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From: [e-mail] (Fraser MacDonald MacKenzie)
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Subject: STORY: Fate's Fellowship - Chapter 13:The Mourning After
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Date: 25 Nov 1995 06:51:24 -0500
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Hi all, here is chapter 13 to Fate's Fellowship.  Enjoy it and hopefully
I will be able to put out chapter 14 in the next couple of days.

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

                                                          \|/
                   _____________________________         (o o)
__________________|       Fraser MacKenzie      |_____oo0_(_)_0oo____
\  Optimization   | [e-mail] |If only I could be  /
 \ hinders        |       Voice: 830-5581       |respected without /
 | evolution.     |       Fax  : [phone]       |being respectable.|
 /                |_____________________________|                  \
/___________________)                         (______________________\



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

   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 13
                             The Mourning After



Shortly after E'tharn leaves, Crowe dies.  Ginafae, who is monitoring
him, announces this fact to Ssylth with a sob.  She then suggests that
they remove his belongings and place his body in the vacant circle so
that it will not be harmed by predators.  Together she and Ssylth
remove Crowe's equipment, tie a rope around his body, and pull it over
to the circle which previously held the Quaggoth.  Once his body is
inside, the column of light springs up around it and then Ginafae and
Ssylth stand nearby looking at the motionless body of their friend
inside the column in silence.  Shortly thereafter, E'tharn returns
with Tenbar and Kelemvor.

Tenbar moves next to Ginafae and tries to comfort her. He looks
sorrowfully at Crowe's remains and then at the others.  "Why did ye
put him inside?  Did ye think it would save his life?"  He then looks
to Kelemvor and says, "Ye got owt t' say t' lay this poor lad's body
t' rest?"

The group spends a long period in shocked silence at the loss of their
companion, Crowe.  Eventually, however, they become aware of the need
to move on and begin discussing your next course of action.  First,
they set about the sad duty of dividing up Crowe's belongings.  He
carried the following:

red medallion        long sword w/sheath
50' ft rope        water skin
winter blanket        1 vial of water vs. undead
silver dagger        3 containers of powder (from labratory)
2 guantlets        long sword of greenish metal (from coffin)
mirror            bone flute
flint and steel        map of sewer

E'tharn requests Crowe's medallion, gauntlets and sword while Ssylth
only asks for Crowe's gold.

Kelemvor replies to E'tharn "The sword is cursed.  We should put it
back where we found it.  Again, I strongly urge you, E'tharn and
Ssylth, to put back the things you have taken, or you may suffer
Crowe's fate.  Valeska does not look upon grave robbers with favor.
Ssylth and E'tharn, I believe that Valeska, goddess of Death, has
offered you a chance of redemption.  Put back those items!"
When he notices E'tharn and Ssylth itemizing Crowe's belongings in
a mercenary manner, Tenbar scowls, "Ent enough fer ye t' rob graves,
ye mun now steal them things as once belongs t' one o' us. Remind me
not t' git killed wit' the both of ye nearby."

Tenbar flatly refuses to take any of Crowe's equipment. "I ent takin'
any o' his stuff, y'ken."

Next, there are the remaining prisoners to deal with: the halfling,
orc and cloud of smoke being.  E'tharn, Ginafae and Ssylth ask Tenbar
and Kelemvor what happened to Salmistra.

First, they describe taking the southwest passage only a short distance
before it opened up into a 40x40x10ft high room while another passage
exited the room to the west.  They tell the rest of the party how the
walls of the room are decorated with bas-relief sculptings of different
scenes that seemed to move in the shadows cast by their torch although,
the room was empty otherwise.  Shortly after that room they came to an
intersection branching south and the passage continuing west.
They say that Salmistra took the south passage and that they followed.

Eventually that passage opened up into a large room, 60x60ft room with
two passages exiting from it, one to the south and one to the west.
The room appeared empty, but there was something strange about the
floor in that it appeared uneven, with high and low spots, along with
small rivlets of water and large puddles here and there.  As well, a
large milky white globe hung from the center of the ceiling.  Looking
at the map, they say it was the room marked as #7, Map Room.

+---------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                                                                     |
|            \ \                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.                                            |
|                                                                     |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------+

E'tharn says, "You lost her then?  Damn.  We are going to have to start
tying up all of these loose ends.  Well, there is nothing we can do
about it now, so we will have to decide what to do with the rest of the
beings here.  By the way, Kelemvor, would you mind healing me.  I seem
to have taken this nasty gash on my leg.  It is throbbing something
fierce."

