The Dragonrider

As the still bound Yurek advances towards the farm, the guards spot him through the still falling snow almost immediately and cries go out and so, by the time that he is before the farm, all of the guards' eyes are upon him. When he sees that he has their attention, he starts to speak to them.

Although he speaks to them in his native Polak, the language has enough similarities to Bohavian that the party can understand the gist of what he is telling them, if not every word. He tells them that a deadly conflict occurred at the games, one in which Eladria was killed and that many of the guards were also slain. He goes on to tell his troops that, as a result of their being totally outnumbered, they had no choice but to surrender. He tells them that the victors appear to be reasonable in victory and they have promised that there will be no more bloodshed providing the remaining troops surrender and hand control of the farm to them. He finally appeals to them to throw down their weapons and to open the doors to the farm.

For a while, nothing happens after Yurek finishes his speech. Then the guards start to look at each other and speak between themselves. After a short while, one of the guards tosses his battleaxe over the wall with a look of sadness on his face. As they see him do so, others follow, until they have all disarmed themselves. A creaking sound is then heard as the double doors to the farm are opened up.

After a short pause, Winnacer leads the rest of the party, plus the Dragons and the captives from the woods and they cautiously advance upon where Yaz and Yurek are standing before the open doors of the farm. The party keeps their weapons close to hand and keeps their gaze firmly fixed upon the guards in the towers as they advance. In return, the guards watch them like hawks, obviously very unsure about the whole situation.

The party meets up with Yaz and Yurek again and then steadily make their way through the gates to the farm until they are in the compound. Not surprisingly, it appears that all of the occupants of the farm have come out in order to see what is happening. Apart from the guards and hunters in the towers, there are around twenty members of the household staff, just under half of them being halflings, with the remainder of their numbers comprising gnomes, goblins and humans. They seem to be in fairly reasonable health, but are a little scared as they see the party approaching. Looking around the farm, they see that the map that Elthanor drew was inaccurate in that it failed to show the fact that there was a second wall within the compound, behind which is an area screened off from the rest containing the modestly appointed house of Yurek and Eladria, a temple to Prirodna and a laboratory.

The attention of Yaz and Jihan immediately goes to the animal pens that ring both areas. In the outer area, the pens contain a huge variety of animals ranging from the common, such as wolves, minks, ermines and otters, through to a number of creatures not native to Bohavia, such as lions, tigers and rhinos. The animal pens within the inner sanctum are mostly empty, although there are five more examples of Eladria's experiments remaining there.

As he surveys the scene, Winnacer speaks to the rest of the party out of earshot of Yurek and the other occupants of the farm:

"Well, Yaz was right. It wasn't so difficult to obtain the surrender of all of the guards and to gain entry after all. I guess that all we need to resolve now is the fate of the farm and all of its occupants."

Jihan enters the Fur Farm cautiously, looking for all the world like a tightly wound spring ready to explode into motion at any instant. As the guards and workers seem to listen to Yurek's words though, he seems to relax and then turns his eyes towards the matter that had been burning in the back of his mind for the past month and a half: the animals. He slowly makes his way over to the pens, murmuring comforting elven words to the local ones and looking with consternation at the imports. The others notice that the very presence of the elf seems to calm several of the more excited ones, as the proximity of another linked with the earth comes among them. He is even so bold as to lay a gentle hand on some of the calmer ones whose nature does not mandate the removal of such foreign appendages, and slowly he turns a full circle to regard the scope of the captive creatures. With some puzzlement and indecision, his gaze finally falls on the temple of Prirodna that Eladria had constructed. Its presence certainly makes him look a little unsure about his motives for the past few days.

"Care to take a look inside?," he asks Yaz, already laboriously making his way over to it. Once the druid joins him, the elf speaks a little uncertainly.

