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Story Hour
Bitterness Overcome: (Now A Completed Story!)
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<blockquote data-quote="Nonlethal Force" data-source="post: 2813882" data-attributes="member: 35788"><p>Ischarus lay on the floor for several minutes before eventually beginning some simple stretching exercises. A few minutes later he brought himself onto his hands and knees and then raised himself upright on a single knee. When he was sure that he wasn’t going to pass out he stood the rest of the way. Rhema stood beside him the whole time as if to catch him should he fall. Of course, given Ischarus’ weight and size compared to Rhema’s delicate figure Rhema would have simply ended up underneath Ischarus had that possibility unfolded.</p><p></p><p>Once he was sure that he was stable, Ischarus added, <span style="color: LightBlue">“We should probably hurry, I’ve wasted enough of our time here. If that gnoll managed to get back to his village and they’re not far from the main trail we can expect pursuit. We can handle a stray gnoll here and there, but I don’t think we have much of a desire to handle a gnoll retaliation effort. If they come in great numbers they could swarm us under.”</span></p><p></p><p>Semeion snorted out a bit of a laugh and looked to Rhema. She replied to his snort, <span style="color: PaleGreen">“Unfortunately, he’s pretty serious about that one …”</span></p><p></p><p>Ischarus interrupted her. <span style="color: LightBlue">“I gave that gnoll a good scare. He was running for his life and he knew it. He might count himself lucky, but I doubt it. He’ll want to bring friends so he can watch me run.”</span></p><p></p><p>He reached out for the handle of his lantern and Elistra’s reigns. The ends of Shauvry’s reigns continued to provide light in addition to Ischarus’ lantern and he noticed this new light source as he turned to accept Elistra’s reigns from Rhema. <span style="color: LightBlue">“That’s a nice trick, Semeion. It at least keeps Rhema from having to follow in the dark.”</span> His lips parted slightly in a pained smile as he turned around to start the trio moving forward once more.</p><p></p><p>Ischarus lead Rhema and Semeion through a maze of corridors underground. Semeion noted that at each and every turn there was no hesitation on the part of Ischarus. At each turn he knew precisely where to go in spite of the lack of markings and similarity to one another. Additionally, this deep under the mountain the air was terrifically still. Not even a gust of wind could be detected to alert them toward any directional sense. In spite of the lack of indicators, at every place for decision Ischarus decisively led the party forward.</p><p></p><p>The party walked for nearly an hour in near silence. The only thing that could be heard was the faint treading of their feet upon the ground and this clip of the horse hooves as they occasionally struck a rock underfoot. Suddenly the near silence was shattered by the dark uttering of a bass voice. <span style="color: Red">“Daancrah Pashraak,”</span> spoke an unknown voice in the darkness ahead.</p><p></p><p>Ischarus froze in his place for a split-second. Rhema instinctively froze as well. <span style="color: PaleGreen">“Gnolls. Again,”</span> Rhema cursed under her breath.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: Plum">“Spell casters, too,”</span> Semeion added. <span style="color: Plum">“I’d know the sound of that language anywhere.”</span></p><p></p><p>Before they realized what was upon them Rhema, Semeion, and Ischarus were completely covered in tiny spiders. The spiders seemed to swarm out of every crevasse in the ceiling, floor, and walls around them. The tiny spiders swarmed by the thousands over the three adventurers and their horses. The insect swarm was so thick that in only a matter of seconds the spiders had covered nearly every inch of their skin. The spider swarm grew so thick so quickly that before the adventurers could react there were spiders crawling upon the backs of the first layer of spiders. As Semeion looked around to Ischarus and Rhema he realized that the swarm was so intense that their skin was no longer visible through the dense mass of spiders.</p><p></p><p>Realizing that the effect was arcane in nature, Semeion commanded from the back of the group. <span style="color: Plum">“Move ahead now. And move ahead quickly. You must find the speaker of the words and disrupt his concentration – or outright kill him!”</span></p><p></p><p>Ischarus moved instinctively at Semeion’s shout; however his movement was more on account of the itching caused by the thousands of spiders crawling across his skin and clothing. The spiders swarmed over the adventurers as they attempted to find any means to sink their teeth into a patch of unprotected skin. Rhema quickly followed Ischarus. She was madly flailing her arms about, trying to shake the infernal spiders away from her arms. Her body was much more easily accessed than Ischarus’ body since Ischarus was dressed for battle and under armor. Ischarus managed to remove most of the tiny insects without being bitten often. Rhema was not as lucky as spider after spider found juicy flesh to sink its teeth into.</p><p></p><p>Still holding the reigns of Elistra, Ischarus charged down the tunnel in the direction from which the chanting had come. He knew that Elistra was being bitten as much if not more than he and Rhema. The horse hide was far thicker than their own skin, but the crawling motions of the spiders had obviously disturbed his unfortunate horse. Ischarus also knew that Rhema, Shauvry, Semeion, and Thana would have no chance against the swarm of spiders if Elistra continued to block the tunnel. He pulled the horse along as he tried to run down the tunnel.</p><p></p><p>As Ischarus charged, two large forms came into view. Both of them stood taller than he did and looked almost like jackals standing upright on two legs. As the enemy came into view Ischarus released Elistra’s reigns, drew his sword, and uttered a battle cry from deep within his person. <span style="color: LightBlue">“You will rue the day you attacked my companions, dogs!”</span> The insult was a commentary on their hyena like faces than a standardized battle cry.</p><p></p><p>Rhema came quickly up behind Ischarus. She fled the swarm of insects as quickly as Ischarus could move away from it. Semeion breathed deeply and lowered his head, stepping just as quickly as Rhema could move through the affected area of spiders. Fortunately the spiders seemed to seethe around the tunnel in a small foot area, so Semeion and Thana were able to pass through with a reasonably easy amount of effort before too many arachnid hitchhikers could latch on and find an unprotected area.</p><p></p><p>As Rhema approached the back of Ischarus and Elistra she perceived the two gnolls that threatened Ischarus’ advance away from the spider swarm. With a simple gesture of her free hand she extended her index and middle finger outward toward the more warrior-like of the two gnolls. The gnoll saw her approach and she smiled broadly. Her thumb, ring finger, and pinky instinctively curled in towards her palm. Her mind began to harness its power and her eyes almost glistened as her thoughts came into reality. <span style="color: PaleGreen">“You don’t want to harm us, gnoll. We’re too much of a serious challenge for you and you might actually get hurt. Drop your weapons and I’ll guarantee that my friend here doesn’t hurt you.”</span></p><p></p><p>The gnoll hesitated for a moment, gripping its own axe tightly in its left hand. As Rhema spoke her soothing words through the deep power of her mind, the gnoll’s grip on the axe loosened and its face revealed its own surprise as the axe fell from its hand. The gnoll also dropped the shield it was carrying and uttered a comment in a voice even more bass than the one which had called forth the horde of spiders, <span style="color: Red">“I think are you correct. You might hurt me, I will not fight today.”</span> The voice was one that struggled with the language spoken.</p><p></p><p>The other gnoll cursed loudly in its own language and yelled, <span style="color: Red">“Farrung, what do you do?”</span> In its own tongue it continued, <span style="color: Red">“Bargrak drratch kratch, Farrung.”</span> When the more warrior-like gnoll didn’t respond to the one who spoke, the gnoll refocused his attention onto Ischarus and readied a crude morningstar. The gnoll stepped toward Ischarus and swung the wooden shaft with a large stone at the top. Ischarus hoisted his shield up into the path of the oncoming morningstar and deflected the blow away from his body. The gnoll spat upon the ground as it knew it had missed with its first strike opportunity.</p><p></p><p>Ischarus yelled as the attack was deflected. <span style="color: LightBlue">“You’ll not get many better chances than that one, dog!”</span> He used the momentum of his shield thrust to extend his sword in a straight jab towards the gnoll’s body. The gnoll sidestepped Ischarus’ blow and spun away from the attack, thinking about his next assault onto Ischarus.</p><p></p><p>Semeion joined the party, noting that after he passed through the spiders they had begun to dissipate and recede into the crevasses from which they had come. As Semeion caught up to Ischarus and Rhema, he noticed that about the same time as the spider had begun to recede the second gnoll had begun to attack Ischarus. <span style="color: Plum">“Tok-skrie Ah-su”</span> Semeion shouted as he came into view of the gnolls. The gnoll that had been assaulting Ischarus began to grow, nearly doubling in size. The gnoll’s head slammed against the roof of the tunnel, sending a shower of dust and rock fragments onto the shorter Ischarus. Ischarus smiled at Semeion’s tactics. The gnoll was now far too large to maneuver effectively in the tunnel.</p><p></p><p>Rhema continued to talk to the gnoll that was beginning to fall under her soothing control. <span style="color: PaleGreen">“You’re alright, gnoll. You made the right choice in dropping your weapon. You’ll live to fight another day. You’ll live to return back to your den. Leave the axe on the ground and no harm will come to you.”</span></p><p></p><p>The gnoll attacking Ischarus attempted a feeble swing with his now large morningstar. Ischarus easily dodged the attack, although the miss was more attributed to the fact that the gnoll bounced the morningstar off of the ceiling and the side of the tunnel before beginning a very ineffective swing. </p><p></p><p>Ischarus smiled once more at Semeion’s previous tactical maneuver. He hoisted his sword once more in an attack against the gnoll and this time struck the much bigger target. The blow was tremendously placed – the flat of the blade impacted the gnoll’s exposed ribcage and then the sword cut down into the gnoll’s large thigh. The leg wound was not deep at all. Ischarus had designed the blow to impair the creature’s movement rather than try to kill it. Ischarus didn’t realize at first that the gnoll had been knocked unconscious by the strike against the ribcage, making the blow to the leg immediately unnecessary. The large gnoll fell to the cave floor and sprawled about the entire horizontal surface. Due to the enlarged creature’s great size made it impossible to move the horses further down the tunnel.