E'tharn looks at the columns and says, "For a start I think that we
should release the halfling.  He told the truth throughout and I think
that we can trust him.  As for the orc, as much as I hate the thought
of letting that putrid piece of rotting flesh free, it is the right thing
to do.  Ssylth, we will NOT take its money.  As for the cloud of smoke
I don't know what to do.  Tenbar, what would you suggest?"

Kelemvor replies before Tenbar gets a chance, "I think we should
eventually let all of the occupants out, but I agree that we should
wait until E'tharn is healed up before doing it.  E'tharn, I do not
have any healing spells memorized.  You will have to wait till
tomorrow."

Kelemvor continues, "We must bury Crowe, although I do not exactly know
where.  I suggest that we bury him behind the abandoned mansion late
tonight.  Hopefully, we can find some old shovels."

"I must perform the sacred Valeska death ritual.  You are welcome to
participate.  If you do, however, during the ceremony, I will ask you
to say something about Crowe.  This helps to free the soul."

"Crowe must be buried with those things he holds dear to himself, his
sword, his medallion, and perhaps some of the other things as well",
finishes Kelemvor.

Tenbar nods in agreement. "Ay. Either that, or we take it wi' us 'till
we find a next o' kin t' give it to.  I don't reckons someone like this
poor lad got much o' a next o' kin, though, so Kel here may have the
right idea. Leave them t' rest wi' the poor boy."

E'tharn steps forward and says to Kelemvor, "Wrong my friend.  He will
be buried in nature as befits all elves, even those who only have half
the blood.  You can bury him, but he would have wished us to have his
items, as I do when I die.  They are of no use to either of us then."

Still shocked by the loss of Crowe, everyone decides to take some time
to rest before opening any of the other columns.  E'tharn eats some of
his unusual berries and seems to feel the better for it.  Ssylth
gathers together Crowe's belongings and mutters a strange word while
holding his hand over them.  A few minutes later he reports that
Crowe's sword is the only magical item of the lot, neither the
gauntlets or E'tharn's helm radiates magic.  Also, Crowe had 77gp on
his person.

E'tharn suggests that Kelemvor leave the map of the sewers with Crowe,
"It was his possession after all and he should be buried with it."
Kelemvor shrugs and says, "Hmmph!"

"E'tharn, I think you know what I mean.  It is customary for people to
be buried with things that are dear to them.  So what was dear to
Crowe?  I can think of one thing, hmmmm, Ssylth?  Money.  But you would
never think of burying that 77 gold with Crowe.  Well, I can think of
one thing dear to Crowe.  That medallion he wore around his neck.  He
seemed sort of attached to it.  I really don't care what the money is
used for.  If situations were a little different, I'd want to get him
a decent burial."

E'tharn replies, "What would make you think that the map was not dear
to Crowe?  What makes you able to distinguish what was important to
people?  I will allow the sword to be buried with him or back with the
other fellow but I still would like to know what allows you to
determine what is important to the people that you bury?"

Kelemvor responds, "I don't know.  I just make guesses.  I watch
people; see what they do, what they're like.  You have a very good
point, E'tharn, and all I can say is that I make the best guesses I
can.  If there are no friends or family of the deceased to be
found, then usually it falls to the Death Priest to decide what is
buried with him or not because he is the one performing the ceremony.
If you really think Crowe would want the map buried with him, then it
goes in."

"I just pray a lot, asking Valeska for guidance.  She can tell me
Crowe's wishes."

Tenbar listens to Kelemvor's reasoning intently.  It seems to him that
the tall priest is getting very passionate about the subject.  He nods
in places, agreeing with Kelemvor's reasoning, and looks confounded in
others.  Finally, Tenbar rumbles to him, "I reckons mebbe yer preachin'
t' the wrong people, my friend.  Looks t'me that Er'Tharn and
'specially that Ssylth are truly nowt more than treasure hunters and
corpse pillagers.  Aye. Me ol' Da, the gods bless his soul, used t'
tell me, when I was nowt but a wee lad, he says, 'Boy, let the
actions o' a man show ye the 'ntentions o' his heart.'  I don't
reckon ye c'n do much t' change their minds.. the best ye, and I, c'n
do is make sure they don' do owt t' get us all inta trouble, eh?"

Kelemvor states, "The greenish sword goes back.  Do you really want a
cursed sword?"

E'tharn answers him, "Nope....bury it with whomever you want..."

