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From: [e-mail] (Fraser MacDonald MacKenzie)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.archives
Subject: STORY: Fate's Fellowship - Chapter 10:Spies and Skeletons
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Date: 19 Oct 1995 15:23:23 -0400
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Here is chapter 10 of Fate's Fellowship.  Sorry it took so long to get out
but I will make it up to you by sending out chapter 11 in a couple of days.

Enjoy!

Fraser

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   The characters contained in these writings and the writings themselves
   are copyright 1995 by Fraser MacKenzie.  Any resemblance to any persons
   or characters either real or fictional is utterly coincidental.  Copying
   and/or distribution of these tales is permissible only under the sole
   condition that no part of them will be used or sold for profit and that
   they not be altered in any way.

   I wish to thank Eric Lindsey, Seng Ann Mah, Ron Trimmer, Max
   Bullock, Charlotte Ashley, Tom DeSanctus, Bob Grob, Michael Clair
   Haflidi Jonsson, and Drew Lahaise for their immense input without
   which, there would be no story at all. ;)

   Enjoy!

                                  Fraser MacKenzie
                                  [e-mail]


   Note: You can FTP the chapters of Fate's Fellowship as they come
   out from ftp.achilles.net in the directory pub/users/fraserm or
   access them from my home page at http://www.achilles.net:80/~fraserm.
   You can also email me to get on my mailing list.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Introducing the characters:

  Name      Race     Type
~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~
Tenbar   Human      Warrior
E'tharn  Elven      Warrior
Kelemvor Human      Spellcaster
Ssylth   Human      Spellcaster
Ginafae  Elven      Spellcaster
Crowe    Half-Elven Thief




                             Fate's Fellowship
                 Chapter 10
                Spies and Skeletons


Deciding to try keep their only sure route of exit open, Tenbar asks
the rest of the party to wait a minute and moves to the cellar to grab
a load of the firewood.  When he returns he places a piece of wood in
the path of the closing door to keep it ajar, but it is crushed to
splinters when the door closes.  Eventually, retrieving more wood, they
pile all the logs up to bar the closing door.  There is a loud crunching
as the door closes on the logs and they give somewhat, but the door
stops, leaving a 2ft wide crack.  Slipping through the small opening, the
party proceeds down the hall.

After the party has moved through the secret door, E'tharn says,
"Brilliant idea Tenbar.  I had forgotten that the secret door was one way.
Keep it up."

After about 70ft, the passage opens up into the northeast corner of
a 20x30 chamber.  It appears to be another tomb; the walls are
covered by paintings and two stone coffins are against the west wall.
The paintings depict the older man and woman from the previous room
in various scenes; alone, together, and with the people that the group
has seen in previous rooms.  Everyone notices that the coffins are
open and their lids are set off to the side.

In the center of the west wall is a short, narrow passageway.  It
appears to have been made sometime after the room was created, as the
opening is unevenly cut and disfigures the a large mural on that wall.

They have little time to take in the details of the room, however, as
something more immediate catches their attention.  Lying in the middle
of the floor are two bodies surrounded by a large pool of blood.  They
are dressed in black with some sort of silver insignia on their
sleeves.  Two daggers lie in the blood beside them.  Suddenly, Kelemvor
shouts, "THEY ARE UNDEAD!  There are also two more in the coffins!"  As
if on cue, the corpses begin to rise grabbing up the daggers.  The
party sees that one has its' throat slit and the other has a gaping
wound in its chest, both of which still glisten with blood.  At the same
time there is a rattling from the coffins as skeletal hands grasp the
edge and two skeletons pull themselves into view.  Once rich garments
hang in tatters from their bones as one wields a rusted longsword and the
other a short sword.

At the sight of the undead moving, Ssylth remarks, "You were right
Kelemvor.  We should leave these good people alone.  I think that we
should run so that we don't disturb these poor individuals.  Besides I
don't want any of there things anyway."  Ssylth also suggests lighting
the undead on fire but Kelemvor replies very sarcastically, "Bones do
not burn very well."

Chills run down everybody's spine as a low moan comes from one of the
corpses dressed in black "YOU TOO WILL JOIN OUR MASTER."

Crowe brings out his 'new' sword and begin sneaking along the right wall
in order to get a flanking position on the undead.

"Crowe, I don't think that will work.  These creatures are not 'alive'
in the normal sense," says Kelemvor trying to protect Crowe from a big
surprise.

