Episode III: Oh, The Places You'll Smell

ur heroes sped away from the molten lava flow that had once been Terek'Knev in the captured Coalition gravitic speeder courtesy of Black Cross. Unfortunately the speeder had seen better days. The first breakdown occurred while flying over the Sea of Fire, when the navigational computer bought the farm. Blackhawk took the controls and flew by dead reckoning. The second failure struck just as our heroes sped out of the Sea of Fire, when the power output of the propulsion unit began dropping. Black Cross went aft to try to repair the system.
 

Shizlink's hidden computer file
  Me not this like. Me not this like one bit. Me escape Coalition mining shaft, run long time, hide in engine compartment. Me only want stay two hours, but speeder moving started before me leave could! Me fall asleep, now speeder again move. Me not this like one bit.
 

Chantille
  Ze female Althan ran to ze back of ze strange vehicle. She began rummaging around in various hidden compartments, though I know not what she sought. She pulled out one of ze floor plates, and we heard a high pitched scream emanate from ze hole! Ze Althan seemed perplexed, and a moment later reached down into ze chamber to pull out a Goblin!
  He was like no Goblin I had ever seen in my travels. He had a full head of hair, which was colored red. His eyes were white and had a distinct iris, very unlike ze coal black eyes of his fellows. He was very frightened, and scurried away into a corner. Black Cross told him to calm down but she had to fix ze speeder.
  Ze Goblin seemed almost in a panic. Every movement drove him further into ze corner he had backed into. I decided something must be done to calm him, so I cast a Charm spell upon his person. He immediately smiled and looked up at me with a gleam in his eye. [Editor's note: Shizlink rolled 01 to resist the Charm spell, so the players decided it would leave a permanent impression]
 

The Narrator
  After Shizlink's hurried introduction, he repaired the speeder's propulsion system and things got underway again. The party proceeded to Mopheus, where they parked the speeder under the dock and were promptly met by a Coalition message globe which had been seeking Blackhawk. The party had an uncomfortable moment when Chantille flew up to the dock, startling a crowd of onlookers who had never before seen such a thing. Obviously the fairy population had declined a bit in the five hundred years she was imprisoned in Terek'Knev. The crowd had gathered on the dock to watch the golden glow over the horizon from the direction of Aranmor (which was fainter each night as the half life of the isotopes expired).
  The Coalition message globe was from Edwin and requested the party to come to his shop, which was now located on the center square in Mopheus.
 

Sigmund's Journal
  We found the lit'le bastard's shop quickly this time, and bellowed at 'im to open the damned door. He waited for us in back, with a mighty peculiar expression. He started tellin' us that the Unlife be entering our Plane through the rip in the fabric of the Essence, and that we had to choose sides. It dinnae seem like much of a choice, who would stand with something which destroys all life? Edwin said that some factions saw the Unlife as a way to drive the Coalition from Kulthea.
  Edwin opened a door in the back of his shop, and led the way into a conjuring room. There were an ancient rune inscribed in the floor, and I'll be damned if it weren't Arcane in nature. Edwin motioned all of us to step onto the Rune and join hands, and began to cast his spell. He showed us the tear in the Essence, the same thing what the Stone had shown me but much clearer. When the vision ended everyone had a brand on their left forearm, signifying their choice to stand against the Unlife.
  We had one nights rest before setting out on our next mission. Edwin escorted us into the largest chamber of his shop, which for tonight at least were filled with a huge banquet table with hugely endowed women to serve it. I knew the whole thing was an illusion, but the lasses were well met so what difference does it make?
 

Blackhawk's log, stardate 2469.3
  I will perhaps never understand how a planet of primitive screwheads manages at times to produce such incredible technology. The holographic display Edwin produced, with fully detailed Althan females and authentic Althan food, was well beyond anything I believed Kultheans capable of. Undoubtedly there was a Coalition Holometric Projector hidden away somewhere.
  Black Cross and I needed ammo. Black Cross knew a supplier in the city, so everyone who needed ammo (the two of us, Urk and Shizlink) headed into Mopheus. We found the place and went in. He had some good items, and a lot of pure crap, but we managed to secure what we needed. He had ammo for all of our weapons, including some 10 mm rounds made of unknown material [Editor's note: the party later identified it as depleted uranium]. He had two regener-guns from a field hospital kit which were of an old design but still quite workable.
  He also had an armored exoskeleton which had obviously been lifted from a Coalition shock troop unit. The price was pretty steep, but with the hoard of gems we had pulled from Terek'Knev it really didn't matter. The chain mail shirt I'd been wearing since the dragon slagged my armor on the Navigator's ship was really chafing.
  When we left the shop Urk suddenly told us to get ready, he'd heard something on the rooftops above. Sure enough, shots rang out. I took a hit in the leg, and Urk got one in the arm. Black Cross and Shizlink returned fire, taking out the gunmen. They were Coalition snipers, and must have been an assassination unit because their uniforms had no insignia. We took their rifles, laser scopes, starlight goggles, and ABS suits, and headed back to Edwin's shop.
 

Edwin's notes
  The fight against the Unlife begins. The promising group of newcomers returned from Aranmor one familiar face less, three new faces added, and wiser for their journey. After introducing them formally to the fight and embedding the mark upon their limbs I informed them of the situation in Zor. Zor is the largest known Earthnode on Kulthea. The Sword Sisters of Zor have lived there for centuries, training equally in the use of Arms and ritual Arcane magic. The ruler of their clan recently died in mysterious circumstances. The heir apparent is Ninghal Agorawa, who lives in Mopheus and is the companion of Kothar Londgard who runs the Singing Frog Sanctuary. I dispatched the party to find Ninghal and inform her of the situation, and to take whatever steps necessary to ensure her safety.
  It is vital that the Unlife not gain control of the Earthnode at Zor.
 

The Narrator
  Black Cross had already left Edwin's shop when the party awoke. Edwin said she had her own mission to perform.
  The party found the Singing Frog Sanctuary near the docks, but arrived early in the morning to find it closed. Going across the street to a baker shop (attempting to fulfill Sasfiry's need for coffee) they learned that a number of libraries and curio shops had been broken into in recent weeks. They went to the largest library in Mopheus, but discovered it had not been hit.
  The party returned to the Singing Frog Sanctuary and found it open.
 

