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