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Message: <blockquote data-quote="shilsen" data-source="post: 2821143" data-attributes="member: 198">Session 15 - The Return of KizmetAfter the momentary pause while everybody visualizes a small mountain of gold, the adventurers quickly check the four chests. All of them contain the ten sacks holding 1,000 galifars each, but the last also includes a javelin and a flat metal chest, about 2 ft long and broad and 6 inches high. Luna detects a number of magical auras from within the box, as well as one of abjuration on the box itself. Presuming there is a trap, Corven checks it and finds a glyph of some kind. With Valin's aid, he disarms it and opens the box, to reveal a sealed letter, a smaller wooden box, and a scroll tube. The wooden box has three magical rings within it and the scroll tube has three scrolls. While Nameless deciphers the scrolls (one has two divine sending spells, another has two cure critical, and the third has two fly and two gaseous form), Luna detects weak auras of illusion and transmutation on the letter. Corven recognizes the single word on the letter to be 'Cavallah', written in the giant tongue, and when he goes to open it, a pair of lips appear on the envelope and say, "Greetings, members of the Guardian Angels. Do not be alarmed. Please touch the page and say 'Thrakel' to receive a message." The magic mouth then fades away. After exchanging a couple of looks with the others and explaining to a curious Lalia that no, they did not know anyone was expecting them, Corven opens the letter to extract a sheet. It seems to be a list, reading: 'Cavallah - 6,000, spell ring and scroll 1; Harash - 4,000 and scrolls 2 & 3; Cazha - 3,000 and ring of protection; Torarg - 3,000 and javelin; Keshta - 2,000 and ranger ring; Elite - 6,000; Ranks - 3,000; Supplies - 10,000; Miscellaneous - 3,000.' Corven says, "Looks like details for the payroll," and then says the word 'Thrakel' (giantish for 'warning'). Immediately, the writing fades away and is replaced by a letter, causing both Corven and Nameless to identify the spell as a secret page.Corven then reads the letter aloud to the others:20 Sar, DravagoTo the Guardian Angels:You do not know me, but I have been expecting you. I mean you no harm and will take no actions against you, whatever your response to this letter. You are, however, probably in possession of money and items belonging to the leaders of Daask, and they may be a danger to you in ways I cannot prevent, so it may behove you to not take these - or be very careful if you do. But these petty material matters are not why I am writing this. Be warned. There are eyes upon you that you do not know of. You are in danger and will be in greater peril soon. Prophecy bends around you. You shall stand where present and future spark, where light is turned to dark and choose to make or mar. You will know when you are there. Once you have taken up your burden, think of Droaam and my message. I may be able to provide guidance and aid, if you come to me. And again, I promise to bring no harm to you or yours. Think upon it. The choice is yours alone, but the repercussions will be felt by many.And lastly, Daask does not have the sword. Make sure to find it. You will need it.If you come to Droaam, and if you come ...Sora Teraza Some of the Angels realize immediately that the letter (if genuine, as Corven points out) is dated nearly two weeks before Luna coined the name for the group while talking to the KC reporter. Both Luna and Six realize that some of the phrases used sound very similar to those spoken by the sphinx Flamewind during her vision. And lastly, Nameless and Corven both recognize Sora Teraza as the third and least known of the three hag Daughters of Sora Kell (in contrast to her sisters Sora Katra and Sora Maenya, who are legendary terrors), who now rule Droaam. The two tell the others that all they know about her is that she is supposed to be a seeress of some sort. "Apparently a bloody good one," comments Lalia, "If she's leaving letters for you guys."After a quick discussion of what to do, where Nameless' half-joking suggestion that they leave the money behind ("because Killian's expecting us to remove it and mess up Daask") is quickly rejected, the group breaks up and go about various tasks. Some check out the rest of the maze, finding it to be smaller than originally seemed to be the case. Others move through the complex, smashing the skulls of each of their slain enemies, so as to make it difficult for anyone to use speak with dead or other spells to learn who they were. After some discussion, they do however decapitate the crucified gnoll and take the head with them, hoping to use speak with dead on it themselves. Others re-check the various rooms for anything that was missed (and especially Gareth's sword, as he keeps reminding them), but their search is abortive. They set fire to the bodies of the minotaur and the troll. Finally, Six leaves a note stuck to the door of the room where the chests had originally been