Gregory knocks on the door and then knocks even harder. His harder knocks must have been heard because the noise from inside ceases and a shuffling is heard.

You three stand a wait as you hear bolts being pulled back, latches undone and a bar lifted. The door opens slightly to reveal a strange device. It appears to be two crossbows that have been placed one on top of the other and then crafted together to have only one handle. The crossbow device is being pointed at you three and you hear a high pitched orc voice say, "What do you want!"

Adriena draws a sharp breath at the appearance of the crossbow. Quickly regaining her composure she snarls, "You dare point that thing at Haratai's Chosen?! Stand aside and let me in. I am Ithmuck. I have Haratai's new Vessel with me. If you fear your Master as you should, you will do as I say - lower your weapon and let us in."

The shrill voice within says, "'New' vessel?"

Adriena clasps her hands before her and gives the orc what she hopes is a penetrating stare and steps up to the crack in the door, ignoring the crossbow completely. "Now," she finishes in a low tone.

The door slams shut in Adriena's pug snout and you hear some more noises, though none of you are sure what the noises are. Adriena says to Ganthanor as the door closes, "If they let us in, be very alert. Haratai, said _all_ circles are his enemy. I assume that includes his own." She quickly jumps back to where she was and resumes her stance waiting for the door to reopen.

A few moments later the door reopens wide to reveal an orc female wearing a long black robe and holding the double crossbow. The she-orc looks over you three for a few moments and focuses in on Adriena for a bit longer than the other two.

She then steps to the side and says, "Get in, now!"

Adriena steps aside and waves Ganthanor and Malis through the door. She looks around to see if anyone is following or watching them but she doesn't see anything. Adriena turns and darts through the door opening just as the door is slamming shut. As Adriena is taking a step forward to stand by her companions she feels some resistance and then hears a rip. Turning she sees that part of her robe had gotten caught in the door and subsequently ripped.

Adriena says to the orc's back, "Who are you and what is your position here?" The orc doesn't reply as she is re-latching and locking the door. When all of the locks and latches are in place the orc grabs a metal bar from aside the door and with a grunt lifts it into place. Ganthanor looks at the bar and its dimensions and realizes that it must weigh at least 200 pounds if not more.

Once finished with the bar, the orc reaffixes some cords on the ground to the door and makes sure that they are tight. Adriena's eyes run down the length of the cords from the door to the other side of the room. She sees one of the cords attached to a small ballista, another of the cords is attached to what looks like a small two cup catapult. In one of the cups lies a large vial of some dark liquid, in the other cup lies a small stone that emanates great amounts of heat in the infravision spectrum. The last cord is attached to another small catapult. In it's cup there are dozens of small metal flechettes.

The only other door in this windowless room is on the east wall, the door to the outside is on the south wall. There are no other orcs in the room. The black robed orc turns around and very careful of the cords moves under them to the other door. She then turns back to the group and says, "I am Number One," the scarab that she wears over her heart is very similar to the one that Haratai gave Adriena. The only evident difference is that its lines are of a darker color than Adriena's.

Malis in a daze says, "Are we home yet Mommy?" Adriena immediately gives her a cursory examination, lifting her eyelids and checking her pulse. Nothing seems amiss but Malis has been in a drugged stupor for several days now. Adriena then turns back to the she-orc and states, "This vessel has had a long and arduous journey. Where are the beds?" Adriena claps her hands together again and locks eyes with the cross-bow totter.

The orc ignores Adriena and steps forward to Malis. Closing her eyes she places a hand on Malis' belly, smiling to herself her eyes open, "Follow me," she then turns around and before she touches the doorknob says something in a low voice, too low to be heard by the rest of the group, she then opens the door and ushers everyone through. She then closes the door. The room that you are in now is about 10' x 20'. There are no windows in this room , as a matter of fact the entire room is empty except for a door in the northern wall and a large metal statue in the center of the room. The statue is of a tall orc, dressed in armour and carrying a large sword. "Wait here," the orc says as she heads towards the northern door.

As the group waits, Ganthanor sits Malis down on the ground gently and then shakes his head and makes a face. He doesn't like this situation at all. He's thinking that we should kill this orc. He doesn't like the implications of that orc laying her hand on Malis' belly and then smiling. He's never really been sure until now that Malis was raped and the thoughts make his anger boil. He's quickly approaching the breaking point. Something has got to give and soon.

Adriena places her hand on Ganthanor's arm, "Easy, " she whispers. She turns her attention to the Orc Statue. She looks to see if the armour and sword are all one part of the statue or if they appear to be removable/moveable. She suspects it to be a 'living' statue, like the ones she studied in Mage School, and checks to see if she can tell. Her interest in the statue seems to hold her complete attention.

Adriena notices that the armour and sword are apparently part of the statue and are not removable. She has never seen a 'living' statue before, only read about them, so she is not sure if this is one or not. She does recall that most 'living' statues are immune to normal attacks and even the weakest 'living' statue would be more than sufficient to destroy the small group of three.

