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From: [e-mail] (Fraser MacDonald MacKenzie)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.archives
Subject: STORY: Fate's Fellowship - Chapter 15:Jinxkins, Jinxkins, Everywhere
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Date: 6 Dec 1995 11:07:20 -0500
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Here is Chapter 15 in the Fates Fellowship Saga.

Enjoy!

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

                                                          \|/
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__________________|       Fraser MacKenzie      |_____oo0_(_)_0oo____
\  Optimization   | [e-mail] |If only I could be  /
 \ hinders        |       Voice: 830-5581       |respected without /
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   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/~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




                             Fate's Fellowship
                                Chapter 15
                       Jinxkins, Jinxkins, Everywhere



Kelemvor then begins casting a spell and touches E'tharns wounds.
E'tharn is shocked, when a sudden pain begins to spread from where
Kelemvor's hand touches him but manages to bite back a cry as the
pain grows stronger seeing that his flesh is indeed mending.  Kelemvor
casts two more spells, though E'tharn begins to think that the cure may
be worse than the wound itself.  As Kelemvor begins his fourth spell,
E'tharn stops him saying that he feels much better and doesn't think he
could take another of Kelemvor's cures.  However, E'tharn's wounds have
been healed and are now only pink scars on his otherwise smooth flesh.

E'tharn agrees to go along with Kelemvor's plan to release the guard
and follow him back to the hideout.  He seems somewhat uncertain about
taking the sword from Ssylth, but shrugs and belts it around his waist.
Thus prepared, he resumes a position of feigned sleep as Kelemvor moves
over to the guard.

Standing outside the false guard's prison, Kelemvor calls quietly for
him to wake up.  Once he has roused and stands at attention, the death
priest informs the man of his decision to let him go weaponless.  The
man grudgingly accepts, saying "Fine, fine, just get me out of here."
Warning the man that he will be in trouble if he does not give Kelemvor
the agreed upon information, the death priest moves to the pedestal and
lowers the column surrounding him.  Cautiously the guard steps out,
casting a wary eye toward the sleeping forms of the rest of the group.
Kelemvor moves back to him and together walk toward the southwest passage.

Once they have gone, E'tharn moves to another column and studies the
features of the guard contained within.

In hushed tones, the man points to the map Kelemvor holds open for him
saying "The death cult makes its lair in the catacombs beneath the ruins
of the old temple, about nine miles north of town.  There is no easy
access from the surface, but an abandoned tunnel leads directly from
the city to the catacombs."  Here he points to the areas marked one and
two on the sewer map.  "You must cross the bridge of bones to get to
the tunnel entrance.  The tunnel is narrow and has some rough places,
but you can get through.  It leads to one of the burial vaults that
make up the catacombs."  He says he has never been there himself, but
has heard reports from others who have gone.  That is all he is able to
tell Kelemvor.

Kelemvor follows the man through the mural room to the passage leading
west.  There he pauses and says "I'd advise you to deal with your
companions quickly or you may lose your chance when my bosses decide to
deal with them."  With that he disappears down the corridor.  Kelemvor
moves back to the column room to send E'tharn after him and to wake the
others.  On Kelemvor's way, he happens to notice that the sacks with the
equipment you took from the guards are not where you left them.

Kelemvor returns and indicates that the guard has gone.  E'tharn quickly
moves to follow, passing through the mural room to the south and into the
west passage way.

Kelemvor provided the guard with a torch so E'tharn has no difficulty
following the flickering light from a safe distance.  He is somewhat
surprised when the guard reaches the intersection leading to the map
room and continues west instead of moving south.  Still E'tharn follows
him, moving west until the passage turns north, then a short distance
later west again.  Eventually, it comes to a 30x30ft room that the guard
moves through quickly without pause.  Seeing nothing of interest in the
room himself, E'tharn follows him into a north passageway.

Shortly after the room, E'tharn comes to the main sewer line of the north
section of town.  Here the man continues to move west along the walkway
beside the river of filth.  With no danger of losing sight of him in this
long tunnel, the wood-elf pauses briefly to take out a pinch of illusion
dust.  As he sprinkles it on himself, E'tharn pictures the guard's image
he memorized and with that done he continues on his way.

