mr Sands is not happy about this situation at all.

-> Katja says get on with it, sacrifice MC’s horse to bring Garnok into this world. MC uses her powers to make a shield around them. Katja says fine, then I will push Justin off the platform and time you can’t save him. MC asks Sands if he is going to let this happen? What would Rosalind think of him now? She would surely not want a kid to die so she can live again? Mr Sands hesitates, doesn’t know if he is willing to sacrifice Justin for a promise of Rosalind. MC says Garnok is a force of destruction, not life and he is lying to Sands and cannot bring back Rosa, but Justin lives and he is his family. Katja is waiting for permission from Sands and she is getting more impatient by the minute. She yells at Sands to give the order and he can’t.

-> Katja pushes Justin off the platform and MC can’t do anything from the shield. The Dark Riders laugh, but Justin levitates back up. He says he has been practicing and just like his mother, Catherine, he is also very talented. He didn’t like almost dying the last time and prepared for this case. Katja is furious, and raises her hand at him, saying, cute, but cheap tricks won’t save you from the true power of darkness. She shoots dark energy at him, but a shield appears around Justin, cast by Mr Sands and it reflects the power back to hit Katja. The explosion also dazes Sabine and Jess.

-> Sands shouts at MC to flee and take Justin while they are dazed. Justin jumps on your horse and you also want to take Sands. Before he can react, a blast of dark energy hits him from behind, cast as a joint spell of Jess and Sabine. Jessica says I have always wanted to do that. You have to flee and leave Sands there.

-> You escape the platform and leave with the little boat to Goldenhills. You ride to Jasper’s farm with Justin and meet the Soul Riders there. Jasper is scolding you for getting Justin into trouble, doesn’t like this druid business that took his Catherine from him. You tell the others what happened. Linda speaks up, says I am fine with being the one to say it, but we need to save Mr Sands now. Justin agrees.

Saving Mr Sands:

-> Meeting at the Valedale spiral, going to the Secret Stone Circle, Justin is also there. Reporting what happened to the druids. All druids from Harvestlands and Winterdale met to debate whether to save Mr Sands. The conclusion is that we need allies and intel so we are going to rescue him from Dark Core. The others say we cannot be even sure that he is alive, so Linda and MC conjure up a moon vision to look for him. It shows that he lives, but barely, kept captive in some unknown Dark Core facility. You have to find out where.

-> Spying on DC with Derek. As a government agent, he knows where and how to get the information to find Sands. MC, Justin and Derek go to every possible Dark Core location and follow a trail. Finally we end up at the station above Valedale and manage to find a photo validating that Sands have arrived to the location of his imprisonment. It is not written where as DC is very secretive about him.

-> We meet up at the Valedale spiral and show the picture to the others saying that is all we have found, ready to give up. Lisa looks at the picture and recognizes the place: it is the DC Barricade, where she freed Starshine from is SSL 1. It is located just north from Anvil Woods, but the road is closed so we need a boat again.

-> Going to Cape Point to find someone willing to ferry us there. The Soul Riders and MC all plan to go and we manage to convince Justin to stay in Cape West as it is too dangerous for him to come. With the guidance of Lisa, we sneak into the DC Barricade at night. Linda conjures a vision and now that we are closer, is able to find Sands. He is held in the main building where Starshine was also held. MC, Lisa and Linda are going on foot, trying to find Sands, while Alex and Anne take the horses to a point where we can get on to escape.

-> We go through the Barricade and see many weird Dark Core projects, shipments of drakonium, artifacts, pandorian creatures in cages and imprisoned in a runic circle there is a massive, formless shadow monster. We can only see its glowing six eyes and huge clawed hand. We manage to sneak into the main building and find Sands in the same cage where Starshine was imprisoned. He spots them, but someone is coming. MC, Lisa and Linda hide and see Katja is there to taunt Sands.

-> She laughs. Oh look, how the mighty fall. Held captive in the very cage where you imprisoned the first soul horse. Another failed quest of yours. You could not get anything done even back then. Maybe I am going to be the new general of Garnok now. Sands tells her no, she isn’t going to be as she is nothing compared to Elise. You are weak, Ice Witch. You compensate well with your smarts, but you always were and will always be weak. And you know Garnok only values raw power. You are nothing to him.

-> He knows this will make her lose her cool. Linda realizes this is an opening and attacks Katja. They duel and Katja is too angry to concentrate. MC and Lisa get the cage open and get Sands. Katja wants to shoot him with dark power again, but Sands throws it back at her, weakening her a great deal. Katja uses an illusion spell, but Linda had enough of her magic. She counterspells, makes Katja lost in her own illusion labyrinth. The team runs and gets on the horses. Alex has stolen the remote opening the gates as Lisa instructed and we escape. We get to the shore and the ferry takes us back to Cape Point. Justin meets him and Sands says sorry for everything.

-> Mr Sands reconciles with Justin and the Baroness and moves back to Pine Hill Mansion. The Pine Hill Championship is unlocked. He becomes our ally, gives the Soul Riders important information about Dark Core and the Dark Riders. He promises to help us against Garnok.

-> MC has a vision: Darko has been stuck in the realm between worlds ever since Elisabeth’s sacrifice. Now Garnok needs a new general, so he rescues Darko. MC tells this to the others and Sands warns them that Darko is unpredictable, dangerous, very power-hungry and not to be underestimated.

PART 2: Cleansing Starshade Woods

Gathering intel:

-> The Nightmare Woods are still inaccessible, infested with darkness and shadow seekers. Team meets up in Meander, Linda’s idea is to check on Mr Sands and ask him for help in cleansing the Starshade Woods. MC and the Soul Riders ride up to Pine Hill Mansion and knock. A very grumpy Mr Sands opens the door and tries to send you away. You convince him to let you in, but he continues to be extremely grumpy. He leads you to the library.

-> You ask him what he knows about the Nightmare Woods. He tells you it is was the dark side’s plan to stop you from accessing the Secret Stone Circle, Darko, Jess, Katja and Sabine all kept throwing their worst dark magics to corrupt the forest. Over the years, the Starshade woods got so dark, the druids had to leave, the rangers had to leave and now noone dares to go into the haunted forest. Sands doesn’t remember all the monsters and magic that was thrown in there, so the Soul Riders keep investigating and find lists of them.

-> Sands also tells you, that the forest has a dark secret, but even he doesn’t know what it is. You have to find out if you want to cleanse the forest. Going around Winterdale, asking to people about the Nightmare Woods. Long investigation, eventually you go to Lord Marchenghast, but he only gives you cryptic answers. You investigate the Baroness’ and Fort Maria’s library too to find out more about Lord Marchenghast.

