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<blockquote data-quote="DMRob" data-source="post: 4638012" data-attributes="member: 6642"><p><span style="font-size: 22px">Chapter IV</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 22px"><em>We Come in Peace</em></span></p><p></p><p>Friends of yours?" Yanni asked as she casually tossed the golden necklace</p><p>she had removed from the concerned citizen's corpse. The old man caught</p><p>the flying jewelry and quickly examined pendent dangling from the chain,</p><p>which displayed a flying hawk embossed over the background of a full moon.</p><p></p><p>"Nighthawks" he said softly. The Duke tossed the necklace into the brown</p><p>liquid flowing around and underneath the platform on which the party had</p><p>gathered after the fight.</p><p></p><p>"Hey!" called out the Elvin rogue, "that was not yours to discard."</p><p></p><p>"We must leave now" the Duke stated, ignoring her protest.</p><p></p><p>"What is the hurry" Mark asked as he was assisting the paladin to bind</p><p>Kovrim's wounds.</p><p></p><p> "These men were Nighthawks"</p><p></p><p>"The assassin's guild?" asked Polyphony.</p><p></p><p>"Yes. There will be other Talons, other teams of assassins searching for</p><p>us" the Duke stated with certainty. "We cannot tarry here any longer." He</p><p>gestured towards the set of iron double doors, into which the last assassin</p><p>had attempted to flee. "Our path lies through those door."</p><p></p><p>The party, spurred on by the Duke's concern, assembled and with the dwarves</p><p>and the paladin in the lead, headed through the iron doors. The chamber</p><p>beyond sloped down at a reasonably steep angle. The party followed the</p><p>smooth stone path as it spiraled down around an unseen axis until several</p><p>hundred feet later, the path ended at another set of iron doors, barred shut</p><p>from the outside. "Through there" the Duke indicated.</p><p></p><p>The sound inside the room was reminiscent of a great waterfall, though the</p><p>smell was not. The liquid from the channels above apparently flowed into a</p><p>great opened topped copper pot. Connected to the pot were two separate but</p><p>parallel enormous copper tubes. Each tube was bigger in diameter than the</p><p>trunks of ten large trees lashed together. The sewage temporarily collected</p><p>in the giant pot flowed out through the tubes and continued out of the</p><p>chamber to some location beyond. Shouting, so as to be heard over the roar</p><p>of the odiferous artificial waterfall the Duke said "Follow the pipe through</p><p>the next few chambers."</p><p></p><p>The party turned and saw the Duke strapping his left hand and arm into an</p><p>oddly constructed metal gauntlet. Polyphony immediately recognized the</p><p>contraption as a Turathian Gauntlet, a specialized offhanded weapon favored</p><p>by some of the more devious of tiefling warriors and scouts. The device was</p><p>a blending between a gauntlet, bucker, and dagger and encased the Duke's</p><p>left arm from finger tip to elbow. The lower portion of the weapon</p><p>resembled a steel gauntlet with razor sharp points at the finger tips. As</p><p>it progressed above the wrist towards the elbow, it widened to form an</p><p>abbreviated shield that a skilled fighter could use to parry attacks. A</p><p>thin single edged blade extended beyond the elbow the midway point of the</p><p>Duke's upper arm. Clearly fascinated by yet another new contraption, Rune</p><p>approached the Duke so as to better inspect his gauntlet.</p><p></p><p>"Not now, Master Artificer", the Duke shouted to the warforged. "I will</p><p>allow you to inspect this" he said slightly moving his armored left arm,</p><p>"later tonight when we camp. Now go" he yelled to the party. "I will check</p><p>our back trail and join you in one of the chambers beyond." The Duke drew</p><p>his long sword with his right hand and slipped back out of the door.</p><p></p><p>Somewhat taken aback, the entire group stared at the door for a moment, as</p><p>if they expected the old Duke to reopen it, smile and say "Just kidding."</p><p>But of course the Duke had not demonstrated a sense of humor thus far.</p><p></p><p>The party turned and exited the septic waterfall room. When they closed the</p><p>heavy iron door behind them, things became quieter, and a bit less</p><p>malodorous. Overhead the two massive copper pipes continued. The floor</p><p>also continued its gradual slant downwards. Along one side of the room was</p><p>a series of valves and gauges. The party continued past the machinery,</p><p>except for Rune, who stopped to study it. The warforged's companions did</p><p>not slow down, and opened the iron door on the far side of room.</p><p></p><p>"Rune, we are leaving" called out Varian.</p><p></p><p>"But I have not completed my examination" Rune protested.</p><p></p><p>"Next time" responded Mark.</p><p></p><p>"There will be no 'next time'" the warforged stated with some amount of</p><p>heat.</p><p></p><p>"The next room looks just like this one" sang out Polyphony. Rune hurried</p><p>forward to catch up to his companions.</p><p></p><p>And so the routine continued. The party followed the two roof mounted large</p><p>cooper pipes from one room into the next. Iron door room entrance led to</p><p>iron door room egress. In each room Rune hustled forward to examine the</p><p>equipment against one of the side wall for as long as he could.</p><p></p><p>In the fifth room, the pattern changed. The two large tubes were replaced</p><p>by a half score of smaller pipes that ran straight into the floor. The</p><p>slightly angled stone floor was replaced by a relatively level floor covered</p><p>by an iron grate. Underneath the grate was a 100' drop to a large stone</p><p>pit. The machinery and equipment normally found on a side wall was replaced</p><p>by more than two dozen Otyughs. The disgusting pentapods were eating the</p><p>sewage that the smaller copper pipes dumped into the pit. By the looks of</p><p>it the creatures were able to use their three strange jointed arms to shovel</p><p>the wasted products into their top mounted mouths, almost as quickly as the</p><p>smaller copper pipes could pump in the sewage.</p><p></p><p>"A very efficient waste disposal process" commented Rune.</p><p></p><p>"Of course it is" stated Gunderson. "Dwarves designed and constructed it."</p><p></p><p></p><p>Any further conversation regarding the 'efficient waste disposal process'</p><p>was interrupted by the iron door behind the party slamming open followed by</p><p>a panting Jasin Grayhain. Without a word, the Duke closed the iron door,</p><p>took two steps back, drew a handgun that was virtually identical to</p><p>Gunderson's and shot the iron door's lock. The beasts below the floor</p><p>roared in response to the handgun's explosive report. The Duke, still</p><p>breathing heavily, physically pushed several of the closet party members</p><p>across the floor towards next iron door. He then grabbed his great niece's</p><p>hand and ran across the iron grated floor and yanked open the door on the</p><p>far side. As soon as the rest of the party was through the door, the Duke</p><p>slammed it shut behind them and instructed Kovrin to smash the lock.</p><p></p><p>"Discover something" Yanni asked the Duke as he reloaded his handgun while</p><p>striding quickly across the room to the next iron door.</p><p></p><p>"It appears that Master Zarduk may get his wish" replied the Duke.</p><p></p><p>At the sound of his name, the barbarian jogged over to join the still fast</p><p>walking Duke and Yanni. "Which wish?" he demanded.</p><p></p><p>"Things are about to get difficult" the old man answered.</p><p></p><p>"Good. How?" the dwarf asked.</p><p></p><p>"A Soulless is on our trail." The children, who had been practically</p><p>sprinting to keep up with their great uncle, looked at each other with near</p><p>identical tight lipped expressions.</p><p></p><p>"What is a Soulless?" asked Yanni seeing the children's expressions but</p><p>still not understanding their reason for concern.</p><p></p><p>The Duke opened the next iron door, ushered everyone through, slammed it,</p><p>and then shot the lock before answering. "A highly skilled assassin who</p><p>trades his soul to a demon in exchange for dark magical powers" he said.</p><p></p><p>"You seem to know quite a bit about assassins Duke Jasin" stated Gunderson.</p><p>The Duke did not reply.</p><p></p><p>Rune, who had been staring intently at the Duke's handgun asked "What is a</p><p>soul?" There was an abrupt silence as the organic life forms in the room</p><p>looked at each other.</p><p></p><p>Varin then stepped forward. "A fascinating question" he began.