</p><p></p><p>Rhema saw the beast fall and knew exactly what to say. <span style="color: PaleGreen">“Semeion, can you dismiss your spell and return the creature to its normal size?”</span> She immediately understood the logistical problem. Without even a word Semeion smiled and the gnoll gradually shrank back to a more normal size. The creature remained unconscious and lay still upon the ground.</p><p></p><p>Rhema turned to the remaining gnoll and said, <span style="color: PaleGreen">“Listen to me. Your gnoll brother is not dead, merely wounded and unconscious. There is no need for him to die – nor for yourself. I think you should leave your armor and weapons on the floor and allow us to remove the weapons of your companion. If you allow us to do that, I can guarantee that no more harm will come to you or your friend. You can tell me you agree be removing your armor and leaving it on the ground with your axe and shield.”</span></p><p></p><p>The gnoll was well within Rhema’s mental grasp by this point. The creature would have likely obeyed any command she spoke short of jumping into a molten lava pool. The gnoll quickly began to unfasten the crude straps that held the armor securely around its body. In short order the creature left the pile of armor on the ground beside the shield and the sword. Rhema smiled at the gnoll and nodded to Ischarus.</p><p></p><p>Ischarus stowed his weapon and approached the wounded gnoll, stripping it of its morningstar. Ischarus also gently tugged on the straps that held this gnoll’s light leather armor in place. Even though the gnoll had been trying to kill him – and he had been trying to hurt the gnoll in return – it was obvious to Rhema and Semeion as they looked on that Ischarus had a deep respect for this gnoll’s life. Ischarus knew the gnoll was wounded badly and did not want to do anything else to injure the gnoll beyond what had already been done. </p><p></p><p>As Ischarus undid the gnoll’s armor he also found a few useful stones within one of the pockets of the armor. Rather than pulling the stones out and revealing them to the gnoll who was watching him to make sure he did not abuse his companion, Ischarus merely noted their presence and made sure that as he removed the armor the stones stayed within the pocket of the armor. As the armor was gently taken off of the body of the wounded gnoll, Ischarus also discovered two daggers with rather ornately carved handles. It was obvious to Ischarus from their craftsmanship that these daggers were not of gnoll origin but most likely of dwarven make. As he removed the daggers Ischarus stood and nodded once more to Rhema. He carried the armor, daggers, and morningstar away from the body.</p><p></p><p>When Rhema saw that Ischarus was done, she smiled once more at the gnoll that was under his control. <span style="color: PaleGreen">“See? As I told you, your companion is unharmed. We are taking your weapons and armor as payment for sparing his life. If you go unarmed and unarmored, it also guarantees us that you will not cause any more trouble until we have seen this passage through to the other side. Do you understand?”</span></p><p></p><p>The gnoll nodded slowly in an affirmative gesture. <span style="color: Red">“I understand. You take items in trade for letting Farrung return to village with Traact. I do not like losing, but I do like living.”</span></p><p></p><p>Rhema smiled at the simple logic of the gnoll. While the gnoll at least had enough wisdom to love life over victory, this gnoll was clearly not one of the more intelligent gnolls to be born. As she looked at him she almost had sympathy upon him for being the simple warrior muscle that his clan certainly must use him for. She continued, <span style="color: PaleGreen">“Farrung, your companion Traact is injured because he fought back. He is not in danger of dying yet, but if he does not receive some help soon he may worsen. Does you village have anyone who can heal?</span></p><p></p><p>Farrung nodded in the affirmative once more. <span style="color: Red">“My clan is blessed with six shaman. One shaman sent Farrung and Traact to find you and bring you back to him. Farrung will not go to that one to heal Traact. Farrung will go to one more able to heal.”</span></p><p></p><p>Semeion rubbed his hand across his face as he listened to the slow and deliberate speech of the gnoll. He breathed deeply and exhaled rather loudly as he glanced toward Ischarus. The party’s fighter returned the loud exhale with a smile of his own.</p><p></p><p>Rhema looked pleased at Farrung’s answer and accounting of his clansmen’s abilities. <span style="color: PaleGreen">“You may get the body of Traact, Farrung. If you approach the body slowly and do not come near my friends I promise they will not interfere with your task. Be careful when you move you friend since he is wounded and should be handled gently whenever possible. Do you understand?”</span></p><p></p><p>The gnoll nodded once more as it moved forward on its canine like legs. Its face showed no sign of malice as it looked at Rhema and her friends, acknowledging to Ischarus and Semeion that Rhema’s power over the gnoll was still largely in effect. Farrung gently lifted his fallen companion up off of the ground and turned once more to look at Rhema before heading down the tunnel. </p><p></p><p>Once the gnoll had made his way off, Ischarus decided it was time to move once more. <span style="color: LightBlue">“Get the armor and daggers while I pick up the larger gnoll’s armor and weapons. Load them into Elistra’s saddlebags, and quickly. Rhema’s powers will have little effect once the gnoll gets a certain distance away from us. We don’t need to give it any excuse to turn back and fight for its companion’s honor.”</span></p><p></p><p>As Ischarus spoke, Semeion leapt into action and quickly gathered up the items, bringing them to Elistra’s saddlebags. Ischarus moved down the tunnel a bit further and approached where Farrung had dropped his own equipment carefully. When he was sure he wasn’t going to be blindsided from another attack he knelt to the ground and picked up the items. </p><p></p><p>While the two men were gathering up the items, Rhema took Ischarus’ lantern and cautiously walked the direction that the gnoll headed, hoping that her subtle gesture would allow her control to last even a few seconds longer. When she could no longer feel the gnoll’s thoughts and emotions in her mind she turned and quickly rejoined the party. <span style="color: PaleGreen">“He has moved beyond my control,”</span> Rhema spoke hurriedly as Semeion finished loading the equipment into Elistra’s saddlebags.</p><p></p><p>Ischarus turned and nodded in Rhema’s direction. His hand contained the stones that he had recovered from the armor of the gnoll. He handed eight gold pieces, five pieces of obsidian, and three pieces of sardonyx to Rhema as she returned. <span style="color: LightBlue">“Thanks for letting me know. We must hurry, then. Keep the stones with the funds we may need to pay for equipment and housing.”</span> Rhema nodded and easily stuffed the gemstones into her coin pouch.</p><p></p><p>Semeion reached for Thana’s reigns and prepared to follow Rhema and Shauvry once Ischarus moved. He looked to Ischarus and questioned the urgency of Ischarus and Rhema. <span style="color: Plum">“Are we in that much danger? Won’t it take him some time to return Traact to the village?”</span></p><p></p><p>Ischarus turned to bark a response back to Semeion, but Rhema’s eyes intercepted his sharp look and her look softened his tone. Without a word being spoken, Ischarus turned back around and set a brisk pace down the tunnel. As Rhema started up with Shauvry she answered back to Semeion, <span style="color: PaleGreen">“It isn’t that we are in immediate danger. But I’m sure you were able to conclude that the shaman that Ischarus chased had sent two of his own back to hinder our movement – perhaps even bring our own heads back to the gnoll village in the shaman’s honor. When the shaman realizes that the two he sent out to hinder our movement through the tunnels came back without their prize, the shaman will certainly send out more against us. He might send out more than we can handle – certainly more than I can effect with the mind control effect that I am accustomed to using on the gnolls.”</span></p><p></p><p>Semeion thought for a moment and replied as he and Rhema hustled behind Ischarus. <span style="color: Plum">“That makes sense. How long do we have to get away?”</span></p><p></p><p>Rhema let out a short snort through her nose in a subtle laugh. <span style="color: PaleGreen">“The spider swarm attack came reasonably quickly after the shaman fled. We can assume that their clan village is close – or at least a guarded outpost for tunnel control is near. Either way, the threat is most likely quite near.”</span></p><p></p><p>Semeion replied, <span style="color: Plum">“If the threat was so close, then why did we let them go so easily?”</span></p><p></p><p>Rhema smiled as she knew Semeion was beginning to feel the inner turmoil of what it really meant to be good in one’s heart and not just neutral toward other people. <span style="color: PaleGreen">“We are freedom fighters, Semeion. We are not judges in this world. We have no right to declare guilt or innocence. We all have the ability to perceive people as just or unjust, but honestly who are we to judge? If we kill another life that has a mind capable of rationalization, are we any better than those who enslave the living in Quehalost? If we want to truly be good and be considered freedom fighters, we cannot force our judgment of righteousness on anyone in terms of death. To kill another being means that we did not do our job properly. We can strike out and wound – knocking them unconscious. We can control them telepathically as I do. We can even try to convince others through a display of force that they really don’t desire to take on our challenge. But we cannot kill another mind that is capable of rationalization. The spider I killed could not grasp our purpose – it was in hunt mode. It was either kill or be killed. The gnolls are different, though. By our refusing to kill them in spite of how badly they desired to kill us, we have brought justice and peace into their lives even for a short instant.”</span></p><p></p><p>Semeion did not reply as his mind churned through Rhema’s assertion about what their work entailed and how difficult it would be to live up to these standards of honoring life. Sensing his internal quandary, Rhema changed the topic. <span style="color: PaleGreen">“How are you on magical abilities until we can find rest?”