-> You find out what happened in the Starshade Woods hundreds of years ago: that was where the witches (druids) were burned. You and Linda go to Marchenghast Castle to confront the lord about it, but you cannot find him. You go into the castle and get lost in it, realizing it is cursed. You keep wandering and see the pieces of history as it was basically a tragic misunderstanding and the then young and gullible Lord Marchenghast was pressured into ordering the burning of witches. He and the castle was then cursed by one of the dying druids to suffer misfortune until he admits the truth. You and Linda finally find him in the „throne room” of the castle. Linda realizes using her powers, that the visions were not the complete truth, the castle shows you the lies of Marchenghast. You get him to admit he is not blameless in the tragedy and it is his fault as well. When the truth comes out the curse of misfortune is lifted. Marchenghast gives you a diary of the events.

-> The main story continues as you prepare for the Battle for Starshade Woods, but the Matchenghast Castle side quests are now opened. Lord Marchenghast wants to open the castle as a museum for the public and host an equestrian championship. MC is tasked to try to convince people that the curse is gone. You get merchants and horse people to come and organize the first Marchenghast championship. As the name roughly means „dark fairy tale” new magic horse breeds will be available to buy here after you do the introductory fairy tale quest line for them.

Preparation:

-> MC and the Soul Riders make a plan for the Battle for Starshade Woods. Now you know the druid ghosts, that originally haunted the place and the dark creatures the forces of evil put there. You have to find ways to neutralize each. Linda briefs you on the plan: come back every day to decrease the darkness of the woods to a manageable level until we can finally go in to cleanse the forest. You get a progression bar and have to complete daily quests for some weeks like with the Rune Runner grind.

-> You get multiple, various dailies every day. One quest is always soul riding, where you are sent into the edge of the forest to close a portal, vanquish a dark creature, etc. The other two are coop quests with one of the Soul Riders. With Lisa, you sneak in, avoiding the hostile creatures and heal and cleanse plants and animals from the darkness. With Alex, it is basically a sniper mission, you ride to a high point and shoot Shadow Seekers with lightning. With Anne, you use your light powers to dispel the dark wisps, collect their light and use it to cleanse a patch of forest from the darkness. With Linda, you ride to certain points in the forest and dispel Katja’s illusions by playing various mini games.

-> Every time you reach a milestone in the progression bar, you get a quest about the druid ghosts that died or were burned in the forest. The druids were five in total: Nimue, Moria, Lucius, Einar and Rosalind. You have to help the ghosts find peace. First, you find them in the forest, then you solve their murder (for example one was frozen to death by Katja), you make their last wish happen (e.g. take their bones out of the forest and to the place where they want to rest eternally) or bring their descendants to meet them (convincing people to come meet a ghost in the haunted forest is tricky). Lucius was Marchenghast’s friend and now wants revenge on him. MC convinces him to just talk and maybe tell him to go to hell, but Lucius ends up forgiving him and from now on lives in the castle.

-> Rosalind is the last one, who wants to meet Sands when you tell her he is alive to make sure he is okay. You bring Mr Sands to the Nightmare Woods and Rosalind says goodbye and tells you all that now she can rest in peace. The progress bar is completed and the Battle for Starshade Woods can begin.

Battle for Starshade Woods:

-> Druids, Soul Riders and MC gathering in Meander again. As the darkness decreased in the woods, Sabine and Jessica appeared attempting to restore it. You cannot let them undo your work, so it is now or never. The plan is to sweep through the forest, dispelling the final remnants of darkness and cleanse the Starshade Woods for good. The battle takes three days.

-> On the first day, you go into the part east of Crescent Lake station and disperse the remaining Shadow Seekers and dark wisps with the soul riders. The druids march behind you, cleansing the trees and animals. You get to Crescent Lake station, but Jessica is waiting for you there, defending it. Boss fight: she stands in the middle with a magic shield around her, powered by Shadow Seekers she summoned. You have to charge your lightning powers with the „catch a runner” soul riding mechanic and shoot the shadow seekers. After that you can hit her shield and defeat her. If the timer runs out she releases a dark explosion that knocks you out and you have to start again. When you defeat her, she retreats into the dark woods. You have taken the eastern part of the woods back.

-> The next day, you meet up in Cape Point village and do the same dance. You cleanse the part of the forest west of Storm Hill with the druids coming behind you. Sabine is waiting for you at the top of Storm Hill, promising she won’t go easy on you like Jess and makes a circle of fire around her and MC. Her bossfight works similarly to the Mr Anvir fight in Pandoria, except she is the monster chasing you. You have to dodge waves of fire, falling firebolts, gather sparks of power the Soul Riders summon to charge your attack and then run into her. She flees and you have Storm Hill Station.

-> The third day, you help Lisa and Anne first in pushing the front in Crescent Lake, then you fight with Linda and Alex in Storm Hill. In the middle you find Darko who is ready to unleash a massive dark creature he borrowed from Garnok. The thing is standing behind him in a cloud of darkness and you can only see its glowing evil eyes. Darko says if the forest can’t be theirs then it will be noone’s and the creature will have it. Mr Sands appears and taunts Darko. He says maybe you got what you wanted but it is not as easy being Garnok’s general as he thinks. Mr Sands counterspells Darko and the creature attacks its master. Darko teleports them both away in a panic and we win. Linda asks Sands if Darko is dead, but Sands says probably not, he has proven quite difficult to get rid of. -> The Nightmare Woods are cleansed and it returns to its original state: the Starshade Woods. It looks similar to the Hollow Woods, but with blue wisps flying around and also has a mother runestone and quests. Now we can get to the Secret Stone Circle on foot and the Winterdale rangers send people to the Crescent lake and Storm Hill Stations. The Starshade Championship is unlocked.

PART 3: The Kallters

The Blizzard:

-> Katja appears once again and unleashes a blizzard, but only on the Rimefang Woods. MC and the druids want to help, but noone can reach the kallter village unless they are invited. MC goes into the blizzard into Rimefang Woods anyways, trying to dodge the wolves. They start chasing MC and you run, but end up cornered in a gorge. A kallter girl Erika and her wolf Idun appear and save you. She leads MC to their village.

-> You meet the kallters: the council of leaders are Takuraq, Sedna, the high priestess and Uyarak, the spiritual leader (kind of a druid) whom you already met in a previous quest. Erika is the daughter of Takuraq. You have already met Nanook, who is a horse breeder. Malina and Anniq are the twins of Sedna, girl with golden hair, boy with silver and they do a little moon and sun circle magic. Kauyar is the main wolf trainer and Nasami is his wife.