kept, reading, "Thank you very much. Boromar."Once they are done, the group hurries back to the tunnel above which Menna is waiting. Six hangs back and covers up their tracks as best he can, though he points out that a good tracker will find it easily enough. As they enter the tunnel, some of them hear the sound of multiple feet in the distance, but nobody stops to investigate. When they have quietly called "Menna" a couple of times, she opens the tarpaulin and looks down suspiciously, to say, "Menna sleeping. You done?" They throw a rope up, which she secures, and soon everyone is up in the tunnel above. Menna closes the tarp, loads it down with stones and leads them back.The return trip is uneventful until they enter the cavern where they had fought the zombies and swarms. Menna warns them that the swarms may still be around, and soon enough, Narik and she see them advancing on the group. She suggests that they back up and she "lead you new way," and the group hurriedly agrees. Even as they do so and are moving back, another swarm falls off the ceiling above, some of them landing on Menna and Luna. The hasty retreat is accompanied by pained yelling and cursing, as the insects bite into the two, but the combination of some healing from Lothas and a flask of acid from Nameless takes care of the problem long enough to let them make their escape.Menna leads the group to the wall of the cavern, where a couple of rough openings lead into darkness. Taking one, she leads  on, while warning the group that this area is relatively new to her. As they follow her through the tunnels and chambers, the adventurers see more evidence of ancient Dhakaani architecture. Passing through a large chamber with a fresco showing hobgoblin warriors battling some foe that has now faded away, they hear the soft sounds of weapons and armor from behind the fresco. As they hurry their pace, four spectral hobgoblins charge forth from the fresco, wearing armor and wielding weapons. They scream soundlessly as they charge the adventurers, most of whom put themselves in a posture of defence. Gareth unleashes a blast of positive energy, hoping to affect the creatures, but they seem impervious. As they sweep into the group, some swing at them, to no evident effect. The hobgoblins, however, seem to have no physical affect on the group, simply sweeping through them (a momentary coldness envelops those they touch in passing) and into the wall beyond. Nobody stops to see what happens next, hurrying into the exit tunnel and away.A few moments later, some of the group begin to feel that they are being watched. Again, nobody stops to investigate, simply hurrying on as soon as the feeling appears. As Corven points out, it's not as if they think they're ever not being observed. The feeling fades away after a minute or two.The next encounter is not as easy to avoid. The adventurers find themselves walking through smoke or fog that covers the ground to a height of a couple of inches, and seems to be rising. More such fog is seeping in through holes in the walls. Gareth quickly detects evil around him and picks up a couple of auras in the fog, but they are evidently moving around, since he cannot focus on one long enough to learn more. This information makes the group move even faster. Since they had swung back a few minutes ago to areas they'd passed on their trip towards the Cogs, Menna knows this area well and leads them at a quick pace, but the fog doesn't seem to fade. Entering the next tunnel, they find the fog still around them (and both behind and ahead as far as they can see) and rising. They next emerge into a large chamber and are midway through it when parts of the fog (now close to waist-deep and feeling quite clammy) some twenty feet away shoot up into columns to a height of about six feet. They coalesce instantly into four humanoid figures, two on either side of the group. There are two human males, a human female, and an elven male. All wear cloaks with raised hoods, above rich, but somewhat old-looking clothing. Each individual is very pale, and the sight of pairs of long canines protruding from each face makes it clear that they are vampires.After one worried look, everyone comes to a halt, many backing up towards the others. Seeing the vampires make no overtly offensive actions, Nameless addresses them politely and asks, "Is there anything you want with us, or are you simply planning to kill us?" The elven vampire, who looks substantially older than the others says, "Please, don't worry. We were just wondering who was passing through this area and came to check." Nameless explains that they were just passing through, at which the vampire says that their lady wanted to speak to the group. as he says this, another column of mist rises, this one in front of the group, to coalesce into a tall female human, dressed like the others (except that her uncloaked hair hangs free to her waist behind her), other than for a  gold chain bearing a glowing blue gem at her throat. The other four vampires (who Gareth has, unsurprisingly, detected as