Calling It A Night

Finally, they are ready to depart and Libor leads the women and their offspring into the corridor. As Libor's women see the others from the next room, their noses wrinkle in disgust, as they look them up and down. It is obvious that they have not seen them before. With all ready to depart, they finally start to usher Libor, the 38 women, and 17 children down the corridor towards the stairs. All of them are buckling under the weight of all of the provisions that they are carrying, what with the flame-thrower, the handgun, boxes and baskets of food and with the occasional baby as well, it is very difficult to move, especially as they need to keep the traumatized women moving in the right direction.

They are moving down the western corridor heading towards the stairs when those at the back of the group, who are helping to herd the group forwards, suddenly see two black and yellow clad figures burst through the door that Gronk had previously opened with electrifying results. Both of the figures grab one of the traumatized women each as they pass by and quickly drag them into the room, upon which the doors quickly close behind them. With their hands full, and a gaggle of women between them and those that were snatched, the party members were powerless to get to the women before the Nemotz priests grabbed them. As the doors close, all hear the women screaming before their cries are quickly muffled.

Gronk curses loudly in dwarven as he sees the priests, but does not attempt to touch the door again after the priests have shut it. Their day of reckoning will come tomorrow.

Winnacer shakes his head back and forth:

"Stupid, stupid, stupid," he whispers to himself.

He continues to herd the others downstairs until all are safely halfway down the stairs that lead to the level below before returning to address the rest of the party:

"Well, now those two priests have hostages in there. Or they have human sacrifices. One possibility means we have to figure out a way to put them down without getting into melee, like with those spells that have held us rigid in the past or with Faewen'il's wand, or else we risk their lives. The other possibility means we have to act now to prevent their deaths."

Winnacer then remains standing in front of the door, torn between immediate action and prudent action.

Will speaks as he continues to herd the group down the stairs:

"We do what we can when we can, Winnacer. There is no dishonor in passing by what is beyond our present abilities."

Winnacer glances towards the others before addressing Will:

"This has nothing to do with honor, Will. Those two women are somebody's mothers or sisters. They may have husbands at home hanging on to a glimmer of hope that one day their wives will return. We are that glimmer, that chance against chances that things may turn out all right despite an overwhelming evil. If it were your mother or your sister, I'd imagine it would be impossible to simply turn your back on them. To walk away from them and allow them to be sacrificed to evil gods is more than mere cowardice, it's complicity with the devaluation of human life."

Will nods:

"You are correct, were my mother within, I would do something regardless of the personal risk. I would act irrationally in a desperate attempt to save her. However, my mind is not presently clouded by emotions and I am capable of using logic to make a hypothesis that attacking the central hold of this place right now would be suicide."

The bard continues:

"I do not place a high value upon my own head. Were my own and the two women's lives only at stake, I would take action. But there are other lives at stake here which will be forfeit if we fail. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. Cold calculating logic, Winnacer. No emotions involved."

Will then recants:

"But let it not be said that I am a coward nor cold hearted. Let us see what we can see before a decision is made."

"If those women are in danger," the LawBringer continues, "I know we must act and now. It is my Mandate and I believe that you would sleep poorly at night knowing that their blood fed the appetite of Nemotz when you could have intervened. If they are in danger, we must act."

Winnacer's tone settles back into his temperate speaking voice:

"But the question is, are they going to be harmed? Is a cruel fate upon a sacrificial altar or under the lustful desiring of evil priests in their immediate future? Or are they now leverage against us to enable the Priests to attempt to bargain for their lives later? Until we can answer that question for sure, we cannot in good conscience walk away and go to sleep."

As Gronk keeps leading the women up the stairs, Bennett stops in his tracks, shooing them forward:

"Xavier! Get your ass down here!"

Once the group has gone past, Bennett walks past the debating Will and Winnacer, speechless. He walks up to the door, waiting for Xavier, and Winnacer:

"You know we need to open this door, whatever it takes. We can't wait another day. F***ing magicians think that when the spells are done, we are. Running and hiding because we are torn up, no more of that."

"We can't leave the women in those priests' hands all night. I couldn't live with myself if we did."