"Stand back everyone.  Do nothing until I say," Kelemvor quietly says to
the group as he steps in front.  He takes the rune covered skull into
his hands, and thrusts it into the air, and he says in a loud and
powerful voice, "By the power of Valeska, I command you to succumb to my
will!"

Tenbar shouts in surprise when the corpses begin to stir and when the
skeletons rise out of the sarcophagi. He quickly moves to the side, just
behind Kelemvor, and waits for Kelemvor's magic to work.  The monsters
seem to pause at Kelemvor's shout, but within seconds a low, vile
sounding laugh comes from the blood covered corpses and they continue to
shuffle toward the group.

Moving quickly, Tenbar readies his bow and lets loose two arrows in quick
succession.  Both strike the lead corpse with a sickening thud, knocking
it back a pace or two, but it seems to be otherwise unaffected, resuming
its awkward stride toward the party.

E'tharn draws his longsword and moves to intercept the second zombie.
He misjudges his first stroke and it falls wide of its' mark.  The
zombie, using its' arm as a club, delivers a heavy return blow.
E'tharn grunts in pain as he is hit but keeps attacking the vile thing.

Meanwhile, the skeletons have freed themselves from the coffins.  As
they move towards everyone, the skeleton with the longsword strikes the
its mate, which in turn, returns the blow.  The skeletons begin battling
each other, ignoring anything save the blows they are inflicting on one
and another.

Kelemvor allows the skull to fall to his side by its' chain, and brings
his scythe around for a vicious sweep as first zombie comes into range.
The blade takes the creature's arm off, but it uses the other one to
club him in the chest.

By this time, Tenbar has replaced his bow with his broadsword and
dagger.  He steps forward to Kelemvor's side and slashes at the zombie.
As his blade rips through its flesh, the creature falls to the floor
unmoving.  Kicking the fallen corpse aside, Tenbar gives a triumphant
shout and turns to help E'tharn and Kelemvor finish off the second
corpse, just as E'tharn swings again at the zombie, striking this time.
The undead stumbles and misses E'tharn with his second swing.

It takes some doing, but the three of them manage to destroy the
remaining animated corpse without taking further harm themselves.  On
the other side of the room, the two skeletons seem to have destroyed
each other leaving their bones scattered across the floor.

As the three who fought pause to rest, the other group members move to
investigate the room.  After a careful check of the walls, Crowe reports
that he can find no secret doors.  Ssylth and Ginafae also report that
the coffins are now empty.  Finding nothing else of interest, Crowe says
he's going to make a quick check of the passage in the west wall and
disappears through the opening.

Checking both his own and E'tharn's wounds, Kelemvor finds nothing
broken, but both will have massive bruises and be sore for some time.
E'tharn hands Kelemvor two berries and tells him, "Eat these.  They
will help to sustain and heal you." and eats two of the berries himself.
Kelemvor pops the two berries into his mouth and swallows them following
E'tharn's example.  Looking at E'tharn curiously, Kelemvor says that the
pain of his wounds has eased somewhat.

As he searches the room after the battle, Tenbar carefully checks the
coffins for hidden compartments or moving parts and finding nothing, he
moves to the two corpses.  While examining the corpses he finds the
ensignia of a skull pierced by a dagger on the sleeves of their black
shirts.  As he had noticed previously, one's throat is slit and the
other has a gaping wound in his chest which was obviously received prior
to the damage the party inflicted and as well, he now notices an older
wound on one of the zombies legs.  The daggers that the zombies bore,
have silver skulls as pommels and after a thorough search, he notes there
is nothing else on their bodies.

"These be cultists," Tenbar growls, taking the insignia and daggers
from the twice-dead corpses.  "Wonder what they be doin' here."  He
tucks the daggers into his belt and slips the insignia into his belt
pouch.  "Never know when these c'n come in useful, eh?" he says with a
wry grin.

Thinking about something that occurred during the combat, Tenbar turns
to Kelemvor and asks, "Did ye have owt t'do with them two bones" he
indicates the collapsed skeletons "turnin' on one 'nother?  D'ye know
what could o' made 'em come alive o' a sudden like that?  Was it a
curse?"

Kelemvor replies, "That's right.  I made the skeletons destroy one
another.  I was not able to gain control over the zombies.  The zombies
and skeletons are a form of undead.  Undead can be created by powerful
wizards and clerics.  The undead were probably commanded to 'come
alive' and attack us when we entered the room."