moderately evil) bow to her, and Nameless does the same. He then addresses her as he did the others. She walks forward and greets the group, introducing herself as Mina. She says that they get few people passing through the area and would like to chat with them a bit. Especially since they are evidently adventurers and such people usually have interesting stories. Figuring that they really don't have a choice in the matter - or at least not one that doesn't involve pain, substantial blood loss and undeath - the adventurers agree. One of the first four vampires opens a hidden door in the wall and leads the group down a set of stairs to a very well appointed sitting room. Mina offers the group some drinks ("though that's probably in really bad taste, coming from a vampire"), which another vampire turns gaseous and floats through a hole in the wall to fetch. She then asks the group to tell her "some gossip about Sharn", since she doesn't get out much, not having been above ground in the last two or three months ("you lose track of time down here"). She complains that unfortunately, people tend to scream and run when they meet vampires. Nameless asks whether she's tried the Karrnathis, since they tend to be less opposed to undead, but Mina says that's primarily the case with their own undead. She says that she's "technically Brelish, though it's not like I've paid taxes in a while." The adventurers tell her about the drug den and some other things, which seem to interest and amuse her. Eventually Gareth, who has remained standing and looking significantly uncomfortable all this time, blurts out, "Since you are evil, and you know that many of us are good, why aren't you trying to kill us?" Mina spends a little time guffawing before proceeding to give Gareth a short lecture about the fact that being evil doesn't mean that one needs to run around "killing babies and eviscerating puppies all the time, however much fun that may be," and that she has no problem with him just because he's "good in some cosmic sense." She also points out that many worshippers of the Flame tend to see things in simplistic black and white terms. Mina finishes by saying she wants to give Gareth a little demonstration that everything isn't how he may expect, and walks up to him. After reassuring him that she means no harm, she picks up his holy symbol and handles it with no evident discomfort. Then she asks him for a flask of holy water, says "bottoms up!" and chugs the entire thing. When she does so, she does seem slightly pained, and a moment later two wisps of smoke emerge from her nostrils, but seems otherwise unaffected. After apologizing to the group for "showing off" and admitting that it's "fun to do that at parties", Mina bids them farewell. Before they leave, she checks where they are staying, since some of the group (who have been growing steadily more amused during the interview with the vampire) invite her to stop by if she is ever in town. One of the other vampires shows the group back up the stairs. Continuing onwards, they soon reach the entrance to the sewers. Menna leads them through the sewers with no untoward incidents and eventually they emerge into the abandoned building through which they entered the sewers. Nameless thanks Menna for her work and pays her 50 galifars, twice what he'd promised, sending the filthy dwarf into ecstasies. He also points out that she needs to be discreet about this job, which she agrees to once Gareth translates what 'discreet' means. Luna then offers to use a spell to wash and clean her if she wants, causing Menna to gasp in horror and dive back into the sewers.At this point, Lalia takes her leave. She tells the group that she won't take a share of what they have recovered, since "it was quite a lot of fun, except when I thought I was dying, and the House pays my bills anyway." Gareth thanks her for all her help, gives her a kiss on the cheek, and she leaves. The remaining eight adventurers head up to the Clifftop Adventurer's Guild. Once there, they identify the unknown magic items, dispose of whatever they plan to sell, and divide up the proceeds. The Angels emerge with a number of magic items and with 5,000 galifars each. After all have agreed to be as discreet about the events of the day as possible, they say goodbye to Narik, Lothas and Valin.Heading back to the inn, they get cleaned up, grab a quick dinner, and all pass out, other than Six.