We were disturbed in the night, although not as bad as we had feared.  Bob
was on first watch with Brianna.  Just a few hours after we had bedded
down, we were awakened by Bob and Bri, who said that they could hear the
horses, whom we had left tethered in the courtyard, screaming.  Merlaine
listened for a while, and yup, it sounded like screaming horses.  We did
not want to undo the runelock on the doors for no good reason, so Merlaine
drew forth her crystal ball.  After a minute of meditation, she was able to
see what was transpiring in the courtyard.
	The horses were merely frightened, not being attacked, which put Shali at
greater ease.  The beasts were frightened because three of the bodies we
had so recently slain and dragged into the courtyard, had gotten up.  Then
the animate corpses had walked over to the store room, opened the door, and
were now methodically breaking every single silvered arrow in that room.
	We discussed this for a bit.  After all, silvered arrows are valuable, but
we had each grabbed a good score or more from the barrel when we were
searching that room.  So, it was decided that we would leave the zombies to
their work, and hope that they did nothing more destructive during the
night.  The sleep was most welcome let me tell you!

	Day the next:  In the morn, we were discussing what to do about the
zombies.  We figured that who or whatever had animated them was still
around.  It was then that our captive, whose name turns out to be Rupert,
spoke up.  He said that it was probably the work of something he called The
Spook.  He said that the temple was haunted, and  that odd things would
occasionally happen, and that men had gone missing, but only when they were
alone.  So, the men had taken watches in threes, and avoided the area of
the small temple cemetery.
	Rupert continued on to say that the men had had orders to delay us as long
as possible.  Not to attack us outright, but delay us.  As far as Rupert
could tell, they had done their best, and died in the doing, all but him.
So, Rupert reasoned that he had fulfilled his mission.  He said that if we
were intent upon going after these slavers, whom he still termed "the old
men", that we would certainly need an extra sword, and he was a mercenary
without a current hire.
	We discussed this for a while as well.  Could we accept into our ranks a
man who had so recently been trying to kill us?  After a bit of talking, we
decided that we would hire him.  A deal was negotiated whereby Rupert was
paid one gold shilling by us, and got to keep three shares of the advance
his mercenary company had been given by the slavers.  So, Rupert is better
off now that he was a few minutes ago.  If we find the pay chest, he gets
the pay of three men rather than one, and he does not get questioned, or
left in the temple alone where he would surely fall victim to this "spook."
Since it was obvious to all, even Rupert, that it was in his best
interests to stay with us, we agreed to the deal.  He and Shali shook hands
on the bargain, and we gave Rupert back his armor and weapons.
	I then counterspelled the runelock upon the great brass doors, and we
emerged to see what the zombies had done during the night.  We were happy
to note that they had not attacked the horses.  They had however, destroyed
every silvered arrow and damaged beyond repair the silver daggers that we
had left upon the bodies of the mercenaries.  It could have been worse.
Rupert told us about the parts of the temple we had not explored yet.  They
contained the mercenaries barracks, the commanders and lieutenants
quarters.  Rupert said he also thought there might be some horses remaining
in the stables.  And indeed, in a small stable we had passed while being
led by the dire wolves, we found three quarter horses, along with kite
shields and lances a plenty, and even leather barding for the horses!
Shali spent a while currying the horses and refreshing their food and
water.  We did not have time to take them out for the exercise they
obviously need, but we will take them with us if we are able to.
	After that we searched the commanders quarters.  It was off to the side of
a very peaceful small garden growing within the walls of the temple.  Also
in this garden was a door that Rupert said led to the tiny cemetery, also
within the walls of the temple.  We examined the door and noted that it had
an aura of Celestial magics about it, so we left it alone.  In the
commanders quarters we found a large locked chest beneath his bed,
otherwise the quarters were very spartan.  Brianna examined the lock, and
said that she did indeed detect a needle trap of some sort within it.
Alas, her attempt to circumvent this trap did not succeed, and we heard her
curse as a long needle rammed its way into the palm of her hand.  She
hardly had time to cry out for help before her voice, and then her legs,
and then all her muscles failed her.  She toppled to the floor and lay,
unmoving, breathing very shallowly.  Merlaine was called, and bent to her
work.  After some time, Brianna's breathing became easier, and then slowly,
very slowly, her muscles returned to her command.  After about half an
hour, Brianna could sit up again, and Merlaine was sweating with the effort
it had taken to remove the toxin, which she said was synthetic, and made by
a very good alchemist, from Brianna's system.
	With her next attempt a while later, Brianna had much better luck with the
lock.  When we cautiously opened the chest, we were impressed at the sheer
number of gold shillings that filled it.  There were thirty leather bags
within that chest, sitting atop a small hill of gold.  Rupert was
delighted, we had found the mercenaries pay chest.  He counted out the
advance pay of three men, which came to 175 gold shillings, put that into
the leather bag that had his name embroidered on it, and tucked that into
his pack.