Kelemvor then moves to the coffin and replaces the skeletal remains.
In a brief ritual, he passes the rune covered skull over the graves
while chanting benedictions to Valaska.  Finally, he removes one of the
many vials from the sash around his chest and pours a portion of water
into each coffin.  With Tenbar's help, he then lifts the lids back into
place.

After a few minutes, Crowe returns bringing a foul odor with him.
Tenbar grimaces. "Pfaugh! Where you gone, eh, lad? Ye said ye'd check
t' other passage, but smells t' me that ye wen t' the bog!"  He
pinches his nose in an exaggerated fashion and chuckles to himself.

Crowe replies, "The tunnel is low and narrow, with rough chiseled
walls, unlike the worked stone of this and the previous rooms.  It
heads west for about 70ft before opening up into what appears to a
major tunnel of the city sewer system, running north and south as far
as I could see.  The sewer way is navigable, with wide ledges running
along each wall, but", he grins, "as you can tell, the stench is awful
and the water between the ledges is quite high."

After hearing Crowe's news, a look of inspiration crosses Tenbar's face
and he moves to examine the bodies more carefully.  Despite the
cogealed blood over most of their garments, he finds definite traces of
dried slime near the bottom of their pants legs and detects the
lingering odor of the sewer about their clothes.

Upon sharing his discovery, the group discusses where to go next.
Kelemvor reminds everyone that there is still the secret door back in
the wine closet of the cellar that was never opened.  He suggests
maybe the group should return there until it stops raining and the
sewer is less likely to be full of water.  E'tharn and Tenbar, however,
recommend that the group try to find the tracks that these two dead
men made through the sewer before they get any older.  With an obvious
lack of enthusiasm, everyone else agrees, and follows E'tharn into the
tunnel.

Once everyone is ready to enter the sewers, Tenbar pulls out the
handkerchief he used earlier in the crypts and fastens it over his nose
and mouth.  "Ah, thass bett'r," he says through the handkerchief, and
commences to look for tracks.

As Crowe described, it is a narrow space with roughly carved sides.
As the party proceeds, the floor and walls become slick with moisture
and an offensive odor assails their noses.  Everyone is forced to
follow Tenbar's example and cover their faces.  After about 70ft, the
tunnel opens into a 15ft wide 8ft high rounded tunnel.  The sewer way
extends as far as anyone can see north and south with a 3ft wide ledge
running along each wall and a 9ft wide stream of filthy water flowing
about a foot below the ledge.  It doesn't appear to be the healthiest
of environments, but they discuss it and come to the conclusion, that
with care, they should be able to explore it without too much risk
unless they run into something larger than a rat.

As the group emerges from the side tunnel, E'tharn moves a short
distance to the north and tells everyone that he has found signs of
tracks.  He continues on and the rest of the party follows.  After
travelling a good distance, passing several narrow side passages,
openings spewing dirty water, and a large hole in the opposite wall
through which the water rushes out with a roar, they come to a narrow
bridge spanning the stream.  E'tharn leads them across it and then
continues north on the opposite side.  After a short distance more he
turns into a narrow side passage like many they have passed before
this one proceeds west for about 30ft before dipping to a sharp
incline.  Carefully, everyone makes their way down the treacherously
slick slope to a spot where the passage levels off.  The level floor
here is covered by a thin layer of water, and goes 70ft before rising
with another steep incline.

Going up is a little more difficult, but pulling and pushing each other
they manage to reach level ground again.  Now the passage extends
another 20ft, ending at four way intersection.  As everyone reaches the
intersection, E'tharn searches in all three directions and after a few
minutes, he announces that he has lost the exact trail, although there
are tracks in all three directions.  The north and south passage
extends as far as they can see however, the west goes only 30ft where a
strange greenish glow catches everyones eye.

Moving forward carefully, they come to the entrance of a room blocked by
an iron portcullis.  Beyond the bars is what looks like an underground
garden.  The 60x20 room, extending north and south, is filled with
fungus growths and mushrooms in a garish clash of colors.  Some of the
largest mushrooms are taller than Ginafae and the far walls and ceiling
are covered by a thick green lichen that is faintly luminous.  The west
wall, in the southeast corner, has a door that stands slightly ajar.

