Rescuing the prince

We couldn't wake the man up. Some sort of magic kept him this stasis, though for what purpose we didn't know. At last, we decided to carry him out of the room and find a safe place for him. Once we got out into the temple area he started to move.

"Set him down," Audry said. She pulled out a blanket from her pack and curled it up under his head. Audry leaned over him as he stirred, a flask of water in hand. After a few moments he opened his eyes. He looked directly up at Audry.

"Hello," he said.

"Hello yourself," Audry said.

"I take it this is Mount Celestia?"

Audry stifled a laugh. "No. Far from it."

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

About half an hour later Thrommel had recovered his wits. Audry babied him like no one I had seen. I've known Audry for a while. She's a pretty lady, but first and foremost she is a Paladin devoted to Saint Cuthbert. This means she routinely turns down offers from men. She is never cold about it. Indeed, she is quite polite, but she seemed completely uninterested in relationships with men.

"She just hasn't met the right man," Anna used to say. Her own interest in men was healthy. She enjoyed looking at them, though I think she only courted (read: dated) one man--a young half elf in Verbobonc. She broke it off with him but never said why, and I didn't think it was my business to ask.

After our meeting with Prince Thrommel, I think it's safe to say Audry has met the right man.

"I wish to thank you," Thrommel said. "All of you. I do not know how I got there."

"What's the last thing you remember?" Marc asked.

"We were riding from Greyhawk to Mitrik," he said. "We...we were ambushed. I do not remember who. I received a blow to the head, and then I awoke here." He looked around. "What is this place, exactly?"

"None other than the Elemental Temple itself," Anna said. "The next closest thing to the Abyss."

"Dear Gods," Thrommel said. "Who has captured me?"

"We've heard a few names bounced around," Saul said. "Hedrack is one we hear the most. He seems to be the leader in these parts."

"I have never heard of such a person," Thrommel said. "And what, pray tell, are all of you doing here?"

"Causing trouble," I said. "As much as we can. It's part of our job."

We introduced ourselves and where we were from. I simply said I was from Hommlet and spent much time in Hommlet, which is essentially true. I didn't think we had time to explain where I really came from.

From there we told him how we had been "causing trouble." We started with Hommlet a year ago, and how we sacked the moathouse. We also told him of our adventures here and of the recent problems in Hommlet.

"So you are the ones who removed the threat of the moathouse," Thrommel said. "And it is good you saved those children. 'Causing trouble' eh? That's a mild way of putting it."

"Just wait until we're done here," Anna said.

"We suspected the invaders from the south had been planning on staging fortifications within the Gamboge Forest," Thrommel said. He gestured around him. "I suppose that is what this is."

"We suspect as much," Marc said, "but we have no proof. We know that invaders in Hommlet had ties here, but that is all."

"Regardless," Thrommel said, "it will be good when this place is destroyed." He stood. "I would help you, really I would. But I must return to Mitrik as soon as possible to report."

"We know an alternate exit," Audry said. "We will guide you."

"I thank you." He held out his hand called a single word. It sounded like "Fraggle Rock" or something. Audry corrected me later. Fragarach. As he called the name, a sword flew from near the coffin. It landed in his hands and he sheathed. It was something a Jedi would do.

We proceeded to the secret tunnel, trying our best to keep quiet. The room of locked doors was empty, which meant the ettin had either not returned or proceeded to warn his superiors. Nothing we could do about that at this point.

We reached the tunnel almost without incident. When we got to the 20-sided-die room we had to fight more trolls. They fell easily. Marc burned their corpses with some sort of fire spell. From there we made our way quickly down the secret stairs and into to the tunnel. Once there, we felt free to talk.

Thrommel asked us much about what we had seen. We told him of the rival temples and how they had fought against each other (with a little sabotage from us). We also told of the wood elves that helped fight as well. This surprised him a little. It seems wood elves have a reputation of staying out of everyone's business and killing anyone that gets in there's. If they are involved, then the temple is indeed a threat to the surrounding land.

He spent much time speaking with Audry. It turns out Prince Thrommel is also in service to Saint Cuthbert. We let them speak as we followed the passage out of the tunnel. We quieted down once more when we reached the end of the passage. We remembered the guards stationed here. But when we exited the tunnel, we only found bodies.

Anna pulled an arrow from a body. "Wood elves. It seems they are still helping us out."

"That is good news," Thrommel said. "Where exactly are we?"

"Nulb is about an hours walk that way," Saul said, pointing south.

"Ah, good," Thrommel said. "I know precisely where we are now." He turned and faced us. "Thank you my friends. I cannot thank you enough for my rescue. This temple, you intend to continue your mission here?"

"Can't leave a job unfinished," I said.

"Indeed," he said. "I must report to my superiors."

"A prince has superiors?" Anna asked. Audry elbowed her. Thrommel only smiled.

"Yes, I do," he said. "I must inform them of events in Greyhawk and beyond, and also of events here and Hommlet. Then, I shall return here with an armed force. It may be a couple of weeks before I can return. Find out what information you can, then we'll put an end to this."

"Sounds good," I said. I held out my hand and he accepted it. His handshake was strong. "Good luck to you sir."

"And you as well," he said. He shook everyone's hands. Anna gave him a strong and exaggerated handshake, which seemed to surprise. He took Audry's hand lightly. "Thank you."

She nodded, star struck. Thrommel then removed a gold chain from around his neck. It had an emblem of a crown and a crescent moon on it. He gave it to her.

"Farewell." And with that, he was gone.

We stood and watched him leave. When he was out of sight we went back into the tunnel. As we proceeded down the tunnel, Anna teased Audry.

"He is handsome, yes?"

"Of course he is," Audry said quickly.

"I know little of politics north of here," Anna said, "but I understand he is free."

"Free?" I asked.

"He has no woman," Anna said. She winked at Audry. "Good news, eh?"

"I wouldn't know," Audry said.

"Perhaps you will," Anna said. Audry gasped, but it only made Anna laugh.

We went back to the bed chambers where the assassin and wizard slept. It seemed a little more defensible than sitting out in the cave. Saul got some rope and tied off the trap door leading to the circular room. We then spiked the doors shut for the wizard's room.

We went to the guard tower, but it seems it is occupied once more. We quietly tied the door shut and boobytrapped it. It was possible that they did not know of the secret door further down this tunnel and wouldn't bother us. To be safe, we spiked that door shut before going back to the bedrooms.

Overall, we're fairly secure here.

I have no idea what time it is. It is so easy to lose track of time underground. All I know is that I'm exhausted. Marc has learned some new spells from the spell books he found. After some sleep, we'll head back out. Maybe we can find the level below this one, and maybe we can learn more about this place. I hope Thrommel can get here soon with troops. I doubt we can take on a level full of ogres, trolls, hill giants, and humans. Oh, and evil clerics too.

I really need sleep.

Making enemies and friends

Yesterday we finished up going through the room. The half orc with the broken arm (she's still giving me dirty looks) tried to escape, but Saul caught her. It's hard to do anything when you have a broken arm.

While going through the wizard's room, Anna accidentally set off a trap. Fire exploded everywhere. She managed to shield her face, but it burned her pretty good. Audry did the "lay on hands" paladin trick, but we still had to give her a couple of super healing potions before she was better. Still, it shook her up pretty bad. She sat in a chair for a while, nursing a headache.

Our little half orc friend thought it was pretty funny. I drew my sword and nudged her broken arm with the flat of the blade. She cried out in pain.

"Hah hah hah," I said. "That's pretty damn funny, isn't it?" Audry poked me in the arm and gave me a dirty look.

Saul held up one of the potions. "Want one?"

She remained silent for a moment. Finally, she nodded.

"Then tell us about the traps in this room," Marc said. "And yours."

She tried to stand, and winced. Finally, she agreed. She pointed out the traps on the chest in her room and the runes on a map in the wizard's room. She knew nothing about the side room where the wizard retreated or the neat little skull in the box. We checked everything to be sure. She hated us, that much was obvious, but she was defeated and she knew it.

Finally, we gave her the healing potion. She winced as her arms snapped back into place. She still had some minor wounds here and there, but her arm was pretty much better. We let her go through the side passage and to freedom. She refused to go through the main part of the temple.

"She probably doesn't want to face the denizens of the temple," Saul said. "Means she won't tell anyone about this. Too much shame."

"Cry me a river," I said. They laughed at that one. Old sayings are new ones in this world.

We found a lot of cool stuff. Marc managed to remove magical runes from a map on the wall. The map showed this level, or much of it anyway. A triangular room nearby showed a set of stairs. We didn't know if they went up or down. Hopefully they went down and we could find the leaders of this place.

We also found a bunch of potions, a large book that Marc said was magical, and a bunch of wand. All but one turned out to be useless. What that wand did, though, Marc couldn't be sure.

We found a magical mirror within a black cabinet, but it broke when we tried to get to it (oops). Marc hit the jackpot. He found the spell books for our mage friend. He was like a kid in a candy shop at that point.

Speaking of kid in a candy shop, Anna found gobs of jewelry, gems, coins, and other valuables. The bad news--there was too much of it to carry with us. Pouting, she gathered as many gems as she could (and us--Saul and I became pack mules).

The two biggest things were a crystal ball and the golden skull. Well, the crystal ball was a bad thing, that's for sure. Marc stared into its depths briefly. I saw colors swirl within. Suddenly, he smashed it against the wall. He fell into a chair, shaking his head.

"What'd you see?" Anna asked.

Marc stared at the shards of glass on the floor. "Trapped."

"Guess I should have looked at it more closely," Anna said.

"You wouldn't have discovered anything amiss," Marc said. "It was a magical trap. It caused my will to be focused upon...something."

"On what?" I asked.

"A woman," Marc said. "I know that much. Whoever it was had a very powerful mind."

"Well if she were a woman you'd expect that," Anna said. Marc said nothing. Anna went to him and put her hand on his. "You gonna be okay?"

He looked at her and nodded. "This individual was powerful, but I got away soon...not soon enough."

"She knows we're here," Saul said. "Whoever she is."

"I believe she is close," Marc said. "She tried to convince me to join the temple For a split second it seemed agreeable."

"Agreeable?" Audry asked. "You would never do such a thing."

"Like I said, she was a powerful mind," Marc said. "I fear they are aware of us now, or at least me."

"Well, we've killed enough of them they probably know something's wrong," Saul said. "So whoever this individual was they know nothing more."

"I hope so," Marc said.

We took a good look at the skull after that. A skull of gold big enough to fit in my hand. Well, it looked like it anyway. I didn't actually pick it up. I tried to, but Audry stopped me.

"It's evil," she said. "No one touches it."

I was about to say that just because it looks nasty doesn't mean that it is. Kind of like spaghetti. I then remembered that Paladins had a since for this kind of thing. If she said it was evil, then it was evil. We left it in its case. Then I remembered a line from the poem.

Many now have gone to die
in water, flame, in earth, or sky.
They did not bear the key of old
that must be found--the orb of gold.

"So this orb is a key?" Audry asked. "A key to what?"

"They talk about a key throughout the poem," Marc said. "A key without a lock they made, of gold and gems, and overlaid with spells, I believe it went."