	To-gurrick on the other hand, was outraged.  He was incensed that the
human mercenaries, whom he considered no better than himself, were paid in
gold, while he and his clan were paid in silver.  Given the curses and
precisely detailed descriptions of what To-gurrick will do to the slavers
once we actually encounter them, I would in no wise want to be one of them.
The chest we closed and put back under the bed.
	Then it was back to the corridor of statues.  We examined the secret door
for some time, but could find no trigger to open it.  We theorized that
perhaps the altar stone had something to do with opening them, as Marquessa
had told us it was the way down.  Well, it turns out that Merlaine keeps
somewhat of a journal herself, for she drew forth the sheaves of parchment
and looked up Marquessa's description of the place.  There indeed was a
detailed description of the altar.  It was said by Marquessa that if the
pear in the center of the altar was pushed, the stone would slide back
easily.
	So, we looked and sure enough, there, in the center of the bowel was a
pearl,  With a pole we gingerly pressed down upon the pearl.  When nothing
occurred, Myself and Bob pushed upon the stone, and the block slid back
with ease.
I wish it had not.  For underneath that altar was a circular stairway cut
into the stone.  And the stench that arose from that hole was foul beyond
description.  Even the swamp caves of Derlen did not have such a stench.
The thought that there could actually be people down there, alive in that
odor, caused my heart to sicken.  We tried the secret door now with the
altar pushed back, to no avail.
	We wanted to be well sure that nothing could come at us from behind once
we committed ourselves to that pit, so we shut the altar and continued to
search for the way to open the secret door. Finally, after a while of
fruitless searching,  Merlaine agreed to cast her spell of opening.  We all
stood back as she cast the first spell upon the smaller secret door, which
is actually embedded within the larger secret door.
	When her spell was complete, the small panel turned with a slow grinding
noise.  It turned completely around to reveal a flat black stone wall,
which had mounted on it the most enormous piece of fire opal I have ever
beheld.  It was an oval at least two feet long and near as wide.  This
magnificent stone was set in a most ornate frame of delicate silver and
amber.  We gawked at this stone for a while, and wondered at its use.  I
told my companions what I knew about these stones, which as I am of the
Mountain Folk, is more than most.  I told them that fire opal was rumored
to aid seers and astrologers in their quest for visions; that it was
supposed to give great clarity of vision concerning the future, but that
madness often resulted from over using the stone to see with.
	We considered the stone for sometime more, and decided that it was cut so
thinly that to try to remove it would be sure to shatter it.  So, Merlaine
then cast her spell of opening on the larger of the two secret doors.  This
door opened inward, to reveal a small room, not ten feet deep, but over
fifty feet long.  The dust was inches thick in this room.  It is obvious
that the slavers never discovered the room.  The walls of this room were
divided into cubbyholes, each maybe six inches square.  Each and every one
of these cubby holes contained a neatly arranged pile of human bones.
Also, at the far end of this room, there were three complete skeletons
stretched out on the floor, and four very ornate oil lamps of silver, well
over six feet high, sitting on the floor.  We wondered at this room for a
bit.  But then, realizing the havoc a spell to animate the dead could cause
in such a room, we shut the door,with the use of Merlaine's opening spell,
for in no wise would any of these doors yield to our  pushing.
	Then we rested and ate our lunch, in order to allow Merlaine to recoup the
strength she had used casting the spells of opening.  Also, since we were
next going to brave the pit, I cast two of my remaining four Portal
runesticks in a corner and cast the spell of Runeportal upon them, thus
activating them.  Now their partners sit in my bag, waiting for another
spell should we need to exit in a haste whatever we find below.
	Alas, we could not delay it any longer.  We were well healed and well
rested, we each had a pack containing a weeks rations, water and repair
kits for our various weapon as well as a physikers kit and such.  Nowhere
to go but down.
	Once again we opened the altar, and once again our eyes watered and our
throats tightened at the stench that arose.  Brianna cast witchsight spells
on those of us that could not see in the dark, and we were ready.  Since
caverns and underground ways are my home terrain, I went first.  We roped
ourselves together, so that should one of use slip and fall on those narrow
winding stairs, the others would catch them.  Down and down we went, well
over a hundred feet.  As we neared the bottom of the stairs, we could
clearly hear the bellowings of some great creature, or creatures, below us
in the darkness.
	Nor were we mistaken in our hearings.  When we reached the bottom of that
long stair, we found ourselves in a natural cavern, perhaps once used to
store goods that liked the cool and damp, such as wine.  But now, its
purpose was very different.  After only a minute to unrope ourselves and
look about, we beheld the source of the roarings.  Three ogres, clothed
only in rags and armed only with their bare hands, loomed out of the
darkness as they rushed us.
	Caught as we were in the mouth of a tunnel, only a few of us could fight
side by side.  To-gurrick and I were in the fore, and met the charge of
these creatures.  Merlaine put one to sleep before they even reached us,
and its companions ran by it.  When the charging creatures met us,
To-gurrick gave a mighty swing to his sword and near cut the first one in
twain, but he overestimated the power of his stroke, and his sword smashed
into the rock wall of the cavern, shattering into a thousand fragments.