Deciding to keep track of this, Kelemvor quickly draws out a brief
sketch of the room on a piece of parchment that he withdraws from
his backpack.

+-----------------------------------------------+
|          _____                                |
|          |   |                                |
|          |   |______| |____                   |
|          |   :______   ____                   |
|          |   |      | |                   N   |
|          [\  |                          W   E |
|          |___|                            S   |
|                                               |
| : = portcullis                                |
| [\ = door, ajar                               |
|                                               |
+-----------------------------------------------+

Adding a somewhat sombre note to the scene are three skeletons lying
just within the entrance, behind the portcullis.  One of them is
wearing a rusted suit of chain mail, with a shield and broken sword at
its side and is propped up against he bars with it's hand reaching out
into the passage.  A few feet into the room, beneath a blanket of
greyish blue mold, lies a second skeleton holding a dagger in its'
lifeless hand and a backpack on.  The third skeleton, wearing leather
armor, is at least 10ft into the room, lying on a bed of mushrooms.
Crowe calls everyone attention to it's neck, where, after he points it
out, they notice a glint of gold.

At Tenbar's suggestion, E'tharn first makes sure no mold has spread
beyond the portcullis, then examines the area for tracks.  After a
while he reports there are signs of someone having been here within
the past day or so, but they did not go into the room.  The portcullis
itself is rusted and appears to have been in place for some time.
E'tharn grabs a couple of bars to test their strength and though the
gate rattles somewhat, it proves to be beyond his ability to break or
bend.  Tenbar meanwhile begins searching the area for some sort of
opening mechanism and after a few minutes, the rest of the party soon
join him in his search.

It is Crowe who eventually calls out that he has found something.
About 10 paces back into the passageway, he removes a stone from the
wall uncovering a metal lever.  Crowe asks, "Does anyone mind if I
pull the lever?  I suspect that it will merely move the portcullis
up into the ceiling but I cannot be sure."  Everyone agrees that
the lever should be pulled, therefore, receiving the go ahead from
the rest of the group, he pushes it forward.  There is a loud clank
somewhere within the wall, followed by a grinding and rattleing noise
as the portcullis rises up into the ceiling.

The skeleton that is leaning against the bars, falls to the floor as
the portcullis rises.  Kelemvor pulls it out into the hallway to
examine it more closely and identifies it as a human male, saying that
he can tell from the bone structure.  The chain mail it wears is ruined
by rust, the sword by the skeleton's side is noticeably dented, and
although tarnished and bearing no identifying emblems, the skeleton's
shield is still servicable.  There is nothing to identify the man, so
everybody guesses that it was just an unlucky, nameless adventurer.

E'tharn notices that the remaining two skeletons are further in the
room and will require entering to get them.  When he mentions this
to the rest of the group, Ssylth suggests that someone use a rope to
lasso them and pull them out.

Examining the fungus from the hallway, Kelemvor says that he has
heard of giant mushrooms like those forming groves in the room, but
has never actually seen any before now.  He also points out what he
says are common fungi, such a shelf types, giant puffballs, coral
fungi and morels.  As for the glowing mold on the far wall, he says
that he has also heard of underground molds haveing bioluminescence,
or a life glow although it could just as well be magic.  He remarks
that it is strange to see such a large amount of thriving fungi without
an obvious nutrient source as the floor and walls are made of stone.

Tenbar expresses a desire to go examine the door on the far side of
the room, but to do so he has have to wade through a patch of waist
high mushrooms.  Asking Kelemvor if he thinks it's safe, the priest
shrugs and says, "They just look like giant versions of your everyday
garden variety morels, so it should be."

E'tharn, being cautious, says, "Either one person should stay outside
of the room so that if the portculis comes down they can open it or we
should put a spike in the wall about 1 foot from the roof directly
above the lever and put a rope over it and tie it to the lever.  By
doing this we should be about to pull the rope from the room and it
should pull the lever up so that the portculis will open."

Tenbar looks at the assortment of fungi in the chamber dubiously.
"Don' look dangerous t'me," he says, "But one ting I learn'd here is
that nowt is what it seems t'be, and them dead 'uns inside don't
inspire much confidence, eh?"  He looks at the door on the opposite
end.  "I reckons that might be t' way folk come into this room
usually.  This," he indicates the portcullis, "looks like it ain't
been moved in a long, long time."

