Different Agendas 

9 NOVEMBER 3460

They are all awoken by Boris just after 6.00, a time that is far too early for many of them after the very late night that several of them have had. However, they reluctantly leave their rooms and re-assemble in the main room in order to partake of the large breakfast that has already been prepared for them.

"So 'ave yer decided upon what yer all doin' now?" asks Boris.

"Well I still think that I should head for Holitze now while Fae conducts her business at the Library," starts Winnacer. "That way I believe that we will kill two birds with one stone. The rest of you are welcome to join me or stay here, as you please."

"I vill come vith you, mein Lord," Xavier adds.

"I am sure that Tadeus vould like to see his family again and I am sure that they vill also want to hear of his behavior last night," he adds with a disappointed look on his face.

"I be stayin here ta receive the blessin o Konan an his clerics an then be spendin the rest o tha day studyin spells while I have the chance," adds Faewen'il.

"I plan to go to the Library too," adds Will. "I would like to spend the day studying to see if I can pick up some of that ancient language that the Kitrians use for the coded messages."

Bennett speaks to Boris:

"Boris, would you know of any blacksmith around here whose forge I could work in for the day?"

Boris considers the question for a moment and then nods:

"I'm sure that Tyurak wouldn't mind yer workin' wiv 'im for a day or so. 'E owes us a few favors. Yer ain't got nothin' against dwarves, 'ave yer?"

"Nothing at all," replies Bennett.

Jihan is the next to speak:

"I wondered whether there is anything that I could do to be of assistance to you?" he asks Boris.

"As a matter o' fact, I reckon there is," the master rogue replies. "Like I said, we're in the process o' recruitin' some o' the Diamonds to our side. I would appreciate yer givin' us an' 'and if yer ain't got nothin' else to do. P'raps yer could 'elp us decide which we should be takin' and which to avoid."

"I'd be glad to," Jihan replies.

"I think that I shall just spend the day shopping a little and seeing the sights," says Sylva.

Yaz has been looking bored and gloomy throughout his stay at the Dragons, not joining in with the party at all, heading for his room early in order to chat with Gertrude. He lets out a huge sigh as the others discuss their intentions, obviously not looking forward to another 48 hours of nothing to do.

Winnacer sees Yaz's reaction and speaks to him:

"Hey, Yaz, why don't you come along with Xavier, the squires and myself? I know that you're not really one for cities and your assistance could be invaluable should we encounter any hostile creatures upon our journey."

"OK, I guess so," Yaz replies in a non-committal way.

He then turns to Will:

"If you're going to see Konan, then could you see whether he can find out what this ring does," he says taking the ring that was taken from Eladria's finger and giving it to the bard.

"I'd be glad to," Will responds, putting the ring safely into his pouch.

"I'm afraid it ain't a very good day for travelin'" Boris says, looking out of the window at the gray clouds over the city from which a steady drizzle is coming down.

"Gott in Himmel!" Xavier exclaims. "Every time that ve go on a journey it is raining, and vhenever ve have a roof over our heads the weather is fine!"

"Oh well," Yaz replies, "At least I'll be able to zap anything nasty that gets in our way."

With everyone's plans having been decided upon, they finish off their breakfast and then Winnacer speaks:

"We had better leave almost immediately," he says. "It's a full day's ride to Holitze and we want to be there before it gets too late so that we can perform all of our business tonight and be back before curfew tomorrow."

"I reckon that Antonin should go wiv yer to the gate," Boris suggests. "'E'll know 'ow to get yer past the guards in case their up to their regular tricks."

Yaz and Xavier nod their agreement and so say their good byes to the rest along with Winnacer and descend the ladder to the floor of the warehouse where a very ill-looking Milan and Tadeus have managed to prepare the horses for departure along with Vit. They then mount up and ride their mounts out of the warehouse into the wet, deserted streets of Hradetz.

It is around 7.00 a.m. as the three pf them leave the sanctity of Boris' warehouse and make their way through the wet streets of Hradetz. It is still early in the morning and this fact, plus the unpleasant weather, means that there are few citizens on the streets. With no traffic, it is an easy ride through the empty streets and so they arrive at the Eastgate after just ten minutes. Unsurprisingly, considering the empty state of the town, there is no queue at the gate. As the company of goblins hears them approaching, they emerge from the cover of the gate tower and bar their way.

"Let me handle this,' says Antonin. "I would imagine that they realize that there are going to be few travelers on the road today and so will be shaking down the few that are."

They nod in agreement as Antonin spurs his horse on and approaches the gate with a smile on his face. They watch on, with Xavier scowling, as the rogue negotiates with the orc sargeant. Eventually a deal is struck and Antonin deposits a few coins into the hand of the orc sargeant before he beckons them forwards. As they approach the gates, the goblins disperse, heading back under the tower so as to get out of the rain.

