Investigating the evidence

"So, who is most likely to have had the resources and reason to have paid for us to be assassinated?" asks Vaelas as they sit around their usual table in the Horn Blowers Inn. Amelie serves up another round of ale while they each ponder over the question.

"Well those bandits that we put in jail are bound to have a score to settle with us," comments Hawk, idly picking at his nails with a dagger. "Doubt that they have the money to hire specialist help though, especially from behind bars."

"Were they assassins, or just hired swords?" Asks Avalon, "Only if they were assassins then I'm sure that there will be a formal hierarchy somewhere, and it should theoretically be possible to trace them back to whoever hired them." Everyone nods thoughtfully at this suggestion, which causes the Halfling to continue his thread of thought.

"I bet that if there is a formal band of assassins, then it will be one of the Dragonmarked Houses that controls them. Let's see, whilst House Tharashk includes bounty hunters, I think that they would lack the subtlety or tact to provide such services. The Elven houses on the other hand are shrouded un mystery and secrecy. Yes I bet Thuranni would be the house to focus on. Does anyone know much about Thuranni?"

Everyone shakes their head, giving Vaelas chance to air his own ideas.

"I'm not convinced that they were assassins, their weapons were 'mindblades', forged from sheer strength of thought. Whoever they were, they had been through some pretty rigorous psionic training; a fact that is confirmed by how resistant they were to your attempts at intimidation."

"We should not rule out the Kalashtar or Atavists in all this." Janin advises, "Even though they are said to be generally good people, who knows what extremes they will go to protect something precious to them."

"That said, I think it more likely that it is their enemies, the Quorri that were behind the attack, or the owner of the Knowledge Crystal wanting it back. Perhaps those two are even the same person."

"So, we're not really any closer to knowing who it was that attacked us?" summarises Dua. There are nods and several frustrated sighs.

Janin decides to see if a miracle granted by the Silver Flame can help shed some light on the subject. He walks out to the storage shed in the stable yard of the Horn Blowers Inn.

As he steps into the shed and closes the door behind him, several flies can just about be seen in the dim light, busily flying around the three corpses. A foul smell of death is already beginning to fill the room, and before the end of the day, the shed will no doubt stink.

Closing his eyes he stands before one of the dead sell-swords. He sprinkles a little holy water and says a prayer for the souls of the dead. He quickly follows that with a request to the Silver Flame to grant him the necromantic miracle he desires.

The familiar rush of divine power courses through him and passes onto the stiff corpse in front of him. Moments later the corpse opens its eyes and stares vacantly into space. Janin takes a shallow breath and gulps.

"What is the name of the person that ordered you to attack us?"

The divine power compels the corpse to speak. The voice, lifeless thanks to the spell merely animating the body like a puppet, sends a shiver down Janins’ spine.

"Unknown."

Vague and awkward muses Janin, a text book response. Let's try again.

"Were you ordered to take anything specific from us?"

"Yes..." Comes the reply. Janin feels the corpse attempt to stop its reply there, but he uses the remaining divine power in the miracle to force a more thorough response.

"...we were ordered to kill you, take all your belongings and return them to our master."

The corpse falls silent and closes its eyes. Disappointed with the lack of information retrieved, Janin returns to his inn room to ponder things over.

The others, still in the inn common room soon find their attention drawn to a drunk old man that stumbles into view. He staggers around the room asking for change, before working his way over to their table.

"Spares ssome change for ale guvrnor?" The man drunkenly slurs. When all at the table have turned their eyes to look at him, his face ripples slightly in an exaggerated wink motion around one eye." Recognising the drunk as a changeling, obviously trying to speak to them covertly, Hawk orders another ale and tells the drunk to sit.

When a few moments have passed and the changeling appears to relax a little, he speaks quietly to them.

"You are being watched. My employer cannot meet you today; he will send word again tomorrow."

Gulping the ale down in a single quaff, the drunk staggers to his feet, slurs a vague word of thanks and leaves the inn.

After spending a few minutes muttering to himself and growling, Hawk abruptly stands and leaves the common room, announcing that he is going to his room for a while.

With the immediate discussion clearly at an end, and evening drawing in, Avalon, D-Ablow and Dua head out to buy some provisions and to see if they can get the magical items that they found identified.

"I think that I’ll stretch my legs too." Announces Vaelas, and leaves the common room too. He waits in the alleyway beside the inn for a few moments, to ensure that he is not being followed. Finally he cautiously approaches the stables at the rear of the Horn Blowers inn.

Night has fallen, but outside he can still see reasonably well by the light of the moons. Stepping into the stables though plunges him into almost complete darkness. He cautiously moves forward, straining to hear sound of movement, breathing, anything.

The elf feels a shiver go down his spine as a half-familiar, hissing slurring voice greets him.

"Grreetingss Vaelass of Housse Thurranni. It iss good to finally meet you in persson."

Vaelas turns to his left and is able to just about see a darkly shrouded figure stood five feet from him. He focuses his senses on the figure, but it is simply too dark for him to make out any discernable feature. He still cannot even tell what race the figure is. With so much uncertainty i his mind, he chooses to remain silent and let the dark figure lead the conversation.

"Sso Vaelass, it hass been many monthss ssince anyone in our Housse hass hearrd frrom you. Now it rreachess our collective earrss that you have embrroiled yourrsself in ssome kind of invassion consspirracy theorry. Explain to me your rreassonss for excluding yourr benevolent patrronss."

Anger boils in the forefront of Vaelas' mind. He was just beginning to believe that he had put some of his past behind him, and now he finds himself being grilled again by his supposed superiors.

"Explain myself? Pah! When I was I was abandoned after my training had been completed, I wasn't sure where I stood in relation to the House."

"Abandoned? You fled, tail betwixt yourr legss!" The dark figure accuses back.

"Huh, that's your opinion, and you weren't there." Vaelas says scowling to the darkness.

"No matterr, the passt iss behind uss, and it iss the futurre that interresstss Thurranni. Let uss corrrect thiss breakdown in rrelationss, and why don't you tell me now all you know of thiss invassion of yourrss? Incidentally that wass me that you purrssued down an alley yessterrday."

Weighing up his options, Vaelas soon reaches the conclusion that the more people who know about it the better. So he relates the tale of the map that they found, and how it led to a hidden letter and eventually a psionically charged knowledge crystal.

He tells how he used the crystal and was implanted with the details of the invasion, but how he does not have the psionic discipline to access the knowledge in a reliable matter. He also explains how the knowledge is carefully edited to remove much context and thus render it useless to most people.

When Vaelas finishes his tale the dark figure speaks.

"I posssesss pssychic powerrss farr beyond yourr comprrehenssion, I may be able to learrn ssomething frrom thiss knowledge crrysstal, go get it and let me examine it."

Reluctantly, Vaelas reaches slowly into his backpack and brings out the large crystal. The miniscule veins glowing deep within it cause it to glow slightly. A series of brightly sparkling lights appear between the two conversationists, causing Vaelas to squint and avert his gaze slightly. He recognises the lights as the manifestation of a psionic power and remains calm.

Vaelas tries to use the lights to gain more detail of the dark figure. Unfortunately though the lights disrupted his nightvision to the point where he could see little until they had faded too much.

The figure stoops and appears to study the crystal for nearly two minutes before he straightens and speaks again.

"Interressting. I sshall take thiss to our massterrss for theirr perrussal."

"I can't let you do that." Vaelas replies, unsure of the reaction he will get. "The knowledge contained in this crystal is better off in the public domain. Having the knowledge hidden away in one single house is not in the best interests of everyone."

There is a sharp hissing noise from the figure, reminiscent of a sharp intake of breath.

"I am your ssuperriorr you rrealisse? Thiss iss inssuborrdination and there will be rreperrcussssionss."

"Tough." Says Vaelas trying not to smirk over the difficulty the figure had pronouncing his last word.

A stony silence rises and lasts for several awkward moments before the dark shrouded figure breaks it.

"Ourr meeting iss at an end, you may leave."

Vaelas turns to leave, but asks a final question before doing so.

"Do you know who our attackers were?"

"Pawnss in a game, put in play by the ownerrss of the crrysstal no doubt. Pawnss in a game, like uss all."

Trying his best not to shudder, Vaelas leaves the stable and heads back into the inn. He sees Janin sat alone at a table, and decides that it is time to share a bit more honesty with his travelling companions.

"Janin, can I have a word in private? There's something I think you should know."

Raising an eyebrow in curiosity, Janin leads Vaelas upstairs to his room. Once there Vaelas confides in the Silver Flame Cleric that he is a member of house Thuranni, and describes in detail the meeting he has just had.

"Why the secrecy? Why not tell us all this when we first met?" asks Janin. Vaelas shrugs.

"It's part of the way the House operates. We're trained to be secretive and a little untrusting. Plus there are those that would try and use me, manipulate me, and I prefer to keep things straight forward."

Janin nods solemnly.

"Well, I applaud your decision to hold onto the knowledge crystal. Thuranni have no right to it, and it is hopefully better off in our hands. I just hope that you don't have any major repercussions from the decision."

With little more to say, they return to the common room and spend the rest of the evening talking of different matters. They all retire for the evening and sleep well.

The next morning all our heroes are busy having breakfast when an official looking messenger turns up. Avalon, who has been spending some time researching the Dragonmarked Houses shares some of his knowledge with his companions.

"That's a House Orien courier he is. When a House Sivis sending station receives a message then the sender can choose to pay extra and have the message delivered by hand at the other end. For real urgencies."

Avalons speech gets the attention of the young courier and he wanders over.

"Begging your pardon but I'm looking for Avalon d'Jorasco. Would that be you sir?"

"Er....yes, I'm Avalon." Says Avalon, showing his House ring and activating its magical aura do demonstrate its authenticity.

"Message for you then sir." The messenger says, handing over a sealed letter. He then turns and leaves promptly. With curious looks from all his companions, Avalon breaks the seal, opens the letter and reads it aloud.

"It is with the greatest pleasure that I would like to invite Avalon d'Jorasco and his companions to high tea and pleasantries, to discuss matters of observance and fellowship."

"Please attend the Silver Spoon Inn at midday today. I will have a private room reserved for our comfort."

"Sincerely, Alestro Tharashk"

"Wow, this is my first invitation to a formal event. It's from a member of a Dragonmarked house too. Tharashk is the House of Finding. Not the most powerful of houses, but it's a start. Well, I'm going, who's coming with me?"

There are murmurs of ascent all round except from Vaelas.

"Well I guess that I’ll stay here then to see if our mysterious contact tries to make contact as the drunk suggested they would."

The others exchange a few bashful looks but soon get over it and return to their inn rooms to clean their clothes and brush their hair. Within the hour four well groomed and de-fleaed individuals are walking into the Silver Spoon Inn.