The guard continues west to the end of the main sewer line and then turns
into the side passage headed south.  Following him at a good distance,
E'tharn passes a side passage headed west and is stopped abruptly when his
foot catches on something and he falls with a thud.  The torch light stops
moving for a second, then takes off somewhat faster.  Lifting himself with
a muffled oath, E'tharn hears what sounds like faint squeaking laughter
coming from behind him.  He spares a brief glimpse back, but sees nothing,
so he continues pursuit.

Having moved a good distance ahead of the wood-elf, the guard pauses at
the threshold of another room.  He seems to bend down to examine
something on the floor before entering.  He then disappears from view,
though from his torch light it is plain that he moves to the east of the
room.  As E'tharn nears the room, about 20ft from the entrance, he is
startled by the sudden sound of a loud metallic gong.  It sounds three
times, then is silent.  E'tharn can still see torch light from inside the
room and it does not appear to be moving.

Outside the room after the gong sounded, E'tharn hears no immediate
indication of reinforcements coming.  Drawing his sword, he rushes into
the room after the man, hoping to take care of him before others arrive.
As he passes over the threshold he feels something give beneath his foot
and hears a WHOOOOSH as a scything blade swings across the opening.
E'tharn manages to jump forward when he hears it coming, but the blade
grazes his back.  His elven chain mail protects him from a more serious
wound, but his back is bruised and he has the wind knocked out of him.

Quickly rising to his feet, there is another quieter whoosh through the
air as a crossbow bolt passes somewhere near him.  Looking to the east,
E'tharn sees the guard he was pursuing, now armed with a crossbow.
Other weapons, including spears, longswords and other crossbows, are
held in racks along the east wall to either side of a passageway
opening.  The man is standing just in front of this passageway and his
torch is in a holder on the wall.

The man is in the process of reloading his weapon, but upon seeing
E'tharn he pauses and says "Bearl, was that you following me?  How did
you....wait a minute, you didn't know about the trap and you're armed."
His distraction lasts long enough for E'tharn to charge him before he
can reload the crossbow.

He manages to dodge E'tharn's first swing and throws down the crossbow
to grab up a longsword off the wall.  The two of them begin sparring,
the sounds of their clashing swords echoing through the room.  Using
the sword Kelemvor gave him, E'tharn strikes the man a couple of blows
before the man's blade ever touches the wood-elf.  However, he does
eventually deliver two blows in quick succession, the second of which
cuts a painful gash into E'tharn's side.  The wood-elf's return blow
finds its mark and the man falls to the floor, unmoving.

As E'tharn does what he can to bind his own wounds, in the back of his
mind he reviews with appreciation how easily the new sword was to wield
and the fine balance of the blade.  Once his wounds are dealt with,
E'tharn considers what to do with the guard at his feet, who, he notes
after a quick inspection, is dead.

Abruptly, E'tharn detects the sound of footsteps approaching from the
east passage.  From the sounds, there seem to be at least four people,
but they are still far enough away to give E'tharn time to act.

E'tharn quickly exits the room and begins retracing his path back to
the party.  On his way back, he detects no signs of the origins of the
twittering laughter he heard before.

Eventually, E'tharn makes it back to the intersection that branches
east, to the column of light room, and south, to the map room.  There
he hears sounds from the south passageway of several footsteps
receding at a fast pace.  Somewhat concerned, the wood-elf moves
quickly to the column of light room where he left the party.

E'tharn notices something strange as he enters the mural room just
before the column of light room.  Shortly after entering the room, it
is as if all sound suddenly ceases.  To test this, he stomps his foot
and sure enough there is no noise.  His anxiety increasing, he advances
quickly to the column of light room.

As he enters the passage leading to the column room, sounds resume.
E'tharn hears the voices of Tenbar and Kelemvor coming from up ahead.
As he steps into the room he sees that much has changed.  There is now
only one column of light in place, holding Corporal Fellard.  Scattered
about the room are seven bodies that he has never seen before.  Ginafae
lies on the floor near the column containing Fellard, with Tenbar and
Kelemvor sitting nearby talking.  Tenbar bears several wounds that look
quite serious.

