Escaping The Barracks

Zbignor shakes his head as he sees the terrible sight:

"Bastards," is all that he says before trying all of the keys on the Lord Protektor's key ring in order to try and find once that fits. It doesn't take him long to find the right one and he swings the door to Porter's cage open.

Winnacer stands quietly for a few seconds, open-mouthed. It takes a little while before he can find his equilibrium before he turns to Yaz:

"Can you help him?"

Yaz is already next to Porter, kneeling in the filth:

Yaz hears Porter murmuring:

"I'm sorry, Fae."

Faewen'il simply stares at him, the look on her face giving little clue as to what she is thinking inside.

"You look shitty," Yaz says to Porter with a smirk, before casting a major healing spell on Porter's knees. As the green glow transfers from the druid's hands to spread over Porter, he feels much of the pain coming from his knees being removed.

Porter manages the weakest of smiles in return, dried blood cracking around his mouth. He tries to get up but, although much of the pain has subsided, Yaz' spell has not repaired his shattered kneecaps and so he slumps back into the filth once more.

At seeing that Porter is still in some degree of pain, Yaz casts again, using a moderate healing spell this time. He sees that the results are nothing special and so casts a succession of minor healing spells upon the bounty hunter. Only when he has cast his fourth and final light healing spell does Porter sit up:

"That's it," he says weakly. "All of the pain has gone now, but I still can't use my legs. My left hand is pretty useless as well."

Yaz shakes his head:

"That's all that I can do for you now," he says sadly. "I can work on your legs and hand tomorrow if the rockmaster can't see you once we get out of here."

Winnacer looks at Porter's knees suspiciously:

"We are going to have a lot of trouble getting him out of here. Between his injuries and his smell, it's going to be tough just to walk out of here."

Winnacer thinks for a second, tapping his foot on the floor. He looks at Zbignor questioningly:

"How much rock lies under us here? Would it be possible to open the rock under our feet and lower a rope to the first level of Opava? If we are lucky, we can just descend to safety from here, lowering Porter tied to the rope."

Zbignor shakes his head:

"It's not the rock that'd be the problem. I reckon that there's only 15 feet or so underneath here," he says stamping his foot on the ground.

"No," he continues. "It's the drop that's the problem. It's a good 80-foot or more down to the floor after you've got through the rock. And who knows where we'd end up, neither."

"Fae's rope is 50'," Winnacer replies. "Did anybody else bring rope? I didn't."

"We could feasibly do it if we had another length of rope, avoiding the whole escaping out the front door problem. But it would be curious to see where we came out."

Yaz shakes his head and Zbignor does the same:

"I haven't got any rope neither," he replies. "So I'm afraid that we'll have to come up with some other idea."

Now it's Winnacer's turn to shake his head:

"In that case, it looks as if we will have to carry Porter out. Whether we set the bomb as a distraction or simply try to be sneaky, we'll see."

"Let's just hussle out of here as sneaky as we can," suggests Yaz. "I'll ask Prirodna to let me know when we come up to a trap just in case."

Winnacer nods:

"It seems as if we have little choice. With Faewen'il's invisibility spell, we should be able to get out without being seen. It's just Porter's smell that worries me, as it could alert them to our location."

"If we could try and wash the stench off him, that might help."

"I don't know where you're going to find water from," interjects Zbignor. "I haven't seen any."

"According to the Lord Protektor's map, there was a bathroom that we passed. I suppose that we could try and wash him in there, but it might be more risky than just trying to head off with him smelling like he does."

"I'm gonna change into a snake," adds Yaz. "I'll scuttle on ahead while checking for traps and to see if there is anyone in front of us. I'll signal to you if I see anything. I'll point in the direction from where I see the danger and tap my tail on the ground once for every goblin I see."

Before anyone has chance to object, Yaz begins to cast. Once he has finished, he concentrates and slowly begins to turn around with his arms outstretched.

"There are some traps over in that direction," Yaz says, "But they are a long way off. The route back doesn't seem to have any."

"They must be in the Lord Protektor's office and living quarters," suggests Zbignor. "But we ain't going to bugger about looking through there, so it shouldn't be a problem."

"We've been here long enough already," says Winnacer, becoming aware of the fact that it has been nearly ten minutes since you entered the jail block and every moment later that they wait brings the risk of someone stumbling over the goblin corpses lying outside.