A serving maid greets them at the door, takes their drink requests and shows them to the room reserved for them. They are impressed with the luxurious decor of the room and the comfort of the lounging chairs, but disappointed to see that it is unoccupied. They settle down with their drinks to wait.

Back at Horn Blowers Inn, a familiar looking flower seller enters, buys a drink, and sits down opposite Vaelas. She leans back on her chair, puts her feet on the table and fixes Vaelas with a stare before finally speaking to him.

"You know, I think that you were meant to go with your companions to the meeting. My contract has been completed this morning, so I assume that someone else delivered the final details of where my employer wanted to meet you."

Vaelas sighs and relaxes a little. The flower seller introduces herself as "Pook" and confirms that she is indeed a changeling. She makes small talk with the elf for over an hour and flirts with him several times.

Meanwhile back at the Silver Spoon inn, the door opens, in steps cloaked figure. The clink of chain mail can be heard beneath cloak. The figure faces party and pulls back hood of cloak to reveal...

The aftermath

The opponent facing Hawk slices his green blade towards the Shifter and hits, slicing deeply. Hawk grimaces but uses the pain of the blow to fuel his rage and the proximity of his opponent to launch two savage blows. Hawks opponent crumples to the floor, unconscious but alive.

Hawk feels his battle rage begin to subside. A quick glance down at his wounds causes him to gulp nervously; blood is flowing freely from him and a light-headed feeling is growing within him.

Hawk grabs his collapsed opponent by his hair and drags him out of the inn, and drops him to the stable yard floor in front of his companions. Hawk then collapses in a heap next to his fallen foe.

"Good doggy" mutters Janin quietly to himself.

Avalon calls out to D-Ablow and climbs onto his back. Together with Vaelas, they close in on the final opponent as he finally untangles himself from Dua's magical webbing.

The sell-sword holds his hands up in a surrendering manner as he steps clear. Moments later though he is sprinting across the cobbles and runs straight up the stable wall, up fifteen foot and onto the roof. Vaelas manages to land a blow on the cowardly foe, but it does not slow him down.

D-Ablow turns, runs, performs a titanic leap and some how manages to scrabble onto the stable roof too. The dinosaur and the human face off, circling each other, testing defences.

The human creates a green blade from the end of his fist and slices it towards d-Ablow. It misses narrowly and D-Ablow unleashes his own salvo of attacks. A blur of teeth and claws means that the human is in poor shape only moments later.

Sensing he is clearly out-classed by the dinosaur, he runs down from the stable roof and across the cobbles to the inn. Janin meets him there and lays him out with a single blow from his mace.

Silence falls over the stable yard at the back of the inn. After half a minute the inn door opens and out steps Amelie, the elderly land lady.

"What’s going on? What’s this entire ruckus about?" Taking in the scene of fallen bodies and pools of blood, Amelie firmly plants her hands on her hips and looks expectantly at the obvious victors.

"There better be a good explanation for this and any damage to my inn better be paid for too!"

Avalon ignores the old woman and moves towards Hawk. He draws a wand from his pocket and uses it to treat some of the fallen Shifters wounds.

"We were attacked by these ruffians." Explains Vaelas. "I assure you that it was unprovoked, and we did everything we could to ensure that none of your other customers became involved or hurt."

Amelie squints suspiciously at the elf.

"Right, well we'll see about that. I'll go get a guard to arrest that one that's still breathing. You take those bodies and put them in the shed in the corner. Keeps things simpler for the guards that way and I’ll have someone dispose of the bodies later. Don't you guys go anywhere!"

With that the old woman begins shooing customers out of the inn, closes the doors and heads off down the street to find a city guard.

Avalon and Hawk gather the three bodies, relieve them of their armour and belongings, then put them into the shed as instructed. They then tie up the remaining foe, with his hands behind his back and put him in the stable.

Vaelas leaves to perform a lap of the streets around the inn.

"If someone paid these guys to attack us, then they may well be watching to see that they get their money's worth." He reasons. "I'll be back in a couple of minutes."

Janin stays in the stable yard to keep watch there.

Avalon uses his healing skills to treat the trussed-up human's wounds sufficiently for him to regain consciousness. Hawk then strides forward and grabs the human by the throat, lifting him slightly clear of the floor.

"Talk scum and we might let you live. Who sent you to attack us. Who are your masters?"

The human just about manages to muster a sneer before replying.

"Your threats are about as terrifying as your questions are irrelevant."

Hawk growls, deep in his throat. Avalon dismounts from D-Ablow and retrieves a rope from a saddlebag. He begins tying a complex knot in the rope and it is soon obvious that he is making a noose. Smiling he looks up.

"If he won't talk then let's get straight on with administering justice."

With that Avalon throws one end of the rope over a beam in the stables and lasso’s the humans head with the knotted end. He pulls the rope tight and ties the end to D-Ablow's pommel.

"Last chance to talk. Nothing to say? Fine, see you on the other side."

Vaelas has nearly finished his perimeter check when he notices a cloaked figure watching him from an alley way, sixty foot up the street from the Horn Blowers Inn. The hooded figure immediately steps back into the alleyway out of sight. Vaelas draws his scimitar and cautiously approaches the alley.

He peers down the alley entrance. It seems safe enough, a five feet wide gap between a butchers and a bakers. Litter and rubbish are the only features in it before it opens up into the next street after twenty feet.

He slowly proceeds down the alleyway until he emerges into the street at the other side. There is no sight of the cloaked figure and no threat as far as he can detect. Sheathing his sword, he retraces his steps.

Half way back along the alleyway he spots a familiar looking rag under some discarded paper. Pulling out with his foot, he recognises it as the cloak that the figure he spotted was wearing.

Giving the alleyway a final check in both directions, he takes the rags and heads back to the Horn Blowers Inn. He gives the rags do Dua and asks him to discern if there is anything magical about the robe.

Vaelas returns to the stables just as Avalon and Hawk are threatening to hoist the human up in his noose. Seeing that the human is resisting their attempts at intimidation though, they retrieve and stow their rope, then leave the stables for Vaelas to see if he can extract anything useful from their captive before the guards arrive.

"Well met, you fought well outside. A shame that you were out-matched." The elf says. The human raises his chin pridefully and visibly bristles at the comment.

"A minor miscalculation on behalf of my superiors. I said that we should have had one more on our side to even things up."

Encouraged by more than just a single word response, Vaelas decides to see if he can coax any more information or clues from the captive human.

"A minor miscalculation maybe, but one that cost your companions their lives. Still at least they had an honourable death in battle, presumably fighting for a cause that they believed in?"

Glancing suspiciously at the elf, the human clearly realises his ploy, but chooses to answer any way.

"It is good to see that not all of you are as barbaric as your Shifter friend there. Yes we are fighting for a cause that we believe in. However my obligation to my master means that I will not reveal details of our task, or why we were asked to perform it. I will give you the courtesy of my name; Soonan, but I cannot tell you any more than that."

Vaelas is in the process of musing where to take the conversation next when his sharp Elven ears pick up the sound of footsteps approaching....slow and light footsteps with quick heavy ones....probably Amelie with the guard....which is probably a Dwarf.

Vaelas turns to face the stable door just in time to see Amelie and a Dwarf in guards uniform enter.

"This is Welby." Says Amelie pointing to the guard. "He's here to arrest the scallywag that attacked you."

Vaelas explains to the guard a brief version of the events that took place, which Amelie corroborates, even though she probably only saw a fraction of what occurred. The dwarf scribbles a few notes on a his note pad, hits the human over the head with a light mace and walks off with the body slumped over his shoulder.

"Good, most efficient that one." Says Amelie. "Now, what about this damage to my inn. I can see roof tiles missing, windows broken, tables smashed, and blood everywhere."

Vaelas says nothing but tosses her a money pouch that they took from their attackers. Amelie opens it and winks slowly at the elf when she sees that it contains twenty five gold pieces.

With night now fully fallen, everyone heads up to Janins’ room to discuss the implications of the attack. Reasoning that the figure in the alleyway opposite might well have been the person that hired the sell-swords, they suggest that that might be worth investigating more.

Gargamadua returns the cloak from the alleyway to Vaelas.

"As far as I can tell, it is merely a tatty old cloak. Nothing magical about it, pretty old, poor quality. Looks like a beggars rags really, nothing more."

Avalon steps forward and has a look at the cloak.

"Let’s try something a little more mundane." He confidently suggests. "D-Ablow should be able to track the wearer of this cloak by scent. I'll take him down the alleyway and see if he can lead us anywhere."

Hawk goes with Avalon to follow the adage of safety in numbers. They take D-Ablow to the entrance to the alleyway and hold the cloak near his nostrils. The Clawfoot seems to understand what is required of him, and buries his nostrils in the material before sniffing deeply.

Suddenly the dinosaur rears up and snarls viciously, his eyes rolling frantically. Avalon tries to calm his mount, having never seen him behave like this. After a few moments D-Ablow has calmed and appears willing to follow the trail, but he clearly is not comfortable with what he might find.

The hunt ends sooner than expected however. It seems as though it begins at the start of the alleyway and then ends half way along it. Puzzled by their findings, Hawk gets down on his hands and knees and follows the trail with his eyes.

"I see here ridges in the dust where someone stood at the alley entrance and the robe we have rested in the dirt." Hawk carefully moves along the alley floor, careful not to disturb any vital evidence.

"And here, there are signs of the robe moving down the alleyway, and falling into a pile, discarded here. But....I don't understand it; there are no indentations of foot prints at any point. Was the wearer of the cloak flying?"

Unsure of what other conclusion to draw from the evidence, they return to the inn and tell their tale to their companions. Dua is the first to suggest an explanation.

"Perhaps it is a magically created floating eyeball from a crazed wizard that seeks our destruction at any cost?"

The room falls incredulously silent for a few moments before Janin speaks.

"Okay, so with no other suggestions, against all likelihood, we'll assume that that’s what it is for now. I think now would be a good time for us all to retire for the night. Some of us clearly need rest."

They split into two groups with Janin and Vaelas sleeping in one room and Hawk, Dua and Avalon sleeping in the other. Sleep soon comes and they all sleep uneventfully...except for Vaelas.

***

For the second time in a month you feel a tendril of non-aggressive psychic energy reach out to your mind and try to establish contact. Recognising it for what it is, you choose not to block the incoming telepathic contact.

The psionic bond settles into place in less than a second and you soon hear the hissing, slurring voice that you last heard in the devastated city of Vathirond.

“Vaelas Flameheart, my superiors at House Thuranni have received reports of a disturbing nature that we believe to have originated from you and your companions. We are curious to know more of your tale and are willing to listen.”

“So you may ask, why do I describe the reports to be disturbing in nature? The disturbing fact is that after House Thuranni made a gesture of faith and invested time and money in training you, you chose to completely leave us out of the loop in this matter. Still, our ears are…plentiful enough to hear of these matters independently.”