"Don't forget the last line," I said. "But with the key, you might succeed in throwing down Her power and greed. Destroy the key when you are done and then rejoice, the battle won."

"What, you memorized it?" Saul asked.

"Yeah, it takes so long to get from one place to another around here and I don't have a book." I thumped the iron box containing the gold skull. "Well, whatever we have to do with this, we should definitely keep it with us."

I stuck it in the bottom of my bag and off we went. We had decided that we should check out the stairs in the triangular room (the map seemed to indicate this was the third level, and there were apparently two more). They were ungodly steep and narrow. At the top of the stairs was a trap door that opened up into a small, circular room with one passage leading out. We made our way down the hall and through a door. The passage on the other side of that door eventually led into the triangular room.

Every wall had eyes. Literally, they were painted on every wall. Some eyes looked human, others looked less human. Some eyes looked like a blind man's eyes. They were all of different colors. One thing they had in common--they all stared with a sense of anger or fear. Trash was strewn everywhere, and it smelled like someone used it as a bathroom.

There were four doors in the room and, as the map indicated, there was a set of stairs. The stairs went up, not down as we had hoped.

"Well, at least we know how to get out of here now," Saul said.

It was then that one of the doors opened. A massive humanoid stepped out. The elongated facial features and green mottled skin raised no doubts about what it was.

"What? You are intruders?" it asked.

"Uh, no, of course not," Anna said, even as she dropped her pack on the floor and dug for oil. "We're supposed to be here."

He wasn't in the mood for jokes, or maybe the flask of oil was a hint. In any case, the troll let out a long howl. It sounded like Godzooki doing his call for Godzilla, only in this case it didn't bring Godzilla, it brought out some bugbears and ogres from behind two other doors.

I'd like to say hilarity ensued, but combat ensued instead. The troll charged us first. I stepped aside and lopped off its legs. Anna broke the bottle of oil over its skull and Marc followed up with a spell. A jet of flames issued forth from his hands. It engulfed the troll completely. It flopped around while we turned to face the bugbears and ogres. That would be eight bugbears and four trolls.

There was a time when this would have worried me, but we were getting good at this. In real life, you don't exactly level up at the end of the day. But you do get better. I could never have held up my end of the fight when I first got here. Now, it was just a day at the office.

In the end the room smelled like burning troll (reminiscent of a burned tator tots) and dead bugbears and ogres. We didn't come out of it unscathed, though. Healing potions were passed around. Next time, I thought, we need to bring a priest. I looked inside the potion bag. We still had a good number, but we were running low.

The last door in the room opened up, and out stepped the biggest, ugliest man I have ever seen. He was easily over twelve feet. He ducked as he came out of the room, scratching his exposed belly. He carried a massive club.

"What go on here! You mess around and wake me up? I--" Finally, the big man took a look around the room. "Wha--? You kill all dem?"

"Yeah," I said. I took a step forward and pointed my sword at him. Blood still dripped from the end of it. "You want some?"

"Sum o' what?"

"Some of what your friends got?" I took another step, and Andre the giant backed away. He stopped when he hit the wall.

"I no 'cause trouble," he said. "Look, I sorry. I got tired of guard stuff. It boring, and there no money. That grubby cook troll not feed me enough. It bad. Here good."

"You were a guard?" Audry asked. "But not now?"

"No, I no do no more," he said. His voice bellowed like a tuba. "I get half uh what these guys get, and then me happy."

"I get it," Anna said. "He was a guard and ran away. Didn't run far, though."

"I run far 'nuff," he said.

"And how far would that be?" Marc asked.

"Upstairs. I was on last level with all da bosses." He picked his nose. "I go to next level but all dose priests get mad and tell on me."

"Fire and water priests?" I asked. He nodded.

"That's the second level," Marc said. "The first had the earth priests. So this is the third level, and there's one more below us. I believe our friend in the tower said there were three levels."

"Der is," the giant said. "No one go there, though. No one know how or where it is."

"If they don't know where it is or how to get there," Audry said, "how do they know its there?"

"'Cause she's there."

"She?" I asked. "What she would this be?"

"Uh, I not say," the giant said. "She hear and get mad. They say she close. This all used to be hers, but long ago when big fight go on, she get stuck here and can't leave."

"The battle of Emridy Meadows," Marc said. "What do you know of her?"

"She powerful," the giant said. "She like mold and stuff. And mushrooms. Not me, though. I ate mushroom once and got sick. Then I saw funny colors. I tried to touch them but they went away and--"

"You said she's powerful," Saul said. "Is she a mage?"

"Well, maybe." The giant shrugged his gigantic shoulders. "I hear she do spells and stuff. She not supposed to be here, though."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"She from elsewhere. Some kinda pit that's not here."

"A pit that's not here?" Marc thought for a moment. "Do you mean another plane of existence?"

"Oh yeah," he said. "Head rack say something about that. He big boss, know everything. He say she from pit. He call it a biss."

"A biss?" Audry said. "Do you mean the Abyss?"

The giant nodded thoughtfully.

"A goddess?" Saul said. "Maybe that's what you sensed in that crystal ball."

"Makes sense," Marc said. "There's a goddess trapped here somewhere."

"Dunno 'bout that," the giant said.

"How many guards are there on the boss level?" Anna asked. I tried not to snicker. She sounded like a gaming geek (like me).

"Whole bunches," he said. "Bugbears, ogres, more giants like me, couple-three ettins."

"Ettins?" I asked.

"Uh huh," the giant said. "Like one down the hall."

"Down which hall?" I asked.

"Duh one you come from?" he asked. "You not see him?"

"How many of each are there?" Audry asked.

"Each what?"

"Guards," Anna said. "How many bugbears, how many ogres...."

"Oh, lots," he scratches his head. "More bugbears than I got fingers and toes. Lots o' ogres and hill giants. Lots." He glanced at the staircase. "Can I go?"

We looked at each other and shrugged. The boy was about as sharp as an egg and we probably got all out of him we could.

"You promise not to tell anyone we're here?" Saul asked.

He nodded.

"Good," I said. "Now beat it."

And he did just that. He took off running toward the staircase, ducking as he entered it. The ground shook as he pounded up the stairs. He grunted as his head bumped on the ceiling at one point, but he kept going. After a few moments, we no longer heard him...and then we, heard his footsteps again.

"Did he forget something?" Anna asked.

Saul put his hand on the ground. "It's coming from the other way." He pointed down the hall.

"Didn't Gigantor say there was an Ettin down there?" I said.

My question was answered almost immediately. "What all dis racket!"

The voice came from down the hall. The footsteps got louder. We darted into the closest room and shut the door. Part of me wanted to actually see an Ettin. Two-headed giants sounded cool--except when they're squashing you, I suppose.

We managed to get the door shut just as the Ettin squeezed into the room. He grunted as he forced his way through the human-sized door. "Ah! They dead!"

"Who kill?" a second voice said. It sounded remarkably like the first.

"Is he talking to himself?" I whispered.

Anna lay on the floor, looking underneath the door. "Probably talking to his other head."

"Other head?" I asked.

"Yeah," Saul said. "They're giants with two heads. Didn't you know?"

"They didn't talk about that in my biology class in school, no."

"Do we wait here or do we take him?" Audry asked.

"How about we just leave." He pointed behind us. There was a passage in the wall. A door to the passage hung open. It was designed to look like part of the wall.

We left the room as the Ettin continued to talk to itself...or each other, I guess it depends on the perspective. We shut the secret door behind us. The hall continued for another twenty feet or so and opened into another room. Again, it looked like a secret door that had been opened earlier.

Dung and trash covered the floor. In one corner there was a pile of garbage that looked like someone had been laying in it. There was a single door in the room, other than the secret door.

"The troll's room, I take it," Marc said. He gestured at the door. "Wonder what that's for."

At first I thought he meant the door. Then I saw what hung next to the door. On a large hook hung a key on a ring.

Anna walked over to it and examined it for a moment before taking it. "Let's find out."

From the secret passage we heard the Ettin mumbling something. It sounded like he was still in the triangular room, but we didn't want to take chances. We shut the secret door and left the room through the main door. It led into a room that looked like a twenty-sided die. There were a number of doors on the diagonal walls and one against a normal wall. There were also stairs leading up.

Cool. Another way out of here.

We took the door against the normal wall. Beyond it were stairs leading down a short way and opened into a big room with four doors, each with a big lock. There was a huge pit in the room that looked like it might have been used as a fire pit, but it was cold. There was a big kettle sitting over it. I didn't even want to know what was in there.

"So," Anna said. "Which door does this key open."

We heard footsteps getting closer. Big ones, the kind that might belong to a giant. Or an ettin.

"Better find out fast," Saul said.

Anna went to the door closest to the stairs. She tried the key. The door opened right away.

"Door number one," Marc said. He sounded like Monty Haul, only I doubted there was much of a prize behind any of these doors. "Our lucky day."

We went through the door and shut it behind us. A set of stairs led upward for a short ways and the hallway leveled out. And, like all the halls around here, it twisted and turned for a while.

"How does anyone find there way around here?" Anna asked. "Why make it so complex?"

"Tactically sound," Saul said. "People who know this place can find their way around easy. People who shouldn't be here get lost easily, making it easier to track them down."

"You mean people like us?" I said.

The hall split up. I went "eenie meenie miney moe" and chose the left passage.

"What does that mean?" Audry asked.

"What?"

"Eenie meenie...." Anna said.

"Miney moe," I finished. "Just a ritual."

"Ritual for what?" Marc asked.

"For choosing something when you don't know what to choose," I said.

"Why not just choose something," Saul said.

"What fun is that?" I said. "Look, you want to go another way?"

"No, no," Saul said. "I suppose this way is as good as any."

They kept looking at me strangely as we followed the hall. It turned once and kept going, but I stopped everyone about twenty feet from the turn. I saw something, something on the wall. Something was different about the wall here.

I smiled. Oh yeah.

I felt along the wall. It didn't take long to find the pressure place in the floor. A section of the wall swung open.

"Sweet. My first secret door."

"Not bad," Saul said.

"For a human," Anna said, and winked.

We went through the secret door. The hall beyond turned once and opened into a black stone room. Against one wall stood a wooden alter. It had been painted white. Some kind of bowl stood on stand nearby, and silver lamp hung from over the altar. A white cloth covered the altar.

"Looks peaceful," Anna said.

"It's not," Audry said. "This whole place is evil."

"What about that?" Saul pointed toward a wall. In a little niche in the wall stood a silver statue of some sort. "Isn't that the symbol of Pholtus?"

"Pholtus of the blinding light," Audry said. "Doesn't mean this place is holy. The people of the Pale worship him. They have a saying: cold weather is a sign from Pholtus to throw another heretic on the fire."

"You think this place is evil then?" I asked.

She nodded. "Not because of that, though." She pointed to the back of the room. A large cross made of silver hung from the wall, but it was the wrong shape to be any kind of Christian cross. "I can sense it, over here. This place reeks of evil."

"Look at this," Marc said. He pointed at the cloth on the alter. Words were printed on it:

Venerate this shrine of Good, then haste away, all ye of true and Good faith!

"Sounds like they are mocking those of faith," Marc said.

Saul looked behind the altar. He ran his fingers along the wall.

