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From: [e-mail] (Fraser MacDonald MacKenzie)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.archives
Subject: Fate's Fellowship - Chapter 18:Guards and Magic - A Bad Mix
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Date: 3 Jan 1996 09:00:44 -0500
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Here is chapter 18 in the Fate's Fellowship saga.

Enjoy!

--

gosensgo

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. ;)

   As well, one of the members of the Fate's Fellowship Mailing List
   has converted the Fate's Fellowship Saga from ASCII to Postscript
   files. I wish to thank Fabrice Uhl for his obviously enormous effort
   in conversion of the story which includes redrawing of maps so that
   they look professionally done.

   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/fates 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 18
                        Guards and Magic - A Bad Mix




As everybody passes through the cellar, Fellard and Kelemvor grab a
couple of the empty wine barrels.  The party then proceeds down to
the crypt where they pause in the room with the secret door.  There,
Kelemvor communicates his demands to the 'smart' jinxkin, having it
tell the others to help you get down to the room with voices without
alerting your enemies or else the two you keep will die.  Tenbar
remains nearby making appropriate threatening gestures at the tiny
creature.  After the jinxkin passes along the message to his kin and
nods his head at Kelemvor, Tenbar cuts the binds of three of the
jinxkin captives.  Opening the secret door, they scramble through it
and out of sight with amazing speed.  Tenbar grabs up the remaining
two jinxkins and your group proceeds through the door shortly
thereafter.  E'tharn uses the logs from before to make sure the door
does not close all the way.

Though it is slow going with their various burdens, everyone proceeds
through the sewers.  E'tharn remains well ahead of the group to
provide ample warning of any approaching patrol that.  The party
reaches the intersection to the fungus room and from there move to
the column of light room.  Both locations are as they left them and
E'tharn reports no sign of recent tracks.  Moving to the map room,
everybody finds that it too remains unchanged.  From there, they make
their way more cautiously and quietly to the room where they fought
the guards with the dogs.  Unlike the last time, it is dark and empty,
but with no sign of occupants.  Relieved at their fortune thus far,
they continue to their destination 'the room of many voices'.

E'tharn approaches the room and gives the all clear, detecting no one
inside.  As he enters and the rest of the party follows, a strange
whispering fills the air.  Everybody finds themselves in a 30x30x15
high room and their attention is immediately grabbed by the bright,
multicolored mural covering the walls.  Painted from floor to ceiling,
in various poses, shapes and sizes, are a multitude of people.  They
see richly dressed nobles, beggars, merchants, men-at-arms, young
maidens, tradesmen, harlots and many many more different types of
people.  They are set in a city backdrop, surrounded by buildings and
streets, but the figures are disproportionately large compared to
their environment.  The painter was obviously more interested in the
people than the location.

As the party looks at the painted figures, they notice that the figures
mouths seem to be moving.  Suddenly, everybody realizes that the
whispering noise is coming from the figures.  At first the party members
are able to pick out a few of the individual voices, saying "Did you see
who just came in?" "Danger waits nearby" "What are they doing?" "There
will be trouble soon." "Can't seem to keep the riff raff out."  "Maybe
they have money."  Gradually, however, the voices grow louder as more
and more join in.  Soon the party is no longer able to understand
particular voices as the din increases to that of a room overflowing
with people.  No single voice is louder than conversational level, but
the combined effect is quiet loud, making it difficult for the party
members to hear one another.

Motioning for speed, Kelemvor sets his barrel up near the far entryway
and Fellard does the same.  Tenbar sets his charges down in a far
corner and moves to climb up on one of the barrels.  Fellard mounts
the other one and they stretch the nets between them over the entrance
while E'tharn moves to the far side of the room and takes out his bow.