-> MC is led into the communal hall and the council of elders accept your help against the wolves and Katja, but you have to gather reputation before progressing with the main story. Erika introduces you to the kallter village. It is in the middle of the Rimefang woods, next to a small lake. You have fishing dailies here. All of the kallters have their own tame wolves that keep the wild ones away from the village.

Gaining their trust:

-> In order to be able to properly help them and move around in the forest, you need a wolf. MC is sent to speak with Kauyar, who helps you bond with a wolf. They will run next to you in the Rimefang Woods and keep the wild wolves away so now MC can go wherever in the Rimefang Woods. You name it like you name a new horse you buy.

-> MC gathers firewood in the forest, helps repair the village walls, lights fires that the storm estinguished. In the forest, you have to hide from the flash freezes and dodge icicles, like in the first storm when you entered Winterdale. You have chores in Nanook’s stables for the fjords. You are introduced to Silver Runebark, the kallters’ Life Warden tree, that keeps Katja’s storm from destroying the village. When running around in the Rimefang Woods, you can sometimes see a wolf bigger and meaner than the others watching you. The kallters tell you it is called Amarok, but are strangely secretive and refuse to tell you more.

Fall of the Ice Witch:

-> Once you gathered enough reputation, the main storyline continues. The wolf pack of Amarok attacks and MC helps Nanook protect the kallters’ fjord horses. Katja is there, helping the wolves wreak havoc and using her ice powers. She says she has finally come to have revenge. MC helps stop her from freezing the village, but Nanook is cornered by the wolves. He turns into a bear and fights Amarok. The wolves are driven back and Katja flees.

-> Sedna and Nanook tell MC, that Katja is half kallter and hates them, wants to destroy the village. Nanook and his brother were cursed by Katja into a form of a bear and a wolf. MC agrees to help break the curse. The brothers have to trust each other again to break it (Amarok thinks Nanook betrayed him). Sedna and the twins help MC.

-> You have to find clues on how to break the curse. With Erika, you sneak into the den of the wolf pack using your magic. You find the writings of Amarok that he wrote before going crazy and permanently becoming a wolf. It tells you the full story of how Katja became like this. For looking different, having strong powers and being only half kallter the villagers treated her like an outsider and blamed her for every bad thing happening. She eventually got recruited by Garnok and destroyed the kallters’ previous village in Dino valley, making them leave for Winterdale to find a Life Warden Tree, that can protect them from the monster they created.

-> You confront Sedna and Nanook with this and they admit it is the truth. Nanook also chose the village over Amarok at one point and he is bitter. Amarok in turn used his wolf form to hurt Nanook’s horses and the cycle goes on. Erika says this is stupid we cannot be like this or the village is done for. Katja appears in front of the gates. She says now you see MC, I have a good reason for doing this. Help me get justice. MC says no and Katja unleashes the strom, blasting open the gates and the wolves pour in. Nanook changes into a polar bear and fights Amarok again, wins. Katja wants him to give in to hatred and strike Amarok down. This way he would complete the curse and stay as a bear forever because of his hatred. MC shouts to him not to and Nanook realizes. He changes back into a human and holds out a hand, saying i forgive you brother and hope you can forgive me as well. Amarok has managed to change back to human as well and takes his hand. The curse is broken. Katja shrieks impossible, but she cannot do anything. MC and Sedna unite their power and dispel the storm and Katja flees. Amarok returns to the village and the wolves of the Rimefang woods are no longer hostile.

-> Unlocking the Kallter Championship. You are rewarded with 100 Star Coins as it is the end of a big main story phase. The Wintersoul grind: the second "free" horse, like the Rune Runner. Now that you have completed the kallter questlines, you can start the soul riding-like grind and reputation collection with Uyarak. The Wintersoul is a special silvery-gray kallter fjord horse with ice blue kallter markings and it wanders in the Rimefang Woods. It was created when the a remnants of katja’s evil storm was trapped in a horse that ran away from Nanook’s stable. It has part of Katja’s power, freezing parts of the forest around it, needs to be tamed and who better to take care of it than MC.

PHASE 6 – Apocalypse

PART 1: Ashland and Sabine

Frostfire:

-> The dark side is properly angry now, that you have defeated every one of them again. They gather more dark power and openly attack Winterdale, sending Sabine to wreak havoc with her fire powers. Sabine always wanted to prove herself as best- now she wants to prove herself to Garnok, drunk with power.

-> The siege lasts a week, Sabine attacks different magical parts of the valley each day, until she depletes the powers she got. Every day MC gets called to a location and has to stop her. She brags about showing you all, that she is better, stronger, than Katja, who failed, just like Sands. Once the week is over she leaves and noone like the calm before the storm. The Soul Riders decide you have to figure out where she went, but before you could get on with it the earth shakes and there is a plume of smoke rising from Ashland.

Ashland:

-> This is bad. You have to get there to stop whatever Sabine is doing before she makes the volcano erupt and destroys half of Jorvik. First, you five are taking Avalon, Evergray and a Winterdale druid and ride to Explorer’s Rest and a ranger escorts you to Frostfire pass, but it is still frozen over. The druid says there is another way into Ashland. You ride to Dino Valley, but of course the path is still frozen.

-> The druid directs us to go talk to the Life Warden Tree of Dino Valley in the summit. Glacier Heart is peacefully slumbering still and we debate how to wake her. Before the team decides on anything, the ground shakes again and she wakes. At first she gets angry at you, but you manage to explain to her, that this is not your doing and you want to go to Ashland to stop it, but the path is frozen. Glacier Heart sighs: Do I really have to talk to her? Can’t you people just melt the ice of the road? The druid tells her respectfully that we are in a hurry, trying to stop the volcano from erupting and covering half of Jorvik in ash. That does it, because Glacier absolutely does not want warmth in her valley.

-> You can hear the telepathic communication between the trees. Glacier Heart calls out to her sister, Fire Glory in Ashland. She is very chatty and very ADHD and very excited about everything. It takes some tries for Glacier to explain to her that people want to go to Ashland, but the road is frozen. Fire Glory is very excited that she will get visitors and says hold on one second. She uses her fire powers to melt the ice on the road and the path to Ashland is finally open.

-> The team rides to Ashland and arrives in Ashfall village. There is a small community living there, some families and druids. The people grow extraordinary fruits and plants in the volcanic soil and the druids are stationed there to watch the volcano. Ever since the first quake, ash is falling from the sky like snow and the ground shakes here even more often. You ask about Sabine, but they didn’t see anything as they had to hide. You leave your druids in the village and go to ask Fire Glory about her.

Firefall:

-> Meeting Fire Glory, who is on one of the surrounding peaks, overlooking a valley. She likes the warmth in here, can’t image living in a cold place like like Dino and won’t shut up about how much she finds the fires beautiful. Linda politely shuts her up saying surely she would not want the valley to burn tho. She says no and we ask her is she saw Sabine. She did see her.

