At The Temple Of Thieves

They head off down the tunnel, with Damene helping to support the stricken Dax so as to move as quickly as possible. They soon make the 150-yard journey and arrive back in the city. Much to Winnacer's chagrin, there is no sign of the Nemotz priest anywhere to be seen.

Knowing that there is little that they can do about the missing priest, they make their way across the sixth level. The level is quiet and they see no one except for a few elderly dwarves peeking through the cracks of their shutters to check upon the situation outside. As they continue to head towards the staircase, they start to hear sounds of activity coming from ahead of them. It sounds distant at first, but as they get closer to the staircase, they can hear the sound of battle coming from down the stairwell as they can hear distant cries, screams and squeaks as well as caliver shots, fiery bursts and the occasional explosion coming from below.

As they reach the stairwell, they can tell that battle is raging below. They look onto the stairwell to see that there are a handful of rats skittering up and down the steps. Several of them are squabbling over an item which, upon closer inspection, appears to be the leg of a dwarf.

Winnacer turns to the others:

"It would appear that the battle still rages below. Are we going to see how it is going, or shall we firstly check upon Faewen'il's progress?"

"Well," Dax fairly mumbles, grimacing a bit and a bit winded from the exertion of the long walk on his crippled leg. "I know I'M not suddenly in any better condition to get into another fight or help anyone. And some of the rest of us look to be in the same way, too."

"No, I think we -- or at least I -- better keep going to see about the lass ... and maybe ourselves as well. THEN maybe we can go see about what else we can do to stop these damned vermin."

"But I think I can try to make it on my own if all the rest of you want to go below again."

Despite his words, it seems clear Dax isn't all that enthusiastic about this last bit.

Damene looks off to the sounds of the continuing battle, and then back at the group:

"There is nothing we can do for the magess that is not already being done for her. I say we go where we can accomplish something."

Milly pauses in her climb up the stairs, an odd look on her face.

Damene stops to look at the more injured members of the party, Dax and Milly in particular, and her brow furrows in concern.

"At least those of us who are not too injured."

A fire lights in Milly's eyes and she looks with eagerness down the stairs towards the sound of the melee taking place there, but just as quickly it dies. With slumped shoulders she turns to continue the climb up:

"Well if yer goin', we'll keep dinner warm for ya."

Winnacer hears Damene's sentiments and gives her a smile:

"My heart is inclined to join you. However, I fear that may not be the best course, for a handful of bodies cannot relieve twelve tunnels."

"This does not mean we cannot aid them. Our tongues and our trophy may serve Opava where our bodies have started to fail."

Candy touches her tongue lightly to her lips in some confusion. A speculative look crosses her face.

"I am going to head to Zlodey's Domain and plead that they mobilize their rogues to relieve the beleaguered dwarven defense," The LawBringer continues. "They may not care for me, but they cannot ignore what their ears and eyes will show them."

Candy giggles, thinking that followers of Zlodey would likely find it very easy to ignore many things, not least of which being a LawBringer.

"Hopefully we will be able to get our bodies quickly mended there as well to continue our fight," he continues. "And we will get a chance to check on poor Maire and gather back Rowan for another foray below."

At this, Yaz looks askance at Winnacer, then smiles to himself amusedly and shakes his head.

"If they cannot help her," Candy adds, "We go next to Olmutz. I'm sure someone could help her there. That is, if the Prirodnans haven't returned and razed the city or something."

Yaz's smile turns into an all-out grin, but a fierceness in his eyes says not so much 'that's funny' as 'wouldn't that be great?'

"Well if they've started without me, I'll be disappointed," the druid says. "But it's not the city they're gonna raze... It's the hindwards of the Nyemetz."

He pauses to savor the thought:

"All across Bohavia."

His grin hasn't faded a bit.

Candy nods in agreement.

After a moment, he turns from his reverie to Candy:

"I guess I didn't tell you. I shat on the Temple of Obkod. Many times, in fact. Hit a balding merchant in the crown, I did."

Yaz tells her these things as if she's truly interested:

"By Prirodna, the sphincter control on them falcons is amazing. One of the Initiates in Olmutz tells me pigeons are better still. I'm gonna be one when I fly down tomorrow morning."

"I've never been a pigeon," murmurs Candy who does indeed look truly interested.

She then proceeds to describe Yiravsky quite thoroughly:

"So, if you see him," she finishes, "you should go to town on his head."

"However, we not all need do these things," the young Lord finishes. "Those able bodied and stout hearted enough to bring the fight to the rats should do so. I will join you as soon as I can rally some reinforcements."

Candy looks at Damene:

"You really want to go down there? I'll go with you; I'm not that badly hurt, but I am almost out of tricks."

Damene shakes her head:

"No. I'll stay with the group. I have a responsibility here first. And I'm not going to ask you to put yourself in more danger just to accompany me."

Damene grins at Candy and her face gets an overly innocent expression:

"No matter how much you might like that."

Candy laughs:

"I don't really like THAT kind of danger, Damene."

Her grin becomes a knowing smirk.

Yaz doesn't announce his intentions, but gets ready to follow the injured to Zlodey, as he wants to see how Fae is doing.

They walk into the stairwell and the rats squeak and run up ahead of them as they do so, leaving the chewed thighbone as they skitter off into the gloom above. The party members walk up the stairs for a couple of levels, with Winnacer dragging the bound ratlord with him and the others helping to support Dax. They soon get to the turn off for the fourth and start to head across the level and head for the Temple of Zlodey, the sounds of battle disappearing into the distance as they do so.