                             --------------------

After a relatively peaceful night's rest, Kelemvor wakes everyone to the
bad news that one of the guards escaped.  In a loud exaggerated voice
Kelemvor says  "The slimy bastard got away.  I tried to talk some sense
into him and let him out of his prison for a moment.  He took off and
E'tharn went after him."  Looking around, the others see that the column
of light that contained the guard Tenbar threatened is down and E'tharn
is gone.  Kelemvor shrugs with a helpless expression, but motions with
his eyes toward the feast room.  He then turns and walks in that
direction.

Before Kelemvor reaches the passage leading to the 'feast' room, there
is an outburst from Ssylth.  He exclaims "My sword, my sword, where is
my sword!  Who took my sword!"

A few seconds later, Tenbar joins the mage in angry exclamations as he
lifts his pack only to have all the contents fall out through a large
rip in the fabric.  He discovers that his iron rations are ruined, but
the worst damage is that all of his arrows are broken.  He is missing
his hand axe, whetstone and flint and steel.  He finally sighs and tries
his best to gather any unspoiled items and pack them into his
backpack.  When the others get there, he looks up at them and growls,
"Looks like them little folk been here last night."  He mutters
something under his breath... the rest of the party catch the words
"catch 'em... crush their cullions.... boil 'em.... burn 'em....  rip
out their hearts..."

Others find similar damage to their belongings.  Kelemvor discovers that
three of his vials have been unstoppered and the contents spilled.
Similarly, his vial of ink has been spilled across the blank sheets of
paper he carried, ruining them.  He is also missing two daggers.
Besides his missing sword, Ssylth finds his belt is cut, his extra paper
and ink is ruined, his backpack is slashed to uselessness, and his
rations spoiled.  Ginafae says that her rations are ruined and the vial
Kelemvor gave her is empty.  Greykin reports that his pack is also
damaged.

After a session of recriminating one another, trying to determine who
let this happen during their watch, Kelemvor calls for quiet and directs
everyone to the feast room.  Grudgingly, the group follows him, leaving
Greykin behind to keep watch.  As they enter the room, breakfast type
foods appear on the table, music begins to play and the fire place bursts
into flame.  Ignoring this, Kelemvor explains to the others how the guard
did not escape, but was freed by him.  He tells everyone that he learned
that the guards do not belong to the actual death cult, but that their
group is simply using that as a cover for their operations.  In order to
learn more, Kelemvor made an arrangement to set the guard free in
exchange for information about the death cult.  In addition to getting
information about the cult, he says that he hoped E'tharn would be able
to follow the man back to his hideout.

Kelemvor admits to taking Ssylth's sword and giving it to E'tharn who
he thought might have need of it.  He has no idea what happened to the
rest of your stuff and furthermore informs you that the equipment you
took from the guards is missing.

As Kelemvor finishes his story, Ssylth explodes, shouting "You damn
thief, why the hell did you steal the sword?  You probably did it
because I have no use for the sword. YOU IGNORANT SCUM!  True I may
not have any need for the sword, but Tenbar said he does not want it,
even though I was still thinking about giving it to him.  And E'tharn
that grave-robbing elf who stole the bracelets for me has no use for
it either.  Kelemvor, I will let you in on a little secret.  E'tharn
has no use for the sword either, YOU DUMB THIEF.  E'tharn already has
two magic swords which is why I did not give it to him.  He has the
cursed magic sword, and probably our most powerful magic item, the
sword he is now using.  I think he needs a third magic sword just as
much as I need one. So Kelemvor, you stole from me for no aparent
reason."

As he continues, he gets more and more worked up, eventually shouting
"Were you listening VALESKA?  VALESKA, oh VALESKA one of your followers
just stole my sword so that another member of our party who does not
need or want it can have it.  DID YOU HEAR THAT, ONE OF YOUR FOLLOWERS
IS A THIEF!"

Kelemvor explains, "Ssylth, I know you are probably mad at me, but let
me explain some things first.  The guard bought my story; I mean he
really bought it.  He was getting all into it, saying he'd help me
torture all of you and sacrifice you.  The guy is slime.  Well, anyways,
I convinced him that I worshipped Valeska according to the old ways, I
had heard that the Death Cult practiced the old ways, and that I was
just tagging along until I could find the Death Cult.  He said he knew
where they were located.  He also said that his operation is not the
actual Death Cult, but was just using them as a cover.  I believe him.
I turned into one of the 'bad' cops, trying to get him to tell me about
his operation.  He would not tell me anything, no matter what threats I
used.  He would not even tell me where the Death Cult was located, but
he did say he had that information.  So here is what I did."