He calls over to Zbignor:

"Can you give me a hand to lift Porter?" he asks. "We should be able to lift him together."

The dwarf chuckles in response:

"I wouldn't be much of a follower of Seela if I couldn't hold a scrawny thing like him," he grins looking down at Porter.

Zbignor puts his spade-like hands under Porter's arms and hoists him over his shoulder as easily as if he was lifting a small child and throws him over his shoulder. Porter grimaces from the pain as he does so.

The rest of them look at the slightly bizarre sight that the dwarf makes with Porter draped over his shoulder.

Zbignor looks to Winnacer:

"I'll take care of your mate. You take care of any greenskins that we might bump into."

The young Lord nods and turns to Faewen'il:

"I think that we're ready for the invisibility spell now and then we can get out of here."

Faewen'il nods and takes one of the few remaining eyelashes encased in gum Arabic from her pouch:

"All o ye needs ta be standin together," she says. "If'n ye gets more than 10' away from me, then ye'll become invisible."

Yaz isn't listening, however, as he has already started to morph. As his possessions and clothes start to turn into gray scales, he begins to shrink in stature while his legs weld together and arms disappear into his body. After less than a minute, the druid has morphed into a gray snake.

Winnacer and Zbignor step closer to Faewen'il and she starts to utter the familiar words of the invisibility ensorcellment and to gesticulate. As she finishes the spell, their forms start to shimmer before they disappear totally.

SnakeYaz watches them disappear and then slithers to the door. He pokes his head around the base of the door and looks down the corridor. As he sees that it is still clear, he gives the others the 'tails up' sign and starts to slither down the corridor, heading towards the exit, keeping right in the corner in the hope that he won't be seen.

Faewen'il grabs Winnacer's belt with one hand, and Zbignor's with the other and then starts to follow after the snake.

They all head down the corridor with SnakeYaz slithering ahead of the others. The corridor appears to be empty, as it was when they made their way toward the jailblock. After waiting for Winnacer to open the first door that they got through and checking that the coast is clear, Yaz is able to get right down the length of it without encountering any of the goblins. He stops at the end of the corridor and looks around the corner towards the corridor that leads to the exit.

As the others follow him a few paces behind, Zbignor whispers to the others:

"According to the map, this should be the bathroom," the dwarf says. "Shall we give it a try?"

Winnacer looks around:

"The coast seems clear, so let's give it a go."

Cautiously, the young Lord tries the door and finds that it is open. As he does so, he feels that the stench coming from it isn't much better than that coming from Porter. Holding his nose, he looks around and sees that there are several pails of scummy looking cold water lined up and a scrubbing brush.

"It looks OK," Winnacer says to Zbignor. "Bring him in here and let's clean him up."

Zbignor and Faewen'il enter the room and lay Porter down by the pails. For the next ten minutes, the three of them take the scrubbing brushes and water and start to clean Porter, a difficult exercise due to the fact that they can't see exactly what it is that they are rubbing. The moans that Porter lets out on a regular basis tell them when they are rubbing something that he would rather they didn't.

"That should do now," says Zbignor finally. "He doesn't need to be totally clean. We just need to have it so that he doesn't smell any worse than an average goblin."

With that, the dwarf hauls him onto his shoulder once again and the invisible foursome head out of the bathroom and back into the corridor.

SnakeYaz sees the door to the bathroom closing once more and realizes that the others are ready to move again and so he proceeds down the main corridor, heading toward the gate. As they all slither and walk down the last 20 yards of corridor, they can hear greenskin gabbling from coming up ahead and can also see the occasional goblin in the distance wandering from room to room, but none are heading in their direction.

Upon getting to the corner of the door to the guardhouse, the druidsnake pokes his head around the corner, still scanning ahead of him to ensure that the way is free of traps. He sees that the two sentries are still at their posts, looking outwards rather than inwards. They seem to be as bored as ever. Compared to the relatively well-lit corridors, the gatehouse and the outer corridor are dim and so SnakeYaz decides to risk slithering through the shadows in order to get past them. Somehow, he manages it.

The others silently pad after him, holding their breaths as they pass through the pair of dozy guards.

Once out of the complex proper, SnakeYaz speeds up a little, wanting out of this place as quickly as possible. He continues to slink through the shadows as he makes his way to the gatehouse at the top of the stairs with the others following a short distance behind. As he reaches the next guardhouse, he sees that the situation is still the same - just a couple of goblin guards who are bored rigid looking down the steps. The druidsnake slithers through the shadows silently, unobserved by the guards. The others pass through the guards, also avoiding detection.