Somewhat surprisingly, the fourth level is quite lively at the moment, with all of the taverns and alehouses that the party members pass seemingly packed to the rafters. As they pass them, the odd drunken dwarf shouts out to them:

"HAPPY NEW YEAR"

It's hard to believe that there is a bitter battle still being played out just a few hundred feet beneath them. They continue to pass more drunken revelers as they cross the level, which they notice is free of the graffiti that marks all of the other levels, until they finally see the Temple before them. Compared to the other tumbledown buildings of the level, the Temple seems to be in fine repair. The temple's walls stretch up to the ceiling of the level, some 70' above ground and they are all covered in intricate carvings. Sitting on the steps up to the temple, the party members can see Rowan is there, talking with a young woman in the black and gold robes of Zlodey, who Winnacer and Yaz know to be Joy. Porter sits close to them, casually stroking the ears of Booker, who sits curled up at the bounty hunter's feet. Porter seems to be deep in thought and doesn't see the others until they start to walk up the steps.

Joy does see their approach. As she sees Winnacer leading the ratlord behind him, the Demarchess scowls at the young Lord and speaks to Rowan:

"I've got to go now," she says simply and then gets up and hurries back into the temple.

Porter looks up at their approach, his expression giving little away.

"So how's the magess?" Dax asks, most concerned over her situation.

The bounty hunter shakes his head:

"Well there's good news and there's bad news," the bounty hunter sighs.

"The good news is that they were able to neutralize the poison in her system before it proved fatal," he starts. "Once they did so, her heart started beating once more, and so she's not actually dead."

Porter's use of the word 'actually' tempers any relief that the others might be feeling.

Winnacer's tight features loosen a bit at these words and he loosens a long-held breath. Dax' features also seem to relax a bit, although the relief is immediately soaked up by a wince as he accidentally puts weight on his leg, forgetting his wound momentarily. Milly's eyes close and her face relaxes in relief.

"The bad news is that she is in a deep coma," Porter continues. "They tell me that there is no knowing if, or when, she will come out of it. She might pull out of it in a day or so, but it could be weeks, months, or there is a chance that she will never come out of it."

He shakes his head and looks to his feet, still toying with the dog, and is silent for a long moment.

Milly opens her eyes. Her face has returned to its former jovial appearance:

"My Dinosh used ta say, 'Where there's life, there's hope'. With the fire in that girl, I can't imagine her bein' on her back for long."

"There's more bad news as well," he adds. "The thieving bastards are charging 1000 gold pieces for casting the spell. They won't release her body to us until the bill is paid."

Rowan looks rather embarrassed at this:

"I'm sorry, but I wasn't really in much of a position to negotiate," he apologizes. "I just wanted to make sure that she was seen to as quickly as possible. If they hadn't seen her immediately, then she would definitely be dead by now."

"They do accept all major currencies or will barter for magickal items or anything else of interest," he adds hopefully.

Milly actually laughs again:

"What? No charity among thieves?"

Winnacer steps forward, with newly restored determination:

"One cannot expect to come to thieves and leave with a full purse."

He pauses:

"But for a loved one, I would pay any price."

"Where is she now, Rowan?" Dax asks, his voice sounding more than a bit irritated at hearing the 'terms of service' for Faewen'il. "Can you take me -- err, US -- in to see whoever saw her?"

Rowan shrugs:

"I guess so," he replies. "Someone needs to pay the bill."

He looks towards Winnacer:

"Preferably someone who hasn't already fallen out with them."

"A few of us -- yours truly, at least -- need some medical attention before we can be much more use in anything," Dax continues.

The swashbuckler shakes his head once more:

"I wouldn't anticipate getting anything from them for free," he replies. "The Temple of Zlodey is not known as being the most charitable of orders."

"And have ye made sure these thieving bast-- ..." he growls, before catching his rising temper,"... these HEALERS ...aren't already helping themselves to their 'fee' from the magess' belongings?"

"Well .. errm ... no," Rowan admits, "but that is my cousin in there. I don't think that they would rip us off totally. At least, I don't THINK they would."

Yaz scowls his traditional scowl at Dax, then replies:

"We don't know half the shit she carries around... Chances are she's got most of the magick of Bohavia in her pack, and we'd never know it... or what's missing. But, to be safe, maybe we should take as much of her stuff with us as possible for... y'know, safekeeping."

Winnacer pulls Rowan aside and speaks privately with him. He looks at Rowan with pleading eyes:

"We both know that there is no love lost between your cousin's sect and myself. I beg of you to try to talk sense into them, to plead for their immediate assistance below. Do it for Clarissa's sake...if only to allow her to think back upon you proudly."

Rowan looks rather torn at this and is silent for a while before he nods:

"Look, I'll see what I can do," he eventually replies. "I don't have any more connections with them than you do, other than the fact that Joy is my cousin... and that I'm not a paladin of Justice as well, obviously."

He looks Winnacer in the eye and looks sincere:

"I give you my word that I will try and get whatever assistance I can from them. I can't promise anything more than that."

The LawBringer nods:

"And nor would I ask any more of you."

He glances over at the captive ratlord:

"While you speak with the Zlodeyites, I'm going to head around the taverns and try and see what kind of support I can get from the dwarves there. Hopefully our captive will show them what their city is up against."

With that, Winnacer leaves the others on the steps, dragging Skritchit behind him as he does so.

As Rowan makes to enter the temple, he speaks to Dax:

"Let me give you a hand to get inside, then we can see what they are prepared to do for you."

The swashbuckler looks at the others:

"Perhaps it would be best if the rest of you came with us as well," he continues. "Looks as if most of you could do with a little healing."

Damene gives Rowan a hand, and together they assist Dax in getting up the stairs and into the temple.