“You will meet with me two hours after the next sun-set, in the stables of the inn known as the Horn Blowers Inn. I will be alone and unarmed. You may bring weapons with you if you wish, but you will also come alone. Your companions may be nearby if you have any feelings of insecurity, even waiting in the stable yard if you wish.”

“House Thuranni expects your co-operation in this matter. I look forward to finally meeting you in person.”

Without waiting for a reply, the telepathic link ends.

***

In morning Avalon heads out to speak to Cade d'Jorasco. An employee of House Jorasco informs Avalon that Cade is indisposed today but that he has left a letter for him.

Avalon accepts the letter and reads it. It proves to be a copy of the letter that Cade had written to the House Jorasco Council on Avalon's behalf, informing them of the pending invasion they had discovered. There were also four replies from various house representatives. Avalon reads them with a look of grim determination growing on his face.

Janin goes to a house Sivis message station to send a report to superiors. He finds a message waiting for him however, and he also ends up with a slightly dismayed look on his face. He sends a reply and hopes for a better response this time.

The two adventurers head back to the Horn Blowers inn and both profess to have nothing of worth to report. The discussion again turns to where to proceed next.

A letter from Cade d'Jorasco to the house elders

To all that it may concern,

It is with more than a little chagrin that I write this report. At this stage I know not if I am making an utter fool of my parents, and myself or if I am averting disaster on a continental scale.

Allow me to get straight to the point.

A Dragonmarked house member has approached me and informed me that they have become aware of plans “for an invasion of Khorvaire”. At this time they were not able to provide any information of details, but they were adamant that the plans were genuine.

I believe that the house member reporting this information believe they were telling the truth. However I know not if what they believe is accurate or not. I have of course immediately set them the task of securing proof of any such “event”, and will keep the house council informed of any information that is forth coming.

In the mean time, I ask no more that house members be aware of this rumour and bear it in mind with regards to other information they might hear, wounds they might treat, or situations that they might find themselves in.

If this information proves to be nothing more than a rumour then I ask the house council for forgiveness in advance, and am fully willing to accept any penance that is deemed necessary, including excoriation. I ask only that consideration be given to the fact that I am writing this note in good faith and without the knowledge or consent of my parents.

I believe that it is better to be aware of a potential false disaster, than it is to be unaware of a real situation or this magnitude.

With the humblest respect,

Cade d’Jorasco, Starilaskur.

A battle of wills

With the sound of the sell-sword's footsteps fading down the inn's corridor, his ultimatum is left hanging almost palpably in the air of the small room.

"So, suggestions?" asks Vaelas. He casts his eyes around the room and sees his own feelings mirrored in his companions’ faces; reluctance to fight, but willing to do so if it means innocents avoid being harmed.

Even Hawk, who seems to have developed a habit of muttering to himself and randomly growling, nods in agreement.

"In Talenta we Halflings have a saying. 'A trap is not a trap if you choose to spring it.'" says Avalon. The Halflings' wise words are followed by a moment’s silence as each of our heroes checks their equipment over before the fight begins.

The silence is broken a few moments later by Hawk dragging open the window, and moving out to climb onto the rooftop.

"I guess that signals the start of our attack then?" Asks Janin, a little disappointed by the lack of communication and organisation. He steps out of the room, into the corridor and turns left to head down the stairs near the bar. Vaelas and Avalon step out of the room, into the corridor and turn right to head down the stairs near the kitchen. Dua steps out of the room, strides across the corridor and into the opposite room that looks down on the stable yard at the back of the inn.

Janin immediately realises that he is alone on his route and almost audibly groans at the apparent randomness of their attack approach. 'Maybe it will confuse the enemy as much as it confuses me', he muses to himself. While his companions are still within a dozen feet of him he issues a warning to them.

"I may be able to influence our enemies actions somewhat. If they don't attack you then don't attack them." He isn't completely sure if his companions hear his warnings, as they each carry on walking.

Hawk finally manages to haul himself onto the roof of the Horn Blowers Inn, and looks around. Rising slowly he spots an enemy waiting beyond the apex of the roof. The enemy has his back turned and appears to be waiting to pounce on someone below.

Hawks' lip slowly curls and he forces a snarl into silence. He feels himself wanting to 'Shift' and lose himself in the animalistic rage burning inside him. He calms himself and moves to close the gap between himself and his opponent in half a dozen long strides.

Thinking to push the waiting man off the roof, Hawk realises at the last minute that it might not have been the best option. As he closes the distance and crosses the apex he sees that the human has a glowing, green blade protruding from one hand. The human brings the blade to meet Hawk's charge and plunges the blade into Hawks side.

Hawk feels a searing pain lance into him followed by a powerful surge of energy that burns and cramps the muscles around the wound. Convulsing slightly from the pain and shock, Hawk sidesteps his charge and stops himself a few feet past the human.

"Welcome to the fight beast! Keep up with me if you can!!" exclaims the human, before running along the rest of the inn roof and leaping across a fifteen foot gap to land on the roof of the stables. There he turns to face Hawk and assumes a defensive stance, waiting.

Dua's raises himself onto the tips of his claws and peers out of the inn window. In the courtyard below he sees the other three humans stood laughing and pointing at Hawk fighting on the rooftop.

"Right, they came looking for a fight, we'll see how funny they find it once we turn the odds. Let's try out this 'Web' scroll on them."

The kobold reaches into his belt pouch and pulls forth a vellum scroll that is covered with arcane symbols. Brushing his clawed finger down the length of the scroll he quickly finds the draconic words that invoke the power of the scroll. He utters at them and focuses his will on the corner of the stable yard that the three humans are standing in.

The sorcerous kobold feels the familiar surge of arcane energy and is pleased to see strands of magic suddenly appear all around his foes. The magic quickly solidifies into thick, sticky, white strands that cover nearly a quarter of the stable yard.

Hawk sees his quarry leap the gap between the inn and the stable, and without even considering the possibility of failure, he also charges and manages to clear the distance. He rolls to a stop and rises to face his foe again.

The human facing him seems to spend a moment concentrating, or focussing himself. Much to Hawks dismay, the blade in his opponents’ hand grows visibly brighter as he does so. The glowing blade lunges at Hawk and narrowly misses.

Janin calmly steps out of the door at the rear side of the inn. He has spent a few moments surveying the fight and assessing options. Taking a single deep breath to steady himself, he speaks clearly, intoning a prayer to the Silver Flame.

"By the will and the righteousness of the Silver Flame, I command those that oppose me to be calm. Know that your aggression is misplaced, I have decreed it!"

All of the sell-swords find their attention drawn to the clerics command, albeit briefly. One of them merely laughs at the suggestion. Janin clasps his holy symbol tightly in his fist and concentrates on enforcing his divine command.

Vaelas twirls his scimitar at a blurring speed, causing his opponent to furiously parry the blows. Avalon reaches to his side, draws his Talenta Boomerang and launches it at an opponent, hoping to catch him un-aware.

Thwack! The boomerang hits. The human sees stunned for a split second while his battle senses catch up with him and process the new threat.

Vaelas and Hawk both continue their melee against their respective opponents, all the time aware that the other two sell-swords are gradually working their way clear of the webbing that entangles them.

Dua conjures up a bolt of magical energy and launches it towards on of the human sell-swords. It smashes through the inn window, sending glass flying, and slams into the chest of the target, leaving a smoking wound.

Finally Vaelas manages to spot and weakness in his opponents training. He feigns to swing a log blow and whips it up for a quick double strike to the torso. His opponent opens his eyes wide in shock and crumples to the floor.

The human fighting Hawk also takes a savage blow from the claws of the Shifter and runs vertically thirty foot up the inn wall and comes to a stop on the roof.

One of the humans in the webbing finally manages to work his way free of it. He wastes no time and sprints across the stable yard and runs up the inn wall to join his companion on the roof.

Dua, thinking that he could prevent the remaining human from moving around so freely, summons three celestial dogs to harry his foe. This appears to work, but unfortunately has the side affect of drawing attention to himself.

The two humans on the roof run down the wall, in through the window and bear down on Dua. One moves to block the doorway, the other creates a glowing green blade in his hand and moves to attack the Kobold.

Dua dodges the green blade as best as he can, but he does take one cut before there is a heavy thud followed by the sound of wood splintering. Suddenly Hawk's head appears through the window. He is almost frothing at the mouth with anger and frustration at his targets evasive tactics.

Determined not to let his foe escape again, Hawk lunges at him and manages to rip his claws deeply enough through the flesh to cause almost instant death. The human crumples into a heap, his glowing green blade vanishing as he loses consciousness.

With Janin's prayer to calm his foes emotions, finally losing its effectiveness, the opponent in the inn room with Hawk and Dua finds himself able to attack, but deciding that he doesn't like the tactical location.

He opens the inn room door, takes a sword in the gut from Vaelas, who was waiting on the other side, and stumbles away down the inn corridor.

Hawk, his bloodlust not quenched, gives chase.

An honourable challenge

Hawk is the first to speak.

"So the women at the brothel are changelings? They're not what they appear to be?"

Avalon does his best to take the information in his stride.

"Oh yes, Changelings can look like anyone they want to within reason. I believe that there is a certain amount of skill involved on their behalf though and it takes practice."

Amelie nods in agreement as the Halfling speaks. Avalon still isn't sure how he feels about the new information though, and decides to change the subject.

"So, what should be out next move? I seem to hold a certain amount of political sway within my house, thanks to the fact that I am Dragonmarked. We could go and talk to someone there, see how they can help us?"

Everyone agrees that it is a sensible suggestion, so Avalon and Dua head over to Starilaskur's House of Healing. Once there they soon manage to get an audience with the acting head of that house, Cade d'Jorasco.

"So let me get this straight," says Cade, "there is an invasion coming, but you don't know when, from where, by whom, why or how?"

Dua and Avalon both wince at Cade's brief but pretty accurate surmise of what they have told him. They reluctantly nod before Cade continues.

"Well, I'd love to be able to help, but since the Daelkyr invasion ten thousand years ago, rumours of an invasion seem to surface every few year or so. War and preparation for war are costly things, and with the Last War only just finishing, no-one will want to hear about an invasion coming, whether it is or not."

"The best that I can do, is to send a report to my contacts within the house, and mention that I have heard a rumour of an invasion. If I’m vague in my report then hopefully people will ask questions of their own contacts instead of pressing me for information that I can't provide. In the mean time, you'll have to continue working on your side of things to discover as much as possible."

Feeling a little deflated but sympathetic to Cade's response, Avalon and Dua head back to the Horn Blowers Inn. They recount their meeting to Hawk, Janin and Vaelas.

"Grrrr, it looks like all our hopes now rely on this Kalashtar finding us an Atavist contact," comments Hawk. "I give up, I'm off to bed."

The others soon retire too. Avalon is the last leave the common room of the Inn, and his Halfling curiosity gets the better of him. He heads back to the brothel up the road and pays for another encounter with the same "brunette Halfling" that he got to know previously.

