The Charming Laboratory

Hrust slaps some sense into the drowsy Yaz and tells him that he has work to do. Immediately, the druid gets up and casts healing spells upon Faewen'il and Will, bringing them both around, although they are both in a very bad shape.

Yaz then drops to his knees next to Kesryk who is laying in a pool of blood which had been spurting from his neck throughout the battle.

The druid looks up at Winnacer with tears in his eyes. All he can do is shake his head.

Will groggily sits up and begins babbling about not letting sleeping wolves lie. Seeing the comatose but still very much alive werewolf lying amongst the bodies, Jihan takes the hint and slaughters the creature before it has a chance to wake.

Faewen'il takes a shuddering breath as she come to; her eyes containing a hint of fear in them as she looks about at the massacre and then herself. A darkness seemed to loom over all of them as she thought about all that had transpired since they had come to this evil place. Werewolves... undead... and ghostly voices...

With a great deal of effort and Jihan's help, she sits up and stares some more at the carnage; completely at a loss for words other than whimpers of pain.

Both Yaz and Hrust are out of healing spells as a result of using so many of them upon Bennett earlier in the day. As a result, they are unable to give any magickal aid to the injured, and so have to make do with simply bandages and herbs in order to give some comfort to the sick.

Then Yaz inspects the werewolves carefully, trying to determine whether these were 'true' werewolves or just infected victims. Although he has not encountered any werewolves before, he has been told of their kind. Looking at the fact that the werewolves have very few humanoid features about them, he thinks that the werewolves are likely to be 'true'. The fact that no thinking creature that could pass for a human most of the time would ever consider thinking of making this godforsaken land his home adds to those thoughts.

Yaz regards his own wounds, many and varied and deep, all over his body, still dripping with the creatures' saliva, with concern:

"Shit those puppies ripped me up good," he says, knowing that he likely took more damage in the fight than any of the others.

"I'm a distraction, that's it... fodder... I keep 'em busy. I'm not sure I like that role a whole lot!"

"What I need is to learn to fight properly. Or get better armor. You guys think this Yaromir leather stuff could be cursed too, like that scimitar? I'm gettin' perforated!"

Jihan winces as he comes over to take a look at Yaz and his armor:

"We all got mauled pretty badly" the elf replies, looking at all their injuries "and even magickal leather is no match for chain and a shield when it comes to protection. I think that you've just been a little unlucky in being at the heart of a battle against some formidable adversaries."

Winnacer stands rigid, tears pouring from his wide-open eyes. It looks as if Kesryk's death is about to completely shatter the young Lord's resolve, when he suddenly turns away to the fire. Picking up a lighted brand, his tears reflecting in the torchlight, he slowly moves to each of the slain werewolves, touching his brand to the matted fur until the wretched corpses catch fire. He rigidly makes his way around to each of the corpses until they all are ablaze; his tears lightly falling in his wake.

With this task completed, Winnacer thrusts 'The Educator' deep into the earth and moves close to Kesryk's body. He stands unmoving in front of the torn flesh of his mentor for a long time, long enough for the spilled blood to begin to soak up into Winnacer's boots. His tears continue to pour unabated, yet his breathing is quiet. At long last, Winnacer crouches down, holding the body of Kesryk in his arms until his armor is slick with blood.

By some coincidence, the heavens choose this moment to open up as Yaz predicted. A cold driving rain erupts from the sky, making the caked blood form streaks on both Kesryk and Winnacer. The young Lord rips some fabric up and starts to wash the body in the rain, wiping off blood and gore that has coated the priest. Winnacer keeps at this all night, making trips to get more water and cloths, until the body is presentable close to morning.

Although the rest of them would like to help out, their wounds are such that they can think of nothing other than rest and take to their tents in order to get much needed sleep.

Xavier and Bennett are in a reasonable state of health, however and assist Winnacer in any way possible, as well as keeping watch to ensure that more of the abominations are not planning another attack.

Hrust goes to the top of the hill and kneels atop it. The others can hear him throughout the night, barking and howling maniacally through the sound of the storm. It is obvious that he has a lot to talk to Blesk about.

 

21 OKTOBER 3460

In the morning, Winnacer anoints the body with a flask of holy water and oils and rummages through his bag while the body dries. He finally removes his tabard, marked with both the symbol of Bohavia and Spravedelna, and places it upon the corpse. Lifting Kesryk, Winnacer finally carries him to the box that Robert had prepared previously, lowering him gingerly into the casket.

