(Tor II #1) - Tor was savagely beaten and expelled by his tribe, although he had no idea what transgression he’d committed to make him an outcast. He licked his wounds and made his way towards a mountain range that was considered cursed and full of monsters. In the forest at the base of the mountain he found ripe fruit of a type he’d never seen before, and, casting caution aside, he sated his hunger. He hallucinated monsters mauling him and tossing him up to the sky which he feared, never knowing what to make of stars, which he perceived as holes in the sky that poured forth light. When Tor recovered he found his psychotropic trip frightening but not entirely unpleasant and stored some of the hallucinogenic fruit in a pouch for later use. Tor found a crack in the mountain that led to a jungle valley hidden within the mountain range. He saw an apelike infant tied to a rock in a lake, and tried to ignore its’ cries, but an aquatic dinosaur swam up, threatening to eat the child and tor found he couldn’t simply stand by and watch the child die. He blinded the dinosaur with a sharpened stick and saved the child. A tribe of apelike men observed tor’s actions, and although upset with him, tried to communicate. They led him to a stone temple where their elder communicated with drawings in the dirt, communicating that the child was to be a sacrifice to a monstrous giant with four arms. The apelike tribe hoped he understood that they would brook no further interference from him and tried to take the child, who clung to tor’s leg. Tor was resolved not to see the child sacrificed, no matter what reasons his tribe had. This led to a tense standoff when the four-armed monster emerged from the jungle.

(Tor II #2) - The monster tried to drag the boy away, so tor threw a stone at it, and much to his surprise it wept and slunk away. The ape tribe celebrated tor as a mighty warrior, and when the elder partook of some of tor’s hallucinogenic fruit the tribe believed him to be a powerful wizard as well. Tor went into the jungle to look for food, not deterred by the elder’s warning that he was walking into danger. The child wouldn’t leave tor’s side, irritating him to no end, but he kept his focus on sating his hunger. They found the recently killed carcass of a hoofed mammal and Tor made a stone knife to cut it apart, but was surprised when the killer, a sabre-toothed tiger, confronted him. The tiger mauled tor, but he managed to fatally stab it in the belly with his stone knife before losing consciousness. The apelike child was in hysterics, fearing him dead, but had renewed hope after seeing him stir. He went into the jungle to find healing leaves, while Tor’s past played out in his mind in his dazed state. He woke to find himself being lifted by the four-armed monster.

(Tor II #3) - Tor fainted and dreamed about being dragged into the underworld by monsters. He woke to find himself being tended to by a woman who dressed his wounds with leaves. The four-armed monster, the apelike boy and a group of misfit children were also present. The boy explained that the four-armed monster never took sacrifices, he rescued misfit and outcast children from their tribes, because he, too was an outcast because of his monstrous appearance. The woman had been cast out of her tribe because they believed she was an evil spirit, and she and her friends all found a measure of safety in the jungle of the hidden valley. Tor was not used to being treated with such kindness. As the weeks passed and he healed he came to see the outcasts as friends and felt an attraction to the healer woman. One day while exploring the jungle with the healer he spotted a dark outcrop of rocks that led to a cave system. He insisted on exploring it and dragging along the healer despite her obvious fear of the caves. The discovered strange blind creatures and when they travelled deep into the cave they were surrounded by pale beady-eyed giants that obviously knew the healer. They attacked, but their poor eyesight allowed tor to get the drop oin them, tossing two of them into a cavern pool. Tor was surprised when they didn’t resurface, but he had other pressing concerns as the pale giants attacked the healer. Tor and the healer fought tooth and nail but found themselves overwhelmed by superior numbers. A giant monstrous octopus-like beast emerged from the pool with the remains of the pale giants it had devoured.

(Tor II #4) - The pale giants were easy prey for the creature, who lashed out its’ tentacles and devoured them one by one. One tentacle caught Tor, who stabbed it with a stalagmite and retreated with the healer to a narrow recess where the beast could not follow. They squeezed their way through a narrow tunnel until hey saw daylight, and were delighted that their friends were there waiting for them. The apelike tribe had been spying on tor since he went into the forest, and their elder was not pleased that he still lived, as did the outcast children. The elder told his tribe tor and the other outcasts brought evil to their land, and they’d all have to be killed. Tor and the healer’s romance blossomed, and despite the bad memories he had he wished to return to his homeland and bring her with him. The apemen struck, killing the four-armed monster with their spears and taking tor captive while the others scattered. They lashed Tor to a tree with vines and burnt him with torches when he refused to tell them where the healer and the children were. The sky turned black and a storm whipped up, extinguishing the apemen’s torches and making them fear tor’s magic. The ground erupted and the octopus creature burst forth, lashing out with its’ tentacles until the storm broke and the sun returned, killing the cavern dweller. The apemen were more convinced than ever that tor brought evil to their land and continued to torture him. The healer and outcast children appeared, unwilling to see their friend tor suffer on their behalf. Tor was touched by their kindness, but feared for their lives.

(Tor II #5) - The apemen tied the rest of the outcasts to trees, adorned them with flours and provided an offering of fruit in hopes the spirits of the jungle would accept them as a sacrifice. The elder and his tribe climbed into the trees to watch what would happen in anticipation. Raptors emerged from the jungle and attacked their prey, devouring some of the children. Tor hissed until he attracted the attention of one of the dinosaurs. As it lunged at him he twisted and squirmed, so its’ bites severed the vines that bound him, setting him free. Tor used the vines to lasso one of the raptors, providing the distraction he needed to free the healer and the ape child, who were the only surviving outcasts. The elder’s tribe were impressed with tor’s bravery, and one of their number tossed him a weapon. The elder was furious, calling Tor evil, but his tribe insisted Tor had proved his selflessness, and wondered if their elder was as brave as he. They tossed the elder from the tree and the raptors devoured him, and snuck away, sated. The apemen tribe shook hands with tor as a recognition of peace between them and they went their separate ways. Tor and his companions began their long trip to the mountains so he could bring them back to his homeland. Tor dreamed of the dinosaur he fought to save the ape child from being sacrificed, but this time he was devoured because he was too slow and weighed down by the healer and the child, who clung to his ankles. Tor woke worrying that his dream was a bad omen. As they made their way through the jungle they found themselves in the shadow of an enormous dinosaur.

(Tor II #6) - The theropod confronting Tor and his companions sniffed her nest, sniffed them and screeched. The ape child realized he’d taken her eggs to feed his friends earlier, and the mother was furious. Tor led the dinosaur to a cliff edge, swinging down on vines as she charged and fell into a chasm. Tor bashed the dinosaur’s head in with a rock and took one of her teeth to serve as a weapon and a talisman to show what a mighty foe he’d slain. That night while the others slept Tor stargazed, seeing the constellations and perceiving them as beings in the sky he wondered where they came from. The next day Tor attempted to find the crack in the mountain he’d passed through, but was unsuccessful, so he attempted to scale the mountain with his companions. The higher they climbed the colder it got, and as a snowstorm raged the ape child died of hypothermia and tor buried his friend under some rocks. He wondered if future generations would discover the grave and ponder it. When they reached the mountaintop a Yeti approached them, offering them shelter inside his people’s cave, warmed by a dormant volcano. The Yeti were dying, as they had few children and the remaining women were growing old, so the Yeti challenged Tor in hopes of making the healer his mate. Tor fought the Yeti ferociously, stabbing him to death with his dinosaur’s tooth. Tor and the healer headed out to tor’s homeland to face an uncertain future but happy to have each other.