# Yet another Cauldron Story Hour



## steev42 (Apr 30, 2004)

So as I said in JollyDoc's Shackled City thread, I was inspired to do a story-hour style updating of the events page of my own Shackled City campaign.  Having written most of the completed sessions in that style now, I thought I'd transfer them over to ENWorld.  I'd appreciate any comments on style and such as I go along.

For now, I plan on posting updates every three days until all the ones I have done are up.  Then they'll come up as quickly as possible.

To start, and introduction to the characters you'll see in the following chapters.


Gryffth, a wandering Cleric of Fharlanghn.  A wanderer who happened to be in the right place at the right time to help out the city of Cauldron and the kidnapped children.

Isaura de la Cadena, a chain weilder.  A local to Cauldron, her primary motivation is money.  The more the better.  She has managed to stay away from the local thieves guilds so far, but that task is proving harder as time goes on.

Owen Hammerhead, burgeoning mage.  He has lived in Cauldron his whole life, and has taken up a variety of small jobs to try to help his mother pay off a tax debt before she loses her home.  Most recently, he has been acting as a messenger.

Big Crunch, the lone non-human of the group.  His orcish blood has gifted him with great strength, but he finds that people think he is stupider than they are.  Using that to his advantage, he finds that he can often get free ale, and ale is always good.


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## steev42 (Apr 30, 2004)

Oct 26, 9713
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Ruphus Laro whistled a quiet tune as he returned to the Church of St. Cuthbert, enjoying the drizzle that was falling. Ever since he had started his studies there, he had been moving up the ranks, and he was very pleased with himself. Jenya Urikas, the acting head of the church at the moment, had even specifically requested that he visit the children at the orphanage after the kidnappings. This was the second night he had gone, and though the sadness of the children hurt him, he felt that his visits were helping the remaining ones feel better.

Ruphus took a shortcut on his way back to the church, which was probably one of the worst mistakes he could have made. He stopped as he saw a figure stepping up to block the exit of the alley, and started to turn around. Two more figures blocked that exit. His mind wheeling as quickly as it could, Ruphus saw his death coming. "St. Cuthbert, guide me this night." Moving towards the less-guarded exit of the alleyway, he was quickly beat down by fists and feet. Cowering as best he could, Ruphus barely realized that the scream he heard was his own.

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An incessent traveller, Gryffth sat quietly at his table at the Tipped Tankard Tavern. He'd seen better quality inns, and worse, but never any with such a sense of...expectation. He felt that something was coming soon, something potentially bad. The tension in the tavern was such that it was likely a bar brawl would be erupting any moment. Deciding to get out while he still could, Gryffth dropped a silver on the table to pay for his drink, and quietly made his way out of the bar, never noticing the figure surreptitiously leaving behind him.

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Isaura de la Cadena was a local looking for a mark. The territories taken by the local thieves guilds had been expanding, and not much areas were left for her to take. Even this place, the Tipped Tankard, was probably under protection of the Last Laugh, a group that seemed to be gaining power quickly. But one had to make her money somewhere. Sitting in a dark corner, with an untouched drink in front of her, she had eyed the crowd until she saw the perfect target. Unfortunately, he was sitting in the middle of the room, and there was no way to get to him without being noticed.

Fortunately, she didn't have to wait long. The cleric (for now she saw he held a holy symbol) seemed to get rather uncomfortable quickly, and paid for his drink before leaving. The sight of silver pleased her, and she quietly got up and followed him into the night. Just when she was getting close enough to potentially make her mark, a scream split the night. A man's scream. Isaura sighed. Men always seemed to need a women's touch. But help would never hurt, and noticing that the cleric had now noticed her thanks to his turn, she invited him along. "You coming?"

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Not far away, Owen Hammerhead sighed at the rain. How he hated rain at times like this. He just had to deliver his messages, or his mother would never stay out of jail. The last one of the day had just been delivered, a receipt for ale or something like that. He never paid much attention to the papers he was delivering, other than to try to keep them dry. It helped to act like the least curious delivery person in Cauldron; it got him more business than the whelps who also did the job. He just wished he would get a little more respect. Like that half-orc that had just barrelled him over when he was leaving the inn. Didn't even apologize. Owen had the sneaking suspicion that the beast hadn't even noticed him. Suddenly, he heard a scream rip open the night. He almost walked the other way like most of the few people that were out, but decided to check it out. Curiousity would be the death of him yet.

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Big Crunch he was called, and he lived up to his name. It wasn't that he was stupid, it was just that he had a tendency to...well, crunch things. It didn't hurt at all that he enjoyed doing so. Not so long ago, he had even figured out how to harness his pure rage and anger into a terrifying combination of strength and pure stamina. Not many stood against him long, and the name had stuck. Now, he wasn't even sure he remembered the name he had been born with, Crunch was it.

And speaking of crunch, he was in a mood to bash some heads. His money was running low, and when money ran low, he couldn't very well drink as much as he wanted. Ale was expensive, at least the good stuff was. Then he heard the scream, and smiled. One could always get an ale as a reward for saving someone. Breaking into a run, Crunch set off towards where he heard the sound.

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The four intrepid saviors of Ruphus Laro arrived at nearly the same time, and saw the pitiful scene in front of them. Three figures with painted faces, half black and half white, were severely beating another man wearing the white robes of a cleric. As they arrived, one of the figures picked up the cleric by his hood and thrust him back against the wall. "Stay away from the orphanage, you hear!"

This was enough for Gryffth. Though he had no knowledge of the signficance of the paint, this was a situation that was just wrong. "Stop! What's going on here?

Right over the top of the cleric, Owen spoke up. "You know, three on one isn't very fair." And Isaura, "Now gentlemen. There's no reason for roughness right now. Let's talk first." The wink and the inflection on the word talk left little imagination as to what she meant.

It was not meant to be, however. The only response recieved from the attackers was a simple "Bugger off." Gryffth would try once more at diplomacy. "I'm sure we can come to an understanding folks...there's no need to beat someone senseless in the alleyway."

It would seem that this attempt was lost even on his current allies, though, as Owen gripped his quarterstaff tightly and advanced. "I don't know what this is about, but you guys aren't playing very fair." A whistle rushed through the air as his quarterstaff swung towards one of the attacker's heads. It connected, but he got a punch in the gut for his efforts.

He was saved! Ruphus silently thanked St. Cuthbert for sending aid to him in this moment of need. But it could still go wrong. Forcing himself to stand against the pain from the numerous bruises he had sustained, Ruphus watched the opponents carefully. "St. Cuthbert, grant my saviors your blessing in this melee." He felt the magics take effect, and smiled. He wasn't completely useless, it seemed.

The combat was in full swing now, literally, as Isaura's spiked chain whipped out. She missed her target by a mile though, cracking one end of the chain into the brick wall beside the alley. Crunch leaped forward, keeping his weapons sheathed as the thugs had yet to draw their own swords. A mighty punch rocked back the head of one of thugs.

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Kerlen shook his head. This was not what they had been paid to do. They were supposed to rough up the cleric, and now they were being attacked by four others. This could get him fired; get them all fired; if they weren't careful. A quick signal, and all three of them had their shortswords in their hands and were making a strategic withdrawal. It was not all that helpful though, as the one with the staff dropped it and make an arcane gesture. A bolt of force flew out of his outstreched hand and slammed into one of his companions. The chain wrapped around Kerlen's legs, but he managed to get a decent hold on it, and pulled the weapon right out of the others hands. And suddenly, Kerlen felt sick. Where Isen had been but a moment ago, now stood the half-orc. Isen was but a mush against the far wall, dead. He noted the cleric they were sent to beat up casting another spell, but couldn't do anything about it. Blood rushed to Kerlen's head, and he felt rage. He stepped forward, but his swing was wild. He vaguely noted his companion trying to run away. The quarterstaff was coming again...and Kerlen dropped his sword. All was black.

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Her chain back in hand, Isaura moved foward again. There was still one of the thugs standing, and he was still holding his sword. A snake out with the chain, and that problem was rectified. Crunch made short work of the now unarmed thug, dropping him at his feet bleeding. Isaura was startled to hear a voice from above her. "Well done! But the cleric lives only because we wish it so, not because of your misplaced bravado. Take these words back to your temple, priest! The children are lost and no longer St. Cuthbert's concern."

Owen was just as startled, and was the only one to see the figure disappearing onto the roof of the building beside them. He mentioned it, but no one seemed to concerned about that figure. Gryffth had stabilized the unconcious thugs, ensuring that they wouldn't die, and searched the bodies, keeping close count of the coinage he found. When Gryffth questioned what St. Cuthbert had to do with this scene, Ruphus spoke up.

"I am Ruphus Laro, cleric of St. Cuthbert. I thank you for helping me. I was on my way back to my temple when they tried to mug me. At least, I thought they were trying to rob me until they started talking about the children.

Again, Gryffth played the diplomatic role. "You are welcome. I pray that your path will be less wrought with peril in the future. May I ask, what children do you speak of?"

Ruphus was shocked. This one must be from afar, otherwise he surely would have heard the news. "Why, the ones taken from the orphanage? Surely you've heard?" At Gryffths explanation of having just arrived in town, he nodded. "Please, accompany me back to my temple. I will explain it all as we travel." Gryffth propped one of the thugs up against the alley wall, taking the other with them for questioning.