Tenbar whole-heartedly agrees with this. "Aye. The sooner we be rid o'
that curst thing, th' better."

Ssylth chimes in "Since E'tharn does not want the sword, and we have
decided not to bury it with Crowe, I want the sword."

E'tharn replies, "I changed my mind.  I do want the sword."  With that,
he moves over to Kelemvor and whispers in his ear, "If Ssylth won't
accept the sword going back, I will hold onto it for the time being.
I will return it later and tell him that I sold it.  Sound reasonable?"

Kelemvor nods his head and says, "All right E'tharn.  You may keep the
sword."

E'tharn glances at Ssylth and wonders what is going on in that greedy
little head of his.

Turning to Ssylth Kelemvor says,"Ssylth, I don't know what you took
from those crypts, but you better watch yourself.  I might not be able
to catch you, but Valeska is always watching and she controls your
afterlife.  Do you know where people like you usually end up?  The
Valley of the damned.  Not a nice place and crowded too.  Your soul is
adrift with no purpose or vibrance, essentially no existence.  I am
only trying to warn you."

Tenbar suppresses a shudder upon hearing Kelemvor's description of the
Valley of the Damned.  He stares at Ssylth to see if the tall priest's
words have had any effect on the youth but it appears that they have
not.

Kelemvor turns back to E'tharn.  "E'tharn, please tell me.  Why is
this helm so important to you?  Why do you want to take them?  Do they
have some property or importance that you don't want to tell us about?
I just cannot believe that you, a wood elf, would care so much about
'unnatural' things.  I do not mock you or try to insult you, I just do
not understand your insistence with this."

E'tharn growls... "Listen priest...it is not important to me...it
isn't magical and have you seen me wearing it....NO!  If you cannot
accept this it is too bad.  I will return it later but for now I am
keeping it."

Kelemvor's face seems to light up a little when E'tharn says that he
will return the item.

E'tharn then turns to Tenbar, his face red and says in a very icy
voice, "Look Tenbar...I am not a grave robber.  I am taking what I
think is necessary.  Is it any different from Kelemvor taking the map.
No.  As I have asked him.  Who determines what was important to
someone?  I have also said before that the helm will be going back
when it is time.  Is that stealing or just borrowing?  I don't have a
bone to pick with you but I will if you keep calling me a grave
robber."

"So, ye only take what is necessary, eh?" Tenbar says rather mockingly.
"Well, feller, I's reckons them grave robbers and tomb pillagers also
take what they's reckons is necessary... Ye ask me who determines what
is importint t' some 'un?  Well, I ask ye, how d'ye determine if summat
is necessary enough fer ye t' take it, eh?"  He sighs. "Ah, well, do
what ye like, my friends.  I ent gaun' tire meself out arguin' with ye."

E'tharn replies, "I guess the same way Kelemvor does!" in a very
mocking tone.  E'tharn stalks off muttering about ungrateful wretches
and asking Silvanus if this was meant to be such a trial.

Tenbar shakes his head, muttering something about pillagers and
plunderers who distract us from our true objective: finding the Death
Cult.

Eventually, Ssylth moves to Greykin's column and asks the halfling if
he is still willing to help the party in return for being released.
Greykin replies "Sure thing, I've always believed in paying my debts
and I'd owe you a big one for getting me out of here.  Now I'm not
promising I can lead you straight to this death cult, but I think I
have a pretty good idea where their hideout might be."

After consulting the rest of the party members, Ssylth goes to the
pedestal and turns the knob pointing toward the halfling.  The pillar
of light around Greykin melts away and with a shout of joy he jumps
out of the circle.  Starting with Ssylth, he moves to each person in
turn, giving them a firm handshake, a quick hug about the legs and his
apparently genuine word of thanks.  When he gets to Tenbar, the burly
man introduces himself casually. "Now that yer travellin' with us, I
thought it might be important that ye know our names."  He then
introduces the others in the following manner, "That there tall black
bloke is Kelemvor.  He be a priest o' the goddess Valeska.  Yon
callow youth is Ssylth.  Aye, he's as slimy as his name sounds, so ye
better watch out.  Yon elf is call'd E'tharn, an he's as good wit'
the blade as any seasoned warrior.  He got his bad sides, but he also
got his good sides, y'ken?  And lastly, this winsome lass be called
Ginfae.  She don' say much but she helps out when she can.  He pauses
a moment, then indicates Crowe's body.  "Yon unfortunate was a feller
called hisself Crowe.  I didner know much about him, mostly kept to
hisself, but its always a sad thing t' lose yer companion."