The second ogre, seeing his chance, leapt upon To-gurrick and started to
pound him with his massive fists and chew on him with those wickedly curved
teeth.  At this moment, several more ogres, attracted by the howling of the
first, appeared.  And Rupert yelled that ogres were coming down the
corridor to our rear as well.
	Shali, always the quick mind, sized up the situation and ordered us about.
Rupert and Brianna were to hold the rear, while I, Bob and Vasquez were to
hold the front, with Merlaine bringing down any that she could with spells
of sleep.  These orders liked me well, for they had me just where I was,
doing just what I was doing.
	Bob and Vasquez covered me with a deadly fire of arrow and bolt, while
Shali leaped in when needed.  Several ogres never even made it to me,
felled as they were by sleeping.  In the rear, Rupert and Brianna were
faring well.  Rupert had stunned one with a quick thrust from his sword,
and then he along with Brianna's well placed arrows killed the beast.  A
second ogre tried to climb over the body of its companion, and met a
similar fate at the hands of Bri and Rupert.  The two bodies blocked the
low tunnel completely, so the other ogres that had been following went back
into the darkness, to come at us from another tunnel.
	And To-gurrick.  I must say that I have never seen any warrior beat an
ogre to death with his fists, but that is what To-gurrick did.  Of course,
he was wearing cestus, but still, it was an impressive feat to behold.  And
I well remember that it was To-gurrick that gave both Bob and I concussions
enough to addle our wits for days.
	My axe saw no rest during the battle.  The second ogre to reach me
received a belly would with my wide blade, and never recovered.  He lay at
my feet the entire battle, bleeding up a storm as he died, but never once
regaining enough composure to fight.  It was a distressing sight indeed.
	Ogre after ogre charged, and was stuck full of arrows or bolts, only to
run up against me and my axe.  Time after time they threw themselves at me
trying to pull me down where they could use their teeth and my axe would be
useless.  But I have well learned by now the technique of ramming the haft
or blade front into the belly of an opponent whilst stepping aside ever so
slightly, so they they are driven back and remain at weapons length.
	  These creatures had no armor but their skin to protect them from our
blades, and so fell easily.  There was once tense moment, when an ogre
climbed over the bodies in front of me, and over the wrestling forms of
To-gurrick and his ogre, to attack Bob and Vasquez, who were armed only
with bows.  But that ogre went down in a spray of blood, a victim of my axe
and Shali's daggers.
	Near to the end of this fray, To-gurrick finished pounding his ogre to
death, and no sooner was he on his feet than he was jumped by one of the
ogres which had gone around.  He gave this ogre such a mighty clout to the
head that it was stunned and was easy prey for axe, dagger and arrow.
	Afterward, as we waited for Merlaine to recover from the effects of so
much killing around her, we took stock of who was sore wounded and who was
still in the trim.  As we did this it came to us that none of us were more
than scratched.  We had fought and killed a dozen ogres with no serious
threat to ourselves.  As we examined the bodies of these creatures, the
reason for this miracle became evidently clear.  Each corpse bore welts on
its wrists and ankles from thick manacles, and many bore the red welts of a
huge lash upon their backs.  They were also thin and gaunt, having been
deprived of food and water for long periods. These ogres had been broken,
stripped of the will to fight or resist, so that they could then be made
into more tractable and trainable slaves.  Their spirits had been shattered
by starvation, lash and abuse, so that when our weapons wounded them, the
will to rally, to fight on, was not there.  Instead, they just accepted
what was, and did not have the will to fight, even to save themselves.  I
never thought to feel pity for a beast such as an ogre.  But that is what I
felt.  No beast, no matter how base or abhorrent, should suffer the abuse
that these wretched creatures had obviously suffered.
	In this world, such suffering should be reserved for only one form of
creature, abhorrent to Clangedinn's sight, the slaver.  And most
particularly amongst them, Dolgenens.
	Still reveling in the near miraculous battle, we searched about the
cavern.  It did not take us long to locate our path.  Shali, having just
turned down a side tunnel, emerged from that same tunnel screaming loud
enough to wake the dead ( of which there were plenty) and ran off into the
darkness of the caverns.  Soon however, she had calmed down and returned.
She told us that she had seen a huge wall of bones down the tunnel.  At
this Vasquez groaned, for it was many years ago, when she was fighting a
group of necromancers that were plotting to destroy an Elven archery
festival by attacking it with skeletons, that she encountered such a wall,
and her hair has been white as fine linen ever since.
	After some discussion, Bob put on a blindfold, and slowly walked up to the
wall.  Once there, he starting bashing at the wall with his new silvered
mace.  We all listened for some time, until we heard a crack and horrific
tumbling crash.  We all peered around the corner to see what had
transpired.  Several of us just screamed and ran, some others of us just
stood, paralyzed with fear, for what did we see behind the shattered
remains of that horrid wall, but another wall of bones.