Isaura barely masked her disappointment at hearing that the kidnapped children were from an orphanage. She had heard of them, and harbored fantasies about rewards for finding them, but nothing really serious. Still, there was a chance the temple would reward them for rescuing this Ruphus fellow, so she continued to follow him. As they moved, she barely listened to the story, having heard most of it in rumours about town. "I am not sure how those thugs were involved, unfortunately. But recently, a number of people have been disappearing. Perhaps they all just left, but the children...it doesn't seem as likely somehow. A few days ago, four children disappeard from the Lantern Street Orphanage. The Church of St. Cuthbert has publicly promised to return them...

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The Church of St. Cuthbert was simply adorned, though the gold and marble building was still a sight to behold. It was located on Obsidian Avenue, in one of the richest areas of town. Ruphus led the four unlikely rescuers into the building, then excused himself to report to the high priest. All four are offered blankets with which to dry themselves, and warm tea. While they waited, the pocketed gold from the thugs was split evenly among the four. A while passed, and a woman with streaks of grey in her blonde hair, but a young face that belied the grey approached. She smiled at their greetings, and spoke with an almost lyrical quality. "Good evening. I have spoken to Ruphus and learned of his harrowing ordeal, as well as your remarkable heroism. I am Jenya, the acting high priest here. I am truly in your debt." She paused, closely examing the odd quartet in front of her. Odd, yet she had few better prospects with Alek out of town still. "I have a proposal for you four, if you would care to entertain it?" The four people all acknowledge the offer with varying degrees of enthusiasm, so she continued.

"As you heard, four children were taken from a local orphanage. Three nights ago, this happened. It turns out that they are only the latest victims of a series of kidnappings. Two boys and two girls were taken, out of locked rooms in a locked building. None of the children or staff saw or heard anything untowards. We have publicly pledged to find and return the children, but have no staff to undertake this effort at this time. If you don't mind, I would ask you four to help us find them. I will let you know everything I know."

Isaura had but one thing in mind...money. "How grateful would you be if we helped?" It seemed that others were thinking other things, however. "Finding things is what I do, my lady. Even when they're people. I can probably help you." This from Gryffth. Of course, he'd interfere, Isaura thought. The half-orc only expressed an interest in ale. Jenya listened to all of their requests, and motioned to a couple of acolytes. One quickly returned with a pitcher of ale, and the other with a plate containing four vials.

Jenya internally had hoped that the church would get through this without paying, but it seemed that was a hope beyond hoping. "Each of these is a potion of Cure Moderate Wounds. These are yours. And if you should find the children and return them, I offer you a bounty of 2,500 sovereigns." Isaura wanted more information. "The 2500 is to split among you, and is a total offering. I wish I could offer more, but at this point, I am not empowered to do so. Now, there is one major clue that we have to offer you. Our church holds the Star of Justice, which enables us to call upon the wisdom of St. Cuthbert once a week. Normally, only the high priest can use it, but since I am acting in his stead, I felt it within my rights to use it in this situation. When I asked where the children were, all I got in return was a riddle."

"The locks are key to finding them.
Look beyond the curtain, below the cauldron,
But beware the doors with teeth.
Descend into the malachite 'hold,
Where precious life is bought with gold.
Half a dwarf binds them, but not for long."

Jenya looked at her party intensely. "This last part worries me, where whoever holds them won't have them for long. I think we need to do this quickly." She listened as the group pored over the riddle as Owen had written it down. She made a small correction. Then, as they discussed the early lines, she made an interjection. "Perhaps you might want to start by visiting the Orphanage? You may be able to determine something the Lord Mayor's men were unable to." It was determined that this was a good idea, and though Jenya offered the temple as a place to stay for the night, her group decided to travel to the orphanage immediately. Enthusiasm was such a nice thing to see in a group like this. Jenya watched them move into the night with trepidation. She hoped they would be able to accomplish their mission.

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Owen led the way to the Orphanage, feeling a bit like an orphan himself. Ever since his mother had got into trouble with the Lord Mayor's tax collectors, he had been nearly ostracized from her as he tried to gain the money needed to get her out of debt and keep her out of jail. It was a decent trip, taking nearly twenty minutes even through the mostly abandoned streets. When they arrived, they discovered that it was locked for the night. Nevertheless... "Let's look around for clues." He looked around for a bit, finding nothing, when he heard a knocking on the door.

Isaura thought searching for clues in the dark was useless. She knocked on the door softly, and was pleased when it cracked open. She was unable to see a face for a moment, until looking down and seeing the face of an elderly gnome looking up at her. "Who sent you?"

No sense in telling a lie at this point, Isaura thought. "Jenya, from the temple." She was joined quickly by Gryffth. The man had to be involved in everything, didn't he? But at least it seemed that the gnome was yet to be convinced. "Prove it!" Gryffth quickly produced one of the potions given to them, which bore the mark of St. Cuthbert on them. That seemed to be enough for the gnome, however, as the door was closed again briefly, the sounds of chains being removed coming through to them, and then opened wide.

Gryffth immediately swept out the charm. "Blessings of the Dweller on the Horizon to you. I am Gryffth, a wandering priest of Fharlanghn. The priests at St. Cuthbert's told us of some missing orphans?"

Isaura had to step in before the priest took over everything. "Yes, we'd like to know what happened and if we could have a look around?" The gnome nodded. "You'll be the third group to do so then. The Lord Mayor sent two groups. But feel free. Just don't bother the children. They're all asleep." The group took advantage of it. Isaura was able to tell that the locks had not been tampered with anywhere in the building, and in fact were all fairly well made by the same craftsman. The others questioned the staff members, discovering that no one knew anything about the disappearances. As far as any of the staff knew, the children were in their beds at night, but were missing in the morning when they were checked on. The closest they came to finding anything out was two facts. First, Gretchyn, the gnome who had answered the door and was the headmistress here, was the only person with keys to the doors. Second, Owen seemingly made friends with Patch, the half-orc janitor. He discovered that Patch had been hired to watch Terrem, one of the kidnapped boys, by a local man at a bar, a member of the Last Laugh. Patch had not seen the man in weeks, and was distraught over the fact that he might have had something to do with the boys disappearance.

Finished up, they left, but not before discovering the identity of the groups of the Lord Mayor's men. The first were simple city guards, unlikely to do anything. The second were Fario and Fellian, half-elf trackers. As Gretchyn described them, they were "well armed, and seemed to know their way about." The group apologized for intruding at the late hour, and walked back into the night. Comparing notes for a moment, they split into pairs for the evening's rest.

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Oct 27, 9713
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Owen awoke in the morning with his crossbow fallen out of his hand, though he had tried to keep it there because he didn't yet trust the half-orc that was sharing his loft. As he awoke, he placed his hand on a piece of paper that had not been there the night before. Looking at it briefly, he realized it was a note. "Valiant fighting, dearie. But I could have killed you, you realize." He pocketed it, intending to show the others. He grabbed his weapons, and kicked Crunch awake. "Get up, you mangy orc breed. It's time to move." Crunch, fortunately, always had to fight off the effects of alcohol in the morning, and so merely groaned and went about getting ready. As determined the night before, the pair went back to the Tipped Tankard to meet up with Isaura and Gryffth. There, he showed the note to the others nervously. "Either I'm dead soon, or I have a fan." A brief discussion ensued, and it was determined that the note probably came from the voice in the alley, and that she was probably a member of the Last Laugh.

The show must go on, however, and they had two locatiosn to go. The Church of St. Cuthbert had retained possession of their prisoner the night before, while waiting for the guardsmen to arrive, so Gryffth and Owen elected to go there, while Isaura and Crunch headed off to find the maker of the locks seen at the Orphanage, one Keygan Ghelve.

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Keygan was nervous and upset. He could sense the fright present in Starbrow, but he couldn't do anything about it. That...thing, the tall one, as he called him, was still in the back. He walked around on his stilts, dusting and in general making sure that the merchandise was in tip-top shape. He had gotten quite good at walking in stilts over the years, and found that it made his customers more comfortable when they didn't have to look down at the merchant. The bell on his door rang, and Keygan looked up at the rather odd pair that made their entrance. "Greetings, good people. How may I help you?"

The woman did the talking. Not surprising, considering that her companion was a half-orc. Filthy breed that; all of them should be banned from Cauldron. "Actually, sir, I was interested in some work I believe is yours."

He already didn't like where this was going. This could get very dangerous if the tall one were to hear. "Uh...Is that right? How so?"

"The Orphanage's locks. Did you make them?"

Yeah, this was bad. He tried to make them realize that he had 'company.' But they were dense as obsidian. "Yes. Terrible business that, especially since they were some of my best work. My sales have dropped a lot since then." Then, the kicker. She wanted to know if he had made any other keys for those locks. Starbrow! "Why...why would I do that?"

She wasn't fooled by his lie. But he would get killed if he told the truth. As she slapped the counter and demanded the truth, he saw the half orc flexing his muscles behind her. "Ma'am, " he gulped with a nod to the back, "I assure you I have done no such thing." This time, they saw the motion, but IDIOTS! They rushed to the back. They were going to get killed, and he'd have paperwork to write, and everything would just go wrong. He followed them, but only as far as the curtain seperating the rooms. He saw the woman moving to one of his chests. "Ma'am, please. That is my work and my life. Leave my chests alone."

"For once in my life, I have no interest in your gold. So tell me what I wish to know, and I won't touch them. Continue to blather like an idiot, and they're all mine." Ghelve had had about enough of this. He should let the tall one take care of them, but if it hadn't attacked yet..."Ma'am, if you touch them, I will be forced to call the guard and incapacitate you. Now, what do you say, we come back to the front and we can discuss it." She wanted to discuss it here. Humans could be so dense sometimes.