"I woke up E'tharn, healed him, and gave him your sword Ssylth.  I then
told him that I was going to let the guard go, as a sign of good faith,
but that I wanted E'tharn to follow him to find out where he'd go.
Since the guy would not tell me where their hideout was, I figured he'd
certainly head straight for the hideout if he was set free.  We also
have the advantage that he still thinks I'm evil and sort of on his side.
Hopefully, E'tharn will be able to track the guy and find out where the
hideout actually is."

"I know I sort of did this without consulting the rest of you, but I
came up with it when I was talking to him.  I thought time was
of the essence because this guy hinted at something important happening
in the near future.  I couldn't exactly wake everybody up and have a
discussion or the guard would have become suspicious."

"Ssylth, about the sword: you said the sword was magical.  I figured that
E'tharn better have a magic sword in case he runs into any trouble when
following the guard.  I didn't have time to argue with you, so I just took
it.  I'm sure we can argue about this when E'tharn returns, and then you
can have the sword back.  I did not know that he already had a magic sword
or I would not have taken it from you, I swear."

Ssylth then gathers up all his belongings, ignoring Kelemvor's lengthy
explanation and muttering "At least Crowe never stole from other party
members."  Once all his stuff is together he stalks from the room giving
a dark scowl to Kelemvor.  Ignoring all attempts to reason with him, he
passes through the column room and exits through the east passage in the
direction the party came from the mansion.

Retracing the path back to the main sewer line, he follows it south to
the passage leading to the fungus room.  Shortly after entering the
passage, he takes a spill as his foot catches on something.  Falling
roughly on the damp filthy floor, his torch lands a few feet away, but
remains alight.  As he picks himself up, brushing the grime from his
clothes, Ssylth hears a faint twittering laughter all around him.
Abruptly, something flies past Ssylth's face and he sees a small dart
with a sharp point hit the wall beside him and bounce to the floor.
The faint laughing sound seems to be getting louder.

Rising to his feet and grabbing up his torch, he tries using the folds
of his cloak to protect himself as a several more darts fly at him from
the shadows.  Ssylth manages to block most of the small missiles, but one
strikes him in the shoulder and he lets out an oath at the sharp prick of
pain.  Turning east he begins to sprint, calling out "I mean you no harm.
I am leaving your area, just let me go."  In response, he hears a chorus
of twittering laughter.  Trying another tactic, he calls out "Here Kitty
Kitty Kitty, I got some dinner for you."  The laughter continues, but
fades as he moves away.

Maintaining a brisk pace, he soon arrives at the inclined tunnel that
passes beneath the river, or so he assumes.  Slipping his way down and
then up the far side Ssylth moves to the main sewer line of the east
side of town.  Soon he comes to the bridge crossing the river of filth
and shortly after that reaches the passage leading east to the crypt
beneath the mansion.  Slowing now that his destination is in reach, he
treks through the narrow passage and crawls through the hole into the
crypt where the group fought the zombies and skeletons, what seems like
weeks ago.

Everything appears as they left it, with the large pool of 'now' dried
blood in the center of the floor and the two closed coffins to either
side of the passage opening.  Moving quickly through the room, he enters
the hallway leading to the secret door.  When he reaches the end of the
tunnel he lets out an involuntary moan at what he finds.

It appears someone or something has removed the logs that the party used
to keep the door open.  They lie scattered about the floor in front of
the tightly sealed secret door.  Ssylth searches for a crack or opening
that might allow him to pry open the door but finds nothing.

A sudden noise behind him causes Ssylth to turn just in time to see
something drop towards him from the ceiling.  Dodging to the side, he
manages to avoid being caught in a net of white silky fiber.  As it
falls to the floor at his feet Ssylth hears a familiar twittering
laughter come from further down the passageway.  Looking in that
direction, to his dismay, he sees several small figures emerge from
the walls of the passageway.

They seem, literally, to jump out of the walls near the ceiling and
land on the floor in steady stream of bodies.  Upon hitting the floor
they scurry towards Ssylth with small sharp looking spears.