He then sets at the lid of the coffin with his knife, carving the symbol of Spravedelna into its surface. Winnacer sits at the side of the casket for a hour in silent prayer, still unable to hold back his quiet tears. At sunrise, Winnacer stands up and covers the casket with a blanket before turning and retrieving 'The Educator' from its muddy sheath. He turns to the rest of the group that have awoken for the morning to speak with them:

"We must finish what we have started. We cannot cheapen the memories of all we have lost with failure. Let us all focus on the task ahead."

After the memorial service is over, the two clerics make their morning devotions and start upon the familiar morning tasks of healing the injured. During the course of the morning, Will receives four spells, Faewen'il and Robert one each and Yaz and Jihan a pair each. After the spells have been cast, Faewen'il and Robert are back to full health, Jihan and Will not far off, and Yaz is on the road to recovery.

During the course of the day, Winnacer tends to his equipment, sharpening it to a razor's edge and shining it with military zeal. He gives Robert an intense look until he sits down at Winnacer's side and silently imitates Winnacer's cleaning rituals on his own equipment. Winnacer's original longsword, which has been stowed long ago, is dug out and handed to Robert.

"It is time for you to learn."

"That's very kind of you, Lord Winnacer" responds Robert, "but I'm having problems with this huge blade. While I was in the Diamonds, they taught me how to use a shorter blade and I wasn't too bad with it, but I can see that it's going to take me a while before I can handle this one with the same skill."

Later in the afternoon, Yaz approaches Jihan and asks him what his bow strings are made of. Jihan tells him that they are made from animal hair. The druid is looking for the innards of a strong animal like a horse or ox that he can weave into a rope, for use in one of his spells that might come in handy with Bosco. He finds what he is looking for on Bennett's bow, deducing that 'Smoking Goblins' string is made from horse gut.

Robert takes a break from cleaning and other squirely duties in order to cook up a large dinner for them from the provisions that Kesryk brought which they eat in their tents as it continues to pelt down with rain throughout the whole day. At least the temperature has risen a little from the cold of last night.

Still aching from their wounds, they do not stay up too late, but stay in their tents apart from the warriors, who keep watch throughout the night, paying close attention to every sound that can be heard from outside the camp now that they know that this place is not as uninhabited as they previously thought. Around midnight, it finally stops raining.

 

22 OKTOBER 3460

Once again the day starts with the clerics' rituals. Jihan goes off into the trees and performs his weekly rituals to Prirodna, spending much of the morning alone with his devotions.

The priests go round and heal up more of the wounds. Yaz gets another three spells, Hrust four, Xavier two and Bennett one. Although not all completely healed, after another night's rest, they should all be either fully healed or very close to it.

Now that all are healed, or fairly close to it, Winnacer takes Will and Robert aside during the morning and begins giving them lessons in the lance. Winnacer drills himself as hard as he drills his charges, making a real effort to hone his already adequate technique. He also tries some new tricks with the lance, making wide sweeps and clubbing attacks from the saddle that make it easier to desaddle his foe.

Will intently listens and observes during the instruction, soaking up the tutelage like a dry sponge in a rainstorm. He also seeks opportunity to practice at targets. Robert, however, does not take to the exercise as well as Will. Just sitting on a horse is challenge enough for the hapless squire and giving him a lance proves to be a little too much for him and he finds himself knocked to the ground on several occasions. Realizing that perhaps he should not expect too much of Robert too quickly, the former rogue is given one of the asses to ride while Will leads him around.

There is little else to be done during the afternoon apart from the wait for the wounds to heal and for the new day to bring fresh gifts from Blesk and Prirodna to their subjects.

They retire to their tents early again, knowing that tomorrow they will go to the Tower once more. They wrap your blankets around them tight as the night is another chilly one.