"Well brother, what are we to make of this fine mess? I'm not worried so much about these non-native animals getting loose as I am about them not being able to survive a winter here, and it looks like we're going to be in for a rather harsh one this year. Releasing them here would be tantamount to just murdering them straight out, as they're just not equipped for this climate. The only thing I can think of doing would be to have them housed somewhere until we can arrange for them to be sent back home, but how are we going to be able to do that? I don't know if you have enough charms to keep them all docile for such a period, nor do we have a location that springs to mind to accomplish such a thing..."

His eyes a little unsure, the elf leans over towards the Druid and whispers.

"And here's another thing that's got me in a bit of a quandry as well... You know that what Eladria was doing was twisted, and I know that what Eladria was doing was twisted... How could you bring animals from dry grasslands up to temperate sub-arctic climes and expect to be called rational? But be that as it may, why did Prirodna continue to gift her with blessings? From all I have read and seen, if a priest or priestess is out of favor with his or her god or goddess, then they don't get any 'magick,' as it is at the god or goddess's discretion as to whether or not to grant any. Now you know that you and I do not agree on many things straight out, but I'd like to hear your take on this whole situation. Is the balance really so skewed that our Lady would start granting powers to people like that in an effort to somehow even it? I don't know what to think..."

Once this has been discussed some, he turns his attention back towards the rest of the group, mentioning his thoughts on the first of the issues discussed with the druid but saying nothing of the second.

When all of them are back together again, Winnacer suggests a vote as to what the final fate of this whole deal is, believing that it may take way too long, otherwise.

"My personal vote is to let Yurek live, but I think that we should try to make him take a binding oath not to pursue vengeance for what happened to his wife. I would also recommend that the heart-broken man takes a pilgrimage to the God of Love in the hope that they can set him straight. However, if Yurek's death is the majority vote, then I don't know quite what to do, for Yurek's wishes of a death in combat cannot be met. I'll listen for ideas about his execution. In either case, we should bury Eladria, and Yurek if need be."

"I agree with you," say Will. "I think that he should live and be set free with his personal belongings on oath of ending hostilities."

Jihan still has nothing to add on to what should be done about Yurek, as he has been regarding the man contemplatively ever since he revealed his desire for death and its source.

"As for the Farm," Winnacer continues, "unless Yurek or the Diamonds are willing to take possession of it in proxy, it most likely should be demolished."

Winnacer shakes his head as he continues:

"I know that this is a tremendous waste and was hoping that somebody could be found to inhabit it, whether it be the Warriors of Radegast or the 'reds' Bennett once spoke about. I'll let the idea about the mages drop, but I can't shake the idea from my head, as in my mind, the Tower and the Farm could have been both used to give the mages some elbow room away from each other while being located close enough for distance to matter little."

"I'm for demolishing it too," adds Will.

Jihan looks a little puzzled at Winnacer's insistence that they have fallen to the habit of waste and iterates his opinion on the matter.

"I don't know where you think we're wasting here, brother. The tower is still ours, and it is still secret. It is just that these mages will not be such an easy matter as just telling them: here's somewhere to stay, now you owe us. They aren't looking for our help. We've got to make them WANT it and make them offer themselves to our cause, otherwise they may just ignore us, as they've done the rest of the country for a generation. I am sure that once we have laid down a solid foundation of trust and accomplishments for them that they will come to see the light of the situation, but that still does not take into consideration the fact that they are interspersed all over the country and we have no real way of contacting them all simultaneously. This we'll have to ask of Konan when we return to Hradetz shortly to regroup and make our plans. But that is for then."