Upon seeing the creatures emerge from the wall, Ssylth calls out "I
tried to avoid you because I did not want to hurt you. If you put
down your weapons and open the door, I will not hurt you."  In response,
they simply laugh in their high pitched twittering voices and continue to
advance.  Seeing them move with surprising speed, he quickly begins
casting his sleep spell.

As they enter the torch light, he is able to see them more clearly.
They appear to be diminutive humans wearing baggy clothing and ill-
fitting leather helmets.  As they get closer, however, he realizes that
the clothing is actually their lumpy, many-folded skin, while the
'helmets' are their pointed and evilly-visaged heads, all leathery and
smooth and that there appear to be twelve of the creatures in all.  They
continue their squeaking laughter as they approach Ssylth with sharp-
toothed grins.

He manages to complete his sleep spell before they swarm towards him and
six of the tiny men fall.   Ssylth, taking a chapter from Tenbar's book,
takes on what he hopes is the look of a mad man and yells "Leave now, or
you will all die like your friends."  Though, they flinch back at first,
the others eventually move in to attack with their small but sharp
spears.  In their first assault, two manage to strike him, causing small
but not serious cuts.

Ssylth reacts by lashing out with his dagger, stabbing one of the filthy
creatures a fatal blow.  The others attack again and he is stabbed twice
by the tiny spears.

Seeing there is no way to get past the creatures, in anger and pain
Ssylth drops his torch and attempts to grab the one nearest to him.
Ssylth manages to lay hands on the little creature, lift him up in a
tight arm hold and place his dagger under the small fellows neck. Thus
threatening him, you call to the others to stop their attack.  The four
remaining creatures let out squeaks and turn to flee the way they came.
The one in your arms struggles fiercely, but Ssylth manages to maintain
his grip.  The six he caught with his sleep spell, are on the ground a
few feet away and the torch remains lit where he dropped it.

Questioning the tiny figure Ssylth holds proves ineffective as it does
not seem to understand what he is saying.  However, after threatening it
with his dagger it points to one of its brethren sleeping on the floor.
Deciding to take no chances Ssylth takes out his twine and carefully ties
up his captive.  Once it is secure, he moves to the others, takes their
weapons, and ties them up as well, being very careful not to wake them.
All, that is, except the one that was pointed to which Ssylth leaves
unbound, but does take his weapon.

Once the others are secured, Ssylth moves them together and wakes the one
that remains free.  It jumps up with a start and Ssylth grabs it before
it can flee.  He uses his dagger to threaten first it, then its bound
companions.  Afterward, he gestures towards the door and tells it, that if
it can understand him, to go open it.  The small creature glowers at
Ssylth, but then scampers down the hall and climbs up the wall to
disappear.

Several minutes pass before Ssylth hears the sound of stone grinding on
stone and the secret door opens.  Beyond, he sees the room with the seal
on the floor where the tiny creature he threatened stands.  Before he
can react, it scampers away down the passage to the east.  Ssylth quickly
moves through the open secret door with one of his captives.  It closes
behind him, but he presses the trigger to open it again and replaces the
logs to hold it open.  He then retrieves the other five tiny men he has
captured, giving him at total of six bound captives.  The one who opened
the door is gone and Ssylth can find no trace of it.

For some reason, Ssylth wants to call these creatures Jinxkins.  He has
never seen their like before, but he knows of stories about tiny men-like
creatures that live in tunnels beneath the ground and seek to cause harm
to others out of sheer maliciousness.

Before moving through the secret door, he goes back to where he saw the
creatures emerge from the wall and searches the area, both visually and
by tactile examination.  After a few minutes he discovers a cleverly
concealed opening, covered by a sliding shingle of stone, about a foot
above eye level.  Moving the shingle back, he sees a narrow roughly
hewn tunnel, about a foot in diameter curving away to the north.  As
well, after some more searching, Ssylth finds a similar concealed
opening on the other side of the corridor, directly opposite the first
one he found.

Moving into the room with the seal on the floor, he carries his
prisoners to the base of the ladder at the end of the east hallway.
Before going up the ladder he conducts a search of this hallway to
attempt to find where the creature that got away might have gone.
Now knowing what to look for, he soon finds another small concealed
passage in the north wall of the hallway, just before it opens into the
room with the seal.