</span></p><p></p><p>Semeion closed his eyes for a moment and searched his mind. With a slow and dramatic effort his eyelids reopened and he responded, <span style="color: Plum">“I have enough for another conflict or two. Of course, I have these two new daggers to help out if the spells run out.”</span></p><p></p><p>Ischarus turned his head slightly to look at Rhema in response to Semeion’s overconfident gesture of combat effectiveness. Rhema nodded slightly and concluded, <span style="color: PaleGreen">“Semeion, you weren’t brought on this team because you can be an effective combatant. Let us hope it does not come to that.”</span></p><p></p><p>The party continued on for the next several minutes in complete silence. Only the striking of their feet and the horse hooves upon the tunnel floor interrupted their individual contemplation of Rhema’s words. After a few minutes Ischarus uttered a quiet prayer that was soft enough so neither Rhema nor Semeion were able to hear it. <span style="color: LightBlue">“Thank you for making her have mind-reading abilities and not abilities that allow her to know the future.”</span> A grim smile crossed his lips as the sarcastic prayer was finished. Once the prayer was over he hustled even harder down the tunnel.</p><p></p><p>[Sblock=Color Free Speech Section]</p><p>Ischarus lay on the floor for several minutes before eventually beginning some simple stretching exercises. A few minutes later he brought himself onto his hands and knees and then raised himself upright on a single knee. When he was sure that he wasn’t going to pass out he stood the rest of the way. Rhema stood beside him the whole time as if to catch him should he fall. Of course, given Ischarus’ weight and size compared to Rhema’s delicate figure Rhema would have simply ended up underneath Ischarus had that possibility unfolded.</p><p></p><p>Once he was sure that he was stable, Ischarus added, “We should probably hurry, I’ve wasted enough of our time here. If that gnoll managed to get back to his village and they’re not far from the main trail we can expect pursuit. We can handle a stray gnoll here and there, but I don’t think we have much of a desire to handle a gnoll retaliation effort. If they come in great numbers they could swarm us under.”</p><p></p><p>Semeion snorted out a bit of a laugh and looked to Rhema. She replied to his snort, “Unfortunately, he’s pretty serious about that one …”</p><p></p><p>Ischarus interrupted her. “I gave that gnoll a good scare. He was running for his life and he knew it. He might count himself lucky, but I doubt it. He’ll want to bring friends so he can watch me run.”</p><p></p><p>He reached out for the handle of his lantern and Elistra’s reigns. The ends of Shauvry’s reigns continued to provide light in addition to Ischarus’ lantern and he noticed this new light source as he turned to accept Elistra’s reigns from Rhema. “That’s a nice trick, Semeion. It at least keeps Rhema from having to follow in the dark.” His lips parted slightly in a pained smile as he turned around to start the trio moving forward once more.</p><p></p><p>Ischarus lead Rhema and Semeion through a maze of corridors underground. Semeion noted that at each and every turn there was no hesitation on the part of Ischarus. At each turn he knew precisely where to go in spite of the lack of markings and similarity to one another. Additionally, this deep under the mountain the air was terrifically still. Not even a gust of wind could be detected to alert them toward any directional sense. In spite of the lack of indicators, at every place for decision Ischarus decisively led the party forward.</p><p></p><p>The party walked for nearly an hour in near silence. The only thing that could be heard was the faint treading of their feet upon the ground and this clip of the horse hooves as they occasionally struck a rock underfoot. Suddenly the near silence was shattered by the dark uttering of a bass voice. “Daancrah Pashraak,” spoke an unknown voice in the darkness ahead.</p><p></p><p>Ischarus froze in his place for a split-second. Rhema instinctively froze as well. “Gnolls. Again,” Rhema cursed under her breath.</p><p></p><p>“Spell casters, too,” Semeion added. “I’d know the sound of that language anywhere.”</p><p></p><p>Before they realized what was upon them Rhema, Semeion, and Ischarus were completely covered in tiny spiders. The spiders seemed to swarm out of every crevasse in the ceiling, floor, and walls around them. The tiny spiders swarmed by the thousands over the three adventurers and their horses. The insect swarm was so thick that in only a matter of seconds the spiders had covered nearly every inch of their skin. The spider swarm grew so thick so quickly that before the adventurers could react there were spiders crawling upon the backs of the first layer of spiders. As Semeion looked around to Ischarus and Rhema he realized that the swarm was so intense that their skin was no longer visible through the dense mass of spiders.</p><p></p><p>Realizing that the effect was arcane in nature, Semeion commanded from the back of the group. “Move ahead now. And move ahead quickly. You must find the speaker of the words and disrupt his concentration – or outright kill him!”</p><p></p><p>Ischarus moved instinctively at Semeion’s shout; however his movement was more on account of the itching caused by the thousands of spiders crawling across his skin and clothing. The spiders swarmed over the adventurers as they attempted to find any means to sink their teeth into a patch of unprotected skin. Rhema quickly followed Ischarus. She was madly flailing her arms about, trying to shake the infernal spiders away from her arms. Her body was much more easily accessed than Ischarus’ body since Ischarus was dressed for battle and under armor. Ischarus managed to remove most of the tiny insects without being bitten often. Rhema was not as lucky as spider after spider found juicy flesh to sink its teeth into.</p><p></p><p>Still holding the reigns of Elistra, Ischarus charged down the tunnel in the direction from which the chanting had come. He knew that Elistra was being bitten as much if not more than he and Rhema. The horse hide was far thicker than their own skin, but the crawling motions of the spiders had obviously disturbed his unfortunate horse. Ischarus also knew that Rhema, Shauvry, Semeion, and Thana would have no chance against the swarm of spiders if Elistra continued to block the tunnel. He pulled the horse along as he tried to run down the tunnel.</p><p></p><p>As Ischarus charged, two large forms came into view. Both of them stood taller than he did and looked almost like jackals standing upright on two legs. As the enemy came into view Ischarus released Elistra’s reigns, drew his sword, and uttered a battle cry from deep within his person. “You will rue the day you attacked my companions, dogs!” The insult was a commentary on their hyena like faces than a standardized battle cry.</p><p></p><p>Rhema came quickly up behind Ischarus. She fled the swarm of insects as quickly as Ischarus could move away from it. Semeion breathed deeply and lowered his head, stepping just as quickly as Rhema could move through the affected area of spiders. Fortunately the spiders seemed to seethe around the tunnel in a small foot area, so Semeion and Thana were able to pass through with a reasonably easy amount of effort before too many arachnid hitchhikers could latch on and find an unprotected area.</p><p></p><p>As Rhema approached the back of Ischarus and Elistra she perceived the two gnolls that threatened Ischarus’ advance away from the spider swarm. With a simple gesture of her free hand she extended her index and middle finger outward toward the more warrior-like of the two gnolls. The gnoll saw her approach and she smiled broadly. Her thumb, ring finger, and pinky instinctively curled in towards her palm. Her mind began to harness its power and her eyes almost glistened as her thoughts came into reality. “You don’t want to harm us, gnoll. We’re too much of a serious challenge for you and you might actually get hurt. Drop your weapons and I’ll guarantee that my friend here doesn’t hurt you.”</p><p></p><p>The gnoll hesitated for a moment, gripping its own axe tightly in its left hand. As Rhema spoke her soothing words through the deep power of her mind, the gnoll’s grip on the axe loosened and its face revealed its own surprise as the axe fell from its hand. The gnoll also dropped the shield it was carrying and uttered a comment in a voice even more bass than the one which had called forth the horde of spiders, “I think are you correct. You might hurt me, I will not fight today.” The voice was one that struggled with the language spoken.</p><p></p><p>The other gnoll cursed loudly in its own language and yelled, “Farrung, what do you do?” In its own tongue it continued, “Bargrak drratch kratch, Farrung.” When the more warrior-like gnoll didn’t respond to the one who spoke, the gnoll refocused his attention onto Ischarus and readied a crude morningstar. The gnoll stepped toward Ischarus and swung the wooden shaft with a large stone at the top. Ischarus hoisted his shield up into the path of the oncoming morningstar and deflected the blow away from his body. The gnoll spat upon the ground as it knew it had missed with its first strike opportunity.</p><p></p><p>Ischarus yelled as the attack was deflected. “You’ll not get many better chances than that one, dog!” He used the momentum of his shield thrust to extend his sword in a straight jab towards the gnoll’s body. The gnoll sidestepped Ischarus’ blow and spun away from the attack, thinking about his next assault onto Ischarus.</p><p></p><p>Semeion joined the party, noting that after he passed through the spiders they had begun to dissipate and recede into the crevasses from which they had come. As Semeion caught up to Ischarus and Rhema, he noticed that about the same time as the spider had begun to recede the second gnoll had begun to attack Ischarus. “Tok-skrie Ah-su” Semeion shouted as he came into view of the gnolls. The gnoll that had been assaulting Ischarus began to grow, nearly doubling in size. The gnoll’s head slammed against the roof of the tunnel, sending a shower of dust and rock fragments onto the shorter Ischarus. Ischarus smiled at Semeion’s tactics. The gnoll was now far too large to maneuver effectively in the tunnel.</p><p></p><p>Rhema continued to talk to the gnoll that was beginning to fall under her soothing control. “You’re alright, gnoll. You made the right choice in dropping your weapon. You’ll live to fight another day. You’ll live to return back to your den. Leave the axe on the ground and no harm will come to you.”