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-----"You have overcome this stronghold," the villain continues disdainfully, "Stop this foolish game of burning me and let us barter over what each of us wants."
-----Woder then looks at each of the characters, the arrogant spark faded somewhat from his eyes.
-----Raven looks down at Woder and then puts out the fire. Raven says, "Okay start talking. Tell us everything you know or you'll be wishing I had let you burn. I'll let the Hunter's children feed on you and your screams will be heard by even the souls of the people you've killed." Raven’s face is like stone, but his eyes burn with anger.
-----"Very well," the strange-eyed assassin says in a resigned way, "no matter what you people think of me, I am what you might call a free agent. My talents are available to the highest bidder. I have learned in my dealings with the dark ones to work at the length of an arm with them. Their religious ideas I do not agree with or care for."
-----Woder turns his head and the adventurers can see him concentrating, searching for words. After a moment, he continues, "They all follow their dark goddess without question. The instructions that they receive from her I do not know nor do I even know if they act on her whims or merely their own. Of this Devlin, what I do know is that she wishes to eventually bring the dark ruin upon the forests. In the past, the dark ones’ method of placing their dark gems in the open has been unsuccessful. They have been disturbed by interlopers such as yourselves, no?" Woder casts them a questioning look as he asks this.
-----"The current plan," Woder begins again, "is to locate the fallen and ruined strongholds in the area, bring them to a state of repair and secure the gems inside while their darkness spreads."
-----Woder closes his eyes as if forced to give away the most dire of secrets. "The ultimate goal for the dark ones is once the forests have been claimed by the darkness, the dark ones can then bring their dark goddess upon the world. In a cave, beyond the town of Oakwood, her essence is already there guarded by Devlin and her followers awaiting the time she can come forth on the world."
-----Woder opens his eyes and a strange unfamiliar look is there. It is one of pleading. "Perhaps at one time I could have worked with the likes of you. You are worthy adversaries, however you do not have the strength or the ability to enter that cave and survive. I, myself, have been there, but I chose not to enter."
-----Woder pauses to see how everyone reacts.
-----Raven nods as Woder talks, "I believe you. What you say makes sense from what we've seen. When are the dark ones going to come for the gem you have?"
-----"I expect them to appear tomorrow night," responds Woder.
-----The Dread Pirate grins at Woder, "Arrr, I knew you could be cooperative if ye just had the proper motivation. Now what I want for ye to do is draw a map showing all the prominent terrain features around this cave. Since ye've been there before, ye shouldn't have much difficulty with that. While yer at it ye can tell us what sort of person Devlin is, what powers, skills, etc. How many troops there are around and inside this cave, how they be armed and armored. Whatever else ye think of that we might find useful. By the way, were ye the one that jumped Sarah back in that warehouse?"
-----The Dread Pirate frees one of Woder's arms, but keeps his feet bound and his other arm secured.
-----Woder’s eyes widen at Gimplefwick’s last question. As he stares toward the shadows in the great hall, his eyes narrow while he answers in great thought. "For what it is worth to you, in my opinion, it is astonishing that the young lady survived the encounter. You do not fully understand how powerful they have become. What took the young man and delivered him into the clutches of the dark ones are minions of the dark goddess. They were summoned forth from places not of this world."
-----Referring to the Dread Pirate’s earlier questions, Woder shakes his head and answers, "The followers of the dark goddess are most active during the night. Then it was that I was most nearest to their cave lair. I could lead you in the general direction, but I cannot give you feature details as I was lead myself during the night hours."
-----After Woder responds to his questions, the Dread Pirate asserts, "Well now, I'm not fer killin ye. I have a more fittin punishment in mind fer ye. I say we take ye to a powerful priest or mage and have them levy a curse on yer head that forces ye to atone fer all the evils ye've done in this world. Redeem yerself with the families of all ye've killed or wronged. I think that a fitting punishment. Til we can get you to such a person though, we'll take ye to the nearest town and have you locked up til we can retrieve yer sorry hide. By the way, what sort o' goods might ye have around this dump? Where be yer treasure? That'll go a long way towards improvin me opinion of ye."
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