Unfinished Business

25 OKTOBER 3460

The clerics are up just after dawn as usual to pray to their deities. They then return and start the work on healing Winnacer, who was the only one to have been seriously injured during the fight with Boscobelous. Hrust comes to him and casts before laying a furry hand upon Winnacer's crippled arm. To his great relief, Winnacer starts to get some feeling back in his arm after a few minutes and, after an hour he is back to normal.

Yaz casts two healing spells upon him and Hrust another three, until the young lord is close to being back to full recovery. Upon being healed, Winnacer takes back 'The Educator' that he lent to Will and the 'Belt of Yaromir' that he lent to Xavier.

Before going off to the Tower once more, Robert prepares breakfast for them all. While they are eating, Will speaks to them:

"I spent most of yesterday afternoon and evening reading through Boscobelous' diary. Although I haven't read it all word for word, I have a pretty good idea of his story now. There were not too many surprises in there, as I think that we have pieced most of the story together as we went along, but here's what I have discovered."

"Boscobelous' father was court magician to Queen Hedvika who lived in the castle in Hradetz Kralovye and Boscobelous himself followed in his father's tradition as he served as an apprentice to him. He seems to have been a fairly normal, happy guy, quite a family man it appears, and had little interest in the arcane arts."

"Then came the Great Pox, which had a devastating effect upon the whole of Hradetz. As well as killing over 40% of the population of the city, it also took away all of his immediate family. Not surprisingly, Boscobelous was distraught as he watched his family dying, one by one, especially his wife and children. Boscobelous became more and more desperate as he saw his family afflicted and tried to do whatever he could in order to save them. Unfortunately for him, Boscobelous, nor his family, were religious in nature and they did not belong to any church. As you can imagine, the clerics from all of the temples had their work cut out during that time in order to try and keep the population free from the Pox and many of those that they saved became re-infected as it was the first time that the disease had come to Bohavia. There was no way in which the clerics were able to care for all of the sick and needy and so only those that actively worshipped the gods were treated, and not even the offer of enormous donations was able to get Boscobelous the healing powers that he needed to save his family."

"Boscobelous' family was wealthy and so he inherited a great deal of money after his father died. He was determined to use the money in order to try and bring his family back to life. He knew that necromancy was frowned upon by all good people, but thought that it was justified in order to bring his family back, so he left Hradetz and came to this place where he used much of his money to arrange for the Tower to be built. With the remainder of the money, he sought out books on necromancy and learned as much as he could about the subject. He spent many years experimenting, but all of the experiments only served to create undead creatures with no rational thought nor functioning bodies. So Boscobelous' family remained in their sarcophagi, waiting for the day that he would finally learn how to resurrect them in their old forms."

"By this time, Boscobelous had amassed such a large amount of knowledge on the subject of necromancy that he was one of the most knowledgeable people in the country and became a powerful Necromancer, although he did not use the knowledge for evil purposes. Although he conducted his work in secrecy, he needed to obtain corpses in order to continue with his work and it was this fact that led him to come into contact with the Temple of Smurt and one priest in particular, Vatzlav Baltzarek."

"Baltzarek was an ambitious priest of Smurt and saw great power in Boscobelous and tried to indoctrinate him into performing the work of the Death God. Boscobelous resisted the priest's advances, however, as he was not interested in power, simply the task of resurrecting his family. However, over time, as he tried more and more complex experiments which still took him no further towards achieving his goals, he started to get desperate. It was at this point that Baltzarek gave him a copy of 'Ultimate Power' and told him that the secrets that he was looking for were all contained in the book."

"Sadly, the book had the same effect upon him as it did upon the TruthSeeker, and Boscobelous rapidly descended into madness. He quickly forgot all about his task of trying to resurrect his family and became a puppet in the hands of the evil priest. It is difficult to understand what happened after that point, as the notes become more infrequent and difficult to understand, but there is information about the formation of a huge undead army of zombies and skeletons that took over most of this area, only failing to conquer Hradetz through the thick walls of the city. The first attempt of Yaromir upon his life was also documented here, but there is no mention of Yaromir's second attack on him, the one that was supposedly successful. In fact, the diary stops just a short while after Yaromir's first attempt upon him."