All try to keep calm as they descend the long, steep staircase, knowing how close they now are to freedom, but how things could still go horribly wrong were they to be seen getting through the final guardhouse. As they get to it, however, they see that the final set of guards are no more alert than any of the other have been and so they all manage to pass through the final gatehouse with relative ease.

Once they are all out of the final gatehouse, they immediately head into the city, with SnakeYaz leading them all down the first alleyway that he can. Once they are out of sight of the gate guards, they all relax and breathe a sigh of relief:

"Phew," Zbignor says. "The gods were surely smiling on us back there. Apart from the quick scrap with the robed goblins and the guards, it wasn't too much of a problem at all."

"So, I reckon that we should get off to the 'Cask & Bottle' as quickly as we can now," he continues. "There's still a chance that they might have some patrols here and so it will probably be best if you lot stays invisible until we get there. If you being Bohavians isn't enough to make you stand out, then carrying your mate around certainly will."

They all agree and stay invisible as they head through the upper level of Opava with Zbignor guiding them towards the 'Cask & Bottle'. SnakeYaz continues to slither at the side of the others, listening to the directions that Zbignor calls out whenever they get to a junction.

Zbignor leads them through the back lanes of the upper level and they pass through the residential area, where the richest dwarves in Opava live. As a result, there are few dwarves on the street here although the occasional pony cart passes them. Due to Zbignor's taking them on a roundabout route to the inn and the slow pace that they make, it takes the best part of half an hour until they see the sign of the 'Cask & Bottle' ahead of them, in the shadow of the Cathedral of Zemnye.

Zbignor leads them around the side of the inn:

"Best if I go invisible and have a word with the landlord," he says. "Dwarves can be a bit funny about spells and the suchlike."

"Can you take your friend for me?"

"Certainly," Winnacer replies. "Yaz, can you give me a hand? I'm not sure that I can manage on my own?"

SnakeYaz responds by starting to morph back into his regular form. He increases in size rapidly and his limbs grow back again, until he is back to normal. Winnacer takes Porter from Zbignor while Yaz fumbles around until he finds the pair of them and gives them a hand.

Once he is confident that the pair of them have got Porter, Zbignor heads off towards the entrance to the inn, becoming visible as he moves out of the circle of invisibility surrounding Faewen'il. The dwarf returns a few minutes later, gesturing for the others to come in.

Yaz makes a fairly bizarre sight as they enter the inn, as he is visible yet grunting and groaning and bent over sidewards as he helps Winnacer to maneuver Porter inside the inn. The dwarf at the desk looks at Yaz strangely, shakes his head and goes back to his work.

Zbignor leads them through to a back room in the inn and waits for them to get inside before closing the door behind them. Winnacer and Yaz lay Porter down on the table and then Faewen'il cancels the invisibility spell, returning her, Winnacer and Porter to view.

Zbignor smiles as he collapses into a low chair, sighing with relief:

"A good job well done, I'd say," he says to you all. "Now, I don't know about you, but I REALLY need a drink."

Porter nods to him:

"I need a few myself. If I had anything on me besides my britches, I'd pay for the round. My thanks for your help, my dwarven friend. I thought I was going to die in that shithole. In fact, I WANTED to die for several hours. It would have been better than going through that hell."

Zbignor smiles painfully and puts one of his huge hands upon Porter's shoulder:

"I tell you, mate," he starts. "You must have balls like boulders to survive in there. Some of my boys couldn't have taken as much as what you have and they're DWARVES."

Porter looks to the rest of the group, saying sincerely, even to Winnacer:

"My thanks to all of you for getting me out, and my apologies for giving you all up. I guess you all were able to get away clean though. What about the kid and his family, are they alright?"

For once, Porter's voice is free of any sarcasm or cynicism, as perhaps the goblins succeeded in beating it out of him.

Winnacer stretches his sore muscles after he places Porter on the ground. He nods with Porter's words, a sympathetic and slim smile on his face as he begins to realize that things may just have turned out more or less salvageable:

"They're safe, and should be the last thing on your mind now. You should rest until we can get the CornerStone to minister your wounds."