"Let me guess," I said, just as Saul pushed open a section of wall.

"They love their secrets," Audry said. She leaned into the room and flinched. "There is evil everywhere." She went in anyway, her sword at the ready.

We followed her. The hexagonal room had no other exits or decorations. A skeleton laid on the ground near the door, dressed in a rotting robe. In the center of the room stood a black, iron coffin.

"Not good," I said. "You know what they got in those things?"

They looked at me. "Vampires?" Anna suggested.

I nodded. "Anyone got a wooden stake?"

"Fresh out," Saul said.

We went to the coffin. It stood open. I imagine a vampire wouldn't have to worry about much here. Inside was a man dressed in black. He appeared dead. Through his chest was a large, wooden stake.

"That makes no sense," Marc said. "He's too fresh."

"Shouldn't he turn to dust, or something?" Anna asked.

"The stake keeps him from movement only," Marc said. "If it is removed he will be animate again." He rubbed his chin. "Then this must have happened recently. His body would decay if he did not feed often."

"So if he was staked not long ago," I said, "where's the blood."

"Good question," Marc said. "I have an idea. Everyone stand by the door please."

We did as he was told. Marc joined us. At the door, he spoke arcane words and formed patterns in the air with his fingers. Abruptly, a burst of light emanated from the coffin along with a brief hum.

"It's safe now," Marc said. "I merely didn't want the spell to disrupt any of our magic."

"You think it's an illusion?" Saul asked.

"Yes," Marc said. He walked toward the coffin. "Or it was one." He stopped at the coffin. "Oh my."

We went to stand by Marc. Inside the coffin the body of the vampire had disappeared. In its place was the body of a man. He wore plate mail with an emblem I did not recognize. He was young and handsome, and his face had color.

Audry put a hand to his neck. "He has a pulse." She looked at him and caught her breath. "This is the symbol of Veluna. Gods, you know who this looks like?"

We shrugged.

"This looks like Prince Thrommel, the Grand Marshall of Furyondy and Provost of Veluna," Audry said. She touched the emblem on his chest. "He is a Paladin."

We stared at the young man. I thought I could see him breathing.

"I guess that eenie meenie miney moe thing works pretty well," Anna said.

A big lizard, an ugly woman, and mini-me

The temple was a few hours away. We checked it out, and, as expected, there are guards everywhere.

"We're screwed," I said. After briefly explaining the euphemism, we ended up heading to the location described by the wood elves--the location of the secret tunnel exit.

We spent a lot of time avoiding patrols. They are getting more numerous. When we arrived at the secret tunnel exit, we found many guards. Marc cast his spell, the invisibility one, and we went inside while most of them were still sleeping.

They don't pay these guys enough, that's for sure.

The spell wore off by the time we made it far enough down the tunnel where we could not be seen. We continued on for some ways. The tunnel looked mostly natural, though it was expanded in some places. After several hundred feet we reached a large cavern with a pool of water. Small, blind fish darted around in the pool. The path led around the pool and then continued on. Anna stopped us about half way around the path.

"Huh," she said. "Saul, take a look."

Saul looked where she was pointing. He went up to a section of the cave wall and felt along it. And then I saw it. That part of the wall had a slightly different color from the surrounding wall.

"A secret door," I said.

Saul pushed against the door. I hear a click, and then the door swung open. "How about that."

"I should have realized something like this would be here," Marc said. "It's unlikely they would create such a tunnel purely for a single tower."

We went into the tunnel on the other side of the door. When we were through, Saul shut it. It closed with a click.

The tunnel steadily sloped down. In some places the passage narrowed to about four feet high and four feet wide. Finally, the passage leveled out. The rough cut tunnel soon became smooth. The familiar arched ceiling of the typical temple corridor appeared over our heads. The passage continued on for about fifty feet and then turned sharply. In the distance, I saw the dancing shadows created by torch light.

"Lemme look," Anna whispered. She pulled the hood of her elven cloak over her head and disappeared. She became a mirage that glided down the hall. She reached the corner and it looked like she peered around it. Suddenly, she jerked her head back. She came back down the hall, hugging the wall and moving like a cat.

"As John would say, we're screwed."

"What is it?" Audry asked.

"Basilisk," she said. "A pretty big one too."

I tried to remember what a basilisk looked like from the Monster Manual. I think it had more than four legs (maybe six). More importantly, it could turn people into stone.

"Why aren't you a statue?" I asked.

"It's back was too me," she said. "There was a passage on the other side of the room. Maybe it's expecting people there."

"Expecting?" Marc said. "A basilisk is not smart enough for that. It would just mull around." He thought a moment. "In fact, it should smell us." He wandered down the hall.

"Wait!" Saul hissed. He went with Marc. The rest of us followed.

"Marc," I said. "I don't think this is a good idea."

"It's back is to us, right?" he said. He leaned around the corner. He stared at a sight I could only imagine. I half expected him to turn to stone. Instead, he looked back at us and did the last thing I expected. He laughed.

"Marc?" Anna asked. "You feeling okay?"

He stepped out into the open, in full view of the basilisk. I nearly jumped out of my skin. What could we do? If we went out there with him, we'd risk getting petrified as well. But after a moment, nothing happened. Marc stared into the room, nodding appreciatively.

"The shadow is wrong," he said. "In this torch light it should be dancing along with it. But the shadow is perfectly still, as if standing out in the sunlight."

Saul leaned around the corner and looked. "Hey, you're right."

"It's an illusion," Marc said. He gestured at the rest of us. "Have a look."

Audry and Anna looked first. Audry merely raised her eyebrows. Anna flinched briefly, and then cocked her head to the side. "Hey, you're right."

I looked around the corner. It was huge. It stood as tall as I did at the shoulder. Green scales covered its entire body. It was something straight out of an Irwin Allen film or something. I saw the shadow on the floor. Marc was right about it. The basilisk was facing us now. Given the size of the thing and the size of the room, it couldn't have turned around so suddenly.

And like that, the basilisk disappeared.

"Where'd it go?" I asked.

"It's still there," Marc said. "At least, I can sense the magic of it. But since you no longer believe in it, it has disappeared for you."

"For all of us," Audry said.

The room, now empty, didn't actually have torches. There were little troughs in the floor that outlined the entire chamber. They smelled of oil as they burned. The entire area was lit, but there was nothing else here.

"Makes it easier to see the basilisk," Marc said. "No way to get a real one down here anyway."

There was a passage that continued on for a short ways. It ended with at some very steep steps. There were two doors in the room itself. One of them was part way open. Inside the room was lit by what looked like a lantern.

"Who left the lantern burning?" Saul asked.

Who indeed. I took a step toward the door and reached for it. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. It wasn't any of the guys, they weren't near me. So what...?

I took a step back and drove my elbow into the thin air, about in the same place as someone's stomach would be if they were standing behind me. The idea of Marc's mass invisibility spell came to mind. Of course he wouldn't be the only who had it. And if I was wrong, I only looked foolish instead of dead.

The elbow padding around my chain mail armor rammed into...something. It felt like someone's stomach. How about that. I someone gasp right behind me. I turned and back handed the source of the gasp. I felt someone's jaw across my knuckles. Spots of red spattered across the floor.

I heard someone hit the floor and curse loudly. Before my eyes a woman materialized. She jumped to her feet immediately. Blood trickled from her mouth. She must have been about six inches taller than me, and she was...well, she was pretty homely looking. Her teeth were slightly pointed. I guessed she was a half-orc.

"Now would be a good time Falrinth," she called.

Behind her I heard a pop. "Indeed it would be." He gestured at Audry and Saul. A gust of wind sent them down the hall toward the stairs. They bounced off the wall and landed on the floor hard.

The woman spun. I saw the kick at the last minute and ducked. She followed up with a back hand of her own and smacked me across the jaw with more force than I anticipated. I took a step back and dropped into a defensive stance.

"I owed you that," she said. "I can't believe you hit a woman."

"Your a woman?" I said. That pissed her off.

We went at it, hand to hand at first. At some point she pulled out a dagger and it got serious. My dagger was in my boot and I couldn't get to it right away. I did my best to stay away from that thing. It was probably coated in poison or something.

Behind her I heard both Marc and this Falrinth speaking. Rather, they were casting spells. Each of them was surrounded by a column of light that made their image shimmer. Spells bounced off these shells.

The dagger came in low, and then feigned high and came in low again. She was pretty good. She'd probably killed a lot of people. She swung again and again, but kept missing. It got her angry. Big mistake.

Finally, she made a mistake.

She over extended her thrust. I stepped to the side and caught her hand. I spun her around, bringing her completely off balance. I then reversed the spin. Her legs went out from under her and she landed on her shoulder. I wasn't taking any chances. I locked her arm and put all my weight on it. She cried out as I broke her arm in two places.

I looked up. Saul and Audry had managed to get up and approach. The wizard, however, was gone. Marc stood their, surrounded by the transparent rainbow colors of protection spells.

"Where is he?" Audry asked.

Marc shook his head. "We exchanged some spells and then he teleported."

I went to the slightly open door and pushed it open. It looked like a bedroom, including a large sofa, an overstuffed chair...and more weapons than you can imagine. The walls were covered with them. Swords of all sizes, knives, daggers, halberds, and a bunch of stuff I didn't recognize.

"The palace of our princess here," I said, gesturing at the half orc on the floor. She laid there, staring at me like I was the lowest form of life, not even worthy of being stepped on but someone had to do it and it might as well be her. In other words, in the same way all my ex-girlfriends stare at me.

Anna went to the next door and checked it quickly. She then opened it. The room had a gigantic triangle painted on the floor and surrounded by runes. In addition to the standard bed, shelves lined the room. All kinds of strange things filled the shelves, everything from musty tomes to mummified animals.

"This looks like home," Saul said. There was one other door in the room. "Maybe he's hiding?"

Anna checked it for traps and then opened it. It looked like a workroom, including a workbench, lots of potion bottles, what looked like wands...Marc would have fun here.

"So he left," Audry said. "Now he'll warn everyone--"

"Shh," Anna said. She held up her hand to keep us silence. She held her other hand to her ear. I listened. I could hear someone chanting, just the Marc does when casting a spell.

"It's coming from the other side of the wall," Saul said. He went to a wall and felt along at it. After a moment he found a small lump on the wall. He depressed it and a section of the wall moved aside and revealed a hall.

"Man," I said. "These guys like their secret doors."

Went into the narrow hall. We heard more chanting and hurried our pace. The hall rounded a corner. The wizard stood in a narrow room, surrounded by cabinets, workbenches, and a bunch of stuff I couldn't recognize. He looked up at me after he finished his spell. He smiled at me, both of him. A copy of him appeared next to him, followed by another, and then another. A half dozen Falrinths looked at me.

From behind the Falrinths appeared a small little runt. It stood about two feet high and had no clothes. Not that it mattered, because it looked like it didn't haven anything to cover up. Its face looked like an old lady's that just smelled something bad. Two little horns grew out of its little head.

"Is that mini-me?" I asked.

Falrinth said nothing. He gestured at me. I felt a pack of sledgehammers hit me in the chest. It knocked me back about five feet. My head bounced off the stone floor.