The night passes and a sunny early-summer morning greets the heroes as they wake. They each take breakfast and then pursue their own goals for the morning, agreeing to meet up and head to the "Humble Host Inn" for early afternoon to meet up with the Kalashtar.

With the exception of Hawk, they all arrive at the inn and take a seat. Noting that the Humble Host is quiet, they comment on it to the barman and he says that is has been quiet all day.

Hours pass and there is no sign of any Kalashtar. The inn does get a little busier, but quieter than the day before. Finally by late evening, when the sun is setting Vaelas speaks up.

"I don't like this. Kalashtar are supposed to be trustworthy and honourable. The fact that this one has not kept his appointment with us is a concern. I wonder if he is either laid dead somewhere as a result of what we told him, or he has sold us out. I suggest that we return to the Horn Blowers inn and keep an eye out for trouble."

They all agree and casting wary glances around them, they head back to their lodgings. They pass the rest of the evening there, noting that the inn is actually quite a bit busier than normal. Amelie comments that she has no idea why, but isn't turning her back on the extra coinage.

As the evening gets late, a human woman enters carrying a basket of flowers. She meanders around the tables in the inn, hawking he wares with little success.

Vaelas offers to buy one, and is only marginally surprised to see a small note of paper wrapped around the flower stem. He closes his hand around it to conceal it from any observers.

Looking back at the flower seller, she winks at him and her face seems to almost shimmer or ripple. He waits until she leaves and speaks quietly to his companions.

"That flower seller was a Changeling I believe. Did you see her face when she winked?"

"No, her face was too well hidden by her head scarf." Replies Janin.

"Well," continues Vaelas, "whoever she was, she gave me a note with the flower. I think we should retire to our rooms and I’ll let you know what it says. Meet in Hawks room in five minutes."

Five minutes later, in Hawks room, Vaelas reads aloud the note that was wrapped around the flower stem.

"You're being followed, expect an attack during the night, I’ll be in touch tomorrow."

The room falls awkwardly silent. Hawk glances out of the window, and looks down onto the stable yard at the back of the inn. There he sees three human men, wearing chain shirts, but carrying no weapons. They are clearly loitering and have a shifty look about them.

One glances up and sees Hawk looking down. The human beckons to Hawk and then makes a throat-slitting gesture with his hand before laughing. Hawk simply scowls back.

"It looks like our night-time attackers have arrived a little early. They're in the stable yard now."

All five of the heroes in the room also then hear the sound of movement on the roof above their room. Dua swallows and then speaks.

"It sounds like another fellow might be on the roof above us. Can I suggest that we continue this talk in my room at the front of the inn?"

They relocate and lock the door behind them. They quickly discuss what to do. Fight? Flee? Fight where? Flee where? After a few minutes they have not reached a conclusion, but they fall silent when there is a knock at the door.

"Who is it, what do you want?" Commands Vaelas.

Janin squats down and peers through the keyhole at a distance. He sees a single human sized figure outside, wearing a chain shirt. Janin does a throat slitting motion with his hand, to imply that it is one of the same men that were in the stable yard moments ago.

A clear, well-spoken voice speaks from beyond the door.

"We have business together. I suggest that you meet us in the stable yard in a few moments so that no-one else needs to be hurt."

"I don't think so, clear off!" Vaelas replies.

There is momentary silence before the voice speaks again.

"Fine, we'll do it your way, but any innocents that die as a result; their blood will be on your hands."

With that, a single set of footsteps are heard walking along the corridor and down the stairs.

Return to Starilaskur

Hawk leaps through the portal and finds himself falling through the sky. It is a rather quick plummet of sixty feet that leaves him in a crumpled heap on the ground.

"I thought it was meant to be safe?" He asks no one in particular. Checking for broken bones he finds several possible fractures, cuts and bruises all over, but no obvious breaks or fatal injuries. Slowly hauling himself to his hands and knees, he finds himself in more pain than he has ever felt before.

"Must remember not to fall long distances again." He makes a mental note.

Back in the round room with the stone plinth, Vaelas, Dirk, Avalon and Janin peer through portal. They see night sky and looking downwards they see hawk laid out.

"Get Dua to assert control over the device and 'will' the hole lower!" Hawk weakly calls to his companions, again showing an uncanny demonstration for understanding the arcane device.

The suggestion is relayed to Dua and he tries to control the device using his strength of mind. Surprisingly enough he finds he has quite strong and precise control over how to move the destination of the gateway.

Dua lowers the portal to within a foot of the ground and Dirk and Vaelas step through it to help Hawk back to his feet.

"We best not hang around on this particular spot," says Dirk, "look, we're only a few hundred feet from the Hobgoblins camped above us! I mean...er...above the ruined house that we hid under."

"Dua, if Hawk, Vaelas and Dirk can step back through the portal, can you move it to Starilaskur to ensure us safe passage there?" asks Janin.

"It's worth a try." The kobold replies. "Everyone back through and i'll try moving it to Starilaskur."

With Hawk resting an arm around Vaelas and Dirk's shoulders each, the three of them lurch back through the portal and stumble back into the underground chamber.

"Owww!"

"Argh!"

"Bygedsbugger!" cry the three as they step back through the portal.

"Ah yes, meta-phasic teleportation often has an abrasive shift in certain directions." Dua states, fully expecting his companions to understand him. "This device has obviously had its' meta-phasic flow lubricated in an outward direction, leaving the inward journey less polished."

Realising that he is getting several blank stares from his companions, Dua gives up and focuses his attention on moving the portals destination to Starilaskur. The scene through the portal changes and the blur of the Darguun landscape can be seen flying past.

After a few moments the movement seems to slow somewhat and they can start to make out individual landscape features as they pass. After a few more moments, the portal has clearly come to a stop. A bead of sweat can be seen trickling down Dua's snout.

"That's as far as I can force it to go." The Kobold says, mental strain can be heard in his voice. His companions waste no time and all jump through the portal, quickly followed by Dua. With an audible 'Pop', the portal closes behind them, leaving them in silence on the cold morning plain.

It takes the group ten days of weary travel to reach Starilaskur. The first thing on their mind when they get back to the city is to ensure that they have a decent bed for the end of the night. Dirk volunteers to deal with their accommodation requirements.

"I tell you what lads, you guys do whatever you're going to do about this impending invasion. I'll head back to the Horn Blowers Inn and see if Amelia has room enough for us. I'll make sure the beds are clean and her kitchen is full too. How does that sound?"

Everyone agrees that it sounds like a rather good idea.

"When I've done that, I’ll have a go at polishing up those wooden hobgoblin figurines that we found. Make sure that they are genuine and not damaged in anyway. See you at the Horn Blowers for supper."

They bid Dirk farewell and spend a few moments discussing how best to proceed with the knowledge they have gained. After toying around with a few strategies, they decide to seek out Kalashtar and if possible Atavists.

They grab a passer-by and ask where to they are most likely to find a Kalashtar in Starilaskur. The reply comes that they are most likely to be found on the northeast end of town. Once there they ask directions and get pointed to a posh looking tavern called "The Humble Host".

Vaelas strokes his smooth Elven chin thoughtfully on the way in.

Inside they see a very clean and tidy atmosphere. A number of clearly wealthy merchants are sat at one table bartering over prices and goods. A half-elf barman stood at one end welcomes them and asks them how he can help. They order a drink each before getting down to business.

"Tell me," asks Avalon, "do you see many Kalashtar around here? We're interested in learning more about them and their customs."

Hawk is clearly feeling awkward in the prim and proper inn. He manages only one mouthful of his ale before declaring that he is heading to the Horn Blowers inn, and walks out.

"Yes, we have Kalashtar in regularly." The bar man replies. "They seem to like the atmosphere here." The half-elf takes in the travel-stained clothing of the heroes gathered in front of him before continuing.

"Our clientele here also appreciate their privacy and expect a certain level of civility too. I mean no offence but I would ask that you comply with the wishes of any Kalashtar that do enter, should they wish to not talk with you."

The group all assure the half-elf that they mean no trouble and that they will of course be on their best behaviour and show civility and manners.

"In that case, please take a table, enjoy the drink and atmosphere and I'm sure that a Kalashtar will be along within a few hours."

Meanwhile, Hawk arrives at the Horn Blowers Inn and is greeted warmly by Amelie, the old landlady.

"Oh hello dearie, Dirk said that you'd be along sooner or later. On your own at the moment?" She doesn't pause long enough for Hawk to fit in an answer. "Dirk has book rooms for you all for a week and paid for them too. He forked out for a plush meal for you all tonight too. He is a generous old soul isn't he? I've always liked him. Oh by the way, here's an ale, I expect that you’re thirsty after your travels. Dirk left you this note too. Don't mind me, I've got chores to be doing."

Hawk isn't sure whether to be impressed or worried by the fact that he is sat down with a drink, food and letter in front of him twenty seconds after entering the inn. Taking a swig of ale he opens up the note Dirk has left for them, and struggles, but slowly manages to read it.

Lads,

So long, I be leaving ya!

You're far too honest for me to make a living, so I'm off to swindle some old woman somewhere out of her fortune.

Have fun averting your war, I’ll be sure to advise any one important that I meet about our impending doom!

My only regret is that I didn't swindle you lot too. But I guess the good side of that is that you might not kill me if we meet again.

Dirk.


Muttering a curse, Hawk shakes his head in disgust. He stuffs the note in his pocket, to show to his companions later.

Back at the Humble Host, two hours have passed and there is no sign of a Kalashtar. Janin, who has been writing a letter, stands up.

"I'm going to a House Sivis Sending station. I have a report due to make to my superiors. I'll be back shortly."

Dua also stands and gathers his belongings.

"I will go and get these items we have found in Darguun, evaluated. I'll be back shortly too." With that, Dua and Janin leave. Vaelas and Avalon both sigh, sit back and order another ale.

Janin and Dua return after about an hour and find Vaelas and Avalon still sat there looking bored.

Another two hours later, just when they are beginning to wonder if the bar man was exaggerating; a male Kalashtar enters the inn and heads over to talk to the half-elf proprietor. The bar man nods over at the heroes and a few moments later the Kalashtar walks over to them.

"Travellers! Greetings and Welcome to the Humble Host. I understand that you have questions to ask regarding my race and our ways and customs. I'm always happy to enlighten the curious. Please ask away."

Vaelas asks a little first about the Kalashtar in general, then a little about Il Yannah and finally about Atavists. The Kalashtar’s responses reveal very little new concerning Kalashtar and Il Yannah. However it seems that the Kalashtar knows even less than they do about what an Atavist is.

"It sounds like a Kalashtar word, but it is not one that I'm familiar with," he confesses. "There are a few other Kalashtar in the city, let me speak to them over night and I’ll see if they can provide any information about these Atavists."

They agree to meet the Kalashtar in the Humble Host inn, in one days time, and they bid him farewell.