***Early the next morning, Six heads for Deathsgate and Karr'Aashta's establishment. When Karr'Aashta arrives and speaks to Six, he tells Six that his inquiries into Gareth's sword have given him some positive prospects and he hopes to have good news the next day. Six points out that Gareth is likely to come running at the news, but Karr'Aashta suggest he tell Gareth to hold off till the next day. Six also talks to Karr'Aashta about having someone assigned to keep an eye on the group and let them know if any of his underworld connections hear about anyone, especially Daask, planning hostilities towards them. Karr'Aashta promises to do so and says that he will charge three galifars a day, plus expenses. Six thanks him and leaves.The others, meanwhile, awake to find a note from Six explaining where he is. They are met after breakfast by Flim Turen, returning as he had promised to get the details of the drug den raid. This time the Angels do give him the complete story. Gareth tries to keep from revealing Killian as a source, but Nameless asking, "Why shouldn't we tell him about Killian?" and Corven following with, "Well, Killian isn't even his name," quickly puts paid to that plan. Still, Flim doesn't learn much about Killian from the group. He comments that there will probably be an article about the drug den in the Sharn Inquisitive the next day, saying that he isn't surprised that nobody from "that rag" has tried to speak to them yet.Flim also asks about what they were doing the previous day, but the Angels give him no information. Instead, they tell him about the encounter with the vampires. He seems quite interested, though he grumbles a bit that it would be really hard to work in an article on them and that they don't really fit in the regular society columns. He promises to drop off a couple copies of the Korranberg Chronicle when it comes out, and says that he will stop by in a few days to check on the Angels. Six rejoins the group shortly after Flim leaves. After he arrives, they use a speak with dead spell created by Corven to question the gnoll's head they brought with them. They ask three questions before the spell ends:Q: Where does the highest-ranking member of Daask you know of dwell?A: Cavallah lives at the Temple of the Six.Q: Where are the other payrolls of Daask?A: Payrolls divided among Daask members.Q: Where do the payrolls come from?A: Droaam.After this, following their plan of doing as little traveling alone as possible, the group heads up to Clifftop together, where they meet Flan and set up a meeting with Killian for that evening. Then they drop Corven off at the Esoteric Order to continue work on his wand, and head for the University district to talk to Dala Arand and Kidro Osanak about the expedition to Xen'drik that Luna and Six had checked on.After picking Dala up from her lodgings, they head to Kidro's antiquities store, where they find him alone. The old gnome is happy to meet the members of the group that he had not and says that he was planning to contact them soon. Dala comments that she checked on their credentials at the Clifftop Adventurer's Guild and some other places, and got very positive responses.  Kidro says that as a result of Dala's checking, he's definitely interested in having them along and asks if they are still interested in the expedition. Gareth promptly says, "No!", leading to a little confusion until Six and the others say that he has some other stuff keeping him busy, but they are very interested. Kidro then goes into some details about the expedition, saying that things are going very well. He has got Morgrave University to agree to join in the costs. Though he is still in the process of planning, he is looking at a departure between the 16th and the 20th, if all goes as planned. He comments that there were problems with the local sahuagin recently which was affecting shipping options, but apparently the Royal Navy captured some rogue sahuagin and has been able to minimize the problem. He then suggests that they work out the terms under which the group will be joining the expedition. Kidro will obtain letters of marque for the group, as well as taking care of food, accommodation, and basic equipment. He will also arrange for transportation, which will probably be in a Lyrandar sailing ship, which will take 10-12 days for the trip. Gareth asks about quicker transportation, and Kidro says that the only other option would be a Lyrandar elemental galleon (since airships currently do not fly to Xen'drik), which could shave a week off the trip, but since that is much more expensive, the group would have to foot the extra bills themselves, which would be anywhere from 300 to 500 galifars each. Most of the Angels demur at the idea, and Nameless tells Kidro that the current arrangement seems fine, but he should just check about the elemental galleon option. Gareth asks how long the expedition is expected to take and is displeased to learn that it would be anywhere from a month and a half to two months. The others argues however, that the more time they spend away from Sharn, the more things may be different when they return. Gareth also asks about the area that is the intended aim for the expedition, which is a giant ruin. Nameless asks about information that Kidro may have about what they might encounter, but the gnome has few specifics. Kidro does say, however, that they might learn more from his contact in Stormreach (he comments that his second main contact was killed by a giant).Kidro goes on to talk about payment, offering the group a guarantee of 3,000 galifars each or whatever recovered items they choose to claim, whichever is costlier. The Angels agree to the payment without