</p><p></p><p>"Not now!" the Duke interrupted and resumed his hurried stride to the next</p><p>room.</p><p></p><p>"Another matter postponed until this evening" grumbled the warforged.</p><p></p><p>Gunderson, jogging next to his kinsman said "Just like an elf talking, when</p><p>they should be moving."</p><p></p><p>"Aye" Kuvrin agreed. "It puts me in mind of the old joke about Elves and</p><p>Deer."</p><p></p><p>"You mean the one about the difference?" asked Gunderson.</p><p></p><p>"The same one" the barbarian agreed starting to chuckle.</p><p></p><p>Both dwarves looked at each other and said in unison "Fleas" Their</p><p>baritone laughter resounded off of the walls.</p><p></p><p>"Why are 'fleas' funny?" Rune asked.</p><p></p><p>"Later" Gunderson gasped, finding the combination of laughing and jogging a</p><p>bit taxing.</p><p></p><p>"Aye" the barbarian agreed, wiping away tears of mirth "tonight".</p><p></p><p>FOOTNOTE</p><p>From the personal journal of Krag Gunderson . . . The joke regarding</p><p>distinguishing an elf from a deer has long been a favorite. It goes like</p><p>this . . . . A young dwarf apprentice of the Stonecutter's Clan asked his</p><p>master one evening after supper. "Master" said the lad "I am having trouble</p><p>with my studies." "How so" responded his kind master. "I have been</p><p>studying the creatures of the forest, and I must confess that I cannot tell</p><p>the difference between elves and deer. Both are flighty plant eating</p><p>woodland creatures, with four spindly limbs and points on their heads.</p><p>Neither has the ability to work stone or metal or to brew decent ale" the</p><p>lad stated. "What is the difference between the two?" The lad's wise master</p><p>stroked his beard for a moment and then replied "Fleas". "Fleas?" repeated</p><p>the lad in some confusion. "Aye, not even those vermin can stand to be</p><p>around elves for very long" the master assured him. My battle companion</p><p>Kovrin Zarduk when he heard me telling the joke to Rune, claimed,</p><p>incorrectly, that the lad was actually from Ironsmith clan. He was wrong of</p><p>course, and when he refused to admit the error of his memory, I was forced</p><p>to place his name in my clan's Book of Grudges."</p><p>END OF FOOTNOTE</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>"It is a good thing that I do not need to sleep. There are so many things</p><p>that I must learn tonight." Rune stated.</p><p></p><p>"If we live that long" the Duke said give a hard one eyed stare at both</p><p>dwarves as he waited for them to come through the next iron door. "Now if</p><p>you are not too winded from joke telling. Would you be so kind as to smash</p><p>the lock, so that the demonically empowered, highly trained assassin on our</p><p>trail can be inconvenience in his efforts to slay us all" he asked</p><p>sarcastically. The barbarian complied.</p><p></p><p>For the first time since heading underground the party found themselves in a</p><p>natural cavern. Puddles of water were interspersed along the cavern floor.</p><p>As the band continued, the puddles gave way to an ever deepening covering of</p><p>water. After a few hundred paces the water level was up to the dwarves' mid</p><p>chest. "I have not had this portion of the tunnel scouted in some years"</p><p>the Duke said, as he hefted Emailna onto his back. "I do not know exactly</p><p>what or who we will find." The younger Jasin clambered upon a willing</p><p>Rune's shoulders.</p><p></p><p>"Then we shall take the lead, my lord" stated Varian wading, along with the</p><p>muttering dwarves, to the front. The other members of the party followed</p><p>along in a ragged column. For several minutes the band sloshed along the</p><p>tunnel until it opened into a large cavern. Inside of the cavern were</p><p>several large mounts of dirt rising out of the water. On each of the mounds</p><p>was at least one hut sized mushroom. Interestingly, portals cut into some</p><p>of the mushrooms suggested that the mushrooms were in fact being used as a</p><p>residence by something.</p><p></p><p>The band slowly spread out from the cavern entrance. The Duke and the two</p><p>children remained just inside of the tunnel mouth. At the other end of the</p><p>column, Varian's longer legs allowed him wade in front of the huffing</p><p>dwarves.</p><p></p><p>From the hut at the back of the cavern a man-sized white scaled bipedal</p><p>lizard came out of a mushroom hut. The paladin sheathed his sword and</p><p>raised both arms, empty palms outward facing the albino lizard man. "We</p><p>mean you no harm" the elfin knight shouted. We just wish to cross your</p><p>territory in peace."</p><p></p><p>On the far side of the cavern, the lizard man cocked his head and then</p><p>shouted "Hzrththed!" and stabbed his clawed hand towards the party.</p><p>Instantly a cloud of green mist engulfed the majority of the party.</p><p></p><p>Those caught inside the poisonous cloud, except for the warforged, hacked</p><p>and tried to stagger into fresh air. Rune, seemingly unaffected by the</p><p>toxic vapors, summoned the Machine Spirit and channeled a ray of frost that</p><p>struck the lizard man square in the chest.</p><p></p><p>Seconds later, Mark, still coughing from the poisonous mist, drew and loosed</p><p>two shafts at the distant lizard man. Poor visibility resulting from the</p><p>engulfing cloud caused the human to miss with his first arrow entirely. His</p><p>second arrow struck the white scaled lizard man in the upper thigh. Reeling</p><p>from the magical and mundane attacks, the lizard man staggered back to the</p><p>temporary safety of his hut.</p><p></p><p>However, inhuman battle cries from either side of the party and from its</p><p>front confirmed that the fight was only just beginning. From the left, two</p><p>pale lizard men wielding spears charged at the floundering and sputtering</p><p>dwarves. To the front, a pair of smaller lizard men armed with what</p><p>appeared to be small wooden sticks disappeared beneath the surface of the</p><p>water. The greatest threat came from the party's right as two gigantic</p><p>albino crocodile-looking bipeds advanced baring their enormous teeth and</p><p>swinging stalagmite clubs.</p><p></p><p>Varian moved to intercept the giant lizard men. Yanni tried to support her</p><p>kinsmen when the two small lizard men surfaced almost immediately in front</p><p>of her, and placing the sticks to their mouths, blew two poisoned darts into</p><p>the rogue. She collapsed and the blow gunners re-submerged.</p><p></p><p>Polyphony drew a wand and fired a beam of magical energy at one of the giant</p><p>lizard men. The energy struck the giants in the left hip and caused him to</p><p>stumble temporarily defenseless in front of the paladin. Unfortunately, the</p><p>creature's thick scales deflected the elfin knight's blade.</p><p></p><p>From his position ten paces behind the paladin, Mark was lining up a shot at</p><p>the unbalanced lizard man, when splashing from his right caused him to turn</p><p>just in time to catch a blow from the second giant lizard man's stone club.</p><p>The archer flew backwards and landed into the mouth of the tunnel.</p><p></p><p>On the other side of the battle, Kovrin waded towards the nearest spear</p><p>armed lizard man. The cold blooded killer futilely stabbed at the frothing,</p><p>splashing, barbarian. In return, the dwarf's great axe struck the scaly</p><p>humanoid between the creature's right shoulder and neck and continued</p><p>through to center of its chest. Scarlet blood pored over the dying lizard</p><p>man's white scales and spread, cloudlike in the water.</p><p></p><p>Nearby, Gunderson and his spear armed opponent exchanged a few attacks and</p><p>parries with no appreciable effect, then the wily dwarf ducked under a spear</p><p>thrust and spun around his opponent to deliver a mortal blow to the base of</p><p>its spine.</p><p></p><p>The paladin was not having the same degree of success as his dwarf</p><p>companions. Though the knight had managed to dodge the flanking attack from</p><p>the second giant lizard man, and to deliver a minor cut in return, the first</p><p>giant had regained its balance and was advancing on paladin. The elf was</p><p>outnumbered and soon to be overpowered. From behind him an arrow buried</p><p>itself in the first giant lizard man's shoulder. Then a burst of energy</p><p>from the bard's wand struck him, followed by a shuriken thrown by a groggy</p><p>Yanni and the warforged's hurled dagger.</p><p></p><p>The giant roared with rage and looked momentarily at the distant foes that</p><p>had wounded him. Seeing his opportunity, the paladin lunged forward and</p><p>delivered a telling blow with his long sword. The giant lizard man's roar</p><p>of rage over his lesser wounds instantly stopped as the beast toppled over</p><p>to float unmoving on the water's surface.