They wave goodbye to Antonin and then ride through the gate in the direction of the Twin Villages. Although the rain is only drizzling, it is cold and they are already soaked to the skin by the time they are less than an hour out of the city. Xavier is already moaning bitterly and Milan is shivering after having found out that his 'Sultan of Araby' costume is hardly practical clothing for the rain. They decide to take a route that allows them to travel through the fringes of the forest so that the trees provide a measure of cover from the rain.

They ride the horses at as fast a pace as they dare, trying to get to Holitze as quickly as possible while avoiding any risk to the horses' health and so they make good progress throughout the morning. The journey goes without incident until around 11.00a.m., when Yaz calls them all to a halt. Winnacer and Xavier ride up to him to ask what the problem is.

"Over there," he says pointing to a horseless wagon standing on its own some 300 paces away from the fringe of the forest.

Xavier's hands reach for the hilt of 'Sorrow' as he looks on.

"Take care," he says. "It could be a trap."

Yaz gives a little shrug:

"I wouldn't have thought so, as there's not a lot of cover around. No harm in being careful though."

He then starts squawking to Gertrude and then starts to cast a spell before going into a trance. He remains motionless for several minutes as Gertrude takes to the air and flies over the wagon and the surrounding area. As Gertrude comes to rest back on his shoulder, Yaz comes out of the trance and gives the others his findings:

"No trap as far as I can see. The wagon is totally empty and surrounded by dead goblins, a company of them in total by the look of it. There's no one hiding in the surrounding area."

"Let's take a quick look," suggests Winnacer.

They ride over to the empty wagon and investigate it more closely. What Yaz said was true in that it is surrounded by dead goblins, around half of which were killed by black-feathered arrows and the others despatched through blades. The wagon is, as Yaz said, totally empty, however there are some inscriptions written on the side of it in goblin blood.

"DIE BOURGEOIS SCUM!" reads one of the scrawls.

"W-S. M." reads another and next to it is the sign of an anvil and plow.

Yaz rolls his eyes to the heavens as he sees the evidence:

"The Wuurster-Schweinhoff Movement, obviously," the druid says. "They must still be in the area. Exactly the same thing as we witnessed almost two weeks ago, taking out a lightly protected supply convoy."

He then stoops to investigate the goblin bodies more carefully.

"I reckon that it must have happened around three or four days ago by the state of decomposition."

He circles around the area.

"There are some tracks leading northeast into the forest. It would be hard to track them by now, even if we wanted to."

"We haven't got time, anyway," Winnacer says. "We are on a tight schedule as we don't want to wait too long before making the journey to Dvur."

Having seen all that there is to see, they remount the horses and carry on following the edge of the forest in the direction of Holitze. After a couple of hours, they start to get a little hungry and so tie up their horses under a broad elm in order to get some respite from the drizzle. The two squires prepare a quick meal for them, which they eat quickly in order to continue on with their journey.

After another couple of hours, they see that there is a small hamlet consisting of little more than a couple of farmhouses, a few huts and a tavern nestling on the edge of the forest ahead of them. As they approach it, they see that the name of the hamlet is Borek.

"Have we got time for a quick warm by the fire?" asks Xavier, hopefully.

"I guess that a quick stop to rest the horses would not be a problem," Winnacer replies. "We shall be able to continue at this fast pace if the horses are rested."

They continue into the hamlet, checking for any Nyemetz patrols, but Borek seems to be quiet. They walk their horses up to the inn, which is called 'The Snake Pit' and walk inside. There are a handful of people in the small tavern who were engaged in some quite lively conversation before the party entered, but stop as they see strangers approaching the bar. They look at the strangers suspiciously, checking them over. Then one of them sees the silver gavel hanging from Winnacer's belt and relaxes a little.

"Hail, Spravedelnan," he says and raises his glass towards Winnacer, who acknowledges him back in a friendly manner.

They order their drinks from the barman and then take a seat next to the fire in order to dry themselves a little. As they do so, the villagers resume their conversation, quietly at first, but getting quite heated as it continues. The party listen on with interest.