Motioning to Ginafae, Kelemvor grabs a torch and proceeds down the
hall.  The two don't go far before catching sight of four men headed in
their direction.  The men are carrying crossbows and when they spot
Kelemvor they call for him to stop.  For good measure, Ginafae takes out
a dagger and throws it at the men before taking off with Kelemvor at a
sprint back to the waiting trap.  Her dagger flys hoplessly wide, but
the men respond by firing their crossbows.  Both Ginafae and Kelemvor
are grazed by a bolt, but they continue running followed by sounds of
pursuit.

Though the noise in the room prevents the rest of the group from
hearing Ginafae and Kelemvor's encounter, when the two run through the
door Tenbar and Fellard prepare to drop the net.  Seconds later, when
the four guards appear in the doorway, they do just that.  The first
guard manages to run past before the net catches him, but the remaining
three are caught and fall tangled to the floor.  E'tharn fires two
arrows at the guard who escaped, striking him once but he remains
standing, however, and draws a longsword to charge Kelemvor.  Though
somewhat winded, the priest reacts quickly to block the sword blow
with his scythe then brings it around to strike the man but misses
when his swing is wide of its mark.  Before the guard can swing again,
E'tharn gets another arrow off and it strikes the man causing him to
fall to the floor at Kelemvor's feet.

Meanwhile, Tenbar and Fellard have come down from their perches and
have subdued the remaining three guards.  Unfortunately, the noise
level of the room still prevents everybody from being able to hear
clearly.

E'tharn motions for everyone to exit the room by the east entrance.
The rest of the group moves to comply and as he heads that way
himself, E'tharn examines the walls more carefully, noting that the
figures are painted directly on the stone.  Even his untrained eye
admires the skill and detail with which artist depicted the scene.

As Tenbar wraps the net tightly about the prisoners and begins
dragging them toward the east passage, Kelemvor calls out for him to
stop.  Having to yell to be heard over the voices, Kelemvor explains
that the net will be needed again and he doesn't want it to be torn.
Tenbar stops in his tracks.  "Oh," he grunts.  "Never thought o'
that," he mutters.  Tenbar, with Fellard and Kelemvor helping, manages
to lift the large bundle and carry it into the east hallway while
Ssylth brings the two captive jinxkins along.

True to E'tharn's prediction, as soon as everyone is out of the room
the voices abruptly stop.  The silence does not last long however, as
Kelemvor begins outlining the next step in his plan.  He first explains
that he wants to knock out the three prisoners and set up to capture
some more.  As if to demonstrate, he uses the handle of his scythe to
strike one of the captives upside the head.  The man yells out in pain
and makes a grab at the priest.  Kelemvor hits him again, which only
makes the man angrier and his efforts to get out of the net become
more violent.

Deciding to intervene for the captive's sake, Tenbar steps forward and
hits the man in the back head with the hilt of his dagger, causing him
to slump and remain motionless.  Tenbar treats a second captive to a
similar blow, knocking him unconcious the first try.  Tenbar looks up
with a smug grin at Kelemvor. "'s'all in the wrist," he mutters
cheerfully, prodding the unconscious captives to make sure that they
are really unconscious.  Tenbar then holds the blade of his dagger to
the third man's chest as E'tharn and Fellard remove the nets.  They
then take each man's weapons and armor and tie them securely at their
wrists, arms and ankles with Tenbar making a point to check the binds
himself.

After piling all the items found on the alive and dead guards, and
creating an inventory, Kelemvor reads to the party from the list,
"Guys, we found:
3 suits of chain mail
1 studded leather
2 longswords
2 crossbows (52 bolts)
mace
club
short sword
3 daggers
3 throwing knives
44 cp
61 sp
15 gp"

"What do you guys want to keep and leave?"

Tenbar, assessing that his old leather armor has taken quite a beating,
decides to try to get into some of the leather armor that one of the
captives was wearing.  It's not a perfect fit, but Tenbar manages to
squeeze into it.

E'tharn says, "I would like a rope, some oil, and the mace" and when
no one objects, he picks them up and puts them away on his person.
He mentions, "I am not very proficient with a mace but I remember
hearing somewhere that some undead creatures require blunt weapons to
do any amount of damage to them."