</p><p></p><p>The second giant lizard man swung his massive club at the elf, but once</p><p>again the skilled knight avoided the ponderous attack. The two blow gunner</p><p>surfaced near the warforged and fired their poisoned darts at its metal</p><p>torso. Both missiles clanged off of the artificer harmlessly, but before</p><p>the warforged could counter attack, the smaller lizard men ducked back under</p><p>the water.</p><p></p><p>The surviving giant lizard man tried to continue his attack on the paladin,</p><p>but was simultaneously pierced by arrow and shuriken, and then cleaved by</p><p>two dwarf wielded axes. The albino giant dropped to one knee where he was</p><p>struck by another of Rune's daggers and then by a magical beam from the</p><p>bard's wand. The lizard man slumped to the side.</p><p></p><p>The blow gun wielding lizard men surfaced near the paladin, saw the fate of</p><p>their larger tribe mates, and hastily ducked back underwater without puffing</p><p>any more darts. Near the rear of the party, Yanni, her skin an unhealthy</p><p>shade of blue sat down abruptly. Within seconds Varian and Polyphony were</p><p>administering to her. The rest of the party quickly fanned out looking for</p><p>any other threats. They found that all of the cavern's inhabitants had fled</p><p>or were in hiding.</p><p></p><p>By the time that the scouts had regrouped around Yanni she looked</p><p>considerably better and claimed to be able to travel. The concerned paladin</p><p>was about to protest when the party heard the distinctive sound of metal</p><p>scrapping on stone from behind them. "Move" the Duke ordered. Rune lifted</p><p>the eldest child and the Duke once again lifted Emailna to his back. The</p><p>band waded to the far side of the cavern.</p><p></p><p>As the two dwarves passed one of the floating lizard man corpses, Gunderson</p><p>said "Another prime example of elfin diplomacy."</p><p></p><p>"Have you heard the one about the difference between an elf and a rabbit?"</p><p>Kovrin asked.</p><p></p><p>"Let me guess" interrupted Yanni whose poisoned wounds had reduced her speed</p><p>to a dwarf pace, "fleas."</p><p></p><p>The barbarian turned and said with a patience normally reserved for the slow</p><p>of wit "No girl. Rabbits are smaller." Gunderson chuckled.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Appendix</p><p></p><p>From the scholarly scroll, Racial Jokes and Their Origins, by Polyphony</p><p></p><p>Many races have variations of the difference between an elf and a deer joke.</p><p>"Elves taste better", according to the Orcish joke. "Deer are prettier"</p><p>goes the Tiefling variant. "There is no difference" according to the dragon</p><p>born punch line.</p><p></p><p>Not surprisingly the elves are not the only butt of racial jokes. A</p><p>comparison between dwarves and boulders is also fairly common. The original</p><p>version, traced to elfin origins, claimed that the only difference between a</p><p>dwarf and a bounder was that "dwarves have limbs." This punch line changed</p><p>when it was learned the dwarves actually considered it to be a compliment.</p><p>Soon alternate punch lines were substituted to include statements that</p><p>boulders are faster, smarter, or have more of a personality.</p><p></p><p>The most disastrous telling of the boulder dwarf comparison joke occurred,</p><p>some fifty years before this author's birth. Sources claim that a Halfling</p><p>Bard named Harry Underfoot (obviously a stage name) while entertaining the</p><p>audience at a popular tavern asked "What is the difference between a wall of</p><p>stones and a dwarf battle line?" When his chuckling audience shouted back</p><p>"What?" the hapless Halfling stated "a stone wall will not run".</p><p>Unbeknownst, to Squire Underfoot, a party of dwarves was seated in a</p><p>curtained room near the stage. They were not impressed with the joke's</p><p>punch line. The Halfling did not survive the dwarves' displeasure.</p><p></p><p>When the band of bard killers was brought the next day before the city's</p><p>magistrate, the Right Honorable Magnus Ironbeard, ruled that the Halfling's</p><p>death was a suicide and dismissed all charges against his kinsmen. The</p><p>tavern's proprietor then tried to recover restitution for the interior</p><p>damage caused when the dwarves aided the troubled troubadour to commit</p><p>suicide. A red face Magistrate Ironbeard fined the tavern owner one hundred</p><p>gold for inciting a public suicide, a charge that had never before or since</p><p>been leveled against any citizen.</p><p></p><p>Further research into the genesis of Squire Underfoot's disastrous joke</p><p>suggests that in its original form this joke was actually quite</p><p>complementary to the dwarves. The first recorded telling of this joke</p><p>occurred after a successful battle against a goblin horde. The leader of</p><p>the human contingent led a toast to his dwarf allies by stating "Gentlemen,</p><p>what is the difference between a stone wall and a dwarf battle line? A</p><p>stone wall cannot charge and a dwarf battle line will not break."</p><p></p><p>Comic scholars debate to this day, whether the tragic fate of the half sized</p><p>minstrel was simply a case of a joke being interrupted mid punch line, or</p><p>whether the bard was guilty of misreading his audience.</p><p></p><p>FOOTNOTE</p><p>As an interesting side note, at the beginning of the inquisition into</p><p>Underfoot's death the prosecutor respectfully suggested that because of the</p><p>offensive nature of the Halfling's joke to dwarves, Magistrate Ironbeard</p><p>should pass the matter on to a different magistrate. The Right Honorable</p><p>Magnus Ironbeard denied the request and sentenced the prosecutor to thirty</p><p>day in the dungeon. The Magistrate stated that Underfoot's joke was</p><p>offensive to any right thinking person, therefore he was as capable of</p><p>overseeing the hearing as any of his peers.</p><p>END OF FOOTNOTE</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: 22px">Chapter V</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 22px"><em>The last Dance</em></span></p><p></p><p> Soon after the party left the cavern the walls around them ceased to</p><p>be natural and resumed the appearance of worked stone. The near human waist</p><p>high water level remained constant though. The trailing scraping of metal</p><p>on stone also persisted. Approximately a mile after leaving the cavern, the</p><p>band's path was blocked by a heavy iron gate with no apparent locking</p><p>mechanism. Visible through the gate was another cavern with mounds of dirt</p><p>and giant empty leather egg shells. "I like this not" stated Gunderson.</p><p>Another scraping of metal sounded from behind the party. Rune helped the</p><p>young Jasin from his back.</p><p></p><p> "No time or choice" the Duke said setting down his great niece and</p><p>then moving to the front. Once he reached the gate, the old man ran his</p><p>hand along the left side of wall where it connected to iron barrier. "These</p><p>gates were meant to keep unwanted visitor out of the sewers" he explained.</p><p>"There should be a catch here." A few seconds later, there was a metallic</p><p>click, and the gate raised "Hurry" the Duke called the party, "this gate is</p><p>timed and will not stay open for very long." The dwarves and Varian entered</p><p>the cavern first, followed by the remainder of the party. The Duke and the</p><p>children were last and as they attempted to cross the threshold, Emailna</p><p>seemingly lost her footing and fell face first in the water. As the Duke</p><p>and her brother helped Emalina to stand, the iron gate came slamming down.</p><p>The party turned at the sound of the gate's decent and saw a solitary figure</p><p>dressed in black leathers bearing two short swords emerge from the darkness</p><p>behind the Duke. The ancient warrior sensed the new presence and turned</p><p>just in time to deflect his attacker's first thrust. The second blade</p><p>grazed the Duke left shoulder.</p><p></p><p>Rather than press his attack while he had the advantage, the dark clad</p><p>figure stepped back and pulled down the hood of his dark cloak. The face</p><p>revealed could have been human except for its incredibly pale complexion and</p><p>glowing red eyes. A disturbing leer was affixed to the newcomer's face.</p><p>"Soulless" hissed the Duke as he drew his long sword with his right hand.</p><p>The children pressed themselves against the gate. The silent being bowed</p><p>slightly and then turned the abbreviated bow into a lunging attack. The</p><p>wary Duke parried both of the demonic assassin's blades this time and</p><p>counterattacked with sword and gauntlet.