They discover that the Wuurster-Schweinhoff Movement passed through here just three days ago, handing out supplies that they 'liberated' from the Nyemetz wagon that the party passed earlier. The villagers seem to be divided in their reaction to the arrival of the Wuurster-Schweinhoff revolutionaries. A handful of them were so taken by the actions that they left the village in order to join up with them, heading north to Trebekovitze and some other villages in the Orlitze valley on the north side of the forest which the revolutionaries claim are loyal to their movement. The reaction from the remaining villagers is mixed to their actions. Some are highly supportive to their ideas, believing that someone is finally making a stand against the Nyemetz and are doing something positive for the people of Bohavia by redistributing the Nyemetz supplies to those in need. The others argue that the revolutionaries are nothing but a naive bunch of idealists that will achieve no long term benefits other than annoying the Nyemetz to the point where they will slaughter a village in retribution. Some of those arguing against the revolutionaries argue that the actions of the population of the Twin Villages is the way to go, by raising a powerful force but using them only when the time is right so as not to antagonize the Nyemetz before major conflict is joined. The pro-revolutionaries scoff at this, saying that 'General Honza' is doing nothing more than 'playing soldiers' and has done nothing of benefit for Borek or any of the other surrounding villages other than taking away anyone with a decent horse to help defend the Twin Villages.

As the conversation becomes more and more heated, Xavier whispers to Yaz and Winnacer:

"I have been to Trebekovitze. It is the village vhere Bennett and I found that schweinhund, traitorous thief, Robert, and gave him his just deserts. It is close to the ford that leads to Boscobelous' Tower."

"Come," says Winnacer as he finishes the last of his ale and wipes the froth from his mouth. "We still have a journey of several hours ahead of us before we reach Holitze."

Reluctantly, they leave the warmth of the hearth and remount their horses, which are fresh after having been rested for the short period of their stay in the hamlet. They then continue upon their journey to the Twin Villages. They carry on traveling at a fair pace for another four hours until they cross the site of the battle against the worgriders and then come across the crest of the hill seeing Sezemitze below them. As they continue towards the village, they are spied by the watchtower above the village and the Sezemitze contingent of the Holy Hammerers rides out a short while later. Winnacer notices that the Sezemitze garrison has obviously added a couple more members since he left them, as they are almost a full company of twenty now. As they see Winnacer and Xavier, the Hammerers relax a little and greet them all. They then accompany the members of the party on the last couple of miles of their journey towards Holitze.

As they approach the village, they are seen by the Holitze watchtower and the horn is sounded. Seeing that they are accompanied already by the Sezemitze company, the Holitze garrison does not bother to come out to join them, but rather rallies around the buildings in the village in order to announce their arrival. As a result, almost the entire village is assembled on the village green to greet them.

All of their old friends are there, grinning as they see them arriving. They spy Darry and Tharnald, whispering to each other and giggling as usual, Heimlin, who is dressed in the orange robes of Spravedelna along with Bekkah, who Yaz is somewhat surprised to see is smiling and not at all like the empty shell that she was last time he saw the gnome girl. Even Granny seems to have found a few of her missing marbles as she smiles warmly. At the head of the crowd is Honza and an attractive, tall, thin, dark-haired girl in her early twenties dressed in the orange robes of Spravedelna that Yaz has not seen before but that the others know well as being Magda. She is grinning like a cat, but blushing at the same time as she looks at none other than Winnacer. The parents of Tadeus and Milan rush up in order to hug their sons, glad to see that they are safe from harm.

"Well, well, well," starts Honza. "It's bloody good to see you all again. I didn't expect that we'd see you again so shortly after your last visit. Let's not stand around here in the rain all night, let's get inside The Dancing Troll so that you can catch us up on what you've been up to in the last week."

Magda is staring at her feet and has turned a bright pink color. She goes to speak, but struggles to find words:

"It-it's … good to have you back, LawBringer Stradheim," she stumbles.

With that, they all head for The Dancing Troll along with as many of the villagers that can scramble inside. Darry and Tharnald have their work cut out in order to supply everyone with drink.

They take a table in the corner of the taproom along with Magda, Honza and Heimlin. Granny and Bekkah say goodbye and then head off. They allow Tadeus and Milan to take their leave and they tell their parents all about what they have seen while they have been away in excited tones.

They then tell Honza, Magda and Heimlin all that has transpired since they last saw Winnacer and Xavier less than a week ago.

Winnacer sits smiling, obviously happy to be amongst friends. But with a short clearing of his throat, Winnacer's tone turns more serious:

"While it is certainly a pleasure to be back with all of you, our stay cannot be prolonged and we might as well get down to business. I've had an idea in my head that has become more solid over the last few weeks, and I think we are ready to start implementing it. But before I launch into that, how have things been around the village? Any problems worthy of note or happenings worthy of praise?"

"Everything just seems to be fine and dandy, Lord Winnacer," Honza starts before either Magda or Heimlin can speak. "We've picked up another three recruits for the Hammerers since you were last here. Also, I have to admit that the girl has been doing a fine job. The villagers have really taken to her. She certainly works hard…for a girl."

Winnacer nods and continues:

"Well, it seems our esteemed colleague, Honza, has been acquiring quite the reputation locally. During a quick stop earlier we took part in an interesting conversation concerning a man called General Honza."