Sasfiry, recounting her tale much later
  Gawd, what sin or heinous act must these peoples ancestors have done to like have the gods eradicate "coffee" from their vocabulary and their very lives. These poor lost souls. Not a drop of coffee to lift their spirits and open their eyes to the day and the beauty of their like very existence. Because, like, after all life is short and one should be awake through more it, ya know. Not even someone as read and old as this like Master Edwin Scholar Dudemar knew of coffee.
  Anyhow, when we met this like Kothar Dude, I told him we were like looking for Ninghal because a friend of a friend had a really totally important message for her. He just looked at me funny. I wonder what he meant by that? These new strange customs... It used to be that if you had an important message from a friend for someone's friend, they would give it high priority. Anyhow, we finally got to speak to her when me and the Fairy-Chic won a B.S. contest. Everyone else was beatin' around the subject, so I just like told her that she might like be in perilous danger or something and we really wanted to help. I explained that she like had to go back to her people, she needed to be their leader, because the Chic who was attempting to lead them now was really Bad and wouldn't help her peoples cause, or the eventual needs of the Universe. I hope we got through to her, or at least the mean looking metal-Giant Beast didn't scare her away from doin' what's right. [Editor's note: much of Sasfiry's account is foreshadowing]
 

The Narrator
  Kothar either did not believe or simply did not understand Sasfiry. Nonetheless the party managed to convince Kothar that Edwin had sent them, and that Ninghal was in danger. Kothar told them that Ninghal was on caravan guard duty and would return that evening to judge a public debate at 7 pm. The party was invited back to participate in the debate and meet Ninghal.
  Before leaving the Sanctuary the party noted one of the patrons staring at them with an odd look in his eye. The man introduced himself as Fry, and had caught a glimpse of the mark of Ascension burned into Sasfiry's forearm. Fry knew more about the meaning of the mark than the party members who bore it. As conversation progressed seemed to know a great deal about a huge variety of topics, though he was strangely evasive on many of them. Nonetheless the party decided he was a useful addition to their number and invited him to come along.
  Investigations at several bookstores and curio shops determined that the break-ins had occurred in the wee hours of the morning, and had been conducted with superhuman speed. In one instance the thieves had broken through the front window, searched, and left before the shop keeper could run down the steps from his second-floor living quarters. Strangely, in each shop nothing had been taken so far as the shopkeeper could tell. The raiders had been looking for something and had always ransacked sections of magical lore or magic items, but had apparently not found what they were looking for (or the shopkeepers would not admit to it).
  In a continuing minor plot thread, Fry went rummaging about one of the shops looking for items which had been miscategorized. Several Anthropology rolls later he discovered a flute which the shop owner believed was made by natives of the plains about 500 years ago. Fry knew that the flute was actually an ancient Elvish instrument, at least 10,000 years old. Fry bought it for some paltry sum. The flute is encrusted with rock and will need professional restoration, but as an added bonus the party determined it to be magical.
 

Sigmund's Journal
  We ken that the city branch of the Coalition library be a likely target for the break-ins, and went to check it out. I did a wee bit of fast talkin, and along with some conjured police documents got the librarian to talkin. She said the main library had not been hit. We checked in the section on magical lore and found nothing wrong.
  We went back to the Singing Frog Sanctuary to wait for the lass to return from caravan duty. Its a thankless job, I've ridden a few meself. When we walked in the cage in the corner had been uncovered, and there were a Basilisk in there! I'll be damned but the thing were as tame as a newborn puppy, keepin its eyes closed and its senses open for trouble. It were checking for weapons at the door, and would raise its head to sniff at the air if someone tried to sneak something past.
  A bit after seven she walked in, when the crowd were thickening up for that bloody public debate they be holding. Ninghal is a tough looking lass, with tattoos showing her rank in her clan and history.
  We decided the best way to get Ninghal's attention were to win the debate. Chantille would be the best to speak for us, but her being a fairy would attract too much attention. I worked a wee bit of magic on her to make her look like one of the wooden men I'd seen at a carnival in me youth [Editor's note: a ventriloquist's dummy]. We had a bit of a fright when the Basilisk reared its head up at the scent of magic, but it must have sensed that the spell be harmless and put its head back on its forepaws.
  Sasfiry went up on stage holdin the dummy, and together they argued that vigilante patrols should be organized to replace the Coalition police force which had pulled out several weeks before. I dinnae if it was the speech, the comely looks of the lass or the general drunkenness of the audience, but Sasfiry were judged the winner of the debate.
 

The Narrator
  Using the opportunity thus presented, the party invited Ninghal to their table and outlined the situation. Ninghal seemed unwilling to accept the party's words, but Kothar had been convinced and helped to convince Ninghal, saying "we always knew this day would come". As if on cue, two Sword Sisters rushed into the Singing Frog Sanctuary. They presented a formal challenge to Ninghal, meaning a fight to the death in the place of their choosing. The two Sisters then rushed out.
  Ninghal decided to try to confront the two Sisters and convince them that the Unlife was secretly behind their faction. She requested the party's aid in tracking them, and in restraining them once found. Fortunately prolonged exposure to the Earthnode of their home had made both Sisters reek of Arcane magic, which the Sanctuary's guard Basilisk was able to track.
  The party accompanied Ninghal across the city in the dead of night. The Basilisk tracked the Sisters to the center square of the city, where the party's night vision equipment picked them out attempting to set up an ambush. As the Sisters moved stealthily around the edges of the square, the party prepared to meet them.
 