	It took us some time to collect ourselves.  Bob tried to use his bola to
bring down Brianna and keep her from running off into the darkness of the
caverns, but missed, and it was To-gurrick who grabbed her, and just held
her in the air until she stopped kicking and screaming.  After a time,
those of us ( myself included ) who had been struck dumb by the wall,
recovered and we could reassemble ourselves.  Only a few of us could look
at the wall without running in terror, and they noticed that there were
many bones, both human and ogre, scattered in front of the necromantic
wall.  Suspecting a trap, Shali examined the aura of the place, and lo and
behold, discovered the the entire corridor reeked of necromancy.
	We suspected it had to do with the large number of bones about, and so
came up with a plan.  Bob once again crept up to the wall, mace in hand,
and started bashing at it.  At the instant his first stroke contacted the
wall however, the bones on the floor began to knit together and rise on
their own.  We had expected this, and Bob started running.  While the
skeletons assembled themselves, Bob ran for all he was worth.  Just as the
last skeleton had finished assembling itself and reached down to pick up
one of the giant ogre bones, Bob was well past them and into the main
cavern.  The skeletons, as we expected, followed Bob.
	They followed Bob down the tunnel, and as they were slower, Bob easily
outdistanced them.  When we was clear, Merlaine cast a webbing spell upon
them.  All of the ones in the front of the horde ( for there a dozen or
more of these bone soldiers) were stuck.  Nor could they get out, as they
are not very strong, nor did they have swords or knives to cut the web, but
only huge bones as clubs, which only serve to get even further stuck in the
web if you flail them about.
	We noticed that the rear three skeletons however, had not been stuck and
had gone down a connecting tunnel.  Vasquez,To-gurrick, Bob, Rupert and I
moved to intercept them.  The battle with these bone men was short, and we
took only a few hits from their clubs.  When we returned to the main
cavern, it was to see Shali and Merlaine lobbing rocks at the webbed
skeletons.  Those two are quite good in the throwing of rocks, and had
broken several of our opponents to dust.
	Then it was that Merlaine's webbing spell gave out, she could hold it no
longer.  So, released, the animate bones closed in on Bob.  We of course,
stood between them and him.  The fight was a brief one.  I and To-gurrick
and Vasquez gave those undead beasts quite a pounding withaxe, sword and
fist, while Merlaine and Shali continued to hurl well aimed rocks.
	After this battle, we took stock of ourselves, and had some patching up to
do.  I , To-gurrick, Rupert and Vasquez had been hit on several occasions.
Still and all, we were not all that badly off and were soon on our way down
the tunnel so recently inhabited by the walls and skeletons.
	After perhaps a hundred feet, Brianna called a halt.  She had seen
something odd about a section of wall and wanted to check it further.
After examining it with her tools, she pronounced it a secret door, and a
trapped one.  Shali had detected the aura of Sorceries of the Mind about
it.  After a bit of trying Brianna could in no way figure out how the door
opened, so we decided to come back to it, and went on further.
	It is a good thing that as a general rule we move slowly and as quietly as
we can ( which is not all that quietly, considering we have three now
armored in chain or partial plate armor..and mine badly dented to boot).
For not fifty feet later Brianna called another halt, having heard the
barest whisper of voices ahead of us in the tunnel.  We retreated back down
the tunnel, and in a whispered discussion, decided that Walking unseen
spells were worth the risk.  So, Merlaine, Bob and Brianna made us all
Unseen within short order, and then Bri and Shali proceeded down the tunnel
to see where the voices had come from.
	What they saw were two men, armed with whips, flails and daggers.  These
two were peering through what, when it was closed, would be a very hard to
detect door.  They were whispering to themselves and peering out of the
cracked open door every few seconds.  Obviously, they were expecting
something; us most likely.  Bri and Shali snuck past them and looked into
the room just beyond the turn in the tunnel these two nere-do-wells were
stationed at.
	in that room were eight huge iron cages, and each cage held a dozen men,
armored in leather armor and armed with bucklers and short swords.  Also,
their feet were shackled together, so that they looked as if they could
move, but not quickly.  After a time, Shali instructed Bri to examine, from
a safe distance, the locks on the cages.  Bri did so after a few seconds,
and said that the cage doors did not appear to be locked.   So, a very
clever trap appeared to be set for us.  When the two men spotted us, they
would either give a signal for the armed slaves to come out and attack, or
wait for us to enter the room and attempt to free the slaves, only to be
surrounded by a hundred armed, and hostile, fighters.
     Ick.

       What's more, just beyond the room full of armed slaves was a
corridor.  And in that corridor and a small doorless side room, were a
dozen or so men, armed to the hilt with flails, whips and scores of
daggers.  They to, were waiting for a signal, and talking very quietly to
themselves while they did so. Double ick.
	Our next task was obvious, and we set to it.  Shali and I and To-gurrick
crept up behind the figures at the door while Merlaine readied a spell.  At
a prearranged signal, Merlaine cast her spell and one of the men slumped to
the floor.  The other one, Shali whacked over the head with her sap.  The
hit was not a solid one however, and the man turned, and saw Shali.