"General Honza!?" Honza interrupts, obviously surprised.

"Which cheeky bastard has been calling me that?" he continues, rather annoyed.

"I'm no General. Never have been, never will be. The only General that the Hammerers fight for is Spravedelna herself."

"It seems that many support our cause, but are unsure of our final motives," Winnacer continues. "Their feelings are also more confused by this other group, the Wuurster Schweinhoff Movement."

The blank looks upon the faces of Honza, Magda and Heimlin shows that the name is a new one to them.

"I believe that the local villages are ready to join in the preparing for Bohavia's freedom," the young Lord continues. "But without our help and our guidance, their efforts may be doomed to failure. And if we do not act soon, we may lose many men to this other cause, whose final motives we cannot be sure of, for they have a political agenda that sounds intolerant of the variety that makes Bohavia great."

"What I suggest is that we take advantage of Honza's notoriety. It may be time for you to take the role of General and start traveling to all the villages in the area, making some speeches about the importance of preparedness and the possibilities of freedom. More importantly, some of the Hammerers can join you and aid in preparing the other village's defenses and creating local chapters of the Hammerers to defend each village. From there, a military communication network can be developed between the villages, being ready to reinforce each other if the need arises. Our strength must come from our numbers, and we really need to increase the number of villages ready to defend their freedom. It is this great task of recruiting the local populaces that I place upon you, Honza, and the Holy Hammerers. If freedom is to come to Bohavia, we all must fight for it. We must remind that fact to our neighbors if we are to expect any success."

"We're already ahead of you on that one," Honza responds. "That was always Kesryk's plan and he started it off before he was taken from us. Whoever it was that was speaking about me must have heard of me from the recruiting drive. Kesryk was a much-respected figure in these parts, not just in the Twin Villages, and so the reception to our recruiting drive has met with fair success. Pretty much all of the villages to the east of the Labe, south of the forest, west of Vysoke Myto and ten miles south of Holitze are behind us in spirit. Unfortunately, this area is quite sparsely populated, but the villages of Hrokuv Tynetz and Dashitze are behind us, as well as a lot of the hamlets and farms in the area. I'd guess that there would be around 1,200 people in the area altogether, of which around 300 would be men of fighting age. I can't say that every single one is ready to lay down their lives for Bohavia, but a goodly quantity of them are."

"We've been bringing some of them in to join the ranks of the Hammerers over the past couple of months. That's how our ranks have swelled from just a handful originally to just under two companies, which is the Hammerers' current strength. It's just the lack of horses and armor that is stopping us from signing more of them up. The men are available, but it's only the very richest of villagers that have suitable horses, which is why we can only add a couple of extra troops per week to our numbers."

Winnacer nods, showing his obvious pleasure that he and Honza are thinking alike, and then continues:

"To this end, I shall donate the majority of my funds not marked for Spravedelna, for those are Hers by right."

Winnacer pulls out a sack containing a couple of gems and a large quantity of gold and platinum pieces. Heimlin immediately takes the gems and inspects them carefully. He then passes his eye over the quantity of coins upon the table:

"Gotta be worth just under two grand that little lot," the gnomes says.

Winnacer nods at the value.

"Should be able to kit out another six Hammerers with that money," Honza says. "Perhaps seven if we are able to negotiate well. That's going to make a big difference. Thank you very much for your generosity, LawBringer Stradheim."

"That's not all," Winnacer continues. "Also, we have procured a large number of horses from our last adventure, eighteen in total; they await you in Dvur where they are being stabled. They should be used to strengthen the other villages in the area, as we cannot allow any village to fall to the Nyemetz Injustices. You can expect more aid from us in this undertaking in the future as well."

Honza's expression is as if ten birthdays have just arrived together:

"EIGHTEEN MORE WARHORSES!!!" he explodes. "This is excellent news. I can hardly believe it. Together with the others that we can buy with your generous donation, that's a whole new company. We can station it in Hrokuv Tynetz so that they may be protected also."

"I hope that you are willing to continue with such a demanding task, my friend," Winnacer continues. "While it may be grueling, you can be sure that Spravedelna and Kesryk shall be smiling down upon your handiwork. Bohavia needs a new General to marshal her forces. I believe that you, Honza, are the most qualified man for the position."

"You try and stop me," is Honza's response. "However, I cannot take the title of General that you would like to bestow upon me, as I am not worthy of such a rank. I am just a simple blacksmith with some experience of conflict under my belt, and a little experience of leading small units. I'm a long way from being another Zizkov, as I am neither strategist nor tactician as a General needs to be."