And yet she pressed the issue. "Why not here? Will someone get the...last laugh...on you?" Ok, so she wasn't quite as dense as he thought, with that guess. He did pay protection fees to the guild, after all. But no, it wasn't them, and he indicated as such. Finally, he realized there was only one way to do this. "I have to run some errands. If you really wish to discuss business with me, you can come with me." This seemed equitable to them, and he went out, removing his stilts and shortening his pants as he did so. Once outside, he went a few buildings, then ducked into an alley where they couldn't be overheard.

"I had to, you understand? They took my familiar. They were going to kill him unless I helped. They made me give them master keys. I gave them three keys; between them, they'll open most of the locks in this city." He was all but blubbering now, he had confessed his sins. He only hoped it didn't bite him. "They're holding him, my familiar that is, in Jzadirune. In a small, dark room. My poor Starbrow!" He explained about the tall ones and the short ones, and how they spoke a language he was not familiar with. They tried to figure out what language it was, but neither of the ones they spoke sounded the same.

The woman smiled. "What is Jzadirune? And if I rescue your familiar, would you be willing to give me one of these master keys to the city?" Ghelve was appalled. That would be trading one evil for another. He steeled himself. "Jzadirune is a gnome enclave abandoned years ago when a disease started ravaging it. The main entrance is underneath my store, but no more keys. But if you wish, I could give you a lock or two to protect your own things." She nodded, but had another condition. "I want unlimited access to that entrance for myself and my three...friends."

If he was to ever get Starbrow back..."Agreed. You and your three friends may have access to the entrance. But beware, one of the tall ones guards the entrance...

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Owen and Gryffth spent some time wandering around the town, trying to find information. It seemed that no one wished to talk about the Last Laugh, except one man who literally laughed at them. He mentioned that someone had been passing off coins minted with a jester's mask instead of the real sovereign, but nobody was really caring. Other information they discovered was that one of the kidnapped children had the surname Stormshield, a child of Dwern and Imogen Stormshield, adventurers who passed on a few years ago. Coming to the conclusion that this must be Terrem, the pair decided that now their best source of information would be the prisoner they had captured the night before, and set out to travel back to the temple of St. Cuthbert.

The interrogation didn't start out so well, with the prisoner refusing to cooperate. Some minor intimidation involving the threat of magic was all it required to get him to talk, however, and he started spilling the beans. "Yes, it was the Last Laugh that hired us. Some lady named Jil or something like that. She hired us to send a clear message to the Church of St. Cuthbert not to investigate the children who had gone missing. She said we didn't need to kill anyone, so we were ok with it. We needed the money, after all. But you captured us before she could pay us. Ten gold each, gone just like that."

"And what does Jil look like? And what was up with the paint job?" Owen wanted to know. It turned out that Jil was very nondescript, and the painting was simply in imitation of those who hired them. Further intimidation only served to frighten the poor man, and when the city guard showed up to take him into custody, the guard seemingly recognized the thug, calling him Kerlen. Gryffth was unable to convince the man to allow them to continue with custody of him, in fact being threatened with arrest himself for murdering a man. They were told that the probable fine was jail time until a fine could be raised, and then he would be freed. The guard and prisoner walked out, leaving Gryffth and Owen looking flabbergasted at the insinuation.


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## steev42 (May 4, 2004)

*Interlude With Jil*

[Short update from a short session.]

Owen and Gryffth look at each other, and silently decide that following the guard and Kerlen is the right thing to do. Deciding to be quiet and sneaky about it, they do well enough until Owen has to check. Loudly asking Gryffth if he's moving quietly enough, it seems to make the others more alert, but they don't seem to notice the trailers. Shadowing the pair through the city streets, they take an innocuous shortcut through an alley, and when Owen and Gryffth peek around the corner, they notice that the pair is nowhere to be seen, with no time to make it through to the other end of the alley. They spend some time looking around, eventually finding a chalked symbol of a harlequin mask. Gryffth gave a wry chuckle. "I see we were right to follow."

"Or were you wrong?" A female voice came from above them.

Gryffth immediately looked up, but sees nothing, and calls out. "Jil, is that you?"

"Ah, so you've heard of me, lamb? We've heard of you too, asking after us. You really shouldn't do that though..."

Gryffth thought he had her location pinned down from her talking, but still couldn't see her. "We don't have to be enemies. Why were you attacking the cleric?" The only response he got was from the figure dropping suddenly right behind them, hanging briefly on a whip before dropping into a crouch. The figure is so completely covered, however, that making out any distinguishing features proves impossible.

Jil looked at the pair in front of her. "You can fight, dearie. You can track. Can you steal?"

Gryffth was only slightly confused, but played along. "Why would I want to? All the world is my oyster. I have riches worth far more than gold." He was a little shocked when Jil indicated that she was talking to Owen instead. "Wasn't talking to you, lamb. Was talking to this other one."

Owen was truly confused. He didn't know where she was figuring this out, but still. "Apparently I can't track enough...I can steal, though, but it depends on what I'm stealing and why. What did you have in mind? Oh, and by the way, thanks for the love letter." Gryffth backed this up with a "I'm the one that did the tracking, Lamb."

Jil was now seemingly ignoring Gryffth. "Oh, but you can, dearie. Otherwise, I wouldn't have had to steal those two away. And I was just checking. Perhaps we may be interested in you in the future. Have a good day, pets." She tumbled away, vanishing into the city streets. Watching her go, the pair turned to investigating the harlequin mask. They spent nearly half an hour, but try as they might, they couldn't find the secrets that they knew were hidden there. This was when Gryffth suggested returning with the others.


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## steev42 (May 10, 2004)

The Tipped Tankard Tavern was serving as a decent meeting place for the moment, and it was there that Isaura, Crunch, Gryffth, and Owen were reunited. Comparing notes, it was determined that both groups had made progress; Gryffth and Owen in tracking the thug and meeting with Jil, and Isaura and Crunch in finding out about Starbrow. Isaura related the information about the 'tall ones' and the 'short ones'.

Owen spoke up. "Perhaps if we invited ourselves into the lair of the Last Laugh, we could find some answers, and perhaps some allies as well." Gryffth agreed, pointing out that their hiring Patch to watch over Terrem was not an unaltruistic act. The other two readily agreed with this idea, and after paying for their breakfast, the four of them moved out to the alley that Gryffth and Owen had been in not two hours ago.

Gryffth led the group, wondering if any of the three would be trustworthy in the long run. He was keeping his thoughts to himself, looking ahead, when he caught sight of someone standing at the end of the alley to which he was heading. The man looked in Gryffth's direction, and darted back into the alley. Running to catch up, Gryffth found the alley empty, and the opposite entrance leading to a street full of people. Obviously, whoever it was had made good their escape. Returning to the three others, he moved to point out the harlequin chalk marking that he had seen earlier, and was surprised to discover that it was gone. Nevertheless, he expressed his confidence that this is where he and Owen had been earlier, and the wizard agreed with him.

Isaura merely nodded, and set about searching for the undoubtedly well hidden entrance. Eventually, she was able to find a small door, one which was sized so that people in armor would be unable to enter, making a good hidey-hold from any patrolling city-guardsman. Pointing out the door to the others, she was only slightly startled when Crunch attempted to make the entrance bigger...and succeeded remarkably. Unfortunately for the half-orc, an arrow flew out from the opposite wall, striking him heavily in the back. A quick check revealed no hidden menace, and it was determined that the arrow had been a trap. Isaura looked around, and realized that she was the obvious person to enter first. The door was still too small, so there was only one thing left to do. With a grin, she started taking off her armor, making sure to do it in as seductive manner as possible. Rewarded by a blush creeping into Owen's cheeks, she grabbed her dagger and set about crawling in.

Owen followed Isaura, still feeling the heat rising. Soon, however, he found himself plunged into complete darkness as Crunch moved to the entrance of the hole. Sensing open space above him after a while, he drew upon his magical training to illuminate the room with dancing lights. It was a small room, no more than fifteen foot square, and a quick examination revealed a single table upon which rested a domino mask, and a crowbar set up so as to prevent the rigged ceiling from falling. Or at least, that's what Isaura said it did. After she complained about feeling slow. Whatever that meant. The other two made it into the room, and Gryffth examined the mask while Isaura made sure that the ceiling truly wasn't going to fall down on them.

"So you've discovered the safehouse. You may begin to be more trouble than you're worth. J." Gryffth read the note on the back of the mask. The others making their way out, he decided to leave a return note behind. "No trouble, no trouble at all. Give Patch our regards, and Kerlen...hopefully we can be on the same side with this orphan business. -Gryffth, Cleric of Fharlanghn." He then followed the others back out into glorious daylight.

"I think it's time we follow up on Crunch and my lead." Isaura was a little miffed now. A thief within the radar of a guild of theives was never a good thing. Owen suggested rest--wizards always seemed to want to rest, even though it was barely noon. Fortunately, the others did the convincing, and the four of them moved off to Ghelve's Locks.

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Oct 28, 9713
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Owen just stared dumbfounded at the gnome. For some reason, he was pretending not to know them at all, not even Isaura or Crunch. Oh, sure, he had been polite enough when they entered, all "Mistress and Masters", but every attempt at convincing him to allow them to return at night as they wished was failing. He would not open the door at night, he said, because he feared setting a trend which would force him to continue to do so in the future. Not even the mention of the man's familiar (he was a wizard, this gnome?) spurred a change in the response. Finally, apparently exasperated with the gnome, Gryffth said that they would come back in the morning. The cleric was obviously used to being a take-charge kind of fellow, and that was perfectly fine with Owen at the moment. The four of them left, determing that Crunch would stay behind to watch the building through the night. They returned to their respective sleeping locations, and Owen got a good nights rest, though the idea of the children being scared ate at him the entire night.

