The Journal of Calamar Eldanil:

Chapter 10: Spies In The Town

28th Goldfields 591

The last day of the month of Reaping was a day of rest.

We divided up our captured loot and placed the remaining of our party resources in the locked storage chest in the White Swan. Kiri now sported a fine slim rapier, and a shortsword finely etched and tooled, both of which were enchanted with some small power.

As we sat on a bench outside the inn taking the morning air and drinking some fine wine (Rackhe had actually started drinking more wine than ale), six dwarves in full plate led by Bannar the Smith (all with heavy shields and dwarf war axes) lumbered by, their grim countenances and steady rhythmic step thumping and thundering up the street toward the wall. A passer-by informed us that this group was all his apprentices and a cleric (a new cleric of Dugmaren Brightmantle) and they had all crafted their own arms and armour to be of the same quality as that of their master. It turned out that Ivorean had also been named as the person to be responsible for coordinating aid to the refugees in town.

As we chatted with the few older townsfolk who were lounging nearby, we learned that there had been some activity and news around the town. It appeared that there had been some disappearances reported, but with the large influx of people of late it was difficult to determine just how many. One old codger coughed and declared that there were also some who had seen “people running across the rooftops at night. Spies, I tells ya!”

This was not good news: especially in light of the fact that we now knew of the involvement of the Scarlet Brotherhood.

Not really having any idea on which obstacle to approach first, we decided to carry on with casual plans for the day. Rackhe headed off to see Luna, the mayor’s daughter. He had developed some caring for the child, and I thought this a good thing for him. It gave him some grounding and a little bit of light in his days.

I asked Narion to take Kiri and I to the ramparts and use his military expertise to explain what’s going on. It was there that we saw the enemy army.

The encampment stretched in a half circle from where the wall me the harbour to the south all the way around in front of where we stood on the west gate to butt against the harbour at the north end of town. Some emplacements had been started where siege engines would be set up. Narion explained that he and Rackhe had earlier burned some supply dumps that had replacement parts and other components to build these engines; otherwise, we would most likely have seen these great weapons in place already. More tents and troops were gathering, with some tents being set up well out of archery range of the town wall.

That evening, as we descended the wall to go and wander about town, Rackhe returned and gave a big hug and kiss to Kiri. He had been told to do so by Luna, and my lady smiled warmly and thanked him.

We began to stroll through the bustle of people in the street, casually greeting and chatting with many as we went. A middle-aged woman with a small child in tow approached me and greeted me warmly. I had previously tended to her child when the boy had fallen ill. I gave the lad one of my little carved wooden animals, and as rewarded with a broad toothy grin. The boy thanked me and we were off again.

As we passed the temple to Velnius, we heard a shout go up from within.

The doors were locked, which was odd for the temple was a gathering point and place of healing for the many poor folk who had gathered in the town. Rackhe withdrew one of our earlier discovered treasures, and enchanted chime of opening, and struck it, bursting the doors wide. We rushed into the temple and were greeted by a horrible scene. The priestess Alphdis was upon the dais with someone lying on the ground at her feet. She was staring wildly at a group of men who were threatening her and brandishing weapons.

Rackhe moved forward “Who defiles this house?” Narion stepped forward as well and called for a spray of colours to engulf the thugs. This spell caused three of them to fall unconscious to the floor while a fourth stood, stunned into inaction by the dazzling colours.

Another, off to one side wielding a light mace in each hand, called out to the rest, “Kill them all!” and bolted through the door to the vestry. Kiri sprang off after him, being surprised that he was standing just inside the doorway. Calling forth the power of my enchanted armour, I glided from where we stood at the door to the body on the dais, checking for signs of life. It was Alphdis’s acolyte, Selmar, and he had already passed from this world. Raising my face to look upon the entire scene, I prayed for the divine power to flow into me so that I might better smite the evil men who had committed this act. Upon hearing that Selmar was dead, Narion hurled a javelin at the stunned man, skewering him neatly through a leg.

As Kiri darted through the entrance into the room, the murderer managed to strike her a good blow to the back of her shoulder. She then found herself surrounded by four more of the assassins as they all sprang at her. Her yelp of surprise was answered by Rackhe charging to her aid, striking a sound blow to one and disabling him as he crumpled to the side against the wall, unconscious. Kiri was being pressed hard by her opponents, they scoring hits with deadly precision and wearing my ladylove down as her rapier tried to respond in kind.

