ave f he hoenix

The eldest of the servants, a frail man with thin white hair and sunken blue eyes was the first to come to his senses after the death of his master.
"Brother, one of the last victims to be brought in is still alive. Please follow me." He slowly led them through into the kitchen then down a trapdoor into a dry cellar. Chained to one of the walls was a young man. He looked up in fear when he heard the footsteps but smiled when he saw that the servant was not accompanied by Kralan.
"Are you Miklar?" asked Ako and received a nod from the prisoner. The servant unlocked the shackles and helped the weak and wounded figure up the stairs and into the arms of his waiting mother who had heard the noise and along with a number of fisherfolk had come to see what was happening.
"It's over now." Said Ako, "You won't be bothered by people disappearing any more."

Grabthroat tugged on Trimus' elbow and whispered in the mage's ear. "I think I've found something interesting in the cellar."
"Show me." replied Trimus in hushed tones and waved to the others indicating that they should come with them. "What is it Grabthroat?" asked Trimus as they walked back to the cellar.
"Cain and I we just looking round the cellar while we waited for you to take the prisoner out when we saw some scratches on the floor by the manacles."
"That's probably where the prisoner scuffed the floor." Argued Darkhawk who had returned to his normal form.
"That's what Cain thought but I pointed out a small chink in the masonry that may be a secret door."
"A secret door." Repeated Trimus. "Leading where?"
"Good question. But if this is where Namulas lived …"
"The Nidus." Cried Trimus and hurried on ahead of the dwarf.
"Possibly" mumbled the dwarf. On the other hand it could be where he kept his experiments on beasts from the dimensions of darkness. Knowing our luck it will probably be the later."

Trimus arrived at the cellar where Cain was prying out fragments of mortar with a stick.
"It looks like who ever left this door intended not to return. It has been sealed shut, but time and the prisoners have picked at the gaps and almost released it for us."
A few moments with some of Trimus' more mundane daggers removed the rest of the mortar, then a swift, hard tug on the manacles opened the door. Beyond lay a long dark corridor. A few yards from the cellar a wooden door, much rotted at the foot was set into the north wall. Cain listened at the door before swinging it open. Inside a few bundles of decayed rope and barrels containing rancid salt pork. Grabthroat noticed a coin on the floor and bent to pick it up.
"This is interesting." He said buffing the coin on his jerkin. "This is only thirty years old. Whoever sealed up the entrance and placed these barrels here, it wasn't our friend Namulas."
"Unless there is another entrance to the tunnel." Replied Trimus. "Let's carry on and see what we find. This tunnel has to lead somewhere."
"Grabthroat, what to you think of the tunnel?" asked Ako casting a concerned look at the sagging roof and bulging walls.
"It should hold." Replied the dwarf, "Seeing it's dug through earth and clay rather than good strong rock, it's held up fairly well. As long as our friend doesn't go letting off any powerful magic we should be all right."

They continued down the passage for some time, ahead of them they could here the sound of gentle waves breaking on a pebbly shore. As they entered a small cavern they could see the floor gently sloping down into the lake.
"See." Said Trimus annoyingly. "I told you there was another way in. I bet that chamber we found higher up was used by smugglers to stash their ill-gotten gains."
"Yeah. Salt pork and rope. I bet they were sent to Borydos Island for that." sneered Grabthroat.
"Now what?" asked Darkhawk. "I f Namulas did build that secret door in the cellar it must have been for a better reason than for getting to his boat without it raining on him."
"I'm thinking!" snapped Trimus.
"While you're doing that I'll go and investigate the hidden door in the north wall." Replied Grabthroat."
"What!" exclaimed Trimus. "What secret door?"
"Nasty stutter that Trimus." Replied Grabthroat who walked up to the north wall of the cavern and started to run his hands over the wall. "If you look you will see that their is no east wall, the south wall is rough and irregularly shaped and the west wall has no space for a door. That leaves the north wall which is nice and smooth and here it is!" The dwarf pushed on a portion of the wall which swung inwards revealing a short passage.
"Grabthroat, you're a little marvel." Said Trimus warmly.
"Thanks. But less of the little if you don't mind." Replied the dwarf.
They walked cautiously down the corridor which ran barely twenty feet before ending in a solid wooden door. Upon the door was a notice, neatly written on a piece of parchment.

It seems we have found Namulas laboratory." Said Trimus rubbing his hands together. He then drew a wand from his pack and uttered a command word. "It's safe it hasn't any magical traps on it."
"If you don't mind, I'll check for any mundane traps." Said Cain stepping forward. He examined the door, the hinges, the handle and finally the stone slabs that ran under the door. "It look safe." He concluded.
Trimus turned the handle and gingerly pushed the door open. Then stopped.
"What is it?" whispered Darkhawk trying to see past the mage.
"I see, wondrous things." Trimus gasped and walked into the cavern beyond the door.
All stood awe-struck by what they saw. The huge cavern stretched into darkness to the north and east but it's contents almost filled it. For a moment Trimus had thought they had stumbled into a dragon's lair but when his eyes grew accustomed to the flickering shadows what was before him was even more extraordinary.