</p><p></p><p>The gnoll attacking Ischarus attempted a feeble swing with his now large morningstar. Ischarus easily dodged the attack, although the miss was more attributed to the fact that the gnoll bounced the morningstar off of the ceiling and the side of the tunnel before beginning a very ineffective swing. </p><p></p><p>Ischarus smiled once more at Semeion’s previous tactical maneuver. He hoisted his sword once more in an attack against the gnoll and this time struck the much bigger target. The blow was tremendously placed – the flat of the blade impacted the gnoll’s exposed ribcage and then the sword cut down into the gnoll’s large thigh. The leg wound was not deep at all. Ischarus had designed the blow to impair the creature’s movement rather than try to kill it. Ischarus didn’t realize at first that the gnoll had been knocked unconscious by the strike against the ribcage, making the blow to the leg immediately unnecessary. The large gnoll fell to the cave floor and sprawled about the entire horizontal surface. Due to the enlarged creature’s great size made it impossible to move the horses further down the tunnel.</p><p></p><p>Rhema saw the beast fall and knew exactly what to say. “Semeion, can you dismiss your spell and return the creature to its normal size?” She immediately understood the logistical problem. Without even a word Semeion smiled and the gnoll gradually shrank back to a more normal size. The creature remained unconscious and lay still upon the ground.</p><p></p><p>Rhema turned to the remaining gnoll and said, “Listen to me. Your gnoll brother is not dead, merely wounded and unconscious. There is no need for him to die – nor for yourself. I think you should leave your armor and weapons on the floor and allow us to remove the weapons of your companion. If you allow us to do that, I can guarantee that no more harm will come to you or your friend. You can tell me you agree be removing your armor and leaving it on the ground with your axe and shield.”</p><p></p><p>The gnoll was well within Rhema’s mental grasp by this point. The creature would have likely obeyed any command she spoke short of jumping into a molten lava pool. The gnoll quickly began to unfasten the crude straps that held the armor securely around its body. In short order the creature left the pile of armor on the ground beside the shield and the sword. Rhema smiled at the gnoll and nodded to Ischarus.</p><p></p><p>Ischarus stowed his weapon and approached the wounded gnoll, stripping it of its morningstar. Ischarus also gently tugged on the straps that held this gnoll’s light leather armor in place. Even though the gnoll had been trying to kill him – and he had been trying to hurt the gnoll in return – it was obvious to Rhema and Semeion as they looked on that Ischarus had a deep respect for this gnoll’s life. Ischarus knew the gnoll was wounded badly and did not want to do anything else to injure the gnoll beyond what had already been done. </p><p></p><p>As Ischarus undid the gnoll’s armor he also found a few useful stones within one of the pockets of the armor. Rather than pulling the stones out and revealing them to the gnoll who was watching him to make sure he did not abuse his companion, Ischarus merely noted their presence and made sure that as he removed the armor the stones stayed within the pocket of the armor. As the armor was gently taken off of the body of the wounded gnoll, Ischarus also discovered two daggers with rather ornately carved handles. It was obvious to Ischarus from their craftsmanship that these daggers were not of gnoll origin but most likely of dwarven make. As he removed the daggers Ischarus stood and nodded once more to Rhema. He carried the armor, daggers, and morningstar away from the body.</p><p></p><p>When Rhema saw that Ischarus was done, she smiled once more at the gnoll that was under his control. “See? As I told you, your companion is unharmed. We are taking your weapons and armor as payment for sparing his life. If you go unarmed and unarmored, it also guarantees us that you will not cause any more trouble until we have seen this passage through to the other side. Do you understand?”</p><p></p><p>The gnoll nodded slowly in an affirmative gesture. “I understand. You take items in trade for letting Farrung return to village with Traact. I do not like losing, but I do like living.”</p><p></p><p>Rhema smiled at the simple logic of the gnoll. While the gnoll at least had enough wisdom to love life over victory, this gnoll was clearly not one of the more intelligent gnolls to be born. As she looked at him she almost had sympathy upon him for being the simple warrior muscle that his clan certainly must use him for. She continued, “Farrung, your companion Traact is injured because he fought back. He is not in danger of dying yet, but if he does not receive some help soon he may worsen. Does you village have anyone who can heal?</p><p></p><p>Farrung nodded in the affirmative once more. “My clan is blessed with six shaman. One shaman sent Farrung and Traact to find you and bring you back to him. Farrung will not go to that one to heal Traact. Farrung will go to one more able to heal.”</p><p></p><p>Semeion rubbed his hand across his face as he listened to the slow and deliberate speech of the gnoll. He breathed deeply and exhaled rather loudly as he glanced toward Ischarus. The party’s fighter returned the loud exhale with a smile of his own.</p><p></p><p>Rhema looked pleased at Farrung’s answer and accounting of his clansmen’s abilities. “You may get the body of Traact, Farrung. If you approach the body slowly and do not come near my friends I promise they will not interfere with your task. Be careful when you move you friend since he is wounded and should be handled gently whenever possible. Do you understand?”</p><p></p><p>The gnoll nodded once more as it moved forward on its canine like legs. Its face showed no sign of malice as it looked at Rhema and her friends, acknowledging to Ischarus and Semeion that Rhema’s power over the gnoll was still largely in effect. Farrung gently lifted his fallen companion up off of the ground and turned once more to look at Rhema before heading down the tunnel. </p><p></p><p>Once the gnoll had made his way off, Ischarus decided it was time to move once more. “Get the armor and daggers while I pick up the larger gnoll’s armor and weapons. Load them into Elistra’s saddlebags, and quickly. Rhema’s powers will have little effect once the gnoll gets a certain distance away from us. We don’t need to give it any excuse to turn back and fight for its companion’s honor.”</p><p></p><p>As Ischarus spoke, Semeion leapt into action and quickly gathered up the items, bringing them to Elistra’s saddlebags. Ischarus moved down the tunnel a bit further and approached where Farrung had dropped his own equipment carefully. When he was sure he wasn’t going to be blindsided from another attack he knelt to the ground and picked up the items. </p><p></p><p>While the two men were gathering up the items, Rhema took Ischarus’ lantern and cautiously walked the direction that the gnoll headed, hoping that her subtle gesture would allow her control to last even a few seconds longer. When she could no longer feel the gnoll’s thoughts and emotions in her mind she turned and quickly rejoined the party. “He has moved beyond my control,” Rhema spoke hurriedly as Semeion finished loading the equipment into Elistra’s saddlebags.</p><p></p><p>Ischarus turned and nodded in Rhema’s direction. His hand contained the stones that he had recovered from the armor of the gnoll. He handed eight gold pieces, five pieces of obsidian, and three pieces of sardonyx to Rhema as she returned. “Thanks for letting me know. We must hurry, then. Keep the stones with the funds we may need to pay for equipment and housing.” Rhema nodded and easily stuffed the gemstones into her coin pouch.</p><p></p><p>Semeion reached for Thana’s reigns and prepared to follow Rhema and Shauvry once Ischarus moved. He looked to Ischarus and questioned the urgency of Ischarus and Rhema. “Are we in that much danger? Won’t it take him some time to return Traact to the village?”</p><p></p><p>Ischarus turned to bark a response back to Semeion, but Rhema’s eyes intercepted his sharp look and her look softened his tone. Without a word being spoken, Ischarus turned back around and set a brisk pace down the tunnel. As Rhema started up with Shauvry she answered back to Semeion, “It isn’t that we are in immediate danger. But I’m sure you were able to conclude that the shaman that Ischarus chased had sent two of his own back to hinder our movement – perhaps even bring our own heads back to the gnoll village in the shaman’s honor. When the shaman realizes that the two he sent out to hinder our movement through the tunnels came back without their prize, the shaman will certainly send out more against us. He might send out more than we can handle – certainly more than I can effect with the mind control effect that I am accustomed to using on the gnolls.”</p><p></p><p>Semeion thought for a moment and replied as he and Rhema hustled behind Ischarus. “That makes sense. How long do we have to get away?”</p><p></p><p>Rhema let out a short snort through her nose in a subtle laugh. “The spider swarm attack came reasonably quickly after the shaman fled. We can assume that their clan village is close – or at least a guarded outpost for tunnel control is near. Either way, the threat is most likely quite near.”</p><p></p><p>Semeion replied, “If the threat was so close, then why did we let them go so easily?”</p><p></p><p>Rhema smiled as she knew Semeion was beginning to feel the inner turmoil of what it really meant to be good in one’s heart and not just neutral toward other people. “We are freedom fighters, Semeion. We are not judges in this world. We have no right to declare guilt or innocence. We all have the ability to perceive people as just or unjust, but honestly who are we to judge? If we kill another life that has a mind capable of rationalization, are we any better than those who enslave the living in Quehalost? If we want to truly be good and be considered freedom fighters, we cannot force our judgment of righteousness on anyone in terms of death. To kill another being means that we did not do our job properly. We can strike out and wound – knocking them unconscious. We can control them telepathically as I do. We can even try to convince others through a display of force that they really don’t desire to take on our challenge. But we cannot kill another mind that is capable of rationalization. The spider I killed could not grasp our purpose – it was in hunt mode. It was either kill or be killed. The gnolls are different, though. By our refusing to kill them in spite of how badly they desired to kill us, we have brought justice and peace into their lives even for a short instant.”</p><p></p><p>Semeion did not reply as his mind churned through Rhema’s assertion about what their work entailed and how difficult it would be to live up to these standards of honoring life. Sensing his internal quandary, Rhema changed the topic. “How are you on magical abilities until we can find rest?”</p><p></p><p>Semeion closed his eyes for a moment and searched his mind. With a slow and dramatic effort his eyelids reopened and he responded, “I have enough for another conflict or two. Of course, I have these two new daggers to help out if the spells run out.”