"How much more do you think these leeches'll want to help those trying to save their miserable city?" Dax asks Rowan as they head into the temple, his voice quiet but an air of disdain quite evident in his tone.

Rowan shakes his head:

"I really have no idea," he responds. "I never had anything to do with them before I met up with Joy a few weeks back. I've never tried to interfere in Church matters."

"I didn't bring my life savings with me," Dax mumbles bitterly, sounding a bit worried, to himself though those helping to support him can't help but hear.

"Maybe I should just give 'em the leg ... or will they require an ARM too!?" he sneers with gallows humor.

Candy turns to Dax and wrinkles her nose quizzically:

"Um, Dax, where do you live where healers do it for free? I mean, they got to make a living too, ya know?"

Dax ignores Candy, other than giving her a blank glance, and continues trying to make his way into the temple, still occasionally wincing as he hobbles along.

Candy flutters her eyelashes at him and tries not to laugh.

"For f**'s sake, buddy," Yaz says to the bitching warrior, "they can f***in' do what they f***in' want. We're talking about receiving the grace of the supernatural here, not some divine right you may think you have to get your body fixed when you break it. If I knew you took my healing for granted like this I never woulda touched you. In fact, count yourself out of Prirodna's grace, as of now."

"F***."

Yaz also moves to see if he can enter the place and see Fae. Dax ignores the bitching druid, continuing to try to make his way into the temple.

They head into the temple, which is even more ornate on the inside than it appears from without. There are several priests inside the nave of the Temple, going about their business. They seem to be in fine spirits considering the fact that their city is currently under siege. As the party members continue onwards, they can see a door open to an antechamber. Inside they see that Faewen'il's body is lying on a bier there. Joy and a dwarven priest are looking over her, with Joy mopping the magess' brow. They notice that Faewen'il's possessions are not with her any more, and nor do they appear to be in the room with her.

The dwarven priest notices that the group is peering into the room and says something to Joy. The pair of them get up and head over to the party members, closing the door behind them.

Yaz, not a master of diplomacy at the best of times, gets straight to the point:

"Where's her stuff?" he asks, trying to suppress his anger.

"It's being kept safely as a deposit until the payment for her treatment has been paid," Joy replies a little nervous due to her having split loyalties. "I give you my word that they will return everything to her once the payment has been settled."

Porter acidly remarks:

"Well, for your own sake, I suggest you tell your colleagues to do just that. 'Cause when the gal comes out of the coma, if she finds so much as a copper missing, she's likely to come back and raze the whole f***ing temple. Just some friendly advice."

Joy throws Porter a stern look:

"I have given you my WORD that this will not be the case."

Rowan smiles nervously:

"My new companions have also suffered grievously at the hands of the vermen while nobly fighting in the defense of your glorious city, though not as badly as the magess, I'm glad to say," Rowan says, trying to sweet-talk the dwarf. "I wonder whether it might be possible for some of their wounds to be seen to?"

He turns to Dax first of all:

"My colleague here has been afflicted by a most heinous leg wound, depriving him of his ability to walk properly," the swashbuckler continues. "He would very much like to get it seen to so that he may continue in the struggle to save your city from the verminous menace that continues to threaten it."

Joy bends down to whisper to the dwarf. The priest looks Dax up and down a bit and then mutters something back to Joy:

"That is quite a major operation," she says a little meekly. "They would require a 'donation' of a minimum of 800 gold pieces to provide such a service, in order that they may continue with their charitable activities for the community."

The party members look around. From the glorious furnishings of the inside of the temple compared to the poverty outside, it would appear that Zlodey's idea of charity differs from that of most other faiths.

Rowan fidgets a little and then continues:

"And what of my other companions?"

Joy whispers to the dwarf once more and he looks over the party's wounds carefully. He then whispers back to Joy, who gives them the bad news:

"For Porter, the price would be 460 gold pieces," she starts.

She looks towards Milly, Damene and Candy:

"I'm afraid that we haven't been introduced yet," she says, "I am Demarchess Joyous DeVitesse, but please call me Joy."

She shakes everyone by the hand and then speaks to each in turn, starting with Milly:

"I'm afraid that your injuries are quite severe. They would require a donation of 640 gold pieces to heal them all."

She moves on to Damene:

"Yours are not so bad, so 260 gold pieces should be sufficient."

Finally she comes to Candy:

"And to heal yours would require a donation of 300 gold pieces."

Joy looks to everyone:

"I understand that you might not have sufficient funds in cash to heal everyone, but the Church is willing to barter in return for other items. The magess has some valuable items upon her and so we could heal you all up for some of them."

Porter responds:

"Get screwed. Maggots will infest my wounds before I'd be willing to pay you."

"I can't pay either," Dax says calmly, "and I'll not see any of the lass' things be given up, without her say so."

Candy watches Dax's new possessive attitude toward Fae, a woman he barely knows:

"Damene," she whispers, "I think you have competition."

She grins irrepressibly at Damene.

Damene looks at Candy in utter confusion. She then looks at Winnacer and shakes her head at Candy:

"But I'm not trying to compete."

Joy looks back at Porter, a little nervously:

"I-I-I'm sure that there is a way that this can all be worked out amicably," she stutters. "The priests have provided her with a service that has stopped her from a certain death and they are just asking for fair compensation for their actions. Should I have to call upon the services of a faith that I was not a follower of, then I would expect no different terms than these."

Candy then smiles at Joy:

"You mentioned barter. Would the dwarven priests be willing to trade healing for, er, services rendered?"

Damene's eyes widen and she sends a startled look in Candy's direction. A blush infuses her cheeks and she quickly looks away.

Candy winks just before she looks away.