</p><p></p><p> Never ones to spectate, rather than participate in a fight, the</p><p>dwarves struggled to lift the gate. As the rest of the party watched the</p><p>grim battle beyond, each realized that their quest, their very souls hung in</p><p>the balance.</p><p></p><p> The paladin, who was the furthest into the cavern when the gate</p><p>descended, was suddenly pulled underwater. Hundreds of small jaws with</p><p>razor sharp teeth ripped and tore into his exposed face and seemed to find</p><p>every opening in his armor. The elfin knight propelled himself to the</p><p>surface and in a choking voice cried "Ware behind." All but the stubborn</p><p>Gunderson turned in response to Varian's warning. Gunderson continued in</p><p>his efforts to lift the gate.</p><p></p><p> The water near the paladin churned with hundreds of small scaly</p><p>creatures that seemed to be more teeth than body. As his fellows watched in</p><p>dismay, Varian was pulled under again only to reemerge seconds later, even</p><p>bloodier than before. Almost as one the party fled from the gate in favor</p><p>of the scattered mounds of earth that lay just beyond the paladin. The</p><p>sounds of the Duke's duel with death incarnate continued on the other side</p><p>of the gate.</p><p></p><p>The knight, surrounded by the swarming schools of tiny predators, could not</p><p>move to the relative safety of the earthen mounds and resorted instead to</p><p>slashing desperately into the water, with little consequence. Before the</p><p>party could try to rescue the beleaguered elf, a sound from deeper in the</p><p>cavern drew their attention.</p><p></p><p>Gliding effortlessly towards them was a beast of legend, a black scaled</p><p>dragon with a head a long as a man's body, and large cold golden eyes.</p><p>Feeling more than a little overwhelmed the desperate band prepared to</p><p>attack. Seeming to grin at the adventurer's impudence, the dragon opened</p><p>its jaws and roared. The sound was deafening.</p><p></p><p>Mark was so unnerved by the sound of his impeding death that he loosed his</p><p>missile prematurely and the arrow disappeared harmlessly into the water.</p><p>The archer's comrades were equally awed by the dragon.</p><p></p><p>While the roar was still echoing off of the stone walls, the dragon inhaled</p><p>again and then spewed black acid over all of the party except for the</p><p>besieged paladin. The pain of the acid spray seemed to rouse the band from</p><p>their terrified stupor.</p><p></p><p> "You call that a scream?" yelled Gunderson as he charged past Yanni</p><p>and towards the great black beast. The dragon's thick spiked tail flashed</p><p>forward and struck the attacking dwarf warrior square in the chest.</p><p>"Aaaaahhhhhhrrrrr!" the dwarf screamed as he flew backwards past Yanni and</p><p>splashed into the water.</p><p></p><p> Mark regained enough composure to draw another arrow and loosed at</p><p>the fearsome creature's massive head. The razor tipped arrow struck the</p><p>dragon in its right eye, partially blinding the monster.</p><p></p><p> Yanni sprang forward on the Dragon's blind side and drover her</p><p>slender rapier into the gap near the dragon's neck. Dark blood sprayed from</p><p>the wound.</p><p></p><p> Meanwhile, Rune totally ignored the dragon and focused on trying to</p><p>aid Varian. First, the warforged temporarily enhanced the paladin's armor.</p><p>Then it summoned the energies of the Machine Spirit to send blast after</p><p>blast into the swarms of, what Rune now recognized as baby black dragons.</p><p></p><p> With the reduction of the number of his attackers, the paladin was</p><p>able to advance forward towards the black dragon. "A worthy foe", the</p><p>paladin thought. Then the dragon breathed on him, causing him to cry out in</p><p>pain.</p><p></p><p> Some of the infant dragons directed their attention on warforged,</p><p>while others pursued the knight. Their numbers greatly reduced and now</p><p>divided between two potential preys, the baby dragons ceased to be anything</p><p>but a nuisance to the adventures.</p><p></p><p> The paladin pushed aside the pain resulting from the acid burning</p><p>his skin. He also ignored the teams of tiny beings swarming and biting his</p><p>legs. Raising his symbol of his faith, Varian called forth the power of his</p><p>deity. Pure white energy exploded from the paladin and briefly engulfed the</p><p>dragon, causing it to scream with pain.</p><p></p><p> Kuvrin charged the wounded beast and buried his executioner's axe</p><p>high in dragon's flank. Gunderson, wet from beard to boot, ran back into</p><p>combat and delivered two fierce blows to the weakening brute. A ray of</p><p>energy from the Bard's wand almost completed the terror's demise.</p><p></p><p>In desperation, the crippled monster conjured darkness so complete that not</p><p>even the light radiating from Varian could penetrate it. When the</p><p>impenetrable shade finally dissipated, the dragon was gone, as were her</p><p>children.</p><p></p><p>The last sounds of combat faded from the heavy, fetid air. Several of the</p><p>group bled freely from their wounds. Even those who were unwounded still</p><p>suffered from aching limbs and lungs burning from the acrid smell of their</p><p>foe's blood. Yet there was no time to recover, for the Duke was the only</p><p>one defending the children from the Souless. The heavy gate was still down,</p><p>barring the rescuers from the Duke. Rushing, as best they could through the</p><p>waist deep water, the strongest amongst the band struggled once again to</p><p>lift it. All the while, through the cross-hatched slats of the grate, the</p><p>entire band witnessed a duel, the likes of which, none of had ever seen</p><p>before.</p><p></p><p>Jasin Grayhain and the assassin moved like vipers, attacking each other at a</p><p>speed that was almost impossible for the eye to follow. The rapid exchange</p><p>of strike, parry, and riposte between the two duelers was faster than any</p><p>sword play that the observers had ever before witnessed. The assassin's</p><p>maniacal grin and the ease in which he wielded his twin swords was in stark</p><p>contrast with the Duke's own heavy breathing and frantic use of his</p><p>longsword and Turathian gauntlet. It was obvious to even the most</p><p>optimistic that the Duke's advanced age, and the grueling pace of the fight</p><p>with the assassin was having a telling effect on the older man.</p><p></p><p>Then, the inevitable happened. The Duke missed a step in their intricate</p><p>dance. His heel skidded out from under him and for the briefest of moments</p><p>his blade wavered opening his defense. Fast as lightning, the assassin</p><p>struck plunging his left hand blade, quillion deep, into the Duke's chest.</p><p></p><p>Youth and dark magic laid the elder warrior low, but not low enough.</p><p>Stiffening his fingers and thus locking the gauntlet, the dying man drove</p><p>their sharpened tips deep into his prematurely overconfident and unguarded</p><p>opponent's stomach. The killer watched in helpless horror as the Grand Duke</p><p>Jasin Grayhain, Vice Marshall of the King's Army, and Knight Protector of</p><p>the Realm, abandoned all pretext of chivalry and, imitating a starving</p><p>wolverine, ripped out a large hand full of the assassin's viscera.</p><p></p><p>Both warriors collapsed together into a bloody pile. The older man released</p><p>his last breath in a soft moan. His killer remained as silent in dying as</p><p>he had been during the entire fight.</p><p></p><p>The children rushed to the pair. Young Jasin unsheathed his blade and</p><p>repeatedly stabbed his great uncle's slayer, ensuring that the assassin was</p><p>truly dead. Meanwhile, Emailna oblivious to the copious amounts of blood</p><p>and gore used both hands to tug on the cruel blade jutting from her uncle's</p><p>chest. Tears streaming down her face, she looked to her brother. "I can't</p><p>get the sword out of him" she cried "Help me, we have to save him!"</p><p></p><p>At this point, the desperate band's combined efforts finally managed to</p><p>break the gate's locking mechanism, allowing them to lift up the heavy</p><p>obstacle and rush inside, knowing even as they did, that they were too late.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Chapter IV</p><p>Cyclops</p><p></p><p> Jasin looked down at his great uncle's still form. "He is dead" the</p><p>boy said in a voice devoid of all emotion.</p><p></p><p> "We could try a healing ritual" Varian began.</p><p></p><p> "He's dead!" Jason shouted. "Nothing can change that. Leave him to</p><p>his rest."