"Before I go," he says, "if I do have need to contact you before then, is there somewhere I can reach you more directly?"

"We're staying at the Horn Blowers Inn" replies Dua. The Kalashtar nods and leaves.

"I'm not sure that that was wise." Vaelas says to Dua. "We don't know who we can and can't trust, and it might be best in future to not reveal our sleeping location."

With a slight feeling of insecurity, they leave the Humble Host and head back to the Horn Blowers. With a few hours before sundown, they all do a little shopping on the way, spending the money that Dua managed to get for the items he had valued and subsequently sold. Vaelas and Avalon both order new armour, but have six days to wait before it will be ready.

When they finally get back to the Horn Blowers inn, Amelie greets them and offers them all a drink and meal "On Dirk", just as she did with Hawk. Hawk, who is still sat there, shows them Dirk's note.

"Slimy scoundrel! I'll slit his throat!" says Vaelas, causing more than a couple of patrons to regard the elf warily.

Amelie comes back over bearing a try and drinks and more idle chatter.

"A couple of changelings from the brothel up the road were in here the other day. They were asking after you Avalon and Dirk. Said that you were both nice clean gents and paid well. I know I always appreciated that back when I worked the mattress."

A few confused stares are exchanged between the heroes. Avalon seems at a momentary loss for words, but soon re-gathers his composure.

Hawk takes flight

Before Avalon has chance to ease himself off the spears that are impaling him, they shoot back into the wall. Fearsome of a second stabbing, the Halfling pulls the reigns on his mount and the two of them stumble back away from the trap area.

His companions help him to the ground and offer their support. The proud Halfling insists on caring for his dinosaur first though and uses the power of his Dragonmark to heal the beast, before turning his attention to his own wounds and merely cleaning them to avoid infection.

Carefully avoiding the spear trap, Hawk explores the passageway beyond it. He is frustrated to see that the passageway turns a corner and comes to a dead end after only twenty feet.

"Bloody rats crap!" he declares. "It looks like the hobgoblin words were meant to scare the stupid, and we fell for them. Let’s try the other passage.....carefully."

Stalking carefully along the 'Certain death' passage way, conscious of the sounds of the Warg howls overhead, the heroes turn a bend, descend some more steps and find themselves facing a large stone door.

A single word is written above the door, written in a strange alphabet, alien-looking to all but Janin. The young cleric casts his mind back and briefly recalls a time many seasons ago when he studied the language.

At the time he felt the guilty thrill of studying forbidden material, but he had rationalised it out in his mind, and was convinced that one day a little knowledge of the letters and language of the Abyssal creatures might prove more than just a little useful. Now it seems that it might not just prove useful, but also save all their lives.

"I know what it says. It is a word that means to 'climb' or 'go up'. Shall I speak the word?" Janin asks his companions.

With only seconds before they find the wolves at their heels, the group take a quick vote and unanimously agree that Janin should say the word. Janin nods and practices the pronunciation silently in his mind to ensure he says it correctly.

"Ascend!" he says in the Abyssal tongue. There is a flash of light and the stone door slowly swings open. Peering inwards, they see a deserted stone room with four exits from it. There is no apparent danger in front, and plenty behind, so they all enter the room, at which point the stone door slowly swings shut.

"Look at it! That door must be over one foot think! And it's solid stone!" Comments Avalon. "I think that should hold those dirty goblins off for a good while. Now, shall we find what kind of place we're in?"

Before anyone has time to move, the sounds of the Wargs and Goblinoids can be heard above them. After a few seconds there is the sound of a loud 'yelp' from a Warg. Avalon grins and pats D-Ablow gently.

After a few more seconds, dull hammering noises start on the other side of the stone door. Everyone draws weapons and braces themselves. They wait and the thudding continues. Muffled shouts and grunts are thrown in after a while, but it seems that the door is as solid as they dared hope.

Noticing that the pack mule is more than a little upset by the noises and darkness, Avalon makes soothing noises and does his best to calm it and his dinosaur while the others explore.

Taking stock of their surroundings a little more, Vaelas checks some of the exits from their current room.

"It looks like this was a sub-cellar for the building above. There are three small rooms just off it here though. They look, and smell, much like prison cells. Different architecture to them too."

Dirk has a quick look and nods his agreement. "Aye, looks like this sub-cellar was built with the original building probably a hundred and fifty years ago. These three cells and that passageway leading east were all built within the last fifty years by my reckoning."

Janin nods and suggests caution as there is no knowing who modified the cellar and for what purpose.

Going slowly and carefully, Dua proceeds east along the rough stone passageway. After forty yards he reaches a crossroads. A quick glance to the left and right show that both passages lead to a dead end after only a dozen feet or so.

"Most odd" he says to no-one in particular before carrying on along the main passage. He has gone around five feet past the junction when he hears a subtle 'click' and a large blade scythes out of the wall and misses him by a breath.

"Would anyone else care to lead?" He enquires. "Only I think that there may still be more traps around."

With no obvious volunteers to lead, the wily Kobold produces some chalk from his belt pouch and after carefully testing the floor with an old sword, he manages to trigger the scything blade trap a few times and mark out what area of the passageway it is safe to tread on.

"Avoid any area of the floor circled in chalk!" He says and boldly steps beyond the trap.

Meanwhile Hawk, Vaelas and Janin are discussing how to get the pack mule past the trap.

"We can't really get it to avoid the chalked stones. You know how stubborn and unpredictable mules can be" points out Janin.

"If only it was a Valenar War Horse, it could leap over the stones and carry us all with it." Suggests Vaelas wistfully.

"Dua said that we found a magic potion to make things float. Perhaps we could give that to the mule and push it past the trap." Suggests Hawk solemnly.

Vaelas and Janin exchange looks, unsure if the Shifter is trying to be serious or funny. Once they get past the mental image of a floating mule, they soon realise that it might actually work.

"Oooops." Says Avalon as he hears another 'click' noise, followed by a low grinding noise near the scything blade trap.

"I was just checking these two side passages and when I entered the second one, the north one, there was a click noise."

Dua heads back to the trap and tries to trigger it with the old sword. It seems that the trap has been disabled. So they ignore the levitating donkey idea for now and usher everyone past the trap. They just about pass it when another low grinding noise is heard and they conclude that the trap has rearmed itself.

With the sounds of hammering on the stone door getting slightly more distant, they continue along the rough-stone passageway and emerge into an eight-sided room that looks like it could be very meagre living-quarters.

"Bed with rags, table with chair, wooden drinking cup, bowl and cutlery. All the domestic signs one would expect." Concludes Dua. They quickly search the room but find nothing unusual, and continue along the passageway out the far end of the room.

The passageway continues east for ten foot beyond the room before turning southwards. Heading south they soon find a split in the passage. It continues south but a new passage heads west too.

Peering westwards they soon conclude that something magical must be preventing them from seeing more than five foot along the passageway. Their Darkvision spells from Dua's wand seem to be working still, but they simply cannot see anything but darkness.

Avalon picks up a stone from the passageway floor and tosses it gently into the darkness. It continues for a while and seems to come to a natural stop. He picks up and tosses a second stone a good bit harder. That stone skips along for a while and then sounds to stop more suddenly.

"I reckon that the passageway continues for around forty to fifty feet." He concludes. They all agree but decide to leave the dark passageway and continue south instead.

After sixty foot they find the south passage abruptly ending at another stone door with another Abyssal word written above it. All eyes turn to Janin expectantly.

"I can read it. It is a word that means to search or to find new places. The previous word seemed to prove harmless enough. Do you all agree that I should say this one?"

After a brief discussion they all agree that they seem to have little option and Janin says the word.

"Explore!" He spits out authoratively. More than one of his companions feel a shiver traverse their spine at the sound of the harsh tongue. The door lights up briefly and slowly swings open to reveal another room beyond.

"End of the road." Says Hawk, noting that there are no exits from the new room. Stepping in cautiously they look around the new room.

Just beyond the entrance they find a strange U-shaped stone plinth and just beyond it a smooth, circular, concave dent in the room floor. Strange signs and shapes adorn the cave walls, drawn in chalk with little precision or detail.

"The ramblings of a madman, or the thoughts of a genius?" Muses Vaelas. "I guess that we will never know." Dua, who has been examining the room using magic, offers his thoughts.

"There is definitely some kind of method to the madness. I see feint, inactive veins of magic running from the stone plinth to the floor dent. It is a magical device of some description; although what it does I am not sure. I can detect subtle hints of Conjuration magic, but it is a...flavour that I have not seen before. Let me try something."

The Kobold stands in the centre of the U-shaped stone plinth, stares directly at the concave dent. He seems ready to say something, but pauses, rolls up his sleeves and focuses again. Finally in his most commanding voice he speaks.

"Come forth fiend of fire! Emerge elemental entity! Appear alarming abberation!!!" Nothing appears to happen. The kobold relaxes a little and scratches his head.

"I guess that's not how it works then." He concludes.

"Perhaps something in here will help us out." Says Vaelas pointing to the wall behind him. His companions all look at the wall behind him, then back at the elf and finally back at the wall. Dirk is the first to speak up.

"Oh, that concealed room? Yeah, I was going to mention that. I spotted it when we came in of course. Dodgy stone work like that...never fool me for a moment."

Rolling his eyes, Vaelas suggests that Dirk shows them how to open the room and demonstrate just how dodgy the stonework is. The dwarf, looking rather uncomfortable at the prospect steps over to the wall and begins tapping it and prodding it. Within a few seconds he has a big grin on his face and a concealed door in the cavern wall pops open.

Muttering something about "sheer luck", Vaelas steps into the new room. It seems that the new room is something of a vault or storage room. It doesn't hold a large cache of items, but it does contain a few treasures.

They quickly look through the items and Dua catalogues what they find.

"Some red and gold boots that are magical, a wooden staff that is also magical." As Dua picks the six-foot staff up, it shrinks in his hand to become three-foot long. He puts the staff back down but notes that it stays the new size.

"That dagger there is Adamantium!" Comments Dirk. "It'll cut through steel as if it were paper. Bloody good job that those hobgoblins haven’t got it or they'd be through that stone door by now."

"Oooh my word, and those," Dirk adds pointing to a collection of five wooden figurines of hobgoblins, "those are collectors items. Only worth about a hundred each on the open market, but find the right collector and he'll owe you a favour worth more than ten times their gold value. I'll happily forgo my share of any treasure for those alone." The others in the group see no reason to dispute the information or deny him the figurines, so they agree.

The group discuss what to do next, eventually they decide to try venturing into the darkness. They agree that first Dua will try to 'dispel' the darkness using a scroll they had found previously. Unfortunately the darkness spell seems more powerful than the scroll, and the darkness persists.

Eventually Hawk volunteers to go into the darkness. He ties one end of a rope around his waist, gets down on his hands and knees, and slowly crawls forward into the darkness.