Standing in the centre of the chamber it's wings almost reaching the walls was a skyship. Built in the form of a giant bird the device was deep scarlet in colour, with 'feathers' picked out in gold. Trimus stood agog for a moment, his mouth sagging open. It took a while before anyone spoke or took in any of the other details of the room. In each of the rooms four corners stood a statue. Human in size but with a blank featureless face. To the left of the door there was a desk and chair. Upon the desk was a pile of dusty parchments. Sensing there may be more danger in the room Trimus cast a mirror image spell upon himself before venturing over to the desk whereupon he rummaged through the drawers and the parchments on the desktop before returning to the others.
"The skyship is named 'The Phoenix.'" Stated Trimus. As he was talking he noticed Ako and Darkhawk drawing weapons so he dived to one side to get out of their way. The four statues had uprooted themselves and had moved towards the door in a threatening manner. Their featureless visages seeming to make their approach even more frightening. Darkhawk and Ako with help from Grabthroat and Cain eventually managed to destroy the statues but not before Ako received a clubbing blow to the back of the head that nearly killed him.

"The craft will fly." Gasped Trimus. "Namulas cast many spells into it, spells of flying and invisibility as well as some others that I can't make out."
They wandered around the skyship looking for a way in. As they did so they noticed that the only windows were at the front where a bird's eyes would be. The scarlet paint work was scratched and chipped in places but the craft appeared to be in good condition.
"How does it get in and out of the cave?" asked Darkhawk.
"That is a very good question." Replied Trimus standing by the entrance door set into the port flank of the Phoenix. "Perhaps all will be made clear when we get inside."

Inside the Phoenix was warm, warmer than outside. There were eight bunks that pulled down from the walls and two doors, one forward and one aft. Looking through the forward door they could see a large chair. The craft curved around in front of this seat the arms of which ended in white orbs. The panel beneath the circular windows that looked out into the cave had four gems and a round cylindrical hole set into it. Trimus looked closer at the panel and managed to read some small neatly lettered words above each of the gems. The diamond had the word 'Invisibility' above it, the jacinth 'Fireball', the ruby 'Auto Pilot' and the sapphire 'Dimension Door'.
"I assume that if we touched that crystal it would take us out of the cave." Suggested Trimus pointing to the sapphire.
"What's meant to go in that hole?" asked Grabthroat peering into the diamond shaped hole at the centre of the four gemstone studs.
"I don't know. I will have to look through Namulas' notes to find that out. "What's through the other door Ako?"
"Looks like a storage room." The cleric called back. "Ropes, flasks of oil, lanterns and some bags and caskets. I'll just open them." Ako opened the boxes which to his delight contained a selection of potions, gems, coins and a scroll. He relayed this information back to Trimus who was soon standing beside the cleric.
"Not a bad haul." Said Grabthroat examining the small pile of precious and semiprecious stones.
"I think we should check the rest of the house out. Just in case our friend Kralan left any surprises behind." Suggested Darkhawk.
The others agreed, Trimus a little reluctantly, and they left the cave and returned down the passage to the house.

The house was plainly furnished and in need of repair, it seemed that Kralan had taken very little care of the building since he bought it. As they checked the rooms an idea began to gel in Trimus' head but he kept it to himself. The only items of interest were found in the master bedroom. Here a large locked chest succumbed to Grabthroat's axe and a large number of gold and silver coins spilled out onto a threadbare rug. Amongst the coins was an attractive pendant and a garnet and opal studded belt.
"We had better check that these don't belong to Kralan's victims." Cautioned Ako as Grabthroat started to stash the belt in his pouch.

After locking up the house and asking a pair of fisherfolk to keep a watchful eye on the place they returned to town and reported the events to the authorities. They were most appreciative of the efforts made in ridding the area of such a hideous creature.
"Thanks to you the people of Lakeside will now be able to go about their business without worrying about being eaten alive." Said councillor Falstead. "The house will be auctioned in two days time. The proceeds will go to the city council."
Trimus started to say something but a look from the councillor stopped him.
"All may bid for the property. To be honest, from what you have said I don't believe there will be much interest."

"We must buy that house!" said Trimus as they left the guild hall. "The Phoenix must fly again."
"Let's go back there tomorrow and see what we can do about getting it out." Said Darkhawk. "There may be something in those scraps of parchment you found."
Trimus nodded and they trudged wearily back to the Leaping Bream for supper and a few ales. Ako still very weak from his wounds earlier in the day took to bed early while Trimus stayed up into the early hours poring over Namulas' notes to the mild amusement of the serving girls who were sweeping out the taproom around him. He eventually retired to bed as the first hints of dawn were colouring the sky and the cries of cockerels could be heard in the distance.