"For now, I will give you my assurances that this farm was not a waste. Imagine the damage we've already caused the Northern Nyemetz by eliminating their ready supply of worgs and the steady tax income the farm must have provided. And also the distinct shortage of collaborating nobles that they are now left with. There's no way we could have moved those twisted animals back here to lay a trap, as we had no way of calming them then or now, nor was there any real way for us to set up an ambush at the arena, as it would have been contingent on the animals cooperating and would have put us at the mercy of a rather large troop of Nyemetz, as at least one of us would have to have stayed behind to make sure things didn't go awry. It sure would have been nice to have those 14 beasts mow down a few platoons of Nyemetz, but then they would have become more of a trouble for the countryside than they were worth to the cause. Imagine all the innocents that would fall to their jaws... You saw how easily just one of them obliterated three hunters in just the blink of an eye... and those men were battlehardened and trained... An entire village would fall like scythed wheat before just a single one of such creatures, and it would happen more than we'd like before we got the time to hunt it down. No, my brother, they were bred to kill, and not just our enemies. One arrow would have been all it would take to incense one to madness, smash its cage and get it marauding on the countryside. Again Eladria must have implanted some sort of notion of self-preservation, else how would the balance have been redressed should the creatures just throw themselves onto all approaching enemies? There certainly wasn't an unlimited or self replicating supply of them."

"And the Farm complex itself... it's location is the farthest thing from secret, and it is known that the owners were captured or killed. There is no way we could pull off a deception to any but the dimmest and most non-intuitive Nyemetz. Plus it is wood, which is not all that good when siege engines become involved, even if it IS fortified. There's no way the mages would stay here, and there's no way we could run the operation without notice. And lets face it, log structures, for all that they may be tough to find, are not really all that hard to build, nor would it take a long time to do so. If we really want to, we could build one ourselves in a pinch anywhere we wanted to, though we'd have to butcher trees to do so. This might be a convenient place for the Dvur Nyemetz to bash themselves against for a while, but it could be so easily overrun. We don't have half enough people to man it for such purposes, nor do we have the time to find them. We're talking a day here, maybe hours. All our cleverness can't overcome the simple press of an imbalance of numbers in their favor. This is lost to our cause, brother, so why not make it lost to theirs as well?"

"As for the animals," Winnacer continues, "they could cause a problem, as they cannot just be set free. I have little experience with these creatures and so I shall let those more qualified than myself make the decision. However, I think that the mutated creatures here should meet the same fate as the others."

"I agree that the mutant beasts should be destroyed with farm," says Will. "These were bred for one purpose, fighting. They are not natural and cannot be expected to carry on harmlessly if set loose."

"As for the natural animals, however, I think that they should be set free. There are much stronger and worse monsters than rhinos and lions around the countryside already, so they won't be causing too much danger, hopefully. Didn't the rest of you run across some giant ant lions once, for example? They are natural animals who will carry on their lives in the country if let be."

"Obviously I'm in favor of letting all of the natural animals go free," adds Yaz. "However, if we just let the gates open and let them run out then there would be a disaster, as they would more than likely just run around eating each other. All of those horses outside would be little more than an 'all-you-can-eat buffet' for the lions, tigers and worgs, etc. We need to set the animals free, but it needs to be done properly and that is going to take time. At least this is the case with the predators, we can let the other ones go any time."

"The halflings and gnomes need relocation," Winnacer continues, "to either Dobroushka, to the Twin Villages, or somewhere else. If Yurek is still alive, the responsibility can be left with him. The guards should be set free as spoken about before."

Once again, Will is in agreement:

"Yes, I believe that they should be set free and then given a choice of relocation, whether it be working for the Dragons, going to the twin villages or elsewhere."

Once the workers have quickly gathered up their things and have started to go to where ever they decide on, Jihan suggests searching the buildings for anything that might be of value to the cause before blasting them to flinders.

"So, has anyone else got anything to say on the matter?" asks Winnacer, "as it seems that Will, Jihan and myself are pretty much in agreement as to what should be done next."

There is no response from anyone else.

"Very well," the young Lord responds. "We should set about our tasks so as to be away from here as soon as possible."

"Flint, would you mind to start setting your charges?"

The dwarf is positively beaming with delight at the request:

"You try and stop me," he responds. "Mind you, I'm getting pretty low on Holy Powder now and so I'm not going to be able to blow the whole thing up in one go. After all, it's massive. I'll use a mixture of blasting and burning. That's the only way to get the bastard down. It'll take a bit longer, but it will do the job."

