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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Wulf Ratbane" data-source="post: 770" data-attributes="member: 94">THE STANDING STONEWulf caught up to the rest of the group just as they were heading into Ossington. They were travelling with two bedraggled farmers and the carcass of a dead plowhorse. Wulf raised an eyebrow and Keldas quickly tried to catch him up to speed on the goings on of the area. "We stopped by a druid grove on the way into town, where we received a bit more information of this part of the Baron's fiefdom, and their recent troubles. The druids had previously maintained communication with the wild elves in the area, but their emissaries had stopped coming early in the summer--without explanation. The druids considered this odd, but not particularly worthy of investigation."A more pressing problem for the druids, however, was the sudden lack of wildlife in the area. It was as if a circle had been drawn, with Ossington in the center, and nothing more well-developed than a mosquito remained in the area. The druids had been debating for the past several weeks what they might do about the situation, but expressed hope that, since we were heading that way anyway, perhaps we would investigate."We first sought out the wild elves, who had become unremittingly hostile to outsiders--especially humans--for some time. My presence, and especially that of Alliane, a priestess of Corellan, did much to allay their hostility, and they spoke with us of their troubles. In years past they had been accustomed to dealing with the townsfolk of Ossington, but the relations had become more and more strained with the disappearance of all the wildlife. The elves were starving, and grew hostile towards the town. The town leader, Dyson, set up a meeting with the elves to discuss a peaceful settlement."Keldas droned on and on, and Wulf was very nearly asleep by this time."Apparently, at this meeting, the humans turned on the elves, slaughtered them, and began feasting on the fallen bodies."Now he enjoyed Wulf's undivided attention."The wild elves are planning to wipe out the town. We've asked them to try to find a peaceful settlement, and they've agreed to give us two days to find a compromise."Wulf noticed that Halma looked as if he'd been in a recent battle. "What's that all about?""Killed a ghost."Keldas interrupted before Wulf could give voice to his surprise. "Ahh, yes. To add to the troubles, apparently the town is under siege by a ghostly horseman, who rides down and slays anyone who tries to leave the town. These two," he said, gesturing at the farmers, "were lucky that we happened to be passing by when the horseman attacked them.""Why would yer leave town if yer knew there was a ghost about?""We have no choice. We have to look oustide for food.""And that carcass?""The horseman killed it. We're taking it back home for food.""Yer WHAT? Whoa whoa whoa there! Yer can't eat a HORSE!""Of course we can. Horse is good eatin." Halma nodded in agreement."Yer eat that horse, the gods'll curse yer. Yer don't eat 'friends to man!'"Keldas took the farmers' side. "What does that even mean?""Horses an' dogs--gifts from the gods, an' pillars of civilization. Not for eatin'. Yer on the fast track to a good buggerin' from Fate herself. Trust me on this one."The halfling decided to enter the fray. "I bet you'd eat me if you were starving though, huh?""I can't tell if yer tryin' to flatter yerself or insult me. I can barely stomach yer when yer up and among the quick, peck."They had drawn near to the farmers' dwelling, just outside town, and they agreed to stay the night. Halma went off with the farmers to help butcher the horse, and it was with great trepidation that Wulf sat down to dinner with them later. He took a sniff of his stew, and the little cutlets of meat that floated in it. His eyes lit up and he looked over at Halma, who was already digging into it with gusto. Keldas, for all his talk, put on a brave face but obviously had no idea what he was eating. Wulf grinned and tucked into one of his favorite meals.Rat stew. ----------------------------They left the farmers the next day and continued towards town. Just outside town they found a small shrine dedicated to all the primary gods of Greyhawk. Wulf stuck his head inside and was greeted by an oracle who tended the shrine. Wulf would have guessed her a druid, though her presence in such a shrine confused that assessment somewhat."Mornin, woman! May we enter?""Of course." She smiled sweetly. "All