# A Bad End



## Steverooo (Aug 22, 2003)

[_This is the log of a Campaign gone wrong...  While I was actively trying to induce a sense of paranoia in the PCs, I did *too good* a job, and that - coupled with uncooperative players and a mistake in forwarding a note that should have gone only to Karl's player to EVERYONE - disrupted ANY semblance of party unity!  As a result, the "Bodysnatched" came to a bad end!  Read on, and you will see!

This game used another rules set (not D&D).  Paragraphs in parentesis () are notes from players to me.  My responses are in square brackets_ [].

_A Note on Races: This system takes a slightly different view of the various races.  Elves are divided into Ilfs (much like D&D Elves), Alfs, Wylves (Wild Elves), etc.  Orc are "Dark and Vile" Alfar.  Dwarves resemble D&D Dwarves, but aren't as resistant to magic, and take more damage from poison.  Kobolds are - literally - little green men, and the most magically-powerful PC race.  Wylves are always psychic, to some extent, although few actually have the Psychogenic skill.  Likewise, all Kobolds have at least one magical or psychic talent, and can turn invisible!...

This game used a percentile system for all rolls.  The skill system is much different.  The Scrutiny skill, for instance, is used to cover both Spot and Listen in D&D terms.  So in other words, things are different, in this world, than you might be used to!  Read on, and enjoy the misadventures of Karl & Company!_]

KARL BELFORD's STORY:

Karl Belford, Knight Arrant, has heard rumors of Dwarf-forged weapons; swords capable of cutting the legs off a Stone Troll with ease. Naturally, he was interested in following up these rumours, and set off for the Blue Mountains (where the Dwarves supposedly made such wonders) in late summer. He searched for some time, speaking with a goodly number, but was never able to find any Dwarves who could (or would) tell him where such wondrous weapons were made... 

Now, as winter begins, he has sadly given up the search for this year, and is hurrying home, rather than face winter in the wilds. Travelling along, he meets a man upon the desolate road that he is travelling. Oddly enough, the traveller greets him as "Lord Belford". Odd, because Karl's father's lands are many leagues hence. Naturally, Karl stops to chat. 

"Oh, I recognize ye, sirrah, by yer livery, sire. I be a tinker, by trade, and ha' been in many lands, including yer fathers, to be sure! No, before ye asks, I dinna know anything 'bout Dwarf-forged swords, or such like, but if I hear ought, I'll send ye a post. Perhaps ye might remember me with a small reward..." 

"Aye, I be wishin' I were in yer father's lands, now! A well-tended estate, where a tinker's worth his pay, not this dreary road, with winter coming on... Naye! I'd best hurry along! There be no place hereabout worth camping in, and even the nearest town, called Forlorn Corners, in no place I'd want to pass through, ifn I had a choice! Nought but a crossin' of this-here desolate road and a dreary track heading north!" 

"Well, good morrow to ye, stranger! Be wary of where ye camp, there are wolves hereabout, at nights, and things is strange, in this part of the world! The wilderland is close, here, even moreso than in them mountains ye has been in! Take care!" 

He refuses Karl's offer of coin, shoulders his pack and hurries off. Karl climbs back on your destrier, kicking him into a trot up the road, pulling his cloak around him to block out the blustering of the wintry wind. He wonders how far ahead this town is, and whether or not there's any place to stay. Looking at the leaden sky, he starts to wonder if he'll make it home before the snows come. 

Riding down the road, the light seems to dim. This is desolate, ugly country, even the plants seem somehow unhealthy in the cold and dim light. Things seem to grow darker, as Karl heads east... On the lookout for wolves, he foregoes camping at all, and pushes his poor horse, looking for that town! 

Along the way, he comes upon another traveller, low and behold, another young Noble, an Esquire nearing Knighthood, one Relgan Tow! Glad for the company, they join together for the nonce, and continue up the road, looking for an Inn. 

Finally, up ahead in the distance, the two see some buildings. The place deserves its name. A few unhealthy-looking trees, tangled hedges, scraggly gardens,... even the outlying fields seem to be struggling. There are a mere handful of buildings where the road is crossed by a track. All are run-down, drab, and the whole scene is unattractive, even to a weary traveller such as the Knights. If it weren't growing on towards evening, they'd be tempted to keep right on travelling!

Looking around, they can see only one person (apparently a traveller, like themselves) up by the well where the northern track enters the town (if you can call it that). This person catches Karlsattention because he can tell (rolling a 13 vs Chivalry) that his horse is a Courser (Medium War Horse), and he has a steel bow and buckler on his back. 

Coming to the "crossroads" (if you can dignify this place with the name), they can hear the clanging of someone pounding metal - apparently a blacksmith at work in his forge. There is a stable nearby, and no one outside. Besides a few cottages, huts, and outbuildings, there're what appear to be a general mercantile, and perhaps an Inn and Tavern... 

Relgan says that he's beat, so he'll head to the stable, and see if there's stabling for the horses. Karl tells him that he's going to the well, and will check out the Inn, afterwards. They agree to meet at the Tavern, when done, for a bite of whatever the locals cook... 

Turning north, Karl passes the other buildings, and some sort of a
shrine (fairly large for a burg like this), and comes to the well. The fellow there watering his courser turns out to be a Wylf, who's none too friendly, eyeing you suspiciously. Having dealt with these xenophobic sorts before, though, Karl takes no offense. He's heard them called "Cave Creeps", "Beanpoles" and other such names, but he knows they're just suspicious folks, until they get to know you. After that, some are okay.  Finally remembering one of the non-offensive forms of address, Karl greets him. 

"Hail, moon friend! Well met!" 

The elfkin eyes you warily, from the other side of the well... 

"Greetings, stranger..." he replies, taking in your plate. He is dressed in half-plate, himself, field-blackened, and oddly formed in the shape of an eagle, with the beak forming a visored helm. His clothing is a dark "stoneflage", and looks new, as does his pack and the tack on his horse. The bow and armor look well-used, however. Rolling a 12 against Chivalry, Karl judges this fellow must be a Wylven warrior, of some description, recently mustered out... This is borne out by the new boots, he thinks...


                    THE OX's TALE:

Poor Ox is a Major Oaf. Big, strong, clumsy (but working on it), and not nearly as dumb as most folks think he is... That's fine by him, as being under estimated can be a fine asset to have, at times! It doesn't help him towards his life-long ambition of joining the priesthood, though... 

Even so, faith will take you a long ways, and Ox is the perfect example: He has learned to read and write, learned an Invocation, and even a ritual or two... He still has a long, hard road ahead of him, but he has faith that the good Lord loves even Oafs, and is always looking for a way around the obstacles... Surely SOMEWHERE, there's an old priest willing to take him on as an apprentice! 

One day, he hears about a little squat in a desolate place that's run by a sole caretaker.   Apparently, this fella is half-Wylf and half something-else, and is about as socially-outcast as Ox himself.  Maybe he'd be interested in help, or at least a little friendly conversation... 

Ox gets the directions, and after stomping through the woods for several weeks, finally finds the place. Hmmm... Odd place, but it's got a big-sized shrine for such a hick-town!  Ox heads on in, looking for the caretaker...



                    CARILLA's STORY:

Lost in the woods after a disastrous near-encounter with too many brigands, Carilla is lost, and a bit stumped about what to do about it... Finally, she huddles in her cloak and misery, sitting on a stump in the middle of nowhere... 

After a long while, she hears an odd flapping sound... getting closer... She sits up, listening, reaching for her bow. Have the brigands followed her here? As she's wondering, an enormous, ugly Oaf comes huffing and puffing out of the woods, sees her, nods, and runs on past... 

"HEY! WAIT a minute, you Oaf!" Carilla yells at him. 

"Huh?" says the Oaf, stopping and turning around, "You talkin' to me?" 

"You see anyone else here?" Carilla asks, sarcastically. 

The Oaf looks around, brows beetling. 

"Nope." 

"Then I must be talking to you, Oaf. Where are you going?" 

"Forlorn Corners, Miss. I hear there's a shrine, there." 

"Do you know the way? How far is it?" 

"Well, I think so," the Oaf replies, scratching his head, "and I don't know, never been there, before." 

"Well, do you mind if I come with you?" Carilla asks, figuring being with a Major Oaf is no worse than being lost. 

"No, ma'am," the Oaf replies, bowing, then turns and crashes back into the brush. 

"Hey, WAIT!" Carilla calls after him, grabbing her gear...



                    RELGAN TOW's STORY:

Relgan Tow, Esquire, would be a Knight. For a poor, younger son of rustic petty nobles, this would seem a tall feat, but Relgan isn't the type to take "No" for an answer... That being the case, he is out looking for feats of derring-do to do, maidens in need of rescue, and perhaps even small dragons to slay... So far, all he's gotten for his trouble is a cold. 

He's heard rumours, lately, of some savage beast that has been be-deviling the farmers of the desolate lands near the mountains, and figures a hunt is in order! Wherever the creature roams, however, it seems to be avoiding civilization (what little there is), though, because he's heard nothing more about it for nearly
a fortnight. With winter drawing nigh, Relgan is debating whether this tale is true, or not, and whether he should keep looking, or head home for the winter... 

More recently, Relgan has begun hearing tales of a handsome Knight Arrant, riding the land in search of the legendary Dwarf-forged blades. At first, he assumed that this was an erroneous reference to himself, then perhaps an old legend, but three days ago, he met a Dwarven miner on the road (more garrulous than
most of his ilk because he had fortified himself for the trip with a few too many tankards of brew), who had talked to the Knight, himself! 

Relgan pumps the good fellow for all he's worth, and gets nothing on the swords, but does get a description of the Knight - a REAL person, it would seem! The Dwarf even remembers that his name was Carl, or Jarl, of the Belfreys, or somesuch! Relgan thanks him, gives him enough coin for a tankard at the next Inn, and makes sure that the little fellow remembers HIS name correctly... at least until he reaches the next tavern! 

Stopping for lunch half a day's ride from the mountains, Relgan puts on a pot of rabbit stew, for himself, and some mash for his horse. The fire is wonderful, after the cold, dreary ride, and leaving it is hard...  Feeling very lethargic and road-weary, Relgan makes little headway, the rest of the day, his mind wandering, and his head stuffy... 

Along about evening, he is jolted to his senses; the sound of heavy hoof-beats coming up the road behind him, a horse being driven at a steady but quick pace! He looks back, unable to see anything in the gloom and scrub. Pulling to in the center of the road, he wheels, lance up, and tries to present as Knightly a figure as possible to whatever fellow-traveller on the road - or brigand about to get his come-uppance - as might appear... 

Out of the gloomy landscape appears a figure of myth and legend... A Knight Arrant, clad in metal full-plate armor (worth a fortune, in itself), astride a mighty destrier, bristling with weapons! Relgan manages to keep his jaw from dropping. A KNIGHT! HERE! 

"Greetings, Sir Knight! I am Relgan Tow, Esquire, defender of these lands! Stand, Sir, and be recognized!" 

The stranger pulls his horse to a halt, looking at Relgan, then dismounts, and throws back his cloak, revealing the emblazoned surcoat over his armor. Relgan squints, trying to recognize it, in the poor light...  Rolling a 95, he hasn't a clue, since the lands of Lord Belford are so far from his home. Putting the best face on it, he speaks before Karl can: 

"Greeting, Lord Belfry! Be you Carl, the Knight Arrant?" 

"No," Karl replies, "I am Karl *Belford*, Knight Errant, seeking the Dwarves who forge..." 

"Aye, Lord, I've heard of your quest, although I thought it a legend of old. Is it true, then? Have you found blades of Dwarf-make?" 

"Well, no..." Karl admits, "but the quest continues... So what be you doing here, Squire?" 

"Forgive me, Lord," the Squire says, bowing and displaying his own livery as he approaches, sheathing his lance. "I am Relgan Tow, and I have been seeking a mighty beast that some say stalks this land, although I have seen not a hair of it, this fortnight past. I did not know if you were friend or foe, so I stopped you, Sire." 

"Hmmm! I had not heard that there was another Noble hereabouts, either! Oh well, no harm done." Rolling a 34 on Chivalry, even with the penalty for being well away from his homeland, Karl recognizes the livery of the House of Tow... petty country gentry of the "Gentleman Farmer" types; rustic estates, up against the northern walls of the Blue Mountains... Did he ride through their estates, this summer? He can't recall. In any case, a friendly-if-stolid lot, with naught bad to say against them, if he's remembering his Heraldry classes correctly... Relgan must be doing rather well, to be a Squire. 

"So, where is your Knight, Squire?" Karl asks. 

The Squire looks down, for a moment. 

"Oh, we have no Knights here, Lord, and few enough Nobles of any sort. But where is your Squire, Sir Knight?" 

"Ha!" laughs Karl, "I have never had one! Well, well met upon the road, fellow traveller! I be headed east, back towards more civilized lands, what of you?" 

"I, too, and headed that way, Lord, perhaps we could ride together for a while?" 

"Splendid!" says Karl, "I understand that there's a town not too far from here... If we hurry, perhaps we can reach it before nightfall! Mount, and let us ride, Squire Tow! I would enjoy some Noble company! Tell me of this `Questing Beast' that you hunt, and how long you've been after it!" 

The rest of the day is spent looking for wolves, beasts, and any place to spend the oncoming evening, warmed only slightly by the best company either young man has had in many long, weary weeks...


                    A RYE TALE:

Having fallen in with a band of Brigands who thought they knew the ways of the world, Kachas Rye was more than a match for them... After a display of pure, elemental power, they were a bit cowed, and Kachas was right at home... Instead of trying to effect a getaway, Kachas negotiated himself a deal... He would join their little bandit league, in return for a share of the loot, and provide them with... services... 

As expected, the head galoot bit hard, and soon had Kachas in a private parley with only him and his lieutenants. There, Kachas hinted darkly at his knowledge and power, selling the bandits on what HE could do for THEM, but how he was poor, and hampered by lack of equipment... They practically forced their help upon him, in return for his promises of aid, in the very near future! 

Kachas, or course, lied with ease, and noted all the small, easily portable treasures that he'd like to acquire from the leader's tent. A day or two later, he helped himself, dug a hole under the roots of a willow, and stashed it all. On his way back to camp, though, the noise of a great commotion warned him off. 

"Find me that little thief, you varlets! I want his EARS!" the leader roared. 

"Oops! Time to take cover!" Kachas thought to himself... He did, and the woods were soon full of eyes (and brigands). He waited until it was pretty quiet where he was, then crawled into a shrub, covering himself with leaves along the way. He spent the next hour trying not to sneeze... 

Sometime after that, he saw a pretty little Ilf girl go by, looking very freaked-out, wary, and more than a little bit dangerous... "My enemies' enemy isn't necessarily my friend", he thought to himself. He let her pass, then silently slithered forth, and stealed away... 

In time, he found a small track, and followed it south, to a town. Wondering if the brigands visited the tavern, here, he was about to skirt the place, when the sounds of a horse on the road behind him urged him on... Better the unknown in front of you than the enemy behind! He ran for the first building that looked public, making it to the door before the courser and its rider appeared. The lone figure astride it paused at the bend in the road, looking around. After a few moments, he headed for the well and dismounted, warily keeping watch while he watered his steed.

                    A TALE OF SORROW:

Having mustered out of the 61rst Elite Watchers after an embarrassing incident with a certain Lord (who shall remain nameless), Morchaint-Din had nowhere especially to go, but it was "suggested" (all too firmly) that he not remain in his current location. Well, he had other interests in life, besides the military, and if he could no longer watch the lands where he had dwelt, then perhaps it was time to dwell in the sunlit upper lands, and explore the world, and those other interests, a bit farther. 

Taking the gear that he'd gotten as "mustering out pay" (and just a few months prior to being commissioned as a Percepton, he thought), he made his way into the world of men and other races, learning about sunburn, deserts, winter, starry skies, and a million other everyday phenomenon. Making his way to a great city, he made use of the great library, there, and learned many hard lessons about greed, commerce, and the value of coin... In all too short a time, he was poorer but a bit wiser, a great deal more disdainful of cities, and perhaps even a touch more xenophobic than before he entered... He returned to the stonelands where survival depended upon the decisions one made for himself, instead of those others made for him! 

Along the way, with no food and water, he was forced to move slowly, avoiding the cities and towns, foraging for roots, tubers, and the few berries that remained on the bushes this late in the year. After a time, the mountains closed in upon him, forcing him to turn south, looking for a pass. If he was lucky, perhaps he could find an unoccupied mountain valley to winter in, someplace with an empty cave to call home. 

"With my luck, I'll probably make a light snack for a Cave Bear!", he laughed to himself. He shrugged, sighed, and rode on. 

Winter had begun, and things were getting colder and dimmer... These mountains seemed to trap the clouds near them. The days were getting colder without the sun, and without even a cloak to his name, Morchaint-Din was beginning to feel the chill in the air, during the nights.  Still, the winter must be cold, indeed, to kill a Wylf, so he hacked some birch bark off a toppled tree, and made a covering to keep the wind off, staking it down with tent pegs made of notched pieces split from small branches. 

After many days' travel, he came to an especially blighted-looking area. All the plants seemed poisonous, here, somehow... He dismounted, and took a pinch of soil between his forefinger and thumb, sniffing it... He let the scent coil around, lingering inside his nose. He detected nothing unusual; nothing to explain the plants... 

He rode on, for a while... After a time, he came to a point in the track where many people had crossed it, heading into the woods on the SE side... He pulled his bowkler as he dismounted, drawing two arrows. Nocking one, he put the other between his teeth, and stood, leaning against his horse, listening; looking... After a long time of that (hearing only the sounds of the forest), he cautiously advanced, and checked the tracks... 

A bands of 20 or so men, some armored, had crossed here; many of them twice... The winds had been from the SW all day. The men had crossed the road, then come back about an hour later, by the look of things. There were also the prints of a little barefoot Kobold who had crossed before the men, and hadn't
returned. He wandered if he'd discover a body, if he followed the tracks. 

With only a dozen arrows and a barteaux machete, he decided not to go looking for trouble, especially since he had no way to re-equip. He looked down the tracks as far as he could see, then put his arrow back in the quiver, keeping the other one knocked. He remounted his steed, and rode on. 

Not too long afterward, as he came around a bend, he heard the sound of running feet... Bare feet, small, like a child's... or a Kobold's! Warily, he edged out around the bend, to see the outskirts of a small village or hamlet. He saw no one, although he could see a well, and hear the bludgeoning of a blacksmith's hammer on some piece of steel. As he approached, he saw where the Kobold's tracks left the woods to the left of the road, and headed to the door of one of the larger buildings.  Rolling a 90 against Scrutiny, he failed to perceive whether or not the door was still swinging. 

Deciding to avoid any inter-racial strife, he went over to the well, and walked around it, checking things out.  He saw no signs, so assumed that these humans didn't charge for water. He dropped the bucket into the well, then winched it up. The water smelled and tasted okay, so he drank some, then filled the trough for his horse. 

While doing that, he heard two heavy horses coming up the west road. Two armored Knights stopped at the crossing, then one went into the barn, the other making his way north up the track, towards him. He could not hear what passed between the two, but one had pointed towards HIM!

Morchaint-Din put the well between himself and the armored Knight, making sure he had running/fighting room, if need be. He smoothed his courser's coat, as it drank, and watched the man approach. The Knight had a destrier; tougher in a fight, but slower in the chase. Running looked the best option. 

Karl rode up, dismounted slowly, his legs creaking a bit after the long ride. He and the wary Wylf eyed each other as he removed his helmet, then flashed his best smile. 

"Greetings, moon friend! Well met!" 

Obviously a Human Noble, Morchaint-Din thought, and one acquainted with Wylves, apparently. Well, no sense being rude... 

"Greetings, stranger..." he replied, no hint of a smile, and never letting go of the bowkler, or nocked arrow pointing towards the ground... No sense being stupid, or trusting someone who hasn't earned it, either!


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## Steverooo (Aug 22, 2003)

KARL MEETS SORROW:

Karl decides both a carrot and a stick are called for, in this situation: 

"Hey, nice armor, stranger!" He ignores the Elf for a moment, looking at his horse "Nice animal, too." Karl tries to see if he can tell how far the beast has been ridden, but rolling 83 against Chivalry, fails it. 

The elfkin dips his head, a slight nod, and perhaps the faintest trace of a smile... but not much, if there is one. 

"Yours, too, Lord... although I don't recognize the livery." He shoots another glance at your horse. "I prefer Chargers and Coursers to Destriers, myself. They are not quite as heavy in the charge, but they are faster." He shrugs. "The old "Strength vs, Speed" debate..." 

While the Wylf speaks, Karl grabs the rope and pulls the water bucket from the other side of the well (Tactically, he can always dodge behind it, if arrows start flying - the well that is, not the bucket)! As he lowers the bucket into the water, Karl looks up... the Elf hasn't moved... and asks: 

"So, how's the water? Any good?" The Elf holds up his right hand (the other one still holding the bow and a buckler, forefinger keeping an arrow on the string), and, holding the hand a bit above waist-level, even with the horizon, quickly rotates it thumb-up, thumb-down a few times... 

"Okay." is all he says. Talkative type... 

"Have you been in this town long enough to find the inn? My companion and I have hopes of visiting a bed this night and leaving the cold ground for the less fortunate animals." Karl smiles. 

"Nay, naught but a little while, nor would I have entered it at all, had I seen it before I rounded the bend, or had the well been on the other side. Probably that..." he points, "...or that" he points to the other side of the street (does Karl turn to look?) "...is the Inn. Mayhap the other is a Tavern." 

Every time he points, the bow moves... Never TOWARDS you, though... YET! <VBG> 

If the Wylf's bow moves a degree away from the ground and toward me, I say, "You'll have no need of that with me, I assure you. I am not your enemy. But if you use it, don't miss. I have a bad attitude about such things." 

                    (Understood, but it hasn't happened, so far). 

Looking at the Wylf from close range, Karl can see that his little buckler is either damaged, or modified...  There is a large spike and a small hole in it, as well as a slit that goes almost to the center... There are also some hooks on it, that look somewhat like a torch holder on a castle wall. 

While all of that is going on, several things are happening behind Karl: There are sounds of heavy footsteps moving away from him at a slow, steady pace, a door slamming and feet running down the street away from him, and the clopping of a horse's hooves by the stables... 

Does he turn his back on this armed Wylf to see the Inn/Tavern, or take a look at what's going on around him? Or does he keep his eyes on the Wylf and avoid looking at the goings-on behind him, since everything seems to be headed away from him? 

                    Hmmm! What to do, what to do...

                    KARL MEETS SORROW, 2:

Karl tastes the water without taking his eyes off the Wylf. He looks from the warrior's eyes down to his weapon and back to his eyes and then slowly lowers the cup.

"I must say, you have a very good relationship with that weapon."

The wary Wylf gives you a consternated look, which Karl interprets as "Stupid Human!".

Karl continues to speak calmly as he turns to look back over his shoulder.

"It must be wearisome holding it always such. Or do you know something about this little town that I don't?"

Karl does his best to listen for the sound of the weapon being raised, but uses his eyes to scan for the sounds that he most recently heard behind him. If he hears nothing from the Wylf, he will turn back to him smoothly when he has assessed the situation behind him.

"Only that there was trouble on the track to the north, two hours or so ago, as I was riding in," the Wylf replies, "...and that 20 or so Humans were chasing a barefoot Kobold who went off the road to the east, and didn't come back.  The rest of them re-crossed the road a few miles north of here, and the Kobold, apparently, came into - or through - this town, just before I did." he says, trying to see around you, but failing.

   [Karl doesn't hear a sound, and dies in silence, pierced by an arrow from the cruel Wylf's silent bow... game over; you lose!  (No, just kidding, and inducing some healthy paranoia).  <G?>]

   Actually, he turns and sees a huge, hulking ogrish being, a pretty young Ilf-girl, and a little green-skinned kiddie going around the corner of the stable barn, turning east.  He can still hear the sounds of the horse, fading away, but doesn't see one.

    The heavy footsteps must have been the ogre, the running feet one of the other two, trying to catch up to him (which they have now done).  You get about a two-second look at their backs, before they go around the corner...  (I'd describe them better, but somebody hasn't done their equipment lists, yet, so all I can tell you is that the child has on dark, dirty clothes).

    Now what?

                    The OX's TALE CONTINUES:

  Ox crashed back into the underbrush, dragging Buford, his trusty mule after him. 

   "Hey, WAIT!" the pretty little Ilf girl called after him, fumbling with her gear.  Ox slowed down... just a tad... knowing that any fool could tell which part of the underbrush he'd crashed through.  He knew his trail wouldn't be too hard to follow.  Besides, he didn't relish another night under the stars, here in late fall.  He pulled his dark cloak a little closer around him, looked
back to check on the girl (and get his bearings) and then crashed on.  This was SE... wasn't it? 

                    CARILLA's TALE CONTINUES:

Grabbing her gear (which was fortunately pretty light, since she'd been out hunting when she encountered the brigands), Carilla hurried to the rip in the undergrowth where the big Oaf had made a hole, and peeked in...  No sign of him, but the trail was clear... as were the sounds coming from that direction.  Moving at a stealthy trot, she set off after him, hoping he was the friendly type, and knew where he was going. 

   "I hope those brigands have gone to lair, by now." she muttered to herself, looking at the westering sun.  "I'd hate to have to kill them all, this late in the day!"  Looking down at the ground, she thought "At least I won't have to worry about losing the trail... and with that noisy Oaf leading the way, I doubt I'll have to worry any about running into anything, either...  He'll flush'em out, for me!" 

   She ran for a bit, catching up somewhat, and soon saw the edge of the woods.  Farmland stretched out before her.  Civilization!... of some sort.  The Oaf continued at a run, heading for a small collection of rude buildings.  Coming to a track, he headed south down it, stopping in between a couple of large buildings, looking confused, looked around, then pulled his mule into one.  Walking down the track towards the road, Carilla smiled, imaging the occupants' reactions to THAT! 

   Taking in her surroundings, she noticed a well, what appeared to be a general store or traders', a building that was (by the smell) either a brewery, a tavern, or both, and what she assumed must be a rude country Inn.  Thinking of a room, a long, hot bath, and a warm bed (sans the bugs!), she headed for the latter... 

                    A RYE GETAWAY - NOT!

   Outpacing any pursuit, the little kobold made it to the door of the large, public building - apparently some type of store from the dried goods arrayed out front - and through the door before the horseman could turn the corner.  Catching the door on the inside, he eased it shut. 

   Looking around, he saw the usual General Mercantile and Traders' goods - nothing worth stealing, cash box included, no doubt.  Definitely a hick town, full of rubes.  A good place to hide out, assuming the brigands didn't come here. 

   He sauntered over and looked through the candles, surreptitiously eyeing the bald-headed shopkeep.  Kachas tried to figure out what race(s) he was, but couldn't tell...  Part human and some dark alfar, maybe?...  Oaf?  Orc?  Maybe both?  He couldn't say. 

   Eyeing all the exits, and keeping an ear pealed for sounds outside the door, Kachas relaxed as much as possible.  He noticed the curtain to the back room rustle, even before it opened. 

   "Greetings, stranger!" said a portly, bearded human.  "You're new in these parts!  What can I help you with?... or are ye seeking me?" asks the portly man, dressed more like a country squire on a hunt that a shop-owner.  Kachas waved his hand. 

   "Nay, nay, just passing through, friend!" says Kachas, not liking something about this likable fellow's too-brilliant smile and eyes.  Kachas had a bad feeling about this... 

   "Potts' the name!" said the stranger, proffering his hand, "What's yours, stranger?" 

   "Nemian," Kachas lied, "Nemian Ibsquilish.  Pleased to meet you."  He shook the man's hand, then quickly  dropped it.  Maybe it was time to move on. 

   "So, what brings you to our fair acre?" Potts asked, grinning like a ghoul, Kachas thought.  Looks like there'd be no getting away without a conversation...  Giving up the idea of Shadow Bolting thestore-owner and running off with the till, Kachas put on his most charming smile, and resigned himself to it... 

   After five minutes, or so, he felt himself fall over, and wondered what was going on.  He hadn't drunk all day!  When he came to, he saw himself grinning at him, as he went out the door.  He groaned, and shut his eyes tightly.  Something was very wrong, here... 

                    TOW's TALE TWO:

   Tiredly, Relgan Tow, the Esquire who would be a Knight, followed the sound of the blacksmith's clanging hammer into the smithy.  He stopped to bang on the door, then entered anyway, figuring the smith wouldn't be able to hear him over the sound of his own hammer.  The lack of wind, and the heat of the forge, were quite comfortable, after a day spent in the wind, and the smell of charcoal was making Relgan hungry.  He hoped stabling was available, so that he could get some food and a room... 

   The smith was an odd little... man.  Half-man, actually.  The other half was apparently Dwarf.  He'd gotten the worst features of the personalities of both, it seemed, but Relgan took it as a challenge to be Chivalrous to the uncourtly, and inquired about the stall fees, feed, courrying, and such like. 

   The smith's eyes seemed to reflect the fires of his forge, as he talked to Relgan.  Relgan was already wearied from his cold, and many long days' hunt for a beast, and began to feel very odd.  Finally, he seemed to swoon, and had a very odd feeling of looking up at himself, as he lay by the forge.  He felt he should get up and tend to his horse, but somehow, he just didn't seem able to...  Finally, he succumbed, and slept; if sleep it was... 

                    MORE OX TALES:

   Blundering out of the underbrush onto the track, Ox looks south to see the town of Forlorn Corners, at last!  He heads into it, stops briefly to look around, and heads for the building that looks most likely to be the shrine, pulling Buford behind him.  The door to the building is open, so he ducks on in. 

   A fairly good-sized room meets his eyes, lit by the light from the door and several dark tapers dripping wax onto a table at the far end of the room.  A small altar to the left with some sort of figure on it... and a robed Priest!  Forgetful of his mule, Ox rushes forward, dragging the beast through the doorway... 

   "Greetings, child," says the tall, robed figure, in a melodious voice, "Have you seen a wheel of flame in any recent night visions or dreams?". 

   "Huh?" says Ox, unprepared for such questions.  "Uhhh...  Nope, I don't think so." he says, scratching his head, trying to remember... 

   "Have you heard the tale of the Princess who was Stolen?" asks the priestly one. 

   "No, I haven't, is it a good one?" asks Ox, growing interested.  Is it story time?  This is better than he'd hoped!  The Custodian sighs. 

   "Your donations will be blessed, my child." he says, motioning towards the altar as he turn away... 

   So does Ox examine the altar, donate some coin, or do something else?  Tune in next week, when you'll hear our hero say: "Dey!..." 

                    CARILLA CARRIES ON:

   Making her way through the town (if one could call this crossing of dirt tracks a town), Carilla heads for what she hopes is an Inn.  Crossing the track to the East side, she hears the ringing of a hammer.  Approaching closer and peeking through the door, she can see that it's a smithy, instead.  Disappointed, she turns back, recrossing the track to the west. 

   Approaching the booze-smell of the other building, she decides it's the only other game in town.  She opens the door and walks in.  Several doors, a counter/bar, a serving wench, a few local ruffians, and the apparent proprietor meet her gaze, as she waltzes through the door. 

   "Greetings, missy!" says the average looking barkeep, in his leather apron.  Brown hair, eyes, skin, and apron... a true brunette, she thinks, eyeing him and then the ruffians.  "What can old Buck get you?" 

   "A room and a bath, perhaps?" says Carilla, flashing a smile and hoping. 

   "Why, certainly, my dear!  Right this way!  Come on in out of the cold.  How about a drink to warm you up?  Nothing but the best at the Wild Hare, y'know!  Best drinks in town!" the man
enthuses. 

   "The ONLY drinks in town!" Carilla thinks, but follows him in.  "Nah, maybe later," she replies, "for now, just show me the rooms!" 


                    STILL YET MORE OX TALES:

Ox looks again at the small altar and repeats to himself the priest's words,  "Your donations will be blessed."

That's a lesson! He began to understand. Understanding bloomed in his big, mostly-empty skull like a warm light. His long search was over. Here, in this little town in the middle of nowhere, he had found a priest willing to teach him what it meant to serve God. He dropped Buford's reins and headed for the altar. Buford stared after him for a moment before bending to nibble at the base of a pillar.

   The shrine is about 24 feet high, with an internal ceiling of 20'.  It is 40' long by 20' wide.  The door is to the south, the stone-topped table with the candles to the north, altar on the west wall, and a drab wall hanging takes up the entire east wall, and wraps around a bit to the NE side.  There are eight pillars supporting the 20' high ceiling, four on a side, forming a central aisle.  There are no pews, nor other furnishing.

   (If Ox wants to examine anything, let me know what.)

   The shrine's interior is windowless and dim.  Ox crosses the 10' central aisle and approaches the fane.  Its main feature is in the center, almost touching the west wall; a cube of chalcedony, three feet on a side.  Atop it, seemingly carved from some excrescence of the mineral below, is a basalt-like protrusion chiseled into the shape of a four-headed goat.  This figure rises two feet above the pale stone.

   To either side of this carved figure sits a rust-red bowl of stone, one foot in diameter, and a similar cup of about one-quart capacity.  All are empty.

   Behind the altar is a wall niche one-foot deep, about a foot and a half wide, and three feet high.  It is empty, but it seems to have been designed to contain some holy statue.  On either side of the niche (at about two feet distance) is a cresset set into the wall.  These wrought-silver lamps are dark and corroded, apparently not having been used for a long, long time.

Ox fell down onto his huge knees in front of the small altar and bowed his head. Warm tears welled up in his big eyes, which he rubbed away with a fat finger before raising his hands in prayer. He remained like that for some time, trying to form words in his mind that could convey to his God how happy he was for being drawn to this place.

At last, he struggled to his feet and placed one big hand, palm down, in the center of the little altar. His offering was prepared.

He turned and called to the robed priest.

   "Hey!" said Ox, turning around, to find the cowled Custodian standing quietly, watching him.

Ox is prepared to offer his life in service to the church and God, but as he stands, he looks again at the block and goat-headed thing in front of him and his previous line of thought is lost.

He turns to face the cleric and asks, "What is that goat-head thing, anyway?"

   "Would you like to see?" asks the Custodian, drawing the cowl down from his brick-red hair and pointy nose and ears...  "Yes, I think you'll do...  I think you'll do just fine..." he says, eyes burning.

   Ox feels something funny happening, and that it's not a good thing...  He overbalances, and falls over backwards, bumping his leather cap on the altar block as he falls.  Feeling like a Major Oaf, Ox mentally makes a note to increase his dexterity... just as soon as he wakes up...

   Lights out...

(Oh no!!! I'm getting the bad feeling that something is rotten in Forewarned Corners!

Don't worry, I'll generate characters more quickly for the next game -- after all my characters die!!!!

Arghhhh!)

   [Ox aint dead, just tell me what he does when he wakes up...]

(Oh, good. What does he see when he wakes up, besides his mule, I hope.  )

   Ox wakes up to see that it's evening, and the shrine is empty, except for him.  No sign of any four-headed goats, the Custodian, nor his mule...

Ox wakes up and rubs his head. 

   [As he does so, he notices that his cap is gone, and his hood is up.]

He tries to determine how he feels (rested, like he's been beat up, like he just laid down). 

   [He doesn't feel himself, somehow, but isn't sure how.]

He looks around for the block and goat-headed thing. 

   [The altar is right where it was, behind him.]

Can he remember anything else that is different about the room now than it was before?

   [Other than the missing custodian and mule, no...]

"Bew-Ford!" he calls.

   [In vain; there is no answer, as he sits on the floor, in the growing darkness...]

(Hood? Ox is wearing a hood?)

[Yes, he is.]

                    GETTING IT TOGETHER:

   (Ox checks to see about this hood. Is he now dressed like a priest!? If so, he will dance around for a little while thinking that God has granted his wish to become a priest but then will get a very bad feeling and search around the place for the other guy and his donkey(mule).)

   Not remembering having a hood on his cloak, Ox reaches up and scratches his head, which feels weird, somehow, but isn't sore...  He looks around for his missing cap, but doesn't see it... just that four-headed goat thing looking at him...  As he does so, he notices that his legs seem smaller, where they stick out from underneath his robe...

   Robe?

   He looks down at himself.  His travel-stained clothes are gone, and he is dressed in a robe and sandals...  Like a Priest!  Elated at the thought that God has heard his prayer and accepted his sacrifice, Ox clambers to his feet and dances a little jig, raising his arms and face to heaven...

   Then he notices something very, very odd...  His nose is pointed!  This is a frightfully stunning revelation to Ox, because he had always had a very long, large, beaked nose.  He brings his hands up to his face, and notices that they are not the thick-fingered hands of a mighty Major Oaf, but skinny little sticks, too small even for a Human!

   Feeling his face doesn't bring any better news, either...  His face is fat, his nose still long, but now thin and pointy... as are his ears!  His mouth is small and thick lipped, with lower canines extended, and his hair is short and bristly.

   Looking up at the ceiling, Ox intones:  "Uh, God?...  You didn't have nothin' ta DO with this, didja?"  He stands waiting for a moment, but there's no answer from above.

   "I didn't think so." says Ox, bowing his head and staring around the empty shrine.  "Now where is that Priest?"

   "OH BROTHER!" he bellows, heading for the door.  "BEW-FORD!"...

Carilla:

   (She follows the guy into the back, but is very wary. She knows how guys get when they see a pretty Ilf, and this guy seems awful happy for a barkeep in a backwater town like this. She plans to make sure this doesn't happen, perhaps a little Charming will come in handy. She'll get herself ready, just in case.)

   Carilla follows Buck through an archway into a small hallway...  She notices the doorway at the other end, as well as doors to a dining room, and the kitchen.  Buck turns left, heading up a short flight of steps, leading up to the floor above.  There, a window faces north, and a hallway divides several rooms, with another door down to a flight of steps exiting the west side of the building, and at the opposite end of the hall is another stairway up.

   Wiping his hands on a rag the whole way, Buck tries to chat her up, telling her the location of the outhouse, that every room has its own chamber pot, what the rates are, how good the food and booze is, etc.  He seems content to do all the talking, if Carilla doesn't care to chime in...

   Carilla thinks to herself that he could be a useful source of information... if there was ever anything about this hole-in-the-wall town that she ever wanted to know, that is!  He does seem just a bit TOO happy to see her, however, so she stops him at the door of a room, asks to see it, asks if they're all the same (he assures her that they are), and as she is looking around, she spends the 12 second required to form the psychic link between them that Charismatic Charm requires.

   Turning back to him, Carilla works her wiles.  Buck easily slips under her influence, being basically friendly, and without the stress of combat to give her trouble.  She watches his eyes as the pupils grow larger; he likes what he sees.  Gotcha!  She smiles down at him...

   "You know what I'd really like right now, Bucky?"

   "No ma'am, what?"

   "I'd REALLY like to have a nice, LONG nap, without being disturbed!"  She puts one finger under his chin...  "Now do you think you could arrange that for me, hmmm?"

   Buck nods agreement, and hastily turns down the bed, then (stopping to collect the room rent) heads for the door, looking back at her sweet smile.  Carilla waves bye-bye, and then closes and bolts the door behind him.

   Dumping her gear and removing her boots, Carilla stretches out on the bed.  Boy, that Charm must have taken more out of her than she thought...  Suddenly, she's feeling rather woozy...  She closes her eyes.

   *ZONK*  Lights out!

Karl:

(Having refreshed himself and made small talk, Karl decides to go for broke with this guy.)

   "My name is Karl Belford. I am on a quest in these lands...or was.  I'm making my way home for the winter. This is as far as I'll go tonight.  We'll be having dinner here soon. You're welcome to join us. I would like to hear of your travels in these parts."

   Karl ignores the stuff about trouble on the road, earlier, not wanting to set out in the growing twilight.  Here he is, and here he'll stay.  The Wild Elf glances, again, at his livery, apparently able to see it clearly in the dimming light.

   "A quest, eh?  Going home for the winter?"  The Elf shakes his head. "Nay, I don't think I'll be spending a night in a Human town, thank you!  Not unless the world changes!  You Humans all want money for everything.  I'm surprised they don't have a sign on the well, `One copper per laddle-full'!"

   Karl notices some odd, parallel scratches on the Elf's breastplate, as he listens to the answer, and squints at it a bit more.  Four rows of curving, parallel marks... like claws.  There are some other odd marks, too...  Karl uses his Hunting skills to see if he can figure out what could have caused them, and determines that the claw-marks are probably from a good-sized brown bear...  The other odd markings he doesn't recognize.

   He starts to wonder where good Squire Tow is, and what could be taking him so long with his horse.

   As he's wondering, however, he hears someone yelling from somewhere behind him:  "OH BROTHER!" the melodious voice bellows, "BEW-FORD!"...


----------



## Steverooo (Aug 22, 2003)

GETTING IT TOGETHER II:

   Seeing the Wylf again trying to peer past him, Karl turns around to risk another look behind him.  Some priestly sort, apparently, calling for one of his brothers (by the name of Buford, it would appear).  Seeing nothing, he turns back to the Elf, who still hasn't moved, as far as he can tell. 

   Meanwhile, back at the temple, having seen nothing of Priest or mule, Ox steps out into the dimming twilight, and looks around.  He can see several larger buildings in front of him, one of which might be a barn.  Might Buford have gone there?  And where is that silly priest? 

   Across the street is what looks like a store (bags of dried peas and such, outside), and down the track from that is some other larger structure with lights on... 

   Now where could that priest and mule have gotten to?  Yelling doesn't seem to produce any response... 

                    GETTING IT TOGETHER III:

(Last I recall, Karl was at the Well with the Moon Friend and noticed the little strange priest walking the streets. He turned to look at him, I recall.)

Karl turns smoothly back to the Wylf, with no sudden motions.

"Well, there is some life in this little town, after all. I wonder if you would join me and my traveling companion for a brief sup. I'm on my way home now, but I've been searching for something all season. I wonder if you might have come across some information in your travels that might aid me in my quest. I would be happy to purchase your meal in exchange for the chance to talk about it."

   The Elf makes some sort of soft noise...  It could be a cough, clearing his throat, or a "Hmph", Karl can't tell.  In any case, he drily responds:

   "Oh, I'm sure I can answer your question for free, if I know anything about it, Sir.  After all, I'm not one of your greedy fellow Humans!"

                    GETTING IT TOGETHER IV:

   "BEW-FOOORD!" Ox shouts, walking out the door of the empty shrine (leaving the door wide open behind him), and heading towards the "center" of town. 

   Meanwhile, back at the well, Karl turns back to invite the recalcitrant Wylf to dinner. 

   Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Ma & Pa Kettle are just sitting down to dinner, after a hard day's chores. 

   Meanwhile, in what passes for an Inn in Forlorn Corners, Carilla wakes up, in her bed, in the dark, and instantly knows that something is terribly, horribly wrong! 

   Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Ma & Pa Kettle's supper is disturbed by an odd scratching at the door...  Pa grabs the hayfork before peeking out the keyhole.  "Who is it?" he asks... 

   Meanwhile, in the everdark underneath the mountains, the Chieftain is having a discussion with two of his Archers: 

   "Well, maybe he came through the mountains, Sir.  It's still early, the passes are still open." the younger one says. 

   "There are no tracks." the Chief says, looking the young Wylf in the eye.  "We've had Trackers out for days." 

   "But the only other way through is..." the older Hunter begins. 

   "Right through here!" the Chief finishes for him, "That's right." 

   "But," the younger Archer begins, "he couldn't have gotten through here without being seen, sir!" 

   "Maybe he didn't." replies the Chief, holding up the bloody rags that were once a uniform.  Shifting gaze to the Hunter, he says: "Garik, I want you to take Vinces and go east, through the Hole-in-the-wall, and out into the Human lands.  Search until you find the tracks, or cover a hundred miles in both directions.  If he's there, I want you to find him and kill him.  If not, I want you back here in five days, or I'll come looking for the both of you." 

   "Aye Sir," says the older Hunter, taking the supply requisition his Chieftain hands him.  "If he's there, we'll find him.  Vinces, let's move.  We've got to cover two hundred miles in five days..." 

   Quickly gearing up, the two wild elves leave the everdark under the mountain, climbing down its side into the Human lands below.  Luck is with them, and they quickly pick up the tracks, only 14 miles from the Hole-in-the-wall!  Shortly before midnight, Garik stops the younger Archer with an upraised hand.  Looking back to make sure he has Vinces' attention, the Hunter motions for him to nock and load, and wait here... 

   Leaving the wary youth alone in the dark, the older Hunter creeps up on a lone cottage, circling it, scrutinizing the open door, shuttered windows, dying fire...  Coming to a spot where he can see the door from the opposite side of Vinces, he freezes, waiting.  He holds that position for 15 minutes, listening to the rustling wind. 

   Once he's sure that that's all that's inside, he carefully moves up, and looks through the door.  After a moment of that, he motions for his younger protégé to move up, flanking him on the right.  Unfortunately, the frazzled young archer misses the tracks leading away from the cottage as he tramples over them. 

   When Vinces is in position, Garik quickly kicks the door in, arrow drawn and ready.  He takes stock of the room, then catches the door before it can bang against the wall.  Motioning for Vinces to follow, he goes in. 

   Both Wylfs stare, the younger at the blood-soaked floor, the elder at the shadows and things in the room possibly large enough to conceal an enemy larger than a snake...  The younger one gasps, seeing a bloody shoe, not sure that something isn't still inside it. 

   "We're too late." Garik states.  "He's at least half an hour ahead of us, if we run." 

   "Which way?" Vinces pants, not short on breath. 

   "The tracks you were tripping over went NE, if he sticks to that, but we'll have to follow them anyway...  He might be circling back, for all we know.  C'mon, Archer, we've got a Hunt to catch up to!"   The older Hunter pushes the younger back out the door, away from the small pile of white foam slowly settling into a clear puddle on the floor, away from the congealing blood coagulating on the fieldstone, out the door, and NE along a barely discernible set of tracks, running through the woods. 

   "He's HUGE!" Vinces gasps, now for air.  "Look at the distance between..." 

   "Shut up and save yer breath fer runnin'!" the older Elf snaps, "He could hear you!" 

   Point taken, the younger Archer conserves breath, smelling the wind with every one, searching the shadows, listening for all he's worth... 

   Three miles later, the older Elf stops.  Too out of breath to ask why, Vinces pulls up behind him, looking around, but silent. 

   "Blast!  Lost the trail...", Garik mutters, casting around.  "This way." he says, running NW, now. 

   "He's doubling back?" Vinces pants. 

   "Going to lair, maybe?" the older Elf huffs.  Then back all the way they'd come, passing somewhere north of the cottage in the night, back towards the wall of the mountain, almost twenty miles, again. 

   "Blast!  Lost him, again!  Circle-search!" the Hunter commands.  Both Elves spiral outwards from the last sure trace, looking for spoor.  "Here!" the Hunter calls softly, and they're off again.

   "Cliff...ahead..." gasps Vinces.  Looking up, Garik motions a halt. 

   "Caves.  Gone to lair... for the coming... light." the Hunter pants.  "Keep watch."  Taking a breather, they stop and listen, eyes scanning the cliff and caves.  No sight of their prey appears. 
After a few minutes, Garik decides on the plan. 

   "You go straight west to the wall, and follow it north, watching for the tracks.  I'll follow these.  I should reach him first, and you come in right behind me." 

   "But we shouldn't separate!" hisses Vinces. 

   "Don't worry, I'll get to him first, just don't be slow!" Garik grins, then streaks off. 

   Jumping up to head east, Vinces bemoans: "Oooh, I've got a bad feeling about this!" 

   Following the tracks, Garik has to pause for a moment to spiral, once more.  He picks up the tracks yet again, and follows them to a cave mouth...  Looking back to make sure he can see the kid, he checks his arrow, loosens his sword in its sheath, and then squeezes through the opening...  A narrow cave greets his squinting sight; small, shaped like a bent kidney bean, but large enough to easily walk through.  No tracks visible, on the floor... 

   Moving at full stealth, he creeps in, listening for the sounds of Vinces coming to join him...  Warily, he surveils the portion of the cave visible to him, then moves around the curve in the "bean"...  Nothing! 

   Above him, on a ledge above floor-level at the back of the cave, a grey shape rises, dark eyes acquiring him as target.  Premonitions flaring, the elf looks up to see his attacker, as he gathers for a leap down on him! 

   "Vinces was right; he is big." he thinks, as he draws and releases.  His enemy comes barreling out to meet him, howling with pain as the arrow takes him.  Undaunted by a charging foe, the Hunter drops the bow, pulling out his thrusting sword and shield.  Readying himself just in time, he looks up to see his foe hurtling down on top of him! 

   Bringing up the shield and bending his knees, Garik takes it on his tower, but the weight smashes him to the ground, the beast on top. 

   "Oops, hadn't expected that!  Bad move." Garik rates himself.  He manages to roll over and try to block as the rabid beast comes at him, again.  Unfortunately, being on his belly in the mud isn't much more help. 

   With cunning, the wolf paused, waiting for Garik to move, and when he brought his arm down, it struck, biting deeply into the Wylf's shield arm, preventing him from using it.  Yelping as the Elven Hunter's sword struck home, the wolf continued to worry it. 

   Garik screamed.  He hoped Vinces would get there soon.  Or maybe not.  Probably better if the poor kid never showed up, he thought, as he lost the shield along with the part of the arm that had been strapped to it... 

   Running as fast up-hill as he could, Vinces reached the mouth of the cave, and saw the beast's back.  He put one arrow into it, before drawing sword and shield.  The wolf turned, yelping, then leapt in and overbore him.  Grabbing him by the ankle, it ignored his sword thrusts as it dragged him into the cave to join his Mentor. 

   "Garik!" Vinces screamed, but Garik wasn't answering, wasn't even moving, anymore...  Vinces fought well enough to have made his old Mentor proud, but if their prey had already finished the Mentor, what hope did the Protégé have? 

   When all was quiet, the wolf had meat for several days, on top of the meal he'd had earlier in the night.  Dragging his dinner back into the cave, he leaped back up onto his high ledge, licked his wounds, and fell asleep.  He wouldn't need to hunt again for almost a week... 

***

   (Warhorse should have went with squire Tow to the stable.  Karl is still wondering where that guy is.)

   [Actually, Karl's warhorse (nameless for the moment) carried him to the well, while Tow's carried him to the stable, to see IF they rented stalls...  Maybe he's there, bargaining.  Perhaps Karl should go see...]

   Karl smiles, trying as best a knight can not to be condescending.  "Forgive me, my friend. I wasn't appealing to your greed. I heed my own sense of fairness about these things. If you're information can help me, the least I can do is see you get a decent meal out of it. Will you join us?"

   The Elf shrugs.  "It's your money, I suppose you can waste it however you please, but I warn you, you will no doubt be overcharged for the meal, and be expected to "tip" and pay taxes, as well!  No doubt the fare will be less than stellar and the service may be wanting, as well!  But, if you want to buy dinner for information you could have had for free, I have grown rather tired of jerked beef and dried elk, I would be glad for a salad, dark bread, and cheese with a pot of tea...  If you're travelling, I would be happy to trade you some of that dried meat for a decent meal (even at inflated Human prices), if you can stomach the stuff... but it is beginning to get a bit ripe, after a week in my pack, so beware, if you have a weak stomach!"

   "Ha!" Karl laughs with genuine amusement. "You sound just like some of the people in my father's employ. Perhaps you should think about becoming a politician."

   The Wylf wrinkles his nose at you, but that actually gets a grin out of him.  It's the first one you've seen, so far...

   Turning, he takes his warhorse's reins in his other hand, draping them over his right shoulder.  He looks around for a moment.

   "If that is a temple (or whatever), and that looks to be a store, then  one of those two buildings, down there, must be a public eating house, if this village has one..." he says, pointing towards the crossroads.

   Karl looks back in the direction of the stable and scratches the new stubble that has started to grow on his chin since his morning shave. "Now, where is that squire?"

   The Wylf just cocks an eyebrow at you, then turns and leads his steed out onto the track... all without letting go of the buckler, bow, or arrow.  Apparently, he does have "a very good relationship with that weapon."

   "You're probably right about the eating house," Karl says. "I'd like to stable my good friend here before I eat. You may accompany me to the stable if you like, or I'll meet you back here in a moment. And... I'll think about trading you, but in the meantime, I'll take care of our dinner."

   Pulling their horses out into the street (leading his pack horse behind his mount), Karl tries to keep his eyes on the wary Wylf, but the darkness is beginning to make things difficult.  The elfkin seems more interested in looking at the ground than in shooting Karl, however, so the Knight contents himself with keeping his mighty Destrier between them (if anything happens, it can always step on the Wylf's foot!)  The Wylf pauses for half a second, then shoots a look at the door of what appears to be the store (or so Karl judges, based on the baskets and bagged beans stacked outside), then points across the street to the opposite side.

   "There is an empty corral, over there.  That must be the stables behind it." he says, pointing to their left.  Karl looks, but can't see past the Smithy.  He wonders if the store has torches... he used the last of his weeks ago, exploring caves, and lighting camps in the wilderness.  "Next time, I am definitely bringing a tent and a cot!" he thinks to himself.  He realizes that he has no oil for his lantern, either...  Better check out that store and stock up, before leaving town in the morning, too!

   Well, there are three choices, he can go bang on the door to the smithy (the blacksmith's hammer is no longer pounding), or go to the corral, or go around to what appears to be the stable... or he can do something else (check out the eaterie, see if the store has torches, etc.)  What decision does Karl make?

***

   Meanwhile, at the point where the track and the road cross, Ox looks around for his beloved mule, and can't see it anywhere...  Of course, it IS dark, so that's not too surprising...  He stops and looks left, then right, sees little, and goes straight, heading out of town.

   "Now if I were a mule, where would I go?" he wonders...

   Meanwhile, back in the Inn, Carilla slowly sits up in bed, her feeling of dread growing...  She realizes that she is now herself, but only in mind, not in body!  Something dire had happened to her, something awful...

***

   The bow-bearing Wylf looks at the Kobold tracks, noting that they lead into the store...  No one's come out, since he's been at the well, and that's been probably a good half an hour, or so...

   Meanwhile, Karl has finally decided upon a course of action, and heads towards the stable. No sense in leaving a valuable warhorse in any old corral.  Better see that he's fed and brushed. He deserves at least that.  Strange that Tow would just disappear like that. Karl scans for the squire or his mount as he makes his way to what he hopes is the stable.

   The Wylf and his Warhorse following along behind, Karl heads around the side of the smithy to the long, two story building next to it.  30' wide by 105' long, with the typical upper hayloft doors, there's little else it could be...  Taking the lead, Karl opens the large, double doors and leads his two horses through.  Looking around as the Elf follows him in, he sees 12 5' x 7' stalls, a grooming area and a closed off area, as well as some larger stalls, on the other side.

   As he is looking around, a young lad comes sliding down the ladder from the hayloft.  "Stabling is $20 per animal per night, sirs.  It's in a nice stall with fresh straw, hay, and grain too, with a bucket o' water I fetch meself.  If the beast wants runnin' down, then you pays me a bit extra, and I'll hop to it.  All in advance, as Master Hammer won't have it no other way."

   Neither Squire Tow, nor his horse are visible, although there are a couple of beasts visible at the other end of the stable, in the larger stalls at that end.

   Meanwhile, back at the ranch, nothing is happening...

   Meanwhile, just outside of town, Ox is getting cold (and he really didn't want to spend another night out in the weather).

   Meanwhile, sitting alone in her dark room, Carilla is freaking out!

   "$20 seems a bit steep, lad. Tell you what, I'll give you fifteen for my two here, but if you make sure the big one's well fed there be another five in it just for you in the morning."

   The boy's eyes bug, and his mouth gapes.  Then he stammers, "Well, Sir, Master Hammer won't have it no other way, Sirs, so you'd best take it up with him!  He's in the forge still, I expect.  It aint worth my time earnin' no five extra dollars if I just hafta give it to him 'cause I stabled two horses for less than the price of one!  He'd take all the money, and skin off both my ears, too!"

   Behind him, Karl hears the elf chuckle, then the sounds of his horse leaving the stable.  He almost cathches something the Elf says, something like "politics", or somesuch.  The boy turns and starts scurrying up the ladder, back into the hayloft.

   "Hmpf" Karl snorts and then heads for the smithy. Skinning a boy's ears off is not a very noble threat. Perhaps he should have a talk with this Hammer person.

   "This won't take a second," Karl assures the Wylf. "And then we'll eat."

   He looks about for the forge, still holding the reins of his trusty horses.

   The lad disappears back up into the hayloft, as Karl steps back outside, closing the large double doors behind him...  The Wylf is waiting, grinning at him like this is all a jolly jest.  Karl begins to wonder if he's right about this town...  He tries to remember what typical stabling fees are in his part of the world, but can't recall.  Still, one would THINK that they would be cheaper in such a rural setting - unless the stable master is a skin-flint!

   He heads for the building from which the sounds of the hammer were formerly issuing when he had first entered this tiny hamlet.  A 30 x 30' building with two stories, and a flat roof.  He bangs on the door with a metal-gauntled fist, and receiving a grunt, pulls the door open.  Inside, the place is dimly lit by the dying fire of the forge, and the only apparent occupant is a huge, hulking troglodyte-human crossbreed of murderous countenance dressed in heavy leather work garments.  He grunts and points towards the forge, and then steps under the stairs to the upper story, pulling a curtain to behind him...

   Looking towards the forge, Karl sees the furnace and bellows to the east.  The rest of the area is littered with equipment, tools, and items in various states of repair.  There are two anvils, tubs of water, barrels of metal, and other such stuff...  Several ingots of metal lie near the (open) furnace door, and a pair of glowing, red-hot tongs is sticking out of the coals.  In the SE corner is a door.

   Lying at the foot of the forge, with his back up against it, is a small "man", who looks to be about half dwarf.  Apparently done for the day, the husky little fellow has apparently fallen asleep in the dirt, with his hammer lying nearby.

   "Excuse me," Karl begins, moving into the place after tying his horse to something outside. "Would you be Hammer?"     Karl is careful not to turn his back on the curtain that giant thing stepped behind.

   The dwarf, apparently asleep, doesn't answer...

   Karl moves closer and raises his voice a bit.

   "Excuse me, friendly dwarf! I'm looking for Hammer." If this doesn't work, Karl kneels down beside the dwarf, checking first to make sure his hands are free of sharp objects or other weapons, and gives the dwarf a friendly shake.

   Calling doesn't work, and glancing towards the curtain, Karl sees that the wary Wylf is standing in the doorway, bow in hand, watching it, as well, his nose wrinkling as he sniffs the air.  He looks over at Karl and the dwarf, then back at the curtain...  Karl checks the dwarf for weapons, nudging the hammer away from his hands with his plated boot, then kneals down beside him, shaking his shoulder.

   It takes several attempts to get a grumble out of the dwarf, but finally he opens his eyes and says:  "Oh!  Ow!  This forge is WARM, Karl!"  Sitting up quickly, he rubs his back, then his eyes.  Looking up at you, he continues:  "Sorry about that!  I seem to have fallen asleep!  I'm usually an insomniac!  Don't know why I dozed off!  So, did you take care of the horses?  Mine doesn't seem to be around... and who's the Elf?"

   Karl looks at this person and wonders how he knows so much about his business...  He steps back in surprise.

   "Who are you sir? And how do you know my name? I'm quite sure we've never met as I just arrived in this little town."

   "Huh?" asks the little man, in surprise, "I rode in with you!  Don't you remember?  We met on the road this morning, and came here, together!  What's going on, Karl?"

   "Squire Tow!" Karl's eyes begin to narrow. Either this is some mind-reading trick by a pesky dwarf that wants way too much to stable a pair of horses, or something else is afoot here. And the answer, Karl decides, is probably hiding behind that curtain.

   "Moon friend, you may want to step back. Things may get messy here in just a moment. I need to have a talk with our friend behind the curtain here."

   Karl unleashes his two-handed sword and steps to the curtain. He puts the point on the floor about a foot in front of the curtain and holds the pommel in his left hand, ready to step back and pull the weapon up into position in a heartbeat if need be.

   "Come on out of there, big guy. I would have a word with you." With his right hand, Karl reaches up and pulls the curtain out of the way -- down completely if need be.

   The curtain is leather, depending from the step supports, and while old, is sturdy enough not to tear down.  Karl whips it aside.  The curtain screens off the place where the apprentice sleeps. There is a pallet on the floor, there, upon which the hulking form was lying, made up of rags and filthy blankets.  At the foot of that (under the lowest part of the steps), is a box.  Facing north, Karl sees an open shelf with food items, a cup, plate, small iron kettle, cooking pan, and jug to his left.

   The apprentice (whose head is towards Karl) grimaces, makes a deep and guttural growling sound, points to the way out, and then rolls over, gripping the iron-shod maul as he gets to his feet...  He doesn't look like he's getting up to shake your hand!

   "I don't think you'll be getting much conversation out of the Trog-man, Sir Knight." the Wylf says, from the doorway, "he is a mute.  I saw as we came in, he has no tongue...."

   While all of this has been going on, the dwarf (or Squire Tow) has been sitting on the ground, rubbing his face, then slowly got to his feet, mumbling something about "armor", "funny", and "short".  Seeing things becoming tense, however, he looks around, grabs the hammer off the floor by the forge, and heads over in your general direction, none too stealthily.

   Meanwhile, back at the curtain, Karl has the initiative, but the Trog-man has his feet, and points, again, towards the way out with his maul.  He doesn't look happy to entertain guests!  Behind him, the dwarf is approaching, and the Wylven bow-lover is also back there, arrow knocked and fingers on the string...