 

23 OKTOBER 3460

For a change, Winnacer is up before the clerics. He stops them from making their daily devotions before he has had a chance to speak to them, as he speaks to Faewen'il before she starts reading from her spellbooks. He gathers all of them together before he speaks:

"I feel that we are getting close to the end of our quest to finally rid the Tower of its inhabitants, as the fifth level is two thirds clear and then there is just the top one to go. However, we all know how deadly the fights were during our last journey there. I fear that it will be nothing compared to what we must fight in order to get to Boscobelous, and then there is the fight with Boscobelous himself to consider. We already know that he is a powerful necromancer, and so we should be prepared for the toughest battle of our lives with him. Yet, powerful though he undoubtedly must be, he is one and we are many. Through combining our skills, I am sure that we can take him. However, we must fight fire with fire and will need to use all of the magick at our disposal in order to redress the balance between us. Let us discuss our tactics so that we may best be prepared for whatever he may throw at us. We also know that there is at least one magickally locked portal in our way and would imagine that Boscobelous will have his living space equally well protected, so we must be prepared in order to combat these barriers."

"So what magickal assistance can we expect to receive from each of the spellcasters? And have the rest of you any suggestions as to what we can all do to finally bring the bastard down?"

"I am out of my element on this one, Winn" responds Jihan to the young lord's questions regarding magickal support for what could be the final assault upon the Tower. "I know a fair deal about creatures of undeath, but Boscobelous was a sorcerer as well. I would expect dark spells mimicking the attacks of the horrors we have witnessed so far, and most likely an aura of fear which has thrown us too many times in recent days. He will no doubt have objects of magic about him, so we should be prepared for anything. Also, he will most likely have the protection of his elite summoned creatures, knowing that we are many and wanting to even the odds somewhat. We must be prepared for tricks of the mind and the possibility of our lives' own forces being siphoned off by he and his dark creatures. My tricks will not work so well against such a foe, so I do not know of what worth I will be other than my blades..."

Shaking his head sadly at his lack of knowledge, he turns to Will asking:

"Was there anything in that journal mentioning Boscobelous and his ways at all? This could prove useful to us later on..."

Will shakes his head in response:

"There was no mention of Boscobelous or the Tower at all in Zeman's book. I fear that he was taken by madness before he ever met with the necromancer."

Winnacer voices his concern about possible traps and offensive magic spells, wondering what could be done to counter these problems. He also asks the clerics if they perhaps have any spells of protection against the undead or their attacks. Winnacer believes that they need to make their own luck, as there should be little left to stand in their way before meeting Boscobelous. Winnacer is really not sure what the clerics are capable of, and wishes to hear it from them.

The spellcasters discuss the various spells that they have at their disposal and those that they intend to use upon Boscobelous. After consultation with Yaz, Hrust talks about the spells that he will use for the trip:

"I feel that I must have the gift that removes paralysis. Without it, we would have surely been doomed the last time that we were in the Tower. Your idea of stopping the unholy from casting by silencing him is an excellent one, I shall ask for two of these gifts in case he avoids the effects of the first. I need one flameblade for my protection at least, but I shall ask for Blesk to Aid Winnacer as he looks to strike the unholy. You are right that we will need some protection from the fear that may blight us, and so I shall ask for three of these gifts. Protecting Winnacer from evil and casting a light between the creature's eyes will also be useful. It will mean that I will not be able to heal any that are injured, however."

"Your choice of spells seems very wise" he continues to Yaz. "However, we have no way of getting past any locked doors, and we already know that at least one blocks our way. Although it would be certainly very useful to summon a swarm of insects, we need to be able to get into the rooms. I could take the spell that would allow this, but it would mean giving up the spell to remove paralysis and I have a feeling that it could lead to our downfall."

Yaz agrees with the bugbear and then the two clerics wander off in their different directions in order to pray to their respective deities. Faewen'il goes into her tent in order to read her spellbook and stock up on spells of her own.

While the spellcasters prepare, so do the warriors, checking their armor and sharpening their blades. Winnacer straps on the 'Belt of Yaromir' and feels the strength surging through him. It takes him quite a while to get used to the vastly increased strength given to him by the belt and he has to be very careful to keep the strength under control.

Upon his return from his devotions, Yaz and Robert together start to make a big pot of goulash using some roots that he has dug up on his way back, plus some of the rations that Kesryk brought:

'Is this really the time to start cooking?' Winnacer asks, slightly bemused.

Yaz gives a grin as he stirs the brown mixture:

'This is not normal goulash. This is Prirodna's holy goulash. It will give us increased fortitude for when we have to enter the Tower. We can heat it up and eat it just before we enter the Tower.'

Yaz finishes his cooking and carries the pot with him. They say your goodbyes to Robert and start off on the trek to the Tower.

Once they arrive there, Yaz starts a fire and heats up the goulash which they all begin to eat.