Marleth, commander of the Coalition Garrison in Mopheus, debriefing
  The cloaked troopers in the center of the square reported that a confrontation between the Sisters and the group of outsiders was immanent. It was time to move. I ordered the troopers in the square to decloak and the other units to move in. The troops in the square reported that their environmental suit's air system kicked in, probably because of atmospheric magic directed against them, but that was the extent of the offered resistance. Soon enough the square was surrounded, the BattleMech was moving into position, and the Outsiders realized there was no hope of fighting their way out. I ordered the Outsiders to accompany us back to the Garrison.
  I gave them the standard dressing down about violence in my city, and then told the three Sword Sisters to leave. That left only those who had sworn to oppose the Unlife in the room, which was what I wanted. I explained the situation in Bazilar: that Prince Enkin was the rightful ruler and was opposed to the Unlife, but had been imprisoned by his Uncle Erona. Erona had sided with the Unlife. It is crucial that Bazilar not fall into the hands of the Unlife, as that would lead the way to the entire Fulcrumian region being dominated. I cannot move against them directly, but this party of Outsiders (highly expendable outsiders) will have to go there to free Enkin.
  I loaned the Althan amongst them some equipment from the Garrison quartermaster and sent them on their way. My scouts report that they returned to the Singing Frog Sanctuary and hired a ship the next morning for the trip to Bazilar.
 

The Narrator
  The party thought this a rather odd encounter, but Fry realized from the Commander's accent that he was at least a third generation native of Kulthea, and possibly felt a great deal of loyalty to his home world. Everyone returned to the Singing Frog Sanctuary, where Ninghal and Kothar were engaged in heated discussion. Both signaled that they did not wish to be interrupted, so the party went upstairs to their rooms.
  The break-ins at the libraries and curio shops were judged to be worth further investigation, so some of the party (including Sigmund, Blackhawk, Urk, and Fry) went to stake out the main library in Mopheus. They waited from 1 am to 5 am sensing nothing amiss, and returned to their rooms.
  Meanwhile Frisbee ventured down into the main room of the Sanctuary once it was quiet, to find Ninghal sitting at a table and Kothar looking angry behind the bar. Ninghal told Frisbee that she had spoken with the other Sword Sisters, who had agreed to postpone their combat until all of them could return to Zor. Ninghal gave Frisbee a shard of the "Heart of the World", a large crystal outcropping in the center of the Earthnode, which would glow more brightly as it approached Zor. In this way the party would be able to make its way to Zor later.
 

Log of the fishing boat Uruquay, Captain Carl recording
  It were simple enough: take a group of seven adventurers from Mopheus to Bazilar. It would be a four day trip, and they paid four silvers each. That be more than the fishing would bring in this time of year and the seven looked safe enough, not some group of brigands.
  We left at dawn. That first night one of the crew noticed a large, dark form fly over the ship, heading east towards Bazilar. One amongst the group of seven put on a set of those Coalition far-seeing lenses and said it be a dragon. I thought he be joking, and let it pass.
  The next several days passed without nothin happening. The red-headed half-elf woman played her mandolin, several others of the group practiced swordfighting, and the weather was calm. The small man in the deep cloak [Editor's note: Shizlink] spent the entire trip puking over the side, must never ave stepped foot on a deck befor. I'll be damned but the puppet one of them had brought aboard revealed itself to be a Fairy! I believed the fey-folk be myth and legend, not real life. I was so shocked at seeing one that I didn't 'member 'til weeks later that they hadn't paid me four silvers for her passage.
  The Hell came on the fourth day, several hours out from Bazilar. The evening fog came in too fast and too thick to be natural, and was heading towards us. The fairy and the large man cast several spells, and found that the cloud reeked of magic. I had the crew storm-rig the ship. The Coalition far-seeing lenses were pulled out again and showed the outlines of a larger ship heading through the mists towards the Uruquay.
  The black ship maneuvered along beside us and closed the gap. The crew picked out what weapons they could, and I retrieved my cutlass from below-decks.
 

Blackhawk's log, stardate 2474.2
  The black ship maneuvered alongside the Uruquay, and called on us to surrender and prepare to be boarded. My answer was a concussion grenade thrown to the middle of their deck. There was a humanoid in full plate armor carrying a machine-gun in the center of the deck, four humanoids dressed in black robes, and six undead warriors. Unfortunately the grenade flew wide and blew a hole in their forecastle.
  The firefight began in earnest then. The one toting the machine-gun was our primary target, and was knocked off his feet quickly. His armor must have been pretty good by primitive screwhead standards; he got up again. [Editor's note: the armor was magical]. The four in robes were using what the natives call "spells", some kind of energy weapon. They were able to make their target feel intense fear. The undead soldiers just got in the way, some even died from friendly fire when the machine-gun came into the action.
  We concentrated our fire on the brass, the one with the machine-gun. He only managed to get a burst off once, but hit Sasfiry and Shizlink in that one burst. We kept knocking him down and pumping more ammo at him. I'm surprised the deck under his feet held up after being riddled with so many bullets.
  It was over pretty quickly. The four in robes had big holes burning in their chests, the undead were in pieces, and the armor had just climbed back to his feet again. He shouted "I will not underestimate you again!", and ran off the back rail of his deck into the water. Either he committed suicide by drowning or that primitive looking armor was actually a combat enviro-suit, which would also explain how he took so many direct hits without damage.
 

Fry's notebook
  This was bad, very bad. The priests were human, not undead. The Unlife had never attracted living followers before. The Priests were using Terror spells and a spell to sew seeds of corruption, trying to bring me over to the dark side. Obviously the whole thing had been arranged to snare me, they sent the four priests to cast their spells at me and enough firepower to keep my companions busy. It didn't work, of course.
  I found the rowers below decks, two dozen animated zombies chained to their oars. The ship was inscribed with Runes to protect it and speed its passage. I obliterated the Runes and set fire to the ship. The Uruquay pulled away, and I watched the black ship burn to the waterline and sink. The Unlife would have to try a lot harder next time.
 

The Narrator
  The party disembarked the Uruquay, which pulled up its gangplank and departed Bazilar as soon as the last passenger stepped off. Captain Carl vowed never to take on heavily armed passengers again.
  The party strolled into the nearest establishment, a tavern just off the wharf called the Randy Sea Serpent. The bartender was a short gruff man named Zol. The obvious part about Zol was that he had a badly attached cybernetic arm, the inobvious part (revealed by a subtle multiscanner pass) was that he was half Grey Orc. A later attempt by Urk to speak to him in Orcish elicited a sharp "its not wise to reveal your true nature, whelp", which was a remarkably restrained response from a Grey.
  An amusing interlude occurred when Pyreforge attempted to order a drink. His customary illusion as a halfling elicited a gruff "we don't serve your kind" from the bartender. Pyreforge ducked around a corner and returned with a new illusion, satisfying the bartender. Of course, to the party (who always saw him as a demon) there was no visible difference.
  Zol wasn't interested in talking much. He said that Erona punished those who opposed him severely, sometimes by burning the entire city block when any house therein was suspected of aiding the resistance. Indeed, the party had spotted several large fires burning deeper in the city from the docks.