Adriena steps back from the statue, a sparkle lights her eyes as she imagines having the ability to control a Living Statue. Turning to Ganthanor she says quietly, "We need to walk softly until we can figure out our next step. I can see the rage in our eyes. I am nearly ill from the things the Haratai did to Malis. Every time he touched me I wanted to scream and cringe. "But if you let your anger and thirst for blood dictate our way, well, I think we will be a short time in this horrid world - gods forbid. We need time to think and talk. Stay your sword just a bit longer... please." Adriena's pleading eyes search Ganthanor's, looking for the light of reason to shine.

Ganthanor grunts his affirmation but does not seem to be very happy about it.

After about 10 minutes, the orc returns. "Come," he says and leads the way into the house. Through the door there is a staircase that leads both up and down. She leads the three upward. Upon reaching the second floor landing there is a long hallway with doors interspersed on both sides. The orc leads the three down the hallway to one of the doors on the left, "The 'vessel' will stay here," she says. Turning she points to the door across the hallway on the right and says, "You two will stay here. Do not leave your rooms until you are called for."

With that, she turns and heads down the stairs.

Adriena watches the back of the she-orc and sticks out her tongue. "Snotty Bitch," she whispers. Turning back to Ganthanor with a smile of relief she says, "looks like we'll get a chance to talk sooner then I'd hoped. Let's make Malis comfortable. I'm not sure how long it will take for the Moss to wear off." Adriena opens the door to Malis' room slowly. She motions to Ganthanor to wait and slips inside. From the doorway, with the door half shut behind her, she scans the room to be sure she is alone.

Adriena slips into Malis' room and immediately can tell that no one else is in the room. The room is a small 10x10 foot room. There is a single window but it is shuttered from the inside. Scanning the room, Adriena sees a small nightdresser next to a bed. Those are the only items of furniture in the room. The bed is a bit peculiar.. At the foot of the bed it has two poles, one on each side, attached to the bed. At the top of each pole there is a small half cup with the opening facing the head of the bed.

Walking through the room, Adriena doesn't detect any traps.

Waiting in the hallway Ganthanor's thoughts turn to home and the life he had within the city. He must be crazy to have accepted this mission. Right now he could be sitting in hot tub with his girlfriend Jasmine. A fiery girl with eyes of emerald and ...Ganthanor shakes his head to clear his thoughts... Back to work he tells himself. No sense in making things worse by thinking of that which he cannot have... at the moment....

Adriena steps onto the bed and notices that the mattress is quite solid. Examining the poles, she imagines that they are used for holding candles or an oil wick but with a closer examination she doesn't see how this could be possible. The poles are about two feet tall. The devices at the top are similar to a small metal cup; however, the side of the cup that faces the head of the bed is missing. This would make it unfeasible to hold a candle or oil. Also, with closer examination, Adriena notices that there is a small hole on each side of the cup.

Moving to the window, Adriena finds that the shutters are latched. Unlatching the shutters and opening them, she sees that there are bars on the outside of the window. The window itself opens inwardly, the hinges on the inside. Through the window she can see out onto the street below.

Adriena blushes when she realizes what she is looking at on the bed, 'I doubt if Malis will want to be looking at those things very much,' she thinks. With a small sigh she crosses the room and opens the door. "Come in, it's clear." Adriena gives the two room to enter and then shuts the door behind them. After Ganthanor lays Malis on the bed, she goes to her side and asks, "Malis, how are you feeling? How many fingers am I holding up?" Adriena raises three fingers before Malis' eyes.

As Adriena is tending to Malis Ganthanor is moving about the room checking the walls, floor and ceiling for anything suspicious; however, he doesn't find anything. Malis, upon laying in the bed, closes her eyes and after a few seconds her breathing rhythm makes it seem as if she has gone to sleep oblivious to Adriena's questions.

Adriena sits on the edge of Malis' bed, deliberately avoiding a look at the poles on the foot of it and says to Ganthanor, "She's asleep, now. I imagine she'll be herself when she wakes up, though probably still a little woozy. We should talk some of our predicament. We will have to sneak out of here when Malis has full use of her facilities," Adriena says, pointing to her own head, "That will probably be the easiest task before us. Once out of here, we need to get into the fortress dungeon of our own free will. This, I do not know how we will do without Garth and Aan. What are your thoughts?"

Ganthanor says in small grunts, "Me have big sword... use big sword... bash heads in... get gold... go pub... drink till money all gone... come back... do it again...."

Ganthanor smiles weakly hoping to relieve some of the tension and frustration they must all be having. He speaks in hushed tones and small movements. "Seriously, I don't know. Maybe one of group followed us all this time and is outside watching now. It's us against a whole city of killers. Do you know where this dungeon is? Perhaps, I could go scout it out first."

Adriena's jaw drops a little when Ganthanor makes his joke, thinking he's lost his mind. She then realizes he is being funny and giggles. After his suggestion of scouting, she frowns, "I don't like the idea of splitting up, honestly. Those 'recruiters' scared me stiff. It might be ok, I guess. I can stay here with Malis until she is fully recovered, then we can all leave together, based on whatever you find out. I have no idea where you should go. Maybe if you went to a pub and listened... but, you don't understand the language." Frustration is plain on her face. "Maybe _I_ should go out. I can easily say that I need to get something from the market. I would love to have you along, but I don't think it would be wise to leave Malis alone here. What do you think?"

Adriena fidgets with her hands nervously, not knowing exactly how Ganthanor will respond and not feeling very sure of her idea herself.

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