</p><p></p><p>Ischarus turned his head slightly to look at Rhema in response to Semeion’s overconfident gesture of combat effectiveness. Rhema nodded slightly and concluded, “Semeion, you weren’t brought on this team because you can be an effective combatant. Let us hope it does not come to that.”</p><p></p><p>The party continued on for the next several minutes in complete silence. Only the striking of their feet and the horse hooves upon the tunnel floor interrupted their individual contemplation of Rhema’s words. After a few minutes Ischarus uttered a quiet prayer that was soft enough so neither Rhema nor Semeion were able to hear it. “Thank you for making her have mind-reading abilities and not abilities that allow her to know the future.” A grim smile crossed his lips as the sarcastic prayer was finished. Once the prayer was over he hustled even harder down the tunnel.</p><p>[/Sblock]</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Nonlethal Force, post: 2813882, member: 35788"] Ischarus lay on the floor for several minutes before eventually beginning some simple stretching exercises. A few minutes later he brought himself onto his hands and knees and then raised himself upright on a single knee. When he was sure that he wasn’t going to pass out he stood the rest of the way. Rhema stood beside him the whole time as if to catch him should he fall. Of course, given Ischarus’ weight and size compared to Rhema’s delicate figure Rhema would have simply ended up underneath Ischarus had that possibility unfolded. Once he was sure that he was stable, Ischarus added, [Color=LightBlue]“We should probably hurry, I’ve wasted enough of our time here. If that gnoll managed to get back to his village and they’re not far from the main trail we can expect pursuit. We can handle a stray gnoll here and there, but I don’t think we have much of a desire to handle a gnoll retaliation effort. If they come in great numbers they could swarm us under.”[/Color] Semeion snorted out a bit of a laugh and looked to Rhema. She replied to his snort, [Color=PaleGreen]“Unfortunately, he’s pretty serious about that one …”[/Color] Ischarus interrupted her. [Color=LightBlue]“I gave that gnoll a good scare. He was running for his life and he knew it. He might count himself lucky, but I doubt it. He’ll want to bring friends so he can watch me run.”[/Color] He reached out for the handle of his lantern and Elistra’s reigns. The ends of Shauvry’s reigns continued to provide light in addition to Ischarus’ lantern and he noticed this new light source as he turned to accept Elistra’s reigns from Rhema. [Color=LightBlue]“That’s a nice trick, Semeion. It at least keeps Rhema from having to follow in the dark.”[/Color] His lips parted slightly in a pained smile as he turned around to start the trio moving forward once more. Ischarus lead Rhema and Semeion through a maze of corridors underground. Semeion noted that at each and every turn there was no hesitation on the part of Ischarus. At each turn he knew precisely where to go in spite of the lack of markings and similarity to one another. Additionally, this deep under the mountain the air was terrifically still. Not even a gust of wind could be detected to alert them toward any directional sense. In spite of the lack of indicators, at every place for decision Ischarus decisively led the party forward. The party walked for nearly an hour in near silence. The only thing that could be heard was the faint treading of their feet upon the ground and this clip of the horse hooves as they occasionally struck a rock underfoot. Suddenly the near silence was shattered by the dark uttering of a bass voice. [Color=Red]“Daancrah Pashraak,”[/Color] spoke an unknown voice in the darkness ahead. Ischarus froze in his place for a split-second. Rhema instinctively froze as well. [Color=PaleGreen]“Gnolls. Again,”[/Color] Rhema cursed under her breath. [Color=Plum]“Spell casters, too,”[/Color] Semeion added. [Color=Plum]“I’d know the sound of that language anywhere.”[/Color] Before they realized what was upon them Rhema, Semeion, and Ischarus were completely covered in tiny spiders. The spiders seemed to swarm out of every crevasse in the ceiling, floor, and walls around them. The tiny spiders swarmed by the thousands over the three adventurers and their horses. The insect swarm was so thick that in only a matter of seconds the spiders had covered nearly every inch of their skin. The spider swarm grew so thick so quickly that before the adventurers could react there were spiders crawling upon the backs of the first layer of spiders. As Semeion looked around to Ischarus and Rhema he realized that the swarm was so intense that their skin was no longer visible through the dense mass of spiders. Realizing that the effect was arcane in nature, Semeion commanded from the back of the group. [Color=Plum]“Move ahead now. And move ahead quickly. You must find the speaker of the words and disrupt his concentration – or outright kill him!”[/Color] Ischarus moved instinctively at Semeion’s shout; however his movement was more on account of the itching caused by the thousands of spiders crawling across his skin and clothing. The spiders swarmed over the adventurers as they attempted to find any means to sink their teeth into a patch of unprotected skin. Rhema quickly followed Ischarus. She was madly flailing her arms about, trying to shake the infernal spiders away from her arms. Her body was much more easily accessed than Ischarus’ body since Ischarus was dressed for battle and under armor. Ischarus managed to remove most of the tiny insects without being bitten often. Rhema was not as lucky as spider after spider found juicy flesh to sink its teeth into. Still holding the reigns of Elistra, Ischarus charged down the tunnel in the direction from which the chanting had come. He knew that Elistra was being bitten as much if not more than he and Rhema. The horse hide was far thicker than their own skin, but the crawling motions of the spiders had obviously disturbed his unfortunate horse. Ischarus also knew that Rhema, Shauvry, Semeion, and Thana would have no chance against the swarm of spiders if Elistra continued to block the tunnel. He pulled the horse along as he tried to run down the tunnel. As Ischarus charged, two large forms came into view. Both of them stood taller than he did and looked almost like jackals standing upright on two legs. As the enemy came into view Ischarus released Elistra’s reigns, drew his sword, and uttered a battle cry from deep within his person. [Color=LightBlue]“You will rue the day you attacked my companions, dogs!”[/Color] The insult was a commentary on their hyena like faces than a standardized battle cry. Rhema came quickly up behind Ischarus. She fled the swarm of insects as quickly as Ischarus could move away from it. Semeion breathed deeply and lowered his head, stepping just as quickly as Rhema could move through the affected area of spiders. Fortunately the spiders seemed to seethe around the tunnel in a small foot area, so Semeion and Thana were able to pass through with a reasonably easy amount of effort before too many arachnid hitchhikers could latch on and find an unprotected area. As Rhema approached the back of Ischarus and Elistra she perceived the two gnolls that threatened Ischarus’ advance away from the spider swarm. With a simple gesture of her free hand she extended her index and middle finger outward toward the more warrior-like of the two gnolls. The gnoll saw her approach and she smiled broadly. Her thumb, ring finger, and pinky instinctively curled in towards her palm. Her mind began to harness its power and her eyes almost glistened as her thoughts came into reality. [Color=PaleGreen]“You don’t want to harm us, gnoll. We’re too much of a serious challenge for you and you might actually get hurt. Drop your weapons and I’ll guarantee that my friend here doesn’t hurt you.”[/Color] The gnoll hesitated for a moment, gripping its own axe tightly in its left hand. As Rhema spoke her soothing words through the deep power of her mind, the gnoll’s grip on the axe loosened and its face revealed its own surprise as the axe fell from its hand. The gnoll also dropped the shield it was carrying and uttered a comment in a voice even more bass than the one which had called forth the horde of spiders, [Color=Red]“I think are you correct. You might hurt me, I will not fight today.”[/Color] The voice was one that struggled with the language spoken. The other gnoll cursed loudly in its own language and yelled, [Color=Red]“Farrung, what do you do?”[/Color] In its own tongue it continued, [Color=Red]“Bargrak drratch kratch, Farrung.”[/Color] When the more warrior-like gnoll didn’t respond to the one who spoke, the gnoll refocused his attention onto Ischarus and readied a crude morningstar. The gnoll stepped toward Ischarus and swung the wooden shaft with a large stone at the top. Ischarus hoisted his shield up into the path of the oncoming morningstar and deflected the blow away from his body. The gnoll spat upon the ground as it knew it had missed with its first strike opportunity. Ischarus yelled as the attack was deflected. [Color=LightBlue]“You’ll not get many better chances than that one, dog!”[/Color] He used the momentum of his shield thrust to extend his sword in a straight jab towards the gnoll’s body. The gnoll sidestepped Ischarus’ blow and spun away from the attack, thinking about his next assault onto Ischarus. Semeion joined the party, noting that after he passed through the spiders they had begun to dissipate and recede into the crevasses from which they had come. As Semeion caught up to Ischarus and Rhema, he noticed that about the same time as the spider had begun to recede the second gnoll had begun to attack Ischarus. [Color=Plum]“Tok-skrie Ah-su”[/Color] Semeion shouted as he came into view of the gnolls. The gnoll that had been assaulting Ischarus began to grow, nearly doubling in size. The gnoll’s head slammed against the roof of the tunnel, sending a shower of dust and rock fragments onto the shorter Ischarus. Ischarus smiled at Semeion’s tactics. The gnoll was now far too large to maneuver effectively in the tunnel. Rhema continued to talk to the gnoll that was beginning to fall under her soothing control. [Color=PaleGreen]“You’re alright, gnoll. You made the right choice in dropping your weapon. You’ll live to fight another day. You’ll live to return back to your den. Leave the axe on the ground and no harm will come to you.”