After leading the troops to the stairs and realizing that the fighters have stayed downstairs, Gronk heads back down to see what the rest are up to.

Winnacer addresses Bennett as he makes to open the unlocked door:

"Careful, Bennett. Charging in there may do more than just get you killed this time. The bastards have hostages and no morals. Just charging in there will press the issue without us having a ready countermeasure. We need to figure out what's going on inside and figure out a way to immobilize the priests before they can act that is non-lethal. Otherwise, we may as well go in with the flame machine blazing indiscriminately, and I think neither you nor I would stand for that."

"Does anybody have a useful spell or two left?" the LawBringer continues. "If somebody could awake Faewen'il from her stupor, she could use that paralytic wand here to good effect. If we are to preserve life here we need to think and plan, as muscle will cause more harm here than good."

The only two spellcasters present are Kokal and Yaz. Both of them shake their heads in response to Winnacer's question.

"Let me have a listen at the door and see if I can determine anything about the occupants before we rush into something that we can't handle," Jihan suggests.

With that, he kneels down in front of the door and puts his ear to the crack in the door. He is motionless for a couple of minutes and the others can see that he has his eyes closed and his brow furrowed in concentration as he listens intently. After a couple of minutes, he stands up and reports his findings:

"It was difficult to tell for sure because whoever is in there is deliberately being very quiet," he reports, shaking his head. "There are several people in there. I heard them whispering."

"It's hard to put an exact number on them," he adds with a shrug, "perhaps six, perhaps ten, perhaps there were more. One of them was wearing platemail, that much I could tell. I could also hear at least one female sobbing quietly."

"I heard another sound too, something that I have never heard before. Whatever it was, it sounds really disgusting. I heard this terribly slurping and oozing noise, such as that which I could expect a giant insect to make. However, this was no insect. It was much too large for that. I can't say exactly how big this ... thing is, but it is very large, I can tell you. It was also making a terrible masticating sound."

He shakes his head once more:

"Whatever it is, I'm not looking forward to meeting it."

Bennett's impatience finally gets the better of him and he can take no more procrastination:

"Screw all this talk," Bennett says with a sneer. "I'm going in, whether you're with me or not."

And with that, he yanks the door open and stands in the doorway. As he looks inside the room, the sight before him fills him with terror. His immediate urge is to run, but he manages to fight it off and stands in the door for a split-second longer. Then, realizing that to rush into the room alone would almost certainly lead to his death, his self-preservation instincts kick in and he quickly closes the door behind him before leaning against it in order to keep it closed.

As the others look at him, they can see that Bennett is pale and shaking and his earlier swagger is missing. He then tells them what he saw:

"There's ten of them in there," he starts. "Nine of them are priests and the other is a GermSpreader."

"But that's not the worst of it," he says, sweating profusely. "In the center of the temple is a pentangle and right in the middle of that is the most horrible looking monstrosity that I have ever seen in my life. It was worse than Boscobelous, I tell you."

"It must have been 12' tall if it was an inch, with a girth that wasn't much smaller. It looked like the insides of a GermSpreader, only much worse. The monstrosity is just one mass of disease - all green, yellow and purple and it was oozing slime. Even worse was the fact that its skin was moving, as if there was something inside trying to get out. It has two huge clawed hands and an enormous mouth filled with large rotten teeth."

Bennett shakes his head once more:

"And the teeth were feasting on the heart of one of the women that they just dragged in there. The rest of her body was lying on an altar just before the creature. The GermSpreader has the other woman bound before him."

When Gronk returns to the area, he assures those there that the others are safely on the stairs below and listens to Bennett's account of the occupants of the inner chamber:

"We all be dead iffin we be headin' in 'ere now. I be thinkin' da best way ta gets rid o' 'em be ta wait 'til tomorrow an' use da gun ta blast through one o' 'em other doors so as ta be able ta get 'em from two sides. Maybe da little lady's mind be back tomorrow too. Iffin it is, I be sure she could be a heap o' help."