are welcome here." Wulf noticed for the first time the small monkey-like pet on her shoulder. It hopped off and ran circles around the room, stopping at various donation boxes.The party moved inside, and while Keldas grilled the druid, Henwen, about the goings on of the area and the town, Wulf made the rounds of the donation boxes. He was thankful he'd kept some travelling money in his purse.Pelor! Wulf made the fist. Like brothers still, right? Sun's up again today-- nice work. Wulf dropped a few gold coins into Pelor's donation box. Heironeous! Ahh... Keep an eye on me today, got a feelin' I'm gonna be valorously whippin' evil arse. For justice! A few more gold coins tinkled into the collection box.Kord! Oh mighty, mighty Kord! Right. Ach... ferkit... Here. Wulf made another contribution, equal to the others, and moved on to the next shrine.It seemed that all philosophies were present, from law to chaos, good to evil. Wulf contributed to each in turn-- growing a bit nervous when he reached Nerull, but taking a guilty pleasure in his contribution to Hextor. Sorry about that business back in Brindinford. Pals? He made the fist, just in case. Keldas' conversation with Henwen hadn't netted them any information, save to repeat the townsfolk's charge that it was the wild elves, not they, who had started the fighting at their last meeting. As for the "eating of the dead" charge, that was preposterous.They moved into town. Ossington had been built right into the center of a huge ring of standing stones. There were actually several concentric rings of stones, and one large stone in the center of town. The mayor's house abutted right up against this ancient, rune-covered stone. Oh, that's wise, thought Wulf.On their way into town they met a bard, who was standing and watching the townsfolk who were trying to harvest their crops. The wild elves, it seemed, had taken to firing pot-shots at the townsfolk who ventured out into the fields, so gathering the crops was risky business.Keldas spoke to the bard, who informed them that he went by the name of The Cuckoo, and tried to find out more about the town. The Cuckoo repeated the same old story-- the elves were the aggressors, the townsfolk were starving, there was no eating of the dead."An' here I thought yer were supposed to be chock full o' rumors, knowledge, and useful information. So what is it yer doing here, exactly?" Wulf gestured to the fields."I'm watching over those men who are trying to gather some food.""Right. Ahh... and if the elves attack, yer gonna... what? Sing them away? Pfft." Wulf couldn't hide his disdain for the bard. Worthless parasites! The day he caught some lazy bard making coin singing the praises of his bravery and hard work, there was going to be trouble.The Cuckoo just smirked. "Are you going to stand here and insult me, or are you going to help these poor people?""Yer just watch yerself, bard. Yer at the top of my ass-kickin' list." Wulf pointed the others to the mayor's house. "Let's go talk to Dyson."They were met at the door by Dyson's assistant, Tully. She was lithe and wiry, and Wulf could tell she knew her way around the weapon at her side."We need to talk to Dyson.""Can't do that. He's busy now. Who are you?""Wulf Ratbane. The Baron sent us here to... solve problems."Tully didn't blink. "Great. Go wipe out the wild elves."Keldas stared back at her."Ok, I guess not. Well, then, you can do something to get rid of the horseman so our people can leave town to look for food.""Aye, we can do that.""Fine. There's a barrow mound a few miles from here. We know the horseman rides from there. Come back when you're done-- Dyson should be free to talk to you by then. Good luck."----------------------------The party took a quick trip to the nearby countryside, where they found the barrow without difficulty. Wulf was the first to enter the mound, scouting ahead quietly in the shadows. Off to the side he heard a noise, and turning, saw the two bright flames burning in a wight's skull. Before he could even warn the rest of the party he charged off down the hall, slamming his blazing battle-axe two-handed into the creature. His charged knocked it off guard and he hacked at it again before it had time to paw at him. The wight dropped dead-- truly dead-- at last.Wulf turned to rejoin his companions, and realized for the first time that he was trapped at the end of the hall. In the tussle he'd neither seen nor heard the stone block sealing off his exit behind him. He was sealed in, completely trapped in a five-foot cube. It was only moments