  The party decided more information could be found elsewhere, and ventured into the city towards the larger fire. The source was indeed an entire city block burning. There was no effort being made to put out the fire, and the family who was apparently the target of it stood about in shock. When questioned, they could say only that the Erona must have suspected them of aiding the resistance. Sasfiry, ever the compassionate one, left them an entire gold piece to help their situation.
  The party then located an Inn nearby, and rented several rooms. The Innkeeper was a quiet man named Kaelic, who revealed that such burnings were frequent though growing less so as the populace collectively decided to keep their head down. The Coalition garrison had stopped patrolling the streets weeks before, shortly after Erona took over, and the Garrison commander had not been seen in weeks.
  Kaelic also told of a sickness affecting Bazilar. A strange wasting disease started in Bazilar almost ten years previous. It never struck large numbers, but struck essentially at random with no discernible means of transmission. The Sickness had grown much worse of late, such that an area for the sick and dying had been set up in the center of town.
  When asked about the Resistance in town, the Innkeeper claimed not to know anything but seemed evasive. A quick probe by Blackhawk revealed an image of a kindly old man wearing glasses and hunched over a book.
  Sasfiry, again being always the compassionate one, gave Kaelic a gold piece for his trouble and to help his family. The Innkeeper got an odd look on his face and walked carefully into the back room of the Inn, from whence a loud whoop was heard.

  The next morning the group decided to try the main library, knowing of the odd break-ins occurring in Mopheus and that the picture in the Innkeeper's mind had been of an old man surrounded by books.
  Amazingly enough Sigmund's False Credentials spell was not required as Fry convinced the librarian at the desk that he was a detective from the Coalition and was investigating reports of library break-ins in other towns. She confessed that there had been a break-in, and that a few books from their special collection had disappeared. When pressed, she revealed that the texts had concerned necromancy. Fry asked for access to the special collection to assess the damage, but was told that only the head librarian could grant such access. Fry promptly asked to see the head librarian, whose name was Zek. Zek lived in rooms upstairs, and had fallen ill from the Sickness recently.
  Fry and Sasfiry went up to see Zek. It became obvious that Zek was the man pictured in the Innkeeper's mind. The Mark of Ascension branded on Sasfiry's arm quickly convinced Zek that they were to be trusted. Zek told them to seek out Baldo the Brick, who was the city engineer working in the sewers and would know of a way into the Garrison if anyone did. Zek also said to find Ranix at the Randy Sea Serpent, and wrote a note which would convince Ranix that he had sent them. Sasfiry thanked him and cast a spell to counteract the spread of the Sickness, which at least reduced Zek's suffering.

  It would be many hours before the Randy Sea Serpent opened for business, so the party decided to investigate the camp at the center of town for tending those with the Sickness. It was run by the priests of Kuar, and seemed overwhelmed with the dead and dying. The party suspected that the Sickness might be a cover for the creation of an army of Undead. It was decided to split up, with Frisbee and Sigmund going to investigate the Sickness and the rest to meet Ranix at the Randy Sea Serpent that night. Blackhawk gave Sigmund a Coalition communicator to stay in contact.
 

Frisbee's report to her monastery
  The camp had been set up some years before as a temporary triage area. Unfortunately the number of people infected with the Sickness continued to grow, and the camp became a permanent fixture. Brother Anthin, a priest of Kuar, informed us that the Sickness was not directly contagious, and the method of its spread was still unknown to them. Healing magics had been ineffective, at best slowing the progress of the disease but never curing it.
  On that day in particular the brothers were overwhelmed by the number of the dead. They were loading the bodies onto a large wagon pulled by elephants to be taken outside the city and burned. Sigmund and I agreed to help them in their task. You will recall from my previous reports that Sigmund is a magic-user of the High Man race, who shows a distressing tendency in taste and frequency of his choices of earthly pleasures but occasionally displays truly noble behavior, as he did on this day.
  We spent several hours loading the corpses onto the cart. They all displayed the final symptoms of the Sickness, a strange wasting away as though the life had slowly drained out of them. When the dead had been loaded, three of the brothers boarded the wagon alongside Sigmund and I.
  We rode the wagon through the city gates and for a number of miles beyond. Sigmund carried the far speaking device given him by Blackhawk [Editor's note: a Coalition communicator], and informed the rest of our group that we would return the next day. The cart pulled up to a natural ravine in a rocky area of the countryside. The Brothers informed us that this area was inherently non-magical, and that those who fell to the Sickness were brought here to be burned. It was an ignoble burial, but necessary to remove the contagion from Bazilar.
  Unloading the bodies was quick work, and the brothers started the funeral pyre quickly. We stood in reverent silence for several minutes, bidding their poor souls farewell. I recited the Lyric and the Dance of Remembrance, wishing them well when their souls returned to Kulthea to continue their journey along the Golden Path in their next lifetime.
  Sigmund informed me later that he used those several minutes to cast certain magics to assess the emotional state of the brethren. He no longer suspects foul play by the Brothers of Kuar, believing them to be the simple priests they appear. He also found no evidence that the bodies of those who fell to the Sickness are being used by the Unlife. We saw the remains of many, many years of such pyres in that canyon, with no sign that the burnt remains had been disturbed.
  The Brothers directed their cart towards their monastery, where they offered us rooms for the night. The Brothers live a life close to nature, growing their own crops and tending the sick in Bazilar. They also have an extensive herb garden, with plants for tending the sick as well as flavoring the food.
  Later in the evening we had the opportunity to talk with Lentin, whose title is Arch-Bishop of the Brothers of Kuar. He is a good man, very compassionate and knowledgeable. He told us that the Sickness has affected Bazilar for far longer than Kaelic (our Innkeeper in Bazilar) knew. The Brothers keep excellent records, and have found mention of the wasting disease stretching back several centuries. It is clear that the Sickness became far more prominent and wide-spread ten years ago, which is when the population of Bazilar first took note of it. Lentin mentioned that the Coalition Garrison in Bazilar got a new Commander ten years ago, at roughly the same time the Sickness worsened. Lentin sees this as coincidence, but given the links we have found between factions of the Coalition and the Unlife I believe there may be something more sinister in that connection.
  Lentin also informed us that Roake, Enkin's father and the previous ruler of Bazilar, had died of the Sickness. We had not known the cause of his death. When Enkin returned from his studies abroad after his father's death he was immediately imprisoned, and Erona assumed the throne.
  The next morning the brothers allowed me to take a few healing herbs from their garden. Given the frequency with which we battle the Unlife, such herbs are very important to us. I left a few shards of emerald as a donation to fund the Brother's work, and we returned to Bazilar.
 