[/Color] The gnoll attacking Ischarus attempted a feeble swing with his now large morningstar. Ischarus easily dodged the attack, although the miss was more attributed to the fact that the gnoll bounced the morningstar off of the ceiling and the side of the tunnel before beginning a very ineffective swing. Ischarus smiled once more at Semeion’s previous tactical maneuver. He hoisted his sword once more in an attack against the gnoll and this time struck the much bigger target. The blow was tremendously placed – the flat of the blade impacted the gnoll’s exposed ribcage and then the sword cut down into the gnoll’s large thigh. The leg wound was not deep at all. Ischarus had designed the blow to impair the creature’s movement rather than try to kill it. Ischarus didn’t realize at first that the gnoll had been knocked unconscious by the strike against the ribcage, making the blow to the leg immediately unnecessary. The large gnoll fell to the cave floor and sprawled about the entire horizontal surface. Due to the enlarged creature’s great size made it impossible to move the horses further down the tunnel. Rhema saw the beast fall and knew exactly what to say. [Color=PaleGreen]“Semeion, can you dismiss your spell and return the creature to its normal size?”[/Color] She immediately understood the logistical problem. Without even a word Semeion smiled and the gnoll gradually shrank back to a more normal size. The creature remained unconscious and lay still upon the ground. Rhema turned to the remaining gnoll and said, [Color=PaleGreen]“Listen to me. Your gnoll brother is not dead, merely wounded and unconscious. There is no need for him to die – nor for yourself. I think you should leave your armor and weapons on the floor and allow us to remove the weapons of your companion. If you allow us to do that, I can guarantee that no more harm will come to you or your friend. You can tell me you agree be removing your armor and leaving it on the ground with your axe and shield.”[/Color] The gnoll was well within Rhema’s mental grasp by this point. The creature would have likely obeyed any command she spoke short of jumping into a molten lava pool. The gnoll quickly began to unfasten the crude straps that held the armor securely around its body. In short order the creature left the pile of armor on the ground beside the shield and the sword. Rhema smiled at the gnoll and nodded to Ischarus. Ischarus stowed his weapon and approached the wounded gnoll, stripping it of its morningstar. Ischarus also gently tugged on the straps that held this gnoll’s light leather armor in place. Even though the gnoll had been trying to kill him – and he had been trying to hurt the gnoll in return – it was obvious to Rhema and Semeion as they looked on that Ischarus had a deep respect for this gnoll’s life. Ischarus knew the gnoll was wounded badly and did not want to do anything else to injure the gnoll beyond what had already been done. As Ischarus undid the gnoll’s armor he also found a few useful stones within one of the pockets of the armor. Rather than pulling the stones out and revealing them to the gnoll who was watching him to make sure he did not abuse his companion, Ischarus merely noted their presence and made sure that as he removed the armor the stones stayed within the pocket of the armor. As the armor was gently taken off of the body of the wounded gnoll, Ischarus also discovered two daggers with rather ornately carved handles. It was obvious to Ischarus from their craftsmanship that these daggers were not of gnoll origin but most likely of dwarven make. As he removed the daggers Ischarus stood and nodded once more to Rhema. He carried the armor, daggers, and morningstar away from the body. When Rhema saw that Ischarus was done, she smiled once more at the gnoll that was under his control. [Color=PaleGreen]“See? As I told you, your companion is unharmed. We are taking your weapons and armor as payment for sparing his life. If you go unarmed and unarmored, it also guarantees us that you will not cause any more trouble until we have seen this passage through to the other side. Do you understand?”[/Color] The gnoll nodded slowly in an affirmative gesture. [Color=Red]“I understand. You take items in trade for letting Farrung return to village with Traact. I do not like losing, but I do like living.”[/Color] Rhema smiled at the simple logic of the gnoll. While the gnoll at least had enough wisdom to love life over victory, this gnoll was clearly not one of the more intelligent gnolls to be born. As she looked at him she almost had sympathy upon him for being the simple warrior muscle that his clan certainly must use him for. She continued, [Color=PaleGreen]“Farrung, your companion Traact is injured because he fought back. He is not in danger of dying yet, but if he does not receive some help soon he may worsen. Does you village have anyone who can heal?[/Color] Farrung nodded in the affirmative once more. [Color=Red]“My clan is blessed with six shaman. One shaman sent Farrung and Traact to find you and bring you back to him. Farrung will not go to that one to heal Traact. Farrung will go to one more able to heal.”[/Color] Semeion rubbed his hand across his face as he listened to the slow and deliberate speech of the gnoll. He breathed deeply and exhaled rather loudly as he glanced toward Ischarus. The party’s fighter returned the loud exhale with a smile of his own. Rhema looked pleased at Farrung’s answer and accounting of his clansmen’s abilities. [Color=PaleGreen]“You may get the body of Traact, Farrung. If you approach the body slowly and do not come near my friends I promise they will not interfere with your task. Be careful when you move you friend since he is wounded and should be handled gently whenever possible. Do you understand?”[/Color] The gnoll nodded once more as it moved forward on its canine like legs. Its face showed no sign of malice as it looked at Rhema and her friends, acknowledging to Ischarus and Semeion that Rhema’s power over the gnoll was still largely in effect. Farrung gently lifted his fallen companion up off of the ground and turned once more to look at Rhema before heading down the tunnel. Once the gnoll had made his way off, Ischarus decided it was time to move once more. [Color=LightBlue]“Get the armor and daggers while I pick up the larger gnoll’s armor and weapons. Load them into Elistra’s saddlebags, and quickly. Rhema’s powers will have little effect once the gnoll gets a certain distance away from us. We don’t need to give it any excuse to turn back and fight for its companion’s honor.”[/Color] As Ischarus spoke, Semeion leapt into action and quickly gathered up the items, bringing them to Elistra’s saddlebags. Ischarus moved down the tunnel a bit further and approached where Farrung had dropped his own equipment carefully. When he was sure he wasn’t going to be blindsided from another attack he knelt to the ground and picked up the items. While the two men were gathering up the items, Rhema took Ischarus’ lantern and cautiously walked the direction that the gnoll headed, hoping that her subtle gesture would allow her control to last even a few seconds longer. When she could no longer feel the gnoll’s thoughts and emotions in her mind she turned and quickly rejoined the party. [Color=PaleGreen]“He has moved beyond my control,”[/Color] Rhema spoke hurriedly as Semeion finished loading the equipment into Elistra’s saddlebags. Ischarus turned and nodded in Rhema’s direction. His hand contained the stones that he had recovered from the armor of the gnoll. He handed eight gold pieces, five pieces of obsidian, and three pieces of sardonyx to Rhema as she returned. [Color=LightBlue]“Thanks for letting me know. We must hurry, then. Keep the stones with the funds we may need to pay for equipment and housing.”[/Color] Rhema nodded and easily stuffed the gemstones into her coin pouch. Semeion reached for Thana’s reigns and prepared to follow Rhema and Shauvry once Ischarus moved. He looked to Ischarus and questioned the urgency of Ischarus and Rhema. [Color=Plum]“Are we in that much danger? Won’t it take him some time to return Traact to the village?”[/Color] Ischarus turned to bark a response back to Semeion, but Rhema’s eyes intercepted his sharp look and her look softened his tone. Without a word being spoken, Ischarus turned back around and set a brisk pace down the tunnel. As Rhema started up with Shauvry she answered back to Semeion, [Color=PaleGreen]“It isn’t that we are in immediate danger. But I’m sure you were able to conclude that the shaman that Ischarus chased had sent two of his own back to hinder our movement – perhaps even bring our own heads back to the gnoll village in the shaman’s honor. When the shaman realizes that the two he sent out to hinder our movement through the tunnels came back without their prize, the shaman will certainly send out more against us. He might send out more than we can handle – certainly more than I can effect with the mind control effect that I am accustomed to using on the gnolls.”[/Color] Semeion thought for a moment and replied as he and Rhema hustled behind Ischarus. [Color=Plum]“That makes sense. How long do we have to get away?”[/Color] Rhema let out a short snort through her nose in a subtle laugh. [Color=PaleGreen]“The spider swarm attack came reasonably quickly after the shaman fled. We can assume that their clan village is close – or at least a guarded outpost for tunnel control is near. Either way, the threat is most likely quite near.”[/Color] Semeion replied, [Color=Plum]“If the threat was so close, then why did we let them go so easily?”[/Color] Rhema smiled as she knew Semeion was beginning to feel the inner turmoil of what it really meant to be good in one’s heart and not just neutral toward other people. [Color=PaleGreen]“We are freedom fighters, Semeion. We are not judges in this world. We have no right to declare guilt or innocence. We all have the ability to perceive people as just or unjust, but honestly who are we to judge? If we kill another life that has a mind capable of rationalization, are we any better than those who enslave the living in Quehalost? If we want to truly be good and be considered freedom fighters, we cannot force our judgment of righteousness on anyone in terms of death. To kill another being means that we did not do our job properly. We can strike out and wound – knocking them unconscious. We can control them telepathically as I do. We can even try to convince others through a display of force that they really don’t desire to take on our challenge. But we cannot kill another mind that is capable of rationalization. The spider I killed could not grasp our purpose – it was in hunt mode. It was either kill or be killed. The gnolls are different, though. By our refusing to kill them in spite of how badly they desired to kill us, we have brought justice and peace into their lives even for a short instant.”[/Color] Semeion did not reply as his mind churned through Rhema’s assertion about what their work entailed and how difficult it would be to live up to these standards of honoring life. Sensing his internal quandary, Rhema changed the topic. [Color=PaleGreen]“How are you on magical abilities until we can find rest?”[/Color] Semeion closed his eyes for a moment and searched his mind. With a slow and dramatic effort his eyelids reopened and he responded, [Color=Plum]“I have enough for another conflict or two. Of course, I have these two new daggers to help out if the spells run out.”