"Thank you for you kind offer, but Bohavia needs experienced Generals and men of greater ability than myself in order to win the Holy War. So I am afraid that I cannot accept your kind offer."

Winnacer discusses the situation with Honza for a while, but it becomes obvious that Honza does not consider himself to be sufficiently qualified to take the position of General.

Seeing that the conversation has gone as far as it can go, Winnacer changes the subject:

"What about the Priests of Radegast? Have they arrived yet?"

Honza immediately stops talking and starts to stare into his ale, a degree of embarrassment showing upon his face. Seeing that the blacksmith is not going to elucidate on the situation, Magda speaks:

"The cadre priest of Radegast arrived here four days ago," she says. "It became apparent quite quickly that he and Honza weren't going to see eye-to-eye."

It is obvious that Magda is trying to remain diplomatic while sat next to Honza. The blacksmith doesn't say a word.

"The day before yesterday," Magda continues, "Padre Lubosh Kochi and your bugbear Shaman friend passed through on their way north to Dobroushka and the pass to Silesia. Padre Kochi, Honza, the cadre priest of Radegast and myself discussed a solution to the 'situation' at length. We eventually decided that it would be best for all concerned for the cadre priest to base himself in Dashitze and start training a unit of foot from those fighting men that do not possess horses. He left for the village yesterday."

Honza nods:

"It's the best for all concerned. I've got nothing against the Radegastians and will fight beside them willingly, but the Hammerers are devoted to Spravedelna and it isn't right for them to be trained and led by a Radegastian."

"I trust that this arrangement meets with your approval, Lord Stradheim?" Magda asks.

Winnacer smiles:

"Indeed it does. Once the third company of Hammerers is raised in Hrokuv Tynec and the first companies of foot are raised in Dashitze, that will be four villages defended and loyal to a New Bohavia. Excellent."

He turns back to address Honza:

"The sooner that you pick up the horses in Dvur, the sooner that you can get the new company trained. In order to obtain the horses, I suggest that you take your best men and make your way to The Coach & Horses in Dvur and ask for Viktor. He will direct you to the horses. Take care on your journey, however, as we have been told that the area is swarming with Nyemetz as a result of our activities within the area, so do nothing to bring attention to yourselves."

With much of the business out of the way, conversation turns to other matters. Winnacer spends a while speaking with Heimlin and is pleased to hear that the gnomes have settled in quite well to their new home. It is obvious that Heimlin is still very worried as to the fate of his son, however. Winnacer reassures him a little by telling him that it looks as if the party will shortly be heading to Kutna Hora in order to see about freeing Yosef. Heimlin is overjoyed at hearing this.

Winnacer also spends a while speaking with Darry and Tharnald, his face growing increasingly pink with embarrassment as he spends time in their company as their incessant procession of double entendres that they make from everything that he says make him more and more uncomfortable. The dwarves seem to be fairly settled in their adopted home, but it is obvious that they are not really cut out for living in such a small village and are pining to return to a more urban environment.

It is obvious that the villagers are ready to party through until dawn in order to entertain their liberators, but they have had a hard ride during the day and know that they have the same long journey ahead of them tomorrow and other business to attend to in the morning before they leave. As a result, they start to make their excuses after just a few hours. Before he takes his leave, Winnacer speaks to Magda, saying that he has some questions on points of faith he wishes to speak with her about. The two of them arrange to meet at the Temple at 7.00 a.m. in the morning.

With that, they all leave The Dancing Troll and head to their billeted accommodation, getting off to sleep early after a tiring day of travel.

While Winnacer, Yaz and Xavier have been making their way to Holitze, the others have been spending the day in Hradetz.

They watch the others depart into the gray streets of Hradetz and then return to the breakfast table, knowing that there is no rush to start their day's activities. Boris' new right-hand man by default, Antonin, returns half an hour later. They hear him tell Boris that the others managed to get through the gate without incident, although it cost a handful of gold to do so. They all then make their preparations to leave the warehouse, taking their wet weather gear and then all leave the warehouse together.

Sylva is the first to leave the group, heading in the direction of the marketplace in order to perform a spot of shopping.

Boris leads the others past a blacksmith's shop where they see a muscular dwarf busy making horseshoes. As he sees Boris approaching, the dwarf stops his work and greets the master rogue warmly. Boris asks the dwarf if he wouldn't mind Bennett working in the forge for the day and Tyurek the dwarf replies that he wouldn't mind at all. Boris introduces Bennett to the dwarf and they shake hands. Tyurek then shows Bennett around the forge as the rest of them carry on their journey.

Boris, Antonin, Corrow and Jihan then separate from Faewen'il and Will as they head off to a tavern called The Silver Carp, which Jihan remembers as the location for Yaz's first conversation with Robert all those weeks back. Here they meet up with some members of the Black Diamonds who are interested in jumping ship in order to join up with the Dragons.