-> First, Sabine went to the caldera, and tried to control the fires to empower herself, but could not. Glory then saw her running around in the valley looking for something. We ask if she knows what, and the tree tells us about the Firestones. Hundreds of years ago, then the mysterious meteor shower rained pandoric stones, many landed in Ashland. Along the years they collected the fire energy of Ashland, and their pink glow turning to orange, they have become Firestones. Sabine is probably looking for these.

-> The Soul Riders and MC run around Ashland to collect the stones before Sabine does. Two progression bars show your and Sabine’s stones collected. When you found all you can, you return to Ashfall village as the druids found some more firestone locations. You go out, get them and now you have more stones, than Sabine.

-> When you return to the village however, you find the Soul Riders locked in anti-magic nullification circles. They tell you Sabine came and she was stronger than the four of them and she kidnapped Avalon. Alex tells MC that you are the only one still strong enough to defeat her, that’s why she attacked them separately. Sabine called you all to the volcano to surrender or she throws Avalon into the volcano.

-> You five ride up to the caldera. Sabine is at the edge, holding Avalon with magic over the lava. She’d drawn five more anti-magic circles and orders you to stand in it and surrender. Your lives for Avalon’s. The Soul Riders and MC all do, their powers are useless now.

-> MC has a plan to play on Sabine’s weakness. You kneel before her and admit defeat, saying she was right, she achieved what Sands could not, succeeded where Katja failed and Dark Rider Malumi is really the strongest opponent. The Soul Riders look at you like you’ve lost your mind and their reaction sells it to Sabine, who lowers her guard. Then you push Sabine and blast her with lightning and reach out for Avalon, barely catching him. Sabine falls into the lava and as her concentration is broken so are her magic circles and the Soul Riders help you pull Avalon up. Alex says nobody tell Fire Glory, but I fripping hate this place.

-> You collect Sabine’s firestones and go back to the village. As you have no use for them, you take them all to Fire Glory. She is very happy and melts the ice blocking Frostfire pass, opening the final blocked path to Winterdale. You ride back there.

PART 2: The Fall of Pandoria

Spying:

-> With Sabine gone, Katja weakened and Darko hurt by his darkness creature the Keepers of Aideen decide it is the perfect time to strike. Council meeting in the Secret Stone Circle, making a plan for how to defeat Garnok. Fripp tells us that he found the weakest point of Garnok’s prison: the Pools of Pandemonium in Devil’s Gap. He tells us that as of right now, he is imprisoned between the dimensions, that’s how he is able to access both Earth and Pandoria and that is how he was able to get Darko out of there. We debate different plans, but no decision yet.

-> The Soul Riders gather in Fripp’s rooms below and say that Linda and MC should scout DC using visions. You sit down to meditate and a series of cutscenes take place. First you see Darko standing in front of the portal, talking to a shadowy figure in it. They talk about Garnok’s return approaching, but the plans have been set back, since Sabine fell. The dark figure says my return also nears, you just have to buy some time. Darko asks what strategy you suggest and the dark figure says: They are so trusting in each other, it is disgusting. Time for some doubt. Conquer and divide, sow discord, make them make a mistake.

-> Darko’s evil plan, what we don’t see, is to make the Soul Riders send Garnok to Pandoria, where he will gather even more energy, will be stronger than ever and will be able to finally anchor himself to Earth. Darko knows MC is spying in a vision and he stages a scene. MC and Linda see him and Jess talk about how they must stop the Soul Riders from banishing Garnok to Pandoria.

-> We tell what we have seen to Fripp, not knowing this is a trap. Fripp thinks it makes sense. We have to sacrifice one world to save the other. We tell this to the druids and they agree to the plan, believing Garnok will be powerless and unable to reach Earth anymore if we manage to banish him to Pandoria. However this decision really divides the good guys, as a lot of druids believe Pandoria is not evil, there are creatures living there and the Keepers swore to protect all life. Evergray doesn’t like it either: How would you feel if someone decided Earth has to go, just so your world can live?

-> Ydris appears: How indeed. I believe one would feel quite resentful towards said people and would swore never no help them with anything ever again. Some druids ask him how did he get in here, but he just point at the runestones. I am pandorian you imbeciles. Typical humans. You surround yourselves with the magic of my world, take what you want and let the rest rot. Don’t count on my help when Garnok comes to destroy you all. Zee rears and they vanish.

-> The druids still go ahead with the plan. MC and the Soul Riders are piecing together the ritual that they will use to imprison Garnok in Pandoria. You go to the libraries of Silverglade, Fort Maria and Pine Hill with Linda to study magic circles. You gather magical herbs with Lisa, practice portals with Anne and go to Pandoria with Alex to gather crystals.

-> Now you only need to go to Devil’s Gap and convince Sive to let you do this. Linda stresses the whole way how will you convince Sive to give up the ancestral home of the vala (even if they drew power from Garnok’s prison), but when you get there she’s nowhere to be found. The Chaos Vortex is worse, than ever, a storm is raging above the gorge and lightning strikes. MC goes well that was easy, but Linda says easy never meant anything good for the Soul Riders. You go back to Fripp to report that you are good to go. Your final quest is going with Anne to close all of the portals to Pandoria.

Devil’s Gap:

-> Arriving at Devil’s Gap: the team still debates wheater they should do this, but settle for yes, they won’t have another chance like this. Using the many narrow, winding stone pathways of the valley you draw the lines of the magic circle. At certain points you carve pandorian runes into the rock walls as makeshift runestones. You make the whole valley into a big magic circle to open the gate of the prison for a moment, then banish him to Pandoria. The success of your mission relies on the fact that he is technically still sleeping.

-> Once the magic circle is done, however, Garnok stirs. MC has to ride with each Soul Rider to four different points of the valley and help them activate a rune, before riding to the middle. While riding through the pathways Garnok’s tentacles appear (like in SSL 4 and when you escaped Pandoria after finding Anne). You activate the four runes and manage to ride to the middle to complete the ritual. Garnok roars, a portal opens and the dark presence leaves the Pools of Pandemonium and is sent to Pandoria.

-> The good guys think they have won, but trouble hits immediately. Darko appears on one of the rocks above you, laughing at how you fell right into his trap. He meddles with the spell. Linda and MC have a vision of Garnok turning Pandoria dark blue and purple, breaking the islands and laughing, deep as an earthquake rumbles through the doomed world.