With his sight denied to him, he concentrates as hard as he can on his other remaining sense. There are no obvious smells nearby, other than the dry air that fills the whole subterranean complex. No sounds other than his companions quietly waiting behind him. Trying to taste anything seems foolish, so he relies on his sense of touch.

There is no change in the feel of the rough stonework of the passageway. It still feels uneven and crude in form; slightly dustier maybe. The passageway does feel to get wider after only a few feet though. A few inches further and Hawk can feel that he is no longer in the passageway, but in a room instead. Thinking back to Avalon's stone throw, he opts to continue crawling in the same direction.

After about forty foot of crawling, he notes his movement sounds slightly different. Reach to the sides he realises that it is because he is now in a five-foot wide passageway again. He crawls another couple of feet and emerges from the magical darkness into normal darkness.

"I'm through!" He calls back to his companions. "The darkness ends after forty feet; there is some kind of room between here and there. I suggest that we check the dark room out more thoroughly."

Vaelas ties a rope around his own waist and the Elf and Shifter both feel their way around one edge of the room each. They soon discover that the room seems to be a pretty featureless thirty foot wide round room. Unsure what to make of the darkness, they explore the passageway beyond it.

The passage continues for around twenty foot and opens up into a grimy room that contains several broken wooden crates. The ancient remains of rotted food can just about be detected in some of the crates. Miscellaneous junk are in others, possibly belongings scavenged from the ruins above. None of it looks worth salvaging, except for a small collection of six scrolls that are tightly bound up.

Dua eagerly examines them and discovers that three of them are arcane and three are divine in nature. He gives the divine scrolls to Janin and puts the arcane ones in his own backpack to examine later.

With their avenues of exploration now exhausted, the group discuss what to do next. Dua returns to examine the three cells at the start of the underground area. His experience as a domestic servant, under his former master allows him to identify six different types of excrement in the various cells. He soon concludes that this extra fact is not going to help them escape their current confinement. Eventually Hawk comes up with an unusually enlightened suggestion.

"Dua, try placing your hands on the stone plinth and channelling your magical energies into it."

With a little uncertainty everyone gathers behind Dua as he stands in the middle of the U-shaped stone plinth and slowly lowers his hands until they come to rest on the cold stone. He immediately feels the plinth sucking magical energies from him. Flashes of light arc from the plinth, across the floor and gather around the circular dent in the floor.

Suddenly a orb-shaped scene of night sky appears above the circular dent. Without a word Hawk steps past his companions, leaps into the night sky and vanishes. A distant "Arrrrrrgggghhhhhhhh!" can be heard, follow by a very distant "Thud!".

If this was a cartoon, a small circular cloud of dust would be seen rising from the ground.

Hunted and Hounded

With the hobgoblin platoon slowly coming along the canyon floor, the group head eastwards. They hug the canyon wall where possible, and use the undulating surface to cover their escape.

They soon reach the end of the canyon and start to double-back west along canyon top. Suddenly a series of howls and excited barks can be heard. The group exchange glances and quicken their pace a little.

"Sounds like they've found the bear carcass; let's hope that the bear stench helps cover our scent for a while" says Hawk. The shifter then glances towards the canyon edge thoughtfully.

"I'm just going to check over the top of the canyon, see if I can get an idea of how much about us they have discovered."

He approaches the canyon top, wriggles on his belly and peers over the edge. Unfortunately a goblin below him chooses that moment to glance upwards and spots him.

A cacophony of noise suddenly rises from below and it soon becomes apparent that the pursuers are heading east along the canyon and following the trail. Hawk retreats from the cliff edge and reports the bad news.

The group spots a natural furrow in the land heading southwest and decide to use it to try and cover their escape. They avoid visual contact with their pursuers, but the sound of them is not far behind.

After about a mile the furrow splits in two. They take the right option and go west towards mountains. The pursuers are getting closer, by the sounds.

After carrying on for another mile a stream runs from north to south across the furrow. A quick discussion occurs as they approach the stream and they decide to head north up the stream, hoping to use the water to cover their scent somewhat.

Avalon tries to lay a false trail heading south down the river. He seems convinced that it should work well.

After forty-five minutes of tiring up-stream running they take a furrow south west again. The sounds of pursuit seem to be falling behind a little at this point.

They soon meet a fork in current furrow and have to choose between south and northwest. With trees covering them northwest, they choose that direction and continue; the sounds of pursuit growing ever more distant.

With the feeling of impending doom slowly passing, they run and walk until early evening and strike camp in a small hollow in the ground. The mood is sombre and conversation largely revolves around how best to escape from Darguun undetected.

Come midnight, Hawk hears Warg howls on wind. He points it out to his watch-companion, Dua, and wakes up Vaelas to tell him. Vaelas wakes Janin and after a quick discussion, they use a Darkvision charge each and continue westwards through the night.

The sounds of Wargs are getting closer and they soon guess that they have around ten minutes before they are caught. They spot dark shape on horizon and head towards it, hoping that it might be something that can provide shelter or a distraction. Their luck is in as it turns out to be abandoned building.

Quickly searching the abandoned building, their hopes beginning to fall. They look for places to hide, defend from, or set traps in, all to no avail. The forty by fifty foot, three storey ruin of a manor house looks like a lost cause.

Just as they are about to leave, they find stairs leading below and they explore in a vain hope of finding sanctuary. The steps go down fifteen foot and open into twenty foot by twenty foot room with two passages off it. Above one passage, written in blood, using the hobgoblin language is the message "Certain death lies this way".

Dua says right, let’s take the other passage then. Avalon does so, and the Halflinh and his dinosaur steed are impaled on a triplet of spears that suddenly shoot out of the wall.

Knowledge granted

As Hawk sits and methodically skins one of the bear carcases, he glances up and notices that the other bear is still breathing. He glances round; none of his companions are close enough to notice, most of them still searching the inside of the bears cave for clues.

Hawk moves around to the still-living bear and quickly cleans its' wounds. He than grabs one of each of the bears rear legs and heaving as hard as he can, he drags the bear along the canyon, away from the cave. It takes a while and is slow-going, but eventually the bear is nearly one hundred meters away from the cave.

Hawk sits for a moment to get his breath, and as he does so, the bear regains consciousness. The two circle each other, the bear trying to return to the safety of its cave and Hawk trying to keep it away from the cave to avoid having to kill it again.

Eventually the bear sniffs the air and seems to get the message. It backs off slowly, snarls and stumbles away in an easterly direction. Hawk watches it go and then returns to his friends at the cave. His conscience feeling slightly better than it did earlier.

Janin looks up. "Ah Hawk, good of you to join us." The Silver Flamer says, undertones of sarcasm are barely detectable in his voice. Before the two can start another argument, Vaelas steps in.

"We're just arranging search procedures to try and get us to the end of this map. I'm going to search along the top of the canyon cliff. Dua, Janin and Dirk are going to search the inside of the cave. Can I suggest that you help Avalon and D-Ablow search along the bottom of the canyon wall, to check that there aren't any other caves we have missed?"

Hawk nods and sets off to search with the Halfling and his Clawfoot dinosaur.

The day wears on, and the hours pass away as they all search. As the light of day begins to fade, none of the heroes have found anything new and they all return to the bears cave with a feeling of slight frustration.

As he is about to descend from the top of the canyon cliff, Vaelas' keen Elven eyes spots a lone figure moving, about a mile to the south of him. Squinting into the fading light, he can just make out enough detail to determine that it is a Hobgoblin riding a Warg. Vaelas judges it to be a concern but not an immediate threat.

When they are all back at the cave in the canyon floor, they sit round and discuss the facts that they know, in the hope that something new will occur to them.

"Dua, remind us what you learnt about Kalashtar from the library in Starilaskur." Asks Janin.

"Well, they are said to generally be honourable and just folk. They follow a religion called 'Il Yannah', which is also known as the Path of Light. Their ethos seems..."

Suddenly Hawk interrupts Dua's recap.

"Il Yannah rewards the faithful!" His companions exchange a few blank glances. "Il Yannah is the Path of Light! Of course! I bet that sun-rise is the key. As the sun rises tomorrow morning, I bet that the light through the three slits in the cave will reveal something to us. In fact, why wait, let's go look now!"

With that, he removes his armour and squirms his way up the spiral passage to the upper cave. He pulls some fishing wire from a pocket and uses it to try and predict where the suns rays will fall when the sun rises the next morning.

Surprisingly enough, the light from all three slits seem to converge on a single spot, about the size of a human child’s head, on the wall behind the slits in the cave wall.

"Aha!" He cries with success, a smug grin plastered all over his face. "Uneducated savage they call me. Who's the smart one now eh?" He looks round, but is disappointed to see that only Dua has followed him up into the cave to share in his moment of revelation.

Dua smiles silently and nods at him before producing some chalk and drawing a circle around the lump on the cave wall where the suns rays will converge. They both examine the lump of rock, but seeing nothing unusual about it; they conclude that the sun must be they key to revealing their theory to be true.

They head back down to the lower cave and inform the others of their findings. It is soon agree that they should bed down for the night and check the cave wall again at sunrise. They set watch and settle down for the night.

During his watch, Hawk fashions the bear skin to be wearable with the bears head and teeth resting on his own head. The shifter considers donning his new headgear and waking Janin to see if he can scare him though. He eventually decides it is below him though and resumes the task of cleaning the skin.

Many hours later, a few moments before the sun is due to rise, Dua, Avalon, Dirk, Hawk and Vaelas all climb up the narrow spiral passageway to the upper cave and eagerly await the first rays of dawn. Janin stays in the lower cave and keeps an eye out for D-ablow and their pack mule.

The seconds slowly pass and after what seems like an age, the sun finally rises and its rays burst through the cracks in the cave wall, and converge on the chalk-circled lump of rock on the cave wall.

"That's pretty. Is something meant to happen?" Asks Vaelas disappointedly.

Hawk grunts and walks over to examine the cave wall. He tries pushing it, twisting it, pulling it and even licking it. To all intents and purposes though, the cave wall seems to be nothing more than a wall of solid rock.

Vaelas steps up and raps his delicate Elven knuckles on the lump of rock, and then on the wall to the side of the rock.

"There is definitely a difference in sound. It could be that our prize is somehow buried inside the cave wall. I can see no sign of the rock being worked though by tool or magic. Dua, I assume you have searched the cave for signs of anything magical?"
Dua nods. Before Vaelas continues.

"Dirk, do you have a hammer on you?" The dwarf reaches into his backpack without looking, and produces a small miners hammer. "Good, would you care to demonstrate the Dwarven method of extracting valuables from solid rock?"

Dirk frowns. "Do some mining you mean? Aye, that I can have a go at." He steps up to the lump on the cave wall and taps it gently with his hammer. A very small chunk of rock drops to the floor.

"Er...I was just testing the strength of the rock." Dirk assures them. "You gotta like er, know how tough the rock is so that you know how hard to hit it to break it. Right?"