Mini-me moved quickly. He jumped on top of me and held his claws to my throat. Anna's boot came out of nowhere and kicked him off my chest.

Anna knelt over me while Audry and Saul went into the room. The copies of Falrinth spread out as they approached. He began casting another spell as they attacked him. Audry sliced through one Falrinth and the image winked out. They "killed" a few more copies before the spell was done.

A hole opened in the air next to the Falrinths. It was as if the fabric of space opened up for him. The Falrinths stepped through the opening, and it closed behind him.

"Master!" Mini-me got up off the floor and stared at the spot where Falrinth once stood. "Master!"

"Well isn't that too bad," Anna said. She drew her short sword. "Now, do you wanna play?"

Mini-me jumped impossibly high in the air. I saw little wings on his back flap furiously. He continued on down the hall, into the bedroom, and on into the main chamber. He chittered the whole way, saying something I could not understand.

Anna put her short sword away and reached into the community pack. She pulled out a healing potion and helped me drink it. As I drank, I realized my chest was smoking. After I finished the potion I felt its power flow through me. The pain dissipated, and was able to sit up.

"Mini-me?" Audry asked.

"Never mind," I said. I stood. I wasn't feeling great but I felt a lot better than I did a few minutes ago. I should get the recipe for that healing potion. I'd make a killing back on Earth if I ever managed to get back. No more HMOs or socialized healthcare. Drink the potion and you're right as rain.

"What now?" I asked.

"I fear I have used up most of my spells," Marc said. "I must rest and rememorize."

"No problem," Anna said. She looked around the room. There were cabinets, coffers, and bookstands everywhere. "Let's see what Falrinth has."

"I thought you gave up stealing," Audry said.

"Hey, it's not stealing," Anna said. "If he wanted it he would have taken it with him."

"Think he'll tell on us?" I asked.

"Tell the rulers of this temple that he failed to stop us?" Marc said. "I rather doubt it. Though it doesn't seem to matter. They already know of us."

"That's why they have all the guards," Saul said. "Good thing, really?"

"What, it's a good thing that half the frickin' invading army is looking for us?" I said. "How is that good?"

"They are using up a large amount of resources on us," Audry said, "instead of invading other towns."

"The scary part of that," Saul said, "is that maybe what we have seen so far is only a small fraction of what they have available."

"Hey guys," Anna said. "You need to see this."

Anna held up a small iron box. She opened it and showed us the contents. There was only one thing inside. It was a small sphere made entirely out of gold. It was carved to look like a human skull without the lower jaw. There were four holes around the skull itself; one on the forehead, one on the back of the skull, and one over each ear--or at least where the ear would be.

"Think it's valuable?" Anna asked.

Going to church again

We are taking the back way to the elemental temple. We haven't seen any soldiers thus far. It's possible they returned to the temple after Hommlet was retaken. It's also possible we are being left unmolested so we can be set up later.

Of course, that doesn't mean we didn't encounter any trouble at all.

Humanoids have swept through the area, as they typically do during the chaos of war. We dispatched a band of hobgoblins. We let a few go so we could track them back to their lair, which was fortunately close. We wiped them out quickly. Cruel? Perhaps, but hobgoblins only live for pillaging, looting, and raping. The wood elves can handle themselves, but there are many farmsteads to the west which would be easy prey. Back home we have rats. Here they have humanoids.

We made good time, considering the delays. The temple is probably only another few hours a way, but it's late and we need to rest and heal before we enter the temple once more. This time, though, we have a better plan than a frontal assault. From the wood elves we learned precisely where the exit to the tunnel was located (the one from the temple tower). We're going to enter via that route instead of walking straight in. Granted, we have to enter the main complex by the usual means, but perhaps we can do it with a little more stealth this time around.

But that's tomorrow.

Before I sleep, I should probably finish my tale about how we rescued the children.

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

We continued down the large hall. It was easily forty feet wide. Bones and broken furniture littered the floor, but a well worn path led through the debris to the other end of the hall some two hundred feet down. Old tapestries still hung on the hall in places. You could still make out the typical temple scenes--murder, pillaging, raping.

I really wish I had some C-4.

In the distance we heard fighting. It had continued for some time now. It seemed that the water temple had found the fire temple and was taking their revenge for the sacking of their temple. The ruse worked, but for how long?

The elemental air priest, Prefect Kelno, led us, dejectedly.

"How much further?" Marc asked.

"The end of this hall," he said. He continued to scowl.

"You look depressed," I said. "The temples are fighting each other like you wanted. What's the problem?"

"You destroyed the last of my followers," he said. "You have brought ruin upon me."

"You brought ruin upon yourself, fool," Audry said. She kept close to him. Her hand never left the hilt of her sheathed sword. "You chose the wrong path in life."

"I chose the path to power," the Prefect said. "How is that wrong?"

"Well for starters," Anna said, "you don't look very powerful."

He sneered. "What does a woman know?"

"She knows how to eliminate your minions, for one," Saul said. "You know, given everything we've done so far, what gave you the idea you could actually threaten us into doing your bidding."

"A foolish error, I admit," the Prefect said. "I underestimated you."

"Your greed destroyed you," Audry said. "As well as your foolishness, your pride--"

"That is enough woman," the Prefect said. He turned sharply to face her. "I suggest you hold your tongue. I am not as weak as my minions, and your god cannot save you from me."

"And your element of air can't save you from us," I said. "You better chill. Now."

He looked at me for a moment. After everything I had been through, staring me down was a bad idea. He finally gave up and moved on.

The hall came to an end at last. Or rather, it split into three smaller hallways. One went left, the other right, and one down the center. The Prefect led us down the center one. We followed it for a short ways, passing a couple of doors and then stopping at a third.

"In here," the Prefect said with a sigh. "They are in here."

"Thank you," Audry said. She grabbed the Prefect by the collar and flipped him over her hip. He landed on the floor with a thud. She pulled out a piece of rope and proceeded to hog tie him. Saul helped her.

"What is this!" Audry hit him in the back of the head and he quieted down. "You betray me?"

"I don't trust you," she said. "You are sure about the guards?"

He growled. "It is as I have described it, holy woman. I will not lie to you. Indeed, your actions disrupt the temple that has betrayed me."

"Well, everyone's betraying you these days, huh?" Anna said. "You need a new line of work."

"Wait here," Saul said, and patted the Prefect's head. He jerked away angrily, struggling at his tied hands and feet.

Anna knocked on the door in the pattern indicated by the Prefect. Something grumbled on the other side of the door. The lock clicked over, and the door opened.

"What?" the bugbear on the other side demanded. I charged and side kicked the door. It flew open and sent the bugbear staggering backward.

"Hey, watch it!" An ogre stepped into view. I side stepped and kicked out his knee. He fell to his knees. I spun and circle kicked him in the face. His nose exploded and fell over backwards.

I stared at his body, blinking. I just KO'd an ogre. Hell yeah!

The bugbear held up his hands when everyone else came into the room. They looked at the bleeding ogre on the ground.

"Nice work, John," Saul said. He looked at the bugbear. "You, where are the prisoners."

He pointed to door in the room. It was made of a thick wood and bronze. "And more down the hall," he added, pointing to a side passage within the room itself.

"Keys," Audry said. It wasn't a question.

The bugbear pointed to a hook on the wall. Keys hung there. I grabbed them and opened the door. Over a dozen young faces greeted me. The place smelled of human waste. They probably had no other place to go but here. From the looks of them, they had very little to eat anyway.

Each of them raised their hands.

I stepped toward them. They flinched. I could see wounds on their body from open sores. They had whip marks on them as well.

Oh God, I can't wait until we kill every one of these mother--

"There are more down here," Anna said from down the hall. "A lot more."

"Gods," Audry whispered. "Look at them."

"We'll worry about that later," Marc said. "We have to leave, now."

Anna had opened the cells and herded the children toward the room exit. I had no idea how we could get them out of here quietly. But we had to try. God, they looked scared.

I knelt and looked at each of them. "Who wants to get out of here?"

Feebly, they raised their hands.

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

Audry kept her word and released the Prefect once we returned to his chambers. He spoke truthfully regarding the guards in the prison and he also spoke truthfully about the about the passage through his personal chambers. That passage led back to the passage that led us here. Soon, we were on the sloping passage that led up to the next level.

"You know the way from here?" he asked.

"Yes," Audry said. She cut him loose. "Get out of my sight."

He scurried away like a freed animal.

"What a pathetic little man," Audry said.

"Think he'll rat us out?" Anna asked.

"I think he wants to see this place destroyed as much as we do," Marc said. "If he can't rule it, no one can."

We continued up the sloped passage and then up the nearby stairs to the temple proper.

"I think we did it," I said.

"We're not in the open yet," Saul said.

We continued to the vestibule, children in toe. They moved slowly, but we didn't hurry them. I thought about how far it was to Hommlet and wondered if they could make it.

My thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of combat outside.

"Wait here," Anna said. She pulled the hood up on her cloak and virtually disappeared. The children gasped silently as her transparent form scurried through the semi-darkness of the temple and into the vestibule. The side door up ahead opened briefly and then shut again. For a moment I saw nothing more, and then her form shimmered before us as she removed her hood.

"A whole lot of fighting out there," she said.

"Did the temples bring their war out here?" Saul asked.

"I don't think so," Anna said. "It looks like...well, come see for yourself.

We went to the front of the temple. The large bronze doors covered in runes loomed before us. Some of the children started to cry at the sight of it. Audry comforted them, whispering soothing words to them. Audry and Anna stayed with the children as Marc, Saul, and I went out the side door.

It was a good sized battle all right. Bodies were everywhere, bodies of men wearing black cloaks with a yellow eye in the center. The few remaining men fought on against a couple of dozen elves. In the distance I saw the flash of light from a spell. Whatever it was, it seemed to highlight the elves briefly. It emboldened them. She stood a good distance away, but I could still see her face.

"Is that--?" I started.

"It is," Marc said. "Well, that is a surprise."

We readied our weapons and stepped forward, but it was already over. The remaining soldiers turned tail and ran. They received arrows in their backs. Wood elves are not forgiving.

When it was done the elves approached us, along with the priestess who aided them. They bowed as she approached. The priestess who led them, I corrected myself.

"You," I said.

She nodded. She looked better than when we rescued her some days ago. She was cleaned up and healed.

"It's good to see you again," I said.

She nodded briefly. "And you as well. I would be dead had you not saved me."

"Part of the job," Saul said.

"You are well?" she asked us. She did not smile.

Saul nodded. "We are find, but they need some help."

"They?" she asked.

"Children," I said. "Captured by temple followers." I leaned to Marc. "Do we want them to see all these corpses?"

"I'm sure they have seen worse in recent days," Saul said. "Seeing their captors dead could do little harm." Saul stepped inside the temple and gestured. Soon Anna came out with the children. Audry brought up the rear.

"Dear gods," the priestess said. She looked upon the children almost coldly. Wood elves, I thought. Would they help us, or would they decide they had helped us enough and cut us loose. The children sat and shivered in the outside air. Some shielded their eyes in the meager light that shown through the cloud cover. It looked like it might start to rain.

"Come," the priestess said at last. I didn't get her name. Even now I do not know it. "I'm sure these little ones will wish to come home."