The Narrator
  Meanwhile, the rest of the party left the triage area in the center of the city, and decided to go provisioning. "Provisioning" in this case is a euphemism for "Sasfiry looking for coffee and Fry looking to make Anthropology rolls in curio shops".
  The party ended up in a curio shop, where Blackhawk attempted a Trading roll. A natural 66 resulted in the death of the poor merchant during the negotiations. [Editor's note: if in truly desperate combat, offering a silver for your opponent's weapon could make all the difference...] Sasfiry and Chantille attempted to revive the trader, to no avail. The party saw little else they could do for him save leave some money for his family, flip the sign to "Closed", and lock the door behind them.
  Later in the evening the party went to the Randy Sea Serpent to look for Ranix. After several hours of waiting he arrived. He was unwilling to talk in such a public place, but when presented with the note in Zek's handwriting agreed to meet the party at midnight on the docks.
  Fry, being truly paranoid, had been surreptitiously watching the other patrons in the tavern for anyone who showed exceptional interest in the conversation with Ranix. He noticed a hawk-nosed man at a table across the bar who had been watching. Blackhawk probed the man telepathically and found that he was about to do something to try to impress his companions. However he somehow detected Blackhawk's mental probe, and whipped his head around to look directly at the party. Several minutes later Chantille attempted a Listen spell to hear the conversation at the other table which must also have been detected, as everyone stiffened and immediately left the bar.
  The party decided to follow these strange men. Using the multiscanner it was easy to track them while staying well back so as to not be noticed. The men headed directly for the docks and into a dark warehouse nearby. A covert investigation by Chantille determined that the warehouse was empty.
  After much fiddling with the multiscanner the party detected a tunnel under the warehouse, heading down into the city sewers. There were six people in a fairly large room fifty feet below ground. While the party waited two more arrived in the underground room. The party was unsure of what to do at this point, and as the time to meet Ranix on the dock approached decided to leave to meet him.

  Ranix proved to be suspicious, but after seeing the mark on the thoroughly drunk Sasfiry's forearm his suspicions subsided somewhat. He thought the trio which the party had tailed from the Randy Sea Serpent might be members of the Blood Coven, and dispatched one of his men to investigate their movements in the tunnels under the city. The Blood Coven is a group which split off from the priesthood. They meet every full moon, but had not been seen within Bazilar for several years. Their goal is to sever the link between the Druids of Tiuz and the priests of Kuar.
  Fry dredged a few more details from his extensive knowledge of Kulthean history: the Druids are also known as the Wood Coven, and are attuned to nature and the wilderness. There are seven masters of the Wood Coven, called the Tree Druids. Their order has a policy of non-interference in urban affairs. Tiuz is an avatar of Kuar, and the druids have always remained on friendly terms with the priesthood of Kuar. There is another group called the Stone Coven, 13 men and women led by the Dark Druid. They oppose the Wood Coven, and seek to destroy civilization.

  Ranix escorted the party into a fishmonger's shop, where a tunnel led down to an underground chamber where they could stay for the night. In talking about the current situation in Bazilar, Ranix informed them that when Roake died and Erona took over, the Commander of the Coalition garrison disappeared. Strangely, no-one has been sent to replace him and the Coalition troops now report to Erona. Patrols of troops from the garrison have dropped to only a handful each week.

  The party relayed their findings to Frisbee and Sigmund, and arranged to meet near the city gates the next morning. Frisbee told Archbishop Lentin of the movements of the Blood Coven, and Lentin seemed concerned but not surprised.
 

Ranix, telling tales around a campfire years later
  I thank the Gods that the group of Outsiders were with me that day. We met the other two of their number near the gates as arranged, and headed to an area of town far away from the Garrison and from prying eyes. I arranged for a hay wagon to break its axle and be stranded in the middle of the road right above a sewer grating. One by one the outsiders, Dorlin, and I descended into the tunnels to seek out Baldo the Brick.
  We were proceeding with good speed when the tall one, who called himself Blackhawk, called on me to halt. He was looking intently at the equipment in his hands, a scanner of Coalition manufacture. He said it had located three other beings standing in the room who were not visible. The one named Fry pulled out another scanner, and the small Fairy began casting spells to look for the beings.
  Suddenly a trooper of the Unlife, perhaps sensing that it had been detected, appeared along one wall. I drew my Claymore and charged at it before it could bring its gun to bear. The Outsiders kept to the center of the room, drawing their weapons. It being clear that we had run into an ambush arranged by the Unlife, Blackhawk called off bearings to the other readings on his scanner and the group began firing to try to feel them out. The warrior monk, Frisbee, ran with her staff outstretched towards one of them, and dragged her staff against the wall until she located the trooper.
  The troopers of the Unlife were armed with firearms, and began shooting at us from all sides. I saw flashes in the corner of my eye when they fired, but they remained invisible throughout. I had thought that impossible until that day. Things quickly grew grim, as Blackhawk took a shotgun blast in the back and several others were hit. [Editor's note: Blackhawk sucked down an E critical in the back, blinked, and spun around to return fire]
  The Priestess of Kieron, named Sasfiry, cast a spell to repel the foul things. It did not destroy any of them, but thank the Gods it made all of them visible! There were eight of them altogether, spread out around the room and obviously expecting us. One of the eight was much bigger than the rest, some sort of demon armed with a tremendous battle axe.
  I understand now why Edwin sent this group of Outsiders to Bazilar. Once they could see their targets they made quick work of it, raining down such firepower that my ears hurt from the roar. The fairy destroyed one of the foul things by shooting a bolt of electricity at point blank range. The troopers were protected by some sort of force shield, but in the end it did not matter much. There were no further injuries to any of us, and all of the Unlife were sent back to to the hell they came from.
 