That done, E'tharn gives Kelemvor and Ginafae two berries each.  They
thank him as the pain from their wounds vanish upon eating them.
E'tharn then takes something else from a pouch at his belt.  It is a
purple gemstone about the size of a gold piece.  He hands it to Ginafae
and asks her if she might know what it is.  He says it has some sort of
divination and healing magic, but he does not know what exactly it does.
Ginafae examines the stone, giving a low whistle.  After a few minutes
she passes it back to E'tharn telling him she doesn't know what magical
properties it might have, but would guess it's worth at least 1,000gp
as a gemstone alone.  She tells him she has a spell that might identify
it if he would like her to learn it the next time she gets a chance.
E'tharn allows Kelemvor and Tenbar to examine the stone as well, but,
while they admire its beauty, they can offer nothing but guesses at to
what it might do.  The burly forester frowns and creases one shaggy
brow, "When did ye get that? This the first time I laid eyes on it.
Looks interestin'... 'tis enchantid, ye say?  What d'ye mean by this
div'nition?"  E'tharn replies, "Old Alkus gave it to me when I pulled
him out of the fire from his burning shop.  Unfortunately, all he said
before he died was to keep it away from the death cult because they
wanted it.  I am not sure what divination really is but I think it has
something to do with detection or something like that."

With a one track mind, Kelemvor turns back to outlining his plan.  He
and Ginafae are going to again move down the west passage to try to
find more guards.  When they do they will again lead them back here,
giving some signal as to how many might be following them.

"When the guards are chasing me, I'll yell down the hall so you know
I'm coming.  If I say, 'Ahhhhhhhhhhh!' that means there are four or
less guards following us.  If I say, 'Ohhhhhhh SSHHHHOOOOOOOOTT!' that
means there are five to eight guards following us.  If I say,
'HHHHHEEEELLLLLLLLLLP!' that means more than eight guards following us.
If I say, 'Ohhhhhh DDDAAAAMMMMMMMNNNNN!" that means they have a
spellcaster with them."

"Got it?  So a 'help' followed by an 'Oh Damn' means nine or more guards
plus a spellcaster."

Tenbar laughs out loudly at Kelemvor's plan.  Whacking the tall priest
soundly on the back, the forester grins, "Ay, that sound t'me like a
very good plan, my friend.  I'll try t' remember it."

Kelemvor grins back and continues, "We need to keep some of the guards
alive.  When and if we sneak into their hideout, we can use them to
check for traps.... 'Are you sure, Mr. Guard, that there is no trap
here?  Well, why don't we just put your head right here?  As I shove
his head to be taken off by the swinging blade!'"

Tenbar nods, but seems dubious. "If it be the only way we c'n get t'
the bottom o' this crap, then so be it."

To hear Kelemvor, the rest of the party realizes that they will have
to remain in the east passage, then move quickly to set up the ambush.
Kelemvor again goes over the different signals he plans to give to
until the rest of the party has them clear in their mind.  Once the
plan is set, he and Ginafae move again down the west passage.  Tenbar
and Fellard grab up the nets between them, prepared to run to the
barrels as soon as they hear Kelemvor's yell, and E'tharn readies his
bow.  Tenbar suggests Ssylth stay where he is to keep an eye on the
prisoners.

After moving through the room, with the voices starting and stopping
to conincide with their passage, Kelemvor and Ginafae travel for some
time down the west hallway.  Eventually, they reach an intersection
with a passage branching south.  No sooner do they turn in that
direction than they see a small 20x20 room, which is not shown on the
map with figures inside.  One man standing at the door spies them and
yells to the other while raising his crossbow.  Wasting no time,
Kelemvor and Ginafae take off the way they came, hearing a bolt whizz
through the air behind them.  As they run back the way they came
Kelemvor risks a look behind him to determine how many people might be
chasing them.