   Meanwhile, back at the Wild Hare, Carilla Finnebonne slowly, fearfully, makes her way to the little bedside table, fumbling with quivering fingers for the flint and steel, then taking several tries to light the small oil lamp.  Glancing around the room warily, she sees nothing but her own, frightening shadow!  Refusing to look at it, she takes the lamp in her shaking hand and heads towards the mirror...

   Meanwhile, somewhere south of Forlorn Corners, Ox the Major Oaf is having no luck searching for his mule, and it suddenly dawns on him that LOOKING in the DARK isn't the brightest thing he could do, anyway!  Now where could that stupid mule be?  He and Ox always got along quite well together.  A sneaking suspicion steals over him...  "Say, you don't suppose that Priest fella coulda STOLED him, doya?"  Ox shakes his head...   Thieving priests and Goat-headed gods?  What in the world is this world coming to?

   Meanwhile, back at the ranch, leaves and grasses begin to blow through the open doorway of the Kettle's little cottage, sticking to the mess on the floor.  Nothing moves there, except for the wind and what it blows.

   Meanwhile, back in the smithy, the tense situation is nearing a climax...

   Karl backs toward the door, deciding that if the Wylf had wanted to shoot him, he'd have done it by now. From the looks of things, he has more serious problems anyway.

   "Alright, tongue-less one, we're leaving. And you, dwarf, keep a safe distance until I sort things out. I don't want to get to know that hammer of yours and you certainly don't want to meet this sword."

   The tongueless Trog-man grunts, but lowers the maul.  He reaches up and pulls the curtain shut.  The Wylf lowers the bow and backs out the door.  The dwarf (who was heading towards your right side) stopped when you said that, then mumbles and grumbles, but stays where he is as you back out the door.  The street outside is rather crowded, now, with three horses, the Wylf, and you.  The dwarf shrugs and steps out, after you, looking at his hammer, and hanging it on his girdle.

   "Something's awfully fishy here." he grumbles, looking up at you.  "Didn't used to be so short, or you growed while I was sleepin'...  Somebody stoled my armor and Destrier, too."  He stops and rubs his chin.  "I talks funny now, too...  Didn't usta..."  He eyes the Wylf.  "Still wanna know who this gentleman is, too."  Then he looks at you.

   "So, how we gonna sort things out, eh, Karl?  Last I knowed, I was trying to be nice to that crotchety dwarf smith, and then I faint and start having hallucinations.  Now I wake up two or three feet shorter, and my friends don't know me, no more."  He sits down beside the door and puts his chin on his fists.

   "Hey!" he suddenly shouts, looking at his hands, "When'd I suddenly sprout a beard?"  He begins to look at himself in a most angrified manner.  "So how can I convince you that I'm me?  (I don't even look like me!  What foul magic is this?)" he mumbles to himself.

   Karl begins to ask the dwarf about specifics of their conversation on the road. When I said this...you said what? As he gets the right answers he comes to believe that this dwarf really is his new friend Squire Tow.

   The dwarf (or Tow) is somewhat weak on specifics, but covers the generalities...  Talk of the swords, and the beast, looking out for wolves, how he stopped you on the road...  He describes his missing horse and weapons in great detail, however.

   Karl turns to the Wylf and frowns. "Well, it looks like I'm going to be paying $20 a horse to stable my animals. Come along, dwarf-Tow, and tell me again everything that happened to you from the moment we parted company in the street."

   Karl heads toward the stable again.

   "Wa'alll...  Lessee...  I was feelin' tired, followed the sounds of the blacksmith's hammer into the smithy.  I stopped to bang on the door, then entered anyway, figuring the smith wouldn't be able to hear me over the sound of his own clanging.  The lack of wind, and the heat of the forge, were quite comfortable, after a day spent in the wind, and the smell of charcoal was making me hungry.  I hoped stabling was available, so that I could get some food and a room..."

   "The smith was an odd little... man.  Half-man, actually.  The other half was apparently Dwarf. He'd gotten the worst features of the personalities of both, it seemed, but I took it as a challenge to be Chivalrous to the uncourtly, and inquired about the stall fees, feed, courying, and such like. "

   "Unpleasant at best, the smith's eyes seemed to reflect the fires of his forge, as he talked to me.  I was already wearied from this cold, and many long days' hunt for the beast, and began to feel very odd.  Finally, I seemed to swoon, and had the very odd feeling of looking up at himself, as I lay by the forge.  I felt like I should get up and tend to my horse, but somehow, I just didn't seem able to...  Finally, I succumbed, and slept; if sleep it was...   Next thing I knew, you were shaking me by the shoulder, then moving to attack that Trog-man of an Apprentice."  He shrugs.  "So I moved to back you up..."

   While the dwarf-Tow is talking, Karl is basically ignoring the Wylf, but had he been watching him, he would have seen the intensity of his stare  Suddenly, he makes a sound as though in pain; not loud, but sharp.  Everyone looks at him, as he crouches, face contorted.

   "This man has been changed!" he says, nearly snarling.  "There is a residual stench of magic to him, and it is of a fouler type than I've ever encountered!  I don't know what it is, but it's something I want no part of.  This is evil!"

   The hairs on the back of Karl's neck begin to stand on end... then the ones comprising his beard follow suit.  He makes a mental note to choose the places he stops for the night at more carefully, next time!

   "Looking up at yourself, eh?" Karl rubs his chin in thought. "I think we'd better stable these beasts and make a more thorough examination of that smithy."

   Karl turns to the Wylf (has he told Karl his name yet??) "Moon friend, I promised you dinner and I plan to make good on that, but I fear my friend here has fallen under some evil magic and I am honor-bound to help him sort it out at once. Having little experience with this sort of thing, I could use some help, if you have a mind to. I would be happy to pay you for any suggestions you could offer -- and to back me up with that bow of yours if the need arises."

   The nameless Wylven archer seems as taut as his bowstring, and as ready to move as his arrow.  He seems less interested in Karl's words than in scanning the night, eyes piercing like needles through cloth.

   "Oh fear not, Sir Knight, if I see anything not-of-this-world, I daresay that it will soon resemble a pin cushion or a porcupine, if my dozen arrows can harm it.  I think I will have your friend, here, walk ahead of me, though!  I wish that we had someone of a more Arcane or an Ecclesiastical leaning with us, however.  A good Priest would no doubt prove most useful, right about now."  Arriving at the stable, again, he pulls back the door, and lets you precede him in.

   The lad slides back down the ladder, again, takes one look at the lot of you, turns, and scrambles back up...

   "Come here, boy!" Karl shouts up the ladder. "Things are not as they first appeared. I'll pay your fee for my horses -- and my friend here is not the master you think he is."

   Karl turns to Tow and in a low voice, "Squire Tow, do me the favor of waiting outside. I fear the boy won't tell me what I need to know with the visage of his former master looking on. And stay out of trouble," he gives him a wink.

   The boy comes down, more slowly this time.

   Karl hands over the gold to the boy. "Now, tell me boy, how long have you worked for Hammer? Tell me everything you know about him. And then, tell me where I can find the village priest."

   Staring out the door, the boy takes the gold, and the reins, and leads the horses into stalls, as he answers.  Karl's spirits sink.  The lad is rather simple (as well as just a boy), and doesn't seem to know much about Hammer, except that it's best to do what he tells him, quickly and without question, and otherwise stay out of his way!  Nob (the boy) has worked for him for about a year, in return for room (in the loft) and board, his parents being dead.

   He is little more help with the Priest, saying that he doesn't go to see him, working all day, but that nobody knows his name, he just calls himself the Custodian.  He does mention that some folks think he's responsible for the curse on Forlorn Corners, but Nob doesn't know anything about that (or much of anything else, apparently).

   In the meantime, he unsaddles your horses, hangs up their tack, gives them some grain, and fetches a couple of buckets of water.  When finally done, he stops and looks up at you for a moment.

   "You want coury combing for'em, too, Sir?  It's extra, but I do a real good job, 'cause I get to keep whatever I gits for that..."

   "Sure, son." Karl flips him two dollars. "If my horse is happy tomorrow morning, there'll be more for you, too."

   Karl smiles at the boy, sadly. How different his own life would have been had he been an orphan. His name, his crest and the house it stands for would all be gone. His knighthood would have been a dream never realized.

   "Good night, Nob."

   "Good night, Mister Knight!" Nob calls after him.

   Turning back to the door, Karl heads outside.

   "Forgive me, friend. If I've heard your name, I've already forgotten it.  I would prefer to call you by your given name, if you'll share it."

   "It's Hammer!" the dwarf snaps at you, "No, no, I mean Relgan." he says, shaking his head.

   The Wylf is eyeing him from the far side of the other door, leaning back against it, but with both hands on his bow.  He isn't looking snarly, anymore, but rather concerned.  His horse stands idly behind him, reins still draped over his shoulder.

   "Are you Hammer, or Relgan?" he muses.

   "Are you spirit, or flesh?" the dwarf wonders, fixing him with a cross-eyed gaze.

   "I am Sorrow." the Wylf replies.

   A cold wind blows south, down the street...  Somewhere in the darkness, an owl hoots.  It's more than an hour past sunset, now, and growing colder by the minute.  Karl pauses, wondering what to do next...  They never covered this, at the Knight's Academy!  Hmmm!  Go back to the smithy, and face the trog-man, again?

   There's a familiar rumbling in his belly, but Karl knows that first things must come first. That smithy may hold vital clues to the madness that is going on in this town.

   "Gentlemen, shall we back to the smithy. And Tow, if that big, ugly fellow gives us any trouble, just send him back to his room. He'll probably consider you his boss. At least you look the part."

   "We'll search the smithy, find the priest and then get a bite to eat." Karl heads off toward the smithy then stops in his tracks. "Sorrow, if you want to stable your horse with ours, I'll pay the lad."

   The Wylf shakes his head, "No, I'd probably come back to find an old gray mare in her place!  I think I'll keep mine with me!  You two wait here, for a moment... and keep an eye on him!"  He points towards Hammer-Tow, giving him one of those piercing looks.

   If looks could kill, this guy wouldn't need a bow, Karl thinks to himself, he'd be an entire company all by himself!  Then Karl remembers the legend of the Medusa, and wonders: If you're turned to stone, are you killed?  He doesn't really want to find out, certainly not from personal experience!  Maybe this Wylf is a mighty warrior, after all...  If so, he has a Chivalry Ability of about -3%.  Or maybe he's considered polite among Wylves, speaking to Non-Wylves, and all.

   Moving like a mongoose, the subject of his thought zips up the street, crouched low, looking at the ground.  He stops at the smithy door, turns around, wanders back.  "We've stomped all over the tracks, it's too confused for me to tell anything," he says, taking his horse's reins, again.  "You two go on ahead."

   "Come, Squire Tow!" Karl smiles down at the dwarf, and heads back to the smithy.

   "So exactly WHAT are we searching FOR?" the elfkin asks.  "Dead bodies?"

   "No, just MINE!" says Squire Tow.

   "Well, methinks our not-so friendly smith is something else. If I'm right, there should be something in that building to tell us so. Is there any chance he may have snuck out of the building by a different route? Did you check for tracks all around?"

   "No." the Elf says, veering off to look around the building.  If there's anything to find, he misses it.  "The only other door, on the east side, doesn't appear to have been opened, today."

   When Karl approaches the door, he reminds his new friends, "And don't discount the possibility that he's still inside and more than likely looks like you, Tow. Well, the way you used to look anyway."

   "Tall, dark, and handsome." Tow says, "Swarthy skin, black hair and eyes... and about two to three feet taller!"  He pulls his hammer from Hammer's girdle.  "After you."

   "Oh no, after YOU.  I insist!" says the Wylf.

   "Elves and Dwarves!" Karl says, reopening the door.  As he does so, the leather curtain sways, and he can see the Troglodytish man's hand coming out from underneath it.  Hammer-Tow looks over that way, and the Apprentice grunts, and the hand disappears.  Looking around, all is as it was.

   Tying his horse up by the door, Sorrow says "Shall we try upstairs, then?  Hammer, it's your house..."

   Hammer-Tow looks at you.  "Whaddaya think, Karl?  Anything we need to do down here, first?"

   "Yeah," Karl says making a sweeping gesture that encompases the entire place. "Search this place. Find anything that doesn't fit in a smithy.  Anything the least bit suspicious. And be careful about touching anything until you let the Wylf sense it for danger first. He picked up on you, he can probably detect bad magic in other things as well."

   Karl heads up the stairs.  Apparently not finding anything extraordinary down below, the other two soon join him.

   Cautiously advancing up the steps, Karl looks up, and stops when his head is at a level above the floor of the second story.  Nobody appears to be home.  The entire upper floor is one open room, with four posts supporting the flat roof.  It's still 30' x 30', and generally bare of furnishings.  This is where Hammer dwells, and evidently he is Spartan in his living arrangements.  There is a bed in the SW corner, and a large chest nearby.  Various garments are hanging on pegs nearby.  In the middle of the room is a battered table with four worn chairs.  Various utensils (plates, drinking cups, flatware, etc.) indicate that meals are sometimes eaten here.  Most of them are dirty. 

   An open cupboard at the top of the stairway holds various provisions, as well as four gallon jugs of whiskey.  A large barrel stands beside the cupboard, with four drinking horns atop it. 

   A chest is a wonderful place to hide answers. Karl advances upon it.  Squire Tow follows him up, and the Elf waits on the top steps, bow ready, trying to stay where he can see the downstairs, as well.  Bow ready in both hands, he looks around.

   "You might want to let me check that for traps, first, Sir Knight." the Elf says.

   "Hmmm!  Good idea!  These greedy Dwarves are prone to such stuff!" Dwarf-Tow says.

   "Okay, I'll cover the stairs." Karl says.  The two trade places, and Karl draws his sword.  The Wylf carefully scrutinizes the chest, and all about it, then shifts it a bit - it moves - and finally tries the lid.  It isn't locked.

   "No stench of magic, or traps." he says.

   Sticking the spike on the front of his buckler-bow under one side, he moves to the side of the chest, and flips it open.  Inside is a full suit of steel plate armor, a battle hammer, a shield, and a short thrusting sword... but no answers.

   "Well," grumbles Hammer-Tow, "since the smith obviously took mine, I think I'll just borry his'n, until we gits this all straightened out...  I feels nekkid without mine!"  The little Dwarf-Man begins pulling out the pieces, and armoring up...

   "This is odd," Karl says as he slumps into one of the wooden chairs at the table. "Trappings of a common dwarven smith. And yet, he is a sorcerer.  Or ensorceled himself."

   The elfkin arches an eyebrow at you, then adds: "I find it strange that such a surly smith needs four chairs, and four drinking horn on yonder barrel.  I doubt that he was much given to entertaining!"

   Karl makes another pass of the room, checking the clothing pockets and underneath the matress. He finds nothing out of the ordinary, so he heads for the stairs.

   "Take good care of that equipment, Tow," Karls warns over his shoulder.  "It would be less than honorable to replace it in worse condition than you took it."  He heads downstairs.

   "Oh, aye, and it was less than honorable the way he took mine... not to mention what ELSE he took!  We country folk can't afford to give honor to thieves - mayhap it is different in more civilized lands!" Tow replies with some heat.  "Let him return MY armour - AND the body wearing it - and I'll pay to have his repaired... assuming he returns my gold, as well!"

   Finishing armoring up as Karl finishes searching the cupboard (three full jugs of liquor, one empty, but nothing much of interest), he comes over to join him, the Wylf bringing up the rear.

   "I saw we go find this smith, hang him up by his heels, and beat on him until some answers fall out!" says the now red-faced little dwarf.

   "Calm yourself, Squire," Karl replies, patting him on the shoulder.  "We'll get to the bottom of this. Let's go find a priest and see what he says and then it's to dinner. I don't suppose he stole your appetite as well, did he?"

   "Probably," the dwarf grumbles, "he seems to have stolen everything else!"  Despite the situation, Karl has to laugh, and even the dwarf has to grin, a little.

   "The question, really, is HOW he did it... and I don't think we'll find any answers standing around in a smithy, or questioning the wizard behind the curtain...  Let us see what else this village has to offer.  Surely some of the locals can tell us more about this Hammer fellow, assuming we can find someone up so late, in this farming community...  Squire Tow, if you will lead us past your Apprentice..."

   Heading down the stairs, again, the three make it outside without any further ado, and Sorrow unties his horse.  "So, where to, now?"  Everyone stops and looks around at the darl street...

   Meanwhile, back at the ranch, all is quiet...

   Meanwhile, in the Inn, Carilla looks in the mirror and sees...   Buck!

   Meanwhile, somewhere south of town, Ox is lost in thought.  He was thinking about using _Protection from the Elements_, but suddenly realizes that he's forgotten how!  Checking his list of Powers, he finds that he still knows: _Invocation of Service, Consecrate Devotional Object, Consecrate Place, Blaze of Glory, Consecrate Pure Water, Omnivision, Preternatural Vigor, Sacred Precincts, Cleanse, Heal_, and _Undo Activation_.

   Huh?  Now wait a minute!...

   Meanwhile, back in the Bandit camp, the Bandit Leader is sulking over his recent loss, plotting what he will do to Kachas Rye, when he catches that little squirt...

   Meanwhile, in the everdark under the mountain, the Chieftain makes a mark on his calendar...  Four days left.

   Meanwhile, in a hidden location, a Major Oaf, a childlike Kobold, a pretty little Ilf girl, and a tall, swarthy man, all with evil grins, come together with one goal, one mutual purpose, and begin to perform their perfidy...

   Can our heroes pull it all together in time to stop the nefarious schemes of the obviously evil fiendish four?  Probably not, but tune in next week, anyhow (we wouldn't want you to miss anything)!

   (Next week!?! Can't wait that long.)

   "It's getting late. Sorrow, did you say you thought one of these buildings was a temple of sorts? I say we make for that and question the priest and then get some dinner," Karl says.

   "Well, a shrine of some sort." the Wylf says, pointing back the way you came, towards the well.  A short walk later, you are at the place.  Despite the hour, the door is open,but all is dark, inside.  Too dark for a Human to see anything, and Karl has no way of making light.

   "Hello, Priest! Anyone home??" Karl yells into the dark. "It's too late for this noise, friends. And I'm getting hungry. Let's adjourn to the eating hall and discuss our plans."

   "I suppose we could try next door," Sorrow says, "if you want to find the Priest, although he may have gone to bed, though."  He looks around inside.  "We should prbably shut the door..."  He steps inside and tries, but then says "It's stuck!"  He walks back out, saying "I guess that's why they left it open!"

   "So, do we try across the street, or what?  I think that's the store, over there, so the building across from us must be the Inn."

   "Yeah, that's Buck's Wild Hare Tavern, but they have food and rooms, too... although I aint sure how I know that..." Dwarf-Tow adds.  Karl prods him to see if he can remember anything else.  No such luck.

   "Well, let's eat!" says Karl, leading the way.  Squire Dwarf falls in behind him, with the Wylf lagging behind.  The timber and plaster building (catty-corner across the street & track from the stable) is about 30 x 50', with two stories and an attic.  Things get quiet as the three armored men enter...  Everyone looks up to see what's going on!

   Besides the barkeep and a rather pretty young serving wench, there are five other men sitting at tables in the room.  A dusty man in homespun, and someone who looks the part of a hard-drinker farmer sit alone at small tables.  At a table near the archway leading out of the room (in the SW corner) sit three armed men.

   This is apparently a bar (or at least the barroom).  It is about 30 x 20', with two entry doors in the NE corner (one each going out to the N and E).  The bar runs along the eastern half of the south wall, but there are no stools out front.  Behind it, in the south wall, is a door that opens onto an alcove, leading to the kitchen.  The area behind the bar is pretty full of barrels, kegs, etc.

   Chairs surround six tables evenly distributed throughout the room.  Three of them are currently occupied.  There is a fireplace near the east door, and another archway (between the bar and the table full of armed men) leads south to a hall.

   Karl and company walk in, looking around.  Everyone is looking them over, too.  As they do so, the serving wench comes over, wiping her hands on her apron, and curtseys.

   "Greetings, lords!  I'm Carilla, and I'll be your server.  Would you like a seat in the bar, or would you prefer dinner in the dining room?"  She looks at Dwarf-Tow.  "Your usual, Mr. Hammer?"

Karl nudges Squire Tow and nods his head in hopes that he will order his "regular."

"We'll sit in the bar, if that's alright, little lady. But we do prefer to have dinner."

   "Ah...  Well, I can't seat you at the bar, as you can see..." (no stools there), she says, "but you can have this table right here!"  She wipes it off briefly, with her cloth, seating you at a four-man table between the ones occupied by the drunken farmer and the dusty traveler, across the room from the bar and the armed men...

   Quickly reacting to the elbow-in-the-gut from Karl, Hammer-Tow has ordered his "usual" (wondering what the heck THAT might be, and whether or not a Knight should be drinking it, whether it will stunt his growth, or merely poison him outright, and where "he" has gotten to).  Karl names his poison of choice, and the wary Wylf simply shakes his head, while glaring around the room.

   The serving wench hurries off, and brings back the drinks.  She's the brightest spot in this little hamlet, so far, and hurries about, smiling but professional.

   "Now when you boys need a refill, just let me know!" she says, putting your drinks on the table, then rushes off to refill the hard-drinking farmer's upraised cup...  Coming back by a moment later, she pauses to look at you...

   "You... Gentlemen need some help getting out of that armor?  Doesn't look too comfortable!"

   Meanwhile, the wary Wylf is looking around the room as though searching it for secret doors from which enemies will spring...  He rakes everyone present with a glare; beginning with the serving girl, then the barkeep, the hard-drinking farmer, the dusty traveler, and the four armed men.  Seemingly satisfied, he removes his helm (setting it in the middle of the table), and runs his hands over his face, leaving them there for a moment.  It is unclear whether he's praying, resting, or just smelling his hands to make sure they're clean.

   After a moment, he looks up.  Hammer's usual is apparently mead, which Squire Tow sips suspiciously.  Karl's brew is average... a bit watery, but icy cold!  The fire in the hearth is particularly nice, warming everyone.  Beginning to be a little more at ease, Karl looks around.  When he does, he notices how quiet the place is, and catches several people staring - mostly at him!  They quickly find an interest in something else when they see he's noticed, however.

   The Wylf sits silently, doing his imitation of a stone.  Hammer-Tow sips his brew and looks around,  obviously very uncomfortable in his "new skin".  Karl gets an itchy feeling between his shoulder blades, like someone is staring daggers in his back.  He looks around to see if he can catch someone staring, and sure enough, a hatchet-faced ruffian (one of the four armed men) is just looking away.  He whispers something to his fellows, and they laugh.

"Well, what think thee, moon-friend? I mean aside from the fact that this backwater town has the lovliest serving wench for a hundred miles and some rude rufians who may need a lesson learning. Should we trust their food?"  Karl seems not at all concerned that the men behind him may be laughing at his back.

The wary Wylf just shrugs.

Karl waits for the wylf's response before deciding to motion to the serving girl.

"Yessir!  What else can I get for ye?  Ye can't be finished with yer pint already!"

"No, we'll nurse these a bit longer, miss. But pray tell us about your food again.  We're quite hungry," Karl gives her his best noble smile.

"And about these young men behind me here, are they aware of some joke that has escaped us. I wouldn't want to think they'd be laughing at my company here.  Perhaps you can be a good lass and let them know I won't take kindly to any trouble tonight."

Carilla turns to look at the four ruffians, who are easily sitting close enough to hear Karl's every word.  One of them looks worried, another one leers back at her, and the other two laugh, again...  Then she turns back to Karl.

"Well, the food's alright, cooked up by Alberta, herself, and the old gal lives for nothing else.  This crew..." she hooks a thumb over her shoulder "I like to call `The Pincer Brothers', on account of all the bruises I got before 'berta and I got after the lot with the rolling pins!"  (More guffaws from the table near the bar, and Carilla smiles, too).  "They're basically bouncers for the boss, in return for free drinks.  Don't mind them."

"So, shall I prepare ye a table in the dining room?  Pretty much everyone else is done, so you'll have the room almost to yourselves..."

When the waitress leaves, Karl looks hard at the Wylf.

"Don't worry, my friend. I'll have you out of here soon enough. Once we get some hot meat in our bellies I plan to make an annoucement that should get us on track to solving this little mystery and on our way out of this town."

"And what might that be?" Sorrow asks, cocking an eyebrow at you.

He turns to Tow. "And in our own bodies, no less." He smiles and takes another drink.

"Alright, little lady," Karl announces to the waitress (where ever she may be), "we'll be moving to the dining area for some food."  He motions his crew toward the other room.

"But before I leave," he turns to the bar and raises his voice a bit, "I have an annoucement to make."  He waits a heartbeat or two to let all eyes settle on him.

"I'm looking for someone. He's masquerading as a squire of the House of Tow and I mean to have his hide." Karl goes on to describe his new friend in as much detail as he can recall.

"I am Sir Karl of House Belford and my word is like iron. Let it be known in this town that the man who helps me collar this Tow will be paid and paid well. In gold. That is all."

"Uh, well, not quite...  That reward is only good if he's taken ALIVE!"  Hammer-Tow adds quickly.

Karl turns on his heel and follows the others into the other room.

Suddenly, the room is filled with questions!

"Who is this Tow?"

"What did he say he looked like?"

"What did he do?"

Carilla leads the trio through the main archway, and down the hall to a door across from the kitchen.  Inside is the dining room, with several empty tables and chairs, a hearth with a warm fire, and a farm couple just finishing up.  Seeing the armored trio, they hurry out.  Carilla seats the three at the table nearest the fire.

"So, what can I get you bounty-hunters?" she grins.

"A pot of tea, bread, honey and butter, a wheel of cheese, and a salad." Sorrow says.

"Uh, I'll have my usual..." Hammer-Tow adds.

"More mead coming up, Hammer!" Carilla says.  "And what about your rich knightly friend?"  She grins down at Karl.

When the room is empty save for the three, Sorrow leans over the table and says: "So you think money will motivate these Humans to turn in one of their own villagers?  But what if he's no longer in the area?"

"He'd better be, or I've got TWO quests to complete!" grumbles the real Squire Tow.

Meanwhile, outside of town, Ox is trying to figure out how he suddenly knows so many Ecclesiastical Activations that he never knew before.  At the same time, Carilla the would-be Swashbuckler is staring in the mirror, overcome with horror.  At the same time, a giant wolf-beast hunkers down in its sleep.

Karl smiles at the funny body his new friend is inhabiting.

"Well, my feeling is that this entire village isn't inhabited by shape stealing monsters. Otherwise, they would have gotten me by now. Hunch I have.

"I'm also figuring there are about four of these things. Just a guess. There could be more if they don't drink. Old Hammer had four glasses in his room. Unless he just hates to clean the kitchen, I'd say it's about that we're dealing with.

"I figure one is walking around here somewhere in Tow's body. One more is probably walking around dressed like a priest, unless you're familiar with them leaving their churches empty with the doors wide open.

"Open-door policy?" posits the Wylf.

"I'd kicked around the idea of you being one of them, moon friend. But you're way too careful for something with the power to just take over my body on a whim.

(The Wylf actually laughs at that one).

"Nope, whoever is doing this is walking around here in some new bodies.  And we know what one of them looks like. So we'll let the local folks turn him out for us and then Tow, you'll get your body back and we'll get out of here."

"Assuming it's just that easy, once we find such a potent... thing.  We just make him give the body back..." the Wylf adds sarcastically.  "One of the Arcanas had something about matters similar to this...  Not body transference, but possessions: All I can recall is that there were four types of beings that could possess.  Demons, Devils, Fiends, and Oni.  I would have recognized any of those on sight, however, unless I was so tired as to be almost comatose..."  He looks around, as though searching for hidden listeners.

"I know little of such matters, only recently having begun such studies, but I know that from one to two in three people succumb to such... attacks."  He shakes his head in disbelief.  "It seems impossible to me that such things can occur, even in the dim-sighted Human settlements, without someone noticing..."

He breaks off, as Carilla bustles back in with a tray loaded down with food.  She sets a massive wheel of cheese on the table, a thick slab of butter and a crock of honey, a large brown loaf of bread (still warm from the oven), a tea pot and cup for the Wylf, a sugar bowl by him, a garden salad, a large platter of meat and potatoes for Karl, and a jug for Hammer-Tow.

"Pardon me, Miss Carilla," the Wylf says, "but how long have you known our good friend Hammer, here?" he asks her.

"Hammie?" she asks, grinning over at the little Dwarf, "Why, as long as he's been buying his liquor from old Buck, and I've been working for him..."  She looks thoughtful for a moment, then looks back at Sorrow.  "About a year and a half or so, but he never mentioned having any cute, noble friends like yourselves," she says, reaching out to tickle his chin.  Sorrow's head snaps back like she'd tried to stick him with a steak knife, but stops when he sees she meant no harm.

"Sorry." he mumbles.  She looks at him, then grins at Karl.

"Well, if you gentlemen need anything else, just yell real loud!  You want me to leave the door open?"  Not getting a response, she does, and exits the room.

It seems poor Hammer's "usual" doesn't include food, only mead...  Rapidly slicing cheese and smearing butter and honey on a thick slab of bread, Sorrow notices Hammer-Tow's forlorn look, and holds out a slice of cheese to him.  The half-Dwarf grins, and accepts a slice.  Karl is hungrily digging into a pile of meat and potatoes with knife and fork, when a bit of a commotion breaks out, in another room...

"My name is not Potts, I'm Kachas, and from now on all will address me as such!", someone shouts.  There is more added in a loud voice, amidst a great deal of laughter, but no one can hear it clearly from where they sit. 

                    Kachas Rye Gets a Wake-Up Call:

Slowly coming awake, Kachas looked around in the darkness.  Memory came flooding back, and he quickly sat up, being as quiet as he could.  He was still lying on the floor of the store, which was now dark, and apparently closed for the night...

He reached up to rub his head, which seemed... woozy, somehow...  When he did, he nearly hit himself in the nose with his own hand, which seemed overly large.  As he did so, his hand encountered his beard.

Beard?  Kachas didn't HAVE a beard!

Attempting to leap to his feet, the little Kobold found his dexterity wasn't up to the task.  His limbs didn't seem to respond, and he ended up keeling over and landing back on the floor, again.

He stopped to look down at his ungainly limbs, and simultaneously noticed two very shocking things: They were too long and large, and he was dressed like that fool shopkeeper...  What was his name?  Potts?  Had that varlet stolen his clothes?

Checking for his purse, he found that gone, too, and tried getting to his feet, again, more slowly...  When he did, his inklings of dread crystallized into full-blown feelings of hysteria.  Those boxes of candles that he had previously being peeking over the tops of were now well below eye level!

Kachas knew with certainty that he hadn't grown THAT fast!

(First, I'm going to look around the shop to see if I can find a mirror or something to confirm my thoughts.  After that, I'm going to collect myself, look for something I can use for a weapon--anything will do, and find a cloak or blanket and wrap myself in it.  Then I'm going to stumble out into the world and search for a place that has some people hanging around.

As I walk out, I mumble  "Must've been one hell of a party! Damn, last time I felt this bad was the morning I woke up with that Trollkin bar-maid!!"  Touching my new beard,  I ponder. "Hmmmm, at least now, those brigands won't be able to find me.")

Kachas slowly looked around...  The store was almost without light, and it was nearly impossible for him to see...  Odd; even total darkness should have been visible to him, as though twilight to a normal human.  He rubbed his eyes (which didn't help), then spread his hands and looked around, feeling his way.

"First, I'm going to look around the shop to see if I can find a mirror or something to confirm my thoughts.  After that, I'm going to collect myself, look for something I can use for a weapon--anything will do, and find a cloak or blanket and wrap myself in it.  Then I'm going to stumble out into the world and search for a place that has some people hanging around.", he thought to himself.

Obviously, something magical was going on here, so the first order of business was to figure out what.  He looks around for a mirror, but if there is one, he can't see it in the dark.  Feeling around, his hands encounter the box of candles, again, and he picks one up.  Now, if he can just find some way to light it...

Heading for a window, he fumbles around, almost tripping over the stuff piled under it, and manages to open the shutter enough to get some moonlight.  The entire world seems strangely dim, to him.  Looking about, he can see the interior of the store a bit better, now, and notices a large box of torches nearby.  Absent-mindedly stuffing the candle in a pocket, he picks up a torch.

"Now this I can use as a weapon, if need be!" he thinks.  "Now to find a cloak, or blanket..."  He casts about, finding boxes of caps, cloth bags, and thick canvas, before he finally locates some clothes.  Searching briefly, he finds a small, Kobold-sized cloak, but holding it up against his new body, he quickly goes to the Human section, and has better luck.

Still looking for a mirror (and perhaps a better weapon, not to mention a way to make a light), Kachas, searches a few more tables and crates.  He finds hooded lanterns (but no oil!), small drums, a mandolin, and some odd-feeling rope (maybe it's hair, or something, but it certainly isn't typical jute).  Not being able to find any way to make a light, or any better weapon than a torch, Kachas starts getting nervous.  He wonders where the tools section is, but can't seem to find it, in the mysterious dark.  He decides to get out of this now-creepy place, and see if he can find someplace with lights, and a mirror.

He heads over to the door, tucking his "liberated" torch under his arm, and fastening his new cloak about him...  He briefly considers looking for some footgear, then realizes he already has some...  His stomach turns, as he knows he rarely wears any, and didn't have any on, when he entered this place...  He tries the door, finds a simple bar and bolt, removes the former and unfastens the latter, peering out upon a dark, empty street...

As  he walks out, he mumble  to himself "Must've been one heck of a party! Last time I felt this bad was the morning I woke up with that Trollkin bar-maid!!"  Touching his new beard,  he thinks "Hmmmm, at least now, those brigands won't be able to find me.  Dearly-departed Mum probably wouldn't recognize me, now!"

Looking around, He can see the track that he entered town upon off to his left and right.  A bit further to his right is a road.  Across the street from him are a pair of dark, empty-looking buildings.  Across the road from him is a large building with some lights on...  As he looks that way, he sees a comely younger wench in an apron briefly pass the window, carrying a damp rag.  Catty-corner across the road and track from him is another large building, which is also unlit.  There are also a number of smaller cottages, shacks, outbuildings, etc., in the local vicinity, none of which show lights.

Keeping to the shadows, Kachas stops to consider his options.  He could go back and liberate a few more supplies, search the back room (in the dark), go to the lighted area, look for a quiet place to hide...  Looking around at the darkness, however, he realizes that a light for his torch would really be a great help, at this point.  As he considers, another cold gust of wind blows across him, and he decides the street is no place to stop.

Clutching his cloak tighter against the wind, Kachas heads across the road, towards the only lighted building in sight.  "Curse my eyes, and this tired old body!" he thinks, dreading what he thinks he'll find when he locates a mirror.  Fearing that he already knows the answer, Kachas invokes his natural invisibility.

As he approaches the door (taking his time so that he has the 12 seconds that he needs to concentrate on becoming invisible), Kachas peeks in through the windows on the corner...  A Bar room, with a fireplace going, barkeep, serving wench, a quartet of armed men, and two other men sitting at separate tables...  Assuming he's invisible, it should be easy enough to get a drink or three.

On the other hand, if he's NOT, then there are going to be some problems...  He doesn't seem to have any purse, or loose coin.  He pauses at the door for a moment, then quickly opens it and enters, hoping that he can pass like the wind blowing the door open and shut.  He quickly steps to the side of the door, and freezes.  As expected, everyone looks around.  Unfortunately, they all look at him, not the door... 

"So much for Invisibility!" he thinks.  Well, at least this room is lit.

The barkeep (polishing a mug on a none-too-clean rag) looks straight at Kachas, but just nods.  The wench is hefting a tray full of food onto her shoulder as the door slams, headed out of the room.  She glances back at him and then calls:

"Have a seat, Potts, I'll be right with you!"

Well, so much for needing a mirror...  Kachas wonders if this Potts guy has any credit, here, and how far he can stretch it, if he does.  He looks around, then passes the dusty traveller and takes a seat at the first available table, nearest the fireplace.

As he does, an old farmer-type wobbles (literally) to his feet, burps loudly, and heads through the same archway the girl just went through, apparently making an outhouse run.  From where he now sits, Kachas can see a long hall, with a door at the end, and three archways off it, the nearer one leading upstairs, the further two he can't see into.  As he watches, the old farmer stumbles out the door at the far end (outhouses, sure enough!), and the serving wench steps out of the door to the right shortly after, headed back towards him.

As the wench comes near, Kachas slowly lowers his head to the table, and waits for her to address him by name, again.  When she does, he raises his head and shouts -- feeling more than a little upset with these turns of events -- "My name is not Potts, I'm Kachas, and from now on all will address me as such!"  With that said, he stands up from his place and says in a loud, cocky manner, "If anyone here has seen a Kobold, please let me know, as I have some unfinished business with him!  Ummm . . . oh yeah, does anyone have a tenderbox?"

The girl looks at him rather surprised by the shouting, then the four armed men at the table behind her burst out laughing.  One of them stops long enough to say "Ah, Potts is off his nut, again!", which prompts everyone present (except the one dusty man, apparently a traveller from out of town) to laugh even harder.  The girl moves towards the bar, looks at the barkeep, and says "I think Potts has had enough, already!  I won't be serving him!"

Nobody seems inclined to loan Kachas a tinderbox, answer his questions about missing Kobolds, or otherwise be terribly useful.  The girl leaves the room, the barkeep just watches you and polishes his mug, and the four armed men just leer at you and laugh, occasionally whispering to each other.

[Anything you want to look at or do, let me know.  Kachas can always get a light from the fireplace, if he wants to risk it.]

Having been discriminated against by Humans on more than one occasion, Kachas could tell he wasn't going to get much help from these folk...  How about that?  Apparently Humans sometimes discriminated against each other, too, at least when one of them was "off his nut".  He wondered what that meant...

Looking over at the ruffians who had used that phrase, he sees a young man in a leather breastplate packing a cutting sword, an older, hatchet-faced man in steel half mail carrying a spiked club, and another man in a quilted jerkin with a buckler, but no weapons apparent.  All three look like ruffians, but he doesn't recognize any of them from the bandit camp.

"What do you mean when you said I was `off my nut, again'?" Kachas asks the ruffians.

"Awww, c'mon, Potts!  You know you aint right in the head, now!  Just eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow you die!" the hatchet-faced man answers him, evoking yet more laughter from the other two.  "Just take it easy, drink, eat, get some sleep.  In a couple days everything will be okay, again."  More laughter from the rest... and where did that fourth guy go?

Kachas says to the armed men, "Humans, WHEN I get my body back, you WILL be singing a different song!"  Hatchet-face just leers at you, and the other two chuckle.

Walking over to the bar tender, he says "Howdy, old friend.  Would you happen to have a razor I could borrow?  I understand that I have been acting a little strange, but to my credit, I was just robbed and I'm not sure what to do about it. A little help, please."  Moving closer to the Bar-Tender, he adds in a low voice, "Where did that fourth guy get off to?"

The barkeep gives him a none-too-friendly look, up and down, and then leans closer, putting his hand on top of the mug he was polishing and leaning towards you.  ""`Old friend', huh?  What's my name, Potts?"  Naturally, Kachas doesn't know.  He waits a moment, then continues.

"Look, you loon, if you think I'm handing you a razor, or even a butter knife, the way you been acting, you really ARE crazy!  Now you were robbed?  By this Kobold no one but you has seen, no doubt!  C'mon, Potts, sit down and take it easy..."  He leans back away from you, setting a gadget on his shoulder as he does so.  Kachas doesn't recognize it, but knowing bars as he does, figures it's some kind of weapon or rowdy-handling device.  The barkeep's nasty grin only confirms it.  He doesn't bother answering your other inquiries.

Hmmm...  Maybe discretion is the better part of valor, Kachas thinks.  With a "Hmph!", he walks over to the fireplace, turning his back on the lot of them.  He stands there for a moment or three, until the usual bar sounds begin, again...  The drunken farmer wobbles back in, and prepares to wend his way back home.  Kachas carefully pulls out his unlit torch, and prepares it.

As the old farmer begins to head towards the door, Kachas sticks the pitched end into the fire, setting it alight, then quickly heads for the door, hitting it right behind the old fellow.

"Look out, Bernie, that crazy galoot is gonna torch the place!" somebody yells behind him.  Kachas almost mows down the old man, as he turns to see what's going on behind him.

"Excuse me!" Kachas says, swinging him around, letting him flop into the door behind him, and then running back across the road towards the shop...  He glances back to see the farmer sitting wide-eyed on the steps, as the door behind him bangs into his back, temporarily blocking any pursuit.

"Hey!" Kachas hears him complain, "Whashya doin' beatin' me inna backada head?"

Taking the opportunity to reach his "own" door, Potts grabs the handle, hoping that it doesn't automatically  lock once you exit...  Luckily, it does not, and he gets back inside before anyone gets through the bar's door.  He locks the door, and grabs the bar back off the floor where he dropped it when he opened the door, slamming it back in place.

Turning around, he notices the open shutter and decides to close that, too.  As he does so, he sees the barkeep and the three ruffians across the street, squeezing out the door past the drunken farmer.  One of them grabs him.

"Where did Potts go, Bert?"  The old man looks at him (rather uncomprehendingly) for a moment, then turns  and points towards the shop's front door.  A couple of the ruffians head that way, giving Kachas (or Potts) a scare for a moment, then trundle back.

"There's nobody there." one of them says.

"Yeah, well there's a light on inside," the barkeep says, pointing towards your window, "so Potts probably went home."  He looks around at the other four.  "I hope none of you need supplies in the next few days."  The ruffians laugh, again.

"Bert, you best get along home, now." the barkeep says to the drunken farmer.  The old man nods, and wobbles off, headed the other way.  The barkeep shoots another look in your direction, then mutters something and motions the rest back inside.

"Better keep an eye on that place for the next few days, boys," he says.  "I don't really care if Potts burns hisself out, but if that place goes up, I don't want it taking the Wild Hare with it!"  More laughter as the men head back inside, slamming the door.

"Shew!" thinks Kachas, closing the shutter and lighting the lamp with his torch.  Looking around, he sees several more, and spends a few minutes lighting them, too...  It's a bit awkward, with a torch, so he snuffs it, and pulls out that candle he'd shoved in his pocket a bit earlier.

Well, one good thing about being thought the town's shopkeeper; you don't have to worry about paying for supplies!  Kachas takes a lamp, blows out his candle, and starts looking around...  Wanting to find a better weapon (maybe even some armor), he starts in the shop, itself.

Most of the stuff piled about on tables and shelves seems to be your local housewares and such-like goods...  Aprons, baskets, blankets, brooms, buckets, etc.  Lots of candles, some clothing, all kinds of lamps  and lanterns, oil, musical instruments, pouches, rope (he's been here, before!)...

Ah, here we are!  He finds a couple of crates of cutting/hacking and cutting and thrusting swords.  Looking them over, he can tell they're crude work, and given to breakage, then wonders how he knows that, since he doesn't have much skill in weapons.  He looks at the swords, trying to estimate their worth, but doesn't know.  He shrugs, selects one, then grabs a tinderbox, and goes back to pick up a few more candles.

The main store area is about 30' x 40'.  It includes all the goods usual for a backwoods shop of its kind (clothing, tools, utensils, food, and a bit of everything else), displayed on shelves, racks, a pair of long trestle tables, hung from the rafters and walls, etc.  There is a counter near the door.  In the NW corner is the curtain that Potts appeared from behind.  Taking the lamp and his new sword over to it (stuffing the tinderbox and candles into his pockets), Potts-Kachas pulls the curtain aside, and peeks in.

The back room is a mere 10' wide, but 40' long.  It is crammed with boxes, barrels, and crates (all open), as well as a workbench with tools, and some gardening implements hanging on the wall.  There is a stairway up along the south wall, and another heading down, underneath it.  Kachas wonders if anyone else is home...   He decides to check one room at a time, and investigates all of the barrels, boxes, and crates lying about...  empty.  The workbench has some simple hand tools, and the gardening implements (spade, hoe, hatchet, axe, sickle, and scythe) all look rusty and well-used.

***

Karl washes down another mouthful and slams his cup down onto the table.

"Well, hear that, my friends? Our luck is changing. Someone else who says he isn't who he appears to be.  Let us investigate!"

The other two (mouths and hands full) look at Karl, then the Elfkin crams his bread and cheese into his mouth, chewing quickly as he stands and grabs his helm off the table.  The half-dwarf stand, reaching for the knife and pulling his hammer, cuts off another large slice of cheese, and stuffs that in his mouth.  The Wylf grabs his bow, and the trio heads for the door.

Reaching it, they see an archway ahead into the kitchen (nothing seems to be going on, there), the hallway back to the bar to their left, and a closed door to their immediate right.  Listening doesn't seem to give any clues, so Karl tries the door, through which he'd seen an old farmer-type exit and re-enter, while he was eating.  It leads out back, to a pair of outhouses.  He shuts the door to the cold outside, and looks back down the hall the other way.

Past the table of armed ruffians, he can see the old farmer putting his coat on, then walking past the archway  and out of sight.  Heading down the hall (followed by the half-dwarf and Wylf), Karl hears one of the ruffians say:  "Look out, Bernie, that crazy galoot is gonna torch the place!", followed by the sound of a door slamming.  Thereafter, everyone in the barroom is getting to their feet, and moving quickly.  Karl heads that way, followed by the rest of his company.

As he comes through the archway into the room, he sees the barkeep squeezing out through the door, holding one of those odd, Gnomish pneumatic hand-catapults, and the three ruffians (all armed) either trying  to push the door open, or follow the barkeep out it.  As he observes, they get it open, and all crowd outside...

The three heroes can hear one of them say:  "Where did Potts go, Bert?", from outside.  Karl heads for the door, but hears no answer.  He can hear a couple of people walking off, however.

"Try the other door." the Wylf says, pointing toward the door on the eastern side.  Karl changes direction, since the one on the north side is apparently blocked.  As he reaches the door, he hears footsteps coming back.

"There's nobody there." one of them says.

"Yeah, well there's a light on, inside," the barkeep says, pointing towards a window, "so Potts probably went home."  He looks around at the other four.  "I hope none of you need supplies in the next few days."  The ruffians laugh, again.

"Bert, you best get along home, now." the barkeep says to the drunken farmer.  The old man nods, and wobbles off, headed south down the track, past you.  The barkeep shoots another look across the road, to the north, then mutters something and motions the rest back inside.

"Better keep an eye on that place for the next few days, boys," he says.  "I don't really care if Potts burns hisself out, but if that place goes up, I don't want it taking the Wild Hare with it!"  More laughter as the men head back inside, slamming the door.

***

Looking over the hanging tools, Potts-Rye dropped the crude sword on the floor, and took the axes, instead, figuring that if Potts had used them, this new body would probably be more accustomed to their use...  He briefly considered the scythe, but didn't feel like lugging it around all night...

Tucking the hatchet in his belt, he hefts the axe, and moves around to the foot of the stairs going up.  Trying to keep the lamp and the axe handy, he does his best to sneak up the squeaky stairs...  He fails, but shrugs, as the light is a dead giveaway, in any case...

He climbs until he can see into the room above him, takes a brief look around, then climbs on up into the room.  There really isn't that much to see.  The entire upper floor is one big, open loft, with a fireplace (currently unlit) for warmth and cooking.  It has some sparse furnishings - a table and four chairs, a bed, a trunk, a cupboard, and various cooking and eating utensils.  Various pelts and hides cover the floor, and one adorns the wall beside the bed...


----------



## Steverooo (Aug 23, 2003)

*The Return of the Ox (sans Mule):*

Standing out in the cold, Ox stares at the darkness, wondering where his beloved mule has gone...  As he does, he sees a man coming down the track towards him, head down, cloak clutched against the cold night air.  Ox notices that he walks rather badly!

"Hey, mister!  You seen a mule anywhere, tonight?" Ox calls.  The man stops, looking up, sees Ox, screams, and runs off the track, into the woods.  Typical human reaction!  Ox is going to have to remember to be a bit more careful, after nightfall!

Seeing no signs of Buford, Ox turns and heads back north, towards Forlorn Corners, again...

*Karl and Co.:*

Karl addresses the barkeep as he comes back in.

"Potts.  He runs the store across the way? I have need of some supplies and it might be good if I get them before he burns his store down.  That is what you said he was planning, wasn't it?"

"Ahhh, who knows what that crazy loon is going to do!...  Yeah, Potts runs the store...  Every once in a while, he goes off his nut, says he's somebody else, runs all about for a couple of days upsetting people, then calms down, again, and acts like nothing happened!  Came in here yellin' at Carilla 'bout how everyone would now call him Kachas, and how we Humans would change our tunes, how he was robbed by a Kobold, then askin' for a razor...  Naturally, I didn't give him one, he'd probably tried to cut somebody's throat with it!"

Hatchet-face and his ruffians laugh, heading back to their table.  The barkeep continues, as he walks around the bar, stowing his weapon:

"He stood there, quiet by the fireplace for a minute, then when old Bert left, he lit a torch and high-tailed it on outta here.  We saw lights in his shop, and there was no one on the street, so I assume that's where he went..."  He looks at you.  "I really wouldn't suggest you go bothering him, stranger...  Get a room for the night, and getcher supplies in the next town, tomorrow.  Leave the local crazy people to us."

Karl passes Tow a few coins and asks him to find the serving girl and pay her for the meal, then catch up to them across the street at the general store.

"Hey, wait a minute!  We weren't done with that meal!" the Wylf says, following Tow, "Tell her we're coming back, too, and to save it for us!"

"Ah, tell'er yerself, pointy-ears!"

"All right, I will!" the Wylf responds, following him back up the hall.  Karl turns back to look out the windows at the store across the street, standing where he can keep one eye on that, and the other on the ruffians and barkeep.  Carilla must be a bit difficult to locate, because it takes the pair of adventurers a minute or two to come back...  During that time, Karl sees no lights in the store.  All the windows look shuttered and dark, to him.  No fires going, though, so at least the place isn't burning down!

"She sez two gold aint enough, but she'll save it fer us, 'till we get back!" Hammer-Tow says.  The Wylf just grins at you and arches a brow.

"Well, gentlemen, shall we see about those supplies?" Karl says, opening the door and heading out into the  street...

As the trio makes its way across the dark street, Karl muses, mostly to himself: "Twenty gold to stow a horse.  More than 2 for a decent meal.  If we stay here much longer, I'm going to get used to spending money.  I don't look forward to that."

When he gets to the store, he pounds on the door with a mailed fist.

"Kachas!  Open up.  I would have a word with you."

*Kachas' Search:*

Seeing nothing too exciting, Kachas decides to first check out the trunk.  Since it seems to be locked (and he  has no key), he does a little prying with the axe and hatchet, and (being as quiet as he can) soon has it open.  Belatedly thinking about traps, he crouches down and opens it with the axe head, but nothing happens...

Looking in, he is rather disappointed to see a pile of clothes, but searches through them, anyway.   Apparently this guy likes the hunting style...  Near the bottom, though, Potts-Rye finds some more interesting stuff:  A long thrusting sword and long dagger (complete with belt and sheaths), a strong bow and quiver of one dozen arrows, a short, heavy spear, full leather armor of the finest make, and a metal targe (small shield)!

Looking them over, Kachas tosses the axe and hatchet.  He can't tell about the dagger or arrows, but everything else is of a quality far superior to the crude stuff downstairs, and the leather armor is quite possibly the finest he's ever seen!  Taking another quick look around, he piles the clothes back into the trunk, closes it, then sits on it and dons the weapons belt, armor and quiver, slings the bow, and hefts the spear, leaving the targe hanging on his belt, for now.

Feeling much encouraged, Kachas is ready to do a little more exploring...  He heads over to the bed to check out that odd skin on the wall...  It is pale, and furless, and of a strange shape...  Sure that it must be hiding something, Kachas pulls his new dagger, and carefully pries out the tacks holding it to the wall...  He spends  several more minutes searching behind it, but if there's anything to find, he misses it!

The cupboard proves even less interesting...  Food, cooking and eating utensils, ordinary kitchen gear!  No hidden gold, no "good stuff", no booze, and not even a hint of a clue!  Hmph!  An utter waste of time!

Kachas looks around the almost bare room, kicking a few skins around the floor.  Anything else he hasn't searched?  He can always go raid the store downstairs, again, or see what's below ground level... assuming he dares!  He wonders where the closet with all the skeletons is!...

As Potts-Rye is considering where else to search, he is startled by a pounding coming from below, followed by a voice that he doesn't recognize:

"Kachas!  Open up.  I would have a word with you."

Freezing for a moment, Potts-Rye wonders if its the real Potts, come back  to finish him off, then relaxes.  Nah, it aint a Kobold's voice!

"Kachas?  Hmmm, I thought everyone knew me as Potts."

He hurries downstairs, leaving his new spear behind the curtain, and drawing the Long Dagger, just in case.  The door is still barred, so he walks right over to it.  As he gets close, he says:

"We're closed, come back in the morning."

He sets the lamp on the counter by the door, and grabs his new targe, standing there ready for battle, watching the flame dance across his dagger's blade.  He chuckles to himself.

"Yeah, buddy, come on in...  I won't be the only one needing a new body!", he thinks.

Standing on the store's stoop, Karl listens carefully, for a moment.  He hears nothing, but thinks - maybe - he saw a flash of light somewhere inside.

"Someone on the stairs." the Wylf whispers.  Karl waits another moment, then raises his fist to knock, again.    Before he can he hears:

"We're closed, come back in the morning."

Well, the place isn't on fire, and he doesn't SOUND crazy!

"Are you Potts or Kachas?  I'm not interested in talking with a shopkeeper.  Now will you open this door?"

Karl turns to the Wylf.  "Good set of ears, those. I'm glad to have you here."

To Tow: "Let's see if this is another victim of your plight, my friend."

"Are you Potts or Kachas?  I'm not interested in talking with a shopkeeper.  Now will you open this door?" comes the reply from outside.  Kachas listens carefully, and can hear the same speaker saying something to one or more others, outside:

"Good set of ears, those.  I'm glad to have you here."

"Let's see if this is another victim of your plight, my friend."

Kachas unbars the door, grabs the lamp, again, and carefully unlocks it.  "I swear by the lejendary pantheon, if they make one wrong move, I'll cut'em up!" he thinks to himself, as he braces against the door, and open it a crack.

Lamplight spills out upon the trio on the doorstep: A tall Human clad in full steel plate armor, with a battleaxe and two-handed sword on his girdle; A shorter, Dwarvish figure, also in full plate, armed only with a hammer; and a Wylf in half-plate, with a bow, and a machete on his back.

The trio stares in at the lighted strip of Potts-Rye.  Hunting clothes under finely crafted leather armor, long, dark hair and beard, and a somewhat wild, unkempt appearance... but no gleam of madness in his eyes.  As they stare back, he speaks.

"Potts or Kachas, that is a harder question than you know, for even I am not sure anymore.  Please come in, and we can . . . talk."

"Hmp!" grumps the Dwarf, "I knowed whatcha mean!  I been 'membering stuffs I never knowed all night long - since I woke up, anyways!  Ever'one thinks I'm this `Hammer' character!  One thing's for sure; I aint myself, this night!"

[So, does Potts-Rye let these armed and armored strangers in, or what?]

Kachas opens the door, setting the lamp back on the counter.  The three armored strangers file in, and he locks and bars the door behind them.

"Well, I guess the question is, What the heck is going on here!  Please, tell me your story and I will tell you mine."

The tall, dark haired Human looks thoughtful for a moment, scratching the stubble on his face.  The Wylf  looks around, then quickly says:

"This" (motions towards the Knight) "is Karl Belford, a Knight returning from a quest.  We met at the well.  He rode into town with Squire Tow, who went to the smithy, where, apparently, he was body-snatched by `Hammer', the local blacksmith." (motions towards the Dwarf).

He stares at you for a long moment, then turns towards the Knight.

"He has the same stench of foul magic about him, too, Karl."

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...  Nothing is happening!

Meanwhile, back in the Wild Hare, Carilla Finnebonne faints.  *ZONK!*

Meanwhile, somewhere south of town, Ox comes over the top of a hill, and sees the sleepy little town, again.    Wondering where a poor Oaf can get warm, he spots the Tavern/Inn, and increases his gait, a little, blowing on his hands to keep warm.

[The LM rears back a foot, preparing to kick a Player: "Please try to do something with these two poor, ignored people, willya?" he says, grinning like a...]

"Stench?  You mean, you can smell it?  I suppose if I were in my own body, I could also.", Potts-Rye says.

"And what body might that be?  You weren't a Kobold, were you?"

"That nose of yours is a real asset, Wylf." Karl says with a smile.  The Wylf wrinkles it at Karl.

"Tell us your story, Kachas.  But I'll wager it has something to do with you coming into this store and falling  prey to the storekeeper who used to look just like you do now."  Potts-Rye nods, looking thoughtful, for a moment.

"Well, I came into the store, and was looking around, when this Potts character came out and introduced himself.  Then I felt drunk, and passed out...  Next thing I knew, I woke up here, in the dark, on the floor...  Then I got up and looked around a bit, and headed over to the pub, where people started calling me Potts..." he trails off, shrugging.

"Sounds pretty similar to what happened to Squire Tow, here, with the blacksmith.", Karl says.  "Well, we've already searched the smithy, and found little, so I suggest that my crew, here, search the store for any and all clues.  I suspect that two others in town were also snatched, based on the party utensils we found at the Dwarf's house.  After searching here, we can search the town for smelly ensorceled folks."  Karl grins.

"Well, actually, I was just about to search downstairs when you knocked.", Kachas says.  "You're welcome to join me."

"Not so fast!" the Wylf interjects.  "I have just a few questions!  I found the tracks of a Kobold and a small army of armored men out on the north track, earlier today.  If that was you, I'd like to know why you were so popular!  Also, Squire Tow was Human; if these body-snatchers are equal-opportunity abductors, that might be important to know!"  He looks around at Karl, and adds:  "Who says all the dirty work is done?  There are still two strangers in town!"

"Yes, I am a Kobold and proud of it!  Anyway,  those tracks you saw are indeed mine, and the others are just some brigands who are after me . .."  With that said, Potts-Rye looks straight at Hammer-Tow, and says:  "This Wylf is kinda pushy isn't he?"

The Dwarf laughs, but Karl smoothly slides into the conversation.

"Well, Kachas. My friend here has some good questions. If we're to aid you, I want to be sure it's not to the consternation of a hoard of angry men out to waste my time."

Karl looks at the Wylf, but saves his question until later...

"Karl, the angry men will be of no concern when I get my body back!  You see, as it happens, I have many skills.", Kachas replies.

"I would, however, like to thank you all for your help.  Perhaps, in the future, you may need my aid, in which case I will be happy to help."  So saying, he leans back against a table, sheathing his dagger, and stokes his beard as if deep in thought.

The wary Wylf snorts derisively, turns to Karl, and says:

"Pushy?  Classical avoidance technique, he means...  `When you can't defend your position, attack'.  You'll notice he still hasn't answered the question about why the brigands were after him, in the first place!"  He shrugs, turning an unfriendly eye back upon Kachas.

"I say we let Mister Multi-talented fend for himself.  That way I won't have to watch for a dagger up my backside.  No doubt the brigands in the bar have already sent word to their compatriots that someone calling himself Kachas has been running around town..."

"Oops!" thinks Kachas, "There went the disguise!"

Hammer-Tow chuckles, looking back and forth between the two.  Apparently there has been some disagreement between he and the pushy Wylf, and he's enjoying seeing the "new kid" get "pushed" by the him, for a change!  Apparently, Karl, the courteous, courtly Knight, has been cast in the role of natural party  leader by virtue of his ability to keep the peace!

Not quite sure how he fits into the new pecking order being developed, Kachas starts to realize that he may need help, himself.  His elemental (and racial!) abilities seem to be gone, for the time being, and he has no idea how to go about getting them back!

Hmmm!  What to do, what to do!

"Alright, men. If we're to find out what's going on here, we'll have to work together. So put your differences behind you. I want this place searched, high and low. Let's find out all we can about this shopkeeper.  Then I think we'd best be in search for more victims.  There will be clues there, as well," Karl looks about the place, trying to get an idea of how long it will take to search it.  The store room, itself, will take a long time!

"And, Sorrow, you might keep an ear out for any unwelcome visitors.  If you're right about the boys next door -- and I fear you are -- we might have some company if we don't hurry. So let's hurry."

"I have gone through the upstairs already, although it won't hurt to look again.  I have yet to go through the  downstairs area, there may be something of use down in the dark. . ."  Kachas tells Karl.

He then turns to the Wylf and says: "Maybe we can go downstairs while the other two search the store room.  Don't get me wrong, I would rather go with Hammer, but I don't think it would be a grand idea for the two of us to join up, due to our situation.  And I think the two of us would be better off friends, rather than the alternative."  He winks at him with a sly, koboldish grin.

"And I think it better that we all stay together, perhaps start at the top and work our way down.  Also, that's the third time you have... neglected... to answer my question.  Since you are obviously disinclined to do so, I frankly do not trust you.  Therefore; as for being friends, I think not.  I do not make friends easily, and never with a man I cannot trust."  He crosses back over to Karl.

"Do you want to start searching here, upstairs, or down?  Also, we have a dinner to finish, you had a quest-ion to discuss, and we need to get some sleep, this night..."  Karl looks thoughtful for a moment, then answers:

"Well, all of that sounds like a good idea, but for now, I think staying together and searching here sounds the best.  Let's start down here, then check upstairs, and save the basement for last."    He turns to Potts-Rye.