Faewen'il and Will walk through the drizzle up the hill to the Library of Kitry. As they enter the Library, they see that Konan is in his normal position at the head of the Library. He looks up and sees them at the door and closes the book that he is reading and beckons them both to come forwards.

"Have you come for your blessing?" Konan asks Faewen'il.

"Aye," she replies, "I have that."

"Good," Konan replies. "Myself and all of the senior librarians have asked Kitry to bless us with the necessary powers this day in order to perform the task. I am sure that you are anxious to get started right away, so come with me to the antechamber and we shall perform the blessing immediately."

With that, he summons one of the acolytes, who is despatched to bring the seven senior Librarian of the Church to the antechamber in order to perform the ritual.

While the senior Librarians are being summoned, Konan leads Fae and Will through a door on the opposite side of the main room from his own study. They enter to see that it is a spartan room, which does not contain bookcases as is the case with just about every other room in the building. The walls are whitewashed and are covered with arcane formulae and mathematical symbols and diagrams. The room itself is empty but for a lectern in the center made from a light-colored wood upon which similar symbols are etched. As Fae and Will look around the room, the senior Librarians file into the room one by one until all seven have been assembled, the last one of which closes the door behind her.

Konan asks Faewen'il to stand in the center of the room just before the lectern. Will stands in a corner, interested to see the ritual taking place but not wanting to get in the way. Konan then stands behind the lectern facing Faewen'il and the other seven Librarians form a circle around her. They then take their holy books in their right hands and then hold hands so that there is a holy book between each of them. Faewen'il then looks a little apprehensive as they all start to chant in unison. The chant is the same as the one that Konan used to try and 'exorcise' Darius just over a month ago when Jihan tried to talk him out of his manic desire to go the fur farm, but it is much more detailed and lasts for a period of approaching ten minutes. As they continue to chant, their holy books start to glow with a pale light, with the words printed in gold on the front cover start glowing as if they are on fire. As the chanting reaches its climax, the eight Librarians break the circle and all touch Faewen'il's head with their left hands while holding their holy books against their foreheads. They hold this pose for several seconds, during which time the light seems to pass from the books to the heads of the Librarians and along their arms where it flows into Faewen'il's head and is then absorbed. After all of the light has disappeared, all is quiet for a few moments and then Konan speaks:

"The ritual has been performed. Any evil that was resident within your body will now have been purged and you will be totally immune from possession by anyone or thing for a period of eight days. I trust that this will be sufficient in order for you to copy the spells yourself."

"Two days should be plenty, Sar Konan," Faewen'il responds.

"Excellent," the Head Librarian responds. "In that case, let us retire to my study where we may retrieve the spellbook so that you may begin the task immediately."

With that, the three of them walk across the main room of the library and into Konan's study. He walks to the room in the back and comes out a few moments later holding the book that he gives to Faewen'il. She immediately sits down and starts to transcribe spells from Bosco's book into her own.

"Konan, I would also very much like to increase the number of spells at my disposal," Will says as he sees Faewen'il scribbling away furiously. "I wonder whether you may have any books here that may contain other spells."

"I'm afraid that we don't," Konan replies sadly. "The Witchfinders still come through the library sporadically in order to sweep the building for anything that may exude magickal energy. It is thus quite a risk for us even to be handling Boscobelous' book and the magic items that you have left with us in the past for identification purposes."

Will looks sad at the news and then remembers something:

"Oh yes," he says, reaching into his pouch and drawing forth Eladria's ring. "I wonder whether it might be possible for you to have your people look at this in order to identify its purpose."

Konan takes the ring and investigates it:

"That shouldn't be a problem," he says. "I can see that it has one of the symbol for Prirodna engraved into it and so that should narrow things down. Hopefully, we should have it identified by the end of tomorrow."

"There's another thing," Will adds. "As I'm not going to be able to study any spells here today, I wondered whether it might be possible for me to study the ancient language that the Church uses for its coded messages, as I feel that it would be useful to understand secret communications."

"That would not be a problem," Konan replies, walking to a bookcase and taking a large tome from it which he hands to Will.

"However, you are in for a lengthy exercise if you wish to become totally familiar with it. The reason why we use this particular language is that it is incredibly complicated and difficult to understand, which means that only the most Senior Members of the Church are able to understand it and they are usually unable to understand it without resorting to a dictionary. I know that I can't. I wish you luck in your studies, but please note that it is likely to take several years of study in order to be able to make any sense of it."

Will takes the book apprehensively and decides to give it a go. He takes a seat on the opposite side of the table and starts to read.