Fry's notebook
  This was bad, very bad. The Unlife had learned some new tricks, and were making their troopers out of sterner stuff. They began to disintegrate almost immediately, and in the poor light I could not identify the material. I managed to store its molecular structure in the multiscanner before it all degraded, and I'm sure I'll be able to analyze it later given my extensive knowledge of chemical engineering.
  They were all equipped with a cybernetic device serving as their spinal cord and shoulder joints, which must be where their force fields and invisibility effects were generated. I recovered six of them fully functional and another two which were damaged in the firefight. I'm certain I will be able to analyze them when I can examine them in better light given my extensive knowledge of cybernetic and electronic engineering.
  They also had shotguns of currently unknown manufacture. I'm sure I'll be able to identify their place of origin when I can examine them in better light, given my extensive knowledge of weaponry production.
  The fact that the Unlife has singled me out for ambush is not surprising, they realize what a grave threat I pose to them. I know they have an extensive network of operatives searching for me. However I did not expect them to know that I was in the sewers of Bazilar, as my movements have been kept secret. I will have to investigate this more.
 

The Narrator
  The party gathered the remains of the Necro-borgs, including the cybernetic implants, shotguns, and the battleaxe. They continued on deep under the city to find Baldo the Brick. After an hour of walking they came to a Y intersection which had been recently repaired using Coalition Durastone. Ranix and Dorlin paused, trying to determine which way to go. They had been following subtle markers placed in the stone walls, markers which had been covered over by the Durastone.
  A low rumbling was heard coming from all around, and Chantille noticed a breeze coming from one of the corridors in the Y (being a 1' tall flying fairy makes one sensitive to these things). Fry headed off down that corridor, calling on the party to follow him. The rest followed, until it because clear that the rumbling was indeed a large mass of water heading down the corridor towards them. They ran to a 4 way intersection in the tunnel, and chose to go left to get out of the direct path of the oncoming water. Just before the wall of water reached them a slab lifted out of the wall beside them, and Baldo the Brick reached out to pull the party to safety. You just knew that was going to happen, didn't you?
  Baldo's abode, and Baldo himself, were spotlessly clean. Baldo informed the party that the Coalition was doing extensive renovation and reinforcement of the tunnels under the garrison, for unknown reasons. The torrent of water they had barely avoided was intended to clean out a portion of the tunnel system for this construction.
  Baldo agreed to help them find a way into the Garrison to free Enkin. He said he would arrange a meeting with Oozer, who had lived in the sewers as long as Baldo could remember.
  While waiting for their meeting with Oozer the party examined the items recovered from the necro-borgs. Fry pulled up the chemical structure stored in the multiscanner and identified it as necroplasm. Shizlink scanned the cybernetic implants and found they were technomagical with the force field and invisibility generated by Arcane magic. Blackhawk determined that the shotguns they carried were not produced by any of the major arms factories in the Coalition, and were of a design unlike any he was familiar with.
 

Baldo the Brick
  The red-headed woman is pretty. I like her. She asked me to help. I'll help her.
  I'll take them to Oozer. Oozer will know a way into the garrison. I don't like Oozer very much. Oozer is dirty. Oozer lives in the deep tunnels with his rats. Oozer has thousands of rats. Oozer can talk to the rats. The rats obey Oozer. Oozer will know a way. The red-haired woman won't like Oozer. I hope she doesn't. I hope she likes me.
  I told Oozer we need his help. Oozer does not like the new Coalition stone. I told Oozer these people would stop the new stone. Oozer agreed to help. Oozer said to come back that night. I have to go to work now.
 

The Narrator
  According to the multiscanner Oozer was human, but it would be difficult to tell by appearances. He was covered head to toe in matted, dirty hair. His rats preceded him, and obeyed his commands. The party agreed to meet Oozer that evening, when he would show them a way into the Garrison from the sewers.
  The party returned to Baldo's abode. Baldo, as the city engineer, had to leave to perform his duties for the day. Ranix sent Dorlin to find out what progress had been made tracking the Blood Coven's movements. The party waited, sharpening and cleaning their weapons and brainstorming how to free Enkin once they were in the Garrison.
  Several hours later there came a pounding at the door. Dorlin had returned, badly beaten and bruised. He was rushed to the bed and healing magics administered to aid him. He recovered sufficiently to relate that he had been ambushed while attempting to leave the sewer system. His assailants were grey skinned and heavily tattooed, and looked vaguely Orcish. They wanted to know about the party in the sewers, about their location, plans, and armaments. Dorlin had fought but was overpowered and beaten. He was able to escape when a swarm of rats suddenly rushed over the Grey Orcs, biting and blinding them. Dorlin circled several times and took an obscure route to get to Baldo's room, to make sure he was not followed.
  Determining that there was far less time to act than originally planned, the party left Baldo's abode and, using the map of the sewers their multiscanner had been making, retraced their steps to the place where they were to meet Oozer. The scanner was able to locate Oozer at extreme range, and indicated that Oozer was moving towards them. The scanner could not locate Baldo, and there was little chance of tracking him down in an unfamiliar sewer system.
  Oozer agreed to take them to the Garrison immediately. They traveled quite a distance, noticing more and more Durastone as they progressed. Underneath the garrison itself almost all of the tunnels had been reinforced with Durastone. They crossed the threshold between Bazilar's ancient system of tunnels which had been hand dug and the Coalition maintenance tunnels which were precisely machined.
  Just then a maintenance droid came floating down the corridor. Oozer hissed and spit at it, highly enraged. The droid paused and began scanning Oozer with a green beam. It was trying to determine if Oozer was authorized to give it voice commands, though the party did not know that at the time. Shizlink ran up, cast a technomagic Interface spell to gain access to the droid's computer system, and shut it down.
  Shizlink proceeded to dump out whatever he could find in the droid's memory. The droid was a construction unit, which was heading out to pour more durastone to reinforce the tunnel system. From the construction plans in the droid's memory it was clear that renovations of the garrison were increasing its weight tremendously, necessitating reinforcement of the foundation.
  The droid also had a basic map of the garrison and of the tunnels surrounding the garrison (which Fry merged with the map the multiscanner had been making of the sewer system). The garrison consisted of five levels, two above ground and three below. The lower two levels were the prison, the middle level housed the maintenance depot (which the droid had just left) and the kitchen. The two above ground levels were barracks and offices for the garrison. The only access to the prison was via a stairwell and elevator from the third floor. A separate set of stairs ran from the third level up to the upper two. There is an entrance for the construction droids into the maintenance depot, and a ramp leading from the lower tunnels up to the droid entrance. [Editor's note: the droid ramp and entrance are not shown on the map below] There is a trash chute running alongside the garrison which leads into a deep underground cavern. The trash chute has no openings on the prison levels, but could provide access to the kitchen or to the upper two levels of the structure.
  Oozer was going to take them to the trash chute, where they could get to the kitchen and then sneak into the maintenance depot to get to the prison levels. The party determined instead to try the droid's entrance to the maintenance depot.