[/Color] Ischarus turned his head slightly to look at Rhema in response to Semeion’s overconfident gesture of combat effectiveness. Rhema nodded slightly and concluded, [Color=PaleGreen]“Semeion, you weren’t brought on this team because you can be an effective combatant. Let us hope it does not come to that.”[/Color] The party continued on for the next several minutes in complete silence. Only the striking of their feet and the horse hooves upon the tunnel floor interrupted their individual contemplation of Rhema’s words. After a few minutes Ischarus uttered a quiet prayer that was soft enough so neither Rhema nor Semeion were able to hear it. [Color=LightBlue]“Thank you for making her have mind-reading abilities and not abilities that allow her to know the future.”[/Color] A grim smile crossed his lips as the sarcastic prayer was finished. Once the prayer was over he hustled even harder down the tunnel. [Sblock=Color Free Speech Section] Ischarus lay on the floor for several minutes before eventually beginning some simple stretching exercises. A few minutes later he brought himself onto his hands and knees and then raised himself upright on a single knee. When he was sure that he wasn’t going to pass out he stood the rest of the way. Rhema stood beside him the whole time as if to catch him should he fall. Of course, given Ischarus’ weight and size compared to Rhema’s delicate figure Rhema would have simply ended up underneath Ischarus had that possibility unfolded. Once he was sure that he was stable, Ischarus added, “We should probably hurry, I’ve wasted enough of our time here. If that gnoll managed to get back to his village and they’re not far from the main trail we can expect pursuit. We can handle a stray gnoll here and there, but I don’t think we have much of a desire to handle a gnoll retaliation effort. If they come in great numbers they could swarm us under.” Semeion snorted out a bit of a laugh and looked to Rhema. She replied to his snort, “Unfortunately, he’s pretty serious about that one …” Ischarus interrupted her. “I gave that gnoll a good scare. He was running for his life and he knew it. He might count himself lucky, but I doubt it. He’ll want to bring friends so he can watch me run.” He reached out for the handle of his lantern and Elistra’s reigns. The ends of Shauvry’s reigns continued to provide light in addition to Ischarus’ lantern and he noticed this new light source as he turned to accept Elistra’s reigns from Rhema. “That’s a nice trick, Semeion. It at least keeps Rhema from having to follow in the dark.” His lips parted slightly in a pained smile as he turned around to start the trio moving forward once more. Ischarus lead Rhema and Semeion through a maze of corridors underground. Semeion noted that at each and every turn there was no hesitation on the part of Ischarus. At each turn he knew precisely where to go in spite of the lack of markings and similarity to one another. Additionally, this deep under the mountain the air was terrifically still. Not even a gust of wind could be detected to alert them toward any directional sense. In spite of the lack of indicators, at every place for decision Ischarus decisively led the party forward. The party walked for nearly an hour in near silence. The only thing that could be heard was the faint treading of their feet upon the ground and this clip of the horse hooves as they occasionally struck a rock underfoot. Suddenly the near silence was shattered by the dark uttering of a bass voice. “Daancrah Pashraak,” spoke an unknown voice in the darkness ahead. Ischarus froze in his place for a split-second. Rhema instinctively froze as well. “Gnolls. Again,” Rhema cursed under her breath. “Spell casters, too,” Semeion added. “I’d know the sound of that language anywhere.” Before they realized what was upon them Rhema, Semeion, and Ischarus were completely covered in tiny spiders. The spiders seemed to swarm out of every crevasse in the ceiling, floor, and walls around them. The tiny spiders swarmed by the thousands over the three adventurers and their horses. The insect swarm was so thick that in only a matter of seconds the spiders had covered nearly every inch of their skin. The spider swarm grew so thick so quickly that before the adventurers could react there were spiders crawling upon the backs of the first layer of spiders. As Semeion looked around to Ischarus and Rhema he realized that the swarm was so intense that their skin was no longer visible through the dense mass of spiders. Realizing that the effect was arcane in nature, Semeion commanded from the back of the group. “Move ahead now. And move ahead quickly. You must find the speaker of the words and disrupt his concentration – or outright kill him!” Ischarus moved instinctively at Semeion’s shout; however his movement was more on account of the itching caused by the thousands of spiders crawling across his skin and clothing. The spiders swarmed over the adventurers as they attempted to find any means to sink their teeth into a patch of unprotected skin. Rhema quickly followed Ischarus. She was madly flailing her arms about, trying to shake the infernal spiders away from her arms. Her body was much more easily accessed than Ischarus’ body since Ischarus was dressed for battle and under armor. Ischarus managed to remove most of the tiny insects without being bitten often. Rhema was not as lucky as spider after spider found juicy flesh to sink its teeth into. Still holding the reigns of Elistra, Ischarus charged down the tunnel in the direction from which the chanting had come. He knew that Elistra was being bitten as much if not more than he and Rhema. The horse hide was far thicker than their own skin, but the crawling motions of the spiders had obviously disturbed his unfortunate horse. Ischarus also knew that Rhema, Shauvry, Semeion, and Thana would have no chance against the swarm of spiders if Elistra continued to block the tunnel. He pulled the horse along as he tried to run down the tunnel. As Ischarus charged, two large forms came into view. Both of them stood taller than he did and looked almost like jackals standing upright on two legs. As the enemy came into view Ischarus released Elistra’s reigns, drew his sword, and uttered a battle cry from deep within his person. “You will rue the day you attacked my companions, dogs!” The insult was a commentary on their hyena like faces than a standardized battle cry. Rhema came quickly up behind Ischarus. She fled the swarm of insects as quickly as Ischarus could move away from it. Semeion breathed deeply and lowered his head, stepping just as quickly as Rhema could move through the affected area of spiders. Fortunately the spiders seemed to seethe around the tunnel in a small foot area, so Semeion and Thana were able to pass through with a reasonably easy amount of effort before too many arachnid hitchhikers could latch on and find an unprotected area. As Rhema approached the back of Ischarus and Elistra she perceived the two gnolls that threatened Ischarus’ advance away from the spider swarm. With a simple gesture of her free hand she extended her index and middle finger outward toward the more warrior-like of the two gnolls. The gnoll saw her approach and she smiled broadly. Her thumb, ring finger, and pinky instinctively curled in towards her palm. Her mind began to harness its power and her eyes almost glistened as her thoughts came into reality. “You don’t want to harm us, gnoll. We’re too much of a serious challenge for you and you might actually get hurt. Drop your weapons and I’ll guarantee that my friend here doesn’t hurt you.” The gnoll hesitated for a moment, gripping its own axe tightly in its left hand. As Rhema spoke her soothing words through the deep power of her mind, the gnoll’s grip on the axe loosened and its face revealed its own surprise as the axe fell from its hand. The gnoll also dropped the shield it was carrying and uttered a comment in a voice even more bass than the one which had called forth the horde of spiders, “I think are you correct. You might hurt me, I will not fight today.” The voice was one that struggled with the language spoken. The other gnoll cursed loudly in its own language and yelled, “Farrung, what do you do?” In its own tongue it continued, “Bargrak drratch kratch, Farrung.” When the more warrior-like gnoll didn’t respond to the one who spoke, the gnoll refocused his attention onto Ischarus and readied a crude morningstar. The gnoll stepped toward Ischarus and swung the wooden shaft with a large stone at the top. Ischarus hoisted his shield up into the path of the oncoming morningstar and deflected the blow away from his body. The gnoll spat upon the ground as it knew it had missed with its first strike opportunity. Ischarus yelled as the attack was deflected. “You’ll not get many better chances than that one, dog!” He used the momentum of his shield thrust to extend his sword in a straight jab towards the gnoll’s body. The gnoll sidestepped Ischarus’ blow and spun away from the attack, thinking about his next assault onto Ischarus. Semeion joined the party, noting that after he passed through the spiders they had begun to dissipate and recede into the crevasses from which they had come. As Semeion caught up to Ischarus and Rhema, he noticed that about the same time as the spider had begun to recede the second gnoll had begun to attack Ischarus. “Tok-skrie Ah-su” Semeion shouted as he came into view of the gnolls. The gnoll that had been assaulting Ischarus began to grow, nearly doubling in size. The gnoll’s head slammed against the roof of the tunnel, sending a shower of dust and rock fragments onto the shorter Ischarus. Ischarus smiled at Semeion’s tactics. The gnoll was now far too large to maneuver effectively in the tunnel. Rhema continued to talk to the gnoll that was beginning to fall under her soothing control. “You’re alright, gnoll. You made the right choice in dropping your weapon. You’ll live to fight another day. You’ll live to return back to your den. Leave the axe on the ground and no harm will come to you.” The gnoll attacking Ischarus attempted a feeble swing with his now large morningstar. Ischarus easily dodged the attack, although the miss was more attributed to the fact that the gnoll bounced the morningstar off of the ceiling and the side of the tunnel before beginning a very ineffective swing. Ischarus smiled once more at Semeion’s previous tactical maneuver. He hoisted his sword once more in an attack against the gnoll and this time struck the much bigger target. The blow was tremendously placed – the flat of the blade impacted the gnoll’s exposed ribcage and then the sword cut down into the gnoll’s large thigh. The leg wound was not deep at all. Ischarus had designed the blow to impair the creature’s movement rather than try to kill it. Ischarus didn’t realize at first that the gnoll had been knocked unconscious by the strike against the ribcage, making the blow to the leg immediately unnecessary. The large gnoll fell to the cave floor and sprawled about the entire horizontal