After a few minutes of uneasy silence, Adriena rises from the bed. "Maybe we shouldn't do anything drastic right away. Let's wait and see how Malis recovers. You should stay with her. I will take the room across the hall, but first I'm going to poke around this place. Maybe I can uncover some information that will aid us." Adriena stops next to Ganthanor on her way to the door. Rising on her toes, she gives him a kiss on the cheek, then passes from the room.

Ganthanor seems quite fushed and is unsure of himself at the moment. He lets Adriena go and again examines Malis' room, paying more attention to the floor as well as a thorough inspection under the bed. He doesn't find anything unsual in his inspection of the floor and the only thing under the bed of note is the fact that the four corners of the bed are bolted down to the floor.

Ganthanor thinks to himself as he is searching, "what was it that Orc said. He wishes desperately he could speak Orcish. I hope it wasn't some kind of warning. From the general indications from her body movements and expressions, he's sure she was telling him to stay in the other room. Wonder if I'll get in trouble if I'm caught here?"

Adriena closes the door to Malis' room and leans against it. She shakes her head to clear it of unwanted thoughts and crosses the hall to her room. Slowly she opens the door and peers in. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, she enters to see that the room is identical to Malis' room except for the fact that the bed does not have any posts at the foot of the bed.

Sticking her head out in the hallway, Adriena both looks and listens. She sees that Malis' room is the closest to the stairs, there is a door across the hall from her room. Adriena's and Ganthanor's rooms are next moving away from the stairs. Further down the hallway there are 8 more doors, four on each side, and then a wall indicating the end of the hallway. Listening, Adriena does not hear anything.

Adriena steps back into the hall and bites one of her fingernails as she tries to decide which way to go. After a moment she decides that anyone in the rooms on her floor are probably not anyone that she wishes to talk to, so she approaches the stairs. She listens for a few seconds and doesn't hear anything. Slowly she decends the stair case. She arrives at the door to the first level that she came through just a little time ago. She sees the door as well as the stairs leading downward..

Adriena takes a deep breath and after a final glance at the door that she knows what is behind slowly decends the stairway. Mentally she rehearses the magical words that will unlock the Shocking Grasp spell that is held in her mind as he nears the bottom of the stairs. "Hopefully I will not have to use it," she muses to herself.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs there is two doors. One to the left side of the stairs and one to the right. Listening at one door and then the other Adriena does not detect any sounds coming from them. The doors themselves are made of oak with strong metal bands. There are no hinges on the outside the door and to Adriena's inexperienced eye the locks on the doors look very daunting.

Adriena drums her chin with her fingertips for a moment, then turns to the left door. She carefully examines it looking for runes or any other sign of magical warding. She doesn't notice anything out of the ordinary about the doors, other than the fact that they look very sturdy, unlike any of the other doors she has seen in the house, the hinges are on the other side of the door and to her inexperienced eye seem to have sophisticated locks.

Adriena's mind strays only once from her task to reflect on her dire wish for better circumstances and her friends' safety. "Where could the others be?" she thinks to herself, but no matter how hard she tries, Adriena can't think of any way that they might be safe, if indeed they are even still alive. She attempts to turn her rear into resolution and returns to her search for magical traps, "I hope there aren't any mechanical traps. I would hate to be stabbed, blugeoned, shot, burned or crushed so far from home," she thinks to herself.

Adriena stands for a few long moments, thinking. Finally, she decides that opening the doors on her own would be tantamount to suicide and, although that might appeal to some others at this point, that is not an option. Instead, she knocks loudly on the left door.

Adriena stands nerviously in front of the door as the seconds tick by.. Though, nothing happens. Adriena finally gives up her fruitless search and heads back up the stairs and slowly opens Mali's door saying, "Gan, its me."

Inside, the alert Ganthanor already had his sword half out of its sheath before hearing Adriena. Ganthanor steps forward and speaks in very hushed whispers, "Adriena, what did you find? I was able to get a little bit of rest and feel much better than I did."

Adriena replies, "I'm afraid I found nothing, Ganthanor. The rooms around us are quiet. There are two large doors a few floors below us. I looked for secret doors, but found none. I knocked on the two big doors and received no answer. I didn't dare try to open them for fear of traps. I figured if something were to happened to me, you two would never know, so I returned."

Ganthanor says, "I still think we need to get out of here and only after you get some rest too," Ganthanor stands in front of Adriena like a mother hovering over her young children, daring them to disagree.

The imposing figure of Ganthanor makes Adriena feel much safer and tension slips from her shoulders. "I am feeling wrung out, so I will go to my room and get some rest. Has Malis shown any signs of recovery?"