Joy whispers to the dwarf once more and listens for his reply. Joy nods and speaks to Candy once more:

"What exactly did you have in mind?" she asks.

"I am experienced in many of the ways of Laska, as well as of Boli for those with more discerning tastes," replies Candy smiling lasciviously.

Joy's cheeks redden as she hears Candy's words. She nervously speaks to the dwarf once more and then replies:

"That ... that ... you would need to speak to the Lord Master Demarch about," she says. "My colleague can take you to see him."

There is then a long pause while everyone considers the situation, which is broken by Rowan:

"I think that my colleagues are going to need a little time to consider your offer," he says. "In the meantime, I wonder if I could have a word with you, Joy."

He glares at the dwarven priest for a moment:

"In private, if possible."

Joy nods and then mutters to the dwarf, who nods in Candy's direction and starts to walk off towards a door at the back of the nave. Candy follows on behind him and the door closes behind the pair of them. Joy and Rowan then head off into the far corner of the room and start to talk. The rest of the party members sit down in the pews to rest their tired and aching bodies and wait for Rowan to finish his conversation.

After a few minutes Candy returns. Announcing to no one in particular, she says:

"He's a bit busy tonight with all the fighting and stuff. But I can maybe get us some healing tomorrow night."

She yawns and stretches, unselfconsciously:

"Hey, I need to get like an hour or so of sleep. If four of you want, I can help you sleep for an hour and then you'll be ready to go again."

The party members see that the conversation between Rowan and Joy goes on for a long time, during which time they see Rowan's expression falling. He speaks to Joy a lot, seemingly pleading with her, but Joy is shaking her head a great deal. During the time that the group is waiting, they see young dwarves running into the Temple and passing through a door in the rear of the nave. The runners emerge five minutes later and dash back out of the church straight after. The party members see this happening three times during the time that Joy and Rowan converse.

A little over half an hour later, the party members hear a clanking noise from the steps up to the temple and see Winnacer returning, still dragging the bound ratlord behind him. Winnacer does not look a happy paladin.

The others head over to see what he has to say. Upon seeing the young Lord's arrival, Rowan quickly finishes his conversation with Joy and heads over also, not wanting the LawBringer to mess with his relationship with Joy, and this with the temple. As they get closer, their nostrils are assaulted by the stench of ale and they see that Skritchit's fur is all wet and matted. Bits of food are stuck in it also. Winnacer's face is a little red and the others can all tell that the young Lord is pissed:

"It would appear that all of the dwarves on this level are very much tied to the Temple," he says, trying to keep his anger in check. "Although most of them couldn't understand me as not many of them are able to speak Bohavian, it appears as if the Church has ordered them not to intervene in the battle."

He looks to Skritchit:

"The sight of the Vermin Lord didn't seem to sway them either," he adds. "In fact they had great entertainment in throwing their tankards at him and the remains of their suppers."

While Winnacer has been speaking, Rowan has been nodding his head sadly:

"Alas, the report about your attempt to rally the dwarves does not come as any great surprise to me."

He looks nervously over his shoulder, checking that none of the priesthood can overhear him.

He then drops his voice to a whisper and continues:

"I managed to get some information out of Joy, information that she shouldn't really have given me, so we can't act directly upon it or else she's going to get into some serious trouble."

He takes a deep breath and continues:

"It appears as if the 'Crips' have struck a deal with the Lord Master Demarch in order for the Church not to intervene in the battle being played out below. They know that the 'Bloods' are suffering badly at the hands of the ratmen and the longer and more deadly the conflict is, the better it will be for the 'Crips'."

"Same thing goes for the Church too," the swashbuckler continues. "By taking out the top brass of the Church of Smurt last week, you took out one competitor of theirs. Now, with all of the other Churches getting drawn into the fight, the ratmen are taking out the remainder of the Zlodeyites' competitors too. So the more deadly the battle is, the stronger Zlodey's influence over the city will be also once this business is over. With our scaring the Nyemetz witless as well, they are pretty much going to have this city to themselves if the ratmen take out most of the combatants."

Rowan pauses for a moment:

"They are keeping close tabs on what's going down on the lower levels," he then continues. "If the ratmen get up to the fifth and start to threaten the fourth, then the Zlodeyites and all of the 'Crips' will intervene immediately in order to repulse the vermen but, until then, the more damage that the ratmen cause, the better the Church's position is going to be in the aftermath."

Porter shakes his head:

"Freakin' garbage, the lot of them. Well, I can tell you this much. We've taken out one Temple in this city already. I ain't averse to doing it again when this is all over."

Candy winces at the latest diatribe:

"Ah geez, lighten up folks. It will all work out," she whispers.

Porter's wrath gets turned upon Candy for the moment as he spits out:

"What are you, a priestess of 'The Church of Eternal F***ing Optimism?' She's in a freakin' coma, and these scumbags would rather see half the city get killed in order that they can advance their own interests. 'Lighten up'. Shit, I ought light up your ass."

Candy smiles grimly:

"Try it."

Porter shakes his head:

"Don't tempt me. I'm having a very bad day."

Damene turns to Porter with a grim expression.

"I wouldn't say any of us are having the best of days. But we don't need to turn on each other. I'm sure Candy is only trying to..."

The young woman stops and seems to be searching for the right words:

"...lighten our spirits. And I think it's a gesture that should be...appreciated."

Damene stops and glances down at the floor and then looks around the room, suddenly seeming embarrassed to have called Porter on his attitude, even in this small of a way.

Porter eyes widen alarmingly as he retorts:

"For the last time, quit f***ing with me! I ain't in the mood!"