For the first time since we freed them--probably since they were first captured--the children smiled.

Winning back the kingdom

It worked, and I'm alive. The question is, how long can Burne's Badgers keep the town secure.

We hid out in the basement of the Inn of the Welcome Wench. There's all kinds of secret hiding places down there. We kept the kids there in case something went wrong (I have no idea what we would have done with them if something did go wrong). Early this morning we masqueraded as Badgers. It turned out all the Badgers had been replaced by guards from this invading army. Many of the Badgers were killed, but many more escaped and hid in people's homes, outside of town...a few even shacked up in Nulb temporarily.

This town is amazing. About a quarter of the residences used to be adventurers. The rest have been influenced by that one quarter. The result? Everyone has little secret hideaways. Basements, secret rooms--you name, just about every house here has something like that. People use these places to stash weapons, money, food, and sometimes even people (like the Badgers).

What does all this mean? It means that this town has a sizable fighting force, one that the invading army probably didn't realize. They looked at this bunch and saw nothing but peasants. They left a garrison here and have maintained the order with the threat that their children will come to harm. Now, of course, that threat is gone, and the garrison was left standing against a town full of armed men and women.

Last night one of the Badgers ran off to Verbobonc. He's half-elf and knows all the local hiding spots and back roads. He'll warn them of what's happening here, and maybe they'll send troops. They were afraid to do this before because of the children. I can't blame them for that. What if the spy were intercepted, or the Verbobonc troops were spotted from a distance? Off he went, and this morning off we went to Hommlet Keep.

It's damn near finished. The main building is still being worked on, but many of the floors are still in place. The tower ballistas and catapults were manned, and there were guards making regular rounds day and night. That wasn't good.

Remember when I said every building in this town has a secret hideaway of some sort? Well, so does the Tower. It was finished some months ago. Only three people know about it: Burne, Rufus, and Ostler. Yeah, Ostler. The man is an overweight James Bond, I swear.

"James who?" he asked me when I said that. I promised I'd explain it to him later.

Early in the morning we went out in a small force--that would be Marc, Saul, Audry, Anna, and myself. Others wanted to come, and we considered it briefly. But this was the most dangerous part of the job. These people had families. We didn't--except for each other.

Yeah, these guys are my family now.

Marc cast a spell, a very powerful one that I didn't know he had access to. It essentially made everyone invisible--as long as we stayed close to Marc.

"I hope you bathed," Anna said. Marc only winked as he cast his spell.

Getting to the tower was a bit tricky. We couldn't see each other. Someone kept stepping on my heels. "Sorry," they'd mutter. Yeah, sure. No problem. I won't need my feet when I'm facing down the denizens of the tower. I wondered how many were doppelgangers.

We reached the base of the hillside where the tower rested. Above we could see the guards moving back and forth. We still had to be quiet, of course, but at this distance it was unlikely they would see us. Anna checked the area for traps and gave us the nod. We opened it, moving the rock Ostler told us about (this thing was pretty well hidden). The door opened inward quietly.

We went into the dark tunnel and the door closed behind us. It got even trickier at this point. Saul and Anna had to lead the way with their heat-sensing vision.

"What do you see?" I asked.

"Cold," Anna said. "Why do you humans always ask us that?"

"Because we can't see in the dark," Audry said. "And we want to know what you see."

"If there are warm bodies, we'll see them," Saul said. "And we'll let you know."

The passageway was narrow, about five feet wide or so. It sloped upward for about a hundred feet. Suddenly, Saul and Anna stopped us.

"What?" Marc whispered.

"We're here," Saul said. "Get ready."

I heard rock moving across rock. A piece of the wall in front of us swung open suddenly. It collided with something on the other side.

"Unh." I heard something fall over, followed by cursing. "Who the hells--?"

Ahead of us I saw a guard. His eyes grew wide as he stared at us. He held his hand to his mouth and prepared to call out a warning to everyone upstairs. A split second later an arrow slammed home into his skull. His body convulsed and then he hit the floor. Anna already had another arrow in hand.

I ran into the room. There was only one other guard there. He laid on the floor where the secret door knocked him over. And me with my sword still in my sheath. Unprepared, yes, but not helpless.

I reached for his arm and locked his elbow. I strained it and he cried out. Saul was in the room a second after me. He put his hand over the man's mouth.

"You'll do what we say," Saul said. "Or he'll break your arm."

The man nodded quickly, and then sang like a bird.

--------

I can go into details about what happened like I usually do. Suffice it to say that these guys were good, but not good enough.

Heading upstairs I was confronted by three of them. For a split second I wondered whether or not any of them were actually part of Burne's Badgers. Of course, if they were they would recognize us. And if they recognized us and attacked us anyway then they were part of the conspiracy--something hard to accept even considering the Badgers used to be brigands long ago.

In other words, if they attacked then they had to die. All of this passed through my mind in an instant. I then proceeded to kill all three of them.

It was like mowing grass. They came before us and defended themselves reasonably well but they couldn't stand against us. Anna fired arrows. Marc fired spells. The rest of us cut them down the old fashion way. When all of them were dead on this level we opened the Tower door.

"Clear!" I yelled outside. The townsfolk came out of hiding and poured into the Tower.

We ran up the stairs. I ran up these stairs long ago. It felt like running up a ladder. Now I took them three at a time with ease.

We found many more. Our pigeon sang well and accurately. When we reached the top we found what we feared. Some of the soldiers were readying the catapults and ballistas. If we had been a few minutes later, the town would be burning. When they saw us, they stopped.

"It's over," I said. I walked toward them, but one of them threatened to set off the catapult. Anna put an arrow in his left eye. He stumbled back and fell off the tower.

"Anyone tries that again," Audry said. "And you will all die."

I glanced at her. She never bluffed about killing. If she was going to kill you, then she meant it.

"Any takers?" Anna asked.

All of them put their hands in the air and walked toward us.

"Smartest thing you've done all your life," I said.

One of them spit at me. Then they all turned and dove off the edge of the tower.

We stood there, stunned.

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

The townsfolk secured the tower, which wasn't hard since we had killed most of them. They found a couple of soldiers who fought to the death. Fortunately, none of the townspeople in the tower died.

You see, the fighting wasn't isolated to just the Tower. A few soldiers were housed in the unfinished Keep (it was used as a dormitory). They were captured by the townsfolk with relative ease. But in town was where the bulk of the soldiers remained. We were told things were well in hand there and so we went into the streets.

You would have been proud to see it. People fought for their freedom in the street. The soldiers, trained for war and combat, didn't stand a chance. The fighting lasted for hours, going from building to building and rooting out the soldiers. None of them surrendered, even though we offered.

There were about seventy soldiers total, both in town and in the tower. All but a dozen were killed by the overwhelming force of the townsfolk. The remaining dozen took their own lives. No one wanted to be captured alive.

The last one stood in the middle of town, holding his long sword at the ready.

"Give it up," I said. "If you surrender you'll be treated fairly."

He shook his head.

"What, you're going to off yourself like your friends did?" I said. "Where is the honor in that?"

"If I live," he said, "then he will know."

"Who's he?" Anna said.

"He." He turned his sword around and held it by the blade. "He will know." He set the sword so the hilt rested on the ground. He held the sword in place by resting his fingers tips on the tip of the blade. "And then I will pray for death."

He let himself fall on his sword. The blade pierced his throat. He died in seconds without flinching.

Everyone in town became quiet. You never heard such quiet.

We counted our own dead. Twenty had died. The priests at the Church of Saint Cuthbert managed to raise five of them today. They say they can raise more, but more than likely they cannot raise everyone. They've sent riders to look for more priests.

Children have been united with their families...mostly. Some children came back to town only to discover their parents have died in the battle to free their home. I hope more priests can be found, for their sake.

We can only pray to the deity of our choice.

It is late now. I just got out of a bath in Marc's home (it looked in good condition, even though it had been a long time since he had been here--magic is a wonderful thing). I took a hot bath. Any other time it would have felt wonderful, but the events of the day flooded back to me. I watched the blood pull up in the bath, most of it not mine. When I was done I felt less dirty, but not clean.

Tomorrow we head back to the Elemental Temple. I have no idea how long before the Temple realizes something has happened. We would leave tonight, but Marc must memorize spells and that requires a full nights rest. I hate them for what they made us do today. I wished I had some C-4 so I could level the whole structure.

A small nuke would be nice. Dropped from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.

I realize that I have not finished telling my tale of how we rescued the children. That will have to wait for I am too exhausted.

Back at the ranch

Well, it's been an interesting few days. And by interesting I mean, of course, "oh God I'm gonna die any minute!"

Such is the life of an adventurer. Yeah, it sounds like fun, but it's only fun when you're telling the story. While we're experiencing our little adventurers all I can think about is maybe I should go back to writing java code. What I try to do these days is focus on the future. "What a great story this'll make," I tell myself. It helps.

We're just outside of Hommlet now, after wandering the countryside avoiding patrols and what not. Yes, we went back to Hommlet. No, we didn't utterly and completely sack the temple. That's on the agenda for later. We had to come back.

The good news is we found the missing children. The bad news is we still don't know where Rufus and Burne are.

Some time ago people from the elemental temple, with help from the invading army that has now made its way past the Flinty Hills in the south. Instead of storming the village, they somehow managed to take all the children (still haven't figured out how) and now they have forced the people of the village to work for them while maintaining an appearance of normality. If they didn't, bye-bye children.

But that's not going to happen now. In fact, what will happen is that the townspeople will rise up against their oppressors. Ostler is working out the details. You know, he may be an overweight innkeeper, but there is far more to that man than meets the eye.

We couldn't afford to look for Rufus and Burne. We had to get the children to safety. Nulb is out of the question. Half those people probably work for the temple anyway (there sure were a lot of them coming after us when we ran out of town). So we had to come here.

The children are in hiding beneath the inn. If all goes well tomorrow they will be united with their families. It will go well. I can guarantee that. Then, when we're done here, we're going back to the temple. I can only hope that the havoc we've caused has caused some damage.

So, how did we free the children? Glad you asked....

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

Marc's magic mouth spell began to whisper. We were on our feet and running upstairs. The tunnel was out of the question, considering it took us far from the temple. We had our escape plan set, assuming they hadn't surrounded the tower completely.

We looked out the back window on the north side of the tower. The sun had set. Being the city boy that I am, the pitch black night of a world without artificial lighting is still unsettling. "See anything?" I asked.

Anna and Saul looked out over the grounds, scanning the area with their heat vision. It had a limited range, but if there was anyone relatively close by they would have been spotted, even if they were hiding behind bushes. Finally, they both shook their heads.

"Clear," Saul said. He kicked both piles of ropes off the edge of the large window. We had tied them off earlier just for this instance. We slid down quickly, all of us except Anna. Once we were down she untied the knots and climbed down with practiced agility.

That's when they broke down the tower door. They shouted, but it wasn't any kind of battle cry. I heard the counterweight slam into the ground floor, even from this side of the tower wall. Anna's trap went off like a charm, which meant at least a few of them were now hanging in a net somewhere near the ceiling.

