Upon first awakening, all he saw was darkness, then he realized his eyes were closerclosed. His head hurt and his vision blurred, nothing was coming into focus. He remembered being on watch and playing cards with Charlie. It was the first time he'd caught him cheating early on in the game, and he was actually beating Charlie. He remembered the fight. The REALLY big guy with the really big sword. He remembered being on watch and playing cards with JoeCharlie. It was the first time he'd caught Charlie him cheating early on in the game, and he was actually beating Charlie. He couldn't remember how many there had been attacking them, but he remembered some really pretty exotic looking gal coming at them also. Not the same really pretty gal sitting across the room from him. . . Then he remembered there hadn't been any gals with him and Charlie prior to the arrival of the strangers. She looked sorta scared, like he might want to comfort her, and eventually have some fun, but he figured that would be kinda hard with his being tied down to the bed. . . Sanralets bed, if he wasn't mistaken. . . She said her name was Eowyn and she was a prisoner, too. And that she could use some comforting, especially since she didn't understand why this was happening to her, and what is was that horrible big man with the sword wanted. Maybe she'd untie him if he impressed he with what he knew . . .

Eowyns Diary: I had hoped to get some information out of this really bad smelling human prior to having to have my sister intervene. The more I could get him to say without her methods the more quickly we could get out of here. Violence and inquisition are not my forte. But, they are sometimes preferential preferable to having being touched by someone that smells like a drunken revelry come back to haunt the next morning touch you. He was beginning to get a bit friskier than I had anticipated, even tied to the bed, so I had to get my sister involved, none the less. I rarely get to see Erilyn in action. She is rather good at what she does. I sometimes wonder if she really rather does enjoy it. Will, her victium, gave her quite a bit of information. about his boss, a half-orc named Sandralet, weapons shipments and the elf prisoners that we came here to investigate. He's not very bright, "Weapons come in, elves go out, Some guy named 'Hugo' picks-up the weapons. Just kill me." was about the most intelligent set of phrases he seemed to be able to put together. His boss is a half-orc named Sanralet, whom he claims is an all-powerful wizard who can summon the spirits of the dead. Elvish slaves are brought to the house in small groups and held in the sea caves. About every 6 weeks a ship arrives to drop off smuggled weapons and takes the elves away. The weapons are packed into crates and concealed by dried meat, and are picked up by a merchant named Hugo. His Erilyn managed to piece this all together from Will’s ever so helpful descriptions like, “Weapons come in, elves go out. Just kill me and get it over with.” Will’s cohort, Charlie, was only a little more bright., but didn't seem to have any more information. Charlie confirmed what Will had said, and also revealed that they were under strict orders to not let Hugo "Some merchant I never set eyes upon." find out about the elvish prisoners.

I really didn't relish putting on Wills' clothes when I took on his form to investigate the sea caves that the rest of their gang was working in, but it was necessary to complete the illusion. They itched something fierce. I think I'm going to have to ask Layla for some delousing agents. I was pretty certain I'd be fine especially since Valek and Shikata were shadowing shadowed me as I explored the sea caves beyond the barracks. I found no more signs of elves, but did find some pretty scary looking shackles atttached to an oversized hobby-horse type structure. When I sawI passed a cave with a group of five ruffians with a half-orc among them appearing to be taking some kind of inventory on boxes and their contents., I quietly continued past them down the caves to where the air seemed a bit cleaner. But, as dumb luck would have it, I did get was noticed by one of three hoodlums slouching on some boxes and barrels. They did mistake mistook me for their comrade, but were alarmed that I was here rather than keeping watch. I told them Charlie had been sick in a water barrel and I was looking for another clean one. They grunted their acknowledgement and asked not to be told on for "slouching on the job". One of them was actually kind of cute, and appeared to even bathe a little more frequently than the others. On my way back I was noticed by the half-orc looking fellow and had to give the same story. He didn't seem to trust me and grunted and growled at a large shaggy looking bestial fellow who smelled something aweful - worse than even than Will. The beast hefted a heavy water barrel over one shoulder, to replace the one in the barracks. As we walked from the chamber It it noticed Valek and that's when all the trouble began. It grunted “get back to work” in Goblinoid to Valek. Apparently all humans look alike, and it had mistaken Valek from one of the smugglers. Valek did not understand until I had repeated the command in Common, and the beast grew suspicious.

Exert from Valek's letter to mom:

I'd never seen anything like it. It was bigger and hairier and stank worse than old uncle Roy who's been dead and rotting for over a year. I did my best to pretend to be one of the lackies, but it didn't seem to believe. Shikata finally tried to ambush it, and I damn near broke my leg while she was distracting it. Gotta remember to be careful in dark, dank, slimey caves. Tell cousin Jeff I think I could give him some pointers on that corundum. A huge battle broke out with a number of nuts casting spells everywhere. Lightning bolts, Mandorallen barking like a dog and trying to molest first Dill who screamed like a girl and ran then tried to grab Erilyn. He seemed possessed by some really lascivious deamon or something. Worse than Grandpa on one of his better drunks at the local whore house. ,T then some really ugly half-orc looked at the ceiling above himself and it started to crack and rain stones. Layla yelled that It was a cave-in and to run. Never have I ran so fast. . . not even, well, you know the time. One of these days, I'm fearful of turning out like uncle Albert who used to love hanging around those spell casters of grandpas'. Think he'll ever grow the tail back? We did manage to mutilate two big, hairy things (Dill called them Gnolls. . . strong and stupid creatures, useful in their ways). Layla said she was grateful she didn't have to patch us up and refused to heal another enemy so that "Erilyn can go and break them again."

Sandralet, bleeding and unconscious, was captured and convinced to speak through via Erilyns gentle ministrations. He insisted that he be questioned in private, with only Erilyn and Mandorallen present. Before the party they could find out much, they heard a muted thump and blood began to drip from the dead half-orcs ears and nostrils. Sanralet must have known that betraying information would trigger his death, and might have even thought to take Erilyn and Mandorallen out in the blast. "So, broke another one, ehhh?" Layla asked Erilyn.

The party had gotten no information about the door with the skull and cross-bones drawn on it that was bolted and barred from the outside. They decide that Dill should do cast an skrying Anticipations spell to see 60 seconds into the future if a specific task is done, such as opening the door. She sees darkness, the hint of something moving then the shadowy hint view of undead faces coming out the door. They set a tri-level snare across the door opening a few feet into the room of thin wire at neck, torso and upper leg level and prepare to 'pin cushion' whatever comes out of the door with flaming arrows. As the undead filer into the room and are hit by burning arrows, Ttainted smoke begins to pour into the room issue forth. It eventually clears by filtering up the stairwell into the house above and wind from the caves blowing it out. Valek and Mandorallen investigate the frey and the previously sealed room and after the smoke clears. They find 5 burned undead and one pin cushioned to the far wall, thus matching the six enemies that they had previously detected via Detect Enemies. The sealed room had only been a foiyer to a room beyond. There they found the old master of the house, with a suicide note by the note he left describing his last day final hours. He was missing an ear and had a cloth covering the right side of his head, presumably to staunch the flow of blood. The skin tone and scale of this man looked very much like the ear they had found in the hidden closet of the Master bedroom. They found a cauldron brazier of burned notes, some a strange flexible tubular object that the old wizard was unable to burn, and a ring from his hand.