After taking the first mouthful, Bennett spits it out with a look of disgust on his face:

'Eeuuurgghh! This tastes like shit! I'm not eating this' he exclaims.

'Just shut up and eat it' Yaz retorts, upset that his culinary skills are not appreciated by all. 'It'll make you a big strong boy.'

The rest eat up, although it is obvious from their expressions that too many cooks have definitely spoiled this broth. It does, however, seem to have given them increased fortitude.

Thus emboldened, they re-enter the Tower. Once again, they check out all of the lower levels but all is as they left it several days prior. They move up to the fifth level and stand outside the door that is opposite the one to the torture chamber.

Jihan goes to check it, looking at the lock and also listening to it with his listening cone:

'All the same as before' says Jihan. 'It is still magickally locked and I still can't hear anything in there.'

The routine for getting through the door is exactly the same as the way that they got through the one opposite. Yaz casts the spell while molding a piece of clay in his hands. He then sticks the clay to the side of the door, and then strips away a thin sliver of the door as if the stone beneath it had been turned to the same material. As the hinges of the door come away from the wall, Winnacer takes the same blackened spear that he used to open the other door and pushes the door forwards. With his increased strength, it takes only a tiny nudge in order to send the door flying backwards into the room with a loud 'BOOOM!'

All grab their weapons as the smoke starts to subside, getting ready in case anything charges out of the room towards them. However, all seems quiet and so they enter the room.

As the smoke subsides, the smell of burning wood is replaced by the stench of rotting flash, the stench of death. Nervously, they enter the room to see that it is a smallish room, some 20' square. Taking up the center of the room is a large stone slab covered in blood. Upon the table are various rotting body parts - an arm, a leg, a head and half of a torso, all of them badly decomposed and smelling terrible. They view the body parts carefully, anxious in case they start to join together before their very eyes, but the body parts are not animated.

They look around the room to see that the walls are covered with shelves. The shelves are full of large glass jars, the majority of which contain more body parts, conserved in some kind of liquid. It is truly a gruesome sight that they see before you, with large jars containing arms and legs, a couple of big vats containing torsos, various jars containing hearts, lungs, intestines and smaller jars containing eyes, ears and noses. On a separate set of shelves, they see a number of tools containing rusty saws, knives and scalpels as well as some large needles and thin silver thread.

On their left, there is a door. As they look on, the door opens suddenly and three horrific looking zombies rush out with quite alarming speed for their abominable kind. They are similar to the zombies that the party encountered in the last combat in the Tower, in that their skin is hard, gray and leathery and that they have a hateful light burning in their eyes. Unlike the others that they encountered, however, these three are male and are dressed in what were once white surgical aprons, covered with blood, although the garments have suffered the rot of the ages.

As they ready their weapons in order to meet the zombies' charge, the zombies stop and begin to gesticulate.

'They're casting' Yaz says in alarm.

As quick as a flash, Jihan has Link and Recht in his hands and hurls them towards two of the zombies, trying to interrupt their casting. Unfortunately for the unlucky elf, neither of them land anywhere near the zombies and they cast their hands towards the party.

One of them casts at Jihan, trying to control him, but Jihan's elven blood means that the spell has no effect upon him.

Yaz and Winnacer are the targets for the two others, however, and neither of them manages to resist the charm of the zombies and fall under their spell.

Yaz immediately turns on Xavier and amazingly actually manages to hit him, causing some bad damage upon the Saxon. The shock and force of Yaz's blow sends Xavier sprawling backwards into the shelves containing the glass jars of body parts, sending the jars falling off the shelves. In his true unlucky style, one of the large glass jars containing a brain lands on top of Yaz's head, knocking him onto the ground where he lays concussed.

Jihan's luck continues to effect him and it is he who becomes the subject of Winnacer's charmed wrath. Perhaps Prirodna herself steps in at this point to protect her unlucky subject, however, as the elf manages to dodge both of Winnacer's tremendous blows. This is incredibly lucky for the elf, as Winnacer could have very easily been able to hack him to pieces with the benefit of the amazing strength given to him by the 'Belt of Yaromir'.

Upon seeing Winnacer's being charmed, Will immediately starts to cast in order to stop the young lord from hacking you all to pieces. He tosses a handful of rose petals at the young lord and expects to see him fall sound asleep. However, to his horror, he sees the mighty warrior simply shake off his tiredness and bring up 'The Educator' in order to strike out at Jihan again.