I flew into the room via the door at the other end closely followed by Narion and cast forth a ray of searing light at the leader of the band, narrowly missing him as he swerved to regard our entrance. Narion called out, “Give up or you’re all dead!” which seemed to be this man’s cue to break off the fight and leave his minions to finish us. He charged directly at me, threatening to bowl me over in his path but at the last minute sliding smoothly under my outstretched walking staff and skidding out the door to the courtyard.

Leaving my companions to defeat the rest of his crew, I flew out the door after him, lifted by the power of the heavens that my armour granted me. I landed in the courtyard and managed to interpose myself between him and the gate to the street. As he drew up short in surprise at my sudden appearance, I knocked him soundly on his shoulder with my sturdy staff. He countered by tumbling past me once again, making it closer to his escape and, rolling up to one knee, muttered some arcane words and instantly disappeared into nothingness.

I let out a growl of frustration and drew forth a scroll to allow me to dispel any enchantments in the area. In a trice he appeared midway scrambling up and over the wall. I flew up and lighted on the wall beside him narrowly missing another strike at him as he ducked my blow and slid over the wall into the street. Just as he rose to his feet and began to make his way through the crowd, Narion burst out of the church and into the courtyard close behind Kiri, she calling forth her missiles of magical power, launching them through the portcullis gate and wounding the man in his side. This caused him to stumble a bit and I launched myself at his back, striking him crosswise across the shoulders with my staff and riving him to the ground. As he collapsed, a small vial of (most likely) magic potion rolled from his unconscious grasp.

Meanwhile Rackhe and Alphdis had managed to overcome the mercenaries in the temple and warned them that justice would be swift and sure. At those words, those still alive bolted and flew out the various exits to the temple in all direction, one losing Rackhe in the press of refugees that thronged the street as the others ran straight into my other two friends.

We returned to the temple and consoled Alphdis over her loss of Selmar, a good acolyte and friend to her. As my companions summoned some town guards to take the unconscious leader of the assassins to the town lockup, I helped Alphdis set Selmar upon the altar and we discussed what was to be done. I would sit with her through the night and see to help her in the proper rituals of her faith as best I could. She asked if I could call forth the magic to cause him to pass the night in gentle repose, which I gladly did for her. I even went so far as to inquire if she wished me to raise her departed helper once I had prayed to the Seldarine in the morning. She declined my offer, saying that he had moved on to a better place and would reap a good reward for his faithfulness. The next morning, after assuring that she could still take a few days to pray and meditate on my offer, I went to join my friends in the town hall.

*~*~*~*~*

Rackhe had taken the precaution of stripping the man to his light clothes and he was locked up alone in a bare cell. Mayor Castle advised that he could not come right away and that the man would be questioned in the morning.

They had some discussion as to whether he was the ringleader or not, or whether he was simply another pawn in the game unfolding in the town. Then it had been decided that, while Rackhe watched over the man all night, Narion and Kiri would guard over the town hall; Kiri from the rooftop of the temple of Velnius, Narion hooded and cloaked and hidden in the crowd sleeping in the market. Rackhe searched the man’s equipment while he watched and found not only a set of very fine thieves’ tools and disguise kit, but also a magic ring and a magic hat.

In the market, Narion heard a very faint humming or singing nearby and was seized by a brief sense of being held. He managed to shake off the feeling and noticed a woman watching him from amidst a group of refugees. As she caught his eye, she raised a small hand crossbow and fired, aiming for his chest. The bolt struck home and she pulled the weapon back out of sight. My soldier friend noticed that not only was she reloading too rapidly for a normal person, but also that the bolt she had imbedded in his chest was causing a burning pain through his muscles.

My friend tried to ensorcel her with a ray that would enfeeble her. It impacted her and she visibly weakened. The crowd around them began to panic and Narion rose, drawing his spear as he did so. Then she stood up, allowing the crossbow to slip beneath her cloak, and drew forth a whip with which she tried to lash out at Narion. As the whip snaked toward him, the hiss and crackle of electrical discharge writhed about the weapon.

The spearman struck at her but she managed to step back and, as his spear struck out once again, cast a magic spell to grant her the cloak of invisibility and vanished.

Narion looked about to see if he could detect sign of her and noticed a wake being broken through the crowd. Setting off after her, he gave chase. People were still milling about in panic mode, cries of “Alarm!” and “The enemy is among us!” ringing out through the night. He paused, looked down at the bolt in his chest and – with a growl – pulled it out. Then he gave chase, rushing after his quarry past the temple of Xerbo and towards the slums near the south wall. He followed her as best he could for a few hours but decided not to chase her into the slums. He did return to the temple of Vilnius to warn me.