Gronk waits to see what the others think, then realizes Yaz is still there too:

"Hey, nature-boy, what kind o' tricks could ya be havin' up you's sleeve tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow?" Yaz replies. "Anything you want. Whaddaya like, the air elemental? Really big insects? Stone-molding? Flashfires? Me an' Prirodna, we got it all, baby."

Although his words are flippant, he is obviously heavy with the situation.

Winnacer, however, shakes his head solemnly to and fro:

"Spravedelna cries this day. But to immediately pursue will certainly take all of our lives and jeopardize those in some unknown city depending on us right now. We need to prepare."

Will then makes a suggestion:

"Mayhaps it would be a good idea to send word back to the Cathedral of Lechit now. We are not the only people in this world who have the desire and ability to cleanse this place, but if we perish on the morrow, it is almost certain that the knowledge of this place will die with us, and thus endanger all of Bohavia."

"We won't fail," says Yaz, as if he knows.

"Which Cathedral?" asks Kokal. "Th' one in Vysoke Myto, or th' main Cathedral in Olmutz? If ye wants to send word t'either, then I recommend Olmutz. 'T'is no further from 'ere than Vysoke Myto an' they'll 'ave more resources. This is a job for Faith'ealers if ever I saw one. Ye'll need to send proper word to 'em though. They won't be comin' if they think that it might be nothin' more than a wild goose chase."

The bard continues:

"As for the morrow, we bring fire, blood and death upon the heads of these filth. The cannon and flame-thrower would provide excellent first hit punch, perhaps even finishing the coup and incinerating these wicked priests before they have time to react. I fear the two ladies that have been snatched are beyond our aid. One is gone now, and the other is very likely to meet the same fate in moments. Were we to rush in and attempt a rescue, odds are good that she would still die, as would we, and with us the hope of destruction of this vile place."

"Before we do anything else," continues the LawBringer, "it would be best to bar all of these entrances. Keep them penned up where they are and let us continue this fight on our terms."

"As for tomorrow, if we can somehow soothe Faewen'il's mind back from the verge of shock where it now sits, she said she could unravel the magics upon these doors. I think it would be best to attack from two sides too, but let us stagger the assault to take them by surprise."

"How I see it, it would be best to open one set of doors and hit them with immobilizing and delaying spells while they turn to face the threat. As they focus on the first set of doors, a second group can come through the back doors, flame machine in tow, and teach them how flame cleanses disease. Put them between a rock and a hot place."

"With myself at the front doors, I can summon Spravedelna's fear to break the wills of those charging forward, hopefully forcing them back into the path of the flame. I believe such an approach will quickly level the bulk of the priests assembled within. However, it is this plague beast Bennett describes that worries me the most."

Winnacer shudders:

"But we'll cross that bridge when we get there."

"Above all, we must make sure the side doors are all clamped tightly shut with our barricades. We would not want the bastards to flank us when we spring our trap on them."

"Sealing the two side doors is going to be easy," comments Jihan while taking his pack off his back.

He reaches inside it and pulls forth a pottery jar that the others can vaguely recall his having taken from Boscobelous' little stash of magickal items:

"Sovereign Glue," he reminds them, his facing showing the faint trace of a smile for the first time in a long while. "This will seal the two other doors up so that nothing's going to get through them."

"Including ourselves, unfortunately," the elf continues, "as I have no solvent to undo it once the doors have been sealed. Therefore, we shall have to use some alternative methods of barricading the two doors that we will be using tomorrow."

Kokal nods:

"There be plenty o' material for barricadin' t'other two doors from the priests' quarters an' dinin' room."

The Padre then looks to Bennett, Xavier, Gronk and Winnacer:

"P'raps ye can all give me an 'and while the elf glues up t'other two doors?"

The warriors agree and so start to drag beds, lockers, chairs and tables from the rooms in the west of the level and begin to pile them against the east and west doors. While they do this, Jihan sees to the north and south doors, carefully avoiding the glyph as he glues the doors shut. He also applies glue to the hinges as well, just in case the occupants of the room try other methods of getting out. It takes him a total of ten minutes to glue the doors together, by which time the others have managed to pile up pretty much all of the available furniture against the west and east doors.