Tenbar decides to err on the side of caution and postpones moving to
the open door.  He suggests the party move to explore the remaining
passageways, but Ssylth seems determined to retrieve the other two
skeletons.  Kelemvor says, "It does not matter that much to me.  Why
don't we check out the other passages before this one.  We can always
come back to it.  Otherwise, E'tharn has a pretty good idea ... if it
will work.  Just in case something goes wrong, some of us should stay
on the other side of the gate."

Humoring the mage, Tenber stays where he is and takes out his bow.
Nocking an arrow, he lets it fly toward a clump of large mushrooms
near the door in the far west wall.  The arrow buries itself in one
of the mushrooms, which sways with the impact.  Others around it are
jostled for a few second causing a thin cloud of spores to float up,
but they soon stop moving and the dust settles.  Minutes pass and
nothing else seems to happen.

Not completely satisfied, Tenbar takes out another arrow and ties a
piece of cloth around it.  As the takes out some oil to douse the
cloth, E'tharn steps forward to protest, "Don't you dare burn all of
this plant life.  How would you like it if I went and burned down
your village?  The plants are Silvanus's children and I won't have
you burning them!"

Deferring to E'tharn's strong objections Tenbar puts away the oil and
agrees not to set fire to anything for now.

After E'tharn's outburst, Kelemvor says to him, "So you do have
strong convictions.  I am impressed.  You think long and hard about
your commitment to nature."

E'tharn replies, "What is to think about.  I am committed to the
preservation of all of the Oakfather's children."

Kelemvor stares deep into E'tharn's eyes and in a calm but firm tone,
he says, "Your convictions are pretty strong, huh?  Well I can assure
you that my convictions are equally as strong and probably stronger.
Maybe now you'll reconsider your grave-robbing."  Kelemvor walks away
and lets E'tharn brood in silence.

Meanwhile, Ssylth steps up to the entrance stretches his arm out into
the room and says a word.  This hand slowly turns to the southwest,
then swings around to point at E'tharn, Crowe, Ssylth and Tenbar in
turn.  Finally, he announces that the room is filled with a faint aura
of magic, but a strong aura seems to be coming from behind the door.
He then urges Crowe to listen for noise coming from the other room.

Crowe moves forward and strains to hear any sounds coming from behind
the door and after a few minutes he reports that he can hear nothing
from that area.  Again following Ssylth's suggestion, Crowe makes a
lasso with his rope to try his hand at lassoing the two skeletons.
Amazingly, he manages to catch the nearest one on the first try.  As
he pulls it toward the entrance, a cloud of blueish spores swirl up
from the mold blanketing the bones.  It hovers in place and eventually
begins to settle by the time he has pulled the skeleton to the door.

The skeleton's dagger was left behind in the mold, but the leather
armor and backpack came with it.  Crowe carefully opens the pack and
begins going through the contents.  Inside he finds, a rope, a small
metal mirror, flint and steel, 5 iron spikes, a flute made of bone,
a set of clothes covered with mold, a dried up bottle of ink and a
scroll case.  Opening the case he finds 13 sheets of papyrus, yellow
with age, and a crude map.  The map appears to a somewhat incomplete
diagram of the rooms and adjoining passages of the sewers beneath the
city of Burkden which ends with the room they are in and shows what
looks like a 30x30 room beyond the door to the west.  There are notes
scribbled in different places, but none for thier current location.

Kelemvor, having taken it upon himself to be the mapper, puts the
current location as well as the crypt below the mansion on the map.