Anna landed like a cat. We took off running to the south, hugging the wall. Anna and Saul led the rest of us. I tripped over a large stone. Audry caught me before I stumbled. We kept moving. Finally, we reached an opening in the wall. We peered around. To the north was the tower. Torches lit up the interior. Someone was shouting commands, and they sounded angry.

"How many?" I asked.

"Hard to tell," Saul said. "A lot. Twenty at least, probably more. Sounds like humans and humanoids."

"Perfect," Marc said. "Good call on waiting for the ambush."

"Unless they left a lot of guards behind," Audry said. "In which case they will have us flanked."

"Thanks for the optimism," I said.

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

I remember an anime from back on Earth (can't remember which) where a character said, "Luck is one of my skills."

Well, that's the case today.

They did leave a few guards behind. Fortunately there were only five of them. They loitered around the large pit leading down, talking. They didn't hear Marc until he had already finished casting his spell.

All five of them fell into a deep slumber. I could've used a spell like that the night before final exams.

We left them there. They might remember Marc or they might not, but if we dragged them off that would definitely tip everyone off. And it was unlikely they would announce they had fallen asleep on the job, or so we hoped.

We went down the west wing and into the vestry. We followed the stairs down, or at least started to when Anna stopped us.

"Look at this." Against the wall near the top of the stairs was a small chest. "That wasn't here when we last got here."

"Check it," Saul said. "But be careful."

"Careful?" Anna rolled her eyes. "Please. Aren't I always?" She checked the chest. "Look at these scrape marks. This was definitely brought here recently. There's no traps." She lifted the lid. It swung open easily. She reached inside and pulled out two robes, one red and another green.

"There's five of each in there," she said.

"Interesting," Saul said. "Someone knows about us."

"And they want to help us," Audry said.

"Or set us up," I said.

"Unlikely," Marc said. "Giving us disguises probably wouldn't help." He murmured a spell. "And they are not magical, which means they are not cursed."

"So, who'd help us?" Anna asked.

"The earth temple," Marc said. "If there is rivalry between temples, then someone must hope we will use these to good use. And since they are no more perhaps the few survivors are leaving this to get back at the other elements."

"Well, whatever the reason," Anna said, "I say we make use of it." She passed out robes to everyone and we proceeded downstairs.

We got to the intersection and stopped. We realized we didn't know of a way to lower levels. Fortunately, the problem was solved immediately. Saul took a few steps ahead. As he did, we noticed he got shorter. The further he went, the shorter he got.

"It slopes," Saul said. 'Come on."

We continued down the hall as it sloped further and further down. The corridor reached an intersection where it started to slope up. There was a side passage some twenty feet wide that led further down. The passage was plastered with scenes of murder, rape, and other horrible scenes.

It sloped down steadily for some time. Finally, it ended at a set of massive, bronze doors. They looked a little like the large ones we found upstairs, but without the runes. There were two passages leading left and right of the doors.

Anna tugged at the door. They didn't budge. "Don't see a place to pick the lock, and I don't think we can break it down." She sighed. "Left or right?"

To the right came a screech. It sounded like nails on a chalkboard. It was followed by another, and then another. Soon there was a chorus of screeches that echoed down the hall.

"Not that way," Saul said. He gestured down the other hall and we nodded. We went to the left. After about ten feet, it opened into a larger room. We saw it almost immediately.

It hissed and clacked its beak. A beak? It looked like a bear, but it had a beak. Its head twisted side to side as if it were mounted on a wheel. Its head swivelled just like an owl's, but it was a bear.

It charged us, chains dragging behind it. It moved with the shambling quickness of any bear. Saul and Marc moved to the left while Anna, Audry, and I moved to the right. As I went, I slashed at one of its giant paws. A few of its digits fell to the floor. It howled, loud enough for everyone upstairs and down to hear it.

Audry spun and slashed at the tendons in its legs. It was like slashing at thick rope. Her blade nicked it good, but it remained standing. It turned and back handed Audry, sending her to the floor.

Two arrows appeared in its chest in rapid succession. The owlbear ignored it. I jumped high and slashed at its eyes. I actually managed to get one. Either the creature couldn't feel pain or it didn't care. Its claws grazed my armor, and I managed to avoid the broken paw it continued to attack with.

A stream of lights poured from Marc's hand and impacted the creature. It faltered under the magic missiles, but kept moving toward me. I raised my sword, ready to slash its midsection, when the thing arched its back. Saul stood behind it, his sword bloodied from the slash down its spinal cord.

I slashed it across the midsection, once, and then again. After a third time, I finally opened it up. Its insides spilled on to the floor. The smell, my God. You can't imagine the coppery smell of blood mixed with the stomach acids and god knows what else. The owlbear fell to the floor. We stood over it, hacking at it until it stopped moving. It was an ugly way to fight and an ugly way to die, but it was an ugly creature so it worked out in the end.

I went to help Audry. Marc dug out a healing potion for her. She drank it eagerly. She grunted as her ribs snapped back into place. "That could have gone smoother," she said. "Anna, are you--?"

Anna ignored us. She dug through her pack furiously. She looked up and pointed. "We're not done yet."

On the other side of the triangular room was another passage. Standing there was a tall, lanky humanoid. He was almost twice my height. His skin looked like a mottled green in the continual light from Marc's orb. Its mouth worked, making sounds. It took me a moment to realize they were badly pronounced words.

"You kill pet," it said. Pet? "Now I kill you."

"Hardly original," Saul commented. He and I both stepped forward.

"Is that a--?" I started.

"A troll," Anna said. "Hold it back for now."

There was something about trolls that was important. I didn't remember right off the bat.

It lunged at us. I sidestepped and whacked off its hand. It shrieked, but did not stop. It fully engaged Saul. He did everything he could to avoid the remaining claw. The thing lunged at him, driving him back into the wall.

I rushed forward and chopped at its ankle. It turned and back handed me with its stump. Thick, black blood sprayed across my face as I fell backward. I rolled away from it. I managed to look up as it turned toward me. The stump had changed. The wound closed over, and something stringy grew from the stump. It looked like a tiny hand.

Trolls. Now I remember. They regenerate.

It took a step toward me and then stopped. Something shattered on its head. Glass shards dug into its face as the liquid the flask contained spilled over it. The troll shook its head, sniffing at the substance.

"Huh?" It turned to Anna. She stood with an arrow in hand. Several rags were wrapped around the end of it. Audry tried to light the arrow with flint and steel.

"NO!" The troll turned and ran down the hall. Saul moved to intercept. The troll swiped at him with its stump. Saul ducked and swung at the trolls ankle. His blade cut deep, but didn't sever the ankle completely.

The troll kept lumbering down the hall. Anna ran passed me, her arrow finally lit. She took aim at the retreating troll.

"INTRUDERS--" Anna's arrow planted itself in the trolls back. The oil caught fire immediately, along with the troll. It screamed as the flame spread over its body. Anna pulled out a flask she had tucked in her belt. She threw it at the troll and hit it square in the back. It exploded, utterly covering the troll in flame.

The troll turned down a side passage. We took off after it. Saul and I led the way. The troll had entered a room, probably its lair, and fallen completely. Its body continued to burn. Its screaming had long since stopped, but it had already drawn attention.

On the other side of the corpse I saw a shadow move. Saul grabbed me and we continued down the hall away from the trolls lair. I heard cries of surprise from behind us. The figure held its hands in front of its face as it backed away from the fire.

"Who was that?" Anna asked.

"Another troll, I would imagine," Marc said. "At least based on the reaction."

The hall turned several times and then straightened out. "Okay, so we announced our presence," I said. "What next?"

"Hiding sounds good," Anna said. Up ahead the hall turned again. "There!"

Down the hall was a door. She raced for it, checking it. "It doesn't appear trapped. Hopefully it's not locked." She tugged on it. It didn't open. "Great." She pulled out her picks and went to work.

Down the hall we heard voices. Several of them. Their voices sounded like gargling silverware. I remember hearing voices like that before--bugbears. From behind us I heard another voice, the voice of a troll.

"Might want to hurry," I said.

"Just a second."

"That's about all the time we have," Saul said. "I hope you can work under pressure, because we're about to get a lot of it."

"Do you mind, I'm--ah, got it!" She pulled the door open.

We piled through though the door and shut it quickly. Saul and I stood there with our backs to the door. Collectively they might be strong enough to break the door down, but every little bit helped. Ahead of us I saw stairs leading down.

On the other side of the door the voices got louder, along with the footsteps. The troll that was behind us and the bugbears that were in front of us converged just outside the door.

Their voices carried through the door like it wasn't even there. "You see them?" That was the troll.

"No," a bugbear said. "See who?"

"Maybe they in here?" Someone, probably the troll, tried to open the door. Audry helped Saul and I. Even Marc and Anna tried to help keep the door shut. The troll tried a few more times until a bugbear interrupted him.

"It locked," it said. "Always locked. Good lock. They not go through."

Anna looked at me and winked. Cheap lock, she mouthed.

"You sure they come this way?"

"No," the troll said. "They may go other way."

"You go look," a bugbear said. It could have been a different one but I couldn't really tell. "We tell water temple."

The troll grunted in acknowledgement. It lumbered back down the hall. Footsteps went down the hall in the other direction.

We let out a collective sigh. "A little too close," I said.

"You guys could have taken them," Anna said. "Oh well. I guess it's time to put on our cloaks." She put on a red cloak and left the blue one behind. The rest of us did the same. When we were ready, we stepped outside.

The hall was empty, but we heard voices coming from one end, the end we were headed for before we got sidetracked. We crept along for about a hundred feet when we came to an open door. Looking through, we saw a good sized room full of junk and debris piled in different corners of the room. It was otherwise empty.

Across the hall was yet another open door. That led to another room. Old green tapestries hung from the wall, along with a long bench and wooden keg. Nothing else was here, but there was yet another open door.

"Where is everyone?" Audry whispered. "I don't like this."

"Feels like a trap," Saul said. "Stay on guard."

We went through the open door. The entire room glowed green. A strange mist seemed to hang in the air, though it really wasn't a mist. The room looked like it might if it were underwater. The whole room smelled like the ocean.

In the middle of the room stood an altar, at least it looked like one. The bronze thing was covered with carvings of fishes, whales, and what looked like dinosaurs (sea monsters, I guess). A wall on the side of the room looked like it was made of bronze. It depicted underwater scenes, though mostly involving more dinosaurs (Plesiosaurs, I think, or just plain ol' sea monsters). No one was present.

"They run away or something?" Anna asked.

"We just got here," I said. "What's there to be afraid of?"

We walked into the room further. The wall on the other side of the alter was covered with a large curtain. Or it might have been a curtain covering a hallway, I couldn't be sure. In front of it was the ugliest statue I ever saw. The eight foot monstrosity looked like a mix of fish, eels, octopi, and monsters. The whole thing sat on wheels.

"Someone has very poor taste in art," Marc said.

"What's this green stuff all over everything?" Anna asked.

"Verdigris, is the term," Marc said. "You normally see it near the ocean on bronze or copper."

"Look at this," Audry said. She pointed to one corner of the room. A 20 foot tall stone block rested there. On top of it stood a statue of a gargoyle. It almost reached the top of the thirty foot high ceiling.