They all listen to Will's summary of the diary with interest and then Hrust casts a speech spell and asks that all of the items from the secret room be brought before him. Once they are lying on the ground before him, he casts another spell. As they expected, all of the items, the clothes, the spear, the shield, the three potions, the vial of sticky fluid, the scroll and the gem are all showing that they are magickal, along with the five spellbooks that Faewen'il took.

They then get themselves ready for what they all hope will be the last journey to the Tower as they are all anxious to finish with the place and start upon their next journeys.

They walk to the Tower. As they walk, Hrust casts another speaking spell and comes to Winnacer in order to speak with him:

"I was speaking with Xavier yesterday. Although I couldn't understand everything that he was saying, I got the impression that various members of the party are going off in two different directions with Jihan and Bennett going off somewhere that I couldn't quite understand, while you are planning on going to Pardubitze. If this is true, then I would like to come with you to Pardubitze in order that I may meet with Padre Lubosh Kochi again and introduce you to him. I think that it could be very interesting for the two of you to meet."

Yaz overhears the two of them talking and gives his decision as to his next destination:

"The only oath I'm bound to is the one I took years ago, at the beginning of my memory, and that is to protect Prirodna's gardens and the innocents who live there. The Fur Farm is my only destination from here -- my help is long overdue. Darius, in this, was right, I think. Although what we've done here is significant, too."

After one and a half hours of walking, they are back in front of the Tower. They start off, as always, by investigating the Tower thoroughly in order to ensure that nothing has changed since tey were last there, but all is as they left it. They also spend several hours checking the place for any secret doors or rooms that they may have missed in thier haste to clear the tower. They find a secret door that leads from the laboratory to Boscobelous' harem, but no secret rooms or any more useful items are discovered.

Hrust walks into the laboratory and starts to cast. As he does so, six of the small glass containers start to glow. Will takes the six potions from the shelves and has a look at the inscriptions:

"This one has the symbol for purifying water written upon it, and this other one here has a symbol for controlling plants. I have no idea what the symbols on the other four mean though."

They take the potions and then move upstairs to the library. Here Hrust casts once again before scanning the whole room. As he does so, one book starts to glow. Will walks up to it and takes it off the shelf:

"Creating Golems For Profit And Pleasure" he reads before giving a little shrug and putting the book in his sack.

Yaz performs the operation to look for magickal items in the secret room to see whether there is anything invisible in there, but the results of his search come up blank.

They walk down to the Temple level and stand before the giant silver skull. Winnacer goes up to it and gives it a push, summoning up all of the strength that the 'Belt of Yaromir' gives him. He manages to push it off the dais that it is on and it lands on the floor of the temple with an almighty 'DONG!'

Winnacer, together with the assistance of Bennett, Xavier and Will starts to push it across the floor of the temple and then down the short corridor to the stairs. The exercise to get it down the stairs proves to be a fairly arduous one, but after a couple of hours, they manage to get it down the two flights and then along the corridor until they manage to get it outside the building. The silver skull has been badly dented in the process of rolling it down the stairs, but it makes little difference as the skull form was hardly to their liking in any case.

Winnacer wipes the sweat from his brow as the exercise is complete:

"Well we've managed to get it out of the Temple, but we've still got quite a task ahead of us before we can get it to anywhere that can turn it into useful coinage for us. Has anyone got any suggestions as to how we transport it from here? Then there's the question of the books. As I said, there's a cartload of them at least. Without some reasonable transport then there's no way that we are going to be able to take more than a small number of them on our horses and mules. There's also the question of what to do about the bodies in the sarcophagi. There are ten of them in total and those sarcophagi are heavy, and the bodies inside are probably still pox-ridden. Do we really want to try and move them? If we do and we're planning to bury them, then where shall we do it? Should we just bury them here, or try to get them back to camp? It's going to be quite a difficult, not to mention unpleasant, exercise to get them all the way back there. Finally, what shall we do about the Tower now that it is clear? Shall we just forget about it, or try and destroy it, or should we try and make use of it in some way? Any suggestions that you have would be much appreciated."