To-gurrick and I then laid into him with axe and scimitar.  But the
confines were crowded, and our hits were not as forceful as they could be.
Plus, this man was tough.  Just as he was drawing in his breath to yell the
alarm, Shali smashed him in his face once again with her sap, and this time
he sagged to the floor unconscious.
	The slaves and men in the corridor had obviously heard something, for
their whispered conversations ceased.  For a moment we held our breaths,
but none of the men came to investigate, or dared to ask their two door
guarding companions what was happening, for to do that they would have had
to speak up, and thus risk being heard.  Ha, this time their caution worked
against them.  After a time, the slaves decided that things were ok, and so
went back to their very quiet waiting.  The armed men in the corridor,
reassured no doubt by the lack of anything untoward happening, went back to
their waiting as well.   With a quiet sigh of relief we retreated down the
corridor, so that Merlaine and Bob's whispered incantations would not be
heard as the recast Walking Unseen spells upon Shali, To-gurrick and I.
Then it was back to the door.
	We wanted to see what the two men had been seeing.  When we peered out the
crack in the door that they had used, we saw a very beautiful thing.  We
saw a ledge, made of pure smoky quartz.  This ledge must be at least a
hundred feet long.  You could see just a little ways into its depths,
giving the illusion that one is floating, rather than walking.  Right next
to this ledge of quartz ran a stream of water.  You could tell just by
looking at this channel that it was slow, and deep, and most probably
bone-chillingly cold as all underground water is.  The wall opposite the
ledge was covered with more of the frescoes we had seen above, these almost
perfectly preserved.  They showed a many tentacled monster dwelling under
the water, and men and women in robes swimming in the water, and there
seemed to be many instances where the rune for dreaming was cleverly worked
into the frescoes, the curve of a tentacle, or the bend of a persons arm,
or the branches of some unknown bush all contained the rune for dreaming.
Odd, very odd, and very beautiful.
	Since I know the underground ways, I was elected to explore the crystal
ledge.  Well, I did not have to go very far before I turned back.  I went
only about twenty feet, before I saw a room off to the side of the ledge,
with no door to give away its presence.  And within this room were more
waiting warriors.  This time, it was a score of armed ogres who waited,
with several of the whip and flail wielding masters as well.  Very nasty
this.  I turned back and told the party what I had seen.   We whispered,
even though there was no need to as our walking unseen spells would hold
for some hours yet, as well as the witchsight spells Brianna had cast upon
us, thus allowing us to talk and see each other, while others could not.
	After a time, our hearts almost stopped when one of the slavers guarding
the ogres called out, obviously addressing his companions, whom he assumed
were still behind the door.  It was Shali who answered, using her singing
and tale telling skills, she imitated the voice of the men we had taken
down.  The slaver with the ogres wanted to know when he was going to be
relieved, and Shali told him, in rough slaver speech to mind his own
business and he/she didn't know when they were going to get relieved.  The
slaver down the ledge grunted his acknowledgement, and then escorted two of
his ogres out onto the ledge.  We were set to get into a scrap, sure our
ruse had been detected, when the two ogres relieved themselves into the
slow running water, then went back to their room, escorted by their guard
slaver.  We breathed another sigh of relief.
	We decided that we would rather deal with the slaves in cages and their
slavers, rather than the slavers and ogres on the ledge.  So, we quietly
shut the door, and I painted the rune of locking on it and cast the spell
which, with luck, would seal the door shut.  It took me several tries, but
eventually I got the spell cast.  Merlaine then cast a spell of sleep on
the man whom Shali had knocked out, as she has now perfected that spell to
such an extent that the person she sleeps, cannot be awakened by shaking or
kicking or any other means.  Then, after much hurried and quiet discussion
we came up with a plan.
	It was a simple plan, as the best ones usually are.  And so Merlaine cast
her own spell of locking, which she can do from a distance, on the cage
doors.  Her first spell took very well and locked two of the cell doors.
However, magic being the unpredictable force that it is, had chosen the
easiest route to the accomplishment of the spells aims, and had locked the
cell doors with the locks already there, which happened to make loud clicks
when locked.   Ittook the slaves some time to settle down from hearing
that, but eventually they did when one of the slavers in the corridor
peered around, and, perhaps thinking that the expected attack was coming,
motioned the slaves to be quiet, lest they spoil the trap.  So, we waited a
bit longer, and then, still unseen, we filed into the room and positioned
ourselves as planned.
	Then, Vasquez, Merlaine and I timed our incantations to begin, and end, at
the exact same moment.  I at least said a quick prayer to Clangeddin, for
if this plan worked, it would work like whacking a hornets nest with a big
stick.  And so it did.  When our incantations ended, at the same moment, a
wall of force appeared down the row of cell doors, barring them from
opening more than a few inches.  The slaves of course all started yelling
when the wall appeared.  Merlaine's spell of webbing filled the small room,
entangling several of the slavers within it, and Vasquez's fireball filled
the corridor with flames and smoke.