The bounty hunter digs into his gear, pulling out a pack of the Nemotz smokes he got from Yaz, lighting one and exhaling deeply, saying:

"Not as good as Yaz's shit, but I suppose I should keep my edge right now."

Damene's eyes narrow and her jaw clamps down as she starts toward Porter. Her hands clench and it's with a visible effort that she unclenches them. When she speaks, her voice has a hoarse quality, as if she'd rather be screaming her words:

"If anyone is fu-...messing with anyone right now, it seems to be you. You're the one who felt you had some kind of right to start screaming at people and giving them hell! I'd say you need to step back from that edge."

Porter looks at Damene with an icy calm:

"YOU best step back right now."

Candy yells:

"STOP IT!"

She turns firstly to Damene:

"Thanks, Damene, but I don't really care if Porter is surly bastard," she says. "Just ignore him and he'll likely ignore us."

Candy then turns to Porter:

"If you are so pissed off that you want to attack possible allies, then feel free. I assure you that there is nothing short of killing me that hasn't been done to me already."

"Otherwise, I really don't care how big your dick is."

Porter snarls:

"Look, you goofy bitch, I'm just minding my own f***ing business while the rest of you continue to want to tell me 'don't worry, be happy' while Fae's lying in a coma. Oh, and trust me, you'll care how big it is when your asshole's bleeding from a good reaming."

Candy gives Porter and odd look, then smirks:

"Well, if it's as big as your mouth it might be interesting at least."

Porter is ready to spew more venom when Candy's words appear to catch him off guard for a moment. He quickly recovers though, grabbing his crotch and saying:

"Let me know, sweetheart. It's here anytime you need it."

He takes out another cigarette, chainsmoking his way through the pack.

At Porter's continuing comments, Damene's face goes stark white and then assumes a blankness of expression one wouldn't expect to see outside of a corpse. The only color is in her eyes, darkened with a fury so intense it borders on madness.

Without word or expression, Damene goes for her blades.

Booker instantly leaps to his feet as soon as she does so and stands between the pair of them, snarling at Damene, a low growl emanating from the dog's throat as he stares at her.

Winnacer's eyes go shock-wide as he steps in between the two. His shock quickly becomes outrage, and those who have spent time with him expect his eyes to start shining with Spravedelna's wrath. He looks at Damene severely for a few seconds before he realizes that his powers have been spent for the day:

"Put your blades away, Damene! Have you not seen enough death and pain today?"

He continues to glare intently at her.

Dax swings his borrowed shield to his hand and tries to get up to Damene's assistance. As he does so, however, he winces with pain from his leg and realizes that he is in no condition to help.

Furious, he shouts over the two potential combatants:

"That's it!" he snarls. "I'm going back to Olmutz."

"We don't need help THAT badly from THIS bloody lot to get the damned ledger. Bunch of bloody insane psychopaths ... the druid's the sanest one of the lot, and that's bloody frightening!"

Looking at Porter, he continues:

"You or that cur make one more move, or spew any more filth out of that hole in your face, and you're both ratfood," he states, matter-of-factly, without raising his voice.

As Damene draws her weapons on him, and Dax tries to give her support, Porter calmly takes a step backward while drawing his bastard sword. Dropping his newly lit cigarette to the ground, he grinds it out with his heel and says:

"You want to die, bring it on."

Damene never takes her eyes off Porter and never changes her stance, but her voice is quiet and calm as she answers Winnacer:

"I've seen enough pain, degradation and death to know that I won't sit by and let some degenerate animal walk around to prey on whatever poor souls he can find. That he could speak of committing such a despicable act in what is supposedly no more than a fit of pique, shows that there is nothing he is probably not capable of when there are no witnesses about."

For the first time Damene falters and her eyes go to Winnacer's:

"You KNOW what he is capable of and you choose to defend him and turn on me? It's a poor sense of justice you have, LawBringer. Virtue defines the justice I would see upheld, and that scum has none in him."

"But, on the chance that there is something...decent...in him, I will allow him to defend himself with an explanation and an apology. Or with his weapon if he's the cur he's shown himself to be so far...the choice is his."

Porter laughs:

"Apology? Get screwed!"

Winnacer softens his voice, in the hopes that the others will follow suit:

"They were only words, Damene. Only the vulgar words of a prideful and very concerned man. If you cannot see the pain in his eyes over the falling of Faewen'il, I implore you to look again. For it is there, and it is tempering his actions."

"His words are certainly not appropriate, but they are not worthy of blood letting. To fight over the evils of incivility pale to the palpable evils walking the streets of Opava. We all must tolerate the mild Injustices implicit in all of us to work towards a greater Justice."

"These are hard times and trustworthy allies are hard to find. Porter may have little in the way of scruples, but it is hard not to appreciate a man that would undergo nine hours of torture just to protect one child."

"I do not defend his words here, for they are certainly inappropriate. I just hope that your sense of reason and compassion for those whose lives may depend us will show you that the fight is beneath us, not between us."

Winnacer turns around to look at Porter. He continues to use a gentle voice:

"Enough Porter. You and I both know this is not the way to solve things. Just let this go...they will learn a healthy respect for the dangers we contend with in time. Show them what you are made of on the field of honor, not here."

As Winnacer finishes, Porter takes another step back, sheathing his sword and standing with his arms crossed. He still stands on the balls of his feet, however, ready to respond should Damene attack.

Damene, whose face had softened as Winnacer spoke to her "gentler" side, gives a bitter laugh as she listens to him speak to Porter:

"All your pretty words, LawBringer. And it seems you'll speak them to whomever it is necessary in order to meet your own agenda. You say you won't defend his words, but you'll excuse them by allowing him to hide his reasons for behaving like an animal behind the hardships he's faced. Perhaps we should all use that as our excuse and I should run the bastard through for no other reason than all the past wrongs done to me?"