As he burst into where Alphdis and I were tending the Selmar’s body, I looked up and asked him, “Interesting evening?” He then filled me in on what had happened. Alphdis took the bolt and I identified the poison as a plant-based oil, but very unhealthy. I healed Narion of the poison and restored him to his normal hearty self.

Narion decided to go and check on the other two and return to his post in the market. Kiri supposed that this may have been the same woman who attacked Rackhe previously. There were rumours about the streets that the enemy had summoned a dragon! How people can let their imaginations takes hold when they face the unknown.

Towards morning, Rackhe found a group of soldiers dragging a battered and bruised sailor type into the cells. Angrily they declared, “We caught him making maps of guard posts. He’s a spy.”

More and more, it looked that tomorrow would be eventful in many ways.

*~*~*~*~*

1st Sunflowers 591

After the events of last night, we opted to rest as much as possible today. As Narion put it, “We expect to be busy tonight,” as we planned to scout the town to see if these rumours of spies and people leaping across rooftops were accurate.

As we caught some sleep and rested around the White Swan, having a small bite to eat and helping Ivorean in his tasks, a messenger arrived around noon and told us the mayor wanted to see us at the town hall. The mayor and magistrate were there along with constable, Ieric, and Aivand, the local rope maker, as leader of the town militia, along with Ivorean and Bannar, the dwarf. We found them all in a war council in a back room going over a plan of the town and discussing plans to run the town during the siege. Mayor Castle brought us up to date on events on the current situation and recent developments from beyond the walls. They hadn’t had a chance to question the prisoner we had secured during the attack on the temple of Velnius, as he had not regained consciousness yet.

It was the opinion of this town’s council that the attack on the temple was simply to instil terror in the populace. If the enemy could deny the town a large portion of its resource for succour and comfort, not to mention healing, then they would weaken the townspeople’s resolve to hold out longer.

The other prisoner, claiming he was just a sailor, claimed he had simply been hired to draw a map of the town’s harbour and it seaward defences. He was very eager to talk and explained that a beautiful woman had seduced him and paid him a small bag of silver to deliver the map to her.

Kiri paused for thought; then asked, “Is she possibly the one that enspelled and attacked you Rackhe?” Apparently during their time together during my sabbatical Rackhe had encountered an assassin who had practically whipped him to death after ensorcelling him to hold his movement. Kiri had only managed to rescue him in the nick of time from certain death, driving off the woman.

“She may also be the same one who tried to poison me last night,” said Narion, a grim look of anger spreading across his countenance.

Kiri turned to the man being questioned. “Where did you meet her?”

“I just ran into her in the market in the crowd. I thought she was just another refugee,” he stammered. “She called herself Laureth.”

“Why did she pick you?” asked Narion.

“I have no idea,” replied the man. “I am a simple sailor on the Reckless Abandon, contracted to Hastein’s mercantile business.”

Having got as much information as they could from the man, the guards returned him to his cell.

Mayor Castle harrumphed, “Well, I guess some information is better than none. I would not be surprised that there are spies in the town.” He turned his attention once more to the map. “More troops have been gathering in the enemy’s camp outside town.”

“What about the rumour of a dragon?” I asked, a little shyly as the last thing I wanted to do was to add to them mayor’s dilemma.

“Let’s hope that rumour isn’t true,” said Alexander Castle.

Ieric added, “Officially we have not been able to uncover any real information that a dragon is with the enemy army. I think this may be a rumour planted by the enemy to shake our morale.”

At this point Ruhalla, the priest of Xerbo, arrived to tend to the wounds of the assassin who still lay unconscious in his cell. Kiri offered to magically plunder his thoughts, which was declined until it may become necessary, and I would once again call upon the divine favour of the Seldarine to discern any lies told by the man.

We joined Ruhalla in the cell just as the prisoner was awaking. Ruhalla checked his colour and touched his face to see if there were any fever, or signs of shock remaining. He turned and nodded to Alexander and Ieric. Then he grasped the man by the tunic and slapped him across the face, shouting, “How dare you mess with my town! Vile man, your evil shall be your undoing!” The prisoner cried out and Ieric pulled the priest, who was shaking with anger, off the man and helped him out the door.

As he passed by me, I could hear Ruhalla whisper, “Xerbo forgive me for that outburst.” With a last cold look at the captive, Ruhalla departed the cell, leaving Alexander Castle, Ieric and we four to deal with the man.

The guards withdrew him from the cell and, taking him to the great hall, plopped him into a chair and bound him in place. Magistrate Culbane arrived to begin the questioning. Bannar stood off to one side, a large great axe cradled in his rough and gnarled hands. I cast my spell to discern lies and the questioning began.

