Bargaining with dogs

Wow.

There are strangers all over Hommlet. Looking through my binoculars (let's here it for technology), I saw guards in heavy chainmail all over town. Their weapons and armor were in pristine condition. Marc suspected they might have been magical. These guys were definitely not Burnes' Badgers.

Audry notices something chilling. We had been watching the town for hours, but we saw no children.

We waited until night fall and snuck into town. We entered by the woodcutter's home on the east side of town. We then headed for the Inn of the Welcome Wench, where we were let in the back door by Ostler himself. Anna had made contact with him earlier. God, that girl can get around unseen.

He led us into the basement. I had no idea how many secret doors there were in that inn. There's more to Ostler than meets the eye, that's for sure.

We're in his basement now. We'll sleep here for now and then talk to Ostler and some other towns people in the morning.

"Burne and Rufus too?" I asked.

Ostler shook his head. They have not been seen in days. No one knows where they are.

We came to Hommlet to talk to Burne and Rufus about the Elemental Temple, to see what else they knew about it. Now it looks like we'll have to save their butts.

Assuming they're still alive.

At this point, it seems silly for me to keep going on and on about the moathouse. For purposes of therapy, as Audry suggested, it seems rather silly at this point, given what else is happening. But as I write I flip back to previous pages, looking at the HTML code. Am I really the only one reading this?

Who knows.

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Footsteps grew closer. They didn't sound like boots, but more like a bunch of guys wearing socks. Or in their bare feet. They grew louder and louder until they stopped at the bottom of the stairs.

"They're not coming up," Anna said.

"Eager for them to, are we?" Audry said.

"Do you mind," Marc said. "I'd rather they didn't hear us."

It was silent at the bottom of the stairs for a moment. Then, they started to gibber. It was a strange barking noise, not unlike a large dog. The sound grew louder and louder, each of them (perhaps ten total) making the same noise.

"What the hells is that?" Saul whispered.

"They're laughing," I said. "They're fricking laughing."

I could see Anna's eyebrows raise in the dim light given off by the torches in the other room. "Fricking?"

"I guess they didn't like our ogre friend," I said.

A gravel sounding voice carried up the stairs. "You there, come down, eh?"

"Great," Anna said. "Now what?"

"We not hurt, eh?" the voice said. It sounded like a cross between Wolf-Man Jack and Scooby Doo. "You do us favor, we do you."

"I don't like the way he says 'do you,'" Audry said.

"Yes, many connotations there," Marc said. He sighed. "Well, I think perhaps we should hear what they have to say."

"Go down there?" Anna said. "What if it's an ambush?"

"You'd think they'd be quieter about an ambush," Saul said. He shrugged. "Then again, they are gnolls."

"Oh goodness," Audry said. "Let's do something besides just stand here." She drew her sword and started downstairs. "I want to see what they want. Marc, light?"

Marc reached into an inside cloak pocket and pulled out...well, it looked like he pulled out a lightning bug. But it was the brightest lightning bug I'd seen in my whole life. It had all the life of a bright, fluorescent light. I later learned it was a pebble with a light spell cast upon it.

We followed Audry downstairs, our weapons ready. The stairs were steep and they went down far. I had no idea how far underground we were and I didn't want to think about it.

Nine gnolls waited for us at the bottom of the stairs. Their skin looked like the alien from the movie Predator, but they had heads that looked vaguely like German Shephards. Many licked their noses and panted. As we approached they backed away from us, holding their hands over their eyes. They gibbered amongst each other, looking us over inch by inch. On the ground lay the ogre. His head leaned at an angle, his neck broken. I guess he didn't have that many hit points after all.

"Gentlemen," Audry said. They jumped when she spoke, even though they stood about a foot and a half taller than she did. "What do you want to talk about?"

One of them stepped forward. He stood sideways, ready to bolt at a bad sign. "We want leave."

"Then why haven't you?" Saul asked.

"Lubash not let us," the gnoll said, gesturing at the ogre's body. "He loyal to Lareth."

"We have a name, at last," Marc said. "I assume he is in control."

The gnoll gave a jerk of his head that might have been a nod. "He bring us here and say we get lots of gold. We get some, but not much." He made a sound that sounded like he was spitting and growling all at once. "Bugbears get good stuff."

"Bugbears?" Anna said. "Well, things are getting interesting, aren't they?"

"Tell us everything," Audry said, "and you can go."

"No," the gnoll said. "You give gold. We tell you about this place and we go. We let you live."

"Hear that guys, they'll let us live," Anna said. "Anyone in the mood to bargain?"

Saul raised his weapon and stepped forward. "Not really."