Porter shakes his head, thinking to himself:

"Like to see ya try."

Damene's eyes widen slightly and she takes a deep breath. Her face seems to crumple as she closes her eyes. She bows her head for a moment and her arms fall slack at her side, her weapons hanging loosely in her hands:

"Words or weapons, LawBringer, they both can draw blood."

"Words are worse," Yaz mutters under his breath before continuing to try to stay out of it.

Damene's body shivers slightly and then she looks back at Porter, her words directed to both him and Winnacer:

"But, you are right that a man doesn't deserve death for the wounds that his tongue inflicts. And I apologize for acting...foolishly."

Damene includes the two men in her curt nod, then slides her sword and dagger back into their sheaths.

Porter lights another cigarette as he mumbles to himself:

"Freakin' hypocrite."

The woman had been offended at his choice of words, yet had proceeded to call him "scum," a "cur," and various other insults for which she had no basis for. Insults he generally wouldn't have tolerated, but he had to learn to work together, and it wasn't worth wasting any more of his breath pointing that fact out to her.

There is a long pause as everyone finally calms down a little and returns their thoughts to the matter at hand, namely how to pay for the healing that everyone is in dire need of.

Looking at the others, Milly seems resolved:

"So obviously what we should be doing is helping the others down below. Well I can't go down there like this and I certainly don't have 640 gold."

"Rowan? Is it possible you could accompany me to the Cask & Bottle? I need to get something I left there. I have no doubt these folks will take it in trade. In fact it should cover probably all of us."

Rowan looks at the others to see if they have anything to add and then turns back to Milly:

"Well, if this is what you want to do, then I will, of course, accompany you back to the inn."

"Is it that important that we get healed tonight?" asks Candy. "I mean, tomorrow, Yaz and me can probably do a lot of healing and I can trade some of my skills for the rest maybe. You shouldn't have to get rid of your armor, Milly. We won't let it come to that."

As Milly is heading towards the door she says:

"If we wait until morning though, it may be too late."

Candy sighs and turns to the others:

"OK, I've got all but myself. I don't need it bad enough to pay for it."

With that she pulls a handful of shining gems out of a pocket in her cloak together with sixty gold pieces. The others look to see that she is holding a few small pieces of amber, a black opal, a jacinth and a very valuable black sapphire and a peridot.

"That covers everyone but me," says Candy. "OK? Can we have her and the healing now?"

Milly's eyes widen as the gems are shown:

"What other surprises are ya' hidin'?" she asks.

Candy's eyes widen innocently in response.

Yaz's eyes also brighten as he sees the stones:

"Whoa, Candy, hang on, don't give 'em those..."

His expression is innocently sincere:

"I can heal two with this Staff, maybe even Dax's leg, for one of them pretty yellow ones. And I think we got potions, don't we?" he inquires of Winnacer.

Winnacer shakes his head in the negative:

"I'm long out of Lechit's Holy Water. We have some ointments, but they won't show any effect until after a good sleep."

Yaz shrugs and continues:

"Well the staff should get two more of us able to go."

Winnacer turns to Yaz, a somewhat desperate look on his face:

"Yaz, I pray you use Lechit's staff upon us. Heal our wounds so that a few of us may bring aid onto the beleaguered dwarves below. "

Yaz turns to Dax:

"You want healing, Dax?"

There is a glint in the druid's eye as he holds the Staff in both hands, tip extended toward the lame fighter:

"This healing staff works a little different from most."

The druid grins evilly:

"Turn around and drop 'em."

"Don't do me any favors," Dax replies, without moving a muscle. "Wouldn't want to make a liar out of you."

Candy is looking at the gemstones:

"They are pretty aren't they," Candy's voice is innocently wistful. "I keep 'em polished up really nice too, so they shine."

Suddenly the LawBringer has a thought:

"Perhaps the equipment of our prisoner may pay the extortionists' prices," he suggests. "Warpstone laced platemail is certainly a unique commodity."

"Let's see what else he has on him that might be of use."

At Winnacer's comment about Skritchit's armor and possible other equipment that may be worth something, Milly pauses in her egress and turns to see if anything might come of it.

Candy also hesitates:

"OK, let's see how much we still need after all that other stuff."

Winnacer takes his caliver and points it at Skritchit's head:

"Porter, would you care to untie the vermin lord so that we can see what he has upon him."

The bounty hunter nods and begins to untie the bound gray-furred ratman. Skritchit obviously realizes that he has little chance of escape and so stands still as Porter unties the rope and then extricates the blind Seer from his net, which he returns to his charm bracelet.

They can see that the ratman has a large pouch hanging from his pouch. Porter pulls it off and opens it. Inside, Porter can see that the pouch contains spell components in the main, but there are also two other items.

The first that he pulls forth is a small, square bottle filled with a transparent liquid. Upon investigating the vial more closely, he sees that it has the staff and coiled serpent emblem of the Church of Lechit embossed upon it.

Winnacer looks at the bottle:

"I would imagine that this is a healing potion that used to belong to FaithHealer Geisler, the one whose notebook led us to uncover their fiendish plot in the first place. Isn't that right, Skritchit?"

The ratman shrugs:

"Have been might," he replies in a non-committal fashion.

Porter continues to rummage through the contents of Skritchit's pouch until he pulls out a small set of wooden panpipes. The bounty hunter looks at them with interest and then speaks to Skrichit:

"What do these do?" he asks roughly.

Skritchit chitters:

"Why don't you let me blow them and you'll see," he replies.