After more then two hours, the man had not revealed anything other than his contempt for the townsfolk.

As this was frustrating us and taxing my concentration, Magistrate Culbane and I left to get some fresh air, but as we left the hall he gave Ieric a rather pointed look. We strolled about the square for a while, just casually relaxing after the interrogation and chatting with some of the townsfolk gathered in the street. Some children approached Culbane and asked about when their lessons would begin again. It turned out that Magistrate Culbane was also more or less the town’s schoolmaster, tutoring some of the more promising younglings, an istaron in his own way for these children. We chatted some more about this aspect of his life, comparing notes and such, then sat for a quiet period on the bench outside the White Swan.

After a few minutes, I turned to the magistrate beside me and asked, “Do you think they’re done?”

Culbane started a little and said, “I’m sorry. I didn’t think you’d approve.”

“I don’t, necessarily,” I replied. “But these people are working against the good people of the town, and I do not like to see anyone brought to heel under any kind of strict rule. Let alone a harsh one that operates as these people do.”

We returned to the hall and we noticed that the prisoner was somewhat more bruised and pained than when we had left. Culbane looked at Ieric and asked, “Fell off his chair again, eh?”

It was all for naught though as the prisoner had revealed nothing, even with Kiri trying to plunder his thoughts to determine who his primary confederates in town were.

Leaving the man in the capable hands of Ieric and the rest, we left the hall to spend some time relaxing around the town.

I was suddenly struck with an idea and, while the others waited in the square, I ran back to the inn to replenish my purse. Kiri and I then wandered off to the Lyrical Thief Apothecary Shop, a very musty and ill-kempt shop with, I had heard, a somewhat shady business leaning. I flipped a gold coin onto the counter and almost immediately, a small weaselly-looking man appeared. This was Mator the Learned, the proprietor of the shop. We purchased some potion that would help drain someone’s will as I thought that this might make it easier to extract information from the man than beating it out of him. If we could subvert his will, then perhaps Kiri could divine his thoughts more easily.

We then returned to the inn. Once there we went up to our room and met with Narion and Rackhe who were busily reviewing the captured gear from the man in the gaol. From this loot they granted me a ring enchanted to protect me and a magnificent pearl of power, with which I could once a day recall the power to cast one simple spell I had cast. Narion claimed a cloak and boots of elven-crafted leather, items of our people that would aid him in being stealthy when necessary. Kiri claimed an amulet that would lend power to her armour, and Rackhe claimed the man’s hat, which like his ring was enchanted to allow for a small measure of disguise if needed. We also awarded the ranger a fine mail shirt, crafted of mithral and enchanted with some power to offer greater protection to him.

With our newfound equipment, and with a resolute air, we decide to spend the rest of the day and the next night guarding the prisoner to see if the girl would return and try to finish him off. It appeared to me that life was very cheap to our foes. But as we watched the man through the dark hours, nothing happened.

Our hunting of Laureth in the seedier part of town would begin on the morrow.

2nd Sunflowers 591

Shortly after sunrise today, as the town was just beginning to awaken, we retired to the inn but were awakened in an hour or so. One of the town watch brought word that the captive had been poisoned. The deed had been done by a longstanding citizen, one of the guards, a sergeant named Calper, who had brought in the prisoner’s morning meal.

Arriving at the town hall where the sergeant was being held, I used my priestly powers and determined that Calper had been ensorcelled somehow. Kiri tried to use her wand to detect enchantments on the man but she could not determine the spell either. Narion managed to use his knowledge of spells and such to determine that there was some form of compulsion spell on the soldier.

We questioned him, but he could tell us nothing of any use in this matter. It was evident he tried but the words would not come, his tongue tangling whenever he got close to revealing some useful titbit of information. I spoke to Ieric on his behalf, explaining that Calper was not his own man while under this spell.

I stopped in mid-sentence and then, with an exclamation of, “What an idiot I am!” I recalled that I had prayed that morning for the power to break any enchantment on someone. I cast forth the power of my gods and Calper was released from his geas. He had apparently been quested by someone to kill the prisoner and not reveal anyone else’s involvement. We all looked at each other with concern. If Laureth were a powerful user of magic, then our task this night would be dangerous indeed.

Kiri and Narion would spend the day in trance and in preparing their spells for the evening’s work. Rackhe and I would go and talk to Bannar. If we were to go up against some foes powerful enough to override a man’s will; we all felt that having some sturdy dwarven backup would be of great help. Mayor Castle suggested taking Calper along in case he remembered anything.