A few eyebrows are raised sceptically as Dirk swings the hammer back much further and swings it solidly into the cave wall. There is a loud 'Crack' and a second later, a large lump of rock hits the floor. The cave is suddenly illuminated with scattered rays of light, as the sun shines directly onto a large crystal that Dirks' hammer blow revealed.

Carefully chipping away a few more fragments of rock, the large crystal is soon pulled free from the wall and examined by the excited adventurers.

The crystal is about six inches long and five inches wide. On the underside of it there is a smooth concave circle carved into the crystal. Looking closely, incredibly fine, yellow veins of glowing light can be seen inside the crystal.

"As is probably expected, it's not magical." Remarks Dua. Dirk frowns and speaks up.

"It may not be magical, but it may well function in a similar manner, or follow similar design rules. I've got a bit of a knack when it comes to magic items, do you mind if I have a look at this and see if I can offer any insight into it?"

The group agree and Dirk sits down in the corner of the upper cave and spends ten minutes examining the crystal from various angles. Tapping it, shaking it, examining it very closely and even from afar. Eventually he rises from the floor and offers his thoughts.

"Well, Dua is definitely right that it's not magical. I'm confident from the design though that it is activated by putting it on your head. The concave part should make contact with the forehead and it should....do....whatever it is it does."

Janin, listening to the conversation from the lower cave, retrieves the note that they found at the bottom of the well. He re-reads it and points out part of it to his friends in the cave above him.

"It says here that it is a 'knowledge crystal', and I think that it probably contains details of this attack that the Kalashtar seem worried about. It also mentions that one of them may have been harmed in retrieving the crystal. We should be very careful in what we do with this crystal, even if we do know how to activate it."

Janin then stows away the Atavists note and retrieves from his possessions a small pouch that contains powdered silver. He sprinkles the silver powder carefully into a ceremonial circle on the cave floor, and he intones a prayer or protection to the Silver Flame while he works.

As he finishes his work, his friends all descend from the upper cave and end up being stood in the middle of the silver circle, without them even realising it. Janin points the circle out after a few moments and proceeds to explain how it should help protect them from possession and evil spirits.

Hawk scowls and leaps out of the circle when he sees it. The shifter seems to dislike the idea of having anything to do with Silver Flame miracles.

The discussion turns towards deciding who should be the one to try out the knowledge crystal. It is quickly pointed out that as the crystal appears to work from 'magic of the mind', and that as Vaelas is the only one with any kind of experience of this, he should be the one to try it.

Before Vaelas has chance to consider the option much, the others hand him the crystal, step out of the silver circle and look at him expectantly. Janin casts a localised version of his protection spell on the elf before stepping aside, "just as an extra precaution" he assures.

Vaelas whispers a quick prayer for his ancestors to guide him and protect him, before he closes his eyes and lifts the crystal towards his head.

***

You place the crystal to your forehead and feel its cold surface make contact with your skin. For a moment you wonder what you actually expected to happen. You are about to pull the crystal away when suddenly your head becomes awash with images streaming straight from the crystal directly into your mind.

A torrent of information screams past your eyes and through your mind too fast for you to process or understand. As the moments pass, you gradually grow accustomed to the sensation, and it slowly dawns on you that everything you see it being tucked away, somewhere, deep in the recesses of your memory.

Feeling a little more confident in what is occurring, you try and focus on the images and information as it passes through your senses. Within seconds you are left in no doubt that what you are seeing is no-less than the plans for a complete invasion of Khorvaire.

Sections of maps flash in front of your eyes, followed by tactical notes of how to best secure and defend each area. Details of troop deployment quantities are quickly followed by suggestions of tactical unit combinations.

The flow of obvious military information wanes and is gradually replaced by political facts and points. Suggestions of leverage points are listed along-side potential blackmail reasons and known vices. The flow of information begins to slow as grudges and historical enmities are implanted somewhere in your mind.

Strangely from all the information that flows through you, details seem to be missing. Location names are absent, people names, time scales, order of events, general context is completely absent. The information has obviously been carefully 'cleansed' before being stored in the crystal; it even avoids mentioning whom the invaders are or where they will come from. A powerful wealth of information, but of disappointingly little use in anger.

The final few facts that are forced upon you, all seem to revolve around potential trouble spots for the invasion. Locations that would be hard to take control of, resources that would be difficult to seize, people that might be smart enough to realise what was happening and maybe even take counter-measures.

You focus your mind on these last few facts, hoping to grasp hold of something that will be of use to you before it fades. You manage to focus for a split second and grasp hold of the letter 'K'. Holding on to that that letter is like holding onto a bush in a hurricane and hoping not to be blown-away; somehow though you manage it.

Suddenly the transference from the crystal stops. You take the crystal down from your forehead and look around. Your friends, allies all stand there looking expectantly at you.....

***

Feeling slightly shaken by the experience, Vaelas relates what he saw to his friends. They all fall silent for a few moments while they consider what their next step should be. Dua is the first to come to a conclusion and breaks the silence.

"Well it seems to me that our top priority is to get back to a major city and find some Kalashtar, possibly an Atavist too, and see if they can shed some light on things for us."

Avalon, who was keeping an eye out along the canyon, speaks up.

"No, I think that the top priority is to avoid the goblinoid army that is descending on us."

He receives a universal reply of "!" and people quickly but quietly move to peer westwards. They see eight hobgoblins riding Wargs coming towards them. Behind the Wargs are a number of foot soldiers, goblins and hobgoblins among them. There must be somewhere between twenty and thirty of them in total. Thankfully they haven't spotted the heroes yet.

"Fight, flee or hide?" Asks Avalon. The responses are nearly unanimous.

"Grrr.....hide in cave"

"Flight"

"Tactical withdrawal"

"Run away, run away!"

With only seconds to spare before they are discovered, the heroes turn eastwards and slink off, using uneven surface of the canyon wall as cover where possible.

A grizzly situation

Upon hearing the enraged bears roar, Janin is the first to react. He draws his mace, equips his shield, peers into the dark cave entrance and prepares to defend himself.

Moments later Hawk comes flying out of the cave, a look of fear on his face. "Bears! Big ones!!" He exclaims as he runs past everyone. Moments later, two large brown bears lumber out of the cave entrance and start taking swipes at D-Ablow, the first opponent that they meet.

The bears paws are as large as a good-sized dinner plate, and with the claws on the end and pure strength behind each blow, everybody winces each time the bears manage to hit something.

Seeing his companions bravely fighting, Hawk turns on the spot and heads straight back to the bears. He swings his long sword, with the flat of the blade facing the bears, and lands a solid blow on one of the bears head. There is a loud 'clang' and one of the bears visibly staggers and appears momentarily dazed by the blow.

Dua tries to join Hawks efforts in subduing the animals, by calling upon his innate powers to send the bears to sleep. He immediately realises though that the bears are simply too big and powerful to have their life force suppressed. Instead he summons a celestial dog.

"Come forth celestial dog, from the outer planes!" He wails, and a divine canine immediately appears and bites one of the bears on the rear.

D-Ablow slashes his talons at a bear, snaps his jaws at it and then staggers under a savage blow. Avalon, fearing for his steeds safety pulls the dinosaur away from the fight and moves to tether him a short distance away.

Hoping to give them a momentary respite, Janin invokes the name of the Silver Flame and causes a divine burst of sound near the bears. The celestial fanfare blasts through the air and tiny trickles of blood dribble from the bears ears, they maintain their attack at full fury though.

The bears of course do not seem to have any thoughts of taking prisoners, so Hawks attempt to subdue them is seen as nothing but an attack. As such one bear soon manages a couple of nasty slashes on Hawk and he crumples under the onslaught.

With bolts of magical energy from Dua, crossbow bolts from Dirk and short-sword stabs from Avalon, one of the bears eventually heaves and collapses. The second bear achieves retaliation though by bowling Avalon to the floor with a single solid swipe. The tiny Halfling falls and his dinosaur mount charges back over to protect his master.

With the pool of blood in the canyon quickly growing, the situation looks dire for both sides. Each know though that the other will fight to the death. The bear manages to get a meaty bite on D-Ablow, and the feisty reptile lets out a wild yelp before collapsing near his master.

A lucky shot from Dirk finally manages to hit the bear and bring the furious onslaught to a halt. The canyon falls eerily quite as the survivors survey the carnage and take a couple of breaths to steady themselves.

Healing potions are quickly retrieved, divine miracles from the Silver Flame are performed and Avalons Dragonmark gets used too. The heroes are soon back on their feet, but with most of their most potent healing supplies consumed.

It is soon apparent that Hawk seems to have suffered more than just physically during the fight. He states that he needs a few moments alone and heads off for a few moments of solace. When alone he feels awkward and unsure what to do, but finds himself down on one knee, offering a prayer to Balinor.

"Great Hunter, guide the spirits of these bears to their rest. They fought valiantly and bravely to the death. It should not even have been necessary had my clumsy actions not first angered them. The shame is two-fold, for not only did they die needlessly, but they beat me in fair combat and yet I live while they do not. Hear my plea for their souls and my forgiveness and I shall do my best to justify your will in future!"

Hawk then spends ten minutes of reverie, replaying the fight in his mind and admiring the pure natural strength of the bears and the ferocity with which they fought.

Back at the cave, the other heroes commence on a search. They soon find a spear, buckler, hunting knife and a magical ring that Dua declares emanates an aura of Transmutation magic. They also find a small carved passage way, about a foot wide and two foot high. The passage spirals round, upwards into the cliff above.

"Shall I head up and explore?" Enquires Gargamadua, tapping a scaly Kobold foot on the cave floor. "It seems designed for someone of my stature after all."

"Goblin-carved" remarks Dirk, and as an almost natural reflex-action turns to spit on the cave floor.

Dua, followed by Avalon ascend the stairs in the spiralling tunnel. They spot daylight after climbing only half a dozen feet, and are soon stood in a second cave, above the one that the bears inhabited.

"Looks safe!" Calls down Dua to the others gathered below. "We're in another cave; it looks to be naturally-carved, twenty foot wide, thirty-five foot long. There are three narrow cracks in the cave wall, they look eastwards out of the cliff face and you can see back along the canyon for a good way."

"Any sign of anything unusual, or something that might constitute the next symbol on the map?" Replies Janin. Dua and Avalon start to search the cave for anything that might relate. Avalon soon grows bored though and resorts to throwing stones out of the cracks in the wall, and trying to hit Hawk on the ground outside the lower cave. Hawk stops skinning the dead bears for a moment, turns and snarls at him.

"Nothing obvious here represents the next symbol on the map that I can see." Comments Dua, "unless the cave itself is supposed to be the next symbol? It's kind of similar, but I'm not totally convinced. If the cave is the next symbol, then what could the next collection of three symbols be?"