Dawn's first light found our foursome back at Ghelve's. Subtlety escaped them as they offered to "clean out the dust bunnies". Isaura knew something was back there from her earlier encounter with Keygan Ghelve, and led the group into the back after cursory pleasantries with the gnome. Seeing nothing on the first floor, as had been the case earlier, she moved towards the stairs. Before she even had time to react, a humanoid with grey skin, no clothes, and black eyes with no pupils had landed beside her. Two pokes of his needle sharp rapier later, she saw darkness closing in...

Outraged at the rapid way that Isaura had fallen, Crunch took a might swing, bouncing the creature off the wall, and directly into Owen's quarterstaff. That apparently was enough to drop their attacker. Gryffth took the opportunity to call upon the grace of Fharlanghn, healing enough of the rogue's damage to prevent her from dying. Turning to the creature that had attacked them, he discovered that its healing powers were apparently a bit better than usual, as it had stabilized itself somehow. Crunch ties up the creature, and Gryffth again calls upon Fharlanghn, this time asking for stronger healing on the hapless Isaura.

Isaura coughed and sat up, sure that she was on the other side. Cursing silently to herself when she saw that Gryffth had been the one to bring her back, she forced herself to her feet, pleased that other than the poison currently coursing through her body, she seemed to be in excellent shape. The cleric was tending to the...thing...that had attacked her, healing it. After he touched the creature, it woke up slowly, and looked at its captors. Attempting to question the thing seemed to be getting nowhere, as everyone tried language after language that they knew, and no response coming from it. Exasperated, Isaura moved back through the curtain gingerly. "Ghelve, do you know what language these things speak?"

Ghelve shook his head sadly. "I've never heard it before. They always mimed what they wanted...it was enough to get their point across, I think." He went back to work on his lack as she returned. The others had taken the creature's equipment away, and had set about searching for the entrance to this thing below Ghelve's shop he had claimed existed. They went upstairs, finding some locks that were beyond Isaura's ability to open...she inwardly admired the work. In the kitchen, the pantry was locked, but not as tightly, and she pocketed some chocolate she found in it. The gnome would never miss it. Having now exhausted the upstairs, they moved back down, and conducted the most thorough job they could, finally finding the door close to the curtain to the actual shop. As they opened it, Ghelve came to the back. "Oh wait! I just remembered something..." He darted upstairs, and returned a moment later, handing them a small piece of parchment. "My father's map of Jzadirune. Perhaps it'll be of use where you are going."

Then Gryffth had to interfere. The man actually told the gnome that she had taken chocolate from him. Fortunately, he seemed scatterbrained enough to not remember that he owned any, and she followed Crunch into the darkness. A few moments later, Ghelve had closed the door upstairs, leaving them in pure darkness. A moment later, Gryffth lit a torch...perhaps he was useful for something. The proceeded down the stairs slowly, as they began to hear some noises as if voices below them. Finally, they arrived in a room with a corridor at the opposite end, two doors shaped like gears (one of which was partially open), and a bunch of masks on the wall. Apparently the voices were coming from the masks; she tuned them out eventually. Comparing where they were to the map Ghelve had given them, they quickly discovered that they had basically arrived in the center of Jzadirune. The two doors to their south were dead ends, so they decided to explore them first.

Owen stood in the back as they moved to explore. So it was that he nearly missed the entire thing...suddenly Isaura had backed up and whipped her chain forward, and the clatter of metal on stone rang throughout. Gryffth was casting a spell, and Crunch was swinging his weapon too. Realizing he had to do something, he darted forward to see another one of those things from upstairs (hrm...they had just left him tied up up there he remembered) who had already lost his weapon. Nevertheless, he swing the staff in a wide arc, which the creature ducked...as Owen recovered from the swing, he saw the think vanishing around the corner of a crude tunnel in the wall in front of him, and heard Crunch cry out behind him. Turning around, he saw the half-orc pulling at a crossbow bolt imbedded in his thigh as another creature vanished through yet another tunnel.

"Huh...chests and cobwebs." That was all he saw. Of course, this finally drew Isaura into the room, and she was sorely disappointed to find that the chests were long since looted and empty. A sunrod was found on the floor though, which Owen picked up. He'd always wanted one of these, but they tended to be more expensive than simple candles. "Let's uh...try the other door before we go through the tunnels." Something about them unnerved him. The others agreed.

Crunch was pleased. Isaura had been unable to pick the lock on this other door, which meant he got to break it down. He could crunch things with the best of them, and that's just what he did. Isaura continued to work on the lock, just in case, but he was bashing through the door at a regular pace...when suddenly he found himself coughing up blood as a cloud of acidic vapors poured out of the door. He vaguely saw Isaura crumple to the floor bleeding, but was barely able to hold himself up to help her. Fortunately, the vapors vanished quickly, and Gryffth was able to come to the rescue. 'This Fharlanghn character was pretty nice', he thought as the healing powers poured into Isaura, stopping her bleeding. 'But this place sure isn't.' So he didn't protest when Gryffth and Owen decided to beat a hasty retreat, and he held Isaura all the way back to the Tipped Tankard.

Isaura woke up in a bed with a splitting headache. She felt like she had been burned all over, and she didn't know why. Gryffth was nearby, preparing some sort of concoction, which he poured down her throat nearly forcibly. "Rest," he said, and she felt herself falling back asleep. Curse the man! As she fell back asleep, she heard him saying something else, and Crunch responding, and the rest was darkness again.

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Oct 31, 9713
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Gryffth was worried about the children. Their first foray into what he guessed was Jzadirune had been a dismal failure, and Isaura and Crunch had both been nearly killed. They were in bed now, as he was watching over them. The innkeeper of the Tankard hadn't even cut them a break on the price, insisting that "This is a tavern and an inn, not a hospital." He had been treating the acid burns that were all over their body, and the poison in Isaura's veins. He felt that they would be back to full strength today, after three days of bed rest. Hopefully they could still go downstairs and rescue the children before the dwarf lost them.

Elsewhere, Owen put the finishing touches on the new spells. He had been researching these for a while, and though he felt guilty at using the delay to finish his research, he felt that the new knowledge would benefit their quest.


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## steev42 (May 13, 2004)

*The Little Ones*

Nov 1, 9713
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The morning dawned bright and cloudy, with a little snowfall. Snow was odd for Cauldron, but being in the mountains did occur on occasion. Isaura woke in the Tipped Tankard, feeling herself for the first time since venturing into the hideout of the Last Laugh. Fortunately, the cleric was not to be seen, so she got up and dressed herself carefully before leaving the room. The others were all in the common area already, eating breakfast. She sat down with them, not particularly eager to venture back into Jzadirune, but wanting to get the reward money for returning the children. The innkeeper came over to them and demanded that they pay the 12 gold for the three days they had stayed there; a small argument broke out after which it was determined that each of them should pay an equal 3 sovereign share. Gryffth started his annoyances early today, with a wry comment. "I am destined to shepherd an unruly flock it seems."

Crunch, for his part, had been up and about for a whole day already. He was anxious to get back down and search the place. After all, he hadn't taken an acid bath for nothing. There had to be something in that room he had opened up, and he wanted to see what it was. So he said so. "Let's go down and searched the room that I opened up." He was pleased to see that the others all readily agreed, and they set off back to Ghelve's Locks.

Ghelve was happy to see them. "You've come back to search for Starbrow some more? It's been a while since I've seen you." The gnome was nearly twitching, so Gryffth asked him if the creatures from below had been bothering him any. "No, not me. Starbrow's still scared though. Oh, and I did some research on them, since you captured the other one. The guard took him away, but not before I could look him up. It seems that they're known as skulks. They apparently have the ability to vanish pretty much at will. I wasn't able to discover how, unfortunately." The gnome seemed genuinely upset that he hadn't been able to figure that out. Thanking him for the information, Crunch led the way back down into Jzadirune.

Owen offered to use a Light spell to allow them to see, and was chided by Gryffth who lit a torch. "Knowing when not to use magic is just as valuable as knowing when to use it. Something you should keep in mind, friend mage." Owen absorbed this nugget of advice, and continued to descend in the light of the torch. The room with the masks was just as they had left it, the tittering and giggling coming from the masks just as annoying as they remembered. Both doors were still open, so they went into the broken down door, to discover very little. A set of clothing did reveal that this was definitely Jzadirune they were exploring, and Gryffth broke into a story about the creation of Cauldron and Jzadirune by the gnomes.

Gryffth finished up, not thinking that any of them had understood the message he had been trying to get across. Still, they seemed to listen to him well enough, so that was something at least. He walked with them out of the room they were in, and to the north. They bypassed many doors, all of which were inscribed with strange symbols. Probably something gnomish. He never had had the reason to learn anything much of their culture. Reaching the dead end described on the map Ghelve had given them, they paused as Isaura looked over the door. For some reason he was not surprised when mist shot out of it as she tried to open the door, enveloping everyone but him. Fharlanghn was watching over him today. As his companions coughed and sputtered, he noticed that they all seemed a little more clumsy than usual. Owen, in particular, started tripping over his feet nearly as often as he was walking straight. Hopefully that didn't happen for him at an inopportune moment. At least Crunch, or whatever his real name was, seemed to shake off the effects quickly enough. Crunch suggested trying another door, but Gryffth thought that would be a bad idea. "Don't touch the doors!"