Arriving at Bannar’s smithy, we were introduced to Thrainn Strongaxe, the priest of Dugmaren Brightmantle, and Korto, Bannar’s second apprentice. While explaining our plan, it became obvious that the dwarf and his apprentices were more than ready to take action against those who had invested their town. We then drew up plans and coordinated them with Bannar and his dwarves, and Ieric and his watchmen.

That evening we made quite the terrible and grim party as we set to enter and meet the foe on his own ground (so to speak) in the Tannery Row slums of Wardlow.

*~*~*~*~*

As we entered the seedier part of town, Rackhe disguised himself as Calper with the enchantment of the hat. That way we might at least cause the enemy some confusion so that the guardsman would not suffer the first shot in any volley from the shadows or other ambush.

As we moved through the dank dark streets and alleys, cutting our way through shadows and wispy smoke from hearth fires and dim oil lamps, Narion spotted something down an alley beside the dyer’s shop. He turned sharply and, with a growl, began purposefully striding down the alley after whatever he had seen. Not wanting our fellow to be lost in the maze of narrow winding byways, we trotted after him. He seemed to be intent on following someone or something. We followed him up the alley to the back door of a brewery and some houses. The only doorway out of this part of the alley was an old wooden door set into the sunken basement of the brewer’s. He and Rackhe listened at the door but could hear nothing from beyond it.

Narion stared at the door as if his gaze would wear down the wood and bore through to the other side. His speared jostled in his grip as he clenched and unclenched his fist around the shaft. He stood for a long moment, I guess pondering on his next course of action now that he had come up against this barrier.

Even though I didn’t know what had caused my friend such concern, I wanted to let him know that we stood behind him. I placed my hand on his shoulder and assured him, “The Seldarine are with you and I will follow your arm.”

He smiled at this and seemed to relax a little. “I saw another old foe; one Otrig who had aided in the massacre of my patrol.”

Rackhe tested the door to see if it was locked. It was but the ranger pulled out the tools we had found on the assassin and picked the lock open. Behind the door stood a staircase crafted from old stone that curled downward and to the right. Rackhe heard a brief snatch of conversation that suddenly stopped as we opened the door, a small creak revealing our presence at the head of the stairs.

Knowing that we could easily encounter an ambush, I called forth the power of the Coronal of Arvandor to bless us in this endeavour, then also called forth for the gods to help shield my ladylove from harm. Rackhe cautiously peered around the curve if the wall and saw a storeroom of many boxes and barrels. Quietly beckoning Narion forward, he slid down the stairs pressed against the wall and into the room. This triggered a storm of crossbow bolts and arrows from some men who suddenly popped up from behind the stored materials and shot at Rackhe, one striking him in the arm and opening a small grazing wound.

Then, all the chaos of the Abyss broke upon the room.

It was a room of rough stone walls and a low slung ceiling, barely twenty foot square and lit by a couple of oil lamps. Narion stepped around the corner drawing his wand and cast forth a colour spray at the enemy. One man was engulfed in the riot of colour and a shout rang out, “Damn!” The man then ducked and cried, “Ahmed, kill them all!”

Ahmed, a sour fellow robed in the garb of the Scarlet Brotherhood shouted “Calper get over here and help!” gesturing at Rackhe (who was still disguised) thinking he was their confederate. Then he threw a gluey tanglefoot bag at Narion, entangling him upon the lower stairs just at the entrance to the room.

Four of them launched themselves at Narion and another grabbed Rackhe (as Calper), and shoved him into a corner near Ahmed.

I moved down the stairs to the entrance of the room and cast forth a hammer of the chaotic energy of Arvandor on our foes, leaving only a few thugs and Ahmed standing unscathed. Rackhe tumbled over the intervening boxes and attacked Ahmed. He could not see the fellow who disappeared behind the boxes in making his initial escape. Kiri came down the stairs to stand beside me, drawing her rapier, giving me a small kiss on the cheek and commenting, “I’m glad you’re on our side.” She stabbed at the man in front of us - skewering him through the chest and dropping him to the floor.

Narion stood and proudly extended his spear, calling on them to surrender. When they didn’t, he stabbed at one and killed him outright, then spun his spear in a great arc and slew another beside the man. He then turned and threw his spear at Ahmed, burying it in a box beside his head. Turning to me, in a calm voice, he said, “I told them that they should all surrender. Why they didn’t listen is beyond me.” I smiled a little at the jest of the stout spearman. He was definitely most in his element when in battle.