Sylva is the first to return to the warehouse, as the weather makes shopping a very unpleasant task indeed. Upon her return, she finds the warehouse is empty save for Vit, the lad. After a couple of hours, however, Sonya returns laden with shopping that she has bought on behalf of Faewen'il so that she can concentrate upon her studying. While waiting for the others to return, Sonya and Sylva spend the time chatting to each other.

An hour or so later, Boris, Corrow, Antonin and Jihan return to the warehouse along with eight former Diamonds in tow. The four of them have spent the past few hours grilling the Diamonds in order to ensure that their motives for joining the Dragons are genuine so as to ensure that none of them are secretly acting on behalf of the Diamonds still. Of the 18 that were submitted, just eight of them made the grade. Boris leads them up to the second floor of the warehouse which has been kitted out as a training area with a variety of different types of locks to be picked, a padded area for unarmed combat and an obstacle course to train potential Dragons in moving quickly and stealthily. Jihan spends the whole of the afternoon with the former Diamonds, watching them as they are put through their paces.

It is after five by the time that Bennett returns from his day in the forge. In his hand is a quiver containing seven fine, but unexceptional, arrows, having discarded the three that weren't quite perfect back at the forge. As he sees his meager tally from a full day in the forge, he remembers why he didn't take up weaponsmithing as a full time profession.

A couple of hours later, Will and Faewen'il return from the Library, their eyes bleary and heads aching as a result of their studying. As they enter the warehouse they see Antonin letting out the eight trainee Dragons to go back to their homes in the evening, as Boris is not comfortable enough with them to have them staying under his roof quite yet.

"So, 'ow did yer get on?" Boris asks them all as he sits down at his favorite seat before the table.

"Well," Will sighs. "I think that I've learned Kanaanite for 'I' and 'You' - well some of the words for them. There are over three hundred in total depending on the context and so I still have a way to go. No wonder that the wretched language died out such a long time ago!"

Within half an hour, the table is yet again groaning under the weight of a large banquet, leaving them in no doubt as to the fact that Boris is a man who really enjoys the finer things in life.

As they sit at the table, faced with another mountain of food, Will revisits the Kutna Hora reconnaissance plan:

" If I may, I believe we can improve upon the plan for spying in Kutna Hora. The idea of Fae scouting under invisibility and pass without a trace are excellent ideas, but I think they can be improved upon. My idea for improvement is to allow Jihan to perform the task with the same magical aids that were proposed for Fae. He is by far the best suited for such a mission, as he can walk without a sound and traverse any obstacles with his nimble feet. Were the magical aids to end unexpectedly, or somehow be discovered, then I would fear for Fae's safety. Jihan is much more suited for evasion and escape should things go awry. I don't know if Jihan can work the amulet or if Fae is willing to part with it temporarily or not, but that is my suggestion."

Conversations continue throughout the meal regarding different strategies regarding the attempt to infiltrate Kutna Hora, but with no concrete decision being reached, knowing that they probably have the best part of two weeks to finalize their strategy.

The meal ends and Sylva speaks to Boris:

"Give my compliments to your chef, Boris. I think I could get used to eating like this again."

"Yer can give 'im yer compliments yerself," Boris replies. "Oi, Drogrin, come out an' show yerself to the guests."

With that, the door to the kitchen opens and a rotund middle-aged halfling emerges from the kitchen, almost as wide as he is tall.

"This is the bloke what's responsible for all the fine eatin' in this place," Boris explains. "We 'as to keep 'im fairly well 'idden most o' the time so that the Nyemetz don't try an' take 'im away from us."

Sylva gives him her compliments and the halfling blushes before returning to the kitchen.

After a short time of relaxation, Sylva approaches Will:

"Could I persuade you to spend some time training with me? Defending with only daggers can be quite a challenge and I would like to get in as much practice as I can. I have a feeling that it will not take too long with your group until I will need to call upon such skills."

Will responds to the lady:

"It would be my pleasure. Perhaps we can also enlist the aid of Jihan and Bennett as well, for they are much more experienced than myself in the martial skills."

"I will have to decline," answers Bennett, "as my fear of injuring someone while sparring would only be multiplied by sparring with a woman. I may be persuaded to give advice, but my advice would probably be quite limited, as my tactics are hardly something you would teach to someone else."

"I must admit that my form is probably somewhat more suited to the lady than yours," Will responds, "but you are certainly welcome to oversee and submit comments on the finer points of swordplay."

Bennett replies, with a sly grin:

"I think the lady finds your form quite suitable, and I don't know that I would be welcome to oversee. I am sure you have a lot to show her and you don't need me holding your hand."

The half elf smiles shyly and gives a quick wink and nod to Bennett.

Jihan takes the hint and declines Will's offer also.