-> You have to act immediately. MC and Anne open a portal to Pandoria and the Soul Riders go there to stop him from destroying all of Pandoria. Once he’s done, he will also come for Earth, your only luck is that he is too busy breaking Pandoria. Linda directs you to make a binding rune, similar to what you did in Devil’s Gap. Riding around, dodging his powers. You manage to contain Garnok in Pandoria, but the realm now answers to Garnok and tries to kill you. Escape from Pandoria, the portal is collapsing. Some sun circle druids sacrifice themselves, staying behind to stabilize the portal, while we escape.

PART 3: The Hope of Pandoria

War effort:

-> Pandoria is off-limits now. All the portals are closed and the locations are guarded by druids to alert us if anything tries to come through. Garnok is empowered by Pandoria and even through he cannot come to Earth, his evil magic can reach it. Garnok-effect appearing everywhere in Jorvik, the sieges led by Katja, Jess, or Darko. MC has to fight it with soul riding quests.

-> Chaos in Ashland, a fiery entity terrorizes the valley. The Soul Riders are sent there to investigate. Sabine returns as a flying fire-ghost entity(the ghost model is like in the picture in SSL 3's Pandoria) and she is really pissed at you. She joins the sieges.

-> This cannot go on, we need a plan. MC suggests to use Jessica. We need information, have to find out how to defeat this kind of void power and how to seal Garnok back to sleep. Jess has a rivalry with Katja and still wants to outdo her to show Garnok she is the stronger one. We organize an ambush: Anne is the bait. When she attacks her, all of us appear and say we just want to talk. We manage to strike a deal with her- in exchange for information, she will have a victory over us that Katja did not. Some druids and Anne are against this plan, but they have to make a sacrifice to have a chance.

-> Jess tells the info we need right away. Anne is suspicious, says she must be lying, why not wait until we fulfilled our promise? Jess says because she can count on the good guys being disgustingly honorable and if she told something useful, they will surely make good on their promise. Jess reveals that Pandoria can be saved if we bring Garnok back to Earth to his prison. The prison ship also used the dimension between world to keep him imprisoned. If we manage to do this, his generals will lose a good deal of power also. Linda still uses moon power to see the truth and announces that she’s not lying.

-> Agreeing on the plan: the Soul Riders are to attack the DC Barricade, pretending that we are trying to free the creatures and get the artifacts. Now we cause all kinds of havoc in DC territory. Katja and Jess arrive to protect it. MC and the Soul Riders have set a trap for Katja and we imprison her in a circle. As Darko arrives Jessica attacks us and we pretend to fall back to put on a show for him. Jess got a good point from Darko for defending the barricade, while Katja failed again.

-> We tell the information we got from Jess to Fripp and he agrees to the plan. We need to try and save Pandoria even if it means endangering Earth, as we cannot let another world be destroyed by Garnok. We just need to convince the druids of it when we get the chance.

Shadowfrost

-> Evergray calls us to meet in Valedale. Why hasn’t Sabine come back to her human form? Evergray suggests the Dark Riders can be defeated by the combination of their own power and their opposite Soul Rider’s. For Sabine it was fire and lightning. Jess must be defeated by darkness (in Pi’s swamp) and Anne, Katja by ice (in Dino vale) and Linda. We plan to make these happen. We split up: MC helps Anne and Lisa defeat Jess first, while Alex and Linda prepare to defeat Katja. If we manage they too will turn into elemental ghosts (shadow and frost), like Sabine. They will still be able to fight us, but without human consciousness, just as primordial powers. Until they get their bodies back, this will leave Darko alone in fighting us.

-> Anne and Lisa lure Jessica into Pi’s Cauldron Swamp, playing on her pride. Anne can go all in, make it seem like she gave in to hatred, then when Jess is sure she will win, Anne reveals Jess has walked into a trap pursuing Anne. She stepped in the darkness seal made by Pi, which draws power from Jess’s magic. Lisa, Anne, and MC focus their powers on Jess, she disappears, a dark ghost flies away from the swamp. This was the easy part.

-> MC, Alex and Linda go to Dino Valley, but Katja knows already what happened to Jess, she is angrier than ever. Finding her at the Ice Witch portal, she attacks us. 1st race through Dino: to lure her to the frozen lake, where we can fight her. 1st phase: Soul-riding-like bossfight in the frozen lake, Katja has a frost shield. Dodging icicles, Linda helps see where K’s magic will hit, so MC can dodge it, Alex shoots her shield with lightning. MC has to keep them ice-free, free them if they are iceblocked. Without Linda, MC can’t see where the ice will hit and without Alex it is only her shooting the shield. After removing half of her shield here, Katja starts breaking the ice on the lake.

-> 2nd race: to the higher valley, through the pine forest. The 2nd phase of the fight takes place amidst the ice columns, same fight, lightning strike her, remove her shield. She is defeated, but with the last of her power, summons illusions of many characters, hides herself as one of them. Linda and MC is find the one and point at it for Alex to blast it with lightning. When Alex turns, the illusion wears the body of James. Katja begs Alex as James not to hurt him, but Alex collects the storm from above the valley and lightning strikes her. A frosty ghost flies away. Cutscene: Darko roars and curses before the portal of DC platform as the three elemental ghosts hover before him silently.

Saving Pandoria

-> Soulriding stuff all over Jorvik, fighting the three Dark Rider entities. The Keepers try to agree on the plan. The options: A, Fully sever G’s connection to Earth and get rid of hom for now (he still may find a way back later) and let Pandoria die, or B, Save Pandoria by bringing Garnok’s full consciousness back to his Earth prison, just like Jess said. The alliance finally decides to try to heal Pandoria, sever Garnok’s link to it and defeat the monster on Jorvik for good.

-> MC and the Soul Riders are going to the Garnok-ruled Pandoria: instead of pink, it is dark blue now. We are trying to stay hidden and set up a base camp. Anne really hates being here, we have to talk her into not breaking We have to avoid Shadow Seekers and corrupted creatures. We manage to heal a small bit of Pandoria.

-> Darko notices this and comes to confront us. He siphons power from corrupted Pandoria and gives the Dark Riders their human bodies back. They are so empowered, they are just toying with us. We take part in the three bossfights for each of them, losing in each. Our Soul Rider partner magics us to safety every time, but ultimately, it seems like we have lost. Our Aideen magics start to weaken as Garnok gets stronger. His giant silhouette appears on the horizon in the distance in an epic shot.

-> MC still wants to try and fight Darko, but he blocks all your pathetic attempts at magic. The Soul Riders are on the ground, giving up. Even Lisa says all hope is lost. Then, Ydris appears with the Hope of Pandoria to save the day. For him it transforms from a fridge into a pink and golden blazing Sun and flies up to the sky its searing rays of light burning away garnok’s darkness. The low roar or a kraken reverberates from the distance.