He reaches into his side pouch, removing a familiar charm bracelet from it, placing it around Porter's uninjured wrist. He beckons to Faewen'il to do the same with the rest.

Faewen'il is still as quiet as ever. She silently walks up to Porter and produces his ring that she places on the index finger of his right hand and the rusty iron ball that she gently places in his palm.

"We managed to find a few of your things," Winnacer explains. "And those that had them are now arguing their cases in Spravedelna's Celestial Court."

"The only thin of yours that he nae be havin was ye onyx dog," Faewen'il adds. "I nae be knowin where it is."

She looks over at the druid:

"But perhaps the druid can be usin his object finding spell ta find it for ye tomorrow."

Porter nods:

"I left a bunch of my stuff in an inn in Tall Town. Maybe somebody can fetch it when we get a chance. I'll tell you one thing, I ain't trying to get through that gate again."

"I can be gettin it for ye later," Faewen'il says. "I still be havin an invisibility spell left that I did'nae use this mornin."

Winnacer gives the bounty hunter a pat on the head:

"Rest. We'll get you patched up in no time. I'll also pick up the first round."

With that, Winnacer leaves the room where he goes to approach the innkeeper. The dwarf nods politely to the young Lord and Winnacer speaks to him:

"Would it be possible an arrangement of ales plus a bottle of wine along with some food, including some vegetarian delights to be brought up to our room?" he asks.

The landlord nods:

"Aye, that be no problem, Sar," he agrees. "Our mutual friend be sayin' that I should be providin' ya wiv everythin' that ye be wantin'. The drinks'll be comin' up in a couple o' minutes, the food in 'alf an hour, if that be alright with ye?"

Winnacer smiles at the dwarf:

"That would be most kind of you."

With that the young Lord heads back to the room. He sees that Porter is still very much troubled by his knees. The LawBringer speaks to the others:

"We should send someone to go and summon the CornerStone," he says. "The sooner that we get Porter on his feet, the better."

"I'll go and get him," Zbignor offers. "Just let me wait until the ales arrive first."

Zbignor doesn't have long to wait as, a couple of minutes later, a dwarven serving girl arrives with a tray of ales.

Zbignor takes a huge flagon that must hold a quart if it holds a drop and starts to glug the contents down. He doesn't stop until he has consumed the entire contents and then smacks the flagon back down on the table:

"Ahhhhhhhhh," he sighs contentedly, wiping the foam from his mouth, "that's better."

"Right, let me go and fetch the CornerStone."

With that the dwarf heads out of the room. It is a good half hour and they have started eating the food that the innkeeper has provided when Zbignor returns along with the CornerStone and another priest of Zemnye in tow.

Rockrender looks relieved as he sees them all:

"Thank Zemnye that you found him alive," he says, but then he winces a little as he sees the extent of Porter's injuries.

He goes over to the prone bounty hunter and gently presses on his kneecaps. Porter lets out a low moan as he does so.

Rockrender shakes his head:

"The brutality of those creatures never ceases to shock me," he says.

A shade of Porter's old self returns for a moment as he says:

"You're telling me?"

The dwarf turns to Porter:

"I'm afraid that such injuries are not common and so Bastion Megothrin is the only one to have asked Zemnye to bless him with the spell today. He can heal one of your knees today and then I can return and see to the rest of your injuries tomorrow."

"I'm sorry that we can't do anything more at the moment."

Porter nods:

"That's OK," he says. "I appreciate all of the help that you're giving me."

The CornerStone smiles and nods to Megothrin. The dwarf walks to Porter and puts his hand upon Porter's left knee. He then begins to chant.

The chanting lasts for a period of ten minutes, with the priest in a trance-like state for the duration. As the dwarf continues the hypnotic rhythms, Porter can feel the crushed bone fragments of his kneecap starting to move within him as they slowly realign themselves and begin to knit together.

Finally, Megothrin ceases the chanting:

"You should be able to move now at least," he says. "You'll need to use a stick to do so though."

Faewen'il takes one of her staves and hands it to the bounty hunter:

"Ye can be usin this until ye gets better."

Porter takes the stick and slides round on the table. He gingerly puts his left leg on the floor and is relieved to find that there is no pain as he puts his entire weight upon it. He takes the stick and, by leaning on Zbignor's sturdy shoulder, manages to haul himself up. He finds that he is able to walk once again, albeit slowly.