until Keldas, as an umber hulk once again, came smashing through the wall to save him, but Wulf couldn't help but be reminded how useful it was to have friends you could rely on. No doubt about it, if he'd been alone, he'd have died a slow, lingering death-- buried alive.Wulf gestured to the halfling. "Come up front with me and help me look for traps. Get on out ahead of me; I'll be right behind yer."Together they slowly moved through the maze-like tunnels of the barrow, following a simple "Always Turn Left" procedure so they wouldn't get lost. Sure enough, every thirty feet or so there would be another sliding wall trap-- the halfling would spot it, Wulf would concur, and move up to disable it. They were about halfway through the maze, moving down a long hall, when the halfling missed a trap. Wulf noticed it, but the halfling kept right on moving. In a split-second, several thoughts ran through Wulf's mind. Oh, this should be good. Probably another sliding wall. But what if it's lightning, or something that will kill Keldas? Or a gas trap? Ach, ferkit. If it's a gas trap, I can take it. Huzzah! Wulf remained silent, and the halfling triggered the trap. Sure enough, a sliding wall slid across the passage. They could hear the halfling turn and start pounding on the stone, then they heard him start shrieking. Whaddaya know? A wight? Wulf shouted through the stone. "What's wrong? Yer need help? Knock like this if yer need help!" Tap tappity tap tap. "Like that! Hello?"The halfling, of course, was too busy with the wight. The creature clawed at him twice, sucking the life force right out of him, but the halfling fought back. He doused the creature with greek fire, then tumbled around out of reach while the fire did its work. Eventually Wulf stepped aside in the narrow corridor to let Keldas tunnel past, but by then the halfing had taken care of the wight on his own.Wulf clapped him on the back. "Well done!""Screw you! You deliberately let me set off that trap!"Wulf blinked. "What are yer talking about? I didn't see it either!""Oh, please! Give me a break. So much for watching my back.""Well if yer couldn't see it yerself," Wulf's voice was rising with anger, "then what in hell makes yer think I could see it!?""Well you didn't have to stand around and F'in let me get mauled by an F'in wight! You didn't even try to help!""Yer too damned ferocious, peck. It was dead before we even had a chance. Let's move on, right? No sense cryin' over spilt milk.""Well you can take point then." "Right yer are." Wulf moved off.The halfling grimaced at Alliane. "I'm all drained to hell. Help me out here."Alliane could only frown. "Such magic is beyond me. Perhaps it will pass. Perhaps tomorrow."----------------------------Much to the halfling's dismay, Wulf didn't miss a single trap, and let them expertly to the center of the maze. Steps led down to an arched chamber holding a sarcophagus. Wulf held up his hand to halt the party. Obvious trap."Don't like the looks of...""TURN BACK, MORTALS, OR MEET YOUR DOOM!""Ach, well, ok. Right. Ahh..." Diplomacy. "Ah! We're looking for the Horseman, actually... My comrades here killed him once already, and we just want to have a bit of a chat and see if we can avoid having to do that again... in a more permanent fashion.""TURN BACK!"Wulf was losing patience. Booming, disembodied voices were awfully hard to put the boot to. He turned to the rest of the group for advice, and found Keldas pointing discreetly at the wall beside him. Aha! Secret door, right? Wulf moved next to Keldas, gestured for the party to make ready, and threw wide the secret door.The figure standing behind it was obviously the owner of the voice, and as pleased as Wulf was to find a physical body prime for a valorous and judicious dismemberment, something stayed his hand. For starters, the creature was obviously undead-- little left but the armored shell of a warrior long dead. Ordinarily Wulf wouldn't hesitate to hack such a creature to bits, but it was the fact that the creature bothered to hide itself behind a secret door and throw its voice in order to scare off intruders-- well, to put it simply, he found it oddly endearing. He turned to the rest of the group."Ach, I don't want to hack up this old geezer." He spoke loudly and plainly, to clearly announce his intent. The essence of diplomacy, he'd learned, was complete honesty. "Well, we were sent down here to kill yer. Understand from the folks in town, yer behind the horseman, an' we just want that to stop."The figure spoke. "You'd find me a formidable