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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Capellan" data-source="post: 893751" data-attributes="member: 6294">Kull's 2nd Report - Part 3Naturally, I leapt only as far as the door.  To go into that room would have been arrogance and foolishness: thankfully I had moved quickly enough to prevent any of the others from trying it.  At a natural chokepoint like this, I could easily hold back superior numbers, just as Peredion did at White River Crossing.Like myself, the Druid had recognised the spell that had felled Brodnak and Troilan, and knew that they were merely unconscious, rather than dead.  He tried to rouse them.  The other female in the group - the quiet one - moved up to my side, just as the enemy charged.It was a glorious battle.  Hextor's strength filled my heart and arms.  Every blow of my flail crushed one of the enemy to the ground, while their weak responses did no more than scratch my flesh.  Even when two huge gnolls came to their aid, they quailed back from me.  As well they might, for the gnolls fell as easily as the men had done.The wizard, seeing his force being so easily destroyed, hurled his magic against me.  Three times I felt his spells try to chain my mind, and three times my faith shattered the bonds.  Truly, Hextor was with me.  I roared His name as the last of the warriors fled through a panel in the far wall, leaving the wizard alone.Knowing that he could not stand against Hextor's will, the coward sought to flee, using magic to hide himself from sight.  But there could be no escape for him: by now the druid had revived the others, and I swiftly ordered them to each of the entrances of the room, blocking every exit that the wizard might seek.Twice, he sought to dupe one of the others into abandoning their posts.  Each time, I bellowed an order for all to stand firm, and was obeyed.  At last they begin to recognise the wisdom of following sound commands.Thwarted again, the wizard sought to negotiate, but he could offer us nothing we could not simply take.  He met the fate of all who oppose Hextor's will, and was crushed and destroyed.Setting one of the others to guard the panel into which the warrior had fled, I led a search of the room beyond the secret door.  It quickly became evident that this was a smuggling operation, long established and well organised.  The inefficiency and ineptitude of the sheriff of Saltmarsh knows no bounds.  We also uncovered a small mount of treasure - no doubt the profits of their operation - and several items which had been imbued with magic.  Most precious of all, though, were instructions for signalling the smuggler's vessel.  Armed with those, we would be able to crush the rest of this illicit band.Other than the panel and the secret door, there were two further exits from the area: one a flight of stairs that led into a ruined part of the house above, the second a door emblazoned with a hand-lettered sign: "Do Not Enter."There could be no doubt that if the smugglers did not wish an area to be investigated, then we would have to do so.  Telling the others to ready their weapons, I threw open the door.The door opened into a room which was filled with some half-dozen skeletons, each of which immediately animated and moved forward to attack.  Brodnak crushed one to powder almost immediately, but I was able to forestall the attacks of the others by raising Hextor's symbol and invoking His will.  Instantly the creatures fled back inside the room, except for two, which stood motionless, their blank eye sockets turned to me.Animating the dead is a coward's trick; the action of one who fears to face combat himself.  I will never use such magic, myself.  But there is justice in turning the tools of a coward against him, and thus I ordered the pair into the room where their brethren had fled, with instructions to destroy the cowering creatures.</blockquote>

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