"Since you've already searched down here, and might recognize any bandits who come along, we'll let you watch the door while we look around."  That said, the three adventurers start looking about.

"I could use some supplies, too..." Karl says, looking at the boxes of torches and candles.

"So what're we lookin' for, now, Karl?  Just anything that looks outta place, again?", asks Hammer-Tow.

"Right.  Anything an ordinary shopkeeper shouldn't have."

"Musical instruments?" queries the Wylf, looking in some boxes.  He holds up a drum and mandolin.

"No," Karl chuckles, "something more unusual than that."

"Mmph!  Dead bodies... or stolen ones!" Hammer-Tow says.

The search turns up none, only aprons, baskets, buckets, blankets, clothes, candles, foodstuffs, lamps, oil, torches, ropes, some tools, quite a few musical instruments, as well as a host of other common goods, and the cash box (with a little in it, by the rattle) under the counter.  Kachas keeps an ear on the door, watching the goings on, and occasionally checking a window to see what's up at the Wild Hare.

"Well, again, there doesn't seem to be much of anything here, friends.  Certainly nothing TOO out of the ordinary." says Karl.  He turns to Kachas.  "You say you looked upstairs?  Why don't you bring the lamp and show us what you found?"

Kachas leads the group through the curtain and into the crowded back room.  He stops while they search the empty barrels, boxes and crates, the tools, and the workbench.  He goes over and peeks down into the basement while everyone else is busy...  Looks like more of the same!

"Karl!" the Wylf calls, standing by the tool rack (and the crude sword Kachas dropped earlier).  Everyone troops over to see what he's found.

"That scythe," he points "is... magical, I guess you would call it.  It has a dark energy to it."  Karl reaches up  to take it down off the rack, but Sorrow grabs his hand.  "Wait a minute, don't touch it!"

The Wylf zips back out into the store, where he can be heard rummaging around, then races back with a roll of canvas.  He spreads it out on the floor, then lifts an end and picks up the scythe with that, setting it on the floor, on top of the canvas.

"A magical scythe...  Isn't that what you Humans say Death uses?" Sorrow asks.  Everyone looks at it (Kachas thinking that he almost DID touch it, earlier!), and wonders what it does.  Finally, Karl asks the question on everyone's mind:

"So what do you think it does, Sorrow?"  The Wylf laughs.

"Like I would know?  We'll need a Weird, to answer that!  It's just my job to find things like this...  No doubt it is a weapon, and mayhap worse than that!  In any case, let's keep it under wraps, and deny the former Potts the use of it!  Let me get some rope..."  He disappears, again, comes back with some rope, and carefully wraps the blade in several thick folds of canvas, then the handle, and wraps that it loops of rope.

"I think I'll hang onto this, for now." he says.  "Shall we try upstairs?"

Kachas leads the way, once again, looking around for another lamp to light.  The rest of the crew sees Potts' lair for the very first time:

There really isn't that much to see.  The entire upper floor is one big, open loft, with a fireplace (currently unlit) for warmth and cooking.  It has some sparse furnishings - a table and four chairs, a bed, a trunk, a cupboard, and various cooking and eating utensils.  Various pelts and hides cover the floor, and one adorns  the bed...

"Four chairs, again." notes the Wylf.

"That skin on the bed," Potts-Rye points, "was on the wall, but I thought there might be something behind it, so I took it down.  I already searched the cupboard and the trunk."

"Well, it won't hurt to do it, again," Karl says.  "You keep an ear open for any company...  Here, let me borrow your light for a moment."

A chest - or a trunk - is a wonderful place for keeping secrets, so he and the Wylf check it out, Karl holding the lamp and looking over Sorrow's shoulder.  Hammer-Tow checks out the cupboard, again, while Potts-Rye stands by the stairs, watching and listening below.

As the Wylf empties the trunk, Karl notices that most of the clothes are leathers, and such.  The trunk holds nothing of interest, nor do the pockets of the clothing...  Not content, the wary Wylf shifts the trunks about, and searches the floor beneath, as well.

Hammer-Tow has found nothing in the cupboard, but the Wylf checks that, next, searching for secret compartments, and the like, then the fireplace, the walls (paying special attention to where Potts-Rye removed the skin), and finally begins kicking the skins off the floor, and searching that as well.

As he does so, Karl looks at the skins...  There are seven of them (not including the one on the bed where Hammer-Tow is now searching), but Karl can only identify one, a red fox pelt.

"Nothing.", Sorrow pronounces, coming to a stop in the middle of the floor, rubbing his forehead, and staring at the bed.

"Uh, Karl... you wanna come see this." says Hammer-Tow, lifting a lumpy white something onto the bed, then disappearing behind it, again.  Everyone troops over to see what was discovered, again, the Wylf pulling back the covers to see what's under the bed.  The same thing greets Karl's eyes as Sorrow's: the lumpy white thing is the rear of a human skull.  One on the bed, now, another in Hammer-Tow's hands, as he pulls it out, and four more yet under the bed!

"I think that's unusual enough." says Sorrow.

"Dead bodies... or stolen ones." says Hammer-Tow.

The crew pulls them out, and begins looking them over, setting them on the skin on the bed.

"Oh... my God..." the Wylf says in an odd voice.

"What?" asks Karl, figuring it's something besides delayed reaction to the skulls.

"This skin," the Wylf says, turning it over and rolling it into an odd shape, putting the opposite edges together, "It's human!"

"Huh?" says Potts-Rye, coming over for a closer look.  "Hey!  You're right!"

"Oog.", Hammer-Tow says.  Karl and Potts-Rye look at him.  He looks back, a sick expression on his face, then looks at Potts-Rye.

"What're they gonna do to our bodies?" he grimaces, looking like he's about to crack.  Kachas' (or is it Potts'?) stomach also sinks a bit.

"Nothing,", Karl responds, "because we're going to find them, and stop them, first!"

The Wylf, meanwhile, has been examining the skulls with an almost detached, clinical interest; first picking up one, then another, examining each.

"Equal-opportunity abductors, indeed!" he says.  "This one is human," he says, holding up a skull, "and this one Orc.  The other four I can't be sure.  In any case, humans and alfar seem to be prey."  He sets the skulls back on the skin, and rolls it up, setting it on the floor as he begins removing the bedding and searching the mattresses.

"Still, while it is rather unusual for any human (other than a torturer) to accumulate such trophies, I don't see  how any of this helps us...  Help me move this mattress, will you?"  The crew helps him finish searching the bed, but finds nothing more.  The Wylf starts making the bed, again, after they're done, then picks up the skin full of skulls and the wrapped-and-tied scythe, and carries them over to the table.  After a cursory search of that, everyone feels the need to sit for a moment.

There is an odd silence as they do so, when everyone's eyes meet, over the table...  They all realize that there are four chairs, and four people to fill them.  As things have arranged themselves, Sorrow and Karl have sat down next to each other, while "Hammer" and "Potts" stare at them from across the table...  The Possessed and the soon-to-be?  Karl clears his throat, shrugging off such thoughts, while the Wylf rubs his eyes, which are beginning to look a bit red.

"So, how did you know that skin was human, and identify the skulls?" Karl asks.

"Two sciences: Anatomy and Physiology..." the Wylf explains, "plus a touch of Medicine and combat training...  I've seen a lot of dead skin."  He grins at Potts-Rye.  "So how about you?"

"Well... apparently, I somehow, sometimes, seem to know things that Potts did - or does - although I don't recall it unless I try."  He shrugs.

"Yeah!  Like I keep thinking about blacksmithing and gold, and knew about the Wild Hare, even though I aint never been there!", Hammer-Tow espouses.

"Interesting!" Karl says, "So can the two of you remember anything about what Hammer and Potts are up to?  Where they might go?  Why?"  The two possessees spend a few minutes fumbling about, mentally, but produce no useful results.

"So what about the rest of these pelts?" Karl asks, looking around.  "I looked at them, but only recognized one.  They all look animal, but I can't identify most of them."

"Well, that one," the Wylf points, "is an elk.  The rest I didn't recognize, either."

"Mule-dear." says Potts-Rye, pointing, surprising himself.  "Hey!  Potts is a hunter!  I bet I can use this bow, too!"  He tries to see if he has any skill, but can't really tell.  Thinking about his knowledge of the swords, though, he suspects Potts was better with melee weapons.

"Hmmm!  Interesting!" Karl says.  "Sounds like you two can make use of the skills that Hammer and Potts had...  What about your own?"

"Well, I don't seem quite myself..." Hammer-Tow clears his throat.

"My... talents... racial and otherwise, seem... lacking.  I can't even see in the dark." Potts-Rye says.

"Yet Squire Tow had no problem seeing under the bed, without a light..." the Wylf adds, resting his jaw on his fist.  "Well, we could sit here and talk all night, but I won't be much use if I don't get some sleep, soon.  We can search downstairs, or save it for the morning, but if there's any more to find (of a magical nature), I frankly think I would miss it, tonight...  So, we need to finish our meal (we can talk there), then find a safe place to sleep...  Although where that might be, I don't know, in this town."  He looks at Potts-Rye.

"Seeing how Potts was such a skins-lover, I don't suppose that I could interest you in buying some, could I?  That way, I could get some supplies."

"Well, Kachas would tell you to help yourself, but since I'm in this body, I feel constrained to ask for whatever Potts put into the goods, so since we're all in this together, I'll give you $500 credit for a skin in good quality, against goods at half-price... any of you." he adds, looking around at Karl and Tow.

"Okay," says the Wylf, "so we can camp out, if need be, or rent rooms at the Inn...  Or I guess we could even sleep here, or at Hammer's, although I have to recommend against either of those two options..."

"I aint spendin' no nights in either of THEM places!" Hammer-Tow interjects.  "I'd rather sleep out in the cold!  I'd rent me a room...  if they'd left me my gold...  I aint even got enough for dinner!"  The little Dwarf-man looks almost pouty.

"Me, neither," adds Kachas.  "I wonder where Potts hides the key to the cash box?  We didn't uncover it in our search."

"Probably on him." says the Wylf, getting to his feet.  "Well, this one problem I can solve: Sir Belford, our host, has graciously provided dinner, already, which is sitting over in the Inn, getting cold.  I, for one, say we go finish off that wheel of cheese, and that rich, dark, loaf of bread, with honey and butter...  Not much, between the three of us, but it will fill us, well enough.  I also have some jerked beef, pork, elk, and such, if anyone is starving, but it's rather ripe, and I'm deathly tired of it!  I'll share that with anyone who can stomach it... since we're all in this, together...", he says, staring down at Potts-Rye.

"Sounds like a plan," Karl adds as he gets to his feet, "I hardly got to taste my steak, before Kachas starting  making a ruckus...  I do worry about those brigands, though..."

"As do I; and the locals worrying about `crazy Potts'!" says the Wylf, opening his pack and pulling out some skins.  "Wolf, boar, bull, and elk," he says, pushing them across the table at Potts-Rye, "the bearskin I'm keeping to sleep in.  Besides... it's not in as good shape.  He gave me some trouble before I killed him."

Ahhh, that explains the parallel scratches on the armor, Karl thinks.  Potts-Rye looks them over, then says:

"Well, okay, the boar and bull skins are okay - looks like the elk gave you some trouble, too -" he eyes the Wylf, "but the other two I can't tell about."

"I'll throw in the elk's antlers for the whole $2,000" the Wylf says, pulling the rack out.

"Got the bear claws, too?" asks Kachas.

"Yes, but I plan on keeping some of them."

"Throw in the rest, and you've got a deal - at least half."

"Done!"

The Wylf again opens his pack, and Karl can't help put notice that, besides the bearskin and another metal breastplate, it's pretty empty...  Apparently Sorrow's been hunting for his supper, lately.  When this mess is all straightened out, he'll have to go hunting with him, sometime...  Maybe the Kobold, too, if he still remembers how...

"Well, I'm going to get me a tinderbox, some blankets, a couple of cloaks and some clothes, and see what I can find in the way of good hunting knives and handaxes, so I'll be ready if we camp out!  You all decide whether you want to search, eat, both, and where you want to sleep... which I'll want to do as soon as we finish that food!" the Wylf says, heading downstairs.

"And don't forget the rope and canvas!" Kachas says, falling back into shopkeeper mode...  He remembers that Potts charges $1/foot for the rope, but can't recall the price for canvas.

"After I get that cloak, I'm going to check the Inn, calm everyone down about Potts (and see if anyone new has arrived), and then come back.  The rest of you figure out what you want to do, in the meantime." the wary Wylf says, as he heads down the stairs.

Meanwhile, outside, Ox has wondered back to the crossroads, hugging his new robe about him.  Really cold, now, he heads for the one building with lights that looks open.  Pulling on the door, he enters a large barroom, with a blazing fire!  Sighing, he wanders in, ignoring the four men, and goes directly to the hearth, where he can warm himself.

"Evening, Custodian.  You're up late." the barkeep says, but receives no reply.  Ox ignores him, reveling in the warmth.  Seeing the priest is as talkative as usual, Bernie shrugs, and ignores him, as well.

"Hold up, Sorrow," Karl calls down, suddenly realizing just how tired he is getting. "We're coming."

He waves to Hammer-Tow to follow him. "We'll finish up here tomorrow.  Let's get some food and a room or two at the inn.  I'll finance this little venture."

He heads down the stairs after the Wylf.  He and Potts-Rye are over in the clothing section, where the Wylf  has acquired a new suit of clothes, and a pair of cloaks.  `Potts' is following him about, recording what he takes on a small pad, with a pen.  The Wylf adds four heavy blankets (two cloaks and four blankets - apparently he doesn't like the cold!), 10 wax candles, two canteens, the 20 square yards of canvas he has already wrapped the scythe in, a 100' ball of cord, a metal file and lockpick in a leather case, a pot of mink oil, a small candle lantern, 100' of horsehair rope, the 20' of common jute rope he has wrapped the scythe with, two tinderboxes (one of which he stuffs in his belt pouch), 10 torches, a gallon of lamp oil, a heavy knife and  sheath, and a handaxe (which go on his broad leather belt).

Potts-Rye adds up the total (the Wylf complaining about the high cost of gear), then divides by two.  The total comes to $1,866.25.  The Wylf shuts up, glad that at least he has some supplies, and stuffs everything except the torches into his pack, then ties up the human skin and skulls with the cord.  He shrugs the pack back on, wearing one of the cloaks, and comes back over to Karl, handing him the 10 torches.

"Here, I won't be needing these.  If you or Squire Tow need anything, you can use the rest of my `funds'...  You will need a Tinderbox, if you don't already have one...  No use in spending your coin, when I have credit, especially if you're going to be paying for rooms at the Inn."  Turning back to Potts, he says:

"I didn't see any baldrics, quivers, arrows, etc....  Do you have any of those, or bandages?"

"No, we generally don't have leather goods, arrows would be at a bowyer-fletches, and we don't have one of  them in Forlorn Corners, and no Apothecary, either, although I could sell you some clean, white cloth..."  The Wylf waves his hand in a "No" gesture.

"I vote we eat, then search the downstairs later.", Potts-Rye says.  "Also, one of the brigand-looking guys at the inn - where I freaked out - told me to `relax cause tomorrow I DIE.'  He had a face like a Hammer, I think, and there were four of them, to my recollection.  I remember that I had touched Potts before I lost my body.  If you want to keep your skin..." looking at the Wylf and Karl, "I suggest that you keep your hands to  yourself."

"Hmmm!" muses the Wylf.  "That Carilla girl tried to touch me, earlier!  I'm sure she wasn't ensorcelled, though...  Well, pretty sure - I could be wrong.  Still, if she were a fiend, or something, I think I would have known.  In any case, I'm going back over there to see what the brigands are doing, and I'll be back shortly, to let you know what's afoot.  While I'm there, I'll tell Miss Carilla that we'll be wanting a room or more...  I can look her over, again."

"Hammer-Tow, why don't you come with me.  We can tell them that we have calmed `Potts' down, but are afraid to leave him alone, so we want one big room, where we can keep an eye on him.  That should calm everyone down, and let us all stay together.  While we're there, we can look for `Hammer-face', or any other new arrivals.  In any case, if there's trouble, no one would suspect you, I think."

"Sounds like a plan," Hammer-Tow says, "Let's do it!"

"We'll be back, shortly; lock the door behind us!" the Wylf says, removing the bar, and slipping out.  The Dwarf-man follows him.

Quickly looking around with inhuman night-vision, the pair crosses the road and enters the Inn.  One new-comer is instantly obvious; a priestly sort in a robe, doing an odd dance by the fire... perhaps trying to get warm, as he looks a bit damp, and frosty in other places.  The two adventurers look at each other, then proceed through the bar, getting hardly a glance from the other patrons, and back into the hallway to the dining room.

Their cooling meal is still waiting, but Miss Carilla is nowhere to be seen.  The pair goes across to the kitchen, where Carilla is talking to another, older woman - apparently the cook.

"Hi, boys!  Back for the rest of your dinner?" Carilla asks, smiling, as she stands and comes towards them.

"Well, we will be, shortly, miss," says the Wylf, holding up his hand, "but right now, we are busy calming the shopkeep.  We have him acting... normally, but we fear to leave him alone for the night.  Sir Belford was wondering if we could get a room for four, for the night, so that we could keep an eye on him."

"Oh, poor Potts!  I do hate it when he goes off his bean!  He gets crazy, for a while, and then calms back down in a few days...  Well, Buck's already gone to bed, so I guess I could move three beds into one room...  You sure all four of you want to stay together?"

"I don't know, you'll have to ask Sir Belford about that.  How many rooms do you have?"

"Enough for all four of you, if need be."

"Well then, see that at least one is ready, and we'll let Karl decide on that.  We'll be back shortly, with Mr. Potts, and we'll be finishing our meal, first, so you'll have time to prepare the other rooms, if Karl wants more than one.  Oh!  How much for a room, by the way?"

"Well, it's $25 a night, per room."

"All right then," says the Wylf, looking at the cook, "and who is this lady?"

"This is Alberta, the cook.  She made the bread and salad, as well as your friend's meat and vegetables."

"Ah!  My compliments to the chef!" he says, grinning and bowing.  The older lady smiles and nods.

"Well then, we'll be back, shortly."  Sorrow and Hammer-Tow turn to go.  As `Hammer' goes around the corner, Carilla reaches up and grabs Sorrow by the shoulder.  Paranoid at the best of times, he spins around to face her, as she stands on tiptoe to whisper in his ear.

"Better keep an eye on that Hammer, too.  Sometimes, he goes off his bean, as well!" she warns him, then steps back, smiling.  Not sure whether he's just been attacked or not, but trusting his instincts (which tell him no), Sorrow asks:

"And who is the robed one out by the fire?  Is that the village priest?  He wasn't here when we left."

"Ooh!  You mean that creepy Custodian is here?  Ugh!  I don't like him, either!  If anything, he's worse than Potts!  I think I'll stay in here, for a while!"

Sorrow chuckles, then makes his escape, almost running into Hammer-Tow at the archway out into the hall.

"Thought you got lost, elf."

"No, just got caught.  Come on, let's get back to the others."

As they pass through the barroom, again, Sorrow eyes the priest, and wonders what happened to the traveller...  Perhaps he has gone to bed, or maybe continued on his way... or gone to warn the brigands!  He looks at the THREE armed men (Potts-Rye said there were FOUR!), and motions to the barkeep.

"Yessir!  How can I he'p you?"  Leaning over the counter and whispering, Sorrow says:

"I just wanted to let you know that we've got old Potts calmed down, and are bringing him back over for dinner, and then will be getting a room for the night, where we can keep an eye on him, and make sure he doesn't go... `off his bean', again."  The barkeep blares his eyes at the pair.

"Well, I don't rightly know if I like that, you outsiders interfering with the local crazies!  Why don't you just stay out of it!"  The Wylf just shrugs, giving him a disdainful look, and turns to go.  As he passes, he turns to the priestly-looking sort and says:

"Evening, priest."  He gets no response, as he passes outside.  Back at the store, he knocks on the door.

"It's your friendly, neighborhood Wylf and Dwarf!" he calls.  As the door opens, the two move in, quickly checking the street, then closing it, again.  The Wylf launches into his report.

"The dusty traveller is gone, where I don't know.  There is a robed, priestly-looking sort standing by the fire,  and a cook in the kitchen with Miss Carilla.  Neither is a fiend, of any sort.  The Barkeep may be a problem.  There are three, not four, roguish brigandly types still in the bar, but they acted no differently than the first time."  He looks at Karl.

"I told Miss Carilla that we would want to finish dinner, first, and then have one or more rooms for the night.    She is preparing one, and can ready more, if need be.  They charge $25/night, per room, but don't seem to care if we all share one, although it will be crowded with four beds in one room.  I think I would prefer one by myself, as I sleep lightly, but it would be wiser to all stay together, but if you all keep me up, I shall be intemperate with you!"

"Also, while I was there, Miss Carilla touched the shoulder of my breastplate, and told me that `Hammer' also `goes off his bean', too.  I believe that this is the local euphemism for insanity - or possession.  In any case, since I have been touched, I may now need watching, myself."  He puts his chin on his hand, supporting the elbow with his other arm.

"Although I doubt it...  Miss Carilla isn't a fiend, and I sensed no danger, even though she came up behind me.  She actually seemed to be warning me about Hammer...  Therefore, I tend to trust her, and I feel no differently than I did."  He shrugs.  "That's it.  So, shall we go to supper?  I suggest we use the back door, and bypass the barroom - and the barkeep."

"Excellent work, Sorrow.", Karl says.  "While you were gone we poked around a bit more here on the ground floor, but I don't think we found anything of interest.  The basement can wait until the morrow." Karl says.  "Dinner now and a single room for a brief rest. I don't much care for the 'die tomorrow' statement, it makes me feel like  we're against time.  Also, the longer these two are in other bodies the more they seem to remember, which is also unsettling.  Also, I want to get your nose a bit closer to that priest.  I have a funny feeling about the way the chapel was left.  I think we should have a word with him."

"Well, I won't be able to tell anything, at this point... not until I get some rest." the Wylf replies.

"As you say, Wylf, let's find that back door."

"I for one am very hungry!"  Potts-Rye says, starting to push his way out the door.

"Hey!  Ya might wanna lock it!" Hammer-Tow calls.  As the crew crosses the road, circling the Inn and coming in behind the outhouses, Potts-Rye mentions to the crew:

"When I first talked to the bartender, I called him friend, and the barkeep replied 'If I'm your friend, what's my  name?'  I would think that Potts would know the name of the barkeep, so if there is someone we need to watch, I think it's him."

"Ah, that don' mean nothin'," the little Dwarf-man grumps, "if you're like me, you cain't 'member half o' what yer body does.  I has trouble 'memberin' stuffs I usta know real well!"

Going through the back door, the party enters the dining room.  The Wylf points down the hall towards the bar.

"The priestly one was in there, when I left a few moments ago."

"Well, Hammer, lets just hope you don't forget who YOU are!"  Potts-Rye says, eyeing the dwarf with a sorrowful look, then letting his thoughts linger on his own situation.  "However, I'm not going to end up like the rest of those poor souls!  Good old Potts picked the wrong Kobold when he picked ME!"  This prompts a few chuckles from the group, lightening the grim mood set by the "for tomorrow you die" quote.

Potts-Rye says to himself "I don't care what they say about the barkeep, something about him just isn't right. . ."

The troop moves into the dining room, Hammer-Tow and the Wylf taking their seats.  Karl slices some bread and cheese, and passes them around.

"I'll get the serving maid to stop by and ask about drinks, and see about our room.  I also want to see this priest for myself.", he says.  Looking down at his cooling steak, though, he decides that a few bites, first, are  in order... too bad he emptied his cup, earlier!

[There I leave you for the moment; where you go from here is up to you...]

Karl gets up to go find Carilla, see about some drinks and the room, and to take a look at the local Priest.  The others offer to go with him, but he declines.

"You guys finish your meal, I'll be back shortly."

The three are left at the table, chewing on bread and cheese.  It gets rather quiet, for a moment, as the three strangers satisfy their hunger and realize that they don't really have a lot to say, just having met...

The obvious topic of conversation, bodily abductions, seems to be avoided by tacit agreement.  No one wants to be the one to bring it up.  The three strangers, thrown together by circumstance, steal glances at each other as they help themselves to the food.  Finishing his salad, the Wylf looks around at the other two.

"Well, since it appears that we will be stuck here, together, for the next couple of days, at least, I guess we should get to know one another a little better..." he begins, "assuming you two can remember!  I guess I'll start."

"I was recently discharged from my unit, mustered out, and went to a Human city some weeks from here.  I was returning when I crossed the track that our Kobold had, and found the tracks of the bandits chasing him for some unknown reason...  I noticed his coming out of the woods just north of town, and stopped at the well, to see what occurred.  That's when Karl and Squire Tow rode in."  He shrugs.  "The rest you know, I think."

"So, I have some skill with weapons, especially bows, exploring, hunting, survival, camping, etc., and a bit of learning, including astronomy, medicine, and such like.  Like most Wylves, I am generally more stealthy and perceptive, compared to Humans.  So what of you, Squire Tow?  Where are you from, and what do you do?"

"Wa'all," says the half-Dwarf, "I'm from up north, a ways... Caint rightly say where this Hammer is from...  I was a nobleman, so I was trained in Chivalry and weapons, including the bow, as well as hunting..  Now, though, I seem to be... losin' my grip on Chivalry, but 'membering thangs I never did know, before...  Mechanics, blacksmithing, and a bit of a lot of other things.  I still seem to remember how to fight, though!"  He looks over at Potts-Rye.  "So how about you?  You 'memberin' new stuff, too?" he asks, fairly glowering at him.

`Potts' has been sitting and listening to `Hammer' tell us about himself, and casting quick glances about as though searching for hidden enemies.  He thinks to himself that if he can help this dwarven fellow get his body back, that perhaps it will start a chain of  events that will eventually lead to a way out of this place, and maybe even a pardon for his past crimes!

"So where're you from?" the Dwarf-Man grumps.

"Well, friend, I'm sorry for your situation for sure!" Potts-Rye says, looking at the dwarf.  "But, I have some skills that just may help you to get your body back!" he says with a glint in his eyes.  "Ya already know me, the name's Potts, I run the shop down the way.  Oh, before I forget, I will be happy to sell you anything you need at cost!  I'm always willing to help out strangers who are faced with hard times."  He looks hard at the Wylf as he says those lines, then leans back in his chair and kicks his feet out.

"I am a master of the hunt!  You name it, I can kill it, bow or blade, it matters not."

"Well, that's good to know." grumbles the Dwarf, as the Wylf eyes `Potts' warily, wondering at the sudden shift in personality.

Not quite sure what to make of all this, the Wylf gets up to go find the serving wench, and get a key to the room.  Returning with her, he wraps up the remainder of the bread and cheese in a couple of napkins, and suggests that all of you head upstairs to bed.

"Funny, I usually suffer from insomnia, but I feels kinda sleepy, tonight!" Hammer-Tow says, as he gets up to follow Carilla and Sorrow out of the room.

As they head down the hall, away from the rear door and kitchen, Potts-Rye can see the three brigands at their table, in the barroom (although the barkeep, Karl, and the Priest aren't visible from where he stands), but they pay the party little heed.  The Wylf is sniffing around as they turn right, and head up the stairs to the second floor.

There, there is a door (leading to an outside flight of stairs that comes down by the outhouses), a staircase up at the far end of the hall, and a series of doors, presumably to various rooms.

"Did you light us a fire?" the Wylf asks Carilla.

"No, although I can, if you like..." she says.

"I smell smoke." he says.

"Mebbe another one o' th'guests has a fire." Hammer-Tow replies.

"There!" the Wylf says, pointing.  "Carilla, do you have the keys?"

"Yes." she says, jangling a key ring from her apron as Potts-Rye and Hammer-Tow turn to look.  Neither sees anything.  The Wylf heads back down the hall, past the other two, trying a door, then banging on it.  No answer from inside.

"Huh!" says Hammer-Tow, finally noticing the curls of smoke coming from the keyhole, "that must be some fire!  Better take a deep breath!"

Carilla unlocks the door, and Sorrow moves in, followed by Hammer-Tow.  The room is dim with eye-stinging smoke, an overturned lamp spilling a large puddle of blazing oil on the floor.  A man (apparently unconscious) lays almost within it.

Reacting first, the Wylf moves in and pulls the sheet off the bed, yelling for someone to open a window, then moves towards the body, tossing the sheet over the flames, trying to smother them.  Hammer-Tow follows him in, and heads for the window, throwing it open, and sticking his head out for a breath of clean air, then turning back.

Meanwhile the Wylf is smothering flames and extinguishing the lamp, and Potts-Rye and Carilla crowd in to see to the body, which is lying face-down on the floor.

"Stay low and don' breathe the smoke!" Hammer-Tow calls.  He and Potts-Rye manage to turn the man over, making sure he's still alive, then grab him by the shoulders, heading for the hall.  Carilla gasps.

"Buck!  Is he all right?  Did he hit his head?"

"Smells more like he had a bit too much to drink!" chuckles the Dwarf-man, dragging him around the smoldering sections of floor, and out into the hall.  Unceremoniously dropping him on the floor, he grins up at the taller Potts-Rye.

"So, who wants to do the breathin' fer'im?"

Flames extinguished, the smoky Wylf comes out into the hall, pulling the door to a bit more, coughing.  He points to the body, handing the oily, sooty sheet to Carilla.

"Who did you say this was?"

"Buck, he's the owner of the Wild Hare.  Did he fall and hit his head, or what?"

The Wylf coughs for a moment, then kneels down to look at him, feeling his head.

"Well, I don't feel any bumps, but I do smell the alcohol, although I doubt he's drunk enough to pass out."  He shrugs.

About that time, the three brigands from downstairs show up, having smelled the smoke, and start poking around, asking what's going on.  Carilla explains, and the hatchet-faced man tells the other two to take Buck's arms, and he takes his legs, and together they haul him off towards his room.  Carilla hands Sorrow the key to your room, and hurries after them.

Coughing, the Wylf turns toward the room Carilla had earlier led you towards, and opens the door.  A bed, three cots, a coatrack, a washstand and chamber pot, a fireplace and wood box, and a small table (upon which a lit lamp sits) with four chairs greet the adventurers.

"I think I'll pass on making a fire." the Wylf coughs.  Selecting one of the cots, he shrugs out of his pack, moves the cot against the wall, and tosses his pack under it.  He then checks out the room as the rest of the party picks out their sleeping space, then dips a wash cloth in the pan and cleans some of the soot off, as best he can.  Finished, he dries off on a towel, hangs up the cloth, and sits on his cot, removing his armor and boots.

Positioning his bow and machete, he puts the key in the lock, and rolls up in one of his new blankets.

"Someone get the lamp, and let Sir Belford in, when he comes, if I'm asleep." he says.  "Good night."

Kachas reach over and snuffs out the lamp.  As the darkness falls, he thinks "Evil thrives in darkness, and here I am sitting in it!"  After that thought crosses his mind, and even more thoughts of the fire and poor Buck, he says "Uh Wylf, do you mind if we sleep with the lights on?"

"Uh, yah, good idear!" the Dwarf chimes in.

"Just put it somewhere where it won't fall over or get knocked off...  One fire a night is enough!" says the Wylf.  Potts-Rye fumbles about (in the dark) with the flint and steel, and finally gets the lamp lit, again.  Staring at the Dwarf-man who was once just a man, the former-Kobold reads the same expression on his face: falling asleep in Forlorn Corners will be... challenging!

***

[Kachas is awarded 100 Evaluation Ability-Specific Merits for a roll of 01.  I will let you all know about General Merits before the next "day" in Forlorn Corners begins.  For now, the game is on "Pause", as the ACs sleep, and we wait on Karl's player to finish interacting with the Priest, downstairs (and moving, IRL).  Sorry for the delay, all!]

Karl enters the main bar room paying little attention to the three armed men that watch him.

"Hello, priest," Karl says as he makes his way across the room. The smaller man pays him no heed, but rather continues to warm himself at the fire.

"Ho, there, little father," Karl says again as he closes the distance, but again is ignored. At last, at the village priest's shoulder, he says, "Can I have a word with you?"

The priest jumps, caught by surprise. He squints up at the larger man as his eyes adjust from the brightness of the flames.

"Are you the village priest?" Karl asks.

"Me?" the smaller one asks in surprise. "No, but I saw him, I think."  He stops, momentarily confused as he looks down at his robes and feels the material. He furrows his brow as he realizes his clothing is starting to get hot.

"You're not the village priest?"

"Have you seen my mule?"

Karl rubs his chin a moment. He hears a commotion upstairs and out of the corner of his eye watches the three ruffians leave their table and head upstairs. "When did you arrive in town?" he asks the priest.

"Just a while ago, but I had on different clothes and my nose wasn't this long and I had a mule."

"Maybe you'd better come with me," Karl suggests and takes him gently by the arm. "What is your name, little one?"

"Ox," he replies solemnly. Karl smiles.

"Am I in some sort of trouble," Ox asks and Karl's smile fades.

"I'm afraid so."

Karl leads Ox toward the dining room, but when they arrive at the door he notices that his crew has already retired. He leads him back toward the stairs. On the way up, he is confronted by the three ruffians.

The stairwell is narrow, but Karl and Ox step aside on the stairs allowing the others to pass on their way down. As each man brushes past, Karl locks eyes with him. Rough men, but not the type that would challenge a knight, he decides. Carilla is following them.

"My friends..." Karl begins.

"Are in the first room on the left," she finishes for him. "Have a good night." She winks and heads on down the stairs.

As Karl reaches the top of the stairs, he sees a light shining from beneath the door. Waited up for me, he thinks. Good crew. He tries to open the door, but it's locked. A single knock and "It's Karl," and the door swings open.

The former Tow smiles from across the threshhold. "Find a friend?"

Karl returns the smile, then frowns. "What smells like smoke?"


----------



## Steverooo (Aug 24, 2003)

Despite the horrors of the day before, no one has trouble sleeping that night... Sorrow is the first to wake, in the morning, and quietly gets up and pads across the room to the water-closet. After finishing his business, there, he returns for the wash basin and cloth, and takes it into the WC to finish washing the soot from the previous night's fire off himself. The lamp from last night is still burning, so he fishes around for another pot of oil, and refills it, then takes it into the WC and finishes his wash.

When done, he dumps the water in the chamber pot, hangs up the wet cloth, returns the lamp to the table, and dries off with a towel. As he stands there, he opens the shutter to look out, and sees the pane frosted with frozen dew. Winter is here.

Cleaning some of the frost off the pane, he looks out on the pre-dawn light of a heavily overcast, sleety day. It won't get very much brighter until late morning. Looks like a gloomy, dismal day!

Padding back over to the bed, he goes through his morning preparations, and then dresses and armors up. While he is doing that, Karl Belford yawns and stretches, followed about 30 seconds later by Potts-Rye. Hammer-Tow takes almost another five minutes to wake up, and the new stranger takes the longest. Looking around, everyone else sees the Wylf pulling on his cloak and pulling the knapkin-wrapped bread and cheese from last night's dinner out of his pack. With his new hunting knife, he cuts off several large slices, then puts the rest on the table, along with some smoked meat of some sort.

Having dined on hard bread and cheese for too long in his journeys, Karl's stomach protests the sight. Looking over by the fireplace, he sees his plate from last night, with a half-eaten steak and some cold vegetables still on it. Karl wonders if he can reheat it in the fire, as the priestly one asleep in the bed next to him finally yawns and blinks.

Swallowing a mouthful of bread and cheese, the wary Wylf says: "Karl, I'm going down to check on the horses. Be back in two minutes."  He heads for the door and turns the key in the lock, checking the dark hallway before exiting. "Door's open.", he calls, heading for the outside door. His footsteps can be heard clattering down the outside stairs.

***

Arriving at the stables, the horses are all fine, and no one (not even Nob, the stable boy) is around.  Maybe he's up in the hayloft, fast asleep, where it's warmer!

There is no one else on the streets (if you can call them that), but Sorrow can see a few lights in frosted windows here and there, through his misting breath, as he hurries inside. On his way back up the outside steps, however, it is sleety out, and Sorrow's foot hits the wrong spot.  He slips, but regains balance before tumbling down the steps.  He continues on up, more slowly, this time.

***

As the sounds of Sorrow fade away, the ACs begin to get up and move around. The room is rather chilly, so Karl gets up, walks around the bed, and pokes the coals into life, throwing some tinder on top, and putting several logs on the fire. Hammer-Tow sits up, complaining.  "Arrgh! This cot is harder than iron, and my stomach hurts, too!"

Potts-Rye walks over to the stranger, stares him up and down, and then asks: "So, who are you?"

The spindly, priestly looking fellow seems a bit taken aback.  "Uh, I'm The... Ox. Have you seen any... uh... Pleased to meet you.", he finishes, seeming confused.  About that time, the door clatters open again, and the Wylf walks back in, locking the door behind him.

"It is a fine, frosty day, if you don't mind cold, gloom, and a little sleet!" he says with false levity. "So, what's the plan for the day? Search Potts' place first, then Hammer's?"  He, too, is looking at the stranger in the room, then at Karl, who is sitting quietly by the fire, scratching his beard.

"May I see the Scythe you took from my place?", Potts-Rye asks, "I would like to evaluate it, 'cause I'm good at that kinda stuff ya know!"

"I don't know if that would be wise, in your condition.", the Wylf replies, looking you over.  "If Potts used this, and it's evil, and you are now in Potts' body...  I wonder what effect it might have on you."  He looks over at Karl, who is still sitting quietly by the fireplace.

"What do you think, Karl?  Should we risk it?"  Potts-Rye looks at Karl with a wide toothy grin.

Hammer-Tow gets up and stretches his new, dwarfen body, looking somewhat disoriented.  "I don't think yuz should be messin' with that thing, Ya knows its Dangerous."

Potts-Rye replies "Hammer, not to worry, old friend!  I am good with such things as this . . .  Ya know, in my old body, I was a powerful extraordinary activater . . ."  He lifts his hands to sky and yells  "YEAAAAAAAAAAHhhh!"

"I'm really gettin hungry, have we got nothin' left to eat?" asks Hammer-Tow.  Shaking his head vigorously, he adds: "I'm not feellin' so good, Karl, I keep wantin' ta eat, an' I just feel ornery all the time now, I wunt my own body back!"

"There's still half that wheel of cheese, and some bread left over from dinner last night.  Help yourselves, gentlemen.", the Wylf says, pointing to the table where the meagre breakfast is laid out.  "There's some dried elk, too, if you think your stomachs can handle it...  Please, take all you want, of that.  I am sick of the smell of the stuff!"

He looks over at the Knight.  "Karl? Are you okay?"

***

Buck-Finnebonne wakes up to a strange scent in the air, and is immediately disoriented... The last thing  he remembers, he was in a different room, looking at his new body in the mirror!

His new body?

Yep, *his* new body!  Throwing back the comforter and sitting up, he sees that he has been transformed from a beautiful Ilfen maid to a MALE Human!  Gaaah!  What foul perfidy is this???  He climbs out of bed, looking around the room (which certainly isn't the one he was in), and wonders where he is now.

Carilla (now Buck) looks around the room for a while, when a knock comes at the door.  He opens it, and sees a Hatchet-Faced man in a chainmail shirt.  "Mornin', Boss," the man says, "I hear ye had a rough night, last night.  Alberta's got ye some eggs and such cooked.  C'mon down and eat."  He takes "Buck" by the arm, and leads him downstairs to a table, where two other men sit - apparently this is the bouncer, and his crew.  "Smiley" has on a leather breastplate, and is wearing a broadsword.  "Slim" has on only a quilted jerkin and a buckler and dagger.  Hatchet-Face maneuvers Buck to a chair behind the SW table, near the wall, then takes the seat next to him, filling Buck's mug with liquor.

"Hereya go, Boss!  Hair of the dog that bitya!"  He grins, and downs a shot, winking.

***

Still waiting for an anwser about the weapon, Potts-Rye looks at the Wylf with a large grin and walks over to eat his share of the dried Elk.  "Don't rightly know what ya mean, Wylf," he says with a full mouth of the meat, "I'm thinkin' a hardy woodsman could live off this for life!  Also, I think we should get a move on to whatever we are going to do!  We have no time, and I'm in the mood to kill sometin'!"  he says while looking at the Wylf.

Karl turned back to the fire.  The small flames were starting to lick up nicely.  The memories faded.  For the first time, he heard the men talking behind him... to him!  "Hmm.  What?  Oh... sorry gentlemen.  Sleep held tightly today.  Time enough for weapon evaluation later, boys.  Eat up and get ready to move about.  I have some business to take care of," he smiles, glancing at the WC.  "Then I'll eat what's left of this old steer," he fingers the leftover steak, "and we can start poking around."

"I intend to tear this town apart today, starting with that shop across the street.  Don't worry, Potts.  You can help.  Somewhere around here are at least three bodies that you guys will recognize.  I'll know Tow, myself, when I see him, and I'm sure you will too, Hammer.  As you've guessed by now, our new friend here is no priest.  When we find out what he looked like yesterday, we'll know what else to look for."

"Sorrow, I don't think we've formally discussed your continued support in this thing.  I know you were on your own business when you stopped here last night, but if you would consider staying on with us until we clear this small matter up, I'd be beholden to ya.  Think on it." he says as he heads to the privy.

Looking at Karl, Potts-Rye says, "I'm worried we will not be able to find my real body.  Ya know, a Kobold who does not wish to be found... ", letting the last trail off as if wondering just what in the name of the Lejendary Pantheon will become of this group.

"Do not be unduly concerned, my new friend." Karl repplies, "After all, we are not after a Kobold who does not want to be found.  We are after some other creature in the body of a Kobold -- and that is another thing altogether." Karl smiles.

"But time is of the essence, so let me make this fast."  Karl ducks into the privy and returns, drying his hands on his pants.

"Let me know when you are all fed, and then we should make our way across to the general store.  In the meantime, feel free to tell the rest of us anything you can about how your real selves are likely to appear.   What were you wearing?  How will we know you when we see your body?  That should get us all looking for the right villains."

"Well, like I sed, yesterday, I was tall, swarthy, with black hair and eyes, and a sight better lookin', too!" growls Hammer-Tow.  "I was a-wearin' some steel fullplate armor that fit the real me, and a tabard embroidered with the seal of the House of Tow, and under that, a tunic and pantaloons..."

"And I was a lovely, jade-skinned kobold of smaller stature, with hazel eyes and green hair...  I was wearing dark clothing, which, unless it has been cleaned, will be covered in leaves, lome, and other detritus of the forest floor." adds Potts-Rye.  "Although I *could* be invisible, as Kobolds often are!"  He grins mischieviously.

"And I am... was... Ox, a Major Oaf.  I used to be six feet tall, and 375 pounds," he says, raising his arms to the ceiling, then out to his sides, "an' I had a egg-shaped head, with short, curly brown hair (tied in a top-knot so it'd fit under my cap), no beard, but a short, bristly moustache 'cause I didn't have a razor, and aint shaved in a few days...  I had light brown eyes that slanted down, and one straight, bushy eyebrow over both of them, with a big, beaked nose, not like this pointy little one I got now!"  He looks at his hands.  "I had much bigger hands and feet, too, and my fingers were a lot shorter... and I weren't wearin' no priest's clothes, and I didn't have this staff or these boards, an' I had a mule..."  He wrinkles his brow for a moment.  "Oh yeah!  An' my ears stuck out perpindicular to my head, and they were so big that Ma said I could use'm for sails!  She could see me coming a long way off, If I wasn't wearing a hood!...  An' I had some clothes, too..." he finishes, looking embarrassed for having run on so long.

"As I count, Sir Belford, everyone here owes you at least a small debt for 'bankrolling this venture', as you said yesterday, including for this breakfast and a warm place to sleep, last night.  As *I* said, last night, if I see anything hereabouts not of this world, I plan to take target practice on it!  So, if you are willing to continue 'bankrolling', then you may consider me one of your hired troops, until we figure out what is going on here."  He shrugs.  "I have no place I especially need to be, and I have been wanting to try out my new Bowkler, anyway... although the lack of arrows bothers me."

Karl grabs his cold steak, frowns at it before taking a bite and finds it not half bad.

"You're right, Sorrow.  We did discuss this yesterday, and yes, I'm committed to supporting this venture through to its conclusion.  Aside from cooperation, I won't ask anything in return, so no one need worry about any debt."

"We do have a lot of ground to cover, and after some consideration, I've decided it best that we do it together and not get separated.  Whatever it is we're dealing with has already proven that people travel alone at great risk in this town."

"Awlright, lets get ourselves and our lot together an' find out where our bodies are then!"  
Hammer-Tow says through a mouth full of food.  "Are you all 'bout ready yet?"

"Well said, Tow."  Karl chews on his steak as he grabs his armor and begins to belt it into place.  
"The day is wasting."

"Sounds good to me, Karl, but I have a few suggestions... I have a bad feeling about this, and I think it will take more than a day to solve whatever riddles we encounter, here.  Given my 'druthers, I'd rather we had a safe base of operations...  None of us seemed to like the ideas of using Potts' or Hammer's place.  I do not even like using this Inn, but still, some place is better than nought.  What say we keep the room?   We'll only have one key, but it's better than nothing.  That way, I could leave this scythe here, we could dump our bedrolls and other uneeded gear, etc."

"As I have said in the past, I think the Bartender is up to no good."  Potts-Rye throws in.  "I think we should grab him and knock him around a bit till he talks... then search my old shop.  Water from the Black Well Tastes Best!"

"An' I'm gonna give 'im a crack in the noggin with my Hammer!" says Hammer-Tow, as he takes up his gear, opens the door, and starts down the hallway.

"Well spoken, Sorrow.  Let this be our base then.  But leave here only what you can live without, for no place in this town is likely to be secure.  At least we have a defensible supply line, since the kitchen is in the same building." Karl responds.  No one but the Wylf seems to get the joke, and he apparently thinks Karl is serious.

"Yes, Potts, you have spoke out against the barkeep before.  Now quickly tell us why.  Is this some gut feeling you have as a shopkeep, or do you have some special talents you haven't told us about yet?"  Karl adds, addressing Potts-Rye.

"Karl, in fact it is just a gut feeling, but I know there is something more to him than we can see . . .", Potts-Rye replies.

"In either case, it won't take long to have a word with the barkeep on our way out.  If pressed, he may give up some clue.  But since he doesn't look like any of you did yesterday, I'll not pass judgement on him in haste." says Karl.

Karl stacks his belongings in a corner, save for the armor and clothing he wears and his weapons and shield.

"Who has the key? I'll carry it." he queries.

"It's in the lock." the Wylf replies.  Karl holds the door as the others file out after the Half-Dwarf, and pause while Karl locks the door and stuffs the key in a girdle pocket, then all head downstairs.

In the main room, the barkeep is still behind the bar, and the three brigand-looking types are still at their table, along with a fourth, brunette  fellow in a leather jerkin, looking none too happy.  All of them have mugs, and various plates, dinnerware, and scraps litter the table where they sit (right next to the door through which you enter).

*Set Dressing:*  The bar has been previously described (see Day 1 for description).  The archway to the hall is now at your back, the ruffians to your left, and the bar to your right.  The space behind the bar is full of barrels, etc., so getting through that way will be a task.  Tables and chairs are straight ahead, as well as ahead L/R.  The fireplace (which is going) is to the far right, at the other end of the bar.  There are no chairs or barstools (nor anything else) in front of the bar.  The two doors are diagonally to your right, one on the same wall as the fireplace, the other one on the wall adjacent to it.

"Alright, Potts. We'll soon find out how much we can trust your gut." Karl says, as he follows Hammer-Tow down the stairs.

As Karl walks into the bar, he passes close to the brigands' table.  "Good morning, men," he smiles, paying close attention to the newcomer, who simply looks miserable as the other men either smirk or scowl.  No one bothers to reply.

Looking the newcomer over, Karl sees a rather morose-looking brunette in plain leather pants and jerkin, fiddling with his fork and mug (apparently uninterested in the plateful of cooling food in front of him).

Getting no reply, Karl looks the men over, then says "I trust you all are well?"  Again, no one says anything for a moment, then the hatchet-faced man gives a short bark of laughter.

"Quite fine, Sir, aren't we, boys?" he laughs, slapping two of them on the back, prompting a chorus of "Yeah" and "Uh-huh" from two of them.  The morose brunette just looks startled, and still doesn't say anything.  Hatchet-face and one of his comrades stare up at the Knight, while the other two seem more interested in what's in their mugs.

Ignoring the goings-on at the Ruffians' table, Hammer-Tow continues on around the bar, and approaches the barkeep, putting his hand on his battle hammer, and asking: "Me friends and I 'd like a word with you, publican."

"Publican?" the barkeep scowls, "I aint no @$$$*^$ tax collector!"  As this happens, the Barkeep looks around, sees Karl and Potts-Rye, and drops his cleaning rag on the bar... As he does so, Hammer-Tow - just barely - catches an extra motion of his arm, as he puts it out of sight under the counter, and leans forward over it, towards him...

"Well boys," Potts-Rye says with a deep rumble in his voice. "If this is going to go down, let's make it clean and quick, but I'm sure that a fight now would put us in a worse spot than some of us already are..."  Unseen by most, he draws his dagger from its sheath.  Only one of the ruffians at the table notices, and he slowly, menacingly, draws his own blade - faster than Potts-Rye!  The two lock eyes, but no one attacks.  Seeing the situation, Mr. Morose clutches his mug and crouches down, while the other ruffian draws a weapon in response to seeing his comrade do the same.

Already moving back, Karl smiles at Hatchet-face, making no attempt to further annoy him.  He backs toward the bar slowly and without reaching for his weapon, allowing the rest of his group to move in through the archway (still blocked by Potts-Rye).  Turning toward the bar, listening for the scraping of table legs that will tell him the antagonists are in motion, Karl walks around the bar to where Hammer-Tow is facing the barkeep... just as he is pulling a Gnomesh hand-catapult from under the bar, and levels it at Hammer-Tow's armored chest!

"Good morn, innkeep.  I would discuss some business with you..." Karl begins, but cuts off as the barkeeper levels his weapon at Hammer-Tow (who is currently unarmed).

"That's far enough, both of ya!" the barkeep says, keeping his eyes and weapon fixed on the center of Hammer-Tow's chest.  "Now I got no problem with you stupid furiners, 'cept that you're hangin' around with the local crazy-folk, and stirrin' up trouble, but you tell yer loony buddies to come on in the bar, real nice and easy-like, and have a seat at that table over there, where I can keep an eye on the lot of you...  An' don't be thinking that fancy plate of yours will be blocking this-here catapult, neither!  I can put a hole through the both of yas before either one of you can move.  Now *step back!"* he barks.

As he finishes speaking, Hatchet-Face stands, placing a spiked club over his shoulder.  "Need a little help there, Bernie?" he asks, grinning and looking from Karl to Potts-Rye.  "That's what me an' the boys are here for..."

[_Hammer-Tow has the next move, followed by Potts-Rye, then roll for Initiative, again, modified by weapon, if you're holding one..._]

Resisting the urge to batter something  (more likely, someone), Hammer-Tow  starts edging back, slowly, towards the far end of the room, ready to stop if anything gets in his way.  He keeps one hand on his battle hammer, though.  Karl takes a step back toward the table the barkeep has indicated, very slowly.  He raises his hands abour chest level showing them to be empty of weapons.

"You don't want this fight, innkeep.  We are not enemies but I have business in this town that I intend to complete with or without your help.  Now do you plan on talking, or should I tell these good men to do what is necessary?"

Keeping his dagger ready, Potts-Rye slowly steps out of the way of his other friends, so that they can come through the archway.  He turns to face the bartender, and locks eyes with him, saying "Go ahead and shoot me, but if you do, every one of you will die here today." matter-of-factly.

"Awww, c'mon, Pottsy!  I don' wanna shoot you, ya bloody fool!  Have a seat and let me getcha a drink!  Do you really wanna make Carilla clean all that blood off the floor?  Stop this non-sense, you morons!  Yer gonna regret this is a few days, just likeya always do!" he sputters in exasperation.  He then utters a long string of apparent profanities under his breath, still pointing his weapon at "Pottsy".  Rolling an 18 against Intellect, Potts-Rye suddenly remembers the reactions of this crowd to his antics last night, first claiming to be Kachas Rye, then lighting a torch and running for the store...

Moving over by Hammer-Tow and keeping his eyes on the bartender, Potts puts his dagger away and says, "I will take that drink, but will you agree to talk with my friend, Karl?"  No longer blocked, Morchaint-Din and Ox enter the room, the Wylf moving behind Karl and Hammer-Tow, and taking a seat at the table by the door.

"Okay, you blokes, I'm goin' ta sit down and listen to ya talk.  Barkeep, how's about aimin' that thing someplace else?" Hammer grumps, backing to an open chair , turning it around so that he can sit down facing the barkeep, flanking the ruffians.  Ox comes in and fills the fourth chair at the table.

Seeing everyone else seated, except Karl (who is backing up, slowly, hands raised, and several feet away from the bar), Bernie looks a little more at ease, and raises the hand-catapult to point at the ceiling, keeping a wary eye on the table full of "trouble-makers" and Karl, as he grabs three mugs with the other hand, and taps a keg under the bar.

"Long as youse all behaves yerselves, the first beer's on the house...  Who wants one?" he asks, eyeing you a bit nervously.

One of the ruffians ("Slim", the one with his back to you), turns hi chair around to get a better view.

Backing up beside the now-sitting Hammer-Tow, Karl decides to take command of this tense situation.

"I will be in this town for a few days yet, and want to keep the same room.  I will pay you in advance, but want to make quite certain that no one uses that room while I am away. Not even maid service."  Bernie shrugs like he couldn't care less, filling another mug with beer.

"Today," Karl continues, "I will be investigating some strange occurrences in your town.  I expect to get to the bottom of them.  Do you have any information you think will help me in this?  And before you answer, know this: whoever aids me in this work will be well rewarded when the day is done.  Whoever stands against me will find themselves standing against the entire House Belford, which is an uncomfortable place to stand, my friend."

Bernie hmphs, filling the third mug, and mumbles something under his breath.  He sets the three mugs down on the counter, grabs a tray and sets it down, picks up the mugs and sets them on it, then brings the tray over and hands it to Karl - still holding his "gun" the whole time.

"Believe me, stranger," he says, "anything I can do to get you and your pet elf outta this town, and getcha to stop aggervating these village idiots, the better I'll like it!  Now what @#$%*! mysteries do you think this little berg has, huh?"  As Karl takes the tray, he steps back away from him, cradling his catapult, and goes back around behind the bar.

"So what happened, anyway?  Who started the fight?  I was out in the hall, and missed the whole thing!" says Sorrow, looking around at the armed men.

"Well, old Pottsy, here, tried to burn the whole place down, last night, Mr. Ears, so you'll understand if I keep Thumper, here, handy whenever he walks in" says Bernie, patting his hand-catapult.  "But there weren't really no fight, so I guess no harm done... Ye kin put away that arrow of yourn, now."[/I]

"Oh, aye?  And what if the loony attacks me?  I may need it to defend myself with!" the wary Wylf replies.  "No, I think I will be more comfortable hanging onto it, especially with all these armed Humans in the room...  You know how we pet elfs can be about such things, what with our ears, and all."

"For the record, I didn't try to burn the place down.  I asked for a light, but my request fell on deaf ears, so I put my torch in the fire place and ran out the door." Potts-Rie says.

_"Oh!  Terrible crime!"_ Sorrow says, acting as though he's having a heart attack.  "I bet they hang men in adjacent towns for such miscreance!"

Ox cautiously unseats himself from his chair, and while in the process of standing up, says reservedly, "Sorrow, we should let Bernie's temper subside.  Let us continue on our journey into the town."

"We will in a moment, Ox, if Karl is done with his questions."

"I shall wait by the entrance for Karl and thyself to finish then, Sorrow." Ox says, then slowly works his way towards the entrance, keeping an eye on his friends, as well as the others in the room, by backing up slowly, ready to draw his knife if necessary.  Nothing happens, and he gets out the door into the cold, sleety wind.

Karl stretches out his legs and makes himself comfortable in the barroom chair.

"We're of the same mind, inn keeper.  I need to be on my way soon, and so do my friends, so here are my questions:  You say that Potts here acts up ever so often and then calms down afterward.  How long does it take him to get back to normal?  How often does it happen and are there always strangers in town when it happens?  Has anyone not in this room come in here in the past few days acting strange, talking crazy and making outlandish claims?  And finally, what other townfolk, besides Potts here, go through these periods of strangeness ever so often?  If you can answer me honestly, I'll pay you for the room and we'll get out of your establishment for a while."

"You'll be paying me for the room, anyway, Sir Belford," Bernie snarls, "and don't you be trying to get out of it!  Now as fer yer questions, all yer loony buddies, there, go off their nut, every so often, and take a few days to come to their senses.  Only strangers like you are fool enough to believe anything they say, when they're like this!"  He snorts.  "Caint rightly say how often it happens (too often for my liking!), and naw, there aint always strangers around when it happens..."

"As fer anyone else acting crazy, yer new buddy Potts was sayin' he was somebody else, last night, and I *still* say he was gonna try and burn the place, before we chased him back to his own shop...  Then you ijits bring'im back over here, and we *did* have a fire, last night!  Like to kilt the boss!" he yells, throwing his hand up in the air.  "Shoot, ol' Hammer and that creepy Custodian all usually go off their bean about the same time; I wouldn't trust any of'em... an' I sure don't trust any strangers in town hookin' up with'em!"  He glowers at Karl.  "An' I guess that's all I got to say about that!  Now get on outta here, 'fore I have the boys runya out!"

Hatchet-Face, still standing over his chair at the SW table, smacks his spiked club into his hand, and grins.  Karl rethinks his earlier estimation that none of these ruffians would dare stand up to a Knight.  Hatchet-Face seems almost spoiling for a fight.  Karl has known of a few bouncers like that, in bars in the rougher parts of sea towns, especially.

***

Backing out the door, The Custodian (or Ox) steps out on the covered stoop, in the dark drizzle, and lets the door close behind him...  Brrr!  It is FREEZING out here, and the wind only makes things worse!  He wonders where the priest's cloak went to, and pulls his hood even tighter about his head.  He sure hopes the rest of the party doesn't take long!

He decides to wait a few minutes for his friends to join him then slip back inside, if the cold gets too bad before they come out.  As he waits, he looks around at what he can see of this small town, without moving off the Inn's covered stoop.  The store, smithy and stables, perhaps a barn behind the store, several cottages, and a shack.  He notices some lights burning in a few of the cottages, and the store, but no one is on the streets.

[_Ox is awarded 100 Scrutiny Ability-Specific Merits for a lucky roll of 01._]

***

Ox decides to slip back inside, and see what his friends are doing.  Nothing much has changed, except that Karl is sitting in the chair Ox vacated a few moments ago, talking to Bernie, one of the ruffians has turned his chair around to face him, and Hatchet-Face has also retaken his seat, although no one else but Potts-Rye has put their weapons away...  At least they're no longer pointing them at each other!

"Have you gotten all the answers you were looking for Karl?'  Maybe we should be on our way, my friends, as we have bothered Bernie and his friends enough for one day.  I believe the answers to our questions lie elsewhere in this strange town." Ox interjects.

Leaning over to tap Potts-Rye on the shoulder with his Bowkler, Sorrow whispers to him, "Try your Evaluation on Bernie, and see if he's telling Karl the truth!"

Ox patiently asks the party, "Have we determined whether any other strangers or visitors are currently staying at the inn?" (said loudly enough for Bernie and the ruffians to hear, of course).

Reacting to Bernie, Karl smiles and pulls some coin from his pouch (enough to pay for another night's lodging), rises and walks slowly over to the bar.

"You're right, inn keeper.  I will pay you anyway."  He hands him the money.  "I trust this will cover our last night in your fine town.  Thank you for the information."  Bernie just takes the money, looking less than pleased, and says nothing.

Karl turns to leave, and then stops.  "'One last thing.  Are we the only strangers in town today?"  He waits for the answer (Bernie's shrug), and then nods to his party and heads for the door.  While he is well aware of Hatchet-face's theatrics, he is careful never once to look at him.  As Karl heads for the door, Ox falls in beside him, and the rest of the party gets to their feet - leaving the mugs of beer on the table - and begin to file out after them.  "Mr. Ears", last in line, giving one of his famous piercing glances to Mr. Hatchet-Face and friends, as the adventurers leave, then he moves to take up the rear, Hatchet-Face's quiet snicker being the last thing heard, as they pass out into the reddish light of dawn.

"Okay, people, let's head back over to the store, and finish our search." Karl says, stepping off the Inn's covered stoop, into the sleet-covered streets.  They cross the road and climb onto the store's porch without incident, discussing the happenings of a few moments ago.  As they step up to the door, Sorrow says "Lights on."

"Yes, I noticed that a few minutes ago, when I was out here...  So?" says The Custodian.

Karl stops in front of the store and frowns.

"Potts, you got any family or friends that might be minding your store for you?  If not, let's assume whoever is inside is not on our side.  I don't want to give them any more time to mess up any clues remaining in there, so let's move in quickly," he says, pulling his axe from the holder on his back.

Drawing his sword,Potts-Rye says, "I hope my action is anwser enough for ya , Karl."  He reaches down to make sure his buckler is secure, and adds, "Whatever is in there will do us more good if it's alive!  Let's try not to kill it, folks . . ."