	The effect was wonderful to behold.  Some of the slavers ran toward us,
weapons at the ready, while some ran away, seeking to escape.  The many
slavers going in different directions in a small space meant that none of
them got much of anywhere.  Vasquez had time to get off another fireball,
and then Rupert charged forward.  There was only room for one person in the
corridor, and so Rupert evaded, waiting the slavers charge.  The slavers
were still busy running in confusion, as the could still not see any of us.
So, when one of the slavers got too close to Rupert, he swung and
connected.  Once they had a visible target, the slavers got a bit more
organized.  Also, in the distance, we heard a door slam shut, meaning one
or more of them had gotten away to bring reinforcements.  Ah well, whack a
hornet's nest, and what do you get?
	To our dismay, Rupert overswung his next swing and the blade of his sword
touched Merlaine's webbing spell, and stuck fast.  To-gurrick, who was
right behind him, started screaming curses at Rupert that made my ears burn
to hear, or perhaps that was the remaining heat from Vasquez's fireballs?
Rupert, the clever fellow that he is, threw himself flat on the floor,
shield raised to protect his head.  And sure enough, To-gurrick charged,
and he would have bowled right over Rupert if he'd needed to.
	To-gurrick's style of fighting is a wonder to behold, he swings his
scimitar ( having broken his hand and a half earlier) and then follows that
swing with a blow from his left fist.  Usually, it is the scimitar that the
opponent is worried about, and so they seek to deflect that blow, only to
be bashed in the face by a very solid fist.  If hard pressed, To-gurrick
will even kick, or bite or smash his head into his opponents head, helmet
or no.
	Once To-gurrick was past, Rupert stood up and managed to yank his sword
from the webbing.  Our progress was slow, for as formidable as To-gurrick
is, it takes him time to kill a man.  And these opponents were deceptive.
Armed only in leather, they looked easy prey, but their flails would lash
out at unexpected moments, and they wielded their whips so they moved like
things alive, wrapping around an ankle and seeking to yank a person off
balance, or lashing around your wrist so that you could not wield your
weapon, or even snapping the air just in front of your eyes, trying to
distract or even blind you.
	Finally after killing two men in this fashion, To-gurrick had had enough
of this, he threw down his scimitar, spread both arms wide and rushed at
the remaining knot of opponents.  He brought two of them down with his
charge, and while they tried to get a whip around his neck and/or ready
their daggers he bashed their heads into the floor again and again.  And,
now the way was clear ( except for the knot of armed people struggling near
the doorway) and we could advance, although slowly.
	Rupert was the first to clear the small room and go into the next, and we
followed.  When Rupert opened the door at the end of yet another small
room, he yelled, not is surprise, but fear.  For what he saw when he peered
around the door was the reinforcements coming down the corridor.
	From the right came three giants, stone giants by the look of them, armed
in thick heavy chain mail, and carrying maces that must weight a quarter of
a hundred pounds each, with knobs and spikes all over their massive heads.
Behind the giants was a red winged demon-looking thing, an imp most likely,
and it was in the process of readying a spell.
	From the left, not much better; a dozen or more slavers with whips and
flails were advancing at a run, from a room which looked to be full of pits
or something.  It was then that Rupert held his hands to his head and
screamed; falling to the ground.  A glance at Merlaine told me our new
companion was but unconscious and not dead.  The carnage we had wreaked
upon the slavers already had taken its toll on Merlaine, and she was mainly
doing defensive maneuvers now that she had arrived at the front of the
battle along with Brianna, Bob and Vasquez.  These three had been busy
killing slavers trapped in Merlaine's webbing spell, for that spell has a
limited duration, and we did in no way want a sudden rush of armed and
angry slavers coming from our rear.
	We retreated behind the doorway, seeing as the giants were so huge they
would have to crawl through the opening, and right now, any advantage we
could get, we would take.  The huge warriors were terrifyingly fast, and
were at the door in but a few seconds.  Miraculously, the one about to
crawl through, stopped and stared around her wildly, while behind her
another of the giants looked around nervously, and one of the slavers who
was just arriving screamed and kept running, going past our door and down
the corridor whence the giants had come from.  Finally, Brianna had gotten
off a spell of fear, and it was now the enemy who was running in confusion,
unable to keep any order in their ranks!
	The giant shook off the fear in a moment however, and crawled in through
the doorway.  We were waiting for her.  Our weapons did not seem to have
all that much effect on her, because of her immensely thick chain.  Even my
great axe had trouble piercing that armor.  The giant worked her way into
the room and stood up.  It was then that To-gurrick, finished as he was
with his two former opponents, arrived.
	Shali had dragged Rupert out of the way of the battle, and was now taking
stock of our situation.  To-gurrick had his own battle plan however, and
implemented it before any of us could shout at him to do otherwise.