+---------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                                                                     |
|            \ \                1|                           ______   |
|             \ \           O____|o_____O      |~ |         / /----   |
|              | |          |    |      |      | ~|        / /        |
|         o----O-O----------o  @-|-2-|  |o_____O_o_0______O_O____o    |
|        /                |          |          \~ \             |    |
|      /      |-----------|-------------------| | ~|             |    |
|    /    ____|           R-----|             |  |  |            |    |
|   O         |         3       |---|---4-----|  | ~|            |    |
|   |         R---|-----|--|        |---      |   \~ \           |    |
|   |      @  |   |        |        |     ____|    | ~|          |    |
|   |     -|--|   5---|    |--R-----7         |--| |__|          |    |
|   |         |   |   |             |   |--   |10|-|--|--|       |    |
|   o         |   |___6       @|    |   |     |  | |~ |  |       O-   |
|   |         |-|---------|----|----|-|-|-----|  | | ~|  |--11  / ~   |
|   |           |         |     /-----|       |--| |~ |  |     / ~    |
|   |  ________ |___   __ 8     |     |       |----| ~|  |    |~ ~    |
|   | / ~ ~ ~ ~\______O/   |______            |    |~ |       |~ ~    |
| __O/~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~   ~ ~ ~ \_______ |--|--  |~ |      /~ ~ ~   |
| ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~||~ ~ ~\ \       \ ~\     |~ ~ ~   |
|  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ \ 9     \~ ~\____\~ ~      |
| ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  \_______/ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~    |
|              N                                                      |
|            W< >E                                                    |
|              S                                                      |
|                                                                     |
|                                                                     |
| @ = exit to surface                                                 |
|                                                                     |
| O_o = wall of city and guard towers                                 |
|                                                                     |
| R = room without short description                                  |
|                                                                     |
| Numbers 3, 7, 8, and 9 seem to indicate single rooms.               |
|                                                                     |
| Numbers, 2, 4, 5, and 6, seem to indicate areas of multiple rooms   |
| linked by interconnecting by passagways.                            |
|                                                                     |
| 1 is not a room, but simply a scrawled message with an arrow        |
| pointing north (see below).                                         |
|                                                                     |
| The following short notes have been scribbled where the numbers     |
| are:                                                                |
|                                                                     |
|  1. To ruins of old temple (with arrow pointed north)               |
|  2. Bridge of bones                                                 |
|  3. Room of many voices                                             |
|  4. Remnants of the Omiroth                                         |
|  5. Catacombs                                                       |
|  6. Unholy Shrine                                                   |
|  7. Map room                                                        |
|  8. Mirror room                                                     |
|  9. Room of doors                                                   |
| 10. Fungi Garden.                                                   |
| 11. Crypt beneath mansion.                                          |
|                                                                     |
|                                                                     |
| There are 4 main lines of the sewer system shown on the map;        |
| two running parallel to the river, one on each side (the east       |
| one is not completely drawn), and two running east/west beneath     |
| the north and south parts of the city.  These main lines are        |
| 15ft wide, 7ft high rounded passageways, with 3ft wide ledges       |
| against the walls between which runs the river of sewage.           |
|                                                                     |
| The other passageways connect to the main lines and are 4ft         |
| wide, 6ft high.  These corridors are damp and dirty with areas      |
| of standing water.  Many have shallow streams of water flowing      |
| down the middle of them.                                            |
|                                                                     |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------+

When the map from the skeleton is taken out and examined, Tenbar
listens carefully and tries to associate the locations he hears the
others explain, to specific parts of the map. He stops whoever is
reading the map on several occasions, to clarify some of the
'scribbles' on the parchment.

E'tharn deciding to give Tenbar a friendly hint says, "Tenbar, why
don't you get one of us to teach you how to read?"  Tenbar merely
shrugs and says, "I c'n get by fine without it, Er'tharn. And,
anyways, I can allus count on ye young lads to plunder them words
fer me..."

After a complete examination of the skeleton, Crowe readies the
lasso again and tries to throw the rope around the last skeleton left
in the room.  As the rope is thrown, Crowe realizes that it will miss
the skeleton and watches as the rope lands in the bed of small fungi
upon which the skeletons lies.  There is a loud POP as one of the
mushrooms explode, followed by another and another and then several
all at once in a chain reaction.  Fifteen of the mushrooms exploded in
all creating a deafening din and propelling clumps of plant matter
everywhere.  Crowe, Tenbar and Ssylth are struck by several of the
surprisingly tough fragments which cause only slight damage to them.

It is all over in a matter of seconds and as the echo from the noise
fades, Crowe, E'tharn, Kelemvor, and Ssylth, find that they still have
a loud ringing in their ears that blocks out other sounds.  They shake
their heads and jiggle their ears, causing Ginafae and Tenbar ask them
what is wrong but none of the four can hear the question as they have
gone deaf.

The room is now filled with a cloud of mushroom spores.  Gradually,
the spores begin to settle and everyone can see the skeleton Crowe
tried to lasso has been blown to bits, as have most of the other fungi
in the immediate area.  There is no sign of the gold object that was
around the skeleton's neck.