"Any other suggestions before we enter?" asks Karl.

***

Still sitting at the table with Hatchet-Face, Smiley, and Slim, Carilla (now Buck) is rather unconfortable (to say the least) to have something between the legs that's not usually there.  "Call me crazy, whatever you want to call me...  Just the same, I'm in no mood for this fight to continue."  Realizing that being in possession of the body of who she knew as the innkeeper, Carilla says, "Now this is my place, and I say enough is enough, now back up!"  Nodoby moves, they just grin at him.  "Well it is!" he finishes, lamely, only to reach out and grab a shot and down it.  "What a lousy day this has turned out to be.  Are we clear on this?  Back UP!" he says, raising his voice, while saying inside that this voice is not hers.  He feels more than a bit disorientated, and pats himself, feeling for a weapon.  A belt knife is all he has.

Hatchet-Face pours Buck another drink.  "Ahh, c'mon, boss!  You know you aint yerself, today!  Eat yer breakfast, have a few drinks, an' then go back ta bed and sleep it off!  If them troublemakers come back, me an' the boys will handle'm!  Don't you worry 'bout nothin'!"  He pats you on the shoulder, as Smiley and Slim grin.

Looking at the Hatchet-Faced man with a look of disgust, but agreement, Buck says, "Im a little too shook up ta be sleepin'.  But I could use a good splash in the face."  Taking the drink and downing it in one swallow, a discomforting wrinkle comes across his face,  "That's the watered down stuff, but ew... is that... ah nevermind!"  Feeling a bit itchy and disapproving of the current clothing worn, frustration was making Buck cranky to everyone.  The way this body moved and felt was awkward and not at all to his liking.  Not to mention it needed a good bath, it reeked as if the clothes had taken on the scent of the bar itself.  "Maybe you're right, think Im gonna take a quick soak and loosen the muscles.  Uh..."  Starting to make a decision on what to do about the crew that fought, and then looking at Hatchet-Face, Buck tells him, "Just do what we always do with'em.  And get this place cleaned up, we got a business to run."  Smiling at saying that, the idea was kinda to his liking, and as he headed to get that much needed bath, he mumbled, "Yeah, a business to run, oh what did I get myself into.  I did this?  I couldn't have done this."  Saying this to himself, the mumbling of it could be heard growing more faint as he walked away.

Getting up and taking his spiked club off the table, the Hatchet-Faced man says, "I'll go withya, and make sure you can find your own room...  Besides, I doubt Carilla is up, yet, so you'll hafta do with a bucket, or draw yer own water."

_Great!_ Buck thinks... _This day just keeps getting better and better!_

Spending the next hour drawing and taking a bath, "Buck" is bothered by thoughts of the strangers' talk of earlier...  Finally, Buck gets out of the tub, dries his "ugly male body" off, and gets into some new clothes, leaving the sooty ones where they are.  He then goes back down to the bar. Approaching Bernie, he asks him, "Who were those men who were in here before, making all of the fuss?"

"Ah, don't worry none about them, Boss!  Jus' sit down and eat yer breakfast, have a few drinks, and relax!  All this'll be over in a few days!"

Sitting down to eat breakfast, Buck resists the urge to drink during his meal, feeling rather proud of himself for the accomplishment.  He asks Bernie, "In a few days, what will all be over?"

"Ah, you know, Boss!  Yer crazy spells!  You'll remember yourself, and stop acting all out of sorts, and be yer ol' happy-go-lucky self, again, like usual!"

Finishing his breakfast, "Buck" says "I'm going to get some fresh air, and clear my head, a bit."  He wanders over to the door, and slips out onto the bar's covered stoop, where he can look over this strange town.  As he does so, he observes two wet, bedraggled characters coming up the track towards him, conversing together.

***

Receiving no answer, Karl (in the lead with Ox) takes the door handle, tries it, and finds it open.  Glancing at Ox, beside him, with his staff, Potts-Rye behind him with his sword and Hammer-Tow with his battle hammer, and Sorrow with his bowkler.  He opens the door, pushing it in, and grips his axe as he steps through...

Readying for any pending battles, The Custodian steadies his staff and follow Karl in, moving forward a bit in an attempt to take up a flank position upon any intruders.  Upon entering the store he says, "Let's all be smart while in here."  The rest of the group files in behind him, spreading out to get a look at the scene.

Unlike the previous night when they were here, the place is well lit by about a dozen oil lamps hanging about the room.  An older, bald-headed man is busy with yet another one, at the little counter where the cashbox is.  As the party comes in and Ox speaks, he looks around at you, then goes back to what he was doing.

"No fiend." whispers Sorrow, barely audible to Karl and Ox.  As usual, he glances around everywhere, but sees nothing else, except, perhaps, that instead of the place being more torn apart, it actually looks in a bit better shape than the party left it, last night.

Potts-Rye, seeing the man, remembers that he was here in the store yesterday, before Potts came through the curtain to the back room.

"Hey," Potts-Rye shouts.  After the bald-headed man turns around he says, "Why don't you take the day off today, my good man?"

"Huh?" he asks, looking around at "Potts", "Day off?"

Ox turns to the party members and quietly whispers, "I have a spell that will allow me to see all within 24' as it really is for a short time.  I do not know if it works in any way on people.  I can use it or save my power for later.  What do you all think?"

As Ox awaits the answer to his question, he slowly edges toward the Potts-Rye and the bald-headed man.  He listens to what they are saying to each other, and watches "Baldy" trim the lamp, then tuck the scissors into a vest pocket, pulling out flint and steel from another, and lighting it.  Ox remains quiet, and peers about, checking to see if any additional supplies or weapons are near the two (not having been in here, before, unlike the rest of the party).  He notes the usual items of a back-country General Store, as well as items more common in a Trader's Shop.

Ignoring "The Custodian's" question, Potts-Rye tells "Baldy", "Yeah, I think you could use the rest.", flashing the blade of his sword in his direction.  "Go home old man!"  He whispers to anyone around him, "I think this one will just get in the way... he's a nobody for sure!  However, we could off him just to be safe!"

The Custodian positions himself to whisper back to Potts, trying to make sure no one else can hear, and says "I agree, first let's find out who he is, then we take 'im out. unless of course he can help us in some way -- take 'im hostage first, ya thinks?  Then we can bleed the information out of him."

Karl nods to the party members who have spoken, and then advances toward the counter, holding his axe down, like an innocent tool for chopping wood instead of the very deadly weapon it is.  "'Good day, gentleman.  I thought this was Master Potts' store."

Looking from "Potts" who has just told him to go home, to Karl, "Baldy"nods his head and grunts.

Karl stops and turns to Potts-Rye.  "Do you remember him?" Karl asks.  While waiting for an answer, he motions for the party to hold off any aggressive actions by showing them his palm.

"Get m'stuff." he says, setting the lamp on the counter, then bending down to pull out the keys, his spiked club, a large wad of brown wrapping paper, and some other trash, and heading for the curtain to the back room.  Everyone follows him. There, he throws the stuff into a large wooden crate, grabs his cloak and puts it on, them piles a bunch of broken pieces of crate into the one he's put his gear into, and hefts it over one shoulder with seeming ease. The four ACs who were here last night see that the place has been cleaned of much of the junk that was here, the night before.

Apparently taking the day off, as ordered by his 'boss', the bald-headed man passes back through the curtain into the store, and heads for the door with his crateful of wood and trash.

As the employee heads for the door, Karl turns to MD.  "You're sure about him?  You don't detect anything?"

Sorrow nods, indicating that he's sure.  Karl makes no move to stop him, but instead turns back to Potts-Rye.

"Was that a ploy?" Karl asks Potts when the bald man is gone. "Or are you starting to share the memories of the body you're now living within?  If so, we'd better search this place with some speed."

Karl turns to Ox.  "If you have any doubts that the bald one is other than he appears, you may follow him.  If he heads to the tavern or a shack in town, he's probably not involved in this.  If he heads out of town, that could be another story.  As for the rest of us, let's move together through this place, looking for anything that seems unlike a common shopkeeper or that might shed light on the whereabouts of the gnome's body."

"Well, I think we've searched everywhere except downstairs pretty thoroughly..." says the Wylf.

Turning to Karl, Ox says, "I would prefer not to separate from the rest of the party, but I question some of the TRASH ol' baldy took, and why he would want it.  Should several of us follow him or leave him be?"  Then, turning to Potts, he asks  "Do you know him at all?  Can we trust him not to have taken anything of importance?  Should we follow him or let him be?"

"No Karl, I'm sorry but I don't know him.  I guessed.  However, I don't think it would be a bad idea to follow him.  I'll go with ya, Ox." Potts-Rye says.

"Potts, let's follow this guy and see where he goes, and what he may be up to.  We will meet the rest of you all back at the inn room in a few hours.  After searching the rest of the store, you all should check out the smithy one more time.  After we get back to the inn, we can all go to the shrine together and see what I can recall and search the place.", says Ox, while keeping an eye on the bald man through the window to see where he goes.  "I will see y'all later!", he says, as he heads out the door, nodding for Potts to follow him.

As Ox heads out the door, Karl yells after him: "If we're not at the inn, look for us here or at the smithy.  Good luck."

"Ox, if needs be, we can set a trap for him.  I'm not all that bad at waylaying.  After we catch him, we can go through the junk the he took with him...  However, we may not have to.  I guess only time will tell."

"We should follow him for a little while longer up this road to see where he goes.  If he stops soon then we can make plans on how to approach him or take him out.  If he doesn't stop soon then we should try to take him out up the road, when out of sight of everyone.  I will let you decide how to take him out if it comes to that.  For now, let's slowly walk up the road, and I will pretend to be talking to you in some priest-like manner, since I am the priest of this place."  Ox scans from side to side to see if anything has changed since his last trek up and down this road, and to see if anyone new is milling about.  Everything seems normal, in the dim light of the overcast, early morning.

"Regarding future plans," Ox continues, "I can talk to other members of this town as if I was the priest, and try to see if they know anything.  I can act as if I am fine and nothing has happened to me.  Maybe someone (even Baldy here) might tell me something.  The less conspicuous I seem to them, the more they may open up.  If we take this guy out, we need to do it quickly and quietly.  Any suggestions?  How long should we follow him?  I say we only follow him a few more minutes.  Then maybe you can sneak off the side of the road and pass by him to surprise him from the front, while I catch up to him and get his attention from behind.  I distract him, and you take him out from the back."  Ox patiently makes conversation, while following his intended victim.

"Sounds good to me, I can take him from the back... if needs be.  I can use my 'Tricks' Ability to do a sneak attack on him." Potts-Rye says.

As he walks along, every 15 or 20 steps Ox takes his staff and makes an X in the sand or dirt at the side of the road, in an attempt to leave a trail for other party members to follow if necessary in the future.  Ox says to Potts, "Hopefully, this weak attempt at a trail won't be needed, but better safe than sorry."

"Wise you are my friend... wise you are." replies Potts.

As Potts-Rye and The Custodian-Ox trundle along,  talking quietly, "Baldy" pulls out farther ahead, passing the road and cottages, and heading out of town, along the track.  Suddenly, he slips and falls, the crate full of wood crashing to the ground.  Potts-Rye and The Custodian-Ox halt, watching as the man slowly gets back up, rubbing his backside, and starts collecting the scraps of crate slats that spilled out, throwing them back in the box.

Intent on his task, he doesn't look up to see the pair behind him.  When he has gathered all the slats, he picks up the crate, again, and steps out more slowly, continuing on his way.

As Potts-Rye starts after him, again, his foot hits a patch of melting sleet, as well, and he slips and falls.  Ouch!  That smarts, but he takes no damage.

Helping "Potts" up, The Custodian says, "Careful, ol' boy!  You should try to sneak off the side of the road, here, and try to get ahead of our friend, "Baldy", up there.  I will make noise and try to get his attention from behind as I catch up to him.  I will try to discount any noises we hear from the side of the road as just an animal I saw earlier.  Try to make as little noise as possible.  Also, be careful of the ice and bad footing conditions while trying to speed ahead of him. Once you get ahead of him, slide a rock or stick across the ice in the road area in front of us (I will be watching for this sign).  Then I will get him to turn around, somehow, so you can try to sneak up behind him and waylay him.  Again, allow for the ice as best possible when attacking him.  I will try to keep him distracted long enough for you to get close, and will use my staff to strike him once you get to him.  You hit from behind, and I will strike at the same time.  Together we should get him down and maybe even out.  What does ya thinks of the plan?  Got any better plans?"[/I]

"Ox, are we going to kill this little man or what?  I'm still not sure who or what he is, but he does look busy...", Potts-Rye inquires.

"Let's take him down, and try to restrain him, first.  If we accidentally hit him too hard, or if we need to take him out, then we do so.  We won't get any answers by talking to him, so let's search him and his crate." the former Ox replies.

Sheathing his sword, Potts-Rye tries to get into the woods as quickly as he can.  He then travels about 100 yards or so through the brush, to a point where he thinks the bald-headed man should be, about now.  As he makes his way through the slippery underbrush, he picks up a stick along the way.

Cutting back towards the dreary track, he takes up a position on the edge of the woods.  Seeing the crate-bearing prey approach, he gives The Custodian the sign, waving the stick in the air so that he can distract "Baldy" while Potts-Rye sneaks up to clonk him on the head...

Unfortunately, The Custodian fails to see the stick, "Potts" fails his at waylaying, and their victim notices a stick being waved about from the depths of the woods alongside the dreary track.  Seeing that, the bearer of the mysterious crate pauses, then sets the crate down, drawing his spiked club from it, and looking around.  Potts-Rye is pretty sure he can't be seen, but drops the stick and draws his dagger, anyway.

The bald-headed man is now armed, and unemcumbered, as are "Potts" and "Ox".  "Baldy" has used his action to draw his weapon.  Neither would-be waylayer is within melee range.  "Potts'" location is known, and "Ox" is clearly visible, now that the man is looking around.

"WATCH OUT!" screams Ox, moving hastily up the track towards Baldy.  "There are people on both sides of the road that have been chasing me and Potts.  You watch this side of the road," (pointing to the side opposite where Potts is) "and Potts and I will watch the other."  He then yells, "Potts, come over here to get away from those brigands.  The shopkeep and I will help protect you."  While he is speaking, he continues advancing hastily on Baldy's position, never once taking his eyes off the bald man.

"Nuts!  Well, I guess it's time to play." Potts mutters, putting his dagger back in its sheath and readying his strongbow, closing a few yards before kneeling.  He is now 80 yards ahead of Baldy, while Ox has closed to within 6 yards or so (but still well beyond melee range).

Slowed by fumblin with his club, and looking at two attackers, Baldy is slow to react...  When he finally does, he reaches out and grabs the crate, setting it up "on end" (as pallet pieces and trash fall out), and wraps his other arm around it, thus forming a barrier on Pott's side of him.  He then begins running west, off the road and over the ditch, and into the fields on that side.  He is immediately lost to sight, although the sounds of the junk in the crate crashing around is easy to detect.

Almost Potts reacts fast enough to get an arrow off, but the man has concealment in the field before he can fire.  Potts lets fly, anyway, but no howl of pain can be heard, and the sounds of the crate continue...  Ox leaps after the man, pursuing him into the cover, and Potts can hear a mighty crash, as though the crate has been dropped...

Potts-Rye leaps to his feet, and heads for the spot where Baldy and Ox left the road.  Ox, having cast all caution to the winds when his ruse failed, dives over the ditch into the tall flora in the field.  Baldy is lost to sight, but the noise and bent plants indicate which way he went, so Ox charges on, chasing the sound.  Then the big crash resounds, and he changes course slightly, headed for it.  Out on the road, Potts can hear the noise, but can't tell what happened to whom.

Running full tilt through 10' tall plant life, Ox comes upon the crate before he has time to notice, and crashes into it at full speed (taking 10 Harm to his shins), and flies over the box.  He tries to hang onto his staff, and somehow manages. Worse yet, however, as he is flying through the air upside down, he spots Baldy, club in hand, squatting beside the box!

"Potts!" Ox wheezes, "I got him!  Join me up here, old man, so we can check out this stuff! He's here!"

Apparently not wanting to wait around, Baldy stands up, spilling jumk out of the crate, and runs back the way he had come, towards Potts!  Ox begins trying to scramble up and continue the chase.

As he runs back up the track, Potts slings his bow back on, redrawing his dagger.  Shortly after the big crash sounds, he hears another, smaller one.  This is followed by the wheezing cry of what sounds like Ox.  Potts continues to beat feet towards where he last saw the two...

Bawling at the top of his lungs, Ox yells "Potts, he is headed your way with his club in hand!  Watch out!  I am hurt, but coming.  Kill him!"  Scrambling to his feet, staff readied, Ox heads back after Baldy with all intent to do him bodily harm, but attempting to be wary enough not to brain Potts-Rye..

As Ox makes his way back along the "trail" of bent flora, moving at a slow trot (so as not to blunder into anything, again) two things happen...  He notices two ways he could go (ahead or right), and he hears movement.  He stops, trying to determine direction and distance, but hasn't a clue...

Continuing his run towards where he saw Baldy and Ox leave the road, Potts finally comes to the spot where the 10' field of flora has been bent inwards by the passage of a couple of large bodies.  Dagger in hand, he peers in, sees nothing of interest, and decides to once again switch back to the bow.  He does his best to orient himself on where Ox's wheezing seemed to come from, followed by the bawling, then knocks an arrow to the string, and heads in.

Stopping at this crossroads of sorts, Ox calls out "Potts, where are you?  Do you see Baldy?"  He waits for a response, while readying his staff for an onrush or counterattack from Baldy.  Also flinging caution to the wind, Potts dives into the tall weeds, heading straight for where he thinks Ox's voice was coming from. Plowing through the growth, he almost runs over his ally, who was stopped, but Ox steps out of the way in time to avoid another collision.

Ox says to Potts, "We can search the crate, and the stuff lying all around that dropped out of it, and forget about Baldy, or we can go after him and take him out so he can't tell anyone about this.  What do you want to do?  I say forget him, but it is up to you."  While talking to Potts, Ox keeps an eye out for Baldy,  and slowly makes his way back towards where the crate was left.

Trying to locate the elusive bald man, Ox asks: "Potts, can you tell which way Baldy went from here?  We know he didn't go there," (pointing in the direction of the crate), "...and we know he didn't go in that direction," (pointing where Potts came from) " or you would have seen him.  That only leaves a few other choices.  Can you pick his trail up?  We can search the crate and the stuff lying all around that dropped out of it and forget about Baldy, or we can go after him and take him out so he can't tell anyone about this.  What do you want to do?  I say forget him, but it is up to you.  We can assume Baldy went south, or is hiding somewhere.   Take him out, or leave him be?"

Potts replies, "If we just search the junk, I fear that Baldy will tell everyone that we tried to kill him!  I think we should find him..."

Ignoring the bent weeds, for a moment, Potts uses his skill at the hunt to follow Baldy's trail.  Even in the dim, murky light and drizzle, he manages to find the bald man's tracks.  He moves ahead, following them.

" Ox, I have a fix on him.  Let's go."

The Custodian falls in behind him.  "Let's go take him out."

The trail does, indeed, head south, but almost immediately curves westward, then north and beginning to turn east, where it splits off in two directions!  After curving about in the tall flora, Potts isn't even sure which way they're facing, now.  In any case, they can head left or right.

Obviously, Baldy is trying to throw Potts off the track, perhaps creating a false trail, or perhaps doubling back, waiting in ambush... who knows?  Trying to determine which way Baldy went, Potts stops and casts about for tracks, but finds no signs, this time.

As he stalks along, looking for his victim, The Custodian gets a very bad headache, all of a sudden.  Hmmm...  Must be all the tension, or something.  He tells Potts, "Baldy is obviously trying to throw us off.  I am going to head back for the crate and begin searching it and tending to my wounds. I am hurt, but not too bad.  You can, and probably should, continue to look for baldy, but can come back with me if you want.  If he gets away, it is still two voices against one about what really happened, and we can assure anyone he tells that we don't know what he is talking about."[/I]

"This bald one is skilled..." Potts says, feeling that an ambush is waiting.  He turns and travels back with Ox, leaving Baldy to come and find them.

Momentarily taking his eyes off his surroundings to look back at his ally, Potts sees Ox looking rather haggard.  "Ox, are you all right?" he asks.

"Just feeling tired and headachy, all of a sudden...  I don't know why." Ox replies, taking a hand off his staff to rub his head.

As the pair backtracks, and turns towards where Baldy had dropped the crate, they encounter another nasty surprise!  On their left is yet another pressed down section of plant life.  One Ox is sure wasn't there a few moments ago!  Ox grips his staff with both hands, once again.

"Potts," he says, "let's go search the crate and surrounding area.  Keep an eye out for Baldy.  We need to get back to the others, soon.  Let's get back to the crate and get it out of here.  Be on your toes, old man."

Making it back to where the crate was dropped without encountering any ambushes, Potts and The Custodian see a pile of pallet pieces and paper scattered about.  They shift the crate up onto its end (as Baldy had, earlier, using it as a sort of shield), then begin looking through the spilled out contents.  All they find are pieces of crate, wadded up brown wrapping paper, bent nails, and other such trash.

Leaving the detritus where it fell, they pause for a moment and wonder what to do...  They obviously can't wield their two-handed weapons while carrying the crate.  How heavy is this thing, anyway?  Should they search it here, where Baldy can ambush them?

"Potts, you want to search the crate and look through the wadded up papers and stuff, or do you want me to?", says Ox.  "We can search through the contents of the crate, now.  Whatever looks like it is out of the ordinary, we can load into the crate and take with us back to meet the others.  One of us should be able to carry the crate while the other watches out for ambushers."

"Go ahead and look through the stuff, Ox.  I'll keep watch." says Potts, trying to look every way at once.  "I know that Baldy made that track.  He must have waited until I passed, and then snuck behind me." Potts says to Ox, as he searches the junk.  "I get the feeling that if he wanted to fight us, he would have done it by now.  Don't you think?  I think that this guy was just takin' out the trash."

Trying to scoop up all the now-sodden paper and various pieces of crate, Ox and Potts are getting colder and soggier by the minute.  The former sleet is now somewhere between being a drizzle and a true rain, and the temperature is only a little above freezing, aided little by the sun above the spitting clouds, through which  little light can reach the pair.

For his troubles, Ox amasses a great deal of wadded up paper, many splinters, a few bent nails, and a great many pieces of old pallets or crates.  He also manages to poke himself in the hand with one of the nails, and takes another point of Harm.  So far, there is nothing the least bit unusual about the stuff they've found.  There is plenty more in the crate, however.

As carefully as he can, The Custodian unfolds the wads of soggy paper, examining both sides for any writing they might conceal.  It all seems to be plain brown wrapping paper, however; used and discarded.

Rising, The Custodian says "Potts, let's take the crate back to the inn with us, so we can all search it.  Keep a watchful eye out, Potts, and let's head back, quickly."

"Got it!  Let's bounce." replies Potts.  Ox drops the junk he was searching on the ground, and bends to lift one end of the crate.  As he tries to lift it, however, he finds that he is nowhere near strong enough.  He puts his staff in the crate and tries again.  Still he can't lift it.  He strains a bit, and manages to drag it a short way.  He pauses for a moment.

Together they might be able to carry it, but then no one will be "on watch", or able to hold weapons.  Ox can drag it, until he gets too tired.  They could search it here, in the cold rain...  Are there other options?

"Ummm, Ox..." says Potts, "How in the name of my pantheon did a single bald man manage to carry this thing?  I'll tell ya, my opinion about this man is starting to change.  I hate to admit it, but if I can't track this guy, Sorrow is the only one who can.  Let's bust it back to the others, post haste."

Wondering if there might be something invisible in the box, The Custodian tries to call upon his innate power of _Sixth Sight_, only to realize that he is too drained to use it!  This shouldn't be, since he's just had a full night's sleep!

Determining to leave the crate behind, but not wanting to leave anything invisible for Baldy to come back and recover, Ox turns it up, and dumps the contents out.  As he does, he looks for any odd depressions, such as might be caused by an invisible object.  He sees none, and only slats, nails, and paper fall out.  The only other object of interest is a box of matches, which prove to be perfectly normal.

Finished, Ox tells Potts "Let's get outta here quickly; something is very wrong!" nudging him to follow, and making his way back towards the road.  As they pass through the spilled junk, Potts steps on one of the many bent nails lying around, driving it through his boot and into his foot.  Cursing, he stops to remove it, taking a single point of harm.

Arriving back at the inn, Ox keeps his staff at the ready, and says  "Potts, be ready for a fight, and follow me fast."  Potts remembers being chased out of here less than an hour ago... Probably not the best idea to go back into the bar!

"Ox, let's go back to my store, first.  I think the others will still be there.  Also, I don't think the bartender and his guys will be too happy to see us."

"I agree.  I'm right behind you, Potts.  Plus, Karl has the key to the room." say Ox.  Turning to the stranger he says, "Hey, what's your name?  Are you from around these parts?  What happened to you?  You look haggard."

After having spoken to the morose brunette (who seems disinclined to answer), The Custodian-Ox notices a flash of red light from somewhere to his right, behind him, and hears a yowl, as from someone in pain, followed by some clatter. He looks around, but sees nothing, and no one else seems to have noticed it.

"Ox, Potts!  Over here!  It's Karl!"  Ox and Potts look around to see Karl standing in the door of the Shrine.  "Hey!" he yells, then grins and waves, motioning for you to join him.

"Potts," Ox says, "I just caugth a glimpse of red light flashing behind me, and then there was some clatter and a noise like someone saying ouch, but when I turned around there was nothing there.  Do you think ol' Baldy or someone else is following us?  Maybe there is an undetectable or invisible person close by.  Let's meet up with Karl and the others quickly, and tell them what has been going on."  He then heads toward the shrine, from where he heard their friends calling, trying to keep watch behind him as he heads for the shrine.

***

"Alright, Sorrow, then let's all head downstairs for a look around." says Karl.

"Are we just going to let those two go, Karl?  They are planning some mischief, surely.  They may well murder that man.  I do not trust either of them."

As he heads for the stairs, Karl says: "Here is my position on those gentlemen. They are not in my employ, as I have already said that the room and food supplied last night was a gift freely given. They are free to go if they feel they have a better chance of solving this on their own. After all, it is their bodies at stake.  My only motivation for being here is to help my new friend, Relgan Tow, who I have found to be a good man from a good family..."

"Thank y'Karl, maybe when we get back to my Smithy shop, I will give you a discount on a sharpening of that weapon of yours." the former Squire says with a grin.  Karl returns the smile, and continues speaking to the Wylf.

"Whether those two hurt themselves or others in this town is no business of mine, as this land is not under my family's control.  But what of the resources those men possessed?  Would they not aid us in this mission?  In truth, that is a point I had considered and if they return to us I will be the more glad for it.  However, it has been my experience in leading men that those who do not wish to be led can make it impossible to lead those that do.  Unless any of you have good reason to feel we should pursue them and return them to our fold, I am inclinded to let events go as they will, in their regard, and see if fortune returns them to us or not."

Grimacing, Sorrow says: "Oh, I have no desire to either pursue them and bring them back, nor have them rejoin us...  I just have problems with doing nothing while they plot a murder or kidnapping.  What does "take'im out" mean, anyway?"

Karl smiles.  "Usually, when I've heard men use that term, it means they are about to get their heads knocked for getting aggressive without thinking first.  I doubt those two will be murdering anyone today."  Sorrow only grunts, but seems pacified.

Heading into the back room, again, what remains of the party looks down the steps, into total darkness. Karl will be unable to see anything, down here (the Wylf and Half-Dwarf can see). From what can be seen by the light coming through the curtain, the basement seems full of durable goods, empty crates, discards, etc.  It seems that much of what is 'missing' from the back room has been piled down here!

"Wait a moment." says Sorrow, heading back into the shop, and returning with the lamp the bald-headed man had left on the counter. "So... who wants to go first?", he grins.

Hammer-Tow replies: "I will go first, as I have night vision, and me old battlehammer.  Plus, being shorter than you two, you can see over my head."

"Well then, I will go second and shoot anything otherworldly that I see over your head. Karl can come last, bearing the lamp."  So saying, Sorrow hands it to him, as he is the only one who needs it.

"Aye, thanks, Sorrow.  This battle axe is at home on my back anyway.  With you two stalwarts ahead of me, I'm sure I'll have plenty of time to draw it again if need be."

The cellar is roughly 17 x 20', with no other exits visible. The 'floor' is bare earth, but the walls are stone. Scattered about are a crate of torches, a barrel, root vegetables, junk, old crates, some empty ceramic flasks, firewood, and other stuff that is either durable, unneeded, or trash. There is a large hole in the NE corner of the floor.

Taking a swift look around (for anything hidden, like the infamous monster under the stairs), Sorrow moves over towards the hole, being VERY careful of his footing!  He manages to get there without tripping and falling in, being jumped on by monters from under the steps, of having the floor collapse under him... Standing well back from the edge, he peers in... and down, down, down! Apparently, Potts has his own cistern, so that he can get his water here, and not from the well. Sorrow can see nothing of interest down below.

Looking around, Hammer-Tow says "Karl, I am pretty good at findin' things (Scrutiny 27%), and doin' stuff with my hands (Mechanics 51% and Pantology 52%).  I guess I'd be good at findin' clues around here."

Karl chuckles.  "Well, that's certainly what we need, Squire Tow!  Some clues would be very nice, right about now!  My plan was to spend about half an hour searching here...", he looks around, "but I don't think this small space will take that long, with the three of us."  Looking at Sorrow, by the hole, he asks: _"Find something, Sorrow?"

"Just a hole over here, Karl.  It looks like a cistern, going down about 20' to the water table, but I see nothing unusual in it.  Let's search up here, first" the Wylf replies.  Karl nods, and the search begins in earnest.

Nothing unusual is found for several minutes, until Sorrow suddenly bangs his shield into something.  Looking around to see if he tripped, or what, everyone sees him looking at a black, furry mass impaled on the end of his shield spike.

"SPIDERS!" says Sorrow, "Watch your hands!  This thing tried to bite me!  Maybe we should use a couple of those torches, to aid in our search?  If you see one, bash it!  Be careful what you put your hands into!"

Wisely heeding that warning, the search is quickly finished.  The crates are mostly full of pieces of other crates, as well as paper, etc.  Trash.  The junk is just that; worn out stuff of no real value.  The durables seem to just be sale items stored down here, until needed.  The barrel turns out to be full of oil.  The firewood is home to most of the spiders, but conceals no mysteries.  The empty flasks are just that.  Sorrow can sniff out no magic, and no one finds any secret doors, or anything unusual.

"Nothing!...  Again!" says Karl.  "No dead bodies in the basement, nothing except what a normal shopkeeper might have..."  He looks around the room, his thoughts obvious: Now what am I missing?

"There is still the cistern to be searched..." muses Sorrow, "although I do not relish doing that without my armor, and trying to hang onto my weapon and a rope."

Stroking his beard, Hammer-Tow says, "Wayell, I could probably rig up a sling-seat, with some of Potts' rope, and me an' Karl could lower you down, if we want to waste the time on it..."

"A sling-seat?" asks Sorrow.

"Yeah, it's a mechanical contraption..." Hammer-Tow says.  "We putcha innit, and then Karl and me holds the rope up here...  You're sitting in mid air, on a harness of ropes (or I guess we could use a piece of firewood, ifya like).  You yell, and we raise or lower you.  You're upright the whole way, and we can tie the rope off at 20', sos you won't go no deeper.  If worse comes ta worst, you can always climb up the usual way..."  He trails off, shrugging.  "Just an idea."

"Sounds like a good one, to me!" says Karl, smiling down at his transformed friend.  "Are you sure you can do this?  What do we need?"

"Well, lessee...  Just some rope and a knife, I reckon, although a tripod big enough to fit over the mouth of the hole would help." says the Dwarf-Man.

A quick trip back upstairs nets 40' of rope, a large iron tripod used to suspend cooking or laundry kettles (from the housewares department), and a pulley to make things a little easier.  Cautious as always, the Wary Wylf takes the tripod and tests it out, making sure it will support his weight.  Hammer instructs Karl on how to set up the rope, then attaches the pulley to the tripod, himself.  When he's done with that, he takes the end of the rope opposite the one Karl is tying off to the staircase, and begins whipping it around Sorrow's waist and thighs.

"Now stand over here, and let me shorten up this rope...  Karl, take up the slack, and hold on." says Hammer-Tow.  "Alright, now squat, and adjust yer seat 'til it's comfortable."

Hammer-Tow grabs the end of the rope, and Sorrow tries to squat, adjusting the ropes between his legs.

"Okay, I think that'll do." says Sorrow.  "Now what?"

"Now, you let us know when you're ready, and just step off the edge.  Holler when you want to be raised or lowered." says Hammer, then turns and walks over to join Karl by the stairs.

Shrugging out of his pack, and attaching his own grapnel to the tripod, Sorrow drops his own rope down the cistern.  He takes another arrow from his quiver, and puts it between his teeth.  Bow already loaded, he nods, and steps off into empty space, dangling.

"Bombs away!" laughs Hammer-Tow, as he begins lowering the wary Wylf.  After a few moments, Sorrow calls a halt.  Hammer-Tow and Karl can feel the rope twisting in their hands as the Wylf, below, scans the area.  "Down." he calls, voice distorted by the echos off the side of the cistern, and the arrow in his mouth.

"STOP!  Up, up!" he calls, a moment later.  Karl and Hammer-tow heave with all their might, pulling hard, not wasting time with questions.

"Brrr!" comes Sorrow's voice, out of the hole, "That water is COLD!"  Laughing with relief, the two nobles pull him up, and he climbs back down off the tripod, recovering his rope and pack, and storing his gear away.

"Well, nothing much to report...  The shaft goes down 20' to the water, which is freezing cold, then there's about eight feet of water, with a muddy bottom below that.  The entrance to the waterway looks too small for anyone to fit through, although a large fish might."  Sorrow shrugs.

"Good work, men!  We didn't learn much, but we did at least eliminate one possible source of clues!  Let's get this gear back upstairs, and take a look around outside, before we head to the shrine.  Is there anything else we need to do here, first?"

Storing the gear, the party steps outside, into the gloomy, drizzling rain.  They make a turn around the store, looking for tracks, but find nothing, and look over the nearby buildings.  As they cross the track to the shrine, Karl looks south for any signs of the rest of the party, but sees nothing.

"Clues seem to be in short supply, in this forsaken town," Karl grumbles, but then smiles, "Maybe a little help from a higher power is just what we need."  He squints through the rain at the shrine ahead.

Following along through the gloom, the trio enters the shrine (again, for Karl and Sorrow).  The door is still wide open, but the tapers are long-burning and haven't gone out, but only light the area around the table that they sit upon.  The rest of the inside is nearly as dark as the night before, lit only by the light from the door.  Rain blows in from the SW, forming a puddle of drizzle on that side.

The empty shrine has been described before, and nothing much has changed since.  Again, Karl will have trouble seeing, here.

Karl steps into the doorway and puts his hands on his hips, looking around in the dim light of the tapers.  He checks the floor.  Anyone coming in here recently would have left tracks on the rain-slick floor, he reasons, but he sees no such signs.  He walks about the room and looks especially along the walls to see if there are any marks on the floor or walls to indicate that there are more doors here than meet the eye.  The only ones he finds are the one he entered through, and a locked one behind the wall hanging on the NE corner.

Sorrow, meanwhile, has been finding quite a bit of magical stuff, and reports "First, the door we all passed through is ensorcelled, as is something behind it that I can't see!  Next, the altar, itself, is foul with magic.  The blackened silver lamps are, as well, but they seem good, not evil.  The cup and bowl upon the altar also seem to be unhallowed magic.  The tapers on the table, too, radiate a foul enchantment."

"Hey, Karl," says Sorrow, "may I borrow your axe for a few moments?  Methinks there are some items around here that need smashing!"

"Hey," Karl frowns, "this is a precision instrument, not an item smasher."  Then he smiles, "Although, this has come in handy from time to time."  He holds up a fistful of gauntlet.

Sorrow shrugs, and draws his chisel-pointed blade, and easily smashes the cup.  The bowl takes him a few strokes, but he finally succeeds in smashing it.

"Me hammer is just the thing for smashin'!  Let me have a whack at whatever needs breakin'!" says 
Hammer, taking a practice swing through the air.

"I'm beginnin' to see a lot of things in fours here," the small smith continues, "four circles, four chairs back in Potts' bedchamber.  I think we should look for more groups of four."  He scratches his head, pondering the subject.  "What do you think, Karl?"

"I'm thinking the same thing, Squire Tow. And don't forget the four drinking horns back in Hammer's loft.  Something is afoot and we only know part of the story." says the Knight.  "Everything here happens in fours, except the three of you.  Tow in Hammer's blacksmithy, Rye in Potts' general store, and Ox in this shrine.  It leads back to the Inn and the fourth victim.  If there is one, we'll find him there."

Karl looks to Sorrow.  "What is it that needs breaking, exactly?  Does it shed any light on how they have accomplished this body switching?  If not, I say we head back to the Inn, meet up with the rest of our party, and have a heart-to-heart with Bernie the barkeep."

"D'you think that there may be a fourth one of us?", asks the former Tow.  "Maybe he is responsible for the other three, when they take their bodies back, if that's what they do.  Or maybe the fourth one of us is hurt, dead, or maybe imprisoned somewhere?"

"No way to tell," says Sorrow, "and don't forget the four chairs in Hammer's loft, too!"  He turns back to Karl.  "Let's not be so hasty, friend Karl!  While I have smashed the cup and bowl, this statue also needs smashing.  Then there are the magic lamps (which I plan to leave intact) and those tapers, and whatever is behind those two doors...  I don't think we're done exploring this place, yet!"

"As for the rest of our party, they are outside, as we speak, talking to some stranger."

"Something is bothering me." says Karl,  "Each of you who lost your body did it in one of this little town's commercial concerns.  The only remaining one that I know about is the Inn.  So I figure either there is another person there that is also in the wrong body, or Bernie and his boys know more about this than they are telling us.  I say we head back there and find out which it is.  But if you go along with this plan, I think you'd better count on Hatchet-face causing some trouble.  I'm not thinking we'll escape a rumble on the second time around.  What say ye?"

"You have an ear, Sorrow!" Karl whistles.  "If you think smashing this stuff is more important than heading back, then let's get to it."  Karl pulls his axe off his back and hands it to Sorrow.  Then heads over to the door to look out and see who the stranger is that the others are speaking to.

A rather wet and bedraggled Potts-Rye and Ox are standing near the Inn, facing Mr. Morose from the bar.  No one is saying anything, at the moment.  Convinced that the stranger poses no threat, he turns back to sorrow.  "Now, there was something about a hidden doorway we needed to investigate.  Let me have a look at it."

"The door you're standing by is the ensorcelled one, concealing something else... The other door is behind that wall hanging in the NE corner." says Sorrow, sheathing his blade and hefting the axe, getting ready to smash the goat-headed thing right between the horns with it.

"I want to smash somethin' with me hammer!" says Hammer-Tow, walking over to the magicked door and sizing it up for a hammer blow.  "Something IS going to feel the weight of this hammer, soon!"

The door is made up of oak planks, bound together and banded with iron.  It appears to be good and solid, but nothing special.

Rearing back with the axe, as Hammer-Tow and Karl investigate the door, Sorrow attempts to split the thing's stony skull with the axe.  He hits, doing 12 points worth of Harm. There is a flash of reddish light, and Sorrow is knocked back nine feet.

Unseen by anyone except Sorrow, the thing's eyes glowed an unholy red, which focussed on him, sending some form of red energy, which was not fire, lightning, nor light, up the axe and into him, bestowing upon the wary Wylf the damage he had intended for the goat-headed thing!

"Ensorcelled, eh?"  Karl frowns at the door, inspecting it carefully without touching it.

"Euh!  I don't think I'll be doing that again, any time soon!", says Sorrow, as he gets to his feet.  "Yowch!"

"Sorrow! Are you all right?"  Karl rushes to his side.  The Wylf nods, handing him back the axe, snarling at the statue, then wiping the snarl off his face with the back of his hand.

"We may be better off disposing of his trinkets after we catch the one that put them here.  Didn't Ox say he had some magic ability?  Perhaps we should lean out the door and call them over."  Karl heads for the door, again, the Wylf following.

"Ox, Potts!  Over here!  It's Karl!"  Ox and Potts look around to see Karl standing in the door of the Shrine.  "Hey!" he yells, then grins and waves, motioning for them to join him.

Entering the Shrine, Ox and Potts see Karl and Hammer-Tow looking over the door, and Sorrow looking over the altar.  Skipping the formalities, Ox launches into his report.

"We followed Baldy as he headed out of town.  We tried to sneak up on him and subdue him, but he heard us and ran.  We chased him into the woods, and he got away.  He left his crate behind, but it was too heavy for us to get back here.  We searched some of the stuff in the crate and found nothing unusual.  We couldn't track baldy, and he carried the crate with ease, so something was definitely unusual about him.  I got hurt while chasing him, and lost spell power abilities after suddenly getting a headache.  Because he got away so easy, and I was suffering from wounds and not being able to use spells, we got back here as quick as possible.  Once here, I saw the old morose man from the bar come out in totally different clothes.  He didn't speak to me, but maybe he knows something, since he looks pretty haggard.  We should go question him.  Also, while I was standing outside the Inn, I saw a bright flash of red light from behind me, then I heard something like someone saying ouch, and then a clattering noise, but when I turned around there was nothing there.  Maybe Baldy or someone else is following Potts and I.  If Baldy can become invisible, that would explain why he got away so easy.  I need to tend to my wounds, and still don't have spell capability.  I need rest.  What did you guys find?"

"Well, no great mystery in the red flash... That was ol' Goat-head's response to my trying to brain him with Sir Karl's battleaxe!" says Sorrow, pointing at the statue on the altar.  "Its eyes shot out some sort of beam that knocked me back, thus producing the 'ouch' and clatter, as well.  He, on the other hand, suffered not even so much as a scratch.  Apparently, whatever damage I dealt to it was returned to me..."

"Are you sure, Sorrow?" Karl asks with a frown.  The Wylf cocks an eyebrow at him.

Potts says "Sorrow, we tried to track baldy, but he is very skilled.  I'm sure he has something to do with this mess, but what, I don't know."  He then turns to Ox and says "Ox, does your head still hurt?  I wonder . . .what in the heck happened to you."

About then, Mr. Morose follows you into the shrine, and says, "I am sorry for my ignorance, but I have something on my mind.  Perhaps I could go with you until things are figured out?"

Having long been in the mood to give something a good crack, Hammer-Tow yells "Everyone clear a path, I'm going to smash this door down!"  So saying, he draws back the hammer high overhead.

"Ox, how close to you did the clatter sound like it was?  Right behind you?  Or do you think it came from over here in the shrine?"  Karl looks out the door, trying to gauge the distance from the Shrine to the Inn's front steps.  It is little more than the distance across the track.

"Very interesting, boys.", Karl continues.  "It sounds like you may be on to something with this Baldy character.  Of course, these people live out here, and are probably more used to these woods than we are.  Of course, that headache of yours is another thing."

"I think you're dead on about our new friend here, though." says Karl, looking at the new arrival.  "But before we go out questioning everyone, which I have a mind to do, Sorrow here wants to get behind these doors."

After Hammer raises his hammer, Karl says, "Give it a good one, Tow!"

"Hold up everyone.  I am the custodian for this here shrine.  Maybe I can get us where we want to go without smashing everything in." says The Custodian who used to be Ox.

"Okay, Ox," Hammer-Tow huffs, stopping in mid swing, "you have got two minutes , then I am gonna knock this cursed thing down!"

"Ya know guys," says Rye in Potts' body, "I used to be a Kobold!  As a result, if I didn't want to be seen, I wasn't!"

"And I used to spot Kobolds who thought they were invisible and sneaky, whether I wanted to or not." says Sorrow.  "So, why don't you folks try to open this door and see what's behind it, and I will try the other one." he says, heading towards it.

Ox says timidly, "Sorrow may be right, the flash and noise could have come from him.  All I know is that it came from behind me, and at the time, the shrine was behind me.  I still wonder about Baldy and how he may be involved with all of this, but he seems to have disappeared.  We shouldn't destroy anything here at the shrine, as God may be upset over it.  Maybe I can check around and see if I can find anything, but we don't need to be bustin' the place up.  I still think that we ought to check out the morose old man to see what he knows, if anything, before he gets away."  Ox then proceeds to check around the door that Hammer seems interested in busting down to see if he can find any way to open it (watching to make sure not to get into anyone's way if they do decide to bust it down).  He has no more success than Sorrow had.

Sorrow goes to the locked door behind the NE drapery (moving it aside do that he can see what the rest of the party is doing), and kneels down, staring at the lock.  He then draws his new lockpick from its case, flexes his fingers to loosen them up, and begins trying to pick the lock.  After a few seconds' worth of raking, his tension wrench turns, and there is an audible "click" which only he can hear.  He tries the door handle, and finds it open!

Putting away his tools, he carefully opens the door and peeks in.  While the place is unlit, his heightened Wylven senses allow him to distinguish the surroundins, anyway...  No enemies to be seen.  He wanders back over to see how the party are coming with their door.

Turning to the stranger, he asks "So, who are you, Sir?  I saw you in the bar, earlier, but never got your name...  So what are you doing here?" he asks.

Sorrow says: "Why don't we see if we can pull or pry the door open?  Karl could always use his axe as a lever..."

"Okay, your two minutes are all up!  Move aside!", Hammer-Tow roars.  As soon as the door is clear he takes a swing high overhead, smashing the door with a resounding blow, but having little other affect than denting the oak, a bit.

Shaking his head, Hammer-Tow says "Hmmph, nuthin'; I guess I'd better leave well enough alone...  Hey, what's he doin' here? " he asks, pointing to the morose man.  "Hey, friend, suppose you tell us what's behind this door?"

"A wall, I suspect," says the Wylf, "but something else, as well, that stinks of magic..."

"Alright, men, gather around.  You, too, newcomer.  We'll have time to hear your story soon enough.  But first we have to get beyond these doors," Karl says.  "Does anyone have any experience with locks, either ensorcelled or otherwise?  If so, you are up next.  If not, we'll have to batter them down, oak or not."

"But before we go abusing my axe any further," Karl says with a smile in Sorrow's direction, "who thinks they can open up either of these doors?"

"I not only can, but have!" grins the Wylf, "We can investigate the Custodian's manse at our pleasure!"  He smiles at Hammer-Tow.  "I must have been inspired by our smith's clever sling-seat, earlier.  In any case, let us see if we can work together, for a change, to see what hides behind this door... Who here is the strongest?"

"I don't mean to boast, my friend, but the chances are good that I am the strongest.  What's your idea, and let's hope it doesn't involve my precious axe," Karl smiles.

"Karl, for a few gold, I can make that axe sharper than the day it was forged!" Hammer-Tow says, turning toward the noble, "besides, you should buy one of my weapons, 'twill be the finest piece of weaponry you've ever held!"  Looking at the nobleman with a puzzled expression,  he adds "I'm not feeling very well, Karl...  I'm going to sit down for a while, okay?"

"Oh, no!  You're not getting a headache, too, are you, Squire Tow?" says the Wylf.

Karl helps Tow sit down.  "Are you alright, Tow?  Or are you all Hammer, now?"

"No," says Hammer-Tow, "I'm just feeling more and more like a smith, and less and less like a squire."

Looking at Sorrow, Karl says "We'd better get started on your plan, Wylf.  Time is of the essence."

"Well then, I have heard of a spell called "Wizard Lock", which prevents anyone else but the caster from opening a door.  Let The Custodian try it, and failing that, we can abuse your axe by prying on the door, and as many of us as can will heave at it.  Failing even that, we can attack the hinges until something gives..."

"I like it!" says Karl.  "What say you, Custodian?"

"I will try to open the door, but this terrible headache is still bothering me.  We really should try not to destroy this beautiful shrine!" says Ox, as he walks over and pulls on the door.  It remains stuck in the open position, covering whatever might ve on the wall behind it.

"Hmmm, I guess I'm next in-line to get sick..." mutters Potts-Rye.

"Well, at least we know that the Custodian doesn't use Wizard Locks!..." says the Wylf.  "What say we get as many of us on this door as we can, and try to pull it open?  Karl, if you're the strongest, grab on!  Who else has a mighty physique?  I'll take this corner..."

"Alright.  Ready to pull," Karl says as he grabs hold of the door's edge.

While the rest of the party attempts to open the door, Ox makes his way over to the four-headed goat idol and examines it.  It is unlovely, at best, apparently carves from some black excresence of basalt extruded from the milky chalcedony of the altar, itself.  One of the ugly black goat faces points in each of the cardinal directions; north, east, south, and west.  Checking his priestly store of theological knowledge, The Custodian finds that he cannot recognize this idol as a deity of any religion that he is familiar with...

"Heh, I, too, will offfer my strength to the cause." says Potts-Rye, grabbing part of the door and getting ready to pull with all the might of the ancients.

"Okay, I will put my half-dwarven back into the effort as well." says Hammer-Tow, getting up from where he was sitting on the floor.  Everyone grabs a hold wherever they can, and strains against the door.  Nothing happens, for a moment, but then - suddenly - the door opens, revealing behind it... the wall of the shrine!

Sorrow draws his machete, reaches in with it, and lifts the twine off the nail, then tries to push, pull, twist, turn, or otherwise manipulate the nail, itself, scrutinizing the wall to see how the nail is attached to it.  
Potts-Rye turns away, and walks over to join Ox by the altar.  As Sorrow lifts the twine from the nail, he, Hammer-Tow, and Karl all see it twist, morph, and change into a black and silver girdle decorated with a python motif.  Sorrow continues to hold it on the edge of his blade, as he attempts to manipulate the nail, to no effect.

"Euh! I wonder what THIS does!" says Soorow, then motions for silence as he concentrates on searching the wall, again.  He doesn't find anything on the wall, or with the nail (which is inserted between two of the building stones), but does note that the Custodian's staff is magical (although it doesn't stink of evil, as Potts' scythe and the girdle do).

Finishing his search, Sorrow holds out his machete to Karl.  "Here, Karl, why don't you put this thing in one of your girdle pockets, somewhere, for safe keeping.  I'd suggest we keep it away from The Custodian...  By the way, that staff of his is magical, although it doesn't stink of evil, like this thing does."

Meanwhile, Ox is generally touching and poking the altar to see if he can make anything happen or open.   He pushes, pulls, turns, twists, pokes, and prods anything he can, trying to get results. When finished, he says a little prayer towards the altar to God, mumbling so no one else can really hear.

Karl holds open a handy pouch to accept the girdle, careful not to touch it.  "Good work, Sorrow.  Now how about that other door?" he asks, headed north towards it.  The silent, morose man trails along with the rest of the small group, save Ox and Potts, who are fiddling with the altar.  "Alright, then, men.  Shall we to the back room and see what this custodian has secreted away back there?" Karl asks.

Externally, the manse is 25 x 25', and 15' high, constructed of rough fieldstone.  The interior is 20 x 20', with two doors and three windows.  A thick carpet covers most of the floor.  There is a fireplace on the east wall, which contains cooking pots and utensils.  A cupboard and small table sit nearby.  A water jar and a woodbox half full of split logs take up floorspace next to the hearth.

Occupying the center of the room is a large trestle table, surrounded by four chairs.  On it are four place settings, and a banquet-like display.  A bowl in the middle of the table holds some disgusting dried fruits that have been left out too long, looking like a bunch of prunes growing yellow and blue-grey mold.  (Yum!)

On the south wall is one of the doors (leading out into the garden, which a shuttered window overlooks).  Underneath the window is a small writing desk, littered with quill pens, writing paper, a jar of ink, a penknife, a sand cellar, a box, etc.

Along the west wall is the door you entered through.  Beside you is a large bookcase full of books and scrolls, and beside that is another window.

Most of the north wall is bare, except for a window, and a bed built into the NE corner.  At its foot is an armoire constructed as part of the bed's footboard.  Six feet above floor level, another large cupboard with four doors extends from the wall, hanging over the bed.  Along the SW corner of the bed, a 10' ladder leans against the cupboard's single support post.  The bed's matress is thick, and appears fluffy.  A thick velvet curtain hangs from the underside of the cupboard, forming a canopy.  A 3' chain of fine links dangling from the NE end of the curtain track allows the canopy to be opened/closed when one is in bed.

Sorrow, the wary Wylf, immediately smells magic in three places around the room...  The bed's pull-chain, something in the cupboard, and something in the fruit dish on the table.  He begins slowly circling the room, beginning with the bookcase, and passing around the manse from left to right.  As he gets to the bed, he finds the secret door under it, but ignores it for the time being, concentrating on the chain.  He examines it carefully (it seems to be a normal chain of fine silver links), then reaches up and unhooks it.

"Ox, Rye, you had better have a look at this," Karl calls over his shoulder before moving into the room.  He watches Sorrow start to make his way slowly around the room and then makes his way toward the desk.  He picks up a quill and uses it to gently move papers around to see if anything interesting catches his eye.

While he looks for written clues, he wonders, Where is the other five feet?

Turning to the morose little man, Hammer-Tow asks him "What do you know of this place, can you assist us in our search?."

"I don't know anything about this strange town," the man says, "but I guess I could help you search...  What do you want me to look for?"

Meanwhile, back at the altar, The Custodian (now inhabited by Ox) invokes his power of Sixth Sight to no effect...  He finds nothing, and the goat-thing only looks uglier.  Leaving the altar, he heeds Karl's call, and heads across to the brass and iron-bound door to the custodian's manse.  There he sees Morchaint-Din slowly circling the room, looking things over, Karl searching some papers on a small writing desk, and Hammer-Tow saying something to the morose man.

As Sorrow reaches up and unhooks the chain pull-cord from the bed, it morphs and changes in his hand, the links becoming thicker and longer, like a real chain!

"Well!  That looks unusual enough!" says Sorrow, holding up the chain for Karl to see, and climbing out of the bed.  He heads over to the cupboard to rummage about in it, as well.  There, behind some pottery on the top shelf, he uncovers three small (12 ounce) glass bottles containing a pale, viscous rose-gold liquid.  The bottles are stoppered, sealed with wax, and labeled simply "Poison", but radiate holy magic.

Sorrow then takes his findings over to the table to examine the bowl of  'fruit' with his heightened senses.  Actually, they still smell good, even with their odd molding.  Even with his heightened senses, however, he can't tell what they are.

"Search about for anything you think a local priest would not have in his bed chamber," Karl tells the morose man as he enters.  "And while we're all looking about, you may as well entertain us with the short tale of who you are and how you came to be in this place."  Karl looks more closely at the other items on the desk.

"I'm Carilla, but everyone is calling me Buck!  I followed some Oaf here..." says the man, as Potts-Rye slips in from the other room.

"Hmmm, quite a reader, this guy," Karl grunts as he looks over the shelf. He starts touching all the books, pulling from the top corner to see if any of them feel inordinantly heavy or light, as if something was in them besides paper.  As he works, he asks over his shoulder, "Did you say your name used to be Carilla, or you used to be Carilla?"

"Yes." says the man now called Buck.

Several of the larger books Karl picks up are inordinately heavy, but pulling them off the shelf and flipping through them simply shows them to be what a librarian or learned person would call a "Quarto" volume - oversized, and therefore very heavy.  One of them, an older volume bound in snakeskin, catches Karl's eye.  It is unlabeled, but the first page mentions "Arcana", and Karl remembers Sorrow saying something about "one of the arcanas" at their interrupted dinner, last night.

There are a host of other volumes, on a wide variety of subjects, however.  Most of them seem to have something to do with Ecclesiastical subjects, and there are also a good many on plants and fungi, a few on something called "spelunking", several almanacs and basic references, a large, unlabeled book bound in red leather that the title page says is "A Primer for Learned Men"...  Here's something odd.  There is a small section on the various races. Wylves, Veshoge, Dwarves, etc.  One particularly crumbly old book loses a few flakes as Karl handles it.  A lot of these books seem fairly old, as though the Custodian inherited them from his father, or something.  Many of them have yellowed pages.

Among the scrolls is little of interest.  A few are so old and crumbly that Karl fears to unroll them.  The rest seem to deal with methods of performing shrine duties, and look as though they haven't been used in a very long time. There are also a number of treatise on basic priestcraft, such as someone given their first assignment might receive, Karl thinks.  Overall, nothing terribly out of the ordinary.

Pouching the chain and bottles, MD picks up the bowl and goes over to the bookcase to join Karl.

"Karl and Sorrow, you guys finish checking out the bookcase.  Buck and Potts, follow me and we will see what's on the other side of this door." says Ox, heading for the door to the garden area.  "Hammer, you check out the rest of the room, other than the bookcase, that we haven't searched yet."  Ox makes his way to the door, readying his staff in case it is needed.

"Okay, I will check out the whole of the room," says Hammer-Tow, as he begins searching, looking especially for secret doors, passages, hidden objects, etc...

Leading the way to the Garden Door, The Custodian reaches down and takes the knob, twisting it.  Nothing happens.  Odd; even if the door were locked, it should open from the inside...  He checks the bolt, and finds it open.  Maybe it's stuck?  He braces his feet and pulls harder.  The door still refuses to budge.

Ox  examines the door to see what it is made of  (including the knob).  As he does this, he says "Potts, I am having trouble opening this unbolted door, why don't you give it a try?"  He then steps back, looking to  see if there are any openings, or if he can see under the door.  There doesn't seem to be anything above the door (latch, extra bolt, etc.) holding it closed.

"Sure, Ox.  I'll have a go at it." says Potts, trying his luck with the door.  It doesn't open for him, either.

"Hey, Hammer," says Sorrow, "Why don't you take the ladder and search the cabinets above the bed, then check out that trap door and the armoire?"

"Potts, Buck, we are going to have trouble with this door.  Let's wait until the rest of the group can help us out.  Potts, why don't you check out the woodbox?  Buck, you check the window at the desk, and I will check out the armoire at the foot of the bed." says Ox, moving towards the armoire.  "Sorrow, we had some trouble with the other door.  You may want to use that special touch of yours and give it a try when you get the chance.  Buck, let us know if you see anyone through the window."

Potts moves to the woodbox, and begins examining it, as the Custodian moves to the foot of the bed, leaning his staff against the wall.  Buck moves to the window and tries to open the shutter, but it, too refuses to open.

Answering the Custodian, Sorrow says "I was able to open the brass and iron-bound door because it was locked.  All of the windows and that other door are ensorcelled (although they may be locked, too).  It will probably take most of us pulling together to open any of them.  The real Custodian must be very strong, indeed."

"I can't open the shutter." says Buck, wandering over to look in the water jar.

Back to them, checking out the armoire, Ox says "Hey Potts, why don't you check out the water jug, hearth, and utensils after you check out the woodbox.  Buck, when you are done checking out the window and shutters, you can help me or Potts."

"Sure thing" Potts replies.

"Welcome to the bookshelf," Karl smiles as Sorrow approaches.  "What do you make of this?" he hands him the tome that mentions arcana.

"Snakeskin!" says Sorrow, taking the Quarto, "This Custodian seems to have a thing for serpents!"  He begins leafing through the book.

"So much stuff here," Karl mumbles as he pulls another book off the shelf.  He's careful to look behind the books to see if anything has fallen back there.  He frowns to himself in thought.  Something is bothering him.  Oh yes, he thinks, I need to check that sand cellar before we leave.**

"Yes, this Custodian seems a learned fellow," he replies to Karl's latter comment, "He has quite a nice library."  He turns to Ox.

"Oh Custodian!  You don't mind if we check out some books from your library, do you?" he grins.

Leaning his staff against the wall, Ox examines the built-in armoire that forms the foot of the bed. Its right side is built into the east wall of the manse... There will be no moving this! The armoire, cupboards, and bedframe are all built of the same hard, dark-stained oak. The armoire itself is as wide as the bed, and as tall as the cupboard forming the canopy, and is thus very large. The swingaway double doors are oak panels.

"Would somebody search under those bed slats for me?" asks Hammer-Tow.

Opening the doors, Ox looks in. There are a lot of clothes hanging here! Quite a few silky looking ones, and a number of older-looking homespun stuff, worn and stained with travel. The newer stuff looks a bit richer, and more garish. There are lots of blacks, reds, and purples.

Underneath the rods where the clothes hang are some drawers, which prove full of linens, handerchiefs, etc. There are also a few personal effects strowed about; a razor, cup of shaving soap, brushes, a comb, etc. All are pretty ordinary. Following Hammer-Tow's example, Ox pulls all the drawers out, looks under and behind them, and searches all about for secret compartments. Finding nothing, he puts everything back away, then spends a long time going through pockets... This, too, turns up little of use.

Hammer-Tow retrieves the ladder, and looks on top of the bed, armoire, and bookshelf, grunting "I didn't used to be so squat!...  Oh, to be a squire again."  At the top of the bed, he sees four doors in the cupboard, and atop that, a good bit of dust, with some footprints leading to the trapdoor in the NE corner of the ceiling.  Atop the armoire is only dust.  There is nothing atop the bookshelf.

Back at the woodbox, Potts takes the wood out and feels around the inside of the box.  After that, he lifts the box high overhead and searches the underside, as well as the floor it is resting on.  Nothing!  Meanwhile, Buck has opened the water jar, tilting it enough so that he can see to the bottom, then looked around and found a cup, and taken a long drink.  Having finished with those minor chores, the two begin going through the kitchen utensils and examining the hearth, itself.