Pausing outside of the column with Crowe's body, Greykin shakes his
head and says "I tried to warn ya about that Salmistra.  She's a sly
one in a pretty package."

Meanwhile, Tenbar has move to the Orc's column and asks him,  "We let
ye out, ye go peacefully, y'ken?".  With much effort to make himself
understood, the orc replies "Gorharg no bother if free.  Give gold,
no bother.  Free Gorharg!"  Moving next to the column with the smoke,
Tenbar goes through a series of complicated gestures trying to
discern a response from the cloud.  When he points to the pedestal
the cloud begins to churn and seems to grow denser.  When he
broadens his arms to indicate freedom it spins in to a funnel shaped
column that slowly expands to press against the sides of the column.
Gradually, it settles back down as he gestures to wait and goes
through the motions of an attack on himself and the rest of the
group.  In response, the cloud seems to dissipate somewhat,
becoming no more than a vapor.  A few minutes later it returns to
its original cloudy mass.

After his 'conversation' with the cloud-entity, Tenbar turns to the
others, saying, "I's don' reckon that yon cloud-creature will do us
any harm.  Seems like all it wants t' do is be free o' this place."
He pauses and eyes the orc for some time, scratching his beard.  "I
reckons we oughta let that 'un go too.  I know t' word of an orc ent
anythin' t' go by, but if yer trapped in there fer gods know how long,
ye'd be desperated enough t' keep yer word."

Tenbar decides the cloud of smoke poses no threat and moves to release
it from the column.  Turning the appropriate knob on the pedestal, the
column comes down.  The cloud of smoke expands to 10 ft in diameter
and swirls away from the circle in which it was confined toward the
pedestal where Tenbar stands.  It moves quickly and before he can
react it engulfs him.  The smoke is not dense, the rest of the group
has no trouble seeing Tenbar inside and he doesn't seem to be
suffering any ill effects.  Once the cloud has surrounded him it
begins spinning more rapidly, stirring Tenbar's clothes and hair with
a gentle breeze.  After a minute or two of this, the cloud slows and
moves away from him.  With a light rustling sound it moves to the
east passage and out of sight.

Next, Ssylth moves to the pedestal and turns the knob for the orc's
column.  He too is freed and approaches Ssylth.  Tenbar and E'tharn
step near, hands on their weapons, but the orc simply thrusts his hands
filled with gold toward Ssylth and says "Gorharg thank, Gorharg thank."
After Ssylth takes the gold, the orc turns and also exits the room to
the east.  Quickly counting the money in his hands, Ssylth shoves it
into an empty pouch.

After releasing the orc and the cloud, the group estimates that it is
mid-afternoon.  Kelemvor and E'tharn seem to be having difficulty
settling their difference in opinion about what to do with Crowe's
body.  The others manage to convince them to wait until nightfall,
when they can take his corpse back to the mansion, and decide what
to do with it then.  Everyone is ready for a breath of fresh air
anyway.  In the meantime, the group decides to continue their
exploration a little further, at least into the rooms some of the
group have already seen.  Taking a look at the map of the sewers,
Greykin says that is the direction to what he thinks is the location
of the death cult anyway.

Moving down the southwest passage they soon come to a 40x40x10ft
high room.  As those who have been here before described, another
passage exits the room to the west.  The walls of the room are
decorated with bas-relief sculptings of different scenes that seem
to move in the shadows cast by their torch.  Ssylth becomes excited
upon seeing them and moves to examine them more closely.  He
discovers that the images on the wall actually are moving, changing
to reshape themselves again and again before his eyes.

After going over all the walls he explains how the sculptings seem to
tell the story of the Omiroth.  They begin with images of a large
dias with an arch over it and people walking through the arch
apparently from nowhere.  They go on to show the building of large
cities, roadways, and many unusual structures.  One scene shows
strange ships moving through the air and what appears to be floating
castles.  There are scenes of men meeting in great halls with other
men, elves, dwarves, and most of the other demi-human races.
Eventually the sculptings change to show scenes of war, terrifying to
behold; clouds of fire sweeping across the land, armies of hideous
monsters doing battle, men wielding astouding magical forces.  The
images end with views of ruined buildings, devastated landscapes and
a fleet of flying vessels retreating in the distance.

Ssylth is enraptured with the unfolding scenes, but seeing that the
room is otherwise empty, the rest of the party manage to get him
moving by the simple expedient of threatening to leave him behind.
The party comes to an intersection branching south and west and
following the same path a that taken by Tenbar and Kelevmor earlier,
they travel several yards before coming to another room.