</p><p></p><p> "It was a good death" Kovrin stated.</p><p></p><p> "One worthy of its own ballad." Polyphony added. But Jasin was not</p><p>listening to the platitudes or to his own sister's sobbing. He methodically</p><p>gathered his great uncle's long sword, the battle blade the Duke had carried</p><p>for more than three decades. He retrieved the dwarf handgun, a gift from</p><p>the contingent that built the sewers. Finally, he unfastened the Turathian</p><p>gauntlet, whose story Jasin's namesake had never shared. The combined</p><p>burden of these three weapons was almost too much for the youth to bear, but</p><p>bear them he would, in honor of his great uncle, the only father figure he</p><p>had ever known.</p><p>Respectfully, the Varian and Polyphony removed the Duke's pack, sword</p><p>sheath, and iron shot from the old man's corpse. They then helped the</p><p>child to adjust to the increased physical burden. The emotional burden</p><p>prompted by the Duke's death would not be so easy to address.</p><p></p><p> Emailna continued to cradle her dead uncle's head in her own arms,</p><p>her body shaking with the very emotions that her brother refused to show.</p><p>No one attempted to move her.</p><p></p><p>Finally, drained and shivering from the cold water, she gently released him</p><p>and carefully removed the leather eye patch. "Bye bye Cyclops" she</p><p>whispered and slowly waded to stand next to Jasin. He took her hand. They</p><p>both took one last look at the beloved figure floating in the dark water.</p><p></p><p> Varian knelt next to the Duke and began a brief ceremony for the fallen</p><p>noble. All gathered around to participate in the ceremony, save for Mark</p><p>Fletcherson. The archer moved back into the dragon's lair. The paladin's</p><p>keen ears overheard the human mutter "Good riddance" as he left.</p><p></p><p>A few minutes later the party reassembled and prepared to leave. In a voice</p><p>dripping with contempt, Mark asked "Did any of you mourners happen to notice</p><p>that the body of the Souless is nowhere to be found?"</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="DMRob, post: 4638012, member: 6642"] [SIZE="6"]Chapter IV [I]We Come in Peace[/I][/SIZE] Friends of yours?" Yanni asked as she casually tossed the golden necklace she had removed from the concerned citizen's corpse. The old man caught the flying jewelry and quickly examined pendent dangling from the chain, which displayed a flying hawk embossed over the background of a full moon. "Nighthawks" he said softly. The Duke tossed the necklace into the brown liquid flowing around and underneath the platform on which the party had gathered after the fight. "Hey!" called out the Elvin rogue, "that was not yours to discard." "We must leave now" the Duke stated, ignoring her protest. "What is the hurry" Mark asked as he was assisting the paladin to bind Kovrim's wounds. "These men were Nighthawks" "The assassin's guild?" asked Polyphony. "Yes. There will be other Talons, other teams of assassins searching for us" the Duke stated with certainty. "We cannot tarry here any longer." He gestured towards the set of iron double doors, into which the last assassin had attempted to flee. "Our path lies through those door." The party, spurred on by the Duke's concern, assembled and with the dwarves and the paladin in the lead, headed through the iron doors. The chamber beyond sloped down at a reasonably steep angle. The party followed the smooth stone path as it spiraled down around an unseen axis until several hundred feet later, the path ended at another set of iron doors, barred shut from the outside. "Through there" the Duke indicated. The sound inside the room was reminiscent of a great waterfall, though the smell was not. The liquid from the channels above apparently flowed into a great opened topped copper pot. Connected to the pot were two separate but parallel enormous copper tubes. Each tube was bigger in diameter than the trunks of ten large trees lashed together. The sewage temporarily collected in the giant pot flowed out through the tubes and continued out of the chamber to some location beyond. Shouting, so as to be heard over the roar of the odiferous artificial waterfall the Duke said "Follow the pipe through the next few chambers." The party turned and saw the Duke strapping his left hand and arm into an oddly constructed metal gauntlet. Polyphony immediately recognized the contraption as a Turathian Gauntlet, a specialized offhanded weapon favored by some of the more devious of tiefling warriors and scouts. The device was a blending between a gauntlet, bucker, and dagger and encased the Duke's left arm from finger tip to elbow. The lower portion of the weapon resembled a steel gauntlet with razor sharp points at the finger tips. As it progressed above the wrist towards the elbow, it widened to form an abbreviated shield that a skilled fighter could use to parry attacks. A thin single edged blade extended beyond the elbow the midway point of the Duke's upper arm. Clearly fascinated by yet another new contraption, Rune approached the Duke so as to better inspect his gauntlet. "Not now, Master Artificer", the Duke shouted to the warforged. "I will allow you to inspect this" he said slightly moving his armored left arm, "later tonight when we camp. Now go" he yelled to the party. "I will check our back trail and join you in one of the chambers beyond." The Duke drew his long sword with his right hand and slipped back out of the door. Somewhat taken aback, the entire group stared at the door for a moment, as if they expected the old Duke to reopen it, smile and say "Just kidding." But of course the Duke had not demonstrated a sense of humor thus far. The party turned and exited the septic waterfall room. When they closed the heavy iron door behind them, things became quieter, and a bit less malodorous. Overhead the two massive copper pipes continued. The floor also continued its gradual slant downwards. Along one side of the room was a series of valves and gauges. The party continued past the machinery, except for Rune, who stopped to study it. The warforged's companions did not slow down, and opened the iron door on the far side of room. "Rune, we are leaving" called out Varian. "But I have not completed my examination" Rune protested. "Next time" responded Mark. "There will be no 'next time'" the warforged stated with some amount of heat. "The next room looks just like this one" sang out Polyphony. Rune hurried forward to catch up to his companions. And so the routine continued. The party followed the two roof mounted large cooper pipes from one room into the next. Iron door room entrance led to iron door room egress. In each room Rune hustled forward to examine the equipment against one of the side wall for as long as he could. In the fifth room, the pattern changed. The two large tubes were replaced by a half score of smaller pipes that ran straight into the floor. The slightly angled stone floor was replaced by a relatively level floor covered by an iron grate. Underneath the grate was a 100' drop to a large stone pit. The machinery and equipment normally found on a side wall was replaced by more than two dozen Otyughs. The disgusting pentapods were eating the sewage that the smaller copper pipes dumped into the pit. By the looks of it the creatures were able to use their three strange jointed arms to shovel the wasted products into their top mounted mouths, almost as quickly as the smaller copper pipes could pump in the sewage. "A very efficient waste disposal process" commented Rune. "Of course it is" stated Gunderson. "Dwarves designed and constructed it." Any further conversation regarding the 'efficient waste disposal process' was interrupted by the iron door behind the party slamming open followed by a panting Jasin Grayhain. Without a word, the Duke closed the iron door, took two steps back, drew a handgun that was virtually identical to Gunderson's and shot the iron door's lock. The beasts below the floor roared in response to the handgun's explosive report. The Duke, still breathing heavily, physically pushed several of the closet party members across the floor towards next iron door. He then grabbed his great niece's hand and ran across the iron grated floor and yanked open the door on the far side. As soon as the rest of the party was through the door, the Duke slammed it shut behind them and instructed Kovrin to smash the lock. "Discover something" Yanni asked the Duke as he reloaded his handgun while striding quickly across the room to the next iron door. "It appears that Master Zarduk may get his wish" replied the Duke. At the sound of his name, the barbarian jogged over to join the still fast walking Duke