opponent, dwarf-- though such a contest would be for naught. I am not the horseman, nor do I know what is behind the phenomenon.""Well, beggin' yer pardon, but yer still a creepy old undead bastard. So... ahh... who are yer, then?""I am Saithnar. Many years ago, when I walked among the living, I was a protector of this town. Now, in this eternal state, I protect it still.""So yer not the horseman?""No.""And yer don't know who is?""No.""Then why would Tully send us here to destroy yer?""Perhaps she sent you here that I might destroy YOU."Little by little Saithnar was earning Wulf's respect. He turned to Alliane. "Not all undead are evil, right?"Alliane shrugged. "It seems odd to justify it so, but if he protects the town..." It was good enough for Wulf. "Right. Right, then, Saithnar. Yer off the hook. We'll go back to town, tell Tully we killed yer, see what shakes out. Might be back later. Might have to kill yer. No offense." Wulf turned to go."Leave with my blessing, then. My men will not hinder you on the way out."The halfling winced at the memory of the wight's cold touch. "Yeah, bit late now-- thanks for nothing."----------------------------The returned to the inn that night, and sat down in the common room to discuss matters and have a drink or two. Wulf was already in a foul mood. Once again, he didn't have a clue what to do next, and he hated it. Oh, he knew somebody was ripe for an ass-kicking, but who? They were acutely aware that they'd lost a day already. By the end of the next day, barring their intervention, the wood elves would come to slaughter the town. Wulf didn't know who to believe, but strangely enough he found himself siding with the wood elves."Ach, Keldas, I know I give yer guff all the time, but I've never known yer people to be liars. I'm inclined to trust the elves on this one. Summat up here in town-- just don't know what." Wulf tugged at his beard. It was a difficult problem. "I say we start by kickin' the tar out o' the Cuckoo.""I sincerely doubt that will solve the town's problems."The halfling got up from the table. "I'm tired, I'm heading to bed."Alliane stood as well. "Keldas and I need our sleep, so who's taking the first watch?"The halfling spoke up. "What do we need a watch for? We're safe here. And I don't feel like sleeping on the floor, either, while the elves get their beauty rest. I'm getting a second room.""I don't know how yer do it, peck... This town is crawlin' with evil, I can feel it. We should stick together. Get yer own room if yer like, but don't expect me to come runnin' if I hear trouble on my watch."The halfling shrugged. "Fine, fine, whatever."They settled down to sleep. Wulf and Halma split two long shifts between them, both expecting treachery, but the night passed peacefully. ----------------------------They went the next day to visit Dyson. When Tully came to greet them at the door, Wulf tried to guage her reaction at their presence; but if she was surprised or disappointed to see them return "victorious," she gave no indication of it. "Right. We killed yer horseman. Let's have that chat with Dyson now."Tully sighed and stepped aside, gesturing them in. "Very well."They climbed the winding stairs to Dyson's study at the top of his tower, and finally met the man who had assumed the burden of leadership for the beleaguered town. Dyson was dark haired, goateed, with a ruddy complexion A look passed among the party members. All he's missing is the cloven hooves and a forked tail...After introductions Dyson got right to the point. "The wild elves are lying. They turned on us for no reason, killing our townspeople. If you don't ally with us against them, they'll wipe out the town for sure."Keldas took charge. "We have spoken with the elves, and they have given us until tomorrow to arrange a peaceful settlement. It would help if you would come with us and meet with their leaders. Surely we can negotiate peace."Dyson shook his head. "I'm sure they'd love nothing better than to get their hands on me." Tully nodded in agreement. "Nobody will touch yer with us around. Count on that."Tully clucked and Dyson spoke up. "Unfortunately I don't share your confidence-- and apparently neither does my protector."Wulf raised an eyebrow. "What-- her? A woman?""Tully is a talented strategist, an excellent swordsman, and a dangerous foe. I find that women make fine bodyguards."Wulf scoffed and tugged at his beard. "Aye, but they make better scullery maids."Tully ignored the insult. "Will you help us or not?""Send Tully with us as your representative, to speak with the elves," said Keldas."Very well. Let's go."