haggling, which seems to make Kidro quite happy. Kidro then says that in return, he will have the right to claim any items obtained by the expedition and the adventurers can choose whatever they want from what remains. Nobody disagrees, other than Gareth, who says that this is unfair since Kidro can just choose the "most powerful" or costly items, causing Six to comment that Gareth tends "to get a little greedy at times." Kidro points out that he is taking on the burden of organizing this expedition and running considerable financial risk by doing so. He is also primarily interested in historical artifacts and not the kinds of things that adventurers usually want, unlike someone he calls "that damned thieving Haga Wissel", apparently another antiquarian in the area. Gareth continues to argue, saying that Kidro could easily claim something that the Angels might want by saying that it is of historical value. After some argument, the final agreement is that the adventurers may choose a single item each (even from among those that Kidro chooses, if they want), but he gets first choice of two items found by the expedition, which nobody else can choose. With that agreement, the deal is wrapped up and the adventurers take their leave. Luna suggests that they talk to Flamewind again, in case she can cast any light on the letter from Sora Teraza and the planned expedition. Gareth and Six agree, but Nameless seems very reticent about meeting the sphinx. Finally, he says that he needs to do something else and leaves, heading for Deathsgate and Trillia's home. The others continue on to the university with Dala, who is apparently going to accompany the expedition and seems quite excited about it, chattering on about Xen'drik (which she has been to twice, though not far beyond the port of Stormreach) and the expedition. When Luna asks about Flamewind, Dala says that the gynosphinx is very popular at the university and loves interacting with people. Her visions are legendary, though they happen more rarely than the uninformed believe.Once they reach Morgrave University, Dala takes her leave and the other three ask around for Flamewind. They eventually find her in her home, a set of chambers in the highest levels of the university tower. Historical artifacts of various kinds hang on the walls and the place is very well decorated, seemingly occupied by a human being until one notices the few seats that are evidently for someone of a large leonine shape. Flamewind recognizes Luna and Six from their previous meeting and is happy to see them again. Luna says that they wished to ask her about a particular letter and is about to hand the one from Sora Teraza to her, when Gareth grabs it, drawing an amused look from Flamewind. He quickly explains that it contains some information that is private and then proceeds to read it out, omitting the references to Daask.After listening carefully, Flamewind says that there is little she can say about the matter, since she has had no visions about the subject other than the previous one in front of Luna and Six. She says that she knows a little about Sora Teraza, who is (as far as she knows) actually physically blind. The hag does, however, possess remarkable strong oracular powers. Flamewind says that they are probably stronger than her own, though even harder to control. As far as she knows, Sora Teraza tends to follow her own aims and devices, which are not always those of her sisters. Flamewind suggests that the Angels take the warnings seriously. As for taking Sora Teraza's aid, she says that is something they have to decide for themselves, but if they do, they should be careful.Luna also asks Flamewind about the planned expedition to Xen'drik, but she reiterates that she has had no other visions regarding them. She does say that Xen'drik is a very interesting place and expects that the group will find it as fascinating as it is deadly. Gareth also asks her if she knows anything about his sword, but apparently she does not. The adventurers thank her for her time and let her know where they are staying. Flamewind says that it was a pleasure and asks them to let her know what happens to them, since she is quite curious to see what their future holds. She says, "My visions may not be under my control, but they do invariably turn out to be right, and the repercussions are usually important." Before they leave, she tells them that when she had the vision, a sensation she felt, even though it did not manifest itself in the words of the vision, was one of something attempting to escape. With that, she bids them goodbye. On the way back to the inn from the university, Gareth picks up a big bouquet (with Luna's help) and leaves it at the Deneith enclave for Lalia.Nameless, meanwhile, travels to the Deathsgate district and meets Trillia at her home. He tells her everything about their excursion to the Cogs. Trillia is quite intrigued by the letter from Sora Teraza, but can shed no real light on it. The pair spend some time discussing magic, arcana and subjects that make more normal people