and Yanni. "Which wish?" he demanded. "Things are about to get difficult" the old man answered. "Good. How?" the dwarf asked. "A Soulless is on our trail." The children, who had been practically sprinting to keep up with their great uncle, looked at each other with near identical tight lipped expressions. "What is a Soulless?" asked Yanni seeing the children's expressions but still not understanding their reason for concern. The Duke opened the next iron door, ushered everyone through, slammed it, and then shot the lock before answering. "A highly skilled assassin who trades his soul to a demon in exchange for dark magical powers" he said. "You seem to know quite a bit about assassins Duke Jasin" stated Gunderson. The Duke did not reply. Rune, who had been staring intently at the Duke's handgun asked "What is a soul?" There was an abrupt silence as the organic life forms in the room looked at each other. Varin then stepped forward. "A fascinating question" he began. "Not now!" the Duke interrupted and resumed his hurried stride to the next room. "Another matter postponed until this evening" grumbled the warforged. Gunderson, jogging next to his kinsman said "Just like an elf talking, when they should be moving." "Aye" Kuvrin agreed. "It puts me in mind of the old joke about Elves and Deer." "You mean the one about the difference?" asked Gunderson. "The same one" the barbarian agreed starting to chuckle. Both dwarves looked at each other and said in unison "Fleas" Their baritone laughter resounded off of the walls. "Why are 'fleas' funny?" Rune asked. "Later" Gunderson gasped, finding the combination of laughing and jogging a bit taxing. "Aye" the barbarian agreed, wiping away tears of mirth "tonight". FOOTNOTE From the personal journal of Krag Gunderson . . . The joke regarding distinguishing an elf from a deer has long been a favorite. It goes like this . . . . A young dwarf apprentice of the Stonecutter's Clan asked his master one evening after supper. "Master" said the lad "I am having trouble with my studies." "How so" responded his kind master. "I have been studying the creatures of the forest, and I must confess that I cannot tell the difference between elves and deer. Both are flighty plant eating woodland creatures, with four spindly limbs and points on their heads. Neither has the ability to work stone or metal or to brew decent ale" the lad stated. "What is the difference between the two?" The lad's wise master stroked his beard for a moment and then replied "Fleas". "Fleas?" repeated the lad in some confusion. "Aye, not even those vermin can stand to be around elves for very long" the master assured him. My battle companion Kovrin Zarduk when he heard me telling the joke to Rune, claimed, incorrectly, that the lad was actually from Ironsmith clan. He was wrong of course, and when he refused to admit the error of his memory, I was forced to place his name in my clan's Book of Grudges." END OF FOOTNOTE "It is a good thing that I do not need to sleep. There are so many things that I must learn tonight." Rune stated. "If we live that long" the Duke said give a hard one eyed stare at both dwarves as he waited for them to come through the next iron door. "Now if you are not too winded from joke telling. Would you be so kind as to smash the lock, so that the demonically empowered, highly trained assassin on our trail can be inconvenience in his efforts to slay us all" he asked sarcastically. The barbarian complied. For the first time since heading underground the party found themselves in a natural cavern. Puddles of water were interspersed along the cavern floor. As the band continued, the puddles gave way to an ever deepening covering of water. After a few hundred paces the water level was up to the dwarves' mid chest. "I have not had this portion of the tunnel scouted in some years" the Duke said, as he hefted Emailna onto his back. "I do not know exactly what or who we will find." The younger Jasin clambered upon a willing Rune's shoulders. "Then we shall take the lead, my lord" stated Varian wading, along with the muttering dwarves, to the front. The other members of the party followed along in a ragged column. For several minutes the band sloshed along the tunnel until it opened into a large cavern. Inside of the cavern were several large mounts of dirt rising out of the water. On each of the mounds was at least one hut sized mushroom. Interestingly, portals cut into some of the mushrooms suggested that the mushrooms were in fact being used as a residence by something. The band slowly spread out from the cavern entrance. The Duke and the two children remained just inside of the tunnel mouth. At the other end of the column, Varian's longer legs allowed him wade in front of the huffing dwarves. From the hut at the back of the cavern a man-sized white scaled bipedal lizard came out of a mushroom hut. The paladin sheathed his sword and raised both arms, empty palms outward facing the albino lizard man. "We mean you no harm" the elfin knight shouted. We just wish to cross your territory in peace." On the far side of the cavern, the lizard man cocked his head and then shouted "Hzrththed!" and stabbed his clawed hand towards the party. Instantly a cloud of green mist engulfed the majority of the party. Those caught inside the poisonous cloud, except for the warforged, hacked and tried to stagger into fresh air. Rune, seemingly unaffected by the toxic vapors, summoned the Machine Spirit and channeled a ray of frost that struck the lizard man square in the chest. Seconds later, Mark, still coughing from the poisonous mist, drew and loosed two shafts at the distant lizard man. Poor visibility resulting from the engulfing cloud caused the human to miss with his first arrow entirely. His second arrow struck the white scaled lizard man in the upper thigh. Reeling from the magical and mundane attacks, the lizard man staggered back to the temporary safety of his hut. However, inhuman battle cries from either side of the party and from its front confirmed that the fight was only just beginning. From the left, two pale lizard men wielding spears charged at the floundering and sputtering dwarves. To the front, a pair of smaller lizard men armed with what appeared to be small wooden sticks disappeared beneath the surface of the water. The greatest threat came from the party's right as two gigantic albino crocodile-looking bipeds advanced baring their enormous teeth and swinging stalagmite clubs. Varian moved to intercept the giant lizard men. Yanni tried to support her kinsmen when the two small lizard men surfaced almost immediately in front of her, and placing the sticks to their mouths, blew two poisoned darts into the rogue. She collapsed and the blow gunners re-submerged. Polyphony drew a wand and fired a beam of magical energy at one of the giant lizard men. The energy struck the giants in the left hip and caused him to stumble temporarily defenseless in front of the paladin. Unfortunately, the creature's thick scales deflected the elfin knight's blade. From his position ten paces behind the paladin, Mark was lining up a shot at the unbalanced lizard man, when splashing from his right caused him to turn just in time to catch a blow from the second giant lizard man's stone club. The archer flew backwards and landed into the mouth of the tunnel. On the other side of the battle, Kovrin waded towards the nearest spear armed lizard man. The cold blooded killer futilely stabbed at the frothing, splashing, barbarian. In return, the dwarf's great axe struck the scaly humanoid between the creature's right shoulder and neck and continued through to center of its chest. Scarlet blood pored over the dying lizard man's white scales and spread, cloudlike in the water. Nearby, Gunderson and his spear armed opponent exchanged a few attacks and parries with no appreciable effect, then the wily dwarf ducked under a spear thrust and spun around his opponent to deliver a mortal blow to the base of its spine. The paladin was not having the same degree of success as his dwarf companions. Though the knight had managed to dodge the flanking attack from the second giant lizard man, and to deliver a minor cut in return, the first giant had regained its balance and was advancing on paladin. The elf was outnumbered and soon to be overpowered. From behind him an arrow buried itself in the first giant lizard man's shoulder. Then a burst of energy from the bard's wand struck him, followed by a shuriken thrown by a groggy Yanni and the warforged's hurled dagger. The giant roared with rage and looked momentarily at the distant foes that had wounded him. Seeing his opportunity, the paladin lunged forward and delivered a telling blow with his long