Winnacer considers the problem of moving the giant silver skull and library full of books and then gives his suggestion:

"Perhaps they have a cart in Dobrouska. We most likely could leave the majority of the bulky stuff here, because I doubt anybody could move it all. If we can procure a cart, we could also move the bodies of Boscobelous' family. I think we should just bury them at the base of the Tower with a headstone 'May the Family Boscobelous Rest In Perpetual Peace.'"

"The only real risk with leaving stuff in the Tower is that Smurtian priest guy," Yaz adds to himself, thinking out loud.

"I think we should take care of him right away anyway. But if you're worried about thieves, I can lock up a door pretty good by reshaping the stone... Nothing short of Flint's Holy Blasting Powder will get through if we don't want them to."

"And the bodies..."

Again he speaks more to himself than to anyone:

"I mean, they could just stay in their boxes for eternity, but I'd rather return them to the earth so that... no one disturbs them later and spreads the pox to all of Bohavia. More, natural, and all that, too, of course..."

Yaz's eyes drop and dart around a little:

"Wouldn't be that big a deal... If I took that belt of yours, Winnacer... I could open each of the sarcs, move the bodies... If you guys'd help dig the holes, I could move them and fill them in... We'd have only one of us in contact with the pox... and I'd ask Prirodna to purify me from disease right after. We'd have to burn the sarcs, too, probly, just to be safe... a sweeparound the insides with a Flame Blade might do the trick just as well, but I think I'd rather fill 'em with dead wood and let it go. I could take care of that as I'm moving the bodies, just to be safe."

Yaz nods as if he's made a decision. "Yeah. Alright."

Will shakes his head as he hears Yaz's plan to disturb the sarcophagi:

"The diary doesn't suggest that they contain any more than just old bones and I don't want anything to do with the pox.

Bennett interjects at this point, quite vehemently, as is his wont:

"We must take the bodies out and bury them. I wanted to do it yesterday and I'm damned if I'm going to leave here without them having been properly buried. Yaz, if you're happy to take them out of the sarcophagi, then I shall start on the graves right now."

Bennett wanders off in order to find some dead wood in order to start digging out ten graves.

Winnacer carries on speaking to Yaz and Hrust:

"The two of you have talked about ways of figuring out the essence of different beings. Perhaps you could use such spells to figure out if any of these items are malevolent in nature."

Winnacer looks suspiciously at the magical stone.

"It makes me wonder why Boscobelous didn't keep such potent items on his person."

"No person to keep them on, maybe" suggests Yaz. "Maybe these things need a connection with a life force. Maybe he was keeping them for his skinny wife."

"As for figuring out the essence" Yaz adds, "Prirodna's divining powers only work on living things, not dead ones... 'fraid I can't help you there. Maybe Hrust...?"

The bugbear nods in agreement:

"Blesk has granted me with that power, but I have not asked him for it today. Tomorrow I shall check all of these items to ensure that no harm shall come from our keeping them."

Yaz considers the softly glowing emerald that was taken from the treasury:

"Hmmm. Pretty."

He sniffs it and makes a face.

"Yugh. Death."

He takes the blue blazer out of his sack and wraps the gem in it.

"Needs a cleaning. Then maybe we can figure out if it does anything cool."

"I suggest checking out the roof of the tower for any more of the giant bats" adds Will. "Assuming we have rid the place of them, and can gain access to the roof, then we could hoist the Bohavia standard from the top of the tower, while I blow a victory call upon my horn. I wonder whether Dobroushka is visible from the top of the Tower?"

"I agree with Will's idea" says Winnacer. "However, I suggest that we do not leave it up there too long. We should retrieve it after we meet with Dobrouska. It will be evidence that we climbed the tower, however."