Winnacer nods to him and the dwarf, his injuries seemingly forgotten, rushes off, taking sacks from his bandoleer as he goes.

"Yaz, perhaps you can start the task of freeing the harmless animals now," Winnacer suggests. We still need to make a decision regarding the dangerous animals. How many are we talking about?"

Yaz looks around at the menagerie in the cages surrounding them:

"I guess there would be around twenty creatures in total that I wouldn't feel comfortable about just letting go here."

Winnacer sighs a little, obviously racking his brains to think of a solution.

"Let's come back to that one," he says after coming up with no simple solution.

Yaz then wanders off and starts opening the doors to the cages and shooing out the possums, skunks, ermines, minks, rabbits and sundry other small creatures.

Winnacer then wanders over to Yurek in order to speak to the Polak:

"Yurek, if you truly desire death, then I would not deprive you of your wish, yet it seems to be such a terrible waste to me, as you are not our enemy. However, as I am sure that you can appreciate, we cannot let you go only to have you seeking vengeance upon us for the rest of your life. Would you make a pledge to us that you would not seek vengeance? You have demonstrated that you are an honorable opponent and I feel that I can trust you to stand by your word. So what are your thoughts?"

Yurek is silent for a moment and then speaks:

"I have been considering this sad situation and have come to the conclusion, as you have done, that my death would not solve anything. You have bested me in combat and thus I owe you my allegiance. If you do not wish my death, then I shall abide by your wishes. I am prepared to give you my word that I will not seek vengeance upon you."

Winnacer nods, pleased to hear that Yurek's death will not be a necessity:

"So what will you do if we release you?" he asks.

"This question I have also pondered," Yurek replies. "Bohavia is not my homeland and, as I grow older, I feel a yearning to return to Polonia. Here there are only bad memories and so I think that I will be unable to forget Eladria while your country is still my home. If it pleases you, then I would plan to return to Polonia."

Winnacer is obviously delighted to hear Yurek's intentions, seeing that it would solve any potential problems in the future.

"We obviously need to do something about your staff and the guards," continues the LawBringer, "as they will need to find alternate employment. Have you any ideas as to what we could do about them?"

"I was thinking that they could perhaps accompany me upon my journey to Polonia," Yurek replies. "Gnomes and halflings are not persecuted there as they are here and so they would be able to live in freedom. As for myself and the warriors, there is much work to be done in fighting off the Russ, and so we would easily be able to find alternate employment."

"That sounds like an excellent solution," replies Winnacer.

"However," interrupts Yurek, "I would need your assistance if this were to be the case, as we would need to cross the Labe, which is only possible at either Dvur or Hradetz, both of which are under the control of the Nyemetz. Obviously they would immediately seize the gnomes and halfings among our numbers. I wonder if there is any way in which you could assist us in getting them through either the town or the city?"

Before Winnacer has a chance to respond, Jihan returns, still hobbling along on his crutch. Following him are Tomas, Viktor and a couple of the Dragons, carrying a couple of medium sized chests between them.

"We found their petty cash box," the elf says. "Tomas believes that it contains just over 2,000 g.p. worth of coins and small gems."

"Apart from that, there isn't a great deal of value around the place. It seems as if Eladria and Yurek have been totally honest in saying that all the proceeds from their activities were reinvested into Eladria's projects, as their quarters cannot be described as lavish."

Further conversation is halted by a shout from Boris:

"What the bleedin' 'ell's that?" he shouts pointing to the sky in a northwesterly direction.

They all look in the direction that the master rogue is pointing towards and see a black dot in the sky.

"Jihan, you've got good eyes," Boris continues. "What do you make of it? It looks too big to be a bird."

Jihan squints towards the dot that seems to be getting larger all the time:

"It looks like a … no, it can't be … yes it is. Prirodna help me. It's a dragon!"

