����������� Book Five, Chapter Two. �Hey, Evil has a really nice line in bribes�

����������� 25/11/2000

Aruth of the War Wagon is knocked out, Zytsi the Mason is stopping the monks coming up the stairs, Daniel the Bard has his ear in his pocket, and Erana Sir Martyn Yanyez De Barbudo is fighting three Paladins of Naveh. The Cleric of Naveh is being healed by the fourth paladin.

Heap abuse on the bard, oi Aruth you�re unconscious, you can shut up. Remind ourselves of the shit we are in. It is not good, we are Inspired but so are they. Quick whinge - Aruth�s Awakening spell should be subconscious, everyone thought it should be so it was. Should Sir Martyn�s sword be Cancelling the Bladeturns aimed against it? Yes, with qualifications. It wouldn�t against an equivalent Agrik sword.

Start of new round. Aruth starts a subconscious wind up, sorry 2nd round of wind up. Larani give me ears. Yes, the one in the middle looses his second ear. Only two coming in, ouch one tops but survivable.

New round Aruth wakes up. Larani gives me ears, the no eared Paladin is upset and near collapsing. This is not a bad spell, knackered another one a bit. Sir Martyn decides it�s a good idea to go Frenzied so he does. We thought it couldn�t get any worse so Sir Martyn uses a spell to go Frenzied, oh great he rolls 5 but still hits! One opponent has backed off, one is a mess and one misses. Sir Martyn knocks him down.

Aruth is back up to get in the evil Aura, minor effect. Larani give me ears, the messed one gets messier. Aruth fails the Cleric�s Knockout spell, but he pulls the trigger on the staff again. Triad of Lightning Bolts smashes Cleric up so his Paladin is taking him off. Daniel looks in this round and the truly messed up Paladin starts coming towards him, oops. So he hits him doing 3 points of damage, damn needed to do 9 more to take him down.

Damn, Daniel is a mess again from the Aura. Sir Martyn�s Aura has gone but he kills the one in front of Daniel. Oh that was a quick round. We are wining, just slowly and painfully. The cleric is running away with one Paladin, and one is fighting Sir Martyn. It takes time. Daniel goes and gets his the bleeding stopped. Aruth gets up. The Cleric and Paladin of Naveh gets out the room.

Aruth to the corner of the room after the Cleric. Well we found the stairs down that the Monks used, and a corridor so where did he go. The Frenzied Sir Martyn swipes ineffectual at the parrying Paladin so Aruth hits him in the back. Daniel is not stunned any more rushes up into combat. Right the Paladin losses his shield and takes a quick pasting, even from Daniel (whose 3 and 6 per round wounds didn�t reopen).

The Naveh Paladin charges and grabs Sir Martyn round the waist and charges for balustrade. Sir Martyn doesn�t go over as the Paladins dies. (Daniel�s wounds 3 and 6 pre round don�t reopen.) Sir Martyn recognises his friends, chases after the Cleric and comes out of Frenzy. (A grazing break.)

Monks next, the Cleric and last Paladin may escaped. Down the stair go Sir Martyn, Aruth and Daniel. Into a square room with lots of leavers. Back up to Zytsi and down those stairs, and the last Monk runs away. Quick search of ground floor, no sign of library. Sir Martyn says downstairs into the cellar. Into the cellar and Aruth tracks the bloody footprints when he takes 6 spears shoot out and hit him. Along the corridor, OK it�s a Raiders of the Lost Ark rolling ball trap. But Aruth and Daniel think they see a way out, and throw themselves on the trap daggers. Daniel is stuck and Aruth runs down the corridor into the pit. Zytsi goes throw the real secret door. Sir Martyn freezes and it runs over him breaking his sword arm then Daniel is taken down by it on hits. Splat. Aruth hits the bottom of the pit and is a mess for three weeks. Fails to get into the channel so doesn�t get totally squished but is taken down on hit points. We take lots of herbs - we really are a bunch of junkies.

Round corner there is a trap, pressure plate, which we all leap. Along the corridor - this is the Monk training area. We miss the next trap, flames out the floor, boy we are junkies. But the Cleric and Paladin definitely went this way. Sir Martyn misses the next trap, an acid spay. Daniel gets taken down again, boy are we junkies, Daniel is now addicted to Mirena berries, but at least he�s on full hit points.

The next room is a big fighting arena. One big Black Guy in Black Armour, 5 thug fighters, Paladin, dead Cleric. The Big Man says �Now is not the time for us to meet.� The Cleric was deceived by Agrik.

The book is with Sula, Sir Martyn�s Agrik bint - she�s gone reneged from the Temple of Agrik, stolen the book, perhaps working for the council, the Heptarcle Council, taken the book to the Temple of Morgath which is in the town (we are told which one) the main one. Oh fuck, the party is really pissed off now. He says that he is Gekrish, the Hands of Despair. He said we should leave now.