Porter shakes his head:

"You gotta be jokin', pal," he replies. "I'd let you blow ME before I'd let you blow on these."

Porter empties the pouch on the ground, but nothing falls out other than the spell components.

Winnacer investigates the platemail that Skritchit is wearing. They can all see that the hunched over form of the ratman means that there is no way that a human or any known demi-human could wear the armor without extensive modifications. It is the purplish glow that worries the young Lord more, however.

"Give me a hand to take the armor off," he says. "But be careful not to touch it with your bare hands, we are all too aware of the hazardous aspects of anything bearing the taint of warpstone."

Together, Winnacer and Porter start to take off the ratlord's armor, taking care not to touch it. As with all plate, it is not an easy or swift exercise to remove it and it takes almost fifteen minutes before the last greave is removed.

Damene shakes her head.

"I don't have anything to offer and I won't see myself healed before everyone else."

She turns to look at Candy:

"Your injuries are worse than mine right now, and it's your stuff. That pretty much goes for everyone...so, if we're able to do this with rat-boy's things, then I'll be happy to be patched up. But, I don't want someone else hurting because they used their valuables to pay for my way."

Porter gathers the group for a bit of privacy, smiling at Joy and Rowan to keep their distance, which they do. He says:

"Well, looks like we ought to use the staff on Winn, as he ain't gonna get anything from these scum. I think we ought to barter the armor first. It's magical and probably pretty intense at that. It might buy us all the healing we need, I don't know. Another thing we could trade is Skritchit himself. The scum may be interested in him, as he may be willing to buy his freedom. I'm sure he knows where a good cache of gold is somewhere. Then we'll go from there. I'll do the talking unless someone else wants to. Let's NOT trade the pipes. I have an idea about them. Any thoughts?"

Candy smiles thoughtfully:

"If you guys are going to hold on to stuff so I can spend my hard-earned money to heal you, then I should be holding onto the new stuff--since I bought it."

Winnacer's eyes say no:

"You will be compensated in due time. Worry not."

Candy smiles at Winnacer:

"I'm not worried. But I'm not into due time and trust and all that in a big way not having had much experience with those kinds of things. I think what I'll do is cover my, Damene's and Milly's healing, since they were kind of concerned about it and offered to help with the paying and all. The armor will cover Dax and Fae. And Porter can cover himself."

She gives Damene and Milly real smiles instead of the usual smirk:

Seeing that everyone will be taken care of, Damene smiles back at Candy.

"Thank you. I'll find a way to repay you."

Candy shrugs:

"No problem, Damene."

Milly looks Candy up and down:

"I'll tell ya' what..."

"Go ahead and pay for the healing and you can have my old armor in trade."

With a snort, she adds:

"It's a fact that I'm not fittin' back into it any time soon. This way someone will get some use out of it, rather then just handin' it over to some thieves."

"That is, of course, if you can wear armor other then that leather of yours, and you don't mind showin' off a little skin."

"Besides, ya never know - I may buy it back from you some day."

Candy hugs Milly suddenly and steps back:

"I don't want your armor, silly. I'll help with yours and Damene's healing any time."

"And, I'm only wearing as much as I am now so I won't embarrass you guys too much," she smirks.

"Let me see what the staff does before we make our final decision," Yaz says.

He turns to Winnacer, then Milly:

"Hold still, you two."

He touches the staff to the shoulder of each, and speaks the rune that lies somewhere under his fingertips.

Winnacer is the first to receive the blessings of the Lechitian's staff. The results are reasonable and all can see that the young Lord looks a lot better after receiving the healing powers, although he is still quite some way from returning to full health.

Yaz then turns his attention to Milly. The results of the healing upon her are roughly the same as those upon the LawBringer, perhaps a little better. It certainly makes her feel a great deal better although she too is still a fair distance away from being returned to full health.

While Yaz tends to the wounds of Winnacer and Milly, Porter takes his rope and binds Skritchit up once more. He leads the ratman several yards away from the Temple but within view and ties him up securely to a post and then returns to the party so that they can talk openly without the ratlord overhearing:

"Let me talk to Skritchit by myself," Porter requests. "I want to know about these pipes. Something tells me they can control or lead the rat bastards somehow. If that's the case, we may be able to draw the rats up to the upper levels and force those freakin' 'Crips' to fight. That would alleviate the problems our boys are facing. Heck, we could even try to bring them all the way to the surface and fight the Nyemetz, but that's probably pushing it. What d'ya think?"

"Good idea," Yaz replies impulsively, "let's do it."

Winnacer looks sadly at the Bounty Hunter:

"Perhaps the pipes can do as you say, and perhaps they may provide salvation. But I know what you are going to do; that was made clear to me in Litultovitze. Spravedelna forbids me to use or allow brutal coercion. And I will not allow it within my presence, nor can I turn a blind eye to it. Skritchit will receive his Judgment and can barter for his life, but I will not be a party to the atrocities used by my foes."

Porter looks insulted:

"Atrocities? For cryin' out loud, you act like I'm gonna rape his wife and kill his children. I was just going to get some answers. Well, I suggest that Spavedelna's judgment for the rat bastard be as painful as possible."

Winnacer nods grimly:

"If he is not prepared to help us with the defense of the city, then he will be executed as foretold in Her Book of Punishments. He might prove to be more useful to us alive, however. If Yaz could charm him, or if we are able to retrieve Faewen'il's ring to achieve the same purpose, then perhaps we can get him to order a ratman retreat. Therefore, we cannot consider trading him."

Porter shrugs:

"Well, I'll keep that in mind the next time I want to do something with a prisoner and you disagree."