Satisfied at solving that puzzle, he climbs the ladder to the fountain
and carefully pokes his head out to see who might be around.  The cellar
proves to be empty and after a few minutes he has his captives up the
ladder.  With the same caution, he proceeds to the stairway leading to
the library.  After listening for noises behind the secret door and
hearing none, Ssylth presses the trigger to open it.  As the bookshelf
slides back, he winces at the bright sunlight streaming into the room.
As his eyes adjust, he sees that the library is as he remembers it,
with sunshine entering through the windows in the south wall.  He judges
that it is late morning, about an hour or so before noon.

Returning to the cellar, Ssylth brings his prisoners up to the library.
They too seem to be troubled by the bright sunlight, squeaking with
displeasure, only they do not adjust, continuing to squint in the bright
light.

After a quick scout around, he satisfies himself that the mansion is
still empty.

                             --------------------

Frustrated by his stubborness, they let Ssylth go.  Kelemvor then casts a
healing spell on Tenbar, who bears the painful healing process in
staunch silence.

Tenbar suddenly breaks into a grin. "Whoo.. yon youth sure got lot o'
wind in' him."  He folds his arms across his thick chest and considers
Kelemvor somewhat sternly.  "I hope ye know what yers doing, Kel. Now,
tell use where E'tharn's gone and d'ye reckon we should follows 'im?"

Kelemvor, however, recommends waiting where they are, staying alert and
prepared for E'tharn's return.  As they debate their course of action,
there is a moan from one of the columns.  Looking in that direction, they
see Corporal Fellard finally stir and attempt to rise.

Moving to his column, along with Ginafae, the three see him sit up
groggily and lean against the inside of the column.  He shakes his head
and blinks several times as he surveys his surroundings.  Eventually, his
eyes light upon Ginafae and Tenbar and he gives a scowl.  In a harsh
voice, filled with anger, he says "I might have known you were behind
this.  Where am I and what have you done with my men?"

Before you can answer him, you hear a cry of alarm from Greykin followed
by the sound of clashing swords.  Turning, you see a darkly clad figure
with a longsword attacking the halfling where he stands guard over the
southwest passage.  Five more figures emerge from the passageway with
crossbows and move to positions where they can fire at you.  Scrambling
for cover, you manage to dodge their first volley of missles.  Two
figures remain in the shadows of the hallway and you hear the sound of
chanting coming from their location.

[For visual representation here is the situation]

                       \______________
                   \                  \
                    |     O     O       \
                    |                     \____________
                    |   O    *     O       ____________
                    |  bb       tk        /
                    |G b  O     Og      /
                   / 2  bb_____________/
                       /
O = column of light                                N
b = bad guy                                       W   E
2 = 2 bad guys in hall, chanting                    S
G = Greykin fighting 1 badguy
t = Tenbar
k = Kelemvor
g = Ginafae

After dodging behind the column from the first volley of missles, Tenbar
brings out his bow and reaches for an arrow.  He lets out a curse as he
pulls a broken shaft from his quiver, renewing his previous barrage of
expletives toward the unseen vandals who visited the group in the night.
Tossing the broken arrow aside, he searches through his quiver and
manages to find an undamaged arrow which he promptly nocks and fires at
an attacker; the arrow flies true and strikes the man in the side.

Inside the column, Holden looks around in confusion and shouts "What's
going on?"  Kelemvor shouts back at him "Fellard, you idiot, we
rescued you from the corrupt guards."  He then readies his scythe to
charge your attackers following the next volley of missles.

Meanwhile, Greykin seems to be holding his own against his attacker.
That is, until one of the men in the hallway stops chanting and calls out
to him "Do not attack me or my companions".  Following those words, the
halfling lowers his weapon and stands in place.  About that same time,
the second man in the hallway also ends his chanting and calls out to
the three remaining members "Surrender".  In dismay, Tenbar and Ginafae
watch as Kelemvor sets his scythe on the floor and begins walking toward
the enemy, arms raised.

The crossbowmen reload and continue to fire at Tenbar and Ginafae.
Tenbar returns their fire and strikes again, but at the same time is
grazed by one of their bolts when he has to break cover.  Ginafae casts
a spell, sending a bolt of energy at one of the men just inside the
passage.  The man who was attacking Greykin moves forward to intercept
Kelemvor and begins binding the helpless priest.