We leave. Roaring behind us, Sir Martyn looks back, the Paladin has been impaled on his own sword. Norik told us the information. We want him. Sir Martyn wants to do a quick desecration. The bodies of the Paladins have gone. Let�s go - we have a medallion of a black cat from the priest.

We leave, we go back to our inn. Daniel�s armour needs repairing. His ear can be fixed at a good temple (Larani or Peoni) none of them in town. Broken ribs healed in three days. Armour fixed in a day, paid for with 2 gold pieces and get 75 d back - local coins.

We faf around for a while. The medallion is evil and a tempter, Zytsi gets tempted again. But he wasn�t. How do we get the book from the woman in the temple. Courtly love option from Sir Martyn? Bribery? Walk up and down outside of the Temple selling new books for old? What is the book anyway? We know its name and will know it when we see it. We need the book to get back from Midgaad. It�s a book of rituals, we only know of one in there, what else could be in there.

Sir Martyn thinks about setting up a meeting with Sula the (ex?) Agrik bint. But first we go shopping for herbs. Drugs, nothing but drugs. Junkies we are, paying in gold pieces of course. Then we buy up valuable items with gold pieces. OK so the sellers aren�t evil but we are under mining the economy of the country in general.

Sir Martyn sends a message to Sula, she disarms his paranoid plan by suggesting they meet at Tower Inn. That�s one of our inns. New plan - private room on the first floor, the wagon ready outside the window. She turns dressed up and gives him a box off fine crushed rewk. Wine and a gift of a perfume bottle. Lovely atmospheric flute music +203% from Daniel.

Awe isn�t it sweet, Larani and Agrik love duet. Fencing on matters, and this and that. Both sides get surprised by the other side�s information. Much with discussions about a hypothetical book. It�s busy at the moment come back in a month. Don�t interfere for a month, and then there is an evening of romantic chitchat.

Aruth chats to the driver of Sula�s wagon for a while. Sula doesn�t come out much, this must be someone important. She knows who Daniel is, and gives him a real gold piece not to say to say anything. She strokes his neck. Sir Martyn escorts her back, he could have had her but he didn�t want to go into the Temple for a shag. �Well that was odd� says Sir Martyn. 25th Savor

We have three weeks of down time in a border town. And then arrive back in� Golotha on 23rd Ilvin. Daniel�s ear grows back, hey Sula isn�t that bad.

The city is in uproar. There are has been a shift in power in the Heptacle Council, now mostly controlled by Agrik not Morgath. Sula is now on the Council. Its was all a plot by Sula, she conned Morgath into appointing her onto the council as a turncoat, but she wasn�t and it broke an impasse in the favour of Agrik. We find out where she lives, which isn�t hard. The next morning Sir Martyn gets a note �the lady would be delighted to entertain Sir Martyn� at another address other than we have , and friends? OK the party is up for it - we buy posh clothes. Zytsi polishes up his armour. We decide not to visit the same shops as last time. We seem to be trusting her at the moment.

Sir Martyn will give her a jewellery box (worth 2,000d a snip at 1,000d from Zytsi), Daniel gets a pendant (200d) and rites a neutral song praising Sula�s beauty and martial spirit. The coach arrives, and we go to a private residence. Aruth gets a funny look from the driver, especially after Sir Martyn drags him inside.

We arrive, we decline to check our weapons but hand over our cloaks. Sula is waiting for us with three young women. She presents us with box each. Sir Martyn lobs over the jewellery box and Daniel sings his song (220% singing and 132% writing.) Sir Martyn gets a ring, Zytsi get helm (not bad item, pluses to saves), Aruth a chain shirt (magic +15 AT 13-16 looks like AT 13, non-encumbering for missile) and Daniel gets Strings (+25 to playing what ever instruments, including singing and bar rolls).

�What is the point of having power if you can�t reward your friends.� Nice meal, good entertainment, good conversation reasonably appropriate. Then the three other ladies retire we go have a private chat with Sula. She is grateful that we didn�t upset her plans, she could lend us a hypothetical book for a hypothetical favour. There is this person in Shiran who needs killing, well we don�t like him. Top of the Revenge list in fact, the guy that made Sir Martyn fight in the arena. He has to die before we get the book. She leaves us to discuss it.

Then she comes back, and we rejoin the ladies. Zytsi and Aruth (!) recline the invitation and so go off to the inn in a carriage. Daniel doesn�t, he�s up for it and he goes off in another carriage and has a pleasant evening ... leaving eventually at breakfast. Sir Martyn flirts with Sula. The other three are effectively geisha. Sir Martyn gets homing pigeons (12) to send messages to here, Messages from The Lady to the Gentlemen to be collected from various merchants in most cities and towns. Warning and recognition codes agreed.

EPS - 15,000 each. Aruth makes 11th level.