No one says a word as they look at the form approaching, too stunned to say anything.

"You can't be serious," says Will. "Dragons haven't been seen in the skies of Bohavia for almost a millenium. They were all chased out to the mountains and other desolated areas a long time ago."

They carry on looking as the form gets larger and larger and it becomes obvious to the rest of them that it really is the case and there really is a dragon approaching.

"There's someone riding the dragon," says Jihan, not taking his eyes off the approaching creature. "Someone dressed totally in black."

"Holy shit!" exclaims Viktor. "In that case, it's either the OverLord himself, or one of his aides. They're rumored to journey around on black dragons. I can't believe it would be the OverLord though, as he would never travel around on his own, so it must be one of his aides, not that this makes anything any better."

"How could they know about the games?" Winnacer says, struggling for a logical explanation. "People only started leaving a few hours ago. There's no way that they could have got such assistance in so short a time, unless they had some major magickal assistance."

They are almost paralyzed in fear as the dragon continues its approach, taken totally by surprise. It looks as if it is heading directly for them in the farm. However, to their relief, it descends rapidly and starts heading for the ground to land at the site of the arena, just a mile from their current position.

They all look at each other, wondering what to do next.

Winnacer cannot help but speak the obvious:

"We cannot stay here much longer - I doubt even the combined might of all here could dispatch a dragon and I have no desire to court such a disaster."

"I would think that we should mount up everybody on the horses we have procured and get out of here as quickly as possible. We may be best served by splitting up into smaller groups and moving through the denser parts of the forest, perhaps hiding out until the dragon is gone from the area. I doubt we will be able to make Hradetz by horse before the Dragon again takes the air. Not good."

Winnacer pauses in thought:

"We could do something a bit riskier, which would be leave Yurek and his men behind to talk to the dragonrider when he inevitably comes to the farm. Using a story of a retreat from the Games under duress, he can claim he has gathered up the last of his men and is making ready to repel the pending rebel attack. This would keep the forty or so men with Yurek from having to run from the dragon - making it more difficult for them to spot the rest of us from the air. It would also allow the halflings and gnomes to hide, as their lives most likely will be forfeit if they are seen."

"Riskier?" says Yaz, "I'm all for riskier. Seems to me running is fruitless at this point anyway... running from a dragon? Outdoors? It can't be done. Let's stick around, have Yurek tell the story you suggest... then maybe we can spend the night at the Farm and head out in the morning... as long as you don't think there'll be too many Nyemetz on our tail by that time..."

"That'd also give me time to get some useful spells going... and help us deal with the more aggressive animals better.

"Failing that, though... maybe we could ask Yurek to talk to the dragonrider, while we all sneak out the back door. I've got a Shape Wood left... if there is no back door, we can make one. If Yurek can delay him long enough, we may be able to get far enough away for him not to find us..."

"In any case," continues Winnacer, "we should get a move on. If the bulk of us are leaving, we should at least set a long fuse to the explosives - we do not need to tell the dragon exactly where we are at. And maybe the bastard will swoop down into the Farm right when it goes off. Doubtful, but we all can dream. I'm not quite sure what to do about the animals if we all decide to bolt right now - any suggestions Yaz? You guys have any better ideas?"

"Well don't expect me to finish the job off too quickly," says Flint as he passes them. "This is a big job, I tell you. It's going to take me at least half an hour before I finish it. And don't expect this whole place to go up altogether like the VIP rooms did neither. As I said before, this place is massive, and so I haven't got enough powder to take it all out together, so it'll have to burn down slowly rather than going up altogether."

Winnacer is packing up his gear tightly and preparing Nathan for a speedy trip. He even gives Milan a hoist into the saddle in his impatience and worry.

"I hate to sound like a coward, but we are in no condition for a fight with a strong opponent," adds Will. "Let's take advantage of the few moments we have and leave, quickly."