Despite his deafness, E'tharn motions for Crowe to pull back his rope
and tie it around him.  Covering his mouth as Tenbar suggests,
E'tharn then enters the room.  Keeping well away from the area where
the mushrooms exploded, though most seem to have been demolished, he
moves along the wall toward the open door.  He arrives safely and
peers in.  Talking slowly and in a garbeled way, he describes to the
rest of you what he sees.

The room is 30x30x10 ft high and similar to the previous room it is
filled with fungi of all types.  The floor is covered with a carpet
of mold that extends to all the walls and even onto parts of the
ceiling.  If anything, however, the plants are brighter and more
colorful than those already seen, presenting a nightmarish combination
of clashing colors.  One difference between the rooms is that the
plants here seem to have been tended.  There are seperate patches for
each different type of mushroom and mold.  A second difference is that
a large statue stands in the center of the room.  It is covered by the
glowing mold and seems to be in the shape of a woman wreathed in
flowers.  A clear path leads from the door up to the statue.

After the excitment of the exploding mushrooms, the group decides to
rest before further exploration, so E'tharn returns to the passageway
just outside the raised portcullis.  Communication is difficult with
four members of the group deaf, so they set up camp and eat in
silence.  By the time they have finished the meal the ringing in
everyone's ears has subsided and their hearing has returned to normal.

After it seems as though E'tharn has finished eating, Kelemvor walks
over to him.  "Excuse me, E'tharn, could I talk to you for a little
while?  I've been thinking alot about how I can convince you that
grave-robbing is wrong.  It's obvious that the other two, Crowe and
Ssylth, don't care if it's wrong or not.  But you're a little
different."

I've been thinking alot about how I can convince you that grave-
robbing is wrong.  It's obvious that the other two, Crowe and
Ssylth, don't care if it's wrong or not.  But you're a little
different."

After Kelemvor has said his piece, Tenbar nods and says: "Ay, it's
summat like that. Well said, Kel, and I c'n tell ye that true
hunters, like meself, don' kill jus' fer the sport o' it. We make a
livin' out o' it and yon beasts o' the forest either fill our belles,
or we sell 'em."

Coninuing, Kelemvor say, "You spend alot of time in the forest, don't
you?  You worship Silvanus Oakfather.  You have a deep committment to
the forest and nature, to the animals that live in the forest, right?
Well, what do you think about hunting?  I'm sure that you hunt and
are probably pretty good at it.  But you only hunt for food, right?
Not for the 'thrill of the hunt', right?"

"I mean, you don't think people should slaughter animals just for
personal satisfaction and financial gain, do you?  I mean, what if
there was a hunter that went after bears and wolves and other animals,
just 'cause he wanted to stuff them and put them in his living room
as trophies.  Better yet, what if he just wanted to sell a part of the
animal.  Poachers.  You don't like poachers, do you?"

"Now I tell you, that poaching is like stealing from the land.  Those
animals belong to that forest; the forest is not complete without them,
right?  You fight for the rights of those animals and plants."

"Well, I think that when you die, your soul has certain rights.  Many
people, in the form of wills, explain what they want done with their
belongings and remains.  It is customary for the deceased to be buried
with his most personal items, the ones that mean alot to him or her.
Shouldn't we respect those wishes?  E'tharn, if you should die, what
do you want done with your belongings and body?  As for me, when that
great day comes, I want my body to be taken back to my order, where
it can be used by Valeska.  As for my soul, I shall walk with Valeska
and help tend the flock of former lives."

"There is another thing.  All of the nature types I have ever
encountered or read about, especially the ones that devoutly worship
nature deities, really do not put much value on material things.  But
yet, you seem very materialistic.  Now Ssylth and Crowe I can
understand, they come from a different school of thought.  Is there
some reason you need these items that you are not telling me?  I
don't buy the 'they might help us in the future' arguement."

At the end of Kelemvors little speech E'tharn replies, "Kelemvor,
you are very persuasive in your thought.  However, you did  mention
killing out of need.  What corresponds to this in you beliefs?
Should I never take any thing from the dead, should I take only when
it is necessary, or should I take whenever it pleases me?  I feel
that I may be able to get information that could help us from this
helm."

"I think that there are always different level of belief and
although I hold strong convictions about certain things, there are
other things for which my convictions are not so strong."