"There's one in each corner," Saul said. "I hope it's just for decoration."

As if on cue, the statue moved. Its head turned and looked at us. A smile formed on its stone lips, and then it spread its wings. It launched itself off the pedestal and did a dive run.

Its wing brushed by my cheek as it passed. It almost felt like cloth instead of stone. It soared upward and turned. As it did, the gargoyles on the other three statues stood. They dove off their pedestals at us.

Anna pulled back into the room we had just left and took shots at them with arrows. The rest of us split up. Two of them ganged up on me. Audry joined me and we chopped at them as the made swoops. An explosion of light at the other end of the room knocked one out of the air. I had no idea what spell Marc had just used.

I felt a claw rake across my shoulder. I ignored the pain and swatted at it with my sword as it went passed. Audry cut deeply into a second. It fell from the air immediately. Its wings had disappeared completely as if they evaporated. Lying on the floor was a corpse, one that looked to have been dead for weeks.

"What the--?" I didn't get the chance to finish my comment. The corpse stood. It put its hands on the floor and pushed itself up. The creature's limbs were rotted to the point that there was little meat on them, yet it managed to get itself to a standing position somehow. It reached out to Audry.

Audry promptly sliced its head off with her sword. "Never seen that before."

I heard the flapping of wings behind me and spun. I cut through the gargoyle. It slammed into the floor, slid, and hit the alter. Its wings were gone as well, leaving behind another rotting corpse.

"Gargoyle zombies?" Saul said. A geek after my own heart.

"Rather zombies under the influence of magic," Marc said. He cast another spell. An arrow appeared out of nowhere and slammed into another gargoyle. It dropped to the floor. Again, its wings were gone and it turned into a decaying corpse. "Look at the tatters of its clothing. The remnants of a cloak. There is a type of cloak that can cause the wearer to emulate gargoyles."

The zombie by the alter rose. I spun and swept its legs out from under it with my foot. When it fell, I sliced off its head. Just like in the movies.

Saul sliced at the last flying gargoyle. It fell to the ground, turning into a zombie. Gargoyles are one thing, but zombies.... In a few minutes they were beheaded. Each head was still alive and moving, struggling to command its body to move. Silly zombies.

"That's that," Anna said. Of course, it wasn't.

"What in the name of the Gods!" The curtain on the wall had parted. Two men stood there, dressed in blue-green robes and adorned with jewelry shaped like sea creatures, mostly whales. What, were these guys from San Francisco? Or maybe Boulder?

Behind them stood about a dozen bugbears and an ogre. The priests glared at us while the bugbears stared at the remains of the zombies. The ogre merely stared at the priests. It looked like only the priests were really angry. Everyone else seemed baffled.

Whatever. Time to get into character.

I kicked one of the zombie heads at the priests. They ducked as it sailed past them and bounced off the ogre's chest. It hit the floor, working its jaw as if trying to speak. The ogre just stared at it. He looked at the bugbears and shrugged.

"Death to the water temple!" I shouted.

"What?" One priest stepped forward. "You have no right! Hedrack will have your head!"

"Not in your life time," Audry said. "The element of fire is superior!"

She sounded like she believed it.

"And here's the proof," Marc said, completely dead pan. He murmured an incantation. He was getting good at this kind of thing. The priest must have known what he was about to do, for he started his own spell. The other priest shouted orders at the ogre, who I guess was the leader. The ogre turned to the bugbears, but stopped when he saw their faces. Each of them stared at Marc...Marc and the burning ball of fire in his hand.

I must admit. I really like this spell.

Marc hurled the fireball. The bugbears and the ogre turned and fled. I don't know how far they got, but they got a lot farther than the priests who just put up their arms. Yeah, that'll help.

I turned and ran to a set of double doors behind us, just next to the single door through which we entered. The fireball went off amidst cries of surprise and anguish (such is the case with all fireballs). The blue curtain caught fire, along with the priests. The fell to the floor, shouting and rolling around. One ran for the alter and climbed on top, trying to douse himself in a concave opening full of water. When you're on fire, respect for the gods and their shrines doesn't mean much.

"This way!" I shouted. Everyone followed me to the doors. I jumped and kicked at them. They flew open immediately. We fled the water temple and into a twenty foot hall. Being quiet was less important than getting away from a dozen bug bears and an ogre--and two priests who'd be pretty ticked off if they were still alive.

The hall turned after about twenty feet and went another thirty or so before ending in another set of double doors. These doors, however, were wide open. We went through them into another twenty foot wide hall. The hall looked some sixty feet long. It was lit with torches and in the distance it looked like it opened into a much larger hall. Right across from us was another set of double doors.

"Which way?" I asked.

"This way," a voice down the hall said. Someone leaned out from an opening in the wall about halfway down the hall. He waved his hand at us, gesturing for us to approach. "Hurry. It's all right."

We went. We didn't have any other option. As we approached I saw that this person's hand was hairy and covered with claws. It's whole body was hairy. It was a bugbear.

"And we should trust you for what reasons?" Audry asked.

"You don't have to," it said. "You can always go back the way you came."

Down the hall I could hear boots. Lots of boots. And I could hear people shouting, lots of them and they sound angry.

"Or you can come with me," the bugbear said. It was surprisingly eloquent. "My master wishes to see you."

"Master?" Saul asked.

"He's right," Marc said. "Let's go."

We went into the side passage. The bugbear stepped aside and let us pass into the ten foot wide hall. Once we had entered the hall, he closed the door behind him. It was operated by a pulley system inlaid in the ceiling above it. I imagined it was hard to detect from the other side.

"This whole place if full of secret doors," I said.

"Of course," the bugbear said. "How do you think priests get around without their followers knowing?"

"Ah, of course," Audry said. "The last thing a priest would want is to be followed by his god's followers."

The bugbear said nothing as he led us down the hall. We passed a stairway going down (made a mental note of that) and then we passed a gargoyle fountain that spewed milky white water. Poor guy must be in puberty.

"Not more gargoyles," Anna said. The bugbear ignored us.

Finally, we reached a door. The bugbear opened it and walked in. "They are here as you said they would be."

"Ah, good." The voice sounded human. We entered the room and found that, indeed, it was a human. Surrounding him were about a dozen bugbears and a couple of gnolls. The human was dressed in white robes and adorned in jewelry. He bowed slightly at us.

"I am Prefect Kelno of the Element of Air," he said. "I bid you welcome."

"Yeah, well thanks for getting us out of the jam," I said.

He raised an eyebrow. "Interesting way of putting it. You certainly have caused significant trouble." He smiled. "The simpletons of the water temple no doubt believed your ruse and are planning their attack on the fire temple."

I looked at my red robe. "That easy, huh?"

"The elemental temples have been against each other for some time," the Prefect said. "They are all agitated as it is. Even something as simple as this could send them over the edge, as it were."

"That includes the air temple, I take it?" Marc said.

The Prefect frowned. "My temple is...not what it used to be?"

"Where is your temple?" Audry asked. Her sneer was slight, but detectable. No doubt a paladin wanted little to do with an evil priest, elemental or otherwise.

If the Prefect detected her disdain, he said nothing. "Defiled," he said. "Destroyed!"

"Earth, water, and fire got the best of you?" Saul said. It sounded like a funk band from the seventies.

The Prefect began to pace. "They united briefly, if you can believe it. They envied my power. There was little I could do with all three of them moving against me. It was by skill alone that I survived."

"Hedrack let you live, huh?" Anna said.

"Enough!" When he shouted the bugbears reached for their weapons. I wondered how many of them actually spoke common. "I have a proposition. I suggest you listen. Yes, even you holy woman."

Audry smiled wryly.

"Help me destroy the other temples," he said. "Help me get revenge! Help me and I will leave this place. I will take my temple and worshippers elsewhere. You will not see us again. And I will leave the spoils of the temple to you. Treasure beyond your dreams! Treasure for your decadent temples of good, or for your own pockets. What say you?"

"What if we say no?" Audry said. I looked at the bugbears. There were a lot of them. Maybe we could take them, maybe not. I didn't want to find out. I glanced at Anna. She fingered her bow carefully.

He mumbled a word to the bugbears. They drew their weapons. "Then you die."

Marc nodded slowly. "It seems we have no choice then." He looked at the rest of us.

"No choice," Audry said. She drew her own weapon, as did we all. "But to kill you all."

----------

More tomorrow, if I live. I need sleep. Strangely, I am actually quite tired. I thought I'd be too wound up to get to sleep. Maybe I'm getting used to this adventuring thing after all.

Know thy comrades....

We started out yesterday, and quickly retreated. Humanoids are everywhere along the temple, searching for us. Frankly, I think it's just a matter of time before they start looking here. That means it's time to get moving.

The problem is there's nowhere to go. If we head outside we'll be spotted. We could take the side passage out of here, but it opens up over near Nulb (which is no longer safe for us either). We have to stick around and look for those children. And we know they're here.

Good ol' Romag had a journal. Why is it bad guys always keep a journal? Do they just need to get stuff of their chest that badly? Maybe when you're evil you feel bad for being evil so you have express it. I imagine that because they don't have shrinks in these parts, so they let out their frustrations via a diary or something.

Something like what I'm doing.

Regardless, Romag kept a journal. Most of it consisted of him whining about the other temples--fire, water, and air. Seems these guys don't get along very well. Further, Romag wanted to position himself as the next ruler of the temple--a position currently held by one Hedrack.

"Little chance of that now," Saul said. "You know what this means, of course."

"They don't like each other," I said. "So maybe we can use that."

"We attack the each temple under the guise of the other temples," Audry said. She nodded. "We start a civil war."

"We each remaining temple think we are mercenaries under the employ of one of the other two temples," Marc said.

"Then stand back and watch the fun," Anna said. "Sounds cold, right John?"

"Cool," I said. "It sounds cool."

"Exactly how did that idiom start, John?" Marc asked.

I shrugged. "Got me. I think it had something to do with submarines who would dive deep."

"Submarines?" Audry asked.

"Yeah. They're these large iron vehicles that can dive beneath the ocean surface."

"How far?" Saul asked.

"Depends on the sub," I said. "A thousand feet or more. During a particular war, some war submarines would do that to avoid the Germans. Uh, that was who we were at war with, among others. Anyway, they would dive deep so the Germans couldn't find them. They called it laying low. They also called being cool."

"I would expect a significant temperature drop at those depths," Marc said. "Interesting."

"Well, I heard that somewhere, but don't take my word on it."

"Your people can fly as well, yes?" Audry said.

"Well, we have machines that fly," I said.

"How high can they go?" Anna asked.

"Most several hundred feet over the ground," I said. "Larger ones travel miles up in the air. We also have some vehicles that leave the atmosphere and go into space."

"They leave the crystal sphere?" Marc asked. "Spelljammers?"

"Uh, no, not really," I said. "We don't have anything like magic. These just have very large rockets that shoot them into orbit."

"Interesting," Marc said.

"You know," I said. "I don't mind talking about me and my world, but to be honest I really don't know a lot about you guys and where you're from. And I've known you all for about a year now."

"You know, that's true," Saul said. "I guess we've really never talked about ourselves much."

"Your world's so much more interesting," Anna said.