Back just outside the room of many voices the rest of the group waits
anxiously.  It has been a good ten minutes since Kelemvor and Ginafae
left and they are begining to worry.  Abruptly, E'tharn says "Listen".
>From the west passageway, everyone hears Kelemvor's voice yelling,
"Ohhhhhhh Ddddaaaammmmn!".  Moving swiftly, Tenbar and Fellard run to
mount the barrels.  E'tharn moves to the northeast corner where he can
get a good shot at the west entrance yet remain out of sight.  You all
get into place just as Kelemvor and Ginafae shoot into the room.
Meanwhile, the voices have started their deafening conversation.

E'tharn makes a gesture that imitates the casting of a spell to let
the others know that there is a spellcaster with the patrol following
Kelemvor and Ginafae.

Several breathless moments pass before the first of their pursuers
appear.  Waiting to catch as many as they can, Tenbar and Fellard
drop the net when five have entered the room, including an unarmored
man at the very back.  To everybody's dismay, the nets pass right
through them, falling to the floor!  The five continue running towards
Kelemvor and Ginafae, weapons drawn.  Seconds later, two figures appear
in the entryway holding crossbows.

[For a visual representation.]
                  ______________________
                  |                E   |
                  |                    |
            ______| F      3 1         |________
                  6      5        K        S
            ______7        4 2    G     ________
                  | T                  |
                  |                    |
                  |____________________|

Numbers represent guards.
Letters are Fate's Fellowship members.

Shortly after the men have entered the room, Tenbar shouts something
that sounds like "They.....real!".  Seconds later, E'tharn fires two
arrows at the last man in the group.  One of the missles strikes the
man in the shoulder and he grasps the wound with a grimace of pain.
E'tharn then drops his bow and draws his sword and shield to charge the
man.  Fellard jumps from the barrel he was standing on to rush the
intruders and Kelemvor moves south, both attempting to come up behind
the unarmored man.  Meanwhile the two crossbowmen in the room and the
two at the door fire with remarkable accurracy striking Fellard and
Ginafae each with a bolt, while two hit Kelemvor.

After shouting his warning that the others could not hear, Tenbar
stands where he is studying the intruders.  He is bewildered
momentarily when one of E'tharn's arrows appears to strike the mage,
yet both arrows fired strike the wall behind him, narrowly missing him.
This together with the net having passed through them as they charged
into the room is enough to convince him that something is not right.
Suddenly, it is as if his vision sharpens and he sees the five men in
the room as transparent shadows.  Realizing that his companions have
been tricked, Tenbar draws his sword and leaps from his barrel at the
nearest real crossbowman.  His blade connects with flesh just before
the man drops his crossbow and draws his own sword.  As the two begin
to fight, Tenbar groans inwardly seeing three figures in the hallway
behind his opponent.

Back in the center of the room, E'tharn, Kelemvor and Fellard have
closed on their target, the unarmored man.  Each of the three manage
to strike him, inflicting what appear to be minor wounds.  The other
four men, however, have turned to join the fight and weapons flash.
Kelemvor and Fellard are struck once each, and E'tharn is hit twice.
Abruptly, Ginafae runs into the center of the fray and tackles one of
the men, paying no heed to his flashing weapon.  Both fall to the
floor, but Ginafae seems to pass right through the man.  The others
hear her high pitched yell "THEY ARE ILLUSIONS".  Suddenly it all
falls into place - the accuracy of their attacks, the mages
surprising stamina.  It is as if a veil lifts from their eyes as
E'tharn and Kelemvor see the men before them as mere transparent
shadows.  As this takes place, Tenbar shouts, "That's what I've been
tryin' t;' tell yers," but his voice is once again drowned by the
uncanny voices that fill the chamber.  Looking toward the west
entrance the rest of the party sees Tenbar being backed into the room
by two opponents, with three other figures pressing to get in from
the hallway.