The Padre nods as he looks at the huge pile of furniture against the door:

"Aye, that be a good job there. They nae be getting' through th't lot in an 'urry."

"I just hope they don't reset that glyph on the door we opened, while we're away," comments Yaz. "I don't got any spells to deal with those... maybe Maire' does."

"So for now, let's take these chicks upstairs, and our six hairy friends, and put a couple of guards on them, then return to get the last set of prisoners held behind the first glyphed door we came to. After that we can have a rest and talk about this better."

Yaz leans toward Winnacer and whispers:

"And how 'bout we don't show any of these guys how to open the trapdoor in the circle. And we should row the raft out to the other side of the water too. In case our friends try to escape and get themselves in trouble. Or in our way."

"We could put them down in the fungi pits for now, after removing the fungi, of course," Winnacer replies. "They could not cause us any trouble down there. We also may want to go to the squires and tell them we are alright. I think they would appreciate it."

Winnacer takes a final look at the barricaded inner sanctum and then reluctantly turns away, obviously wracked by self-doubt. They then all leave the level, meeting up with all of the refugees that they left upon the stairs in order to ensure that no more of them came to harm. Picking up the boxes of food, gigantic firearm, flame-thrower and babies, they then descend to the bottom of the stairs in order to make the journey up to the surface. The eight members of Libor's harem make a lot of fuss about having to wade through the filthy waters of the corridor and it takes quite a bit of arguing before the party is finally able to persuade them to move through it, which they do reluctantly. At the bottom of the stairs, Yaz sees that the two giant mosquitoes are still obediently hovering above the fetid waters. He calls out to them and orders them to follow after him, bringing up the rear of the group.

As the party ushers the women through the waters, they pass the stairs up to the guardroom where Aneira said she was going to wait for the rest of them along with Faewen'il plus Mirek and his hirsute comrades:

"Let me bring them down," says Jihan as the rest of them continue to herd the women through the corridors.

The elf then climbs the stairs to the room and sees that Aneira and those with her are patiently waiting for the others. Jihan sees Faewen'il sitting with her back against a wall in the cloak that Aneira had thrown over her mostly naked body. The lass has certainly looked far better. Even the fateful night at the Inn when she was shamed was an improvement over the way she is now; for at least then, she responded to the world about her.

From what can be seen, Aneira had tried to clean her up a bit; her face is washed and her hair is at least passably freed of muck. There is a dull look to her usually fiery green eyes as she sits staring off at nothing in particular. Beside her is the bundle of things she had left with Xavier, that Aneira had helped carry out. Those who venture nearer to her notice that her lower lip trembles and her hands shake slightly.

Jihan goes over and nervously helps Faewen'il to her feet and then escorts her down the stairs. Aneira follows the pair of them along with Mirek and his friends. They soon catch up with the others, who are moving very slowly, as they need to guide the women through every step that they take through the waterlogged corridors. Several of Libor's harem scream out loud at they all pass through the Nemotz trophy room on the way to the magickal staircase room, but the party members manage to urge them onwards as Libor tries to console them.

Eventually, they manage to reach the staircase room, where they find Marek sitting on the bottom step looking bored out of his mind. Getting the traumatized women up the stairs proves to be a major logistical exercise, as it is obvious that none of the women are able to ascend unaided. As a result, the party is forced to mount the stairs along with Libor and his harem first of all and drop all of their gear and provisions in the private chapel upstairs before descending the stairs once again to bring the traumatized women up one by one. In total, the whole exercise takes over half an hour before they have all of the refugees up the stairs and the last of them step through the circle.

After that part of the exercise, getting them through the temple and up to ground level is fairly simple. On the way through the temple area, Will drops the flame-thrower that he is carrying along with Yaz and goes over to one of the dead mercenaries that was left there. As the rest of them continue to assist the women through the temple, Will strips the mercenary of his armor and puts it on over his clothes.

As this is the first time anyone has seen Will wearing armor, he gets a few curious looks:

"There will be little need for scouting or stealth on the morrow," he says by way of explanation.