-> Ydris combines his power with the Soul Riders’ and MC's, but Anne is still on the ground. He shouts at Anne: Stand up Sun of Pandoria and help us send him back to his prison! Concorde walks to her and holding onto Concorde, Anne is pulled to her feet. She guides the spell, and we banish Garnok from Pandoria completely, back on his prison ship on Earth, fully anchoring him to Jorvik. Darko and the Dark Riders are also sent back to Earth.

-> Linda walks up to Ydris to thank him, but he says he is still angry at them for doing this to Pandoria. He only helped the world, but still won’t ever help us again. Pandoria is accessible again, but parts are still corrupted and in ruins. Garnok is banished from Devil’s Gap and the Chaos Vortex disappears.

-> Victory, end of main storyline in Winterdale. You get a reward of the final 100 Star Coins upon returning to the Secret Stone Circle and the druids talk about possibly soon heading north to meet their brothers and sisters in Spring Valley.

TO BE CONTINUED!

THE OTHER PARTS:

SSO Rewritten 2nd Part: Springvalley https://www.tumblr.com/starshinedragon/716459529087401984/sso-rewritten-springvalley?source=share

SSO Rewritten 3rd Part: Summerplains https://www.tumblr.com/starshinedragon/726343248992419840/sso-rewritten-full-story-series-summerplains?source=share

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stairnaheireann · 2 years

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Knockma Hill (Cnoc Mheada) | Co Galway

Cnoc Meadha is a hill west of Tuam, Co Galway. It is said in legend to be the residence of Finnbheara, the king of the Connacht fairies. Of two large cairns on the hill, one was thought to be the burial-place of Finnbheara and the other of (the other) Queen Medb, whose name may be transformed in the name Cnoc Meadha. Knockma Hill is topped with prehistoric cairns. G. H. Kinahan wrote of the…

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#Cairns #Castle Hackett #Cnoc Meadha #Co. Galway #Finnbheara #Knockma Hill #Lough Corrib #Queen Medb #the king of the Connacht fairies #The Tuath Dé Danann #Tuam

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svartalfhild · 2 years

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Forgotten Realms Things from the Honor Among Thieves Trailer

Here's some Lore™ I spotted after pouring over the shots from the DnD movie trailer and I'm obsessed:

The city is Neverwinter. Several things point to this

The city silhouette looks like Neverwinter

You can kinda make out snowflakes on the blue banners in the street and that's Neverwinter's emblem

The statue outside the arena is very clearly Lord Nasher, from his crown, to his Neverwinter Eye belt buckle to the bow in his hands which is shaped exactly like one of the fancy bow types from Neverwinter Nights

There's a shot of a volcano, which might be Mount Hotenow, which is near Neverwinter

The sun banners look like symbols of Amaunator, which is...interesting. Could also be a weird variation on the symbol of Lathander. There's a lot of fuckiness with that lore. Could maybe just be festival banners?

Chris Pine's character, Edgin, is a Harper. You can see his crescent moon+harp pin in all the shots where he's wearing armor. This fits super well with him being a bard.

All them bald people with tattoos on their scalps? Red Wizards of Thay. The lich-looking one? Probably Szass Tam.

Conveniently enough, there are notable Harper and Red Wizard cells in Neverwinter.

Michelle Rodriguez's character, Holga, is probably an Uthgardt barbarian if this is set in The North. Possibly from the Elk or Griffon Tribe, given the vague shape of the tattoos on her arms and the location of the story. I'm leaning towards Elk.

The shot of the battle where the black dragon flies overhead is between barbarians and warriors wearing black helmets with dragon wings on them.

The presence of banners with elk horns on them would give credence to Holga being from the Elk Tribe.

I think the warriors in black are Zhents, because the Zhentarim's emblem is a black dragon on a gold field, they are allied with a black dragon named Harondalbar, and literally the main character is a Harper, so the chances are high you're gonna have Zhents.

Alternatively, given the amount of dragons in this trailer, we might be seeing some Cult of the Dragon shit and those soldiers are cultists. Or the amount of dragons could just be an effort to live up to the title "Dungeons and Dragons"

The party goes to the Underdark.

I'm like 80% sure the city we see in the Underdark shots is Menzoberranzan, because why would they write any other Underdark city into Thee DnD movie? Also it's the right region. Cue me screaming about dark elves potentially being in the movie. EDIT: I have been informed by multiple people (thank you all) that the Underdark city is in fact most likely Gracklstugh, a duergar city, and the fat red dragon is Themberchaud. I defs need to read Out of the Abyss now.

The runes on the golden chest are Dethek, the script for several languages, including Dwarvish, Primordial, and Giant, but given that they're underground and there's a bunch of statues of dwarves, I think we know which language is on that chest lol

Those statues could be duergar specifically, given that we know they'll be in the Underdark, but there's no way to be sure. EDIT: well given previously stated info, it seems pretty likely.

The shot with the big rock hill (cairn?) could be the Surbrin Hills

That shot of the dead forest with the red ground? Almost certainly the Dire Wood.

Regé-Jean Page's character, the paladin Xenk, has detailing on his bracers and a tattoo on his hairline that look like a sun, which would suggest he follows Lathander/Amaunator

ADDITION: the snowy place is Icewind Dale, as confirmed by the creators+cast in interviews.

This is everything I could spot. If people spotted or have ideas about anything else, feel free to add.

#Dungeons and Dragons #Forgotten Realms #Honor Among Thieves #DnD Honor Among Thieves #DnD movie #DnD #y'all I'm losing my goddamn mind over this trailer #I've been waiting my whole life for this movie #I can't believe the universe let me have a DnD movie with a Harper bard main character played by Chris Pine who is perfect for a bard #thank you universe

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ceo-draiochta · 9 months

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Lughnasadh in the Modern Day

The ancient festival of Lúnasa is one of the 4 celtic fire festivals celebrated on the turn of the seasons. The other 3 festivals all have very clear christian reinterpretations. Those being All Hallows Eve, St Brigids day and May day. However Lúnasa also has a number of modern day christian holidays associated with it in much the same way.

(Linked sources in brackets)

Names

The modern festival goes by many names: Domnach Lúnasa, Lá Lúnasa, Domnach Crom Dubh, Bilberry Sunday and most commonly as either Reek Sunday or Garland Sunday. (1)(2)

Hill Climbing & Holy Wells

This is a day where the mountain of Croagh Patrick is visited, the pilgrimage consists of climbing the mountain while taking stops at certain stone cairns, where one walks in circles around them a set number of times while reciting specific prayers. There are 3 major sections where this is done(3). This is still observed today(4). It is celebrated on the last Sunday of July.