----------------------------As they walked, Halma matched stride with Tully and spoke amiably with her, while the rest of the group fell a few paces behind. Wulf spoke quietly with Keldas as the halfling trotted beside them."Keldas, I don't see how yer folks can be lyin'. An' I don't like the looks of that Dyson fellow. Let's just pick a side, strike now."The halfling squeaked out a protest. "No! We can't double cross them. It's a bad idea.""Why?""Just trust me, we don't want to do that. Besides, it's not right.""Don't know about right, but it's damned well smart. Going to cross blades with Dyson eventually, let's take Tully now and save us the trouble later.""No! Swear to me you won't harm her!""Why?""I... I can't tell you. Let's just say things aren't always what they appear.""Such as?""Well, like this..." The halfling donned a magic hat and was suddenly cloaked in an illusion-- he looked just like Wulf.Wulf check his own magic hat-- still there. The halfling had gone to the trouble of buying his own. Wulf was not happy-- moreso because he didn't like the thought of the peck assuming his identity and getting into trouble."Yer keep that up, yer gonna end up like Dyson and Tully.""Look. Just this once, just once, trust me. Swear you won't kill her."Wulf indulged the halfling, but his grin belied his intentions. "All right, I swear."The haflling knew it was the best he could hope for-- but betting on Wulf's conscience didn't ease his worries any.After a long walk out to meet the wild elves, the meeting was woefully short. As expected, both sides accused the other of lying. No peace was reached, and from the party's standpoint, no new evidence was revealed. They were simply going to have to pick a side. They elves still planned to attack the next day.As they headed home, Wulf, Keldas, and the halfling fell behind again. Wulf spoke up. "We got no choice, peck. Let's just knock her out, get her out of the way until we can deal with Dyson."The halfling looked ready to dive into the nearest rabbit hole, but he knew the truth of the matter as well. "All right. All right, I'm with you. I'll strike when you do." He trotted up to join the others and get into position.Wulf looked to Keldas. "Give me what yer got."In short order Wulf was Hasted, with Improved Invisibility on top of that. He grabbed hold of his sock-penny saps and cruised up silently behind Tully, smashing her solidly. He expected her to drop as easily as the last slip of a girl he'd laid into. Oh, were they all in for a surprise.Though he'd crept up as silently as possible, she was somehow warned at the last moment, twisting aside from Wulf's treacherous blows. Her sword was out in an instant, and she snarled at the halfling. "You're a dead man, Tamaloc!" She ran her sword through his shoulder to punctuate her remark. The halfling struck back with deadly precision, abandoning their plans of taking her alive.But Tully wasn't waiting around to cross swords with the halfling, or Wulf. She tumbled away-- and vanished. "What the-- ?""I got her..." Halma was running low to the ground, following her trail. He dashed off into the trees. Wulf and Alliane did their best to catch up. Before long Keldas, having cast a Fly spell on himself, sailed off after Halma.And then came the halfling. He spoke a command word, and a huge pair of bat wings sprouted from his back. He flew off in hot pursuit as well. Was there no end to his new bag of tricks?Every time Halma tracked Tully down, she would dash out, sneak attack him, and disappear into thin air again. Wulf had never seen anything like it. What the hell was she?The halfling was screaming. "You better kill her or we're all going to die! Probably going to die anyway!"Halma did his best, swinging wildly into the bushes, and occasionally striking true. Tully was certainly capable of taking a lot of punishment."Enough of this! Time for you to die!" Dyson's voice boomed out into the forest and a cloud of darkness fell over Halma, Wulf, and Alliane, who had surrounded Tully. Wulf quickly backpedaled out of the darkness and saw Dyson, the Cuckoo, and Henwen, lined up in attack formation. They were all casting spells. Those backstabbing pr*cks! They ambushed us!Henwen's little monkey familiar started screeching, a high-pitched wail that grew louder and louder, threatening to overwhelm Wulf's senses. He wasn't sure what effect it would have had on him, for he somehow managed to shake it off. One thing was for certain-- he knew he didn't like it."Right. That's