Hammer-Tow climbs the ladder and gets on top of the bed.  He crawls over to the trap door, and calls to the wylf' "Sorrow, would you help me here?  I found a trap door.  The rest of you stand ready in case we find something unfriendly."  He then begins examining the trap door, looking for traps.

"Some people don't listen so well, eh, Karl?" says Sorrow, then calls to Hammer-Tow. "What do you need help with?"

Hearing Hammer call to Sorrow, Potts-Rye drops what he was doing, and goes over to help with whatever may be needed.  "Great job, Hammer.  If we are lucky, there will be some more human-like skin, or maybe even something better."

"You're enjoying finding such things, are you?  Maybe a little kobold-hide stretched over a drum?" Sorrow says to Potts-Rye.

"I need the wylf to sense for magic up here, Potts.  You stand fast, there, and catch whatever might fall out of this hole when we open it."

"I already did, Squire Tow. As I said, all the doors and windows, except for the locked one that we came through, are ensorcelled.  It took four of us to open the outside door; I doubt that the two of you will have much luck on that one."

Examining the trap door carefully, Hammer-Tow satisfies himself that there are no mechanical traps. He feels confident that, if there were, he would have found them.

"You see, Wylf, I enjoy finding such things because they just may lead me to my body, or better... You should be careful, mayber one night, the party will find your skin on the floor." Potts says, as a sly grin croses his face.

"Next to your knife, you mean, fool?  Maybe they'll find your corpse, instead." says the Wylf.

"Anything is possible, Wylf!" Poots-Rye replies.

"Good work, Tow," Karl says as he turns at last from the bookshelf and wipes some of the dust off of his face and out of his beard.  "Looks like we're going up."

"Sorrow, I don't think all of us can fit up on that cupboard to force open that trap door.  Any ideas?  Anyone?" says Ox.

"Ahh, I have it, we are missing a key to the doors.  Perhaps it is the Girdle we found.  I will just bet that it is the key to opening these doors.  Someone put it on, then try opening the door." says Hammer-Tow.

"Hmmm!" muses the Wylf, "That actually makes sense..."

"I may be out of my body, but I'm not out of my head." says Hammer-Tow.  Sorrow laughs.

"Alright, men, let's think this through.  We need to get into the attic, that much is for certain.  We can't all get up there to push through any spell holding that door shut.  While the ensorcelled girdle might make it easier to get through ensorcelled doors, the costs would likely be very high." says Karl.

"Costs?" queries MD.

"I suggest we break open the door to the garden, search it, and then find a way to get into the attic from outside, taking this ladder with us if necessary.  A few seconds with my axe should gain us entrance through the roof." continues Karl.  "Any questions or concerns?"

"I don't believe there's an attic up there," says the Wylf, "and if we want to search the garden, or get onto the roof, we can always go back out through the shrine... but what "costs" are you assigning to wearing the Custodian's Girdle?" queries the Wylf.

"Wait, Karl, I still haven't even tried to open this hatch yet." says Hammer-Tow, giving the hatch a good shove.  It, too, remains firmly stuck, although no lock, etc., is visible on it.

"Karl, can I try on the girdle anyway?" asks Hammer-Tow.  "What's the worst that can happen?  I have already lost my body!"  He climbs down from above the bed and walks over to Karl.  "We aren't gettin' anywhere like this."

"I agree with Karl," Ox says softly, "we should force open this door to the garden area.  After checking out the garden area we can then try to access the upper part of the shrine using the ladder."

"Squire Tow, I think that would extraordinarily risky." says Karl,  "And to answer your question, Sorrow, my experience tells me that messing around with evil magic can have negative effects on a person.  That's the cost I'm referring to."

"If I'm seeing this right, there is a trap door leading up above the cabinet that is above the bed.  A ladder is here to allow a person to climb up there. That tells me that there must be an attic up there.  But if we can't get there from here, we'll get there from somewhere else.  The garden or the shrine, I don't care which." Karl continues.

"Now, if you'll kindly put the girdle out of your mind for a while, Tow, and the rest of you will help me with this garden door, I think we can get on with this."

MD sighs as he puts the book down on the table, closing it.  "Well, I still wish we knew what those things do, instead of just guessing, but okay, let's pry on another door...  I'm going out front, to push or pull from the other side.  With everyone pulling from in here, you're going to pull the doorknob off."  So saying, he turns and goes through the door back into the shrine.

"Ok, Karl, we will do this as you say, but I think Potts, Ox, and I are doomed if we don't get our bodies back soon." says Hammer, shrugging his shoulders and moving over to assist with the door.

"Agree, Hammer...  Things just may have to change if we are going to become ourselves again.  Where do ya want me, Karl?" says Potts.

"Uh, guys?  I didn't used to, but now I have a Strength spell that I can use... if I can remember how to use it..." says Buck.

Suddenly, there comes a loud banging on the door!

"I am in position.  Let me know when you're ready for me to push!" comes Sorrow's voice, through the door.

Hammer moves outside to help push the door from there, preceeded by The Custodian-Ox.

Karl scratches his head and frowns as the team gets into position.  He hears Sorrow knock on the door and his frown deepens.

"Oh for goodness sake!  If we can get to the garden by going the other way, why do we have to waste our time with an ensorcelled door?"

"Ha!  That is why you're the leader, Karl!  By the Gods, I feel dumb!" says Potts-Rye.

Karl looks at Rye.  "You're right.  Both of you.  This is taking too long."

"Sorrow, don't stand by the window!"  Karl takes the ladder down and throws it, meaning to hurl it through the window and into the garden.  When he does, the ladder hits the window, there is a sound like steel, and the ladder bounces back.  Karl ducks and manages to block with his shield, which sustains 9 points of Harm.  The window does not break.

"Do we go with them, Karl?  I'm not done searching the cabinets..." says Buck.

"Go ahead, Buck.  Check that cabinet if you want, and then we'll head out front with the rest." answers Karl.  Not wanting to leave anyone alone in this town, Karl tries to buff the huge mark out of his shield, grumbling all the while about windows that don't break and doors that don't open.

"This place is fortress," he mumbles to himself.  "What's so important in here that the custodian doesn't want anyone to get to?"

Buck gets the ladder and finishes searching the four cabinets in the cupboard without finding anything unusual, so he and Karl head back out through the shrine to the front door, and then around the east side to the garden and the manse's door.

"So, are we going to try opening this door, or not?" asks Sorrow, as the pair comes around front.

Moving stealthily, The Custodian-Ox goes around the corner of the manse, and checks out the town well, to see if anyone is there.  No one being there, he follows the desolate track northward...  He passes the cottage north of the well, and approaches the northernmost shack.

The one-story shack is rather small, about 20 x 30', with only the front door, and several windows covered by curtains, through which firelight can be seen.  The noise of a grinding sharpening wheel can be heard, and occasional murmurs of conversation.  The voices sound male.

Ox stops to adjust his sodden cloak, trying to keep out the cold.  Already being thoroughly soaked from chasing the bald man through the wet weeds, covering up doesn't help much...  Soaked to the skin is soaked to the skin, and the drizzling rain isn't helping.

The garden looks typical, and being winter, there isn't much in it.  There are some beets still in the ground, as winter is just setting in.  Ox sees nothing unusual.  Carefully pacing through the plowed rows reveals nothing more.  Taking one last look around the garden, he turns and heads back down the track towards the Wild Hare.

Entering the barroom, Ox looks around to see who is there, and what's going on.  There is only one huge, hulking man there, someone he's never seen before. The man is behind the bar, and is busy cleaning up.  He looks up as Ox comes in, nods, says nothing, and goes about his work.

Checking through his robes, Ox looks for any money he may have, and works his way to the table closest to the fireplace, taking a seat to let himself dry out.  He leans his staff against the table and searches his pockets.  He has no money on him.  The fire is nice, and the Innkeep goes about his business, leaving him unmolested.

"I know you will let me run a tab at your fine establishment." Ox says to the barkeep.  "I mean, if I am not good for the money who would be?" he laughs, smiling, banking on being recognized as the Custodian and being a holy man good to his word and credit.

"Ummmp," says the man, "What kin I getcha?"

"How 'bout a nice ale and some stew to warm up me bones, thank ye.  Seen any strangers round here today?" asks Ox.

"Just came in, myself." says the man, pouring an ale and bringing it over.  "Lousy weather this morning.  The shopkeep wasn't even open."

"Yeah, this weather is terrible." says Ox.  "So the ol' shopkeep aint open huh?  Does that a lot, does he --- not opening on time?  Think anything's wrong?  So how long you been here at this berg?"

"I donno...  Bernie said he was claimin' to be somebody named 'Rye', last night, and to be careful, if he came back." the big man shrugs.

"I see.  Bernie may have had a little too much to drink.  Well, thanks for the drink and conversation, and I will be back later to square things."  Ox gets up and heads back outside, going to the barn behind Potts' store.

Ox stops at the barn to look and listen.  He hears nothing, and it is a simple 15 x 20' shelter with a door and hayloft above it.

Ox opens the door to the barn and looks in.  It is filled with mundane agricultural equipment of a common enough sort, although he doesn't recognize it.  On the western side is a large stall with a bull in it, which rolls its eyes and bellows at him.

As Ox enters the barn and begins searching, the bull begins making a ruckus.  As he gets closer to it, it threatens him with its horns.  Ox realizes that he will not be able to search anywhere near it!

Not being a farmer, Ox doesn't have any idea what all these things are, in the barn, but they all look like common farm gear that an ox (or bull) might pull.  He searches around briefly, and sees nothing too unusual.  He also sees a ladder up into the hayloft.  Carefully climbing the ladder, Ox heads up into the loft, being careful not to put his weight anywhere that he is not 100% sure that the floor will bear it.

He sees a lot of hay, naturally, but neglects to search it, as he can't see the floor where it is heaped.  The eastern side of the barn is full of stored items, however, so he takes a brief tour...  There is a lot of stuff here; old furniture, used tools, boxes of who-knows-what, a lot of mounted animal heads and horns (nothing too unusual looking), and a host of odd brick-a-brack.  All seems old, well-used, and dusty.

Ox intensifies his search of the eastern side of the barn, looking through the furniture (under padding, into folds, etc.), first, then looking through the boxes and finally double checking the tools and odd brick-a-brack.  After searching all of that, he moves to the hay.  Using his staff to poke into the hay, he tries to move some of it aside to see if anything lies beneath it.

Hammer decides to stay on the outside for now, to the left of the door.  From there, he shouts into the Barn, "Ox, is that you in there?" in between the bull's bellowings.

As he listens, he hears some movement above (in the hayloft?), and looks about for any tracks or traces of recent movement within. (swinging ropes, doors, any areas with billowing dust).  He sees nothing of the sort, however.

Ox decides to give up the search, and go try somewhere else. As Ox is preparing to go back down the ladder, he hears a voice calling: 'Ox, is that you in there?' between the bellowings of the bull.

Running down the road after Hammer-Tow, the lightly-armored Buck and Potts-Rye catch up to him, first, passing between a thick hedge and the rear of Potts' store. They see he has stopped just outside the barn, around back. The door to the barn is open, and a large bull in a stall, inside, is the source of all the noise. As they stop running, Karl and Sorrow come chugging up behind.

***

Meanwhile, back at the door to the Manse, Karl responds, "Naw, we know what's behind that door.  Sorry for the confusion, Sorrow.  Let's get a look around this garden and then perhaps we should pay a visit on the folks in that nearby shack.  Perhaps they know something about our flashy-dressing priest."

Hammer-Tow begins pacing the garden, giving it the general once-over, just to see what is there.  Karl (who was never a farmer and has no idea which plants are what) smashes the dirt clods under his armored weight as he looks about.  Sorrow stops to check first the dirt, then the few remaining plants and stalks.


"Alright, Buck," Karl says as he starts to look under some of the plants in the garden, "let me see if I've got this right.  Like these other three here," he motions toward Rye, Ox and Squire Tow (now Potts of the general store, the priest, and Hammer the blacksmith) "you got into town, felt yourself getting sleepy and now you find yourself in someone else's body.  And they don't seem to be in any hurry to take it back."

Karl continues to search around while he talks to the newcomer.  "I know you haven't been around us long and you've probably got no reason to trust us, but if we all stick together, we'll have a much better chance of figuring this out and getting you back into your own body."

He stops and motions towards Hammer/Tow.  "That one there is a noble of sorts, if you can believe it. While I haven't known him for long, there is a chance our families will come into contact and so I have to help him if I can.  It makes sense for me to help the rest of you."

He points to Sorrow, the Wylf, "I can't speak for why he's here, but I'm sure glad he is.  He's been a benefit more than once."

"So here's the deal, as long as these guys feel you're watching their backs, they'll probably watch yours.  I know I will.  If you see something strange, don't hesitate to pipe up with it, and remember, there are no dumb questions.  You just might be drawing our attention to an important clue."

"We've been through most of the main buildings in this town and have come up with precious little.  As soon as we're done searching this garden, I plan to extend our activities to the village's inhabitants.  I have a feeling some of them know a lot more than we do about what's going on here."

Standing by the door, Potts looks up, trying to see if he can spot the trap door on the roof.  From this angle, it is impossible.

"Also, you might want to tell us what you looked like, before your body was stolen..." says the Wylf.  "We know that we are looking for a tall, dark, handsome knight," he motions towards Hammer, "a jade-skinned Kobold," he indicates Potts, "and a 375 pound Major Oaf named Ox." he finishes, looking around and frowning.  "Now where did the Custodian wander off to?"

Karl looks around the place, trying to get a general impression of the garden, and to determine (if possible) when it was last tilled.  It is end of season, but lots of work needs to be done after harvest.  He sees no signs of recent work having been done, here.  The Garden is a squarish plot occupying the space beside the Shrine and in front of the Manse.  It is a rather large plot for a garden, but small for a farmer's field.  There are few plants, and little stubble left in it. Karl recognizes none of them.  Some seem to be root vegetables.

"I thought we were going to check out that trap door?" complains Potts-Rye.

Sorrow reaches behind him and pulls on the two cords tied below his bedroll.  The coil of rope tied there drops into his hands.  "Look out." he says, beginning to whirl the grapnel affixed to one end around in the air.  When the way is clear, he casts it towards the corner of the manse, where the walls meet.

It hits and catches, but falls loose when he pulls on it.  He tries again, and struggles up the rope.  Climbing over the short parapet atop the wall, he finds himself on the roof, which is flat and surrounded by a low wall, four feet or so in height.  The roof of the Shrine is a bit higher, and a set of steps leads from the manse's roof to the shrine's.  The trap door is visible in the NE corner of the roof.

Sorrow calls down the report, then heads up the steps for a look around.

"Good work, Sorrow," Karl calls up and then turns to the other. "Well, I guess there was no attic, just a way to get up to the top of the shrine, probably for some kind of religious observance."

"Anyone feel like climbing up with the Wylf to check the roof?"

" I would like to take a look." says Potts, and climbs up the rope.

Karl cocks his head at the Wylf.  "Now what's he looking at Potts like that for?" he mumbles to himself.

"Sorrow!  What's up there?" he calls.

"Nice view from the roof of the Shrine! Nothing unusual, though." says Sorrow.

"Sorrow, have you tried the door?" queries Potts-Rye.

"No, it's still ensorcelled, and it took four of us to open the other one." calls the Wylf from the roof of the Shrine.

While the rest of the party plays on the rooftop, Hammer-Tow is still searching the garden, looking for any signs of recent digging.  After passing up and down all the rows, he still finds nothing.  Upon finishing searching the garden, he looks around for Ox...  Now where did he wander off to?

Karl is trying to keep an eye on where the rest of the party is getting off to.  This is some disorganized outfit he's working with!

Sorrow climbs back down and tells Karl, "I think we were having better luck inside."

"Luck," Karl scowls as he wipes the cold rain off his brow, "is more fickle than usual today."

"Gather 'round," he calls to the party.  "We need to decide where to search next.  There is a good chance that some clues have been overlooked in the manse.  Or, for that matter, any of the main buildings in this town.  We can continue searching one of these locales, or we can return to the inn and question Bernie and his pals."

"I, for my part, am tired of digging through dusty stuff and have no more patience for puzzling from prints in the mud or cluttered tables.  My vote is to go back to the tavern and ask questions until we get some answers.  Any other views?"

"Any place out of this drizzling wet sounds better to me," says the Wylf, looking drier than most under his leather raincloak, "but I am sure we missed things in the manse, and perhaps in the smithy, as well.  I think some time spent thinking about what we've found, and what we hope to, is in order, at some point.  Nevertheless, I am with you."

"If we go back to the bar, however, I suggest that we find Ox, and enter via both doors and the hall at the same time...  It means dividing our force, but will give us the drop on the ruffians.  One or more of us will be at their backs." says Sorrow.

As Sorrow is speaking, there is a loud bellowing from somewhere to the west, a ways off but not too distant.

"Let's go!" shouts Hammer-Tow, and runs around the corner of the shrine, headed west.  Directly west of the shrine, however, is Potts' store.  Hammer is pretty sure that the bellowing isn't coming from there, as he just helped search it!

"I can't seem to work out where that noise is coming from, I say we go try and find out." says Buck.  "Hammer-Tow, are you coming with me?  It could be dangerous.  Actually thinking about it, it would be safer in a group, what do you think?"

"That would be the missing Ox,  I would think.  We'd better head in that direction." says Karl, beginning to head that way.  "Come on, everyone."

"Alright, Karl...  I'm on my way." calls Potts, heading for the rope and sliding down.  After getting off the roof, Potts draws his stongbow and gets an arrow ready -- in case a long range action is needed (by a bow master!!)

"I'm right with you guys,.....wait up!" calls Buck, starting after Hammer and Karl.  "Just an idea, but don't you think we should go and talk to the inhabitants of this fine place?  I for one would like to know what happend to my body!  Oh god, what if I have to spend the rest of my life in here!  I don't think I could take it!" whimpers Buck, as he runs.

"Mmmrrrrrrrmmmph!" comes the bellow from the west, again.

Somewhere behind him, Hammer can hear Karl yelling, apparently for everyone else to join him. Hammer doesn't wait, but charges ahead.  As he does so, though, he realizes that the sound he's hearing isn't Human. It's an animal of some sort... He tries to identify it, and thinks it sounds like a cow or bull.

Karl yells as he trots with the rest of the party through the mud.  "Chances are, the Oaf finally found his mule and is dragging it.  It probably doesn't recognize him in his new body and is throwing a fit.  At least we'll find Ox and then we can get to the Inn, dry off, and raise some questions."

"Don't worry, Buck.  We'll get your body back, just stay with us." pants Karl, pounding west down the road after Hammer.

"Keep that bow handy, Potts, just don't shoot his mule -- if that's what we're running toward." gasps Karl.

Hammer runs past the side of the store, and around to the back.  The sound seems to be coming from there.  Heading past the barn out back, he hears the sound start to drop off, and swerves towards it.  Was the door open, a while ago?  He can't remember, but it is, now.  Clanging along in his armor, he changes course and heads for it.

As Karl clangs along in his armor, Buck and Potts catch up, and pass him, headed west down the road after Hammer.  Unaccustomed to charging without his mount, Karl makes what speed he can, pounding the earth and clanging like a blacksmith's shop as he runs.  Meanwhile, back at the manse, Sorrow rapidly finishes coiling his rope, and begins running towards the east, bringing up the rear.  Hammer is already out of site to the west and north, behind Potts' store.

Stuffing the rope in his pack as he runs, Sorrow redraws his bowkler and arrow, slowing as he catches up to Karl.

"Well... whatever is out there, I'm ready for it!" Buck says, trying to convince himself that this whole situation has not got him on edge.  Buck draws out his knife and feebly thrusts it out as if picturing himself defeating some great opponent.  He then shakes his head as if coming back to reality, sheepishly replacing his knife in its sheath.  "So... anyone else really thirsty?"

"Ah, running in the rain," Karl says, as Sorrow catches up.  "You know, I think I've been spending too much time on horseback, and not enough time training.  I miss this!"

Karl wipes more rain out of his eyes.  "You see anything yet?"  The Wylf just shakes his head.

Being more lightly armored, Buck and Potts get to the barn, first, and see Hammer standing there, looking in.  Karl and Sorrow come chugging up behind, and clank to a stop.

Coming down the ladder from the hayloft, Ox says, "Yes. this is Ox.  I was checking out this barn, and I found this little wooden box that won't open, and this white pea-looking thing with a bunch of tiny elephants inside."  As he speaks, Ox walks through the barn, giving the bull a wide berth, and out the door.

"Hey, Hammer, what is this all about?" inquires Potts.

"Alright," Karl says, catching his breath quickly and making sure that none of his equipment has rattled off, "What's this all about, Ox?  Tells us what you've found, and why you felt it was necessary to scare us all by running off on your own without letting anyone know.  Then perhaps we can come up with a plan to stick together as we complete our investigation."

"Sorry to worry everyone, but I couldn't help it.  When I was heading through the shrine to come around to the garden and help everyone search, I dumbly touched the goat-headed thing.  The next thing I knew I woke up here in this barn.  I didn't know where I was, or what happened so I began searching this place for answers.  I guess I set this bull off, too." says Ox.

Standing beside Karl in the back of the group, Sorrow nudges Karl.  When no one else is looking, he narrows his eyes and shakes his head, motioning Karl to silence.

"I did find some stuff in a room in the loft here.  Sorrow, you should go check it out with your special senses.  I brought a couple of things with me to show you all, when I did find you." the former Oaf declares.  He shows the group what he found and put in his robes: an unopenable box and white pea.

"Is everyone else okay?  Did you find anything in the garden?  I feel pretty strange, too, like a head-ache."

Hmmmm... this all sounds very interesting, thinks Buck as he is looking around, 
but I see a tavern over there...  I wonder if they'll notice if I sneak off for a quick drink?  Buck then comes to his senses, realising that there could be who-knows-what in the tavern, and he should really stay with the group.  "So what exactly is this pea thing... any suggestions?  Hammer, why don't you try opening the box with your sword?"

"I don't have a cutting sword, only me hammer!" grouses Hammer-Tow.

"I wonder, if I were to touch that thing, would I, too, be taken somewhere?  Maybe, after we search the barn, it would be wise to mirror what Ox did -- only as a group."  Potts puts his bow away, slowly, still unsure about this whole "lost mind" thing.

"That's funny; when I tiuched it, it didn't do anything to me." says Sorrow.

"Alright, Ox, but from now on, we'd be better off if we all stay within a stone's throw of each other.  Agreed?"  Karls waits for any dissenting opinions.

"Ah, Ox and Potts have already been running off on their own.  As long as they stay together, I don't see how they can get into much more trouble than they already are...  If what Ox says is true, though, then we have at least FIVE enemies in this town...  Four body-snatchers, and that statue..."

"Let's have a look at these discoveries.  Does anyone know much about animal husbandry?   I'd like to know that this animal is normal, and not some Ox god or something.

Sorrow enters the barn, to get out of the wet, and search it, looking at the items as he passes.

Entering the building, the bull rolls its eyes at him (as far as he can tell, it's just a normal animal).  He pauses to look around, when he senses something magical on the second floor.  "I'm going up into the loft." he calls, then not-so-stealthily advances to the ladder, peers up it, and fumbles about with his bowkler and arrow as he prepares to climb up it.

The western side of the loft is full of hay (baled and loose), while the eastern portion of this 15 x 20' barn is strowed with junk; old furnityre, chests, boxes, baskets, etc.  A great many animal heads (mostly unrecognizable to Sorrow) and horns (which he is able to recognize) are hanging or lying about.  One of them, in particular, catches his nose, as it radiates foul magic, similar to Potts' scythe!

Stepping forward to examine it, Sorrow sees that it is not an animal horn at all, but a hunting horn.  Twisted and black, with leering demon imps carved all over its outer surfaces.  Taking a rag from a nearby bundle, he removes it from the wall, and wraps it up.  Sure there is nothing else of a magical nature here, he pokes around a bit, but it is obvious that Ox has already searched the place.

"I found something..." he calls.  "Bringing it down."

"I agree we should stay together.  I also need to get some rest and heal my wounds.  What say we head back to our room at the inn?" says Ox, contradicting himself.  He then steps inside the barn, out of the rain, followed by Potts..

"Hey, Potts," says Ox, "I am still hurting from our little adventure earlier.  I need to go heal myself.  Do you have any wounds that I can heal for you?  Is anyone else in need of healing?  I say we go back to our room and take care of ourselves, and discuss where we ought to go next.  We can also evaluate what we have found out so far."

"I have a small wound form a nail -- nothing too big.  However, I do agree with you, let's head back to the inn.  We can beat up the bartender and... nah... we can rest." replies Potts.

"Brilliant idea!" says Buck, "but I think we should check out the tavern before hand...  .Just to see if there's anything unusual.  Any hey, if not, we might be able to have quick drink, ay guys?"

Hammer frows and says "I say we split up into pairs, and search this whole village, beginning with anywhere we haven't been yet.  If we run into trouble we should be able to hear each other yelling from one end of the village to the next.  I'm tired of wasting time going over places where we have already been!  I for one am not going back to the Inn until I see everything else in this place, first."

Karl walks into the barn and out of the rain. The enraged bull takes a swipe at him with its horns, but misses.  He finds something near a wall and sits down.

Karl gives the bull a dirty look as it makes its swipe at him.  "I knew there was something about that beast," he mumbles.

"Well, you're all adults here, so you can pretty much do as you will, but consider this: there is powerful magic at work here, and splitting up is the surest way to make ourselves easier targets for whoever is wielding it.  I'll be the first to admit that I'm a bit frustrated that I haven't figured anything out yet, but then, I'm used to pounding on things until they explain themselves, for the most part.  I don't look forward to jogging all over this little town following every bellowing sound I hear because I think it might be one of you in trouble."

"As soon as the Wylf is finished with his search in the loft, I intend to go back to the tavern and have a good talk with Bernie and anyone else who might be there.  You're all welcome to come with me.  In fact, it will all go a lot easier if you do.  But you'll have to make up your own minds." Karl finishes.

"You are right, Karl, we should head back to the inn.  I can heal myself and Potts, and anyone else that needs it at our room, while you and Sorrow can interrogate Bernie and other bar patrons.  After we are healed and you have your information, we can then head as a group to the next area to be searched.  Everyone in agreement?" queries Ox.

"Squire Tow, can you give us any good reason not to go with this plan?  If not, I'd like you to stay with me.  We came into this adventure together.  I'd hate to lose track of you." says Karl.

"Potts," whispers Hammer-Tow, "I'm beginning to wonder about Karl and Sorrow, if maybe they are in on this mystery and are just running us around wasting time... let's stick together , and make sure that if we find anything useful, we keep it and use it ourselves."

"Good call, my friend." Potts-Rye whispers back.

"I will go with you Hammer.  What about you, Ox?" says Potts, loudly enough to be heard.

"What the heck did you find up there, Wylf?" says Potts, as he changes position to get a better look at Sorrow.

The Wylf in question unwraps the rag to display the twisted black hunting horn, covered in carved imps.

"Now dag nab it!  Just a cotton-pickin' minute!" Sorrow says...  You've heard that Wylves are irascible, and for those who don't know it, that means 'prone to sudden outbursts of anger'. Like the one you're seeing, now...

When the bull bellows, again, Sorrow turns on it and yells "SHUT UP!", looking like he'd like to shoot it in the head.  Then he looks at Hammer and Potts, with no change of expression.  In a barely controlled rage, he tells everyone what he just overheard.  Then he rounds on Ox.

"And YOU, Sir, are a LIAR!  You did NOT touch the altar and get transported, here!  I SAW you walk past us!"  Then he glowers at Hammer, again.

"And as for YOU, Squire Tow," he snarls, "I will give you everything we've found, with both hands, and hope you go mad with it..." he hurls the horn at him, then pulls out the scythe and tosses it at his feet.

Sorrow succeeds in pelting Hammer with the horn, and hitting him in the legs with the wrapped-and-tied scythe...  Well, Hammer wanted the goodies, now he has them!

"Good luck to you fools, as you shall most certainly need it!  Best get to your search quickly, instead of wasting time talking to me!"  Turning back to Potts, he says, "You still owe me some money for those furs I traded you, yesterday...  I will be taking three suits of clothes for that."  With that, he begins stalking from the barn, ignoring anything the party has to say.

At the door, he stops.  "Oh yes, here's your poison back, Ox."  He drops some bottles on the ground. "Try not to kill anyone with it."  He turns and heads east.

"Wow, that was interesting!" says Ox.  "I don't know what he is talking about.  I am going to heal myself now.  Does anyone else need healing?  Potts, Hammer, and I are going to make the calls from now on, Karl.  Do you want to follow us, or go on your own?  Buck, we hope you will join us, since you seem to have the same problem we do.  Hammer, Potts -- where to now?

Ox, Potts, and Hammer go off, whispering, in a corner.  Buck looks around, wondering whether or not to take Ox up on his offer.  Karl looks at them, out the door, and back, wondering how things fell apart so quickly, and what happened...

Ox tries to heal himself and Potts, but nothing seems to happen.  While making the attempt, his headache returns, with a vengeance.

"Sorrow, wait..." calls Potts, "I'm not too sure what the heck just happened, but you of all people cannot blame us for being...  paranoid."

As Sorrow moves off, Potts says to the remainder of the party, "The point is, we, not you, are the ones in danger.  However, as much as I hate to admit it, your help is needed...  But I do think things could be done a little bit better.  Case in point: The bartender and his little friends.  They have something to do with this mess, but you all would rather ignore that whole situation becasue, dare I say it... it would be easier not to fight.  I disagree, but I am no leader... and one last thing, I don't owe you anything, 'cause I am not Potts, no matter how much I look like him... or act... or think...  I am and will always be ME."

Looking at Karl, Potts continues, "Do not blame us for our lack of trust, but it does seem like we are doing a whole lot of nothing... Tell me, what would you do, if you were in our place, who would you trust, and why?"

Looking at Hammer, Ox, and Buck, he goes on to say, "I am on your side, my brothers, but I do not think that this is a fight that we can win, without outside help.  Heck, it is no secret that I don’t get along with Sorrow, but that hasn’t stopped me from using his skills to further my own cause.  It is okay not to trust, but that doesn’t mean we cannot use their aid.  Understand, that I believe it is safer to keep our enemies close... if in fact that is what they are."

"Everyone," says Ox, "just so ya knows, I think we should all stay together, with Karl and Sorrow included.  We can decide where to go together -- majority rules on what to do.  Also, I just tried to heal myself and Potts, and nothing happened.  My casting wouldn't work, and I got my terrible headache back."

"Hey man, I would start to pray, 'cause no one up there loves you anymore." Potts tells Ox.

"We are all here together, for now.  Let's take a vote on where to go now and what to do next.  We can all work together, even if we don't fully trust each other.  My vote is to find Sorrow and get him back with us.  Then we can go to the next place to search, or ask questions.  What says y'all?'" Ox continues.

"I have a fear that Sorrow will shoot me, if I go after him, so I figure Karl is the best for that matter... at least he seems to trust him." says Potts.

"Hey, as far as I can see, we're all in this situation together, so I suggest we all try and stay together." says Buck.

"Well, you got that right." Karl replies to Ox.  "Interesting, indeed.  I'd better be off to get Sorrow.  Chances are he's headed back to the Inn to get his things.  I'll go look for him there."  Karl drags himself to his feet and brushes off any stray dust or hay as if nothing has happened.

"As for making the calls, it may as well be you folks as me.  I've been trying to get you back to the Inn with me for the last hour or so, with no luck.  I'm no herder of cats.  But I'm all for majority rule, as long as the decision reached is sound."

"You discuss it amongst yourselves, and if you decide to keep the party together, then meet us in the Inn, and we'll make our first joint decision there.  If you don't show up, I'll settle up with Bernie and head on out of town.  I can't speak for Sorrow.  I wish you all the best of luck, particularly you, Tow.  If you can't come to some kind of consensus that results in us seeing you in the Inn, then I'll give your regards to your family if I run across them."

"See you soon... I hope."  Karl looks out at the drizzle and then heads back to the Inn.

"Come on everyone, we have got to stay together." says Ox, following Karl and motioning for the others to do the same.  As he hurries to catch up to Karl, Ox calls to him, "Karl, wait up!  I am with you, and want to find Sorrow as well.  We can regroup at the inn room, out of earshot of everyone else and decide what to do next."

"Ox, I think it will be better to let Karl check on Sorrow.  At this point , the Wylf has no love for anyone in this party, and would rather kill me... heh, I kinda feel the same about him.  However, I do think he is needed, but let us not push our luck with him.  I vote for the sum of us to stay here and look around while Karl goes and calms him down.  After a time, we can meet up with them at the Inn." says Potts.

"If I must, though, I will follow all of you, but I will stay well to the back, 'cause, although I don't like Sorrow, I do respect him." Potts finishes.

"Okay, those two are gone, I started this mess, I guess I had better fix it!  Where do you think they are off to?" Hammer asks Potts, "Did I make a mistake - what should we do?"

"Hammer, you did nothing worng, at least you did nothing that Sorrow hasn't been doing to us the entire time.  It would seem that it is okay for him not to trust anyone, but when the tide is turned, he can't handle it.  I say we check out these magic items for a time, then go to the Inn and see if Karl has had any success."  Potts starts to unwrap the Scythe and check it out, careful not to touch it.

"Yeah, I think I'll hang onto this, for a while.  Since the Wylf didn't want me to, it must be a good idea!" says Potts, putting away his sword, and hefting the scythe.

"I wonder what this puppy does?", he adds, looking around at the bellowing bull.

Hammer reaches down to take the twisted, black horn carved with demon imps.  He turns it over in his hands, examining it.

Taking the canvas and rope, Buck makes a rough bag out of it.  "Right.  I've finished making the bag, and I'm quite happy to lug this stuff around if you guys don't want to."  Buck begins to place the 'Poison' in the sack.  "Actually, this doesn't look like poison at all... there's some kind of enscription on the bottle.  I can't beleive we missed this!  I can't quite make out what it says,,,"  Buck offers the bottle to group wondering if any of them can make out the writing.

Meanwhile, Buck has picked up the rest of the bottles, and is looking at the inscription on one.  It says merely 'Poison', and nothing else.  The three 12-oz. glass bottles contain stoppers, which are sealed with wax.

"I still think we should do a complete survey of this entire forsaken little village.  Let us walk around this whole place, amd get our bearings here before we decide where to investigate next." says Hammer.

Arriving back at the entrance to the barn, Ox calls, "Potts, Hammer, Buck?  Where are all of you?" and awaits a reply.

While waiting at the barn for an answer from his friends (to make sure they are still there), Ox uses his Scrutiny and Arcana abilities to see if he can figure out anything at all about the unopenable box and small pea object that he has found.  After a careful examination of the box, Ox notices that it has several seams in it, as though it were made up of wooden panels.  He thinks of tales of various magical items that he has heard of, like the Folding Boat, or the cube that acts as a doorway to horrible places, where pleasure and pain are inextricably mixed...  What was it called?  The pea, however, he has no ideas about.

"Anyone coming?" asks Buck, as Ox walks in, stuffing the box and pea back into his pocket.

Being startled by the bull, Potts shakes his head clear of any cobwebs.  "Sorry boys, I was daydreaming for a while... retracing my steps from the past day or so, seeing if we missed anything along the way."  Looking at the bull curiously, Potts chuckles softly "Maybe one of you should check the bull, make sure he did not eat any clues!"

"Okay you lot!  Somebody had better decide where we are goin'...  Let us put it to a vote... all in favor of getting an inventory of this whole place say Aye." Hammer declares.

"AYE!" Potts shouted, a little too loudy, but enough so that it would have been heard over the bellowing of the bull, had it yokeled.  With a renewed enthusiasm he continues, "Hammer, I believe we should touch everything from one end to the other.  Anything that seems, even in the least bit, out of the norm we bring it to each other's attention!  This way we can take the Barn off our list.  If need be, in the future, we can come back to some items that we thought were out of place."  After straightening and pulling down his feathered hunter's hat, Potts studies the Scythe that he now has in his hands.  His eyebrows furrow in concentration.

"Hey, everybody, here is the scoop.  Karl is checking for Sorrow right now.  I am to tell you guys to wait here, and then go back and help him look for the Wylf.  We will be back here very shortly.  Please don't leave 'til we get back.  If we don't find Sorrow, then Karl and I will be back alone.  In either case, we do need to stay together as a group." says Ox.

He continues: "While I am gone, you all can look over the barn again, and check these out," Ox continues, handing them the little wooden box and white pea. "I know from my arcana knowledge and scrutiny skills that the wooden box has folds, like it is some form of magical item.  See if your skills tell you anything about it.  Also,  continue to find out what you can about the other items we have found."

"Buck, why don't you continue to make some bags for us, so we can carry all this stuff.  Also, we need to figure out how to make some money while we are here, so we can pay for stuff, if need be, like inn rooms and food, and stuff." Ox goes on.  "Well, I am off for Karl and Sorrow.  Please wait, and I will be back with them shortly...  One last thing, when we were at the bar, we noticed the ruffians that were there earlier aren't there now, so be on your guard.  Try not to destroy the barn, and please, Potts and Hammer, don't kill the poor bull, as God would frown on that, and our party.  God be with us all, and I will be back."  With that, Ox prepares to head back to the bar.

Taking his eyes off the Scythe and raising one eyebrow up, Potts looks at the Custodian from under his hat.  "Kill the bull?  Whatever do you mean?  We will need to search around the bull, if we can move him or scare him out, then he will not die.  But first and foremost, we need to search every nook and crevice in this place."  After staring, unblinkenly, at the Custodian for a moment, out of the blue, he continues.  "Look at me!  I am fat!  Not overwieght, but fat, and I miss my stylish green hair.  Let us get on with this search."

"Please just move the bull elsewhere, if you can.  We don't need to draw undue attention to ourselves by killing innocent bulls and having people start asking questions about what is going on.  I will be back shortly, and will move the bull myself, if need be, so you can search its pen.  Talk to you all soon." says Ox, heading out the door.

***

Not seeing Sorrow anywhere, Karl takes a deep breath, and opens the door to the bar, preparing to face down Bernie, Hatchet-face, Smiley, and Slim... As he walks in, however, he sees only a large, older man, who looks up and smiles at him, putting down the mug he was holding, and the rag he was polishing it with.

"Morning, stranger!  What can I getcha?  Alberta will russle you up some grub, if you're hungry after your ride, or would you prefer a drink... or both?  He smiles at Karl with a "come-on-back" sort of a look.

Karl's eyes narrow at first, but then he returns the older man's smile.  "Just something to drink, if you please," Karls says.  "Something hot that will take the chill off."

"Mulled wine?" says the man. 

Karl makes his way into the room and approaches the bar, lowering his shield.  "I expected to see Bernie."

"Nah, Bernie works the night shift.  He's probably asleep by now." says the man, passing Karl a cup.

Outside, Ox passes the hedge between the barn and the road, and look around for Karl and Sorrow.  Seeing neither, he heads around to the back of the Inn, and up the staircase to the room.  The door there being locked, he heads down the inside staircase to where he can hear Karl and someone talking.  The ruffians from this morning are gone.

Ox walks over to Karl and says, "Karl, please come back to the barn with the rest of us.  Then you and I can talk everyone else into looking for Sorrow with us together.  Once we have the group together, we can decide how to best proceed in everyone's interest.  We need you with us!  I regret what has happened so far to break the group up, but we can fix this.  I know we can."

The new Innkeeper looks a bit confused, but says, "Barn, huh?  Can you shut up that @$#%^$ cow, while you're at it?"

"That cow is one of God's great creatures.  I will try to calm him down, but not with aggression" Ox say to the barkeep.  Turning back to Karl, he adds: "Hurry up and finish your drink, Karl, and let's get back to the others."

"You seem a good man, Ox." espouses Karl.  "You must have been a holy man before you acquired the body of one.  But I want to find Sorrow before he has a chance to ride out of town.  The barkeep just surprised me, or I would be up in the room by now.  If he's not there, I'll check the stable, where he'll no doubt be looking for his horse. If I can't find him in either place, I'll return to the barn.  You're welcome to come with me if you want."

"I meant, return to the barn!  That's why I shouldn't drink mulled stuff before noon.  But this is good, barkeep.  I didn't catch your name."  Karl pays him for the drink.

"Jamie." the huge man says.  "Who're you two?  Haven't seen you in here, before."

"Thank you Karl.  I think you are a good man as well," Ox says to Karl in normal tone.  He then i whispers to him, "Karl, the ruffians were in here earlier and have left now.  I wonder where they went?"

Ox continues "I would like to find Sorrow, as well.  Why don't you go check out our room while I go back and tell the others to wait at the barn for us.  I will then come back to the room to meet up with you and we can go together to search for Sorrow, as no one should be alone in this place.  Once we find Sorrow, we can calm him down and then all of us can go back to meet the others at the barn.  What says ya to this plan?

"Alright, Ox, but it won't take me but a second to check the room.  I'll be on my way to the stable and then back to the barn, so I should be easy to find."  Karl slurps up the last of his warm drink and nods a thanks to the barkeep before smiling at the custodian.  "I'm not worried about being alone for a few minutes. I'll catch up with you in a bit."  With that he turns for the stairs.

"Whoa, HEY, STRANGER!" calls Jamie.  "I'm gunna need your name, if I'm gunna add that drink to your tab!" he calls at Karl's back.  Ox makes a mental note to pay off his own, once he has found some cash.

"Sounds good to me, Sir.  I shall go tell the others to wait at the barn for us, and then will come back to meet up with you and help look for Sorrow."  With that said, Ox turns and makes his way hastily back to the barn.

Karl heads upstairs, and tries the door to the room... It is locked, and he has the only key... Unless Carilla has one. He pulls out the key, and enters the room.  Looking at the cot Sorrow used, he sees no stuff there.  He checks his own gear, and finds none of it gone, and the smell from the chamber pot indicates that no maid has been in here. 

Relocking the door and tucking the key back into a girdle pocket, he heads back downstairs, out the back door, and across the street to the stable.  Sorrow's horse is gone!

Hearing the doors opened up, Nob comes sliding down the ladder, again.  "Hi, Mister Knight! I took good care of your horses forya, like you said!" he grins.

"Boy, did the Wylf stop back by here to retrieve his horse?  How long has he been gone?"

"I don't know, Sir." says Nob.

"You don't know which, whether he was here, or how long he was gone?" demands Karl.

"Well, I guess he musta been here, Mister Knight, or his horse wouldn't be gone, but I aint seed nobody in here, today, 'cept you!" says Nob.

Expecting a similarly dim-witted response, Karl waits for it, thanks the boy, and heads back to the barn.

***

Meanwhile, the angry Wylf has gone to the stable barn to get Arrohir, his mighty warhorse.  Quickly gathering his gear and saddling him, he leads his mount out the back door (away from the road), and ties him out behind the barn, where he can't be seen.  Scanning the road, he misses spotting The Custodian, as he comes down the road, looking for him and Karl.  The Custodian, however, also misses spotting him, as he heads for the Wild Hare.  Sorrow heads across the street to Potts' store.

Once inside, he removes his pack, and goes to the counter.  There he removes the boar's tusks, bull's horns, and the skin-wrapped skulls, leaving them on the counter.  He then heads to the clothing section, finding three suits of Hunting/Service clothes that fit, three cloaks, broad leather belts, a pair of high, hard boots, and two pairs of high, soft boots.  He then gets 50' of hemp rope and 20 yards of canvas (to replace the ones he'd already paid for, and were left with the scythe), and stuffs the lot into his pack.  Cinching it up and shrugging it on, he heads to the door and checks the street, again.

Seeing nothing, he slips outside and pulls his lockpick.  Kneeling, he tries to lock the door, but fails the attempt.  Not wanting to waste any more time, here, he stealths across the street, and into the shrine.

Nothing has changed, there, and he goes straight into the manse, closing and locking the door.  A swift surveys shows all there unchanged, too, so he heads to the bookshelf.  There, he spends some time going through the books, seeing what they are, and if any look useful.  He selects three volumes, and sets them out.

Turning to the bed, he removes the loose slats, and carefully examines the slab, underneath, noting the seams.  Placing both palms on the the slab and pressing down, he feels it sink.  He pauses, then repeats the process.  The slab sinks down a foot or so.  He stops to light a torch.

Inserting the lit torch into the hole reveals little, save a dark hole.  Pressing down on the slab causes it to sink farther, but reveals only a shaft, large enough for several men to easily pass through...  Four, Sorrow guesses!  He snuffs the torch, deciding that some places are best left unexplored!

Heading back to the door, he pauses to listen, hears nothing, then opens it and checks again.  The coast being clear, he grabs the books and slips out, again attempting to lock it behind him, and again failing.  Stealthing to the door, he looks out.  Seeing no one about, he makes a dash for his horse, and loads the books onto it.  Ready to go, he pauses for a moment to think.

He worries about Karl, and what the possessees might do to him...  What can he do?  They don't trust him, not even Karl, who has done nothing but try to help them!  Why?  He can only conclude that their minds have been clouded... or taken over!  Forlorn Corners is a place to tell people to beware of!  Still, he feels bad about leaving the people of this town to deal with such problems as these fools may create...  Nob, Carilla, Alberta, farmers like old Bert... the almost-ambushed Baldy.  Still, what's a Wylf to do, in a world full of Humans?  Unsure what to do, he and his horse sit in the shadows of the stable, thinking.

After a while of thought, he decides to sneak back to the Inn, and check it out.  Stealthily leading Arrohir back to his stall (so quietly that Nob, the stable boy doesn't hear him enter or leave), he checks the street to find it empty, then enters the back door and makes his way down the hall towards the bar.

Once he is sure that he is within 20 feet of the wall, he senses for any magic within 20 feet of him, finding nothing in the bar, hall, or the floors above and below him.  Moving further down the hall, he tries it yet again, finding something in the basement...

Peeking around the corner and into the kitchen, he sees only Alberta, the cook, occupied with her work.  Steeling himself, he walks in and right past her, moving with the silence of a shadow.  Making it to the archway where the stairs lead down, he finds a scullery boy sleeping, and quietly slips down the stairs without waking him.  Ignoring the boxes and supplies piled about, he moves to the south wall, where he finds a locked door.

It takes him several attempts, even with his heightened tactile sense, to get the lock open, but in the end, persistance pays off.  Inside, he finds a storeroom full of wine racks.  After briefly looking around, he relocks the door, and again calls upon his magic-sense, and locates the culprit, a small, empty wine casque, with a secret opening in the back.  It rattles when he lifts it, and he opens it to discover a small blowgun and fifty darts, reeking of the evil magic he has come to expect from this town...  He wonders about the holy lamps in the shrine, as he carefully removes the evil items and stores them.

After that, he sits and rests for a while, the strain of sensing for magic so often having taken its toll on him.  At some point during his rest, he hears the apprentice begin clanging away in the smithy, again.

***

As they go about their various self-assigned tasks, the events of the past two days begin to congeal in the minds of certain of the Adventurers... Things in Forlorn Corners tend to happen in fours... 

As Karl has pointed out, four abductees, four chairs at most of their tables, four public buildings in this town. As Hammer had pointed out, four trigrams in the temple. As Ox noted, four heads on the goat-god...

Now, searching Potts' and The Custodian's areas, they have four magic items...  None at Hammer's, or Bucks?  Or are there four more?

What is it, with all these fours, anyway?  What's the significance of the number?  Everyone looks inside themselves, searching for the answers.  How will they ever solve such mysteries?  Thinking of his recent survey of Arcane lore, Sorrow seems to recall that four is the number of the earth...

***

As Ox is finishing another one of his long speeches to the group in the barn, Karl comes clanking in.

Looking around as Karl (sans Sorrow) comes in, Ox goes on: "Good to see us all together again, except of course we will miss Sorrow.  Let's all try to work out what needs to be done and how.  I heard the idea of completely  searching the barn suggested.  I think that is a good idea.  All things we find that seem like they could mean something can be brought down here to the middle of the barn for all of us to examine.  We should put all items found, like the scythe, wooden box, pea, and such, here for now, too.  Once we are done searching the barn totally, we can examine all this stuff and tell each other what we know.  Does that sound like a good starting plan?  Any other suggestions before we all jump into action?  While we are searching everything, we can talk to each other about anything we noticed or that happened to us earlier.  May God help our little party!"

Buck starts needing to go to the bathroom REALLY bad! Unfortunately, the only places he knows of to go are the outhouses behind the Inn, and 'his' room, there!...

Staring at the twisted black horn, Hammer wonders what will happen if he blows it.  It doesn't seem to have had any affect on him, yet!

"Hammer, if ye are going to blow the horn, give us warning."  A second later, as an afterthought, Potts injects, "... and blow it outside, or towards the bull."

"Ok, I'm just going outside a sec... be right back." Buck says, quickly heading towards the door.  "Just need to... you know."

"I don't feel very musical right now, I guess I will leave this horn alone for a while " says Hammer, putting the horn back into the homemade sack...

"Well, I am going out to survey this place now, if anyone wants to come along so be it, otherwise I will see you all in a short while..." says Hammer, walking out the barn doors and heading west.  He heads down the middle of the roadway, scanning the buildings and other sights on both sides.

Shrugging his shoulders and letting out an audible sigh through his nose, Potts says "So much for us staying together!  Well, at least Buck will be back... maybe.  Well, I will start on this side over here, anything out of the norm will be placed in the middle of the room."  Carrying his scythe, Potts takes his hat off, wipes his brow with his sleeve and walks to the side of the barn opposite the bull and begins to search and touch everything in sight.

Potts begins searching the walls and contents of the barn, poking about in the farm machinery, touching everything in sight... and staying away from the bull, who continues making a ruckus, and shaking his head at anyone who comes near.

While outside, Buck pretends he hears a ruckus coming from the south.  Running back inside the barn he informs Potts-Rye: "Potts...".

Stopping his search, Potts cleans the dust off his hands by clappng and rubbing them together, finally wiping them off on his pants.  Waiting for Buck to whisper to him, Potts taps his foot and raises his eyebrows in an amused 'well get on with it'  look.

After half an hour's worth of searching, Potts-Rye has found several loose boards, but nothing behind them. The 'floor' is dirt, and he finds no loose earth (as though something had been buried). There is the farm equipment lying about, but he locates nothing hidden within it. 

The bull seems irritated by all these strangers in his barn, already, and takes a swipe at anyone who gets anywhere near him...  Rolling a 24 vs. Evaluation, Potts figures he wouldn't want to fight him, and will stay away from the beast.  Standing well back, Potts can see nothing in his stall, nor on him.

"Custodian, or Ox, as the case may be, the time has come for me to bid you adieu." says Karl, turning to leave.

Whispering to Potts, Buck says: "I hear a strange sound outside.  I'm not sure who I can trust, but you seem like the most trustworthy.  I think we should go and find out what's causing it."  Cleaning the dirt from under his fingernails, Potts listens to what Buck has to say.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Buck!  Let us check this out..."  Slapping Buck on his back, Potts turns to the others in the room.  "Buck and I are going to check something out, some unfamiliar noises.  Then I want to check out Potts' - My shop...  My thinking is I want to see everything for myself.  The barn I believe has been checked over and we can rule out anything else here, unless the bull is hiding something...  the shop will be next...  If ye want to help we'll see you there!"

Grabbing Buck by the shirt, Potts heads out the door. "Now which direction did you hear the noise?"

'Definitely from the east... my guess would be either the shrine or the manse...." Buck says, looking at the general merchants wall.

"Buck, I am going around the back way... as stealthily as possible.  If ye want to take the direct approach, go towards the manse...  I be approaching it from the back." says Potts.

"I'll stick with you." Bucks says, following close behind.

Slipping into the shadows, Potts takes off south of the General Merchant to the opposite side of the desolate road, then east to the smithy, and around the big tree behind the garden to the Manse...  Along the way, he is always looking out for anyone, or his body, the scythe drawn.  He gets to the door of the shrine unmolested, with Buck and The Custodian following.

Looking at Buck, Potts pauses with his hand on the door to the shrine.  "Buck, I am going to peek my head in here and make sure Hammer - it was Hammer that went stompin' off on his own, right? - is not in here.  Then, like I said in the barn, let's head to Potts' - my - store and do a search for any clues..."  The door already beong open, Potts heads in.

The scene in the shrine is no different than before.  The pillars, the altar, the stone table with some tapers burning on it, providing a little light in the room.  The door to the manse is still ajar, and there is no sign that anyone else is here...  There is also no sound.

After looking around the shrine and not seeing or hearing anything out of the ordinary, Potts shrugs his shoulders at Buck.  "I hear nor see anything unusual.  Let us check the basement of Potts' - my - shop... then I say we look at the Tavern.  What do you think, boys?"

Ox says nothing for a time, rubbing his head as if afraid the headache would return.  After a moment, he grunts "Fine, fine... we have found little so far but more questions... besides" he grins slightly, but it looks more like a smirk on his sloppy face "the quicker to the tavern, the quicker the booze.  I think I need a drink..."  He trails off, seemingly disgusted with the event of the last few days.  After a bit, a strange look comes to his face, and his stomach rumbles loudly.

Slapping Ox on the back while giving Buck an elbow and a head nod toward the General Merchant, Potts takes off in the direction of his body's shop.  "Let's get this basement searched... then we can pay a visit to the barkeep and the rest of the Tavern."

Arriving back at the store, again, Potts and Ox notice something a bit different, as they walk in. The rolled-up Human skin that they found hanging on Potts' wall, yesterday, is lying on the counter, along with a set of horns and tusks. Nothing else seems moved, or out of place...  Both recall that the Wylf had these, and had said something about Potts owing him some clothes.

Lightly grabbing the human skin and the set of horns, Potts looks to Buck.  "Buck?  You looked around here yet?  If not, take a quick look, then meet Ox and myself in the basement."

On the way to the basement, Potts adds  "Ox, I think you have been down here...  I just want to take a quick peeksee, remember anything unusual?"

Buck sees the usual goods of a country store and General Mercantile, combined with a Trader's.  A crude sword lying on the floor of the back room catches his eye.

Neither Potts-Rye nor Ox have been in the basement, which was searched by Hammer, Karl, and Sorrow.  Peeking down, they see it is dark, and filled with junk.  They will need to grab a lamp...

Ox glances over briefly.  "I do not remember any... irregularities... but it has been a strange few days....  Maybe we should search the area a little more thoroughly.  I think we have been in too much of a hurry, and that has gotten us nowhere..."

With a muttered grumble, his staff thumping on the hard floor,  Ox walks off to find a light source before setting into a methodical, thorough search of the junk literring the basement.  While Ox is getting a light, Potts stops to listen for any sounds, but hears nothing.

Handing the lamp to Potts, Ox descends the stairs into the basement.  The cellar is roughly 17 x 20', with no other exits visible. The 'floor' is bare earth, but the walls are stone. Scattered about are a crate of torches, a barrel, root vegetables, junk, old crates, some empty ceramic flasks, firewood, and other stuff that is either durable, unneeded, or trash. There is a large hole in the NE corner of the floor.

Thumping himself in the head with his pointer finger, Potts tells himself "Think, Potts, think.  Now, if I were going to hide something important, where would I put it?"  Potts runs his hand around the cellar walls as he thinks.  "Obviously the hole could stash something, don't ya think, Ox?  We need to figure a way to look down there... or get down there."  Potts walks over to the crate of torches, pulling each one out...  As he does so, a spider bites his hand (inflicting a point of Harm).  He smashes it as it runs, then looks for a false bottom, finding none.  Then, he looks at the barrel, to determine whether it has liquid or dry fill, or is empty.  The sloshing lets him know that it is liquid, and the weight tells him that it is full, or very near it.  After rooting around the vegetables, Potts  touches and smells the empty flasks for anything.  They seem to be merely empty flasks, never used, or thoroughly cleaned.  While waiting for Ox to finish his search, he looks in the hole... using one of the torches that he lights from the lamp.

The hole is apparently a cistern, going down 20' or so to the water table beneath the town.  Potts could get his water without having to draw it from the town well, it seems.  There is no rope or bucket for drawing it up, however.

Ox investigates the junk littering his side of the room, picking up objects, squinting at them in the dim light, and tossing them over his shoulder.  Every once in a while he mutters about his new body and "Wonder where that mule gots itself offta?"  After a time he says "Potts, I can use my rope to lower you down in a moment, but I should warn ya, before I drop ya, I am not as strong as I useta be!".  That said, he leans back on his heels and begins studying the pile before him intently and at times moving selected objects.

After spending half an hour or so searching the basement, Potts and Ox find nothing more interesting or out-of-place than the spiders or empty flasks.  Potts' hand continues to hurt, and swells a bit, from the spider venom, but finally stops (after twenty minutes, or so).

Looking over the hole with a torch, they can see that it is stone-walled, and goes down about 20 feet to the water.  Ox realizes that, this being winter, the water will be VERY cold!

"Well, this was another lesson in fit... fa... futility..." Ox says, mouthing the words. "Let's head back to the tavern and see what's to be learned...  I am getting thirsty."  For a moment Ox looks startled, as if that feeling, wanting a drink, is something he is not used to...

Looking once more down the well, Potts says "Ox,. I agree.  Let us hit the tavern.  But, let us remember this well... if we run out of clues... someone is getting wet!  Let's see if Buck is still around."  Snuffing the torch in the ground, Potts fingers the scythe at his side as he heads for the stairs.  Collecting Buck on their way out, the trio heads for the tavern.

Looking out the General Mercantile, Potts shivers at the cold, sleety day.  "What do you two think?  I could sneak in on the second floor and you two can take the direct approach... that way if'in the Barkeep is still in his grumpy mood, perferin' his crossbow over givin' us ale, I got your backs covered.  Otherwise, I can take a look around the upstairs...  Ox, Buck, what do you think?"

"Fine, fine," says Ox, "but just remember...we are going to need to get out of these clothes at some point with this weather, so don't think you are the only one who gets to change right away!"  Ox grins before continuing.  "We'll walk right in the front doors... but don't be long!  I do not like this being separated...  Not after all that babble about sticking together!"

Chuckling at the thought of changing clothes, Potts then puts both hands on his over-sized belly and rubs it vigoriously.  "Well, I will not be invisable like my other body, but I am surprised how well this belly of mine can move so stealthily...  I will take the upstairs route, keeping an eye on below, if you guys look to be in good shape I will look around a little, then come back through the front door myself.  I suppose, if I don't show up... watch your backs!"

Having all been in the Wild Hare before, everyone except Potts remembers that there is no way he will be able to see anything downstairs from the second story.  Buck's attention is focused on something else, however...

"Well, I can change in Buck's room, in the Inn, but you two are going to have to either get some clothes here, or go to your bodies' homes...  Otherwise, you'll have nothing to wear!"

Naturally, he's right.  Buck was the Innkeeper, so he'll have lots of dry clothes, there.  The Custodian will either have to buy some (with no money!), or he'll have to go back to the shrine and get some of those hanging in the armoire that he searched earlier.  Potts, on the other hand, is IN his home, right now!  He can pick up some dry clothes before he leaves.

Shaking his head in frustration and feeling the chill of the weather, Ox stops in his tracks and thinks furiously, his half-empty head struggling with decisions...  "Well, my fellows, for now I must bid you farewell.  I am going back to the Shrine and search until I am satisfied.  I can get a change of clothes there.  Maybe by spending some time there, my new body will remember some things that my simple mind cannot.  I will be in the tavern this aft, when I am satisfied.  If you wish, meet me there...   If you want to come with me, fine.  For now I must get out of the weather...  Luck to you."  That said, he hurries off to the shrine, frustrated, cold, and focused...

As Ox finishes his speach and leaves, Potts decides that he might as well get some dry clothes, and change here.  Heading into the back room, he collects the spear that he had left there the day before, and begins unstrapping his armor as he heads upstairs to Potts' bedroom.  Looking around, he once again sees the chest where he found his armor and weapons, and remembers that there were clothes in it, too.  He digs out some dry ones, putting the spear back in the chest, and quickly changes.  Returning to the dowstairs, he collects Buck and head to the Wild Hare.

"Buck, I don't see any reason to go tempting fate with the Barkeep, again, especially with just the two of us!  Let's go around back, and up the outside stairs." Potts says.  So they do, and enter the second-story hall just as Carilla (the singing waitress) descends the inside stairs to the ground floor.

Heading to their room, Potts tries the door, and finds it unlocked!  Peeking in, he can see that all of Karl's stuff is gone, and remembers him bidding Ox adieu...  Looks like he really is leaving!

"Well, I'm going to go change, yet again!" says Buck, heading up the hall to the stairs, and up to his room.  There, he removes his clothes and throws them and the sooty pair from the night before into the tub of bathwater still sitting there.  He searches about and finds a clean pair, dresses, and dons a cloak, as well.

During the process, he discovers a key in a small pocket in his belt.  Wondering what it's for, he heads back downstairs to the room that Karl rented.  Potts is there waiting for him.  As the two sit, wondering what to do now, Ox comes in, scratching his head.  He, too, is dresses in drier priestly attire, with an extra robe on, under his cloak.

***

Arriving back at the shrine, yet again, Ox sees the place unchanged from when he was here a mere half hour ago.  The place is still lit by the little daylight seeping in through the open door, and the long tapers on the stone table up front...  The floor near the door is still wet with rain blowing in through the open door, and muddied by the feet of the adventurers, traipsing in and out, repeatedly.  Nothing much seems to have changed, in the last half hour...  He enters, getting out of the drizzling rain, and lowers his hood.