After his first attack, Tenbar and his opponent parry blows while
the second crossbowman fires again at someone in the room.  His bolt
misses and he drops his bow to join the attack against Tenbar,
unslinging a battle axe.  Together the two press Tenbar into the room,
with the second man striking a successful blow to the woodsman while
both Tenbar and his other opponent miss.

By this time, Kelemvor, E'tharn and Fellard have arrived to help,
just as two more 'cultists' enter the room.  The battle which ensues
is both vicious and deadly.  Tenbar manages to fell his first opponent
before taking another blow.  Kelemvor wreaks havoc with his scythe,
but takes a couple of painful blows himself.  Both Kelemvor and Tenbar
receive minor wounds from darts which fly at them from the hallway.
E'tharn's swordsmanship proves the most deadly as he delievers the
killing stroke to two enemies.  It was not without cost, however, as
he took some severe damage from the two opponents.  Fellard downs the
last man, but does not look well himself, having a serious wound to
his side.  As the battle begins to go against them, the fifth unarmored
man in the hallway takes off the way they came.  Kelemvor yells, "I'LL
BE BACK!" and chases after the unarmored man.

Searching the four bodies the group finds:
4 suits of chain mail
2 longswords
1 battle axe
1 scimitar
4 daggers
2 short swords
52sp
28gp
1 necklace of interlocking silver coins bearing image of Zada, goddess of
luck.

Breathing heavily and grunting with pain, Tenbar picks up the necklace.
He raises a bushy eyebrow, "Luck, eh?  P'raps 'tis luck we be needin'
right now...", and puts the necklace on.

As the party debates what to do next, Ginafae comes hurrying over to
everyone else and points back toward the east hallway saying something
"....Ssylth".  Moving quickly to where they left the mage, the party
finds him lying face down on the floor of the passageway.  He bears
several nasty bumps on the head and minor scratches all over his skin.
The only sign of the prisoners are the severed bonds that were holding
them lying on the floor near Ssylth.  Searching the area, E'tharn
reports finding small footprints and evidence that something was
dragged away to the east.  Tenbar immediately realises what has
happened.  "Them lyin', stinkin', back-stabbin vermin," he growls
vehemently.  "I tol's yers not t' trust 'em as far as ye c'n throw
'e,."  He gnashes his teeth angrily as he surveys the damage around
him.

With some water and careful coaxing, the rest of the party manage to
revive Ssylth who wakes flailing at unseen foes.  After he calms down
and lets out a stream of oaths, he says "Filthy creatures were all over
me before I knew what was happening.  Should have killed them when I
had the chance."

"Ay, we should," Tenbar curses.  He looks at Kelemvor angrily, but the
anger quickly dissipates and he slumps down, groaning, against the wall.

E'tharn drops to one knee and says to Ssylth, "I was wrong.  Can you
forgive me."  E'tharn then stands and growls, "Those filthy little
Jinxkins will pay.  No mercy for them any more and into the sunlight
each one will go if I have anything to say about it."  He then turns
to Ssylth and remarks, "Ssylth, the next time you are set to guard
some prisoners from the death cult, if they aren't in the same
condition when we get back, I for one, will not take any action
against you."

Though Ssylth cannot be sure, since it all happened so fast, he tells
the rest of the group that there must have been at least thirty jinxkins
in the hallway when he was attacked.  Standing on shakey legs, he moves
down the east hallway telling everyone to help him look for small
concealed openings on the tunnel walls, high off the floor.  Sure
enough, about 20ft back, E'tharn finds one.  A cleverly hinged slate of
stone slides back from the mouth of a roughly hewn tunnel, about one
foot in diameter.  Holding a torch up to the opening, the party discovers
the tunnel twists and turns out of sight.  Even Ginafae's slight form
would have trouble sqeezing into the space.  Tenbar finds another such
opening about 10ft further down, on the opposite wall.  There is
obviously no way the jinxkin could have gotten the guard's bodies
through these narrow holes.  Examining the floor, E'tharn reports that
tracks continue on down the east hallway.