Isaura thought she saw a pattern. Unlike Gryffth, she actually could speak gnome, and she recognized the glyphs on the doors. The first one, the one that had been propped open by the...skulks...had been labeled with an 'A'. The one that had spit acid at them had been labeled 'J', and this most recent had been labeled 'N'. She relayed this information to everyone. "Perhaps we should keep wandering until I find a door labeled B?" Crunch was confused, and asked about finding an A door, but after being reminded that the open one was A, he agreed that this was a decent idea. So they headed south, to look at the doors at that end of the corridor. She heard people talking about there being a false wall to the south, at least according to Ghelve's map, and so wasn't watching where she was going...and fell right into the pit that opened underneath her. What was almost worse than the twenty foot fall was the spike that went through her, nearly causing her to black out from the sheer pain.

Crunch saw Isaura falling, and tried to catch her, but just wasn't quick enough. He looked down to see her pulling herself off a spike, and dropped down a rope, helping the rogue back up. As she caught her breath, the pit slowly closed itself back up, concealing itself nicely. Isaura seemed determined to break the thing, so he held on to her as she carefully, but not without mishaps, destroyed the mechanism that caused it to work. The pit would act just like a normal floor would now. The moved on, all thoughts of false walls gone from their minds after the pit trap. And then Isaura announced that one of the doors was labeled 'A'. Even though they'd already found one. Owen put forth, "Maybe they aren't going in order." Nevertheless, Isaura was determined to try to open this one. Crunch backed the others well away, all having by now determined that being near an opening door wasn't a smart thing to do.

Isaura was determined to get through this door unscathed. She'd been unconcious too many times recently, and now that she was fumbling over the picks from that earlier gas, she just wasn't the same. She had to get her confidence up again, and the best way to do that was to pick the lock on this stupid door. Gryffth would not have to heal her again, she was determined that that would be the case. She heard the snap just a moment too late, and found herself singed by flames leaping out of the keyhole, leaving a black mark on her hair as she ducked. That damned cleric..."Isaura, you're badly injured. Come here." She tensed her lips, but did as he asked. No sense in refusing the healing, even if she didn't like the man. Feeling the positive energy flow into her, she was startled to hear a revelation from Owen.

"From the letters we've seen...doesn't it look like something? Like the name of a clan of gnomes?" How could she have missed that? All the letters were those in the name of Jzadirune. How stupid of her to allow the mage to realize that before she did. They moved to another door marked 'J' that they had seen, except... "I am not opening that one." She wasn't that stupid. No way in hell she was going to be caught by another one of these doors. Then Owen remembered something else..."Doors with teeth...Beware the doors with teeth. I think all the doors like this will be trapped! We have to find another way."

Owen couldn't believe he hadn't seen it before. He had been thinking of that riddle, the answer from Jenya's Divination with St. Cuthbert. It was so obvious that these gear doors had teeth, that he had just overlooked it until now. He led the way back to the original room, the one with the tunnels carved in the side. He looked around at everyone, and then followed as Crunch chose to take the eastern tunnel. It was cramped, no room to swing his quarterstaff. He hoped he wouldn't have to fight in these tunnels, they weren't designed for those such as him, and with as clumsy as he felt right now...he stumbled and nearly went down just thinking about it. Eventually, the tunnel after turning a few times, split into two branches. Gryffth said they went north and south, but Owen had to take his word for it. After seeing the cleric tilt his head just like a puppy for a moment, the group headed to the south, and was greeted by the chirping of birds...

Though they could see into a wooded...room?, they chose to continue on to the south, into a room that they could just make out looking like a kitchen. Owen's idea, "Perhaps there is some medicine in there." Crunch responded with "Cured ham?," to which everyone groaned. "I don't know which is worse, Crunch, your jokes or your breath?" As usual, Isaura and Crunch led the way into the room, with Owen and Gryffth right behind. The shriveled husks of three enormous spiders lay on the ground, and their webs littered the room. Unfortunately, though, that wasn't the only thing in the room, and Owen and Gryffth both suddenly cried out in pain as daggers from behind them crashed into their back.

These creatures could only be Ghelve's short ones, Isaura thought. About the size of a halfling, and covered in black clothing, holding a dagger in its hand...one of these stood behind each of those who had just been stabbed. Crunch didn't even hesitate, but strode forward with purpose and determination, and with a mighty swing splattered the little creep back into the tunnel they had just left. Not much was left of him except blood and gore. Gryffth had had enough, feeling himself approaching just a little too close to seeing Fharlanghn in person, he backed away and called upon the holy power of his god. The energy ripped into him, easing his pain a little. Isaura's chain flashed out, the the remaining foe was a nimble one, and dodged the chain, slashing at Owen again in the process. Perhaps Fharlanghn still smiled upon the group, however, as Owen's new-found clumsiness worked for him this once, as he tumbled backwards away from the dagger. Coming back to his feet, Owen placed himself in as defensive stance as he could. Then, with a might shout of 'Four!', for whatever reason, Crunch splattered the remaining short one into a puddle on the ground.

It was all Owen could do to stand up; he felt that if he did anything else, he could collapse and not be able to stand again. "Gryffth, could you heal me?" he asked, as Isaura and Crunch set about searching the room.

'The time has come,' thought Gryffth, 'to show this flock that I am more than a walking healing wand.' Out loud he said, "Do you acknowledge the divine presence and luck that is Fharlanghn?" The mage apparently wasn't moved, only commenting that he worked for Gryffth. That wouldn't do. "Do you acknowledge that his gracious will has allowed you to survive this day?"

"I follow my own code for the most part. Whether it was Fharlanghn or another god who helped, who can say?"

Owen was astounded when Gryffth walked away, saying "Very well then. Lay there."

Owen shook his head. "You...you're kidding, right?" Here he was, afraid to even move for fear of falling unconcious, and Gryffth wouldn't heal him? It seemed to him that Gryffth was asking him to accept the fact that the clumsiness inflicted upon him was for a reason. Very well, if that's the way he needed it...

Gryffth returned eventually. The lesson could never be taught if his companion suffered too much by it. Still, it would not hurt to try one more time. "Do you promise to walk in the path that Fharlanghn has set for you from this day forth, honoring the luck that he grants you to survive by his will?" Owen again protested that he had his own beliefs, but as Gryffth started to walk away again, he acquiesced.

He wasn't going to get healed without this, he could see. There was no other way around it, really. And what could it hurt? "Indeed as we are travelers and are on a journey, Fharlanghn must be watching over us. I'm still alive, so that counts for something. I do recognize his influence over us." That seemed to be enough, for Gryffth offered the grace of Fharlanghn, and he could feel the healing provided by the cleric mending him.

Isaura had been searching with half an ear open to the conversation between the mage and the cleric. The cabinet was unstable, but she thought she could rig it so that it would be safe to search, at least temporarily. So, she did, and while searching through everything, came up with a small metal rod...engraved with a 'Z' in gnomish on one end. Showing it to the others, she thought that it might very well be a key. Still, if all the doors were locked, it would pay to let someone else go first when they finally tried it.

Crunch wanted to check out the trees. He was hungry, and chances were in an area with woods, something good to eat would be there. He wanted ale too, but would have to make due with what he had brought with him, apparently. Fortunately, the others agreed, and they all moved into the room. He was sorely disappointed when Gryffth announced the room was glowing with magics. Closing his eyes briefly, when he opened he could see through the illusion. This wasn't woods after all! There would be no food to be found here. A foodless kitchen, a foodless woods. Jzadirune sucked! Then Isaura found and opened a door hidden in a corner. No food there, either, just more doors that they couldn't go through. Sulking a bit, Crunch moved to the south, and discovered a marking that kind of matched what Isaura had called a Z. Calling to the others to confirm it, he was pleased when it did indeed match.

Isaura smiled. Here was her chance. She wasn't going to open this door. So she handed the key over to Gryffth. "Here, Gryffth. Have faith, open the door. Show us the way." She was positive he'd be caught in the trap this time, and maybe he'd stop being such an annoying prick. Owen backed her up, but she couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic as she was or not. "Surely the grace of Fharlanghn will be upon you brother," he said. Well, no matter then, Crunch stole the key from Gryffth and inserted it into the keyhole...and miracle of miracles the door slid open. Just to be safe though, she checked the door's frame before entering; she was rewarded with a very easily found trap.

It would turn out that the trap didn't exist, though even much later she was convinced that she had seen it, even attempted to disarm it. Nobody had been affected by it, however, regardless of the trips into or out of the empty room. Gryffth had told her to "see the truth of there being nothing there." He'd even used a spell on her, but she was convince the trap was still there. Maybe it just hadn't gone off because some other looter had disabled it years ago. Yes, that had to be it. There was no way she would be wrong about that, about the trap being there. She was the one that the others relied on to find the traps...even if she did find half of them by setting them off. She followed sullenly as they moved to the other door that was labeled 'Z' they had found, back through the cramped tunnel.

Edit: Changed the censored word to tilt from the word meaning tilt that starts with c.


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## steev42 (May 19, 2004)

*Tattered and Torn*

Arriving back in the room with the stairs, Gryffth took a quick assessment of the general health of the party. Crunch seemed to be completely fine, but the others, including himself, were all injured. Combined with the general slow and clumsy way with which Isaura and Owen were moving, it didn't bode well for the future, especially since Fharlanghn would not grace him with any more light cures today. "I think it best that we head back to town for a time, heal up before we continue." It was agreed to, so they went back to town. On the way, a quick inventory was taken of the items they had looted from the skulks (he thought that was what Ghelve had called them). Counting up the sovereigns they would likely be able to take in from this haul, Gryffth determined some bad news. "It seems we won't have enough to restore you to your normal ability guys. Even with the discount the church offers us, we'll still only have enough for one casting of the spell we need."