Ahmed spun and, in a flurry of fists and feet struck out at Rackhe, exclaiming, “That’s not Calper!” The mercenary behind our northern friend dropped the sap in his hands and drew forth a sturdy mace. Leaping over some boxes, he landed just beside Rackhe, threatening to do him in. To help Rackhe I extended my hand and called forth some divine power to hold Ahmed in place, succeeding by an exertion of my will over his. I then moved up to where we had seen the first fellow disappear behind the boxes.

Seeing one of his foes standing stock-still, and much to my surprise, Rackhe uttered a small prayer, “Thank the blessing of the Seldarine!” and turned and struck down the man beside him with a flash of his blades dancing in and out, leaving a bloody mess on the floor where the man once stood. Kiri rolled over the boxes and barrels and thumped Ahmed on the head with the pommel of her rapier, then proceeded to tie up the villain so that he would be of no further trouble to us.

Narion extricated himself from the gooey mass entangling his feet and joined us in searching for signs of what had happened to the other man. Rackhe managed to discover a small trapdoor hidden inside one of the boxes. He pried it open and Narion eased through and dropped down a ladder into another stone chamber full of storage and other materials. A door stood to one side, an archway to the other. Gathered about the room were almost a dozen men, directed by his old enemy, one Otrig. Narion cursed under his breath and glared at the man. A volley of crossbow bolts sang out and peppered him with their force, one scoring a hit on Narion’s leg.

Kiri dropped partway down the ladder and hung on to the side, taking out a wand and looking for the men directing the enemy crossbowmen. Rackhe followed with a graceful diving somersault into the chamber and landing beside Narion. He then sprinted past two of the men trying desperately to reload their crossbows and placed himself in front of the doorway, scimitars drawn and menacing the men in the room.

Now my two stalwart fighter friends faced the foe five times their number.

Knowing that the fight now moved to close quarters, the enemy dropped their missile weapons and drew swords and maces from their belts. Two turned to strike at Rackhe, while five more moved to attack Narion at the base of the ladder. Otrig himself tried to loose one more shot before drawing his sword, this time trying to hit my lady as she adroitly dangled from the top of the ladder, looking for an opportunity to lend her power to the fray. Kiri cast forth a missile of magical power, striking Otrig and causing him great pain. Then she leapt grandly from the ladder and landed between Narion’s fight and Otrig’s position.

Above the ladder in the storeroom we had first entered, I searched about for some manacles to further bind Ahmed and listened for reinforcements approaching from our rear. Finding none I moved to the trapdoor to aid my friends from the top of the ladder, the melee now boiling about the room, with blades flashing everywhere and curses joining the spray of blood in flying about everywhere. I called forth a prayer to the Seldarine to empower my friends and weaken our foes, thus lending my divine power to our cause in the fight. As the fighting continued, with Narion and Rackhe scoring many a hit to some grievous wounds of their own, and Kiri managing to shock Otrig with a charge from one of her wands while duelling him with her rapier, I called forth some rays of holy power and struck at those targets that became available in the fight. My prayer to the Seldarine to share Kiri’s pain was aiding her in channelling some of her pain to my own body.

Narion and Rackhe had slain more than half their foes, and my lady had succeeded in driving Otrig back from the fight towards the archway to one side. As the tide seemed to turn in our favour, my three friends saw more of the enemy coming down the corridor through the archway behind Otrig. Two men, huge muscular brutes as black as coal, natives of the burning jungles of Hepmonoland to the south, stood side-by-side, blocking the archway. One of the thugs tried to withdraw from the fight and dash down the hallway, but the two dark-skinned brutes roughly shoved him back into the chamber. At this, Otrig dropped his sword and drank down a magic potion, winking out of sight as he became invisible.

Narion called out to me that, “the bastard Otrig has turned himself invisible,” knowing that I had the power to dispel this enchantment and make him visible again. I asked the Seldarine to grant me the power and, in a burst of divine energy, I purged all invisible enchantments from my presence. Otrig winked into sight once more, directly in from of my soldier friend. The evil man spun and dashed through the door Rackhe had been standing in front of, followed closely on his heels by Narion, who, after killing his last opponent, crashed through the doorway, throwing it wide and crashing it against the wall of the room inside. The door tilted madly and hung off only one hinge, the force of Narion’s battering causing it to crack in the middle.

Otrig was driven back into the room, which appeared to be a bunkroom of some kind, and he and Narion squared off against each other. The fight was short and sweet, and ended with Narion driving his spear into Otrig’s chest so severely that it pierced his body and protruded form the other side. Then, enchanting himself with the power of a bear, he rejoined us in the main chamber.