have nightmares. Nameless then heads to the Guild and begins scribing the fly spell into his spellbook. Corven spends eight hours working at the Order and then travels to High Walls to meet Cala. The ex-military scout tells him that she was planning to come see him, since she has been getting a little impatient. She and her friends have been watching Kielsten, and even though there have been no overtly criminal acts, there seem to be more people visiting Kielsten than would make sense for a hardware store, especially since some of them return multiple times but don't seem to be buying anything. She has a short list of the most regular visitors. She also mentions that her friend Toras said that late one evening, he saw three or four floating flames appear behind a curtained window. They seemed to be floating and moving around in the air, but with the curtain in place he was unable to identify them. Corven agrees about her suspicions but persuades her that simply kicking in the door and shaking Kielsten till he talks would not be a good idea. He suggests that they try to detect if Kielsten or others have magical tattoos as Neb had, and agrees to return the next morning with his companions to do the needful.After they all return to the inn, the Guardian Angels share their findings with each other. Around eight, they visit the Lucky Nines Casino, to find Killian (now in his real form, or at least the one he revealed when accosted by Kylyman) at his usual table. Gareth immediately asks him, "Where's my sword?" and berates him for giving them the wrong information. Killian, as usual, claims complete innocence and that he is completely horrified at the error. After promising to do some more searching for the sword, he spends the next few minutes alternately teasing, cajoling or mocking the group as usual, all under a very thin veneer of urbanity. He also drops in what could easily be a threat of revealing to Daask that it was the Angels that raided their payroll. Gareth responds with the same, saying that he's sure Daask wouldn't be to happy to know Killian's the one who got them to launch the attack, but the gnome doesn't seem perturbed. Some of the group do notice that he seems much less well informed about their activities at the Daask emplacement than he did about the drug den, and he tries abortively a few times to pump some information out of them. He does, however, have some information about their activities once they returned, commenting on the fact that they must have made some money in order to be shopping for magical items and telling Luna that her new periapt (which she bought that morning) looks very attractive. Once the Angels have quickly had their fill of him, they take their leave from the grinning gnome, and head back to the inn.***The next morning, when the others emerge from their room, they find Six waiting with a broadsheet newspaper for them. He hands it over, saying, "Sharn Inquisitive. I guess Flim left it for us. Third page." Opening it, the others find a lurid article about the attack on the drug den, entitled "Adventurers Join Gang War." Other than getting their names correct and the fact that they did attack a Daask drug den, literally everything else in the article is pure fabrication. Not only were the Guardian Angels (a name that the article doesn't use) apparently accompanied by four people besides Deemin and Finch, but they supposedly fought twenty gnolls, four ogres and two trolls, and the battle was eventually joined by a dozen halflings, some on dinosaurs from the Talenta plains. The description of the battle stops just short of stating that it destroyed the entire tower. After some very broad speculations about the interests and allegiances of the adventurers, the article ends in a rant about how this obvious lack of law and order in Sharn is a direct result of the misguided policies of King Boranel and the ruling family of Breland. The Angels' response to the article is an understandable mix of amusement and agreement with Flim's opinion of the Sharn Inquisitive. Gareth wonders aloud why nobody from the newspaper contacted them, and Corven theorizes that it is due to "plausible deniability", so that they cannot be accused of misrepresenting information from them.  After breakfast, the Angels head to Karr'Aashta's Investigations. They are evidently expected and quickly shown up to Karr'Aashta's office, where he greets them with a smile and says that he has good news about Gareth's sword. Reaching down behind his desk, he pulls out the sword. Gareth almost jumps over the desk and grabs it. As he does so, he feels the sword throb warmly in his hands, but he notices something different about it. Even though it looks exactly the same and feels like his sword, something is missing or different. Gareth points that out to Karr'Aashta and then cuts his own arm, seeking to heal himself with the sword, but it has no effect.Karr'Aashta seems confused, asking Gareth whether it was a flaming sword or not. When Gareth says "No," he takes the sword back and activates it with the