"If the rest of you are dead set on trying to fight the thing, then a trap is the best idea. We should all hide in the woods around the farm, let Flint blow it when the thing goes inside, then open up on it with all we got."

"But my vote is to run."

"We're with you all the way on that one, Will," agrees Tomas. "We've already taken a body blow from the events of today and that creature has the potential to finish the rest of us off. I'm not going to take any more risks. We're heading for the woods. There's no guarantee that it won't be able to see us in there, but it will have a much more difficult time of it than if we stand here."

"Viktor, get Boris and the rest of the boys out of here quick," he shouts. "Leave the horses as they're too easy to spot. Take as much of the coin as you can."

As Viktor starts to usher the Dragons out, Flint carries on telling you more bad news:

"I've told you before and I'll tell you again. I can't use fuses in this poxy sleet, as they'll just get damp straight after I lay them. The only way that I can it started is with a few blasts of Towcester, and I don't know how much juice the baby's got left in her, as I've given her quite a bending already today."

"I'm not going to rush up to a dragon to set the blast off on my own. Bollocks, I'm f*cked up enough as it is. I'm with the Dragons."

With that the dwarf heads out of the farm as fast as his small frame will carry him.

As members of the party start to head off along with Flint and the Dragons, Yurek turns to Winnacer and speaks:

"You all go. Head northwest and then carry on north for as long as you feel is necessary. Past Dvur if necessary. It's all forested hills for miles and miles, which is the best type of terrain there is for staying hidden from the air. My men and I will stay here. If the dragonrider comes here, then I will send him off in the opposite direction. If he sees through my deception and we have to fight it, then so be it. At least I will die the death of a hero. But go quickly. If the dragonrider sees you fleeing into the woods, then all is lost."

They all realize that Yurek's plan could shake the dragonrider off their tail and so head out of the farm along with their horses. However, as they reach the fringes of the woods, Yaz stops:

"Let's just stay here for a while and see what he does next. If he heads towards the farm then we can run or stay, but there's no point in charging off too soon before we know what their plan is."

The rest of them agree with Yaz's plan and wait under the largest trees that they can find and wait to see what the dragonrider does next.

Just a few minutes later, they stare on as they see the dragon take to the air, anxious to see where it is heading for next. With some relief, they see that it is not heading southeast towards them, but starts to head westwards. It is traveling just above the top of the trees and is moving a lot slower than it was during its flight towards the arena.

"Looks like it's following the trail," says Jihan, plotting the dragon's movements.

As they carry on watching, they see the dragon change direction, now heading in a northerly direction.

"Now it looks like its following the road that leads to Dvur, the direction that it came from," says Jihan.

They carry on watching the dragonrider's journey as it carries on heading northwards. After a couple of more minutes, they lose sight of the dragon as it goes out of their line of sight as it goes over the crest of a hill.

"So now what shall we do?" asks Jihan, turning to face the rest of them.

"Whew! That was a brush," exclaims Will

He then returns to the farm in order to find Yurek. Dismounting, he walks slowly over to the man, wincing in pain with each step.

"Yurek, I know it can't mean much at present from me, but you have my most sincere apologies and condolences for your losses. You are a man of courage and honor. If there is anything I can do to lessen your pain or help you, do not hesitate to ask it."

Yurek nods in appreciation:

"There is little that can be done in order to lessen the loss of that which I hold most precious. However, thank you for your offer. You and your colleagues have also acted with great honor today. A group of lesser men would not have hesitated to kill me and my men without thinking, as I know that prisoners always cause problems. All that I would ask is that you allow me a few minutes with my men in order to bury Eladria and then to be alone with her for a while."

Will agrees and then bows slightly to the warrior and limps back to his steed, mounts and rides back to the forest with the remainder of the party.

When Will returns, Yaz asks him: "So, what did the Dragonrider say to him?"

"But you saw with your own eyes didn't you?" responds Will. "The dragonrider did not come this way but headed in the opposite direction, following the road to Dvur. Here lies the problem. We don't know whether the dragonrider will return here in a few minutes, or not return at all."