	Vasquez stood in the room near Shali, and tried several times to cause the
giants armor to heat up as she had the commanders up above.  This time she
was not so lucky however and she did not get the spells off. To-gurrick,
unarmed, dashed between the legs of the giant in our room and rushed out
into the corridor with the crowd of slavers and other giants!  He charged
at one of the giants and slammed into its knees, bringing the massive
warrior down.  To-gurrick and his giant began to slam fists into each other
with great force.  Not wanting to waste To-Gurrick's initiave, and with
somewhat a plan of my own, I sheathed my great axe, prepared my battle axes
and followed To-gurrick.
	It was then that Vasquez screamed, held her hands to her helmet and
collapsed unconscious on the floor.  Shali threw up her hands and after
making sure Rupert and Vasquez were safe, followed us as well.
	In the room with the giant, things got ugly.  The giant was a formidable
warrior, and Bob had his hands full just holding his own.  Brianna threw
spell after spell of fear, so the giantesses attack were interrupted every
so often as she looked wildly around in panic, or stood and screamed for a
few moments.   Bob kept up his attacks, finally realizing his spear was
useless against her armor, he followed To-Gurrick's example and attacked
her with punches and kicks, in close where she could not use her huge mace.
Bob may not have found these martial arts he wishes to study, but he is
good enough with his hands and feet as it is now.  One of his kicks landed
at a weak spot in the giants armor, just above the kneecap.  That joint,
delicate on even a giant, broke and shattered with a horrid crack and snap.
The giantess screamed and went down, bits of bone protruding from the
flesh of her ruined knee.  Thinking that now Brianna and Shali, who were
still back in the corridor, Brianna throwing spells of fear, and Merlaine
guarding her, were safe, Bob ran into the corridor also to join that fray.
	In the corridor, things were even uglier.  To-gurrick was holding his own
against the giant, a truly amazing sight.  I took aim and let  one of my
silvered battle axes fly at the imp, who was flying near the ceiling.  Luck
was with me and my axe hit, bringing the imp down to the floor, which is
the level I prefer to fight at.  Shali was near the other end, holding off
the mob of slavers.  Since the doorway from the room of pits was only wide
enough for two abreast, Shali had placed herself there and evaded the whips
and flails of the slavers who tried to get through.  Every so often one
slaver would miss badly, but for the most part hers was a defensive battle.
	At that point, the tide turned, To-gurrick screamed, held his hands to his
head and collapsed.  The giant that had been about to enter the doorway
after its now wounded companion, followed me.  Bob tried to distract that
giant with his spear, and sometimes hand to hand combat, to no avail.  Now,
I was sure it had been the imp that was casting these spells that attacked
peoples heads, but when To-gurrick was struck, the imp was still fluttering
on the floor like a wounded bird.  None-the-less, an imp is a dangerous
thing, so I made for the creature, despite the giant at my back.  I reached
the imp just as it recovered from my flung axe, so I hit it with the axe I
still held, it screamed and lashed me with its tail, but thankfully it did
not get through my armor, merely splattered its nasty venom over the metal.
Then the giant got in a blow; its massive mace slammed into my back and
sent me reeling against the wall.  I steadied myself and struck the imp
again.  This time the thing vanished in an odorous puff of oily black
smoke.  Good riddance I thought, just as the giant mace crashed into my
side.
	Back with Brianna and Merlaine, they were anything but safe.  The wounded
giant, bent now only on killing, pulled herself along and tried to get
within arms reach of the two women.  Brianna launched a fear spell at her,
which had a wondrous effect, as it also effected one of the giants in the
corridor.  The giant in front of Bri stopped and screamed, while the giant
that had been about to mash me a third time screamed and ran down the
corridor from whence he came.  Now that I was out here, with my witchsight,
I could see a very ornate carved door at the end of this corridor.  The
giant never made it to the door.  Just a few steps before he reached it,
her held hands to head and collapsed on the floor with a terrific crashing
of chain armor.  Who, or whatever was felling these people, did not want
that door opened it would seem.
	Brianna launched yet another spell of fear, while Merlaine did her best to
guard Bri and herself from the giants advance.  This spell proved to be too
much for the giants system, who had had shock after shock, and finally the
strain took its toll and her heart simply gave out.  Just as this badly
wounded giants was about to make a grab at Brianna, her face momentarily
contorted in pain and she flopped to the floor, dead.  That spell must have
gone off particularly well, for it hit two of the slavers as well.  They
had been fighting on Shali's flanks, and since they could not run backwards
due to the huge number of their fellows pressing them in towards Shali,
they squeezed past her and ran down the corridor towards the ornate door.
One of the slavers shook off the fear just before he reached the door, but
the other one did not and achieved the door.  When he put his hand to the
handle in an attempt to yank it open, the man almost seemed to explode.
His skin turned red everywhere suddenly, and the look on his face was one
of utter pain and horror.  This slaver then toppled to the floor, dead
before he hit and we all distinctly hear the sound of glass or ice
shattering.  There were many places where he should of been bleeding, but
in stead of blood, his body was filled with red crystals, as if his blood
had been turned to ice instantly.  This observation was confirmed when his
blood started to melt and run and pool in the manner that blood always
seems to pool around a body.