word "Aagun", causing flames to run up and down the blade. Experimentation reveals that it does not happen when Gareth tries it, nor when Corven does so with the command word, though the latter can activate it using his artificer abilities.Gareth asks exactly how Karr'Aashta found the sword and the latter explains that the goblin fence Maarkra had lied about handing it over to Daask and had been trying to sell it. Karr'Aashta's contacts in the underworld let him know and he purchased it, figuring that it would be the easiest way to get it. He says that it's funny that the goblin was selling it as just a fine flametouched weapon when it's actually a magical flaming sword, since Maarkra would have checked it. Karr'Aashta himself has actually had it for just about two days, but he had wanted to wait and have it identified by a reliable spellcaster (which is how he learned that it was a flaming sword and how to activate it) before turning it over to Gareth.Gareth's first reaction at the news is to search out Maarkra an decapitate him, but Karr'Aashta suggests they not do so, since it would just cause problems in the middle of Malleon's Gate, which is a notoriously dangerous area. Plus Maarkra trying to sell the sword on the sly means that Daask did not know Gareth had lost it or was acting against them, and killing their fence would draw their attention. Gareth agrees grudgingly and then Karr'Aashta asks what the problem is with the sword. Gareth explains that firstly the sword now seems to have different abilities, which apparently he cannot activate, and secondly, that as far as he knew the sword would infuse the essence of its owner into itself and bond with him, only doing so with members of his family. Gareth asks Karr'Aashta if anyone else has spent a lot of time with the sword, which he answers in the negative, and also detects evil on the sword, which has no effect.Puzzled, Gareth asks Karr'Aashta if he can arrange for Gareth to speak to the spellcaster who identified the sword, and Karr'Aashta says he can do that the next day. Gareth also asks how much he owes Karr'Aashta. He tells Gareth that he had to pay out 1,500 galifars for it, as well as some more for information and the identification. Considering the time and effort, he should ask for more, but he asks for a payment of 2,000 galifars. As Gareth pays him, he points out that it's a steal for recovering such a fine weapon, but he's doing it as a show of good faith, since perhaps they'll do more business in the future. With that, the adventurers leave, Gareth still looking puzzled and worried, and the others just looking relieved that the sword is finally back. From there, they head down to the High Walls area and meet Cala. She leads everyone to a building opposite Kielsten's shop (which is part of his house), from the first floor of which they can watch the place. About fifteen minutes after they arrive, a person who Cala says is on her list of suspects enters the shop. Luna heads downstairs, and when he emerges a few minutes later, casts a detect magic and steps out of the building. Following him along the street, she scans for magic and picks up a couple of auras from the man's shoulder. Heading back to meet the others, she explains what she detected, causing a couple to theorize that he has one of those tattoos. While they are discussing this, the group notices the person returning, along with two more individuals. The three of them are walking very close to each other, and as they reach and squeeze through the doorway to the hardware shop, a couple of the Angels notice that the central person's (who wears a heavy cloak that hides his features)  feet are hanging a few inches above the ground. Realizing that he is being carried by the others and is presumably a captive, they hurry down, some casting preparatory spells on the way.Cala's friend Toras and another man are below, and she tells them to watch the one side door to Kielsten's house and grab whoever emerges. The group hurries through the entrance the three men passed through. It opens into the hardware store itself, which takes up the entire front of the building and is now empty. A staircase behind the counter at the back wall leads up to the attic area above, and a single curtained doorway stands beside it. As the group enters and heads towards the doorway, a portly dwarf steps through, whom Cala and Corven recognize as Kielsten. Though he looks a little alarmed at the sight of the six armed individuals, he says, "Greetings - how may I help you?"Luna, evidently not wanting to waste any time with negotiations, immediately charges forward*. The dwarf tries to dodge aside, but her club lands heavily on his chest. A metallic jingle reveals the presence of armor under his robe. The others are just as surprised as Kielsten, and as he shouts, "Help! Murder!", only Nameless manages to react fast enough to cast a sleep spell. The agitated dwarf manages to shake off the effects but cannot avoid another blow from a snarling Luna, only his armor keeping him upright. Kielsten shouts