While Porter gets used to walking, Rockrender speaks to Winnacer:

"So, the rest of you seemed virtually uninjured," he says. "I take it that you didn't face too many problems up there?"

"That's correct," the LawBringer replies, "apart from having to fight a couple of guards and a couple of robed goblins, we met no resistance."

The CornerStone looks satisfied:

"Another two more shamen or witchdoctors dead?" he says with obvious delight. "That's more than half of their spellcasters taken out now. I really don't think that the Nyemetz are going to be too much of a threat to us for the foreseeable future. After what you said about their stretched resources, I would imagine that they're not going to be able to replace them for quite some time."

Porter says in a soft voice:

"They won't be any threat is they're all freakin' dead."

"I can guarantee you that they shall all die soon enough," Rockrender replies. "As we were discussing last night, the day when all of the goblins in Opava will be slain dawns ever closer."

They continue to chat with Rockrender for a while and then he speaks:

"I'm afraid that I have much Church business to attend to now and so I must take my leave of you. I suggest that you stay here until the Council Meeting in a few hours' time. We need to find out what the Nyemetz' reaction is to the events of this morning before it is safe for you to leave here."

The CornerStone and the Bastion say their farewells and leave the party members alone once again.

Once he has gone, Faewen'il turns to Porter:

"Let me be gettin ye gear now," she says. "I can be seein what tha Nyemetz be up to at the same time."

With that, she brings forth another eyelash encased in gum Arabic and once more begins the familiar chant. Once again, her form shimmers before disappearing before you. The others see the door to the room open and then close again as she heads out into the city once again.

The others spend the rest of the afternoon relaxing after the events of the previous 24 hours. The landlord keeps bringing drinks to them, which Zbignor consumes with vigor. The more he drinks, the more the ale loosens Zbignor's tongue and he starts to tell them a little more about himself. Winnacer drinks slowly as he listens to the dwarf's tales, savoring the taste but making sure he remains sharp. Despite the vast quantity that he is consuming, Zbignor appears to be little the worse for wear from the effects of the alcohol.

He tells them that he is the leader of a company of mercenaries that have worked predominantly for the Silesians against the Russ ever since Bohavia was occupied. The dwarven mercenaries returned to Opava a week ago and were supposed to be enjoying a spot of R&R until he found out about the troubles and was drawn into them. He tells them that Gristan is one of his boys.

Winnacer continues to listen with interest. As Zbignor pauses for a moment to take another mighty swig of ale, he asks him a question:

"Have you ever met or worked with General Yan Zizkov during your time fighting in Silesia?"

"Oh aye," the dwarf replies with a nod. "Most folks what have been fighting the Russ in Silesia have come across the General in their time."

"Zizkov ain't too fond of dwarves and dwarves ain't too fond of Zizkov, to tell you the truth," he continues with a scowl. "From what I've heard, Zizkov blames the dwarves' greed for escalating the Civil War that allowed the Nyemetz to come in and there's a lot of dwarves that call him 'Zizkov the Butcher', as there were a lot of dwarves that fell to him during the Civil War."

He takes another gulp before continuing:

"Dwarves bear grudges, you know. The truth of the matter though is that us dwarves know that there ain't no better tactician or strategist than Zizkov in the whole of Svyet and Zizkov knows that there ain't no better foot soldiers in Svyet than the dwarves, so we tolerate each other."

"If it wasn't for Zizkov's planning and dwarven steel, Silesia would have fallen to the Russ years ago. There are thousands of the hairy bastards. I can't remember a single battle where they didn't outnumber us at least three to one, but Zizkov still beat them more often than not."

Winnacer nods:

"I'm not quite sure what to make of him either. I've only met him once and really know little about him except that he's likely to shake things up quite soon. What does he really want for all of this? Why do you think he fights?"

Zbignor shrugs:

"He's a strange one, alright. But aren't we all?" he says with a grin.

"Religion's got a lot to do with what makes him tick, I've heard. You'd be hard pressed to find a more devout follower of Radegast than Zizkov. More holy than most of the priests that I've met so I've heard. I heard that he was a member of the priesthood in his younger days before the Civil War."

"He's a bigot as well though," Zbignor continues. "As I've said, he tolerates dwarves because he knows how trustable we are and how good fighters we are. He's the same with elves. He hates all of the other non-humans with a passion though; greenskins, hairy-arsed Slovenes and Russ, he really can't stand the sight of them."

