he ouse y he ake

Grabthroat was not sure about Rintrah's plan to search Lakeside House.
"He has been gone from there for a long time." muttered the dwarf. "Any number of people may have lived there since or the building may have burnt down."
"True." Agreed Trimus, "But we have no other leads."
"I suppose you are right, Akesoli is a good as place as any to continue my quest." The dwarf shrugged.
They had been travelling for several days and were now awaiting the departure of the Lakedancer from Akaross to Akesoli. They had stopped off briefly in Crowlerd where they found that the monastery had been reconsecrated and things were returning to normal.

After three days journey over the lake, during which Captain Smeag Wagshop steered well south of the mysterious Itheldown Island, they arrived in Akesoli. They dropped off their baggage and stabled their horses at the Leaping Bream before heading for the council offices. Akesoli is the smallest of the 'Six Cities' of Darokin. Sited on the western shore of the Lake Amsorak the city is a major centre of trade. Shipbuilding is also a major industry, it is said that the shipyards of Akesoli produce the safest ships in all of the Known World. A large city guard protects the populace from attacks from the beasts that inhabit the deserts to the south west and the plains to the west. It has not been unknown for attacks to come from the east as well, large serpents capable of devouring a ship in a single gulp have been seen on many an evening after a fierce storm. Because of their constant wariness the guards are a bad tempered group and even law abiding citizens give them a wide berth. They have their own taverns and any outsiders that stray into one by mistake can end up a little the worse for wear.

The council offices occupied a three storied building fronting onto the main town square. A babble of noise filled the large room on the ground floor where general enquiries could be made and minor disputes settled. Fighting their way through the crowds Trimus and the others approached a desk and asked if there was any information pertaining to Lakeside House. The council officer made a note in a ledger and passed a copy of the question to a page standing beside him who scampered off into a room beyond.
"For such a search, a fee of one hundred daros is payable. In advance." The officer drawled.
Trimus counted a pile of coins into the man's hand and received a receipt in return.
"Come back tomorrow. We will have the information you require." He said distractedly.

After a night in the comfort of the Leaping Bream they returned to the council offices where they received a map and a scroll listing all the occupants of the property going back nearly two and a half centuries. Trimus scanned the page quickly and pointed to the fourth entry.
"5th day of Eirmont 850AC. Property sold for 4000 daros. New owner, Ilar Namulas. Occupation, practitioner of magic. That's it. The next entry states that the property was repossessed in 866 after the owner had not paid any property tax for ten years."
"Who owns it now?" asked Ako.
"A merchant by the name of Vedack Kralan." Replied Trimus. "I think we should pay him a visit and ask if he has anything that dates from the time of Namulas."
"Humph!" exclaimed Grabthroat. "Somehow I don't think a wealthy merchant will want the likes of us swarming all over his expensive property."
"I don't know about expensive." Continued Trimus. "After Namulas disappeared the next occupant paid ten thousand daros for the house. Kralan on the other hand only paid three thousand. Perhaps it is run down. Perhaps we could buy it off him?"
"It's worth a try." Agreed Darkhawk.

They made their way from the heart of the city though the suburbs to the lakeside where a winding path led down to a slightly ramshackle two story house. A number of smaller properties and boat houses also occupied the low cliff above the calm waters of the lake. On the shore line a few men were repairing nets and repairing the hulls of their craft lying like walruses on the gravely beach.
Trimus knocked on the door of Lakeside House and introduced himself and Ako while the others descended to the beach to talk to the fishermen.
Trimus was shown into a study where a man sat at a desk, a large ledger in front of him. The man was large with a heavy ruddy skinned face atop a bull like neck. Small piggy eyes squinted out from above flabby cheeks. His hands were large, with cracked and bitten nails. A ring on his index finger was almost swallowed up by rings of fat. "What is it." He demanded in a wet, bubbly voice. "I'm busy."
"We wondered if you knew anything of the previous owners of this house." Asked Trimus politely. "We are searching for news of a relative."
"No." replied the fat man. "Get out. I don't have time to deal with the like of you."
"Would you be prepared to sell Lakeside House?" continued Trimus slightly perturbed by the man's attitude.
"No. Good fishing here and I like the views. Now get out before the city guard on you. There ought to be a law against the likes of you pestering good honest merchants like myself. Go on. Clear off."
Trimus bowed and left. Once outside he and Ako were joined by Cain and Darkhawk.
"We have been talking with the fishermen." Began Darkhawk. "I take it you got no where with Kralan?"
"No. He seems a thoroughly obnoxious character." Replied Trimus. "What have you found out and where's Grabthroat?"
"He's down with Mistress Thuly, a fisherwoman." Said Cain. "There seems to be something strange going on here."