Rackhe had approached one of the burly black natives and asked, “Who are you?” His only response was a voice coming from down the hallway that directed the brutes to “Kill them all!”

‘Kill them all!’ seemed to be a common war cry amongst our foes. Not a very friendly way to conduct business, if you ask me.

As Rackhe engaged the two raging natives at the entrance to the corridor, a third appeared behind them with a large spear and shield. I called forth Corellon’s power to grant us all increased vigour in the fight against these towering brutes. To ensure that more didn’t appear to reinforce those now fighting us, Kiri cast forth an arcane web down the hallway and into the chamber at the afar end. Her spell must have had some success as we suddenly heard a great stream of cursing coming from the far room. Have I mentioned that I am very proud of my woman?

Rackhe was heavily engaged with the three in the archway when Kiri heard words of arcane power being chanted from the far chamber and her magical webs disappeared. Then they heard something in a language akin to Cold Tongue (as they were both familiar with the language of the Suel Barbarians to the north) and an answer come back in the same tongue. Just as Narion burst back into the room after having laid out Otrig, a tall slim man with hair so blonde it was almost white appeared behind the Hepmonoland guardians of the archway. He wore a simple tunic and sandals and appeared unarmed. But we knew that he was most likely more dangerous a foe than any we had yet encountered. The Scarlet Brotherhood had been notorious for their monastic order being most skilled in hand-to-hand combat.

Dropping the last native, Rackhe stepped to one side of the archway, allowing Kiri the time to quaff a curative potion and heal some of her wounds. The tall lithe blonde stepped up to him and Rackhe said, “You should have stayed home southerner!” At this, the man smiled a confident grin and then proceeded to beat Rackhe with his fists, stunning him and knocking him unconscious to the floor.

Kiri heard another arcane incantation and a glowing light appeared, followed by the appearance of another tall thin man englobed by the spell of invulnerability to magical power moving up to stand behind the Scarlet monk. Narion attempted to cast forth a spell of confusion on the enemy from a scroll he had, to little effect, and I called forth for Corellon to fill me with divine power and descended the ladder to join my friends. Kiri drank a potion to cause her outline to blur and make herself harder to strike; then she moved to stand beside Narion. We would be hard pressed against two powerful foes without Rackhe’s blades to help us.

The enemy wizard said, “Farad, get out of the way” and blasted us with arcane fire from his hands. The monk, Farad, moved up to me as Narion charged the spellcaster, and stabbed him soundly in the thigh. Kiri tumbled over a barrel and thrust her rapier into the wizard’s side. He cried out in a pain and, moving to defend himself, cast forth a lightning bolt striking and knocking Narion to the ground, where he lay like a broken heap. I had never seen the stout Sunndi soldier felled and it gave me great pause. I had other things to worry about though as my monastic opponent struck at me and knocked me to death’s door. As I fell, I could only think that somehow my lover must succeed against these evil men on her own. As I succumbed to the blackness of unconsciousness, I felt the power of the Creator begin to fill my deadening limbs with his divine vigour as I had prepared previously.

Kiri, thinking quickly, called forth a spell of invisibility from a scroll and winked out of sight. She now began a cat and mouse game with her opponents as the wizard and the monk cast about trying to detect signs of her presence. “Find her! Catch her!” the wizard cried, as the monk, detecting some small trace of movement, leapt forward and struck my dearheart one with a glancing blow. Kiri simply slipped to one side against the wall and knelt by Narion’s prone form. She poured a healing draught into him, and his eyes opened to wakefulness.

As the wizard let out a shout of frustration at Narion awakening, he readied some form of arcane action. Narion in his turn rolled to the side and tried to catch the monk in a scorching ray of flame. He then quaffed one of his own cure potions and began to rise to his feet. Farad, the monk, stepped up to him and tried, once again, to batter him to the ground, failing. Narion rose and stabbed at the wily monk, wounding him along his ribcage.

“Where is the girl?!” cried the wizard, as he turned this way and that, prepared to hurl some great spell at Kiri. She had managed to creep to my side and fed me another two of the healing draughts she carried. As my eyes fluttered open she whispered to me urgently, “Take down the spell now. I don’t want to be responsible for your death.” As I smiled up at her and bent to her wishes (who could say no to her flashing violet eyes?) the monk stepped forward and swung at where he thought she was.

The wizard, seeing Farad was having no luck in locating Kiri, turned his ire on Narion and cast forth a charm spell to subdue Narion’s will to his own. “My dear friend, life would be better if you turned and sat in a corner, taking no further part in the fight,” and Narion, overcome by the wizard’s power stood and lowered his spear. Leaning against the wall, he let his arms fall limply to his side.