Ox goes into the manse, shutting the door behind him, and then to the armoire, where he gets some dry clothes to change into.  He takes an extra robe to use as a jacket.

Having thought and thought about this, and since everything from the bookshelf, to the trapdoor, to the cabinets, to the chain of the bed have been checked, Ox decides that he will look under the matress.  As he comes back around the end of the bed, he notices that it has been pulled all the way off the bed, and is lying on the floor.  The loose bed slats that Hammer had found have been removed, and stacked off to one side.  Under where the mattress would ordinarily lie is a depression, or hole.  Forgetting all about shredding the mattress and pillow, Ox crawls over the mattress to inspect his new find better...

The bed slats have obviously been removed, and the mattress pulled off the bed.  The stone slab beneath has a portion sunken within it, with a gap going downwards into... what?  With his Half-Wylven vision, The Custodian - or Ox - can see enough in the dim light to tell that there is a vast empty space under the bed, although he can see no way down...  Cold air seems to waft up at him, from the depths.  He can see nothing within the depression, save the stone nearly blocking the bottom of the shaft, wide enough for several men to step down into!  He stops to consider his find...

Ox decides that this isn't something he should be messing with.  He hot-foots it over to the Tavern as fast as he can...

Dashing across the intersection, Ox runs onto the Inn's covered porch and into the bar. The daytime barkeep is still there, as are a couple of farmer looking types that he hasn't seen before.

Glancing about, he sees none of his fellow abductees, so he merely nods and passes through, headed upstairs to the room.  He is unnerved by the dark stares and mutterings that follow him.

Climbing the stairs and heading to the room where he spent the night, Ox finds Potts and Buck, both in new, dry clothes that fit their bodies.  Well, at least he isn't alone anymore!

Ox stops to scratch his head for a moment.  There was something he wanted to ask...

***

Ox is out of breath, and it takes a moment to gather his thoughts.  "I have been running in circles... Waste o' time...  I have a suggestion...  We need to get in the bar and look around, maybe after hours...  somehow...  Tear that place apart if we have to... After that, I say we do the same to the cottages around here...  What say you guys?  I think we are running out of time..."  Ox waits after that, happy to go along with anything they decide, as his own ideas have turned up nothing new.

Potts nods in agreement as Ox speaks between his panting.  After Ox's final thought, Potts puts his two cents in.  "Let's search Buck's room, look for any personal items of Buck's body.  Aye, then we can look at the rest of the upstairs.  After... well, cottages sound good to me.  After hours we can search the downstairs."  Slapping Ox on the back, Potts raises an eyebrow at Buck.  "Lead us... almighty Tavern Owner."

"You want to get into the bar, that's easy, we can just go down and order lunch.  We can look around all we want, but not tear the place apart."  Buck looks at Ox.  "You want to go tearing farmers' cottages apart, you had better have a good way to handle a mob of angry farmers with pitchforks.  Folks won't like you entering their homes and tearing them up!"  He looks at Potts.  "I think we need a better plan."

"Well, speaking of searching, I've already searched my own room, and didn't find anything.  I guess we can, again...  I could have missed something.  I did find this key in a pocket in my belt, while I was changing, though..." he holds it up so the others can see.  "I aint figured out what it goes to, though..."

Looking at Buck, after his statements, Potts lets out a hearty, gut jiggling laugh, "Bucky, I think Ox was speaking figuratively.  Hammer is not here -- kinda where he ran off too -- well, he is not here to tear the places apart.  Ox just wants to search every nook and cranny, leave no stone unturned, poke every ant... so to speak.  Right Ox?  Sure I am right!  As for the cottagers, well we will talk to them, see what they think of our bodies' and the orginal owners, mind and soul.  I am sure they will have some thoughts on us.  If only we had someone in their original body to talk to them about us!  Well, anyway, let us see just what Buck has around here!"

Upon hearing of the key, Potts stops and studies it intently.  After a few moments, he looks to Buck.  "A key, a key... this certainly has to open something.  Did you check/try/look everywhere in your room?  Well, no matter, I would like to look also.  So, let us get your room done and then, like you suggested, Buck, some lunch and a drink for good ol' Ox, here.  Maybe the key will unlock something downstairs."  Shrugging and hearing his stomach growl, Potts starts upstairs to search the upper level of the Wild Hare.

"Buck, I have been thinking... did you find anything at my - Potts' -  place?  Did you ever go into the basement?  If so, down the well?  I might hide something down there." says Potts, climbing the stairs.

"No." Buck replies.  He leads the trio up the hall to the intersection, turning west to head up the stairs to the attic level.  The stairs turn back eastward, again, at a landing, at the top of which is yet another landing, with an archway to the north, opening onto a five foot wide hallway running west to a gabled window, and eastward to a dead end.  On the north side of this hall is one door, with two more on the south.

***

Having rested enough to want to finish his explorations, Morchaint-Din (misnomered Sorrow, by the Humans) gets up and checks the door.  Seeing no one about, he slips back up the stairs, leaving the door to the wine cellar unlocked.  The scullery boy is up and gone, and the kitchen momentarily empty, so he wastes no time getting out and up to the second floor, looking for the stairs up to the attic level.

As he is looking around, he hears a door open behind him, and ducks intoa nearby closet, leaving the door open a crack.  Peering through, he can see Buck lead Ox and Potts up the stairs at the far end of the hall.  Argh!  Knowing there is no other way off the third floor, he braces himself to wait here, until they leave...

***

Leading the party to the north door, Buck opens it with a different key.  "This is my room, here." he says.  Entering, Buck holds the door for the rest of you, then bolts it behind you, so you won't be disturbed.

The room is 25 feet N-to-S, and 30 feet E-to-W.  There are two gabled windows to the north.  A large bed occupies the SW corner.  Scattered about are several large upholstered chairs, three footstools, and a divan.  In the NE quadrant are a table and six chairs.  In the NW is a large armoire.  A desk and chair occupy the SE.  A large tub full of dirty, soapy water and wet clothes sits near the door.

Buck floops down on the divan, rubbing his forehead with the fingers of his right hand.  "Let me know when you guys are done.  I've already searched the place."  He settles back and relaxes, watching the antics of his companions.

Gripping his staff meaningfully, Ox offers "Buck, let's grab Potts and go see what's making all that racket...  I doubt there is anything to be learned here, as this is Buck's room.  if everything seems in order, this is pointless.  Shall we go?"

Ignoring The Custodian, Potts gives Buck an evil eye.  "Nothing like helping find your body, huh?"  Potts then begins searching Buck's room in its entirety.  Starting with the bed, Potts looks under each mattress as well as under the bed, itself.  He then proceeds to the upholstered chairs, patting them for any out of the ordinary bumps under the fabric.  After the chairs, Potts looks at the table for anything usefull.  Bending down, eye level to the table, he looks for any hard pressed writing that may have indented the table's top.  With the table done, he proceeds to the large armoire and desk, checking every inch with his well trained eye.

The only thing out of the ordinary for a hostler is a set of full leather armor hanging in the armoire, rather like the suit that Potts, himself, is wearing.  Other than that, the search turns up nothing of interest, and again, no cash.

Grinning at Potts' consternation, Buck says "See?  Didn't I tell you I'd already searched the place?  Nothing!"  He turns to Ox.  "Now what's this about a noise?"

"Buck?  You wearing your armor, or is this a second suit?  Might want to think about donning it.  Who knows what we might run into!"  Potts, realizing he has searched for nought, gives Buck a grin back, and shrugs his shoulders.  "Ox, you hearing some racket?  Lead the way, it might be Hammer or Karl getting into trouble."  Pulling his scythe out, Potts attunes all his senses to his surroundings, to no avail.

Looking out the window, Ox can't tell where the noise is coming from, only that it is generally to the NE of the Inn.  As he does so, Buck gets up off the divan, walks over to the armoire, and begins donning the armor.

Turning to his fellows, Ox says "I can't tell where it came from... the noise I mean.  Maybe... from the Smithy?  Aw, let's just go check it out..."

"Oh yes, and by the way, remind me to discuss a few leads I may have noticed when I was running around...  Having had time to think while Potts searched seemed to clear my head a bit..." Ox taps his skull meaningfully, "but first... let's go see if we can find the source of that clanging I heard."  He starts for the door...

"Let's head out the back way.. down the steps, south toward the outhouse, then cut towards the stable barn area.  Along the way, keep your eyes and ears peeled.  We still do not know where the noise is coming from.  Okay, boys, let's bust a move!"  Catching up to Ox, Potts takes the lead with his scythe.

***

Still waiting in the closet, Morchaint-Din sees the trio pass (Buck strapping on some new, magical black armor which doesn't radiate evil), and waits for their footsteps to die away.  He hears the outside door open,and the lot of them trampling down the stairs.  Once they are gone, he opens the door, exits the closet, closes it, and pauses to stretch and look around.  Stealthing to the intersection, he makes sure the coast is clear, then heads upstairs.

All is quiet, there.  He moves through the archway, and measures off 20 feet of hallway, then senses for magic.  Finding some to the north, he opens the door and investigates.  Inside a footstool, he finds a large metal box, which is too heavy to lift.  He spends several moments looking for a hidden catch, but it seems to be sealed with magic.  Giving up on that, he places the footstool back over the box, goes back into the hall, and senses the restof the hallway.  He finds no more magic.

Moving quietly, he peeks through the keyholes, seeing dim rooms plainly with his Wylven senses.  Inside the first, he sees a dormitory style sleeping arrangement for Bernie and his ruffians.  The other is apparently Carilla's room, and unoccupied.  Both doors are locked.  Perceiving nothing else to be done up here, Sorrow takes a quick look out the windows, seeing Ox and Buck outside by the smithy, but no way out onto the roof.  He watches the fools briefly, then heads back down to the ground floor, and down the hall to the kitchen.

Luck is with him, again, and the cook is nowhere to be seen, so he heads back downstairs to the cellar, and once again locks the door of the wine cellar behind him, sitting down where he can take a rest...

***

The trio heads back dowstairs, out the door and across the road and beside the stables, where the clanging is audible to all three.  It is coming from the north, apparently from Hammer's smithy.  Looking at Ox with an appraising smile, Potts says "Good going, Ox!  Let us see what this clanging is about... should I go ahead first?  Of course I am not my kobold self, but the big belly of mine sure can hide well!  Give me a few minutes...  If I don't come back, come after me, if the bangin' stops, come in carefully.  Sound like a plan?"  Gripping his scythe, Potts raises an eyebrow at The Custodian.

"I will give you a hundred count and then I come in the front." Ox says, implying Potts should be quick.  As Potts starts away, Ox begins scrutinizing the area, taking in as many details as possible, and gripping his staff in anticipation.  "One....Two....Three...."

Grinning at the counting Ox, Potts protests "Don't be rushing me too much, I am liable to trip and put this here scythe through my belly!  A little slower now."  Like a good hunter with the added ranging ability, Potts stealthily takes off behind the Smithy, looking for a backdoor.  Naturally, it's on the opposite side fromthe front door...  He croodles up to the door, and opens it as quietly as he can... which isn't very quietly at all, considering that it hasn't been opened, in a while!

As the door opens and he peeks in, he sees a half man, half trow dressed in a leather apron pounding the rim onto a wagon wheel with a large maul.  It turns to look at him with a face only his mother could love, points the maul at him, and makes some sort of noise.

Meanwhile, out front, Ox has counted to 96 when he hears a long, drawn-out squealing sound, and the clanging stops.  "What was that?" asks Buck, who has been removing his armor and stuffing it into his homemade "sack".

Ox considers quickly, hoping Potts has been counting along, and also noticed the ceasation of the noise.  Turning to Buck, he says quickly, "Give me a moment, I am going to sneak in.  Follow me in after one minute if you would... and prepare for anything."  Turning away, he slowly approaches the door to enter, moving with as much Stealth as possible, senses sharp...   Buck nods, and waits.

Moving up, Ox quietly opens the door, peering through.  He sees a large... man?  He is holding a large maul (which he is shaking in the direction of Potts, at the back door), and a wagon wheel.

Realizing what he must look like peeking in a door that just woke the dead, Potts straightens up and tips his hunter's hat at the maul-wielding smith.  With an infectious smile Potts evaluates his intent as he hails the half-human.  "Well, good day, there!  Watcha pounding on?  Looks like you do some good work, who is your Master?  I am guessing it is Hammer, right?  A very good smith he is!  Say, what did you say your pounding over there?"  Hoping his Knack makes him look like good company to hang with, Potts waits for a reply.

The Half-Human stares at him... for too long.  Then he hefts the wagon wheel, the rim of which is askew, nods (apparently meaning that Hammer is his master), then makes a vowel sound, which Potts interprets as meaning "Out!", and points at Potts with his maul, again.

Potts estimates that the fellow is intending for him to leave, or to give him some lumps, if he doesn't.  Potts also dtermines that the fellow isn't interested in discussing the matter...  Meanwhile, Ox, unseen by Potts and the apprentice, waits by the smithy's main door, ready to attack the Half-man if he attacks Potts.

Potts raises his eyebrows as he puts both hands in the air.  "Whoa there, buddy, no need for giving me some lumps on my old noggin!  I will let you go back to work... now."  Taking a step back, hands still in the air, Potts asks one more question before removing his head (body included) from being a lumping target.  "You seen Hammer?  He been in here recently?"  Potts waits for an answer, ready to high tail it out of there, if the Half-Human approaches.

The smith's apprentice lowers his maul, grunting as he shakes his head, and lifts the wheel, again, giving Potts a nasty look.  Hefting his maul, he goes back to attempting to force the rim onto the wheel, muscles bulging.

Ox attempts to stealth back out the door, hoping to meet up with Potts outside.  He manages everything except closing the door in silence, but it makes some noise, so he and Buck slip around the SW corner of the building, where they can't be seen.  They hear nothing for several moments, and the door remains closed.

As they are starting to relax, however, and older woman passes them, walking down the other side of the street, carrying a bucket full of water.  She glances up and notices them, but says nothing and goes through the back door of the Inn.

Potts ducks out the back door, closing it, again, and heads around the side, where Ox and Buck are waiting.  The clanging noise begins, again...

"Well, there is one big half-human in there... not too nice, either.  Seems like he just wants to be left alone.  Maybe, with Hammer's help, we can search the area.  If not, that character in there would be chasin' us with a huge maul!" says Potts, giving Ox and Buck a shrug of his shoulders.  "Well, back to square one...  We have yet to talk to any locals, in the houses.  We can, once again, hit the Wild Hare...  We should find Hammer sometime, too... whatcha boys think?"

Ox looks to his comrades, considering if he would sound foolish at the next suggestion.  Realizing he would, and that would be fitting, he goes on.  "Did either of ya tear a hole in the Manse floor and peak around?  The floor under the mattress?  When I was at the Shrine some 20 minutes ago, I noticed the hole and I'm thinking, if you haven't been there and down that tunnel, we should be checking it out..."  Ox trails off then, wondering if they thought he was nuts for asking to go back to the Shrine for the 4th (?) time, but deciding the taken up bed slats and the passage they revealed were worth their opinion of him.

"I have not been down, nor seen any ripped up floor boards.. and it beats going to the Wild Hare once again... let's check this out!"  Potts looks in the direction of the Manse and then back to Ox.  "Let us get out of this weather... and hit the Manse!"  Without waiting to see if Ox and Buck are following, Potts takes off towards the Manse.

Arriving at the shrine, Potts runs into the manse, seeing what Ox did, earlier.  He briefly examines the depression, and turns to the others as they come in.

"I think we are going to need a light source...  Ox, you know if there is one around here?  Now, this is getting exciting... let's check this out!"  With a firm grip on his scythe, Potts moves to the hole and listens, hearing nothing.  Looking to Ox for his opinion, Potts says "My basement had some torches... should I run and get them?

Ox looks concerned now...  "Maybe the best idea I have heard all day...  I have a bad feeling about this hole... where it might lead, or what it might lead to.  I agree, I do not want to go down there blind.  But hurry...  I do not like being apart at the moment.  Kinda wish Hammer was here..."  Realizing he was babbling, Ox nods enthusiastically to Potts, and heads over to sit down on the mattress, catching what rest he could.

Jumping up from his listening position, Potts gives Ox a wink and a smile.  "I don't like being separatied either!  Don't go down without me... and that goes for you, too, Buck!  Giving the She-male a grin, he bolts out the door, heading towards his shop's basement.

Buck comes over and sits down by The Custodian.  "How're your legs doing?" he asks, "Do they still hurt?"  Meanwhile, Potts races across the street, and into the store, down into the basement, and grabs a handful of torches, jugging them and his scythe as he heads back up the stairs.  Realizing that he will need something to light the torches with, he stops to dig through the store for a tinderbox, and then dashes back through the shrine to the manse.

Setting down the torches, Potts wipes his brow with his sleeve.  "Almost forgot the tinderbox, here!"  Shaking the tinderbox lightly, Potts gives Ox and Buck a grin.  "Well, let's go get our bodies!  Or at least get down the hole..." he says, hoping the excitement in his voice will envigorate Ox and Buck to get a move on.

Rising from a half-nap on the mattress, Ox smiles a big stupid grin at seeing Potts in one piece.  Running over, he claps his new friend on the shoulder and grins...  "You be alive!  Oh I am happy... I was dutifully on watch, waiting for you, and thought this body had dissappreared as well!"  He coughs slightly, realizing that he had sleepy dust around the corners of his eyes from his brief nap. "Now let's get down in that hole...  It has been staring at me while you were away, as if in challenge, and I will know what's down there..."  With a last guilty and relieved look at Potts, he waits for the torch to be fired before starting down.

"Maybe we should all take an extra torch... just in case."  Lighting a torch, Potts grabs his scythe and heads to the hole, pausing so Ox and Buck can gather around.  Once they are near, he waits for everyone to nod in agreement.

Leaping into action (more or less), Potts jumps down into the "hole", landing on the slab of stone blocking the bottom of the shaft.  As he does, it immediately gives way beneath him, and begins sinking downwards.

Ox is so excitied to be doing something he almost jumps in the hole before Potts. "Let's be going...  I'll tuck a torch in my robes, in case... this body seems to see alright, and I cannot swing this staff with a torch in these hands.  Let's get this going..." He looks up at Buck questioningly...

"Look out, below!" says Buck, jumping down onto the lift with the other two.  As Buck leaps into the hole, he misjudges the distance, and slams into the wall, landing poorly.

"Ow!  @#$%^&*!  That smarts!" he yells, sitting down and putting his hand to his head.

Standing on the slab, it sinks beneath the trio's weight, descending 30' below the manse into a cavernous dark space.  The floor is rock, and the space is 10' wide, and broadens on either side as it slopes downward to the east.  A faintly glowing red light, in that direction, lends a hellish air to this subterranean setting.

The lift stops, suddenly, with a "snakt", as a round-headed pawl (hook with a lever on it) snaps into place on one side of the lift.  The air, here, is cooler, but not particularly damp.  No doors or other passages present themselves, and it is very dark, and eerily quiet...

Ox whispers urgently "I like not the feel of this place...  Let's stay close during this search.  Agreed?"

Returning the whisper, Potts says, "Agreed,  Mr Custodian...  Who shall go first?   I will take the lead, however, anything down here may be 'used' to seeing the Custodian."  Shrugging his shoulders, Potts lifts the torch up a little higher and peers around.  Gripping his sword tighter, he evaluates and assesses the situation before him.

"Agreed.  Let us move out..." Ox says, scutinizing the chamber.  He finds little of interest.

"Here, why don't you guys let me hold the torch," says Buck.  "You two go ahead with your weapons.  Potts, why don't you give me the rest of the torches, too?  That way, you can use your buckler."

The seemingly natural passage slopes gently down, running eastward, as far as you can tell.  It widens to 30' across, and reaches a height of 12' or so.  It continues for some 200'.

At the terminus is a globular space, which also seems to have been formed by nature.  It is about 40' across, with a circular ledge around the depressed bottom of the cavern, and all around it are hundreds of small, chiseled square niches, each containing a skull of an alfar, human, or veshoge.  These overlook the bowl-like base of the chamber, which is filled to an unknown depth with a bubbling, fuming, viscous liquid.  Each bubble that rises from it and bursts makes your stomach knot, and nearly rebel.

A system of metal pulleys and chains is rigged from a side wall over the center of the pit, and a main chain hangs near the lip of the depression.  At its end is a hinged metal collar.

Gagging at the sight of the room, Potts looks at the Costodian with an odd expression.  "So, Costodian, what do we have here... your laboratory?  We have lots to search here, let's get to it.  Those skulls are repulsive... guess you two be searching those, there might be something in those niches... and let's take a look at the chain dealie."  Potts begins to evaluate the room, not touching the vile goop, but doing what he can to find out what it is.

Spreading out, Buck takes a torch from his sack and lights it off Potts'.  He and Ox begin searching the multitudinous niches, while Potts walks over to look at the goop in the depression.  He thinks it's an acid of some sort, but can't really tell.  The system of chains and pulleys seems slightly corroded, but still strong.  Potts has no idea what it's for.

"This must be some sort of torture device!"  Potts takes a closer look at the pulley system and the chain.

While Potts is walking around to the south side of the pit to check out the 'goop' and chains, Buck and Ox are looking around in some of the multitude of niches, seeing if there is anything besides bones.  One of them contains something of great interest to The Custodian...

"Well, looky here!  A statue!" he says, pulling it out from behind some unfortunate's skull.  "This must be the Relic that The Custodian was supposed to recover!"

The statue is two feet high, and is a smiling figure of some noble, benign deity. It is carved from rose-hued stone, painted in bright colors, and guilded, unsullied by the dank, dirty place in which it has rested for who knows how long.

Perking his ears up as Ox mentions what he has found, Potts turns his attention from the hanging chains and walks over to evaluate the statue.  "Personally, I would throw the statue in the goop.  By the looks of this place, everything in here has to have some evil tinge to it.  But, collectively as a group.. we should discuss our findings, I think Hammer should have his input."

Looking back at the torture chains, Potts waits for the shudder to pass over him before speaking again, "Ox, Buck... I do not like these here chains or pulley system.  If, which I do not plan on, we fail to find our bodies and those that have them... I do not want anyone else be slowly lowered into the acid-goop.  What do you think?  I say we destroy it, or at least make it inopperable."  Scratching his chin in thought, he looks at the torture system, wondering if there would be a way to actually reverse the system so the torturer becomes the tortured....

"Well, I don't agree about the statue...  I know the Custodian was looking for something stolen from the shrine, here, before he was the Custodian of it, and my Sixth Sight racial ability says there's something different about this...  Maybe it will help us."

Looking at Potts, then up at the chains, he adds "About the chains, however, I concur... But how?"

Turning to Buck, he says "Here, Buck, let's add this statue to your sack of stuff..."


Looking up at the chains as he slings his sack down and opens it up, Buck says "Well, I have a strength spell, if I can remember how to cast it...  If we can lower the chains, I can probably pull them loose..."

Ox runs his fingers through his hair, snagging a couple of tangles as he thinks for a moment about the situation, then says "No, I do not think that you should waste the Power on destroying this place, you're liable to need it later."  He steps up to the chains, and leans on his staff as he examines them. "'Maybe we could pry these things out of the wall somehow, or cut the chain..."

You can almost see the lightbulb of insight appear over his head:  "The people who built this place had to allow for replacing the chain, a grim thought indeed, but that would probably be nessacery... look for some way to unthread it.  Then we will simply toss it, collar, chain and all, to the bottom of this acid pit, where no one in their right mind would go after it."

"Well," Ox says, with his fist on his chest as though he were having heartburn, "If we can't beat the chains, we could always go get about a couple of barrels of my heartburn tonic and pour it in the acid."  He slowly sits down on the floor, using his staff for help, one leg obviously causing him pain. "I think I'm going to have to take care of this before I go much further.  While I'm at it, I think I might have enough strength left to heal you too."  He says, pointing to his friend's injury, "Come here and let me look at that."

Buck comes over and sits down beside Ox, who prays for some healing, and smiles as his wounds begin to close.  As he does so, however, his headache comes back, which distracts him from healing Buck.  He tries, but the activation fails, draining the last of his energy.  Buck's wounds remain.

"Let us rip up as much as these chains as possible... then get us out of this hole in the ground.  Gives me the creeps."  Potts goes over to the south end of the wall and starts to unthread the chains, grunting the whole time.

As Potts is pulling on the chains, the mass of chains above him rattles, but doesn't come loose.  Leaning back and pulling harder, he tries to make them...  Giving the chains a major jerk, he slips, loses his footing, and lets go, trying to avoid a tumble into the 'bowl' of the pit.  He manages that, but crashes into the wall near where Ox and Buck are sitting, causing a section of it to rotate.

"Whoa, Potts!  Hey, what's this?" Buck says, getting up to go investigate.  It appears to be a secret door!

Straightening from his fall, Potts turns to investigate.  "Well, what do you know, the secret door I was looking for!"  Snickering, he gives Ox a wink and a shrug of the shoulders.  "Seems like we might be able to loosen these chains after all... but we should take a look-see in throught the door."  Pulling out his long sword, Potts appraoches the secret door and peers in.

"I concur, check the passage first, then deal with the chains."  Ox gets to his feet slowly to start the investigation, his exhaustion showing.  As Potts and Buck stare into the torchlit dark passage, a trio of ugly, naked humanoid creatures attack!

As Buck sees the nauseating, ochre-skinned things, he drops his sack and takes a swing at the hyena-like muzzle his torch reveals, landing a blow that seems to do nothing.  He takes a swipe at it with his torch hand, and the beast ducks under the blow, snarling.  Stepping back, Buck's third swing also goes wide.  He doesn't get time for a fourth!

The creature snaps at him, missing, while raking at Potts with its long, curved claws.  Forcing his shield down with a screeching noise, the beast hits him in the shoulder, penetrating his armor, and inflicting 9 points of harm!

[It is now Ox's turn to act, followed by Potts.  Two more creatures behind the first are unable to attack, due to being hemmed in by the narrow passage.]

Ox takes a coule of steps back, away from the pit, swinging his staff.  "This is one of those occasions I had in mind when I suggested saving your magic...." he says between breaths and swings.

Staying by the doorway so only one can attack at a time, Potts grasps his shield tightly and swings at the fithly creature before him.  "Ox, don't ...leav'n ...now. ... might be... time to try the horn or ... other items we found." Potts grunts.

The Custodian pulls himself to his feet as quickly as he can, shouting, "See if you can shut the door back!" ' He waddles towards the door, unties it, and fumbles in Buck's sack.  Remebering all of the Bard's tales about evil creatures backing away from the sight of an icon of a good diety, the first item he produces is the idol he just found.  He holds it up, yelling, "Begone foul beasts!  I cast ye out in the name of this Righteous God!", trying to drive them back with the idol, like a cross would a vampire.  Unfortunately, bards tell a great many lies, and make frequent use of petic license, and the icon of the rosy deity doesn't seem to have any effect!  It is enough to make an oaf believe vampires like garlic fetticini!

Grimacing in pain, Potts brings his shield back up and in front of him.  Realizing that only one can attack them from this vantage point, he stands his ground next to Buck, slashing the vile creature in front of him.  His sword connects, but fails to penetrate the thing's hide, seeming to be slowed before reaching it!

The evil, stinking beast once again bends forward (as the moster behind it attempts to get in a blow from behind it, and fails) and reverses its earlier attacks, biting at Potts, and slashing at Buck.  Fortunately for the Trio of Tribulations, both attacks miss, as Potts blocks and Buck dodges smoothly.

Meanwhile, apparently inspired by contact with the statuette, Ox responds with an unusual burst of speed, gently setting it back down and then Ox steps up behind Potts and Buck, and thrusts past them with his staff, trying tohit the creature, but misses cleanly.

Buck stands, for only a second, taking in the situation before he thrusts himself into action.  Coming in low, he takes a few punches at the bald creature.  The first one misses, but the second and third blows hit, with what would ordinarily be pretty damaging effect.  In this case, however, he feels like he's fighting an opponent armored in rubber, and his attacks have little effect, although he does make the creature howl.

Watching the surprisingly speedy Buck throw in his one-two punch (Body blow, body blow, uppercut!), Potts takes advantage of Buck drawing the attention of the filthy, evil creature before them.  As Buck slams into its midsection, Potts aims his slice for the upper chest!  His blow catches the creature off guard, and does the first real damage to it, opening a long, ragged cut on its chest.

Not used to such abuse, the creature rears back, stumbling into the two behind it.  Buck sees that physical attacks don't work so well, then as he gets spattered with blood, thinks that sharp objects do.  He reaches for his knife, and tries that approach.  He swings and hits, but his blade does no damage to the thing's rubbery hide.

Thinking fast, Ox turns and runs for the far side of the room.  Hearing the momentary jingling of chains behind them, Buck and Potts wonder what Ox is up to, when he heads back towards them with the collar from the apparatus.  Then they know exactly what he has on his mind... putting Potts earlier idea into practice!  Ox intends to wait for one of the beasts to leave himself open, and then try to collar it.  As he grabs the collar and heads back, however, he discovers that it is locked, somehow...  Makes sense; the torturers wouldn't want the torturees escaping!

To keep only one attacking them, Potts only moves slightly forward as the creature stumbles.  Taking the offensive, Potts slashes at the creature's chest again, going for 'X' in its chest.  He manages to make the cut, and inflicts the best wound on it, so far!  One more cut like that, and this thing will be done for, he thinks!

With no place to run, and the inflicter of pain directly in front of it, the nasty creature leans in to take a bite out of Potts, and gets a face full of his metal targe, instead.  Pulling back its head, it rakes at him with the claws; likewise a miss!

The foul creature claws and bites, again, as the one behind it attempts to get at the Trio.  The creature closest to Potts just can't seem to get a hit, however (fotunately for Potts, who already needs some stitches and armor repair from its last hit)!

Ox turns the collar over in his hands, looking for a lock, but failing to find one, in his haste.  He knows that it should be on the side opposite the hinge, but can see nothing but a crack, there!

Buck swings at the thing with his torch, trying to burn it.  He barely manages to force the torch down on its skin, inflicting a small burn on the beast.  The creature howls in pain as Buck dances back to allow Potts to get in his strike.

Striking two for three, or two of the last two, Potts gains a little confidence in his new, jiggling body.  Targe held high, bending slightly with one knee, he thrusts the sword straight towards the gut of the smelly one before him.  Unfortunately, it's a clean miss!

Dropping his torch and knife, Buck takes a swing at the injured creature, missing it, then landing a solid blow, that somehow just seems to slide off its skin.  His third attack isn't quite as solid a blow, but would have damaged a man in leather armor... this creature seems unaffected by it!

Howling in rage, it swings at him with its spaded claws, missing by a country mile.  Its bite hits home, however, catching Buck in the arm.  Buck can feel his arm going numb, slowing him as the thing's poisonous spittle takes affect.  After tearing up his sleeve, the thing releases his damaged arm.

Ox decides that figuring out the collar in the middle of combat is taking too long, so he moves in behind Buck and Potts as the creature attacks, and makes a thrust with his staff.  Attacking from behind the other two, however, he misses.

Striking with his sword yet again, Potts thrusts into the unclean thing, skewering it.  Howling as it goes down the thing falls to the ground, pierced through the heart.

Potts' exultation is short-lived, however, as the creature behind it leaps forward, slashing at him with its claws.  Forcing his small shield down with ferocious strength, the thing slashes through his armor, into his side, scraping some of the skin off.

Attacking again before the trio can respond, the beastly creature claws and bites at Potts, yet again, but Potts has had just about enough of that, and avoids the creature's blows.  When he gets the chance, he thrusts his sword into the newest enemy, sticking it most thoroughly.  As the beast howls and leaps back, off the point of his sword, Ox steps up beside Potts and bops it in the head with his staff.  Unfortunately, the creature just seems to shrug it off!

Stepping in front of Ox, Buck pops the thing right in the nose, rocking its head back.  That punch hurt it, some!  He takes another couple of swings, connecting again, but doing no damage with either of them.

Really mad, now, Potts thrusts forward, but misses the beast as it lunges forward.  Buck steps in with a left that misses, then a right-left combination that both hit, but neither seems to affect the monster.  Behind them, Ox stabs at the creature with the tip of his staff, but is unable to make contact.

As Ox is attacking, the creature claws at Buck (who keeps tapping it for little or no damage), missing cleanly.  It bites at Potts at the same time, however, taking a hunk out of his armor, but failing to penetrate.

Missing with his right, Buck throws another one-two punch that inflicts another couple of rockings-back to the creature, as Ox simultaneously smashes his staff at its face, missing yet again.  The creature, irritated by Buck, claws at him, penetrating the leather covering his shoulder, and gouging him there.  It bites at his face, but Buck nimbly leans back and avoids it.  Potts, standing back as Buck and Ox swing, times his attack carefully, and as the creature attacks, thrusts his sword into a likely spot...  He is rewarded by a howl of pain, as he wounds it, yet again.

As the fight continues, Buck glances down, watching his footing, and his blood freezes...  The ''dead'' creature, lying on the ground, begins to move, and starts to get up, again!  Behind him, Ox also notices the undead rising, but Potts is oblivious to his fallen foe, concentrating on the "live" one.

Before any of the heroes can do anything else, the two undead attack, clawing and biting at Buck and Potts.  Fortunately, in the narrow confines of the crowded tunnel, they are not able to attack effectively, and miss their targets.

"That one's not quite dead yet!" Ox yells as he breaks off his attacks, and heads towards the fallen ghoul.  "Here, Buck, take my staff..."  He tosses the staff to the unarmed man, so he can use both of his hands to hurridly drag the ghoul over to, and throw it in the acid pit, hopefully before it starts moving much more.  Buck's determination to kick the "dead" ghoul is messed up when Ox reaches in from behind him, grappling the thing's wrists, and trying to drag it between the legs of the other two.

Concentrating more on the standing foe in front of him, Potts faintly hears what is happening around him.  Trusting in the abilities of his two comrades to deal with the situation at hand, Potts continues his life or death assault.

Leaning to the right, Buck catches Ox's staff with his left hand, while resting the right against the secret door, and kicking at the downed ghoul.  His first kick catches it in the neck, and it goes limp, once again... which is just as well, since the second one misses.

Potts, meanwhile, maneuvers his long thrusting sword in the narrow confines of the crowded tunnel, trying to get in a shot at the second ghoul, in front of him.  He thinks he sees an opening, and inserts his blade into it.  The tip catches the creature in the eye, and Potts turns his shoulder inwards, driving it up, into the thing's poor excuse for a brain.  He is forced to move back, as the thing topples over towards him and Buck, apparently dead.  As he tries to free his sword, however, both he and Buck see their opponents beginning to move, again!

Before the undead can act, however, Ox (who already has ahold of the first ghoul's wrists) heaves at the thing, doing his best to haul it out from between Buck and Potts, and cast it into the awaiting pit of acidic ''goop''.  Unfortunately, ''The Custodian'' is nowhere near as strong as Ox used to be, and he isn't able to throw the ghoul's weight.

The third (and hopefully last!) ghoul lunges forward, raking Potts with its claws, and snapping at him, eager for the chance for warm meat!  Its claws slash through buckler and armor, taking a hunk out of Potts, who struggles to free his sword from the downed second ghoul.  As the third undead tries to bite him, Potts brings the scarred buckler up, and smashes it in the face, buying himself a little time.

Trusting Potts to handle the new arrival, Buck leans the staff against the wall, and kicks at the downed first ghoul, yet again.  It manages to avoid his first blow, but the second one hits, doing only the slightest harm, and the creature remains conscious!

Meanwhile, Potts' latest ''kill'' awakens, yet again, clawing and biting up at him, as he removes his sword from its eye socket.  Potts, being rather lucky during this whole battle, decides to attack the third ghoul, hoping the fisted Buck and staffless Ox will take care of his light work.  He swings at the latest arrival, but misses.

The ghoul that Ox is grappling, meanwhile, struggles, doing its best to break free of his grasp.  Ox can tell that this beast is much stronger than him, but for now, its weakened condition disallows its escape.

Grunting to Buck, Potts says "Help Ox get it in the goop!"

"Sorry, pal, like it or not, you're going in..." Ox says to the beast, as he struggles to throw it into the pit.   Buck moves to take ahold of the beast's ankles.  Ox says "On ONE!"

The standing ghoul attacks Potts again, but misses with both its claw and bite.  The first ghoul, held by Ox, attempts to break free, nearly succeeding as Ox tries to hang on.  He tries to throw it into the pit of acid, but is again unable to.

Stepping back, trying to get the downed second ghoul in-between himself and the third ghoul, Potts slices downward at the second ghoul.  Potts thrusts at his target, missing it cleanly.  Things are looking bleak.

Buck nods grimly, and grabs at the ankles of the ghoul that Ox already has the wrists of, hoping to heave the ghoul into the acid.  Wrenching mightily, he manages to hurl it sideways, into the pit.  Ox, still hanging onto its wrists, barely manages to keep from going in with it!  The creature only has a few seconds to thrash and howl, before going limp.

Meanwhile, the second ghoul gets back to its feet while Potts is busy recovering from his miss, and claws at Buck, striking him in the flank.  Buck screams, as it takes a sizable hunk out of his armor, and his side under it.

Potts, meanwhile, it still blocking the doorway, making it hard for the creature to attack.  Irritated by his interference, it turns on him and snaps at his face.  He manages to block it with his buckler, but it bites completely through the metal shield, and into the bracer beneath!  Luckily for Potts, it doesn't have the force to penetrate his armor, after that.

Buck glances torwards Ox, making sure he has gotten away from the pit. Seeing that he has, Buck goes after the second undead ghoul, hoping to KO it, so he can get it into the pit as well.  "Hold tight Potts!  We're coming!" he shouts.

Grunting in reply to Buck, Potts gives a silent thanks... his targe has once again saved him!  With a hard thrust, Potts twists the blade, hoping to skewer the second ghoul.

Stepping up beside Potts, again, Buck kicks the second ghoul before it can react, "killing" it once again.  As its inert form crumples, he grabs it by neck and waist, using its forward momentum to hurl it back, past the ducking Ox who scurries to get out of the way, and out towards the center of the pit, where it produces a lovely fountain as it plunges in!

Stepping up to the last, uninjured enemy, Potts brings his arm forward to thrust, noting the thing's eyes, as he does.  This one seems a little more clever than its two compatriots; it reaches for the staff that Buck has so conveniently left leaning against the wall, there!

Reacting before the creature can reach it, Potts thrusts at the reaching arm, but hits only the soft, earthy wall of the tunnel.  Picking up the staff, the undead beast attacks him, in return, thrusting with the staff and following that with a bite.

The staff misses as the creature moves forward, taking up the space formerly occupied by the second ghoul.  Its bite also misses Potts, as he dodges back, preparing for his next strike.

"Let him into the room, so we can surround him!" Ox yells to the others, trying to find an opening in the monster's defences.  The Custodian tries to circle it and position himself at it's back, planning to wait until he has a good shot at grabbing it in something like a full nelson.

Maneuvering for position, Ox is taken by surprise when the ghoul leaps, attempting to overbear Potts.  Already moving aside to let the thing out of the confining tunnel, Potts manages to avoid it, and Ox dives in, trying to grapple the thing.  In the flurry of movement, the ghoul lands on all fours, as Ox misses.

Taking advantage of the situation, Buck steps in and kicks at the thing's head, hitting it both times.  Its howls let him know that he did some real damage, this time!  The beast shakes its head, as it regains it feet...

Just in time to meet Potts' thrust from the left flank!  Getting in the best thrust in the fight, so far, Potts sticks the thing in its side.  Howling and snarling some more, the thing rolls away, towards Buck, badly wounded.

Once again, Ox tries to grab the thing's hairless, ochre head, but is unable to grab a hold.  The ghoul lashes out with a bite aimed at his throat, but misses.  Surrounded by adversaries, the beast lashes out with its claws, attempting to eviserate Potts, but misses him, as well.

Stepping back to avoid impaling Ox, Potts does his best to repeat his earlier moves, but with all the confusions of thrashing bodies, he can't get in a clean shot.  Taking what he can get, he makes a thrust, but doesn't score a hit.

On the other flank, Buck leaps up, aiming a couple of kicks at any available portion of the enemy's anatomy.  He, too, is thrown off by the wrestling, and misses with both feet.

Maneuvering as best as he can, Potts tries to get the ugly ghoul between himself and the acid-goop.  When an opening arises, Potts takes on a 'fencers' pose and stabs forward.

It sinks in on Ox that his old bar brawling techniques aren't very well suited to his new body, and he decides to stop trying to wrestle this beast.  He decides to make one final attempt to 'throw' the beast, hopefully somewhere in the vicinity of the acid pit.  After that, he will go for his staff.

Moving up by the ghoul, he tries to grasp it.  The undead twists from his hold, yet again, and claws at him, ripping his priestly garments, as well as the person within.  It snaps at Buck, who stays far enough back to avoid it.

Seeing his opportunity, Potts comes at the ghoul side, but misses as the thing bites at Buck.  Buck, meantime, executes another double kick.  Looks like Round 13 is unlucky for the heroes...  He misses with both feet!

Moving before anyone can recover, the ghoul snaps at Ox as he tries to back away and go around Buck, then whirls and claws at Potts.  Potts' buckler is nearly destroyed by the attack, which also shreds both his armor and flesh.

Dodging behind the ghoul, and between it and Buck, Ox dashes into the narrow, earthen tunnel, and bends to recover his staff, there on the floor among Buck's knife and smouldering torch.  Having recovered it, he turns to face the fray, once again.

He observes Potts, reeling back, thrusting at the ghoul.  Potts misses, as the thing comes after him.

Buck gears up for another pair of kicks, now attacking the creature from the rear.  Only one kick manages to strike the thing's backside, but that one sinks in.

Taking his staff in both hands, Ox rears back, and smashes at the ghoul with it.  His aim is so perfect that he strikes it with such force that he splits the thing's head open, dropping it before it has a chance to do anything.  As it tumbles onto Potts, Buck forestalls his kicks, and catches it from behind.  Between the three of them, they manage to get it into the pit without too much trouble, before it begins moving again.

Taking a brief moment to look around and wipe off sweat, the party takes a breather, as they watch the dissolving corpses float in the hellish liquid.  It is hard to believe that less than a minute has gone by, since Potts stumbled into that secret door!

"Hey guys," Buck says, breathing heavily. "While we were fighting I felt a tremble, like an earthquake, or another secret door moving, right....." He moves to where he felt the tremble. ".....here. Any clues?"

Potts straightens his hunter's hat, wipes the sweat from his brow and cleans his sword as he listens to Buck.  He looks down the corridor in which they arrived.  "Some, tremoring, eh?  Could be the sliding secret door we came down?  We could have visitors soon...

"UGH!" he continues, "I could use some rest!  Keep an eye on the ghoul door, and grab the torch.  I will keep an eye out this way."  Potts points to the main entryway.  He strides over, sword in hand... and what is left of the targe in the other.

Looking up the hall, Potts can see two figures in full plate armor, one with an axe and shield, the other with a torch and spear, coming down the passage towards the chamber!

Snapping his fingers to get the attention of Buck and Ox, Potts looks at them as he back up slowly.  Holding two fingers up, he motions towards the entrence. "Two heavily armed coming this way!" he whispers.  Looking on the ground for anything they might have left behind, he backs up towards the 'ghoul-path'.

As Potts backs up, he quickly drops to a knee setting his sword on the floor.  In a rapid motion, he pulls forth his bow and nocks an arrow.  Pulling the string back he sets his aim on the torch bearing, plate armored, humanoid drawing near him.

"Hold where you are!  Make no movements...  Who are you?"  After Potts makes his statement and asks his question, he holds his breath as he betters his aim.

Ox passes Potts and quickly takes up position standing against the wall, right by the door, with his staff slung over one shoulder like he's about to swing a baseball bat.  He looks to Buck, and says quietly, "You get the other side, I'll go low, you go high...."

Also moving up beside the door, Buck silently follows orders, standing to the right of the doorway, holding his torch.  Now what?

A voice comes from the darkness "I'll ask the questions if you don't mind.  Unhand our friends or face my trusty axe!"

Buck lowers himself and whispers into the darkness "Bring it on."

In a sinister voice Potts retorts, "You call that a question?  Your axe... my friend will never reach me... if you want to join your friends... by all means, please do.  Now, before your light goes out... Who are your friends?"

Potts recognizes Karl's voice, as does Ox.  Buck isn't so sure.

"Karl?  That you?" Potts shouts.

"Karl?", Ox shouts, "Is that you?"

"Aye, it's Karl.  Are you hurt?" the voice that sounds like Karl's replies.

"Potts, it's Hammer and Karl" Hammer's voice  shouts down the corridor.

Relaxing somewhat, Potts motions for Buck and Ox to stay at their respective sides.  With an arrow still nocked, Potts calls back, "My arrow is going to stay nocked until I see both of you... come forward."

"Stay behind me, Tow," the voice that sounds like Karl whispers to his friend. "This armor may protect both of us... somewhat."  Potts is to far away to hear the whisper, but Buck and Ox do.

"Very well, sinister-voiced person, we are coming slowly down the corridor toward you.  Be advised, if you loose that arrow, make sure it kills me, or I'll hack you into so many little pieces the dogs won't see fit to eat you." the voice that sounds like Karl replies.

Potts lets out a chuckle.  "You like my sinister voice. huh?  I been working on that for a while!  And don't you worry about the arrow... if I want to loose it, your axe will not reach me!"  Potts lets out another chuckle and waits for the two to enter.

***

The only thing that Hammer sees that he hasn't already investigated to some extent is a 25 x 30' wood and stone cottage with two stories and an attic, off to his left.  Beyond this, he sees the road curving off, going down into a swail, behind a high hedge. Nothing else of any interest can be seen. Behind him, the sounds of the bull's bellows can still be heard...

Approaching the door, Hammer sees a large chest next to it, and a pull-cord for a bell on the opposite side.  As he gets closer, the door opens, and an older man is visible within.

"Hail!" says Hammer.

"Well, stranger, is there something you need?  If it is work you seek, we are not hiring hands.' says the man.

"I seek only to know what type of business you conduct here, as I am looking for a leatherworker's shop." says Hammer, attempting to peer around the man and into the cottage.  As he does, three women and four children crowd around the door, behind the man.

"Well this is a farm, obviously, as though you couldn't see that," says the man, "and there is no leatherworker in Forlorn Corners.  There's a lot wrong with this place.  Better come inside, if you want to hear about it, but leave those weapons in the box there beside you.  We'll feel better, and nobody will take them; that we assure you."

"Okay...  Thank you good sir," says Hammer to the man.  "I would love to hear more of this town... what did you call it?  Forlorn Corners?"  Hammer drops his weapons into the box, and follows the man's lead into the house.  "Please tell me what is wrong about this place."

Hammer is welcomed inside and offered refreshments.  As all the family members gather around, the man (with occasional help from the others) relates the following tale: “I’ve been living here,“ the old fellow begins, “for longer than this place has been called Forlorn Corners.  When I was a tyke, it was known as Fair Crossing.”  He nods as he recalls the past.  “There was a manor house over where the Tangles now stand, and the lord who lived there owned great fields to the east and south.  They say he refused his daughter’s hand to a suitor, a Sorcerer or some such, I recall being told.  She was a beauty.  Knew that even though I was only five then.”  As he says this, his face first shows a trace of a smile, then shifts to an expression of concern:  “There was an awful windstorm, and everything was pitch black.  We took to the cellar, of course.  Everybody did.  Even there we heard roaring and a terrible commotion, a rumbling and crashes.  I thought I heard screams and cried, but my parents, bless ‘em, told me it was the wind.  Likely wasn’t, but no matter.  Nobody could have done anything, and surely not a lad as I was then.”  His face is pale, and his eyes seem misted over as he recalls that long-gone event.  A callused hand passes across his face, wiping away the recollection, and he speaks on after taking a drink his wife hands to him. 

“When the storm was over, everyone came out to see the damage - plenty, let me tell you, but nothing really bad anywhere except one place.  The big stone manor house was all tumbled down, the barns and other outbuildings blown away entirely.  The trees that shaded them, the gardens, the orchard, even the fields were all a ruin.  Torn up, broken, scattered debris was everywhere, as if a tornado had struck and destroyed the lot.  Everybody came and searched the wreckage, found the mangled remains of the lord, his wife, all the servants, but not a trace of his daughter.  Her corpse must have been caught up in the whirlwind.  Who knows where the poor thing’s body ended up."

“From that day on, things went downhill.  The Tangles grew over the ruins of the manor house that summer.  The folks that lived around a ways off from the crossroads began to disappear.  Some said they were just moving on, but nobody was sure of it.  We stuck it out, done all right, I guess.  But it is getting worse here, not better.  It seemed for a while that when those four newcomers arrived, a few years back, things might get better.  Wasn’t so, and if anything, it is worse here now.  Strangers come, then disappear! Really frightening part is that whenever that happens, the four - Potts, who thinks he is a squire, that creepy one calling himself the Custodian, the hostler Buck, and that surly smith, Hammer - are struck by dementia, the lot of them!”

"That’s right. I’ve said this to you before.  Wait, I know that you claim to be someone else trapped inside another body.  Fact is, I have come to believe just that.  Lemme explain things.  Those four are,... well... not really humans.  You are now that you are one of them, but this won’t last long.  Hasn’t in the past; won’t this time.  In a few days the ‘real’ Potts and Buck, and Custodian and Hammer, will be back, and you will be gone.  Those devils will give me a knowing look, a leer, then go on about their business as if daring me to say something.  I am not a fool, so I don‘t."

“Now listen here!  You are doomed unless you can find out how it is that those four can manage this awful thing they do - steal your bodies, then likely take your souls when they come back to reclaim the bodies you are now inhabiting!  We have certain protections here to ward off evil, but that won’t help you.  All I can suggest is that you search for something that might help you.  Look in their - for a little while your - places for anything that might give you a clue."

“I know that the idol in the shrine is not the one that used to be there when I was a boy.  Nobody else has noticed that the old one’s gone, replaced with another one, but I can tell.  Whatever was done, it is magic, and evil too.  I can’t recall what the old idol looked like, only that the one there now isn’t right."

“One more thing: I have seen those four together.  On the dark of the moon they carry something to the well.  One goes down into it carrying what he leaves behind when he comes up.  I have hidden nearby and watched this happen several times.  Buck is always there at the top with a small rod made of copper, something he always has handy."

“That’s all we can offer. Good luck!”

Hammer thanks the man for all of his help, and after taking his weapons from the box, decides to head off to the crossroads, going south from there this time, investigating both sides of the road, and keeping an open eye for the others as he travels.  Passing the barn, he sees that there is no one inside.  Continuing on past the General Mercantile and the Wild Hare, Hammer notes that the Apprentice is up in the Smithy, and that the stable doors are open.  As he passes, he see Karl talking to Nob, the young stable boy.  Walking further south, he passes some trees and hedges, the Inn's outhouses on his right, and more trees.  Among them, he can see a 30 x 30' square cottage of logs and boards to his right (one story, with an attic), and a 20 x 30' wooden shack on his left.  Beyond that, he wanders into the woods and fields, and can see no more buildings, so he turns around and heads back.

Looking at the windows of the cottage, Hammer can see lights within, but all the windows remain shuttered, so he can see nothing within.  He knocks on the door to see if anyone will answer.

"Come on in." calls a man's voice from inside.

Opening the door, holding his battle hammer in his right hand and shouldering his shield, Hammer peers inside to see who occupies the cottage.  He sees a man, woman, and three youths.  Hammer enters the cottage, intending to address the man of the house.  As he enters, one of the boys lights a torch and comes over, as the wife and man approach.

Confronting him with a pair of drawn long daggers, the man tells Hammer "Don't you make a move, or you're dead!  What you want coming here like this?  You figuring we was easy prey, maybe?  Well, now you know better!  Drop them weapons, and you can then speak your piece.  If we are stuck in this @#$%* place,  then we need those weapons more than you do.  Pay us enough so we can get out of here.  Then you can have'm, and this dump too!"  Noting the wife's great cleaver, Hammer steps back, into the doorway.  There, he feels something poking him in the back, and turns his head to see an old woman with a hook and another youth with a club have flanked him.

"Begging your pardon, master," Hammer says, "I don't want any trouble with you, I am just lost and woke up and didn't know where I was, I don't even know who I am."  Hammer drops his battle hammer on the floor.  "Please, sir, won't you and your family help a stranger in need?  My name is Squire Tow, and I am a humble servant who was lost and woke up in this strange place, and in this strange body.  I tell you that I have no money, and you may search me as you wish.  I am at your mercy."

"Monty, get his hammer and his sword." the man says.  "Jacob, get his hammer off the floor."  One of the youths moves forward to retrieve Hammer's hammer from the floor, while someone behind him fumbles at his weapons girdle.

Hammer says  "I assure you that I mean you no harm, I am just lost and out of sorts.  Where am I?  Who are you?  What is this place?"

As the family relieves Hammer of his weapons, the man waves his arm.  "You know you're in Forlorn Corners, Hammer, and as much as you charge us for your services, you can come up with some money.  If you can't get the $20,000 so we can move out of here, we'll sell you some information for $5,000.  If you can't get that, then so long!"  Moving closer, he backs Hammer out the door, shutting it and barring it on him.  As Hammer turns around, he sees the pair behind him are gone... with his weapons!

"I tell you, I don't know what you are talking about, but take the weapons if you want them, you merciless Thieves!" Hammer shouts at the closed door as he backs away, quickly.  He turns and runs for the center of town, cursing at the top of his lungs.  Arriving there, he sees no signs of anyone, so he heads back to the barn.

As he approaches, he notices that the bull is quiet, but the door still open.  When he gets to the barn door, he can see that there is no one inside...  The rest of the adventurers have wandered off somewhere else!  Looking around, he sees no one about, and no signs of where they might be.  Hmmm!  What to do!

Heading back the way he came, he passes the hedge along the road, and sees Karl, headed for the bar.  He catches up to the knight in the street.

***

Having rested enough to feel like searching a little more, Morchaint-Din gets up, checks the cellar door, and clanks back up the stairs.  This time, Alberta the cook is in, but he greets her warmly, and she simply replies in kind.  He makes his way to the back door, thanking God for the luck.

There, he looks around, seeing no one, but does here a clanging from the smithy.  This is bad news, since that's where he is headed...  He knocks and arrow to his bowkler, and heads to the door of the smithy.  There, he, too, is foiled by having to open the door, but steps in and closes it.  The Trog-man Apprentice scowls at him, snarls, and points the way out, as always.

"Easy there, Sir Smith.  I want only to take a look around," says the Wylf, "and then I will be gone."  The Apprentice shakes his maul at the Wylf, again, stepping away from the anvil.  The Wylf raises his bowkler, sighting down the arrow.  "One more step, and I can only assume that you are attacking, Sir.  Hold your ground, or I fire!"  The Trog-man takes that step, and the Wylf lets the arrow fly,

It strikes the Apprentice in the shoulder, penetrating his heavy leather work clothes, and injuring him.  He charges the Wylf, who draws another arrow.  Trusting to his native speed to allow him to outdraw the Apprentice's blow, Morchaint-Din releases the second arrow, which also takes the Trog-man in the shoulder.  The enraged halfbreed takes a crushing swing at him, and misses.

Drawing his barteaux machete, the Wylf barely gets in a swing before the angry apprentice, cutting into him.  The injured Trog-man gets in a hit, denting the Wylf's bowkler and armor, but causing only slight damage.

Angry now, the wary Wylf takes another hack, barely striking the Trog-man's head, and removing a good piece of it.  Bleeding profusely, the Apprentice takes another swing at the Wylf, which the Wylf barely manages to block with his shield.

Taking another head-shot, Morchaint-Din barely connects, taking the bleeding Apprentice down another few pegs.  Blinded by the blood flowing into his eyes, the Trog-man's swing goes wild.

Dodging the wild blow, the Wylf misses his next attack.  The Apprentice gets in a good swing, putting another dint in the Wylf's shield, driving it down, banging up his armor some more, and bruising the Wylf beneath.  Realizing that the Trog-man is too tough an opponent for him, the Wylf opens the door behind him, and bolts up the street, sheathing his machete.  The Trog-man takes a swing as he does, missing him cleanly.  The Wylf turns to see the enraged Apprentice is following.  Pouring on the speed, he outpaces his slower opponent, drawing an arrow as he does.

Once he is far enough ahead, the wary Wylf knocks the arrow, spins to a stop, and releases it in the Trog-man's direction.  It is a perfect bullseye, nearly finishing the Apprentice smith.

His dim brain beginning to realize that, perhaps this is not such a good idea, the wounded Apprentice decides maybe he should head back to the smithy, since he can't catch the speedy Elf.  As he does so, the Wylf lets fly with another arrow, in a near miss.  Enraged again, the Trog-man charges, while the Wylf reloads.

The Wylf fires his fifth arrow, taking the charging Trog-man closer to death.  He ducks around a building, running full tilt, and heads back towards the smithy's back door.  Figuring it will take two more arrows (one, if he is lucky) to finish off the Apprentice, he draws another, spins to a stop, again, and fires.  The shot goes wild, hitting the wall of the manse.  The Apprentice charges after the fleeing Wylf.

Arriving back at the smithy, Morchaint-Din opens the rear door, and runs through.  He pauses at the front door, waiting for the stronger halfbreed to appear.  When it does, the Wylf lets loose with his seventh arrow, hoping for the best.  It hits with enough force to have killed the Trog-man, but his armor absorbs most of the blow!  Still, his collection of scratches is telling.

The Wylf flees across the road, and turns to release his eighth arrow.  It barely hits, doing minimal damage, yet again.  Deciding to hold his place, the Wylf beats the charging half-man to the punch, putting another arrow into his chest.  The halfbreed falls forward, breaking four of the Wylf's precious arrows.

Looking around for more trouble and spotting none, he uses his machete to makes sure the Apprentice will not be rising, again, then rolls him over, hating the loss of four arrows.  Grabbing the Trog-man's heavy maul and shirt, he drags him back into the smithy, shutting the door.  There, he recovers his three good arrows and the four broken ones, then goes out to recover the two that missed, finding one of them broken, as well.  Seven shots left, and five broken arrows!

Returning to the smithy, he drags the corpse into its room under the stairs, and places it in its bedroll, returning the maul to its hand.  While there, he discovers a metal box, and pulls it out.  Unsure what to say over a fallen enemy, he sits down and goes through the box, finding old clothes, junk, and $156 dollars in copper coins.

Pouring the coins into his pouch, the Wylf gets up and carries the box into the center of the smithy.  There, he calls upon his power to sense magic, easily recognizing Hammer's tongs as magical, and nothing else in the box or smithy as having extraordinary capabilities.  Taking the canvas from his pack, he wraps the tongs in it, as he had the scythe, Buck's Blowpipe, and darts.

Putting the tongs in his pack, he returns the metal box to its place, deciding to spend a little while searching the upstairs, again.  Carefully going through everything a second time, he finds nothing, and sits down at the table.  Stacking the dirty dishes, there, he find two gold, and six silver coins, totalling $1,300!

Taking a brief rest and inspecting his damaged armor, shield, and self, the wary Wylf keeps an ear peeled for anyone coming in.  After a short time, he gets up and searches the four posts, until he is sure there is nothing unusual about them, them spends some time climbing them and inspecting the rafters, before returning downstairs.

Satisfied that the Smithy has been fully searched, he heads back to the manse.  Seeing that the secret exit under the bed is open, he draws an arrow and quickly checks it out.  Upon seeing the red light and tunnel, he is very wary, and again decides not to investigate.

Carefully, he searches the rest of the manse, finding nothing until he comes to the desk.  There, he finds ten gold and twenty silver coins worth $4,000, and nothing in the ink bottle or sandcellar.  Scooping up the money, paper, pens, penknife, sandcellar, ink bottle, and box, Morchaint-Din adds them to his stash.  He then makes his way back outside, snarling at the goat-headed statue, and checks the street, again.

Finding it empty, he stealths back to the stable, silently opening the door, and sneaking in without alerting Nob (or Karl, of whom he is unaware).  Signalling to his horse for silence, he makes his way to the tack room (the only enclosed space in the stable), and finds a place behing some barrels to sit.  Making himself comfortable, he prepares to take another quick rest to regain some lost activation energy.

While resting, he thinks about the things that have been found (Potts' scythe, the horn presumably belonging to him, The Custodian's chain and silver python girdle, Hammer's tongs, and Buck's blowpipe and darts).  Do these things always come in pairs?  If so, where is Hammer's other item?  Here, in the stables?  What about Buck's pair, do the blowpipe and darts count as two items?  Is one of the pair always a weapon (and if so, doesn't that mean that Buck has another item, somewhere)?  What about Hammer's pair?  Are the tongs a weapon or an item?  After a few minutes of getting nowhere, he shrugs, again wishing that he had some way of figuring out what an item does.

***

Karl heads to the inn, and settles up his account.  Then he heads to the room, and packs up his gear.  He leaves the room unlocked, returning the key to the barkeep, but making sure the room is paid up through the night.  Then he heads to the stable to collect his horses.

Entering the stable, Karl sees Sorrow's horse (what was his name?) in the barn, looking damp from the rain.  As he is looking, Nob slides back down the ladder.

"Hey, Mister Knight, did you find the Wylf?  He was just in here, a little while ago!" the boy says.

Karl's plan had been to ride south out of town, since he recalls that Sorrow rode into town from the north, but perhaps the boy knows something?

"Which way did he go, Nob?"  The boy points out the door.  Naturally! thinks Karl, sighing, and recalling he promised the boy a few coins, if his warhorse was happy.