"Most of all though, he's a patriot. He loves Bohavia like no other man I've heard of. During all of the years that he was in Silesia, he was just biding his time before he returned to help free his homeland. Revenge is a big part of his motivation as well, I've heard. He's never forgiven himself for letting Bohavia fall, even though he knows that he could do little about it with the pitiful few troops that were left in the final weeks of the occupation."

The dwarf shakes his head:

"No, he knows the time is right now and he won't rest until Bohavia is free again."

"And what about you?" the young Lord continues. "What are your plans once this fracas is over?"

Zbignor chuckles again:

"Once this fracas is over then there will be another one, and another one after that, and another one after that, until I fall with my axe in my hand. Fighting's all I know and we're never short of work. There's always fighting going on somewhere and someone that's prepared to pay to have the best fighting for them rather than against them."

Winnacer smiles:

"I'll keep that in mind. I just hope that you'll tell me how to get in touch with your band the next time I have pockets full of gold and some butt to kick."

Zbignor grins:

"Ask around to find out where the fiercest fighting is in Central Svyet, that's where you'll find me and the boys. If not, then we hang out on the 5th level here in Opava when we're back on leave. Wander around the taverns and look out for a brawl. I'm sure that it will be one of my boys that's in the middle of it."

"Just promise me that you'll spar with me once when this is all over," the young Lord adds. "It's been a while since I've been around anyone who could give me some pointers who wasn't trying to kill me."

The dwarf nods and smiles broadly:

"You didn't seem to do too bad back at the warehouse, kid," he smiles.

He points to 'Old Bohavia' at Winnacer's hip:

"Good job too," he continues. "Be a crying shame if one of those swords were wielded by an amateur. Zizkov fights with one of those and treats it like a holy relic."

"I'll be happy to spar with you once all this is over, but I'm sure the pair of us are going to be getting plenty of practice when the vermin arrive."

As Zbignor continues to tell the others all of his many exploits fighting the Russ, a little over an hour after she left, the door opens by itself and then closes. The form of Faewen'il rematerializes before them.

She seems to be in relative good humor at the moment. She takes a bundle off her shoulder and hands it to Porter:

"Here be tha rest o your belongins," she says. "I think ye be findin that they all be there."

Porter rummages through his bag and sees that, indeed, the magess has been able to retrieve all of his remaining items.

The bounty hunter thanks her and then Faewen'il speaks to Winnacer:

"It be lookin as if we got tha goblins scared," she smirks. "Tha guards at the gate be gone now, although tha archers in tha tower still be there. The doors to tha Nyemetz barracks be shut tight now. It be lookin as if they be scared o us payin them a return visit."

Zbignor laughs loudly at this:

"Pansy-assed yellow-bellied greenskin scum," he laughs. "I knew that they didn't have the guts for a fight."

Winnacer nods slowly:

"It is a good thing that we've scared them enough to stay out of our business in the coming days. But with the Witchfinders coming to town, word of what is happening here may spread a bit quicker than we may want."

He looks at Faewen'il:

"We may want to spend the next few days making sure that the Witchfinders never get the chance to pass any words on. No rest for the weary."

The Feisty One shakes her head:

"I nae be seein no signs o Witchfinders," she replies. "Parhaps they have nae arrived yet. Tha Lord Protektor did say that they could be arrivin any time today or tomorrow."

They continue to chat for another couple of hours until the innkeeper pokes his head through the door:

"I've got some rooms made ready for ye if ye wants to clean up a bit before the meeting."

They all take the dwarf up on his offer and follow him out of the meeting room to the guest rooms that he shows them. They see that, although of fine quality, all of the rooms in the inn are sized for dwarves. As they look at the beds, they realize that they are not going to be terribly comfortable in them, as they are less than 5' long.

They spend a while cleaning themselves up, washing away the grime from the previous night. A little before 5.45p.m., they head back down to the meeting room in order to await the arrival of the Council Members.

Zbignor is already in there, wearing his mask once more. Over the next 20 minutes, the other Council Members arrive, all of them wearing their masks. Each of them has some of Winnacer's gear with them. They all remark upon how they had no problem getting through the gates in the afternoon.

Once all of the members of the Council of Seven are assembled, Rockrender stands and speaks to the others:

"I am glad to say that there have been no long-term setbacks caused from the activities of last night other than the loss of the warehouse," he starts. "However, it has managed to bring a number of advantages in that half of the Nyemetz officers have now been slain and the rest are very nervous."