Shizlink's hidden computer file
  Me find map of garrison in memory droid's. Friend Fairy cast spell turn me invisible, cast other spell make me fly. Fairy turn Fairy invisible, and fly we up ramp.
  Me hit mother lode!!! Me find droids, battlemechs, air fighters, battle tank! Me most powerful Goblin in universe!!!
  Then me see Guard robot. Baddo guard robot come and steal it all away. Guard robot see me not, me invisible. Me tell Friend Fairy tell others me send droids down bring them up. Me try cast Rune of Marconi; too much power not enough spell. [Editor's note: Shizlink fumbled his spell and was knocked unconscious for a while. Fortunately he remained invisible] Me Interface construction droid, program go bottom ramp, wait, return. Me send droid down.
  Me wait. Me wait. Me wonder what in storage locker. Me must wait for droid. Me wait. Me can't wait no more, must know what in storage locker! Locker locked, me try unlock. Lock no unlock. Guard robot head for me! Must run! Guard robot scan locker. Guard robot no find me. Me invisible.
  Me wonder what battle tank made of. Me try find out, run into force field. Guard robot head for me! Must run! Guard robot still no find me. Then alarm bells sound.
  Me not like this. Me not like this one bit. Bad humans in control room moving around, bad guard robots looking for me. Alarm bells ears hurt. Must make diversion. Me program construction droid plaster over ramp other side of depot. Me send droid. Baddo guard robot follow droid, tell droid stop. Droid no can stop, me program droid priority override. Droid plaster begins ramp. Guard robot destroy construction droid. Big boom!
  Me run down ramp, back to friends. Me pass first droid on way down, droid slow.

The Narrator
  The maintenance depot plan did not work out quite as well as expected. Shizlink was not discovered, but a rash of mysterious system failures placed the base on alert. After some discussion the party decided this could work to their advantage, in that further systems failures might be regarded as part of the overall system instability.
  The party made its way to where the trash chute intersected the tunnel. A doorway had been hewn and wires dangled where the electronic lock would be placed, but the work was incomplete. A series of metal rungs inside the chute led up to the level of the Coalition garrison.
  The party began climbing until they were beside level five of the garrison. From the map it appeared to be a storage area, while the main prison cells were on level four. The multiscanner determined that there was a security net in the Durastone lining the trash chute, in front of several feet of rock, and finally a six inch layer of Duranium. Duranium is the material starship hulls are constructed of, and cannot be cut with conventional tools.
  Eventually a plan was developed. Blackhawk cut through the Durastone being careful to stay within the hole formed by the security wires, which was 2 feet on a side. Sigmund and Chantille cast spells to become invisible, and Shadow Assassin to cloak their movements from divination. Chantille cast a Portal spell to open a temporary hole in the remaining stone and Duranium. A quick check revealed no guards in sight, and Sigmund and Chantille went through.
  The fifth level was definitely not a storage area. It had obviously been the Garrison dungeon, and was being recast as a prison. Wiring hung from tracks in the ceiling to control boxes for electronic locks which had not been installed. Several guards wandered through the rows of cells. The guards wore glassy helmets which completely concealed their faces, but their arms were grey and tattooed with runes. Later when their speech was overheard, it was definitely Orcish. The guards were Grey Orcs.
  There were no living prisoners on the fifth level, only a few skeletons left over from when it was a dungeon. The elevator and stairs to the fifth level were in a central chamber secured with a card lock. All of the guards carried card keys, several had them stuck loosely in their belts. Sigmund attempted to pick the pocket of one guard and failed miserably. The Orc sensed something and immediately swung his broadsword, but missed. Sigmund carefully crept back out of the way, and the two adventurers waited for the guards to work it out amongst themselves. After a few minutes the guards returned to their normal patrols. Not willing to risk another pickpocket attempt, a guard was found sharpening his sword while leaning against a far wall. Sigmund teleported the card key from the Orc's belt, and the guard did not notice.
 

Sigmund's Journal
  We went to the central chamber and climbed the stairs. The lock at the top had a damned camera, but the door opened even though the bloody thing cannae see us. The prison level had cells in the floor, with a catwalk all about for the guards. The guards could look down into any cell at any time. There be space to walk between cells, with bars set at the top of each. There were six Grey Orcish bastards, and four flying metal demons [Editor's note: guard robots] guarding the prisoners.
  We did a walk through the room, and found many merchants and vagabonds but only three that we might consider bringing out with us. One was Enkin, one was a comely lass with coal black skin and white hair, and the last was a Reathenor. The bloody huge Reathenor would not have fit through the hole between the security wires, so we only had the two.
  Chantille tried to fly between the bars of the cage, but I saw sparks fly and she were thrown back. The shock broke the spell and she faded back into vision. I grabbed her as quick as can be and snapped off another Unseen spell to cover her, and none of the guards got a good look before the spell hid her agin. They were spooked, with the four hell-sent metal demons flying down to cast their spells [Editor's note: the robots turned on their scanner beams] and the guards coming down the stairs toward us. I used a Cloaking spell to convince the bastards we weren't there, and several Misdirection spells to make them feel a bit queasy besides. The metal demons were not affected by the spells, but the guards called them off within a few minutes.
  Chantille cast a spell to heal her injuries, and another to project her voice far away. Enkin could only respond yea or nae, but he blinked twice to say we should get the black-skinned lass out with us. Chantille told both of them not to move even a wee bit, and cast spells to create illusions of them as they lay. The little lass can create a great deal of magic, tis true.
  We turned to go back to the lower level when the elevator door opened and a human man entered. He carried a silver rod and had a look of command about him. He headed straight for Enkin's cell, though he did not seem to realize the magics Chantille had created. I cast a Misdirection spell on the bastard and saw it take effect as he swayed a bit and put a hand to his head. We went back down the stairs to the lower level.
 