That tore it for Isaura. There was only one way to get this money, but she didn't have the skills most rogues used for such tasks. She was more of a...blunt force trauma, so to speak. So she pulled herself together, moving clothes strategically. Finally, she found a promising corner, and stood there, waiting for someone to happen by with the right moral flexability and desires.

Unfortunately, the first person to take notice of her (other than her companions who she studiously ignored) was a city guard. They were never the brightest, but she couldn't see even the dumbest being willing to take her up on what she was supposedly offering while on duty. He strode forward, and opened his mouth to speak. Thinking quickly, Isaura spoke before he could, lowering the timbre of her voice as much as possible. "Good day sir. Wanna wrestle?"

Atler felt his jaw drop. This woman, apparently a prostitute of some sort, had the voice of a man. Shaking himself together, he realized what she...he...she...whatever it was had said. "Uh...wrestle?" Fortunately, he had an excuse. "I am afraid that I cannot do so while I am on duty. Would not be right, you see." He began looking for an out, but eyes were beginning to look their way, as they always did when the guard started doing something. There was no graceful exit here.

Fortunately, the...person...provided an out for him. "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm trying to find a wrestling partner for an upcoming crossdressers event." Atler shook his head, and decided that the best exit was a quick one, and darted away, mumbling under his breath.

Owen had tried to convince her otherwise, but she seemed determined to do it this way. So he, Gryffth, and Crunch stood nearby, trying to ignore what was going on, but at the same point keeping alert for danger. Some old guy walked up to Isaura, and he could barely make out their words. Isaura told the old man that she'd been naughty...and then the two of them walked into an alley. This was bad, this was very bad. He turned to the others to note that Gryffth had seen it as well, though Crunch seemed fairly oblivious. Elbowing the half-orc, the three of them sidled closer to the alley, eventually hearing the sounds of a scuffle going on. Suddenly, a cry came from the alley, more likely that of the old man than of Isaura. "Help! Somebody help!" The crowds suddenly thinned, and Owen was able to make his way closer to the combat going on.

Crunch looked at the scuffle. It was obvious to him that Isaura was trying to help them get the money, so he was shocked when Gryffth moved closer to help the old man, telling Isaura, "let him go. This is a black path you're walking." Gryffth did pick up the money pouch, but he made no move to pocket it, instead preparing his quarterstaff in a defensive pose.

Crunch laughed. "Call it a stupidity tax for going into a dark alley with an unknown woman." Isaura flashed a quick grin in his direction, but Owen scoffed.

"Come off it, Crunch. He didn't ask for this, he's an old man. He just wanted fun, not to get robbed and beaten. I for one won't stand for it." Crunch couldn't believe his companions, especially Owen, couldn't see the right of taking the money to help themselves. So he moved forward, intending to knock out the old man and put an end to the conflict in that light anyway. This he was shocked when Gryffth's quarterstaff swept his feet out from under him, and the end of the quarterstaff found it's way to his throat, lightly pressing down.

Gryffth had had enough. "Leave the old man ALONE!" The old man stood up, holding a dagger, and with thanks in his words. "You are entirely welcome. Normally these folk aren't quite so belligerent, but Fharlanghn was with me today."

Isaura snorted in disgust and walked away. "Fine! But if those kids die, it's your fault Gryffth. No one else's. We had our priorities straight."

Gryffth knew she's see the right road eventually, with him to guide her there. So he turned to the old man, handing back the purse. "However, if you would be so kind as to help us, we are trying to help some orphaned children. We truly could use the money if you have it." Owen added his support, for what it was worth. Gryffth was pleased his lesson had taken hold of the mage. He could prove to be a valuable ally.

The old man knew fear. He had known it before, and would doubtless know it again before his time was up, but nevertheless, it was the current fear that took him. Though this man, apparently one of Fharlanghns, had saved his life, he was still afraid. The cleric was asking for money, so if that would get him off...he reached in, not even looking at the coins he grabbed. "My money is my own, but if it'll get the lot of you away from me, here!" He tossed a pair of coins on the ground, and backed away slowly, darting away once the alley walls no longer penned him in.

Gryffth picked up the coins, which he noted were silver crowns. "A church donation, then." He walked out of the alley, spotting Isaura stalking away towards the church, with Crunch close behind. He and Owen walked after them. 'That girl will get herself killed one day if she follows the road she walks now,' he thought. Fortunately, it seemed that no further trouble would find them, and soon the four were reunited in the foyer of the Church of St. Cuthbert. Crunch muttered about needing ale, and trying to console their egos, Gryffth smiled. "I'll be sure to buy you one, Crunch. It's the least I can do for landing you on your butt in the alley."

It took a while after they arrived, but Jenya finally showed up. "You seem to have taken a few beatings," she said. Gryffth quickly explained about the poison affecting both Isaura and Owen, and Jenya nodded. "I can heal your hurts, but the effects of the poison may take a bit. I have the appropriate spell prepared, but only once, and I am the only person who does have it prepared. Unfortunately, our talents cannot come without a price; I have to ask if you are prepared to give the church a donation."

Gryffth gallantly handed over all the money they had. He hadn't sold the weapons yet, so he said so. "We can raise about 30 or 40 more gold, but this is all we have at the moment." Jenya looked it over, and offered to take it on credit of what she would pay them at the end of the mission; it was agreed to by all. "We'll gladly take it. Would you use your spell on Owen then?" As other clerics moved through casting Cure Light Wounds spells (free of charge, Gryffth was pleased to note), Jenya called upon St. Cuthbert to expel the poison from Owen's system. Gryffth found the slight differences in the prayers fascinating, and watched closely. Perhaps he could use some of this to gain more potent spells from Fharlanghn. He would have to try it in the future.

The spell complete, Jenya backed away. "This was not so effective as I hoped. If you return tomorrow, I will ensure I prepare an extra for you. Hopefully I can be of some further help then."

After making a quick stop to sell their weapons, it was decided that saving money was best, so everyone headed outside the city gates. The mountainside was not completely comfortable, but enough plant and animal life lived there to make it at least restful. Gryffth, with the help of Crunch, did his best to make Owen and Isaura completely comfortable, in the hope that he could allow the poison to run its course a little quicker. He pulled out his healer's kit, using a couple of the applications of it; after a long night, he was pleased to see that both of them looked a little better. With Jenya's additional healing, it should be enough for them to journey back into the depths of Jzadirune.

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Nov 2, 9713
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Jenya stood at the doorway, anxiously awaiting the return of those she had hired. If the children weren't found, the reputation of the Church could suffer for years, and it would be all her fault. The sun was above the buildings when she finally saw them coming towards her. Composing herself to stillness, she greeted them happily when they finally arrived. "I was expecting you. Please, come in, come in." Inwardly chiding herself for being too bubbly, she led them to a small healing room in one corner of the temple. After checking that one of her spells should go to each of Isaura and Owen, she called upon St. Cuthbert, pleading in her voice. She laid hands upon the mage, Owen was his name, and was pleased to feel the effects much more strongly than she had the night before. The result was similar with Isaura. She nearly choked on her own tongue when the one called Crunch suggested spending another day in the wilds, but fortunately, Owen motivated them downwards again. She watched them go with a mixture of dread and anticipation. She had to have chosen correctly, she just had to.

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Back in the darkness (Ghelve had only given them a little grief), Isaura patiently waited while a torch was lit. Once it was, they moved towards the other door they had discovered which she said was marked with a Z. Crunch cried out briefly, and she turned, discovering he had a crossbow bolt in his side; their attempts at finding the attacker failed. She wasn't surprised. It was obvious that Gryffth was good at finding things that wanted to be found, not those that were trying to hide. Oh, if she ever got her chance... She stood back a ways when they got to the door a moment later, allowing Crunch to take the risk. It was good to have someone as tough as him willing to take the falls for the group. She would have to remember to thank him...maybe by letting him keep some money sometime. The door slid open smoothly when the key was inserted, and to her relief no trap was sprung. The room itself was empty of creatures, but not devoid of debris. She set about searching the area, and was soon rewarded with finding a secret door in the wall. Owen seemed to be fascinated with some broken glass on the floor, which he said had once held a magical potion. Regardless, she looked over the door she had found, ensuring it was not trapped before opening it.

Owen was pleased that they had someone with them who could find such things. Undoubtedly that would prove extremely useful by the end of this quest. If only they could keep her from hoarding all the money. He moved into the next room cautiously, seeing three chests sitting on the floor in front of him. They all had animals painted on them, painted to resemble humans. Odd images, but nonetheless, he sat watching while Isaura searched the chests. She announced that the one painted like a fox had a false bottom (how she could tell that from the outside confused him), but that none of them were trapped. Cautiously, they opened the chests, as Gryffth called forth an orison which would allow him to see magical auras. The first they opened was empty, and the second contained only a grey leather bag. However, Gryffth announced it was magical, and placed it carefully in a pack. The third, the fox chest, looked empty until Isaura activated the false bottom. Owen was dazzled by the wealth within, even though he was sure that it wasn't much compared to the wealth that once graced these walls. Gryffth announced that the dust in the vial was magical, and pocketed it as he had the baga.

Like the room they had been attacked from originally, this one had a rough-hewn tunnel going out of it. Deciding it was the best way to go for now, having exhausted the opportunities to use the keys they had, the group moved on. They came to a large room, where some sort of metal thing sat, apparently unfinished. A skulk quickly darted out a tunnel on the opposite side, and without hesitating, the group darted after him. It nearly proved to be their undoing...