sword. The giant lizard man's roar of rage over his lesser wounds instantly stopped as the beast toppled over to float unmoving on the water's surface. The second giant lizard man swung his massive club at the elf, but once again the skilled knight avoided the ponderous attack. The two blow gunner surfaced near the warforged and fired their poisoned darts at its metal torso. Both missiles clanged off of the artificer harmlessly, but before the warforged could counter attack, the smaller lizard men ducked back under the water. The surviving giant lizard man tried to continue his attack on the paladin, but was simultaneously pierced by arrow and shuriken, and then cleaved by two dwarf wielded axes. The albino giant dropped to one knee where he was struck by another of Rune's daggers and then by a magical beam from the bard's wand. The lizard man slumped to the side. The blow gun wielding lizard men surfaced near the paladin, saw the fate of their larger tribe mates, and hastily ducked back underwater without puffing any more darts. Near the rear of the party, Yanni, her skin an unhealthy shade of blue sat down abruptly. Within seconds Varian and Polyphony were administering to her. The rest of the party quickly fanned out looking for any other threats. They found that all of the cavern's inhabitants had fled or were in hiding. By the time that the scouts had regrouped around Yanni she looked considerably better and claimed to be able to travel. The concerned paladin was about to protest when the party heard the distinctive sound of metal scrapping on stone from behind them. "Move" the Duke ordered. Rune lifted the eldest child and the Duke once again lifted Emailna to his back. The band waded to the far side of the cavern. As the two dwarves passed one of the floating lizard man corpses, Gunderson said "Another prime example of elfin diplomacy." "Have you heard the one about the difference between an elf and a rabbit?" Kovrin asked. "Let me guess" interrupted Yanni whose poisoned wounds had reduced her speed to a dwarf pace, "fleas." The barbarian turned and said with a patience normally reserved for the slow of wit "No girl. Rabbits are smaller." Gunderson chuckled. Appendix From the scholarly scroll, Racial Jokes and Their Origins, by Polyphony Many races have variations of the difference between an elf and a deer joke. "Elves taste better", according to the Orcish joke. "Deer are prettier" goes the Tiefling variant. "There is no difference" according to the dragon born punch line. Not surprisingly the elves are not the only butt of racial jokes. A comparison between dwarves and boulders is also fairly common. The original version, traced to elfin origins, claimed that the only difference between a dwarf and a bounder was that "dwarves have limbs." This punch line changed when it was learned the dwarves actually considered it to be a compliment. Soon alternate punch lines were substituted to include statements that boulders are faster, smarter, or have more of a personality. The most disastrous telling of the boulder dwarf comparison joke occurred, some fifty years before this author's birth. Sources claim that a Halfling Bard named Harry Underfoot (obviously a stage name) while entertaining the audience at a popular tavern asked "What is the difference between a wall of stones and a dwarf battle line?" When his chuckling audience shouted back "What?" the hapless Halfling stated "a stone wall will not run". Unbeknownst, to Squire Underfoot, a party of dwarves was seated in a curtained room near the stage. They were not impressed with the joke's punch line. The Halfling did not survive the dwarves' displeasure. When the band of bard killers was brought the next day before the city's magistrate, the Right Honorable Magnus Ironbeard, ruled that the Halfling's death was a suicide and dismissed all charges against his kinsmen. The tavern's proprietor then tried to recover restitution for the interior damage caused when the dwarves aided the troubled troubadour to commit suicide. A red face Magistrate Ironbeard fined the tavern owner one hundred gold for inciting a public suicide, a charge that had never before or since been leveled against any citizen. Further research into the genesis of Squire Underfoot's disastrous joke suggests that in its original form this joke was actually quite complementary to the dwarves. The first recorded telling of this joke occurred after a successful battle against a goblin horde. The leader of the human contingent led a toast to his dwarf allies by stating "Gentlemen, what is the difference between a stone wall and a dwarf battle line? A stone wall cannot charge and a dwarf battle line will not break." Comic scholars debate to this day, whether the tragic fate of the half sized minstrel was simply a case of a joke being interrupted mid punch line, or whether the bard was guilty of misreading his audience. FOOTNOTE As an interesting side note, at the beginning of the inquisition into Underfoot's death the prosecutor respectfully suggested that because of the offensive nature of the Halfling's joke to dwarves, Magistrate Ironbeard should pass the matter on to a different magistrate. The Right Honorable Magnus Ironbeard denied the request and sentenced the prosecutor to thirty day in the dungeon. The Magistrate stated that Underfoot's joke was offensive to any right thinking person, therefore he was as capable of overseeing the hearing as any of his peers. END OF FOOTNOTE [SIZE="6"]Chapter V [I]The last Dance[/I][/SIZE] Soon after the party left the cavern the walls around them ceased to be natural and resumed the appearance of worked stone. The near human waist high water level remained constant though. The trailing scraping of metal on stone also persisted. Approximately a mile after leaving the cavern, the band's path was blocked by a heavy iron gate with no apparent locking mechanism. Visible through the gate was another cavern with mounds of dirt and giant empty leather egg shells. "I like this not" stated Gunderson. Another scraping of metal sounded from behind the party. Rune helped the young Jasin from his back. "No time or choice" the Duke said setting down his great niece and then moving to the front. Once he reached the gate, the old man ran his hand along the left side of wall where it connected to iron barrier. "These gates were meant to keep unwanted visitor out of the sewers" he explained. "There should be a catch here." A few seconds later, there was a metallic click, and the gate raised "Hurry" the Duke called the party, "this gate is timed and will not stay open for very long." The dwarves and Varian entered the cavern first, followed by the remainder of the party. The Duke and the children were last and as they attempted to cross the threshold, Emailna seemingly lost her footing and fell face first in the water. As the Duke and her brother helped Emalina to stand, the iron gate came slamming down. The party turned at the sound of the gate's decent and saw a solitary figure dressed in black leathers bearing two short swords emerge from the darkness behind the Duke. The ancient warrior sensed the new presence and turned just in time to deflect his attacker's first thrust. The second blade grazed the Duke left shoulder. Rather than press his attack while he had the advantage, the dark clad figure stepped back and pulled down the hood of his dark cloak. The face revealed could have been human except for its incredibly pale complexion and glowing red eyes. A disturbing leer was affixed to the newcomer's face. "Soulless" hissed the Duke as he drew his long sword with his right hand. The children pressed themselves against the gate. The silent being bowed slightly and then turned the abbreviated bow into a lunging attack. The wary Duke parried both of the demonic assassin's blades this time and counterattacked with sword and gauntlet. Never ones to spectate, rather than participate in a fight, the dwarves struggled to lift the gate. As the rest of the party watched the grim battle beyond, each realized that their quest, their very souls hung in the balance. The paladin, who was the furthest into the cavern when the gate descended, was suddenly pulled underwater. Hundreds of small jaws with razor sharp teeth ripped and tore into his exposed face and seemed to find every opening in his armor. The elfin knight propelled himself to the surface and in a choking voice cried "Ware behind." All but the stubborn Gunderson turned in response to Varian's warning. Gunderson continued in his efforts to lift the gate. The water near the paladin churned with hundreds of small scaly creatures that seemed to be more teeth than body. As his fellows watched in dismay, Varian was pulled under