After a swift breakfast, a much healthier Ako and a very weary Trimus along with the others walked back to Lakeside House where a shock awaited them. Standing before the door to the house were a pair of burly guardsmen.
"Sorry sirs, the house is now the property of the council. No one may enter it unless a member of the council is present to show them around until the auction. That's our orders, sir." The tallest of the guards stated as Trimus and the others tried to gain entrance.
"Has anyone else visited?" asked Trimus.
The guard thought for a moment before replying. "Yes. A merchant from Corenglain and an elven diplomat."

"What if they have found the skyship?" worried Trimus once the guards were out of earshot. "A wealthy merchant will be able to outbid us in the auction. Just imagine what we could do with the Phoenix. We could go anywhere. No more horses Grabthroat, or long sea journeys Ako."
"I'll probably get airsick instead." Grumbled the cleric.
"I'm going to go back to the cave and see if there are anymore notes on the Phoenix. The once I took yesterday didn't give me any hints on how to fly the craft." Stated Trimus and he began to walk towards the shore. There he hired a small rowing from one of the fishermen and with Darkhawk for company, and strength made his way towards the half submerged cave mouth. They had to hunker down as the cave roof almost brushed the gunwales of the boat at some points but before long they had the boat dragged up on the shingle beach beside the Phoenix. Trimus searched hard through the piles of unimportant papers left scattered by Namulas around the cave before he came across some in a strange runic script with a pictogram of the Phoenix at the head. Casting a read magic spell upon the parchment Trimus was able to read the notes easily.
"I've found them Darkhawk. I know how to fly the Phoenix" He said triumphantly, but then his face fell and he continued in a darker, more despondent tone. "There is only one thing missing, the control rod. Until we get that the Phoenix can't fly."

Trimus gathered up the remaining notes and after one lingering last look at the Phoenix cast a wizard lock spell on the door into the cave. He then let Darkhawk row them back to the others.
"Catch anything?" asked Grabthroat on their return.
"Just a few tiddlers." Trimus replied pointing to the sack at his feet. The fishermen grinned to each other and muttered a few cryptic remarks on the nature of the mages tackle and the bait he was using.

The next day they washed and dressed in their finest clothes before presenting themselves at the council hall. After posting a bond of five thousand Daros they were allowed into the main hall. There were few others in there but Trimus noticed an elf near the back conversing with a shorted man with a well trimmed beard. The elf appeared ageless like all his kind, his grey cloak covered a white tunic and dark blue trousers tucked into long black leather boots. A small silver nestled amongst the elf's long straw yellow hair. A few fat, overdressed merchants sat near the front of the hall talking loudly of nothing of consequence. A few moments later a councilman stepped up to a lectern and cleared his throat, then spoke in a clipped accent from typical of those brought up in the better parts of Akesoli.
"Good morning, gentlemen. Today we are auctioning the property know as Lakeside House. It has lately come into council ownership after the death of its previous owner. Bidding will start at ten thousand Daros. Who will give me ten thousand Daros?"
One of the merchants casually raised a hand and signalled to the auctioneer.
"Ten thousand Daros has been bid. Who will give me eleven?"
Trimus raised his hand.
"The price stands at eleven." The merchant raised his hand once more. "Twelve. Twelve thousand Daros to Mister Kimper.
The bidding continued this way between Trimus and the merchant for a few moments till the price reached fifteen thousand Daros.
"Twenty thousand Daros." Came a cultured voice from the rear of the hall. Trimus and the merchant spun round to see where the voice had come from. The elf returned their gaze with an icy stare.
"Twenty two thousand." Declared Trimus looking not at the auctioneer but at the elf instead.
"Mister Kimber?" inquired the auctioneer but the merchant shook his head.
"Thirty thousand Daros." Said the elf staring directly at Trimus.
A cold sweat ran down Trimus' neck. "He must know about the Phoenix." He mumbled to Ako, then louder bid again. "Thirty two thousand Daros."
The elf turned to his companion and the pair conversed heatedly for a moment. The elf threw his hands in the air and turned on his heel storming out of the chamber with a single glaring look back at Trimus.
"Are there any more bids?" asked the auctioneer. After a brief pause he slapped his hand on the lectern and said. "Sold to Trimus d'Alberon for thirty-two thousand Daros. Payment must be made to the council within two weeks."
Trimus collected and signed the registry rolls and left with the others for a day of selling gems and jewellery in the market square. They returned the following morning to collect the keys and deeds of ownership. Lakeside House was theirs along with the Phoenix.

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