about enough of that." Wulf ignited Taranak and charged up to the demon-monkey, cutting it down in a single blow. Henwen cried out in pain, and though Wulf stood nearby, she could not see him to retaliate.Tully took advantage of her friends' timely arrival, striking out at the halfling. Even with his supernatural reflexes he was no match for her. Another swift sword stroke pierced him through, wounding him terribly. The halfling leapt into the sky while Halma swung around in the darkness, trying to defend himself.Wulf took a deep breath, drew his hand-axe, and stepped up between Henwen and Dyson-- still invisible, still moving with supernatural haste. His hand-axe rose and fell two times on Henwen, striking where she could not see to defend herself, staggering her; and one swift, final stroke from Taranak put her down. Wulf never stopped moving, whirling the flaming axe around and into Dyson.Taranak struck Dyson with incredible force, straight down the center of his forehead, exploding into flame as it did so. Wulf had rarely seen the full volcanic force of the axe, but it blasted Dyson's skull (and a good portion of the rest of him) into tiny smoking chunks-- in a single blow.Wulf had dropped two of their foes in less than six seconds. Keep moving while it lasts!The Cuckoo suddenly let out an ear-splitting shriek that ripped the fabric of reality. A hazy form materialized in the air before them, a hideous vulture-like demon. "A little help, brother," spoke the Cuckoo, as he assumed his own true demonic form.The only thing better than kicking a bard's ass is kicking a demonic bard's ass, thought Wulf. This just keeps getting better.Wulf charged over to the Cuckoo and hacked away with Taranak, but the demon hardly seemed to notice. This could be more trouble than I thought...Fortunately, Keldas retained his composure. He casually pulled a scroll from his pack, unfurled it, and began to unleash a spell. Completing the incantation, he pointed his finger at the newly summoned Vrock and simply Dismissed it back to the Abyss. If the creature was capable of resisting such magic, it didn't choose this particular time and place to do so. The Cuckoo was on his own again.Wulf switched strategies, changed his footing and began fighting sinister so that he could lead with his hand-axe. Striking with blinding speed from the cover of invisibility, he dismembered the demon in a few quick strokes.And not a moment too soon, as the Haste spell drained from his limbs.Suddenly there was a piercing cry from the edge of the darkness. Tully had emerged and turned on Alliane, striking her clean through the heart, killing her instantly. Halma had been biding his time, and struck her down with his greatsword, but it was too late for Alliane.Tully had fallen, but a great deal of the wounds she'd sustained were from Wulf's saps. She was still breathing shallowly. Wulf shouted over to Halma, "Tie her up! Quickly!""No!" shouted the halfling. "Kill her! She's a ninja!"Wulf had been invisibly looting Henwen and Dyson, quickly pulling rings from their fingers and stuffing them in his pockets, but he slowly turned, his mind now at full attention to the halfling."How do you know this?" Keldas hovered nearby, also curious."She was going to train me."Halma still wasn't quite sure what was going on. "Rope or sword?""Sword!" shouted the halfling. "No wait! Rope... Yeah... Rope! Maybe I can talk my way out of this!""Out of what, peck?""Well, she passed my name on to her superiors, and said if anything happened to her, they would come looking for me. So you guys may have to fight off some ninja assassins with me."Once again, Wulf was filled with the urgent need to kill the halfling. He was glad he was invisible, for he was literally shaking with rage. And, perhaps, a bit of anticipation. But he calmly let the moment pass."Well, let's get Tully back to Dyson's tower, right? I'll carry her, just in case she wakes up. Halma, yer can grab Alliane. And somebody should get the head off that demon so we can show the townspeople."