At seeing Will's failure, Hrust starts to cast and gestures towards Winnacer's face. However, Hrust is similarly unsuccessful and the light that he was trying to blind Winnacer with is off target and starts to shine brightly behind the young lord rather than before him.

Now it is Faewen'il's attempt to try and control the crazed lord. She produces a few strands of cobweb and frantically begins to cast upon the spot where Winnacer is standing. Luckily, the spell is on target and Winnacer is engulfed in the sticky strands of a giant web that descends from the ceiling. Immediately, he begins hacking at the web with 'The Educator' and, with his greatly enhanced strength, starts to cut through them quickly:

'Take out tha zombies quick' Faewen'il says. 'The web nae be holdin Sar Winnacer for long.'

Jihan, Xavier and Bennett rush towards the zombies, desperate to finish them and thus the effect of the spell.

Jihan's miserable luck continues as both Makanuru and Todtaenzer fail to come anywhere close to impacting upon the zombies.

Bennett, however, is on incredibly good form. With just one mighty blow of 'Retribution', he hacks off one of the zombies' heads and it flies through the air, smashing into a row of glass jars. The rest of the zombie's body falls to the floor with a bang. Unfortunately, it was not the zombie that had charmed Winnacer and so the young lord continues to hack away at the webs furiously.

Bennett raises his axe at another of the zombies, but he is unable to repeat his great feat. Xavier manages to hit one of the other, however, cutting a deep wound into its side with Sorrow.

Caught in close combat, the two remaining zombies bring up their fists in order to try and beat off their opponents. However, the warriors are ready for them.

Jihan brings Makanuru down low and swipes the blade into the zombie's leg, impacting badly upon it. The zombie stumbles as it reels from the blow and falls to the floor, making Jihan miss another blow with Todtaenzer. Bennett is ready for him, however, and cuts into the zombie with 'Retribution' as the zombie struggles to its feet.

Xavier and Will are trying to bring down the other one. Xavier gets a good strike on the creature. Will misses with the longsword, but hacks into the abomination with his dagger, plunging it into its side. The creature tugs away in pain, and the dagger is pulled from Will's hand, imbedded in the zombie's leathery skin. The creature tries to strike back, but Will easily dodges its clumsy blow.

Winnacer continues to hack through the strands of the web, making very good progress. As she sees the crazed lord struggling, Faewen'il takes a scroll from her bandoleer, ready to use it in order to stop him if he breaks free.

The first zombie strikes back and gets its revenge upon the elf by kicking out at his legs, which sends Jihan to the ground. Bennett makes up for it, however, with a couple of evil blows from 'Retribution' that hack the undead creature to pieces.

The last zombie tries to lash out at Xavier with its fist, but Xavier manages to side step the blow. In retaliation, the Saxon lays into it with Sorrow and manages to dispatch the zombie with ease.

As the last zombie keels over, Winnacer stops thrashing about and looks confused, having no recollection of what has happened over the previous few minutes. Faewen'il fills him in on the fact that he was charmed by one of the zombies. Will retrieves his magickal dagger from the zombie's side. Hrust goes over to where Yaz is lying on the floor and shakes him back to consciousness. As with Winnacer, Yaz has no idea of what went on.

Winnacer carries on with the task of breaking out of the web, although without the intention of chopping Jihan into pieces when he gets out of it as he had before. It takes him just another couple of minutes before he has managed to hack his way out of it.

While he is doing so, the rest of them look around the room to see whether there is anything of interest there.

Faewen'il starts to check the area for anything that may be magickal. However, as she touches the rune on the Witchfinder rod, the light within the gem at the end of it just fizzles and dies. Faewen'il looks highly disappointed as she sees it:

'That be the last o them' she says shaking her head. 'If we needs to be checkin for anythin magickal, I needs to be castin spells maself now.'

'That's a shame' says Will. 'There are masses of bottles and jars filled with various liquids here. Some of them could be potions and we'll never know without knowing which are magickal and which are not.'

Jihan moves towards the door that the spell-casting zombies came through and cautiously pokes his head in. It is obviously no more than the zombies' living quarters, as it contains three beds plus a couple of chests and wardrobes. Jihan wanders in and carefully checks out the furniture, but there is nothing of interest in the room apart from more rotting clothes. The elf returns in order to report his findings.