They clear the pews from the final staircase and guide the refugees up the stairs that lead to the entrance hall to the temple. Tired now as a result of their exertions during the day, they herd the women through into the west wing of the building and segregate them into their respective groups. The traumatized women, the party puts into the largest room in the southwest corner, Libor and his harem are offered the room in the northwest corner, whereupon they immediately start moaning about the spartan state of the room, which only contains four beds. After ten minutes of complaining, the party finally decides to house them in the east wing of the building, splitting them between the three rooms previously occupied by the acolytes and junior priests. Mirek and his companions are accommodated in the northwest room which, to them, is luxury compared to the filthy room that they spent the previous few nights in.

Once quarters have been found for all the party's guests, Mirek and Marek plus Yaz' mosquitoes are employed to patrol the corridors of the west and east wing of the building respectively, with instructions to raise the alarm should any of the party's guests get up to any mischief.

With the two mercenaries and giant insects guarding their guests, Winnacer concerns himself with the party's own safety:

"I think it would be unwise to take any chances with those who we have left below. I think that it would be prudent to blockade the doors to the temple as we did last night, just in case they are able to escape from the inner sanctum."

There is general agreement to Winnacer's plan as they all realize that, in their current weakened state, they could be easy prey should the priests escape and so they spend a while piling up the furniture against the doors until they consider that there is no way that the priests will be able to get through the barricade.

Winnacer convenes the planning meeting once everyone is settled:

"Before we discuss our plans for the morning, I believe that we need to discuss our state of health and that of those who are now in our care."

The Padre shakes his head:

"I'm afraid that I'm all out o' healin' for t'day," he starts. "That goes f'r healin' wounds or curin' disease. It'll 'ave t'be tomorrow afore I c'n be o' help t'ye or t'others."

Yaz nods in agreement:

"Same here. I don't have anything that can help."

Aneira also agrees:

"Me neither. I used my last spell for curing disease on Mirek a couple of hours ago."

"What were the results, sister?" asks Jihan with concern.

"I'm not quite sure," Aneira replies. "It certainly didn't have any immediate effect. However, it seems to have stopped the spread of the disease. While the others who were effected seem to have worsened just a little, Mirek's condition seems to be stable."

"I'm worried about the other five though," says Yaz. "We can't afford to have them all changing in the middle of the night."

Concerned, Yaz heads into the room next door containing Mirek and the other infected men and speaks to him:

"Mirek," Yaz asks, "from what you've seen of these guys changing into animals, do you think you six will last the night? We might be able to cure all of you in the morning, if you can last that long."

Mirek seems to have calmed a little as a result of being in better surroundings without having snarling beastmen around him:

"If you could heal us, then we would be more indebted to you than we are already. However, I don't think that there's too much risk of us going out of control in the next day or so. The changes are taking place slowly. I think it will be several days before we get to the same state as the others in the room."

Yaz nods and then returns to continue the discussion with the others.

Jihan is the next to speak:

"Although we are out of godly favors for the day, we still have the potions that the Guildmistress gave to us. I suggest that all of us take one before we sleep tonight. The results will be weak compared to the healing powers of Zima, Radegast or Prirodna, but Pavla told me that the potions can be of great assistance to the body's own healing abilities."

"Very well," nods Winnacer, "let us use everything that we have at our disposal, as I fear that we will need to use all of our assets if we are to be victorious tomorrow."

"So what of magickal assistance for tomorrow's assault? Let us take time to plan our plan of attack carefully through a coordinated assault using might and magick."

Kokal starts the conversation:

"I be thinkin' that most o' the blessings th't I ask Radegast for t'morrow need t'be healin' spells. Th' wounds th't ye all be takin' t'day be needin' more than a good night's sleep and some 'erbal remedies t'be fixin'. I'm also thinkin' that takin' spells to be curin' disease be vital."

He nods to Winnacer and Yaz:

"Th' pair o' ye be already diseased, tho' I thin' it won't be effectin' ye badly for a while. From 'ow Bennett described the beast wit' th' priests, it sounds like it be infectin' folks bad too."