Looking over at Malis, it is clear that the last few days have been very tramatic for her. The party was only with the caravan for a few days but Malis looks as if she is past the first trimester period of a pregnancy. At the moment, it appears that Malis actually is resting peacefully, her tusked face is smooth and untroubled and her breath comes easily.

Adriena is not sure how long it will take Malis to overcome the drugs that have been forced upon her but perhaps when Malis wakes something might be able to be done.

Turning to Ganthanor, Adriena says, "I think they will come when night falls and check up on us. I will go now and get some sleep. You try to get more rest, too. I'll see you tonight." Adriena rises on her toes and gives Ganthanor a light kiss on the check, "Thanks for watching her" and slips out the door.

Adriena crosses the hall and enters her own room. Without undressing, she adjusts her 'tummy' and finds a comfortable position to sleep in.

Ganthanor finds a spot as well to rest. He stays in the room and sleeps near the door positioned so that when the door is opened, it should wake him up.

The hours drift by and the party sleeps soundly. After an unknown period of time, both Adriena and Ganthanor are awoken by a piercing scream. Ganthanor springs to his feet, his sword out, looking for enemies. Sitting up in the bed is Malis, her wide eyes seem clear of the fog that has been on them these past days. She gasps for air as her scream ends.

Ganthanor looks around ready to strike but soon realizes through his fog clouded mind that there are no enemies nearby. He realizes it is just Malis.... then it dawns on him why she is screaming.... {dear God... no... she just found out and she knows now....}, Ganthanor thinks.

Ganthanor says, "Malis... it's Ganthanor... I'm here... calm down...."

{Hurry up Adriena... get over here... I can't comfort her like you can...}, Ganthanor's mind screams out with renewed rage but he does not show it.

Adriena springs from her bed in fright. Easily discerningthe source of the scream, she flings open her door and nearly breaks down Malis'. Terror grips her heart when she sees a huge orc standing over Malis with a drawn sword. 'Shocking Grasp' on her lips, she raises her hands... only to drop them again when her mind finally realizes who she is seeing. "Oh, Ganthanor! Is she alright?" Adriena moves to the side of the bed and eases Malis back to a lying position. "Easy, Malis. Ganthanor and I are with you. The drugs are beginning to wear off, thank the gods."

Malis' eyes squint in anger, her hands tightening on the blankets that cover her. Slowly she raises the blankets and looks underneath them. Quite calmly she lowers the blankets and says simply, "I will kill him."

Turning again to Ganthanor, "That scream probably woke the whole place. I'm sure that bitch will read it as a cue and be up here any minute. Let's not do anything rash just yet. We'll let her have a look and see if she will tell us anything about Malis' condition. Once we know where she stands we can make our plans. Ok?"

Adriena looks around for a bowl and some water. She returns to Malis' side and asks with great concern, "Malis, how do you feel? Are you weak or sick? Is your mind clear?"

Ganthanor says, "Malis... It's Ganth... speak to us if you can... how are you feeling?"

Malis says, "I am..fine..all things considered. This is the first time since we met the Orcs that I can remember having a clear mind," Loooking at Adriena she asks, "What happened?"

Ganth looks very worried and wonders just how quickly this situation is going to get volatile. He thinks back to the beginning of this mission... what the hell possessed that woman to pick us? We've lost half our group already.... We need help....

He steps back a moment and leans against the wall.... He thinks very loudly and screams as loud as he can in his mind., {I'M SURE YOUR POWERS ARE STRONG! BUT ARE YOU EVEN CONCERNED ABOUT THE PEOPLE YOU SENT TO DO YOUR BIDDING ARE FAILING MISERABLY?!? LADY! ARE YOU EVEN THERE TO HEAR MY THOUGHTS?! IF YOU ARE MONITORING US....}

Ganthanor's thoughts echo thought his mind but he doesn't sense any reply.

Ganth gives up knowing we're on our own and there is no help coming.... He whispers in Adriena's ear, "Adriena... as soon as Malis is well... we're leaving this god forsaken place.... I'm not taking it anymore.... we have to be .... " He stops knowing that Malis needs comforting and now is not the time.

Adriena lays a comforting hand on Ganthanor's shoulder, "Ok, Ganthanor. We'll go. I am wondering, though, if it would be a good idea for all of us to explore this place together. It's certainly too dangerous to do alone. We may be able to equip ourselves from their stores , at least, and maybe we can find something to aid us further."

Adriena waves Ganthanor to the door to keep an ear out for company and says to Malis, "First things first. You are pregnant by Haratai, yes, and we are in his house in the City. There is an orc woman who wears a broach like this but with different colors. It marks us as chosen by Haratai, I guess as his personal acolytes. She is the only other orc we have met and she isn't very nice.

"We have had no contact with the others. Now, we met the orcs, you remember..." Adriena recounts the events leading up to the present moment, including Ganthanor into the tale when she tells of what she saw downstairs.