He looks towards Porter, now looking a lot more respectable now that he has been able to tidy himself up and put on some fresh clothes:

"The Bohavians were also successful in retrieving their taken companion."

The other dwarves nod in relief.

"However," the CornerStone continues, "before we start congratulating ourselves, we should remember the reasons why the Bohavians came here in the first place. Although they have managed to foil the plot to poison our water supply, we have an even greater threat to face."

"In a little over four days' time, we have reason to believe that the city will be attacked from below by an army of mutated rat creatures. I would like to hand you over to Lord Stradheim to speak to you on the matter."

Rockrender takes his seat once again and Winnacer stands. Yaz sighs and starts to investigate his fingernails, not looking forward to the speech that is sure to come soon.

Winnacer starts by detailing the deal you made with the 'Diggers Wiv Attitude' in that the 'Bloods' have agreed that all dwarves going down to the lower levels to investigate the tunnels will not be harmed in the process.

"I recommend that a sortie be sent shortly to find the areas of tunneling," the young Lord finishes.

It is Rockrender that replies:

"This is my department," he says. "I have been speaking with the best miners that this city has and they are willing to undertake the task tomorrow. I'm planning to meet with them as soon as this meeting has finished and go through the final details with them."

"I would estimate that, by this time tomorrow, we should hopefully know where the ratmen are expected to strike."

Winnacer nods and continues:

"It probably would be a good idea if everybody started to get their followers organized, armed, and trained."

He looks over at Zbignor:

"Perhaps those that have access to resources who are skilled in the art of warfare would be willing to supply a crash course in military discipline and fighting for the followers of the others."

Zbignor nods:

"I would be happy to get the boys to teach anyone who wants to learn about the art of warfare," he offers. "Just tell me who and where and when and I'll supply the boys."

"It may also be time to approach some of the other factions within Opava," the LawBringer continues. "The churches of Zeleznye and Seela will certainly not want to be left out of any defense plans we make."

The other of the two dwarven warriors that fought at the party's side in the battle for the warehouse speaks:

"I have influence with most of the followers of Zeleznye," he says. "I shall have a word with Dranthor and let me know what we're up to. I'm sure that he will add the Church's assets to help his followers."

"Let me have a word with Goisil at the Church of Seela," Zbignor adds. "He's a miserable old bugger, but I know how to handle him. He's none to fond of Bohavians, but he wouldn't miss out on a good fight. I know him."

"Even the street gangs below seem somewhat amenable to fighting with us against a vermin threat," the young Lord continues. "We have laid some groundwork, but it is imperative that you, the leaders of Opava, make the lasting bonds with these other factions."

There is a silence at this, but eventually Rockrender speaks up:

"I'm afraid that the street gangs are a law unto themselves. I'm afraid that none of us has any influence over them. However, I'm sure that the 'Bloods' are going to fight to protect their territory. I think that we can rule out any chance of the 'Crips' lending any assistance, however. It will be to their advantage if the ratmen cause damage to the 'Bloods' as they enter their territory."

"Hopefully the other assets that we are able to obtain will be sufficient to take care of the threat. After all, we should have the element of surprise due to the fact that the ratmen will be expecting to find a city full of pliant zombies rather than angry dwarves who are all ready to die in order to protect their territory."

Winnacer takes a breath:

"While what they may represent is quite reprehensible, these gangs seem to be a piece of Opava's power structure that may survive all the revolutionary happenings taking place in Opava. While we may not have any influence over them now, it may be wise to take this opportunity to open some type of dialogue with them. Knowing a bit about them and their leaders may become important at some point down the road, and we have an excuse to make the requisite introductions even if we know we cannot rely upon them. Perhaps some may even see the folly of their ways over time by being in proximity of more grounded and clearer thinking dwarves."

Winnacer shrugs:

"But maybe not."

"Maybe not indeed," agrees the CornerStone with a tinge of bitterness in his voice.

He shakes his head:

"Several of us have tried to reason with the 'Crips', the 'Bloods' and the Head of the Temple of Zlodey, but none of us have had any success whatsoever. The Temple of Zlodey seems to be very happy with the current situation in Opava, hardly surprising considering that it is the fastest growing Church in the city and quite possibly the fastest growing chapter that the Church has within Bohavia."