"Hey good idea!" says Yaz with enthusiasm. "They must be able to see the top of the Tower from their position. We could draw the priests out from their town for a little chat... Help change their minds..."

Yaz grins and holds up his scimitar, then makes as if he's swatting ears with the blade of his blade.

"Trouble is, I'm not sure how you convert a town full of fanatics from their religion. I don't know anyone who could perform that task."

Will nods his head in agreement, and then adds:

"As regards the tower itself, I think it would make a great secondary base for the rebellion. If no one else wants it, then I am more than happy to plan on making it my little personal hideaway sometime in the future when I have time to clean it up."

"We do not have the time to clean and fix it up now" adds Winnacer, "unless somebody decides to stay behind and do just that, but I am amenable to that in the future."

"Maire' could get her fairy servant to clean up while we're gone, maybe" suggests Yaz. "You guys need a place to keep your shit... I think you should fix it up, make it your place."

Faewen'il shakes her head sadly:

"I'm sorry but ma servant will only work when I'm around it, and I don't be fancyin spendin a few weeks as housemaid to this place all on ma own."

Xavier's mind is active too on the future of the tower. He too finds himself unable to ignore his mind's desire to calculate the capabilities of this structure as a fortress for the rebellion. He goes over to Herr Willheim's side and speaks to him:

"Yar, your mind has similar thoughts I see. A fine fortress this would be. Without a doubt, Priests vill have to clues its foul odors and taint of evil, but beyond that do ve have a strong structure. A place to build an armory, a place to train men, a place to hold against all that the cursed Nyemetz may throw against us. But alas this day is not the time to broach the subject to his lordship. His heart is torn with guilt and sadness. But soon, I vill talk to him about it. He, a soldier and a knight, he shall see that vhich is before his face. But let us bury our dead first. Come let us finish our collection of that which is of worth. This place sickens me, and my heart aches to depart."

Will nods his head in agreement:

"We will speak to him of it later, when the time is right."

"As for our future plans" continues Will, "I am is still unwanted by the Nyemetz, so I could deliver reports to Konan, while all of the rest of the booty is carried to Holitze for safekeeping till whenever Konan can arrange to examine it. I would take the items there myself, but I'm not confident that I would be able to get all that stuff past the Nyemetz city gate. When I get there, I could ask Konan to send men with means to transport the books to retrieve them."

"Actually none of us are wanted by tha Nyemetz in Hradetz" adds Faewen'il. "It be only our disguised forms that be wanted by them. They've got no quarrels with us in our regular forms."

Winnacer looks towards Will:

"Bohavia is not a safe place for lone travelers any more. Not since the Nyemetz let the country go to wrack and ruin. There are many beasts that prowl the countryside, some of which we have already encountered, and footpads out for easy prey upon the roads. Darius came to grief once by traveling unaccompanied and I hope that a similar fate has not befallen him again. There is only strength in numbers, Will, and I think that it would be foolish to attempt to travel alone."

"In any case, Hradetz is not far out of the way for either the fur farm or the Holitze/Pardubitze parties. To get to the fur farm from here will mean crossing the Labe at either Dvur or Hradetz and to go via Hradetz is actually the quicker of the two routes. If you were to accompany Hrust and I to Holitze, then it would take us under a day out of route, which would not be such a burden for us. I suggest that you choose one of the groups to go with rather than risking your life unnecessarily."

"What of the rest of you? Have you decided which group you will be part of?"

Xavier strides forward to stand beside Winnacer.

"Fear not, my lord, but by your side shall stand me. Your mentor, Kesryk, shall be buried with a guard of honor."

The plans having been formulated, they start to go about your business.

Winnacer hands the 'Belt of Yaromir' to Yaz and then he, Xavier, Will and Hrust go to assist Bennett in digging graves for the ten members of Boscobelous' family, while Jihan and Faewen'il wander off in order to collect some dry wood in order to burn any remaining Pox from the sarcophagi.

Without any proper digging tools, it is a long and arduous task in order to dig out ten shallow graves for the corpses, but by mid-afternoon the task is complete and Yaz descends to the cellar in order to open the first of the sarcophagi and bring out the first of the bodies.