	But we were not out of the woods yet.  Bob and I were fighting the last
giant.  Several time during this battle, I felt a sudden and terrific
headache explode behind my eyes, but always they went away quickly, leaving
me only slightly dazed.  Bob too I could see had been subject to several of
these massive mental attacks.  It took us some rounds to finish off this
giant, and we were lucky in that.  I was badly wounded by then, and Bob had
taken quite a beating as well.  Then from the corridor came Merlaine's
voice hollering that Brianna had fallen, victim to the same spell as
Rupert, To-gurrick and Vasquez.
	I decided it was time for a strategic retreat.  Leaving Bob to deal with
the slaver who had come to his senses before reaching the door, I retreated
back to the room where Rupert and Vasquez were.  I could see that Shali was
fighting far fewer slavers, most of the others having gone back into the
depth of this temple.  No doubt to try and come at us from another
direction.  I hope they tried to use the door I had runelocked.
	I t did not take me long to find the runesticks I needed, and then to use
the energy stored in my runewand to activate the spell.  I was overjoyed
when the spell worked on my first try, and the portal runestick glued
itself to the ground, our passage out of here.  And none too soon, for just
then Bob's opponent scored a hit with his flail, right across Bob's chin,
and dropped him to the floor, dead or near so.  Merlaine was so bad off
what with all the death around her that looking at her told me nothing,
except that she was suffering badly.  Then Shali, who had been evading
whips and flails this whole battle and also managing to get in a few cuts
of her own, screamed and fell to the floor.
	Merlaine whispered between clenched teeth that she was going through the
run eportal, and would pull the bodies off the stick as they came through.
I nodded and heard the bang of displaced air as she left.  I had thought to
go get Bobs attacker, but then the two slavers who had been attacking Shali
had the audacity to drag her away from the battle.  Bob's attacker
meanwhile, was advancing on me, rather than stay and finish Bob off.  Bad
news this, but there was  no way i was going to leave Shali to these
defilers.  I prepared my axes once again and advanced on them.  Since they
were dragging a body, I caught up with them easily.  They then had the
choice to engage me, or be cut down.  Once engaged me while the other
continued to drag Shali away.  The gods of battle were with me, and my
first blow was a solid one.  This slaver recovered well though and lashed
his whip around my foot and gave a mighty heave, thinking the unbalance me
and topple me into one of the many pits in the room.  But we Mountain Folk
are short and heavy, and his ploy did not work.  I struck again, with both
axes this time, and it was he who toppled into a pit, dead.  The other
slaver, seeing the fate of his companion, stopped dragging Shali and ran
away down the corridor.
	When I turned, expecting to find myself face to face with yet another
slaver, I beheld a most unusual sight.  The last slaver, rather than run up
behind me, was backing down the corridor, confronted by three rats!  That's
right, rats.  these three huge sewer rats were lined up as neat as you
please and were obviously pursuing the slaver.  Since he could not get
around them, and his only other choice was to try to open the ornate door,
it was not long before the rats caught up with him.  Seconds after that
great gouts of blood welled from his face and neck and he too died.  When
he fell , the rats began to feast on his still twitching body.
	I dragged Shali's unconscious body back to the runestick and set her on
it.  With a bang she disappeared, and I hoped that nothing had interrupted
Merlaine at the other end.  Then, before the rats could change their mind
about who they wanted to dine on, I went and retrieved Bob.  H e was as
near death as anyone can be and still be in the land of the living, so I
moved him gently.  The rats continued to eat, not disturbed in the least by
my activities.  I do truly wonder at the origin of these heaven sent rats.
Vermin form heaven?  The only other time I have seen rats behave in such a
coordinated manner, was when Bob, Vasquez and I went chasing a vampire
through the streets of Nvym-Dar.  As I recall, we got badly mauled in that
fracas too.
	I hauled Bob back and set him on the runestick.  I almost wept for joy as
I head the bang of air rushing into the place where Bob had been, Merlaine
was alive and able to do her job!  One by one I set all my companions on
the runestick.  Only once did I get a blinding headache that made me stop
my work for a second while my head cleared.  Soon, I was the only one left,
then I to stepped on the runestick, and found myself surrounded my my
unconscious companions back in the altar room.  With a sigh of relief I
pronounced the words, although I was so exhausted I could hardly whisper,
and used my runewand to cast the counter spell, thus destroying my last
pair of portal runesticks.  But at least now none from below can follow us
that way.
	Around me my companions are waking now, all but Bob, whose trollskin spell
needs to mend his wounds before he can come back to us.  Then it will be
time to heal, for we must be well rested and prepared before we go back
down there.  Yet we will go, of that I am sure.  I could not abide leaving
those people down there at the mercy of those slaver, and whatever else it
is that is down there.  I now do surely wish that I had not sold that
potion of mindshielding back in Nvym-Dar!  I also surely wish I knew where
those rats came from!


                                     By My Exhausted and Confused Hand,
            			This 15 th Day Juno
				The Year of Our Lady 540.


						Drashak Khea Milari