----------------------------By the time they reached town, Wulf was visible again, and the people fell back trembling from his angry countenance as he marched into town with Tully draped over his shoulder.They climbed the stairs to the top of the tower, to Dyson's cramped study. He dumped Tully on the floor. "Well... here we are. Guess we better wake her up and ask a few questions. I'm not taking any chances though, I'm going to have a potion first." Wulf dug in his pack for a potion.It was a Ghouls' Touch potion he'd picked up somewhere. He finally found a use for it.The halfling took the bait. "Got one for me?""Sure." Wulf drank his potion and advanced to the halfling with another potion in his other hand. Water Breathing, perhaps, or something equally useless.As the halfling reached for the potion, Wulf grabbed his wrist. His eyes widened in shock and surprise. "Hey, what are you... Ow...." The ghoul's touch flooded up his arm, threatening to paralyze him. The halfling fought off the effects and skipped back a step. Wulf advanced. "Wulf, what are you doing?""I'm knockin' yer out so we can figure out why yer betrayed us... again.""What are you talking about?""Yer went behind our backs AGAIN, peck, cuttin' deals with the forces of evil.""I did it for the good of the party! I was trying to make myself useful for you guys!""By turning assassin? By studying with evil ninja mercenaries?"Wulf tried to grapple the halfling, but he wriggled free."What, just because Wulf doesn't like me, I'm not allowed to broaden my horizons?""I warned yer before." Wulf tried to tackle the halfling again."This is silly, I'm just going to fly away."Wulf laughed. The halfing spoke the command word and his Wings of Flying unfurled to their full twenty-foot wingspan. Or rather, they attempted to: There simply wasn't room for such a large wingspan to fly in the top of Dyson's cramped tower."That'll teach yer to buy out o' the bargain bin. Next time invest yer money in a nice pair o' winged boots, jackass."Wulf opened his hands and his saps unrolled. He started pounding away at the halfling, who tumbled away, trying to defend himself. Halma watched from the top of the stairs. Keldas watched from near the window."Fine! I'm not even going to resist, then." The halfling stood still.Wulf knocked his lights out.----------------------------"Think back. How many times has he stood around watchin' us get pounded on? Watching us die? What about Kellick? And now we've lost Alliane. Yer have to ask yerself-- whose side is he on, anyway?"Keldas and Halma were unsure. "It doesn't seem right...""Yer know, the most dangerous evil is the kind that's right there next to yer. The one yer trust. The one yer travel with. But yer can't go soft now. We should kill him."Halma disagreed. "No! Take all his things, set him free...""So he can come back for vengeance later? I don't think so.""Then give him to Tully-- for justice.""So they can train him as a ninja and then he can come back for vengeance? Yeah, we need a pissed-off halfling ninja pr*ck dogging our heels. This is ridiculous. Yer had no trouble killin' Dyson, what's the difference? Evil is evil.""Maybe he's not evil.""Well, all the priests within a hundred miles of here are now dead. Awfully convenient if yer ask me. Trust yer instincts, boy, and if yer can't trust them, trust me. He's evil."Halma turned to go downstairs. "I need some air."Keldas spoke up. "Let's wake Tully, get her side of the story."She was still tightly bound, so Wulf brought her around. "What's yer relationship with the peck?""He came to Dyson and I last night...""Ach! No wonder he wanted his own room! The little weasel...""And I offered to take him in and train him.""An' what was his part of the bargain?""He agreed not to interfere with Dyson's plans at all."This caught Keldas' interest. "And those plans?""Dyson has been turning the animals in the area into humans...""He WAS...""... in order to raise an army so that he could take control over the whole countryside here."Keldas blanched. "Well..."Wulf gave him time to work through it."It seems pretty clear to me-- notwithstanding his other transgressions-- that if he agreed not to interfere with Dyson's plans, he was directly aiding an evil enterprise... and...""All right, yer talked me into it."Wulf drew his axe and, in one smooth motion, hacked the halfling's head off. Taranak exploded into flame again, as if taking pleasure in a deed long overdue.Halma came running into the room at the sound of the flame burst. "What!? What did you do?""We decided what had to be done." What are yer worried about? Yer left the room-- clear conscience, boy. Did yer do it on purpose, I wonder?Keldas pointed to Tully. "What about her?"Wulf spoke first. "I say we let her go. Send her home, no hard feelin's."Halma shook his head. "If Tamaloc deserved to die, so does she.""Right." Wulf lopped Tully's head off.They all sat quietly for a long time. Halma was the first to speak."I don't know if I want to travel with you guys anymore."</blockquote>

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