'It looks as if we have now completed the fifth level' says Winnacer. 'Although this encounter could have been disastrous, our gods must have been looking over us, as our wounds are very mild. Shall we continue with our plan of taking out Boscobelous today and finishing this cursed place?'

All are in agreement.

They walk back down the corridor and nervously start to ascend the stairs that lead towards Boscobelous' lair. Jihan scouts ahead. Although the firetraps should have been deactivated, Jihan still avoids stepping on either the fourth or eighth step. Cautiously he reaches the top of the stairs and finds himself in front of a pair of massive doors. The doors are made of polished iron and are richly engraved with scenes of undead rising from their graves. The doors are ten feet wide in total and reach up the ceiling some 15' above them.

The rest of them come up the stairs in order to see the doors for themselves. As he is before it, Yaz starts to cast a spell in order to see if there are any traps on the floor. It comes as no surprise to him when the frame of the door starts glowing:

"Another fire trap" he says. "Only to be expected really, I guess. Mind you, I can't detect any other traps on this level, so I guess that we should be grateful that it's just the one."

Carefully, Jihan begins to investigate the door more closely. He spends quite a while looking at it, going through all of his regular security measures and then listens at it:

'I can't hear anything on the other side' the elf reports, 'but it's magickally locked.'

'Have we got any way of getting past it?' asks Winnacer.

Yaz shakes his head sadly.

'No, Prirodna only sees fit to bless me with one of those spells per day and I've already used it.'

'In that case, it looks as if we shall have to wait for tomorrow before finally meeting our nemesis' states Winnacer.

All are quiet for a moment.

'Well, while we're here, I may as well find out where abouts the bastard is' says Yaz, and he begins to cast. Holding his holy cannabis in his hand he begins to scan the area.

'He's over there' Yaz says pointing to their right.

'That figures' says Winnacer. 'That would put him in the room on top of the trapdoor. It looks as if he stays in the same area.

'Wait' says Yaz. 'There's some thing above us'

They all look up and suddenly see that a creature is revealed to them. It looks like a 2' tall humanoid with leathery bat-like wings, a barbed tail and sharp, twisted horns. Its skin is a dark red and its horns and jagged tail are a gleaming white.

As they see it, it points its stubby little hands towards them. As it does so, with the exception of Faewen'il, they are all overcome with fear and start to bolt down the stairs. Faewen'il, at seeing the rest of them running, decides that it is safer to join the rest and runs along after the rest. They all run down the stairs until they are out of the accursed Tower once more, at which time they start to calm down.

They make the hour and a half walk back to the camp. Upon arrival, Yaz casts healing spells upon Xavier and Jihan, bringing them back up to full health.

Jihan watches as Winnacer takes off the 'Belt of Yaromir' as the young lord constantly has to take care not to break things with his super-human strength while he is wearing the artifact. As the elf sees Winnacer taking it off, he speaks to him:

"Surely Spravedelna would want that artifact to aid us in the destruction of the tower so sought by Yaromir himself, but I feel that it, along with the rest of these items we have borrowed for the cause should be presented up to the high priestess in Pardubitze when again we pass by that way. Kesryk was a great man, who put his goddess above his own life, and we would not be dishonoring him by using his gifts to help eradicate this abomination, but we must consider that these were gifts of Spravedelna's to dispose of amongst those that supported her cause. The one who gave them in her name is no longer with us... but their ownership does not automatically fall on us because of this. They still belong to Spravedelna to bestow, just as the elven chain we recovered must be returned to my people, who will decide on its disposal. I think his Lady had little to do with the priest's unfortunate demise, and that these matters should be left to the high priestess to decide upon our presenting of them to her."

Winnacer looks either surprised or insulted by Jihan's words:

"Spravedelna shall dictate the fate of this and the rest of Yaromir's artifacts, just as Kitry will need to decide over the fate of her newly unearthed relics. Kesryk himself said that this Belt is the right of the Parish Priest of Holitze by law, and it will be again."

Jihan hangs his head a little at this, realizing that now is not really the time to worry about such things:

"I am sorry, brother. Even though the situations are very different, this whole debate over the elven armor has got me seeing foes where there are none, even among my friends. Spravedelna's will in this matter will dictate where these things shall end up, just as Prirodna's will was made known to me regarding the mail earlier on. I am sincerely sorry for ever thinking less of you on such a matter, my brother. This tower and these lands are slowly poisoning all of our minds, and I would have done with them."