"Well, actually William," Sylva adds, "I was hoping to practice against someone who used a weapon lighter and quicker than those used by the warriors. My speed allows me to dodge most slower attacks. I would like to practice defending using only my daggers, since that is what I most commonly have at my disposal. Please excuse me while I change into something more appropriate, I'll meet you on the second floor."

Sylva then heads toward her room to change clothes. She emerges a few minutes later wearing the outfit she had on when they first met her, including her bare feet. Her hair again is in a braid which reaches more than half way down her back. She makes her way across the main area and down to the second floor.

She approaches Will without a word. When only a few feet from him, she simply nods her head and draws her daggers. This is the first time Will has seen the daggers since the games, and only now does he realize how remarkable they really are. He cannot help but notice that they are perfectly clear, as if made of glass. During the practice, he notices that they do not give off the ring of steel, but seem to be just as durable. He notices something else during the training as well. Sylva has a nimbleness of hand and foot which he has not seen since the maneuvers of Jihan. The daggers seem to be more an extension of her hand rather than a weapon she wields. She also includes some tumbling into the practice. When it appears that she is over-extending herself, she simply tucks, rolls, and is back on her feet prepared to continue before he realizes what she has done.

After some time of training, Sylva has worked up a good sweat and seems to be tiring. While deflecting one of Will's strokes, she stumbles, falling into Will. She drops her daggers and leans heavily on Will to prevent herself from falling to the ground. As she regains her balance, she starts to stand on her own and then stops, still leaning lightly on Will. She looks softly into Will's eyes, their faces now not more than a couple of inches apart. She lifts one hand, runs it through his hair, then wipes away a drop of sweat which was rolling down his cheek.

In a mere whisper she says:

"I think I am done ... practicing," the emphasis on her last word.

Her muscles, tense only a moment ago from her fall, now relaxed. She allows their faces to hover even closer together. Her hand now caressing Will's jaw. She remains in that posture, waiting, hoping...

Will allows himself a moment to linger and appreciate the intricacies and smoothness of her features. For a moment he is tempted to risk further advances, but then his eyes look downward and inward as he gently helps the lady to stand on her own once again.

"I hope I am not being presumptuous," he says, glancing shyly at her and then away.

"Forgive me lady, I do not know if I am able to bear the touch of a woman... again.... yet."

He can see Sylva's disappointment simply by looking at her. The emptiness in her eyes, the way she holds her head, how her arms now dangle at her sides. She mutters to herself:

"I knew it was too soon..."

There is a difficult silence, and then Will continues:

"It has been many years, but seems only yesterday when the Nyemetz attacked in Shumava at Yiri's hideaway. I lost many a friend and sword brother that night, but that is not all."

He breathes a deep wistful sigh:

"More than that, I lost a love."

"It seems everything that I have ever loved has been taken away by the Nyemetz. I fear to give more of myself than professional loyalties, else my heart will be broken again. The danger is so great in these times."

"Please, continue in our company. The time may come when such risks may not be so difficult for me. A time when I can trust my affections to the embrace of a fair creature such as yourself once more."

"Know this, William," Sylva responds, "that is far better to have embraced love and lost it than never to have known it. Until these last few days my heart has never burned with such a passion. Even my desire to see my father's betrayers brought to justice cannot compare with fire that is now in my heart. I fear that my actions today might have put that which I most desire out of my grasp."

Sylva pauses to take a deep breath, her voice quivers as she continues:

"Fear was the only winner here today. You lost to your fear of love, I to my fear of not knowing love. I do not consider this matter to be closed."

She extends both hands to again cradle his face, tears now rolling down her cheek:

"I pray that you will be able to overcome your fear of that which you have lost...so that you may again find it. And if the gods are willing, I will be here to share it with you."

She then kisses him gently on the cheek, collects her daggers, and makes her way back to her room.

Will wistfully watches her walk away and then hangs his head, internally beating himself for having possibly chosen the wrong words.

After several moments of standing in silent thought, he makes his way to the roof of the building without a word to a soul. The better part of the night finds him there, soul searching.

While Sylva and Will have been speaking on the floor below, Bennett, Jihan, Sonya, Faewen'il, Corrow and Boris make an odd collection of individuals and, despite the smalltalk of Boris and Corrow, there is a definite air of tension around. Eventually, the air of tension becomes too much for Jihan and he takes a deep breath, and turns to face Faewen'il:

"We need to talk Fae... I can't live like this any more..."

Faewen'il looks at Jihan, her gaze becoming somewhat cooler as he speaks.

"We can take this out o tha hearin o others," she says crisply and gestures for him to follow her to one of the empty back rooms.

Such is the air of tension in the place that no one stays up too late, but head for their beds early, feeling tired after the previous late night.