"You say I am materialistic and yet do you see me fighting for
items that I want?  Do you see me wearing the helm?  NO!  I have
told you what my reasoning was and if you cannot accept it or seek
other meanings from it then so be it but do not, NOT, call me
materialistic."

Kelemvor replies, "E'tharn, that is why this bothers me so.  I
don't think a man of your convictions would want to take things from
the dead.  I'm sorry I assume this but it has been what I have
learned.  That is why I question your actions in this.  What is so
important about the helm?"

Looking as if he is about to answer, E'tharn opens his mouth and
closes it a few times before saying, "I will refrain from taking
from the dead, while I am with you, unless it is critical."  To
which Kelemvor replies, "Thank you."

After Tenbar has set up his bedroll along the southern wall, about
ten feet from the entrance to the fungi garden, he hears a heated
discussion between Kelemvor and E'tharn.

After Kelemvor has said his piece, Tenbar nods and says: "Ay, it's
summat like that. Well said, Kel, and I c'n tell ye that true
hunters, like meself, don' kill jus' fer the sport o' it. We make
a livin' out o' it and yon beasts o' the forest either fill our
belles, or we sell 'em."

Ssylth, getting quite annoyed at the priest, speaks up to try to
change the rangers mind from the statement he just made.  The
moment young Ssylth joins in, he thinks to himself, "Ahrr.. here
we go again..." and ambles over to hear what's going on.

Ssylth continues, "Wait a second, E'tharn, I have another example.
When you are out in the woods, and you come across a battle between
two animals what do you do.  Say a deer is killed, do you leave it
so that you will not distrub the poor animal, or do you eat the deer
and not waste mother natures creature?"

At this statement, Kelemovor sneers and says, "You probably bury the
animal."

"Well," Tenbar rumbles, scracthing hs beard.  "If yon deer ain't too
badly mauled or summat, I'd take it back and save meself some
huntin'.  No use wastin' good meat, like the lad says.  But if it be
too spoiled, then there be no other thing t' do then bury the carcass.
'Tis common sense."  E'tharn nods his head in agreement to the burly
foresters words.

Continuing, Ssylth says, "I look at the coffins the same way.  Why
would we waste equipment that may help us in the future.  Just like
I would not waste the deer in the woods, I do not think we should
waste any of the equipment that we may find on the way."

A look of confusion comes across Tenbar's face. "What is this?  Why
are ye comparin' huntin and grave-robbin?  There be nowt the same
between the two.  There be nowt honourable about robbin' a tomb!
Them things.." he indicates some of the objects purloined by E'tharn,
Ssylth and Crowe, "be placed there fer a reason: they belong t' them
dead 'uns.  If ye take them, then ye be stealin'.  Them deer and such
in them woods ain't belong t' no one but themselves. There be a
difference!"

Kelemvor mocks Ssylth by changing the tone of his voice and asking,
"Hey Ssylth, I don't know, we might need those boots that last
creature was wearing.  How about those wine barrels, they could come
in useful.  And don't forget the pots and pans up in the kitchen.
They did help us once."

"Come on Ssylth, we are talking about grave-robbing.  Have you ever
had a loved one die before?  Were they buried naked and all of their
items and belongings distributed around to strangers?  Do you like to
follow funeral processions so that you can lift things off the corpse?
I need to take this information back to the elder priests so that when
they bury someone of some importance they take precautions.  There
might be a greedy little mage-boy who wants to find his first magic
item off the corpse of a 'loved' one."

Ssylth suddenly seems to think of something, as he turns on Kelemvor
and says, in a deathly quiet voice, "Tell me Kelevor, you have been
against us taking stuff from the start that may help us in defeating
the Death Cult. Are you trying to protect the cult for some reason?"

"Looking back, you were the one that is able to control the dead!
You figured out the fountain first; maybe you have been there before.
The other members of the party did not encounter any spirits until you
arrived!  For some reason, you bless or do something to the undead
when we kill them.  Are you blessing them, or maybe enchanting them!
You seemed pretty hostile to the store keeper that could have helped
us, maybe you wanted to kill him since we might find out some important
information.  You treated those undead back there like they were good
people by putting them back in there coffin, but after all, they are
undead and attacked us."

"In short, ARE YOU A MEMBER OF THE DEATH CULT Kelemvor?"

A big smile appears on Kelemvor's face but doesn't say anything in
return to Ssylth's accusation.

--
Fraser MacKenzie
http://www.achilles.net/~fraserm

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