Another large room approximately 60x60x10ft high, there are two
passages exiting it, one to the south and one to the west.  Everyone
sees immediately what Tenbar and Kelemvor meant by strangeness of
the floor.  It appears uneven, with high and low spots undulating
from wall to wall.  Long ridges of dark stone run across it, with
hollows where water has collected to run in small rivulets or stand in
large puddles.  Here and there are patches of what looks like dark
mold and even untidy piles of rock.  The whole forms a strange
patchwork of blended earth colored hues.  Above it all, in the center
of the ceiling, hangs a large milky white globe.

In the room with the uneven floor, Kelemvor says, "I think this is the
map room on the map.  Tenbar and I came through here when chasing
Salmistra."

Kelemvor suddenly thinks on something and says, "I guess Tenbar and I
never explained our chase.  Here goes. We followed her through the
sewers.  She was moving very quickly.  She must have known her way
around these tunnels because she ran right for a way out.  It was a
ladder leading up.  I think it exited close to the city jail or army
barracks.  Anyway, there were guards up there because we heard her
talking to them.  She said we had assaulted her and the guards believed
her so we took off.  When we paused to see if the guards were chasing
us, we heard a group running our way.  After that, we sprinted all the
way back to here."

Before you can move to investigate more closely, E'tharn calls everyone
to their guard as he spots something on the far side of the room.  Just
inside the south archway lie the dark forms of four corpses.  They
appear to have suffered a violent death, with multiple slash wounds
covering their bodies.  Though they can't be certain, it appears from
where the party is, that they wear the uniforms of city guardsmen.

Upon seeing the bodies on the far side of the room, Tenbar motions for
silence then moves with E'tharn to investigate.  Kelemvor follows
closely behind them.  As they draw near, it becomes apparent that the
four guards were killed in a sword fight.  Numerous slash marks cover
their bodies and each has had their throat cut.  Examining their
faces, the three see no one that they recognize.  Kelemvor reports that
they have not been dead long, less than an hour, so it must have been
shortly after he and Tenbar came through this room.  Searching the
floor around the bodies, E'tharn finds signs that someone or something
was dragged across the floor into the west passageway.  There is no sign
of weapons and the bodies have been stripped of all but their clothes.

Ssylth says, "I want to stay away from the white thing of the ceiling.
I think we should shoot arrows at it from a distance to see if it is
going to come after us."

Tenbar cautions against this "It's doin' nowt t' us, so why should we
try t' harm it, eh?  Let sleepin' dogs lie is what I says.  Anyways, I
dunner think it be owt more than summat that gives off light here so
that a body can look at the.. er.. map on t' floor here, I's reckons."

Ssylth, still standing at the north entrance with Greykin and Ginafae,
begins looking at the floor after being struck by something Tenbar
said.  Eventually, he informs the group that the floor is a
topographical map.  The high spots seem to represent hills and
mountains, while the stuff that looks like mold actually represents
forests.  The standing water indicates rivers and lakes, and there are
paths that seem to represent roadways.  After exploring the perimeter
of the room, he announces it is in fact a map of the entire continent,
though there are some major discrepancies.  Mumbling to himself, he
says something like "It must be from before The Age of Chaos."

Greykin informs the group that the place he thinks the Death cult have
their hideout is just down the west passageway.

Kelemvor thinking about the situation in the room muses, "I find it
strange that there is no one else killed, one of the other side.
Maybe they were just fighting too tough of opponents.  I think we
should leave this room and go back and get some sleep."

"I's don'ts reckons they were kill't fighting others. I reckons a few
o' their own numbers kill't them. I heard tell that there be cult
members 'mongst the guards, and it seems t' me that that Holden feller
be one o' them.  When Kel and I had a scrat up the trapdoor, I saws
'bout six guards, and one leader feller.  I's reckons that Holden and
t' leader feller kill't them t' stop them from knowin' 'bout the
movements o' the Cult here'bouts."

"We oughta follow 'em while the trail is fresh, Kel.  I know we all
be tired, but we'll lose' em if we go up and rest.  The bodies can
wait, eh. We don' want t' lose our quarry now, not like how we lost
yon wench, eh."

After hearing Tenbar's words, Kelemvor seems a little disappointed
that his burial ceremony will have to be put off a little while, but
he seems like he agrees.  "I guess you're right, Tenbar.  We better
see where the trail leads."