"I also believe that I will need to ask Zima for spells of healing tomorrow," Aneira adds. "Zima may also grant me the power to undo the spells of others, although I have not asked her for such before. After our first encounter with the priests earlier today, I believe that such spells could be vital to stop us being taken down by the priests' magick."

She pauses and then looks at the others:

"If anyone has any special requests, then I may be able to help."

"I could be usin' some o' you's 'ealing, for sure," Gronk says quietly.

Winnacer's concentration was elsewhere while the priests spoke, obviously deep in thought as to what to do. His face shows no trace of mercy as he speaks. His eyes have a wild look to them, those of a man who has gone past rage and frustration, but his voice is level and calm:

"A direct assault may yield success but only at a high risk and with some certain losses. We would be fighting in the manner they are now prepared for. I do not plan on giving them any edge."

"I propose the following idea and ask for you all to aid me in working out the petty details to see if it is feasible. It seems that the entire final level is a complete cave with only one outlet, which is under our control and can be sealed. We need to explore this more; Gronk would probably know best, but I believe there may only be one vent serving this entire place. Air can be made to be a luxurious commodity, if we wish. With some well-positioned fires and barricades, we could feasibly smoke them into oblivion. Whether we pursue this until they are unconscious or completely suffocated would be our choice."

Xavier bursts into laughter:

"Yah, yah, mein lord, vhat a great idea. Even those f***ing whoresons need to breathe. Personally though, I vould set fire to the entire complex. I vill feel unwell until every single whoreson in this charnel house is put to the sword and purged by fire. Never in my days have I seen such filth as this performed by mankind. Even the Iron Guard, which once kept my countrymen enslaved, vas beyond such atrocities as I have seen here. Let us make the bastards pay!"

"This is the only choice we've spoke of that gives the captives even a glimmer of a chance at survival, although it is quite slim," the LawBringer continues. "It is also the only one that may reliably yield us living prisoners for questioning. It also may keep us from a hideous fate at the hands of an unspeakable evil. It may do little against the plague beast, but we will have a fighting chance against it if it does not have ten cronies also fighting us, especially if it is stuck in that pentagram."

"Once we smoke them into submission, we can assault forward and immobilize their unconscious forms while we decimate any remaining foes. Survivors can be questioned, then given the punishments awaiting them in Spravedelna's Book."

"We can go about it in two ways, either setting fires under each of the doors with pews as fuel and the flame machine acting as the match or closing down the level and setting everything on fire and waiting until the air supply for the whole complex has been consumed by flame. The first gives us some semblance of control, the second would probably make sure there were no survivors."

"Problem is the mutated civilians we have left penned up. We'd need to move them away a bit. Maybe Yaz could figure out something here, as they seem more animal than humanoid. Focused fires may keep us from damaging them as well."

Gronk is deep in thought, well, deep for Gronk anyway, while listening to Winn's plan:

"Gots a problem with usin' fire," Gronk comments. "Iffin 'ere be no other vents an' we fill da level with smoke, da smoke will be 'ere for a long time. Iffin we tries ta go in after 'em we be breathin' da smoke too. I ain't takin' too kindly ta no more coughin' fits."

Gronk then remembers something from the day's events:

"Didn't 'at rodent who be tossin' 'em gas balls have somthin' on his face? Mayhap we's could see iffin 'ey gots somethin' what could let us breath in da smoke. Iffin we can't be breathin' in da smoke I be thinkin' we needs ta nix da fire plan."

"Let's check the other rooms and perhaps we will find some more useful equipment," Winnacer suggests after listening to Gronk's suggestion. "But we need not kill them with smoke, we can just burn out the air. The smoke should rise nicely filling the high ceilings of this place and not cause us too much problem if we make a ferocious fire, enough to quickly suck out all the air within the sealed vault. And considering we'd be well away until after we left the place air out some, we should not have too much problem...I hope. But let's see about those breathing masks, or perhaps making air bladders of our own."

"I don't like this air-suckage idea," Yaz adds, shaking his head. "We'd need a hole into the temple area, which they could just block. How 'bout we just kill them the old fashioned way instead?"