"That's a matter of opinion," I said. "So, tell me about yourselves."

Saul started. "I am from Gamboge forest, well east of here around Nyrond. I lived most of my life there until...." For a moment, I didn't think he wanted to continue. And then he just said, "drow."

"They destroyed your home?" I asked. Silly question. "I'm sorry."

He shrugged. "It was about a thirty years ago. I had just proven myself for adulthood. I fought them, but I was still a child in a lot of ways. I got knocked on the head thrown in a ravine. When I awoke everyone was gone or dead." He sighed. "I was found by men from Nyrond. I joined the Nyrondese militia. I dreamed of revenge for a long time, but the drow live deep in the ground. I never even figured out how they got to the surface, and I spent a long time trying."

He was staring at the floor as he spoke. Finally he looked up at me. "After a while I left the Nyrondese and came to Greyhawk."

Anna grinned. "I like how you left out why you came to Greyhawk."

"Why did you?" I asked.

Anna reached over and poked him playfully. "He did it for a girl."

Saul smiled and nodded. "Yeah, that's right. I met a rich girl from Greyhawk. We...well, we got to know each other."

Anna doubled over laughing. "Oh please. You spent the night together." She pinched him. "And you fell in looooove."

Saul blushed. "I was still a kid. I thought I was in love, but I don't think it ever meant anything to her. I guess she just wanted to have some fun. En Seche."

"What?" I asked.

"Elvish for...well, sleeping with people who are not elvish," Saul said. "It's unusual for a child to be conceived between different species of demi-humans. Sometimes humans and elves will stay together for fun. She was human, and I guess that was all it meant to her.

"Anyway, she left and went looking for her. I tracked her all the way to Greyhawk." He raised an eyebrow. "I never did see her again, but I did run into the local thieves guild."

"Best thing that ever happened to you," Anna said. She laughed loudly and proudly. "Tell me I'm lying?"

"No, I suppose not," Saul said. He seemed pretty somber as he looked at her. "It was for a while, anyway."

"Must we hear of your escapades?" Audry asked.

"Honey, it's no secret," Anna said.

I gestured at Saul and Anna as they sat next to each other. "So you guys are...?"

"Were," Anna corrected. "That was a long time ago."

"It was," Saul said. He looked at her. "We were both kids and we did what came naturally. After a while we grew up and realized that it was a mistake."

"A fun mistake," Anna said. She giggled briefly and then turned somber. "But, yeah, it wasn't meant to be."

"How about you?" I asked. "Were you born in Greyhawk?"

"Me? No. I was born in Mitrik, in Veluna." She played with one of her arrows as she spoke. "I didn't know who my parents were. I grew up in the streets, doing what I had to do to survive."

"Not pleasant things either," Audry said. "While we're being honest."

"Yes, little Miss Self-Righteous," Anna said. "I did a lot of bad things." She stuck her tongue out at Audry. Audry smiled.

"Actually," Anna continued, "I did enough bad things I had to leave Mitrik." She grimaced. "It would probably be a bad idea to go back."

"Why?" I asked. "What'd you do?"

"It was something involving jewels," Anna said. "And a Duke's son."

"As I said," Audry said. "Not very pleasant things."

"Actually, it wasn't that bad," Anna said. "Wasn't that good either." She saw the look and Audry's face. "Anyway, I had to leave. I wandered around for a while until I ended up in Greyhawk City." She frowned. "And I managed to get in trouble there as well."

Audry started to smile.

"You be quiet!" Anna said. "It wasn't my fault."

"Is it ever?" Saul asked.

Anna punched him in the arm. He didn't even flinch. "I had to survive, right? He looked like a merchant and he was loaded. Loaded with jewels."

"He wasn't a merchant?"

Saul shook his head. "He was a member of the thieves guild. A very prominent member of the thieves guild."

"I was in so much trouble," Anna said. "I got caught and they damn near killed me."

"How'd you convince them not to?" I asked.

"Well, I managed to get half way down the street before they figured it out," she said. "The merchant didn't figure out, all though he probably should have. It was one of his henchmen watching from down the street. The merchant was so impressed they made me a deal."

"Work for them or die?" I said.

She nodded. "Essentially. I had to do a bunch of jobs for them. If I did them right, I got to be an official member of one of the most powerful guilds in the Flanaess, thieves or otherwise. If not...."

"You did something wrong, I take it?" I asked.

She shook her head. "Did something right. The guild just didn't see it that way."

She locked her fingers behind her head and leaned back against the wall. "They made me do a whole bunch of jobs. It took years. It wasn't so bad, really. I always profited from them. Then one day they gave me another job. They said it was the last job I had to do. After I did it, I'd be a member of the guild. And not just any member. I'd be a high class member. A made man, or girl, anyway. But you get the point."

"And the job?" I asked.

Audry pointed at herself. "Of all people."

"Yep," Anna said. "The guild had received a large sum of money to find her. They charged me to ask around and find her. I then had to spy on her, find out all I knew about her, and then report on her actions and whereabouts."

"She was good," Saul said. "Of course, Audry had me as her bodyguard."

"Yep," Anna said. "Go figure. Saul and I had known each other for a long time. We'd share information."

"I did work as a mercenary from time to time," Saul said, "and I learned a few things. She, being Anna, learned things in her career as well. We'd exchange information. It worked well. At least until Anna came to me information on some noble that was on the run. Turned out I was being employed as a bodyguard by this noble."

I looked at Audry. "You?"

"Indeed," Audry said. "I had a friend in the Greyhawk militia who sympathized with my plight. He asked me to hire a bodyguard just in case. He recommended Saul."

"Not that you needed a bodyguard," Saul said. "Still, it turned out well. If it hadn't been for me, Anna would probably have turned you in."

"Why didn't you?" I asked.

"Well, she told me her story," Anna said.

"Is that my cue?" Audry said. She interlaced her fingers and rested them on her knee. "I am on the run."

"And I thought you were such a good person," I said.

"I think I am," Audry said. "Unfortunately, my brother does not think so."

"Who is your brother?"

"Olon Tillet," she said. "A prince in Bissel."

I was familiar with Bissel. It was a kingdom to the west. "What did he do?"

She smiled at me. "What makes you think it wasn't me who did something wrong?"

"I know better," I said.

"Perhaps you know me better than you realize," Audry said. "My brother sought control of the province. Upon my father's death, control would have passed on to me. So...so he murdered my father and accused me of the deed."

I stared at her. "I had no idea."

"Nor should you," she said. "It is not something I share with people. Just with those whom I trust."

"Thank you," I said. "You can definitely trust me."

"I know," Audry said. "And fortunately I could trust Anna and Saul."

"Yeah, well, I knew better," Anna said. "I knew of her brother. The guild has done work with him in the past. He's a contemptible bastard." She winced. "Sorry, Audry."

"That is all right," Audry said. "And yes, he is a terrible man."

"I figured it was probably nonsense," Anna went on. "Unfortunately, I had to defy the guild." She drummed her fingers on her knee. "I haven't been back to Greyhawk since."

"That was three years ago," Audry said. "And it's been a good three years. Much better than my last life."

"What was that like?" I asked.

"Boring," Audry said. "I studied fencing, reading, writing, and numerous other skills that are popular among nobles. Essentially, their goal was to marry me off to another noble and increase their power of the family." Audry tapped the hilt of her sword. "The fencing was the only worthwhile part, really."

"The life of a noble is not as noble as most think," Marc said. He had been quiet up until this point.

"You sound like you know from experience," I said.

"Not direct experience," he said. "Just through my master."

"Ah yes," Audry said. "The infamous Brenner. I saw him in Bissel when I was a young girl. He was a master of illusions. He made the royal castle disappear from sight."

"Brenner was a master of everything," Marc said. "There was nothing he could not do. I think even the Circle of Eight in Greyhawk City was impressed with him."

The Circle of Eight. They were perhaps the most powerful wizards in all of the Flanaess. If they were impressed with a wizard then that wizard was a force to be reckoned with. "How'd you meet him."

"I was a runaway as well," Marc said. "I am originally from Perrenland. My parents died when I was a boy and my aunt took me in." He shook his head. "She was unique, that's for sure. Looking back it's obvious she was demented. She was a magic user herself. Divination was her specialty. I suspect she saw something she shouldn't have. It happens with diviners. The thirst for knowledge becomes overwhelming."

"And suddenly you just angered a demon prince or something," Anna said.

"Or something," Marc said. "At any rate, her master came for a visit."

"Brenner was her master?" I asked.

Marc nodded. "He found me tied to the bed. I had been there for a week. She believed that I would cause the loss of a city. She assumed that city was Schwarzenbruin, our Capitol." His voice grew quieter as he continued. "I hadn't eaten for days. I was on the verge of death. She was too demented to understand she was killing me."

"My God," I said. "Brenner saved you?"

"Yes. He took me away from her. He brought me to a cleric and had me healed. While the cleric did his work, Brenner went back to see my aunt. I have no idea what he did to her. I asked Brenner once. He warned me never to ask again. When Brenner warned you, you did what you were told."

"You traveled much, I assume," Audry said. "Brenner never stayed in one place for long."

"It was interesting," Marc said. "I had a permanent home, yet we never stopped traveling. We took it with us."

"Took it with you?" I asked.

"It was a small hut," Marc said. "It was originally designed by Leomund. Brenner made some improvements on it. It was a small hut that fit in your pocket. When placed on the ground it grew to a very large size. The inside was larger than the outside. It was a veritable palace." He smiled. "I actually miss that place."

"What happened to Brenner?" I asked.

Marc became despondent. "I left his tutelage years ago. He had stopped traveling, having taken residence somewhere in Veluna. It was that point I began to wander on my own. I performed magic for small villages who needed it. I even did a little adventuring. But I never ventured far from Brenner."

"Were you there when he...." Saul let the sentence trail.

"When he changed?" Marc said. "No. I did see him after, though."

Everyone became very silent.

"Do I want to know what happened?" I asked.

"A lich," Anna said. "He became a lich."

Even I raised my eyebrows at that. Every old D&D player worth his salt knew what a lich was. An undead wizard. Of all the monsters one could encounter, it was the worst.

"Why?" I asked.

"Why does anyone want to live forever?" Audry asked.

"Especially any mage," Marc said. "Knowledge, power...the usual reasons. He had been working on a project for a very long time. He never talked about it and I knew better than to pry. I had no idea that was his intent."

Marc grew very grim. "I returned to his home in Veluna. He waited for me. He knew I was coming. As a lich, he knew many things. His face had already started to decay. I knew immediately what he had done. He said he was still the same man. He saw how horrified I was, but he said he was not ready to move on. He wanted to learn more. He wanted to know the secrets of the multiverse. He said it was the only way...."

We were quiet after that. Everyone has their secrets. God knows I do. We talked a little more about the temple and what we would do next. After a time we retired for the evening. Marc had set up a magic mouth near the entrance that would whisper to him if anyone came near. Anna had also set up a few snares and traps of her own.

As usual, I couldn't sleep, so I proceeded to write. It always helped me back on Earth, and it seems to help here. I guess like all the bad guys in the temple, I need to get a load off my chest by writing in my journal. And yet....

Oh God, something's whispering. It's