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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Brimshack" data-source="post: 4218919" data-attributes="member: 34694">Okay, so you may or may not get the point of my last entry at this stage of the story. But this is really important, so I will spell it out for you dear reader. That sort of thing, what Louie just described, is not supposed to happen, or rather it just doesn’t. I mean if people could just sail home on a ship, this land would be empty, believe me. We would all be fighting tooth and nail to be aboard that first ship, let me tell you, and I might even swing a dirty hit myself if that’s what it took to get home. So, the prospect that someone could actually enter this land and leave at will, well I don’t know how to describe the feelings I had on learning about that one. A part of me was infused with hope. I mean, if the Slolem could do it, then maybe we all could. Maybe I could!... Maybe I could go home and find Robin and tell him ‘yes’ before he even asks for my hand, and just settle down to a nice life on a small farm, and forget about all this stuff....Maybe?Another part of me was scared out of my wits. Lord Methgar had asked us to help thwart a great evil, not just a kinda-bad. And if this ship was that evil, then it was that much worse that it could do what we could not, which was to go back and forth between this Twilight world and a real home. That had to be really really REALLY bad, not just for us here, but maybe for people from home. Could this awful place take over a real world? Could the ship somehow tie the evil of this place to the real world? To say nothing of what evil they could do hear if they had such power. Oh my gosh! My heart sank and my feet tingled. I almost collapsed right there in the room.So, that was a long term stress that chilled my very soul. But of course we had just earned ourselves a new short term problem as well. What did Louie want from us?“There is an establishment on the North side, a whorehouse if you will. Most of the women there are not working by choice. They were harvested from a jubilee, just as the monsters do. They were simply taken while still disoriented from coming through the veil betwixt this world and theirs and put to work in that terrible place. They are slaves to the owner. I want this establishment destroyed.”At last, someone with real values! I could have hugged Louie right then and there, even if he was a little on the ugly side.“What do you mean by destroyed? Do you want it burned down, or do...” Such important questions! Tom was sharp as ever.“I want it to cease operations. Were you to slay the upper management that would be sufficient to make this happen.”“Does this house have backers in the powers that be? How is it allowed to operate?”“Yes” Louie continued, “There are some people who want it destroyed and some who will defend it, after the fact if need be. No-one can move against it without disrupting the balance of political power and bringing grief upon themselves. You are below the eyes of scrutiny thus far. A rash action from you will take awhile for the powers that be to digest, and it may be possible to sweep it all under the rug before serious retaliation occurs.”“But will we get new enemies if we do this?”“Yes.” Louis was dead serious. “If you are not attacked immediately, then some will at least begin looking for the opportunity to do so.”And you know what, we actually agreed to do it! Well, I mean we had already agreed beforehand, but I mean we decided to go through with it after all. I was so happy to be on a mission with a little value for a change, I mean one where I could really see some direct results. ...assuming of course that Louie was telling the truth.Our next task was to look into the matter on our own. The group pooled its money and sent Michael to visit the house. I’m a little disappointed, he didn’t find any other way, but apparently Michael actually purchase the services of one of the poor girls and then asked her to tell him all about the place. Apparently, she was very forthcoming. ...no, I did NOT mean that as a double entendre!I will tell you what we learned, ...well, what Michael learned when I describe the assault on the brothel a little later. For now, let us just say that we felt Louie had been straight with us and we had a chance of taking this place. So, we resolved to go through with the attack.Unfortunately, the next morning the Innkeeper told us that we absolutely had to leave. We tried to ask him what happened, and he refused to explain himself. It was really strange, because we all thought it was worked out. We even had a deal to pay for Carla’s issues, and we thought he understood, but he just suddenly said that we had to be out of there.It was all very suspicious.And sure enough, we were ambushed on our way through town to find another place to stay. There were about 20 thugs including several spell casters who thankfully turned out to be novice level. It looked like the final frown of a lifetime for a moment there, but we actually handled it really well. I will not go into detail about the fight. I will want to do that when I tell you about the brothel, but honestly I just can’t keep dwelling on those things. It’s awful to see people die.I will tell you a few things though. Let’s see:1) August is not a bad archer.2) Michael and Tom are an amazing team. Each helps the other to aim and load, and they have such a strong affinity for one another, it just makes them so much more deadly. Together, they are an extremely effective combination. ...oh, and so polite; “Mighty fine shot, Michael.” “Why thank you, Tom.” It is just a pleasure to be nearby as they are working together with such courtesy. To see them fight together is like watching an island of tranquility in the middle of a sea of chaos.3) Patty is getting even better with the tricky magic.4) I am very pleased with my own contributions. I was able to heal several of my companions a couple times. I held my own in melee, and even put a little knot on someone’s head myself. I know that sounds a little mean, but I can assure you he intended much greater harm to me and mine.5) It hurts to heal Seamus O-Seue. I mean it actually hurt me when I healed him, just a little, but it was enough. He looked at me strangely, and shivers went up and down my spine. There is something very odd about that man.Seamus was, by the way, a very effective front line. Almost by himself he held off a host of enemy, just as Sir Hockinslots had tried to do. Only with Seamus, the enemy were unable to hurt him. Those that tried did little but open themselves up to attack. He was very impressive this time.I just don’t understand why it hurts to cast healing spells on that man.6) The fur-ball - oh, I have learned, it’s called a ‘Waggamaeph’ - anyway, it seems to be suffering from some sort of illness. The poor thing was feeling so badly, it mostly avoided the fight, except to make hit and run attacks on a certain spell caster. It didn’t do much harm to the enemy, but the cute little rug-bunny was so fast, it could come and go as it pleased. The enemy couldn’t do a thing to it.7) Carla is really wicked with that short sword of hers. I saw her, ...oh, this is awful, but I will tell you this much. ...I have to.Well, she killed somebody with it. I know, that is sort of the point of fighting with a sword, but the way she did it. She looked around her and just ripped though the man’s heart. One of the thugs that was engaged with her was so intimidated by this, he broke and ran. But she was watching him. The poor fellow, just an ordinary thug you know, he dropped his guard when he turned, and Carla just opened his throat from ear to ear. You could see her watching him as he turned. She just knew. The man was dead even before she struck; he just didn’t know it.She is really wicked with that sword.8) “Bob” does tricky healing spells. What sort of spells Kristen casts, I do not know.Well anyway, so much for the ugliness. The city guards let us question some of the prisoners, and of course Patty used her special magic to make sure they were truly helpful. This gave us one last little bit of information we thought was interesting. It turns out they all worked for Gable One-Eye, the very gang leader that had tangled with monsters a day or two before my story began. For some reason he was trying to have us killed, and (here is the kicker!) the Harbour Master had apparently allowed it to happen. At least the thugs we talked to were under the impression that he had cleared the way, so to speak.We all felt pretty sure the old innkeeper had been told to get rid of us, maybe even threatened. So, now we had a real enemy, even before we took on the brothel. And we were just barely beginning to  get a handle on the real issues. Oh my, it was a strange plot we found ourselves unravelling.But so be it! Until next time.Warmth in your Soul and Happiness in your Heart.LoveAlyra.</blockquote>

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