As another volley of missiles is launched, one of the men in the hallway
again calls out "Surrender now and it will go easier on you.  You have
no chance against us."  Tenbar replies by firing another arrow, which
goes wide, and in turn is hit again by a crossbow bolt.  Having no missile
weapons, Ginafae stays safely behind the pillar of light.  Kelemvor now
lies on the floor about 20ft away, securely tied and with a gag in his
mouth.  His captor, along with two of the other men, draw their swords
and advance on Tenbar and Ginafae under cover of crossbow fire from their
companions.

Tenbar manages to get another arrow off, striking an approaching swordsman
who falls with a scream of pain.  This time, Tenbar himself avoids being
hit by a missle.  The remaining two fighters close and the men behind them
then draw their swords and move to join them.  Tenbar draws his own sword
and Ginafae readies her staff as a hand-to-hand fight begins.

At first, Tenbar and Ginafae handle themselves well, deflecting the blows
of their first attackers.  Soon, however, the odds increase against them,
as they both are faced by two opponents, with a third waiting nearby to
get a chance at Tenbar.

Avoiding a second round of blows, Tenbar cuts past one man's guard to
deliver a fatal stroke, only to have another step in to take his place.
Ginafae also avoids her opponent's swords and strikes a glancing blow
to one of the men with her staff.

Tenbar's new opponent gets in a quick jab, striking the burly man in
the chest.  Tenbar returns the blow with a slash to the man's leg and
at the same time avoids the second man's sword thrust.  Ginafae blocks
her opponents's swings and manages to get in a sound blow across one
man's head.  This only seems to anger him, causing him to attack with
greater ferocity.  His next stroke finds its mark, cutting a gash in
Ginafae's arm.  She strikes back, giving him another sound thump on the
head at which he falls to the floor.  Her second opponent, however,
manages to clip her on the head with the flat of his blade.  Ginafae
crumples to the floor with a whimper. Tenbar, meanwhile, has managed to
down another of his opponents, but receives another wound while doing so.
He now bears four wounds, two of which are bleeding profusely, and they
are begining to take their toll.

While this fight has been going on, Greykin has moved to the pedestal
of in the center of the ring of columns.  There, he begins turning each
knob until all the columns have been lowered except the one containing
Corporal Fellard.  The men who have been released move to take up
weapons from those who have fallen.

Suddenly, something strange happens.  With the sound of roaring wind, a
large whirling funnel enters the room from the east corridor.  This
whirlwind moves quickly to engulf Tenbar and Ginafae then slowly begins
to expand.  Tenbar finds himself in an area of calm surrounded by a
swirling wall of smoke and wind.  As the wall expands, it catches up his
remaining two opponents, spins them around a couple of times then sends
them flying across the room.  Still expanding, the whirlwind lifts the
newly released men, along with Greykin, and sends them flying as well.
After having cleared an area of about 20ft around Tenbar the whirlwind
slowly begins to contract more closely around him.

A few of the men who have been thrown away rise from where they fell
and begin running toward the southwest corridor.  One of the spell
casters standing there yells "You will not escape us again", then
turns and flees south.  The second spell caster calls out to Greykin
"Follow me", then flees as well.  The halfling rises and moves after
the man.  Two of the fleeing fighters pause and begin to lift the
bound Kelemovr.  As they do, the whirlwind moves menacingly in their
direction.  They quickly give up on their task and flee with the others
out of the room.  Soon the room is empty except for the three party members,
Corporal Fellard and seven new bodies in addition to those that were there
previously.

After several minutes, the whirlwind slowly breaks up to form a familar
looking smoky grey cloud which floats over to Tenbar and stirs the wind
to tousle his hair.  It then moves away, down the east corridor in the
direction it came.

Despite the pain of his wounds, Tenbar manages to smile and wave at the
whirlwind entity as it floats down the east corridor. Once it is gone,
Tenbar sinks to his knees, grimacing, and closely examines his wounds. He
takes off his leather cuirass, rips his old shirt to pieces and uses them
as bandages to staunch the bleeding, all the while cursing the little
folk for this bad luck and promising to stomp on the first one he meets.

After bandaging himself, Tenbar moves to examine Ginafae.  She is still
alive, though with a nasty cut on her arm and a rising bump on her
forehead.  He then goes over to Kelemvor, who is unhurt, and cuts his
bonds.