again, interspersing his cries for help with a "Zokar aid me!", which immediately tells everyone that they are in the right place. If any other evidence were needed, the two men who entered earlier come leaping out of the curtained room, wielding shortswords with which they lash out at Luna. She blocks one, but the other moves to flank her and cuts a shallow gash in her side.As her allies move to help, another dwarf (resembling Kielsten but younger) twitches the curtain aside, revealing a large storage room beyond. This one raises a hand and casts a spell, causing a web to fill half the room, either snaring or impeding Cala and all the Guardian Angels besides Luna. Kielsten takes the opportunity to stumble past the younger dwarf and around the doorway.While Nameless tries abortively to dispel the web, Six and Gareth manage to push their way out of it. Six moves up to join Luna, but Gareth stays on the periphery so that he is not a target. Cala remains snared and Corven, realizing he is too, simply infuses his crossbow magically to make it do nonlethal damage and takes a shot that goes nowhere near his targets**. Luna snaps, "Gareth, get in here!" and moves up to clout the spellcasting dwarf with her club, sending him reeling back too. One of the swordsmen takes the opportunity to stab at her again. The other tries to do the same, but Six trips him and smacks him in the head with his spiked chain. Still, they provide enough distraction for the dwarf to step back and cast another spell. With a muttered, "Eat fire!", he casts produce flame and hits Luna with a handful of fire that burns her. He then yells, "Father - send the fliers!"The call is answered instantly as three small creatures come flying around the corner, taking up position in the doorway between the dwarf and Luna. Each looks like a miniature devil wreathed in flame, and some of the group recognize them as fire mephits. the creatures cackle in glee, echoing the dwarf's speech in accented Common, and hurl scorching rays at Luna. All of them hit home, badly burning the druid and almost taking her off her feet, only the vitality granted by her shifter heritage and her attendant beast spirit, not to mention a timely bear's endurance cast before entering, keeping her on her feet.*** As she stumbles back from the fight, desperately pulling out a potion and drinking it, Nameless provides a very good - and bovine - distraction. He summons a pseudonatural bison in the next room, which butts a very surprised mephit. Six dispatches the man he had tripped and Gareth moves up and smites the other swordsman. As he does so, he feels his sword throb again and realizes that it has regained some of its magical power. The blow badly wounds the swordsman, who tries to flee, only to be cut down by Gareth's return swing. Corven fires again and, of course, misses. Perhaps he is distracted by the still entangled Cala beside him.The dwarf, startled by the appearance of the bison, makes the error of hurling a handful of flame at it. While this does burn the creature, it also draws its attention, and it promptly butts him in turn. The mephits, evidently too foolish to flee, take their time to breathe gouts of flame at their enemies, which does little more than scorch them and burn away the webs holding Corven. A few seconds later, they are all dead or unconscious, one going down to Nameless' magic missiles and a really pissed-off Luna's club, and the others to Six's chain and Gareth's sword. The dwarf, realizing too late that he should have fled when he had the chance, tries to do so now and is rewarded with a spiked chain to the head that lands him flat on his face.The Angels wait for a moment to see whether more enemies appear, and hear the sound of a startled yell in Kielsten's voice from the side of the building, followed by the sound of someone being hit. As they dispose of the web and check to see which enemies are alive, Toras and his friend enter through the main door, dragging an unconscious Kielsten between them. Toras grins and says, "Ran out the side door right into us!" Then his smile disappears and he says with a jerk of his head at the door, "There's a crowd gathering out there."Even as he speaks, a fat dwarven woman comes barreling down the stairs, shrieking, "Help! Thieves! Murder!" at the top of her lungs. A simultaneous "Oh, shut up!" from Corven, who is checking to make sure the wounded don't bleed to death, apparently doesn't mollify her. Cala just throws her an exasperated look and heads for the door, saying, "Keep as many alive as you can. I'd like as many options for questioning as possible. I'll deal with the crowd." With that, she exits the room followed by Toras, leaving the Guardian Angels with the dead and unconscious, and the hysterical woman. * Surprise round, since all the PCs were just as surprised as Kielsten was.** Another of Mike's now patent 1s.*** At the start of the fight, Luna had 74 hit pts, a clear 26 pts more than anyone else in the group. In 2.5 rds, she went to 3 hp! 16d6+7 dmg will do that to you.</blockquote>

Verification