Were it not for the fact that Yaz was wearing the Belt, then the task of sliding the heavy granite cover of the sarcophagi would be too much for the feeble druid, but with the super-human strength given to him by the artifact, it is no trouble at all in order to slide open the lid.

Yaz gives a little prayer to Prirodna to save him from any ill effects from the dreaded Pox as he slides open the first of the sarcophagi and crosses his fingers that the stench of death coming from the body inside does not cause his flesh to start rotting from his bones immediately. Luckily, it is not to be. As he looks inside, he sees that the corpse has been incredibly well embalmed and swathed in bandages along with herbs in order to protect the corpse from the ravaging effects of the Pox. Although signs of the disease upon the body are possible to see, the state of the affliction is relatively mild.

Screwing his face up in disgust, he lifts the first body from the sarcophagus and carries it outside so that it may be placed inside the first of the graves. As he comes outside, he tells the others to stand well back so that, if infection is still carried by the corpses, it affects just him. He repeats the exercise on all ten of the bodies until they are all laying in the graves.

On his last journey from the Tower, he holds in his hand a collection of jewelry, comprising three sets of earrings, a necklace, a brooch, a locket, a choker, an armband and a bracelet:

"Bosco buried his family in their Sunday best. What are we going to do with them? Shall we put them to a good cause, or bury them along with the bodies?"

Jihan comes a little towards Yaz so that he can observe them a little better, but takes care not to come too close to the bodies:

"Only the choker, armband and bracelet are worth much" the elf says after investigating the items. "The whole lot together is worth just over 1700."

There is a fair amount of debate amongst the party, but eventually they decide to bury the jewelry along with its owners.

Once the decision regarding the jewelry has been made, Yaz covers the bodies over with the soil until they have all been interred. Once the bodies are safely put away, the others come to pay their final respects to the dead and Winnacer places the sign above their positions:

"How are you feeling, Yaz?" asks Winnacer, concerned as to whether the druid is feeling the effects of the plague.

"I feel fine" he replies. "Not even a cough or a headache or anything. I wouldn't go kissing me just in case, but I think that I might not have to take a cure in the morning after all" he grins.

Yaz returns to the cellar taking the dry wood with him. He deposits the wood within each of the sarcophagi and sets it alight in order to cleanse the stone coffins of any remains from the Pox.

"Well that's the bodies taken care of" Yaz says as he returns to the others who are waiting outside. "Now there's just the demon bats to finish off and the Tower is all ours."

They look up at the Tower and see the holes in the roof that is obviously the bats' entry and exit to the roof. Deciding that the idea of climbing up the outside of the Tower in order to combat them is rather less than appealing, they walk back into the Tower and walk up to the top level to have a look at the roof. They see that the roof is made of wooden beams. The beams have been laid next to each other and so there are no large gaps between the beams. They check each of the rooms to see whether there is any entrance to the roof from the top floor. They find what you are looking for in the bathroom. Here they find a trapdoor in the roof.

"I fear that it would be certain death to go up there and disturb the bats" says Winnacer, remembering how badly they were savaged during your first night in the shadow of the Tower.

"Well if we were to wait a couple of hours, then they would come to us" adds Will. "It's getting late. It will be dark by then."

"I'd rather that we met them on our terms rather than theirs" adds Winnacer.

"I've got an idea" interjects Yaz. "Let's smoke the bastards out. That's the only way that I can think of to get them all out of there. We can fight them on the ground from the outside."

Yaz's plan is agreed and so they all walk outside once again in order to grab armfuls of wood which they then bring up the stairs and pile up under the trapdoor. Hrust lifts Jihan onto his shoulders so that the elf can open the catch to the trapdoor. Jihan avoids the temptation to poke his head inside as he releases the catch and opens the trapdoor. As Hrust and Jihan retire, Yaz sets light to the wood underneath and then runs out as the wood starts to burn, closing the door of the bathroom behind him so that the smoke does not spoil any of the contents of the floor.