(Croagh Patrick)

This, while observed throughout the country, is not the only such celebration. Many towns climb their respective hills on this day such as those around Keash Hill in Sligo(2)(5)(11), Slive Donard in Down(6), and Máméan in Galway (7). Holy wells are also visited on this day such as in Cappagh, Galway(8), Ballyfa, Galway(9) and Ballyhaunis, Mayo (12). In some cases a procession from the Holy Well to the hill takes place (2)(7)(11)

(Máméan)

An interesting example of this was the Tullaghan Hill holy well in county Sligo, where the Holy Well was on a hill specifically the Ox mountains. This specific well used to be visited on Garland Sunday but is no longer as the festival that followed this visit evoked too much "secular fun" (10).

Festivals

Fairs and celebrations seem to be a core feature of this Lúnasa Tradition, with the aforementioned Tullaghan Hill fair, The Old Fair Day in Tubbercurry, county Sligo (13) and Fair Day in Kenmare, Kerry(14). These are usually celebrated in the second week on August, i.e. a week or two after the religious excursion.

The Puck Fair is festival in Killorglin, county Kerry. It is celebrated in the second week of August and involves crowning a specific goat "king" and parading them around while a large fair takes place(15).

(Puck Fair)

Mythology

In the dinseanchas entry for Nás, the death and burial of two of the wives of Lugh are described, with Bui having been buried on the Hill of Cnogba. Where it is said that "The hosts of the pure Gaels came to bewail the women". Suggesting that there was a precession to the Hill she was buried. There was then said to be mass mourning which grew into a great assembly. These events were said to have contributed to the beginning of the festival of Taltiu, which is to say Lúnasa. (16)

Pagan Connection

The pagan connection is quite clear to see, with Holy wells long being sites of pre-Christian worship, it is little coincidence that they are visited around the time of Lúnasa. The climbing of a hill seems to be widely practiced over the country and directly connects to the Dinseanchas story of the beginning of the Lúnasa festival in where a hill was climbed to reach a grave for mourning. The fact that Keash Hil (Ceis Corran) and Croagh Patrick are both home to ancient megalithic cairns, which are commonly connected with the Otherworld is also an interesting point.

Lúnasa being an Aonach, a funeral festival for the foster mother of Lugh, Tailtiu does tie directly into the occurrence of festivals around this time.

Practices to Adopt

It seems clear now that visiting watery sites such as wells and climbing hills to worship, as well as large scale festivals and merriment are a key part of how Lúnasa has continued to be celebrated and should be incorporated into a modern Irish pagan practice.

#irish paganism #celtic paganism #gaelic paganism #ireland #féile #Lúnasa #lughnasadh #irish reconstructionist #irish reconstructionism #irish polytheism #celtic polytheism #gaelic polytheism #wheel of the year #witch #witchblr #paganism #the source numbers got a little out of order dont mind that though #irish mythology #mine

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always-outlander · 9 months

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Outlander 7x05 Easter Eggs and Spoilers - “Singapore”

Spoilers below the cut!

Singapore is the name of this episode, and it opens with goats on a cliff face. This is in reference to the Highlander’s whom fight for the British, we later find out. The title is a direct reference to the battle of Singapore and the attack of the Japanese, which Claire describes to Jamie as a parallel with the impending attack on the fort, which informs his actions for the episode.

Lallybroch

Gem and Mandy are playing in a graveyard, as Mandy wanted to talk to Jamie. Jemmy tells Bree that Jamie told him to leave him a stone and built him a cairn if he ever came to Lallybroch. I try very hard to tolerate Sophie’s acting but she’s so wooden at times. Other times she’s fine (mainly in the more emotional scenes) but her line delivery is quite hard to swallow sometimes. She has changed her pronounciation of ‘Da’ like 4 times now, and that’s hard for me to ignore.

Roger and Bree read another letter from Jamie and Claire. The letter is dated June 18, 1777, which is our ONLY way of knowing the timeline and how much time has passed between episodes. In it, Claire writes that Jamie continues to dream about the children and Bree reveals she’s been to the fort before with Frank. Her and Roger decide not to look at the history books and find out what happened there.

Before Bree heads to work, these two have another attempt at a romantic scene that doesn’t quite land (a hard hat in bed and his hands down her pants just made me uncomfortable). These two try but they just don’t have it!!!! And I think Richard Rankin could if he wasn’t opposite Sophie, as he is a great actor.

Jemmy gets off the bus from school and Roger follows him into his hide out (which I think is referenced in the books as a place Fergus used to play). Roger tries to talk to him about it and Jemmy says he got in trouble at school for defending their family in Gaelic. This child actor playing Jemmy is so great!!! He’s doing such a good job!

Ticonderoga

They have now been there for months, and Jamie once again organically finds himself leading men, this time they refer to themselves as ‘Fraser’s Irregulars.’ Claire is practicing medicine under Lieutenant Stactoe, and the fort is under the command of Saint Clair. We also meet General Formoy (who is mirroring the ignorance of the Bonny Prince). Ian has reunited with them as well.

Sugarloaf hill is mentioned as a point the English can attack from. For those unfamiliar with the location of Fort Ticonderoga, it sits on the edge of the New York and Vermont boarders, along a narrow portion of Lake Champlain. The fort is surrounded by water on three sides, and as of now it doesn’t look like there is a Sugarloaf hill near the site. There’s a sugarloaf ski mountain in Maine, though!

Jamie has a dejavuex moment with Formoy when he uses his knowledge to advice against an attack and is found denied and insulted, akin to a goat for being Scottish (like the episode preview implies). Jamie is once again being sidelined and watching history repeat itself with the ignorance of leaders like Formoy and the Bonnie Prince (and simultaneously history is…happening? But where they know the outcome, could you consider that history repeating itself?).

Denzel Hunter and Claire finally meet towards the end of the episode and the two of them help a man named Walter Woodcock together. It’s the dream team finally united! They successfully opperate on Mr. Woodcock and amputate his leg, but only after Denny so kindly recognizes Claire’s struggle to be taken seriously and back door allows for her to help him.

The Hunters and William

Denzel makes a comment about attending medical school in London via a distant relative after their parents died. Their mother died in childbirth having Rachel, and their father died a few years later in a flood having drown. The Quakers who took them in made that connection for Denzel when they learned of a shared last name Hunter, so this scene hammers home the importance of their Meeting (and reminds us that they are now kicked out).

William and Denzel debate over morals and how Denzel can be within his beliefs while practicing medicine. They come upon a man on the road who offers them a place to stay for the night and they are fed a disgusting meal of rat stew. William is shown the realities of the war and he and Rachel speak outside. In the few short scenes they’ve had you can tell William has a crush on her, which is exactly how the books describe their relationship from Williams internal monologue.