"Where did you say he went?" Karl asks the boy again, while fishing in his purse for a couple of coins.

Karl takes a good look at the Wylf's horse.  Is it decked out for a long journey, or did the Wylf just take a quick ride in the rain to cool off?  He assumes that the fact that it is still saddled and ready to go means that the Wild Elf will soon be heading out.

Meanwhile, poor Nob has draped a forefinger over his upper lip, and his brow is furrowed as if wrestling with some mighty thought!  "Well, Sir, I reckon he was headed for the Inn, although I can't rightly say for sure, the stables being my only business."

Karl remembers his words of the night before: "If my horse is happy tomorrow morning, there'll be more for you, too.", after he'd paid the lad two dollars for courrying...  Looking over his horse, Karl can see that, whatever else Nob may be lax in learning, horsecare isn't among it.  Even the mule looks well cared for.

"Alright, Nob.  You've done a fine job with my animals.  Here's another two dollars for you.  May they bring you some joy, or learnin' or something." Karl says, handing the boy two coins.

"Thank you, Mister Knight!" Nob says, stuffing the coins in his pants.  "You want me to tell your friend anything, if I see him?"

Karl looks at Sorrow's horse.  His animal is ready to head out, but where is he?  Karl looks around, but as usual, this town in not giving away any clues....

"No, I don't think that will be necessary, Nob.  I'll just wait here a bit.  He won't leave his horse like this for long."  Unless he's in some kind of trouble, Karl thinks.  He frowns and sits down on a bale of hay to wait a bit.

The boy nods, and goes off, coming back with a towel and attempting to wipe the warhorse down.  The mount seems as irascible as the Wylf, and won't let the boy touch it, however.  Finally, after many attempts, the boy settles for throwing a blanket over it, and refilling its trough with feed and water.

After silently staring at Karl for a while (and after roughly half an hour in the stable, after their short conversation), Nob interrupts Karl's brooding.

"Hey, Mister Knight, while you're waiting, you wanna come up and see where I live?" he asks, grinning like an imp.

Thinking that he might get a view from where ever 'up' might be, Karl smiles at the boy.  "'Sure, Nob.  That would be fine.  But only for a minute."  Leaving his warhorse and mule in their stalls, Karl follows the boy.

Taking Karl by a gauntletted hand, Nob leads him past the stalls, across from the tack room to the grooming area, and up the ladder, there.  The loft, like the barn below, is 30' x 105' long.  The generally open area above has mounds of straw and stacks of grain bags piled in both the east and west ends.  The center is generally open, except that behind a curtain of old blankets that hang from a wooden beam is a separate pile of hay and blankets that make up the stable boy's bedding.  He uses a barrel as a table, and a small keg as a chair.  He has stored his clothes and other belongings in one box, and food items in another.

"I got me a great place, don't I?"  He grins at you in a friendly fashion, obviously proud to be lord and master of his little domain.  Karl looks around in the dim light.  There are an awful lot of barrel hoops stored here, hanging from nails and pegs stuck in the 40 or so ceiling beams.

"Does this town have a cooper, boy?" Karl asks, looking at the barrel hoops.  "This is a fine place you have here!"  Karl looks around for a window or loft door to look out over the town.  The loft has no windows, but does have the usual hayloft doors, way off to the west, which are currently closed.

Nob looks up at the towering, metal-clad knight with confusion.  "I don't rightly know what a cooper is, Sir, but I aint never heard that Forlorn Corners had one.", he says.  "Say, do you like sweet berries?" the boy asks.

"Alright, boy.  Thanks for the tour.  Nice place you have here," Karl smiles.  "I have to go now.  This is what I want you to do: if you see the Wylf, tell him to see me before he leaves town.  I need to speak to him.  Got it?"  Karl waits for an affirmative reply and then heads back down to the barn floor.

"But where can he find you?" the boy asks, hurrying after Karl with his box of berries.

"I've gotta go for a while." Karl continues, climbing down the ladder.  "Keep an eye on my animals and I'll give you some more coins when I next see you."  Karl makes sure Sorrow's horse is still in its stall and then heads back out into the rain.  He heads back over to the tavern to seek him there first, but keeps his eyes open as he crosses the road to see if he can catch sight of him.  He doesn't, but does see Hammer coming around the hedge to the west, by the barn.

Karl stops when he sees Hammer come around the hedge.  "Are you doing alright?" he calls out to him.

"Karl, well met." Hammer addresses the Nobleman.  "You will never believe what just happened to me!  I... I... I have... I have been depredated of my weapons, and by a family of farmers no less!" he says, avoiding Karl's gaze by looking at the ground in shame.

As he is speaking, Hammer suddenly remembers Potts' spear, which he left in the store... Was it in the back room, or upstairs?  He can't recall.

A look of concern clouds Karl's face.  "What's that!  By what right?  On whose orders?"  The more Karl thinks about it the madder he gets.  "Show me these farmers, Tow.  I would have a word with them and we'll get your gear back, on my honor!"

"They think that I am the smith.  They don't like him very much.  It seems he doesn't have many friends around here." says Hammer, looking up at Karl.  "But I did learn some good useful information from another man in the cottage on the other side."  He points to the 'friendly cottage' on the south side of the road.  "I think we need to go investigate some bramble-covered ruins that I was told about, but first I want to go back and get Potts' spear...  Karl, do you remember where Potts' spear is?  Did he leave it in the inn?"  The Knight shrugs.

"Karl, let's go back to the store, I need to get the spear." Hammer says, heading around the corner.

"Sounds fine, Tow.  Let's get the spear and then talk to the farmers." says Karl, following along.

The pair finds the store empty, but still lit.  Walking in, they find nothing changed, but see no spear lying about.  Hammer heads for the back room, but doesn't see it there, either.

"Hmmm," Karl muses. "I thought I remembered you leaving it here.  Perhaps it's elsewhere in the store."  Hammer begins casting about, looking for the soear and trying to remember where he last saw it...

After spending a long time searching everywhere upstairs, Hammer finds the spear in the clothes chest, where the original Potts (if he was the original) had them stored when Potts-Rye found them.

"Alright, Tow.  You got your spear, so let's go visit with those not-so-friendly farmers you told me about and get your other weapons back." Karl says.

"I think you should hide, Karl, while I try to call them out.  Maybe just out of sight, but watch your back, last time they snuck up behind me." Hammer replies.  Hammer asks Karl "Why don't you wait around the corner, hiding behind a tree, and come charging if you see trouble."  After telling Karl this, and assuming that he complies, Hammer walks ditrectly up to the front door and, while being cautious of weapond aimed outof windows,  begins beating on the door with the butt of his spear, yelling in his most menacing voice *"Alright you little buggers, I want me weapons back, and I aint playin' no games now.  I am back ...Hammer The Smith... and I will have your heads for takin' me weapons!  Give me me weapons or else I will burn down this wretched hovel with the lot of you inside!"*

"Assuming we don't kill you first, you mean, Hammer.  We aint playin' with you, either!" the man yells from inside.  "Either give us the $20,000 so we can get out of this town, or quit makin' threats.  You burn down a house, and every man in this village will be hunting you!  Even a mob of peasants with torches can take care of the lot of you!  Go ahead and give us a good reason!  This town will be better off without the lot of you!"

Trying the door, Hammer finds it not only locked, but barred, as well.

Karl was standing around the corner of the building as he had been asked by Tow, but he is rather shocked by the whole exchange and walks up to Tow at the door.  "Now, that's an interesting approach.  May I have a try?"  Assuming an affirmative answer, Karl addresses the Cottagers.  "You in the cottage!  No one is going to burn your home, but I need your help to get this worked out.  My name is Karl Belford, and on my honor as a knight, I'll hear your case if you answer my questions.  I have a stake in this town's problems and if you'll help me, I promise to help you.  Will you talk to me, man to man?"

"Well," comes a man's voice from inside, "I reckon that depends on whether or not you're a man!" he says.  "Like I told yer buddy, Hammer, there, if he wants his weapons back, leave $20,000 at the door - enough so we can get out of town -  then leave.  We'll collect it, and you can come back later, after we've had time to count it.  We'll give you any answers we have, and this dump, too!  You can burn it, or squat in it, or whatever else you want.  We won't care, 'cause we'll be moving on to a better place.  Trying to burn out me and my family will get the both of you killed, quick!  I guarantee it!" he hints darkly.

"I can assure you that I am a man and my word is worth more gold than you've ever seen.  But Hammer doesn't have that kind of money.  If you want to get out of town, I have a far better solution for you.  But you're going to have to quit threatening us and start cooperating with me." Karl says.

"Now, open up and come out here and I'll tell you what I'll offer you for your help and Hammer's weapons.  Otherwise, I'll complete my business and Hammer and I will leave this town -- and leave you in it.  I don't think that would be the best thing for your family. Do you?" Karl asks.

"Oh, I'll listen," the man replies, "but I aint opening this door to you and yer crazy comrade.  You want his weapons, the price is $20,000, no haggling.  You want answers, we'll tell you anything we know for $5,000, and the next bunch that come along... sooner or later, we'll have enough to get out of this place!  You want to leave, that suits me fine.  We've survived here more'n twenty years without your help, and I doubt you'll last a week, stranger - no threat intended.  Now if your word's so valuable, then let me see some gold, or your backs."

"Well, Tow," Karl says turning away from the door.  "Men like us have to realize that peasants are peasants for a reason," he says, attempting to talk in a voice too low to be heard through the door.

"Those weapons of yours weren't worth $20,000, or even $5,000.  Besides, in Hammer's body, you can go to the smithy and take whatever weapons you find.  It's not worth killing these people to get them back and they don't seem willing to help us."

"I won't kill them for you, and I know you won't ask it.  So I would mark this one down to a lesson not to travel alone in this town, and decide what you want to do.  The others are around here somewhere, but they have already made it clear they don't want my help.  I'm not sure how to help you, but if you have any good suggestions, I'll listen to them.  Otherwise, I guess I'll be on my way out of town."

"This is a dead end," Karl says in his normal voice.  "What do you want to do, Tow?  As I recall, Tow, the most interesting place we've seen so far is the Manse.  There were so many books on that shelf, any of which could hold the secret to this mystery.  If it was up to me, I'd suggest we head back there.  If possible, we could link up with the others.  Your experience with these locals is a clear indication that none of us is safe here.  If they are already dead or gone, we can search the manse ourselves and see what we can learn.  What say you?"

"Well Karl," Tow says, "I have a bit of information which I haven't told you yet.  The inhabitants of the 'Friendly' cottage told me that they have wittnessed Hammer and the other body-snatchers put some strange object down into the well on more than one occasion.  Also, the nice man told me that the shrine in the temple is not the original one, and I assume that Hammer and his three cohorts have replaced it with an evil one of their own design.  I have more to tell, as well, but for now I suggest we go to the well and find out what they put down there.  After that, I say we find the others and join back up as a group, then I can relay the whole story to everyone."

The former Squire Tow looks around for signs of anyone in the street or in the house.  "And we can leave these peasants to thier own devices."  Turning to the house as he begins walking away, speaking loudly, he adds "Good luck with the weapons sales my friends, perhaps you can use my hammers to knock some sense into your own thick skulls!  Good Day to you!"  He leads Karl back towards the well.

A funny thing happened, on the way to the well, however...  As Hammer is slogging through the muddy street, he notices an odd red patch in the brown mud, and recognizes it as blood!  It is fairly fresh, and pretty well dispersed by the rain...

As Hammer stops in the road to investigate the ground, both he and Karl overhear something, which sounds like the noise of battle, barely making its way to them from the direction of the Shrine!

"Come on, Tow!  That sounds like battle!" Karl says, as he heads off for the shrine at a dead run.

As Hammer checks over his gear, Karl charges into the Shrine, and is lost from sight.  Lightning streaks the heavens, and as the thunder rolls, the windows of heaven are opened, and the drizzle becomes a rain, washing the blood (and any tracks) off the street...  Hammer, already thoroughly soaked, is now drenched.

***

Resting quietly in the tack room, Morchaint-Din is roused by the thunder.  His belly tells him that it is past noon, but since he left the bread, cheese, and dried meat in the Inn room, he has nothing to eat... again.  He composes himself, again, preparing to rest until after two o'clock.

As he does so, he thinks over the various people that he has met and seen in this town, trying to evaluate them.  With no real skill in practical psychology, though, the only ones he can really get a handle on are Hammer-Tow and Buck-Finnebonne, as well as "Slim", old Hatchet-Face's henchman.  Nothing more than an old bully who has become a brigandly thug.  Dissatisfied with his insight into the Humans, he contemplates the magic items that he has found, instead, with about as much effect.  Other than being found in pairs, always in separate buildings, he can determine nothing about the scythe, horn, girdle, chain, tongs, and blowpipe.

Turning his attention to the moldy fruits which still smell good, he recalls his ancient grandmother eating fruit with "fuzz" on it...  Sometimes, as a child, he had thought that she lived on it!  Already having checked it with his enhanced senses in the shrine, he knows that it is not poison, so he gingerly takes a bite of one of them.

It's surprisingly good!  As he eats it, he feels his headache begin to lessen, and his wounds feel a bit less sore.  Undoing his armor strap to look at his bruised shoulder, he sees that the magical fruit has healed him, somewhat, although his vision seems a bit fuzzy...  Looking around, he notes that it is almost like double vision.  He surmises that this gave the "real" Potts and Buck the ability to see, dimly, in the dark.

Sitting back, he waits a while, making sure there are no side effects.  After a long time, he eats another fruit, healing the last of his wounds, and removing a bit more of his headache.  It now being time, he fastens his armor's straps back, and lies down to perform the second of his daily meditations.  All goes well enough that he soon feels like checking out the rest of the stable.

Moving out of the tack room, however,he is not as quiet as his name might imply to a Wylf, and Nob hears him.  Sliding down the ladder, the lad looks at him and says "Oh!  Hi, mister Elf!  The knight was in here, a while ago, looking for you..."  He trails off as Sorrow motions him to silence.

"Thank you, Nob.  I will speak to him, if I see him, but please be quiet.  The others who were with him -Potts, Buck, The Custodian, and Hammer - and I have had a falling out...  I want nothing more to do with them!  If you see any of them, kindly do not tell them anything, including that you have seen me!"

"Yessir, Mister Wylf!" the boy says.  "I don't much like any of them, either!" he agrees.

"My name is Morchaint-Din, Nob," the Wylf says, pronouncing the "ch" like a "k", and the "Din" like "Dean", "But you can call me Sorrow, like the rest of the Humans."  Fishing in his pouch, he hands the boy a small pile of copper and silver coins.

"Wow!  Thanks, Mister Sorrow!" the boy says, taking the coins with both hands.  "I'm gonna go hide these, where Hammer can't find'em!"

"See that you do, Nob!... and stay up there, for a few moments...  I need to look around, down here, and I need a few moments of quiet, okay?"

"Yessir, Mister Sorrow.  I'll be as quiet as a mouse...  Hey, you want to see where I live?" the boy asks.

"In a little while, when I'm done down here.  You go on ahead and hide your coin in a safe place, and I'll be along shortly, as soon as I'm through." the Wylf replies.  "And it's just 'Sorrow', not 'Mister Sorrow'."

"Okay, Sorrow!" the boy grins, bounding up the ladder.  Sighing, the Wylf looks around, listening to the thunder and rain outside.  He stealths to the door and looks out, but sees no one out in the cold rain.  Good, he thinks, no one will be likely to be about, on a day like today!

Pacing off the barn, he estimates the distance, and once again walks the center line of the building, searching it for magic.  He finds nothing in the first 40', but fails his detection in the second.  Trying again, he locates something in the tack room, where he had just spent so much time!  Going back in, he sees that it is a barrel hoop, which sits crookedly upon the barrel.

Investigation reveals that the "hoop" is about a foot in diameter, studded, and comes off, easily.  The Wylf called Sorrow by the Humans removes his pack, and pulls the canvas from it, adding this latest find to the other items stored there.

"Well, I wonder what you do!" he says, looking at the Tongs, Blowpipe, and Hoop.  Apparently, the Tongs must be the weapon, he surmises.  Surely, the Hoop cannot be?

Looking up at the shelf, he sees some large pieces of rock salt, and scoops them into his slingpouch.  These might proove useful, if he runs into any undead!  If not, his horse will appreciate them, and he can always use some for cooking, or salting meat!

Checking the rest of the stable, Sorrow finds nothing.  So far, they have never found two magic items in one place.  He clanks back across the stable to the ladder.

"Hey, Nob, I'm coming up!" he calls, and then begins climbing.  At the top of the ladder, he can see that the entire space is one open area, save for Nob's curtained-off sleeping space.  Most of it is full of loose hay, although bales of hay and sacks of grain cover the east and west ends.  There seems to be an abnormal number of barrel hoops hanging around, here...  Sorrow wonders if Hammer intended them as camouflage for his.  Seeing Nob motioning him towards the curtained area, he shambles over, feeling tired.

"Oh!  Nob, I am so tired!  Do you mind if I sit here, for a while?  I need to rest." the world-weary Wylf asks.

"Sure, Sorrow!  Take a load off yer feet, and sit a spell!  Great place I gots here, aint it?"

Lying down, the Wylf smiles, looking around at the boy's rude accommodations, and seeing no leaks in the roof.  "It is, indeed, Nob!" he replies, wondering where he will spend the winter.

"Hey, do you like sweet berries?" Nob asks.  The Wylf nods, quietly.  "Want some?  Picked me a whole bunch of'em, I did!" the boy responds.  Having had no lunch, the wary Wylf nods, returning the boy's grin.

Nob gets up and opens his food box, pulling out a smaller one.  Inside are a collection of odd berries, the size of aggies.  They have segments resembling a peeled orange, alternating between purple and orange!  Sorrow has never seen the like, and is quite sure that they are not local to the area.

Nob pops one into his mouth and chews it, rolling his eyes in pleasure as he savours the taste.  "Hee, hee, hee!" he laughs, "Aint nobody else in all this-here place can get'em, either.  Only me!"

Beginning to be alarmed, now, the wary Wylf looks at the boy sharply.  "What do you mean, Nob?  Where do these things come from?"  The Wylf knows that, in nature, bright colors are often warning signs.  He wonders if these things could be poisonous.

"Why, I just follered Mister Hammer one night when he had on that fancy headband he sports now and then.  Him and Potts with his huntin' horn and the funny feller what's at the Shrine with that silver snake he wears around his middle, and old Buck a-wavin' that copper stick he favors.  I was a-skeered, but I durst do it anyways!" the boy finishes, looking up at the Wylf as though daring him to claim that his actions were not heroic.

"Indeed!" says the Wylf, "Very brave, and perhaps more than just a bit foolish!  I wonder what those four would have done to you, had they spotted you following them, Nob!  These berries are not worth risking your life over!" he says, taking one from the box and examining it.  As far as he can tell, they are edible, but he decides to wait until he can check them for poison, before trying one.

"Well, shucks, it weren't all that much, I guess," the boy says, dropping his eyes, "even though it were near midnight, and my knees knockin' together so's I figgered I'd heard, caught, and mebbe killed!" he continues, looking up with his brows lowered.  "When them four went inter the Tangles as easy as a rabbit into a briar patch, I just walked where they had, and it were easy.  Got right in by the big heap of stones, and all!  But then, they went down, and I wasn't so dumb as to do that.  No sir!  I was a-creepin' back, and found me these-here berries, I did!  Well, not these, exactly, but some just like'm.  These-here I got the last time I follered them four.  They go there whenever the moon's full - go inter a hole, and I picks berries, then heads back here, all the richer.  Pretty grand, aint it?"

"Oh, Nob!  That sounds incredibly dangerous, to me!  Thank God you were never caught, little one!  You must be quieter than any rabbit, to have followed those four, and never been seen!  Either that, or incredibly lucky!"  Sorrow shakes his head...  How lucky for him that Nob did have the courage and luck to survive!  Now he has several new clues to work with!

"So, where are these 'Tangles', Nob?  Are they near here?" he asks.

"Why sure, Sorrow!  They're just right around the corner, to the east, and south a bit.  Just walk around the corner and you can see'm!  Aint no way in, though, unless you's follerin' Hammer and that lot...  It's in-, im-, impenetrable."

"So, is there a path that Hammer follows?"

"Nope!  He and them others just walks through, like there weren't no briars, at all.  I kin, too, when I walks where they does!"

"But only on the nights of the full moon?" the Wylf queries.

"Well, yeah," Nob replies, "I aint never seed'em go, any other time." the boy replies.  "Why, Sorrow?" he asks, looking up at the armored Watcher with a questioning look on his face.

"Because, Nob, I am wondering if someone else with their magic items could also penetrate the Tangles, and whether or not they could do it on other days of the month, besides the 15th through 17th...  This being the 2nd of the month, I don't want to wait two weeks!"  He grins down at the lad.  "So, Nob, do you know anything about Buck's copper stick, or where he keeps it, or maybe about his blowpipe?"

"No, sir," Nob answers honestly, "I never knew he had no blowpipe."

"Did you ever see The Custodian - the fellow from the Shrine - with a chain, or Potts with a scythe, or maybe Hammer with a pair of tongs?"

Furrowing his brow in concentration, the boy says "No, I never seen no chain or scythe," then he brightens, meeting the Elf's eyes, again, "but Master Hammer does have a big set of tongs in the smithy!  Is that important?"

"Probably, Nob!  So, do you think you would recognize Master Hammer's headband, if you saw it, again?" the Wylf asks.

"Why sure," says Nob, "but I don't know where he keeps it."

Removing his pack, the Wylf once again pulls out the large roll of canvas, unwrapping the barrel hoop.  "Does that look like it, Nob?"

"Nah, that aint it," Nob declares, "it's way too big!  Hammer's is small enough to fit around his head, although it's got studs all along it, like this one." the boy responds.

"And do you think you would know Potts' horn, or the silver snake girdle, if you saw them again?" asks the Wylf.

"Why sure, but how are you going to get all those things?" Nob asks in consternation.  "I don't think them four is just going to give'm to you!" say the lad.  Then his eyes fall to the hoop, and he looks back up at Sorrow grinning.  "But you already knows where some of'em is, I bet, huh?"

"Not to mention that those four are out of town, right now!" the Wylf adds drily.

"Yeah, they seem to do that, every once in a while..." says Nob.  "Sometimes, I wish they'd never come back!"

"They won't, if we have anything to do with it, Nob!" the Wylf replies.  "Now, tell me everything that you can remember, starting from the first time that you followed those four..."

After quizzing the lad thoroughly, Sorrow gives him some more coins for all his help, telling him to pass along this information to Karl, urging him to look for Buck's copper stick, when he sees him.  Sorrow rues having cast the horn and scythe at Hammer, now, as well as giving Karl the chain and girdle.  If only he had kept them, he would be 7/8 the way to solving this mystery.  He shakes his head...

"Well, Nob, if you don't mind, I think I will rest here, for a while.  Remember: tell no one but Karl where I am, no matter what they say!  Should I fall asleep, kindly wake me before dark...  Once the rain stops, I would like you to show me this 'Tangles' you have mentioned."  Nob nods, seriously, as Sorrow closes his eyes and rests his throbbing head.

***

Wiping the rain from his eyes, Hammer grasps his spear firmly in both hands, and charges into the Shrine, where he sees the back of an armor-clad figure (no, wait!  That's Karl)!  Looking around, he can see nothing changed, within, and the only thing he can hear is the thunder and rain from outside.

Seeing nothing in the shrine, Hammer and Karl quickly make their way into the Manse.  There, they notice nothing out of the ordinary, either, but Hammer thinks he hears something from the east, over the noise of the thunder and rain...

"Good grief!" Karl exclaims.  "I could have sworn I heard some fighting."  He listens carefully, ssing his hunting skill, he looks around for anything in the room or on the floor that would indicate a struggle or point in a direction.  He looks across the room, to see if the door to the garden is still closed tight.  He spots no clues, yet again!

Karl looks around for any way out of this room, figuring that if he sees none, then the sounds must be coming from the garden. As he looks around, though, a stack of slats along the north wall catches his eye...

Going over to examine them, he notices that there is now a large hole in the stone under where the bed's mattress used to lie...  That wasn't there, before!  Apparently, that is where the slats came from.

Peering down into the hole, Karl can see nothing in the dark.  He can feel cool air wafting up from below, however...

[Karl also gets 26 Scrutiny Ability Specific Merits for that roll.]

Hammer, on the other hand, who can see in the dark, can see a platform of some sort about 30' below them.  Looking down into the hole, he says to Karl "Have you any rope?"

The mere thought of climbing down, however, calls up his agorophobia.  Suddenly, he gets very nervous about being so close to the edge of the hole, and backs away quickly, saying "Karl, I am not so sure about going down there.  I might slip and fall.  Maybe there is some other way down."

Karl looks at Hammer as he backs away from the hole.  "What's the matter?"  Then Karl stops.  "Hey, where are the sounds of battle?"  He listens intently over the hole without hearing anything from below.  "Yes, I do have some rope."

Looking at Hammer, Karl has an ABSOLUTELY AMAZING stroke of Luck! Rolling 01 vs. his 5% Scrutiny Ability (good for 100 Scrutiny-Ability-Specific Merits) and 02 against a Non-existant Evaluation Ability, Karl is able to tell from the Half-Dwarf's facial expression and actions that he is afraid... of heights! This is worth a new, 1% Evaluation Ability, giving Karl +2 Health, as well!

"Afraid of heights," Karls says, almost to himself.  "Don't worry, Tow, this won't be a problem."

Karl looks around carefully, using all of his Scrutiny Ability.  What is he missing?  He squints his eyes, knowing that there must be something that would enable a person to get up and down that shaft safely.  But what?

"That rope that turned into a chain, the weapon that looked like a string!  That's it!  Whatever we need to get down that hole safely is in this room disguised to look like something else.  Look around Tow, and though it may be dangerous, touch everything in sight and see if anything changes into something else."

Crawling about on the bed, Karl begins searching, looking at and touching everything.  Wait a minute!  What am I doing? Karl thinks to himself.  If there was something else magical, here, wouldn't the Wylf have sniffed it out?  Karl thinks he probably would have...

Also looking for levers, ladders, or other clues, Hammer casts about, hoping to find another way down.  Taking a slat, he leans over the shaft and drops it in.  It flutters down to the platform, below.  Nothing happens.

Hammer leads Karl back outside to check all around the building for signs of their companions.  While so doing he also looks for any signs of blood or a scuffle around. They listen for any more sounds of battle as well.  Hammer and Karl find nothing but the cold, driving rain outside. Any signs of battle would surely have been washed away, by now...

"I'm surely going to start rusting today," Karl growls.  "Tow, as much as we may not like it, we're going to have to go down that hole."

"I don't see any way for both of us to get down, but if you have your rope maybe I could lower you down, but that might prove dangerous." Hammer tells Karl.

"Not a problem, my friend," Karl says as he pulls his 50 foot rope out of his jumbled pack (that was in the room, and then taken to the stable, and now carried around like so much dead weight).

"Here's what we'll do.", Karl replies.  "I'll lower you down first.  We'll make a harness out of the rope by weaving it around your legs so you can go down easily without even looking.  Nothing to be afraid of there.  Then you'll untie the rope and I'll pull it back up."

"Three or four of these slats will be stacked across the hole and the rope will be passed over it and one end sent back down to you.  You'll hold onto the end of it as I slide down the other side.  Now, ordinarily, you wouldn't be strong enough to hold me with all of my armor on, but by wrapping the rope around the slats a couple of times, it will act like a pulley and give the system extra strength.  We'll make the loops around the slats close to the edge of the hole to reduce the torque on the slats, making it less likely that they'll break."

"But what about the fact that the rope is only 50 feet long and the hole is 30 feet deep, meaning that the rope has to travel 60 feet up and down?  Well, I'm 6 feet tall and you're more than 4 ft tall, which makes up the other 10 feet.", Karl adds.

"So, what do you say we get started?" he finishes.

"So, what do you say, Tow. Let's do it!  Just don't stand under me when I'm coming down. Just in case."

"Okay, I don't like it, but I will go.  A squire cannot be a coward, eh Karl?" says Hammer.

"That's a good man!"  Karl slaps him on the shoulder with a wide grin and then begins fashioning a harness that will carry the smaller man down into the pit.  Hanging on for dear life, and generally ignoring his environment, Hammer manages to survive the trip down, without incident.  At the bottom, he unties himself, while Karl assembles some slats up above, and ties himself on.  Hammer then reels in the rope, and lowers Karl.

This proves to be more trouble than merely tieing the rope off, and climbing down it, however, as the slats make a lousy pulley, being basically rectangular.  Never the less, Karl manages to make it down, onto the dark platform below.

The floor is rock, and the space is 10' wide, and broadens on either side as it slopes downward to the east.  A faintly glowing red light, in that direction, lends a hellish air to this subterranean setting.

The platform they are standing on has a round-headed pawl (hook with a lever on it) on one side of it.  The air, here, is cooler, but not particularly damp.  No doors or other passages present themselves, and it is very dark, and eerily quiet...

The seemingly natural passage is too dark for Karl to see in, but Hammer can see that it slopes gently down, running eastward, as far as you can tell.  It widens to 30' across, and reaches a height of 12' or so.  It continues for some 200'.

"Well, Tow, looks like the inside of a dog, to me, down here.  I'm going to have to light a torch.  It will mess with your vision, I would guess, but we'd probably be better off if you carried it and I readied my axe and shield." Karl says.  Once the torch is lit and handed off to Tow, Karl readies his weapons and leads the way down the passage, Tow at his shoulder, torch held high.

Hammer can hear two different voices speaking quietly, as though in normal conversation, coming from the east...  Words cannot be distinguished.  Karl, apparently, hears nothing.

As the two get closer, they can see the red light up ahead slowly growing stronger, and that it is flickering, like firelight.  As they watch, a tall, heavy-set figure holding a torch, with a naked blade in the other hand, appears some distance away.

The other torch-bearer ducks back into the room he came from, disappearing from sight.

Hammer whispers to Karl, "I hear two voices, but I can't make out what they are saying.  I say we are stuck here, and they've seen us.  We'd better either get out now, or charge in for a fight."

"I agree, Tow.  Let's go!" Karl replies.

Suddenly, from the darkness ahead, a man's voice calls out "Hold where you are!  Make no movements...  Who are you?"

Karl doesn't even slow down.  "I'll ask the questions if you don't mind.  Unhand our friends or face my trusty axe!"

A sinister voice retorts, "You call that a question?  Your axe... my friend will never reach me... if you want to join your friends... by all means, please do.  Now, before your light goes out... Who are your friends?"

Hammer thinks that voice sounds like Potts!

"Karl?  That you?" the voice calls.

"Karl?", a different voice shouts, "Is that you?"

Karl stops in his tracks, not willing to risk the lives of his new friends by being foolhardy.  "Aye, it's Karl.  Are you hurt?"

"Potts, it's Hammer and Karl" Hammer shouts down the corridor.

"My arrow is going to stay nocked until I see both of you... come forward." replies the sinister voice.

"Stay behind me, Tow," Karl whispers to his friend. "This armor may protect both of us... somewhat."

Hammer grasps the spear, getting into a battle position behind and off to the left of Karl.

"Very well, sinister-voiced person, we are coming slowly down the corridor toward you.  Be advised, if you loose that arrow, make sure it kills me, or I'll hack you into so many little pieces the dogs won't see fit to eat you." Karl replies.

Sinister-voice lets out a chuckle.  "You like my sinister voice. huh?  I been working on that for a while!  And don't you worry about the arrow... if I want to loose it, your axe will not reach me!"  The speaker lets out another chuckle.

The two continue on down the corridor, which terminates in a chamber.  As they enter, they see Potts across the pit from them, and Buck and Ox beside the entrance, the latter holding his staff like a baseball bat, ready to swing.  All are a good deal more ragged and bloody than when last seen by the knightly pair.  Within the pit float the decomposing bodies of some now-unrecognizable humanoid creatures, about 7' tall.

Behind Potts (kneeling 40' away, on the far side of the pit with his bow and arrow drawn), Karl can see a door, and the rope and canvas that the scythe was formerly wrapped in.  Lying on it are some torches, the small box and white pea found in the barn, the three bottles of poison, and a small statuette of a rosy sort, which Karl hasn't seen before.

"Well, gentlemen, it's good to see you again," Karl smiles, replacing his axe in its handy carrying place.  "A stinky place you've found here.  Most foul."

"Indeed, Karl!" Ox says, sitting down.  "It did smell nearly as bad until we threw those ghouls into the pit, there."

Unnocking his arrow, Potts grin at karl and Hammer.  "Ahh, boy is it good to see you, too!  We sure could have used your figting prowress a few minutes ago!"  Putting his bow away, Potts slumps down on the ground, slightly muffling a gasp of pain.  Once on the ground he starts inspecting his badly damaged Targe and armor, all the while glancing at Hammer and Karl every now-and-then as he speaks.

"So, did you guys find anything out?  We got ourselves in a wee bit of trouble... found a figurine of some sort, then while I was trying to dislodge that torturing device... " he points to the chains with the collar attached to it, "...I sli... I found the secret door over there.  The door hid three, thick skinned ghouls!  Yuck, filthy creatures!  Pretty much tore my Targe and armor to shreds!"  Potts shivers at the thought of the ghouls.  "Anything good your way?"

"Well," Karl begins, "about the only thing I found out up there is, that nice kid that runs the stables -- you know, the one that appears to be an idiot -- well, I think he really is an idiot.  Other than that, and the fact that I couldn't locate the Wylf, I have nothing to report."

"Ghouls are indeed nasty creatures.  Good job.  Are you badly hurt?  I've dressed a few wounds in my day, mostly my own." Karl finishes.

"I have a big story to tell," Hammer begins, "and I think now I should do so: After I left you all, I decided to give this little crossing a once over, to get a feel for the place, so to speak.  Well, the first place I saw was a little cottage, and I pretended to be lost so I might see what the people were like.  I was welcomed in by a very kind gentleman and his family who told me the following story, which I deem to be the truth."

"This old man told me that he had grown up here in this town, which used to be called Fair Crossing.  He said that there was a manor house over where some Tangles now stand, and the lord who lived there owned great fields to the east and south.  He told me that this lord refused his daughter’s hand to a suitor, a Sorcerer or something like that.  Then he said that there was a windstorm, and the sky went pitch black.  Everyone in town hid in their cellars.  When the storm was over, he recounted, everyone came out to see the  damage, but nothing really bad had happened anywhere except one place.  The big stone manor house was ruined, and the barns and other outbuildings and all the gardens were blown away entirely.  He said that from then on, the town went downhill.  The tangles grew over the manor, and people from the town began to  disappear.  He said then, afterward, the Four Strangers appeared.  After they arrived, when other strangers would arrive they would always disappear.  He said that the four strangers; Potts, The Custodian, Buck, and  me (I mean Hammer) were some kind of monsters who stole peoples' bodies, and that he had told me this all before, only it wasn't me...  It was someone else in Hammers' body.  In a few days, he said, the ‘real’ Potts,  Buck, Custodian and Hammer will be back, and we will be gone." Hammer continues.

"He told me that he had seen the Four putting something down into the well, on several occasions, and bringing something else back up.  The rest of what he said I remember exactly, he made it really clear as he looked right at me: 'Now listen here!  You are doomed unless you can find out how it is that those four can manage this awful thing they do - steal your bodies, then likely take your soul when they come back to reclaim the bodies you are now inhabiting!  We have certain protections here to ward off evil, but that won’t help you.  All I can suggest is that you search for something that might help you.  Look in their - for a little while your - places for anything that might give you a clue.', he said."
"He also told me," Hammer goes on, "'I know that the idol in the shrine is not the one that used to be there when I was a boy.  Nobody else has noticed that the old one’s gone, replaced with another one, but I can tell.  Whatever was done, it is magic, and evil too.  I can’t recall what the old idol looked like, only that the one there now isn’t right.' And that is the end of his story.  After I left there, I went to another cottage, where I was robbed by some very mean people, who have a definite hatred for Hammer...  Then, luckily, I found Karl." says Hammer.

"One thing I forgot to mention, is that when Buck and the others go to the well, he always carries a small rod made of copper.  Has anyone found something like this?" Hammer finishes.

Ox listens intently to Hammer's story, and answers his question at the end with, "No, I haven't seen a rod like that, but I have a sneaky suspicion that that 'old idol' the man was referring to might look a lot like this one...."  He pulls a carved image of a benevolent looking diety out of Buck's sack.  "We should show this to the man you spoke with to be sure, but let's finish down here, first."  Ox then joins Karl in trying to 'patch up' as many of the wounded as he can.

"There was some discussion about destroying the contraption," Ox says, indicating the chains, "but I think it would be better to check out that tunnel to see if there are any more of those ghouls around."

Buck merely nods his reply, gathers his things and heads down the new tunnel.  This is a very small, claustrophobic tunnel, heading north. It is lightless, and stinks like an open grave (and not a freshly dug one, either). It heads northward, and is so small that only one person at a time will be able to fit into it, and will have to turn sideways to do it.

Buck shouts back through the hall "We'll only be able to fit down here single file, and sideways!  Oh yeah, and there's something dead down here, man it reeks of death!"  There is obvious revulsion in his voice.  "Are you guys coming, or what?"  His voice fades a little as he continues down the hall.

After going about 10' or so north, the tunnel curves and heads generally westward, running about 60' to a small warren roughly 10' x 20'. This reeking, fetid area was home to the four ghouls.  Among the litter can be seen bones, useless scraps of what might once have been clothing or armor, several coins, etc.

After examining his targe and armor, Potts stands at Buck's beckon.  Motioning for all to follow, he quickly heads down the unsearched hall... following Buck...

Karl quickly packs up his wound caring kit and pulls his ax back out.  Well, if I can't protect the group at the head, I can protect them from behind, he thinks.

"I'll take up the rear guard," Karl says, and follows the rest into the tunnel, axe first and shield behind, in case something slinks out of the darkness to attack.  Ox follows along, taking the middle of the marching order.  Hammer falls in behind him, with Karl in the rear.

The earthen tunnel goes only about 10' northward before turning westward, to the left.  It is so narrow that only one person at a time can fit through it, and even then, they have to turn sideways.  This makes using weapons and shield impossible, in such narrow confines!

As they go along, Hammer uses his Dwarven vision to scan the dirt walls, looking for... anything.  There seems to be nothing to find, where he is.  After going about 10' or so north, the tunnel curves and heads generally westward, running about 60' to a small warren roughly 10' x 20'. This reeking, fetid area was home to the four ghouls. Among the litter can be seen bones, useless scraps of what might once have been clothing or armor, several coins, etc.

Karl watches Tow scrutinizing the narrow passageway's walls in the dim light. Now that's a skill I should like to develop sometime, he thinks to himself, and resolves to ask Tow about it later.


Up ahead, Buck is the first to enter the warren, looking around at all the coins, and detritus,and checking the wall for another secret door.  The fourth ghoul, wastes no time in leaping down upon him from the hole in the wall where it rests, taking him down to the floor, clawing and biting.  Behind Potts, Ox is the firsts to see the hurtling beast, but can do nothing, from where he is.  Potts moves up into the room, taking a swipe at the ghoul as he leaps over it and Buck, clearing the way for the rest of the party to enter the small earth-walled "room".  His blow goes wild, and misses.

Buck scrambles to his feet and aims for the ghouls head with a savage kick.  Ox follows Potts' lead, taking a swipe at the ghoul with his staff, and trying to get over the combatants into the room, so that the better fighters can get in.

"Take his head if you can," Ox shouts as he moves, "These thingss have a bad habit of not staying dead!"

Moving into the room, Hammer thrusts at the undead with his spear, but misses.  Karl moves into the room when he can. He drops his shield and grabs his axe with both hands, intending to dispatch the foul beast with his first blow.  He takes a mighty - but imprecise - swipe... and misses!

At this point, things begin to get very confused; six creatures crowded into a space merely 10 x 20', and without a lot of maneuvering room.  Buck and the ghoul regain their feet, and lash out at each other at the same time that Karl brings his axe around into an uppercut.  The ghoul claws, and Buck dodges, making it's bite even farther off.  Buck leaps up, lashing out with both boots, scoring a pair of hits that leave it with some new bruises.  Karl's mighty axe slices upwards, but again misses.

Recovering from his leap, Potts steps in from the left flank to take a cut at the creature, but only slices air.  Ox weighs in from the other flank, scoring yet another hit with his staff, which does no more than irritate the ghoul.  Hammer savagely thrusts the thing in the rear with his spear, but feels like he is thrusting through heavy armor...  His spear's point barely breaks the skin!

Ox steps up, again, swinging for the ghouls head, and misses.  Potts drops to one knee, holding what is left of his mangled targe up while he thrusts upwards with his long sword hoping to pierce the ghoul.  He connects, doing only minor damage.  The ghoul, meanwhile, snaps at Buck and claws at Potts.  Both attacks miss their targets.

"Okay, Gimme another stab at 'em!" says Hammer, thrusting from behind.  He takes the undead in the back, adding another scratch to the ghoul's growing collection.  Buck leaps up again, kicking at the ghoul.  Only one foot manages to connect, and that does no apparent damage.  Recovering from his last miss, Karl swings, and misses yet again...

The beleagured ghoul claws at Potts and snaps at the lightly-armored Buck, but misses both, yet again.  Kneeling, Potts thrusts up at the filthy, stinking once-human again, but misses.  Hammer, charging in from behind, misses the ghoul, crashes into it, and goes down.

Stepping in over Hammer, Karl (cursing his inability to get a hit) smashes the axe into the ghoul, ending the battle with one massive blow...  The ghoul's limbs splay out as it falls, and its head goes flying.  It bounces to a stop... and then begins rolling back!

"Even though you took his head off, I suggest our friend here take a bath back with the rest of his friends....." Ox says, picking up the ghouls head, and looking into it's eyes.  He then takes the head back to the acid pit for disposal.

"Sounds good to me," Karl agrees. "If you guys want to check out this stinky place, I'll drag the body back."

Standing from his kneeling position, Pott's nods in agreement.  "Give us a shout if it wakes up."  Torch in hand, Potts starts to search and make a pile of all the goodies in the room.

Dragging the dead ghoul sideways through the tunnel is tough enough, but getting around the corner proves to be too hard.  Karl pauses until Ox can come back and help him, and together they get the body through the tunnel, and into the pit.

In the meantime, Buck has searched the scraps of former clothing and armor and found a cutting and thrusting sword which still looks in good shape (although the scabbard is history).  Potts has accumulated a pile of copper and silver coins which, when counted, turn out to be worth $70 in total.  Potts picks up the coins, slipping them into a pocket.

Buck nods.  "I'll hang on to this," he hefts the sword, "you hang onto that... we'll split it later, no point in all of us jingling.", he says with a smile.  Then he starts to look for a second way out of the cave.

The Custodian looks the ghoul's head in the eyes again and says, "I'm sorry for whoever you were...  I hope this gives you peace."  He tosses the head into the acid vat, muttering a prayer under his breath.

Ox rests his hands on either side of the narrow secret door, letting his head hang for a second, before lifting it and calling down the hall, "Anything else I need to see down there?  This tired old body still has pretty good eyes...."

Potts joins Buck in evaluating the surrounding area. He starts next to Buck and works in the opposite direction, searching the walls, floor and peering up at the ceiling.

"I think that maybe these Half-Dwarven eyes are best for searchin' underground." Hammer says while examining the area.

After disposing of the stinky carcass, Karl heads back down the passageway, feeling his way in the dark, until he comes back to the room. He retrieves his shield.  "Well, any other way out of this stinky place?"  No one has managed to find one.

Finishing his search of the area, Potts addresses thr group.  "Let us get out of this undead hole we are in!  I think we have found everything that would be useful.  The only thing I would stop for, is somehow removing the torture device in the other room.  That device sends shivers up and down my spine!  If these evil-doers do get their bodies back, I would rather not have them torturing us or others!"

Potts looks at the others for a short time, then stands at the crevice opening, torch in hand.

Buck nods silently in agreement.  He suddenly realizes all the excitement has settled in his bladder, and his face becomes very red.  He whispers something to Potts.

With the torch being so close to his face, you can see Potts' cheeks turn a bright red as his eyes widen in surprise at Buck's whisper: "Um....Potts?" Buck whispers, grimacing, "Before I was body-snatched, I was a girl.........how do I aim this thing?" he says, motioning to his nether regions.

Moments later, Potts tries unsuccessfully to stifle a hearty chuckle.  Giving the rest of the group a wink, Potts shakes his head as he whispers back.  Standing to one side of Buck, he keeps himself out of harm's way, "Well, uh, well.... Gosh, you just, oh dear... hold it and aim, I guess.  But, can you wait till we are out of this crack in the wall?  I don't want to be walking in that!  I just cleaned my boots yesterday!"

"Here take one of the torches and aim for a corner in the acid room. We'll catch up...  Oh, yeah... and try not to dribble on your pants!"  Turning away from Buck, he looks at the party and lets out another snicker of laughter.

Buck's face turns an even deeper shade of red (if that's possible) and nods to the answer.  "Thanks, Potts...."  He then follows the group down the hall and stops at the acid pit.  "This looks like as good of a spot as any!" he says, trying to cover his embareassment.  As the group continues down the hall, they suddenly hear a shriek from Buck.  "Aw man!  No toilet paper!  And I did so well too!  Right on the ghoul's nose!"  A few moments later, he rejoins the group, looking much...well, relieved 

Potts makes his way to the acid room.  "Ox?  You figure out how to dismantle that contraption yet?" he asks as he scatches the day's growth on his chin.

Ox is still scratching his head when Potts arrives.  "No...I have yet to come up with anything that doesn't involve going to get tools....  I have half a notion to go get a crowbar and pull the pulleys and collars apart, to salvage the chain, but I doubt it would be worth the effort.  I don't feel like lugging a chain around, not knowing if I'll need it."

Taking his hunter's hat off (which, surprisingly, did not fall off during the heated battles!) he swipes his hand through his sweat-slickened hair.  Placing his hat back on he grimaces in pain...  "I'm hot, sweaty and in pain!  Let's get up top and take a breather, figure out what we have for clues so far, and figure out what we want to do next."

Ox rubs his leg absently as he leans on his staff, "I'm pretty tired myself.  I think we've seen all we need to see down here....  What do you thnk?"

Potts wipes his hand off on his damaged armor as he waits for the party's decision.  Examining his targe, he looks up at Hammer.  "Whatcha think?  This fixable?"

"Yeah, I can fix it, but it'll take days!" says Hammer, looking at Potts' ruined targe.

It is now somewhere after 1:00 PM on a stormy winter's day in the unfair burg of Forlorn Corners.  Of those present, only Hammer and Karl are unhurt, and even they are hungry.  No one really objects to getting out of here, especially when they have time to listen to their stomachs start to growl, and think about where those ghoul's claws and fangs have probably been, and what lovely infections they can probably get from them.

Taking a last look around, they say a less-than-fond farewell to the floating, decomposing ghouls, and fall in behind Potts and Karl, tiredly trudging up the long hallway back to the "lift", where Karl's rope still hangs down.  Nobody really feels like climbing, though, especially with their wounds.

Potts' shoulders slump as he looks at the rope dangling down.  Sighing heavily, he steps onto the lift... "There has got to be a better way up..  Everyone on the lift, let's see what we can find."  As everyone tries to get on the lift, Potts realizes that there is only room for four...  He looks at the lever attached to the round-headed pawl on the side of the lift...

Grinning as he lightly touches the lever, Potts says "Karl, Buck, I will take you two up first then come back for Hammer and Ox."  Potts moves to one side, allowing Karl and Buck on...  "Going up!" (he hopes).  Buck nods and climbs on.  He and Hammer, too, begin looking for some sort of mechanism that would trigger the lift.  "Alright," Karl shrugs as he steps onto the platform.

After Karl and Buck step aboard, Potts plays around with the lever and pawl mechanism.  Looking upwards, he notices the rope dangling down.  "Make sure the rope doesn't get in our way and jam something."  Bracing himself, he continues to move the lever hoping the lift starts to move upward.  It doesn't.  As Karl hastily coils his rope, Hammer stumps around the platform, joining in the search for the operating mechanism.

"Hmmmph!  If this thing goes up with all yer weight," he grumbles, "then there's gotta be a counterweight somewheres, but I don' see one..."  After looking all around the platform (and being informed by Ox that he had previously searched the entire area, on his way in, and found nothing), Hammer toys with the lever Potts has been playing with.

After searching the platform, to no avail, Hammer tries the lever, and notices that there is a chain attached to it.  Giving this a hard jerk apparently starts the counterweight (wherever it is) moving, as the platform smoothly begins to rise upwards, taking Buck, Karl, and Potts quickly out of sight.

The lift arrives at the top of the shaft and stops.  The three adventurers are all standing in The Custodian's bed, looking at the mattress lying on the Manse's floor. The rain outside continues, making it very dim in here.  Indeed, were it not for the torches, none of you would be able to see very distinctly, in the dim light!

Down below, The Custodian and Hammer look around at each other in the now-total darkness...  Potts' words from last night come back to them: "Evil thrives in darkness, and here I am standing in it!"  Ox grips his staff and peers into the dark, seeing only the walls and the columnar shaft supporting the lift.

As intent upon detecting anything as they are, both Hammer and Ox hear a distint "snakt" sound, seemingly coming from the column!  "Whats was that?" they ask each other, weapons ready. They see and hear nothing more.

Pott's ushers Buck and Karl off, "Let's get this contraption going down and pick up the rest of the group."  Potts start to search for the mechanism that will send him down.  "Well, we got it moving once! We can do it again!"  Try as he might, he can find no mechanism.

Meanwhile, down below, Ox and Hammer ae looking for the source of the sound.  "It was just a rat," Ox's tone sounds like he's trying to convince himself as much as Hammer.

"Okay, whatever that was I don't like it.  Let's keep our backs to the walls until we get outta here.  And let's not stand underneath that platform."  Hammer grasps his spear tightly, back to the wall, looking back down the tunnel.

Potts turns and looks at the lift closely.  "As I remember... she just started moving down.  I had to jump on while it was moving, and you, Buck, you nearly jumped when we were halfway down!  A sight to behold, I tell ya!"  Potts hops back on the lift and to get it going.  Again, it sinks beneath him...

Down below, Hammer and Ox are so busy peering back down the tunnel, the way that they came, that they miss the descent of the lift platform until the round-headed pawl goes "snakt", once again.  Looking around quickly, they see a grinning Potts reaching over to take the lever in hand.

Everyone quickly piles onto the lift, and after a few more tries with the lever, Potts manages to make it go up, yet again.  The lift quickly rises towards the dim light, above, and the sound of the rain on the Manse's roof fill their ears.

Being careful to keep all fingers and toes inside the platform's outline (and thus attached to the appropriate bodies), the adventurers rejoin their friends up above, without even bumping a head.  Karl and Buck are standing there, alive and waiting, Karl helping an uncomfortable-looking Buck clean and patch up her wounds.  The new arrivals step down off the bed to join them.

"That should take care of you for a while," Karl smiles as he finishes up and starts to pack away his would repair kit.  "Nasty things, those ghouls.  By the way, nice job finding tihs place.  Which reminds me," Karl says, turning to Hammer/Tow.  "Did we tell them what we heard from the villagers about the main well?"

"Thanks Karl..." Buck says, then "I think you may have, but refresh our memories anyway...a good story should always be told twice."

"It was something about all of us going and putting stuff down there, right?" Ox answers, "And a copper rod..."

Potts grimaces as he stretches his body to keep his muscles from getting stiff.  "Well, I could use some food and definately some clean bandages.  Then it sounds like we have three clues to look into.  One, this copper rod... it was Buck that was holding it right?  We should search the Tavern... the places we have not searched yet.  Two, we need get down that well...  I don't know, dredge it?  Or look for any type of crevice... Someplace we could hide something.  Three -- Buck, you have that statue we found below?  I wonder if that is the old idol the old man remembered as a child?  Well, we need to figure out what to do with the new idol.  What do you guys and Buck think?  Am I missing anything?"

"That sounds like as good as plan as I've heard yet," Karl says.  "Especially the eating part."

"Yup, that about covers it." say Ox.  "The only thing I have to add is that I think we should look for the copper rod *before* going to the well.  You said that we had it with us every time we went there, so perhaps it is a key of some sort.  I have a feeling even if we did dredge it, we'd still never find anything without that rod...."

"Sounds good to me.", says Karl.

Hearing the word "food" makes Potts' mouth salivate, and his stomach echoes throughout the Manse.  "Mmmm, Food!  Assuming our original bodies did not keep the rod, and the rod was Buck's, it has to be in the Tavern.  So, I agree, let's get the food, clean up, and find the rod before we dive down the well."  Potts heads for the door outside.

"I am ready to eat as well." Hammer says to the others while trying to remember if he left anything out of his previous story.  "I think I told the whole story right, but we should all sit down and try to make some sense of this whole puzzle while we get some grub.  I could eat a whole goat myself!"

So saying, the party walks out the manse's door, through the shrine, and pause for a moment to wrap their garb tighter around them.  The drizzle outside is now a pouring rain, with a blustery winter wind, and the weather looks cold and miserable.

Dashing across the track to the bar's entrance, everyone quickly piles inside, glad for the warmth of the fire.  Except for the big man that Karl and Ox remember as Jamie, the room is empty.  Bernie and the ruffians are gone, and no one else is braving the foul weather.

"Welcome back, Sir Knight, Gentlemen...  Can I get you a drink, or will you be joining Carilla in the eating room?" the smiling man asks.

"Karl, are you buyin'?  If so, I would beg for a pint of ale and a shank of meat.  I don' care what kind...just as long as it's cooked.", says Hammer.

Potts' eyes brighten as he smells the mixture of food and ale in the room.  "I still have the monies... ah, we just got.  I would like to tend my wounds first, anyone good at nursin' some cuts and bruises?  I sure could use some lookin after."

"Na, na na... it's on the house." says Buck.

Jamie laughs, them smirks.  "Buck givin' away free food and booze?"  He fills himself a mug, grinning the whole time.

Anyway," Potts continues, "a hearty meal and a pint of ale would do me just fine!  Let's us join Carilla in the Eating Room!  Well, I will be right down."  Potts starts to walk towards the stairs.

"You aren't the only one who could use some help...  I have some nasty hurts myself." Buck replies.

Ox follows Potts upstairs to dress any wounds that need it.  He tells Buck "I'm going to go look after the wounded, if you need it stitched, follow us."  He turns to the barkeep.  "We will need some towels, and lots of hot water.  Send some up with our meal..."

Buck follows Potts and Ox upstairs.  "In the meantime..we've collected quite a few gadgets.  Perhaps some closer inspection of those will get us further in our goal?  Also, I've been thinking.  That woman that passed us... the one with the bucket of water?  Maybe she saw something funny going on at the well.  We'd have to find her to ask, but I'm sure somebody in town knows her.", he suggests.

The Custodian 'scrubs up' and sets about mending as many of the wounds as he can.  "I agree, we check out the ruins, but I think we should wait until morning.  I don't fancy the idea of going in the dark, and I need to rest as well.  This old body tires fast...  Althogh I could use a nap, we should try and check out that ruin before dark sets in...."  A sudden rain-gust blows open a shutter, and he quickly closes it.  "Unless you think we should wait out the weather...."

When the group comes back together at the table, Karl orders some beef, cheese, bread, and an ale.  He thanks Buck for the feastibles.  As he eats, he listens to the others discuss what they have found thus far.  Buck open his sack, and dumps the contents upon the table.  Inside are Potts horn and scythe, the box and pea (with 12 ivory elephants inside) which Ox found in the barn, and the two foot idol he later recovered from a niche in the ghoul pit.

"So, we have everything but the rod.  Is that right?  We have the well to go down and the old bramble covered ruin to find.  What am I missing?" Karl asks.

"Potts, can you tell Karl an' me what happened while we were gone, before you ran into the nasty ghouls?" asks Hammer.

Potts (assisted by the others) spends the next half an hour or so recounting their various exploits... none of which sheds any light on anything.  Carilla runs in and out, horrified by the look of the bloody, torn up trio, and brings everyone food and drink, as they ask.  Everyone has a chance to examine the various oddities sitting on the table...

"Myself, I want to go out into the rain and just stand there, that way hopefully when I get my body back, and Hammer gets his back, at least he will have a cold to deal with.  Maybe he will catch a fever and die, I can only hope!" mutters Hammer.

After eating a healthy serving (or two -- but not so much that it will slow him down later), Karl leans back in his chair and picks his teeth with a piece of chair leg he has carved off with a table knife.  "So where is this rod likely to be?  Any ideas?" he asks.  No one replies, all seemingly without ideas.

"Well," Karl asks, after everyone has had time to eat, "Is everyone ready to get back to it?"

"Aye, Karl," says Potts, "let's get me back my body!  The rod was Buck's, where would you hide such an item?  We have searched every nook and cranny in his room...  Maybe the kitchen?  Behind the bar?  Any suggestions?" Potts mutters as he licks each of his fingers individually, ending with his thumb.

"Well..." *hic!* "'m'notshure where to look nexxxxsssssst......", says Buck.

Potts raises an eyebrow in the direction of Buck.  "Ahhh, Sugar!  Well, least it appears that Buck is a better Drunk than a fighter!  Buck, you best lay off the booze, and go get yourself some water, lots of water!"  Shaking his head in disdain, Potts looks to the rest of the group.  "Well, where should we look for this rod?"

As Potts turns to examine the items on the table, some hear him mutter, "I be thinking, Buck should be letting that booze come back up!"

Finishing his cooked meat with a grunt, Hammer says: "Why don't we head to the ruins first, then we go back to look for the rod.  I have a curiousity 'bout that place.

"That's a good idea, Hammer," The Custodian says, fumbling through his stuff looking for a way to sober up Buck, "Since no one has any idea where the rod is, we'll come back to it later."

"'Um, yeah... whatever...  If anyone needs me, I'll be at da bar.  Daaaaa bar.  I love daaaaaaa bar.  Bar.  Mmmm.  Bar. *hic!*"  Buck wanders out of the dining room.  "At daaaaaaa Bar.  Yeaaaaaahhhhhhhh." 

"Well, we'd better not let our drunkard wander off.  If we're going, we should all go together, and the sooner the better.  We only have half a day's light left." says Karl.

"Dun call me Buck" he slurs "call me Carrilla... 'm a woman! woooooomaaaaaaaannnn.  M'name's Carrilla Finnebonne.... an' ah want my body back.  Body!  Body!  Booooodeeeeeee!"  She begins looking into the corners of the room for her body.

Shaking his head, Potts can only wish he was as drunk as Buck.  A slight smirk appears on his lips as she looks for her body.  "Carrilla, dear, only speaking for myself, honey, but, I sure wish you had your body back too!"  Letting out a chuckle, Potts gently grabs ahold of Finnebonne.  "Time for Carrilla to get some water now.  Gentlemen, let's get Bu - Carrilla here sober enough to start our search again."

"I wish we could keep our heads about us!" exclaims Hammer.  "Let's decide what to do, and drag the drunkard along behind us.  We can discuss our findings after we have made a thorough search of both the ruins and the well."

The half-dwarf gets up from the table, lets out a hearty belch, and slaps his breastplate.  "I feel much better now!"

"The rod," Karl mumbles as he stands up, "where cuold that thing be!"  He brushes the crumbs away and smiles at Tow.  "Ready when you are."

"Dun call me a drunkard!!  'm not a drunkard!  Ish allllllll his fault"  Carilla points to the body she's wearing.  "He'sh the one who drinkshssss!"  She nods in acceptance to the water, and takes huge gulps of the stuff, letting off an amazing belch afterwards.

Hammer and Karl get up, and The Custodian starts piling all the stuff back into Buck's homemade sack, as everyone rearranges their damp clothing and checks their weapons.  In moments, they are ready to head out.

"Let us head down toward the latrine, I am sure Carilla will need to relieve herself...  he drank a lot of water!  Checking out the ruins will take the remainder of the lighted day, when we get back we can look for this rod, here, or we can go check out the well."  Potts opens the door out and leads the way.

Ox puts his hand on Carilla's new shoulder in an attempt to console her, as they walk out the door.  "Well, look at it this way, he's probably miserable having to deal with all of those exotic and volatile female chemicals running rampant through your former body."  He smiles, "With a little luck, he'll be going through the worst abdominal cramps of his life...."

"After the latrine, I will take the lead and head in the direction of the ruins.  Is everyone okay with that?  If not, speak up and lead somewheres else..."  Hammer walks toward the closest door to the latrines.  "Come on let's be off."

So everyone piles outside, through the back door, and is standing out back, in front of the double-doored outhouse (Men's to the left, Lady's to the right).  Looking around, nothing has changed in the last hour or so... It is still raining, the dreary little burg's dirt road and track now resemble muddy streambeds, and it is a lovely day... for ducks!

Carrilla's head snaps to the right, even as her body heads for the left, causing her to aquire an accute case of whiplash, and landing her in the mud.  She lets out with a string of violent curses, as she picks herself up, and stands confused for a long moment, considering.  "I'm a girl D*MMIT!" she whines, then begins to cry, as she realizes the girls' bathroom is no longer suited for her.  "I don't waaannnnaaa gooo in the booooyyyyyyssss' roooooommmmmm!"

Helping Carrilla stand, Potts is unable to hold in a laugh, chuckling at Buck (now Carilla), he helps her to the women's door.  "Carrilla, when you are in the woman's bathroom, clean yourself off...  Believe me, when the line's long, I use the women's bathroom... it does suits the purpose.  Quickly now, Dear, we are getting wet and loosing daylight." 