"I believe that the space beneath the doors would be sufficient for it to work," the LawBringer responds. "It would be impossible for them to seal the room well enough to keep air within, and if they did they'd suffocate themselves to death for us. But it is all useless unless we have a way to herd the mutated Bohavians upstairs, which seems to be the case. A pity, for it would be nice to take them out without putting our necks out on the line again."

Winnacer pauses:

"If we decide to go with an assault, we need to do this in a highly coordinated way...by the numbers. We need to know what actions we all plan on taking in those first few seconds, before the chaos of battle alters our game plan. Who plans on casting spells and what? Who is going to man the flame machine? Who is going to engage which targets? This needs to be sorted out before we throw ourselves into the mix again, while we have the opportunity."

"I still be thinkin' da best route be ta use da gun ta blast through one o' 'em doors pointy-ears glued an' 'en hit 'em hard from one o' da doors we be barricadin' shut," Gronk replies. "After seein' what da gun did ta da wall, I think it be takin' out several o' 'em holy snot rags 'fore 'ey be knowing what hit 'em."

"Well it's a good weapon, but will it get through a door?" asks Yaz. "I was thinking I could just shape one of the stone walls instead. Then we can use the gun to shoot at the priest guys inside. One shot's all we'll get, but if it takes out a GermSpreader, it's worth it."

"Will it get through a door!?" Gronk exclaims. "Did ya have ya head up ya ass back 'ere? It took out da better part o' da wall! I be thinkin' it'll take out a door an' whoever or whatever be standin' on da other side o' it."

Yaz shrugs:

"Doors look like magic to me... But yer prob'ly right."

"Unfortunately, the powder arm takes two people to fire it and even then it takes five minutes to load," Winnacer adds. "Unless somebody else has more experience with these guns than myself, it probably would only be good for one shot during the whole battle. Not something worth tying up two people over. Plus, I don't think I'd be a great shot with it. I need some practice before I'd consider trying to hit moving targets with such a devastating missile weapon. We are better off scrapping the gun for this plan."

"I'd ask Prirodna for the power to cure disease, too, I guess," the druid continues. "Though it ain't as much fun as summoning insects up their asses. And I'll ask for the flame spell, which should get a few of them if they're bunched together."

"So the way I see this happening is, someone opens the door, then the big gun is fired through the doorway. As that happens, I open a hole in the wall opposite the open door. Winn steps through the hole and makes them all shit their pants. Then we fire the flamethrower from the doorway as well. After that, I cast my flame spell to mop up any survivors, while our sword-swinging knuckle-draggers rush in and hack them to bits."

"Sounds like a decent plan ta me," agrees Gronk, nodding his head, "other than openin' da door before we shoots da gun. Just gives 'em a chance ta use 'eir magic on us, it does. Thunder here can also be helpin' out. Iffin Winn ain't be makin' all o' 'em scared as shit, then Thunder can be knockin' 'em on 'eir asses for a spell."

"As for that demon, I dunno," Yaz adds. "Maybe a simple Cure Disease will kill it. Or maybe we just fight 'til it's dead. Or maybe Maire' has a suggestion... I don't know shit about those things."

Finished, Yaz drains his sinuses and horks a sizable looger into his hand, which he wipes on his pants absently.

Gronk mumbles to himself as Yaz finishes speaking:

"Never thought I'd be agreein' with da plan o' a pointy-eared tree-hugger."

"I guess that means that we need to split up into two teams," Winnacer adds. "The Padre and I will be on the first door if we plan on trying to use the cannon here. We'll also need two others to open the doors when we are ready to take our shot. Perhaps Xavier and Aneira could man the doors and prevent them from rushing through."

Xavier nods a few times in agreement with the offered plans:

"Yah, dat seems a fair option, mein freunds. Ve must take out these bastards vith as little hurt as possible to ourselves or our comrades. Guarding der door may be the best option for me. Vielding a cannon vith this damn hand not be vorth shite! Der recoil vould kill us all"

Xavier, his helm under his arm, brushes his hair from his eyes with the three fingers of his ruined left hand.

"Let us end this bloody business. May Rodengast destroy all those whoresons who practice their foul heresy beneath this roof."