They rush down the stairs and wait outside, looking up at the large hole in the roof, waiting for the demon bats to emerge.

Jihan speaks to Faewen'il:

"I think that it is safer if you took off from here. As the bats strike from above, there is no way that we can protect you and last time that you were with us you fell as a result. Please, Faewen'il, leave the bats for us to take care of."

Faewen'il thinks about it for a moment and remembers how badly wounded she was from the bats during the last encounter. She starts to move away from the Tower.

The rest of them look up at the Tower. After a short while, they see swirls of smoke starting to appear through the hole in the Tower. Then, as they expected, the huge black forms of the bats start to emerge from the roof, screaming their echoing loon-like cries. There are 14 of them in total. And they are pissed.

As they fly from the roof of the Tower, they cry out and look around for something or someone to vent their anger on and see the party standing below them. They all start to dive down coming in to attack.

Hrust has his fireblade up and ready to defend himself as the black swarm of bats descends upon them. As they are almost upon the party, Will starts casting and tosses rose petals towards the bats. As he does so, two of the bats fall from the sky and impact on the ground.

The first of the bats drops out of the sky and starts attacking Hrust. The bugbear is bitten and clawed by the creature but the damage is minimal. He strikes back at the bat and smashes it with his flameblade, although the damage is not sufficient to kill the creature.

Jihan also has one of the creatures descending upon him, but manages to avoid all damage apart from a clawing. He manages to strike back with Todtaenzer, although the damage is not sufficient to fell the bat.

Winn has two of the creatures to face. He receives a clawing from one, but the other cannot find a way past his armor. His revenge is sweet, however, as he cleaves both bats in two with two mighty, Belt-enhanced blows from The Educator.

Bennett has more than his fair share in that he has three to face. The first claws and bites him, while he fends off the attacks of the second, but takes a bad bite from the third. He gives the first a mighty taste of 'Retaliation' and hacks the bat in two.

Yaz also has three to face. The first gives him a nip, while the second bites him more severely and also scratches him. The third also bites him and also stabs him with its tail, although the damage is mercifully slight in each case. He manages to hit one of them with his scimitar in retaliation, but the bat does not fall.

As Will grabs for his longsword and dagger after casting his spell, two bats descend upon him. Mercifully, however, the bard receives only a small cut from one of them.

Xavier has none of them facing him and so he rushes over to help Yaz fight off the three that he is facing, knowing how unlucky the druid is in these combats. With a powerful slice from Sorrow, he finishes the one that Yaz previously injured, but then manages to lose his grip on the blade as it flies off into the distance.

The bats strike back as Hrust is clawed by the one that he is facing, but he need not worry, as he strikes the bat in retaliation with his flameblade cutting the bat in two.

Jihan is badly bitten by his bat, but, like Hrust, manages to bring the creature down with an almighty blow from Makanuru. He tries to lash out with Todtaenzer at one of the bats that is menacing Will, but the blow does not connect.

Bennett is struggling with his two, however, as one of them bites him and the other stabs him, causing him quite a bit of damage. He gets a pretty devastating blow upon one of the bats in return, however, and 'Retribution' sends another of the bats tumbling to the ground.

Having passed on one bat to Xavier, Yaz has only one to face now. It manages to slash him and stab him, but once again, the damage is far from severe. He strikes at the bat in return, and manages to hit it, although the blow is only a glancing one.

Xavier is locked in combat with the other, drawing his magickal mace to replace the missing Sorrow. He is clawed by the creature, but manages to get a good blow upon it in return, although not enough to take down the beast.

Will takes a fair bit of damage from the one that he is facing as he is clawed and stabbed by it. He manages to dodge the attacks from the other, however. He tries to strike back at it with both his longsword and magickal dagger, but both blows fail to connect. Winnacer strides in to assist Will, having taken out both of those facing him and cleaves one of them in two.

Things are looking pretty bad for the bats, as only four of them remain compared to the seven in the party, but they know no fear as they continue in their fury.