surface. Due to the enlarged creature’s great size made it impossible to move the horses further down the tunnel. Rhema saw the beast fall and knew exactly what to say. “Semeion, can you dismiss your spell and return the creature to its normal size?” She immediately understood the logistical problem. Without even a word Semeion smiled and the gnoll gradually shrank back to a more normal size. The creature remained unconscious and lay still upon the ground. Rhema turned to the remaining gnoll and said, “Listen to me. Your gnoll brother is not dead, merely wounded and unconscious. There is no need for him to die – nor for yourself. I think you should leave your armor and weapons on the floor and allow us to remove the weapons of your companion. If you allow us to do that, I can guarantee that no more harm will come to you or your friend. You can tell me you agree be removing your armor and leaving it on the ground with your axe and shield.” The gnoll was well within Rhema’s mental grasp by this point. The creature would have likely obeyed any command she spoke short of jumping into a molten lava pool. The gnoll quickly began to unfasten the crude straps that held the armor securely around its body. In short order the creature left the pile of armor on the ground beside the shield and the sword. Rhema smiled at the gnoll and nodded to Ischarus. Ischarus stowed his weapon and approached the wounded gnoll, stripping it of its morningstar. Ischarus also gently tugged on the straps that held this gnoll’s light leather armor in place. Even though the gnoll had been trying to kill him – and he had been trying to hurt the gnoll in return – it was obvious to Rhema and Semeion as they looked on that Ischarus had a deep respect for this gnoll’s life. Ischarus knew the gnoll was wounded badly and did not want to do anything else to injure the gnoll beyond what had already been done. As Ischarus undid the gnoll’s armor he also found a few useful stones within one of the pockets of the armor. Rather than pulling the stones out and revealing them to the gnoll who was watching him to make sure he did not abuse his companion, Ischarus merely noted their presence and made sure that as he removed the armor the stones stayed within the pocket of the armor. As the armor was gently taken off of the body of the wounded gnoll, Ischarus also discovered two daggers with rather ornately carved handles. It was obvious to Ischarus from their craftsmanship that these daggers were not of gnoll origin but most likely of dwarven make. As he removed the daggers Ischarus stood and nodded once more to Rhema. He carried the armor, daggers, and morningstar away from the body. When Rhema saw that Ischarus was done, she smiled once more at the gnoll that was under his control. “See? As I told you, your companion is unharmed. We are taking your weapons and armor as payment for sparing his life. If you go unarmed and unarmored, it also guarantees us that you will not cause any more trouble until we have seen this passage through to the other side. Do you understand?” The gnoll nodded slowly in an affirmative gesture. “I understand. You take items in trade for letting Farrung return to village with Traact. I do not like losing, but I do like living.” Rhema smiled at the simple logic of the gnoll. While the gnoll at least had enough wisdom to love life over victory, this gnoll was clearly not one of the more intelligent gnolls to be born. As she looked at him she almost had sympathy upon him for being the simple warrior muscle that his clan certainly must use him for. She continued, “Farrung, your companion Traact is injured because he fought back. He is not in danger of dying yet, but if he does not receive some help soon he may worsen. Does you village have anyone who can heal? Farrung nodded in the affirmative once more. “My clan is blessed with six shaman. One shaman sent Farrung and Traact to find you and bring you back to him. Farrung will not go to that one to heal Traact. Farrung will go to one more able to heal.” Semeion rubbed his hand across his face as he listened to the slow and deliberate speech of the gnoll. He breathed deeply and exhaled rather loudly as he glanced toward Ischarus. The party’s fighter returned the loud exhale with a smile of his own. Rhema looked pleased at Farrung’s answer and accounting of his clansmen’s abilities. “You may get the body of Traact, Farrung. If you approach the body slowly and do not come near my friends I promise they will not interfere with your task. Be careful when you move you friend since he is wounded and should be handled gently whenever possible. Do you understand?” The gnoll nodded once more as it moved forward on its canine like legs. Its face showed no sign of malice as it looked at Rhema and her friends, acknowledging to Ischarus and Semeion that Rhema’s power over the gnoll was still largely in effect. Farrung gently lifted his fallen companion up off of the ground and turned once more to look at Rhema before heading down the tunnel. Once the gnoll had made his way off, Ischarus decided it was time to move once more. “Get the armor and daggers while I pick up the larger gnoll’s armor and weapons. Load them into Elistra’s saddlebags, and quickly. Rhema’s powers will have little effect once the gnoll gets a certain distance away from us. We don’t need to give it any excuse to turn back and fight for its companion’s honor.” As Ischarus spoke, Semeion leapt into action and quickly gathered up the items, bringing them to Elistra’s saddlebags. Ischarus moved down the tunnel a bit further and approached where Farrung had dropped his own equipment carefully. When he was sure he wasn’t going to be blindsided from another attack he knelt to the ground and picked up the items. While the two men were gathering up the items, Rhema took Ischarus’ lantern and cautiously walked the direction that the gnoll headed, hoping that her subtle gesture would allow her control to last even a few seconds longer. When she could no longer feel the gnoll’s thoughts and emotions in her mind she turned and quickly rejoined the party. “He has moved beyond my control,” Rhema spoke hurriedly as Semeion finished loading the equipment into Elistra’s saddlebags. Ischarus turned and nodded in Rhema’s direction. His hand contained the stones that he had recovered from the armor of the gnoll. He handed eight gold pieces, five pieces of obsidian, and three pieces of sardonyx to Rhema as she returned. “Thanks for letting me know. We must hurry, then. Keep the stones with the funds we may need to pay for equipment and housing.” Rhema nodded and easily stuffed the gemstones into her coin pouch. Semeion reached for Thana’s reigns and prepared to follow Rhema and Shauvry once Ischarus moved. He looked to Ischarus and questioned the urgency of Ischarus and Rhema. “Are we in that much danger? Won’t it take him some time to return Traact to the village?” Ischarus turned to bark a response back to Semeion, but Rhema’s eyes intercepted his sharp look and her look softened his tone. Without a word being spoken, Ischarus turned back around and set a brisk pace down the tunnel. As Rhema started up with Shauvry she answered back to Semeion, “It isn’t that we are in immediate danger. But I’m sure you were able to conclude that the shaman that Ischarus chased had sent two of his own back to hinder our movement – perhaps even bring our own heads back to the gnoll village in the shaman’s honor. When the shaman realizes that the two he sent out to hinder our movement through the tunnels came back without their prize, the shaman will certainly send out more against us. He might send out more than we can handle – certainly more than I can effect with the mind control effect that I am accustomed to using on the gnolls.” Semeion thought for a moment and replied as he and Rhema hustled behind Ischarus. “That makes sense. How long do we have to get away?” Rhema let out a short snort through her nose in a subtle laugh. “The spider swarm attack came reasonably quickly after the shaman fled. We can assume that their clan village is close – or at least a guarded outpost for tunnel control is near. Either way, the threat is most likely quite near.” Semeion replied, “If the threat was so close, then why did we let them go so easily?” Rhema smiled as she knew Semeion was beginning to feel the inner turmoil of what it really meant to be good in one’s heart and not just neutral toward other people. “We are freedom fighters, Semeion. We are not judges in this world. We have no right to declare guilt or innocence. We all have the ability to perceive people as just or unjust, but honestly who are we to judge? If we kill another life that has a mind capable of rationalization, are we any better than those who enslave the living in Quehalost? If we want to truly be good and be considered freedom fighters, we cannot force our judgment of righteousness on anyone in terms of death. To kill another being means that we did not do our job properly. We can strike out and wound – knocking them unconscious. We can control them telepathically as I do. We can even try to convince others through a display of force that they really don’t desire to take on our challenge. But we cannot kill another mind that is capable of rationalization. The spider I killed could not grasp our purpose – it was in hunt mode. It was either kill or be killed. The gnolls are different, though. By our refusing to kill them in spite of how badly they desired to kill us, we have brought justice and peace into their lives even for a short instant.” Semeion did not reply as his mind churned through Rhema’s assertion about what their work entailed and how difficult it would be to live up to these standards of honoring life. Sensing his internal quandary, Rhema changed the topic. “How are you on magical abilities until we can find rest?” Semeion closed his eyes for a moment and searched his mind. With a slow and dramatic effort his eyelids reopened and he responded, “I have enough for another conflict or two. Of course, I have these two new daggers to help out if the spells run out.” Ischarus turned his head slightly to look at Rhema in response to Semeion’s overconfident gesture of combat effectiveness. Rhema nodded slightly and concluded, “Semeion, you weren’t brought on this team because you can be an effective combatant. Let us hope it does not come to that.” The party continued on for the next several minutes in complete silence. Only the striking of their feet and the horse hooves upon the tunnel floor interrupted their individual contemplation of Rhema’s words. After a few minutes Ischarus uttered a quiet prayer that was soft enough so neither Rhema nor Semeion were able to hear it. “Thank you for making her have mind-reading abilities and not abilities that allow her to know the future.” A grim smile crossed his lips as the sarcastic prayer was finished. Once the prayer was over he hustled even harder down the tunnel. [/Sblock] [/QUOTE]
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