"Well, decide which one you're using, dear, and leave me the other.  I'm not going into any ruins until I have a nice... rest."  Karl ducks into the free one.  "Just take a sec!"  Afterwards, rather refreshed, Karl shakes the rain off his head and prepares to follow the group to the ruins.

Knowing where the ruins are not, Hammer thinks that leaves only one place where they are, so he  heads away from the crossroads, and south toward the last unfriendly cottage where he lost his weapons.

Hammer calls out to the privy occupants, and his other companions,  "C'mon, and let's be off.  I have a good idea where these ruins are at.  Right next to the cottage where those nasty robbers who stole my... er... Hammer's hammers live."

Ox follows along, ignoring the rain, and thankful no one heard him behind the 2 occupied stalls.

After leading the group to the cottage where he lost his weapons, Hammer says "Well, I suggest we split into two groups and search this place, one outside and One inside.  I will stick with Karl, and now that we are all here, I say let him take charge of the searchin'.  I'm not comfortable havin' a Knight follow my directions...  After all I was just a lowly squire before I became a Dwarven smith."

***

Meanwhile, back in the stable's hayloft, Morchaint-Din decides that daylight is wasting, and that Karl isn't likely to show up, anytime soon...  Not wanting to spend any more time here than he has to, he pulls out the Custodian's writing kit, and composes a farewell note to Karl:




			To the Knight, Karl, of the House of Belford

From the Wylven Watcher known to Humans as Sorrow

Karl;
I have waited to see if I could catch you for some time, but I do not intend to spend another night in this town, so I must leave now.  I will head north to the old road, then follow it east until I reach the Human city of Mersdale, some days hence.  I have a friend there, perhaps I will see you again.

I have left messages for you with Nob, but I do not trust him to get it to you, so I am leaving you this note...  Check your saddle bags.  I have found that Hammer's Tongs from the forge, and this studded barrel hoop which I believe is his headband (although it is too big) are magical.  I have also searched the Inn, and found this blowpipe and darts, which are also magical...

It seems to me that each of ''the four'' had two magical items, one of which is a weapon.  Ask Nob about his berries, and quiz him on where he got them...  You will find that Buck had a copper stick (a wand, no doubt), although I could not find it in the Inn...  Perhaps it is in the magical box in one of the footstools in Buck's room.  It is not locked, but I could not open it.  Maybe it is there, or maybe not.

I have noticed that, while these magic items occur in pairs, they are always found one to a place...  Hammer's Tongs in the Smithy, but the Headband in the Stables; The Custodian's Girdle in the Shrine but the chain in the Manse; Potts' scythe in the store, but the Horn in the Barn...  Buck's blowpipe was hidden inside a wine cask in the Inn's basement - his ''stick'' will be somewhere else connected with him, but where?

In any case, good luck to you and your foolish friends.  If I ever hear that Karl Belford has taken up residence in Forlorn Corners, I will come back and kill him/It!...
		
Click to expand...



Finished with his note, Sorrow re-reads it, then puts away his gear and slings on his pack, throwing his leather raincloak over top of it, and heads downstairs.  Entering his horse's stall, he reaches over and grabs Karl's saddlebags.  Removing the clothes, he stuffs the tongs, hoop, and blowpipe and darts into them, buckling them back up.  The note he stuffs into the shirt pocket, then hangs the bag over Karl's saddle, and tosses the clothes on top.

"Well, girl," he says to his horse, "I know that coming here was a long trip, but shall we head back?"  Not really expecting an answer, he heads to the door and looks out.  Seeing nothing in the rain, he closes the door and rides north, headed out of town.

***

As Potts is dithering about in the rear of the party, he turns and looks up the street, just in time to see that pesky Wylf, Sorrow, ride north out of town!  Well, the two of them didn't get along, anyway...  Goodbye, and good riddance!

[That roll - 01 - was also good enough to earn Potty a Scrutiny skill of 4%...]

"Well," Ox says, leaning on his staff, ignoring the rain, "I will help seach the outside... the sooner we get started, the sooner we get done."  He waits for a partner to volunteer his help.

Hammer says to Karl, "Let's go check out the shack across the road."  Then to everyone else, "There seems to be lots of trees over here to the east side of the road, why don't the rest of you search around the outside of the shack under the trees."

The group troops across the muddy road towards the humble 20 x 30' single strory shack.  Inside, they can hear a dog begin barking, and see the warm glow of firelight through the window shutters.

"Don't come any closer, or you're feathered!" comes a man's vice from inside, as the adventurers approach.  "Stand still and say what you want, right there."

Immediately, Potts halts as he peers at the shack ahead.  His head swivels as he takes in the Shack's surroundings.  Keeping his hands where they can be seen by the person speaking, Potts hails the fellow.  "Good day!  At least as good as it is going to get in this miserable weather!" he chuckles slightly.  "We seek no trouble, just idle conversation and maybe a couple of questions."

Looking at the shutters, as he speaks, Potts can see no one.  Even over the sound of the rain, however, he is able to catch some whispering.  Most of it is unintelligible, but he does hear the name "Potts" being passed.

"Too many strange things going on here to trust anyone... sorry! Tell us what the matter is, and what you seek.  Guess you're going through one of your crazy phases, right?" comes the man's voice from inside, again.

"If ya want to call it a crazy phase...  Then it sure is!  Maybe you can enlighten me?  This phase makes me loose my head sometimes.  You haven't seen any strangers about?  Well, besides the Good-Knight Karl here..."

The man's voice continues: "Thought as much.  @#$%! unlucky to have come to this place.  Well, I believe you, so come on inside, now, and maybe we can help."  Movement is seen in a couple of the windows, and the sound of a squeaky hinge is heard shortly thereafter.

"You in the shack," Karl calls. "I am Sir Karl Belford, of House Belford, and I do not lie.  You are in grave danger, but not from this group.  Some evil magic is at work here, and these people you see and think you know are not who you think them to be.  I would explain more but you would think me mad.  Know this, we are here to find out what evil is working in this village and any who stand in our way will be the worse off for it.  We are not your enemies unless you make us that, which would be ill advised.  We intend to search the ruins in this area and would appreciate it if you would stay out of our way.  So what say you?"

"I say, if you want to search the ruins, good luck!  If you want to stand there bellowing at the rain you're as crazy as your new friends, and that if you want to talk, you should come in and do it privately, away from prying ears, as I've already invited you.  Suit yourself!" says the man's voice from a different location.

Hammer looks at the group, then back at the shack, wondering if he is going to be robbed a second time, today.  "I guess there is nowheres else to go... we had better go in.  Maybe Carilla or Buck and Ox will wait here as a backup, just in case..." his voice trails off as he walks to the shack.

Grinning at the thought of getting out of the rain, Potts heads for the shack.

Ox stands quietly in the back, prefering not to talk.  Lost in his own little world, turning his face up to let the rain hit it.  As people start going in he says, "We still need to search the ruin, are we all going inside, leaving the ruins for tomorrow, or shall we split up?"

Carilla shakes her head.  "No way!  I'm cold and I'm wet...  I'm going in... if you're afraid of being robbed, YOU stay out here."  With that, Carilla goes inside the shack to dry off and meet the man.

Karl, followed by Ox, follow the rest of the party in.

Within are a man and woman, both armed with strongbows (now held at their sides), and a large mastiff hunting hound.  Boots, shoes, and outer garments can be found by the entry; a large animal pelt and a small braided rug lie on the floor.  The room has furnishlngs that consist of a table with some utensils on it, a bench, two chairs, a stool, a grinding wheel, and a woodbox with logs by the fireplace.  There is a work table with pots and kettles, a tub of water, some pans and foodstuffs in sacks, and small boxes near the fireplace.  At the rear is a built-in bed with curtains that cover its two open parts.  A pair of wooden chests hold the couple’s clothing and small personal belongings.  The bare places on the walls are decorated with six animal pelts and two paintings of landscapes of bright-hued but not very artistic sort.

Potts immediately grins from ear to ear as he notices the dog. "Ahhh, nothing better than the barking breed, and a Mastiff, none the less!!"  Kneeling, he holds his hand out, palm up, hoping the huge dog would like his ears scratched as he listens to the story told.  The woman hangs onto it, though, apparently to keep it from attacking the strangers.

After the party files in, the man begins to speak:  "Our families have lived around here for a century or more.  When the four who are the main folks here - Buck, Potts, that wretch The Custodian, and that @@#$%^&*! smith, Hammer - showed up, things went from bad to worse.  I wasn't around when the Tangles grew there..." (he points in the direction of the mass of undergrowth to the east that covers the ruins [14]), "but it seems the curse on Forlorn Corners came when the grand house that once stood there was razed by a terrible storm.  Me - a woodsman! - I can't get into the place to examine it, so whatever caused the ruin of the place has barred it to normal people and animals.  Not a critter living in that jungle except rats and bugs, as far as I can tell."

"Now, every time a handful of strangers show up here, those four go crazy and claim they aren't themselves, but the strangers.  Only then, the strangers have disappeared, and that sounds like loony sort of raving.  But in a couple of weeks or less, those devils are back to normal.  That always happens in the morning after afull moon."

"In case you're wondering how come I know so much, well, I'll admit it.  I've been paying a lot of attention because I think the four are dangerous and might start on the people who live here.  If fewer than four strangers stay here, nobody is likely to ever hear from them again about a quarter of the time, you see.  So I've been spying and keeping watch careful-like, because folks are shunning this place more than ever now.  Me and the wife want to stay here, build a better house, raise some kids.  Unless the curse is lifted though, we aren't fools enough to try that.  We want to stay here, but we're about to give up, move on...."

After a look is exchanged between the two, the woman adds: "I'm not afraid to tell you something I know, too.  It's about Buck.  He has a copper stick, and it changes into a worm - he tried to impress me with the trick because he....  Well, never mind.  I think it has something to do with the weapon he uses.  My husband has seen him kill a deer with a little hollow tube that is no longer than two hands.  He didn't mention it, but when Buck used that on the poor animal, it caught on fire, burned to ash in seconds.  It was awful!"

"Really?  Do you know where Buck keeps this rod?" Carilla asks with keen interest.  The two residents just shakes their heads, looking at ''Buck''.

"Well good sir, you have definitely helped us.  We owe you many thanks.  Do you have any other information which might help us to get our bodies back and to get rid of those four who stole our bodies?" asks Hammer.  The woodsman shrugs, as if to say that's all he knows.

Potts nods along as he listens intently to the stories told.  "Aye, this confirms some of our thoughts!  Tell me, how long till the next full moon?"

"A little less than two weeks, but not everyone lasts that long..." the man replies.

Potts turns to the group.  "Looks like we need to find this Rod item of Buck's, and the weapon he uses.  Sounds usefull.  My real body was an Elementalist.  Maybe I can take a look at this thicket.  Ox?  You might be able to help.  Anyone else have any extraordinary powers?"  Letting the sentence trail off, Potts stands and grins at the hosts.

Giving the Mastiff one last wish I could pet you look, Potts gives his hosts a flashing smile.  "I hope we can solve this problem.  Not only do I want my body back, but it would be nice to have this town back to normal!  Thank you, very much, for your help!  If you happen to come by any usefull information, we are staying at the Wild Hare Tavern..."  Waving to the Woodsman and his wife, Potts nods his head for the group to follow.  He steps outside the door and walks in the direction of the ruins.

''Farewell, strangers, and only good luck to you.'' says the woodsman, as you wander out.

Buck and Hammer follow Potts out.  Ox remains silent, until walking out the door.  He turns to the couple, and says quietly, "If this body has wronged you in the past, somehow, I apologize for it."  Then he darts out the door before they have a chance to respond.  He then follows to the ruins.

"Good day, then," Karl says.  "When I can return your kindness, I will be most pleased to do so."  He follows the rest out of the cabin.

Going back out into the cold rain, the party troops east, to the side of the woodman's shack.  This whole area is overgrown with thorn scrub, briars, thistles, and weeds that have adhering seeds - burdock, stick-tight, etc. - and interlocking vines that prevent passage. No way in can be found. The ruins (if there are any within the Tangles) cannot be approached nor seen.

After inspecting the Tangles, Potts pipes up, "Unless one of us has a power or two handy that will enable us to pass, we are better off spending our time elsewhere.  We have the rod to find and the well to search.  Buck... err... Carilla, you sober enough to help us out?  Maybe you can ask some of your tavern employees about this rod.  Otherwise, we will have to search every inch of the Tavern."

Carillia nods.  "I don't have any ideas, but I can certainly ask around.  Let's head out."  With that she heads towards the Wild Hare.  The Custodian, Hammer and Karl follow like sheep.

So the herd wanders back to the Inn, again.  Naturally, they've seen everything on the ground floor, except maybe the kitchen. The floor above is rooms for guests (two of which they've seen), and any guests will certainly object to having their rooms searched!

Potts, Carilla, and Ox have already searched Buck's room on the top floor (twice!) and found nothing. The other doors up there were locked.

Standing dripping in the hallway, Carilla remembers the key she had earlier found in the hidden pocket in Buck's girdle.  She pulls it out and looks at it, turning it over in her hands.

The Custodian wrings out his clothes, and says, "And if those keys don't fit...  Well, this is your inn...  You could always get Karl to use that 'steel-toed' key on his boot... if you catch the drift..."

"Alright then," Karl says, "if Buck owns the place, then I think Ox has a point, and he should just start walking through the place mumbling 'Where did I leave that copper rod I always take with me to the well?', and perhaps one of his employees will help him find it.  One obvious place to start would be Buck's quarters.

"Okay, anyone have any brilliant ideas?  I have to admit I am thoroughly lost in deciphering the clues.  What do we have, and what can we do with what we've got?" grumps Hammer.

No one responds to Hammer's question, but the thought hangs in the backs of their minds... What have they found, and what can they do with them?  What (if any) clues to the mystery of their body-snatchings have they uncovered?  More importantly, where do they go from here?...

"Another good place to look would be those three locked doors, that we don't have keys to.  Like I said, I'm sure that Karl wouldn't have a problem opening them.....locked or not."

"The locked doors sound good to me...  As for searching Buck's quarters... that has been done to no avail!  Buck, would it be possible to walk around like you were the real Buck?  The whole town knows we are not ourselves.. what would happen if we went about our day to day routines?  We should also search the kitchen.  The rod might be in the cold box, or a wine cellar..."  Potts grins sheepishly at the group as he just realized he was thinking out loud.

"Okay," Carilla says, "so what we want to do is search Buck's room one more time, looking for any and all evidence that might be related to our problem.  Once that's done, I'll try this key on the locked doors up there.  If it doesn't work on any of the doors, I'll have Karl unlock them his way.  We'll search those rooms, in either case, one by one, again noting anything at all within the rooms that might help us.  If, and only if, that doesn't work, I'll ask some of Buck's people downstairs about the rod, to see if they know anything.  We can also check the wine cellar," she adds with a wry look to Potts, "but I don't think I ought to go with you on that particular quest!  Did I miss anything?  Sound like a plan?'

Potts shakes his head, "Carilla, it all sounds good to me, except searching Buck's room.  We have done that.  The only thing we found was the armor.  Let's start with these locked doors."

The Custodian thinks a moment, then adds, "And after we get through with that, let's set all of the trinkets and stuff we've found on a table somewhere, and everybody give them a good looking over while we're at it.  Who knows, something might click with someone."

"So, it's to the locked doors then?" asks Karl.

"The doors it is."says the Smith/squire.

"Who has the key?  Or should this be the key?" Karl asks, stroking his axe.

Hearing all the talk in the hallway, the other Carilla comes around the corner of the doorway to the kitchen, grinning at Karl.  "Hey, big boy, I have all the keys!"

Carillia rolls her eyes.  "As I said before, I have the key.  Makes sense, right?  My Inn, my key?  Anyway...  The revised plan: Check upstairs with the key that I have.  If the key doesn't work on any of the locks then we let you take your axe to them.  In either case, once we get in we'll search the rooms, not only for the rod, but anything else that might help us as well.  If we don't find it, I'll ask my people downstairs while you guys check out the cellar.  Again, once that's done, we'll head back up to my room, and examine everything we've found thus far for clues, one by one."  She sighs, then heads to the first door and tries the key on it.

Listening to Buck-Finnebonne, Carilla looks a bit worried (beginning with the word "axe", and getting worse when Buck mentions searching the rooms), Carilla the serving wench tags along, upstairs.

"No, Master Buck," she says when she sees him fumbling at the lock, "that's the key to the wine cellar!  Why would you want to wake up Bernie and the boys, now, anyway?  They were up all night, and don't go on shift again until after dark!  Why do you need to search our rooms, anyway?"

"Hmmm," says Carilla.  "Maybe you can help.  We're looking for the copper rod that I carry around with me, sometimes... any clue where it might be?"

"Well I'm sure I don't know, Master Buck, but it most certainly is not in my room!  I didn't take it!" says Carilla, turning red.

"Come now!  You don't think I'm going to punish you or some such, do you?  If you have any clue where it might be, it'd be most helpful." says Buck-Finnebonne.  She hopes she sounds as sincere as she feels.

Potts gives Buck-Finnebonne a wink as he puts an arm across Carilla-the-serving-wench's shoulder.  "Now, now, Carilla...  We are not going to search your room or bother the boys, but you need to help us.  A smart and pretty girl like you must know everything that goes on in the Wile Hare.  Yes?"  Carilla doesn't look too convinced, but she doesn't pull away, either.

Taking Carilla a few steps away from the group, Potts whispers loud enough for them to hear...  "My dear...  Buck...  Well, you know Buck, he's been tipping the drinks down, if you know what I mean.  Anyway, he cannot find his rod...  Could you show us where Buck usually loiters, besides his room?  I am sure when Buck sobers up, he will remember this and reward you properly.  If not, you just come talk to old Potts and I will take care of you.  Now, where does Buck conduct his day to day activities?"  With the simplest of grins, Potts looks at Carilla warmly.

"Rod?  What do you mean, rod?  What kind of rod?  A curtain rod?  Buck never messes with things like that, leaving all the cleaning and such to me..."  She looks at Potts as though expecting a lewd joke, and pulls away from him.  "As for his daily business, it is conducted here in the bar, as you should well know, if you weren't off your bean, too, Master Potts!"

"Well, I think Bernie and the boys will understand if Buck disturbs them just long enough to find his precious copper rod." espouses Karl.  "I say we search the rooms as quietly as possible.  If the boys have a problem with that, Buck can threaten to fire them.  If they give any additional trouble, I'll be happy to step in.   How about it?"

Carilla growls "My name is Carilla... but, I agree.  I can play the part of the nervous innkeep."  Carilla the serving wench gives "Buck" an odd look, at that.

Potts squints his eyes and shakes his head.  So that the bar wench does not hear, he hundles the group up and whispers, "Guys, I don't like it.  The boys know we '''are not ourselves''!  Either they are going to laugh and let us search, or become upset and use bodily harm in preventing us from searching...  I don't know how much more my tubby body can take, and my targe is pretty much useless!  Why don't we search the rest of the Tavern... wine cellar and kitchen and whatever else we missed?  When the boys wake up and are not in their rooms, I would be more than happy to search them...."  As an end note, he looks at the group and adds, "I will, however, go along with the group's decision."

"Well, Potts/Rye, I'm not out to get you hurt," says Karl, "and if they know we're not ourselves, as you say, then there is a chance they may be hiding the rod.  All the more reason to search the rooms, I say.  My vote is to search them, turning the boys out on their ears, if need be.  And there is no shame in standing behind a man in plate armour."

"I don' much care what we do, just so long as we do somethin' besides standin' around talkin'!  How many of them is there, anyway?  Four, or five?  I fergitz... but either way, let's get outta the hall!", says Hammer.

The Custodian quietly rubs his temples as he thinks about the situation.  "Search the rooms, but be discreet about it.  Wait until later, when they are working.  We don't want to anger them if we don't have to, but we also shouldn't leave any stone unturned."  He looks to Carilla, "Perhaps if you knew where some of the innkeeper's money was, you could offer a healthy bonus for finding the rod...."

The Custodian is still for a moment after speaking, still rubbing his temples, tossing all of the pieces of the puzzle in his head trying to get them to fit together.  He suddenly bolts upright with surprise, and slaps his forehead.  "Why didn't I think of this before?...."  He looks to the group, and shares his thoughts, "As we all have heard, our local innkeeper is the one who keeps the copper rod.  We also know he has more than a little fondness for the bottle, and I distinctly remember hearing Carilla, the serving wench, say that Buck conducted his business at the bar...  Has anyone searched that yet?  Or perhaps the wine cellar?  I'm willing to bet that that drunk would want to keep something like that close at hand, and, well, two searches have determined it's certainly *not* in his room!  I think we should check the bar...."

"Alright, Ox," Karl grumbles.  "I'm all for a bright idea.  Let's search the bar and the wine cellar.  If we don't find it there, I'll shake Bernie and the boys down, with or without the rest of you."

"Famous last words, Knight," mumbles Hammer, then looks cross and adds in a louder voice, "You aint gettin' in no fights without me!  I been spoilin' to give somethin' a crack in the head with my hammer, and I didn't even get to poke a ghoul!  I miss another fight, and I'm gonna lose my temper!" he snarls.

"Ooh!  Ghouls?" says Carilla, shivering.

Potts gives Karl an odd look and grins, "I like the idea of hiding behind the plate armour!  I am sure I will be able to, in the not so distant future, but for now, let's hit the bar, kitchen and cellar area.  If we don't find any type of clue in those areas, then I will personally help you with the Bernie and boys!"  Turning, he heads downstairs and towards the kitchen. Along the way he stops and looks at Karl again.  "Oh, yeah.  Karl, I don't think I have thanked you for your help!  I appreciate all that you are doing!"

"So is anyone going to answer my question, or isn't a smart, pretty girl like myself supposed to know what's going on in this bar?  What kind of a rod are you searching for?" Carilla asks.

"Alright, all.  It's off to the kitchen then," Karls agrees.  He smiles at Potts.  "Don't mention it."

I wonder if there is anything cooking in there, he wonders.

Ox quietly shuffles along in the rear, planning how he's going to sneak a quick snack from the kitchen...

The kitchen is 15 feet wide, east to west, and 25 feet long. Set into the south wall is a large fireplace with an array of cooking utensils. There are long work tables in the center of the room, and against the walls are cupboards, shelves, and bins for the storage of necessary serving and food items. There is also a stack of wooden tubs for washing dishes. At the east end of the kitchen’s north wall there is an archway that leads to an alcove, which is directly below the landing at the top of the steps that lead upward from the hail. Another set of stairs descends west from the alcove into the cellar. In the north wall of the alcove there is a door leading to the barroom (behind the bar).  There is also a scullion here, working. He is a thin, stupid adolescent. The cook is a large and strong woman, currently chopping meat into sausage...

"Buck" and Ox realize that the cook is the older woman who passed them earlier, carrying the bucket of water!

"So, ah, has anybody around here seen a copper stick what belongs to Buck?" asks Hammer.  The cook and scullion look around, the boy shaking his head.

"Why no," says the cook, "Buck, where did you lose it, dear?"

"If you don't mind, Buck, I'll have a look in these cupboards."  Karl waits for Buck's approval (so as not to offend the meat-smashing cook) and then begins to search in earnest.

"Oh, it isn't in there, Sir Knight, I can assure you!" the older woman says.  "I know everything in my kitchen, and there are no copper sticks in the place!" she grins as she chops.

"Well, I guess we can search, anyway," say Carilla, looking under the tables, and at all the stuff hanging on the walls, searching especially for anything copper...

Ox peers into the pots to see what's cooking while the other's make small talk, after sneaking a sample (Euh!  Boiling beans!), he proceeds to the bar to search it.

***

The bar is as it was this morning, or the night before, save for being emptier.  Only the barkeep is in (no one else wantint to get wet, no doubt).  The fire is going in the fireplace, making the room warm, at least.  As Ox enters, he looks around and asks "Say, stranger, what can I get you?"

"Well, friend, I know this may seem a bit odd, but I'm looking for a copper rod, about yeah long," Ox holds up his arms for reference.  "Buck got drunnk again, and can't remember where he left it... have you seen it?"

Jamie looks around on the floor and under the bar.  "Nope, not in here, stranger.  So what's your name, again?"

Claiming to be looking for a particular kind (or vintage) of whiskey, Ox spends most of his time looking under the bar (where the liquor and other bar supplies are) and the rest searching around where only employees would have access to.

***

"Well, if'n you don't mind, sweetheart, I'll just poke around." Karl smiles.  To the others he says, "Remember, these guys have a penchant for hiding things in such a way as to look like something else."

"So how the heck is I s'posed to find somethin' when I don't even know what it looks like, when it looks like something else?" Hammer grumbles.  "Here sticky, sticky, sticky!"

"Oh WHERE, oh where has my little rod gone?  Oh where, oh where could it BEbbb!" sings Buck, mournfully.  The search turns up nothing but a few copper kettles.

"Perhaps a quick look downstairs would be good," Karl suggests, heading for the stairway.

"Well, don't be bothering Bob's stuff, there in the alcove, or mine, downstairs!" says the cook, waving her cleaver at you.

"Good idea, Karl!  I think I'll go with you!" says Buck.  "Hammer, Potts, you coming?"

"Aye!  I would love to search the Cellar!  Let's find this #!@#% rod!" Potts says as he walks toward the stairway.

"Yah, me, too!" says Hammer, following along.

"Alrighty then, I'll lead you down, if you don't mind."  Karl heads down, then calls back over his shoulder, "We won't be messing with anything, dear.  Stick to your sausage."

Potts heads directly for the door.  "I am going to see what's in here!  Let's just make sure we search and touch everything, I don't want to come back down here."

"Right, Potts!  What could be behind that door?" Karl says as he follows the little shopkeeper across the cellar, Hammer and Buck trooping behind.  Fortunately for Potts, the door is unlocked.

This door opens into a liquor storeroom. At the western end of the room there are racks and crates, in which are stored numerous bottles filled with very fine wines and brandies.

Quickly grabbing Buck, Hammer says "Oh no you don't, we're not going in THERE!"  He swings the tippler back out and slams the door.  From the other side you can hear him say, "You an' me is gonna search THIS side of the cellar!"

Neither Potts nor Karl can see very well in the dark, so Karl goes back into the other room (where the lamp and food stores are) to help Hammer and Buck search, the open door letting in enough light for Potts to poke around...  Potts hopes there are no more of those spiders (like the ones in his store) in here!

Karl laughs and begins his search.  He begins to systematically search the containers of food to make sure that they contain only food and don't have false bottoms or anything.  A simple rocking of the barrel or box should give him a good idea of this.  Enjoying this part of the job, Potts begins searching the brandies and wines, making sure to touch and of course read the vintage of each bottle.  Hammer searches the table and lamp, then goes around behind the pile of boxes to poke around.  Buck, meanwhile, ivestigates the pile of chairs in the corner, and the ones around the table.

After about half an hour of searching, Hammer has found nothing more interesting than the Cook's cache of hoarded pay, Buck even less (a few lost coppers in the cushions), Karl nothing more interesting than a few insects in the beans and vegetables, and Potts an empty casque, dirty cup, and spigot!

"Shew!  This searching is hard work!" says Buck, wiping his forhead with the back of his hand.  "I could use a drink!"

"Then lets off to the bar, Potts,' Karl agrees. 'But not for a drink. Let's see if we can find anything Buck may have stored behind the bar. Unless any of you can think of anything else down here to search."

Potts looks at Karl and hesitates for a moment.  Then speaks, "Well, do you guys think we should search with some light?  That is my only misgiving about leaving here for the bar.  Second thought, it would be a waste of time, I have touched everything in the wine room and nothing changed, on me... so, let's hit the bar.  I hope we find the rod soon, we are running out of ideas!"

"Well," Karl says, "for the record, my friends, let me just say that, in the future, if I am in a dark room, I will always seek out a source of light.  You won't catch me assuming I have one again.  Now, up to the bar."

So the party gathers itself together, again, and heads back up the stairs, through the kitchen, and up the hall to the bar, where they see Ox talking to Jamie the bartender.

Hammer says "Any thoughts on how to solve this mystery?  It's a real stumper, so far...  Nothing here, nothing there...  What are we gonna do with that rod when we find it, anyhow?  What (if anything) are we missing, here?  Is there something else we're supposed to do?"

"Well, I don't know, Hammer..." says Buck.  "Didn't somebody we talked to say something about a curse on this town?"  Buck rubs his head.  "I can't remember."

"Well, no, not that I recall," says Hammer, "but so what if they did?"

"Well, actually, a lot of folks hereabouts have been sayin' this place is cursed for a long time," says Jamie with a big grin, "and that one (or more) of you-all is responsible!"  He laughs, then looks at Karl.  "Excluding you, of course,... uh...  I never did get yer name, stranger."

Karl rubs his head.  "Man!  I suddenly have a headache.  I think I could use a drink!"  Karl searches the bar for anything alcoholic.

"Hey, you still aint paid me for that last one!" objects Jamie.

Taking his hunters cap off, Potts ruffles his hair, sighing loudly.  "Well, Karl, time to stand behind the Plate Armor, or should we hit the basement of my shop?"  Placing his hunters cap back on his head, he begins to rub his temples in frustration.  "Jamie, all I want is the copper rod... can't you get that one thing?"

"Heh!  I guess I could, if you told me where it was, but I gotta watch the bar, Potts... or whoever you are, today (I hear you were claiming to be someone else, last night)!"

Karl scowls at the barkeep and throws him a coin large enough for quite a few drinks.  "Now can I have that drink or do we have a problem?"  Jamie catches the coin and slaps it on the bar, grabbing a mug and filling it with wine.

When he gets it, Karl drops into the nearest chair and puts his boots up on the nearest table.  "I don't know Potts. I just don't know."

"Hey!" says Buck, "didn't I say drinks were free for these guys?  Room and board, too, for that matter!  Give'm whatever they want, and don't go putting it on anyone's tab - it's on the house!"

"In that case, I think I'll have an ale." says Hammer.

Jamie grabs another mug and fills it from one of the barrels behind the bar, bringing it over to Hammer and returning the coin to Karl.

"So," says the barkeep, "what's up with the lot of you and this rod?  Tell me this story." he says, returning to his station behind the bar, and pouring himself a brew.

Karl takes this opportunity to take a really good look around the barroom.

Karl gets up to search the fireplace, checking the mantel and looking to see if any stones are loose or removable.  This being winter (or almost), there is naturally a fire going, which hinders the search, a bit, but he sees nothing copper within the flames.  The mantle is bare, but dusty, and while there are a few loose stones, here and there, they seem to conceal nothing.

Karl walks casually around the bar. Since no one has answered Jamie's question yet, Karl launches into a tale about how he came to this town, and all the odd occurrences since.  While he speaks, he searches the area behind the bar that is pretty full of barrels and stuff.  He makes sure there is nothing between the barrels and check to see what's in each, and if they hold any secret compartments.  He also checks below the bar, where Bernie kept his hand-catapult to see what else is stored there.  He finds no more in his search than Ox did.  Bernie's hand-catapult is gone, and nothing unusal is uncovered, although Karl succeeds in wasting another 15 minutes 

Jamie looks at Potts.  "So you're Kachas Rye, huh?", then at Ox.  "And you're Ox?... and Buck is Carilla, and Hammer is really a Squire named Toe?"  He shakes his head.

Ox says to the barkeep, "I don't know if I'd believe it, either, were I in your shoes, but every word of it is true." he grins.  He turns back to Jamie, and the smile fades.  "We keep running into dead ends.  Things keep leading back to other things.  We've been told we've been seen going to the well frequently with your boss, who always carries this rod with him, but alas, no rod anywhere in his things.  We know this probably has something to do with the curse that choked the ruins with vines, but we cant get in to check it out."  He shakes his head, plainly at a loss.  "Why don't we put all the stuff we've found out on the table and see if anything clicks for anyone...."

"Harrumpf!" says Hammer.  "We done tried that at lunch!"

"Yes, but nobody even bothered to look at the stuff!" says Buck, going over to a table and heaving his home-made sack up on it, opening it up.

"So, come on, guys!  Pull up a seat, and let's get to it!" says Buck, looking at the rest of the party.  "Karl, where are The Custodian's Girdle and chain?"

Karl returns to the table and unloads his pack, and anything he's carrying, pulling The Custodian's girdle and chain from his belt pouches.  He looks at the pile and shakes his head.  "Grrr!  Something is missing, here."

Buck takes a seat, and Hammer pulls up a chair beside him, picking up the box and fiddling with it.  As he does so, a small panel slides on him.  He looks at the movable piece of wood, and begins playing with the box.  After a bit, he finds all the moving panels, and open it up, revealing a wrapped piece of paper containing six gold coins!  Hammer grins, pocketing the money, and carefully examines the paper and interior of the box.  Noting else is discovered.

"Wow!  Good job, Hammer!" says Buck, unscrewing the ivory "pea" and dumping out the dozen tiny elephants.  "I wonder what this could be?", he wonders.  Rolling a 06 against Commerce, he adds, "I think I saw something like this in a novelty-seller's booth at a Faire, one time...  Ox, why did you pick these things up, anyway?  Did something happen to make you think they were magical?"

"Good question!," Karl says.  "Remember, anything here could be magic.  Even the coins.  Things in this town are rarely what they seem."

"Oog!" says Hammer, setting the coins back on the table.

"Let me put my good eye on this stuff and see if any of it is magic or not.", says Ox.  He picks up and fiddles with a few of the items, particularly those that used to belong to the Custodian.  "What's that note say, Hammer?"

"It aint no note, 'less there's somethin' in invisible writing...  All it is is a piece o' wrapping paper!" says Hammer, tossing the wad to Ox.

"Well, what do you think, Ox?" questions Karl.

Ignoring Buck and Karl, Ox comes over to the table and takes a seat, picking up 


Karl returns to the table and takes a seat.  He can be heard mumbling to himself:  "Why didn't I just pick Savagry?  Or is that Savagery?"

Potts scans the table and its contents.  "Looks like we have two of Potts' items, two of the Custodians' items...  Buck has the armor and we are missing his rod.  Hammer... we find anything at the Smithy?  We might want to search the Smithy-Corral-Barn again..."

"Let's assume that we need two items from each of the four 'Chosen ones'." Potts continues.  "We need two from Hammer and the rod from Buck.  Am I missing or forgetting anything?  Now, it seems everyone has seen Buck with the rod, has anyone heard what Hammer has been seen with?  Hammer?  If you would accompany us, I think we should talk to that assistant of yours..."

"Well, you won't be gettin' nothing from the tongueless wonder!" scowls Hammer, pushing to his feet.

"Now I am not trying to forget about this copper rod, but I have no idea where to look for that!"  Potts rubs his eyes and continues.  "The only other thing I can think of is that the two items will allow the said person to pass the overgrown brambles and into the ruins...  Maybe, if Ox and myself held or wear our 'items', we would be able to get in!  Ugggg....  Maybe, we need all eight items to get in!"  Potts covers his face with his hands and shakes his head.  "What do ya think, The Smithy, The Well, or Bernie?"

"Well, we done searched 'my' place, a couple of times, before we found you, and all we found was this armor." says Hammer, "so I vote against the smithy - again!  We aint searched the well, corral, nor stable, yet."

"Well, it's still rainging, so I don't particularly want to search outside!" says Buck.

Potts grabs the horn and strings it around his shoulder to hang at his side.  "Well, boys... I am going to take a look at the barn.  Everyone is welcome to join me!"  Pulling his hat on a little further, Potts shivers at the thought of going outside.  Grabbing his scythe, he heads out the door.

Still grumbling about how great he thought his logic was, and that he was sure they'd find something, Ox follows along.

Potts shakes the water off himself as he grins at Nob.  "Heya, Nob!  Whatchya got going on today?"  Potts takes a few steps farther into the barn.  "Hmmmm"  Potts mumbles as he scratches his head through his hat.  "Nob?  That all right if we take a look around?  Seems Buck, in one of his drunken stupors, might have left something here..."

Nob just shrugs, and Potts closes the doors and enters the first stall on the left.  He begins by searching the stalls, themselves, telling the boy, "I hear you know alot about horses... they will not bite me, will they?"

Nob shakes his head, watching Ox approach, pass him, and climb up the ladder.  The boy waits until he's in the hayloft, then slowly follows him up.

Inside the stall, Potts kicks around the hay, searches the walls for any out-of-place wood or cracks (concentrating on the walls that are not conecting to another stall), touching, knocking for hollow sounds, looking for loose boards, etc.

Knocking shows the walls appear to be hollow, but other than removing the boards, Potts sees no way in.  Other than that, stall one on the left is empty, and uninteresting.

Ox slowly climbs the ladder to the hayloft, taking one rung at a time because of his sore leg.  "You ain't got no girls up here do ya' boy?"  He chuckles, continuing his slow ascent.  When he gets to the top, he stops and looks around.  His plan was to kick around the hay, poke the bales with his staff, and check any tools hanging from the wall, etc.

The generally open area above the stables has mounds of straw and sacks of grain piled in both its east and west ends, near the large double doors. The middle area is fairly open, except that behind a curtain of old blankets that hangs from a wooden beam is a separate pile of hay and blankets that make up the stable boy's bedding. He uses a barrel as a table and a small keg as a chair. He has stored his belongings in one old box, and various foodstuffs in another.

Of note in the loft are the unusual number of barrel hoops that hang from nails and pegs hammered into the 40-or-so ceiling support beams. There must be 200 or more such bands, varying in size from large enough to fit around a great tun, through those suited to butts, hogsheads, barrels, casks, puncheons, kegs, and stoups, to the little ones used for one-gallon firkins.

Nob approaches as you are examining his area and says, "I got me a great place, don't I?"

"Boy do you have a great place!" Ox smiles at the lad, kneeling down to be on his level.  "I would have loved a place like this, when I was a boy."  He looks up and scratches his head.  "Boy, what are you doing with all these barrel rings up here?"  He smiles, knowing the boy had nothing to do with it.  "No one keeps that many without a reason.  You gonna build you a suit of armor out of them so you can go to a joust and impress a pretty girl?  Is that what it is?"

Nob just shakes his head, then smiles.

Down below, Potts stretches his neck and mutters to himself, "This is going to take me a long time! How many stalls we got here?"  He walks out of the first stall and enters the next, searching in the same way.

"Well, what is it then son?", Ox askes , smiling at the boy,  "Tell me what you're doing with all them, or are they your Bosses?"

The boy just shrugs, then says, "Hey, do you like sweet berries?"

Potts decides to make s quick search of the stalls on the left side (trying to keep the search of each stall between one - 1 1/2 minutes), passing over the grooming area for now.  The stalls that contain horses (mules etc...) Potts decides to have Nob walk the horse out before entering. (when Nob comes back down or when Potts is done searching and finds him.)  The search will consist of moving the hay on the ground, scrutinizing for anything out of the ordinary, and knocking on the walls (if the wall is all hollow the wall will be skipped).  Any items, saddles, bags, barrels, etc., will be searched (patted/scrutinized/lifted/knocked and shaken (not stirred)).

Finding nothing interesting in the first or secon stalls, Potts moves into the third one, next to the destrier (who eyes him curiously, but without apparent animosity). The walls here, too, are hollow, so he dispenses with any further searching of them. The hay on the ground seems terribly uninteresting, as well. The rails between this stall and the fourth one have a saddle thrown over them, however, upon which rest some clothes, as though laid out for someone to change into... These are finer stuff than the good clothing Potts wears, more like the Court Clothes one might wear when going to see the Duke and Duchess... or maybe even King and Queen!

Picking some straw from off his shoulder, Potts emerges from the searching the third stall on the left. "Hey guys!  We just got started, Ox is in the loft..  I have searched these three stalls on the left... mighty nice horse and clothes in this one...  Karl, you know more about horses, right?  You might want to take a peek at this one!  A noble steed indeed.  My plan is to search the stalls first, then the main rooms and hallway..." Potts says, as he walks into the fourth stall on the left.

Potts walks from the stall that Sorrow's horse used to be in, into the one where Karl's nameless destrier is housed. The horse lays back its ears at him...

Backing up, Potts decides that it might be best to search the empty stalls first.  He heads towards stall six, making a mental note to have Nob move the horse and mules before the search.  Stall six proves as uninteresting as its predecessors.

"Exercise some caution there, Potts.  That horse has been known to stomp the careless." says Karl, walking over and patting his destrier on the head.  He turns and heads for the closed doors in the center of the barn.

Whistling a merry tune, Potts heads to the right side of the barn. Entering the sixth stall first, Potts begins his search, in the same manner as before.  The old gray mare just looks at him as he passes, and he finds nothing more interesting than a few dropping and a water bucket (which seems perfectly normal, when shaken).

Potts, having finished searching the small stalls, makes his way to the Grooming Room.  Once in the area, he begins his search anew by evaluating the small items and working to the larger items.  Like the stalls, he makes sure to evaluate the use of every item...brushes, curry combs, old cloths, buckets, brooms, hayforks, shovels and the other items in the room... by knocking, touching, moving, scrutinizing, smelling, and shaking (gently).

Silently screaming, Potts mutters someting unrepeatable under his breath.  Brushing his hands off on his utility suit, he heads to the closed door across the alleyway. First listening for any angry animals, then trying the handle.  The door is open, and he enters what appears to be a tack room.

Sighing, Potts looks around the room, his eyes grow wide at the amount of items.  Thoughts cross his mind: "Why do things have to appear not as they are?  Uhhh, when I find those body snatchers, they be in big trouble!  Now, let's get this room searched, and turn the rest of this town upside down!"  After the motivational speech to himself, Potts sets about the room.  First, he makes sure the shelf is empty and is actually a shelf by grabbing it and shaking it gently.  All he finds are a couple of crystals.  The shelf is normal.

Then he proceeds to evaluate the barrels and their contents.  Taking the barrel, Potts moves it (rocks and rolls it) to make sure the amount of grain seems to be the right weight for the barrels.  Then he will knock on the barrels' sides and make sure there are no hollow sounds.  Lastly, he will use his sword and jab it down inside the barrel...  After all of that, he finds nothing of interest.

Karl examines the door, Iistens at it, detemines that it's not locked.  He opens the door, and looks outside, into the corral.

Potts grabs the crystals and examines them.  Keeping the crystals, he moves to the keg of nails.  Rolling the keg (if light enough) Potts treats this keg like the barrels, minus the thrust of the sword.  Tapping, shaking, scrutinizing and evaluating the bucket and nails inside.  Potts dumps the nails out and makes sure they are all nails.

After scrutinizing and evaluating the Keg-o-nails, Potts begins the tedious search of the hanging objects.  Taking each item off the wall, looking at them with his keen eye, and replacing them (making sure to look inside the buckets and remove any object that may be inside them).

From the hanging objects, Potts moves to the loose small objects, like the brushes, wax, sewing needles, and awls...  All the while, Potts knows there is more searching to be done!

Nob comes sliding down the ladder, and grabs Karl by the cuff, jerking on it a couple of times to get his attention.  The boy crooks a finger at the tall knight, motioning for him to follow, then heads away from Buck and Hammer.

Deciding that he has searched enough in here, Potts, pauses in the dim light to try to examine the crystals from the tack room's shelf.  He can't tell what they are, and drops them back in his pocket.

Buck, Hammer, Ox, and Potts suddenly feel something happening to them... Their pulse rate jumps, vision goes fuzzy, and they get a floating sensation.  Looking down, each sees their body from above, lying on the ground/floor of the stable!

An enormous shadow falls over each of them, blocking out the light from... wherever it was coming from.  Looking up, they see a HUGE, hulking, horribly fiendish figure, grinning down at them in malevolence. Before they can open their mouths or move, enormous claws slash down at them (not their bodies lying on the ground!), and the story ends... Apparently, the Adventurers' time is up, and the fiends have returned to reclaim their bodies!

As Karl moves off to the eastermost side of the stable's barn with the lad, he hears several thuds, thumps, and clangs (some from above him, in the hayloft) as Buck, Hammer, Ox and Potts continue their searches.  Now, what does this idiot-child want, Karl wonders?

"What do you want, boy?  I'm busy looking for that blasted rod." Karl tells the stable hand.

"Oh," says the boy, his shoulders slumping, "you already know about Buck's copper wand...  Sorrow told me to tell you to look for it."

Scrutinizing in the dim light, Karl sees his four compatriots gathering in the western end of the barn (Potts emerging from the tack room, and Ox coming down from the hayloft).  After a brief confabulation, they turn and go out the door, apparently having reached some decision.

Karl focuses his eyes on the boy as if seeing him for the first time.  "Say again, boy!  What did Sorrow tell you?"

"He told me to tell you that I seen Buck with a copper stick, what he called a wand, and that I should tell you to look for it." Nob replies.

"Alright, Nob.  That's a good lad.  Now I know you probably seen Buck with that rod out by the well, but where else did you see it?" asks Karl.

"Well, no," replies Nob, "I aint never seen it at the well, just when I follered Mister Hammer one night when he had on that fancy headband he sports now and then.  Him and Potts with his huntin' horn and the funny feller what's at the Shrine with that silver snake he wears around his middle, and old Buck a-wavin' that copper stick he favors.  That's all.

"Well, tell me about that, Nob.  Where did you follow them to and what were they up to?"

The boy peers around Karl, then puts his finger to his lips, and crooks his finger at Karl, motioning for him to follow, as if afraid of being overheard...  He sneaks back to the grooming area, looking around and seeing no one, then climbs the ladder up into the hayloft, and heads back to his own little area.  Karl follows him.

Squatting there in the darkness, the boy carefully lights a candle, and sets it on top of the barrel, lighting his small enclosure.  "Well, sir," he begins, "Sorrow came in and I went down to see what was up, and he told me that him and them four had a falling out, and not to tell anyone but you that I'd seen him.  He was a-waitin' around for you, for a while, and said he needed to search the barn, so I asked him if he wanted to see where I live.  He said in a minute, but he needed some quiet to search down below, first."

"So I come up here, and wait.  After a while, he calls and comes up.  He says he's tired, and asks can he sit here, for a spell..."

"Sure, Sorrow!  Take a load off yer feet, and sit a spell!  Great place I gots here, aint it?", I says.

Lying down, the Wylf smiles, looking around.  "It is, indeed, Nob!" he replies.

"Hey, do you like sweet berries?" I ask.  The Wylf nods, quietly.  "Want some?  Picked me a whole bunch of'em, I did!" I says.  He nods.

Nob gets up and opens his food box, pulling out a smaller one.  Inside are a collection of odd berries, the size of aggies.  They have segments resembling a peeled orange, alternating between purple and orange!  

Nob pops one into his mouth and chews it, rolling his eyes in pleasure as he savours the taste.  "Hee, hee, hee!" he laughs, "Aint nobody else in all this-here place can get'em, either.  Only me!"

"What do you mean, Nob?" Sorrow asks.  Where do these things come from?"

"Why, I just follered Mister Hammer one night when he had on that fancy headband he sports now and then.  Him and Potts with his huntin' horn and the funny feller what's at the Shrine with that silver snake he wears around his middle, and old Buck a-wavin' that copper stick he favors.  I was a-skeered, but I durst do it anyways!" I says to him.

"Indeed!" says the Wylf, "Very brave, and perhaps more than just a bit foolish!  I wonder what those four would have done to you, had they spotted you following them, Nob!  These berries are not worth risking your life over!" he says, taking one from the box and examining it.

"Well, shucks, it weren't all that much, I guess," I says, "even though it were near midnight, and my knees knockin' together so's I figgered I'd heard, caught, and mebbe killed!  When them four went inter the Tangles as easy as a rabbit into a briar patch, I just walked where they had, and it were easy.  Got right in by the big heap of stones, and all!  But then, they went down, and I wasn't so dumb as to do that.  No sir!  I was a-creepin' back, and found me these-here berries, I did!  Well, not these, exactly, but some just like'm.  These-here I got the last time I follered them four.  They go there whenever the moon's full - go inter a hole, and I picks berries, then heads back here, all the richer.  Pretty grand, aint it?"

"Oh, Nob!  That sounds incredibly dangerous, to me!  Thank God you were never caught, little one!  You must be quieter than any rabbit, to have followed those four, and never been seen!  Either that, or incredibly lucky!"  Sorrow shakes his head.

"So, where are these 'Tangles', Nob?  Are they near here?" he asks.

"Why sure, Sorrow!  They're just right around the corner, to the east, and south a bit.  Just walk around the corner and you can see'm!  Aint no way in, though, unless you's follerin' Hammer and that lot...  It's in-, im-, impenetrable." I tells him,but he don't care 'bout that!

"So, is there a path that Hammer follows?", he asks.

"Nope!  He and them others just walks through, like there weren't no briars, at all.  I kin, too, when I walks where they does!" I says.

"But only on the nights of the full moon?" the Wylf queries.

"Well, yeah," I replies, "I aint never seed'em go, any other time.  Why, Sorrow?" I asks.

"Because, Nob, I am wondering if someone else with their magic items could also penetrate the Tangles, and whether or not they could do it on other days of the month, besides the 15th through 17th...  This being the 2nd of the month, I don't want to wait two weeks!"  He grins down at me.  "So, Nob, do you know anything about Buck's copper stick, or where he keeps it, or maybe about his blowpipe?"

"No, sir," I answers honestly, "I never knew he had no blowpipe."

"Did you ever see The Custodian - the fellow from the Shrine - with a chain, or Potts with a scythe, or maybe Hammer with a pair of tongs?", he asks me.

"No, I never seen no chain or scythe," then I brightens, meeting the Elf's eyes, again, "but Master Hammer does have a big set of tongs in the smithy!  Is that important?", I wondered.

"Probably, Nob!", he says.  "So, do you think you would recognize Master Hammer's headband, if you saw it, again?" the Wylf asks.

"Why sure," I says, "but I don't know where he keeps it."

Removing his pack, the Wylf pulls out a large roll of canvas, unwrapping it.  "Does that look like it, Nob?", he asks me.

"Nah, that aint it," I declares, "it's way too big!  Hammer's is small enough to fit around his head, although it's got studs all along it, like this one." I responds.

"And do you think you would know Potts' horn, or the silver snake girdle, if you saw them again?" asks the Wylf.

"Why sure, but how are you going to get all those things?" I asks.  "I don't think them four is just going to give'm to you!" I say.  Then my eyes fall to the hoop, and I looks back up at Sorrow grinning.  "But you already knows where some of'em is, I bet, huh?"

"Not to mention that those four are out of town, right now!" the Wylf says.

"Yeah, they seem to do that, every once in a while..." says I.  "Sometimes, I wish they'd never come back!"

"They won't, if we have anything to do with it, Nob!" the Wylf replies.  "Now, tell me everything that you can remember, starting from the first time that you followed those four..."  So I does...  After that, he tells me he is wored out, and asks can he sleep here, for a while.  I say sure, and he does.  Then he gets up and writes somethin' on a piece of paper for a long while, then reads what he writ, then gets up and empties your saddlebags and pulls some stuff from his pack and repacks ever'thang, then he gets on his horse and rides away.!  The boy shrugs.  That's all I know.

"Nob, you're a good lad," Karl smiles and gives him a gold coin.  "Put that somewhere safe.  Maybe your berry box.  I have to go downstairs now.  Thanks again."  Karl heads for his horse. He goes through all of his stuff to see what's there that wasn't there before.

Picking up his clothes, Karl find a note in his shirt's pocket, and sees something odd sticking out of his saddlebags, where the clothes used to be!  He unfolds the note and reads it.

This must be made known to the others, Karl decides. He looks around to see where everyone else is.  No one is in sight!

"These guys are impossible!", Karl fumes.  He looks around the barn again.  He was sure this was where Potts said they would be.  "Hey. you guys!  Where are you now?"  Hearing nothing, Karl heads out into the rain to look around out there.  He sees nothing of the four, in the dim light, but at least the rain is stopping.

"Unbelievable," Karl growls and stomps through the mud back to the inn.  He heads to the main room to see if they are there, and when he sees that they are not he asks the help if they've seen them.  Jamie tells him no, so he heads up to the room to see if they are there, then remembers that he had already turned in the key!  He knocks, but gets no answer.  Tired of herding cats, Karl heads back to the stable, determined to pack up anything of his that is there and prepare to leave Forlorn Corners forever.

Getting back to the barn, he finds it still empty (other than Nob), and again notices the tongs sticking out of his saddlebags, as he is preparing to repack his clothes.  Karl leaves the tongs and any other items from this quest with Nob.  He gives him a shiny coin to ensure that he gives it to the first member of the party he sees.  The little boy looks forlorn, as Karl hands over the tongs, blowpipe, a bunch of needles, and the spiked hoop thing, then stuffs his fancy clothes into his saddlebags, saddles his horse and mule, and leads them to the barn door.

Karl saddles up, intending to take the old track out of town to the north, following it east to see where it takes him.  As he pulls out, though, he sees Potts, Hammer, and The Custodian (the latter holding the rosy figure) standing in the road, waving him down.

"Hey!  You haven't seen my tongs, have you?" Hammer yells to him.  Something about it makes the short hairs on the back of Karl's neck stand up.

Karl tries to ride by the group, acting as though he doesn't know them.  Without looking directly into the eyes of any of them, he replies, "Can't say that I have, smith.  Take care."

"Whoa there, Karl," Potts adds, stepping out into the muddy road, "mind if we have a peek in your packsaddle?  Hammer can't work, without his tongs!"  Karl notices that Potts still has his scythe and horn, and that The Custodian is now sporting his chain and girdle, as the Half-Wylf, too, steps out into the street on the other side.

"Mebbe I best go check the barn." grumps Hammer, moving past Karl.

"Yeah, I do mind, storekeep," Karl says, looking down at the smaller man's chest when he looks at him at all. Karl takes in the others, especially the Half-Wylf.  "But I will wait here until Hammer searches the barn before I ride out, if that makes you feel any better."

"Well, all right..." says Potts, grinning up at Karl, as he rests his scythe's head on the ground, leaning on the handle.

Hammer, soon returns with the tongs, blowpipe, and needles.  "I found'em, but no sign of Buck's wand." He says, trotting back.

"You have what you want, so if you don't mind, I'll be on my way."  Karl reigns his horse toward the edge of town and continues on his original course.

''Alright, Karl, where is Buck's wand?  We need that, too...'' Potts says, moving to block the destrier, which lays its ears back at him.  On the other side, The Custodian moves in to take hold of Karl's reains.

"I don't have it, boys.  And even if I did, you couldn't take it.  So let loose of that horse before I let it deal with you, and step out of my way.", blusters Karl.  About that time, Buck comes running around the corner from the Inn's back door.

"I found the wand, but the blowpipe is missing!", Buck says.

"Hereya go,", says Hammer, handing it over to him.

"Ah!  There you are!" says Buck.

"All right, Karl," grins Potts, stepping out of his mount's way, "you can go now!"  The Custodian lets loose of the destrier's reins, leaving Karl free to ride off to the north, with his back to the four of them...

Finally free of the four "friends", Karl heads his horse north, hoping to catch up with Sorrow...  He travels along the deserted track in the dimming light, and is thinking about lighting one of the torches that Sorrow gave him, when he comes upon a large group of men.

"Ho there, you!  Stand and be recognized!" someone calls.  Now Karl really wishes he had lit that torch!  The setting sun doesn't give him much light to see by, here along the forest track!

"Well, that's a good sign," Karl calls out, watching his horse to see if the animal gives him any clues to the man/monster makeup of the force ahead of him, "highwaymen don't usually like the idea of being recognized.  I'm assuming you gentlemen will offer me the same courtesy if I tell you who I am.  I am Karl of the house Belford.  On what authority do you block my path?"

"We don't need nobody's bloody authority to be trackin' down a thief, mister!  We be lookin' for a little runt, name of Kachas Rye!  You seen a dirty little green-skinned feller what's real short and dressed in black?'' a man's voice asks.  A torch is lit, illuminating a rabble of men with lower-class weapons, a few in armor, but mostly not.  A dark-haired, unkempt man with a few days' growth of beard and some missing teeth brings the torch forward, squinting up at Karl.  Most of the rabble with him seems of a similar sort.

"Aye, that I have, and not far from here. There's a little town back up the road called Forlorn Corners. But I'd advise you not to go there. Some strange goings on there. I only just now made it out myself.  'If you do go back there, don't get on the wrong side of any of the shopkeepers. They are a strange bunch. Since I bear no resemblance to the one you're looking for, I'm sure you have no problem with me being on my way."

The road-ruffians do not, and Karl rides away, headed for home..._


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## Steverooo (Aug 25, 2003)

*The End!*

_Well, Gentle Reader, the above may seem a bit disjointed, at times, but that's because it was done online, in a message-based forum, like this one...  The places where things seem repeated, it is because I was describing the same scene to different PCs.

Also, actions sometimes seem a bit "out of sync", because a poster will reply to notes days apart, in the order they're posted!  So, for the big blow-up, here's what happened...

Why exploring the Custodian's Manse, the person playing "Ox" decided to leave the group, and run off by himself...  He visited a cottage (briefly), and then Pott's barn.  In the barn, the bull began causing a ruckus, which attracted the others...  When they arrived, Ox LIED about it, claiming that he had been transported by the goat-headed altar in the shrine.

Sorrow, who had seen him leave, knew that he was lying, and shook his head to Karl, attempting to silently communicate that it was a lie, and motioned for silence...  Now here's where my big mistake came in!

I slipped up!  Instead of forwarding the note only to Karl's player, I accidentally sent it to THE WHOLE GROUP!  Hammer's PC read it, and thus the post about him not being sure of Karl and Sorrow.

Sorrow, who had the Scrutiny ability, was able to overhear the comments of Hammer and Potts, hence his big blow-up.  The party demanded the magical items Sorrow had found, said that they were now running the show, and that Karl and Sorrow would now do as they said.

Sorrow (who didn't trust any of these people, anyway, except Karl - a little bit!), hit the fan over the other PCs' distrust of the only PC he felt he *could* trust!...  So, he threw the magic items at Hammer (who he'd been trying to help), and basically said: "You don't want me in the party?  Fine!  Here's the items - that I found - that you do want, and if they turn you evil, it was your choice!  I'm done trying to help you guys!"  He then left the party.

I sent notes to the players, letting them know that I would happily run the four of them into encounters designed for the six of them, and if they all died, no sweat off my brow...  Hence the sudden running around trying to get back together, again.

Sorrow was having no part of it...

The Sorrow PC was designed, in part, to make the adventure easier on the PCs.  He could detect magic within 20 feet, if he concentated, expended AEPs (Activation Energy Points), and made a skill roll (which he was pretty good at).  He was also a paranoid, and always trying to DO something, and the other players/PCs seemed to hate him for it.

It was only after he left the group that they started talking about sticking together.  They didn't, however.  Hammer (who was tired of getting nothing done) went off by himself almost immediately.  He visited one cottage, was told to leave his weapons in the box outside, did, and got some useful information!  He then went to a different location, was told to drop his weapons, did, and had them taken from him!

Potts' player, who had "gotten into it" with Sorrow's, quit the game immediately after Ox had tried to cast spells, and couldn't (the "Nobody up there loves you, anymore!" comment).  I had to get a new player for his PC, and dropped Buck's not too long after, for not having read/posted messages for days.

Meanwhile, the other PCs were running about (one telling more lies to get things moving)!  At one point, every single PC in the game was off running around by themselves!  (Can you say "GM Headache"?)  During this period, almost NOTHING was accomplished!

Eventually, I got new players for Hammer, Potts, and Buck (Ox I'm not sure about).  Sorrow's PC finished checking "The Four's" places for magic, wrote Karl the note, and got outta Dodge!

The four bodysnatched PCs then started working together (although they kept going back over places previously searched because they thought "something might have been missed").  By the time they got down to the acid pit with the ghouls, they were acting like a team!

Meanwhile, Karl was off by himself, looking for Sorrow.  Hammer was off talking to the cottagers, and losing his weapons.  Then, he met Karl, and they went and got a spear, then went and tried to get Hammer's weapons back (no dice)!  Karl, the only PC with money, wasn't willing to pay it all to get them back.

Pentultimately, Hammer & Karl heard sounds of battle coming from under the Manse, but by the time they got there, it was over.  They eventually made their way down there, met up with the rest of the party, and got in on the fight with the last remaining ghoul.

Eventually, time ran out.  While the module said to give the PCs a week to solve the mystery, I messed up and only gave them two days.  Oh well...  In any case, the fiendish four came back and kicked "the good guys" out of their bodies, leaving only the long-gone Sorrow, and the lonely Karl to continue to oppose them...

Karl finally found Sorrow's note, and five of the eight items, in his saddlebags, but by then, he was so disgusted with the party (and the town!), that he simply got on his horse, and headed out.

The fiendish four stopped him.  They wanted their stuff back!  To my surprise, he handed it over!    I hadn't expected that!

Some of the headaches in the game (the ones that Ox and Sorrow had) were from low AEPs.  In other words, they ran out of "spell points".  Sorrow was a psychic (LA's psionics), and was constantly searching "the four's" places for magic.  Ox's headache occurred because he ran off, trying to kill "Baldy" for no reason...  His god took a dim view of that!  Karl's headache, on the other hand, was his player's idea...  Stress, I think!  

So!  To this day, the Fiendish Four rule the former Fair Crossings, and no one know what evil lurks underneath the dying little town, or what ever happened to the old lord's lovely daughter!

So if you're ever in the woods, gentle reader, and you come upon the strange little town of Forlorn Corners, turn around and *run* the other way!  And whatever you do... don't talk to any shopkeepers!  _


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