Mistress Thuly was about forty, with a weathered face and strong arms gained from a lifetime hauling nets full of fat fish from the lake. She curtsied as Trimus approached with drew a sigh from Grabthroat.
"Well, as I was telling your friends Master Trimus, I was wondering if you had seen my son Miklar while you were in Mister Kralan's house? His boat sunk this morning and I saw them take some bodies in there. I assumed you had come to heal him, they won't let me in, his own mother, to see him."
"It's not the first time neither" added another fisherman. "The same thing happened a few months ago. Something strange is going on in there."
"Have you tried the city guard?" asked Darkhawk.
"Yes. But they don't want to know. By the time they get around to searching the place there is no sign of the bodies. Kralan is a respected merchant in town so when it's his word against ours." The fisherman shrugged and his voice trailed off.
"When it gets dark. We will have a look around for you." said Trimus patting the fisherwoman on the shoulder.
"You can't be serious!" gasped Grabthroat. "There is no evidence that anything unusual is happening there. He may have just taken the people in to look after them."
"In that case he may have need of a cleric." Said Ako and strode towards the house.
A few moments later he returned a frown upon his face.
"He refused to see me. He denied having any injured people in there. I agree with you Trimus, something strange is going on."

That evening, after the sun had set and darkness cloaked the lake, Trimus and the others silently approached Lakeside House once more. A few lights were on but the building was quiet. Trimus withdrew a potion of gaseous form from his pack and quaffed it. Within seconds a cloud of vaguely Trimus like proportions was hovering above a pile of daggers and clothing. Trimus slipped through the narrow gap between the door and the floor and entered the house. Knowing he had only a little time before the potion ran out Trimus floated around the entrance hall. Noting little of the plain decor and chipped floorboards. Four doors led out of the room along with a flight of stairs leading to the floor above. Trimus oozed his way into the study where Darkhawk and he had had the abortive interview with the merchant a few hours earlier. Curiosity got the better of him and he spent a few moments searching the books on the shelves for anything that might be a link to Namulas but all he could find were business ledgers relating to the merchants dealings. Feeling himself thicken and solidify slightly Trimus continued his search of the house. He moved into the dining room where he saw Kralan tucking into a hearty meal. Ensuring he stayed in the shadows as much as possible Trimus wafted closer. To his horror he saw what the merchant was eating. As he watched the merchant picked a human finger in some sort of honeyed glaze and sucked the flesh from the bones. Giving a ghastly slap of the lips he did the same with a few more before bellowing an order for seconds. Trimus wondered for a moment whether a person in gaseous form could vomit then made his way, carefully but swiftly back to the entrance where he struggled back under the ill fitting door. Moments later he solidified and dressed himself as he told the others of what he saw.

"We must stop him!" croaked Ako disgusted at what Trimus had recounted.
"You don't say." Drawled Grabthroat limbering up with his axe.
"He looks like a powerful character under all that fat." Warned Trimus. Darkhawk nodded and changed into the form of a Celestial Knight. Ako muttered a blessing over the party. Cain suggests attacking the merchant from two directions. It may just confuse him for a moment. Darkhawk nodded and the party split. Ako, Darkhawk and Trimus were to enter via the front door while Cain and Grabthroat would enter via a large window in the dining room. Trimus made a noise like an owl which signalled the start of the assault. Cain smashed the window with a single kick while Grabthroat fired his crossbow throw the opening, his bolt ricocheting away as the merchant hastily raised his silver plate spilling gravy over the table and floor. Meanwhile Ako and Grabthroat had burst open the front door and were now entering the dining room. Kralan roared a curse and began to turn red, even redder than normal. Within seconds the merchant was replaced by a huge hog shaped creature with wicked curving tusks and a smooth pink hide showing through its ripped clothing. Trimus suddenly turned and cast a spell at Darkhawk, the fighter knocked backwards by a magic missile. While Ako had to duck aside to avoid the tusking from the creature.
"Don't look at his eyes!" cried Ako, "He's a Devil Swine!" Of course as soon as he said this Grabthroat looked straight at the monster but managed to shake off the effects of the beast's charm spell. The room was filled with a reverberation as Darkhawk blasted the Devil Swine which flung it backwards into the range of Grabthroat's axe.
"Help me you fool!" cried the monster badly injured by now. Trimus turned, eyes glazed and loosed another magic missile at Darkhawk but this did not have the power of his previous attack. Cain had leapt into the room and was keeping a trio of servants at bay with a flurry of kicks, aiming to stun them rather than kill as he recognised the same glassy eyed stair in their eyes as he had in Trimus' eyes. A final swing of the axe from Grabthroat into the beast's gut which impacted at the same moment as a crushing blow from Ako's mace finished the Devil Swine off. At the same instant Trimus and the servants slumped to the floor clasping their heads.
Seeing the gore and the destruction the servants screamed and tried to run, but Ako and Cain held them back and explained in gentle tones what had happened at that they were not to blame for the horrors that had taken place.

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