"Neither of the gangs seem to be willing to work towards a united city either," he adds. "You seem to have had more success in getting agreement with the 'Bloods' in the few days that you have been in the city than we have had in the past few years."

"The problem is that the gang leaders have much to gain by keeping the status quo and much to lose by change. If Opava prospers once more and there are opportunities for employment so that the young folk of Opava can earn an honest day's pay for an honest day's work, then the power of the gangs will decline. Until that point, I can see no way in which things are going to change."

"I think that we should be content that the majority of the 'Bloods' are willing to assist us in our task. I fear that they would never trust the 'Crips' and would never allow them down to their levels for fear that the 'Crips' would turn on them after the ratmen are vanquished."

He shakes his head once more:

"No, I just think that trying to get both of the gangs fighting against the ratmen is a recipe for disaster. I can see that the loyal dwarves of the city would end up getting caught between the ratmen in front of them and the squabbling gangs behind them if we were to convince the 'Crips' to play a part in this matter."

The other dwarves nod in agreement. It is obvious that fighting with the 'Bloods' on one side of them is not something they relish, let alone having the 'Crips' on the other.

There is a long pause as Rockrender looks around to see if anyone has anything else to add:

"Are there any other questions or comments that any of you might have?" he asks. "If not, then we should attend to our business, as we have much to accomplish over the next four days."

As the Council meeting nears a close, the dwarves are silent but, surprisingly, Porter speaks up:

"Um, if any of you know anything about the Nyemetz' gods and their beliefs, I'd like a word with you after the meeting. Thanks."

"I know a little about their beliefs," Rockrender replies. "I will be happy to have a word with you afterwards."

He looks back to the dwarves:

"I believe that this is all for now. Let us reconvene here at 6.00p.m. tomorrow so that we can learn as to what progress each of us has been able to make."

The dwarves nod in agreement and get up from their seats before leaving the inn. As the others file out, Rockrender goes to speak with Porter:

"You were asking about the Nyemetz and their religion?" he asks.

Porter nods and continues:

"That's right" Porter replies. "I was wondering about their view of the afterlife, and what preparations must be made for the journey. Some warrior cultures, for example, will put a coin in a warrior's mouth when he dies, so he can pay the ferryman's toll to the afterlife. Others believe you can't lose your eyes, or you won't be able to see to make your way there. I was wondering if the Nyemetz have any beliefs like this - something that can be taken advantage of."

The CornerStone shakes his head sadly:

"I can see what you're trying to get at, but I'm afraid that the Nyemetz worship a wide variety of gods, as do dwarves and Bohavians. They have different names for them, and different interpretations of their beliefs and ways of worship, but they are basically the same gods that we know here, although they do not recognize the newer gods such as Kitry, Spravedelna and Lechit."

"You will find that the majority of greenskins in military service worship the God of War, which they call Krieg; Ruuk, which is their Death God and Macht, their God of Strength. Unfortunately there is no way of telling which of the greenskins worship which god and, even if it would be possible to find out, then the beliefs can often vary from one follower to another."

"I'm sorry, but I really don't know of any way that it might be possible to use their beliefs against them."

The CornerStone then turns to the rest of them:

"Although I would very much like to spend the evening in your company, I have a meeting with the mining experts that will be investigating the tunnels tomorrow at 7.30, and so I really must dash."

He looks back at Porter:

"I will ask Zemnye to bless me with the power to heal your remaining injuries tomorrow. I have more appointments with the miners in the early morning, but should be by to see you right after breakfast."

Rockrender then says his farewells and heads out of the inn. Once he has gone, Zbignor takes off his mask:

"I'm sorry that I can't be staying neither," he says. "I need to meet with my boys and drag them out of the alehouses that I'm sure they haven't stepped out of since they entered the city. I need to give them instructions for training the citizens."

"Hopefully we shall see each other soon."

With that, he bids them farewell and exits the 'Cask & Bottle' leaving the four of them alone in the room. Shortly after the dwarves have departed, the innkeeper enters with a tray of food for them all. Although it is still only early in the evening, all are tired after the uncomfortable night in Mrs Veverka's the night before and the exertions of the day. As a result, each of them head off to their rooms after the meal is finished and they take advantage of the fact that there is no pressing business in order to enjoy a comfortable night's sleep for the first time in a few days.