Winnacer nods and then continues:

"The second team would have the flame machine. I guess Jihan and Will would be the best choices to man the contraption. Yaz needs to be over there to shape the doors so they can be toppled. Bennett and Gronk should cover that exit to prevent them from rushing through and protecting the machine."

"Only Faewen'il is left, and she tends to figure out how the best way for her to help in these situations. That is, if we can bring her back to her senses."

"Once the doors are opened, I'll fire the cannon into the room, hopefully hitting something besides the doors on the other side. Mayhaps Faewen'il can be present as well, webbing the lot of them or blasting them with some new sorcery. Simultaneously, Yaz will get to work on the other doors while Jihan and Will get the machine prepared."

"I should have enough range to scare the Priests from my gun perch, while I change weapons. The others can come forward with the machine and get to work. If that doesn't clean them up, then Gronk can toss his axe to bowl over the rest while the flame machine picks off those left standing. Hopefully, we won't even need to rush into the room with swords a-swinging."

"It may be best if you take one of those speak with the dead spells, Yaz. We may unintentionally slay all of our quarry, leaving us with a bunch of unanswered questions. But let's check the other areas first."

Yaz shivers at the thought:

"Can do, and I guess it's worth a shot, but there's nothing making the dead answer questions. If they're nasty, like these priests, they may just lie, or not answer. Bennett's friend answered because he was a nice guy. These priests are not nice guys.

"And it's either that spell or a disease cure. Winn, unless you got a real good epiphany from your goddess about this, I think a cure'd make better sense. 'Specially with Jabba the Germ in there. If we end up wanting to question the dead like you say, I can do it tomorrow. Or a week from now, even."

Winnacer nods once again and then continues:

"I think that we have the plan of attack for tomorrow pretty well set now. However, before we rush into what will hopefully be the final battle, we should investigate the rest of the locked doors. Perhaps the information we need may lie there, allowing us the freedom to wholesale slaughter them rather than take prisoners for questioning. So, what do you guys all think?"

Gronk nods his head in agreement at Winn's last comment.

While the others have been talking of tactics, the Padre and Aneira have been speaking between the two of them. Once the others have finished speaking, the Padre speaks to the others:

"Me an' the priestess've been workin' out which spells we think'll be the most 'elp in th' battle tomorrow. We'll be askin' our gods for one cure disease spell each. We wish we could ask for more, because we thin' th't t'disease beast be likely t' be full of it, but that's th' best we can do. The priestess'll be takin' a couple o' silencin' spells in the 'ope that she can silence th' priests afore they c'n do any damage to us wit' their spells. If they gets passed the silencin', then she's also plannin' on takin' a spell that can undo one o' their spells, if Zima is willin'."

"I be addin' to that a spell that c'n increase our courage afore we go into th' battle. Apart from that, we'll be loadin' up wit' 'ealin' spells in th' 'ope that we can get us all fightin' fit for th' mornin'."

Bennett listens to the Padre's information and then speaks:

"Are the two of you planning anything that could remove the effects of fear?" he asks. "That disease monster was one scary piece of shit. It was as much as I could do to stand my ground once I had clapped eyes on it."

Kokal shakes his head:

"I'm afraid that Rodegast does not see fit to grant His followers that power," the Padre replies.

"Zima neither," Aneira adds.

The Padre looks to Yaz, Will and to Faewen'il:

"I've told ye what me an' the priestess can be castin' in the morn. It's up to the rest o' ye to make up for the magick that we be lackin'."

The room then falls silent until Winnacer finally sums up:

"Well, I think that we have decided upon our plans for the morning. I suggest that we now arrange a good watch rota and then take some rest. We need to be well prepared for our battle tomorrow."

The others agree readily, as it has been a very long day. A watch rota is arranged, with one person watching the barricaded doors down to the Temple below and another situated in the doorway to the west wing of the building where the person on watch has a good view over the whole complex. Those not on watch head for the center room in the west wing, the one with the hole in the wall, and immediately fall into a deep sleep. Luckily, all was silent during the night and the watches were not necessary.