As the party pauses to decide what to do, E'tharn hands out the last of
his berries, saving one for Kelemvor when he returns.  Though everyone
feels better for having eaten them, most of their wounds are still
troublesome.

It is apparent that the burly forester has taken the brunt of the
attack and it shows in the pained expression on his face.  Ripping
strips from his own shirt, Tenbar begins to bind the wounds as best
he can, following the directions he learned from Father Toland.  He
looks up at the others, his chest and shoulders heaving, and says,
"Don' reckon we c'n last 'nother round.  This was a failure, friends,
and alls we got t' show for it is these wounds.  I reckon we should
get our arses out o' here afore more o' them guards show up... now
that hey know we be down here and our strengths and weaknesses..."

Ssylth says, "I think we should start to head back to the mansion.
We can heal up there, and plan our next move.  Since the guards that
we captured were dragged that way, we can also try to see where they
went.  Maybe those little buggers just left them in the hallway.
Besides I want to see what some of those guys taste like.  I bet they
taste like chicken."

"I say we follow them trails, if E'tharn can keep track o' 'em,"
Tenbar growls.  "Them guards were heavy fellers, and I doubt them
little divils c'n have dragged them far."  He pauses for a moment,
considering Kelemvor's disappearance, "P'raps t'would be a good idea t'
have someone here, in case the tall feller comes back, or mayhap we
oughta split int' two groups wi' one group goin' after Kel, and
another goin' after them jinxkins?  What d'ye reckons, eh?"

E'tharn says, "No splitting up.  We have enough trouble taking out the
patrols without reducing the numbers in a group.  I think that we
should all chase the jinxkins.  Does this make sense?  Maybe we can
catch up and kill the little buggers."

Tenbar nods. "Ay, yer right," he mutters, and seems to think for a
short while, "But I reckons someone ought t' wait here fer Kel, or
leastways, go look fer him.  If none o' you are up t' it, I'll have a
look down yon passage," he indicates the western passage at he other
end of the room of voices.  "P'raps I c'n pick up his trail... If owt
comes up, I'll head straight fer the mansion an' the lib'ry where I
reckons youse would all be resting."  He then takes off down the west
passage.

Frowning at Tenbar's sudden departure, E'tharn leads the rest of the
group east, following the trail left by the jinxkins.  Shortly, they
reach the map room and there it takes some time for E'tharn to follow
the trail across the uneven surface of the floor.  He reports that the
signs of something having been dragged along the floor ends here,
suggesting the two unconcious guards may have wakened and begun moving
on their own.  Eventually, he finds evidence of the trail leading to the
south passage.

As another debate begins on where to head, everyone detects movement
from the west passageway.  Drawing their weapons, the party soon relaxes
when they see Kelemvor and Tenbar emerge from the hallway.  Between them
they carry the bound and gagged form of the mage who fled the previous
battle.  Tenbar explains that he met Kelemvor at an intersection in the
corridor west of the 'voices' room dragging his captive back in the
party's direction.  Together they hurried to catch up with the rest of
the group.  E'tharn, in turn, describes the trail left by the jinxkins
and escaped guards headed down the south passage from the map room.

E'tharn runs over and claps Kelemvor on the back and congratulates him
on a job well done.  He then asks, "How did you manage to capture him
Kel?"

"Well, I followed the bastard down the hallway.  I tried casting a
command on him once, but it did not work.  I then followed him down
and he ended up going through that 20X20 room, the one where we saw
the guards Ginafae.  Well, anyway, he went into this room with fifteen
coffins and these holes in the walls with skeletons.  He turned around
and said 'Come on in!' or something like that with this real evil grin.
Well, I just smiled back cause I knew I had nothing to fear from the
undead.  So I cast a command on him again and this time it worked.  I
had him 'surrender.'  Everything happened so fast and I was not able
to get the skeletons under my control before I bound the mage so I got
hit but I ended up getting control of them and destroying them.  Then,
while I was coming back, I ran into Tenbar."