Yaz doesn't want to volunteer to return to the farm because he's afraid that, if he sees Yurek again, he'll want to kill him, and he knows he wouldn't survive such a fight, not without spells. But he decides that he will go if no one else does.

"And are we gonna blow up the place or not?" the druid continues. "Or should we leave that to Yurek when he decides to split? Can you leave a few fuses with him, Flint? Maybe the snow will eventually stop for long enough that he can set the stuff without getting it wet."

"Using Holy Powder's not a job for amateurs," Flint replies. "He would more than likely blow himself up instead of the place. He should be able to burn it down on his own though. Any cretin can burn shit. It just takes them a bit longer and it doesn't look as good when they do it, as one bit tends to burn down before the other. The real art is to get it all burning at the same rate. There's nothing that looks as impressive as a well-burning building like this."

Flint pauses for a moment:

"I'll tell you what. Why don't I stay here and do the job myself along with Yurek and his boys? If I blow this lot up, then that will be the last of my powder gone, and Towcester will need recharging as well, so I would have to take my leave of you in any case. Once I've seen to the building, then I can go with Yurek, the guards and the retainers through Dvur and cross the Labe there, as I need to got north. It would be nice to see you all again after I'm back in a month or so, as you're always a lot of fun to hang around with. Where could we meet up afterwards?"

Before any of them have a chance to respond, Boris speaks:

"Yer can meet 'em back at my place. Yer knows where it is an' I'm sure that the rest o' 'e will be passin' through Hradetz again in the not too distant future."

"Sounds good to me," Flint responds. "Your place wasn't too bad. So we'll all meet up in a month or so at Boris' place, right?"

"In that case, I'll go with you, Flint, and speak to Yurek to tell them what to do about the animals," Yaz adds. "The rest of you can either come with us or stay here and wait for us to return."

Yaz and Flint walk over to where Yurek and his men are digging a grave for Eladria. Yaz gives him instructions regarding the animals:

"You should let the animals go one at a time, or two if they are mates, so that there is less chance of fighting between them."

"If we are not to leave immediately, then this will not be a problem. Eladria's two assistants survived the conflict and they are experienced at handling the animals. They should be able to lead them safely away from the farm and release them somewhere that they won't cause any harm to anyone."

Yaz looks at the two druids with some suspicion:

"OK, but they better not try anything funny. If they harm a hair of any one of those animals, then I will personally chase them and you to the end of the world in order to inflict the most horrible torture that I can upon you all. Just tell them to imagine the combination of a wooden staff, their rectums and a shape wood spell. That should keep them from getting up to anything that I would disapprove of."

"They serve me and I have agreed to serve you," replies Yurek. "You have my word, and thus theirs that your wishes will be carried out exactly as you would like them."

Yaz nods and continues:

"Flint here is going to stay with you for a while in order to bring the place down properly after you have finished setting all of the animals free. Once you have let them all out and Flint has done his business, then he will go with you to cross the Labe before he carries on his way. I suggest that you stop your little army before you get to Dvur. Viktor and his boys hang out at 'The Cow & Gate' in Dvur. If you send someone there in order to meet with him, then I'm sure that they will help you get through the ford without any difficulties."

"Sounds good to me," agrees Yurek. "I don't know where you are planning to go next, and it is perhaps best if I don't know. I doubt that we will ever meet again, unless you are planning to visit Polonia, as I have no plans to return to Bohavia again. Goodbye and I wish you well in all your future activities."

The Polak puts out a hand to shake Yaz's. The druid hesitates to accept it, as he has been struggling to hold his desire to have vengeance on the animal-defiler's accomplice in check, but sees that it would be churlish of him to refuse Yurek.

He shakes Yurek by the hand, says his final farewells to Flint and then returns to the rest of the party.

"Let's move on," says Yaz. "We can make camp under the boughs a few miles from here and call it a day. I'm beat."