While sleeping, the Johnsons attempt to attack William, Denny and Rachel with knives and William is able to show his strength and skills as a fighter. Charles is such a great casting, as he is every bit the young man described in the book and his size and strength is akin to Jamie’s. The Johnson’s have evidently done this many times before so to steal from un expecting visitors.

William feels guilt over taking that man’s life and tells Rachel that he’d never killed anyone before. This scene you can see Jamie’s heart come through in him. He has a flurry of feelings about it that he cannot sort through and worries that Rachel might think less of him due to her beliefs but she reassures him she knows him well enough to know he did it to save them.

When they part William tells them to ask for his uncle should they run into trouble. He gives them the money from Ian and keeps the rosary beads. When Rachel watches him leave with fond eyes Denny reminds her that he is a British soldier, and violence follows men like that. There’s a sweet scene between the siblings where Denny gives Rachel an out, but she insists they stay together.

Loch Errochry

The Land Rover Bree and her boss drive around in is a dream, I want one. The setting is also stunning, having driven through the highlands last year it’s still so hard to believe that country looks like that. Bree meets her new male employees including Rob Cameron (!!!). He immediately locks her into the tunnel like a jackass and Bree discovers the light they gave her has no batteries. She quickly lights a match and finds some lights and proceeds to inspect the tunnel. I’d be clostrophobic down there and it feels like something out of a nightmare watching her walk through the tunnels.

She hears buzzing halfway down and a weird blue light at the end that she has to walk through (the graphics are strange but hey, hard to depict what was written) and it leads her to her escape. It’s implied that somewhere in the tunnel may be a portal for time travel.

Bree tells the kids at dinner about being trapped in the tunnel and how she escaped but you can tell she’s still unsettled by the event. Her and Roger step away from the table to discuss it. She’s worried the men are never going to respect her and Roger reminds her Claire did it at Harvard. A bit of a turn around from him being slightly sexist last episode about her working in general.

While in the office they uncover a hidden drawer in the desk and he gifts her a pen. Doesn’t undo his comments from last episode but that’s just me, and his insistence on her wearing knickers and a hard hat needs to stahhhhhp.

Bree heads to the bar where the men and Rob Cameron are hanging out and tries to awkwardly earn their respect. They all try and play it off as a joke and she tries to insert her dominance. Sophie also can’t say the word “anything” without a Scottish accent.

Young Ian

Joseph Brant of the Mohawk is at Shadow Lake and Ian is recruited to deliver a letter to him. Ian is reluctant because of personal reasons. He asks Claire how baby’s come to be and why he was unable to get his Mohawk wife pregnant. His belief is that his spirit was not strong enough and fears he cannot get a woman pregnant again and would refuse to take another wife. He tells Claire that Jamie told him about sperm and asks her to look at his (had to laugh). When asked, Ian tells her Iseabell was perfect and not deformed, but Claire has a Frank conversation to help Ian understand that it’s not a matter of his spirit but science and gives him renewed hope he may be able to have a child with another woman one day.

When he arrives at the Mohawk camp he sees Emily, who is happy to see him. She tells him she now has two children and is happy. Ian seems to finally be at peace with that, and asks to meet her son (who does not look Mohawk). He tells Ian that Emily’s mother tells him he’s the child of his spirit. Ian gives him the name Ian James and I’m sat here smiling like a fool over how cute that scene was.

Simon Fraser

One of the few scenes we get with Claire and a Jamie this episode, Jamie tells Claire that a Simon Fraser is one of Burgoyne brigadiers on the side of the British. Book readers will know that he is a ticket home to Scotland for them later on, and Jamie tells her it is not the same Simon Fraser she met in season 2 but not the old fox or his son but one of Jamie’s second cousins from Balnain (located outside of Inverness, not far from Loch Ness). It is also now understood that with their troops low on supplies they will need to attack the fort sooner than later. Jamie knows that a Fraser in the camp, the troops will know well enough to attack from higher ground as Highlanders do.

Jamie brings Formoy and the men to higher ground to show them that it is possible to the English can reach them by cannon, and once again finds himself standing across an incompetent soldier (with a terrible accent). These scenes are so short and choppy, and for that I dislike them. It’s not enough time with Jamie (or Claire for that matter) before we are abruptly switched over to another character. The atmosphere of them walking around at the Fort was palpable in the books, and we are missing it so far in the show sadly.

Later on the British set up shop in the exact place Jamie warned of, and Jamie uses his knowledge how Highlander warfare to help lead an evacuation by boat. Claire won’t allow Walter Woodcock to leave the fort because his injury is still too fresh, and sadly has to leave him. She tells him due to his injury the British will have to show him mercy, but also gives him laudanum. I was surprised she didn’t outright show him how to use it if he needed to drift off to sleep. The civilians are all put into boats in the lake and the fort is abandoned. The next sequence of events in the books is fairly action packed so I’m curious how they go about it all next episode.

Ian and Rachel

When Ian returns to the fort, he spots Rachel. A critique I have of this season is that they make the traveling seem so fast, and it’s incredibly hard to keep track of time passed. Ian was just in Virginia, now he’s suddenly back in New York. That said, these two have great chemistry without even trying, and Ian let’s Rachel know Claire is his aunt. It’s implied they will be seeing much more of one another, thankfully. I think the actors have done a great job of establishing the differences between Rachel and Ian and Rachel and William - Izzy plays Rachel differently around Ian and it’s great work on her part.

In the End

Roger goes out into the dark to search for the Nucklavee and we see a camera angle from across the yard watching the front door of the house. I suspect next episode we will actually set eyes on Buck for the first time.

The episode ends when Bree goes to the graveyard to talk to Jamie and brings him a stone. She tells him about her new job, buying Lallybroch, etc. and it fades to black (a weak ending and my least favorite thus far). Nothing happens this episode action wise, and it was mainly an episode used for establishing upcoming plot. The pacing is getting really bad in that such large expanses of tiem are not being explained. How in one episode did Jamie have two conversations about Sugarloaf Hill and the British Invasion, and The Hunters / William Travel by Horse to New York from Virginia, Ian leave camp to go see Emily and return…it’s so many moving parts and it’s not clear how they all make sense. Even having read the books I’m getting confused with how they are choosing to speed things up.

I will say this until I’m blue in the face, but this show works best when Claire and Jamie are together and on screen, and every time I dislike an episode it’s in large part due to a lack of them. That can be said with this episode, but I’m optimistic we will see much more of them next episode thanks for the preview.

Episode 6 Preview

Preview for episode 6 shows what looks to be an action filled attack on the Fort - we see Jamie attacking British soldiers, William in a red coat again, Roger running into the yard angrily, and Ian and Rachel getting closer. Lots of good things that I hope we get proper screen time to dissect.

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