Malis listens to Adriena and her expression turns darker as Adriena continues. Ganthanor sits by the door listening but he doesn't hear anything from the hallway. Towards the end of her story, as she is telling about her explorations in the house, the door suddenly flies open, knocking Ganthanor over on his back, he didn't hear anything up to this point.

Standing in the doorway is the female Orc that Adriena was recently describing to Malis. Behind the orc there are two other male orcs. They are very tall for orcs and seem very muscular. They both carry large wooden batons with metal caps at the ends. The two orcs can easily see over the female orc and do so, scanning the room. Their gaze passes over Adriena without stopping, one of the orcs actually sneers, before halting their gaze on Ganthanor, who is laying flat on his back on the ground.

The female orc kicks Ganthanor slightly to get him to move out of her way as she heads over to Malis saying, in orcish, "What is going on here?"

Ganthanor scrambles out of the way in the fashion of a man/orc who is scared and slightly cowardly. He gets to his feet and backs away from the female orc hag. He doesn't say anything since he's mute and puts his back to the wall.

Adriena lifts her nose at the two big orcs and answers for Malis, ignoring any looks or words from the she-orc, "Bad dreams. Nothing I can't handle. She needs to get some excersize and fresh air. After being drugged for so long, she will need to regain her strength for child-birthing. Do you have any objections?" Adriena folds her arms into her sleeves and gets a firm grip on her hidden dagger. She does not acknowledge Ganthanor or the others, but keeps her eyes on the bitch.

The Orc looks at Adriena for a second and then an evil-looking smile bursts onto her face, "Objections? Not anymore," she nods at the two bruiser orcs and says, "Remove them from the premises, they no longer serve a purpose." Her smile grows larger as she instructs, "Feel free to use force if they resist."

Obediantly each of the bruiser orcs move into the room and head for Ganthanor and Adriena. They both hold their batons with practiced ease.

Adriena says, "You could not guess our purpose, man-mate." She throws the dagger hard at Number One and runs across the bed trying to escape the big orc. Her dagger flies straight and true and hits the orc in the chest. A faint metallic sound is heard and the dagger drops to the ground leaving Number One apparently unscathed.

In common Adriena begins to say, "They mean to kick..." The rest of her statement is cut off as the bruiser orc swings his baton and connects with Adriena's head. Adriena reels from the blow, stars dancing across her vision.

Ganthanor barely unsheathes his sword when his bruiser orc swings at him with his baton. Ganthanor is able to sloppily deflect the baton with his sword but is out of position to launch his own attack, he yells, "Adriena! Use your magic against the female orc!"

Malis tries to get up from the bed but collapses, still too weak from her ordeals.

Number One sneers at Adriena and after Ganthanor yells, a smile comes across her face. She utters some arcane words and two black colored missiles, hardly larger than a dart, fly from her fingers and strike Adriena. Adriena, already reeling hits the ground, unconscious.

Ganthanor feels like his and the party's lives are at stake here. If he goes down, it's all over for the group. Inwardly, he realizes Malis will survive but he knows Adriena and himself could be dinner tonight for the Orcs. Rage builds within him and he fights with all he's got. Using his proficiency with his sword, Ganth attacks the big orc on him, giving up the silent prayer, {please please please, if you do this for me I'll be a regular church attender from now on....}

Ganthanor feints at the orc and then slices at the orcs arm. The bruiser moved too far from the feint so Ganthanor's sword pierces him through the chest instead of the arm. The bruiser falls to his knees but is still conscious.

Number One shrieks and lets out a curse before weaving her hands again and tossing a handful of sand in the air. Ganthanor sees the orc in front of him slump to the ground before his own eyes droop and close.

Malis' eyes close as well, unable to keep them open. Number One kicks the fallen bruiser awake and curses at him for a few seconds. Finally she pulls out Ganthanor's sword and lays a hand of healing on the bruiser. Number One quickly moves over to Adriena and checks for a pulse, she then casts another spell of healing on Adriena. Satisfied, Number One searches Adriena and takes her spellbook and brooches.

With a mischevious grin she turns back to the two bruisers, "Take them to the poor quarter. Drop them off in an alley, leave them their weapons, they will need them. Since they are not dead, Haratai will not have any reason to punish us. Besides, we still have the Vessel. I don't think that we will hear from them again."

The bruiser orcs, after given Ganthanor a few thumps on the head to make sure he doesn't wake too soon, drag the two orcs by their hair down the stairs and out of the building. No one seems to pay attention to the two as they drag their packages through the city. Reaching a suitable alley, the two quickly search the bodies for their money purses and then slam their packages up against a wall, tearing out handfulls of hair, and leave then them be.

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