The first to follow the skulk was nearly wrapped up by a bunch of cloth that formed the rough shape of a humanoid; Gryffth fought the thing off with desperation, but not before his breath was nearly taken. Now that he was aware of the threat, he noticed the the skulk seemed to be wrapped in similar cloths. Something tickled at his memory, but before he could pick up on what it was, the rags were attacking again. Again, he had to fight for his breath, driving the rags away with sheer force at the last minute. Crunch soon followed Gryffth into the room they had arrived at, and nimbly dodged the rapier wielded by the skulk they had followed. Gryffth, sensing imminent doom, backed away cautiously, calling upon Fharlanghn to heal him. He was rewarded with the feeling of strength that came from the spell.

Crunch found himself startled when his first attack was repulsed by the rags surrounding the skulk. "I never miss," he thought, but soon had to sidle out of the way of Isaura's chain wrapping around the rapier of the skulk. A brief test of strength followed, and the weapons disengaged from each other. He also had to dodge a ball of acid coming from Owen's hands, splashing into the wall beside him. Gryffth was getting into his stride now, able to avoid the attack from the rags this time, but the distractions proved damaging to Crunch, who suddenly found a rapier in his side. Howling in anger, he sent his flail smacking into the head of the skulk, causing it to drop its rapier in pain...right into the arriving chain if Isaura. The rags, after taking a heavy blow from Gryffth, decided to go for an easier target, but Owen proved similarly resistant to the attempts to wrap him up, pulling off piece after piece as it even touched him. Gryffth called on Fharlanghn to command the skulk, and was surprised when it resisted the affects; but it didn't matter for a moment later, Crunch hit the skulk again and it fell to the ground. The rags seemed undeterred, and pressed it's attack on Owen, but still failed to manage to get the full hold it so desperately sought.

Now the rags around the skulk pulled themselves off and rose in approximation of the original attacking set, coming at Crunch, who slew its host. The half-orc nibly stepped around the...arm...that threw itself out, realizing his true foe had only just revealed itself...but it wouldn't do to have the skulk recover and try to help the rags. A quick flail into the ground, and that threat was permanently neutralized. That was enough to distract the rags attacking Owen, but offered the opportunity for the original parasite to attack Crunch, who felt that only a last second turn had saved him from a lung puncturing. He roared in anger, calling upon the rage within, and drove a final crunch into the rags, sending them flying all over the room. He had a vague sense of the other set falling to the ground in flames and Gryffth holding a torch smugly, when he let go of the anger and the fatigue that always hit him after such an episode came.

This was enough to cause the group to wish to rest, so they took the rubble and fashioned a makeshift door. Isaura had a sneaking suspicion that the tunnel they had entered from wasn't the only entrance, but kept this information to herself. Once the door was up, they looted the room completely, and set down to rest for a while. Owen grabbed the grey bag they had found earlier, and at Crunch's encouragement, stuck his hand in. Pulling out a fur ball, he recognized the magic for what it was, an item commonly called a Bag of Tricks.


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## steev42 (May 26, 2004)

*Transparency*

Gryffth was a bit annoyed with himself. Only one true encounter since they had returned to Jzadirune, and he had already pretty much run out of spells. Fharlanghn would not grace him with any more until morning, which meant that if he was to be effective, they would have to stay in this room for the rest of the day and all night. The plight of the children nearly drove him onwards, but they would never be rescued if he and his companions, flighty as they might be, were killed in the attempt. Fortunately, the others seemed to agree, and a watch was set. He passed the first watch in peace, munching on rations provided by Crunch. At least he had forseen being stuck underground for multiple days, something Gryffth wished he had thought of.

Suddenly, Isaura spoke up. "Gryffth, wake up!" Gryffth stared at her, but confirmed his waking status. Then he heard it to; a rythmic thumping. When they woke up Owen and Crunch, who were using the darkness of Jzadirune to be able to sleep even this early, Owen pointed out that the sounds were in time with the fan on the ceiling. Cursing himself, Gryffth helped others break the belt activating the fan. A loud series of thumps followed, and then the rythmic sound stopped. Seeing as it was nearly time for the watch to switch anyway, Gryffth turned it over to Crunch and Owen, and went to sleep himself.

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Nov 3, 9713
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As they rose, Owen set about studying his spellbook. Thus, he was startled at Gryffth's question. "Uh, Owen? You feeling alright? You look a little pale..." Looking down at himself, Owen was startled to discover that he could see through his own hand to some extent. This was horrible! Crunch poked him...at least he was solid, then. Gryffth came over and started poking and prodding at him with his herbs and spices. After a few minutes, the cleric rose. "You look halfway to Fharlanghn's home...I think you're diseased, but there's nothing I can do at the moment. We'll just have to hope it's not contagious for now, and I can try to help you fight it off later."

Crunch thought this was hilarious. The mage was see-through, and there was nothing the cleric could do about it. Seeing an opportunity to have this joke played on everyone, he made fun of the rogue. "Don't you wish you could've had that disease Isaura?" She just shrugged off the joke though. No senses of humour, sometimes. Regardless, he started to remove the door they had created the night before. It was time to move on, as everyone started talking about the reward money. It seemed Isaura wanted it all for herself and Owen wanted it mostly for himself. "Money...need money to buy ale," he contributed.

"None of you has an altruistic bone in your body, do you?" Gryffth sighed as they started to move.

"Well, if you really MUST know, it's for my mom. And I'll ask you kindly to just leave it at that," Owen said. Crunch felt kind of sorry for him. But not enough to interject. He was beginning to get in the mood to crunch things again, and there was nothing around. They arrived at a room that was mostly empty, except for a sheet covering some sort of bundle in the middle of the room.

"Crunch, why don't you open your present there?" Isaura asked him. Crunch looked at it, a good idea of what was in her mind, but played dumb anyway. "Yeah, it's under the sheet. Go see!" All right! This was his chance to crunch, and he knew it. He ran forward, and with a mighty sweep (he sensed the others backing away), he pulled the sheet off....and the metal lobster underneath it stabbed his leg.

Now that whatever it was was revealed and attacking, Isaura tried to circle around it. Getting to where a good location would be, she snaked out her chain, trying to trip the thing. It seemed to have more dexterity than she thought, however, as it basically jumped over her weapon, making the swing useless. Crunch shouted out, "this is a bad present!" And swung his flail heavily...and found it bouncing off his armor. As the others moved in, they quickly discovered that the metal on this thing was good at preventing damage to what was likely the clockwork insides. Gryffth learned the hard way that spells drawing upon negative energy wouldn't affect creatures without flesh like this construct. A number of ineffectual attacks later, the creature (whatever it was) still having taken absolutely no damage, and barely a nick in the outer shell, it turned itself lumberously towards two of its attackers. A horrid shreak of metal on metal rushed out of the hole on its head, causing Crunch and Gryffth to grab their ears in pain, and Owen and Isaura to wince. Fortunately, it seemed to have little other effect except to piss Crunch off. A mighty swing of his flail finally succeeded in putting a large dent in the creature's side, and shortly thereafter, Gryffth's quarterstaff came down on the top of it, crumpling the beast and causing it to cease moving.

As Crunch recovered from the effects of his angry spell, the others searched the beast. Owen realized that it had the capabilities of distinguishing creature types and following simple commands, and the words "activate" and "deactivate" written in gnomish on the creature's back (though Isaura was needed to translate those). In addition, a nice large gem was discovered to be the center of the automoton, and it was pocketed for future selling. Crunch now recovered, they moved on through a corridor to the side (finding the power source for the fans, now destroyed). Isaura soon discovered a pair of secret doors, and realizing one of them merely led to the room they had slept in the previous night, chose to move north. While she busied herself searching it for traps, Gryffth and Owen moved around through the remaining rough tunnels, finding one that seemed to be heading in the direction of the secret door. They discovered this one ended in a wall of mist; not recognizing the effect, they wisely chose to retreat and regroup.

In investigating the door to the north, Isaura realized that it was set to be very hard to open. The leverage wasn't right, and the way it moved slightly seemed to indicate a weight on the other side. She motioned for Crunch just as the mage and the cleric returned. "There may be a trap in there," the cleric indicated. Isaura inwardly rolled her eyes. Had she not pointed out every trap that had hit them so far (and even one that hadn't)? And here he was saying that she was missing something. She motioned again to Crunch, who tried to open it, and failed. The half-orc shook his head and set himself more firmly, this time slowly pulling the door open...and revealing an opening full of mist. Isaura could barely make anything out inside, and didn't want to think of entering it. Owen was apparently pleased to see bookshelves on the other side of the door that Crunch had pulled open, and Isaura smiled that she had been able to sense that. Still, somebody would have to enter first. Owen pulled a bat out of his Bag of Tricks and sent him in, pleased to see that the creature returned successfully, then realizing he couldn't speak with the beast to discover what he had seen. Finally, it came down to just them. Crunch was the chosen victim.

The rest of them suddenly heard a curse, then Crunch shouting back at them. "Centipedes, big'uns!" Rushing in to help, they all discovered that five feet was about the limit of their visibility. Moments later, four splattered centipedes littered the walls and floor of the room, which Owen now recognized as being filled with Obscuring Mist.

Crunch was now sorely damaged, and Gryffth moved over. "Do you accept the blessings of Fharlanghn with all your heart?" Owen laughed at this, having experienced it already himself.

Crunch already had an answer prepared. His life's philosophy, perhaps. He'd never decided. Nevertheless, "I accept any blessings that anyone chooses to bestow upon me."