After his explaination, Kelemvor draws the following map so that the rest
of the party has a better idea of what he is talking about.

+----------------------------------------------------+
|                      _| |_                         |
|                      |   |                         |
|                      |_ _|                         |
|                       | |                          |
|                       | |                          |
|Area #5              __| |__                        |
|                     |c c c|                        |
|                     |c c c|                        |
|                     |c c c|                        |
|                     |c c c|                        |
|                     |c c c|                        |
|                     |c c c|                        |
|            _______    | |    _______               |
|            |     |____| |____|     |               |
|            |      ____   ____      |               |
|            |_____|    | |    |_____|               |
|                    ___| |___                       |
|                    |       |_______                |
|                    |        _______                |
|                    |__   __|        ^              |
|                       | |           |              |
|                       | |  <------ to area #6      |
+----------------------------------------------------+

"We should not take the gag out of his mouth unless at least three of us
are present.  That command spell, that I talked about earlier, only uses
verbal components and this guy might be able to cast it."

After listening to Kelemvor, E'tharn says, "We should probably go to the
room of lights to get some healing."

"I don't really care that much where we stay.  Both the mansion and the
column room don't seem that safe.  Actually, I sort of lean towards the
mansion cause those damn little folk don't have tunnels there, at least I
think they don't."

"As for the little folk, if we ever get out of this and clear our names,
I'm going to breed cats, tons of cats and let them loose down here!  I
also think we ought to destroy the fungus garden, which is probably
their food source."

E'tharn disagrees with destroying the fungus garden.  He says, "we can
kill the jinxkins without destroying the plant life.  Silvanus wouldn't
fogive us or lend us aid when we are in need should we partake in the
needless slaughter of plantlife."

Ssylth pipes up, "I have detected that the battle axe and the necklace
we found on the guards are magical.  If no one can use the battle axe,
and none of you fighter types play on being able to use it in the
future, can I have it?"

Kelemvor quickly replies, "Well, I could use it too.  Heck, my
priesthood could use all of these things to fight undead with.  We
should try to split things up as evenly as possible.  In other words,
if you sell it, we should get a cut."

Ssylth adds, "Neither item is that powerful in its magical abilies,
but I would suggest Tenbar use the axe if he can so that he will have
a magic weapon.  As for the necklace, I have no clue as to what magical
properites it has.  Tenbar, can I look at it for a second and see if
I can determine anything else about it."

Tenbar passes the necklace over to Ssylth and looks on interestedly
as the young mage tries to determine anything else about it.  As to
the battle axe, the burly woodsman merely shrugs, "All's I c'n says
is that that might come in handy if we need t' cut down anythin'
thick and heavy.  Looks t' me like a mighty powerful axe.  P'raps
Kelemvor ought t' keep ahold o' it.  I already got this 'un here,"
he indicates the large axe he took from the trophy room, "so's I don'
need another one, magical or no."  He looks at Ssylth, "Well, did ye
find owt new?"

After looking at the necklace but not finding anything new, Ssylth
hands it back and says, "As for our new magic user friend, I want to
search him for any items, in particular his spellbook."  Tenbar nods
in agreement. "Have a good and proper look."  and the young mage
continues, "I also have a suggestion, since everyone we have ever
captured has always managed to escape, I suggest we make the mage here
harmless so that he can not bother us anymore.  I will talk to the
others about this when we get to wherever we decide to heal up at.  I
say we cut off a couple fingers.  My reason for doing this is that
magic spells ofter need hand movements, and without his fingers, he
would not be that much of a threat to us.  This is just a thought.  I
would also suggest doing this to all guards we capture in the future.
Without their thumb, it would be very hard to swing a sword at me if
I ever run into them again."