Avalon looks around himself for a moment. "Well, the only thing that I can see three of in here is the cracks in the cave wall, looking out over the canyon. Maybe you can see three of something specific, one through each slit?" Avalon then spends a while gazing out of each slit in the cave wall and tries to spot something that might represent the next symbol.

Well well well...

The heroes turn as one and face the four blade-wielding blue-grey creatures. Dirk and a couple of the others take a few hurried steps into the temple ruins to get away from the danger on the street. The distant look disappears from Dua’s face and is replaced by a look of enlightenment.

“Aha! I know what these creatures are, I know I’d seem a picture of them before somewhere.” The others listen intently while the four creatures take slow tentative steps towards them, swinging their blades menacingly.

“They are called Bladelings and come from the plane of Shavarath, the Battlefield. Legion upon legion of them fight in an eternal battle there. They are the foot soldiers of much more powerful entities. Considered weak but trained to kill all the same. Perhaps I should try summoning one one day? Yes, that would be an interesting experiment.”

With the Bladelings closing the distance to a mere twenty feet, they stop their advance and one of them screams some words in the common tongue at the group.

“This town ours!!! You leave, now or die!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Dua, acting as spokesperson for the group, agrees but says that they need a moment to gather their belongings. The Bladelings look agitated but hold their advance while the heroes hurriedly whisper a few words of exchange.

“Shall we leave then?” Asks Dua.

“We came here for a reason, and I’m not sure we should leave until we have fulfilled that reason” replies Vaelas. Janin nods and adds his thoughts.

“If they are bred for battle and from a plane known as the battlefield, then it could be that a fight is inevitable, no matter how hard we try to comply with their wishes.”

The Bladelings exchange a few words with each other in a foul-sounding tongue before screaming for blood and charging at the temple. A brief and vicious fight ensues, with all four Bladelings dying and the heroes only taking a few wounds from flying shrapnel again.

They loot the Bladeling bodies and find 53 gold pieces, four long swords and a scimitar. The scimitar and one of the long swords are of Masterwork quality. Vaelas replaces his own scimitar with the Bladelings one, and Hawk replaces his long sword too.

“Right,” says Avalon, “shall we resume our quest to follow the map? Assuming that this town represents the column symbol, then the next symbol is the strange triangular one. We suspected that that represented a temple, but it would appear otherwise. Shall we split up and see if we can find the symbol anywhere else in the town?”

Everyone agrees and they all head off in various directions to search and scour as best they can. Vaelas manages to find three arcane scrolls stashed in the crevice in a wall, which he gives to Dua.

Dua is the one that eventually has the break-through and finds the symbol. He shouts to summon the others and let them know of his success.

“Look, here is the symbol, carved into the brick that makes up this well wall. I say carved but I don’t really think it is. The inside of the carving is as smooth as glass, it’s certainly not been created by any chisel like hand tool. If you give me a moment…..hmmm, it’s not magically created either” he declares casting a quick cantrip on it.

Peering into the well, they quickly spot some steps thirty foot down that they presume represent the next symbol on their map. The steps look to descend ten foot before stopping at the bottom of the now dry well.

“Grab a rope, lower me down and I’ll have a look what’s down there.” Suggests Dua. “I can see fine in the darkness at the bottom, it will save us using up a charge from the Darkvision wand if one of you guys went down.”

They all agree and Dua is gently lowered thirty foot down the well until he comes to rest on the top step of the stairs winding around the inside of the well.

“It doesn’t look very stable down here. I’ll not shout just to be on the safe side. Keep the rope handy and be ready to pull me up in a hurry!”

Trying to ignore the well walls that look like they might collapse any moment, Dua descends the ten steps and is soon stood on the dry earth at the bottom of the well. The inside of the well is comprised of very old, average-quality stonework. The mortar between the stones is missing in many places. In front of him he spots three eye symbols carved into three different stones of the well wall.

Dua examines the three stones as carefully as he can, noting that the eyes are carved as smoothly as the previous symbol they found on the outside of the well. He ascends the stairs and gives a tug on the rope to be winched to safety.

Once back on the surface he relays what he found to the others. Various ideas are discussed, the favourite being that pushing or pulling the third, or right-most stone with the eye on it, will open a door in the rest of the well and reveal to them their next stage of the map.

Another point that the group agree on is that moving the wrong stone with the eye on it could easily lead to the well walls collapsing and the person at the bottom being buried alive. Not a pleasant thought!

Being small, nimble and quiet, Avalon suggests he might be the best person to go back down the well and attempt to reveal the next stage of their quest. Dirk, eager to avoid the duty himself, quickly adds his support to the idea, and before long Avalon has a Darkvision spell cast on him from Dua’s wand, and he is being lowered into the well.

Avalon tries out a few cunning ideas on the stones, including putting his eye close to the etching on the stone, and even trying to look through the eye symbol. With no luck though he eventually resorts to pushing the stone, which doesn’t move, and then finally pulling the stone free of the wall.

There is a moment of fear as the stones in the wall above it all shift, descend slightly, but thankfully wedge into new positions without collapsing entirely. Letting out his breath, that he hadn’t realised he was holding, Avalon peers into the hole where the stone was.

Inside he spots a folded piece of parchment. He takes it and is quickly winched out of the well where everyone gathers round to read it.

***

I pray to Il-Yannah that the person who finds this and reads it has the presence of mind to realise its' importance, and the strength of soul to care of the danger. An unlikely outcome considering the location it has been stowed. Hopefully the obscure placement will mean that only a fellow Atavist, whom we will try to leave a coded-trail for, will find this and deal with it appropriately.

My partner and I have followed our orders and have successfully intercepted the knowledge crystal as ordered. Unfortunately I believe we triggered some kind of psionic trap in the process.

My partner has been distant since the past four days and I feel little mental support from him even when in immediate proximity. He has trouble resting, and appears distracted. I fear that a malevolent Quori has established some kind of link with him, one he remains too confused to notice himself.

As such I have been forced to effectively work alone and have not yet even told my partner that I stashed the crystals two days ago. He did not notice. Even now he raises no questions when I declare my intent to descend into a well in the middle of Darguun. I harbour a distant hope that he is choosing to remain disinterested in an effort to conceal his thoughts from the Quori. What he does not spot, they cannot take from him.

The trail that I will leave continues a days travel north of here. When you encounter a vast canyon in the landscape then resume following the map that led you here.

Our hope to reveal the invaders plans to the various Khorvairian monarchs look likely to fail at this stage. Even if my partner can rid himself of this mental assault, and we successfully return to claim the crystals when it is safe, then I doubt that they will heed the warning of outsiders like ourselves.

I fear for the citizens of Khorvaire, if they truly knew the danger they were in, the eternal thraldom that looms over them, and the truth behind their Last War, then even the lowliest thief would surely heed our warning.

We can but hope, Il-Yannah watch over them all…

***

“What is a Quori?” asks Hawk.

“What’s an Atavist?” asks Janin.

“Where’s the treasure?” asks Dirk. Vaelas fields the first question posed by Hawk.

“I believe that a Quori is either a ghost-like being that possesses people, or a giant slug from beyond the stars. It depends on which tale you listen to.”

Janin smiles at the image conjured by the Elfs’ description. “It’s actually a bit of both, somewhere in between. Quori are outsiders from the plane of Dal Quor, the dream realm. Legend has it that they long ago learnt how to project their will into beings on this plane. It may only be a legend though, I’ve never heard of such a thing actually occurring, and I’d like to consider myself at least reasonably well educated on matters of possession and the planes.”

No-one seems to know what an Atavist is. From the information contained in the note though they conclude that an Atavist must be a Kalashtar agent of some description. Presumably working to a good or worthy goal.

“If the two Kalashtar that we found killed by the bandits are the two that left this note,” suggests Janin, “and if they were undergoing some kind of mental assault, or even fighting each other, then it might explain how the bandits managed to overpower them so easily.”

A thought occurs to Vaelas and all colours vanish from his face. “My friends, there is something that I haven’t told you. In Vathirond, when we first met, I was…mentally contacted by…something. It offered advice on our escape and appeared to be offering help. I wonder now if it too may have been a Quori? Even in my head its’ voice was slurred and whispering, it definitely didn’t sound human.”

Vaelas pauses for a few more moments thought while the others exchange worried looks. “It could be even worse, perhaps it is me that has been stealing our food each night? Who knows what else I might have been doing. You should keep a close eye on me for now, I will search my thoughts and meditate on the matter too.”

With sombre thoughts and a grim mood the group head north out of the ruined town and attempt to find the canyon mentioned in the note. Moving slowly in an attempt to cover their trail from and remaining Bladelings in the town, they make slow progress for the first hour.

Just as they are about to increase their speed and stop covering their tracks, Avalon looks back and spots the movement of a single small dark dot about a mile behind them. Even from that distance he recognises the slinking style and sneaky-gait of a goblin. His many years of tracking them in the Talenta Plains giving him expert knowledge of their preferred techniques.

“Friends, I believe I have spotted our night-time food thief. A single goblin about a mile back appears to be following us. I can’t see him now, but he was definitely there for at least a moment.”

Dirk spits and mutters something about foul, stinking, goblin thieves. They continue their journey northwards at normal speed, unsure what to do about the goblin, if anything at all. Night falls before they reach the canyon and they decide to simply follow the same routine as previous nights; keeping watch, two at a time.

Before bedding down, Hawk scrawls a note on some parchment and puts it in one of the saddlebags on the pack mule, where the food is kept. It reads…

“If you need food then take some and leave a single pebble as payment. Good luck from a fellow traveller.”

When morning arrives no food is missing and Hawks note is still there. Unsure what to make of the lack of food theft, they continue northwards and find the canyon within an hour.

The canyon is about one hundred yards across and deep, and about a mile long. They do a quick search for some more stairs, which they assume is the next symbol on the map. They don’t find any stairs and resort to travelling the length of the canyon, descending where the canyon dwindles, and searching the inside length of it.

After a brief search of the entire inside of the canyon, all they have found is a couple of entrances to a small cave network. Some brown hairs caught on the rocks outside and some bear-shaped footprints give them cause for a few moments pause.

“I’ll go and have a look inside, I have a way with animals. We understand each other,” declares Hawk proudly.

“I bet.” Retorts Janin.

Hawk slowly advances into the gloom of the cave and retrieves some of his trail rations from his pouch, to use as a peace token. He soon finds a large bear inside the cave, it is awake and sends Hawk a clear message by snarling at him. Hawk slowly wafts the food around whilst making soothing noises, hoping that the bear will understand. The bear momentarily pauses its growling and sniffs the air.

Hawk gently tosses the dried meat stick forwards for the bear to eat. It seems that Olladra is not smiling on Hawk though as the trail rations fly forward and poke the bear in the eye sending it into a furious rage.

The bear rears up onto its hind legs, standing nearly ten foot tall and lets out a terrifying howl that sends Hawk fleeing back to his companions outside the cave.