This was not the answer Gryffth was expecting, and it disturbed him slightly. "You should be careful with that attitude, lest the blessings and attentions of Hextor or Nerull cross your path. With that in mind, however, you are a worthy soul. Accept the protections of Fharlanghn, in the form of His Blessed Healing bestowed upon you." The healing power flowed through him into Crunch, and Gryffth was close enough to see the wounds knitting themselves.

As he finished, Owen leaned in close to whisper to the cleric. "I think he wouldn't care whose blessings he got, so long as there was ale to be had." This got a small chortle, as they all moved to the walls gingerly. The group searched the room as best they could, when Isaura announced that she had found another hidden doorway. Crunch helped her open it, and they were pleased to see that the room was clear of mist, and crowded in. As they did so, Owen announced disappointment that the shelves were all empty.

As they went into the room that was nearly too small to contain them all, they were surprised when an elderly gnomish woman suddenly appeared in front of them, with a ruby in her left eye socket instead of an eye. Though they were disturbed, they still listened carefully as she spoke to them in the common tongue. "The scrolls you seek have been destroyed to keep you and others from fading into nothingness. The curse of the Vanishing began here, in these mystical halls, and here it will remain. Be careful what you find, and mind whatever magic was wrought here."

Gryffth and Owen spoke nearly on top of each other. Gryffth, saying "We seek no scrolls, but some missing children." Owen, sensing a relation to his own plight, "Vanishing like me?" Unfortunately, neither question would be answered, as the gnome woman quickly vanished. Owen cursed his luck, then realized that the woman must have been a Programmed Image spell, one he had heard of but never dreamt of having the power to cast. It seems that these gnomes were powerful after all. Still, it meant his questions would have gone unanswered anyway.

Owen paused to look at himself again. Was it possible that he was even more translucent than he had been this morning? What would happen if he faded away completely? He hoped against hope that Gryffth would be able to help him fight off this infection, disease, poison, whatever it was. But whatever it is, it didn't seem to be affecting him all that much at the moment. He would have to leave it be, and hope that he got better rather than worse.


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## steev42 (Jun 5, 2004)

*Of Bears and Chokers*

Isaura pointed out some secret doors as Owen pondered the words of the illusionary gnome. He had taken the Bag of Tricks; perhaps it was that which was causing him to vanish? He would have to consider the possibility carefully, and perhaps set up an experiment; leaving the bag behind might allow him be restored. Isaura opened another door with Crunch's help, and he moved there with the others. He had been disappointed that even with all the bookshelves in this room, not a single page had been found. And now this room seemed to be a classroom...but even a quick glance could tell him that nothing of note would be found here. Fortunately, they weren't at a complete dead end again, for Isaura had discovered yet another key not too long ago, this one apparently tied to the 'U' doors.

Impatience was biting at him though. Everyone else seemed to be taking thier own sweet time, almost as if they were oblivious to his own fading away from existance. Isaura was taking time at every single door to search for traps, while he was itching to move on, find the kids, and get out so he could cure himself of this affliction, whatever it was. Finally he could take it no more. "You guys take forever searching everything."

Gently, Gryffth reminded him, "better than being dead, yes?"

Owen had to agree. "Yes." He should explain himself. "Just feeling very impatient lately."

"What? It's not like you're fading away or...oh wait. It is!" Isaura made a very tacky joke as she opened the 'U' door they currently stood in front of. Owen stepped forward, and was somewhat startled to see what appeared to be a throne room, with an old gnome sleeping peacefully on the throne itself."

Isaura was leading the way into this multi-leveled room. Apparently the kings of Jzadirune liked being well above their subjects, as anyone coming in from the main entrance to the east would have to climb two flights of stairs to get to the king. Still, it wouldn't hurt to be polite to one who may have at one point been a king. Tuning her mind to the gnomish tongue, she called out. "Greetings, your majesty." The gnome barely even moved. A bit peeved at the audacity, she moved forward and poked at the gnome, then seeing a scepter laying on his lap. As the gnome had yet to acknowledge their presence, she thought it worth a try. Reaching out, she was only slightly startled when the scepter vanished as soon as she touched it. "Illusion! I hate tempting illusions!" As Owen cast a spell, she searched about the upper level briefly before moving down to the middle landing.

"If you wish an audience with the king, place your finest coin in my mouth." Isaura nearly jumped when a bas relief sculpture came to life and spoke that phrase. It was enough to bring the others down to join her. Seeking around, she found a sovereign. Definitely one of her most valuable coins. She placed it in the mouth...and the coin vanished. Owen announced the magical auras he was sensing, and the others concentrated on disbelieving the illusion he had sensed. She went back to the throne, and was rewarded by finding a secret compartment. Wonder of wonders! There was gold in here! Looking at the others, she quickly pocketed it, making sure they wouldn't notice her furtiveness. Then pulling out the pair of keys resting within the compartment, she turned back to show her 'find' to the others.

And of course, Gryffth wouldn't leave it at that. She moved to another location while the cleric did another search of the compartment. She'd also heard the gnome king muttering something, but had barely paid attention to it. It probably wouldn't matter much anyway. It seemed Gryffth still wanted the audience, so he moved back to the bas relief, which spoke to him as it had to her earlier.

"We found some local coins earlier. The best of these I have is a silver." He put the silver coin the mouth, and the sculpture spit it back out at him.

"MISER! What a paltry tribute! I curse you with clumsiness!" Gryffth felt a wave of clumsiness wash over him, but he had his faith in Fharlanghn to see him through. Focusing on that, he was able to throw off the curse, and felt a wave of relief. He would not fail this mission. The children must be saved, and if at all possible, he could bring these others to the light in the process. That was enough of this room though, and they moved on with the strength of two more keys. They passed through a room that seemed to be an empty trophy room, and another room with a lever (Isaura said it activated the pit she'd fallen in before), before arriving at a door they could not pass.

Retreating back into the throne room, they ventured through a tunnel that had been there. The tunnels seemed to have been the best places to go so far, so why not stick with it while you could, Gryffth though. The followed it until it branched. The south seemed to go directly into a room, but Crunch elected to continue following. Not one to leave a comrade, Gryffth followed him. As they entered the room it broke in to, he thought he saw a door closing on the other side of the room, but when he looked again, just a solid wall was there. This tickled his mind, so he has Isaura search around the area. Sure enough, she found a secret door.

"Gryffth...how did you see the door from across the room?" Isaura was curious. It was well concealed, and she had had a hard time finding it, even knowing where it might have been hidden.

He thought about it for a moment. "I don't know. I just did." That wasn't going to satisfy them, but then he remembered. "Wait! Someone might have just closed it. Follow them, quickly!"

This was all the impetus anyone needed, and they rushed through the concealed door into the adjacent room. For the skulk that was nearly transparent in the room waiting for them, this was perfect. They rushed right by him, leaving him a prime target. His rapier slid into Gryffth's back effortlessly, eliciting a cry from the cleric. Unfortunately for the skulk, this drew the groups attention to him. He tried to attack again, but the cleric proved too nimble for him, and he soon met the business end of a heavy flail.

Crunch wiped the blood off the flail as Owen and Gryffth investigated the skulk for any signs of a way to heal the affliction in Owen. Not finding any, they turned their attention to the rest of the room, where equipment for a theatre troupe was housed. Gryffth found this quite odd, until he remembered (with a little prompting from Owen) that this had been where the gnomes had lived and worked, so a theatre troupe wouldn't have been that odd. The door at the other end being one that they didn't have a key for, the group elected to take the other exit out of the tunnel.

This room proved to be a theatre, and apparently the gnomes had left a show for any visitors. It as obviously illusion, but as they approached the stage (there was a trap door there, obvious from where they'd been standing), a gnome wearing a baby bear costume walked out on stage. Quietly he spoke. "Night hath fallen in the Magic Woods, and while myriad woodland creatures dream, Willowbough and her faerie friends frolic beneath the sorcerous moon." Crunch liked plays, so he immediately took a seat to watch. The bear curled up, and a female gnome with briars for hair appeared. This could be a good play.

"Get you, you cretin! There's no time to dally!" Owen hissed at him.

"You gots no appreciation of arts." Still, there were things to do if he was to get his ale. So he got up, and trying not to interrupt the play, moved to the trap door. Unfortunately, he had to open it while the faerie was there. Crunch moved to the side while Isaura lowered herself in, and was surprised when a tentacle whipped out as she looked underneath the stage and wrapped itself around her neck. Before he, or anyone else, could react, she was pulled under the stage and out of sight. Gryffth cast a spell on himself and dropped in, crouching under the stage in such a manner as to let others in. Likewise with Owen, though he moved towards the creature instead of to the side. When Crunch dropped in, Isaura was fighting madly from the solid grip that the thing had had, as Owen was telling everyone that the creature was a Choker. Didn't matter to him either way. Isaura was being attacked, and he had the opportunity to crunch. One swing of his flail, and the choker went limp. Disappointed, he put the flail away and helped drag the loot that had been left behind out into the open. Nothing every stood up to him long enough to last more than one swing. Except that that metal crab thing they'd fought. That had been fun.

They opened the chest, pleased to find another key to this place. There was also a nice blood red cloak, which Crunch immediately put on even though Owen and Gryffth told him not to. A cloak this fine that wouldn't show blood was a good thing to have! The book and the stick inside, or the guitar-thingy he didn't care about. Others could take those, but this cloak was his.

Owen had already sensed the magic within the wand and the cloak. He only hoped that it wasn't all magic that was causing the affliction that now took hold of him, for if it was, Crunch certainly had it now.

Anyone have any comments?


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