Now pondering a bit, he continues:

"I think that, after the tower has fallen, we should bring Kesryk back to his people, and from there up to Pardubitze to be properly interred. We can head to Hradetz from the west side of the Labe, and then up to the fur farm from there. The day we promised to meet with Flint is already upon us, brother. I do not know how long he will wait, but the dwarf and Darius did not seem to get on so good. I fear to return and find a smoking pit where the fur farm was, with Flint standing beside it and telling us how Darius went inside to take a worg but accidentally missed the detonation signal..."

"The responsibility of bringing Kesryk back to his people and to the clergy of Parbubitie is mine" replies Winnacer, "for it is as a favor to me that he lost his life. I also owe a debt to Holitze to find a suitable replacement for their religious leader, a man who fits in with their rebellious spirit. I was to make the trip to Parbubitze alone if need be, but the idea of all of us making the trip to honor Kesryk rings pleasantly in my ears. But we must not forget about Darius, so I will understand if the party wishes to tend to his needs first. But nevertheless, I must make the trip to Parbubitze first."

"I have sworn a blood oath to return to the fur farm in one month's time" restates Jihan. "Once we are done here with the tower, then it is to there that I must go. Would that I could return to Holitze and make the pilgrimmage to Pardubitze, but I fear that there will not be enough time for both. We have to get Heimlin and Bekkah to see the high priestess also, and possibly find this Padre Lubosh of Radegast that Hrust mentioned. Holitze and Pardubitze both are out of the most direct route to the Fur Farm, which would be straight from here to Hradetz and over the Labe from there. Going through these southern places would add some five days to our journey, and this is time that I and my blood can ill afford. Kesryk was a strong part of the cause, and honoring him to his people is the least of what he deserves, but I am afraid that singing him on his way to Spravedelna's realm is all that I can offer on this day. I will not be held an Oathbreaker, on my heart and my blood. Tomorrow I must leave with all speed to aid my small brother and meet with Flint and Elthanor. I know you understand what it is to have responsibilities, Winn. It seems these days we each of us have all too many to worry about. The time we had to wait to cure the diseases of the tower's denizens has eaten up more time than I would have envisioned for the tower. If you do not meet up with the rest of us and we finish our work at the farm with any sort of haste, we will make our way down to Pardubitze to rendezvous with you there. I would meet this Padre and see how Spravedelna's aid has helped poor Bekkah, but I believe that after Boscobelous falls, either today or tomorrow, I must go."

"Who will join me?" he asks of the others at the end.

"I do not know what I must do next," answers Will. "Liberation of the people of Dobroushka from the priests of Smurt would seem to be the next step after cleansing the tower, however. We will discuss all of this upon the successful vanquish of Boscebelous. Until that task is accomplished, any plans that we lay are tentative at best."

Winnacer nods his head at Will's words:

"Will is right. I think that discussing any future actions until we have destroyed Boscobelous is premature. Perhaps we are forgetting what a mighty adversary the necromancer is. It is possible that we may not all survive the encounter. Once we have destroyed him, then we should discuss our next actions in detail."

With that, everyone goes about their regular business. Xavier and Hrust spend part of the afternoon talking to each other, trying to learn more of each other's languages. Yaz carries on talking with Heathcliff and Gertrude, now understanding a fair bit of their language. Winnacer carries on in his attempts to teach Robert a little more of squirely duties, although he is still struggling to heft the large bladed longsword.

During the evening, Bennett comes over to Xavier and presents him with Zsolt's bastard sword, 'Pride of Gyor':

"I have seen the damage that you have done with Sorrow and my blade seems to work better for you than it did for me. However, I would like to offer you the use of Zsolt's sword for the final confrontation with Boscobelous because, as fine a blade as Sorrow is, it is not enchanted and I fear that we will need magickal aid in order to land a blow on the abomination."

"I can only lend you Zsolt's blade, I regret, as Zsolt bequeathed it to me alone and so I would not disrespect his wishes by giving it away. However, I am sure that Zsolt would approve of his sword being used to bring down the abomination that was responsible for his death.'

Dusk falls once more and all take to their tents in order to get a good night's sleep, knowing that the following day will be the toughest of their lives as they finally come face-to-face with their nemesis, Boscobelous.