Ssylth's words seem to raise Tenbar's ire.  He remains quiet while
Ssylth describes his dastardly plans until the end, then Tenbar
growls, "We ent cuttin' no fingers off this mage or any o' them
guards, y'hear?!  There be other ways t' do this.  We c'n tie 'im up
good and proper, and gag 'im if yer reckon he might cast spells.  And
without 'is book o' spells and 'is other spell things, he ent gaunna
be doin' any magics, anyroad. Nay!  I won' be part of this torturin'
and maimin'.  What I did t' the man yesterdee was just pretendin' but
what yer talkin' bout, youth, is makin' us no better than them
villens!"

E'tharn says to Tenbar, "Tenbar, I understand your reluctance but
unfortunately, everyone that we have captured has been released by
those damnable jinxkins.  I think that the only way that we can be
sure that captured guards and the like are not going to get a second
chance at us is to disable them perminantly.  You don't think that
they would hesitate to do the same do you because they wouldn't."

Both Kelemvor and E'tharn agree with Ssylth and indicate that the youth
should go ahead and search the captured mage.  Kelemvor also agrees
with Ssylth's plan to torture prisoners, adding, "Good plan Ssylth and
if they don't tell us enough, we kill them.  I'm sick of losing our
prisoners."

Again, Tenbar shakes his head angrily, "If they attack us and we got
t' kill them in the fight, then that's fair, but if yer sayin' that
we take prisoners, then cut off their fingers and owt else, then kill
them, then I must tell ye that I had ye figured wrong.  Yer not better
a man than this youth here," he says, pointing at Ssylth.  He glowers
at Ssylth and a Kelemvor.

After Tenbar makes such a fuss over sending someone to Valeska, Kelemvor
says, "Fine, Tenbar.  We won't kill him.  He'll eventually get to see
Valeska whether I send him now or not.  I thought the thumbless guard thing
was a good idea; a rightful punishment for the crimes against this city."

"Those guards are part of a criminal operation against this city.  They
have framed us and are trying to kill us.  They have taken over the
city and there has even been talk that they plan to eliminate the Duke.
I think every one of them deserves death for his or her crimes.  These
guards have proven that they cannot be trusted to protect the city.
They had their chance.  I don't think they should be able to fight
anymore.  So, I support Ssylth's plan to cut off their thumbs."

"Just think of it as us being executioners, carrying out a sentence of
death."

Ssylth, having more to say, adds, "I think that we should ask the mage
here some questions before, during, and after we get rid of a couple
fingers.  I believe that it may help loosen up his tongue after he
looses a couple fingers.  I want to know if there are any other magic
users in their group, and how adept at spellcasting are they.  I might
want to know their level, or the highest level spell they can cast.  I
assume that he would have a rough idea of how powerful they are."

Tenbar replies, "Aye, ask 'im t' questions and if ye want, I c'n
preten' t' be the madman I was before to loosen his tongue a mite," he
says seriously, "But ye ent cuttin' off anyone's fingers!  That's
disgustin'!"

E'tharn says to Tenbar, "You are far to good to the cultists.  They
are taking over the city, killing innocent people, making us look
like murderers, Thornwalden is missing, and who knows what else.  I
think that letting them live is more than they deserve."

Ssylth ignores the burly forester and continues on with his plan, "I
say we go back to the mansion.  We could put a coffin lid over the
secret door button to prevent anyone or anything from opening up the
door and ambushing us.  I also feel that it would be much safer if we
plan to spend a day healing up for our next attack."

Tenbar nods, "If ye think that's best, but 'tis a long way back t'
the mansion."

Tenbar looks at the others, noting their battered and bruised conditions,
and turns to Kelemvor. "Unless ye have any healing magics left, friend, I
reckon 'twould be a good idea fer us t' get t' someplace we c'n rest
until yer up t' healin' us. Don' reckon we should go all t' way t' the
mansion -- that'd be wastin' too much time o' travel.  'Twould be best if
we went back t' the room wi' them columns, an' keep someone on guard and
watch down the passageway in case any o' them cult guards come after us.
We could also use them magical columns fer cover is any guard come after
us, eh?"