Chantille
  I could not tell Sigmund at ze time, but when I focused my Ventriloquism spell on ze dark-skinned woman her eyes fluttered open, and she spoke to me telepathically. She asked who we were, and I told her we were going to rescue her. Zen ze woman passed out, as though ze effort of communicating in zis manner had overwhelmed her.
  We went back to ze fifth level, where I prepared to teleport ze two prisoners. Ze illusions created above would last for one half of an hour, so speed was quite important. Nonezeless teleportation magic is very difficult especially when one is weakened from ze casting of so many previous spells, no? I prepared ze spell carefully, and saw ze blue flash of light outlining a male human form as Enkin was teleported.
  I heard a commotion behind us, as several guttural voices began to shout in what must have been ze Orcish. Sigmund whispered zat he would go investigate, while I continued preparations to teleport ze woman from ze cell above. Sigmund placed ze card for ze lock he had taken at ze corner of ze hallway where ze two guards were arguing, assuming (rightly, as it turned out) zat zey were arguing about ze lost badge. He returned just before ze blue flash of light showed zat ze woman had successfully teleported. Sigmund picked up ze unconscious woman, helped Enkin to his feet, and we carefully moved back to ze place where we had tunneled through ze wall to get in.
  Our luck held, as one of ze two arguing guards pointed at ze badge lying on ze floor where Sigmund had left it. I cast ze Portal spell as soon as both guards had zer backs turned to retrieve ze badge. Blackhawk, clinging to ze ladder on ze other side of ze opening, helped us clear Enkin and ze woman through ze opening. Sigmund went through quickly and I followed right behind him. Ze opening closed, almost catching my wings.
 

The Narrator
  The party descended rapidly down the ladder to the tunnels below. It had taken them 45 minutes to climb up but only 30 minutes to climb down. As they neared the bottom alarm bells were heard from above, indicating that the illusions had expired and the escape was known. The party ran down the tunnel into the sewers of Bazilar, finding Oozer waiting. Oozer led them via a route they had not traversed before, as ominous rumblings indicated that the garrison had mustered all of its resources to scour the tunnels in search of Enkin. Nonetheless the rumblings became fainter as Oozer led them into deep tunnels which only he knew, and eventually the group stopped in a chamber to wait.
  Provided with water and a bit of food, Enkin's vitality improved greatly. He explained that the woman was some kind of ambassador to Bazilar and perhaps to Kulthea itself. Apparently feared greatly by their captors, she had been drugged daily and was treated gingerly by the guards. Enkin referred to Ranix as "Captain", from which the party learned that Ranix had once been Captain of the Guard for Roake, Enkin's father. Enkin believed he had been betrayed by two merchants he had once trusted, who informed Erona of his location as soon as he returned from his studies abroad.
 

Sasfiry, recounting her tale much later
  The extreme audacity of that total brute, Urk. Not only does he like often berate me and like totally degrade me in comparison to Frisbee, who gently tolerates his totally constant adoration in much the way that one tolerates the flies when dealing with horses, but no he like must wake MY patient to inquire about her origins and her name and other mundane stuff. If I had a sword and the attitude to hurt others, but I like don't, I'd thump him over the head, and I like totally told him so. Like, rude much. First time he's shown me anything even resembling respect, got a big-eyed look on his dufus face and walked away. Hmmm.... maybe I should try yelling at him more often, but then again, why stress my throat. It would like totally strain my singing voice.
 

The Narrator
  The group paused briefly to allow Enkin to catch his breath and get water, and Sasfiry to tend to the dark skinned woman. Ranix then led the party on a two hour journey through the tunnels to a chamber used as a staging area by the resistance movement. It had once been an underground warehouse which was abandoned when the floor between the two levels had collapsed. The rebels had cleaned it up and placed illusion magicks on the entrances to hide the room's existence.
  There were a fair number of people in the room, who immediately gathered about Ranix and Enkin when they entered. Most of the people appeared to be beggars and various lowlife, though Fry noticed some inconsistencies in their clothing (a fine woolen undershirt beneath tattered robes) indicating that many were disguised as such. The dark skinned woman was placed on a cot in a makeshift triage area, where Sasfiry continued tending to her. After some time the excitement over Enkin's release abated a bit, and he, Ranix, and the rest of the rebel leadership were able to begin planning their next move.
  Later in the evening the dark-skinned woman awoke, the drugs in her system having dropped below some threshold. She was able to communicate telepathically, and said her name was Leneth, a princess of Darakon. The coordinates of her home planet were well outside of Coalition space, at least four jump points away. She had been sent to Kulthea because the elders of her world detected a great turmoil nearby (the tear in space in the Kulthean system Edwin had revealed, presumably). She was sent to establish relations with the forces of Light on Kulthea. In her confinement in the garrison she had managed occasional telepathic contact with Enkin, and determined to join his struggle in Bazilar.
  The party spent the night in the rebel stronghold. By the next morning it became clear that the struggle in Bazilar would be a lengthy affair, and that the party's skills would best be used elsewhere. Ranix did fill them in on news of the Blood Coven, that it was expanding and becoming bolder in its actions, and was operating within Bazilar itself. However that would have to be someone else's fight. Ranix led them through the underground tunnels to the opposite side of the city, where a manhole cover provided access to an alley off the main commercial thoroughfare near one of the city gates. The party had determined to travel to Zor to assist Ninghal in her succession.
  On the way to the city gate, Fry noticed an unassuming door labeled "curious goods".