One of them continues its fight with Bennett, inflicting a bad bite and a slash upon him. Bennett soon dispatches it, however, with a couple of mighty blows from his axe, which brings the bat crashing to the ground.

Xavier is facing another of them, which manages to stab him quite badly with its tail. Xavier hits it back with a good blow from his mace, but the blow is not sufficient to fell it.

Will is stabbed by the bat that he is still facing and fails to strike back at it. Yaz is in exactly the same situation. Hrust tries to help Yaz out, but he cannot land a blow upon the bat either.

Jihan goes to help out Will and gets a blow upon the bat with Makanuru, but it is not sufficient to fell the creature. It hardly matters, however, as Winnacer and the mighty 'Belt of Yaromir' easily manages to take down both the one facing Yaz and the other before Will, leaving just one facing Xavier.

The last remaining bat doesn't go down without a fight, as it bites and scratches Xavier. The Saxon bashes it once more with the magickal mace but it is not sufficient to finish it, as it clings on to life and so Jihan puts in the killing blow with a final well-aimed shot from Makanuru.

All of the bats are dead and none of the party are very seriously injured, although both Bennett and Yaz took quite a pounding. With both Yaz and Hrust having used all of their healing powers upon Winnacer in the morning, it is down to herbs and bandages in order to patch them up.

Will walks over to the two comatose bats and chops them up with his longsword. Xavier walks over to the ground and retrieves Sorrow, not saying a word as he does so.

"So, the Tower is ours" announces Winnacer proudly. "Let us raise the banner of a free Bohavia from atop it to show the citizens of Dobroushka that they have nothing to fear from the Tower any longer."

They walk back inside the Tower and go up to the top level. Masking their faces with wet cloths, they open the door to the bathroom and still choke a little as the smoke from within the room hits them. They all stamp upon the fire in an attempt to put it out.

"So who is any good at climbing?" asks Winnacer.

No one answers.

"Well I am pretty good with a rope" says Will finally, and I'm also good at tumbling, so I should be OK if I fall. I think that I'm best qualified for taking it up there."

Will gets the length of silk rope that he remembered was stored in the storage room on the fourth level and brings it back up to the bathroom. He then makes it into a harness and Winnacer ties the other end of it around his waist. Xavier gives the Banner of Bohavia to Will, and Winnacer easily gives Will a hand up so that he can rise up through the trapdoor.

As he gets up into the roof, Will starts retching:

"Euuurgghh! Bat guano, centuries of it. It's enough to make me heave."

Will manages to stop himself from vomiting and crawls through the bat shit to get to the hole in the side. All apart from Hrust and Winnacer descend the stairs of the Tower once again so that they can see Will scale the roof until he gets to the very top of it. Will then manages to fasten the flag to the top of the spire and they feel a real sense of achievement as they see it flying atop it. Holding on to the spire, he then takes his horn and gives it a mighty blast, although, as the wind is blowing in the opposite direction from Dobroushka, it is not sure as to whether it could be heard from the village. Will descends from the roof and then he, Hrust and Winnacer join the rest of them on the ground.

They all spend a while longer admiring your handiwork before Winnacer speaks:

'It's getting pretty late in the afternoon now. Do we really want to carry on to Dobroushka now, as it will be dusk by the time that we get there, which will mean that it will be well after dark before we return to camp. Also, are we in a fit state to confront the Death Priest of Dobroushka now? We are all quite wounded and low on spell capabilities, I would imagine. Shall we leave it until tomorrow, or shall we finish things off now so that we can leave this place in the morning?"

Winnacer looks at the injured state of the party and gives his verdict regarding the trip to Dobroushka:

"Some rest is certainly in order before journeying back out to Dobroushka, I think."

Will agrees with him:

"Yes, I vote for resting the night and going to Doborushka in the morning."

Although the others are keen to get to Dobroushka as quickly as possible, the memory of the easy defeat by Hrust and his men reminds them of the dangers of underestimating the power of godly magick and so they agree to leave it for the next day.