As the spellcaster gloated over his conquest of my spearman friend’s will, Farad stepped over to where I lay and struck about, hoping to connect with Kiri’s invisible form. I rolled away from the fellow and cast forth a righteous might into my body, swelling my muscles and invigorating myself further. Kiri dodged back out of reach of the man and tried to roll over the barrels behind her. She knocked one over but landed beside the wizard and tried to strike at him, her action causing her to wink back into view as her rapier narrowly missed the foe.

“Lazarus, get thee gone!” shouted Farad, and then struck out at my friends in a flurry of massive blows, which did little damage even to Narion who was roused by this attack on his person. By this statement, we knew that we now faced the nefarious Lazarus Solnee, the necromancer who had dispatched the undead after us in the wilds, and set forth the plan to engage the giants as a distraction, and some of his minions. This filled us with a fury that empowered us more to succeed. Another blow from the monk and Narion once again crumpled to the floor.

“Farad, don’t let them take you down. I’ll see you soon,” shouted Solnee, as he cast a spell and teleported out of the room.

Narion lay bleeding on the floor as Farad dashed toward the ladder, lashing out at me with his fists as he passed. He was evidently hoping to make his escape from the chamber. I tried to strike at Farad twice, connecting with my sword both times and dropping the monk to the ground at my feet.

Kiri knelt and poured a curative potion down Narion’s gullet, bringing him back to consciousness and then turned to me as I stood over the monk’s body. “I’m going to kill him now,” she growled in a feral manner. There was a fire in her eyes and I feared that she might do her soul grievous harm if she sought revenge in her angry mood. I held up my palm to calm her and knelt over the prone body of our foe. I cast forth a spell to poison the man but upon seeing that it had no effect, sighed and then thrust my own blade into his prostrate form. Kiri gave me a hard look, but then softened and smiled. “You must truly love me to risk your own soul to save mine. I understand, my love. And thank you for seeing through my anger to my heart beneath.”

We then turned and saw to our two fallen friends.

Once we had ourselves righted again, we searched further down the corridor to the other chamber. We found three people in a cell in the other chamber as well as one, unconscious, strapped to a chair. A large oaken door stood to one side. I tended to the people while Kiri harangued me about sacrificing myself to channel her pain to my body. Knowing that she really did love me, and knowing too that she was only worried after my own welfare, I smiled as I took her pointed arguments at me and promised never to cast that particular enchantment again.

We decided to hold off on tending the man in the chair; not knowing what spells Lazarus had placed upon him. Narion and Rackhe searched the room and found water and food and much material stored here. Narion managed to recover a scroll and a map from Otrig’s corpse. The map was one to Wardlow’s sewer system and showed us the extensive tunnels under the town. It seemed that one of the tunnels butted up against the chamber we were in and Narion pulled at the strong wooden door. Sure enough, the door opened to reveal the sewer, as well as revealing that its outside was crafted to blend in with the stonework of the tunnel. The door would thus be hidden from casual observation if one were to see it from the tunnel side. I also managed to determine that the map showed an underground chamber or jetty near the port area; possibly the method by which these people had been entering the town.

As we escorted the people up and out of the building, we called for Bannar and his crew to take charge of them, as well as the unconscious man from the chamber. We also handed over the captive Ahmed to his troop. We searched the upper floors of the building and found a room that Kiri informed us was most likely where Lazarus teleported in and out of town. Bannar set two of his apprentices to watch the teleport area in case anyone should pop in at an inopportune moment, and we, Bannar, and another two of his crew, went to sortie into the sewers.

As we descended to the ground floor, Calper arrived with the watch and took charge of the freed townspeople and the captive Ahmed. This freed up another two of Bannar’s band, as well as the dwarven cleric, Thrainn Strongaxe, to accompany us into the sewer. We opened the door and turned toward the harbour. Bannar inspected the stonework and stated that none of it was newly crafted. Most likely these tunnels had been part of the previous built-up area before Wardlow was founded. Following the tunnel until it came to a large round chamber, a confluence of four tunnels, we saw down the way towards the harbour that a grate blocked entrance and egress through that path. We surmised that this wasn’t a viable breach in the town wall as when the tide was high it would entirely block the sewer, trapping anyone in the tunnel and potentially drowning them.

We returned to the inn to get cleaned up, rest, and such, being much the worse for wear after our first meeting with Lazarus Solnee.

*~*~*~*~*

TO BE CONTINUED...