Winnacer turns to Yaz:

"Yaz, can you charm Skritchit so we can get answers out of him without torture?"

The druid responds with a shrug:

"Ya."

There is a short pause and then Porter sighs:

"Before we make a final decision about the ratlord, let's see what we can get the bastards to give us for his armor at least," the bounty hunter says. "If they really want the stuff, then perhaps we don't have to worry about giving up the pipes or the rat."

The others nod, not seeing what they have to lose.

Porter heads back into the temple and approaches Joy, saying:

"Well, your generosity is overwhelming, considering we're completely over a barrel, but that's okay. The ratlord's armor has to be worth a small fortune. Unfortunately, we don't have time right now to deal with it. We'll trade it for the help you gave Fae, the healing we need, and any healing we need once we get done cleaning up the mess down below. We're taking it in the ass, but I don't have any choice? Can we get a deal here, so we can get the move on?"

Joy regards the armor for a moment and then speaks:

"It isn't my decision," she replies. "Let me take it to the Master Lord Demarch and see what he has to say about it. Please wait here for a moment."

With that, Joy takes the armor, wrapping it in her black and gold embroidered cloak to avoid having to touch it. She then drags it through the door in the back of the Temple.

Porter waits in the Temple for the best part of ten minutes before Joy returns once more, without the armor. She seems a little relieved:

"The armor was of interest to the Master Lord Demarch," Joy replies. "He will exchange it for healing the magess and also seeing to the leg of your crippled friend. That's 1800 gold pieces worth in total; a fair price I believe."

"If you require any additional healing, then it will require additional funds or trade."

She crosses her arms before her, awaiting Porter's response.

Porter replies:

"Now that we have healed some of our injuries, you seek to raise your price in order to make just as much money. I find that a rather poor business practice. The armor is worth far more than 1800 in gold. It alone should be more than sufficient to pay for healing Fae, repairing Dax's leg, and healing the rest of our injuries, save Winnacer."

Porter shakes his head in the same manner that Winnacer uses so frequently, saying in a disapproving tone:

"Frankly, I'm disappointed in you, Joy. I have been loyal to our group that traveled here to Opava. I have refrained from informing the relevant persons of your and Rowan's activities in Olmutz which got you all in a bit of trouble. Your disloyalty to us now troubles me very much. Perhaps you could convince me not to talk to my very extensive contacts within the bounty hunter community by showing a bit more good faith. Perhaps you could persuade the Master Lord Demarch that he has undervalued the armor? At the very least, you could at least tend to our injuries yourself as best you can."

Joy is starting to get a little annoyed now:

"Porter," she starts, "both you and I know that the armor is useful for little other than a curiosity. It is never going to fit anyone due to its design and I know as well as you do that the warpstone contained in the alloy is a very unstable substance of which you nor I, nor anyone else other than the ratman have much information."

"If you want it back, then take it by all means, but the Master Lord Demarch has made it quite clear that this is his final offer. In fact, without my intervention he would have offered a maximum of only 1000 gold pieces for it. You know as well as I do that there is a battle going on below and the Church is the only source of healing in the city at the moment. This is not the Temple of Lechit; Zlodey requires certain procedures to be followed and they can't be avoided."

"I have given you all of the assistance that I am capable of," she continues. "If it was not for me, then the magess would never have been treated in the first place."

"I cannot defy the Ways of Zlodey. Any priest of any god or goddess has to follow the set ways of his or her faith in order to continue to receive the god's blessings."

"Go and speak to Yaz if you don't believe me," she continues. "Ask him if he would be prepared to burn down a grove in order to save yourselves some coinage or items."

Joy sighs before continuing:

"As I have told you already, this is not my decision. I am just the go-between here. So do you accept the offer, or shall I arrange for the armor to be returned to you?"

Porter makes a mental note to earn himself a finder's fee when he returns to Olmutz, and then heads back to the steps in order to speak to Winnacer:

"What's the call?" he asks, after explaining the state of negotiations.

The LawBringer just shrugs:

"You know what our current situation is," he replies. "That armor is of little use to us and so any benefit that we can get from it is better than nothing."

Porter doesn't look entirely happy with this answer, but reluctantly agrees:

"OK, I'll make the deal."

Winnacer turns to Porter as the bounty hunter heads back into the temple:

"Can you please retrieve Faewen'il's amulet for me. I have used it before and perhaps we can pry some secrets from Skritchit's brain."

Porter nods:

"Yeah, I'll get it when I get Fae."

Porter heads back into the temple in order to speak with Joy once more. He returns several minutes later carrying an armful of Fae's gear:

"It looks like it's all here," he says with a modicum of relief. "They are prepared to look after her for a few hours while we go down to see what's happening on the lower levels."

He looks over at Rowan:

"You can stay here and check that they don't try and double-cross us, can't you?" he asks.

Rowan nods:

"It would be a pleasure," he replies.

Porter turns to the others once more with a sour look upon his face:

"We need to move her out of here before the morning though, or else the thieving bastards are gonna start chargin' storage for her."

The bounty hunter then turns to Dax:

"You're all paid up too," he says. "They're ready when you are."

"I need someone to help me up the stairs," Dax says.

"I'll give you a hand if you like," offers Candy. "I need to go and have a word with them myself."

Dax has little choice but to agree and so the pair of them head into the temple together. Five minutes later, Candy emerges with her wounds totally healed. She looks over at the others:

"Damene and Milly, you're paid up. I only had to lose one pretty rock too!"

She beams at them, then walks over to where Yaz is getting very impatient with all of the hanging around.

Damene and Milly head off inside the temple for their turn with the priests. They pass Dax who is coming out. He is walking normally and all his wounds have been healed, much to his relief.