again only to reemerge seconds later, even bloodier than before. Almost as one the party fled from the gate in favor of the scattered mounds of earth that lay just beyond the paladin. The sounds of the Duke's duel with death incarnate continued on the other side of the gate. The knight, surrounded by the swarming schools of tiny predators, could not move to the relative safety of the earthen mounds and resorted instead to slashing desperately into the water, with little consequence. Before the party could try to rescue the beleaguered elf, a sound from deeper in the cavern drew their attention. Gliding effortlessly towards them was a beast of legend, a black scaled dragon with a head a long as a man's body, and large cold golden eyes. Feeling more than a little overwhelmed the desperate band prepared to attack. Seeming to grin at the adventurer's impudence, the dragon opened its jaws and roared. The sound was deafening. Mark was so unnerved by the sound of his impeding death that he loosed his missile prematurely and the arrow disappeared harmlessly into the water. The archer's comrades were equally awed by the dragon. While the roar was still echoing off of the stone walls, the dragon inhaled again and then spewed black acid over all of the party except for the besieged paladin. The pain of the acid spray seemed to rouse the band from their terrified stupor. "You call that a scream?" yelled Gunderson as he charged past Yanni and towards the great black beast. The dragon's thick spiked tail flashed forward and struck the attacking dwarf warrior square in the chest. "Aaaaahhhhhhrrrrr!" the dwarf screamed as he flew backwards past Yanni and splashed into the water. Mark regained enough composure to draw another arrow and loosed at the fearsome creature's massive head. The razor tipped arrow struck the dragon in its right eye, partially blinding the monster. Yanni sprang forward on the Dragon's blind side and drover her slender rapier into the gap near the dragon's neck. Dark blood sprayed from the wound. Meanwhile, Rune totally ignored the dragon and focused on trying to aid Varian. First, the warforged temporarily enhanced the paladin's armor. Then it summoned the energies of the Machine Spirit to send blast after blast into the swarms of, what Rune now recognized as baby black dragons. With the reduction of the number of his attackers, the paladin was able to advance forward towards the black dragon. "A worthy foe", the paladin thought. Then the dragon breathed on him, causing him to cry out in pain. Some of the infant dragons directed their attention on warforged, while others pursued the knight. Their numbers greatly reduced and now divided between two potential preys, the baby dragons ceased to be anything but a nuisance to the adventures. The paladin pushed aside the pain resulting from the acid burning his skin. He also ignored the teams of tiny beings swarming and biting his legs. Raising his symbol of his faith, Varian called forth the power of his deity. Pure white energy exploded from the paladin and briefly engulfed the dragon, causing it to scream with pain. Kuvrin charged the wounded beast and buried his executioner's axe high in dragon's flank. Gunderson, wet from beard to boot, ran back into combat and delivered two fierce blows to the weakening brute. A ray of energy from the Bard's wand almost completed the terror's demise. In desperation, the crippled monster conjured darkness so complete that not even the light radiating from Varian could penetrate it. When the impenetrable shade finally dissipated, the dragon was gone, as were her children. The last sounds of combat faded from the heavy, fetid air. Several of the group bled freely from their wounds. Even those who were unwounded still suffered from aching limbs and lungs burning from the acrid smell of their foe's blood. Yet there was no time to recover, for the Duke was the only one defending the children from the Souless. The heavy gate was still down, barring the rescuers from the Duke. Rushing, as best they could through the waist deep water, the strongest amongst the band struggled once again to lift it. All the while, through the cross-hatched slats of the grate, the entire band witnessed a duel, the likes of which, none of had ever seen before. Jasin Grayhain and the assassin moved like vipers, attacking each other at a speed that was almost impossible for the eye to follow. The rapid exchange of strike, parry, and riposte between the two duelers was faster than any sword play that the observers had ever before witnessed. The assassin's maniacal grin and the ease in which he wielded his twin swords was in stark contrast with the Duke's own heavy breathing and frantic use of his longsword and Turathian gauntlet. It was obvious to even the most optimistic that the Duke's advanced age, and the grueling pace of the fight with the assassin was having a telling effect on the older man. Then, the inevitable happened. The Duke missed a step in their intricate dance. His heel skidded out from under him and for the briefest of moments his blade wavered opening his defense. Fast as lightning, the assassin struck plunging his left hand blade, quillion deep, into the Duke's chest. Youth and dark magic laid the elder warrior low, but not low enough. Stiffening his fingers and thus locking the gauntlet, the dying man drove their sharpened tips deep into his prematurely overconfident and unguarded opponent's stomach. The killer watched in helpless horror as the Grand Duke Jasin Grayhain, Vice Marshall of the King's Army, and Knight Protector of the Realm, abandoned all pretext of chivalry and, imitating a starving wolverine, ripped out a large hand full of the assassin's viscera. Both warriors collapsed together into a bloody pile. The older man released his last breath in a soft moan. His killer remained as silent in dying as he had been during the entire fight. The children rushed to the pair. Young Jasin unsheathed his blade and repeatedly stabbed his great uncle's slayer, ensuring that the assassin was truly dead. Meanwhile, Emailna oblivious to the copious amounts of blood and gore used both hands to tug on the cruel blade jutting from her uncle's chest. Tears streaming down her face, she looked to her brother. "I can't get the sword out of him" she cried "Help me, we have to save him!" At this point, the desperate band's combined efforts finally managed to break the gate's locking mechanism, allowing them to lift up the heavy obstacle and rush inside, knowing even as they did, that they were too late. Chapter IV Cyclops Jasin looked down at his great uncle's still form. "He is dead" the boy said in a voice devoid of all emotion. "We could try a healing ritual" Varian began. "He's dead!" Jason shouted. "Nothing can change that. Leave him to his rest." "It was a good death" Kovrin stated. "One worthy of its own ballad." Polyphony added. But Jasin was not listening to the platitudes or to his own sister's sobbing. He methodically gathered his great uncle's long sword, the battle blade the Duke had carried for more than three decades. He retrieved the dwarf handgun, a gift from the contingent that built the sewers. Finally, he unfastened the Turathian gauntlet, whose story Jasin's namesake had never shared. The combined burden of these three weapons was almost too much for the youth to bear, but bear them he would, in honor of his great uncle, the only father figure he had ever known. Respectfully, the Varian and Polyphony removed the Duke's pack, sword sheath, and iron shot from the old man's corpse. They then helped the child to adjust to the increased physical burden. The emotional burden prompted by the Duke's death would not be so easy to address. Emailna continued to cradle her dead uncle's head in her own arms, her body shaking with the very emotions that her brother refused to show. No one attempted to move her. Finally, drained and shivering from the cold water, she gently released him and carefully removed the leather eye patch. "Bye bye Cyclops" she whispered and slowly waded to stand next to Jasin. He took her hand. They both took one last look at the beloved figure floating in the dark water. Varian knelt next to the Duke and began a brief ceremony for the fallen noble. All gathered around to participate in the ceremony, save for Mark Fletcherson. The archer moved back into the dragon's lair. The paladin's keen ears overheard the human mutter "Good riddance" as he left. A few minutes later the party reassembled and prepared to leave. In a voice dripping with contempt, Mark asked "Did any of you mourners happen to notice that the body of the Souless is nowhere to be found?" [/QUOTE]
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